Title:  One Fine Day

Series: Wind & Rain  - Part XV

Author: Barb Marx

Pairing:  Ezra/ofc 

Universe:  ATF

Archive:  http://het_oasis.tripod.com/hot4het.html (adult pages)  

(Authors note: OFCs' first names changed in Web version)

Summary: Adrian discovers that just like you can’t stop the tides, emotions can’t be held back forever.

Open fandom: Yes.  And, if you wish to discover another side of the story, read TJ's 'Aftermath…' 

  'First, you stumble…' and 'Then you fall…'

Open fandom: Yes, and if you wish to discover another side to some of these, read TJ's Aftermath, First, you stumble, and Then you fall

Rating: PG 

Disclaimer: The M7 characters are owned by Trilogy, MGM and Mirisch, No copyright infringement was intended. For sheer entertainment.

Acknowledgement & Dedication: Thanks, Sis, for everything!

*************************************************************

One Day Day 

Sitting upright, gasping for breath, Adrian glared balefully at the alarm clock. The nightmare that had gripped her was still thrumming across her senses… the images of them, together, searing Delaney once more. This time though, the mocking face of Larabee, superimposed with that of Luke, accompanied the dream and brought about the return of her headache. 'Lovely' the brunette thought, running a hand through her hair, 'now I have the four of them haunting me'.

She shuddered realizing that Chris looked and behaved much like her ex did. That certainly explained her flight response from yesterday. "How do I get myself into situations like this?" she asked as she swung her legs to the floor.

Walking to the bathroom, she sent up a prayer that today would go smoothly. Half an hour later found the hazel-eyed woman dressed and consuming a cup of tea and toast in an attempt to settle her stomach and ease the throb that had settled above her right eye.

Finishing up, Adrian tidied her kitchen and went upstairs to join Josiah. She waited patiently for the big man to ready himself and the two were soon on their way.

Sanchez watched Delaney from the corner of his eye and kept the chatter to a minimum. He recognized the signs of a headache and didn't want to aggravate the malady any more than was strictly necessary.

The brunette was grateful for the profiler's silence. She wished she could call in sick, but, considering she was new to the job, she couldn't justify it for something that trivial.

Once at work, Adrian sought the relative safety of her desk. Going through her morning routine, Delaney frowned. There, on her voice mail, was a message from Larabee, requesting the Prichard report. Then, as she went through her email, the brunette wasn't at all surprised to find one from the annoying agent. What really ticked her off was the fact that he had cc'd it to Travis. She so didn't need this. 'Damn the man! she thought, 'impatient much?' Grinding her teeth, the hazel-eyed woman erased both messages and turned her attention to the day's tasks.

The only bright spot of her morning came in the form of Debbie. "I come baring gifts," the Texan announced. It seemed that the young woman had taken it upon herself to deliver the finished report in person, rather than waiting for an office gopher.

"Unless that's full of chocolate, you can't call it a gift," Adrian smiled.

"Sorry, no chocolatey goodness here, but I do have the much awaited Prichard Report," Montgomery giggled.

"Good enough for me. You okay carrying it into Travis' office?" Delaney asked as she led the way.

The blonde grinned, "I'm good, it's not heavy. Figured it was easier to box it than try to carry them all in my arms."

"I can't thank you enough, Debs," Adrian sighed as she quickly unpacked the box, "just have to wait until the AD returns from his meeting, then he can sign them. I'll finally be able to wash my hands of the damn things."

The administrator laughed at the disgusted look on the brunette's face, "I'm sorry for all the problems you've had."

Delaney waved the apology away, "not your fault. Just a bad case of Murphy's Law… Nothing either of us could have done to prevent it.'

"True, well I've got to dash back before Kate gets on my butt," Debbie commented as she made her way to the door.

"If you have any problems with Ms. Lansky, send her to me," Adrian stated with a hint of steel evident in her voice, "I'll set her straight."

Montgomery shivered at the hard look in the hazel eyes that stared at her. She had the strong impression that she had better keep Adrian away from Kate. "Naw, I'm good. Shouldn't be a problem." All she knew was that if she was reprimanded, there was no way she was going to tell her boss to see Delaney. 'Not in this lifetime,' she thought to herself. For some reason, she knew that there was something going on, but didn't have a clue as to what. Saying her goodbyes, the blonde administrator left the brunette to her work.

