Fictober day 7: “It isn’t much.”
(and once again 3am is my curse)
Ben held his package as he walked. Alyssa was released from the hospital not that long ago and immediately she went back to her office to catch up on any paperwork. Technically it's nothing too strenuous so it's ok.
Then again she does live in her office.
She looked up from her workload as he approached her desk. It barely took a second before she tidied up her papers.
“So detective does little makes some return. What crime do I owe this visit?" He flinched a little at that but now that he was paying attention he could see it. There was no malice in those words.
So, I guess I do deserve that one but it's almost like she's testing me.
He shrugged. "Now now, I may have been an asshole but the name is just Ben remember." This may have been the first time she's ever seen him being friendly.
She took the time to look it over before staring back at him.
“Your reasoning for this is what now?”
I guess I would question it too after all this time.
He laughed a little when he thought about it all. "It isn't much but how about this. You solved the case, took a bullet for me, and dealt with me being a massive asshole for the longest time. That good enough for you?"
She raised an eyebrow before grinning. Inside the package were black trench coats. The coat she had before was starting to get old, plus it had a bullet hole in it from where she got shot. He learned a lot about how much she loved her coat when he asked around.
“Well, you do have some taste I'll give you that Ben."
He paused at that. It was the first time she called him by his name. Though it was most likely until she made a new nickname for him to fit any new status he had.
With a flourish she almost she looked almost like herself again. The black trench coat was just something that just was just something that he always thought of when he thought of her.
Even if those weren't the nicest thoughts. Still, she looks happy. It's nice.
He snapped out of his train of thought when she slammed a mountain of papers in front of him. "If you had enough standing you can make yourself useful and deliver this backlog to the courthouse."
“Hell no!” That was more papers then he had to fill out from the last case. If this is her regular workload it now makes a lot of sense why she keeps trying to hire help.
She gave a slight snicker as she pulled the stack back.
“I'm kidding. The coat was a nice gift though.”
Well, I guess I'm in the good books if she's trying to joke.
He almost stood there shocked at all of it. She sighed almost exasperated. “You act as if I grew two heads. It's should be natural to thank someone. Especially since you also helped with the rent while I was in the hospital.”
Now that was shocking. He specifically told everyone to keep that secret.
“How did you find that out?”
Her snickered but that gaze was almost that of someone proud of what they just did. "I didn't you just did. It was easy. I asked and no one else did it. Also, the landlord said he tried to warn the young detective his usual warning about me."
That is still a genius to pick up on in a few seconds. How in the hell did I not see this before now.
“Well...I better get back to work. As soon as you get signed off, you're officially partnering up with me as your still our official consultant. It seems the chief liked how we did before." It was almost a challenge to see if she would accept.
Sure she still has her work as a Private investigator but she's also the department's consultant.
Her smirk never went away. "Stop stating the obvious. Though I was waiting for my partner to stop being an idiot and think. Glad to see you finally gained some sense."
Ok, I'm just gonna give her free reign before I stop saying I deserved that one.