Harry's mouth was dry, so dry. Then there was a bottle of water. Thank God! She reached for it and unscrewed the top. She could feel how cold and utterly wonderful it would be from the condensation dripping down the sides of the bottle. This was going to be the best sip of water she'd ever had. She held the bottle to her lips, tipped back her head and waited. Then she waited some more. What was happening? Shaking the bottle vigorously, she tried again. Nothing… except maybe the tinniest droplet, maybe not even that, she wasn't sure, but it certainly hadn't gone anywhere near to quenching her thirst. Holding the bottle in front of her, she peered down into the top. There must be some obstruction in there. Well, she couldn't see anything that would stop the water from coming out but she knew for certain that something was stuck. It wasn't working.

Then suddenly she couldn't breathe; something soft was pressed against her face. She turned her head away from it and took a great gasp of air as her eyes flew open. Her gaze ran down the familiar wall of her bedroom and came to the pine panelled bedroom door, which was open slightly. She calmed her breathing. It had been a dream. However, now it had been established that she wasn't going to be trying to squeeze water out of a bottle for eternity, she had other issues. Everything hurt! Literally everything. Oh boy, she had a hangover… and it was a bad one… a really bad one! For a second, she wondered if she could die from a hangover. No, she'd had them before and survived. She'd be okay. She just needed to deal with things one step at a time.

First things first. What was the time? Lifting her head slightly to search out her alarm clock, she winced and closed her eyes for a second, waiting for the throbbing to recede enough to make looking at the time bearable. Taking in a deep breath, she opened her eyes again. Where had her alarm clock gone? She blinked once, then twice, hoping to make it reappear, but it didn't. Okay, that was weird. Then she noticed the night table; it was a different colour…in fact, it was a different night table entirely! Forcing herself to turn her head to investigate the room further, she got as far as gazing up at the ceiling light, a three armed brass thing, far brighter than the ceiling light in her room. Oh no, and come to think of it, she didn't have white sheets on her bed either! Suddenly things began flooding into her head, things like the fact that Dempsey had returned from New York, and that he was now living next door to her in a house with the same doors and the same walls, but different night tables and ceiling lights and sheets!

Without warning, she felt as if she couldn't get enough air into her lungs as the panic set in. Praying that it had all been a big mistake, and that she'd been wrong in her assumption, she turned her head right around on the pillow to glance at the space in the bed next to her. The air got thinner and thinner and her head began to throb in earnest until the sight of Dempsey's bare back and shoulders started to become engulfed in a dark fog which folded in on itself. She withstood the searing pain of whipping her head around again to hide the disturbing sight of him, rather than passing out next to a naked Dempsey. Slowly she concentrated on her breathing… in and out… slowly and calmly… in and out. That was better. That was good. Everything was just fine. Apart from the fact that she was in bed with Dempsey and she couldn't for the life of her remember how she had got there!

Okay, she had to think. They had gone out. There had been lots of drinking involved. They'd been to many bars...and …and Eddie had driven them. So that was okay; Eddie wouldn't have let them do anything too untoward. Then why did she have the feeling that their night out hadn't been an 'ordinary' night out. Oh, she was just being paranoid. Probably Eddie had just dropped them off there and they had just fallen into bed, too tired and tipsy to think about which beds they were supposed to be in… Either that…either that or they'd had wild, drunken sex! Her eyes flew open at the horror of that possibility. Even worse, that she couldn't remember it! And, after all, if she couldn't remember, anything was possible. Not this again! She had a sickening feeling of déjà vu.

