A/N: I find it very surprising that I was able to write two chapters without one authors note. As always- I love to hear from my readers: tell me what you like and what you don't like. Also, as a side note, I'm most likely going to get a pair of pet finches within the next month and I'm planning on making them my beta audience. Cheers!

We reported to the scene. Ed let me drive, but throughout the drive my mind was racing through the details of the call.

Concerned citizens saw a young woman at the top of a 8 storey building downtown- crouched and tucked into a narrow corner, shivering.

I snapped to it, whenever we pulled up to the spot.

Parker and Sam were out for the day. Apparently Sam had made last minute plans to go fishing with his father and Parker had some personal issues to work out.

No matter. Ed was assigned the team captain for the day, and I was to cover the team leader position.

After getting out, two firefighters approached us.

"Firehouse?" Spike whispered, so only we could hear them, "What the hell they doing here?"

"Hey!" one of the fire men said to me, as he recognized me and I recognized him, "Kris, man! How's it going? Shit going down?"

"Alright man, lets keep it professional," I said to him, "We're on the record."

"Sorry," he said, "I forgot how anal you are."

"You two know each other?" Ed asked.

"Yeah," I replied, "This is Fire Sarge Derek Mare. We grew up together."

"Grew up together? Man, that's an under-statement, heck, we practically brothers."

"Dude- no matter how gangster you talk, you'll always be white." I responded to my friend's gangsta slang-talk, "Lets get real here- what's going on?"

"We got a call," Mare said, "From the first responder on scene- 'tall ladder required'."

"Spike, we got floor plans yet?" I asked over the radio into the command truck, as Spike had immediately gone to work on intelligence.

"Yeah, we got them Perra-" Spike started, "No roof access."

Ed's phone rang, as he answered it.

"Ok," I continued talking to Derek, "We got a young woman on the roof of this building. Have any of your guys been up yet."

"Not yet, we're waiting on you."

"Alright," I decided, "We need spotters- I want three of your guys with binos observing- let us know if her status changes."

"You got it. Anything else?"

"Get the storey ladder on standby with a double harness, in case we need to go up and talk this girl down."

Ed hung up his phone, "Perra- we need to talk her down."

"How do you know that?"

"She called 911 and threatened to jump. We have a possible jumper. If she jumps, her body will hit the ground in less than 10 seconds."

I grabbed my binoculars and observed the woman, then passed them to Ed. "Womanly touch?" I asked, as I glanced back to Jules, who had been standing there the entire time.

"Yeah." Ed answered.

"Alright Jules," I said, as I turned around, "Let's get you harnessed up. Let's talk her down."

"And keep the peace." Ed finished.

"Nice one Jules." Ed praised.

Jules had gone up, and talked her down. She makes it look easy...

I caught myself smiling, as I finished jotting down my final note in my notebook and put it back in the drop pouch.

Then my cell phone rang.

"Kris Perrasmith." I responded.

"Kris?"

"Speaking. Who I am talking to?"

"Its me...Haley."

I bit my tongue for a moment and I continue on with the conversation.

"What's going on?"

"I'm down at the courthouse. We're supposed to see the judge for the final ruling in a half hour. Where are you?"

Crap.

"I'm at work. I'll be there as fast as I can."

I turned and spoke to Ed and Jules, "Hey, that was Haley- I gotta get down to the courthouse. See you later?"

Ed responded, "No debriefing on this one anyways."

At the same time, Jules said, "Yeah."

Relieved to get off work from Ed, I climbed into a truck and took off.

" 'See you later' ?" Ed asked Jules, "What's going on?"

"Oh, its nothing." Jules responded, as they both piled into the other truck with Spike in the backseat.

Ed put the truck into gear- "Jules- you can tell me anything, you know that right?"

"Yeah, Ed, I know, its..."

"Its what?" Ed interrupted, "Jules, you know that with this job you don't have much of a personal life, and even then, that stuff can be used against you."

"What are you getting at?"

"Are you and Perra involved?"

"If it helps any," Spike butted in, "He told me the other day that he's already falling for someone else."

Jules looked back at Spike.

"Sorry." Spike muttered, as he leaned back and grabbed his phone.

"Of course not Eddie." Jules responded.

"So you've never thought or considered it?" he asked her.

