A/N: Don't you just hate writer's block? It's even worse when the show gives you no inspiration at all--thankfully there's this humorous story I've read recently entitled "Wussman" that gave me some. hehehehe. ;) Until next time--PCGirl.
John walked into Rodi's and had to push his way through a crowd to the bar—it was rarely this crowded, and never so at lunch during the week. He was able to make it to the bar and saw a tired and harried Natalie working one end and Mac at the other end. He watched her work, her mind on nothing else than the task at hand—at least somebody was able to keep their mind on their work.
She turned to go into the kitchen and saw him standing there waiting to give his order and gave him a quick smile before disappearing. A minute later she came back out with a paper bag for him and a tray with an order for another customer, "Here you go, John."
"Thanks—if I'd known it was this busy I'd gone somewhere else," he said with a laugh.
"You going to start cheating on me and Mac again?" she said with a grin.
"Not if I value my life," he said with a wink and they heard Mac call Natalie's name from the other end of the bar.
"I better let you go before you lose your job—but I want to talk to you about something later. What time do you get off?"
"Four. I'll come by the station when I get off," she smiled and gave a nod as he handed her over some money and went back through the crowd.
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Natalie pulled her coat tighter around her and walked out into the cold—it was 4:30 and she was just now leaving Rodi's to go meet John. They had finally settled down around three, but then her relief got a flat tire and was twenty minutes late for work—just when he showed up the crowd came in and she offered to help for a few minutes.
She hadn't gone far when an arm reached out and grabbed her—pulling her into the alley. She tried to let out a scream but her mouth was covered in an instant and she relaxed in the arms that held her.
"Hey," said the soft voice as he pulled away and looked at her.
"Cris—hi," she said softly—trying to disguise the fact she thought it was someone else at first.
"I was wondering what was going on in there—people kept going in, but you never came out."
"It was just really busy today."
"Well, I have a great evening planned for us—starting with something special," he said with a big smile.
"Oh really? Tell me."
"No, you have to trust me," he said taking her hand and leading her back onto the street. "Do you have anything else planned this afternoon?"
"Uhm, no. I guess it can wait."
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John took another glance at the clock—something must have came up and Natalie couldn't make it. It hadn't been that important—he'd just decided the first step with Natalie was to let her know how she finally allowed him to walk away from Caitlyn. His hope had been she'd see this as a stepping stone towards something more—a future together perhaps.
The phone pulled him out of his thoughts and he answered, "McBain."
"John? Are you ok?" asked Sonia on the other line.
"Yeah, I'm fine. What can I do for you, Agent Toledo?"
"A lot. I came across something huge last night—and I know for certain I can't deal with this case all by myself."
"The agency won't send you help?"
"Everyone that dealt with this guy before is either dead or left the agency."
"What's the name?" he asked as he grabbed a pen to write it down.
"Jeffery Curtis. Sound familiar?" she asked with a grin.
"Yeah. I was sure he'd gone underground for the rest of his life. Kathryn and I—that was the case that brought us together as partners."
"That's what I was told. Listen, John—I know you are enjoying the small life, but if this thing gets bigger and the agency keeps denying me any assistance—I'm going to have to walk away from the case or possibly get myself killed. I've never walked away from a case John, and I'm not going to start now."
"I'll think about it—seriously think about it. When do you need to know?" he asked as his mind began bringing up everything he knew about Mr. Jeffery.
"Within forty eight hours. Can you make up a decision in that time?"
"Yeah. If I can't help then I'll definitely give you notes on everything I have about him. I'm already writing things down for you to know. Talk to you later, Sonia."
"Thanks John. Bye."
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"What are we doing up here Cris?" asked Natalie as they opened the door to the roof at Antonio and Jessica's apartment.
"I—I wanted to relive a memory. Of course, then it was a little bit warmer and nicer outside," he said with a smile.
"Oh Cristian," she said softly as she looked to see the easel that held a covered up canvas. She began to walk towards it and he pulled her back and grabbed her around the waist. "Don't you want me to see what's on the canvas?"
"No better a time than now," said Cris as he walked away and revealed the canvas was a painting of Natalie on their wedding day.
