This story was supposed to be a one time thing, but a thought popped up, such as it is...

Abbie and Crane both looked up at the sound of a commotion coming down the main hall of the Sherriff's Office toward the office they were using. The noise got louder and louder as it approached. One voice was female and there were male voices as well, although she couldn't tell how many. They were all shouting simultaneously, making it mostly unintelligible except for a few swear words, "No," and "shut up."

The noise reached a fever pitch just as Morales and a uniformed officer half-pushed, half-pulled a tiny spit of a woman through the door into the adjoining area where all the detectives' desks were. She was fighting tooth and nail and the two men were struggling to keep their hold on her, all the while shouting at her to stop resisting.

"Enough!" Crane stood as he bellowed the word and everyone in the room came to a screeching halt, all eyes turning toward the man who was a head taller than almost all of them.

Abbie knew how they were feeling. Crane had used the same technique when she and Jenny had been fighting. It was a quick reminder that only weeks before, Crane had been an officer shouting orders over the noise of battle.

"Butt out, Crane," Morales snapped. "Go back to doing whatever you guys do." His disdain was written all over him and Abbie had a sudden desire to smack the expression off her ex's face.

For his part, Crane completely ignored Morales. He strode out of the office they'd been using as their research center for the morning and stopped in front of the woman Morales had been dragging into the room. She was tiny and had to crane her neck to look up at him, and Abbie thought it must be about what it looked like when she was standing beside him, except Abbie wore boots with heels and this woman had lost her shoes somewhere, probably in the struggle to get her into the building.

Abbie had actually dealt with the woman before. She was one of the local working girls and dressed the part. Her skirt was too short and her shirt was too low cut, especially for the cooler weather, and all of it was too tight. More noticeable, however, was the look on her face. She had the haggard, old-before-her time look that many of the people they dealt with had. Abbie knew the woman was about the same age as her, but she looked ten years older.

Crane seemed completely oblivious, and Abbie wondered if he could tell the difference between a hooker and any of the other women he saw. To him, as he had griped on several occasions, modern women seemed to enjoy "cavorting about the countryside half-naked."

Crane smiled down at the woman, very slightly, and said, "Forgive them, Miss...?"

The woman gave him a look like he might be crazy, but finally said, "My name's Lester." She jerked her arm out of Morales' hand. The detective reached out again, but Crane deftly blocked it.

"I said butt out, Crane," Morales snapped. "Leave this to the big boys, why don't you?" He made to grab the woman again, and once again Crane blocked his hand.

Abbie immediately jumped to her feet and hustled to get between them because she knew there was no way Luke, or for that matter any cop, was going to let that stand. "Ok, guys. Break it up. Crane, why don't we let these guys..." Abbie trailed off as she realized Crane wasn't paying any attention to her either.

"Forgive them, Miss Lester. They have forgotten how to treat a lady. It is no wonder you are so perturbed."

"Miss" Lester's eyes widened in surprise and even though Abbie was pretty sure the woman had no clue what "perturbed" meant, she seemed to get the gist. She glared at Morales. "Yeah. These two as- jerks don't know squat about treating me right."

Crane actually bowed just slightly. "Indeed. If you would be so kind as to sit, Miss Lester?" He looked at Morales to ask where he wanted her to go. Luke clenched his jaw in frustration, but finally pointed toward the chair by his desk. "Excellent," Crane said, and gestured graciously to the woman to accompany him the few feet to the area where the detectives' desks were all clumped together.

Preening at the attention, plus enjoying getting one over on the cops who'd brought her in, Miss Lester sauntered her way over to the chair in a terrible mockery of a ladylike walk. Crane seemed to pay no notice, however. He walked beside her as if he were accompanying the Queen herself to her chair. Once the woman had settled in, throwing her enormous, tatty purse on Luke's desk, Crane once again bowed his head. "A pleasure, Miss Lester."

He passed Morales, clearly trying not to smile while Luke gave him another glare for good measure. Abbie just shook her head, as she often did at Crane's antics. It was a bad idea for him to keep needling Luke, but she had to admit, it was the most fun she'd had all morning. Granted, they'd spent the entire morning staring at property tax records, so that wasn't saying much.

Abbie sat back down and Crane joined her, immediately picking up the paper he'd been studying before the commotion had started. "Have fun?" Abbie asked dryly.

"I don't know what you mean," he answered just as dryly.

"Sure you don't," she said.

