Chapter One: Just a random meeting

It was early Friday night and Cat was entering the hotel lobby bar, scanning her surroundings. She had only this morning arrived to LA from the East coast and was supposed to start in her new position on Monday morning. That meant she had plenty of time to get familiar with the city and its offerings.

Cat was dressed for the evening, a short skirt and matching top complimenting her shapely and ample frame. Her short dark hair coiffed as usual and a pair of high heels to complete the ensemble was a choice she had debated on. Especially since she was planning to have a tour around the local gay establishments later in the evening after a drink at the bar. Running around town in killer heels may have not been the best option, but sometimes looks trumped pain.

Cat walked to the bar, seated herself and waved for the bartender. She made her order, a glass of white house wine. 'When in Rome', she thought and took a sip from the glass and she was not disappointed. Hoping the wine had been a good indication as to what laid ahead, she took another sip and made a toast for herself.

"Here is looking at you kid!" She then retorted out loud; surely a famous quote apt to the situation.

Cat had not been staying there long when an extremely nice looking brunette appeared and sat down at the other end of the bar. Cat tried to keep her eyes to herself, but it seemed impossible: She felt her gaze being drawn to the new arrival in a most magnetic way. Cat kept the staring at a minimum, but she managed to register the luscious long dark auburn hair, the figure hugging dress and a pair of extremely nice legs. Cat was sure she was drooling at this point and quickly turned her eyes up front, now staring at the bottles on the shelves of the bar, even counting them to have something to do other than stare at the stranger.

Cat was looking at the clock on the bar wall; It was still early, so she decided to order another glass. Like the magnet she had now become, Cat once again turned her gaze towards the leggy brunette. Cat noticed the woman was holding her mobile phone in her hand and was clearly reading something. It did not take long for her to complete the task and upon finishing she opened her purse and what seemed like an angry move from the onlooker, the brunette tossed the phone inside and let out a deep sigh.

Cat was contemplating the situation: It seemed the lovely lady sitting only a few meters away from her had been stood up, or at least the rendezvous had been delayed. Cat wondered as to what type of man would leave a very sexy lady like her waiting. Clearly she wasn't gay, not here, not in this bar. Not even in the twenty-first century, Cat thought, despite the fact, that times were changing and so did most people with those times.

Well, to be honest, here Cat was, sitting in this bar, gay as hell, so the assessment wasn't fair. And being totally honest, it would not have been the first and probably not the last time Cat was interested in a straight woman. Rather than an exception, it seemed to be her M.O. to fall for the unobtainable ones. Deep in her thought reflecting her past a few moments had passed since she last looked at the clock. Cat drank the rest of the wine and decided to let this one go, and not to take a final look in the brunette's direction.

Cat started to finally leave and begin her tour of the city. She got up and started towards the doors, when she heard the brunette's voice, talking to someone, and rather angrily at that.

"What part of 'no' do you not understand?" the brunette said angrily to a man who had just appeared on the scene and was now sitting beside her.

Cat had not looked in the direction of the brunette for a while. She was afraid that her resolve to leave would crumble. But it seemed the brunette was in trouble with the late arrival sitting oh so very close to her. Could this have been the one who had texted her before?

The sensual voice of the brunette had not gone unnoticed by Cat either. "What a great package and what a waste!" Cat thought and berated herself for being such a hypocrite. After all, wasn't that what men usually said about any lesbian who was really feminine and sexy or any woman basically who did not give a second look at a man in a bar or the first one for that matter?

Cat moved a few steps closer really casually so not to reveal she was eavesdropping, trying to find out if the brunette needed help or not. After all, Cat was no stranger to chivalry and rendering aid to a lady in distress. She could not hear what the man had replied, but by the looks of him, he seemed intoxicated, non-cooperative and somewhat aggressive.

Cat slowly moved in the general direction where the brunette and her 'fan' were seated and soon she was close enough to be able to hear what was going on:

"I will tell you one more time; I am not available for drinks or anything else for that matter, so take a hint and leave!" the brunette had raised her voice to what clearly was a drunken stranger, hitting on her.

Cat hastened her pace and in no time reached the twosome. She stepped right between them, trying to act as a barrier. She turned towards the brunette and was now face to face with her, staring into a pair of most gorgeous eyes. Cat knew she was lost already, but put on the best and coolest act she could muster:

"Good evening Miss, sorry to intrude, but is this man bothering you?" she asked professionally, like she was the bouncer of sorts for the establishment. Yeah really, dressed like she was? Still, she was not about to leave a woman in trouble.

The brunette seemed relieved at Cat's arrival and replied "Actually, yes!"

Cat gave the brunette a crooked smile and turned towards the drunken man: "Sir, I would kindly ask you to leave, please. The lady here has not interest in you or what you might be selling." Cat said to the man in a calm voice.

The man just looked at her and a huge grin entered his face, "Well, looks like it is my lucky night and I get two for the price of one!"

From the response it was clear to Cat, that the man would not go willingly and he was far too drunk to have any kind of reasonable conversation with. Cat did not hesitate: With one swift move she had gripped the man's arm and twisted it behind his back. She was standing behind him, her mouth close to his ear and again with assertive calmness said:

"Sir, I will ask you one more time politely to remove yourself from this lady's presence or there will be consequences."

There was a painful expression on the intruding man's face and after the few seconds Cat had had him in the grip he yielded: "Alright! I get the message, I will go."

Cat let go and the man spun off his seat and without looking back left in a haste. He was really quick on his feet compared to the level of intoxication he seemed to be in. Cat was looking at him go and when she was sure the man was not going to come back and retaliate in any way, she turned toward the brunette:

"Well, it seems your assailant understood the message and is gone."

The brunette then gave Cat a really big smile and said "Thank you! How very graceful of you to come to my rescue."

Cat wasn't sure if there was a hint of sarcasm in her voice, but if there was, Cat let it slide, after all the smile had melted her and there was nothing this woman could say to her, which would make Cat think any less of her, except maybe 'buzz off!'

Cat found herself staring and it seemed she had lost the ability to speak. 'Shape up dummy, it's not nice to leave a lady hanging'. Cat quickly regained her senses and replied:

"I am sure you would have managed to fend for yourself, but in my experience it's better to gang up when ever possible. More strength in numbers and all that!"

Cat smiled and hoped she had not offended the lovely brunette in any way. The brunette was smiling still, a good sign and replied simply:

"True and I am glad you came to my rescue when you did. I would probably had ended up in trouble if I had ended up fending for myself. Trust you me, my thoughts of what I was going to do to him was not pretty!" the brunette said with a hint of evil in her smile.

Cat assumed the last statement to be in jest, the brunette seemed way too nice and ladylike to get involved in any mayhem. Cat just decided to drop the subject and smiled back.

"Can I offer you drink?" the brunette asked Cat and gestured for her to sit down. "Yes, please!" Cat simply replied not sure as to what was coming up next.

She decided a thank you drink in the company of this eye capturing woman was better than what she had planned. Which was basically nothing more than to check out the gay bars and what the offering was and maybe get lucky in the process?

Cat sat down next to the brunette.

The brunette turned to Cat and asked "What's your poison?" Cat smiled at the remark and replied: "White wine, please." The brunette turned to the bartender, who was close by.

He had obviously been alerted to the loud conversation and action taken place, but had chosen to remain neutral.

The brunette placed the order for Cat and herself and the glasses appeared very swiftly before the two ladies.

"On the house!" the bartender said and gave a coy smile.

"Thanks!" the two ladies responded in kind.

The brunette turned to Cat and raised her glass for a toast: "To us!" Cat raised hers as well and added: "Hear, hear!"

"By the way, I am Sharon" the brunette offered her hand. "Cat" Cat simply replied and took the offered hand for a brief shake.

Mistake number one: The mere touch of Sharon's hand started a tingle all over Cat's body and she could feel her other senses heighten as well. Thank God for the double laced bra she was wearing, which did not reveal her traitorous nipples performing their own salute to the ever so lovely woman sitting opposite her.

Cat had to be more careful from now on to be able to maintain at least some level of coolness. It seemed for some reason this particular woman was able to throw Cat off balance with a simple smile or touch. Even the sound of her voice caused all kinds of feelings within Cat's body. This was strange, after all, Cat was a trained professional able to handle delicate situations and people, but something about the brunette, Sharon, made her loose her self control.

The twosome quickly fell into a familiar conversation, topics varying from shoes and fashion and what's on TV, to that of more serious topics. Cat told Sharon about being a new arrival in town and Sharon mentioned being stood up by a 'friend' who had a work emergency and had to cancel. For some reason she kept the gender and the relationship status neutral, so Cat could not make any conclusions based on that conversation. Even though they felt comfortable talking with each other, both women were either mature or skilled enough, not to reveal any personal facts about themselves.

Cat did not realise how long they had been sitting there until her attention turned towards the clock on the bar wall.

Cat turned back to her companion and noted: "I did not realise the time had gone so quickly. I wouldn't want to keep you from anything important." Cat said apologetically, assuming Sharon had somewhere else to be.

"Actually, I am in no hurry, " Sharon replied rather sounding rather coy this time, her voice lower than before, if even possible. "My date was cancelled, so I am free for the night!" she added, as to re-iterate the fact she was free, at least for the night. Was there some message there?

Cat had not seen that one coming, as it sounded almost like an invite. Cat debated whether to ask Sharon to join her on the planned outing or make her excuses and leave. Cat wasn't too sure either as to how long she could keep her hands to herself if she continued in this woman's presence and if it all really was her own imagination playing tricks on her if Sharon was flirting with her or not. Before she could decide, Sharon broke the short silence as if reading into Cat's mind and dilemma and said:

"If you don't have any immediate plans, perhaps I can interest you in some more wine and a move to more comfortable surroundings?"

She nodded towards the direction in the other end of the lobby, where there were soft and comfortable sofas.

Cat looked in the direction where the sofas were and made her decision: for better or for worse, she was all in.

"Nope, nothing specific planned for me either!" Which was, possibly, mistake number two.

"Great," Sharon said and added, "Let's order a bottle from the bar and settle down" and once again, added her trade mark smile, much more seductive this time around, or was Cat just fantasising it to be this way?

"Sounds like an excellent course of plan!"

Cat could not help smiling too. Inside she was exhilarated and the tingling feelings were back again.

Sharon placed the order and pointed to where they were headed to the bartender. She then did something unexpected, at least from Cat's point of view: Sharon took Cat by the arm, hooked the up real tight and guided Cat towards the far corner of the lobby.

It seemed this evening was going to be Cat's undoing and it was impossible to refrain from physical contact of any kind with this woman. Surely Cat was no stranger to physical pleasure and after all, her plans had included the possibility of ending up in the loving arms of a woman, but on Cat's terms and without any personal involvement what so ever.

After they had settled down in one of the large sofas in the far corner of the lobby, where it was much quieter and the lights were dimmer than on the rest of the floor, they quickly fell deep into conversation again, something seemingly easy, even if they were perfect strangers.

Cat was surprised how easy it was to talk with Sharon about everything and nothing. She didn't mind as long as she got to spend more time listening to the low seductive voice. She imagined what Sharon's profession was, and with a voice like that, Sharon could have been a hit as a sex teleoperator or a radio host at night time taking calls guiding people with their lives. Which ever it was, Cat knew she would have made the call either way.

Cat could feel herself falling deeper and deeper under the spell of Sharon's voice, listening to the tone rather than the words and watching Sharon's lips move. She was abruptly woken from her haze with a ... question? Sharon had asked her something and it seemed rude of her not to answer, but she wasn't sure as to what the question was she was answering to. So she went for the safe answer:

"No" simply.

Sharon looked at Cat suspiciously "Are you sure you did not leave some nice young man hanging because you did not show up for the evening?" Sharon said half joking, but with a hint of... sadness in her voice? But clearly also curiosity.

Sharon was clearly probing into Cat's orientation, which Cat thought was a surprise. She had always been openly gay and that usually became very obvious especially around women of Sharon's caliber. But Cat also knew, she had been more careful around Sharon the whole evening and apart from acting the role of the white knight there really had been no indication one way or the other. Or had she? Did staring constantly, hungrily, maybe a tad of drooling count?

Cat chose to expose all her cards: "Well, I really wouldn't be very useful around a man, especially if dating was concerned, but I know my way around women very well." Punctuating on the 'very' Cat tried to make her remark as a joke and continued, "And would appreciate it more to go on a date with one too and more of course." She added a snide smirk, trying to be funny to relief the tension clearly present there.

Sharon did not look surprised, but rather relieved of what she was hearing, but hardly let it show. She managed to keep her expressions some what neutral but then again, there were something telling Cat she was, pleased maybe? Sharon did not reply immediately and Cat wasn't sure if it was a good or bad sign. So far there had been little if no flirting, well, apart from a few compliments exchanged for each other's attire and shoes. And the well, small hints of flirting?

Cat decided to play with fire and asked:

"May I ask you a personal question?"

Sharon looked Cat directly in the eyes and smiled "Sure, go ahead"

"The date that stood you up" Cat paused "A friend or something more?"

Sharon clearly hesitated before answering "I guess it was the more from my side only".

Sharon sounded sad and Cat bit her tongue for asking. She did not want this evening which started nicely to turn sour and end up in tears while discussing lost loves. No, Cat's mind had started to wander in a completely opposite direction at this point, and she berated herself for possibly opening a Pandora's box which could not be closed!

Then once again, Sharon caught Cat by surprise: She moved closer to Cat, close enough for Cat to feel Sharon's breath on her skin while she spoke:

"I am glad you decided to stay here with me".

Cat could not stop staring into Sharon's eyes, all kinds of warm sensations running rampant around her body and concentrating between her legs. She knew she was in trouble and she liked it.

Cat had made her decision right then and there and decided to go with a bold move.

"You know, I have a perfectly nice suite upstairs..." before she was even able to continue Sharon rose up, offered her hand to Cat and said

"Let's go!"

Chapter Two: Home sweet suite

Cat and Sharon had arrived in the top floor suite, a temporary home for Cat.

It was Cat's fortune to be acquainted with the hotel owner, a lady with great power and connections, whom Cat had done a few favours in the past for. Now, when ever she traveled in the States, Cat could have her choice of hotel rooms to stay in.

"Make yourself at home!" Cat stated, a phrase surely used in many such occasion with no double meaning what so ever.

"May I offer you a drink" she then continued looking at Sharon, who was assessing the surroundings.

"Please, what ever you are having. May I use the ladie's?" she asked.

Cat pointed her towards the direction of the suite's bathroom "Round the corner, second door"

While Sharon went to the ladie's room, Cat poured them both a glass of wine.

While catering to the drinks, Cat was thinking of how the evening had progressed. Cat had always considered herself the passive aggressive type, meaning not actively pursuing a woman, but when the interest was made known from the opponent, Cat would pounce like the proverbial cat. This situation however seemed to have completely turned a hundred and eighty degrees and Cat seemed to be the passive one where Sharon was concerned. Not that she had anything against it, she was nothing if not adaptable or flexible to any situation.

Cat was then surprised once again, which seemed to be becoming the trend for the evening. When Sharon returned she walked right to where Cat was standing, and standing oh so very close to Cat, she put her arms on Cat's hips. Cat could feel their bodies connecting completely, Sharon's erected nipples on Cat's back and her breath in Cat's neck. Yes, indeed, another great surprise.

Sharon's hand started roaming Cat's body, starting from her stomach, hands finding their way under the skimpy top she was wearing. Slowly moving upwards to Cat's aching and awaiting breasts. When Sharon's hands reached their target and painfully slowly started caressing them, Cat could not help but lean back into Sharon and let out a low yet quite loud guttural moan.

This evening was progressing much better than Cat could have ever hoped for. And by this time, if there had been any doubt before, Cat was completely and utterly under the spell of Sharon and had become completely compliant and submissive to this gorgeous woman's manipulations of her body.

Sharon finally let go of Cat's breasts and decided to get bolder. Her hands moved lower and lower until they reached the very short hem of Cat's skirt. Sharon jerked the hem higher sliding her hands under it. Much to her surprise, there was no obstructive layer to be found.

"No panties?" Sharon half whispered in Cat's ear and moved her roaming hands closer to Cat's centre.

"I," at this point Cat seemed to have lost her ability to articulate properly, for the second time of the evening, "I prefer not to get any panty lines" Cat stated mater of factually mustering her best voice under the circumstances.

"I prefer your way too" Sharon said with a very husky voice, her fingers almost touching the now very wet centre of Cat's.

The position the two women were currently in was becoming less comfortable and more of an acrobatic display. Cat was torn, she did not want Sharon to stop her exploration, but she also doubted as to how long either of them could remain standing. Cat decided it was time for a change:

"I think we would be more comfortable in the bedroom"

Without saying a word, Sharon changed her position and put her arm around Cat's waist.

"Lead the way" with a wide grin on her face.

Sharon and Cat were standing in the middle of a very large dimly lit bedroom, equipped with an even bigger queen size bed. What had started as a slow exploration of each other's bodies and soft kissing of the skin had ended up in a passionate lip lock.

If there was any lingering doubt in Cat's mind before about Sharon's orientation, it was all gone now. Sharon seemed to be in charge and the aggressor and Cat was more than willing to accommodate the commanding woman.

Sharon was kissing Cat hard, sucking and biting Cat's lips leaving bruises in the wake. They were in a state of undress, both sets of hands hard at work trying quickly to dissolve the intrusive material off of each other's bodies. Finally completely naked, still standing, assessing each other's assets, both licking their own lips in unison and approval of what their eyes were witnessing.

Sharon's mouth started its trail down Cat's body, exploring every inch from her jawline down her neck, trailing down wards. Sharon kissed, licked and nipped Cat's body all the way down to Cat's breasts. Her hands matching the very trails the lips had made, after passing each spot, leaving goose bumps all over in their wake.

Reaching Cat's ample breasts, finding the erect, hard nipples just waiting to be devoured. Sharon's lips covered one, then the other, alternating between sucking, kissing and biting softly, her hand kneading the other nipple while her mouth did the work on its twin. Alternating the treatment, she did not seem to get enough of the soft mounds.

Naked, and still standing close to the bed, Cat could feel the state of arousal getting more prominent each passing moment as was her head getting giddier. Afraid her own legs would betray her, she decided to take control, at least for a while, after all, she was really enjoying her newly found submissive position. She grabbed Sharon by her hands and gently turned around and pushed her on the bed. Sharon seemed surprised at the action, but soon enough found herself lying on a very comfortable and soft surface and covered with a soft, curvy and sexy female form. Sharon had no objections to her position at all.

Cat was lying on top of Sharon, her own body covering and touching Sharon's body now completely. She had Sharon pinned down on the bed, holding her with both hands. Cat was looking at Sharon deep in the eyes before she placed her lips over Sharon's and kissed her hard and passionately. Cat was enjoying her regained position of being in charge. She was about to embark on her own exploration of Sharon's body, placing a trail of kisses along Sharon's neck, lingered on her breasts and ventured further down.

Cat abruptly stopped her task and decided to try something else first. It had been a while since she had tried it and from her perspective, it took a certain type of partner to do it with. Sharon seemed a most likely candidate to try it with. Luckily Cat had not taken too much time to think and she decided to put her plan into action before Sharon realised she had actually stopped what she had been doing and maybe would have asked if something was wrong, which it wasn't of course.

Cat positioned herself so that their sexes were touching and started gyrating her hips slowly so not to loose contact. She kissed Sharon again, this time harder than she had before. Cat soon found the right rhythm maintaining contact both with their mouths and extremely wet pussies. She hastened the speed and could feel both their bodies tension from the arousal and pending orgasm. Sharon let go of their lip contact and let out a few guttural sounds. She was grabbing the bed covers with both hands. Cat used the opportunity to move over to Sharon's breasts hoping to enhance the situation. She sucked on Sharon's nipples, hard, enjoying the texture and eliciting further sounds of passion from Sharon.

It did not take long before Cat felt Sharon go rigid beneath her and realised she herself was not far behind. Sharon let out a loud moan and started shaking and thrashing, while Cat was trying to hold her own relies as she was watching Sharon beneath her, clutching at the sheets with both hands until her knuckles turned white. Her body was lifting up, almost throwing Cat off of her before she finally crashed back on the bed. Panting hard, lying flat on her back, hair spread all over, her body glistening with sweat.

Cat looked at her with awe and admiration. She could almost feel herself falling... Cat shook her head. Luckily her old skills were back in check and she had managed to maintain her contact and with few skilfully adjusted moves managed to bring herself to the brink of orgasm and took Sharon along with her for another one.

After a moment past both of them were still panting in unison, Cat released her hold in Sharon's arms to adjust her position. Sharon used the opportunity and grabbed a hold of Cat's body locking them into an embrace, holding each other until the final wave subsided and they both collapsed onto the bed. Cat still on top of Sharon, was able to get her bearings and kissed Sharon, softly this time.

They were lying in the same position for a few moments, revelling in the after glow, content and in silence. Before long, their hands started roaming, slowly at first but it did not take long before a new fire ignited and breathing started to get heavy for them. Sharon broke the silence:

"Ready for round two?" she asked with a smirk.

The only answer was Cat's lips pressed against her own.

The next morning Cat woke up feeling aches and pains across her body, in places she clearly had not used for a while, but good pain though, she thought. She looked across the bed only to find the other side empty. Sharon had left before Cat was awake. Which was fine and preferred, Cat told herself. How many a time had she done it herself and on a few occasions hoped her "dates" would have understood to do the same. After all, an unwritten social convention dictating the modus operandi for these situations.

Cat got up from bed, deciding not to dwell on the situation. She was doubtful, but also a little sad, that she may never see the gorgeous woman who had occupied her evening and her bed the night before. Cat went to the closet, put on a swimming suite and decided a little exercise would get her mind off any dwelling thoughts from last night. After all, she had things to do and places to see, before starting her next assignment on Monday next.

Chapter Three: The official meeting

Monday morning at the crime scene.

Special Agent Cat Casey, a new arrival from the East for the interdepartmental division of FBI and her team were at the crime scene collecting evidence. Agent Casey's team had been notified of the homicide due to the similarities to a series of murders during a few month period across the States and now, the team was there to investigate and to work in tandem and cooperate with the local police officers, sharing and caring, as their Director and told them to do and in no small words added, be nice and do not ruffle any feathers out there!

Little did Cat know she was about to make first contact with the infamous Major Crimes division. She had been walking around the scene and a bit farther when her thoughts were interrupted by a loud argument. She hurried towards the sound and found her own agent, Special Agent Jim Park in dispute over jurisdiction with Major Crimes Lieutenant Provenza. They were in the middle of a full blown shouting match, profanities flying back and forth as Cat approach them just as Provenza was in the process of telling Park where to shove it.

"This crime belongs to us now, so back off buster!"

Agent Park was becoming more and more furious, never taking a defeat well, as was his behaviour, getting out of order as the moments passed. He confronted Provenza, pushing him hard, which made the Lieutenant stumble backwards. A fits cuffs ready in the making if ever.

Cat was quick on her feet and stepped right in the middle of the now pushing, slapping and shoving men.

"Cut if out, both of you, right now!" Cat raised her voice.

She was looking angrily at both men and holding them at bay from each other with both arms extended to do so.

"What's going on here?" Cat was demanding an answer.

Park was red in the face and started pointing at the Major Crimes team: "They think they can just waltz in here and take over. Every single fucking time! Without any respect for our jurisdiction!" He spat out his words. Even if he was in the wrong and doing exactly the opposite of their orders.

Cat looked at Park, none too proud of the inflammatory and interruptive behaviour of the trained veteran agent. She remained calm and turned towards Provenza:

"Detective," she started when Provenza quickly corrected her: "It's Lieutenant, ma'am".

"Lieutenant, " Cat continued, not apologising, "Am I, to understand you are here to take over our investigation?"

"Yes, you are correct in that assumption." Provenza replied snidely.

"Well, Lieutenant, may I ask on whose authority and under what premise is that so?" Cat asked, still, quite calm as always.

Before Lt. Provenza could answer, Captain Sharon Raydor stepped in plain view remaining in a tall stance in her high heels and said in an authoritative voice:

"Mine." She stated flatly, "The order comes directly from the Chief of Police and this crime falls under the LAPD jurisdiction now, meaning my team will take over."

It took a short moment for Cat to register what had just happened, but she was a trained professional and did not let her personal feelings or emotions bother her at work. She looked Raydor in the eyes and quickly assessed the situation. It was true the M.O. of the crime was similar to the ones her team had been investigating, but the body was still to be identified and the Lieutenant had been right in claiming the investigation to themselves due to the simple fact of where and how the body had been found. But still, this was a case for the FBI.

