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Opposites Attract


castiel_angel

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I'm back with a brand new idea:

Two crime-solving investigators are assigned to work on the same project involving a chain of robberies hours away from home. One problem....One of them hates the other's guts. Can teamwork and the mission bring the two together or will they never get along? 

*There's a chance I've used this title for a fic before but I really don't remember so I'm just going with it 😅 

^minor language warning in parts^

enjoy, loves!!!

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Opposites Attract

(part 1)

The October morning air was crisp as Blake Bradley made her way to work. It was the type of morning that couldn't necessarily be defined as cold, but left a chill creeping up your spine that had you pulling your jacket around your arms a little tighter. She enjoyed the heat radiating from her morning cup of coffee, and she found her fingers wrapping around the cup a little tighter. The bustling of the city around her kept her moving as she vaguely wondered how everything around her was so alive at such an early hour in the morning. Blake really wasn't too much of a morning person, but it was practically in her job description that she be awake at such an ungodly hour. Her morning didn't get much better either, as nothing could have prepared her for the event that was soon to happen. 

Blake was busy skimming through emails on her laptop when a knock came at her office door.

"Come in!" Blake said, her eyes still trained on the screen in front of her. 

"Good morning, Blake. The boss wants to have a quick word with you in is office," Nina, the office attendant, informed her with an indifferent expression.

"Is it about a new case?" Blake asked, green eyes peering up at the timid girl. 

"I have no idea," Nina replied with a frown. Most times a talk with the boss didn't mean anything too good, and both girls knew this to be true. Blake prayed internally she wasn't about to get in trouble, or worse...fired. Nina must have sensed Blake's nervousness because she tacked on, "It doesn't seem to be anything serious."

Blake got up and smoothed out her skirt before heading to her boss's office, silently saying a prayer that she wasn't about to lose her position.

"Ah, good morning, Miss Bradley. Please have a seat," Mr. Miller, her boss, had said as he gestured to a chair off to the side of his desk. Blake sat down, tensing as she nervously picked at her nail polish mentally preparing herself to be kicked off the team.

"So," he cleared his throat, "I see by you're report that you've investigated and solved three crimes in the past month. Impressive," he said.

"Thank you, sir."

"Really we should be thanking you; which is why I brought you here today. Since you appear to be exceeding expectations I have selected you and one other employee to take on a new case we were just sent in last night. Lavensdale is continuously getting struck by breaking-and-entering robberies, with more and more important businesses getting struck everyday. They need help, which is why I assigned you to the job."

"Lavensdale? Isn't that like five hours up north?" Blake inquired, not sure whether to be grateful for the opportunity or disappointed on the case's rather unfortunate location.

"Yes, which is why I assigned two of you. Don't worry, Miss Bradley, your transportation is accounted for and I'm quite certain your partner wouldn't mind taking the responsibility as the designated driver. You leave tomorrow morning and I'd prepare for at least a week when packing a bag."

"I, uh---sounds like a plan, sir. Who exactly is my partner?" Blake asked, jotting a few things down in her notebook so she wouldn't miss anything. 

"Mr. Evans. I figure you two will make a great pair together with your skills combined, and Lavensdale needs help quickly and efficiently."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Evans?" Blake repeated as if she had to say it out loud and let the words roll of her tongue in order for it to sink in. Mr. Evans as in Mr. River Evans? God, she was absolutely going to die. You know what? Scratch that...she'd rather do the deed of ending it all herself instead of working with that arrogant man. No way in hell was she doing this. No. Way. In. Hell.

"Yes, Miss Bradley, the only Mr. Evans who works here. Are we going to have a problem? I could always pick someone else for the position---"

"No, sir, that will not be necessary. Me and Mr. Evans will head out tomorrow morning at 6." Blake said, defeated. She needed this job more than anything in order to prove her worth in this company, and River Evans was NOT going to interfere with that. This was going to be one long week coming up; Blake was positive of it.

