Intuition

by Jennis Slaughter

  Raelin walked into the department and looked for her wife. Seeing Kasey she waited until the young woman completed her task and noticed her.

  “Oh, hey Raelin, what brings you out this way?” Kasey asked distractedly, trying to finish her work as quick as she could without making mistakes.

  She winced when she heard the door to Delaney’s office open. “Why is there no paper work on my desk? I don’t have all fucking day, people,” was shouted across the bullpen before the door slammed shut again.

  Wincing, Raelin asked her friend. “That bad, huh?”

  “Yeah, I have no idea what happened but she’s pretty much been on a warpath since she got in here. When she isn’t yelling her face off, she’s shut up in her office. There’s no lights, on so I’m not exactly sure what happened. Is she okay? Her nose is looking pretty banged up,” Kasey asked, still writing furiously.

  “The short version is a so called reporter shows up, refuses to take no for an answer, I asked him to leave, he refused, Del went to escort him out, he lunged for me, she tackled him, he hit her in the nose and that really wasn’t a short version.” Raelin chuckled. “She had a headache before, but I bet it is a migraine now. I need to fill out some paperwork but would it be okay if I went into her office first and try to get rid of the migraine?”

  “I don’t see it being a problem. I mean, if you’re willing to walk into the lion’s den, then so be it. Want some riot gear before you go?” Kasey asked, finally looking up from her paper work.

  Laughing, Raelin walked through the bullpen. “No, I’ll brave it.” Slowly she opened the office door and slipped in. She waited a moment to get her eyes accustomed to the low light. Her wife was hunched over the desk rubbing her scar and wincing as she tried to work on some paperwork. “Why don’t you turn off the light for a little while?”

  “Because I need to get this work done and I can’t finish my work until those goons I employ finish theirs.” The blonde started to get up to yell out the door again but slumped back to her chair, a sudden wave a nausea halting her progress. She closed her eyes rubbing at her forehead. “It shouldn’t take me too much longer. Why don’t you pull up a seat and we’ll work on your statement.”

  Walking around the desk Raelin turned off the light stood behind her wife, and started massaging her shoulders while humming a tune that she had heard Jenny working on a few days earlier. She concentrated on pushing some soothing heat though her hands and into Del’s tight muscles. Carefully she started working out the kinks in her upper back and shoulders.

  “We really need to get that paper work done,” Del breathed letting Raelin work over her tense shoulders. The medications she’d taken would start to make her drowsy in an hour or so and she’d needed to get the paper work done before then. “I had to take something for the migraine I need to finish before they start to make me dopey,” she said with a whisper, despite leaning into Raelin’s hands

  “The paperwork can wait until tomorrow. I’m going to drive you home so hush and let me do my thing,” Raelin whispered. She moved her hands up to the back of the blonde’s neck underneath her braid and used her thumbs to work through the rock hard muscles. “If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?”

  “It wouldn’t matter as long as you were with me,” she moaned quietly as Raelin hit a particularly tight knot and began to work it out. “Berlin. Best night clubs in the world, perfect place to take you dancing.”

  “Really! How many times have you been there?” the witch asked. She hoped that she would continue learning things about her wife for the rest of her life.

  “Only the once. Ended up tracing a runaway all the way over there. We ended up having a lot of fun before we got back to the States.” Del chuckled, wincing as it jolted her head.

  “So exactly what were you doing to have so much fun with a runaway?” She moved her fingers up to the base of Del’s skull.

  “She wasn’t actually a runaway. She was twenty-four and took a vacation to escape her controlling parents. But I didn’t know that. I was asked by her sister to bring her back safely. She uhh… had a reputation of getting into trouble a lot. And let’s just say the beer over there is much stronger than it is here,” Del murmured letting her head fall forward.

  Now letting her fingers massage Delaney’s scalp Raelin projected a calm lake with fish jumping and swimming ducks. “Uh, sounds interesting.”

  “It was. Ask the question that I know is bouncing around in that head of yours?” Del asked grateful that both the meds and Raelin’s hands were starting to ease her throbbing head.

