A/N: Don't even ask why it's so late, I don't have a good reason, but I do want to say thanks for all the reviews. And I wanted to apologize profusly (sp?) for the lateness, I feel awful. Here you are...

"We're getting nowhere!" Fillmore flung the papers down on Ingrid's bed. Matthew had been sick that day. That meant that he hadn't been able to look up any family connections between the cheerleaders and other schools, that meant that Ingrid and Fillmore were stuck pouring over the same old information and running out of time.

Ingrid was staring blankly at the wall. None of the girls acted as if they knew anything. There was nothing, absolutely nothing, to help them out.

Fillmore looked at her, "Any gut feelings?"

"None. There's no one who seems guilty."

They were silent, there was a strange tension in the room. One of two things was goingto happen. One of them was a long sappy talk about what had happened between them. The other thing was a fight. Everything depended on what happened next. Someone had to say something.

"So have you talked to Anza about what happened?" Bad idea.

Ingrid turned to him with a disbelieving look on her face. "Why do you ask questions you already know the answer to?" A nerve had been touched and her voice was cold. She simply wasn't ready to talk about this.

"Sorry, I'd just like to know, what's going on in my life." Fillmore spoke just as coldly, something had made him suddenly angry.

"So, now it's you're life? What about Anza?"

"That's what I'm asking, Ingrid. I thought you of all people would be put together enough to know what's happening."

"Well I wasn't, I haven't talked to him yet. Ariella said to talk to you first and-"

"You told Ariella? Do you tell her everything?"

"I needed help. I had to talk to someone."

"You could have talked to me."

"I'm trying! It's not working out to well, is it, Cornelius?" She stared at him with her icy green eyes.

Fillmore couldn't take it, he didn't mind that she had called him Cornelius. But it was her eyes, he'd seen that look pleanty of times. She used it on people she was extremely mad at. She looked at Brad Parnassis that way, she looked at perps that way. But never, never had she looked at him that way.

He sighed, "Ingrid."

There was no response.

"Don't look at me that way."

She stared on; ignoring him.

"Ingrid, please, don't do that."

She stopped, there was something in his voice that was almost a plee. Her eyes softened, she thought for a minute. "I'm sorry, Fillmore. I probably shouldn't have told Ariella."

Fillmore shook his head, "No, I'm sorry. You had every right to ask for help, this is my fault anyway."

"It's my fault too. Besides, we have to talk about it. Ariella said we needed to."

"What does she suggest we do?"

Ingrid rolled her eyes, "That's just it. She won't make a suggestion. I think she was hinting but I'm not sure."

"Well, what are we supposed to talk about?"

"She says we need to figure out what happened, why, how we feel, and what we're gonna do."

There was silence before Fillmoe answered, "that's a lot to talk about."

Ingrid nodded, "So, what do you think it was? The cause, I mean."

Fillmore shrugged, "the moonlight," he joked.

Ingrid smiled, "maybe it was a mistake."

"It could be, or maybe it was just the circumstances." He smiled mischieviously, "We could try again and see."

"We're in enough trouble already. We need to get in touch with our emotions and figure out what we want."

Fillmore nodded, "you've got the most to lose. What do you want to do?"

Ingrid thought for a long time. "I can't see Anza anymore. I should have ended it a long time ago." She was talking to herself but Fillmore heard her.

"What about us?" Fillmore asked.

Ingrid shook her head, "now it's your turn, what do you want?"

Fillmore's face felt warm and he new that if his skin weren't a dark brown it would be red. "I'm happy about what happened, if that's what you mean. But I don't think right now is a good time for anything to come from it."

Ingrid nodded, "I think you're right." Of course he was right. Nothing could happen now, maybe ever. What was supposed to happen? One kiss and suddenly they were together? It reminded her of one of those sappy movies that girls at school were always chatting about. And yet, she felt a slight drop in her stomach. But she could dwell on it, the phone was ringing.

"Hello?" She never said 'Third residence' because it was her own private line.

"Hello, Ingrid."

At first Ingrid Ingrid didn't recognize the voice. "Matthew? Are you okay? You sound strange."

"I've just got a cold, I'm fine. Now, grab a pencil and paper, I went in after school today and picked up the girls' files."

Ingrid smiled, "Matthew, you're the best. Okay, I'm ready."

Matthew sneezed and blew his nose. "Okay, Debbie's parents both went to that private, gifted school across town."

"Einstein Academy? That's X's biggest rival."

"I know, but there's more. Sam's aunt is the principal at Mountainside Middle School. Chloe's great-grandfather helped build and found Ben Franklin Jr. High. Teresa's sister went to that preforming arts school, Marilyn Monroe Middle School, and so did Teresa, for a while. And Tandi's cousin bounced between all of them before ending up at St. Mary's K-12 school.

Ingrid thought for a moment, "At least it's not everyone."

"Nope, just Debbie, Teresa, Tandi, Chloe, and Sam; half the team. You already had suspicions about Debbie, Tandi, and Sam. I'd start there."

"Thanks Matthew, I'll call you back later." She hung up and turned to Fillmore. She handed him the paper and explained everything on it. "I need to move this along, competition is coming up."

"So spend more time with them."

"How?"

"Do something a normal girl would do."

"Like what?" What did other girls do? They gossiped, watched bad movies, put on make-up, got their hair done, got a manicure. She grimaced, she couldn't do any of that. There had to be something she could bare.

"Go shopping," Fillmore volunteered. "Carmen loved that, went once a week."

Ingrid raised her eyebrows, "Carmen. I'm sorry, but I don't recall a Carmen in any stories. Gina was your cousin, Lauren was a girl who followed you around, trying to get you to notice her. And then Clarissa tried to get you to change. But Carmen?"

Fillmore laughed, "Carmen was a long time ago, don't worry."

"I'm not worried, I just wonder why you never told me about her." She pressed forward, "So, what was she? A girlfriend, a crush-"

"A girlfriend, she moved right before you showed up. Two weeks before Wayne left. She was my first girlfriend after I gave up being a thug."

"Sounds serious."

"Not really," he shrugged. "It's only 7th grade. nothing too serious."

Something didn't sit right with Ingrid. "Then why didn't you tell me about her?"

"I just did. Now, about you. Take the squad to the mall on a shopping day. And then invite them over afterwards..."

Fillmore went on for a while, carefully avoiding the subject of Carmen. He hoped Ingrid wouldn't notice but was sure she did. She was just too smart. Finally, when he left he had an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. He was confused about everything. Why had he brought up Carmen and why did it matter? Why had Ingrid and he gotten into such an argument. Those eyes, those green eyes, which he loved to watch because in Ingrid's case they really were the window to her soul. The way those eyes had stared so coldly at him; he felt awful. He shook the image out of his head, not wanting to dwell on it. Why had Ingrid decided to break up with Anza? Would they ever get together? Did they really want to? Back in Ingrid's room, when they were actually working on the case, he'd felt great. He forgot about the kiss and everything else. All he could think about was the case, solving the case, and Ingrid. He and Ingrid made such a great team. They played off each other's strengths and covered up each other's weaknesses. Their friendship made it even better. Could they ever be like that again? If something happened between them would everything change? They were such a great team. Actually, they were perfect together; as friends, as partners, as detectives, but as a couple? He took a deep breath and tried to clear his thoughts. He just couldn't be sure that things wouldn't have to change. Before this assignment all he wanted to do was survive school, hang out with Ingrid, spend time with his family, and solve a case. Now, he didn't know. He didn't know anything anymore.

A/N: Okay, there you are, hope you like it, I swear the next chap. won't take that long.