"No."

But that's a lie, Jules thought to herself, Last night in the kitchen, we felt more than just friends, or co-workers. Almost like...

"Hey," Spike yelled from the back, "Who wants to go for a pint or two down at Yellow Dragon?"

" 'Yellow Dragon' ?" Ed asked, "What kind of name is that?"

"Its a new club downtown- its in the basement of a shopping mall." Spike answered.

"Spike- not only does that place sound illegal, but its a place I never go willingly."

"What about you Jules?" Spike asked.

"Ah, no, Spike. I want to get an early start on painting the backyard fence."

I went into the courthouse still in uniform, and still with all equipment- firearm, cuffs, spray, taser, among others.

"Uhm, Sir," the screening security guard said to me, "What's with the gun?"

"Police- Strategic Response Unit. Officer Kristopher Allison Perrasmith."

"I'm going to have to ask that you remove all metal."

I looked at the dumbfounded security guard.

"Do you realize how long that would take? I'm just here for my final divorce arrangement meeting."

"Guard Barr!" I heard a yell.

I looked up to see the security supervisor.

Good.

"Let this fine man through- the SRU are people we want on our side!"

I walked past the guard named Barr, as I continued on my way. "See you next time."

I knew where to go. I had been there three times already- once with the lawyers to start the paperwork, second time to discuss ownership of property and estate with the judge, and the 3rd time to talk about custody arrangement with a child's lawyer and a divorced custody arrangement expert.

I walked into the room and sat down.

Haley and her lawyer sat beside me, and my lawyer- Emily Makinson.

"You're late" Emily said to me.

"Put it on the tab."

"And now- we're here to finalize all discussions and make final the separation and divorce of Kristopher Allison Perrasmith to Haley Leeverson McLeod." the judge started, "Any final proposals or counter-proposals?"

Nothing was said.

"Ok-" the judge continued, "Moving on- the entire estate, except items and belongings belonging exclusively to Mr. Perrasmith will be granted to Ms. McLeod. The property of 19892 Wales Drive, currently belonging to both Mr. Perrasmith and Ms. McLeod, will be gifted to Ms. McLeod, however, half of the suggested retail market value of the property will be paid to Mr. Perrasmith from Ms. McLeod. Are both parties in agreement?"

"Yes", we both said.

"And now- the finalization of the custody arrangement regarding Megan Perrasmith and Matthew Perrasmith. Due to recent evidence, I am moved to grant exclusive custody of Megan Perrasmith to Mr. Perrasmith, and exclusive custody of Matthew Perrasmith to Ms. McLeod."

"I'm sorry- what?" I asked, " 'Recent evidence' ? Do we have a copy of said evidence?" I asked Emily.

"Yes, I do Kris," she responded, "I can't provide the copy to you, due to the nature of it, but it was a letter from your daughter to the Justice of the Peace of the Municipality of Toronto."

"So what does all of this mean?" I asked the judge.

"Sir," he explained, "It means you daughter requested to live with you exclusively, with no visitation rights to her mother. I usually don't accept these sort of things, but due to the mature age of your daughter, she is of the age to make such decision on her own."

"Mature age- she's sixteen!"

"Do you wish to over-rule?"

I thought about it.

"I just want to make sure," I replied calmly, "That everything is in the best interest of my kids."

"I understand." The judge agreed, "You are living at...?"

"The current address of my client is in the file." Emily stated.

The judge opened the file. "With Julianna Callihan? New girlfriend?"

"No. Generous co-worker."

"Ok-" the judge started, "Mr. Perrasmith- you are an excellent father, you have a steady income, and you have a place to live that will house both yourself and your daughter. In this sort of situation, because of your public stance, I would not hesitate to give you exclusive custody of your children with visitation rights- but because of the request from your daughter, I'm moved to give exclusive custody of Matthew to Ms. McLeod, with visitation rights, on the condition that Ms. McLeod is able to get steady employment and income. Failure to do so, will result in exclusive custody without visitation to Mr. Perrasmith. If Ms. McLeod can do so, and can continue to provide for Matthew up to and following our 6 month probationary period- I'll grant exclusive custody with no visitation to Ms. McLeod. Understood?"

Both me and Haley nodded, as we signed the last paper- therefore nullifying our marriage.

