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 9
Tate looked from one to the other, somewhat stunned. Whatever revelation he had been expecting, that was not it. Neither of them would meet his eye. Instead they looked at the floor, the walls, anywhere but at him or each other. From a professional point of view he could see why they wouldn't want anyone to know about their liaison. If it became public knowledge it could spell the end of their partnership. But on a personal level, he could not understand how they could have avoided discussing it for three years. Obviously though, they had avoided the issue for far too long. "Are you willing to talk about it now?" They glanced bashfully at each other, then nodded. Rick began. "It just sort of happened." McCall squirmed as they both turned to look at her, expecting a response. "Yeah," she agreed, "it just . happened."
Hunter took pity on her. Tate deserved some sort of explanation, even if there would never be enough time to explain the complexities of their relationship and all the events that had culminated in that night. "We had been ." he paused. Dee Dee had avoided mentioning the Fredericks case; there was no real reason to bring up something they would both rather forget. "Well, we were both working kind of hard, especially McCall. She was getting ready for her trip and all. It was her wedding anniversary and she seemed a little down, so I thought I might take her out to dinner. We started the evening off talking about Steve - that was her late husband - he was killed in the line of duty some years ago. It seemed to help. By the end of the evening she was talking about her trip to Quantico, and the mood was really up." He remembered the sound of her laugh, something he hadn't heard for quite a while now. He also recalled how it made him feel warm inside. "We were having a lot of fun that night. We didn't want it to stop. So, when I took her home and dropped her off, she invited me in for a cup of coffee. We came inside and we just talked - talked more than most married people do." The way she had looked that night made it impossible to ignore the deeper feelings he had for her. The inappropriate ones that he usually denied, even to himself. But those dark eyes fascinated him, and he'd wanted to hold her tightly to him forever. "Just this once, it all seemed to hit me. It hit her, too" She'd offered no resistance when he'd kissed her that first time, and she had come willingly into his arms for more.
"The next morning you left for Quantico?" Tate asked Dee Dee. She nodded. "How did you feel?" "Great," she admitted. "I felt great. It was really nice having him ." she broke off, and turned to face Rick. If she couldn't tell him how she felt about that night she could hardly expect him to tell her. " . having you there in the morning, you know, waking up together. I knew that it wasn't going to be a pattern, or anything. That was probably the only time that that would happen. But still, it was . it was very special." Tate wanted to know what had happened next. She knew what he was getting at, but she wasn't ready to answer that yet. "Well, then, he made me breakfast." She laughed as she remembered the mess he'd made of both her kitchen and the omelettes. "It was a fabulous breakfast," Rick insisted, but he knew what she was getting at. "Yeah, except for the eggs." Obviously Tate had decided he'd let the main issue slide for long enough. "Did you two talk about it?" They shook their heads. "What about later?" he pressed. Again they shook their heads. "You never talked about it?" He sounded almost incredulous. Dee Dee wished they had, but at the time it had been so difficult. "Maybe we were just both too afraid to say anything. I was busy packing for the airport. Probably conveniently busy, you know what I mean? He helped me pack, and we drove to the airport. We kissed goodbye, and I left." She turned to Hunter again, a troubled look on her face. "And six weeks later, I walk in and I see you with Megan, who's sitting at my desk, and I felt like I was looking at my replacement. And you didn't even seem to care that I was back, or that I was even there." "Oh, but that's not true," Hunter protested. "But that's the way I felt." "But you know I never meant that." What am I, a mind reader? Tate interrupted before she could voice the thought. "And after Megan left?" "Well, after she left it was like we turned the clock back. It was as if it never happened at all." "Except that it did," Tate observed - rather unnecessarily, she thought. "What about you, Rick? How did you feel?" "I thought about it a lot." "No, no. I asked you how you felt."
Rick turned to gaze at Dee Dee. "I felt great. I'm glad it happened. But as time went on I just pushed it aside." He looked beseechingly at her. "Look, what happened between us just evolved. I just didn't think it needed to be explained at the time." The last thing he had wanted was to hurt her. "The more time that went by, the more I pushed it away, the more I got afraid of looking at it." The feelings that had been liberated that night were more difficult to stuff back into their box than he could have believed. "I didn't want to lose my friendship with you. I didn't want to lose my partner." As they clasped hands from their respective ends of the couch the phone rang. Tate excused himself - it was the emergency line. While he took the call they watched each other in silence, realizing fully how close they had come to destroying the precious relationship they shared. Tate hung up the phone. "That was for you. Lieutenant Malone wants to see you. Right away." As one they stood, wondering what was so urgent that they had been summoned from here. Only Charlie would know where they were, so Malone must have found a big lead. Any further discussion would have to wait until a later date. Before they were out the door Tate stopped them. "I thing you both should come back next Monday. Just to tie up the loose ends." They both agreed, but privately they knew they wouldn't be back. What was left to say had to be said just between the two of them. They had no further use for a mediator.
