Summer 2007 Alphabet challenge at the Numb3rs Forum. Sequel to S is for Sniper. AU, set after Season 3's finale (Janus List). Part 2 follows.
--
Even though had Sean reported in for him, it was a few hours before Colby actually made it to Hannah's place. Other than the statements that Hannah had to make, and the various loose ends he had to tie up, he had also taken some time to find some of her favorite roses. He whistled happily as he pulled into her driveway, noting with pleasure that she had made it there before him.
He took a cursory scan around the area as he got out of the car. There was only the man sitting at the bus-stop bench reading a newspaper. Colby frowned slightly, the man looked vaguely familiar, but shook his head and turned to run up the front steps three at a time. He raised his hand to knock but Hannah was already opening the door. Just as she exclaimed in breathless delight at the roses, he suddenly made the connection.
"Get in the house and stay down!" he snapped.
Startled, Hannah obeyed.
He ran back down the stairs and strode towards the bus-stop. The man had put down his paper and was watching him cross the road. Just as Colby got to the bench, he saw the glimmer of a smile cross the man's lips as he raised his hand and gave Colby the all-clear sign.
But Colby frowned down at him. "I can't think of a good reason why Steele's master assassin would be sitting across the street from my girlfriend's home." The other of the two men who could sneak up on him. He could blend in so well into the environment, even when Colby saw him, he didn't.
"Who better to watch over a person than an assassin?" he murmured gently. He patted the spot next to him on the bench.
Scowling, Colby sat. "No games, Luke. Why are you here? And frankly, the all-clear from you doesn't exactly give me a warm and fuzzy feeling."
Luke laughed softly, "You always did cut to the chase." He turned and took a look around the street. "Steele asked me to watch her."
"Watch her or watch over her?" Colby asked sharply.
Smiling faintly at Colby's reaction, Luke continued, "Watch her, watch over her, there's no real difference." He held up a hand when Colby made to argue the point. "She was kicking up a big fuss about seeing you while you were supposedly in prison. She'd hired one private investigator after another, first to find out where you were, then to find evidence of your innocence. Steele persuaded these private investigators to drop their investigations." He turned to look at Colby. "He also persuaded them to return the retainers she'd paid them." Chuckling at Colby's expression, he continued, "Gently persuaded, of course."
"Of course," But Colby was far from comforted by Luke's words.
"She finally gave up after the Senator she contacted told her that she couldn't see you." He looked curiously at Colby.
"What?" Luke's scrutiny didn't make Colby feel comfortable either.
"Just trying to imagine what it must be like to be so loved and trusted. So... accepted." Luke said slowly.
Colby's eyes widened in surprise. Frowning slightly, he took a closer look at Luke. A slender man of medium height, Luke had sandy hair that was thinning slightly, and his eyes were a nondescript brown. In fact, all his features added up to a nondescript sort of person, which was exactly what made him a very successful assassin. People rarely remembered him. That plus top-notch disguise skills had made Luke the master of master assassins.
"And if Hannah hadn't given up trying to find me?" Colby asked with dread.
Luke met his eyes squarely, "If she had compromised you in any way, she would have been eliminated."
Colby shook his head in disbelief. "That's why you..." He couldn't complete the sentence.
"That's why I was chosen." Luke turned away and scanned the street again. "Watch over her or eliminate her. I was the best person for the job."
"And now?" Fear caught in Colby's throat and he could barely speak.
"It's all clear," Luke said mildly. "I thought you should know what she'd tried to do for you, even if it she did endanger herself doing it."
Colby had to clear his throat several times before he could speak. "I can't imagine Steele agreeing to letting me know all that."
"He didn't." Luke looked impassively at Colby. "I learn a lot about a person by watching them." He looked across the street to Hannah's home. "If my heart didn't already belong to someone else..." he let his sentence trail into silence.
His curiosity piqued by Luke's cryptic remark, Colby wondered who Luke had lost his heart to.
"Didn't think someone like me had a heart?" Luke chuckled wryly at the curiosity that Colby didn't bother to hide.
"I would never say that." Colby murmured. He kept his tone light.
