Disclaimers: If I owned L&O:CI I would rich wouldn't I? Well since I'm not then its safe to say I do not own CI nor it's characters. They all belong to Dick Wolf and NBC.

"So…were you strict with him?" Goren smirked, knowing very well that she wasn't, not if she let her son's friend stay over. He started the engine and checked his mirrors before pulling out.

"No. I gave him a pass. I figure he's still going through a lot, what with his dad and all, and he did confess…but I made it clear that if he pulls anything like this again he'll be grounded for the rest of his life."

"Wow…that's…harsh." He smiled. "It'll be tough for him to get dates."

"Good. With all the things I hear about some of the kids at his school I'd almost prefer it if he was Quasimodo."

Goren chuckled. "So…what's your favourite food?"

"Hot fudge sundae."

He grinned at her.

"Oh, right! A restaurant…" She bit her lip, embarrassed at her stupidity. She didn't want to come across as a moron for their first date. "Chinese."

He gave a nod. "I know a great place on Sixth Avenue."

"Sounds good."

They parked in a lot around the corner from the restaurant and went inside. Goren really liked this place. It had great food and it was one of the restaurants closest to authentic Chinese ambiance you could get in the city. Well, asides from actually dining in Chinatown. But this place was his favourite for other reasons; of which, the friendly staff and the calming music were just a couple.

"Ah, Mr. Goren…the usual?"

He shook his head. "Table for two, Hugo." He fidgeted, wondering what Hannah would think of this place. He hoped she liked it. This place was one of semi-regular restaurants he went to. It almost felt like a rejection against the restaurant would be a rejection against him. His stomach did flip flops.

The old host smiled knowingly. Goren showed up once or twice a month for the last several years and always had he eaten alone. It was just a place for the man to dine by himself in peace and he always took dates elsewhere. He definitely liked this place, but it was always a solitary venture for the detective, so if Goren brought a date here then it must be of some importance.

"And who is this lovely young woman?"

"Uh...H-hannah." Goren awkwardly introduced them. He held out his hand motioning to Hannah. He hadn't thought of having to give introductions tonight. It felt strange to be introducing her to the restaurant host, or to anyone for that matter. It was their first date after all. He motioned to the man. "Hugo."

"Hi." Hannah smiled cheerfully. "You have a nice place here."

"Beautiful and polite. Don't screw this one up." Hugo joked.

Goren looked down, shifting from one foot to the other. "A table?" He glanced up at Hugo uncomfortably. 'What I really need is for people to remind me that I could very well fuck up this already delicate situation and that Hannah is someone special. Someone great that I might chase off...do they really think I don't know this?'

Hugo looked at the book. "Unfortunately the next opening is for 10:40."

Goren looked at his watch then asked disappointed, "Two hours?"

"You expected to be seated right away?" The host asked. "Without a reservation?"

"Uh, no…it's just…two hours…" He was worried that Hannah would want to go home early. He didn't know if she liked to stay out late on her dates or not…because of her kids. She might not feel comfortable about it because the circumstances were different than they were when she had to be out late for work.

"Even if you book a reservation now most places will be at least that long."

"I don't mind waiting." Hannah piped up.

Goren sighed, hoping this wouldn't add to the negative impression Hannah already had of him. Part of him still doubted that she forgave him and he didn't want to press his luck. He gave a nod to the host. "Okay...put us down, for the next table."

"That should be ready at 10:40."

"10:40." Goren muttered as he and Hannah left the building.

She did her best to hide her smile. 'He really doesn't like when things don't go his way.' She tucked her hair behind her ear. "You said Bryant Park was around here…I don't think I've actually been there before."

He raised his eyebrows. "You haven't?" Well it did make sense. She stuck mainly to Brooklyn and she used to work insane hours and had the kids to look after. He doubted she would have the time during the day and was equally sure she wouldn't have felt comfortable taking the kids all the way downtown by herself at night. He gave a nod. "It's uh…this way." After Goren suggested they walk, they started towards the park.

Once on the park grounds they stopped at the café. There were a lot of people there too, but they managed to get a table. They shared a piece of cheesecake, not wanting to spoil their meal but also not wanting to die of starvation either. Afterwards they wandered around the park just taking their time and talking.

Hannah found the easy-going atmosphere of the date comforting. It helped with her nerves. The last date she had been on the man was just too concerned about getting things done. He was obsessed with the schedule, and though Hannah liked being on time and was usually neurotic in that sense, she didn't like when it sucked all the fun out of the experience. What made it even less fun was the not-so-subtle hints her date gave her that let her know he really had a motive to rushing through dinner. It was so much fun Hannah had looked forward to her next trip to the dentist. Regardless, it had been one of those dates that made her keep checking her watch.

