So are you guys still reading this one? I ask because a few of my 'regulars' didn't review the last chapter. Kind of makes me sad that though my other stories are doing okay, this one's losing interest. So if you're still out there, lemme know okay? Well, on with the story. Chapter title by Savage Garden.

Disclaimer: I have three cats. Three very beautiful cats that I love to bits. None of them are Lilly's cats though. :( so I guess I'm trying to say I don't own Cold Case. I also have a dog... but that's besides the point.

Chapter 18: Crash And Burn

"How could something like this happen?" Scotty yelled at no one in particular, slamming his hands down on Lilly's desk. Of all the people who could have escaped. Him? Of all the doers they'd put away… it had to be him. Scotty felt the anger bubble up in his throat until it was taking all of his, admittedly limited, will power to keep himself from running headfirst into the wall in frustration.

Lilly chanced a glance up at Scotty, knowing he was too caught up in his own emotions to pay attention to her. She turned to her other, calmer colleagues. "Are the feds on this?"

Stillman nodded in confirmation, pursing his lips into a straight line and trying to conceal his own frustration.

"What can we do?" Kat asked in concern.

"Wouldn't have to do anything, if the damn guards weren't sittin' on their asses all day." Scotty spat bitterly. "Now we gotta go clean up their mess?"

"Hey-" Vera began, trying to diffuse the situation and quell his younger colleague's anger, but Scotty cut him off before he could finish.

"Hey what, Nicky?" Scotty asked rhetorically. He began pacing back and forth, as though trying to wear a hole in the floor of the bullpen. "It ain't supposed to be like this!" He exploded, throwing his hands up in the air.

When the rest of the team remained silent, he sighed, ran a hand through his hair and looked wildly toward the exit. "I gotta get… some air or somethin'"

He made a beeline for the door, but Scotty soon found his way blocked by none other than Will Jeffries, who'd so far remained silent in the face of this new information.

"Move." Scotty demanded.

Jeffries ignored him. "None of us like this any more than you do, Scotty. But it happened. The question is are you going to stand around pointing fingers, or help put this guy back where he belongs."

Scotty continued to glare at him, and the whole room remained in tense silence for a few more seconds… until Scotty's anger bled out of him and he collapsed into a chair, burying his head in his hands.

Boss sighed. "Until there's a sighting, there isn't anything we can do. But Lil, you can't go home." He said regretfully.

Lilly's head snapped up. "Why the hell not?" She asked angrily.

"His attack on you is what convinced the judge to give him the maximum sentence." Stillman began. "The feds have the idea that…that…" He trailed off.

"That he might try and kill me." Lilly finished quietly.

The silence that descended upon the five of them was tense. No one wanted to break it for fear of unleashing the turmoil of emotion swirling just beneath the surface. Finally, Lilly looked up and spoke.

"Where should I go then?"

At this, Scotty finally raised his head and stood up. He rolled his chair over next to Lilly's and turned it around so that the chair's back was facing everyone else. He'd promised her. He'd promised that she'd never have to stand on her own anymore and he was going to keep that promise if it was the last thing he did. He reached over and took her hand, clasping it tightly and caressing her skin, all the while hiding his actions behind the chair, away from everyone's prying eyes. At the small smile she gave him, Scotty felt elated.

"Until we know where he is and what he's doing, the safest place is going to be right here." Stillman said and everyone nodded in agreement.

Pushing the temporary vulnerability out of her mind, Lilly took her hand back and stood up and spoke with a tone that clearly indicated she was taking charge, "Well, there's no use in everyone being here. It's late. You should all just, go home and get some sleep."

At their disbelieving eyes, Lilly added, "I'll be fine. Precinct never closes, there'll be people." She said, trying to reassure herself and everyone else.

"I'll stay." Scotty immediately volunteered. And to his relief, no one protested. No one questioned his intentions or his reasons. He supposed they all attributed it to partnerly concern, well all of them except for Kat, and decided to let it slide.