Blake's dislike for River has gone back to when she first joined the company. She had worked her tail off to try and earn a promotion, sometimes staying full nights at the office, all for River to win the promotion when he had barely showed up for work for the span of a month and didn't even try to make up for the lost time. She's heard from others how arrogant and totally self-centered he could be, and she couldn't help but agree with these accusations-- if Blake were to miss a month of work she wouldn't think of herself as deserving of a promotion, yet there he was in the limelight receiving credit where credit was most certainly not due. This assignment coming up with River was going to be a form of hell in its own, but it was also an opportunity for Blake to show her worth and value to this company; and nobody, not even River Evans, could take that away from her.

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The next morning came around sooner than Blake could've hoped, but despite her absolute distaste of her current situation she managed to pry herself from her fluffy duvet and into work clothes for the day. She selected a thick cream top to wear with black leather pants and her black boots. Stylish, sensible, and not over the top--just how she liked it.

She grabbed her trench coat as she left the house, slipping it on after she realized it would be another five minutes before her car warmed up. She stared at the road ahead of her with tired eyes wishing more than ever that she hadn't skipped out on her early morning cup of coffee. Dealing with River Evans without caffeine had to be some sort of record, she was sure of it. Blake had did as she was instructed and packed enough for around a week, give or take, but she hoped that this would be cut a lot shorter. All she had to do was get there, put together the missing pieces, and get the hell out. Simple enough, right?

Well, when it came to her colleague Mr. Evans, nothing really seemed to be so simple. As much as she disliked his character even she had to admit he was an efficient worker for the company, especially since their boss had selected him for such a long-term investigation. Working for a private crime-solving agency didn't come without its challenges, and every employee had to be on their game 24/7 to ensure that no information about their work was leaked. It was difficult work with long hours and tricky situations; if someone were ever looking for a job that constantly pushed you out of your comfort zone than this was definitely it. 

Blake Bradley's antagonist in question was already at the office when she arrived, waiting by the entrance to the office building. He wore an expression somewhere in between a smirk and slight irritation, both of which Blake was not so eager to deal with at this time of morning. Taking a deep breath in she stepped out of her car and approached River. 

"Well well, if it isn't my oh so lovely partner in crime, Blake Bradley," River said with a side smile. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed; in all honesty because it was absolutely freezing outside, but it added to his irritated facade so he embraced it. 

"Save it, Mr. Evans," Blake said with a scowl, pushing past River and entering the heated building. 

"Blake, I do believe we're on first name basis if I'm not mistaken. 'Mr. Evans' makes me sound like a dull fifty-year-old who collects bottle caps and mows his lawn for fun," River said, following the girl inside.

"Fine. Save it, River," She said, heading up to her office to grab some paper work. She did not want to deal with antics right now, not from River or anyone else. She had a job to do and was clearly the only one who wanted to take this assignment seriously. 

"Well, someone's in a mood. Sleep on the wrong side of the bed, Blake?" River asked with a taunting grin, caramel eyes sparkling. 

"River, please leave me alone for two seconds so I can grab what we need for the job. Don't you have anything useful to do while we wait?" Blake asked impatiently. River frowned; feigning an upset expression.

 "I'm hurt, but if you insist I'll grab us some drinks from the break room. Coffee?" 

"Black with two sugars and a dash of cream," Blake said, without looking up from the folder she was filling with documents. Finally he was doing something thoughtful instead of breathing down her back. 

"Now, when we're talking about a dash are we talking like a few drops or like a one second pour--"

"River, please. I'll leave it up to your matured mind to decide what a 'dash' is."

"Okay, okay, I'm going. When I get back I'm hoping to leave then so we can stay relatively on schedule."

"Works for me," Blake said with a shrug, just glad that for once something work related came out of the tall man's mouth. 

