Million Reasons

Chapter Twenty Seven: Tequila Sunrise

Found what I was searching for
Though I felt light headed
I should have failed, and nailed the floor
Instead I rose above it all

David Guetta - Bang My Head

Molly's was busy tonight but Maggie enjoyed the buzzing atmosphere around her as she fought her way through the crush of bodies, two glasses in her dainty hands as she battled her way to the table she shared with Erin at the back. It was great to see that the little bar was popular and despite the fact they were working themselves silly, she could tell that Gabby, Hermann and Otis were enjoying the change of pace. She wondered how their shifts factored in with their busy working schedules and home lives.

Erin was seated on the bar stool Maggie had left her perched upon, her denim clad legs crossed over each other demurely as she tapped out a text on her cellphone. Maggie slipped back onto her own comfortable bar stool before placing the drinks upon the table and pushing the Tequila Sunrise towards Erin with her fingertips. The other woman placed her sleek black phone upon the table before surveying the crowd around them with mild interest.

"I'm guessing the two for one on cocktails is working." Maggie said before taking a sip from her mojito.

"I think it worked a little too well." Erin said darkly, casting her gaze to the bar where Jay Halstead was leaning, his elbow resting upon it talking to a tall curvaceous blond who had just a little too much on show for Maggie's taste.

It was no secret that both Erin and Jay had feelings for one another, you could sense the chemistry a mile away. Simply watching their interactions made Maggie question why the two of them didn't just cross that boundary, in a job like theirs things could change in an instant. Antonio had told her that it was because of Voight but Maggie thought she could sense a weariness in Erin, one that wasn't quite in the right place to commit just yet.

Jay's baby blue eyes came to rest on the two of them not so subtly watching him before raising a glass in their direction. The two of them returned the gesture in unison before turning their attention back to one another.

"Can I ask you something?" Erin asked cautiously, watching a droplet of condensation trail down the shape of her tumbler.

"Anything." Maggie told the other woman, sipping her mojito and relishing the crisp taste.

"What do you know about James Seger?" Erin asked Maggie, a cautious interest in her voice. "Is he on the level?"

Maggie paused for a moment, her eyes narrowing in suspicion as the cogs in her head began to turn. It was interesting that Erin was asking about him and Maggie thought there was more to it than the other woman was letting on.

"He's always been straight with me." Maggie informed Erin with the shrug of her shoulders. "He's firm and fair. He worked a few of my cases, they ended up with solid convictions. Al would probably know more."

Erin pursed her lips together, nodding her head knowingly before she slipped a piece of card out of her denim jeans and sliding it across the table towards Maggie with a fingertip. She knew that Maggie had a question burning and she trusted the other woman enough to answer it.

"He wants me to lead a task force for the Feds." Erin murmured, her voice dropping an octave so they wouldn't be overheard in the crowd.

"Wow." Maggie uttered.

In a way she wasn't surprised that Erin had been offered something of that magnitude. She was a great cop and she had come a long way since those wild days of hers. Maggie didn't know how bad they were but from some of the stories that Erin had told her on and off over the past few weeks she could tell the other woman had been a hell raiser. It also meant that this was a huge deal for Erin, she had worked her ass off to get here and now she was being offered a massive opportunity.

"A taskforce is big deal." Maggie said, leaning forward, her elbows resting upon the table. "Like amazing big."

"I know that." Erin said, combing her fingers through her shoulder length hair. "And I know that other people would be jumping at the opportunity."

Erin's gaze lowered to her drink, her fingertips toying with the straw as she used it to stir the ice cubes so that they clinked against one another loudly. Maggie could see the indecision flickering in her eyes before she popped the cherry from the cocktail stick between her teeth.

"But you're not." Maggie prompted lightly, clasping her hands together upon the surface of the table.

"It would be a good way to get in front of some of the stuff we've been seeing on the streets lately." Erin said before weighing up the options. "However here is home and Intelligence is what I know."

It was a tough decision, Maggie knew that. She had been in a similar position herself two years ago when they had offered her the Bemberak operation. At the time there had been more push factors than pull, she'd had her own reasons for walking out of her own life but they hadn't been the only things that had caused her to leave.

"Sometimes..." Maggie started before hesitating for a moment. The next few words out of her mouth could make a difference for Erin, she just hoped the other woman did the right thing for her. "Sometimes you have to do what's best for you. You have to figure out what you really want."

Maggie paused before continuing, she rubbed her thumbs over the joints before making the decision to disclose something that she had never told anybody before.

"Part of the reason I got involved with the Bemberak operation was because I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it." Maggie confessed, biting her lower lip as she thought about that decision. Her life had changed in ways that even she couldn't have predicted. "It wasn't the best choice I could have made but it got me here and I can't complain about that."

Erin twisted her head, her gaze coming to linger on Jay who was still perched at the bar, deep in conversation with Atwater instead of the blond that had been floating around before.

"What about the people you leave behind?" Erin asked Maggie, her voice full of a tenderness that Maggie had never heard from her before.

Maggie steepled her fingers for a moment before pondering the answer to that question. She thought about her brother and about Antonio. What they had to have gone through in the years she had been away.

"The people worth their salt end up sticking around." Maggie confided to the other woman before casting a glance at Jay. "Anyway doesn't Voight have that rule about no office romances in Intelligence? It may make things possible for the two of you."

"I hadn't thought about that." Erin murmured, taking a sip from her Tequila Sunrise before asking Maggie another question that she had always been curious about. "Would you take it all back if you had to?"

Maggie shook her head, her pert pink lips curving into a small smile.

"When I think about how far I've come and what my life is like now. I wouldn't change it for the world." Maggie told her with a knowing look before Erin drained her glass and rose to her feet.

"I think I've made my decision."