CHAPTER 13

SOMETHING LOST, SOME THINGS DISCOVERED


"I took a quick look, couldn't find it yet" Jason approached Dianna, with his arms open. She was waiting for him leaning on the glass door of her building. "You waited inside the building for me, right?" he asked, worried, even though he had barely made it to his house when she called him, after he gave her a ride to her building.

"Yes, whatever", she dismissed him, meeting him halfway and walking to his car. "Come on, let's go find it" she opened the door and tried to reach the seat to look for her apartment keys, so she grabbed the handle of his car and barely made in with a knee. Jason sighed, and grabbed her hips, basically throwing her inside the car. "Hey" she complained, but he just walked around the car, to his side, to help her find her keys.

"How are they like" he asked, putting his hand under the passenger seat, and she just looked at him.

"I meant, is it one, two, double, more than one key, what".

"It's two simple keys. I have two locks" she put her hand on the seat, then under the carpet of the car.

He sighed, then he took the carpet out a bit. "You know, having two simple ones is the same as nothing. You should have two special ones".

"Ok. I'll think about it when I can actually get into my apartment, ok" she was grumpy, she was tired and cold. She shivered.

"Close the door, it's cold" he asked, when he saw her shuddering. She closed the door.

"Haha!" he said, when he felt a metal thing on his seat, buried deep.

"You found it? Why would it be there?" she was excited but confused.

He took it off, it was a coin. He looked at her. "Well, you came closer to look at my place".

"And what? Vomited the key under your butt?" She was really grumpy.

"Jesus" he raised his eyebrows. "Did you really get into your building before? I thought you did".

"Yes, I did, Jason. I swear. The main door opens with a password". Dianna sighed. She was tired, she even took out his carpet and couldn't find it.

Jason stopped. "Let me take a look at your purse".

She sighed, but agreed, and gave him her purse.

He looked inside for a while, then turned the purse over his seat, and she didn't even complain. There was nothing similar to a pair of keys there.

"Have you checked your pockets?" he tried, but received a look from her.

"Why would I put them in my pocket?"

"I don't know, when you left, when you came back" Jason gesticulated.

Dianna sighed, but he had a point. She turned to her side, to have the space to put her hands in the back pockets, felt nothing. Then she stood on her knees to try the front pockets, there was nothing, but when she raised again to take her hands out, she loudly banged her head on the ceiling. "Ouch"

Jason got worried, but chuckled when she complained "Why do they make low ceilings in a huge car?" she stated, then she put her hand on the back of her head, massaging it a bit.

Jason stopped chuckling because he realized she really got hurt.

"Oh, I'm sorry I laughed. You okay?"

"Yes. Of course" she took her hand off her head, and silently sat on the seat. Obviously it was hurting.

"We can call for a locksmith to come here" he muttered, sitting on his seat too.

"On a Saturday at 4AM? Right" she muttered, because she knew it would be a very, very expensive call.

"I could pay" Jason quickly offered, and received a killer look from Dianna.

"Oh, I know" she now was excited, and turned to him, "You could kick it for me, right? The door".

Jason stared at her. "Yes, I would kick the door, you'd sleep with your door open for a few hours, then you'd have to pay for a new door. Yes".

Dianna pouted. "Well, I did drink a lot". She took her phone, and started to search something.

"What you doing" Jason was curious.

"I'm googling the cheapest locksmith in the area. And the one who starts charging earlier for the regular price to change a lock".

"Smart", he nodded.

It took him a few seconds, then he realized. "What would you do until then? Where will you stay?"

She didn't look at him while searching. "In my building" she muttered.

"Oh come on" Jason was indignant.

She ignored him, because she found someone. "Here. 10AM. Jesus, I thought it was like at 6. People really hate working on Saturdays". Then she looked at Jason, like, 'meh', raised her shoulders, and opened his door.

"No way, Dianna, wait, you can't stay for hours inside the hall of your building" he grabbed her wrist, because she was already turned to get down of the car.

"Why not? A lot of people do it" she glanced at him.

"Yes" now he was angry at her, "Drug addicts. You know better than me that it's not safe, especially for a woman".

She stopped, and obviously, he was right. So she turned back a bit and closed the door. Of course, she knew where she had to wait.

"Just go to my place, you can sleep there", he said, gently.

She rubbed her head a bit, where it hurt. "I don't think that's a good idea" she muttered.

