Hunting Grounds

Chapter 20

Kate didn't see Rick after Captain Montgomery had come down on her head over her trip to LA. She'd expected him to be angry, and she wasn't disappointed. A week's suspension with no pay seemed a bit extreme, but she didn't have a choice.

She was walking up to her apartment and just knew Rick would be home by now. She had learned from Espo and Ryan that he knew everything, so she was betting he was waiting for her. She didn't want to start a fight with him. She really didn't.

Opening the door she saw he was waiting for her, sitting on the sofa with a drink in his hand. Based on the size of the glass, she was betting it was hard alcohol which wasn't good. He was drinking.

Rick didn't say a word. He just sat there and watched her. His silence spoke volumes, and it was starting to get to her. "I can explain," Kate began to tell him. Instead of saying anything to her, he patted the space next to him.

So she slowly walked over and sat down. He was too quiet. She would prefer that he yelled at her as Captain Montgomery had, that she could handle. His being silent was a lot harder.

"I fly to Michigan, and you fly to LA. Ryan and Esposito explained to me just who this Royce person was. He trained you, so I can see you being upset about his death. Now explain to me why you chose to risk your job to fly to LA when you knew Montgomery just might fire you for it?" Rick wanted to hear her story.

Kate fought back. "I don't need to explain myself to you." Was it the right thing to do? It didn't matter since she was still upset with what Montgomery had done, and she was going to take it out on Rick.

"NO?" Rick questioned her. "You want to know why I like you so much? Have you seen those horror movies where this brain-dead teenager or older girl stands there screaming her head off while watching her boyfriend being cut in two by a chainsaw or hacked to pieces with a machete? Whatever it is doesn't matter.

"You, however, have a head on your shoulders. You don't scare easily, and you don't back down. I told you once that finding a woman who could put up with her man being deployed for up to six months and never really knowing if he was coming back was few and far between. And if a man found one, he should hold on to her with dear life.

"I thought you were one of those women. Maybe you still are. So you want to explain to me how I'm supposed to trust you when you go off and do things like this? What else in your past will cause you to be so reckless?" Rick sat there and waited.

"And if I don't?"

"Then I move the ship and let you get on with your life without me. Trust works both ways, Kate. I expect you to trust me, and I expect to be able to trust you. Even I know that love alone doesn't make a relationship. Trust is even more important. To not feel like one of us has been betrayed, ignored, and left to flap in the wind, and not understand.

"We got home alive because we talked, and I trusted you. One little event and suddenly you don't talk to me. Now you're suspended. You had to know what would happen, but you did it anyway. Yes, I was told about your suspension."

Kate lost it and yelled at him. "One little event! Royce was why I'm even a cop. Without him, I would've drowned and been thrown out of the NYPD!"

"One dead man. Do you want to know how many men I've lost doing what I do? How many men that I could call friends that I've lost? How many I held in my arms while I had to listen to them die? DO YOU?" Rick thundered. He got up and began to pace.

"Do you have any idea how many people I've killed in the name of my country? Not some personal vendetta because I felt I owed it to someone who's dead. You didn't even call me to tell me to meet you there so I could help. I'll bet that didn't even enter your mind, did it?

"I didn't even get a chance to help you, and you want me to trust you? I fought to be your partner instead of finding my own way and worrying about what to do with Rosie and the ship without you.

"I'm going to go get seriously drunk and decide what to do." Rick walked toward the door, and Kate didn't attempt to stop him.

This entire event had been hell for her. Royce was dead, she was suspended, and Rick was furious with her. "WHO NEEDS YOU!" Kate screamed at him. She'd been doing just fine without him. That was until some aliens selected her and took her to some planet to be hunted down and killed.

[_] /\ [_]

He was still gone. Kate didn't know or care how much later it was and decided to go to bed. She stripped and washed up a little before putting on her usual sleep clothes. Even that suddenly felt different. Ever since Rick came into her life, she had slept naked to get as much skin contact as possible.

Kate wasn't able to sleep. Their fight kept playing over and over in her mind.

No, she hadn't even thought about calling him and asking him to meet her in LA to help her. She had every intention of doing this alone. It hadn't started out all that great. Seeger could have simply arrested her, and that might have put an end to her career.

She had managed to talk Seeger into helping her, but that was because she had given him a reason. Except that hadn't helped her with Montgomery.

