Oh hey, look. ANOTHER chapter. I swear, each chapter is getting longer and longer than the one before it and it shits me. I can't stop writing LOL. Once again, unbeta'd and I'm lazy so I didn't check it thoroughly for mistakes, please excuse those. This chapter is based loosely around Episode 7 and includes more KISSING! PS I wrote this as fast as I could, so it's not my best. *shrugs*

WARNING: This chapter contains swearing and the hurting of a much loved character

In A Rush: read and review whenever, as long as you review *gives squinty eyes* jks. I always appreciate comments and criticism so if you can, great, if you can't its no biggie. I told you I would update tonight too.

alina grech: i think she would be an awesome date. I wrote her as the fun date 'cause she was desperate to impress haha

Vicky: the sleeping in the car will comeback to bite her in the arse *POSSIBLE SPOILER* and it may cause some problems for our favourite couple. No I am not talking about Lawson/Josh.

TheSweetestThing: Well, I try :) Enjoy this chapter

HappyHereford: well thank you. I wasn't drinking tonight cause I have work in the morning so it's not my best

ALL REVIEWER's: thank you!


The morning after their date, Stella had spent over an hour staring at Shannon as she slept as the early morning sunlight fell through the gaps in the blinds, highlighting Shannon's hair and skin. The lack of usual make-up showed Stella just how peaceful but tired the older woman must have been. Deciding that she needed her sleep, Stella tucked an arm under hear head and continued her staring, reminiscing about the night before, smiling every so often. It didn't take long after she started running her fingers through the coppery-brown hair for Shannon to finally wake up.

A soft kiss pressed to Shannon's head, and she snuggled in closer and sighed a 'good morning' as she opened her eyes slowly.

"Morning to you, too," replied Stella, her arm fusing perfectly to Shannon as she wrapped it around her back.

Shannon pulled herself up to rest her head on the pillow and stare back into Stella's deep brown eyes.

"How did you sleep last night?" she asked, letting her hand slip under Stella's borrowed top and settle on her stomach.

Licking her lips, Stella answered the question. "First night without any nightmares, so I guess I should thank you for that."

"Well, you're welcome, Stel."

A few moments later and Stella's stomach growled violently.

"You a bit hungry? Just how long have you been awake?"

"Nearly an hour and a half."

"Doing what?"

"Admiring," came as a sigh, but the rest came as a groan, "God, you're beautiful."

"And you're full of shit."

"This is something I would not lie about," said Stella, gently straddling Shannon. "If I got to wake up like this every day I would be in heaven literally."

The red blush that flushed across Shannon's face glowed brighter in accordance with the sunlight, giving the impression of a really bad sunburn. Shannon sat up to lean back against her hands and offered a sweet kiss that was eagerly returned.

"Come on, let's get you some breakfast. I still have to take you home."

Together they cooked breakfast and Stella made a crude comment about sharing a shower to save time and water. Her argument was stopped dead in its tracks by a simple, 'yeah, right' and a grin that made Stella misdirect the piece of pancake she had been aiming for her mouth.

For the first time in over a week, Stella was the passenger and not the driver of Shannon's car and they settled themselves into the car and took off down the street towards Fitzroy for a speedy fifteen minute drive. For both women, the drive went too fast and before they knew it, Shannon was pulling the SUV to a stop outside of Stella's apartment building.

"I had a really good time last night," said Shannon, putting the car in park, turning the engine off and turning in her seat to face Stella. Stella grinned sheepishly.

"It appears that I still have my awesome date planning skills." She winked at Shannon and unbuckled her seatbelt. "I had a really good time, mainly 'cause I got to something that I've wanted to do for a while."

"Oh yeah, and what's that?"

"This," said Stella, and she leaned across the centre console quickly before Shannon could object and kissed her again. When she pulled back only slightly, licking her lips, she continued, "I could so get used to doing that whenever I wanted."

"Well that's good, because so could I," smiled Shannon.

"I don't want to get out of the car."

"Why not?"

