Written for the het_bigbang on on Livejournal. Thanks to Karlamartinova for beta-reading.
And yes- I'm working on a sequel. Which will be tentatively called "The Agent's Instant fatherhood" (or simply Instant Fatherhood), and we'll put the current season 3 Story-line of the show concerning Chris in this universe...
Chris woke to a fresh breeze and the warmth of the early rays of sunlight coming from the semi-open window of Georgie's bedroom; and yet, even in his semi-asleep state, the first thing he became aware of was her, and the nervousness she was radiating.
Georgie was sitting with her back against the pillows, biting her lips, her eyes lost and far away. She was tense, that much Chris could say, and that, it scared him. Just the night before he had kissed her- kissed her fears and her tears away as he had remembered her of his promises; and now, just a matter of hours later, he could see all her doubts and fears resurfacing, with a strength bigger than before.
Clearing his throat, Chris sat at her side, and tried to reach for her, hoping that physical contact would at least help her remember all the things said and left unsaid from the day before; but instead, Georgie left the bed, and, rearranging the thin robe she had probably put on in the middle of the night, went to the door, like to emphasize her point.
"Georgie…" Chris breathed, shaking his head, like in disbelief. So much effort- and yet they were back to two steps behind. Or maybe one million.
"I think you should leave, Christopher." Chris didn't know what felt more like a sucker-punch, if the use of his full name, or the way she still refused to meet his eyes.
And that was when he knew, for as much as a breaker as she was, he had been able to take a few pages out of her book. Chris LaSalle had been a cop for a long time, worked with extremely talented people, but mostly, in the last few months, he had learnt to read her. He knew her and her tells.
Something was going on- something she didn't want to share with him.
With a new resolution, Chris left the bed without bothering with clothes, and reached her, stood face to face with the woman he had come to love, his second chance at happiness after Savannah, if only she would let him in.
He didn't say a word. He simply cradled her face between his hands, run his thumbs on her lips. Rubbed out with his tender kisses her tears.
"Chris, please…" She begged, shaking her head, trying to push him away; and yet, her petite hands seemed to grab his shoulders instead; he breathed a sigh of relief. She was fighting. She still hadn't given up on them. He smiled, and cried, as he kissed her lips, trying to conjure his feelings in the most primal way he knew of. And that was when all hell broke loose.
She didn't kiss him back- instead, she fisted her hands, and pushed him away, as far away from her as possible; still confused, Chris made to get back to her, but the resolution – the desperation- he saw in her dark eyes froze him on the spot.
"I can't do this." She said, between sobs. He could read Georgie like a book- could see she was as broken as he was, but that she was determinate not to change her mind, not on this, at least – so he stood there, waiting. For what, he wasn't sure- maybe a sign, or an explanation. Anything.
Just… not the nothingness she was presenting him with.
His blood boiled in his veins. For years, after Savannah's death, he had gone on like on autopilot, his family and his work the only things that mattered, a different woman every week- sometimes every day. Then Georgina had waltzed back into his life, and, day after day, had eased her presence into his life- first as a friend, then as something more.
Intellectually, he knew she didn't need saving, didn't need his protection- she was older, had been a cop longer than him, had been raised in the Navy, she knew how to handle herself- and yet, the moment he had shaken her hand at HQ, when he had seen her again after years, when she hadn't rolled her eyes and reprimanded him because he was calling her Georgina, but, instead, had smiled and bitten her lips, in that moment, something had changed in him.
He had known. Like he had known that hot summer in Alabama when he was only a teenager.
He wanted her. He needed her in his life. He was going to grow old at Georgina Newman's side. All he had to do was charm his way into her life, talk her into staying in New Orleans. He had thought he was going to have time, but then Keith had walked in, taken and abandoned her. He had almost lost her- to him and her own fears- and he wasn't going to allow it to happen again.
She wanted him out? Fine.
But first, he would have forced her to show her true colors- to face what was holding her back from being truly and fully happy with him.
"You want me to walk out of that door and pretend nothing happened? That's fine with me." He took step after step, until he was so close she could feel his breath on her skin. "But first you'll have to look at me in the eyes and explain to me why you've suddenly decided you don't want this."
Georgie closed her eyes and took a big breath, and hugged herself- maybe to protect herself, maybe to give herself the strength to do what had to be done.
She lifted her gaze and looked at Chris in the eyes, just like he had asked her to. And then, she spoke, her words like venom erasing the hope and happiness and light that had filled his whole being the moment they had finally kissed.
"You don't want a wife or a girlfriend, Chris. You just want an heathy baby. Something you can't have on your own. What did you called it? Genetic lottery, right?"
Red rage filled his vision, as Chris fisted his hands at his sides, clenching his teeth; he hastily recovered his scattered clothes, and then, without saying a word, without even grabbing the St. Christopher medal he had taken off the night before, he left, slamming the door shout. He didn't have a plan to warm his way back into her life- because, frankly, he wasn't sure he wanted to any longer.
She was wrong. Dead wrong.
She just had to.
It wasn't like that. Yes- he already loved her baby like it was his own. But it was about her. It had always been about her. The baby- an healthy baby that wouldn't inherit his family curses- was just an added bonus.
How could she not see it? She had to know it.
Unless… unless she wasn't seeing it because she couldn't. A certain someone once told him that even the most perceptive person could be blind when it came to their own feelings and those of the people closest to them; you get too involved, you are too close, you don't have enough focus- and you just fly blind.
Chris chuckled to himself as he walked back to his own apartment, shaking his head, laughing like a maniac and feeling like a new man once again- a man filled with hope.
He didn't have a plan to get Georgie back yet. He didn't know how he would have convinced her that he would have made a good father and an even better husband. He just knew that, one way or another, one day, she would have been his.
Watch me, he dared himself as he changed his mind and decided, instead, to walk to HQ; watch me, Georgie. One day, I'll marry you…
