Logan POV

"He did what?"

"It's okay. I got the point across."

"No, it's not okay. It's so far from okay…"

"Mike…"

I held up my hand, stalling whatever she might have been planning to say, and then I resumed pacing around the kitchen.

That mother fucker had kissed her.

Just the idea was making me crazy.

I've always known that I'm the jealous type, so that feeling wasn't anything new, and yet this overwhelming urge to make Ross' false death a reality was different than my normal response to jealousy.

I used to react by wanting to inflict the same emotional pain upon the person who'd done it to me.

A girlfriend was flirting with a cute guy in the bar?

Fine.

I'd flirt with a cute girl.

A date thought it would be interesting to see my response to her complimenting a former boyfriend?

No problem.

I'd tout the attributes of a former girlfriend.

Because before, jealousy was just an emotion.

Just an initiator of rivalry, something that brought out the competitor in me.

Now…with Liz…apparently it brings out my homicidal tendencies.

"Was it before or after you told him about me?" I asked as I struggled to get my temper under control.

"Before. He mentioned wanting to make things right between us or something like that, and I told him it was too late."

"And then he just kissed you."

"Yeah, but Mike…"

I resumed my pacing and even knowing that I was acting like a jerk, I couldn't seem to stop myself.

"Hey," she said forcefully as she stepped in front of me, blocking my path. "Are you really going to let him ruin our time together? It's almost midnight and I've barely seen you all day. I mean, I've seen you, but…"

"I think you should go out with him," I interrupted.

"What?"

Apparently now it was her turn to yell.

"Why in the world would I want to go out with him?" she continued. "And why would you even say something like that? If you're breaking up with me, then just do it. You don't need to try to foist me off on the next available suitor."

"Breaking up with you? Why would I want to do that?"

"I don't know. Why would you tell me to go out with someone else?"

"Because I don't want you to wonder what you could've had with him!"

"I don't! Are you wondering what you could've had with Michelle?"

"What? No!"

"Because you know, it's almost the same damn thing, and I've got to tell you…it really pisses me off that you'd even suggest it."

So we stood there, squaring off with each other in the kitchen, each of us breathing heavily from our emotional outbursts, and I finally realized the ridiculousness of my suggestion.

"Oh my God, Liz…I'm sorry," I said at last.

I dropped my gaze to the floor, all the wind having disappeared from my sails.

"I didn't know you had such a jealous streak in you," she said quietly.

She reached out and ran her fingers down the front of my tie and I let my eyes track their progress.

"I didn't either. Not like this."

She moved her touch from the tie to my waist, grabbing on to one of the belt loops and then bringing up her other hand to mirror the action.

"So this is new?"

"Everything about what we have is new for me," I admitted, finally bringing my eyes up to hers. "And the thought of losing you…it scares me to death."

"And yet you wanted to shove me at another man," she pointed out with barely-masked amusement.

"Yeah, Alex said that would piss you off."

"Next time, listen to Alex. I don't need to go on a date with Danny to know that I love you. I already know that. I thought you already knew it, too."

"I do," I said as I wrapped my arms around her. "But then I kept thinking about what you might be thinking…I don't want you to have regrets."

"The only one I'd have is if I let Danny coming back come in between us," she stated with practicality. "I don't want him. I want you."

"Well, since you brought up Michelle, let me say for the record that I don't want her. I want you."

"Then why are we still standing here, fully clothed and arguing?"

"Because I'm an idiot," I said. "Thinking about him kissing you…"

"Don't think about it. I'm not," she interrupted. And then she pulled me closer and moved her hands up to my face. "Because he's got absolutely nothing on you."

"You know I'm going to have to say something to him, though, right?" I said as I stepped into her, backing her up until she was against the refrigerator door.

"I had a feeling," she replied with a sarcastic smile. "I…"

But I didn't let her finish her sentence.

Because I just had to kiss her.

And one kiss gave way to another, and another, and then the next thing I knew, we'd shed our clothes and I was pushing into her as I held her against the stainless steel door of the sturdy appliance.

And maybe my enthusiasm was fueled by jealousy, driven by my need to show her how much I love her and how good I can make her feel.

So maybe in a backwards way, I should thank Ross for our earth-shattering experience that left a dent in her refrigerator door.

Wouldn't that make for an interesting conversation?

By the way, Liz told me you kissed her…thanks for making me a little jealous because I worked out my feelings of territoriality by making love to her in the kitchen. Oh, and then in the hallway. And then again in the bed…

Telling him that might even be better than hitting him.

And I might not have the energy to walk tomorrow, but still…it was worth it.

But fortunately for him, he stayed away on Friday morning.

And fortunately for me, I was walking just fine.

I felt the ridiculous urge to brag about my three-peat performance, but instead I just found myself smiling most of the morning.

Bobby and I chased down leads until noon, and then we sat down with Alex in her office to bring her up to speed before her afternoon briefing.

"Five and six are still unidentified," Bobby began. "But Sarah's got the photos ready for you to disclose this afternoon."

"Any word from the techies on your online community theory?"

"Nothing so far, but it's not for lack of material. You wouldn't believe the stuff out there."

"I'm sure I would," she replied.

"Any kind of sicko looking for any kind of sicko," I elaborated. "It's out there."

"I was thinking about that, though," she said. "Wasn't the rope from number one used as the murder weapon for number four? That's an inconsistency to your theory."

