Disparity by Design 3/10
Title: Disparity by Design
Fandom: Nikki & Nora
Pairing: Nikki & Nora
Rating: PG-13 to NC-17 - some parts are more risqué, some have serious language and deal with mature themes and adult concepts like violence, offensive language and naughtiness.
Disclaimer: I’m sure I’ve covered this in the previous 7 stories I’ve written in this fandom, but to cover my bases, I’ll repeat myself - Not mine. I’m playing with someone else’s toys, Nancylee Myatt's and others actually. All for fun and if money is being made off what I’m writing, someone should let me know.
Author’s Note: Man, I’m telling you, the weeks keep going by quicker and quicker, if someone can ya know, slow it down a bit, it’d be shiny. Other than that, uh, enjoy this week’s offerings.
Ch. 3 - Can’t Feel the Heat
Slamming the driver’s side door, I adjust the gun at my hip and look around. “The grandeur of our forensics center is…” I trial off and look at the dilapidated houses surrounding the office, boarded up windows, rusted cars and a dirty street that bears the name of an American hero.
I don’t think Dr. King would be too impressed with the splendor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Frankly, I think he’d turn over in his grave and try to stage a protest.
“It’s a bit underwhelming,” Nikki fills in for me, looking around with as much of a critical eye as I’m passing over the grey, boxy building.
“Yeah,” I agree and plant my hands on my hips. “One day, maybe…”
Nikki slides up next to me and bobs her head. “I think we’ll need to work on the esteemed Dr. Yardley at the next function we attend.”
“You would think they’d…” I run a hand through my hair, brushing my bangs back wishing for a hair tie. “I just think that, all of the crime scene processing is done out of this department, right? Charlie and Benton are always yapping about having to do things for other parishes, but this building looks like it should be a pawn shop not a…”
“Vital part of the investigations that are perpetrated by some of the more…oily clientele that would visit a pawn shop in a building that looked like this?” Nikki tugs on my jacket sleeve for me to follow.
I let her lead the way and add, “Well, pretty much. It lacks a certain…respectability. These guys,” I point to the building to indicate the staff inside, “bust their ass for us, for the people of the city and other parishes. The least we could do is give them a better place to work,” I grump as we enter the front doors.
“Sug, if you feel so strongly about it, you can talk to my father. Maybe he can put a bug in someone’s ear that will be able to find a more,” her voice drops as we sign the log sheet at the reception desk and make our way towards Benton Faunce’s lab, “suitable workplace.”
“You do what you think’s right,” I say. “I just was voicing an opinion.” We round the corner of the narrow hallway and I take in the water stained acoustic tile.
“Hmmm,” Nikki hums and enters the primary processing lab.
We pass over a few work stations; all empty and go to the back of the lab where Benton does his thing. It’s not a huge lab area, but it suits our friend well enough. Predictably, Benton is at a work bench, a laptop off to his left and a stack of files off to his right. He looks up when we enter and grins.
“Well look what the cat dragged in,” he greets us. His smile is warm, inviting.
“Hello,” Nikki greets, stopping short of the bench he’s working at.
I stop on her left side and say, “Having fun?”
“Pfft, just the time of my life.” He motions for us to sit on two empty stools, but Nikki and I both decline.
“Thanks,” I explain, “We’re actually just checking in. Seeing if you guys pulled anything from the bank the day before?”
I shouldn’t be this hopeful.
“Hmm, we’re actually still working on it. My interns don’t come in for another hour and they’re still processing.” Benton scratches at the smooth skin of his chin and shakes his head.
“Okay,” Nikki placates him. “There are a few things we wanted you to check on…”
“Hang on,” Benton interrupts and turns his attention back to his computer, “I want to make notes.”
We watch him fiddle with his computer before signaling Nikki with a wave of his hand to continue.
“First, see if you can prioritize anything the perps may have touched, anything they came in to contact with…”
“Oh, hey, hang on.” The analyst holds up his left hand to stop Nikki from talking. “There have been some prints that didn’t match with bank employees. We haven’t had time to run them through the system yet…let me just…” He clamps his bottom lip between his teeth and starts searching the top of the table.