"Because I probably won't see you until work on Monday," explained the senior constable, still close enough to Shannon to gaze at whatever she could see.

A hand cupped her cheek.

"That's okay, you probably need a cold shower by now anyways," retorted Shannon.

"I think I'm rubbing off on you," exclaimed Stella, laughing as more crude thoughts entered her mind. "Anyways, I'll talk to you later?"

"Definitely."

Stella hopped out of the car, pulled her bag out of the car and that softness Shannon had rarely seen before their date showed itself again when she looked through the window to wave. Shannon watched Stella walk in through the security door before she drove off, a shit-eating grin occupying her face.

As Stella walked up the three flights of stairs to her apartment door, she had the same grin plastered across her own face.

The rest of Saturday and all of Sunday went entirely too slow for both women. Stella had even resorted to attempting to read a length book, but for someone who wasn't a real big book reader, she found it difficult. So she spent most of her time either running, cleaning or having a cold shower. Shannon took to cleaning her entire house from top to bottom, but had only managed to fill her spare room with even more junk than before.

Sunday night, Stella had sent a simple text message to Shannon.

'Can't wait to see you tomorrow, missing you like crazy. Sweet dreams. Xx'

This left Shannon with another giddy smile on her face as she replied quickly.

'You have no idea xx'


On Monday morning, they arrived at the TR base both a little bit apprehensive about seeing each other after their date. How would they act? Would they tell anyone? Would Stella be a major flirt? Would they have a second date? Stella was early by two hours and decided to finish her paperwork from the week before, and by seven-thirty she sought out a shower to wake herself up.

She came out of the stall wrapped in a towel and prepared to get dressed when the door opened and Michael and Shannon walked in, both of them mentally removing the towel. Michael had a rather nasty looking black eye.

"Morning," mumbled Michael, heading straight for his locker and began getting undressed.

"Morning," said Shannon, still staring at Stella who smirked behind Michael's back.

"Good weekend, Stel?"

"Yeah, it wasn't too bad. Had a hot date Friday night," she explained, tearing her eyes away from Shannon as Michael turned around.

"Guy or girl?"

"Girl."

"How'd that go?"

"Really well actually."

"What did you do?"

Shannon rolled her eyes at the young man's ability to be so nosey, but she supposed it came with the territory of dating Stella.

"We went to dinner."

"Boring?"

"No, actually it was nice. And," said Stella, jumping up to pull her work pants up, "I got to sleep over."

"After one date? She is either easy or desperate."

Shannon's jaw dropped at Michael's back. Stella saw this and knew that even though Michael had no idea they were talking about Shannon, it hurt the older woman a small bit.

"Ouch! What was that for?" asked Michael, rubbing the back of his head firmly.

"No badmouthing of my potential girlfriend!"

As the water started and both girls heard the shower curtain being pulled across, Stella sidled along to Shannon in nothing but her bra and workpants. Her singlet was in her hands ready to pull over her head.

"Now who's defending whose honour?"

"I had to return the favour."

"Potential girlfriend, huh?"

"Yeah. How about it?" smiled Stella.

"Let's just see how we go."

Michael had started singing in the shower and Stella knew he was distracted, so she seized her opportunity and kissed her.

"I've been wanting to do that since you dropped me off on Saturday," she whispered, pulling her shirt over her head.

"You're not the only one," smirked Shannon, as she shrugged her bra off and was left in her towel. She pushed Stella's mouth up as she walked to the empty shower stall. "Catching flies isn't a good look."

Stella gulped and left for the locker room to finish getting ready.

Fifteen minutes later Shannon entered the locker room, Lawson, Christian and Josh trailing behind her.

"Briefing in ten minutes," said Lawson, as soon as he was dressed. His eyes briefly flickered to Shannon as she was bent over rummaging through her bag at the bottom of her locker. Stella caught him and glared at his back. He disappeared quickly.

Michael headed for the 'kitchen' and made himself a coffee, bumping into Audrey on the way back up to the office. They flirted terribly, and the four in the locker room laughed loudly.

