"So sorry Ed, you don't want to know what we've been through just to get that food to Danny," Harry apologised breathlessly as she slid into the back of Eddie's car again.

"No worries," Eddie replied. "How is the guy doing?"

"Oh, he seems quite lively to me," Harry answered Eddie, turning to give a purposeful look at Dempsey.

Dempsey frowned with confusion. "What?" he questioned her.

"He's exactly like you!" she pointed out.

Dempsey huffed. "Are you kiddin' me? He aint like me. He doesn't have my finer qualities," he added with a satisfied smile.

Harry gave a short laugh. "Oh yes he is like you," she insisted. "He's just as much of a handful, and, what 'finer qualities' are we talking about here?"

"All of them," he replied simply.

She tutted.

"When you two have finished arguing," Eddie said, peering into the back of his car, "Maybe you'd like to tell me where we're going to next?" These two were a right pair! Even on a night out they go from loving to bickering in two seconds flat! "You sound like you could do with some more to drink."

"Sorry Ed," Harry replied, giving Dempsey another glare. "We are going to wherever you'd like," she said, recalling Dempsey's earlier promise, "Oh and, we are ordering the largest bottle of champagne there… on Dempsey," she turned to him, daring him to make something of that. It was after all, what he had offered in compensation for dragging her all around the hospital. "And you are coming with us to share the champagne, since you've been so wonderful tonight," she added, reaching forward to kiss Eddie on the cheek.

Eddie was wonderful. Eddie gets a kiss. Danny gets a kiss. Everyone gets a kiss! Where was his kiss?

Eddie appeared chuffed. "Oh, go on then. You know how much I love champers. Mustn't drink too much of it though if we are all to get back home in one piece," he chuckled. "Oh, and I do have one condition though."

"Yeah, what's that?" Dempsey asked; he reckoned that Eddie had already got the best deal out of this situation.

Eddie glanced behind him at the two of them in the back, sitting as far away from each other as possible. "That you two stop with all the bickering," he stressed, pointing from one to the other. "If you two carry on like this when we get to the bar…" Eddie had begun the threat and not yet considered his consequences. He thought for a moment before continuing with an amused smile, "every time you argue, you have to give one another a kiss to make up," he finished, amazed at his own idea.

Harry's eyes widened. Dempsey's face lit up.

"Now wait a minute," Harry jumped in, "Dempsey and I aren't in the habit of doing that."

"Hey, I never agreed to not doin' that," Dempsey piped up.

"You don't have to agree to not doing it; you just don't do it," Harry replied.

Eddie was having trouble following this latest twisted argument.

"There you go again," Eddie chastised. "You either stop arguing, or you kiss and make up," he insisted.

Harry didn't look entirely happy with the idea and considered her next comment with somewhat of a sulk. "Alright," she finally conceded, "But I also have one condition," she added.

"She aint allowed no conditions," Dempsey interrupted.

Eddie shushed him before another argument ensued. "What condition?" Eddie asked.

"No kissing on the lips," she stressed. "It's not professional."

"Hey, that aint fair!" Dempsey exclaimed.

But Eddie was already one step ahead of him, coming up with something to shut them both up.

"Okay, no kissing on the lips," he agreed. "You'll just have to be more inventive about where the kisses end up," he grinned.

Harry frowned. A smile of rising realisation grew across Dempsey's face.

***********************************************8

When they finally arrived and parked at the back of the bar that Eddie had chosen, Dempsey's good mood faded as he realised where they were going.

Harry's mood, on the other hand, appeared to improve. "I think you told me about this bar before Ed. Great idea. I've never been in here before," she said, smiling at Dempsey's obvious disapproval.

"This aint exactly my kinda bar," Dempsey said nervously, observing the groups of people entering, or hanging out around the bar; all of them, as far as he could see, being men, or worse, men dressed as women.

"Why not?" Harry asked.

He was stuck really; he'd already agreed to go to wherever Eddie chose. "If I'm goin' in there," he said suddenly in a panic when Harry and Eddie opened their car doors. He halted Harry by grabbing one arm. "Then, for as long as we're in there, you an' me are an item, okay?"

