AN1: All characters from H50, I do not own. Unbeta'ed so all mistakes are mine. As promised, an update this weekend =) (finally)

The Princess and her brother got lost in the woods and came upon a gingerbread house with sugar panes and candy canes. Alas the old woman turned out to be an evil witch and she took the brother prisoner so she can fatten him up for slaughter and made the sister her slave. But when the time came for the witch to finally have the boy for supper, his sister managed to outwit the old witch long enough to burn her to a cinder and free her brother.

Okay, so maybe he's not really her brother and the baddie not even a female at all. And it's not actually the villain who gets the fire treatment but several Benjamin Franklins...

But then again, this isn't really a fairytale.

Even if like the fairytale, the girl does do the saving …

Chapter 14: The rescue & what comes after

…with a little (a lot of) help from the Prince of course.

So the week starts out like any other week, until suddenly, it isn't.

There's a body found floating in the ocean and the H50 team gets called to investigate. They identify the victim as weapons dealer Luther Magallanes and a sweep of his villa turn up prints that belong to none other than Victor Hesse (yes, that same Hesse responsible for McG's death) and the whole thing just turns personal. They recruit Sang Min (yes, that same guy who nearly made confetti of her brains during her maiden voyage as an undercover agent) to help them out and gives him a temporary get-out-of-jail pass much to her chagrin. But she's a professional so she tries not to let it get to her.

Of course, they all should have known better because that same lizard of a man double-crosses them and ends up spiriting Hesse away just when Steve (and Danny) get this close to clapping him in irons. (The f*cker!). And she thinks surely that must be the worst of it. But no, everything goes to hell in a hand basket because when they track the signal from Sang Min's ankle monitor, Chin ends up with a bomb strapped around his neck.

And she's trying her best not to panic because it's Chin and he's her cousin/older brother/protector/mentor all rolled into one and the prospect of losing him shakes her to her very core. So when Hesse demands a 10 million dollar ransom (and the Governor issues a no-negotiating-with-terrorists edict) all her scruples fly out the door and she makes him tell Steve about an asset forfeiture locker that happens to contain not only confiscated drugs but 28 million dollars in cash.

It's all she can do not to jump into Steve's arms in sheer gratitude because despite the fact that he bleeds Navy blue blood, he doesn't hesitate to break the rules to save her cousin. So they make plans to 'borrow' some money from the locker and she gets the 'easy' job of being a lookout top side. She thinks it's ironic that she can convince thugs & lowlifes to believe her cover each time but fails miserably in making an old lady accept she actually works for the city government and she's so relieved that the they're able to leave the scene before said old lady can get back from her 'mission' to verify the 'legality' of their activity.

And yeah, his hotness factor (in her eyes) just ups another notch when he tacitly gives his vote of confidence in her ability as a sniper because it's her he takes to cover his back when he goes off to meet Hesse with the ransom money. Of course, that doesn't really prevent her hands from shaking a little when she's holding the rifle while waiting for Steve's signal from her vantage point. She breathes deeply and tries to center herself because she knows that making a mistake is so not an option. So she blocks out her concern for Chin and instead focuses on the scene below. She is so startled to see Victor throwing the bag of cash into the fire that she almost misses the cue from Steve. And she sends a silent thank you to McG for the extra training she gets from him because she successfully shoots the remote out of Hesse's hand as she hastily makes her way down towards the two combatants below. Unfortunately, by the time Steve is able to subdue the other man, there is little that can be done but watch as their 'borrowed' ten million dollars turn to ashes right before their very eyes.

But although she knows they've just screwed themselves royally with this whole operation, it's actually the fact that Chin hasn't been blown to bits that makes her knees shake afterwards.

It's only several hours after that she remembers that they actually have a Christmas celebration planned at Danny's apartment. So yeah, she probably celebrates a little too much (however oxymoronic that may sound) the fact that all of them are present and accounted for. But really, can anybody blame her?

He's half propping, half-carrying her up towards her front porch a couple of hours later because she's three sheets to the wind and he can't help but smile because this seems to be developing into some kind of a 'thing' between them – that is, her being drunk and him, being her designated driver. He really doesn't mind in all honesty because the first time he did it, she ended up giving him the kiss of his life (even if she doesn't remember it) and the second time he did it, well, he nearly got another shot at her lips before Cath…

"F*ck!" he thinks to himself because yes, he's still (technically) with Catherine (maybe…it's kind of one of those grey areas he's really not too keen on making black and white) and so he really has no business thinking about that kiss again or even angling for another attempt at one.

Even though he has actually (already) slept with her…

"So…does this mean I get to sleep on your bed now?" he teases her, expecting her to call his bluff.

He nearly swallows his tongue when she gives him a sly look and smiles mischievously. "Sure…why not?" She answers before she steps away and lets him go.

"I…" His vocabulary is reduced to one word because for the life of him, he can't think of a proper response. And yeah, his back remains against the wall because he also seems to be unable to move.

