I do not own Cold Case.

Thanks to Barbydancer, Aniesa a.k.a Eric's baby, RavennaNightwind, fbi-woman, Rhonda Roo, Elfi Blue, CarolinaH.Manning, and shippergrl25 for your encouraging reviews. And as always thanks to the readers-you keep this story going.

Truce

"Hey Valens," Lily addressed the teeming detective rather light-heartedly considering the situation begged for any reaction, but that.

"Who the hell is she!" Mr. Carr narrowed his eyes, unaware that Valens himself was shooting her with the same facial expression.

"Her name is Detective Lily Rush. Rush, this is Mr. Carr, the late Sandra Carr's brother," Miller took it upon herself to yet again diffuse another potential bomb site, earning her a cryptic gaze from Valens as Lily situated herself next to Carr.

"Well, la tee da. And just what are you callin' her in for eh? What, you need Laurel and Hardy," pointing to Vera as he stated the last name, "to play second fiddle to your interviewing skills? Well? Are you gonna arrest me or not?" The poor man was clearly out of his mind, but his tirade stilled the once anger-infested room.

Miller had her mouth agape, while Vera studied the donut currently perched in his right hand, and Valens struggled to keep his attention as it vied between Rush and Carr. Lily seemed to be the only one unaffected, her body relaxed against the back cushions of the couch, one arm placed so delicately upon the top ledge of the sofa. She almost looked bored-a vibe Scotty succeeded in catching.

"So Mr. Carr..." Lily asked gently.

"Yes."

"So, I was reading up on your case file on the way over here and I was pretty surprised that you had gotten stamped with the guilty verdict before you even had a chance to ask for a trial. Why don't you tell a little more about that."

"Mr. Carr you don't have to cause we're done here-"

"No we're not. Please continue. Tell me more about your sister." Lily took immediate control away from Scotty with her stone eyes and brick wall demeanor. He lowered himself onto the chair once more when he realized that Mr. Carr did and would truly tell his side of the story to the newbie. The most horrible part was that this very same man had been about throw Scotty out before Rush's save. This couldn't go on. She couldn't keep interrupting his world with her new techniques and unwavering inner strength. She had to go.

"I'll see everyone back at the office," Vera and Miller nodded in response, "Rush, I trust you know what to do here?" She too nodded in confidence.

It worked. He actually is going to let me do this all on my own. Maybe he does like me after all. These thoughts were the farthest from the truth for Scotty had a plan of his own.

(5:30 pm, Headquarters)

It had been hours since he had last laid eyes on his two friends and office wrecker Rush. His fingers tapped pure angst against the folder beneath, his stare radiated disdain for all human kind, and every two minutes he would boldly walk over to the window overlooking the entrance to the building, expecting to a glimpse of the three rebels, but this proved fruitless as well. He had had about decided that enough was enough when the group in question came strolling through the doors, cups of coffee in hand complimented by Cheshire cat grins.

"Hey there big guy, you missed one hell of an interview session with Mr. Carr. He practically spilled his guts to her-," Kat said, motioning to Lily, "What's...what's the problem?"

Her jubilee-like state wore off quickly as she found herself face to face with a sulking Valens.

"Yeah, what's your problem." Vera had a way with words, but his way rarely extracted the desired response. Scotty, for example, hopped off of the desk ledge, his landing sending chills through Rush. He was angry with her. What a fool she had been.

"Nothing's wrong with me," Valens answered back nonchalantly.

Oh shit. He's annunciating all the letters in a word. He never does that unless he's really angry about something. Oh shit...oh shit...oh shit!

Both Miller and Vera seemed to pick up on that little tiny fact as well, but it did not deter them in their line of questioning.

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong," Vera put his hands up in exasperation, "Nothing's ever wrong. Okay, I gotta go finish some paperwork so you can go back down to that little dungeon of yours and fume over nothing!"

"He didn't mean that Scotty," Miller interjected, but it was too late.

"Valens. And why don't you go follow him and take your new friend here with you. I don't need her anymore," Scotty replied.

"I have been assigned to the Cold Case division," Lily argued causing Scotty to turn furiously so that he now faced her. His eyes bore into hers, his breath flittered onto and around her face. If she could have sworn right then and there that she was not under the influence of any mind altering substances, she would have drawn more attention to the unknown emotion currently swimming behind his eyes.

"You are no longer under my direction."

"But, why..."

"Why! Because you deliberately refused to listen to me and what needed to be done. When I tell you to do something, I expect it to be done!" Scotty finished, his breathing ragged.

"You want to know why I followed you over there against your wishes," Lily was now close to tears, but she fought the good fight and waited for time to take away the need, "I wanted to learn from you. Damnit! You're the best there is and how dare you punish me for wanting to know more. I can do this job. It's my dream...it's what I've worked so hard for. Don't deny me this."

Their battle had dragged them down into the safety of the warehouse basement. He knew that she was right. He had tried to hold her back and this bothered him, but not enough to change his plan of attack.

"You will sit here," his hand banged loudly upon the desk top, "and will not move from that spot until I say when and where, which won't be for awhile. Understood."

"Yes."

"Good. Paperwork needs to be done." His fury had abated, but his determination in making her suffer for her wrong-doing had not. She silently sat down into her chair and began her duty as desk clerk.

Her coffee had long been forgotten, but her caffeine addiction would not allow her such an escape. She carefully put her fingertips to the temples of her head and began to rub soft circles. The pain eventually subsided to a dull ache, but it was only a matter of time before the pain moved down into the base of her skull and on into her neck. Her shoulders sagged for a moment giving her temporary relief, but if she was going to achieve a miracle recovery, well she had to find some Excedrin and fast. Coffee also wouldn't be a bad idea either-double caffeine.

"Somethin' wrong?" Scotty called back from the doorway.

"Yeah. Headache. I need some caffeine and an Excedrin," Rush murmured back.

"Oh," was all he said and disappeared up the stairs.

His short and cold remark combined with the ever-growing pain caused her to curse the man beneath her breath for the next five minutes-that was until he showed up again with both a cup of coffee and medicine in hand.

She squinted up towards the hand bearing the sweet relief she so needed at the moment. Taking the two tablets and the coffee from his hands, she mumbled a "thank you" and proceeded to swallow the medicine, gulping her coffee down in the process.

"Damn. I finished that off quickly," she sighed and flung the cup into the waste bin.

"Look, I'm gonna go to the local coffee joint down the street. It's better than what we have here. I'll get us a couple of coffees. Be back."

She stared back in amazement. All in a matter of thirty minutes, he had unleashed his anger on her, yelled, kicked her off his team, put her back on his team, got her a cup of coffee, gave her medicine, and now was off to get her another cup.

What the hell.

She suppressed a tired grin and set about filing paperwork until her returned.