It was now 1:11 am, the middle of the night, and the bed was still empty. She sighed and went out into the living room, where she found Rick in his shorts curled up on her sofa.

Kate walked over to him and got down on her knees. His back was to her so she couldn't tell if he was awake or not. "I'm sorry. I didn't think, I just reacted. I'm not used to having a partner. I've always been on my own. Ever since my mother was killed I've had to make decisions on my own without anyone's help. And yes, Royce meant a lot to me.

"I'm sorry. Please don't leave," she said softly, still not sure if he was awake or not. Was she going to have to tell him this all over again?

"You want me to trust you again?" Rick asked her but kept his back to her.

"Yes! Please? I'll try to include you in everything possible. I'd be dead without you." That she knew for a fact. She would most definitely have been hunted down and killed on some alien planet.

Kate watched him turn to face her, but he still looked hurt. "You promise? Cross your heart and hope to die?"

"What are you, five?" Kate regretted it instantly. "Yes, I promise. I cross my heart and hope to die." She even made a cross on her heart and kissed her fingertips. "I don't even have my fingers crossed behind my back." Kate showed him both her hands. "Do you want a pinky promise, too?" Since he was behaving a bit like a child, she might as well appease him.

Kate watched amazed as Rick did indeed hold out his hand with his pinky extended, but said nothing. "Fine!" It felt childish, but she linked her pinky finger with his. "I promise."

"You better keep your promise," Rick warned her. "Kate, before this I was learning to like you. And I do want to date you, to see where this relationship can take us. But I need to trust you. I promise not to break your trust in me. Do you think you can handle that?"

Kate's smile lit up her face. She did really like him, happy to have him as a roommate and make love to him. She did want to see where this would take her. Take them. "I can handle that," Kate told him and kept smiling. "Can we have make-up sex now?" She was never going to get any sleep if they didn't. "I don't want to fight anymore."

"I'll think about it."

Think about it? He needed to think about it? Then his hand reached out unexpectedly, took hold of her head, and he forced her lips to his and kissed her. She kissed him back in a heartbeat.

"So, is that a yes?" Kate asked him after breaking from the kiss.

[_] /\ [_]

Neither of them had gotten much sleep. However, after sex, they'd both settled down and drifted off, only to be woken by Kate's alarm. They both woke up, and Kate hit her alarm to get it to shut up.

"Since you're suspended, what should we do?" Rick's answer was to feel her hand grab his family jewels and see her smile at him.

[_] /\ [_]

Kate was sexually satisfied and happy that they were no longer fighting. But she still needed to figure out what to do with herself for a long week of no work.

"Did you buy that truck?" Kate inquired as she began getting the coffeemaker to work. She bit her lower lip as she watched Rick walk around with his bug detector. She was going to have to get used to that.

"I did. I gave him his asking price and then arranged for a company to ship it here. I'm guessing since I gave them this address that they'll drop it off right out front."

Kate knew they needed a car but did it have to be that one? She thought he was taking this EMP thing a little too far. Still... Those aliens might be able to kill a modern car. Even now, she wasn't sure how they had done what they did. How no one really saw what happened. And more to the point, she didn't get how Rick got caught sitting on the toilet.

"How long before it arrives?" If it got here fast enough, they could drive out to look at that house in Maine.

"Two weeks," Rick told her as he got out two coffee cups.

"TWO WEEKS!" That seemed like a long time to her.

"That's what I was told. It's an enclosed trailer, not one of those open cargo trailers dealerships use. That might have something to do with it. Since we're both essentially suspended, we can go searching for a garage to park it in. Hopefully, it won't cost me an arm and a leg."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't hold your breath." It was New York City, after all.

"Positive thinking, Kate. Positive thinking."

"I am positive. I'm positive it's going to be expensive." Kate ignored the look he gave her.

"And since you keep checking for bugs, how long do you think it'll be before whoever it is will actually bug this place?"

"Since we're both effectively suspended, I'm relatively sure not until that's over. Then all bets are off. We won't be here to see them do it. Lance is a good friend. He might not have said anything, but he didn't give me that thing for no reason. So it will happen. Once they figure out we have a truck, that will get bugged too."

Kate lamented over the situation they found themselves in. "And here I thought us getting home would be the end of it."

