I'm sorry. I know it's been a while, unfortunately life sort of got in the way, hope ya'll are still interested and no matter how long it takes me I do promise this story will be finished, I refuse to start and then drop a story, I don't think it's fair to the reader. Not that it's fair to ya'll to have to wait so long for updates but I'm only a human, a lazy one at that, So agian, I'm sorry =( Good news I have more written, I just need to edit it, I'm hoping to update again today.

Hope you'all enjoy. Hope you all R&R.

No, I don't own it, surprise surprise.

"It didn't hurt!" Fi exclaimed, rushing into the living room, a smile stretching her face..

"What, love?" he asked, his focus on the soccer game.

"It. Didn't. Hurt."

"What didn't hurt?" he asked distractedly, turning to look at her Fi, who was still in a long silk robe.

"My hair," she smiled, perching on the back of the couch. "I brushed it and it didn't hurt, at all and that's without painkillers."

Dorian smiled deviously and pulled her down onto the couch. She let out a squeal of surprise, as she landed sprawled on the couch, half in his lap.

"Does this mean I no longer have to play hairdresser, love?" he asked, sounding hopeful.

"But you're so good at it," she pouted playfully, determinedly ignoring the fact that she was in a rather compromised position.

"I'm good at other things, too," he smirked, lightly trailing his fingertips over her side."

"Ah, no," she yelped, smacking his hand away, trying not to laugh.

"Oh, but, love, it's so much fun," he smiled, once again trailing his fingers along her ticklish side.

"Dorie," she laughed, trying to twist away, unable to make her tone serious,"I don't think I'm recovered enough for this."

"Nonsense," he told her, holding her in place. "Besides, what better way to find out?"

"You win," she cried out.

"And am enjoying my spoils," he informed her pleasantly as he switched to her other side, a fresh round of shrieking escaping her.

"Now, if I remember correctly," he said, his hand moving toward her lower stomach, "your most ticklish-"

"Don't you dare!" she yelled, squirming in earnest.

Unexpectedly, his hand froze and his head snapped up, his body tensing.

"Dorian?" she asked, concerned.

"Hush! Come on… That's it… Yes, yes… Come on!"

Fi followed his gaze to the television and sighed, relaxing again; unable to make herself get up and finish getting ready- Dorian had a very comfortable lap.

"That's it… Yes!" he yelled, standing up with the goal kick, his arms shooting into the air. "Did you see that!"

Fi cleared her throat from where she was laying half on the ground, half on the couch.

"Oh, sorry, love," he said sheepishly, sliding his hands under her arms and hauling her back onto the couch, sitting down himself. "But did you see that goal?"

Without waiting for an answer he turned back to the television, once again absorbed in the game.

"I'm going to go finish getting ready and leave you to your sports," she said with a patient smile, standing up and inadvertently blocking his view

"Alright, love," he said, absentmindedly patting her backside, trying to hurry her out of his line of sight- she obligingly stepped to the side before she realized what he had done. "Are we still going out with your family tonight?"

"Y-yeah, there, uh, picking us up in an hour," she said, staring at him.

"Good, good," he said, distractedly, his focus entirely on the game.

Fi turned and made her way to the bedroom, trying to make sense of what he had just done. Sure, Dorian hit on her a lot, and he had no problems being physical when he was directly flirting with her, like when he was tickling her. She knew it had been very conscious. But patting her like that had just been so casual, so… thoughtless, she wasn't even sure he realized he had done it. It had been an old habit of his, from when they had still been together; his way of brushing her off when his focus was elsewhere and he needed her out of his way. She tried to convince herself that it didn't mean anything but the little voice in the back of her head wouldn't let her; falling into old, intimate, habits could not be good.

"I could have been changing," Fi pointed out distractedly as the door to her room opened and Dorian stepped in.

"Wouldn't that have been nice," he commented, flipping up his collar and laying his tie in place.

"You're just a riot," she told him dryly, slipping into her black stilettos.

"No, I'm just honest," he replied, looking up from his tie, his eyes widening, the material slipping from his hold.

"What is it?" she asked, sounding self conscious, as she turned back to look at herself in the mirror. "What? Does the dress not look right?"