When I walked out to the truck, the first thing I saw was Megan, leaning up against the front bumper, holding one bag, while another was standing upright on the pavement.

"Hey dad."

"Hey." I responded, as I unlocked the SRU truck with the keys, "Get in."

I drove to the station, where I handed the keys back in and got changed.

"So- where are you living dad?" Megan asked after we got into my car.

"Why don't we go out for dinner first?"

So we headed down to a quiet sandwich shop that Spike had shown me once. After ordering our food, and sitting down, I stared at Megan.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"We need to talk."

"Dad- I'm fine. I'll get over it."

"I'm not talking about the abduction- other things."

"Like?"

"Like- why me?"

"Dad-" she started as she stared at me, "To be honest- I never really cared about what you did. But after you got shot, I followed the news, and did research."

"By research, you mean ask Spike?"

Megan laughed, "Yeah. Anyways- Its really cool. And then- when your team saved me- it came into perspective. You change people's lives dad- I want to be able to do that, and I don't think mom would let me."

"That's right- she probably wouldn't." I thought aloud, thinking of Haley's protests against my police work, "So you wanna be a cop?"

"Something like that- maybe even paramedic or military."

"That's great, Megan, I'm proud of you. But- do you really hate your mother that much?"

"I don't hate her- I've just seen how she's been with you, and I have a feeling she wouldn't want her only daughter doing the same thing. And even if she was ok with it- she wouldn't be able to help me like you would."

"They usually like to talk to your parents- see how your family life is."

"See?" she pointed out, "You know all that stuff. And- even grandma?"

I looked out the window into the street. "Your grandmother was the exception, because of her condition."

"So, where we going?"

I turned to face her, "What do you mean?"

"I assume we're not going to sleep in the car, right?"

"Oh yeah, I've been living with Jules."

"Rock on dad!" Megan said, too loudly, "You humpin' her?"

"Ok- Megan, I'm only going to tell you this once, so pay attention. There's nothing going on between me and Jules, ok?"

"Ok." she responded.

"But yeah, I'm living with Jules. I texted her in the locker room, and she's fine with you staying for a while."

" 'For a while'?"

"Yeah, its temporary Megan. I've found some great apartments near the DVP. It'll actually be a shorter drive to work for me."

"What about me?"

"What about you, Megan?"

"Well- school. Can I still go to Warden?"

"To be honest Megan- I never really liked that school to begin with. That and, I think maybe you should be going to a different school."

"What? Why?" she asked.

"Well," I explained, "You need a new environment. Its not good for victims of crime to revisit the scene of the crime on a daily basis."

"But..."

"And you want to be a cop, right?"

"Well, maybe."

"There's some great schools out there Megan. And to get far in policing you'll want to go to Humber College. Now, their Police program is very progressive and it tends to be popular as well, so they only take on the best of the best."

"Ok." Megan said, as she took a pickle out of her sandwich and threw it on the tray, "But can I finish sophomore year at Warden?"

"Sure thing."

After eating, and the lengthy father-daughter talk, we went back to Jules' place.

"Hey Jules." I said, as we came in the door.

"Did you guys eat already?" she asked.

"Yeah, we went to that sandwich place that Spike told us about."

"Oh, yeah. That place is good." Jules said, with her voice trailing off, "Well, there's some pizza in the fridge if you want some."

"Thanks," I said, as Megan handed me one of her bags from outside the door, as she came in.

"Jules- you remember my daughter, Megan?"

"Yeah, of course. How you doing Megan?"

"Fine." Megan said sheepishly, with a hint of blushing in her cheeks, "I'm kinda tired Dad..."

"Oh yeah," I said, "Upstairs, on the right- second door."

When Megan was upstairs, and after the bedroom door shut, is when I spoke again.

But it wasn't much speaking, as more of sitting down on the couch and moaning loudly.

From the kitchen, I heard Jules opening two drinks. She came into the living room, and handed me a beer.

"You could use it." she said, as she sat next to me, "How did everything go?"

"Well- I'm no longer married."

Jules smiled. "That's it?"

"Well- Megan requested exclusive custody to her father with no visitation from her mother- which was agreed, and because of that, Haley now has exclusive custody of Matthew and I'll have visitation until she can get a steady job."

