Saturday

Chicken leaned against the wall and watched the two Houston detectives play pool. Chicken was amazed at the different styles that LaFiamma had. When Joe’s cousin was here last month, Joe beat the pants off him every time they played. Even when that hustler wandered in here a couple weeks ago – it was LaFiamma that stilled his bragging in three short shots. But with Lundy his missed ones he should easily have gotten and then did nothing when his partner heckled him.

“Hey, LaFiamma!” Chicken called leaving his post of holding up the wall. “How come you never play with Levon like you did with your cousin or that hustler we had in here?”

“He’s my partner, Chicken,” LaFiamma responded frowning a bit. “I have to live with the dude. If I beat him all the time he’d gripe more than he does now.”

“Wha … you telling me that you’re holding back? Missing on purpose?” Lundy growled throwing his cue on the table.

‘Well, LaFiamma?” The cowboy demanded.

“Yes,” What could he say, of course he was holding back.. If he didn’t their pool playing days would be over.

“Okay, Chi-ca-go hotshot, who made money in high school. Think you’re such a hot pool player – let’s see!” Levon roared, his nose flaring wide.

“Look, Levon….” Joey protested, not wanting to disturb their edgy partnership.

“Need me to leave - is that it? Can’t do it with your partner around?” The words were spat out angrily.

“No – just don’t want you mad at me. Don’t want to add fuel to the fire,” Joey answered knowing that his partner wouldn’t leave until LaFiamma proved what he could do.

“Well, then – strut your stuff!” Levon responded, pushing his hat to the back of his head while he racked the balls.

LaFiamma stared at the balls, the table, then up to his partner. What the hell, he thought, it was bound to happen sooner or later.

And so the Italian started … he stood back and looked the table over like he was seeing it for the first time. He ran his hand all the way around the edge, carefully feeling each pocket. Slowly he walked back to the end where the triangle of cue balls sat quietly waiting. He gave his arms, shoulders a shake, picked up his cue and broke the rack.

Estaban was sitting with Legs O’Brien, just starting to sip his beer when his eyes caught Joey walking around the pool table. He knew something was out of the ordinary when LaFiamma shook his arms loose and picked up the cue.

“Carol,” the Hispanic whispered across the table, “something’s going down between Joe and Levon at the pool table.”

“Estaban, they’re just playing pool,” Carol responded looking over as Joe broke the balls.

“Don’t think so, not the way I just saw Joey walking around the table. He was feeling it. Even putting his hands into the mesh pockets.”

Just then the two heard LaFiamma give out two numbers and pocket positions. When Carol saw Lundy’s face, she knew they weren’t just playing pool.

As usual when he played exhibition or in a match, Joe blocked out everything around him. The place could have blown up and he wouldn’t have heard it. He blocked out those drifting in from the dining room to watch him play. It was always the same – being egged on and then winning big. Only trouble this time it wasn’t for money it was pride. His pride. He was damn tired of Lundy beating down on how he should or shouldn’t play. The Texan said strut my stuff; well I’ll doing it!

Soon more than half the dining room was lined up around the walls of the small pool area. His last shot was coming up. A shot he’d done a hundred times. Still he didn’t allow any outside noises or conversations to filter into his concentration. Coming from a family as big as his, he learned early to block out unnecessary noise. It was the only way to keep him on track. And now the Italian pool hustler, the Mafia kid from Chicago, called the last shot and sunk it. Joe laid the cue on the table and looked up at his partner, surprised yet not to see so many others standing around.

Levon didn’t say anything for the longest time. Then finally he muttered quietly, “I guess you are good.” [Good, hell I’ve never seen anyone play like that before in my life!]

“Thanks, coming from you, that’s worth the thousands bucks I’d get for a show like that.”

Seconds later the clapping started, the slaps on the back … the ‘didn't know you had it in you LaFiamma.’

“Man, if we’d known we had a pool shark in our midst, we would have called upon you months ago!” Someone along the wall said. “We’re always losing the contest the 24^th Precinct challenges us to. Why the hell didn’t you tell us he could play pool Lundy?”

Joe’s head shot up as he began racking the balls for another round. “Since when do you need to ask Lundy what I can do? He doesn’t know anything about me and in three years has never bother to ask!” Joey roared indignantly

“We needn’t mean it that way ….”

“Yeah, you did!” Joe replied tightly watching the balls break into a thousand corners. Now he played for himself, like he did after school when no one was in the pool hall. He let some of the ‘ahs’, ‘did you see that,’ filter through but mostly he just played for his own enjoyment. When he was done it was obvious to everyone, including Lundy that Joe LaFiamma was the best pool player the Major Crimes Unit would ever have.

Lundy stood off to the side watching the accolades being bestowed upon LaFiamma. [Joe’s right, I’ve never asked him about himself because then I was afraid I might have to share myself. Three years we’ve been together and I still insist that people talk to me not him.]

Suddenly for some reason he really didn’t understand, Lundy was jealous of his partner. So jealous he attacked the only way he knew how – in anger. “So your mafia cousins taught you to play pool, huh? They teach you to shoot too … that why you can hit the bull’s-eye every time we’re on the range?” Levon blasted, knowing from the look on LaFiamma’s face that maybe he’d gone too far this time.

Chicken wished he could have cut the silence that followed up with a knife and feed it to his friend one word at a time. Every one waited for LaFiamma’s volatile reaction. He had cause to whip his partner’s butt, and probably not one person present would stop him.

“’Fraid not, Levon. Actually, I learned to shot in the Boy Scouts. Got a couple of marksmanship badges too if you want to see them.” Joe answered with pride. “And I was a marksman in the Marine Corps. Could shot the wings off a fly at…” LaFiamma stopped looked at the expressions of those around him, including his partner. No one had ever asked him what he did or was before he came here, and now they’d just been jolted twice, best leave it lay, he thought.

“You’re a Marine?” Sergeant Carol O’Brien asked with a smile. She liked this Northerner the moment he had arrived and now she knew why. Military men intrigued her. She liked their strength, their silence -- like her Dad. Now she realized that smile of his every morning was looking for a recognition that he couldn’t take without stepping over Levon, so it was up to her. She decided to take it now. Estaban could take Levon home. Joe was going to take her home.

