A/N Where'd all my loyal reviewers go? Three reviews. THREE. And I am very upset. On a happier note, I need your help, otherwise Chapter 8 won't be able to go up, 'cause it ain't finished! Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Maybe you could leave them in a review. I really would like to try and get up to 40. Please.

Disclaimer: I don't own Cold Case. I do own two cats that are very upset with the lack of love (Mobster accent) SHOW ME THE LOVIN'!


After a weekend that was spent alternating between making love, watching films and reviewing the case files, Lilly only dropped Scotty's hand when he pushed open the department doors. Much to their surprise, Vera was already slouched at his desk, glaring at his coffee cup.

Jeffries raised a hand in greeting, smiling. Vera watched the couple through narrowed eyes as they removed their coats, hanging them on the backs of their chairs.

"You two look way too happy for a Monday mornin'," the burly detective grumbled.

Scotty shrugged, a crooked grin spreading from his lips.

"Guess we just slept well." Lilly stifled a laugh. Vera took the last donut from the box, studying the couple carefully.

"If that ain't after-glow then I don't know what the hell is!" he exclaimed enviously.

Miller walked in just in time to hear Vera's exclamation.

"Who got laid?" she asked, reaching over to snatch the donut from his hand.

"They did," Vera grumbled, glaring at Miller, who was now chomping happily on the pastry. Jeffries chuckled, looking between the four.

"You guys crack me up," he laughed.

Vera glared at him.

"Glad we're good for somethin'," he replied sarcastically. Lilly arched an eyebrow.

"Slightly bitter this mornin', Vera?" she asked teasingly.

Before the burly detective could reply, Stillman strode into the squad room, and all childish conversations were stopped.

"Morning, boss!" they chorused. He smiled.

"Morning. So, where are we with the case?"

Scotty held out a case file.

"We're getting there, boss," Miller replied. Stillman nodded seriously.

"I want this guy locked up. He's got away with it for far too long."


Later that morning, Miller stormed into the department, causing Lilly and Scotty to look up in surprise.

"What the f…hell is wrong with this city?" Vera arrived behind her, red-faced and puffing for breath.

"Jesus, Kat," he wheezed, "who stuck a rocket up your ass?"

The two youngest detectives exchanged concerned, yet slightly amused, glances, and sat back in their seats. Miller slammed her coffee cup down on her desk.

"That jumped up, good for nothin'…"

"For God's sake," Vera groaned.

She turned to hit him upside the head. Lilly and Scotty tried unsuccessfully to stifle their laughs, grinning as their colleague continued on her tirade.

"I am not being insulted by some overgrown Barbie doll in a Hooters t-shirt!"

Lilly snorted, burying her face in her hands. Scotty failed to stop his own chuckle at the sight of her trembling shoulders. Miller whirled around to face them, her face dark with fury.

"You think this is funny?"

The couple tried to straighten their faces, shaking their heads innocently. Miller spoke again.

"You wanna know what she said?" Vera shook his head from behind her, his eyes widening ominously. Frowning slightly, Scotty shrugged. Miller glared over her shoulder at the burly detective.

"She said fatass here was my boyfriend!"

This time, Lilly and Scotty were laughing so hard, Stillman stuck his head out of his office to tell them to keep it down.


The rest of the morning passed quickly, and without any major disasters. Tensions were running high, each detective eager to find the evidence they were hunting for.

The sharp trill of a phone disturbed the silence. Kat picked up her phone, returning Vera's glare.

"Miller," she answered. She listened for a moment, her face turning pale.

Muttering thanks, she put the phone down. Vera, minus the glare, stood up in concern.

"What's up?" Kat felt her eyes fill.

"Veronica's fallen off the jungle gym. They're taking her to Penn." Lilly gasped.

"Is she OK?"

Miller shrugged. Scotty jogged across to get her coat. He gave Miller a brief smile, nudging her towards the door.

"Call us?" She nodded, hurrying out.

Lilly studied Vera carefully. He cleared his throat.

"What?" he asked defensively. She smiled knowingly. Scotty grinned.

"Go now an' you can still catch her."

For a man of his size, Vera moved surprisingly quickly. Watching him run out of the department, the blonde detective turned back to her partner, frowning slightly.

"So how long do you think it'll take them to work it out?"

Scotty raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

"Vera and Miller? Seriously? Come on, Lil. Never gonna happen." His girlfriend smirked.

"That's what they said about us, Valens." He was silent for a while.

"I think a few years. They ain't as smart as us."

"Scotty, it took us four years."


"How's the kid?" Jeffries called. Vera removed his coat, draping across the back of his seat.

"Broken arm. Nasty cut on her head." Lilly appeared beside him, handing him a cup of strong coffee. He smiled gratefully.

"How's Kat?" she asked.

"Doin' worse than the girl."

"So what happened?" Jeffries asked, returning from the break room. Vera shrugged.

"Kid was playing on the jungle gym, fell off, hit her head on one o' the bars. They're keepin' her in overnight just in case." Lilly winced.

"I always knew jungle gyms were dangerous," she murmured. Vera grinned.

