A/N Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, sent PM's and favoured this story. As always I appreciate every comment, especially after the week I have had.

Thank you also for everyone who PM'd asking if I would be writing a one shot for 5x09. Unfortunately I haven't had a lot of time to do much of anything this week because of RL issues, but there is a wonderful story already posted by haunted-eternity called Cold Case Love. It is truly amazing and fills in the gaps of the episode perfectly. If you haven't already, please go and read. You won't be disappointed.

Thanks as always to Purdy's pal and DaisyDay for reading through parts of this

2

Images bombarded the woman in the bed, ravaging her mind with terrible scenes that collided the past with the present. Turning onto her side Fiona tried to escape the grip of the nightmare that had punctured her dreams until she finally forced herself awake and sat bolt upright in the bed. Her eyes darted around her as she tried to focus in the darkness. Hot tears stung her eyes when the terrors of her dreams forced themselves back to the forefront of her mind, causing her whole body to shake.

Michael moved beside her and slid an open palm over her naked back, soothing the tension away from her trembling form. Her screams had woken him from his own restless dreams and for a few seconds when he'd opened his eyes, he thought he'd imagined it.

"Fi," he spoke her name through the foggy haze in his mind and shook off the shadows of his own dreams to sit up next to her. Moving closer to her body he slipped an arm around her and leant in to place reassuring kisses over her temple, pulling her into his lips until she yielded under his touch.

"It's okay," he whispered as he rubbed small circles over her skin letting his presence soothe her, much like she had done for him a few months ago when he'd been consumed with nightmares. "It's just a dream."

Fiona nodded silently and turned her body into his, letting him draw her closer to him as he guided them both back down to lie on the bed.

She shifted against him to lean into his warmth, her whole body craving his touch as she buried herself deeper into his chest. Her head moved so she was cradled beneath his chin, seeking his comfort as she tried to erase the images from her mind. Closing her eyes, she moulded herself to his body and relaxed against him.

Michael slid one of his hands up to her shoulder, his soothing touch sending waves of comfort through her tired body. He was struck by an overwhelming desire to hold her close and keep her safe forever. He had never felt this close to anyone before and all he wanted to do was banish the demons that haunted her, anything to ease the tension in her body. Inclining his head slightly he kissed her hair and tilted up her chin so he could get a better look at her face.

"You okay?" he asked in a hushed whisper, his breath fanning her face.

She sighed as she turned her face into his body to place a kiss onto his chest before lifting her head to meet his worried gaze. "Tired."

Michael gazed down at her in awe. Even in the darkness her expressive eyes still managed to capture his attention and steal his breath away from him. Caressing her face gently, he stroked his fingers across her cheek before dipping his head to press his lips to hers in a soft lingering kiss that cascaded so many different emotions between them.

When their lips reluctantly parted he pulled her back into his chest with a contented sigh. In his mind he told her the words he knew he was too scared to say. Words that had the power to bind them together no matter how far apart they were.

"Close your eyes," he whispered as his fingers stroked circular patterns over her back, listening intently for any signs of distress until he felt her relax against him.

Michael stayed awake and watched her sleep, content to listen to the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. The last few weeks had lain heavy on the both of them but they had been through worse challenges than this, hadn't they? After a while his eyes closed against the fatigue invading his body and he instinctively tightened his arms around her, keeping her close to him until the rhythm of her soft breaths lulled him to sleep.

They were both still wrapped up in each other's arms when the loft door vibrated with the pounding from the other side. Sunshine shone through the windows when Michael lifted his head. He looked towards the intrusion with profound irritation until he heard Sam's voice calling from outside.

Groaning into Fiona's back he pulled her body closer and buried his head into her hair, willing Sam to get the message and go away. When the incessant hammering didn't stop Michael manoeuvred his arm out from under Fiona's body and climbed out of the bed.

Looking around the loft he searched for his pants that were somewhere on the floor. He spotted them in a heap by the door and quickly reached down to pick them up. They were still wet from the downpour last night and for a few seconds he contemplated going to the back of the loft to retrieve a dry pair, but Sam's banging was getting louder. Michael cast a hurried glance to Fiona who thankfully hadn't been disturbed by Sam's relentless hammering. He cringed when the wet material clung to his skin making it increasingly difficult to pull them on. Unlocking the loft door he cracked it open to stop Sam barging through.

