„Jamie?" She stood at the door to the men's locker room. There were a few of her colleagues there already, but fortunately Ed R wasn't the early bird kind of man.
Grinning wickedly, one of the officers closest to the door sent the call on. "Reagan! You got a lady visitor!"
Normally she would have slammed the man against the lockers and made him pay for behaving like a complete idiot – it hadn't needed either Jamie nor Ed R for Eddie to carve out her own space, and she knew most of her colleagues respected her for that – but now she merely frowned at him.
Stupid butterflies.
Maybe it was true, maybe you just want what you can't have. Was that what had repulsed Jamie? That after her being not his rookie anymore, things would be too easy?
Eddie bit her lips not to laugh at herself. She really was spoiled by Robert. If there was anything she knew for sure about Jamie Reagan it was that he was about the most gentle, most honest and altogether kindest man she had ever seen. Actually, it was funny that with that soft smile of his he still made her knees go weak. It took time to see the strength and steel inside him…

"Hey, Eddie. How you're doing?"
She looked up and hoped her face wouldn't betray her. "Hey. How you're doing?"
Jamie grinned. "I asked first."
Eddie smiled, too. It had been her eleventh day on the job when she had exploded about the fact that nobody asking "how you're doing" actually wanted an answer. Set phrases were okay, but not this one. It just made things more complicated – well, till you get used to it, as Jamie had said.
And now it was him getting used to her habits… Eddie's heart widened.
"I… I wondered about our date. I mean, ice skating." Her cheeks burned but she couldn't stop smiling.
It was so good seeing him again, talking to him. And it was so easy… so easy that she sometimes forgot to wonder what she should say and simply say it.

Jamie swallowed, and Eddie's heart sank like a stone.
"I know" he murmured contritely, "I'm sorry, I just forgot about it till Sean asked me to last Sunday. And then I…" He shook his head and took a step towards her. "I guess I was too ashamed to ask you then. I thought you'd forgotten about it, too."

I would never forget about you, she thought, and come on, you're facing death each day and are afraid of me?
Not that she was any different in that point, though.

Eddie opened her mouth. "How is he?"
"Sean?" Jamie's face darkened. "He's on therapy. I think his nightmares are gone by now but he's started bedwetting again." He shook his head. "Sorry, I shouldn't have told you that right in the morning."
Eddie shrugged. "I asked, remember?"
And remember what you asked me?
"You did" Jamie confirmed, "thank you."
Was that a dismissal? The butterflies swirled desperately, and Eddie knew that once again she would have to make the first step. It just was so much easier without those beautiful deep eyes looking at her. "Anytime. And if you need something… I mean, I'm not exactly experienced with children, but… I know about fear. And about… therapists."
Jamie nodded, his eyes shining with sorrow now. "I know."

Of course he did. Because two days before Sean had been kidnapped Eddie had told him about it. About everything, for the first time in her life.
"So…"

"Well, actually I do need something" Jamie said, and the sorrow slowly receded as a smile came up.
"Anything" she repeated, and meant it.

"I'd need to know if you'd like to go ice skating with me on Friday."