"You're kids will be goin' to school wearin' safety gear?" he teased. The blonde nodded absent-mindedly, her attention focused on the case file.

"If that's the only way they can be safe," she replied distractedly.

The two men exchanged disbelieving looks. Jeffries cleared his throat.

"So, you an' Valens talked about having kids, Lil?"

Her head shot up, eyes widening to give her the all-too-familiar 'deer in the headlights' look.

"What? No. Huh? What…no….we haven't…what? I have to go," she stammered, bolting into the break room.

Vera and Jeffries watched her disappear, smirking triumphantly. The large detective chuckled, his deep voice resonating around them.

"Well, well, well…"


"Basically, we have nothin'," Scotty grumbled. Lilly sighed.

"No, not nothing. Just…not very much."

He scrubbed a hand over his face.

"OK. So Adam says that he overheard his Dad at confession a few weeks ago. Fits in with what we already learnt from family friends about them goin' to church." Lilly nodded, picking up the story.

"Kate's body was found in the alleyway that runs alongside the church. Original investigation suggested that maybe she'd walked in on a drug deal, and the doer took her out."

"Got rid of the witness," Scotty suggested.

"But Marsden admitted killing her. Adam heard him. 'I killed her, David! I killed my wife!' Surely that has to count for something."

"But he coulda been talkin' figuratively, or…maybe Adam jus' misheard."

"I guess. What about Stuart Devlin? He remembered seeing Marsden leave work early, but the medical examiner put TOD at 9pm. Marsden didn't have any reason to leave early."

Scotty tapped his pen on the desk, thinking hard.

"Maybe he had somewhere else to be? Maybe he was doin' a bit of private investigatin' into his wife and Devlin?"

Lilly sighed again.

"We still don't have the murder weapon."

"Nope. Search warrant turned up nothin' of interest."

"So it's not at his home. And it wasn't found in the alleyway. And Marsden's had six months to get rid of the gun."

Lilly sat on the edge of Scotty's desk, her crossed legs hanging down beside him. She was reading the folder, eyes narrowed in concentration. Scotty sat back in his chair and folded his arms behind his head, his elbows brushing against her leg.

"You got anythin' from his record, Lil?" She shook her head.

"Only that he was arrested for a DUI, almost a year ago."

Scotty gave her a tired grin.

"How about we call it a night? Me an' you can go get somethin' to eat." Lilly smiled gratefully.

"You sure know the way to a woman's heart, Valens." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"I do, do I?" She rolled her eyes, standing up to retrieve her coat.

"Idiot," she replied affectionately. Scotty grinned, watching her retreating figure. Catching the smile she tossed back over her shoulder, he stood up.

"Hey, Lil?" The blonde detective turned.

"I love you, ya know."

Lilly nodded.

"I know. I love you too."

Before she could do anything else, Scotty was behind her, his hands resting lightly on her hips. He planted a soft kiss to the back of her head.

"I was thinkin'. You wanna drop by the hospital an' see Veronica? Seein' as she's staying overnight an' all."

Lilly turned in his arms, smirking.

"Why, Scotty Valens, you're nothin' but a big marshmallow." He raised an eyebrow, linking his hands at the small of her back.

"Marshmallow?" Lilly nodded teasingly.

"Yeah. You know, soft and fluffy."

Scotty scowled in mock fierceness.

"Me? I ain't soft. I'm hard," he pouted. Lilly pecked him on the lips.

"Just keep telling yourself that, Valens."


Lilly entangled their fingers as Scotty pushed open the double doors. Seeing them approach the desk, the nurse smiled.

"How can I help ya'll?"

"We're lookin' for Veronica Miller?" Scotty said. The nurse nodded, pointing to a side room.

Lilly leant over the desk, lowering her voice.

"I brought her a present. An edible present. Is that OK?" The nurse chuckled, checking her patient notes.

"Uh huh, sweetie. She's not on any major medication. Jus' some painkillers. She should be fine."

"Thanks," Scotty said gratefully, leading his partner away.

Lilly tapped on the door. Veronica and her mother looked up, their faces breaking into identical grins.

"Hey Lilly!" the little girl said. Scotty walked into the room behind his girlfriend.

"That's some cast you got there, champ!" he said in surprise. Miller rolled her eyes. Veronica giggled.

"Hi, Scotty!"

The blonde detective moved to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Does it hurt?" she asked, wrinkling her nose. The child nodded solemnly.

"Uh huh." Lilly rummaged around in the paper bag, pulling out a tub of ice cream. Kat shook her head.

"Surprised you ain't the size of a house," she said.

Scotty chuckled. We burn it all off. Hearing his laugh, Lilly turned to catch his eye. From the mischievous grin on her face, he knew she was probably thinking the same thing. Fishing out three spoons from the bag, Lilly handed one each to Veronica and Kat, pushing the ice cream towards them.

"Cherry Garcia! My favourite!" Veronica squealed. Lilly widened her eyes in mock astonishment.

"It is? Really? Mine too!" she said incredulously. Miller laughed, knowing full well that Lilly's favourite ice cream was chocolate-chocolate-chip. Who'd have thought Rush was so good with kids?

"Are you sure this is alright? I don't want no doctors breathin' down my neck."