He shuffles folders to the side and evidence bags towards the back before he stands up and begins a decent pat down of his person. The sleeves of his lab coat a little short for his long arms.
“Ah-ha,” he chirps, a satisfied smile spreading across his lips as his right hand slips into the front pocket of his coat. He pulls out a small flash drive and waves it around for Nikki and me to see. “I’ll dump what we have on here. So far,” he tells us sitting back down and plugging the USB drive into the side of his computer, “we pulled one and a half latent prints that look promising.”
He looks away from the screen and winks at me. “Maybe you can go light a fire under someone to get these processed a bit faster?”
I shrug. “Maybe,” I say noncommittally.
“Cool,” he bobs his head, “What else?”
“Also, there were some robberies, three, a few months apart a while back,” I fill in as Nikki takes the offered drive, “On the second robbery, shots were fired, nobody was hurt.” I take my notebook out of my jacket pocket, flip it open and find the sheet that has the case numbers scribbled on it. Tearing it free, I hand it over to Benton, “There are three case numbers here. The second has the physical evidence, some slugs and shell casings. Can you compare those to the ones from our robbery? See if they match?”
“Consider it done.” He takes the paper and tapes it to the side of his monitor. “Anything else?”
I shake my head and Nikki purrs, “Benton you are a warm beignet on a cold morning. Thank you.”
“We owe you a drink or two,” I promise him.
That earns me a slight blush and he ducks his head.
“Thanks, Benton,” I say as Nikki and I ready to leave. “Call us and have a good day.”
“You ladies have a good one yourself,” he waves us off and is already back, staring at his computer before we even get halfway out of his lab door.
"I think I'd rather go see our shrink than go see Luke," I grumble as we make our way through Orleans Parish Central Police building.
This building isn't in as bad of shape as the forensics labs, but it isn't in the best of shape either.
Better neighborhood that's for sure.
Some of the people are sleazier, but I suppose that's to be expected.
"Come on," Nikki urges me up the steps and through the main entrance, "at least he's still talking to you. Poor Patrick hasn't talked to his cousins in over two years, Nora."
Which is exactly why I don't really want to go talk to Luke now.
Homophobic prick.
"Stop," Nikki halts our movements as we stop at the elevator to take us up the three flights of stairs to Luke's department. She spins on her thin heel and levels a look at me that tells me she knows exactly what I was thinking.
"He's still a prick," I growl loud enough so that only she can hear me, "the only reason he's still talking to me is because we have to work together occasionally."
My lover rolls her eyes, but concedes, "Be that as it may, Nora, act like the professional I know you to be and quit acting like he's the cousin that jumped on your pillow fort."
"Fine," I let it go and fold my arms across my chest. The door to the elevator opens. I motion her inside and follow, pressing the button for his floor. The cab ride is silent, just the whir of the motors as we’re lifted 3 stories above the ground. The lurch of the space we’re in signals our arrival and as the doors slide open, we step into a dimly lit office space.
It's always strange when we have to come see Luke at his station. He joined up with a pilot program the N.O.P.D. was running in conjunction with federal law enforcement to streamline data feeds and channels.
Since then, this unit, Assisted Informational Services or A.I.S. paired with the Technical Assistance Response Unit or T.A.R.U. to become the gate keepers of all things digital.
They handle the more extensive searches, processing of reports, statistics and coordinate with the other sixty-three parishes in the state.
The department has been recruiting steadily for two years. They still need all the help they can get.
Moving through the room, lit up by computer monitors, the only sounds that can be heard are the clicking of keys and a bit of chatter from phone conversations.
That is until we near my cousin’s workstation. He's bobbing his head to Thin Lizzy.
"I think I should arrest you," I say before I have time to think about it. "Didn't I tell you that if you're going to listen to classic rock you stick to Sabbath, Priest, Zepplin, The Stones or Fleetwood Mac." I tisk and shake my head. "I could have sworn I taught you better than that."
