Fic: Setback
Title: Setback
Author: Melissima
Pairing/Characters: Megan Reeves, Billy Cooper
Rating: PG
Word Count: 300
Summary: It's just a visit from a friend of a friend...until it's not.
Spoilers: Manhunt, The Janus List, When Worlds Collide
Prompt/Challenge: Numb3rs100 Prompt #53 Support
Notes/Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Numb3rs belongs to Scottfree, CBS and Heauton/Falacci. Just a fan havin' fun, here.
Billy Cooper showed up in her new office late on a Friday, asking about one of her past clients at the women's detention center.
Don had called ahead and asked her to help Billy out. She'd hesitated to talk about her client, but the boyfriend's rap sheet was compelling. Agent Cooper didn't mince words, so she didn't either.
When they finished the profile the office cleaners were making their efficient rounds. She could tell by the edgy swipe of his palms on the knees of his jeans that if she left him he'd settle for a dinner of jerky and gas station coffee, so she suggested a local burger joint. They took separate cars.
He told stories - crass cowboy yarns honed to impress the impressionable. She stayed quiet through two beers, but once she started talking she couldn't stop: the academy, the Eppeses, the Janus debacle. He sprawled in the crackly vinyl booth, his wry smile and piercing gaze conveying both interest and permission. She slid somehow into her burnout tale, eyes prickling as she remembered her last walk across the bullpen, flanked by Colby and David.
An especially loud whoop from some boozy sports fans broke the spell. Embarrassment swelled and broke in her chest. She stood up yammering about early mornings and would have fled, but a waitress paused in the aisle with a heavy tray and she drew up short, stumbling slightly. A muscular, freckled arm slung around her shoulder as a startled sob broke from her throat.
He didn't say anything and she didn't meet his eyes. She let him hail a cab and put her in it. The next morning she woke up bleary and sickened - not by the beer, but by the realization that she hadn't really put the Bureau behind her at all.
Author: Melissima
Pairing/Characters: Megan Reeves, Billy Cooper
Rating: PG
Word Count: 300
Summary: It's just a visit from a friend of a friend...until it's not.
Spoilers: Manhunt, The Janus List, When Worlds Collide
Prompt/Challenge: Numb3rs100 Prompt #53 Support
Notes/Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Numb3rs belongs to Scottfree, CBS and Heauton/Falacci. Just a fan havin' fun, here.
Billy Cooper showed up in her new office late on a Friday, asking about one of her past clients at the women's detention center.
Don had called ahead and asked her to help Billy out. She'd hesitated to talk about her client, but the boyfriend's rap sheet was compelling. Agent Cooper didn't mince words, so she didn't either.
When they finished the profile the office cleaners were making their efficient rounds. She could tell by the edgy swipe of his palms on the knees of his jeans that if she left him he'd settle for a dinner of jerky and gas station coffee, so she suggested a local burger joint. They took separate cars.
He told stories - crass cowboy yarns honed to impress the impressionable. She stayed quiet through two beers, but once she started talking she couldn't stop: the academy, the Eppeses, the Janus debacle. He sprawled in the crackly vinyl booth, his wry smile and piercing gaze conveying both interest and permission. She slid somehow into her burnout tale, eyes prickling as she remembered her last walk across the bullpen, flanked by Colby and David.
An especially loud whoop from some boozy sports fans broke the spell. Embarrassment swelled and broke in her chest. She stood up yammering about early mornings and would have fled, but a waitress paused in the aisle with a heavy tray and she drew up short, stumbling slightly. A muscular, freckled arm slung around her shoulder as a startled sob broke from her throat.
He didn't say anything and she didn't meet his eyes. She let him hail a cab and put her in it. The next morning she woke up bleary and sickened - not by the beer, but by the realization that she hadn't really put the Bureau behind her at all.