A/N: He usually didn't go out after work. Usually he just went home, but this time, LeTrai got Ned Banks to go out for drinks. Enjoy! xx Mariah
Ned squeezed the mini basketball as he watched the clock. It was nearly seven, but it felt like it should be ten thirty. Today had been a slow day at the station, nothing more than a few new teen drivers to be looking out for and an old theft case that had started up again, but another detective was on that.
"Are you going out for drinks with all the guys?" Scott asked as he pressed down on Ned's shoulders, passing by his partner. "I was thinking about going."
"For what?" Ned asked, watching as the clock turned to seven. He was off. He stood, stretching as he checked his phone. "Is Sanchez finally quitting?"
"Hey!" The rookie yelled and threw a piece of paper at him. "Respect goes both ways, Banks!"
"Respect comes when you get shot in the leg twice and can still run the fastest mile like Ned here," LeTrai said coming out of his officer, coat over his shoulder and file in hand.. "So who's coming out for drinks? I'm leaving a little early and Roberts is in charge for all those who are on the next shift."
"I have got to get home," Ned slid his coat on, looking at a text from Katie as he grabbed his keys and texted back.
"To what? Your kids?" Sanchez laughed.
"I thought Melinda and Jim took the kiddos to the cabin for the weekend?" Scott asked, pulling his coat on and shutting his computer down. "They took Freya too and surprisingly, Mack let them."
"They did take the kids off our hands tonight," he shrugged, putting his phone in his pocket as he turned his lamp off. "Katie has something planned. Dinner is waiting for me."
"And then some like always, right Banks?" Sanchez asked as he grabbed himself a cup of coffee, that Ned didn't care enough to remind him of how terrible it usually was.
"Not with the mood Katie's been in," he huffed, laughing as he walked toward the front door of the precinct. "She's stressed, being back at school and all."
"It's her first week back, right?" LeTrai asked, following Ned out. Scott came too, looking at a fantasy team trade on his phone. "Since the accident? How long has it been now?"
"Almost two years," he said, rubbing his temple just thinking about it again. "She's feeling guilty about having to put Willow in daycare."
"Every mom wants to be able to juggle it all," LeTrai said, clapping his hand on his back. "But no one can juggle it all. Every mom has to let some things go. Try and show her that, after we go have a drink."
"I'll pass this time," he replied, unlocking his truck.
"You pass every time!" Scott laughed, nuding his partner. '"C'mon. I'll have Kenz call and sweet talk her."
"Just one drink, it's on me." LeTrai said.
"Fine, but only because you're paying." He laughed and walked toward his trick. "Usual place I'm assuming?"
Ned walked in and ordered a beer on tap, sitting at the stool as Scott sat in the one next to him.
"Talk," Scott ordered himself a scotch. The bartender poured it quickly and slid it to him. "Thanks."
"About what?" He sipped his beer.
"There's more than what you're saying about Katie isn't there?" Scott asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Like what?" He replied.
"It's not about the daycare, is it?" Scott said.
"How would you know?" He asked.
"I live with Mackenzie, we're dating. We're raising Freya and living together. Katie's over practically every other day or on the phone when she's not. I know what's going on." Scott touched his shoulder. "I hear about things that Mack doesn't mean to say all the time."
"She stopped trying so much," he muttered, looking at his wedding ring. "It's like she's settling for two kids because she hasn't gotten pregnant again. She doesn't think it'll happen again and when I bring it up, she yells and then I yell. The kids see it. Asher, he sees it and then I sleep in the guest room because she's locked to door before I get in there."
"You have to try harder Ned," Scott said, looking at him.
"Is this coming from the guy who dodged Mackenzie for five years?" He laughed, not knowing if he could take his partner and best friend completely serious right now.
"Yes, it is." Scott elbowed him and took another drink of his scotch. "What I was trying to say was that instead of just going to the guest room, knock on the door. Pick the lock. Knock the damn door down if you have to, because I will not see the power couple that is you and Katie get divorced my friend. Not happening." Scott waved him off seriously. The man was dead serious. He could tell. "Okay?"
"Yeah. I got it," he sighed, looking at his still mostly full beer. He took a quick chug, downing almost half before sliding it to Scott. "I'm going home."
"I'll cover with them and finish this," Scott smiled, nodding to him. "Give Katie my love."
"I will," he replied, his hand lingering on the man's shoulder as he walked away. "Night O'Neill. Tell Mack hello for me."
"I will. Goodnight," Scott nodded and he looked back to his empty glass and lifted his hand for another, turning to the beet.
Ned walked out of the bar and toward his truck as his phone rang and saw that it was Katie. She'd called before, but he hadn't answered when he'd saw that she was calling before. This time, he would.
