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Post by Jen on Jun 12, 2005 13:48:02 GMT -5
Giving In Gus and Harley Parisgal3 June 9, 2005
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Post by Jen on Jun 12, 2005 13:49:47 GMT -5
April 2002- Gus moved to DC in January since he couldn’t bear to watch Harley and Rick pretend to be a happy little family. He has been working for the FBI in Chicago and DC, making several trips back and forth.
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Harley cursed herself as she felt her stomach do flip flops when she walked into the police station early Monday morning and saw Gus Aitoro sitting at her desk. He had left Springfield three months ago to work with the FBI in Chicago and Washington DC. She couldn’t imagine why he was back, and she didn’t know how she felt about it. She took a deep breath and was glad he was engrossed in a case folder and couldn’t see her reaction to his presence. She didn’t know why the man could make every inch of her body weak. She was perfectly happy being a single mother to her two precious little boys, not having to worry about ever getting her heart broken by yet another man who would eventually find someone else he’d rather be with. She was happy- or at least that’s what she told herself every night when she crawled into her bed alone.
“Get out of my chair, Aitoro,” she said as coldly as possible as she pulled his feet off of her desk.
“Well, good morning to you too, Coop. Is that any way to treat a federal agent?” he smirked as he stood up.
“Oh please. You know you won’t get any special treatment from me,” she replied, “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see you,” he answered, “About a case, of course.”
“Why me?”
“I’ll explain in a little bit,” he replied, then changed the subject. “How are you?”
“I’m great,” she answered quickly and unconvincingly.
“And the boys?”
“Growing like weeds,” she smiled.
“I bet. Do you have any new pictures?” Gus asked as he scanned her desk for the boys’ pictures.
“Ummm…yeah,” she replied as she pulled her wallet out of her purse and produced a few pictures of Zach and Jude.
“At least you’re raising them right,” Gus remarked as he pointed to a picture of the boys together wearing Cubs hats and surrounded by baseball paraphernalia.
“Yeah, well Rick insisted,” she laughed.
“Of course, Rick.” Gus said disappointedly. “How’s that going? Is he treating you good?”
“Actually, he moved out. About two months ago,” Harley reluctantly answered.
“Oh?”
“Well, we finally faced the fact that we are not supposed to be together. You of all people knew that. God knows you felt the need to tell me that at least once a day,” Harley said rolling her eyes.
Gus let out a little laugh, “Sorry about that. I know how badly you wanted it to work out for Jude’s sake.”
Harley nodded, “We both did. But it’s fine, it’s better this way. And he is a great father. A little smothering at times, but…”
“The good doctor? I don’t believe it,” Gus replied, feigning surprise.
“Alright, that’s enough. So how have you managed to not get kicked out of the FBI again yet?” she asked, making a joke.
“I’m doing ‘great’ too,” he replied as unconvincingly as Harley, creating an awkward silence between the two for a few moments. “Are you happy?” he finally asked.
“What?”
“Are you happy? With Rick, or without him, are you happy with your life?”
“Why?” she asked suspiciously.
“Because, I want you to be happy, no matter what,” he replied honestly.
“Oh,” she said, a little surprised and touched at the same time. “Yeah, I’m happy. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Good,” was all Gus said in response.
“So are you ever going to tell me about this case?” Harley asked, changing the subject.
“Yes, I just wanted to talk to you first. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen you,” he replied.
“Well, you’re a big FBI agent again, you don’t have time for us small-town cops,” Harley teased.
“I’ll always have time for you, Coop. Always,” Gus replied, not joking at all.
Harley turned away and gave him no reply but inside, her stomach was doing flip flops again.
“So, about this case…” Gus began, noticing how uncomfortable Harley had become. “I’ve been investigating some crime families over in Europe.”
“Europe? Why are you doing it?” Harley asked, relieved he had finally gotten down to business.
“Because the Judicial Police have asked for the FBI’s help in taking down these families. They might have a connection to some powerful American families so we’re trying to take them all down at once.”
“So what does this have to do with me?” she asked, confused.
“Well, I need to go to Paris in a few weeks. There’s a meeting there of some of the families, and I’m working with the JP to take them down. I want you there with me,” he answered.
“What? Why me?”
“You’re the best detective I know, better than half of the agents on my team, I need your help.”
“You have thousands of federal agents at your disposal but you want me instead?”
“Well actually…we’d be undercover as a married couple vacationing, and to be honest with you, most the female agents on my team are real dogs, if you know what I mean,” Gus finally admitted.
“And there’s the catch…” Harley laughed.
“What? Would it really be that bad pretending you’re head over heels in love with me for a few days?” Gus asked.
“Aitoro, I have kids I have to take care of, I just can’t run off to Paris. And I still don’t understand what’s going on anyway.”
“Your kids have fathers, Harley. And I’ll fill you in more once you give me your answer.”
“Does this have anything to do with the Santos family?” she asked, warily.
“No, it doesn’t. I swear,” he replied.
Harley sighed, “I’ll think about it.”
“That’s my girl,” Gus replied.
“I’m not your girl,” Harley corrected him.
“You will be in Paris,” he reminded her and she rolled her eyes.
“I have to get back to Chicago. Can we meet for lunch tomorrow and you can give me your answer?” Gus asked.
“Umm, I can’t do lunch. I have to take Jude to the doctor’s on my lunch break,” she replied.
“Is he okay?” Gus asked, worried.
“Yeah, it’s just a checkup.”
“Oh good. Well, then how about dinner?”
“I don’t think I can get a sitter for the boys…”
“Then we’ll meet at Company. Bring the boys,” Gus suggested, determined not to let her out of this.
“Alright,” Harley finally agreed. “Six o’clock at Company then.”
“I’ll be there,” Gus said, then turned to leave after a few moments of awkward silence.
“Hey Gus, how dangerous is this?” Harley asked, causing him to stop and turn around.
“These families separately are a hundred times more dangerous than the Santoses. Combined…” he trailed off. “It’s dangerous.”
“Great. So if you die, you’re taking me down with you?”
“No. That’s why I want you there. There isn’t anyone I trust more with my life than you. And there is no one I would protect the way I would protect you. We’re not going to Paris to die, Coop. I promise,” he replied and Harley nodded.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said and with a wave, he left the station.
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Post by Jen on Jun 12, 2005 13:51:16 GMT -5
“Zach, sweetie, do you remember Mommy’s friend, Gus? We’re going to have dinner with him, so I want you to be good, okay?” Harley said as she got Jude out of his car seat, then took Zach by the hand and walked up to Company.
“Okay Mommy,” Zach replied as she opened the door and followed Zach in.
Zach ran straight to Buzz who was behind the counter and Harley saw Gus already sitting at a booth.
“Hey buddy,” Buzz greeted as he swung Zach into his arms. “Um, you might want to eat dinner at home tonight,” he said quietly to Harley, “Aitoro’s back in town,” he continued as he motioned towards Gus’s booth.
“I know he is, I’m meeting him for dinner,” Harley replied. “It’s a business meeting,” she assured him after receiving a questioning look.
“Uh huh,” was all he said. “Do you want a high chair for Jude?” he asked.
“Yes, and a booster seat for Zach, please,” Harley answered then took Jude over to the booth and left Zach to trail after his grandfather.
“Hey, sorry we’re late,” she apologized. “Oh, that’s okay,” Gus replied quickly as he stood up. “Hi,” he greeted with a smile when he finally looked at her.
It was obvious to him that she had been rushing to get to dinner. She was flustered and looked exhausted, but at that moment, he knew why she could make his heart stop when she walked into the room. She was radiant. He finally forced himself to stop staring at her and turned his attention to the baby in her arms.
“Hey there Jude,” he said as he reached over and tickled his side. “He has gotten so big.”
“You’re telling me,” she laughed as Buzz came over with a high chair and helped Zach into his booster seat.
“Is this a new fashion trend?” Gus asked as he played with Jude’s feet when he noticed he had two different shoes on.
“Oh, I don’t know where my head is today,” Harley sighed as she strapped Jude into the high chair then collapsed into the booth beside Zach and took off both of Jude’s shoes. “I got out of the station late and had to pick up the boys at Phillip’s and Rick’s, that’s why we’re late, I hope it didn’t throw off your schedule. I mean, I don’t know if you have to be back in Chicago at a certain time,” she rambled and Gus just watched and listened. What she neglected to leave out of her explanation was that she had stood in front of her closet for twenty minutes trying to find something to wear for her dinner with him.
“Harley,” Gus finally stopped her by reaching over and touching her hand. “It’s fine, really,” he assured her.
“So, Zach how are you doing little man?” Gus asked, turning his attention to Zach who was busy coloring on the kid’s menu Buzz gave him.
“Okay,” Zach answered shyly.
“You’ve grown up so much since the last time I saw you. How old are you now?” he asked.
“Two!” Zach exclaimed, holding up two fingers proudly.
“Two? You’re almost as old as me!” Gus said.
“He’s silly, Mommy,” Zach laughed as he turned to Harley.
“He sure is,” Harley agreed and Gus laughed with them as Buzz came over to take their orders.
While they ate, they talked a little about the kids, what Gus was working on in DC and Harley filled him in on her new partner, a middle aged man who was more concerned about his comb-over than catching criminals.
“How’d you get stuck with him?” Gus said sympathetically.
“Luck of the draw?” Harley rolled her eyes.
“And you thought you couldn’t get worse than me,” he winked.
“Well, I didn’t say he was worse than you, actually,” she laughed.
“That’s true,” Gus smiled, “Oh, how was Jude’s check-up? Everything okay?” he asked.
“Oh yeah, everything was great. He’s a healthy little guy. He had to get some shots which he didn’t really like, but he did okay,” she answered. “Actually, I think they hurt me more than him,” she joked and Gus laughed.
“Mommy, I’m full,” Zach complained as he pushed his chicken nuggets away.
“Honey, you only ate two chicken nuggets. What did you eat at Daddy’s this afternoon?” she asked.
“Ice cream,” he answered hesitantly.
“Ice cream, of course,” she sighed.
“I have to go potty,” he said quietly.
“Okay, I’ll take you,” Harley said as she slid out of the booth and helped him down. “Can you just watch Jude for a few minutes?” she asked Gus.
“Sure,” he replied and she followed Zach to the bathroom.
As soon as Harley left the room, Jude turned towards Gus and started crying.
“Oh, don’t do that,” Gus said and tried to comfort the baby. “Mommy will be right back, and you know me. I’m the first face you ever saw. Scary, I know,” he joked, then laughed at himself, but Jude continued to cry. “Okay, let’s see what kind of toys Mommy brought for you,” he said as he dug through the diaper bag and pulled out a ring of oversized plastic keys.
When he dangled the keys in front of Jude, he reached for them and Gus set them on the tray in front of him, but Jude kept his arms out, reaching for Gus. Gus reached over and unbuckled him and pulled him out of the chair and into his lap and held the keys in front of him.
By the time Harley and Zach got back, Jude was giggling at the funny faces Gus was making at him.
“He was crying, so I thought I’d try to entertain him, I hope you don’t mind,” Gus explained as they sat back down.
“No, it’s fine,” Harley replied as she moved Zach’s plate out of the way and he went back to coloring on his kid’s menu.
“So, do you have an answer for me?” Gus asked as he turned Jude around in his lap and Jude decided Gus’s finger was more interesting than his toy.
Harley sighed, “Yes, I will go with you to Paris,” she answered. “I don’t know why you want me, but you do, so I will help you. I just hope I come back,” she added quietly.
“You will, I promise,” Gus replied seriously. “I think he likes my finger,” he joked as he looked down at Jude who was slobbering all over Gus’s hand.
“He’s cutting some teeth,” Harley nodded.
“You’re probably going to have to come down to DC for a day or two before we go to Paris, so you’re all caught up. And you’ll probably have to go through some routine questioning,” Gus said and Harley nodded.
“So how long do I need to tell Phillip and Rick I’ll be gone?”
“A week, probably. Yeah, we’re not going to want to be there too long before the meeting, but we have some work to do there first,” Gus answered.
“What am I supposed to tell them?”
“You can tell them you’re going to France to work on a case for the FBI. They don’t need to know specifics. They can reach you twenty-four hours a day if they need to.”
“Okay.”
“Thanks for doing this Coop. I never would have asked you if I didn’t think you were the best person for the job. And I would never put your life in danger if I didn’t think I could protect you.”
Harley nodded, “I know. I do trust you to protect me, and I hope that you trust me too.”
“I do,” he replied as Jude started fussing.
“Oh, he’s probably hungry. Let me make him a bottle and then I’ll take him,” Harley said as she dug through the diaper bag and went back to the kitchen.
When she returned, she reached for Jude, but Gus reached for the bottle instead.
“Can I feed him?” he asked.
“Uh, sure,” Harley agreed and handed him the bottle.
Gus put the bottle in Jude’s mouth and Jude grabbed hold of it as Gus laid him in his arms. Jude happily sucked on his bottle as he looked up at the man holding him.
“Now I know why,” Gus said as he looked up at Harley.
“Why what?” she asked.
“Earlier, I was thinking how you did this, raise two kids on your own. I mean, I could tell that you were rushing around earlier, trying to pick them up and get them ready to come here to meet me, and I know that you have to do that everyday, twenty-four hours a day, and you really don’t get much in return,” he explained.
“Yes I do,” she replied.
“Yeah, that’s what I mean, I know that now. Just by watching him look up at me, he’s gorgeous. And when he smiles at you, that’s what you get in return.”
“And it makes everything worthwhile,” Harley added.
“Do you want to have more?” he asked.
“More kids?” she asked and he nodded. “Oh, I can’t even think about that right now,” she laughed. “Besides, three kids by three different fathers is more than enough, but four?” she sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe in a few years if I ever get married again. What about you? Do you want kids?”
“Sure, you know if I find someone to spend the rest of my life with. I think I would be a pretty good father,” he replied.
“I think so too. You can tell a lot about a man by the way he is around kids. And I mean, you’re great with my kids, so I think you’d be a great dad.”
“Thanks,” Gus smiled.
An hour later, after a few cups of coffee, Gus looked at his watch.
“I have to go, my flight back to Washington leaves in a few hours,” he said.
“Yeah, I have to get these guys home and in bed,” Harley replied.
“I’ll help you get them to the car,” Gus said as he slid out of the booth and started putting Jude’s jacket on him.
“Thanks. Zach, get your jacket on sweetie, it’s time to go home,” Harley said and in a few minutes, Gus was following her out to her car, carrying Jude.
Gus put Jude in his car seat while Harley helped Zach get in his. Gus shut the back door and opened the driver’s side door for Harley.
“Thanks for helping me with them. And for dinner, you didn’t have to do that,” she said as she walked around the car and stood inside her door.
“Actually, I didn’t, the Bureau did,” he winked. “Thanks for agreeing to help me out with this case.”
“You’re welcome,” Harley replied and an awkward silence came over them for the first time that evening.
“Um, I’ll call you as soon as I know more details about the trip,” Gus finally said.
“Great. Have a safe flight back to Washington,” Harley replied.
“Thanks,” he said and she climbed into the car. “Good night.”
“Night,” she said and he shut the door for her.
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Post by Jen on Jun 13, 2005 20:57:29 GMT -5
Harley sighed as she stepped into the baggage claim where she was supposed to pick up her suitcase and where Gus was supposed to meet her. She looked around the area and didn’t see him, so she looked at her watch. Her plane was already fifteen minutes late, and he still wasn’t there yet. She shook her head, thinking that some things really never did change.
The luggage from her flight was just coming down the belt so she found a free space in the crowd and waited for her bag. Ten minutes later, her bag hadn’t appeared and the crowd around her was thinning, but she didn’t pay any attention when a dark haired man slid in beside her.
“Did you think I forgot about you?” she heard Gus ask quietly and she forced herself to answer coolly.
“No, just figured you were trying to be fashionably late as always,” she replied, not even looking at him.
“Where’s your suitcase?” he asked.
“Still waiting.”
“How was your flight?”
“Fine.”
“Are you only going to talk to me in one word sentences for the rest of the week?”
She paused, thinking before she answered, “Maybe,” she said and smirked at him before she grabbed her bag off of the belt and started walking away.
Gus rushed to catch up to her and tried to pull the handle of the suitcase away from her but she resisted.
“Would you just let me do this? I don’t want to get dirty looks from people because I’m making you pull your own suitcase,” he said and she rolled her eyes then passed the bag to him.
“So where are we off to?” she asked.
“Well, we’ll take your stuff to the hotel then we have to go to the office. They just want to run you through some security measures,” he answered.
“Okay,” she nodded as Gus hailed a cab then opened the back door for her while the driver put her suitcase in the trunk.
“Thank you,” Harley said and slid into her seat.
“So are you going to fill me in now?” she asked after he got in and the driver pulled out into traffic.
“You’ll be briefed when we get to the bureau,” he replied and she sighed. “I’m sorry Coop, I just can’t say much. How are the kids?” he asked, changing the subject.
“They’re great. I miss them already though,” she smiled sadly.
“You’ll be back home with them before you know it,” he replied. “Thanks for coming with me.”
“You’ve already thanked me ten million times and I’ve said ‘you’re welcome’ ten million times. I’m not saying it anymore,” she teased and he laughed.
“Then neither will I,” he smiled at her and a comfortable silence came over the car.
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It was almost ten o’clock by the time Harley was done going through security measures and being briefed on the case. Gus had told her there was a meeting of three families in Paris, what he neglected to mention was that they were meeting to exchange goods. The three families had been involved in a white slavery ring throughout Europe – powerful and wealthy men would request a woman or man of their choice and one of the families would deliver the product. A simple business exchange to them – so much more to the parents, spouses, children and friends of the victims.
So far they knew of three women who were missing and suspected as victims in the slave ring. From what the FBI told her, she understood that this was not a new or unique problem. For years, young women and girls in Eastern Europe had been kidnapped and sold on the black market, forced to work as prostitutes and when they resisted, they were beaten or killed. Their problem however, they suspected was not part of this ring, but a smaller ring that worked in about the same way. The difference was that they were sure the source of the kidnappings was the mob, more specifically the Kozlovic family from Russia, the Mezzini family from Italy and the Laroque family from France. These three families were meeting in Paris, where they would exchange two women that would go to their customers. There were rumors of a third women who had not been kidnapped yet, but they suspected this one would be American and would come with an American family.
The FBI’s Organized Crime Division was split up in three parts in regards to this case. One part had nothing to do with it – they were busy enough with other cases. The second was looking into the rumor about an American women, searching for any hint that they could find. The third, and smallest part was the team going to France for the meeting, which included Gus, Harley and four other agents.
As she and Gus rode back to her hotel in a cab, they were silent. She spent most of the ride staring out the window absorbing what she had heard all day long. It was so hard to believe. The 21st century and women were being sold as sex slaves. She shook her head, trying to forget about the horrible images going through her head. Gus watched her and reached over to stroke her hair. She looked over at him and he smiled.
“It’s a lot to work through, I know. My reaction was the same as yours, I imagine,” he said.
“What’s that?” she asked quietly, pretty sure he was wrong.
