Disclaimer: I called to get permission, but Mr. Wolf was unavailable.
A/N --Written for Cirocco's Thursday100 plus "Before They Were Stars" challenge on LiveJournal.
Anita stifled a yawn as she trudged up the stairs to her apartment. It was hideously late and she felt dead on her feet. Actually, she just felt dead. Her feet had given up the ghost a few hours ago. But it was worth it. Everything was worth it. The long hours. The aching body parts. The times she had to slip out of her husband's arms at some godforsaken hour in the morning. The nights her babies fell asleep before she could kiss them goodnight. They were moments she'd never be able to get back, but that was part of being a cop, especially one assigned to narcotics.
Sometimes she felt like the weight of the work would overwhelm her. It sickened her every time she had to chase down some low life dealer who'd put crack into the hands of school kids or bring in a mother so strung out that she'd consented to her nine year old daughter being violated to feed her habit. It also made her hold her family just a little closer when she finally did make it home.
But tonight, as she made the familiar predawn trek through the silent apartment building, Anita felt confident for the first time since taking the exam that her days as a narcotics detective were numbered. She'd gotten the news earlier that night. Her friend, Lisa Russo, had called from the lab to say that the fingerprints on the gun were a match.
"We got him." She'd said calmly to her partner after she hung up. "We got the son of a bitch."
What she'd really wanted to do was stand on top of her desk and do a victory dance, but she managed to restrain that urge and they'd gone to pick up the perp instead. While she read the guy his rights and her partner handcuffed him, he vehemently asserted his innocence but Anita didn't hear a word of it. This case had dogged the mayor to the point of ruin and she was part of the duo that brought it in. If this didn't get her off the Lieutenant's list, nothing would. And she'd dare anybody to say that she didn't deserve it.
She reached the door and turned the key in the lock before stealthy sliding into the apartment. She secured the deadbolt, eased her keys onto the end table and left her purse, jacket and shoes in a pile by the door.
Anita crept through the living room and tiptoed down the hall to her boys' room. She carefully made her way over building blocks, dump trucks and action figures to bestow kisses to the sleeping children's heads. After she removed the water gun from Stefan's hand and replaced the blanket Rick always managed to kick off during the night, she took one last look as she backed out of the room. Guilt washed over her as she closed the door and she quickly pushed it away. She'd be around more from now on. She'd make it up to them.
Inside her bedroom, she took off her pants and pantyhose and unclasped her bra, snaking it from under her blouse a la Jennifer Beals in "Flashdance". She eased into the bed beside her husband's deep breathing form and once her head touched the pillow, she breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Relief that this day was finally ending. Relief that she was home with her family and they were all safe. Relief that finally, finally, she was going to get off the Lieutenant's list. As she drifted off, she couldn't help saying her name with the new title out loud.
"Lieutenant Van Buren." She smiled and snuggled closer to her husband.
From her lips to God's ears.
