A/N: This an attempt at trying to break out of my usual mold with a five times story of a romantic semi-smut nature. Special thanks to Beatrix for inspiring me with her story: Hazelnut Magic and to COL for the the title suggestion and the five times formula.

Chris LaSalle never thought of himself as a stuntman except for when the situation called for taking down an uncooperative suspect. Today, Amos Degrassi was such a suspect. Chris and Brody chased Degrassi and his partner on foot into a multi-level parking structure at the Riverfront Mall overlooking the mighty Mississippi.

LaSalle stepped on the bumper and up on to the trunk, to the roof of a 2007 Ford sedan. The roof bowed slightly under the pressure of his weight before he jump down to the hood and, tackled the suspect to the ground. He hadn't stopped to think about how much jumping from the top of the car to hard concrete was going to hurt. Thankfully, he had the suspect to cushion the blow somewhat.

"Stop movin'" he hollered straddling the small of the man's back and roughly pulling his arms behind him so that he could place the handcuffs about his ridiculously large wrists. He hadn't meant to be rough but when the notorious drug dealer started hurling threats of a law suit for police brutality LaSalle had no choice but to dig his heels in and make his point.

His left knee ached unmercifully as he pulled Degrassi to his feet. The initial result of an old high school football injury that occasionally flared up in moments such as this one. Damn, he hoped he hadn't messed up his ACL again, thinking that he would be icing down the knee tonight, rather than hanging out with the rest of the team at the bar. But after chasing the would be criminals six blocks he highly doubted that he would be able to keep with Loretta and her desire to two-step.

"You're under arrest," he hissed as Brody's voice started to fill his com. 'Suspect number two just went through the back door of the Donut King pastry shop. I'm going inside."

"On my way, " LaSalle left his suspect and ran to assist his partner. Weapon trained, he hit the door of the donut shop in time with Brody letting out a yelp that sounded like she'd been caught off guard or was in some sort of pain. Instantly, the sound of her voice made his heart pump faster with fear. If that bastard had hurt her- Shouldering the door, his foot hit the slick tiled floor, slipping on something wet.

"LaSalle STOP!" Too late he was already falling, sliding across the floor, the movement reminding him of the summer his mother had bought he and two siblings a slip and slide. He and Cade and their sister had a ball hooking it up to the old garden hose and and diving across the long yellow piece of wet plastic. Grasping at the tile his hand felt something wet and sticky. Desperate to keep from hitting the adjacent wall Chris rolled over onto his stomach, pushing up to his forearms.

Whatever the sticky substance was he was now covered in it.

"Don't try to-" Brody could only watch as he attempted to unsuccessfully push to his feet only land unceremoniously onto his backside. "Move"

Chris closed his eyes, staying completely flat on his back until he heard Brody start to giggle. He had no idea where there suspect was or what the heck he was laying in other than that it was dark colored like pooled blood and very sticky.

"It's cherry syrup, " he heard Brody confess as he managed to push himself to a seated position. It was then he noticed that she was also seated on the floor covered in the sticky sweet liquid, but still looking as pretty as always save for her hair. It was wet and matted to her cheek.

Evidentially, a five gallon drum of the sweet syrup had burst prior to their presence ambushing both she and the pursuant. Suspect number two was now out cold on the floor a few feet away from the female agent.

"I think he hit his head." She told LaSalle who was now looking at her with a rather her amused grin over the fact that that one side of her head appeared to be coated in the sticky goo.

"It's in yer hair," he told Merri watching her roll to her knees so that she could handcuff their unconscious mark.

'At least I didn't roll in it," she said straddling the suspect in the same way that LaSalle had. After she finished securing his hands, she gracefully rose to her full height and delicately moved across the floor as if she were walking on ice. Only Merri could make it look that simple and manage to make him look like a giant oaf for falling it. But not in a belittling sort of way. It was just her poised and elegant style.

"Let me help you up," She said with an impish smirk before extending her hand as if she had somehow bested him in some sort of game of skill. But the truth was that Chris LaSalle melted the walls of armor she kept around her heart. Even covered with thick red, sugary syrup, stretched out prone on the hard floor like an invalid he still looked absolutely adorable. She had to admit she felt a little guilty for not being able to warn him fast enough.

"Now that ain't fair," he hadn't meant to roll in the messy syrup like a barnyard pig. With an unsuspecting grin of his own the agent reached for her soft hand, jerking her down on top of him.

"LaSalle!" Merri shrieked as he flipped her onto her back, pressing his torso to her chest, so that he covered her completely with his own sticky red tinted body.

"Now who's rollin" in it?" He quipped pinning her with his intense blue stare. After two years of being her partner he was comfortable with flirting in more than his usual casual manner. With Brody there was that intimate, sensual, side of him that he usually reserved for a lover. There was also a part of her that let him be that way without judgement or threat of harassment. But yet she was neither a friend or a lover.

She was Brody.

More than a friend, a girl friend without the benefits of sex? He wasn't sure. They were in that sort of place where they needed to make a decision rather than dancing around the obvious, that was going on two years of pent up sexual attraction, eating away at their very souls, like nervous undeniable hormonal teenagers anticipating whether or not to hand their young taut bodies over to one another.

Her big soulful brown eyes looked up at him with expectation, almost daring him to take it to the next level. Oh he was certain no matter how he played this he was a deadman. He was damned if he kissed her and damned if he didn't. Knowing Merri she wouldn't speak to him for week but would delight in torturing him with her silence and sexy gaze of disapproval.

He needed to play this right. They were on the job in the middle of a case. It would be unprofessional to kiss her now wouldn't it? But at the same time it would be hot as hell. Too bad their suspect was sleeping nearby and could wake up at any second. Releasing her, he rolled to the side taking her with him, further coating them both in the sweet stickiness.

Merri pressed her hands against his chest, sitting up, holding him in her challenging gaze before dipping her finger into the pool near her feet. Deftly, she pressed her cherry syrup covered finger it over his bottom lip forcing him to taste the concoction that had started an all to familiar fire down deep in his groin.

"Just wait, " she teased purposely popping the same finger into her mouth and drawing it out slowly in way that drove him wild.

Cherry syrup. God Bless the inventor of cherry syrup Chris LaSalle thought feeling as if he had died and gone to heaven.