Prompt #48: Kathleen & Joe and Jet & Malachi go on a double date

Let Go For Tonight

~oOo~

It started, like so many things do, with coffee.

Her father had left the apartment early today, before the crack of dawn; in his rush and confusion, he'd left behind his licensed service weapon and its holster – and from the tone of his voice when he called Katie to ask if she could swing it by headquarters on her way into work, Bell wasn't in the mood for his antics this morning.

So, she'd (somewhat-reluctantly) agreed, taking the time to stop along the way for her morning jolt of caffeine and a donut – and then playing the dutiful, considerate daughter, grabbed her dad a cup too.

It wasn't the bougie Italian shit he drank at home with the special pot and the fancy beans she hadn't quite mastered, but it was one of the better coffees she knew how to find around this part of the city.

Dropping the holster, his gun, and the coffee on his desk twenty minutes later, she grinned at him. "There you go, Dad, saved the day, once again."

"Thanks, Katie," he said, gathering her into a hug and holding her close. "You know you've always been one of my five favorite children."

She laughed. Of course, Dad would say something ridiculous like that. I'm in my 30s, and yet I'll always be his little girl. "Yeah, and I'm sure Lizzie, Rich, Mo, and Eli are the other four contenders, right?"

He took a sip of the coffee she'd left on his desk and allowed a smile to creep around the edges of his lips, only barely visible over the cup's rim. "You got it, Katie-kat."

A muffled giggle came from across the room. "Sorry, it's just – I've seen this guy show no fear facing down gang members, and here, he called you Katie-kat," Jet said, poking her head out from behind her bank of computer screens. "Stabler, you got layers, huh?"

Katie walked over toward Jet's desk. She'd heard stories about the young hacker who was the brilliant brain behind the Organized Crime taskforce, but hadn't met her face-to-face, yet. "You must be the infamous Jet."

"Infamous? I'm flattered." Jet nodded up at Katie, in a mutual show of recognition.

"Dad says he'd probably be dead if it wasn't for you, so, uh, thanks." She'd stopped asking a long time ago for any additional details when it came to her father's various near-death experiences; she knew a lot of them had been prevented by Olivia, back in the day, but now it was Bell and Jet who were more likely to help save him from stumbling in the path of the wrong bullet or whatever calamity he befell. "Oh my God, hey, you know Scintilla!?" She motioned to Jet's water bottle, which prominently featured an array of stickers, including a very distinctive S logo.

"Uh, yeah, you know them too?" Jet's line of vision followed Katie's, explaining the seemingly-random question. "I know their lead guitarist really well."

"You got to be kidding!" Katie exclaimed. "I went to high school with Skylar, you know, their drummer?"

Jet's eyebrows shot up into her hairline. "You know they have a show at that new club over in Dumbo next Friday. The Dandy Lizard, I think it's called? You should come, my–" she paused, "uh, one of my guy friends and I are planning to go, and maybe it'd be cool if you did too? You could bring a friend, if you want."

"That sounds like a lot of fun." Katie smiled at Jet. "I've been seeing this guy the last few months, and we're always looking for things to do together, when we're both off work." She leaned in closer and stage-whispered, "Dad hasn't met him yet, so don't say anything."

Jet mimed zipping her lips shut and tossing an invisible key behind her. "Won't say a word, Katie-kat," she said, with a mischievous grin. "Give me your number, I'll get the details to you." Bell walked in the bullpen, a no-nonsense expression on her face, and Jet quickly added, "later."

"Later sounds good, yeah," Katie said, as she waved a hurried goodbye to both Jet and her father and made her way back down to the street; she was running a few minutes late, but thankfully, her boss seemed to understand that traffic was always insane and that Katie had a longer commute than most of her colleagues – more room for something to go wrong.

It'd be nice to go out with Joe for a night, with people somewhat close to their own age. And she hadn't seen Skylar perform live since Battle of the Bands during spring of their senior year (a few too many years before), even though she frequently put their music on all of her Spotify playlists.

And if she got to know Jet and maybe Jet's guy friend a little better, so much the better.

