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intheheartTitle: Zachary Ryan and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Rating: PG-13
Summary: It started with a thunderstorm, and got worse from there.
Warnings: cussing
Thunder boomed, Summer gasped, and pain shot through Zack's hand, all of which combined woke him up pretty thoroughly.
He swore a bit, but not too much, and rolled to his side. "You okay?"
Summer was sitting up in bed, one hand on her belly, the other still tight around his. "Fine," she gritted out. "Sorry. Braxton-Hicks."
Zack was fairly certain that Braxton-Hicks contractions weren't supposed to hurt that much, but whatever, she was a doctor and she knew her own body. "Okay," he said. "Please don't crush my hand next time."
"I'm sorry," she said, not sorry at all, and let go of him. "I will try to save it for the birth."
Oh, boy, birth was so not something Zack was ready to think about at—what time was it, anyway? He rubbed his eyes, and sat up to squint at the clock on the bedside table, but it was dark. "Did the power go out?"
Summer blinked, and looked at the clock herself. "I don't know. I suppose so, it's been storming for a while."
Badly, if the rumble of rain outside was anything to go by. It was still pretty dark out, though, and the light in the room was low—maybe six in the morning, not long after dawn. Zack rubbed his eyes again and rolled out of bed.
"Where's Felipe?" he asked, scratching absently at the nearly-black tattoo on his left arm. He had to change, and soon—even ignoring the tattoo's warning, he could feel it like an itch under his skin—but he had the day off tomorrow, he'd do it then.
Summer, who had the day off today, lay back against the pillows and rested both hands atop the curve of her belly. "He got a call a few hours ago. I think they got a break."
"Good," Zack said, scrubbing his hands through his hair. They'd all three had to deal with this bitch of a case, but Felipe had it the worst, out on the street trying to catch the bastard. Summer dealt with the corpses he was making and Zack himself only had to deal with the press—ha, only. "Maybe he'll finally get the guy and we can all stop thinking about it. Have you been awake since he left?"
"Yes," she said, "but I'll be fine, I can take a nap today. If you're going downstairs, will you make me a cup of tea?"
He nodded, hunting through the crap on the bedside table, looking for his cell phone without benefit of the lamp. "Sure, what ki—shit!"
Summer jumped. "What is it?"
It wasn't six, it was nine, fucking nine o'clock in the morning, and he was supposed to be at work by eight. "Shit, shit, fuck, I'm late. Will you be all right? Or do you want me to stay home?"
"I'll be fine," Summer said, sounding confused. Of course she hadn't picked up on the hopeful note in his voice. He swore a bit more, mentally—he knew better than to expect her to catch stuff like that. "I'll see you when you get home."
He threw on clothes, snatched his badge and phone, and bent to kiss her quickly. "Love you," he said, and tapped her belly. "You too, in there."
She smiled. "We love you too. Go."
--
"Frances, I really can't understand this," Zack said, and shifted the phone to his other shoulder so he could pinch his nose. "Maurice Haldane is a person of interest, and he's come in voluntarily for questioning. This is an active investigation, and you and I both know that's literally all I can tell you. Why are you still bothering me?"
"Because that's not all you can tell me," Frances He said, her perky voice like nails on a chalkboard. "I know you, Ryan, and you've got your teeth in something juicy. Share."
Zack sighed. "Even if I knew anything," he said, "which I don't..."
"Isn't that vampire boytoy of yours on the case?" Frances interrupted.
Sweet baby Jesus on a pogo stick. "He's not my boytoy, he's my husband, and yes, he is, but he doesn't talk about active investigations either. As I was saying, even if I knew anything, I couldn't tell you, because this is an active investigation and I can't compromise it. He's a person of interest, he's answering questions, that is it."
"Whatever," Frances said. "Holdout. Promise you'll call me first with any news?"
"Frances, I swear to God," Zack said, barely keeping himself from growling. The fucking wolf coming to the surface. Thank God he could spend tomorrow changed, or he might bite somebody. "If you don't hang up right now, when we finally crack this thing I will invite every reporter in the city to the press conference except you."
"You wouldn't dare," Frances said, but she hung up anyway. Zack put the phone down with a feeling of inexpressible relief.
"You look like I feel." Felipe came around his chair and sat on the corner of his desk. "All right?"
Zack shrugged, and scratched at his tattoo again. "Tired, and I need to change. You look like death warmed over."
Felipe shrugged. He was pale as ash, with bags under his eyes, and the beds of his nails were very faintly blue. "I need a transfusion. Before you fuss," he added, as Zack opened his mouth, "I'm headed to the hospital from here. I just wanted to stop by and tell you that we broke him."
It took a moment for his meaning dawned, but then Zack nearly jumped out of his seat. "He confessed?"
Felipe grinned, fierce and violent. "He did. Confessed, gave us details, everything. We caught the son of a bitch."
"Wonderful," Zack said, and grabbed Felipe's hand, squeezed it. "Well done."
Felipe bent down and kissed Zack, lightly, but warm. "I'll see you at home?"
