A/N:

Hey all, thank you for all of the reviews. They are great, it really keeps me going.

I now have a great beta reader Laura Denvir- who is brilliant, so thanks to her the story is so much better now. Thank you!

Enjoy all!

Previously

Standing so close to her, Neil swears he can hear her heart beating faster -or was it his?- Flicking his eyes from hers to her lips and back up again, he knows his heart starts beating faster. Leaning in slightly towards Grace, Neil sub-consciously licks his lips.

Hearing a noise in the back of his mind Neil gets distracted, cursing to himself when he realises it is his phone going off. Stepping back Neil breaks eye contact with her. Fishing into his pocket he grabs it, answering without looking at the caller I.D, Neil barks "What!" into the receiver.

"Guv," Banksy voice comes through the phone, "You're needed at the station."

Sighing, Neil replies. "Fine, we'll be there soon." It's always Banksy, he thinks darkly. Looking back up at Grace, he sees her standing by the door ready to leave. "Grace, we, umm, we need to talk about today," He starts hesitantly.

"Guv, it can wait until we're at the station. I only really want to go through it once and I expect that Superintendent Meadows will want to hear it as well." Grace tells him while studying her arm.

Biting his lip in response to what he was going to say Neil just nods, "Okay." He sighs, "Let's get going then."

The ride back to the station was silent, each glancing at the other now and then, Neil wanting to say something but knowing he could not. What nearly happened back there? She didn't pull away from me, was that a good sign? God, He ran one hand down his face and looked back up to the road. I really need to talk with her. I know she hasn't forgiven me for not telling her about Jake. Why didn't you tell her? Moron.

All these thought rushing through his mind, Neil isn't paying much attention to Grace until he goes over a bump and hears her let out a gasp.

Looking over to her he can see the grimace on her face. "Sorry. Are you okay?" He asks.

Nodding, she replies. "I'm okay."

"Do you need to take your pain meds?" Neil asks her, thinking back to what the doctor had mentioned in the snippets of conversation he'd actually heard.

"In a little while; they make me a bit drowsy." She answers him shyly.

"Don't let that worry you, if you're in pain, you should take them."

Nodding in response, they lapse into silence until they pull into the station and get out of the car. With Neil -hovering behind her- they make their way up to the office where they are greeted by Terry, Mickey and Banksy.

With Terry reaching them first he immediately asks how Grace is.

"I'm fine," She attempts to laugh it off, but it sounded forced even to her own ears. "Better than earlier anyways," she adds. Pausing briefly, Grace carries on "Thank you Terry, you know, for earlier." Grace says smiling lightly.

"Thank you, for what?" He chuckles self loathingly, "We should of got there quicker, I should never of let you get in the car in the first place." Seeing her leaning on the desk lightly, he guides her to her chair, where he and Mickey make a point of fussing over her.

Seeing Grace being occupied by the guys, Neil asks Banksy where Max is. "In with Meadows," he replies. "He wants to see you as well Guv."

Nodding in acknowledgment, Neil looks to Grace to make sure she was being looked after and slips quietly from the office.

Speaking with Jack Meadows it was established that Max disobeyed orders, which Neil took quite badly, as you can imagine. Needing to speak with Grace to find out what happened in more detail, Jack left Max's punishment in Neil's hands to handle.

Heading back into the office Neil pulls Grace and Max into his office. Knowing that Max doesn't know that he has spoken to Jack, Neil tries to remain calm when speaking with him.

Before Max can enter his office completely, Neil starts. "What the hell happened out there?" He demands, pacing behind his desk and trying –and failing- to keep his anger in check, he waits for Max's answer.

"It was a controlled risk." Max says confidently strutting across the office towards the window.

"How was that, in any way, controlled?" Neil hisses, flapping his hands about by his sides. However, he was not expecting Grace to answer him, defending Max in the process.

Speaking up for Max, Grace answers. "Guv, the two lower levels of the car park and the surrounding area were crawling with police." Not sure why she said that, but now knowing she couldn't turn back, Grace prepares for what she would get in return

Staring at Grace like she had grown a second head, Neil cannot believe what he's hearing. Unable to control his anger and knowing that he shouldn't be angry with Grace, he fumes quietly for a moment. Then Max goes to speak, and Neil lashes out, not knowing at whom.

"How? You had no idea what was in that car, that's why you were hurt. They could have done much more damage than they did, they could have shot you!" He grinds out, looking between the both of them angrily.