Jason wanted to confirm, in case she didn't want to go because his wife wouldn't like it.

He lowered his voice. "I'm not married".

"I know", she admitted, still muttering and not looking at him.

He swallowed, hard, when he imagined she'd sleep on the same bed as him. Probably not, but he also wanted to confirm.

"I'll sleep on Emma's bedroom. She's out this weekend".

Dianna still wasn't looking at him, and stopped rubbing her head. She licked her lips.

"I don't know".

"I wouldn't do anything to you", Jason was offended.

Dianna turned to him. "No, of course not. That's not what I meant". Then she looked down, touching her purse.

Jason's heart skipped a bit, because he realized that the only reason why Dianna would be so apprehensive about sleeping at his house was because she thought that if she went to his house, and there was no one there except the two of them, something would probably happen. And since she said she trusted him, it meant that it would be consensual.

He recomposed himself, and thought for a second. "That's not… Look, Mikey is there. You'll just go there to sleep, or hang, or whatever, until the morning, ok".

"Oh". Dianna relaxed and nodded. "Ok then", she muttered.

Jason turned on his car and suddenly Dianna felt ashamed that he really was only convincing her to sleep there, since his son was also there. She didn't know what to say.

"Look, I'm sorry if I implied that you wanted to… you know" she muttered, while they drove. Of course, still not looking at him.

Jason swallowed. "That's ok".

"You know what, maybe I could call Davis and stay there" she took her phone.

He suddenly parked the car on the side and stopped, then looked at her. "It's really not a big deal for me, ok? But if you're not comfortable, I'll drive you to Davis".

Dianna looked at him, and he was stern. Obviously he was still offended that she might not trust him, so she thought that it was best to just go with him. Because the truth was, even if his son wasn't there, she trusted him. She just didn't trust herself around him.

"No, ok, I just didn't want to be a bother. But if you're ok, then I'll go with you".

Jason sighed. "I am". Then he started driving again.

She tapped her fingers on her lap, thinking about something to say. She remembered a subject.

"So" she turned to Jason, trying to clear the air, "What did you think about Jessica?"

Jason raised his shoulders. "Ok. We'll have to see if she's nice".

She pouted, because if he knew what her name was, of course he saw her, just like she thought.

"At least she looks her age" Dianna noted, envious.

Jason chuckled. "Don't know why you're so bothered by that. Most women would love to look younger. They pay a lot of money for it, you know?" he teased.

"Not when I want people to take me seriously" she stated, bitter.

He remembered how he also didn't take her seriously when he first met her, and again in Mongolia, and he felt bad. But fortunately, they arrived at his place.

Jason opened the door to his car and quickly made his way around it, and this time Dianna just opened the door and waited for him, because she was resigned to the fact that she wouldn't be able to come down without help, or a twisted ankle.

Except this time Jason not only took her hand, but also he grabbed her waist to help her come down faster, so when she was on the floor she didn't even look at him, because they were very close. She just turned while looking at the floor, and then followed him to his house one step behind.

But obviously, because he was a gentleman and also a Seal, he opened the door, looked in, and waited for her, making her get inside right in front of him. With his hand on her back.

"Do you want something to drink?" he asked, walking to his kitchen, then she was thinking, and he added, "Water or a soda, maybe?"

She smiled. "Actually, I could have some water", she'd need the water to avoid the possible hangover.

He nodded, understanding. "Yep. Water it is".

Dianna stood still in the middle of the entrance to the kitchen, not wanting to look around too much. But she noticed a photo next to her, on the wall. She just glanced at it and didn't want to meddle. Especially because it was a photo of Jason with a blonde woman, and their two kids.

He noticed her awkwardness when she saw the photo.

"That's Alana" he pointed. Then he stopped for a second, trying to get used to the sentence. "She passed away".

Dianna suddenly widened her eyes and looked at the picture again and at Jason. "Oh, I'm so sorry. How long ago?"

Jason knew she'd feel even more awkward if he told her how long, so he first explained. "We were getting a divorce. She died in a car accident".

Dianna walked to him, leaning on the kitchen island. "I'm so sorry. Even if you were divorced, or separated. That must be hard. Especially having two kids".

Jason pouted, trying to avoid tears in his eyes. He didn't want to talk about it at that moment. "Thanks. U-hum". He turned, while she drank her water.

