Title: This Is Good

Author: Python

Fandom: Law & Order

Pairing: Briscoe/Green

Series: In the same universe as Under Pressure and Family Strife Trilogy But, I'm being nice to them this time. No angst warnings for this one.

Disclaimer: These guys don't belong to me. This is just for fun. Please don't sue me.

any feedback is appreciated, in fact, I'm begging for it.

This Is Good
By Python

Ed reread the line that he'd just written. He nodded in satisfaction and looked away from the computer screen. He rested his head in his hands and rubbed his eyes. That's what you get for spending too much time staring at the computer screen, he scolded himself. He sighed in pleasure, when he felt Lennie's sure hand rubbing his neck.

"I think you've worked enough for the night," the older man said softly.

Ed sat back and grinned at his lover. "I just had to finish that scene.

Now, I'm done." He put his good left arm around Lennie's waist. He'd gotten his right arm to about seventy-five percent of what it had been. The doctors told him that he'd gone just about as far as he could and that he'd have to work at it to stay there.

Ed could still use the arm for most everyday activities, but couldn't raise it above his head. He still kept working-out to keep it and the rest of his body as strong as possible. In fact, the rest of his body was in better shape than before the injury. He watched Lennie lean down to look at what he'd written. "What do you think?"

"Not bad, but it's not very realistic," Lennie answered.

"I know. I've fought with Jeremy over this, but he says that he's producing a police drama, not a reality show. He tells me I have to take dramatic license," Ed explained. After getting out of the hospital, it had taken him a few months to fins another job he liked. One day, he met up with an old friend from high school, Jeremy Archer, who was looking to put together a new police drama for one of the tv networks. Ed didn't know, at the time, that it would lead to a writing job. He'd never done much writing, but he seemed to have a talent for it. That's what Jeremy said anyway.

"When's he pitching the show to the network executives?"

"Next week," Ed answered. "That's why he needs this done."

"Ok."

"Are you looking forward to tomorrow?" Ed asked.

"Yes. You know me. I feel like a fish out of water when I'm not working," Lennie replied. He'd received a medal of valor for saving McCoy's life but it had also taken him six months to get back into condition after the shooting. But he was in better shape than before he was shot and he felt
better than he had in years. That was all due to Ed pushing him. The two worked-out together a few times a week. He couldn't keep up with his lover, but the younger man kept him fit.

"And the Lieutenant had all that time to get things running right without you being there," Ed teased.

"I guess I'll just have to go mess things up again for her," Lennie responded with a smile.

Ed toyed with the idea of asking Lennie not to go back. He knew from experience that the streets were far from safe, but Lennie knew it to. The older man was also happier when working and he decided to wait until Lennie turned sixty-five to push for retirement. That would give his lover three more years.

Lennie noticed the wistful look on Ed's face. "I've still got something to give, Ed. I have to go back."

When will you have given enough, Ed thought but didn't say it. He gave the older man a smile. "I know."

Later that night, Lennie lay in bed, watching Ed trace the scar on his chest. He put his fingers over the younger man's. "What is this never-ending fascination with my old scar?" he asked lightly.

"It's not that old," Ed replied seriously. "It was a bad wound Lennie. I almost lost you." Whenever he stared at his lover's scar, it reminded him to hold onto the things he held dear.

Lennie didn't say anything, but pulled the other man closer. Soon, he felt Ed's tongue moving along his skin, paying special attention to the scar. Despite what his body wanted, he said, "Ed, I've got an early morning tomorrow. It won't do for me to be late my first day back."

Ed only briefly stopped what he was doing to reply, "This won't take too long."

The words of Lennie's response were lost as Ed's tongue found the soft flesh of his neck. Ed had once told him that the younger man was addicted to the taste of his skin. From all the attention Lennie's neck received almost every night, even when they didn't have sex, convinced the older man that Ed wasn't trying to bullshit him. "All right, but if I'm late, I'm telling Van Buren to call you," he managed to say just before they got too physically involved with each other for words to matter.

Lennie found his desk just the way he left it. He ran his hands over the top and then looked at the empty desk across from his, the one that had belonged to Mike Logan, Rey Curtis, and Ed Green. I wonder who they'll give me this time, he wondered, probably another kid.

"Lennie, could you come in here please?" Anita called.

Lennie nodded and got up. He went to Anita's office and closed the door behind him.

"How are you doing?" she asked.

"I feel good," Lennie answered.

It shows, Anita thought. "You look good to."

"Thanks. Ed's been pushing me. I'm in better shape now than I've been in a long time."

Anita smiled. "How is Ed?"

"Fine. This writing thing is really working out for him," Lennie replied.

"I'm glad he found something else he's good at."

"Yeah, but he still misses this, even if he won't admit it."