"That could be happening to Mr. Kapur right now," Her voice starts raising of its own accord, "The difference is that I'm a police officer; My job has risks, I knew that when I signed up. He is an innocent victim, he doesn't-"

"So noble! That is so, so noble, Grace." Is all he says, clenching his fists. He so badly wants to hit something.

With the day catching up with her, Grace starts talking before she even realizes it. "Do you know what, I am getting a bit tired of this, and it feels like every other day I'm in here being told by you how bad I am at my job, it feels like you have nothing else to say to me!" Staring straight at him, they both realize that they have moved off topic.

Noticing that and taking advantage of the brief pause, Max cuts in gets out of the office quickly, hoping that next time he talks with the boss; he won't be in such a bad mood. Shutting the door behind Max, Neil runs over the conversation in his mind for a few moments. Turing back around, he sees that Grace is looking out of the window, the daylight reflected back.

"Okay, I'm sorry." When she says nothing, he continues "But you scared the hell out of me." He realizing that he's repeating the exact same words that she uttered to him all those months ago.

Looking at him, Grace starts to deflate, "Well, I'm sorry about that." She turns back to the window, knowing that the conversation she has tried to avoid all day is now here.

Plucking up the courage from somewhere, Neil keeps going. "You're angry with me because I didn't tell you about Jake."

Before he can carry on anymore Grace tries to cut him off "Look, that's none of my business." She turns back to him but keeps her eyes averted.

"I had to tell someone on my team, I told Banksy alright, I told Banksy." Neil shrugs, seeing that Grace was avoiding looking at him; he tried to make her understand why he did what he did.

Grace hearing his confession could only look out of the window while he carries on talking. Hearing him say that he knew Banksy would be a guy and give him a punch on the shoulder and tell him it would be alright. Listening to him, she starts to hear his voice crack. So she tries to prevent him from saying anymore, as hearing him get upset was starting to make her feel really guilty for the way she had treated him as of late, but there was nothing stopping him. He never normally talks this much why now? She wonders.

"You would have instantly known how bad I was coping," His words kept stumbling out of his mouth and he was struggling to stop them. Starting to loose control of his emotions, Neil pauses. Calming down a bit he carries on quieter than before. "If I had told you Grace, there would have been a chance that I would have ended up on the floor in a blubbery mess." Looking at her again, he awaits her response.

"I could have coped with that," is all he hears Grace says. Damn it! Why does she have to be so kind? She shouldn't burden herself with my problems, why does she even want to? I've been such a fool, I've pushed her away so much these past few weeks, and I don't deserve her. He berates himself inwardly.

"Grace," he murmurs, wanting her to look at him. Finally she does. Looking at her he realizes that he should have told her everything sooner. Wanting to say more to her, he tries to think of something but before he can there is a quick knock of the door and Banksy walks in. Argh! Its always him, he has the. Worst. Timing. Ever! Following him from the office, Neil doesn't look back in case he catches sight of her, which he knew would stop him leaving.

With the kidnappers caught and the victim safe, it seemed that it was a good ending to a bad day. Everyone was slowly heading home for the day, some going to the bar for a celebration for catching the bad guys, others just having a quiet night in. Looking out of his office he could see that Grace was still sitting at her desk. Wondering why she was still here after what must have been an exhausting day, he switches off the lights to his office, locks the door and goes over to her.

"Hey. What are you still doing here?" She looks up at him slowly and he can see that she looks utterly exhausted. "Go home," he murmurs.

Smiling lightly at him, she nods her head. "I'm waiting for a cab to pick me up." Seeing the confused look on his face, she explains. "My car, it's a manual. I can't drive it like this," she flops her arm around a little.

"Oh. Well let me take you home, there's no point in paying out for a cab when you'e got me!" Neil says, starting to switch the few lights around the room off.

"No, its ok, I don't want to take you out of your way." Graces starts, but upon seeing his raised hand she stops talking.

"Nope, I insist. Please." Neil smiles that smile.

Nodding her head in consent Grace cancels the cab and gathers up her belongings. Waiting for her Neil proceeds to open the door and follow her out of the building, overtaking her to lead them to his car. Helping Grace into the car, he slams the door and slips gracefully into the driver's seat.

He pauses in starting the car and takes a deep breath before looking over at her. "Have you had anything to eat tonight?" he fiddles with the keys, "I can grab a take out if you are up to it." Neil asks nervously. Looking over at her, he sees Grace bite her bottom lip in attempt to keep her from smiling.

"Yea, ok. Take out'd be nice." Grace replies.

After deciding on Chinese, they grabbed it and headed back to Grace's flat.

