"Not a big fan of planes huh?" Peyton looked over at Agent Scott who was looking at her sideways with a raised eyebrow and winced inwardly. Damn those intuitive blue eyes that missed nothing. She supposed that included the death grip she had on the armrests as the plane had made its bumpy landing.

They had been driving silently for a while. In fact it was the first words he'd spoken to her since they'd met at the airport earlier that morning and it rankled her that those were the ones he chose to utter when he finally decided to speak.

"Not really," she replied, shortly. "But especially when landing in one piece doesn't seem like a main objective to the pilot. Warshaw PD should be three miles from here according to this map."

Lucas couldn't help grinning at her sarcasm and offered a quiet "Yes ma'am" under his breath.

Peyton frowned, feeling like he was making fun of her. She turned to regard his face which had already melted from his grin back into a Zen-like mask of calm, betraying nothing. This was half of his appeal. Even with all the rumors and knowledge of the work he did and how he did it, Lucas Scott was still very much shrouded in mystery. He was the mysterious bad boy that all the female staff and some of the male wanted to 'fix.' But there was also something about his demeanor that screamed loner. Lucas Scott was an island and it was clear he didn't expect or accept many visitors.

But Peyton herself was much the same way having lost her mother at a tender age, she and her father had moved around from town to town. There was never time to make friends, she was always the new kid, and the shadow of her mother's death followed her everywhere. Peyton wore black for most of her youth and adolescence.

She stared at him a moment longer. "You have a theory," she stated. Lucas raised his eyebrows noncommittally and glanced at her.

"Have I?"

"Yes you do," Peyton responded, raising her own eyebrow at him challengingly. Peyton Sawyer was no stranger to living life on her own little island so she was trying to cut this guy some slack, but he was making it really hard.

Impressed, Lucas's lips curled upward slightly and he put his eyes back on the road.

"I have a few theories," he said finally after pulling into the Warshaw police station. "I'll let you know when I think you're ready to hear them."

With that he got out of the car leaving Peyton gaping indignantly at him. She shot out of the car and her long legs quickly caught up with his slow, loping stride.

"Hey!" she stage yelled. She really didn't want to get into a screaming match with him outside of the police department, but no one said something like that to her without hearing a piece of her mind.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Lucas turned to find his pissed new partner with her hands planted firmly on her hips, upper body jutted forward, looking ready to pull out her gun and shoot him where he stood, and couldn't help but feel a little turned on. This in turn made him feel mad.

He couldn't afford to let this woman get under his skin the way she was. When he had gone home the day before he'd played a fierce game of basket ball with the neighborhood guys and then gone home to take several cold showers to try and get Agent Sawyer's image from his mind. She's a spy, she's a spy, he kept telling himself. He can't fall for the spy and he certainly can't fuck the spy as much as he would like to.

Lucas took two intimidating steps closer to her barging into her personal space. "Oh, well Peyton, I don't usually let spies in on every little thing that is going on through my head," Lucas explained in a low voice, using her first name as she'd used his the day before. He shoved his face closer to hers and added a sarcastic and half hearted, "sorry."

He fully expected her to back down, but found himself once more surprised by Agent Sawyer when she herself took a step closer bringing herself so close that their noses bumped and replied. "I know you don't have any reason to trust me, but believe me when I say that I am here to solve this case. Just like you."

Lucas's eyes flicked to her lips and then back up into her large green eyes full of conviction and felt his level of respect and attraction for the little spy grow. Dammit!

"Fine," he conceded. He stepped back, slowing his quickened pulse and sighed. He was being an even bigger asshole than he usually was with this new partner and although he felt sorry about it, it was the only way he knew to keep himself in check and to try and push her away. It was like they were children sitting in a sandbox and he relished pulling her pigtails and making her cry. But he had to admit picking fights wasn't going to help him find this killer…or killers.

They stared at one another for a moment longer, silently coming to some sort of truce. He nodded and she returned it, lightly, a movement anyone else would have missed, but not Lucas. They turned together and walked into the station, Peyton hanging back just a bit to let Lucas do the talking as the senior agent.

The deputy looked up from his desk at the approach of the two tall blondes. He stood, questioningly. They obviously weren't from around here.

"What can I do for you folks?"

"Special Agent Lucas Scott," Lucas said by way of greeting, flashing his badge at the deputy. He gestured to Peyton. "This is my partner Peyton Sawyer."

"Oh! You're the feds! You don't look the way I thought you would," he admitted, scratching his head. He had been expecting two far older men. These two barely looked older than his twenty four years….though not by much. And what was more, they looked like fashion models out of his girlfriends Cosmopolitan magazines. He furrowed his brows at them and asked,

"You guys from the California office or something?"

Lucas and Peyton glanced at each other and then back. Lucas replied, "nope. DC. Is the sheriff here, Deputy….?"

"Oh! Deputy Nicholas Brown," he shook both their hands. "Yes-yeah the Sheriff is here. Sorry. It's just that you weren't-"

"What you expected," Lucas finished for him, dryly. "Sorry to disappoint you."

"It's okay," he replied, making Peyton smile a little. He gestured to them. "Here follow me this way."

They got half way down the hall, before being stopped by a large, hulking man with a grizzled face and grey eyes. "Sheriff Meddleson. You two the feds?"

"Yes sir. Agents Sawyer and Scott," Lucas replied.

"Well, turn around. They just found another body."