Disclaimer: Still don't own it.

Chapter 3—

Natalie felt better than she had in a very long time. She walked with more confidence and with her head held high. No need to worry about clothes that accentuated her curves in the right way… no need to worry about if her hair was perfect… no need to worry about ways to get a certain someone to notice her.

She could simply come to work and do her job.

She'd never realized how much time she spent worrying herself over John McBain. It was as though she suddenly had all this time on her hands… and she wasn't exactly sure what to do to fill it.

The result of her free time was spent making coffee and doing little things and favors for the officers at the station. Her uncle Bo had commented on her acting more like the office waitress than the office receptionist. Still… being useful and being appreciated had its merits.

She was also finding that she now had John's attention more than when she'd been actively campaigning for it. The realization had hit her in the middle of the day. She was busy pulling out some files for Bo. She'd been so into the task at hand that she'd failed to notice that John and Evangeline were standing not too far away from her. Normally she would have been hyper aware of either person's presence in her hemisphere and she was amazed to find that breaking that habit wasn't even something that she had to think about.

She'd just forgotten that either one of them existed.

But apparently John hadn't forgotten that she—Natalie Vega—existed. When she turned around from pulling those files, his eyes were bearing into her in his typical intense and tortured soul fashion. Natalie laughed inwardly when she noticed that Evangeline was obliviously yapping away about something—her head tilted to the side, as usual. Natalie had often wondered about that head tilt; didn't it hurt her neck to go into that position about fifty times a day?

There was something inside her that was very pleased that she'd managed to capture his attention. But somehow the small victory didn't mean as much as it would have only a few days earlier.

Really, she didn't know why she was so surprised. When she put her mind to something, she usually followed through. This was no exception. She'd made up her mind to let go of John and she was following through. Still… she did feel as though it should be harder.

It made her wonder if she'd not been over him for awhile by that point? Like she was just hanging on out of habit. She wasn't sure how much merit there was to that theory… but she had the sneaking suspicion that there was a little merit involved.

She went off and delivered those files to Bo and then re-seated herself at her desk. John walked by and distractedly mumbled that, should anyone come in asking for him, he didn't want to be disturbed. She nodded her head to signal that she'd heard the request but otherwise didn't even look up.

The next several minutes were busily spent tinkering around with her computer. Natalie felt as though she knew her way around a computer pretty well and the police computer system was no exception. On the whole, she didn't have any problems with the system but every once and awhile she ran into a problem. Usually it just took a bit of thought and possibly a bit of fiddling around and problem solved.

"Ahh! Good girl." Natalie patted said computer when she'd worked her way through her latest disagreement with the piece of machinery.

"Since when are computers gender specific?"

Natalie turned around and found herself looking into Michael's happy brown eyes.

"Nice to see you as always, Mikey," she genuinely smiled, although her tone was sarcastic. "What brings you here today?"

"I'm here to see my brother."

"Oh, well he's busy I think. He said he didn't want to be disturbed. Is it important?"

Michael thought about it for a moment or two before shaking his head and saying that it wasn't important. "But maybe I'll wait around for a bit."

"Waiting area is around that corner," she pointed. "Please don't let me be the reason why it isn't graced with your presence. We have plenty of magazines. In fact, I think I saw the new issue of People. You interested in reading about Brad and Angelina by any chance?"

"Not particularly," he deliberately ignored her sarcasm. "And why would I wait in there, when you've got a perfectly empty chair sitting conveniently next to your desk?"

"Yes, but do you recall me inviting you to use said chair?"

"Now, that's not very nice, Natalie."

Despite her protests, he settled himself comfortably into that chair next to her desk. She heaved a loud sigh but otherwise made no move to dislodge him from her general space. As long as he didn't open his mouth…

"What are you doing?" he nosily asked, peering over her shoulder.

"I like you much better when you're not talking," she informed him. "Silence is so underrated these days. You should try and bring it back," she hopefully suggested. "You know, make it the new fad."

As though he hadn't heard her, he asked, "Seriously, what are you doing?"

"Trying to organize these files," Natalie answered.

"Isn't that a bit unnecessary? They look pretty organized to me."

"Well, they are," she admitted. "But I'm implementing a new filing system."

"Why? Is the current one not working out?"

"Why are you asking me so many questions, Michael? I'm re-organizing things—what's so wrong with that?"

"Nothing. It's just… busy work." He broke out into a full smile. "You're trying to keep occupied, aren't you?"

"Well, I'm not paid to sit around all day staring off into space, am I?"

"You're having the same problem as me," Michael surmised. "You have no idea what to do with yourself."

Natalie dropped her unfriendly and argumentative stance and opted for a huge sigh of relief that someone finally got it. She twirled around in her chair to face Michael. She spoke to him in confidential tones, just like she might a close friend.