"Hello?" He looked up at the moon as he walked toward the car.
"Where the hell are you?" Katie huffed. "Dinner's getting cold."
"On my way home, LeTrai bought me a drink." He replied slowly, stalling on his walk to his truck. "I was talking with Scott."
"Of course he did. Doesn't he always?" She muttered and he could sense the eye roll even if he couldn't see it. He just knew her too well. "Mackenzie called. That's makes a little more sense now. I'll leave your food it in the microwave for you. I have papers to grade."
"Wait for me at the table, please. The papers can wait until tomorrow, it's Friday honey." He suggested, hoping she could do this for him just once. SHe hadn't in so long. Not with the kids. They could run her ragged sometimes. "I love you. You know that, right?"
"I also need to take a bath because I'm super stressed out and I'm starving." She sighed, he could almost see her smile grow slightly. "This lasagna smell great."
"I bet it does. You're a fantastic cook," he smiled, walking toward his truck in the parking lot behind the bar "I'll be home in like two seconds. I promise."
"No speeding Banks," she laughed. "You have a reputation for speeding."
"Only for you will I break the law I serve and protect," he replied.
"I hope so," she joked. "Please be here soon."
"I will," he shuffled toward his truck a bit faster when he heard the cry from what sounded like behind a nearby dumpster. "Hold on Katie."
"What?" She asked, talking softly.
"I hear something," he muttered and pressed the phone to his shoulder. "Be quiet real quick."
He listened and heard it again. Near the garbage bags and dumpster. A small sniffle. A child, maybe?
"Ned?" Katie's voiced was muffled into his jacket and he put the phone back to his ear.
"I'll be home in like twenty minutes okay? I need to check on something." He said, taking another step closer. "It could be longer. I'll let you know."
"Okay," she replied. "Just be home before seven and keep in touch if you aren't."
"I will," he said. "I love you."
"I love you too," she said and he tucked his phone in his pocket and raced toward the garbage.
There was a small boy, maybe two or three, covered in bruises and dirt. Ned slowly crouched down to the kid and smiled.
"Hey there little guy," he said softly, being cautious as he took slowly hunched down steps toward the little boy. "What's your name?"
The little kid shrugged and continued to cry. His clothes were torn and he looked to have a cut on his leg, nothing too serious. He shifted uneasily as he looking over to his right. There was a woman lying next to him. Discolored. A needle lying beside her.
"It's okay," he whispered, reaching his hand out to the crying child. "I'm a police officer. You're going to be okay." The little boy looked up at him, brown eyes shining in the moonlight as he took his hand. All Ned could think of was his son. Asher. How he would never let him get into harm's way like this. He and Katie would protect him as long as they could, just like Ned would fo this boy now. He could barely stand as Ned unzipped his jacket and picked him up carefully. "I bet you're cold," he tucked the toddler into his coat and held onto him as he walked back toward the square, knowing it would be quicker for him to walk to the precinct.
Ned walked through the front door a little after eight and saw that the lasagna pan was in the drying rack already.
The lights were all off downstairs, except for moonlight that shone through the windows around the house. He went into the kitchen, seeing his plate in the microwave. He heated it up and ate it quickly, washing the plate before he went upstairs.
He could hear Katie humming as he walked into the foyer again. She was upstairs, the drip of the tub loud. He'd never fixed it. He could even smell candles burning. Her lotion lingering too.
Had she just gotten out of the bath?
"Katie?" He called out.
He climbed the stairs, his feet dragging. That little boy watched his mother shoot up. Watched her die. The life drain from her eyes.
"It's after seven," she called out as he made it to the top.
"Something came up," he said as he walked into the master, seeing her walk out of the bathroom in a tank top and shorts, her hair pinned up, her legs still a little damp from the bathwater.
"Something always comes up," she sighed and pulled the duvet off the bed, the throw pillows being tossed aside quickly as she pulled back the cover sheet. "You're never home before eight anymore."
"There was a time when that didn't matter," he sighed, glancing over at her as she bent over to grab her phone cord.
No one was sexier than Katie in a pair of shorts and tank top that clung tight.
"I'm taking the stress of school out on you," she huffed, sitting on the bed. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine," he muttered, going over to her, touching her waist, kissing her cheek. "I'm fine."
She fixed his badge and traced over his collar. "I love when you're in uniform," she whispered. "I haven't seen you in it in a while."
"I know," he shrugged and stood up.
"What happened? You said something came up," she asked.
"Yeah, a kid. Found him next to his mother who OD'd." He coughed. "In front of him, behind the dumpster of the bar."
"Was that the noise you heard? Oh Ned," she followed him as he walked to his closet. "I know how these cases can affect you."