"What happened to you?" asked Kerry, looking at Michael.

"Indoor Soccer," he mumbled behind his Styrofoam cup.

"Okay, TR1. The boys, you're with me. Girls, you're in TR2 with Josh. There aren't any specific jobs that require our attention, are there Kerry?" asked Lawson, looking at his boss.

"Not specifically," said Kerry, looking like she had one terrible hangover.

"Okay, guys. Just be careful out there. Looks like a massive lightening and thunder storm is going to be heading our way. Don't forget to be vigilant about Kronin."

Everyone, including Kerry, rolled their eyes at his antics when it came to Kronin.

"We'll take the west," said Josh.

"Alright, we'll get the north then."

They all returned to the locker room and armoury to collect their vests, weapons and special issue mobile phones, and soon they were out on the road, the rain falling solidly onto the cars.

TR2 was filled with a comfortable silence between the three officers as Stella drove, the lousy weather putting a damper on everyone's moods, but not as much for Shannon and Stella. As the only two female officers on the squad, they rarely got to ride together and Shannon was often put in TR1 with Lawson. As often as possible, Stella would shoot looks into the mirror. It didn't take long for Josh to catch on that she kept looking in the rear mirror.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I think we're being tailed, but I can't tell in this rain," said Stella. She wasn't lying, she really did think they were being tailed, but she preferred to stare at Shannon.

Both Josh and Shannon turned to look. A small blue Honda was sitting less than a cars length behind them.

"Shan, keep an eye on it. Stel, take the next turn that you can," said Josh.

The Tactical Response Four Wheel Drive turned into a service lane and then Stella took the next left into a large local estate. The blue Honda followed them a second later. Only to turn into a driveway just inside the street.

All three members let out a sigh of relief as Stella turned to get them out of the estate, re-emerging into the main traffic several minutes later.

The rest of their day went without any major problems. Stella had had to chase a bag snatcher through suburbia hell and a local market. Josh and Shannon had appeared five minutes later out of nowhere, the offender running right into the car, Stella pinning him as Josh covered her.

"You couldn't have rocked up sooner?" said Stella, breathing heavily to catch her breath.

Josh laughed out loud and Shannon smiled, as Stella let herself collapse to the ground. Sure the members of the Tactical Response team were specially trained, but that didn't mean they were world class sprinters

Half an hour later, they were leaving a local station after dropping him off. It was still raining and they stopped for a lunch break sometime after one pm. Sitting in the car, they finished eating their kebabs from a local Greek take away store and sculling their bottles of water.

"I gotta take a piss. Be back in a sec," said Josh, gathering their rubbish for the bin.

"How are your legs?" asked Shannon, leaning forward from the back seat.

"Sore. Nice driving by the way," she said, turning to look at the woman leaning against Josh's empty seat. Shannon looked around for Josh quickly, and when she couldn't see him, leaned in for the kiss she had been dying for since they set out that morning. Her hand was still resting on the back of Stella's neck when they separated.

"I'll make it up to you," said Shannon.

"Oh yeah, how's that?"

"I'll take you out for ice cream," she smiled.

"Just ice cream?"

"Well, I might kiss you a little more, too."

Simultaneously they moved in, only for Stella to move back and for a second Shannon thought she had been rejected. It took her a second to remember they were at work, with Josh who was coming back at anytime.

'Damn Josh and his shitty timing!' though Shannon, reluctantly sitting back and glaring at the back of his head as he ran back to the car, hurrying to get back into the dry environment.

The skin across the back of her neck was suddenly cold and tingling as Shannon removed her hand.

As soon as they arrived back at base, Lawson informed them of a job they would be taking care of with the Armed Robbery Squad in a month about some surveillance of Andrew Kronin. Stella could swear that his obsession was getting worse.

They were all set to leave for the night, paperwork done and uniforms ready to be washed, when Kerry called out down the hall.

"Shannon, Stella! Can I have a word before you leave?"

