Spikings read through the both reports whilst the two partners sat in his office drinking their coffee, he grunted and looked up. 'All right, well I'm sure you could both do with a couple of days off as this operation was difficult especially for you Lieutenant. I don't expect to see either of you for the rest of the week, dismissed.'

Chas looked up as Dempsey and Makepeace came out of the Chief Inspector's office, they seemed to be ill at ease with each other which was unusual, over the years they'd become good friends and spent a lot of personal time together as well as working closely as colleagues.

Harry went over to her desk and picked up her bag and left without saying goodbye to her partner and Dempsey watched her go with something like annoyance tinged with regret.

'What's up with Makepeace?' Chas questioned the American, 'she seems off centre. You both seem… different,' he could see he wasn't going to get any answers from Jim.

Dempsey shrugged and made some remark about women being an eternal mystery and picked up his jacket and followed Harry out.

-oOo-

Harry sipped her tea and glanced out of her window his car was still there, why was he doing this? She didn't want to speak to him at the moment, why couldn't he accept that. Was it guilt? Did he want her to say it was okay, because it wasn't okay? She'd thought about it long and hard and even though she could see Dempsey had needed to convince the man Danny that he was legitimate, did they really have to have to fake having sex to prove that? She'd gone along with it because it was James and she cared about James but she also knew there was the other side to him, the Johnny Lupino personae, a survivor; a honed steel, combatant forged in Vietnam and on the streets of New York. Dempsey had survived when Joey and Coltrane had not. He did what he needed to do and that had meant ensuring their survival and here they were still around to fight another day.

Thinking about it she'd tried to be his equal but she realised that she wasn't made of the same stuff as her partner or maybe she was and that's why she'd gone with it. She got up and made a pot of coffee knowing full well that if she didn't address the issue Dempsey would force her to. He was an expert at breaking into her property and she knew sooner or later he'd appear and insist they talked it through. James wasn't a patient man and she knew he knew that she was aware of his presence. Making the coffee was a symbolic acknowledgement of that as she preferred the tea she'd just abandoned.

She decided to have a bath and then go to bed early and try her hardest to relax but it seemed that any kind of peace of mind wasn't easy to achieve. Finally, finally she drifted off into an uneasy slumber and then she sensed him, or caught his familiar aftershave whatever the reason she knew he was there. Her eyes frayed open and she watched him watching her.

'Neighbours started to get twitchy, had to show one patrol car my badge and besides it was getting cold,' he growled his deep voice resonant in the quiet room.

'I'd like to say I'm surprised to see you but that would be a lie,' Harry responded with hard fought for patience as she pushed her hair out of her eyes, 'what do you want Dempsey? I get it; we're both alive and you thought that simulating sex with me was a necessary part of the cover, one of those little details that convince those to be convinced.'

'Yeah, I lost Joey to Coltrane and the booze; I wasn't going to lose you Harry, I wasn't taking that chance,' he stirred as she got out of bed in the white tee shirt thing she was wearing to sleep in and pulled on a silk robe, she looked cute as she came over to sit at the bottom of the bed.

'And I went with it because you were so bloody sure it was necessary,' her blue eyes held his gaze. 'So there you go, we've discussed it now feel free to leave. At least you didn't find the task too unpleasant,' her sapphire blue eyes stabbed him with pointed intensity.

'Yeah you got me there, kind of got away from me,' he responded in a deep, husky tone his hand running around the back of his neck as a dull colour ran under his skin. 'I apologise that was inappropriate.' This was difficult, no way of getting round the fact he'd come in a heated rush that had made him squirm with embarrassment ever since; what was he some kind of retarded adolescent? He attempted to rally. 'I interrogated Danny, he thought we were kosher cos he was listening at the door, for long enough anyway,' he shrugged. 'It didn't surprise me; I guessed he'd do that, he was onto me, never trusted me should've gone with his nose. Had to convince him or we'd both be pushing up daisies. I guess I wasn't too concerned with the etiquette just wanted you to get on board and go with the cover.'

'So where does that leave us, we both understand the dynamics of the situation and I'm still finding it difficult to deal with, James.'

'I'm finding it difficult too,' he got up and came up to her and then sat next to her and took hold of her hand playing with her fingers. 'I want you, you know that.'