“How can something like this happen? These aren’t third world countries we’re dealing with, the customers are powerful, wealthy people, and in some cases, so are the victims. How can we let this happen this day in age? Why can’t someone stop them?” he replied and she nodded slowly. “Well, that’s what we’re planning on doing, Harley. And this is why I wanted you with me, because I know that you care about those women,” he finished as the cab pulled up to her hotel and Gus got out and opened up Harley’s door.
“I’m okay from here,” she said. “Go home and get some sleep Gus.”
“It’s pretty early. Maybe you can call the boys?” he asked and followed her to the front door.
“No, it’s past their bedtime, I’ll call in the morning,” she said, looking at her watch. “I guess I’ll just take a bath and go to bed early.”
“It’s too early,” he replied. “Do you want to go get a drink somewhere?”
“I don’t think so Gus, I really don’t feel like going out tonight.”
“So how about we get a bottle of wine and just talk up in your room?” he suggested.
“Gus, come on…” Harley said with a slight laugh.
“I’m serious,” he replied, taking a step closer to her and grabbing her jacket. “It’s early. Do you really want to go to bed already? Or sit up in your room alone? It’s just wine, Harley, and some friendly conversation.”
“Is that all?” she asked quietly as she looked up at him and he pushed a piece of hair behind her ear.
“Maybe a movie,” he shrugged and smiled. “Unless you want more.”
“Maybe I do,” she whispered, lowering her eyes until he tipped her chin up with his finger.
They stared at each other for a few minutes until she closed her eyes and Gus touched his lips to hers, softly at first until he felt her respond by opening her mouth to his and their kiss became more intense until they were both breathless. Gus leaned his forehead against hers and tried to catch his breath.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked.
“No,” she shook her head against his before she pulled away and walked past him, tugging on his suit jacket as she walked.
She walked up to the door and looked back at him still standing there, not sure what she meant, “You better pay that man if you think you’re going to be staying awhile,” she said then pushed through the front door into the lobby and Gus shook his head and laughed while he went back to the cab and paid the driver before he joined her in the lobby and they went up to her room.
“Uh, I don’t have any wine up here, we’ll have to order it if that’s what you want,” she said as she opened her door and Gus followed her into the room.
“Well, why don’t I go down to the bar and get a bottle? You can call home if you want or whatever,” he suggested and she nodded.
“That sounds good,” she said shyly.
“Do you have a preference?” he asked as he moved in front of her and pulled her close. “Hey, are you okay with this?”
“I think so,” she nodded. “I just need a few minutes. Go get some wine. Red, please,” she finally answered and kissed him quickly before she backed away. “And take the key,” she winked as she tossed it to him and he smiled before he left the room.
Gus took his time getting down to the bar, wanting to give Harley as much time as she needed and he needed to take a breath too. He could hardly believe what had happened the past ten minutes. He didn’t expect to kiss Harley and he certainly didn’t expect her to reciprocate. His plan for the week was to keep things completely professional. His feelings for Harley hadn’t changed at all, but he didn’t want to push her and there were more important things they had to deal with.
Up in her room, Harley leaned against the closed bathroom door and took a deep breath. Was she crazy? She just welcomed Gus Aitoro into her hotel room. With alcohol. She shook her head then opened her eyes and looked in the mirror. Did she really want to do this? Her head was screaming ‘No!’ at her, but her heart was screaming ‘Yes!’. She couldn’t deny that there was something between her and Gus, as much as she wanted and tried to. Before she agreed to help him with this case, she promised herself that she was going to keep things professional between them. She was in no position in her life to get caught up in a whirlwind romance with someone like Gus, she had to concentrate on her children, but tonight the way he stroked her hair in the cab and the way he understood exactly what she was thinking got to her. And he was right, she didn’t want to be alone and she didn’t exactly regret kissing him. In fact, she couldn’t wait until he got back to kiss him again.
She almost grabbed a revealing slip out of her suitcase, but decided on cropped pajama pants and a tank top instead. It was more comfortable, and definitely less revealing. She didn’t want to give Gus the wrong idea about tonight. She brushed her teeth, pulled back her hair and came out of the bathroom just as Gus was coming back into the room.
“Hi,” she smiled at him.
“Hi,” he replied and held up a bottle of wine and two glasses. “Red,” he said and set the glasses on the table and filled them before handing one to Harley and sitting down on one of the chairs.
“Thank you,” Harley replied as she sat in the chair across from him, feeling a little shy and nervous.
“Did you call home?” Gus asked.
“Oh, no. It’s late, the boys are asleep and Dad is probably closing up Company right now,” she answered.
“Find anything good on TV?”
“I didn’t really look,” she said and he smiled. “What?” she asked, wondering what was so funny.
“Why is this so awkward?” he asked and she exhaled and smiled back at him.
“I don’t know.”
“Well, I’m going to be a typical man and flip through the channels until I find something good, okay?” Gus asked and touched her hand before he got up and sat on the edge of the bed with the remote.
“How’s it going over there?” Harley asked after a few minutes and more than a few sips of wine.
“A little lonely,” he replied and she stood up and walked over to the bed.
She set her glass of wine on the nightstand and sat on the bed with her back against the headboard while he stayed at the bottom.
“You’re going to make me come to you, aren’t you?” she teased after a few minutes of being ignored.
“Yep,” he replied and looked back at her quickly before turning his attention back to the TV.
“Fine,” she said and crawled down the bed, kneeling behind him. She reached around and pulled his tie off, tossing it to the floor. “Why don’t you come up here with me,” she added as she kissed his neck and ran her hands down his back.
He followed her back up the bed on his knees and pulled her up with him into a deep kiss. He tangled his fingers in her hair and pulled her close as their tongues mingled passionately. Harley moaned into his mouth and grabbed the sides of his shirt, pulling it out of his pants.
“Harley,” Gus groaned and put his hands on her face, pulling away from her kisses. “Harley, wait,” he said and she stopped kissing his neck and looked up at him.
“I know,” she said quietly as she nodded her head.
“Come here, we should talk,” he said and pulled her down on the bed beside him.
“You want to talk?” she asked with a slight laugh.
“Believe me, no one is more shocked than me,” he teased. “It’s just…I wasn’t expecting this. And I wasn’t planning it, I swear. I promised myself I was going to keep things professional between us this week. So I’m sorry,” he rambled.
“Sorry for what?” Harley asked.
“For pushing you, for kissing you,” he answered.
“Gus, you didn’t push me. You weren’t kissing yourself, and what do you mean you’re sorry you kissed me?” she asked defensively.
“I don’t mean it like that. I mean I’m sorry if I was out of line,” he explained.
“You weren’t, I wanted you to kiss me,” she replied.
“You did?”
“I did,” she nodded.
“Oh,” he smiled and she leaned over and kissed him softly.
“Gus…you were right to stop me. I’m not ready for us to…,” she began but Gus stopped her with his finger on her lips.
“Shhh…it’s okay,” he said. “This is enough for now. This is perfect,” he added and pulled her into his arms.
“This is good,” she nodded against his chest and both were fast asleep in only a few moments.
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Post by Jen on Jun 15, 2005 17:23:39 GMT -5
Harley’s phone rang loudly at six o’clock on the dot the next morning, pulling both she and Gus out of their sound sleep. Harley reached over and answered the wake up call, then hung it back up before stretching in Gus’s arms as he moaned.
“Tell me it’s not time to wake up,” he complained.
“It’s six. We don’t have to be there until nine,” she replied and settled back against his chest.
“I guess we fell asleep,” he murmured. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. This is nice,” she replied.
“I should probably get going soon – I need to shower, change and finish packing,” Gus said. “I’ll come back and get you and we’ll go get breakfast somewhere, sound good?” he asked.
“Yeah, but do you have to go right now?”
“No, not yet,” he answered and kissed her forehead.
A half an hour later, Gus finally crawled out of the bed and got his shoes and jacket back on. He sat on the edge of the bed and tried to retie his tie, but gave up and left it hanging around his neck. He reached over and stroked Harley’s ankle before he crawled up the bed and straddled her on his hands and knees.
“I’ll try to be back around eight, but I’ll call you before I leave. I’ll bring my car, so we can put your luggage in there this morning so we don’t have to come back,” he said.
“Okay, I’ll be ready,” she replied.
“Good,” he smiled and kissed her. “I’ll see you in a bit,” he added then kissed her one more time before he left the room.
Harley sighed and thought about rolling over and going back to sleep but decided she better get up so she was ready when Gus got back. She was ready by eight o’clock and Gus called a few minutes later telling her that he was on his way. She got together her luggage and took it downstairs to the lobby where she checked out while she waited for Gus.
She was waiting for the receptionist to print out her bill when Gus walked into the lobby and came up beside her.
“Hey beautiful,” he said as he put his arms around her and kissed her.
“Hi,” she smiled and the receptionist slid her bill across the counter.
“Let me get it,” Gus said and pulled out a credit card.
“Gus…” she protested.
“What? The Bureau would reimburse you anyway, I’ll just put it on my card, they already pay for that,” he explained.
“Alright,” she agreed and put her wallet away as he handed the card to the woman.
“Do you want to do Starbucks or there’s this diner down the street?” he asked as he signed the receipt.
“Which one will be quicker?” she asked and Gus laughed.
“Hard to tell, but it’s late enough that we can probably get a seat in Starbucks,” he answered.
“Let’s do that then,” she agreed and Gus took her suitcase and they headed out to his car.
“This traffic is crazy,” Harley laughed after they pulled out on the street and immediately got into a traffic jam.
“Yeah, we’ll go to the office first then walk to Starbucks. There’s one not far and it will be easier to get to on foot. Got your walking shoes on?” he teased.
“I’ll be fine,” she assured him as traffic started moving finally.
An hour later, they had their caffeine fix and were sitting in a conference room waiting for the latest on the case. The rest of the agents straggled into the room and they took a call from the Judicial Police in Paris while they went over their strategy for the meeting. After they hung up, they broke for an early lunch with orders to return in thirty minutes for one last meeting before they left for the airport to catch their plane.
Gus treated Harley to lunch in the cafeteria and she teased him about spoiling her before they went outside so Gus could smoke and Harley could call home. Frank had the boys for the day so she got to talk to Zach and told Frank to give Jude a big kiss for her. She promised to call when they got to Paris and hung up just as Gus was finished with his cigarette.
“Ready to get back?” she asked.
“Can I have a kiss first?” he asked quietly, leaning in closely to her.
“Here?”
Gus nodded in response and moved his face closer to hers until their lips met.
“That was three kisses,” she teased as they broke apart and headed back inside the building.
“Gotta last me awhile,” he smiled and brushed his hand against hers.
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“As most of you already know, yesterday, we got word that seventeen year-old Alicia Davis of Chicago had been kidnapped. Miss Davis is the daughter of Chicago’s Mayor, Charles Davis. She disappeared two days ago, and no contact has been made with the parents from the kidnappers. No ransom, no notes, no phone calls, nothing. This is a recent picture of the victim, from her parents. She’s 5’5”, 115 pounds, blonde hair, blue eyes. Memorize this face, we’re hoping you see her in France. We’re almost positive she is the American woman we’ve heard about and we’re pretty sure we know what family is responsible for transporting her,” the director informed the group later in one of the briefing room with a picture of the girl projected up on the screen. “If she is the girl, she will be going to the Russians – apparently Sasha Kozlovic has requested her himself. From what we hear, she’ll be coming by way of the Santos family from Springfield, Illinois,” he sighed and looked towards Gus and Harley.
At the mention of the Santos name, Harley recoiled from her seat, “I’m sorry, did you say yesterday?” she asked and he nodded. “And you’re sure it’s the Santoses?”
“Yes. We’re very confident in that. The name has been heard more than a few times in the phone taps and bugs we already have in place,” he nodded and she turned towards Gus.
“Yesterday?” she hissed quietly. “You knew about this yesterday?”
Gus shook his head quickly, “No, Harley…” he began, but she cut him off by getting up and standing in the back of the room.
He sighed and put his head in his hands while the director rambled on, his words drowned out by the thoughts in Gus’s head. The Santoses? He hadn’t heard about this, he didn’t even know the girl was missing. Why would they be involved in this? Danny had promised him that he was out of the business and even though Gus didn’t believe him, he was sure Danny wasn’t stupid enough to get mixed up in something like this. And then there was Harley. He knew she thought he knew about all of this yesterday and didn’t say anything to her. He was going to have a lot of explaining to do, but he would deal with that later, he thought.
“Uh, is it possible that it’s another family from Chicago? The Sandovals, maybe?” he asked.
“They might be involved also, but like I said, we’re pretty sure it’s the Santos family running this end of the show,” the director said and ended the meeting.
As he headed out of the room, Gus got up and followed him.
“Sir, why wasn’t I told about this development? Since I’m heading up the team, I think it was important for me to know about this as soon as we found out. But it seems like I’m the last to know,” he argued.
“Look, Aitoro, yes, you’re in charge of the team, but when I heard it was the Santoses, you were almost taken off the case altogether. I didn’t tell you before because I didn’t want you doing anything stupid. This way, I know you need to get on a plane soon so won’t go running off like a cowboy. This is your one chance, Aitoro. You mess this up, and you’re done with the FBI. I will not tolerate stupid heroic acts nor will I put up with personal vendettas. You are being sent to France to get those girls to safety and help the JP round up the families. That’s it. It’s not your job to personally punish the Santos family. You’re on thin ice already, I would tread very lightly and I’m counting on your partner to keep you in line,” the director replied.
“I understand your reservations, but I assure you, everything will be done by the books. I just would appreciate being told developments as they come in, not a day later,” Gus said. “You think the Santos family will be delivering the victim?”
“I don’t know. We’ve checked all of the credit records we could, private flight plans, everything and there’s no sign of any of the Santos family members or employees going overseas, to Chicago, hell even to the movies, but they probably keep their tracks covered. We’ll just have to see I guess,” he shrugged. “Detective Cooper looks like she’s about to blow. You might want to take care of that,” he warned Gus and walked away.
Gus turned and saw Harley at the back of the room, fuming. He sighed, grabbed his case and walked back towards her. “Come on,” he said and led her down the hallway into a small, empty room.
“Get off of me,” she hissed when he shut the door and pulled away from him.
“Harley…” he began but she interrupted him.
“I should have known, how could I be so stupid?” she asked. “You told me this had nothing to do with them. You lied to me,” she added angrily. “And you knew this last night, but you didn’t even say anything!” she yelled.
“Would you just shut up for two seconds and let me explain?” he yelled back at her.
She exhaled and backed up to the wall, leaning against it with her arms crossed, “Fine. Try to talk your way out of this.”
“I’m not talking my way out of anything. I did not know about this until you did, I swear. I did not know this girl was kidnapped and I did not know they suspected the Santos family. I did not lie to you. They didn’t tell me because of my history with the Santoses. I was almost off the case completely,” he explained.
“Gee, I wonder why,” she replied.
“Harley, I’m sorry, but I am not lying to you and I haven’t lied to you. And I never would have let last night happen if I knew about this without telling you,” he said.
“How can you say that? You’ve always lied to me when it comes to that family. I can’t do this Gus, I’m sorry, but I can’t. I’m going home,” she replied and started towards the door, but he grabbed her arm to stop her.
“Harley, you can’t. I need you. Those girls need you,” he urged.
“Don’t you dare use them to get to me,” she shot back.
“I’m not…look, don’t do this. If you’re angry at me, fine. I’ve told you the truth, and if you choose not to believe me, that’s your problem, but you have a responsibility to work on this case, to help save those women and you are not walking out on that,” he said. “We have a plane to catch,” he added and opened the door.
Harley bit her tongue to keep from arguing with him and stepped in front of him in the hall, walking a few steps ahead of him and not saying a word the entire time they drove to the airport and waited for their plane.
“Are you going to ignore me the entire time?” he asked as he leaned over while they sat at the gate waiting to board their plane.
“Yes,” she replied quietly.
“You didn’t ignore me just now,” he said cautiously.
“Gus, please…not now, not here,” she protested.
“Well, it’s either here or on the plane,” he replied. “We can go over there and be alone to talk,” he suggested and pointed to an empty area by the window.
“Alright,” Harley agreed, hesitantly and followed him over to the window after Gus motioned to the other agent with them to watch their stuff.
“So?” she asked when Gus didn’t say anything after a few moments.
“So…I don’t know. What happened? This morning, we were so good, and now…” he trailed off.
“Now what, Gus? Do you really have to ask what happened?” she asked, amazed he could be so dense.
“The Santos stuff? I told you that I didn’t know about that. I don’t know how else to convince you that I didn’t other than telling you the truth. If you don’t believe me…”
“I do believe you,” she interrupted.
“You do?” he asked hopefully and tried to grab her hand.
“I believe you didn’t know they were involved before this morning, but that doesn’t change anything,” she answered, pulling her hand away.
“I don’t…you know I’m not doing this to get to the Santoses, so I don’t understand the problem…”
“Look, you may not have been doing this for them, but don’t you see? It’s still about them. Last night was…” she paused and sighed while Gus waited for her to finish. “Last night was great. It really was, and I thought maybe this could work out. But today, hearing their name and seeing your face when you heard the name…I just realized that no matter what, they would always be a part of your life. And I can’t live with being second best, especially not to them.”
“Harley, it’s not like that, come on…” he replied, frustrated. “This isn’t about revenge, it’s about finding those women and keeping them safe.”
“What happens if we don’t find them? What happens if it turns out the Santos family wasn’t involved? Will you still believe they were? Will you go after them with everything in you again just to make them pay because there is a slight chance that they were involved and got away with it?” she asked and Gus stayed silent and lowered his eyes.
“What? You don’t know the answers? That’s fine, because I do. You will go after them, you will make them pay for whatever it is you think they have done wrong. It never ends Gus, and I don’t think it ever will and I can’t deal with that,” she said sadly.
“What can I do? I don’t know how to prove to you that this isn’t about revenge, that I don’t care about that anymore. You have to tell me what to do, because I don’t know anymore,” he pleaded.
“You don’t have to do anything. Don’t do anything, just accept what I’m telling you. I have,” she finished and started past him back to their seats.
“Harley, please…” he began, but she ignored him until he reached out and pulled her back him.
“Gus!” she hissed.
“Jack,” he interrupted.
“What?” she asked, confused.
“My name is Jack Murphy, yours is Jenna. We’ve been married for two years and are visiting Paris for our second anniversary. And these are our rings,” he finished as he held up three rings and placed two of them on Harley’s left hand and the third on his own finger.
“Oh,” she said quietly, looking down at the gold and diamond bands on her finger. “I forgot.”
“I noticed,” he nodded. “We need to do this, we have to be convincing. Can you handle this?”
“Let’s just worry about keeping those girls safe,” she replied, dodging his question and went back to their seats.
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Post by Jen on Jun 17, 2005 22:34:07 GMT -5
“Can I get you something to drink?” an attractive male flight attendant asked Harley after they were in the air.
“Well, what do you have?” Harley asked, smiling.
“We have Coke products, spring water, sparkling water, wine, cranberry juice, tomato juice, orange juice, coffee, anything you’re in the mood for we probably have,” he winked.
“How about a vodka and cranberry juice?” she asked.
“Coming right up,” he smiled and got the drink ready. “Going on vacation?” he asked as he handed her the cup.
“Actually…” she began.
“Yes, we are. It’s our second anniversary,” Gus cut in. “She’s always wanted to go to Paris and I would do anything for her,” he added as he took her hand in his and kissed it.
