Hi,

Before you start reading, I just wanted to take a moment to say that I've been following the Boston Marathon Bombings closely these past two weeks and my heart and thoughts go out to everyone affected. I dedicate this Chapter to you. X

There is a moment in the middle section of this chapter when Liz says: "I just don't get what makes someone do something like…this. All those people they hurt, the lives they have destroyed…no…I don't think I'll ever understand how people can just set bombs and hurt hundreds of innocent people like that." It's only a small moment between her and agent Pierce. These are my own thoughts and feelings on the matter. I apologise if it offends anyone but it felt right as I wrote it so I've kept it in.

I hope you enjoy the latest instalment,

Colby'sGirl19. X

Chapter 5

*"This is Hollywood! Watch your step! Breaking your leg here does not bring you any luck!" – Bus Driver

Season 5, episode 12: Jacked*

*Three Days Later*

It wasn't the same as waking up. It was more like a fragmented series of unconnected flashes that made little sense. A white washed ceiling, the sickly sweet smell of burning pork, beeps and hisses where there should have been silence, pain everywhere and faces, so many faces, all speaking in muted conversation that she found hard to hear and failed to understand. There were faces she recognised: Don's, Lila's, Charlie's, Ian's, Alan's, Colby's, even her father's. They smiled, they sighed, they laughed and they cried…some even came close enough to lay a hand on her arm or shoulder…some kissed her brow or touched her cheek. They'd squeeze her hand and whispered words that sounded encouraging but she couldn't make them out and worst of all, she couldn't tell any of them that she knew that they were there.

The one constant amongst it all was Don. He was the soothing voice that whispered to her in the dark and the arms that held her into the night when she felt the most alone. He was always there and she longed to call out to him, to take away the pain that lined his face when he thought no one else was looking. She wanted to tell him that she was ok and that she loved him, but her lips wouldn't move. Her body felt stiff and her shoulder numb. There was a fuzziness to the pain as if something was smudging the edges and when he moved to the other side of her; she couldn't turn to face him. That was the scary part, when his presence wasn't felt...it always felt like she was choking when he wasn't there to steady her.

Mostly though, she slept.

Until one day, one face and one voice stood out amongst the rest. "Robin? Can you hear me? Blink twice if you can hear me?" She blinked. "Good, well done…" The face smiled back at her. He looked kind; her tired and muddled brain thought pensively as she struggled to follow what the man with the grey and thinning hair told her. "…I will count to three and then pull the tube out alright? I need you to cough and breathe as I do. Alright? One, Two, Three!"

All at once it felt like Robin was being gutted and that her insides were being ripped out through her mouth and then she coughed and choked and coughed some more. "Good girl," Her father's deep voice boomed at her as his large meaty hand stroked her forehead like he had when she was a child, and she'd wanted nothing more than to protest that she wasn't a girl anymore and that what the kind man was doing certainly was not good!

But she was too tired to protest and her throat was aching too much anyway. So instead she slept some more, waking briefly to the same occasional flashes as before: a prickly tearing, searing pain, that all too familiar sickly sweet smell of burnt pork, that she was only too aware was coming from her, and the cold wetness that followed, dampening the nerves and blurring the edges of her pain once more. With every flash there was Don, her one constant through it all, guiding her when she felt lost, his voice a siren's call through the pain. She always felt stronger when he was there, holding her hand whispering her name. Safe, that was how he allowed her to feel...

…The next day when she did wake, it was different. Gone were the hazy flashes of before, replaced by the blinding vision of someone who had lived their life in the dark, only to find themselves thrust suddenly into the dazzling light of the sun. Her eyes were overwhelmed. There was white everywhere making the room appear brighter and more blinding than ever as the beeps and whistles of her dreams greeted her like a royal fanfare of celebration.

Turning her head the merest fraction to the right, though the movement sent a ripple of pain stretching down her neck and across her chest, Robin was rewarded with Don's smiling and deliciously dishevelled face, greeting her with the relief of a man who had been facing death row only to have been granted a stay of execution.

"Hey," He whispered gruffly, his throat thick with emotion as she raised a shaking hand to his cheek and let the week worth of stubble scratch her fingertips as they dipped to his chin before the effort became too much and she dropped her hand back to the bed all together.

"Hey," She whispered back but the sound came out as more of a strangled rasp.

