They met in the back booth at the diner again early the next morning. Felix was sitting beside Lisa and her uniform was distinctly rumpled. "So," Rachel regarded Felix with raised eyebrows. "Find your insurance agent last night?"

Felix had the grace to look slightly embarrassed. "Uh, no, never did quite catch up with him. I figure Lisa and I will try his office after breakfast."

"No need for that," Lisa said. She raised her hand and waved to a man who had entered the diner. "Hey, Karl, back here." She looked at Jacob and Rachel calmly. "This place is popular with the local business people. They come in for coffee and gossip before they start their day. I thought we might catch him here."

Lisa quickly performed introductions as the middle-aged, graying man pulled up a chair. He regarded the trio from the FBI with frank curiosity.

"You're looking into what happened to Rico's cows, huh? I thought it was an accident, one of those experiments he goes in for gone wrong?"

"What do you mean? One of his experiments gone wrong?" Rachel asked.

The man shrugged. "Rico's a damn good dairyman. But that dairy of his, it's not his livelihood. He can afford to let those kids from the university test their latest theories on his cows. Word around town was that one of the experiments went bad, killed half the herd."

He knitted is brows together and shot them a level look. "At least that's what people were saying before you showed up." He shrugged again. "I have to say, if Lisa here hadn't called me over, I would have wanted to talk to you anyway."

"Why is that?" Rachel asked.

"Insurance," he replied succinctly. He narrowed his eyes at the look the foursome exchanged. "Now why do I get the feeling that this isn't a surprise to you? Is that why Lisa called me over, what you wanted to talk to me about?"

Rachel regarded the man cautiously. "Yes, it is. It's our understanding the Freddie Cipriani purchased an insurance policy from you. What can you tell us about it?"

"Damn it. So there is some funny business about those cows." Karl exclaimed. "That little shit, I can't believe he'd do that to Rico."

"Calm down Karl," Lisa admonished him. "You're attracting attention. No one said anything about any funny business. We just need to know about the insurance Freddie bought."

"Yeah, right," Karl regarded her sourly. "It's like this. Rico's always insured the dairy with me, my company. Well, the kid came in to see me. Said he wanted a rider on the livestock insurance."

"Wait, livestock insurance, what's that?" Rachel asked.

Karl shook his head. "It's just what it sounds like. Livestock is the biggest investment a farmer, dairyman has. You insure their lives just like you would your own. It's a standard policy."

"I'm guessing," Jacob said slowly, "that your company wouldn't have paid off if the cows died from being fed an experimental feed?"

"Damn straight they wouldn't" Karl growled. "Rico wants to take a chance giving his cows untested, unproven feed, that's his look-out. It's not something we'd insure against."

Rachel looked at the man thoughtfully. "What if the cows accidentally ate some…" She searched her memory. "Some Cop-R-Plastic? Would you pay out then?"

Karl's jaw dropped. "That's what killed those cows?" He shook his head decisively. "Not in a million years. That stuff's a know hazard around cattle."

Lisa brought them back to the point. "Tell us about the rider Freddie wanted."

"Damn, thought for once the kid was doing the right thing. That maybe Rico was right, he just needed to feel some responsibility for something," Karl sighed. "Never thought it would turn out like this."

What it was was simple. Freddie Cipriani had come into Karl's office to inquire about a rider on the livestock insurance. He specifically wanted coverage on that part of the herd that was being given the experimental feed. Freddie had piously explained to Karl that while his grandfather might treat the dairy as a hobby, he at least, realized that it was a business. It was good sense to insure the cows against the risk Rico was taking with them.

At Rachel's insistence, they left the diner immediately. She had a hunch, which could only be confirmed by viewing the policy that Karl had on file at his office. They were at the office in minutes and it didn't take long for Karl to come up with the paperwork.

"It's a fairly simple rider," Karl explained. "I don't know what you hope to find."

"Here!" Rachel was triumphant. She pointed to the name on the policy.

Karl squinted at where she was pointing. "It's made out to Rico, so what."

"No it's not," Rachel answered softly. "Look closer, it's made out to Federico A. Cipriani…"

"That's Rico's legal name." Karl interrupted.

