****

"So, what do you think?" Shay asked, eyeing each of the team seated at the briefing table. Jake had stopped by for his twice weekly debriefing with Frank.

Once and again his mind traveled back to Jackie and his night with her last night. He'd sworn that he wouldn't do it again, but he found himself unable to stay away from her. "It's too risky," Jake commented and waved the idea off.

"It's worth the risk," Frank stated firmly, backing Jake down with a glare.

"Rush this and you blow it...then what?" Jake asked irritably. "I stay under another few months? I can't do that."

"We do this and it's over. I promise you Jake." Frank insisted.

Shay stood and paced the room. Sitting across from Jake, she had noticed the love bites on his neck and chest where his shirt was unbuttoned. He didn't have those marks when she had knee'd him a week ago. "Afraid to cut ties with your girlfriend, Jake? Is that why you balk at this plan?"

"What the fuck?" Jake spat and turned in his seat to face Shay. "Don't go there, Donovan. You have NO idea what you're talking about. You're not my mother or my wife."

Shay's left eyebrow rose. The confrontation had commenced. "Listen here, he-who-thinks-with-his-johnson...if you need to work out some extra energy...meet me in the ring buddy."

"Give me a break," he muttered and turned back to the table.

"Gladly," Shay snarled. "And just for good measure," she remarked, moving up behind him and opening the collar of his shirt, "I'll break something for each one of these on your body."

"My money's on Shay," Cody whispered to Alex, who nodded.


"She's got a lot of rage. Hell, I'd hold him down while she kicks the shit out if him." She answered in a whisper of her own.

"ENOUGH!" Frank barked, causing everyone in the room to jump. "Get it under control Shay. Jake..." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Now wasn't the time. Maybe after Shay had cooled down and left the room. "Keep it in your damned pants! DO NOT make me say it again. Shay...sit down! Let's go over this one more time before Jake heads back."

Grumbling under her breath, Shay took her seat and went over the plan again. "Alex already has Rooney interested, she's set up a meeting with him and the bank VP who has a bit of a gambling problem and needs cash fast. The bank VP...me...has access to the safe deposit boxes and master keys and we'll set it up so that access to the bank after hours is possible, posing as a cleaning crew. Rooney will have to be convinced...his normal 'go in shooting...take the money and run' scenario will be his idea of doing things. If we stage the robbery, we can eliminate unnecessary deaths and danger to civilians."

"If we're going to do this Shay, then put people in the bank so it won't look staged. Rooney's good enough to know a set up when he sees it."

"I don't think I need you to tell me how to do my job, Agent Shaw." She bit out icily.

Jake and Frank both sighed. This wasn't going to go well at all. It was Frank who spoke up. "OK, briefing over. Agent Shaw, I want to talk with you. Everyone else, please leave."

Shay's head whipped around and she fixed her husband with a look that spoke volumes about staying behind.

"Even you, Agent Donovan. Out. Now." His tone was the commanding, authoritarian tone. One that said do it or suffer the punishment.

Shay's eyes narrowed and she stalked out of the office. He had no right to push her out when she was as involved as Jake was. With Frankie gone, someone needed to be her advocate against a cheating husband.

Jake sighed and leaned back in the chair as everyone else followed Shay out. "What is it Frank? Going to yell at me some more?"

"No. But, I do want to know what's going on." Frank came around the table, dragging the chair with him.

Jake flinched as the metal legs scraped noisily on the concrete floor, the noise echoing loudly in the cavernous warehouse headquarters.

"Talk to me Jake," Frank settled down close to the younger man. "Look, I won't pretend this doesn't hurt to think that you're fucking around on Frankie. But, damn it Jake, I want to help you with this!"

Jake sighed and crossed his arms on the table in front of him. How could he tell Frank? "What do you want me to say?"

"What's her name? Who is she? Why did you give in?"

"Jacqueline Hennessy. She's… complicated. I wish I knew."

"Complicated? How so?"

Jake worked over his lower lip, chewing on it thoughtfully as he thought out the answer. "She's, just a woman Frank. A very beautiful woman." He sighed. "If you'd ever met her, you'd understand everything."

Frank felt the hackles rise on the back of his neck. "You said that about Frankie once too. What's happening Jake?"

"Again, I wish I knew Frank. I can't stop myself." He turned to Frank and braced his elbows on his knees. "She's.. addicting. Touching her, smelling her perfume, hearing her voice, it's a narcotic and I can't stop it. God help me I want to, but I can't."

"Jake. You're married. You have a child. You have got to stop before you lose it all!"

"DON'T…" Jake had started to shout, but he swore under his breath and ran a hand through his hair. He had thought about everything, especially losing Frankie. What if she got hurt? He'd thought about it every night since he'd first slept with Jackie. "Don't you think I've thought about it? Frank, man to man here… haven't you ever felt anything like what I'm telling you?"

"For any woman since I married Shay? No. But, seeing as I feel that same sensation FOR Shay, I can understand where you're coming from. What I don't understand is this. Frankie… don't you think you should be feeling that for Frankie?"

Jake groaned and hung his head. How could he make everyone understand?

Frank continued. "I seem to remember a young Federal Agent sitting beside a hospital bed for weeks on end, praying that the woman in that bed would wake up long enough for him to at least say that he loved her. Do you remember that? I watched you for days on end, praying that she'd wake up too, JUST so you could tell her! Jake, don't do this to her, don't do this to yourself. End it with this Jackie Hennessy."

****