Dianna was silent, looking around the house now, while Jason turned his back to her.

"My house in Uruguay was very similar to this" she noted. "I like this style. Traditional, farmhouse, whatever. It's cozy".

Jason smirked, nodding. "Me too. Even though obviously I couldn't choose pretty much anything in here" he joked, and Dianna chuckled, making him laugh too. She knew that it was his wife's taste, and it was fair. Because she was the one who'd be at the house pretty much all of the time.

A door opened in the house, and Dianna almost jumped off her stool. She looked at Jason, obviously they woke up his son, and she didn't know what to think about it. He smirked at her, relaxed.

"Hey, Mikey" Jason greeted his son, still standing in front of the island. Mike calmly walked to the living room and then kitchen in his pajamas, a bit lost. "Did we wake you up?"

Mike blinked at Jason, then looked at Dianna. "No. I had the alarm on. I have to go to that game in New Jersey, dad" he was a bit offended that he forgot, and looked at Dianna again. She was extremely uncomfortable, sitting on the island of the kitchen with the man who had lost his wife, the mother of that kid, probably recently, considering Mike wasn't much younger in that photo she saw.

Jason chuckled. "Honestly, I did forget about your game". Then he pointed his chin to Dianna, still looking at Mike. "That's Dianna. She works with me".

Dianna gave him a slight smile "Nice to meet you". He nodded back "Nice to meet you too".

"She's that interrogator I mentioned" Jason added.

Mike's eyes finally opened a bit more, and he smiled widely. "Cool. We googled you. Now I remember. Nice work", he crossed his arms. He had almost the same smile as his dad, Dianna noticed.

She finally relaxed. "Hope you're not sharing classified intel".

Jason chuckled. "I'm not. Just pointing out some fun parts, the rest was on google anyways".

Mike smiled for a while, then sighed. "Well. I'll go take a shower now" then he proceeded to walk, slowly, to the bedroom area.

Dianna turned to Jason again. "He's tall. And cute".

Jason chuckled. "Don't ever say that to a teenager".

"Why not? Girls like cute. He has your smile, too", Dianna raised her shoulders.

Jason gave her one of his smiles, the cocky one. "You mean, my smile is cute?" he teased.

She laughed, he was sassy. "Not right now, no. Now you're just being cocky".

He laughed. And she couldn't help it.

"That one" she said.

He cutely smiled for another second, until her words registered into his brain. Then his pupils dilated and his smile disappeared.

She noticed the tension, and decided to escape the easier way. "Nope, it was still a cocky one. My mistake", she chuckled. He blinked and chuckled a bit again. She breathed, relieved.

"Are you tired? Do you wanna go to bed?" he said casually and without any ulterior motive, but Dianna felt the words in her core. She knew she was blushing.

"Not really. You?"

"No" he answered, honestly, but kept thinking about how to entertain her, without squeezing her against a wall.

She decided to get to know him a little better. On the inside. Even though she'd love to know his body too. "Can I ask you something?"

He smirked. "Sure".

"How do you do it? Taking care of your kids, having a house, bills. How do you manage, with your job? Especially during deployments or long ops"

Jason raised his shoulders. "It's not easy. But I have a lot of help, my mom is here a lot, and Emma can drive her and Mikey. I actually gave up right after Alana passed away, but Emma convinced me to come back. She and Mikey are both very supportive".

She smiled. "That's amazing. That they thought about what you love to do, too. They are great. But, I meant…" she licked her lips, to find the words, "...you know. The pressure of being the only parent they got. The fear of leaving them alone. If something happens".

Jason swallowed. "It's… hard. I'm managing well. I think. I try not to think too much about it".

She nodded. "Good. Just… Maybe don't try to manage it alone. For too long. There are times when is best if we talk to someone else too. And hear their opinion".

He pouted. "Like in therapy, you mean".

Dianna heard his sarcasm. "Yes. Like therapy. I was against it too, you know".

He looked at her, imagining when is it that she had to go to therapy. He hoped it wasn't already when she was 18 or something.

She saw his look, but continued. "It's always awkward, Jason. You'll never feel comfortable talking about your feelings or thoughts, if you're not a person used to it. I just decided to think about it rationally". She was looking at the island counter, gesticulating.

