As usual, sorry for the long wait. The season finale came to rock my fanfic world, resolving issues I had hoped to tackle myself and messing up others… It may be a little hard to follow, but I've decided to just stick to my own storyline, so it will be slightly AU. This chapter's short, but a longer one will be up between tomorrow and Sunday.

Spoilers: Everything up to The Woods. The fic takes place during the worst of L/S tension, as you may have guessed. The Woods hasn't happened yet, but there might be references to Lilly's 49 as mentioned in that episode, later on.

Special thanks to my reviewers: marcus-reloaded, peachfan14, peachy 15, Evita aka Oracle, Ellie, And yes I do drink tea, BraveheartChild, Tati aka Trinity, Snow Ivy, and all others. You're great!

Warning: Brief Chris/Scotty fluff ahead. L/S shippers—run away screaming!

Chapter 4

Scotty opened his eyes to find the early morning sun, deceitfully brilliant, already peeking through the blinds. Stretching, he turned to gaze at the tousled curly head at his side, smiling with a fondness he hadn't expected to feel again—not after Elisa.

Elisa.

The wound she had inflicted was still raw. Though on the most part he realized she was ill and not entirely responsible for her actions, the vulnerable, besotted fourteen-year-old in him would never be able forgive her for what she'd done.

Giving up. Leaving him.

Not that they were really together, those last few months. But their friendship, their love, had gone on for so many years… They were supposed to be part of each other's lives forever.

He still couldn't believe she was gone. Her death had left a big, gaping hole… one he wasn't sure would ever be filled. Sometimes it was easier believing in foul play, that someone else had done it. Anyone else. For whatever reason, no matter how implausible. But not Elisa. Not by her own hand.

Christina stirred and muttered something in her sleep, shaking him out of the miserable trance he had fallen into. Scotty's heart warmed over with gratefulness as he bent over her, covering her slight form with his arm.

Heck, he wasn't kidding himself. He knew she wasn't his long lost love—not by a long shot. But this was definitely not the horny, half-assed, desperate rebound everyone seemed to think.

There were feelings. True, deep-rooted affection. She was the only thing keeping him in place, the only one capable of making him feel alive. When he was with her, Elisa's ghost crawled out of the dark recesses of his mind, leaving him free of the guilt and sorrow he'd grown used to during the weeks following her death.

Everyone forever asking him how he was doing—it only brought everything back. He needed to go forward, not backwards. Why couldn't they understand that? The more he mulled over it, the more it sucked him in—the more he felt he'd never be able to let go. Chris was the only one who nevergave him the third degree. She didn't let his past get in the way. He was who he was and that was enough for her. No messy mourning—no recriminations. Not even blame for getting her kicked out of her sister's house. She was a goddamn blessing.

And that brought him to the other issue. The prickly one.

Her sister. The great, invincible, unapproachable Lilly Rush.

How they could really be sisters, or indeed related in any way, was a complete mystery to him. Their similarities, at least as far as he could see, extended only to their last names. Everything else, both physical and otherwise, was about as different as they come. Christina was sweet and huggable and caring, all solace and no demands, female to the core. Lilly was lean and adamant, tough and dedicated—a warrior. When he'd first met her, he had admired those qualities. They brought out the investigator in her, the crusader—the one who fought for those who'd been forgotten, the one who solved cases no one else could.

But this new aspect of her—this unreasonable rage born of one incident, completely threw him off.

What the hell was wrong with her? He didn't get her at all. If she wanted to be mad at her sister—well, fine, he could understand that. What Chris had confessed to that time was pretty bad. But it had been nine years. And this situation was worlds apart. Sure he had gone behind her back, "lied to her face", as she herself had said. Big deal! Why shouldn't he? He wasn't a child and neither was Christina. Why should she give a damn? Why wasn't she letting this go? It wasn't like she had any romantic feelings for him…

Had she?

This new thought, startling and unsettling, had the effect of a bucket of icy water poured down his back.

No way! his very core rebelled, frantically trying to steer him away from that road. This is Lilly we're talking about, a serious cop, my partner, not some…

Some what? What was the end of that sentence? Why shouldn't she be allowed to have some feelings? It sure would explain a lot.

He got himself off the bed, careful not to disturb Chris, feeling as if he'd swallowed a bag of stones. This scenario of Lilly having feelings for him had never crossed his mind before, and it was far from a pleasant one. Because there was no beating around the bush—he had no feelings for her. No romantic feelings anyway. And that meant they were pretty much irreconcilable, didn't it?

This has to stop, he realized jadedly. I'm sick of it. The others are sick of it. I can't work with her fighting me every step of the way. It ain't professional. We have to talk it over, get past this somehow. Whatever the problem is—I'm not giving up Christina. And she has to see that. Period.

It was a grim vow. He knew the likelihood of breaking through Lilly's frosty shell was slim. But for the sake of their old partnership, he had to try. If it didn't happen—well, that was it. But no one could say he hadn't given it his best shot.