"You're getting really good at this, Er," Jay said.
Nearly a week after they had started the renovation work on Erin's apartment, it was another night hard at work for them, after already working their shift for Chicago PD. They were tough times physically, but what mattered more was that they were both enjoying taking on the project, to Jay's immense happiness. He had felt sure that Erin would come around once they got into it, and he had been proven right.
On this particular night, the job at hand was sanding down the wooden floors in the living room, Erin's bedroom, and the hallway in between. When they had taken up the carpets, they had discovered vintage floorboards that were still in excellent condition apart from some surface wear and tear. Jay's advice had been to sand them down and then varnish them, which had two advantages: The finish would be perfect for look that Erin wanted to end up with, and it saved the expense of ordering new carpets.
They had hired two floor sanding machines and gone to work, dressed once again in the overalls, dust masks and safety glasses. Jay had done the bedroom and the hallway, while Erin had worked in the living room. Having to work around the furniture hadn't been ideal, but they had still gotten the job done in one night between them.
"Good at DIY. I would never have thought that would be a thing," Erin replied. But she was getting good at it. To prove it, the living room floor was now sanded to perfection.
"Well, it is," Jay said. Walking over to her, he pulled off his mask then kissed her on the lips. Her mask had already been tossed aside. "The bedroom and the hallway are done too."
"So what's next? We do the varnishing?"
Jay shook his head. "No. We do that last of all. Next job is painting the ceilings."
"Okay," she said, a bit puzzled. "Why did we sand now if we're varnishing last?"
"Because we just created a crap load of dust that we would have gotten on our freshly painted walls. And we varnish last in cast we get any paint on the floor, which we probably will."
"I love how much you know about this stuff," Erin said. "At the time, I couldn't believe I was agreeing to try doing this ourselves, but now I'm so glad I did. It's enjoyable, and I'm learning." Reaching up, she pulled him down to her height and started kissing him.
"Mmmm," Jay moaned in enjoyment. "There's the added bonus that every night we've worked, it has ended in sex. Shower sex at that."
"Shower sex is hot sex," Erin breathed.
The moment was ruined by the ring tone belonging to Erin's burner. For the first time in a few days, Raquel Gonzalez was making contact. The intermittent reporting in was as arranged before the mission began. Lindsay had agreed that contact was only required when there was something to report, but a check in once a week was needed so that she knew Gonzalez was alive and well.
"Her timing is good," Jay grumbled.
"Sshhh. I'll quickly deal with this, then we can pick up where we left off." Lindsay went over to the table where the phone was sitting, picked it up, and answered it. She made sure to be non-specific in case Gonzalez was in trouble. "Hello?"
"Reporting in, Sergeant Lindsay," came the familiar Mexican accent, sounding perfectly at ease. By pre-arranged code, the use of 'Sergeant Lindsay' meant that everything was okay. If for some reason she was being made to call under duress, she would say 'boss' instead.
"How's it going, Raquel?" Lindsay asked, walking through to her kitchen.
"Well. They suspect nothing. I'm being treated like a Prospect would expect to be, which basically means like shit. I'm made to detail bikes, scrub toilets at Lynch's, and earn money by tending bar there. I have ridden with the MC a couple of times, but no involvement in anything important. Crowley says it will be like this for a few weeks, then Riot may trust me enough to involve me a bit more."
"We knew this would be a long term job. Sounds like you're doing well so far. How's the safe house? Do you need anything that you don't have?"
"Actually, that's kind of why I'm calling. Tonight, Riot told me that the day after tomorrow I'm going to host the MC for dinner. It's pretty obvious they want to check out where I live and what my circumstances are. I want a partner to show them."
Lindsay considered that for a moment. It seemed like a good idea, making 'Victoria Fernandez's' life seem more realistic. "I can send you Atwater?"
"Send me Vega," Gonzalez said.
"Vega? Raquel, Z isn't even qualified as a police officer. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with sending her undercover. Did you tell anyone in the MC you're with a woman?"
"No, I wasn't specific about anything. Can see what you're saying about Z, but this is hardly undercover. All she needs to do is look hot, cook dinner, and remember my backstory while making idle conversation. And I'll help her come up with a cover story for herself. She's not going to be doing anything risky, and she's definitely smart enough for this. It'll look more natural if you send her than Atwater."
