A/N: Damn, it has been so damn long... I'm so so very sorry for that. Ever since I begun writing, I've been doing it outside, I could never really do it at home (even during my school days, I couldn't focus at home, had to study at the library and cafés). So, to say that my writing has been affected by this virus crap is a huge understatement. Hopefully now, that things are sorta getting back to normal, I'll be able to update my stories more regularly.

Once more, very sorry. I hope there are still people interested in reading this story :)

A huge THANK YOU to my beta. She really did an incredible with this chapter and cleaned up the debris of rust which were significant.

I feel the night's cold air against my skin the moment I step outside. I turn my stare to Delphine, who pulls the coat closer to her chest before she begins to walk down the street without much pause. She hasn't said a word since we left the apartment, her stance giving me the only glimpse into her mind. And what I see tells me that it is probably best to give her some space. She was quick to make her way down the building, never running but her pace wasn't exactly casual, and now there's no hesitation in her steps either. I am, on the other hand, not sure of what to do: if I should follow her or find my own destination for the night. After all, just because we left the house at the same time doesn't mean we left together.

I get my answer when Delphine stops and looks back over her shoulder, realizing I was not keeping up with her steps. Still unsure, I join her with my hesitant strides and she restarts to walk, slower this time - like a subtle invitation for me to walk with her. Side by side but not touching, we leave the narrow street and make our way to a bit bustling and less hidden avenue. There are no words exchanged between us, the only sound breaking the silence is the occasional car rolling over wet concrete. It's late, and this far away from the city's night scene, there's no soul in sight.

"Any destination in mind?" I ask, knowing that if it's left to Delphine, we could very well remain quiet for longer than I feel comfortable with.

As if she's now just remembering that she has company, Delphine lowers her head to look at me. "Not really," she says in a low voice after a heartbeat, "but I suppose it's best to go home, it's getting late."

"You mean the safe house?" I ask.

"I cannot very well go to New York now, even if that's exactly what I want," she tells me, and there's a bite to her words, though I don't think it's directed to me. "What about you? You were not all planning to stay the night in that hole, were you?"

"We have a couple of rooms booked in the city," I say, twisting the corner of my mouth. "But I suspect sharing a room with Sarah might not be the safest decision."

Delphine hums, but makes no further comment regarding my observation, even though I'm sure it's not for lack of thoughts about the subject in question. She's either keeping it to herself, or doesn't want to get into it in the middle of the street late into the night.

We stop walking at Delphine's pace and she reaches into her pocket, producing her phone and brings up the app to call a car to our location. It doesn't take long for it to arrive, and when it stops next to us, Delphine opens the door, steps to the side waiting for me to take a seat before she gets inside herself, and we're on our way.

Like earlier, silence reigns between us, the car radio is on but the volume is low, only meant to keep the driver company. We occupy the opposite sides of the backseat, the space between us left empty and when I look at Delphine, her stare is fixed outside. Even so, I can see the exhaustion that has taken hold of her again, but at least she seems to have calmed down - her breathing is slow and even, and eventually she rests her forehead against the window's glass and takes a long, deep breath. I copy her stance a few minutes later - she might be exhausted, but I'm not faring any better too. Even as I allow myself to relax a bit, I cannot truly take my mind of what happened just moments ago and what sort of repercussions I'll have to face - and they'll be severe.

If Sarah was resentful for being left in the dark about the whole picture for so long; if she was enraged with the decision Siobhan and I made about working with Delphine without so much as informing her, let alone consult her, I don't even want to think about how furious she is that after all that, I left them to go with Delphine, no less. Oh yes, she's livid and there's no saying how she'll react the next time we see each other. Hopefully we'll be able to put our differences aside and work together because we have to - there's no other option but to have each other's backs if we hope to get out of this mess. A crack in our united front now will result in nothing but disaster, and if it goes further and we turn on each other, the consequences will be even more tragic.