Luke's lips twisted, "You're thinking it though. You're surprised that a killer like me has a heart."
"I don't think I've ever heard you laugh before," Colby said thoughtfully, carefully avoiding commenting on that remark.
"Well, I won't keep you any longer," Luke got up. There was a wicked glint in his eyes when he turned to Colby and added, "I'm sure you have other things on your agenda tonight."
--
"Is everything alright?" Hannah asked cautiously when Colby came in the door.
"It's fine now," Colby said as he shut the door. He leaned against it and looked around with a happy sigh. II knew I'd missed this, but I didn't realize exactly how much. I'm finally home,/ he thought with satisfaction.
Hannah smiled, "Thank you for the roses. I..."
He didn't give her a chance to say more, he caught her to him and kissed her. At first he was desperate. Desperate for a taste of her, desperate to get as close to her as he could, and then even closer. Then his lips gentled and his tongue darted out to tease her parted lips. Their tongues met in a mating dance.
She moaned softly at the onslaught, and her arms twined around his neck as her knees buckled.
He picked her up and headed for the bedroom.
A while later, she was draped comfortably over him, both of them drowsy and for the moment, sated.
"Don't think for a minute that I'm going to let you off the hook. You still have a lot of explaining to do." Hannah mumbled into his chest.
He laughed and pressed a kiss against her forehead and nuzzled her on her temple, slowly savoring the taste and fragrance of her silky soft skin. His fingers gently tugged at her auburn curls, and he laughed again when she batted impatiently at his hand. "I just need a minute to enjoy this. I've missed you."
She tightened her arms around him, but didn't say anything.
That was answer enough for him. He swallowed a lump in his throat as he thought how he had almost lost her, lost all of this. For a long moment, he debated what he could tell her. Then he made his decision, "There's a lot I can't tell you, and that applies to the future as well. I can tell you I'm not with the FBI anymore."
"I suppose that means you were working for someone else even when you were with the FBI. The same place this Sean works? He was going to report in for you."
Colby was silent for a moment. Not much got past her, and after the encounter with Luke, that worried him greatly. "You have to be able to accept that I sometimes have to disappear."
Hannah propped her chin up on his chest and looked at him. "Will you come back for me? If you have to disappear forever?"
"I promise I will always do my best to come back for you." Colby said solemnly, "I won't have to work undercover anymore, so I may be able to keep this identity for a while longer." He watched for her reaction.
Even with her chin propped on his chest, she cocked her head slightly as she looked thoughtfully at him.
He wondered if there would be a barrage of questions about his past. About who he once was, and who he was now.
"Just make sure you use a name I like. No Alvin or Bubba," she said sternly.
He laughed in delight. That had been totally unexpected.
"I take it that's why I kept hitting a brick wall when I tried to find you." Hannah laid her head back down on his chest.
"Promise me you'll let me come back for you. Promise me you won't try to find me next time, Hannah," he whispered.
She stilled. "Does this have anything to do with the man across the street? What was going to happen to me?"
He struggled for something to say.
"Maybe it's better that I don't know," Hannah murmured, a little frightened.
"I'll tell you what I can when I can," Colby whispered as he rolled her on her back and moved over her. "But for now, all I'm going to tell you is that I love you." And for a long while after that, the only sounds in the room were sounds of passion.
--
"Well, you look chipper today," Sean teased as Colby walked into Steele's office for a briefing the next day. "Spend the night at Hannah's?"
Colby rolled his eyes and ignored him as he dropped into one of the chairs in front of Steele's desk. He looked at the other man who was there. "Morning, Luke."
"Oh, I like that. Say good morning to the assassin but ignore me completely," Sean complained good-naturedly.
Luke grinned. Sean always amused him. Of all the Blades who worked for Steele, Sean and Colby were the only two he could tolerate working with for any length of time. He was mostly a loner. Noticing Colby's curious look, Luke's eyebrows rose in a silent question.
Colby shook his head slightly but said, "It's fascinating how you could look totally different each time I see you. At the bus stop yesterday, you looked like a middle-aged man, stooping slightly as though weighed down with all the cares in the world. Today, you look like a confident, dapper businessman without a care in the world."
