| Love is All Around |
| Don Cragen sat down gingerly as he settled into his office Tuesday morning. // Wow, what a night! // he thought with a chuckle. His body was definitely not used to such � frenetic � activity. He and Emil had gone at it pretty hard last night. He couldn�t remember the last time he�d come three times in one evening. Of course, they never had gotten around to dinner. He had stumbled home around 11, scavenged something quick from the fridge, and fallen into bed, exhausted. Exhausted, but happy, and satisfied in a way he�d never felt before. And yet he still didn�t know much about the man. They had talked a little between rounds, enough for him to know that Skoda was divorced and had a kid a little younger than Don�s son who lived with his mother. Don had mentioned Marge and their somewhat �unusual� arrangement, not going into much detail. They talked a little about Lennie and Jack. But most of the night had not involved talking. It was rough, raw sex that had turned Don on like a lightbulb. Emil had some of the most interesting toys � He shook himself out of the reverie; he had to get through this day at work before he could go back to his new favorite playground � ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lennie was rummaging through a bin of new acquisitions when he heard the door to the store open. He looked up expecting a customer, then smiled as he saw his daughter. Things had gotten a lot better between them since he got shot; another happy result of that horrific day. �Cath! What brings you here?� She came over and hugged him. �Hey, Dad! I, uh, just wanted to say hi �� Lennie raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. �So you came all the way out here?� She suddenly got defensive. �What, I can�t come see my Dad?� �Whoa, sweetheart, relax! It�s ok! You know I�m always glad to see you.� Cathy relaxed a bit, then looked at him. �You look really good, Dad. Retirement suits you.� Lennie laughed. �Yeah, workin� 6 hour days here in a used record store is a whole hell of a lot better than 16 hour days pounding the pavement.� �You�re lucky you�ve got Jack to take care of you �� Something in her voice set off a warning bell. It had been awkward when he finally told his daughter he was gay, and was moving in with his lover. She had been upset at first, but finally agreed to come have dinner with them. Seeing the way Jack took care of him had changed her mind. At least he thought it had. �Sweetheart? Something wrong?� Cathy sighed. There were no other customers in the store on a Tuesday morning, so he steered her toward a couple of chairs in the back. He�d hear the door chime if anybody came in. �Come on, Cath. Spill.� She sighed. �It�s Danny, Dad. He wants me to do stuff �� Lennie�s brow furrowed with concern. Danny Jones was the boyfriend du jour. Lennie had met him once and didn�t like him one bit. But you just can�t tell your kids that. �What kind of stuff, sweetheart?� She couldn�t look at him. �Drugs.� Lennie felt his heart drop through his stomach. �Cath, baby, no, you know better �� She nodded. �I know, Daddy. I know. It�s not street stuff; it�s prescription stuff, stuff I can get at the hospital. He wants me to steal it for him. He says he can sell it for a lot on the street.� Lennie felt his anger growing at this young punk. �Cathy, tell me you didn�t.� She shook her head. �No, Daddy. But I�m scared. I�ve been stalling him, but it�s not gonna work much longer. I�m afraid he�s gonna hurt me �� Lennie got up and pulled her close. �No way some street punk is gonna hurt my little girl. We�ll take care of this, sweetheart. You willing to set him up so we can get him off the street?� Cathy looked up at him, fear in her eyes. �I � I don�t know if I can.� Lennie gently kissed her forehead. �You can, sweetheart. I know you can. I know some guys in vice. We�ll set you up with a wire, give you some fake pills. You just get him to admit that he asked you to do it, we�ll have it on tape, and he�s in jail where he can�t hurt you.� Cathy trembled as she leaned into her father�s embrace. She knew she had done the right thing coming here, but she was still scared. She suddenly had the strangest thought � what would have happened if she and her dad hadn�t gotten it together? Where would she have turned? Would she have been able to get out of this? A shiver went down her spine at the thought. Finally, she let go and looked up into her father�s eyes and nodded. �Ok, Dad. With you, I can do this.� Lennie smiled proudly at her. �That�s my girl.� He leaned down and kissed her forehead again, brushing the thick brown curls back from her face. He suddenly remembered he hadn�t yet told her the good news. �Hey! Kiddo, I almost forgot, I�ve got something real special to tell you.� She looked at him, kind of surprised by his sudden intensity. �OK, Dad, your turn. Spill.� Lennie laughed. �Well, uh, Jack and I have decided to get married.� For a moment she just stood there, staring at him. �Dad? I didn�t think that was possible?� Lennie shrugged. �Well, not legally. And sure as hell not in the Church. But that doesn�t mean we can�t promise each other forever, does it?