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It's Time (1/1)

Steve was lost in what seemed like a never ending pile of paperwork when he heard a knock on his office door. He looked up and was surprised to see Lea on the other side of the glass. He stood up and waved her in.

"This is a surprise," He said. "If you need something I could have come to your office. Save yourself the security hassles of coming over here."

Lea smiled and indicated he should sit while she herself took a seat in one of the visitor's chairs on the other side of his desk.

"We're on our way back from a rotary luncheon," she explained. "I figured while we were out anyway I'd stop by for our once a year check in."

Steve sighed. "I've told you before, these are really unnecessary."

"So you say," Lea said. "But trust me, I know how many job offers you field every month."

Steve rested his elbows on his desk. "Who's been talking?"

"None of your friends or family," she assured him. "They're all very discreet. But … I hear things. Through the government grapevine."

He chuckled. "I hate to break it to you, but that's not a very reliable source."

"Maybe not." Lea shrugged. "But still, I have opponents who delight in spreading the rumors because they'd love to see you lured away. Face it." She grinned. "You're too good at your job. You keep the crime statistics moving downward and it gives them one less issue to campaign on."

"It's not just me," Steve said. "It's the whole team."

"Absolutely," she agreed. "But you're the one that put the task force together and built it into what it is. Without you it would be a very different organization."

Steve shook his head. "I'm not sure that's true."

"I am," Lea said firmly. "We agreed to have this discussion once a year and it's time. Are you still happy running the task force? Are there any issues we need to address?"

"I'm not going anywhere, Governor. I promise. I'm very happy with my job. I can't keep people from making offers, but I don't seriously consider any of them."

"Your new budget requests are due next month," Lea reminded him. "Should I be expecting any surprises there?"

Steve looked up and saw Danny entering the bullpen and after a split second of consideration waved him into the office.

"Actually, there is one thing I've been meaning to talk to you about."

Danny poked his head in the door. "Nice to see you again, Governor." He looked at Steve. "Did you need something?"

Steve nodded. "It's time."

Danny entered the office and without taking his eyes off his partner took a seat beside Lea. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Steve said confidently. "The governor was just asking if we were gonna include any surprises in our budget requests."

"Ahhh." Danny smiled knowingly. "So I guess it's time."

"Would you two mind telling me what you're talking about?" Lea said good naturedly.

Danny knew all about the governor's once a year check ins with Steve and quickly clocked that that's what was going on.

"Did he tell you that Lenora Hughes offered him a job as head of her security team?" Danny grinned. "She wanted him to be her 24/7 bodyguard if you get my drift."

"Don't start," Steve said.

"Or about the guy that wanted him to start his own black ops team." Danny chuckled. "He walked in here wearing mirrored sunglasses dressed like every bad advertisement ever seen in Soldier of Fortune magazine."

"That's enough," Steve said even though he couldn't help but smile at the memory of the man Kono had called a wanna be Rambo. "We're getting off track." He turned to Lea. "There is one thing we wanted to talk to you about."

Lea looked from Steve to Danny then back. "One of you just spit it out. You're starting to make me nervous."

"We'd like to add another member to the team," Steve said. "Right now we get stretched pretty thin when we have multiple cases going at once. We're handling it, but we believe the team would be better if we had another member to help fill the gaps."

Lea nodded. "I can understand that. Your caseload has definitely been getting heavier over the last few months."

She paused for a few seconds, doing a little mental math.

"I think I can make it work. Unfortunately, we're likely to have more situations like the one with Virginia Aguiar in the coming years. People who think they can use our docks to move large quantities of illegal cargo. If you need more manpower to make sure that doesn't happen I'll find a way to get it done."

"Excellent." Steve leaned back in his chair.

"That was easier than I thought it would be," Danny said.

"I'll send Catherine in to negotiate with the budget committee." Lea grinned. "It's as good as done."

Steve and Danny chuckled.

"Alright, now that we have that taken care of." She checked her watch. "I have a meeting to get to. I'll see you both at the party this weekend." She grinned at Steve. "Are you excited?"

"There's been a lot of giggling and whispering going on at our house all week, not to mention lots of calls to Grace and Elizabeth," Steve said. "I'm not sure if I should be excited or scared."

"Maybe a little of both," Lea said. "Lance stopped at Party City last night to get some things for a work party he's throwing and he saw Grace shopping with Carrie."

Steve dropped his chin to his chest. "I'm doomed."

"Oh, it'll be fun," she promised. "I'll see you both there."

Steve walked Lea to the elevator and when he returned to his office Danny was sitting on the couch with an excited grin. "I can't believe we're really gonna do this."

"We are." Steve took a seat at his desk. "We've talked about it for a long time. We always said we'd do it if we could find the perfect candidate. Now we have."

Danny put his feet up on the coffee table. "Let's do it then."

Steve smiled as he pulled out his phone and dialed a familiar number. "Hey, Duke, It's time."

THE END

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