They shared a look but tried to stay calm and not panic. If only one of them had been called up to talk to their boss, they wouldn't have thought it was anything important to the two of them. But both of them had been called back and it was slightly unnerving as they both walked, Stella more stiffly than Shannon, back to Kerry.

She directed them into her office and shut the door, leaned against her desk and sat in silence for a moment. Both women had worked with her for long enough to know most of her scare tactics, and this one was definitely working.

"What's up?" asked Stella, fiddling with her bag.

"What's going on?" asked the Inspector, looking back and forth between the two standing in front of her.

"What do you mean?" asked the youngest.

Shannon had a feeling she knew where this was going and it was going to end badly if they were not careful.

"I never would have figured this. I thought you and Michael, Stel, but not you and Shannon. Gotta admit, I didn't see that coming."

Shannon finally found her voice, trying to keep up the facade.

"Didn't see what coming?"

Kerry turned back to her desk and produced a laptop out of thin air, already open and ready to play. Who knew that Kerry was computer illiterate enough to know how to select a small portion of their lapel camera footage and turn it into a small home movie. She pressed play and turned it towards them.

"You're lucky Leon was in the bathroom when this happened," muttered Kerry, watching the expressions of the two girls in front of her. "Do you know how much shit you would have copped?"

There, on the screen, was the two of them after they had just finished their lunch, after Josh had just gotten out of the car. The lighting was shitty but you could tell it was them. Then their onscreen selves shared a kiss and Shannon eyes, out of shear horror, widened dramatically and then closed. Stella's sigh sounded deflated.

"Seems you forgot you were wearing your cameras. So, again, I'll ask. What's going on?"

Shannon and Stella shared another looked, contemplating their options. Another moment of silence was all Kerry needed to confirm her suspicions of an inter-team relationship, but she wanted to hear it from the girls.

"There's no point in lying about it, we've been caught out already," said Stella, her body facing Shannon.

"We went on a date Friday night," said Shannon, burying her hands in her pockets.

"A date?"

"Our first date," answered Stella. "And we plan to keep dating, so if you feel the need to chuck one -of us out, let it be me."

Stella heard Shannon's shock even though the older woman never made a sound.

"That's honourable, Stel. I'll keep that in mind when you two slip up," said Kerry, folding her arms in the usual Kerry Vincent fashion.

"What do you mean 'slip up'?" asked Shannon quietly.

"I'll make you a deal," started Kerry, her voice softening, "you know that any relationship is to be reported, so it can be managed by means of transfer or by ending the relationship. If you two can follow some rules I set for you, I won't report it."

"What rules?" asked Stella, hopeful about staying in TR.

"Basically, you keep whatever this is, or whatever it's gonna be, out of here. So from the time you start your shift to the time you finish, you are Sergeant Shannon Henry and Senior Constable Stella Dagostino. You're both focused on your jobs when you're at work. As soon as you clock out, you can do whatever the hell you like. Deal?"

"Can we tell you tomorrow?" asked Stella, the question coming out in a rush more than a coherent sentence. She risked a glance at Shannon as soon as she spoke. It took the Inspector a moment of consideration, willing to give them the night to talk it over, and nodded.

"Keep your noses clean, and we won't have any problems. Now go home!" said Kerry, walking out of her office to yell at Leon for watching porn on the system computers again.

Neither of them breathed until they were well out of the building entirely, and even then neither spoke a word. Stella was walking for the sake of walking as she tried to process what the hell had just happened. Shannon, unlike Stella, was able to walk with a purpose while thinking about Kerry's proposition. As soon as they arrived in the parking lot outside, Shannon pulled Stella through the rain to her car.

They remained in silence as Shannon drove on autopilot to Stella's apartment building. It was unnerving for the both of them that after one date somebody already knew. Shannon was just thankful Kerry got to it before Leon did, or they would never hear the end of it.

"Come up?" asked Stella, as the car pulled to a halt outside her building.

