Disclaimer, Pairing, Rating & Spoilers: See Chap. 1

A/N: Just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read and review this story so far - I really do appreciate it! :) x


Grace awoke with a start, her heart pounding wildly in panic before her mind recalled where she was, and she took a centring breath to temper the surge of adrenaline, shivering as her body remembered the lack of clothing, the woefully inadequate blankets woven across her limbs. She frowned into the thick layer of darkness as she became aware of the ominously cold space upon the frozen ground next to her, a wave of fear tightening about the edges of her heart and instinctively she reached out to confirm her suspicions, struggling onto her side and then to her feet before her better judgement could reassert itself.

She blinked further awake as she stepped shakily from the shelter, the recently renewed fire the only source of light in the otherwise pitch-black night, and she pulled her hastily-donned outer layer closer about the planes of her body to assuage the icy tendrils of frozen air that were threatening to engulf her.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked quietly, addressing the familiar figure who was pacing rapidly in close proximity to the comforting warmth of the fire, the tension radiating from his posture causing further concern to ripple through her as she took another tentative step forwards.

"My…fucking back," Boyd ground out through gritted teeth by means of explanation, his palms rubbing firmly at the offending source of pain as he continued his agitated pacing, swearing further beneath his breath as the sensation intensified into an agonisingly twisted knot.

"Ah; I know the feeling." Grace's voice was at once brimming with complicit understanding and she gave a sympathetic smile. "You okay?"

He stopped moving briefly to fix her with a disparaging gaze. "Do I look it?"

Her lips quirked teasingly, a mischievous glint flickering across her irises in the soft light as she pretended to deliberate her answer. "I've seen you looking better."

"Piss off," he growled irately, resuming his irritable stride and ignoring her as she began to chuckle softly. "Christ, Spence was right. We should have just taken our chances and started walking…."

Grace's smile broadened. "I won't tell him you said so."

"It's the fucking pain…."

"Meaning I shouldn't believe a word that comes out of your mouth?"

"Meaning that I'm not responsible for what I say right at this particular moment in time."

"Are you ever?"

"Grace…," he managed with a weary groan. "For God's sake, give me a bloody break, will you?"

Grace approached him with an apologetic smile and held up a palm. "Just…stop for a minute," she told him firmly, sighing in resignation as he gave an abrupt shake of his head.

"I need to keep moving," he insisted doggedly, his stride lengthening to reinforce his words, trying and failing to supress a sharp intake of breath as the pain seared hotly beneath his ineffectual ministrations. "Shit."

The psychologist raised a serene eyebrow. "Want me to leave you to it, then?"

"Yeah. Leave me to swear my head off to the squirrels and the fucking bats and whatever the hell else lives out here in this shithole."

She laughed throatily. "Or you could stop being so deliberately cussed and follow me over there."

"Why?"

"I'm not doing the toddler thing, Boyd. Just come with me, will you?"

He frowned darkly at her with suspicion, though he found himself intuitively obeying her instruction, following her towards a nearby tree and leaning his weight against it at her command, his forearms connecting forcibly with the rough, jagged lines of the bark. "Last time I checked, Grace, you weren't a medical doctor."

She rolled her eyes and took a step towards him. "It's common sense, Boyd. You need to stretch the muscles out…."

"What I need," he interrupted tetchily, "is not to spend any more time lying on that pathetic excuse for a bed in that bloody awful fucking tent…."

"Don't we all?" she replied curtly, dragging another breath into her lungs as she told him, "Lean forwards."

He grunted and reluctantly acquiesced, turning his head slightly to address her menacingly once more. "If this makes things worse…."

"Right forwards," she instructed assuredly, deliberately ignoring him and returning her attention to his current predicament, her hand rising to the small of his back before her mind could fully register her actions.

"Grace…," he protested weakly, the venom instantly vanishing from his voice, and he groaned as she began to press unrelentingly against his gnarled muscles, her palms caressing determined circles with an unexpectedly skilled dexterity. He flinched as she caught the epicentre of his searing discomfort, reaching round instinctively to grasp at her wrist.

