83 : Radical Decisions
[Follows this and subsequently, this. Takes place the evening of "The Lions."]
If anything else in her life changed, Stark wondered if her brain might explode.
First she'd ended up bedding her partner in what had been a whirlwind of divulged secrets, unexpected happenings and more sex than she'd had in years or ever intended to have. She knew they had gone too fast and she hoped it didn't come back to haunt them. She also knew she'd need to learn to stop walking into her dining room without laughing like an immature teenager. And most importantly, learn to play it close to the breast if she didn't want to get both her and her partner fired.
John had actually convinced her to take a vacation, which wasn't as easy as it sounded, and then they'd gotten the Wright case handed to them. Agent Bowman wasn't bad to work with but the case was a mess; he'd been right when he said they needed two veteran agents with fugitive experience on it. After his briefing they'd been there for another three hours trying to make headway. And they would, true to their word, keep at it through at least the end of the week. Never mind that it made her head hurt.
But that was what the two ibuprofen from the medicine cabinet were for. She had gone home and changed into a Ravens T-shirt under her usual leather jacket and a pair of jeans. She didn't know what John had planned for the evening but she assumed that outfit would be okay.
They'd been pretty much inseparable since the weekend. After that Saturday when they'd spent the day together, she'd had dinner at his place on Sunday and had reluctantly slipped out early Monday morning so they could turn up at work separately. So far, so good. But they had no idea where they were going on vacation. Hence the U.S. Atlas and the globe she was stuffing into the back of the Impala, leftover from her Baltimore days trying to figure out Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?, not that she'd admit it.
When she made the drive to his place and turned up on his doorstep with all of this in hand she just laughed at herself. "Bet you never thought of all the things I've turned up with I'd be bringing high school world geography class with me, huh?" she said, atlas tucked under one arm, globe in the other hand.
Yeah. She still needed that drink. And maybe she did need that vacation after all.
If anything else in her life changed, Stark wondered if her brain might explode.
First she'd ended up bedding her partner in what had been a whirlwind of divulged secrets, unexpected happenings and more sex than she'd had in years or ever intended to have. She knew they had gone too fast and she hoped it didn't come back to haunt them. She also knew she'd need to learn to stop walking into her dining room without laughing like an immature teenager. And most importantly, learn to play it close to the breast if she didn't want to get both her and her partner fired.
John had actually convinced her to take a vacation, which wasn't as easy as it sounded, and then they'd gotten the Wright case handed to them. Agent Bowman wasn't bad to work with but the case was a mess; he'd been right when he said they needed two veteran agents with fugitive experience on it. After his briefing they'd been there for another three hours trying to make headway. And they would, true to their word, keep at it through at least the end of the week. Never mind that it made her head hurt.
But that was what the two ibuprofen from the medicine cabinet were for. She had gone home and changed into a Ravens T-shirt under her usual leather jacket and a pair of jeans. She didn't know what John had planned for the evening but she assumed that outfit would be okay.
They'd been pretty much inseparable since the weekend. After that Saturday when they'd spent the day together, she'd had dinner at his place on Sunday and had reluctantly slipped out early Monday morning so they could turn up at work separately. So far, so good. But they had no idea where they were going on vacation. Hence the U.S. Atlas and the globe she was stuffing into the back of the Impala, leftover from her Baltimore days trying to figure out Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?, not that she'd admit it.
When she made the drive to his place and turned up on his doorstep with all of this in hand she just laughed at herself. "Bet you never thought of all the things I've turned up with I'd be bringing high school world geography class with me, huh?" she said, atlas tucked under one arm, globe in the other hand.
Yeah. She still needed that drink. And maybe she did need that vacation after all.