"Here," Lila told her as she walked into Robin's line of sight and gently cupping the back of Robin's head, pushed a crushing coldness against her bruised and aching mouth, parting her cracked and dry lips as the stale but delicious water seared her burnt throat pleasurably as her battered lungs constricted tightly from the effort, making her breathing quick and shallow.

Uncomfortably aware that the rattled wheezing was coming from her and not one of the many machines crowding the head end of her hospital bed, Robin pushed the glass away only half devoured, though her body would have happily drained it in one go. "Slower," She told her younger sister when her breathing was under control once more but the word was low and guttural and Lila looked back at her with incomprehension shining in her similar brown eyes. "Slower," She grunted again with frustration, this time at Don who mercifully seemed to understand. Taking hold of Robin's head from Lila, he tilted her head back until she was staring at the patchy and dirty ceiling as he held the glass gently against her crushed lips, letting her sip gradually at the warm but refreshing water until this time the glass was empty.

"Better?" He asked softly as he handed the glass back to Lila before cradling Robin's head against his strong chest. Breathing in the familiar scent of him, Robin was content to leave her head in the comfortably folds of his cotton shirt forever but when she didn't respond Don got worried and propped her up against her pillows once more.

"Sorry," He told her embarrassedly as he sat back down in the chair next to her head and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "I'm just so glad you're ok!" He told her hurriedly as his throat threatened to close on him and Robin saw it for the first time since waking up. Don was afraid. Her Don, the one she loved with all her heart was afraid. Just thinking about it made her heart beat faster! "Rob?" Don gasped with worry as her heart machine quickened the pace of its rhythmic bleeping as she felt the tracks of her tears slide down the sides of her head to drop noisily on the hospital soft pillow.

"Kiss me," She rasped as her hand reached out once more, making it half way before Don took it, leaned in and gently brushed his lips against hers. "Again," she whispered breathlessly against his as her other hand found purchase in the folds of his shirt and this time Don didn't hold back. Cradling the back of her head with his right hand, Don used his left to stroke her bruised and pale cheek before taking possession of her mouth with his once more. This time sinking all of his fear and worry and happy relief into the kiss as passion and fury took over and he made love to her mouth.

"Sorry," He apologised afterward when he finally pulled back, his eyes diluted with lust and his body rigid with restraint. At some point Lila had slipped from the room, leaving Robin and Don alone but Don was too absorbed to really notice.

"I love you," She whispered, knowing that she needed to say it and that Don needed to hear it.

"I love you too," He smiled softly, the creases leaving his brow for a moment as he sat on the edge of her bed, her hand still clutching his shirt as his right hand massaged the base of her skull.

"Good," She smiled weakly as her eyes fluttered closed and her breathing slowed as she drifted off into uncomplicated and peaceful sleep.

"Good," He sighed with something akin to relief as he removed her hand from his shirt, placed it next to her body, got up from the bed and walked out of the room, pausing only briefly to look back at her restful appearance, his heart pinching with residual worry as his adrenaline fuelled blood rushed in his veins like rain through a storm drain. She was on the mend. She hadn't died. That was what he had to concentrate on right now. The rest…what Dr Foster had warned him about…what they had yet to face…that could wait because right now what mattered was that she was awake and she hadn't died.

She hadn't died. Letting out the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding, Don let his tired body sag as his back slid down the corridor's bland wall until his bum hit the cold and polished floor. Rubbing his face with his hands Don wept, his whole body shaking as all of his supressed guilt and grief came shuddering out.

He hadn't told her…she was too weak…she wasn't ready…he didn't have the words. He needed to find the words…

"Don?" Ian asked neutrally as he slid down next to Don and sat, back straight, knees flexed as he hugged them to his torso. "Why don't you go home? Have a shower, change of clothes…eat something and come back?"

"I can't leave her alone," Don whispered softly; barely audible as he continued to press his tired eyes against the heels of his hands.

"You won't be," Ian told him so blandly he could have been discussing the weather. "I'll stay with her, call you if she wakes."

"Ok," Don nodded slowly, relenting finally when he glimpsed the merest whisper of emotion in Ian's flat gaze. Whatever Ian was feeling he had it locked down tight. How do I do that? Don wondered morosely as he let the other agent help him to his feet. Robin was ok. She was going to be fine…ish. The rest, he'd just have to tackle when it comes…like telling his fiancée she'd lost the baby he hadn't even known she'd been carrying…

"Don?" Ian asked again, his tone laced with a smidgen of concern.