"MIKE," Sam boomed but Michael lifted a hand quickly to shush him and moved his body through the gap he'd made, pulling the door closed behind him.

"Keep it down Sam, Fi's still asleep."

"What?" the older man huffed and looked down at his watch. "It's after ten and you missed breakfast with your mom and her new beau, she's pissed."

Michael groaned and ran his fingers through his unruly hair. "And she sent you?"

"Well yeah, Mike. Neither of you are answering your phones, but if you want I can leave you to your mom but don't blame me when she comes barging over here!"

Michael groaned as he looked up into the sky and wished just for once that he could enjoy a Sunday morning lie in like normal people. Rubbing his hands over his face he sighed heavily before moving back towards the door. "Let me wake Fi."

000

Sam had watched the interactions of his two friends silently as he took long sips of his beer. They both seemed different somehow, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.

Sam thought it surreal that Michael was talking about the CIA and the bomber they searched for while he poured some boiling water into a dainty little cup. Bringing the bottle to his lips, Sam sniggered behind the glass as he tried to hide the laughter bubbling in his chest. For all of his denial to the contrary, Michael Westen had become domesticated.

Fiona came back into the kitchen now fully dressed and took the small cup that Michael handed to her with a grateful smile. The two of them shared a look that smouldered between them and suddenly Sam felt as if he shouldn't really be here.

"I left you some hot water," Fiona smiled as she placed her cup onto the table before reaching up to run a finger down Michael's bare chest.

For an awkward moment Sam shifted in his seat. Heat crackled in the room and for one brief, horrifying minute he thought he was going to be a witness to something more intimate between them. He slammed his bottle down onto the breakfast bar, breaking the moment between them as well as reminding them he was in the room.

Michael's eyes reluctantly slipped from hers as he turned to look at Sam questioningly. He swallowed hard when she moved passed him, still amazed by how just being near her set his whole body on high alert.

Michael caught Sam's amused stare and hurriedly looked away from his girlfriend and coughed a little to feign his embarrassment of getting caught gawking at her.

Fiona's gaze snapped to the two of them and cast them a serious look. Picking up her cup from the table she moved towards Michael and sat down onto the stool beside him and placed her tea on the breakfast bar.

"So, Sam," she asked, breaking the older man's amused grin and taking his attention away from her boyfriend. "So what do we owe the pleasure of your early morning visit?"

Michael's attention fell to her as she cast Sam an intensive stare and for a small moment he actually felt sorry for his long time friend. Placing his hand on Fiona's shoulder, he gave her arm a grateful squeeze.

"My mom has been trying to call us," he told her with a smile. "We were supposed to meet her and Bill—"

"Ben," Fiona corrected. "When was this arranged? Didn't we already have lunch with them last week?"

"Thank you," Michael sighed. "That's what I told her, but apparently I'm just being difficult!"

"I'll call her," Fiona sighed as she picked up her cup and took a sip of the hot liquid, before turning her attention back to Sam. "So you never answered my question."

"Hey, I was sent over here by Maddie and I ain't arguing with her, the woman's kinda scary."

"Oh poor baby," Fiona chuckled lightly as she placed her cup back onto the bar.

"I'll go get cleaned up," Michael looked from one to the other dubiously. "Can I trust you two not to kill each other while I'm in the shower?"

"Oh I don't know," Fiona smiled, turning her gaze to Sam. "That all depends on him."

"Me?" Sam's voice came out in a squeak but he covered it quickly with a dramatic cough. "She's the nut job around here!"

"Why you," Fiona growled, starting to get up from her seat before Michael put his hands on both of her shoulders to keep her in her seat.

"I guess that's a no then," Michael sighed.

"Go," Fiona told him quickly as she looked up at him with a coy smile. "I'll be good."

"If I have to drag you in the shower with me—" he warned but his voice suddenly trailed away when her eyes sparked with fire.

"Oh you won't have to drag me Michael," her voice lowered in to a sultry whisper. "I'll come willingly…"

"ANYWAY," Sam's voice boomed, breaking the two of them apart. "I think that's my cue…"

"Sit back down Sam," Fiona ordered, turning her attention back to him. "While Michael is in the shower we can sit here and talk like two civilised people…"

"Civilised?" he huffed. "You?"

"I can be civilised," she told him in protest even as Michael left the room. "So, tell me…did you have any new calls from your mystery woman?"

