February 10^th, 2017. 5:57pm.

Katy was sitting on the couch when she heard the sound of Alex’s SUV park and the car door shut behind her. Her heart skipped a beat, but she shoved it away. It wasn’t time for that. Eleanor was there, the last thing her friend needed to see was Katy getting inappropriately involved with the hot FBI agent.

The second photo weighed heavily on her mind. What had they found out? She knew Alex would tell her, but the waiting had nearly killed her. Not that there was much to find out so soon; the lab would need at least a day or two. Lucia had left about a half hour ago, and Eleanor had shown up just after. She was sitting in the armchair, her eyebrows raised as she looked at the door.

Well shit. Katy hadn’t exactly thought that through. She stood, heading to the area that separated the living room from the entryway. Alex opened the door, pausing when she caught sight of Katy. She was dressed in her slacks and blazer, but she looked tired.

“Hey,” Katy said softly, leaning against the wall. Nerves were sizzling underneath her skin, anticipation being the leading offender.

Alex smiled faintly at her, but there was an exhaustion there. Not to the point that she had the dark smudges underneath her eyes that Katy was intimately familiar with, but it was in the way she held herself and the way she moved.

“Prelim results say the photo’s real,” Alex said with a grimace. “Two more days for final analyses, though.”

Katy nodded once; she knew that already. “What else?” She used the open door as an opportunity to check on the cat’s food and water dishes outside. Still stocked.

Alex toed off her shoes and padded inside, Katy behind her. It was oddly sexy, watching her shift from work mode to a more casual mode, even if they were discussing work. Alex stopped without warning at the entrance to the living room.

Oh. “Alex, this is Eleanor, one of my best friends.” Katy ducked around her and moved into a more neutral position.

“Hi,” Eleanor said, her voice friendly.

Katy watched the two of them shake hands, Alex’s face carefully neutral. “Hello,” Alex said with a smile.

“Lucia had to work, so Eleanor took over babysitting duty.” Katy grinned at Eleanor, who rolled her eyes. No matter what she said, she was forever grateful to have friends that cared so deeply about her.

Alex nodded once. “Is it okay to discuss case details?” Her gaze flickered to Eleanor and then back to Katy, apprehension in the set of her lips.

“Of course.” Katy wrapped an arm around Eleanor’s shoulders and hugged her. “They’ve been my rocks through all of this.”

Eleanor arched an eyebrow in Alex’s direction, almost challenging, and Katy ignored it. Especially after Tally’s disappearance, they were a bit protective around law enforcement. Some of the negative media attention had done a number on Katy’s self-esteem, and no one wanted that to happen again.

Then some of the tension eased out of Eleanor’s body and an actual, genuine smile graced her face. “Eleanor Taylor,” she said. “I’m a public defender.”

Alex’s eyebrows shot up, and Katy giggled. “FBI Special Agent Mitchell,” Alex said.

“Huh.” Eleanor was grinning now, and it was her playful grin.

Katy rolled her eyes, some of the tension bleeding out of her shoulders. “Get along, ladies.”

“For you,” Eleanor informed her, settling back in the armchair.

Katy gestured to the sofa she’d been sitting on, not entirely surprised when Alex decided to follow and sit on the opposite end. They weren’t touching, not really, but it was close enough that they could if they wanted.

Part of Katy felt hollow without the contact, without the warmth of Alex’s body next to her. “We successfully located and interviewed Susan, the woman from the ER.” Alex ran a hand through her hair, lingering when she slid her fingers through the strands.

Katy studied her, watching the minute twitching of her face and the way that there was frustration there. “Didn’t go well?”

Alex shrugged. “Nothing enough to charge her or even get a warrant. We’ve got some people keeping track of her, in case she does something interesting, but right now we have nothing.” She sounded glum.

Katy’s hands formed into fists without her explicit permission, and she took a few deep breaths and forced them to relax.

“What, exactly, are you doing to find Tally?” Eleanor asked, her elbows on her knees and her hands clasped loosely in front of her as she looked pointedly at Alex.

Alex looked back at her, and Katy could see the smallest of wry smiles at the corner of her lips. “We’ve got police officers canvassing the neighborhood, looking for anyone who might have been seen placing the envelope in Katy’s mailbox.” Her attention flickered to Katy, and it was oddly comforting. “We are continuing to re-interview witnesses and potential people of interest from the prior investigation, and in addition are going through notes and phone records of potential subjects.”

“And you just sit here?” Eleanor arched an eyebrow.

“Eleanor —” Katy reached out to hush her, but Alex put a hand on her knee to still her.

“When a full child abduction rapid deployment team, or CARD team, is sent out, one of the people included is a family liaison,” Alex said patiently. “As this is a unique case, I’ve been the only member of my team deployed and am functioning in multiple roles. One of which involves staying here and being the go-between, in other words I represent both the parent and the police.”

“Wouldn’t you be better used elsewhere?” Eleanor kept her voice steady.

Alex shrugged. “There’s a team of well-trained detectives who are well-versed in this area of expertise,” she said. “I’m merely here to guide and help the FBI provide support as needed. Being able to liaise between Katy and the police is one of the most helpful things I could do. It ensures consistent communication and that no one is in the dark.”