"The third." Rachel completed. She looked at Karl. "Has Freddie put in a claim on this policy?"

"Not yet." was the grim reply.

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"But how," protested Felix, "could Freddie be sure that they'd blame the alfalfa?"

The three law enforcement personnel sat back with identical sighs of frustration. That was the crux of the matter. After leaving the insurance agency, they had adjourned to Lisa's office to discuss the situation. They had established that Freddie had the motive and the opportunity to poison the cows, but how could he have hoped to get away with it? How could he be assured that Robinson would declare the alfalfa the cause of the cow's deaths?

"That 100 thousand, it must have been a bribe from Freddie," Rachel declared stubbornly. "Robinson must have coached Tiffy to lie about the trip to Vegas."

"Nah, I've gone over his financials a dozen times now," Felix answered. "There's no way he had access to that much cash."

"Besides," Lisa objected. "If Freddie had access to that much cash, why try insurance fraud? The cows were only insured for a quarter million."

Jacob had been sitting quietly while the three had argued the various points of the case. He finally lost his patience. "Why don't we ask him?"

Smiles spread across the faces of the three as they regarded the scientist. "From the mouths of babes!" Rachel declared.

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They agreed that Lisa should accompany them to the dairy. Their best hope in wringing the truth out of Freddie was to catch him by surprise, to bluff him into thinking that they knew more than they did. While the case against Freddie was strong, it was all circumstantial. The lack of a connection to Robinson was a hole that a good defense attorney could drive a truck through.

Rico and his grandson were just coming out of the barn when they arrived at the dairy. Freddie's eyes widened when he saw the squad car.

"Hey, Lisa," Rico called out. "You figure out what happened to my cows Dr. Hood?"

"I'm afraid we have, Mr. Cipriani," Rachel answered. She turned to Freddie. "Freddie Cipriani? We'd like to ask you a few questions."

With an oath, Freddie took off. He hopped the fence separating the barnyard from the drive and began running toward the house where his car was parked. Lisa and Felix were in close pursuit, Rico had grabbed Rachel's arm and was demanding explanations. She was arguing with Rico when a shout from Felix, abruptly cut short, claimed their attention.

Halfway to the house, Lisa and Felix had finally caught up with Freddie. But Felix, as he was about to grab Freddie by the arm, had stepped in a pothole. His body twisted as he fell and the back his head had struck one of the decorative stones lining the drive. Lisa had tackled Freddie and was in the process of cuffing him when Jacob, Rachel, and Rico came hurrying up.

Felix was groaning as Rachel and Jacob dropped down beside him. "Felix, are you all right?" Rachel asked anxiously.

"Ah, yeah, I think so," Felix winced in pain.

"Don't try to sit up," Jacob ordered. "You may have a head injury." He looked up at Lisa. "Can you call for an ambulance?"

"I don't need an ambulance Doc," Felix protested. "It's my ankle mostly. Damn. I think I broke it, it hurts like hell."

Jacob shot a look at Lisa, who hurried to her squad car to call the ambulance.

"That may be," Jacob answered patiently, "but your head hit that rock pretty hard." As he spoke his fingers were examining the back of the big man's head. "You seem to have a nasty cut, I wouldn't be surprised if you had a slight concussion." As he spoke, he withdrew his fingers which were now covered with blood.

"Is that, that, …blood?" Felix asked. With that, he promptly fainted.

Rachel and Jacob exchanged surprised looks over Felix's unconscious body. Lisa returned from the squad car and announced that the ambulance was on its way. She was concerned to see that Felix was out cold. "Jesus, is he ok? I thought he only hurt his ankle."

Jacob tried not to smile. He figured that Felix wouldn't be thrilled to have Lisa know that he fainted at the sight of blood. "Uh, he may have a concussion. We really need to get him to the hospital."

With Hood taking care of Felix, Rachel turned her attention to Freddie. Rico was insisting that Lisa uncuff him. She over-ruled Rico and informed him that Freddie needed to be questioned. His attempted escape meant that questioning was going to happen at police headquarters.

Lisa was hustling Freddie toward his squad car as the ambulance came screaming up the drive. Seeing Rachel hesitate, Jacob spoke up. "Go, I'll stay with Felix." Rachel began to argue, to remind Hood that he needed to stay with her.