Harley forced a smile and dug her fingernails into his hand, “Yes, vacation,” she replied to the attendant who nodded and blushed a little from being caught flirting with a married woman.
“Can I get you something sir?” he asked Gus.
“I’ll just have a ginger ale, thank you,” Gus replied and he poured his drink while Harley shot Gus a dirty look.
“What are you doing?” Harley asked after the man moved down the aisle.
“What are you doing?” he asked her, “We’re supposed to be married and on a romantic vacation and you’re flirting with the flight attendant.”
“I was not flirting,” she argued.
“Oh my god, yes you were and he was flirting with you!” Gus replied.
“Okay, so? We are not together,” she said quietly.
“We are this week,” he reminded her. “And what about last night?”
“We talked about that,” she replied.
“It doesn’t change what happened,” he argued.
“No, but it does change what could happen,” she countered. “I don’t want to fight about this again,” she added sadly.
“I don’t want to fight either,” he said. “We don’t have to fight.”
He slid his hand over Harley’s and threaded his fingers through hers. She stiffened at his touch and refused to let her fingers fall into place next to his.
“Harley, last night was amazing, you said so yourself,” he began as he leaned closer to her and lowered his voice. “I know you remember how it felt to kiss me and to fall asleep in my arms. Nothing has changed. I never lied to you, I didn’t do anything wrong, and I won’t. I want this too much. Last night, you wanted it too and I think you still do,” he finished and touched his lips to hers as if he was trying to prove his words by the soft contact and for the first time, Harley didn’t respond to his kisses. Gus looked up and met her cold eyes with his as she pulled her hand away from his.
“I’m sorry, Gus,” she whispered and he felt his eyes fill with tears as he finally realized she was serious.
Harley saw his eyes glisten and had to turn away, knowing that if she looked at him for even one more second, her defenses would fall and she would be back in his arms. When she turned her head and busied herself with a magazine, Gus looked out the window into the blackness of the night as he blinked back the tears that had surprised him at her dismissal.
He never wanted anyone as much as he wanted Harley and even more, he never cared more about anyone than he did her. And at that moment, he never hated himself more for not being the man she wanted and deserved.
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“It’s impossible to sleep on these planes,” Harley complained as she fidgeted in her seat later then laid her head back against the seatback.
“Do you want the window? You can at least lean again the wall,” he offered and she shook her head.
“No, thanks, I’ll be okay,” she replied.
“Get up,” he urged and tried to stand up.
“It’s fine,” she argued but he pushed her to get up so she finally did and they switched seats so Gus was sitting in the aisle.
“Now you won’t be able to sleep,” she said.
“That’s okay, I’m not really that tired anyway,” he replied. “But you should sleep.”
“I’m planning on it,” she nodded and put the small pillow between her head and the wall of the plane, trying to get comfortable.
She was asleep in a matter of minutes and Gus flipped through a report on the Davis kidnapping. Everything pointed to the Santos family being involved and it did make sense in some ways, but it didn’t in others. Drugs, tax fraud, bank robberies, murder even, that’s Santos stuff. Kidnapping a teenage girl and selling her to be a prostitute? That didn’t fit in with the Santoses he knew. Even Danny would have moral issues with that. And Carmen had a young daughter, he didn’t think she would be messed up in something like this. He just couldn’t wrap his head around it as he read through the file and brainstormed. After a half hour, he chuckled to himself and rubbed his eyes. Maybe Harley was getting to him if he was giving the Santos family the benefit of the doubt.
As he stuck the file back into his bag and got his pillow down from the overhead compartment, Harley stirred and sat up in her seat, leaning her head back and falling back asleep. He sat back down and tried to put the pillow behind his head, but it wasn’t working, so he just threw it on the floor between them and laid his head back, closing his eyes.
He was just about to drift off to sleep when he heard Harley stir again and felt her head lay on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and tried to look at her without disturbing her and he heard her steady breathing and sighed himself.
“Gotta take what I can get, I guess,” he said quietly and closed his eyes again.
Gus was still asleep when Harley woke up a few hours later and quickly took her head off of Gus’s shoulder. She cringed when she realized that she had been sleeping on him, but breathed a sigh of relief when she realized he was asleep. Maybe he didn’t notice, she thought and moved her pillow back to the wall and tried to go back to sleep. When it didn’t work, she gave up and pulled the case report out of Gus’s bag and looked it over.
Gus woke up a few minutes later and stretched in his seat then looked over at Harley reading the report.
“What do you think?” he asked and she looked over at him, startled by his voice because she was too engrossed in the report to realize he was awake.
“Uh, I don’t know,” she shrugged.
“Did you sleep?” he asked and she looked away, remembering where she woke up at.
“Yeah. You?”
“Enough,” he nodded and looked down at his watch before he reached over Harley and slid the window up.
Outside, the sun was just starting to come up, casting an orange glow over the clouds below them.
“Wow. That’s beautiful,” Harley breathed as she leaned forward to get a better look.
“I’m glad you were awake. I wanted you to see it,” Gus said quietly with a smile then sat back in his seat.
“I’m glad too…” she replied then changed the subject. “So how long until we land?” she asked.
“A few hours,” he shrugged.
“I am ready to get off this plane. Why couldn’t they spring for first class seats on such a long flight?” she asked as she shifted in her seat.
Gus laughed, “Yeah right. We’re lucky we didn’t have to stow-away in the baggage area,” he teased. “Don’t worry, the flight back is a little bit shorter.”
“Great. Something to look forward to,” she rolled her eyes and Gus smiled as she went back to reading the report.
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“Well, that wasn’t as difficult as I thought it was going to be,” Harley said as she and Gus walked away from baggage claim with their suitcase and stood in line for Customs.
“Yeah, well, we’re not through Customs yet. We might have to put on a show here,” he replied.
“I’ll follow your lead,” she said and he nodded as they moved forward in the line.
When it was their turn at the window, they walked up and slid their passports to the man behind the glass. He looked at their passports, up at them, then back down to the passports before passing them back and motioning them on with his head. They got through the rest of Customs without any issues and got outside where there was a line of taxis and cars waiting for passengers.
“Guess we won’t have a problem getting a taxi,” Harley said and started over to the one closest to them when Gus grabbed her arm and pulled her back. “What?” she asked.
“We already have a ride,” he said as he pointed down the sidewalk at a black limousine sitting behind a driver in a suit smoking a cigarette with one hand and holding up a sign that read ‘Murphy – US’ with the other hand.
“A limo?” she asked, surprised.
“A couple going on their second honeymoon in Paris would never take a taxi to their hotel,” he replied and put his arm around her, leading her down to the car.
The driver put their luggage in the trunk and Gus opened the door for Harley, then followed her into the backseat.
“Wow…this is nice!” she said as she ran her hand over the black leather.
The driver got in the front seat and spoke to them through the window, “There is champagne in the bar. We should be at the hotel in about forty-five minutes,” he said then put the privacy window up between them.
After they were alone, Gus put his finger to his lips and pulled a small, metal object from his bag and flipped a switch before he swept it over the backseat area. When he was satisfied, he put the object away and got the champagne out of the bar, pouring two glasses and handed Harley one.
“Just checking for bugs. It’s clean,” he smiled and took a sip of the bubbly liquid.
“You think someone would bug our limo?”
“You never know,” he shrugged.
“What about our hotel room?”
“That’s what Sampson, Robbins and Kilmer are doing right now. They got here a few hours ago and are already checking the room and common areas of the hotel,” he explained.
“Won’t that blow our cover?” she asked.
“Nah,” he shook his head. “Sit back and enjoy the ride,” he smiled.
They pretty much sat in silence the rest of the ride until Gus put his window down and told Harley to look out of it.
“Wow…” she exclaimed as she saw the city of Paris in front of her, the Eiffel Tower rising high above the rest of the buildings.
“Welcome to Paris,” he said as she leaned across him looking at the view.
“I just wish it was under better circumstances,” she smiled and sat back in her seat.
“Me too…” he replied.
Twenty minutes later, the driver pulled up to their hotel and opened the back door for them. Gus got out and reached in for Harley’s hand while she looked up at the gray stone building that would be their home for the next few days.
“Welcome to Victoria Palace Hotel,” the driver said, “You may check in at the front desk and the concierge will bring your belongings in.”
“Thank you,” Gus said and tipped him before leading Harley inside.
Gus smiled at Harley’s giddiness as they rode the elevator up to their room.
“I can’t wait to see our room. Do you think we’ll have a good view?” she asked
“I asked for a good one,” he replied as the doors opened and the bellboy led them down the hallway.
He opened the door and they walked inside the room. Against one wall was a king-sized bed covered in ivory sheets with dark-wood nightstands on either side of it. At the foot of the bed to one side was a small sitting area with a loveseat, a chair, and a coffee table; to the other was a desk with a chair. The walls were covered in a deep red textured wallpaper that complimented the patterns in the chairs and loveseat. While Gus checked out the minibar in the corner of the room, Harley explored the bathroom.
“This is a nice bathroom!” she exclaimed and Gus stepped inside the door to see what she was so excited about. “I thought European bathroom were supposed to be small.”
“Where did you hear that?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she shrugged.
“Well, not at a four star hotel,” he said and went back into the room. “Let’s check out the view,” he suggested and opened up the door that led to the small balcony.
“Small balcony,” she said when they realized both of them could barely fit on it with the chair that was already there.
“Oh well, the view makes up for it,” he said as he pointed out at the horizon where they had a view of the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and the Seine River.
“Yeah it does. This is amazing,” she replied then put her hand on top of his. “Good choice,” she said and he smiled over at her. “I’m going to take a shower,” she added and he nodded before she went back into the room.
“This is going to be a long day, isn’t it?” she asked after they had both showered and gotten dressed.
“Probably. The meeting is set for tomorrow night, so we have a lot of work to do,” he answered. “Ready? We have some time to grab lunch on the street before we go to the station,” he said and after she nodded, he led her out of the room to start the long day ahead of them.
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Post by Jen on Jun 21, 2005 22:36:36 GMT -5
“This is like some really bad nightmare,” Harley said quietly as she and Gus looked over more reports on the missing girls, including new information on the girl from Chicago.
“I know,” he nodded.
“My daughter is only two years younger than Alicia. She has blue eyes and blonde hair too…”
“Don’t think like that,” Gus stopped her. “Think like a cop. Let’s look at the facts, the victims, the perps, the locations. The meeting is scheduled for tomorrow night at seven o’clock,” he said and she nodded.
“In the old wine warehouse on Rue de Grenelle,” she nodded. “Victim one, Senator Jacqueline Rousseau from Moselle, France.”
“Who will be delivered to the Mezzini family by the Laroque family,” Gus picked up. “The representative from should be Christophe Laroque. He’s the eldest son of Gerard Laroque who is now out of the business. Christophe has taken over, in every sense of the word. He’ll probably have a good number of bodyguards though. I’d say at least three of them. Next.”
“Francesca Romano from Milan. Twenty-eight year old model,” Harley began. “Obviously coming with Antonio Mezzini and was requested by Laroque, right?”
“As far as we know,” Gus nodded. “Last one – we hope – Alicia Davis. Seventeen, Chicago, personally requested by Sasha Kozlovic, supposedly being brought by the Santos family,” he said hesitantly.
“Yeah…” she replied. “Gus, do you really think it’s the Santos family?” she asked.
“I don’t know…it doesn’t make any sense to me. As strange as this sounds, I think Danny and even Carmen are better than this,” he answered.
“But why would their name be coming up so much if they didn’t have something to do with it?” she wondered aloud and Gus didn’t answer her. “What about Tony?”
“Hmm…I don’t think so. I mean, yeah, he has a bad temper, but as a mobster, he’s pretty much a wimp,” he replied and Harley’s eyebrows rose. “His bark is worse than his bite – he doesn’t do any of the dirty work himself and usually takes orders from Danny and Carmen.”
“Maybe he’s calling the shots this time,” Harley shrugged.
“It’s possible I guess, but it still doesn’t all fit to me,” he said as the door opened and a secretary stuck her head into the room.
“Agent Aitoro, there is a phone call for you, line three,” she informed him in a thick French accent.
“Thank you,” Gus replied then picked up the phone on the table and pressed a button to be connected. “Oh, really? Where? Any good reason why? Alright. Thanks,” he finished then hung up.
“What’s up?” Harley asked.
“Danny Santos went out of town today,” he answered and wrote some things down in his notebook.
“Where did he go?”
“Good question,” he replied. “No one seems to know, but he’s definitely gone. Apparently he was flying himself and we can’t get a flight plan. Hopefully he’s on his way here,” he added.
“What?” Harley asked. “You just told me you didn’t think it was him.”
“Well, yeah, but that was before we knew he left town. The meeting is tomorrow night, we’re pretty sure the Santos family is involved and today Danny flies himself somewhere and no one knows where? You think that’s just a coincidence?” he asked.
“Well, I don’t know. But I’m surprised at your quick change,” she shot back.
“I’m looking at the facts Harley. I’m not pulling this out of thin air, come on!”
“I know, but you actually want him to be a part of this!” she said.
“Yeah, I do. I would love to nail the Santos family for this – is that what you want to hear? I’m a cop Harley, I want to catch the bad guys and the Santos’s are bad guys, no matter what your little friends Michelle and Rick tell you. I want to catch the people who are doing this and if it is Santos, that’s like killing two birds with one stone, so you’re damn right I want them to be a part of this,” he replied angrily before storming out of the room.
Harley rushed out after him and finally found him outside smoking.
“Hey! What the hell was that?” she asked.
“What?” he asked innocently.
“Five minutes ago, you actually sounded like you were making progress. Then you get one phone call and you’re back on your stupid vendetta.”
“I guess I am,” he replied and took a drag of his cigarette.
“Why? Why are you doing this?” she asked.
“Why not? I don’t have any reason not to go after them,” he said and met Harley’s confused eyes.
“You know, when I left Springfield, I had closure on my father’s death, at least a little bit of closure. I realized that I couldn’t waste my life going after Danny Santos, and that was because of you. I had finally started to move on from that part of my life and I meant it. And then this happens. You’re here, with me and then the other night in D.C…I thought that maybe things were finally starting to go right for me. But when you heard the word Santos, it was over. Anything that was or could have been was over, and I knew that. You’re right, they are always there, even when I don’t want them to be, and maybe they always will be. I hate that I can’t get them out of my life and my head, I hate them and I hate myself.”
“Gus, don’t say that…” Harley interrupted sadly.
“Don’t interrupt me, please. I’m trying to admit that you’re right here. I was stupid to think that a few months and hundreds of miles could really get them out of my life. I was honest with you when I said this wasn’t about revenge. It’s not, it’s really not, but I understand now why you can’t do this. And as much as I would like to change that, I know that I can’t now.”
Harley stood silently in front of the railing on the balcony, surprised at Gus’s honesty and saddened by his words and self-loathing. Finally, she took a step forward closer to Gus.
“I, uh…” she began but he stopped her, placing a finger over her lips and shaking his head.
“Can you just give me a few minutes? I need another cigarette, and then we can go. It’s getting late,” he said and removed his finger.
“Okay,” she nodded and went back inside the building leaving Gus alone on the balcony.
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Harley crawled into bed later that night while Gus took his turn in the bathroom. She moved as close to the edge as possible and smoothed out the covers around her before she slid under them and pulled them up to her neck.
“This is going to be a long night,” she mumbled as she rolled onto her side and faced the bathroom door, her back to the middle of the bed.
Gus came out of the bathroom a few minutes later and got in the other side of the bed. With Harley clinging to the other edge, there was enough room for two other people between them.
“Are you okay with me sleeping here?” Gus asked.
“Yeah,” she replied, without turning towards him.
“Okay,” he replied and shut off the lamp next to the bed and rolled onto his side, facing Harley’s back.
He laid there for a few minutes trying to force himself to close his eyes, but all he could concentrate on was the curve of Harley’s body underneath the covers and the way her hair fell across the pillow. For the first time, he noticed she was letting her hair grow and he suddenly felt the urge to reach out and run his hand through it then wrap his arms around her the way he did only a few nights earlier.
“I’m going to sleep on the floor,” Gus said, sitting up.
“What?” Harley asked as she rolled over.
“We have a long day tomorrow and you’re not going to get much sleep clinging to the edge of the bed and I’m…just get some sleep,” he said and took his pillow and an extra blanket from the closet and tried to get comfortable on the floor next to the bed.
“Good night,” he said when he got settled.
“Night,” she replied quietly and buried herself into the covers.
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“Coffee,” Gus said as he came back into the conference room and handed Harley a cup of steaming coffee.
“Thank you,” she replied. As much as she tried, she didn’t sleep well the night before. She missed her kids, the case was bothering her, and she was bothered by what happened with Gus earlier in the day. She really believed that he wanted to be rid of the Santos’s from his life, and he had tried to do that, but they were still there. The attempt to get past it was a big step for Gus, she knew that, but it didn’t change anything between them.
Gus fought back a yawn as he took the seat next to Harley and stirred his coffee. The floor of the hotel room was hard and uncomfortable, but his mind wouldn’t let him sleep much anyway. When he finally did drift off, he had a dream that he was in a big warehouse like the one the meeting was supposed to take place in later that day and he was being held at gunpoint by an unseen man with Harley on one side of him and Danny Santos on the other and he had to choose which side to go to. He woke up in a cold sweat before he made his choice, and it bothered him, because he was sure that he would have chosen Harley over Danny…at least he hoped that that’s what he would have chosen. Not that it really mattered, he chose months ago to stop his vendetta against the Santos family and it got him in Harley’s hotel room a few nights earlier, but then all of a sudden, they were in his life again, making the gap between him and Harley bigger by the minute.
Gus sighed and gulped his coffee as one of the Judicial Police who was heading up the investigation, Captain Lumiere, came into the room and started the meeting.
They started by updating all of the agents on what they had learned overnight, which wasn’t much other than some flight plans for Kozlovic and some rumblings from the Laroque family about getting a room ready for their “delivery”. Apparently Christophe Laroque was very particular about what he wanted in the room. He had called his decorator in the middle of the night, screaming at her in French about the bedding not being the correct shade of red as he requested.
“I can’t believe this guy’s worried about the color of the bedspread he’s going to make his prize sleep in,” Gus said quietly, leaning over towards Harley.
“I can’t believe any of this,” she replied.
After they looked over a blueprint of the warehouse the meeting was to take place in and ran through the plan of attack what seemed like a hundred times, they broke for lunch and Gus and Harley took the opportunity to leave the station and grab a bite to eat at a café a few blocks away.
“Are you nervous about tonight?” Harley asked Gus before she took a bite of her sandwich.
“I’m terrified,” he admitted. “I am afraid we are too late, and the girls have already been hurt or sold. I am afraid that those families will get away with this, and I am afraid we’re walking into a lion’s den.”
“Well, you’re not allowed to be afraid of that because you told me that we would be safe. And we will be,” she replied with a smile which Gus returned.
“You’re right,” he nodded. “How’s your sandwich?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Fabulous,” she gushed and took another big bite.
Ten minutes later, they were walking back to the station when all of a sudden, Gus grabbed Harley around the waist and pulled her close to him and backed her up against the wall of a building.
“Play along,” he whispered before he pushed her into the wall and kissed her.
