"This has to stop," she thinks to herself while the memories of every moment she'd ever stood behind as the young woman walked away begin playing in her mind. She stands silently watching Ellen climb the stairs and then finally disappear through the doorway. While slowly collecting her things and grabbing her briefcase, she shakes away the memory of Ellen's voice the last time she said it:

"Goodbye, Patty."

She feels a knot form in her stomach accompanying one last thought of the fight on the pier. As she makes her way out of the building her spirits are lifted slightly by the possibility that Ellen will change her mind and meet her at the airport.

For the next few hours Patty thinks of nothing but work which, in effect of her current case, is Ellen Parsons. She's sitting with her laptop and going over pages and pages of documents when suddenly she's overcome by an all too familiar perfume. Looking up, she smiles at the younger woman standing in front of her.

"Changed your mind?" she asks.

Ellen explains that there are no more commercial flights due to the storm and asks Patty if she still has room for one more.

Patty, more than pleased by the fact that Ellen is asking her for a favor, sits eagerly waiting for Ellen to sit down beside her. Helping Ellen has become sort of an addiction. It satisfies Patty somehow while, at the same time, causing her to resent the young woman for the help she provides her. Nonetheless, this "ungrateful child," as Patty would call her, will get exactly what she wants once again. Patty still can't figure out why, but she's willing to let it go as always. She doesn't like to question her motives regarding Ellen Parsons, perhaps because she's afraid of the answers.

Patty assures Ellen that there is plenty of room on the flight in her typical, very Patty-like, manner of course.

"It's a G-5 with 15 empty seats and a full bar…"

Ellen stares.

"…Welcome aboard."

Ellen is rather put off by Patty's arrogance but ignores it as she's desperate for her help.

"Thanks for letting me come along," Ellen replies, forcing the words out of her mouth.

"No need to thank me," Patty smiles, "I'd really like the company."

Ellen finds a seat on the other side of the terminal and Patty smirks and chuckles under her breath at the way the young woman, to whom she's offered help yet again, can't even sit within 10 feet of her.

During the first hour or so Patty gets up to speak to Ellen only once just to alert her that their plane will be delayed several hours. She returns to her seat, opens her laptop and re-attempts to lose herself in documents, a distraction that barely lasts an hour or two and is frequently interrupted by glances at Ellen. Ellen's been shifting in her chair the entire time, crossing her left leg over her right, right over left, and left over right again - something which Patty has been completely unable to ignore. Finally she gets up and heads for the vending machine.

"Cheese cracker?" Patty asks as she holds up two packages of cheese crackers. "I got one but the machine gave me two."

Ellen doesn't want to accept any more favors than necessary from Patty and so she declines the offer while holding up her own fruit bar.

"That's my Ellen, always prepared," Patty says while walking back to a chair that is closer yet still far enough away from Ellen to maintain some distance. Ellen stays silent, refusing to acknowledge or respond to the comment. Patty persists in trying to make conversation while Ellen, continuing to remain distant and short with her responses, watches Patty eat the crackers one by one. When Patty's finished she licks the crumbs from her fingers quite deliberately. It's at that very moment, when Patty looks up and smiles, that Ellen snaps back into focus and turns her gaze away as she realizes she's been staring at the older woman for some time now. Several more minutes of awkward silence go by and Patty is just looking for any reason to speak to Ellen. She asks Ellen for help with her new cell phone, a request which Ellen is very hesitant to oblige.

"You're three screens from the main screen which means you'll have to push this button three times to go back," Ellen explains while Patty moves her head in closer to Ellen's to view the screen. She glances over at the brunette hair in her peripheral as she breathes in, wondering what shampoo Ellen uses, then takes back her cell phone when Ellen's finished explaining.

"Thanks," Patty says with a smile.

She barely has time to say the word before Ellen is walking away. Patty turns and heads back to her original seat, the smile melting from her face as a feeling of pure frustration sets in and she nearly throws her cell phone through the window. Ellen seems to be doing a fabulous job of squashing all of Patty's attempts at even the slightest conversation. But Patty isn't giving up yet. She's been playing the game for 5 years now and she's always managed to lead Ellen toward the path that finds her. She sits patiently, letting Ellen sit alone. Several hours have gone by but she knows Ellen will have to approach her eventually.