Walking through the crowd to where his jacket lay, Joey turned and faced the Texan. “I doubt cowboy, that you could get through one week, let alone one day without blowing your anger off at someone like you do me.”

“Of course I can!” The blond answered defiantly.

“Yeah, than prove it,” Joey said a smile twitching at his face. [Hell, this couldn’t have worked out better, now there will be witnesses to the bet.]

“Prove it? What do you mean prove it?” Levon asked suspiciously.

“How about – Monday? Yeah, starting Monday … and all next week … you … and me … are not going to argue. And that includes venting your anger on Carol, Estaban or anyone else that is here.” Joey explained, trying to keep the grin to himself of something he’d been trying to set his partner up for a month.

“A whole week?” Levon gasped, no way could he do that for a whole week. “How about just Monday ... one day?”

“Come on Levon, a week isn’t that long … just five days. You can do it!” Someone in the crowd said.

“Are you kidding? Lundy can’t hold his temper for five minutes let alone five days.” Came another answer. “His middle name is anger.”

“Well, what’s the catch?” Levon asked suspiciously.

LaFiamma glanced at Chicken. The black man had talked to him recently on how angry Levon was. That something was bothering him but no one could pull it out.

“How about …”Chicken began, “If Levon loses his temper first, he has to wear a suit similar to what LaFiamma wears to work only maybe a little more western style. That okay with you Joe?”

“And if Joe loses, he has to wear jeans, a cowboy shirt and some kind of boots to work.” Chicken finished looking at the detective duo.. He just hoped LaFiamma wouldn’t pick out too much of an outlandish suit for Levon to wear.

“You in jeans!” Levon exclaimed, “for that you bet I can hold my temper down for a week!” Even as he said it, he knew he couldn’t, not for a day, let along for a whole week! Not argue with anyone – what would he say?

“This I have got to see,” Carol O’Brien yelped, “Levon you sure you want to do this? A week can be a long time sometimes.”

“And to make it even more interesting,” Chicken continued, “I’ll throw in four free dinners for the winner.”

Lundy stared at all his friends, suddenly he felt like he was in the middle of a conspiracy, and Chicken had just made the stakes higher. He hadn’t worn a suit since Caroline was buried…. 

[Bout time you put that anger you been carrying all this years to rest Levon. Things could be done peacefully lots of times but you’re just too mad to see them.]

“Hey, who knows,” Estaban chirped, “maybe you guys will see you can get along without arguing so much.

“I can,” Joe said simply, slipping into his jacket, “But I don’t think Lundy can. It’s a way of life with him.”

“Wait a minute!” Levon barked, “you told me Italians argue all the time.”

“I said arguing was a way of life. That doesn’t mean we argue one hundred per cent of the time.”

“Get any wine in yet, Chicken,” Joey asked fixing his collar. With the nod of no, LaFiamma moved through the dining room to his car. He’d driven tonight and Lundy had no vehicle, but Joe had the strong feeling he was the last person his partner was interested to see at the moment.

The Italian started up the Cobra and waited about five minutes, he was surprised as hell when Carol O’Brien and not his partner emerged and asked for a ride home. 

“Joey, do you mind? I asked Estaban to take Levon home.” Legs said sweetly opening the small door and sliding into the bucket seat next to him. 

LaFiamma looked at the beautiful blonde with gorgeous legs. He’d like nothing better than to wrap his arms around her and never let go..

Turning, staring into the beautiful eyes she had, Joey replied, “Carol, I’m not sure this is a good idea.” He wondered just how to tell her that his partner would tar and feather him if he found out they were together.

“Joey … we have a spark. We’ve always had it. If you don’t give me that smile every morning …”

“Carol, Levon told me from day one … that you were off limits … and if I so much as touched you he would tar and feather me, grease me up and feed me to the sharks. And babe, he wasn’t kidding. Yeah, I like you. I like you a lot. I’d like nothing better than to take you home and never let you go. But I have to work here, and if I do that … I’ll be hated even more than I am now.”

“He told you … you couldn’t …” Carol steamed, suddenly understanding why Levon got in the way every time Joe started to walk her way. “Wait here!” Legs growled, “this won’t take long.”

“Carol – No!” Joey yelled as the blonde abruptly got out of the Cobra slamming the door behind her. Joe didn’t wait. He put the car into gear and left. He might, just might come back after he put Lundy’s suit on layaway, but first he had to find the Miller’s Outpost that he knew Lundy shopped at.

Finding the store took less time than the Italian thought, as soon as he left Chicken’s he remembered the cross streets it was on. Once inside the store it took less than a minute to find the person who usually waited on his partner, and much to Joe’s joy he had updated measurements on the Texan. Joey explained to the man that friends were planning a surprise for Lundy, and that included a new suit. The salesman jumped at the chance to surprise Lundy and showed Joe a number of suits. Soon they found one they both thought he would look good in and it was affordable. Joey put it on layaway, and headed back to Chickens.

Driving back into the parking lot, LaFiamma parked close to the door. As he stepped out, he heard his partner bellow, “He’s not good enough for you! He’s a gigolo … damn it! He has a woman every other night!

Carol’s calmer voice answered, “Maybe that’s because you’re keeping him from the woman he really wants. Levon, we’ve been friends for a long time … but I can’t … you’ve gone too far this time.”

Joey could feel the tension in the place as he quietly stepped in unnoticed by everyone except Chicken.

“Legs! Hey babe, you ready?” Joey LaFiamma said firmly, slicing through Levon’s anger like a sword cuts through butter. Joey didn’t move. Didn’t walk completely into the restaurant, standing just in the shadows of the entry. Extending his right arm, palm out to her he waited.

Looking up, Carol saw things in Joe she hadn’t seen before. She fought back the urge to jump up and run into his arms. Instead she got up off the stool and started walking toward her man.

 The few that were still there saw a totally different LaFiamma. He was no longer a shadow hovering behind his partner. A shadow they now knew Lundy was afraid to let anyone see. It was Estaban who expressed what everyone was thinking. “Damn you can almost see that Marine uniform – he’s come to claim his lady and nobody not dare interfere.”