Pleased at what he considered a compliment, Luke only murmured, "Thank you."
"Any idea what all this is about?" Sean got up and paced restlessly around the office.
"If you'll sit back down, I'll tell you," Steele's chilly voice came from the doorway. He sat down behind his desk and narrowed his eyes as he evaluated the three men in front of him. "The CIA has asked for our help. There's someone they need to eliminate."
--
"The CIA has asked for our help. There's someone they need to protect," Don said to his team. He watched as David, Liz and Megan assessed his remark. The CIA rarely asked for help. Inter-agency cooperation was a myth as far as the CIA was concerned.
"Just who is it that we're supposed to protect?" Megan asked curiously.
"Le Renard Argenté," Don said quietly. He almost laughed when their eyebrows winged upwards in unison.
"The Silver Fox? The notorious arms dealer who became the chief of intelligence for the Sûreté?" David asked in disbelief.
"The very one," Don shook his head. "He will be giving a speech at a huge fundraiser. Apparently he's a popular speaker with the fundraising jetset. Something about his accent, I suppose. He's have his aide with him, one Jean-Paul LaRoche."
"I'm not sure if I want to protect this guy," Liz muttered to herself.
"We don't have a choice." Don got up and paced around the conference room. "The CIA has also asked us to coordinate this protection detail with the Department of Domestic and Foreign Safety. Apparently, they've done protection detail on Le Renard Argenté before. In Paris, about four years ago."
"Steele's group?" Megan asked with interest. "Think Colby will be assigned to it?"
"I hope so," David said. He looked up when all three pairs of eyes turned to him in amused surprise. "What?" David asked in annoyance. "He said he wasn't going undercover anytime soon."
"So you've forgiven him for having a hidden agenda?" Don asked dryly. He still wasn't sure how he felt about all of it.
David shrugged, "I haven't forgiven him anything."
"It'll still be good to work with him again," Megan said softly. "I miss the smartass."
Don's cellphone chirped and he took the call. "They're here. I need to get some things from my desk before they get up here."
"I wonder if Sean's here too," Liz murmured to herself when Don left the room. She ignored Megan's curious look at her remark. She watched as Steele came out of the elevator with Colby and Sean. "Oh, the man looks good."
Megan chuckled. "I take it you don't mean Colby."
Liz looked torn. "Don and I are trying to decide if our relationship is working," she murmured. She looked relieved at the looks of understanding and sympathy.
As they got closer, Sean looked up, and gave her a broad wink when he saw her.
"Well, well," Megan murmured in amusement as Liz blushed. "It's been what, a whole day since you saw him last?"
David snickered.
All three settled bland expressions on their faces as Colby and Sean came in.
Colby shook his head when Sean settled in the chair next to Liz and scooted the chair closer to her. "You're just asking for it," he muttered balefully. He would just as soon not antagonize Don unneccesarily. God knows they would be butting heads with the FBI soon enough.
"Twerp," Sean told him imperturbably. "Just because you got some last night." He laughed when Colby rolled his eyes.
Megan smiled when Colby sat down next to her. "I'm glad you've reconnected with Hannah. It wasn't as bad as you feared, was it?"
"No, it wasn't," Colby freely admitted. "I should have known. She's always looked at things differently."
"Alright, you guys," Don said as he and Steele entered the conference room. "Steele's agreed to let me run this." He moved towards the front of the conference room as Steele sat down in the back.
Megan saw Sean and Colby exchange a look and wondered at it, but turned her attention to Don when he started to speak.
"The CIA will be providing an escort for Le Renard Argenté from Paris. He and his entourage will arrive at 2pm tomorrow afternoon. We are to take over and escort them to the Villa Graziadio Executive Center where they will be staying. Then we escort them to the reception will be held outdoors close to the Phillips Theme Tower. The management at Villa Graziadio Executive Center will be expecting us today to go over security procedures."
Don paused for a moment as he put a picture of the executive center on the screen. "The good thing is that it's not surrounded by lots of tall buildings. The executive center itself is on the campus proper, and the Tower is is in an open area."
