Plan A.
"What happened with Crews?" Tidwell casually asks her, putting the folders on his desk.
"Nothing." Dani answers avoiding eye contact.
He makes a grimace and decides it's better to change the subject.
"Listen." He smiles, making an indefinite gesture in the air with his hands "I thought that this evening we can-"
"-I'm not going to come to your apartment this evening." she cuts him short.
He stops dead, lowers the hands and nods.
"Okay. So I'll organize the things for tomorrow evening."
"I don't think I'll come tomorrow evening either." Dani raises her eyes, meeting his wounded glance "To be honest, I don't think I'll come to your place for a while."
Tidwell's face falls while Dani turns her attention back to the folders, picking up photos and clues.
"Dani."
She doesn't stop organizing the files.
Tidwell grabs her shoulders with both his hands, forcing her attention.
"Dani."
With a great effort she looks straight into his eyes, trying to hide her feelings for him and for the situation.
"What's going on?" He asks searching her eyes "I mean, what have I done to you?"
You seduced me, you made me happy, you made me pregnant. "Nothing."
Tidwell opens his mouth to reply but stops and lets go of Dani as Crews enters his office,carrying the last folders he picked up from the floor.
xxx xxx xxx
The hardest part about doing your job earnestly is to not have the chance to open your heart to your colleagues sometimes.
Unfortunately it happens, especially if you mix work and private life.
So the three of them are trying to deal with their individual feelings while doing their jobs, when Officer Stark enters Tidwell's office.
He senses immediately that there's something strange in the air.
Reese is pale, and very un-Reese-like quiet, Tidwell doesn't stop looking at her, and Charlie tries to fill the void talking too much, smiling too much and gesturing too much toward the board.
"I've got the victims' tox-screen and blood exams…" Bobby announces cautious, fluttering a file.
"Thanks."
Tidwell takes the envelope from his hands, scans briefly the papers and puts a hand on his mouth, thinking for a while, trying to give the right weight to the information he's just learned, before sharing them with his Detectives.
After a little while he raises the index finger, shifting his hand from the mouth to the air in front of him, and nods.
She was six weeks pregnant. The victim, I mean."
His blue eyes inspect all of their reactions".
Charlie is the first who says something.
"So the murderer made three victims, not two."
Dani blinks once.
"Crews. Six weeks is nothing. I don't think it counts as a…victim," she hurls back, knowing her partner's real intentions.
Charlie keeps the ball rolling "But it exists! Well…has existed," he corrects himself nodding. "It was a "he" or a "she." A gesture with eyes closed before starting to mutter "Or it was about to be a "he" or a "she"...I don't know exactly when you start to be something-"
"-Crews! Just stop!" her eyes flash with anger.
Charlie has a sudden idea.
"Captain, back me up on this!"
He's thinking that if his idea works, Dani is going to learn soon Tidwell's opinion about killing an innocent life.
Tidwell was looking confusedly at them.
Okay. The news is interesting and unforeseen, but he wasn't expecting such reaction from Crews and Reese.
He makes a face.
"He, or…she-" he concedes looking at Crews "-was. Period. Someone cut down the baby. That's a murder. Definitely." Each statement was underlined by a gesture of his hand in the air.
Reese looks at him for a while then stands up and storms off the room.
Tidwell turns his head toward Crews.
"What's the matter with her?"
Charlie tries to keep his face blank. He's really sorry for him and he does want Tidwell to know everything, but he can't betray Reese. It's the partner code, and as he said once: "Sometimes partners know more about each other than their own mates".
"Maybe she's not well yet..." Bobby says candidly, making Tidwell and Charlie look questioningly at him.
"Not…yet?" Tidwell asks, frowning.
"Yeah, I mean…" the Officer starts to say, confused "…yesterday Officer Smith saw Detective Reese in the bathroom where she had just…uh…" he frowns, tilting the head "…I thought you knew she was sick…"
"No, I didn't…" Tidwell replies slowly "…Crews?"
"Uh?" Charlie raises his eyebrow.
Bobby makes a gesture with his hand trying to rescale the question "Bah! Women and their woman's problems!...If you know what I mean…" he smiles knowingly.
Yes. Tidwell does know what he meant.
And suddenly he found himself trying desperately to remember when the last time was that she had her..."problems".
No period. Feels sick. Becomes angry talking about babies. She doesn't want babies: he wants them.
"Oh my god." Tidwell murmurs to himself, sitting down. "I'm having a baby…".
He smiles, but it doesn't last long: he can guess from Dani's behavior she isn't exactly happy to be pregnant.
Bobby is still smirking, thinking about woman's habits and doesn't hear him.
Crews however is looking directly at Tidwell while the discovery that can change a man's whole life is just now dawning on him.
TBC