Title: A very long day

Author: AnitaB

Chapter 6: In her name...

Davis slumped against the outside of his own door, every nerve in his body pleading with him to go back through it. To pull his Tru back into his arms and never let her go. Weakly releasing his grip on the door knob, he stood up straight and walked down the hall. The sooner this was done, the sooner Davis could touch her again.

"Come on, Harrison. Let's go."Buckling his seat belt, he glanced at his own window in time to see the curtain fall back into place. Even past the cold ache in his skin, Davis was relieved. His Tru was safe.

"So," Harrison glanced at him across the front seat, somehow driving a sharp turn at the same time. "Am I gonna have ta beat you up when this is over or are you gonna do right by my sister?"

"I..." /Of course, I'll do.../ "I don't know what you mean." Davis certainly wasn't going to talk about whatever he had with Tru to her brother before he'd actually talked to her.

"Right, you're wearing her lipstick 'cause it's a good color on you." Davis's hand was halfway to his lips when Harrison laughed. "She wasn't wearing any, Kryptkeeper, but now you can't deny makin' out." Stopping at a red light, Tru's brother rested one arm on the steering wheel and turned to face him. "So the question stands. You gonna make me beat you up after this?"

The smile on his face was weirdly anticipatory and humorous at the same time. And yet somehow Davis could read past it to see that Harrison liked the idea of him and Tru together. A friendly, hollow threat. He could feel a smile working its way onto his lips. "I don't think so, but you'll have to check with your sister after a few weeks."

What Davis had thought would be a torturous drive actually passed rather quickly with even more of Harrison's half-teasing questions and taunts. As they waited outside the morgue, Davis was almost distracted enough by her brother to stop missing her hair in his hands.

Nothing could make him stop missing the touch of her skin and the taste of her kiss.



Or the sound of her voice saying his name.

"You're gonna break it, staring so hard." Harrison never moved his eyes from their spot on the morgue door. But Davis's eyes jumped off the cell phone resting on the dashboard. "So call her already, morgue man."

"I... I..."

"Miss her, I get it. So either call her and get it over with or focus now." He laughed just a little. "Hannibal and his army of elephants could have gone past and you wouldn't have noticed." Eyes still locked on the building's door, Harrison shrugged. "We have a job to do."

"I just... can't lose her, Harrison."

"We're not going to lose her. Just keep your eyes peeled for a redhead with a grudge and we'll get you back home to start workin' on my first niece or nephew."

/Tru... pregnant with my child. The taste of her kiss. The heat of all her skin bare under my touch...Looking at her across a room and knowing that a part of me was still inside her. Tru./ "Harrison! I... we... never..."

"Almost did it in your office with me and Meredith just down the hall. Wanted to do it in your living room with me on the couch. Admit it, man, it's gonna happen." Harrison grinned widely at him by way of the mirror. "I ain't blind. Just want to know when to start buying blankets and booties."

Dragging his jaw back up off chest, Davis did the only thing he could with Harrison, he quipped. "At least nine months."

"Sounds like a good plan, bro. A niece would be a lot of fun."

/A daughter... my daughter with Tru's eyes.../ "I'll ... I'll see what I can do about it."

Well, at least the Kryptkeeper wasn't staring at the cell phone anymore. Instead he was blushing and rubbing a finger over his lips.

Tru had tried to help him with romance before. The least Harrison could do was return the favor. Davis might make a move now. One he was sure Tru would be thrilled at.

The chance for a real niece, while slim, was certainly a bonus. And now Davis was watching the doors like he was supposed to.

Suddenly Davis moved, changing from nervous stillness to a stilted lunge. "What is it, Bro?"

One hand against the glass, Davis turned. "That car has passed twice already."

"And now it's stopping. Think it's her?"

That hand moved to the door handle and Harrison's nerves tightened at Davis's words. "Let's go find out."

/Oh, no, Bro. Not on my watch. Tru'll kill me./ Catching a fistful of lab coat, Harrison dragged Davis back from the door handle. "You want our girl to take off my hide? The plan was to call the cops from the car."

The look on Davis's face matched the feelings in Harrison's ribs. Vengeance personified, but one of them had to be sensible here. And sadly, it seemed to be up to Harrison. "I need to know it's her. I need to see her."

"You need to hurt her, I get it but getting yourself shot instead won't do anyone any good." He tightened his grip on the coat sleeve with one hand, reaching for the door lock with the other. "You aren't about to orphan my niece, now are you?"

"Har," Davis gave him a pleading look and blocked the door lock. "I have to..."

"No, you have to stay in the car. Look, man, you said you couldn't lose Tru. What you think it'll do to her to lose you? Stay here."