Making Grace sit down Neil prepares the food in the kitchen, getting them drinks and utensils. Shrugging off his jacket and tie he sits down next to Grace, shifting a few times before forcing himself to still. He takes a mouthful and soon they were chatting away with each other about anything and everything. All too soon, they both finish eating. Silence starts to creep up on them, now that they don't have the food to distract them.

"Umm." He swallows a gulp of his drink, "How are you feeling?" He places the drink on the coffee table and leans back on the sofa, his arm brushing against her shoulder.

"I think I'd better take some of the medication," Grace answers. Leaning her head on the back of the sofa she closes her eyes and sighs lightly.

"I'll grab it. Stay here." Neil says while rushing to the kitchen to get the Paracetamol. Coming back with a glass of water and the meds, he sits on the coffee table in front of Grace.

By sitting up, both their knees touch against each other, whether this was purpose on Grace's part, Neil wasn't sure, but either way he was not going to move his. Bringing his hand up Neil shows Grace that the meds are ready for her.

Frowning slightly when Grace moves causing her knees to be removed from his, is quickly replaced with a small smile when she moves closer, causing her legs to move in between his, softly touching his inner knee.

Taking the meds out of his hands Grace pops them into her mouth then taking the offered water she quickly swallows them.

Staying where she is, liking the close feeling of being together, Grace places the glass of water back down on the table, causing her to lean closer to him. She didn't hear his sharply inhaled breath over the beating of her heart.

Looking at Neil, she can see what the last few weeks have done to him. A slightly thinner face, bags where he hasn't been sleeping well, worry lines etched into his cheeks.

Smiling sadly at him, why didn't I pick up on this weeks ago? She thinks.

Turning his head slightly to the side, noticing the sad smile on her face "What?"

Bringing her right hand up Grace gently traces the lines on his face which he seems to have gained over the past few weeks. Hearing him suck in a breath and seeing his eyes flutter slightly, she pauses. "You should have told me." She lets her hand fall from his face.

Before it can fall back into her lap, Neil catches it. Staring at her hand he starts to run his fingers over the back of her hand, and then onto her palm. "I'm sorry. Let me make it up to you, please?" he manages to breathe out. He didn't know if he was asking or saying, but either way, it was out now.

Shaking her head to his answer "I don't need you to make it up to me, I just…I could of helped, that's all." Grace tells him, looking down.

"I know, thinking about it I should have told you, I didn't want to worry you, but it seems like that backfired," he chuckled darkly, starting to get angry with himself.

She squeezed the hand that joined them, causing him to look back up to her. "Its fine."

He grunts, "Still, I want to make amends. Let me make it up to you, please." Seeing her smile, she agrees.

"Great, when your feeling better I thought we could go out for a drink, have some fun" Neil grins at her becoming nervous all of a sudden.

"Okay, sounds nice." Graces nods her head. "But, right now, all I want to do is relax." Sensing that Neil is about to get up, and not wanting him to leave just yet she adds to that. "Did you want to watch a film?" Looking at him, she sees his eyes widen slightly. Starting to back track Grace stumbles on, "No, no of course, you probably have to go," Looking back down at her lap.

She asked me to stay! Maybe it not all lost then between us… Wait, did she just say no? Huh? You haven't answered her, stupid! He feels like smacking himself and going 'Doh', but realizes that that would looks immensely stupid, so he untangles his hand from hers and answers in his own way, skipping past her last sentence. "Righty then, what you in the mood for?" He throws a grin over his shoulder while heading to the DVD stack by the TV.

"Something that doesn't have anything bloody in it," Grace chuckles leaning back into the sofa.

Chuckling along with her Neil browses the vast selection in front of him. Stopping on one, he selects it. "Now, I never thought you would have this!" turning around he shows her the DVD that he found.

Seeing what he had picked up, she smiles at him. "I have nephews," She says with utter sincerity, "… That's my excuse."

Putting the DVD in the player, Neil comes and sits back down beside her, brushing shoulders once again. "You comfy? Do you need anything?"

"No, no I'm fine thank you." She answers, moving slightly on the sofa; Grace slides down a bit resting lightly on Neil's left arm.

Watching the film they both sat there, content in the knowledge that things will get better between them. About 30 minutes into the film however Neil feels pressure on his arm. Looking down he sees that Grace has fallen asleep on him.

