Ah, here we go again. As promised, a nice big dollop of Grace/Teresa coming right up.

The bar was quiet apart from the quiet music coming from the speakers on the wall. It was almost empty; the only people other than the two women in the corner were a group of young business who seemed to be celebrating something. Grace sighed and sipped at her apple juice. It was just enough to cure her thirst and nausea without making her feel worse.

Teresa glanced over to her and set her lemonade down on the table.

'Right, spill.'

'Spill what?'

'Everything. Anything. Just talk to me, because right now I'm considering making you take maternity leave seven months early.'

'No, don't do that..'

'Then you'd best start telling me things.'

'I..' Grace paused to think up what she was going to say before she made herself look stupid. 'I just can't sleep. It's nothing, I.. Just me being stupid. But every time I close my eyes, he's there. I see his face. It's like he's.. He's haunting me or something.. I can fall asleep at work because he doesn't get me there. I'm not in that apartment, not in that bed. God, the bastard nearly killed you and I can't get him out of my head..'

'Well, why don't you come and stay with me?' The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.

'Really? I could..? No, I can't. I mean, I've got to face this sooner or later. I've got to face my demons. I'm a big girl now.'

'I know you are Grace, you're very capable. But maybe.. Maybe it'll go away now you've spoken about it. I hope so. But you have to sleep, your baby needs a healthy mother, whatever it takes. It needs you to be well. Even if you don't do it for yourself, do it for your child.'

Grace nodded and looked down at her stomach. 'I know. And I will, I promise. I'll be fine.'

Teresa smiled and took her friend's hand. She had been working up to what she was about to say and decided to use the moment where Grace looked relatively calm to tell her.

'Grace, there's something else we need to talk about..'

The redhead raised her eyebrows. 'Yeah?'

'The others.. Well.. Jane came into my office just after you left.. And he told me that he knew.. He's already figured out that you're pregnant.'

'Oh God.. And you told him he was right?'

'Not as such, but there would have been no point in lying to him. He said it was obvious. That's not all though..'

'Then what?'

Teresa bit her lip. 'Rigsby heard us talking..'

The young agent's face drained of all colour as she spoke. She felt sick and angry. 'Wayne knows?'

'Yeah.. I'm sorry Grace, we didn't know he was in the doorway.. I didn't see him, I.. God, I'm so sorry..'

'No, it's.. It's okay.. Well, it's not okay but I don't blame you. He shouldn't have.. At least I don't have to tell him..'

'But you do have to talk to him. He thinks he has a chance with you now..'

'Oh..' Grace looked down.

'And does he?'

'Does he what?'

'Have a chance with you?'

'If we're not going to get transferred, then maybe.. But I need to think things through. I don't want a man around so soon after.. After Craig.. Maybe some time.'

'He loves you, you know? He'd do anything for you. He'd be there for you no matter what.'

'Like Jane would for you?'

Teresa choked. 'I beg your pardon?'

'Well, don't tell me that Wayne's in love with me when you and Jane have been pining after each other for the last however long and neither of you are doing anything about it. I had a relationship with Wayne. We gave it a go and we had to split. We tried. You and Jane, you're.. Well, you're like a couple of children. You both like each other but you're too scared and embarrassed to admit it.'

Teresa opened her mouth to protest but was interrupted by a sharp wolf whistle coming from the table of young men. She looked around to send a harsh comment their way but they spoke first.

'Not you love, the redhead. Come on darlin', you come sit with us. Or on us, whichever you prefer.'

Grace scoffed and turned her head. Thankfully, Teresa grinned and nudged her.

'That'd make Rigsby jealous.'

'Oh, like me going over wouldn't be completely awkward, even if I was interested? 'Hi, I'm Grace. By the way, I'm 2 months pregnant with a dead man's kid. Bummer, huh?' They're just going to run a mile. My God, I'm never going to get a date again..'

'Course you will, you're hardly short of admirers.'

'I never asked for that.'

'Yeah, must be so hard being beautiful.'

'Come off it, you're hardly ugly. And you've got a better figure. Give it two months and I'm going to look like a balloon.'

'But you'll be glowing.' Teresa grinned.

'Pfft. Anyway, back to you and Jane..'

'No, steering clear of me and Jane. Seriously, why wouldn't you get back with Rigsby?'

'It's complicated..'

'What's complicated? He loves you. You still have feelings for him. You want each other. Your baby needs a father who's going to do everything that you can't.'