He sighed and sat in an open chair. "I hate protection detail, but this is a better location than most. I shudder to think what we'd have to do if it was surrounded by buildings on all sides."
Shifting a little to find a comfortable position, he continued, "The event is sponsored by an alumni from Pepperdine, one Janice West. She graduated and made pots of money, and is apparently footing the bill. They're closing the campus, entry will be by invitation only. We'll be meeting her liaison at the campus today." Don rolled his eyes, "A handler, in the vernacular. Someone to make sure that the Silver Fox shows up in the right place at the right time. Anyway, Ms. West received a letter warning her that the Silver Fox will be targeted if she didn't cease an desist. She called the CIA, and here we are."
"She called the CIA and they jumped, huh?" Megan murmured. "Must be nice."
"No kidding," David griped. "Maybe we'll just call her next time we need the CIA's cooperation."
"Alright, we'll all head there and meet with the liaison. Colby, you're with David. Sean, go with Megan. Liz, you're with me." Don either ignored or didn't see the looks on everyone's faces at the last two comments. He turned to Steele, "Are you going?"
"No, I would be superfluous in this part of the endeavour. Colby and Sean know how to reach me if you need anything done. Anything that might save you a trip back and forth from here to Malibu." Steele got up to leave.
"Thanks," Don nodded his appreciation as Steele headed out the door and towards the elevators. "Megan, you and Sean scope out the executive center's staff and the security personnel who are scheduled to be there to control who comes in or out of the campus. I want pictures and personnel files, all checked against the databases. David, you and Colby scope out the grounds where the fundraiser is to be held and the buildings around those grounds. Mark out the places where we'll need to place people. I need a count by the time we get back. Liz and I will work with the liaison, try to figure out what the schedule is like and where else we'll need to beef up security."
He glanced around, "Ready?" At everyone's nods, he said, "Well, let's roll!"
--
"Well, I notice he split Liz and I up," Sean murmured as he and Colby headed to their own vehicles to get their things before going on to Malibu with their FBI counterparts.
"The man isn't an idiot," Colby said dryly. "He does run a crack FBI team with a high solve rate."
Sean grinned at him, "Oh, I'm sure the solve rate is down a good bit now that you're no longer there."
Colby raised long-suffering eyes to the sky and Sean laughed. He wasn't in the least put out at not being able to spend time with Liz.
"Just don't get us killed by our own side," Colby told him as they split up to go their separate ways.
Sean cut him a sly smile, "Are they our own side?"
Colby ignored him and broke into a run towards David's SUV, which made Sean laugh even harder.
Megan shook her head in amusement when he got into her SUV. "I'll just bet trouble is your middle name."
He grinned rakishly at her. "Now why would you say a thing like that?"
She shook her head in reproof as she pulled out of the FBI lot. "Are you really interested in Liz or are you just yanking Don's chain? It would be cruel to toy with her just because their relationship might be on rocky ground." He was silent so she turned to look at him. She found him staring at her with cold eyes. She shivered involuntarily, he'd always been warm and friendly.
"It's really none of your business," he said finally. "I'll let the personal insult slide because you work closely with her and you care about her. Just don't do it again."
Some profiler you are, Megan thought. You've totally misread him. She glanced back at him when the traffic allowed.
His face was set as though in stone, his lips were pressed together in supressed anger.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I didn't mean to imply that you would be deliberately cruel. You just don't seem to be the sort for a long term relationship."
He remained silent, but Megan was relieved to see that his lips had relaxed. She sighed softly when David ripped past her. She could see that he and Colby were laughing and apparently rocking to whatever tune was on in the SUV.
"Damn, I've missed riding around with you," David said, still laughing.
That stopped Colby's laughter. "I miss it too," he said softly. Not a day goes by where I don't think about the fun we had, even when taking people down.
"Yeah," David said soberly, "That must be some job you have."
Colby shrugged, "Someone has to do it. It's as good a job as any." I do wish I'd found the FBI job first though.
"I didn't mean to turn it into a downer," David said. "It's a long ride to Malibu." He grinned, "You could tell me how you spent the evening with Hannah."
Bursting into laughter, Colby choked out, "Just how DO you think we spent the evening? I hadn't seen her in months!"