"No you're right," Damn you, he sighed as he grudgingly accepted defeat. "I'd trust her care to no one else," Don let a ghost of a smile pull at his full lips as he squeezed his agent's strong shoulder in thanks before walking away, Robin and the hospital never far from his thoughts.

*Break*

"Where are you?" Agent Liz Warner asked softly from her position on the floor in front of Don's office couch as she looked across the mahogany coffee table at the conflicted and drained Assistant Special Agent in Charge opposite her.

"Sorry?" Logan Pierce yawned in reply as he lifted his head from his manicured hands to stare back at Liz with confusion in his tired blue eyes.

"You looked like you were miles away," She sighed sadly as she closed the file in her hands and reached to place it on the large and precariously stacked pile to her right, distracting him further for a moment as her denim shirt stretched tightly over her humble breasts and her loose knee length skirt rode a little higher up her nicely toned legs. It was her day off so she was dressed less formally than usual but she still looked amazing enough that Logan couldn't help but wonder if she hadn't dressed up even a little bit to impress him. If she had, consider him impressed!

"I guess I got a bit lost in my own thoughts," He smiled back as he too abandoned the file he was reading to get up and move around the table so that he was leaning against the couch next to her.

"Oh dear," She laughed as he took her hand in his and locked their fingers together.

"Indeed," Running his free hand through his thick wavy hair, Logan smiled handsomely back; his cheeks dimpling boyishly as he let her smile warm him as her thumb tucked under the cuff of his shirt and stroked his wrist comfortingly, sending little tingles up his arm. It felt good to laugh, even better to laugh with Liz. Over the last six weeks he and Liz had been getting close…very close…and then the bomb had gone off shattering everything they had once known, sending everyone's lives back into turmoil and with Don at the hospital with Robin, Logan-Don's assistant-had needed to step up, which was easier said than done!

It wasn't exactly a secret that Logan had resented Don for the promotion, feeling hard done by when Nick had chosen the best man at his wedding over Logan who had been in the FBI just as long as both Nick and Don. Not anymore. Not after being in Don's shoes for the past week. Without Liz's help he didn't know how he'd have managed it. Being the SAIC was hard, how Don had managed to maintain being SAIC and team leader on the Snatcher case baffled Logan and he could admit now that Don definitely had been the right man for the job. It helped of course that Don had named Logan his ASAC, which suited him just fine because it meant he got to work with Liz more often…

"Have you heard anything?" She asked him suddenly, her smile freezing as he leaned in until their shoulders were pressed up against each other.

"Robin's awake…but that was only the first hurdle…" Logan sighed sadly as he let go of her hand to put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug, enjoying the weight of her there despite the headache threatening to split his tired brain in half.

"First hurdle?" Liz asked confused. Damn, he couldn't help but curse, even frowning Liz looked good and smelled even better…

"I've seen it before when I was on tour in Iraq," Logan replied as he leaned his cheek on her head and breathed in the scent of her tropical shampoo because even her shampoo was exotic. "Wounds that large, that deep…she'll need a couple of skin grafts at least and that's just the surface wounds! Who knows where her heads going to be at after this…"

"It just makes me feel so…mad," Liz whispered softly as he felt her body tense against his. "I know on this job you see a lot…" She replied suddenly after several heartbeats had passed and she had folded and unfolded her hands several times, her voice small and vulnerable. "I just don't get what makes someone do something like…this. All those people they hurt, the lives they have destroyed…no…I don't think I'll ever understand how people can just set bombs and hurt hundreds of innocent people like that."

"I understand fighting for what you believe in," Logan replied honestly after few minutes, not trusting his voice not to betray the pain the memories were causing him. "But your right…it saddens me that Osama Bin Laden wasn't the end of it…makes you question if there ever will be an end to the war on terror."

"I'm sorry," She sighed sadly as she rested her head against his shoulder and placed the palm of her hand on his solid chest, burning him through the expensive fabric.

"Don't be," Logan replied equally sad as he held her tighter, content to just hold her for now. What they had…it was new and Logan didn't want to rush things. He knew that Liz had dated Colby briefly and that Colby had ended things. Worse, he knew Liz still had feelings for Colby even though he was still dating the witness from the Snatcher case…

Still…she was here with him…that had to mean something right?