After a few seconds of shock, she felt herself give into his kisses and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“What was that?” she breathed when they broke the kiss, leaning their foreheads against each other.
“I saw someone I recognized,” Gus said. “He’s at four o’clock. Black, long hair pulled back, goatee, black leather coat,” he described and Harley pulled him close in her arms and looked over his shoulder.
“You just described eighty percent of the men on this street,” she whispered.
“You’ll see him. It’s Sasha Kozlovic,” he replied.
“I see him. Do you think he would know you if he saw you?” she asked, still confused about what just happened.
“No, I…I just panicked,” he replied and looked down as he backed away from her finally. “Sorry,” he added.
“Better safe than sorry,” she said and put her arm around his waist. “Let’s not draw any more attention to ourselves though, okay?” she teased and they walked down the street past Kozlovic and noticed he had at least two bodyguards with him.
“Well, at least with him being in town, we know we’re on the right track,” she said as Gus turned his head and looked back at their target.
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“What’s going on?” Gus asked one of the agents that came with them when he and Harley walked back into the conference room and save the Captain on the phone looking angry.
“I don’t know, but my guess is that it’s not good,” the agent replied and Gus and Harley took their seats again and waited.
After hanging up the phone and a long string of curse words in French, Captain Lumiere sat at the head of the table and took a drink of water while the rest of the room sat, waiting for an explanation.
“The meeting is off,” he finally said and the room erupted in confusion. He motioned them all to quiet down and continued, “We just heard that the Mezzini family cannot deliver, so the meeting is off.”
“What about the other girls?” someone asked.
“I don’t know,” Lumiere shrugged.
“We just saw Kozlovic out on the street. Are we sure this isn’t just to throw us off?” Gus asked.
“You saw Kozlovic? Was he alone? Did you see any of the girls?” Lumiere asked.
“He had a few bodyguards with him, but there was no sign of anyone else with him,” Gus shook his head.
“There are no indications that they are on to us, but we know Laroque is angry that he’s not getting his girl tonight. He had big plans for her,” a French Lieutenant added.
“Why can’t Mezzini deliver? Can he not get here tonight, did something happen with Francesca? Do we have any word on her?” Harley asked.
“Nothing yet,” Lumiere replied.
“Well, now what are we supposed to do?” Gus asked and the room became silent as everyone waited for an answer.
“Go home. Or in your case, go sightseeing,” Lumiere sighed and left the room.
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Post by Jen on Jun 23, 2005 0:38:02 GMT -5
“Dammit!” Gus yelled as he and Harley stepped out onto the balcony after leaving the conference room.
“Gus…” Harley sighed.
“We were so close to nailing these people! And now, we have nothing,” he vented.
“Nothing against the Santos family, you mean,” she offered.
“Nothing against any of them,” he spat back at her. “Why do you keep doing that? You get mad if I mention them, but you can’t keep yourself from throwing it in my face.”
“I’m not throwing anything in your face!” she yelled back and he scoffed.
“Why don’t you just give me the benefit of the doubt for just five seconds? Just five seconds, that’s all I ask!”
“How can I do that with someone who is so impossible?” she replied, throwing up her hands in exasperation before she went back inside, leaving Gus alone sulking on the balcony.
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“So honey," Gus said as he wrapped his arm around Harley's shoulders when they walked into the lobby of their hotel after they left the station, "What do you feel like for dinner? Or do you want to skip dinner and got straight to dessert?" he asked then kissed Harley's neck and got an elbow to the side.
"Whatever you want, dear," she smirked.
"You know you could make this a little more believable," Gus said after they were in their room.
"Well, I'm sorry if I don't feel all lovey-dovey around you, we didn’t exactly have a great day," she shot back. "Look, can we just go eat?" she asked as she went into the bathroom to change. "I'm starving."
"Yes, which is what I was asking you about downstairs."
"Oh. I don't care where we go," she said through the bathroom door.
"I saw this bar earlier. Maybe we can go there?"
"God yes, anywhere with alcohol," she answered as she stepped out of the bathroom in jeans and a tight shirt that made Gus do a double take.
"Uh, are you ready?" he asked, clearing his throat.
"As soon as I put my shoes on," she replied and sat down on the bed with a pair of calf-high boots.
"Why do you wear those things, they have to be uncomfortable," Gus said as he winced at the thin heels and pointy toes.
"Because they look good, don't they look good?" she asked as she straightened her leg at the knee and showed off her boot.
"Beautiful." he replied quietly and she looked at him strangely.
"Actually, they're pretty comfortable once you get used to them," she added as she straightened out the leg of her jeans and stood up.
"Let's eat," she said and headed out the door.
When they stepped out onto the sidewalk, Gus reached for her hand but she pulled it away and stepped ahead of him. He quickly caught up to her and grabbed her arm.
"Would you just hold my hand?" he asked quietly and took her hand in his again and after a few minutes, he felt her hand relax in his.
"So where is this bar at?" she asked. "And what kind of bar is it?"
"Actually, it's right here," he said as he stopped walking and Harley looked up at the sign above the door.
"Home on the Range?" she read. "Are you kidding me?" she laughed.
"What? It's an American country bar for tourists. I'm craving a cheeseburger like you wouldn't believe," he said as he opened the door and pulled her in.
Harley thought she miraculously traveled across the world and was in Texas when they walked into the dark, smoky bar and she heard peanut shells cracking beneath her expensive boots.
"Am I in hell?" she asked.
"Oh come on," he said as he pulled her over to the bar and ordered two beers then they found a table.
"See, now isn't this nice?" Gus asked after a very American waitress took their orders.
"Lovely," she rolled her eyes.
"You know, you'd be a lot more fun if you would just lighten up," he added.
"What does that mean?"
"You're always so critical of everything," he answered.
"I am not."
"Well, you are around me. Maybe it's me…maybe you feel like you have to protect yourself around me," he shrugged.
"Why would I think that?" she asked quietly.
"Because I have a way of getting to you like no one else can," he answered just as quietly.
Harley opened her mouth to say something but the waitress interrupted them with two more beers and she decided against saying what she was planning on.
"Want to dance?" he asked, motioning to the dance floor that was filling up.
"No," Harley scoffed.
"Come on, Coop. This is one of those times when you need to lighten up and live," he replied.
"I don't think dancing on peanut shells counts as 'living'."
"You've never danced on peanut shells with me," he said as he stood up and reached out his hand.
She took it after some hesitation and stood up with him. "Alright. One dance."
He led her into the middle of the dance floor and pulled her into his arms as a new slow song started. It took her a few moments to get comfortable enough to settle into his touch but when she did, he felt her arm around his neck pull him closer.
When I look at you I see the souls of our unborn children If I reach for you Will you take my hand Are you willing You turn more than the music on But will you be there by my side at the dawn Then I'll say
All right, I give in I will dance with you just this one time And all night We will turn and spin Then stand eye to eye at the sunrise And you offer love And it all begins when I say All right, I give in
Before the end of the first chorus, Harley had completely relaxed in Gus's arms. She wrapped both of her arms around his neck and he encircled her waist with his, each of them pulling the other as close as possible. He buried his face into the curve of her neck and whispered her name. He had dreamt of holding her like this for so long, feeling her hips against his, moving slowly to the rhythm. She wasn't putting on an act right now, and they both knew it. Gus also knew that she would never admit it and the second they got back to their table it would be like nothing happened.
If I sing for you Would it be the sweetest sound you've ever heard And if I pray for you Will you know that I believe in every word You build me a house on stone Will you promise me I'm never gonna be alone Then I'll say...
All right, I give in I will dance with you just this one time And all night We will turn and spin Then stand eye to eye at the sunrise And you offer love And it all begins when I say All right, I give in
He sighed as he lifted his head and his eyes met hers. Harley ran her hand up his neck into his hair and pulled his head down to hers until their lips were barely touching. She could hear his breathing get ragged and felt her own heart beating like crazy.
You turn more than the music on But will you be there by my side at the dawn
She knew the last thing she should do was to kiss Gus right then and there, but she found herself not caring much about the Santos family or whether or not he would hurt her in the future. She just wanted to feel his lips on hers now. She finally closed the small distance between them and let her lips brush his, softly at first then she gave in completely.
Then I say... All right, I give in I will dance with you just this one time And all night We will turn and spin Then stand eye to eye at the sunrise And you offer love And it all begins when I say All right, I give in
Suddenly, Harley pulled away from Gus.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that," she apologized, covering her mouth.
"Yes, you should have," he argued as he pulled her back to him.
"No, Gus. Please," she pleaded with him to forget what she just did and he dropped his arms from around her.
Harley wrapped her arms back around his neck, “We should keep dancing until our food comes. In case anyone’s watching,” she said quietly.
Gus pulled her close to him and kissed her shoulder as a new song began. “Just in case…” he whispered. I've got a funny feeling The moment that your lips touched mine Something shot right through me My heart skipped a beat in time
There's a different feel about you tonight It's got me thinkin' lots of crazy things I even think I saw a flash of light It felt like electricity
You shouldn't kiss me like this Unless you mean it like that Cause I'll just close my eyes And I won't know where I'm at We'll get lost on this dance floor Spinnin' around And around And around And around
They're all watchin' us now They think we're falling in love They'd never believe we're just friends When you kiss me like this I think you mean it like that If you do maybe kiss me again
Everybody swears we make the perfect pair But dancing is as far as it goes Girl you've never moved me quite The way you moved me tonight I just wanted you to know I just wanted you to know.. "Our food's here," Harley said, and pulled away from Gus’s warm embrace. They ate most of their meal in silence, neither of them able to get out of there fast enough. Harley wanted to crawl under a rock and forget how stupid she was giving into Gus like that and Gus wanted to run outside and scream in frustration.
"How was your burger?" he finally asked, breaking the deafening silence.
"It was fine," she answered.
"Do you want another beer?" he asked and she shook her head. She was being stupid enough without adding more alcohol to the mix.
"Okay, I'll go pay and we can leave," he said as he stood up and went over to the bar.
Harley put her head in her hands. It was going to be a long, quiet night with both of them in the hotel room with nothing to do.
"Ready?" he asked when he got back to the table and she nodded before following him out of the bar.
They seemed to take the long way home and Gus kept his arm around Harley's back although even she could notice the change in that. There was nothing behind it but putting on a show.
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Post by Jen on Jun 24, 2005 23:41:07 GMT -5
By the time they got back to the hotel, it was almost ten and Harley took a long shower while Gus smoked what seemed like a pack of cigarettes on the balcony. By the time Gus had gotten out of the shower, Harley was in bed, hoping it would keep Gus from wanting to talk, or anything else for that matter. Gus grabbed his pillow and blanket and found a semi-comfortable spot on the floor and tried to fall asleep.
Harley had her eyes closed since she heard the bathroom door open and she was finally starting to drift off when her mind wandered to the dance she shared with Gus earlier, especially the kiss. It felt so right being in his arms again, feeling his lips on hers, but at the same time, it felt wrong. She swore to herself that she would never let herself fall in love again. She would not get her heartbroken again. Why couldn't she fight the feelings she had for Gus? She knew it was more than lust, although there was definitely that too. She just couldn't say what it was. She forced her eyes open and sighed as she rolled over to face Gus.
"Are you asleep?" Harley asked quietly.
"No," he replied. "You?"
"Obviously not," she rolled her eyes.
"Why not?"
"I was just thinking," she began as he sat up and leaned against the wall.
"What were you thinking about?" he wondered.
"A lot of things."
"Well, since we're both awake, why don't you elaborate on that a bit?" Gus suggested.
"I was just thinking about tonight. It was nice. I mean, here we are in Paris, where we could do anything and we ended up spending the evening at an American bar dancing to country music," she laughed.
"I just wanted a cheeseburger," Gus explained, laughing with her.
There were a few moments of silence before Harley spoke up again.
"Are you happy?" she asked quietly.
"That I got my cheeseburger? Yeah, it was pretty good," he answered.
"That's not what I meant. You always ask me if I'm happy, but I realized that I've never asked you if you're happy. So, are you?" she clarified.
"Well, that depends."
"On what?"
"On when you're talking about. If you're asking if I'm happy right now at this moment, or if I was happy tonight at that bar, then yeah, I was. But if you're asking about every day, and whether my life makes me happy, then no, I'm not happy at all," he sighed.
"What's the difference?" she asked quietly, even though she was pretty sure she knew the answer already.
"You," he replied simply in a whisper. "You know, I look back at my life and think about all the times I thought I was really happy, and I compare them to how I feel when I'm with you, and they just don't compare. When I'm with you, whether we're working or fighting or laughing or just having a civilized conversation, I'm happy. And I feel something that I haven't felt in a long time, and in a lot of ways, something I've never felt before," he confessed. "When I was a kid, I was always happy. Really happy, cause I was with my dad. He was my hero, is my hero. And after he died, I was never really happy again, until I met you. I am a selfish, inconsiderate man, Harley, but you...I don't know, somehow you make me want to not be that way anymore. And I think I'm not when it comes to you. I try to put your happiness before mine, I worry about whether you're comfortable working with me. I didn't leave Springfield for this job in DC. I would have stayed in Springfield without even hesitating if I thought it wouldn't bother you. But I know that it does. I know you're uncomfortable with me, whether it's because of the Santos family or because I'm such a jerk or whether it's easier than admitting any feelings you might have for me. I don't know…all I know is that when I'm with you, I'm happy and I just wish that you could be happy when you're with me too," he finished, dropping his head.
"What if I already am?" she asked quietly after a long pause. "What if tonight made me happy, what if when I saw you sitting at my desk two weeks ago, I felt my stomach drop. What if seeing you makes me want to run away and run into your arms at the same time? You claim to know what makes me comfortable and uncomfortable, but how can you? When I don't even know? I don't hate you. I don't even dislike you. I…the way that I act around you is my defense. Because I've been swept off my feet before, and I've always been dropped. Hard. And it hurts and I don't think I could survive hurt like that again."
"Let me pick you up. Let me try, at least. Give me a chance to prove to you that the last thing I want to do is hurt you. I don't think I'm even capable of hurting you that way. I…Harley, I'm in love with you. I've never said that to anyone before, because I've never felt this way. And you might think that's just one more reason to run, but it's not. I love you, and I love loving you, and I would never do anything to cause you even a second of pain. When we kissed tonight, that was real. That wasn't putting on an act because we were undercover. It meant something to me, something real and beautiful. And I think it meant something to you too."
"It does Gus, it always has."
"Then why do you keep running? Are you so afraid of taking a chance that you're willing to give up what could be a great thing? You're willing to spend the rest of your life alone, raising your children alone, just so you don't run the risk of getting your heart broken again? You say you're scared, but I'm scared too, Harley. I'm scared that I just put my heart out there to someone who might get off the plane with me, leave and never look back. I'm scared that I might never know what it feels like to be loved by you or to make love to you. But you are worth every fear that I have. I know you are. And I think I am too."
"Stop, please?" she pleaded and he leaned back against the wall and put his head in his hands as he let out a frustrated sigh.
Harley rolled over and buried herself in the covers on the bed until she couldn't take the silence anymore. She knew she couldn't stay in that room, she felt like she was suffocating in everything that Gus had said and everything that her heart and mind were screaming. She wanted to run, she wanted to get as far away from the room as possible, but running through the streets of Paris at midnight was even more dangerous than dealing with her feelings. She crawled out of bed and grabbed her robe, putting it on as she went out on the balcony.
She stood out there for a long time, the midnight wind blowing her hair and robe, thinking, but trying not to.
"Harley," she heard Gus say from behind her. "Come back inside."
"I'm sorry, Gus. I can't do this."
"Yes you can, Harley. Don't think about it, just do it. Turn around and look at me and do what your heart tells you to. Let me hold you," he pleaded.
"I can't. Because I am afraid I will never let go," she shook her head.
"So don't let go," he said quietly as he wrapped his arms around her from behind.
"But you will," she added.
"Give me the chance to prove to you that I won't," he said, "Give me one night. Let me hold you and kiss you and touch you the way you want me to. Let me make love to you and show you that you are everything to me. Why are you fighting something we both want so badly?"
"One night isn't enough for me, Gus."
"Well, my plan was to convince you to give me more than one night," he interrupted.
"But it's also too much. I need more than one night of great sex, Gus. I want you, I can't deny that, but I learned my lesson with my last one night stand. I either go all the way or I don't go at all. And I will not put myself in position to get hurt again, no matter how badly I want to. I deserve better than another heartbreak."
"Yes, you do. You deserve a chance at love, but no one can take that chance for you, Harley. I'm here, I'm willing, I'm taking the chance, but you have to make that decision for yourself. And I'll still be here when you do," he said as he kissed her cheek and went back into the room.
Who am I kidding? she asked herself when she was alone again. One night isn't enough for me? In a perfect world it wouldn't be, but it's been over a year since I had sex and that wasn't even that great! I can do this tonight and forget about in the morning, she told herself. She was back on the pill and knowing Gus's ego, she was sure he brought a lifetime supply of condoms with him. And she did want him…probably more than she's ever wanted anyone.
Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll be so horrible that I'll really want to forget about this, she thought as she walked back into the room and saw Gus lounging in the chair, watching TV.
"Is one night enough for now?" she asked quietly.
"Just one?" he asked as he stood up and walked towards her.
"Just one," she nodded and pulled off her robe, throwing it over a chair.
"You drive me crazy," he said, frustrated and swept her up in his arms in a kiss.
Harley pulled away from his lips, "Please don't kiss me," she said quietly and moved her lips to his neck. She knew she couldn't resist his kisses.
Gus knew she was trying to distance herself from him and he wasn't about to let that happen. She wasn't going to use him and not feel anything.
He urged her backwards to the bed and laid on top of her. She continued sucking on his neck as she pushed his shirt up his back. He sat up to pull it off and grabbed her hands pinning them to the bed.
"Look at me," he said quietly and she opened her eyes. "Let me kiss you," he added and leaned down, putting his face close to hers until she reluctantly nodded and lifted her own head to cover his lips with hers.
He let go of her arms and she rolled them over so she was straddling him and went back to kissing his neck. She trailed her kisses over his chest and stomach to the waist of his pants then back up to his lips while her hand stroked him through his pants. Gus moaned into her mouth and rolled them back over.
"Do you have a condom?" she asked breathlessly between kisses.
"Yeah," he answered and continued kissing her.
They both stopped cold when they heard a knock on their door. They looked at each other for a second and went back to kissing, ignoring the door until the knocking turned into banging.
"Judicial Police," a deep voice came through the door, "Open the door."
"What the hell? Is this illegal?" Harley asked as she pushed Gus off of her and got off the bed.
Gus stood in front of her and ran his hand through her wild hair. "Okay?" he asked as he started for the door and she nodded.
He opened it and two men in dark suits came into the room.
"What's going on?" he asked. "You guys are new."
"Agent Aitoro?" the taller of the two asked.
"Yes."
"We were instructed to escort the two of you to the station. Captain Lumiere needs your assistance tonight."
"Right now?" Harley asked.
"Yes, mademoiselle," he nodded.
"Well, alright. Give us a few minutes to change," Gus agreed and opened the door for the men.
"We'll be right outside the door," the other man said and they shut the door behind them as Harley searched for something to put on.
Before Gus could say anything, she had gone into the bathroom and shut the door. Gus sighed as he grabbed a suit of the closet and changed.