There was only one thing to do; she had to sneak out of there before he woke up. Okay, so that was probably only delaying facing him about this, but at least it would give her time to gather some semblance of dignity beforehand. After three, she would attempt to sit up. One, two, three… Her head felt as if it was going to explode as soon as it was elevated, however, Harry's mind soon forgot that when she realised, by sitting up, that she wasn't wearing a top. In fact, to her horror, one glance downwards confirmed that she wasn't wearing anything! Alright, so that was as good an excuse as any to lie back down for the moment. However, it was all the more reason to sneak out of there as quickly as possible too! Drawing the sheet up to her shoulders, she rolled over onto her side, glancing down over the side of the bed for her clothes. Great! They weren't there. She rolled back and rose up slightly then onto her elbows to search the room. Still no sign of her clothes Damn it! The only other place they could be was perhaps on Dempsey's side of the bed. Maybe she could find out by looking under the bed to the other side. But could she bear to hold her head upside down to check? She'd have to. After three she gingerly reached further over the side of the bed, ready to take a quick look underneath.

"Harry?"

The sound of Dempsey's voice made her swing back up, clutching onto the bedsheet for dear life and trying to breathe through the pain that the movement had caused in her head.

"What ya doin?" he asked.

Great, how was she going to answer that? 'Truthfully' was her only option.

"I'm looking for my clothes," she said reluctantly, attempting to wrap the bedsheet more firmly around herself. "Do you know where they are?"

Dempsey tugged back at the sheet to keep hold of enough of it to ensure his lower half was still covered. "No," he replied, a look of confusion on his face. Then he backtracked. "Your clothes?" he said with surprise, glancing at her arms that were wrapped tightly around both herself and the sheet attached to her. "Oh," he said, "Oh," he repeated with realisation.

"What do you mean, 'no'?" she asked.

"What?" he replied with a frown, rubbing his head.

"You said, 'no', you don't know where my clothes are," she reminded him.

"Right, that's right, I don't know. Oh, so I guess you don't know either," he replied, gesturing to her.

"No, I don't know," she said, the pitch of her voice rising. "What, so you really don't know," she said with disbelief and increasing anxiety.

"I said I don't know, didn't I!" he snapped, holding his head. "Sorry," he added. "Not feeling too great right now." Then he had a disturbing thought. "Are you sure you don't remember?" he asked.

"Oh good Lord. No, I don't remember, Dempsey!"

"Well, somone's gotta remember about them!" he exclaimed.

"You're telling me!" she came back, her predicament worsening by the minute. If he didn't remember and she didn't remember then… what if they had… and she was… Lifting her hands to her head, she applied pressure to her temples, attempting to relieve the pain and give herself the opportunity to think.

Dempsey's fuzzy brain was grappling with the whole bizarre situation, whilst scanning the room for either sign of his or her clothes, when his eyes passed Harry and shot back again, noting that the movement of her arms had allowed the sheet to slip slightly, exposing the smooth, tanned skin of her side and the suggestion of the curve of her breast, reminding him that she was indeed totally naked behind that sheet, with not so much as a stitch on! His eyes widened.

She became aware then of his sudden silence and turned to see what he was doing.

"Dempsey?" she questioned, pulling the sheet back up.

"What?"

"Well, what are we going to do?" she asked.

He thought for a moment. "If it makes ya feel any better, I don't know where my clothes are either."

The clothes were fast becoming a secondary concern to her. "Oh yes, Dempsey, that makes everything better!"

He sighed and rubbed his head again. "Look, it aint no use us arguin'," he reasoned. "Besides, if anything had happened 'to the clothes' last night, we both would have remembered," he assured her.

"'Would have'," she quoted him. "Sorry Dempsey but that's not good enough!"

"Well, what ya want me to do?" he said with exasperation.

"Remember!" she shouted back.

He growled and ran his hands through his hair. "You don't remember neither," he reminded her.

She sighed. He sighed.

"What is the last thing you do remember?" she asked him.

"Err, gettin' a taxi," he replied. "You?"

"I just remember being in the bars," she said, the panic clear in her voice. "So, do you remember us arriving back here?" she asked in hope that perhaps she could trigger his memory.

He shook his head. "Nope, nothin'."