“Unless they have to be,” Eleanor said dryly.

Katy rolled her eyes, used to her friend’s interrogations. But there was something warm growing inside of her at Alex’s words. While yes, it was part of her job, Alex sounded like she took it more seriously because of it being Katy. Or maybe Katy was imagining it and Alex was just that nice to everyone she met. She caught Alex’s gaze, bit back a smile. No, that wasn’t it. Katy wasn’t blind, she could see the hint of heat in her expression.

Alex’s gaze flickered to the wall, to the landscapes and still life images hanging there, apparently choosing not to respond to Eleanor’s question. “Did you take those?” Her eyes were on Katy now.

Katy shook her head. “Lucia did,” she said, smiling at them. “They’re mostly photos from the times she went camping up north, in Flagstaff. Local landscapes, some of the animals she saw, that sort of thing.”

“Camping was one of several hobbies Lucia tried,” Eleanor drawled.

Alex raised her eyebrows.

Katy chuckled, smiling despite herself. “She did a little bit of everything. Painting, reading crime novels, writing fiction, hiking, photography, knitting, swimming… The list goes on and on.”

“Breadth versus depth, hm.” Alex raised her eyebrows slightly.

Katy blinked at her, then nodded, laughed. “That’s one way to put it.”

Eleanor looked between the two of them, thoughtful. Katy met her face, trying to show she had nothing to hide even though she did. “So tell us about yourself, Special Agent Mitchell.” Eleanor’s voice was gentler this time.

“Call me Alex,” she said with a smile. Eleanor nodded once. “Grew up in a small town in Illinois. Dad was an FBI agent, ran his own CARD team.” She paused, as if considering what to say next. “I like Italian food, am less fond of French.”

“Do you cook?” Eleanor nodded towards Katy. “She can’t cook worth a damn.”

“Hey!” Katy protested, but not very hard, because it was true. She could cook a few things, but anything that required inventing or doing something that deviated from a recipe wasn’t her forte. Although she had gotten better at it since Tally disappeared, takeout was still her preferred way to eat. “Like you have any room to talk,” she muttered.

Eleanor snorted. “There’s a reason Lucia and I cook and bring the food over.”

“Did you move a lot?” It was a shot in the dark, Katy had to admit, but there was something about Alex’s expression that gave Katy the idea that socializing like this wasn’t something Alex had been able to do.

“Dad got assigned to a bunch of different field offices,” Alex explained. “He did a lot of training, that sort of thing. So instead of having him be gone all the time, we went with him. Now I travel for work.”

Katy nodded, even though she didn’t really know how to feel. It was basically the opposite of her childhood, living in Oregon until she was 9 and then staying in Phoenix until now. She hadn’t gone back after moving down to Arizona, especially not after her parents had moved back to Oregon. As much as she liked it as a child, as an adult her hometown was going to harbor bad memories.

Eleanor glanced at the clock and sighed. “I should probably get going.”

“Gotta meet with a client?” Katy was sympathetic.

Eleanor nodded. “Taking a new case.”

“There’s been a lot of those.”

Eleanor’s smile was tired. “Job of a public defender. We meet when they can, which is often outside of hours.” And outside of the law, was insinuated but not said.

Alex’s eyebrows raised, but she smiled politely and nodded to Eleanor as she headed out. Well, rather, Eleanor stopped by the couch to kiss Katy on the cheek and give her a hug.

“Take care of yourself, dear,” Eleanor said, her voice soft. She studied Alex for a moment after she straightened. “Nice to meet you, Special Agent Mitchell.”

Alex simply nodded, but Katy watched as she looked at Eleanor as she headed out. “Do you need to lock the door?”

“She has a key,” Katy said simply, and sure enough they heard the click as the lock slid into place.

“Could she have…” Alex looked hesitant.

Katy was already shaking her head. “No. They’re my best friends, they wouldn’t have done that.”

Alex tilted her head to the side, apparently considering what Katy had said.

“They both had alibis that check out,” Katy added, even though she hated that she had to.

Alex nodded at that, apparently deciding to drop the line of inquiry. “They seem nice.”

Katy smiled faintly. “They were the ones who stood by me when my family kicked me out,” she said. The memories were as fresh as if it had happened yesterday, the disapproval in her mother’s face and the knowledge that not only was she a disgrace for being pregnant, but also for being gay. A two-fer.

“I’m glad you had someone there for you.” Alex stumbled over the words a touch, but the feeling was sincere.

Katy smiled at her, and for a moment it was quiet between them. Katy was in her pajamas, curled up on her side of the couch. Alex was in the casual version of her usual job clothes, black slacks and a white blouse, although her socks were - and Katy was tickled to see this - purple with little unicorns. “Your favorite color?” Katy looked down at the socks.

“Yes,” Alex admitted reluctantly.

Katy couldn’t help a giggle, and there was a faint smile on her face, even in the seriousness of the situation. She looked at the wall near Alex, but not directly at her, her mind going back to the time they had shared, the moments they had striven to forget. “I don’t regret it, you know.” She lifted her gaze to meet Alex’s.

Alex blinked, her eyes going wide. “What?”