Jacob over-ruled her. "You need to question Freddie. We can't leave Felix alone, he's unconscious. You go with Lisa, I'll stay with Felix. We'll wait for you at the hospital."

Rachel quickly made up her mind. "Fine, but stay glued to Felix's side and don't you dare set foot outside that hospital until I get there." She turned and escorted Rico to the SUV.

Shaking his head Jacob turned his attention to the approaching paramedics. He tried to explain the accident to them, but they brushed him aside. They soon had a pressure bandage wound around Felix's head and his ankle iced down and immobilized. They were loading Felix into the ambulance when a problem arose.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" the lead paramedic demanded as Jacob attempted to climb into the ambulance.

"I'm going with Felix." Jacob explained simply.

"Sorry, buddy, but you can catch your own ride to the hospital."

"I'm sorry but that's not acceptable. I'm going in the ambulance with Felix."

"Look, the only ones allowed in the ambulance are family members. Since you're not related…."

"Why would you think that?"

"Well, you're sure as hell not his brother are you?" The paramedic smirked, "You telling me you're his spouse?"

Jacob titled his head and bit on his bottom lip. "I'm aware," he said carefully, "that the status of gay marriage is in doubt in California, but I can assure you that it is perfectly legal in the District."

"You're his spouse? Yeah right." The man looked incredulous.

Jacob regarded him disdainfully. "If we were a heterosexual couple would you demand to see a marriage license?"

"Hey Pete, what's holding things up? We need to get this guy to the hospital." The paramedic's partner called from the front of the ambulance.

Shrugging his shoulders, the paramedic indicated that Jacob should climb into the ambulance next to Felix.

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Several hours later a very disgruntled Agent Young and Deputy Jackson walked into the emergency room of the local hospital. Rachel looked around quickly, her irritation growing. Not only had things not gone well with Freddie, but neither Felix nor Hood was answering his cell phone. She wondered what the hell was going on with the two of them.

"Excuse me," Rachel flashed her badge at the admitting clerk. "I'm looking for Agent Lee. He was brought here earlier"

"Oh, yes," the young clerk stammered. "He was admitted for observation. He's in room 305."

"Admitted?" Rachel frowned. "What about the man with him? Dr. Hood?"

"You mean his husband?" The clerk looked disapproving. "A doctor, huh? I guess that explains why he was such a pain. Made the attending do all kinds of tests. I suppose he's still with him."

Lisa's eyebrows climbed up her forehead. "His husband? You mean?" She looked at Rachel in astonishment.

Rachel snorted with laughter. She wasn't sure which was funnier. Hood claiming to be Felix's husband or the expression on Lisa's face. Grabbing Lisa by the arm, she towed the woman toward the elevators.

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"I can't believe you did that." Felix said for the hundredth time.

"Oh for heaven's sake," Jacob replied in annoyance. "Get over it. What did you expect me to do? Let them strand me at that farm? Rachel said…."

"What did Rachel say?" she asked from the doorway.

Jacob looked up from the chart he was perusing to smile at the two women in the doorway. Felix took one look at Lisa and collapsed back against his pillows with a moan.

"You said to stay with Felix." Jacob cocked his head. "The paramedic wasn't going to let me in the ambulance since I wasn't a family member. Felix was unconscious, couldn't demand I accompany him, so ..."

"So you told him you were married?" Rachel asked.

"I didn't exactly do that."

Felix's mouth dropped open. "The hell you didn't. They kept calling you my husband down in the ER."

"No, I didn't lie." Jacob explained patiently. "I merely told the paramedic that gay marriage was perfectly legal in DC. If he chose to interpret that to mean…"

Rachel and Lisa burst out laughing, to Felix's dismay. "This isn't funny." he snapped.

"I don't know why you're so upset." Jacob complained. "My status as your spouse was useful."

"How?" Rachel wanted to know.

"Well for a start, it got me into that ambulance. Then, they shared all their medical information with me, let me see the charts, x-rays. None of this nonsense about privacy concerns. Finally, they were more willing to listen to me, run the tests I wanted done."

"Yeah, thanks for that Doc." Felix put in grumpily.