"Oh good Lord!" she exclaimed, covering her face with her hands.

Then, through the darkness that her fingers were providing, something caught the light and glinted. For a second, she thought it was the beginnings of a migraine headache and she was seeing flashing lights, but then she became aware of an actual physical solid object on her hand. As if in slow motion, she moved her hands back and stared in horror at the ring. She couldn't deal with this! Swiftly, she dropped her hand and hid it underneath her leg, turning to glance at Dempsey. He was fumbling around in the drawer of his night table for something and was clearly oblivious to her at that moment. Surely to goodness she'd remember if they had got married! And okay, so it was just a ring, and it just happened to be on her wedding finger, so that didn't necessarily guarantee that she had got married. Maybe, for some odd reason, he'd just decided to buy her a ring. But the weird thing was that she had a strange feeling… a feeling that she had actually got married!

"What are you looking for?" she said suddenly, annoyed by the fact that he was rummaging through the night table while she was dealing with major life issues!

"Watch," he mumbled, finally giving up and slamming the drawer shut. "Can't find my watch. I got a meetin' with Spikings today. You know what the time is?" he asked.

Mention of Spikings didn't exactly do much to calm her already taut nerves. "No," she replied. Damn it, they couldn't just sit there all day clothless and contemplating what on earth had happened the night before! But then again, she also couldn't just leave without at least finding out if she was doing it as a married woman or not!

"Dempsey," she began, a little sheepishly, glancing down at the hem of the sheet in her hand, "I need to ask you something."

He turned his attention to her then. "What?" He had the horrible feeling that he wasn't going to be able to answer her. Damn it, if anything significant had happened between them last night and he couldn't remember anything of what it had been like, and he now had to deal with possible consequences, then the 'big boss' in the sky surely had it in for him! But no, he was almost certain that nothing had happened. He wouldn't have let anything happen if they were both so drunk. Not only for the sake of being responsible, but if he knew himself well enough, it was more because he would have wanted to experience everything in full clarity with her. He'd waited long enough! He would know if something had happened… he would know…he would… wouldn't he?

"Did we…"

Oh Damn, she was going to ask if they had done it, and he didn't know!

"Did we by any chance…"

Look, just don't ask preferably, but if you do, then just get on with it!

"Do you know if we…"

"If we what?" he asked, his patience suddenly stretched to the limit.

She coughed and ran a hand through her hair, preparing herself for uttering the words. "Is there any chance whatsoever that we…" she paused, "got married last night?"

What? Hold on… did she say what he thought she just said? That wasn't what he'd expected!

He laughed nervously. "Married?" Then a really odd feeling came over him, a little like déjà vu, like something was familiar about the situation. "Oh," he said simply.

"'Oh'," she quoted, "What does that mean?"

"I dunno," he frowned. "Somethin' rings a bell 'bout that."

"Oh God!" she said, covering her face once more with her hands and quickly dropping them again as she remembered the ring. Things were going from bad to worse!

"Hold on," he said suddenly, "where would we have gotten married? I mean, it aint Vegas."

She thought for a moment, her spirits rising at this lifeline Dempsey had thrown to her. "You're right," she said. "There's nowhere near here that I know of that would marry people just like that." Then she had another odd feeling and dark thoughts began to form in her head. She found herself unwittingly voicing them. "They only do that kind of thing abroad," she went on. "Oh dear Lord! Dempsey, did we fly somewhere and do it?"

He glanced up then as her words sunk in. "Oh," he said again. "That rings a bell too."

Bloody bells!

"Great!" she exclaimed, her voice rising. "So we flew abroad, God knows where, got married and came back here to consummate it!"

"Look, I dunno!" Dempsey came back, bracing himself for all out panic. "Maybe?"

"What's worse than that actually happening," she went on, her voice getting louder and louder, "is not even knowing for sure if it did! What are we going to do, Dempsey?"

