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Chapter 20:

"Bobby, are you okay with it?" Jack asked quietly and watched as his friend shrugged his shoulders.

"It's not my decision to make, Jack. They should decide. If they're willing to take the risk…" He shook his head. "Then I'll do anything in my power to protect them."

Dimitrius entered the room, handing Jack the folder he was holding in his hand. "I briefed the assistant director. We have clearance for the operation if Megan and James are up to it."

Myles and Lucy entered the conference room, followed by James Meyer who nodded his head at them. He turned to Jack. "How are you feeling, Jack?"

"I'm perfectly fine with the pain killers." Jack smiled.

James shook his head. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there with you."

Jack held up his hand. "Please, stop. I already had this discussion today. It's no one's fault, we need to get him."

Bobby picked up the phone and made a call. He waited for a long time before she answered the phone, her voice hoarse. "I'm sorry for waking you up." He said.

"It's okay, everything okay?"

"We need to discuss some things. I'm gonna put you on speaker, is that alright?"

"Sure, Bobby." Bobby pressed the button and nodded his head.

"Okay, everyone, let's get started." Dimitrius clapped his hands together. The team all sat around the long table. "Anything new since morning?"

"No finger prints from the scene at the ambulance station. The wall was painted with a standard red paint; anyone can buy it in practically every store." Tara said.

"The two agents who were sent to the former DA are currently still on the roads. They did contact us a few hours ago. Ben doesn't remember anything peculiar about the specific case. He was aware of the surprising speed that the case was closed in but thought nothing of that as Grant Perry was dead." Lucy said.

"The detective who oversaw the investigation is William Stanton, currently retired." Myles opened a file. "His neighbors said that he left home about three weeks ago. They assumed he went over to celebrate the holidays with his family. He has a military history which we are currently still investigating. However, our chances to talk to him are pretty weak considering the fact we don't exactly know where he is."

"A question." James cleared his throat. "Why are you even trying to get a hold of him? Don't tell me you suspect that the cases are linked together."

"We have a theory." Jack said quietly. "We believe there was something very wrong with the way they handled the case of your attack, we have a suspicion that they might have framed the wrong guy, that's why we want to talk with Stanton."

"I have a question for you, Megan and James." Sue spoke. "You visited the Perry's twice before the…incident; you alerted the social services about them. Have you ever thought that Perry could hurt you?"

She couldn't hear the silence that followed her words and she watched when James narrowed his eyes. Lucy nudged her shoulder and started signing, relating to her the words Megan was saying over the phone.

"I remembered visiting their apartment before, that's one of the reasons we were both shocked that she was dead. We convinced her to go over to the shelter, she was pretty banged up." There was a short pause. "But we never saw her husband."

James' eyes darkened. "When they told me that Perry attacked us it made sense that he was acting impulsively. If he did it then he couldn't have planned it. We weren't the only team who worked that night. There are usually two, sometimes three teams. Besides, it wasn't our fault she killed herself."

"I don't see why it matters so much. The guy is dead and the case is closed." Megan snapped and Bobby raised his eyebrows.

"We're only trying to cover everything. If they framed the wrong guy…"

"I know. I'm sorry." She sighed.

"Well, if you're saying it's the same guy then I suppose you want to change your course of action." James said quietly.

"Tomorrow night will be the exact date of the incident." Dimitrius said quietly. "We want you to be on the same ambulance again."

"We believe that what happened last night was a warning of some kind. Not for you, for us." Sue said quietly. "The flowers he sent me were meant to warn us off this case."

"If it is that bastard again, something tells me it wouldn't matter where we'll be tomorrow night." James said.

"It does matter." Jack said. "Say the words and we'll put you both in protective custody. I heard that…" he talked towards the general direction of the phone after hearing Megan's snort.

"If you'll agree then I'm putting everyone on this. Every SOG member, every sniper and every SWAT men I have." Dimitrius shook his head. "But you all know the risks."

"I can only talk for myself." James said quietly. "I'm sick and tired with the graveyard shift. We need to get this over with."

Bobby sighed to himself. He knew Megan's answer will be similar. He was surprised that she didn't already voice her opinion. "Meg?" He asked.

"Well, I guess that when we have absolutely no idea who we're dealing with going back to square one is the best option. Count me in."

He opened the apartment door quietly, dropping his keys on the small shelf that stood right next to it and pulled off his coat, his eyes searching for her. He found her in his room, looking much better and reading one of his books. He smiled fondly and cleared his throat. "It's good to see that you're feeling better."

She smiled and closed the book. "I do feel better, thank you. When did you leave? I didn't hear you."

"That's because I was being very sneaky and quiet." Bobby grinned. "We have the night off. You know it's Christmas Eve?" He asked.

Megan laughed. "Yeah, I was supposed to work tonight."

Bobby raised his eyebrows and took his boots off. "That's what you planned on doing in Christmas Eve? And here I was thinking that you had some grand plans to go home or something."

She shrugged her shoulders. "This is home. I sometimes celebrate with James and his wife but this year they planned to go over to her parents."

"What about your parents?"

"They died in a car crash nine years ago." She said quietly. "I thought you knew everything about me." She chuckled.

He was momentarily stunned. "I'm sorry." He said and then shook his head. "I didn't read the entire file." He admitted.

"What about you? Weren't you going home?"

He shook his head. "Not this year. Not enough time. I was home two years ago in the summer." He grinned, remembering the entire month he spent back home. "If you're up to it, Myles is organizing a Christmas dinner. Come with me?"

She smiled and nodded her head, surprised at herself for blushing under his look. "Yeah, I'll go with you."

