Lingering touch

Grace was tossing and turning, her mind racing even in her sleep.

A shudder running through her body as he ran his hand up the side of her body.

Shivers running down her back as flashes of an almost naked Steve on top of her kept going through her mind.

His lips on her neck and fingers digging into her waist.

A slight whimper escaping her lips as the emotions she'd been feeling mere hours earlier crashed back down on her.

Her entire body vibrating as his hand dipped under the fabric of her panties.

Grace shot up in her bed, her breath heavy and small beads of sweat forming at the back of her neck. Looking at her alarm clock, 05:45 glowing in bold red numbers, she decided to get out of bed 15 minutes earlier than normal and headed for the kitchen She pulled some cold pasta carbonara out of the fridge, poured herself a glass of water and headed for the living room. About to sit down on the couch, she remembered how she'd been laying there almost naked and willing not too long ago and decided to sit in the armchair instead.

Turning on the tv and flicking through the channels, she ended up watching reruns of Downton Abbey while eating cold pasta.

"To be continued." The words Steve had said to her before getting dressed and leaving so she could get to work speed through her mind. Had he been serious? Were they really going to continue and maybe get to finish? Her brain buzzed with questions about whether he really meant it and if she should do it if he did.

Almost finished with her food, her phone started to buzz and she picked it up to see who it was. Caller id said Governor Jameson and she quickly answered. "Dr. Ó Máille," she replied, her voice calm and professional. "I need you to come down to the USS Arizona, it's urgent." The Governor didn't say anything else before hanging up.

Grace quickly got up to put the dishes in the sink and headed for her bedroom to take a short shower and get dressed.

As Grace parked her car, Steve was getting out of his. She took a minute to gather herself and her thoughts and got out of her car, trying her best to avoid eye contact with Steve to keep things from getting awkward.

Steve noticed Grace parking her car a few feet behind where he parked his own and the events of the previous day flashed through his mind. When he'd told her that they would continue what they'd started before leaving her he hadn't thought he'd see her so soon again.

He knew that if he paid enough attention to her it would become really obvious that something happened, so he decided to keep the conversation, eye – and close contact to a minimum.

They reached the body, the Governor and the rest of Steve's team at the same time, but stood with as much distance between them as possible. Everyone, including the Governor, noticed and Danny gave Chin and Kono a questioning but amused look. The last time they'd acted like they'd been caught with a hand in the cookie jar was after their kiss, so he assumed something similar had happened again.

"The victim's name is Aaron Charles. We went to college together, and when I decided to run for Governor he was one of the biggest contributors to my campaign. He called me last week to tell me he was coming to Hawaii for a few days on a business trip and that was the last I heard from him until he left me voicemail at 2AM." Governor Jameson said, not interested in beating around the bush.

Grace crouched next to the victim to get a get a better view of any visible signs that could help the case.

"Well, he's got defensive wounds on his hands and arms. Some are pretty deep, meaning he put up a good fight. There are no visible signs of trauma other than the defensive wounds," she said before taking a closer look at his hands. "He has some whitish lines on his fingernails and some redness and hyperkeratosis on his arms and neck, both of which are signs of arsenic poisoning, but until I do a tox screen I can't be sure." She finished and took a sample of the residue under his fingernails before getting up and signalling for Tommy to pack up the body and take it to the morgue.

"Call me as soon as you know something." Governor Jameson said and walked off without giving Grace a chance to answer her.

Finally looking over at Steve directly, she took a deep breath to control her nerves. "Autopsy will be done in an hour and a half, two at the most. I'll call to let you know." In response Steve nodded and huffed out a thank you, and Danny gave her his usual warm smile.

Danny had been sitting in his office for the past half hour just looking over at Steve in his own office. He'd decided to go talk to his partner about a thousand times and then changed his mind, wanting to keep his head attached to his body. But after a final discussion between reason and curiosity, the latter finally won and he got up to go talk to the most stubborn man he'd ever met.

He knocked on the door to Steve's office, to let him know he was entering before practically barging in and sitting in one of the chairs opposite Steve. "What's going on with you and Grace, again?" he blurted out, his plan on being discreet going down the toilet.

Steve was taken aback but not surprised by his Danny's question and made a mental note to control his facial expression. He looked up from what he was doing, not letting any emotion show. Unlike last time, telling Danny the truth wasn't an option.

"Why do you think something is going on between us?" he asked, pretending to have no idea what his partner was talking about. Danny let out a frustrated groan, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Oh, please! Any idiot could see something is going on. You were intentionally keeping as much space between the two of you. I know you're not attached at the hip or anything, but come on! Even Chin and Kono noticed and Tommy threw a confused and amused at Grace after she walked off and he came over to take the body to the morgue." He stated, his voice raised.

Realising if he ever wanted to keep what happened between him and Grace from his colleagues he'd have to stop acting like something happened and go about things like he usually would. Knowing if he just brushed of what Danny said and told him nothing happened he'd just keep poking around, Steve decided to tell him parts of what happened.

