Jazz was out of the car in an instant and in a flash he had Steven pushed up against the door, his arm pinned behind his back.

Casey blinked and nearly missed it.

Unfortunately, a couple of the other club members didn't and cautiously approached. Casey groaned.

"Is everything okay here?" They asked her, obviously deciding she was the weaker sex and therefore the most likely to be the injured party. Casey could see how it looked: Jazz, well-built and hard-looking in jeans and a leather jacket strong-arming a neatly-dressed, well-coiffured Steven who they recognised as a member. They wanted to support a "friend" (for that read "fellow club member") – they just didn't want to get hit in the process.

"No. Everything is far from fine." Casey hissed between her teeth. "However, I do have everything under control." She smiled with mock-sweetness. "Thank you for your concern."

The guys nodded and retreated slightly, but she noticed that they didn't continue their journey into the clubhouse, instead settling for watching on the sidelines. Casey decided to ignore them. Still in shock, but never one to forget her medical training (especially when the patient was the guy she was in love with) she glanced at the victim. Derek was sitting on the asphalt surface of the parking lot, rubbing his aching jaw. Satisfied he wasn't about to keel over any time soon, but throwing him a concerned look all the same, Casey turned back to Steven.

"What the hell was that?" She demanded.

"He deserved it." Steven hissed.

Jazz jerked his hand up higher and Steven winced.

"What? Why?" Casey gasped.

"He's put you through hell, screwed with your life. I just wanted the fucker to feel some of the pain you've felt."

Jazz glanced towards the heavens. Not another one! What is it about this girl?

Casey sighed and rubbed at her temples in frustration.

"I knew there was a chance of a fight I just figured it would be the other way around." She muttered, not as quietly as she might have thought. At her words, Derek narrowed his eyes at her from his position on the floor.

"What? What have I ever done to cause you pain?" Steven asked in disbelief.

"Well for a start you've almost broken my boyfriend's jaw." Casey pointed out. Derek grinned at the possessive comment and then winced as the pain hit and he realised she wasn't kidding about the almost-broken jaw.

"Your what?" Steven twisted his head round to stare at her. "What happened to Mikey?" Because, of course, the last Steven knew Casey had gone to find "Mikey".
"Steven – meet Mikey." Casey said pointing to Derek.

"You lied to me?" Steven asked her.

"No. I didn't know till I found him."

"So he lied to you!"

"No, he didn't. Not really. Some lies were told on his behalf but…" She looked around the parking lot and the growing crowd. "This isn't the place to have this discussion, but don't you think you should hear answers to your questions before you make assumptions?"

"I was being protective." Steven tried to explain.

"You were being ridiculous." Jazz said wearily and sensing the fight was going out of Steven's manner released him. "Seriously, I know she's hot but honestly is she worth the hassle?"

Jazz's voice trailed away as he sensed three pairs of eyes glaring at him. He coughed awkwardly, leaned against the car and continued to watch as Derek stood up, still rubbing at his face.

"What is the punishment for decking a cop these days anyway?" Jazz asked Derek.

Steven's eyes widened. "A what?"

Derek smirked at him as he reached into his own leather jacket and pulled out his warrant card, but it didn't put Steven off, (even if it did make some of the audience move away).

"So you're going to arrest me now?" Casey's friend asked.

Derek opened his mouth to say something so Casey interrupted moving between where the two men were now squaring up to each other. She put a hand on each man's chest.

"Let's get ourselves on the same page here before I end up admitting one or both of you to the ER." She looked pointedly at both of them. "…and by that I mean admit you because I accidentally get too enthusiastic when I smack both of you upside the head! Derek, why didn't you tell me you were alive?"

He frowned. "You know why."
She sighed exaggeratedly. "For Steven's benefit, tell me again."

"Because your life would have been in danger. I was protecting you." His gaze wasn't cocky any more. Casey smiled warmly at him and then turned to Steven with her expression blank again.

"And why did you hit Derek?" She asked feeling like a kindergarten teacher negotiating a school yard peace treaty.

"You know why."

"Tell me."
"Because he lied to you and caused you seven years of pain. I was protecting you."

"Alleluia! They agree!" Casey exclaimed throwing her hands in the air. Jazz snorted.

"What?" Derek and Steven asked looking at each other.