"That's enough," he hissed sharply, his breath catching as she twisted easily from his grip to continue her ministrations.

"It'll help," she insisted evenly, reigning in a smile as he began to moan softly once more, his body beginning to surrender even as his mind continued to doubt.

"You're going to fucking cripple me," he complained half-heartedly, though he felt himself push backwards against her touch despite himself.

Grace chuckled gently and shook her head. "You're such a drama queen…."

"I didn't sign a disclaimer…," he began, breaking off abruptly and arching into her hands as he felt his tendons and sinews sigh almost audibly in relief, her skilful fingers coaxing the strain from each in a determined barrage of firm caresses. "Christ…."

"What did I tell you?" Grace's tone was one of triumph as she allowed her hands to fall reluctantly from his body.

"I'm sure I'm about to get the full lecture." Boyd straightened up, instantly missing her touch and then berating himself harshly for the folly, tentatively fingering the spot where hers had vacated and then giving her a conciliatory smile. "Thanks."

She shrugged, her sapphire eyes twinkling in the suffused light. "Someone has to take pity on you Southern softies every once in a while."

He snorted derisively. "Right. Because in Liverpool…."

"Warrington."

"Wherever. You camp like this all the time, do you?"

Grace's lips quirked into a teasing smile. "Northerners are just built from hardier stock, Boyd."

He took a step towards her, his hand drifting to the collar of her outer garment, his fingers tracing the familiar fabric as he raised his eyebrows in question. "Says she who appears to have stolen my coat."

Grace smiled sheepishly in guilty acknowledgment. "Do you want it back?"

He shook his head in easy dismissal. "No."

"Are you sure? It's freezing out here…."

"It looks better on you, anyway." His reply was curt but she smiled in his wake as he made his way back towards the fire, resuming the position he had occupied several hours previously and gesturing for her to do the same, a comfortable silence falling over them as they settled before the crackling flames.

After several moments Boyd took a breath to speak, a wry smile forming on his lips as he felt Grace hold up a characteristically pre-emptive palm to stem his advance. "If we're going to sit here," she told him resolutely, the words billowing from her mouth in a plume of brilliant white. "I don't want any guilt-ridden brooding or introspection, alright?"

Boyd groaned loudly. "I don't feel in the least bit guilty, Grace."

"Well, that's good, then."

"Don't tell me." He shot her a withering sideways glance, correctly reading her deliberately neutral response. "It'd be a pointless waste of energy."

"It would," she agreed carefully, though her expressive eyes had begun to twinkle impishly. "An understandable waste of energy…."

"Oh, piss off. You're such a pain in the…."

"…but a waste of energy, none-the-less."

He sighed heavily, dramatically. "You're not going to blackmail me into anything here, you know."

"I don't think I need to, do I?"

Boyd heaved another groan of frustration and shook his head. "If the next words out of your mouth include the terms 'subconscious' or 'in denial', Grace, freezing to death will be the least of your worries."

She laughed softly, amusement filtering through her tone when she spoke once more. "I think my work here is done. If you're using the words then on some level…."

"Oh for God's sake," he retorted sharply, his rejoinder slicing abruptly through her sentence. "I don't feel guilty…."

"Hm. There's something about the lady protesting too much, Boyd…."

"Coming out here was the next reasonable step in this investigation. I'm not going to apologise for that."

"How about for the timing?"

He exhaled forcefully, the pointedly gentle strains of her voice irritating the edges of his conscience, intensifying the gnawing sensation in his gut. "It couldn't be helped," he insisted eventually, though he was aware of the undeniable fallacy of his words, the hollow shell of the statement cocooned by the bitter stillness of the air. "Hesitating even twenty-four hours could have made all the difference to this case."

"I'm not disputing that."

Boyd felt his head snap around of its own volition to face her, his eyebrows rising instinctively in surprise. "Really?"

