After The Season Finales

"God! I love this show!"

"See? Toldja Vega," Jade said with a self-satisfied expression.

"Man, I can't wait 'til next season! I was so sure that Root was gonna…"

Jade held up her hand, "Hey. Tori, by now, you know things aren't always what they seem on this show. Person of Interest doesn't necessarily believe in following the 'rules'. Remember when Reese spent the entire episode helping that teacher only to find out he was the new mob boss? Or the premier when the 'victim' was actually the perp?"

"Yeah, I know. But the machine... And Root… "

"Yeah, I'm glad she is a recurring character. Even before I admitted I like girls, I kinda fell for Amy Acker on Angel. When she became Illyria, she was the hottest blue-tinged demon of all time!"

Tori nodded, "And Sarah Shahi as Samantha Shaw …"

"As anyone," Jade nodded, "I ended up with a pubescent crush on Sarah Shahi when she was on The L Word – again before I admitted girls are hot. I guess that's when I started to realize that hot-blooded Hispanic chicks are hot as hell."

Tori smiled, "Took you long enough to admit it, West!"

"Oh? West is it? We'll just see about that…"

Knowing her parents were due home soon. Tori reluctantly deflected Jade's amorous revenge, asking, "So, what do you wanna watch now? Elementary? Hannibal? Or the old Bones reruns on channel…"

Tori was, as usual, interrupted by Jade, "Let's give the Holmes wannabe a shot. Moriarty is supposed to be in this one again."

"'Kay. Surprised though."

"Why?"

Now it was Tori's turn to smirk. "Well, all the murders on Hannibal are pretty freakin' gross."

"What are you saying, Vega?"

Tori knew, by the use of her last name, that Jade was either teasing her or a little pissed. Time to tread lightly. "I just know you like stuff like that. Eli Roth movies and…"

"So I'm gross?"

Tori sat back, a worried expression suddenly forming. "No. No, I just mean…" She caught a small gleam in Jade's eye and went on, "Yeah, you can be gross. But I love your grossness."

Jade chuckled evilly, "Okay Vega. Uh, Tori. Fair attempt at a save. I guess you deserve a small reward."

Jade leaned forward and pecked Tori's lips before sitting back.

"Aah… That's all?" Tori whined.

"Hey, you called me gross. You're lucky I don't bite you." Jade paused and added, "

And you were the one who pussy-blocked me a few minutes ago."

"Pussy-blocked?" Tori asked incredulously. The two young lovers laughed together and settled back on the sofa.

Tori was sitting back, pretending to watch TV. Jade was focused on the TV and surprised herself by getting caught up in the show. The same thing happened the week before. Tori remembered Jade actually laughed out loud when Watson had to take over for Holmes in a secret autopsy.

Shortly after, the elder Vegas returned. Tori looked up and asked, "So, how was the movie?"

They had gone to see 42, the new movie about Jackie Robinson joining the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking the color barrier in professional baseball. Tori knew her father, a life-long Dodgers fan, was the one who really wanted to see the movie so she was surprised by her mother's response.

"It was great! The story was so… I mean, they didn't pull any punches on the racism in those days. Harrison Ford was so good as…Branch Rickey?" She glanced at her husband for verification and smiled when he nodded. "And Chadwick Boseman… He was so good as Jackie Robinson. That scene in the…corridor behind the dugout when he shattered the bat… Rachel Robinson was so loving and supportive and… She was so good…"

Jade fake-whispered, "You know, it's a good thing your mom's not on Sneak Previews or something. Lots of 'so good' and dead air…"

"Hey!" Holly protested. The other three in the living room all laughed and she soon joined in.

"So. The movie was good?" Tori asked needlessly. Teasingly, she added, "So good?"

"I wanna see it again," her father replied. "It's the best movie since Lincoln. And the best baseball movie I've seen in years! The theater audience gave it an ovation and it's been out for a couple of weeks already. On top of that, it's also a true story. When Peewee Reese crossed the field to stand next to Jackie to talk before a big game, I was really getting choked up."

Holly nodded, "That and when he was in the locker room getting stitched up after the… What was it called?"

"Oh, when Enos Slaughter spiked Robinson sliding into first base at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Yeah, that was great. Branch finally telling someone, Robinson especially, why he wanted to integrate baseball."

"So that was Harrison Ford?" Jade asked as they wound down.

Holly sighed, "Yeah. They really made him up good. If David hadn't told me, I never would've thought that old man was the same stud I had a huge crush on when I was younger." She paused with a faraway look in her eye, "I used to daydream that the Millenium Falcon came down in our backyard and…"

David cleared his throat loudly as Jade chuckled and Tori just looked embarrassed. Then he turned to Jade and Tori, "So, how was Person of Interest?"