His posture stiffens when he recognizes Nikki and me. "Hi,” he says stiffly, straightening his back and stopping the music pouring from the computer's speakers.
" Luke," Nikki acknowledges my cousin and sits on the edge of his desk. "How is my seventh favorite Delaney doing today?"
His forehead scrunches up and his eyes squint, "Seventh? Really?"
"Well, Nora's, of course, first, then there's in no particular order, Patrick, Chris, Bobby, Reyna and your aunt." She sighs and tries to pat his arm, but he snatches it away.
Nikki doesn't let it affect her and she carries on, "I think seventh out of the lot isn't too bad."
"Yeah," he fidgets in his seat and scowls my way, "well, it depends on who you consider a Delaney."
"Luke," my voice drops in warning and I step up next to Nikki pressing my thigh against her bent knee.
"What do you two need?" he asks, licking his lips.
Nikki produces the flash drive from her coat pocket and hands it over to my cousin. "Mr. Faunce was kind enough to put some data about our new case on this little thing and we were wondering if you could run the prints. See if anything pops?"
"You two will leave if I agree?" he snatches the USB from Nikki's fingers and plugs it in his machine.
"We could," Nikki tries for playful, but it falls flat. She's getting fed up with his attitude.
I'm not too impressed with his manners.
"Yeah, well, being seen with you two isn't doing much for me. Bad enough I had to hear it from my mother, but the fact I can't say shit about the rumors..." his eyes cut to me and he shakes his head. "Shit makes me sick."
My jaw clenches and if it wasn't for the sweep of Nikki's hand down my arm to keep me in check, I'd have reached around her to throttle him.
"You know, Luke," Nikki's tone is sugary. It's not a good sign. "They aren’t just rumors. Say what you will.” Her head tilts to the side as she clucks, “I'm not saying you have to agree or whatever you people think about our lives, but you do have to respect the fact that family is family, right or wrong in your opinion. I thought Delaney's were a loyal bunch?"
"We are," he grits out and cuts his eyes to me. "Don't mean that some of us aren't a bunch of perverted freaks trying to ruin the family."
His eyes break to the screen in front of him and he informs us, "Nothing local. I'll have to do a deeper search. I'll call you when or if I find anything."
"The family's intact, Luke," I tell him, locking eyes and making sure he gets my message, "It's still me. Patrick is still Patrick. If you'd pull your oversized head out of your ass long enough, you may even see that."
I don't wait on his response or Nikki to follow me.
Stupid asshole.
I shove my way out of his department and head for the stairwell next to the elevator.
The funny thing is that I’m not so pissed about his opinion of me. I’m right enough with myself.
Not to say it doesn’t hurt.
It hurts, but it's not the most troubling.
Patrick was a role model for all of us. He was the oldest. He got to do things first. He was our go to, all of us, my brothers and my cousins always went to him if we needed anything.
Now, they treat him like garbage.
It's fucking sickening.
My brother deserves better than the shit family he's got.
I shift the weight on my feet and Nikki hits the speaker button on our phone causing Dan's voice to ring through our living room, "I swear, you two are going to give me an ulcer at this rate."
Nikki wiggles her eyebrows at me and I roll mine.
She tightens the sash on her robe and Dan carries on, "Why in the hell do you think you've been given the reprieve to work at home?"
"Because, we can," Nikki tilts her head to the side and looks at the photos we have tacked up.
"Did you forget that you've finally let the cat out of the bag? You two don't have to be strangers here anymore," Dan reminds us. His tone carries this undercurrent of exasperation.
"Dan," I cut in on the conversation, "We have been there more than we've been at home. Are you forgetting we were there over seventy-two hours straight last week?" I put my hands on my hips, bunching up the tank top that I have on.
"Yeah, but," he starts lamely.
"Yeah, but nothing. We are just as effective here as we are at the station," Nikki cuts him off. "Now, besides giving us grief for missing that thing you call a meeting, anything else important that we need to know about? We do have work to do, you know."
