Chapter 12

Jess looked up from her coffee cup as she heard the diner's door open. She smiled when she saw Voight making his way toward her. She slid out of the booth that somehow became theirs after the robbery. "Hi," she said as she extended her arms to hug him.

"Hey," he greeted as he slid into her embrace and gave her a kiss. "Thanks for coming."

"What? You didn't want to eat my meatloaf?" she teased.

"You know I love your meatloaf. I just wanted to see you sooner than the time it took to drive home," he said as he took a seat. He noticed she had ordered him coffee. It was one of the things he loved about her. She took care of him in ways he would never think about. "So, what are you eating?" he asked, already knowing her answer.

"Pancakes & eggs."

He smiled. "I knew that."

"Are you saying I'm boring, Voight?"

"No, Voight-"he emphasized. "I am saying you are a creature of habit." He reached across the table and took her hand.

She smiled at his emphasis of the last name. He was right. She was a creature of habit. This late at night, she loved pancakes and eggs. "Yeah, well, you're a cop. You make it your life's work to know about people."

"True," he agreed. "But I've known you for 15 years. I've had a lot of time to study you."

"I'm not sure if that is good or bad."

"It's good."

She nodded as the waitress appeared and Jess placed her order for pancakes and eggs. Voight sipped his coffee and ordered a patty melt and fries. "I thought you would go for the ham & cheese omelette," she observed.

"Unlike you, Jessica Marie, I am not a creature of habit."

She cringed when she heard him use her full name. It brought back so many memories of when she was a child and couldn't do anything right. She heard her mother's disapproving voice in her head. "I'm so disappointed in you, Jessica Marie. You know you're capable of bringing home all A's. What is with the B in Phys Ed, of all things? If this keeps up, I'll never be able to show my face at the club. Imagine! A B! I'll be the laughingstock! You'll never get into Smith or Vassar with a B! Oh my!"

"Jess?" she heard Voight's voice from far away. She shook her head, clearing it of the memory. "I'm sorry, what?" she asked as she shook her head to clear the cobwebs out.

"I asked what you wanted to do this weekend. Would you like to drive up to Milwaukee and see the football game or go sailing with Mike and Carrie?"

She sighed. The Bears were playing away. While a trip away with her new husband was tempting, she knew it would only be a day trip and not a weekend getaway. That was the problem when your husband was married to his job too. It left little time for a social life, and even less time for taking a weekend off to go anywhere.

She didn't blame Voight. The Intelligence Unit was still relatively new, having being launched just six months earlier. He had already been through the wringer—losing Wilhite on the first major case, losing Jin two months ago, and teaming up Callahan with Dawson. He kept a close eye on Callahan, not because she was a bad cop. She wasn't. She was one of the best detectives he had ever had the pleasure to work with. She just played Rambo one too many times and jumped in with both feet, asking forgiveness instead of permission. While it irritated him at times, Jess knew he was ecstatic to finally get Belden to kick her out of Violent Crimes and up to him. He felt like he was still proving himself to the CPD Brass. His dedication to his team was one of the many reasons why she loved him. She just wished he would trust his team enough to tell him of his real assignment- investigating Internal Affairs.

"Sailing," she finally decided. "I have a feeling we need to stick close to home this weekend."