"It's why he's been admitted." Jacob explained. "His ankle is only sprained, not broken. I insisted they do a CT scan on Felix's head. It turns out I was right, there is some evidence of concussion. They're keeping him overnight for observation."

"Yeah, just what I wanted to do, spend the night in the hospital with some nurse waking me up every few hours"

"Come on, Felix," Lisa teased. "I was going to offer to stay and keep you entertained, but now…"

To cover Felix's confusion, Jacob asked about their activities. "How did things go with Freddie? Did you get him to admit to anything?"

Rachel and Lisa exchanged sour looks. Things had not gone as they had hoped. Initially they were elated. Freddie admitted that he had laced the feed with the wood preservative. He had looked at them blankly though when they pressed him about his connection to Robinson. He denied even knowing the man.

"But how else could he count on Robinson faking the test results?" Felix asked.

The women rolled their eyes. Freddie, it turned out, could be the poster child for stupid criminals. According to him, it never occurred to him that there would be any kind of investigation. He had overhead Gina telling Rico about the problems with the earlier strain of alfalfa. When the cows died he had loudly and repeatedly blamed the alfalfa, reminded his grandfather of the earlier problems it had caused. Rico and the others had been only too willing to believe him.

Jacob's face showed his disbelief. "He thought no one would question the death of 100 cows involved in a government funded study?"

That was exactly what Freddie had thought. He had initially panicked when investigators first descended on the dairy. He then couldn't believe his luck when the official report blamed the alfalfa. He had been about to file his insurance claim when he heard the FBI was in town to look into things.

"What an idiot," Felix exclaimed. "What did you end up charging him with?"

"Nothing." Rachel answered shortly. She sighed at the startled looks on Felix and Hood's faces.

"There wasn't anything to charge him with." Lisa explained glumly. "Freddie's half-owner of the dairy, seems it's no crime to kill your own livestock. When he saw the way the wind was blowing, he backed off his story; claimed that the wood preservative got into the feed by accident. Rico backed him up."

"But what about the insurance fraud?" Jacob asked.

"There was no fraud. Freddie had a legal right to take out that policy. Since he never filed a claim, there was never an attempt to defraud the company." Rachel answered.

"Do you mean that, that, cretin, is going to get off scot free?" Jacob was indignant.

"I'm not so sure about that." Lisa was thoughtful. "Rico was muttering about Freddie learning to stand on his own two feet when they left the station." She smiled. "I have a feeling Freddie may be in for quite a surprise real soon."

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It was getting late by the time Rachel pulled the SUV into the parking lot of their hotel. After leaving the hospital, she and Hood had stopped to pick up Chinese take-out. They had both agreed that they couldn't face one more night of pizza. Grabbing the bag from the backseat, Rachel led the way into the hotel.

"I don't know why we couldn't have had dinner with Felix in the hospital," Jacob grumbled as Rachel cleared his room. "Or at the very least, why we had to have take-out. We could have eaten at the restaurant."

"We were fifth wheels at the hospital," Rachel replied. "It was obvious Felix and Lisa wanted some privacy." She took the bag of food from his hands. "And we always have take-out in the field, so what's the problem."

"I was hoping," Jacob ground out. "To postpone the prospect of another frustrating night in this hotel room with you."

Rachel dumped the bag, her badge, and her weapon on the small table. She smiled slightly. "Hmm, hadn't thought of it like that." She arched an eyebrow at Hood. "Did you remember to secure the door behind you?"

Jacob merely sighed and turned to the door. He flipped the deadbolt and latched the chain. He turned to find Rachel directly behind him. She pushed him against the door and pressed her body into his. She wound one arm around his neck, and threaded the fingers of her other hand through his hair. She pulled his head down and kissed him hard.

His arms went around her automatically, pulling her into him even closer. He groaned with pleasure as her mouth opened to his and their tongues touched, as they explored each other's mouths. His hands moved down to her ass, pulling her up against him. Jacob could feel his cock hardening as Rachel unbuttoned his shirt and ran her hands up his chest and around his neck.

"I thought this was a bad idea." Jacob whispered into Rachel's ear as he nuzzled her neck.

