The Limits of Love

Motion to Dismiss

In a dark suit from the formal press event earlier that evening, Robert stood in front of the cement ledge taking in the dark night sky and the city views. Removing his tie, he sighed long and deep. The last 60 days had been a whirlwind in both good and bad ways. Ari had proven she was just as good as she said she was. He'd done several PR events, recruiting events and was apparently a hit. He'd visited schools and talked to kids, met with community leaders, held babies and flirted a little with the ladies. And while the attention felt good, he wouldn't lie, he didn't really care about any of that. What mattered is that at the end of the 90 day deal he'd struck, he'd be reinstated as Battalion Chief, a post that was never filled after Gregory's unfortunate passing and SFD was fully backing the Crisis One program. After months of rocky terrain the road ahead was looking clear and he finally felt like he was on the other side of the worst.

After he and Andy had their unexpected knock down drag out fight in front of their teams at the crisis one training event and her secret coming out, he'd signed the divorce papers that night. He could forgive her for casual sex, even if it was with Beckett. It disgusted him, but he'd had enough meaningless sex after Claire that he knew sometimes a body was just a body. Sometimes a person was just filling empty space. What he couldn't get passed was Andy intentionally trying to hurt him. Yes, he'd made mistakes but he'd apologized and owned up to them. She was a beautiful woman and Seattle was filled with men... but she'd chosen his asshole of a boss to sleep with. Despite her pleas and apologies the next time they spoke, that was something he didn't know he could ever get passed.

So he'd resolved to move on and strangely enough between work, the PR stuff, spending time with more people outside of the department and 19, volunteering, etc. he was starting to enjoy life again. He was feeling more like himself than he had in a long time. Ari had made it very clear that she was interested in more than just a professional relationship but they hadn't gone past flirting.

When she pushed open the roof access door, Andy couldn't help but immediately admire the view. Robert was staring out into the city dressed in a dark suit. And while she could only see him from the back now, she knew he looked absolutely devastating from the front.

She had come to the station looking for him and learned he'd been out at a PR event but would be back later. Luckily, Beckett had remained tucked away in his office while she waited in the beanery and talked with Dean about Pru. Things with the team were still a bit tense. In different ways they had all expressed disappointment in her after learning about what she did. It hurt to know she'd let so many people down, herself included. All she could do now was work to make amends.

"The press loves you..." Andy said, approaching her husband and pulling him from his thoughts. "Not surprising. You're charming and always did look good in a suit," she added as she stood next to him.

Robert looked to the side briefly taking in Andy's petite form and civilian clothes. He didn't linger, but quickly returned his gaze to the city view, his hands remaining tucked in his pants pocket. "What are you doing here? You don't work here," he said flatly. Outside of big calls he hadn't seen her in nearly 2 months. The last real conversation they had he made it pretty clear he wanted her to keep her distance and for the most part she'd respected that.

Andy sighed a little to herself frustrated by where they were now. Mostly cold and barely able to have a conversation. It was such a far cry from the connectedness they used to have. "Apparently neither do you," she replied a little sarcastically. Ari in the public affairs office of SFD had been working Robert overtime for press and special events, even getting the occasional scheduling exception for him to attend events during shifts like tonight.

"Did you actually want something?" Robert said, slightly annoyed and definitely confused. He was tired. It had been a long day and he still had more than 10 hours left in his 24 hour shift. But beyond all that, there also wasn't any reason he could think of for Andy to be here looking for him.