The smile that greeted Legs every morning was there now as a strong arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her close. “You ready to go home.”

“Uh,huh.”

Without turning to look at his partner, Joey tossed the words, “See you Monday, Levon,” over his shoulder. And the two disappeared into the night.

It was Lieutenant Joanne Beaumont who was awaken that night by Chicken, in a desperate attempt to find someone to take the cowboy home. 

When Joanne and her husband Brad arrived, it took Chicken but a few minutes to explain all that had gone down that night. Brad and Chicken helped carry the drunken cowboy to the car, and all the way home, the blond mumbled, “why’d you give me a partner who was better than me.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

After stopping at his place to pick up a few things, Joey pulled the Cobra into Carol’s garage. 

“You sure about this?” The Italian asked for about the tenth time.

“Joey,” she laughed, reaching over to touch his cheek, “I wouldn’t have left with you if it wasn’t.”

“Then, mi amore, we’d best get inside before it rains,” LaFiamma whispered fingers drawing her chin closer. “Would hate to have you melt on me.”

Sunday

“What do you think?” Joey asked quietly watching Carol devour the last of the omelet he’d made for breakfast.

“I think I should have claimed you long ago! Not only are you good in bed, but you can cook too! You’re not getting away from me Chicago, no way.”

As she pushed her chair back, he also stood, watching her gather the plates, rinse them and drop them into the dishwasher.

“So, what’s on the agenda for today?” The Italian asked, clad only in black jeans.

“Thought we’d better look for a suit for Levon, don’t you think?” Carol said a shy grin beginning to creep across her face, a wet hand lightly touching his bare chest.

“Already done … and ordered. Did it last night when I left Chicken’s." LaFiamma laughed, taking her wet hand to his mouth for a light kiss.

“You sure you can win? You two argue an awful lot.”

“Babe, I argue because Levon expects it. Not because I want to. I’ve held my love for you for three years. A week of not raising my voice will be a piece of cake … besides…” Joey said with a grin, stopping only to broaden her interest. 

“Besides, I was Mute of the Month in my junior year in high school. Even the wrath of Aunt Teresa when she found out I wouldn’t be singing at the LaFiamma festival didn’t broke my resolve. But boy her anger changed from me to the teacher that told me to ‘shut up’ and ‘not talk for once in my life.’ Even that teacher was begging me to open up after three weeks. But I didn’t. I wanted to prove that it could be done. That my love is how stubborn I can be.”

“Which is why I love you, Joey. We could elope?” Legs suggested in all seriousness.

LaFiamma burst out laughing then realized by the look on her face that she was serious. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Levon has held us apart for three years. We’ve dated others and never found happiness. Last night … last night should have proved….” She didn’t finish, wondering if what she felt was only one-sided.

Pulling her close, Joe whispered, “last night proved to me that you are the only Mrs. LaFiamma I want in my life. How about we drive out to your brother’s place in Galveston and talk about.”

As they finished in the kitchen, Joey thought, as he picked her up in his arms and headed for the stairs, later we’ll drive out, much later.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Lundy sat on the floor of his bathroom. The stench of vomit made him frown. What drove him to drink when LaFiamma was right and he was wrong he didn’t know, but he knew he had to get over it. Had to find the reason behind it. He’d never seen Legs so mad. He thought she was going to strangle him when she roared back into Chicken’s and grabbed his collar and shoved him into that booth. They’d been friends since the Academy, and now Levon was afraid he’d not only lost her, but Joe as well.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Their eyes never left each other as they stepped out of the shower.

“Suppose it’s too late to drive to Galveston, huh?” Joey asked with a grin, reaching for a towel to wipe down the love of his life. “Suppose if you showed up with a ring tomorrow it would blow everyone away?”

“Only when they found out who gave it to me. Probably think you work pretty fast.”

“Hey, us Italians don’t wait around when we find the woman of our dreams. So what do you say we skip Galveston and go out to O’Brien’s Jewelers in the mall.”

“Got one special you’ve been looking at?” Legs quizzed with delight.

“Well-ll … I figured one of these days I might get lucky.” Joe replied, a lop-sided grin spreading across his face.

Monday

Carol had called her sister in Galveston yesterday while Joey was sleeping to tell her that she’d discovered that the man she loved also loved her. Carol grinned at her sisters’ words … “go for it sis, and don’t look back.”

Carol stared at the ring on her left finger. Joey had been paying on the ring for months and had only one payment left, which was paid when they picked it up. The gold band had fit her perfectly the moment she’d slipped it on. Still she stared at the pearl surrounded by diamonds. She’d been speechless when he presented it to her. How did he ever know that she much preferred pearls to diamonds?

“Hey, hon., you ready. Gonna miss roll call if we don’t go in now.” Joey said quietly.

“How did you know pearls were … were my favorite?” Legs whispered still awed by the ring.

“Hey babe, I’m a detective,” Joey replied with a laugh, “You do like it, don’t you? You haven’t said much…”

“Because I don’t have words to tell you how much I love it. It is the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen." Carol remarked throwing her arms around him to relish yet another of his warm hugs.. "I love the shape of the pearl … like how the five diamonds are positioned around it … most important, I love the man who gave it to me!”

“Then, mi amore," Joey whispered, his dancing blue eyes drinking in her face, "Guess it's time to go. This will be one hell of a day for Lundy, the girl he’s protected for years got engaged to a partner he doesn’t like, and he can’t lose his temper or he’ll end up in a suit. What a way to start a week!”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Roll call was uneventful, nothing really new had happened over the weekend that related to Major Crimes. Much to Joe's surprise, no one noticed Carol's ring even though she raised her left hand to ask a couple of questions. Several cops asked Joe where his partner was, and Joey quietly said he expected him any minute, though LaFiamma knew that if Levon wasn't there now he wouldn't be there at all. Several officers noticed that Carol and Joe had eyes only for each other, and each individually wondered what went down between the two after they left Chicken's Saturday night.

-=-=-=-=-=-

A uniformed female cop who was standing opposite Joey as roll call ended, watched his eyes light up like sparklers when Carol O'Brien softly called his name.