The volume of her voice seemed to awaken something in the room then as they heard a sudden movement, and both nearly jumped out of their skin when Eddie popped his head up from the foot of the bed, saying, "Morning. So, you did it then."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief, placing a hand over her racing heart. "What on earth are you doing there?"

"Banged my head, remember?" he replied, rubbing his temple. "Slipped over here at the bottom of the bed and you said I would have to sleep here so you could monitor me in case I passed out. Then we all passed out, so to speak," he chuckled.

Harry was aware of Eddie rabbiting on but slowly she began to realize that the fact he was there could be the solution to all their problems. That was until she processed what Eddie had said moments ago.

"Did what?" she asked him, the panic beginning to build again.

"What?" Eddie replied.

"Did what?" she shouted. "Did what? What did we do?" She turned to glance at Dempsey briefly and noted that the colour appeared to have drained from his face.

"The dare," Eddie answered, confused by Harry's overreaction, "to strip naked." One look at Harry's face was enough for him to continue. "Don't worry, you wouldn't let Dempsey look," he reassured her.

Suddenly Harry was on top of the world, the troubles of a lifetime seeming to have slipped from her shoulders. Then they hadn't had sex!

"Oh boy," Dempsey said, exhaling loudly and holding his head, a smile of relief developing. Then he piped up, "See, I told ya I'da known if we'd done it."

Harry didn't care; she didn't care about anything. Everything was going to be okay!

"Ed, you're amazing," she smiled. "So you can probably tell us where our clothes are then."

Eddie grinned. "Don't you remember?"

"No, not a thing," she admitted. "Neither of us do."

Eddie laughed. "You threw them out of the window."

"What?" she exclaimed, dumbfounded, and watching as Dempsey jumped up and turned to look over the bedhead, through the window to the garden below. "Why would we do that?" she said, springing up and kneeling next to Dempsey to take a look.

"Who knows?" Eddie replied. "You seemed to think it was a good idea at the time."

"Oh my God!" Harry cried out after glancing out of the window. "Eddie, what on earth has happened to the garden?"

"Ah yes," he said, his memory now returning in full as he joined them at the window. "You had a bit of fun last night."

"A bit of fun!" she exclaimed. "Why is there a goat tied to the tree, for starters?"

"Well, you got us dropped off at the wrong place so we had to walk from the other side of the village. On the way, you were having problems carrying the gnomes. You saw the goat in a field and thought you'd 'borrow' it so that it could carry some of the gnomes," he explained.

"Where did all the gnomes come from?" she screeched, staring in disbelief at the row of garden gnomes set up in a perfect line across the lawn.

"Mostly an old lady's garden, but I think you found one or two more at another house along the way," he answered.

Dempsey chuckled. "So the goat carried the gnomes back here?"

"Not exactly, you both tried balancing one on its back but it buckarooed it off, so then we got stuck with a goat as well as the gnomes," he giggled.

"This isn't funny!" Harry chastised. "Why on earth is the lawn all dug up?"

"Ah yes, those were the trenches," he said. "There was a battle last night; the gnomes against the figurines. You got those from your house, Harry."

"My figurines!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, I'm afraid there were a few… casualties last night," Eddie cringed. "Then, when one of the gnomes died, you decided to dig it a grave, see," he said, pointing to a hole in the lawn. "Only Harry, you got a bit upset and started crying…"

"What?" she laughed. "Why?"

"Something about a fairy tale you knew when you were little. It had a sad ending. There must have been gnomes involved I suppose, I'm not entirely sure," Eddie replied. "So anyway, Dempsey decided to take you inside and cook for you. You have a bit of clearing up to do in the kitchen too," he warned.

Despite herself, the devastated lawn, the stolen goat and gnomes, and the messy kitchen, Harry found laughter bubbling up inside her. "Good grief, we have to return the goat and the gnomes and fix Doug's lawn!" she laughed. "What on earth possessed us?"