Harley threw cold water on her face and watched it drip off in the mirror.
"What did I almost do?" she asked herself quietly and shook her head.
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Post by Jen on Jun 25, 2005 23:56:03 GMT -5
When they were both dressed, Gus opened the door and they followed the two officers out of the hotel and got in the backseat of a dark sedan. While the officers filled them in on what was going on, Harley avoided any eye contact with Gus and stared out the window watching the city fly by. Gus shook his head when he saw Harley avoid him. He should have known this would happen. He was a fool to think one night could have made her realize they should be together.
"Detective Aitoro?" one of the officers repeated.
"I'm sorry, what?" he asked, brought back to reality.
"I said that call was from the Captain. You're to get into your vests and make sure your guns are loaded and ready. We're going to the warehouse instead of the station. If you pull down the seat between the two of you, you'll find vests and bullets. I assume you're carrying standard American issued Glocks?" the man asked and Gus nodded as he tugged at the small loop and pulled down the back of the seat.
They had become pros at quickly getting into bulletproof vests and they were under their clothes in less than a minute. They both checked their guns and saw they were already full, but each grabbed another round just in case.
By the time they got to the warehouse, they had been briefed on what was going down and were the last to arrive. Kozlovic had decided to hold the meeting even though Mezzini couldn’t deliver the Italian woman to Laroque. Kozlovic wanted his request fulfilled and didn’t care about anyone else. It was expected that Laroque would not be happy and there could be a shootout. They were the last to arrive at another warehouse about a half mile down the street from where the meeting was going to take place. As they rushed over to the group, Harley grabbed his arm and pulled him aside.
"Gus, wait. I wanted to apologize for what happened earlier...what almost happened earlier. I never should have let that happen. And I'm glad we were interrupted before we did something we would both regret," she said quickly.
Gus shook his head, "Whatever," he scoffed and walked away from her.
”Agent Aitoro and Detective Cooper will continue their married tourist act and approach the guard outside of the warehouse, asking for directions. They will immobilize him, quietly, and we’ll move in. When we do, Agent Aitoro, you'll be coming in with us," the Captain instructed then turned to Harley, "you'll join Agent Sampson up above doing surveillance," he told her and she nodded. "Let's go," was his final instruction and the group spread out to their designated areas and Gus and Harley started down the street in character.
“What are we looking for?” Harley asked as she slid her arm through Gus’s and walked close to him.
“The closest metro stop,” he answered and pulled Harley closer to his side, kissing her cheek as they came into view of the bodyguard keeping watch over the warehouse.
“Honey, let’s ask for directions,” Harley said loudly.
“We don’t need directions!” Gus argued. “We have a map.”
“And we’re still lost,” she added and stepped ahead of Gus towards the bodyguard. “Excuse me sir, do you speak English?” she asked and he hesitated before slightly nodding his head. “Honey, he speaks English,” she told Gus and he joined her by her side.
“We’re trying to find a metro station. We got a little lost, complete tourists, you know,” he laughed.
“The closest station is one block north and then two blocks west,” the burly man instructed, pointing down the dark street.
“Could you show me that on this map? I’m sorry to be such a pain,” Gus said as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a city map which he unfolded in front of the man.
“It’s so dark, sweetie, do you still have that flashlight on your keychain?” Gus asked Harley.
“Oh yeah,” she replied and pulled a set of keys out of her pocket and held the light up from behind the two men.
With her other hand, she got the stun gun out of her pocket and zapped the guard in the back of the neck as he gave Gus directions.
“Lousy bodyguard,” she said as he dropped to the ground and she sprayed a gas in front of his face to keep him unconscious for a while.
“Showtime,” Gus said as squeezed Harley’s hand before he joined the rest of the team that had assembled outside of the warehouse and Harley joined Sampson and two French agents by the fire escape.
They scaled to the top windows of the building as quietly as possible and managed not to make any sound that couldn't be attributed to rats. They took their positions above the group of men and took in the situation before motioning the other to go in.
While Laroque argued with Kozlovic about when he would get his girl from Mezzini, Harley identified Jacqueline Rousseau from France and much to her relief, Alicia Davis of Chicago. There were eight other men in the room, three standing by Kozlovic, two by Laroque and the other three were by Alicia. Harley looked closely at those three and didn’t recognize any of them as Santos employees, puzzling her more than she would like to admit. Alicia and Jacqueline were each being held by one man, bound and gagged. They both looked unharmed for the most part, and Harley breathed a sigh of relief that both were present and they could be taken to safety as soon as possible.
On of the French agents with her finally gave Lumiere the signal and the rest of the group rushed into the warehouse, guns aimed and surrounded the surprised Mafia circle.
Lumiere yelled out accusations of kidnapping and other charges in French, Russian and English after warning the bodyguards to set down their weapons.
The refused and everyone in the room found themselves in a standoff, bullets ready to fly at any small twitch.
“It’s over Kozlovic,” Lumiere continued. “Let the girls go and tell your guards to surrender their weapons.”
Kozlovic stifled a laugh, but smirked at Lumiere. “You heard him boys,” he said and all of the guards put down their weapons.
“The women,” Lumiere demanded.
“I’m afraid I can’t let that happen,” Kozlovic said and a shot rang through the air from a dark area of the room and Harley saw Gus drop his arm that was holding his gun and grab his chest. She knew the shot was for him, but he was wearing a vest, it shouldn't have hurt him, she convinced herself until she saw him pull his hand out of his jacket and it was covered in blood.
By this time, the bodyguards took advantage of the distraction and pulled their guns out again, while the one closest to Gus kicked the gun out of his hand, catching Gus's chin with the toe of his boot along the way, causing both the gun and Gus to fall to the ground.
"Gus!" Harley screamed silently when he didn't get up or make any move to.
Before the rest of the agents could recover the gun, the shooter grabbed it and aimed it on Gus. Harley gasped and trained her gun on the man in case she needed to fire it. She didn’t want to shoot him if she didn’t have to, but it appeared she didn’t have much of a choice. Everyone was taken off guard by the lone shot from the dark and they had lost their advantage. She had a clear view of the gun and felt sure she could shoot it out of his hand and cause enough of a distraction for the agents to get the upper hand again. Gus still hadn't moved and there were guns aimed on both sides. Harley weighed her options, took aim, announced she was shooting into her headset and pulled the trigger.
The blast surprised the mobsters and the man holding the gun screamed in pain when it was shot out of his hand, grazing the tip of his thumb. One of the agents finally apprehended the shooter and everyone lowered their guns when they saw the agents above them, guns trained on them. When they had gotten all of the guns on the ground and the mobsters with their hands up, each agent apprehended one and the other agents attended to Gus, Jacqueline and Alicia. The Captain gave the agents above the signal that they should come down and help and Harley practically leaped off of the fire escape and rushed to Gus's side.
"Where was he shot?" she asked as ripped open his shirt and stuck her hand inside looking for the blood.
As she ran her hand along the bare skin along the edge of the vest around his underarm, a piece of a bullet scratched her fingers and she pulled her hand out and saw blood.
"God, Gus, this isn't that bad. Why aren't you awake?" she asked aloud and wiped her bloody hand on the leg of her pants then ran it through his hair and found more blood.
"He hit his head. Is there an ambulance on the way?" she demanded and the agent who was with them told her there was.
"Wake up Gus," she pleaded as she finally heard sirens in the distance.
She climbed into the back of the ambulance with him and they were on their way to the hospital. She was told to stay in the waiting room and a doctor would come speak to her soon.
Agent Sampson joined her and gave her an update on the situation. Jacqueline and Alicia were both brought to the hospital to get checked out, but both seemed to be fine physically besides a few cuts and bruises. The team had apprehended Laroque, Kozlovic and the rest of the men at the scene, including the unidentified Americans who were responsible for Alicia. Harley barely heard a word Sampson told her while she waited for information about Gus.
After over an hour she grabbed a nurse and asked what was going on. The nurse couldn't seem to understand what Harley wanted to know so she asked for a doctor.
The doctor who had been working on Gus finally came out a half-hour later and Harley rushed up to him asking how Gus was.
"Mademoiselle, sit down, please," he said and Harley's heart sank. That could only mean bad news.
The doctor saw Harley's panicked face and stroked her arm, "My apologies, mademoiselle, you just seemed jumpy. Your friend will be fine. His gunshot wound is very superficial. The bullet did enter the skin, but we were able to remove it and stitch the wound. There was no tissue damage and it should heal in a matter of days. His chin will be sore and bruised as well, but he has a slight concussion. I stitched the cut on the side of his head and now we are waiting for him to wake up."
“He’s still unconscious?” she asked, worried.
“Yes, but that could also be from the anesthesia we gave him. He should wake up soon.”
Harley breathed a sigh of relief, "So he's going to be okay?"
"When he wakes up, he should be."
"Oh thank you," she replied, "Can I go see him?"
"Oui," he replied and led her into the room.
He explained to her the IV in Gus’s arm and the monitors he was hooked up to before leaving her alone in the room.
“Gus…oh god, this is one time I want you to be awake and bug the hell out of me. You just refuse to do anything I want you to, huh?” she teased quietly and ran her hand through his hair as she sat beside the bed.
“Things went well, Gus. The girls are safe and the perps are behind bars. Now you need to wake up so we can celebrate,” she added and lowered her chin to her chest after the response of a still body.
She sat beside his bed for a few more hours before Sampson came into the room and asked how he was.
“No change. The doctor keeps saying he should be awake soon, but he’s not,” she replied. “How are Jacqueline and Alicia?” she asked.
“Miss Rousseau has been released and is at the station. Miss Davis is still here. I think she is asleep and they are waiting for her parents to arrive before they take her to the station,” he answered.
“Is she talking at all?” Harley asked and he shook his head.
“No, not to us.”
Harley looked at Gus, then back at Sampson. “I want to go see her, maybe she’ll talk to me. Can you stay with him, please? I don’t want him to be alone when he wakes up.”
“Sure,” he nodded. “She’s in 417.”
“Thanks. Let me know if he wakes up,” she said before he ran her hand over Gus’s arm then left the room.
“Alicia?” Harley asked as she peeked her head in the door of Room 417. “Can I come in?”
The small body lying covered up in the bed rolled over at the sound of an American voice and looked at Harley.
“Yeah,” she answered quietly and sat up in her bed. “Who are you?”
“My name is Harley Cooper. I’m a police detective from Springfield,” Harley answered her. “How are you feeling?”
“What are you doing here if you’re from Springfield? I thought everyone here was in the FBI,” Alicia asked.
“Most of them are. I used to work with one of the agents and he asked me to come along and help on the case.”
“The one who got shot?” Alicia asked and Harley nodded. “Is he going to be okay?”
“Absolutely. He’s tough,” Harley forced a smile. “Alicia, I know you probably don’t want to talk about what happened the past couple of days, but you need to talk to the FBI agents so we can make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else. You don’t have to talk right now, and you don’t have to talk to me if you don’t want to, but I thought it might be easier to talk to me than a guy.”
“Yeah,” Alicia replied quietly. “Are my parents coming?”
“They should be here in a few hours,” Harley nodded. “I was just thinking that I could stay here for a little while and if you want to talk we can, if you don’t want to, we don’t have to. Whatever,” she smiled, trying to make Alicia feel comfortable. “Oh, I brought you this. It was the only thing I could find in English,” she added as she handed her the latest issue of People.
“Thanks,” Alicia replied and flipped through the magazine but didn’t say anything else.
“So you’re a junior?” Harley asked.
“Yeah.”
“I have a daughter who is just a few years younger than you. She goes to school in Connecticut.”
“Why?”
“Well, she’s a dancer and it’s a great school for dancing,” Harley answered.
“Does she live with her Dad?”
“No, her father died a few years ago.”
“Your husband?”
“No. He was her adoptive father.”
“Oh. You must have been young when you had her,” Alicia noted.
“I was. Too young, but the couple who adopted her was wonderful. Her mom died a few years before her dad.”
“Are you two close?”
“Yeah, we are now. She’s a great kid and I had nothing to do with it,” Harley smiled.
“I’m sure you did. Do you have any other kids?” Alicia asked, willing to talk but not about what Harley wanted to know.
“Yes I do. I have two little boys. Zach is almost three and Jude is six months old.”
“Very little.”
“What about you? Do you have any bothers or sisters?” Harley asked.
“I have a younger sister, Amanda. She’s twelve.”
“Do you get along?”
“Sometimes. Sometimes not,” Alicia laughed. “She likes to borrow my stuff without asking.”
“Yeah. Little sisters are like that,” Harley replied. “I was a complete tomboy when I was a kid and I always took my older brother’s stuff.”
Alicia laughed then got quiet and flipped through the magazine for a while.
“Did you get them?” she finally asked in a near-whisper.
“What?”
“Those guys. Are they in jail?”
“Yes, they are. You don’t have to worry about them anymore,” Harley assured her. “Do you know what their names were? Who they were?”
“They called each other Luis and Rico, but that’s it,” she shrugged.
“Did either of them ever mention the name ‘Santos’?” Harley asked cautiously.
“No. I don’t think so,” she shook her head.
“Did they hurt you?” Harley asked, glad she was willing to talk.
“Only when I talked back to them. They slapped me a few times, kept me tied up…”
“Did they ever try to touch you? Sexually?”
“No. Not really. They would touch my face and say stuff, but that’s all,” she answered.
“That’s good,” Harley said as she touched Alicia’s hand. “Do you know where they kept you?”
“No, I don’t know…I don’t remember much of it right now.”
“That’s okay. Anything you can tell us helps. Is there anything else I can get you?” Harley asked.
“No, I think I’m going to try to sleep. Will they let me know when my parents get here?”
“Absolutely. Do you want me to stay until you fall asleep?”
“Will you?”
“You bet,” Harley smiled and sat back in the chair while Alicia curled into a ball under the thin covers and closed her eyes.
She was asleep within a few minutes and Harley left the room and asked the nurse to let her know if Alicia needed anything then she went back to Gus’s room.
“No change?” she asked as she walked into the room and saw Sampson flipping through the channels on the television.
“No,” he replied. “How’s she doing?”
“She’s okay. She’s sleeping. I got names of the guys, but that’s it. She never heard them mention Santos at all,” Harley told him.
“Damn. Lumiere just called me. They can’t get anything out of those guys about who their boss is. He doesn’t even think they know anything. They were just told who to take and where to take her. No names, nothing.”
“Any word on Francesca?” Harley asked.
“Oh, yeah. She got away from Mezzini, but he didn’t want to tell Kozlovic that. She showed up at a station in Rome. She’s okay, physically, like the others, you know,” he told her.
“So is Mezzini in custody?”
“They’re working on it. But it’s not our case anymore. We’re just working on Kolovic, Laroque and the clueless Americans. I bet there have been more than a few jokes about that among the JP,” he teased and Harley cracked a smile.
“You should get some sleep,” he added as he looked at his watch and saw the near-dawn hour.
“I’m okay,” she replied and pulled another chair up to Gus’s bed. “I wish he would wake up.”
“He’ll be okay,” he assured her. “You can tell me if it’s none of my business, but are you two a couple?”
Harley sighed, “No…we’re not a couple.”
“Oh. Well, you could have fooled me. I’m going for some coffee, can I get you some?” he asked.
“No thanks,” she shook her head and he left the room.
