This is a work of fiction. No copyright infringement intended.
Hunter and its characters belong to someone like Stephen J Cannell
Unfinished Business originally written by Morgan Gendal
OK - we all saw Unfinished Business right? So why did it happen? And what happened after? It helps if you can pretend that nothing from Streetwise onwards happened, except maybe in our nightmares. ;)
UNFINISHED BUSINESS - the whole story.
Chapter 8
Several hours later they both sat in Tate's consulting room, on opposite ends of the couch like a pair of mismatched bookends, glaring at the psychiatrist. For his part, he looked a little sheepish, and rather surprised that they were more angry at him for deceiving them than at each other. "I'm sorry my phone message let the cat out of the bag," he apologised. "But I'm very glad you decided to come here and work this out together." He paused for a moment, seeming to choose his next words with care. "You know, it's interesting you both chose to discuss the same events. In particular, the first time you worked with Megan Malone. Why is that, do you think?" Dee Dee was confused. "You talked about Megan Malone?" "Yeah. What's the big deal?" Hunter sounded defensive. "It's not a big deal. I just . I didn't think she was that important to you." Maybe she had miscalculated. "Lookit," he snapped, "she's not that important to me." Stung by his tone, Dee Dee opened her mouth to snap back a retort when Tate cut in, averting what looked like turning into another verbal brawl. "We might get further if we pick up where you left off, Dee Dee." "Yeah, where was that?" Hunter wasn't ready to let it go. "You said D'Angelo's accountant, Glazer, rolled over on his boss." Hunter jumped in. "Yeah, I remember that. You see ." "Please," Tate cut him off, "I'd like Dee Dee to finish to the story." Dee Dee glared at Tate for a moment. What does he think this is, story time? We're not here to keep him amused. Nevertheless, she continued. "Well, Megan had this idea to put a wire on Glazer and have him try to squeeze some money out of D'Angelo - the same way that Clay did. We were going to be sitting in the surveillance van, and we'd be listening to everything. I, personally did not think it was a very good idea, but nobody seemed very interested in what I had to say on the matter ." She described for him how D'Angelo had become so angry with Glazer's demands for hush money that he had grabbed Glazer, tearing his shirt and exposing the wire he was wearing; but not before admitting to killing Clay. Malone had delayed sending the team in, wanting more evidence, but when they had heard D'Angelo threatening to kill Glazer too, McCall sent Hunter in herself, despite Malone's protests. Tate leaned forward eagerly. "Well what happened? Did you save Glazer?" Hunter and McCall exchanged a glance. "I jumped in just as D'Angelo was wrapping a light cord around Glazer's neck," Hunter assured him. "Glazer threatened to sue the Department," Dee Dee added. "But the DA cut him a deal, so he kind of forgot about it." Hunter turned towards her. "I must say, we handled that case pretty well." "Why don't you tell him what happened afterwards?"
Tate watched the pair of them, fascinated. Despite their problems there was still a strong rapport between them. Obviously they were accustomed to communicating easily with each other, but now there was something preventing that and that was causing additional friction between them. Dr Harris, before going on leave, had told him that dealing with partnered police officers was very similar to counselling married couples. At the time he failed to see the validity of the analogy, but the more he studied these two, the more sense her theory made. It seemed that the press had found out about the case in a way that was by no means mysterious to McCall, and turned it into a three-ringed circus. Malone had received sole credit for solving the case, and was today a lieutenant. Tate wondered how this made McCall feel. "Well, you know, we did a lot of work on this case together. I'm not saying that she didn't deserve her promotion ." A short, sharp laugh from Hunter cut her off. She swung accusingly on him. "What does that mean?" Hunter sounded disappointed with his partner. "You see, it's clear to me now. This whole thing is about you being jealous of Megan Malone."
Dee Dee could not believe what she was hearing. "What? I am not jealous of her!" "Yeah, you are." How can he not know? "What is it with you? Are you asleep, or what?" "What are you talking about?" Her anger grew. "You know exactly what I'm talking about! Think back for just a minute. Think back to what happened three years ago." His puzzled frown made her heart constrict. Had it meant so little to him that he had to struggle to remember? Then she saw the look of dawning realization on his face. "Oh, now he gets it," she remarked, unable to keep the sarcasm from her tone. Having finally understood, he was now almost tripping over his own tongue to explain. "I . Nothing ever happened between Megan Malone and me." "I don't care if it did." Not strictly true, but that wasn't the point. "This is about, after what happened, I leave for six weeks, I come back and I needed to talk to you. I couldn't! There you were with Megan everywhere you went. You both were together." It was like he was using Megan as a shield to avoid talking to her, just like he had done after their argument at the warehouse days ago. "I needed to talk to you. I needed to connect with you after what happened." Tate was mystified. "After what happened?" Hunter waved him away. "Just a second, please. Lookit, I called twice a week. All you ever talked about was Quantico this, Quantico that, your work . You never once brought it up!" "Bring what up?" They ignored him. "Well, you know, on the phone you didn't exactly sound like you . Wait a minute, what do you mean me bring it up? Why didn't you bring it up?" Why was it solely her responsibility? "Because I didn't think you wanted to bring it up." She hung her head in despair. "Why wouldn't I want to talk about it?" He obviously had no idea, so she turned to Tate. "You see? Why is it that a woman always has to carry the ball in an emotional involvement?" "You still haven't told me what you're talking about." He was beginning to sound annoyed. They looked at each other, neither willing to be the first to say it. After several seconds of silence Dee Dee conceded, but not without shooting her partner a final glare. "Alright, I'll tell him." She paused for a moment to compose her thoughts. "After ." No, Tate didn't need to know about that. "Before I left for Quantico . we slept together."