"Hmm," Rachel laughed softly. "Maybe, but you trying to make me jealous is an even worse idea."

Jacob drew his head back to look at Rachel with astonishment. "What, you're saying it's my fault Gina had a crush on me?"

Rachel smiled up at him. "Please, you think that child worried me?" She pulled his head down and began nibbling on his ear. "I was talking about you claiming to be married to Felix." He shivered at her breath in his ear as she laughed again. "Now that hurt."

"If I knew this is how you'd react, I'd have done it sooner."

Jacob and Rachel stumbled toward the bed . Jacob swept Rachel into his arms as they reached the bed; lying her gently down on it, he shrugged off shirt and lay down beside her. Rachel began to unbutton her shirt, but Jacob stopped her.

He nuzzled her ear as his hands caressed her. "No, let me touch you, let me undress you."

Slowly Jacob unbuttoned Rachel's shirt, his hands cupping her breasts, running down her abdomen. "I've wanted to do this for weeks," he murmured as he slipped her shirt and bra off. His mouth moved downward, tracing a path along her neck and chest.

Rachel moaned as Jacob began licking her breasts, tracing her nipples with his tongue. "Your breasts are perfect, do you know that?" While his mouth was busy with her breasts, Jacob's hands moved down to the zipper on Rachel's pants. He shoved her pants and panties down her hips.

Sitting up, Jacob moved to the foot of the bed. He reached down and removed Rachel's shoes and socks. He lifted one foot to his mouth and pressed a kiss against the arch. He removed her pants and looked down at her. "My god Rachel, you have such a fantastic body." He quickly removed the rest of his clothes and stretched out beside her.

Rachel arms went around Jacob's neck and her leg hooked over his hip as she pressed herself against him, tried to pull him on top of her. "Come inside me baby."

"No, no, no," Jacob whispered into her ear, as he hands roamed over her body. "I'm not ready to come inside you yet. I want to make you come for me a dozen times tonight. I want to feel you come against my hand, in my mouth. I want to hear you scream for me before I put my cock deep inside you."

"Jacob, baby, please, come in me, I need you."

"Soon Rachel, soon." Jacob kissed and licked his way back to her breasts as his hand found its way between her thighs. As he licked her nipples and lightly bit her beasts, his finger rubbed her clit making Rachel squirm and push her hips against his hand.

"Oh god, baby that feels so damn good"

Rachel was whimpering with pleasure, the muscles in her body tensing, her vagina tightening, when Jacob suddenly thrust two fingers inside of her. The feeling of his fingers, the pressure of his thumb on her clit, pushed Rachel over the edge. Tightening her thighs around his hand, Rachel pushed her body into Jacob's murmuring his name over and over as she climaxed.

Rachel had barely recovered when Jacob began his assault on her senses again. He moved between her legs, kissing her hips, running his tongue from one side of her body to the other. His lips moved down her thighs, he licked her scar lightly. He lifted her legs over his shoulders.

He then turned his attention to the soft skin of her inner thighs. He tongue made patterns as Rachel moaned. Her hand twisted in his hair and she tried to move his mouth to her core. Jacob laughed softly as he moved her hand away. "You're so wet, sweetheart, but I think I can get you wetter for me."

Then his mouth was on her, as he gently licked and then sucked on her clit. Rachel arched her hips, writhing on the bed unable to control herself. "Jacob, baby, please, yes, oh please, yes." She murmured over and over.

Jacob's hands were on her ass as he lifted her to him. He could feel the muscles in her ass, her thighs contracting; as she began to climax, he thrust his tongue deep inside her. Rachel gasped at the feeling of his tongue in her as every muscle in her body contracted and released and she was once again overwhelmed with pleasure.

Jacob slid his way up Rachel's hot sweaty body. Pushing her deep into the mattress, he wound his hands in her hair and kissed her, his tongue winding around hers. Rachel's one hand went around his neck, the other hand between their bodies and found his cock.

Rachel rubbed her hand along his cock causing Jacob to groan. "Not so hard, you'll make me come all over you."

"Now, baby, I need you in me now." Wrapping her legs around his hips, Rachel guided Jacob's cock to the entrance of her vagina. Pushing her hips up, she attempted to take him inside her. She whimpered in protest as Jacob held off.

