Pushing away from Andy, Brenda brushed her hair out of her face and back over her shoulder as she glanced back towards the door of the murder room. They were still completely all alone, but she didn't feel safe in there, there were too many chances that they could be seen, or that someone could just waltz right in on them and that was a risk that she was no willing to take. Still, there was something about the look in Andy's eyes that made her feel invincible, and sometimes she hated that look in his eyes as much as she liked it. Andrew Flynn was trouble. It ought to have been his middle name, or perhaps his last name. Lieutenant Trouble. It had a nice ring to it, and there was so much truth in it that she could hardly think straight. From the first moment she met him, Brenda had known that he was going to be trouble, but that didn't mean that she didn't like it, there was something about his brand of trouble that she just didn't know how to be without all of a sudden. It was addictive.

Beckoning him with a finger, Brenda span on her heel and hurried into her office, knowing that Andy was right on her heels, he always was. Some people would have called him a puppy dog because he was always there, always wanted attention, but Brenda knew that it was more than that, it always was. It was who he was, it showed that he wanted to be there, wanted to be with her, help her. He was a good friend to her if nothing more, and that was how she liked it. It was nice to know that she could rely on him. That was how she knew he wasn't the leak. If he was the leak, then they both would have been screwed, and if nothing else, Andy wouldn't cut his own throat for the sake of a secret that could have torn apart the team and her marriage.

"I have to tell you something." It was something that she had hoped to avoid, something that she had wanted to keep to herself, Fritz didn't get it, would never have understood it, but Andy did. He knew all about it, and maybe for that very reason he was the only one that could have helped her with it. Not that she wanted help, she just wanted him to know that he was back and he wasn't going away.

The moment Flynn entered her office Brenda span on her heel and closed the door behind him as fast as she could, locking it. She pulled the cord that closed the blinds before she moved to the door that led into the corridor and locked that too. She knew that Pope was out there somewhere, and eventually he was going to want to talk to her about the body, but she hadn't even seen it yet—something that would have shocked the hell out of Will Pope if he were to ever find out. Pope knew Brenda almost as well as Fritz and Andy, and there was something scary in that. That was how she knew that if he were to ever find out about the two of them, they would be screwed. Neither of them would keep their jobs. Of course it was more jealousy that would have Pope screaming, because even Brenda couldn't deny that he had been trying to win her back since the day he gave her the position as Deputy Chief. His attempts no longer worked, she was no longer attracted to him—even if he was her boss, and that was something that she had to deal with.

Spinning around once she was certain that all the doors were locked, Brenda lowered herself into the chair behind her desk and sighed deeply. Her hands ran through her hair for a few moments, calming her nerves before she sat up and reached for the handbag that she had dumped unceremoniously on the desk as she was waiting for Andy to walk into the office behind her. She rummaged around in the bag for a few minutes, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip before she let out a triumphant grunt and pulled from her bag a cigarette lighter. She held it up to the light, her lips pursed tightly as she stared at it like it was a bomb that was about to go off in her hands. It wasn't, but it might as well have been with the way she held it.

"Where did you get that?" Leaning his hip against the desk beside him, Andy leaned down slightly and stared at the lighter. It was familiar and yet at the same time, foreign, but somehow, he knew it.

"He's back."

His heart began to pound faster and faster, and Andy could feel it tighten in his chest. Surely Brenda couldn't mean what she had said? Reached out he snatched the lighter out of her hands and stared at it. He ran his finger over the grooves on the side where fingers had obviously etched designs into it carefully. It was almost handmade, but there was something else there, he could see it. His thumb brushed against the base of the lighter and he found it. Scratched into the bottom of the lighter were the initials B.C. His eyes darkened as he tried to think for a second, narrowing his eyes before recognition dawned in them and he dropped the lighter, swearing loudly.

Bill Croelick was back. The smug firebug with a certain charm about him that Brenda was almost never sure of had left the lighter on her doorstep that morning. She hadn't wanted to show it to Fritz, because she knew that he wouldn't get the connection, wouldn't understand who it was from, but she remembered. She remembered everything that there was to ever know about Bill Croelick. It was almost as if his face was etched before her very eyes and she couldn't force it away, it was impossible. Flynn understood. He knew Croelick. He had as many dealings with him as Brenda if not more, and there was something that he could never forget about the way that he had looked at Brenda the last time he had seen them together. There was a hunger in his eyes that had terrified Andy, he didn't want to see her dead just like the other girls, but he couldn't do anything. She would never have let him.