"No, just keep me in the loop. I have a review with my boss later this afternoon, I'd like to share good news instead of what I have been," Dan resigns.
"Well, then, we'll let you know," Nikki winks at me before she continues, "just look at it this way, Harney, I can't review the case in my robe and goose Nora when I want if I were at the station."
I groan. Dan takes the bait, "Well when you put it like that, goose her for me and call me later."
My protest is cut off as the line goes dead.
Asshole.
Nikki snickers and turns the phone off. "That was fun," she chirps and leans back against the couch.
"For you," I grumble and fold my arms over my chest.
"Sugga," she drawls, "you can goose me to if it will make you feel any better."
My arms drop and I relax, plopping down on the couch next to her. I rest my head against the back of the cushion and close my eyes.
"I just like being home," I admit. Looking at Nikki out of the corner of my eyes, I see her position mirrors mine.
I think she's gotten prettier. Her features show only subtle signs of age. A crinkle here, a faint line there.
We go to the salon regularly enough that I couldn’t tell you if she had a lot of grey.
Probably just as much as I do.
"What?" she asks, not bothering to open her eyes, "I got something on my face?"
I reach out and brush a few strands of hair out of my way before I answer her, "Nope, just thinking about how beautiful you are,"
Admitting that brings a smile to my face.
"Hmmm," she hums, cracks her right eye open and lets her head fall to the left to look at me, "you trying to get lucky?"
I match her silly grin, crook a finger and open up my arms. She wastes no time crawling in them. Kissing her full lips, I tell her the truth, "Only if it’s with you."
"Good answer, Delaney, good answer." She does pull away from me though and spoils my morning, "We do have work to do. Bad guys to catch, people to annoy and I do need to swing by the foundation to sign some papers for Jen."
"Yeah, I got that message too. She thinks we are avoiding her." I follow my girl’s lead and stand.
"Then we better hurry up and get ready. Shower with me?"
I make a face at her and scoff, "Did you even have to ask?"
Next>>>
Fandom: Nikki & Nora
Pairing: Nikki & Nora
Rating: PG-13 to NC-17 - some parts are more risqué, some have serious language and deal with mature themes and adult concepts like violence, offensive language and naughtiness.
Disclaimer: I’m sure I’ve covered this in the previous 7 stories I’ve written in this fandom, but to cover my bases, I’ll repeat myself - Not mine. I’m playing with someone else’s toys, Nancylee Myatt's and others actually. All for fun and if money is being made off what I’m writing, someone should let me know.
Author’s Note: Man, I’m telling you, the weeks keep going by quicker and quicker, if someone can ya know, slow it down a bit, it’d be shiny. Other than that, uh, enjoy this week’s offerings.
Ch. 3 - Can’t Feel the Heat
Slamming the driver’s side door, I adjust the gun at my hip and look around. “The grandeur of our forensics center is…” I trial off and look at the dilapidated houses surrounding the office, boarded up windows, rusted cars and a dirty street that bears the name of an American hero.
I don’t think Dr. King would be too impressed with the splendor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Frankly, I think he’d turn over in his grave and try to stage a protest.
“It’s a bit underwhelming,” Nikki fills in for me, looking around with as much of a critical eye as I’m passing over the grey, boxy building.
“Yeah,” I agree and plant my hands on my hips. “One day, maybe…”
Nikki slides up next to me and bobs her head. “I think we’ll need to work on the esteemed Dr. Yardley at the next function we attend.”
“You would think they’d…” I run a hand through my hair, brushing my bangs back wishing for a hair tie. “I just think that, all of the crime scene processing is done out of this department, right? Charlie and Benton are always yapping about having to do things for other parishes, but this building looks like it should be a pawn shop not a…”
“Vital part of the investigations that are perpetrated by some of the more…oily clientele that would visit a pawn shop in a building that looked like this?” Nikki tugs on my jacket sleeve for me to follow.