The others nodded, but none of them made a move for the door. It was late, and once again the entire team found themselves frozen in the precinct, unable to move. "Well, don't just stand there." Lilly encouraged softly. "Go on, get outta here." She forced a smile to her face, one that hopefully, would convince them she was perfectly okay.

Stillman nodded, reaching for his coat and indicating that everyone else follow his lead. They were reluctant, but eventually, only their Boss remained in the bullpen.

"Boss?" Scotty said, tearing his eyes away from Lilly.

Stillman turned around on his way out, glad to see that the anger was completely gone from Scotty's voice, and the calmer, rational, detective side had taken charge. "Yeah, Scotty?"

"The second you hear somethin'," Scotty began.

"I'll let you know." Stillman finished, nodding in confirmation.

It was a few hours later that Lilly realized Scotty was swallowing more anger than he initially displayed. As she looked out the window from the break room, having just finished getting her fourth cup of coffee. Scotty was still staring mutinously at the phone, every so often glancing down to fill out a line of whatever report he was doing, with unnecessary force, as though the paper had done him a personal disservice. Lilly sighed. She really didn't want to go back out there, not to the silence that had descended uncomfortably between them.

Wasn't Scotty supposed to be the one who wanted to talk? In her experience, Scotty was always the one who wanted a confrontation, wanted to discuss things to death, until they got to the bottom of everything. Lilly had been the deflector, the silent one, the expert at the cold shoulder. That was the situation she was used to, and she was damn good at dealing with it, thank you very much. But for Scotty to be brooding, not talking to her, that she didn't know how to deal with. And, frankly, it worried her more than a little bit.

Swallowing her trepidation and carrying her coffee back to the bullpen, she sat in her desk, which was placed conveniently opposite from Scotty's. If he saw her sit down, he made no move to confirm it. Instead, his pen descended on the paper with such force that it punctured a hole right through. He swore, sweeping aside the page and reaching for another.

"Scotty?" Lilly said tentatively, hoping she would break through that dark cloud hanging over his head with just her voice.

No such luck. Scotty gave no indication that he'd heard her, just ruined his second sheet of paper and wordlessly dropped it into the trash.

"Would you just say something please?" Lilly burst out in exasperation, almost knocking over her coffee in the process.

Scotty rubbed his hands over his face, "What the hell do you want me to say?" He demanded.

"Well, I dunno, Maybe something that tells me you aren't pissed off at me?" Lilly shot back, anger permeating her own voice.

Scotty's brow furrowed in confusion. "What?" He looked at her, "What are you talkin' about? I ain't- it's not you that I'm mad at."

"Really." Lilly replied icily, "Cause you're doing a damn fine job making me believe you are."

"Well, sorry." Scotty said shortly.

"Don't be sorry." Lilly demanded. "Just, you know, explain, what the hell is wrong with you?"

Scotty almost laughed out loud. "What's wrong with me? Better question is what's wrong with you? Some psychopath is out to kill you and you ain't even worried? Don't you care?"

She hadn't expected him to turn her own words on her, and she had to admit his words stung, more than she expected them to, but she'd be damned if Scotty would be allowed to see that. "Of course I do." She said, looking away.

"Really?" It was Scotty's turn to question her sarcastically. "Cause you had me fooled Lil. I can barely see you under there." He stood up, tossing his pen on his table and resting his hands on his hips.

"Under where?" Lilly demanded angrily. She stood up to meet his gaze, folding her arms protectively over her chest.

"Those damn walls!" Scotty burst out roughly. "Ever since they left, all you been doin' is chuggin' coffee, like it's any other day."

Lilly stepped back, as though trying to distance herself from his words, and what he was trying to tell her. She'd wanted him to talk to her, definitely. But not about this. They were supposed to talk about him, not her. She was the interrogator, he was the suspect, not the other way around. Damn it, she thought, this wasn't going well.

She blew out a breath, ran a hand through her hair and turned around, facing the windows instead of him. "I can't go home, Scotty." She said. "And if I wanna chug coffee, that's damn well what I'm gonna do."