"Well, it's good to have you back," Anita stated with a smile.

"Thanks, L-T."

Anita paused and then said, "And I'm sure you've been wondering who your new partner is going to be."

"The thought had crossed my mind."

"The promotion list just came out and the department's got a whole batch of new detectives."

"Let me guess, you're giving me a rookie," Lennie said.

"The new detectives have to learn from someone and you're one of the best," Anita responded sincerely.

Lennie sighed. He couldn't really argue with her. Being a detective was more complex than being a beat cop. There were a lot of things to learn and it was easier for the new detectives to learn from the old hands. "What's his name?"

Ed went into Jeremy's office to find his boss on the phone. The other man saw him and ended the conversation in a hurry.

"Sit down, Ed," Jeremy said.

The ex-detective sat in one of the big chairs in front of the desk. He took the script out of his briefcase. "I finished those revisions you wanted."

"Great," Jeremy answered. He took the stack of papers and looked through it. "This is good Ed, but you still seem to have trouble with dramatic license. There's still too much technical jargon in here."

Ed sighed in frustration. "I don't know any other way to put it."

"You're doing really well for someone who just started writing. This is a far cry from our high school newspaper. You weren't trained for this. Don't be so hard on yourself. You'll get better with experience."

"Ok."

"I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to give you a writing partner, someone to help you find the really important things to write that grab peoples' attention."

Ed's eyebrow rose. He wondered if this was just a way of letting him down easy.

Before Ed could say anything, Jeremy added, "I'm not hiring her to take your place. She'll help you. Besides, most shows have more than one writer. The West Wing doesn't count. Aaron Sorkin is a genius, but you and I are not."

The last comment won a smile from Ed. "Ok, when do I get to meet her?"

"Him?" Lennie asked.

"He's young but still a good cop," Anita responded.

And his father's a burrough commander, Lennie thought. "How old is he anyway?"

"Twenty-nine."

"Ah. One of the elite who made detective before thirty," Lennie said sarcastically.

"Didn't you make detective before thirty?" Anita asked in amusement.

Lennie nodded. "And look how I turned out."

Anita chuckled and became serious. "Look, Grady is a good cop. Teach him the ropes."

Lennie nodded. He remembered working with Grady before, when the other man had been in uniform. Grady had been at the scene of Sebastian Waziri's murder.

Lennie remembered because Ed took Waziri's murder hard. Waziri was a cab driver from Sierra Leone, who worked double shifts to earn enough money to bring his family to the United States. Unfortunately, he picked up Donald Lonegan, the brother of gangster Calli Lonegan, after Donald had just committed a murder. Calli killed Waziri so he wouldn't be able to testify against Donald.

Grady had made the comment that Waziri's murder had just been bad luck, a cabbie killed for his money. Ed pounced on him for that comment, calling him an idiot and saying that the murder was personal and not random. Anyone should have been able to see that.

Lennie shook his head to clear the memory away. Anita said that Grady was a good cop, but he still hoped that his new partner had more street smarts than a box of crayons. "Ok, L-T."

"Right now," Jeremy answered. He buzzed for his secretary. "Send Linda Daniels in now."

A moment later, a tall brunette came in. She looked from one man to the other and tentatively walked to the desk.

"Linda Daniels, this is Ed Green," Jeremy said.

Ed shook Linda's hand and she sat in the chair next to his. "Nice to meet you."

"I was just telling Ed what I hired you for," Jeremy stated.

"To write for you new show," Linda responded.

"And to help Ed learn more about writing. He's an ex-detective and is having trouble with some of the finer points."

Linda noticed the problem with Ed's arm when she shook his hand. "An ex-cop huh'?"

"Yeah. My injury ended my career. So, now I'm doing this,"Ed stated. He didn't mind talking about it. He had no regrets, although he still wished his could still be a cop.

"Why don't you two go out to lunch? You can get to know each other better and set up a writing schedule," Jeremy suggested, knowing that both would do as he said.

"Take it easy, kid," Lennie said lightly.

Grady's face flushed. "I'm sorry. I'm just so excited."

"I can see that."

The younger detective wasn't sure how to take Lennie's sarcasm. "I want to do a good job.

"It's all right. Why don't you start by unpacking your box. That's your new desk," Lennie said with a smile, gesturing to the desk by his.

"Sure," Grady responded.

Lennie chuckled and went back to what he was doing. He had a lot of catching up to do. Later that day, his phone rang. He took down the address of the call and looked up to see his new partner's eager eyes watching him.

"You ready?"

"Let's go."

"So, what happened to you?" Linda asked, slightly embarrassed.

"I didn't keep down when I should have and I took a bullet in the back, near my spine," Ed answered, without any bitterness.

