Love and Bullets….
Charlie's cell rang in the middle of pizza. He glanced at the number and grimaced – Tidwell. Crews was not at work, Dani was not in the hospital and the Captain would not be pleased. At least I had the good sense to look at the number before answering, Charlie thought to himself, grabbing a slice of pizza and heading out of earshot of Dani Reese. "I'll be right back, just gotta grab some napkins" he fibbed.
"Crews" he answered, knowing he was about to blow the uneasy truce between himself and his boss in the next few minutes. He could almost hear the frustration in Tidwell's breath before the man actually spoke.
"Detective Crews" Tidwell started icily "is the City of Los Angeles paying you to enforce the law these days? or are we just paying for your charm and good looks?"
"Captain…" Charlie started.
"Can it Crews." Tidwell snapped "Where are you? No, better question – where is Detective Reese?"
"At home?" Charlie tried for a middle of the road non-committal response, wincing as he heard Tidwell's intake of breath. No way that was going to fly.
"Nice try, wise ass. I called the hospital. They said she was released into your custody and she's not answering her home phone or her cell, so unless she's run off to Mexico with Antonio Banderas, she'd better be with you." Tidwell groused.
Charlie had to admit Tidwell could be quite witty when provoked. Too bad it was going to end in a battle of two men over a very pretty girl, they could have been friends Charlie thought.
Dani Reese would not be Tidwell's girl unless that was her choice, Charlie committed, not because he was too scared to speak up. Time to throw down the gauntlet, he decided.
"She's here" Charlie's tone changed to serious and his voice deepened "with me".
The tone and tenor of his voice left no question - Charlie didn't just mean physically, and at the moment - he meant to convey Dani Reese was with him now and would be from now on. He just hoped he wasn't overstating his position, after all the choice was hers, not his.
There was silence on the other end of the phone as Tidwell received the news he knew as coming, like a sucker punch to the solar plexus. He continued more weakly and Charlie knew the metaphysical punch was delivered effectively "if you aren't going to come to work Crews you need to tell payroll you are on vacation."
"I understand" Charlie evenly replied "won't happen again Captain" he promised.
Tidwell then finished strong "Detective Reese is still on sick leave, but you are not. As both of your boss, I need to know where my Detectives are." Tidwell continued angrily "and that means if you are still interested in being a Detective in this Department, Crews you'll either be at work or on vacation, no more of this disappearing act. Are we clear?"
"Crystal, Captain" Charlie answered. Tidwell simply hung up. Crews couldn't blame the man. He'd let Tidwell beat up on him, because in the end – Crews won - he got Dani.
Charlie slid the phone into his pocket beginning to envision how we would explain his absence and the reason for the private phone call to Dani, but it was unnecessary.
He returned to find his partner dozing on the couch. Barely able to keep her eyes on the paper in front of her Dani had given in to the impulse to rest for just a moment and fallen into a deep, restful sleep.
Charlie stood watching her, the gentle rise and fall of her chest and the way her dark hair fell across her face. He was mesmerized by the stillness of Dani Reese at times like these. She was generally so active, almost always in motion, at work that Charlie rarely had the opportunity to just watch her breath. He found every single detail of her amazing - in the way that you could simply look at a flower and sense it's beauty without ever touching it's soft petals or smelling it's heady bouquet.
He withdrew to his bedroom to make sure the coverlet was pulled back, the pillows right and the drapes drawn to cast the room in shadow, before he returned to carry her upstairs to his bed. She was so exhausted from the day's activity, Dani barely stirred as he lifted her small, light frame from the couch and ascended the stairs. He carefully placed her into his large bed and pulled the coverlet up over her sleeping form to keep her warm. Dani mumbled something and reached for him. "Crews… she implored softly from the embrace of slumber "don't go."
"I'm right here, honey. I'm not going anywhere." Charlie promised her and he'd never meant something so completely and sincerely in his life.
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Charlie waited for his partner to slip into a deep sleep, cushioned between a thick comforter and giant fluffy pillows. Ever since Pelican Bay and his utilitarian twin rack with a thin, lumpy mattress, a nice bed was one of Charlie's most essential guilty pleasures. He was pleased that Reese could benefit from his interest in having such a luxurious bed. She deserved to be pampered, but she'd never tolerate it.
He padded quietly from the room on bare feet in just his socks, so he would not wake Dani and quietly but efficiently began to clean up the pizza box and files from the couch. He planned to take Rayborne's file upstairs for a little light reading while he watched over Dani, but a sharp rap at his front door surprised him.
Crews walked to his front door perplexed. Unless Tidwell was sitting in the driveway when he called, there was no way Dani's ex could have made it to his house that quick. Having been on the receiving end of a bullet by just opening his door without looking Charlie was more than a bit apprehensive when he opened the large door inward to reveal an angry and stern looking Jack Reese.
"Jack" he spoke his surprise apparent. "She's fine, she's sleeping" explaining what he was certain the elder Reese was there about. Charlie knew Jack Reese did not want him around Dani and was probably there to bundle her up and take her home to Roya.