"I merely stepped in to stop such an unholy racket, not that modern life isn't a constant assault on a man's senses, but I have my limits."

"Sure," Abbie shot back. "It was just the noise. Had nothing to do with the woman."

"The lady was being manhandled," he replied smoothly. "It was unnecessary."

"Right." Abbie gave a derisive snort. "A lady."

Crane huffed. "If you think I am unaware that she is most likely a woman of ill repute, you would be wrong."

That stopped Abbie in her proverbial tracks. "You know she's a hooker?"

"While I am unfamiliar with that term," he sighed, "I am acquainted with women of her profession, Miss Mills. It is one of the oldest professions, after all, not to mention I was a soldier before I arrived in this time. Camp followers made their living by moving with the troops to provide for the soldiers... needs. Are such women not common today when a large group of men are gathered for military purposes?"

"Such women are common because men are pigs," Abbie replied.

Crane cleared his throat in discomfort. "As you say, Miss Mills. Not all men behave as they ought around a woman, especially a poor, uneducated one who has no other means to earn her living than her own body. That, Lieutenant, is why I stepped in."

Abbie couldn't help a smile. "You're a softie, Crane."

He frowned, unsure if she was insulting him, but his expression lightened, taking his cue from her as he so often did. She was amused, so he decided not to take offense.

His eye was drawn across the room once again toward Miss Lester who had pulled a lipstick out of her oversized purse. She liberally applied the too-bright shade to her lips, then tucked it back in her bag.

Abbie glanced at Crane who was still staring quizzically although there was nothing else to see of interest. "What?"

"The..." He made an odd gesture with his hands. "Umm..." He pointed toward his lips.

"Lipstick."

"I... have noticed that the use of such things is common, but..."

"I'm guessing not much in the way of cosmetics when you were around before."

Crane shook his head. "It was not considered seemly. That is not to say it was not done. That..." He once again made the odd gesture with his hand and Abbie realized it was the lipstick tube itself that was puzzling him.

"Hang on." Abbie rose and went down the hall. The Sherriff's Office had a small gym in the building in case any of them wanted to work out in their off time. She had a locker there and kept a small stash of necessities. She wasn't really a girly-girl, but a little lipstick never hurt anybody. She grabbed hers, walked back to sit beside Crane and handed it to him.

"Pull the top off," she explained, "and then the other end twists."

Clearly fascinated, he did as she directed, and much like a small child with a toy, twisted the lipstick up and down several times, entranced. "It is truly ingenious," he finally said.

Abbie chuckled very slightly. "It's just lipstick, Crane. It's not rocket science."

Crane paused, probably confused by the second part of the phrase, but finally shook his head in disagreement. "It is the small things," he replied, "that often surprise me. They are of so little consequence to anyone now, but truly they are marvels. Someone saw the need for this contraption and worked to make it for no other reason than for women to beautify themselves." He shook his head again. "I never cease to be amazed."

Abbie shook her head. "You think that's something, wait 'til you see an eyelash curler."

"Why would anyone..." Crane laughed quietly at his own question. "Nevermind. I fear you shall never make a 'modern' man of me, Miss Mills."

Abbie tilted her head to one side, looking at him. "Maybe not," she said. "But you're comin' along, Crane." She frowned as if in thought. "Give me another year or two and you'll be ready to party like it's 1899."

Crane sighed, although a slight smile also played at his lips. He was probably getting used to being the straight man in their conversations. "Most amusing, Lieutenant."

Abbie shrugged and then laughed outright. "I thought so."

Crane handed the lipstick back to her. "As always, I am so glad that I can bring some levity to your life."

"Come on, Crane." Abbie stood and he did as well. "I'm tired of looking at this stuff. We can work on it tomorrow and I feel like taking the afternoon off."

"But-"

She nodded toward the door and began walking that way. "You want to know about things? Well, I'm going to introduce you to the national pastime. It's a little old-school, but it never gets old."

"Oh?" Crane's eyebrows rose and his eyes sparkled with curiosity.

As they passed Luke's desk Abbie noticed Crane gave another polite nod in Miss Lester's direction. She smiled and, for just a second, lost a few of those extra years that were weighing her down.

"We need to get you a baseball cap," Abbie thought out loud.

Crane's eyes narrowed. "I will not-"

"Fine." Abbie rolled her eyes. "I need one. Just come on. I'll teach you to yell at the ump."

Thanks for reading!