A/N: Well here we are Brody has to face her fears!

Brody opened her mouth but a different voice started to speak.

Loretta appeared behind her, with Sebastian in tow.

"Merri," the cheery medical examiner greeted, before turning her attention to the patient.

Saved by the bell, Brody thought as the duo started to dote around LaSalle like two mother hens. She knew that with Pride refusing to process her process her resignation she was more than likely going to have face Chris sooner or later.

What in the world would she say? Hey, glad you're doing better partner, by the way, I'm sorry about putting that bullet in your chest.

Her heart started to hammer, as she watched LaSalle's movements and motions. He was becoming increasingly more alert. Soon he would be up to talking and normal conversations, needing answers…

She briefly wondered how much he would remember. Anxiety started to rise in her chest. What if he remembered all of it? Once again, she attempted to leave the room, only this time she was blocked by Pride.

He stood, holding the door, "Going somewhere Brody?"

"I was just going to check the security cameras to see if our gun yielding Barbie was hiding out someplace."

"I've already done that. Patton also has access to them now. So, if Ella's anywhere in building we will find her."

Brody stared pensively, nodding her head. She wished she wasn't so much of a coward, but at the moment her fear was almost crippling. But at least everyone was here, save for Percy. In a room full of people she doubted that she would be put in a position to bare her soul.

Loretta stepped away from the bed, turning her attention to Brody, "Merri, Dwayne told me that you're considering leaving us?"

That got LaSalle's attention. "What?"

Brody looked around Loretta to LaSalle and then averted her gaze to Pride narrowing her eyes. "I haven't really haven't made a decision yet. My parents are getting older and my mother hasn't been in the best of health lately."

"That's right," Loretta nodded. "I'd hate to see you leave, but I understand."

As soon as she was able, Brody caught Pride in the hall. "You told Loretta?"

"Not exactly," Loretta was very intuitive and when she had asked Pride what was bothering him. All he had said was that he had an agent who was considering leaving the family."

It hadn't taken Loretta long to figure out it was Brody. Despite, Brody's answer Loretta probably knew that it had nothing to do with her aging parents.

"Do you just enjoy torturing me?"

Pride put his hand on her shoulder. "It seems to me from where I stand, you're doing a fine job of that all by yourself."

Three days, later Brody sighed in relief as she walked into the sanctuary of a popular restaurant in the Quarter and ordered a glass of wine. It had been a hell of a day. A lead on Ella Rowe had ended up in a shootout with the suspect getting away which meant LaSalle was still in danger.

It was getting harder and harder to avoid her fallen partner. He was lucid all the time now and had been moved out of the ICU. But she managed to keep her distance, limiting herself to being in his presence when other people were in the room.

"Your wine Madame"

She thanked the waiter and closed eyes savoring the taste. Tonight she was meeting with a security specialist who worked out of Quantico about a possible position with the FBI.

"Are you ready to order?"

"I'm meeting someone," she replied as the sound of an unmistakable southern accent filled the room.

"Sorry, I'm late," LaSalle flashed his signature grin as he took the seat directly across from her, "I'll have the porterhouse steak medium-well, baked potato with everything, and a sweet tea."

Brody had no words as he and the waiter looked at her expectantly.

"She'll have the chicken Caesar salad with the dressing on the side." LaSalle told the waiter allowing his partner another moment to recover from the shock.

When the waiter was gone, Brody leaned across the table, "What. Are. You. Doing. Here?" she asked punctuating her words with an edge of frustration.

Chris reached for her water glass and took a swallow. "Having dinner with you, that steak's going to taste good after a week of hospital food."

Brody felt her jaw tighten as she realized that she had been set up. There was no security specialist coming to meet her. LaSalle himself had more than likely engineered this little charade all on his own.

She would skip over the part of how he had managed to get out of the hospital and ditch the protection detail that Pride had assigned. Hell, Pride was probably the one who helped himself escape.

"Chris, you can't be here. There is a target on your back."

His face twisted slightly. "You mean Ella? Well the best way to draw her out is to place myself right out in the open."

"And risk being shot?" Brody countered, not realizing that she had just put herself in a position for a hell of a comeback.

"Yeah…someone else already did that." His tone sobered, he watched her face fall.

Bullseye.

Brody felt her chest tighten. She deserved that she really did, but that didn't make it hurt any less. "I'm not having this conversation with you." She recanted stiffly.

She started to pull back only to have Chris reach across the table and grab her by the wrist, causing the silverware and the place setting to clang. People were looking at them now.

"Let me go," Brody growled lowly as not to draw any more attention to them.

"Not until you talk to me. I need you to hear me out."

Hear him out? Brody's eyes narrowed in curiosity as he loosened his grip, prompting them to slide back down into their seats. Her heart was pounding with fear about what he might say.

"I'm sorry," he began. "You've been avoiding me and it's my fault"

"You're sorry?" she repeated. How is any of this his fault? She had been the one to pull the trigger.

LaSalle eased back into his seat, grimacing slightly. "That night at Eddie's, he was unarmed and when I saw you had drawn your weapon…"

He'd thrown himself in front of Eddie, hoping that when she saw him, she would hold back. His only intention had been to save her from being implicated in shooting an unarmed man and to keep his cover intact. He hadn't stopped to think about what it would do to her personally.

The truth was neither of them had been thinking at all.

Brody pursed her lips into a thin line. This didn't change a thing. "So, where do we go from here?"

She rolled her eyes when Pride suddenly appeared, stepping up behind Christopher, "You go back to the beginning and learn to trust each other again."

Chris extended his hand across the table. "Welcome to the New Orleans office, I'm Special Agent LaSalle."

For several seconds she just looked at his hand, before tentatively taking a hold of it. "I'm Brody," she smiled, in defeat as Pride pulled up another chair and proceeded to join them in a family dinner.

Fin...until the next Sideways Adventure starts to creep up. Thanks for continuing to read this series of short stories and what have yous. I am touched by the fact that we're almost at 100 reviews with this one!