Disclaimer: I don't own Human Target and intend no copyright infringement.
Usually when Chance tried to officially date a woman a job cropped up out of nowhere and brought everything to a crashing halt within twenty-four hours. So when he told Jamie he would meet her at the Presidio's dog park for an afternoon with Carmine, he half-expected a desperate call from some soon-to-be client, or Winston walking into his living-room with a frown on his face and a file tucked under his arm. It was also entirely possible that one of their contacts at SFPD had a referral for them... these cases were always urgent, too, and required immediate attention. Not to mention any information regarding retaliation campaigns against Chance himself. Tony Belvilacqua had publicly sworn if he ever as much as saw Chance again he'd shoot him in the knee caps, put him in a steamer trunk and sink him to the bottom of the Bay. Guerrero kept a close eye on Chance's enemies. Any heads up from him demanded reaction without delay.
None of that, however, happened.
Chance spent the morning of the day he was going to meet Jamie first working out and then video playing, prepared to hear the familiar ringing of the phone followed by Winston's calm, collected voice reassuring the panicky, scared to death caller that help was on the way.
The phone remained silent.
By noon Chance actually went downstairs to check if everything was really okay and found Winston pouring over the latest bills, rubbing his forehead in deep concern regarding the payment of the next mortgage. When Chance asked if anything was up, Winston broke into a rant about Chance's way too liberal approach when it came to pro bono cases. "We cannot let them all off the hook just like that only because they've got a sad life's story! Unless of course you want to run business out of a card board box on the street one day!"
Chance decided that apparently yes, everything was fine and no new job had come up so far.
As he walked up the stairs again he called Guerrero. "Kind of in the middle of something here, bro", he said. In the background someone was groaning painfully. "Dude!", Guerrero snapped. "What did I say about not bleeding on the ElDo? Seriously not cool!" Then he returned his attention back to his friend "Sorry, Chance, I'm a bit caught up right now." And up he hung the phone.
So, nothing attention demanding on that front either.
Well, it could still be that Harry came up with something at the last minute.
Chance went into the bathroom, splashed water into his face, rubbed it dry with a towel and finally, his hands grabbing the sink, looked at himself in the mirror. What the hell was going on with him? It was almost as if he was hoping that something would prevent him from meeting Jamie.
Why?
He had proposed the meeting. He had suggested going to the dog park. She hadn't said a word about wanting to meet him again. No sign of flirtation whatsoever from her. Quite frankly, the idea of Jamie flirting was a bit scary. Those dark shadows underneath her eyes, those thin lines at the corner of her mouth... they matched well with the unsmiling expression on her face and her general attitude towards the world.
But when he had asked her to get together, a tiny spark had lit up in her Job 17:7 eyes and the corners of her mouth had twitched upwards. His suggestion had made her happy... and turned his stomach into a knot.
Were Winston and Guerrero right after all? Was he afraid of dating a normal girl because he didn't want to get attached and then lose her?
NO.
They were not right!
Not. At. All.
Truth to be told, he was afraid of the repercussions Jamie would have to face because of him. The women he usually ...spent time with... expected certain things from him... things he was more than ready to deliver. With Jamie it was a totally different story. She, for whatever reason, didn't seem to be expecting anything... from life... from... the people around her... from him. At the Aquarium, without actually planning to do so, he had begun teaching her that there was more to the world than just breathing, eating, sleeping, like some sort of biological robot.
That was dangerous. The old Christopher Chance had done something very similar to him and it had forever changed his ways, long before he had met Katherine.
Nobody deserves to die.
Boy, had that sentence cost him sleep.
Establish ties like that with a person and you're forever responsible for everything that comes out of it. Winston had led a quiet, regular cop's existence. Of course, working in the homicide unit can't always have been fun, but in general... A monthly salary, pension claims, a health insurance, evenings at the bar with his cop buddies... And what did he have now? Chance thought of the deep gash in his friend's shoulder and Guerrero saying it had been close.
What if Jamie got hurt, thanks to him, like Winston? What if he let her down, just like he had let Katherine down?
He shouldn't have started this, but now that he had, he needed to go through with it. At six he met Jamie at the dog park.
... ... ...
Jamie was terrified. At this time of day the dog park was full of people and their dogs.
"Do you realize how dangerous this is?", she asked, staring in shock at the sheer number of pet owners and their respective animals running about the place freely. "Carmine could pick up kennel cough... or get hurt in overly rambunctious play..."
"He's vaccinated", Chance smiled. "And we regularly visit here, he's used to socializing with the others."
"But what if he encounters a dog with behavior problems? Most pet dogs spent the majority of their time home alone, deprived of sufficient stimulation and thus bored. They develop all sorts of bad habits and violently lashing out at fellow dogs can be one of them."
"I know what you mean but well-socialized dogs usually defuse explosive situations on their own, with dog methods. We just have to trust his skills..." He let Carmine off his leash. A moment later he had found his first playmate and soon enough a whole group was running around, chasing each other, romping around, yelping and yodeling with delight.
Suddenly a huge white shepherd dog showed up. "He's displaying clearly dominant, challenging behavior", Jamie warned and tensed. "Call Carmine back!"
"Trust him", Chance said. "Look how Carmine is licking his lips, yawning, approaching in an oblique path. You know more about dogs than I do... that's appeasing behavior, demonstrating to the other dog that he means no harm."
"Yes, but what if the other dog..."
At this very moment Carmine and the shepherd first sniffed at each other, then started jumping around each other and a moment later the white dog was running with the rest of the lot.
"See? He..." Chance stopped talking in mid-sentence.
Jamie was crying.
"Hey, were you really that worried about my dog?"
"No", she replied. "I envy him."
For a moment Chance just looked at her, wondering what to say. Then he followed his instinct and pulled her into a tight embrace. At first she tensed, but then the warmth of his body overwhelmed her resistance. She let out a deep breath.
They stayed till the dog park closed. Jamie wanted to head back to Chance's car, but he took her hand and led her to the bench where they had first met. He sat down, pulling her with him and holding her in his arms again. Huddled together, with Carmine sitting on sentinel duty right by their side, they watched the sun set.