'Yes,' she said in a low emotional tone, 'you've never made a secret of that fact. I'm attractive you're a normal male and you…

'Didn't find it difficult to take advantage, is that what you think?' His dark gaze burnt into hers. 'Well if you do think that you're wrong. There isn't a guy in SI10 or the Met that doesn't have a thing for you Harry, but over the years you've become more to me than sex so it wasn't a case of opportunity knocks.' He dropped her hand and got up running his hand into his hair, 'you're my partner Harry and that's not how it was. All I could think about was convincing that scum that I was Lupino so that we had a chance, you and me.'

'All right,' she accepted that. James was a good man she knew that his heart was in the right place and that they needed to get past this. 'I believe you,' she said simply. 'Now if it's all right with you I'd like to get some sleep and re-calibrate. You do realise that if Spikings takes part in any of the interrogations Danny or Alex might make some kind of sneering remark which may lead to a rather awkward situation.'

'Maintaining the cover that's all,' Dempsey shrugged he wasn't fazed by Spikings getting wind of the information, 'Watson might have a field day with it though. I'm carrying some damage and Watson was in the locker room as I came out of the shower and made the usual remarks so if it gets round….

'I'll say I was maintaining the cover,' Harry responded coolly, 'and that should you ever make an unsolicited pass at me you know what you're in for.'

Dempsey's mouth curled in a reluctant smile. 'I do, still worth it though Makepeace,' he grinned at her. 'Night,' he offered as he saw the stubborn way she raised her chin.

-oOo-

Danny was pure insolence as he sat opposite Spikings. 'Your bird; the female copper,' he corrected himself as Spikings raised his eyebrows in affront. 'She's one hundred per cent the job, shags the other cop to convince me and Jackson that Lupino was kosher. The blokes must be knocking each other over to work with her.'

'The Sergeant is an experienced detective and used to working on covert operations, whatever you thought happened would be what the officers wanted you to believe. And you did believe it; hook, line and sinker and that's why they're still alive and you're here Mr. Thompson. If I was you I'd tell me everything you know because if you don't Jackson will and you'll be looking at a long stretch at her Majesty's pleasure.' He got up and left the man to think on what he'd said.

Spikings lit a cigarette and thought about what Danny Thompson had said and his jaw squared, Sergeant Makepeace had had a fair bit to put up with one way or another maybe he should reassign her for a while and give her a break from the Yank. She was good officer and Dempsey was hard going as his American policing style was somewhat different to being a copper over here.

Joyce Hargreaves was coming back from sick leave so he could partner the two women for a while just to give Harry a break and Dempsey could work with Watson as Morrison had caught a bullet on their last operation and was going to be absent for a few months.

-oOo—

Spikings looked up as Dempsey slammed into his office, he'd been expecting his roster change to ruffle some feathers so he lit a cigarette and waited for the Lieutenant to get to the point.

'Harry's my partner, why am I scheduled to work with Watson he ain't used to the way I work,' he sat down as Spikings nodded at the chair.

'I interviewed Danny Thompson,' he took a drag on his cigarette and his hard gaze met that of the younger man. 'It would seem that Sergeant Makepeace was put in shall we say a difficult situation in order to maintain your cover. Now I know that the two of you can be a little unorthodox at times but I don't think that pretending to 'shag' your partner is part of SI10's operational protocol.'

'Life or death situation, if I hadn't said I wanted Makepeace for my personal entertainment she'd be dead and anyway we didn't do it, just made them think we did.' He got up and paced the room, 'when you're dealing with the mafia it ain't played by the rules. You'd have been fine with me screwing Mara Guiardino as part of the cover in fact Makepeace suggested I got closer to her, what's the difference?'

'I appreciate you were in a life or death situation Lieutenant, but what I'm saying is that Sergeant Makepeace may need a well-earned break from your kind of policing which is different from ours. And if you had come in when I gave Makepeace permission to make the call she would not have been in that situation.'

'Did Harry ask to be reassigned,' Dempsey asked troubled by that thought. He knew the operation had upset her and he was sorry for that.

'No, but there are times as your superior officer that I have to make the call; it's part of my job Lieutenant and I think you both need a break. I'm sure in time I may be tempted to partner you with Makepeace again as you're a highly effective team but for now I'm giving Harry a well-earned breather.