After a careful look out the peep hole, Neil unlocked the door and swung it open. He held the gun down low by his side, but still in his hand in case all was not as it seemed.
It had only been hours before when him and Phil had spoken about constant vigilance; he wasn't about to let up so soon.
Suzie laughed dryly, as she saw Neil. "I assure you, I'm not here to kill you."
Neil didn't smile at the attempted humour. As the DI he would still have to deal with the fact that a man had died in the custody of one of his officers. It would amount to a lot of paperwork and headache at the very least. Still he had decided to put it off until the morning. There was no need to take his mood out on Suzie.
"Shouldn't you be at his place?" Neil asked pointedly.
Suzie looked away and then back up at Neil quickly. "He doesn't understand. Zain," she gestured with her hands, "he sees the same crimes that we have seen, but through it all he's innocent of some things. Phil and Jack protect him from the worst - or they try to at least."
Neil stepped aside, letting Suzie into his apartment.
Suzie brushed past him. Her hip grazing Neil's as she slipped inside. Neil carefully locked the door behind him and followed Suzie into the living room.
Suzie was already pacing the room as Neil carefully laid his gun on the coffee table and sank back into a seat on the couch. He waited, knowing that Suzie had sought him out for a reason and that she would talk when she was ready.
"Phil was worried about me - my feelings," Suzie said slowly. "He was so...sweet." She paced the length of the couch. "He has no idea what I'm capable of doing."
Neil shifted on the couch. This was a side of Suzie that he had seen only rarely before. It required careful handling. Talking with Suzie could be like juggling a live grenade. "Heaton does. He doesn't underestimate you," he pointed out.
"He doesn't fully trust me either."
"He put you in the lead when you came to rescue me today,"
Suzie dismissed what he had said with a wave of a hand. "Heaton knows that I won't hesitate. He knows that I can take care of myself."
"And Zain can't?" Neil asked. "He is a fully trained federal agent, Suzie."
Suzie shook him head. "Zain is different - not like me."
Neil leaned forward and took a sip of the beer that he had left sitting on the coffee table to answer the door and then stood. "You know, Suzie, you may be able to convince a lot of people that you don't have a heart, but I know that you do." He walked slowly towards Suzie.
He saw the younger woman start to protest and shook him head slowly. "You have a temper," he continued and Suzie laughed. Neil grinned at him own understatement. "You do what has to be done without hesitation or regret, but you do feel. Zain told me that you were going crazy sitting behind a desk, unable to be out in the field looking for me."
"It wasn't a good use of my skills," Suzie bit out.
"You're loyal," Neil countered, "But you understand that not everything is always black or white." Suzie took a step back. "You've saved my life twice now."
"You've saved my life many more times than that. Besides I simply provided a distraction to set up CO19."
"You were always effective at that too." Neil said, referring to the distraction comment.
Suzie finally grinned. "Thank you."
Neil nodded, "But you see, Suzie," his hand trailed up Suzie's arm to rest on her shoulder. "I know you." he leaned in close to Suzie until the younger woman's back was pressed into the wall. "You don't regret killing that man aside from the fact that it doesn't serve the purposes of the case. He was inconsequential beyond that. That's what makes you different from Zain."
"And the rest," Suzie asked softly, tilting her head upwards, towards Neil.
"Zain sees parts of himself in you and he worries because he knows that there isn't much that you won't do and he isn't certain where your loyalties lie."
His fingers tangled into Suzie's hair.
"And you," Suzie asked. "What do you think?"
"I think you are a dangerous woman," Neil admitted, "who's saved my life twice."
"Mmmm," Suzie murmured non-comittally. "I'm glad that you're not dead, Neil."
Neil stiffened at him hearing name from Suzie's lips. It had been quite a while since he'd heard Suzie call him that. It made his next move so much easier.
"I am too," he whispered the words and then pressed his lips to Suzie's.
Suzie didn't hesitate to kiss him back, her lips parting, and his hands finding their way up under Suzie's T-shirt. Neil lost himself in the kiss, savouring the sensation of Suzie's lips against him, the way that Neil's hands were touching and caressing. It felt so good just to feel him.
There was a sharp knock at his door.
It jolted both of them back. Suzie hit her head on the wall and swore in Chinese.
"Damn," Neil added his own curse at the interruption and then his eyes locked with Suzie's as she took a moment to catch her breath. Neil's eyes slid to the gun on the coffee table before he took a quick, deep breath.
"Who is it?"
"It's me - Jack - Neil."
Neil took a step away from Suzie, his eyes flashing back up to Suzie's face. Suzie almost looked amused, except for the annoyance that was written all over his face, he hid the illegal gun in its usual spot.
Neil studied her for a moment. He'd never been in love with Suzie, not even two years ago. He respected and understood her; he was attracted to her. This had been about feeling something at the end of a very long and, for them both a frightening, day.
"I was just thinking of going," she said with her lips pressed into a thin smile.
"Don't you mean coming?"
Suzie stared at him for an instant and then let out a startled laugh. "Another time perhaps," she replied. Before Neil could open him mouth though, it was once again covered with Suzie's. Her lips were bruising and the kiss left Neil - eyes glazed - staring after Suzie as she walked towards the door.
Suzie pulled the door open and nodded at him, Jack Meadows. "Gov," she acknowledged as she walked past him.
"DC Sim," he greeted him in kind, hiding any surprise that he may have felt at seeing him there.
"Jack," he heard Neil calling his name as she appeared at the apartment door.