"What did that smug bastard want this time?" There was an edge in his voice, and deep down Andy was afraid of what he was about to hear, but there was nothing that he could do about it. He wanted to protect her. Would have done anything humanly possible to protect her, if only Brenda would let him do it. There was something about Croelick that had always made his skin crawl and it was getting worse and worse as the days went on. He had thought that when he took the money from the settlement he would be gone, out of their lives for good. He had always thought that eventually he might return, come back this time in a body bag, but he had been wrong. It had been a few years and there were no sightings of him until now. Until the lighter.

"Easy, Andy, I don't know what he wants. I didn't see him, all I found was the lighter."

Reaching down to pick it up again, Andy was stopped by the feel of Brenda's fingers clenching over his own as she stopped him from touching it. Suddenly, Brenda regretted telling him. Bill Croelick was really not much of a threat to her, at least she didn't think he was. He had never been much of a threat before, it was only when they were after him that she thought that he was a threat, but she had seen him in years, and this was different. It was almost like a reminder that he was around, that she should never forget that he existed. There had almost been a strange attraction to Croelick, but Brenda had forced herself to ignore it. It couldn't exist, it wasn't real and finally it had gone away and so had he, but this was the second lighter that he had left for her, and that had to mean something. Still...he wasn't there at the moment, perhaps she ought to have waited until she actually saw him to mention it to anyone. Or maybe she would have hauled him into the precinct and locked him up for a few hours...no, she wouldn't have done that. She just wanted to know what he wanted.

"If he comes near you Brenda, make sure you're not alone. I'll protect you from him." Andy's words were noble, but they lit a fire from deep within and Brenda was out of her chair before he had even said another word, her eyes alive and burning with anger.

"Are you suggesting that I can't look after myself lieutenant? Because if that is what you are suggesting I highly suggest you get the hell out of this office right now." To emphasise her point, her finger pointed at the door, her hand completely steady. She was insulted to think that Andy of all people wanted to protect her from someone like Bill Croelick. He wasn't a danger to her, she knew it, and she certainly didn't need to be protected by some hot-headed lieutenant just because he thought that it was his right to protect her.

"Brenda it's not about that...of course you can look after yourself, but this is Croelick...we both know that he—" His words were cut off by the sharp look in her eyes that made him shrink slightly, and Andy took a step backwards and raised his hands slightly in defeat but Brenda wasn't giving up, and really, he wasn't altogether sure that he could blame her. Plus, there was something about listening to her fire up that was really starting to fire him up, but he didn't want to think about that right in that moment. It wasn't right.

"Do you look at me and think 'Oh, poor Brenda, miss Atlanta with the hair can't look after herself even though she's got a gun of her own?' I'll tell you right now that I know more about handle a gun than you do. I know just how many shots it takes to really penetrate the gut." Her eyes flashed angrily and she slammed the lighter back down on her desk as she took a step closer to him, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "I can look after myself, Andy. I don't need you doing it for me." Her heart was hammering in her chest and it wouldn't stop, she was so mad at him for even suggesting that she couldn't look after herself. It was insulting to think that after all these years, they still saw her as the innocent cop from Atlanta with a mess of blonde hair and a penchant for cats and chocolate. It irked her to no avail.

And yet, there was still another part of her that was aching as she looked at Flynn. There was something so amazing about the fact that he wanted to protect her. It wasn't like Fritz, nor was it like Pope. It was something completely different and she didn't know what to make of it, it was like there was nothing that he wouldn't have done for her, and she had never known that in him before. In fact, if she was being honest to herself, Brenda didn't even think that part of Andrew Flynn existed. Her heart was racing, she couldn't stop herself as she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her heart was thundering as her lips found his and parted them almost instantly as she kissed him fiercely, but the fire quickly began to burn through every part of her and she could feel him respond in kind as he wrapped his arms around her holding her closer than before.

Jerking herself awake, Brenda wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth as she fixed the glasses that had become askew upon her face. Pieces of paper stuck to her cheeks as she struggled to push herself away from the desk where she had fallen asleep. Groggily she tried to search for a clock but couldn't find the one that normally sat on the corner of her desk. Her hands shifted upon the mahogany wood of the desk, pressing until they found her phone and she hit the button that she was looking for. The time flashed up at her, the light so bright that she had to shrink away from it before it became too much for her. 5:15AM. Had she really been there all night long?

Staring at the phone without really seeing it, Brenda noticed the message icon flashing as well as the missed calls, but she didn't care as she sighed and took her glasses off. Her fingers rubbed her weary eyes as she struggled to contain another yawn that she hadn't felt coming. Sleep seemed like it was a mystery these days, something that she couldn't have, but she wanted it. Wanted it more than anything else, and when they were filled with...what exactly was that dream? She couldn't figure it out. It was Flynn. Her heart began to beat faster at the thought but she didn't care. It didn't mean anything, it couldn't mean anything. After all, she was married to Flynn.