CHAPTER

"Detectives, good work on the Osbourne case," Lt. Gordon commended when she reached their desk.

"Thanks, Lieutenant. It's not just us two, though. Dr. Rosenberg was a great help as always," Julian replied, smiling as he thought of Willow. "And I'm sure my partner would agree as well. Don't you, Maclay?" he asked.

Across the desk, Tara was in a daze. She was lost in thought, thinking about that same redheaded medical examiner. A couple of days had passed since the 'incident' at the hospital and she had been trying to deal with the realization behind her newfound feelings. It's a fine line between love and hate. She had crossed that line, unknowingly. The dark circles under her eyes were the sign of her sleeplessness, having tossed and tuned in bed during the past few nights before slipping into restless slumbers.

"Hey, Maclay!" Julian shouted, giving her a playful kick under the desk. That was the umpteenth time in the past days he had caught her daydreaming.

"What was that for?" Tara asked, frowning in annoyance.

"Am I right?" Julian asked again. "About Dr. Rosenberg," he asked after Tara gave him a puzzled look.

Tara froze up instantly at the mentioning of Willow. [i]Oh shit, how the hell did he know?[/i] She was panicking internally even though her face told an entirely different story. Her composed façade faltered when she began to speak. "No! I – wha- wh- why would you ask that?" she questioned, tripping over her own tongue.

Both Julian and Lt. Gordon frowned at the strange response. "You don't agree that Dr. Rosenberg was a great asset to the case?" the later asked in bewilderment.

"Huh? What?" Tara's mind blanked for a brief second before she realized that she was acting on a guilty conscience. Recovering somewhat, "Of course not. I mean … I mean, yes, I agree with … wait, no. I disag… Wh…what was the question again?" A sheepish expression crept up to her features as soon as she finished. Julian watched on in amusement.

"Are you okay there, Detective Maclay?" Lt. Gordon asked in concern at the display of uncharacteristic behavior from the brunette. Not trusting her speech at the moment, Tara nodded.

"I think she needs to slow down on her intake of pain medication. She's probably just high," Julian joked while trying to contain his laughter. Tara narrowed her eyes at him threateningly.

"Yeah, well, good work anyways." Lt. Gordon highlighted again. She eyed Tara suspiciously for a while before walking away.

"What is wrong with you?" Julian asked in a mix of curiosity and concern, "you've been acting strange."

Tara released a defeated sign, "I wish I knew."

888

Willow stood hesitantly at the entrance to the DHI office with a beach file and slider storage bag in her hands. She was at the precinct to drop off the post-mortem report and evidence she found in the victim's body for the detectives so that they could add it to their statement of charges.

Tara was alone at the desk with Julian nowhere to be seen. The chestnut haired detective had been less than receptive of her vague attempts at friendliness. She even shot down her apology once before. Now adding to the mixture was their emotionally straining encounter in the morgue and the brunettes avoidance at the hospital. Willow bit her lower lip, finally deciding to get the hostile encounter over and done with.

She strode over to the desk, looking as self-assured as possible. "Hey," she greeted cautiously.

Tara had managed to get a certain redheaded medical examiner out of her mind for the past few hours or so by immersing herself in work. So, when Willow seemingly appeared out of nowhere, she was completely caught off guard. She jumped in her seat, bumping her sling arm into the desk in the process. She hissed in pain while clutching her sprained shoulder, her face scrunching in agony.

Willow set down the possessions clutched in her hands immediately. She then stepped forward to place a comforting hand on Tara's upper arm with the other carefully holding her bent right arm. "God, are you okay?" She asked quickly, her caring nature taking over.

Tara opened her eyes when she felt hands on her. Willow was leaning close. To her, it was as if this was the very first time she was seeing the medical examiner for who she really was. The beautiful delicate features, the heavenly saccharine scent, the tender touches and the warmth radiating from her were all too much. She needed desperately to take a deep breath, but Willow's scent was thick in the air.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Tara answered through gritted teeth. She grimaced at the throbbing pain and slouched a little into her seat as subtly as possible to create some space between them. She could hear her heart thumping and wondered if Willow could hear it too.

Willow noticed the subtle action and took it as a sign for her to back off, quickly withdrawing her hands and taking a few steps back away from Tara. "I'm sorry," she mumbled.

Tara was feeling every bit of the disappointment when Willow removed her hands and moved away. That was the absolute opposite of what she wanted. She clenched her jaw in frustration and ran her good hand through her hair. "It's okay. What did you want?" she asked, her frustration inadvertently slipping into her tone of voice.

Willow was not at all surprised by the tenor showed. [i]So much for caring.[/i] She let out a breath, her expression hardening. "Nothing. I'm just here to give you these." She picked up the file and zipper bag from the desk, handing them both to the blonde detective.

Tara held out her good hand and took the items from the medical examiner. Their fingers grazed each other's for a brief second, sending a wave of electricity coursing throughout their entire body. The sudden contact caused them both to pull their hands back instantly. They stared at one another in shock. Papers dropped out from the file as it hit the ground.

Willow was the first to recover, bending down to gather up the papers. Tara followed a few seconds later, getting out of her seat and helping rather clumsily with only one hand.

"It's okay, I got it." Willow assured with a small smile when she saw Tara struggling. Tara blushed in embarrassment. She stood up and turned her head away to hide her flushed cheeks. She wasn't sure if it was a reaction to the smile or the fact that she was caught acting ineptly.

"Here." Tara turned back to the voice and took the things from Willow, who held the folder out for her. She made sure there was no contact whatsoever this time around. She could only handle so much.

Willow lingered for a while longer before walking away. When she stepped out of the office, she passed a hand over her face. She could feel the last six months' worth of tension between her and Tara reaching a breaking point, but what frightened her the most, or maybe exhilarated her, was that it wasn't going to happen in the way she had originally though it would. And that made her heart pound even faster.