A/N: Thanks to my reviewers, and those who put this on alert. It was a little slow to start I know, but I think this chapter should get things revved, up a bit. BTW, I made a slight revision for plot purposes. Brody is 36 weeks pregnant, not 32.

Meredith Brody closed her eyes as a tightening sensation travelled across the center of her abdomen and radiated down her back. At 36 weeks, Braxton-Hicks contractions were a normal occurrence among other things. To put it plainly, she was miserable. As if being stuck at home bored out of her damn mind, she had other unpleasantries to worry about: heartburn, hemorrhoids, muscle cramps, a weaken dribbling bladder, you name it she had it. The worse part however was the reoccurring sciatic nerve pain that struck every time she tried to use the can. Using the bathroom had now become an excoriating experience and ranked as her number one reason to never again sleep with your partner when he is grieving and drunk.

Being pregnant with LaSalle's child was just about the loveliest experience she'd ever had. NOT! Though she had only gained a mere 24 pounds, she felt like a whale. To quote Sebastian she was turning into Jabba the Hut.

Pencil thin legs and a near perfect ass allowed her to carry her weight in the abdominal region, making her look like she had swallowed a Platies ball. LaSalle continuously told her she looked great and up until the other day she had believed him until she had caught a glimpse of herself naked in the full length mirror. As if being a forty something pregnant whale weren't bad enough, there were also stretch marks galore! So much for bikini season when this was over.

Over she thought with a pleasant smile as the child inside of her moved. In just two short months, she was going to become a mother to the most adorable little girl she'd ever seen. The thought absolutely terrified her. Although, she had spent hours upon hours reading and scrolling the web learning about how to be good parent, she couldn't quite quell the thought that she and Chris had no idea of what they were doing. They were kick ass federal agents, not Ozzy and Harriet.

At least she had James to take her mind off of things she thought as her cell phone came to life flashing a picture of the handsome journalist. She knew that deep down he was nothing but a nice distraction from the terrifying thought that she was actually going to have every little girl's dream of raising a family and having a kick ass career with her true-

Wait, stop. She had only used the "L" word once. It wasn't that she didn't love Chris, it was the fear that once she said those words that fate would somehow strike one of them down. The fact that she had been shot, kept reminding of that. What if she gave into her feelings and allowed herself to fall head over heels, blissfully in love, only to have it suddenly taken away? She had learned from James and a few others before him to keep her distance. It was safer that way.

They did have great sex though Brody thought trying to remember the last time… Damn, had it really been that long? She frowned at the thought that it wouldn't be happening any time soon. Not, that it couldn't. She was just so damn uncomfortable that the thought of even trying for LaSalle's sake repulsed her. One look at her naked and the man would probably be scarred for life and left unable to perform.

She did the miss the times that they would just lay together, trying to imagine what their baby girl would look like. She wanted Emily Cadence to have Chris' intense sapphire colored eyes with her long dark eyelashes. She also wanted her to have his amazing smile. In fact, when she thought about it, she wanted her to have most everything that was uniquely him with her thin tall frame and her slight Midwestern accent.

She frowned thoughtfully at the idea of how much she missed him. She missed the day to day interaction of trying to piece together a case or riding in the truck to interview a witness she missed the banter of their partnership. She missed everything about being around him, especially when she was alone at night.

But at least, Patton had sent over some of the current case files that needed a second look which helped to pass the time and allowed her to still have a sense of professional worth. She had yet to really think about what she was going to do once Emily was born. She and Chris had both agreed to take maternity leave at separate times to so they had at least three months covered without needing child care but after that she didn't know. She supposed that once they settled on a place to live that they would begin looking at daycare and the cost of a full-time nanny with their schedules it would be impossible to keep a regular 7-5 routine. So many decisions to be made she sighed as the little life inside of her kicked, causing a visible wave to travel across her stomach.

Her cell phone rang again and she debated for a moment before answering it. She really needed to tell Chris about James and their standing monthly date. It wasn't fair that she was keeping the details from him, but at the moment she just couldn't seem to find the words. Anything she would say felt like it would come out wrong.

"Hey, I'm a little under the weather today, afraid; I don't feel much like smiling today."

"I bet I can find a reason to make you smile."

"You always do," She replied.

"Then I'll pick you up in an hour?"

"Better make that two," Brody sighed as another tightening wave travelled across her stomach.

