ONE WAY OR ANOTHER by Tegan Jovanka

DISCLAIMER: The characters of Glenn, Dana, and of the ABC-TV show, SNOOPS are property of David E. Kelly Productions. No infringement is intended.

WARNING: This story examines a sexual and emotional relationship between two consenting women (Well, sort of). If this subject matter offends you, it is against the law of your state, or if you’re under the age of 18, please read no further.

TIME LINE: The story begins on the morning after the final scene in "HIGHER CALLING ".

Oh, great, She thought, I’m in a cave and it’s raining outside. Or is it just the drummer beating on my head that’s causing the pain?

She rolled over on her back, pulling the covers away from her head. The sunlight caused her to first squeeze her eyes shut, then attempt to blink them open. She found this was a Herculean task, so she simply laid back and threw her arm across her eyes.

She raised her head and took in her surroundings through veiled eyes. It was a small motel room and not a first class one at that. There were three doors. One was a obviously the entrance, the other a small closet. Behind the third came the sound of raindrops.

Dana also suddenly realized she was naked under the covers. She pulled the sheets closer to her body, her eyes darting about for her clothes. Looking over the edge of the bed, she spotted a tangle of clothing in two piles on the floor. Dazedly, she lay back with a disgusted sigh.

Dana swiveled and sat on the edge of the bed, an action that almost made her fall off. Shaking her head to clear the cobwebs, she attempted to focus on the task at hand. She spotted her panties and pants at her feet. In a slow motion ballet, she put them on, then lay back, exhausted by the effort.

She had found Glenn Hall at her desk at the Agency, deep in a funk. Their other associates, Roberta Young and Manny Lott, had already left for the day. Glenn was recovering from a confrontation a few moments before with a ex-lover, Gary somebody or other, a private eye who had even less scruples than Glenn did (If such a thing was possible, Dana smiled). It was unfortunate that, in addition to this showdown, her partner’s troubles also included the fact that she had just recently helped the police nail a lover of hers, a client who turned out to be mob connected. It pretty well summed up to a negative self image concerning men, at least as far as Glenn was concerned.

So Dana had suggested a Mexican dinner…which included a pitcher of margaritas…,which led to a second pitcher…maybe…was there a third?

After that, it was all a blank. There was no memory of how she picked the man up or got here. Glenn must have seen her enjoying herself and went home on her own. I’ll have to apologize, she noted, when I see her at the office this morning.

Dana mustered her strength to sit upright, no small feat concerning the pounding in her skull. Once upright, she glanced over the floor for any sign of her bra or blouse. A tangle of white cloth beckoned to her. As she reached for it, the water running in the bathroom abruptly ceased. Dana froze.

Dana decided on the former, grabbing the tangle of clothing. As she unwound the bra, her eyes widened at a starling discovery.

Her bra was tangled with another bra. Dana held the two identical articles in each hand, her eyes displaying her anxiety.

The bathroom door suddenly opened. Dana dropped the bras, as a woman wrapped in a terry cloth towel, her hair covered with a turban-like smaller towel, poked her head out and grinned.

What a night, Glenn reflected, as she removed the towel from her body and began to dry herself. From doldrums to ecstasy. And who would have thought Dana? The ex-policewoman always seemed…. Well, stiff… Uptight… always by the book. It may have been the booze, but she came on to Glenn like a sex-starved cougar. Grroowwllllll!

And Glenn needed someone at that moment. Two bad lovers on her doorstep so close together. A person needs reassurance that it simply is not all her fault, that she is someone worth being with.

Glenn dried her hair and began to comb it. I’ll work on fixing it up when I get to the office, she reflected.

The office… I guess we’ll have to be discreet for now in front of Roberta and Manny. Just until they decide how and where we want this relationship to go. It’s all so sudden, she mused, yet all so wonderful.

From the other side of the bathroom door, she heard a slam. Apprehension crossed her face, as she opened the door to discover the bedroom empty. Glenn rapidly moved to the entrance and stepped outside, her eyes darting for Dana. She didn’t notice the door close, as she looked over the railway towards the parking lot.

Glenn turned to discover an elderly couple watching her from about two yards away. The woman had a sour expression, but the man was grinning from ear-to-ear.

Glenn looked at them curiously, then down at herself, realizing she was standing on the walkway absolutely nude. The Private Investigator whirled and stepped back to the door, seizing the knob.

Glenn kicked against the door in frustration, then turned towards the couple with a helpless smile.

After persuading the old man (At the urging of his wife) to fetch the manager with a pass key, getting dressed, and trying several times to contact Dana on her cell phone, Glenn decided to go to the office and see if there were any messages,

When she arrived, she found Roberta at her terminal, flicking through data on her screen. The black woman looked up and smiled at the approach of her employer.

"Well, if memory serves me right, those are the same clothes you wore when I left here last night. Didn’t go home?"

