I do not own Blindspot or its characters.
"Have you seen Jane yet this morning?" Zapata asked Reade as she leaned against the rail next to him. She'd been looking for her since she arrived on deck, but though Jane was usually one of the first staff members up and about, she hadn't seen any sign of her. She hoped that meant that she had made up with Weller and wasn't a portent of worse things to come.
Though she honestly didn't see how things could get much worse. She grimaced at the memory of her meeting with Rich last night. To say he had been displeased was a major understatement. She still couldn't figure out what had gone wrong. She'd been so sure that all Jane and Weller had needed was a little time alone together to talk, and the sight of her in that bikini would do the rest.
"Nope," Reade replied. "Sarah mentioned that she was having breakfast with Weller in his cabin this morning, so maybe Jane decided to join them."
"After yesterday's fight?" Zapata scoffed. "Not likely. Plus, when I talked to Rich last night, he said she was all over Markos at dinner and totally ignored Weller."
"Yeah, Sarah mentioned something about that, but I . . . Wait, what?" Reade's eyes narrowed as her words registered. "Why were you talking to Rich about Jane last night? Out with it, Tasha," he scolded as her expression turned sheepish.
"I may have been . . . helping Rich try to get them together," Zapata muttered. "What?" she demanded at his disapproving look. "Everyone knows Jane and Weller belong with one another. We were just . . . hurrying things along. And Jane asked for my help. She did!" she insisted when he raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Well, her advice, at least. She shook her head. "I just don't understand what went wrong. The two of them were so hot for one another, I thought sure some time alone on a secluded island in a tropical paradise with Jane in a skimpy bikini would take care of the rest."
"Let that be a lesson to you, Tasha," Reade said sternly. "Never meddle in other people's affairs." Now he knew why she'd been so eager to place that bet on the two of them getting together. She'd thought she had an inside track to influence the outcome. If her interference hadn't had such disastrous consequences for two people he cared about, he might have found it amusing. As it was, he hoped they found a way to move past whatever had caused their falling-out. Because they truly did belong together.
Just as he did with Sarah. Reade sighed as he recalled their conversation from last night, the wounded look in Sarah's eyes as she learned the truth about why he had pushed her away. He couldn't blame her for being angry, but he'd really been hoping . . . He sighed again.
"That's the second time you've sighed like that in as many minutes," Zapata commented, momentarily distracted from the problem of how to get Jane and Weller back together by his troubles. "I take it things did not go well in the long-overdue reunion between you and Sarah."
Reade glared at her. "No," he pronounced flatly. "You are not meddling in my love life as a distraction from the mess you've already caused. I've got enough problems already, Tasha."
Zapata sniffed. "I wasn't going to interfere," she assured him. She had her hands full enough already. Though if the opportunity presented itself to give Sarah a little nudge in the right direction, she certainly wouldn't turn it down. "But I'm here if you need to talk."
A listening ear certainly couldn't hurt right now. "I told Sarah what happened two years ago, and that I wanted another chance with her," Reade confessed. "She, uh . . . she said she needed some time to think it over, and asked me to sleep in my office last night."
"She kicked you out of your own cabin?" Zapata knew she shouldn't find that quite as hilarious as she did, but she restrained her mirth with an effort at his affronted look. She'd known there was a reason she had always liked Sarah Weller.
Reade nodded. "Right before she left, she asked me where I saw our relationship going if she did agree to give it another try. How it would work now that she lives in Portland."
"You'd have to move there," Zapata said slowly, happy and sad all at once, suddenly struck by the realization that she would be losing her best friend. "Long-distance relationships never work."
"I told her I'd be willing to do that," Reade admitted. "To give up this job and set up a practice out there. I just . . ." He shook his head. "I'm tired of being alone, Tash. And she's the only woman who's ever tempted me to settle down."
"Want some advice?" Zapata asked, and he hesitated before nodding slowly. What could it hurt at this point? "The fact that Sarah's asking you that means she's seriously considering it, but your lack of trust in her has to still sting." She'd told him over and over that he needed to go after her as soon as the threat was eliminated. "You need to grovel. Big time. Flowers, candy, jewelry, the whole nine yards. Don't just tell her how much she means to you: show her."
Not a bad suggestion. Reade smiled at her gratefully, his mind already hard at work on deciding just how to enact that plan. "I'll do that, Tasha. Thanks."
"What are friends for?" Zapata joked. She was just opening her mouth to give him one last piece of advice when Weller approached, looking as grim as she had ever seen him.