As for this date, she didn't even bring a watch and she didn't need to. It was nice and she didn't feel any pressure from Goren to do one thing or another. He did most of the talking and she listened intently. He had a way of making anything fascinating and Hannah just wanted him to keep talking so she could learn more about him and what he found interesting. Goren talked about the who's, why's, and how's of the monuments around the park when they approached them. He went on excitedly about them, waving his hands around, as if he was dying to talk about them to someone who was genuinely interested, and she was. It was part of what made her want to be a writer. She was a curious person by nature.

They went up to the library and wandered about on the terrace. Apparently Goren knew a lot about the library. "…the terrace was designed to...elevate...the building above surrounding streets...to provide a place to…for people to gather and…for a setting for public sculptures." He paused, realizing he had just rambled on for a long time and didn't include her in the conversation. 'She must really think I love the sound of my own voice...I should let her know that I do want to know what she thinks...include her in the conversation...god she's so beautiful...focus!' "Do you sculpt?"

"Nooo." She smiled. "The last time I made a sculpture the finished product looked like something Picasso would do…except in my case I was trying to make a vase."

He chuckled. "Well…I'm sure that…that it would be a lot nicer than my attempts."

"I don't think that's true. You're probably better than you think."

He shook his head. "I'm not…artistic."

"Everyone's artistic…whether they're good or not, that's another story."

He smiled at that bit of insight. He liked how she thought. "There's a…some lions over here…" He led the way and showed her to the statues, asking her opinion on them. Goren tried to remind himself not to get too heavy with the intellectual stuff, not on the first date. Sometimes his dates got intimidated. Actually, that happened a lot. Other times he just bored them. He didn't want to screw up this date.

They gravitated to the fountain afterwards and started talking about it casually. Hannah took out a quarter and tossed it into the fountain, making a wish. Goren followed her lead. He tossed the penny into the water, not even having to think about his wish. He noticed there were only a couple quarters, aside from theirs, laying at the bottom of the fountain. He pointed at each quarter in the water. "It was cleaned out tonight...already, by the...by one of the homeless people that come here..." He looked around and noticed a shabbily dressed woman walking up ahead. "Her."

"How do you know that?" Hannah asked, interested.

"She's holding her pocket...like she's protecting something...to make sure the money doesn't...f-fall out. And her sleeve's wet."

She smiled and raised her eyebrows at him. She didn't notice any of that. But what she found more curious was that stealing from a public fountain was illegal and Goren would obviously know that. He didn't think it worthy of arresting a homeless woman and putting her through more trials than she already must be going through. It showed real class. Hannah felt like she was melting again.

Goren fidgeted, mentally berating himself. 'God I can't stop being a detective for one night? Look at me I just had to point out all that...I couldn't just keep my mouth shut?' He scratched behind his ear. "I know it ruins the…premise of…wishing for something but…what did you wish for?"

She snickered. "Nope. Not going to tell you."

"Aw I'll tell you mine." He smiled, suddenly relaxing a little at the sight of her smile.

"I want my wish to come true."

He fidgeted and rocked on his feet. "Then I won't tell you mine."

"Okay." She giggled. He frowned slightly, defeated, realizing she really could wait to hear his wish.

"Well could you give me a hint?"

"Okay." She pause, thinking about it. "It has something to do with-"

Just then, they felt a couple of droplets of water fall onto them. They looked up. Goren put a hand on her arm. "C'mon I think it's going to rain." They took a few steps and that's when it just started to pour.

Goren took her hand and they ran to the nearest shelter, which happened to be a bus shelter. But by the time they got there they were already drenched. Goren rung out the bottom of his sweater, groaning in annoyance. He frowned at Hannah. "Should have brought…umbrella…sorry." He fidgeted nervously.

She was just as uncomfortable as he was but tried to make light of it. "At least it's not cold."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well…"

Hannah used her finger and tried to wipe away any makeup under her eyes. "I must look like a raccoon."

"You look fine." He flinched as he said it. 'Fine...just great, I had to say that.' It was a word that got him into trouble sometimes. Fine, as in, not beautiful...at least that's what he was told it meant. It was news to him but that's what a couple of his girlfriends had been insulted by in the past. All he meant by it was that she had looked good and nothing was wrong. "Uh...I mean, good...you look...good." Goren scratched the side of his head. 'Great that slip up and the rain...now our date has to end early…and it was going so well…' The last thing he wanted to do was suggest to end the night but he knew it was coming.