"Slowly, Rachel." Inch by inch, Jacob pushed his cock into her.

Rachel gasped with pleasure as he slid inside her. "Jacob, baby, you're so hard, oh yes, I want to feel you come in me baby."

When he was buried deep within her body, he held still, savoring the feel of Rachel, hot, wet, and tight around him. "You feel so damn good Rachel, so fucking, fucking tight."

Jacob thrust into Rachel slowly at first, quickening the pace of his thrusts as her arousal grew. Rachel moved her knees around his ribs, opening herself up to him, drawing him deeper inside her. Her frantic cries grew higher and less coherent. Her arms were around his chest, her nails digging into his back and as her climax washed over her, she drew blood.

The feel of her muscles contracting around his cock, her arms and legs tightening around his body, brought Jacob to a shuddering climax. Winding his hands in her hair, Jacob held Rachel close as his cock pulsed deep within her, filling her with his hot semen.

They lay together totally spent, their breathing labored, their bodies slick with sweat. Rachel still clung to Jacob; he nuzzled her neck, knowing he should move from on top on her but reluctant to end the moment. "I love you Rachel," he whispered. Rachel could only tighten her hold on him in response.

Rachel finally turned her head to press a kiss on Jacob's cheek. "Sorry about that baby."

"Hmmm?" Jacob rolled onto his back, pulling Rachel along with him. He settled her head on his chest. "For what, making me wait so long? I'm just glad you realized that 'no making love in the field' rule was unnecessary."

Rachel frowned up at him. "I meant for scratching your back. I still say that we can't make love when we're in the field."

Jacob looked around thoughtfully. "Strange, I could have sworn we were still in Sacramento."

"I know where we are. But technically we're not in the field."

"Umm, someone sounds like they're rationalizing." Jacob's nuzzled the top of Rachel's head as his hand stoked her arm.

"No," she insisted. "Look, the case has fallen apart. The cops don't give a damn about us right now. Felix is in the hospital so we don't have to worry about him looking for us." Rachel rubbed her cheek against Jacob's chest. "No one needs us, no one cares about us right now."

Jacob smiled slightly at Rachel's explanation. He still felt she was rationalizing, trying to justify breaking her own rule. But as he enjoyed the results, he wasn't going to argue. He pulled Rachel closer. Sighing with the pleasure of holding her again, he closed his eyes.

"Jacob?"

"Hmmm?"

"The other night, why were you so quick to think I regretted being with you?"

"Oh god, Rachel, I explained that to you already."

"No, no you didn't. You said that you thougth I didn't love you anymore 'cause I didn't want to have sex and I called you Hood. That's hardly an explanation."

Jacob sighed. "It's complicated."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere, so let's hear it."

"I've been in love with you for a long time. Even before you were shot, I knew that you were important to me, that I cared about you. But I always told myself that we were just friends.

When I almost lost you, I had to admit to myself that I loved you. But," he shrugged, ran his fingers through her hair, "I was afraid to say anything. I was afraid that you didn't, or worse, that you couldn't feel the same."

"Why would you think I couldn't be attracted to you?"

"Why would you be? I mean, honestly Rachel, you're a beautiful woman; you could have any man you wanted. And me? Well, I'm kind of awkward in social situations, I get caught up in my work and ignore everything around me, and," Jacob tipped Rachel's face up to his. "I'm so much older than you sweetheart. I was afraid that you'd never see me as anything other than a friend."

"Do you want to know how I see you?" she asked softly. "I see you as the kindest, most compassionate man I've ever known. I see you as intelligent, funny, and," Rachel pulled his head down and kissed him. "I see you as the handsomest and sexiest man I've ever met. That's how I see you."

Jacob smiled slowly. "Really?"

"Umm, and what's this crap about you being too old for me?" Rachel was amused. "You're what? Old enough to be my big brother?"

"No." Jacob frowned. "I'm nearly 13 years older than you. I'm almost a generation older than you. I always figured you thought of me as middle-aged."

"Hardly a generation older."

