Disclaimer, Pairing, Rating & Spoilers: See chapter 1.

A/N: Thank you all for your lovely comments – you really do keep me going! For those following 'Ebb & Flow', I am hoping the muse will start to re-focus on it so I can get the next chapter written – apologies for the huge delay with that one! In the meantime…hope you enjoy this….


Boyd leant against the edge of the desk in the quiet stillness of the bullpen and stared unseeingly at the evidence board, a dull ache throbbing at his temples as he struggled to force his mind to concentrate. The images and words haphazardly adorning the clear Perspex blurred in a haze before his eyes and he removed his glasses with a sigh, running a hand across his face and frowning. Jesus Christ, this is hopeless, he thought irritably. Two dead children with a question mark over their killer's identity and all I can think about is that bloody woman and her bloody, fucking poison. He sighed once more, the frustrated exhalation almost deafening in the tranquillity of the empty room. Or is it that I'm worried she might be right? He wondered darkly, the notion lapping uneasily against the edges of his consciousness, a hard knot forming in his stomach as he allowed the question to filter through his mind. Could the fact that Grace and I share a bed be setting this team on the road to oblivion? Could I really separate my feelings for her from our professional responsibilities, if it came to it? God, we've been doing it for years but to have a third party call it into question….For fuck's sake, I wish I'd fought harder when they foisted her on me. I wish I'd told them just to shove it up their arses, consequences be damned….

"Penny for them?"

He smiled crookedly, instantly calmed by the familiar voice and he turned his head to see Grace emerging purposefully from the darkened confines of her office, her delicate fingers curled around a bottle of wine and two glasses, raising her offering in silent question as she approached him.

"No need," he intoned gratefully. "You read my mind."

"No lectures about cutting down then? Even at this late hour?"

"After today?" he scoffed disdainfully. "Please."

She chuckled softly and unscrewed the bottle, pouring two generous measures of the rich burgundy fluid before handing him a glass and settling closely beside him, the warmth of his arm against hers comforting in the dim light of the otherwise unoccupied bullpen. She took a large draw from her own glass before addressing him anew.

"You okay?"

He took a large swallow of wine, the liquid burning pleasantly down his throat to coat his chest with warmth. "Yeah," he breathed eventually, his eyes flickering towards her as he caught the scepticism playing across her features.

"Hm. You sound it."

He sighed wearily. "What do you want me to say, Grace?"

She held up a placating palm. "Nothing."

"I haven't got the energy, alright?"

"Fine." She paused momentarily, allowing them both to take another sip of wine. "Do you want to talk about the case?"

He exhaled deeply, his broad chest shuddering, his shoulder rising and falling heavily against hers. "No. I'm getting bloody nowhere with thinking about it."

Grace raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Don't mind me if I faint from the shock, then, will you?"

He took an enthusiastic pull from his drink before levelling a sideways glare at her. "If you haven't got anything useful to say, Grace…."

"Don't say anything at all?"

"Well, I was going to go with 'leave the wine and piss off' but, whatever."

She smiled mildly, her eyes twinkling as she turned slowly, deliberately placing her glass onto the desk before beginning to step away from him, her smile broadening as she felt him encircle her waist with a growl, returning her towards him and settling her in front of his thighs, her back flush against his chest. She sighed softly as his arms held her fast, his head dropping to the crook of her shoulder, and she felt the tension begin to seep gradually from his body as his breathing slowed against her neck.

"Do you want to talk about Sarah?" she ventured cautiously, after several indulgent seconds had passed.

He groaned loudly, his forehead moving to rest against her collar bone, his reply muffled by the soft material of her top. "Not really."

"Don't you think we should?"

"I'll only say something I regret," he murmured, the breath leaving his lungs in a rush of anguish. "I don't think I exactly handled it well."

"Hm. If I was feeling bitchy I'd say she deserved it."

He smirked. "But of course you're not."

"Of course not."

"I take no-one's seen her since she stormed out this morning."

