| This is an Alternate Universe story. For this story, Bryn never left the SIU, so it will be deviating from the canon timeline. I got the idea for this story from a story starter I’d written for a possible MelKat production, and a short challenge story I wrote for Hyde Street Station. I just dropped the challenge story in the middle, and made a few changes to make it fit. The characters of “Nash Bridges” are the property of CBS and Paramount Television. Changes (With A Little Paranoia on the Side) ____________________________________________________________________ Walking up the ramp with a spring in her step, Bryn smiled and greeted the familiar faces as she made her way back to the office. The "office" was a ferry, but that just made it more interesting. She was tanned and rested after two weeks on Catalina Island, and ready for work. The familiar noise and bustle met her at the door and Bryn paused a moment to take in the organized chaos. Her eyes narrowed when she caught someone else sitting at her desk. A young undercover officer sat at Bryn's desk, talking to someone on the phone, gesturing with quick, sharp movements of her free hand. The stranger's long, dark hair swung down to obscure her face as she bent to look at a file. Dodging the officers scurrying back and forth, Bryn made her way over to the newcomer and leaned against the railing. Smiling when the young woman hung up the phone and looked up, Bryn held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Bryn Carson. You must be new." "Oh, hi. I'm Michelle Chan." Michelle shook the offered hand with relief. It would be good to have another woman on the team. There was only so much testosterone she could stand. "I've heard a lot about you from Nash and the guys. How was your vacation?" "I had a great time. Lots of sun, some kayaking, horseback riding…the usual." Bryn wasn't sure how to broach the subject of the desks without causing embarrassment. "Um, is this the desk you were assigned to?" Puzzlement at the question quickly turned into understanding. "Oh! This was your desk, wasn't it? I'm sorry, Nash had yours moved over behind Harvey. I guess since I'm the new kid on the block, I get stuck over here on the fringe." That made a sort of logical sense. At least the move would put her closer to the action. Bryn had often felt left out with her desk set apart from the guys. Sharing a laugh at Michelle's joke, Bryn once again welcomed the new member to the SIU team then headed over to her new place. Walking past Harvey, Bryn smiled, expecting his usual greeting. His nose buried in a file as he headed for his desk with a cup of coffee, however, Harvey was oblivious. Shaking her head in amusement, Bryn turned back to her new desk. She couldn't believe it. She was gone two weeks and not only had they hired a new Inspector and moved her desk, but Harvey had covered every square inch of it with electronic equipment. She had a brief moment of paranoid panic. Was she being fazed out? Whirling around, she stopped behind Harvey, who had remained totally unaware of her return. He chuckled at something he read in the file he still held in his hand, and brought his coffee cup to his lips to take a sip. "Harvey!" Starting at the sudden bellow in his ear, Harvey dumped half his coffee down the front of his shirt. Jumping up with a yelp, he pulled the shirt away from his chest and shook it in an effort to fan some cool air. Pulling at the neck of the t-shirt, Harvey tried to assess the damage. "Dammit, Bryn, you scared the hell out of me!" He couldn't really tell in the dim light on the ferry, but he thought his chest looked red where the coffee had landed. Man, that hurt. He continued to flap the t-shirt, since it seemed to help cool the burning. Looking up, he shot Bryn a puzzled frown. "When did you get back, anyway?" Rolling her eyes, Bryn gestured to her new desk. "I'm so glad I was missed while I was gone. Would you like to get all this stuff off my desk, Harv? Just because I've been suddenly moved during my absence is no excuse for taking over the space." "Come on, Bryn. You know I always use that desk when I'm working with the recording equipment." "Well, now you'll have to find somewhere else, won't you? Move it or lose it, Leek." "Okay, geez. First day back and you're already causing trouble, Carson." Harvey smiled, letting her know he was joking. He hissed and pulled back the neck of his shirt again. "Man, I think you burned off all the hair on my chest." Laughing, Bryn arched an eyebrow. "As if you had any to begin with." Shooting her a look of indignation, Harvey frowned. "How would you know?" Bryn just smiled mysteriously and walked away to find