Not five minutes later River returned with her coffee and a cup of tea for himself, which Blake silently questioned since she could've sworn she'd seen him drink coffee on multiple occasions. 

"Didn't take you for a tea kind of guy," Blake said, taking a crack at being the instigator. After all, two can play that game. 

"I'm not usually, but I prefer not to drive with caffeine in my system and I need something to warm me up. It's like freaking December out there," River said with his classic half smile. Blake couldn't necessarily disagree with the latter part of his statement. For October, it was absolutely freezing. 

"Whatever you say, hot shot," Blake said, eyeing the man suspiciously. She could sense a lie when she heard one; after all, she was a detective of sorts. Now that she had time to really look at the man he did have a slight disheveled look about him, but it didn't really take away from his formality. Besides, she wouldn't dare say anything about it anyways. 

"Oh, so I'm 'hot' now. Who knew Miss Blake Bradley was such a charmer?" River said with a laugh. Blake felt a blush creep up her cheeks.

"I did not say you were--! Never mind, I thought we were leaving now."

"We are. Where's your luggage?"

"Out front," Blake said, gesturing to the front door of the facility. 

"I'll go put it in the rental car," River offered.

"I'm perfectly capable of putting my own luggage in the car, thank you," Blake said with an eye roll. Blake would not let anyone make her feel incapable on this trip, even if it was just putting a suitcase in the trunk of a black SUV. After all, she could've done this entire assignment alone. 

"Suit yourself," River said with a shrug, heading to the driver's seat of the car. The cold air had begun to cause his nose to run, but he quickly swiped it away, hoping to refrain from receiving unwanted attention from Blake. He felt a slight headache building, but chalked it up to not sleeping very much the night before. After all, it wasn't exactly out of sorts to run off of minimal sleep in this line of work. River sipped his tea while he waited for Blake to get situated in the car, hoping the warm liquid would soothe the scratchy feeling in his throat. 

"Ready to go?" River asked the girl to his right when she appeared to be buckled in the seat.

"Yeah, yeah let's get this show on the road," she said taking a drink of coffee. She was not looking forward to the long drive ahead, but on the flip side the sooner she can get there the sooner the issue in Lavensdale can be solved.

"Based on the gps it looks like we've got around a five and a half hour drive give or take assuming we hit no traffic," River said, internally wishing he wasn't the one who had to drive that entire five and a half hour trip. Unfortunately, someone had to do it and his boss had offered him. Under other circumstances he would've been glad to take the role as driver because he found it somewhat therapeutic, but today he found it somewhat hard to focus on the road ahead of him.

"Isn't that just peachy," Blake said, pulling out a book she had started reading. It was about some family who had lost their child in a drowning incident. A little gruesome, but she did solve crime for a living. 

River had turned the radio on to a low volume once he realized about a half hour in that this ride would be relatively silent and that his partner had no intentions of making conversation. He resorted to tapping his thumb on the steering wheel softly to the music and had stayed that way for another half hour until he felt a prickle in his nose. He rubbed it discreetly but that did little to alleviate the growing itch. It had soon become apparent that the inevitable were to come whether he liked it or not. He did his best to keep his eyes on the road as his breath hitched softly. 

"h--h'ITTSH'yuu!" 

The car jerked slightly as he fell forward with the force of the sneeze. He sniffed in the aftermath, groaning as the same dull itch remained in his nose.

"Bless you," Blake said, eyes not leaving the page of her book.

"Thank you," River said, rubbing his nose softly. He had hoped that he would be finished after one, but clearly the tickle in his nose had other ideas. He had managed to keep the tickle at bay for the better part of five minutes, but it had quickly shifted to a losing battle. 

"h---h'ISSH'yuu! huh'ITSHH'ew!"

River wiped his nose carefully. He was beginning to think that he was getting sick, but there was no way in hell he would let Blake find out.