"That's great, Lil. God bless." The anger was gone from his voice, and in its place was a deep sadness that made Lilly want to take him into her arms and never let go. Still, she didn't turn around, not wanting to see the same hollowness reflected in his eyes.

Lilly felt Scotty approach her from behind, closer and closer until she was sure he was right behind her. Scotty, for his part, felt frozen, his hands hovering hesitantly in the air around her arms, her waist, and he was aching to bury his face into the space between her shoulder and her chin. He sighed, and in a moment of courage, slipped his hands around her waist and pulled her back.

To his relief, Lilly offered no resistance, just leaned back into his chest and ran her hands along his. "I don't know what you want me to do." She said softly.

Scotty turned his head to kiss her neck, "I just want you to be happy."

"Then why are we fighting?" Lilly asked, studying their reflection in the window, and realizing how perfect it looked.

"No idea," Scotty chuckled.

"Maybe we should get some sleep?" Lilly suggested. She turned around in his arms and looped her arms around his neck. It was freeing, to be able to act like this in the office. She lifted her chin and pressed a quick kiss to the corner of his mouth. "Break room couch looks comfortable." She said, with a sarcastic grin.

Scotty couldn't help the grin that crossed his face, "No kiddin', but I don't think Boss would like it much if he came in and found us on the couch together."

Lilly frowned at the idea of spending the night without him. She realized with a start of surprise that she hadn't spent a night on her own in over two weeks. They were always both at her apartment, sprawled on her big bed, or in his. For a moment, she was tempted to forget about the secret they'd been keeping, just to spend the night with him. But the more logical part of her brain told her that wasn't an option, not yet anyways.

The worry and frustration must have shown on her face, because all of a sudden Scotty was pulling her closer and kissing her brow to get rid of the frown. "You take the couch, I'll take the floor." He offered, "I'll be right there."

Lilly nodded.

The next morning, Scotty smoothed the wrinkles out of his clothes from the day before and poured himself a cup of coffee. He carried it out until the bullpen and found Kat, Nick, Will, and Boss, all sitting there, going through files.

"What time's it?" He asked blearily.

"Almost lunch." Nick replied with a grin. "Didn't want to wake you guys. Floor looked comfortable." He commented sarcastically.

Scotty groaned and stretched, his muscles choosing that time to remind him just how comfortable the floor was. He plopped down into his chair, watching the swirls in his coffee.

Kat looked at him with a tilt of her head, "Rough night, dollface?" She asked.

Scotty looked from Nick to Kat, and then to Will, all of whom were wearing similar satisfied grins. He had no idea why they were all so cheerful, especially when he was feeling like crap.

"Somethin' funny I'm not gettin'?" He asked darkly, looking around the room.

"Lil's sleeping." Will replied, as if that answered all questions.

Scotty couldn't help the grin that crossed his face. Yes, Lilly was indeed sleeping, getting some well deserved, and long overdue rest. "She's gonna be pissed when she finds out you people didn't wake her." He remarked.

"Yeah, well." Vera shrugged, "We'll face the wicked witch when we have to."

"I hope you guys aren't talking about me." Lilly said, emerging from the break room, a blanket draped around her shoulders, her hair a tangled mess. "Because I may answer to Ice Queen, but I draw the line at Wicked Witch."

She pulled up her chair and joined the group, ignoring their amazed glances as seeing in such a state of disarray. All except Scotty, who saw her like this every morning. Wordlessly, Lilly reached over and took Scotty's coffee, taking a sip and grimacing.

"What the hell is this?" she asked him, shoving the coffee back to him with a look of disgust.

"It's coffee." Scotty replied reluctantly, taking a healthy gulp of the office coffee that, for some reason, didn't taste all that bad this morning.

"Are you sure?" Lilly asked suspiciously, "Because it tastes like syrup, laced with a bit of caffeine."

"I like sugar, so sue me." Scotty said with exasperation. He rolled his eyes and looked back toward the others. "What're you all lookin' at?" He asked defensively.