After a few drinks, and talking about previous calls and incidents in our work life, it was time for bed.

"Well," I said, as I stretched my body, and removed my shirt, as the temperature was staying around a steady thirty degrees Celsius, "Time for bed."

I stared to lie down on the couch, when Jules got up from the couch, which caused her thin, loosely fitting pyjamas to float in the air for a few seconds, allowing some bare flesh on her chest to be seen.

Why did you look? Did she see me look? I wondered to myself.

"Don't sleep on the couch." Jules said.

"Where else am I going to sleep? Megan's taking the room I'm using, and I'm not into sharing a room with my daughter."

I saw Jules' eye dart down then back up to my eyes.

Did she just check me out?

"Well, you need your sleep Perra. You can't sleep on a couch."

"Detest- I can."

"Well- you can't get a quality sleep from a couch. And- my room is air conditioned."

I stared dumbfounded. Did she suggest what I think she did? What would this mean to our relationship?

Me and Perra had a few drinks, and I guess sometime between starting drinking and now, we had changed into our night clothes.

He got up and removed his shirt.

Oh my god...but he's your co-worker...

"Time for bed." he said.

I got up from the couch, and during the process, I noticed that my chest became exposed for a moment.

Oh my god- did he see that? Does he think I'm sexually available? I mean I am but...

"Don't sleep on the couch." I blurted out.

Why the hell did I say that? Does my subconscious want him to sleep with me?

"Where else am I going to sleep? Megan's taking the room I'm using, and I'm not into sharing a room with my daughter."

I caught my eyes looking over his body. I could feel sensations running up and down my spine like I've never felt before.

Stop, Jules, Stop!

"Well, you need your sleep Perra. You can't sleep on a couch."

"Detest- I can."

"Well- you can't get a quality sleep from a couch. And- my room is air conditioned."

It actually does make sense. He needs to be fully alert for work, and he can't do that if he doesn't get a good nights sleep.

I looked up to see him looking at me. I matched his stare into my eyes with one of my own.

Finally, giving into my lust-driven urges, I lurched forward and threw myself onto him, lips first.

A/N: The following section is extremely suggestive. Reader discretion is advised.

Jules planted her soft lips on mine. For once, I thought to myself Let it happen- turn off your brain for one night.

The next thing I knew, I was carrying her up the stairs, and into her room.

I placed her quietly on the bed, as I turned around and shut the door. Turning back around, I saw her writhing off her pyjamas.

I climbed into bed with her. I rubbed my rough hand against the smooth skin of her graceful legs.

I felt her tremble with anticipation. Instead of going for it, I planted soft kisses on her stomach, slowly making my way back up to her lips, where I firmly planted mine against hers. I felt her hands rub my muscular chest, as they landed on the waistband of my boxers, as he begun to pull them off.

I woke up in the morning, with the thin, sheet like blankets from Jules' bed covering me. To my left, Jules was asleep, as her body was tight against mine- her head on my shoulder and her arm on my bare chest.

What are we now? Are we still just co-workers, or are we something more?

"You awake Perra?" I heard Jules whisper.

"Yeah. I'm here."

She sat up, as she pulled the blankets around her chest. "Where do we go from here?"

"I don't know."

Jules looked at me with intent, "I've had feelings for you for a while Perra."

I looked at her, as she snuggled back close to me. "Since when?" I asked.

"Since the DVP crash incident."

"Since I was shot."

"Yeah." she said, "That night- I couldn't stay in the hospital. I called up Sam, and we talked. Did you know that me and Sam were involved?"

"Yeah, I knew." I replied, "So where do we go from here?"

She turned her head, as she kissed me. "I think I love you Perra."

"I love you too Jules."

Jules started to cry. "But we can't be involved if we're on the same team."

I stared out into nothingness, as I collected my thoughts. "I'll get a new job." I said, "You've been with the team the longest."

"You'd do that?"

"Yeah, I would. We should be together."

I could tell that Jules was thinking- "Or, we could just not tell anybody. I mean- nobody knows that you're staying here, right?"

"Well," I said, as I counted on my fingers, "Sam, my lawyer, the judge, my ex-wife and my daughter."

"That's five."

"And Sam could tell anyone on the team at anytime." I explained.

