Fic: Stars Misaligned -- Part II - Robin
Title: Stars Misaligned
Summary: In hindsight, he really should never have answered the phone.
Pairing: Don/Robin
Genre: Humour/Romance
Rating: 14A
Spoilers: Set season 5, no specific spoliers.
Part 3/11
Robin fidgeted in her seat, actively forcing herself to not look at the clock. Watching the minutes tick by was not helping at all, in fact it just made things worse. Instead she turned her attention back to her sister who was sitting across the living room next to her husband Matthew.
"It was so cute Robin." Hannah said finishing off the story that Robin had only heard bits and pieces of.
"Mom!" An exasperated voice came from the corner of the living room, where Robin's nephews Randy and Josh were seated near the tv, watching a hockey game. Robin glanced over, but could not tell which of the two ten year-olds had objected to the story, most likely both she figured, as the story seemed to have been an embarrassing tale involving both boys.
Robin smiled and hoped her sister would not realize she had not actually been listening. "I'm sure it was." She replied vaguely, looking up as her mother appeared in the doorway between the living room and kitchen.
"Robin honey, you don't think he might have gotten lost do you?" Her mother asked, referring, Robin knew, to Don who was still frustratingly absent.
"He has my cell number, if he was lost he would phone." Robin assured her mother who just shook her head and disappeared back into the kitchen muttering what sounded to Robin like, 'do men ever ask for directions?'
"What's so pressing for a lawyer to do on a Saturday anyhow?" Her father's voice drifted out from the kitchen where he was checking on the roast. "Last I checked courts are only open Monday through Friday."
Robin glanced towards the kitchen bewildered, a lawyer? Now where had her parents gotten the idea that Don was lawyer? She certainly had not said anything like that. "Don's not a lawyer Dad." She called back.
A moment later her father appeared in the doorway, a meat thermometer dangling from one hand "What do you mean he's not a lawyer? You told your mother he was."
"No I didn't." Robin denied, now thoroughly confused. She had specifically not mentioned Don's job to her parents, because she was a little wary about how they would respond when she told them she was dating a federal agent. It was not that her parents had anything against the FBI, well not really. They just seemed to think that Robin should settle down with a nice lawyer, or a businessman, or maybe a doctor like Hannah had.
Also, there was the whole little issue that her parents absolutely abhorred guns and violence of any kind, and had generally tried to dissuade her from becoming a federal prosecutor because they were nervous about her being in such close proximity to criminals. They had finally, after a few years and several arguments, accepted her job but that did not mean she had really wanted to advertise the fact the her boyfriend was a gun-wielding fed.
"But you said you worked together." Her father continued clearly puzzled.
Ah. she had in fact told her mother that, it had seemed to be a better idea than to tell her parents that they had first hit it off at a gun range, seeing as her parents did not even know she owned a gun. And it was not like it wasn't true, they had met through work. It was just that her mother had apparently translated that to mean Don was a lawyer at her office. Which she had to admit, kind of was a logical assumption when she thought about it.
"Yes well, we did met while working a case together. But he's not a lawyer Dad." Might as well just get it over with and say it, maybe they won't mind. "He's with the FBI."
Her dad just stared at her blankly for a moment, before finally finding his voice again, "He's what?" Then again, maybe they will.
"Don's a federal agent." Robin repeated calmly, although she knew her father had heard her perfectly fine the first time.
Silence fell over the living-room as her usually rather vocal father, was apparently at a loss for an appropriate response. Across the room her nephews, who had largely been ignoring the 'boring adult conversation' as the had no doubt labelled it, did not have the same problem. "A federal agent?" One of them, Josh, Robin noted absently, spoke up.
"Cool! Does he have a gun?" His twin brother, Randy, continued.
"He ever been in a shoot-out?" Josh asked excitedly at the exact moment his brother asked, "Has he ever killed anyone?"
"Boys!" Their mother admonished horrified.
Both boys seemed to ignore their mother as they looked to their aunt curiously.
"Uh." Robin stammered oh-so-eloquently.
"Josh, Randy, why don't you go set the table?" Robin's mother suggested, in a tone of voice that indicated it was anything but a suggestion, as she re-appeared in the doorway behind her husband. Reluctantly the two boys sighed and got up to head out of the room both clearly dawdling in hopes to hear more about the absent federal agent.
When the boys were finally gone, her mother looked at Robin, "Why didn't you tell us before?" she asked.
"What does it matter what he does?" She shot back defensively glancing over to her older sister to see if any help would be forthcoming. Judging by how her sister and Matthew were trying to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible, she guessed not.
"It doesn't honey." Her mother assured her placatingly, "It's just a federal agent . . . it's such a dangerous job, are you sure that's the kind of man you want to be with? Wouldn't it be better to have someone a little more . . . reliable?"
Robin knew what her mother really meant, someone who will come home every night. And she was not just referring to the great risk of injury, although Robin suspected that was a large part of it, she also meant the on-call anytime of the day or night part of the job. Robin would have argued with her, but it's a little hard to defend his job when the reason he's not here is because he was called in.
It was not like she liked those aspects of Don's job either. She hated knowing that every time he walked out the door he could get hurt, badly. Hated worrying when he was late, or called to cancel a date. But she loved Don, and she knew that job was an important part of who he was, and she would never ask him to give it up.
