bossymarmalade | he's gradually getting away, chief

Whew! I totally was despaired of finishing anything in time -- I've got about four WIPs kicking around right now, all of which require far more writing and plotting before they're anywhere near done -- but I managed to get a small something written for

turps33's Awesome April challenge!

Now I can study for my exam on Monday, and then after that I am FREE BLESSED HEAVENS FREE! I can catch up on fic! I can watch movies! I can correspond with people in a less sporadic fashion! Whoo-hoo!

Anyhow -- a wee bit set in the same Baltimore Homicide Unit as my JuC Day fic, because I liked writing Chris and Britney as partnered murder police so damn much. *g*

riding in cars with partners

"You know," Chris said, "I had a dog when I was little."
Britney lifted her heavy blonde hair from the back of her neck, where it was clinging with damp tickly tendrils. "I had fish," she said. "And birds."
Chris made a hard right turn, his hands slapping past each other on the steering wheel. "Those aren't real pets. A real pet is one who you can play with, interact with. A bird? You can't go for a walk with a bird. You can't curl up on the sofa and pet your bird."
"'Pet your bird'?" Britney repeated. "God, you make everything sound like it's secret code for sex."
"Everything is secret code for sex," Chris said. "Don't change the subject."
"As per usual, I don't even know what your subject is."
"Pets," he repeated. "And don't mention your fish, because a fish is barely a conscious living creature to begin with much less a fulfilling pet." He slowed the Cavalier down microscopically in order to negotiate a speed bump, and when Britney let go of the sides of her chair (which she grabbed reflexively, now) she said, "You had a dog when you were little ...."
"Right! Like I was saying, I had a dog when I was little. Her name was Flossie, and she was this little heinz fifty-seven -- big brown eyes, waggy tail, loved getting her tummy rubbed." Chris grinned to himself, gripping the wheel tighter and leaning forward. "We got her from my aunt. My cousins were real country kids and Flossie was just one more unwanted dog in a litter of 'em, and she was half-starved and all rubbed raw in places, and my aunt decided to give her to me instead."
"That was nice," Britney said, although she knew her input wasn't really needed at this point. Chris shifted his ass in the driver's seat and continued, "--and she was the crappiest guard-dog ever, because when strangers came she'd just want to play with them. I mean, she was so sweet-tempered that she let me pick up her puppies the morning after they were born." He gnawed on his lip. "Matter of fact, only time I saw her get ornery was when another female dog came in the yard when Flossie had her puppies. Man, that bitch hightailed it right fast once she saw Flossie bearing down on 'er."
Britney wrinkled her nose. "That's instinct," she said. "Mother dogs, they're really protective. She probably thought of you as part of her family." Chris opened his mouth, but Britney cut him off and asked, "Hey, how long does it take before full medical kicks in?"
He scrunched up one cheek in thought. "Right after the three-month probation."
"For everybody?"
"Yeah. Why?" His voice got a little more urgent. "You okay?"
"I'm fine," she said hurriedly. She turned and stared at the road, frowning. "Y'know," she said, "y'know, Justin's been working Homicide about the same time as me, right?"
Chris made a noncommittal noise and turned the radio on, mumbling to himself. Britney chewed her thumbnail for two intersections and then offered, "I don't think Choi had anything to do with it. The son, I mean -- David -- I don't think he was involved in his father's murder."
Chris straightened up, looking brighter. "You gotta be nuts!" he said. "Look, David Choi hit the jackpot with his dad getting plugged. You heard the stepmom -- he was fighting with his old man over getting remarried, he could see getting written out of the will looming on the horizon, he saw an opportunity to solve both problems and bada-bing, bada-boom, g'bye poppa."