I let her lead the way and add, “Well, pretty much. It lacks a certain…respectability. These guys,” I point to the building to indicate the staff inside, “bust their ass for us, for the people of the city and other parishes. The least we could do is give them a better place to work,” I grump as we enter the front doors.
“Sug, if you feel so strongly about it, you can talk to my father. Maybe he can put a bug in someone’s ear that will be able to find a more,” her voice drops as we sign the log sheet at the reception desk and make our way towards Benton Faunce’s lab, “suitable workplace.”
“You do what you think’s right,” I say. “I just was voicing an opinion.” We round the corner of the narrow hallway and I take in the water stained acoustic tile.
“Hmmm,” Nikki hums and enters the primary processing lab.
We pass over a few work stations; all empty and go to the back of the lab where Benton does his thing. It’s not a huge lab area, but it suits our friend well enough. Predictably, Benton is at a work bench, a laptop off to his left and a stack of files off to his right. He looks up when we enter and grins.
“Well look what the cat dragged in,” he greets us. His smile is warm, inviting.
“Hello,” Nikki greets, stopping short of the bench he’s working at.
I stop on her left side and say, “Having fun?”
“Pfft, just the time of my life.” He motions for us to sit on two empty stools, but Nikki and I both decline.
“Thanks,” I explain, “We’re actually just checking in. Seeing if you guys pulled anything from the bank the day before?”
I shouldn’t be this hopeful.
“Hmm, we’re actually still working on it. My interns don’t come in for another hour and they’re still processing.” Benton scratches at the smooth skin of his chin and shakes his head.
“Okay,” Nikki placates him. “There are a few things we wanted you to check on…”
“Hang on,” Benton interrupts and turns his attention back to his computer, “I want to make notes.”
We watch him fiddle with his computer before signaling Nikki with a wave of his hand to continue.
“First, see if you can prioritize anything the perps may have touched, anything they came in to contact with…”
“Oh, hey, hang on.” The analyst holds up his left hand to stop Nikki from talking. “There have been some prints that didn’t match with bank employees. We haven’t had time to run them through the system yet…let me just…” He clamps his bottom lip between his teeth and starts searching the top of the table.
He shuffles folders to the side and evidence bags towards the back before he stands up and begins a decent pat down of his person. The sleeves of his lab coat a little short for his long arms.
“Ah-ha,” he chirps, a satisfied smile spreading across his lips as his right hand slips into the front pocket of his coat. He pulls out a small flash drive and waves it around for Nikki and me to see. “I’ll dump what we have on here. So far,” he tells us sitting back down and plugging the USB drive into the side of his computer, “we pulled one and a half latent prints that look promising.”
He looks away from the screen and winks at me. “Maybe you can go light a fire under someone to get these processed a bit faster?”
I shrug. “Maybe,” I say noncommittally.
“Cool,” he bobs his head, “What else?”
“Also, there were some robberies, three, a few months apart a while back,” I fill in as Nikki takes the offered drive, “On the second robbery, shots were fired, nobody was hurt.” I take my notebook out of my jacket pocket, flip it open and find the sheet that has the case numbers scribbled on it. Tearing it free, I hand it over to Benton, “There are three case numbers here. The second has the physical evidence, some slugs and shell casings. Can you compare those to the ones from our robbery? See if they match?”
“Consider it done.” He takes the paper and tapes it to the side of his monitor. “Anything else?”
I shake my head and Nikki purrs, “Benton you are a warm beignet on a cold morning. Thank you.”
“We owe you a drink or two,” I promise him.
That earns me a slight blush and he ducks his head.
“Thanks, Benton,” I say as Nikki and I ready to leave. “Call us and have a good day.”
“You ladies have a good one yourself,” he waves us off and is already back, staring at his computer before we even get halfway out of his lab door.
"I think I'd rather go see our shrink than go see Luke," I grumble as we make our way through Orleans Parish Central Police building.
This building isn't in as bad of shape as the forensics labs, but it isn't in the best of shape either.
Better neighborhood that's for sure.