"Ma'am, " Cat started and for the second time today she was corrected.

"Captain," she corrected Cat, "I, am Captain Raydor."

"Captain Raydor, " Cat repeated the name rolling of her tongue, as her mind wandered some place highly inappropriate for a mere second and then she quickly regained her stance,"I am willing to yield the investigation to you and your team under one condition." She was not wiling to give up so easily, but then again, she wasn't about to ruffle any further feathers than Park already had and besides, honey and flies was always a great combo to go with.

"And what condition might that be?" Captain Raydor asked. Cat had clearly peaked her interest, as she was willing to give up a top investigation like this without much of a fight, besides, the Captain's momentary thoughts weren't that innocent either.

"That we collaborate on the investigation, share the information each team gathers." Not a question, a request.

Provenza stepped in then and angrily retorted: "Captain, don't give them anything. You know what has happened before with these so called "shared investigations." He was quick to judge the whole team just by Park's behaviour, which Cat could understand on some level.

The Captain shot an angry look at Provenza and he did not say anything more. The Captain then turned back to Cat:

"I'm sorry, but I fail to see why we should share anything with you?"

Cat knew when she was challenged and she decided not to pick up a fight but rather to use her negotiation tactics:

"Captain Raydor, I am well versed with the, well so called bad history between the LAPD and FBI, and I know that, well, on some occasions..."

Provenza interrupted Cat again: "Some occasions!"

Before he could even start his ranting and raving, both ladies in charge turned to him with angry stares and he shut up quickly once again.

"Captain, I assure you I will give you full access to our findings and in the name of collaboration, I expect you to do the same for us. I would like to start out fresh and improve on the past." Cat looked the Captain straight in the eyes, leaving no hint of doubt of her sincerity.

The Captain took a few long thoughtful moments before she answered: "Fine, let's try it your way, but... " she emphasised on the but, "But, should I find any indication of holding back on us, in any way, the deal is off." She stated sternly.

"Aye, Captain" Cat responded and saluted to the Captain with a smile.

The Captain showed no emotion what so ever, her face remaining positively neutral.

Cat was not happy with how the encounter had turned out and to be honest, she was very surprised meeting the woman she had been intimate with just a few days earlier in this fashion and under these circumstances. Never had she ever imagined the Sharon she had been with to be a police officer, let alone a Captain.

Cat understood it was time to cut her losses for the moment and gathered her team to take their leave. She motioned with her hand to them and signalled it was time to go. After all, they had gotten what they needed from this scene, at least for the time being.

Cat was watching her team gather the gear and head towards their van and started to leave herself, when she turned towards the Lieutenant and Captain, who were still standing in the same spot going through their findings. She wasn't sure how much they had, but she wasn't about to let this go either.

"Captain, Lieutenant,"Cat managed to catch their attention, "We will come by the LAPD tomorrow to compare our evidence with yours." She wasn't expecting an answer though as she turned and left.

As Cat quickly walked the short distance to their FBI van she was thinking of their meeting. She had seen no hint of recognition in Captain Raydor's face, nor had Cat shown any of her own. There were two ways Cat could handle the situation; confront the Captain as to why she did not let on meeting Cat before, or let it go and act as nothing ever happened and keep everything on a professional level. After all, this woman was clearly not the same one from the bar, rather another persona completely and Cat wasn't totally sure how she felt about it.

Cat did not need to think about it further as the choice was quite clear now: She would suppress the memories of the weekend before and only take them out when she was alone, possibly drunk and needed to feel warm and excited. For now, she would go with the premise of pure and utter professionalism and that this was the first time she and the formidable Captain had met.

She reached the van and hopped in seeing the rest of her team was already there. Special Agent Tim Park, Agent Eliza Lydon and Specialist John Malone had been waiting for her, wanting to know the situation they were in now. Agent Park was still sulking, but the other two were in a pretty normal, relaxed mood. The two younger members had taken a liking to their new leader immediately, cracking jokes almost instantly with each other and even going out on occasion for a drink or few as they had been already training together back East before coming here. While Agent Park and Cat were close to the same age, he considered himself superior by being a man and thus had taken a somewhat opposite stance to the leader of the team.

Cat looked at her team and told them: "Everyone, I am sorry our first mission got cut off so short, but I promise you we will continue on the investigation together with the LAPD!" she added an assuring smile. "After all, they cannot do without us, am I right." She high fives the two younger agents in jest.

"Bah!" Agent Parker retorted "I doubt it"

Cat looked at the older agent and decided not to argue with him now, but they would have a talk later. After all, Cat did not appreciate his attitude, towards anyone, at all.

Later that day, Cat had asked Agent Park to her office. She was about to find the root cause to his earlier outbreak and make it perfectly clear, such behaviour was not tolerated. Cat would let the fact the Agent was condescending and misogynistic slide. After all she had developed a very thick skin after working in the FBI for thirty odd years. However, the outbursts the Agent had let out in public, especially towards the local police, she had little tolerance for.

After talking with her agent, she found out the fight between Lt Provenza and Agent Park had been due to some bad history between them. Cat had berated the agent of what had happened and told him his position was in danger if he did not change his ways. She had also told him, that at least for the duration of this investigation and in the interest of getting the LAPD's co-operation and rather than provoking them at every turn, she wanted to show a friendly, trustworthy face. That meant her "number one" would be Agent Eliza Lydon.

After the news, Agent Park had burst out from Cat's office huffing and puffing. Cat let it once again slide and reminded herself she was the boss and if push came to shove, she had the upper hand and support of her superiors. After all, she was equally as decorated agent if not even more so than Park and had worked hard to get where she was. So what ever he thought of her, well, he could shove it.

Chapter Four: Encounters in the Murder Room

The next day Agents Cat Casey and Eliza Lydon arrived at the Murder Room. The Major Crimes team was half expecting for them not to show up after the ruffling of feathers the day before. At least in the past showing who was in charge had kept the FBI at bay. But here they were, and bearing gifts no less.

Agent Lydon was carrying a full order of coffee and doughnuts. Her task had been familiarising herself with the coffee drinking habits of the Major Crimes team and she was really proud of her own detective work and ready to charm the grumpiest of the team members (Provenza).

"Gentlemen, Lady!" Cat greeted the team with a huge smile on her face.

Agent Lydon followed Cat on her greeting and started dividing the spoils. All of them looked surprised at their preferred coffee orders being delivered, but did not mention it to the Agent. A few thank yous were heard though. Cat gestured for Agent Lydon to go to the Captain's office to bring her coffee there, since the Captain seemed to be sitting by her computer at the moment.

Cat went straight to Lieutenant Tao, whom she now knew to be the most tech savvy of the whole group. In addition to her task to find out the eating and drinking habits of the group, Cat had ordered Eliza to run background checks on the team to get familiarised with their expertise and where they were coming from. After all, well prepared was half done and knowing your enemy in battle could help win the war. Cat smirked at her last thought, after all she was not about to go to war with these people, quite the opposite. Get them co-operating and solving the case which the FBI had failed to do before she stepped in, was the goal. She had set this goal for herself and nothing was going to stop her from achieving that goal, even if it meant playing a little bit dirty and bribing the enemy with coffee and doughnuts and maybe something more.

'OK, no more watching marathons of Star Trek from now on!' Cat thought, the tactics used in the show were starting to rub off on her!

Cat passed the thumb drive she had been holding to the Lieutenant.

"Lieutenant Tao," She beamed, "here is all the information my team has managed to gather so far."

Tao looked surprised, but accepted the drive and stuck it into his computer.

Flynn had noticed the lack of Agent Park and commented on it: "I see you lost the Old Yeller, I like his replacement!" he added in a sarcastic tone and nodded towards the Captain's office where the agent had gone.

"Well, I think Agent Lydon has a little more of the, shall we say finesse, needed for this case." Cat commented back, trying not to bad mouth Park too much even if she was agreeing to the assessment of him.

Agent Lydon came back from the Captain's office and went straight to Cat and with a lower tone said to her:

"The Captain seemed pretty happy about the coffee delivery, I think your plan is working just fine!" she commented.

"Excellent," Cat replied with an evil grin, all but rubbing her hands to together like some cliched cartoon character. "Well as the old adage goes, you can catch more flies with honey... and don't remind me of the other choice again..." she stopped Lydon on commenting further on what she already knew too well, "yes I know you can catch even more flies with manure!"

Lydon snickered. They both looked at the Major Crimes team happily sipping their fancy coffees and eating their specially glazed large sized doughnuts. The silence broke when Tao all of a sudden shouted:

"Holy shit!"

"What, what, what?" Flynn shouted back chewing on his treat.

"This really is the holy grail of the FBI!" Tao simply retorted.

They all turned towards the agents and stared at them in awe.

Cat only now realised the extent or rather the lack of information being shared between the agencies. No wonder there was so much bad blood between the various agencies and why it took too much time and effort to try to solve overlapping cases.

"I only brought that which I redeemed necessary for our joint investigation," a small lie, but Cat knew she had to take the extra step to win this team over and to repair what ever needed to be repaired. "Now, that you have seen mine, care to show me yours?" Cat asked with the full pun implicated.

Tao took a thumb drive he had compiled just in case, and gave it to Cat: "It's all yours!"

Cat took the drive and thanked him and extended thanks to the rest of the team: "Thank you all for this! We will walk this material through and get back to you. I suggest you do the same and we will convene tomorrow to compare our findings, agreed?"

"Agreed" Was an almost unanimous answer from the team.

"I take it you still haven't been able to determine the identity of the victim?" Cat asked.

"No, nothing in any database. Dr Morales made quite a few queries to other morgues as well, but without any luck." Detective Sanchez added.

Cat and Agent Lydon said their goodbyes and left the Major Crimes offices. Just a moment later the Captain stepped out expecting to see the two agents, but they had already gone. She walked to the team who were all hovering over Lieutenant Tao's desk, while he was skimming through the data given by Cat.

"I didn't think I would ever hear myself saying this, but I think the FBI is actually co-operating this time!" Lieutenant Flynn said out loud. He was basically vocalising what everyone else was thinking.

The Captain was standing close to her team, holding her coffee cup, almost finished, but enjoying the taste of the special blend. She looked at her team as they started working on the new material given by their new FBI liaisons. She was happily surprised of the collaborative atmosphere their partners in crime had brought up in such a short period of time. She smiled, drank the last of her coffee and fell deep in thought with images of one sexy Agent Cat Casey filling her mind.

Lieutenant Provenza was now also deep in thought. Due to Cat delivering what she had promised and her natural female charms, Provenza was hooked. Thinking to himself he realised the Agent was not half bad a person, and she was a looker and after spending more time than allowed on checking her "assets", he decided maybe it was time to put some moves on the good Agent in the name of collaboration of course.

Chapter Five: Time for a coffee date, um break!

The following day the two FBI agents returned as agreed and not wasting any time, they all stepped into the conference room and started comparing notes.

As Cat had suspected after familiarising herself with the case she was about to take over when she arrived in her new position, this was the work of either a very clever serial killer or a well organised syndicate eliminating agents. After all the facts, she was leaning towards the latter, even though not all the victims had been identified at this point. Then there was the option of being either rather someone they had over looked completely. Which ever was the answer, Cat was confident they would be caught and brought to justice.

Cat was recapping the situation to all present in the room:

"... all in all we have been able to identify six similar cases, but only three of the victims have been identified, all of them government agents from various agencies. The only problem is despite the mode of death, we have no other denominating factors to tie these murders together."

All the others were either nodding or voicing their agreement.

Sharon had been standing for a while after getting up from the chair to stretch herself. She was looking at the scene playing before her: her team and the FBI, working together in perfect harmony, well, at least it looked that way today. It was libel to change at any moment if her experience was a reminder of that simple fact. She was admiring though, the way Cat had managed in a very polite and inspiring manner to get the opposite teams to collaborate without any visible animosity what so ever. Even the rigid Lieutenant Provenza seemed to be under her spell and hardly said a word edge wise to any of Cat's suggestions and ideas. Which in itself was a welcome surprise.

Sharon herself seemed to be under the same spell also. Listening to the familiar form of the agent walking through the evidence and findings, her voice soothing Sharon to a haze and her mind wandering back to the night they had spent together. She could feel her body starting to react to the imagery constructed in her mind, when she was abruptly brought back to reality: She had been asked a question, right?

It was safe to say Sharon had not been paying attention to the last part of what Agent Casey had been saying. She thought the safest thing was to just agree and not to let on where her mind had been for the latter part of the presentation:

"Yes" Sharon answered with the coolest voice possible.

Cat looked at Sharon suspecting there was more going on with the Captain than she led on, but let it slide: "Excellent! Then we are in an agreement!" Cat stated leaving the Captain a bit confused as to what she had just agreed to.

Cat was gracious enough to repeat what they were about to do and Sharon was in no time up to specs on what had been agreed. Lucky save, she thought to herself as she had completely agreed to something she wasn't even sure she wanted to agree to.

Before the two teams had joined forces, each of them had been doing their own investigation. Cat and her team, who had inherited the investigation begun by another team several months back, which had meant that there was a lot of catching up to do. Then there were those investigations conducted by other agencies and police departments for those murders outside of LA. For now it meant a lot of paper work had to be analysed and double checked before they could move forward and build an actual solid case against any particular suspect.

Cat had suggested the two teams to examine each other's work for both of them to get a fresh perspective and maybe pick on something the other may have missed. Cat realised then, that the request in itself, may have sounded intrusive and some of them might feel like double checking their work due to lack of trust. But luckily Cat had a way of suggesting tedious tasks to someone in such a manner, the other thought they were doing a favour rather than anything else.

Several more hours went by as the joined team was pushing papers or rather scrolling them on screens and a pattern started to emerge out of all the hard work. And then finally the two teams could agree on a tactic on how to move ahead with the investigation, together as one team.

The two now joined teams had broken into smaller groups for a longer break and the Captain had gotten a call she had left to take in her office.

Cat was still sitting in her chair in the meeting room, pondering the findings when Lieutenant Provenza interrupted her.

"Can I invite you for a cup of freshly brewed coffee?" he asked Cat and continued, "It's not of the fancy kind you brought us the other day, but it's made with care" he tried to be funny.

Cat was a little bit caught off guard as to why Provenza was personally so attentive towards her, but she was running low on energy and decided to take up on the offer not thinking too much into the why at the moment. "Thank you, I'd love to." She told him and picked up her empty mug.

After the two of them had left for the break room, the rest of the team started making a few comments on Provenza's crush on the Agent, bringing a surprised expression the Agent Lydon's face.

"Well, well, it seems our good Lieutenant is a bit smitten!" Andy said knowingly.

"She is exactly his type; young, hot, female!" Buzz retorted with a laugh.

Agent Lydon was about to comment, when Captain Raydor stepped back in to the Murder Room looking for Agent Casey, but did not see her.

"Did Agent Casey leave already?" the Captain asked her team, a little surprised seeing Agent Lydon still present.

"She and Lieutenant Provenza went out for coffee" Julio replied, winking to the others.

"What do you mean went out for coffee?" Raydor asked him sounding almost annoyed.

They others were pointing at the break room.

"Oh, thank you!" And without another word the Captain was headed towards the break room herself.

After the Captain had stepped out, Eliza could not help commenting, or rather correcting the other's thoughts on what ever "liaison" between Agent Casey and the Lieutenant the others thought, there might just be.

"Your Lieutenant Provenza will be in for a big surprise" Eliza said with a crooked smile.

"What do you mean?" Buzz asked surprised.

"Well, for starters, Agent Casey is gay." Eliza staled matter of factly without a hint of humour in her voice even if she was laughing internally.

A couple of coffee spurting sounds could be heard around when the truth about Agent Casey was revealed. It seemed to be a surprise for all and Agent Lydon could not help then, but laugh out loud. 'Gotcha!' She high-fived herself internally, as she was sick and tired of peoples assumptions and she had gotten these ones for sure.

In the break room, the Lieutenant and Agent Casey were enjoying their respective cups of freshly brewed coffee. Provenza was trying some casual small talk and seemed to be sitting a little bit too close for Cat's taste. Cracking a few double entendre jokes, which usually did not bother Cat, but now seemed less comic in this situation. She decided to take charge of it and face the beast in the room straight on, pun intended.

"Are you flirting with me Lieutenant?" Cat asked him, with a hint of confusion in her voice.

"What tipped you off?" Provenza said cockily.

"Well, first of all the "hand brewed coffee" thing and the closeness here." motioning the really short distance between them.

"Well, I must say you are a very... " He was looking again at Cats assets, "a very interesting woman." Was all Provenza could muster almost babbling now.

Cat was trying to play the situation down and let the poor guy off easy so she resorted to humour, which had proven to be working in most cases: "If I only was a bit available and a lot more straight..." she started, waiting for the words to sink in.

"Oh, OK. Wait what?" it took a few moments for the full meaning of the words to sink in, "What do you mean a lot more straight?"

"As in not gay." Cat added.

"Ah, wait what... You are gay?" Took a while for the euphemism to catch on and Provenza looked really surprised and confused.

"Yup! Born and raised" Cat continued sipping her coffee like it as a casual comment to state.

"Any chance of being bi-sexual?" It was Provenza's last resort.

"Nope, none what so ever!" Cat stated matter of factually and added in a compassionate tone, "I am really sorry though!" Even if she wasn't after all, there were far more interesting men out there if she wanted to date on.

"Well, guess I better get back to work then!" Provenza said with defeat in his voice as he quickly go up and made his way out of the break room.

"I'll see you later then, Lieutenant!" Cat added a little cheerfully and let out a breath she had not realised he had been holding and very glad the situation was over so quickly. This had not been the first time and Cat was afraid not the last time either that men were hitting on her.

Captain Raydor arrived just then, when Provenza was out the door.

"Here you are!" she said almost gladly which surprised Cat, since so far, the Captain had been nothing but professional with her behaviour towards the two Agents, with no jokes or small talk what so ever.

"Captain?" Cat responded with a hint of question in her voice.

The Captain walked towards the coffee machine, took a cup and poured some coffee in it and turned to Cat: "Could I interest you in a refill?" she asked with a coy expression on her face.

Chapter Six: You can't catch a break, can you?

"Could I interest you in a refill?"

The Captain was standing with the coffee pot in her hand. The two women now just the two of them in the break room after Lieutenant Provenza's abrupt but not unexpected departure.

Cat had registered the friendliness in the Captain's voice, but was still surprised of it. After the initial shock both women had endured while meeting each other at the crime scene unexpectedly, their working relationship had been nothing if not professional. No banter, small talk of any nature had been exchanged between the two of them. The laid back atmosphere and familiarity from their night spent together was all but gone.

'Just the facts ma'am' had been Cat's initial thoughts on their relationship as it was now.

Since Cat was on the roll with analogies, another one popped into her mind, quite aptly describing their first encounter: 'Wham, bam, thank you Ma'am'. They had only exchanged their first names during the night they met, besides all the sex of course, which had lasted longer though, than just a wham or a bam.

The Captain was still standing there the pot in her hand, when Cat realised she had not answered the question asked of her.

Sharon started looking annoyed. 'What the hell was I thinking? Trying to get more personal at this point was not a good idea after all.' Sharon thought to herself.

Cat none too happy with her own behaviour either quickly composed herself, cleared her throat and responded:

"Yes, please!" Offering her coffee mug for the filling and adding a reassuring smile o top of it.

Sharon stepped closer and poured the coffee into Cat's mug. She stole a glance from the other woman, pondering her next move.

"Thank you" Cat responded and inhaled the heavenly smell, blew softly into the hot liquid before taking a sip, her full lips pursed in a very sexy way.

Sharon watched the ritual and let her mind wander. She soon found her thoughts in the gutter again, which seemed to be the trend for her lately. Especially where Agent Casey was concerned. Sharon had been debating whether to bring up the subject of their brief liaison or not. It's not like Sharon made a habit of picking up strange women in bars and sleeping with them on the same night. This was another thing which bothered her. But, she had hit it off with Cat at get go and felt immediate attraction towards her. And to be quite honest to herself, she had lost her self control in Cat's presence that night.

She had a need to set rules and boundaries for the working relationship. But it seemed she was unsure of what those rules would entail. So, the safest route to take seemed to be that of pure and simple professionalism without any acknowledgment of what had happened. Then again, the inner turmoil of want and need was too grave to ignore either.

Cat knew she was being watched and assessed. Her hairs started to electrify and the tingling feelings on her nerve ends were back. She placed the mug back on the table and looked up catching Sharon staring at her. Cat debated a fraction of the time before she decided it was time for a confrontation, of sorts. Cat looked the Captain in the eye and smiled a little.

"Captain, I think it is time to let the cat out of the bag... pun intended." She half joked trying to lighten the mood.

Sharon, aware of being caught staring, in turn cleared her throat before saying anything.

"Agreed. We need to talk about, um... our situation." She then replied, sounding more awkward than intended.

Cat felt Sharon's reluctance to speak about what had happened between them. To be quite honest, at this point Cat was not to sure if she wanted to bring it up either. But it was the provisional elephant in the room which needed to be dealt with. After all, this case would probably not be the only one they would need to work together on. Things being awkward or tense at a work place was not a situation Cat wanted to be in.

Cat decided she should be the one carrying the olive branch. After all, she was the trespasser in the Captain's territory.

"Look Captain, we are both adults and things happen, people get together and sleep together and..."

Sharon cut her off: "Agent Casey..." she started very formally and coolly, then paused, "I am fine with the fact we slept together, but", another pause, "but, as a rule, I prefer not to liaise with people I work with."

Cat was a little sad to hear what Sharon was saying. Despite the cold shoulder she had been getting from the Captain during their working relationship, Cat had still hoped something might develop between them given enough time. Albeit not subscribing to the cliché lesbian 'U-Haul' and happily ever after fairytale, she wasn't totally against a deeper and more lasting relationship either, would something like that develop. And, for what ever reason, Sharon Raydor was raising thoughts of that nature in Cat's mind.

"Alright then, I think we can agree to ground rules where we can work together and to let what happened before stay in the past where it belongs..." Cat tried to sound cool and neutral, but there was a hint of sadness in her voice she could clearly hear herself and apparently so could Sharon.

Sharon realised the words she had spoken did not come out right and it wasn't really what she meant or even wanted to say. Actually at this point the only thing she was sure of were the memories of the night spent with Cat trying to push their way through. All Sharon wanted was to grab a hold of the woman before her, throw Cat on the table and have her way with her. She had to pull all her will power to push those memories deep down where they could not disturb her. Sharon was silent for a few moments trying to organise her thoughts and say out loud what she actually wanted to say:

"Agent Casey, Cat," she paused, "What I am trying to say is, that as a rule, I prefer to keep my professional relationships as just that, but," another pause, "I am willing to make an exception where you and I are concerned." She motioned the empty space between herself and Cat.

"Oh." Was all Cat could muster. She was very happy to hear this, but she still wasn't sure what Sharon meant and what the exception entailed.

Sharon saw the confusion on Cat's face and was about to try to clear up what she had tried to articulate, if that was even possible without some kind of show and tell. She decided their current venue was not the best possible place to continue this type of conversation:

"I suggest we go to dinner when things have cooled off here and have a nice long chat. Wouldn't you agree?"

Cat was relieved at the solution Sharon had offered and replied: "Sounds like a very good plan!" and gave an assuring smile.

Cat hadn't realised how tense she had been during the conversation with Sharon and let her shoulders drop and adjusted herself in the seat to a more comfortable position. She took a few sips from her now forgotten coffee and leaned back in the chair.

Sharon seated herself at the table too and chose to drink her coffee as well. Both women sitting in what now had turned to a comfortable silence rather than the tensed up situation it had started with. It looked like a break between them had finally been caught. Or at least, a coffee break with some discussion involved.

Sharon had fallen deep in thought recapping of the evening and night spent together with Cat. She regretted leaving in the morning and not asking for a last name or phone number. Of course she would have been able to find out who the occupant of the penthouse had been during the night in question, but that would have been an illegal option. Making it as good as an excuse as ever Sharon thought. Still the nagging feeling of something lost remained by her.

Sharon had spent the weekend in a haze, relaxed and happy, conjuring up images in her head off of the brief encounter with Cat while spending the time alone in her home. She had also had time to think of her current situation and after a lengthy internal discussion, she had decided to break off the what-ever-situation she had been in, call it a relationship for a lack of a better word. After all, she had been more on the giving end than receiving and was tired of arguing whose work or needs were more important in said relationship.

After a painful phone call delivering the news of the dissolution of their relationship to her partner, Sharon had actually felt relieved. Celebrating the choice she had made, Sharon had ended up taking a very long bath with a bottle of fine wine and thoughts carrying her back to the previous night. Sharon was still in awe of how comfortable and familiar she had felt with Cat. Not to mention how satisfied she felt and how sore she had been the day after, in a good way though.

