Another update up, hope you enjoy it!


Matt looked over at C.J. and he wondered if he could find a way to get her out of here before Harry started shooting. Visions of her lying on the grass next to the helicopter after getting shot by a cultist meshed with seeing through the glass of the jail cell where some corrupt cops kept the female prisoners between prostitution gigs. She had approached him then when he had rapped on the glass and said her name, as if he were a stranger. Cold fear had filled him at the questioning expression in her eyes even before he felt a gun pressed against his back by one of the crooked deputies. She had gotten away after he had knocked the sheriff out cold, her memories of him and their life together coming back in a rush.

But gazing at her picture and realizing she had been chosen as the next target by the extortionist…Matt didn't think he had ever sprinted so far in his life. If he had been one step slower…she'd be dead. That thought had haunted him for months now, time when he had worked on dozens of cases with his uncle and had met Elizabeth his fiancée and nearly married her. Elizabeth had tearfully told him that she didn't want to be part of the chaotic and unpredictable life of an investigator who couldn't keep from bringing it all home with him. Last he read, she had been engaged to a talk show host in Cincinnati and he had been happy for her, having moved on with his own life.

He watched Harry inch closer to C.J. who just kept her eyes on him. Damn, he had to make it clear to Harry that he would be better off if he let the woman go because he couldn't bear it if anything happened to her. But he had to act quickly.


C.J. just looked at the man waving a gun and knew she had to do something before he started killing people.

Each second it seemed as if the control he had over his rage was threatening to drive him to further violence. Clarence just stood there reciting the company line of the clinic, sounding like a public service announcement on some late night cable station. Matt spent most of his time trying to figure out how to keep her out of harm's way when she could take care of herself just fine.

She had hooked up with a martial arts instructor after they wrapped up the case where her car had been blown up as part of an extortion plot. After submitting her insurance claim on the torched vehicle, the umpteenth in her career spent working for Matt, she had gone and signed herself up. She had plenty of spare time now that Matt had partnered up on more cases with Roy, relying on his experience as a covert operative. Ever since Roy had helped expose a plot to frame his nephew for murder, he had been an integral part of Matt's life. Their rescue of Will from a warlord had bonded them closer together and C.J. just hadn't wanted to interfere with the prolonged family reunion. But a part of her wondered whether Matt had started relying on her less had anything to do with her getting shot by a religious cult leader, kidnapped and forced to work in a prostitution ring and then nearly run over by an airplane and blown up in her car. Just remembering all that tired her and left her thinking that it had been quite a busy year but it had just been part of the career that she had chosen for herself, just like he had done for himself.

The instructor had worked her hard and between that and the synchronized swimming classes, she felt whipped by the end of each day but she wanted to prove to herself that she could do it. That she could kick someone's ass if she had to and that she could be strong in any situation. If Matt kept treating her like a delicate flower that needed to be sheltered from the elements, then she would just have to go and kick his ass. This macho feeling of his that she needed protecting needed to be nipped in the bud.

And there was no better time to do that than now.

After all, she could kill two birds with one stone. Take out the bad guy out and save the hostages and prove to Matt that his concerns about her were misplaced. That she could protect herself and that what had happened to her in the past year had just been bad luck and she'd survived it all.

Now to figure out how to do that without getting shot because that would hurt. Having had her body slammed by three separate bullets fired by three criminals, she had no desire to experience that again. She would just have to make sure he never had the chance….

Matt moved closer to Harry who had been quiet for a few moments, perhaps planning what to do next. C.J. doubted he had done anything more than grabbed a gun and ran off half-cocked down here to threaten the doctor with it. Some men just didn't do much thinking with their brains.

She tried to center herself because she was going to have to move quickly and she gathered herself together. She noticed that Matt appeared poised to take action having decided that words alone wouldn't end this standoff. Clarence just stood here looking from one person to another. His considerable education including medical school and residential programs clearly no help here.

"So where's the file on my wife," Harry said suddenly.

Clarence came suddenly back to life.

"You can't have it or see it," he said, "It's all confidential records."

Harry pointed his gun back at the doctor.

"I'm giving you an order here," he said, "I believe my gun is enough to produce it."

Clarence bit his lip.

"I can't do that," he said, "It would be a violation of the oath I took."

"Listen Doc, you've already violated that oath when you impregnated my wife from one of those donor's off the street."

Clarence cleared his throat.

"We don't take them off the street," he said, "We accept only the best and they go through an extensive screening process that most men can't pass."

"You mean you only take those fancy Nobel Prize winners and movie stars," Harry said.

