AN: 2.13
Move (on)
This is how she always leaves. It's better to give him a playful smack on the shoulder or a quip about his abilities as a detective than to say what's pressing on her heart. To say it would mean recognizing that there's an attachment there that makes this hard for her too and why do that when it's better to keep your eyes forward?
She walks a straight line around the corner and out the door. Maybe she wishes that his eyes follow her as she leaves and maybe she doesn't. Linden wants to be missed, at least to know that she is grounded somewhere. At the same time, she'd always known that this arrangement, her last days with the Seattle PD and him, was temporary.
He smiled, making his dimples appear, "Guess what I'm not saying now?"
She tells Jack to pack up, hopefully for the last time. She makes sure they're nice and early for the plane, her thoughts only of Rick and sunshine (finally) and a real home.
"Oh, so now I'm okay to work alone?"
It's also a good opportunity to forget about her ex-husband. How he scared the hell out of her the day Jack went 'missing,' and how he heartlessly threatened to take away the only thing she had left, when he already had everything. Jack doesn't make it easy on her. It's painful to admit, but her son has a genuine bond with this man and guilt trips her about leaving without closure.
"You want a tip? That mouth of yours, you don't have to say every thought that runs through your head."
It is not until she's seated that her anxiety is alleviated. After so many failed (but honest) attempts to get on that plane, she's made it. She reclines against the seat, smiles at her son and tells herself that she can relax now.
"You're a pretty good cop, Holder. You're going to make a passable detective."
And that's when her phone rings.
-End-