| Phoenix Chapter 6: Night Out |
| Tuesday Lennie decides that Jack needs a night out with the guys. The things you'll do for a friend . . . |
| �Aw, come on, Stefanik. Can�t you just do me a favor here? All I want is two lousy tickets to tonight�s Knicks game. Four would be better, but I�ll settle for two. All you have to do is call your cousin at the box office . . .� �Briscoe, you know tonight�s game is sold out.� �Yeah, and YOU know there are ALWAYS a couple of tickets released at the last minute that some bigwig decides not to use. Come ON, Stefanik. You know what Jack�s been through. He could really use a night out to unwind.� �This is for McCoy? Damn, that was a nasty situation. OK, Briscoe, but you gotta do something for me.� �Such as?� �Talk to Rogers for me. She�s THIS close to saying yes, I know it. She likes you, Briscoe. Talk Rogers into goin� out with me, and I�ll score your tickets for you.� �What do I look like, a match-maker? Look, Stefanik, my ex-wife is the yenta, not me. Get your own dates.� �Hey, that�s the deal. Take it or leave it.� Lennie sighed as he headed back to his desk. He REALLY wanted those tickets. Jack had been so stressed out lately, what with the attack, the nightmares, and the highs and lows of what was looking to be a roller-coaster of a relationship if he couldn�t come to terms with loving another man. Lennie really wanted to do something special for him. Ideally, something that would bring back a bit of normality. And maybe remind him that they could still be �just friends� out having a good time. The basketball game seemed ideal. Even better if he could get 4 tickets and invite some others along, so Jack couldn�t think it was a �date.� Well, he and Ed had to go over to the ME�s office this afternoon anyway . . . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ �So, Rogers, you got any plans for the weekend?� Lennie asked as casually as he could with Ed snickering in the background. �Why, Lennie, are you FINALLY asking me out after all these years?� Rogers� voice dripped with sarcasm as she fluttered her eyelashes. �Don�t get your hopes up, Rogers. I�m out of the dating game. Permanently. Two alimony checks are enough, thank you. I�m just the messenger - actually, it�s Stefanik asking.� �Stefanik? Lennie, I have SOME standards!� Lennie sighed. He knew Stefanik had no shot with the ME, but . . . �Look, here�s the deal. I�m trying to get Stefanik to get me some tickets to tonight�s game for Jack. He�s decided he�ll only play if I can get YOU to play with him. Now all you have to do is give up one evening of your time, you get a free meal out of it, then you can dump him.� �For Jack? You mean McCoy? Damn, that was a nasty situation . . .� �So whaddaya say, Rogers? Please?� �Well, I�ll tell you what, Lennie. If you can get Van Buren off my back on this Stevenson thing, I�ll have the time to waste with Stefanik. How about it?� Lennie closed his eyes and sighed. Didn�t he see this in a MASH episode years ago? �OK, Rogers, I�ll talk to her.� He looked over at Ed who was just leaning in the corner smirking. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ �So anyway, Lieutenant, if you could just back off on Rogers on that Stevenson thing until Friday, she�ll play ball with Stefanik, and I get the tickets. Please!� Anita was trying very hard to keep the smile off her face. �Well, Lennie if you could . . .� �Oh, no, Lieutenant, PLEASE, not another favor! How many people do I have to go through just to get these damned tickets?� �I was saying, if you could hand me that file over there, I�ll take it down to Rogers and tell her myself.� The grin broke through. Lennie laughed and shook his head. �You had to do that, didn�t you?� �Hey, Lennie, you give me a setup like that and think I�m NOT gonna take it? Now go tell Stefanik and get your tickets.� She chuckled as Briscoe left her office. Jack was lucky to have such a good friend as Lennie. Lennie flopped down into his chair as Ed looked on expectantly. �We�re in. Just hope Stefanik�s cousin can actually come through . . .� He reached for the phone. �Rogers � Van Buren is on her way to see you � you�re good on the Stevenson thing. Can you call Stefanik and confirm you�re good with him? Thanks, Rogers. You won�t regret this.� Half an hour later, Stefanik wandered over. �I didn�t think you�d pull it off, Briscoe! Dinner with the most gorgeous redhead doctor around. You got 4 tickets waiting at will call, box seats.� �Stefanik, you�re a peach. Just don�t scare her out of the precinct, OK?