I can't lose you (zapatterson)

chapter two

Patterson woke up. Her memory seemed a bit fuzzy, she was on a couch she didn't remember and she was in pj's of her own.

She began piecing two and two together to recollect the events of the evening. She remembers texting Tasha's number and her heart began to race and her face began burning as she began searching for her phone. She cursed herself for putting it where ever she did. In a nervous rush last night she powered her phone off and hid it

She reminded herself to breathe and think.

"As if that would help. you've lost your phone."

She grabs her laptop attempting and succeeding to turn her phone on. Now it was a matter of remembering her number.it didn't take her much longer until she had her phone in her hand.

Her heart was racing even more. She'd thought about deleting all traces of the messages she'd sent out but what if they'd already seen the messages, it would have helped her case if she'd remember what she'd sent.

She slapped her head, a self-critical behaviour she picked up while hanging out in an orphanage in Peru. "Think Patterson" she paced the house and finally decided to check the three messages she sent out.
It couldn't be that bad right.

Patterson:" "hey Tasha. It's Patterson. We were on the same FBI team until two years ago. I am in Cali and was wondering if you'd like to catch up" she cringed at her text, she was clearly drunk last night. She checked to see if Tasha had read it and it was just her luck that she hadn't. She wanted to delete it but she wasn't sure it was a smart idea. Lately, she's been questioning herself more often and she was always making the wrong choices
She wasn't going to allow herself to screw her possible second chance.

She closed The message and went to see what she had sent Jane and Kurt and it looked as if she just copied and pasted the message and changed the name.

"Yup, I've screwed this up."  she threw herself onto the sofa behind staring at her phone which began vibrating on the coffee table.

She peered up to see the caller ID and to her surprise, Tasha was calling, Tasha, Tasha was calling her.  She attempted to regulate her breathing before answering her phone

"Hey, it's Patterson. How can I help you?" She spoke as her breath caught up when the person on the other end spoke

"Hey Patterson, it's Tasha."
Her face went white. She hadn't expected Tasha to actually answer

"Tasha. Oh my god, it's been-" she stopped herself, she couldn't screw this up.

"I am assuming you got my text, I am in Cali and was wondering if you wanted to, I don't know... catch up" she spoke trying to sound as cool as possible but her voice kept failing as she kept going high-pitched when she said certain words.

"I am quite busy at the moment, but might be free at 3.how does lunch sound?" Patterson felt as if a little weight had been lifted off her back. She hadn't entirely screwed this up.

"Sure 3.we can meet at my place... or yours... or if you have a good fast food place in mind." She remembered Tasha being quite the foodie who always knew the best places in town.

"Uhm how about, the new fast food place on cornel street. Biggie B's the name.
I got to go Patterson. See you at three." She was about to speak before Tasha hang up.

It was only after Tasha hung up the phone that she realized what had just happened. She began panicking, was she supposed to say when she saw Tasha, her heart was racing once again and her breathing had begun to speed up, there was a lump in her throat as she checked the time.

"1:00" Stood boldly on her watch. She didn't have much time. So much to do and so little time. One would assume someone told Patterson the world was ending the way she began throwing out outfits from her suitcase.

She soon settled on a white tee-shirt and a black and white overall with a pair of grey stocking with white pumps. Something she would have wore if she were still in the FBI.

Once she had showered -again-, got dressed and did her make-up she sat down at her computer to see what Tasha has been up to for these two years.

Once she was confident with what she discovered about Tasha and Edgar she decides she'd pop in at the store on the way and get Edgar a toy, perhaps a tiny science set.

________

She stood outside a yellow and red building with the words Biggie B in bold. She felt the gifts she had under her arm.

She entered at the double door looking if she could see the Latina anywhere. When she finally did she noticed she wasn't alone. Next to the Latina was a dark-haired woman with a little girl who looked no older than 1 and a man with lighter hair who was tickling a young girl with blonde hair and sitting in a chair on the other side of Tasha was a girl between the age of two and three. She sat on her own chair, she looked identical to Tasha with certain features of Reade.

She wanted to turn around. she wasn't sure she was ready to see the team again, but she had to do this even if this went sideways at least she knew she did her best to salvage their friendship as best she could.

She walked up to the table as Tasha got up to hug her. She dropped her gifts as her arms found themself around the woman she missed, she hadn't changed much still the same way of dressing, the dark blue denim jeans and black turtle neck with a large coat and boots which stoped mid-calf, the same perfume which reminded her of being in the lab late night trying to solve a tatoo and Tasha helping her as best she could or just late-night drives to try new food with Tasha after Borden's betrayal.

It didn't last too long until the young girls at the table began questioning. She looked at the dark-haired woman and shot her a smile afraid to speak to anyone.

The Latina noticed the gifts on the ground and bent to pick them up. "You dropped these." She pointed at the gifts.

"I got them for the girls" she smiled nervous picking at her nails. She was a nervous wreck and this was bad. Patterson was never nervous she was one the most outgoing people.

"Have a seat," Jane spoke offering her the seat next to Tasha's daughter. Patterson's hand shook as she passed the three gifts to the girls who smiled as their parents reminded them all to say thank you.

"So how have you been?" Patterson attempted making small talk.

"We've been good. How have you been, how's travelling the world?" Jane rested her arms on the table making Patterson feel like she was being interrogated.

She searched the table, noticing the children's smile as they opened the gifts, each one ripping the boxes open. "I've been good, last month we found an ancient book of dark magic which I gifted to rich for his wedding as no museum wanted it. I am assuming you were all invited to rich's wedding and declined because I didn't see anyone of you there and if he didn't invite you...I am sorr-" she stopped herself as she noticed the faces of the people around the table.

"I am sorry, I thought this was a good idea, I guess I was wrong," she spoke as she grabbed her purse and headed for the door.

"Wait." The Latina grabbed her wrist and Patterson felt her a familiar heat in her chest the same she felt that day on the hospital bed when Tasha promised her she'd always be here and they'd get through this together and it might have made leaving easier if Tasha broke that promise, but she didn't instead she never stopped fighting for Patterson after they found out about dragonfly.

"Please don't leave yet. We knew about Rich's wedding and we declined. We missed you at least try the food?" Jane spoke.

And for the first time in these two years Patterson felt home, only rich, Boston and their son, they were currently fostering were missing.

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AN: the team is togther,but for how long?