“Please wake up. There is so much we have to talk about,” she whispered as she pulled her knees up to her chest and closed her eyes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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Post by Jen on Jun 29, 2005 2:00:50 GMT -5
Harley looked at her watch when she heard a cart rolling down the hallway outside of Gus’s door and saw that it was eight o’clock and the nurses were handing out breakfast. Gus still hadn’t waken up yet, but the doctor assured Harley that he would. His vitals were good, his body just needed time to heal itself. Harley wished it would heal a little faster. She got out of the hard chair she was sitting on most of the night and stretched. Her bones ached from the stressful and sleepless night. She closed her eyes as she reached down and touched her toes and saw Gus getting shot and hitting the ground again. She shook her head to rid herself of the image and cracked her neck. She dragged herself out of the room down to the vending machine for a cup of coffee and thought about the last twelve hours of her life. The evening started out horribly, with her and Gus arguing about something that she couldn’t even remember anymore, then they went to the bar. Gus was his pushy, annoyingly correct, usual self about her and her feelings and then they danced. And kissed. Harley closed her eyes as she remembered the feel of Gus’s arms around her, pulling her body so that it melted perfectly into his. She gave into his touches and she had to admit on some level she was glad she did. He made her feel sexy and desired and it was hard to resist. Another round of fights before they went back to the hotel then awkward silence until they crawled into bed and had the revealing conversation about Gus’s feelings for her and like she always did, she threw up her walls and begged him to stop pushing her. Then she gave in, they were so close to making love and they would have if those agents hadn’t shown up. After she had a chance to clear her head, Harley was glad for the interruption, but now she wasn’t so sure… People always say that you don’t know what you have until you lose it, and that definitely rang true for Harley today. It was easy for her to push Gus away when he was still there, she knew he would still do whatever he could to get to her. But when she saw him go down, she realized that it was her turn to do whatever she could to get to him. The flip-flops she felt a few weeks earlier when she first saw him sitting at her desk were nothing compared to the knot her stomach had been in the past six hours. She had decided once and for all that when Gus woke up, she was going to be honest with him – and with herself – she was going to follow her heart and give Gus a chance in her life. On her way back from the vending machine, she stopped in to check on Alicia. Her parents hadn’t gotten there yet, but she got a good night’s sleep and looked much better than she did through the middle of the night. As she forced some jello down, she asked Harley about Gus again, and her face betrayed her distress at the news that the man who got shot to save her was still fighting to wake up. Harley assured her that Gus would be fine and that she didn’t have to worry about it. After a few minutes, she gave Alicia Gus’s room number so that she would call Harley when her parents arrived, then she went back downstairs. As she stood outside of Gus’s closed door, she hoped when she opened it that he would be laying in bed, wide awake, ready to fight crime again. Her hopes were dashed when she saw he was still unconscious. She stood at the end of his bed and read half of his chart before she realized it was in French. She flipped the page and read intensely when she finally found some words in English. Over in the bed, Gus’s brain forced him to open his eyes and they focused on Harley standing at the end of the bed "Harley?" he whispered and hoped she would hear him. ”Gus,” she replied with a smile and put the chart back in its place before she rushed to his side. “Oh god, I'm so glad you're okay. How do you feel?" "My head hurts," he answered. "Concussion?" "A little one," she nodded. He put his arm up to touch the side of his head and winced, "Ow. That hurts too," he said pointing to the bandage that covered his skin that the bullet grazed. "The doctor said you are going to be fine. Let me go get him," Harley said and left the room. The doctor came into his room a few minutes later, but Harley didn't. "Where's Harley?" he asked the doctor. "Your friend is waiting outside while I examine you," the man answered. "When can I get out of here?" Gus asked. "Tonight, if everything looks good for the next few hours," he answered. "How do you feel?" "My head and my chest hurt, but good other than that," Gus shrugged. "Good. Let me know if you get dizzy or nauseous," the doctor said as he wrote some things on Gus's chart. "Would you like me to send in la belle femme?" Gus smiled. He knew a little bit of French from the Bureau, and he definitely knew the important words like woman and beautiful. La belle femme , yeah, he thought, that's her. "Please," Gus nodded and Harley was back in a matter of moments. "Everything okay?" she asked. "Yeah. What happened?" he asked. "You don't remember?" "Not a whole lot, it was all pretty fast." "Well someone shot, and it hit your chest. Luckily the bullet fractured and it only skimmed you, but a fragment got lodged in there, so they had to take that out. And when you were a little distracted by the bullet in your chest, one of those guys kicked the gun out of your hand and caught your chin with his boot. You went flying and hit your head," she explained, leaving out the part about the gun aimed at his head. "Oh god. I'm some hot shot FBI agent, huh?" "It wasn't your fault," she assured him. "We got the bad guys and everything is fine." "I'm sorry I brought you into this. I shouldn't have put you in danger," he apologized. "Gus, you didn't force me to come with you. I made my own decision and it was the right one. I'm fine," she insisted. "You should get some rest," she said as she stood up. "I’ve rested enough. Don't go," he replied and she sat back down. “How are the girls?” “They’re both fine. Jacqueline is already home and Alicia is upstairs waiting for her parents.” “Good,” he smiled. “How are you, honestly?” “A little shook up and feeling like an idiot,” she replied quietly as she slid her hand over his and threaded their fingers together. “What? Why?” he asked. “It’s not important right now,” she said and changed the subject. “Kozlovic and Laroque are in custody. We don’t know the guys who brought Alicia though. It’s not clear if they’re on the Santos payroll or not,” she began but Gus stopped her. “I don’t want to talk about any of that,” he said as they heard a knock on the door and Captain Lumiere stuck his head in. Harley left them alone to talk and went out in the hallway and found a nurse so she could ask her a few questions. "She's something," Lumiere said after Harley left. "She saved your life you know." "She what?" Gus asked, not sure if he heard him right. "After you got knocked out, one of the guys aimed his gun at you and she shot it out of his hand. You would probably be dead if it wasn't for her. The rest of us had guns aimed at us after you got shot," he explained and Gus looked out the window at Harley. "I'm glad you're okay. I wanted to thank you for helping us out. We caught a lot of dangerous criminals last night. Let me know if you need anything," he said before shaking Gus's hand and leaving the room. Harley came back a few minutes later with a cup of coffee and sat by Gus's bed. "Did you sleep last night?" he asked her. "A little bit in here," she answered. “In that chair?” he asked and she nodded. “You should sleep. It was a crazy night,” he said. “I’m okay,” she shook her head. “What if I make some room for you in here?” he asked and scooted over in the bed. “Gus…” she blushed. “Come on, I won’t bite,” he teased and pulled her into the bed next to him. Harley laid her head back against the pillow and Gus looked over at her as her eyes filled with tears. “What?” he asked quietly. “Nothing, I was just so worried about you. I’ve been so stupid lately and I was so afraid I wouldn’t get the chance to make things right.” “Harley, I’m fine,” he assured her. “There’s nothing you need to make right.” “Yes, there is. I’m sorry about what happened last night, I mean before the warehouse,” she began. “Oh. Yeah, you already told me that,” he said quietly. “No, that’s not what I meant. I’m sorry for how I treated you. I was pushing you away and then I was going to use you, and I’m sorry. Because you deserve better than that, we…we deserve better than that. Oh Gus…this isn’t really the place where I wanted to talk about this,” she sighed. “It’s okay. We don’t have to,” he replied as he ran his hand through her hair and pulled her close. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ “I cannot wait to get into a hot shower,” Gus moaned as they walked into their hotel room late that afternoon and he fell onto the bed. “Then go,” Harley laughed as she grabbed his hand and tried to pull him off the bed. “I just want to lay here for a little while,” he replied as he pulled her down next to him and they laid in silence for a few minutes. “Go get your shower, then we’ll get some food from room service. You need to eat,” Harley said as she sat up. “Are you going to be my nurse?” Gus teased. “Yes, except for the slutty outfit,” Harley laughed. “Does that mean I get a sponge bath?” he asked quietly. “Go.” Harley ordered and Gus dragged himself into the bathroom. After he got under the hot water, he closed his eyes and let the heat rush over his bare skin. He thought about Harley and the past few hours with her. While they laid in his bed, they didn’t talk about the night before – the hotel room or the warehouse. They didn’t really talk about much at all. They turned on the television and watched some French show that they couldn’t understand, so they made up their own words to it and ended up spending most of the time laughing. It was so different from what their time together usually was like and Gus relished the memory of Harley’s laughter as she laid next to him. Something had changed in Harley from the night before. He wasn’t exactly sure what it meant since they hadn’t had much of a conversation yet, but he thought maybe she was changing her mind about letting him into her life. The past day was such a rollercoaster of events, he didn’t want to push anything, so he decided to let Harley lead and see where she took him. After a few more minutes, he got out of the shower, got dressed and went back into the bedroom where Harley was on the phone. “I’ll call you tomorrow when we land in Springfield, okay?” Harley said into the phone before she hung up as Gus sat down on the loveseat with a bottle of water. “Buzz?” he asked when she turned and looked over at him from the edge of the bed. “Yeah. He’s going to get the boys so they’re at Company when I get there tomorrow,” she answered. “That will be nice. I know you miss them,” Gus smiled. “I do,” she nodded and stood up. “Feel better after a shower?” “Yeah,” he replied. “Your turn.” “I will take you up on that,” she laughed then disappeared into the bathroom. Gus grabbed the room service menu off of the desk and laid back on the bed looking at it, nothing he saw caught his eye and he realized he didn’t want to eat in the hotel room anyway. They had been in Paris a few days and had only eaten from the cafeteria at the station or from a vendor on the street. He wanted a real dinner in a real restaurant. And he was starting to feel some pain around his wound and wanted to numb it with alcohol instead of painkillers. He waited a few minutes until he was sure Harley was in the shower then went and knocked on the bathroom door before he pushed it open a bit. “Harley?” he called out over the running water. “Yeah?” “Do you mind if we go out for dinner? I just don’t want to eat in the room,” he asked. “Yeah, if you’re up for it,” she replied. “I’m up for it if you are,” he said and he heard her laugh softly before he left the bathroom. He called down to the front desk and asked for suggestions for a nice dinner and then called for a reservation. Dress at the restaurant was more formal than the track pants he had put on after his shower so he changed into black dress pants and a long sleeved burgundy dress shirt, completing the outfit with his signature chains and watch. He noticed that Harley had taken a pair of pajamas into the bathroom with her, expecting to stay in the room the rest of the night so he opened up the closet and looked through the dresses Harley brought with her. He finally settled on one and took it into the bathroom after knocking and making sure she was still in the shower. He hung it up on the towel rack and snuck back out. Harley got out of the shower a few minutes later and saw the dress hanging up. She smiled at the thought of Gus picking it out for her to wear and slipped it on after she dried off. She spent the next fifteen minutes fixing her hair and makeup until she was more than satisfied and finally opened the door. “What do you think?” she asked as she stood in the open doorway. “I think I made a good choice,” Gus replied as he stood up and walked over to Harley as he looked at her in the black, knee-length halter dress with aqua-colored ombre sunburst print. The halter neckline was trimmed with black that continued as straps that tied around her neck and hung down her back. “Can you retie this though?” she asked and he nodded as he moved behind her and tied the straps around her neck. “Better?” he asked and dropped his hands, letting his fingers caress her bare back. “Thank you,” she said and stepped forward to find shoes to wear. “We have reservations in thirty minutes so we should get going soon,” Gus said as he got his own shoes on. “Where are we going?” she asked. “New place, just a few blocks away. The guy at the front desk recommended it. Chez Sydney.” “Sounds good,” she said as she slipped a pair of strappy sandals on. “We can get a taxi if you want…” “No, we can walk. It’s a nice night out,” she said. “I’m ready,” she said after she changed purses. “Let’s go then,” he smiled and opened the door for her. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Harley's dress
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Post by Jen on Jul 5, 2005 23:05:47 GMT -5
As they stepped out into the night air, Harley reached for Gus’s hand and threaded her fingers between his. He was surprised at her gesture but smiled as his hand relaxed into hers.
“This way,” he directed and they walked down the street in a comfortable silence to the restaurant.
When the finally got there, there was a mob of people waiting outside and they snuck in to see if their table was ready. The hostess told them the line of people were walk-ins and they were lucky they called for a reservation, but they would have to wait a little while until their table was free.
They went back outside and looked over the menu for a bit until Harley reached over and took it from Gus
“Sorry, was I hogging it?” he asked and she shook her head as she wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him into a deep kiss.
“Actually yes, you were giving all your attention to it, I was feeling ignored,” she teased when they broke the kiss.
“I’m sorry,” he laughed, “was that my punishment, cause…”
“No,” she smiled, “I’ve just been wanting to do that all day.”
“Well I’ve been wanting you to. Why did you wait so long?” he asked.
“Because I’m very stupid,” she replied quietly. “What’s your excuse?”
“Before today you thought I tried too hard,” he answered.
“Oh yeah. I told you I was stupid,” she said and smiled up at him before he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips.
“You’re not stupid. Just jaded and afraid,” he replied.
“I’m not afraid anymore,” she whispered.
“Good,” he whispered back as he brushed his lips against her forehead and pulled her close.
They were finally seated ten minutes later in a small booth and looked over the menu again. A few minutes after they got settled, the chef was making his rounds and approached their table.
“Welcome to Chez Sydney,” he greeted with a slight French accent, “I am Chef Rocco. Is this your first time here?”
“Yes,” Gus answered. “Any recommendations?”
“I recommend it all,” he smiled, “but I do have some personal favorites I can suggest.”
“Please,” Harley nodded.
“Are either of you vegetarian?” he asked and both replied that they were not. “Okay, then I would suggest two different menus. The first would start with Aubergines Bayildi which is a gratin of stuffed eggplant with Coeur de Filet Henri IV, a succulent filet mignon with artichokes and béarnaise sauce. For the other, I recommend the Cocktail d' avocat et de langoustines, it is a refreshing salad of avocado and prawns. To go with that as a main course, I suggest the sea bass with mushrooms and cream, Bar a la Normande.”
“Wow. Sounds good to me,” Gus said and Harley nodded.
“I think you’ll enjoy both menus. Would you like to pick a dessert as well?” the chef asked.
“How about you just surprise us?” Gus replied and Harley laughed.
“You won’t be disappointed,” the chef said. “Bon appetit,” he added then headed back to the kitchen.
“Do you think he came out to take pity on the monolingual tourists?” Harley teased.
“I think that’s probably it,” Gus laughed and reached over for Harley’s hand. “So…” he began and Harley looked at him expectantly.
“So?” she smiled.
“When were you going to tell me?” he asked.
“Tell you what?”
“That you saved my life,” he answered.
“Oh. Well, it doesn’t matter,” she replied. “All that matters is that you’re okay.”
“Because of you. Why did you do it?”
“Because, that’s why I came here. To watch your back. It was my job. And I realized that I didn’t want to lose you,” she answered.
“That’s the answer I was waiting for,” Gus smiled and ran his hand through her hair before kissing her. “Thank you.”
“For saving your life?”
“For everything,” he nodded.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Ready for dessert?” the chef asked as he returned to the table after Gus and Harley had finished eating.
“Oh I think we’re just about at our limit. But maybe we could take one back with us, and another bottle of wine?” Gus suggested and Harley nodded against his shoulder where she was snuggled into his body.
“I will pick one for you then,” the chef replied and disappeared again.
“Another bottle of wine?” Harley asked and Gus nodded. “You really shouldn’t drink so much with your painkillers.”
“I’m not taking painkillers. That’s what the alcohol is for,” he answered and Harley shook her head.
A few minutes later, they were leaving the restaurant and stepped out into the cool night air. Gus slipped off his suit jacket and helped Harley into it before they started down the sidewalk back to their hotel.
“I’m sorry,” Harley said quietly as they walked with their arms around each other.
“For what?”
“For pushing you away so much. I was awful to you and you deserved so much better than that,” she answered.
“You deserve better than you’ve gotten in the past too, Harley. I want to make sure that happens,” he said.
“I believe you. And I’m looking forward to it,” she replied and snuggled closer to his body as they continued walking in silence.
“Are you feeling okay?” Harley asked when they got back to their hotel room.
“Uh huh, why?” he answered.
“You were just quiet the whole walk back,” she shrugged.
“Oh. Sorry, I guess I’m just tired and a little overwhelmed,” he replied.
“Overwhelmed in a good way?” she asked hopefully.
“Yes, in a very good way,” he smiled and kissed her quickly before he slipped off his shoes and settled into the loveseat.
“I’ve been pretty overwhelmed lately myself,” she said as she sat next to him and he pulled her legs up across his lap.
“About what?”
“You, me, us,” she answered as he took off her strappy shoes and tossed them to the ground. “Overwhelmed by how I really feel about you,” she added and ran her hand through the hair across the back of his neck. “Gus…” she paused, waiting for him to look over at her. “I love you too,” she finally said. “I know you didn’t just say it or anything, but you said it the other night, and I didn’t reply and I should have because I do. I do love you and it’s not just something that appeared because I almost lost you, that’s just what it ook for me to wake up and realize it. I think that I have…” she continued but he interrupted her with a kiss.
“Shh…you talk too much,” he smiled and grazed his finger down her cheek. “I love you too,” he replied and pulled her down against his shoulder but winced at the contact with his sore wound.
“I’m sorry,” she said, sitting back up. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” he nodded.
“Let me look at it. We should make sure it’s not bleeding,” she said and started unbuttoning his shirt.
Gus looked down at her hands on his buttons then up at her, “I had to get shot to get you to undress me?” he teased.
“Shh…your nurse is busy,” she replied as she leaned down and kissed his chest where the buttons once covered.
“Don’t let me interrupt,” he smiled and she ran her hands up his chest and smoothed the shirt over his shoulders.
“It doesn’t look too bad. How does it feel? Well enough for some strenuous activity?” she asked in a low, sexy voice that drove Gus to let a deep moan escape his lips before she covered them with her own.
“We don’t have to do this if you’re not ready,” Gus said when they broke the kiss.
“I’m ready, Gus. I love you and we’ve waited too long already. Make love to me,” she finished with a whisper before she stood up and pulled him to his feet.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled him into a deep kiss. Their tongues explored each other’s mouths as Gus tangled his hands in her hair.
“If someone knocks at the door, we’re not answering this time,” she said when they broke the kiss and he traveled his lips down her neck and onto her bare shoulders.
“Mmhmm,” he mumbled as he moved around to her back, his lips never leaving her skin. “You taste so good,” he said as he sucked on her earlobe and moved his hands up to the ties around her neck.
He took a step back as he pulled one of the strings, destroying the knot, and ran his hand down her back to the zipper of her dress. When it got as far down as it could go, he stepped back in front of her and urged the dress down as he drank in her naked body.
“You are so beautiful,” he said as he looked into her eyes and pushed the dress to the floor.
Harley smiled and closed her eyes and he got down on his knees and kissed her stomach softly. He trailed his finger across the top of her panties and when she nodded, he slowly worked them down over her hips, following the fabric with kisses, and they joined her dress on the floor.
Gus stood back up and urged her over to the bed where he sat her down on the edge before he knelt down in front of her again. He picked up her leg and kissed up to her thigh before moving to the other leg. He left her thighs and settled for a few moments on the sensitive skin below her belly button. Harley threw her head back in pleasure as she lifted her hips off of the bed and urged Gus down with one hand.
“Don’t be so impatient,” he laughed quietly as she bit her lip and he slid his finger up her leg and finally landed on the spot where she was begging to be touched.
With his soft lips and gentle fingers, he drove her to the brink of release before he backed off and she pulled him up onto the bed with her. She rolled him over so she was straddling him and he pushed her hair back with his hands as she placed a deep kiss on his lips. She moved down his chest to the waist of his pants and the rest of his clothes were on the ground in a matter of seconds.
“I have waited so long to hold you like this,” Gus said as he pulled her back up to him and she settled against his chest.
“We don’t have to wait anymore,” she replied as he rolled her over and paused above her until he felt her hips raise to meet his and he entered her slowly and completely.
The bodies settled into a slow and passionate rhythm, each of them savoring the intimate feel of the other joined to them. Their eyes never left each other as they continued their sensual dance, increasing intensity when necessary and backing off to make the moment last as long as possible. When neither of them could take any more, Gus covered her lips in a kiss and thrust deeply, releasing inside of her. Harley quickly followed with her own climax and buried her face in Gus’s neck as she cried out in pleasure.
After their bodies stilled Gus slid down beside Harley and pulled her into his arms, kissing her cheek. “I love you,” he whispered into her ear.
“I love you too,” she replied and settled contently into his arms as they enjoyed the afterglow of their first love-making with quiet murmurs and soft kisses.
Gus destroyed the romanced a little while later as he kissed Harley and rolled out of the bed, “I'm dying of thirst," he said as he got up.
He grabbed a bottle of water from the mini-fridge and took a swig as he looked back at Harley. She stretched and pulled the sheet up over her as she rolled onto her side facing the empty side of the bed. She could smell his cologne on the empty pillow and she wondered why she waited so long to give into her feelings. She looked up and saw him smiling at her.
"What are you smiling about?" she asked.
"Everything," he answered as he crawled back into bed beside her and offered her the water.
After she took a drink and handed the bottle back to him, he put it on the nightstand and pulled her close.
"Tonight was amazing," he said quietly.
"It was amazing," she nodded.
"I do love you," he added.
"I know," she replied, looking up at him. "I love you too."
"I have to ask you something," he began and she looked at him expectantly. "If I…do I have something to move back to Springfield for?" he asked. "Is this for real or will it be written off as a crazy thing you did in Paris?"
"Oh Gus...it's real. It's all real. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't. Oh god, I'm so sorry you even have to ask that," she said as she hugged him tightly. "I love you Gus, and I want to give us a chance. And I want you back in Springfield, with me."
"That is the best news I've gotten all day," he smiled. "But there's something else. I have to go back to DC. I mean, I have to wrap up my cases and everything. It's going to be a few weeks before I can get to Springfield. A month, maybe two."
“I'll wait for you," she whispered as she ran her finger over his stubble-roughened chin. "I'll talk to Dad and see if there's an empty room at the Boarding House so you don't have to go back to that nasty motel room. I'd ask you to move in with me, but I can't. I don't think we're ready for that and it's too hard with the boys."
"Shh, honey, it's okay. I didn't even think of moving in with you…well, okay, I did, but I know I can't. Let's just take this one step at a time, okay?"
"Okay," Harley nodded and he leaned over and kissed her softly.
He rolled over and took another drink of water then moved down on the bed and pulled the sheet with him off of Harley. He started his kisses right above her belly button and worked his way down. Gus's lips were cold and wet from the water he just drank and the contact with her skin made Harley shiver and her stomach do flip-flops.
"I never want to leave this place, this bed," she said as he moved his kisses back up her stomach and chest to her lips.
"So let's stay," he said. "Not forever, obviously, but let's stay another day."
"Gus, we have plane reservations for tomorrow morning."
"So we cancel them and leave the next morning. Can you do that? I mean, the boys, can they stay with their dads for one more day?"
"I suppose they could, but…"
"I know you miss them, but this is Paris, baby. And we've been working all week, we haven't even seen the Eiffel Tower."