"They affect everyone." He shook his head, taking his black police button up off and hanging it up by the other's. "I'm fine."
"Everyone is not you," she replied, wrapping her arms around his torso for a moment. She kissed his shoulder before she moved back and let him undress. "You're my husband and I am supposed to be here for you when you have a bad day at work."
A choked sob escaped his mouth. Then another. Her hand searched blindly, unconsciously, for him. His heart leaped when her fingers twist into the front of his undershirt. She pulled him into her, wrapping her arms around him, tucking her face into his neck, his whispers in her ear.
The words made no sense to her foggy brain. An apology. For what? For feeling? For letting something out of his vault that contains his work?
He traced her cheekbone delicately with his thumb, giving her time to reconsider, time to pull away from him as she has these days. She doesn't. So, heart pounding furiously against his rib cage, he pressed his lips to hers. Soft and gentle as the brush of a butterfly wing against the skin, but it flooded his entire body with warmth he hoped of feeling today. She melted against him, releasing her grip on his t-shirt at last to favor the back of his neck. Her fingers twisted into the fine hairs at his nape, securing his face to hers. His tongue darts out to taste the flesh of her full lips and she obliged eagerly, opening her mouth to him.
"Touch me Ned," she whispered as he picked her up, cupping the ass that was his wife's, something he hadn't felt in his hand in a long time.
He brought a hand to her breast, clothed only by her thin top. He can feel her erect nipple under his fingers as he palmed her gently, in awe of how perfectly she still fit into his hand. How much he missed the softness of her skin, the feeling of her against him.
Then her fingers closed over his hesitant hand and she guided his hand down her body to the hem of her top. Together, they slid it up to expose her silken olive skin inch- by- inch to the palm of his hand. He'd never been nervous, not even when they first sought out each other. His hand found her breast once more, his mouth met his fingertips and she leaned against him.
A low, animalistic moan came from her chest as she grinded against him, her lips brushing against his ear. He met her hips with a low thrust as he pulled her nipple between his lips to lave it with his tongue, delicately pinching the other with his free hand.
Katie's body was precious, a temple, something that had taken so many bullets, he's surprised she's still standing as tall as she was. He loved her, with everything.
Her fingers found purchase in his curls as his mouth explored her newly exposed skin before trailing down his back. She teased the hem of his undershirt, sliding it up the plane of his back. The smooth tips of her fingers brushing against his spine and the gentle scratch of her nails made him shiver, raising goose bumps on his skin. And then his shirt was gone, her hands snuck around to the front of his body to continue their exploration. He was growing hard now and knew how long their foreplay could be sometimes, but before he could move himself away, she hooked a leg around his waist, drawing him impossibly closer. Her breasts sit flush against his naked chest, and it was enough to make him forget about everything else as he reveled in the feeling of her skin against his.
She grinded her hips deliberately into him, sending a jolt of pleasure through his body, already thrumming with anticipation. Only the thin layers of her panties and his pants separated them now. She grinded into him again, capturing his lips between hers in a fevered kiss.
Finally, he gave in to his desire and thrusted into her hips in turn. Her legs opened wider to accommodate him and even through her underwear and his own pants, he could feel the heat pulsing from her core.
It happened in a hazy blur of lust and pure desire. Before he could fully comprehend what clothing came off, he was pressing into her. He slid into her in a swift, sure motion. It's all he could do not to cry out loud at the sensation. The warmth encompassing him so securely that it felt like home. It felt right. He pulled out and pushed back in again, desperate for friction.
She arched into him, her breasts heaving into his chest and the long column of her beautiful neck exposed just for him. His lips latched onto the skin under the line of her jaw. He could feel the rapid bounding of her pulse beneath his tongue. He kissed a trail down her neck to her clavicle, punctuating each kiss with a thrust of his hips.
"Ned," the word curled up from the back of her throat, intoxicating him like a flute of the finest champagne.
Her legs wrapped firmly around his back to hold him in place: he thought it was unlikely she would ever let go.
He brought his mouth back to hers, wasting no time before drawing her tongue into the heat of his mouth. The vibrations of her moans reverberated through him and he shuddered in pleasure. Just when he thought he couldn't hold onto his sanity any longer, she began to flutter around him, signaling her release. It was her unintelligible cry of ecstasy into the air that was Ned's final undoing.
She had never looked more beautiful to him than she did now, sprawled beneath him with her hair in a now messy bun and still moaning with the aftershocks of her orgasm.
The pair locked gazes as their bliss faded to be replaced by a sated relaxation. A dewy smile crossed her lips when she saw that he, too, was looking over. A laugh soon followed as he moved down to tuck his head into her neck.
"Katie," he whispered and she hugged him tighter.
He was still hurting.