"Dad, it was a great season finale! I wish I didn't have to wait 'til next season for more."

Jade cut in, "Well, when we go to see Iron Man 3 this weekend, that'll help take your mind off it."

Andre was currently dating a hottie from Santa Monica named Sophie who's father owned one of the new deluxe megaplex theaters with all the new amenities – stadium seating, a bar in the lobby, etc. She tried to get passes for opening weekend for the entire gang but that was just too many for a premier weekend. As they had no choice if they wanted to free passes, the group agreed to wait a week. So, Saturday night was a quadruple date night with Tori and Jade, Courtney Van Cleef and Robbie (who, on orders from his new girlfriend, had to leave Rex behind or he couldn't go), Beck and Cat, Andre and Sophie. A real couples weekend for them all for the first time since Tori had joined the school.

"It's DVR-ed, right?" David asked, bringing the girls back to the subject at hand.

"Of course," Jade replied. "See?" She had grabbed the remote from the coffee table and started to hit buttons. "Uh… I know it's here. I set the DVR myself. Ummm… Tori, did you mess with this?"

"Me? No!"

"Where's Screech-box? She was messing around with the TV earlier. One of those insipid gossip shows…"

"Trina left hours ago," Tori replied.

David's voice hardened slightly, "You didn't DVR the show?"

"Well…" Jade looked at Tori worriedly. "I thought so…"

"Girls…" came the reply growl.

After several long seconds, Jade started to laugh. "You guys are so easy! Here, tonight's episode…"

"Ja-ade…" David growled. Holly merely chuckled.

Friday night found Tori and Jade on the left couch and Tori's mother on the adjacent one. Blue Bloods was nearing the end when David Vega came in with a few envelopes clutched in his left hand.

On the wide-screen, a swarm of New York cops were taking several dozen gangbanger suspects out of a housing project in handcuffs. The gang leader was in his underwear and had to watch as the project residents applauded his arrest.

"Does no one check the mail?"

He was met by a cascade of shushes. Then Tori whispered, "It's almost over…"

An establishing shot of a Edwardian era home in Brooklyn segues into the Reagan family dinner. There, the discussion revolved around the entire extended family taking a couple of weeks vacation simultaneously. Finally, the last two holdouts agreed and the show closed.

Tori, repeating herself from the night before, said, "I love this show!"

Jade smiled at her overly-enthusiastic girlfriend, "Yeah, it's pretty good."

"I love how they always get together as a family for dinner and…"

"Family dinners are overrated," Jade muttered. Then she looked over at Holly on the other couch and her husband standing there. With a small smile, she said, "But they're starting to grow on me…"

"It's a great show! Dad, tell her. Tell my gir… Tell Jade how good Blue Bloods is!"

"Hey, I agree it's a great show but, Tori, take it with a grain of salt. There are not many families like them. I mean the grandfather was police commissioner, then his son is commissioner. And Tom Selleck's sons all become cops and his daughter in becomes one of New York's assistant district attorneys. And her daughter wants to be a cop when she's old enough. But, suspension of belief and all that…

"Gotta admit, it's not a bad promotion from a beach bum PI on Oahu."

"Dad!" Tori exclaimed. She still loved Magnum, PI. And she knew her teasing father did too.

David ignored his younger daughter and said, "Anyway, just like any other job, it does happen - well, except the father/son commissioner part - in cities all over the country. Sons and daughters follow their father or mother into law enforcement. There're a couple of rookies at my station who have fathers on the force – one in Homicide and the other in Vice. But in real life, cases aren't solve this easily."

"Dad!?"

"He's right," Jade agreed before her love could whine anymore. Then she asked, "David, of all the cop shows you've seen, what's the most realistic?"

"Well, given the constraints of the hour-long drama or the half-hour sitcoms, not many of them really catch the nuances of the day-to-day work. NYPD Blue, Blue Bloods, Hill Street Blues and The Naked City are probably the best dramas that have aired. But you wanna know the show that really reflects how things work inside a precinct house? Watch Barney Miller. That sitcom caught the dry, gallows humor cops have to adopt to get through a day. A day that might involve a firefight with drug gangs, a hostage situation at a bank or a psycho who cuts his vic… Who destroys a victim before we can get them.

"You have to have an outlet for that kind of horror. And dark, very non-PC humor is a big part of it. You never see it on the news or read it in the papers. But it's there. CSI, with all their overly incredible forensics bullsh…um bull, shows that with the pithy comment before the opening credits. But Barney and the Twelfth Precinct detectives really knew how to handle what they were doing. And even that's watered down from real life."

