I hope everyone had a good holiday, as promised, here is the next chapter. I hope everyone has a good 2013, enjoy:)

Myka followed HG into the station, shaking the snow off of her back with a glare. She couldn't believe HG had actually chucked a snowball at her. Myka vowed to get Pete involved somehow to get her back. HG only grinned as she pulled Myka's beanie off her head and crammed it into her coat pocket. Myka had to admit, it did look cute on her. She ignored her and sat down at her desk, making a point to glare as she shook out the rest of the snow before draping it across the back of her chair.

"Hey Myka, the daughter Anne is here." Claudia announced as she walked through the bullpen. Myka nodded and took a deep breath. Speaking with the families of the deceased was always the worst part of her job; but this young woman was almost exactly the age Myka had been when her own mother was murdered, and she knew exactly all the things Anne must be feeling. She grabbed her notebook and held it in front of herself, gripping the sides tightly and walked forward. She couldn't put this off. Well, she could, Pete wouldn't fault her for it. He would jump in and talk to Anne in a second if she asked, but she didn't want to have to ask. This was her job, her mother's murder had been a long time ago and she needed to not let it hinder her life like this. She knocked once on the break room door before opening it and giving Anne a small smile. Myka situated herself across from Anne, seeing HG perch on her armrest out of the corner of her eye. She had almost told her to sit this one out, but oddly, having her right there made Myka feel calmer.

"Hello Anne, my name is Detective Bering and this is HG Wells a consultant with the NYPD, I'm very sorry for your loss."

"Thank you." Anne said. The vain in her neck tensed and she swiped away a stray tear. The young woman's face was red and their were tissues in her hand. She didn't look either Myka or HG in the eye. Myka remembered talking to the detective about her mother that night, she had hardly believed his sympathies either.

"Had you noticed anyone new in your mother's life, anyone that brought out suspicions? Or someone that had any type of grudge with her?"

"No. My mother is...was, she was loved by everyone. She was that person who could just make friends wherever she went. I've never met anyone who hated her. I just...we were supposed to bake cookies for an event. I promised her, but I'd just had so much work and I told her I'd be too late to do it. If I'd come when I said I would have..." She broke off and began to cry again. Myka leaned forward, pushing her notebook out of the way and placing a hand on the woman's knee.

"Anne, there was nothing you could have done. Running it through your mind over and over, the what ifs, if I had only just come earlier, etc. they don't help. If you had come earlier the only possible outcome is that maybe you wouldn't be here either. Whomever did this to your mother is the one you need to place blame with." Myka said firmly. Anne wiped at a tear and kept her gaze down, Myka knew she didn't believe her. She hadn't believed Detective Raglan either. She sighed. "Anne, this isn't a platitude or something I am just saying to make you feel better it's a promise." Myka said calmly. Anne looked up at Myka for the first time and caught her eye. "I will find whomever murdered your mother, and I will make him pay for what he has done."

Anne sat still for a moment, starring at Myka. She held her gaze, and then Anne nodded and swiped a tissue against her nose. Myka let out her breath, Anne believed her, or partly did. Myka said goodbye and made sure to give the woman her card should she think of anything that might help and lead her out of the station. As she turned around, HG walked up to her.

"You were very good with her." She noted as they walked back to Myka's desk.

Myka shrugged. "I just told her the truth, running that through her head isn't going to do her any good. There wasn't anything she could have done."

"I can't help but wonder what Christina would do if something happened to me. Her father is anything but responsible."

"HG, I'm not gonna talk to you about my mom for your book so you might as well give it up." Myka said a little more harshly than she intended. Things related to her mother almost always brought out too many feelings to deal with; whatever was going on with her relationship, or friendship, whatever it was with HG would just have to take a backseat.

"Myka, I wasn't..."

"Pete, what have you got on the robberies in the area?" Myka asked, interrupting HG. The look of hurt that crossed the other woman's face wasn't lost on Myka and she cringed. They needed to solve this case fast, Myka felt like she was crawling out of her skin.