The blonde detective nodded.

"I checked with the nurse on the way in." Miller nodded.

"OK. You better not get me in trouble, Rush." Lilly ignored the final comment.

"Dig in. Hospital food just doesn't do it," she said.

Scotty tugged gently on her ponytail, pouting slightly.

"What, I don't get any?" Lilly smirked, rolling her eyes.

"You don't like Cherry Garcia. There's a tub of Chocolate Fudge Brownie in the other bag, in the car. You can have it later."

Scotty grinned.

"You know me too well, Lil." She tossed a flirty smile over her shoulder.

"I do, don't I?" Veronica giggled, and Lilly blushed under Miller's glare.

"Keep it clean, please," the curly-haired detective warned. Scotty's grin only grew.

"Yes, ma'am."


They didn't stay at the hospital for long. After leaving Miller, Scotty had driven across town to 'the finest diner in town'. Marcus grinned as they entered, and the couple were quickly seated at the counter.

"Evenin', 'tectives. "

Di appeared in front of them, holding two plates of pasta. Smiling broadly, she placed the food on the counter.

"Thought you two might be comin' round sometime tonight, so I had this ready an' waiting." The blonde detective smiled, inhaling the scent of tomatoes, basil and cheese.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

The diner owner watched as they picked at their meals, satisfied smiles hanging around their lips.

"Now, how is that poor child? Her arm fixed?" Lilly nodded.

"It was a clean break. The cast will come off in a couple of weeks."

Scotty stuffed a mouthful of pasta into his mouth, sighing in ecstasy.

"Damn, Di, you been stealin' Mama's recipes again? This is amazin'." Lilly rolled her eyes.

"Close your mouth, Scotty." Di chuckled.

"No, child, I haven't been stealin' your Mama's recipes. Nine times outta ten, she stealin' 'em from me."


Lilly studied a picture on the wall.

"Is that you?" she asked curiously. Scotty squinted to get a better look. After a second, he rolled his eyes.

"Di! Thought you an' Mama weren't gonna keep puttin' pictures up?"

The woman behind the counter laughed.

"How many times you in here, and you've only just noticed that?" she teased. Scotty sighed, turning back to his partner.

"How'd you spot that anyway?" Lilly shrugged.

"I'm observant.

Di chuckled.

"I guess we know who's the better detective." Scotty grinned, and reached up for the photo.

"Didn't know there was any question," he replied cockily.

Lilly slapped his arm, narrowing her eyes menacingly.

"Careful, Valens…" she warned. Scotty widened his eyes innocently, feigning nonchalance.

"I meant you, Lil. Who'd you think I was talkin' about?" The blonde detective rolled her eyes.

"Nice save. Now give me the damn frame." He handed it to Lilly.

"Take a good look, 'cause that's the last time you're gonna see that picture." His girlfriend smirked. Studying the picture, she frowned, turning the image on its side to look at it from a different angle.

"Are you sure that's you?" Lilly questioned doubtfully.

"Hey, I was a goofy lookin' kid!" he defended.

The blonde detective laughed, and placed a quick kiss on his cheek. She handed the photo back to Di.

"Can I get a copy of that?"

"Sure thing, honey," the older woman replied, chuckling.

Scotty looked from Lilly to Di, and back again.

"Why do I feel like you're gangin' up on me?"

Before she could reply, Lilly's cell phone rang. Glaring at it, she flipped it open.

"Rush," she answered.

"Lil, it's me," Miller began. The scowl disappeared from the blonde's face as quickly as it had arrived.

"Oh, hey."

Miller cleared her throat.

"Can you do me a favour?"

"Sure. What's up?"

"I need a change of clothes, and Veronica needs some pyjamas. You got time to swing by my place and pick some stuff up?"

Lilly quickly explained the situation to her partner, and he nodded.

"We'll be there in twenty minutes, OK?"

"Thanks, Rush. Neighbour's got the key."


Lilly almost ran into him as she stepped out of the elevator.

"Yo, watch it, lady!" said an angry voice. The blonde detective looked up in surprise.

"Vera?" He blinked, realising who he had walked into.

"Lil! What, uh, what…what are you doing here?" he said awkwardly, running a hand over his head.

Lilly smirked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," she said in amusement. Vera looked away. Is he…blushing? Lilly thought incredulously.

"I just, uh…you know, uh…goin' to, uh, get some, uh, coffee…" he replied sheepishly. Lilly laughed.

"Relax. I won't say anything."

Vera nodded.

"Yeah, well," he replied gruffly. His colleague smirked infuriatingly.

"Since you're here," she began pointedly, "maybe you can take these to Miller?" He nodded, desperate to get her out of his face.

"Sure, Rush. I, uh, I'll just, uh…"

She stepped back into the waiting elevator. Just as the doors were about to close, Lilly turned around.

"Hey, Nick?"

"What?"

"She appreciates it, you know." He frowned in confusion.

"She's a kid. Jus' wanted to make sure she was, uh…"

Lilly smiled.

"I wasn't talking about Veronica."


I don't know what's going on with Kat and Vera. Sigh. Box of oatmeal for the first person to review. Hint hint.