A/N: Life asked for attention. But well, here we go again...

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Although he knew it was quite unusual for her to put away the dishes straight after using them Tommy had known he would not be able to keep her from doing it now and stall some time this way, so he already was upstairs sitting on his bed in nothing but his boxers and almost had finished removing the old bandage when Barbara entered the room. By the sight of him half naked she left the door open, just to be safe. Slowly she approached him and her eyes widened in shock.

"Dear me! Tommy! It looks horrible!" Blue, green, violet and purple bruises were strewn around the dark red suture where the bullet had hit him.

"Eleven stitches." he weakly smiled. "Plus some titanium fixed to the bones."

Straightening his back he held out the tube with the soothing healing ointment to her so she came closer. Tentatively she added the cool paste around the wound. Her face looked concentrated and Tommy loved to watch it but after a while his eyes fell shut. He completely relaxed under her hands. He simply revelled in the feel of of her fingers on his skin. Deep in thoughts she had bent a leg and supported herself with a knee on the bed next to him thus hovering just a tiny bit above him. Both felt the warmth of the other radiating between their bodies.

"What exactly were you thinking when you got up and played the hero?" she muttered.

"I was thinking that someone had to, Barbara. He had been aiming his gun at the baby."

That was in fact a good reason so Barbara went silent again. "I'm very proud of you." she only mumbled.

Diligently she started putting the bandage around his shoulder and chest. Tommy helped her as best as he could. It was a bit funny, a bit embarrassing and a huge bit enjoyable. Her fingers were delicately brushing his chest and his hairs stood on end. A few of her accidental touches were definitely on purpose so he knew that Barbara was enjoying it too.

"I'm very proud of you." he eventually admitted. "You did solve that case Hillier gave you, didn't you?"

"Yah, we did. You have a great team. Help me lift your arm please."

"Ouch!"

"Sorry."

"No, it's okay... Mh, that's better... It was yours. I mean, the team - it was yours."

"Well, you've trained it."

"You've led them."

"Bollocks."

Now Tommy earnestly looked into her eyes. "Barbara, don't play it down. You'd be a great Inspector."

For a second she looked at him, thinking if that was what she wanted in her career. Partly she still was afraid of being in charge, although it had been great during the previous days, but mainly she would not want stop working with Tommy. "We'll see."

"So you'll accept the promotion?"

"We'll see."

Another moment of silence turned up. Meanwhile Barbara only caressed his shoulder. Her eyes were fixed on a small thread of the bandage but did not really look at it. Her thoughts orbited that kiss after the shoot out.

"I've meant it by heart, Barbara. It wasn't only adrenaline driven." Her shocked and at the same time very pleased eyes told Tommy that she had been thinking about the same he had. He placed a hand on her waist and softly stroked her. "Inside the bank when I was sitting there I was almost constantly thinking of you."

In quiet words he told her that he also had been thinking about her a lot when he was in Cornwall and how happy he was when he finally had returned to London and had been able to see her almost every day again. He also explained that he had not been thinking about her that way until he was lying in the pool of blood from the dead service man and hearing the bank robber behind the desk. He had not even thought about it that way when he had bought the flowers in the morning. "But suddenly I realised I am in love with you, Barbara."

She stopped moving. "Deeply so." Tommy added.

"Mh." With her typical uncertainty Barbara shrugged and tried a smile. "I... I feel... I've realised what my feelings for you are when Winnie had brought me to the hospital you were in surgery at. He simply asked and I simply named it." she confessed.

"And that is?" He would have put his other hand on her waist too and pull her into his chest if he would have been able to move his left arm. But for now he only increased his grip on that one side.

"Well, I... I deeply care for you. I've really feared you could lose your life. I've feared I could lose you and I probably would not have wanted to go on without you."

"Because?" His voice was low. Tommy wanted her to say it now. It was not too early for it and he longed to hear it. Because life is precious and sometimes ends too quick.

"Because I- " Barbara still hesitated and chewed on the inside of her cheeks. She knew what he wanted to hear. She knew what she wanted to say. She deeply sighed. Her voice was quiet now and turned even more tender with every halting word. "Because... I'd miss you... every day of my lonely life. Because... I think I... I love you too."

They shared a deeply loving and pensive look. Neither of them dared to move so that sweet moment would not be destroyed so soon. Somehow out of the blue the vision of Barbara sprang into his mind. Lying on the ground with a big nasty red stain on her jumper getting bigger and bigger.

"Now you know how I felt when you've been hit by the lead back in time." he said into the tensed atmosphere with a lopsided smile.

"Well, at least you weren't..." Barbara almost had said 'weren't in love with me' but that certain sadness in his eyes made her stop and furrow her brows in disbelief. "Then already?"

He nodded. "A huge part of me already was, yes, I think so. At least in retrospective."

In a sudden moment of braveness Barbara bent down to him and placed her lips on his. She only had intended to make it a brief contact but when he prolonged the contact by following her leaving lips with his it turned into a longer kiss and when he snaked his good arm completely around her to pull her closer she gave in and finally sat down on his lap.

"Oh." she immediately breathed onto his lips and felt her face starting to burn. She had not expected to feel this.

"That's what you do to me." It sounded like a half-hearted apology from Tommy. He only had his boxers on and Barbara felt exactly how much he wanted her. Bringing a bit more space between their faces she could see his burning as hot as hers. "If you don't mind I won't apologise for it." he whispered. "Honestly I have to admit that I think it's not exactly unpleasant."

Barbara nervously chuckled. His pleading look made her heart jump in joy and her insides tickle expectantly so she closed her eyes and the distance to his face again and kissed him softly. They had stepped over another invisible border and suddenly everything seemed easier now. "It's all but unpleasant, Sir." she murmured onto his lips.

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