"When I was on the ship I kept closing my eyes and picturing our wedding day—and that image was so burned into my mind. When I came back I forgot about that image, but Christmas Eve I remembered all those nights, just imagining you in front of me so I started this. I knew I wanted to give this to you now—to show you that it was you that kept me sane during those long nights alone on that ship. You were my guiding light then, and you still are."
"It's—beautiful," she said with her eyes filling with tears.
He walked back over and gave her a kiss before saying anything else, "We've been through a lot in our first year of marriage and we really didn't get to spend any of it together, so I wanted to come up here tonight and ask you something."
"Yes?"
"Marry me again, Natalie. This time there's nothing keeping us apart—no sneaky relatives of mine or suspicious FBI agents. All there is now is you and me—like it was supposed to be. So what do you say—in a few days, just between us and our families, will you marry me?"
Natalie stared at her husband standing there looking right back waiting for her answer. As of late he'd been acting—normal, his old self and it put her in a good mood to see him smile. She had wanted to be happy—that had been her Christmas wish, and it was coming true with Cristian. "Yes, I'll marry you again," she said, not realizing the tears flowing down her face.
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John paused at the list of notes he had jotted down to tell Sonia—he knew there was more, and maybe he had some notes from before he could let her have. He looked at the clock and decided it was probably a good time as any to call it a night and collected the papers he was taking home when there was a knock on the door and he looked up to see Evangeline walk in, "What can I do for you?" he asked in a gruff, put off tone.
"Sorry. I just saw the light on and thought you might want to know most normal people are already home with their families having dinner."
"Well, I'm not very normal, am I?" he chuckled as he grabbed his coat. "Sorry for the tone—I've got a lot on my mind."
"A big case?"
"Sort of," he said with a chuckle as he placed his hands on his hips as he thought of something else to say. "Listen. I know we ended on a sour note, but I've got nothing planned tonight but sort through an old case for a friend. You want to maybe catch a bite to eat? You can pick the place."
"Sure. Let me get my coat."
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Natalie sat at the Palace with Cristian, Antonio, and Jessica—it had been Jessica's idea to come here to celebrate, though Natalie would have been fine with just grabbing a few burgers from Rodi's and hanging out at the cottage.
"So have you thought of what decorations you might want to have this time? Or what to wear?" asked Jessica.
"No—what I'd love this time is something more relaxed, maybe with a Hispanic flare," she said as something caused her to turn her head to see John and Evangeline walk in and sit at a table in the corner. That must have been what he wanted to tell her—that he was going to go back to Evangeline. She scrunched her nose a bit at the thought of them together—the girl was wrong for John, and she thought he'd realized that before.
"Natalie. Earth to Natalie—did you hear me?"
Natalie's head turned back towards Jessica and she shook her head for a moment, "Sorry—what did you say?"
"I was thinking we could turn the Love Center into something like that—it's too cold to have anything outside."
"The Love Center is awfully big though, and we only wanted our parents and siblings there," she said as they began throwing out ideas.
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John tried to keep his attention to what Evangeline was rattling on about though he kept looking over to Natalie—he could see she was fidgeting with the hem of her shirt, something she did when she was nervous or unsure of what the conversation was about.
"A month apart and you are still the same John McBain," said Evangeline as she threw down her napkin and stood up.
"I'm sorry—what is this about?" he asked, completely confused as to what he just did wrong.
"Natalie. You're single now, but you are still pining away for her like a lost puppy dog. You're going to have to realize she's not yours to have John, but until you do maybe it's best if you don't try to be around any other women—you might slip up and call them Natalie by mistake."
John gave a slight chuckle before making a quick and equally dangerous response, "Oh yeah? Well, whenever you and Natalie are in the same room it becomes a broken record with you—green isn't really your color, Counselor."
Evangeline's mouth dropped open before she gave out a huffing noise and stomped out of the restaurant. John waited a few minutes before going to the bar and paying for his drink—stopping at Natalie's table when Antonio called him over, "What was that about?"
John cracked a smile, "Nothing. Glad to see you four our for a nice dinner together—I won't keep you."
"We're celebrating," said Cristian, ready to rub it in and rub it deep. "Natalie and I are renewing our wedding vows and recommitting our love to each other. It'll be family and a few close friends only—sorry to say you won't be invited."
"That's fine—congratulations kiddo," he said with a smile to her and walked out—who knows, if he took Sonia up on her offer he might not even still be in town for the wedding.