Red-Shirted

part four

**************

Wednesday, October 15, 12:02 p.m.

"You want cheese on this sandwich?" John called from the kitchen.

"Yes, please," she answered. She hoped he couldn't tell where her voice was coming from as she dug hastily through his backpack. Halfway down she found the tee shirt she was looking for; the gray one with the blue FBI letters on it. Hurrying out of Angel's room Chloe ran into her own and shoved the shirt under her bed. If she couldn't talk her mom into letting him stay longer, at least she would be able to keep a little part of him. Or his favorite shirt anyway.

**************

Wednesday, 7:22 p.m.

"I guess, that's it then." John hitched his backpack over one shoulder and ruffled Chloe's hair gently with his free hand.

"When are you coming back?" She looked up at him hopefully.

"I don't know." He glanced at Sam. "Maybe we can do something next weekend?"

"Not tomorrow?" A frown crept across Chloe's face.

"I've been here all week, Chlo. Aren't you tired of me yet?" he teased.

"No." She wrapped her arms around his hand. "Can't you stay a little longer?"

"I have to go home, Chloe. I haven't been home in days. My apartment misses me."

"It does not." Her expression told him she thought he was being silly. "I'll miss you if you go."

"I'll miss you, too, but this isn't my home. I have to go."

Chloe turned her pleading look on her mother. "Tell him he has to stay."

"Chloe, sweetheart, Angel's coming home this evening and she wants her room back. Maybe you can do something with John some other day, okay?" Sam crouched level with her daughter who was clinging fiercely to John's hand. "No matter how nice it would be if he could stay, he has to go home."

John threw her a surprised glance, not quite sure how he should interpret her words. She wasn't exactly sure how she had intended them either. She avoided meeting his eyes, focusing instead on Chloe. The girl finally hugged John tightly then let him go.

"Bye, Chlo. Sam." He looked as lost as Chloe as he stepped into the elevator. Chloe turned and buried her face against her mother as he left.

"I like having him here." Her voice was both muffled and sad.

"He'll be back, sweetheart. He's not that far away." Sam was surprised at how quickly and how firmly Chloe had become attached to him. Even Denzel moved to sit beside the elevator door as if expecting John to come right back.

"Would you like to play a game?" Sam asked, trying to cheer her up. Chloe shook her head.

"No. But John taught me how to balance all the dominoes on one," she said. "I can show you."

As Sam watched Chloe stacking dominoes on the kitchen table she found herself turning to shadows, half-expecting John to be standing there. She wondered if she hadn't gotten a little too used to having him around, too.

**********

Thursday, October 16, 9:07 a.m.

John approached his desk warily. The half-hidden grins that he'd noticed on his way in erupted in full-blown laughter. Most of the department must have chipped in for this, he thought. There were at least a dozen Disney videos piled on his desk.

"Very funny, guys," he said as he picked up one of the tapes. "Very funny."

"Sam told us how much you loved them," George said. Sam stood behind him shaking her head and trying to look innocent.

"I never said a word," she protested.

**************

Thursday, 6:45 p.m.

"Thanks for the videos," Grace said when he dropped by the lab at the end of the day. "Jason is going to love his Uncle John." She couldn't resist teasing him a little, though. "I know I saw Marcus bring in "Robin Hood" but I didn't see it in the bag."

He grinned at her. "I'm keeping that one."

"I always knew you were just a really tall kid. So, how are you feeling, really?" she asked. If she didn't know him so well she would have missed the tiny pause before his answer.

"Fine."

"Fine, but what�?"

He shrugged. "I feel fine." He sighed at her patient expression. "It's just� I spent a week with Chloe hanging over my shoulder and Denzel under my feet every time I turned around. My apartment just seems a little� empty last night, I guess."

"I'm sure they all miss you, too," she told him. She saw his eyes narrow slightly and knew he hadn't missed the deliberate choice in her wording. "Trust me," she said. "I know what I'm talking about."

"Maybe." He picked up one of the videos distractedly. He turned it over in his hands then set it down again and flashed Grace one of his trademark grins. "I hope Jason makes you and Morgan watch these things until you know every line of every one of those damn songs."

"Sadist," she laughed. "I think we're safe until he's old enough to handle the remote. Get out of my lab, John."

"See you tomorrow, Grace."

******

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