The Night is Young (c)

[Macbeth]

Macbeth walked out of Tibby's and turned the key in the door with a satisfying click. Ever since Sean O'Malley had taken over her shifts for a week while she and Risk went undercover in Five Points, she and her fellow cook had been getting along much better. That meant that closing didn't take nearly as long anymore.

With a sigh, she leaned against the locked door and waited for Risk. He was supposed to meet her here with Jo so they could take the kid for a nighttime romp in Central Park. In truth, she suspected they both just needed some open space to let their thoughts and feelings run free. It had been a few days since the end of the gang ordeal, and what with work and Jo and checking up on Tristan with his gunshot wound, they'd barely had a chance to talk about it all.

[Risk]

"Just finished?" called out Risk once he saw Macbeth standing in front of Tibby's. He was carrying Jo, who immediately squealed in excitement when she saw her Aunt.

[Macbeth]

She nodded. "Never wanna see a goddamn peach pie again in my life. Hey there, kid," she added, reaching out to take Jo from him. "You been good today?"

[Risk]

"She was making a fuss over not eating her meal earlier," said Risk, gently placing Jo in Macbeth's arms. "But she eventually listened. Right, Jo?" Risk winked at her playfully and stuffed his hands in his pockets, quite relieved that he wasn't carrying her anymore.

[Macbeth]

"A fuss, huh?" Beth lifted Jo up to give her a stern look. "BETH!" Jo yelled happily, grinning at her. Macbeth rolled her eyes but gave up on trying to be stern, boosting Jo onto her shoulder and heading toward the park.

It felt odd walking next to Risk without holding hands. It would feel equally odd holding hands now that they weren't in mortal danger. She cleared her throat awkwardly. "So...how is it being back at work?" She honestly had no idea how he balanced his assigned cases as a cop, random sketchy undercover gigs that his bosses knew nothing about, and helping her raise her niece. It didn't seem humanly possible.

[Risk]

"It's weird being back," he answered, glancing over at her. He was itching to hold her hand but he figured it wouldn't be a good idea. He surprised himself with the amount of physical contact they had during the Eastman ordeal and now that was over, he couldn't help but secretly miss it.

"I asked for a break from cases, so I'm taking it easy for now," he said, walking next to her. "Especially since I tipped them off about Eastman right after we raided them. I think my boss is in love with me for that. So, I get to ask for a break."

[Macbeth]

She chuckled. "I dunno if they'll ever find the bastard, but I wish 'em the best of luck." She wanted Eastman dead for Ershey's sake, but she wasn't about to turn vigilante. Not when she'd just gotten Jo back, when things were finally returning to normal. When she finally had a normal life to return to. That fact alone was still new and strange to her.

"Y'know," she muttered as they turned a corner, "we never really talked. After." Talked about what, she wasn't sure. The rain of bullets that could so easily have killed them? The attempted rape she'd barely mentioned? The hand-holding?

[Risk]

Risk turned silent for a couple of moments before finally looking at her. "What do you want to talk about?" he asked gently.

Those days when they were working for Eastman were a blur. He didn't want to remember them yet he couldn't get it off his mind. They were lucky. And if anything happened to Macbeth, he wouldn't have known what to do.

[Macbeth]

Her face felt hot, and she shrugged and looked at the sidewalk, playing with Jo's hair. "Nothing, I guess. Just...nothing." As if she had any more idea where to start than he did. Macbeth didn't do heart-to-hearts. She made scathing comments, glared, shouted, and occasionally resorted to violence. She could also recite Shakespeare, keep her cool in an emergency, patch all sorts of wounds, and maybe even raise a child. But opening up about her feelings was still foreign territory.

[Risk]

Risk nodded and stayed silent as they walked. He refused to prod, ask or even annoy her about it. How was he going to talk to her about it? Was holding hands with me creepy? What happened in that alley? Were you as worried as I was? Did you have nightmares too? Are you okay? "Are you okay?"

[Macbeth]

"'Course," she muttered. No. "No," she admitted, surprising herself, and looked up at him. "Ain't quite gotten to okay yet. How 'bout you?"

[Risk]

"I have, uh, trouble sleeping sometimes," he answered, glancing over at her. He wondered whether she'd heard him in the middle of the night, making his way to the kitchen to drink some water and read... or pace back and forth as he hoped (and worried) that Eastman and his thugs weren't going to pop out of nowhere.

[Macbeth]

"Me too," she said softly as Jo's eyes closed, her breathing becoming even. She always napped if you stroked her hair long enough. "I've made it through half a Dickens novel and four pots of tea in the past three nights."

[Risk]

Risk laughed softly, shaking his head. "How did we ever not notice each other?"

[Macbeth]

"I've been avoiding you," she admitted flatly. "I was afraid you'd try and be all comforting." Which he was probably planning on being right about now, so she thought she'd nip it in the bud.