The tablets must of kicked in, he thinks to himself. Wondering what to do and whether or not he should leave her, the one thing he decides on was getting her off his arm so that he actually had use of it in the morning, he turns to his left slightly to maneuver Grace so that she is not resting on his arm any more, but his chest, freeing his arm to wrap around her. Hearing Grace sigh Neil freezes in case she wakes up, but she doesn't; instead she snuggles into him more. Smiling to himself Neil relaxes again and stays there.

Neil sits there contentedly watching the T.V but not really paying attention to it; all he can focus on is the feel of Grace in his arms, and how peaceful she looks when she's asleep.

KNOCK, KNOCK

Lifting his head up he looks towards the door, humph, Grace never mentioned anything about visitors… Should I leave it? Hopefully they'll go away. Hearing them knock again, with the knocking carrying on, it starts to make Grace stir. He sighs quietly, or then again, they could just keep on knocking.

Not wanting her to wake up Neil maneuvers Grace off of him and lays her down on the sofa gently. Not being able to find a cushion, he rolls up his jacket and puts it under her head. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, he makes sure she is comfortable then goes to the door.

"Sir!" greets him, surprised, as he opens the door. "What are you doing here?" taking in his disheveled appearance, Jo Masters peers around him, but unable to see Grace she leans back on her heels and smiles at him, awaiting an answer.

"Jo, I, ah, brought Grace home. She needed a lift…" Neil whispers while opening the door further for her to come in, putting his finger to his lips he tells her. "She's asleep on the sofa at the moment. Pain meds kicked in."

Leading Jo into the kitchen they settling down at the counter, Neil starts talking first "So, what are you doing here?" he asks

Looking up at him, seeing that he looks absolutely shattered, and nothing like the sleek tidy boss she knows so well, Jo takes pity on him and doesn't tease him. " I heard what happened today" she pauses when he sees Neil close his eyes in dismay, Jo carries on " I thought she shouldn't be alone tonight, so I came over to help her out. She has always been there for me, so it's only right I repay her."

Seeing Neil nod his head, Jo can't help but tease him a little "Bu'ut," she starts "If I had known you were going to be here, I would never have… Interrupted." Seeing his head snap up and eyes widen, Jo laughs lightly at him.

"I… It's not like t-that." He stutters. Seeing Jo nod her head but still quietly laughing, Neil doesn't bother trying to explain any more. "Look I was going to make a move soon anyway, but now you are here I don't have to wake her."

"Alright, did you want me to give her a message, when she does wake up?" Jo asks.

He pauses to think for a moment. "No. No, just make sure she knows that she is not to go into work tomorrow. I'll give her a call to see how she is. You at work in the morning?" Neil asks her.

"Yes, don't start until 10 though, so it's enough time. Has she eaten?" Jo looks at him.

"Yeah, we had Chinese earlier. Right," He stands up and rubs some more feeling into his arm, "She's taken her pain meds, not sure how long she will be out for, she's meant to take then when she need them, and," He rummages in a bag on the counter, "She needs to take these." He holds up some more medication.

Smiling at him while watching him gathering up his belongings, she thinks how lucky Grace is. "Don't worry; I'll take care of her."

Hearing Jo talking to him Neil stops and smiles in thanks. "Well I'll be off then. If you need anything just give me a call."

Walking to the door with him, Jo tells him not to worry and Grace will be fine.

Nodding his head, he takes one last look towards the living room and then leaves.

Going into the living room Jo sees Grace still asleep on the sofa, leaving her to sleep a bit longer Jo begins to clear up for her.

Hearing the kettle boiling in the kitchen Grace wakes up, frowning when she realizes that she is lying down. Hmm. The tablets must really work; I don't even remember falling to sleep. Standing up, Grace stretches slightly making sure not to jostle her arm. Looking down at the sofa she realizes that the cushion she thought she was laying on was in fact a jacket. Picking it up she realizes that it is Neil's jacket. Placing it on the back of the sofa. Grace heads into the kitchen where she can hear noises coming from.

Entering the kitchen she expects to see Neil, but instead he is confronted with Jo. Slightly confused Grace calls out "Jo! What are you doing here?"

Spinning around Jo see Grace standing there, "Oh, gosh you scared me" Jo says putting her hand to her chest. "How are you?" she goes up to her. Giving her a quick cuddle, and then going back to make the tea. "Your beloved D.I. left a little while ago." Looking over her shoulder Jo sees Grace blush slightly and smiles to herself.

Once settled in the living room with a cup of coffee, Jo asks what happened today. Grace fills her in to the best of what she can. Once finishing the story and when Jo doesn't get any interesting gossip out of Grace about the D.I, they head off to get some more sleep.

Please let me know what you think! R & R as usual people!