(Saturday Night - Movie Night with Saul and Evie)

Seven o'clock rolls around at the Cartwright residence and it isn't long before Evie's door buzzer goes off. She answers and Saul's cheerful voice crackles through the intercom. "Your chariot awaits, madam!"

"Be down in a second!"

Evie makes a few finals checks of the apartment, making sure windows are closed and locked and that her stove is turned off before she leaves, bounding down the stairs and out the front door to where Saul waits. Today, he's dressed in a pair of shorts and a Python Style T-shirt, the logo on the front a mashup of Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Psy's Gangam Style.

"Hey, nerd!" grinning, he falls in beside Evie as the two of them walk to his truck.

"Dork," Evie answers with a brilliant smile. She swerves slightly as she walks, bumping into his shoulder. "How's the work week been?"

Saul bumps her right back, the two playfully jostling each other, "Same old, same old. Well, except for this one lady." Upon reaching the truck, Saul steps in front of Evie and opens the door for her. Though he hadn't lived in North Carolina in years, his Southern belle granny had pretty much beaten good manners into him and, even now, he makes such gestures purely out of habit.

"Oh?" Evie slides into the seat. "What happened?"

Saul takes his place in the driver's seat and cranks the engine. It rumbles to life and he starts to pull out of the parking lot, "Before I get into that, where do you want to go to dinner? I need to know what direction to point this monstrosity."

"Somewhere close to the Grand View," Evie says. "How about Giovanni's? You okay with Italian?"

"Perfect!" Saul makes a left turn out of the apartment complex and falls into a relaxed driving mode, used to being behind the wheel for most of any given day. "So, let me tell you about this," Saul is already chuckling softly before he's even begun the story, "I'm patrolling the outskirts of town and I see this lady run a stop sign. Of course, I pull her over. Well, as I'm getting my stuff together before getting out of the cruiser, I see her moving around and making a commotion in her car."

"Now, I'm kind of worried, so I call in just in case something goes amiss," Saul continues, starting to laugh, now. "When I get up to her window, what do I see? She has switched places with her dog! The lady is in the passenger seat and there is now a Pomeranian sitting at the wheel!"

"What?!" Evie laughs aloud, disbelief in her voice.

"Hand to god, Evie! I am not making this up! She actually thought I was going to buy the notion that the dog was driving," Saul chortles. "I was completely flabbergasted. I had no idea how to handle it, at first. I mean, how do you react to that? So, I ended up giving her a breathalyzer, which she passed. She didn't appear to be on drugs. She just seemed...a mite touched, is how granny would put it."

"Well, what did you do?"

"I wrote her up for failure to stop, made sure she put the dog back in the passenger seat and sent her on her way," Saul shakes his head. "I did follow her a few miles to make sure that she was alright. She seemed to drive fine, after that. Maybe she missed seeing the stop sign...it happens. But, the dog? Really?"

Saul shakes his head, still laughing at the memory of the moment, "How about you? How are your cases?"

"Well, I think I have the Davison case sorted. There are a couple more things I want to check out that would confirm what I suspect, but...yeah. I think I'm just about done with that one. The Cardinelli case, though?" Evie shakes her head and makes a frustrated sound.

"Yeah, rumor is going around HQ that that's the one that will finally stump you," Saul grins.

"Pffft! I think they may be right," Evie gives a short bark of laughter. "It's obvious that Cardinelli was murdered. There are bullet holes in his blues. He turns up in a freakin' sarcophagus under a building. Who does that? I mean, sure...I've heard tales of people dumping bodies in construction sites to hide them, but not after putting them...not in a box...not in a coffin...but in a huge, honkin' metal sarcophagus. I'm baffled!"

"Aw, that's all right, sweetie. You'll get it! Look, don't worry about it, tonight, okay? We'll eat, we'll dance, we'll tell bad jokes, we'll see a movie," he glances over at Evie and sees her raise an eyebrow. "Okay, no dancing. But we'll do the rest of it."

"Can we stop by the book store, at some point? I want to see if I can find the next in the Kin series," Evie asks.

"Sure!"

"Thanks," Evie replies. "How's the family?"