By Sunday, Sharon had decided it was time to move on completely and was letting go of any lingering thoughts and dwellings. She had spent the best part of the day catching up with paperwork emerging herself completely in work, even if it was supposed to be a day of rest for her.

Come Monday, little was Sharon prepared for the emotional shock of meeting the woman who had haunted her fantasies and dreams over the weekend. Luckily she was a trained professional and had managed to keep her cool in the encounter. Her resolve had remained even though feelings of happiness and other kind had emerged.

Of course all the made resolutions flew out the window when Cat had re-emerged in her Murder Room the following day. Neither her nor her team had believed the FBI would pursue the investigation after Major Crimes had taken over the murder scene. How wrong they had been, not anticipating the head strong fearless new leader of the newly formed Bureau's Special Liaisons team.

Just when the two women had finally started to relax and calmness surrounded them while deep in thought each in their own minds, Amy Sykes burst in to the break room and excitedly announced: "Captain, Agent, I think we got a break in the case!"

Both women looked at each other, smiled and without a word stood up and followed the detective back to the office area.

Another break had been caught.

Chapter Seven: The game plan

There was much of the welcomed excitement in the Murder Room. The recent progress of their joint investigation had conceived a few prospects and now it seemed they actually had a firm lead and a suspect to follow-up on or rather suspects.

After a tedious investigation the two teams had finally managed to identify the latest victim. The identity was that of an undercover police officer, who had been working with some gang affiliated action. Despite the fact, that the four previously identified victims of five in total, had all been agents working for government agencies, the latest victim did not seem to fit the pattern. The connection between this murder and the others were still alluding them, but apprehending the suspect or suspects at this point was their main goal.

Cat was exhilarated of the news of course of action, but a nagging doubt remained in her mind. It seemed the initial analysis of the murders being the work of a serial killer had been way off and they were dealing with organised crime. She had therefore ordered the data to be reanalysed in case this new lead did not turn out so well. After all, Cat liked to be nothing but thorough and keep all options open.

As it turned out, the gang who called themselves 'Enemigo del estado', the Enemy of the state was now under the radar of the two teams. Officer Nate Armstrong had infiltrated the gang to uncover a drug trafficking ring this group was supposedly part of. It seemed now his murder had been the work of this gang to avoid detection. The LAPD and FBI had established a Joint Task Force team. They had lost all contact with Armstrong a week before, but since they knew working undercover sometimes meant radio silence, so, further investigation into the loss of communication had been dropped. Until the body had turned up.

Due to the nature of the latest murder, Cat's team had been alerted to investigate. However, due to the jurisdictional guidelines, Major Crimes had ended up with the case. Now here they were, FBI and Major Crimes investigating this homicide together and about to launch a joint manhunt. Their target to capture the immediate gang at the last location known as reported by Officer Armstrong before his untimely demise.

Cat was standing beside the murder board where a recap of the investigation had been placed pondering on the case when a new arrival entered the room:

Specialist John Malone had arrived to complement the FBI part of the team.

He was a hired contractor specialising in technical data analysis and Cat found him a great asset. Especially with the amount of data the FBI had accumulated for the previous crimes, after the initial "human level of work" was done, Mr Malone stepped in and started working his magic on the binary level. Not that John didn't doo leg work, he did and had done so when first arriving at the scene. But mostly it was the computer work for him, and there he was at his best too. They also shared a similar mindset, a way of thinking the two had, analytical, as it was, even if Cat was more the woman of action than a computer geek. There was one other connecting factor as well, John was an openly gay man, making it very comfortable for Cat to work with him. Cat had known John for many years and they had worked on several cases together. That is why he had been a natural choice for Cat when putting the new team together.

Eliza Lydon had also been on her top list of candidates. She had worked with the young but eager and savvy Agent on two cases and they had hit it off right away. Getting Eliza on her team almost didn't happen, since she had been offered a top job by another agency. But, luckily for Cat, Eliza remained in the Bureau because she had wanted to join Cat's team. The only one who was not chosen and did not want to be in Cat's team was Special Agent Park. Actually, he was someone who had been bounced around from team to team due to his ill manners and not playing with the team. He was the one who put the 'I' in team as others liked to refer to him as. After the incident with Lieutenant Provenza, he had gotten his final warning and luckily for Cat, he was out of the team now, leaving them one person short, but Cat suspected the Major Crimes team would more than make it up for the loss of an agent.

John and Cat exchanged a few words, before Cat walked back to the others to introduce him:

"Team, may I introduce Specialist John Malone!"

John waved his hand to the others and they greeted him back.

Cat continued with the introduction: "John is our resident nerd," she looked at John and smirked, "He has put together our findings and is currently analysing possible outcomes and options for us to follow, should we need them."

Provenza could not help but to add his two cents into to situation and commented sarcastically:

"So you mean all our work here has been in vain and we need a computer to tell us what to do? I thought we were about to solve this case?" he added questioningly.

Cat had been prepared for comments like this. It wasn't the first of time, and probably would not be the last time either she had to defend the new technologies and ways of working to the "good old ways". She had her own tactics of handling these types of comments.

Cat started in a cool, calm voice explaining the situation, establishing a stern eye contact with Provenza:

"Lieutenant, you are a most valued police officer with knowledge and experience accumulated for decades, " emphasis on the decades part. She then continued, "and I assure you, the data analysis is here only to help and serve us. Hopefully to give us some insight if there is something we have missed." She then looked around the room and continued her speech, "I am sure we all agree all possible help is welcome especially for a complex investigation which we are facing now." Not a question, a statement of fact.

She turned her gaze around a room, pausing on each member and got some assuring nods from the rest, especially from Lieutenants Tao and Flynn.

Cat then finished her speech with an assuring smile on her face:

"Now, we have a lead to follow and a killer to catch!"

The two teams, apart from Specialist Malone, got their gear together and started towards the entrance. Cat was behind the others, so was the Captain, who caught up with Cat.

"May I share a ride with you?" She asked Cat.

Cat was surprised, but glad to have the opportunity to be closer... she meant working together with the formidable Captain. 'Now Cat me lassie, none of them thoughts now! Keep your hands to yourself and your mind on the work!' her inner voice told her in a mock Scottish accent.

"I would be delighted to drive you to our destination, Milady" Cat retorted with her best mock British accent she could muster and smiled widely.

Chapter Eight: On a quest for the suspect

Several vans, a few trucks and unmarked police cars were arriving at the scene. Cat was driving her official vehicle with Captain Raydor in the passenger seat. She parked the car and they both got out. Sharon made her way to the tent serving as a temporary command post, where the Major Crimes team had already started setting up the equipment.

Cat went straight to the familiar FBI van, where Agent Lydon and three additional agents were standing at the rear end of the car. They started suiting up, putting on vests, head gear and protective glasses and what have yous just in case there would be weapons fire there, as there usually was in these types of raids.. Cat picked up a Colt rifle she was very fond of and made sure she had plenty of ammo for the ride.

All personnel had made their rendezvous at the interim command post. Captain Raydor was barking orders to the SWAT members who seemed a bit disorientated. All the FBI and Major Crimes teams together with Special Operations Bureau as tactical support were all now present and counted for. Since there was no way of knowing how many suspects were involved, the man power had been doubled for the durance of this specific exercise. The SOB and FBI had been alerted to dispatch the additional personnel on site. Finally everyone had settled down for the briefing.

Captain Raydor and Cat were standing in front of the white board quickly going through the plan. Each of the teams were divided with members from all departments. Cat was pointing out the various positions each team was about to take. Cat was part of a team consisting of herself, Captain Raydor, Provenza and two SWAT members.

"Everyone clear on their position?" Raydor took a once over the crowd.

Several 'ye's and nodding heads were her answers.

"Myself and Agent Casey will take the lead team and the rest of you will follow." The Captain then added.

The personnel then teamed up with their assigned partners and exchanged a few words in the process.

"Alright then. Let's roll!" the Captain urged her minions and was clearly very happy to be in charge.

The suspect's house was a run down old place. The only sounds heard was the rhythmic thumping of bass heavy music. The teams were now in position around the suspect's dwelling ready to burst inside at a moments notice. There were a total of three entrances to the house and each team were at their allotted space waiting for the order to be given.

Cat, the Captain and the rest of their team were standing at the front door. With Cat in the lead, she signalled with the walkie talkie with the agreed number of clicks on it, three rapid ones, for the other teams to enter the premises. Cat nodded to the other members and carefully opened the rickety outer door. She placed herself between the two doors and was listening for any additional sounds from the inside alerting the suspects of their presence. When Cat was convinced the coast was clear, she signalled again and then her team slowly entered the house.

Cat's team was now inside the home of the suspect. They were in what seemed to be an empty corridor, leading towards several rooms, each door remaining closed and at the end they could see an open area. One of Cat's team members signalled the other teams to move ahead with a few 'click's on the radio again. The other teams were all inside the house now, appearing to the open area and walking towards the first team. They quickly started a room by room search. With "Clear" notifications coming in from each done search segment, and at first, the house seemed empty. Yet they could clearly hear the bass sound emanating through the walls and floor.

Cat exchanged glances with the Captain and then the rest of the team members, who were shrugging their shoulders questioningly. Something was off and there should have been people inside the house, alive or dead, still, there was nothing and no one there. Something then caught Cat's eye: An out of place bookshelf in the corner of the living area. She motioned at it and then walked towards it with Sharon and Provenza in tow. All three were checking out the out of place piece of furniture and then, Provenza gave it a slight push. The shelf moved only a smidgen. Provenza motioned for the two SWAT members nearest to him to help move the obstructive shelf.

It did not take too much effort for the three of them to move the obstacle. Soon enough a stairway to the basement was revealed and the sound of the music was getting louder and somewhat clearer after the sound filtering obstacle had been removed. The joint teams started their descent in an orderly fashion with two of the SWAT members in lead now. Provenza, followed by Cat and Captain Raydor with the rest of them in tow, one by one, slowly and silently making their way downstairs.

Finally, reaching the downstairs, they had reached an open area, which had probably been designed for laundry, with the washer dryer combo tucked away in one of the corners. The small area was getting crowded so some of them were still standing on the stairs. On the farthest wall there was a door leading most likely to the area where the still muffled but yes still rather loud music was coming from.

The team members surrounded the door as best as the could and with a few hand signs exchanged, they agreed to move into the next room. One of the SWAT members opened the door and immediately stepped inside, with her riffle drawn and pointing at anyone inside likely to draw a weapon at her. As the larger back room came to view for all, it was filled with smoke and it smelled like marijuana.

The room was quickly taken over by the task force team. Four of the inhabitants, clearly disorientated and drugged up were taken to custody with ease. Someone found the source for the loud music and turned it down. Meanwhile Cat and Sharon heard the backdoor slam and both women were quick on their feet and on their way after the runner.

The fifth suspect was running to the outside with Cat and Sharon in tow. Sharon had taken the lead and shouted to the suspect: "LAPD! Stop or I'll shoot!" The runner clearly hearing the threat, turned around and pulled out a gun. He pulled the trigger and fired without warning. Cat not far behind Sharon, noticed the trajectory of the bullet gushing out with high velocity made a split second decision. She leaped and pushed Sharon aside and they both landed on the ground on top of each other. Without any time wasted, Cat reacted and turned around and fired two shoots towards the suspect. Each shot landed on a knee cap and the suspect fell down on the ground loosing his grip on the gun, moaning loudly in pain.

The suspect holding his hurt bleeding knees was easily subdued by the others when they reached the scene of the shooting seconds later. Sharon and Cat were still on the ground panting heavily from the action of the event. Cat rose first and offered her hand to Sharon. Sharon nodded gratefully and took the offered hand, letting the heftier woman lead her up.

"Thank you!" Sharon offered her heartfelt gratitude for pushing her out of harm's way.

"My pleasure!" Cat was smiling.

Sharon finally fully up and on her feet, regaining her composure full, she ended up standing next to Cat. She glanced at the agent beside her and that is when she noticed the blood.

"You are bleeding." Sharon told Cat looking at her arm.

"What?" Cat responded as if the statement did not quite sink in as she was in no pain currently or even having felt a bullet hit her.

"Blood!" Sharon was pointing at Cat's arm now.

Cat looked at the pointed direction. She glared at the gaping hole in her arm, then, she inhaled sharply, feeling the space around her staring to spin, the nausea hitting her with full force. And before she could think or even react to what was happening to her, she landed with a thud to the ground, laying in a limp heap off humanly flesh sack there. Cat the magnificent, Agent extraordinaire, had fainted, from the sight of blood.

Sharon was alarmed with what had just happened and tried to shake Cat awake, but was unsuccessful in doing so. She looked at the other members of the team surrounding the agent taking a nap on the lawn and then asked forcefully:

"A little help, please!"

Two team members joined Sharon. They quickly assessed the wound and from their oneself med-packs used the bandages to apply pressure and stop the bleeding or at least slow it down a bit, as it was gushing out now, heavily. The same two officers then lifted Cat up and started carrying her off the premises. Luckily Cat had worn the helmet protecting her head, not from getting shot in this case, but getting banged up while falling on the ground with full force. Luckily, it was grassy, so there was that.

Meanwhile one of the SWAT members was carrying two big black bags containing drugs found at the premises. He commented to another officer near him, that there was at least some forty-seven kilos or even more worth of drugs inside them. So, all and all, a relatively good bust all things considering.

Cat was slowly opening her eyes. She was staring at an unfamiliar face. And she was clearly lying on her back. She could feel a sting her arm though and she tried to figure out where she was and what had happened and why was a stranger looking at her from above.

"Welcome back!" The stranger told Cat.

"Where am I?" She asked.

"You were shot and lost some blood. You are in an ambulance where we were attending to your wound." The man, who now clearly could be identified as a paramedic, was telling Cat.

"Ambulance? When did that happen?" Cat asked confused.

"Well, we were called in to take care of possible wounded on site and then you had fainted, the officers brought you to the ambulance and…" He was cut off mid sentence by Cat.

"Fainted? I don't faint!" Cat looked at the now treated arm and saw a few faint blood drops on it. She gulped audibly. "I must have passed out, you know, due to blood loss!" she tried.

"Well, there wasn't too much of a loss fortunately, but we would like to take you to the hospital for check up just in case." The paramedic told Cat.

Cat was not about to go into the hospital for a minor flesh wound. So, of course she was going to object to anyone telling her otherwise.

"I feel fine. And like you said, I didn't loose that much blood. So no hospital for me today, thank you very much!" Cat said and started to rise up from the stretcher. She felt a pain in the arm and she was a little light headed too and felt the nausea and dizziness rising.

The paramedic noticed that and reached for needle and a small vial. He drained it into the needle and turned towards Cat, who looked like she was either going to pass out again or then, throw up. Reaching for the barf bag just in case the paramedic said:

"I will give you something for the pain, but if you intend to forgo going to the hospital, my advice is not to drive or shoot a gun today." He pushed the needle into Cat's arm and the liquid was poured inside.

Cat moved her gaze away from the offending needle. This also did not go unnoticed by the paramedic.

"You are a squeamish thing aren't you!" He stated jokingly.

Cat looked him straight in the eyes, squinted her own and with a low malicious voice told him:

"Look, I have a thing for needles and my own blood. But I have wrestled down thugs bigger than you with my bare hands!" She managed to half growl, having the desired affect on the paramedic. "Now, I don't mind other peoples blood and if you don't want a nose bleed on your hands, I would advice you to cut down on the jokes." Cat was so not in the mood for all this.

The two things Cat mentioned to the paramedic were unfortunately very sore spots for the fearless and otherwise tough agent. She had tried various methods to get rid of the phobias but all had proven unsuccessful. So, as long as she managed to stay out of harms way, she was fine.

"OK OK! Understood tough cop!" The paramedic held his hands up in mock surrender and added, "We are done, you may leave now."

"Thanks!" Was Cat's short answer and she almost jumped up from the stretcher, immediately regretting the action still feeling quite dizzy.

Chapter Nine: All drugged up and no place to go

The four suspects had been taken into custody by the Major Crimes team. The wounded one was on his way to the hospital in another ambulance accompanied by two members of the FBI. Sharon was still outside, waiting for the diagnosis of Cat's wound. She had been hovering near the ambulance since the time Cat had been carried inside, all the while giving orders to the others and making sure things were running smoothly at the crime scene.

Sharon immediately walked to Cat when she saw her stepping out from the ambulance. She noticed the disorientated swagger in Cat's movement though. Cat had remained standing very close to the ambulance, grabbing a hold of the door while trying to get her bearings before taking any further steps, which were kind of on the shaky side and the dizziness wasn't going away either.

"How are you feeling?" Sharon asked stepping in front of Cat.

Cat looked up, and the quick movement had made disoriented again and, she hated to admit it, but she needed help just staying up. What ever drugs the paramedic had injected in her were starting to affect her over all manoeuvring abilities. She looked at Sharon and hoped her speaking ability was not affected too. Not as much at least, as the control of her body movement or rather the lack there off.

"I," she started feeling it difficult to even articulate at this point, "I think I may need some help in getting into the car." Cat managed to utter, looking at Sharon with desperation clear on her face.

Sharon gave Cat a reassuring smile, took Cat by the healthy arm and started escorting her towards the car. Cat noticed the crime scene was quieting down and the make shift command post had been dismantled too. Which made her wonder.

"How long was I out?" She asked Sharon.

"About an hour give or take." Sharon replied.

"Oh!" Was Cat's surprised answer.

This had not been the first time nor would it most likely be the last time she would faint over the sight of her own blood. She just really wished she hadn't done it in front of Sharon. And needing help to get into her car and she wasn't even allowed to drive it in her condition. Not that she could have if she was. She was way too far gone. The drugs clearly kicking in now.

Sharon quickly realising what the situation was with Cat, she guided the wounded woman into the back seat, buckling her up to the seat belt, making sure Cat would not bounce around should she loose consciousness during the ride.

"Alright! You are secured in your seat!" Sharon coyly told Cat and continued, "Now all I need is the keys and we can go!"

Cat looked at Sharon like she was speaking some foreign language.

"Keys, as in start the car?" Sharon repeated glaring at the half glassed over eyes of the agent.

It took a few moments for Cat to register the request. 'Man are the drugs kicking in!' she thought.

"Left jacket, I mean pocket..." the words came out stumbled and jumbled.

Cat tried to point at her jacket pocket, but did not manage to loosen her arm from the buckles. Sharon had pulled over two sets of belts over her, just in case she had to break fast. After all, she would not want to pick up the unconscious passenger from the floor. Cat was way too heavy for her at this point.

Sharon got the message and picked up the keys as she had to first unfasten one of the belts before reaching said pocket. She then scanned her back seat driver one more time after buckling her up again, before closing the doors and making her way to the drivers seat. Sharon started the engine and drove off, carefully keeping an eye on the back seat from the rear view mirror with frequent glances.

Sharon drove Cat's car into the LAPD building. She had noticed Cat dozing off in the backseat and was glad she had tied her securely there. She then realised she had actually no idea where Cat was currently living, as it seemed unlikely she had remained in the hotel, especially the penthouse. She decided not to wake the sleeping beauty, but rather to take a detour to the office and check out what the situation was. The Only problem was, what to do with her sleeping passenger.

It was late in the evening already and they had decided to lock the suspects up for the evening and start the interrogation the following day only. Sharon decided to run the quick errand and leave Cat in the car. She was pretty sure Cat would not wake up in her absence. She also decided the best policy was not to leave Cat alone for the night at least. Sharon would take Cat home with her where she could keep an eye on her and make sure Cat would be alright. Then she could take Cat to her residence after she woke up the next day, so that issue was soled with that.

Sharon stepped out of the car and closed the door quietly and took her exit towards the lifts.

Once in the office, Sharon noticed everyone had already gone home, which was fine as it had been a very long day and tomorrow would not be any better, so rest all around was a good choice. She went to her office and picked up her bag, and some things from the table. She then walked out from her office and started switching off the lights as she went on, walking through the empty office to the lifts and back to the parking garage.

Cat was woken to the sound of a car door closing. She was a little startled and unable to move too much around. When she finally regained full consciousness she realised being inside a stationary car and it was dark outside. She tried to looked around and the place seemed somewhat familiar. She looked down and saw, that she was tied down with something. She felt groggy and uncertain as to how she had ended up in this place. Cat tugged on the ties and found they were giving in. She managed to free her arm and then another. With both hands now free from the restraints, she somehow in all her confusion managed to unbuckle the belts and free herself completely.

Realising she was in a back seat, she pushed on the door handle and found it was locked. She moved the door lock to open and managed to open it, but only slightly. She used all her energy pushing the door further and further to be able to fit out from the growingly claustrophobic place. During this exercise taking into account the state she was in, the drugs now at their highest effect, she fell out onto the concrete floor.

"Ouch! That's gonna sting in the morning!" Were her first words as she was flat on her ass there.

Cat had landed on her rear end hurting her coccyx and it really stung. She rolled herself up and remained standing clutching the open car door. She tried to take a step and then another, but was unsuccessful in doing so. It was like her feet were made of rubber.

"What the hell?" Cat cursed out loud.

Cat was in a state of confusion. The happenings of the day had been pushed deep in her memory and she had no idea where she was or how she had gotten there, much less what had happened before. Her first thought was she had been kidnapped. Memories of an old case she had been working on were popping up from somewhere deep down, confusing the hell out of her mind. The only thought making any semblance of sense her mixed up mind, was to run to safety.

Cat let go of the car door and started walking. She managed to get on a few steps and fell back down. She was now lying on the ground, unable to move, cursing her situation when she heard what sounded a familiar voice calling her name from the distance and somewhat muffled too. Or maybe she was losing her hearing too?

"Cat!"

Sharon was back in the parking lot walking towards Cat's car when the laying heap on the ground caught her eye.

"Oh my god!" She said out loud and started running towards what she suspected was Cat. "Cat!" Sharon called her.

Sharon reached the slumped up Cat quickly and knelt down to check on her vitals. Cat was breathing and conscious but extremely disorientated.

"Cat?" Sharon repeated

Cat tried to turn her head towards the familiar voice, but was unable to do so. She could taste blood in her mouth. Most possibly from a split lip when she had landed face first into the concrete.

Sharon grabbed at Cat's torso with both hands and with as much will power as she could muster, managed to get Cat up on her own feet. She quickly assessed the distance to the car and thought she would be able to support Cat back to it.

"Cat," Sharon started.

"Sharon?" Cat was looking confusedly at her saviour.

"Yes it's me. Do you think you will be able to walk into the car if I help you?"

"I don't know." Cat answered. And to be honest, at this point she wasn't too sure about much of anything.

"OK, we'll try anyway." Sharon responded and started walking them towards the car.

Sharon managed to get Cat back to the car and into the seat again. But the deciding in placing her lying down over the multiple seats was a better option instead. And, she was definitely taking Cat home with her as clearly, she was in no condition in taking care of herself, eve if Sharon had debated her earlier idea before, now, she was sure, how was the best option after all.

"Are you OK?" Sharon sounded a little worried though, looking at the sheet white face of the agent.

"Yes." Was the short answer, it was all Cat managed really at this point.

"Good. I will drive you back to my place and you will spend the night there, OK?" Sharon wasn't expecting an answer this time.

"Mk" was a silent response.

"OK then!" Sharon was glad there was not even a hint of argument there.

Once again she made her way to the driver's seat and started the engine. Giving one last look at the back seat, making sure the sleeping beauty of an agent was alright still, before driving off.

Finally at Sharon's place, where she had managed to drive to without further incident. Cat had awoken from her deep un dreaming haze to a state, where Sharon had been able to assist her out from the car, into the lift and up to her flat. They were currently standing in the foyer, Sharon pondering what the next step would be. The decision was quickly made, when Cat started to feel heavier again. Sharon guided the semiconscious Cat down the hallway and into her bedroom without further thought whether it was a good choice or not. The couch was hardly comfortable for the wounded woman as it wasn't even that for a regular body, as Sharon had experienced several times while falling asleep after a long day on it.

Sharon placed Cat sitting on her bed while taking off her shoes, her jacket and jeans. The rest of the combat gear had already beeb shed by the paramedics while treating her, which was a relief at this point in time. She then nudged the bed spread off under Cat and urged her to move onto the vacant area of the bed. It was a struggle of sorts getting the drugged up female form out of her clothes, moving her around on the bouncy the bed and then tucking her under the covers. But Sharon managed to do all that, quite swiftly actually and once done, she sat down letting out a deep sigh of relief. She then went to the bathroom and came back with the supplies she had picked from the medicine cabinet. Sitting back down beside Cat, she dubbed some ointment on her face wounds. Cat had managed to split her lip and scratch her forehead when hitting the concrete in the parking hall. Hoping they would not scar too badly, she did another round and placed a cover on top of the biggest one.