"That was a damn fool thing to do," David told him.
"What? Stay away from her?" Colby asked. At David's nod, he said, "Yeah, in retrospect it really was. In the first place, I never meant for the relationship to go as far as it did. It just never occurred to me that she could've been hurt when it all went down. I should have protected her a little better." He was silent for a moment, then said softly, "Life was so good at the FBI, I guess I forgot I was undercover until everything hit the fan, then it went too fast for me to do anything about Hannah. In a way, I'm glad I won't be going undercover anymore."
"Anymore?" David said in surprise. "Not at all?"
Colby shook his head. "I specifically asked for local cases today, after my evening with Hannah went so well. Steele agreed."
"He did, huh? He doesn't strike me as someone who gives in much."
"He doesn't, really," Colby said thoughtfully, "But he did this time." I'm still in shock over that. I've already mentored one agent for him. Maybe he's recruiting more agents and wants me to do the training.
There was silence for a few minutes when David's favorite song came on the radio. They dropped in behind Don's SUV.
"What's up with Sean, Colby?" David asked when the song ended.
Colby snorted, "Damned if I know. He's always been a bit of a ladies' man but I've never seen him purposely move in on another man's woman before."
"Liz says her relationship with Don isn't working."
"Even if that's true, there's no reason to throw it in the man's face while we're working closely together for the next few days." Colby shrugged, "I can't do anything about it, except maybe clean up the fallout."
"Wonder what they're jawing about," David indicated the SUV in front of them, where Don was gesturing animatedly.
"What are you doing, Liz?" Don scowled at her.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Liz refused to look at him.
"I thought we were going to try to make this relationship work! But everytime I turn around, you're sniffing around this Sean! You don't know anything about him. He's probably a traitor, just like Colby!"
Liz twisted around to look at him, "Colby's not a traitor, and you know it. He was deep undercover."
"Don't change the subject!"
"I'm not changing the subject! You were the one who brought Colby up. This isn't not working out like I'd like it to. It wasn't a problem before when I didn't work directly for you. But it's not the same now that I'm on your team. It's hurting my career! Every transfer I've requested has been turned down because no one wants to deal with you over it." Liz sighed as she turned to look out the window again.
"You requested a transfer?" Don was incensed.
"That's exactly what I mean! Why shouldn't I? This career means something to me! I don't want to work on your team forever!"
"Fine! I'll sign your tranfer papers," Don snarled in frustration.
"Fine!" Liz struggled to keep her tears at bay. She was relieved when they finally got to Pepperdine. She ignored it when Don slammed the door, but flinched when she saw Don glaring at Sean. The impassive stare Sean gave Don in return gave her the chills. Don was right about one thing, she really didn't know anything about Sean.
"Welcome to Villa Graziadio," a smooth, mellow voice greeted them as they approached the entrance to the lobby. "I'm Luke Williams, I'll be your liaison." He looked the confident executive in a three piece Armani, with gold-rimmed glasses perched elegantly on his nose.
"Don Eppes," Don said curtly. He introduced everyone. Everyone except Sean. Then stalked into the lobby without waiting for anyone to lead the way.
After all the FBI agents passed him, Luke raised his eyebrows at Colby in silent query.
"I'll tell you later," Colby muttered, scowling at Sean. He wasn't exactly sure what had happened, but he knew it had to be about Liz.
Sean ignored both of them and followed the agents into the building.
"Cherchez la femme, I presume," Luke murmured as he entered the lobby with Colby. He strode ahead to join Don.
After Luke made introductions to the the staff members who would be assisting the agents, they split up for their various appointed tasks.
"Let's go over the schedule in my office, Agent Eppes." Luke turned to Liz and said politely as he indicated the direction of his office, "After you, Agent Warner."
"Thank you," Liz murmured.
Luke noted the body language between the two agents. What had Sean done? He handed a copy of the Silver Fox's schedule to each agent. "There are actually three meals before M'sieur Fontaine leaves."
"M'sieur Fontaine? Oh, the Silver Fox." Liz muttered under her breath.