"Speak for yourself," she teased as she ran her hand down his stomach and underneath the sheet that covered him. “I saw…I conquered…I came,” she added between kisses.
Gus laughed as he tried to pull away her hand, "That’s not the right order.”
“Oh yes, it is,” she said in a throaty voice as she sucked on his neck that made Gus moan in pleasure.
“I'm serious. Stay with me here another day.”
“Okay," she agreed. "Call the airline and see if we can get another flight, then I'll call home and make arrangements for the boys."
Gus called and got their flight changed and happily handed the phone to Harley who dialed Company and waited for someone to pick up.
"Hey Daddy, it's me."
"Hey kiddo. How's it going?"
"It's great. Listen, it turns out I'm going to be staying an extra day. Can you call Phillip and Rick and see if they can keep the boys? And if they can't, could you or Frank cover for the day?"
"Sure. Why are you staying? Did you find a French guy and fall madly in love?" Buzz teased.
"No, I fell in love with an American guy who was right in front of me all along," she replied and leaned over and kissed Gus.
"What?" Buzz asked confused. "You mean, Aitoro?!?"
"Yes," she smiled. "So I'll call you when we land on Monday, okay? I love you, thank you, give my boys kisses from me," she said quickly before hanging up.
"I don't even want to know what his reaction to that was."
"He was surprised," she replied, honestly.
“Great. I’m gonna go on the balcony and have a cigarette,” Gus said as he kissed her then crawled out of bed before he pulled a pair of pajama pants on and stepped out onto the balcony.
He left the door open and the cold night air caused Harley to shiver and bury herself under the covers more. She smiled as she thought of a much better way to keep warm and found her robe.
“Mind if I join you?” she asked as she stepped out onto the balcony.
“Not at all,” Gus smiled back at her and motioned her into his lap since the balcony was only big enough for one chair.
She sat in his lap and kissed his bare neck as he took a drag from his cigarette.
“Look at that,” he motioned with his head and Harley looked up to see the Eiffel Tower sparkling in the distance like it always did at the top of the hour.
“It’s beautiful,” she replied and she laid her head on his shoulder.
Neither of them said anything for the next few minutes, and neither of them felt the need to. Before, Harley hated silence between them because it gave her time to think about him and her feelings, but now she relished the moments when she could just listen to him breathe.
As he brought the cigarette back up to his lips, Harley grabbed it and took a drag.
“Harley Cooper! And you always yell at me for smoking,” Gus teased as she handed him back the cigarette.
“I had to see what all the fuss was about. The one thing you have your lips on more than me,” she replied.
“And?”
“Disgusting,” she laughed.
“Yeah,” he agreed.
“Did you ever want to quit?” she asked.
“All the time. But you know, every time I would start to quit, something would happen and smoking would be my way of dealing with the stress, I guess.”
“So we need to find you something else to relieve the stress, huh?”
“Yeah, maybe. Got any ideas?” he asked.
“I can think of a few,” she said as she trailed her finger down his chest and covered his lips with hers.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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Post by Jen on Jul 10, 2005 0:37:55 GMT -5
Early the next morning, Gus stirred and finally woke up with Harley in his arms, still fast asleep. He pulled her closer to him and kissed her shoulder before he laid there for a few minutes, enjoying the feel of waking up next to her. Eventually, he slid out of the bed and into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and went downstairs to make some arrangements for the rest of the day, leaving Harley asleep in the bed.
“Did you sleep well?” Gus asked as he stripped off his clothes and crawled back under the covers with her.
“Very well. I had this great dream,” she replied.
“Oh yeah? Was it a sexy dream?” he teased.
“Very sexy. So sexy, in fact, that I’m thinking of asking the guy in my dream to spend the rest of the day in bed with me,” she suggested, kissing his neck.
“Hmm, well I’m sure that guy would love nothing better than to grant your every desire, especially that one, but I’m afraid I have already made some fun, romantic, sexy plans for the day. I guess this dream guy will just have to wait,” Gus said.
“I guess so. Well, at least I know I’ll get him back tonight,” she replied as she climbed on top of him and kissed him deeply. “So when does this romantic, sexy day start?”
“Definitely not for a few more hours,” Gus answered.
“Good, because I’m not ready to leave this bed yet,” she replied as she laid her head on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her as they both fell back to sleep.
They woke up three hours later to someone knocking on their door and Harley moaned as she shifted in Gus’s arms.
“Don’t answer it,” she mumbled as Gus got out of the bed and slid on a pair of jeans.
“This is a good interruption. Stay here,” he replied and kissed her quickly before he went to answer the door.
He returned a few moments later carrying a tray full of food, “Are you hungry?” he asked, setting the tray on the table while got undressed again.
“Famished,” she nodded and he rejoined her in bed with the food. “What do we have?”
“A lovely assortment of croissants and French bread with some butter and jam, coffee, and some fresh fruit. What would you like?” he asked.
“Coffee first,” she answered and he passed her a cup then offered her a croissant which she took.
“Thank you,” she smiled and kissed him. “So what exactly do you have planned for today?”
“I thought we could start out at the Louvre, because you can’t be in Paris and not see the Mona Lisa,” he answered.
“Have you been there before?” she asked and he nodded. “So I get my own private tour guide?” she teased.
“Absolutely, I’ll have you running through the wings of the museum in no time. Actually, we can only spend a few hours there, so it will be a quick tour of the really big stuff. And then I thought we would go to Notre Dame…”
“Do you really think we should be in a church today?” she teased as she kissed his neck below his ear and he laughed.
“We have to go see it!”
“I’m kidding, we will go. Then what?”
“A lunch cruise down the Seine River,” he answered and Harley ‘ooh’ed. “Then we have a few hours to do whatever we want until dinner. I thought maybe we would go shopping,” he suggested.
“That sounds good, what’s up with dinner?” she asked.
“Well, my plan is for us to get all dressed up, and I made reservations for us for dinner, actually it’s an early dinner, which is all that was available and I only got that because of a cancellation, but we got a table by a window at Jules Verne on the second level of the Eiffel Tower. And we should be there right at sunset, so I think it will be pretty romantic,” he replied and pulled her close.
“It sounds amazing, Gus,” she breathed as she laid her head on his shoulder.
Four hours later, they were boarding a small riverboat for their lunch cruise on the Seine. Gus had almost literally run her through the Louvre, but they did squeeze through the crowd to get a good look at the Mona Lisa, making Harley wonder what all the fuss was about such a small painting compared to the huge murals that shared the Denon Wing with it. They were running a little late, so they just stood outside of Notre Dame, bypassing the crowd that surrounded the doors.
“Finally, we can sit down,” she said when they were shown their table shortly after boarding.
“Am I wearing you out?” Gus laughed.
“Oh no, I always race through Paris museums on my day off,” she teased. “No, seriously. This morning was fabulous. Thank you,” she added with a kiss.
“I just wanted you to be able to remember Paris for something other than a mob shootout,” he replied.
“I will always remember Paris,” she said. “Actually though, there are some things we really need to discuss, important things.”
“I know,” he nodded slowly, “Look, I…”
“No, let me talk first, okay?” she asked and he let her talk. “I know that we haven’t really overcome the Santos issue, and I’m not saying that it’s okay with me, it’s not. I don’t want you to continue this vendetta, I don’t want to see you hurt anymore, I want you to be able to live your life for something more than revenge. But I’m not going to write you off because you’re not ready to give that up yet. I love you, Gus, and I want to help you get through whatever you need to deal with to make yourself happy.”
“Harley, I meant it when I told you that this wasn’t about them. Even since I found out they could be involved, it hasn’t been about them. I’m going to tell you that I’m not bothered by that family or that I don’t hate every single one of them, because I do and I’m not going to lie to you. But I know what I can lose by having that obsession and I don’t want that to happen. If we find out that the Santos family is involved in these kidnappings, I’m going to make sure they pay. If they’re not…then they’re not and I can accept that. I’m coming to Springfield, and I am going to spend my life spoiling you, making you happy, taking care of you and your children and just loving you. I want nothing to do with that family I’m not going to let them run my life anymore, because it’s not just me. It’s you, it’s Zach, and Jude and your family, and nothing is more important to me than that. I’m not going to do anything to mess that up,” he rambled on until Harley covered his hand with hers.
“I believe you,” she assured him. “But I want you to know that I am here for you. I want you to be able to come to me and talk to me about this, okay?”
“Okay,” he nodded and she leaned over to kiss him softly.
They spent the rest of the afternoon shopping, picking up a few souvenirs for the boys and Harley’s family before they had to go back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.
Their table at Jules Verne overlooked the Trocadero Fountains in front of the Tower. They were seated just as the sun was disappearing from the horizon, casting a pink and orange glow over the landscape. By the time they were on their main course, the night grew black and colored fountains and sparkling tower created a romantic backdrop to their dinner. After they had stuffed themselves with dessert, they rode up to the top of the tower and looked down over the city.
“I can see why so many men bring their girlfriends here to propose. It’s gorgeous, I can’t think of a better backdrop,” Harley said and Gus smiled over at her. “What?” she asked.
“If I say that I’ll have to remember that, would it freak you out?” he asked.
“Probably,” she nodded.
“Okay. Then I won’t say it,” he replied and kissed her deeply before they rode back down to the ground.
“Peut vous laissez-nous au loin ici?” Gus asked and their taxi stopped and let them off at Place de la Concorde.
“What are we doing here?” Harley asked as Gus took her hand and helped her out of the taxi.
“That,” he replied and pointed up at a large lighted ferris wheel that sat in the center of the Jardin de Tuileries. “Are you up for it?” he asked.
“Absolutely,” she smiled and he led her into the garden.
“You know what you said earlier about spoiling me?” Harley asked when they got to the top of the Ferris wheel and saw the city from a view different from the Eiffel Tower. “Well, it’s too late. Today has been amazing Gus. Thank you,” she whispered and he pulled her closer in the car.
“You’re very welcome,” he replied and kissed her cheek.
“We are going back to the hotel next, right? Because I think it’s my turn to spoil you,” she said, her eyes sparkling.
“We are definitely going back then,” he nodded.
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Harley yawned as the captain came over the speaker. "Good morning everyone, this is Captain St. John, we're next to take off, so we should be in the air relatively shortly. The skies are partly cloudy, so we may have a bumpy take off, but once we reach altitude, it should be pretty smooth. Our destination this morning is London, where the forecast shows a slight chance of rain showers, but nothing that should delay us. Flight time is one hour and thirty minutes. Just a reminder that this flight is non-smoking and please keep your seat belts fastened until I turn off the lighted sign. Thank you and enjoy your flight."
"You know, if I sleep the whole way to Rome, I'll still get more sleep than we got last night," Harley said.
"Sleep. We have lots of time in the air today. London to Springfield will be even longer at least," Gus said.
"Yes, at least this time we have first class seats. Nice job on that by the way. I guess it pays to be sleeping with an FBI agent,” she teased. “So did you tell them you were quitting yet?"
"No, I figured I'd take a few days off then give my notice."
"A few days?"
“Well I thought I would go back to Chicago on tomorrow, then to DC the next day. Is it okay if I stay with you tonight? Or I could get a room somewhere."
"No, you can stay with me."
"But the boys…"
"They'll be fine," she assured him as she rested her head against this shoulder. "I hope you don't mind if I sleep on you, since you're the reason I've gotten no sleep the past two days," she teased.
"You weren't complaining then," he laughed.
"No, I wasn't,” she smiled and kissed him.
“So how do you think your family and friends will take our news?” he asked.
“I think that when they see how happy I am, they will be happy for us,” she replied.
“I hope so, because I don’t want to be a problem for you. I want to make your life better, not worse.”
“You do,” she assured him. “Don’t worry about everyone else, okay? We are all that matters.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"I'm meeting Rick at Company at six to get the boys, so we have some time. Do you want to go to my place until then?" Harley asked as they waited for a cab at the airport in Springfield.
"Yeah, let's go to your place," he replied as a cab pulled up and he opened the door for Harley.
"You know, since we're taking our luggage upstairs to my bedroom anyway…we might as well stay up there," Harley said as she unlocked her front door.
"You got a TV up there?" Gus joked, but sounded serious and Harley looked back at him.
"I hope you're kidding," she said.
"Of course I am. Now open the door or we'll never make it to your bedroom," he said as he kissed the back of her neck and she pushed the door open and pulled him inside.
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Post by Jen on Jul 16, 2005 22:00:33 GMT -5
“You know, I think I’m just going to wait in the car. Take your time,” Gus said as he dropped Harley’s hand and turned away as they walked up to the porch of Company.
“Uh, no, I don’t think so,” she replied, pulling him back. “Come on, it will be fine.”
“No, I don’t want to cause any problems, so I’ll just wait out here for you.”
“Gus, you are not going to cause any problems. I want you to be a part of my life, starting now. Not starting when you move back here and can’t avoid it anymore. Now, I want you to hold my hand, walk in there beside me, and have dinner with my family. Please?” she pleaded and wrapped her arms around Gus’s neck.
“Alright, just for you,” he smiled. “But you have to promise that you’ll protect me, because your family can be a little scary.”
“I promise,” she nodded and he leaned down to kiss her deeply.
“Whatcha looking at Pop?” Frank asked as he came up behind Buzz who was peering out the window at Harley and Gus on the porch. “What is she doing?” he asked and started out the door.
“Frank, Frank!” Buzz pulled him back. “I should have told you, but your sister and Aitoro are…well, I don’t know what they are, but they are something.”
“Since when?” Frank asked.
“Since a few days ago? I don’t know. She told me the other day when she called to say they were staying an extra day. Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t want you to cause any trouble, okay? Let’s just give them the benefit of the doubt,” Buzz pleaded as the front door opened and they turned to see Gus and Harley standing in the doorway holding hands.
“Hey guys,” Harley greeted and Frank and Buzz rushed over to hug her.
“Hey! We missed you!” Frank said as he lifted her off the ground in a big hug.
“I missed you guys too,” she replied. “Where are the boys? I saw Rick’s car out there.”
“He just went to change Jude’s diaper and get Zach cleaned up, they were at the park,” Buzz answered.
“Oh okay, I can’t wait to see them, I missed them so much!” Harley said as she took Gus’s hand and led him over to the bar. “Do you want something to drink?” she asked him.
“Yeah, like iced tea?” he asked and she nodded as she went around to the other side of the bar and poured two glasses.
“So uh…how are you doing Aitoro? Franklin said you got shot,” Frank said, trying to be nice.
“Yeah, it was just a little graze, I’m fine. Thanks to your sister,” Gus answered and reached across the bar, placing his hand on Harley’s.
Harley smiled before moving back beside him, “He did drive me crazy with worry for a few hours though,” she added as she heard a squeal behind her and turned to see Zach running towards her.
“Mommy!” he exclaimed and flew into her waiting arms.
“Hey baby, oh I missed you so much!” she said as she squeezed him tight then planted kisses all over him. “Did you miss me too?” she asked and Zach nodded wildly before he wrapped his arms around her neck and squeezed her again.
“Hi Gus,” Zach said with a wave over Harley’s shoulder.
“Hey buddy, how you doing?” Gus asked with a big smile on his face and Harley turned to smile at him.
“Look Jude, Mommy’s home,” Rick said as he handed the baby over to Harley who kissed her youngest son.
“I missed you guys so much,” she said as she hugged them both then sat Zach on the bar next to Gus. “I think Jude grew a few inches since I’ve been gone,” she said and Gus laughed.
“Hey Zach,” Gus motioned for Zach to move closer, “I think Mommy has something for you from Paris,” he whispered into Zach’s ear.
“Mommy! Gus says you brought me a present!” Zach exclaimed and Harley laughed.
“Well, Gus is right. Do you want to see what I got you?” she asked and he nodded. “Will you take Jude, please?” she asked Gus and handed him the baby while she reached into her purse.
She pulled out a little black beret with “Paris” embroidered on it, the ‘A’ was in the shape of the Eiffel tower, and put it on Zach’s head.
“Don’t you look handsome?” she smiled and held Zach’s chin in her hand as she kissed his nose.
“And French,” Gus teased.
“And one more thing,” Harley continued as she reached into her bag again and handed Zach a little train. “This is a train that Gus and I rode, it went so fast that when it stopped you had to get off really fast or else it would leave with you still on it!” she explained.
“Cool!” Zach exclaimed and turned around to run his train up and down the bar, complete with sound effects.
“Are you staying for dinner?” Buzzed asked and Harley nodded. “Rick, are you staying too?” he added and got another nod. “Then let’s eat!”
Rick took Jude and put him in a high chair at one end of the table while Harley put Zach in a chair between her and Gus. Buzz, Frank and Rick filled up the other side of the table and a waitress came to get their orders.
After the waitress left, Gus reached over and pulled the beret off of Zach’s head.
“Hey!” Zach exclaimed and reached up to get his hat back.
“No hats at the dinner table,” Gus replied and Zach looked towards Harley for help.
“Don’t look at me, you know the rule,” she said and Zach pouted as he went back to coloring his kids menu.
“So was this an all business trip or did you actually get a chance to enjoy Paris?” Rick asked.
“It was all business until…” Harley began.
“Mostly business,” Gus interrupted and Harley smiled over at him.
“Until Saturday when Gus got out of the hospital,” she continued. “Then we actually got to go out for dinner. But we spent most of yesterday out in the city. We took a cruise on the Seine and had lunch on the boat, it was great. It was so beautiful. And then Gus got us reservations at the restaurant on the second level of the Eiffel Tower. We got a table by the window and you could see the entire city, it was amazing. I’ll have to get our pictures developed, I hope they’re good.”
“So is that why you stayed an extra day, to actually sight-see?” Rick asked.
“Well, sort of,” Harley replied. “We just wanted a day to ourselves and yeah, we hadn’t gotten to see anything that people go to Paris for, so we did that,” she answered.
“When are you going back to DC?” Frank asked Gus and Harley shot him a dirty look.
“Uh, I’m going to Chicago tomorrow. I have some things to take care of there, then I’m going back to DC Wednesday,” Gus answered.
“Gus is staying with me tonight and then when he gets back to DC, he’s going to finish up his cases so that he can move back here,” Harley added.
“With you?” Frank asked.
“Well, no. Actually, we were thinking he could get a room here first, until we figure things out,” she replied, looking at Gus before turning to Buzz, her eyes pleading.
“Uhh, I have a couple of available rooms. I can probably save one for you,” he finally replied.
“Thanks Buzz,” Gus said.
“When will you be moving back?” he asked.
“Probably not until July, I don’t really know for sure yet,” he answered.
“Well, there will be a room here for you when you need it,” Buzz replied and Harley smiled at him grateful that he didn’t cause any problems.
“I’m going to get more to drink, you need more?” Harley asked as she stood up and took Gus’s glass with her over to the bar.
“Hey sis,” Frank said, following her away from the table.
“Yeah?” she asked and he swept her up into a hug.
“I really missed you,” he said.
“Oh, I missed you too,” she replied.
“So how are you? Franklin just told me that Aitoro was shot but you were fine, what happened?” he asked, worried.
“I’m fine, I was fine the whole time. It’s still an open case, Frank, I can’t talk about it,” she answered.
“Okay, then can you talk about what the hell is going on with you and Aitoro? He’s moving here? When did this happen?”
“By this you mean Gus and I getting together?”
