If the Fates Allow

10:00am, The PCPD

The station was buzzing with a frantic energy when Maxie walked in the front doors. She scanned the room looking for Nathan hoping that she hadn't missed him but saw no sign of him or Dante for that matter. No one paid any attention to her as she went to his desk. She smiled at the clutter on his desk, touching a small key he had looped over the lamp on his desk. It was the key to handcuffs that had locked them together the previous summer.

Maxie smiled at the memory. She and Nathan had spent the night handcuffed together but it was the memory of waking up with her head on his shoulder that she returned to over and over. When she woke the next morning, Nathan was already awake and watching her with a sweet and longing expression that surprised her. She had thought he saw her as an irritant especially since she had been the reason for their entanglement the night before. There was the briefest of moments when their eyes met that she saw her future there in his eyes. The moment was ruined by the loser that she had been with at the time just like all the other moments she and Nathan had shared last summer. She had no desire to let anyone come between her and Nathan again. Not the loser and definitely not Judge Walters.

She looked around the room again. The energy had shifted from a frantic energy to a calmer more precise air. Maxie recognized it from the days when Mac ran the department. Something, some crisis, had just been resolved and the danger had ended. A uniformed policeman returned to the desk, dropping a stack of files on the counter. Maxie stepped over to him and he looked up when she approached.

"Hi, I'm looking for Detective West. Do you know where I can find him?" Maxie asked hopefully.

The cop shook his head and shrugged. "He was out on a call last I heard."

"Oh," she muttered, deflating a little. "Do you think he'll be back soon?"

The cop shrugged again. "Probably. We just got word the situation he was called to was under control."

"Well, I'm just going to wait for him over there then." She pointed to Nathan's desk. "Let me know if you hear from him?" The cop nodded shuffling through the pile of folders. Maxie returned to Nathan's desk and settled in his chair to wait. His coat lay across the arm of his chair, almost forgotten. Whatever Nathan had left to do, he must have had to leave in a hurry. She picked up his coat and touched it to her cheek briefly. It smelled like his soap. She smiled gently lost in the thought and completely missing the looming figure hovering over her.

"What are you doing in my son's chair? Get out at once!" Maxie looked up and into the glaring eyes of Liesl Obrecht. She wasn't intimidated by the woman. Well not exactly. Liesl Obrecht was dangerous on her bad days and just plain scary on her good days. Still, she was Nathan's mother and the last thing Maxie wanted was to cause trouble for him with his scary mother.

"I'm just waiting for him," Maxie replied carefully.

"Where is he then?" Obrecht snapped.

Maxie shook her head trying not to sound snarky. "Not here," she answered and then added under her breath, "Obviously."

"If he isn't here, then what are you doing here, Miss Jones? I thought you were not allowed to see my son. Isn't that what that judge told you?"

Maxie frowned. "I can see him now if I want. We're roommates after all."

Obrecht crossed her arms over her chest glaring imperiously at Maxie. "I know all about you Miss Jones. And I also know that my son has very strong feelings for you. But, for the record, I do not approve of you."

"It's a good thing I didn't ask for your approval then." It was out of her mouth before she could think about it. She bit her lip to keep herself from making it worse.

Obrecht reached down and snatched Nathan's coat from Maxie's hands. "Don't be insolent. I do not want to see my son hurt, Miss Jones."

Maxie tried to smile. This was common ground for them if she could manage to keep her dislike of Liesl Obrecht at bay. "I don't either."

"You have brought nothing but sadness and grief to Nathan. He ran around that clinic looking for you when he should have gotten himself to safety. And now he moons after you like some lovesick teenager. My Nathan is a strong man and should not be reduced to being your lapdog!"

That was enough for Maxie. She got to her feet, ready for the fight. "Nathan is not my lapdog. And if you want to worry about him getting hurt, maybe you should look at what you've done to him!" Maxie snapped.

"What I have done to him? I am his mutter. How could I possibly hurt him?"

"Oh I don't know... How about shooting his father for starters and telling him you did it for him?"

Obrecht's mouth tightened into a firm line. "You shouldn't speak of things you do not understand."

"Oh I shouldn't? Well you shouldn't go around killing people in Nathan's name."

Obrecht leaned in closer, her voice lowering to a dangerous tone. "I will not have you in my son's life, Miss Jones. You are not good enough for him. I will not allow it."

"I don't think you have a say in the matter," Maxie started. The uniform policeman at the desk approached them both, interrupting Maxie's rant.

"Excuse me, you wanted to know when Detective West would be back?" Maxie nodded, all thoughts of tearing into Obrecht disappearing. "We just got a call from Detective Falconeri. Detective West was taken to General Hospital by ambulance for treatment."

"Treatment? Treatment for what?" Maxie whispered, fear clutching at her heart.

"Detective Falconeri said it was a gunshot wound. The suspect..."

If he said anything else, Maxie didn't hear it. Her world turned black in an instant as she flashed back to Jessie and Coop, both cops and both taken from her too soon by violence. Her knees gave way underneath her as she sank into the chair in shock. "Not again," she begged, her voice barely a whisper. "Not Nathan."