"I never realized how much time I spent thinking and worrying about John."

"It's the same way with me. I spent so much time staring off into space and thinking about Marcie. I kind of feel like, now that I've let it go, I have to stop with that, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," she nodded her head. "What have you been doing then?"

"Well… throwing myself into work. But I have the day off today and so my mind tends to wander."

"You never did strike me as a particularly deep thinker, Mikey," she teased him.

"Don't make fun of someone who is in the same boat as you, Natalie," Michael warned. "I doubt too many other people can identify with you right about now."

"Okay, maybe you're right," she begrudgingly admitted. "So, what are you doing about the whole thing?"

"I was seeking out John in the hopes that he'd get my mind off it."

"John? Are you kidding me?" Natalie asked in disbelief. "He'd be just as likely to go into Detective Mode and start asking you questions about the exact thing that you want to get your mind off. Don't you have any friends?"

"Well…" Michael thought about it. "Uh…"

"That is sad," Natalie interrupted. "Very sad."

"Oh, and you can talk because you're… what…? Swarming with friends?"

"I have Jessica," she snootily answered.

"Doesn't count; she's your sister."

"Rex then," she offered with a smile. "He's not my sister. And he's not technically my brother either."

Michael raised an eyebrow at her, clearly saying that she was grasping at straws.

"Fine. You made your point," she finally conceded. "But there's something to be said for family. They're always going to be on your side, aren't they?"

"More or less," Michael agreed.

"Maybe you could talk to Dr. Miller," Natalie suggested with a wicked grin. "I'm sure your superior would utterly love you going to her to lament your lack of a love life."

"At least I don't work directly with the very person I'm trying to forget," Michael threw at her, although not maliciously.

"True," Natalie nodded. "And it's made even worse because—well, I'm sure you figured this out for yourself—but I really only took the job to be close to him."

"So then why don't you quit? Put some distance between the two of you?"

"I thought about it," she admitted. "But then I realized that I actually do like working here. I like the whole atmosphere and there's always something to do. It makes me feel… useful, I guess. Plus…" she added, "… I'm pretty good at my job, if I do say so myself."

"Oh, well I'm sure it's never stopped you before."

She rolled her eyes at his jab and started to respond but was thwarted when an officer asked her to pull some files. She was surprised to find that Michael had been a welcome break and that she wasn't so keen to leave. Still… it certainly wouldn't do to let him know that.

"If you really need to see John," Natalie began, "I'm sure that he could spare a few minutes for you."

Michael thought about it for a few moments, before finally deciding against it. Natalie noticed his look of 'what now' and took pity on him. Well, that and she had no idea what she was going to do once she got off work.

So, she made him an offer.

"I get off in," she looked at her watch, "about an hour or so. You could buy me something to eat? I'm really hungry." She paused and then added, "I'm also really good at getting your mind off things." Upon seeing his interested (despite himself, she was sure) expression, she stated, "The diner; one hour. See you then."

Then she skirted off.

"You're late."

"Fashionably late," Natalie corrected Michael's proclamation. "Big difference."

He shrugged, signaling that he failed to recognize the distinction. Natalie slid in next to him and stole some of the food on his plate. He stared at her, wondering why she was always stealing food from him.

After awhile he gave up and just surrendered his burger and fries to Natalie all together. He opted, instead, to watch her tear into his food.

"What?" she asked after a few moments. "Do I have something on my face?"

Michael shook his head.

"So listen," Natalie barged ahead, heedless to his eyes focused on her, "I've been thinking about your situation with Marcie and… well… my situation with John and I think I've got the answer."

"Oh, I'm dying to hear this."

"I'm not sure how this will work out because it does require that you and I see one another on a fairly regular basis. I know what you're thinking—what kind of plan is that? Well, we're going through the same thing… both of us are trying to overcome this bad habit of pining away after someone who we can't have. And we've both already taken the step to move on and get past it all."

"Yes, I'm well aware of where things stand," Michael interjected. "Could you get to the point?"

"The point is that we can help each other. If I see you slipping into Marcie-mode, I'll pull you back. And you'll return the favor if you see me slipping into John-mode."

"Kind of like a buddy check?" Michael thoughtfully commented.

Natalie nodded in the affirmative. "I think it could work."

"Yeah, it could definitely work," he agreed. Natalie widely smiled, happy that her idea was being embraced so easily. "But… only if we're both serious about it. Like, really serious about it."

"I'm committed the cause," Natalie assured him.

"Well, good. I am too."

"So what do you say? Buddy check sound like a good idea?"

Michael extended his hand across the table and shook hands with Natalie.

They sealed the deal with a shared smile.

TBC