"I picked her up at the airport when she arrived yesterday and drove her home. We talked." Technically Grace had done most of the talking, telling him having their first kiss running through her minds was driving her insane. The thought of her bursting out that confession in her actual accent, something Steve found extremely attractive, made him warmth spread through his body.

"You talked, huh?" Danny questioned, knowing he wasn't getting the whole story.

About to ask another question, Steve shot him a look that said we're done talking about this and Danny got up and went back to his own office, his mind full of questions.

"You kiss the guy in a parking lot and avoid him for two weeks after. Then when you finally talk you take off for a month to deal with "family issues", big shocker there, and when you get back again you tell him how much you've been thinking about the kiss, kiss him again, tell him you can't do it again before eventually getting naked with him on your couch and having your moment interrupted by work." Tommy said, mostly to himself to try and make sense of what was going on with Grace and Steve while she was finishing up the autopsy of Aaron Charles.

"I mean seriously Grace! Make up your mind and stop stringing him along while you deal with your own shit, that I know you'd never tell him about because ridding yourself of your toxic family and their influence is a big no-no. You either stop with the stupid excuses and jump in head first or you cut all ties and keep things a hundred percent platonic. Don't get me wrong and don't ask me why and how, but I love you no matter what and I will always be there for you. But someone need to tell you to stop being such a cladhaire and get your head out the jacks." He finished his rant, that he was quite proud of himself, with a stern look in Grace's direction.

"I know, and you're right. I'll do it, after this case. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go call Steve and the Governor and tell them the autopsy is done," she said and walked over to her desk, Tommy's lecture running in the back of her mind.

She wasn't sure why she was there. Well she knew why, she just didn't know how to do what she was there to do. Although for each day that passed she felt more and more drawn to Steve, she knew that continuing whatever it was they were doing would only drag him into something that would do more harm than good.

So there she was, standing in front of his house, her mind racing and her nerves on high alert. Knowing that if she postponed this any longer it would just get harder, she gently knocked on his door three times and waited for him to open.

She heard a faint sound of footprints behind the door, before the twist of a lock and the door being opened.

When Steve opened the door he'd been expecting Danny, but was met by Grace. His body immediately stiffened and he swallowed hard. "Hi," was all he managed to get out, his voice hoarse. "Can we talk?" Grace asked, biting her lower lip "Sure."

Steve stepped to the side to let her through the door, suddenly feeling nervous by the tone in her voice. He watched as she looked around the room, taking in the surroundings, glad he'd decided to clean earlier. She slowly turned around to face him, and he could see she was nervous. Although she hadn't said anything yet, he knew. He'd been waiting for the ball to drop all day, wondering who'd be the one to say it.

"I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but what happened yesterday. It can't keep happening, -" she started but was interrupted by Steve mid speech, "I know." Grace was relieved he wasn't putting up a fight, not that she thought he would. It wasn't really like they were anything but friends and colleagues that kissed a couple times and almost slept together.

"You got out of relationship just a few months ago and I have my own stuff to sort out. Continuing this isn't fair to neither one of us and it's only going to make working together more complicated. I don't know about you, but already have enough complicated in my life. So how about from now on, and this time I actually mean it, we keep things strictly platonic." She heard the words leaving her mouth, but she didn't believe them or mean them. All she wanted to do was kiss him and finish what they started the previous afternoon, but she knew that would only put him in danger and make things with her family even more complicated than they already was.

Steve wanted to ask what was so complicated about her life, but decided to let it go. He didn't want to make things more difficult than it needed to be. He knew dragging her into the whole mess with Anton Hesse, the Yakuza and his father's tool box was something he shouldn't do. They'd already gotten to his sister; he wasn't going to let them get to Grace too.

"You're right, I mean we could barely look at each other let alone talk today. Our personal lives shouldn't get in the way of our jobs and how well do them." He agreed, surprised he managed to come up with something so rational when all he wanted to do was take her up to bedroom and keep the promise he made her before leaving her yesterday.

"Alright, well… I'm gonna go, it's been a long day." Her excuse sounded legit, at least she thought it did, when in reality they both knew she said it to get away as fast as possible to make sure they kept the deal they'd just made.

"Yeah, you have a good night." He said with a smile, opening the door again and holding it open for her. She smiled back at him and walked past him, down the pathway leading to his house and into her car where she sat for ten minutes just staring into thin air before driving home.

A/N: And with that season 1 has come to an end. The next oneshot will be set in season 2. I'll try to post it on Monday.

Again I am not a medical professional, so everything written about arsenic poisoning was found online.

Cladhaire is irish for coward(as far as my very limited knowledge of the irish language goes, if I am mistaken feel free to correct me and I will fix it.)

PS: I am aware of some mistakes when it comes to grammar and such, I will start fixing that as soon as I have some extra spare time.

XOXO
Hannah