The smile dropped from Sam's face and he lowered his bottle to the bar. "You know, the funniest thing happened last night. I was out with Elsa, we were having our date night…you know…that special ni—"

"Spare me the details," Fiona held her hand up to him and turned her face away in disgust. "So is this story going anywhere or are you just trying to put me off my breakfast?"

"Hey, I'll have you know Elsa thinks I'm a catch."

"Yeah?" she mused. "At least someone does!"

"Hey!"

"Focus, Sam," she told him then, grinning like a Cheshire cat as she picked up her cup again.

"What?" he asked in confusion before clarity suddenly dawned. "Oh…no, thing is I know I had my phone with me. I remember putting it on the table before our drinks arrived but after that it's a little sketchy…Elsa does this thing with her fingers that drive me—"

"Stop!" Fiona groaned, squeezing her eyes closed briefly to emphasise, "I don't want to know what you two do to each other…I may never be able to sleep again!"

"Funny," he huffed. "At least I don't do it in front of you."

"Do what exactly?" she quipped. "What, are you worried you might learn something?"

"That ain't funny, sister!" Picking up his empty bottle he threw it into the trash before opening the refrigerator to obtain another full bottle.

Fiona's phone chirped inside her bag, drawing her attention away from him. Getting off of the stool she grabbed her bag from the floor beside the bed and rummaged around until she found the ringing phone. Pulling it out she pressed the answer button and put it to her ear.

"Hello." Silence greeted her and she turned to look at Sam as she listened to the crackling silence close to her ear. "Hello…"

Moving to her side, Sam bent his head near hers as she turned the phone outwards so he could hear. When it was obvious that there was no one there, she pulled the cell away from her ear and looked down at the caller ID.

"Withheld," she mouthed placing the phone to her ear again before ending the call.

"Maybe it was a wrong number," Sam mused, hoping to provide some kind of explanation until he saw the frown appear on Fiona's face. "What?"

Lifting her phone for him to see she scrolled through her inbox to highlight the ten new messages that she hadn't noticed until now.

"I think I know who has your phone," she told him wryly. "Whoever this is they have every number in your phonebook."

Sam took the phone from her hands and opened her inbox, looking down at the screen with concern.

"He's mine," he read aloud before opening the next message. "I won't let you steal him from me."

"There's another eight messages saying the same thing," Fiona told him, waving off his concern. "It's not me you should be worried about Sam…if this woman took your phone she must have seen who you were with."

"Elsa," Sam whispered worriedly and cast Fiona a helpless look. "Can I—"

"Call her…tell her what's going on," Fiona urged as she pointed to her phone that he still clutched in his hand. "Do it now."

He nodded quickly and pressed in the number he knew by heart and walked onto the balcony for some privacy.

Fiona watched him with guarded affection when his body sagged in relief. Turning away from him she couldn't help but smile as she reached for the half empty tea cup and took a small sip. He annoyed the hell out of her with his sometimes overbearing wisecracks, but when it came down to it, if she was caught in a fight with no hope of getting out, she'd want him by her side. Regardless of his ability to show up at the wrong moments, she had to admit to herself that she actually quite liked him.

Michael re-entered the kitchen and smoothed his hands over her shoulders when he saw that Sam was on the balcony.

"Everything okay?" he asked curiously when he could see his friend pacing up and down and flailing an arm in the air.

"He's talking to Elsa," she told him in a hushed whisper as she leaned back against his chest. "It seems his mystery caller may have stolen his phone and now she's busy sending messages to the women on his list."

"You're in his phonebook, Fi," Michael told her worriedly, squeezing her shoulders as he spoke. "If she has his phone she—"

"Yep, she's already called and left me ten messages," she told him, waving off his concern. "It's kind of amusing if you think about it."

Michael drew in a breath and moved around her still form to face her. "Amusing?" he asked. "She has your number, Fi."

"A lot of people have my number, Michael," she told him coolly, placing her cup onto the table. "I'm not about to stop answering my phone because some woman keeps leaving me messages."

"She could be dangerous—"

"Oh please, Michael," she huffed. "Do you really think I would let anyone get the better of me?"

"I know you can take care of yourself Fi," he told her in frustration. "But what about Elsa?"

Fiona stilled for a moment and turned to see Sam still pacing up and down on the balcony. Turning back to Michael she reached out to touch his arm and nodded in agreement.

"Maybe she should stay here with us," she suggested. "At least until we can find out who this woman is."

