Mike and Sasha

x

"Sasha!"

Sasha hesitated, looking longingly at the exit, which was a mere fifteen feet away. Unfortunately, she had no pressing need to be anywhere else and therefore avoid this conversation — one she had hoped to never have at all — with Mike. It was just her luck that they were both still working at 1900 on a Friday night.

As she waited for Mike to jog down the corridor, Sasha reminded herself that her personal life was none of Mike's business. Yes, Mike was Tom's best friend and, yes, Mike had a front-row seat to the debacle last summer when Sasha put her heart on the table, only to have Tom walk away with a vague promise to be in touch. But Sasha hadn't promised to wait and, frankly, Andrea was right about one thing. Sasha couldn't put her life on hold indefinitely. Nine months had passed since Tom left and, while Sasha's relationship with Wolf was clearly going to remain in the friend box, Sasha was ready to move on. Mike would simply have to accept that, whether or not he understood her reasons. Who knows, maybe Mike would even be willing to accept, as Sasha now had, that Tom was never coming back.

Right. And Santa Claus was real.

If there was one thing Sasha could say with certainty, it was that Mike had exactly zero doubts that Tom would return. Most likely, she suspected but could not confirm, because Tom was still talking to Mike.

As Mike reached her side, Sasha treated him to her best professional smile. "Yes, Captain?"

"You want coffee?" Mike asked. "I need something better than this watery crap that Michener likes."

Not what she was expecting but, really, what did she know about Mike other than the fact that he was Tom's best friend? "Only if you're buying."

Mike grinned. "Lead on."

At the coffee shop, Sasha waved to Sam and headed towards an empty table while Mike went to the counter to order. Remembering what both Danny and Kara said about Burk's incompetence when it came to women, Sasha decided that, after Mike left, she would hang around for a while, chatting the woman up. In Sasha's experience, there was no such thing as too much intel and it sounded like Burk could use all the help he could get.

With two black coffees in hand, Mike approached the table in the back corner where Sasha was sitting. He set down the coffees, and immediately launched into the exact topic that Sasha hoped to avoid. "I've been meaning to catch you since that night at mini golf."

"You mean when Wolf and I ran into you in the middle of a date?" Sasha asked, keeping the tone light.

Mike paused, his face wrinkling. "I suppose everybody knows now."

"Of course," Sasha replied, taking a sip of her coffee, letting her amusement show on her face. "The Nathan James is more efficient at discovering and disbursing information than half my DIA operatives. People are divided on whether the two of you are dating, however. A few of the JOs are convinced that you're just that desperate for helicopter pilots."

Mike shifted again, and Sasha noted that he really did seem uncomfortable. Somehow that surprised her. Mike had always seemed confident to her, even when he was dead ass wrong. She raised an eyebrow. "Did I hit a sore spot?"

"For the record, I am that desperate for helicopter pilots," Mike said, before shrugging. "But, yeah, we're seeing each other. I was hoping for a little more time before subjecting Maddie to the inquisition but she told me that Kara invited her over for a drink this weekend."

Sasha snorted. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but did you just refer to Kara as an inquisitor?"

"Might as well call it like it is." Mike flashed her a grin. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about, actually. I was hoping that maybe you could ease her entrance to the group. They can be ... protective and I don't want anyone running Maddie off."

The request was so far from what Sasha was expecting that it took her moment to readjust. Something Mike caught. He suddenly laughed. "Oh, you thought I was going to give you shit about dating a member of your team. Nope." Mike threw up his hands. "I already told President Michener that I don't give a rat's ass about the frat rules. Sleep with whoever you want, Cooper. I only want to know if you think it will impact the mission. God knows after what we all went through, sometimes we all need a reminder that there's life outside of work. Just try to be a little more discreet about it than the Greens."

Sasha tipped her head. "Is it possible to be less discrete than the Greens?"

Mike almost choked on his coffee. "You'd be surprised. Pretty sure I almost walked in Andrea and Tex the other day." Only through years of practice did Sasha keep her face immobile. But her silence must have been telling because Mike grinned. "A good XO knows what to notice and, more importantly, what not to notice. Although I am surprised that there's no betting pool about them yet."

"Probably because the crew is scared of Andrea finding out," Sasha replied. "As much as you all claim to be scared of Kara, I've noticed that nobody messes with Andrea. More telling is the fact that nobody mentions being scared of Andrea."

Mike merely smiled. "Some things are just better off unsaid, Cooper."

Rolling her coffee between her hands, Sasha considered Mike. He had been straight with her when he didn't need to be. Perhaps it was time for her to put their disastrous first meeting behind her and focus on building her own friendship with Mike, one independent of her relationship — or non-relationship — with Tom. "If it matters, I'm not sleeping with Wolf. I do, however, have some thoughts about your helicopter pilot problem."

Mike raised an eyebrow. "Do tell?" Wincing, he added. "About the pilot. Not the lack of sex. Or the sex. Please, for the love of god, nothing at all about sex."