"I'm not here for that." Jack spoke sharply "We need to talk, Crews. Dani's in danger." And with that Charlie Crews swung the door open completely, welcoming the man - he was certain wanted him dead - into his home.
Anything that threatened Dani meant checking his ego, sublimating his own distrust, distaste and disgust of Jack and working with even someone who clearly hated him. Dani came first – in that he and Jack Reese were in total agreement.
Charlie still conscious he held Mickey Rayborn's LAPD personnel file in his hand, tucked the folder behind his back and ushered Jack Reese into his living room, which until just a few moments ago had held nothing more threatening than a relaxed and happy Dani Reese and a pepperoni pizza.
Jack Reese did not sit, he paced, raged like a caged animal and Crews watched silently until the man was ready to, able to speak. "This is my fault" he began "all that goddamned money can't buy you anything important, you know?"
Charlie nodded unsure if Jack was referring to Crews undisclosed settlement or the money from the Bank of LA robbery.
Crews said nothing, unsure if there was anything he could say that would wind Jack down or if he just needed to wear himself out. Sometimes Dani was like this – wound so tight that he thought she might explode or unravel, but his partner always managed to hold it together. It would appear that character trait came from her high-strung father.
"Is she here?" Jack finally asked, more quietly, conspiratorially. Charlie nodded. "Where? I need to see her…just see that's she's safe," the older man admitted in a moment of rare humanity. At that moment, Jack Reese was not a monster, or a criminal or a pawn in a larger conspiracy – he was just a father concerned for his only daughter. Charlie gestured upstairs and then led the way to his darkened bedroom.
Once their eyes adjusted to the darkness, both men could see Dani who looked small, like a child, buried in the giant bed beneath layers of covers and surrounded by pillows. She slept peacefully, undisturbed by their presence. Jack sighed and ran a shaky hand through his hair.
The two men stood stiffly side by side, watching the young woman they both loved sleeping, her dark hair contrasting with the light sheets and her slight form barely making a shape under the bedding. Charlie sensed some of the tension ease from Jack Reese seeing his daughter safe, even if it was in Crews' bed.
Something had recently occurred which frightened Jack and Charlie only knew one thing that did that – "them" – the shadowy group of connected men who threatened to bring down the whole house of cards if Jack Reese did not play ball. The words from his illicit wiretap echoed in Charlie's head "not for nothing Jack, there were six, there are five, there could just as easily be four". Charlie still had no idea what it meant, but it was the only other time he sensed fear in Jack Reese before today.
After a time, Jack moved to his daughter's bedside and brushed an errant hair from her cheek. He smiled as she frowned and wriggled deeper into the bed. Charlie thought Jack looked as if he was remembering something from Dani's childhood. But when she mumbled Charlie's name like a plea and Jack's countenance darkened again. He looked up sharply, as if Crews' name off his daughter's lips was the ultimate betrayal.
Charlie ignored Jack and moved to Dani's side examining the water he'd left there undisturbed and the two painkillers he'd left on the bedside table likewise remained unconsumed. The discomfort was waking her, he knew. Tenacity and stubbornness were Dani's dominant personality traits; her strength was also her weakness he thought as Charlie sat on the bed beside her and slid his arm under her, talking in low tones. "Honey, sit up. I want you to take these pain meds," he said reaching for the water. "Drink this," he said putting the glass into her hand.
Dani groggily looked at the water and then frowned at him. "I don't wanna…" she complained like a small child.
"Shhh" he hushed her. "You have to rest or you're never getting back to work," he continued as he pressed the pain capsules into her other hand. "Take these and go back to sleep, honey" Charlie looked at her holding her eyes. He knew her father was standing in the shadows, still and watchful. Dani eyed him skeptically.
"Suffering through pain doesn't mean you are tough, it just means you aren't smart enough to let someone you trust protect you, you know" he chided. "You do trust me right?" he asked quietly.
Dani relented "Ok, you win" but her eyes express both displeasure and pain. Then her eyes softened as she tipped her head back and swallowed the pills "I do trust you Crews" she said wiping her mouth. The look that passed between them was private, but Charlie was very aware Jack Reese was watching them – watching him.
Charlie held her eyes a moment and then ducked his head to break the intimate contact. He was afraid they would both reveal too much. Dani yawned, as he silently took the water from her and laid her back down carefully. She hissed as her injured side made contact with the mattress. Charlie without thinking leaned close and pressed a light kiss to her lips and then to her forehead. "I know it hurts, but be still, the meds will kick in soon, sweetheart".
Dani grumbled but did as he instructed and her eyes slid closed. Charlie had become so attuned to her breathing over the past week, he knew she was not asleep; he raised a finger to his lips and warned Jack urging continued silence.
"I'm going down stairs to put that pizza in the fridge and I'll be right back. Don't run off okay?" he joked lightly with her earning him a slight smile.
Then Dani did something he wasn't expecting and something she'd never done before; she reached for him, caressed his face and pulled him towards her to drink from his lips in a long, deep kiss. For Charlie the world dissolved, disappeared, and recrystalized in a better form; for Jack it spun and pitched wildly, then Dani released him with words guaranteed to stop his heart. "I love you, Charlie" his young partner admitted unaware her father stood ten feet away.