Finally Patty hears Ellen stand and, while listening to the sound of her high heels against the floor, Patty cannot bite back the smile that re-appears as the younger woman draws near.

"Do you mind?" Ellen asks while pointing at the cheese crackers Patty has strategically left in plain sight.

Patty nods a yes at the request and before Ellen can walk away she catches her with a rather ambiguous question.

"It's nice isn't it?" Patty says with a grin and Ellen turns again.

"What?" Ellen asks.

"The quiet. It's really relaxing."

Ellen nods in agreement, "I know what you mean," and tries again to retreat. Patty, refusing to let Ellen get away from her anymore, stands quickly and makes her way to the bar which is clearly closed.

"What are you doing?" Ellen asks in surprise.

"I'm gonna get you a drink. Keep an eye out."

If nothing else will bring these two women together it will be bourbon and at this point Patty will stop at nothing to do whatever necessary to get Ellen to just come sit near her and talk, even if it means breaking into the airport bar and nearly getting caught by the pilot. Patty's little stunt manages to amuse Ellen and she finally sits down to have a drink.

Small talk slowly escalates into a deeper, more personal, discussion as Ellen tells Patty to go ahead and ask her anything she'd like. By now the bottle is beginning to feel much lighter when Patty picks it up to pour herself another glass before asking her question.

"How did your parents manage to raise someone like you?" she asks with a smile.

Ellen's a bit shy with the compliment and doesn't know how to take it as such. She simply makes a comment about her parents' bad parenting skills and her father's abusive behavior.

"I think you're too hard on them. Just look how you turned out," Patty replies, and Ellen is still oblivious to the repeated compliments.

Ellen's comment about her father makes Patty tell Ellen about her own father which inadvertently leads to a whole new level of personal when the topic shifts to the relationship between them.

"You know we're very similar, you and I. I think there's a reason we found each other. Do you believe in things like that?"

Suddenly Ellen becomes angry and replies in a very argumentative tone.

"Found each other? Patty, you manipulated and used me because of my connection to Katie. It wasn't some sort of fate."

"Yes, I did. But you continued working for me. You always came back, Ellen. No matter what, you stuck around. And I, more surprisingly, kept you around. Even after you'd served your purpose."

"What, you think you have some sort of hold over me? You do not have a hold over me, Patty."

"Oh no?" Patty chuckles. "Would you like another bourbon?" she asks sarcastically.

Ellen stares for a moment at Patty, then looks down at her empty glass while shifting uncomfortably in her seat and offering no response.

"Honestly, Ellen. And do you think that you have no hold over me?"

Ellen is shocked. She sits silently, trying to absorb the idea. It has never occurred to her before that she might actually have some power over Patty.

"You look surprised, Ellen. You can't tell me you have never thought about this before. Why you keep coming back. Why we're still here, together, alone in an airport."

"Patty, we're here because you created a case. You've always somehow managed to use manipulation to get me back into your life."

"You've got all the pieces of the puzzle, Ellen, you just haven't put them together yet. If you believe that's what I've been doing all along, then what do you think is the reason?"

"Patty, you always have something up your sleeve and your only motivation is self preservation. You kept me around so I wouldn't talk about Fiske. So I wouldn't tell anyone you tried to kill me."

Patty's expression fades from that cocky smirk into one of genuine hurt, a look Ellen has never seen from her before.

"Is that what you think is the only reason we are in one another's lives?"

"It's always been about manipulation for you, Patty. You enjoy keeping me nearby to kick around and play with. It's fun for you. It's a game. That's all it ever was."