Percy looked at the framed 3x5 black and white ultrasound photo that sat on LaSalle's desk. It was one of several that she had seen over the last 6 months. Due to the fact that Merri had been shot early on in her pregnancy, regular ultrasounds and at regular risk check-ups were the norm. It almost seemed as if LaSalle was at her baby doctor appointments more than he was at work.

"Ya ready?" Chris asked as he stepped up to her donning Kevlar. They were going with Pride to check out a lead on the Sarin case. A tip from Ross P had actually given them a possible suspect, a former meth lab cook who had now turned chemical terrorist.

"Waiting on you," she quipped, as he handed her a set of Kevlar.

"We're meeting Pride there."

Percy pulled the vest over her head. "I suppose we're going to drop off Snow White's medication along the way?"

"Don't have time," Chris tossed out as they headed for the truck. He would go as soon as they were finished. He felt bad that he couldn't go right now, but they were just too busy with the case. Pride and Born were already waiting on them.

Once they had all assembled at the run down cabin, Pride started to delve out orders from what they could see the cabin and the adjacent metal garage storage area were empty.

"If they were cooking meth it probably happened in there," Borin motioned towards the garage noting that it seemed to have lines running to it for temperature control."

"My guess is we'll find the Sarin in there," Pride added. "Chris, Sonja take the cabin. Borin and I will take the garage."

"Roger that, King" Chris stood with his weapon ready while Percy knocked on the door.

"NCIS!"

When no response came Chris kicked open the door and together they started to canvass the house. It was just a one room cabin rectangular in size, the kitchen on one end and the living room on the other. Chris was just about to the center of the living room ready to call out "all clear" when he heard a small gasp from behind him.

Whirling around LaSalle saw Percy's eyes widen in fear before he heard the sound of the click of the pressure plate. A pressure plate was the equivalent to the pin on a grenade. Once you pulled the pin out you had to keep applying the pressure otherwise it was going to explode.

Percy looked down at her foot, kicking herself. She was trained to watch out for these things.

"La-" She had barely gotten the first syllable of his name out when Chris suddenly slammed into her with such a force that it sent the two of them sailing back through the doorway in which they came, clearing the porch as the bomb went off.

Her head hit the dirt with a thud, in time with a crushing sensation in her chest. She was certain that LaSalle had just broken a couple of her ribs with the force of his weight. At only, 5'2, she was no match for the one hundred-sixty pound bulk of muscle that was now pinning her to the ground.

For several moments, they laid perfectly still waiting for the debris to stop flying. Thank God for Kevlar, Chris thought as fiery splinters of wood and glass rained down upon his neck and back. They were still so close to the flames that he certain that he'd be missing some hair from his arms and the back of his neck when he finally decided to get up.

"You two all right?" Pride asked noting the blood pouring down the side of LaSalle's face when his second in command finally stumbled to his feet. Spared from the explosion itself, he'd caught a piece of debris on the left side of his forehead.

"Fine," he answered giving Percy a hand up.

Pride gave his number one a discerning glare. Brody would never forgive him if LaSalle were to die from what seemed to be a simple head wound. "Make sure you get that checked out."

"Sure thing, King."

"I wanna see you try to keep this from Brody," Sonja quipped as she watched the EMT pulled the thick black thread through LaSalle's left eyebrow.

"She probably won't even notice," LaSalle winced as the suture was closed. Two stiches were nothing, but they still hurt like hell.

"Like hell she won't notice!" The woman wasn't blind. Unless he was planning on staying away from her for the next ten days, but even then that kind of wound would leave a scar.

"You don't know, Brody." he said resigned as the medic finished off the wound with a butterfly stitch.

Percy crossed her arms over her chest. "Then why don't you enlighten me."

"Things are just pretty PG between us right now is all."

"What the hell is PG?"

"Pretty Grim"

Percy raised an eyebrow.

"You think she's slept with this other guy?"

LaSalle shrugged. He was pretty sure he could rule out the idea that she hadn't been with James recently given her current state but he didn't know about earlier on in the pregnancy when he'd been in Alabama. Definitely before, yes, that was a known as was his time with Savannah.

"Have you asked?"

"That's not really how I do things."

"Well, maybe you need to change your game plan."

Chris lowered his head as a smile spread to his face. He trusted Brody he really did. They were just in an awkward place at the moment.