"Yes," Bobby agreed. "But the rope type is the only thing that matches, not necessarily the specific piece itself. It's a common nylon rope."

"And maybe Erin's killer talked about it."

"Online," she said with a nod. "And then another killer used the same type of thing."

"It's the technological-age version of a gang," Bobby said.

"Okay, well…pros and cons to me going public with the computer theory."

"It would give us hundreds of thousands of techies looking to be the hero," I posed. "Every hacker with a laptop will be searching for the forum."

"And every wannabe killer might be looking for it, too," Bobby stated. "It's risky."

"We've got six bodies in eight days. You think it'll get worse?" Alex asked.

"It's possible," I said.

"And it's possible it'll give us the break we need," Bobby countered.

Alex sat back in her chair and looked back and forth between us.

"What's your gut say?" she asked at last.

"Make the announcement," we both said.

We talked for a few more minutes, and then Bobby left the office to grab us some sandwiches from the vending machine.

"Everything okay with you and Liz?" Alex asked me once we were alone.

"Yeah. Why, what did she say?"

"I haven't talked to her. But you shouldn't have to ask, if everything's fine."

"No, it is," I said confidently. "I…worked out my…insecurities in a…very…satisfying manner."

"Uh huh," she said with a grin. "I'm sure you did. I guess you didn't tell her your brilliant idea about sending her on a date."

"Oh, no. I did."

"And you're not bruised or bleeding. I'm amazed by her restraint."

"She'd never hurt me," I said playfully.

Alex's expression went serious and she nodded at me meaningfully.

"No. She wouldn't. Old loves are usually old loves for a reason. And just because one's made up his mind that he'd rather be back in the picture doesn't make it so."

"Yeah, I know. I got it. It just messed with my head. And I still haven't seen him yet…that's probably going to mess with me again."

"Just remind yourself that you're the one in her bed at night."

"Okay, so…tuna," Bobby announced as he came back in the office. "Something that looks like it used to be tuna. And…I'm not sure."

"I'll go with the mystery meat," I offered, and he tossed me a plastic container. I ripped off the cellophane and then went to work shoveling in the tasteless sandwich. "So, any interesting lunch time gossip?"

"Well, Maas has a date tonight," Alex said with a smile.

"Really? Not Lisa?"

"Nope. He says he broke it off with her for good. And apparently he met some lawyer the other night and they hit it off."

"Good for Stanley," Bobby said. "So you talked to him today?"

"Just a little while ago," she replied. "Ross has made himself scarce today, but Moran's been tossing out ideas for what to do with him."

"I can think of a few," I posed.

"I'm sure you can," Bobby said with a grin. "I've got an idea or two myself."

"Uh huh. I think Moran's just hoping to have a plan in place to suggest to Zaring on Monday. There's going to be some kind of meeting between the three of them."

"They didn't invite Maas to the meeting? That's not a good sign."

"No," Alex agreed. "And Stanley's a little ticked about that, but Moran assured him that he has his back."

"And who's got yours?" Bobby asked.

"You two," she answered. "And Stanley. And Moran. Everyone's in agreement that they don't want Ross in this office."

"What about Zaring?"

"Him, I don't know. We'll have to wait and see, I guess."

"So did Stanley say anything about…um…you know," Bobby asked vaguely.

"What?" I questioned.

"Oh, the…thing?" Alex said, still looking only at Bobby. Then she smiled at him and dropped her eyes briefly before saying, "It's on the table. But with this Ross issue, it may get postponed a week or two."

"What?" I asked again. "You know, just tell me to leave if you want to talk. Otherwise, spell it out for the beginners."

"Stanley outlined a new set of departmental guidelines," Alex explained.

"Yeah, he's trying to make it so that it's okay for partners to date. I know about that. That still doesn't help you guys, though, does it? It's still a superior officer kind of thing."

"He's worded it in such a way that if Moran approves it, we're in the clear."

"Really? That's…great. Does Maas think he'll sign it?"

"We don't know," Bobby answered, and there was just something in the air that had me looking back and forth between the two of them, and feeling like a spectator.

I mean, a lot of times I feel like that around them, but there was an underlying excitement that seemed excessive, considering they didn't even know whether or not Moran would do it.

"But?" I encouraged.

"Um…last night, Bobby…" Alex began, and then she trailed off.

"Oh, hey, I don't need to know what the two of you did last night," I said quickly. And then because I couldn't help myself, I looked at Bobby and said, "Although if you topped three times, I'm going to have to ask you what kind of vitamins you take."

"Not that!" Alex said loudly, and then she started laughing. "Oh my God…there is such a thing as too much information, you know."

"I thought that's what you were talking about," I said unrepentantly. "Sorry."

"Uh huh," Bobby remarked with a nod. "You just wanted to make sure we heard about your studly performance."

"Okay, guilty as charged. So what is it that Bobby did last night, if you're not talking about that."

"Oh, I did that, too," he corrected quickly.

"Bobby…"

"Sorry," he said with a shrug at Alex.

She rolled her eyes, but looked anything but upset.

"He asked me to marry him," she told me, and while she said the words, she was looking at him, and I swear I could feel the heat from their stare even though I was five feet away.

"You did…what?"

"If Moran signs the changes," Bobby clarified. "We'll wait a month or two, and then we're getting married."

TBC...