  Raelin concentrated on her wife for a few moments before she whispered, “Who is her sister and did you sleep with her?”

  “Yes I did, not that I was very sober at the time. Trust me; it was a few days before I even remembered what happened that night. She was pretty much in the same boat,” Del explained. She felt Raelin’s fingers falter for a split second and sighed, deciding to continue. “Jessie...Jessie is her sister,” she finished, waiting for the significance of that bit of information to sink in.

  “You mean Ariel’s mom? She asked you to bring back her sister?” Raelin paused for a moment before she continued the massage.

  “Yes, she asked me to help because I was a friend and she knew that I would take care of Dawn. Of course, Jessie didn’t go into detail about her home life, so I had no idea about their parents until I caught up with Dawn in Berlin. After that, Dawn and I would hook up whenever I was really upset about Jessie. I really liked her ya know? I’d call Dawn over and try to forget. She never minded, she wasn’t exactly a commitment type. Not unless it worked in her favor anyway.” Del tilted her chin up so she could look Raelin in the eyes, finding them despite the lack of light in the room. “I told you it wasn’t something I was proud of.”

  Raelin stared at her wife a moment before saying. “Your past makes you what you are right now. I have no right to judge you for that. I can only love you right now.”

  “Can we go home now? My head is well enough that walking to the Jeep isn’t going to make me throw up. Thank you; I don’t know what I’d be like right now if you hadn’t come in. Besides, I really need to get some ice on my face,” Del said quietly, reaching up to cup Raelin’s cheek. She really wished Raelin wasn’t blocking her, maybe she’d be able to tell what Raelin was thinking about the information she’d just heard.

  Stepping back Raelin waited as Del stood up prepared to help her should she need it. Warily she watched her straighten up her desk of papers and smiled. “Del, you can leave that until tomorrow.”

  “I hate putting off work,” Del griped. She was half-tempted to throw it in her bag and take it home with her. Chances were, she’d end up in bed alone, and despite what Raelin thought; she didn’t sleep when her wife wasn’t next to her anyway. Maybe she’d have something to work on, something to distract her from her thoughts.

  Reaching out, Raelin touched her wife’s arm. “Del?”

  “Yes?” Del asked, deciding against bringing the work home. She’d promised Raelin she’d leave work at the office, barring a crisis and she didn’t plan to break it now. She turned to look at Raelin, feeling warmth where the witch’s hand rested on her forearm.

  Raelin put her hand on either side of Del’s face and let the shields drop for a moment showing her wife just how much she loved and understood that the past was just that. Leaning down, she captured the blonde’s lips in a loving kiss.

  Feeling their link completely open for the first time in days, Del relished it as she kissed her wife, pressing desperately closer to the body molded against her. She sunk her fingers into dark hair holding the taller woman in place, never wanting to let her go.

  For the first time the witch felt the pain that she was putting Delaney through and it broke her heart. She thought that she was protecting her, when all she was doing was hurting her. Tears sprang to her eyes and she had to turn away.

  “No, please don’t turn away from me,” Del pleaded
. She’d finally gotten her witch back and she couldn’t bear the thought of losing her all over again. The very idea of sleeping alone, and feeling nothing, but the hole where the link with her wife should be, made her chest ache.

  “I didn’t know...I am so sorry,” the brunette cried, unable to face her wife.

  “Please, Raelin don’t cut me off. We’ll talk, just don’t pull away, I couldn’t handle that again,” Del said softly reaching out and gently squeezing her wife’s elbow.

  Slowly, Raelin turned to face her wife. “I didn’t know I was causing you pain, honest. I won’t do it again.”

  “Raelin, you cut me off completely. You don’t know how it feels for me not have that link with you empathically. You’ve been sleeping in the spare bedroom, I thought I’d done something to upset you, or that maybe you’d changed your mind about being with me. I can’t fix something or help you if I don’t know what the problem is. How could I not be hurt by that? I thought I was losing my wife,” Del whispered, reaching up to wipe at falling tears.