Shannon nodded, parked the car quickly and together they ran across the parking lot attempting to shelter themselves. They got stuck at the door as Stella slipped to open it and a loud boom of thunder rolled over their heads, making them jump.

"That storm is only gonna get worse," said Shannon, observing the already overflowing car park.

"Well, if it gets too bad, you're staying here. Come on, we have to talk," said Stella, intertwining her fingers with Shannon's and pulling her up the stairs to her apartment. Within minutes, they were safely inside and the kettle was boiling for some coffee. Stella was rummaging through her chest of drawers and closet to find some dry clothes for the both of them.

Not long after the storm had hit in full force, they were huddled up on the couch each of them nursing a hot cup of coffee, Stella's iPod spewing out soft tunes and words.

"I was hoping to have kept it between us for a little bit longer," admitted Shannon, staring at the small bubbles in her mug.

"Yeah, I know. It sucks that she knows, and that it didn't come directly from us as well."

"Yeah. So what are we going to do?" asked the older one.

Since Kerry had revealed her knowledge of whatever it was that was happening between them, Shannon had been quiet and slightly withdrawn. Stella knew how much TR meant to Shannon, that's why she offered to be transferred out again if it meant she could still be with Shannon.

"That's easy," said Stella, placing both cups on the small coffee table sitting on the middle of the rug, and loosely wrapping an arm around Shannon. "We play by her rules."

"You think is a game?" Shannon asked dejectedly, her head now resting in Stella's lap.

"Okay, not the best choice of words. If we follow her rules, she has no reason to split us up, no reason to report it. And that gives us a chance to see where this goes, where we go," she suggested, brushing some loose strands from Shannon's face and leaning closer, till their noses were barely touching. "Okay?"

Shannon nodded. She was still tense about the whole idea of Kerry knowing before they really did themselves.

"What are we?"

"Whatever we want to be."

Shannon smiled at the dorkishness of the comment.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" she blurted out. The question reminded Shannon of those old teen drama series where the invisible boy would always get a major crush on the most popular girl at school, and somehow end up with her, getting all shy when he asked her on a date.

Stella searched Shannon's eyes. She was curious if Shannon wanted to know where they stood, or if she wanted reassurance.

"With pleasure," said Stella, still staring into Shannon's eyes. They shared a long moment lost in each other.

There was a explosive boom above their heads and the whole building shook strongly and quickly.

"Holy shit!" said Stella, as a frame fell from her wall thankfully on to her bed.

A flash of lightening and they were sucked into the relative darkness, the only light coming from the grey sky outside.

"Have any candles?" asked Shannon.

"Oh yeah," answered the younger woman, moving slowly and painfully from the couch to the bookshelves on the other side of the room where her multicoloured candles were sitting, waiting to be used. She fished a lighter from a desk drawer and set them down on the bench and the coffee table. The loft was suddenly lit with a soft glow.

Shannon looked beautiful and Stella wasted no time in telling her.

They spent the rest of night in darkness; Stella had refused to let Shannon leave, claiming to be looking out for her safety, saying that if the building's power was out so were the intersections in the area. Shannon thought that Stella just didn't want to be alone during a storm of this magnitude.

"Are you scared of thunderstorms?"

"No," squeaked Stella, as another wave of thunder rolled over the building.

"Come here," said Shannon, pulling her girlfriend onto the bed, helping her fall into a restless slumber.

The next morning they were nearly late for briefing because the power was still out. Lawson nearly shot them on the spot. He was beginning to get pissy about how often the members of his team had been late in the past month.

On the way out to the cars, Stella stuck her head into Kerry's office.

"We'll play by your rules."

"Okay. Since that is sorted, get your arse out into the car."

Stella wasted no time in sprinting out to the car and into the back seat.


Shannon and Stella had been official but still keeping it quiet for a month. According to Kerry, they were riding a fine line but had yet to cross said line. The two of them made sure that they stayed well inside the boundaries Kerry had set for them and on top of that she had demanded details.

"I don't want to know everything, just the basics. If you two are fighting, I want to know. I can't have your relationship screw this unit up."