When done tending to her patient, Sharon looked at her sleeping guest and smiled. After the few days spent together with her conquest of the week before, the thought of bedding Cat had been on her mind more than once. Of course this was not quite the scenario she had had in mind though, getting back in bed with Cat, and she berated herself for even having such thoughts now. But, she could not help but admire the features of this gorgeous creature, even while bodied up, she was someone Sharon could easily imagine spending more time with on a personal and more intimate level too. But for now, that was all on the back burner. The woman needed rest and Sharon was tired too. Sharon finally got up, turned off the lights and left the bedroom where Cat was lying, on her bed, and snoring lightly now, as the medicine had once again taken over and descended her to a deep sleep.

Cat was waking up and had an unfamiliar feeling to her. She felt something heavy surrounding her. She was still a bit fuzzy on the details of the day before, but she remembered getting shot. She felt around herself and noticed a few extra extremities on her body: Those of what seemed to be, at least the arm of a... woman? Not a purring cat? As Cat thought she had heard that sound too.

Cat tried to squint in the darkened room for any evidence of as to where and whom. But, apparently she was pinned down in a bed with an arm and a leg no less. Cat turned her head trying to look over her shoulder. She noticed the dark mass of hair on the pillow. Her gaze was following the long strands attached to a sleeping head very close to Cat's back, mere inch away from it, feeling the breath on her skin.

Cat recognised the owner of the head and the extremities. After all, she had spent a good part of a previously spent night together staring at the beauty sleeping while she herself was lying awake. And also, the better part of the past week doing the same thing, not in bed of course, rather in the office, but also, rather secretly then too. She was in bed with Sharon Raydor. Again. As to the how and why, Cat had no idea. The whole day yesterday was still a bit of a jumble in her mind and she was finding a hard time even thinking of it as her head was pounding now too.

Cat then realised she was in her underwear which was odd for any occasion in bed for her, being that sleeping or for sex, especially for sex. Also Cat had never slept with a woman, not remembering every single detail afterward. So there had to be more to her situation than what current evidence were showing her. But why now and why here, as they had gotten to a good working relationship and agreed on a dinner date before anything else.

Cat tried to untangle herself gently from the sleeping Sharon. She managed to move Sharon's hand away from her body, but trying to move the leg was another matter. While trying to slide off the bed Cat was unsuccessful and woke Sharon up in the process. Besides, her arm hurt like hell and she had a hard time moving it about anyway. All she managed to gain from her efforts, was to disturb the what seemed like a still half sleeping Sharon to stir in confusion and asked:

"Where are you going?"

"Sorry, I did not mean to wake you up." Cat responded cursing inwardly for her own clumsiness.

"It's alright. What time is it?" Sharon asked then groggily.

Cat looked at the clock on her bedside, which was blinking numbers in a red coloured light.

"It's six thirty. Still early. You should go back to sleep." Cat was trying to sooth talk Sharon hoping she would get back to sleep and that she could simply sneak out of the place.

But, it would not be that easy, as Sharon then moved into a sitting position.

"I think it's a good time to get up."

Cat, realising her defeat did not argue. She was now fully aware of being in Sharon's bed and she needed to follow Sharon's rules. Besides, she could put her clothes on easily now and then make her excuses and leave.

Sharon moved towards the night stand beside her side of the bed and switched on a small lamp.

She looked at Cat and asked:

"How are you feeling?"

Still a little fuzzy on the details but feeling slightly better, Cat shrugged her shoulders and answered:

"Pretty OK. I know I slept really deeply but I must admit I have little if no recollection as to how I ended up here."

"Do you remember getting shot?" Sharon asked her.

"Yes, but after that it's a bit hazy." Cat was trying to think back to the incident.

"Well, you were pretty out of it after the medication the paramedics gave you kicked in. I had to half carry you from the car and there was an incident in the parking hall..." Sharon stopped half sentence.

Cat had no memory of what she had done or how she had behaved and judging by Sharon's expression, it could not have been good. All kinds of scenarios started playing in her mind. Cat cleared her throat and with a sad voice she started:

"Sharon, I apologise for what ever I have done. I have no excuse part from being drugged up. Unfortunately, I can't remember what happened after the shooting…" she drifter off again, trying hard to remember.

Sharon interrupted her with a big grin after putting one and one together what Cat was clearly thinking had been the situation.

"Trust me, you did not do anything wrong. You got a little confused in the car where I had left you sleeping. The drugs probably made you think there was some other situation going on and you tried to flee from the car. Luckily I managed to get you back almost unharmed."

Sharon touched the small wound on Cat's lip which she had gotten during her meeting up with the hard and unforgiving concrete in the parking garage.

Cat winched. Not so much of pain, but the contact of Sharon's fingers on her lip made her tingly and warm. Sharon quickly removed her fingers afraid she had hurt Cat.

"I'm sorry, I did not mean to hurt you." Sharon said, looking at Cat for any sign of pain.

"No, no, it's OK. Guess it's just a little sore, that's all." Cat lied. It had felt way too good, Sharon touching her there.

Cat felt a little awkward. She never did after a night of sex, but this was something completely different. Obviously they had been sharing the bed only for sleeping, which for some reason seemed much more intimate than simply having sex did. But the closeness of Sharon's body while waking up was causing Cat to feel all kinds of emotions and she was still recovering from being shot. Not a good combination. Not good at all.

"Do you mind if I use your shower?" Cat asked politely trying to solve and get out of her current situation.

"No, I don't mind at all." She said, "Please it's all yours." Sharon responded and continued, "I can take my turn after you." She added softly, before adding, "Also, I need you to drive me to work today anyway, since I left my car at the station."

"Sounds like a plan. I have one request though." Cat added, "Can we stop by at my place to get a change of clothes for me? I would hate to start any rumour mills by wearing the same clothing as the day before." She added coyly.

Sharon nodded and added: "We can grab some breakfast on the way also. I did not have a chance to shop this week. The cupboards are practically empty in this household at the moment."

"We can eat at the hotel." Cat then thought quickly.

"Hotel?" Sharon was puzzled.

"Yeah… I am staying there until I can find a place." Cat was not about to explain her situation further. Not how she got the perk of staying in a fancy hotel for free, not to Sharon at least. Actually, no-one else knew about it apart from her of course and the hotel chain owner, Mrs Lynn Meyer, as to the favour behind this arrangement, something Cat did not regret on any level, but it was out of a mutual unspoken agreement this was so.

Cat was getting up from the bed and started walking out, not sure where to go next. She paused and turned back looking at Sharon questioningly.

"Hallway, to your left." Sharon smiled at her confused guest.

"Thanks!" Cat was off to the shower.

After quick showers the twosome was now on the road again. This time it was Cat behind the wheel. She had recovered from her ordeal with the bullet, fainting and strong pain medicine quite well. Luckily the shower had done its deal, but no small thanks went to her resident nurse sitting beside her either.

They reached the hotel faster than expected due to it being early hours still and the morning traffic rush being ahead. To save time, they agreed for Cat to go upstairs for a change of attire, while Sharon went to the breakfast lounge and ordered them something to go with. After a thirty-minute stop, they were driving towards the LAPD building ready to start the day.

Chapter Ten: These aren't the droids we were looking for

Sharon and Cat had arrived at the office and were enjoying their breakfast in the break room.

Provenza and Flynn peaked their heads through the door, when Cat noticed and waved them to come inside and join the two of them.

"Good morning! There is freshly made coffee in the pot!" Cat cheerfully greeted the two detectives.

"You are looking surprisingly perky today!" Provenza stated, surprised by the fast recovery Cat had made since yesterday only.

"Yeah, last time we saw you, you were pretty pale, bleeding badly and laying on the stretcher knocked out of this life!" Flynn added with a hint of jest in his voice.

"Luckily I had an excellent nurse taking care of me!" Cat couldn't help herself and get back with a come back herself, even if her statement had too many implications and she wasn't too sure Sharon appreciated it at all, after all, they had yet to discuss their, um, situation.

Sharon did not say anything but she, surprisingly, smiled rather coyly. Her two detectives could only wonder what the two women had meant with the comments and odd smile, but then decided to leave well enough alone and head for the coffee pot instead.

When Provenza had gotten his first taste of coffee in the morning, he turned into a better mood and joined the two ladies sitting at the larger table. After all, it was still early, even for him and without coffee, he did not function, much like it was for all of the team members.

"I've asked the officers to bring the first two of the suspects we caught yesterday in for questioning at ten, so we have plenty of time to go over the game plan before that. Also Flynn and I will check with the hospital later today for the one that got shot." Turning his gaze towards Cat and adding an evil grin, as the agent had quite rightfully shot him, only it was the kneecaps rather than his head or chest, something Provenza himself had most likely aimed for instead.

"He was lucky, I was aiming at his head!" Cat decided to play along, knowing perfectly well she shot where she had aimed. She was not about to kill the suspects unnecessarily if it could be helped.

"I would have shot him in the head if it had been me on the other end of that bullet." Flynn added his two cent and continued, "One more dirt bag off the streets!" That was his motto, even if it meant more paper work for him.

Provenza continued summarising, completely ignoring Andy's comment: "Amy, Julio and Tao are working on all the suspect's movements during the time of death of Officer Armstrong. Just hoping no solid alibis turn up!"

"Excellent! Looks like we have a full day planned ahead of us!" Sharon retorted.

She got up, picked up her trash and threw it into the bin. Cat followed her example and then went to the coffee machine to get a refill before confronting the day.

"Back to the coal mines!" Provenza added and the foursome left the break room.

In the murder room the extended team of combined FBI and Major Crimes ones were both present. They went through the evidence once more, conducted by Captain Raydor and then they agreed on their interview tactics, which wasn't a difficult task as they all fully agreed on how to process.

The first two suspects were brought in and Lieutenants Flynn and Provenza took the first one in for the interview. The other suspect was to be interviewed by Sykes and Tao. The rest of the team following behind the scenes, keeping an eye on the monitors in Electronics room and taking notes in the process and an open channel to the ear wigs in each officers ear.

"I have no part in no murder!" The suspect was shouting angrily at the two detectives seated calmly in front of him.

"We have evidence of the contrary." Flynn stated coolly.

"You and your so called friends befriended Nate Armstrong and when you found out he was police, you killed him in cold blood!" Provenza was pressing on tapping at the images of the officer in question laying bloodied and dead in them.

"We did no killing. Sure we suspected Nate was up to no good. But a cop, we did not know! And we ain't no killers. Now bring me my lawyer!" He then demanded loudly.

Provenza and Flynn looked at each other, then to the camera and without another word rose from their seats in tandem and left the room leaving the suspect gaping after them surprised to say the least, but also fuming in his seat, as they had not responded to his demands.

They entered Electronics only to learn Amy and Mike Tao had no luck either with their suspect.

"Captain, it seems we are at a dead end here. Neither of these two admit to the murder. The good thing here is though, that neither of them denied the drug charges." Provenza recapped basically the essence of what all of those in the surveillance room had witnessed on screen.

"Unfortunately the two others alibied out. They were both in county lockup, busted for drunk driving the night of Armstrong's murder. Now that these two smart asses have lawyered up, the only suspect we can go on with, is the one laying in hospital." Flynn added.

"Flynn and I will go there, as agreed to check up with him before he too lawyers up." Provenza said.

"Seems we are no farther along with the case than we were before the bust!" Julio retorted.

"Well, let's not throw in the towel quite yet!" Provenza reprimanded Julio, "After all, we still have one to go and well, then we are out of options." He added.

He and Lieutenant Flynn then left for the hospital to catch up with the fifth suspect.

Cat too had been watching at the interviews and after some contemplation from what she had seen on screen, the nagging suspicion was back, that feeling making a buzzing with the old grey cells of the brain, alerting not all was as it seemed. She was not an advocate for the drug dealing gang to be the master minds behind the other killings, not after seeing them opening their mouths during the interrogation. She had also felt the Armstrong killing to be strongly related to the others rather than being a random drug murder, done by these thugs they had now in captivity. Not that they weren't capable of killing, far from it, but it was just so. Well, off for this whole scenario. She did not know as to why but it was a gut feeling she had.

Sharon had noticed Cat being deep in thought and decided to ask what she had on her mind:

"Any thoughts?" The Captain surprised the contemplative agent.

Cat turned away from the screen she had been staring at for the duration of the interview and then afterwards as well, as she had been deep in thought looking at nothing particular, simply staring ahead.

"Well, I have this feeling I cannot quite explain..." she turned to Sharon who seemed to be expecting some brilliant idea to pop out of Cat's mouth apparently, or then it was just her thinking that way.

"Go on" Sharon urged her.

"I think we are barking up the wrong tree for the murder here." Cat stated matter of factually not sure why she felt so confident about that, but then again, she had solved quite a few cases in her career while not going the easy way about it rather filtering out all the possible and even impossible evidence to get to the correct solution. And this one had seemed somehow too easy in so many ways to be right.

"Why do you think that?" Buzz then joined the conversation.

"The M.O. doesn't fit. However, it fits the serial pattern. And I am highly doubtful these people would have had the means to implement a well thought traceless streak of murders, such as we have on our hands here. They would act on impulse rather than planning."

Sharon was thinking about what Cat had just shared and agreed on the premise. However, they needed to follow the evidence and until proven moot, they would hold the gang members as suspects for the murders also, as they would not be going anywhere for a long time, as the drug charges alone would put them away for a lengthy period of time.

"Let's wait until the Lieutenants get back from the hospital before deciding how to proceed further." Captain Raydor said, "Julio, Buzz, I need you to try to figure out whether our two suspects here," nodding towards the frozen screens where their faces remained, "alibis hold or not. We need to start ruling out these threads." She added.

"Yes Ma'am!" Julio responded. He and Buzz both got up and went to the Murder Room to pursue their investigation as per ordered by the Captain.

Sharon then turned to Cat: "I agree with your 'gut feeling' though. It seems too unlikely for the gang members to have pulled off an elaborate murder after seeing them during this investigation. But let's cover all our tracks before moving on to any new ideas, agreed?"

"Agreed!" Cat responded, with a hint of a smile on her face as the Captain and she seemed to be thinking alike and their work ethics were pretty similar. All and all, it was good to work with Captain Raydor.

Unfortunately, Cat's gut feeling had been right. During the arduous process of investigating the suspects at hand, it got quite clear pretty quickly, that the gang of five currently in custody, was only responsible for dealing drugs and had nothing to do with the murder of officer Armstrong what so ever. Nor was there any evidence of any kind of relations to the other murders. The only charges the gang members were now facing were those of possession and selling of drugs. Therefore, it remained for Joint Task Force to proceed with the follow-up investigation and prosecution of those charges only. Which was both a small victory, yet a heavy loss in the battle against time in the serial murder investigation, which still remained unsolved.

Chapter Eleven: Back to the drawing board

Cat and Lieutenant Provenza were watching as the suspects were escorted out by the Joint Task Force officers, when Captain Raydor entered the Murder Room from her office and took a stance in the middle of the team, and waited for their attention before she spoke to them.

"Thank you everyone for all your hard work! It was a good arrest, but unfortunately our primary suspect remains at large." The Captain stated with a hint of disappointment in her tone.

Sharon glanced around her extended team, the members standing in almost a circular configuration around her, all of them seemingly in various stages of contemplation of the case after what she had just stated, the news already sunk in as to the fact that they were back at the starting point, almost.

"It seems we need to re-evaluate the evidence and see what we have missed" the Captain stated with more defeat in her voice even.

Agent Malone waved his hand and the Captain nodded permission for him to speak: "Captain, I can have the analysis ready in a few hours or so. That should help us at least to provide a basis for a new investigation mode, so to speak, as we have quite a lot of material and we don't really have to start from zero after all."

"I think John is right," Cat added to the statement, "We should also get a thorough analysis from the coroner of the victim. Maybe it is good to revisit the similarities or lack there of between the victims."

Cat turned to Agent Malone: "John, can you get the information from the good doctor too and do your magic with that data as well?"

"Of course, I will get right on it" Agent Malone replied. "I will have the data running here while I talk with the Doc downstairs." He said. After punching in the keyboards and satisfied the analysis program was up and running, he then grabbed his other laptop and left for the morgue to find Doctor Morales to interview him in case he had some other evidence which was not incorporated in the existing ones.

The rest of the team then decided it was time for a coffee break, while waiting for Agent Malone's analysis to complete. After all, they had been working hard so far and a longer break would not hurt anyone as there was only so much they could do before the analysis was completed.

"Who is buying?" Provenza asked not wanting to be the one stuck with a bill.

Cat smiled at the Lieutenant's remark and replied: "I think the FBI can pick up the tab this time."

They all left for a much deserved break. After all, they would probably end up staying late re-investigating and re-analysing the evidence before they could actually pick up on the scent again and continue on their hunt for the right suspect, still lurking out there, somewhere.

Agent Malone and Doctor Morales had joined forces in the analysis of the deceased, hoping to find additional evidence going through the data files of the autopsies and making sure there was nothing there, which had escaped the initial invitation of the files.

John and the good Doctor had hit it off quite well actually, not only on the professional level, but also on the personal one. After a lengthy and most detailed fact finding mission, they had ended up going out on a kind of a date albeit that being one of coffee and doughnuts as it was still working hours after all with loads of stuff to do.

When John finally returned to the Murder Room a few hours later, Cat was curious as to how the analysis had gone.

"Well, Rick and I..." he started when Cat interrupted him.

"Rick? Who is Rick, exactly and why have in not heard of him before today?" Cat asked surprised.

"You know, Rick, as in Enrique, as in Doctor Enrique Morales?"

"So you are on a first nick name basis then?" Cat asked coyly.

"Well, yeah" John replied simply.

"O-K then. So what's up? Anything new for us?" Cat was a tad antsy as they were behind schedule.

"I may have something. I just need to do a quick input to get the accurate output." John's tech jargon way of responding.

"Sure, you do that" Cat responded as he knew well how John was with his stuff. Efficient and through and very technical.

John started typing into his other laptop and hit return and the application started the analysis.

Cat was standing behind him and John could feel her breathing down his neck. He looked up at his boss:

"Fifteen minutes, tops, boss!" he said jokingly trying to get her off his neck, as it did not help her hovering there, impatiently.

Cat had noticed the chipper and lighter mood John was currently in. Not that he was ever moody, but there was something more about this good mood after he had returned from the meeting with the Doctor. Cat started a careful probing, as after all, they were good friends.

"So you and the Doctor worked well together then?" she asked carefully.

"Yeah, and I know what you are doing so I am saying this out straight, pardon the pun," John knew Cat would not leave well enough alone, so the best policy was to tell it how it was.

"The Doctor and I have plans for dinner later this week." he stated with a smirky tone.

Cat's mouth opened in surprise. It took a lot to surprise Cat, but this news surely qualified as that.

"Well, well, well" Cat stated with smirk. "When the Cat's out of the house the mice have a party!"

"Funny!" was John's only response.

Cat knew she had overstepped her boundaries once more, from boss to caring friend, but it wasn't as either of them minded it since there was trust between them. It was an untold rule of theirs and they both knew the prying was not out of malice rather out of care for each other. John did exactly the same thing when ever the opportunity presented itself. Luckily for Cat though, he had yet to realise the connection she and Sharon now shared. But that would come, soon, Cat feared and she would have some 'splaining to do.

"Well, I will leave you to your work then" Cat said and went to see if any of the others needed her help.

Earlier when Agent Malone's analysis had completed, the computer had beeped cheerfully. Cat and Tao had immediately latched themselves to the laptop and started skimming through the data, dividing each member a piece to go through.

In addition to the first analysis the team were rewarded with the second set of data analysis for the murder victims. Meaning the extended team was tied up in paper work for the rest of the day. Each of them found their own little corner and silence ensued through the Murder Room. Only the rustling of paper and soft typing on a keyboard could be heard.

At the end of a very long day, they were nowhere closer to the identity of the suspect. However, they had managed to rule out some potential suspects from the list leaving three potential ones for them to follow-up on. Luckily, it was much shorter than initially suspected to be. After the work was done, the team members started to leave one by one, saying each their respective good nights as they left.

Chapter Twelve: What happens in the office late at night, stays in the office

When the other team members had left, Cat was about to call it a night too. Stretching herself and looking around, thinking she was the only one left there, Cat realised the Captain was still in her office as she saw the faint light on and the shadowy figure sitting at their desk.

Cat stood up and walked towards the office to wish her good nights to Sharon and knocked on the door and hearing only a low "Come in".

Stepping into the office Cat's eyes scanned the room and found the Captain at her desk:

"I am sorry to disturb you Captain, but I was just leaving and came to wish you a good night."

The Captain looked at the surprise arrival and smiled to her:

"Trust me, I was not disturbed."

Sharon stood up, straightened her skirt and remained standing by her desk for a moment. Sharon was debating internally as to her next move and whether to go ahead or not as her thoughts had wandered a lot lately to the agent now standing before her. And this particular scene, had kind of been one of her fantasies too.

Before Sharon even realised it, she had unconsciously moved ahead of her thoughts and closed the gap between herself and Cat. Staring at the agent rather hungrily, Sharon pushed Cat against the nearest wall and before thinking further, pressed her lips against Cat's luscious fleshy ones much to Cat's surprise. Cat did not hesitate to respond in kind as lips locked in a soft but very passionate kiss.

The kiss then progressed from soft nipping and tugging to a more aggressive tongue probing one, leading to a tandem dance of the two appendixes inside Cat's mouth. After a while, they had to break the kiss in need of air, leaving both women panting and staring at each other, surprised, but in a good way as this was not exactly what either of them had had in mind, not for today anyway.

"Wow, that wasn't what I expected when I came to say good night to you." Cat's breathing was still rather heavy.

Sharon smiled widely and nodded, "I have been thinking about you all day long, well, here and there, when not fixating on the case. But I must admit, I am glad you were still here." Sharon was happy of acting rather than thinking this time along.

While Sharon had been the one initiating the contact in the first place, Cat was not about to let her lead this time. She swiftly turned their positions, leaving Sharon leaning against the wall. Cat leaned forward and kissed Sharon again, more softly and slowly at first, then continued down Sharon's jaw, her neck where exposed. Cat's hands moved towards the buttons on Sharon's shirt and quickly opened them. She pushed the fabric off of Sharon's shoulders and slowly moved to undo the clasp of the bra to free two amazing breasts for Cat to gaze and fondle on.

Cat broke from kissing Sharon's upper body and stared at the revealed prize in front of her, clearly, quite ready and waiting. Cat licked her lips before she made her move again and continued kissing and tasting Sharon's bare skin around the inviting breasts, avoiding all the sensitive spots for now, teasing her lover just a bit, even if Cat was more eager to please Sharon than she had anticipated to be, or then, she had just been fooling herself in thinking so before.

Cat moved her hands over Sharon's breasts feeling the full weight of them admiring the fleshy natural feel of them, caressing the perky mounds with her fingers before her mouth joined the play. She sucked, licked and nipped on the now fully erect buds, alternating between the twins, not wanting to miss one single spot. The small moans leaving Sharon's mouth were a good indication, that Sharon was enjoying everything Cat was doing to her, then again, Cat was pretty familiar with Sharon's likes already.

After having her fill of Sharon's breasts at least for now, Cat trailed down the skin with her mouth, with licks and kisses, the smoothness of the soft belly, placing kisses all over and dipping her tongue in the navel making Sharon squirm under her controlling touches. Moving ever downwards, Cat shifted her own position by going down on her knees, as she needed better access to the magnificent long legs awaiting their attention as well. After all, Cat never left any area untouched in her wake.

Cat trailed kisses along the bare, lean long legs until she reached the barrier of Sharon's short skirt.

She hesitated for a few second, before continuing, but her choice had already been made, long before she reached this position she was in now. So, pushing the intrusive skirt higher and higher up Sharon's body, while reaching for her ultimate prize, she got a spectacular view of the flesh beneath and silky set of underwear being the last obstacle to win. After marvelling for a moment, Cate leaned in to inhale and her nostrils now flaring to the most wonderful scent, that of Sharon's arousal.

Cat moved even closer, and let her fingers trace the outline of Sharon's nether lips above the fabric still covering it all. She ran her fingers up and down, hardly touching, but just enough to tease and feeling the wetness seeping through the thin material, eliciting further sounds from Sharon, trying to remain standing on her own to feet, which was becoming more and more difficult each passing moment Cat was doing her magic on Sharon. Cat sensing her lovers dilemma, adjusted their stance so that Sharon was properly propped against the wall and her own body supporting Sharon enough that she would not tip over.

