A/N: Update!

lol!

enjoy... x


Jess dumped her jacket on the breakfast bar as she flicked on the kettle. "Coffee, tea?" she asked, "Something stronger?"

"Coffee is fine," Danny replied as he leant on the granite worktop and looked at the clock on the wall. 23:06. He sighed; this was becoming a long one.

"Yeah, right." Jess lifted two mugs out of the cupboard above her head.

Danny watched her open the fridge which was filled with take-away boxes; a sure sign of a single workaholic. His eyes followed her as she moved around the kitchen. Her movements were slow and heavy, her young body wearied by a pain beyond her years.

"Jess," Danny said softly, "Don't beat yourself up about this."

Jess stopped and leant against the counter, her back to him. After a few seconds of silence she spoke, her voice so low he had to move closer to her to hear her, "What am I supposed to do Danny? It was my job to protect her and I failed."

"No, you didn't," Danny replied, "Someone else did."

"No, Danny," Jess replied, "I did. I failed to protect her and I'm going to fail to find her."

"We'll find her," Danny placed his hands on her shoulders, "I promise."

"But will we find her alive." Jess's words silenced him.

He shut his eyes and sighed, trying to calm his emotions. Jess's shoulders began to shake under his touch and he realised that she was crying. "Hey," Danny turned her to face him and pulled her into a tight hug, "hey…"

He stroked her hair and held her close until her tears subsided. Her nose nuzzled into his neck and her warm breath ran across it. She moved her head up slightly and he moved his down to look at her. Her lips slipped perfectly into his and he let her lead him. Her lips were wet and salty from the tears that still caressed her cheeks. Her kiss deepened with urgency as she clung to him, like her only lifeline to reality and sanity, and he pulled her closer, her hips pushing into his.

"Jess," he murmured.

She pulled back from him quickly and looked up at him, fear on her face. "I'm sorry," she stammered, "I don't know what I was thinking. Just, um, sort that out… I'll be right back." She pushed past him and rushed to her room.


Jess closed the door behind her and leant her back against it. "Shit!" she muttered to herself, "What the fuck were you thinking?"

She placed her head in her hands and let out a long, deep breath. She took a quick look in the mirror and, taking a deep breath, pulled the door open.

Danny watched her slam the door behind her. "Dammit," he berated himself quietly. He shouldn't have said anything. Maybe then she'd still be in front of him, kissing him.

He shouldn't have taken advantage of her in her weakened state, but he wasn't going to say that he didn't enjoy it. When her lips met his he felt warmth deep inside; his body wanted her and her body pushing into his, letting him know how much she wanted him, had made his heart jump.

But they had to work together in this case and he couldn't let his feelings cloud his judgement. He turned to the kettle and made two mugs of coffee.

He heard the bedroom door open and he turned, holding out a mug to her.

"Thanks," she murmured quietly.

"No problem," he replied just as quietly.

Five minutes turned into 15, which turned into 30. Finally Danny couldn't take the silence anymore, "Jess, about that kiss."

"I'd rather not Danny."

"I just… I'm sorry for taking advantage."

"What?" Jess looked at him.

"You're obviously not yourself and I took advantage of that."

"Danny, I kissed you. And knew exactly what I was doing; I wanted to. You didn't take advantage."

"Then why-"

"Danny, I really don't feel up to talking about this right now. Do you mind if I go to bed for a bit?"

"No, go ahead." For the second time in an hour he watched her walk to her bedroom… without him.


Danny woken with a start as his cell buzzed in his ear. He looked around blearily, trying to register where he was. He wasn't at home, that was for sure. It took him a few more seconds to realise that he'd fallen asleep on Jess's couch.

He pulled his cell out of his suit jacket, "Taylor."

"Danny? It's Sam," the blonde's honey tones woke the rest of his body gently.

"Sam, hey," Danny sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, "What's up?"

Sam sighed, "We're hitting dead-ends here. We need you and Jess to go to her office and see if any mail has been left there for her."

"No problem." Danny flicked his cellphone closed. He got up and went to the bedroom door. He knocked gently, "Jess?" He slowly opened the door and looked in.

Jess was tangled in her sheets, her dark hair lying loose on the pillow framing her face. He looked down at her flushed cheeks, her lost, frightened expression and his heart went to her.

"Jess," he shook her gently, "Jess, we need to go."

Jess shifted slightly, "Yeah, yeah I'm up."

Danny walked back out to the kitchen and looked around. The apartment was immaculately tidy, except her bedroom which looked like a bomb had hit it firing clothes and products off in 50 different directions. Jess was obviously the kind of person who came in from work, cleaned, probably worked some more and went to bed. No social life. Hiding from something. Danny had seen it before; he saw it him.

He considered inviting her for a drink when the case was finished but then realised that it probably wasn't a good idea.

"Hey," Jess stood, leaning against the door frame watching him, "You okay?"

"Yeah," Danny smiled, "You ready?"

"Yes," Jess lifted her coat, "Where are we going?"

"Your office," he replied, "See if there's any-"

"Post…" her words cut him off."

"Mail, yeah," he looked at her. She had stopped dead and was staring at the door. He peered round her and then he saw it. Lying on the welcome mat. An A4 envelope. Same shaky handwriting.

Danny pulled her back and pushed her down onto the sofa. He pulled out his cell and dialled. "Sam? It's Danny," he stared at the envelope like it was bomb about to explode, "We've got another one. No… we're still in the apartment. No, I fell asleep. Yeah, I know. Yeah, yeah, tell him he can yell at me when I get back. Yeah, okay. Does he still want us to swing by her office? Okay." He flipped his cell closed and turned to look at her.

She was still staring at the envelope.

"Jess?" Danny tried to get a view of her face.

"Yeah," her voice cracked slightly.

"Look, have you got something I can put it in."

"Um…. Yeah," Jess looked up at him, "I have some Clingfilm in here." She got up and pulled a drawer open in the kitchen. She lifted out plastic wrap and handed it to him. She stood well back as he wrapped it over the envelope, careful not to touch the sides.

"Right, let's go," Danny pulled the door open but stopped and turned back to her, finding her inches from him, "Are you okay?"

Jess closed her eyes for a minute and swallowed, "No, but can we just go?"