"Yeah," Zack said. "Maybe late, though, I've got to organize a press conference." He grimaced, as that particular reality sank in. "Wonderful," he repeated, with an entirely different emphasis.
"Have fun with that," Felipe said, grinning again. Zack rolled his eyes, and picked up the phone to call Frances back.
--
The press conference was not at all fun, but he got through it. Somehow.
It was still raining when Zack finally left Central, cold rain, the heavy soaking rain of early fall that drenched him before he even got to the Metro. And of course he had the long walk home on the other side, because Summer wouldn't live anywhere but Georgetown, and the Metro couldn't be bothered to run their fucking trains into Georgetown, because that would be hard.
He grumbled all the way home, and slammed the door behind him. At least the power was back on.
Summer and Felipe were sitting on the couch, Summer's feet in Felipe's lap, and they both looked at him when he came into the hallway. "Christ, you're soaked," Felipe said.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Zack said, and hung his dripping coat on the coat rack. "It's nasty out there. Perfect cap to a terrible day."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Summer said, and swung her feet out of Felipe's lap, then patted the couch beside her. "Come here."
On any other day he would have, but today was special. Zack shook his head and stripped off his dress coat, dropping it on the floor before starting on his shirt. "Just give me one second, I have to change or I'm going to fucking lose it."
Summer shrugged, and Felipe grinned. "Just don't shake yourself off on the rug."
"Fuck you, fangs," Zack said, and took off his shirt. The tattoo was almost solid black now. No wonder he'd been on edge all day. He really shouldn't let it go so late.
Summer patted her belly vaguely, a thoughtful look on her face. "Do you think Thomas will be a shifter too?"
"Might be," Felipe said. "I'm just glad he won't be a vampire, because let me tell you this shit is obnoxious."
She reached over and ran a hand through his dark hair. "I know it's hard for you."
Zack kicked off his underwear and cleared his throat to get their attention. "Anything to say before I go wolf?"
Summer shook her head, and Felipe waved a lazy hand, leaning into her touch. "Go with my blessing."
Zack flipped him off, and without further ado shifted into the wolf.
God, it felt good. After that itch all day, to be easy in his skin again... perfect. He made a little huff of contentment, then padded over to the couch, jumped up, and draped himself over Felipe's lap, his head against Summer's belly.
"Oof," Felipe said. "Get off, you're heavy."
Zack ignored him, and pushed his head up against Summer's hand, hoping for—ah, there, she scratched behind his ear and that felt damn near orgasmic. Shame wolves couldn't purr. He did his best to express his appreciation anyway, pressing against her stomach, beating Felipe's arm with his tail.
"Better?" Summer asked, softly.
Much.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: It started with a thunderstorm, and got worse from there.
Warnings: cussing
Thunder boomed, Summer gasped, and pain shot through Zack's hand, all of which combined woke him up pretty thoroughly.
He swore a bit, but not too much, and rolled to his side. "You okay?"
Summer was sitting up in bed, one hand on her belly, the other still tight around his. "Fine," she gritted out. "Sorry. Braxton-Hicks."
Zack was fairly certain that Braxton-Hicks contractions weren't supposed to hurt that much, but whatever, she was a doctor and she knew her own body. "Okay," he said. "Please don't crush my hand next time."
"I'm sorry," she said, not sorry at all, and let go of him. "I will try to save it for the birth."
Oh, boy, birth was so not something Zack was ready to think about at—what time was it, anyway? He rubbed his eyes, and sat up to squint at the clock on the bedside table, but it was dark. "Did the power go out?"
Summer blinked, and looked at the clock herself. "I don't know. I suppose so, it's been storming for a while."
Badly, if the rumble of rain outside was anything to go by. It was still pretty dark out, though, and the light in the room was low—maybe six in the morning, not long after dawn. Zack rubbed his eyes again and rolled out of bed.
"Where's Felipe?" he asked, scratching absently at the nearly-black tattoo on his left arm. He had to change, and soon—even ignoring the tattoo's warning, he could feel it like an itch under his skin—but he had the day off tomorrow, he'd do it then.
Summer, who had the day off today, lay back against the pillows and rested both hands atop the curve of her belly. "He got a call a few hours ago. I think they got a break."
"Good," Zack said, scrubbing his hands through his hair. They'd all three had to deal with this bitch of a case, but Felipe had it the worst, out on the street trying to catch the bastard. Summer dealt with the corpses he was making and Zack himself only had to deal with the press—ha, only. "Maybe he'll finally get the guy and we can all stop thinking about it. Have you been awake since he left?"
"Yes," she said, "but I'll be fine, I can take a nap today. If you're going downstairs, will you make me a cup of tea?"
He nodded, hunting through the crap on the bedside table, looking for his cell phone without benefit of the lamp. "Sure, what ki—shit!"
Summer jumped. "What is it?"
It wasn't six, it was nine, fucking nine o'clock in the morning, and he was supposed to be at work by eight. "Shit, shit, fuck, I'm late. Will you be all right? Or do you want me to stay home?"
"I'll be fine," Summer said, sounding confused. Of course she hadn't picked up on the hopeful note in his voice. He swore a bit more, mentally—he knew better than to expect her to catch stuff like that. "I'll see you when you get home."