"Reade. Zapata," Weller greeted, drawing on the expression he had worn at his bastard of a father's funeral for the part he was playing. "Have either of you seen Jane this morning? I was hoping to—"
"Hey, Tasha, can you—" Jane broke off as she approached mere seconds after Kurt. She gave him a stiff nod. "Captain."
"Jane." Weller looked at her pleadingly. "We need to talk. Please."
Jane's eyes softened marginally, and Zapata held her breath. But just when her friend appeared to be on the verge of giving in—
"There you are!" Sarah exclaimed, deliberately inserting herself between Jane and her brother. "I've been looking all over for you, Ms. Doe. I was hoping you could tell me about the entertainment options available on this cruise. It's been so long since I've had a vacation without my son that I want to enjoy every minute of it."
"Of course," Jane responded, her eyes hardening once more as she started to turn away. "If you'd come with me to my office, I'd be happy to go over the schedule with you."
"That's terrific. Thank you," Sarah told her, and the two women walked away, seemingly oblivious to the disbelieving and angry stares in their wake.
Weller's shoulders slumped, and he walked away without another word. "What the hell was that?" Zapata hissed as she turned to Reade, reconsidering her opinion of Sarah Weller. "If she didn't just do that deliberately to separate her brother from Jane, I'll jump off this ship!"
Reade rubbed the back of his neck. The last thing he wanted was to get involved in a catfight between Zapata and Jane and Sarah, but he had a feeling he was about to get caught in the middle. And he'd thought his biggest challenge for the remainder of this cruise would be wooing Sarah back to him. "Yeah, I, uh . . . I probably should have mentioned that Sarah isn't Jane's biggest fan after yesterday. She thinks she's . . . all wrong for her brother." Not nearly good enough had been Sarah's exact words, but he refrained from mentioning that to Zapata.
Though judging from her expression, she had a pretty good idea of that. "I'll talk to her," he promised hastily before she could launch into the rant clearly on the tip of her tongue.
"You'd better," Zapata said icily. "No, scratch that. Don't just talk to her, find a way to better occupy her time. Because if she interferes between Weller and Jane again, I won't be responsible for my actions."
Of all the nerve. Sister or not, the woman wasn't even a paying passenger. What right did she have to monopolize Jane's time? To pass judgment on her without all the facts? She stormed off before Reade could reply, but she would have been much heartened if she could have seen the two women a few minutes later. They dissolved into giggles the moment the door to Jane's office was closed, hugging one another like old friends.
Kurt joined them a few minutes later, slipping into the office the moment the coast was clear. He instantly wrapped his arms around Jane, relishing the fact that he could now cuddle her close any time he wanted—well, nearly any time—as he grinned at his sister. "If looks could kill," he chuckled. "I thought I was going to have to restrain Zapata from going after you there for a minute."
"Yeah, I could feel her death glare on my back as we walked away," Sarah laughed. "She certainly is . . . passionate about getting the two of you together. How do you think she's going to feel when she finds out she's been had?"
Kurt shrugged. "Hopefully it will teach her a well-deserved lesson. Besides—" he looked closely at his sister, "we're apparently not the only couple she's trying to get together. I overheard her telling Reade to grovel to win you back right before I approached them. Care to elaborate on that?"
"Yeah." Sarah sank into a chair, and their gazes changed from amused to concerned at her suddenly pensive expression. "Reade told me last night that he still loves me—that he never stopped—and he wants me back." She filled them in on the rest of what Reade had told her, adding, "A part of me appreciates that he was just trying to protect me and Sawyer, but I'm a grown woman. I feel like I should have had a say in the decision, or at least been apprised of the threat."
It was the second time in as many days that he'd heard about arms dealers, Kurt thought, his expression turning even grimmer as he looked down and saw the look on Jane's face. Clearly, she suspected or wondered if her mother had had something to do with it, but now was not the time to discuss that. He didn't want to wade into a minefield like that with his sister without knowing all the details himself. It was pure speculation at this point, anyway.
"Want me to have a talk with Reade for you?" he offered, only half-joking. Whether or not his sister had needed to be apprised of the threat, he sure as hell had. The fact that nothing had come of the threat didn't eliminate his ire that he hadn't been aware of it. They were his family. It was his job to protect them.
Sarah shook her head slowly. "I appreciate the offer, big brother, but I need to handle this on my own. Trust me when I say Reade has tortured himself over what happened far longer than a beat-down from you would have lasted."
"So what are you going to do?" Jane asked.
A slow smile spread across Sarah's face. "I was thinking about giving him another chance, provided he agreed to take things slow, but if he wants to grovel . . . well, then, I should let him grovel, shouldn't I?"