Cat then continued her play, as she was getting hungrier and wanting noting more than to taste the woman in from of her. With one swell swoop Cat removed Sharon's underwear and glared and the glimmering wetness and the open petals in front of her, ready to be devoured if ever. But Cat wanted to play a little longer so, she moved backward a bit and placed kisses on the soft skin on the inner thigh, slowly but surely moving towards Sharon's glistening centre though, as there were uttered pleads leaving from Sharon's lips up somewhere above Cat. Cat inhaled deeply the intoxicating scent filling her senses before she started trailing Sharon's clit and soaking wet folds with her tongue, taking her time at first, enjoying the texture and taste of it.

Sharon had placed her hands on Cat's shoulders for support and Cat felt the fingernails digging into her skin through her thin top she was wearing, but she did not care. This scenario had played in her mind ever since they had met after their initial encounter and it was finally here again and no amount of pain was going to make her stop what she was doing. The only thing worrying her was her wound and Cat sincerely hoped the bleeding would not start again as it was not healed as of yet after all, she had not taken any time off and it was no minor GSW either, as she had found out later on, but that was neither here or there now. As it was not a good point to faint during sex after all, not good at all for her image or her ego for that matter, so gun shot wounds be damned.

Cat was moving her tongue faster over the labia and the clit. She then started sucking on the small bundle of nerves now exposed to her. She moved her fingers towards Sharon's opening as ensured by the pleads coming from the Captain who was ready for more. She pushed her fingers inside, slowly, gently, deeper and deeper they ventured, before they reached their target spot right there, making Sharon jump slightly on impact. Cat waited for Sharon to adjust and then she started a rhythmic pumping with her fingers, in and out, while simultaneously sucking and licking Sharon's clit. Faster and faster she moved, the thrashing and moaning increasing in tune to what Cat was doing to Sharon's body. She continued then, until she felt Sharon tighten around her fingers, Sharon's body stiffening, the sting on her skin of the nails digging in reminding Cat Sharon was ready for her release. Sharon panted in shallow breaths as she felt the pouting of the blood inside the vessels of Sharon's body over her fingers for a brief moment before Sharon reached her orgasm, the growl following the release, making Cat smirk against the skin she was still latched on to with her mouth. Cat then stopped her ministrations, letting Sharon come down from her high.

When Sharon stopped shaking and finally relaxed, Cat removed her fingers and left a few feathery kisses on Sharon's sex, albeit reluctantly, but knowing Sharon was could not stand for much longer. When Cat saw the glistening juices on her hand, she could not help herself and licked her fingers clean, making herself shudder and almost come herself in the process. Closing her eyes for a moment and calming herself down, Cat then steadied herself and stood up all the while making sure Sharon was secure too.

Despite her state of haze after the orgasmic bliss she had just endured, Sharon had caught on Cat's action, and watched quite in awe what her lover was doing, and felt herself getting aroused again. When Cat stood up and was face to face with Sharon, who then grabbed and started kissing Cat fiercely, tasting herself on Cat's lips. As if reading Sharon's mind, Cat moved her hand back between Sharon's legs and started rubbing her clit, finding the tiny sliver of nubbin right there in the middle, and applying just enough pressure on it making Sharon's insides to burn with orgasms pending heat all over again, her eye lids heave as was her breathing. It did not take long for Sharon to come again. Cat held her while she was still shaking from the second orgasm and kissed her all over her lips, her jaw her neck before finally letting her go.

Both women were still breathing heavily. Cat looked at Sharon and could not help smiling. Sharon was disheveled but still looked amazing, just like she always did, no matter the state she was in. Cat was just about to kiss her again when she suddenly felt a sting in her arm and then the dizziness hit her and she almost lost her footing in the process. "What the fuck?" Was Cat's thought before she felt her legs give in. Sharon reacted quickly and managed to steady her before she hit the floor.

With a worried look she asked: "Are you feeling alright?" She looked over to Cat's arm and noticed the blood trickles on top of the bandage.

"I think we'd better get you home. Looks like your wound is starting to bleed!" Sharon stated worriedly.

Leaning onto Sharon and the wall, Cat only nodded, feeling the nausea coming on. She did not want to faint again, not now, not here, not after all the great sex!

Sharon guided Cat to a nearby seat and adjusted her attire and hair. She grabbed her purse and keys from the table and walked back to Cat offering her arm for support.

"Come on!" Sharon half ordered.

Cat was holding on to Sharon for dear life and trying to get the nausea under control. But she was also exhilarated, after all she got to go home with Sharon, again and hopefully get a repetition of what they had started. Unless she fainted again, which was not good, for her ego, at all!

Chapter Thirteen: Early bird gets the worm

The two teams had gotten into an early start in the morning and had reconvened in the break room. Coffee was brewing and each member was quickly going through their findings while the others listened in and made notes and gave comments where apt.

"Five deaths in as many cities. We have now identified all the victims and all of them had been operatives within government agencies at one time or another." Sharon started her recap of the case after the others had done their presentations.

"The M.O. is pretty much the same in all cases according to Dr. Morale's findings." Provenza added.

"Is there anything tying these agents and officers? Any operations they had worked on together?" Sharon asked her joint team.

"There is no overlapping." Sykes responded, "As far as we can tell from all the files we have gone trough."

"Sykes is right. We went through everything with a fine-toothed comb with the assistance of Mr Malone here." Flynn motioned toward John, who in return gave a smile to Andy at the compliment.

"And since we ruled the death of officer Armstrong as being part of the same ploy and the gang is out, as a suspect, we need other options as to whom and why." Julio stated matter of factually.

"It seems the remaining options are, that we have a conspiracy on our hands or..." Tao started and Cat finished his thought, "We have a serial killer on our hands." Cat looked at the others, who nodded in unison in agreement to the assessments of the two of them.

"The serial killer option seems to be the only one making sense at this point though." Cat added.

Sharon picked up on Tao's and Cat's train of thought: "Yes. If there was some sort of contract to get rid of certain agents, for example by a foreign power, then they would have targeted only agents. I mean why kill local police officers?"

"True. Who ever hired these killings to take place would have dispatched several operatives to do the job and not leave any clues behind so as not to draw attention to what was happening." Cat continued.

"If you think about it, this killer, it seems more and more clear there is only one, has left no clues and trail to follow by." Provenza added his two cents to the discussion.

"And, the only problem being, we don't know who or why." Flynn stated sarcastically then, as they really did not have anything in the regards.

"There are never any fingerprints, DNA or other clues as to the identity of the killer." Tao was analysing now.

"So we are looking for a needle in a haystack?" Julio was feeling defeated.

"Not necessarily." A thought occurred to Cat just then, "There was some surveillance footage from the last crime, am I right?"

"Yes, it's in the evidence boxes." Sykes responded thinking quickly on her feet.

"I saw footage at least for the two previous ones as well." Buzz added sounding more enthusiastic now too.

"If we compare what little we have and try to see if anyone is popping up more than once in those photos and video in any of them. It's just a hunch, but if we are looking for a deranged serial killer with an agenda, as we all know, they usually like to return to check their handy work."

"Well, what are we waiting for, let's go dig in the evidence again!" Sharon hurried the team, who seem to be already acting accordingly.

The team walked back to the Murder Room and quickly started going through the evidence marked surveillance. Most of it was in photographic format and they spread the images onto the murder boards and those in binary all over the screens as additional ones were quickly brought in to manage all the evidence as Buzz and Julio had been quick in finding extra ones to fit all the imagery from the crime scenes.

After all the sorting, the joined teams had gathered around the murder boards and screens, mostly standing, silently staring at the evidence and pondering their next move, when the land line started ringing. Tao was quickest and took the call.

In the background Tao was taking the call:

"Hello? Yes. I understand. What's the address? OK, we'll be there."

"What if..." Julio did not have a chance to finish his sentence when Tao cut him off.

"Hold that thought Julio! We got a fresh one. Same M.O. as the others!" Tao recapped the call to the others.

"You heard him! Grab your gear and let's roll out people!" Sharon was giving the order now.

The evidence would have to wait a little while longer as they had a fresh one on their hands which very well could be the key in finding their suspect, or so they were all hoping while on their way to the crime scene.

Chapter Fourteen: Fresh at the crime scene

Both teams had arrived on site. The uniformed police had already quarantined the crime scene. It was a cul-de-sac at the end of a long street. Cat had hitched a ride with Sharon this time around. Sharon parked the car and both women entered the scene waisting no time as they were on the clock now with the evidence still fresh and compared to the rather stale evidence they presently had.

As they reached the scene, a uniformed officer update the duo with main information of the deceased. They learnt then, that the victim was killed in her car. She had been shot at close range. Two shots, one to the heart and one to the head, execution style. The killing shots were clean minus the obvious blood spread, but there were no signs of struggle present.

The body was still in place when the extended team was in position. Detective Sykes and Sanchez were the first to reach the victim and they immediately started charting and photographing the evidence visible before digging in deeper, bagging up all they could find. Tao, Flynn, Eliza Lydon and Provenza were canvasing the surroundings doing the same thing each. Sharon and Cat were talking with the officers who had been the first arrivals at the scene.

"We got the 911 call. Davis and I were close by, so we accepted the call and arrived here first. The other two units arrived soon after. The body is as we found it. We secured the scene immediately and no unauthorised people have entered nor exited the quarantined area since." Officer Caldwell recapped the situation to Sharon and Cat.

"Excellent work Officer!" Sharon thanked him.

She and Cat started moving towards the car where the victim was. When they were close enough to witness the gory details of the crime, Cat suddenly froze. Her face quickly turning pale, completely drained of colour. Sharon was busy examining the scene and talking with Sykes. She did not notice the change in Agent Casey at first. But, Eliza was close by while working the perimeter and momentarily, turned to the direction where her boss was. It was then, when she noticed Cat's odd behaviour. Eliza immediately walked to Cat and when she reached her, she noticed the now totally off-coloured skin and blank stare. Eliza grabbed Cat by the arm to make sure she did not keel over in case she was about to faint.

"You don't look too good." Eliza stated the obvious.

Cat turned slowly looking, no staring at the Agent, almost surreally so. Cat was about to say something, when she suddenly ran off from the secure area. Cat stopped behind some dumpsters further on the street and vomited. It wasn't something she usually did, as she had seen scenes worse than this, but, this murder had hit too close to home this time and she just, well, lost it.

Eliza was not far behind and quickly reached Cat.

"What's wrong?" She asked Cat concerned.

"It's alright, it's just something I ate and I did not want to compromise the crime scene."

A straight lie, maybe. But Cat was not about to reveal the why and what just yet. She did not want to appear weak in front of her peers and she had to make sure the victim was who she suspected it to be. Besides, people got nauseous all the time right? And she had only recently gotten shot, so there was that excuse to she could use, if needed.

"OK, then. Do you need some gum?" Eliza asked Cat knowing full well about the foul after taste the foul bile caused, not a nice one after all.

Eliza had been a queasy one in her early years in the FBI, throwing up almost on every scene where there had been a dead body. After those days, she had made a habit of carrying gum with her, just in case.

"Thanks, I think I could use some." Cat was grateful for Eliza being the girl scout she was.

Cat stood up straight and took the offered gum. She checked herself to make sure there were no evidence on her from the "incident".

"Are you ready to go back?" Eliza asked.

Cat nodded. They started walking back, when Cat nudged Eliza on her arm.

"Look, let's keep this between us, OK?" She asked from her friend and colleague.

"Sure, of course." Eliza agreed right away, trusting her boss on this one.

"Thanks!" Cat was grateful no further questions were forth coming.

The twosome returned to the scene and no one seemed to have noticed their brief absence. Cat was relieved. She was not ready for any explanations. She inhaled and then exhaled before stepping back to the car. She stood there, pulling up all her professionalism she could muster. Cat stood there for a brief moment staring into the eyes of the victim. Indeed, she had recognised her.

The victim had a name: Special Agent Allison Lewis.

Cat had known her well. They had worked together on several cases. This murder had hit too close to home for sure this time and Cat had a hard time coping with it. She closed her eyes, repeating a familiar mantra in her head. One she returned to every now and again, when the job got too hard to handle. After a minute or so it started working. Once more breath in and then, and then stepping just aside the body. She quickly surveyed the scene, making note of what everyone was doing.

Sharon was farther away talking with Flynn and Provenza. The coroner had arrived and was walking towards the car. Sykes, Eliza and Lt. Tao were gathering evidence from the surrounding area and Buzz was busy filming everything with his trusted camera. Despite the fact Cat was in her professional mode now, it all seemed surreal somehow. But she had no other option but to continue her work. If not for her own sake, then at least to find out who had killed Agent Lewis.

The Coroner's aid was examining the body. He was checking the victim's pockets and purse for ID. He looked up at Cat hovering over him.

"No ID of any kind. Also her wallet and phone are missing. We'll have to check her prints and dental records to be able to ID her."

Sharon, Provenza and Flynn had stepped back to the car as well, curious to find out what the doctor had to say. The doctor was pulling out the thermometer from the body.

"I would estimate time of death around six or seven AM. But Doctor Morales needs to verify that. COD was the two gun shot wounds. This one..." He was pointing at the one penetrating the heart, "This one was the fatal shot. I would guess the victim died instantly. The other one was bit of an overkill."

He then got up and waved for the van driver to come and get the victim. The coroner's aid and his side kick then loaded the victim into the van and drove off.

The team members were gathering together, all needed evidence bagged and tagged and crime scene video and photos taken. It was time to regroup at LAPD and compare notes. Everyone was making their way to the vehicles they had arrived in.

On their way back, Sharon had noticed that Cat had been unusually quiet. Sharon wasn't yet so familiar with Cat's behaviour, but so far she had never seen Cat, well, silent like this as she could usually strike a conversation and did on any topic. But now she was almost absent minded simply staring out the window without hardly moving. Sharon decided to test her theory and thought of something totally out of topic to say and came up with:

"So then Provenza told me his cat had eaten the tuna he had put on his plate to have for lunch and then he wasn't too happy as his fridge was pretty much empty at that point, making the lieutenant quite sour but his cat happy and…"

Cat heard the strange words or at least what seemed like an odd thing to discuss at the moment coming out from Sharon's mouth and was not sure if she had heard her right or was her encounter with a dead friend bringing her on a verge of insanity. She turned to look at Sharon with a questioning look plastered on her face:

"What on earth are you talking about? I don't think the Lieutenant has a cat." She stated confused.

Sharon smirked. She had finally gotten through to Cat, who had sat silently for too long a time.

"Of course he doesn't. I was just teasing you. You seemed to be off somewhere completely different for a while there so I got a little worried." Sharon looked at Cat concerned, "Is everything alright?"

Cat looked at Sharon and felt guilty for ignoring her for clearly a long while but especially for making Sharon worry about her. She knew who the victim was and she had not said a word about it to anyone yet. That was unprofessional and stupid of her. She knew they would find out the identity as soon as the finger prints were run. All the government agents had their prints on file as the policy dictated after all. Cat was debating in her mind the best way to break the news to the Captain. She decided to play it safe and tell the truth, well, half of it anyway.

"Captain, Sharon, I think I know who the victim is." She looked at Sharon with a guilty expression.

"You do?" Sharon sounded a little annoyed but also surprised.

"Yes. It has been several years, and I wasn't sure. But, now I am," Cat paused, "Special Agent Allison Lewis. I think I worked with her on a few cases, but that was years ago, so I did not place her right away." A small white lie.

Sharon looked at Cat: "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Was the short response.

"If that is the case, then this murder is the work of the same killer too." Sharon stated matter of factually.

"It seems that way. Apart from the M.O. being different this time. It looks like it was done in haste." Cat was contemplating on what she had seen on site earlier.

Sharon, who was catching on to the train of thought, added to Cat's musings: "If the killer was interrupted, there must be a witness." She looked back at Cat, enthusiastic about the fact that they actually might have more to go on this time and continued. "I think we need to start looking for possible eyewitnesses next." She seemed happy, even if it had cost a life of an agent, but now, they could solve all murders if there really was someone who had seen what and whom they were dealing with.

Cat nodded. She was also happy to have something else to think about besides the lifeless eyes of a once colleague: "We need to check if there were any cameras in the vicinity and look for possible witnesses!"

Both women excited by the new found clues, Cat could only hope Sharon would not bring up the fact she had not told the Captain of knowing the victim sooner. She knew Sharon was not stupid and would easily see through Cat's white lie. But Sharon did not mention anything further. They drove the rest of the way talking about the options of getting the camera feed. Luckily for Sharon, her new FBI liaison had excellent connections and a great hacker on her payroll.

Chapter Fifteen: New body, same M.O.

Back in the morgue Dr Morales was examining the newly brought body, while Cat, Sharon, Provenza and John were waiting for the preliminary report from him.

"Why are you here?" Provenza asked John. It seemed he did not bring any added value by being there.

"I am, um," John stumbled with his words. It was clear he wanted to see the good Doctor. After all, the budding relationship between John and Doctor Morales had gotten into a quick and fiery start. At least John had described their alliance to Cat with those words even if there was most likely much more going on than work and getting to know each other as friends.

"I asked John to be here. He can input the findings directly to the database he created for this case. We'll get the search results quicker that way." A white lie, but then again, Cat was very familiar with new love. After all, she could hardly keep her hands off Sharon while they were working together. Luckily Cat was a trained professional and was able to bury the continuously surfacing erotic thoughts deep inside until such time they were alone in private. It wasn't easy though with Sharon showing off leg, neck, lip, hair and all other assets!

"Thanks!" John mouthed to Cat.

"Welcome!" Cat's short and smirky reply in kind.

"OK, then. Just wish the Doctor would hurry it up! We have a killer to catch!" Provenza was pacing back and forth anxious to be back out there and chasing their suspect.

"Lieutenant, If you'd rather do something else, Agent Casey and I have it covered here." Sharon was getting annoyed of Provenza's restlessness. Sharon wanted the killer caught as much as the others, more even. But she had some questions to the Special Agent regarding their latest victim and did not want to ask them in front of an audience.

"Thanks Captain. I will join the others sorting through today's crime scene evidence. Let us know as soon as you have any news!" And with that, Provenza was gone.

After Sharon had gotten rid of Provenza, she had to make John leave the waiting area of the morgue too. Sharon of course knew about the developed situation between John and Dr. Morales and used that as an excuse.

"John," Sharon started, "Why don't you go and check if the Doctor needs any help." Sounding like a question, but it was more of a suggestion for John to leave.

John, either picking up on the hint or just happy to have whatever excuse to see this new 'boyfriend' or at least he was hoping this to become the case soon enough, accepted the premise.

"Sure! Will do Ma'am!" He responded almost saluting the Captain in the process as he walked through the doors to the morgue laboratory.

"So," Sharon turned to Cat and was looking at her brow furrowed, "Anything you care to share with me?"

Cat was surprised at the question. It wasn't as she hadn't known there would be some follow up from Sharon regarding the minor incident at the crime scene, but she thought it wouldn't be this obvious.

"Like what?" Cat was trying to play stupid, knowing it would not fare well with Sharon, but she had to try as she wasn't quite ready to reveal too much from her past to the Captain.

"You knew the victim quite well, didn't you." Sharon stated out matter of factually, not really a question at all.

The reaction Cat had had at the scene wasn't something you got by simply finding a former colleague dead. All of them had been in similar situations and managed to handle it with professionalism. And Sharon knew Cat well enough by now, at least professionally. She would not have gotten her stomach turned for something like that from a gunshot wound and a little brain matter splattered around. No, she was much tougher than that. And the 'something she ate did not agree with her' did not fly by Sharon. After all, they had eaten the same thing and Sharon was feeling just fine.

Cat looked at Sharon. One solitary tear rolled down her cheek. Sharon brushed it off and took her hand, squeezing it lightly and holding it in her own. Cat was silent for a moment before she spoke.

"Some ten years ago, myself and Allison were both assigned to the same case. Investigating a series of abductions of teenage boys. She and I, well." Cat paused pondering how detailed a description she would spill. "We hooked up for a while. After the first case, which we did quite well on, we were assigned to a few more cases together for a while there. Then we both got assigned to different corners of the country and finally I got the assignment in Paris. We drifted apart and agreed to call it quits. We kept in touch for a while, but then, well, life happen and then you loose contact all together. I guess that was the whole story." Cat concluded her tale.

"I see." The Captain stated curtly.

Sharon didn't really have anything more to add to what she had heard. She knew she shouldn't have been, but could not help being a little jealous of Cat's former lovers. Not that their relationship, or what ever they were in now, had any rules or regulations set yet. The word girlfriend, love or exclusive had not come up at any discussions. To be honest, they hadn't had much of a real discussion about anything since they started working on this case apart from any work related matters. Sex was a different matter, but there wasn't much talking during it.

"Sharon, I would love to..." Cat started, but they were interrupted when the Doctor opened the door and entered the area where the twosome were sitting.

"Captain, Agent, I am happy or in this case not so happy, to announce the M.O. is exactly the same as the previous cases. I suggest you are looking at one killer only." The Doctor seemed sure of his findings.

"What makes you say that?" Sharon asked him.

"Well, two specific shots, execution style. The method is so specific, that I don't think two people would kill in exactly the same fashion in this case."

"That confirms our theory then." Cat added solemnly.

"Thank you doctor! This is in a way, good news!" Sharon said softly. Not that the murder of another law enforcement officer was ever great news, but at least they were on the right track on bringing the suspect in for justice, hopefully, as they still had none to show for.

The ladies started to leave, when Cat noticed John was no where to be seen.

"Um, where is Malone?" She asked Doctor Morales.

"Oh!" The Doctor smirked. "He is fine. He is, um resting."

"Resting?" Cat asked curiously.

"Well, he had a little fall and hit his head." Morales volunteered.

"You mean he fainted?" Cat knew what was going on. John was way to queasy when it came to dead bodies, but he tried to overcome his anxieties and spend time with the Doctor, so that was the price he had paid, today.

"Yeah." Dr Morales sighed as he gave in for covering for John.

"OK, tell him to join us when he recovers!" Cat told the Doctor and she and Sharon left for the office upstairs.

In the elevator Sharon turned to Cat wanting to know what she was going to tell before they were interrupted by the Doctor.

"So, what was it you wanted to tell me before the Doctor came in?"

Cat had hoped the conversation to be over, she wasn't too comfortable talking about personal feelings and such. Not that she was shy, anything but. But it seemed to be easier to stick her tongue inside Sharon's intimate places than it was talking about her feelings.

"I was going to say," Cat contemplated for a moment before she was totally sure she would actually say out loud what she was thinking. After all, sex was sex, but she had gotten extremely fond of Sharon in a very short amount of time and she did not want to ruin anything between them, just in case there was an option of an "us", if there wasn't then that would be, well, embarrassing at best. So, what to do, what to do. Deciding quickly the route to take, Cat finally spoke her mind: "I would like us to have a good long talk when this case is over. I really really like you, a lot." Cat half spat out quite quickly before she could think more of what she as revealing and then she let out a long breath. It seemed this revelation had been harder than she thought or let herself think, which ever was the case. She kept her gaze on Sharon waiting for her answer.

The answer came in a form of a smile as Sharon nodded in agreement to Cat's suggestion. Sharon was happy Cat was on a similar wavelength as to their relationship she was and having this revelled now kind of put her on the ease as well, as she had been afraid they simply might go their separate ways after this investigation.

"Agreed." She finally said.

And like on cue, the lift dinged indicating the twosome had arrived at their destination.

Chapter Sixteen: The plot thickens

Having been quite hard at work in the Murder Room for a long while, the extended team had managed to finally filter out a single individual from the crime scene photos gathered from various surveillance camera sources from the surrounding areas. In each of the photos, the perpetrator was standing close to the police line. Unfortunately the pictures were all quite blurry and out of focus. Luckily Tao, Buzz and Malone joined forces to clear the pictures as quickly as possible.

They also now had footage from the last scene in video format. Cat was watching it with Sykes and Julio. All three sets of eyes on the two monitors where the various videos were playing in compilation.

"There!" Cat noticed the same face on three separate window frames.

"I see him." Sykes added pointing to the screen to bring it Julio's attention too.

"Guys, we have him here too." Julio alerted Tao and Malone who were still working on their pixel magic.

John had his own juiced up version of the software the LAPD used. The rendering was moving two times faster than the regular software's capacity from the regular police sanctioned computers.

Sanchez's raised voiced had alerted the Captain, Provenza and Flynn from their respective tasks to join the audio-visual groups. All eyes were on the screens watching as the image of the perpetrator got clearer and clearer by each ticking minute.

