Emily sighed tiredly, as she dumped her bag uncerimoniously on the desk in her classroom. They'd been slammed from all ends the month and a half; several negotiations, two very lame, mandatory trainings (in other states), training with Frank and Duff on new assault tactics, paperwork to accompany everything, and she had her classes to keep up with. They really hadn't had a moment to breath the last several weeks, and it was beginning to take her toll. And of course, Cheryl had to pick today to sit in on Emily's class, and critique her for the upper-ups. She practically sleep-walked to the podium, and surveyed her class. She saw most of her students present, and then there was Cheryl, who'd apparently brought Frank, and Duff and Lia, who were flirting shamelessly, all four lounging in the back. Emily resisted the urge to grumble, she and Matt hadn't had the energy to shamelessly flirt in two months. Sex sure, both were always hot for each other (to Cheryl's continuing dismay), but the romance was suffering.
Turning away, she stifled a yawn with her hand, and pulled her bag upright, beginning the search for her materials. Both her organizational skills, and class had also suffered from the seven weeks of craziness. She'd forgotten her materials more than once, and had to cover by spending the whole class telling anecdotes in the guise of examples. Pen, manual, two case files, and then her hand hit something, something fuzzy and square. Confusion clouded her eyes and twisted her face, as she yanked out a small black box, one she'd never seen before. So, maybe the romance wasn't quite dead, she mused, assuming Matt tossed the box in, a surprise gift, probably earrings was her guess; the box was the right size. She pulled it open, and it was miracle she didn't end up on the floor. A small diamond sparkled from the silver band it was set into, or was that white gold? There was beautiful etching on the sides, giving the already attractive ring, a special quality to it. Then there was the noted taped to the top of the box: 'Marry Me."
"Oh my god." She jumped slightly as her own voice startled her, coming out louder than she anticipated.
"Lehman, you alright?" A male agent called from his seat. Her back was to her class, so they had no idea what she found in her bag.
Her four friends watched her from their spot in the back; Lia and Duff had stopped flirting when Emily spoke, surprised by her exclamation. Matt had told them to sit in on her class that day, that he knew it was going to be very good. Watching Emily teach beat doing work any day, and Cheryl needed to observe her at some point, so they'd all decided today would be the day to watch. Now, they were wondering if he hadn't planned something, some surprise for his girlfriend, who was still standing in the same spot, stock still, staring at something they couldn't see. And, Matt was nowhere to be seen, which made them even more suspicious. If he wasn't shooting with HRT or at chained to his desk with paperwork, he was watching his girlfriend of a year and a half educate the eager minds of the FBI.
Suddenly she turned around, hiding the little box in her clasped hands, and started searching her class for him, head stinging wildly around. All familiar faces, but none were the one she needed, and she could only imagine by her classes worried looks, how crazed she appeared then. She swept the room, then back up to her class for one last check, before settling on her group of bewildered friends in the back row. They chose today to watch her teach? They must know something.
"Where is he?" They exchanged looks, offered her shrugs, and generally looked helpless, apparently they didn't know anything.
"Why? What did he do?" Frank was clearly amused with whatever his friend had done to unnerve his girlfriend so much.
"He...I...never mind, nobody knows where he is?" Now she was beginning to feel a little desperate. He pulls this, and then disappears, oh was he going to get it later.
"Right here." She turned abruptly to the sound of his voice, and there he was, hidden from the rest of the room by the alcove of a doorway. Arms slug across his chest, he leaned against the doorjamb, cocky smile on his face, though she could see the truth in his eyes--he was as nervous as she was, nervous that she might just turn him down.
She walked over to him, little velvet box, still clasped in her hands, and looked him straight in the eyes, with that, "are you kidding me?" look she worn the day he revealed their secret. She had disappeared to the rest of them room, who exchanged confused looks, wondering what the two negotiators were up to.
Matt eyes held the same question as that box, and when she didn't answer, he fell to one knee and took her hand. Then his mouth got in the way.
"You ever notice, this is kind of like a begging stance?" That wasn't what he intended to whisper, but at the moment, it was kind of what he was feeling. He was begging her to say yes, and not leave him looking like a fool.
Emily bit her lip, but couldn't stifle the grin, and then she started laughing at the hopeless look on Matt's face, as he realized what he said. Now, this, this was more like them, so she pulled him up off the floor, and wrapped her arms around his neck, whispering close to his ear.
"Now, how can I turn that down?"
He pulled back and stared into her eyes to see if she was serious, and she smiled, her dimples coming out fully.
"Yes, yes I will." She barely got the words out when he crashed his mouth to hers in a kiss not appropriate for the office, but about right for their current circumstances.
Of course, Emily was scared to death at the idea of commitment, but when she looked into his soft brown eyes, she found their was only one answer she really wanted to give him. She loved him even if they hadn't been together all that long, and she would get used to the idea of being his wife. She felt safe with him, knew that he'd never hurt her, and couldn't imagine ever loving someone more than she did him.
Meanwhile, growing bored and all too curious, the large crowd of spectators, led of course by the couples four closest friends, dispatched Duff to work stealth recognizance, and spy on the couple; they had to know what was going on. He climbed quietly to the bottom of the stairs, inching closer to the hidden little alcove, stopping every so often to listen, just as he been trained. Then he peered around the corner to the lip locked couple, and was decidedly disappointed; Matt and Emily being horny was nothing new. He wandered back to the class, shrugging, empty handed, no juicy gossip to offer.
"They were just making out." This confused everyone even more, they knew not to do that in office, especially with their boss in the same room, and they usually kept the PDA at home. What was going on?