And speaking of being late . . . What was keeping Don anyway?
Summary: In hindsight, he really should never have answered the phone.
Pairing: Don/Robin
Genre: Humour/Romance
Rating: 14A
Spoilers: Set season 5, no specific spoliers.
Part 3/11
Robin fidgeted in her seat, actively forcing herself to not look at the clock. Watching the minutes tick by was not helping at all, in fact it just made things worse. Instead she turned her attention back to her sister who was sitting across the living room next to her husband Matthew.
"It was so cute Robin." Hannah said finishing off the story that Robin had only heard bits and pieces of.
"Mom!" An exasperated voice came from the corner of the living room, where Robin's nephews Randy and Josh were seated near the tv, watching a hockey game. Robin glanced over, but could not tell which of the two ten year-olds had objected to the story, most likely both she figured, as the story seemed to have been an embarrassing tale involving both boys.
Robin smiled and hoped her sister would not realize she had not actually been listening. "I'm sure it was." She replied vaguely, looking up as her mother appeared in the doorway between the living room and kitchen.
"Robin honey, you don't think he might have gotten lost do you?" Her mother asked, referring, Robin knew, to Don who was still frustratingly absent.
"He has my cell number, if he was lost he would phone." Robin assured her mother who just shook her head and disappeared back into the kitchen muttering what sounded to Robin like, 'do men ever ask for directions?'
"What's so pressing for a lawyer to do on a Saturday anyhow?" Her father's voice drifted out from the kitchen where he was checking on the roast. "Last I checked courts are only open Monday through Friday."
Robin glanced towards the kitchen bewildered, a lawyer? Now where had her parents gotten the idea that Don was lawyer? She certainly had not said anything like that. "Don's not a lawyer Dad." She called back.
A moment later her father appeared in the doorway, a meat thermometer dangling from one hand "What do you mean he's not a lawyer? You told your mother he was."
"No I didn't." Robin denied, now thoroughly confused. She had specifically not mentioned Don's job to her parents, because she was a little wary about how they would respond when she told them she was dating a federal agent. It was not that her parents had anything against the FBI, well not really. They just seemed to think that Robin should settle down with a nice lawyer, or a businessman, or maybe a doctor like Hannah had.
Also, there was the whole little issue that her parents absolutely abhorred guns and violence of any kind, and had generally tried to dissuade her from becoming a federal prosecutor because they were nervous about her being in such close proximity to criminals. They had finally, after a few years and several arguments, accepted her job but that did not mean she had really wanted to advertise the fact the her boyfriend was a gun-wielding fed.
"But you said you worked together." Her father continued clearly puzzled.
Ah. she had in fact told her mother that, it had seemed to be a better idea than to tell her parents that they had first hit it off at a gun range, seeing as her parents did not even know she owned a gun. And it was not like it wasn't true, they had met through work. It was just that her mother had apparently translated that to mean Don was a lawyer at her office. Which she had to admit, kind of was a logical assumption when she thought about it.
"Yes well, we did met while working a case together. But he's not a lawyer Dad." Might as well just get it over with and say it, maybe they won't mind. "He's with the FBI."
Her dad just stared at her blankly for a moment, before finally finding his voice again, "He's what?" Then again, maybe they will.
"Don's a federal agent." Robin repeated calmly, although she knew her father had heard her perfectly fine the first time.
Silence fell over the living-room as her usually rather vocal father, was apparently at a loss for an appropriate response. Across the room her nephews, who had largely been ignoring the 'boring adult conversation' as the had no doubt labelled it, did not have the same problem. "A federal agent?" One of them, Josh, Robin noted absently, spoke up.
"Cool! Does he have a gun?" His twin brother, Randy, continued.
"He ever been in a shoot-out?" Josh asked excitedly at the exact moment his brother asked, "Has he ever killed anyone?"
"Boys!" Their mother admonished horrified.
Both boys seemed to ignore their mother as they looked to their aunt curiously.
"Uh." Robin stammered oh-so-eloquently.
"Josh, Randy, why don't you go set the table?" Robin's mother suggested, in a tone of voice that indicated it was anything but a suggestion, as she re-appeared in the doorway behind her husband. Reluctantly the two boys sighed and got up to head out of the room both clearly dawdling in hopes to hear more about the absent federal agent.
When the boys were finally gone, her mother looked at Robin, "Why didn't you tell us before?" she asked.
"What does it matter what he does?" She shot back defensively glancing over to her older sister to see if any help would be forthcoming. Judging by how her sister and Matthew were trying to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible, she guessed not.
"It doesn't honey." Her mother assured her placatingly, "It's just a federal agent . . . it's such a dangerous job, are you sure that's the kind of man you want to be with? Wouldn't it be better to have someone a little more . . . reliable?"
Robin knew what her mother really meant, someone who will come home every night. And she was not just referring to the great risk of injury, although Robin suspected that was a large part of it, she also meant the on-call anytime of the day or night part of the job. Robin would have argued with her, but it's a little hard to defend his job when the reason he's not here is because he was called in.
It was not like she liked those aspects of Don's job either. She hated knowing that every time he walked out the door he could get hurt, badly. Hated worrying when he was late, or called to cancel a date. But she loved Don, and she knew that job was an important part of who he was, and she would never ask him to give it up.
And speaking of being late . . . What was keeping Don anyway?