"Bless you, again," Blake said, this time looking up from her book to inspect the man. He seemed fine aside from the constant sniffling, but even she could feel the cold air getting to her nose a bit, so she couldn't exactly make any assumptions. Besides, she could honestly care less about the well-being of River Evans. As long as he could walk on two feet to get the job done with her things were fine.

"Thank you. I think I've gotta be allergic to whatever air freshener they put in this car," River said with a small cough.

"You seem a little too manly to be allergic to 'soft meadow breeze,'" Blake said with a snicker.

"So funny I forgot to--h'ITSHH'yuu!" 

"Well you certainly didn't forget to sneeze," Blake said with a smirk, turning back to her book. 

"Shut up." River was practically praying at this point that he would be able to keep his symptoms in check. He was able to buy himself an excuse for the car ride, but once that was up then he had nothing to fall back on. 

After another three hours of silence punctuated by River's coughing and sneezing, Blake had fallen asleep and River looked like he was about to as he kept driving. At this point he was just holding on to the fact that there was only about an hour left in their drive. His nose continued to buzz as much as it had hours ago, but he didn't want to wake up Blake. He had seen how short-tempered she was without coffee and he really did not want to know what she was like when she gets woken up.

He felt his breath begin to hitch, and he brought a fist up to his face to attempt to quiet himself.

"h'tshh! h'itshh!" The car swerved a bit, but thankfully Blake hadn't woken up.

By some absolute miracle, they had made it to Lavensdale without any more incidents. They were staying at a small bed and breakfast in town posing as a newlywed couple. Neither of them were too keen on this plan, but Mr. Miller had determined that this was the safest alias to take on in the small town. 

River pulled into the parking lot of the bed and breakfast, turning off the ignition and rubbing his tired eyes. Sleep was the only thing on his mind. 

"h'ITSHH'yuu!"  

Blake woke up suddenly at the loud sound. 

"Welcome back to earth, Sleeping Beauty," River said with a smirk. 

"We're already here? That went fast," Blake remarked, gathering up her belongings.

"I bet it did," River said under his breath. He got out of the car and gathered the luggage out of the car followed by Blake. This time she hadn't objected to him taking her suitcase out of the car. 

"What name is the reservation under?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Fisher," River said, handing her a fake ID.

"Well aren't I just the luckiest girl ever," Blake said with a huff.

"At least pretend you like me. Remember we are married, Mrs. Fisher."

"I make no promises," Blake said as she walked ahead of River and into the bed and breakfast. That was one difficult part about this job; you have to always pretend to be someone your not in order to get the best results. People may think that it would be easier to simply come solve the crime as the detective, but we use an alias because when we enter a new location anyone can be the offender, including any of the staff at the bed and breakfast. Entering under cover makes it easy to infiltrate events and observe people because in the world of crime-solving no one is guilt free.

"Reservation for the Fisher's," River said to the woman who came to greet them. The woman was short and plump with full cheeks and a motherly smile. Her graying hair was trimmed shoulder-length and she wore pink glasses that rested on the bridge of her nose. 

"Ah, yes, we're so excited to have you here to celebrate such an important milestone in your life!" 

"Well, we're happy to be here," River said, wrapping an arm around Blake's shoulders. She visibly tensed, but plastered on a fake smile.

"Yes, very," she said through gritted teeth.

"Follow me this way Mr. and Mrs. Fisher, and I'll show you to your room." River and Blake followed the older woman up a flight of wooden stairs and down a narrow hallway full of beautiful artwork of various plants and flowers.

The room in question was rather large in size, with a large king size bed, couch, and private bathroom as well as a full-sized balcony. If Blake hadn't been here for work then she would've been absolutely floored by the room's stunning amenities. 

"The room is absolutely amazing," Blake said with a sweet smile, "isn't it honey?" When River didn't answer right away she tugged hard at his jacket sleeve.

"Oh--yeah, it's really great," he said with a sheepish grin. 

"Well I'm glad you like it. We'll be serving lunch downstairs at 12:30 if you two are interested."