She had then quickly turned into a girl and demanded details.

The TR members were currently working their regular weekend shift of every second Sunday per month and it was the day of their surveillance task on Andrew Kronin with the Armed Robbery Squad.

As usual, Shannon and Stella arrived at work early. Lawson was there and he made a joke about the two girls wanting to work rather than sleep in on a Sunday morning as much as they could. Knowing full well that besides Lawson, no one who would need to use the showers would be at the base that early, and Shannon spent several minutes pinned between Stella and the back of the door. An hour later, they walked out of the showers, dressed in their uniforms lightly; their t-shirts, pants and boots, and a massive grin on both of their faces.

Several more kisses were stolen until Kerry interrupted.

"What did I tell you two?"

"Nothing between the time out shift starts and the time it ends," said Stella.

"Exactly, so what are you doing?"

"Our shift hasn't started yet." Stella answered again, willing to push the boundaries to see how much they could get away with. Kerry walked away glugging down her coffee and muttering 'smartarse' under her breathe.

Ten minutes later, everyone else began to arrive. Michael was late again and his face was littered with bruises. Unfortunately Stella was tasked with Josh and Michael. Josh wasn't going to go easy on the muppet.

"How's that indoor soccer going?" asked Shannon, grabbing her motorcycle gloves, jacket and helmet and heading to the bathroom to get changed.

"Aren't you on today?" Michael asked, quickly changing the subject.

"I'm going commando," smirked Shannon, giving Stella a look as she finished getting ready. Stella returned the smirk and gave her girlfriend the once-over as she left the locker room, "See you out there, losers."

She smiled and turned to Michael. Her smile quickly dropped and Stella mentally rolled her eyes. Michael began to ask about what they were doing, if anyone would fill him in. Christian took pity, but Stella was on Josh's side. Michael was late, and if he had been on time he would know. As soon as Michael said his injuries were a result of indoor cricket, Stella called him on it.

"His boys are pulling a job today. I'll fill you in in the car. Hurry up!" ordered Josh, walking out. He was then berated by Lawson and Stella fled the locker room, wanting one last look at her girlfriend in a bikers outfit. A tap to Shannon's shoulder, and she received a smile.

The car ride over to the meat packing shop was spent discussing the details of their part in the operation to arrest Kronin.

"They'll be out in a year," Stella commented when Josh explained who they were mainly going after.

"Don't tell Lawson that."

Josh and Stella shared a smile at their boss's obsession. Lawson really needed a new hobby. Or at least a girlfriend.

Michael, Josh and Stella were waiting in the meat packing freezer of the butchers their targets were going to rip off that day. Stella was currently watching Josh and Michael duke it out about Josh's apparent lack of leadership because the Senior Constable didn't have a jacket to keep warm. Josh willingly gave his jacket to a reluctant Michael, and told him to watch the door.

Shannon wasn't responding over the comms. This worried Stella, because Shannon always reported in. Christian was sent down to her last know position to find out what was keeping her.

"Lawson, I've found Shannon's bike, but it looks like she's been some kind of accident," explained the Samoan.

Stella's stomach dropped three feet and hit the ground.

"Is there any sign of her?" asked Lawson.

"Nah. There are people around, but no one saw what happened."

"Shit!" Stella whispered to herself, but she was overheard by Josh. Stella was keen to follow the rules, especially after she got busted racing illegally with Alana and put on suspension. She knew that even though her girlfriend was now apparently missing, she must focus on the task at hand, or Lawson would murder her on the spot for screwing up their plans. Then Kerry would kill her. And then Shannon would kill her for getting killed by Lawson and Kerry.

"She'll be fine. Shannon knows how to look after herself, Stel," said Josh, offering a wink.

She smiled back, trying to push negative thoughts to the back of her head and maintain her attention levels to the two petty thieves on the screen in front of her.

Josh could see something in Stella's eyes, but it may have just been a reflection from the crappy fluorescent lights in the freezer.