"Yes, M'sieur Gerard Fontaine," Luke said patiently. "He is to arrive at 2pm tomorrow afternoon. He will have a few hours to rest before the dinner reception at 6 pm. They will have a few hours of daylight to mingle and enjoy the view, perhaps there'll even a beautiful sunset. After that, he will be having dessert and coffee with the planning committee."
Don looked up, "I'll need a list of names..."
Luke handed him a sheet of names and continued without missing a beat, "Then breakfast at 7am with a group of teenagers who won a competition to meet M'sieur Fontaine." He handed Don another sheet of names. "Luncheon will be served at noon, again on the grounds at the Phillip Theme Tower, this time with those who donated the most. I will have to get you that list after the evening reception."
Don nodded, "I appreciate all of this."
"It is in the University's and the Executive Center's best interests to keep M'sieur Fontaine safe." Luke murmured. "Here are the menus for the three meals. The personnel manager will be giving your agents copies of personnel folders. Here are keys to M'sieur Fontaine's suite. Will you need anything else?"
"That should cover it for now."
"Excellent. Here is my business card. I can be reached on my cell phone at any time," Luke rose, and walked out with them. "Please call me if there's anything else I can do."
The six agents rendezvoused in the suite and spent the rest of the day going over the schedule and the security plans. It was a weary bunch who headed back to Los Angeles at the end of the day.
--
"Are you alright?"
Liz spun around, pulling her gun out as she did so.
"Easy, it's just me," Sean murmured as he held his hands up. He smiled gently when she put it away. "You're awfully jumpy." He reached for her hands.
"I'm fine," Liz pulled her hands out of his reach, and he dropped his own to his side.
Sean let the silence grow. When it didn't look like she was going to say anything, he murmured, "I'll be there if you need me." And he began to move away.
"I'm sorry," Liz said suddenly. "I... I didn't mean to lead you on. But I don't think I'm ready for any of this."
"Okay," he said softly, "Call me when you are ready." He got in his own car and drove off.
Liz sighed and got into her car. She frowned at her reflection in the rear view mirror and thought to herself, "I don't have his number." Just then her cell phone range.
"Now you have my number." The phone went dead.
She laughed. And felt better as she headed home.
--
Colby stretched wearily when David got up to take over the watch. He sighed as he dropped into a chair for a short rest. He looked gloomily around. Protection was really the most boring thing an agent had to do. Still, the sunset had been lovely, what little he'd seen of it. He and David were keeping watch from the highest point of the Executive Center. The last time he looked, all the security personnel were in the proper position.
"LaRoche has gone back to the suite. Megan and Sean are escorting him. He's got some kind of bug or something. Suffering from nausea. He's also had to run for the bathroom several times already. Must have been something he ate." Don said to them over the radio.
"Not from here, I hope!" David said. They'd taken precautions and eaten from different restaurants before they got here, but everyone had eaten snacks and drank coffee supplied by the executive center.
"No, doesn't look like it's from here," Don replied. "He's been sick ever since he got off the plane. He thinks it might be something he had before the flight."
"I'll be glad when this reception is over," Colby muttered as he came back to spell David.
"You ain't kidding," David sighed. "Not long now, I hope."
Several hours later, David and Sean headed to their respective rooms for some sleep. The six of them were going to take turns to keep watch through the night, and to make sure that the shifts of security personnel switched over without a hitch.
"How's LaRoche?" David asked.
"Not good," Sean murmured, "He's started to vomit and on top of that, severe diarrhea has kicked in."
"Poor guy. What does he do for Fontaine, anyway?"
"Just about everything, I think. I heard Fontaine screaming for him about a million times since they got here. 'Get this', 'where's that'. I don't think Fontaine can get by without him."
"Hope he gets better soon then." David said goodnight and went into his room.
The next morning, he and Colby were back up on their perch. Colby had taken the second sleep shift.
"Look at Fontaine's long face," Colby murmured to David. "LaRoche must not be any better."
"Maybe he just wanted to get away from Fontaine for a while," David said with sympathy. Fontaine had become progressively nastier as LaRoche got sicker.
The day stretched on. LaRoche was taken to a hospital. They gave him fluids and told him to rest. By lunch, he was barely able to raise his head off his pillow.
