Hank quickly left the living room to intervene in the awkward standoff that was developing at the front door. Seeing Erin again after so many years made him feel a whole raft of emotions. He had missed her greatly and it was great that she had chosen to come and see him. But at the same time it hurt that she hadn't contacted him in all the time she had been in New York. Also there was confusion. Why had she decided to show up unannounced?
"Hank! Hey," Erin said as he approached the door.
"Erin. It's... a surprise to see you. Kalinda, this is my foster daughter Erin. Erin, this is Kalinda Rai, a detective from Intelligence."
"A detective from Intelligence, huh?" Erin said, looking at Kalinda for a moment. Hank knew it was blatantly obvious that wasn't why Kalinda was at his house at this time of day.
"That's right," Hank said, brushing past it. "Come in. You're letting all the warm air out of the house."
"Nice to meet you," Kalinda said to Erin, obviously and understandably feeling awkward.
"You too," Erin said unconvincingly.
Hank studied his foster daughter as she took her coat off. Her hair was long and had blonde highlights in it that had seen better days. She was carrying a few extra pounds compared to how he remembered her too. She hadn't been taking good care of herself recently.
"Hank, I'm going to take off and let you two catch up," Kalinda said.
"You don't have to do that," he responded quickly.
"I think I do. Have a good night, and thank you for the meal."
"I feel bad that I've broken up... whatever was going on," Erin said.
Kalinda put her coat on in record time and made ready to leave. Hank figured the fact that she had spilled the second glass of wine was a good thing now that she was going to drive home. Originally he had hoped that she might stay the night.
"Sorry about this," he said to Kalinda. What else could he say?
"Nothing to apologise for," Kalinda assured him. "I'll see you in the morning. Again, nice to meet you, Erin."
"Have a good night," Erin said, now in a slightly less abrupt tone.
With that, Kalinda made her exit. Hank felt bad that she had felt the need to hurry out of his house. He too was a bit shocked by the turn of events.
"Was I rude to her?" Erin asked, a little regretfully.
"Uh, yeah," Hank said, showing his annoyance. "Hopefully she won't take it personally. It's... good to see you though. Have to say I'm surprised, after all this time and hearing nothing from you."
Erin looked guilty, which Hank had to admit to himself had at least partially been his intention. "Sorry, Hank. I guess I took it too literally when you said not to look back."
"Well, yeah, I didn't mean never speak to me again."
"I did miss you. Of course I did. I missed Jay, too. And Intelligence. In fact I missed Chicago as well."
"Let's go sit down and you can tell me what's brought you back. How about a drink? There's wine going spare now that Kalinda's gone."
"Wine would be nice," Erin said, following him through to the kitchen. "Sorry I spoiled your night. Of all the people to end up dating a colleague, I would have expected you. Not even a colleague, come to that. You're her boss."
"I'm hearing judgement, Erin," Hank said in a tone that advised caution on her part. "And for your information we're not dating."
"Sorry, again. Not making the best impression after not having seen you for so long am I? It's hard to turn FBI mode off. Guess I'd better find a way to do that pretty quickly."
Hank glanced at her while pouring her a glass of wine. "What does that mean?"
Erin sighed. "I quit my job. Couldn't stand my boss any longer. Couldn't stand New York any longer. I had to come home, Hank. Haven't even brought much of my stuff. Do you think I might be able to stay here for a while until my life stops crumbling around me?"
"Of course," Hank said immediately. There was no consideration needed where his foster daughter was concerned. No matter what situations she got herself into, he would always do his best to help her.
"Thank you," Erin said, suddenly sounding emotional. "I know it's never been our thing, but I can hug you? I kind of need it."
Hank spread his arms, and she walked into his embrace. He had to admit to himself that it felt good to receive affection from her. "I missed you too," he managed to say, struggling as ever with verbalising emotions. He simply wasn't that kind of person.
"I don't want to leave again."
The hug ended, and Hank gave Erin the glass of wine. "Let's go sit down," he suggested once more.
They went through to the living room and Hank sat back down on the coach in the same spot where he had been enjoying an intimate moment with Kalinda only minutes earlier. Erin sure did have bad timing.
"How's Jay doing?" was Erin's way of restarting conversation.
It was a question Hank had expected, and he knew Erin wasn't going to like the answer. "I don't know. He quit Chicago PD and the last I heard he was in Bolivia working against drug cartels."
Erin looked blankly at him. "He what?"
"You heard me. He's not in Chicago anymore. Left months ago. He's also married to one of my detectives, although I'm not sure how that stands now."
"Married?" Erin said vaguely, as if the news was so bad that it wasn't registering in her head. "Oh, Hank, what did I do? I love that man, and I walked away from him. I've made such a mess of my life. It's full of nothing but regrets."
"It's never too late to start rebuilding," Hank said, with his mind very much on Kalinda Rai.
The following day's shift had ended up being a busy yet drama-free one for Intelligence, meaning that Hank hadn't been able to find a chance to talk to Kalinda on a personal level. It was only at the end of the shift that an opportunity presented itself, when Kalinda happened to be the last member of the team in the bullpen. That was likely deliberate on her part, Hank realised.
"Sorry again about last night," he ventured, approaching her desk as she tidied it in preparation for calling it a day.
"No need to apologise," Kalinda said, offering a smile. "It's not like you knew your foster daughter was going to turn up. Forgive me, but she didn't seem very pleasant."
"Erin's a detective. Well, an FBI agent in her most recent role. She approached the strange woman in my house in that manner. She did feel bad about it after you'd gone."
"I see. Actually, I get it. Can't honestly say I'd have behaved differently in her position. Until then, it was a nice evening."
"I'd invite you over again tonight, but Erin is staying with me for a while until she's back on her feet in Chicago."
"Two's company, three's a crowd," Kalinda said, agreeing with the sentiment he was expressing.
The conversation was interrupted by Kim and Adam coming out of the locker room. They said their goodnights on their way out of the bullpen.
When privacy presented itself again, it was Kalinda who spoke first. "We could get a hotel room?"
That was an excellent idea. It both excited Hank and turned him on in an instant. "Sounds great," he said with a smile. "Do you want me to take care of it?"
"No, I'll do when I get home and I'll text you the details when I have them. Also, I have leads on some apartments, so hopefully I'll have a place of my own in the next week or so."
Hank felt like she had told him that before, but he went along with it as if it was a new piece of information. "I'd be happy to help you move when you've found somewhere."
By now, Kalinda was ready to leave. "Thanks. So... see you later?"
"You will," Hank promised.
Kalinda gave him a little grin that he knew would stay in his memory for some time. God damn, she looked so sexy. Especially for someone of her age. Not for the first time, he found it almost impossible to believe that she was fifty. He watched her walk off towards the locker room, and his eyes tracked down to her ass in her fairly tight jeans, the further down to her leather boots.
"God damn," he said under his breath. Those hotel room details couldn't arrive fast enough.
A/N: Erin is back in Chicago, unhappy with her life and missing Jay, only to discover that he's no longer there. What do you think might be next for her?
Hank and Kalinda have arranged to hook up in a hotel room. Will things progress for them?