Quitting Time

[goawayleavemealone]

Pete wipes his face as he heads from his office down to the lab. After the day he's had, he's itching for a cigarette, but resisting; hesitant to break a three day streak without one.

He'd spent the better part of the day helping to place the hybrids safely, make sure each one was taken care of, while simultaneously keeping an eye out for something else out of the ordinary, trying not to be too distracted to notice something else in the works.

Leads had been a bust, which was equally frustrating.

He steps into the lab, finding that Alistaire had gone for the day, and that Kitty was still sitting in front of a group of laptops, slumped over, fast asleep.

Pete sighs deeply and steps over, kneeling down next to her chair and patting her knee gently. "Oi, Pryde."

Comments

[enduring_pryde]

She's not at all quick to wake up and tries to wave him away with her hand that passes harmlessly through him. "Goaway. Amtryin to sleep," she mumbles.

[goawayleavemealone]

He has to chuckle a little at the pouty expression on her face. He'd forgotten how cranky she was when being woken up.

"Yes, love, I can see that, but there are more comfortable places to do it," he points out. "Come on. Up. Let's go home."

[enduring_pryde]

"Home would be nice. Fix the kink in my neck." She rubs her face and upon seeing Pete she blinks her eyes open. "Oh hi." She yawns. "God, what time is it?" She begins putting her computer away.

[goawayleavemealone]

"Just bout quarter til ten," he tells her. "Been a long day."

He helps her carefully, taking her lead so as not to overstep boundaries with the computers.

"Figured we could maybe grab a couple pasties on the way home and then get some real sleep."

[enduring_pryde]

"Oh shit," she laughs. "I'm gonna feel this time difference tomorrow."

They have things packed up in a couple of minutes. "Thanks."

She perks up. "I can get behind pastries. And coffee."

[goawayleavemealone]

Pete chuckles and shakes his head. "No, love, not pastries. Pasties, remember? You're in England. Little meat pockets, yeah? Mind you, I could go for a coffee as well."

[enduring_pryde]

She laughs. "I swear I heard pastries. I was dreaming of powdered doughnuts. I could get pasties too. Are there any late night bakeries around here?"

[goawayleavemealone]

"Yeah, a couple," Pete nods. "Ready to go?"

[enduring_pryde]

"Yeah. I need doughnuts too. And if they take card I can pay. I'm going to need to change money. Oh and you'll get me an ID so I won't get stuck at the front desk again." She had her laptops and was all set.

[goawayleavemealone]

Pete grins and pulls a an ID card from his pocket. "Way ahead of you, Pryde," he says as he hand it to her. "And yeah, we can find some doughnuts. They been pretty popular around these parts lately so there are some good ones."

He waves her off. "Don't worry on money for now. I can pick up the tab tonight."

[enduring_pryde]

"Of course you are. Thank you." She pockets the card. "Wonderful."

She shrugs. "Okay. Thanks for that too. So what time do we have to head back to the office tomorrow, Director?"

[goawayleavemealone]

He blows out a breath and rubs one of his eyes. "Well, normally I'm in by nine, but if something pops up before that, it's whenever."

He leads her out of the lab and toward the elevator.

[enduring_pryde]

"I can do nine," she says with a nod. "I love how you invite me here to get away and then put me straight to work. You know me so well," she laughs and presses the button for the elevator.

[goawayleavemealone]

Pete chuckles a little. "Well, I suppose you could just lounge around my flat while I go to work, but you're you. You'd just be bored. You'd start grilling me for information about my day the second I walked in the door, and then start doing my job better'n me on the fly."

He leans back against the elevator wall, feeling tired, but for the first time in a long time, a little less hopeless, even with the state of the case they were working.

[enduring_pryde]

She chuckles. It was really nice seeing him so happy and smiling arounf her. "Pretty much. Have you thought about what you'd like me to do as your assistant?"

[goawayleavemealone]

He glances at her and shakes his head. "Nope. Didn't have much time to think on it today."

He thinks of about six dirty jokes he could make about having an assistant, but holds them all back. As the doors open, he pivots off of the wall and wanders out into the lobby, nodding to the janitor on duty as he waits for Kitty to follow.

[enduring_pryde]

"Really? Considering that vivid memory of yours I'm quite surprised," she says, smirking and walking out of the elevator. "Good night," she tells the janitor as she walks to the front door.

[goawayleavemealone]

He walks with her, and takes a breath. "Right. So. Pasties, pastries and coffee, yeah?"

[enduring_pryde]

She glanced at him, giving him a sly smile. "Yep. That's the plan." She knew he was reiterating to keep a level head. "So am I making you hot and bothered or just a little bothered?" She asks casually.

[goawayleavemealone]

He laughs a little and shakes his head. "You already know the answer to that, Pryde."

He walks down the street, toward the little bakery at the corner with late hours, his shoulder close to hers as they walk, his hands in his pockets.

[enduring_pryde]

"I do but I wanted to hear you say it." She said she would follow his lead, but she never said she wouldn't be needling him a little. And it would be healthy to talk about feelings and the like. She wasn't going to let things go unsaid again.

"So Lady Jacqueline wasn't anything like how you said she would be to me."

[goawayleavemealone]

He grins a little, glancing at her.

"She's English, and a woman of title at that. Polite might as well be her middle name," Pete shrugs. "She also knows a good thing when she sees one, and you putting your computer goddess skills to work for us is definitely a good thing."

[enduring_pryde]

"Mmhmm. I'm intending to demonstrate the strengths I can bring to your team. I'm used to being in charge," she says with a laugh.

[goawayleavemealone]

"Yes, I know, Madame Headmistress," he teases.

[enduring_pryde]

"Head Mistress, Team Leader," she nods. "It's good being somewhere where I can be me. It's been a long time." She smiles. "So where is the bakery?"