I'm sure it will not be pleasant or easy, but I should try to mend things at the first opportunity I get. And it'll have to be me who takes the first step because if I wait for Sarah, it'll never happen - not while she believes she's right. Perhaps Siobhan can calm her down tonight, try to reason with her. Lord knows Sarah's much more likely to listen to what S has to say than whatever words come out of my mouth, no matter how sensible they are. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm the last person Sarah wants to talk to right now. Well, maybe second to the last - ahead of Delphine, of course.

I look again to my side and take a peek at Delphine's bruised eye. At least the bleeding has stopped, but it'll be looking quite nasty for the next few days. I wonder what excuse she'll tell her bosses over at the Bureau. I'm sure that'll be an interesting conversation. Just as I'm sporting a small smirk, Delphine's stare leaves the window and goes to me, giving me a confused look and a discreet gesture of her head, as if asking what's up. I give her what I think is a reassuring smile and whisper "sorry," which apparently makes her even more confused.

I've only been here once, a while back, but nothing has changed. As far as I recall, the same cardboard boxes are in the same corners, the clothes still hanging in a makeshift dresser, the same cheap painting knockoffs on the walls, no sign of any sort of personal objects. It all makes sense now: this place was only a front, and a bad one at that. I doubt she could fool anyone for long with such dismal accommodations, not that I think someone like Daniel would ever set foot in this place long enough to notice how the picture he had of his future wife didn't match her living conditions. Nevertheless this was only supposed to be a temporary arrangement, I doubt even Delphine put much thought into it. However she planned this to end - this house was obviously not in her future.

She sighs deeply once she closes the door, carelessly tossing her coat to the couch before sinking into it as well, throwing her head back and closing her eyes that she covers with her hands for good measure. Delphine's shoulders relax and it appears that somewhere along the way, this temporary base of operations became somewhat of a sanctuary to her.

The silence of the drive followed us to her place, lingering a few minutes longer while I shed my own coat and keep my eyes on Delphine as she opens the window and lights a cigarette. Her eyes turn to me after only a couple of drags. "Well… That went wonderfully…" She mumbles.

"Yes, it was fantastic," I mimic her sarcasm because I don't think I'm in the state of mind to truly tackle the depth of the hole I'm in.

"Is it just me or did your boss neglect to inform your partners that I was arriving?" Delphine asks after a pause.

"We thought it'd be better if they didn't know…" I say and she gives me a grimace. "Which clearly it wasn't," I add.

Delphine stubs the cigarette on the ashtray she keeps on the window sill. "Maybe… maybe not," she says, stepping away from the window. "To be honest, I don't think it'd make a damn difference. I feel like Sarah has had it for me since the beginning."

I let out a small chuckle. "Not Sarah, she was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt for the most part," I say. "Now Felix… He's had your number from the start."

"Well, he's not the one who tried to take a swing at me," Delphine points out. She is relaxed though, with her back resting on the wall in front of me, the tension of the last few hours is slowly but surely dissipating. Distance and time always helps to put things into perspective.

"I'd say she more than tried," I remind her with my eyes going to the cut on her eyebrow that's starting to look pretty ugly. "Besides, I don't remember you pulling back any punches."

She narrows her eyes at me. "Pretty sure I could've made quick work of her."

I smirk a little. For some reason it feels comforting to see some of Delphine's slight bravado back. "Let's just hope we never have to find out," it's what I say instead of instigating the animosity between the two of them. The two women seem to be too much alike in some aspects. Stubborn and unyielding, their hubris can stand in the way of seeing the other's perspective. But they both can be reasoned with, and I hope that once the dust settles, this is the part of themselves that surfaces.

There's another moment of silence and again I take the opportunity to carefully observe Delphine. It's true that she seems less tense, but the weight of the last few days still presses on her shoulders.

"How are you?" I ask quietly.

She raises her eyes to me and sighs deeply once more. "I've had better days," Delphine answers in an equally low voice.

I hesitate, not sure how to broach the subject. Evidently I'm not unbiased in this whole situation, I never cared much for Daniel, I'm not even sure I ever liked the man. But I certainly didn't want him to die, especially in the horrific way it happened. "What happened with Daniel…"

"Was his own damn fault!" Delphine interrupts me abruptly.