� Cathy had followed her mother in the Jewish faith; her Dad�s lack of overt religion didn�t surprise her in the least. And when she thought about it for a moment, it made sense. It had been pretty clear to her that they loved each other, once she allowed herself to see it. She and her sister Julia had had a long talk about it and decided that it if made their Dad happy, it was ok. They also decided to not mention it to their mother, at least not yet. She smiled. �No, it doesn�t. I�m happy for you both. When?� Her smile triggered a huge grin from her father. �At the housewarming party. Julia is still planning on coming, isn�t she?� Cathy laughed. �Of course. Does she know yet?� Lennie shook his head. �This just happened over the weekend.� �Well, you are going to call her, aren�t you?� �Yeah, I will. Tonight.� Cathy hugged him. �Congratulations, Daddy.� Lennie held her close for a moment, his hands stroking the long curly hair. �Thanks, Cath.� ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jack stared at the papers in front of him, his worst nightmare come true. It was common for couriers to deliver summonses and other trial-related court documents to the DA�s office every day. But most of them dealt with his job. This was personal. Painfully personal. Jack read the words again, knowing they weren�t going to change. He was hereby ordered to stay away from his daughter, all visitation rights revoked. He�d had to tell Jeanne when he moved, and really hadn�t wanted to keep the truth from her. Biggest mistake of his life. She�d been horrified that the father of her daughter was a gay man. He tried to make the distinction between gay and bi, but it didn�t seem to matter. At least he�d told Kelly himself first. In typical teenager fashion, she�d first been grossed out, then decided that maybe it was kind of cool. He�d taken her to meet Lennie, and they had hit it off right from the beginning. For a few brief hours, he almost felt like he had his family back. But that had been the last time he saw Kelly. Jeanne hadn�t allowed it since she found out. Jamie watched him from outside his office, staring almost blindly at the document. Concerned, she tapped on the door. �Jack? Something wrong?� The voice seemingly coming out of nowhere startled Jack. He looked up, saw her standing there, and sighed. �Nothing you have to worry about, Jamie.� The look on his face went straight to her heart. She stepped in, closing the door behind her. �Jack, what is it?� Jack knew she was going through something similar, fighting her ex for custody of their daughter Katie. Part of him didn�t want to add to her worries, but part of him needed a friend to talk to. He threw the papers across the desk. Jamie sat down and picked them up, recognizing them instantly. �Oh, Jack, no. I�m sorry �� She looked up into dark eyes haunted by pain. �You are going to fight this, aren�t you?� Jack blinked. It hadn�t even occurred to him. �Why waste the time? I�ve got no chance of winning �� Jamie glared at him. Jack could be so stupid some times. �Why? Because you�re just the father? Jack, incase you hadn�t noticed, fathers do have some rights these days. Neil has certainly taken advantage of it enough �� Jack grimaced, knowing what Neil Gordon had put Jamie through these past months. �But he�s not gay, Jamie �� Jamie sighed. �Is that what this is about?� �Of course. Why else come up now?� �You can still fight it. You�re not asking for custody, just visitation. Does Kelly know?� Jack nodded, the memory of that one Sunday afternoon as a family bringing a slight smile to his lips. �Yeah. She and Lennie are best friends �� Jamie laughed. �Good. Use that. And the fact that you two are in a committed relationship. Believe me, Jack, it�s a good case. This is the �90�s, not the �50�s. You can win this.� Jack managed a smile. �I guess it would make it even stronger that we�re getting married �� Jamie blinked. �Jack? Did you say what I think you just said?� He grinned, blushing. �Yeah. Wanted to tell you yesterday, but I needed to tell Adam first, and didn�t get a chance till the end of the day. We�re going to do it at the housewarming party.� Jamie reached across the desk to take his hand. �Oh, Jack, that�s wonderful. I�m very happy for you both.� Jack smiled and squeezed her fingers. �Thanks, Jamie. And thanks for the advice. I hadn�t even thought about fighting this.� She shook her head. �I�ll get you my lawyer�s card. We�ll beat this, Jack. Don�t worry.� ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anita Van Buren sat at her desk, trying to eat lunch. OK, so it was closer to 2PM than to noon. It had just been one of those days. When the phone rang, she just glared at it for a moment, just knowing it would be more work. Then she took a deep breath and picked it up. �Van Buren.� �Hey, Lieu, long time no see!� Lennie Briscoe�s cheerful voice was exactly the tonic she needed against this highly irritating day. �Lennie! How are you!� The smile on her face could have lit up the entire city. �Pretty damned good. How�s life at the 27?� �Same old same old. You know how it goes.� Lennie laughed. �Yeah. And you know what? I�m SO glad I don�t have to deal with it anymore.� �Lucky you.� �Oh, more ways than you know. Listen, I�ve actually got a favor to ask.� His voice had changed, suddenly getting serious. �What�s up, Lennie?