"Why's that?" Lindsay asked. She figured it out for herself as she asked the question. There had been moments between them that she should have picked up on sooner. "Never mind, I get it. I'm going to give you some leeway on this. I'll ask, and I do mean ask, Z to do this. If she's willing to, I'll send her to the safe house tonight so that you can talk details ahead of time. If not, Atwater will come and you'll have to make sure that works."
"Thank you, boss," Gonzalez said.
"And Raquel? Z's safety will be your responsibility if this happens. Take that seriously."
"Of course," she promised.
"Okay. Keep up the good work." Lindsay ended the call, hoping that her intuition in trusting Gonzalez to make it work with Vega was right. She was trying to get better at trusting her instincts as a sergeant, and this was the way her instincts had told her to play it. There was also the advantage of giving Vega an experience different to the work she was used to doing.
"Is she good?" Jay asked when Erin returned to the living room. He had sat on the couch to wait for her.
"Yeah. But the MC are having her host dinner tomorrow night. Likely they want to check out where she's living and stuff. She wants me to send Z under to pose as her partner."
"Can I get footage of that?" he asked, baiting her.
"Jay! I'm being serious here. Putting Z undercover isn't something I can take lightly. Part of me wanted to say no and send her Atwater instead. But my gut tells me Z will do fine."
"Yeah, the girl's got street smarts. You don't learn that at the academy anyway. She'll be fine, like you said. If she wants to go, let her."
"Let me call her and get it over with, then we can go back to our night."
The pains of being the boss, Jay thought as Erin went back through to the kitchen. Even when she was off duty, she wasn't really off duty. There was often someone or something requiring her attention.
In the kitchen, Lindsay called Vega's number. The fiery New Yorker answered after just a couple of rings.
"Hello, boss. Everything okay?"
"Got an assignment that has come up. It's optional for you. If you're not comfortable with it, I can have Atwater do it instead."
"What's the job?" Vega asked, sounding intrigued.
"Gonzalez needs someone to go under as her partner. Girlfriend, I mean. All of the members of the MC she's joined are going to 'her' house tomorrow night for dinner. All you'll need to do is cook dinner, remember Gonzalez's cover story, and come up with one of your own. She'll help you with that if you take the job. There shouldn't be any danger to you if you don't screw up. Again, don't feel like you have to take this..."
"I'll take it," Vega cut in confidently. "I've wanted to get more involved in the unit's work, and this shouldn't be too difficult with Raquel to advise me. What do you need me to do?"
"Go over to the safe house as soon as you can tonight. Write this address down." Lindsay provided the address, waiting while Vega made a note of it. "Gonzalez will take it from there. Do what she tells you, how she tells you to do it. And, Z?"
"Yeah?"
"Stay safe."
"Will do. Thanks for the opportunity, boss."
"You're welcome," Lindsay said, and ended the call.
"All set?" Jay called through from the living room when he heard the call end.
Erin walked back in there. "Yeah. Z was keen to take the job. I hope I'm doing the right thing letting her do it."
"Don't question yourself, Er. Seriously, just trust your judgement. Also, keep in mind how experienced Gonzalez is at what she's doing. She won't let anything go wrong."
"Thank you, Jay. I don't know what I'd do without you. Seriously, I'm so grateful for you always being here for me. My rock."
Stepping up to her, Jay affectionately ran a hand through her hair. Her tender words meant so much to him. "That's what we do for each other. I love you."
"I love you too, Jay. Since we started this renovation work, I've been thinking about something. Would you move in when the work is done?"
Jay was surprised, in a good way. He had been confident that Erin would want to keep some sense of separation between them because that was simply how she was. But now it seemed he had been wrong. For his part, he would be delighted to move in. If he could have everything his way, he wanted what Adam and Kim had – living together and having a family. But one step at a time, he thought. Having kids wasn't Erin's thing at all, he knew that for sure.
"Yes. Yes, of course I'll move in. I'd love to," he said.
Erin wasn't the type to squeal in delight, but the way she embraced him told him how she felt. He imagined it seemed a bit unnatural to her to be wanting to settle down and 'become domesticated', however she had reached the point where she knew it was time to do it, and that he was the one to do it with. That him so happy he couldn't properly process it.
They stood there hugging each other for a while in silence. In the moment, neither of them needed to say anything. They felt like the happiest people in the world. The love they had for each other was only getting stronger.
A/N: Erin took a big leap of faith, in her mind, asking Jay to move into her apartment once it is renovated. Jay feels like she won't ever want a kid, but is he right?
Gonzalez requested Vega to go under and pose as her girlfriend. How will Z handle her new assignment?