"I don't know," Eddie replied, "but I have to say, it was like having to look after the two most unruly children," he laughed. "And you," he pointed an accusatory finger at Harry, "You were the worst… encouraging James here. You were the one who made him more unruly than ever. He came up with a crazy idea and you approved of it, and very enthusiastically I might add!"

Laughter burst from her then before she checked herself and glanced sheepishly at a grinning Dempsey.

"Ed," she began, turning away from the disturbingly elated Dempsey, "Will you do me a favour? Go and collect our clothes from the garden," she beseeched.

He backed away from the window then, taking a quick look at his watch. "Sorry, you sort it out. I'm off childminding duties now; got to rush back to the club. I've got a staff meeting to attend," he said, heading for the door.

"Ed," she called after him, "You can't leave us like this. At least tell us that was all, and nothing else happened!"

He turned at the door to reply, "You had better not know the rest. If you can't remember, then you'll probably never hear about it, and be none the wiser," he said ominously before disappearing beyond view.

"What does he mean by that?" she said, turning to Dempsey. And were they married or not? Harry assumed that Eddie would have mentioned something that important. However, the ring was still a mystery.

"I dunno," Dempsey smiled, beyond caring at that point; he was now suddenly acutely aware of Harry kneeling beside him on the bed with the sheet draped haphazardly around her, joined to the piece of sheet that he had managed to retain around his groin. He couldn't help stop the thought that, one quick tug and …

"Dempsey!" she exclaimed, noticing his scrutiny and pulling at the sheet to attempt covering herself better.

He was just admiring her womanly curves through the slight transparency of the sheet, as well as the tantalising glimpses of skin that the small gaps of the material provided… that was all. That was enough though!

"Hey!" he retorted, yanking the sheet back. "I got a situation arising here ya know!"

She tutted. "Go and get the clothes," she urged him.

"You want me to drop the sheet… now?" he replied.

She tutted again. "I won't look. Someone's got to get the clothes!"

"Alright, already, I'll go," he said, releasing his hold on the sheet as she lay back down on the bed and turned her head to the wall. Unfortunately though, her head had better ideas and, of its own volition, it turned back a few seconds later to take a peek. Oh yes, he hadn't been lying; something had indeed arisen! She actually found herself quite flattered that she could do that to him. Dempsey was rummaging through the wardrobe for clothes at that moment but must have sensed her attention on him and he turned his head to her.

"Harriet!" he said with amusement, imitating her earlier exclamation when he was looking at her.

She swung her head back around and buried it into the pillow. "Go and get the clothes," she giggled.

He watched her for a moment, a great grin on his face, then he grabbed a pair of jeans from out of the wardrobe, swiftly pulled them on and left the room with one last glace at her over his shoulder.

With her head back on the pillow, Harry found that her throbbing headache was less severe and she lay, wrapped in the cool sheets, trying to prepare herself for the daunting task of getting up, dressing and facing the day. Her exhausted body however much preferred the soft comfortable bed and soon her eyes drifted closed without her realization.

Something was trailing up her arm, softly, making her nerve endings tingle. The short sleep that she'd fallen into had eased the pain in her head and now she was feeling the pleasant benefits of relief; she actually felt quite good… relaxed, dreamy. Now something was brushing her hair aside, and stroking her cheek. Her eyes were reluctant to open but her mind wanted to know what was touching her and so her eyelids slowly lifted. The face that she encountered next to hers over the edge of the bed was a nice face, softly smiling at her, his palm still resting on her cheek. She instinctively smiled back.

The warmth of Harry's welcoming, awakening expression really touched Dempsey. Her eyes seemed to be smiling at him from her soul, unguarded in her drowsiness, and he suddenly seemed quite overwhelmed. His next move came to him naturally, without thought; he rose from his crouching position beside the bed and lay on the mattress next to her, sliding his arm under her neck and around her shoulder and pulling her to him. He'd half expected some sort of resistance from her but she offered none, surprising him by sliding her hands onto his bare chest. The touch of her hands suddenly changed everything; suddenly desire overtook him with a vengeance. Taking his cue from her, his hands began exploring. He needed this moment to last however, and so he resisted the urge to immediately remove the sheet.