� As Stefanik headed off, Ed looked over at him. �So � 4 tickets. Who else is going?� �I was going to call Abbie, I know Jack would love to see her. And I figured I�d let you tag along.� Ed grinned. �Now that�s what I call a partner!� Lennie picked up the phone. �Hey Jack, you feel like going out for dinner? Bunch of us meeting over at O�Malleys at 6PM. Yeah, about time you got out of the apartment for a while. Great, we�ll be by to pick you up about quarter of.� ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They walked into the pub and Lennie quickly spotted Abbie holding down a table. Jack�s face lit up when he saw his assistant; Lennie just smiled. // Just what he needed.// The four of them talked and laughed through dinner. About 7:00, Ed looked at his watch and said �Hey, guys, we better get going or we�re gonna miss the tip off.� Jack looked envious � �You got tickets to the game tonight? Damn, I would have loved to go. I thought it was sold out?� Ed looked at Lennie � �You didn�t tell him?� �Nah, I wanted it to be a surprise. Until you opened your big mouth.� �How the hell was I supposed to know that?� �Well, I wasn�t saying anything about it, was I?� �So I�m supposed to read your mind?� Jack looked at them, incredulous. He couldn�t decide whether to laugh at their bickering or be touched by their thoughtfulness. Lennie finally gave up sparring with Ed and turned to him. �So Jack, you up for it?� �You�re serious � the Knicks game?� �Box seats, my friend. Best in the house.� Ed chimed in, �Man, you wouldn�t BELIEVE what Lennie had to do to get those tickets!� Ed recounted the story while they headed over to the game. �Stefanik, over in Vice, has a cousin who works in the Knicks box office. Lennie BEGGED him for tickets this morning. Stefanik figures he�s got nothing to lose, so he sends Lennie on a wild goose chase to get Rogers to go out on a date with him.� Abbie couldn�t believe it � �Rogers actually agreed to go out with Stefanik for this? What did you put in her coffee?� �It�s that old Briscoe charm. I turn it on, women just can�t say no!� Jack bit back a laugh, settled for raising an eyebrow at Lennie. Ed � �You mean they can�t say no to your checkbook, man.� �What checkbook � at this point, there�s nothing left.� Ed rolled his eyes and picked the story back up. �So Rogers decides SHE needs to get something out of this beyond a free meal, so she sends Lennie chasing after the Lieu to cut her some slack on the Stevenson thing. So we head back to the precinct.� Lennie picked up the narrative. �Yeah, so Van Buren decides to pull my leg, hinting SHE wants a favor too. I�m thinking I�m never going to get everything in line to get the damned tickets. But then she just asks me to hand her a folder and says it�s my own fault for giving her such an easy setup.� By this point, Jack had given in to the laughter. It was nice just having an evening out with friends. No issues, no doubts, no fears. Just friends. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After the game, Ed dropped them back at the apartment. Lennie hung his overcoat in the closet and turned to help Jack out of his coat. Jack sighed as Lennie stuffed the coat into the closet. As Lennie turned to face him, Jack reached out and placed his hand on Lennie�s arm. It was their first actual contact of the evening. �Thank you. I really needed that.� �Yeah, I figured you could use some fun after the past couple of days.� Lennie smiled and reached out to pull Jack into his arms for a quick squeeze, then pulled back and looked into his friend�s eyes. �You know, Jack, even if we weren�t sleeping together, I would have done this for you. Please don�t ever forget that first and foremost, you�re my best friend. I�d do just about anything for you.� Jack reached out and placed his hand on Lennie�s chest. �Me too, Lennie. Me too.� Just then Lennie yawned, grinned sheepishly, and said �speaking of sleeping . . . shall we call it a night?� He slipped one arm around Jack�s waist as they headed back to the bedroom. As Lennie spooned in behind him and wrapped an arm across his chest, Jack thought about how easily their normal camaraderie had asserted itself in public. Lennie was right � above all else, they were friends. He didn�t have to worry about giving away too much in public and endangering Lennie. But here at home, and especially here in bed, he wanted to be close to his lover. And that was just fine too continue on to Chapter 7 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. |
 |