detective_girly

It was three days before Dani got out of the hospital, mostly because she refused to co-operate with the psych consult until she actually saw Crews. FBI Special Agent Bodnar had to pull the few remaining strings he had to get Crews out of his current round of interrogation, or debrief depending on who you talked to, so she could lay eyes on him. She stared hard at him, measuring every inch, trying to tell how he was holding up. He was in his most guarded mode, however, and there wasn't much there for even her to read. With a hard swallow, she turned away, which drew him across the room to her. He didn't touch her with everyone watching. That simply couldn't happen. Instead he leaned in close as though he was going to kiss her forehead. When he was close enough, he spoke just for her.

"Tell them what they want to hear, Reese. You know how to do that."

She didn't respond with anything more than another swallow, but that was enough for him. He pulled away and was gone before she could adjust to him having been there at all. The next time the shrink came in, she said all the right things--she'd been scared, but she trusted her team. She had no idea why Roman hated Crews so much, but he had that effect on people.

It was Bodnar who picked her up, not Tidwell. She refused to let him do anything for her at all. She knew what he had done, knew that he played a huge part in saving them all, but she wasn't ready to face the conversation that would have to happen. No matter what else went on with her, that was not right any more. Not since Charlie Crews had a plan that consisted of nothing more than getting her out of an SUV.

They went to her place and she asked the FBI agent to keep the engine running. Packing clothes and things took no time at all since she really didn't care what went into the bag. He didn't look at all surprised when she told him their destination. No one else would have understood. No one else had been there.

He didn't stay to see if she got in okay. He already knew the answer to that all too well. Better than she did or than the man inside did. Dani knocked hard on the big door to the huge house and waited to see if her partner would let her in.

It took longer than Dani anticipated to get her partner over to her parents' house. First there was work. To deaths, seemingly connected by a string of robberies, took longer to solve than they should have because they weren't related. Then her mother had some church thing that Dani didn't feel like she should make her cancel. Finally, they were doing this. Her mother had cooked, with Dani's help, and Crews was due over at eight.

Dani wasn't sure her mother understood the point of the evening. When she saw them together it would sink in. They'd be faced with just how Laila Reese was going to react to her not only working with the man who Jack Reese reviled, but sleeping with him. It would make the evening interesting. Hell, maybe her mother would even like him. Weirder things had happened.

Dani didn't wear the dress her partner bought her. That would have been too dressed up. Instead she wore jeans and sort of tunic top that her mother had bought her years before. It was a modern, western twist on the colors from home, not at all something he would have ever seen her in. Her hair was down, already visibly longer than when they'd made the first move away from strictly partners. On the one hand she felt completely comfortable. She was home, in a mode that was familiar. On the other hand...Crews. There was no time he wasn't a wild card.

They hadn't spent every night together since they'd leapt off an emotional bridge, but they'd spent the majority that way. She'd even moved some clothes over. In no way had she gotten used to the house yet, though. She wasn't sure she ever would. Maybe she could talk Crews into letting Ted have it and they could move into something rational. While she was thinking that, Laila had to grab Dani's hand to keep her from spilling hot oil on it. That was the last straw--Dani was kicked out of the kitchen.

Now all she had to do was pace the living room, waiting.