Have You Seen Her?

"Well, I am," Je

"I could have done it myself." Nicky sounded highly amused. "I'm good at that part."

"Well, now you tell me. Are you sure you want to sleep on that hard floor? It doesn't look very comfortable." There was a long pause and Steven met Helen's eyes and realized they were both praying for a minor miracle-for Nicky to sleep in his own bed for the first time in six months. "Well, suit yourself," Je

"Could you sing?"

"Me?" Je

"You don't hafta." Steven looked at Helen who smiled at Nicky's dramatically mournful tone.

"Well, since I don't hafta, I won't," Je

"Yeah, he prob'ly would," Nicky agreed thoughtfully. "But he's not here right now," he added in a bright voice and Steven choked back a laugh.

"Good night, Nicky," Je

"Will you be here when I wake up tomorrow?" Nicky asked, so softly they all had to strain to hear him and Steven swallowed, trying to dislodge the lump that had formed in his throat.

"No, sweetheart, I have to go home. I have school tomorrow and Jean-Luc will be missing Jim. I think I'll see you in a few days. Now, go to sleep."

Je

"So are we," Matt said with a grin and she swatted him.

"Go get a shower, Matt. You're still covered in yck."

Steven took a look at his middle boy whose grin had become a scowl. Matt's jeans were covered in black slime up to his mid-calf. "Yes, you are. What'd you fall into, Matthew?"

"You don't want to know." Je

Brad met her gaze for a long minute in which everybody held their breaths, then he nodded. "I understand that there's this really nice chemistry teacher who gives after-school tutoring."

Je

Brad shrugged. "It's okay. My dad's good for it."

Je

Brad's eyes widened when he realized she was very serious. "Dad!"

Steven held up his hands. "I'm not involved in this negotiation. Plus, I agree with her."

"You would," Brad said in a disgusted tone. "I've got no cash."

Je

Helen's expression was serene. "I already made you a plate."

Steven looked from one to the other. "Why didn't you eat with the others?"

"You don't want to know!" Matt yelled from up the stairs.

Je

"I'm sorry I missed the fun," Steven said, with a pang of regret.

Je

"Brad, come," Helen instructed. "I have work for you to do to pay for those tutoring lessons."

"But-" Brad protested and Helen cut him off with a look. "Okay," he muttered and followed Helen, leaving Steven alone with Je

"Sounds like you all had an adventure today," he murmured, sliding his hands under the sweatshirt she wore, touching the warm, firm flesh of her back. Wishing they were more alone so he could touch the warm, firm flesh of her front.

"That it was." She linked her hands around his neck. "What about you? Any progress?"

He thought about his four-hour "deposition" with the mon-signor. He thought of Mike's career and wondered once again if he'd ever fully repair the damage they'd done to a great man's name. He thought about the fact that Victor Lutz had finally detected the presence of the unmarked cars on his street and complained to the mayor and how Steven had to tell the mayor they were watching for school vandals because he wasn't supposed to know Rudy Lutz was really William Parker. He thought about how humiliating it had been to be scolded like a schoolboy for misuse of county resources. And how he'd defied orders and extended the patrol surveillance for one more day.

He considered the latest barrage of questions from the press, outraged at his team's inability to solve this crime in their allotted one hour of prime time. And he thought about the mountain of paperwork he'd scaled, knowing it would have grown back to its previous height by tomorrow morning. So had he made any progress? "No, not a whole hell of a lot." he answered.

"Don't do that," she said softly.

"Do what?"

"Click off with me. It's like you go somewhere else and leave me behind."

He stiffened. It was a very Melissa-like comment, but delivered without venom. Today. Who knew where they'd be in five years. Ten? "It's part of the job, Jen. It's part of who I am."

She digested this in silence, not breaking her eye contact. Then finally said, "All right."

"All right? Just all right?"

She smiled and he felt the knot in his gut loosen by slow degrees. "Just all right. I guess the trick on my end will be not getting hurt when you click off." She lifted on her toes and brushed a soft kiss across his mouth. "But the trick on your end will be not to click off that often. Or wait too long to click back on."

It was a proposal of sorts. "I can live with that. If you can."

"I can," she whispered, still a fraction of an inch from his mouth.

But for how long? he wanted to ask. But didn't. He didn't have any right to ask at this point. They'd known each other nearly two weeks. They'd never talked anything more long-term than the next day. Certainly never come close to uttering the word "love."

Yes, you did, Thatcher, his self told him. You told her you could fall in love with her.

Yes, I did. And maybe I have, he thought. Maybe.

"Steven, you look completely exhausted. Go eat di

Her words reminded his brain of how tired he really was. "I'm sorry, Je

She slipped one hand from the back of his neck to put gentle pressure on his mouth. "Get some rest, Steven. Call me tomorrow and we can talk some more. I'm going home now."

Home. To her apartment. His brain kicked back into full throttle. Until they picked up Rudy Lutz and his friends, he didn't want her being alone at night. "Je

Her lips quirked. "I bet you would, but I don't believe you have it in you, Special Agent Man."

He chuckled, despite his exhaustion. "If that's a challenge, I'll declare you the wi