Nash. "Bryn? Bryn!" Returning to his desk with a stack of files, Evan suddenly stopped when he looked up and saw his partner. Harvey was staring off into space and flapping his t-shirt. “You trying to achieve lift-off, Harv?” A smile turned up the corners of Evan’s mouth when he didn’t get a response. “Harvey, what are you doing?” Finally taking notice of his partner’s presence, Harvey shrugged. “Bryn’s back.” Smiling crookedly, Evan pointed at the coffee stained t-shirt that his partner continued to pull at. “And what? Just her mere presence has you all hot and bothered?” Suddenly realizing what he was doing, Harvey let go of his shirt and made a half-hearted attempt to smooth it out. “Don’t be ridiculous, Ev. She yelled at me and made me spill my coffee.” “That doesn’t sound like Bryn. What’d she yell at you for?” Shrugging, Harvey buttoned his Hawaiian shirt to cover up the coffee stains. “I forgot she was supposed to be back this morning, and didn’t move the recording equipment. Want to help me carry this stuff out to the surveillance van?” “Ah, I’d love to help you, Harv, but I’ve got to get these files to Nash. He said he was in a hurry.” The smile Evan was attempting to hide didn’t get past his partner. “Yeah, sure. I’ll remember this next time you land in the doghouse with Michelle.” Harvey didn’t really mind; he’d get Ronnie or Charlie to give him a hand. It just went to prove that Evan wasn’t stupid. Bryn found Nash out on the fantail, talking to Joe. She leaned against the railing next to her boss and smiled, closing her eyes briefly against the breeze. She loved working on the ferry. “Bryn, welcome back. How was Catalina?” Joe thought she looked a lot better than she had two weeks ago. They’d come off a long, difficult case and Bryn had borne the brunt of it. “Catalina was beautiful, Joe. Even the long drive home was relaxing, believe it or not.” “Hey, that’s great. Listen, I’ll see you guys inside; I need some coffee in the worst way. Inger was in one of her moods this morning.” Watching him go, Nash shook his head at the trials and tribulations of Joe’s marriage. Turning to Bryn, he leaned in to give her a quick welcoming hug. “It’s good to have you back, Bryn. We need somebody to keep Evan in check.” Laughing, Bryn braced her elbows on the railing. “I thought that was Harvey’s job.” “Uh-uh. I’m afraid Harv’s a little too soft-hearted for his own good, sometimes.” Nash glanced back toward the bow and rubbed a finger over his lip. “So, have you met the new Inspector?” “Yeah, I met her when I came in. It was a bit of a surprise.” “No doubt.” Resting his hip against the railing, Nash crossed his arms and sighed. “With AJ and Eve gone, we’ve been shorthanded. I had a chance to sign Michelle onto the team, had to act fast, so I jumped on it. Then I sort of…forgot about it.“ At Bryn’s surprised look, Nash smiled wryly. “Long story. I guess you could say it caught everyone by surprise. She seems to be fitting in okay. I think it’ll work out really well, having another woman on the team. You’ve been a little out-numbered.” “That’s an understatement. I could definitely use some help keeping you clowns in line.” “Hey, I resemble that remark.” They both looked up when Evan joined them. Handing Nash the file he was holding, Evan smiled warmly at Bryn. “Good to have you back, Bryn. Your vacation must’ve been fun…you look happy.” “It was, thanks.” Bryn realized she’d received warmer welcomes from her SIU family, than she had from her real family. As much as she had enjoyed her two weeks off, she’d missed the guys. Handing the file back to Evan, Nash ran a hand through his hair. “Okay. You, Harv and Bryn will take this one. Michelle’s going to be working with Joe and I on the Pastorelli deal.” Watching Nash head back inside, Evan shook his head and frowned. “One week at the SIU, and she already gets the gig with Nash and Joe. It should be one of us.” Thinking that it should be she or Harvey, having seniority, Bryn nevertheless kept that to herself. “I’m sure Nash has a reason for choosing Michelle. Maybe he wants to observe her…to see how she’s doing.” Evan was skeptical. Just when he thought he was no longer the low man on the totem pole…he shook his head. “Well, welcome back anyway. Come on and I’ll show you what Harv and I are working on.” “Back to the daily grind.” Shooting Bryn a knowing look, Evan smiled. “Missed it, didn’t you?” “Maybe.” Sharing his smile, Bryn gave him a small shove. “If you tell anyone, I’ll shoot you.” ================================================================ The noise of ringing phones, beeping pagers, yelling suspects and hungry seagulls were combining to make it difficult to