"Well, they're doing okay, mostly. But, I'm really worried about my nephew, Charles," Saul's mood darkens, the smile slipping from his face. He sighs and turns to Evie as they stop at a redlight. "He's getting mixed up in some bad stuff. He's not a bad kid! I mean, how bad can you be at 14, ya know? But, he's making some damn stupid choices and it's getting him into all kinds of trouble. Deb's worried that he's going to land himself in jail if he keeps on like he is."

"What's he doing?" Evie asks, her voice full of concern.

"Hanging out with a bad crowd, mostly. Delinquent types. Charles has been caught shoplifting a couple of times, he's come home obviously drunk. So far, he's gotten off with being released to his parents and paying restitution, but if he keeps it up.." his voice trails off.

"Juvie," Evie nods.

"Yeah," the light turns green and Saul returns to driving. "Deb's beside herself. I feel terrible for her because she thinks that she must've done something wrong raising him, that somehow it's her fault that he's making these mistakes. But, it's not. Charles is doing this all by himself. But, we don't know how to reach him. He won't listen to me. Sure, I'm his uncle but I'm also a cop. That makes me 'the man,' to him. He's not listening to his parents, his teachers, his counselors at school..."

Quietly, Evie sighs in sympathy. She reaches over and pats Saul's arm. After a moment, she says, "I'm guessing that he's not going to listen to anyone that he perceives as an authority figure. So...maybe he would listen to Ricky?"

"Ricky? You really think he could help?"

"Why not? I mean, he's just about as far from being an authority figure as a person can get. He's a bartender in Vegas. Plus, you remember him as a teenager. He was a hellion! He was in all kinds of mischief. Now, granted, he didn't do anything like shoplifting, buuuut...he did walk a fine line. I can always ask if he would be willing," Evie offers, thinking that perhaps the elder of her two brothers might offer a little bit of help.

"Well," Saul seems to ponder for a moment. "You know, it's worth a shot. We'd need to figure out a way to get them together, though, without it screaming 'intervention!' I swear, the kid's like a bloodhound when it comes to that. He can spot an adult set-up coming a mile away."

"We can worry about that after I talk to Ricky. If he agrees, we can see if we can set something up."

"Sounds good. Thanks, Evie," once again, Saul's smile returns.

"Actually, " Saul continues, "Deb is giving serious thought to moving back out to North Carolina. We still have a lot of family out there and she thinks that getting away from Vegas may be the best thing for Charles."

He grimaces and shakes his head, "But, I don't know how her ex is going to feel about that. Doug never was the most reasonable of men." There is pure contempt in his voice as he says Doug.

Evie nods, remembering their divorce. It had been an ugly affair. She recalls the days when Saul would storm over to her apartment, looking for an ear and a shoulder as he dealt with anger over how Deb was being treated. It's one of the very few times that she's ever seen Saul truly angry, "Hopefully, he'll keep his nose out of it. If he knows what is going on with Charles then, hopefully, he'll see reason."

Saul glances at her, giving her the "really?" look. However, he sighs and says, "Well, I guess there is always hope that he will. But, I'm afraid that he'll see it as her trying to take Charles even further away from him. It's not like Asheville would be a quick, weekend jaunt to see his son."

"But, it's all moot, at the moment," her friend waves the idea off, for now. "Deb still has to find a job and a place to live, out there. Who knows how long that will take?"

They pull into Giovanni's parking lot, at this point. It's a small restaurant, tucked away behind some larger establishments in a strip mall type area. From the outside, it looks a little skeezy. However, it is also home to some of the most authentic, Italian food that a person can get.

As they exit the truck, Evie moves to stand in front of Saul, "Hold on a second." She immediately begins rummaging in the oversized burlap sack that she likes to call a purse.

Saul stands, watching curiously. Since they are standing under a street lamp, he can clearly see into the depths of the Magical Purse of Holding and he's not shy about his nosiness.

Evie grins and turns her back on him, shielding the contents from his view. After a couple more seconds, she turns back around, holding something behind her back.