"You are both trying to protect me, so you're both on the same side. Knock it off with the blood-shed please!" She glanced around at the diminished audience in the parking lot as they looked suitable chastised.

"Now, this is what we are going to do. Jazz, you remember that diner we passed earlier and you said you could murder a burger?"

"Yeah."

"You think you could find it again?"
"Hell yeah!" Jazz's day had just picked up.
"Right. You and Derek take the rental and go there. I'll go with Steven and show him the way." Casey made to leave but someone caught her arm. Derek shook his head at her even though his hand was gentle, more a caress than a restraint.

"No way. I'm not letting you out of my sight. You do realise the threat we are under, don't you?" Casey suspected he wasn't talking about Sal.

"Don't be ridiculous Derek. I'll be fine."

Steven smirked. "Yeah Derek."

Casey whirled round. "Can it, you moron." She turned back to Derek. "I'm going with him because I'm going to fill him in on the potted Life with Derek plot while we're driving, so that next time he sees you he doesn't try to bruise the other side of your face."

"You're making me out to be a thug." Steven objected.

Casey scowled. "Believe me with the terms running through my head right now…be grateful it's not worse."

It took longer than the fifteen minutes they were driving to the diner to tell Steven everything that had gone on. Casey abridged it, but not by much because she wanted him to understand her relationship with Derek. When they reached the diner, the two old friends sat in the car for another ten minutes still talking.

Derek watched them from the window when Jazz refused to let him go back outside.

"Don't piss her off, D. He's no threat to you and you know it."

"I can't help it." Derek said simply. He knew if he tried to explain in more detail he was going to come across as a lovesick idiot, so whipped and under the thumb that Casey breathed and he started awake. Because that was how he felt. He noticed her every move, every breath. Their lives were so entwined he couldn't imagine being without her. Since they had become part of each other's lives again he had worried that he would lose her through death. Now looking at her with Steven he wondered if he would lose her the other way.

"She won't thank you if you behave like a jealous prick."

Derek narrowed his eyes at him. "Tell me. How many hot male friends does Bea have?"

Jazz shrugged. "She doesn't have male friends." He said confidently.

Derek snorted. "Dude, she uses bars to find litigation cases among blue collar workers. You wanna tell me none of them are her friends?"
"Yeah I guess some of them are. They are all fifty though."
"Not all of them. And some of them will have hot sons."

Jazz shook his head. "Stop changing the subject." He said, making a mental note to have a chat with Bea about her "clients" as soon as possible. "The more important situation right now is the one out there." He pointed towards the car park where Casey was leaning towards Steven.

"Oh shit!" Jazz finished as they watched the two "old friends" embrace.

To his credit, Derek didn't stir but only because he was too horror-struck to move a muscle. One minute he was bantering with Jazz, the next he was watching his girlfriend in someone else's arms. He didn't see them kiss exactly, but still.

"People who stare through windows rarely see things they like." A voice said in his ear. Derek turned to find Casey standing behind him and a short distance away Jazz leading Steven to a free booth. Derek wondered how long he had been out of it.

"Is that why you did it?" Derek asked. "Because you knew I was watching?"

Casey rolled her eyes. "No dumbass. I hugged him because he'd just apologised for being the biggest jerk on the planet, although right now I'm considering apologising to him for accusing him of being such when clearly you deserve that title so much more!"

She stepped closer to Derek.

"I am linked to you in ways you couldn't even imagine." She said softly. "I cannot be with anyone else. I love you far too much. I need you far too much."

There was so much determination in her voice he didn't doubt the authority of her statement. "You will never have a need to be jealous, Derek. Never. It's me that will be the one hurt, not you. I'll lose." Her voice became small at the end.

Derek sighed and caught her waist, pulling her to him. "I'm not going anywhere." He said in a tone deep with sincerity and emotion. "Not now, not ever. I'm not leaving you through death and I'm sure as fuck not leaving you for someone else. The day you die I'm jumping in the fucking coffin with you."

And he meant it.

They gazed at each other for several moments until a loud voice shouted. "Oh for god's sake Derek, save that emo-shite for the bedroom and come and sit down. I'm fucking starving!"

Derek groaned and flipped Jazz off before closing the gap to Casey and kissing her harder than he had ever done before.