concentrate. Feeling the familiar rumble in the general vicinity of her stomach, Michelle tore her eyes away from her computer screen. She cast a quick look around, but the guys were all gone. Nash and Joe had taken off on some errand, while Evan and Harvey had gone to check out a CI’s story. Watching Bryn for a moment, Michelle chewed on her lip in indecision. Making up her mind, she quickly saved what she’d been doing and closed out the file. She grabbed her cell phone and walked over to sit on the edge of Bryn’s desk. “Hey, Bryn, feel like grabbing some lunch? I’m starving.” Looking up from a stack of papers, Bryn smiled warmly. Pushing back from the desk, she grabbed her keys from the top drawer. “Sure, I could eat. How’s Italian sound?” “Sounds great. You know a good place around here?” “Yeah, and they know us all by name, we’ve been there so often. Might as well start introducing you to our favorite watering holes.” The drive to the little hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant was fairly quiet. Neither seemed to know just what to say. Bryn felt sort of strange, since she’d missed the first week Michelle had been at the SIU and knew she was a little out of step. Michelle felt the same sort of odd feeling, but for the opposite reason. All week, she’d heard how great Bryn was from Evan and Harvey. Well, now that she thought about it, mostly Harvey, but still…she felt she had a lot to live up to. Both women breathed an inward sigh of relief when they pulled to a stop outside the restaurant. Michelle didn’t think it looked like much, but if the others liked it, she might as well get used to it. The waiter’s face lit up when he caught sight of Bryn and hurried over to give her a quick hug. He looked to be about 65 years old, thin and stooped. He grinned from ear to ear and greeted the Inspector like a long lost daughter. “Ah, Inspector Carson, so good to see you again. Where are the guys?” Turning to give Michelle the full benefit of his smile, he raised an eyebrow. “And who is this lovely young lady?” “The guys are out doing their thing. This is Inspector Chan. She joined the team about a week ago. Michelle, this is Peter Taglioni. He and his wife own this place.” Michelle received the same warm welcome he’d given Bryn, then the two were seated at a small table in the back, where they could sit facing the door. They placed their order, Mr. Taglioni brought them coffee then bustled off to greet new customers. Idly stirring her coffee, watching him leave, Bryn shifted in her seat. The silence was stretching to an uncomfortable level. She decided she might as well be the one to break the ice. “So, what do you think of the guys?” “All of them, or any one in particular?” “All of them, I guess.” Michelle smiled, appreciating the effort Bryn was making to try to ease the tension. “Well, Nash is hard to figure. He seems like he’s tough but fair. I think he’ll be okay to work for. Joe strikes me as the team prankster. I keep waiting to see if he pulls something on me.” Laughing, Bryn nodded at Michelle’s shrewd assessment of Joe Dominguez. “Yeah, I guess you could say Joe is the class clown. Don’t be surprised if he does pull some sort of prank. You wouldn’t believe what he and Harvey did to Rick Bettina.” “Oh, yeah?” Michelle was curious about what she should expect. “The first week we were in the rotunda, Joe had Harvey fix the screws on Bettina’s chair so when he sat down, it would collapse. I’ve never seen a man’s face turn so red. Rick claimed it was termites.” “You’re kidding?” Like most Inspectors, Michelle had heard about the infamous exploits of Rick Bettina. The man definitely wasn’t the brightest bulb in the box. “Seriously. Another time, Joe and Harvey disappeared for about an hour and came back with these looks on their faces. Well, we knew they’d done something. We didn’t have to wait long to find out what it was.” Bryn smiled at the memory. They’d had a glorious three days of laughter at Bettina’s expense. “Joe had conned Harvey into messing with the computer and wiring on Rick’s new car. Every time Rick would lock the doors, they’d unlock themselves five seconds later. You should have seen him standing there for half an hour, trying to get his doors to stay locked. That wasn’t even the best part. Harvey had rigged the car so that the windows would roll themselves up or down at whim. Rick was paranoid it would rain and flood the car.” Holding her stomach, Michelle stopped laughing long enough to catch her breath. “How long did that go on before he figured it out?” “Three days. He finally took it to the shop. Joe had meant for Harvey to put the car back to normal that day, but they’d both been