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 9
Tate looked from one to the other, somewhat stunned. Whatever revelation he had been expecting, that was not it. Neither of them would meet his eye. Instead they looked at the floor, the walls, anywhere but at him or each other. From a professional point of view he could see why they wouldn't want anyone to know about their liaison. If it became public knowledge it could spell the end of their partnership. But on a personal level, he could not understand how they could have avoided discussing it for three years. Obviously though, they had avoided the issue for far too long. "Are you willing to talk about it now?" They glanced bashfully at each other, then nodded. Rick began. "It just sort of happened." McCall squirmed as they both turned to look at her, expecting a response. "Yeah," she agreed, "it just . happened."
Hunter took pity on her. Tate deserved some sort of explanation, even if there would never be enough time to explain the complexities of their relationship and all the events that had culminated in that night. "We had been ." he paused. Dee Dee had avoided mentioning the Fredericks case; there was no real reason to bring up something they would both rather forget. "Well, we were both working kind of hard, especially McCall. She was getting ready for her trip and all. It was her wedding anniversary and she seemed a little down, so I thought I might take her out to dinner. We started the evening off talking about Steve - that was her late husband - he was killed in the line of duty some years ago. It seemed to help. By the end of the evening she was talking about her trip to Quantico, and the mood was really up." He remembered the sound of her laugh, something he hadn't heard for quite a while now. He also recalled how it made him feel warm inside. "We were having a lot of fun that night. We didn't want it to stop. So, when I took her home and dropped her off, she invited me in for a cup of coffee. We came inside and we just talked - talked more than most married people do." The way she had looked that night made it impossible to ignore the deeper feelings he had for her. The inappropriate ones that he usually denied, even to himself. But those dark eyes fascinated him, and he'd wanted to hold her tightly to him forever. "Just this once, it all seemed to hit me. It hit her, too" She'd offered no resistance when he'd kissed her that first time, and she had come willingly into his arms for more.
"The next morning you left for Quantico?" Tate asked Dee Dee. She nodded. "How did you feel?" "Great," she admitted. "I felt great. It was really nice having him ." she broke off, and turned to face Rick. If she couldn't tell him how she felt about that night she could hardly expect him to tell her. " . having you there in the morning, you know, waking up together. I knew that it wasn't going to be a pattern, or anything. That was probably the only time that that would happen. But still, it was . it was very special." Tate wanted to know what had happened next. She knew what he was getting at, but she wasn't ready to answer that yet. "Well, then, he made me breakfast." She laughed as she remembered the mess he'd made of both her kitchen and the omelettes. "It was a fabulous breakfast," Rick insisted, but he knew what she was getting at. "Yeah, except for the eggs." Obviously Tate had decided he'd let the main issue slide for long enough. "Did you two talk about it?" They shook their heads. "What about later?" he pressed. Again they shook their heads. "You never talked about it?" He sounded almost incredulous. Dee Dee wished they had, but at the time it had been so difficult. "Maybe we were just both too afraid to say anything. I was busy packing for the airport. Probably conveniently busy, you know what I mean? He helped me pack, and we drove to the airport. We kissed goodbye, and I left." She turned to Hunter again, a troubled look on her face. "And six weeks later, I walk in and I see you with Megan, who's sitting at my desk, and I felt like I was looking at my replacement. And you didn't even seem to care that I was back, or that I was even there." "Oh, but that's not true," Hunter protested. "But that's the way I felt." "But you know I never meant that." What am I, a mind reader? Tate interrupted before she could voice the thought. "And after Megan left?" "Well, after she left it was like we turned the clock back. It was as if it never happened at all." "Except that it did," Tate observed - rather unnecessarily, she thought. "What about you, Rick? How did you feel?" "I thought about it a lot." "No, no. I asked you how you felt."
Rick turned to gaze at Dee Dee. "I felt great. I'm glad it happened. But as time went on I just pushed it aside." He looked beseechingly at her. "Look, what happened between us just evolved. I just didn't think it needed to be explained at the time." The last thing he had wanted was to hurt her. "The more time that went by, the more I pushed it away, the more I got afraid of looking at it." The feelings that had been liberated that night were more difficult to stuff back into their box than he could have believed. "I didn't want to lose my friendship with you. I didn't want to lose my partner." As they clasped hands from their respective ends of the couch the phone rang. Tate excused himself - it was the emergency line. While he took the call they watched each other in silence, realizing fully how close they had come to destroying the precious relationship they shared. Tate hung up the phone. "That was for you. Lieutenant Malone wants to see you. Right away." As one they stood, wondering what was so urgent that they had been summoned from here. Only Charlie would know where they were, so Malone must have found a big lead. Any further discussion would have to wait until a later date. Before they were out the door Tate stopped them. "I thing you both should come back next Monday. Just to tie up the loose ends." They both agreed, but privately they knew they wouldn't be back. What was left to say had to be said just between the two of them. They had no further use for a mediator.