And now for something completely and totally tonally different.

A brief summary: Getting a crush on your boss was a fairly standard dilemma. It becomes a lot less standard when she was from 20 years in the past.

Note: Reading of Meant to be Yours (my other MelvinborgxFuture|Erica thing) recommended but not necessary. It would just give you a better idea of my headcanons about these two and their relationship.

This wasn't supposed to happen, Melvinborg thought at his meeting with the superintendent. Gazing at her from across the table he felt his heart clench (in a way that was more than just a technological glitch), and he internally cursed himself.

While there were plenty of problems with going back in time (which he was going to continue to ignore), developing feelings for his boss was not one he had thought would happen.

He could not get a crush on her. Because he knew logically- even as his stomach seemed to flip as he stared at her deep brown eyes and perfect lashes while she discussed zoning- in his own time Grace Wain would be in her 50's. Among many many other issues with this whole ordeal.

He tried talking himself out of it with these reasonable objections, but it did nothing to stop the blush creeping up his face when she asked him a question, turning all of her focus towards him with an expression and tone that commanded attention.

He could only hope she didn't notice how red his human cheek was becoming, despite her gaze that seemed to miss nothing, as he stammered a reply.

He felt that telling heart clench again as she gave the barest of a smirking grin at his response, before carrying on with the meeting's agenda. But he couldn't pay attention to it, still picturing her smile. That smile undid him so easily and he hated that it did. This was not supposed to happen, he thought again. Hoping to ignore how off-guard she made him feel, he buried his head in his notes and tried to focus on what was being said rather than who was saying it.

That all flew out the window when they got into a debate regarding budget. Math was usually a social safe haven where he ruled over everyone else, dealing with figures and calculations well beyond anyone else's ability. There was nothing personal in math, only the correct and the incorrect. And every other person was always the incorrect. In mathematics he would best Grace Wain, she would be incorrect and fail, and if she wasn't to his level then clearly she wasn't worth his time and these feelings would go away.

Instead, he only fell further, a smile forming against his will, as she matched him turn for turn with math that would send anyone else scrambling for a calculator. Her way with numbers earned her a respect that Melvin awarded to very few people (in fact, there was only one other person he could remember ever even considering near an equal, but he dispelled the image of her before it could even form. That was over. That had been ended by his plan to go back in time.)

He listened intently to the remainder of the meeting, but not for the content. Instead he was marveling at the superindent's words, so clever and sharp, displaying even further her intellect. Every point he raised was met instantly with an apt counterpoint, resulting only in her gaining more of his admiration, bit by bit.

It seemed that despite all the logical arguments against it and the countless objective problems, that he couldn't help falling for Grace Wain. She was everything he respected in a woman. Intelligent, driven, strong. And beautiful. And he also got this feeling around her, like he had known her for a long time.

Well, he probably had since he was in the past. Presumably she had been the superintendent when he was a kid (he honestly couldn't remember if she was or not. He couldn't remember who the superintendent had been). Which just looped back around to why this shouldn't be happening. Because this was 20 years in the past, Grace Wain was old enough to be his mother, technically speaking. And she was his boss. And he had a plan to complete, one that she was constantly getting in the way of.

He burned any bridges he had when he went back in time to change his future. He would not and could not build any new ones. There was only one thing that mattered right now, and that was Elitinati. Not relationships. Especially not ridiculous illogical relationships with a woman from 20 years in the past.

"Well that does it for this meeting" she said, gathering her papers into a neat pile. He was simultaneously relieved and disappointed that he wouldn't be seeing her until another meeting (hopefully, at least. She was still his boss, and if he saw her before then it meant he did something very wrong.).

He started, feeling another treacherous blush on his face, as he looked up from gathering his own notes to find Grace giving him an intensely thoughtful look. "What?" he instinctively snapped, thrown off by her attention and never knowing how to deal with people.

She gave him yet another enigmatic smirk, and replied as she grabbed her things and stood up,

"Well, if you're absolutely certain about your future plans here, I guess I'll just be going."

She gave him a wink (what the heck did that mean), and walked out of the room, leaving him sitting at the table completely confused.

"Wha…?" he asked to the empty room, his cheek still warm from whatever that look was that she had given him.

Shaking off his confusion and (attempting) to get rid of those residual feelings, he recentered and re-focused on what he needed to do. He couldn't deal with having a crush on superintendent Grace Wain, he reminded himself once again. It didn't matter how he felt or how she felt, he was in the past and had a goal to achieve. He returned to his office, dreading and hoping for another meeting with his boss.

This makes sense, I swear! Because if Melvin has a crush on Erica, and Grace Wain is just Erica with a fake name, doesn't it kind of make sense that Melvinborg could get a crush on Grace Wain? No? I'm completely insane? Oh, well. This was an entertaining write anyway.

It was also fun, in a kind of roundabout way, to explore what it is about Erica that Melvin likes.

Also don't ask me why he doesn't realize that Grace Wain is Erica. That's the show writer's plot hole, not mine. Guess he really is just that oblivious. Hope you enjoyed whatever this was. I haven't written any like crush and shipping stuff in a while it feels like, so hopefully it turned out well. R&R if you could, reviews make me happy.