A/N: Just a little one-shot inspired by "Forbidden Fruit" and 'the baby deal' from the JAG episode "Yeah, Baby" (which is quoted here almost word for word). Hope you enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Long Before That
"So, what was the deal with you and Peter?"
Michael looked up at Jackie who was currently poking around in her Chinese noodle box with a pair of chopsticks, apparently unconcerned. But Michael knew better, he knew she had been waiting all day to ask him properly about what had happened at the station.
He shrugged, turning his attention back to his own takeaway, "There was some tension back when I first joined Taggart's team. I guess it never really went away."
Jackie raised an eyebrow, "That's not so unusual, but it looked like there was more to it than that," she said.
"There may have been some rivalry," Michael admitted, "I think there was some resentment on his side."
"And on your side?"
Michael shrugged again, "I guess so, I was the junior officer, I was never on equal footing with him and I think he resented the way Taggart treated me in contrast to how he was treated."
"Well, you are Taggart's golden boy," Jackie teased.
Michael shot a mock glare in her direction which faded at her giggle, causing him to smile at her instead.
"But you're on equal footing now," she pointed out after a moment, taking another bite of her takeaway as she did so.
"Maybe, but he's the family man now. The one with the son and a legacy," he replied, almost before he could stop himself.
Jackie was surprised, "I thought you didn't want children."
"I never really thought about it," Michael replied honestly, "but with this case..." and seeing you holding Xavier, he added to himself privately.
"You've been thinking differently?" she prompted, breaking him from his train of thought.
He nodded, "What about you?" he asked, leaning back in his seat and putting his noodle box aside, "Have you ever thought about having children?"
It was Jackie's turn to shrug, "I don't know, I guess this case has made me think more about it as well," she said honestly. "I would like children some day," she added, a touch wistfully.
Michael thought again about how natural she had looked holding Xavier back at the station and, in retrospect, that was the only way he could explain what he said next: "I tell you what, five years from now, if neither of us is in a relationship, we'll have a kid," he said, surprising them both in the process.
"You and me? Have a baby together?" Jackie asked, not sure whether he was serious or not.
"Sure, with your looks and my brains he'll be perfect," Michael replied, trying for humour to hide how much he suddenly wanted to start a family with her.
"What if she has your looks and my brains?" she asked.
"That could work too," he conceded. "So what do you say...deal?" he asked, almost shyly.
"Don't make a promise you can't keep," Jackie said softly, realising that he was serious in what he was offering.
"I haven't yet," he told her, looking her straight in the eye.
Still holding her gaze, he held out his hand, she reached out and they shook on it, both knowing they were agreeing to more than just having a child together.
...
Michael had all but forgotten about Colin Millar and the 'baby deal' until that fateful day, just within the five year time limit, when Jackie came and told him that she was pregnant.
As he sat curled up with her on their couch he thought back to that day and reflected that this was better than any deal he could have envisioned: not only was he having a baby with the woman he loved, she was also his wife.
And, if he was honest with himself, this was the outcome he'd wanted when he'd first proposed the baby deal.
And long before that.