"If someone I loved hurt some part of their body, I'd asked them to go to a specialist. If I saw someone depressed, I was always worried, wanting to make sure they went to their psychiatrist. Why would I just think that doing therapy or going to a shrink wouldn't work too? It was arrogance, from my part, to know better than a specialist".

Jason listened, and knew she was right, rationally speaking. But he still wasn't sure why everyone kept thinking he needed to see someone.

"I think you're right. But I'm fine" he raised his shoulders.

"Yes. You are" she smiled, softly. Then her smile disappeared. "But just because you can't feel the pain yet, it doesn't mean that the cancer isn't there".

He swallowed, because he heard perfectly when she told how her mom died. And how she described it.

"You can check on things before you get to a bad place, I mean. Just to make sure" she explained, but he understood perfectly.

"Maybe someday I'll handle things as well as you do. Relinquishing control" he stated, a bit envious of how she casually dismisses some things.

She nodded, serious. "Be careful of what you wish for".

He stared at her for a few seconds, not knowing what she meant.

A door opened again, and Mike got out of his bedroom, now wearing jeans and a puffy jacket, and carrying a backpack with him. He didn't say anything while he slowly made his way to the kitchen, then opened the door to the garage, making a lot of metal noise in there.

"Hockey gear?" Dianna asked Jason, amused. He closed his eyes, nodding.

"You know" Mike mumbled from the garage, while still putting his gear on a bag, "You don't have to stop talking while I'm here. You're probably not talking about anything interesting anyways".

Jason chuckled. "Ah. Teenagers".

"The fact that a teenager thinks that my life is so uninteresting makes me feel old", Dianna admitted.

They heard a honk on the street, and Mike finally made his way out of the garage, with a huge black bag with him. He sighed. "Oh, no, you're life's interesting. I mean, you have an interesting job. Dad too. Is just that I know you're just passing the time until I'm out of here".

Jason and Dianna burst into laughter with his bluntness.

"Oh God, Mikey. Get out", Jason walked his son to the door, giving him a kiss on the head and a hug, wishing him a good game. And asking him to text him when they arrived in New Jersey.

Dianna stepped out of the stool and watched Jason put Mike's gear in the bus and wave goodbye to the players, waiting until the bus left.

He got back to the house and closed the door. He made his way, smiling, to Dianna, who was standing next to the island, smiling at him.

"I'm sorry about that" he leaned on the counter, next to her. "He has no filter".

Dianna stood still, close to him. "I called Davis".

Jason got serious. "What? Why? I'm sorry about his joke, I mean, come on-"

"I just asked for an uber, too". Dianna told him, smirking.

Jason felt terrible. "I didn't know you'd take him seriously, I'm-"

Dianna raised a hand, gesturing for him to stop talking.

"I did it because we work together, Jason".

"Ok, so? I told you it's all good" He opened his arms, confused.

She gathered courage, and came closer to him. She could feel his scent. "Are you thinking about having sex with me?"

Jason's chin dropped to the ground, and his pupils dilated, a lot. He stared at her freckled face and full bow-shaped lips, feeling the urge to taste them.

She waited for a while. "Well?"

He was heavily breathing, but he finally reacted. "Well… Yes".

She licked her lips. "And if I stay tonight, can you promise me you won't kiss me? Or do anything else to me? If I want to"

She slightly touched his chest, and he shivered. Then she grazed a finger on his stubble, and he couldn't lie.

He swallowed, and admitted. "No. I can't".

Dianna smirked.

"I can't just have sex with you tonight, Jason, then get to work with you like nothing happened. I'm sorry. I don't know how to do that. So I need to leave now" She swallowed. "I really hope… we can still be friends. I like talking to you".

She looked at her phone. Her uber was close.

Jason didn't say anything, so she awkwardly walked backwards to the door. "Well… Thank you for the ride. And for helping me look for my keys. And sorry for all the trouble".

She checked her phone again, and her uber was only a minute away, so she opened the front door. Jason finally reacted and walked to her, "Wait".

She looked at him again, and he came closer. "I like talking to you too".

She smiled, relieved. "Good. Ok, great".

He gave her a wide charming smile, that made her almost cancel her uber.

"Ok. See you at work, then?" Jason asked.

"U-hum. Ok. See ya".

Jason held the door open while she walk to the uber that arrived. She waved goodbye before getting in, and he waved back, then got back into his house.

He was really regretting not squeezing Dianna to the wall when he had the chance.

.