An Internal Affair

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The week seemed to go on forever, now that she finally had plans for when it ended. Andrea drummed her fingers against her desk unconsciously, thinking of her upcoming date with Chad. She was quickly becoming used to the idea of him as a possible partner and, if she was completely honest with herself, possible lover. He took up way too much of her dream time and was a good deal more than distracting whenever she saw him in person – which was not as frequent as she might have thought; he didn’t make a point to crowd her and only came down to Narcotics if he had actual business there, which was a pleasant surprise. Andrea knew that he expected her to back out at the last minute; if it were her, she’d be worried about it herself…but she found that the prospect of being in control of the date was very, very attractive.

She finally decided upon the restaurant she’d take him to and made reservations, smiling at the thought of the cocky, stubborn IA Head’s reaction to it. “Something funny? I could use a joke,” Hopper sighed from across the desk as he flipped the case file closed with one finger.

Let’s see if he catches on… “I was just thinking about what Shelten would do if he was ever trapped in a Moroccan restaurant on a date.”

“First someone would have to ask that tool out on a date, which isn’t likely to happen in our lifetime.” Hopper frowned over at her. “What on earth made you think of something like that in the first place?”

Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the fact that I’m the one that asked him? She shook her head in response, letting him interpret that whichever way he chose. His phone rang and it was one of his contacts so she leaned back in her chair, zoning out to think of running on the beach and the way a certain sergeant looked without a shirt. Her fantasy about watching shirtless Chad jog in slow motion down the beach came to an abrupt end when their lieutenant slapped some files on her desk on his way past and she nearly fell backwards in alarm. “You’re not being paid to daydream, Detective – I want something concrete on my desk by Monday about that case you’re working on.”

Shit, that meant she’d have to visit Danny Yan and see about arranging a stakeout. And that meant no date… She glanced over at Hopper, still on the phone with his CI, and an idea came to her. Andrea remembered the first time he’d asked Rita out and, to the best of her knowledge, the woman still had no idea that their going for Korean barbecue wasn’t a split-second decision while driving by the restaurant. Maybe she could use that on Chad? All she’d have to do was to get the name and schedule of one of the men she’d been gathering information on and the date would take care of itself. She tapped her finger on her files to get Hopper’s attention. “Gotta go see my CI – have fun,” she mouthed as she grabbed her jacket on her way out.

The trip to Chinatown didn’t take as long as she expected, but she was a bit concerned how Chad would react when she told him where they were going so she resolved to keep their destination as much of a surprise as she could. With any luck, he would simply think it was funny. Hopper was gone when she got back to the station to pick up some reimbursement forms and after she filled them out quickly, she headed to IA where she found Chad immersed in a stack of files. Leaning inside the door and ignoring the look of disapproval being aimed at her from the newbie at the desk in the hall, she rapped her knuckles against the glass. Chad lifted his eyes from the papers in front of him, lips parting to reprimand whosoever had the audacity to interrupt what Andrea privately termed as “File Time,” when his eyes focused on her. “May I help you, Detective?”

Andrea grinned at the expression on his face; he looked a bit disappointed that she wasn’t someone he could yell at with impunity. “I need to know where you live.”

“Excuse me?” He frowned and glanced past her to where Newbie was hovering just within earshot. “Close the door, please, Detective Battle…” When she had done so and Newbie was wearing a ‘curses, foiled again’ look on his face, he returned his attention to her. “Why, exactly, do you need to know?”

She tilted her head slightly, trying not to let any of her inner amusement break through. “If a woman asks a man on a date, she needs to know where she can pick him up.”

“But I thought…” He broke off to eye her suspiciously for a moment, then slowly wrote his address on a slip of paper he fished out from a desk drawer and pushed it across the desk to her. “Why do I have the feeling that I might regret this?”

Picking up the paper and slipping it into her pocket, Andrea finally allowed herself to smile at him. “I have no idea why you would, Sergeant. I’ll pick you up at six; dress code is business casual, but bring a sweater.” She left him staring after her thoughtfully, and smirked at Newbie on her way past.


_ _ _ _ _ _


Andrea hadn’t canceled on him after all. Though there was something about her smile he didn’t quite trust, like she was trying to put something over on him… he scowled into the partially-fogged mirror as he stepped from the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist. He didn’t like not having control over the situation, and it was irritating that she hadn’t told him what to expect.

Chad pulled on a faded pair of jeans and a white long sleeved shirt, searching for his boots and the blue sweater he knew was in his closet somewhere. Well, unless Rita had taken it. She probably did, the klepto… for all he knew, she’d stolen it and Hopper was wearing it now. He sat on the edge of his bed, staring the opposite wall with his stomach in knots. Was he really ready to start again, if just the thought of Rita made him feel this hopeless and the fact that she had moved on and found somebody new made him feel this worthless? He rubbed his hands over his face slowly, trying to relax before Andrea arrived and he couldn’t bring himself to go anywhere with her. He’d thought that Rita had wanted him for himself, and he’d been happy – truly happy for once. But then she’d discovered that he wasn’t the man she’d wanted him to be…and then she’d left him and he was alone. The thought of it happening again with anyone else was almost more than he could bear. Glancing at his watch and noting the time, he sighed and quickly laced up his boots; as he was turning to leave he caught sight of the elusive sweater. Maybe that’s a sign or something, saying I should just relax? Yeah, right. Like I could.