Finally, the pixel magic was done and they had a clear picture of the suspect. After confirmation the suspects face was corresponding to that of the video feed from the last crime scene the hunt for his identity started. Tao and Buzz were concentrating on the LAPD database while the FBI team was scanning their IAFIS database.

Provenza and Flynn were sent out for a coffee run. They returned in fifteen minutes, bearing a tall order of coffee and doughnuts.

"Are we there yet?" Provenza sounded anxious.

"Hold your horses, Lieutenant! This is delicate work!" Tao responded.

"Delicate my potato!" Provenza replied.

"Oh. My. God." Malone and Cat articulated in unison.

"What what what?" Provenza, Flynn and the Captain rushed to the desk where the twosome were running their search.

"I did not see that one coming." John commented to Cat and Eliza.

"Who is it?" Provenza was half shouting impatiently.

"It's an old friend." Eliza turned to look at the three breathing down their necks. The rest of them were slowly gathering around the base of excitement.

"Meet former Special Agent Daniel Delaney of the CIA." Cat brought up a bigger picture onto the screen of the Agent.

"What is his story?" Flynn asked curiously.

"I was actually investigating his disappearance some fifteen years ago in Europe. There had been a joint task force with the CIA and Interpol infiltrating known terrorist cells. Two of the agents were captured, one of them being Delaney, the other one was a French operative. The cell killed the French agent, but Delaney managed to escape. He was tortured, really badly. After rehabilitation he tried to return back to work, but he was seeing conspiracies every where and became unreliable. In the end he lost his mind completely and he was hospitalised."

"I actually thought he was committed for life." Eliza stated.

"Well looks like he got out." John responded.

"You worked for the CIA?" Sykes asked surprised, completely ignoring the fact they had the name of the suspect and should make plans to apprehend him.

"Yes, I did, almost ten years." Cat stated coolly.

"And now you are a FED?" Julio was curious also.

"Well, the opportunity presented itself, and it was time for a change for me."

Cat was not about to spill her whole life story presently. And her past was no secret, most of what she had done was in her file. Apart from the fact she had worked five years as an undercover operative, or spy in laymen terms, for the Interpol before joining CIA.

"Do we have an address for this agent, Agent Delaney?" Provenza asked impatiently, ready to take off any minute.

"Yes, we do." John typed in a few commands and the address appeared on the screen.

"Then what are we waiting for!" Provenza said, "Julio, call the uniforms to meet us at that address!"

"People we are loosing daylight, let's go, let's go!" Flynn was ordering everyone.

Sirens wailing the joint teams with a several police cars arrived at the suspect's house.

It was a small one floor dwelling with no visible basement or garage attached to it.

Taking their positions, surrounding the house and its entrances, they were ready to enter. Flynn, Tao and Sanchez in the lead at the two entrances to the house, with a few hand signals they indicated they were ready to move in.

"Clear!" Tao alerted from his end as he had moved into the house, gun drawn, searching through the living area but finding it empty.

"Clear!" Sanchez' voice on the opposite side of the house, where the kitchen was, having done the same task.

Two uniforms entered the bedroom and informed it to be empty as well. But there was something else they found. A wall full of photographs of people, newspaper articles of conspiracies and maps. Among the photographs were the faces of the six victims. The so called motive seemed to be getting clearer. Unfortunately, the suspect was long gone from the place.

Due to the nature of the findings in the suspects house, Sharon ordered a thorough on site investigation to be done. A temporary command post was setup. Sharon and Cat were dividing tasks to their respective teams and concentrating on running the show rather than doing the leg work. Cat was calling up her contacts to find out more about the last few years of the former Agent Delaney.

A few hours later they had completed the task and were packing up their things to take them back with them for further analysis. The command post was dismantled and the teams and uniforms headed for the LAPD offices.

Little known to them all was, that a pair of watchful eyes had been keeping tabs on the activities of the Major Crimes and FBI teams. Taking their own notes and photographs in the process.

The teams had decided to take a break after working around the clock for the past day. They had the killer on the run and his face plastered on every police bulletin board, concrete or virtual. They agreed to meet at the Murder Room in four hour's time unless they got an alert earlier of the suspect. They were secure in the fact that he would not be getting away, as all the law enforcement officers were now on the lookout for him. After all, he had killed agents from all the agencies and they all had a beef with him now, even if he was, well, nuts as the professional term stated by Flynn was.

Chapter Seventeen: It's a trap

Cat arrived in the hotel for a change of clothing and a possible power nap. She was just getting out from the shower, when her phone vibrated indicating a message.

"That was quick!" She said out loud, hoping to hear from their suspect being either apprehended or at least spotted, even if little time had passed since leaving the suspected house.

She quickly grabbed her phone and started reading the text. She read it once, then started over making sure she wasn't seeing things.

'If you want to see your partner alive, come alone to 17, Lexington Street in exactly one hour. And do not alert the others-' The text read, the number, was hidden as clearly the text had not been sent from a mobile phone rather through some restricted service or application.

"Partner?" Cat said out loud to the phone as if it was going to give her any further details.

Cat's mind was working over time. She was sure their suspect was the one who sent the message. What she did not know was to whom 'The Partner' referred in the message. As far as she was concerned, she did not actually have a working partner, but rather a team. She immediately dialled Eliza, who answered right away.

"What's up boss?" She said in a friendly yet joking way.

"Is everything OK?" Cat asked worried.

"Sure, why wouldn't I be. Me and John are at my place hanging out before we go back on duty. Didn't feel like sleeping so we got here to chat a bit and order pizza." Eliza went on.

"That's good to know. Pizza at this hour? Well, good luck with that! I'll talk to you later then." Cat hung up and was glad her team was safe.

She quickly put on her clothing preparing for her rendezvous, pondering whether to alert her extended team or not. She should, but who ever the suspect was holding as her partner could end up dead, if she didn't comply.

Cat was walking through the day's events, especially what had happened at the crime scene. From what they could tell the killer had left in a hurry when the teams had arrived. One possibility was he had been surveying when they were going through the house. She recalled where she had been and what she had done and whom she had interacted with. There had to be a reason she was targeted and then it hit her.

Cat felt her legs shaking and a sinking feeling taking over. She grabbed hold of the dresser she had been standing by, with both hands so not to loose her stance. Cat felt the blood drain from her face and her heart was pounding.

During the time they had spent at the suspect's house, she had been teamed up with Sharon. They had been standing together outside the house giving orders to the others and then done their part, sticking together, like partners...

"Sharon!" Cat's voice was but a whisper, as her words were getting stuck in her throat.

Sharon had left earlier than the rest of them and was supposed to run an errand before going home. It meant the suspect had been keeping an eye on the extended team after they had left the house and arrived at the LAPD offices. Something she should have realised much earlier, as the former agent had hung out at the crime scene too. She cursed out loud at this oversight of hers.

Cat, quickly getting back in her professional mode, got on her phone and dialled Sharon's number. It rang several times before going to voice mail. Cat left a message. This did not mean that anything had happened to Sharon, but maybe that she was in the shower and could not hear the phone.

Still with her phone in her hand, Cat grabbed her coat, gun and keys and decided to drive to Sharon's place before going to meet with the killer. At this point, informing the team of her actions were farthest from her mind. She also didn't think any of the other members of the Major Crimes team was the alleged partner though, call it intuition, she thought.

Cat was out of her room, in the lift and soon enough out in the parking lot and in her car. She shoved the keys into the ignition and almost ran over a valet while driving fast out into the street. She had her earpiece on and kept calling Sharon, but kept getting voice mail only, making her even more worried and sure Sharon was in trouble.

Pushing through the traffic, not caring if the lights were turning red, she drove like a mad person to reach Sharon's flat. Making good time due to minimal traffic at this hour, she reached the high rise and parked her car. In front of the main doors, not caring if it wasn't a parking spot. She ran to the building and pressed each button on the comm to get the outer door open. Someone pushed the door call to open on their end soon enough and Cat was inside. The lift was already there and she stepped inside and pushed Sharon's floor.

"Come on, come on!" Cat was talking out loud to the seemingly slow ride.

Finally reaching the eleventh floor she literally jumped out from the lift even before the doors had opened. She knocked on the door and when there was no answer, she debated for a few seconds before deciding to crash the door and break in. She was weighing on being embarrassed or making sure Sharon was alright. She took a few steps back, sped up and kicked the door in. The flat was dark. Cat had her gun drawn as she entered.

"Sharon!" Cat shouted. "Sharon!" A little louder, but there was no answer.

Cat checked each and every room but there was no trace of Sharon. She tried calling her once more, looking at the time on her phone. She had thirty minutes before she had to be at the rendezvous point. The call went to voice mail once more. Cat felt sick to her stomach, Allison's dead body fresh in her mind. When she had told Sharon the real reason she had not been forthcoming with the identity of Agent Lewis at get go, she had had no idea of ending up in a similar situation again. No, she could not think like that, Sharon was still alive. Cat felt her legs starting to shake again.

"Get a hold of yourself and go save Sharon!" She said out loud trying to pep talk herself out of the bad feelings and get back into her pro-mode.

Cat straitened her stance and stepped out of Sharon's flat. Closing the door, or what ever was left of it. The repairs could wait. She had her partner to save!

Chapter Eighteen: Caught in the trap

Cat was on the road again, making her way to number 17 of Lexington Street. At this late hour, the streets were practically empty and Cat was navigating the vehicle through the few traffic lights. She was making good time and arrived a good ten minutes earlier to the rendezvous point. She parked her car on the nearby side street and walked the rest of the way. She wanted to have her car available just in case a quick exit was needed. Cat had no idea what she was walking into, armed with her side arm and a smaller pistol on her ankle. She walked swiftly along the Lexington street, and noticed number 17. It was a larger warehouse, which from the looks of it had been abandoned, at least from any business use. Most likely used by squatters only at this point.

Cat was standing in front of the door of her designated coordinates. She looked at her watch, and saw she had two minutes to spare. She pulled her gun from the holster, holding it in her hand, pointing the barrel to the ground, so not to antagonise the kidnapper, as she had not been told not to carry a weapon either. She knocked on the door, but it gave in and opened a little. Cat pushed it to open wider, peeked through the open crack and after a moment of pondering, she stepped inside the building and towards her unknown destiny.

"Hello?" Cat shouted, "Anyone there?" She asked in a loud tone.

Cat was now inside the large almost empty warehouse, standing in the middle of an empty area, with a few containers visible only. She was listening for any responses to her hail, but none were forthcoming. She surveyed her surroundings. It seemed to be one big open area with two doors on the other end. Cat assumed they were separate offices, or at least they may have served as such. Cat was annoyed she had not had much time to do any kind of research of the building before arriving, but there really had been no time and she had not wanted to alert the others of what was going on. Not yet at least, not until she was sure Sharon was safe. After all, their suspect holding her, was certainly unstable and there was no telling what he could do if he was driven into a corner, as murder was not something he shied away from.

Cat looked at her phone. The reception was poor, with only one bar for the mobile signal visible. Cat started moving slowly towards the doors. Deciding to check the left one first. She wondered why there had been no response to her hail. She moved swiftly to the first door. Checking the handle, she found it locked. She then moved to the other door, hoping to have better luck on it.

While Cat had been making her way through the warehouse, her progress had been monitored by the kidnapper. He was sitting in front of a set of monitors, each presenting a different view of the warehouse's entrances and the storage area. Cat had been starring in this movie ever since she had entered the Lexington street on foot. The kidnapper was smiling evilly to himself. He turned while seated in his chair, and looked at the other end of the room.

"Well, it looks like your partner in crime has arrived. And right on the dot!" He laughed out loud.

Sharon looked back at the laughing man. She was disgusted and wanted nothing more than to break free from her constraints and kick his ass to the ground. But, she was unable to move or even make a sound. Her whole body was tied to the chair she was sitting on and her mouth was gagged. She gazed sternly at the kidnapper, with her best trade mark look, it was all she could do at the moment, but unfortunately it had no effect on him.

The kidnapper laughed at Sharon, knowing she could only sit there and watch as her partner was walking into a trap. The man turned back to the monitors again, not saying another word, but the evil grin remaining on his sly face.

Chapter Nineteen: Getting captured

Sharon had been on her way to her car in the parking garage at the police station. She had been opening the door when she had heard footsteps close by. Thinking it was just another officer walking by, she had thought nothing of it. She was just about to step into the car when she had felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and before she could react, another hand was placed on her mouth, a sweet taste covering her lips and then she had felt nothing as she had fallen into complete unconscious darkness.

Sharon had woken up in a room filled with monitors, sitting in a chair, all tied up. She was alone and could see the screens in blurry vision only, since her glasses were gone at this point. A little while later, one man had entered the room, coming close to her, standing there, staring at her. He was, to be honest, Sharon thought, looking more like a mad man, a caricature, rather than a real person. Sharon wasn't sure if there were others present as well. The man spoke to her.

"So, you and your partner thought you could catch me!" He stated rather angrily.

Sharon suspected this was the suspect they were chasing, but he looked nothing like the man in the photograph, Agent Daniel Delaney, a former agent of the CIA. He looked older, his face contorted, his eyes empty, and his hair thinner. He looked more like a cross between evil and crazy than the agent he had once been. Sharon decided to try her luck anyway.

"Agent Delaney, I presume?" Sharon asked.

The man looked at Sharon, his mouth forming an evil grin.

"So, you do know who I am!" Delaney replied, "I have to admit, it's been a while since I have been called that."

"But you are him, right?" Sharon was hoping to reach this former decorated officer on some sane level if that was even possible at this point in time.

"Yes, or at least I used to be." He turned around, looking at the wall, his hands in fists. He started pacing around the room, ranting, "I used to be a damn good agent! Until she happened!" He turned around and looked at Sharon straight in the eyes. Almost spitting every word out Delaney continued, "She conspired against me, set me up." He ranted and then lost interest in Sharon and continued his monologue, "She is the reason *they* caught me, tortured me and then put me in that, that, that god damned place!" Delaney half shouted the rest, holding his head with his hands as if it was hurting, badly.

Sharon had been watching and listening to the rant of the mad man and was more than convinced he was completely insane, but also dangerous and delusional. Despite his condition, he was still a trained and skilful agent. Sharon was thinking of ways how to manipulate Delaney.

"I understand your pain:.." Sharon started, but was cut off quickly when Delaney jumped close to her, almost face to face.

"You have no idea! I should warn you not to try your psycho tricks on me! I know them all weIl enough!" he ranted on. "I know you and her have conspired against me!" He stood there for a short while staring Sharon into her eyes, "You and her," He backed up a little, pacing around on the floor, finding the words. He spun around and pointed a finger at Sharon, "You and her are pure evil!" He spat out.

"Look, Agent, " Sharon tried again.

Delaney bounced back and with a swift move, slapped Sharon on the face shouting "Enough! Not another word!"

He looked at the table a little farther away and grabbed a roll of duct tape. Cutting a piece off with his teeth, he walked back and leaned closer to Sharon and pressed the tape over her mouth.

"There, that should keep you quiet!" He laughed out loud. But to Sharon's surprise, he retuned her glasses, placing them on her face. "So you can see better." He snarled and pointed at the monitors.

He then stepped away, walking to the desk. He picked up a phone and typed in a message. He let out a small laugh again. Sharon had noticed the mad laughter happening quite frequently, which made it even clearer nothing was right in the head of her kidnapper.

Delaney looked at Sharon again. "It won't be long now. Your partner will be here soon enough, and then, then I will get my revenge!" He grinned his evil grin again.

Delaney, laughing still, started walking towards the door and out through it. Then, he was gone. Leaving Sharon steaming by herself, frustrated and aching from the pain of the slap but also for being stuck in the chair, the ties chafing her skin.. Delaney had a ring on his finger and it had caused a laceration on Sharon's lip. She could taste the blood in her mouth. Sharon closed her eyes, wanting the tears forming there to just go away. The last thing she wanted to show to her kidnapper was fear and defeat. She just hoped Cat would realise a trap was set for her and have a plan before rushing in to save her. Because Sharon knew she would be there, no matter what.

Chapter Twenty: From the frying pan into the fire

Cat was standing in front of the other door. She was worried she would find that room empty too since she had not heard any sounds, voices or anything indicating there were other people in the building besides her. If that was the case, then it would mean, that summoning her to the warehouse had been a ruse. She hoped she was wrong. She also wondered if the kidnapper really was Agent Delaney or someone who looked like him and was somehow trying to set up the former Agent for the crimes. Cat hoped for the latter. She had worked with the Agent during his best days and knew he had been a formidable force. The madness after his capture and being tortured had been a blow to both his family and the agency. But Cat knew well how frail the human mind was and that even the strongest ones could fall.

Cat knocked on the door. The door opened up. Cat stepped in, carefully and slowly, her gun still not drawn. As she walked into the seemingly large room, she could see the monitoring desk on the left hand side and as she turned, she could see someone sitting, clearly tied up in the farthest corner. That side of the room was darkened and Cat could not make out if it was Sharon or not.

"Sharon?" Cat whispered and started walking towards the other end of the room. She was half way there, when the open door slammed shut. Cat reacted to the sound and turned. She could now see the man, who had been hiding behind the door. Cat stepped closer.

"Agent Delaney?" She asked him.

"Welcome my dear!" Delaney responded and extended his hand towards Cat, "I'll take that." he nodded towards Cat's gun.

Cat looked at him then at her gun, but decided to give it up without a fight, at least at this point. She offered the gun to Delaney, who looked at her suspiciously.

"The other one too!" He stated knowingly.

Cat decided to play the fool at this point "What other one?" She asked innocently.

"Come on, Agent! You really think I am stupid enough to believe you only carry one gun?" He asked in a condescending voice.

Cat knew she could not win this match, so she bent down and took her gun from the ankle holster and reluctantly relieved it to Delaney.

"See how easy that was!" Delaney grinned. "I would prefer if you not try to trick me again!"

"Fine." Cat yielded, but continued, "So, now you have me, let Captain Raydor go!" Cat demanded.

Delaney stepped closer to Cat, standing almost toe to toe with her. Cat was now looking into the eyes of a mad man, not the Agent she had once known.

"You. You are in no position to make any demands here." He then grabbed Cat by her arm and escorted her to the other end of the room. The person sitting in the chair was now visible to Cat and her fears were confirmed. It was Sharon sitting there. Cat was also relieved Sharon seemed to be OK, apart from the dried blood streak on her chin. Cat looked Sharon in the eyes and asked, "Are you alright?" Sharon nodded in response.

"Enough reunion talk!" Delaney told Cat and sat her on the chair behind Sharon. Delaney picked Cat's pockets and took away her keys and phone. He then skilfully and quickly tied Cat to the chair, but leaving her mouth without restraints.

Delaney, clearly satisfied with his handy work, brushed off his hands as if he had completed a great task or something and placed them on his hips, glaring at the duo snidely: "All nice and comfy?" He asked sarcastically.

"Look, Agent..." Cat started but was cut off quickly.

"Don't you Agent me, you, you... She devil" Delaney managed to find the right word, "You better limit your chit chat to responses to my questions or you will get the deluxe packaging like your partner here! Delaney was clearly annoyed.

Cat did not respond. She knew diplomacy was no longer an option where Delaney was concerned. Reason was something he was now far beyond.

"Excellent!" Delaney rubbed his hands together like a cartoon villain, "Now ladies, I have some preparations to do before we can have a little chat." And on that note he was out the door.

Chapter Twenty-one: All tied up and no where to go

Sharon felt the wiggling in the chair behind her. She knew Cat was busy trying to loosen the constraints and trying get free. Since she was unable to speak due to her mouth being gagged, she could only sit there, and hope for the best.

Cat felt the sweat running down her forehead. It was pure struggle against her restraints and time. She had no idea how much time she had before Delaney was back and to be honest, what seemed to have worked in movies, did little if nothing to loosen the tight ropes the former agent had tied her in. Cat was debating with herself whether to tell Sharon she was in a spot of a trouble or to just lie there was hope, but then she remembered something she had seen done by some too bit escape artists in their performance on the street once. Cat knew it would be painful and probably scar her for life, but she had to try at least. She was certain Delaney was far beyond any sanitary reach and most likely after he had what ever information he had been seeking, he would kill them both.

Meanwhile on the other chair, Sharon was getting worried, for the time it was taking for Cat to free herself. She had felt the struggle going on for a while and knew Cat was in trouble. Then the movement stopped completely. Sharon was thinking of a way to convey the encouragement to her partner, and since she could not talk, she nudged her chair backwards, towards the back of Cat's chair, their backsides touching gently and in the process mumbling something, as she was trying to sound out the words, "You can do it!"

At least that is what is sounded to Cat, when she decided to move along with her plan. Whispering encouragement to herself, she said in hushed tones, "I can do this!" Cat breathed in, then exhaled, tightened her lips and ground her teeth together and with a quick and very painful snap, which Sharon heard too, Cat's hand bindings let go finally.

Cat was biting her lips so not to scream. Her wrist felt numb and aching horribly. But somehow she mustered the willpower to get her hands loose and when that was done, she quickly started working on the knots tying her body to the chair. It took some effort, but she managed to work fast and finally she was free. Before she got up she listened for any signs of Delaney being alerted by her actions, worried he might burst in through the door before she could free Sharon. But there was nothing to be heard and Cat quickly got up and went around the other chair, facing Sharon.

"Hey babe," Cat said with a flirty voice, "As much as I like to see you tied up, how about I get you free, huh?" Sharon gave her the stare and tried to talk with a muffled sound "Get your mind out of the gutter and untie me!" Cat knew her joke was untimely at best and started immediately to loosen Sharon's ropes.

It did not take too long for Sharon to get loose and when she was, she grabbed Cat's hand, looking at it, after seeing the twisted wrist, Sharon felt a pang in her heart. She let go of the wrist, looking Cat straight in the eyes, before saying: "Honey, when we are safe and back home, we can play all the games you want, but let's get outta here before that deranged man comes back!"

"Really, you would like that?" Cat asked surprised of the comment Sharon was making for a supposed joke only.

"Maybe.. yes, I would, sounds, um, quite interesting."Sharon replied with a coy smile."But let's talk more when we are out of here okay?"

"It's a deal, definitely!" Cat smiled as she responded maybe a tad too eagerly, but the idea sounded like something she liked to do with Sharon, no matter which one ended tied up.

As they moved silently across the room, they heard the door rattle slightly. Cat signalled Sharon and they started moving each towards the opposite side of the door. Cat scanned the room hastily and a metallic object caught her eye. She quickly grabbed it and positioned herself. Both women were standing at the door on opposite sides, watching the handle being turned down. What seemed like forever, the door was opened and without hesitation, Cat swung the iron bar she was holding, which manage to land right in the stomach of the person entering the room. An "ouch" was heard, then a "what the fuck!?" in a male voice. The voice, sounding very familiar to Cat.

"John?" Cat asked, knowing full well the answer.

"Yes, it's me! What the hell are you hitting me with and why?" John asked annoyed, while lying on the floor, holding his hurting belly.

Cat immediately bent down to him and asked. "What are you doing here?"

John, in much pain still managed to grin a little, but answered anyway: "Rescuing you?" he looked up and saw Sharon's face staring at him too.

"Thanks!" Sharon stated sarcastically.

"Don't mention it" John responded in kind, but added "Really, do not mention this, again, ever!" growling in pain, while Cat was helping him up from the floor.

"How did you find us?" Cat asked him.

John looked at him and with a crooked smile responded: "I snuck a tracker on your phone." he quickly drew his head back, knowing full well how Cat felt about trackers, but since there was no face slap coming forward at him and the look on Cat's face was only of approval, he calmed down.

"Good move!" Cat replied curtly.

"That was a first" John said to himself quietly.

Cat was for once grateful John had ignored her adversity towards trackers, but this time it was not only her life on the line, but that of a person she cared for, immensely and Cat was glad that John had for once, disobeyed her orders.

A few days earlier, John and Cat had had an argument, once again, whether to bug or not to bug an operatives phone. Cat did not like her every move to be tracked and monitored, and knew the other agents felt the same. But John had made a very strong argument of being able to rescue an agent in distress with this simple procedure. Cat had told John straight on, she did not like the fact of her private life also being tracked, since she was using the same phone for both work and private, because she basically needed to be available twenty-four-seven. John was trying to defend his case, but Cat had left mid argument, storming out of the room. But luckily or unluckily, she had forgotten her phone on the table. John determined to prove his point by a simple action, had quickly inserted an almost undetectable microchip inside the empty card slot of Cat's phone. And when Cat returned moments later in frustration of leaving her phone behind, she was none the wiser.

