"Oh for heavens sake Fritzy, don't let Joel sit on the table." Exasperation was her favourite tone, or at least that was how it felt to those that knew Brenda Leigh Johnson best. Clucking her tongue, she moved around the table, her hair bouncing lightly at her shoulders as she moved. The heels of her shoes clattered against the kitchen tiles and Fritz wasn't even watched. He was staring at the paper in his hands, absentmindedly sipping the coffee clutched in his right hand. Brenda barely even looked at him as she reached across the table and scooped up the tiny kitten in her hands. He made a tiny meow and a smile split across her face. If there was one thing she missed about Kitty it was the fact that he—she was always there for a cuddle when she needed it, and she didn't try and steal her chocolate. Joel on the other hand, often he reached out and tried to take it for himself but she wouldn't let him. Sharing chocolate was a Brenda no-no. "Come on Joel, let's get some kitties treats. Wouldn't that be nice?" Cooing gently to the kitten she set him down on the floor beside her. Fritz still hadn't looked up, but slowly it was something that Brenda was—unfortunately getting used to from him. Silence.
The tiny kitten continued to meow at her heels and followed Brenda all the way from the kitchen back into the bathroom as she brushed her teeth. Staring at her reflection in the mirror, she frowning subconsciously and sighed. It wasn't the same, anymore. Nothing ever was. Every day she went into work and couldn't help but look at each member of her team as just that—her team. It was so difficult for her to believe that any of them could have betrayed her—even Flynn. They had their ups and downs, but at the end of the day, he had decided to stay in Major Crimes. Taylor had betrayed him and that was something that Brenda had never been able to forgive him for. Still, despite all their issues in the beginning, the mere thought that Flynn would have even considered betraying her was something that she just could not understand. The implications were there, but it wasn't likely, she was sure of it. It was like if Provenza did it—and she wasn't even considering it was him—it wouldn't have been done to hurt her. Really, Brenda couldn't imagine any members of her squad betraying her. They were like a family to her. They were her family.
"Fritz!" Calling out to him, Brenda rinsed her mouth out quickly, swallowing a bit of toothpaste along the way. She could hear his footsteps thudding down the hall towards the bathroom before he poked his head in, looking up at her with an expectant look on his face. He'd been like this for weeks, and it was starting to drive her batty.
"Did you make sure Charlie got in safely last night? I'm sorry I was so late, I got caught up in a case."
"Sweetheart, you're always getting caught up in a case, that's why I never see you anymore, but yes, Charlie got in safely and your brother picked her up from the airport."
Frowning at the implication of his words, Brenda absentmindedly turned away from her husband and stared at her own reflection again. She missed Charlie. It was good having her around the house again, and it was much too quiet without her. She certainly had grown up and deep down Brenda would have been proud to have a daughter like her. She'd been there for a month and a half and it had been nice to come home to conversation instead of quiet dinners and snoring within five seconds of climbing into bed. Fritz just didn't seem to care at the moment, not that she could really blame him. Brenda knew that she was at fault too. Having Charlie there had brought new life to the house again, even Joel missed her, and it wasn't because he has attachment issues. It was human presence on a daily basis and attention that he liked from her. It was better than prowling the house all day, jumping at stray strings from the curtains—if that was what he did. The point was that the house was lonely without Charlie.
Sighing, Fritz pushed the bathroom door open wider and came in, putting his arms gently around Brenda's waist as he pressed a kiss to her hair. Silently, he was telling her that it was all going to be okay, that there wasn't a problem with them. Nothing ever was in his eyes, but Brenda was beginning to see things differently. She didn't want to be married to the job but at the same time she didn't want to leave cases unfinished and unclosed either. It was a difficult choice. She was a closer after all, she had the highest rate of closed cases in the LAPD—and back home in Georgia if she was honest with herself, but it wasn't enough. Would it ever be enough again? It was a question that she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer to, because deep down, she was terrified of what it would be. If it wasn't enough, how did it get to be enough? And more importantly, when would she know when it was enough? These were just things that had never really occurred to her before, but the more she saw, the more she realised that there were so many more things that she needed. It wasn't just about catching the criminal, closing the case and going home. She needed to know more about them. More about everything. And Fritz didn't get that. In fact, if anything, there was one person that did get that, and she wasn't sure how she felt about that. Flynn. Andy Flynn. How dare he understand it too.
Her cell phone began to buzz on the bathroom counter before her and her eyes darted towards it before she could stop herself.
"Is it Flynn?" Fritz asked, the words out of his mouth before he could stop himself. Frowning, the sharp edge to his words not lost on her, she shook her head.
"No, it's Gabriel." Picking it up, she answered it quickly, spinning around so that she stayed nestled in Fritz's arms as she leaned against the cold sink. "Yes detective, what can I do for you this morning?" She chirped, trying to sound a little more cheerier than she meant to be—had she really been annoyed that it was Gabriel and not Flynn calling her? That was a preposterous thought.
"Flynn and Provenza...they found a body...and Pope isn't too happy." Rubbing her forehead lightly, she bit down on her bottom lip and nodded gently.