"Logan?" Nick called loudly as he knocked twice on Don's office door before barging into the room, completely oblivious to the way the pair sprang guiltily apart.

"Sir! Can I help you with something?" Logan asked shiftily as he and Liz scrambled to their feet to receive the AD. He and Liz had only kissed a couple of times but both had agreed immediately that whatever was between them should stay between them. At least until they were sure that there was defiantly something there. He wasn't sure them dating was exactly against the rules, after all Don and Liz had dated briefly, but being her ASAC it was most likely frowned upon…

"We need to talk," Nick told Logan evasively as he tuned to face Liz and flashed her his best boy next door smile. "Sorry Agent Warner but I'm going to need to borrow Agent Pierce here for a minute."

"No problem," She smiled back as she walked past Nick to the door indicating to Logan to call her later.

"It's nice of Liz to help out," Nick told Logan distractedly as he took a seat on Don's over stuffed couch and loosened his tie more than was probably appropriate given the circumstances.

"Who knew being SAIC was such hard work," Logan nodded as he sat down on the low but sturdy coffee table opposite and placed his elbows on his knees, a sense of foreboding in the air.

"Or AD for that matter…" Nick replied absently as he drummed his fingers against the large square cushion that he had pulled out from behind him and placed in his lap when he had sat down.

"Nick…what's going on? Logan asked worriedly, his heart beating a little faster as Assistant Director Callaghan's eyes looked everywhere but at him. "Is it Robin?"

"No! Robin is…stable…I'm sorry I've just come from a meeting with the Director," Nick sighed sadly as he finally looked Logan in the eyes, this time with a certain amount of scrutiny in his deep blue eyes as he scratched thoughtfully at the designer stubble covering his rough cheek.

"Oh," Logan nodded in sympathy. The Director was a hard man to get along with. It had been so many years since the man had done any real police work that sometimes it was hard to ever imagine him as anything but a politician and a diplomat. The thing that had stuck most with Logan on the rare occasions he had interacted with the Director was that he came across as old fashioned and mean…and he never seemed to remember agent Pierce's name. Logan supposed he should be grateful that he always remembered that it started with an 'L'…that was something at least…right?

No, no one liked being summoned to the Director's office because nine times out of ten it was because you'd fucked up. "He wants us to claim jurisdiction on the bombings and take the case off of the LAPD," Nick spat out grudgingly as he balled his hands into tight fists. "Apparently the press have been painting the LAPD in a…negative light about the lack of results they have produced this last week. People are growing anxious and the press aren't helping. Besides which, we should have claimed jurisdiction anyway…I only didn't because we can hardly call ourselves impartial…"

"Oh," Logan frowned as he ran a hand through his thick wavy blond hair…that really wouldn't have been a fun meeting… "Isn't it Detective Hayes's case?"

"No Logan…it was Detective Hayes case…as of this minute it's your case."

"But-"

"No buts," Nick sighed tiredly. Thinking about it, Logan noticed for the first time since Nick had entered the large office that the AD wasn't looking so hot. He was dressed sombrely in black compared to his usual tan suit and his ash blond hair wasn't sporting its usual lustre…

"Ok," Logan nodded again, like the dog in the adverts. "…But what about Detective Hayes? He still blames us for what happened the last time…"

"Yes…well he'll have to get over it won't he," Nick snapped petulantly as he crossed his arms, hugging the pillow against his chest.

"Does he know yet?" Logan sighed reluctantly. Honestly, he was finding it hard just to keep on top of the file sorting Don was doing before the bombings and to run the department.

"I should imagine the news has been broken by now," Nick replied flippantly, not in the least bit sympathetic. His time with the Director would have seen to that!

"Which team do you want on this?"

"The obvious one. Impartial or not, Ian's team still delivers the best results. The files should be transferred here any minute…"

"Yes sir," Logan replied despondently. He and Liz had only just finished sorting through the last lot of files…well almost finished…until they had gotten distracted…

"Good," Nick nodded firmly as he stood and moved over to the door, pausing only briefly to tighten his tie once more before slipping from the office altogether without so much as a word or gesture goodbye.