"That sounds lovely," Blake said. It actually sounded horrible, but it would be in character to go, so of course they would have to. It would be a good way to get some early information on the case anyways.

"Well, see you two lovebirds later!" The woman said cheerfully before leaving the room.

"God, I don't know how much longer I can keep this up," Blake said with slight irritation.

"You're telling me," River said tiredly, flopping on the bed. 

"Wow, for once I think we agree on something."

"Don't get used to it," River said with a yawn, closing his eyes.

"Sleeping on the job, are we?" Blake taunted.

"I just drove here. I'm fucking exhausted," River mumbled. 

"Well we have to be down for lunch soon. I'm going to freshen up," Blake said.

"Yeah, you have fun with that."

River kept his eyes closed as Blake zipped open her suitcase to try and find something presentable to wear for lunch. 

"h'ITSHH'yuu!" 

River sniffed quietly, internally cursing his immune system. At this rate, he'd never get any sleep.

"I had no idea they used 'soft meadow breeze' in here, too. That's ironic, I wonder if the car dealer is friends with the bed and breakfast owner," Blake said with a laugh. 

"Very funny, Blake. Believe it or not, sneezing is a normal bodily function that is carried out in day to day life."

River coughed into his fist and rolled over in the bed so his back was facing Blake. 

"Whatever you say, husband," Blake said, turning back to her suitcase to continue finding an outfit. In the end she settled on a lilac-colored dress that contrasted well with her green eyes and pink cheeks. 

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By the time 12:20 rolled around Blake realized that River must have fallen asleep. Part of her did feel slightly bad that she would have to wake him considering she was able to rest on the drive down, but he was in this job just as much as she was and they both had to do their part.

"River, it's time to go to the lunch," Blake said, tapping his shoulder. River blinked his eyes open and groaned. 

"Five more minutes," he said.

"Believe it or not, this job is not optional," Blake said.

"Fine, fine, I'm coming. Do you think I need to change?" River asked sleepily.

"Uh, definitely," Blake said giving him a once over.

River got himself up and went to the bathroom. Five minutes later he emerged in a new outfit with his hair brushed through neatly. If Blake hadn't hated his guts she would have said he cleaned up nice. 

"Ready?" He asked, adjusting the collar on his button down. 

"As I'll ever be," she said, walking out to the hall. 

"Mrs. Fisher, shall we?" River said, extending his arm for Blake. Blake rolled her eyes but went along with the act, grabbing on to River's arm as the two made their way to the dining area. The space was well decorated, with a dimly lit chandelier and colorful flowers in vases in the center of the table. The host and what was assumed to be her husband were already at the table beaming kindly at River and Blake.

"Glad you guys could make it! Please have a seat and make yourself at home," the woman said.

"Thank you very much. I don't believe we got your name earlier," Blake said with a smile.

"My name is Linda and this is my husband Kevin."

"Well, thank you very much for having us, Linda and Kevin," River interjected, "The food looks incredible." River politely took a bite of the chicken in front of him. Truthfully he wasn't hungry at all, but he would look stupid if he didn't eat at the lunch he was invited to and willingly attended. After all, Linda and Kevin were kind enough to have prepared this for the two of them.

"So, how long have you two known each other?" Linda asked, tucking in to her own meal.

"About seven years now," Blake said trying to force a smile, "We've known each other since right before college and have sort of been together ever since."

"She's just so perfect, you know? I knew I found my forever partner the moment I met her," River said dreamily. Blake wanted to vomit and rip her eardrums out all at once. 

"Isn't that just a wonderful story," Kevin chimed in. 

"So, what's life like in Lavensdale? It seems like a wonderful little town," Blake asked, trying to steer the conversation away from their 'love life' and towards the crimes that have been occurring in the area.

"It's nice. Simple, slow, relaxed. Just how we like it, right Kevin?" Linda asked, turning towards her husband. Kevin nodded with a smile. 