"Alright, I'm on my way." Ending the call, she glanced up at Fritz and shook her head. "I am really going to kill those two one of these days."
Chuckling to himself, Fritz shook his head and leaned down and gave her a kiss, her lips gently brushing her own as his arms engulfed her small frame. It was just like Flynn and Provenza to cause her some trouble, but it was nothing that she hadn't dealt with before, and even he knew that it wasn't about to change. She wouldn't get rid of them. Not for all the tea in China, it was like a compulsion to have them there, and there was nothing that he could do about it. She was going to start finding some gray hairs soon if she wasn't careful—but Fritz wouldn't have noticed. Even he was too busy to notice his wife, and he felt bad for it but there was nothing that he could do about it. It was simply one of those things. Brenda was good at her job, but so was he.
"I'm sorry Fritz, I have to go."
Crossing his arms over his chest, Andrew Flynn scowled to himself and leaned his head back against the wall in frustration. He had let Provenza talk him into breakfast again and it was starting to become an issue with all the bodies that seemed to magically appear in front of the restaurant. It was almost like he picked the place because he knew that they were there, and really, how could he have known? Pope was fuming, but he also knew that the chief was going to be pissed in her own right. Fifth body that he and Provenza had stumbled upon by accident, and this time he wasn't going to let the old man stuff this one up. He was going to prove that he wasn't a dick brain like Brenda sometimes thought he was, no, he was going to prove that he was good at his job.
"Gabriel called her ten minutes ago, and you mark my words she will fly through those doors in three...two...one..." It was almost uncanny, but Provenza was right. As he said 'one' Brenda rushed through the doors into the murder room, her blonde hair flying haphazardly behind her as though she had just run a marathon.
"I swear chief, we'll find somewhere else to eat if this going to make you come in earlier and earlier each day." His words were met with a scathing look from the chief that deep down made something within him burst. It was that look that made him unsure of whether he really pissed her off, or whether she enjoyed it more than she was willing to admit.
"Save it, lieutenant. Where's the body?" Brenda's words were sharp, but it was the look in her eyes that nearly made Flynn go weak at the knees. What had they ruined with that phone call that morning? She looked like she wasn't sleeping and needed a really good feed.
"Provenza was about to go down there with Gabriel." He responded, meeting her look with eyes of steel. If anything, he was never going to let her figure out those deeply hidden secret longings of his. It was something that he didn't understand, and he sure as hell didn't want her to uncover them.
"Yeah, come on Gabriel, move your arse." Throwing his arms up in the air, the young detective shook his head and led the way out of the murder room.
The doors slammed shut behind the two of them and Andy was suddenly aware that it was only the two of them alone in the room. Sanchez and Tao were interviewing the owner and the chief of the restaurant and Pope and Taylor were in a meeting. Shoving his hands deeper into the pocket of his jacket, Flynn pushed himself off the wall and took a few steps closer to Brenda. Raising his eyebrow at her, his lips began to twitch as a smile played at her lips.
"Isn't that convenient?" He said, sarcasm dripping in his words as he watched her step closer to him. Sure, if Raydor came in, the two of them would have been screwed. Up the creek without a paddle, but for the moment, Andy didn't care. Screw Sharon Raydor and her views on what was right and what was wrong, what did she know? She was an uptight bitch who knew more about sitting behind a desk than anything else.
"If I didn't know you better, I would have thought that you orchestrated this." The words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself, but there was a smile playing at her lips too.
"Really, chief? What gives you that idea?"
Shaking her head, Brenda closed the gap between the two of them and reached out a hand hesitantly, a mask of uncertainty beginning to show in her eyes, but there was no hesitation on his part as he reached out and took the hand she offered and drew her closer to him. His arms quickly snucked around her and pulled her close to his chest, smelling the violet scent of her shampoo. Somehow it just seemed right. It screamed Brenda Leigh Johnson to him. Leaning down his lips captured her own and the searing taste of her sweet lips sank straight to his soul, making Andy hold on tighter for a moment, his heart thudding in his chest. Pulling away breathlessly, Brenda opened her eyes, blinkly widely as she tried to form the words in her mind before she burst out with them, but she was so unsure of what to say if anything, none of it made any sense to her. Nothing ever did. This was something that she had never even considered in a million years, and yet it was real.
"I know you lieutenant, I know exactly what gave you that idea."
Waking up with a start as beads of sweat dripped from his forehead, Lieutenant Andrew Flynn sat up in his bed and stared wild eyed at the clock by his bedside. The neon green numbers flashed up at him 5:15AM. Shit. It was too early to be awake, but that dream...it had been so real that he wasn't even sure that he wanted to wake from it. He couldn't explain the thoughts, couldn't explain a thing, it was just one of those dreams. Groaning, he rubbed his hands over his face and fell back against the pillow, shaking his head in horror. He was really going to have to stop having the dreams. It was too hard, but really, that was all there was. He knew it. It was the dreams that complicated the issue. It was always the dreams.