In the back of her head, Harry was aware that this situation could quickly become out of control, but for the moment, she didn't have the energy or the will to resist, and she forced her mind not to dwell on negatives, surrendering to the sensations that he was arousing in her… and boy, he was arousing her! His hands couldn't seem to get enough of touching her, anywhere and everywhere they could. They searched and caressed and stroked her over the thin covering of the sheet, or whenever they could find bare skin… along her arms, over her shoulders and up and down the smooth skin of her legs and exposed thighs, increasing the tempo to fever pitch.

She felt almost as if this wasn't real. I mean, there they were, without having said a word, lying wrapped around each other, touching and stroking each other's skin as if they'd been lovers for years, when in fact, they had only ever been work colleagues, friends at the most, and that was seven years ago. Things had definitely changed since he'd returned, but where was this going? He was moving back to New York. She tried her hardest to ignore that but it was there, in her head nonetheless.

Dempsey could sense a change in Harry; it was as if she was slipping away from him. He rested his head on her stomach with his arms around her middle, willing her not to withdraw. Despite herself, she placed a hand on his head and stroked his hair. He seemed almost vulnerable. Turning his head, he kissed her stomach over the sheet. Then he began moving up the bed again, kissing as he went, until he reached her bare skin when again, both their bodies began to react. He kissed and breathed in the scent of the skin of her shoulders and neck, his hands restless on the restraints of the sheet, his control slipping. He seriously considered dispensing with the cover then but changed his mind and ran one hand up her body to claim a breast over the sheet instead. She should have been shocked, outraged or something, but the feel of his hand there sent a shiver of fire through her body and made her gasp involuntarily, betraying her arousal.

Damn it, the sheet had to go!

Just when Harry was almost lost to anything but the urgent demands of her senses, a shrill sound cut through her desire. It was enough to make her hesitate.

"Damn!" Dempsey cursed.

"My phone," she said, pushing him away and rolling to the side of the bed to find her mobile on the floor. Her heart raced when she opened it to find that Spikings was the caller. Talk about a passion killer! Taking in a steadying breath, she answered the call.

"Sir?"

"Makepeace," he replied, "I think that you and your… Yankee friend, should get down here, don't you?"

Harry was a little stuck for words for a second. "Oh, err, yes Sir. Oh yes, Dempsey mentioned that he had a meeting with you," she said, glancing at the person in question.

"Hmm, he does have a meeting, but don't you think we have something else to discuss, the three of us, beforehand?"

A chill ran through her then. "Something else?" she questioned.

"Yes, regarding last night," he said.

"Err, what like, Sir?" she asked, cringing.

"Just get Dempsey, and get down here, pronto!" he replied, hanging up.

"Oh God!" she exclaimed. "We've got to get to the office quick. Dempsey, Spikings knows about last night!" she said, holding the sheet around her and jumping off the bed.

"What? How can he?" Dempsey replied.

"I don't know, but he knows something. Get out quick so I can get changed," she said, dragging him off the bed and pushing him towards the door. "I'll ring Eddie on the way to ask him what on earth Spikings could know!"

Harry and Dempsey entered the office to the grins and nods of approval of the other officers. There was definitely something going on, and if the other officers were impressed, it had to be something that Spikings would not approve of. They stood, facing his office door and contemplating entering. Unfortunately, Eddie's phone had been turned off and Harry was as nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof.

"Shall we just turn around and go?" she said. "I was thinking of retiring anyway."

"Nah, you're too young to hang up your cap," he replied, "C'mon, he aint that bad," he replied, finally pushing open the door.

