Every now and then I'll post a chapter on one of my stories and close my eyes, cross my fingers, and hope no one gets angry with me. So, of course let me know what you think, but please be kind. :) The second half of the chapter gets a little tense and maybe unexpected? But I promise it's part of the longer term storyline, and it just felt true to who I think the characters are, flaws and all. Ok, crossing my fingers and hoping you like this chapter.

Chapter 10

Vin slept light. His Army training, his time in the Rangers, had cemented what had already been a habit he spent years developing in foster homes and on the street. He finally got out of bed after a short four hours of sleep.

The light was pale, the sun just barely at the edge of the horizon when he opened the door to his motel room and stepped outside. He instinctively scanned the parking lot. A squad car was parked at the edge of the lot. Every sense went into high alert. Vin walked to Morgan's car, keeping a casual pace and opened the trunk, dropping his bag into the already full space. He used the raised lid of the trunk as cover to eye the deputy in the office talking with the desk clerk.

It was a different clerk, this one a middle aged woman who smiled at something the deputy said and he winked at her. Vin hoped it was just a social call, the deputy making his usual rounds at the start of a quiet shift. But as much as he hoped that, he wouldn't risk banking on it.

He closed the trunk, purposefully avoiding looking towards the office again and went to the room next to his. He knocked firmly, wincing at the sound in the early morning, hoping Morgan had been able to get some decent sleep as he wished he didn't have to wake her.

He kept the door to the office in his peripheral vision as he listened to rustling inside the room.

Morgan pulled open the door and the sight of her distracted Vin from his mission.

"Vin?" she asked, her voice rough with sleep. The way her hair was tousled and fell over her shoulders had him wondering what it would be like to wake up next to her, not in the room next to hers, but in the bed alongside her.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, looking more alert as worry crossed her face.

Vin mentally shook himself and got back on track. "Don't think so. But we should get movin'. There's a deputy here."

That cleared the last remnants of sleep from Morgan's eyes. She started to look out the door, but Vin blocked her, shaking his head. "Don't do nothin' that looks suspicious. Just get ready to go."

She nodded, worry in her eyes.

"It'll be ok," he said.

She didn't look like she believed him. She hesitated, then held the door open to him. "I'll be ready in a minute."

Vin backed away a step. Sharing her room at the sorority house had been enough intimacy without him being present for her morning. He had gone downstairs before she was awake.

"Please," she said, looking like the word was spoken through gritted teeth. "I'd feel better if you were here if they knock on the door."

Vin would feel better about that too, so he didn't argue. He stepped inside, making sure not to look at Morgan in the strappy little nightgown she was wearing.

She didn't seem to notice she was barely covered by the silky looking scrap of fabric as she hurried over to her bag, unzipping it and pulling out some clothes. She disappeared into the bathroom and Vin let out a breath when she closed the door.

He kept watch out the window, careful not to cause any movement at the curtains. He could hear Morgan moving quickly and was surprised at how quickly she emerged from the bathroom, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, jean skirt and t-shirt, face free from any make up.

She hurriedly tossed stuffed her nightgown and clothes from the night before into her bag with the few toiletries she brought out of the bathroom. She pulled a pair of sandals from her bag, exchanging them for the sky high heels she had worn to the club. She slipped her feet into the sandals, then paused and looked at Vin, catching him watching her.

"What?" she asked, pausing.

Vin shook his head. "Nothin'."

In spite of her lack of make-up, her signature look of reserved amusement was familiar to Vin. It made him smile.

Morgan lifted an eyebrow. "What?"

"You're the prettiest girl I think I ever saw," he said. He knew it wasn't poetic or fancy, but it was the plain spoken truth. Morgan had a beauty he didn't think he'd ever seen before. And it wasn't just her looks.

She let out a soft snort and for a minute, Vin saw how close she was to Chris in that simple gesture.

"Come on, Cowboy," she said. "Let's get out of Nevada before I get us arrested."

She picked up her bag and Vin took it from her, accepting the disapproving look she gave him, but noticing she didn't argue.

