Open Case File [COMPLETED]

A Normal Day

"Hey, Corporal," she said. "Ready to show Donovan what youth looks like?"

Danny saluted. "You bet, Sarge."

"Ha!" Donovan said. "We'll see about that. Top of the Lincoln memorial steps, solider."

Danny didn't wait for the go-ahead, simply took off, Donovan hot on his trail. Carter watched them smiling, noticing how Donovan hung back to allow Danny to have the lead.

"He'll make a good father one day," Steve said.

"He will."

"Any chance that will be in my lifetime?"

Carter rolled her eyes and nudged his shoulder. "You're forty-seven, not a hundred. You've just reached your prim, you'll meet your grandkid."

"Yes, but when?"

Sighing, Carter continued to watch the distant pair as they made it to the top and Donovan dropped to the ground for a round of push-ups and Danny followed his lead.

"We don't know. We're established at the Bureau, but what we do isn't always safe. Bringing a kid into the whole situation would be...complicated."

"I get that, but don't wait until you don't get the chance at all." He smiled down at her, all of his love held in his gaze. "I can't imagine my life without having you in it."

Carter shook her head like he was the craziest person in the world. "I always knew I completed your life."

He laughed. Carter bounced on the balls of her feet, as Donovan and Danny made a quick descent on the stairs. "Come on old man, let's see if you can run without a cane."

"This what I get for all my years of love, disrespect."

"Earn it, Captain."

Grinning at each other, they took off, her father easily keeping up with her, the factor of having an overactive young son having kept him in shape.

******

The rattle of wheels on concrete rang around Carter. The smell of paint and fresh wood was a permanent perfume in the air. Rows and rows of tall metal shelving filled the warehouse. The combination of it all gave off a feeling of productivity. A feeling that Carter wasn't in the mood for.

"I don't see why you have this need to build the bookcase yourself?" Carter said, from her position behind the cart.

Donovan was staring at two different boxes of nails, comparing them.

"Because I've run out of space on my bookcase for my books and need another one." He pointed one of the boxes at her. "And I'm determined to teach you how to use a hammer in the way it was meant to be, not at a weapon."

"You weren't complaining when I saved your life with that hammer."

"No, but it will be a good project for us."

Carter eyed the levels of nuts and bolts as if they had insulted her.

"Still, it seems way too normal for us to be at Home Depot on a Saturday planning to build a bookcase."

Without looking at her, Donovan returned one of the boxes to the stack and tossed the other in the cart.

"Then afterward we'll go to the gun range so you can feel normal."

"Fair enough."

"Now for paint."

Donovan led the way out of the aisle and into the main lane. Men in flannel shirts navigated the store like pros, cutting around confused looking fathers who scowled at signs. Workers moved like ghosts, one second there but the next - right as you needed them - they were gone. The scent of paint grew as Donovan stopped along a row of paint cans. He was just reached for a charcoal color when a feminine voice said his name.