"What, I'm riding with Joe Pesci now?" Britney opened her bag and took out a bottle of water, unscrewing it and taking a swig. Chris looked at her sidelong. "That why you started carrying that big ol' purse around with you?" he asked. "So you could tote around a water bottle?"
"Yeah. What, you don't think I deserve to stay hydrated?" Britney drank half the water and closed the bottle again. "We're running around a lot, and I need to get my eight glasses a day. And before you say anything--" she held up one hand," --I've read the same news reports and I know eight glasses is supposedly a myth and I don't care. And I'll tell you what, there's something more going on with Choi. I mean, he's a smart guy, I'm sure he's read a lot of books and seen a lot of tv and he knows that he'd be the very first suspect on our list should anything happen to his father. So why isn't he cooperating more? Why not take the chance to clear himself of suspicion? I guarantee you, we'll turn up something deeper with him."
The car reached the motorpool garage and Britney undid her seatbelt as Chris circled for parking, turning sideways in her seat to face him. "See, Justin really needs glasses," she said in a rush. "He totally really does, and I think JC thinks he's just vain or something, but the truth is he's cheap. The whole time we were going out or whatever he kept telling me we couldn't go to restaurants and stuff because he needed to save up for glasses, and I thought maybe his medical plan wasn't the same as mine or something and didn't wanna bring it up and make him feel bad that I got a better plan, but now you're telling me we have the same plan and he was just stiffing me that whole time!"
"Whoa, girl," Chris said, pulling into an available stall and coming to a hard stop. "I'm sure he wasn't stiffing ... okay, putting aside that unfortunate choice of words--"
"And don't tell me 'whoa girl', either," Britney interjected.
"Okay, stripping out all sexist or sexy language -- maybe it was an honest mistake. I mean, Timberlake's a good guy but you told me yourself he's a total mama's boy."
"Yeah, so?"
"So mama's boys don't bother reading the policies & procedures manuals themselves to find out if the company'll cover them getting their teeth cleaned. The doofus probably just didn't know." Chris snorted. "It'll probably take till the next time his mom comes over to visit and grills him on his last doctor's appointment before he finds out."
Britney scratched her chin. "For serious?" she asked hopefully, and flopped back in her seat when Chris nodded, blowing out a gusty sigh. "David Choi didn't shoot his father," she said, her voice quiet. "I dunno how I know it, but I got a feeling about this one."
"Okay," Chris said. They opened their doors and got out and looked at each other over the car, and Chris added, "I just meant that you're kinda on the small side for that purse. It's a mighty big purse for such a mighty little person." He rubbed his head. "It's not that I don't like it, or anything."
"Okay," Britney smiled. "What was it you wanted to say about your dog? Before?"
"Oh, nothing," Chris shrugged. "Just about how when you're kind to a dog that's not expecting it, they start to think like you're ...." He stopped, blinking rapidly in the dim light of the cavernous garage, and then grinned back at Britney. "Y'know," he said slowly, "it's really nothing." Britney came around and Chris clapped her on the shoulder, fingers curling on the strap of her bag where it lay against her shoulder. "Let's go inside and see what we can dig up on the Choi family."
"I got you wondering too now!" Britney crowed, doing a little two-step of triumph.
"Yeah, not really," Chris said. "You just reminded me I need to file a claim for my prescription sunglasses, is all."
"aaaaaaah." Britney rapped her knuckles against Chris's collarbone and started up the sloping corridor to the squadroom at a brisk pace, calling back, "You just know I'm right and wanna ride to glory and a cleared case on my coat-tails!"
Chris stood at the bottom of the ramp, watching her go up. "Yep," he said, and waited a couple more minutes before heading up himself.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

