In the back of the SWAT van, Briareos undid the straps of his bulletproof vest, groaning a bit as he worked his way out of it. He examined the protective armor; three bullets were lodged in it. He lifted his shirt, his fingers tracing over the three tender welts. There would be large angry bruises in the morning, but he was lucky. Had he not had the vest on, he would have left the scene in a body bag, one of the bullets having hit very near his heart.

"Man, that looks painful," Jill chuckled, slipping out of her own armor.

Briareos shook his head, returning her laughter a bit. "I don't see how you managed not to get shot," he said, looking around the van and the other team members, two of which were tying makeshift tourniquets around wounds to stem bleeding. "You guys okay?" he called over the noise inside the van. They nodded; neither of them had serious injuries, both had only been grazed by bullets, one in the shoulder, the other in the thigh. It was a lucky break.

"Hope the rest of the night is a bit quieter," Jill said, at the same moment a call came over the radio, "SWAT, we have a 415e, reported 966, may be some armed and dangerous."

Jill let out a loud sigh. "Well, at least it's nothing major," she said. "Just sounds like a rave."

"Great, more stoned guys with guns," one of the guys who'd been shot said mirthlessly.

Briareos chuckled, "Well, you two ought to be happy, you both get a pass on this one. We'll drop the two of you off at the hospital on our way out there." Briareos reloaded his weapons, thinking silently. He was scheduled to get off in a half hour, but he toyed with the idea of staying on with the team for one more round. He was a bit sore, but he was used to that, and he could always use the extra money. If there was one thing he'd learned over the last few years it was that being one of the good guys didn't pay nearly as well as being one of the bad ones.

Inside the barn was hot and crowded. The music blared as sweaty bodies brushed up against Deunan's. In spite of her disappointment in him, she held onto Baker, not wanting to get lost in the teeming mass of people and lose her ride out of that insanity. The whole building seemed alive, pulsing with heavy rhythms as strobes of multicolored lights swirled around her. She had never really been one for crowds or parties, but she tried to look as though she was enjoying herself. After all, regardless of her sentiments about it, this was still her first date and if she ever wanted to have another one, she'd better not lead Baker to think she was completely lame. Information like that had a way of getting around.

Baker ground up against her, his left arm was wrapped around her waist, occasionally darting under the thin fabric to massage her slick skin. She forced a smile as his fingers drifted over the small of her back. In his other hand was a longneck, and as close as she was she could smell the alcohol on his breath as they danced. "Sure you don't want one?" he shouted over the music, holding the bottle up so she could see what he was referring to.

She shook her head. She knew better than to drink at raves. Even if she managed to find something that hadn't been laced with acid, she wanted to have her head about her on the very real chance that the police would crash the party. The only thing worse than SWAT finding her there would be SWAT finding her there completely stoned. "I think I could use some fresh air," she shouted back almost in his ear, her voice still almost lost in the music.

"What was that?" he asked, leaning his head a little closer to hers.

"Fresh air!" she shouted, simplifying her demand. "Outside."

Baker nodded and winked at her. Her mind vaguely registered that winking was overrated, but she let him lead her through the crowd, clinging tightly to his arm, both to keep him near, and to keep from falling over in her heels. Heels, it seemed, had been a decidedly bad choice of footwear, and had it not been for the fear of disgusting things on the floor, she'd have kicked off the painful shoes and gone barefoot.

The air outside rushed out to greet her like a breeze from heaven. She took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the wonderful coolness of it, a real smile gracing her lips. It was smile of relief, but Baker mistook it for a sign that she was happy to be a bit more alone. "Hey," he whispered into her ear as they walked further into the darkness. "Want to sit in the back of the truck a bit? We could catch our breath, look at the stars."

She wanted to tell him that she what she really wanted was to sit in the front of the truck and drive back into the city, but she reminded herself that her reputation was on the line here. She struggled to give him another smile and nodded. He grinned and took another swig of beer. When he turned away to look for the truck she took a deep breath. A long night, it would be a very long night.

Back in the van, after they'd dropped off the injured at the hospital, Briareos was deep in thought. He could use the money, yes, but he was sore and tired. More than that, he was lonesome. It was funny, how he'd never noticed when he was lonesome before he moved to L.A., perhaps because he'd just been miserable in general. Maybe he could patch things up with Deunan when he got back to headquarters, take her out to the beach. She liked the beach at night. Maybe they could build a fire. He smiled at the thought.

Deunan and Baker were stretched out on the bed of his truck. One of his arms was under her head, the other bent and tucked under his. He picked his head up a little, took a swig of beer and then rested it back again. He tilted his head, watching her as she looked up at the stars. "So…" he said, chuckling softly. "How did you like the party?"

She fixed on a fake smile again, turning slowly to look at him. "It's cool," she lied. Her eyes were beginning to turn back to the stars, when he leaned over and kissed her. Every thought she had erased for a moment at the warm, moist pressure against her mouth. Even his appalling personality and the horrible taste of beer on him didn't really matter. It was her first kiss; and whatever else was wrong with it, it was still amazing.

