Spoilers for Shadows
Disclaimer - All characters owned by the gods known as Hank and Ed. The Hair is owned by Anthony LaPaglia.
This ended up on a much more serious note than I'd originally planned.
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Paula was the first one to see it. She stopped by his office early to drop off a new case file. "Your wife finally forced you into the barber?" Jack ran one hand over his head as he removed his glasses with the other. He'd had it this short before, but that had been quite awhile back. It felt strange.
He didn't feel like telling Paula about his weekend. "I just finally got around to it," he grumbled.
Viv came in a little while later. "Here's my report from Friday." She paused. "Did Maria finally attack you with a pair of scissors?"
He sighed. Why did everyone care so much about a damn haircut? "Paula thought it was Maria's idea, too. Can't a man get his hair cut without it being his wife's fault?"
"I'm married, too, remember? I know better." Viv laughed. "Actually, I figured you were growing it long just to annoy her." Hmm, she had a point there. Not that he was going to admit it.
"She hasn't said much about it." He sighed. As much as he didn't want to make a big deal out of this, that silence from his wife had hurt. "My dad's been getting on my case." Viv was a longtime friend and Jack could be a little more open with her than he had been with Paula.
"Oh, you saw him this weekend? How does he like the assisted living place?" They chatted for a few more minutes. Her father-in-law was starting to have vision problems and was considering moving to a similar facility. But he didn't say anything about his dad's Alzheimer's. It was still so painful to think about. He hadn't even told Maria yet.
The men from the team came in at the same time with their most recent reports. Martin looked like he still wasn't sleeping well, though at least he was now finding time to shave. Neither commented on his new look, though Danny gave him a big grin. As they were walking out, Jack overheard him say, "Wow, I thought he was never going to cut his hair!" "Jack cut his hair?" Martin's reply came echoing down the hall.
Jack had to smirk at that. Martin was great at looking for fine details. But outside a case, he tended to overlook the big picture.
He could hear a pair of heels approaching and immediately identified the rhythm as Sam's. He ran his hand over his head again. He shouldn't care so much what she thought of his new look, but he did.
She walked in, took one look, and walked out again without saying a word. He could hear her laughter echoing in the hall. After a couple minutes, she composed herself and returned. He tried to look and sound hurt. "Thanks a lot!"
She began to laugh again. "I'm sorry, Jack. You look great; I just wasn't expecting ... that."
"How was your weekend?" He wanted to change the subject. Plus, the guard downstairs had mentioned that some of his team members had been in, despite their days off. That was unusual.
Sam hesitated to reply and the laughter faded from her eyes. "Intense." She glanced towards the door, as if worried that someone might overhear. A particular someone?
"Want to talk about it?"
Again, that glance towards the door. "Maybe later. How was your weekend? Besides the makeover?" That lovely smile had returned, though a bit more strained than a few moments before.
Jack looked at his watch. They had a little while before the morning meeting. He wanted to tell someone about his father. No, he NEEDED to tell someone. If he couldn't talk to Sam, who could he talk to? "Intense. Why don't you close the door and sit down for a few minutes?"
FINI.
Disclaimer - All characters owned by the gods known as Hank and Ed. The Hair is owned by Anthony LaPaglia.
This ended up on a much more serious note than I'd originally planned.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
Paula was the first one to see it. She stopped by his office early to drop off a new case file. "Your wife finally forced you into the barber?" Jack ran one hand over his head as he removed his glasses with the other. He'd had it this short before, but that had been quite awhile back. It felt strange.
He didn't feel like telling Paula about his weekend. "I just finally got around to it," he grumbled.
Viv came in a little while later. "Here's my report from Friday." She paused. "Did Maria finally attack you with a pair of scissors?"
He sighed. Why did everyone care so much about a damn haircut? "Paula thought it was Maria's idea, too. Can't a man get his hair cut without it being his wife's fault?"
"I'm married, too, remember? I know better." Viv laughed. "Actually, I figured you were growing it long just to annoy her." Hmm, she had a point there. Not that he was going to admit it.
"She hasn't said much about it." He sighed. As much as he didn't want to make a big deal out of this, that silence from his wife had hurt. "My dad's been getting on my case." Viv was a longtime friend and Jack could be a little more open with her than he had been with Paula.
"Oh, you saw him this weekend? How does he like the assisted living place?" They chatted for a few more minutes. Her father-in-law was starting to have vision problems and was considering moving to a similar facility. But he didn't say anything about his dad's Alzheimer's. It was still so painful to think about. He hadn't even told Maria yet.
The men from the team came in at the same time with their most recent reports. Martin looked like he still wasn't sleeping well, though at least he was now finding time to shave. Neither commented on his new look, though Danny gave him a big grin. As they were walking out, Jack overheard him say, "Wow, I thought he was never going to cut his hair!" "Jack cut his hair?" Martin's reply came echoing down the hall.
Jack had to smirk at that. Martin was great at looking for fine details. But outside a case, he tended to overlook the big picture.
He could hear a pair of heels approaching and immediately identified the rhythm as Sam's. He ran his hand over his head again. He shouldn't care so much what she thought of his new look, but he did.
She walked in, took one look, and walked out again without saying a word. He could hear her laughter echoing in the hall. After a couple minutes, she composed herself and returned. He tried to look and sound hurt. "Thanks a lot!"
She began to laugh again. "I'm sorry, Jack. You look great; I just wasn't expecting ... that."
"How was your weekend?" He wanted to change the subject. Plus, the guard downstairs had mentioned that some of his team members had been in, despite their days off. That was unusual.
Sam hesitated to reply and the laughter faded from her eyes. "Intense." She glanced towards the door, as if worried that someone might overhear. A particular someone?
"Want to talk about it?"
Again, that glance towards the door. "Maybe later. How was your weekend? Besides the makeover?" That lovely smile had returned, though a bit more strained than a few moments before.
Jack looked at his watch. They had a little while before the morning meeting. He wanted to tell someone about his father. No, he NEEDED to tell someone. If he couldn't talk to Sam, who could he talk to? "Intense. Why don't you close the door and sit down for a few minutes?"
FINI.