Adrian watched Debbie leave and went back to her desk to work on the AD's correspondence. She spent some time making sure it was correct and then printed off the half dozen letters she had typed up. Stretching, Delaney made her way to the printer only to discover nothing there. She checked her computer and found no jobs in the queue so she went back to the machine. Checking all of the paper trays, she couldn't understand what the problem was. Determined to figure it out, Adrian removed her jacket and started checking connections and removing the trays and the toner cartridge. She was bent over at the waist peering under the machine when she heard a voice behind her.

"Darlin', you oughtn't to be contortin' yourself like that… gives people ideas."

The amused drawl caught Adrian by surprise and she slammed her head on the open printer tray as she righted herself. Rubbing the bump on her noggin she glared at the man. "What are you doing here, Mr. Wilmington?" Delaney asked as she straightened her blouse

Buck smiled at the woman. She was pretty cute all prickly like a cat stroked the wrong way, "it's Buck, darlin', and I'm just admirin' the view."

Rolling her eyes, she slammed the printer back together again and stared at it in amazement as it started printing out her letters. Disgusted, Delaney stalked back to her desk and sat down, slouching slightly. Staring up at the ladies' man, she spoke, "cut the crap, Buck. I'm so not in the mood. What do you want? If you're looking for Travis, he's out at a meeting. Won't be back until 3:00… maybe 3:30."

"That's fine, darlin'. But that's not why I'm here," the rogue said while sitting on the edge of Adrian's workspace.

"I'm all a quiver, Buck. Just what are you here for?" she asked exasperated. While playing word games with the rogue was usually enjoyable, today it only made her head hurt worse.

"I'm on a mission," he whispered as he waggled his eyebrows.

Narrowing her eyes, she knew she was expected to ask. Instead, she kept her mouth shut and waited.

Wilmington sighed, this woman was a challenge and he loved a challenge. It was a shame that she was spoken for. "Well, you see, I'm looking for the consolidated Prichard Report."

Adrian straightened and pushed him off her desk as she spoke, her voice biting and low, "you're an errand boy now, are you? Well I've got an errand for you."

Buck looked at Delaney and realized that he'd stepped in it, but good. He was going to have a few choice words for his friend and boss when he returned to the bullpen.

"You go back downstairs and tell Mr. Larabee that he'll get the damn report when it's ready… no sooner, no later. If he has a problem with that, he can take it up with me, personally." The brunette stood then and pointed her finger in Wilmington's chest, "furthermore, I don't appreciate being hounded. He keeps this up and I'll bury that damned report so far down it will take months to find. I don't care if it ruins the case. I will not be badgered."

Sitting once more, Delaney took a deep breath and tried to control her anger. Looking at the dark haired man, she made a shooing motion with her hands, "you can go now."

Not wanting to listen to her sharp tongue anymore, Buck nodded and headed for the door. He couldn't help the smile that slipped onto his lips, 'ole Chris is goin' to have a fit when he hears what I've got to tell him' he thought.

Adrian rolled her head and winced. Her headache was magnifying. She could feel it change to that of a low-grade migraine. "Life sucks," she muttered and slowly stood. Walking over to the printer, she grabbed the letters and placed them in Travis' In-Tray.

Shutting down the phones, Delaney grabbed her purse and headed for lunch. She needed some air and some more aspirin. Arriving at the cafeteria, the brunette had to leave quickly when the smell of food made her stomach roll. She should have remembered that she could never eat when she had a migraine. Stopping long enough for a bottle of juice, Adrian left the building and, putting on her sunglasses, sat on the steps and concentrated on not throwing up.

By the time lunch was over, Delaney had her body somewhat under control. Pushing aside the migraine and upset stomach, the brunette was determined to finish the day and go home where she could hide out in the dark and take her meds. Oh, she knew why she was in this state, too little food and sleep, along with stress, combined to bring about the debilitating headaches. It had in the past, and it was no different now. What she needed was a massage, a soak in a sudsy tub and her flannel jammies. The image of strong hands rubbing her scalp and sparkling green eyes overwhelmed her. Thrusting them away ruthlessly she muttered, 'not going to happen. He's not yours anymore, lady’.