She smiled. "But why?" she asked innocently, one leg out of the car.

"Don't be smart with me. I mean it, Harry, you don't leave me alone, not even for a second," he stressed.

"Okay," she laughed, "but you know, you may not need to worry at all. Who's to say that you'll attract attention anyway," she replied, stepping out of the car.

"Yeah, well maybe not, but I sure as hell aint takin' any chances!" he said.

**************************************************************************************
Dempsey felt slightly overwhelmed by the crowds when they finally walked through the doors of 'Different Bar', after having waited ten or so minutes in the queue outside. He had hoped, in vain, that the bar would have more space between the people, space for him to keep to himself. Not that he had anything against gay guys; he just wasn't used to hanging out with quite so many of them en masse!

Dempsey grabbed hold of Harry's hand and held it up for all to see as they descended the stairs and pushed their way through the crowds to a large circular bar in the middle of the room. Harry glanced back at Dempsey, with his fierce grip on her hand, and chuckled. Although the place was quite spacious, the overcrowding and dark interior made the atmosphere seem more claustrophobic that it should have. Dempsey wondered if the security had a good grip on safety measures in there.

Finally they reached the sanctuary of the bar and, to Dempsey's relief, the barman appeared to know Eddie, as he cleared a space for them to call their own at the bar. For now, Dempsey felt slightly more at ease and slowly released Harry's hand to reach into his pocket for his wallet.

"Harry, James, this is Dwayne," Eddie said, introducing the barman. "Hey, he's from the USA, like you," Eddie said in realization that Dempsey and his friend might have something in common. Maybe that would take away the guarded look from Dempsey's face.

A tall, muscled, African-American guy with a neat goatee and a big smile held his hand out to them.

"Dwayne Wilson, Southside, Queens, New York City born and bred, at your service," he said, shaking Dempsey's hand.

"James Dempsey, born in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn," he returned.

Dwayne's face lit up with surprise. "What brings you all the way out here?" he asked.

Dempsey turned to Harry and put an arm around her waist. "My gal. Just can't stay away," he smiled down at her.

She smiled back and turned to Dwayne. "He's just recently rediscovered his love of everything British. Now I'm afraid we're stuck with him."

Dwayne laughed and replied. "Yeah well, it sure is good to see someone from home. There's a whole bunch of us Americans in here most nights, but tonight they all split earlier an' left me alone. Some sort of party goin' on. It's Billy's twenty first birthday bash at his parent's mansion over in Hampstead. Should be quite a night. They got live country and western, festival food, buckin' bronco, the works. Got all his family an' friends over from the States, only he's still 'in the closet' as far as his folks know. But with the amount of moonshine the guys from here took with them earlier…" Dwayne cringed, "it could end up his 'comin' out' party," he laughed.

"Sure could," Dempsey agreed.

"So, what ya havin'?" Dwayne pointed to Dempsey.

Harry turned to him and smiled.

"She won't drink nothin' but the best," he said. "Better have a bottle of champagne…" Harry nudged him. "The biggest bottle ya got," he went on wryly. She chuckled.

"Sorry, only got one size. You want two to make it up?" Dwayne asked.

Dempsey had no objections to them sharing two bottles of champagne, but on thinking about it, he'd much rather they quickly drink one there and then he'd buy another one somewhere else.

He glanced at Harry. She was watching him. Damn it.

"Go on then, two," he confirmed.

They had better drink those two bottles quickly!

Harry had been enjoying the 'bubbly' feeling that the champagne was creating, whilst chatting to Eddie about all the possible guys he could flirt with, when she remembered Dempsey and turned to him, concerned that he hadn't been involved in their conversations. She observed him for a moment however before speaking.

"What are you doing?" she asked, as his eyes flicked around the room again and again.

"Just checkin' something," he replied, taking a sip of his champagne, but not moving his eyes from the scene as he did so.

"And what might that be?" she asked with amusement.

"Emergency exits," he replied.

She laughed. "In case you want to make a quick escape?"

"Somethin' like that," he answered. "There are too many people in here tonight. Can't see where there are enough exits to get everyone out," he said.