"I love Barney Miller!" Jade declared. "I wish someone was showing that again. I mean, between Nick at Nite and TVLand, we get way too much The Cosby Show, Cheers, Everybody Loves Raymond and The Golden Girls. Why not more classic TV like Barney Miller, WKRP in Cincinnati or Taxi?"

Tori stared at her girl, "When the hell did you watch all these shows?"

"You're not the only one who loves the classics, Vega," Jade snorted.

"Jade, I have the entire run of Barney Miller on DVD. It's a boxed set that includes the single season of the spin-off, Fish," David stated.

"All seven seasons?" Jade asked. "And Fish? I love Abe Vigoda! He always reminded me of my mom's father. Gruff old fart with a real heart beneath that crusty exterior." Her face saddened for a moment, "He died when I was little…"

Pulling Jade into an embrace, Tori stared incredulously at her girlfriend. Jade was positively gushing and now looked sad. She'd have to learn more about this crusty grandfather.

David nodded, gesturing towards the entertainment center, "Yep! Right down there in the cabinet under the TV. Somewhere between the Peter Gunn boxed set you got me for my birthday, my incomplete sets of The Naked City and my Da Vinci's Inquest collection - all eight seasons, including Da Vinci's City Hall."

The last he stated proudly. He doubted anyone else in the Southland had a complete Da Vinci set.

"They finally released the entire series on DVD? " Jade asked, pulling away from Tori.. "I though only the first three seasons were out."

"Friend on the Vancouver PD I met during a conference on North American Law Enforcement. He had a buddy at the studio and got me copies of the rest of the series."

Jade, visibly excited, turned toward Tori, "Have you watched that show?" Tori shook her head. "God, we have got to watch that. I used to see it on the Justice channel and on WGN America. It's one of the all-time best police procedurals!"

Nodding at Jade's comment on the Canadian show, David realized he still had the mail in his hands, "Doesn't anyone care about the mail?"

Holly, who had just been sitting back enjoying her family, spoke up, "What'd'y got, Hot Stuff?"

"Eeew! Mom!" Tori exclaimed.

David smiled, gave his wife an exaggerated wink and said, "Well, the electric bill. Another State Farm soliciitation. Our Visa bill – God, can't wait to see what Trina did to that this month… And something from the DMV for…Tori?"

"WHAT?!" Tori screamed. She jumped up, grabbed the mail from her father, leafed through it quickly, tossing every piece but one over her shoulder. "Oh my God! OH MY GOD!"

Jade was staring at her lover, who was bouncing from one foot to the other. Jade's face had a look that said, She's flipped. Gone the way of Cat… Wonder if I can get a group rate if I turn them in together?

Holly cleared her throat and got Jade's attention. When she had it, she said, "Tori reapplied for her license. She told me she was tired of relying on you, us or anyone else."

Nodding Jade turned back to Tori, "So? What does it say?"

Tori looked at everyone then said, "I… I'm kinda scared…"

Getting off the couch, Jade pulled her boot scissors out, took the envelope and slit the top with one of the blades. With a touch of melodrama, Jade blew across the points, spun her scissors like an Old West gunfighter and slid them back into her boot.

Pulling the folded notice from the envelope, Jade handed it to Tori, "Moment of truth, Vega. DA-da-duh…"

Tori scowled at Jade then opened the letter.

"OH! Oh my God! OH MY GOD! OMIGOD!"

"God, Vega! Chill…" Jade said, grabbing the hopping Hispanic girl. "What?"

"I can take my test again! The old woman was an accident! She cut into traffic and… Just like I said!" Tori shouted, hopping around behind the sofa, her fists thrust into the air.

Laughing, David and Holly hugged their bouncing daughter, both congratulating her and offering whatever help they could when the time came. Tori had a face-splitting grin on her face when she realized Jade wasn't there. She looked over her mother's shoulder and saw the Goth kneeling in front of the cabinet under the wide screen.

"Jade?!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, Vega. You can take your test again. I got it. Don't screw it up this time!"

Tori scowled at her girlfriend. Jade hadn't even turned around.

Suddenly, Jade called out, "You have all the classics! The Maltese Falcon, all The Thin Man movies. All the great classic Universal monster movie sets! Holy Crap! White Chapel, Sherlock andthe entire Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmesseries and… Oh My God! All the Quatermas movies! And… Holy Shit! The original BBC Quatermas and the Pit TV miniseries?!"

Jade jumped up, handed Holly two dollars for the long-gone swear jar and hugged the three Vegas, "I love you guys!"