Pulling his ringing phone from his pocket, Logan recognised the extension for the main lobby and groaned loudly. The files must have arrived…and he'd hoped for a couple minutes to wrap his head around it all!

"Agent Pierce," Logan spoke into the phone as he simultaneously pressed the green answer button on the phone.

"Agent Pierce," A young woman's voice spoke softly across the line. "There is a Detective Hayes in the lobby with some files for you. He's refusing to hand them over, says he wants to speak with you personally first…sir…he sounds…angry. Should I call security?"

Dropping his head into his hands, Logan scrubbed frustrated at his tired face. "No, thank you Joy," Logan replied after a moment as he finally put a name to the voice, his face still hidden in the palm of his large hands. "I'll be right down." Damn, he thought as he hung up and pocketed the phone. This was all he needed!

Straightening his own tie, Logan stood up and battered hopelessly at the wrinkles that sitting on the floor with Liz had given him before heading for the lift.

*Break*

Waking up in a strange and unfamiliar place was never easy, no matter how many times you did it and Ian had done it a lot in his lifetime…waking now to the ominous beeps and hisses, Ian surveyed the hospital room as if it was foreign and hostile territory, instead of yet another generic hospital room.

"Ian?" Robin croaked concernedly from her awkward propped up position on the bed at the heart of the room as Ian scanned every inch of the room before his eyes finally came to rest on hers, looking but not really seeing.

He looked tired; weary even, she couldn't help but notice. To her, he resembled a man who didn't know what sleep was because he had never slept before. She realised that was probably a really stupid assessment because she'd just seen him wake up, but it was because of his startled reaction. A kind of jerking motion as body and mind rebooted. It seemed funny now, because before Ian had never come across as if he even needed sleep. He was just Ian. He was like a machine that way.

"Hmm?" He mumbled confused as he shook his head to clear the tiredness he felt clouding the usual sharpness of his mind. The giant smudges beneath his almond shaped eyes weren't the only things Robin noticed that looked…wrong…about Special Agent Ian Edgerton either.

His face looked gaunt and his hair was a little longer than he usually wore it, which wasn't odd in itself but on Ian…it defiantly wasn't…normal. Ever since she had known the mysterious agent he had always been neat and well-presented and she certainly had never seen him in anything other than a suit or combats before. Yet here he was in a green hand knitted sweater with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, levis that were faded in all of the right places, work boots-because something's never changed-and a beaten up leather jacket hanging over the knee of the leg he had crossed over the other. More surprising was how loose all of it looked on him…

Unnerved by the way his eyes seemed to refocus on hers and bore into her, Robin looked away first, embarrassed to have been caught staring. "Where's Don?" She settled for asking because it was a heck of a lot safer than: 'What happened to you!'

"I got him to go home, clean up. He was starting to stink out the place!" Ian joked, but his face lacked any real humour.

"Lila?"

"Your father took her home to get some proper sleep," Ian shifted uncomfortably. It couldn't be easy waking up to find out that everyone that mattered wasn't there…

"How long have you been here?" She asked confused and a little disappointed that Don especially wasn't there…

"A few days," Ian shrugged his face as always an impenetrable mask.

"How long have I been here?" She asked vulnerably, her voice grating on every word, but her need to know forcing her to persist.

"A week…maybe longer…"

"Oh," She croaked, her voice rasping her shock as she gritted her teeth against the pain as she attempted to turn her head a fraction to the left so that she could face the weary looking agent without straining her eyes.

"Here!" He told her as he stood, placed the jacket over the back of the chair and crossed the short distance to her bedside. "Let me," He whispered gently as he leaned in, took her cheeks in his calloused hands and inched her head effortlessly to face the left before dragging the chair over to her and sitting back down.

"Thank you," She rasped as tears slipped from the corners of her eyes to land noisily on the hospital's white cotton sheets.

"Hey now," He smiled weakly as he reached out and brushed the tears away as gently as he could. "What's wrong? You know…besides the obvious?"

"The baby…" She said…or asked…it was hard for Ian to guess which as she had croaked both the words.

