A/N: Takes place after "No Matter Where You Go, There You Are – Part One". Hope you enjoy!

Jac sighed as her phone rang next to her, Fletch's name flashing up on the screen. Biting her lip as she considered her options, she reluctantly accepted the call, rolling her eyes when he started speaking before she could even utter a greeting.

"So, and I don't want you to think I'm some sort of stalker, but I've been sat outside your house for the last 15 minutes wondering if you'll let me in if I knock. I was going to ring you before I left the hospital; as a courtesy, you know? But then I figured you'd just 'realise' that you had to run an urgent errand, and you wouldn't be here when I arrived. So I thought I'd just turn up. But I didn't want you to feel like I was imposing on your personal space; your sanctuary. So now I'm ringing you."

Jac sat there in silence, trying to keep up with his ramblings when she suddenly realised that he'd finished. She tried to string together a response, but Fletch had started asking another question.

"Will you let me in?"

"Yes."

Jac heard the footsteps getting louder and opened the door slowly. She was dressed in joggers and a vest top, with her hair pulled up in a bun on top of her head. She greeted him with a soft smile, and was only slightly surprised when he bent down, wrapping her in his arms and pressing his lips into her neck, not dissimilar to when he'd embraced her outside theatre earlier. This time she didn't hesitate, and closed her eyes, her arms stretching round his back, holding him just as tightly. He was warm, and his breaths on her neck were strangely comforting. She felt him start to pull back, and surprised them both when she tightened her grip on him, causing him to return to her, keeping one hand on her back, but lifting the other one to the back of her head, stroking gently.

Eventually, Fletch taking his cue from Jac, they stepped apart, Jac adjusting the bobble keeping her hair in its bun; not because it needed adjusting, but because she needed to do something to stop her thoughts racing.

Fletch gently took her hand in his, and led her over to the sofa, where they sat down next to each, slightly closer than two colleagues needed to.

"How's the pain?" Fletch asked gently. When Jac hesitated, Fletch was quick to reassure her. "It's okay, you can talk to me. I'm here. You haven't scared me off."

"Not yet," Jac whispered, surprised to find a lump forming in the back of her throat.

"Hey," Fletch replied, covering her hand in his, "Not ever. I'm here. Tell me how you're feeling."

"It doesn't stop," Jac admitted. "The shot helped, but it was meant to last a month, and it's only been two weeks. I have to keep going, but I can't. I'm scared that now Serena has signed me off, I'm just going to get worse. How will I be able to come back if I'm worse than I am already?"

"Because you aren't going to be worse. You're going to be better. Listen to me," Fletch said, forcing Jac to look at him. "You're Jac Naylor. Anything you put your mind to, you do. You have four weeks now. Use it wisely. Contact that physio that Becky told you about, book as many sessions as you need. You won't be completely fixed, but you should hopefully be making some progress when you come back. Keep at it. I will take you to the appointments if you want. Hell, I'll come in with you and take every step alongside you. I know it isn't exactly 'putting a pin in a departure board' like you wanted, but if it helps you, I'm happy to do it."

Jac nodded. He was talking sense; maybe a few weeks of intense physio would help.

"But, why?" Jac asked. "I thought you would be glad to be rid of me for a bit. I know I've been horrible to you. Like the scorpion to the frog," she added quietly.

Fletch frowned, not quite understanding the last part of the sentence, but deciding to dismiss it. "Jac, I was gutted when I thought I wouldn't be seeing you for a whole month. When you said about going away, my first instinct was to say yes, and just walk out of the hospital right then. If I didn't have the kids, I probably would have! I love spending time with you, however we spend it."

Jac nodded, knowing that neither of them wanted to go over the 'buts' that Fletch had listed earlier. She had only just noticed that Fletch was still covering her hand with his, and glanced down at her lap as she turned hers over under his, loosely linking their fingers. She was relieved when he tightened his grip, instead of pulling away in disgust.

"What are we doing?" he asked, watching as Jac pulled her hand back away, standing up quickly. He could tell she was panicking; she didn't do emotional confessions, and she'd already been much more honest tonight than she was obviously comfortable with.

"You're the one who came round here," she snapped in response, knowing that wasn't what he was referring to. "You're welcome to leave if you don't want to be here."

Fletch stood up, walking over to stand in front of her. "You know that's not what I'm referring to."

Jac closed her eyes. He was stood right in front of her, and all she wanted to do was confess her feelings, and let him take care of her, like she knew he would. That was Fletch all over. But that wasn't her. So, pulling away, she put on her famous 'Jac Naylor Ice-Queen Façade'.

"Look, Mr Fletcher," they both winced at the formality, "It was you who came around this evening. I am perfectly fine as I am, and if you can't respect that, then maybe you should leave."

She hated herself as soon as she'd finished talking, as she watched his shoulders droop. Nodding silently, he headed over to her front door.

"Wait," Jac whispered, suddenly unable to let him leave, watching Fletch shake his head to himself as he turned around. Biting her lip, she walked over to him, putting her arms around his waist. It hurt her heart when he gently pushed her away.

"This isn't fair, Jac," he said quietly. "I know that you're fully aware of my feelings for you. You know that I'm here for you, and every time I think we're taking a step forward, you just push me away again. Look, I said before that we should keep things professional, and then we got very close again very quickly. My fault, I saw you were struggling and didn't want you dealing with it on your own. Maybe we should go back to being professional again."