"Wow! Way to blame the victim there," I say, taken aback by the coldness of her reply.

"I'm not saying he had it coming. But Daniel had no business getting in bed with the likes of the Russian mob." Delphine lowers her voice but the tone remains harsh. "I obviously didn't want him to die, but he made some very stupid choices, and I can't be shocked that they had consequences."

"We've all made stupid choices at one point or another in our lives, Delphine." I point out, all too familiar with the concept.

"Some choices are more stupid than others," she raises her shoulders.

"I really thought you'd be more upset about this," I say.

"Why?" Delphine asks with a raised brow.

"Shit, Delphine! I don't know…" I answer, a little lost for words. "You know the guy, you practically lived with him."

"It was a job, Cosima," Delphine says matter-of-factly. "You're reading too much into it." She finishes and moves away from the wall.

We don't touch the subject for the remainder of the night. There's an awkwardness that fills the small apartment, I don't feel entirely comfortable and I suspect neither does Delphine. On more than a few occasions I catch her looking at me as we get ready to sleep. The late hour and the tiredness we both feel prevents the long and difficult conversation it'd take for us to fully understand each other's views.

Besides, it's not like I believe that Daniel's death has taken no toll on Delphine - it only takes a brief examination of her actions to know that it has affected her. People deal with mourning in different ways and, taking in consideration Delphine's naturally reserved nature, it's not difficult to see that she simply doesn't want to talk about it exhaustively. She'll deal with it at her own pace, in her own way. Pressuring her to talk about it will only make her push back harder. So we settle down in the ridiculously small bed, not that we need that much room. Delphine pulls me closer to her, she's in an oversized t-shirt and boxer shorts while I have nothing but my underwear. Her body feels pleasantly warm against my skin.

The next morning I wake up with Delphine talking rather excitedly on the phone. Even though the winter's sun is barely out, I still squint my eyes against the brightness seeping its way through the half closed shutters on the windows. The small apartment doesn't allow me to ignore the conversation even if I wanted to and with my eyes adjusting to the light, I see her pacing back and forth near the counter that divides the space between the kitchen and the rest of the living area.

"I understand, Sir, but I really don't think that's the best…" She says quickly, but stops and listens. "I don't agree, I still believe there's more…" She seems to be interrupted again, and covers the microphone with her hand so whoever's on the other end doesn't hear the deep, frustrated sigh she releases. "I will. Yes!" Delphine says before she ends the call and tosses the phone onto the couch with a loud "Putain."

"Good morning?" I say a little unsure.

"Not really," Delphine answers, looking at me. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"Kinda difficult, considering the volume of your frustration," I observe, rearranging the pillow so I can lean against the top frame of the bed. "Do I dare ask what was that all about?"

"Just some mild disagreement with my boss," Delphine answers, getting closer.

"It didn't seem mild from where I'm standing," I probe a little deeper.

"They want to pull me out of the assignment," she concedes. "Apparently my usefulness has expired."

I hum in acknowledgment. "Why don't you come to the dark side? We have cookies," I say playfully, wanting to ease the tension that has been gradually growing over the last couple of days.

Delphine shows me a small smile, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Well… if there are cookies…"

"Sometimes there's even pot brownies," I add in an attempt to sweeten the pot.

"Tempting, but that's your thing, Cosima, it's not really for me," she answers in a more serious note, but the smile remains.

"I know," I nod. "Besides I don't want to take bets on who would kill each other first between you and Sarah."

Reactively, Delphine raises her hand to the cut on her eyebrow and winces when she touches it. "Maybe things got a little out of hand last night."

"Maybe a little," I agree, snorting slightly. "To be honest, I'm not totally surprised by Sarah's reaction, but I didn't expect you to be the one who escalated things."

"She shouldn't have acted the way she did," Delphine defends herself.

"She started it? That's the defense you're going for?" I ask, my response between surprised and amused.

She smiles a little. "A poor one, I admit it, but anything counts when you've had the shity days I've had."