Unsure whether he was supposed to tell her or not…but not wanting to lie, Ian settled for a simple "I'm sorry," As he shook his head fractionally and held her hands as she began to shake violently, a moan building up in her rattling chest as she squeezed her eyes shut and sobbed loudly. Ian had only heard a cry like it once before when his mother had left him cold and alone in some orphanage all those years ago and had never allowed himself to cry like that again since. Or to be that vulnerable…until lately…with Charlie…

Knowing he'd probably get in trouble, but unable to just sit there and hold her hand as she heaved such heart wrenching sobs of grief, Ian gently pulled her into his tight embrace, careful not to hurt or knock her shoulder. Not that Ian thought she would have felt it right now if he had! "Shhh," He whispered soothingly as her fingers curled in the knitted wool as she buried her nose against his strong chest and let him rock her like a child until the tears subsided and the energy drained out of her. "I'm so sorry," Ian told her again but suspected she was beyond hearing as she lay limp in his arms.

"I didn't want it," She spoke softly, barely above a whisper as the words chafed her sore throat. It was an effort to speak and she thought it somehow appropriate that the words should hurt. "I didn't want to give up my job…I promised Don I'd retire and become a judge…"

"Robin," Ian replied sadly, his hold getting tighter as Robin began to shiver in his warm embrace.

"I did this…" She whispered against his chest, her heart breaking a little more with every word. "I didn't want it and I did this…"

"It's not your fault," Ian tried to tell Robin but she was definitely beyond hearing him now.

"I killed our baby…"

"SIR!" Turning around sharply, Ian was amazed to notice that he hadn't heard the nurse enter the room. That was his trick and he wasn't too sure he liked being on the receiving end of it…especially when his nerves were quite as on edge as they had been the past six weeks… "You can't hold the patient like that!" She added horrified as she raced to Robin's side, she was spritely for such a plump lady.

"Sorry!" Ian told the nurse coolly, not sorry at all as he gently set the mumbling Robin back against her pillows in almost the exact position she had been in before he'd dragged her in for a hug. "But she was quite upset," He frowned at the angry looking nurse as she clucked and fussed around Robin like he'd tried to kill her or something.

"What did you do?" The nurse barked back accusingly when she was certain Robin was no worse for wear.

"She asked about the baby," Ian replied evenly, his tone frightening for it's quiet anger, he'd been told before that it was worse than if he'd shouted it and Ian Edgerton did not shout…or get emotional…

"Oh," The nurse replied awkwardly, the wind a little knocked out of her as she turned and looked at Robin nervously as if she was worried that her grief might be contagious.

"She needs rest," Ian prompted, feeling suddenly suffocated in the hot little room. He need fresh air…he needed to get away…he needed to get out of LA! "Perhaps we should let her sleep?"

"Dr Griffiths will be here in a moment with the cart," The nurse told Ian as she moved to Robin's bandaged side to check in the IV bag and make notes on the chart she'd brought in under her fat arm. "We need to change her bandages. You might want to wait outside."

"Oh, ok I guess," Ian nodded dumbly as he headed for the door.

"Stay!" Robin called out afraid, her raspy voice small and vulnerable. "Please?"

"Is that ok?" Ian asked the nurse as he turned around and headed back to Robin's side, taking her outstretched hand in his.

"If you're sure," The nurse replied uncertainly as the young intern backed into the room pulling with him a trolley of fresh bandages and salves. Robin's hand immediately squeezed Ian's tightly and he felt his finders start to go numb.

"I'm sure," Ian told the nurse as the intern moved to Robin's side, smiled and explained the process: It was going to hurt and it was going to smell…she should prepare herself…she might want to look away…

"No," She told the doctor firmly as Ian patted her hand reassuringly. "I want to see it."

"I really think-"

"-That you should get on with it," Ian told the kid forcefully making him near on jump out of his skin. Perhaps he was being a little tough, but Robin's wasn't the first burn patient's hand he'd held. She needed to see it. It was going to be tough and it was probably a little soon after the shock of finding out about the baby…but she needed to see it…and if anyone could understand that feeling it was Special Agent Ian Edgerton!

"Of course," The doctor mumbled as a look passed between him and the nurse. "Get a mirror," He told the nurse and waited until she returned with one before pulling back the bandages to Robin's startled gasp.

*Break*

Stepping out of the lift and into the FBI's large lobby, Agent Pierce let his gaze roam the room until he found his quarry. It wasn't hard, Detective Hayes stuck out like a sore thumb against all the FBI agents in his equally wrinkled brown cotton suit and long coat, next to a sour looking security guard.

