The Elusive Ten, a law and order: ci fanfic

Logan 101 is in session. For Logan lovers or for anyone who would like to see the Mickey taken out of the Irish. Logan/Barek.

oOo

"The Elusive Ten"

Usual disclaimers apply.

Timeline: Any time into the Logan/Barek Season Five. In fanfic-land, before "Ocean's Two".

oOo

Watching without interest the dingy façade of the 'Mecca Decca' Nightclub, Logan again shifted position behind the wheel of his unmarked squad car, desperately trying to stretch cramped legs and ease a growing backache.

"Quit fidgeting," Barek scolded him. "I thought you would have done enough stake-outs to be used to the boredom by now."

"Hey, I can't help it," he said irritably, envying her petite frame that enabled her to even curl her legs up underneath her at the moment. "If my partner was more chatty, I might be able to pass the time better."

"There is only so much baseball a girl can talk about, Mike."

"Hey, I should take you to see the Yankees sometime–"

"No thanks." She nodded out the window. "So, you know any of these beat cops they got helping us tonight?"

Logan looked through the windshield at the mixed bag of people strolling past the nightclub entrance.

"Yeah, a couple of 'em," he said. "That's Jensen dressed in the three-piece. I swear that's the first time anyone's got him in a suit before. And Rivierés is wearing bike leathers, and that 'hooker' over there is Tremayne. Haven't seen her since I got transferred to the island." He grimaced in disgust at the memory of his time there and, catching Tremayne's eye, lifted a hand in idle greeting.

Tall, slim and scantily clad in a miniskirt and halter-neck, she dipped her head and smiled, then sauntered over to their car, flicking the long bangs out of her eyes.

"Hey, Mike!"

"Casey." Logan nodded.

"How they hangin'?" Her bangs fell over her left eye as she leaned down to greet them. She peered at Logan and Barek with her right one, chewing gum and scratching the cropped back of her dark hair, staying in character with ease.

"Uh, I'm fine thank you," Logan mumbled, thinking she was doing too well at playing the role.

Casey snorted. "I'm 'fine thank you' too. You ole sleaze. What've you been up to? Still tom-catting for all it's worth?"

Logan frowned, casting a meaningful look at Barek.

"What?" Casey's eyebrows lifted. "Your partner just out of the convent, is she? She doesn't look it." She thrust a hand through the passenger window. "I'm Casey Tremayne, from the one-six. Mike and I were hooked up for a while." She winked broadly. "Best time I ever had."

"Carolyn Barek. You were partners?" Carolyn asked politely.

"Nah. We were dating. Ya know… fuck-buddies. Weren't even in the same precinct." Casey beamed at Logan, who cringed and looked out his window, sorry he had acknowledged her in the first place.

"How long you two been partners?" Casey asked.

"A couple of months," Barek said slowly and Logan wished Casey would move on.

"Well then, you've probably heard all the stories by now."

Logan's head spun round and he glared at Casey, daring her to continue.

"Stories?" Carolyn asked, taking the bait.

"Yeah," Casey eyed Barek, "but I dunno I should be the one tellin' ya. I never believed half of 'em 'til I took up with him." She laughed. "Then I had a few of my own to add."

"Casey, do you mind?" Logan gritted. "Get back to the job, will ya?"

"I would, except we've been at this for three nights now and our mark hasn't so much as made a drive-by." Her eyes widened. "Hey, Mike! Remember the last time we got put on the same stake-out? I was with Roysen then. And you were with Lennie Briscoe. Heh…"

She leaned both arms on the passenger sill, pursing her lips as she recalled the details. "We were on the fourth night with that one and bored out of our brains. Nothing was happening. I mean, nuthin'! Roysen and I were in the van with the sound, and Lennie and Mike were snoozin' in a squad car nearby."

"Casey, Barek doesn't want to hear–"

"Sure I do, Mike," Carolyn frowned at him. "Please, Casey, go on. You caught Mike sleeping on the job, did you?"

Casey crowed and thumped the side of the car. "Well, somethin' like that. I got jack of the endless waiting and told Roysen I was going out for a coffee. Instead, I picked up Mike on the way and we… well, I knew about a bordello not far from where we were, and Mike and I sneaked in the back way and used one of the vacant rooms, and went hard at it for a good half-hour–"

Logan thumped his head against the steering wheel. "You had to keep her going, Barek. You had to do it."

"Aw, Mike, you should be proud of yourself." Casey lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, smiling at Carolyn. "What we didn't know was, it was on live feed. The owner and unengaged workers were getting an eyeful of it all and we had no idea." Casey swung off the edge of the car in delight. "We were sprung trying to leave and the madam and girls were so impressed with his moves they offered to do ole' Mikey here for free any time. But I informed them I wasn't sharing! It was a hoot."

"Casey–" Logan groaned.

"Hey, Mike," Casey cajoled, "if your partner here thinks you're as pure as driven snow, someone really oughtta re-educate her."

"Please," Barek egged Casey on with a wind-up of her hand, "do go on."

"Barek!" Logan stared at her. She wasn't smiling and he had no idea what she was thinking. "You're not serious. Don't encourage her!"

"Honey, I don't need encouragement." Casey wriggled slightly, pulled down on the hem of her miniskirt and leaned further into the car. "When I first took up with him, the guys in my precinct gave me curry about it, but one of the gals knew him, er, personally…and took me aside and told me that if I wanted to tap the wild side of Logan–"

"That's enough, Casey!" Logan thumped the dashboard of the car rather than do something to Casey he'd regret.

"Shut up, Mike," Casey said, grinning. "This is girl-stuff between us girls. Anyway, Barek, like I was saying before I was rudely interrupted…" She flicked an affronted look at him. "…if I wanted to unleash the beast, I was to take him to an apartment he didn't know and challenge him to do it on every available surface except the bed or the floor."

Logan slid down in his seat, leaned the back of his head against the headrest and shut his eyes, suffering in silence.

Casey laughed and banged the car sill. "Damn me, if I didn't get him up to nine. I even borrowed from friends to give him extra material to work with, but I never got him to that elusive ten."

Logan didn't see Barek's reaction, refusing to open his eyes or be a part of the conversation in any way. He was just going to bear it out until Casey got tired of baiting him and moved on.

"But hey, don't let me turn you off him, Barek," Casey continued, showing no sign of running out of ammunition. "He's not your garden-variety cad. One of these days a woman will turn him, and when she does, she'll find she's struck gold! Pity I was never the prospecting kind…"

She straightened and tugged on her halter-neck. "Ah, well, I'd better get back to street-walkin'. A hooker'll give up eventually, and so, if I wanna stay in character… See ya round, Mike. You too, Barek." She shrugged, wiggled her fingers in a wave, and walked off.

Logan looked straight ahead, afraid to face Barek. "Sorry about that," he mumbled. "I had no idea she was lecturing in Logan 101."

"I dunno," Barek mused, "I found it quite… enlightening." She slid her legs off the seat and turned to face him. "But if you're that good, I'm surprised no one's tried to put a ring on your finger."

Logan rolled his shoulders, more embarrassed than he could ever remember. "I guess I was lucky no woman wanted to go prospecting," he said, trying to make a joke of it.

"No… you're just lucky I'm not doing any digging…"

Logan nodded, expecting nothing less. Carolyn was too smart to go for him.

Looking out his window at the non-event that was their stake-out, Logan froze, not believing his ears. He could have sworn Carolyn just whispered something.

Something that sounded like…

"…yet."

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