More than friends? - A fanfic about the start of Emily's and Matt's relationship.
She was so exhausted she could have fallen asleep right there at her desk. The mountains of paperwork would surely make a nice pillow.
It was 10pm and the negotiation team had only just gotten back from a hostage situation that had lasted since 7am that morning.
The day had actually started out great. She had woken up before her alarm clock had the chance to jolt her out of bed. Slowly coming around she had stayed in bed for a little while listening to the birds outside loudly announcing that spring had finally arrived. The sun shining brightly through the window was touching her cheek with a gentle stroke.
She had felt so content and while she got ready for work and drove across town, she thought about how perfect her life was. She had a great apartment, just big enough for her and with lots of light coming in from the big windows. She had nice furniture, which might not have cost a fortune but suited her just fine and on her dresser, on bookshelves and anywhere with a little place to spare she had a few picture frames with photos of family and friends, or memories from trips abroad or flowers in a vase she had inherited from her beloved grandmother. It definitely felt like home.
Her family had always been very important to her. She had grown up in a big family. Her grandparents, uncles and aunts and cousins had always dropped by all the time and they had all enjoyed each others company and helped each other whatever the problem. She might not see her family as much anymore, after moving to L.A., but she still talked to them on the phone quite often.
Most of all, she was happy with her job. It was a dream job for her, she couldn't believe her luck when she had been offered the position as FBI Special Agent Crisis Negotiator. It hadn't even mattered that she had to move all the way to the other side of the country. It was a huge step, she admitted that, but she could use the change and who could say no to a dream job with the bonus of living in sunny California.
Sitting at her desk hours later she tried to get that feeling of utter happiness back. How could one day completely change the way you felt about your situation? She guessed it might have something to do with the exhausting negotiations they had been through that day. A man had taken his family hostage after finding out that his wife was cheating on him. He had been furious and the fact that he had been quite drunk didn't help the situation. The negotiators had been able to see everything that happened through huge glass doors and the agonizing sight of the son and daughter scared to death of the father they loved and had trusted until that day, had taken a huge toll on her. But still, that couldn't be the only reason she suddenly felt so low. In the end they had gotten everyone out alive and well – even the father.
…"Hey, Emily, that was damn good work you did today" – Emily looked up and saw Matt walking in the door towards their desks. His smile and compliment made her feel a little better.
…" oh thanks, I know. Maybe I should just handle the negotiations on my own next time, with you not really making a difference anyway" – she said back with a teasing look in her eyes. She new he had been just as big a contributor if not bigger in getting the hostages out, but instead of saying just that, she took the opportunity to give him some grief.
…"uhhhhh, WHAT!???" – Matt let out a sound of disbelief before realising that she was joking.
She couldn't stop laughing at the look on his face, tired or not he usually wasn't that easy to catch off guard.
"You! You! – Lehman!, you just wait, I'll get you back for that comment" – he sputtered while trying to look hurt and angry. He couldn't quite pull it off though and she saw him grinning to himself before turning away from her.
She couldn't believe what a great team they made. At first she had been quite nervous being partnered up with THE Matt Flannery who had a great reputation as a negotiator. First of all she had been worried if she could measure up to him and live up to her part of the work. Second, she didn't really know how she would fit in. But she needn't have given it a thought. When they had first been introduced Matt had shaken her hand with a big grin and said:
…" oh so you're the Princess from Princeton! Nice to meet you, I'm sure we'll get on just fine…as long as you get me my coffee in the morning, do all the paperwork and in general just make my life much easier"
Usually she would have been furious with the "Princess" comment, but his teasing eyes and big smile made her relax a little. It hadn't been long before she felt right at home working with him and their other colleagues.
Now, a few months later they got on better than fine. They worked perfectly together and had become great friends.
Coming back from her far away thoughts she noticed Matt looking at her with a slightly concerned expression on his face.
…" you ok Lehman? Why don't you go home? I'm on my way too, we'll finish off the report tomorrow." – Matt said while putting away the file with today's case.
She sighed and looked at him with a grateful, but tired smile.
…"Well, I won't say no to that" – she said getting up and grapping her bag from under the table.
They walked out in silence. She was thinking about hostages and families getting through difficult times together and wasn't really paying attention when she and Matt reached out for the elevator button at the same time. When their hands touched hey both pulled away much too quickly and none of them actually pushed the button. She felt her cheeks turn red and looked away from Matt. Why did she react like this? So their hands had touched? It wasn't like it hadn't happened before. She looked up at Matt and saw him looking at her slightly confused but also bemused at the situation. He reached out again and pushed the button.
They rode down in the elevator in awkward silence. When they reached the car park Matt cleared his throat.
…"uhhhmmm, so I guess we'll see eachother tomorrow?" – He said with an almost shaky voice very unlike him.
Ofcourse they would see eachother tomorrow, why not?, she thought, and started to say so, but Matt had already gotten in his car. What the heck just happened? She couldn't get her head around it. She was too tired to think about it anyway. She drove home trying to ignore the thoughts flying around in her head.