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok. It could've been a lot worse and I can still do most things with this arm," Ed stated. He smiled to show that she hadn't offended him.

"So, how much writing experience have you had?"

"I've been working in television for about ten years," Linda answered.

"That's a long time."

"Sometimes, it feels like an eternity," Linda said, finally returning the smile. The conversation came to a lull and she broke the silence. "I've read over the stuff you've done so far."

"And?"

"It's not bad, but Jeremy's right, you need to learn what draws people to the screen and keeps them there."

Ed shrugged. He really didn't know what to say to that.

"Don't worry. We'll work it out," Linda added, but her voice carried a slight bit of uncertainty. All those years in television made her wary of new writers.

"You're partnered with him?" Ed asked his lover later that night.

"Yeah. He just got promoted," Lennie responded.

"Your first day back and Anita gives you a babysitting assignment," Ed stated in annoyance.

"Grady won't be that bad once he's worked a few more cases as a detective. He was just over-eager today. All he needs is some time to calm down," Lennie said, talking from experience. He grinned and added, "I seem to remember another young eager detective, who earned a couple of excessive force complaints."

Ed snorted. Lennie had him and they both knew it. "I guess you're right," he admitted grudgingly.

"What did Jeremy say about your re-writes?"

"He said they were good but still lacking. He's hired me a writing partner. Her name's Linda."

"Do you like her?" Lennie asked, picking up on some tightness in Ed's voice.

"She seems ok," Ed answered. "I'm not sure if she thinks that I can do this job or not." Linda hadn't said anything to that effect. It was just a feeling he got from her.

"That's simple. Prove her wrong."

It's so clear to him that I can do this," Ed thought. "Has it ever crossed your mind that I couldn't?"

"No," Lennie replied flatly.

"You're too good to me."

"I know."

"Of course, I coudl be full of hot air. She didn't say anything bad to me," Ed said.

"That's a distinct possibility," Lennie replied, keeping his tone neutral.

The younger man shook his head, but couldn't manage a glare. Instead he grinned, put his arms around Lennie's waist, and pulled the older man to him. "You're a pain sometimes."

"I have to be. It helps me keep my edge," Lennie said, returning the smile.

"You've got an answer for everything tonight."

"What can I say? I'm on a roll."

Ed knew he couldn't keep up with his lover when the older man was like this. He signaled his surrender by keeping silent. Then he heard his cell phone. Lennie pushed away from him and sat on the couch, as he fished the phone out of his pocket. "Hello?...Oh, hi mom...What?..He's right here. Hold on a minute." He threw the Lennie the phone. "She wants to talk to you."

Lennie put the phone to his ear. "Hey Denise...Yes, I had a good first day back," he said. As he listened to Ed's mother talk, he felt Ed's dark eyes on him. He motioned for the younger man to sit next to him. "No, I'm not trying to be a hero and yes, I'll be careful...Uh-huh...Thanks...Bye."

He flipped the phone closed and laid it on the table to the side of the couch.

"What did she want?" Ed asked in amusement. He knew how much his mother worried.

"To make sure that I won't be taking any unnecessary chances," Lennie answered. He remembered his mother acting the same way. "I never thought that I'd get another mother hen after all these years," he said good naturedly.

Ed laughed. "Get used to it. I think she's adopted you."

"She's only ten years older than me."

"That doesn't matter to her," Ed stated. He rubbed the other man's leg.

"I want to watch my movie now."

"Ok, I'll go," Lennie said, trying to get out of having to watch this film.

Ed's tightened his grip on his lover's knee. "You promised to watch it with me."

Lennie sighed. He had said that. "Why do you want to see Hannibal anyway? We've both seen plenty of gruesome scenes in person."

"Because Silence of the Lambs is one of my favorite movies and I heard this one is good to," Ed replied. "Oh, I'm going to get something to drink. You want anything?"

"Yeah. I've got some club soda in the cabinet."

"Ok, be back in a minute," Ed said and disappeared.

Lennie smiled to himself. He could never say no to Ed. He'd probably hate the movie, but that didn't matter. He'd stomach it because Ed would enjoy it. He shook his head in wonder. If someone had told him two years ago that he'd be in a stable, loving relationship at this stage in his life, he would've laughed and had the person committed. How did you get so lucky, a voice in his head asked.

Ed came back a couple minutes later. As he sat back down, he put the drinks on the table. "Here you go."

"Thanks, Ed," Lennie said quietly.

Ed recognized that the older man meant more than just thanks for the drink. He leaned in to give the other man a quick kiss. "No problem." He grinned. "Now, quit trying to distract me. I want to watch this."

"Ok. Let the carnage begin."

Ed's grin got wider as he turned the tv on and sat back. He moved as close to Lennie as he could and the older man settled into his arms. This is good, he thought.

END