And his mind screams at him to be the big man and just walk out of her bedroom because he knows she's not really serious and he's her boss and it's totally inappropriate and she's Chin's cousin and…

He's f*cked because she climbs into bed and pats the space next to her and tells him, "That's your side." Before snuggling under the covers and closing her eyes.

And he blames it on poor decision making on his part because of course, instead of walking away, he finds himself walking towards the bed instead and sliding in under the covers next to her.

The thing about that was…it was actually the first time he's ever slept with a woman that he hasn't … well… done that with.

And it should have made it awkward, especially since she works for him but damned if he didn't fall asleep immediately after. Of course, the realization that that was all kinds of wrong hit him like a ton of bricks the next morning, which is why he made his escape quickly and stealthily and just left her a note.

And when they become distracted with the case he's able to convince himself that it was just a fluke and that it's not something that's likely to happen again anyway so yeah, no harm no foul, right?

That is, until he found himself standing by her front porch again that very same night.

"What's up doc?" she greets him when he finally musters enough nerve to actually knock.

"My house is still a mess…" he tells her because he can't quite make himself ask the question he's come here to ask.

She doesn't answer for the longest time so he thinks that yes, he is (finally) going to get slapped with a harassment suit the very next day, and so he's mentally preparing his defense when she surprises the heck out him once again by answering, quite pointedly. "Okay, but you'll owe me breakfast."

He (maybe) flushes a little at her dig about his Road Runner impersonation that morning but he's much too relieved (and happy) that she didn't turn him away so he smiles and promises, "Whatever you want…" babe (he barely manages to bite off the term of endearment just in time) and he's glad she's already turned her back to him and so misses out on seeing him bite his lips.

He's expecting to sleep on the couch but when he comes out of the bathroom (after his nightly ablutions) there aren't any blankets or pillows set out. And when he starts to ask when he peeks into her bedroom (she's left the door open) she just pats the space next to her and snuggles under the blanket once again, like she did the night before.

He thinks there's probably two ways to view her apparent lack of concern and complete ease about sleeping with him on the same bed.

Either she really doesn't find him (sexually) appealing at all (ouch!) OR she just trusts him completely (yeah!). So maybe he takes the second explanation and runs with it, even if there's a part of him that's a little bit (a lot) offended / miffed / disappointed about the possibility that it could be the first option. But because he's always been taught to never (ever) look at a gift horse in the mouth, he just mentally counts his blessings and slides in next to her, as he'd done the night before.

Of course, when his house finally gets fixed (because let's face it, he very well can't not have it done) the sleepover stops - which is probably a good thing because it's not exactly a habit that he can (in good conscience) get used to.

This is what he tells himself quite fiercely when he finds himself tempted to stay over once again as he's slipping her shoes off and tucking her into bed because she's out like a light. He knows it's not a good idea and that he really should high tail it out of here, but he drags his feet and thinks up all sorts of excuses to stay.

Like...she's drunk (duh!) so what if she gets sick in the middle of the night? Well then just move the wastebasket by the bed. His conscience scolds him.

What if she wakes up with a headache? There's aspirin in her medicine cabinet. Just move it to the bedside table and get her a glass of water.

She's really (really) out like a light so leaving means the deadbolt on her door can't be engaged - what if she gets robbed and she's so out of it she doesn't even wake up? Criminals know she's related to half of HPD, so that's just like signing their own arrest/death warrants. Really!

He sighs loudly because having a conscience just sucks.

She comes to just as he pulls up in front of Kelly's house. She thanks him and is about to get out of the car when she impulsively turns back and gives him a kiss. But what's meant to just be a peck suddenly morphs into something else because the minute their lips touch she feels electricity shoot up her spine and she gasps and it's all the invitation he needs because his tongue is suddenly in her mouth and she is letting him.

She knows they're giving her friend's neighbors a show and so when breathing becomes imperative, she knows she needs to get herself out of the car. But when she turns to reach out for the car door handle her hands encounter empty space.

Hmm…that's strange…that never happened in her dream before. So she turns the other way because maybe her orientation's all shot but instead of cold metal, her hand lands on something warm…

Something solid…

Something that feels like…

Skin ?!

What the…

All of a sudden she's quite awake and all her breath leaves her.

Because not only does her brown eyes meet sleepy hazel eyes...

She finds that her hand is also touching warm, (quite) solid, human skin.

"Fuck!" she thinks to herself.

Did she just kiss her boss awake?

AN2: Okay, I know this update is like way too late so I'm terribly sorry that it's taken me a whole month (and some change) to post this chapter. RL is really giving me grief so apologies all around. Not only did I not have much time to write, there were actually too many scenarios for this fic running in my brain that I couldn't quite decide which one to go with…I know I said this story would only run a couple of chapters and yet this is already the 14th installment and they're still not quite there yet so maybe there's not much interest in the story left LOL. (the fact that I've been so erratic in my updating of late probably doesn't help). Anyhoo, I will endeavor to speed things along and try to post updates more regularly.

Feedback is always appreciated so to those who regularly comment, I thank you from the bottom of my heart (even if I don't personally respond). I'll answer comments/questions (if there are some) in the next chapter's AN. *For now, hugs all around*