Then one of them, Makrokanis, mentioned his last fight being against a police officer, a tactically trained police officer. Stella and Josh turned to Michael. A small fight broke out between the two boys and Stella was forced to play mediator. At least the argument took her mind off of her missing girlfriend for a moment to reduce her panic.

"Ah, Lawson," said Leon. He didn't want to be the one to tell his boss that one of their team members was currently with Kronin.

"I just received a phone call from Kronin's mobile. It was from Shannon."

"What!" exclaimed Kerry and Lawson at the same time.

Shannon was in the passenger seat of Andrew Kronin's car. Her entire left side was in pain, burning as if someone had take a white-hot iron poker and driven through each major joint. She had to keep calm, despite the fact that she was in a car with a known thief and murderer. One wrong move and he would probably kill her.

She immediately thought of Stella.

He was adamant about driving her to Western Emergency Department on the other side of the city, when they were closer to Williamstown Hospital. Apparently, it was full.

"You can just drop me a taxi rank."

"I'm taking you to the hospital. It's least I can do."

"Isn't there somewhere you've got to be?" she asked, knowing full well that her girlfriend was meant to be arresting him in about ten minutes at the butchers. Shannon tried to be nice, not wanting to be caught out. "Who were those guys?"

"They think I owe them money," said Kronin, before spotting them in the rear view mirror tailing his car. He told her to hold on and took a sharp left, jolting Shannon and causing more pain. Kronin slammed on the brakes and pulled her out of the car and dragged her, nearly kicking and screaming, through a large shopping centre to a car park on the other side.

As soon as they hid behind a car, the fire pokers back through Shannon's joints, she knew Kronin had found her out as a police officer. Thankfully, he didn't hurt her, but quite the opposite and offered some advice,

"If he comes at you, use your weapon."

Kerry had been the first to spot her and all Lawson had been worried about was where Kronin was.

"We got Shannon. She's okay," said Kerry over the comms, understanding that Stella would want to know anything about her girlfriend.

Stella sighed in relief and stormed the offices with Josh and Michael

Three hours later, Josh and Stella were arriving back at base with a beaten up Michael in the backseat. Makrokanis had been arrested and the ambulance officers had deemed Michael fit to go home, but suggested that any headaches or dizziness spells that came up, he should go to the hospital.

"Hey Stella!" yelled Kerry, coming down the hallway.

She was pulling a bag out of the back of TR2 to do inventory as usual.

"Yeah?"

"Leave that, get changed, get Shannon's stuff and go pick her up from Epworth Hospital. I think she could use a certain face right about now," smiled Kerry, taking the bag from Stella's shoulder.

"You never cease to amaze me Kerry."

Stella was pretty sure she violated at least twelve traffic laws as she sped to the hospital in Shannon's SUV, her girlfriend's bag sitting in the passenger seat. The administration desk clerk was rude and Stella threatened to arrest him. He quickly gave her the information she was after; Shannon was in the Emergency Department, down the hall and to the right.

It wasn't hard to spot her, a certain blonde doctor leaning over and applying pressure to her ribs. Stella heard Shannon groan in pain from the other side of the department. So she rushed over just as Tash walked away.

"Hey, dork," said Stella, smiling at Shannon.

Shannon's pain-filled eyes brightened, "Hi."

Stella pressed a comforting kiss to her forehead and before she could pull away far enough to set the bag down at her feet, Shannon's right hand grabbed her collar, requesting a kiss and getting it quickly.

"How do you feel?"

"Like shit, but better after that."

Stella smiled. "Well, you look beautiful."

"Smartarse."

"So what's actually wrong? Or are you faking?"

Stella brushed her fingers through Shannon's messy hair, wishing she could do something for the pain.

"Ask the doc. She hasn't told me anything yet and I've been here for four hours," complained Shannon, as Tash came back with some x-rays.

"You must be Stella," said Tash, introducing herself and offering her hand. Stella shook it and smiled politely. "I'm Doctor Tash Button."

"I know," said Stella. Shannon slapped her hand. "What? I do."