"No; and to be honest I don't think anyone's missed her."

"Spence or Eve said anything?"

"Not about this. They've both been keeping their heads down, I think." Grace sighed, angling her head to glance back towards him. "What did you say to her, Peter?"

"Well, I think I told her to fuck off, didn't I? Did I not shout it loudly enough?"

"You did. Your walls aren't exactly sound proof."

"So there you go."

"Seriously; what did you say to her before that?"

Boyd exhaled forcefully, shifting to nestle his chin into the hollow of her shoulder, her perfume pleasantly assaulting his senses as he moved. "Just…that whatever she thinks our relationship is or isn't, it has no bearing on how we conduct ourselves professionally."

"I'm guessing she wasn't exactly keen to accept that opinion."

"She can't see it. She's absolutely fixated on it being a disaster for the Unit."

Grace paused briefly before speaking again, luxuriating in the feel of his body enveloping hers. "Anything else?"

"Oh, for God's sake; I wasn't about to hammer the final nail into our collective coffin by telling her that I'm in love with you, was I?" He groaned loudly, irritably as he felt her squeeze his hand, her body melting further into his as she responded warmly to his words. "Don't, Grace. That was a slip of the tongue."

"So to speak."

He kissed her gently on the neck, his lips brushing against the familiarly sensitive skin, confidently aware of the requisite pressure needed to make her shiver faintly beneath his ministrations. "Need a reminder?" he murmured softly, smiling as she groaned huskily.

"Behave," she managed momentarily, forcing herself to shrug away from him, placing a hand atop his across her stomach to discourage his further attention.

"Indulge me, Grace. I've had a fucking awful day and I could do with…."

"You do realise we're proving Sarah's point here, though, don't you? About inappropriate behaviour in the work place?"

"It's eleven thirty at night; and we're completely alone in the dungeon."

"It's not the point. If we're still in the office then technically we're still on duty…"

"You're not helping to improve my mood here, you know."

"Would anything?"

He gave a feral grin. "Yeah. You lifting up your skirt, taking your knickers off and shifting your hips a bit."

Grace rolled her eyes. "You've got to take this seriously."

"I am taking it seriously," he sighed, sobering instantly. "Believe me, I am."

She disengaged from his arms then to assuage any further temptation and resumed her former position at his side, reclaiming her wine from the desk at their backs and taking a generous sip as she surveyed him. "What are you worrying about specifically? The DCC?"

He barked a short laugh. "God, no. Maureen Smith might not exactly be my biggest fan but she's straight down the line. I'm sure she'd say that as long as it's not interfering with our work then it's not an issue."

"I agree. So, what else?"

He sighed roughly. "I don't know, Grace….She's just…got me thinking…and I'm not sure I like where my train of thought is headed."

Grace blinked, absorbing the anxiety raking across the surface of his eyes. "You're wondering whether she's right."

"Christ, I don't want her to be," he replied vehemently, unsurprised by the depth of her perception. "I mean, the way she's gone about it, this bullish disrespect for our privacy…."

"It's outrageous."

"It is."

"But you're wondering if, fundamentally, she's got a point?"

"Yeah."

Grace sighed. "The same thing's been bothering me, if I'm honest."

"I'm not saying she has. I still maintain that what goes on behind closed doors should have no consequence for our working relationship and I believe it."

"But?"

"But…now I've had all day to process it and she hasn't been here to rile me up again….I'm starting to doubt myself. About whether I could really maintain an appropriate perspective if a situation arose."

"And you're worried what the potential fallout would be for the Unit?"

"I don't want to do anything to jeopardise this Unit. I've sacrificed too fucking much and I…."

"I know."

He caught the slight edge to her tone and turned his head to look at her. "Grace?"

She sighed heavily and closed her eyes, her features contorting briefly as she wrestled with the stabbing pain that squeezed her chest. "I'm just wondering…what it all means, Peter."

He studied her intently, dread settling in his gut as realisation burned through his skull. "You're not serious. Tell me you're not."