Glenn shook her head and said, "Too lazy to look deeper in the closet. It’s been a bad week. Aren’t you supposed to be in San Francisco?"

"Plane leaves at 10," she replied, saving her file and shutting down her terminal. She slipped out the diskette and dropped it in her purse.

"Hey, I need a couple of hours to cruise the stores at Union Square," Roberta grinned.

"San Diego. The wayward husband he’s following drove down there and he’s in hot pursuit."

Glenn continued on into her office. She dropped her purse on the sofa and slid in behind her desk. Roberta leaned against the doorway.

Glenn rubbed her forehead and replied, "Sure, seeing I’m holding down the entire fort by myself. I got paperwork to catch up on, anyway."

Roberta turned to leave, then suddenly stopped and looked back at Glenn with a concerned expression. "You sure you’re going to be okay?"

Glenn looked down at the papers on her desk, realizing that some of her worry was showing through her armor.

Roberta shrugged, then asked, "Oh, in case you see her, tell Dana that Greg called."

Glenn tried to appear nonchalant at the mention of Dana’s ex-boyfriend, Greg McCormack, who was also her former partner on the police force, but her mind began to whirl with possibilities.

"Well, he said Dana called him and left a message. She sounded upset on his answer machine, but she left a second message about an hour or so later, telling him to forget the first one."

"Well, she hasn’t been here THAT long," Roberta pointed out, "And her relation with Greg was rocky before she got here. It might be Greg’s. Or she might have got drunk, picked up someone up in a bar, took him to a motel."

"She doesn’t seem the type," Glenn remarked, "She could be having a reaction to some prescription drug. You did say she called in sick?"

Roberta almost jerked at Glenn’s sharp tone. The detective leveled her gaze at her partner.

"We do NOT investigate each other," Glenn reminded her, "If Dana has a problem, we’ll wait for her to share it with us…. Got it?"

"You were just killing time until you have to get to the airport. Which would be right about now, wouldn’t you say?"

Roberta took in Glenn’s stare, her face growing somber. She checked her watch and nodded. She turned to leave and looked back towards Glenn.

Both women smiled, as Roberta strode out of the office. The moment the security door closed, Glenn slammed back into her chair, letting out a long sigh.

Geez Louise, She reflected, What is going on in Dana’s mind? What is she going to tell Greg? That I’m a lesbian? That I seduced her? Dammit, she jumped ME!

Glenn swiped her hand across the desk in frustration, knocking over the lamp. She tried to calm herself as she righted the device.

Maybe the incident would affect the Agency, maybe it wouldn’t. It might get some press, if Dana gets hysterical and shoots her mouth off! Maybe Greg and the rest of his macho cop friends would snicker at her every time they crossed paths during a case, make leather jokes or biker cracks.

Glenn tried to spend the rest of the day going over reports, contacting clients, surfing the Internet for information…anything but worry about Dana. Fortunately, she had food in the office refrigerator, since she didn’t want to leave the Agency, in case…just in case.

She didn’t realize that she had fallen asleep, until a noise awoke her from her slumber. She shook the cobwebs from her mind, as she sat back in the chair at her desk terminal. A quick glance at the wall clock told her it was a few minutes past 8 P.M. With a sigh, she clicked the XENA web site she had been perusing before she dozed off closed. She rose out of her chair, stretching her arms skyward.

Glenn sprinted into the reception area in time to see Dana place an envelope on the reception desk and turn back towards the security door.

Dana continued towards the door, but Glenn was faster. She dashed to the reception desk and stabbed a button on its electronic console. The security door locked with a click.

Glenn looked at her partner and realized that Dana was trying her best to control the trembling in her body. She was …scared? Angry? Glenn turned her gaze towards the envelope she had left behind.

"That’s marked for me, confidential," she observed wryly, "Obviously not a thank you note."

"It’s my resignation," Dana stated, regaining her composure, "I’d like to leave now."

Dana stopped, as she realized Glenn was already walking into her office. Glenn slammed the door with a thud of finality. Dana looked at the door, then back to the reception desk.

The rage trembling in her body, Dana scooped up the envelope and marched to Glenn’s door. She stopped for a moment, raising her fist to knock. Shaking off her manners, she seized the doorknob and swung the door open.

Glenn was sitting behind her desk, her glasses on, her attention focused on a report displayed on her computer screen. Dana strode the desk and raised her arm to slam the envelope on the desk. By the time her arm lowered, though, she regained her composure and slid it in front of Glenn.

Glenn sat back in her chair and sighed. "Is that the worst thing that can happen to you?"

Dana turned and looked at Glenn with nervous eyes. "Look, I apologize if…I’m didn’t mean it as a bad thing…I’m not homophobic or anything."

"Aren’t you?" Glenn replied, touching the envelope with the forefinger of her right hand, "Isn’t that what this is about?"

