Smiling at the parting female officer, Nicola's attention was brought to the bar in front of her as a drink was placed in front of her. She looked quizzically at what was actually two drinks and then she turned to her left; Major Lorne was smiling hesitantly from his seat next to her. "What are these for, sir?"

His eyes remained on the rows of bottles and glasses on the back wall of the bar when he answered her. "Sir? Really, off duty and with your opening comment to me?"

Cringing, Nicola remembered how she had reinforced to him the fact that he had vomited upon seeing his team-mate dead, hung up and left out as a warning. She had never spoken to Major Lorne before that moment, so for such a comment to have slipped from her lips was utterly out of character and embarrassing. Even with his dismissal of it, she had still been mortified and had spent hours questioning if it had been because of her increased friendliness with everyone. "I am sorry about that."

"No need to be." She studied his profile and saw his lips curl up into a smile. Somehow she felt at ease.

"Okay, so what's with the drinks…?" She trailed off, realising that she was not sure of his first name. A blush crept up her cheeks.

Spinning on his seat, Lorne held his right hand out to her. "Evan." Taking his hand and shaking it, Nicola could not help the smile. In an attempt to hide it, she took her original bottle of beer and took a mouthful as he then answered her. "I figured I owed you a drink and I didn't know if you were a beer or wine kind of girl."

Motioning to the bottle from which she was drinking, he nodded and Nicola thought she saw a slight blush colour his cheeks. It made her feel that little bit more at ease with him. "Why'd you owe me a drink?"

"My actions on the mission, weren't exactly … pleasant or decent."

Her brow furrowed. "Anger's a part of all of us and you lost a team-mate and friend. If you hadn't have been angry, I'd've seen it as indecent."

His eyes turned to her again, ending their shameful staring at the rows of bottles. "I didn't just mean that."

Nodding in understanding, Nicola gave a small smile. "Thank you for the drinks." Finishing off her beer, she moved onto the beer bought for her. "As for the other thing… You're not the first."

"No, but I'm a Major and should be better prepared."

"You were on a simple mission. Without any chance of someone dying. I'm not sure I've ever seen anything like that before. Especially not someone I knew." The image of Ritter hanging from a warning pyre, blood staining him came into her mind and morphed in to another scene of blood and death, one that Nicola kept buried most of the time. Eyeing the second bottle of beer and twisting it between her fingers, Nicola had a sudden desperate need to down it all in one go.

"What did you see?" His voice was quiet and if he had not been looking at her, waiting for an answer, Nicola could have believed she had imagined his words.

"On another mission, someone was tortured, physically disfigured. Wasn't pretty." Ignoring her internal protestations, Nicola gulped down a little bit too much of the beer than she should. "You get used to it here."

"I'd rather not." After a short pause, he spoke again. This time the smile was back in his voice. "Let's start this conversation over. Hi, my name's Evan."

He was holding his right hand out again and she looked across at him, his mouth and eyes smiling infectiously so as she shook his hand back, Nicola smiled in return. "I'm Nicola."

"Nic or Nicki for short?"

"Not in a long time by anyone else but family really." Her ex lab-buddy Jonas Quinn had taken to calling her Nic on occasion, but she barely had contact with him since his return to Kelowna.

"I'm new to the area, just been posted here, what's there fun to do?"

Unable to prevent herself from grinning at Lorne's words, Nicola actually laughed very slightly. "I work long hours; all I see is the office, home and the local swimming pool."

"I'll have to race you one day."

"Just been posted here?" she repeated. "Flyboy then?"

"Yes, ma'am." Both turning in unison at someone calling Nicola's name, she smiled apologetically at Lorne.

"Excuse me, I have to go catch up with someone."

"No problem."

Quickly downing her beer, Nicola then picked up the glass of wine and walked past Lorne, pausing on the other side of him. She leaned in toward his ear, taking a moment to inhale his scent before almost brazenly whispering: "Thanks for the wine, I usually only drink it with a meal." Unsure if it was the alcohol or something else propelling her forward down an almost flirtatious path, Nicola was unprepared for when Lorne suddenly turned ever so slightly, bringing their faces incredibly close together.

"I'll remember that for future reference."

Ignoring the self-conscious feeling and dry throat his eyes boring into hers caused, Nicola forced confidence into her voice. "I look forward to it." As she walked off, Nicola's hips took on a mind of their own and swayed slightly more than they normally would. She could feel his eyes on her and almost kind of liked it.