Partners

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Andrea reached out to turn off the alarm and rolled over to poke Chad in the ribs. “Up and at ‘em, Sunshine.”

Her lover yanked the sheets over his head with a groan. “What time is it?”

“Almost seven.”

“Unnnnnnh,” Chad complained. “Are you sure we can’t just stay home forever?”

Andrea crawled over on top of him and peeled the sheets back just enough so she could kiss the top of his head. “Pretty sure, sweetie.” Hopping off the bed, she stretched as Chad sat up to watch her just as interestedly as she’d known he would – sometimes he acted as if he’d never seen her naked before. “What’s going on with you? Last time I checked, you love your work.”

“We should go away somewhere, just the two of us,” Chad said in response. “What do you think?”

She came back over to give him another kiss, slapping his hands away as he tried to pull her back into bed with him. “I think you need to get out of that bed and take a shower so you won’t be late.”

“I’m serious, we should go. You have more vacation days, don’t you? We could leave after breakfast.”

Shaking her head, Andrea turned to walk into the bathroom for her morning shower. “You’re crazy.” She heard Chad follow her in as she turned on the water, and once again wondered what was going on with him lately –he’d been acting strangely ever since he got back. It was probably nothing, Andrea reassured herself. Chad was probably just having a hard time readjusting after being away with just his team for a month; after all, she’d had plenty of vacations that ended with her never wanting to go back to work, too. His arms slid around her waist and Chad began to kiss the back of her neck, effectively distracting her from any more thoughts on his behavior.

She pulled on her clothes afterward, watching him as he toweled off his newly-shorn hair. Chad grinned as he caught her regretful moue. “I can’t go into work looking like I just escaped from the 70s, Andy.”

“Why not? I know a place that sells polyester suits at really good prices,” she pouted. “You’d be the grooviest thing to ever serve a warrant.”

“I’m sure I would be,” Chad assured her.

He reached in the closet to pull out one of his suits, and Andrea glanced up from lacing up her boots. “Oh, I didn’t know you had a court appearance – was that what Steve called you for last night?”

“Not exactly… you want to stop for breakfast somewhere? I’ll be stuck at Metro most of the day, so we can drive together.”

“Really? Maybe we’ll see each other around,” Andrea said, pleased. They hadn’t worked in the same building since the beginning of their relationship, and she kind of missed not being able to go up to IA whenever she wanted to talk.

Chad grinned. “Oh, I think we might.”

“I’ve still got the Love Mug on my desk, do you remember that thing?” she laughed, thinking of the misshapen pottery mug they’d created on one of their first dates and painted it to look like Herbie. “It’s still ugly as hell and you haven’t paid any mug support for months, mister.”

He rolled his eyes and grabbed up Meredith’s leash. “I’ll make a payment as soon as we go in, how about that?” After walking Merry and going for breakfast together – it was almost like a vacation in itself, spending so much time with Chad like this – they drove to Metro.

It was her turn to roll her eyes as they stopped by the Watch Commander’s desk to check for any messages, and Andrea discovered that she had a summons waiting for her. “Great,” she scowled.

“What is it?” Chad asked curiously.

“Apparently Preisser’s replacement is already taking over and I’m supposed to be up there in five.”

“I’m heading up that way; I’ll walk with you,” he offered, coughing into his fist.

She crumpled up the paper angrily, wondering just who they’d gotten to replace the dumbass at such short notice. “Whoever it is, they’d better not try anything. I swear, all those IA jerks drive me crazy – I’m so glad you’re on SWAT now. What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.”

They walked up the stairs to the second floor and down the hall together, Chad nodding at the people who used to work under him, and she sighed as they approached his old office. “I really don’t feel up to…” she trailed off as Chad opened the door and walked around the desk to sit down in the chair, calmly reaching across to place a metal name plate that read “Lt. Chad Shelten” in the spot where Preisser’s usually sat. “You’ve gotta be shitting me.”