"Well, whoever it was used a bump key, but a standard one wouldn't have worked on their high end door. There was this guy I busted a few years back for making them, I made a few calls and he's out on parole. I got him sitting in the interrogation room for ya."

"Well there you go, come on HG let's go talk to Mister...?"

"Evan Mitchell." Pete finished for her, handing his file over. Myka glanced it over for a second before nodding to HG to follow her.

"Mr Mitchell, I'm Detective Bering, this is Ms Wells, a consultant. Where were you last night between the hours of ten and midnight?" Myka said immediately as she walked into the room. She choose not to look at him until she was finished, instead keeping her gaze on his files until she sat down. HG stood behind her, leaning against the glass window.

"I was at a bar, O'Flanagans." He answered calmly.

"And is there anyone who could verify that?"

"Well hot stuff you gimme an hour and I'll see what I can do." He answered with a smirk and a wink. Myka snapped. She shoved the table into his stomach, pining him against the wall as he stared at her, baffled.

"A woman is dead Evan, I don't have time for you to shit around with me, do you have anyone to verify your whereabouts or not?" She spat at him.

"Am I under arrest lady? If not get the hell away from me." He tried to shove the table back at Myka, but she pushed it hard at him and stood up, leaving him alone in the room. Shaking, Myka ran her fingers through her hair and took a deep breath. That had been the very definition of unprofessional and worse things suspects had done had never riled her up like that before. She needed to get herself together or Captain Neilsen would pull her from the case.

"Myka, are you alright?" HG asked, lightly grabbing into Myka's elbows.

"HG, I'm fine just leave me alone. I'll call you if we need you." Myka yanked her arms back and walked away before HG could protest. Myka needed to be alone right now, unfortunately, Pete walked right up to her.

"Cap says we've got to let him go, not enough evidence."

"No, Pete we can make the connection if we have more time." Myka insisted. Pete sighed and she thought he was going to tell her it was a lost cause, but she really must have looked desperate. He nodded.

"I can hold him on the gun violation, but it won't hold for long."

"That's fine." Myka turned around and saw HG still standing in the bullpen, watching them. She shook her head and walked away, heading for the shooting range. She would rather hit something right now, but she couldn't afford to take the time that came with hitting the punching bag, the shower and the change of clothes that came with it. Shooting things would have to suffice.

Helena wasn't about to let Myka off that easily. Not when she had finally gotten to a point in their relationship, friendship, whatever it was they were calling it where Myka was starting to trust her more. She went and checked the gym first, figuring Myka would be there, but to no avail. She took off to her second guess and sure enough, there Myka was, looking adorable and pissed off at the same time; wearing red oversized earmuffs and shooting with deadly accuracy at the target.

"Thought you'd be in the gym." She said casually as she walked up to the taller woman.

Myka sighed, she looked exhausted. "Leave me alone HG." She repeated. It sounded more like a plead than a demand, and Helena had no intentions of fulfilling it, not yet anyway. She walked over and propped herself up on the shelf and crossed her arms.

"I know why you're upset." She said. Myka ignored her and reloaded her gun. "You promised Anne you would find her mother's killer and you're terrified you won't make good on it." Myka slammed her clip into the gun and glared at HG until she got down and stood back. Roughly, Myka handed over a pair of earmuffs to Helena and shot out the full clip before turning back to Helena.

"Wanna try?"

Helena beamed.

Myka stood behind Helena and adjusted her grip on the gun. "Squeeze don't pull." She ordered and stepped back to let Helena try. Purposelessly, Helena missed the target a few times.

"May I bring home some of the crime scene photos?" She asked. Helena had a hunch, but she couldn't quite place exactly what it was yet.