"Culturally speaking, I mean. Now, genealogically speaking a generation is about 40 to 60 years, but as a cultural construct, a generation is considered to be 15 to 20 years, so…"

Rachel interrupted, "Please, no lecture." She smiled as she ran her hand through his hair. "You're not too old for me, I love the gray in your hair, it makes you look distinguished. But what does this have to do with you thinking I'd changed my mind about us?"

"I guess I couldn't believe my luck. That you did love me, that you wanted me as much as I wanted you. After all, it's not like you gave me any encouragement."

"Ummm," Rachel murmured. "I was like you. To afraid of rejection to say anything. Afraid you'd ask the Director to transfer me if you didn't feel the same. I'm glad you decided to be brave." She sat up. "How come? What made you decide to say something?"

Jacob drew Rachel back to him, began running kisses down her neck. "It seeing you at that dress shop."

"What, the sight of me in a wedding dress made you want to declare your undying love?"

"No, it scared the shit out of me." Jacob smiled at the look on Rachel's face. "It's true. Seeing you in that dress was a shock. It made me feel like I was in the middle of a bad romantic comedy." He tilted his head. "The ones where the guy doesn't realize how much he loves the girl until she announces that she's going to marry another guy."

"But he usually ends up with the girl in those movies."

"We're not in a movie. This is real life, and seeing you in that dress, it made me realize that if I waited too long, if I didn't say something, let you know how I felt about you, it might be too late for me. You might meet someone and fall in love."

Rachel kissed him passionately. "Jacob, that has to be the most romantic thing I've ever heard. But I'm still pissed that you thought I didn't love you anymore."

Jacob rolled his eyes but remained silent. He knew the sound of an un-winnable argument. Instead he kissed Rachel and cuddled her closer to his body.

"I mean it, Jacob…"

"Sweetheart, if you insist on talking right now, I suggest we change the topic."

"What? What do you want to talk about?"

Jacob rolled on top of Rachel and lowered his head to her breasts. "Well," he murmured. "We could discuss these very interesting tan lines. They seem to suggest you spent some time sunbathing in the nude."

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The next morning when Jacob and Rachel arrived at the hospital Felix was up and dressed. He regarded them glumly as they entered his room.

"'Bout time you two got here."

Rachel and Jacob looked at each other in surprise. They weren't used to an unhappy Felix.

"What's the matter Felix? Pissed at your husband for deserting you last night?" Rachel teased.

Felix winced. "Do not remind me of that situation."

"But Felix, honey…" Jacob grinned wickedly.

"Not funny Doc." Felix glared at the scientist. "I mean it, I…"

"What happened to Lisa?" Rachel cut in hastily. "She deserted you too?"

With a final glare for Hood, Felix turned his attention to Rachel. "She got called out for a burglary early this morning." He looked wishful. "Said to pass along her goodbyes, tell you how much she enjoyed working with us."

Jacob and Rachel exchanged a look, eyebrows raised. They silently agreed that further teasing would be out of line.

"Ready to go?" Rachel asked briskly. "I've called the airlines, there are seats available on a flight out at noon, it'll get us back to DC by nine."

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After collecting Felix, they quickly wrapped up the case. Their first stop was the university where Jacob confirmed that Robinson had not only filed a corrected report with the USDA, but had also resigned his position as department chair. They then paid a visit to the dairy. There they found Rico, Gina, and Wyatt deep in discussion on the best way to re-start the project with Gina's alfalfa.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Bet you'll be glad when we get home ma'am," Felix said as the plane took off.

Rachel pulled her attention from the magazine she had been idly paging though. "Hmm, why's that Felix?"

"Seeing as you barely got back into town before we got called out." he explained.

Rachel's brow creased in puzzlement. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I know we're on the road a lot, but what with your vacation and all, it's been awhile since you've been home." The big man shrugged. "I don't know about you, but I always sleep best in my own bed."

"You're right." Rachel smiled. "It will be good to be home. I'm looking forward to sleeping in my bed."

Felix returned her smile and nodded companionably. Pulling out his iPod, he put the buds in his ears and leaned back to enjoy the flight home.

"I'm looking forward to that also." Jacob leaned over to murmur in Rachel's ear.

"Looking forward to what?"

"Sleeping in your bed." Jacob sat back with a slow smile, enjoying the blush that stained Rachel's cheeks.