"We saw on the news the other day that a business here was broken into and robbed. That must have been so hard for the owners and for the locals here," Blake remarked. She may have brought up the topic a bit abruptly, but she wanted out of this situation as soon as possible which meant if she had to cut to the chase she would. 

"Oh, yes. About four days ago a local grocery store was broken into and absolutely destroyed. None of the products could be salvaged and the cash registers were cleaned out. One day later, a pet store faced the same fate. We'd be lying if we'd say we weren't a bit concerned for our community, but we try to keep a positive outlook on the situation," Linda said sadly.

"We're really sorry to hear that so many local---" River felt the familiar tickle return with a vengeance, and he grabbed a handkerchief out of his pocket before turning away from the table.

"h'ITSHH'eww! huh'TISHH'yuu! Excuse me," River said with a sniff.

"Bless you, hon," Linda said, her motherly side definitely kicking in. 

"Thank you. As I was saying, we're terribly sorry to hear that so many local businesses have been struck."

"Have they found the offender yet?" Blake asked innocently. Obviously they hadn't or the two of them wouldn't even have been there, but it was an act and she needed to play along with the script.

"Unfortunately not, but there's been some speculations on who," Kevin said.

"I wouldn't worry yourselves," Linda said sweetly, "these sort of things don't really happen around Lavensdale and we wouldn't want it to interfere with you two having an enjoyable stay here."

Blake had just about finished her meal and River had just managed to clean off his plate. He was hoping he could find an excuse to miss dinner because he wasn't sure he could pull through and finish that meal too, but he'd cross that bridge when he got there.

"This meal was absolutely wonderful," Blake said with a smile.

"Yes, you've outdone y--h'ITSHH'yuu! yourselves," River said, turning away from the table to wipe at his nose gently.

"Bless you, son. You sure you're feeling alright?" Kevin asked with a concerned look.

"Thank you for your concern, both of you, but I'm alright." 

"As long as you say so. Can we interest you two in any dessert? I've just baked fresh chocolate chip cookies and they certainly aren't going to eat themselves," Linda said, clearing River and Blake's plates from the table.

"Could we take them to go? I'm absolutely stuffed right now, but it's pretty hard to say no to a chocolate chip cookie," Blake said. 

"Of course! I'll have them sent up to your room," Linda offered.

The two pairs went in separate directions, Blake and River returning to their room. Upon arriving back Blake immediately slipped off her heels and River unbuttoned his shirt. 

"At least we got something out of that," River said, failing to cover a yawn. He looked absolutely exhausted.

"I was beginning to think that we wouldn't," Blake said, "Now we know that first thing tomorrow we head out to the two shops that were broken into and speak to the owners. Maybe they know something about who it might be."

"Yeah...tomorrow," River murmured softly, eyes drifting closed. Blake was going to yell at him that they had research to do, really she was, but something in her told her to let him sleep for a bit. She did not however, under any circumstance, have a soft spot for her nemesis River Evans. Not a chance. She was simply returning the favor and giving him a chance to rest. 

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Let me know if you'd like to see more of River and Blake! If you have any ideas or feedback please feel free to let me know as I'd love to hear it! ❤️

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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hi i really like this!! the dynamic between river and blake is a lot of fun to read! i look forward to the next chapter, good job xx 

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I love this!! Enemy/rival dynamics are just :wubsmiley: Can't wait to read more!

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  • 2 weeks later...

♥️♥️ I would love to see more of River and Blake 😍

Thanks so much for taking the time to write this!!

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  • 6 months later...

I've been searching for this for 6 months and thought there were more😭 it's literally so good, u have to keep writing!

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23 minutes ago, Mrs Kingdom said:

I've been searching for this for 6 months and thought there were more😭 it's literally so good, u have to keep writing!

😩😩 😭😭😭 I thought it was an update

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

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