She tutted. "Of course there are enough exits. You can see this is a well-established place," she pointed out.

He huffed. "That means nothin'. They still aint got enough exits."

"Dempsey, for goodness sake…" she began.

"Hey!" Eddie cut in. "You two are arguing!" he pointed out.

They both froze.

Eddie knew this would happen. With them two, it was inevitable.

"You know what the penalty is," he reminded them.

"We weren't exactly arguing," Harry pointed out.

"Yeah, she was," Dempsey contradicted.

"Hmm, I have to agree with James, you were arguing Harry," Eddie confirmed.

She glared at him. "Whose side are you on?"

"Come on, you know the rules," he insisted.

"Yeah, you know the rules," Dempsey repeated, grinning at Harry.

She narrowed her eyes at him.

He held out his arms. "Anywhere ya like, Harry," he said.

She tutted and contemplated where to kiss him. It would have to be his cheek. Leaning forward, with Dempsey's eyes glued to her in anticipation, she reached for the side of his face and placed a quick, soft kiss there.

"Satisfied?" she asked.

He lifted a hand and touched his cheek. "Well, not totally, but it's a start. Although I wanna stress that the cheeks are covered now. Next time, it's gotta be somewhere else."

"Next time?" she questioned. "I'm sure we will be getting on perfectly from now on," she smiled, finishing her glass of champagne and reaching for the bottle. She held it up to Dempsey's glass and refilled his before doing the same to Eddie's and then her own. "Now, I was just saying to Eddie that that guy over there," she said, pointing to someone sitting around the other side of the bar, "might be a possibility for Ed here. What do you think?" she asked Dempsey.

Dempsey thought for a minute, studying the guy. "Hmm, maybe but… aint there anyone else wearing clothes that won't cause Eddie complete blindness every time he looks at them?"

Harry turned to glance at the guy again, mentally acknowledging the truth of Dempsey's observation; the guy's clothes were indeed practically luminous.

Harry and Eddie both laughed together.

"You might be right," Harry agreed, sipping her champagne. "What about him?" she whispered, pointing to a more conservative guy as he walked past.

"Too boring," Dempsey whispered back.

"Him?" she asked, pointing to someone else.

"Too weird," he commented with a grimace.

"Well, who then?" she asked.

"Hmm, Definitely not him," Dempsey said, gesturing to the dancefloor.

Harry did a double take. "Hold on, that's a woman!"

Dempsey did a double take. Eddie and Harry burst into laughter.

"I thought it was a guy dressed up!" he exclaimed.

"No," Eddie laughed, "it's just a 'not so attractive' looking woman."

Dempsey frowned. "And her?" he asked.

Eddie and Harry's hilarity increased.

"That's…" Harry was finding it difficult to speak through the giggles. "That's a… a… a…a man!"

More hilarity ensued.

Dempsey sidled up to her, asking, "Harry, can we drink up this champagne quick an' go somewhere else, 'cause these people in here confuse me."

"Okay," she laughed, resting a sympathetic head on his shoulder and looking up at him. "You've done quite well…for you."

As she gazed up at him then a sobering thought occurred to her and the smile slipped from her face. Her eyes clung to him, taking in as many details as she could, as though it were to be the last time she saw him.

"What?" he asked, troubled by her sudden seriousness.

She hesitated before answering him, uncertainty filling her. "If you go back to New York, you'll still be in danger," she finally said, voicing her anxieties.

His expression softened. "What if I don't go back?"

"Dempsey, you have no choice," she replied regretfully.

"There's always a choice," he smiled.

She shook her head. "Spikings knows you're here. If you stay, you'll be here illegally. He'll be forced to make you go back."

Dempsey didn't want to argue this out with her then. He wanted the light-hearted mood back. Then it occurred to him.

"Hey, are you arguin' with me Harry?" he asked.

She gave a weak smile. "Dempsey, what are you going to do?" she asked.

"Yes, I do believe you were arguin' with me," he insisted, avoiding her question.

She sighed. "But…"

"There was definite disagreein' goin' on," he interrupted.

She smiled in acknowledgement. He held out his arms.

"Anywhere you like," he said again.