As Kat and Nick proceeded to inform him of his finicky coffee preferences and insufferable tendencies that would no doubt earn an equally snarky retort from Scotty, Stillman looked on with fondness. He didn't know when they'd become a family, but that is indeed what had happened in the past few years. From his place in the bullpen, he heard his desk phone ring and got up to answer it.

Immediately, all friendly banter in the room stopped, as the five detectives realized they were waiting on information, on their next move. Lilly was the first one out of her seat, and soon everyone was gathered outside of Boss's door. He motioned for them to get in, and shut the door behind them, before picking up the phone. The team listened to the one sided conversation with bated breath.

"Lieutenant Stillman… That's right…Where?... Well, do they know why?... I see… Okay, I understand… Yes, thank you…" He hung up the phone, all of his detectives quietly awaiting the news.

He sighed, "The FBI was clear. They don't need us on this, don't want us on this." He looked around, trying to impress upon them the finality of the fact, but when no one spoke, he realized his words much have fallen on deaf ears. "A debit card under his name was used this morning, surveillance camera outside the ATM confirms it…"

"Where is he?" Scotty burst out.

"Portland." Stillman replied quietly, "They think he's trying to escape to Canada."

There was a collective intake of breath, and Stillman felt, rather than heard the next question out of Lilly's mouth.

"Can we…" She began hesitantly, but Boss cut her off.

"No we can't, Rush. And that's the end of things. It's out of our control now." He snapped.

"But, Boss." Vera attempted a half hearted protest, knowing it wouldn't do much good, but feeling like he should give it a try anyways.

"We'd be interfering with a federal investigation." Stillman reasoned, "We're cops. We don't piss all over other's jurisdiction."

The rest of them stayed silent, no one daring to say anything more. Kat was the first one to turn around and leave the office. Scotty was the last, and was unable to stop himself from shutting the door a little bit harder than he probably should have. Will stayed behind.

"You sure this is wise John?" He asked the older detective.

"I'm sure this is the only thing we could do that would keep IAB off our asses," Stillman removed his glasses and surveyed Will, "You understand, I can't send them up there."

Will nodded, "Just hope they listen."

Vera, Kat, Lilly and Scotty all sat at their desks, heads bent and pretending to do paperwork, but really holding a whispered conversation.

"I don't freakin' believe this," Scotty seethed.

"Calm down, Casanova. You want Will and Boss to come out here?" Kat shot back.

Lilly glared at both of them.

"The more important issue is how we're gonna get to Portland." She reasoned. Vera gaped at her.

"You kiddin' me, Rush. After what Boss just said?"

"Lilly's right." Scotty said immediately, and Lilly sent him a small smile of appreciation. "No way we're lettin' him into Canada."

"The feds will do their jobs." Vera looked at Lilly and Scotty, knowing there was no use in arguing with them. Instead he focused on Kat, "You heard Boss, we're not needed there."

"Sorry Nick." Kat said apologetically. "But I'm with Casanova. I want this guy, and I want to bring him in."

Nick looked around helplessly, and then he whispered, as fiercely as her could, "Boss finds out, it's your asses, not mine."

"You in or not?" Lilly pressed.

Reluctantly, Vera nodded. "How are we gonna get there?"

Lilly leaned back in her chair, twirling her pen in her hand as though thinking hard about a case. She glanced into her boss's office, knowing there'd be hell to pay if they messed this up. "We'll use our lost hours." She whispered, "Let's leave tonight."

Stillman's gonna be pissed, LOL. The next few chapters are full of action, so less Scotty/Lilly stuff, angst, fluff, or otherwise. I hope you guys aren't disappointed. I promise the Scotty/Lilly stuff will pick back up in a while.

By the way, I checked, in the country I live, if you get sentenced to more than 2 years, you serve it in a federal institution, and therefore any escapes are dealt with by the federal police. Portland is also closer to Canada than Philadelphia is, so I figure that works out too.

Anyways, leave me a review please :). You see the button, you know you want to click it.