They walked to the car, Vin keeping their pace easy, opening Morgan's door for her, trying to keep himself between her and the deputy still in the office.

He didn't think he took a breath until they were on the highway again, the motel fading towards the horizon behind them. Next to him, Morgan let out an audible breath. He looked at her and she gave him that half smile.

"If he had stopped us, would you have pulled your gun?" she asked.

Vin answered with a smile of his own. "Nah. I figure you've got enough practice at breaking noses to fend off anyone who tries to stop us."

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Chris hadn't been amused by Vin's plan to accompany Morgan wherever she was. But after two days of no communication, he was downright livid. And clearly he wasn't hiding it well. He could see it in the way his team had avoided him at the office at all costs. And the way Inez had brought him a free beer with his meal at The Saloon after work.

"I sure as hell hope you're enjoying you're little vacation with Morgan," he said as soon as he got Vin's voicemail. "Because Buck's losing his mind worrying over her disappearing act." He didn't mention he would be just as worried, if he didn't know that Vin was with her. But that didn't change the fact it wasn't good that Vin was with her. "Tell her to call Buck. And both of you get your asses back home."

He jabbed a finger at the phone screen, ending the one-sided call. He shoved his hand through his hair and stared at his phone.

He could almost hear Sarah, telling him that Morgan was a capable woman and didn't need him and Buck hovering over her. Sarah had been the voice of reason in his life, had softened his hard edges. Had made sure Buck had a place that felt like home to come visit. That Morgan had someone who believed in her and was on her side without question. Their lives were all emptier without Sarah.

Headlights coming down the drive cut into his empty thoughts. His service revolver was sitting on his table, something he had never done when Adam had been in his life. He picked it up and made his way to the door, not recognizing the small silver car.

The lights cut and the engine turned off. He couldn't see the driver, but no one got out of the car. Chris moved his finger to the trigger when the driver's door opened.

In the light coming from his porch, he recognized Morgan's lean form, not nearly as tall as Buck, but not short either. He opened his front door and waited.

"Hey Chris," she said, seeing him standing in the doorway.

"Morgan," he said, trying to hold back the demands to know where she had been and what she had been doing.

"You have your gun behind the door?" she asked.

One side of his mouth lifted slightly. She knew him as well as she knew her own brother.

"You planning to shoot me?" she asked without humor.

Chris slipped the safety back on, holstering his gun at his waist and opened the door all the way. "You deserve it?" he asked.

Morgan made her way up to the porch, her jean skirt about six inches too short for Chris' liking.

"Probably," she answered easily. She didn't come inside, staying on the porch.

Silence fell between them and Chris didn't fill it. Small talk wasn't one of his skills.

Morgan looked at him directly. He admired that about her. He wasn't sure if she didn't know how to beat around the bush, or if she just didn't care if she offended someone. He suspected she just didn't bother to put in the effort to tiptoe around anyone.

"I got my stuff from Vegas," she said. "Buck and JD won't have room for it."

Chris narrowed his eyes. "You went back to Vegas?"

"And got my stuff," she said, as if he was particularly slow. "I need somewhere to store it."

Chris let out a huff of air in a humorless breath. Morgan and Vin had gone to Vegas. Then he caught himself and looked at her hand. Her ring finger.

She lifted an impatient eyebrow and Chris hid his relief. There hadn't been any sort of haphazard commitment between her and Vin, at least. He didn't know if that was because of pure luck or if Morgan was holding Vin at arm's length. When Charlotte had seen Vin as her ticket out of her marriage, Vin had been ready to marry her and leave his whole life behind for her. He was a stand up guy and he trusted a pretty face. And Morgan was as pretty as they came. And as desperate for help as anyone Chris knew, though she hid it.

"So can I keep my things here?" she asked, using that tone again, like she was speaking to someone who didn't fully understand English.

"Spare room's empty," he said.

He followed Morgan to her car and looked at the boxes in the back seat. She popped the trunk and that was just as full. He took a box and hefted it, motioning for Morgan to layer another one on top.

