Disclaimer: I don't own the situations or characters portrayed herein. I'm just playing with them for a while.


It's in the Water

He touched her whenever he could, with a guiding hand on her back, or an arm around her waist, or just brushing her arm with his as they walked the Georgetown campus. When he couldn't, for whatever reason - propriety, professionalism - he intentionally had to stop himself. He kept his hands in his pocket, behind his back, or, in front of Billy in his office or the conference room, clasped firmly in front of him.

It was the first case they'd had, since he had told her he loved her, that allowed them to work so closely together. He'd been afraid that Billy had orders to keep them separated, but it didn't seem to be the case now.


He entered the Q Bureau, where Amanda sat at her desk, talking on the phone.

"Well, I don't – You never know, maybe someday. Okay. Say hello to Carmine for us."

He moved to sit on the side of her desk as she wrapped up the call and hung up.

"Who's that? Sally?"

"Yeah. You know, Carmine's been working all day with the Army engineers on the Omega Triad System."

He leaned in closer to her; he hadn't seen her since yesterday and he'd been caught up in a meeting all morning.

"I think the judge might take that into consideration at his trial."

"I hope so," she said, looking up at him with that expression he would never tire of, and rolling her pens together in her hands. "He's got a lot to look forward to."

"Why?"

"He asked Sally to marry him," she replied, smiling widely.

He usually ended up smiling at her whenever she smiled, but this time her eyes were shining a little more than usual.

"No," he said, pretending to be shocked. He'd seen it coming from a mile off. "When's the big day?"

She avoided his eyes. "They haven't set a date; they're going to take it one step at a time."

He took a moment to slow his suddenly rapid heartbeat. "Well, you never know," he said, casually, though his mouth was very dry. "Maybe one day..."

She had looked up, finally. "What?" Her shrug was badly overdone, and for one heart-stopping moment he thought he'd misunderstood.

"That's what you said on the phone," he said quickly, trying to maintain his casual attitude.

"Oh yeah," she said softly, and smiled easily. "Well, she asked me if I thought I'd ever get married again, and I said 'You never know, maybe someday'."

He nodded a little, his heart rate going back to normal, then winked at her. She was smart. She could figure out what he meant.

He leaned in for a kiss, slowly, to give her time to pull away or lean in, depending on if he was moving too fast.

She leaned in.

In one moment, their relationship had grown just a little more.

And then Billy walked in, saying something about a White House report and a meeting.

Couldn't the president wait a few minutes? He had something important going on here.

He followed Billy out the door, feeling disgruntled.

"See you later!" she called, her voice teasing.

He lingered at the door for a second, then closed it behind him and leaned against the wall.

He thought of the little blue box he'd hidden so carefully in his bedside table, beneath the briarwood pipe and the delicate china tea cup.