Jac didn't know what to do. Every part of her was urging her to tell him the truth; tell him how she felt, but she'd spent too long building those metaphorical walls around her heart, and although Fletch had seemed to have been dismantling it, there was still too much there.

"Okay," Fletch sighed, turning back to the door again once he realised that she wasn't going to say anything. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'm scared of you!" Jac blurted out, both of their eyes widening when they registered the words hanging in the air. Fletch froze, this time it being him rendered incapable of speech. But it was like a dam had broken, and Jac continued with her monologue as she paced back and forth in front of him.

"I've only had two proper relationships, and they were both in my control. Joseph was weak, well, no, weak is the wrong word, but I was always the one who 'wore the trousers' so to speak. I kept hurting him, and he kept coming back. Hell, I slept with his father while I was still dating him, and he still came back! Granted, it took a while, but he did. And then there's Jonny. He was just proud that he was bedding a consultant, but it didn't take much to push him away in the end. I think, if it weren't for Emma, he'd have run back to Scotland to put enough distance between us. But you're different. You're kind, and comforting, and you care. I know if anything were to happen, you know, like I think we both want to, it would be more equal, you know? And it scares me that I wouldn't be in control like I always have been. It scares me that you want to take care of me, and I think it scares me even more that I want you to. Knowing, over the last few months, that you've been keeping an eye on me, and making sure that I'm okay is something that I've never had before, and I literally mean never. My mum wasn't a typical mum, and she disappeared off to India when I was twelve. Then I was in foster care, and nobody was bothered. By the time I hit 18 the damage was done. I knew that people couldn't hurt me if I didn't let them close enough. And here we are."

Fletch just stared at her. He kind of knew little bits about her mum, but it was mostly what Jasmine had told her, and so there were a lot of blank spaces in his knowledge. Her whole brave front made a lot more sense now. Her pushing him away made a lot more sense; it wasn't because she didn't want him there, it was because she desperately did, and she'd never felt like that before.

"Look," Fletch said, "That's the way any sort of healthy relationship should work, whether it be professional, platonic or otherwise. In my opinion, Joseph and Jonny both cared deeply about you; they would have left sooner if they didn't. But they should have done more to make you feel secure in your relationships."

Jac wanted to make some sort of snipe about him spouting psycho-babble, but she also wanted to show him that she was making an effort, so decided not to.

"Why haven't you run?" Jac asked, insecurities taking over.

"Because, despite your best efforts, you haven't scared me off."

"Not yet," Jac reiterated, wanting to put across to him that it was an inevitability that it would happen, just like everyone else who ever got close to her.

"Hey, I told you," Fletch reassured her softly, stepping forward into her personal space. "Not ever."

Jac could feel his hands gently placed on her hips, and she took a small step forward, looking up at him as she rested her hands on his arms. She was ready when he dipped his head, obviously moving in for a kiss, but frowned when he stopped a hairs-breadth away.

"I need to know that you want this," he whispered.

"I don't know how," she replied.

Pulling back slightly, he cupped her face as he quipped, "You have a daughter. The steps you have to take to create her suggests you have slightly more than a theoretical grasp on the concept."

Jac shook her head. Why was he making her be so honest with him? And why did she want to be?

"I told you, I'm always in control. It's always fast, and hard, and not, well, not how this feels."

Fletch smiled. "Why, Ms Naylor, are you asking me to take the lead?"

Jac flushed red, nodding as she tried to tear her eyes away, feeling incredibly vulnerable and emotional. But Fletch's hand on her cheek restricted her movement, and his reassuring smile helped calm her as he moved forwards once again.

This time, he didn't stop, and Jac shivered as his lips gently moved against hers. She immediately responded, trying to match his slow, relaxed pace, surprised when such a soft and gentle kiss caused goosebumps to erupt on her arms. She lifted her arms to around his neck, and he moved both arms around her waist, as she tried to lift up on to her tiptoes to get closer. But Fletch chuckled against her lips when he felt her trying to take over, and instead gently pushed her down so her feet were flat on the floor, pulling away slightly to place a couple of soft pecks on her lips before drawing her into his arms in a tight embrace, laughing when Jac actually snuggled into him.

"Hey, shut up," said Jac, burying her face in his chest in embarrassment. But the moment was over when her leg buckled under her, and she cried out in pain. Fletch quickly moved her over to the sofa, grabbed her painkillers and handed her a couple, which she swallowed dry.

As they started to kick in, Jac patted the seat next to her, and Fletch, who had been stood in front of her, sat down quickly, raising an arm to encourage her to lean into him. He was surprised when she did, but was happy to see a different side to the woman who always insisted on dealing with things on her own.

"Okay?" he asked, running his hand up and down her arm, smiling when she shivered.

Jac nodded, twisting round so she was facing him, and moved up to kiss him.

Fletch spun round so his feet were on the sofa, pulling Jac up so she was lying on his chest. Once again the kiss started off slow, but this time it was Fletch who tried to deepen it, and Jac was only too happy to comply.

As they both continued to enjoy this new aspect of their relationship, Jac was surprised to realise that she was more than happy to relinquish control once in a while.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this! It actually ended up being a lot longer than I expected… and I'm sure I'm not going to be the only one relying on FanFiction to get through the next four weeks without Jac… and more importantly… without Flac!