Michael sighed and reluctantly agreed. Looking around the loft at their bed he silently tried to rearrange the room in his mind. Apart from a couch upstairs, the only other place to sleep was the bed.

"What about my mom?" he asked then, intent on suggesting that Elsa stayed with her.

"What?" Fiona turned to him with a gasp. "I forgot about your mom. She's in his phone book too…"

Michael opened and closed his mouth, his mind trying to think of something to say but his words died on his lips when Sam re-entered the loft.

"I'm screwed," he whined miserably. "This maniac called her and told her I'm having an affair."

"But you explained it to her right?" Fiona asked him, "You told her this woman stole your phone?"

"Yeah, I told her…"

"And?" Fiona urged sympathetically.

"She's mad…really, really mad," he sighed.

"Well, Michael and I may have a suggestion," she told him as she looked at Michael, silently urging him to ask Elsa to stay at the loft.

"We thought that maybe Elsa would want to stay here," Michael caught Fiona's eyes and forced a wide toothed smile to his face. "With us."

Sam nodded his head thoughtfully and looked down at the phone in his hand. "Well that might work if she wasn't so mad about my 'affair'."

"I'm not following you Sam," Michael came to sit beside Fiona who had reached out to retrieve her phone. "You told her there was no affair right?"

"Oh yeah I told her," he sighed miserably as he picked up his half-finished bottle of beer. "But it's who she thinks I'm having the affair with that's the problem."

Fiona's eyes dropped to her phone that suddenly sprang to life in her hands. The screen lit up with a new message that took her by surprise and she looked up to Sam questioningly before she opened it.

Both men were silent when she read the message soundlessly, her calm exterior unnerving. When her head snapped up and she focused on Sam, the older man knew better than to ask what was wrong. Placing the phone onto the breakfast bar she moved off of the stool to cast a steely glare at the man who by now was guzzling his third beer.

Sam swallowed hard, his eyes darting to Michael's before placing his beer slowly onto the table. "I can explain…"

"You'd better start talking Sam," she seethed as she started to move towards him, stalking him like a tigress. "Why would your girlfriend accuse me of sleeping with you…sleeping Sam…the mere thought of it just turns my stomach…"

"What?" Michael's voice rose as he spoke, looking towards his best friend with a mixture of sympathy and anger. "Why would she think …Sam…start talking."

"It was this psycho putting crazy thoughts in her head," Sam told them as he hurried around the kitchen so that he was away from Fiona's angry stance. "I tried telling her …but she wouldn't listen…"

"Well make her listen," Michael warned him. "Call her right now and put this right."

"I wish I could Mikey but she, uh…she's already—"

A loud hammering on the door caused them all to stop what they were doing to look towards it. Sam shook his head and took a long swig of his beer before slamming it down onto the table. "Here…"

"What?" Fiona asked in confusion, "Why would she—"

Before she could continue, Sam moved towards the door and opened it wide, greeting the woman who stood there with a beaming smile. "Pumpkin I can explain…"

"Is she here?" she asked tearfully as she thrust a bag full of clothes into his chest. "Is your tramp here?"

"Hey!" Fiona growled as she barrelled towards the door only to be caught in Michael's arms, preventing her from hurting Sam or the woman at the door.

Elsa peered in through the open doorway and took a step inside, her face burning with anger and pain. "YOU!"

"SAM," Fiona growled as she struggled against Michael's grip.

"Elsa, honey please just listen," Sam pleaded, his hand coming out to wrap around the tiny woman's arm. "You need to listen to me baby…it's all a big mistake—"

"My only mistake is you Sam Axe," she sobbed as she tried to yank her arm from his.

"No baby, don't say that," Sam soothed, trying his hardest to appease her. He cast a pleading gaze to his friends who were watching the whole chaotic scene.

Michael loosened his grip of Fiona's body, and looked towards Elsa with concern. Taking hold of Fiona's shoulders he turned her towards him and leaned in to place a soft kiss onto her head. She was breathing rapidly, fury coursing through her body, but when he smoothed his hands over her shoulders she couldn't help but lift her eyes to meet his gaze. The anger in her eyes died away and she leant into his body, taking comfort from his touch

"Sam, what the hell is going on?" Elsa asked angrily, tears staining her face

"I think you'd better come in Elsa," Michael told her before Sam could speak. "I don't think Sam told you the whole story."

tbc