'That I can't?' Grace folded her arms. This had better be good. She prided herself on having several skills that men had as well as her natural feminine skills.

'Well, if it's a boy then it's going to need someone to talk about girls with, have their first beer with, play football with..'

'Play football with? Have you forgotten who my father is? I'm pretty sure that even if I couldn't play football for whatever reason, then my Dad or my brother could. He'd have his uncle for that kind of thing. I know a child needs a father, really, but.. And what if it's a girl?'

'If it's a girl, they need someone to scrounge money from and to wrap around their little finger. And to threaten their boyfriends.'

'Oh, I can do that. Trust me.'

'Really?'

'I gave Amy's first boyfriend a fair warning. If my Dad had heard it, he would have been satisfied.' She announced with pride.

'Amy?'

'My younger sister.'

'How many of you are there?'

'Just 4. Kaitlyn, Leo, me and Amy. Kaitlyn's always swanning off and doing her own thing. I haven't spoken to her in years. Last time I knew, she was in Paris with some bloke she'd picked up in a bar. We never got on very well so it's not exactly a huge issue for me. Leo's married with 3 children and another one on the way and Amy's engaged.'

'Wow.. Do they know you're pregnant?'

'No.. I called my Dad the night it all happened and told him that Craig had been arrested and killed but I didn't say I'd done it and I didn't say what he'd been arrested for. I don't want him to know that. He must have told Leo and Amy because they keep calling to check on me.'

'What about your Mom?'

She looked down. 'I don't talk about my Mom.'

'You know about mine..'

Grace sighed and closed her eyes. 'She died when I was 10..'

'I'm sorry..' Teresa looked down slightly in respect. 'What happened?'

'Suicide. I found her hanging.. God, I.. I couldn't move, or.. I was standing there for about 4 hours before Leo got home. He to drag me out.. But that's how it happened..'

'Do you know why..?' The senior agent asked apprehensively.

'She didn't say much in her note but we knew she was fighting with my Dad more and she was starting to get frustrated at us kids a lot. Kaitlyn was 16 at the time and she was getting into trouble.. Alcohol, drugs, skipping school.. Leo was 13 and starting to get rebellious so he and Mom were arguing lots. I lost count of the amount of times they told her they hated her. Amy was only 6 so she didn't get it as much as us but she was probably the most upset.. She was the only one close to Mom..'

'What about you?'

'Me? I was the last of the five of us to have an argument with her before she died. I tipped her over the edge.'

'You don't know that..'

'I don't know otherwise. It was the night before.. We were fighting because I told her about something that happened at school and she didn't believe me..'

'What happened at school..? Boy stuff, I presume..'

'No, actually. Girl stuff.' She smiled softly as Teresa raised her eyebrows. 'Not in that way. Couple of girls were picking on me so I told my Mom.. I'd never told anyone that I was being bullied before and I never told anyone about it afterwards. She told me to toughen up and get over it. She was stressed, she didn't mean it, but it upset me.. The next day, the girls who'd been targeting me got me good. They were a grade higher than me but one of them had a sister in my year who didn't like me, so that's how that started.. They found me and they.. Well, they pretty much attacked me. Mom got a call from my school to tell her what happened. We didn't live too far away so she gave me permission to walk home.. By the time I got there, she was dead. All she said in her note was that we were better off without her and that she was sorry. Kaitlyn hated Mom but she hated me too. She tortured me for what happened, told me that it was my fault and that she killed herself because she felt guilty for not helping me, just to make me feel bad. She could be cruel like that. I was only young so I believed her.. I'm not sure I ever stopped believing that.'

Teresa squeezed the thin hand gently and put her hand on her friend's shoulder.

'Don't ever believe that it's your fault. You didn't ask to get hurt. You didn't make your siblings fight with your Mom. You didn't make her do what she did. You're not to blame, okay? Come on, don't get yourself stressed. Not in your condition.'

'No, I.. I'm okay.. I promise..' Grace smiled and wiped a single tear from her eye. 'I'm okay. Thanks to you..'

'Hey, none of that. It's not me..'

'Are you kidding? I wouldn't be here without you. I'd be.. I don't know, I'd be somewhere.. Craig probably would have killed me.. Thank you Boss… Thank you for everything..'

Teresa smiled and pulled her friend into a hug. 'You're very welcome.'

Another chapter finished. As usual, please review. Reviews make virtual points, and what do virtual points make? You got it dudes, virtual prizes. You know what to do.