Me casa es su casa

[hadtobe_said]

Sam had to work hard to school his features when the letter was read.  The whole team, his and hers combined, plus Minelli, were reeling.  He barely looked at Teresa, knowing that he needed all of his control and watching her reaction was only going to make it harder

Comments

[bettercop]

Once he'd asked her to his office, she knew precisely what he was going to suggest, and she had already mentally prepared a protest in her mind. She waited for him to say it out loud, though, and then stiffened, dropping her head and letting her jaw tighten up.

"No," she said succinctly. "That's what he wants. I've been a cop a long time, Sam, I can handle this."

[hadtobe_said]

He'd known, of course, that things weren't going to be simple. That hadn't stopped him from hoping.

"You're one of the best cops I know, kid, but that doesn't negate the need to have someone watching your back. You don't want to come home with me, that's fine. I'll come home with you. Or I'll have Minelli assign you protection, which is what he was talking about earlier."

[bettercop]

There was no way in hell she was going to agree to being assigned a protection detail. She could handle Sam taking up residence in her apartment easier than she could handle that. At least she knew Sam; and they could keep butting heads about this, but she felt like she had more freedom with him, regardless of how protective he was being.

"Fine. You want me to have a protection detail, you can sleep outside my apartment in your car. Now, we're done talking about this," she said, and turned to leave his office.

[hadtobe_said]

"Sure. You might want to let the neighbors know, though. Might be a bit embarrassing if one of them calls the cops about the guy stalking you and using their bushes to pee in." If she didn't want the conversation to stay quite and in the room that was her deal. He purposefully raised his voice.

[bettercop]

Goddammit, she thought. It was just like him, of course, so she wasn't completely surprised. She slammed the door of his office shut again, and then faced him with the steeliest gaze she could muster. Her hands rested on her hips.

"You come to my place, you sleep on the couch, and you don't say a word about what's in my fridge." He would cook, anyway, and buy a ton of food; and she could already hear him nagging her about the cartons of Chinese food, and box of pizza in there.

[hadtobe_said]

"Deal. I'll take the couch, and I won't mock anything in the fridge that doesn't deserved to be mocked." Not that he would ever want a psycho hunting Teresa, but at least it meant he could get her to eat decently for a couple of days. "We should stop by the store on the way home. might limit the amount of before mentioned mocking. Who's driving?"

[bettercop]

She pursed her lips; like he had to ask, really?

"I'm driving. Be ready in ten minutes." She sent a few quick, last minute e-mails, and meant him in the parking garage. She'd had her blue mustang ever since moving to Sacramento; it was no secret that she liked the horsepower, and tried to take quieter back roads as much as possible so she could really let it stretch its legs.

Once they'd shopped and were back at her place, she fed her dogs and changed into something more comfortable: jeans and a black tank top.

"Before you try to talk me into it, I'm not telling my brothers about this." Especially not Tommy, since he was the only one with a kid, and she sure as hell didn't want her niece worrying.

[hadtobe_said]

He waited until she was gone before smirking to himself. Of course she was driving; the only possible argument he'd foreseen was her trying to make him take his own car, which wasn't happening.

Sam had to remind himself that there were dozens of agents in the building, and that she'd be fine without him for a few minutes. He was less comfortable with her being in the parking garage, but knowing she had a gun on her and at least tow in the car helped.

"Did I say anything about telling them?" He'd give her a couple days grace, before insisting on it. Just knowing there was a perv gunning for her was enough for one day. "Alfredo for dinner? I don't have time to make a red sause for tonight."

[bettercop]

"Like I'm gonna turn that down," she smirked. Red sauce, alfredo sauce, it didn't matter; whatever he made it was bound to be delicious. She'd learned that very early on in their partnership. Where there was alfredo sauce, there was also bound to be garlic bread, and she wasn't disappointed.

While her supply of food often left a lot to be desired, she had damn good alcohol in the house, and a delicious bottle of red wine she'd been saving for a while. It seemed like tonight was as good a time as any to open it up. She poured two glasses, handing him one to sip at while he cooked.

"The dogs missed you."

[hadtobe_said]

He made their dinner for the night and started a pot of red sause as well, enough to see them through for the week. He'd make spaghetti the next night, and lasagna after that; she'd had leftovers for lunch, which was good. Maybe it would force her to stop and eat. Maybe he should take it and put his name on it; she might be more likely to eat it then.

he was careful with the alcohol, only a few sips before he had a full stomach to balance it out; after all the whole reason he was around was to watch her back.

"Dogs are good judges of character."

[bettercop]

"They don't know how annoying you can be," she teased with a straight face, raising the wine glass to her lips. She took a few more sips of wine. Partially, she just enjoyed the wine, and partially, she was trying not to think about what this serial killer did to his victims; each woman had been alive for about a week before he'd finally killed them. He took his time, took great pleasure in torturing them, and now he had his sights on her.

She didn't let on to anyone that she really was fearful; even being confident they would catch him, it was still natural to feel some degree of fear. But rather than talking about it, she managed to finish off an entire glass of wine in about ten minutes, and then she was pouring herself another.

[hadtobe_said]

"They don't care. Nice thing about dogs, once they love you they love unconditional." Not unlike his love for her, something he'd never expressed but had felt for years.

"And I'm never annoying." He was careful with what he said. Careful to keep things between them as they'd always been, even if things were different now. They weren't partners, this was a different town, and he wasn't married.

"Why don't you set the table. Five minutes until food."

[bettercop]

She rolled her eyes, but set the table. They talked a lot while they ate, they always seemed to find a lot to talk about; even when one or both of them was quieter, they could eat in companionable silence. It was something they'd adapted to quite easily back in their early days as partners. She could talk to him, and just be with him in a way she never could with anyone else. It helped, of course, that she trusted him in a way she didn't trust anyone else.

Once they'd finished dinner and put everything away, Lisbon changed into boxers and her rugby jersey, sitting down on the couch and stretching her legs out on the coffee table while she turned on the basketball game she'd taped from earlier. One of the dogs settled onto her lap.

[hadtobe_said]

He wasn't so quick to settle; after all this was her home, but he was there for a job. He'd be damned if anyone was going to get to her on his watch.

He made the round of the townhouse, checking both doors and all the windows, closing the blinds. He cleaned the kitchen then, and put the sause he'd made in the fridge. Only then did he come sit on the couch. "We'll have to stop by my place tomorrow after work; I only have one set of work clothes in my go bag, and sweats to sleep in."

[bettercop]

"Sure," she murmured, too caught up in the basketball game to say much of anything else beyond that. When she stopped petting, the dog nuzzled at her hand, so she continued again. She poured another glass of wine, and finished it an hour later. Not long after she'd finished it, she fell asleep; she was so tired -- more tired than she would have admitted out loud, because she was stubborn like that -- that she had no awareness of the fact that her head had lolled to the side, and was resting comfortably against Sam's shoulder as she breathed in deeply, oblivious to the game still playing in the background.

[hadtobe_said]

Maybe it was the wine and maybe the exhaustion, but she didn't seem to be conscious of just how close to him she'd moved. He had to fight to keep still when she rested her head on his shoulder, not wanting to scare her away. When she fell asleep he barely dared to breathe.

He spent more time watching her than the game, but left it as an excuse to stay on the couch. Only when he decided that she'd get deeper and better rest in her own bed did he shake her awake. "Hey kid, rise and shine.