Stakeout

"Every single stinking time…" Eddie muttered to himself as he woke up to find Pippin sleeping on his shoulder again. It was their little tradition when on stakeout in the car for this to happen. A little tradition that made him want to gouge his own eyes out.

"Hey! Sleeping Beauty! A little personal space if you don't mind."

His British partner with his long flowing hair groaned a little and then sat up. "Hey dude." He muttered sleepily. Pippin yawned and turned to regard his less than pleased friend. "Anything?"

"Nah. Looks like another wasted night."

Pippin sat up in his seat and adjusted his fine Italian suit. "You didn't try anything while I was asleep did you?"

"Other than trying to stop myself from strangling you every time your head wound up on my shoulder, no." replied Eddie, annoyed. He hated when these tips didn't pan out.

"Oh." Pippin's tone was a little disappointed. "Well, we might as well report in, if this was going to happen it would have already."

"Yeah… I hope Johnson lets us head home. I need a shower." Eddie looked at Pippin with a wry smile. "Badly."

"You love every minute of it and you know it." Pippin started the car and pulled off. "Not so sure I'm all that anxious to head home, though."

"Oh yeah? Slow night at the swinger's club?"

"Perish the thought mate! No, Audrey has been acting a little strange."

Eddie chuckled. "So what else is new?"

"Well, apparently, she's getting a little concerned about her clock, if you know what I mean."

Eddie rolled his eyes and sighed to the heavens. "No, I don't know what you mean, and I really think I don't wanna know."

"Tick, tock, tick, tock, you know mate, the old biological clock."

"Good God, are the two of you actually considering reproducing?"

Pippin shrugged. "It's come up. Not directly per se, but little hints here and there. Parents magazines, toy catalogs… and when we've been having sex lately she likes me to…"

"You know what, I get the idea man!" broke in Eddie, really not wanting to board this train of thought.

"As a man of the world, gifted with the company of thousands of beautiful, free-spirited Londoners, my first impulse is to run screaming for my gentleman's club. But I suppose I'm not getting any younger. And what a shame it would be for these lovely Pippin genes to not be passed on for the betterment of ladies in future generations."

"Yeah, that would be a real tragedy…" mumbled Eddie, the sarcasm thick in his voice.

Pippin turned to regard his partner. "What about you dude? Have you ever thought about creating your own little legacy?"

Eddie turned and gave his friend a withering look. "I think I have my hands full with you."

"That's sweet dude." Pippin smiled at him. "I suppose whatever else we'll always have each other. I look forward to our old age together when we can sit in our rockers and reminisce about my various sexual conquests. The nurses at the retirement home will give us our rub-down as we sip prune juice like old friends do. You know…"

"Hey Pippin, pull over when you get to that bridge. I wanna throw myself off of it."

Pippin grinned and continued to regale his horrified friend about their golden years together. Eddie stopped listening to him, but could not get the tick tock sound out of his head. Time was a funny thing, he mused. It seemed just when you had all the time in the world it runs out on you. Just when you got used to your life some twist of fate occurs which changes it forever. And there was no way to stop it.

'Tick-tock…' he thought to himself, the familiar sadness returning.