David watched the rain pour down outside the windows of his car, rivulets of rain trailing down the windshield. Inside of the café, it was busier than usual, a Monday morning creating a rush in the small shop. People bustled about, the door opening and closing, men and women rushing to their cars to find themselves safe from the rain. He had parked closer to the door this morning, but the familiar white car was absent. He shook his head, turning the car off and stepping outside. What did it matter? He had spoken to the girl twice; short conversations of meaningless small talk with a pretty girl. He pushed the image of his captain's daughter out of his mind, chiding himself for spending a few extra minutes in front of the mirror this morning. He had smoothed his hair frivolously, endlessly checked his teeth for remnants of that morning's breakfast, all because he knew he might have a chance of running into her at the coffee shop.

He ducked into the warm building, the bitter smell of coffee grinds floating in the air. He enjoyed the mornings that he didn't have to be in until 10, not that he nabbed the chance of extra sleep at all. Yet, he was able to move at a leisurely pace and give up his coffee jockey responsibilities for the morning.

The line was longer this morning, five people waiting ahead of him. He let out an annoyed sigh, but realized that he in fact had nowhere to go and settled into the slow pace. He let his mind stray to a solved auto-theft case from a couple weeks back, remembering the victim's car being a white Prius also. His mind veered, scattering and piecing back all of the parts of that case. After a while they had become like jigsaw puzzles to him, pieces he could click together in his head. He must have been caught up in his thoughts, not noticing the gentle clicking of heels walking up behind him.

"Good morning,"

He glanced behind him, sky eyes looking up at him. He offered another smile, Elizabeth ignoring the way her heart bounced in her chest when he smiled at her. "Morning," he said softly. She wasn't in scrubs this morning; a little floral dress under a cardigan, paired with tall boots taking the lilac scrubs place. "Not working this morning?"

She shook her head, curls bouncing around her thin face, "I have the week off. I work Sunday to Sunday, a week on and a week off," she explained. She looked around him, pointing, "You're up, Detective."

He looked behind him, realizing that the barista was waiting on his order, "Oh," he muttered, ordering his usual drink.

"Go ahead and charge me for that," Elizabeth said to the barista, reaching into her purse for her wallet.

"What?" Loki argued, "No, that's alright."

"Oh please," she pushed past him, ordering something smothered in caramel and pumpkin, handing the barista her credit card, "Let me pay, I owe you for yesterday."

David didn't argue. He just shook his head. "Thanks."

Elizabeth offered him another glowing smile, "Don't mention it."

Their drinks came out rather quickly, David handing hers to her before picking up his own. He noticed her eyes flicking from the rain outside to a table by the fireplace, obviously debating whether or not to stay a while. "Do you want to sit?" he asked quickly, "For a while, you know, with me?" His eyes blinked wildly as he ran his hand over his face. He wanted to die of embarrassment; he felt like such an idiot.

She giggled softly, nodding, "Yeah," she met his eyes, "I'd like that."

They took their seats across from each other, David looking down at his coffee. This wasn't normal for him, to share time with a pretty girl. He usual lived and breathed his job. He had devoted himself and worked hard to gain the position he had today; his focus not leaving him much time for dating, or a social life for that matter. It was probably also the reason he could count his friend circle on both hands, and almost all of them also doubling as coworkers.

Elizabeth gripped her coffee cup, breaking the silence, "So, are you not working today either?"

David leaned into the back of the chair, "Yeah, actually. But I don't need to go in until closer to ten."

She took a sip of her drink, "I bet my dad is a real treat to work with," she scoffed, rolling her eyes.

David chuckled, rubbing his eyes, "Oh you have no idea."

She pushed her curls back, her smile widening, "Oh but I do!"

"He's not too bad," David shrugged, "We clash every once in a while. And he'll send me on the stupidest shit." Elizabeth raised her eyebrows, urging him to go one with a smile that seemed to have never left her face the entire morning. "My very first case as a detective, he gave me this statement from a little old lady claiming that her neighbor stole her hydrangea bushes." Elizabeth snorted back a laugh, David shooting her an amused smile, "Her son put her in a home shortly after that case."

Elizabeth burst into a short fit of laughter, "That's terrible!" she shook her head, "That sounds like Dad's sense of humor though. That sucks, I'm really really sorry that my dad is such an ass and ruined your first case," they were both laughing. David couldn't remember the last time he had laughed like that over a conversation, enjoying himself for the first time in a while.

David swirled around the contents of his cup, "O'Malley talks about his kids all the time, but I always thought he had-,"

"Two sons and a daughter?"

"Yeah. Anthony, Carol, and-,"

"Eli?" she finished, nodded, a slight annoyance about her, "Yeah, that's his nickname for me. I always hated it. Dad calls me Eli, Mom calls me Lizzy." She sighed.

David leaned forward, "What do you prefer?"

She smiled. No one had ever asked her that. Most fed off her parents; the occasional Eli with different variations of Lizzy. She had lived the majority of her teenage years hating the given nicknames. She chewed her bottom lip, "Ellie." She said, "I like Ellie."

"Okay, Ellie."

He enjoyed the smile that graced her face, even more so enjoying the nickname that rolled so easily off his tongue. "Do you have family close by?" she asked.