It was a dress she had bought a while ago but had yet to wear, so she thought she'd try it for tonight. It was a deep, jewel, blue and strapless, tight and formfitting, stopping just below her knees. The neckline was scooped slightly to show off a little more cleavage and was trimmed with a black velour material. The velour was continued on in a delicate floral pattern that started on the right side, where the neckline trim ended. It came down in a thin line of slight flowers that crossed under her bust line, becoming more expansive and widening out halfway across, the pattern heading down, angled across her stomach. When the pattern reached her left hip, it thinned out and wrapped around her lower back, once again switching to a downward angle about halfway across, finally lining up with the mid thigh slit and following it straight down. She resisted the urge to chew on her bottom lip, maybe she should wear something else?

"Not look right?" he asked incredulous. "Fi, you look… breathtaking."

Fi blushed, and shrugged slightly before heading towards him, "I won't change than. Here, let me help you with that."

She picked up the forgotten ends of the tie, her hands going to autopilot as she tied it allowing her to return to her earlier thoughts before he had interrupted.

"Thanks, love," he said, as she tightened it.

"Mmm-hmm," she murmured, flipping his collar down.

"Hey," he said gently gripping her chin and tilting her head up. "Where'd you go?"

"Oh, sorry," she smiled, pulling away, and grabbing her clutch.

"You've been doing that a lot lately, love."

"Have I?" she said, heading towards the kitchen, knowing now was not a good time to get into this conversation.

"Fi," he said following after her, realizing what was on her mind, "obsessing isn't going to help us figure it out any sooner."

"Really," she snapped, lack of sleep and frustration making her cranky, "you seem to have a different opinion when we're working on your project."

"Oh, so now it's my project? I thought it was ours. When did that change?" he demanded, his own temper stretched with tiredness and worry over her.

"When you couldn't be bothered to return the favor with my Vision," she yelled, smashing her purse down on the kitchen table.

"I am helping you Fi, it's not my fault we're not progressing as fast as you'd like," he yelled back.

"We would be if you didn't keep pulling me away from it!"

"Excuse me for not wanting to see you work yourself into an early grave. Besides, I can see how much it bothers you when we're working on it."

"I know my limits," she snarled.

"No you don't Fiona! You act like you're invincible and you're not! We both know that you've pushed yourself too far before," he finished quietly.

"Limits are not a luxury I can afford-"

"Don't you dare try to play that card, I am sick and-"

"And that is exactly our problem, you never could accept my priorities, my responsibilities! There are people who depend on me; I won't walk away from that, so stop asking me to!"

Molly and the group had reached the entryway to Fi's apartment in time to hear Dorian's booming voice.

"You're no good to those people dead, Fiona, or have you forgotten what happened the last time you ran off half-cocked?"

"Don't you dare throw that in face!" screeched Fi, her tone a mix of anger and hurt.

"I'll do what I have to if it keeps you alive, woman!" his roared back, his patience clearly waning.

"If only you'd had the same consideration for Arrie!" she snapped cruelly.

"I cared for Arrie and you know it, Fiona," he said, his voice dangerously low.

"Than why is she dead?" Fi demanded.

The group heard a rather loud thud, and looked at each other nervously.

"Dorian!" she exclaimed as he yanked his fist out of the nice size hole he had just put in the kitchen wall.

"Go on, then," he said, not turning around to face her.

"Go on?"

"Get it out of your system. We both know there are things you've wanted to say to me, scream at me, for quite a while now, go on."

"Dorian," she started, her anger fading. "I-"

The doorbell rang. The two froze.

"Hide the hole, I'll go get the door," he told her. Then added quietly, "I would have died for her Fi, there just wasn't time."

Fiona stood in silence for a few moments, the sound of a door opening and voices finally jarring her back to her senses. She walked over to the hole.

Fi smiled tightly as Dorian pulled her chair back so she could stand. He nodded, his eyes distant and cold. While the two had been perfectly amiable and pleasant towards the group, only an idiot could miss the tension between the two of them. Fi wondered how much her family had overheard.

"Dorian," she said, laying a hand on his arm. "I'm going to go the restroom before we leave."

