I do not own cold case. If I did, Josie would still be on the show. Sorry to those who didn't like her, but I thought she was Cool. R&R PLZ!

November 4, 2005

There was the usual hustle and bustle that day as Lily walked through the doors. Deciding to take the stairs instead of the elevator as usual, she hit the last step and skillfully sidestepped the occupants of the hallway all while balancing a newspaper under one arm and a cup holder of three steaming cups of coffee in the other hand.

Walking into the office she immediately spotted Jeffries sitting on the corner of Vera's desk. No doubt, probably annoying him. Not seeing any sign of Scotty she let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Sending a small prayer heavenward for small miracles she walked up to Jeffries.

She was not in the mood to deal with Scotty today, he had slowly been getting under her skin these last few days, in more ways than one. Not to mention there was still some left over tension from the ordeal with Christina. And her near brush with death with George still had her slightly shaken up. And yet there was still something else, something she was afraid to admit to herself. She found herself thinking about it at the most inoportune time, when she thought George was going to kill her. She thought at first that it was probably the situation she was in that she was thinking about it. But here she was months later and she was still thinking about it. Now was definitely not the time to examine her feelings she needed to work without distractions.

" That better be coffee in those cups!", Vera asked desperately, reaching for one only to have her slap his hand away.

" Hey! Don't get grabby!" she warned.

" Look, Lil, I've been sitting here for the last ten minutes listening to him," He said pointing in Jeffries direction," babbling on and on. So if you have coffee, give. Now." He had a pleading look on his face and she couldn't help but laugh.

" Babble. You think I babble?" Jeffries spoke up, disbelief lining his kind features.

Vera's expression went from desperate to distressed. She knew it wasn't funny to laugh at another person's misfortune but she couldn't help herself. Grabbing a cup of the steaming brew she handed it to him.

" Oh, thank you. Thank you." Cradling the cup as if it were the holy grail he carefully took a sip. " Ahh. That's good coffee, could use more cream though." he mumbled to himself as he walked away.

" I do not babble. He thinks That I babble. Can you believe that!" Jeffries stated firmly. " I tell a story, create a suspensful plotline. But I do not babble."

A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she handed the second cup of coffee to him. " Will."

" Hmm?" he said taking a sip.

" Your babbling."

He looked at her a blush creeping over his cheeks. " Oh." Taking another sip he stood up. " I'm gonna go-."

" Bye." she said, knowing exactly where he was going.

" Yea. Thanks for the coffee, Lil. Let's hope they don't replace the coffee machine in the break room anytime soon. I could get used to this." He walked off in the direction Vera had gone only moments before. No doubt to annoy him some more.

Leaning back in her chair she grabbed the last cup of coffee and took a sip. The hot liquid searing a path down her throat. She was too engrossed in her thoughts she didn't hear Scotty walk up.

" Any more where that came from." He noticed that she tensed up and wondered if it was because of him. She had been kind of cold to him the past few days and he had to wonder what he had done this time to get in her bad books. Like sleeping with her sister wasn't enough he didn't know what he could have done this time around to piss her off. He decided to choose his words carefully and not add fuel to the fire.

" Sorry. Last one." She said coldly, raising the cups to her lips. She wasn't sorry though, she figured if she pushed him away and found reasons to be mad at him that the feelings would abate. Isn't working so far she thought to herself.

" Ah, don't worry about it. I'll just get some water." Right water. So why am I still standing here staring at her, he thought.

" Ok." Well that was genius Rush, I think your socializing skills are going out the window. You need to get a life, she thought.

The moment extended into silence. Both sat trying to ignore the obvious tension that was between them and both were greatful when Stillman interrupted seconds later.

" Rush, Valens, can I see you two in my office?" He indicated behind him with a nod of his head.

" Sure thing, boss." Lily said a little too quickly, setting her coffee down and keeping as much distance between her and Scotty as she walked past.

Her actions didn't fall on blind eyes though and Scotty realized it was gonna take alot more than just small talk for her to finally come around to him again. He hadn't realized he had been standing there staring out into oblivion until someone called his name.

" Some time today would be nice, Scotty." He turned to see Stillman standing in the doorway of his office, waiting for him to join them. Lily stood behind him with her arms folded across her chest and staring down at the floor.

" Sorry, boss." He walked forward and entered the office.

" You alright, Scotty?" A curious expression on his face.

He looked over at Lily who was still staring at the floor. "Yeah. Yeah I'm great."

A/N: Sorry for such a short chapter. First of all I would like to say that I am not at all good at this and this is pretty much my first fanfic. If you get lost somewhere or are confused just let me know and I'll try to elaborate as much as possible. Go ahead and R&R. To me all reviews are constructive and will probably help me deliver a better story to my audience. So keep on reviewing plz. Love ya's. And I also still have a lot of editing to doon my other chapters. So I'll try not to keep you all waiting for to long.