"Joey! Wait up!" Legs called, as she pushed her chair back and walked to his side.

"Yeah, babe, what's up?" Answered the silky, velvet, baritone voice.

"You mind accompanying me upstairs?" 

"I'll go anywhere you want … just be gentle, okay?" Joey answered with a grin. Glancing momentarily into the face of the cop opposite him, LaFiamma said, "Be careful out there today Heather, we don't want to lose our first female motorcycle cop."

It was Joey who lifted Carol's hand so Heather couldn't miss the ring. By then they were the only three still in the room. Joey didn't know why but he wanted Heather McComb to be the first to hear the news about them.

Heather looked from one to the other. With a laugh she replied, "I figured something was going on between you two all this time. The way Joey looks at you every morning, people would have to be blind not to notice how much he loves you. Course the people in here are blind! I've been married for two months and no one has yet noticed my wedding ring. Course you guys don't see me except in here, and usually put my gloves on as I leave…. "

Carol cooed over the design etched into Heather's ring and Joey asked why she hadn't let anyone know about the big event.

"I did. I posted an invitation on the bulletin board and in the locker rooms. He's in the Navy. We were married in Galveston. I hoped at least one person would show up, but no one did. When I got back here the notice was gone in all the places I had put it up."

"Joey will check into it," Legs replied softly, lightly touching the women's shoulder. "What's the lucky man's name?"

"Seaman Dennis Timmer - he's a submariner. Left this morning for a six months tour."

-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=

In the elevator on the way up to MCU Squad Room, Carol asked, "Who do you think took it down?"

"Murphy probably. Probably figured it was some kind of a joke. She's so macho, a lot of guys figure she was gay."

"Joseph!"

"Hey, Carol, I'm only repeating what's been passed around. But don't worry, honey, by the end of the day -- they'll know she's not." Joey answered, pushing the door close button to allow him to give his new fiancé a light kiss before heading into the bullpen. 

"How we going to play this?" Joey asked as the elevator door opened.

"As easy as we can, mi amore," Legs replied with a grin. The smile that flashed back at her made Carol want to turn around and go back home, but she knew she couldn't. She and Joe had waited long enough to be together, as far as Sergeant Carol "Legs" O'Brien was concerned, no one was going to come between them again.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Joey was in Lieutenant Beaumont's office about ready to explain his and Carol's engagement, when Lundy slowly walked into the squad room wearing dark glasses. "He must have really laid one on after I took Carol home." Joey said. It was more of a statement that a question.

"He did," Beaumont answered tersely. "Brad and I picked up him and took him home. Chicken explained to me what happened Saturday … you still going to be able to work with him?"

"Lieutenant - I've never had a problem working with him," Joey said surprised at the question. "Communicating with him - now that is another matter! To him, I'm a Mafia kid gone bad. That's how he sees me, and after three years I've given up hope that he'll see me as anything else. I know I'm a good cop. I've proved that I'm a good cop. Too me, that's all that matters."

"Joe, you and Levon are the best detective team my unit has ever had. I don't want this to break you up."

"As far as I'm concerned, it won't. The only thing that might do it -- on his part..." Joey paused looked through the glass at Carol who was watching him. As if on cue, her nod and smile told him to continue. "Is the fact that Carol and I got engaged last night."

Joanne Beaumont's brunette head jerked up staring wide-eyed at her transplanted Northerner cop, then she glanced at Carol O'Brien, a cop and friend she'd known for ten years. Joanne watched Carol bolt from her computer chair and skip through the people in the squad room, enter the glassed office and she plant herself next to LaFiamma. 

"It's true, Jo! We've loved each other for three years, but Levon would never let Joey near me. On the way home from Chicken's Saturday, I just started pouring my heart out to Joe. And come to find out he felt the same way. The same way!" Carol gleefully explained, laying her left hand on a pile of folders on Joanne's desk. 

Stunned by the news, Beaumont stared at the ring and muttered, "Can you afford this?"

Before Joe could explain it, Carol cut in with, "He's been paying on it for over a year! Hoping that one day he could present it to me. It's my most favorite stone, Jo. I love pearls! It is the most beautiful ring I've ever seen in my life. Please don't take our happiness away."

"Take your happ …." Beaumont gasped shocked by the impression she'd given her two detectives. "I'm just glad that Joey found a good Texas girl who will keep him down here where he is so vitally needed." Beaumont remarked, rising from her chair. The brunette walked around the edge of her desk and gave Carol a big hug.

"I don't know how Levon is going to handle this news," Joanne said quietly. "Especially since if he loses his temper he could end up in a suit for a week. I doubt that anyone here has seen him in one since Caroline's funeral."

"Lieutenant, Lundy's anger has been burning for a long time. It's getting worse, not better. Part of it has to do with me," Joey remarked, "but hell if I know why."

"Joe, for some reason Levon's always thought he had to fight to be recognized. If he fought harder, yelled louder, then people would know him and remember him."

"Yes, Jo, and they're remembering him for all the wrong reasons," Carol answered, twining her fingers into Joes.

"Something Levon muttered as Brad and I took him home … Joe … was 'why'd you give me a partner who was better than me.'"

"Better than …" Joey gasped, glancing out the window to look at the sad sight of his partner still wearing shades and huddled over a cup of coffee.

"Joe, don't even think about," Legs replied watching a thought cross her lover's face. "Levon has always swaggered like he knows it all … like he has to be better than anyone else … it's something about how he was raised."

"No, that's not it. It has to do with that, but that's not it. His father deserted the family and Levon's taken everything from his growing up years, his dad's desertion and Caroline's death on his shoulders. He feels it is his fault that it all happened. We talked about it once. 'If I'd done things different,' he said a couple of times, 'then maybe my daddy would have stayed home … maybe Caroline would be alive.'"

Looking at Beaumont, Joey continued with, "It's almost as if Levon Lundy doesn't exist, just all these other people are encased in there and if they were freed, those jeans would shrivel and collapse. I don't think Lundy knows who he is - who he really is and he's scared shitless to find out."