"Ah, you two," Spikings smiled. It was a sinister smile, Harry noted.

"Hiyya boss," Dempsey replied.

Harry mentally corrected Dempsey; Spikings was in fact no longer his boss… or so she thought.

"So, I take it that you two are suitably recovered from last night's little… escapade?" he said.

"Escapade, Sir?" she questioned, rather hoping to just get this whole thing over with.

"Yes, haven't you something to say?" he asked.

Oh hell, she so wished right then that she could have contacted Eddie. "Say?" she replied lamely.

"Yes, or are you just all full of hot air?" he smiled smugly.

Both Harry and Dempsey glanced at each other in confusion.

"Come back down to earth, have we?" Spikings went on.

Harry wondered if maybe the owner of the goat had contacted the police or something.

"Been floating around last night, eh?" he said.

Harry frowned. "We did go out for a few drinks," she confessed.

"Oh, a few?" Spikings replied.

Dempsey laughed. "Yeah, maybe a few more than a few actually, Boss."

"Hmm, maybe the whole night 'ballooned' out of control, eh," he said, glaring at them both.

It was then that Harry put two and two together and suddenly everything became clear. She grabbed Dempsey's arm and turned him around from Spikings, despite Spikings clearly hearing what she was saying.

"Hot air balloon," she said under her breath. "Remember?"

His face slowly lit up with realisation. "Oh yeah," he replied. "Yeah, now I remember."

They both turned back then sheepishly. "Err, sorry Boss. Is there anything we can say to make this thing better?" Dempsey asked bluntly.

"Oh, so the penny has dropped now then? Memory coming back to you two, eh?" Spikings replied. "Bloody stupid thing to do!" he exclaimed. "I expect better of my top officers, damn well expect better of my bottom officers! You," he began pointing alarmingly to Harry first and then Dempsey, "pull a stunt like this again and I'll be damned if I'll stop anyone from pressing charges against you. Got it?"

They both nodded enthusiastically.

"Good. Now, Makepeace, I want that report from yesterday from you, and soon. Dempsey, we need to talk," he said, waiting for Harry to leave.

She frowned, confused as to why Spikings would want to talk to Dempsey again without her. The room was silent though and Spikings was waiting.

She sighed, turned around and left the office.

"Are you still planning on staying?" Spikings asked Dempsey as soon as Harry had left.

"Sure Boss," he smiled. "That was the deal, right?"

"Look, I've been instructed by them upstairs to make certain that, if we go ahead with this, you aren't going to do a disappearing act like you did last time," Spikings said. "They haven't forgotten about that you know."

"Sure but, I aint leavin' like that this time. Besides, I need to bring down the Borelli's. Here is the best place to do it. New York is too dangerous for me right now," he assured him.

Spikings nodded. "They need you to go back, just for a few days. You'll have security," he added, noting Dempsey's obvious dislike of the idea. "You need some paperwork from the New York Police and also, they want you to I.D a man, if you can, who they believe is connected to both the Borellis and their network back here," Spikings explained. "It's just a few days, then you'll come back and," he paused, "some good news, they seem to deem this whole Borelli business top priority, enough to set up a secondary unit to SI-10. You'll be working in that unit."

Dempsey couldn't hide the delight from his face. "A whole unit eh? I think I might like to offer my services," he grinned.

"Hmm, just one thing," Spikings stressed seriously, "You step out of line even once on this and the deal is off. Need I remind you that returning to New York right now is not going to be good for you?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Dempsey replied.

"I mean it Dempsey!"

"I know Boss, I hear ya," he promised.

Spikings reached down below his desk then and pulled out two objects, rising from his chair to hand them to Dempsey.

"These are yours I believe," Spikings said, unable to stop a smile from developing.

Dempsey took the dinosaur and the blue monkey and smiled with sudden recognition. "Gordon," he said.

"What?" Spikings answered.

Dempsey laughed. "Nothin'."