AN- This is total and utter pointless fluff and just generally cute. It was supposed to be a one-shot, possibly two but it spiralled and ended up a lot longer. I think due to the fact that LaSalle was given a shiny new truck and wouldn't let Brody drive it I decided I would let her have a truck to play with and have some fun with. I was keeping this back but decide that my lovely friend BonesBird needed to finally see my complete and utter fluff posted.
It was time for a break, she had had enough. Cases seemed to literally be falling out the sky like rain and it was non-stop. After just over a month of constant work and sleeping in shifts, she wanted out. Going to the printer she picked up the request form and brought it back to her desk to fill it in. As she sat looking at it she felt him watching her from where he sat at his desk. She could always tell when he sat watching her, after all this time she had tuned in to him and she just knew. Looking up at him she smiled and he gave a very feeble smile back. He was worried about something, she could tell by the look on his face and the excuse of a smile he gave her. She returned to the form on her desk, filling it in would get her out of here quicker. Picking her pen up she set about filling in the little boxes and ticking where needed to be ticked.
Now he was worried. He had seen her go to the printer and pick up a form she had printed off. He had noticed a change in her in the past week and he couldn't put his finger on it. She seemed to become distant and when on the odd occasion she got to actually go home she was out the door before he could stand from his desk. He knew the past few weeks had been tough, hell they had been tough on them all. Non-stop work, sleeping in shifts in his room upstairs. He wasn't surprised her temper with Christopher was a little short of late, they needed a few days case free. When she came back to her desk carrying the form he panicked, he wasn't going to lie. Did she want to leave? Was it a transfer form? He could handle just about anything but that, that was too much. He hoped the turmoil he was going through was not going to end in her leaving.
When he met her for the first time he was a little disarmed. He was expecting a man, a male interrogator to help out then he could send him back. No, the world had other plans and in waltzed Meredith Brody. He was doomed from the off when it came to her, he could never say no. When she packed up to leave he asked her to stay and be part of his team. He had cleared it with Vance and he agreed, at least they had someone to watch over there boyish behaviour now since she was there. Now the thought of her going was a little daunting. He wanted her to stay, stay with his team. She had fitted in so well and had finally learnt to deal with some issues from her past. As he sat and watched her hand move over the paper he finally started to realise a few things and he was a little terrified at what was become clear to him. He didn't just want her to stay and be part of this, he wanted her to stay on a more personal level. She had wormed her way in and he would miss her a lot if she left. Maybe he would get the chance to tell her before she left, tell her to stay not just with the team but with him.
Before the huge avalanche of cases, they had started spending more time together than normal colleagues did. He would cook or they would grab take out and watch a movie at hers. They had fun and he really enjoyed himself when it was just the two of them. He presumed she felt the same when she started to suggest what they could do on an evening. They had just started to make inroads into something that could turn out really good for them both and now...she might be leaving. Pulling his eyes away from her after she caught him looking he went back to his computer and tried to get some work done.
When she finished the form she picked up her coffee cup and finished the drink before standing up. Looking between Pride and the form she picked it up and headed over to Pride's desk. When she came level with the front of his desk she stopped and waited for him to stop typing. When he finally looked up at her she saw he looked a nervous, either by her being at his desk when there was paperwork out there needing to be done or the fact she was now standing in front of his desk with a form in her hand, paperwork that he needed to look at.
"King you okay? You don't look so good." Seeing the colour drain from his face as his eyes darted between the form in her hand and her face.
"What you got there?" Trying to play this cool when really he was as nervous as hell.
"A request form I need you to approve." Seeing his eyes dart between the form and her face.
Why did he look so nervous suddenly? She saw him look down at the form and then back at her again. The form, he was worried about the form. What the hell did he think it was? A transfer request or something. Ohh, my god he did, he thought that she was asking for a transfer. Even if she was why did he look so concerned about it? When she arrived he was surprised to say the least, and he wasn't sure. She was shocked when he asked her to stay but she had agreed and now she was home. How could he think she would want to leave? She loved being part of the team and she had to say she was gaining a little bit of a soft spot for a certain member of the team. Maybe it would lead somewhere or maybe not. She hadn't really put much effort into finding out but she had hoped after her time away and time permitting she would give it go and see if he was interested or more to the point as interested as she was. She needed to put him out of his misery now. Passing him the form she watched him take it and look at it at least three times to make sure he was reading it right.
"It's a request form for vacation time. You do realise I was picturing this being..." But he stopped and looked at her before he got a case of verbal diarrhoea and said too much.
"I gathered that by your face. Why would I leave? This is home now, with Chris, Loretta and Sebastian and you, of course, can't forget you." Seeing the smile appear when she made sure to add extra emphasis to him.
"I just thought that with the way you have been these past few days and how short tempered you had been you had had enough and wanted out. I really don't want you to leave us we need you here, I need you here." Confessing part of what he wanted to say.