When they finally pulled apart and approached the booth, Jazz looked up from the menu.

"Alleluia!" He exclaimed. "Now. I'm having the Belly-Buster burger. What about you guys?"

"I don't understand." Steven admitted a while later.

The plates in front of the four of them were empty and they were sitting back, replete and ready to talk. Things were still awkward between Steven and Derek but Casey was sure the danger of a battle breaking out had receded.

Derek shrugged and in a move that clearly showed he had listened to Casey's little speech earlier, he proceeded to explain the situation to Casey's friend calmly, politely and without any sneering or smirking. Of course there wasn't a lot of friendliness but Casey was ready to take whatever she could get.

"Ok. You know that I overheard some discussions on steroid use within my college hockey team? And you know that I took that information to the authorities?"

Steven nodded.

Derek swallowed a mouthful of Coke. "No one understood the information I gave them. I used the terms I overheard and the guys I was telling were no scientists. Anyways up, they decided to get some proper advice and brought in a scientific adviser."
"My uncle?" Steven guessed. Casey had already explained that they wanted to talk about Steven's least favourite relative.

"Yup. He wrote a report so confusing that we all ignored it and it was stuffed to the back of my file. A short time later, I was "killed" and the whole chain of events Casey's just told you about was kicked off."

"And now?"
Casey sat forward beside Derek. His hand slid round to rub her spine.

"And now I've pulled the steroid report from the file and read through it." She explained.
Steven frowned. "Do you understand it?"
Casey shook her head. "No. Not really. Which got me thinking. Every other part of this whole sorry business has been raked over repeatedly with nothing new showing up. Unless something new happens or something breaks, the only information we have left to trawl through which hasn't been sifted is that scientific report. I can't just say I don't understand it. I have to make sure I do understand it."

Steven nodded. "You want me to take a look at it?" he offered.

"That would be great…" Casey hesitated. "…but I was also hoping I could go straight to the horse's mouth."

"You want to talk to my uncle?" He asked, frowning.

"Yes."
Steven took a deep breath. "I don't know, Case. He's…well let's just say he's my mother's brother and they were both cut from the same cloth."
Derek looked confused. "Meaning?"

"Meaning that the guy is a real stickler for the rules. I mean he has rules for the way he dresses, rules for who he deigns to speak to…Just getting to see him will be a minor miracle and you can forget any idea of getting information out of him that might actually help."

Casey's body slumped. "Great!" She said in a voice that sounded anything but enthusiastic. "What do I do now then?"

Steven looked thoughtful. "Look, there may still be something in this report that I can find. Have you got a copy I can look at?"

Steven left them shortly afterwards because he needed to go to work. He took Casey's new cell number and a copy of the scientific report on a memory stick and promised to call them the following day.

He wanted to help them or rather he wanted to help Casey. He wanted to make it up to her for hitting Derek. He didn't regret the action, just that it upset Casey!

It had been a relief to see her looking so good and he was grateful for the improvement. He had no choice to be happy for her and he was realistic. If Steven had been what she wanted and needed then it would have happened years ago when she thought Derek was dead. Now that she knew he was alive and back in her life – and that Derek wanted her as much as she wanted him – Steven stood no chance with Casey McDonald.

But she was still a very good friend and he always believed in helping your friends.

Fuck that! He'd roll over and die for Casey!

The Trauma department was manic when he started his shift, so there was no time to even glance at the report until he was back at home later that night.

Eventually however, he let himself into his apartment, fixed something to eat, fired up his laptop and began to read.

"We could just get take out." Jazz said.

"Again?" Casey complained. "I can feel the MSG building up in my toes just from the few months that I've been living alongside cops. No. Stop at the grocery store and I'll pick up the bits and pieces for a proper home-cooked meal."

"Take out will be quicker." Jazz pointed out.

Derek smacked his friend on the arm. "Dude. Casey is offering to cook a proper meal and you're turning her cooking down for stuff that comes in little plastic trays and smells like it's come from a chemistry set. If you value your stomach accept Casey's offer."

"What are you planning to cook?" Jazz asked Casey.

She shrugged. "What do you want?"
Derek's friend thought for a moment. "Lasagne. Take out Lasagne never tastes good. Let's have the real thing."

