A/N: This is my first Waking the Dead story. And not just any story, either... I was thinking about who to put together, (I love Boyd/Grace more than anything, but I wanted to know if I could make something else work as well...) so I sent some possible couples to my best friend. She came up with this one. Please, read an review! I'd like to know what you think, and so would my friend!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything...
Grace was enjoying a book on her couch. Assistant Commissioner Dyson had been considerate enough to grant them a few day to recover from their last case. After what had happened to Spencer and Felix, not to mention Stella's betrayal, it was the least she could have done, the profiler thought.
Because everyone on the team had suffered. And was still suffering. Boyd was beating himself up for being stupid enough to trust Stella. Even though none of it was his fault. Grace was disappointed with herself for missing the glaringly obvious. She was a bloody profiler, how could she not have seen this coming? Spencer was in hospital, fighting for his life. And all they could do was pray he would make it. Felix was still trying to get over the shock of being the victim of a chemical attack, albeit unintentionally, since the package had been meant for someone else. And it would take a while before Stella would be able to trust somebody again, and for her colleagues to regain their trust in her.
She wondered whether this was what came with the job. She decided if it was, she would have liked to know beforehand rather than having to find out the hard way.
Grace was pulled from her dark thoughts when she heard the doorbell ring. She had no idea who it might be. After all, she had not been expecting any visitors tonight.
"Felix!" she said, surprised, as soon as she had opened the door.
"Hi… I hope I'm not disturbing anything," the forensic pathologist said.
"You aren't," Grace assured her. "Come on in."
It should feel slightly strange to have Felix in her house while she was wearing her pyjamas, she mused. Especially since none of her friends at work had ever seen her home apart from Boyd. But instead it just felt right.
She offered Felix a cup of tea, an offer which the younger woman gratefully accepted.
"I hope you don't mind my bluntness, but what brought you here?" Grace asked her when they were both comfortably seated.
"I know it's kind of late, but I needed somebody to talk to. And I figured you would listen, so here I am," Felix said.
Grace sipped her tea. What could Felix possibly want to talk about? She did not give the impression it was about what had happened recently. But Grace thought it might be somehow related to it.
"I'm all ears," she simply spoke.
Felix took a deep breath before beginning her story.
"After the chemical attack, I had a lot of time to think. And I finally found the courage to admit to myself that I'm in love with someone. And I have been for a while, too."
She did not show it, but Grace felt a little disappointed. And very jealous of this other person, if she were honest. But she pushed the green-eyed monster back down as quickly as possible.
"Oh. And why is that a bad thing?" the profiler inquired.
"It's a woman," Felix confessed.
"And why should that be of any importance?"
Grace couldn't help but get a little bit of her hope back, but she knew Felix could not possibly be talking about her.
The younger woman bit her bottom lip nervously. Grace had the feeling she was avoiding looking at her.
"It's the first time I've ever had feelings for a woman. And not just any woman, either! She's funny without knowing it, she's intelligent, she cares for all those around her… And I have no idea how to tell her how I feel about her. But that doesn't really matter, I guess, because I'm pretty sure she's not into women," Felix explained in a small voice.
It was time to put a handle on her own feelings for the woman in front of her and give her advice on how to proceed with this, Grace knew. Because Felix was obviously head over heels in love with this other woman. And if Felix could be happy with her, Grace would do the best she could to get them together. If she herself wasn't the one for Felix, she would just have to settle for seeing her happy with someone else.
"Have you spoken to her at all before?" she asked her.
"Yeah, I have. Many times, even. But it was always work related because I was too scared to ask her to come over to my place some day, or to ask her out for a drink," Felix spoke.
"Might I assume you met her at work as well then?"
Felix nodded.
"And why do you think she can't be interested in you? You have never been with a woman, yet you've fallen in love with one now, haven't you? Don't you think there's the slightest change she might reciprocate your feelings? Why don't you just go up to her, arrange for the two of you to go to the movies or a pub or something and see what happens?" Grace wanted to know.
"I think she already has her eye on someone else on the team," Felix said.
Grace now assumed they were talking about Stella. So she analyzed this. She was pretty confident Stella and Boyd were not dating or even remotely interested in one another. Spencer and Stella were not the ones she envisioned being together either.
Felix was fiddling with her bracelet now. She was obviously nervous and a little scared.
"As far as I know, no-one on the team is interested in another member of the team," she slowly said.
"Oh."
Felix sounded disappointed. But hadn't Grace just told her that she should be able to make a move? This was getting more complicated by the minute.
"What I mean is, the guys don't seem to be into any of the women, and none of the women has an eye on one of the men, either, as far as I know," she explained a little more.
Deep down she hoped Felix would realize she was including herself in this last statement.
"You aren't interested in Boyd then?"
It was a question Grace had not been expecting, but she had already answered it before thinking about it.
"Dear heavens, no."
It was as if something inside Felix lit up when she had said that. The forensic pathologist now rose from her seat.
"Good," she said, before capturing Grace's lips with hers.
The world melted away when Grace felt Felix's soft lips against her own. Her eyes fluttered close, and she hoped this would never stop. The feelings that were building up inside her, were so wonderful… but things were all happening so fast Grace did not have time to respond.
When they broke apart, Grace touched a hand to her lips. She had no words to say how she felt.
But Felix took her silence as a bad sign and turned around quickly. She grabbed her jacket and hurriedly made her way to the front door.
"Felix, stop!" Grace called after her.
The younger woman's shoulders slumped. She looked defeated, even though Grace could not see her face.
"I shouldn't have done that. I was out of line, and I apologize," Felix said with unshed tears in her voice.
"Felix, look at me."
And Felix did.
"You were not out of line. You did what I told you to do. Show the woman you love exactly how you feel about her."
Felix just threw her head back in despair.
"And the woman you love might have made the mistake of not showing you how much she cares about you," Grace finished before capturing Felix's lips in a searing kiss.
Felix's arms went around her neck as Grace's hands settled on the other woman's waist. And this time, Grace deepened the kiss.
"Wow," was all Felix could say when it ended.
Grace grinned.
"Did I live up to your expectations, Felix?"
"You did more than that, Grace," she said as she rested her head against Grace's forehead.
Grace held her tight, reveling in the fact she was finally holding the woman she loved close to her.
She was glad Felix seemed so at ease in her arms. She had hated the way she had looked right after she had woken up after the chemical attack, frightened of all those around her. Now she looked like the Felix Grace had known before that.
"Are you still planning to walk out that door?" she suddenly asked Felix.
"Euhm, well…"
"Because I just realized I don't want you to. I know this is probably way to early, and I shouldn't be asking this… But won't you stay? I'm sick of being on my own, I'd really like you to spend the night," Grace said in barely more than a whisper.
A smile graced Felix's face at those words.
"Good," she spoke for the second time that evening. "Because I really didn't want to leave…"