"Of course not. No-one has a crystal ball in situations like this…and I don't think any of us would have forgiven ourselves if failing to act expeditiously had meant the death of another girl."

He narrowed his eyes in suspicion as he regarded her, the subtle reticence of her tone enough to grate against his nerves. "Why do I get the feeling you're just softening the blow?"

Grace smiled fondly at his perceptiveness. "Because we've known each other too bloody long?"

"Go on, then," he replied stoically, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "Let me have it."

She sighed in sobering acceptance to collect her thoughts, the sound rattling through her bones and into the frigid air. "Your single-mindedness, Boyd…."

"It's called dedication." He stole a sideways glance towards her, the anticipation of their impending scuffle at once draining away and he managed a grim smile. "But I'm guessing semantics isn't going to save me here, is it?"

The psychologist held up a palm. "I don't want to waste energy in fighting. But you have to realise that Eve's concerns about all this were reasonable."

"And she has to realise that as the head of the Unit I make the final call."

"And hold the final responsibility?"

He gave a curt nod. "Of course."

"Which includes admitting when you might not have used the best judgement?"

He grunted defensively. "I expect my team to see the bigger picture."

"But not at the expense of their own personal safety, Boyd. That's my point."

He blinked, turning his head to appraise her, his voice unexpectedly raw against his throat when he spoke again, the question passing his lips before he could suppress it. "You don't honestly believe that I'd wilfully endanger you?"

She swallowed slowly, forcing herself to hold his gaze. "Me, specifically?"

He gave a deliberately dismissive wave though his heart was suddenly pounding at the notion, a myriad of emotion tracking the lengths of his veins. "As a collective."

"Not wilfully, no," she replied softly, his apparent aloofness slicing hotly through her gut though she forced the sensation away. "But it comes back to the single-mindedness thing. Sometimes you're so focussed on getting the right result that you lose sight of everything else."

He sighed, the breath leaving his lungs in a shuddering rush as he considered the accuracy of her statement. "It's not a deliberate thing…,"

"Oh, I know that."

"But you still think I should apologise."

Grace inclined her head thoughtfully. "I think Spence and Eve would appreciate it."

He raised his eyebrows questioningly, his voice reverberating through the breadth of his chest as he asked quietly, "And you?"

She gave a small shrug, breaking the intensity of their eye contact as she shifted her gaze towards the dwindling fire, suddenly intent on avoiding his scrutiny despite their close proximity. "I think we're a bit beyond that point now, don't you?"

"Grace…."

"Look, I know you, Boyd. I know that the driven, highly focussed…."

"Arsehole?"

"Your word, not mine." She smiled crookedly and nudged his arm with her shoulder. "I was trying to make a serious point."

"You don't need to. I'm fairly sure it would have made me blush."

Grace rolled her eyes and continued, "I know that the driven, highly focussed person…."

"For God's sake…."

"….that you are is completely integral to your sense of self. That trying to change that part of you would irrevocably alter the other parts as well…."

"And make me even madder than I already am?"

"I just mean that I accept it's who you are. Whether or not it happens to affect me personally." She smiled before he could take a breath to reply. "Just don't expect Spence and Eve to cut you the same amount of slack."

He snorted. "Heaven fucking forbid."

"Good. Now, are you going to add some more fuel to that fire or are we going back to bed?"

He grinned rakishly and raised his eyebrows, his smile broadening as she jabbed him sharply in the ribs with her elbow. "It's a tough decision…."

"You're very funny. Carry on like that and you can sleep next to Spence."

"Christ, that's motivation. Maybe I'll take my chances with the bats."

"Suit yourself." Grace shifted beside him, using his shoulder as leverage as she hauled herself to her feet and smiling as she felt him grudgingly follow suit several seconds later. She watched as his booted foot extinguished the receding flames before he fell into step beside her, trying not to notice the reassurance of his palm in the small of her back as he guided them back towards the shelter in the acutely oppressive blackness.

TBC