He nodded, "We'll meet the rest of you at the car."

Fi reached the bathroom and opened the door, smiling as she saw it was a single bathroom. She grabbed his arm and yanked him in after her.

"Um… Fiona?"

"I'm sorry, Dorian," she said regret clear in her voice. "The things I said, I should never have… I know that you cared for Arrie, and I know you want to help me figure out my Vision… It's just, I also know that there are things you've kept from me, things you still aren't telling me, and it just… it just doesn't excuse any of it. How acted earlier, the things I said, were wrong and I can't tell you how very sorry I am for it. If I could take it back…"

He nodded, "You did have your points. I have been holding you back. I don't like seeing how bad that Vision bothers you but that's not my place anymore and I won't do it again. I thought we might work on it tomorrow, love?"

She nodded, wishing it was still his place and followed him out to the cars, his hand finding hers as they went.

"You and Dorian okay now?" asked Carey, as they made their way to the bar of the club the group had gone to after dinner- celebrating the fact that Molly's new release was still in the top ten.

"So, you all overheard?" she asked sheepishly.

"I think the whole building overheard. What'd he break?"

"The wall. That picture in the kitchen used to be centered over the table. But yeah, we made up."

"Good, the strain coming off of you two at dinner was horrible."

"Sorry."

"It's okay, what matters is you two fixed it. I'm just glad he doesn't let his anger get in the way of keeping you safe… I'm actually surprised he let you come over to the bar without him."

"Vodka and tonic," she told the bartender before turning back to Carey. "I promise you his eyes haven't left me since I got up and he's evaluating every person who gets close to me."

"In this crowd?" Carey asked in disbelief as they turned from the bar.

"He's the best for a reason."

"It's impressive, if slightly creepy," commented Carey.

Fi laughed. She didn't, however, notice the rather large man in her way.

"Oh, I'm sorry," exclaimed Fi, as she collided with him. She pulled back, "I didn't see you there."

"I noticed," he snapped, clearly unhappy. "I almost spilled my drink."

"Well… I, uh, guess it's a good thing you didn't," she shrugged.

"That's all you have to say?" he demanded, irrationally angry- Carey stepped closer to Fi.

"Well, I did already apologize," she pointed out, confused by his anger.

That was clearly not the answer he wanted. He reached for her. Carey grabbed the man's outstretched arm and Fi stepped back, right as Dorian slid in front of her. One hand snaked around behind himself, pressing Fi against his back, while the other shot forward, coming in contact with the man and keeping him back. Fi tried to wiggle out of Dorian's hold, but the man wouldn't budge. She gave up, no matter that she could have handled it on her own, Dorian would have stepped in even if the man had done nothing more than frown at her. Fi tried to convince herself that it was because it was his job and not because he cared for her. There was absolutely nothing romantic about it, or so she told herself several times.

"I strongly suggest you walk away," warned Dorian, his tone threatening.

"Excuse me?" he demanded, a slight slur tingeing his words. "I'm not going anywhere. That girl-"

"Already apologized. Now walk away."

"No, I-"

"Is there a problem here?"

Dorian glanced at the bouncer from the corner of his eye, "Only that this man's had a little too much to drink and decided it would be fun to harass the female patrons."

"I see, let's go," said the bouncer taking a firm hold of the slightly drunk man.

Once the man and bouncer were out of sight, Dorian turned around, cupping her face with one hand, "Are you alright, love?"

Fi sighed, "Of course I'm alright. The man didn't even touch me."

"He tried," scowled Carey.

"Have the two of you ever heard of the word 'overreact'?" she asked sarcastically.

Dorian laughed as Carey shook his head.

"Can you take this back to the table?" asked Dorian handing Fi's drink to Carey.

"Sure," he said, taking it.

"Where are we going?" asked Fi, as Dorian gripped her hand, pulling her along.

"To dance, love."

Fi let him pull her along, trying to imagine it was like old times. Dorian pulled her against him, moving them both in time with the music, his hands traveling flirtatiously. Both were unaware of Fi's family watching them.

"Annie?" said Molly, aware that the girls were closer than either of them let on. "Do you know what happened between them?"