"I found this a couple of days ago and thought of you. I actually forgot that I still had it in my purse! So, it was going to be a little birthday present or something but..." she shrugs and smiles, bringing her hands to her front.

She is holding an annotated copy of The Hitchhiker's Guide Trilogy. Originally, she was going to save it. However, Saul seems so worried about his sister and nephew that she can't keep it from him. It's only a small thing, but it should cheer him up.

"What's this?" Saul's eyes light up and his usual, cheery smile replaces the worried expression from earlier. "It's annotated? Awesome!" He takes the book and immediately flips it open to a random page, glancing through all the tidbits and extra facts that are squeezed into the margins and footnotes.

"Thank you!" Saul catches Evie in a hug, lifting her off of the ground slightly. (It's actually kind of tough to do since he's only an inch or so taller than her.) He plants a soft kiss on her cheek. "I love it!"

Evie happily returns the hug, tickled that he likes it...though, she knew he would. He's read all of Douglas Adams books at least three time and the Hitchhikers series is one of his favorites, "Come on. Let's go on inside and have a nice meal."

The two step apart but Saul immediately crooks his elbow and offers his arm to Evie. Feeling completely content, Evie slips her arm through his and the two of them enter Giovanni's.

The aging waitress at the front smiles and greets the two warmly, having seen them on many an occasion. Her silver hair is done up in a loose bun and there are flour stains upon her apron. It's pretty clear that she's pulling double duty, tonight, cooking and waiting tables.

"Here, here...we have a nice seat over by the aquarium. You sit here, yes? They are doing construction over on the other side of the restaurant. Makes it so ugly to look out those windows!" she bustles about and gets the two situated in a secluded corner. "Now, I get you drinks, eh? Nice red wine? Very, very good with the veal tonight!"

"Veal?" asks Saul.

"Yes! Tonight's special is veal osso buco. It is delizioso!" she waves a hand and makes a face. "These animal rights people, always making fuss over this or that. Don't like the veal, they say. Bah! Is what cow is for, to eat!"

Both Evie and Saul know that, in most cases, it isn't the fact that it is a baby animal that makes people protest veal. However, neither of them are going to argue with this feisty, Italian lady.

Before either of them can actually order anything, the waitress nods to herself and bustles off towards the kitchen, opening the door and calling out to somebody in the back in Italian. After a few moments, she comes back with two glasses of red wine and some water.

After she leaves to attend to some other patrons, Saul chuckles and says, "Well, it looks like we're having red wine and veal!"

Evie laughs and shrugs, not at all bothered by their waitresses' personality. She's fairly certain that at any other establishment, she'd be fired. But, they both learned long ago that you don't come to Giovanni's unless you are willing to put up with a few quirks.

The two of them sit and chat amiably about this and that. Their conversation rambles over TV shows, family, current events...maybe even a little bit of a good-natured argument over why Booster Gold is/isn't an awesome hero ensues...basically, anything but work. It's not that the two of them don't enjoy their work. They do! It's just that nights like this are special. It's a bit of time when both of them can forget about law enforcement. They are not officers. They're simply two people enjoying each other's company.

Finally, the veal arrives and, just as the waitress had said, it is delicious. The waitress drops by every so often to fuss over them, "You need more wine? And some bread, of course. Ah...but you save room for dessert? You must have dessert! I bring you zeppole and coffee."

Again, the two friends shake their heads and chuckle as they are not given the chance to turn down the sweets.

"I don't know that I'm going to have room for snacks at the movie, after this!" Saul laughs quietly.

"I don't know that I'm going to be able to stay awake," Evie yawns, her belly so very full of food and wine.

"No, no!" Saul reaches across the table and pokes her arm. "No sleeping! There are turtles to watch."

When it comes time to pay, Evie pulls out cash roughly equivalent to the cost of her meal and hands it to Saul, who in turn hands over his credit card to the waitress. (Neither of them are nitpickers about the change.) Long ago, Saul had insisted on paying for meals because that is what gentlemen do. However, Evie managed to beat that notion right out of his head. Unless it's a birthday or other celebration, the two always go Dutch.

