Author's Notes:
Thanks for all the reviews, I'm in fic-writer heaven! :)

Bruised & Battered,
Chapter Ten

Annie was having a very good dream, one she had every intention of seeing through to the end.

She was not going to wake up until it was over, and that was that.

Her partner, however, had other ideas.

"You awake?" he whispered, nuzzling her neck.

"No," she mumbled, "I'm not."

"That's a shame," he said as he nipped at the sensitive skin behind her ear, "because I'd really, really, reallylike you to be awake."

Still refusing to be snatched from her oh-so-enjoyable dream, she tried to burrow deeper under the covers, only to discover that she couldn't move. Panic bubbled inside her at the realization that she was trapped, propelling her into full-consciousness in two seconds flat.

"It's okay, Boots," Jimmy whispered soothingly as he loosened his hold on her. "It's only me."

"You interrupted my dream," she complained as she relaxed against him, feeling like an idiot for having over-reacted. "Just when it was getting really good, too..."

"Sorry," he said, though he didn't sound sorry at all. "Was I in the dream?" he asked as he trailed kissed along the side of her neck.

"Why?"

"Well, you... mentioned... my name," he informed her, the laughter in his voice unmistakable. "Anything you'd like to share?" he asked, his tone leaving no doubt that he knew exactly what type of dream she'd been having.

"Not really," she replied, feeling herself blush. It was a stupid reaction, she knew, given how she and Jimmy had spent the last twenty four hours, but she couldn't seem to help it. It wasn't even that there was anything particularly exotic about the dream. Even if there had been, she knew Jimmy would be more than happy to oblige; he'd always been very open to trying new things...

"You sure?" he queried, somehow managing to sound perfectly innocent, even though his wandering fingers were busy doing things to her that were anything but innocent.

"Uh-uh," she half-mumbled, half-moaned. Her partner really did have a talent for reducing her linguistic skills to near-monosyllabic, barely-audible words, though words seemed woefully inaccurate for the sounds coming out of her at this point.

Not that this was his only talent, mind you.

Not by a long shot, she thought, her half-moan quickly degenerating into a full-blown one as his questing fingers zeroed in on a particular sensitive spot. "Jimmy..."

"You know," he whispered in her ear, "that's kind of what you sounded like when you were dreaming."

"Uh-uh," she replied, once again displaying her superb mastery of the English language.

"Does that very eloquent answer mean you're ready to share?" he asked with a laugh as she twisted around to face him.

"No sharing," she told him as she gave him a playful shove, landing him on his back. "Much more fun to come up with something new," she added as she straddled him. "Don't you think?"

"No arguments from me," he assured her as he studied her with undisguised interest, no doubt wondering exactly what she had in mind. Probably hoping she'd show him a new party trick...

"Any special requests?" she asked as she bent down to capture his mouth.

"Surprise me."

She slowly made her down his chest, leaving a trail of kisses in her wake. "Don't I always?" she asked as she ventured further south, feeling him twitch under her as she nipped at a particularly sensitive spot.

"Uh-uh," he mumbled, having suddenly become just as linguistically challenged as she had been mere minutes ago. Turn-around was fair play, as her partner had so aptly pointed out the day before...

She was reaching for their rapidly-dwindling stash of condoms when Jimmy's phone went off, startling her. Cursing the powers that be for their cruel sense of timing - though it would have unarguably been much worse had it gone off a few minutes later - she grabbed the phone off the night-stand, handing it to her partner.

"Leave it," he replied as he took the phone from her and tossed it onto the floor.

"Don't be an idiot, Jimmy," she said as she tried to snatch the handset off the floor. "It could be important."

"It's not you," he argued, "it's not Marco, Daisy, Luke, or the office, and we don't have any active cases right now, so no witnesses. Everyone else can wait."

"How do you know that?" she asked, looking at him curiously. "I mean, I obviously get how it's not me, but the rest?"

"Ringtone," he replied as he reached for her, seemingly intent on getting them back on track. "Now where were we?"

"You have different ringtones for everyone?" she asked, frowning. "How did I not know that?" She was missing something here, but she couldn't figure out exactly what that was, and it bothered her.

"Not everyone," he said evasively, setting off more mental alarms, as did his renewed attempts at trying to distract her with his oh-so-very-talented hands. "Just a few key people."

"Like who?"

"Annie-"

"Like who," she repeated, undeterred.

"Why do you care?"

"Because, for some reason, you don't want to tell me, and the fact that you're holding back something that is really... insignificant... tells me something bigger is going on here."

"Nathalie," he said quietly. "It was Nathalie's ringtone."

"Oh," she replied inanely, not sure what else to say. Given what they'd been doing, she could see why her partner hadn't wanted to take the call. Nothing like conversing with an ex while in bed with someone new to make things awkward all around.

So he'd assigned his girlfriend - scratch that, ex-girlfriend - a special ringtone. U.S. Marshals, by the very nature of their work, could be subjected to an astounding number of calls on a daily basis. It only made sense he'd want a way to know when she was the one calling.