  “I didn’t want to add any more stress to your life. My dreams have been full of violence and I just didn’t want you to have to go through that. You have enough with everything else,” Raelin tried to explain.

  “Weren’t you the one who told me my problem wasn’t just my problem, but ours? We’re married Raelin, or as close as we can get, and we need to be able to support each other. I can’t do that if you aren’t going to let me in,” Del tried to explain. “Don’t you trust me by now?”

  “I do trust you.” Raelin ran her hand through her hair. “I thought that I was protecting you, and it’s not as if...Nothing. I won’t do it again. Let’s go home so you can relax and completely get rid of the migraine.” She led the way to the door and opened it.

  “It’s not as if what, exactly? Even now, you aren’t telling me everything. Can we at least finish this conversation at home?” Del asked desperately. God, she wouldn’t survive being cut off from Raelin again.

  “Yeah, we’ll talk at home. Come on.” Raelin waited for Delaney to go first.

  Frustrated, Del stalked out of her office but stopped when the florescent lights caught her eyes and made her head pound. Quickly closing them she steadied herself before opening her eyes back up, squinting against the harsh light. “Jesus, I forgot about the lights out here. Can you lock the door before you close it?” she asked moving towards her Deputies.

  Locking the door Raelin made her way through the bullpen and waited for Delaney at the door. Passing a hand before her eyes, she almost brought up the shields again out of habit now but stopped herself. She honestly didn’t think that she had been causing Delaney pain. In her mind, she thought that she was helping her by keeping something stressful from her already stressful life.

  Del issued tasks to her team and apologized for her earlier rampage. After handing the reins over to her partner for the remainder of the shift she excused herself to join her wife. “You ready to go?” she asked, wincing as the light from outside poured through the glass doors.

  Reaching into her pocket, Raelin pulled out Delaney’s spare sunglasses. “Here you go. I’ll drive,” she waited until the blonde had put them on and then tucked Del’s right hand under her elbow. “Keep your eyes closed and I’ll get you into the Jeep. Are you ready?”

  “Yeah, thanks for helping me, it was way worse before you popped in. I don’t think it would have gotten this bad if that asshole hadn’t tried to break my nose,” Del grumbled as she let Raelin lead her to the Jeep.

  Getting Del situated in the vehicle Raelin quickly went around got in the driver’s seat, and headed towards home. She was very careful not to hit any bumps and they were soon pulling up to the back door. “Come on Darlin’, I’ll draw you a bath and you’ll be feeling so much better.”

  Getting carefully out of the Jeep she once again took her wife’s arm and allowed herself to be led. “That sounds so amazing right now. I feel so gross, and my nose hurts almost as much as my head.” She sighed ruefully.

  Leading her wife up the steps, Raelin murmured, “I’ll take care of your head and your nose in a bit. Let’s just get you relaxed and then we’ll move to the next step.”

  “What is it with people and hitting me in the face anyway?” she muttered, rubbing at her scar. Sitting on the closed toilet seat lid as they entered the bathroom Del let her head fall back as she pulled off the sunglasses. “God, I could kill Sumners for these damned headaches.”

  “Maybe you need to go get checked out? You never did take the time during the investigation or while I was in the hospital. Why don’t you make an appointment with Dr. Green? Tub or shower?” Raelin waited for the decision.

  “I’m fine Raelin. I do not need a doctor. Tub, if it’s not too much trouble,” Del answered, closing her eyes trying to let her body relax.

  “Would you do it if I asked you to?” the witch quietly asked.

  Del lifted her head and regarded Raelin closely for a moment. “I would if you felt it was needed, but I’m telling you, I’m fine.”

  “Okay.” The brunette let it drop. “Would you like some oils or bath salts?” The hot water was filling the tub.

  “Vanilla bath oil? Do we have any left?” Del asked. She had always associated the smell with that of her grandmother and right now she needed the comfort. She knew they still had some talking to do.

  “Made some up the other night.” Raelin poured some in. “Do you need some help getting undressed?”

