I rounded the corner into the kitchen with my hands in my hair, feeling that familiar ache settle into my muscles and bones. "Those dogs ate you up something good, huh," I questioned, sitting in front of Bobby and looking him over. The bites on his arms still bled, much worse than my own superficial wounds. Bobby winced as I ran upstairs to get my bag and returned to disinfect the bites, his eyes searching mine. "What about you Kate? How's the leg? You alright," he asked quietly, checking out my leggings and sweater combo.

I nodded and smiled, "I'm fine."

"He's, uh, worried about you. After what happened tonight…"

"I don't wanna talk about it Bobby," I murmured, pulling on a pair of gloves and digging through my portable first aid bag. I pulled out a small pair of scissors, a needle and surgical thread, Bobby's eyes growing fractionally larger. "Here, you'll want these. I'm gonna have to clean your wounds up," I said, handing him three Vicodin. Bobby sighed exasperatedly and I reached over onto the stove to get a wooden spoon, wrapping it in a dishcloth and sticking it between his teeth.

I heard the wood splinter as Bobby bit down after the first cut, my eyes flashing up to his face.

He grunted and nodded for me to continue, his hand balled into a fist. I cleaned up the bites the best I could and began to stitch him up, Bobby stiffening. "Hold on," I paused, moving to sit on his knee with his arm in my lap. "I need better leverage to see..."

Bobby pulled the spoon out of his teeth and panted heavily, breathing down my neck. I struggled to ignore him and continue working but he was making it practically impossible with his free hand on my hip pressing me closer and his erection rubbing up against my thigh. I shivered to think that only a layer and a half of fabric separated me from him, knowing in the back of my mind that it was wrong. I had Jack and I wasn't willing to lose him.

Not again.

"Bobby, stop-"

I turned and he took the opportunity to catch me in a lip lock, his rough facial hair scratching my face.

"Don't push me away Kate. Don't push me away again," Bobby whispered, sounding- for once in his thirty-three years life, truly vulnerable. I let out an agonized, choked sob and kissed him feverishly, my face scrunched up in pain. "This is wrong," I cried, Bobby kissing away my tears before returning to claim my mouth. He grunted hungrily as I began to ride his lap, his uninjured arm wrapped around my waist. "Baby..." There was a knock on the front door but I couldn't move and Bobby wouldn't move, so I heard those distinct boots come down the stairs, trying my best to pull away. "Stop. Let me go Bobby, stop," I begged, Bobby finally releasing me.

I hadn't realized that I was crying until Jack came to stand in the doorway, his eyes locked on my face.

It looked bad, I knew it. Bobby was in his chair with an erection you couldn't help but notice, breathing heavily with his eyes closed and his lips swollen. I stood in the middle of the floor with tears on my face, clutching the hem of my tank top. There was no way I could lie myself out of it; Jack knew me too well. "Um, the cops… outside," he murmured, unable to make a coherent sentence. "Get me something to cover my arm Jackie," Bobby said emotionlessly. As much as he wanted to be with me, I knew that he wanted to protect Jack from anything that would hurt him even more. Jack disappeared and came back with one of ma's robes, Bobby holding it in his fists before pulling it on.

"Bobby, you in here-"

Green came around the corner and I forced myself to smile, moving to lay a hand on Bobby's shoulder- and block the medical supplies on the table with my body. "Hey Green? What's up," I asked coolly, the oldest Mercer flashing him a smirk. "You finally come to see me."

"This ain't a personal call," Green murmured, checking us over. Bobby stood and pulled his robe together, moving past him, "Then maybe we should move this little shindig into the living room." I moved with Bobby and looked to where Fowler was standing in the middle of the room, the hairs on the back of my neck standing straight up. He made me feel uncomfortable, his eyes never leaving me even as I sat down on the couch far away from Bobby. "What's going on Green?"

"We could ask you the same," Fowler said, glaring right at him. "What happened to your arm Gretsky?"

A trail of dark red blood seeped down his arm and the needle dangled from the thread, abandoned from where our mutual lust had distracted us. Jack moved from beside the couch to get a towel, Green watching me as I moved to finish the stitches. "Looks like it hurt," the detective said, raising an eyebrow.

Bobby laughed and nodded, "Oh, it did. We played some Turkey Cup today and well, you know how competitive Ms. Scott gets around the ice. So now I've got this pretty little wound to make for a nice battle scar."

Fowler smirked, "When you said that she liked to get physical, I didn't believe you Green. She seems much too tame."

"Don't let the looks fool you," I replied, smirking. "I'm a Mercer."

Green cleared his throat and Fowler looked at him, narrowing his eyes before returning his attention back to me. "Well, despite my initial misgivings, its seems that you've proved exactly who you are. Hey Gretzsky, do you know what this is? We found your hair, Kate, and yours as well Bobby, on a pair of contract killers that were found not an hour ago. Both were shot, but one was practically stabbed to death," Fowler said, dangling a bag at me. Bobby and I exchanged a glance before laughing, Jack standing in the doorway nervously. Bobby shook his head with a sigh, looking at Green sadly. "Damn bro, you gotta be kidding me with this? What's in that bag anyway, a hair from his wife's tit? I'll believe that load of shit, that they found my hair on a dead body, when the jailhouse doors slam behind me sweet lips." Green snapped, looking at Bobby, "Look Bobby, I know you too well for you to be lying to me so just tell me what you know! I'm the law around the parts and I can help you, but I gotta be in the know to do my job. Are you gonna help me or are you gonna get yourself killed over this shit?"

Angel shook his head, loosening his arm from around Sofi to confront our accusers. "Green, just tell me how you go from petty thug to contract killer overnight? And if they were professional shooters like you say, they'd have never told us who they were working with anyway," he said sternly in his gentle voice.

The detective in front of me sighed and stepped back, shaking his head. "If you think this is over, you're wrong. Don't leave town- I ain't playing," Green said, heading towards the door. Angel walked them there and opened the door, "You know the cops are always welcome at the Mercers'. It just makes us feel safe and cozy, just the way we like it."

As soon as they were gone, I inhaled deeply, covering my face with my hands before I suddenly remembered that I was not out of the woods yet.

"Oh God- Jack."