Chad folded his hands on top of the desk and smirked across at her. “Why don’t you take a seat so we can begin, Detective Battle?”

“Chad!” She bit back a growl as he tapped one finger on the name plate meaningfully. “Lieutenant.” Oh, he was gonna pay for this. He was gonna pay and then some, the big sneak. “To what do we owe your miraculous reappearance among us, Lieutenant Shelten?” she finished sweetly. “We all missed you so very much.”

One corner of his mouth tugged upward in a half-smile. “I figured as much. Preisser didn’t train anyone to take his place, so I was the only logical choice.” The smile disappeared as he leaned back in the chair. “I was also not given a choice – Steve called me yesterday to tell me.”

“But it’s just for the time he’s gone, right?” she asked, concerned at the hint of anger in his voice.

“He said it wasn’t permanent, but I think that just depends on whether Preisser gets his ass back here or not – nobody even knows for sure where the hell he is,” Chad sighed. “Only word was that it was an emergency.”

Andrea slid a hand across the desk to him. “I’m sorry, Chad – I know how much this place made you miserable.”

“It wasn’t all bad,” he said, with that look in his eye that was for her and her alone. “I met you here, remember?”

“You certainly did, you pompous ass.”

Chad laughed and covered her hand briefly with his own. “I was pretty horrible, wasn’t I?”

“You still are; it’s just in smaller doses these days,” she teased. “Hopper’s up next, isn’t he?”

He winked. “How’d you guess?”


_ _ _ _ _ _ _


Chad watched Andrea walk back out through the IA bullpen, feeling as if this were the last time he’d interact with her honestly – he wanted to call her back and tell her everything. But I won’t, because I can’t. It’s supposed to be better this way. When she disappeared around the corner, he sighed and unlocked the cabinet where the classified files were always kept. Locating an obscurely labeled folder, Chad pulled it out and opened it to verify that it was the one he sought; sure enough, Rita’s original arrest report was there along with three copies of a neatly typed letter attached to it. His eyes rested for a moment on the bottom of one of the pages, where his signature was placed next to the Notary Public’s seal, before he closed the folder and slipped the entire thing into his bag.

He had three ‘interviews’ with patrol officers suspected of taking bribes and tried to seem as if he were really paying attention when Haight came in with a stack of files Preisser hadn’t signed off on yet… Chad had another hour until he was supposed to meet up with Andrea for lunch, and he still wasn’t sure how to accomplish his goal of ensuring that Detweiler wouldn’t use her against him as leverage.

He rubbed his forehead and slumped back in his chair to think – he should’ve had this all planned out by now, should’ve started thinking about it when he’d still been in Germany, but he’d put it off again and again. Now there was no more time for delays. The only thing he could do to make sure Andrea was safe would be to do the one thing he’d sworn never to even think about, and the fallout would need to have as many witnesses as possible. “I don’t want to do this,” Chad said aloud, making Haight look up from his desk out in the bullpen.

“Did you say something, Lieutenant?”

Chad smiled ruefully. “Nothing important. Listen, I’ve got to head over to 6th to check on a few things before lunch – make sure no inter-departmental conspiracies happen without me, huh?”

“Sure thing, sir. We’ve got it covered.”

Well, there’s no time like the present… he dialed Andrea’s number on the way out, knowing that she wouldn’t check her cell phone messages until later. “Hey – something’s, uh, come up so I can’t make lunch… see you tonight, okay?” Resisting the urge to add the customary “I love you,” Chad hung up and took a deep breath before walking into the elevator. Briefly considering driving to Preisser’s apartment and shaking the man until his teeth rattled, he discarded the idea on the grounds that it might tip his hand. He wasn’t sure what Detweiler was up to, but it was becoming clear that the man was nearly ready to call in his ‘favor’.