It was all about prioritizing the important things - the important people- in your life, right?

And yet, it still bothered her, though she couldn't pinpoint why. Try as she might, she just couldn't shake the feeling that she was still missing something...

"I'm sorry," he started as he propped himself up to a sitting position, lacing an arm around her waist. "I just wasn't ready for the outside world to intrude yet."

"We can't stay in bed forever, Jimmy," she sighed, closing her eyes as she rested her forehead against his.

"I distinctly remember time spent in the bathroom, the living room, and the kitchen."

"Okay, so we did make it out of the bedroom," she conceded as she pulled away slightly, "but in every one of those instances, we still wound up naked with our hands all over each other."

"Not just our hands," he reminded her playfully as he kissed the side of her neck.

"I'm serious, Jimmy," she sighed, trying to keep her thoughts together, though her partner's actions were making it rather difficult to concentrate. "We're gonna have to face reality eventually. And reality is going to include people that are going to make us... uncomfortable... People like Nathalie."

"And people like Ben Crowley?" he asked, going perfectly still.

"Yeah," she sighed, "people like Ben."

She lapsed into silence, not sure what to say next. While she had no reason to feel guilty about her tryst with the bounty hunter - they were both single, consenting adults - she did feel guilty. Against all rational explanations, when she was with Crowley, she felt like she was... cheating. She briefly wondered if her partner had ever felt that way when with Nathalie, but promptly squashed that thought; this was one question she really did not want to know the answer to...

"The thing with Ben," she started to say, knowing she should just let it go, yet unable to overcome the need to explain herself. "It didn't mean anything."

"Does he know that?"

"I'm in love with you, Jimmy," she reminded him. "Whatever Ben Crowley may or may not know is kind of irrelevant at this point, don't you think?"

"Sorry," he sighed. "I just don't like that guy, and the thought of him..." He trailed off mid-sentence, trying to keep himself under control yet not quite succeeding. She didn't need to be psychic to figure out what he had been about to say.

"I know the feeling. The thought of you and Nathalie in bed-" She stopped mid-sentence, the mention of Jimmy's ex having just provided her with the last piece of the puzzle.

"Annie?" her partner said worriedly. "What's wrong?"

"You have a ringtone for me?" she asked, though she already knew the answer.

"Of course," he confirmed, looking at her curiously. "You're my partner."

It explained so much, really. Nathalie had been right; Jimmy had been running to her all along, whether or not not he'd actually been aware of it. Despite the fact that she'd had no active part in that, she felt her guilt levels go up another half-dozen notches.

Desperate to get some distance between them so she could sort through her jumbled thoughts and feelings, she squirmed in his lap, trying desperately to free herself from his grasp.

"What's wrong?" he asked, refusing to let her go. "Talk to me, Boots."

"Talk," she replied with a mirthless laugh. "Great, now you want to talk."

She knew they did need to talk, but she couldn't think - let alone have a serious conversation - while straddling his naked body, feeling his unflagging erection nudging at her backside. Her brain might understand the need for talk, but the rest of her didn't particularly care.

The only way they were going to manage having a serious talk was to get out of bed, put some clothes on, and keep their hands off each other.

"Let me go, Jimmy," she said through gritted teeth. "Now."

"Not until you tell me what just happened," he replied stubbornly, tightening his hold on her.

"Something Nathalie said," she said in defeat, knowing the only way she'd get away was to offer him some kind of explanation. "About you running off every time the phone rang."

He cocked an eyebrow at her, obviously not getting what she was driving at.

"She knew, Jimmy. All that time, she knew. I may not have known, but it doesn't change the fact that I was the other woman, and I just don't know how to deal with that..."

"That's on me, Boots, not you," he said, tilting her chin up so she'd be forced to look him in the eye. "I'm the one who stayed, even knowing I was in love with you. I'm the one who... led her on. This is not your fault."

"I know that," she said miserably, "but I still feel guilty as hell."

"Okay," he said, releasing her. "Get some clothes on, then we'll go somewhere and talk."

"We don't have to go anywhere," she protested. "I can make us some breakfast."

"I don't know about you but, given recent events, the kitchen isn't going to be all that helpful in helping me keep my hands to myself."

"Oh..." she replied, feeling herself turn red. The man had a point. She couldn't think of a single square inch of her apartment that didn't bring up some rather... vivid... memories. "When did we turn into raving sex maniacs?"

"I think it's more about making up for lost time than anything else," he said, pressing a kiss into her forehead. "Now get out of bed before I change my mind and have my way with you."

"You're assuming you could," she smirked, resisting the urge to stick her tongue out at him.

"I don't think it would take all that much convincing," he shot back, licking his lips as he let his gaze travel down her naked body, the undisguised hunger in his eyes sending blood rushing to her nether regions.

"Point taken," she said quickly, climbing out of bed before she had a chance to change her mind. "I'm gonna grab a quick shower first."

"No rush," he mumbled as he fell back against the bed with a loud thud. "I'm only gonna need cold water anyway."

She would have laughed, except for the fact that a cold shower was exactly where she was headed herself...