As it turned out, one of Ellis Friedman's colleagues stole his manuscript and tried to publish it as his own. When Ellis found out, it was too late. The book was being printed and would hit stands in a few weeks. Ellis threatened to sue, but rather than face the scandal and all out ruin of his career, the thief poisoned Ellis's coffee, leaving him in storage to be found the next day. It ended up being rather simple, though no less disturbing, once they figured out the cause of death and nailed down a motive.

Angelica Lawson—the multiple horse-owning millionaire found in the lake at Philadelphia Park—on the other hand, was proving to be a much more challenging case. She shouldn't have been anywhere near the track during the off season, and no one claimed to have seen her enter the premises. The pressure was mounting as the Commissioner told Kate her team better come up with some answers to give the family and the media, fast.

To make matters worse, it was only a few weeks until Christmas. The department was supposed to host a holiday party for all of the M.E. offices in the surrounding counties. Everyone was looking forward to it, but Kate knew she'd have to pull the plug if they couldn't wrap up this case in time.

"Doesn't look good," Erica noted as she leaned against the door to Kate's office, holding a single red rose.

"Erica," Kate's eyes shot up at her. Her cheeks turned pink and she did a quick glance through the windows before rising, ushering Erica inside and closing the door. "What…"

"The look on your face," Erica continued. "That's the look I get when I feel like I'm about to lose in court."

"Sorry. I'm just…"

"Did you forget about our meeting today?" Erica asked. "I haven't heard from you since last week. I figured you were busy."

"Yes," Kate sat on her desk, shaking her head. "It's been… unbelievable. Too much."

"We could reschedule for tomorrow, it's just the trial's next week," Erica stepped close, handing over the flower, which Kate finally accepted. "And, to be honest, I missed you."

Kate was beginning to feel incredibly guilty. She smelled the rose and looked up at Erica, who was sexier than ever in her black pencil skirt and crisp, white button down blouse. She was always so put together, even in jeans and a t-shirt, let alone her couture. Kate's eyelids betrayed the conflict growing within, narrowing seductively as she allowed Erica to kiss her on the cheek, then on the lips.

"I'm just a little overwhelmed right now," Kate admitted. "I don't think I've ever had this much on my plate at once."

"Why don't you take a break?" Erica suggested. "There's this lunch place not far…"

"I can't," Kate interrupted. "I've got a staff meeting in less than an hour and a conference call at four. I'm just not…"

"I get it," the brunette backed off a little, though she really did seem to understand.

"Erica," Kate began. "I'm not sure right now's the best time for...us. Obviously, I'm all over the place, and I…"

"Hey," Erica grabbed her hand. "You don't have to explain anything."

"No?"

"No. You didn't want complicated. I respect that."

"You do?"

"Of course," Erica confirmed. "I don't want it either. I hope I didn't give any other impression."

Kate looked back at the rose, then at Erica again, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah," Erica smiled. Kate couldn't help but melt just a little when she did. "That's just who I am. I believe in treating women right."

Kate rolled her eyes, even as she let Erica continue to hold her hand.

"I suppose I should take lessons from you," Kate smirked.

"You don't need any help," Erica grinned. "Let's just work today. How does that sound? And when you've got time again…outside the office… we can pick up where we left off."

She raised Kate's hand to her lips and kissed it. Kate blushed, giving in to being treated nicely. She still wasn't used to it, but knew it wouldn't kill her.

"Okay," she sighed.

The two completed their preparations for Erica's case. When they were finished, Erica gave Kate another brief kiss on the cheek, and they agreed not to distract each other until Kate's caseload lightened and the trial was over.

Megan saw Erica get off the elevator and walk into Kate's office. She hid partially behind a cubicle in the lab, trying not to be obvious as she watched their interactions. Kate didn't appear to be very happy at first, but then, after a few minutes, seemed to loosen up. Megan's stomach cramped as she watched the brunette kiss Kate on the cheek. The cramps turned to full on torture when they kissed on the lips.

What is wrong with you? She screamed at herself. She realized when Kate dated Todd it made her jealous, but she assumed it was simply because of the circumstances. Even though they weren't as close as they were now, she felt like her friend had gone behind her back and done something that "girlfriends" simply did not do to each other. Still, she hadn't cared at all about Todd. The little surges of jealousy she felt when Kate was all dolled up to go out to dinner or to an art gallery opening with him were easily played off as anger, when really there was so much more to it than that.

Now, staring her right in the face was the nightmare she never wanted to acknowledge. That she would have given almost anything to be the one kissing those luscious lips, holding Kate's chin while she savored every second of being immersed in her. She wanted to look into her eyes longer than just a couple of seconds, without the fear of giving away how much she wanted to touch her, wanted to just be near her.