Myka shot her a half amused look. "Sure, if you can hit the target." She grinned evilly. It took all Helena had not to laugh. Expertly, she turned, held the gun properly, and shot five rounds right into the center; twirling around with a flourish she handed the gun off to a shocked Myka.

"Why thank you darling, have a wonderful evening." She said with a smirk as she passed the earmuffs off as well and walked out of the room, leaving a baffled Myka behind.

Helena went home and poured over the photos of the jewelry. Martha walked in and gasped at a particularly large turquoise necklace. "Oh what I wouldn't give to wear that." She exclaimed. Helena laughed and dropped the photo in her hand on the table.

"Do remember that man, Dave Powell?" Helena asked.

"The robber you outed in your books? Of course, you ruined him."

"I didn't..." Helena broke off and sighed. "He might know who would be talented enough to steal these, or something the cops can't get ahold of."

"Darling, I very much doubt that man will want to talk to you again." Martha warned.

"Well, Mother, I can charm anyone!" Helena grinned. "I'm going to tuck Christina in and go meet him, you're staying in tonight correct?"

"Yes."

"Wonderful." Helena kissed her mother's cheek and ran out of the room. Powell had been an informant for Helena in some of her earlier books, but she hadn't spoken to him in years. He answered her call, and agreed to meet her which was a good sign. As Helena walked into the restaurant and found him sitting up near the bar she smiled and walked over. "Powell, how are you?" She asked.

He whipped around in his chair and glared. "If you were a man I would slug you right now, as it is, I'm gonna smack you instead." He announced before bringing his hand back and cracking it across her cheek. Helena reached her hand up to it stunned. It hadn't been a particularly hard slap, but nevertheless she glared at him. "You deserved it and we both know it, now what do you want?" He asked gruffly.

Helena rubbed her cheek for good measure and he rolled his eyes. The waiter behind the bar caught her eye and almost walked over but she waved him off. "I did actually deserve that one." She told him and then turned to Powell. "However, it will not be tolerated again." She warned him.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Powell nodded and pushed a drink over to her. "What did you want? Ruin my career more? Get me locked up again?"

"Firstly, you decided to make a living by stealing from others, and that is on you. Your incarceration was your fault and yours alone. I may have accidentally had a hand in alerting the authorities to you but they were already well on their way to getting there all by themselves. Now, you've gotten your hit in and we are square alright?"

"Fine." He grumbled. "What do you need?"

Helena pulled the photos out and passed them over. Powell whistled appreciatively as he glanced through them. "Have you heard anything about these pieces being fenced on the market?"

"Nothing like these, goddamn this one's a beaut. These yours?" He asked.

Helena shook her head. "I'm consulting with the NYPD, there was a string of robberies in the upper east side, along with these pieces being stolen, a woman was murdered. The rest have been solely robberies, but she was killed and stuffed into the safe these came from."

"Jesus!" Powell flipped through the photos again, inspecting the jewelry. "These aren't casually worn pieces, this is special occasion jewelry; charity events, parties, etc. Whoever hocked these had to have intimate knowledge of the owners, what type of events they would be worn to, when they were in the safe, when they would be out, etc. Its a longer job than just picking an apartment and hacking into the safe. If I saw the safe I could maybe tell you more."

"Righty-ho then, off we go." Helena grabbed the photos back and jumped up with Powell following her.

"You're than in with the cops?" He asked skeptically.

"Darling, I can charm anyone, I've got you coming along haven't I? Only minutes ago you hated me."

"Yeah, that's an annoying quality of yours by the way."

"I happen to disagree."

Myka heard footsteps and people whispering ahead of her. Instantly, she pulled her gun and tip toed forward slowly. Her hand on the doorknob, she braced herself then shoved it open. "NYPD!" She announced and pointed her gun at...HG Wells. "WELLS!" Myka yelled and lowered her gun. HG stood in front of her with her hands in the air, the shocked expression on her face quickly turning to amusement.