“Well yes, I mean, two weeks ago, you couldn’t stand him and now he’s moving back here to be with you?” Frank asked.
“Our relationship is very complicated and I don’t need to justify it to you. All you need to know is that this is what I want, I want to be with Gus, and he makes me happy. That should be enough for you to not bug me about this, and not be nasty to Gus. I know that he has done some things in the past that worry you, they worried me too, but I know him. Better than you do, better than anyone does and he is a good guy, and he loves me. And I love him. And I know that as my big brother, who has always looked out for me, you don’t like the idea of any guy being with me, but I also know that all you want is for me to be safe, healthy and happy, and I am all three and more with Gus. So, since I am, you can be happy for me, right?” she asked.
“If he hurts you…” Frank warned and Harley put her hand on his chest to stop him.
“He won’t,” she smiled.
“You love him? Really?” he cringed.
“Really,” Harley nodded.
“You gonna get married?”
“I don’t know,” Harley laughed. “Let’s cross that bring when we come to it, shall we?” she said and walked back to the table.
She stood behind Gus and set his glass back on the table then wrapped her arms around his neck and slid her hand down the front of his shirt.
“Everything okay?” he asked as she leaned down and rested her chin on his shoulder, kissing his cheek.
“Yeah,” she nodded and he turned his head to catch her lips in a kiss.
“Gus, are you sleeping at our house tonight?” Zach asked as Harley sat back down beside him.
“Only if it’s okay with you,” Gus answered.
“Are you gonna sleep in mine and Jude’s room?”
“Uh, no…no, that’s your room,” Gus laughed.
“Then where are you going to sleep?”
“Well, I don’t know now…” he replied.
“You should sleep with Mommy, she has a big bed,” Zach decided and went back to his crayons.
“Okay then,” Gus smiled and looked over at Harley who was trying not to laugh.
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“Need some help?” Gus asked later that night as Harley grabbed both boys and started upstairs for bath time.
“Uh, yes. That would be great. This one likes to squirm and Jude hates baths,” she replied and he followed them upstairs.
Gus entertained Zach with some bath toys while Harley got Jude undressed. He started screaming the second the water started running and now his face was red from crying.
“What is up with that?” Gus asked as Harley finally sat him in his little seat in the tub with Zach.
“I have no idea, it just started a few weeks ago. I hope it’s just a phase. He screams his head off, but the good thing is he usually wears himself out so much he goes right to sleep,” Harley answered.
Zach and Gus played together while Harley got Jude all washed up as quickly as possible.
“Will you get Jude’s towel and take him while I finish with Zach?” Harley asked. “I promise he’ll stop crying as soon as he’s out of the water.”
“Absolutely,” Gus agreed as he got Jude’s towel off of the counter and held it out for Harley to pass him the baby.
He took Jude and wrapped him up tight and let him snuggle into his chest as he shuddered with some final whimpers. He was quiet for the rest of Zach’s bath and by the time Harley got Zach out and in a towel, Jude was fast asleep in Gus’s arms.
“What did I tell you?” Harley remarked as she helped Zach get into his pajamas. “And he likes you, he doesn’t fall asleep for just anybody.”
“Of course he likes me, I delivered him, we have a bond,” Gus replied.
“You know when you used to tell me that, I thought you were just being a pain in my butt, but I think you’re right,” Harley smiled.
“He smells so good, clean, you know?” Gus said as he nuzzled into the top of Jude’s head then kissed it softly.
“I know,” she nodded. “Alright Zach, why don’t you take Gus downstairs and show him your toys while I put your brother to bed?” she suggested and Zach took off towards the stairs.
“Do you mind?” Harley asked as she took Jude from Gus.
“Not at all,” he replied and kissed her quickly before he followed Zach downstairs.
An hour later, Zach was getting sleepy so Harley urged him upstairs. “Why don’t you lock up down here and meet me in the bedroom?” she suggested quietly to Gus who nodded before she took Zach upstairs.
He made sure the door was locked and shut off all the lights then went up to Harley’s bedroom. He moved his suitcase off the bed where he had it while they were getting ready to go to dinner and lit a few candles around the room.
He was just coming out of the bathroom from brushing his teeth when Harley slipped back into the room.
“Shh…” she whispered with her finger over her mouth and they met in the middle of the room.
“Asleep?” Gus asked as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Sound asleep,” she nodded before she covered his lips with hers in a deep kiss.
“Time for us to go to sleep too?” he asked as they broke the kiss and he ran his hands through her hair.
“Definitely not,” she smiled as he slid his hands down her arms and grabbed the bottom of her shirt, pulling it up over her head.
“I’m glad you are staying here tonight,” Harley said quietly, “I’m not ready to say goodbye yet.”
“We’re not saying goodbye tomorrow either, just see ya later,” he teased and pulled her hips closer to him.
“I like the sound of that better,” she nodded and started to unbutton his shirt.
Gus stopped her by covering her hands with his and brought them up to his mouth to kiss them softly. He dropped her hands and held her face as he placed little kisses on her lips, cheeks, nose and forehead.
Harley looked up at him and smiled, “I love you, Gus,” she said.
“I love you too,” he breathed as his face came closer to hers until he closed the gap between them and kissed her.
When they broke the kiss, he moved his lips down her neck as he slid his hand up her back. He slipped a finger under the strap of her bra and pulled it down over her shoulder, following it with light kisses and bites to her soft skin.
Harley threw her head back in pleasure at that feel of his lips on her skin and let out a soft moan that turned into a groan when Jude’s crying interrupted them. At the first scream, Gus’s lips stopped cold on her shoulder and he slid her bra strap back up before he took a step back.
“Welcome to my life,” she laughed as he bent over and picked up her shirt for her. “I’ll be right back,” she said before she kissed him and left the room to put Jude back to sleep.
Gus let out a soft sigh and sat down on the edge of the bed. He looked over at the nightstand at a picture of her with Zach and Jude and smiled. It had hit him a long time ago that having Harley in his life also meant having those boys in his life, and he couldn’t be happier. They were great kids and he loved watching Harley’s face light up when they were in the room. He always felt he had a special bond with Jude since the day he delivered him, but he also felt a connection with Zach. He had spent most of the evening after the boys’ bath on the floor playing with Zach, and he couldn’t remember when he had laughed so much. It had been a long time since he stepped out of his tough-guy persona and sat cross-legged on the floor building a skyscraper out of legos. Having the boys in his life was anything but a sacrifice, he felt that it was more of a privilege, one that until a short while ago, he never envisioned himself having.
He stretched out on the bed and rolled onto his side. It had been a long day for both of them and his wound was starting to ache a little, so he planned on just resting his eyes until Harley came back.
Almost twenty minutes later, Jude had finally drifted back to sleep and Harley pushed her bedroom door open.
“He’s out, hopefully for good,” she said as she shut the door. When she turned around, she saw Gus fast asleep on the bed, still dressed and she smiled. She realized how exhausted she was too and blew out the candles that Gus had lit. She kicked off her shoes and crawled onto the bed, laying on top of Gus, who stirred when she joined him.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered and kissed his chest.
“It’s okay,” he replied. “Just lay here and sleep with me,” he added and she nodded as she snuggled into his side and he kissed the top of her head.
“Sweet dreams,” he mumbled.
“Good night,” she replied with a kiss to his chin and they were both asleep within minutes.
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Post by Jen on Jul 22, 2005 19:57:18 GMT -5
“Hey sleepyhead, wake up,” Gus whispered in Harley’s ear early the next morning after he got out of the shower.
Harley mumbled and rolled over to face him, struggling to open her eyes, “Why are you up already?” she asked.
“I want to be at the station when Franklin gets there so I can talk to him before he gets busy,” Gus answered. “Are you going to sleep a little longer?” he asked and Harley nodded. “Okay, I’ll see you at the station then when you get there,” he said and kissed her cheek before he got off the bed and got dressed.
“Call me when you’re done if I’m not there yet,” Harley said when Gus came over to kiss her goodbye.
“I will,” he replied and left the room. As he walked down the hallway, he heard a small voice making truck noises and pushed open the door to the boys’ room. Zach was lying awake in his bed running a truck over his blankets.
“Hey, what are you doing awake already?” Gus asked quietly so he wouldn’t wake up Jude.
“I’m playing,” Zach replied. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to go to the police station and talk to Mommy’s boss,” Gus answered.
“Is Mommy going with you?”
“No, not yet, she’s still in bed,” he replied.
“Can I go sleep with her?” Zach asked.
“I bet she would love that,” Gus nodded and lifted Zach into his arms and took him down to Harley.
“Hey you,” Harley said as Gus lowered him onto the bed and she enveloped him into her arms.
“Gus said I could sleep with you Mommy,” he said as he looked up at her.
“Well, how could I say no to this adorable little face?” she smiled and kissed the tip of his nose. “Are you going to go to sleep though?” she asked and Zach nodded. “Okay, then say goodbye to Gus and go back to sleep.”
“Bye Gus,” Zach waved then closed his eyes tightly and snuggled into Harley’s side.
“I’ll see you later,” Gus said and leaned down to kiss Harley again before he left the house.
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“Aitoro, you’re alive,” Franklin said indifferently as he strolled past Gus who was sitting outside of his office waiting for him.
“Yes, Sir, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a few minutes,” Gus said as he got up and followed him into the office.
“Make it quick, Aitoro,” Franklin sighed and sat down at his desk, inviting Gus to sit across from him.
“Thank you, Sir,” Gus said as he sat and did his best to be respectful and put his best face forward. “I’m quitting the Bureau as soon as I get back to D.C. and I was hoping there would be a position available for me here with the Springfield PD,” he began and Franklin looked up at him over a paper he was reading.
“You’re quitting the Bureau? Why?” he asked. “Are you sure they’re not firing you again?”
“No, I’m putting in my resignation tomorrow. It’s just not where I want to be right now in my life. I want to move back to Springfield,” Gus answered.
“Why?” Franklin asked again.
“My life is here now and it’s where I want to stay. I would like it if I can have a detective position here,” he said.
“Well, I don’t really have any openings right now and it’s just not in the budget to add another person,” Franklin replied.
“I won’t be done with the Bureau for a few months, it’s not like it has to be an immediate job,” Gus added.
“I’ll be honest with you Aitoro, you’re a loose cannon most of the time, but you’re good at what you do and we would be lucky to have you, I just don’t have anything here for you right now. If anything opens up, you can certainly apply for the position, but…”
“…but I am unemployed when I moved back here,” Gus finished and Franklin nodded as they heard a knock on his door.
“Come in,” he said and an older man stuck his head in.
“Can I talk to you Chief?” he asked and Franklin motioned him in.
“We’re done here, sorry Aitoro,” Franklin said as he stood up and shook Gus’s hand.
“Aitoro? Special Agent Aitoro from the FBI?” the man asked and Gus nodded.
“So I guess that means Cooper is back too, right?” he asked.
“Yeah, she’s coming in later this morning,” Gus answered and Franklin looked at him strangely. “You must be her partner.”
“Yeah, Sam Avery,” the man introduced himself and shook Gus’s hand. “She’s coming in later you say? That’s good, I want to tell her myself,” the man said.
“Tell her what?” Franklin asked.
“That I’m retiring,” he answered and Gus got a big smile on his face.
“You’re retiring? When?” Franklin asked.
“Well, in a few months. I’m moving to Florida to be with my son and grandkids.”
“How nice,” Gus replied, smiling at Franklin who shot him a look.
“When did you decide this Avery?” he asked.
“I’ve been thinking about it for awhile, finally decided to just do it. I do have a few more months so I can get my thirty years in though, if it’s okay.”
“Absolutely,” Franklin nodded as they all heard a knock on his door. “Come in.”
“Hey Chief,” Harley said as she peeked her head in. “Hey Avery, how’s it going?” she asked as she came all the way into the office.
“You’re just in time for the big news,” he replied.
“Oh yeah? What big news is that?” Harley asked.
“That I’m retiring,” he answered.
“Oh…” Harley said, trying not to sound too excited – she liked Sam, just not as a partner and she was excited about the possible opening for Gus. “When did you decide this?”
“I’ve been thinking about it lately, but I just decided this week,” he answered.
“Oh, so it’s not because you just can’t live without me, huh?” she teased and he laughed.
“That’s exactly it,” he nodded. “So tell me, how was your trip?” he asked.
“Oh, it was…interesting,” she replied. “Why don’t you come fill me in on what I missed – these two look like they’re in the middle of something,” she suggested and ushered Avery out the door.
After they were gone, Gus turned and looked at Franklin smiling.
“It’s your lucky day, Aitoro,” he sighed. “But before I tell you that you have the job, there are a few things we need to discuss.”
“Absolutely. Shoot,” Gus said.
“You and Cooper – what’s going on?”
“What do you mean?” Gus asked, trying to play dumb.
“Are you a couple?”
“Umm, uh, well…” he sputtered.
“Look, I don’t need to know details, all I need to know is that nothing will interfere with your work. You’re partners, you watch each other’s back. I don’t want personal issues getting in the way of that, and if they do, you’re the one who’s gone. Got it?” Franklin said.
“Understood,” Gus nodded.
“You might not have the job right away when you finish with the Bureau,” he reminded Gus.
“That’s fine,” he replied.
“I’ll be in touch then.” Franklin said and stood up to walk Gus to the door.
“Thank you,” Gus replied and shook his hand before he left the office.
He thought about going right over to Harley’s desk but he didn’t want to appear too obvious, so he went to the coffee machine instead, Harley’s eyes following him. He poured himself and cup of coffee and one for Harley, made with two sugars and light cream, just like she liked it. He turned around and saw her smiling at him from her desk.
“Coffee?” he offered and she took it before he pulled a chair over to close to hers from another desk.
“Thank you,” she said. “So what’s going on?”
“Well, you’re looking at your new partner,” he answered quietly. “When the old one leaves, at least.”
“That’s great, I mean, I was just hoping you could work here, it’s even better that you’re working with me,” she replied.
“That’s exactly what I thought,” he smiled. “Actually, until your partner came in and told Franklin he was retiring, I was going to be unemployed when I got back here.”
“What would you have done if you were?” she asked seriously.
Gus shrugged, “Probably be a PI. Open up my own agency.”
“You’d be good at that, but I’m glad you’ll be here for a little while at least,” she said.
“Me too,” he nodded. “Hey, can I check my email?”
“Yeah sure,” she agreed and moved over so he could use her computer.
“Oh boy, my boss is angry,” he laughed a few minutes later.
“What?” she asked and peered over his shoulder at an email from his boss asking where he was and why he didn’t come back with the other agents. “What are you going to tell him?”
“That I needed the extra days to recover,” he replied. “And I did, I believe I recovered very well,” he teased.
“Yes, you did,” she smiled and started to lean over to kiss him but stopped herself. “Damn,” she laughed.
“I know, it took everything in me not to kiss you when you walked into that office,” he sighed.
“I think we’re going to be in trouble,” she shook her head.
“You busy right now?” he asked.
“Not really, why?”
“Well, I was going to start my report for the case, that way I have something to give the boss when I get back. I was thinking if you weren’t busy this morning you could help me, we could go to the interrogation room, have some privacy…” he suggested.
“I can do that,” she nodded. “Let me just make sure Franklin doesn’t have anything for me.”
“Alright, I’ll go back there and if you’re not there in five minutes, I’m coming out to get you,” he teased and took his coffee and briefcase down the hall.
Harley checked in with Franklin and grabbed two more cups of coffee before she joined Gus in the interrogation room.
“Need some more caffeine?” she asked as she shut the door behind her.
“Oh yes, thank you,” he replied as she set the coffee down on the table and he pulled her into his lap.
“I need some more of you too,” he added as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
“I am all yours,” she replied and kissed him deeply. “I wish you would have woke me up before you got a shower this morning. I would have joined you.”
“Well, if I had known that, I wouldn’t have let you sleep in,” he said, kissing her neck. “You must not have slept long though.”
“No, Zach was being uncooperative and Dad showed up not long after you left, so I just got up and came in.”
“Is your dad staying with them?” he asked.
“He’s taking them to Company when they were up and ready. But I told him we would come and relieve him during lunch. Do you mind?”
“Not at all. You know, I…well, I really love those kids,” he replied. “They’re fun and cute and I like being with them. And I love watching you with them, you’re an amazing mother.”
“Thank you,” she smiled. “I’m glad that you care about them, that’s important to me. You’re not just in my life, you know? You’re also in my children’s lives and in a lot of ways, how you treat them is even more important than how you are with me. And you’re amazing, you take the time to pay attention to them and you talk to Zach and play with Jude. It really means a lot to me. Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Harley. I never thought of doing anything differently,” he replied and she kissed him softly.
“This probably isn’t a good position to be in if someone walks in,” she said and got off of his lap and sat in the chair across the table from him.
“Okay, so this report…” he began. “Do you have those notes from earlier in the week? I thought I had them, but they’re not in my briefcase.”
“Oh yeah, I think I do,” she answered and shuffled through her folders until she produced a sheet of hotel stationary. “Here,” she said as she pushed it across the table to him.
“Thanks. My boss likes detail, down to the name of the street we were standing on,” he rolled his eyes and started writing.
“Can I ask you something?” she asked a few minutes later and he grunted his agreement. “What are thinking?”
“What do you mean?”
“About this case, Danny Santos, anything?” she urged.
“Well, I’m not really convinced the Santos family is involved,” he shrugged.
“Do you really mean that or are you just saying that for my benefit?”
“I really mean it,” he assured her. “It just doesn’t make sense to me. I think it’s possible someone is throwing their name out there either to help themselves out or to frame them, but I really don’t think they’re involved.”
“Well how are we going to find out if they are or not?” she asked.
“I don’t know. But we will,” he smiled as the door opened behind him.
“Hey,” Frank greeted and came over to kiss Harley on the cheek.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“I wanted to see if you were free for dinner tonight. I’ve missed you,” he said.
“I am absolutely free. We’re on,” she agreed.
“Good. Well, I’ll let you guys work,” he replied and left again.
“He really loves you,” Gus remarked when they were alone again.
“Yeah, he’s great. I don’t know what I would do without him,” she sighed.
“It’s nice that you have someone like that in your life, someone you can always count on.”
Harley nodded, “Yeah. Do you have someone like that?” she asked cautiously.
“I used to…my dad,” he finally answered. “But I don’t really have any friends that I can talk to like that.”
“You’ve never had a girlfriend that you talked to about …anything?”
“No,” he shook his head. “Harley, I’ve spent the past twenty years of my life going after the Santos family. That was all that mattered to me, I mean, I’ve had girlfriends, but none that were serious, none that I wanted to share anything with.”
“Well, now you have one, at least I hope you do. I want to be the person that you can talk to about anything, okay?”
Gus nodded, “You already are,” he said quietly. “You know, you’re the first person I’ve said ‘I love you’ to since my father died,” he confessed. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, I guess I was just waiting for the right person,” he smiled.
Harley didn’t say anything in response, but stood up and walked around the table to where Gus was sitting. She took his hand and pulled him up to her then wrapped her arms around him in an embrace.
“I’m glad that I’m that person,” she finally said as she pulled her head off of his shoulder and looked into his eyes.
“Me too,” he replied as he stroked her cheeks with his thumbs before he placed a soft kiss on her lips.
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