Some of the people are sleazier, but I suppose that's to be expected.
"Come on," Nikki urges me up the steps and through the main entrance, "at least he's still talking to you. Poor Patrick hasn't talked to his cousins in over two years, Nora."
Which is exactly why I don't really want to go talk to Luke now.
Homophobic prick.
"Stop," Nikki halts our movements as we stop at the elevator to take us up the three flights of stairs to Luke's department. She spins on her thin heel and levels a look at me that tells me she knows exactly what I was thinking.
"He's still a prick," I growl loud enough so that only she can hear me, "the only reason he's still talking to me is because we have to work together occasionally."
My lover rolls her eyes, but concedes, "Be that as it may, Nora, act like the professional I know you to be and quit acting like he's the cousin that jumped on your pillow fort."
"Fine," I let it go and fold my arms across my chest. The door to the elevator opens. I motion her inside and follow, pressing the button for his floor. The cab ride is silent, just the whir of the motors as we’re lifted 3 stories above the ground. The lurch of the space we’re in signals our arrival and as the doors slide open, we step into a dimly lit office space.
It's always strange when we have to come see Luke at his station. He joined up with a pilot program the N.O.P.D. was running in conjunction with federal law enforcement to streamline data feeds and channels.
Since then, this unit, Assisted Informational Services or A.I.S. paired with the Technical Assistance Response Unit or T.A.R.U. to become the gate keepers of all things digital.
They handle the more extensive searches, processing of reports, statistics and coordinate with the other sixty-three parishes in the state.
The department has been recruiting steadily for two years. They still need all the help they can get.
Moving through the room, lit up by computer monitors, the only sounds that can be heard are the clicking of keys and a bit of chatter from phone conversations.
That is until we near my cousin’s workstation. He's bobbing his head to Thin Lizzy.
"I think I should arrest you," I say before I have time to think about it. "Didn't I tell you that if you're going to listen to classic rock you stick to Sabbath, Priest, Zepplin, The Stones or Fleetwood Mac." I tisk and shake my head. "I could have sworn I taught you better than that."
His posture stiffens when he recognizes Nikki and me. "Hi,” he says stiffly, straightening his back and stopping the music pouring from the computer's speakers.
" Luke," Nikki acknowledges my cousin and sits on the edge of his desk. "How is my seventh favorite Delaney doing today?"
His forehead scrunches up and his eyes squint, "Seventh? Really?"
"Well, Nora's, of course, first, then there's in no particular order, Patrick, Chris, Bobby, Reyna and your aunt." She sighs and tries to pat his arm, but he snatches it away.
Nikki doesn't let it affect her and she carries on, "I think seventh out of the lot isn't too bad."
"Yeah," he fidgets in his seat and scowls my way, "well, it depends on who you consider a Delaney."
"Luke," my voice drops in warning and I step up next to Nikki pressing my thigh against her bent knee.
"What do you two need?" he asks, licking his lips.
Nikki produces the flash drive from her coat pocket and hands it over to my cousin. "Mr. Faunce was kind enough to put some data about our new case on this little thing and we were wondering if you could run the prints. See if anything pops?"
"You two will leave if I agree?" he snatches the USB from Nikki's fingers and plugs it in his machine.
"We could," Nikki tries for playful, but it falls flat. She's getting fed up with his attitude.
I'm not too impressed with his manners.
"Yeah, well, being seen with you two isn't doing much for me. Bad enough I had to hear it from my mother, but the fact I can't say shit about the rumors..." his eyes cut to me and he shakes his head. "Shit makes me sick."
My jaw clenches and if it wasn't for the sweep of Nikki's hand down my arm to keep me in check, I'd have reached around her to throttle him.
"You know, Luke," Nikki's tone is sugary. It's not a good sign. "They aren’t just rumors. Say what you will.” Her head tilts to the side as she clucks, “I'm not saying you have to agree or whatever you people think about our lives, but you do have to respect the fact that family is family, right or wrong in your opinion. I thought Delaney's were a loyal bunch?"
