Disclaimer: Wolf Films owns them.
Crap. Yeah, I think I know why too. Van Buren's been giving me and Ed weird looks for the last couple of days, as Ed's gotten more and
more uptight and I've gotten more and more pissed at him. And I'm guessing she just saw him stalk off, and me follow him into the IR,
and then him take off again.
"What's going on with you and Ed?"
"Nothing," I answer, and I feel about ten years old. "What's behind your back, Leonard?" Ma used to say, and I'd say "Nothin'," knowing
she knew full well that I had a piece of gum I'd taken from the bodega counter when the cashier wasn't looking.
"Spit it out. Why'd he take off?"
"Chasing down a lead."
There it is, my mother's look, on Van Buren's face. Spooky. "Without you? For what case?"
Oh, the hell with it. This isn't fooling her. "Look, we're fine. He just had to go. Personal business."
"If it affects his work or your partnership, then it's not personal any more."
No. Some things you don't tell your boss. No matter how decent she is, no matter how much she wants to be everybody's mom. This is none
of her business.
She glares at me and we do a battle of wills, and then she does this from-outta-nowhere thing. "Is this about Ed being gay?"
"What - you know?" I blurt out, and she looks like she's trying not to laugh. Yeah, OK, she got me. "Since when? How?"
"For a long time. Woman's intuition."
"Wish to hell you'd told me."
"Is this a problem for you?"
"What?" Now she's looking at me like she doesn't want to accuse me of anything. "Ah, come on. You're not serious?"
"You two haven't been getting along in the last few days and I get the feeling that--"
"Hey, come on, Lieu. If I could put up with some of the crap Mike and Rey pulled, I can sure as hell put up with a partner that prefers
sweating up the sheets with guys." Ew, saying that brought up an image I didn't want at all. "It was a shock at first, that's all. I
don't care who he sleeps with."
"Then what's the problem?"
No, we're not going there. What's going on between Ed and McCoy is really, really none of her business.
"Fine. You just let Ed know... if there's a problem, I want to know. I don't want your cases compromised because of anything going wrong
between him and the DA's office."
How she figured that one out, I don't want to know. But I know my face is giving me - and Ed - away again. Damn, she's good.
She sighs. "I mean, Jack McCoy, of all people. With his rep? What the hell is Ed thinking?"
"Yeah, well, I don't think Ed's thinking much right now, Lieu. Not with his brain, anyway."
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Briscoe
Copyright July, 2003, Cirocco
"Lennie, I need to see you in my office. I think you know why."
On to Part XVII, Jack's POV, by Tobias Charity