Maisie glared at the petite blonde that sat across the cafe from her. Miss Gwyneth "Please call me Gwen" Taylor sat with her pixie nose stuck in the air and her carefully manicured hand resting lightly on the crook of the man's elbow sitting across from her. She watched as the blonde leaned further over the table, straining her already stretched sweater further as her generous chest threatened to spill over the top. Maisie had been watching Gwen for weeks now, but other than her sweeter than strawberry jam attitude, she could find nothing that would account for the way her stomach rolled watching Gwen and her date together. 'Maybe it's just her nauseatingly sweet personality that causes my stomach to heave,' She mused to herself. But no, no matter how many times she had tried to convince herself that Gwen was a nice girl and posed no threat, she felt sickening dread build in her gut as she watched Gwen become closer to her partner over the last couple of weeks. Having no evidence against her, Will chose to ignore the warnings Maisie had pleaded with him to consider. She recalled the argument they had just had this morning before he had stormed out of her office.

"You don't like her because she's everything that you are not," Will cursed.

"No! She's a snake, just look at her," she replied gesturing to the blonde, who was waiting just outside the office's closed door.

"What evidence do you have?"

"She's dating you," Maisie shot back.

"Don't behave like a kid about this."

"Who are you supposed to trust more- me or her? I'm your partner. The one who's always got your back. And who is she? Some dumb, blonde parakeet who doesn't-"

"She's a whole lot less judgmental than you," Will interrupted.

"She's bad news! Can't you see that she is using you?" Maisie pleaded.

"She's not. I finally have a good thing in my life, let me have it!"

She couldn't respond. Will had been through so much that he deserved his chance at happiness, but not with her. Anyone but her. Her gut tied in knots with just the thought of Gwen's hands on him. Nothing prompted the instant dislike that Maisie had for the girl, but she had learned from a young age to trust her gut. And the way her stomach was dancing in her belly, it was trying to tell her something.

"Will-"

"No. I'm done discussing this," He said pushing the chair back from the desk and storming out the door. As he reached for the handle he looked over his shoulder at the brunette sitting behind her desk. "And stay out of my life kid."

The door slammed shut and Maisie watched through the blinds as Will greeted Gwen with a kiss on the cheek. Her stomach gave another heave of protest as he draped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to his body, before walking to the door. Something was wrong about Gwen, and whether Will wanted her help or not, she was not letting him get hurt again.

"Red! Red! Reeeeed! Are you even listening to me?" Alice called waving a hand in front of Maisie's nose, bringing her back to the present.

Sparing one last look at the couple across the room, she turned and looked at her friend. "I'm sorry. What?"

"I was saying that I think that white would get dirty too fast and black is too formal. It's supposed to be a casual date, so I think nude pumps would be the best choice."

Maisie sighed. "He's a guy. Do you think he would even notice the difference? And really, those black heels that you wore to the department dinner last month were cute and made your legs look miles long. And he's a guy. He'll notice that"

"You don't think that he will think I'm too dressed up? I don't want to scare him away because I took our first date too seriously and blow the whole thing up in my face before I even have the-"

"Alice!" Maisie scolded. "Wear your heels and that navy turtleneck dress I made you buy last time we went shopping. And wear your hair like that," She said gesturing to her friend's current hairstyle that consisted of her hair being pulled up into two pigtails and a black kerchief tied as a headband to keep her bangs out of her eyes when she worked. "If he's scared off because you look like a million bucks, then he doesn't deserve you. And you're the queen of first dates; you should be more than prepared now."

"It's not my fault that when I get talking about my job that men get scared," Alice retorted.

"Then maybe it's the way that you happily explain the proper way to dissect a human body over appetizers that does it." Maisie smiled.

Alice stuck her nose in the air. "It's all part of the job, darling" she drawled. "Working with dead things in the lab is what I do."

"Remember that lawyer you dated last year?" Maisie recalled, laughing at the way Alice groaned and dropped her head onto her arms on the table.

"Don't remind me." Alice pleaded.

"We were working on a pretty gruesome case at the time. And if I remember the story right you were detailing the contents of bathtub we had found the victim in, in vivid detail. He was hurling before you even poured the wine."

Alice started hitting her head on the table. "I said, don't remind me."

Maisie was about to reply when she caught sight of the the couple across the room standing up and preparing to leave.

"Hate to break up the pity party, but they're leaving." Maisie urgently whispered to her partner in crime.

"Why are we following them again? I know Wolf. He can take care of himself. And anyways, they look happy," Alice questioned looking up at Maisie. "Didn't he tell you to leave this alone?"

"She's not going to hurt him. Someone asked me to watch out for him and I promised I would. I'm not going to break my promise."

"Who says she's going to hurt him?"

"No one. Nobody can see her for what she is. But I can."

"Have you ever stopped and thought maybe Gwen doesn't mean any harm to Wolf. Maybe there is nothing going on and maybe, just maybe, you're wrong," Alice pushed.

Maisie turned and glared at her. "I'm not. My gut has been trying to tell me something was off about her since the beginning. I've learned to trust that feeling."

"Or maybe," Alice sighed, "You're just jealous because Wolf has opened up to someone other than you. Wolf only talks to you on the force. Everyone knows that. So maybe you just don't like having to share him."

"There's nothing going on between Will and me!" Maisie argued.

"I never said there was. I just said that maybe you're jealous." Alice responded reaching across the table to place her hand on Maisie's arm.

"I'm not. He's my partner and I don't want any harm to come to him. He's been pushed around enough in his life, he doesn't need some stupid blonde to come toy with him, just to discard him later like trash. If he's going to hate me because I want to stop the pain before it happens, so be it. But I won't allow any harm come to him. I made a promise!" Maisie ranted shaking Alice's hand from her arm before pushing herself up from her seat, her body trembling with a rage she didn't understand.

"Maisie-"

"No. I'm done talking about it. I will do this with or without you, but either way, I'm doing it." Maisie interrupted. "Now we have already lost them, so let's go. You have a date with a hot surgeon to get ready for if I remember correctly."

"I do," Alice smiled standing also and linking her arm through Maisie's and directing her towards the door. "And I'm with you, no matter what," she whispered in her friend's ear. 'Because I don't want you getting hurt either,' she added silently to herself.