DISCLAIMER: Charlie's Angels and its characters are the property of Spelling-Goldberg Productions. No infringement intended.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A very special thank you to Debbie for taking on the job of beta for this fic as well as the 22 others and especially for agreeing to write her specialty, Birds of Prey, as part of this 24 fandom series. Thanks, Deb, I truly do appreciate it.
CHALLENGE: Written for the first International Day of Femslash.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
The Gentleman Prefers Blondes
By Ann
Laughter entered through the doorway of the Townsend Agency just ahead of its source. With a grin on her face, Kelly Garrett stepped inside the room and turned back to address the woman who was directly responsible for her mirth.
"You're kidding? What did you do?"
"What could I do?" A smiling Sabrina closed the door. "I waved and drove away with a huge grin on my face."
Chuckling, Kelly made her way over to the sofa and took a seat, finally noticing a sullen Bosley tucked away behind his desk.
"Morning, Bosley. Why the long face?"
"Yeah, Bos; what's the matter?" Sabrina eased onto the corner of the desk and turned her attention to their office manager and occasional field detective. "You look like you've lost your best friend."
Bosley sighed pitifully and placed both hands over his face, his reply sounding garbled. "Worse, our only blonde."
"You're what?" Sabrina leaned closer and tried to make sense of what she'd heard, or rather what she thought she'd heard. "Blind? You're going blind?" She spared a wide-eyed glance at Kelly who pushed to her feet and started toward the desk at Sabrina's question.
"Have you been to a doctor?" asked Kelly, stepping next to Bosley and gently placing her hand on his shoulder. "Does Charlie know?"
Bosley looked up in surprise, his expression indicating that, for a moment, he too believed his vision was in peril. The heartfelt concern of the two angels had been just that convincing. He soon came to his senses when he realized he could actually see the both of them.
"No, not blind – blonde," said Bosley as if the mere change of the word would explain everything to his colleagues. It served its main purpose though, as concern morphed into confusion.
"Blonde? You want to become a blonde?" Still confused, Sabrina crinkled her brow; she was fairly certain Bosley colored his hair, but she had no idea why he'd want to change from his natural color.
Kelly smiled. "They do say blondes have more fun. I say, go for it, Bosley."
"Really, you think so?" asked Bosley, a goofy grin slowly forming before he realized he'd once again been sidetracked. "No…no blonde for me either. Well, there is a need for a blonde, but I don't fit the bill."
"You're talking in circles, Bos. What do you mean there's a need for a blonde?" Sabrina looked over at Kelly, pleased to see her friend seemed to be just as confused with the rather erratic direction the conversation had been taking.
"Charlie called earlier. He's got a friend, Jim Lovelady, who's um . . . shall we say a little on the merry side, if you get my drift." Bosley grinned stupidly and lifted his eyebrows up and down for added affect.
Frowning, Kelly stared at Bosley, having no clue as to what he was referring to. The eyebrow movement only served to distract her thoughts. He looked like a demented clown.
"Ah," said Sabrina, nodding her head in understanding. "What's the problem then?"
"Blackmail. His business partner hired a low-life to follow Jim around and snap pictures of him in compromising positions. Now the partner is using the photos to force Jim to sell his half of the business for a song."
"What kind of blackmail?" asked Kelly, somewhat able to follow the conversation despite her confusion.
"The worst kind," supplied Sabrina as she pushed to her feet and crossed the room. Settling on the sofa, she filled in the blanks for her friend.
"Charlie's friend is gay." Sabrina watched Kelly closely for her reaction. The subject of sexual orientation had never really come up before, but now she had the perfect opportunity to gather insight into her friend's thoughts and feelings.
"Oh, okay." Kelly didn't seem one bit affected by the news, but she did have another question. "So, where does the blonde come in?"
Bosley's goofy smile returned. "Charlie's got a plan."
"No!" Sabrina hadn't meant to shout, but what Kelly had suggested was insane. The minute Bosley had left to run his errand, Kelly had volunteered her services to carry out the most important part of the plan.
"Why not?" asked Kelly, slightly amused that Sabrina had such strong feelings for the color of her hair.
"Just because." Sabrina lowered the volume of her tone and tried to keep her reply neutral. How could she possibly explain her adamancy that Kelly cast the ridiculous idea aside?
"It'll wash out, Bree, and besides, why are you so upset? It's my hair, not yours."
Sabrina didn't bother pointing out that she viewed Kelly as hers and, therefore, her hair, by extension, was too. "It's the principal of the matter."
"Why? Because the business partner prefers blondes? How's that any different from us taking on whatever role is necessary to solve a case?" Kelly tilted her head in question. Her amusement had changed to curiosity with a large portion of it allotted to exactly why Sabrina was so strongly against her taking on the role of the blonde.
"When we put on a different persona, we're still ourselves. We still look the same, only the clothing is different. We're still recognizable to each other." Sabrina wished Bosley would hurry back so that he could better explain why she was the better angel for the job. After she'd explained to him, of course.
"So, you're saying you wouldn't recognize me if I were a blonde?"
"That's ridiculous, Kelly. Of course, I'd recognize you." Sabrina was certain she'd know Kelly no matter what hair color she wore or even if she had no hair at all. She just preferred her friend make no changes to her appearance. Perfection had already been attained.
As if a light had been turned on, Kelly's face suddenly lit up; she'd finally figured out what was going on, and she couldn't be more pleased. "I think I've got a handle on this now. You're okay with tricking our client's partner and taking our own compromising photos to threaten to show his wife, but you're not okay with me being the blonde in this scenario."
"Exactly!" Sabrina was practically beaming. Not a single hair on Kelly's head would be harmed during their little production.
"Because you like me as a brunette."
"Yes!" Sabrina was so pleased that Kelly finally understood how she felt that she didn't notice her friend had edged closer to her.
"Because you want to keep me exactly like I am." Kelly spoke softly, moving well into Sabrina's personal space.
"Um, yes." Sabrina took a step backward, her back literally against the wall. Somehow she'd lost control of the conversation, and apparently, had lost track of Kelly's movements as well.
"Bree, when this case is over, you and I are going to sit down and have a very . . . long . . . talk." Kelly had leaned in with each word until she was whispering directly into Sabrina's ear, her warm breath sending tingles down the other woman's spine. Sabrina closed her eyes tightly and fought the urge to grab Kelly and kiss her senseless. She was saved from doing just that by the sound of a key turning in the lock.
"I don't remember locking this door," muttered Bosley as he closed the door and stepped further into the room, a brown paper bag in his hand. His obsession with the lock had given Kelly adequate time to move a respectable distance away from a completely flustered Sabrina.
"So," Bosley grinned and held up the bag, "who's going to be the next Miss Clairol?"
Kelly gave Sabrina a teasing wink as well as a promising smile, before she turned and walked toward Bosley who held out the bag to Kelly as she got closer. Looking down at the offering, she had an epiphany of her own. She didn't want Sabrina to color her hair either.
"Hey Bos, how about we use a wig instead?"
The End