Chapter Text
"That's what you're wearing?" Tan asks, fiddling at his wrists with tiger's eye cufflinks that compliment his bronze tie.
Chris brushes his fingers away and fastens the link with a vaguely offended frown. "What's wrong with my outfit?"
Tan shrugs and holds out his other wrist, glancing over Chris's red jeans, plunging lace-up neckline, and leather jacket with a critical eye. He waits until she's finished with his other link and steps back before offering, "A little casual for a gala, isn't it?"
Before Chris can retort with a comment about his bedhead mess of a hairdo, Street sweeps through the room, tugging a green blazer on and grabbing his keys. "Leave it, Tan, we're gonna be late. And her ass looks great in those jeans."
Chris sticks out her tongue and dodges Tan's playful spank on her way to the car.
+++++
Tan is schmoozing with the chair of the planning committee when something shimmers in the corner of Chris's eye. When she catches a full view of a slender, graceful woman wrapped in what looks like Mexican silver, it's worth distracting Street from a passing plate of tiny hot dogs to ask, "Who is that?"
His mouth is still full of spinach puff from the last tray of traveling hors d'oeuvres anyway. "Mm, 'ats Jethica 'ortez, thhee's a-" Tan reaches around blindly behind himself to slap at Street, never stuttering as he and the chairwoman discuss a recent snag in some warehouse development permits, and Chris has to suppress a giggle as Street shuts his mouth to finish chewing. Her eyes don't leave the woman's elegant hands, gesturing pointedly as she talks to some stuffy looking white man. Still, Chris isn't too starry-eyed to read something too well-trained in the woman's posture, in her flickering, attentive gaze. Whoever she is, Chris thinks, she's a cop.
Finally, Street is ready to try again and confirms her suspicions. "That's Jessica Cortez. She's a police captain, currently heading Metro SWAT. I think Hondo has a thing for her, but he won't admit it to anyone."
At that, Chris finally looks away from the woman - Cortez - and glances around the room for Street's cop. They'd seen him earlier on their way in. Him, and every other cop in the room, including Deacon, who Chris would greet when his wife wasn't glued to him. Her eyes find Hondo across the ballroom, and sure enough, the normally-stoic man is as captivated by his captain as Chris had been. Despite being deep in conversation with a pair of CEO-types, his eyes can't resist the shimmer of Cortez's dress, and Chris watches him drag himself back to his conversation more than once with a snort.
When Street throws out a too-casual, "You should go introduce yourself," and eats a crostini in one bite, Chris turns pink and forces her eyes back to scanning the room.
"Maybe on a day when you have normal security. Someone has to babysit you." It's a convenient excuse, but it isn't untrue. The venue for this party sits on One Niner territory, and high profile parties have been hot targets lately. No one is on great terms with the One Niners, but Chris's raid on one of their heroin supplies last week meant that the StreetRats were toward the top of their shit list. "Tan's-"
"Free and willing to babysit," comes Tan's voice close behind her, making her jump a little. Tan chuckles, and Chris realizes just how close he is when she can almost feel his chest rumble. "Besides, you're clearly distracted. Go say hi." His fingers trail over the small of her back, under her jacket and shirt, skimming along her sensitive skin as he moves a few feet away to get a better vantage point on the room. "Have fun." His playful smirk is teasing, but warmly sincere. Street nods, mouth full, and gestures across the room.
Chris rolls her eyes, but grabs a pair of red wine glasses off of a server's tray and wanders over anyway. She catches the moment that Cortez spots her in her peripheral vision, and pretends not to have noticed for as long as Cortez pretends not to notice her. From a few feet away, it sounds like Stuffy White Man is a judge or a lawyer droning on about a recent case. It only takes her a few more steps to read Cortez's boredom and to find a moment to break in.
"Captain Cortez?" The other woman finally acknowledges her with a warm smile, and Chris doesn't miss her taking the opportunity to look her up and down. She tries not to feel self-conscious about her red jeans as she holds out one of the wine glasses. "A moment of your time?"
One of Cortez's eyebrows raises by just a hair, but she takes the opportunity to excuse herself from Stuffy White Lawyer Man and reaches for the wine somewhat gratefully. When the glass exchanges hands, Chris leans in by a fraction of an inch so that their fingers touch, and the way that the other woman catches her breath by a split second emboldens her.
"What can I do for you, Ms...." Cortez trails off suggestively.
"Please, Chris. Christina Flores." It's the alias Hondo has for her, and it's a solid one, so better to keep things consistent.
"Chris," she says, and it sounds sweet coming out of her mouth.
It takes Chris a second longer than a normal response might, and she tries not to stumble over her words as she shakes her head a little. "Honestly, I don't really need anything. I just couldn't watch that boring-looking guy monopolize the evening of such a beautiful woman, so I decided to come and give you an out." Most of that comes out in a confident tone, though she might have started to mumble toward the end as she sips - tries not to gulp - her wine.
Cortez's burst of laughter is surprising; Chris had read her as too serious and political to open up like that in public. And her laughter is open - sunny and rich and vibrant - and Chris has to catch herself before this cop draws her in to curl up like a cat in her sunshine.