"Detective Bering, we meet at gunpoint again." She grinned. Myka rolled her eyes and holstered her gun. The other time Myka had pulled a gun on HG had been a couple of months ago. Myka had explicitly ordered the woman to stay in the car, an order which she had – of course – ignored. She followed her and the team into the building and Myka had pulled her gun the second she heard footsteps behind them. The next time, she might just shoot. At least in the arm or leg.

"HG, you can't just break into a crime scene in the middle of the...who are you looking for?" She asked. HG was walked around looking behind curtains.

"Damn he is good. It probably was all my fault." She muttered to herself.

"Who, what?"

"Dave Powell, he's a fri...acquaintance I've used for my books. No wonder he was never caught, I've no idea where he's gone off to. I wanted him to look at the jewelry, see if he knew about any of it being fenced on the market."

"Hold on...you brought a criminal to an active crime scene?"

"Well..."

"HELENA!" Myka yelled. "You can't..." She broke off and took a deep breath. She might just shoot HG for the hell of it now. "You cannot break into crime scenes on your own and you most certainly cannot bring a criminal with you."

"Technically he did the breaking in. I am well apt at picking locks but he had missed it so I let him have this one." HG explained. Myka bit the inside of her cheek to keep from yelling.

"You...how do you know a criminal? Actually, scratch that, of course you know criminals."

"We met when he was very lucrative, he offered me great insight to the dealings of jewelry thieves and then I may have accidentally outed him in my novel causing his most recent incarceration." HG added in a rush. Myka snorted as HG flipped her hair and refused to look her in the eye.

"Accidentally?" She asked. "You got him locked up and he's still pulling you favors?"

HG only shrugged. "He smacked me earlier, we're even."

"He hit you!?" Myka yelled. A little shocked at just how angry that made her. She moved forward immediately and grabbed HG's face, inspecting it.

"Darling it was merely a slap and well deserved, he's by no means a violent man. I know abuse when I see it and would never tolerate it and he knows that. Feeling protective are we?" She asked with a smirk. "I quite like that."

Myka instantly dropped her hands and backed a step away from HG. "I cannot believe you actually brought a criminal here. What was coming here going to help? I gave you the photos."

"They're special occasion jewelry, Powell said the thieves would need intimate knowledge of the owners. When they would be worn, when they would be in and out of the safe etc. Seeing the safe would help him narrow it down."

"And did he?" Myka asked.

"Well darling I don't know, you came in and pulled a gun on me and he ran off."

"You were in the dark in an active crime scene with a criminal!"

"Well why are you here?" HG asked crossing her arms.

"I...I wanted to see if there was anything I missed." Myka admitted. She hadn't been able to sleep at all. HG had been right, her promise to Anne was eating at her. If she couldn't find her own mother's killer, she damn well was going to find Anne's. "But there's nothing here, we've gone over it all. I guess I was just hoping, or restless." Myka shrugged. "Captain is going to have to let Mitchell go in the morning, we've got nothing to hold him on."

"Yes, I've actually been thinking about that." HG said. Myka raised her eyebrows. "May I talk to him?"

"You? Why?"

Excitedly HG moved closer to Myka, fidgeting with her hands. "He won't give up anything to the cops, but I'm not a cop and many thieves can't resist the idea of fame. Of having their story told, I can tell him I'm writing a novel about a jewelry crew, see if he will give up anything that might be of use to us."

"HG that is...actually a pretty good idea." Myka admitted begrudgingly. They didn't have much of anything else right now, and she knew Mitchell knew more than he was saying. HG beamed like a child who had been just given a compliment and Myka rolled her eyes. "No more breaking into crime scenes." She ordered. HG saluted her and it took everything Myka had not to laugh at the adorableness of it.

"I shan't, I'll simply call you and make you take me from now on." She said with a grin as the two of them walked out.

"HG, if you call me in the middle of the night about anything ever, it had better be an extremely solid lead, or you are dying." Myka warned her. HG only grinned.