� He took a deep breath. �It�s my daughter, Cathy. Her boyfriend�s a punk dealer, wants her to steal drugs from the hospital where she works. She finally realized what a loser he is and wants to get rid of him, but she�s scared. He�ll hurt her, Lieu. We gotta get him off the streets. She�s willing to wear a wire and get him to admit on tape that he asked her to steal for him. I know narcotics should handle it, but this is my kid, I want somebody I can trust, you know?� Anita heard the anguish in his voice. �I hear you, Lennie. Let me see if I can set it up to have Rey work with the narc guys.� Lennie sighed with relief. There was nobody he�d rather trust with his baby girl�s safety than Rey Curtis. �Thanks, Lieu.� Van Buren smiled. �Lennie. You don�t work here any more. You can call me Anita.� Lennie chuckled. �OK L � Anita. Damn, that�s going to take some getting used to.� She laughed. �So otherwise, how�s retirement?� �Perfect. The house looks so great � you are coming to the housewarming party, aren�t you?� �Wouldn�t miss it for the world.� �Good. Um, there has been a little change in plans, though.� �Such as?� �Well, it�s not just a housewarming party anymore. Jack and I are gonna get married.� �What!� Her startled exclamation carried out to the hall outside her office. Several people stared at her, wondering what had excited the usually calm Lieutenant. Lennie laughed. �You heard me. Vows, rings, cake, the whole works.� She shook her head. �Damn, Lennie. You are full of surprises these days. Congratulations.� There was a warmth in her voice that went straight to Lennie�s heart. �Thanks, Anita. You know, after keeping this hidden all those years, it means a lot to me that you didn�t freak when we came out.� �Lennie, you�re a good cop, and a good friend. I understand why you left, but I gotta tell you we miss you. This place just isn�t the same without you.� ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Emil Skoda sat at the bar, nursing a drink while waiting for his date. Last night had certainly gone beyond any expectations. Don had been in serious need of some release, and Emil had been more than happy to provide it. It had been pretty amazing sex, but now he found he wanted to know more about this man. The brief mention of Don�s wife had been intriguing. She knew he was gay, but they were still in love. Just not lovers. The shrink in him found it fascinating. And the rest of him found it � tantalizing. His train of thought derailed as he saw Cragen walk through the door. There was something about this quiet, ordinary looking man that just demanded his attention. A broad smile took over his face as their eyes met. �Evening, Emil.� Cragen�s hand casually rested on his shoulder. �Don. Good to see you. So, you up for actually getting some dinner tonight?� Cragen laughed. �Yeah, I think that�s a good plan.� Skoda caught the eye of the Maitre�d, who promptly led them to a table. They had a nice, quiet dinner, just talking, getting to know one another. Cragen filled him in on the backstory of his history with Lennie, and the part he had played in bringing the happy couple together. Which had, of course, left him alone. Skoda talked about his own marriage, which had ended several years ago when his wife had found out he was bisexual. They talked about Jack and how amazing it was that he so obviously loved Lennie. And they talked about everyday things like the upcoming baseball playoffs and some of the stranger cases they had each worked on over the years. The conversation flowed naturally, and Cragen�s wry sense of humor had Skoda laughing his ass off half the night. When they finished dinner, they looked somewhat expectantly at each other. There was something Don had to ask. �Emil? About last night - do you do that often?� It was nice to know that even a shrink could blush. �Invite a relative stranger home before dinner and fuck him senseless? Uh, actually, no. I was in a fairly longstanding relationship until about 6 months ago when they moved out of town, and was just starting to think about finding something new when I saw you from the bar yesterday. And when you turned out to be Jack�s friend, I just couldn�t resist.� The smile on his face was enough to embarrass Don. They went back to looking expectantly at each other. Finally Skoda grinned. �Well? Your place or mine?� Cragen suddenly realized that with Marge somewhere in � Cleveland? � tonight and Jason off at school, he actually had the freedom to invite Emil to his house. Of course, he didn�t have all those wonderful toys, and he had no idea if there was any lube around, but he could stop at a drug store on the way. It was just too unique an opportunity to pass up. �It would be nice to have some company for a change.� Skoda laughed. �OK, your place then.� Cragen grabbed a napkin and quickly wrote out the directions. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lennie knew something was wrong the minute Jack walked in the door. His lover�s face looked haggard, worn. A world of difference from the exuberant mood he�d been in yesterday. �Jack?� The attorney hung his jacket in the hall closet and moved into Lennie�s waiting arms. Lennie could feel the tension in his body. He gently led Jack over to the couch. �What is it?� Jack sighed and looked up. �Got the court order today. Jeanne is giving up all rights to child support payments and ordering me to stay away from Kelly.