Then, however, the kiss deepened and Deunan was thrown back to the harsh reality of facts: she was with a guy she didn't like; in a place she didn't want to be. Mercifully, her cell phone rang. Despite his protests, she jumped up and pulled the cell phone out her pocket. Without reading the number, she said, "Oh, this is important. I'll be back in a minute." She seized the opportunity to quickly walk away.

She flipped open the phone, trying to use her hand to drown out some of the noise of the rave in the background. "Hello," she said.

A familiar voice came over the other end. "Hey, Deunan? I was calling to see if you were at headquarters, but judging by the noise in the background you're not," Briareos said, his voice betraying his concern for her.

"I'm out," Deunan said curtly. "What do you want?"

"Out?" Briareos countered loudly, the guys in the van turning to look at him. "You mean like on a date 'out'?"

"Yeah, Briareos, like 'on a date out.' You got some kind of problem with that?" she growled.

"Who are you out with?" he asked, his anger growing a bit at this. He told himself that of course he was angry, Deunan had gone off with lord knows who and god knows where. She could get herself into serious trouble. After all what did that little girl know about the wicked ways of men?

"If you must know, Chris Baker…" she started, but he interrupted her.

"Baker!? You're out with Baker!?" he shouted. Now the team members in the van had given up all pretenses of disinterest in the conversation.

"Yes, and if all you're going to do is scream at me, I think we're done with this conversation!" Deunan growled into the mouthpiece of the phone, angrily snapped it shut, and shoved the device deep into the pocket of her skirt.

Still glowering a bit she walked back to Baker, her ankles twisting now and then as she did. If anything, her conversation with Briareos had given her new drive to explore her options with her date. Something deep and sinister in her was glad that Briareos was disturbed to hear that she was out with the new recruit.

To say Briareos was disturbed was to completely understate the point. They were pulling up to HQ when Deunan hung up on him. For a moment he stared at the phone in shock, before angrily shutting his as well.

The change over was fast when they stopped. Briareos had made up his mind, he told one of the replacements that they could stay on standby, and informed Carl that he'd be staying on another shift. He didn't tell his commanding officer that his decision had anything to do with Deunan, assuming (incorrectly) that the man already knew who his daughter was with.

Back in the van, on the way to their assignment, Jill finally broke the silence that had fallen between Briareos and other members of the team. "So, Deunan's with Baker?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

He glared at her. "You knew about this?" he asking accusingly.

Jill held up her hands in defense, shaking her head. "No man. I knew she liked him, but she never said anything about him asking her out," she replied.

Briareos scowled when Jill made the comment about Deunan liking Baker and suddenly everything became clear. Deunan wasn't the only one infatuated. Despite his best attempts to keep their relationship platonic, Briareos had developed a deep desire for Deunan as well. Jill smiled a little, leaning over to him and whispering, "You know, all you ever had to do was tell her." Briareos blushed brightly and mumbled something before turning his attention to putting on a new bulletproof vest.

Deunan was back in the bed of the truck with Baker, her mouth working furiously against his. His kisses may have been fueled by drunken passion, but hers were fueled by revenge. In his mild state of inebriation, he mistook her anger for desire.

It wasn't until his hands began to explore her body that she woke up to the reality of what he was wanting. One of his hands clumsily slid up her bare leg, his fingers pressing up against the thin cloth of her panties. "Chris," she gasped, scooting back a bit. "Chris, stop it!"

"Come on, baby," he said, moving closer to her again.

"No!" she shouted, climbing out the back of the truck. She wished she had never agreed to go with him that afternoon. Everything was turning out rotten. Fighting back tears of frustration, Deunan wobbled her way towards the road. She wasn't sure where she was going, but maybe if she could get far enough from Baker and the rest of the insanity at the rave, she could call someone to go pick her up. Her options were rather limited, though, she'd just hung up on Bri, Jill was working a double, and there was no way she was calling her dad about this…

From behind her, Baker grabbed her left arm, pulling her so that she spun around, almost losing her balance entirely. "What the hell!?" Deunan shouted, trying to pull her arm free, but finding that his grip was tighter than she'd expected.

"What's your problem, you little whore?" Baker slurred angrily, clinching her arm a bit tighter. "You fuckin' put yourself out there, then you pull this. Goddamned fuckin' tease! That's what you are!" He tried to pull her in closer.

Deunan's wrath reached heights she didn't even know she was capable of. She put all her fury into a solid right hook. As she connected with Baker's jaw, she heard something crack, and he fell to the ground, unconscious. "Bri was right," she spat at him, "you're an asshole!"

A second later she jumped as the sound of sirens very near. The police and SWAT team had kept the sirens off until just as they pulled up near the barn and with her struggle with Baker, she they had pulled up completely without her realizing it. Her heart sunk into the pit of her stomach as she turned around and saw Briareos and the rest of the SWAT members hurrying out the van.

The first thing Briareos saw as he climbed out the van was Deunan, standing there in shock over the unconscious body of Chris Baker. His jaw dropped. "Deunan?" he whispered to himself. What the hell had she gotten herself into this time?