Thank you all SO MUCH for the reviews! You all know how to make my morning. Just over two weeks now before I go over to the UK. I'm so excited!

I know this really isn't you
I Know Your Heart Is Somewhere Else
And I'll Do Anything I Can
To Help You Break Out Of This Spell
I See You Following your Crowd
I Know You're Trying To Fit In
But If Your Gonna Find Yourself
You Gotta Start From Deep, Deep Within

Never far behind- Aly & Aj.

She looked over at her partner; they were both panting. He clutched his arm to his chest and was slightly limping; she had a nasty looking gash on the side of her face and her knuckles were red and bruised.
They both sat on an abandoned tyre as Max got off the phone with the DI telling them that they had their murder suspect in custody.
"Bet you weren't expecting this when you got up this morning"Max said as Ashley touched her face, wincing as it came in contact with her now bleeding wound.

Ashley glowered at her superior momentarily and shook her head "Thanks serge. I know you thought it was a stupid idea to come out here with me, with no back up and listen to me bitch the whole way here..." She smiled painfully to herself.
"No worries" Max replied as he heard sirens in the background, letting them know that the others had arrived "Harvey's going to be questioning that when you get home" He said, motioning to her wound.

"Oh yeah. Well, I can put it off a little longer; we've still got to go for that drink you're paying for" Ashley laughed as the ambulance parked over beside them.
Max rolled his eyes "I think you should be the one who's paying. You got us into this mess to begin with" He said as two paramedics came out.
Ashley stood up and smirked "You were the one who decided to play superman and try and help me" She said.
"You were meat. He was beating the crap out of you" Max stated as the lady walked over to him and began inspecting his arm.

"I was fine. Nothing I couldn't handle" Ashley said, knowing full and well if Max hadn't intervened when he did there was every chance that she may be dead.
Max shook his head and her and bit back a yelp as the woman pushed his shoulder back slightly "Alright; remind me of that next time when you get beaten by a suspect" He said; smiling as Ashley turned her back on him and walked over to the DI who was now getting out of his car.

Max watched as she left; his mind drifted to just half and hour earlier when he saw her get knocked back by the suspect who was now knocked out cold and cuffed to a pole a few meters away. He never felt so mad before; he lost his temper, getting a few blows in while the other guy tried to over power him. Max had a dislocated arm and a banged up leg. He fully blamed Ashley; jokingly of course.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the ice and aspirin club" Sergeant Jo Masters joked as she saw Ashley with an ice pack on her cheek. Ashley rolled her eyes at the older woman and smirked "Well, well, well, if it isn't the sergeant who's twenty minutes too late to a call out" She retorted, coming to a stand still in front of the uniformed officer.

"Excuse me" Ashley turned around to see a male paramedic standing behind her "I want to take you and your partner back to Saint Hughes for a check up" He said.
Ashley rolled her eyes and looked at Max who was getting help into the back of the ambulance "Yeah, yeah" She turned to Jo "Thanks for the assistance officer" She joked as she followed the paramedic back to the ambulance. She could hear Max bitching about how he didn't need the hospital and how he was fine; even though she knew he wasn't.

Harvey and Ashley sat in the small cubicle; Harvey was once again fussing over her "My God Harvey; I'm fine, just a little bump" She said as he ran a hand through her hair.
The other man nodded and placed his hand down by his side "I just-what if something happened out there? What if it was just you going out there by yourself and Max didn't come?" He said; knowing that Ashley would have done out there, with or without her superior.

"But he did" Ashley pointed out as she placed the ice pack down on the bedside table and stood up; stretching slightly.
"But what if he didn't?" Harvey said, placing a hand on the small of her back as the nurse came in with discharge papers.
Ashley smiled her thanks and filled out the forms "But he did" She handed the forms back to he nurse and walked out of the cubicle "Look; Harvey, I know you love me. And I know that you want me to have this safe office job like you. But this is the kind of thing I signed up for. I know that I haven't done my job right if no one wants to kick the crap out of me at the end of the day" She smiled slightly and walked with Harvey out of the car park. She knew from Mickey that Max had been discharged already since he came to get him.

"Look; I was just thinking right Ash. That maybe after we get married...You could...move on to something more safe" Harvey suggested as they walked out of the hospital.
Ashley shook her head "No" She said simply, not believing that Harvey would even ask that.
"Ash hear me out" Harvey pleaded as Ashley walked to the car.

Ashley turned to face him "No. I will not throw something away which I've worked so damn hard for!" She growled at him as they reached the car.
Harvey shook his head "You could be dead tomorrow! Then how would I feel huh, knowing that I could have stopped something that killed my wife-to-be"
Ashley bit her bottom lip; their arguments seemed to become a norm lately, and they always led to one thing; work.
If it wasn't about how late she would be home, it was about the bruises and the stress coming from it. The final straw blew one night when he asked if she was sleeping with someone else.

"Harvey; I'm really tired. I just want to go home" Ashley said with a sigh of defeat.
Harvey shook his head angrily and pulled open the car door "I don't even know why we bother with this" He said as he pulled the car out of the car space.
Ashley looked at him "Bother with what?" She asked, looking at him with tired eyes.
"Us!" Harvey said angrily "We can't even seem to talk to each other anymore! Everything seems to be an argument" He sped down the main road as Ashley shook her head.

"You make it into a damn argument that's why!" Ashley retorted as she leaned her head against the window.
Harvey shook his head angrily "No I don't. That's what you do! Jesus Ashley; I love you, don't you understand that. I want to bloody marry you. I'm not really seeing the point anymore" He finished quietly.
Ashley looked at him "What?" She breathed out in a disbelieving tone.
"All you seem to do these days is work work work. And, when you come home, it's almost like you're not at home. You're mind is always on something else" He pulled the car into the driveway "And you never talk about it Ash"

Ashley looked down with tears in her eyes "I'm sorry Harvey. This last week has been so hard" She said as the tears over flowed onto her cheeks.
"What's happened?" When he saw she wasn't going to say anything, he sighed "Shit Ash. You need to talk to me about this. We're going to be husband and wife soon" He pleaded.
Ashley shook her head and got out of the car "I'm going to go down to the pub for a bit. I'll be home later on yeah" She said as she pulled her bag from the car. Harvey sat back in his seat and sighed; knowing that there was no point trying to talk to her when she was in this state of mind.