He grinned and moved towards his closet, pulling pants and sweatshirt. "I'm gonna grab a shower. Have you eaten something for lunch? I'm hungry."

She raised her eyebrow. "We're going for dinner in a few hours."

"Yeah, but I didn't really eat anything for lunch."

"I made some pasta, if you want some." She said, smiling at his surprised look. "What? I can cook."

"I'm surprised I had the ingredients for pasta."

She hesitated. "Actually, you didn't. You didn't have anything on your fridge." He arched his eyebrow. "I was hungry so I went to the store down the corner." She raised her hands when he opened his mouth to speak. "Your guys followed me around all the time. I nearly knocked one of them down when I opened the door."

He pursed his lips and then nodded his head, heading towards the shower. Megan stared after him with surprise. "That's it? No punishing me for moving away from the bed?"

His head popped at the door and he grinned suggestively before shaking his head. "Nope, you'll have my head for that line. I'll just keep my mouth shut." He was still grinning when he finished his shower and sat beside her on the bed.

"We're still searching for Stanton." He said. "We're checking all of his known relatives and credit card activities. I hope we could talk to him by tomorrow."

She nodded her head. "I hope so too."

"Are you sure about tomorrow? You don't have to do that." He locked his eyes with hers, smiling when she shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm afraid, but if you're saying that it's the same guy then we have to get him. I don't like being the victim." She sighed. "I wish I knew why he did it."

He shook his head, moving to clasp her hands in his, their eyes locked together. "Let's just forget about him for tonight."

She smiled and they headed towards the kitchen.

Jack whistled when he entered Myles' house and his nose picked on the delicious smell that drifted from the kitchen. He sat down on the sofa, still suffering from headache and dizziness. Sue immediately poured him some juice from a bottle that stood on the counter and he shook his head with amusement, wincing with pain, how did she know everything he needed?

"Myles, that smells so good, how did you find the time?" Sue asked, taking a seat next to Jack.

Myles smiled. "I had some help from an unexpected source." He said and then headed back towards the kitchen. "Excuse me, make yourself comfortable."

He stopped at the entrance of the kitchen and allowed himself a moment of simply looking at her as she worked. She sliced some vegetables and tossed them to the frying pan, before moving to check on the oven. He smiled when he remembered how she offered to help him. He could have done it by himself, cooking some of the stuff and buying other stuff from the Deli. But her presence in his house proved to be fun and comfortable, like he always thought it would be. She was a great cook and they worked well together. It seemed like she was no longer upset with him and he was happy, their friendship would have to do, he wouldn't push her to a place she was not interested in.

He shook his head and smiled. "Jack and Sue are here." He said, moving to help her with the bottle of wine.

"I heard." She grinned. "Bobby called; they'll be a little late."

"Good, we might actually manage to eat something when Koala boy is not around."

She swatted his arm. "Myles!"

He tilted his head to the right. "You disagree with me?" He asked, grinning at her.

She rolled her eyes and nodded her head. "Don't tell Bobby." She warned.

Myles whistled innocently and busied himself with opening the wine. She shook her head and left the room.

"I brought some company." Lucy announced from the entrance. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet Peter Shane." Peter shook hands and smiled warmly. Tara and Sue both grinned at Lucy and took the opportunity to have a short discussion behind Peter's back as he shook hands with Jack and Myles.

"THAT'S YOUR DINNER DATE?" Tara signed.

Lucy nodded her head, her eyes shining with happiness.

"HE'S CUTE." Sue signed and then shook his hand, smiling at him.

"So, Peter, what do you do?" Jack asked, raising his eyebrows at Myles who took a seat at the other side of the dark haired man.

Peter was a lawyer and immediately started a conversation with Jack who signed his approval at Sue. Myles wasn't in a hurry and still observed the other man carefully. Lucy nudged him and he jumped. "What?"

"Stop grilling him, Myles."

"I wasn't even talking to him." He defended.

Tara and Sue burst into giggles. "You were going to." Lucy accused. "I like him, he's a nice guy. We've been dating for quite some time now."

Myles grinned at her. "Alright, alright, but if I see anything suspicious…"

She rolled her eyes. "Where can I put those mistletoes?"

"Anywhere not above my head, please." He responded, shaking his head at her.

Just to spite him she raised her hand above his head and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Happy Christmas, Myles."

"Megan, I'm hungry and we're going to be late!" He shouted, turning to examine some pictures that were standing on the table. They stopped at her place so that she could find something else to wear other than her sweatshirt. Bobby thought she looked very good with her sweatshirt but agreed that she needed something else to wear. "Sheila, they'll eat everything and there will be nothing left for us."

"Bobby, red or white?" She asked.

"That depends." He answered, drumming his fingers on the kitchen counter.

"On what?" He heard a loud thud. "Stupid shoe…"

"If it's a sweater then I don't mind."

"Okay…"

"If it's lingerie then I'll have to vote red."

He chuckled to himself at the silence that followed his words. "Even on your wedding night?" She asked.

"I prefer nothing on my wedding night." He teased.

She emerged from her bedroom and pulled her coat above a red, fluffy sweater. He grinned at her, appreciating the small amount of makeup and high heel boots that suddenly made it very comfortable to just lower his head and kiss her. He cleared his throat, reaching to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. His face was inches from hers and her eyes were gazing at his, teasing him.

"Is it red, Megan?" He asked; his voice low and husky.

She grinned. "Well, Bobby, that's for me to know and for you to…" She trailed off, realizing what she was saying.

He grinned. "For me to find out." He completed her sentence, watching with amusement at her flushed face. He held her hand, moving it to his lips to kiss it. "Let's go, I'm starving."