The Awakening

It had only been three days since they had solved their most recent case. It turned out that the boyfriend was responsible for the death of the beautiful model who supposedly overdosed. He was also responsible for her being strung out on drugs to begin with. To add to the madness of the case was the fact that the dead model's father, an ex-cop who was known for his abusive nature in and out of the precinct, had shot and killed the boyfriend right in front of Chris and Rita. Two wrongs didn't make it right, Chris thought, but who could blame the father. If he had been in that guy's shoes and it had been Rita, he probably would have done the same thing. Maybe. Veronique's father had tried to protect her, but he had went about it the
wrong way.

Well, the case was solved and life went on, but something was still niggling at Chris. Well, not exactly niggling because he already knew what it was. In all his years of being partners and best friends with Rita, he had always kept his feelings in check and in hiding. He hid them from her and from himself. He felt that he did a pretty good job at it, too. Throughout all the sleepovers, undercover cases when they had to pretend to be a couple, and all the other changes they'd gone through, he had been the perfect gentleman. But now......he wasn't so sure he could be a "good boy" any longer.

Why the hell did she have to go and joke about not wearing any underwear?! Chris thought. Now he spent almost every waking night trying to figure out whether she was only joking or flat out serious! At first he thought that it was because of the case that she never answered his half-serious question about his arousal threshold. Then he remembered something that he'd tried for years to put out of his mind ever since he first noticed it. Rita NEVER had panty lines. Okay, so maybe he was being a little strange, but most women had panty lines some way or another....didn't they? One thing Chris' pop, Benny, had always told him was that most women loved bikinis and bikinis made panty lines. Chris found this to be true as he was a lover of butts. At least he knew he loved sneaking peeks at his partner's butt from time to time. Nah! Maybe he was letting his imagination get the best of him. After all, Rita was beautiful. If she only knew what was going through his mind. Aw, man, she would probably shoot him! He laughed to himself.

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It was that laugh that brought Rita's attention to the fact that Chris was doing anything but work. She wondered to herself what in the world he could be thinking about to make him just start laughing like that.

Her thoughts were anything but comical. They were as serious as they come. She'd been on the job for a number of years now, but watching another man die before her eyes had put a whole new perspective on life for Rita. Knowing that the job she loved put her life and her partner's on the line every day now meant more to her than ever before. Why? She couldn't
exactly bring herself to say it, but deep down she knew the reason.

"Lance, Lorenzo! In my office now!" Cap bellowed from within the confines of his office.

Rita got up and glanced back at her partner, who still seemed to be in dream land, so she walked over to his desk, waving her hand in front of his face, and still got no response.

"Sam?" she drawled out. Still getting no response and noticing the blissful smile on his face, she surmised his dream had to be about one of his two favorite things... cars or women. She heard movement from within Cap's office and new that meant he was getting antsy waiting for them, so she playfully hit Chris on the back of the head, bringing him back to reality. "Move it, Sam. Cap wants to see us. Your dreams of your latest conquest will have to wait."

He came back to reality with a start and watched as Rita walked off into Cap's office. "More like soon-to-be-conquests, Sam," he mumbled so only he could hear as he once again found himself staring at something he knew he shouldn't be. The eternal question still reigned. Was she wearing panties or nothing underneath that business suit?

Realizing he wasn't going to make any progress sitting in his chair and Cap wasn't going to wait for him much longer, he got up and followed his beautiful partner into the office.

"What's up Cap?"

"I've got a case for you. A DB was found at the Mariott. No ID found at the scene yet. Room was rented to a male, and the victim's a female. So it looks like you've got your work cut out for you."

"Okay, ready to roll, Sammy?"

"Not quite yet Lorenzo. This case has got to be kept low profile, at the DA's request."

"What interest does Conroy have in this?" Rita asked.

"The room was paid for by the mayor's son."

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"Why are WE the ones who always get stuck with the career-ending whodunits?" Chris whined as he and his partner trudged to their police issue Ford Taurus.

Rita chuckled and wove her arms around one of Chris', in a mock gesture of comfort to keep him moving toward the vehicle. In her best Southern drawl she asked, "Why Christopher, you mean to tell me that you don't like jumpin' thru all of No-Joy-Roy's l'il hoops?" Then in her own voice she answered his question, "*I* think it's solely because we're friends with George...we should really reconsider that, you know."

With that, Chris smirked, knowing that his invitation for a pity party had been declined. He flashed Rita his Lorenzo grin, and received a radiant, lop-sided one in return.

Unbeknownst to the other, the Sams both drew in a cleansing, refocusing breath as they plopped down in the car. Similar thoughts raced thru their minds: Palm Beach. Land of sun, sun, and more sun. And all it takes is a single smile from my best friend to make that sun seem dim in comparison. Distracting...

Rita crossed her right leg over her left without even thinking about it. She stared out the passenger side window and casually tapped a high-heeled foot in the air - in the attempt to secretively release the nervous energy that would be blaitantly obvious if she pushed her hair behind her ear. And she fought this later temptation vehemently.

'Good God, is this day ever gonna end?' Chris thought. Why must Rita move her leg like that? An even better question: WHY was he still noticing these things? 'Music. I need music.' On came the radio, set to his favorite jazz station, with the volume low enough so it wouldn't drown out the police radio.

Yes, nothing like the slow, sweet tones of a jazz sax to calm him down. Then again...

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Rita turn her head from the window, leaning an ear toward the speaker to concentrate as a new song came on. Of all the songs...

"I've heard this song," Rita began, listening intently. "You have it on CD, don't you, Sam? We danced to it at my place."

"Yeah..." Chris purred, distressed yet also elated that she had remembered. "See, Rita? I told you I'd make a jazz fan outta you yet."

But Rita wasn't thinking about jazz. "We dance pretty well together, Sam," she exclaimed softly.

Chris turned his head toward her, and was rewarded with a breathtaking (dare he say 'loving'?) smile. But before he could respond, Rita turned her gaze back to the window, a signal Chris determined to mean the end of the conversation.

As he turned his attention back to the road, he couldn't help but to throw one last sideways glance at his best friend. He could almost hear the wheels turning in her head. What he didn't know was that Rita was lost in countless, similarly sweet memories of times they had spent together. Her face still reflected her nostalgia, but there was also a hint of pensiveness and...something else... Something Chris just couldn't define, something that made his heart leap.

They reached the hotel, and it was business as usual. Lance and Lorenzo "the partners" were back in full force, making notes and observations on the case as they rode in the elevator, and keeping their teasing and joking on its familiar, safer level.

"Diana," Rita greeted her M.E friend as she and Chris reached the crime scene.

"Diana in da' house! So tell me, D, what do we got?"

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End of the story:

If he had lost her he would have died with her. Thank God she was now safe and in his arms. Thank God he had had the sense enough to tell her how much he loved her before they took on this crazy case. The best part was when she admitted that she had loved him from day one, too.

Looking into her beautiful emerald green eyes, he saw Heaven and life all rolled up into one. Bending his head down for a gentle kiss, he smiled to himself. At least now he knew for sure whether or not Rita Lee Lance wore undies or not. Before their lips touched, he turned toward the camera and laughed, saying, "Wouldn't YOU like to know! HAH!" Then he kisses her
passionately.

THE END

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We regret to say that we do not own Silk Stalkings or the characters of Chris, Rita, Cap, or Frannie. They are the property of Stephen J. Cannell, Stu Segal, and USA Network. This is pure fiction on our part and for our entertainment. All comments can be sent to DJ, who will surely forward them on to the rest of the list.

Thanks go out to the participants to far... DJ, Linda, and Dani.