Davis opened his mouth to argue. He had to do something, not just sit here. Anything to keep Tru safe and get her back into his arms. The slamming of a car door turned two male heads. Four eyes narrowed in anger as they watched the small woman starting across the street. Red hair peeked out under a baseball cap and a dull flash of metal appeared under the flap of an open flannel. Davis, door lock and handle forgotten, stuck his hand out to Harrison. "Phone."

"Let me, man. How many cops talk to you all the time?" Eyes still locked onto the small figure walking through his morgue doors, Davis listened to the beeps of dialing and Harrison's voice explain to the dispatcher. That woman walking into his morgue, his territory, had shot the woman he... he loved more than anything.

And Davis had to just sit there and watch her walk into his morgue and do nothing. At least Tru was safe at home. "What's taking so long, Har?"

"They're comin', just relax. There ain't no other way out. We can see 'em both."

Davis knew that... intellectually anyway. But until those beautiful flashing lights showed up to take the redhead away, part of Davis would know that Tru was still in danger. /Please come, please./ A short time that felt like an eternity later, lights bounced of the rearview mirror to hit him in the eyes.

Harrison's "YES!" was perfectly timed with Davis removing his nails from the skin of his palms and his own relieved sigh.

/Thank you, thank you, thank you./ Davis felt a hand on his shoulder and finally looked away from his morgue to meet Harrison's eyes. Not to mention his smile. "We did it."

But the cold feeling in his gut wasn't convinced. Not yet. "I'll believe it when I see the cuffs." /I'll believe when Tru smiles at me tomorrow. I'll believe it when she's in my arms again./ "Let's wait here a little longer. Just to make sure."

Harrison's face softened slightly and he shrugged. "Yeah, that sounds good. It's our girl on the line."

/Our girl. My girl... my Tru.../ Davis pushed aside the small twisty feeling in his stomach and smiled back, trying to convince the pit of self-doubt that of course Tru wanted him. Now why was another question. Tru was beautiful and smart and ... gifted. And he was just... /Well, just me.../ Very ordinary at best and maybe a little weird. But he couldn't disbelieve the look in her eyes after she'd kissed him or the feel of her pressing closer in his arms. /My Tru.../

They heard her before they saw her, screaming as two officers nearly carried her out of the building, hands cuffed behind her back. "This isn't over! I'll still get the bitch. It's all HER fault.?

Davis felt the door latch in his hand the same moment he felt Harrison's grip on his arm. He didn't actually remember moving at all, but his body was definitely on a path out of the car and toward the cuffed woman. Funny what blind rage could do to a man. "Whoa, crypt-keeper. There ain't no way I could bail you out and Tru'd kill me for coming back without you. So calm down." As Davis sat there trying to figure out what he'd been about to do, Harrison got a better grip on his arm and the cops bundled the redhead into their car. "It's over, Davis, let's go."

Again forcing his hands to unclench, Davis relaxed against the seat. "Yeah, let's go home." Wordlessly, Harrison started the car and headed back to the apartment. At the curb, Davis reached for the latch and stopped when Harrison didn't.

"Tell Tru I'll call her tomorrow, late, and give her a hug for me." Harrison grinned and arched an eyebrow. "And get started on the niece of mine."

The guts, the gumption, the brilliance of the idea smacked Davis between the eyes. "Harrison!"

Then the man in question smacked him on the shoulder and laughed. "Just step in the door and I'm sure Tru'll get the ball rolling. See you both later."

Dumbfounded a moment, his jaw dropped. "Anyone tell you you're weird?"

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

The car pulled away, leaving Davis on the curb with only a few stairs and doors between him and Tru... and all the impossible pictures Harrison's teasing had put in his head.

Shaking his head, Davis tried to talk sense into himself but still found his feet eagerly climbing those stairs. He found his hands opening his front door.

And he found Tru huddled on his couch clutching his bed pillow. Davis had to touch her, hold her, know she was safe. "Tru?" She met him somewhere between the door and the couch with a relieved whisper of his name. "Tru!" Burying his face in her hair, Davis held her tighter, treasuring the curve of her arms holding him back. /Tru, you're safe, I've got you./ She was here, warm and alive in his arms. But it still wasn't enough. He pulled back just enough to see her eyes, to cup a hand against her cheek. "I'm here, Tru, everything's okay now."

A weak smile curved her lips as her head tilted into his hand. Davis loved that she reacted like this to his touch. "You're all right, Davis. It's more than okay." Tru touched him, pulling him closer and pressing her lips to his.

/Tru/ It was amazing, the feel of her touch, the taste of her kiss. But it wasn't enough. Some part of Davis still didn't, couldn't believe she was safe. He needed more. Helplessly deepening the kiss, Davis slid one hand under the edge of her shirt to press flat against the heat of her skin.

"Davis," She shivered in his arms, arching at his touch and reclaiming his lips urgently. /oh, yes/