~oOo~

Jet snorted as she looked around the club while waiting for the show to start. The club wasn't dark enough for her taste, far too bright; she wouldn't be caught dead in a place like this normally, except she'd dated the guitarist for about a year and they'd ended as friends, and she still liked to show up at their shows to support them when she could.

Too shiny, too new and pristine, and not in a sleek, technological way where she could ooh and ahh over it. It looked so generic.

The things I do for good music, she scoffed to herself, downing the remainder of her water and making her way over to the bar for something stronger. Just then, she spotted Katie and a guy looking at Katie like there was no one else in the world but her. He looked like John Travolta before he went off the deep end, and Jet had seen Grease enough times at sleepovers to appreciate that reference.

She made eye contact with them and waved, and Katie waved back and began to drag the guy with her, making a beeline for Jet. "You made it!" Katie called out, grinning. "Jet, this is Joe, my boyfriend. Joe, this is Jet, she works with my dad."

"Encantada, Jet, but I believe we've met before." He grinned, and she saw a dimple in his cheek. "It seems like everyone else in my life knows Katie's dad better than I do."

Jet frowned, for a second, before she placed where she'd seen him before. "You're one of Captain Benson's detectives, aren't you?"

"Well, tonight, I left the badge and gun at home, and I'm just Joe," he said, the grin never leaving his face as he squeezed Katie's hand affectionately. "But yeah, the Sara Santos case. If I'd known I'd be dating Detective Stabler's daughter a few months later, I would have tried to make a better first impression that day."

There was a distinct blush on Katie's face as he spoke. "I would have probably warned him in advance," she said. "Probably. But my dad was also probably too distracted getting to work with Liv again to pay any attention to the detective she brought with her."

Jet cracked a smile. "Yeah, he does seem to have a fairly one-track mind when she's around—" and then, she was cut off by Adam making his way over to them, two drinks in hand. "Katie, Joe, this is– this is Adam, my– uh– friend," she said, stammering over her words. Unlike Katie and Joe, there wasn't some sort of clear definition of what her and Adam were to each other; they were friends, who hooked up with an increasing frequency.

He wasn't her boyfriend – a word that made her shudder to even think about applying to anyone in her life. They weren't in love, or talking about meeting the parents, or even spending the night at each other's places. (Except that one time. And the other time.)

Maybe friend was the easier word to use, because it didn't require explanations. It just was.

And besides, even if their companions for the night were a detective and the daughter of another detective, she hoped that they wouldn't notice or press too hard.

(She really needed to reconnect with her non-cop friends. Soon.)

Adam nodded at both Katie and Joe with recognition. "If you're into IPAs, the guy running the bar says he has over a hundred varieties to choose from," Adam said, lifting his beer bottle to his lips and taking a swig, before passing Jet the other bottle he was holding. "Can't resist trying a good IPA I've never heard of."

"As long as it's good beer, I'm good," Joe said. "You want anything from the bar while I'm there, Katie?"

"Whatever their house special tonight is," she said. "You know my taste." She leaned up and kissed him on the side of his mouth. "Tall, dark, Mexican…killer smile…"

This time, it was Joe who had the blush on his face, and Jet found it strangely adorable. "I think I can manage that, mi querida. Jose Cuervo, coming right up." With a final squeeze of her hand, Joe walked off toward the bar with Adam, talking animatedly about their favorite local brews and hidden gems.

"So, you and Adam," Katie said, as soon as they were out of earshot – though the crowd was beginning to get louder as the DJ was coming to the end of their set, and Scintilla would soon take the stage, and Jet found she was having to lean in to hear more of the conversation. "You two seem – oh, what's the word."

Perversely, Jet was a little glad that whatever her and Adam were to each other, it defied easy description by outsiders too. They made complete sense, and then in the same breath, didn't make any sense at all. "He just gets me, y'know," Jet said, wrinkling her nose in barely-veiled disgust as the overwhelming notes of hops hit her tongue. "Except for when it comes to beer, apparently."

"Yeah, I'm not a big beer drinker myself, but sometimes a cold one hits the spot," Katie said, checking the notifications on her phone before sliding it into do not disturb mode. "So, you said you know the guitarist?"