Then it clicked.

"You returned Minka home last month, when she was drunk?"

"Yep."

"Ah, well thank you for that," said Tash before turning to Shannon. "Alright Shannon, sprained ankle, bruised ribs and a dislocated shoulder."

"Shit!" exclaimed Stella. "What exactly did you do today?"

"You mean you haven't seen the footage?" grimaced Shannon.

"I haven't been at base long enough too."

"I ran down a guy with a cricket bat, lost control of the bike and went arse over tit over where the handle bars should have been and landed badly."

"Lawson mentioned that you were unconscious for a while?" asked Tash, slipping the x-rays into a large envelope.

"Yeah, about ten minutes I think."

"Well, I'm pretty sure you don't have a concussion. She shouldn't be alone for the next couple of days. Are you looking after her tonight?" Tash asked Stella.

"Yep."

"Alright. I'll prescribe some pain medication, it'll probably make you drowsy so don't take them until you get home and don't eat them on an empty stomach. I want you back here in a week to organise some physical therapy to get full range of motion back into that shoulder. For at least three days, do not take the sling off. If it get's sore again after you take it off, put it back on. Stay off the ankle for a week. No walking. You got all that?"

Tash looked between the two women.

"When did you breathe during that whole lot of words?" asked Stella.

"I didn't," smirked Tash. "You just need to sign a few sheets, and you can go. You can get your prescription filled at the pharmacy down the hall to the left."

Tash disappeared for a few minutes and came back with a wheelchair and several discharge sheets for Shannon to sign. She left them alone and closed the curtains so Shannon could get changed into her own clothes. Stella had to help and when she saw the bruising around her hip and ankle, she cringed outwardly.

Shannon lowered herself into the wheelchair and Stella wheeled her past the nurse's station.

"Hey! Don't forget, if you have any headaches or dizziness to come straight back, and get plenty of rest."

"Thanks, Tash," said Shannon, smiling.

"No worries. See you next week!"

A quick trip to the pharmacy and then out to the car in the wheelchair had Shannon feeling useless.

"Stel, I can walk. You don't have to wheel me around."

"Yes, I do, because you're not allowed to walk," argued Stella as she tossed Shannon's bag into the back seat and helped her into the passenger seat.

Five minutes later, Stella was in the driver's seat after returning the wheelchair.

"Your place or mine?" she whispered.

"Yours. It's smaller and it's all on one level," explained Shannon, holding on to her shoulder.

Stella left her hand resting on Shannon's leg, needing the physical contact to believe that she was real. She drove as fast and as steadily as she could on the way to her apartment. She realised that they had a problem as she parked the car as close to the door as she possibly could.

"How are we going to get you up the stairs?" she asked, grabbing their bags from the back seat and opening the passenger door.

"I'll hop, as long as you hold on to me," she smiled, letting herself drop to the pavement.

Just limping across to the door required a lot of effort from Shannon and she was sweating by the time they reached the bottom of the stairs. A usual two minute walk up three flights of stairs took them closer two twenty five minutes and they had to stop several times, Shannon cursing Stella's choice to live on the third floor.

"Why did you have to live on the third floor?"

"You wanted to stay here," she argued as she opened the door and half carried Shannon to the left side of the bed.

"Thanks," she smiled.

"You're welcome," replied Stella. "Okay, some food for you and then you can have your pain killers."

Stella set about making dinner for the two of them; it was after seven pm and they were both starving. A simple stir-fry had to be fed to Shannon as it was a bit difficult to do it right handed when she was left handed.

"I'm gonna be such a pain in the arse for the next week," mumbled Shannon, using Stella's stomach as a pillow while her pain killers took effect.

"I'm okay with that," said the younger woman, kissing Shannon's cheek gently. "Go to sleep. You'll feel better in the morning."

Stella spent the next hour running her fingers through Shannon's hair until she drifted off to sleep herself.


Thought's? I love posting before I go to bed, because then I wake up to these emails saying I have reviews! LOL