With a wince and a glare to the fall sun, Delaney got up and headed back to work.

Checking her BF file to make sure she didn't have anything urgent to see too, Adrian spent most of the afternoon fielding calls and doing easy clerical work… anything that didn’t require intense concentration. The spots before her eyes made focusing on tasks difficult.

AD Travis returned to the office around 2pm. He had spent the morning and part of the afternoon in an endless meeting with section chiefs from other departments. He was tired and looking forward to getting back to the relative calm of his office.

Upon entering his domain, he greeted his assistant. The weak smile and wince didn't escape his notice, "Adrian… are you alright?"

Attempting to downplay her condition, Delaney nodded to her boss, "just a headache, sir."

"Seems to be an epidemic lately. Kate suffered from one last Friday," Orin commented conversationally, "she went home early."

Not knowing how to answer without snapping that she 'didn't give a flying fuck', the brunette only nodded.

"Are you going to be okay?" he asked, concerned. "Just remember, you can go home anytime, if the need is urgent. Just let Kate or Debbie know and they'll send a temp."

Annoyed at his apparent 'dependence' on Lansky, the woman swallowed her disdain. "I'll be fine, Mr. Travis," came the less than cheerful response.

Seeing that he was not going to get anything more from the brunette, Orin gathered his mail and walked into his office.

He immediately noticed the stack of bound documents on his desk. Pleased to see that it was the Prichard report, Travis flipped through the top document and signed the last page.

From the corner of his eye, the retired Judge noticed the message light blinking on his phone. Deciding to kill two birds with one stone, he activated his voice mail and started checking the long awaited report.

Only paying half attention to his messages, while continuing to thoroughly go through each document, Travis stopped when he heard Agent Larabee's irate voice come one. Staring at the phone in amazement as the blond railed against the ‘Judge’s’ assistant, the AD's eyes widened. The verbal complaint took the older man by surprise and he replayed it so that he could take notes. Arching his eyebrow when Chris started ranting that he wanted Adrian 'written up for insubordination', Orin laughed. He was reminded of when a certain Senior Administrator was assigned to keep Larabee in line.

The AD had a whole file of verbal complaints that Larabee had made against Ms. Lansky during the first six months of her employment. Travis kept them in his private filing cabinet.

It seemed that his assistant was making the same impression on the team leader as the senior administrator had. This pleased Orin to no end, if nothing else, it confirmed that he'd made the right decision in hiring Delaney.

Humming to himself, Travis finished going through the remainder of the reports, signing each one as he finished it. Glancing at his watch, he decided that he'd give his assistant the rest of the day off, once she finished sending out the report. Orin felt bad for having yelled at Adrian yesterday. After the brunette had left his office, he calmed down enough to realize that he hadn't been fair. The one thing that had stood out was that Delaney hadn't foisted the blame on someone else. Once again, this pleased the man.

Gathering the reports and Larabee’s complaint, Travis ventured out of his office and joined Adrian at her desk.

"Here you go. If you could arrange to send these out today, that would be great," Orin stated while setting his burden down, "then type this up and start a file, I expect to see more of these in the future."

Curious, Adrian looked at the notes and her eyebrows rose, "you want me to type up my own reprimand?" she couldn’t believe this… that arrogant bastard had her written up.

Laughing at the expression on her face, Travis nodded, "of course, unless you want me to get Kate to do it?" he asked reaching for the paper.

He grinned as Delaney snatched her hand back, "no, that’s okay, I’ll do it. After you sign it, I’ll send it down to Debbie." Adrian couldn’t quite manage to look stoic.

"Oh no, Larabee’s complaints get locked in my file cabinet. I only get them typed up for my own enjoyment," Travis laughed once again.

"I’m glad I amuse you…" Adrian said sourly.

"Adrian, don’t worry about Chris," he said as he motioned to the paper, "it only means that you’re doing your job. When you finish typing it up, peg it in a folder and leave it in my In-Tray. Then get yourself home. If your migraine is still there tomorrow, call in sick."

