47 : Reprieve
Follows this.
As they all piled into one big, black SUV, Stark ruminated that she couldn't remember the last time she had been out with colleagues. Since her assignment to the X-Files, the only people she saw with any regularity were Doggett and Scully, with the occasional conversation with Reyes or Skinner or a couple of other familiar faces. And it was a very rare occasion that she went out socially with anyone who wasn't John. At least from the Bureau, anyway.
Still, she had promised that drink and as Sheppard had told her, it was a good idea for her to get out more often. She'd hunted down all of the agents who'd been responsible for helping out in that melee three days ago and they'd all agreed to meet in the lobby after work, then carpool their way to a local Bureau watering hole. That was where they ended up, the four of them settled at one end of the bar with a couple of beers, some onion rings and a TV tuned to ESPN.
"What the hell was the guy's problem, anyway?" Paul Grassi asked, knocking back another drink of his Miller Lite with a laugh. His New York accent was even more pronounced when he was drinking. "I mean, what did you guys do to him that made him decide he wanted to Hulk out on your asses?"
"I have absolutely no idea." The deep voice belonged to Jon Kelley from the Criminal Investigations Division, Stark's former department. "One minute we're talking about his finances, his family finances, the next -- bam. He was up out of that chair and trying to come over that table before I could get the gun out of the holster." A smirk. "Maybe it was Mark's fault."
Mark Lambrecht snorted. The oldest of the group at just past forty (which made him four years Stark's senior, and eleven years Paul's), he was also the most buttoned-up and in line. He was a married father of three with a fourth on the way, and always dotted his I's and crossed his T's. His businesslike and meticulous nature was tempered only by his competitive instinct. "Why would it be my fault?" he replied.
"I dunno, because you look guiltier," his partner retorted with a smirk.
"You do look guiltier," Paul admitted, raising his beer in agreement with Jon's statement.
Mark just threw peanuts at his partner. "Why am I partnered with you again?" he asked Jon, still utterly deadpan.
"Hey, hey, speaking of partners, where's your better half?" Paul asked Stark, arching an eyebrow as he took another drink. "You'd think he'd be here. Aren't you two like, practically handcuffed to each other?"
She gave him a sarcastic look. "Very funny," she replied. She wasn't about to breathe word one about anything really going on between herself and John, although having him say he loved her had made her breathe a heavy sigh of relief and assuaged her insecurities of the last couple of days. Stark prided herself on having an even keel and it was good to have her brain back to normal. "We don't have to spend every waking moment together. He's probably just crashing, if he's even left work already."
Not that she was going to tell them, but she had promised John she would come by his place if it wasn't too late when she left the bar.
"Hey, his loss. Guess I'll have to take over defending you from drunk losers tonight," he said, grinning wickedly.
"Present company excluded of course," Jon interrupted.
"Of course. Especially given that two of us are married," Paul agreed. "Which reminds me, man, somebody tell me when it's like, six-thirty? I told my wife I'd be home in time for dinner."
"Yeah, me too," Mark agreed.
Stark laughed softly. "You guys are whipped," she said. "Not that there's anything wrong with that. Must be nice having somebody to come home to." As fun as it was to float mental images in her male colleagues' heads, she only had so many books she could sit and read in the bathtub at the end of the day. She was almost done with the one she was on.
"It is nice," Paul admitted. "Never thought I'd be a family man, but sometimes things bite you in the ass out of nowhere."
"What, you just thought you'd Lothario your way through the rest of life?" Jon commented. "Arrest the bad guy, get the girl, never actually settle down?"
"Yeah, actually." He shrugged. "Don't miss it one bit."
"Stop it, Paul, if you get all warm and fuzzy on me I think the world might end," Stark interrupted with a smile. She knew that underneath his tough exterior (one of his most infamous quotes was that he knew people were 'afraid of New Yorkers' and he was going to use that to his advantage) was a good heart, but she was too used to the bull in a china shop who was the biggest character in the Gang Task Force. "Besides, what's the point, we can dissect why Jon and I are still single?"
(Not that she was. But she wasn't going to admit it.)
"Well we know why you're dateless," Paul replied. "You've got a partner you're practically married to already. Jon's got no excuse. Maybe he needs to go meet somebody. We can introduce him to a couple of women while we're here."
"Don't you dare," Jon retorted.
Laughing, Stark just shook her head and ordered another round. This was what she had missed in her Bureau career. She had never been that sociable; John had plenty of friends before he'd burned his bridges, but while she made a lot of acquaintances she kept mostly to herself where friends were concerned. Between the death of her sister and everything going on with the X-Files that hadn't changed. It was good to see that there were some people who, despite her career being in the tank and where she was working, liked her and enjoyed her company. To say nothing of the partner she knew she had at her side.