  “I should be okay, but help away. I know you want to.” Del smiled, standing to start taking apart her uniform.

  Carefully, Raelin pulled at the Velcro that held the vest protecting her wife’s chest, and she smiled as she laid it on the vanity. She wondered if Del knew that she had cast a spell of protection over the vest every morning before she went to work. One could never be too careful.

  Del wondered at Raelin’s cryptic smile as she unclipped her gun belt and set it on the far side of the vanity. She started untucking the tank top she always wore under her vest, still curious. “What’s the smile for?”

  Shaking her head, Raelin stated softly. “Whoever thought that I would be married to a woman Chief and helping her take off a bullet proof vest.”

  “Whoever thought I’d have the benefit of wearing a vest while I worked.” Del chuckled, pulling the tank top over her head.

  “Do you regret becoming Chief? I’m mean, you’re not travelling around like you used to.” The witch was really curious. “This is so much different than you’re used to.”

  “Nope, I’m exactly where I need to be. You’ve taught me many things since I’ve met you Raelin, and the biggest is that everything happens for a reason. I’m happy, here with you. I’m home with you, when you let me in,” Del replied, pulling her tank top, whimpering softly when she moved her head too fast.

  Whatever Raelin was about to say, died on her lips, so she walked behind the blonde and unhooked her bra. “Would you care for a glass of wine or something stronger?”

  “I can’t, I already took my migraine pills. Considering how small I am, probably not a good idea to mix them.” Del chuckled over her shoulder as she let her bra slip to the floor.

  “Well then, what would you like to have for dinner? Anything special?” the brunette asked. “I need to get something for Rori and Tasha.”

  “No, leftovers are fine. Don’t bother cooking anything for me unless you want something. I can grab something once I get out of the tub,” Del replied, sitting down to unlace her boots. They’d headed right to the bathroom as soon as they’d come in the door and she hadn’t bothered to take them off before the trip up the stairs.

  “Let me go get you a change of clothes and I’ll close the curtains in the bedroom. I can fix you a tray and you can eat in bed.” Picking up the dirty clothes Raelin put them into the hamper.

  “Rae,” she paused and waited for Raelin to look at her. “Thank you,” she said sincerely.

  “Darlin’, you don’t have to
thank me. I love you.” Raelin leaned over to kiss her.

  “Love you too. I probably won’t be too long, unless I fall asleep. I can feel the medication kicking in.” Del smiled stealing another kiss as she undid her pants, picking them up and tossing them into the hamper herself.

  Raelin nodded her head and headed downstairs. Once in the kitchen, the brunette leaned against the counter and sighed. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to center herself. She understood that she had been wrong to block Del from her feelings, but she was still getting used to being in a relationship and sharing everything. She wanted to protect Del from harm but now understood that she couldn’t. She had to let the blonde make her own decisions even ones that she thought was wrong. Like not going to the doctor.

  Shaking her head she fixed Rori and Tasha their dinner before fixing a fresh mixed green salad with a raspberry vinaigrette and grilled salmon. It was light but had enough substance to fill Delaney up.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Del was lounging in the tub trying her best not to doze off, but failing for the most part. The water was relaxing her tense shoulders and neck, and that coupled with the pills that had kicked in were starting to dull the throbbing. Her nose still hurt like all hell, but at least the light didn’t make her want to throw up anymore. She let the vanilla oil surround her and she closed her eyes, thinking about her grandmother. “I miss you Fi, I wish you were still here, I could really use your advice,” she sighed, knowing there would never be an answer.

  “I’m right here Laney. I’m always with you.” A voice floated down.

  Del’s eyes snapped open and she looked around the empty room. “Okay, now I know those meds have kicked in.”

  “Laney, you always thought that you knew everything about everything. Haven’t you learned anything from your lovely wife? That there is more to what you can see. I never thought that you were slow though.” The voice sounded like she was having a good laugh.

  “Oh yeah, yuck it up Fi. I can’t even glare at you properly.” Del chuckled back. “Any words of advice? I’m sure you’ve been following it very closely, you busy body you,” she continued with great affection.