As the meal is paid and they start to move towards the door, their waitress comes up to them, smiling happily, "You enjoy the meal? Yes?"

"Of course! It was delicious, as always," Evie smiles.

"Ah, good, good! I always like to see you two. Such a nice couple," she reaches up and cups one of Saul's cheeks with one hand and cups Evie's cheek with the other, all the while smiling happily like a favorite aunt. She pats their cheeks and coos something in Italian.

The kitchen door opens and a young man in his mid-twenties peers out. He gives an exasperated sigh and calls out, "Mama? You leave them alone!"

"What?" she calls back, before rattling off something in Italian that sounds a little defensive.

The young man replies in Italian and the two of them argue briefly. However, it only lasts a few second and they both soon switch back to English and call out, "Good night! Come back soon!"

Saul and Evie exit Giovanni's, their tummies full of delicious food. As the two make their way back to the truck, Saul pauses for a second, his footsteps slowing.

"What is it?" Evie notices as he falls a step behind and turns to face him, curious.

"Nothing!" Saul smiles and does a little skip step, catching up to Evie.

The detective shrugs and lets it go. If it's something that is truly bothering Saul, she's confident that he will speak up. At this point in their relationship, he's not shy about expressing his thoughts and feelings.

They pile into the truck and start making their way to the theater. During a lull in conversation, Evie's thoughts turn back to the last few days and all that has happened. She glances at Saul out of the corner of her eye. Inwardly, she chastises herself for going out with him, tonight.

Alex has been the primary target, up until now. But, since Mr. Lyman is aware of us all, will that stay true or will we all be targets? Have I put Saul in danger just by being with him, tonight? she feels knot of fear form in the pit of her stomach. Gawds, I'm selfish! I should've called tonight off, but I wanted to hang out...

Seeming to sense the change in his friend, Saul reaches over and nudges her shoulder, "Hey, what's up?"

Evie puts on a smile and answers, "Nothing!"

Just that I love you and if anything that I did caused you harm, I would never forgive myself.

"So, you know, I was thinking," Evie continues. "I've always wanted to see Alaska. I've lived my entire life here in the desert and I'd love to see the glaciers and forests up there. I'm thinking about saving up money and vacation time to take a trip next year, maybe. It wouldn't be anytime soon, or anything." She pauses, then, "Would you like to come with me?"

"A trip? With you?" if it hadn't been so dark in the truck, Evie would've seen a slight blush on his cheeks.

"Yeah! It would be fun! We could even make a tour of it. Maybe we could hit the rainforest in Washington, then head on up to Alaska and see the glaciers, then maybe head into Canada to see the wild Canucks," Evie grins, getting caught up in this notion. "You have to come along! You have to be there in case I fall down any more cliffs!"

"Ooooh, so that's why you want me there,' Saul laughs. "I see where I fall in this relationship. I'm just your emergency plan. It's not my rapier wit and shining personality, at all."

"Of course not! You have icky boy cooties," Evie wrinkles her nose in mock disgust, though she's having a hard time not giggling.

"Circle circle dot dot now I got my cootie shot!" both of them laugh in unison.

"Seriously, though," Evie says, "if I do take that trip, I would love for you to come with me."

"I think I would like that," Saul smiles amiably, nodding as he thinks it over. "You're right, though. It would take a while for us to save up the cash for travel, room and board. And, I don't know how much vacation time I have. After flying back home to visit, a few months ago, I'm pretty slim in the time off area."

"Like I said, this is something that I am thinking about way down the road. So, no worries. We can squirrel away for it slowly," she says. Now, our team just has to save the world and I have to stay alive if I want to go to Alaska. Goals, Evie...you haz them!

Finally, they pull into the Grand View, a large movie theater located on the main strip. It takes Saul a few minutes of driving around to find a parking space, but they eventually find one tucked back behind some building a short distance away. It is, after all, a Saturday night and Vegas is in full swing.

It doesn't take them long to walk over. They bypass the lines out front and go inside to buy their tickets from the kiosks, there.

"It always amazes me that more people don't use these," says Evie after they only have to wait for two people to finish ahead of them. "It's so much faster than getting tickets at the front."