"We are," he grits out and cuts his eyes to me. "Don't mean that some of us aren't a bunch of perverted freaks trying to ruin the family."
His eyes break to the screen in front of him and he informs us, "Nothing local. I'll have to do a deeper search. I'll call you when or if I find anything."
"The family's intact, Luke," I tell him, locking eyes and making sure he gets my message, "It's still me. Patrick is still Patrick. If you'd pull your oversized head out of your ass long enough, you may even see that."
I don't wait on his response or Nikki to follow me.
Stupid asshole.
I shove my way out of his department and head for the stairwell next to the elevator.
The funny thing is that I’m not so pissed about his opinion of me. I’m right enough with myself.
Not to say it doesn’t hurt.
It hurts, but it's not the most troubling.
Patrick was a role model for all of us. He was the oldest. He got to do things first. He was our go to, all of us, my brothers and my cousins always went to him if we needed anything.
Now, they treat him like garbage.
It's fucking sickening.
My brother deserves better than the shit family he's got.
I shift the weight on my feet and Nikki hits the speaker button on our phone causing Dan's voice to ring through our living room, "I swear, you two are going to give me an ulcer at this rate."
Nikki wiggles her eyebrows at me and I roll mine.
She tightens the sash on her robe and Dan carries on, "Why in the hell do you think you've been given the reprieve to work at home?"
"Because, we can," Nikki tilts her head to the side and looks at the photos we have tacked up.
"Did you forget that you've finally let the cat out of the bag? You two don't have to be strangers here anymore," Dan reminds us. His tone carries this undercurrent of exasperation.
"Dan," I cut in on the conversation, "We have been there more than we've been at home. Are you forgetting we were there over seventy-two hours straight last week?" I put my hands on my hips, bunching up the tank top that I have on.
"Yeah, but," he starts lamely.
"Yeah, but nothing. We are just as effective here as we are at the station," Nikki cuts him off. "Now, besides giving us grief for missing that thing you call a meeting, anything else important that we need to know about? We do have work to do, you know."
"No, just keep me in the loop. I have a review with my boss later this afternoon, I'd like to share good news instead of what I have been," Dan resigns.
"Well, then, we'll let you know," Nikki winks at me before she continues, "just look at it this way, Harney, I can't review the case in my robe and goose Nora when I want if I were at the station."
I groan. Dan takes the bait, "Well when you put it like that, goose her for me and call me later."
My protest is cut off as the line goes dead.
Asshole.
Nikki snickers and turns the phone off. "That was fun," she chirps and leans back against the couch.
"For you," I grumble and fold my arms over my chest.
"Sugga," she drawls, "you can goose me to if it will make you feel any better."
My arms drop and I relax, plopping down on the couch next to her. I rest my head against the back of the cushion and close my eyes.
"I just like being home," I admit. Looking at Nikki out of the corner of my eyes, I see her position mirrors mine.
I think she's gotten prettier. Her features show only subtle signs of age. A crinkle here, a faint line there.
We go to the salon regularly enough that I couldn’t tell you if she had a lot of grey.
Probably just as much as I do.
"What?" she asks, not bothering to open her eyes, "I got something on my face?"
I reach out and brush a few strands of hair out of my way before I answer her, "Nope, just thinking about how beautiful you are,"
Admitting that brings a smile to my face.
"Hmmm," she hums, cracks her right eye open and lets her head fall to the left to look at me, "you trying to get lucky?"
I match her silly grin, crook a finger and open up my arms. She wastes no time crawling in them. Kissing her full lips, I tell her the truth, "Only if it’s with you."
"Good answer, Delaney, good answer." She does pull away from me though and spoils my morning, "We do have work to do. Bad guys to catch, people to annoy and I do need to swing by the foundation to sign some papers for Jen."
"Yeah, I got that message too. She thinks we are avoiding her." I follow my girl’s lead and stand.
"Then we better hurry up and get ready. Shower with me?"
I make a face at her and scoff, "Did you even have to ask?"
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