Perfect Storm

Chapter 11 - At Least We've Still Got Each Other

Hank dropped Kate at the airport with a promise that he would call her later and headed back to his empty house. As he guided his truck through the traffic, he became lost in his thoughts, mind drifting to the last week spent in a certain detective's arms.

His brain was telling him that getting involved with a subordinate was a terrible idea. There were a million and one ways that the whole thing could go sideways and, ultimately, he had his 'no in-house relationships' rule for a reason. To protect the unit and make sure each of them went home every night. Emotional attachments made people irrational despite their best efforts to remain professional.

But now, he'd had a taste of her. He knew exactly what it felt like to be held in her arms, to feel her lips on his skin, to be inside of her.

With all of that knowledge, he resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn't be able to stop even if he wanted to.

Of course he had concerns about how they would handle things at work. He wasn't thrilled with the idea of her being put in harms way at his order but, ultimately, it was her job and that was a boundary that they were going to have to learn to navigate.

He knew they would have to tell the team at some point but, whilst he didn't relish the idea of having to discuss his personal relationships with the rest of the unit, it was only a matter of time until they figured it out for themselves.

He had seen the way she looked at him when she thought no-one was looking, the way her eyes would track over his form with a knowing look on her face that screamed 'I've seen you naked'. But it wasn't like he could blame her. He was almost certain that he'd been guilt of the same thing a time or two, particularly when she would lean over a desk to point at something on Kevin's computer screen, her round, denim-clad ass on full display and just begging for his palm.

Shaking his head, Hank couldn't help the grin that formed on his face at his train of thought.

After showering and changing into some clean clothes, Hank was in the process of pouring himself a cup of coffee when his phone vibrated in his pocket. It was a video call from Olive. A smile was already tugging at his lips when he swiped the screen and held the phone in front of him as her round face and curly flaxen hair filled the screen.

"Hank!"

"Hey, how are you guys doin'?"

She panned the phone around to show Daniel lying on his tummy on their living room floor amongst the wooden tracks of a large train set that Hank had sent him for Christmas.

"Someone wanted to say thank you for the Christmas gift. Hey Daniel, come here and speak to Grandpa Hank."

The little boy sprung to his feet and charged over to his mother, joining her on the sofa and leaning in close so that he could see his grandfather on the screen. Hank couldn't believe how much the his grandson looked like Justin. From his mop of dark hair to the wide, cheeky smile, even the deep brown eyes that he'd inherited from both his father and his grandmother.

Hank was always so grateful that Justin had Camille's eyes. When she became sick, he took comfort in the fact that he would always be able to look at his son and see his wife right there looking back at him. She would have been thrilled that those same orbs had now been passed down to their grandson.

"Hey buddy! Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas Grandpa Hank! Thank you for the train set - it's so cool!"

Hank chuckled at the boy's typical six year old enthusiasm but a heavy weight settled in his chest at how much of his only grandchild's life he was already missing out on. Making a mental promise to visit them in Arizona in the New Year, Hank asked Daniel about school and what their plans were for the holidays.