hot diggity, i would read a dozen little fics involving chris and bitsy riding around, fighting crime and talking about their dorky childhoods together. :> BRAVA, BELLA.

I love writing them so much! Who knew that they would be natural partners?

Thank you for the feedback, sugarpea! I'm glad you liked it. *g*

*happy sigh*

I could spend all day reading about Chris, Brit, Justin & JC solving crimes in Charm City.

I am so happy I finally wrote a murder police AU, Dine -- and so pleased that other people like it too! Thank you! *mwah*!

*lovesyouuuu*

heeeee! *adoration*

I love this universe and how perfect those two are as partners.

Thank you so much! I was amazed when I was writing the first one how much I totally enjoyed the Brit/Chris partnership, and it delights me that other people do too!

Now you've got me all curious if Brit's instincts are right.

*uses this icon due to Homicide:Life on the Street connection*

Oh, dude, I am TOTALLY gonna continue this story. I need to know if she was right m'self. *g* And the icon is perfect, since Chris is to all intents and purposes the Munch of the squad, ahahahha!

Thank you so much for the feedback!

Oh BITSY! Chris and the power of kindness whether he likes it or not! I love all the different takes on family here, from Flossie to Justin & Lynn to the family in the case to Chris & Britney themselves. So awesome!

You always leave the most happy-making feedback (and send such excellent postcards, hee!), liebling! When it comes to AUs like this that deal with such "fraternal orders" as police, I always like it when the characters have a palpable sense of family, so I am thrilled that came across.

Thank you bundles for the lovely, thoughtful feedback! *mwah*!

This is so full of atmosphere! I love their conversation, the way it conveys so much about them (and is spot-on about Justin) while being on the surface the kind of aimless stuff that people talk about in cars. It certainly feels like a scene from a much, much longer story. Ahem.

Hee hee! I loved writing it and I'd feel guilty about leaving Brit's detective work hanging, so rest assured I will certainly be continuing. *g* Thank you so much for such wonderful feedback; I was a little antsy about the whole thing being two people nattering on in a car, so it's lovely to hear that it worked!

this was a supercute scene, britney was absolutely adorable. and chris talking about flossie! oh my heart. the dialogue was my favorite aspect, snappy and realistic and fun. i enjoyed this alot.

I am so glad you liked it! And I ♥ writing dialogue, so I'm very pleased that it came across so nicely; thank you bunches and buckets for such sweet feedback!

you write such delicious dialogue - this is just fabulous!

Thank you, honey! I am so delighted that you liked it!

I am so thrilled you wrote in this universe, because I love it so. I think I mentioned that I wanted to see more of Chris and Britney, and here they are and it's just as fantastic as I expected. The half sentences that just stop and then carry on. So wonderful!

Aww, thank you so much! I was so thrilled that people liked the Brit/Chris partnership in the first one -- and that I liked it myself, in that way where you write something about one pairing but feel all fond over a background, secondary pairing, y'know?

Thank you for the fantastic feedback, and for creating this challenge and prompting me to write more in this universe! I thoroughly enjoyed doing it and I'm glad you liked it too. *g*

Hee! I liked the several conversations going on at the same time - it's more realistic that way. But not too much, so the reader doesn't get lost. :)

Thank you so much, and also, YAY! I was worried about how the multiple conversations would come across -- and IF they would come across -- so this comment is hugely appreciated. *g*

I just read both of these (the JC one and this one). I don't know how I missed the first one but I'm glad I read it! I actually hate cop things, detective things, mysteries, etc., but I really love these fics. Especially Britney, because it's Britney and I have way too much love for that girl. I want to read more of this, in which Britney and Chris fall in love and get a dog and live happily ever after. ♥

Aw, thank you so much! I'm not overly into the whole cop-thing myself, but Homicide: Life on the Street was just SO DAMN GOOD ... come to think of it, that's probably why nothing else has measured up. heh!

Britney is seriously so awesome. She's always such a great character to write, too; you can take her so many places. And pairing her with Chris is unexpectedly fun, wheee! I'm so glad that you liked it!

I just finished this story and I feel as though I managed to pass through the living room and catch a scene from the middle of a movie. The multi-layered conversations between the two of them seem very lived-in, and while I don't think I would have thought of Chris and Britney as the obvious choice for partners, this really makes them seem possible. Now I need to go look for all the other missing story pieces to round out the rest of this universe of yours.

Thank you so much! I am delighted that you liked the conversation parts -- it's so integral to what I was trying to get across, and I'm pleased that you feel it worked. I wouldn't have naturally paired Bitsy and Chris as partners either, but somehow when I was writing the original story and they were side characters, I became so enamoured with the idea, hee!

Thank you again! I truly appreciate the kind feedback. *g*

he's gradually getting away, chief

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