Of the Night

by Bunny

This takes place in my "Sevens Investigations" AU.


JD walked into the office with the obvious look of women troubles. Buck was instantly curious, and decided to find out.

Buck: Kid?

JD: (absently)Huh?

Buck: What's wrong? Still ain't made up with Casey?

JD: (quietly)I. . . She's allready got another date. Tonight. . . Been less than a week. . .

Buck: (sympathetically)Oh. . . Well, don't worry none, Kid. That little gal's crazy over you;probably just tryin' to get ya riled.

JD: (shrugs)Eh. . . No big deal. . .

Josiah: Who's she goin' with?

JD: (disdainfully)Peter Nichols.

Ezra: Not the Peter Nichols?

JD: You know him?

Ezra: Not personally, but. . . Surely, you gentlemen have heard of "Ma Nichols" and her boys? They are organization.

Vin: The mob?

Ezra: Precisely. . .

Chris: Ezra, they've never been able to prove any of that.

Ezra: And this proves, what, exactly? That they are good at hiding evidence?

JD: Y'all think I oughta call Casey?

Josiah: Up to you, son.

JD: Yeah. . . I'd better. . .

He went into the private office to call her.

Casey: Hello?

JD: Hey, Casey.

Casey: Hey, JD. What's up?

JD: Um. . . there's somethin' you should know about that Nichols fella. . .

Nathan: Maybe he shouldn't. . . Might make her mad.

Chris: As opposed to safe?

Casey: JD Dunne, you're just jealous!

JD: (incredulously)Jealous? ! I ain't jealous of some city-slicker desperado!

Casey: No?

JD: No!

Casey bursts into tears and slams the phone down. JD slams it down, too, and tries to catch his breath, before going back into the main office with the rest of the guys. The last thing he needed was for them to see the effect this was having on him. He calmed down somewhat, and tried to appear casual as he walked back out.

Chris: (suddenly)Ya know, since we made so good on the last case, I was thinkin' we should go out and celebrate.

They all looked at him in shock.

Buck: (grinning)Where ya wanna go? O'Sullivan's?

Chris: Well, I was thinkin' of goin' to the bar after dinner. How's Martenilli's sound? My treat. . .

Buck: (laughs)Well, now this is too rare to pass up!

They all agree to go, and JD even manages a small trace of his usual smile. What they didn't know, was who else'd be there slightly eariiler. . .

Casey entered the Italian restaurant on Peter's arm. They were led to their table, and she removed her coat to show a revealing pink dress. Peter's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. . .

Peter: Wow. . . You look, so. . .

Casey: (shyly)Thank you. . .

When the waiter arrived, he ordered a bottle of red wine, and they started on the breadsticks. Suddenly, he knocked the empty basket over, on Casey's side of the table. . .

Peter: How dreadfully clumsy of me. . .

Casey: Oh, no problem. I'll get it.

As she bent down, he slipped 2 small, white pills into her wine. She came up with the basket, and he looked at her expectantly.

Casey: Hmmm?

Peter: Um, let's toast.

Casey: Okay. . . To what?

Peter: Um. . . To us. To this lovely night.

Casey: Okay.

He raised his glass for her to clink with hers, and took a sip. She did the same. . .

Buck: I hope that pretty waitress is here tonight.

Ezra: (rolls his eyes)Buck, I happen to enjoy coming to this fine establishment. Please refrain from any behavior that will get me banned for life.

Buck shoots him a dirty look. When they get in, the matrie'd goes to get the menu's and says he'll seat them momentarily. Suddenly, Casey notices them, and stands up, wobbling slightly.

Casey: (loudly & slurred)Hey, JD! Hey fellas!

They exchange shocked and concerned glances, and rush over to her table.

JD: Case?

Casey: (still loud & slurred)Hey'a JD! (smacks a flat palm on his chest)

JD: (looks at her carefully)Casey? How drunk are you?

Casey: (starting to sound woozy)I. . . I only had a couple. . .

JD: Okay, well. . . C'mon. I'll take you home.

Peter: If anyone is takin' her home it's me!

JD's eyes flashed with anger, but Buck decided to step in about then.

Buck: (coldly)She's goin' with him, Mister.

Peter: Let's be logical. . . Casey, you wanna go with him or me?

Casey: (rubs her forehead)Why's everyone keep askin' me questions? Is this a test or some---

Suddenly, she slumped over and fell against JD's chest.

JD: (scooping her up in his arms)That's it;we're takin' her to the hospital!

Peter: But---

JD: (menacingly)Try and stop us, and you'll end up dead.

Peter just put his hands up and backed off. They rushed her to the hospital, all alarmed by the stillness in her prone form. Vin called Nettie from the car, and she rushed over to the hospital as quickly as she could. It was a long wait;they'd had to run blood tests and such. Fortunately, Nettie got there before the doctor came.

Nettie: Boys? Is my Casey. . .

Ezra: (soothingly)Now, now, Madam. Casey is a strong girl, I'm sure whatever the problem is can easily be fixed.

Nettie just nodded, and allowed him to lead her to a chair.

Dr. Lambert: Are you all here for Casey Wells?

Nettie: Yes, and I'm her aunt.

Dr. Lambert: (nods)Okay. . . She's awake now. . . Little groggy still. . . I suppose you've all heard of rufies?

JD: Wha. . . what?

Dr. Lambert: Yes, I'm sorry. Whoever you found her with must have slipped them in her drink. . . Which one of you is JD?

JD: Uh, I am.

Dr. Lambert: (smiles softly)She's asking for you.

With a slight look to the others, JD fairly raced into Casey's room.

JD: Casey?

Casey: Hey, JD. . .

JD: You okay?

Casey: Yeah. . . I. . . I'm sorry about before. . .

JD: It's not your fault;when I get my hands on that---

Casey: JD, he's not worth it. Look. . . I. . . I wasn't even interested in him. . . I. . . I was hopin' to make you jealous. . . Are you mad at me?

JD: Mad? Nah, Casey. . . I'm not mad. . .

Casey: Promise.

JD: Yes, I promise.

Casey: Then, will you kiss me?

He grins and leans down to kiss her on the mouth gently. . .

2 days later, Casey was out of the hospital. And, Peter Nichols was at work, not concerned at all about the outcome of things. He was completely shocked, though, when he saw a furious JD Dunne come through the doors.

JD: We got some things to discuss.

Peter: (smirks)You think you can take me? A squirt like you?

JD: Why don't we step outside and find out?

The next morning, Casey had stopped over at Buck & JD's apartment with breakfast. JD was still in the shower, so she grabbed the paper.

Casey: Buck? You see this?

Buck: See what, darlin'?

Casey: Look. Front page headline.

Buck: Peter Nichols, son of the infamous "Ma Nichols", involved in car accident yesterday. Should be released from the hospital in the next couple of days. Well. . .

Suddenly, JD stepped into the kitchen, and Casey instantly noted the shiner.

Casey: JD?

JD: (grins)Mornin'.

Casey: You wouldn't happen to know about Peter Nichols having an "accident", would you?

JD: Who me?

Casey: Yeah.

JD: Oh, come on, you know me better than that. . .

Casey: I know you better than you think.

JD: Well, then. . . Tell me what you think.

Casey: I. . . (suddenly kisses him)I don't remeber now. . .

JD: Ya know, neither do I. . .

THE END

Comments to: Mercarmaid@aol.com