"Good choice Jazz." Derek agreed. "That's one of Casey's specialities."

Casey got out of the car and headed for the large grocery store two blocks from her apartment. Jazz and Derek opted to stay in the car: Derek because he couldn't risk being seen by someone he knew and Jazz because he avoided grocery stores as much as possible. Casey smiled to herself. She had a good feeling about the relationship between Derek and Steven. Now that they had got all the crap out of the way, maybe they would start to be friends.

Sam was tired. Amelia was teething and it didn't make for a good night's sleep so he had been tired when he had left for work this morning. It was now ten hours later and all he wanted was to get home to bed.

He navigated the streets of London confidently because he had lived here all his life. The only time he had had to learn new parts of it were when the new commuter development had been constructed and he and Ruth had purchased one of the new build properties. Even then it had taken him less than a week to learn the new layout.

But he particularly knew this area of London because it was so close to where he had grown up, gone to school and played hockey. He also knew it because Casey lived nearby.

Sam drove the familiar streets wondering how Casey was getting on. He made a mental note to quiz Ruth when he got home. There was still the possibility of a short city break to Ottawa to check out this "Mikey" character because Sam still wasn't sold on the guy! Casey had a knack of attracting the wrong sort of boyfriend…Sam excluded of course. He may have fallen head over heels for Ruth, and their life was idyllic but he still owed Casey the level of brotherly feeling that she had lost with Derek's death.

As he drove up to the traffic signals beside the massive new grocery store which he and Ruth had yet to visit, he noticed a large sign proclaiming that it not only stocked every item of food you could possibly need but also a new lo-cost clothing range. Sam's mind wandered from Casey to his current personal quest for comfortable sleep pants. So far he had been unable to find any to match his old favourites which had been discontinued by his normal retailer. His eyebrows raised slightly. Perhaps he should divert into the store and take a look…

He flicked the turn signal on, and turned into the parking lot.

Casey had finished shopping, had paid and was now manoeuvring the cart out to the waiting car. It looked loaded up and Derek rolled his eyes at her over-planning tendencies even as he opened his car door and went to help her load the trunk.

"There's enough food in here for a week." He commented.

"No. There's enough food in here for three days. You and Jazz are like a plague of locusts when it comes to a fridge. You open the door, and ten seconds later there's nothing left."

"We're growing guys." Derek said with a leading smile. "Besides, I need all the energy I can get with you around."

He was being playful.

Casey watched him placing the bags in the trunk. "Meaning?"
Derek lifted the last carriers into the space and then straightened. "Meaning I need to keep my strength up." He said his gaze now intense.

"Oh? I drain you, do I?" Casey played along.

They were edging closer, both aware that Jazz was in the car, but also aware that as the lid of the trunk was raised, he could see nothing.

"If you're doing it right, yeah." Derek murmured against her ear his hands wandering the curves of her body.

"Good thing I'm a keener about such things." Casey said, letting him kiss her neck. "I'd hate to do a bad job."

"Honey, no job you ever do is a bad one." Derek reassured her, pressing his body up against hers.

"We aim to please." Casey said, her hands on his backside and her pelvis rubbing against Derek's.

"We?"

"My hands." Casey said stroking his forearm. "My fingers." She trailed her fingers across his abdomen. "My mouth."

Derek leaned closer and pressed his mouth close to hers. "You kill me." He said quietly and closed his eyes as their mouths met.

They deepened the kiss and grabbed for each other's bodies rubbing and stroking and… Derek wondered at the idea of anyone getting turned on in the supermarket parking lot.

"Let's go home, ditch Jazz and have an early night." Derek suggested.

Casey giggled and nodded. "Sure…but you get to come up with the excuse."

Derek rolled his eyes. "Hey I…"

But they never got to find out what Derek was going to say because there was an almighty crash.

"What was that?" Casey asked, dazed.

Derek jerked his head to one side. "A shunt. Someone not paying attention to the people parking ran up the back of another car." He explained.

Casey glanced across and then froze.

"Shit!" she said uncharacteristically.

"What?" Derek asked nervously.

"We need to leave. Now!" she said quietly.

"Because…" Derek prompted. Casey turned to stare at him.

"Because the car that ran up the back of the other because the driver wasn't paying attention?"

"Yeah?"
"It was Sam!"