"You really don't get it do you? You're looking but you're not seeing. Or at least you won't. You cannot sit there and tell me that all of it meant nothing. Do you actually believe that? That we …mean nothing to each other? You can't believe that you mean nothing to me, Ellen. I won't let you…"

Patty stands and steps towards Ellen. She braces herself with one hand on the arm of the couch and the other cradling Ellen's face, hesitating for a moment while she looks into Ellen's eyes. Finally Patty leans over slowly and kisses Ellen's lips after what has felt like a lifetime of anticipation. To Patty's surprise, Ellen doesn't resist. Her lips feel as soft and smooth against Patty's as her skin feels against Patty's fingertips. The kiss lasts only a few moments before Patty stands back upright, keeping her attention on Ellen, waiting for any kind of reaction to tell her whether or not she's just made the hugest mistake of her life.

Ellen opens her eyes to look up at Patty who is beginning to back away slowly. She reaches out and grabs Patty by the hand to stop her. At this point, neither of them are able to speak. They just continue gazing at one another nervously until Ellen pulls at Patty's hand to bring her forward. Patty steps closer again before lowering to her knees in front of Ellen and both women remain hesitant and unsure like two virgins as they look at one another, each waiting for the other to make a move until Patty feels as though she will lose her mind if she has to wait just a second longer to put her hands on Ellen.

Patty attacks the younger woman like a tiger, grabbing her by the hips to pull her in, Ellen's inner thighs pressing tightly against Patty's sides as Ellen scoots forward in her chair. Their lips meet once again before separating and exploring other areas. Patty seems to have found a favorite already when she feels the warmth of the soft skin against her lips as she kisses Ellen's neck just below her ear. The younger woman closes her eyes and pants heavily when she feels Patty's hand moving down along her curves and then back up again, beneath her skirt. Patty moans in appreciation of the amount of wetness she feels against her fingertips as they meet the crotch of Ellen's panties and move the material aside. The initial penetration is so intense that the women gasp simultaneously - Patty at the warmth and slickness surrounding her fingers, and Ellen at the jolt of electricity that surges through her body as Patty slowly slips inside her.

Patty sighs a muffled, "oh my god you feel amazing," against Ellen's neck where she has her face buried deep. Ellen's only response is a breathy, "aah…" as she latches onto Patty's shoulders tight enough to leave a bruise. The harder Patty thrusts, the more Ellen can feel herself slowly slipping into madness.

"No, Ellen, not yet," Patty demands when she feels Ellen beginning to tighten up around her fingers. She pulls them out slowly while kissing her way down to the pool of wetness she's made between Ellen's legs. Then, lifting the skirt up over Ellen's hips, she moves in to devour the younger woman she's desired for so long. The moment, the way Ellen feels, the way she tastes, is every bit as exquisite as Patty had always imagined.

Ellen looks down to see Patty's blonde hair flowing between her thighs and the visual elicits the strongest and deepest feeling of arousal that she's ever known. She begins writhing around frantically under Patty's tongue and kicks the table, not noticing the bottle of bourbon as it smashes against the floor, shattering into a thousand pieces. But Patty notices and grabs Ellen by the hand, letting her squeeze hard until the intensity of the orgasm has subsided and Ellen falls limp.

Patty rises to her feet again while wiping her mouth and a bit of perspiration from her brow before removing her jacket and tossing it onto the sofa. Drunk and exhausted, and still with many hours left to wait for the storm to pass, Patty plops down onto the couch beside Ellen. She puts her arms around her as Ellen leans over to place her head onto the older woman's chest. Patty smiles tenderly as her eyes close and the two women drift off to sleep.

Patty opens her eyes and a blurry TV screen comes into focus. She blinks a few times, unsure of where she is. Then sitting up in her seat she looks around for a moment before calling the stewardess.

"Where is Ellen?" Patty asks with surprise and confusion.

"You said she changed her mind, Miss Hewes. She didn't come with us."

Patty sits there somewhat dazed, staring off.

"You seemed rather angry, miss. Is everything alright?"

Patty still doesn't respond.

After a few moments, as the stewardess turns to walk away, she notices some broken glass on the floor.

"Oh my, that bottle must have fallen over from the turbulence. This is some storm we're having. How on Earth did you sleep through that, Miss Hewes?"

Patty glares at the broken bottle on the floor, then stares back at the stewardess silently. She can't speak.

-by Mary/Seduced with bourbon