This was a good day.
As they all piled into one big, black SUV, Stark ruminated that she couldn't remember the last time she had been out with colleagues. Since her assignment to the X-Files, the only people she saw with any regularity were Doggett and Scully, with the occasional conversation with Reyes or Skinner or a couple of other familiar faces. And it was a very rare occasion that she went out socially with anyone who wasn't John. At least from the Bureau, anyway.
Still, she had promised that drink and as Sheppard had told her, it was a good idea for her to get out more often. She'd hunted down all of the agents who'd been responsible for helping out in that melee three days ago and they'd all agreed to meet in the lobby after work, then carpool their way to a local Bureau watering hole. That was where they ended up, the four of them settled at one end of the bar with a couple of beers, some onion rings and a TV tuned to ESPN.
"What the hell was the guy's problem, anyway?" Paul Grassi asked, knocking back another drink of his Miller Lite with a laugh. His New York accent was even more pronounced when he was drinking. "I mean, what did you guys do to him that made him decide he wanted to Hulk out on your asses?"
"I have absolutely no idea." The deep voice belonged to Jon Kelley from the Criminal Investigations Division, Stark's former department. "One minute we're talking about his finances, his family finances, the next -- bam. He was up out of that chair and trying to come over that table before I could get the gun out of the holster." A smirk. "Maybe it was Mark's fault."
Mark Lambrecht snorted. The oldest of the group at just past forty (which made him four years Stark's senior, and eleven years Paul's), he was also the most buttoned-up and in line. He was a married father of three with a fourth on the way, and always dotted his I's and crossed his T's. His businesslike and meticulous nature was tempered only by his competitive instinct. "Why would it be my fault?" he replied.
"I dunno, because you look guiltier," his partner retorted with a smirk.
"You do look guiltier," Paul admitted, raising his beer in agreement with Jon's statement.
Mark just threw peanuts at his partner. "Why am I partnered with you again?" he asked Jon, still utterly deadpan.
"Hey, hey, speaking of partners, where's your better half?" Paul asked Stark, arching an eyebrow as he took another drink. "You'd think he'd be here. Aren't you two like, practically handcuffed to each other?"
She gave him a sarcastic look. "Very funny," she replied. She wasn't about to breathe word one about anything really going on between herself and John, although having him say he loved her had made her breathe a heavy sigh of relief and assuaged her insecurities of the last couple of days. Stark prided herself on having an even keel and it was good to have her brain back to normal. "We don't have to spend every waking moment together. He's probably just crashing, if he's even left work already."
Not that she was going to tell them, but she had promised John she would come by his place if it wasn't too late when she left the bar.
"Hey, his loss. Guess I'll have to take over defending you from drunk losers tonight," he said, grinning wickedly.
"Present company excluded of course," Jon interrupted.
"Of course. Especially given that two of us are married," Paul agreed. "Which reminds me, man, somebody tell me when it's like, six-thirty? I told my wife I'd be home in time for dinner."
"Yeah, me too," Mark agreed.
Stark laughed softly. "You guys are whipped," she said. "Not that there's anything wrong with that. Must be nice having somebody to come home to." As fun as it was to float mental images in her male colleagues' heads, she only had so many books she could sit and read in the bathtub at the end of the day. She was almost done with the one she was on.
"It is nice," Paul admitted. "Never thought I'd be a family man, but sometimes things bite you in the ass out of nowhere."
"What, you just thought you'd Lothario your way through the rest of life?" Jon commented. "Arrest the bad guy, get the girl, never actually settle down?"
"Yeah, actually." He shrugged. "Don't miss it one bit."
"Stop it, Paul, if you get all warm and fuzzy on me I think the world might end," Stark interrupted with a smile. She knew that underneath his tough exterior (one of his most infamous quotes was that he knew people were 'afraid of New Yorkers' and he was going to use that to his advantage) was a good heart, but she was too used to the bull in a china shop who was the biggest character in the Gang Task Force. "Besides, what's the point, we can dissect why Jon and I are still single?"
(Not that she was. But she wasn't going to admit it.)
"Well we know why you're dateless," Paul replied. "You've got a partner you're practically married to already. Jon's got no excuse. Maybe he needs to go meet somebody. We can introduce him to a couple of women while we're here."
"Don't you dare," Jon retorted.
Laughing, Stark just shook her head and ordered another round. This was what she had missed in her Bureau career. She had never been that sociable; John had plenty of friends before he'd burned his bridges, but while she made a lot of acquaintances she kept mostly to herself where friends were concerned. Between the death of her sister and everything going on with the X-Files that hadn't changed. It was good to see that there were some people who, despite her career being in the tank and where she was working, liked her and enjoyed her company. To say nothing of the partner she knew she had at her side.
This was a good day.