Title: The Touch - Chapter Five – Introductions Are In Order
Author: Linda/Brynna/Brynnamorgan
Rating: M for Graphic Language
Categories: Romance/Supernatural/AU
Characters: H/OC
Spoilers: None
Summary: "Not that I don't have a few things in mind, mostly involving a lot of kissing and groping."

Lyrics Credit:

"If I Didn't Know Any Better" as sung by Alison Krauss and Union Station, 2004

"I turned around
Before I could run
I found you already settled down in the back of my mind"
Chapter Five – Introductions Are In Order

Finally, Sabrina thought, her lips parting beneath Greg's. Slowly he rotated his head, his fingers threading into her hair. His tongue grazed against hers and she shivered, pressing closer to him, taking in the feel of his whiskers against her skin, the long elegance of his hands in her hair.

"Uhmm." It was the best she could manage when he finally lifted his head, a dazed expression on his face. She reached up to trace the outline of his lips with trembling fingers.

"Yeah."

"Coffee?" A sigh escaped her when he kissed her fingers, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Your place or mine?"

"Mine, I've got fresh beans and a grinder and… uh… I'm not up to…"

He dimpled. "I'm a doctor, Sabrina. I think I can diagnose exhaustion just fine." When she let out a sigh of relief he added, "Not that I don't have a few things in mind, mostly involving a lot of kissing and groping."

"You're incorrigible."

"Thank you."

"So…"

Sabrina was the first to stand, surprised at how wobbly her legs were. Damn! she thought, grateful when he rose, leaned on his cane, and extended his left elbow to her. "This oughta be interesting," she said aloud, hearing his affirming snort as they slowly made their way to the door.

"Yeah, a cripple holding up a damsel in distress."

"A regular knight in shining armor," she replied sweetly, snickering when he raised a brow at her. "Got a sword hidden in that cane somewhere?"

"Are you saying you want to see my weapon?"

The words left his lips just as he opened the door to reveal Del, arms across his chest and a dangerously annoyed expression on his face. Behind him Cuddy and Wilson were pushing their way forward, hoping to deflect the bigger man. Too late. Greg came nose-to-nose with the big guitarist, his expression totally unfazed.

"So, are you going to move or will we have to water you on a daily basis?" Greg said coolly.

Del snorted and continued the stare down. "Sabrina?"

"Come on, let's talk. Greg, can you excuse us for a moment?"

Greg watched as the two went further down the hall and started talking softly, uncertainty creeping back into him. How had this beautiful, inside-and-out woman fallen into his path like that? he wondered, all the old self-doubts tormenting him. Greg, you fuck this one up and somebody should shove this cane up your ass. Handle first.

"Sabrina, are you out of your mind?"

She watched as Del paced in front of her, his expression agitated. "Probably," she admitted. When he groaned she added, "Del, remember all of those conversations we've had over the years since our respective divorces, about finding the one, the person whose soul would join with yours? Remember that?"

"Yeah, I remember," the younger man admitted reluctantly. "But, Brina, this guy has a rep here for being an unfeeling jerk."

"You don't understand, hon." She touched his bearded cheek lightly. "It's not that Greg doesn't feel. If anything, he feels too much. He cares too much. All this," she waved her hands to indicate the hospital, "bureaucracy, the conforming, the corporate policies, frustrate the hell out of him. He wants to do his job, not kiss ass."

"You got all this when..."

"Yup. He's the one, Del. Trust me on this."

For a moment Del gave her a long look, his dark eyes regarding her thoughtfully. Suddenly he broke into a smile and swept her to him, pressing his lips to her forehead. "I hope this guy realizes how lucky he is," he told her as he continued to hug her.

"More how lucky I am," was her quiet reply as they began their slow walk back to where Greg was standing, alone, waiting for her, twirling his cane nervously. "And for God's sake, lose the 'macho bad ass' routine, okay?"