"So, what is the status? Did you see Delaney?" Sharon asked John like a true professional in working mode immediately taking the lead again.

"He must have been spooked by some alarm, despite the fact, we were really careful approaching the building." John answered.

"Yeah, he has the whole place tracked." Cat pointed at the monitors in the farther corner of the room they had been held captive in.

John took a look around and nodded in agreement. After all, he was the top most tech nerd of the team. "Provenza, Julio and Andy are on his trail. He is on foot, so it is unlikely he will get far." John continued.

"Finally, some good news!" Sharon stated, nodding her head in approval.

"Yeah, let's hope they can catch him, otherwise it is back to the drawing board for us!" Cat stated matter of factly, "Now let's get the hell out of here, this place gives me the creeps! We can send the tech team here to do the dirty job!" No arguments for leaving was heard and the threesome quietly left, both women supporting the still hurting, and hunched up John, as they walked out.

As they walked towards the car, John's stomach pain was letting go and he was finally able to straighten up, he noticed Cat's holding her hand oddly. "

"What happened to your hand? Were you in a fight?" he asked concerned.

"No fights, just a simple Houdini act." Cat was finally able to smirk, her hand more numb than hurting at this point. But she knew it was going to hurt worse, once she was able to get it relocated by a doctor or nurse.

"What happened to you two?" John asked curiously.

"Well, I came here to rescue Sharon", Cat started, and turned to glance at Sharon, who smiled crookedly at her. "And got caught myself." She added with a smirk.

"Oh," John looked confused at the two ladies, "well, at least you are safe now!" He did not know exactly how to comment, but suspected he would hear the juiced up story later on.

The trio reached John's car and got in, with Sharon in the drive's seat, since she was the only one able to drive a car at this moment, they drove off, deciding one of the team members could drive Cat's car back later on.

Chapter Twenty-two: Working on all ends

The two teams were gathered in the Murder Room. All the evidence laid out various tables and across the Murder Board. The killer had been caught and awaiting to be interrogated. They did not really need a confession, since the evidence found in former Agent Delaneys home and the warehouse was overwhelming, but it would be good to hear the full story from the horses mouth.

The members of the two teams were all heavily in discussion regarding the case and the room was buzzing with noises of the computers, printers and other devices. After a while, the sounds subsided and so did the discussion die down too.

"So we are in agreement?" Sharon asked from the whole team?

Everyone was nodding in unison and for an outsider looking in, it might have reminded of a cult gathering of sorts.

"So, who wants to do the honours?" Andy Flynn threw the question up in the air.

Cat wanted so much to be in that room opposite Delaney, but she knew the setting would be flammable at best. She looked at Sharon for support in her decision. Sharon nodded in understanding. Seemed almost like they had started to read each others minds now, but Sharon knew full well what was going on in Cat's head. To be honest, after her kidnapping experience with Delaney, she had wanted to rip the guys head off after Provenza and Flynn brought him in. But she also knew they had to play it cool and get the confession, without any incident. This man could not walk, no matter how messed up he seemed to be.

"I think it's up to you and Mike." Sharon responded and waved at Lt Tao, sitting farther away, turning back to Andy, "That is if you are up to it!" Sharon smirked, knowing full well, that Flynn was the best bad cop impersonator on the beat.

"Excellent!" Andy smiled. He was ready to tear the suspect a new one, well, at least to play the part and get the confession out.

Delaney was sitting in the interrogation room. He was shackled into the chair from his left arm. A bottle of water stood untouched in front of him. He was staring straight ahead, with a blank expression on his face without moving a muscle.

Andy and Mike walked into the room, taking their seats opposite Delaney. Andy deliberately dropped a stack of paperwork onto the desk, making a loud sound in the process. Other than that, the two officers took their places in silence, but keeping their eyes on the suspect.

Delaney was still just sitting there, staring right past Andy and Mike. Andy turned towards Mike and they briefly shared a glance and then turned back towards the interrogate.

Andy and Mike had made a quick script on how they were going to play out the scene with Delaney, hoping for a quick resolve and confession without much of a hassle.

"So, Mr Delaney, " Andy pushed the pile of papers closer to him, "The evidence speaks for itself, but do you have anything to add? Maybe get it all out in the open and tell us why you killed all those agents?" Andy was playing it tough but cool.

Delaney looked up at Andy, seemingly baffled, opening his mouth and then closing it again. He did not utter one word, as he was just sitting in his seat, staring past the Lieutenants at the wall behind them, not even blinking once. His glare dim and distant.

"Nothing?" Andy asked Delaney, "We can't help you if you won't help yourself" Andy continued.

A cliche he knew, but the line usually worked. Time for the next step, which was flare things up. Andy then opened the folder he had on the table and pulled up a collection of images, those of the murdered agents, pushing them right in front of Delaney to see, in all their gore. Delaney however did not react to them at all either, which seemed, odd. But then again, nothing Andy said trying to provoke him, worked. He was out of it, completely, in a world of his own it seemed.

Mike stepped in now. It was time for his good cop routine, though the bad cop thing had not picked up at all, so he wasn't really sure how to proceed now, since the scene wasn't going according to the script they had written with Andy at all. But, he tried his best, even if there was no response, at all.

Andy and Mike walked out from the room, leaving the unresponsive Delaney to his own devices. The duo were standing outside the interrogation room debating on what to do next. It seemed Delaney was so far gone, he did not know where or who he was at this point in time.

"We definitely need a new tactic, otherwise we can kiss that confession goodbye" Andy stated matter of factly.

"It seems he is out of touch of the real world, nothing affects him." Mike added.

"We need a diversion of some kind to stir him out of where ever he is right now." Andy piled on. "Maybe..." he continued and stared at Mike, hoping of him to catch the point he was making.

"Are you thinking what I am thinking?" A understanding of sorts formed inside of Mike's head.

"Yes I am!" Andy smiled and nodded, as apparently they were.

"Let's do it then!" Mike responded eagerly.

The two gentlemen then left to get the one person who would most likely rattle Delaney's cage and get him back to the land of the living or at least, peek an interest in him on some level.

Andy and Mike were anxiously waiting outside Captain Raydor's office. They were wondering how long the meeting was taking, since it was only supposed to be a status check between the two team leaders not a full blown audit. They heard a loud noise and a clinking sound, both wondering if there was some argument going on between the two women, as they were both quite strong and opinionated, even if they seemed to work well together.

Inside the Captain's office, a heated moment was indeed shared by the two leaders, but it had nothing to do with words or an argument. No, on the contrary as the Captain and the Agent were lip locked in a deep and passionate kiss.

Sharon was with her back against the desk, with Cat's hands busy on her bra, unhooking it, exposing Sharon's erect nipples to the cool air. Licking her lips before digging into the two perky prices in front of her, Cat started sucking on the other nipple, while her fingers played with the twin. Sharon let out a loud moan, signalling Cat, she was on the right track. Sharon was moving herself for better leverage and in the process knocking a small trinket of a bell, a gag gift from Rusty, onto the floor.

The two women were supposed to be having a meeting comparing some final notes on the case, but after all what had happened recently, they were happy to be alive and well one thing led to another and here they were, in a middle of a heated moment, comparing something completely different than simple case notes.

Cat alternated her actions between Sharon's breasts, then she released one hand for a little investigative exploration on Sharon's thigh. Quickly moving further up, the hand disappeared under the hem of the skirt, like the hand had a mind of its own. Sharon spread her legs in approval and Cat sneaked her hands between them, feeling the wetness trough the soft silky underwear. Running circles on Sharon's clit and nether lips over the garment, Cat felt even bolder after hearing Sharon's continued moans. She quickly snuck her hand inside of Sharon's panties and ran two fingers across the slick folds. Softly at first, then adding some pressure, feeling the response of her action flowing right into her palm. Cat wanted so badly to lick those tasty juices, but there was a risk of someone walking into the office, interrupting the "meeting", so the best bet was to keep things simple and, well, fast. And the way Sharon was sounding at the moment, fast would not be a problem.

Cat moved upwards with her skilful fingers, encountering the bundle of joy there. Slowly but surely she moved her fingers around and over it, making circular motions adding pressure on each round. She felt and heard Sharon's approval in the form of nails digging into her shoulders and Sharon's breathing getting more shallow. Cat continued her movements, hastening her pace, while her mouth was permanently latch onto Sharon's nipple, sucking onto it for dear life.

Cat felt Sharon getting closer to her released and she added more pressure with her fingers, playing with the tiny nubbin, she knew would send Sharon flying over the edge. And soon enough Sharon paused breathing for mere seconds, her body stiffened, and then, she let out a very low moan. This sound was enough to send Cat over the edge too, and then, the two women were shaking in unison as the orgasms were ripping through their bodies.

Moments passed as the final waves subsided as Cat let go of the soft and wet sanctuary of her lover and also Sharon's breast, albeit reluctantly, but there really wasn't time for a long love making session at this point in time. Remaining standing, while holding each other revelling in the bliss a tad longer before letting go.

"God Cat, you sure can conduct one helluva meeting" Sharon half whispered, her voice still a little hoarse from the encounter.

"I am more of an action than take notes kinda gal." Cat smirked with her reply.

They were standing for a moment longer, then finally let go of each other, straightening up their clothing, when there as a knock at the door. Both women looked at each other and probably thinking the same thing, as if this had happened a moment earlier and they would have been caught in a, well rather delicate position. Sharon stepped behind her desk and sat down, while Cat sat in the chair in front of the desk.

One last glance at each other, and then, Cat gave Sharon a nod. Sharon nodded back to her.

"Come in!" Sharon stated in a calm professional voice.

Chapter Twenty-three: The ruse

"Finally!" Andy said under his breath, when he reached for the door handle, and the two men stepped in to the office of their boss.

Sharon greeted them with a smile and asked politely without a hint of the encounter she had just had on her face: "Gentlemen, what can we do for you?"

Mike noticed his boss looked a little disheveled, but Andy did not seem to notice anything was off and went straight to the point.

"Captain," Andy started, " we ran into a wee bit of trouble."

"How wee?" Sharon asked knowing Andy's euphemisms were always slightly under estimating the actual status of the situation.

Andy exchanged looks with Mike for some support.

"Delaney isn't talking" Mike completed the sentence for him.

There was a brief silence there. All of them clearly pondering the situation, not speaking but changing knowing looks with each other. For an outsider, it looked like scene from the Children of the corn or some other similar horror movie as they seemed to be reading each others minds at this point.

Cat felt the wheels in her brain churning already. She knew what had to be done, even if she had no desire to have a tet a tet with Delaney, she was the one who had to do it. As sure as hell, she would not let Sharon near the psycho. No, it had to be her and she knew Andy and Mike agreed on that too, even if that had yet to be said out loud.

Cat looked at Sharon and nodded, then turned towards the two Lieutenants: "I'll get him to confess," she started, "after all, he seems to really hate me and we can use that to our advantage."

Sharon did not like the idea, but she this could be their only hope to provoke the confession out of Delaney. She was worried, and despite the fact they had overwhelming evidence, Sharon would certainly be much happier if they had the suspect telling on camera, that he had brutally murdered all the agents lying in the morgue, cold and dead.

"Ok, we will send you in, but before we do, there are some precautions I want to have in place. After our last encounter with Delaney, I don't trust him to behave in any predictable manner at all.

tet"What did you have in mind?" Cat asked, not objecting at all.

Cat felt shivers running through her body. Being a tough agent had its limits and Cat had reached hers. She had seen the handy work of Delaney, and knew she could easily loose it with him and then cause some kind of bodily harm. And then, out the window all their hard work would go. She was glad Sharon was the more level headed planning one of the two of them and was willing to listen and do what ever she said at the moment.

"Well, here is what I had in mind, "Sharon started and the foursome huddled together like some sort of an athlete team to listen in to their coach giving them their prep talk before a tough and rough game.

Delaney had been sitting alone for a while now and was starting to get restless. He glanced around the small interrogation room, and tried to get up from his seat, but the restraints stopped him and he was forced to sit back down. Glaring at the handcuffs and the leg bindings he was get angry again, not that he had never been angry, not for a long, long time as everyone out there was out to get him.

"Hey," Delaney shouted, "Is anybody out there?"

There was no response.

"I have my rights," he continued ranting loudly, "you can't just leave me sitting here!"

He tried to get up once more and ogled into the camera right above him on the wall.

"I know you are out there!" he tried again, shouting this time.

Buzz had been monitoring the situation in the tech room all this time, however he did not respond to Delaney. He picked up his phone and dialled the familiar number.

"Lieutenant," he stated, "the natives are getting restless here," he continued and heard a response on the other end. "We'll be right there." Both ends hung up the call. Buzz continued monitoring the camera feed watching Delaney go on with his rant, about conspires and that everyone was trying to harm him, nothing useful, but this was only proving how far gone he was.

Chapter Twenty-four: Gotcha!

Cat was getting ready in the Murder Room. She put her ear wig on and straightened herself. She had felt the weight of the world on her shoulders for a while and it was time to pull that weight down. She rolled her shoulders and stretched her neck, inhaling and exhaling for a moment, with her eyes closed as she concentrated on the moment and the task at hand.

Sharon walked to her and asked: "Are you ready?" and gave Cat a consoling touch on her shoulder.

Cat smiled faintly trying to keep her humour up, but it was difficult. Still, Sharon's slight touch and made her feel much, much better and knowing she had backup she simply replied: "Ready, Captain!"

"We'll be in the other room:" Sharon ensured her of support once again.

Cat nodded and started towards the interrogation room, walking the short distance there.

Cat was standing behind the door. One more inhale and then an exhale before she carefully opened the door and entered the room. She immediately got Delaney's attention.

"You!" He spat out angrily, "you, you she devil you..." he stuttered out the words and rose up from his chair again, forgetting he was restrained, crashing back down almost immediately, but he kept on straining against the restraints, hovering slightly over the table trying to reach Cat.

"Yeah, it's me!" Cat played it cool, even though she was rattled being in the presence of this killer and her kidnapper at the same time. But she was a professional so, she continued calmly and in a polite manner stated: "Listen, to me, very carefully," It sounded friendly enough, even if it was meant to be a threat, "I am not here because I want to be, no more than you do, but," She paused for the effect and getting his attention now, "I am here to give you an easy way out." There, the offer was on the table and his surprise was visible in his eyes.

Delaney was calming down considerably, the ranting and raving all but gone. the surprise written there, then came the suspicious glare soon after. No doubt his delirious mind concocting some image of who or what Cat really was. He seemed to be thinking for a moment and then, he leaned back, clearly ready for something.

"I am listening," Delaney started, "But I'm no fool, just you remember that!" he continued with narrowed eyes glaring at Cat still standing, across the table between them.

Cat moved one of the chairs from behind the desk and leaned in, to get closer to Delaney.

"I didn't think you were." Cat started in a low sounding tone as if she had some secret to share with him. "But I also know what these local LEOs want from you, and I know you're not going to give it to them" she continued, sounding knowing of his current status, what ever it was, or at least, giving him that impression.

"Damned right!" Delaney huffed. He was confident nothing could touch him. After all, he was a hero, fighting the demons of this world, at least in his own mind. Killing those who deserved it, again according to his believes, what ever they were at this point, Cat wasn't even sure anymore.

"I know we did not get off on the right foot exactly here, but I assure you, I am here to help you." Cat half whispered as if they were now in some sort of a conspiracy together.

Delaney looked a little confused at first, but then the wheels started turning again in his delusional mind as Cat had managed to stir something more there. He moved closer over the table towards Cat, as far as he could anyway.

"What do you mean?" Delaney was obviously curious now.

"Well, first off," She said in hushed tones, "I turned off the cameras, staged a little glitch in the tech so to say." Cat smiled evilly.

"Go on!" Delaney was almost sold on this plan now.

"I will get you out of here, provided," Cat cut off and looked around suspiciously glaring her surroundings, creating the very atmosphere to sell the whole "fishing kit" to him, "provided you give me what I want." She concluded her deal.

"And what would that be, exactly?" Delaney had a crooked expression on his face too.

"I want you to show me where you buried the sixth body." Cat stated bluntly, without any expression on her face what so ever to read how she felt.

Delaney's face expression too, was unreadable. He was surprised to hear his nemesis knew of the last body too, but he did not trust her, not one bit. If it was up to him, this so called government agent, devil's agent as he saw her as, would be bound, gaged, tortured and killed, as the evil being she really was. But he was in a pickle so, he decided to probe a little further.

"And what if I tell you, about this, alleged sixth body, then, what's in it for me?" He asked nonchalantly.

"Well, I might let you go..." Cat stated rather coyly this time.

Delaney had not expected that answer. Not at all.

Cat had been sitting there, having a staring contest with Delaney, for what seemed like hours, even if it had been just a few minutes. She was running out of patience with him, waiting for his answer, when suddenly, Delaney leaned back and closed his eyes.

"OK," he responded, finally.

Cat almost let out a sigh of relief, but decided against it and just nodded. But she had been surprised by Delaney, of the willingness to go along with the illusion of a sixth murder. Was there someone they had missed? A completely separate murder? Questions were popping up one after another in Cat's head, but she decided to ignore it all for now and move along with the scenario at hand. She could not show her cards to Delaney, not yet anyway. And if Delaney knew she was bluffing, well, that was a whole different can of worms. Her best bet was to take this illusion she had created as far as possible and hope Delaney was so far gone he would believe the story woven here and at some point, let out he killed the others. Then they would have the complete package, confession and all to put him away for good.

"Good!" She said as unenthusiastically as she could. Hook, line and sinker, Delaney was reeled in, Cat hoped with fingers crossed. "We had better take off then, before the others come back." Cat added and stepped towards Delaney, who was watchfully looking at her every move. She reached Delaneys chair and released the feet bindings before she opened the handcuffs. Delaney just kept on watching, not saying one word. When the cuffs came off, he rubbed his wrist, but did not get up from the chair.

Cat looked at him: "What's wrong? We need to take off, like now?" she added. Delaney just grunted, but got up, looking at Cat for guidance. Cat pointed at the door. "After you." She simply and politely stated and out they finally went.

What Delaney was not aware of, was that the whole combined team had been watching from the tech room. After all, the plan was to lure Delaney into a false sense of security and get him to confess to all five murders. But what the had not anticipated, was the fact that the bluff for the sixth body might actually proven to be a fact. and That there actually was someone else murdered and their body unaccounted for. And that worried them all, as if there was one, there might be even more he had killed off, but those cases lay cold on some other precincts desk. But, this was not the time for that now, rather to get the confession form Delaney and then, think about the turn of development, if there was even any.

Sharon had not even as much as blinked during the brief interaction with Cat and Delaney. She was actually a little worried Delaney had agreed with Cat so quickly. Maybe he was more canny than they believed or he let on for Andy and Mike during their session. Or, then maybe she was just overthinking the whole situation and Delaney was just as delusional as they thought he was. Sharon felt her head was about to explode with all the thoughts running through her mind. What worried her most was, sending Cat out with a serial killer without immediate backup. But she also knew, Cat was a highly trained professional and the whole team was going to be right behind her.

Andy, Mike, Buzz, John and Liza were mobile as soon as they heard "After you" from the interrogation room.

"Captain," Andy started, "we'll be in the van." He added and the team left out the door.

Sharon looked the remaining members and nodded. They remained in the tech room, following the live feed from Cat's hidden camera.

Cat and Delaney were half running down the stations hallways, trying to get out and into the getaway car as soon as possible, and not to be seen by any other officers. And, as it had been planned, there were none around and those in the distance, did not pay any attention to the "escaping" duo.

As they reached Cat's car, they both got inside. Before Cat started the ignition, she turned towards Delaney in the passengers seat, looking at him with a stern gaze: "Your turn," Cat half demanded and added "where to next?"

Delaney was unusually silent. It worried Cat and she thought whether the jig was up so to speak and if she was now heading to some major trouble.

But then Delany spoke: "Give me control of the navigator." He ordered. Cat turned the device in his direction, and Delany immediately typed in an address. "There, we go here." He pointed at the screen. Cat looked at the screen, and shifted the gear into drive mode, started the engine and pushed the gas pedal and off they went.

Part of the team was in the van a little farther away in the stations parking lot, keeping an eye on Cat and Delaney, ready to follow them as soon as they were off. They had seen the address input in the screen through Cat's camera feed and input the same in their own device.

Andy, Mike and John had manned the van's monitors, as Liza had offered to drive it. The were keeping their distance, so not to tip Delaney off. The address Delaney had given, did not get any hits on their databases, but they figured it was either a neutral location or a safe house Delaney had not used before they were on his case. Keeping a watchful eye and listening in to any signs of trouble, the van team was hot on Cat's and Delaney's trail.

Chapter Twenty-five: It's another bloody trap!

Cat was keeping one eye on the road and through her peripheral view watching Delaney. She wasn't familiar with the neighbourhood nor the address they were driving to, but she hoped the hell, her camera was working and that she was being followed by the others of her team in the van like they were supposed to and not loosing sight of her.

"So, this place were we are going to," Cat was striking a conversion, "is that were you buried the body?"

Delaney was sitting quietly, not answering Cat's question or giving her any attention at all.

"OK, quiet time it is!" Cat stated, her eyes darting back at the road again.

The traffic was light at this time of day, as most nine to five workers and school children had already reached their homes and the lights were mostly green all the way. Cat steered the car towards the road which was housing the number given by Delaney. It was a cul-de-sac and the number of the building was right at the end of the road.

Cat was looking for a parking space, and found it easily, since there was only one house there, with just a single what seemed old and rusted and very used vehicle parked by the side of it on the street.

"Drive there!" Delaney finally broke his silence and pointed at the garage at the end of a short drive way beside the house.

Cat did as ordered steering the car towards the building as the garage door opened automatically as soon as they reached it. "Must have motion detectors." Cat thought. When they were inside Cat turned off the engine.

She switched on the small light inside the car in the otherwise dark garage. "So, here we are." Cat turned towards Delaney, "Now, show me!" She demanded.

Delaney looked back at her, but what Cat saw, scared her: En evil, almost demonic twisted smile was plastered on Delaney's face. Cat had no time to react, as she felt the electrical currency running through her. It only took moments and she was out cold. Delaney just looked at Cat, the evil grin never leaving his face. That had been so easy, he thought.

Some how, Delaney had gotten out of his handcuffs, which Cat had put on him when getting into the car. He had managed to get a hold of a taser too, which had been in his left boot all this time. The arresting police officers had not been as thorough as they were supposed to have been and overlooked the footwear of the suspect completely.

Delaney got out of the car, walking over to the drivers side. He opened the door and dragged Cat out from the car on to the cold concrete floor. Delaney continued dragging Cat, finally seating her beside the wall of the garage. He then went inside the house.

A few moments later he came back, with rope in his other hand and dangling keys in the other. He was whistling happily. As he reached Cat, he started tying her with the rope, all the way whistling, what sounded like a gloomy toon.

"Damned!" Mike cursed loudly, "We lost the video feed!" He spat angrily. Both Andy and John were staring at him confused. Mike had been staring at the monitors since start while the other two were planning the next steps.

"What do you mean lost? How?" Andy demanded from his partner.

"One minute I had clear picture and then nothing." He tried to explain. "It got cut off as soon as they turned off from the main street. There is only static now. See for yourself." Mike said.

Little had the team been aware of, but Delaney started jamming all wifi signals as soon as he had gotten loose from his restraints. Delaney was an extremely paranoid person at his present state and being tech-savvy, he had all the gadgets imaginable at his disposal. His boots turned out to be quite the hiding place for all types of accessories, such as mobile devices and other needed tech.

"Can you get it back?" Andy asked. "The feed I mean?"

"No, he can't" John quickly realised why the signal was lost, "It's been jammed at the source," he stated.

"What?" Andy half shouted, as it was John's fault.

"Well, somehow, the signal is been blocked at the source" John repeated.

The tree men just stared at each other for a fading moment. Then Andy made his way to the front of the van.

"Liz, take us to the address as quickly as possible! Step on it!" Andy ordered.

Liz nodded and pushed on the pedal harder as they drove through the streets. Andy stumbled as the vehicle jerked forward, but quickly got back on his feet. He went back to the back of the vehicle with the others.

He looked at the two sitting by the desk and said: "I have a bad feeling about this." The trio continued staring at the blinking static images on the monitors feeling helpless and worried and a tad guilty too.

Cat was regaining her consciousness. She was tied up in a dark place. She tried to move around, but only hit her head. She tried to turn, only to find more obstacles in her way. She felt the hum of a car motor and smelled gasoline. Yep, all tied up and on her way to someplace unknown in a boot of a car!