Breaking the kiss, Matt pulled open the little box, and slipped the ring onto her finger, clasping their hands together. So, maybe they wouldn't get to be partners any longer, they would have something else even better. And, this they could have forever.
Breaking their second kiss, Emily brought them back to reality. "Uh, I still have a class."
"Right, I'll go find a seat." He moved to leave, when Emily stopped him.
"Oh, I don't think so, you have to help me explain this." Studying the challenge written on her face, Matt wanted to continue bantering, but she had a class.
Neither knew it, but once again, Duff had crept quietly back down the stairs toward them, and peered around the corner, eyes widening when he caught the sparkle on Emily's hand, which was resting on her hip. Not believing it for what it was, he glanced at Matt's hands, only to be surprised by the small black velvet box. He immediately retreated, and exclamation pouring from his mouth before he could stop it.
"Whoa."
Frank was getting annoyed with all the mystery, and the fact that he wasn't in on it. "Duff, what's going on?"
"Uh, Lehman's not as smart as we thought...she just agreed to marry him." He was still processing his discovery, as he announced the engagement, and finally earning the undivided attention of the couple. His audience was now staring at with bug eyes, and jaws somewhere near the floor, that nobody was expecting.
"Seriously?" Frank wasn't sure if he should believe it.
"Yep," Matt sighed, dragging a slightly pink Emily with him, over to the center of the room, by Duff. Emily held up the sparkling room as her only comment.
"Man, this is the best place you could think of to propose?" Frank asked chuckling, the first to absorb the shock.
"Well, I've had the ring a couple months, and we've been too busy for me to plan something big," Matt explained shifting uncomfortably, and adding in a low mumble, "I didn't want to wait anymore."
"Can I see you two in my office for a moment?" Cheryl managed to get her eyes back in her head, and realize their engagement had other implications with it. She rose from the seat after watching the pair nod, and walked out the door, shaking her head. Matt and Emily followed, suddenly a overwhelmed with the stoplight, and Frank, Duff, and Lia followed after them.
Cheryl held open the door to her office, blank expression on her face, making them nervous, before informing their small entourage that they'd have to wait. She fell into her chair, and regarded them.
"So...congratulations." Cheryl was smiling, but her tone hinted that something else was coming.
"Thank you," Emily answered, relaxing, it was only Cheryl after all.
"You have to split us now." Matt didn't ask it as a question, this was something he'd wrestled with.
"Yes, I won't do it immediately, not until I find new partners for you. So, for now, you can continue to work together, and I'll take my time arranging it, but eventually, I'll have to split you up." Cheryl clearly wasn't thrilled with it, but regulations were regulations for a reason.
Matt shrugged. "Well worth it." Emily squeezed his hand, she agreed.
"Now, open that door for our friends, and let's see that ring." Emily held out her left hand, while Matt got the door.
"So, how didn't any of us see this coming?" Frank wondered allowed.
"Because we all figured Emily would dump his sorry ass," Duff laughed.
"Thanks for having so much faith in me," Matt told them sarcastically.
"Well, it's a beautiful ring, you have good taste Matt." Cheryl released Emily handed, and smiled at the couple.
"Some of that credit needs to go to Lia."
"Wait a minute, Lia new about this?" Emily asked incredulously, as she and three others turned to stare at the tech.
"Yes, I did, someone needed to help him pick a ring." Hands on her hips, she spoke matter-of-factly.
"And you didn't tell me!" Duff whined at her.
"No, you would have told Frank and Cheryl, and somebody would have overheard and spoiled Matt's little surprise."
"Little surprise, who are you kidding?"
"Well, they've been dating for what, a year and a half? Generally, if you don't break up, you get married, Frank," Lia pointed out.
"Yeah, but these two? I figured they'd never get hitched just so they could stay partners." He made a good point, and all of them knew it. That was actually what was so surprising, that they would give up working together to be together.
"Like I told Cheryl, it's worth it."
"Matt, you realize, you're never going to have sex with another woman again, right?"
Matt shot a look at Emily, and smiled. "I don't need to."
"Really?" Frank and Duff were snickering, and Cheryl and Lia wore amused expressions, while Emily had once again gone a light shade of pink.
"Matt, I'm grateful that you didn't announce that over the radio, but do you really need to share everything?" She wore an expression of strained patience, earning more laughter.
"Alright," she finally said, "I still have a class to teach."
"Good, go, Sloan's tonight for celebratory drinks?" Cheryl asked, getting nods all around.
Everybody dispersed to their separate destinations, though Emily made a point to drag Matt with her. If she had to spend the next hour and a half getting curious stares, so did he, considering he was the cause.
"Okay, sorry for the delay today everyone. Today, I like to discuss HTs that have snapped, the ones who don't use any planning, just have a mental break of sorts and pick up a gun." She stood behind her podium, while Matt got the computer projection system set up for her.
"Wait a minute, are you kidding?"
"Is there a problem, Mark?" Emily asked patiently.
"Yes, you can't just pretend that all didn't just happen."
"Exactly," another guy agreed, "aren't you happy?"
"I'm very happy, what's your point?" She wasn't liking this conversation.
"Well, we want to see that you're happy," a third guy answered.
"Yeah, give us a smooch," the second guy suggested.
"I'll take that, just something to acknowledge to us that it happened." He wrapped it in logic, but just really wanted to see if she'd do it, or smack him first.
Emily studied them for a moment, before turning away and grabbing Matt's face, pressing a very passionate, intense kiss to his lips. Matt wasn't surprised for very long, and gave as good as he got, resulting in a very steamy kiss for her very immature class. She broke it and gave him a last peck on the lips.
"Can we move on and learn crisis negotiation now?"
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