� Lennie was starting to hate Jack�s ex as much as his own ex-wives. Maybe even more. �Bitch. She can�t do that, can she?� Jack shrugged. �Obviously she got a judge to agree to it. But Jamie thinks I can fight it �� �Damn straight we�re gonna fight it!� Jack couldn�t help smiling at the �we� that had crept in. He squeezed Lennie�s hand. �Thanks, love.� Lennie gently kissed his cheek. �Daughters are worth fighting for �� There was something in his voice. �Lennie? Something going on I don�t know about?� Lennie sighed. �Cathy came to see me today.� He went on to explain the situation. Now it was Jack�s turn to offer comfort. �You know Rey will take good care of her, Lennie.� �Assuming Van Buren can get narc to cooperate �� Jack laughed. �Lennie. Think what you just said. Of course they�ll cooperate. They don�t want their balls busted!� Lennie had to laugh with him. When Anita Van Buren set her mind to something, it was going to happen. Especially when it involved somebody she cared about. �Ok, you win. She�ll be fine.� Jack nodded. �And I�ll make sure the ADA handling the case knows how important it is to nail this bastard. We�ll take care of her, Lennie.� Lennie smiled and kissed Jack softly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was a nice single family home in the suburbs with a one-car garage. Skoda walked up the sidewalk from the driveway and rang the doorbell. Even with the stop at the drugstore, Cragen had managed to get there first; he opened the door and invited his guest in. The place certainly wasn�t anything out of the pages of a home design magazine, but it seemed comfortable enough. Skoda noticed several family photographs, Cragen with a woman his age and a son growing up before his eyes in the photos. Marge was a lovely woman, soft brown hair tied loosely back. He guessed life as a flight attendant didn�t encourage complicated hairstyles. �So, Emil, can I get you something to drink?� Skoda turned his attention to his host. �No thanks.� He moved close, reaching out to pull Don into a kiss. Don couldn�t believe this was happening in his own living room. It felt so strange, and yet so exciting, too. He found himself eagerly responding, once again craving the passion they had found last night. In very little time, a trail of discarded clothing led the way to his bedroom. Cragen felt a brief flash of something as they fell into the bed he still shared with Marge when she was in town; not exactly guilt, but something �. But it was quickly forgotten as they wrestled again for dominance. This time Skoda had him pinned down and was grinning evilly at him. He began an assault on Cragen�s nipples, wringing gasps from his captive as he bit and licked them until they were almost painfully tender. Finally he moved his attention, working his way down chest and stomach, stopping to plunge his tongue into Don�s navel, nipping around the edges. Don squirmed beneath him, and he chuckled, low and deep. That sound sent shivers along Cragen�s spine. At long last, a warm mouth latched onto his dick, already hard and dripping. His hands sought out Skoda�s head, pulling him in, enjoying the strangely sensual feel of a bald head. He grunted and groaned, thrusting into Emil�s mouth, thoroughly lost in the pleasure until finally he cried out and shot his load deep into the shrink�s throat. Skoda eagerly took all Cragen had to give then came up to lay beside him, propped up on one elbow, grinning down at him. �Good?� Don laughed. �Hell yes. Like I said, it�s been a while.� Skoda smiled. �So that�s why you were so � intense last night?� Cragen laughed. �Well, that and � hell, Emil, I�ve never had anything like that before. It�s like Lennie and I were always holding back, knowing it wasn�t �real.� I don�t know, maybe it�s just me, now that Jason�s in college, there�s no real reason for Marge and I to keep up this charade, maybe I�m finally willing to let myself go?� Skoda studied him. �I thought you said you love her.� A shrug. �I do. But that doesn�t seem to be enough any more �� The pain was evident in Cragen�s eyes. He didn�t want this to end, but was afraid it was coming whether he wanted it or not. Emil reached out and gently ran his fingers over Don�s arm. �Have you ever tried to find a way to make it work?� �How? I can�t change the fact that I�m just not attracted to her.� �There are a lot of alternatives out there, Don. If you really love her, don�t give up just yet.� The shrink�s fingers gently squeezed his. The sudden switch from passion to compassion caught Don by surprise. He looked up into Emil�s eyes, got the feeling that the man really did care. Smiling softly, he squeezed back. �Thanks.� Skoda shrugged, smiling. �In the meantime, I certainly wouldn�t mind keeping you company when she�s out of town �assuming she�s ok with that?� He allowed his hand to slide across Don�s chest and stomach. Don started to think that just maybe this could turn into something special. He grinned back. �I think we can arrange that.� He pulled Emil down into a kiss which rapidly devolved into a battle for dominance in round two � Continue on to Chapter 4 Send me some feedback Back to the Story Index Disclaimer: These characters belong to Dick Wolf and NBC. I'm just borrowing them for fun, not profit. |
| Chapter 3 |