"Think about it, Kate. Would you believe us? That we'd been taken from where we had been and ended up in Maine? Lost and didn't know where we were till we reach Portland?"

"It's just that some of it is the truth. But I suppose not." She sighed. "Too many open, unanswered questions. Still, why would they think we're lying and know something?"

"The million dollar question," Rick admitted. "You know, if we're going to be here for a week, we really should go shopping for groceries. I seem to recall you once said that you do know how to cook."

"Yeah, I did. My mom taught me. I just don't because it reminds me that she's gone, and that hurts."

"I would've thought that doing something that reminds you of her would help to keep her memory alive. Let what she taught you keep her memory alive, Kate. Show her that you love her and remember her by cooking what she taught you."

"I never really thought about it that way because anytime I think about her my heart hurts. Are you sure you don't want to eat out a lot?"

"Well, I do know one thing. We're getting rid of this coffeemaker and buying some good coffee." Rick dumped what he was drinking. It wasn't as bad as what was at the precinct since that was impossible, but it was still not good.

Sadly, Kate had to admit that he was right and dumped her cup of coffee as well. "Alright, let's go shopping." She went into her bedroom to get money and her phone and met Rick at the door.

[_] /\ [_]

Kate watched him put the box on the kitchen counter. "This better be the best coffeemaker on the planet. It cost six hundred dollars, and I still think you're nuts."

"Oh, ye of little faith." Rick took out his Ka-Bar knife to cut the box open. "Just open the coffee grinder, a bag of coffee beans, and start grinding."

Kate opened hers and began grinding while Rick set up his precious coffeemaker and read the directions about how to use that thing. Eventually, after pressing buttons and putting two coffee cups in place, they both stood back and watched it brew coffee.

"Maybe we should get bottled water," Rick suggested.

"Just let it finish before you spend more money," Kate argued. But she didn't want to wait too terribly long because she was anxious for a cup. The smell of brewing coffee was getting to her.

Eventually, they were both standing there, sipping hot coffee and humming their enjoyment at the taste.

Kate caved in and admitted it. "Fine, you win." Still, she was sure some of this was because of the beans she'd bought. Rick bought the coffeemaker while she bought the grinder and the beans.

"Do I get a kiss?" Rick smiled at her and kissed her back when she kissed him.

"Just don't get used to winning," Kate teased him. She had every intention of winning more often than he did.

[_] /\ [_]

Now there was one benefit for making up from their fight and being suspended, they got to go out on actual dates. Eat in a restaurant, go see a movie, take a walk in the park. Rick even talked her into going to a beach which wasn't all that easy given they didn't have a car.

"What are you grinning about? You've seen me naked." That was one more thing about being suspended and mostly trapped at home: they had lots and lots of sex.

"Yes, and I get to think about what's under that swimsuit and how much fun I'm going to have taking it off of you later." Rick smiled at her and made Kate grin. She couldn't wait for him to take it off of her, either. Still, teasing him was fun, and she got to do it in public where he could do little about it.

That was until they got home. Kate found herself pinned to the inside of the apartment door where he kissed her savagely. They didn't make it to the bedroom till later, much later.

[_] /\ [_]

The next morning, Kate woke up alone in bed. She stretched out the kinks, and still naked, got up to find out where Rick was. "LANIE!" Kate put hands over her private parts, and as fast as she could, retreated to the bedroom.

Kate quickly pulled on something to wear and was afraid of what Lanie was going to say. She should've known Lanie would be over eventually. Of course she was going to find out she was suspended at some point. It was just she was having too much fun with Rick.

"Lanie, what are you doing here? It's...," Kate groaned as she looked at the clock, "10 o'clock in the morning." She had obviously slept in, but she had an excuse. Sex with Rick had worn her out.

"I had to find out that you were suspended for a week from Javi. So I came over to find out how you were doing, and guess who answers the door?" Lanie looked at Rick, who was in the kitchen enjoying a cup of coffee.

"Perhaps I should find somewhere else to be." Rick emptied his cup, put it in the sink, and went toward the door.

"You take another step, and you die," Kate told him and watched him stop dead in his tracks.

"Something you want to tell me, Kate?" Lanie stood there with her arms crossed and waited for an explanation why a man, especially Rick, was in her apartment this early in the day during one her days off. "You better make this good, girlfriend." She had seen Kate naked and had looked completely comfortable doing it with Rick here.