He threw on clothes, snatched his badge and phone, and bent to kiss her quickly. "Love you," he said, and tapped her belly. "You too, in there."
She smiled. "We love you too. Go."
--
"Frances, I really can't understand this," Zack said, and shifted the phone to his other shoulder so he could pinch his nose. "Maurice Haldane is a person of interest, and he's come in voluntarily for questioning. This is an active investigation, and you and I both know that's literally all I can tell you. Why are you still bothering me?"
"Because that's not all you can tell me," Frances He said, her perky voice like nails on a chalkboard. "I know you, Ryan, and you've got your teeth in something juicy. Share."
Zack sighed. "Even if I knew anything," he said, "which I don't..."
"Isn't that vampire boytoy of yours on the case?" Frances interrupted.
Sweet baby Jesus on a pogo stick. "He's not my boytoy, he's my husband, and yes, he is, but he doesn't talk about active investigations either. As I was saying, even if I knew anything, I couldn't tell you, because this is an active investigation and I can't compromise it. He's a person of interest, he's answering questions, that is it."
"Whatever," Frances said. "Holdout. Promise you'll call me first with any news?"
"Frances, I swear to God," Zack said, barely keeping himself from growling. The fucking wolf coming to the surface. Thank God he could spend tomorrow changed, or he might bite somebody. "If you don't hang up right now, when we finally crack this thing I will invite every reporter in the city to the press conference except you."
"You wouldn't dare," Frances said, but she hung up anyway. Zack put the phone down with a feeling of inexpressible relief.
"You look like I feel." Felipe came around his chair and sat on the corner of his desk. "All right?"
Zack shrugged, and scratched at his tattoo again. "Tired, and I need to change. You look like death warmed over."
Felipe shrugged. He was pale as ash, with bags under his eyes, and the beds of his nails were very faintly blue. "I need a transfusion. Before you fuss," he added, as Zack opened his mouth, "I'm headed to the hospital from here. I just wanted to stop by and tell you that we broke him."
It took a moment for his meaning dawned, but then Zack nearly jumped out of his seat. "He confessed?"
Felipe grinned, fierce and violent. "He did. Confessed, gave us details, everything. We caught the son of a bitch."
"Wonderful," Zack said, and grabbed Felipe's hand, squeezed it. "Well done."
Felipe bent down and kissed Zack, lightly, but warm. "I'll see you at home?"
"Yeah," Zack said. "Maybe late, though, I've got to organize a press conference." He grimaced, as that particular reality sank in. "Wonderful," he repeated, with an entirely different emphasis.
"Have fun with that," Felipe said, grinning again. Zack rolled his eyes, and picked up the phone to call Frances back.
--
The press conference was not at all fun, but he got through it. Somehow.
It was still raining when Zack finally left Central, cold rain, the heavy soaking rain of early fall that drenched him before he even got to the Metro. And of course he had the long walk home on the other side, because Summer wouldn't live anywhere but Georgetown, and the Metro couldn't be bothered to run their fucking trains into Georgetown, because that would be hard.
He grumbled all the way home, and slammed the door behind him. At least the power was back on.
Summer and Felipe were sitting on the couch, Summer's feet in Felipe's lap, and they both looked at him when he came into the hallway. "Christ, you're soaked," Felipe said.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Zack said, and hung his dripping coat on the coat rack. "It's nasty out there. Perfect cap to a terrible day."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Summer said, and swung her feet out of Felipe's lap, then patted the couch beside her. "Come here."
On any other day he would have, but today was special. Zack shook his head and stripped off his dress coat, dropping it on the floor before starting on his shirt. "Just give me one second, I have to change or I'm going to fucking lose it."
Summer shrugged, and Felipe grinned. "Just don't shake yourself off on the rug."
"Fuck you, fangs," Zack said, and took off his shirt. The tattoo was almost solid black now. No wonder he'd been on edge all day. He really shouldn't let it go so late.
Summer patted her belly vaguely, a thoughtful look on her face. "Do you think Thomas will be a shifter too?"
"Might be," Felipe said. "I'm just glad he won't be a vampire, because let me tell you this shit is obnoxious."
She reached over and ran a hand through his dark hair. "I know it's hard for you."
Zack kicked off his underwear and cleared his throat to get their attention. "Anything to say before I go wolf?"
Summer shook her head, and Felipe waved a lazy hand, leaning into her touch. "Go with my blessing."
Zack flipped him off, and without further ado shifted into the wolf.
God, it felt good. After that itch all day, to be easy in his skin again... perfect. He made a little huff of contentment, then padded over to the couch, jumped up, and draped himself over Felipe's lap, his head against Summer's belly.
"Oof," Felipe said. "Get off, you're heavy."
Zack ignored him, and pushed his head up against Summer's hand, hoping for—ah, there, she scratched behind his ear and that felt damn near orgasmic. Shame wolves couldn't purr. He did his best to express his appreciation anyway, pressing against her stomach, beating Felipe's arm with his tail.
"Better?" Summer asked, softly.
Much.