"I think a lot of folks don't know these exist," answers Saul. As he's punching in their order, he asks, "Want snacks?"

"Oh, hell no! If I eat anything else, I'm going to wind up like that girl in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that blew up."

"It's just a wafer thin mint!"

Evie answers by puffing her cheeks out and then making soft a "BWEOOH!" sound, indicating an explosion with her hands.

The two of them make their way back to the theater and settle in towards the center seating area. It's the last week that TMNT is running and just about everyone who was going to see it already has. The theater is empty except for them, a handful of college age friends and a couple way in the very back who are more interested in each other than the movie.

They've made it there early enough that the pre-preview commercials are running, showing advertisements for TV shows and soft drinks. As they settle in, Evie leans in against Saul's shoulder so that she can speak quietly, "Hey, Saul...could you do me a favor? Could you keep an eye on my family?"

He looks at her askance, his voice suddenly quite serious. Softly, he asks, "Why? What's going on?"

"Well, the Cardinelli case...that involved the murder of a cop. Now, if it was a case of an individual who had a beef with Cardinelli, then all is well. Heck, whoever did it is probably either already dead or elderly," she says. "But, if it was an organization that arranged for it..."

Saul nods, quickly catching on to where she is going with this, "They could still be around and still want to protect their assets. You might kick a hornet's nest in this investigation and, if you wait until you know..."

"...then it's already too late," Evie finishes. "Look, I would really appreciate it. I'm still trying to decide if I want to say anything to them over dinner on Sunday. I don't want to needlessly freak them out. They already worry about me too much, what with my line of work."

"Hey, no worries. I've got your back," he places a comforting hand over Evie's where it rests on the chair's arm. "I'll try to work swinging by the house and their work into my patrols, no matter what you decide."

"Thank you," she squeezes his hand, genuinely grateful. However, she has a few distinct pangs of guilt. As the previews start to roll, all she can think about is how she had just worried that she accidentally put Saul in danger and now here she was asking him to protect her family.

Saul is a trained police officer, Evie thinks to herself. If Lyman sends regular thugs to hurt my family (which I imagine he will. I can't imagine him sparing the big guns for them when it isn't necessary), Saul is more than capable of handling that. He's far more capable than the rest of my family.

"The rest of my family." It never even registered to Evie that she thought that...

For a brief instant, Evie feels true anger at the fact that Lyman could come after those she loves. Normally, she operates on a very even keel but, right now...in the dark of the theater...where no one can see...she seethes quietly.

I will rip his fucking head off if he hurts them.

However, she is brought out of her momentary ire by Saul's elbow in her ribs and the sound of his voice in her ear as he leans over to whisper, "Oh, this one looks good! I think we need to see it, too."

Sunday evening, Evie rolls up to her parent's house on the outskirts of Vegas. The small, ranch-style house sits amid a lovely, arid-garden, stones and cacti arranged in a pleasing pattern. Wind chimes hang from the front porch, tinkling pleasantly in the evening breeze. Some rocking chairs and potted plants are carefully arranged on the porch, as well. All seems neat and tidy. But, it's not until you come around the curve in the driveway and pass a slight hill that you can see her father's collection of cars starting to spill out from the back yard.

Evie smiles at the familiar sight. Most Sundays, all of her family tries to get together for dinner. Schedules don't always allow for it, but the effort is made. This is one of those nights when the whole clan can make it.

She walks up to the front door and, not bothering to knock, lets herself in. The place is already filled with the scent of warm cornbread and steak.

"Hey!" Ian looks up from where he sits on the couch in the living room, a book in his hand. Sandy brown hair frames his friendly, square face. He sets the book, Interpretations of Culture, aside. He catches Evie in a hug and squeezes.

Gesturing to the book, Evie asks, "How's school going?"

"Not too bad. I have a thesis on the caste system in India and how it relates to gender identity that I am working on," he sits back down as he continues. "I actually have a flight scheduled for next week to go visit Dr. Akhil Basak in Yikram University to discuss things."

Evie raises an eyebrow, "You're traveling for your thesis?"