She's talking, though, and Chris snaps herself back to earth in time to catch, "...certainly appreciate it, and I'm already pretty confident that you're better company than Mr. McGrath and the caseload of district court number 19."
Something bold in Chris's chest hushes the voice whispering warnings about criminals and cops, and leans in with a flirtatious smirk to say, "You flatter me, Captain. I'm not sure I have anything as interesting to discuss as gang raids or drug busts."
Cortez laughs again and waves her hand dismissively. "Please, Jessica or Jess - only my officers call me Captain. And my dad, when he's bragging about me at Christmas." Chris lets herself join in on the chuckle this time as Cort- Jessica continues, "And regardless of the topic, at least you're better eye candy." Her tone is amused, casual, but her eyes are sincere, and it takes all of Chris's self control not to choke on her wine.
Thanking the gods, and spending so much time with Tan, for her composure, Chris covers her gay panic with a casual grin and tips her wine glass towards Jessica's. "Well," she murmurs, letting her eyes wander over the other woman's shimmering figure suggestively, "I guess we're both in luck tonight." The flush that appears high on Jessica's delicate cheekbones helps Chris feel like they're back on equal footing as their glasses clink gently.
Finally feeling more in control of the conversation, she pivots. "I have to admit, a friend of mine gave your name..." To her surprise, Jessica's eyes flicker over her shoulder to where she walked away from Street and Tan. A warning whispers in her head again, and again the boldness silences it. "...so I don't know as much about you as I think I implied. You're a police captain, right? That sounds exciting." Chris reminds herself to play 'politely interested' and to keep away from 'too curious'.
Jessica's languid shoulder roll and humble smile feel more like an invitation than a shrug, and Chris can't help but ease a half-step closer. "Oh, it can be, especially as the captain of the Metro division's S.W.A.T. unit." Chris doesn't have to pretend to be impressed, and doesn't bother hiding it. She can't imagine what it took to climb that ladder, especially as a woman of color. Besides, the respect in Chris's eyes seems to flatter her companion, who leans in a little. Somewhere between sincerity and cynicism, and with a little too much practice, Jessica says, "It's an honor to help keep the city safe."
Chris hides a snort behind a sip of wine and shakes her head. "I bet you have some wild stories."
"Oh, do I ever," Jess replies, and something in her tone makes Chris realize how close they're standing. She can almost feel the other woman's warmth, can almost see the challenge in her sepia eyes when she says, "I could waste your whole night with those."
"Not that I would consider that a waste," Chris says, and is surprised to find herself meaning it, "But I'll admit, I have better ideas on how the two of us could waste this night together." It's bold, but hasn't that been the theme of the night? And she can't resist the opening. The backs of her knuckles brush lightly over Jessica's forearm, and she tries to ignore the head rush she gets from the goosebumps that appear under her fingers. She can't help the way her forehead tips in, not too far, just leaving an invitation open for her companion to accept, leaving no doubt to taint the few inches left between them.
Chris watches Jessica's gaze flicker to her lips and has to resist a victorious grin. Another three inches, and Chris will finally have the kiss she's been daydreaming about for the last half hour. Just another breath, and -
And suddenly, Jessica is pulling away.
Chris doesn't even have time to be confused; there's a hand at her elbow. Jessica steps a polite distance away as Luca leans down into Chris's ear.
"We've got a problem." Luca *does* sound tense, but Chris scans the room for Street and Tan anyway.
She doesn't see them, but doesn't quit looking, either. "Luca, listen, not to be rude, but I'm kind of in the middle of something." Chris keeps her voice low enough that Cortez won't hear, but tries to get her full point across with dramatic eye movements. "Where's Tan, he can help."
"I can't find him," Luca murmurs back apologetically, and to be fair, it doesn't seem like they're in the room. "I can't find him and we might have an R - A - I - D situation on our hands."
Despite the severity of his words, Chris can't help but sigh and roll her eyes at him good-naturedly. "Luca, you know we're in a room with fully grown adults who can spell, right?" Giving up on spotting her dates, Chris grimaces apologetically at Cortez, who is looking more and more curious by the moment. She hates to admit it, but a warehouse raid is always a problem, and it needs to be dealt with. "Go do what you can to find Tan and Street. Check the smoking room, Street's been into cigars lately. Text me the address and I'll get things moving. Send them after me when you find them." She's short and a little tense, but Luca just nods and melts back into the crowd.
Chris sets her glass down on a nearby table and steps toward Jessica, who meets her in the middle with an understanding smile.
"That had "Urgent Work Thing" written all over it," says the all-too-observant police captain, and Chris chuckles to hide her uneasiness.
"Said like a woman who's seen it before." Jessica chuckles and nods, and Chris goes on, "I have to handle an issue that came up, but I'd really like to continue our conversation sometime soon."
Jessica has a business card between her fingers before Chris can blink. She takes it, and grabs the fingers that held it before Jess can pull back. With suggestive smile, Chris brushes her lips over her knuckles, lingering just a little longer than appropriate until she has Cortez's full attention. In the long moment that she takes to release Jess's hand, Chris murmurs, "I'll see you soon, Captain Cortez."