No one spoke in Beaumont's office for several minutes. Then Carol offered, "Maybe it would be good for Levon to wear a suit for a week. Maybe it would bring him out of this funk he's been in for so long … make him realize just who he is."

"What are the odds up to?"" Joanne asked looking directly at LaFiamma.

"Odds?" Joe asked thoroughly confused with the question.

"Haven't you talked to anyone since Saturday night?"

"I…"

"Joe's been at my place all weekend. I've been trying to convince him to move in with me. So much time has been wasted … lost …."

"Officers are taking bets on how long Levon will last before he blows. Don't know who is in charge of the pool, but someone in Reisner," Joanne answered hoping one of these detectives might know who.

"Murphy probably." Joey answered disgustedly. "He's always behind the dirty trick trade that pass through here. Speaking of which, I'd better check on Heather's announcement and see what I can do to put up another one."

"Announcement?" Beaumont quizzed as LaFiamma reached for the door.

"Carol will explain it Lieutenant," Joey said with a fleeting glance to his boss, his eyes rested on Carol. "You gonna be all right for awhile. Don't want to leave you alone with Levon too long with the shape he's in."

"Joey - go! I'm a big girl remember."

"You're right, babe! Maybe we should have eloped." Joey choked back the grin crawling up his throat as his remark drew stark surprise from Beaumont. Then he opened the door and was gone.

"E - eloped?"

"It's what I wanted to do, Joanne.. I spent half of Sunday trying to convince him since we'd both been in love with each other for three years and just found out that the other felt the same -- that well to save time we should just elope."

"I'm glad Joe had the sense to say no."

"Well … he didn't exactly say no … what he said was it would be a short marriage because his Aunt Teresa would kill him if he didn't have a real wedding…. And so would some Marine buddies of his.. So I guess our wedding is going to be big mafia-Marine-cop free-for-all!" Legs said with a smile.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"You doin' okay partner?" Joey asked leaning over Levon's shoulder. When no response came, Joe said, "Have to go downstairs and check on something that came up at roll call, be back in a bit. Then you and me are going to have a talk … and I've drivin."

Joey strolled into the hall and walked to the stairway, pulling open the door he jogged down the steps two at a time to the first floor. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the door and pulled it open, walking directly to the large bulletin board next to the Day Sergeant's Desk.

"Hey, Murphy -- where's that announcement about Heather McComb?" Joey called leafing through several papers tacked to the board.

"That thing! I tore it down and tossed it right after she put it up. Her getting married - that's got to be the biggest joke around." The overweight Irishman laughed.

LaFiamma did a slow turn and looked daggers at the man behind the desk. "You gonna explain that to her Navy man who left on six-month submarine duty this morning?"

"N--navy man? Sh -- she married a submariner?" Came the startled stutter.

"You gonna tell her why no one showed up for her wedding?" Joey pressed, moving toward the man.

"N-not me! A submariner? God I hope he doesn't find out I threw that away."

"Guess you'd better make up a new one, huh? Sort of a little thing announcing her marriage to a Navy man … he's name's Dennis Timmer, Murphy. Got that? Seaman Dennis Timmer."

"Yeah, yeah, thanks, LaFiamma. Damn, a submariner! Yeah, I'll make up a little flyer and send it all around. Damn, I thought for sure she was a …." The nod of Joe's head and the look in the Italian's eyes cut Murphy's words short. 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Back at his desk, Joey stared at his partner who still hadn't taken off his sunglasses. "You want to talk about it Levon?" Joey asked quietly, hoping to get some rise out of his partner. 

"Talkin' ain't gonna help, LaFiamma," came the mumbled answered.

"Depends on who does the talkin'. You seen Carol?"

"Said she was going to see Annie," Levon replied, barely raising his head to look at the man across the desk.

"Thanks," Joe answered turning in his chair, but before he could get up, Levon said, "hear you two came in together this morning."

Joey swallowed, well here it comes he thought, day's not even half over and the man is going to blow. "Yeah, I did," Joey replied, adding, "Cooked her breakfast too."

Levon's chin jerked up, a motion he soon regretted as he gripped the side of his desk to steady himself.

Barely under his breathe, LaFiamma whispered, "whatever you do Levon -- don't barf on the desk okay?"

"Don't go getting any ideas about her LaFiamma," the Texan growled slowly taking off his dark glasses. "You ain't good enough for her and you never will be."

"Hey, LaFiamma! Annie wants to see you. Said it was important!" Joe-Bill McCandless called from across the room.

Joe nodded to Joe-Bill. Rising from his chair, LaFiamma leaned over his desk and said in a low voice, "It's her opinion that matters, cowboy. Not yours."

-=-=-=-=-=-=

Walking into Sergeant Annie Hartung's office Joey saw Annie and Carol huddled together. "Everything all right in here?"

"Oh, Joey," Annie cooed, "I'm just so excited for the both of you. To think you've paying on this beautiful ring for a whole year just hoping … or I just knew you two would find each other."

"Annie you are the second person who has said that this morning." Joey remarked walking up to Legs, and slipping an arm around her waist. "It's Levon that concerns me. He heard that Carol and I came in together. And he … just told me I wasn't good enough for her and never would be. And I'd better not get any ideas about her."

"What is Levon's problem?" Annie questioned concerned about her friend, "that Texan has been so angry and irritable the last month … and he won't talk to anyone."

"I think it's me, Annie. He's been a grouch every since Aunt Teresa and two of her sisters were here last month," Joey replied sadly. "It doesn't matter that my dad was a cop -- that one of my brothers and several cousins are Marines -- or that an uncle is a Fed. The only thing that Levon sees is Uncle Mikey. Uncle Mikey raised me after Dad was murdered and my mother died.. He brought my six brothers and I into his household of twelve kids. Mikey only knows the mob. It's what his father and his father before him knew. The reason I went into the Marines was to get away from that pressure and find out what I really wanted to do. Every time I try to explain that to Lundy he blows me off and walks away."

"Well you send Levon down to me, " Annie said with a smile, "I'll break it to him as gentle as I can."

"Thanks, Annie," Carol replied, giving her friend a hug before taking Joey's hand.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Everyone on the second floor heard Annie scream, "LEVON LUNDY YOU COME BACK HERE!"

