Serious Snafu

Chapter 2

After saying goodbye to the rest of the NCIS team that night, Chris LaSalle turned around to see his senior officer and surrogate father Dwayne Pride motion to him behind the bar with a steaming pot of coffee.

"Why don't you join me Christopher?" He said, pouring two mugs.

For about five minutes, the two men sat side-by-side on stools sipping in silence.

Finally Pride broke the quiet. "So, do you want to talk about it?" He asked.

LaSalle frowned. "About what?"

"Well," the older man paused, raising his eyebrows. "It seems to me, you've been wrestling with some mighty heavy issues lately..." he trailed off.

"Such as?" He knew, but it made his head hurt.

"Oh, life and death, good and evil, trust and distrust," Pride suggested.

Chris pursed his lips. It seemed all everyone wanted to do lately was talk about his feelings and, frankly, he was tired of it. But, he knew the man meant well, so he chose his words carefully.

"You know King, I'm good. Between you and Percy - I'm all talked out."

"Fair enough," Pride replied. "I will say, I'm pleased to see your relationship with her progressing..."

LaSalle felt his ears get hot. What the hell did Pride mean? What had he seen?

"You mean..." he started.

"Working together, having each other's backs. Sonja has come a long way. Hell, you both have," Pride said.

"I guess you could say we've reached an understanding," LaSalle conceded.

"She cares about you, son. We all do," Pride smiled as he drained his cup. "Just keep each other alive, OK?

"You got it, King," LaSalle got up to leave and offered his hand.

"Think you're getting away that easy?" Pride reached his arms out wide and the men gave each other a hybrid hug/pat on the back.

Chris went out to his truck. He turned back a minute to see Pride at the door waving, then go back inside the bar. LaSalle shook his head and smiled at his boss's paternal actions. He got in the vehicle and started it up. As he swung around the block, he saw the bar's lights go off and Pride emerge from the back and hop in his blue Cadillac.

Even though it was past 2 a.m., LaSalle felt unsettled. He had consumed less than his usual intake of alcohol, and the coffee intensified his alertness. It was a weeknight, and the streets were almost bare. He was in no hurry to go home as the NCIS agents were taking the morning off. Sure, there was paperwork, but that could wait until the afternoon; they were federal agents after all, being too efficient would only gum up the works.

As he drove on auto-pilot, Chris found his thoughts returning to Percy. People interpreted their back and forth as bickering, but it really was their way of playing. He found it fun and mentally stimulating to keep up with the verbal sparring and suspected she felt the same. He felt a kinship, but never knew the intensity of her feelings. He had been surprised seeing tears in her eyes when she urged him to discuss his violent encounter with Hansen.

He thought about those eyes now. He always considered Sonya as what his mom would call a "tough cookie." He smiled. Maybe a better term would be a "broad," a woman who could hold her own with any man.

Yet, on this night, he could only think of her in terms of softness - soft eyes, soft hair, soft round curves. In his revelry, LaSalle found himself in a familiar neighborhood, in front of a familiar house, not his.

It was her's.

LaSalle what are you doing here? He scolded himself. This wasn't some cute dolly from Columbus who drank too many Hurricanes. This was Percy; this was Sonja. But, if his brush with death had taught him anything, it was to not put things off and he had done that for too long. He had to see her to sort out his feelings once and for all.

And, he had to do it right now.