*
"Detective Briscoe. Detective Green." Jack looked more flustered than Ed remembered ever seeing him. "Thank you for--"
"Jack!" Serena's voice carried down the hallway.
"Would you--" He held up a finger. "I'm so sorry to keep you waiting. We're just, ah."
Ed half rose from his chair. "Is everything okay?"
"It's fine. Except."
"Jack, would you get back here?" That sounded like Nora Lewin.
Jack shoved his hand through his hair. "Our break room toaster is on fire. Excuse me."
He raced up the hall. Ed and Lennie exchanged a bemused glance. "The toaster's on fire?" Ed asked.
"I didn't think things like that happened within these hallowed halls."
"Think we should help 'em?"
Lennie shook his head. "Nah. I'm sure they're fine."
A few minutes later, a bit sooty but looking none the worse for wear, Jack and Serena returned to the conference room and slid into chairs across from the detectives. Jack smiled as though he hadn't five minutes ago been running around in utter panic. "Let's discuss Margot Ellerbie." He pulled a shining, expensive-looking pen from his pocket, opened his leather-covered legal pad, and started to write.
Except.
"Damn it!" He slammed the pen onto the tabletop. "I'm out of ink. Could today get any worse?" he demanded of the Universe at large.
Unthinkingly, Ed slid his pen across the table. "Here, use mine."
Jack stared at him. Ed felt his cheeks heat. Jack blinked once, slowly, and Ed felt some other things start to heat, as well. Jack reached out and took the pen. "Thank you, Detective."
He nodded, searching his pockets for his spare and getting out of range of that gaze. "Bad morning?"
Jack snorted, already scribbling notes on the legal pad. "Bike troubles. Angry defense attorneys. Flaming toasters." He grinned self-deprecatingly. "The story of my life."
For the rest of the meeting, Ed watched Jack more closely than he'd ever done before. Sure, he'd noticed the man - would've been blind not to - but now, for the first time, he really noticed him. Noticed the way his eyes sparkled when his brain had obviously jumped three steps ahead of the rest of them. Noticed the way his silver hair fell forward, throwing intriguing shadows across those sparkling brown eyes. Noticed the almost fluid grace of his hands as his pen - Ed's pen - moved across the page.
Ed grinned to himself as the meeting broke up and Jack rose from the table. "If I could get a minute, Counselor?" he asked, his smile widening as Jack looked over with a mix of confusion and anticipation.
Maybe Ed could make Jack's day end a little better than it began.
END