called out on a murder. I thought Bettina was going to blow a blood vessel when he came storming into the bank. Of course, he knew Harvey had to have been the one to rig the car.” Wiping her eyes with a napkin, Michelle shook her head. “What happened?” “Oh, he yelled and screamed at Harvey for about twenty minutes before Nash finally dragged him off. Harvey just sitting there with this benign look of innocence didn’t help Rick’s disposition. He gave Harv the bill for the car, and Joe paid for it. Rick never did find out it was all Joe’s idea.” When the two women had regained their composure, Bryn smiled over the rim of her coffee cup. “Joe tried to rope Evan in on a practical joke on Ronnie, but something went wrong and Nash set it off. Joe hasn’t chosen Evan as his partner in crime since.” “Oh, don’t worry…I’ve got Evan’s number.” Her curiosity getting the better of her at the sight of Michelle’s smug grin, Bryn had to ask. “Oh, do tell. What did he do this time?” “My first day at the SIU, I caught him and Harvey looking at my electronic equipment. It was probably professional curiosity on Harvey’s part, but Evan apparently had been fooling with my data recorder. He recorded their whole conversation, and Evan’s curiosity definitely wasn’t professional.” “I can guess, but enlighten me.” “Well, let’s just say that Evan was wanting something to happen between us that won’t happen in this lifetime.” “Figures. Go on.” Bryn couldn’t wait to hear this one. “I heard the tape when I went home. Evan must’ve realized what happened and talked Harvey into helping him. Oh, you should’ve seen it.” Michelle couldn’t help the laughter when she remembered what had happened. “They showed up at my place, with a bundt cake if you can believe it, to ‘officially welcome’ me to the SIU. Curious to see what they were up to, I let them in. Harvey’s not very good at lying…he pretended to want a tour, but I think anyone would’ve been able to see through that. While we were gone, Evan switched the tapes in my recorder.” They were both rolling with laughter by the end of the tale, and Bryn shook her head. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding. Evan gets those two into more trouble…I don’t know why Harvey keeps letting himself get talked into these things. I guess it’s the same reason Nash keeps getting swept up in Joe’s hair-brained schemes.” Pushing her empty cup to the side, Michelle smiled at the fondness she heard in Bryn’s voice. “Good guys, huh?” “The best.” Annoying as hell sometimes, but Bryn couldn’t imagine working with anyone else. ================================================================= Tilting his head to hold the phone with his ear and shoulder, Evan’s eyes flicked up to catch Bryn and Michelle returning from lunch. Both ladies were laughing at some shared joke and Michelle leaned over to whisper something in Bryn’s ear. When they both looked in his direction and began to laugh again, Evan had a feeling he was the subject of the joke. He watched them, a flush rising to his neck and ears, as they smiled and headed back toward the fantail. When he tore his eyes away from the two, he noticed his partner staring back at him from across the aisle with raised eyebrows. “Why do I suddenly get the feeling that we’ve more than met our match with those two?” Evan didn’t want to know. He still hadn’t recovered from his embarrassment concerning Michelle’s recorder. The thought of Bryn and Michelle conspiring against him sent a shudder down his spine. “I’m in so much trouble, Harv.” “You said it, brother.” ================================================================ The next three weeks dragged by, reflecting the energy level of the people inhabiting the old ferry moored at Hyde Street Pier. An unusual heat wave had hit the San Francisco area, making tempers short and the days long. Nash, Joe and Michelle were still undercover on the Pastorelli case. In the mean time, the other three team members were not only working on their own joint case, but were fielding the other minor cases as they came in. What should have taken them a week, was now in its third with no leads to their prey. While Bryn had welcomed Michelle to the team, as the weeks stretched and the pile of folders on her desk grew, so did her resentment that it was Michelle on the major case while the others cleaned up the rest. Bryn knew it wasn’t fair to Michelle; after all, it had been Nash who assigned the cases. Still, when Michelle made an appearance on the ferry to fill out paperwork or to use the computer, chattering away about what a wonderful case it was, Bryn had to force a smile and push away the nagging feeling that she was being