"He's probably told Ed by now. Maybe that's why Ed was asking me those questions." Jules wondered aloud.

"What questions?"

"He was asking me yesterday if I had feelings for you, or if I had ever considered it."

"What'd you say?"

"No."

I smiled, "Then you were lying."

"But I don't like lying to Ed- or Greg for that matter."

"Don't worry- if Ed left it at that- he believes you. So, lets assume that Sam has told Ed, who told the boss. They haven't done anything yet, because they think you're just being a good co-worker."

"Ok," Jules said, content that we had figured that out, "What about your lawyer, judge, and ex-wife?"

"Lawyer," I explained again, "She can't say anything- lawyer-client confidentiality. The judge- I told him its a temporary solution, and the same holds true for Haley."

"What about Megan?"

"What about her?"

"Things get around a high school Perra- especially in Toronto. She knows that her father and her co-worker are involved, she mentions it to a few friends, those friends tell a few friends, then a concerned parent or teacher over hears, and reports it, and then we both loose our careers."

"I won't tell her."

"What do you mean?"

"I won't tell her that we're involved- easy peasy."

"Yeah, well, she probably heard us having sex last night."

"No she didn't. That girl has slept through worse. She's gone through two smoke alarms, a flock of finches mating and..."

"And what?"

"Me and Haley having sex."

Jules smiled. "So she definitely didn't hear us."

"Megan- breakfast!" I yelled up the stairs.

After getting out of bed and dressed, me and Jules had slipped downstairs and started making breakfast. She was making some mean pancakes, while I whipped up some coffee, bacon, and toast.

"You can actually cook!" Jules commented, "I don't know one guy who can cook this well."

Megan sauntered down the steps, "What time is it?" she asked, as she sat down at the granite bar-like extension off the counter top.

"1000 hours." I replied with a smile.

"Dad- not this crap again. Especially not this early."

"Hey, if you want to be a police officer, you better get used to it."

"You wanna be a cop?" Jules asked, as she passed Megan a plateful of pancakes, bacon and toast.

"Maybe." Megan replied with a shy tone, still not used to being addressed directly by Jules, "Maybe a paramedic or even join the military."

"Well that's cool." Jules said, as she joined us, "My dad was part of the very first SWAT team. Then, something happened, and the entire family moved out west. He wasn't happy when I told him I'm part of the SRU."

"Really?" Megan asked.

"Yeah." Jules said, after swallowing some pancakes, "Would you ever want to go into SRU?"

"Maybe," Megan said, as she poured a river full of syrup on her pancakes, "But I've never fired a gun before."

Jules looked up at me. "We can fix that- can't we Perra?"

"We could." I said with a smile- happy that Megan and Jules were getting along.

"So, what's going on today?" Megan asked.

"Well," I said, "Me and Jules have to go to work for 1700."

"Dad..."

"Five PM. What time we gonna be off?"

"We haven't got the reccy yet." Jules said, as she checked her PDA, "Should be getting it soon."

"You got any homework Meg?" I asked.

"No. Just have to work on my fitness journal for phys. ed."

"Alright." I said.

"Can I go over to Ashley's tonight?"

"Ashley Ginger?" Jules asked, as she looked at me and Megan, "Sorry- I just remember her from..."

"Yeah, that's her." Megan replied. "Dad?"

"How late?"

"Midnight?"

"Eleven?"

"Midnight?" she asked again.

"How about ten?"

"Dad!"

"Ok- lets split the difference: 10:30."

"Dad- c'mon!"

"Alright, eleven. How you getting there?"

"I'll take a cab."

"And home?"

"A cab."

"You got money for that?" I asked.

She gave me a look.

"Fine." I gave in, "I'll give you twenty bucks later."

"How am I going to get in if you guys aren't home yet?" she asked.

"Oh," Jules said, "Outside, in the front garden, there's three garden gnomes."

"Ok."

"Follow the garden gnomes."

Puzzled, Megan was trying to figure it out in her head. "What?"

Jules laughed. "The lock is coded- there's a keypad. Each gnome is holding up some fingers. Follow the sequence in the order you walk up to the door."

"Seriously?" Megan said with a laugh.

"Yeah," I said, as I smiled over at Jules, "Seriously."