Picking up a book on physics, he tried to read until she arrived but couldn’t settle enough to even make sense of the first paragraph and paced nervously until the sound of a knock at the door made him nearly jump out of his skin. After double checking his breath and scrubbing at the side of his face to make sure he didn’t have too much aftershave on, he opened the door just as Andrea prepared to knock a second time so that she rapped her knuckles on his collarbone. “Oh! I’m sorry, are you okay?” she asked worriedly.

As she reached up to lay her palm against his skin, the anxiety he had felt earlier dissipated with an abruptness that nearly made him weak with relief. “I think I’ll live,” he assured her. “Would you like to come in, or would that throw off any plans you’ve made…?” Chad found that his previous irritation had gone as well, and he was now ready to see if he could handle anything she could throw at him. He was pleased when she accepted his invitation and stepped inside, so he showed her every room except one. “Oh, my dog’s in there. He doesn’t usually take to new people too well, so…”

She gave him that little head tilt. “Can I see him? What breed is he? What’s his name?”

“He’s a pitbull and I, uh, named him Meredith.” He looked thoughtfully at the door as Andrea laughed at the name, then decided he might as well take the chance and see what Meredith thought of her. “You don’t mind pitbulls, do you? He can act mean, but he’s actually a real sweetheart.”

“No, I’d love to meet Meredith.” He asked her to stay outside the door while he went in and took hold of the pitbull’s collar, trying not to let the dog drool all over his leg, and then called Andrea in. Meredith’s ears perked to attention when the blonde came in and knelt in the doorway, but he didn’t seem to be upset by her presence so Chad walked with him when he felt the need to inspect the newcomer. Meredith simply sniffed Andrea curiously, then began to wag his tail as Chad exhaled in relief and Andrea petted him. “He’s…well, not exactly beautiful, but I like him,” she said softly.

“Wait until he sneaks up to hump your leg when you’re least expecting it,” Chad said dryly, pleased that she’d won Meredith’s approval – he’d always had to keep the pitbull locked up whenever Rita was around. He followed Andrea out to her car when she signaled that it was time for them to get going to wherever it was she was taking him, and sighed as he got in. “I feel much too large for this car.”

Andrea looked over at him shifting uncomfortably, and looked away to keep from laughing. “You do make it look like a clown car or something,” she teased. “Think you can survive until we get there?”

Aha, a chance to learn where they were going! “And where is that, exactly?” he asked casually.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” was her laughing rejoinder.

“Damn it.” He tried unsuccessfully to pry the information from her as they drove, and they ended up at some sort of indoor arena. He looked around quickly and caught sight of several children clinging to their parent’s hands, glancing back over at Andrea who was having the devil’s own time keeping a straight face. “Andrea?” She wasn’t looking at him, why wasn’t she looking at him? “Andrea,” he said insistently. Still nothing. “That big purple dinosaur isn’t in there, is it? Andrea, look at me - Andrea! ”


She just kept her face turned away from him and got out of the car. As they were walking towards the whatever-it-was, a familiar chirping sound made him stop dead in his tracks. “You’ve got to be kidding me… the SS Andrea has a car alarm?”


He tried to get a glimpse of what exactly they were headed into, and even attempted to look over his date’s shoulder at the tickets she produced for the men at the door. Chad could hear the excited shouts of children inside and started to become very, very apprehensive about this whole “dating again” business. As they walked up the shadowed incline into the light, he stopped and stared in shock at the banner hanging from the ceiling above the ice rink. It read, “Welcome to the Ice Capades!”

“Detective Battle.”

It took her a while to answer, but when she did it sounded as if she were close to hysteria. “Yes, Sergeant Shelten?”

“There’s something wrong with your brain.”


_ _ _ _ _ _

Andrea fought for control and finally succeeded, although the look on Chad’s face was beyond priceless. He blinked and looked around slowly as she led the way to their seats, and under the pretense of getting their food she used the extra time to locate the man she was following. Well, the man they were following, really. Chad had no idea that she was using their date as a stakeout, and she hoped to keep it that way. She picked out the healthiest thing she could find for him to eat because although he hadn’t said as much, she figured that he wasn’t the type to go for junk food. His teasing disapproval of the amount of sugar she dumped in her coffee, coupled with the shape he kept himself in pretty much gave that away. Although his hooting reaction to her car alarm tempted her to order him three chili dogs with the works. Serve him right, too, she thought vindictively. After finally deciding on their food, she brought it back to him and he thanked her so graciously she wasn’t sure what was going on. What, exactly, had changed while she was at the concession stand? “Have you ever been to the Ice Capades before?” she asked as the show started.

Chad smiled over at her. “No.” This is just getting creepy. He’s…smiling. “Hey, look – a giant skating blueberry,” he exclaimed, pointing. Her next shock came when he put his arm over the back of her seat suddenly and leaned in close, as if to kiss her cheek. “So, who are we watching? Bottom left, or middle?”

“Excuse me?”

“I may not have ever been to the Ice Capades before, but I have been on a stakeout before. So which one is it?”

Crap. He was onto her.


tbc…
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