The two women stared at each other. Slowly, Dana sat down in the chair in front of Glenn’s desk, the one usually reserved for clients. Glenn smiled inwardly. With her glasses on, she probably looked like a therapist or schoolteacher. And Dana, who has patterned herself to a lifestyle of following the rules, couldn’t help but respond to her.

"You’re embarrassed by what happened, that’s understandable," Glenn offered softly,

"If it was Manny, I’d know exactly how to handle it," Dana replied, "I’d simply kill him."

Glenn smiled at her jest, but the earnestness had barely faded from Dana’s eyes. Glenn shook her head slightly. "I’m sure you plan to reinstate yourself with the department…that’s why you called Greg."

"He called here. He was concerned about you. So was I. That is why you called him?"

"So, surrounded by the male authority figures who treat you as…. And undoubtedly appreciate you for… a woman, you can put the whole…. ugly….incident behind you and go back to a life that you understand and have some control over, albeit what the males in the department allow you."

"I am only repeating the observations you told me in a dozen conversations we’ve had since you came here," Glenn pointed out, "You weren’t happy there, and it wasn’t just because of your affair with Greg."

She looked at the other woman with sympathetic eyes, though Dana avoided her gaze.

"Dana, what happened wasn’t a crime and it wasn’t wrong! But going back to Greg and the department seems like some kind of …penance!"

Dana said nothing nor did she move. Glenn sat back in her chair, a look of exasperation on her face. She moved the finger so her left hand went under her glasses and rubbed her eyes. She then removed her eyewear and placed it down on the desk.

Dana looked at her and shook her head. Glenn rose from her desk and stepped out of the room, walking across the reception area to the commissary. She returned to her office with a small bottle of orange juice and sat back in her chair. She took a sip, her eyes looking over Dana’s passive face. She knew her partner was reflecting on her words and trying to come to some decision. That she hadn’t walked out was a good sign.

Dana looked at her, then rose slowly and walked away from the desk with a sigh of resignation. She dropped wearily down on the office sofa.

"After I left the motel, I just walked…for hours, it seemed. I don’t know what I was going to say to Greg, but, Thank God, I had enough presence of mind to call him back. Like you said, I was considering reinstatement. But I realized that a return to the force wouldn’t change anything. So, like any detective, I decided to reconstruct the events leading up to the cri… er, what happened. I went back to the bar, but the afternoon shift guy was there. The bartender from last night wouldn’t be in until around six. I wandered around until then."

"I don’t know," Dana replied wearily. "There were things I had to…know. When he showed up, I identified myself as a detective and stated that I was on a stake-out with my partner to watch some couple…I don’t know, I made up a story about a divorce case. Of course, he couldn’t help us on that, since it was fictitious, but I asked him about us afterwards, a casual inquiry into how effective we were as a stakeout."

"Oh, he remembered us, all right!" she stated flatly in an embarrassed tone, "Never let it be said that a bartender doesn’t notice every young…and possibly available…woman that pass through their portals. Let’s see…Four pitchers of tequila, though he recalls that it was me doing most of the drinking."

Dana looked at her with a furious glance. "Okay…. OKAY!" she declared, standing up and pacing in front of the sofa, "I was all over you! He said I was playing 'grab ass,' trying to stick my tongue in your ear, copping a feel here and there. To your credit, at least from his viewpoint, you seemed to be keeping me at arm’s length as best you could."

"Yes, really!" Dana mocked sarcastically, "But he thought I did…and this is a quote…. a very good impersonation of a 'stone cold dyke,' unquote."

Glenn started to smile, but, noticing Dana’s distress, refrained and gave her a sympathetic look. "I’m…sorry, Dana."

"Why?" she choked, "Why should you be sorry? It was my fault, not yours. I just never thought…."

Dana looked at her, her gaze softening, but she shook her head at her partner’s words. "You don’t understand."

Glenn slowly rose and circled around the desk, sitting against the edge. "Tell me," she asked gently.

"Very close. We were friends in college," Dana relented, "and we got drunk after a party. We came back to the dorm late that night and started playing around. We didn’t talk much afterwards. But we both practically threw ourselves at the boys after that."

"Shame," Dana replied, "Guilt. We never talked about it, so I don’t know how she felt. At that age, you pretty much believe you have a handle on who you are and where you’re going."

"And that pretty much shook things up," Glenn observed, "Well, that explains one thing."

Dana gave her a challenging stare that Glenn met with wry knowing expression. "You always are a very controlled person," the detective remarked, "by the book, everything in order."

"My point being was that, up until your incident in college, you had a definite self-image of yourself. And afterwards, you have made sure that you were in control at all times, except when you were with Greg or some man, so you wouldn’t have a repeat performance."

"I’m bisexual, sweetie," Glenn stated almost sarcastically. "It’s allowed. So are you. You’ve just been denying yourself for the past several years."