I shake my head. "Our days haven't been much better, you know…"

Delphine looks at me for a moment. "I have an idea…" She says in a lighter manner, moving herself to sit atop of me, and rests her arms around my shoulders.

I smile. "I like where this is going, but I doubt it'll help us in the long run." I say, placing my hands softly on her hips.

Delphine leans her head to mine and kisses me gently. "How about we get the hell out of here? Get on the first plane away from all this crap?" Her voice is low, enticing with a hint of playfulness that she rarely uses.

I know she doesn't mean it, even if it's probably what she most feels like doing. Still, I play along. "Some place warm, with sandy beaches and crystal blue waters as far as the eye can see…" Sealing my suggestions with a deeper kiss, pulling her tighter to me.

"Belize or Tahiti…" She mumbles between kisses, raising her arms when I move to pull off her shirt.

"Anywhere really, I'm not picky…" I continue, feeling her smile against my kisses and her breath pick up when the palm of my hands gently cups her breast.

"Get a sunburn while we sip piña coladas all day." I feel Delphine's words brush against my neck, her hands on the back of my thighs, pulling me to lay flat on the bed.

I groan softly as her lips continue to roam lower, over my chest. "Stay awake all night…" I murmur.

Even without being able to see it, I know the smile I feel against my navel is a cocky one. "Playing chess," I hear her say.

"Sure… Chess…" My voice breaks in those two barely coherent words, once she has settled on her destination, making room for herself between my legs.

Delphine is softer than usual without losing her determination. Her touch is lighter, more deliberate, her tongue delicately rediscovers the trails that she's become entirely too familiar with if we were to keep the appearance that this is nothing but a fling. One of her hands pulls me closer, firmer to her, but she never speeds up the pace of her movements, as the other hand skims up my body, her fingertips are lines of scorching fire along my skin. My body agrees with the slower pace - with the thoughtfulness of her motions, and we easily settle into a rhythm that builds up without shattering.

But it builds up nonetheless, and there's a limit to how much stimulation I can take before my body craves release. When I feel it coming, my back arches, meeting her stroke for stroke, my hand reaches for the hand she has on my breast, the touch growing more urgent with the increased intensity, and I interlock our fingers. Delphine's hand on mine, pressed against the mattress next to my head, is the only thing grounding me to the world when I break. The heat consumes me for a moment, as my body clenches around hers.

My eyes open when I feel Delphine climbing up my body and resting her forehead against mine. She kisses me gently and I try my best to return her attention.

"Let me just catch my breath," I mumble, still not quite recovered. She laughs and settles on top of me, her head on my chest.

For a while it feels as if everything has fallen into place. Delphine's fingertips roam over my skin softly, I feel her light breathing against the skin of my chest. But it's not to last long, and soon she gets up, and with a small groan, stretches herself.

"Hey! Where are you going?" I complain, looking up at her, while she rummages through the clothes on the rack.

"I need to get ready," she answers, looking over her shoulder. "I have a meeting with my boss in an hour."

"What about Belize..?" I say with a hint of a moan.

"I'm afraid The Caribbeans will have to wait," Delphine replies, entering the bathroom, after dropping a few articles of clothing on the foot of the bed.

I twist my lips, resigned as I look out the window, noticing that it has begun to drizzle. "Well… Fuck…" I mumble under my breath.

Delphine doesn't take long in the bathroom, not ten minutes have passed when she's already back in the room, a large towel around her body and a smaller one wrapping her hair. She gets dressed in clothes that are more formal than usual: a knee-length form fitting black skirt, and light blue blouse. Another scavenging through her clothes results in a matching blazer for the skirt.

"Damn… You clean up nice," I comment still stretched on the bed, my eyes eagerly taking in the curves of her body.

Delphine chuckles, and turns this way and that. "You like?" She teases.

"Very much," I nod and begin to get up. "You think they'll reassign you?" I ask, taking a serious note as I get up and I reach for my own clothes.

Delphine shrugs and heads back to the bathroom. "I really haven't got a clue about what they'll do next. All I know so far is that I'm off the case."