Like a smoking locomotive, the Texan roared into the squad room, shoving Estaban hard against the wall as he made a beeline for his partner. Carol and Joe-Bill were already on their feet, but before they could do anything Lundy grabbed his partner by the back of the neck, lifted him out of the swivel chair and threw him into the hall. 

'YOU AIN'T EVER GONNA MARRY HER!" Levon screeched at the top of his lungs. "NOT IF I HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT. SHE AIN'T BECOMING NO MAFIA WIFE LIKE THOSE AUNTS YOU HAD HERE LAST MONTH!! 

Joey felt the pinch on the back of his neck and his first thought was, oh boy, Marines, kill the frog game. His body went limp, his feet pushed against the desk and he lifted himself up into the air, somersaulting into the hall. To the Major Crimes squad it looked like Lundy tossed Joe like a piece of garbage into the hall. Joe just hoped whoever he slid into was all right. 

"LEE-VON!" Carol and Joanne yelled almost simultaneously.

In a second, Lundy answered in a normal voice, "What? What's the matter?"

"What's the matter?" Carol growled into her friend's face. "Do you know what you just did? Do you?" Legs said her voice rattled with concern for her lover and her friend.

Tom Brandon, the police shrink, one of the people Joey bowled over called, "Better call the paramedics. LaFiamma's not getting up."

Joey lay on the floor in a crumpled heap of clothes. He didn't really want to get up, didn't figure he needed to. Damn, I'm out'a shape for that game, he thought. I should have ended up on my feet, not in a heap.

No one including the shrink came close to Lundy. Joanne motioned all out of the room. Joe-Bill and Estaban opted to stay, hoping they could talk some sense into the Texan.

As the paramedics arrived, Legs started to leave the Squad Room and go to Joe's side. Levon grabbed her arm. "No Carol. He ain't good enough for you. He's …."

"You're too late, Levon. I talked Joey into eloping with me. We're already married." Carol lied, watching her friend sag against the door. "We LOVE each other, Levon. Can't you understand that? We've been in love the whole time Joey's been down here. But every time he's tried to even talk to me in this room -- you've stepped between us. He told me you threatened him with death if he so much as touched me. I hope that isn't true, Levon, I sincerely hope that isn't true. If Joe's hurt, I'll never forgive you."

"Carol!" Joey rasped from the hall, reluctantly allowing him to be checked out by the medics.

She was at his side immediately, questioning the medics, and finding out that other than possible bruised ribs he seemed to be fine. They suggested that he get his ribs x-rayed and Carol said she'd see to it. 

"I'm okay, honey. Really." Joey mumbled knowing from the look on her face that he wasn't going to be able to talk his way out of not having them x-rayed. 

"We're married, huh?" he whispered in her ear. "You think that will really help?"

"It's Joanne I feel sorry for," Legs replied quietly assisting Joe to his feet. "She has to decide whether to arrest him or suspend him."

Together the couple walked back into the Major Crimes Squad Unit. With his arm tight around Carol Joey paused opposite his partner. "Feel better now you got that off your chest. It's been boiling for a month now, hasn't it? For your information, my other two Aunts that came with Aunt Teresa are not mafia wives. Lucille is a retired librarian and a widow of an Air Force Colonel. Rita is married to an Ohio State Senator, and works for the state's Department on Aging. Just because one is - doesn't mean they all are. You asked me once how I liked following in my dad's footsteps, but you walked away before I could tell you what my dad did. You just assumed he was in the mob. Well, he wasn't! He was a cop - and an honest one in the days when most weren't. I went into the Marine Corps, cowboy, because I was being pressured to finish law school and become a 'family' lawyer. If I'd been interested in the mob, Lundy, I would have joined it in high school."

Allowing Carol to pull him away from his partner, Joey looked up into the angry face of Lieutenant Joanne Beaumont. "Medics said I'd better get these ribs x-rayed," Joe said breathlessly, feeling a little play acting in front of his partner might bring his senses back.

The man no one had noticed. The man, who had been walking with Tom and had fallen to the floor when Joey crashed into them, suddenly became verbal.

"WELL, AREN'T YOU GOING TO ARREST HIM? HE TRIED TO KILL HIS PARTNER! HIS OWN PARTNER!" yelled Nickolas Grayfite, a new young, assistant district attorney. "It's obvious this man is unfit for duty!"

"Tom," Joanne asked wearily, "would you take Levon to your office while I write up his suspension papers."

"SUSPENSION! NO WAY! I WANT THIS MAN ARRESTED!"

"What for?" LaFiamma asked releasing Carol to come to the defense of his partner.

"WHAT FOR? WHAT FOR?" Grayfite screamed his throat going hoarse.

"He got angry and raised his voice. He lost a bet and gets to wear a suit for a week." Joey replied quietly but firmly.

"He picked you up off your chair and threw you into the hall?" Groused Grayfite.

Always the attorney, Joey quizzed, "Did you see him pick me up? Or did you assume he picked me up?"

"Estaban what did you see? Joe-Bill? Carol?" Joey questioned them all. All gave totally different accounts of what they saw happen. "So for all you know -- I might have just done a somersault out of my chair, misjudged my landing and hit the people in the hall by mistake?"

"You don't got to defend me LaFiamma?" Levon said sheepishly, glad he hadn't killed his partner.

"Well, you're not going to -- and no one else is going to -- so that leaves me. And that IS what partner's are for Lundy? Or have I been hearing the wrong dribble come out of that mouth all this time?"

Looking at the smart-mouthed rookie district attorney, LaFiamma said, "Want me to show you how I did that?"

"Joseph! You aren't doing anything until those ribs get x-rayed!" Carol barked sharply.

"Yes, ma'am," Joe answered with a smile, and a light salute. Touching his partner on the shoulder, Joey said, "Get yourself better, huh partner. Don't like being on the street without my backup."

Tuesday

"I called my brother in the Corps while you were in the shower," Joey said handing his blond a towel. "Told him about us."

"What did he say?" Legs quizzed curious to find out why he called a brother first instead of his Aunt Teresa..

"Told me I’d better dust off my uniform, 'cause he plans on having an all out military wedding - swords and all."

