Preamble/Gentle Rant: I'm a little frustrated the writers haven't given Eddie and Badillo more screen time for Season 13. Every time they are gelling and working great together, you suddenly don't see Badillo for a couple of episodes. I get it there were times during Seasons 4-8 when the focus was more on Jamie (since he was a Reagan) than Eddie, but Eddie was still his partner for all those five seasons and the one he almost always worked with! I hope and pray that'll be remedied in Season 14. Until then, here you go.

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He wouldn't believe it himself if he wasn't sitting right next to her in the RMP. But for almost two years, Luis Badillo had the same partner. Instead of having a revolving door of partners that lasted for a couple months at best, Eddie Janko had stuck it out with him. Lord knows, he didn't make it easy for her. When your former partner is killed in the line of duty, you do all kinds of things, building walls to protect yourself. But without her even knowing it, she helped him take down that wall brick by brick. It left him feeling exposed and free at the same time. She had earned his trust, loyalty, and friendship.

If he's honest, there were times when his thoughts about her were a little too friendly. She was his type, but the physicality was mere icing on the cake. She was smart, kind, a hard worker, sassy without being too sassy. She'd be the whole package if she wasn't married, least of all to Sergeant Reagan! But aside from the occasional stray thought, Badillo kept it professional. In the end, at most, he knew it was a workplace crush, nothing more.

"So what do you want for lunch?" Eddie asked. "Chinese or Mexican?"

"Huh?" Badillo's replied. "Oh, sorry – What?"

"For lunch. Chinese or Mexican?"

"Chinese," was Badillo's reply as he smiled from ear to ear. "Last time you begged me to have Mexican, our stomachs were wrecked. We both went home sick."

"Oh that is totally not my fault!"

"Aw, come on, Badillo!" Badillo teased Eddie in an effeminate voice. "You just gotta try La Casa Mexicana. It's soooo good, you'll die happy." Speaking in his regular voice, he continued, "And I – we almost did!"

Eddie rolled her eyes. "Like I'm supposed to know something was wrong with the food?!"

Badillo chuckled.

Eddie sighed as she said, "Fiiiiine. Chinese it is."

"Thank you," Badillo emphasized with a playful pound on his armrest.

"So," Eddie said, "tell me about Krystal. How's it going with you two?."

Badillo grimaced. "Yeah, um… She called it off. I was wanting to make it serious and she was just wanting to, and I quote, 'Enjoy life.'"

Eddie cringed. "Oof. Sorry about that."

"Please tell me you've never used that line with some poor guy back in the day," Badillo said. "Tell me you were at least slightly better than that."

"Sadly," Eddie raised her hand, "I'm guilty-as-charged. Not proud of it. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy how it all turned out. But there were a couple guys I dated who didn't deserve that."

"If you don't mind me asking, have you been able to reach out?" Badillo asked, intrigued. "Try and make it right?"

"I tried to reach out to one guy and he told me… Well, I can't repeat what he told me, so no love loss there. But I was able to make amends with this one guy named Barry. He was the guy I dated right before I came to terms with my feelings for Jamie. But yeah, Barry is a great guy and did not deserve that at all. He and I keep in touch."

"And the Sarge isn't jealous?" Badillo asked, intrigued.

"No, he understands. He knows I only have eyes for him, but he also knows that I have friendships with guys."

"Even if this guy is an ex-boyfriend?"

"He trusts me, Badillo. He trusts me as his wife just like I trust him as my husband. Besides, Barry's moved on. He's engaged and he even invited me and the Sarge to the wedding."

"But I gotta tell you," Eddie said, returning to the subject of Badillo's love life, "I always thought you could do better than Krystal."

"You liked her, though!"

"I was trying to be supportive. But she seemed too ditzy, even for you."

"Ouch, Janko! Like a dagger in my heart!"

Eddie just smiled. She had come to really appreciate Badillo. Beneath his tough guy exterior was a man who cared for people and wanted to truly serve his community. They had growing pains in the beginning for sure, but only recently had she owned her part in that. She had gotten too comfortable with Jamie as her partner on the job for five years, complicated by their unspoken feelings for each other they surrendered to in their fifth year.

Her brief partnership with Maya Thomas ending in her arrest was shocking and she felt betrayed to say the least, but having a partner like Rachel Witten for almost four years after Maya helped her heal. She even did well with temporary partners she'd get for a week or two when the Captain wanted to shake things up. But Badillo was her first real challenge because he was head-strong like her, but in different ways that she wasn't. And there was the rub.

She had to learn to communicate better and use her words more, not just the subtle eye expressions or head nods that she took for granted with Jamie and Witten. Badillo had made her a better cop in ways that her other partners – even Jamie – had not. When she looked at Badillo, she had affection for him not just as a partner, but as a friend. They had both come a long way and it was good. They were good together and good for each other.

It was not lost on her that Badillo might have a teeny tiny crush on her, but she wasn't concerned about it. She knew that Badillo was a man of honor and integrity, he would never cross the line. She was also a grown woman who knew workplace crushes happen sometimes. She remembers clear as day when Officer Zack Michaels asked her out on a date a few months into her time at the 2-9. She never held it against him, though, since Jamie and Eddie kept their engagement secret and she only wore her ring when she was off duty; he had no way of knowing. She let him down easy, saying she was flattered, but said they should just be friends. Truth be told, if she hadn't been engaged and head-over-heels in love with Jamie, she might've said yes to a date with Zack.

But Badillo and Eddie both knew schoolgirl and schoolboy crushes were for the birds compared to policing the streets of New York. For in the 2-9, you always had to be on your toes as a cop. That's where Badillo and Eddie shined.

Lunch just about over, they received a call about a domestic disturbance between a husband and wife.

"Show us responding," Eddie said into her radio. "Ready?" she asked Badillo, eyes wide with excitement.

"Let's ride," was his reply.

Eddie smiled brightly. "Let's do it, partner."