She realized she had crushes over the years on girls here and there, but always chalked it up to admiring who they were, not wanting to be with them. It was never like this, and it was almost maddening because it made no sense and yet it made perfect sense. They understood each other. They knew what it was like to put work first and suffer for it personally, but they did it anyway because they both loved science and helping people. They both had good hearts, despite the often misunderstood exterior they showed to the world. They came from vastly different backgrounds, as Megan recently learned, but they had both fought on some level to get where they were today. The truth was Megan admired everything about Kate. She only wished she could show her how much.

Jealousy did funny things to her head, made her feel bolder and little more irrational than usual. After she watched Erica leave, she gathered up a bunch of files for the staff meeting and made her way down the hall, past Kate's office. She peered out of the corner of her eye, trying to see if the blonde would notice her. Sure enough, she looked up.

Megan remembered something she'd seen in a movie once. Right then, she didn't care how cliché it was. She smirked devilishly to herself, took a deep breath, and dropped the stack of files all over the floor. Very, very slowly, she bent over in her incredibly tight and dangerously short red lace dress before smoothing her hands over her ass and holding it down as she squatted to pick everything up.

Seconds later, the blonde joined her on the floor.

"It's not like you to be clumsy," Kate sighed.

"Sorry," Megan told her. "I was distracted.

"Makes two of us," the blonde mumbled under her breath.

Megan looked up at Kate's flushed cheeks. Had it really worked?

"Oh. What distracted you?" Megan asked. Too much, she thought. She got nervous and decided to play it safe. "Erica?"

Kate shook her head as they stood and she handed the stack to Megan.

"Guess you saw that, huh?"

"I'm sure everyone did," Megan gulped, trying to act cool. "It's okay. The boss is allowed to be human."

"Even so, I don't want to make a habit of it," Kate kept blushing, running her fingers through her hair.

"Why not?" Megan continued to shoot herself in the foot. "Happiness looks good on you."

Kate's face could not have turned any redder. She looked like she might pass out from the effort it took to stop from grinning like a school girl.

"I'll…keep that in mind. Thanks," she nodded, before stepping back in to her office.

Megan smiled victoriously as she made her way towards the conference room.

A few days later, they got a break in the Angela Lawson case. Apparently, her husband found her having an affair with one of the stable hands and thought he'd frame her lover by disposing of her body in the lake at the track. The only thing that had given him away was the fact that the stable hand had gone home to Nicaragua for the winter, making the husband's testimony incongruous with his allegations. That, and DNA evidence was finally found on the victim's body once her skin thawed.

Erica's first degree murder trial was also a success. Albert Koslowski's head had been decapitated from the rest of his body. Kate was able to determine the length and diameter of the blade that took his life, and with her expert testimony, Erica secured a conviction. Sentencing wouldn't be for another couple of weeks, but for now, she was beyond pleased with the outcome.

"Congratulations," Kate shook her hand in the corridor of the courthouse. "You did it."

"Wouldn't have been possible without your help," Erica shrugged. "I owe you. Big."

Erica wiggled her eyebrows a little. It was cute. Kate blinked a few times and licked her lips as they began to walk back to their cars.

"You've already paid me for my services," Kate reminded her. Consultation fees were not cheap.

"Not in full," Erica eyed her again suggestively. Kate was not immune. No matter how strong her feelings were for Megan, she couldn't deny Erica's appeal, or the fact that she grew more sexually frustrated each day. What are you waiting for? She thought. If this really wasn't supposed to be complicated, why couldn't she just sleep with Erica? She'd had sex without loving someone more times than she could count, so she couldn't quite figure out why this was any different. But it was. Maybe she cared more for Erica than she initially thought, which was why she decided it would be best to continue to take things slow.

"I have to go back to the office and tie up some loose ends," Kate told her when they reached the parking lot. "But, next week we're having our Christmas party…"

She trailed off as she watched Erica's face change.

"What?"

"You want me to come to your Christmas party?" Erica asked. "As your date?"

Kate froze. She was afraid she had inadvertently crossed the line.

"Is that…too complicated?"

Erica's perplexed look slowly morphed into her usual glorious smile. She narrowed her eyes a bit and took a few steps forward.

"I have a confession," Erica whispered, brushing the back of her knuckles against Kate's cheek before pushing some of her blonde hair behind her ear.

"Yes?" Kate smirked, even as she began to sweat.

"Maybe complicated's not such a bad thing," she breathed. "I know what we said before, when things were crazy. But maybe I do want more. How does that make you feel?"

Kate tried not to look like she was panicking on the inside, but she could feel her heart beating in her ears. This was not what she had expected, and yet, part of her felt like she owed it to herself, and to Erica, to try. She was afraid this may be her one shot at being happy.

"Why don't you just come to the party with me?" Kate swallowed, looking down at their hands. "And we'll see how it feels."

"Deal," Erica finally kissed her. Kate agreed to call her later in the week with the details.