Jet nodded. "My last ex, before Adam." She took another sip, which went down slightly easier than the first. "Great person, but we're better as friends." Actual, genuine friends, not like the confusing, flustered mess that described her and Adam. "Much, much better."

Katie's eyebrow raised slightly, before she settled into a smile. "Yeah, my sister Liz always thought their guitarist was kinda cute. So, you're saying—"

"Definitely knows how to use their fingers. Should have guessed, with all that strumming." Jet's fingers curved around the bottle, as she looked at Katie with a knowing glance. "So, you and Skylar–"

"—classmates, friends, my chemistry lab partner for three-quarters of junior year," Katie said. "Believe me, any attraction I ever had to him went out the window when I had to do all of our lab reports because he was too busy composing 'crazy sick beats' with a pencil and a ruler on the lab table." Both women laughed; Jet could tell that she was beginning to loosen up, slightly. "He's great, though, haven't seen him in a while."

The lights began to dim, and Joe and Adam made their way back to them. "Sorry it took us so long," Joe said, as he handed Katie a glass. "Bartender's also a bit of a tequila snob besides having a thing for IPAs, apparently, took me a bit to convince him that I actually wanted Jose Cuervo and wasn't settling for it."

"Mmm, thanks," Katie said, taking a sip of her mixed drink and rocking into his side. "You knew exactly what I wanted."

"I try," he said, dropping a kiss to the top of her head as he drew his arm around her waist and held her close.

Jet glanced at them from the corner of her eye. They seemed so content to just be in the moment, and she'd spent so much time the last several months thinking and overthinking things with Adam. She liked him, she really did, and she thought he liked her, too.

And now she could see something like what she could have with him, if she'd only allow herself to stop thinking so damn hard.

Adam smiled at her, in the syncopated flashes of a series of strobe lights, and she tipped her beer bottle in recognition back toward him, with a sliver of a smile on her face.

Real, genuine; the mask she tended to wear, sliding down for one night.

The guitarist's opening riff on that one classic song of theirs that every fan knew all the words to – the one that started off every one of their shows, and had for years – sounded out over the audience, and soon, any stray and idle thoughts Jet had were washed away to the thumping melodies.

~oOo~

Katie's head rested on Joe's shoulder, and her arms were looped around his neck, as he swayed them back and forth to the beat of a song that didn't easily lend itself to slow dancing. It hadn't taken them more than a few songs to create their own bubble off to the side somewhere; him holding her, her holding him, the two moving in quiet sways. "You smell good," she murmured, pressing her nose to his neck and smiling against his shirt collar.

"So do you, mi querida," he replied; she didn't even realize she'd said anything out loud, especially not loud enough to be understood over the music. "Are you having fun tonight?"

"With you, I always do." She tilted her head up and looked at him, a soft smile on her lips. For so long, things had been so rocky and rough, that she didn't know if she would ever be able to be truly happy again, whatever that meant. But things were gradually healing, in their way; the natural passing of time had helped with some of it, and making new friends and reconnecting with old ones had helped in other, more tangible ways.

Oh, my girl, you have the light in your eyes again, her grandmother had told her recently, the last time the two women had seen each other. It shines when a young woman is in love. Keep shining, my Katie, and don't let anyone turn it off.

(She wasn't going to say anything to just anyone about it, and it'd be kind of awkward to mention it to Joe considering it was his boss she was talking about, but she was pretty sure she was seeing a similar light in her father's eyes. Especially when Olivia was mentioned.)

Being able to have fun again, to throw her hair back and have a drink and listen to good music with a cute guy that she genuinely felt as though she was falling in love with, one day at a time – that was worth more than anything else, to her, especially after all the tragedy and grief.

He spun her around, playfully, like a ballerina in a music box, before pulling her back into his embrace. "Good," he said, flashing a toothy smile at her, his hazel eyes twinkling in the low light of a hundred illuminated phones, "you deserve it. All the good things. All of them."

Like you, she was itching to say.