"I know what this job means to you…and if you're thinking that cooling things off with me might make your life…."

"What? Unbearable? Insufferable?"

She smiled at his gruff admission. "I was going to say 'easier'."

"In what sense could that possibly make my life easier?"

"Oh, come on. There'd be no potential conflict of interest, no detrimental effects on the Unit…."

"Right; because working with an ex would be plain sailing, wouldn't it?"

"Well, that's the other option, isn't it? Me looking for a new job."

He sighed irritably and turned his body to face her. "Why are you doing this?"

"What?"

"Pandering to Sarah's crap."

"I'm just trying to look at the situation objectively," she sighed. "If she's right…."

"I never once said that she was."

"No, I know. But if she is…if our relationship, however discrete, could negatively impact on how we do our jobs…."

"So your solution is to just accept her supposition, is it?"

"I didn't say that…but I…."

"Grace," he intoned wearily, rubbing a hand across his eyes before reaching out to brush his fingers across her cheek. "When I said I didn't want to jeopardise the Unit, I didn't mean it was an either-or situation."

"I just wouldn't want you to feel compromised. I know what your work has cost you."

"Right; and I've got no intention of it costing me you as well."

"Boyd…."

"I don't want to talk about this anymore. What you're suggesting is not an option on either count, alright?" Because I don't think I could do this without you….

Grace felt relief flood her body as he encouraged her further towards him, the quiet vehemence of his words calming against the roiling anguish in her stomach. "Alright."

"Good. Now, come here."

He closed the final gap between them to press his lips tenderly to hers, his mouth moving gently as he kissed her slowly, sincerely, her lips parting as his tongue sought hers for the briefest of moments before pulling back to look at her anew.

"Let's go home," he murmured huskily, grinning as she brushed her mouth to his once more in agreement, her palm coming to rest lightly against his chest.

"I just need to get my bag," she replied, smiling at his low groan of frustration as she disengaged from his arms and moved back towards her office. "Two minutes."

"I'll time you," he called, raising his voice in her wake. "And if you're any longer then I'm coming in there and we're breaking every rule you've ever laid down about that bloody couch…."

She laughed loudly and Boyd's grin broadened boyishly as he shifted against the edge of the desk, pushing his residual anxiety to the core of his being and focussing on the sense of anticipation prickling exquisitely along the length of his spine.


Oh my God. I've got to get out of here. From the hidden darkness of the shadows, Sarah Cavendish took a shuddering breath, her tense body quivering as she forced her legs from their cramped position and slid quietly from the bullpen, walking swiftly along the corridor with her heart beating a furious rhythm against her ribcage. She held her breath unconsciously as she strode from the building, willing her mind not to surrender to her rising panic as she fumbled with her car keys, exhaling with relief into the cool stillness of the vehicle's interior as she slipped inside.

I don't think they saw me. Thank Christ for small mercies. She allowed her head to fall back against the head rest, her eyes closing as she recalled the events of the previous hour. She had returned to the station with the intention of retrieving the jacket she had abandoned in the midst of her seething rage that morning, her breath catching as she had stumbled upon Grace appearing from her office and heading towards Boyd's tense form hunched at the evidence board. Sarah had quickly moved into the inky blackness of one corner of the room, her mind in overdrive as she realised the potential benefit in eavesdropping on their private conversation but as the minutes had ticked by she had become increasingly uncomfortable; the magnitude of the couple's connection was undeniable and she had felt her skin flush against her will as she was unable to tear her gaze away. She sighed heavily, rubbing a hand across her eyes. I had no idea it was this serious, she thought soberly. Sleeping together is bad enough…but if he's in love with her….She sighed again, uncertainty knotting painfully in her stomach before she resolutely pushed the sensation away. There's no getting away from it. I've got no choice but to inform the DCC. This can't be allowed to continue. With a determined shake of her head to dispel the tendrils of guilt creeping through her heart, she turned the key in the ignition and drove promptly from the car park.

TBC