One Conversation

As they walked back into the precinct Danny put his handcuffs back in their holder on his belt. He walked over and sat at his desk and noticed that Baez didn't sit at hers. She walked past their desks and over to the whiteboard containing notes, pictures and evidence from the two cases they had just closed. He watched as she began carefully removing all the items that pertained to the cold case they had just solved and put them in the box they had retrieved from the evidence warehouse. He kept watching for a few more moments before getting up and heading over to a cupboard not far from the whiteboard. He opened it, pulled out a new box and headed over to the whiteboard. He stood beside her and started taking off items that were evidence in the new case they had tied to the cold case and solved. They stood in silence, working to separate the evidence from each case into the correct boxes. Baez finished first and closed the box when she was done. Danny looked over and saw she was standing still staring at the box, he was sure he knew what she was thinking about. He had been thinking about what happened at the warehouse a lot himself. She felt his eyes on her and lifted her eyes up, their eyes met and she went red.

"We should talk." He spoke quietly so only she could hear him. She nodded and he glanced at the ceiling. She immediately knew he was suggesting they talk in the one place they were guaranteed privacy in the precinct, the roof. She nodded again in understanding then picked up the box and carried it over to their desks. She tucked it neatly under her desk and then turned and headed to the stairs. He watched her disappear into the stairwell, turned back to the whiteboard and continued removing all the items and placing them in the box.

He made it to the roof about five minutes after she did, he stepped out on to it and made his way over to her. She was leaning against the railing looking out, completely lost in her thoughts. He stood right beside her and his eyes scanned the horizon. Neither spoke, they stood together staring out not sure how to have the conversation they knew they needed to have.

"The way I see it we have two choices." She started breaking the silence. His eyes flicked to her, he saw she still had her eyes on the horizon so he looked back out at the city.

"We stay partners and agree to ignore whatever is going on between us, or we put in for new partners and start seeing each other…romantically." She matter-of-factly laid out their options. They kept staring out in silence until after a few minutes Danny took a deep breath.

"I don't know if I'm ready." He admitted.

"Of course, I completely understand." She replied. She sighed, believing the decision had been made.

"If we could just take it slow…" He started. She glanced at him briefly before looking back out.

"You know, like one date at a time, see how it goes…but you're right, we'd have to get new partners and we'd have to tell the Captain, the whole precinct would know by lunchtime and it would get back to my Dad before the end of the day. Even if I'm ready to date, I'm not ready for the world to know I'm ready, you know?" He clumsily tried to explain.

"It's ok, I get it." She confirmed, appreciating his explanation.

"It's stupid though." She sighed frustrated.

"What?" He asked surprised by her statement.

"What does it say in the patrol guide? The bit about partners dating?" She asked him, finally turning to face him. He stared her for a moment, confused as to where she was going with this.

"Partner's cannot become romantically involved as it will compromise their working relationship." He quoted the patrol guide verbatim, answering her question.

"Yeah, compromised." She repeated the word, he just stared at her still confused.

"Danny, we're up here, alone on the roof, having a conversation about whether or not we should start a romantic relationship, aren't we already compromised?" She asked.

"Yeah." He agreed, but was still not sure what she was getting at.

"And if we agree to ignore what we're feeling, are we going to all of a sudden not be compromised?" She continued.

"No…" He answered, seeing her point.

"What are you saying?" He asked wanting clarity.

"I guess I'm saying, we're already compromised, how much harm could a few dates do, how much more compromised can we be?" She said finally making her point. She looked back out at the city wondering what he was thinking. They fell silent as her questions hung in the air, he turned it over in his mind considering what she was suggesting.

"So, we stay partners and start dating?" He asked to confirm that's what she was suggesting. She looked at him nervously and nodded, he stared back somewhat surprised by her suggestion. She swallowed and lowered her eyes.

"Look, I know it's risky, if we get caught we'll get in a lot of trouble, we'll get an official reprimand, the whole force will find out, your fam…" Her rambling was interrupted mid word as he captured her lips with his. She was surprised but immediately kissed him back. When they finally broke apart she stared at him wide eyed, he just smiled at her.

"I'm in."