~oOo~

"Okay, that was a really good show," Adam said, as the four met up again after the lights had turned back on, and the DJ from before was setting back up his equipment. "I'd never heard of them before, but damn."

"Yeah, you're more into that EDM and trance schtick," Jet replied, a light air to her voice. "Do any of your favorite songs even have words?"

Adam waved his hand lightly in the air and scoffed. "Words are overrated. If you're going to say something, mean it."

"We had a great time too," Joe said, and Katie squeezed his hand in hers; the motion didn't go undetected by Jet. She flexed her own fingers, idly wondering if her hand would fit with Adam's as well as Katie's and Joe's did with each other's. Joe continued speaking, asking, "there's a 24-hour diner not too far from here that has the best cheese fries in the city, anyone up for it?"

If she didn't say anything now, she might never get the chance to say anything; they'd all go home, and her and Adam would barely talk again until the next time one of them decided they needed something from the other. And Joe had inadvertently provided her with a great opening, and she'd be an idiot not to take this for the sign it was.

"I'm starved," she said, and she arched an eyebrow in Adam's general direction. "Cheese fries sound amazing."

"Sounds good to me," Adam mumbled, and the four of them began to traipse on foot toward the diner; Joe and Katie leading the way, completely enraptured in each other, and Jet and Adam exchanging looks lagging just behind. "Hey, you good?" he asked, turning to Jet. "You seem a little –"

"Yeah." She kept walking, narrowly dodging an empty water bottle someone had discarded on the sidewalk. Up ahead, Joe had said something, and Katie had thrown her head back in delighted laughter, and Jet might not have been the most social person to have ever existed in this city, but her heart ached just that little bit more to see how seamless it was with their companions, in marked contrast to her and Adam. "You ever want what they have?"

Adam stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and took Jet's hands in his. "Someone who gets me and laughs at my jokes even when they're not funny? Someone I want to go out with to shows for bands I'd never listen to in a million years on my own? Someone I'd go eat crappy diner food with after said show, with their friends I barely know?" He scoffed. "No, Jet, that's never crossed my mind. Not once."

It hit her, then.

Adam was never going to be the showy, demonstrative partner.

Tonight, he'd proven that he cared for her deeply, in his own way, and that much was undeniable.

They'd come a long way from that first night together, after the shooting, when she was lost in her own grief and he helped her find her way forward. But she wasn't grieving, not anymore, and sometimes, words were overrated. Actions spoke louder, anyway.

She moved in closer to Adam, cupping his chin in the palm of her hand, and she noticed his pupils dilating slightly as she got closer. Whatever Joe and Katie were doing, it didn't matter; it was her, and Adam, and this dingy sidewalk outside of a closed jewelry shop, and the cacophony of a late summer New York evening ringing out overhead.

Her lips slid insistently against his, and they were warm, and inviting, and it wasn't as though they hadn't kissed before, but this time felt like a revelation of something more. It was intangibly different.

"What was that for?" Adam asked, his voice barely a whisper as they broke apart. He stared at her, tucking a loose lock of her hair back behind her ear.

"It's because I felt like kissing you." She bit the inside of her lip, hoping that she'd been bold enough for both of them right now. "Is that a problem?"

"No." His face lit into a smile, one that she only ever tended to see when she was around. "No, not a problem at all. Hey, Joe, Katie? Raincheck on those cheese fries, 'kay? Jet and I, uh, we need some time to ourselves after all." He fumbled with his phone and opened his Uber app to request a ride.

Their companions turned around and looked back at them with knowing smiles. "You two go on ahead," Joe said, barely containing a laugh. "We'll pick this up some other time."

"See, I told you," Katie said, as she began to walk away with Joe. "They'd figure it out, eventually."

"You're right, mi amor," Joe said, and kissed her cheek, and the two of them became faint silhouettes on the horizon before disappearing from view entirely.

Whatever it was that they were right about, Jet was glad they were. Because what felt right to her was standing right next to her, and somehow, she didn't feel like this night was going to end with her alone.

Not tonight.

(They'd take it one night at a time, but if every night was like this…then maybe, things would start to change in her life. For good.)