Startled, the brunette looked up at Orin, "I never told you…" she trailed off confused.

"I know, but I recognize the signs," with that the AD smiled and went back into his office.

Sighing, Adrian packaged the reports and called the courier to pick them up. Then she turned her attention to the reprimand. Larabee’s arrogance came through loud and clear. Delaney’s anger mounted. Finishing it, she set about tidying her space. She’d had enough and was ready to go home.

Just as the hazel-eyed woman was about to switch off the telephone, it rang. She stared at the offending piece of machinery and frowned. Adrian tried to ignore the machine but at the last second snatched up the receiver. Shaking her head when she heard her voice mail message, she was about to hang up, when she heard Larabee’s voice come on. She paid close attention to his words and tried to stay calm, but it was like his voice was the spark to set off her wrath. Delaney was livid. She slammed down the phone and grabbed her purse and the report that was intended for the team leader, then stalked out the door.

Muttering to herself that Agent Larabee can choke on it, she waited impatiently for the elevator. It seemed like forever until the doors opened and the trip to the seventh floor was a blur in the haze of Delaney's fury.

The hazel-eyed woman's anger was palpable and the passengers in the car shifted away, giving her space.

For her part, Adrian was oblivious to the reactions she was garnering. The interminable length of time the elevator took to reach her destination didn't drain her ire. It had the opposite effect. Delaney was practically vibrating with rage.

As the doors to the seventh floor finally opened and the brunette stalked out, the people remaining unconsciously sighed with relief.

Stopping before the glass doors, Adrian straightened her blouse and setting her hand against the barrier, pushed it open. Intent on her destination, Delaney ignored everything and everyone as she strode towards Larabee's office.

She didn't see the surprised expressions of the soon to be witnesses to her anger… not that she cared, for she was so intent on reaching her goal.

Without so much as a 'by-your-leave', the irate woman grasped the knob, and flung the door wide to storm inside.

Chris stood when the door to his office flew open, "what the hell do you think you're doing!" he yelled at the brunette who barged in and threw something on his desk.

Literally shaking in rage, Adrian folded her hands over her chest to prevent herself from doing something stupid… like belting the man.

"Delivering your damn report, as ordered, Mr. Larabee," Delaney sneered. "Or, should I say, demanded."

Chris opened his mouth to respond when the brunette verbally plowed over him.

"You're not a nice man, you know. You bellow and yell and generally try to intimidate everyone around you. Well guess what? You can't intimidate me. I've been yelled at by the best, and you don't even register on the scale." Standing firmly in front of the big oak table, Adrian continued, "Oh, yes... big, bad, Chris and his all important job... Oh, and let's not forget your all important 'secretary'... You're both too demanding! You make it almost impossible for anyone to live up to your standards. And let's face it, Larabee... neither of you are that indispensable," Delaney glared right back as the man in black became incensed. "Let's not forget that your egos are pretty much identical, though."

Hazel-eyes flashing, she continued to rant, her mouth taking over as Chris tired to get a word in edgewise.

"You're made for each other... Just... too bad you're not man enough to keep her satisfied... Guess she proved that to the whole world when she went off and fucked Ezra." Her expression completely devoid of feeling, Adrian smiled curtly, nodded and stormed out the way she had come, slamming the door behind her so hard it bounced open again.

Shaking with every step, Delaney suddenly realized what she had done. Barely managing to keep the façade of unconcern up, she quickly strode out the way she came. As the door closed behind her, she stopped. With her head lowered, she started to breathe, not realizing she had held her breath during the journey across the bullpen.

Moving to the side of the hallway, away from the glass, Adrian leaned against the wall and doubled over to rest her hands against her thighs as she gasped for breath. 'What the hell did I just do?' her anger melting in the path of her rapidly growing panic. ‘I’ve just made disparaging remarks about the man’s prowess… then in the same breath tell him his girlfriend cheated on him!’

The brunette straightened and had the brief thought to walk back in and apologize to Chris. That is until she clearly heard Larabee's irate voice bellowed, 'KATE, GET YOUR ASS IN HERE, NOW!!'

Eyes widening, her panic taking control, Adrian ran…

TBC  

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