Dempsey was pleased to see that a smile of real amusement was playing at her mouth now as she considered her next move.

"Anywhere?" she asked.

"Sure," he replied, a little surprised by her question. "Absolutely anywhere."

She laughed. He couldn't help but laugh with her.

Slowly, she emptied her champagne glass, contemplating her options. Then, having made a decision, she reached across him to place her glass on the bar and take a step closer, gripping the collar of his shirt as she did so. He watched her, quite taken aback. Then, to his delight, she sought the gap in his shirt where the first few buttons had been undone and nuzzled softly there, brushing her lips against his skin and finally pressing a toe tingling kiss there. She found suddenly that she was reluctant to leave that warm place and lingered there a little longer than was entirely necessary. Dempsey's head was suddenly fuzzy and warm; in fact his whole body was heating up.

Eventually, moving back from him with her face flushed, "Satisfied?" she asked.

He blew out a steady stream of air in a whistle. "You can disagree with me anytime, Harry," he grinned.

She laughed. He reached behind her then for the champagne bottle on the bar, brushing her arm with his as he did so. His body was craving more contact with her and his mind was already forming a plan to make it happen. After refilling their glasses, Dempsey leant back on the bar stool and reached out for Harry, encircling her waist and pulling her back against him.

She glanced backwards with surprise.

"You aint right 'bout that, Harry," he said.

She looked befuddled. "What?" she asked in confusion.

"Nah, I aint buyin' it," he went on.

She frowned. "Not buying what?" she asked.

"None of it," he replied, bending to inhale the perfume from her neck. She was still trying to work out his train of thought right up until the point when she felt the heat of his breath on her neck, followed by the tantalising trail of his lips and tongue on her skin. "Mmm, I could argue with you all night long," he murmured against her neck, continuing to tease her senses with all he was worth. He actually felt the point at which all tension left her body and she gave herself to the sensations he was creating. It didn't take long, just seconds after he had tasted her skin, she had exhaled, all resistance leaving her as she leant back into him. His arousal soared when he registered this; now he was intent on making the very most of his advantage. Running his fingertips lightly up and down her arms, he felt her begin to shiver. He repeated the action, barely touching her skin at times. The shivers were accompanied with an intake of breath. She closed her eyes briefly and exhaled, trying to control her wayward body.

"You know what I love so very much?" he whispered, causing further turmoil from his warm breath teasing her ear. "When I touch you like this, and I feel the point when it melts you. It's magic."

Oh boy! She was very much afraid he was right. And now she was a veritable pool of meltedness after hearing him whisper that to her.

He felt her inhale deeply and couldn't miss the way she arched back against him.

It was torturous, knowing that she shouldn't, but being unable to stop from exulting in his touches.

It was the kind of torture he'd experienced so many times in the past from being in close proximity to her, during work or otherwise. But now, now that she was responding to him so openly, damn it, it was all he could do not to turn her around in his arms and kiss the living daylights out of her.

"I can't stand it Harry," he whispered, his voice low and unsteady, "I wanna… I wanna…" His hand slid under the thin, narrow sleeve of her top and found her bra strap. "I wanna take this off you for a start… I wanna… Damn it, you have no idea what I want to do!"

Her whole essence was screeching in her head, "Do it!"

"Ya gotta stop me Harry, here anyway. I'm goin' nuts right now," he growled.

She turned her head to gaze back at him. His eyes pierced hers, fierce in the emotion and desire he was experiencing. That at least did something to shock her into calling a halt to whatever it was that was going to happen between them at that moment. Before that, she really didn't care; she just wanted to keep feeling the wonderful sensations he was creating.

"I suppose we should go," she said reluctantly. Her voice sounded distant and alien to her.

She could see the disappointment visibly fall across his face.

"It's your turn," she smiled, "to pick the next place," she said, trying to make amends for having to stop what had been happening between them. Then, feeling that what she had said wasn't enough, she whispered in his ear, "This isn't the best place for us to get 'worked up' like that… well, not for you anyway," she chuckled. "Best move on to somewhere else, like you said."

"And?" he asked.

She smiled. "And see what happens."