Listen to Her || A Chicago P.D. Fanfiction

They Adore You Special

~Following Thursday~
"You're treating me like I don't know this already when I do!" Antonio tells his ex-wife over the phone. "Yes, I'll pick them up on time, I already told you.....and since when do you care so much? Are you finally gonna start paying attention to them? I'm the only one actually being a patent here, woman! Haces que sea muy difícil tener una conversación decente contigo. Solo hago esto por nuestros hijos (You make it so difficult to have a decent conversation with you. I'm only doing this for our kids)." He pulls his cellphone away from his ear to look at the screen, not hearing anything but finds the call timer still running, but all he hears is silence. "Bueno? Hello? Laura, what the hell?" He asks into his device, only to hear the call hang up. Sighing in annoyance and frustration, he puts his phone back in his jacket pocket and puts his head in his hands, staying seated on the first bench upon entering the locker room. This morning has been rough for Antonio Dawson. His ex-wife just called him out of the blue, wanted to know when he'll pick up the kids because she 'has things to do', then starts bashing him for choosing a job that's protecting the city. To top it all off, his two children cried the last time they were with him because they didn't want to go back with their mother and her boyfriend, which greatly made his heart ache. He sighs loudly before leaving the locker room, deciding that maybe a bit of coffee will lift his spirits until the others arrive.
As Danielle walks into the Intelligence office, Antonio walks out from the break room, happy to see his partner who he's crushing big time on. The only one to know is Jay, being that he kept poking at the 49 year old a few days ago until Antonio folded, confirming his crush on the sniper. He remembers exactly how that day went. They had been on a pretty fast moving case three days ago, driving out from the station. He and Danielle were in their Unit car on the way to a warehouse where the suspect was believed to be hiding out. The team was all hoping to not only find the suspect but also the missing guns from the crime scene. Danielle had been driving up to the side of the warehouse as Antonio spoke into his radio from the passenger seat. After working with him for almost 3 whole weeks, she couldn’t get over how attractive she finds him, having developed another crush. She could feel her cheeks growing a bit warm as she glanced over at Antonio. She hadn’t wanted to get caught blushing though, so the sniper quickly turned forward as if she had been studying the warehouse. Undenounced to her, Antonio had indeed caught her looking at him and he also saw the blush that graced her features. That hadn’t been the first time he's caught her watching him. Over their time working as partners, he often finds her studying him or just flat out watching his every move. Antonio doesn’t just like working with Danielle, but he likes spending time with her in the car and outside of work, finding their time together very personal. She can be a bit quiet, something he wasn't sure if it was because of her newness to them being partners or just how she was around him specifically. When she does speak though, Dawson finds her to be funny, when a moment allows for humor, and ingenious as she gives insights into the cases at hand that the second in command detective hadn’t yet thought of. 'It's all certainly something.' He had thought, deciding to keep it to himself. They got out of the car and went into the warehouse to meet the rest of the team who had already infiltrated it, catching their suspect in the midst of what was probably his attempt to leave, considering he was trying to pack his car full of guns. From there, the rest of the case just closed itself. The suspect spilled everything the minute they put him in the interrogation room, making the process extremely easy which everyone was grateful for. They had McClain take their suspect to Trudy so he could get booked. Once the reports were finished and turned in to Voight, Adam and Kevin herded the group out of the office, telling everyone to meet at Molly's for celebratory drinks on a very easy case. When they had all spent about two hours at the bar, Danielle got really tired and bid everyone a good night, leaving the men to keep drinking and talk amongst themselves, and Jay took that opportunity to privately ask Antonio if his feelings for the sniper had grown now that they're partners. "Good morning, Miss Rodriguez." He greets her, watching her look up at him from having been looking at the floor while she walked. "Good morning, Mr. Dawson." She tells him with a smile, noticing something just seems slightly off as he gives her a usual morning hug. "Are you alright?" She asks. "Um, yeah, why?" He asks with a smile that falters slightly when she really looks at him after taking a step back. "What's wrong? If you'd like to talk about it." 'Damn it, if she noticed, then the guys will and I'll be getting asked questions all day. Maybe I should leave right now before anyone else gets here. I can call Voight and ask for a personal day.' He quickly thinks to himself, not realizing he's looking down at the floor now as he thinks. "Antonio," The sniper says, gently placing her left hand on his right that's holding his coffee cup. Her touch snaps him out of his daze, looking at her instead of at the floor, "you can talk to me, you know that." She tells him softly with a smile. A smile that's reassuring. A smile that's comforting. A smile that's perfect to see when he's feeling down or when he's on top of the world. With a soft clear of his throat, he motions her to follow him, both walking to the locker room. As she puts away her work bags, he explains his rude awakening from the moment he got out of bed up until a minute ago. "I just want her to care about the kids, to be involved with them, anything. They see her not making an effort and they don't wanna go back with her. Danielle, they literally cried the last time they were with me before I took them back with Laura." Antonio explains softly, his now cold coffee unappealing to him so he tosses the cup in the trashcan. The sniper watches his eyes gloss over with tears as he doesn't look at her. She feels so bad for not only her partner, but Eva and Diego as well, now aware of just how bad the kids are doing in their mother's hands. "Antonio," she says softly, giving him a hug which he gladly accepts as he keeps himself composed, "you're doing a really amazing job with Eva and Diego. If their mom doesn't want to be there for them, that's on her. Just keep being the wonderful father that you are. My great grandma once told me: La familia es como la mùsica, algunas notas altas, otras bajas, pero siempre es una hermosa canciòn (Family is like music, some high notes, others very low, but it's always a beautiful song), so just keep giving them high notes and you'll see that they'll overpower the low ones." She tells him, feeling her partner hug her a bit tighter. "I really appreciate you." He whispers, slowly letting go of her. "I'm always right here for you." She tells him very softly, gently wiping away a tear that falls from his eye. "Ah, sorry." He says with a small laugh, using the back of his hands to wipe his eyes. "Don't be. We all need a good cry now and then. Plus, I won't tell a soul." She promises with a smile, Antonio feeling very grateful for her. Not even thinking of what he's doing, the 49 year old places a soft kiss to her left cheek, and when he's looking at her again, he immediately realizes what he's done. Both of their faces wear blushes as they look at each other, neither of them speaking until they hear footsteps approaching the locker room. "I-I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncom-" Antonio quickly apologizes but the 20 year old softly kisses his cheek, stopping him from talking as the footsteps grow closer. "Don't be." She tells him with a small smile, and just in time because Jay walks into the locker room, cautiously looking around. "Hello? Is anyone in here?" He asks, making his way towards the back of the room. He spots Dawson and Rodriguez walking away from her locker, both waving at Halstead. "Hey, man." Antonio says, his cheeks still slightly pinked. Jay looks between both of them, finding that Danielle seems normal and Antonio the tiniest bit flustered but in a good way. Not wanting to bombard them with questions, the veteran just smiles at them. "Hey. We were all wondering where you two were. It's almost 8." Jay explains as the three walk to the bullpen. As Danielle walks ahead of them, Jay nudges Antonio's arm a bit, smiling at him, Antonio making a gesture for him to stop as the two appear in the office area, sitting at their desks.