He instantly retreated, slowly shaking his head. The glow in her eyes dimmed, her smile depleting, "No," he said, "My dad walked out on my mom and I when I was a baby. My mom though, she died when I was five. Then it was foster home jumping. None of them are anything worth visiting though." He felt a warm heaviness in his right hand, realizing Elizabeth had slipped her small hand over his, giving it a tight squeeze.

"I'm sorry you went through that." She said quietly.

David didn't pull away from her hand. Just sat slightly in awe, staring down at her thin pretty fingers, her pointer finger decorated with a simple thin gold band. She inspected the little symbols etched into his knuckles, curious of the meanings, along with the star on his neck. She pulled her hand away, realizing how long she had left it there, slightly embarrassed. David slid his hand back, clearing his throat. He shrugged, "Eh, I'm not losing any sleep over it," he halfheartedly wanted to take her hand again, "I'm sure you see some crazy shit in the ER too,"

She was thankful for the subject change, pushing her hair behind her ear and taking a sip of her drink, "Not too much. The town is pretty small, so it's pretty relaxed. A lot of broken bones and asthma attacks," David nodded, watched her trace the ring the bottom of the cup had left on the table. A bright pinging sounded and Elizabeth scrambled through the contents of her bag, "I'm so sorry," she mumbled, unlocking her phone and responding to the text.

"It's fine," he responded. His eyes wandered from her hands to her face, noticing every little detail; how her eyelashes curled, the natural pinkness to her cheeks, the small crescent shaped scar above her lip, the rhinestoned gold cross the hung around her neck. Her eyebrows wrinkled, an air of mild frustration surrounding her as her thumbs danced across the screen. "Sorry," she mumbled again. She clicked and locked her phone, her attention back to Loki, "My brother and his ex are divorced and she fought like hell to have partial custody of the kids, but I seem to have the kids on her days more than she does," she explained, biting her lip. "So it looks like I," she snatched her keys out of her purse, "Have to pick up my nephew from my mom's and take him to school." She exhaled sharply from her nose, her face breaking into a disappointed smile, "See you around?"

David offered a small smile back, "See ya 'round."

And with that, she disappeared into the gloomy landscape yet again.

Kids were never his strong suit.

You could sit him in front of a rapist, a thief, murderer, kidnapper; you name it, and he would break from his chains, exuberant and animated. But as he sat in front of O' Malley's desk, eyes locked with the small dark haired boy, he had never imagined that he could feel so damn vulnerable. How fucking old was this kid? Five? Six? David popped his knuckles and cleared his throat, trying to break the awkward silence as the little jackass stared him down from behind his grandfather's desk.

David blinked.

The boy clicked a pen.

David leaned back.

The boy leaned forward.

Fuck this, David thought, I have shit to get done. Not babysit. He started to rise from his seat when the boy broke the haunting silence.

"Are you a cop?"

David lowered himself back down, "No, I'm a detective."

"You don't look like a detective."

"Yeah."

"What's that on your neck?" the child pointed at Loki's tattoo.

David cleared his throat, O'Malley stepping in the room quietly, "It's a tattoo." He said, his explanation blunt.

"Dad says that tattoos are for white trash." O'Malley tried to hide his laughter behind his hand.

David rolled his eyes, "Aren't you supposed to be at school?"

"My mom has tattoos and dad says that makes her a trashy who-."

"Aunt Eli is here!" O' Malley loudly announced, cutting the boy off and sweeping him into his arms. David's ears perked up, standing quickly to watch the petite blonde race into the office. She took the boy from her father with such ease, hiking him onto her hip.

"Hey kiddo," she smiled, pressing a exaggerated kiss to his cheek, "Ready for school?"

"Grandpa said I don't have to go to school!" he giggled in jubilee, reaching back for his grandfather. Ellie shot her father a look, blue eyes narrowed. He simply shrugged, allowing the child to scurry back to his desk and continue coloring in the printed off coloring pages that O'Malley must have found on the internet.

"But Hunter," Elizabeth said slowly, her father interrupting and taking responsibility for the child. Elizabeth shook her head, her eyes finally catching Loki and recognizing his presence. "Hey," she spoke, a small smile creasing her face.

"Hey,"

O'Malley's head snapped up at the sound of the exchange, "You know each other?" His eyes were dangerous, locked on Loki. He ran his fingers through his hair, the captain's eyes locking on his. Elizabeth broke the silence, "We met at the coffee shop, in town Daddy. David helped me carry coffee out to my car yesterday."

O'Malley's eyes never left the detective, "Yeah, that's great. Um, Honey? You mind taking Hunter out to the kennels? He's dyin' to see the dogs."

Elizabeth nodded and collected the young boy, offering David another smile, too which he returned. The door clicked behind her, "Don't fucking do that," O'Malley snapped, Loki's smile dropping and hard blink taking its place. "My fucking baby girl? Yeah punk? Try that shit, I dare you."

David threw up his hands in protest, "Hey, I just met the girl. Showing her a bit of fuckin' kindness."

The graying man pointed a long finger between the eyes of the younger man, his lips pressed in a tight line, "I'm fuckin' warning you, Kid. Touch my baby girl and I will end you," he drew out the words of his threat.

Loki rolled his eyes, exiting the office, "Fine, shit, I don't want to be ended, whatever the fuck that means," He shut the door behind him. The glare of the captain still burned at the back of his neck as Elizabeth wandered through the office, nephew in arms.

Like a dog pissing on the hydrant just to spite the fire.

"Hey, Elly. You like Chinese?"