"Where we walk under swords? Oh Joey I can hardly wait!" The lithe blonde yelped practically jumping into Joe's arms.

"You don't mind? I mean it will really be just you and me planning the wedding. You said your mom…" The sentence was left hanging. Joey recalled Carol telling someone that her mother hadn't been much interested in her since she became a cop.

"It will be just you and me. And Aunt Teresa … I like her even if Levon doesn't … and those look-alike brothers of yours. This is my one and only wedding Joey - I want it all!"

"This thing with Levon. Do you think part of it has to do with Jamie? She told him she didn't want Eric to have another cop for a dad. Maybe he's mad at us because he can't find happiness himself." Joey replied kissing her lightly on the nape of the neck then telling her that breakfast was ready.

"Joey, Levon has always been so in love with Caroline -- no one will ever take her place - ever! He told me that when he's slept with Jamie he wakes up and thinks he's back with Caroline. He's sure he's called Jamie Caroline too. Which is probably why Jamie backed away. She couldn't fight a ghost."

"Good thing Joanne gave us the rest of the day off yesterday," Joe answered with a smile, "We got to pick up the suit and talk to my landlord about breaking the lease. If he hadn't had a waiting list, it wouldn't have been that easy. You sure you don't mind my weights being in the dining room?"

"Long as you don't mind what happens when I start to see that sweat roll off your chest." Legs replied with a devilish grin. Remembering how she'd pulled him to the floor last night then used her tongue to drive him wild as she lapped sweat droplets off his chest..

 Joey swallowed, "I'll call in and check on Levon while you get dressed," knowing if he followed his urge they wouldn't get to work till noon.

"Party pooper," Legs pouted taking the towel from his hand she began to dry her hair.

-=-=-=-=-=-=

"What's the latest on Levon?" Carol asked grabbing the breakfast burrito Joe had made. "Mmmmm, this is good!"

"Lundy's been in the holding cell all night. That Nickolas Grayfite wants me to prove I can actually do a somersault before he'll back down from having Levon arrested."

Carol O'Brien stared wide-eyed as they walked to the Cobra. "Can you actually do something like that?"

"Babe," Joey answered, pulling her in for a kiss, "I got springs on my feet -- if I ever want to use them."

"I'm serious Joey. Levon could end up going to jail -- the same jail you and he have put a lot of criminals into. He wouldn't last a week."

"Honey. Trust me. Okay,"

The two walked in late to Roll Call and stood along the back wall. As soon as it was over they were the first ones out and in the elevator to go up to Major Crimes. Nickolas the screamer was already there. No one seemed to notice the suit bag that Carol had slung over her shoulder.

Before Joanne, Estaban or anyone even got to say good morning to the newly engaged couple, Grayfite was in Joe's face making demands. When the irate man grasped LaFiamma's arm, Joe's eyes turned cold. LaFiamma's head moved ever so slowly to the hand touching him, then his eyes traveled up the arm to the man it was connected to. Whatever Nickolas thought he was going to gain was lost when his arm dropped to his side like a lead weight.

"I will do what needs to be done when I am ready. But first I am going to check on my partner who you have had incarcerated all night," Joey said icily. "What was the purpose of keeping him here? He's a Texan, for god's sake, where did you expect him to go? What are you from Mars?"

Spinning on his heel, LaFiamma turned his back on the man, walked to the door next to the file cabinet, opened it and disappeared through it.

"Who the hell does that man think he is?" Grayfite growled angrily turning to vent his anger on someone else..

"A decorated Marine - that's who!" Legs lambasted, glad Joey had stood up to the man.

Estaban and Joe-Bill exchanged quick glances. "Carol, I do believe you made him blink."

-=-=--==-=-=-=-=-

Joey stood at parade rest in front of the cell that held his partner.

"I guess I went too far this time," Lundy said lamely not getting up from the bench.

"Guess you did."

"Don't know what came over me. Never done anything like that before in my life." The Texan answered meekly. "Reckon you'll want a new partner for sure now."

"I haven't figured this partner out yet. What makes you think I want another one?" Joey asked.

"Ain't no way you're going to get me out of this Joe. Just back off and let 'em take me."

LaFiamma broke his stance and approached the bars. "Am I hearing you right? You want your partner to drop you? Not to defend you? To walk away?"

"Yeah."

"And if I was in that cell and you were here, would you walk away?" LaFiamma questioned his jaw tight.

The blond's head shot up. Of course the answer was no. He'd do everything he could to free his partner no matter what it took.

Joe grinned. "Good. I am glad we understand each other. Now I'm going to save your butt cowboy - but in return you are going to apologize to Carol and tell her you're glad she found someone she truly cares about … someone who understands and isn't jealous of her job. Can you do that? Good."

Stepping away from the cell LaFiamma moved to the door. "Now strip down. You're going out of here in a suit! We're going to show this smart-ass young D.A. that you're more than just a redneck."

Without saying another word, Joey opened the door a crack, looked at Carol who turned around almost instantly. LaFiamma mouthed the word 'suit' and Carol brought it to him. "Love you babe, thanks."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Joe watched his partner strip to his shorts. "Boy I can see Carol and I need to have you over and get some fat on those bones. Damn you're skinny Levon."

"Got no reason to eat. Got no one at home to share it with." Lundy replied as he began to dress in the suit that Joe had purchased.

"You're a damn smart good lookin' guy when you dress up, Levon. You should do it more often. Besides can't have a jailbird for a best man, now can I?"

"Best m…? Carol said…"

"Carol lied. Actually I refused to elope. Told her we had too many friends and family that would feel slighted if we did that. Two of my brothers - though - are planning a military wedding. So you better save this suit. Got it at your favorite place too."

"Do I gotta wear the watch?" Levon asked realizing as he fingered it, that it was the watch Caroline gave him on their fifth anniversary.

"Especially the watch," Joey answered with a smile, "I want Caroline in on this save."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Nickolas was pacing, fidgeting and about ready to burst when the holding cell door opened and a smartly dressed Texan walked out. Hoots and hollers, claps and cheers, brought the flush of red to the blond cowboy's face. Joey walked behind him grinning from ear to ear. Just as they reached Joe's desk, the Italian leaned forward and whispered, "Don’t pinch as you did before. Touch my neck, throw your arm out and step back. Don't want you hurt in this little play."