"Thanks, King, I want to be here. For the first time in a long time I want to stay somewhere, I want to be part of the team, part of your team." Adding a little thickness to the word your.
That smile had come back a little more now. She was not lying, she really did want to stay with the team and more so him. She would have time to prove that when she got back from vacation.
"I need to get away King. I need to recharge my batteries, I am sick of running on empty these past few weeks. If I stay in town I will be dragged back here so I need to go away and find a bit space to think and clear my head before I crack." Seeing he understood how she felt.
Taking the form he looked it over and signed it, making a mental note of the dates she had picked. It wasn't until the following weekend so they still had just under 5 days. That wasn't a problem, he could arrange that with Vance as a plan formed in his head.
"So you got any plans or you just high tailing out of here and see where the wind takes you?" Seeing her smile as she looked at him.
"I am borrowing a friends pick up and I may just high tail it out of here. I need open space, I need freedom and peace, even if it's only for a couple of nights. I need to rebuild myself." As she thought of where she might end up.
"Well, you're all approved so all you have to do is pick somewhere and go. Make sure you let one of us know where you're headed just in case. We do need you back and the place may become too appealing after the past few weeks." Laughing at the thought of her going AWOL.
"Well, I can't stay here chatting I've got real paperwork to do now. Thank for this." Waving the signed form in the air as she walked away.
Looking across at him as she sat down seeing him nod his head as a way of acknowledging her. They both set about doing their paperwork till Pride decided to go speak to Vance and clear the whole team off for the four days. If he cleared them all the possibilities were endless. He had already started the ball rolling and told her to leave an address of where she going just in case, with a just in case address he could accidentally find himself at the same place. Getting up from his desk he made his way up to the upper conference room to call Vance.
When he came back down he had a big smile on his face as he went straight to the kitchen and made fresh coffee. When it was made he sat the three cups down on the table and shouted through for Brody and LaSalle to join him. They two agents came through looking half asleep as they took a seat at the table seeing the cups of fresh coffee.
"So I hope you don't mind but Brody here gave me an idea and I thought I would expand on it. After the past few weeks, we have been pushed to the limits so after a conversation with the lovely director he has agreed we all need a little downtime. We have all been cleared for a long weekend starting Friday. Case or no case we are done Thursday night until Tuesday morning. So go make plans for your long weekend, I will cook dinner as a way to celebrate the fact, we need a good meal for a change instead of snacking." Both agents smiled at him and it was LaSalle who was up from the table and back to his desk to make some calls for going home for a few days.
Brody, on the other hand, stayed sat at the table and looked across at Pride. He still had a grin on his face that was a mix of happy and mischievous like he had something planned. They sat staring at each other the whole time as he sat with that grin on his face and she cracked.
"Why you looking so pleased and dare I say it devious? You look like you have plans going round in that head of yours and you actually look like you're enjoying whatever these plans are." Placing her empty coffee cup back on the table and sitting back in her chair.
"I do not a devious look on my face and I am happy we all get to do a recharge for a couple of days. As for my plans, I'm not sure yet, Laurel is out of town still so I may just spend a few days eating out and enjoying someone cooking for me for a change. Not much else I can do really since this is home." Seeing her look around the kitchen and out over the courtyard to his room upstairs.
He could see his plans taking shape as she took in his words and considered what to say. When she finally spoke he had to clench his fists under the table as he was a little too tempted to take hold of the hand on the table and squeeze it.
"Well since you have no plans why don't you come with me. I have plans but only vague, so far they involve a pickup truck, a sleeping bag and the stars. Past that I don't care as all I want is quiet." Smiling across at him at the thought that maybe her plan didn't have to wait till she came back.
"A pickup truck and the stars, that sounds a pretty cool way to unwind. You do have plans in case it rains right?" Seeing her think his question over.
"Of course not, I will wing it and if it gets bad I always got the inside of the cab to keep me dry. Plus there is a tarp cover for the back that fastens on so I can always cover up with that. I am not going to overthink this, for once I will see what happens and go with the flow." Picking both cups up and nodding at the machine before standing up.
"Sure, well I am glad I get to come along now as you're not the wing it type of person. You need to plan everything and make sure all bases are covered. Now I'm glad I booked us all off just to see you chill out for more than a few hours." As she returned to the table with fresh coffee.
"I do need to stop being a control freak and learn to let go a little. Maybe this weekend will be good for me. For now, though I still have enough paperwork to do from now till Thursday and God help us we get another case I may never be found under it when I print it out." Laughing as she picked her coffee up and disappeared back to her desk.
He watched her leave and smiled to himself. His plan had worked, now he was going to spend a few days away with her and he couldn't be happier with how this had all fell into place. She and no idea of his plan to tag along as she had invited him so now all he had to do was think of ways to make a pickup truck, some stars and some peace and quiet work in favour.