replaced. Replaced by someone younger, with more technical knowledge. Glancing over at Harvey, eyes glued to his computer, Bryn felt a pang of guilt. She’d been pretty snappy the last few days, taking her anger and doubts out on Harvey and Evan. Speaking of Evan, he was late again. Probably overslept. With a small sigh, Bryn dragged her thoughts back to the case in front of her. If they could just find that damn fence, Littlejohn. ================================================================ She was beautiful. Her blonde hair practically glowed in the soft light of the sunset. The waves washed towards her as she stood at the tide line. Her black bathing suit accented her body in a way a two-piece never would have. Her smile was ethereal. Her laugh, musical. She turned to him and smiled, holding out her hand. Her badge flashed in the dying light. Waking with a start, he wiped at the sweat beading his brow. A dream. It was only a dream. "Oh, man. Not another one." ================================================================ A wind had blown in, gusty and hot. The not-so-gentle pitch and yaw of the ferry was making more than one unfortunate suspect a little green around the gills. The heat outside was oppressive and muggy. The atmosphere inside wasn’t much better. Wiping at the bead of perspiration tickling at her brow, Bryn looked up from her paperwork and let her eyes rove aimlessly over the hustle and bustle. She caught a quick movement out of the corner of her eye and wrinkled her brow in puzzlement. It looked like Harvey had been staring at her again. She couldn't quite figure out what had gotten into Harvey, but she'd caught him staring at her several times over the last few days. They had spent several long hours on surveillance the day before, and she'd never seen Harvey so restless as he'd been that day. It was as if he had been trying to avoid looking at her. Hopefully, it wasn’t because of her snappish behavior. Or worse, he knew something that he was afraid to tell her. Like maybe she was on her way out. Shaking her head, Bryn went back to her paperwork. Whatever it was, she'd find out soon enough. When Harvey got wound up tight enough, she'd start probing for answers. He'd crack. Berating himself for nearly getting caught staring again, Harvey tried to concentrate on his work. It wasn't easy. Lately, his eyes seemed to be drawn to her without conscious thought. It didn’t help that her desk was right next to his. He couldn't seem to get her out of his mind. He'd be thinking about something, and the next thing he knew…he was looking at her again. With a start, he realized his eyes were already drifting to her desk. Pulling his thoughts back to the file on his monitor, Harvey sighed. Until a few days ago, he'd never looked at Bryn in quite that way. He'd been married, for one thing. But, now…now he was seeing her a little differently. He didn't know what to do about it. Although, if he was honest with himself, he’d missed her while she was on vacation. More than he thought he should have. The relief at her return was more than that of just being happy the team was finally back together. He’d just never stopped to analyze his feelings before now. What would someone like Bryn see in a guy like him, anyway? She was smart, witty, beautiful…and a damn good cop. Harvey would talk to Evan, but Evan had his own problems. Looking over his shoulder at his younger partner, who’d finally shown up for work, Harvey couldn't miss the dark smudges under Evan's eyes. Evan glanced up and the two locked eyes for a second, before looking away again. It was going to be a long day. After searching all afternoon for Littlejohn, handling two burglaries, one gang hit and another daylight robbery, Bryn, Harvey and Evan called it quits. They gathered up their belongings, bid each other good night and trudged lethargically out to the parking lot. Three weeks and two days…and they were no closer to solving their case. It was looking more and more like a needle in a haystack. ================================================================== The breeze blew her hair back from her face as she leaned against the railing. The lights winked at them from the city below. The full moon's beauty couldn't compare to the woman standing next to him on the balcony. Wait a minute. Was that…is that Nash's balcony? What were they doing at Nash's place? What if Nash showed up? How would he explain…? Breathing like he'd just chased a suspect several blocks, he rubbed a hand over his face. "Bryn? Again? Aaahh!" Covering his head with a pillow, he flopped back on the bed. This was getting out of hand. |
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