Chad was thankful that his SUV was indistinguishable from any of the other issued vehicles as he sat in the driver’s seat watching the parking garage entrance. He wasn’t sure why the hell he was even sitting there waiting for her because when he saw the tiny blonde detective walking to Hopper’s car with her head down as she dug in her purse for something, he had to fight to keep from calling out to her. Chad supposed it was a good thing that he wasn’t planning on eating anyway, since his stomach was tied up in knots at the sight of her. Oh, Andy – I’m so sorry. He sat there and watched her drive away, knowing that she was headed to the SWAT offices on 6th street and expected to find him there. Picking up his cell phone again, he dialed Rita’s number.

He was walking back up to IA with a cup of coffee when she caught up to him an hour later, looking upset. “You wanna tell me what’s going on?” Andrea demanded.

A few patrolmen and detectives glanced over at them, scenting domestic trouble like they were bloodhounds. “What are you talking about?” Chad asked mildly, making a show of setting his coffee down on a nearby desk to stir it.

“What came up? You weren’t at SWAT headquarters.”

More people were openly watching now, and Chad knew it would be only a matter of minutes before word of his ‘fight’ with Andrea circulated the entire precinct. He purposely pitched his voice a little louder so that they could hear. “Who said I wasn’t? Of course I was.”

Andrea frowned up at him, puzzled but visibly growing more irritated by the minute. “No, you weren’t. I went to find you, and they all said they hadn’t seen you since Friday at the airport.”

“You’re checking up on me now? You really are just like…you know what? Never mind. I’ve got things to do and I’m pretty sure that you have, too.” Giving her a scornful glare, Chad turned on his heel and walked towards the elevators as he tried not to think about the hurt look on her face. He moved through the rest of his paperwork mechanically, wondering what he was going to say to her when it came time for both of them to leave...why had he insisted upon driving in together?

It turned out that Andrea had already gotten a ride with Hopper when he went down to see if she was ready to go and when he drove back home he found her with her nose in a book, ignoring him. “Don’t ask me what I’m reading; that means you’re checking up on me,” Andrea snarled when he opened his mouth to talk to her.

Chad felt like laughing even though he didn’t think this was anything close to funny. He’d always known just which buttons to press, but it’d been a long time since he’d done it to Andrea… he guessed he still had the hang of it. “You shouldn’t be so sensitive about things,” he said as if their earlier fight didn’t matter. “Can’t we just behave like adults, please?” Chad walked into the bedroom to change, and then into the kitchen to start making dinner. Andrea trailed after him unwillingly when he asked her what she wanted to eat, plainly having decided to pretend that nothing had happened. He could live with that, for now. As long as he didn’t cave in and actually tell her what was really going on, Chad didn’t mind pretending either. “Hey, come here.”

He pulled her close for a kiss and Andrea took it as a nonverbal apology, melting against him immediately. “I want something unhealthy,” she said when he released her. “And you have to eat it, too.”

“Ah, payback.”

“You’d better believe it. I’m thinkin’ bacon and ground beef….and you can’t put it in pita bread with any vegetables,” Andrea bargained gleefully. “Make sure you melt a lot of cheese on top, too.”

“I think I can hear my arteries slamming shut already,” Chad said ruefully.

Later that night after Andrea had fallen asleep in his arms, Chad eased her back on her side of the bed and rolled over onto his back to stare up at the ceiling. He’d had ample time earlier to plan out what he was about to do next… glancing over at Andrea’s sleeping face, he sighed heavily and swung his legs out of the bed. Walking out of the bedroom, he stepped over Meredith (who was sprawled out and snoring) and called Rita’s number again – at this time of night, she’d have the phone turned off. He left a short message about wanting to take her out to lunch later in the week, and went back to get into bed with Andrea.

Rolling over on his side away from the one woman he loved most, Chad stared at the glowing red numbers of the clock, uncomfortably aware that the shift in Andrea’s breathing meant that she was awake and probably had been ever since he’d gotten out of the bed. Everything’s going perfectly, he thought bitterly. It’s all going just great.


tbc…
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