"Fi doesn't really talk about it," she dodged- she knew exactly what happened.

"We've got to find out," insisted Irene. " It's obvious Fiona's hiding a lot of pain from something that happened while she was living in England and it's clear that something big happened between them, yet he makes her so happy. Not that she'll ever admit that.

Despite Fi's best efforts it was clear Fiona was keeping a lot of secrets from them.

"Yeah," said Jack, "but you know Fi, if she doesn't want us to know we're not going to find out, and I think she's made it pretty clear she has no desire to discuss the last few years."

"Yeah, but Fi needs to talk about it and she needs Dorian," argued Gabe, "only she's too stubborn to admit it or do anything about it."

Molly, Irene, and Annie nodded their agreement.

"Oh, no," said Ned, "You are not going to start playing match maker. Fi's a big girl and if she wants to fix things with Dorian that'll be her decision."

"As her family, it's our responsibility to help her," maintained Irene.

Jack and Carey sighed in defeat, when the women in their family got something into their head, there was no stopping them.

"Will, man, help me out here," pleaded Ned, Fiona did not need them harassing her, she had enough on her plate.

"Look," said Will, clearly uncertain, "Ned's right, so what I'm about to tell you, you didn't find out from me because she'd kill me. I had hoped she would tell in her own time," which was a lie, he and Fiona had both hoped they'd never find out, "and I only know this because it was included in her transfer papers, and it was only there because the company required a psych evaluation…"

The group frowned, not liking the sound of what he was going to tell them.

"Her best friend back in England, Arrie, worked in the same department. Actually, they headed a lot of the same projects together, and Dorian, in addition to being Fi's fiancé, also headed her security. Like I mentioned before, this isn't her first problem with threats against her life… Anyway, there was a breach of security, a bad breach and she almost died. Dorian was able to save Fi but Arrie was killed."

"Oh my God," exclaimed Molly and Irene in unison.

"There's more," he said gravely, hoping they wouldn't ask to many questions as he could only edit so much, "Dorian was implicated in the murder. He's since been cleared," lied Will- Dorian hadn't been cleared, there just wasn't enough to convict him, yet. "But, the accusation left it's mark and, well, between loosing her best friend, the trials, the company pressure, it put a lot of strain on their relationship and eventually broke it."

"When did all this happen?" asked Molly, tears in her voice.

"Six months before her transfer here."

"How could she not say anything?" asked Clue, sounding hurt.

"Knowing Fi, she was probably trying to protect us," said Carey sadly. "And, by the time things settled down, it was probably just to painful for her to dredge up."

"Fi's always been good at burying her feelings, easier than confronting them," summed up Jack, horrified at what his sister had been through.

"Do we talk to her about it?" asked Molly.

"No," said the guys in unison.

The group fell into silence for a few minutes, and before anyone could comment Fi and Dorian joined them, a little out of breath.

"What's up with everyone?" asked Fi, grabbing her drink, "you all look like someone died."

"Love," said Dorian, opening the car door. "We're home."

"No," she whined, not opening her eyes. "I'm comfortable."

Dorian chuckled and instead of arguing, picked her up.

"Hey," she complained, wrapping her arms around his neck, "I can walk."

"Should I put you down then?" he smirked.

"No," she told him, snuggling into him.

Dorian laughed and kicked the door shut. He tried to ignore his worry for the girl in his arms as he carried her up to the apartment. The evening hadn't been a strenuous or long one. She shouldn't be so tired but then she was still pushing herself nonstop. He'd lost track of the number of times he had come out in the middle of the night to find her working on her Vision or the research they had started or the Native American project. She needed to let herself rest but he knew from experience how near impossible that feat was.

"I forgot how comfortable you are," she mumbled half asleep as Dorian used magic to unlock and open the door.

Dorian suppressed a groan and took her into the bedroom. Heaven help him if he didn't manage to changed her mind because he knew there could never be anyone else for him and the limbo they were currently in was driving him crazy. He settled her gently on the bed, slipped her shoes off, and pulled a blanket over her.

"Sleep well, sweetheart," he whispered, kissing the top of her head.