After the last guest left the luncheon, Don and Liz walked Fontaine back to his suite. Megan came out to meet them. "LaRoche is dead."
"Dead? What do you mean, dead?" Fontaine looked shocked. "How could he be dead?" He looked helplessly around him. "But what will I do? How will I manage?"
Don looked at Le Renard Argenté with a slight frown. He turned to Megan, "I take it you've got everything in motion."
Megan nodded.
"Alright, I'm going to leave it in your hands and get Fontaine to the airport, turn him back over to the CIA." He glanced over at Liz and said warily, "Will you get the rest of the crew out of here?"
"Sure."
--
"Well done, Luke," Steele murmured.
"Thank you."
"I hope Don never finds out that LaRoche is the real Silver Fox. That he'd spent a lot of energy protecting a harmless man that was never the target," Colby said. "He's pissed enough at us, as it is."
"Yes, so I understand," Steele murmured as he pinned Sean with an icy glare.
"So what did you use, anyway?" Sean asked Luke, ignoring Steele.
"I'm not exactly sure I should tell you," Luke looked at Sean in amusement. "You might use it on Eppes. I rather like him."
Even Steele's eyebrows went up at that pronouncement.
Luke chuckled, "Is it quite so unusual for me to like someone?"
"Uh, yeah." Colby said. He reached for Luke's forehead. "Are you sick? Do we need to take you to the hospital?" He looked at Luke with interest. "Which hospital did you take him too, anyway. They should be sued for letting you leave with LaRoche, as sick as he was."
"We didn't go to a hospital. The ambulance was one of ours," Luke replied. His eye glinted with amusement at the thought that he would have left something like that to chance.
"Alright," Steele sighed. They always got a little silly after the end of a case. At least, Colby and Sean did. It was quite a revelation to see Luke this way. "Get out and get it out of your system. I'll see you tomorrow."
Laughing, the three of them headed out of the office.
"Why don't you guys come over to Hannah's for dinner?" Colby asked.
"It's lasagna night, isn't it?" Luke murmured. He smiled at Sean's surprise.
"Never mind, long story," Colby told Sean.
"Shouldn't you at least call?" Sean yelled as Colby got in his car.
"Nah, she's the one who offered," Colby shouted back.
--
Sean grinned at Luke when they heard smothered giggles as they reached Hannah's front door. Colby had apparently already arrived. The door had been left ajar.
"Are you decent?" Sean asked as he poked his head around the door. He laughed when he saw that Colby had trapped Hannah against the wall. "Don't mind us, I'll just grab a couple of beers." He did and handed Luke one.
"Ah, thanks," Luke looked at his beer in bemusement. Then his bemusement turned to amusement when Sean sprawled out in front of the TV and turned it on. "You don't live here, you know."
Sean grinned at him, "If that lasagna tastes as good as it smells, I might."
"Over my dead body," Colby yelled from the kitchen.
"That can be arranged," Sean yelled back.
Luke laughed. He couldn't help it. Sean's antics amused him. Especially since he seemed to be over whatever dark mood had possessed him a day ago.
"Here's a glass of merlot," Hannah said, smiling when Luke turned to her. "I'll take that beer."
He looked startled, "How did you know?"
She laughed, "I saw the look of distaste on your face when Sean handed you the beer." She looked a little closer at him and said softly, "You're the man from across the street."
Luke was startled that she had recognized him. He still had the clothing and mannerisms from the liaison role he'd played the last couple of days. He looked up as Colby came out of the kitchen, a wary look on his face. "Yes, I am."
"Thank you."
"For?" Luke asked in surprise.
"I know you ran off the street gang that had been harrassing the older couples on this street." She looked over to Sean who had sat up warily, "You're both welcome anytime." The oven went off, and she smiled. "Come on, let's eat."
Luke found himself relaxing at the convivial atmosphere. Relaxing more than he'd ever remembered. He looked around him with satisfaction and with more than a little gratitude for the only woman in their midst. He'd chosen his letter with a specific word in mind, a word that represented something he'd never felt. But now, now he knew what acceptance was.