"Detective Hayes," Agent Pierce announced his arrival as soon as he was close enough and waved the security officer away with a flick of his hand, though the guard moved only far enough away to be out of earshot. A sensible man, Logan thought reluctantly as he squared his shoulders and stopped next to Elliott who ignored his greeting to stare openly at the gold star on the wall in front of him.

"You don't seem all that surprised to see me," Elliott remarked softly, causing Logan to lean in closer to hear him.

"Well I did have an elevator ride in which to compose myself," Logan smiled tersely as he held his hands together across the small of his back and stood at ease.

"Of course," Elliott offered the smallest ghost of a smile as he turned his head fractionally to frown at agent Pierce who looked sharp in his black suit and tie and sombre expression, as if he had just come from or was headed to a funeral and yet somehow, stood next to the wall adorned with FBI memorial stars, it seemed somewhat appropriate. "And you know why I'm here?" El asked bitterly, his tone cutting as he watched the senior agent's eyes wander across the stars to where Brian's was hung.

"You're here to ask me to keep you on the case," Logan smiled tightly as he turned to faced El who had also turned, squaring off against him.

"And will you?" Elliott asked impatiently as the younger man crossed his arms and planted his feet firmly, refusing to back down. El had come intending to be the intimidating one and yet somehow Logan was pulling it off better.

"I'm a little surprised you want to," Logan replied after a long moment of consideration as he scratched non-committedly at his clean shaven, square jaw.

"It was my case," El shrugged, pretending to be blasé but Logan could see the throbbing tick that had started at the base of the detective's thick neck.

"That's not it," Logan sighed unimpressed as he turned back to the wall of memorial and frowned. There were a lot of memorials on that wall, some of whom Logan had known personally and as much as the old detective refused to admit it, Logan could see that this case was personal to El too. "But for now it will have to do. Name your terms detective."

"Terms?"

"Don't be coy," Logan snorted as he turned back to El suddenly making the security guard inch closer until Logan held out a hand telling him not to. "It's un be coming. You're here to bargain. You'll help out so long as…fill in the blank."

"I won't work with Edgerton," El grunted angrily, unhappy to be so off guard. He hadn't expected Logan to be so blunt, he'd gotten so used to people pussy footing around him lately it was actually a little refreshing that Agent Pierce chose to cut across the bull and get straight to business, didn't mean he liked being on the receiving end though.

"Out of the question. Ian is one of my best agents. He has knowledge and connections that quite frankly are more helpful than you Detective Hayes." Logan stared hard as his shoulders hunched a little. He was a tall man, even slightly stooped he towered above El but he wasn't about to let a little thing like size deter him.

"You asked my terms, that's my term," El crossed his arms, wrinkling his only tie further as he did his best to stare out the younger man.

"Fine," Logan relented slowly as he unfolded his arms and shoved his hands into his trouser pockets. "But your partner will have to come on with you."

"No!" El shouted suddenly, drawing looks from passing agents who paused, hands reaching for their weapons as they sized up the situation.

"Yes," Logan replied evenly as he held out his hands to indicate to the other agents to move along. "That's my terms detective. I understand your reservations after the last case but dropping Ian would leave me a man short. Decide. Ian or your partner."

"Fine," El grunted reluctantly as he reached down and picked up a reasonably sized satchel bag and pulled out a number of thick files. "I'll let Chris know to come here…I'd like to get moving on this, get your people up to date as soon as possible." El told Logan as he held out the files for him.

Taking them, Logan manoeuvred them so that they rested in the crook of his arm. "I'll let the team know…and Ian," Logan added as an afterthought as he turned to head back to the elevator and Don's already file overloaded office.

"Thank you," El mumbled eventually as Logan stalked off, showing no sign that he'd herd the detectives grumbled appreciation as he pulled out his phone and dialled for Ian. "Agent Edgerton, its Agent Pierce. We need to talk. I have a top secret assignment I need you to look over. Call me as soon as you get this message and whatever you do, don't tell anyone…especially Don. Bye."

Hanging up the phone, Logan pocketed it once more and buzzed for the lift. He'd agreed that Ian wouldn't be on the team, he'd said nothing however about not giving Ian the file to look over. It was sneaky but Logan had to put the case before Detective Hayes's sensitivities. It wouldn't win him any friends on the team and Liz might not understand, but Logan wasn't there to make friends. He had a bomber to catch!