Everyone took the places they'd had yesterday when the event happened. Levon did not shout this time but was very subdued. His eyes were more on Carol than on anyone else. The cowboy did as LaFiamma had told him … he touched the back of Joe's neck, flung his arm out and stepped back. 

In that instant, Joey pushed off the balls of his feet, tucked his body, twisted himself and landed on his feet in the middle of the hall directly in front of Tom and Nickolas. Tom smiled. Nickolas screamed in fright.

"Hmmm…" Joey muttered, "must have done something wrong the first time. This is how it is suppose to work. Suppose to end up on your feet. Better try it again."

"Not necessary, Joe." The police shrink said. "I think you've proved to everyone your reflexes are pretty fast. Joanne and I have already been in discussions with the Chief. Levon will be suspended for two months with weekly counseling session."

"Not acceptable. Two months on the street without him is too long. One month!" Joey replied seriously.

"Come on LaFiamma you just got engaged, don't blow…." Levon said from behind him.

"Lundy - two months on the streets here without you -- I might as well go back to Chicago. This is your town your state. I'm a cop here but you know every nook and cranny. I don't. If I have to turn in my badge for two months, that's what I'll do … I need some time off anyway."

Everyone except Carol gasped in shock at Joey's statement. His white knight attitude was one of the things she loved about him.

"Oh god! Carol?" Beaumont gulped, looking to Legs to help Joe change his mind.

"Don't look at me, Jo. You know Levon would do the same thing if the situation was reversed."

"Why - why does my best detective team have to be so disagreeable? Joe, the Chief has made his decision. The suspension is two months."

"Well, you lucked out Levon you only got to wear the suit one day. And since we're both going to be off, you can help me move my stuff to Carol's and then clean my apartment. Got to be out of that place by the end of next week."

"LaFiamma, I will not allow…" Beaumont began.

"Lieutenant! I'm not going to let some smart-assed kid fresh out of law school who doesn't know a thing about the law or cops take this man down." LaFiamma barked pointing to Grayfite and Lundy.

Tom watched Nickolas Grayfite's anger grow, which he stilled when he quietly told the man that Joe had also been to law school.

LaFiamma reached into his jacket pocket for his badge and as he did so his eyes fell on Carol's grinning face. "Sorry, babe, I gotta do this."

"It's why I love you Joey," Legs answered quietly, "You're my White Knight, and everyone else's too."

A lopsided grin spread across LaFiamma's face as he handed his badge to his stunned Lieutenant. "In case everyone missed it yesterday," the Italian said, "Carol and I got engaged over the weekend, and you're all invited to the wedding … when we get it together."

Lundy watched from a distance as everyone congratulated the two. Then Tom, the police shrink who had stepped into the room to talk to Joanne said, "Legs … is Joe the one you've been pining for all this time."

When Carol said, "YES! Isn't it wonderful!" Levon was shocked. It had never occurred to him that Carol might actually LOVE the Italian. All these years when Carol was talking to him about unrequited love, she'd been talking about his partner. And Joe, who said he was in love with an untouchable girl - she was untouchable because of his threats to Joe not to touch her.

[Why we stopping here LaFiamma? Paying on a ring? Who's it for? They've been smiling at each other ever since I let him go out with her … oh my god … how many times did I tell him she wasn't for him. And look at her, I can't remember when I've seen her so happy].

Now Levon watched his usual animated partner stand silently next to his betrothed allowing her to show off a ring and bubble at the excitement of the union. 

Suddenly the Chief of Police's voice was heard. "What's going on here? Where you going all dressed up Lundy?"

"LaFiamma and Carol got engaged!" Joe-Bill blurt out from the middle of the mass of people around Carol and Joe.

Who called him to tell him to come to Major Crimes no one knew, nor did he say. He asked, or rather demanded, that LaFiamma perform this so-called trick of a jump. And of course Joe obliged, landing in yet another spot in the hall.

"Where'd you learn to do that?"" The elder man questioned.

"Marine Corps, sir. Special Ops. Had to be on your toes for any given moment."

"I see. And you think my judgment against Lundy is too much."

"Yes sir, I do."

"Why?"

"Lundy's been under a personal strain lately. A lady he likes told him to get lost. And a lady he's always protected fell in love with someone he doesn't approve of."

"LaFiamma, it ain't that I don't approve of you. I mean you're a good cop and all … but…."

"But I'm a Yankee … date my girls but don't marry them, is that it?" Joey barked into his partner's face. Looking into the still stunned face of his Lieutenant, Joe reached out, took his badge back and slipped it back into his inside jacket pocket. 

Whispering something into Carol's ear that made her giggle, Joey moved back to his partner grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him into the hall. "Move it Lundy, before the Chief decides to make your suspension permanent!"

And then they were gone. Everyone in the room just stood and stared at each other. No one said a word. Finally Legs offered, "I think Joey agrees with your decision, Chief, but he'd like a few days off to see if he can find out what is really bothering his partner. They're both good cops, sir. This squad can't get along without them."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Joe propelled the blond down the hall and into the stairwell. At the landing between the first and second floor, LaFiamma shoved his partner up against the wall and held him there. "I saved your butt big time, cowboy! No way I am going to let you out of wearing this suit for just one day. If I'd lost you'd have jeans shoved up my nose faster than I could blink. No, sir … you're wearing this suit to every counseling session you have with Tom. You're wearin' this suit when you appear in front of Internal Affairs … you're wearin' when you come to our house for dinner … you're wearin' …"

"I get the picture LaFiamma! You really learn that jump in the Marine Corps?" Levon asked as the two began to walk down to the first floor.

"Yeah. It's called Kill The Frog. Though usually you're in a crouched position, not sitting. You somersault front wards, backwards or up into a tree. Hadn't done it in a while, which is probably why I ended up on the floor … course they don't have doorways in the jungle either."

THE END

Boots n' Suits Challenge Page

Back to The Houston Knights Fanfiction Page