"Well, sure!" Ian moves his book out of the way so that Evie can sit down beside him on the couch. "Actually going to these places and immersing yourself in the culture is the best way to learn. Plus, I want to visit India. Two birds, one stone...all that jazz."

"India wouldn't be my first choice of places to visit, I'm afraid," she grins and leans back into the cushions. "Why India?"

As Ian opens his mouth, ready to barrage his sister with enthusiastic facts about India and its culture, the door to the kitchen opens and Ricky walks in, a drink in his hand.

"Hey, sis!" Ricky holds out the glass he is holding towards her. "Try this."

"Oh, thank god," Ian mumbles under his breath. He sinks back into the cushions quietly, quite ready to sacrifice his sister in order to avoid taste-testing another of his brother's concoctions.

Where Ian exudes "teddy-bear," Ricky exudes "bad boy." He sports the same, square jaw that seems to run in the family but his hair is a darker shade of brown. Today, he sports a 5 o'clock shadow, an old, blue T-shirt and a pair of jeans. The arm holding the glass is wrapped in a half-sleeve tattoo of a vines with silver fish darting through them.

Evie takes the glass and looks at the contents dubiously.

"Go on!" Ricky says. "I haven't poisoned you, yet. It's fine."

"Yeah, see...it's that 'yet' that has me worried," she sniffs the drink and is nearly knocked over by the alcohol fumes. She pulls another face but, unable to deny Ricky this small thing, she takes a sip.

There is no describing the taste that explodes across her tongue and the back of her throat. Though, 'It tastes like burning' does come to mind. She sputters and coughs after she swallows, and exclaims, "Bloody fuck!"

Ricky bursts out laughing just as they hear their mother call out from the kitchen, "Evelyn Marie Cartwright! Language!"

"Sorry, Mom!" Evie calls out around coughs. She hands the glass to Ricky, who is still laughing at her reaction. "What you have, right there, would be an excellent degreaser."

"Oh, come on, it's better than that!" re replies, taking another sip himself. He rolls the drink around in his mouth, savoring the bite of the alcohol. He swallows, sighs and says, "I think I'll add a dash of tomato juice and call it the 'Bloody Fuck.'"

Evie snorts and leans back beside Ian, once more. After a moment, she says, "I have a favor to ask, Ricky."

"Oh?" Ricky flops down in the La-Z-boy across from his siblings.

"Yeah. Saul's nephew is getting into some serious trouble and looks to be headed to juvie unless he straightens up. Kid isn't listening to his mom. He isn't going to listen to me or Saul because we pretty much scream "authority," but...you..." Evie pauses and looks at Ricky hopefully.

"Seriously?" Ian turns to look at Evie, giving her an incredulous look. "No offense," he adds, looking to Ricky.

"Yeah, no. It's okay. None taken. I'm right there with you," Ricky looks a touch stunned and amused. St'mused. "What the heck do you want me to tell this kid?"

"Well, I was hoping that maybe you could recount some of your time when you were a teen...the illegal drag racing, the run-ins with the gangs...something that might make him relate to you. Then, you could tell him the dangers and maybe talk about how you got out of it," Evie shrugs and shakes her head. "I don't know. Saul is worried about him and I'm at a loss as to how I can help."

Ricky snorts and take another sip of his concoction, "I got out of it because I was pretty sure that Mom would reach up my ass and yank me inside out, if I didn't. Not sure how that's going to help."

All the while, Ian has been sitting quietly, thinking. At this point, he speaks up, "Do you know what Saul's nephew likes? I mean, does he have any hobbies?"

"I have no idea," Evie answers.

"Well, another thought might be to get him to focus on something that he enjoys outside of his other activities. Engage his mind," Ian offers.

Ricky laughs at that, "If he's a delinquent, I don't think he's going to be all into the fine arts, Ian."

Ian irritably waves off his brother's laughter, "No, no. I'm sure he's not going to be spouting Shakespeare. But, he has to have something that he enjoys. Music? Mechanics? Art? Even if it's rap music and graffiti, that's something that can be redirected into a positive direction."

"Egghead might have a point," Ricky concedes after a moment of consideration.