"No movie stars," Clarence corrected, "But we do take some of the world's most regarded scientists and athletes."

That perked C.J.'s interest. She couldn't help herself. But she still kept an eye on Harry.

"They're all at the top of their professions," Clarence continued, "and so far we've had no complaints."

Harry didn't look impressed but he put the gun down by his side. C.J. decided at that point to act, and swung her arm down, her hand striking Harry's forearm before he could raise the gun up again. He looked at her in shock, and then his face became enraged again. She felt him his gun strike her arm as he tried to raise it at her. She swirled around and knocked it out of his hand with a roundhouse kick. The gun clattered on the floor and Harry nearly went down with it.

Matt took advantage of the situation to grab hold of Harry, spin him around on his stomach and pull his arms behind him. Harry didn't resist but just sank in resignation against the floor.

"Call 911," Matt ordered.

Clarence just looked at him stunned and it took another order for him to pick up the phone and do it.

Matt leaned on Harry until the police arrived swarming the room and dragged Harry to his feet to handcuff and lead off to the waiting car. Harry scowled one last time. Matt and C.J. watched him go while Clarence dusted off his suit.

"Not a very pleasant character," he noted, "I hope he doesn't come back."

He began to sort through the paperwork on his desk.

"Now would you like to return to your appointment?"

C.J. looked at Matt.

"If it's okay Dr. Wilkinson, I think I'll call it a day," she said, "This has just been a little too exciting."

Matt agreed and Clarence nodded.

"Okay just make an appointment with the receptionist on the way out," he said, "and we can try this again in the future."

The two of them left the office and walked back down the hallway.

"Nice work counselor," he said, "Boy do you have some moves on you?"

"Thanks," she said, "I've been working on them. There's plenty more where they came from."

He winked at her, as he slipped his arm around her waist.

"I should hope so," he said, "I might need them again if we ever come back here."


She and Matt headed to the car, not sure what to do about this case. They could return later and try this all over again but she wanted to step away from it for a few days. Not that it hadn't been interesting indeed, as far as undercover jobs went but parts of it had been…embarrassing to say the least.

"I guess I'm heading back to the office," she said, "So if you can drop me off."

He opened the door for her and she stepped inside the car.

"I'm heading back there myself," he said, "I've got some paperwork on the Bronson case to clear out."

She nodded.

"I think I'll work off some energy in your gym and then do a Jacuzzi," she said, "If you don't mind."

He said nothing.

"Relax…I'm planning to wear more than you do…my muscles are just tight after all that excitement."

He could understand that.

"I might join you if that's okay…after the paperwork's done."

She looked at him and nodded. They drove back to the office and as they walked through the elevator into the lobby, Chris and the other secretaries gathered around for signatures on documents. Matt signed them all.

Chris looked at him in amazement.

"What's with him," she asked C.J.

"It's been one of those afternoons you're just glad when it's over."


Matt headed into his office after Chris had told him that Roy had been out following a lead at City Hall related to one of their cases but he would report back. Matt went into his office and intended to focus on filling out documents to close out files. But he kept playing over and over again in his mind at how deftly C.J. had handled Harry and his gun. She disarmed him effectively without his assistance and afterward he realized that he hadn't been fair to her when he had gently pushed her away from the business with the intention of protecting her from its dangerous side. She had already been exposed to facing death as many times as he had and she came back each day ready to work again.

He realized how much he missed working her, how much he missed her. Working undercover with her hadn't just been part of the assignment, it had been fun. And pretending he had been married to her certainly wasn't as much work as he might have thought.

He realized that she was still working out in the gym downstairs; toning a body that already looked like it had been molded into excellent shape in the past few months. Not that she hadn't always been beautiful with a body that flattered everything worn on it but something had definitely changed with her since they had last worked together closely on a case.

And he found that it attracted him.


C.J. gritted her teeth as she lifted the weights with her arms, strengthening the core muscles in her back and shoulders. She loved physical training that involved activities that would keep her mind on the fact that she was physically training which excluded weights. But the end result had been worth it and soaking in the Jacuzzi after the fact, soothed those sore muscles quickly and relaxed her mind as well. She had been following this routine for months usually afterhours when the office had been empty. Matt had usually been out on some case with Roy and she had been doing her own workload.

She just loved to sit in the Jacuzzi and forget about everything around her. The bubbly water soothed more than her body, it worked on her mind as well. So much had happened today that her training on the machines wouldn't exorcise, so a good long soak in the swirling eddies would have to do it.

She usually went at it alone but when he said he might join her, a smile came to her lips as she left the weights and went to change into her suit.