OK - we all saw Unfinished Business right? So why did it happen? And what happened after? It helps if you can pretend that nothing from Streetwise onwards happened, except maybe in our nightmares. ;)
UNFINISHED BUSINESS - the whole story.
Chapter 8
Several hours later they both sat in Tate's consulting room, on opposite ends of the couch like a pair of mismatched bookends, glaring at the psychiatrist. For his part, he looked a little sheepish, and rather surprised that they were more angry at him for deceiving them than at each other. "I'm sorry my phone message let the cat out of the bag," he apologised. "But I'm very glad you decided to come here and work this out together." He paused for a moment, seeming to choose his next words with care. "You know, it's interesting you both chose to discuss the same events. In particular, the first time you worked with Megan Malone. Why is that, do you think?" Dee Dee was confused. "You talked about Megan Malone?" "Yeah. What's the big deal?" Hunter sounded defensive. "It's not a big deal. I just . I didn't think she was that important to you." Maybe she had miscalculated. "Lookit," he snapped, "she's not that important to me." Stung by his tone, Dee Dee opened her mouth to snap back a retort when Tate cut in, averting what looked like turning into another verbal brawl. "We might get further if we pick up where you left off, Dee Dee." "Yeah, where was that?" Hunter wasn't ready to let it go. "You said D'Angelo's accountant, Glazer, rolled over on his boss." Hunter jumped in. "Yeah, I remember that. You see ." "Please," Tate cut him off, "I'd like Dee Dee to finish to the story." Dee Dee glared at Tate for a moment. What does he think this is, story time? We're not here to keep him amused. Nevertheless, she continued. "Well, Megan had this idea to put a wire on Glazer and have him try to squeeze some money out of D'Angelo - the same way that Clay did. We were going to be sitting in the surveillance van, and we'd be listening to everything. I, personally did not think it was a very good idea, but nobody seemed very interested in what I had to say on the matter ." She described for him how D'Angelo had become so angry with Glazer's demands for hush money that he had grabbed Glazer, tearing his shirt and exposing the wire he was wearing; but not before admitting to killing Clay. Malone had delayed sending the team in, wanting more evidence, but when they had heard D'Angelo threatening to kill Glazer too, McCall sent Hunter in herself, despite Malone's protests. Tate leaned forward eagerly. "Well what happened? Did you save Glazer?" Hunter and McCall exchanged a glance. "I jumped in just as D'Angelo was wrapping a light cord around Glazer's neck," Hunter assured him. "Glazer threatened to sue the Department," Dee Dee added. "But the DA cut him a deal, so he kind of forgot about it." Hunter turned towards her. "I must say, we handled that case pretty well." "Why don't you tell him what happened afterwards?"
Tate watched the pair of them, fascinated. Despite their problems there was still a strong rapport between them. Obviously they were accustomed to communicating easily with each other, but now there was something preventing that and that was causing additional friction between them. Dr Harris, before going on leave, had told him that dealing with partnered police officers was very similar to counselling married couples. At the time he failed to see the validity of the analogy, but the more he studied these two, the more sense her theory made. It seemed that the press had found out about the case in a way that was by no means mysterious to McCall, and turned it into a three-ringed circus. Malone had received sole credit for solving the case, and was today a lieutenant. Tate wondered how this made McCall feel. "Well, you know, we did a lot of work on this case together. I'm not saying that she didn't deserve her promotion ." A short, sharp laugh from Hunter cut her off. She swung accusingly on him. "What does that mean?" Hunter sounded disappointed with his partner. "You see, it's clear to me now. This whole thing is about you being jealous of Megan Malone."
Dee Dee could not believe what she was hearing. "What? I am not jealous of her!" "Yeah, you are." How can he not know? "What is it with you? Are you asleep, or what?" "What are you talking about?" Her anger grew. "You know exactly what I'm talking about! Think back for just a minute. Think back to what happened three years ago." His puzzled frown made her heart constrict. Had it meant so little to him that he had to struggle to remember? Then she saw the look of dawning realization on his face. "Oh, now he gets it," she remarked, unable to keep the sarcasm from her tone. Having finally understood, he was now almost tripping over his own tongue to explain. "I . Nothing ever happened between Megan Malone and me." "I don't care if it did." Not strictly true, but that wasn't the point. "This is about, after what happened, I leave for six weeks, I come back and I needed to talk to you. I couldn't! There you were with Megan everywhere you went. You both were together." It was like he was using Megan as a shield to avoid talking to her, just like he had done after their argument at the warehouse days ago. "I needed to talk to you. I needed to connect with you after what happened." Tate was mystified. "After what happened?" Hunter waved him away. "Just a second, please. Lookit, I called twice a week. All you ever talked about was Quantico this, Quantico that, your work . You never once brought it up!" "Bring what up?" They ignored him. "Well, you know, on the phone you didn't exactly sound like you . Wait a minute, what do you mean me bring it up? Why didn't you bring it up?" Why was it solely her responsibility? "Because I didn't think you wanted to bring it up." She hung her head in despair. "Why wouldn't I want to talk about it?" He obviously had no idea, so she turned to Tate. "You see? Why is it that a woman always has to carry the ball in an emotional involvement?" "You still haven't told me what you're talking about." He was beginning to sound annoyed. They looked at each other, neither willing to be the first to say it. After several seconds of silence Dee Dee conceded, but not without shooting her partner a final glare. "Alright, I'll tell him." She paused for a moment to compose her thoughts. "After ." No, Tate didn't need to know about that. "Before I left for Quantico . we slept together."