"I’m not telling you to jump out of the closet and go on the talk show circuit," Glenn declared. "I’m just saying that you should be true to yourself. We have a good business relationship, a partnership that works. It’s the fact that we do disagree about things like ethics that makes us a good team. Despite our differences, I hate to see it come to an end like this."

"I won’t say I didn’t enjoy last night," Glenn replied in a gentle tone, "and I can’t say I wouldn’t want to pursue it further."

Dana shook her head, rose from the sofa, and turned towards the door. Glenn reached out and gently seized her wrist, stopping her flight. "Dana, if you thought leaving was an answer, you wouldn’t be here. Do you really want to end a relationship again, because you’re confused? We could both dismiss the whole thing as an incident in our lives that we’ll never discuss again. But do you really want to run out on the agency…on me?"

Dana looked into Glenn’s eyes, trying to find some answer in the pools of blue. Slowly, she moved her arm through Glenn’s grasp. When their fingers came into contact, Dana’s hand lingered against Glenn’s for a long moment, before she broke the contact. "I …don’t want to run out on you." Dana murmured.

Glenn slowly slid her hand back in Dana’s. The ex-policewoman softly put her fingers around her partner’s and squeezed gently.

Glenn delicately pulled Dana to her, moving her arms around her waist. "Just lucky, I guess."

Roberta breezed into the reception room, a small shopping bag in one hand, her purse slung over the other shoulder. She dropped the bag on the console and glanced at the digital clock on the panel.

She tossed a look at the closed door to Glenn’s office, then started to move towards the opposite side of the room to the commissary. She stopped short, as she heard a noise behind her.

Turning, she saw Glenn step from her office. She was still dressed as Roberta last saw her, though her clothes looked a bit crumpled. Spotting Roberta, she tossed her smile that was quickly enveloped by a yawn.

"I’ve been here since you left," Glenn answered, closing her office door behind her,

Roberta stepped back to the console and reached into the shopping bag. She removed a small object and held it up proudly.

"It’s also a lighter," Roberta declared brightly. "Think of how the clients will be impressed."

"Okay," Roberta agreed, tossing the cable car back in the bag, "It wasn’t that great an idea. But you nixed the key chain, so it was this or a T-shirt."

"Manny hasn’t checked in yet," Glenn stated, "but I expect Dana to put in an appearance any time now."

"Only fruit juices. We’re out of milk, coffee’s not made, and it’s too early for booze."

"No, I’m bushed," Glenn declared wearily. "I think I’ll drive home and get some sleep. I’ll check in later this afternoon. Needless to say, reschedule all my appointments for today."

"Keep it at warp, Lieutenant," Glenn barked, before she gave Roberta one last wave and walked through the security door.

Roberta shook her head and turned, stepping into the commissary. She stepped to the refrigerator, opened the door and looked inside. After a few moments of ascertaining the contents within, she reached in and removed a bottle of fruit punch.

The detective startled at the words and turned quickly to the voice. Dana stood in the doorway. Roberta looked at her with surprise, noting the wrinkled look of her outfit.

Dana noted her clothes and answered, "I’ve been sick. I came over to check in. I guess I just grabbed whatever was in the closet."

"More like, 'off the floor ,'" Roberta observed cynically, "You could have phoned. By the way, how did you get in?"

"It must have gone off, when you opened the fridge," she ventured. "Probably drowned it out. Is there anything to eat in there? I’m famished."

"Supplies are kind of low, just some juice," Roberta stated. "Gotta get to the store later. How are you feeling?"

"She’s been here all night, slaving away. She just took off for home. You just missed her."

Dana checked her watch, then declared, "I think that’s a good idea. Going home, I mean. My home, not Glenn’s."

Roberta looked at her strangely. Dana gave her a nervous smile. "I’ve been sick. And the medicine is making me a bit drowsy. I think I’ll go home."

Roberta followed her out to the reception area, as she walked towards the security door. As she opened it, there was loud beep. Dana turned back to Roberta, shrugging. She then gave one last wave and left, the door closing behind her with another beep.

Roberta shook her head, as she walked over to the console. She placed the bottle down and removed the shopping bag, placing it on the floor. As she straightened up, she froze.

Roberta looked at it, trying to remember if it had been closed before she entered the commissary. She looked from it to the security door and then back again. She remained frozen for a long moment.

Glenn waited in her car at the shopping mall parking lot, only a few blocks from her office. She tapped the wheel with her fingers nervously, her eyes looking down the street.

Her body tensed, as she noted Dana’s car drive up to the 24-hour lot across the street. A few moments later, her partner was crossing the street, moving up to Glenn’s car and sliding into the front passenger seat.

Glenn nodded and switched on her ignition. She guided the car through the lot, stopping at the curb to the boulevard.