TITLE: When I'm 64
ICON ARTIST: color_and_light
AUTHOR: Kuria Dalmatia
Characters/Pairings: Gideon
SPOILERS: None
RATING: PG

No beta. All mistakes are mine. Standard disclaimers.

For pabzi, although a bit of different take on the characters.

She had a brilliant smile and musical laugh. She declared that she loved visiting his cabin the most, because it was quiet and peaceful. "And you cook!" she told him. "You dance and you sing when you cook!" Then she kissed him on the lips. "Dinner and a show!"

Oh, Jason knew he had a little ritual when preparing a meal, especially for a special guest like Sarah. He'd pull out the vinyl records, load them up on his outdated record player, and knew that the songs would last through the preparation of the meal and the three courses. There was always time to dance to at least one song while the main course simmered on the stove.

His relationship with her was complex. On again. Off again. The affair that wasn't supposed to happen but did. The realization that they had married the wrong people. The failures with their respective spouses that couldn't be blamed on their own friendship (love...). They didn't run to each other once the divorces had settled. She had to take care of her three boys and a 'friend with benefit' could realistically not be part of that, not with her career and society's views.

He threw himself into cases at the Bureau. They parted ways for years but now... her children were in college. Jason's own son had moved on.

Enough time had passed.

Sarah. Sarah Jacobs came back in his life. For the first time since Randall Garner's invasion of his privacy, Jason felt a certain peace.

He watched as she sipped her wine and perched on the stool in his kitchen. Jason made his gestures more dramatic and she applauded. He sang a few verses as he stirred the sauce. She surprised him by harmonizing easily, even if a little off key. Jason smiled at her.

A nice, easy relationship. And if they had sex tonight, they had sex. If they didn't? They didn't. It wasn't a relationship that could be easily defined.

Perhaps that's what Jason loved most about it.

Sarah's laugh filled the air again. She downed the rest of her wine and poured herself another glass. "If you hadn't spent the last thirty-years chasing down the bad guys, you would have been..." Sarah paused and eyed him carefully. "A celebrity chef."

He barked out a laugh. "No."

"Absolutely."

"Forget it."

"Sir? Thy doth protest too much." Sarah slid off the chair and sauntered over to him. "It would be a quiet little restaurant in one of the Northern Districts; there's that butcher you're always bragging about."

"Let me guess. When I'm 64?"

Sarah beamed. "When we're 64."

There was no hesitation as he pulled her close, kissed her hard, and said, "Deal."'

/Finis/

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Sarah Jacobs is Gideon's 'guest' in "No Way Out 2", the woman that Frank brutally murders.