Extreme Sensitivity… as an obstacle to a decent working relationship. – A Women’s Murder Club Series, part 35

TITLE: Extreme Sensitivity… as an obstacle to a decent working relationship. (35/?)
PAIRING: Lindsay/Cindy
DISCLAIMER: Not mine. Never were. Never will be. No profit. Just love.

(Lindsay’s POV)

When Cindy said their spur-of-the-moment meeting could be at a crime scene, Lindsay was actually rooting against it. Of course, considering their lives, and the fact that luck really wasn’t on their side of late, she probably should have been expecting it.

Despite the fact that she had scooted as low in her chair as she could and tried her best to blend in with the office furniture when Tom started down the stairs toward her desk, she was just too damn lanky not to be spotted. And as soon as she was captured in his boss beam, she knew very well that she wasn’t going to be spending her night making happy with Cindy. Even if she had really wanted to believe that the not making plans thing might work, since the making plans thing was so clearly a fail.

Apparently it didn’t matter. Making plans. Not making plans. It all ended the same way. Sex-free and cranky.

Sighing for the hundredth time since she’d arrived in the veritable bloodbath of the alleyway, Lindsay succeeded only in drawing the unwanted attention of her partner.

“What?” she asked, refusing to make eye contact for fear that it would encourage him to turn the investigation on her. Though it would have been appropriate. The fact that she wasn’t already lying warm and satisfied in Cindy’s bed was the real crime.

Jacobi shook his head at her, smirking so hard that Lindsay couldn’t even ignore it peripherally. “Poor baby,” he uttered.

“Why do you say that?” Lindsay returned.

“You need some TLC,” Jacobi replied.

Of course he’d noticed. He was a good cop and it wasn’t like Lindsay hadn’t been a bundle of sexual energy pinging all over the place the past few days.

“You have no idea,” she groaned.

Jacobi’s laugh turned sympathetic, and Lindsay managed a small smile for his sake. She had been nothing but an amazing pain in the ass ever since she found out she was going to be spending her night working. Which she would be done with much more quickly if she could focus, instead of stopping every two minutes to feel sorry for herself.

With that in mind, Lindsay turned her attention back to the five sheet-covered bodies scattered across the alley. Five bodies that, not long ago at all, belonged to five living human beings. Five living human beings who felt pain and happiness and a host of other emotions.

Did any of them have anyone in their lives who cared about them? Did any of them ever hear “I love you”? If they each had just one, single person who cared, would any of them have ended up here, dead on the ground, victim of a gang war?

As the unfiltered thoughts completed a lap through her brain, Lindsay raised her head sharply, looking around as if the other officers could hear her corny inner monologue.

Curse Cindy for making her think things like that in the middle of a crime scene.

When Jacobi let out a long, low whistle, Lindsay was grateful for the distraction. At least until she looked to where he was looking, the western perimeter of the crime scene, separated from the city by yellow police tape, and Cindy inching toward it, dressed… not exactly for a crime scene. With the skirt up to there, shirt down to there, knee-high boot combo she was working, Lindsay couldn’t say what exactly Cindy’s uniform was for, but when she felt her mouth hanging agape, it took maximum effort to return it to a less dumbstruck position.

Glancing toward Jacobi, she noticed he hadn’t even bothered to try.

“Hey,” she hissed at him.

“What?” Jacobi asked innocently, eyes cutting in her direction.

“What are you looking at?”

“Your girlfriend,” Jacobi responded far too calmly, eyes floating right back to Cindy.

“Well, stop it!” Lindsay commanded.

“Hey, I didn’t dress her,” Jacobi reasoned. “She’s clearly looking for attention. And she’s got it.”

When he glanced around at their fellow officers, Lindsay was forced to note that her partner wasn’t the only one who’d noticed the redheaded eye candy on display.

“Oh, that’s just fantastic,” Lindsay managed not to growl, but her teeth were clenched so tightly she felt an instant jaw ache.

“She’s your girl,” Jacobi responded with a grin. “It’s your problem now.”

Trying to determine the most humane way to blind everyone in the vicinity at once, Lindsay heard Cindy drop her name and risked glancing her way again. The officer watching the tape seemed less than inclined to peel his eyes off of Cindy, but finally looked back and found Lindsay amidst the bevy of officers.

Cindy spotted her too. Their eyes met, Cindy’s lips arched in a soft, crooked smile, and Lindsay couldn’t formulate a single thought for a good five seconds. Considering the best course of action, given all of the circumstances, and fighting the desperate urge to take off every piece of clothing she was wearing and go put them on Cindy, Lindsay shook her head at the officer, catching a glimpse of Cindy’s miffed expression as she turned her back to her.

Which was fine. Cindy didn’t need to understand. She just needed to stay on the other side of the tape.

Lindsay trudged to the nearest body, looking for something… anything… of even slight interest to keep her occupied.

“Oooh,” Jacobi started, trailing after Lindsay. “You are lookin’ for a fight.”

“Well, like you said, it’s my problem,” Lindsay retorted, squatting down and pulling out her flashlight.

And it was going to be. A big problem. She had known that in advance. She knew that letting Cindy cross the tape and join in the investigation was her safest course of action as far as fight-prevention. But it wasn’t so much about preventing what Cindy might do at this point. Her own potential actions were a greater cause for concern.

Switching the light on, Lindsay aimed it into the shadows around the body. The ray of light wavered on the ground in front of her, proof that she was shaking like a horny teenager.

“You really think she’s going to be any less distracting over there?” Jacobi asked.

“Probably not,” Lindsay admitted in frustration. “So, why don’t you do your partner a favor and go make her leave?”