"What time is it?"

He looked at his watch. "9:30." His stomach was all tied up in knots. 'Here it comes…'

"Well since we're already soaked we could walk back to the car. I saw a Laundromat down the street from it?"

He blinked. "Laundromat? Wait, you mean…you're okay with…stopping to dry our clothes?"

"If you are…" She tucked her hair behind her ear. "If well…ya know, the place isn't sketchy and we're not standing around naked."

His lips curved up into a grin and gave a nod. "Okay."

This time they didn't bother running since it wouldn't have made a difference either way; besides, running in high heels was difficult for Hannah so Goren figured he'd go easy on her.

He was surprised though when she slipped her arm through his and actually commented on liking how the rain felt on her face. At first he didn't know if she was serious but she was.

By the time they got to the car the rain began to let up and died into a drizzle.

"Blankets…" Goren said simply before grabbing some from his trunk, along with his jacket from the front seat. They headed for the Laundromat and slipped inside.

As luck would have it, it seemed to be a decent place. The only other people in there were a couple of college boys. Hannah went up to a mirror on the far wall and used a paper towel to wipe her makeup off. She then took the ribbon out from her hair and ran her fingers through it, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. She tied it off with the ribbon.

She went back over to where Goren was. He was already barefoot and he was stuffing paper towels into his shoes to get the worst of the water out. A small packet of detergent and a sheet of fabric softener were on one of the washers. Goren got them out of an overpriced dispenser by the entrance.

"So how is this going to work?"

"W-we wear the blankets while…while everything dries." He then realized what she meant. "I'll hold the blanket up…you can…strip...behind it and…take the blanket and wrap it around yourself." He motioned with his hands at the last part.

Hannah glanced in the direction of the college boys and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Goren took a blanket, unfolded it and demonstrated what he meant. "See? You and the blanket will be…behind me. I can't look….and they can't see."

"Okay." She spoke uneasily and wondered if this was a stupid idea or not. What was she thinking? Undressing in public…in New York City. It wasn't exactly the safest nor the smartest thing to do. Though, she had Goren with her. He would protect her if anything happened.

Goren held the blanket behind him. It wasn't the most comfortable of things but couldn't help but see this as a trust exercise.

Hannah slipped off her skirt, looking around uneasily, just in case someone in the laundromat or outside could see her. They couldn't. Goren and the blanket blocked everyone's views.

Once her skirt was off she pulled her sweater off, then the rest of her clothes. As soon as they hit the floor she stepped up to Goren and pulled the blanket over herself. She wrapped herself in it tightly so there was no chance of it falling off.

Goren handed her his jacket. "You can wear this too."

"Thanks." She smiled gratefully at him and pulled on the jacket, zipping it up quickly. The jacket itself came to her mid thigh and it was huge on her.

They did the same thing for Goren. He fashioned one of the blankets over himself like a toga, a short one and tied it securely. "Done." He lowered the blanket she was holding in front of her face and Hannah smiled at him approvingly. "Very Nice."

He smiled and gathered their clothes, minus his wallet, keys and cell phone which sat next to their shoes on a washer. He then put their clothes into a machine and got it started.

"You want to sit down?"

"Yeah but there's no-"

Goren put his hands on her hips and picked her up. He sat her on an unused washer next to their things. He hopped on the one next to her and pulled the spare blanket over himself, a little self-conscious about his weight and how he looked in the toga.

"You know I've never been in a laundromat before." Hannah suddenly felt very sheltered. 'Who in New York hasn't been to a laundromat?'

"You haven't?"

"No, I never needed to." She tucked her hair again.

He leaned over, smirking. "Well I've never had a date in one before."

She smiled. "I think like laundromats."

"They're underappreciated."

"And judging by what those boys are wearing I'd say they're underused too."

Goren glanced over his shoulder at the college boys and chuckled. They looked like complete slobs. "It could be why they don't…have dates on a Friday night."

"Or this might be their date."

He grinned and gave a nod. "Could be." He glanced over his shoulder again. "But judging by the way they're looking at you…well I think you're more their type."

"You sure they're looking at me?"

"Who could take their eyes off you?"

She looked down, beaming, feeling her cheeks warm. She bit her lip for a second before letting it go and glancing up at him. He was definitely charming.

Note - There you go! The first bit of their date. More to come, reviews please!