"It's hard, Brina," he admitted. "After all you and the guys have done for me over the years..." His voice trailed off as his head turned, then followed the movement of the young female doctor... Cameron? Sabrina thought as the woman approached Greg with a clipboard and a pen. She looked up at Del and blinked at the dazed expression he was wearing.

"Earth to Thomas," she teased softly, waving her hand in front of his eyes. Immediately he started, cleared his throat, then blushed up to his hairline. "Pretty, isn't she?"

"Understatement. I've never seen anything like her. She was at the performance and all I could think was... "

Oh, geez, put him out of his misery. They finally reached Greg and Cameron, who appeared to be having him look over some notes from a case. Once again Cameron gave her a possessive hurt-him-and-you're-dead look that nearly sent her in reverse. No, she thought, grateful when Greg extended his free arm to hers.

"Introductions all around are in order, don't you think, Greg?" she said pleasantly, getting an eyeroll and a "do I have to" look from him. "And yes, you have to."

"Pw'd," he grumbled, glaring when Cameron smothered a chuckle. "Okay, smart-ass, introduce yourself," he retorted to his duckling.

"Dr. Allison Cameron. I'm on House's team," Cameron said, extending her hand to Sabrina's. Immediately a sense of sadness overwhelmed Sabrina, enough that she suddenly pulled the younger woman to her for a hug. Allison stiffened for a moment, then relaxed at the warmth that filled her.

"I am so happy to meet you," Sabrina told her softly. She couldn't heal this one, but maybe... she looked at Del, who was eyeing her with pure envy. "And this is Derrick Thomas, our male lead vocalist... let's see, he plays the mandolin, the guitar..."

"Jack of all trades, master of none. Just call me Del," Del said agreeably as he grasped Allison's hand in his. They both stared at each other for a long moment, his other hand coming down on hers to clasp and enfold it. Meanwhile Sabrina noticed Greg looking back and forth between the two, one brow lifted quizzically. Finally the light bulb switched on over his head and the corners of his mouth twitched.

"Derrick, could you do me a favor?" Sabrina finally interjected, taking silent delight in the way both flushed and broke off the handshake. "Make sure my car gets home." She handed him the keys. "Just drop them in my mail slot."

"And no further, right?" Del's eyes started to twinkle with mischief.

"Right."

"Might interrupt something." When she gave him a peeved look he chuckled, "You behave, kiddo."

"Never."

"Kiddo?" Greg commented once they finally made it to the parking deck. "Kiddo?" He couldn't keep the snark out of his tone. "You're forty-one and they still call you… kiddo?"

"I joined the band when I was eighteen, Del a few years later when he was sixteen. The guys still sometimes treat me like a little girl."

"Believe me, the last thing I would do is treat you like a little girl."

"I'm hoping you don't."

At the sight of Greg's 1965 red Corvette she paused, then turned to him with a lifted brow. "Mid-life crisis car?"

"Huh." He unlocked the passenger-side door and opened it for her with a flourish. "So much you know. This car was graft from a mobster for faking medical records. Fortunately that incident happened to fall during a mid-life crisis."

"Graft."

"Yup."

"From a mobster. A real-life mobster."

"Mobsters are much more interesting if they're real as opposed to fake, don't you agree?"

"Why... no, forget it. I'm not sure I want to know."

"Of course you want to know. Now, whether or not I'll tell you is a different issue."

He chuckled at her very unladylike snort as he shut the door and limped his way around to the driver's side. "Hope the bluegrass lady doesn't mind a little rock and roll," he said slyly as he slid in behind the wheel, cranked over the car and grinned as a classic rock station blared out of the custom stereo he'd had installed. In turn she batted her eyelashes at him then proceeded to sing along with "Fat Bottomed Girls" in perfect harmony with Freddy Mercury.

"That tears it. Who can resist a girl who loves Queen?" he quipped as he pulled out of the parking deck, pausing to give her hand a squeeze before sliding into the Plainsboro traffic.