“You must think I’m crazy,” Jacobi  responded. “I have seen you remove her from a crime scene. That temper is definitely your problem.”

Lindsay sighed and turned off the flashlight. No use wasting battery on staring into space. Especially since further evidence wasn’t going to change the fact that the department wasn’t going to waste resources investigating gang violence.

“Who’s that?” Jacobi asked.

When Lindsay glanced up, he was looking at the tape again. Or, rather, looking at Cindy at the tape again. Though it was more likely he hadn’t really made an attempt to look away yet.

Against her better judgment, Lindsay glanced that way… and found Ryan… standing right next to Cindy… engaged in a conversation that was clearly an argument, but still had far too much passion for Lindsay’s liking. A flash of jealousy roared through her, so intense Lindsay was surprised not to find herself engulfed in a ring of fire. “Intern,” she snarled.

“Cindy’s intern?”

“She’d like to be,” Lindsay responded.

There was more venom waiting at the back of her throat, but, thankfully, Claire walked up and stopped her mouth. “Are we good?” Claire asked. “Can I take the bodies back to the morgue?”

“Yeah, we’re good,” Lindsay answered, standing up.

Which meant the crime scene was processed and the jig was up. It was time to face the fiddler.

“You know, you’re going to have walk over there now, right?” Jacobi smirked.

“Yes, I know,” Lindsay answered, muttering beneath her breath as she squared her shoulders and mentally prepared for the earful she was about to receive. She refused to let Jacobi see her squirm when she was heading off to a showdown with someone so ridiculously tiny.

At first, Cindy didn’t see her approach, and Lindsay held out hope that Cindy wouldn’t have the opportunity to ready her game face. But, then, Cindy noticed her coming, turned away from Ryan, and waited with her arms crossed over her chest and an undeniably pissed off expression on her face.

As soon as Lindsay ducked under the tape, Cindy was practically on top of her. “Is this going to be a new thing?”

Lindsay turned around to face the wrath, and possibly diffuse the situation before it turned ugly, but, despite all efforts to focus, when she turned she could see nothing but cleavage and thighs.

“We’re together, so you’re going to leave me on the other side of the tape?”

“Only when you’re dressed like that,” Lindsay returned without thought. “What were you thinking? I don’t want every guy in my precinct to see everything you’ve got.”

Which was undeniably worth having. And if Lindsay could look away from it for a single moment, she might be able to come up with a more rational, less jealousy-laden argument for why Cindy shouldn’t be standing half-dressed at her crime scene.

“When I got dressed, I wasn’t planning on being here,” Cindy shot back. “I was actually planning to surprise you.”

Eyes taking in Cindy’s outfit, and everything barely concealed beneath it, Lindsay softened a little and revved up more at the knowledge that it was selected with her in mind. “You did,” she admitted.

Cindy smiled and took a breath. “Good,” she whispered, and Lindsay knew that the fight was on hold and Cindy’s mind had temporarily went off to better places along with her own.

Not really caring who was around, or how much attention they were paying, Lindsay stepped closer to Cindy, hovering over her in a way that left little room for misinterpretation.

“So, what’s the story?”

Glancing up from Cindy’s eyes, which were begging Lindsay to have her way with her, Lindsay’s gaze alighted on Ryan. Going hot again, and not in a good way, Lindsay backed off a step and pointed over Cindy’s shoulder. “And you brought her to a crime scene?”

“I didn’t bring her!” Cindy returned quickly and with just as much heat. “I think she’s stalking me.”

“I’m not stalking you,” Ryan cut in. “I bought a scanner. I know that’s how you find out about all of this stuff. I have a right to be here too.”

Debatable. But it wasn’t a discussion Lindsay was going to have now.

Cindy looked annoyed.

Ryan looked annoyed.

Looking back and forth between them, Lindsay couldn’t help the slight grin that cracked her irritated expression. While they were nothing alike in all the ways that mattered, in this one very small way, Cindy and Ryan were really, very –

“Don’t even think it,” Cindy warned her.

“I wasn’t thinking anything,” Lindsay lied, reaching out for Cindy’s hand and letting the heat lull her back into a state of Zen. Just three minutes. One three-minute lip-lock would absolutely power her through the rest of the night.

“Lindsay,” Jacobi called her back to duty.

Grateful for the reminder of where she was, Lindsay took another step back. “I’ve gotta go,” she announced, turning away from temptation.

But Cindy used the hand she still held to pull Lindsay right back in. “We are not finished,” Cindy continued as if there had been no break in the squabble. “You kept me on the other side of the tape!”

“It’s a crime scene,” Lindsay reminded her.

“Oh my God,” Cindy bit out. “Don’t I get any perks with this relationship? No sex! No access to murders! We should have joined a convent together!”

That wouldn’t have worked at all. Lindsay would have spent the rest of her life praying away her dirty thoughts. Like the ones she was having now about how ridiculously hot Cindy was when she was righteous and frustrated, and how, if she got any more animated, she was going to bounce herself right out of that shirt.

Ignoring the last few, lingering officers, Lindsay grabbed Cindy’s head and swallowed all remaining bits of her tirade in a deep, lengthy kiss. Pulling back, she waited the seconds it took for Cindy to open her eyes. “I will tell you everything you need to know. I promise.”

Cindy was either appeased by her promise or left speechless by her kiss, because she just nodded slowly in response. Either way, Lindsay was pleased with her work. Reluctantly releasing Cindy, she glanced proudly in Ryan’s direction.

“Ryan,” she nodded.

Then, Lindsay swiveled on her feet as if it was a choreographed departure, and strutted all the way back to Jacobi.