Brenda searched for Flynn, but she couldn't find him. She finally gave up in disappointment and headed back to her office. She felt awful, but there wasn't much she could do until he finally came back to work. Upset, she closed her blinds and sat at her desk, wanting to close everything out. How had she managed to get herself into this mess? She should have just maintained a distance from Flynn after he'd been attacked. She'd let down her guard, allowed herself to get too close to him. She'd allowed herself to develop feelings for someone that she had no business in allowing herself to. She was married, she kept telling herself. But no matter what her brain was telling her, her heart ached for the missing man. She hadn't wanted to hurt him, not at all. But she had.

Brenda laid her head on her desk, the coolness helping with the headache that was starting to form. This was how Provenza found her a few moments later when he came in to talk to her. Quietly, he opened her chocolate drawer, took out a Hershey bar and put it in her hand.

"What's this for?" she asked him, staring bleakly at one of her favorite treats.

"I always find that chocolate helps you to recover quicker from whatever is bugging you. So eat it, I don't care if it's ten in the morning or not." Provenza said, not unkindly.

Brenda sat up and ripped open the Hershey bar, biting into it. He was right, it did help.

"Are you okay, Chief? You don't seem like yourself today." Provenza usually was looking for gossip, but today he was concerned about her. He'd just been coming into work when he'd seen her racing down the hall, looking upset.

"Nothing that about five more of these chocolate bars can't cure." Brenda muttered.

"That bad, huh?"

"You don't know the half of it, Lieutenant." Brenda took another bite.

"Why don't you take some time off, Chief? You look worn out and frazzled. You should take a couple of days to yourself."

"I'd love to, but it won't help any. I'd just spend the time thinking about what is troublin' me and I really don't want to do that. I just need to focus on this case. But thank you for your concern, Lieutenant. It's nothing that won't be solved eventually."

"If you say so, Chief." Provenza got up to leave, still concerned for her.

"Lieutenant, one thing before you go. Could you not tell anyone that you are concerned for me? I'm fine, I really am."

"Sure, Chief, no problem." Provenza left it at that, returning to the squad room just as Flynn reappeared there.

"Coming in late today? Must be nice to come to work when you please." Provenza sniped at him.

"I was here before, dumbass, I just had to leave for a bit. I'm back now, so get over it." Flynn sniped right back at him.

"Geez, what's up your ass this morning? Get up on the wrong side of bed?" Provenza looked at his friend and wondered what was really bothering him. Flynn would never tell him though. Still, he looked like he could use someone to talk to.

"Listen, Provenza, I'm not in the mood for this today. I just really want to get to work." Flynn said, sitting down.

"Hell must have froze over. Did you just say you really want to work? Who are you and what have you done with Andy Flynn?" Provenza cocked an eyebrow at him, wondering what was going on.

"Haha, you're so funny. Can I just get to work now?" Flynn sighed, irritated.

"If you call what you do "work", who am I to stop such an ambitious fellow?" Provenza left it at that and returned to his desk. It didn't stop him from watching his friend every once in a while though. He was concerned.

Brenda came out of her office eventually and was happy to see that Andy had come back. What she wanted to do was fling her arms around him. Instead, she went to the break room to get a coffee. When she came back, she went straight to her office, not saying much to anyone. After a few moments, hoping no one would notice, Andy picked a file up off his desk and then trailed in after her. He took a moment to lock her door, not wanting anyone to come in.

"I think maybe we should cool things for a while, Brenda. It may not be the best idea for you to move into my spare room. I'd love to have you there, but we're getting too close, too fast. And one of us is going to get hurt. Most likely me." Andy felt awful, but thought he had to do this.

Brenda looked at him, crestfallen. He was pushing her away to save himself. That made her feel even worse. She knew things had gone too fast in their budding relationship. While sleeping with him had been good, it had been too fast, she agreed in that respect. But she didn't want to cool things with him. She wanted to move forward with him, she realized with a start.

"What if I don't want to cool things? What if I want to be in a relationship with you?" She asked, her voice wavering.

"Brenda, it's not that I don't want to be in a relationship with you, but I think we're going too fast. You're in a trial separation with your husband, you're going out to dinner with him tonight, for god's sake. I know how I feel about you. But you, I'm not so sure."

Brenda took a step towards him. "What if we forget the physical side of the relationship and start over, slower? We go out for dinner, dancing, whatever. And eventually we'll get to the point of a physical relationship again. But don't say this is over before it's really even begun."

Andy sighed, a sucker for Brenda's big brown eyes which were looking at him with such pleading in them. He couldn't walk away from her. He was already in too deep. He took a step closer to her, bringing them both achingly closer to one another.

"I'd be in agreement with that. We'll go slow." Brenda was face to face with him now.

"I'd like that very much. I've developed some strong feelings for you, Andy."

"I think you know how I feel already." Andy replied.

"I got the picture last night."

"Good."

Even though they were at work, in an office with their co-workers just feet away, they couldn't help it. Andy took her in his arms and kissed her. It was gentle and sweet, and it made Brenda feel better about everything. Somehow they'd work through everything, but for now, this was a start. They pulled apart, afraid of someone discovering the door locked with the two of them inside.

"Don't worry about tonight, okay, Andy?"

"I'll worry, Brenda, but I know you have to hear him out." Andy was making every effort to be reasonable. He'd gotten that much through his head on his long walk.

"Thank you, Andy. I'll call you after, okay? I'm thinking of moving back to the apartment, into the spare room. I promise, it's just cause the hotel is costing me a fortune. It doesn't change the fact that I am seeing you now."

It didn't sit well with Andy that she was going to do that, but he also didn't think it was a good idea for her to move into his place. Not now that he'd decided they needed to take a step back.

"I trust you, Brenda." was all he said. For now, he'd just have to believe in her. He turned to leave, feeling mildly better than he had.

"I know, Andy. We better get back to work." Brenda said, taking a step back towards the desk.

Andy unlocked the door and left her office. He took a deep breath and settled back into his desk. The next few hours were going to be difficult for him, he could only hope that that FBI guy didn't manage to persuade Brenda into reconciling. He'd said he trusted her, but a part of him had a niggling doubt about everything. And the fact that he doubted her bothered him. It bothered him alot.