The spare room had never been used, other than by Morgan when Sarah would invite her up to Denver for the weekend. He figured it was pretty much her room anyway. Morgan followed him inside and they stacked the boxes on the far side of the room. Between the two of them, they had her car unloaded within fifteen minutes.

"Thanks," Morgan said when they had the last boxes moved in.

Chris nodded. She followed him to the kitchen and he got down a glass, filled it with water and handed it to her, pouring another one for himself.

He took a long drink before he spoke. "Buck know you're home yet?"

Morgan pursed her lips briefly. "No."

Chris had guessed that, otherwise Buck would have called him to let him know Morgan had turned up.

"He know you were with Vin?" Chris asked. He knew the answer to that, too, but needed Morgan to know that he knew.

Surprise flared in her eyes for a second before she narrowed her eyes at him, recovering quickly enough to impress him. "Is that any of his business?" she asked.

This time, her tone irritated him. He was trying to look out for Vin, one of the few people Chris actually trusted. One of the few people he knew who was genuinely good.

"It's my business," Chris countered.

Morgan's go-to defense of sarcasm came out. "And you're Vin's keeper?"

"I don't want to see him hurt."

Morgan's jaw tightened. "And I'll hurt him."

Chris heaved a sigh. This wasn't going the way he wanted it to. "Vin's not going to back down from a fight. And you go looking for fights." He didn't want to see either one of them get hurt if they threw themselves together in the heat of the moment.

Morgan's entire body went rigid. She set her glass on the counter. "I'll get my stuff out of your house as soon as I get my own place." She headed for the door.

"Morgan," Chris said, a warning in his voice. He didn't want her to leave like this, but without Buck's more amiable presence, he wasn't sure how to talk to her about his concerns. "You've had some messed up relationships. And they don't end peacefully—"

"No, I get it," she said sharply. "I have a terrible track record, I'm trouble, and I shouldn't be around any of your friends. Did I get that right?" She didn't wait for an answer, starting for the door again.

"That's not it at all," he snapped back at her.

Morgan whirled around and stared at him, her eyes unreadable. Then she stormed towards him. Without slowing down she shoved herself against him, crashing her lips against his.

Startled, Chris took a step back, but Morgan moved with him, her lips persistent, her hands curling into the front of his shirt. Against his will, his body responded. She kissed him with more fervor, moving a hand to curl in his hair, her entire body leaning against him and Chris lost track of anything but the feel of her.

Her tongue moved and Chris nearly groaned at what she was doing, everything but the feel of a woman disappearing from his thoughts.

And then, just as suddenly she tore herself back from him and glared.

The stark overhead light of the kitchen jolted him back to where he was. Who he was with. Buck's sister. Morgan. The girl he had promised himself he'd watch out for.

"What the hell was that?" he demanded. Covering his shame with anger.

Hurt lurked under Morgan's anger. "That's all I'm good for, right? I can't manage much more than that in a relationship, is that it?"

Chris' head was spinning from the heat of her kiss, followed by the force of her anger. He shook his head, trying to figure out what had just happened. His anger moved toward himself, not her. "Damn it, Morgan, that's not—"

She shook her head, her long ponytail swaying with the movement. "It's exactly your point." She took long strides to leave his house.

"Morgan!" he yelled after her.

Morgan ignored him and he chased her down the porch steps, stopping her from closing the car door on him.

"Listen to me," he ordered her.

Morgan looked up at him from her seat. "I heard everything you said," she said through clenched teeth. "I'm not good enough for Vin. I get it." With that, she wrenched the car door from his hand and slammed it shut.

Chris jumped back as the car jumped forward, spitting gravel out from under the tires, fishtailing around the curve.

The long string of curses he let loose didn't do a thing to make him feel better.

He watched until the dust her car had left in its wake settled back onto the dirt drive before he turned to go back inside. He'd call Buck and let him know Morgan was back, make sure she made it home ok. And then he'd figure out what he was supposed to do next to keep her from dragging Vin down with her. To keep her from spiraling farther down on her own.

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