Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS:New Orleans
A/N: So this happened. It'll only be a twoshot.
The transfer request form sat in front of her on the coffee table. The formal words and empty spaces for the transferee's information seemed to taunt her. She'd already filled in her name and birth date. There were still several empty boxes to fill out, but it could be done in a relatively short amount of time. She could probably get it done tonight. Tomorrow morning she could have it sent in. In a week, maybe two, she could be in a new state and new office with agents she'd never met before.
No more LaSalle and their teasing. No more Loretta and her always helpful advice. No more Sebastian and his quirky, sometimes downright strange, geekiness. Patton wouldn't be there to try and, mostly jokingly, flirt with her anymore.
And there would be no more Pride.
She wouldn't have to try and ignore her feelings while around him and wouldn't have to feel guilty for letting her self-control slip and giving into how she felt. She wouldn't have to look at him every day and remember what they'd done that night when their defenses had been down and they'd given into the urge to connect with someone else.
It shouldn't have happened. He was her boss, she was a junior agent, and even though he was divorced she couldn't imagine that he was completely over it. She never should have let it go as far as it had.
As the memory of them stumbling into his bed, his lips trailing warm kisses down her neck with every step, flashed through her mind, Merri leaned forward on the sofa and covered her face with her hands. This wasn't how she'd wanted things to go. She loved her life in New Orleans, loved the people she had come to call family, and didn't want to have to leave already.
She hadn't left when the Moultrie investigation had been reopened and had thought that would mean she could withstand anything. She had obviously been wrong. One single night and she was seriously contemplating transferring out of New Orleans. Pride would probably think she was being weak and that she was running away again.
He'd be right this time.
She'd tried not to let it affect her, but after three weeks she couldn't shake the emotional storm raging on inside of her. They hadn't really discussed what had happened that night, but she had believed she could handle it. Now she was at the end of her rope and didn't want to even try anymore.
It would be easier for both of them and for the whole team if she just left. She could tell he still thought about the night as well. Every once in a while she had caught him watching her with a faraway look as if debating something with himself. It hadn't yet effected their work, but it was only a matter of time. And if things between her and Pride got complicated or messy than the consequences would spread to the rest of the team.
Leaving was the right thing to do for everyone. The team could go back to functioning as they had before she'd come to New Orleans and she would start anew somewhere else where she could distance herself and reinforce her defenses.
Brody opened her eyes and stared at the form on her coffee table. It both repelled her and tempted her. She didn't want to leave her home, but it would be for the best. As a responsible NCIS agent it could even be argued that it was her duty to transfer.
With a deep breath Merri reached for the transfer form, letting her hand rest on the paper for a brief moment before sliding it off the table and holding it in her hands. She stared at it for another minute while reading the impersonal words and trying to convince herself of the decision she knew she needed to make.
After what felt like an eternity she reached for the pen on the table.