"Well, yeah. But I imagine the bureau is still interested in Daniel's deals and the people he was working with," I say.

"Of course, just because I'm out doesn't mean they won't continue to look into it," Delphine answers, her eyes still on her reflexion in the mirror as she fixes her hair.

"What about Will?" I suggest.

Delphine frowns her brows. "What about him?"

"Well you cultivated him as an asset, you're his contact, right?" I continue, approaching her and leaning against the frame of the bathroom door.

"So...?" She pauses and looks at me.

"Maybe you can convince him to say he'd only work with you, or something…" I say.

Delphine shakes her head. "I really don't want to owe any favors to that family, even if it is Will," she answers, her attention back on the mirror, now trying to cover the evidence of the late night paired with the early morning. "Why do you care so much about me staying with this assignment anyway? If nothing else I thought you'd be pleased to see me gone, out of your way."

I shrug. "I don't care one way or the other, you just seemed upset about being removed from the case," I explain. "Just trying to help."

"So, it has nothing to do with the fact that with me gone, you'd lose your inside man?" Delphine says this without taking her eyes off the reflection, even the inflection of her words is casual, but I know better than to take this observation at face value.

"Has anyone ever told you you have trust issues, Delphine?" I say, stepping away from her to begin looking for my shoes.

"You're deflecting," she calls me out. "Why don't you just answer the question?"

"Maybe I just don't want you to leave," I answer, and it's not exactly a lie, but it's not the whole truth either. I'd rather admit wanting her to stay around for personal reasons than to confirm her suspicion about wanting her around to exploit her position inside the FBI and her connection to the investigation. It's much simpler for both of us if we keep clear of the complicated web of interests we find ourselves tangled up in. She makes no further comment, even if she knows I'm not being completely honest, confirmed by the side glance she gives me, and I suspect it's due to time limitations and not because she has nothing to add to this conversation.

I'm painfully aware that there are too many things that are being left unsaid between us, and that they will most likely come back to bite me in the ass. My tendency to procrastinate difficult conversations is definitely taking a turn for the worst, but I can't bring myself to talk about it now - not when my relationship with my friends and partners is not on very solid ground either. I feel the walls closing in on every side and I'm frozen in place, as if rendered powerless, as if the only thing I can do is hope that they won't collapse all at the same time. I'll regret being so passive, probably sooner rather than later.

"...Daniel's computer."

Contemplating my poor decision-making, I only half hear what Delphine's saying.

"What about it?" I ask.

Delphine straightens herself after finishing putting on her shoes and looks at me with a raised brow. "There was nothing in it."

"He could have another," I comment casually. "I know I wouldn't have damaging files on a computer that anyone can access without much difficulty." I continue to talk matter-of-factly as I finish getting ready to leave. "The computer you confiscated was used for his official business with the company, no way you're going to find anything incriminating in there. He knew that at any moment a federal agency could be asking for records of his businesses…"

"You know where it is? This second computer?" Delphine has stopped what she was doing, standing in the middle of the room, looking at me.

I shrug. "I don't even know if it exists, not for certain. I'm just telling you what I would do."

"Criminal minds think alike…" She mumbles under her breath.

I pause and my eyes dart to her, there's a flash of anger that seizes me, and I don't know if it's because Delphine expressed such a simplistic view or if it's because she decided to put me and Daniel on the same level.

She senses my sudden mood change and yet she doesn't address it, and that only makes my anger spike.

"After everything you still think that!" It's not a question as much as an accusation.

"What do you want me to call you then?" Delphine retorts, not a hint of defensiveness in her voice.

My phone rings and I wouldn't pick up if it wasn't Ms. S calling. But with the way things are, I really can't afford to ignore her calls.

"Yes?" I say into the receiver, but my eyes are on Delphine.

"Get to the safehouse!" I hear Siobhan say on the line, in a tone that invites no argument. "Mr. Y called."

"Twenty minutes," I say to her and end the call. "I've got to go." I then tell Delphine, but cannot look at her.

"Great!" She says, opening the door in one abrupt motion.

And I feel one of the walls getting much too close for comfort.