"You want to ride along to the hospital for a CAT scan agent" one of the EMTs asked.

"No, I good" Chris answered watching Percy's eyes grow wide.

"To hell you are." She whipped out her cell phone. "Why don't we just ask Brody and get her opinion?"

Chris pushed his hand out. "Wait…wait…I'll go," he said begrudgingly.

Brody was in the kitchen when she heard Chris enter through the front door and make his way to her.

"Chris, I called you hours ago…." she whirled before noticing the butterfly stitch across his eyebrow. She moved it to touch it, only to have him flinch away.

"What happened?"

"Nuthin," he shrugged. The last thing he wanted was for her to worry.

"That is not nothing." Brody rubbed the pad of her thumb over his injured brow. "Tell me what happened." Anything that warranted, stitches was serious in this point of the game. They were about to have a baby.

Turning away, Chris set her prescription on the table. "Percy and I encountered a bomb in house we were searching is all. It's nothing to get all bowed up about."

"So you and Sonja were almost blown up?"

"Almost only counts in horse shoes." He quipped before crossing back to her. He placed his hands on the bulge of her stomach, hoping to feel his baby girl move. As luck would have it, Emily Cadence was curled up tight in her mother's womb sucking on her thumb.

"She's upset at you." Brody sighed, earning a curious look.

His brow furrowed. Had he done something wrong? "What do you mean upset?"

"Her daddy was almost killed and nobody bothered to call her mommy," Brody took a purposeful step back. More and more she was beginning to feel disconnected from the team and the job she loved. Worse of all, she felt like Chris was slipping away, shutting her out from everything work related. He was there so much that she really only saw him when he was sleeping and even that was becoming a rarity. She hated to admit it but she finally understood how Linda Pride had felt like before she decided to divorce King.

Chris rolled his eyes. "It's a couple of stitches. Percy stepped on a pressure plate and I pushed her out of the way."

Pushed her out of the way? How stupid was that? With the bomb right underneath Percy's foot, they both could have been killed in the blast. "It didn't occur to you to call the bomb squad?"

"There wa'nt time." Brody knew the drill. They saw a bomb. They ran like hell. He couldn't very well leave Percy there while he went outside to retrieve his phone to call the bomb squad.

Brody shook her head in disgust. Normally, this kind of behavior from her partner wouldn't have bothered her. In fact, she would have thought it was kind of sexy and heroic but now it just seemed reckless.

"Chris, we are having a baby. You can't be taking risks like that."

Did Brody even hear herself? Chris bit down on his lower lip to keep from saying something he shouldn't. It just wouldn't be worth the fight. "I gotta go. King's excepting me back." Leaning in, he pecked her cheek.

Brody could only nod as tears began to prick at her lashes. Damn those hormones. Thank God his back was to her she thought, dabbing at her eyes. The last thing she wanted was for him to see her complete blubbering hot mess over a couple of stitches. He was just about to the door when she decided to call out to him. Maybe it was time to bite the bullet so to speak.

"Chris-"

"Yeah?" he turned, his heart skipping a beat in anticipation over what she might say.

Brody looked up at him like a nervous school girl who was about to ask the boy of her dreams to the Sadie Hawkins dance. "Would mind stayin' here with me tonight?"

LaSalle smiled at her in relief. He was afraid she was going to take his head off. "I'll try to be back early but no guarantees."

Hours later, Brody sat at the kitchen table admiring the photographs that James had taken of her. They were all arranged in order from the very beginning of her pregnancy until now. Beautiful, sexy photos that ignited her face and slender, but growing frame. Just a couple of more she thought placing her hand on the center of her stomach. Once they were finished and in an album she was going to give them to Chris.

She heard a bump at the door. Crap! It was Chris. He was much earlier than she had expected. Quickly, she scrambled to put the photos back into the large file folder, before slowly pulling to her feet.

"What's the matter? Did you forget your key?" she smiled, hearing another rap at the door. Still smiling, she opened the door to an unfamiliar figure.

"Meredith Brody?"

"Yes."

"Delivery," The man shoved a small box into her hands as a second man, grabbed her from behind, pushing a sweet smelling rag over her face. She tried to struggle but the chemical on the rag was too strong. In a matter of seconds, she went limp in her assailant's arms.

"Get her on the kitchen table," the first man said to the other. "We have to be quick with this."