Delaney was driving like a mad man. Yes, he had fooled the stupid agents and police he had a sixth body and gotten that foolish Agent Casey believing in the story and releasing him. But he had a task to complete, and then he was finally free. The sixth body was yet to realised and once he had killed his nemesis, the ultimate evil she was in his eyes, he was to be rewarded. Now, all he had to do, is take Agent Casey to his cabin, by the lake, its whereabouts secure to all but himself. Delaney was enjoying himself thinking of methods of killing the agent. Drowning maybe, or strangling. Maybe poison her, and watch the life drain away slowly... He was smiling, no, laughing out loudly.

Cat heard a muffled laugh like sound and was wondering how the hell Delaney had gotten off from the cuffs. Somebody had screwed along the way and Cat wanted a head on the plate for that. But first, she had to yet again figure away out of this mad mans hold. And to keep her own head intact during the process.

Meanwhile, the team members in the van had reached the address, where Delaney had taken Cat at first. The foursome entered the house in stealth mode, with their guns drawn. John was the first to get inside, searching the front room and kitchen, he shouted "Clear" as no one was found. The same action was repeated by Mike and Liz and Andy, who had been checking out the garage, came back inside and said: "I found the car, but no sign of Delaney nor Agent Casey." he said in a disappointed voice.

"Any thoughts John?" Liz looked at his partner hoping for some ideas.

"Well, I may have an idea, but it involves some non-procedural methods" He was looking at both Andy and Mike as he said that, knowing Captain Raydor might not like what he was suggesting.

"I see no issue with that" Andy said and Mike added interested,"What did you have in mind?"

"Well, I was thinking in using a software I invented and use the government satellite..." John started, but Andy immediately covered his ears with his hands and started "La-la-la-la-la, I can't hear you..."

Realising what Andy was trying to make a point of he curtly replied: "Understood!" and motioned for Liz: "Let's get back to the van, I need your help to calibrate, the um," John was thinking on how use euphemism for his hacking the government software, "um matrix for the electronics guidance, um, surveillance system?" Liz nodded and gave a small smile. "Sure!" Even if it was mostly gibberish he had been saying.

Leaving Delaney's hideout behind the foursome were in the van. Liz and John concentrating on the computer work, while Mike was watching on the side, interested, but as a silent partner. After all, they could not tell Raydor, what exactly the two agents were up to. Meanwhile Andy was on the phone updating the Captain on the progress and stating they were using some yet to be defined resources to catch up with Delaney, not going into any specifics at all.

The rest of the team had been watching the same video feed in the monitoring room at the station and as the chase had progressed and ended into a, what one could only call a disaster, and then there had been a collective gasp shared by them all.

Sharon had been standing, nay, pacing around in the small room, and when she saw the signal was lost and heard John's comments from the van, she had to sit down. She almost sat beside the chair, as she was so distraught, but managed to get a hold of the arm of it in time and finally managed to seat herself down before landing on the floor. She was breathing heavily, staring at the screen.

There was an over all silence in the room. None of them quite believing that which had just expired right in front of their very eyes, loosing Cat and Delaney.

Sharon broke the silence and in a low voice said: "Play back the tape, please." She added her voice so silent and rasp, the last word was hardly heard at all.

Buzz did as ordered, They were all watching and listening to the feed very carefully. But nothing new was popping up as to the indication of what was about to happen as the suspect and his keeper was nearing the address, there was nothing evident in the feed what so ever that something was going to go down, in a very wrong way.

Sharon's mobile phone started making a buzzing sound in her pocket. She picked it up and answered. It was Andy calling her regarding the case, informing her, they were about to reach the address. Sharon simply responded: "OK, keep me informed." nothing more. After all, there was hardly anything to be found there.

Delaney drove the car up the hill to his cabin. He reached the house and drove the car past it and onto a very long pier. He had decided it was time to drown the damned bitch locked up in his boot during the ride up to there after going through all the possible scenarios to kill her in his mind. He placed the car in the middle of the structure and turned off the engine, listening to any sounds coming from the agent held captive. But, none were heard, he figured she was still unconscious, and got out from the car and went towards the cabin and then went right inside.

Cat had been quiet as a mouse as soon as she realised the car had come to a full stop. She heard the two door slams, one close and the other farther away, deducing Delaney had gone inside some building. She started struggling again and bumped into a sharp object. "Ouch!" She exclaimed and stopped and listened again, but since there was no other sounds nor footsteps to be heard, she figured Delaney was not yet back from where ever he had gone to. Cat started to rub rope holding her hands restrained, against the sharp object. She was not sure if the ropes were getting cut, but she sure could feel the warm blood running from her hands of her skin.

Cat continued with the ropes and then stopped to listen every once in a while and back to the rubbing the ropes again. She was not sure how long she had been at it, but she finally managed to loosen the ropes enough to get her hands free. She quickly moved her gag from her mouth and then wiggled to reach her feet to loosen the restraints there well. She was finally out of her ropes, but now she needed to figure a way out of the boot, which would not be as easy as getting rid of the restraints.

In the midst of her planning the escape, she heard footfalls. Delaney, was back.

Cat heard him pacing around outside. Her plan now, was simple; as soon as Delaney opened the boot, she would jump out and try to tackle him. There was only one fault with that plan: Cat could not be sure if Delaney planned to open the boot at all. She was pretty sure at this point Delaney would kill her and she would be the missing number six victim. How he would do it, was the question.

Cat was carefully listening to the sounds coming from outside. She was not sure what Delaney was doing, but he seemed to be pacing around a lot. Maybe he decided to torch the car, but then again, the sloshing sounds coming from outside seemed to be near by, like they were close to a body of water. Which could mean only one thing. That Cat would soon be embraced by the cold and quite wet grave.

Delaney was quickly setting up the perfect crime scene, inside of his own mind at least. He was setting up two tripods at both sides of the pier and he was adding cameras on top of them. He also setup an additional camera on top of the car, which proved to be a more tougher job, but after some effort, it was secured to the car.

"There! He happily exclaimed to himself. "Now I get my revenge on record from all the angles!" He let out an evil laugh again, somewhat of a trademark apparently for him now.

Delaney then walked towards the back of the car, standing for a moment before keying the boot. Before he could react, he was pushed against the hard wood pier and struggling with a very pissed off Agent Casey.

There was a struggle on the pier, and no punches or bites were spared. Cat managed finally to get Delaney in a death grip, but he was tougher than he seemed, relying on his messed up mind and gathering all the hatred he seemed to have against Cat, pushing the new found steam into his fight and pushing the agent against the hard pier with a loud thump. Cat hit her head, hard, as she landed on her back and before she could count to ten, she was out like a light again.

Delaney grinned his patent evil grin and got up. He lifted Cat from under her arms and dragged her back into the boot. He closed the boot with a loud bang and opened the front door of the car. Putting the gear into neutral, he closed the door and went behind the car. It only needed a slight push, as it started rolling downwards, until it reached the end, then went over and with a loud splash landed onto the surface of the water.

"Good riddance to bad rubbish!" Delaney was rubbing his hands together and started laughing, really hard now. He then turned towards one of the cameras and started a speech: "I have finally completed my task of getting rid of the evil among the agencies of this country. The six agents," Delaney was repeating all the names of the agents he had killed, "and finally, the worst of them all, Agent Cat Casey, who deserved death if any one ever did!" He was about to say something more when he heard a gun cocked and a man's voice ordering: "Hold it right there Delaney, we have you surrounded!" Andy's voice boomed from a short distance away.

The van team had just arrived at the destination. After some clever hacking by John, they had managed to track via a satellite camera the trail which Delaney had taken, all the way back to the cabin. "Thank goodness for the governments of this world of being paranoid and launching satellites in orbit for that reason. Now we can finally use them for something good!" John smirked as he was quickly able to piece together the trail from the address Delaney had originally given, to his current whereabouts. "Let's hit the road then!" Andy said as Liz was already getting behind the wheel.

They drove far beyond every given speed limit, trying to catch up the time, hoping to hell to find Delaney and more importantly Cat alive.

Andy had Delaney in his sight. He motioned towards the others and each of them took their place, surrounding Delaney, making sure he would not get off the pier. They had just arrived as Delaney was making his speech in front of the camera. Cat was no where in sight.

"Hand's up Delaney. You have no where to run!" Andy continued warning him.

The all started moving closer to Delaney, boxing him in. Delaney did not move, but looked over his shoulder, as the car was making it's last spattering sounds, as it landed in the bottom of the lake. The others heard that too. John and Liz looked at each other, realising what was happening.

John shouted to Andy: "The car!" He pointed, "In the water!" He gave his gun to Liz and started running towards the pier.

Andy and Mike realised what John was on about as he ran as fast as he could and jumped into the cool water from the shoreline and started swimming as fast as he could, reaching the end of the pier quickly. He dove into the dark waters and started looking, for what ever he could see in the dark waters, which wasn't much.

Andy and Mike quickly reached Delaney. Delaney realising what was happening, tried to push the cameras off the pier, but Mike got a hold of the one he was pushing off first and in a blur, Andy had Delaney laying on the pier and was holding him in a really tight lock. Mike grabbed both cameras off the stands to safety and as evidence too.

John rose from the water and motioned towards Liz: "I need help opening the boot," he shouted."On it!" Liz motioned back and ran back to the van. It took only a short moment before she was running back and along the pier with a tough looking crowbar in her hand.

Andy and Mike looked at her go and could only comment "She is fast, that one!" Mike said. "Sure is, but she is young, they still got their energy." Andy added and both men nodded in unison.

Liz was the fastest runner in the team and soon enough, she dove in and both her and John were at the car, crowbarring the heck out of the boot. It took some effort, but the twosome managed to hold their breaths long enough to open the boot , only to find Cat lying there, motionless. John signalled for Liz to go back up as he reached for Cat and got her out. He gathered the lifeless body in his arms and started towards the surface. The waters were shallow where the car had landed, but it took some effort to haul both of them up and onto the surface. As John came up with Cat, he breathed heavily, then started towards the strand, where Liz was waiting and in place to start resuscitating Cat.

John with the help of Liz quickly got Cat out of the water and Liz started CPR on her. She was compressing Cat's chest and giving mouth to mouth. But without result. Cat lay there, lifeless. Liz continued her efforts as the three men stood staring with their faces worried.

Liz kept on going, feeling the toll of running and diving getting her, but she did not give up on her boss and friend. She kept on going, even though John patted on her shoulder, signalling for her to stop. But Liz kept on pushing, tears forming in her eyes."Come on Cat, please, breathe!" She urged under her breath ordering her friend back to life. Liz felt her own breath leaving her as she pushed on, she also started giving up on hope of ever reviving Cat, but then, finally, Cat spasmed and then started coughing, water coming out of her mouth. Liz quickly turned Cat on her side to ease her breathing and making sure she did not suffocating in her own vomit.

Mike, Andy and John started smiling in relief the negative thoughts fading quickly and so did Liz. "Welcome back!" She said to the semiconscious Cat laying on her side, but who was breathing more normally now and her eyes slowly opening. Cat looked at Liz, then tried to zoom in on the rest, but could not speak one single word. She was still too weak of almost drowning.

Andy, who was still holding Delaney, now cuffed, turned Delaneys head facing the rescues scene, spat out happily: "See, all your efforts gone down the drain!"

Delaney did not utter one word. Not now, not in the van, and not later either. After all, he had failed his master in taking out the most evil of them all.

Chapter Twenty-six: Cheers!

The clinking of glass could be heard outside the closed doors followed by exclamation of several "Cheers".

The combined teams were together in the conference room as finally it was a time for a celebration. Delaney was locked up for life, the evidence and his mad person confession on camera sealed the deal. The bodies were now counted for and no additional ones were expected to be found for this case at least and everyone had would be getting their closure on this case, the investigators and relatives of the deceased alike.

Cat had recovered from her last ordeal quite nicely under the watchful eye of Sharon Raydor. She had refused to go to the hospital at first, but it was Sharon who had convinced her to go and at least get a full checkup to make sure all was alright with her. Then, after a day of rest, she had been released with a clean bill of health. She still had a few bruises her and there as a reminder of what had gone down, but she and her extended team had emerged victorious. It had been a week since Delaney was caught once and for all. The trial had been quick and uneventful as his lawyer had cut a deal for life without contest to the evidence. Delaney had never spoken a word, just sat in his chair staring forward, taking his verdict without any comments. They later learned, he had not even spoken to his lawyer during the proceedings, he had simply signed his name on the papers, nothing more.

So now, the team was finally able to celebrate and raise a toast, to the victims and their families and themselves for a job well done. After the cheers were over, Sharon congratulated everyone on a job excellently done and Cat joined the speech, by thanking everyone and especially the four who saved her from drowning. Everyone raised their glasses once again in a united "Hear, hear!"exclamation and then, the celebration part of the case was over.

After the celebration had subsided, the team members started packing up the evidence to be put into storage. Captain Raydor was sitting in her office, when Cat knocked on her open door.

"Come in!" The Captain urged Cat.

Cat stepped inside and remained standing there, opening her mouth, then closing it again. She wasn't too sure, even after thinking about it and rehearsing too, on how to put her thoughts into words. Which was surprising on so many levels, as Cat was never at a loss of words. But this time, it wasn't about the job.

She, who was the champion of one night stands, shying away from any kind of personal relationship, romantically speaking of course. Sometimes even feeling sorry for some of her friends, who had been hitched and eventually, suffered their bad break ups. Well some of them at least. Some of her friends ended up in great, lasting relationships and secretly, Cat had always envied them. But Cat considered herself to be 'non-relationship' material and never pursued one due to that simple fact. That is, until now, much to her own surprise.

She really, really, really liked Sharon. A lot as it turned out. And she suspected, that Sharon had some feelings towards her too. Unless she had read the woman all wrong, which could be quite possible, Cat's inner voice, the saboteur, was whispering in her ear. But, Cat had decided to take a chance, never mind the devious voice telling her otherwise. So, now, it was do or die time for her.

Sharon looked at Cat and noticed the unusual behaviour of the agent standing all silent and even maybe a frightful look on her face? "Yes?" She then asked in a curious tone.

Cat felt herself choking up, 'Good god girl, get a grip!' she berated herself. She cleared her throat before saying anything.

"I was wondering," Cat started, "if you are not busy that is..." Cat almost choked on her own words, and could not continue right away.

Sharon was getting extremely interested. She had hoped, that Cat and herself could pursue a relationship after the case was closed, but she hadn't been sure how to proceed. It seemed, however, that Cat was trying to ask something important from her, obviously not work related since she usually was very articulate when it came to anything regarding her job. So, pushing the other woman forward she asked the already nervous Cat.

"What's on your mind?"Her voice having a slight teasing timber.

Cat could not answer right away. She rolled her over tense shoulders and inhaled then slowly exhaled.

"Here is the deal," Cat decided on a different approach as she was otherwise unable to spit out what was on her mind, "I would like to take out you for dinner, sometime," she added quickly, thinking Sharon might not be interested after all, again, the demons of her mind were acting up.

Sharon smiled. She was relieved, nay, she was totally exhilarated to hear the words coming from Cats mouth.

"How about tonight?" Sharon answered nonchalantly even if she really wasn't.

Cat felt her eyebrows rise in surprise, but she was very happy and was, feeling like doing a little dance, internally though not like then and there.

"Great!" Was all she managed, "I'll make the reservations then." She managed in a surprisingly even voice. "Seven o'clock OK for you?"

"Sounds good." Sharon responded with a big smile showing off all kinds of teeth in the process.

"Good, good! I'll get the car ready half past six" Cat added before she started out, but added, "I'll leave you to your work then." She was shaking, internally, happy kind of shaking though.

Sharon nodded in response and started on the papers in front of her as Cat left the room. Not that she could concentrate on work. Not now. No, she was way too happy for that. Sharon sat there, for a while, staring at the papers, not seeing any of the content, just smiling like a crazy person she felt she was, happy, giddy, maybe in love even. Hoping for evening and seven o'clock to come soon enough.

Cat quickly got out of the Captain's office and half ran into the break room. She went straight to the coffee machine and poured a steaming cup of coffee in the large size mug, which she then drank in record time, before pouring another cup. After all, it had been a nerve wracking experience and coffee had always been her go to drink in these situations, except when only whisky could do the deed.

"Ah!" she sighed deeply as the liquid poured down her throat. "A life saviour!" as she consumed the second cup. Then, she put the cup in the dishwasher after rinsing it and then, her thoughts went back to what had just expired and a huge grin formed on her face. As she left the break room she did a small victory dance while exiting the area, luckily, without anyone seeing her do so. But if they had, she did not care as she, was way too happy at the moment. Was it love? Maybe. At least it was some deep rooted infatuation on her part and Sharon, seemed to be on the same wavelength so maybe, things were starting to look up for her after all.

It was a a quarter over six, and both teams were almost completed with the wrap up of the evidence and reports. Cat was talking with her team members, as she had just completed a call with her superiors, as they had a new case lined up for her.

Sharon entered the murder room and checked up on the progress of her own team. She noticed Cat and her team a little farther away huddled by a single monitor. She hoped nothing urgent had come up, and that they needed to postpone their date for the night.

Cat and her team completed their discussion and turned towards the others, who had been standing in silence, looking on, waiting to hear, what was possibly going on.

"Problems?" Sharon asked curious to know what if anything was going on.

"No," Cat quickly answered simply, seeing the worried look on Sharon's face she added. "We might actually have a case for you." She paused for the effect. "Well, all of us." She added quickly as she was looking forward in continued work with the Major Crimes team and their leader.

"Oh?" Sharon responded her face seemingly relaxing. "Anything urgent?" She then asked.

"Nothing we can't handle tomorrow." Cat replied. "I think we have all earned a night off, am I right?" She added smiling widely.

Sharon smiled too, as she had been afraid that date night might have been cancelled.

"Sounds like a plan then!" Provenza stated firmly. "Well, good night to you all, see you tomorrow then!" He added as he started out, feeling good about the closure of the case and looking forward, oddly enough for him, to working with the other team again.

"Good night Lieutenant!" Was wished back from the rest of them.

"Ready?" Cat asked Sharon as she was all set up to go now.

"Yes, let me grab my purse, then we can go." Sharon replied and went to get her hand bag from her office.

"You two are leaving together?" Andy asked surprised after witnessing the interaction between the two women.

"Yes, actually, we are." Cat replied keeping her response curt. A short silence descended the room just then all of them staring at her.

Sharon came back right in the middle of the situation. Not sure as to what was going on.

Andy was really curious now, so he tried to probe for a better answer: "Anything special going on?"

Cat did not respond to the question, not sure how much she really should reveal for the others, but Sharon had already figured out what was going on and decided to answer in her stead: "We are going out to dinner."

It did not take long for Andy to piece the puzzle together and to figure out what was going on, so deciding to stop his questions knowing the Captain did not really want to reveal too much of her personal life, he just replied politely: "Have a good evening!"

"Thanks!" Cat and Sharon replied in unison and left the room, leaving the others just staring after them.

"I did not see that one coming!" Mike was wording out, what most likely everyone else had been thinking of. Everyone else but John, who had seen this story forming from the get go, as Cat had been quite smitten with the in-formidable Captain of this very special unit.

Chapter Twenty-seven: Back to where it started from

Sharon and Cat were sitting on the balcony watching the setting sun, enjoying the chilled wine and perfect company with a very nice view. Neither of them had spoken a word in a while, which seemed to be OK for both of them at the moment anyway. Cat had been thoughtful all day, wondering what the future had in the cards for the two of them. The case was wrapped up nicely, the dinner had been a success, but still, Cat had a that nagging voice inside her telling, that this, what ever was supposedly brewing between the two of them, would not last.

Ever since the first time they had met downstairs, in the bar, Cat had felt it the connection between them. She had also felt for a while, like something had been missing from her life and now, sitting here with Sharon, felt more comfortable than anything else in a long time. She had always managed to avoid that certain feeling, the feeling of being in love and every time she had dodged the bullet with any woman trying to get close to her, she had patted her own back and thanked the deities, for coming out victorious from those close encounters of the love kind. But, this time it was different. And she was all for whatever would be thrown her way.

"I can't believe it's only been a short while since we were here the first time around." Cat finally spoke, breaking the silence, eyeing Sharon sitting close to her, who had closed her eyes and had a smile on her face.

Sharon sighed contently and said: "I could so get used to this!"

Cat did not answer immediately, pondering whether to throw in the hook or not. Maybe a small sales pitch before getting to the real agenda? After all, she felt quite bold and fearless, much to her own surprise to close the deal with Sharon, all puns intended.

"I hear you! This is why I pay the big bucks for this scenery, to get value of the true art of mother nature!" Cat smiled widely now, hoping joking would break the ice, as there was some serious stuff coming soon, at least, that was her plan anyway, to ask Sharon.

Sharon opened her eyes and looked at Cat with a questioning look, as she was remembering something Cat had told her previously while coming back to get change of clothing for her: "I thought you said, that you got to stay here for free?"

Cat realised her joke had hit a miss. And, that it was time to come clean. She turned to be face to face with Sharon and in a low and serious tone then said, "Here is the thing," she paused, feeling a tad uncomfortable of what she was about to reveal, but decided to push on, as she had already made her choice to woo Sharon, no matter what it took, which again, surprised even herself she was thinking that way. Shaking her head to her own thoughts, she decided to venture on. "My mother owns this hotel and she let's me to stay here whenever and as long as I need to." There was another pause before she continued and Sharon had all her attention now. "Actually, she has several hotels around the world, and where ever I need to travel, I usually stay in her hotel, so I guess, you could say I am a spoiled brat." Cat did not continue further, rather letting it all sink in.

Sharon looked at Cat. She knew little or nothing of Cat's personal life, that much was true. But she knew who Cat was, as a person and a professional, even in this short amount of time they had known each other. Sharon had gotten to know the worldly woman, who wasn't afraid to rescue a damsel in distress, but also the honourable agent, who was willing to risk her own life for others. Sharon had been caught of guard and totally surprised of her own feelings too, falling in love at first sight, a cliché if anything for sure, but she knew, that if Cat had not appeared in their crime scene that day, she would have tracked Cat down anyway, demanding at least another date. But she had gotten so much more she could have ever imagined to get with the one night stand. So, here they were, after a difficult case with its twists and turns, enjoying each others company. Sharon wished she could stay like this forever as they were now frozen in this very moment. But Sharon wasn't sure if Cat felt the same way and decided to do a little probing of her own.

"So, if you can stay as long as you like, have you thought about staying here a little while longer? Not just for the next case we have coming up?" Sharon paused, as she wasn't sure what she actually was asking, not really. For Cat to stay, past the case which was waiting for them the next day?

Cat was surprised of Sharon's question. Was Sharon trying to find out if Cat was staying in LA for good or was she missing the point completely? Deciding to go the professional way to answer the question.

"Well, there has been some discussion with my superiors about stationing the team here for a while." Cat started, looking at Sharon for any kind of reaction to what she was telling her. "That would mean I need a more permanent dwelling of course." Cat wasn't sure what she wanted to say, trying to keep the discussion more generic now. It seemed that she had missed the window of opportunity to ask anything further of their relationship, that is, if there was one to begin with.

But, Sharon was glad to hear this news, as she wanted Cat to stay.

"That is great to hear, I am really looking forward to working with you and your team again, plus maybe we can do more collaboration in the future as well since you are staying." Sharon was trying to keep the discussion on a more professional level too, even though she was dying to hear if Cat had personal reasons to stay as well.

Cat was taken aback by Sharon's evasive answer and felt a pang in her heart. Was Sharon only interested in a working relationship with her? Then why had she accepted Cat's invite to join for a night cap with a masterpiece painting, as Cat had put it earlier after dinner, when she had asked Sharon to come watch the sunset with her.

"Um, yeah, we really work well together" Was all Cat could manage at this point.

Sharon noted the change in Cat's demeanour and trying to read what was on Cat's face, any emotions, feelings, what ever she could find there, as she felt a sudden chill in the air and the temperatures had yet to drop outside. Fortunately or unfortunately, Cat was a highly trained agent and could mask most of what was going on inside of her, but not everything, not tonight, as she was starting to feel defeated and disappointed too. The bravado she had felt from before, fading fast.

"I thinking it's getting late." Cat said with a monotonic voice.

She started getting up from the large and fluff sofa they had both been sitting on, when Sharon pulled her back. She used so much force, that Cat, who had been not expecting this action by Sharon, almost fell on top of the other woman as she was pulled back to the comfy seat. Cat tried to get back up, but Sharon was holding Cat in her place. Cat's hand was still sore from being set back to its place, after the case, so she wasn't as able to fight back as usual. Giving in to the short struggle, Cat was now face to face with Sharon. Eyes locked in a demanding stare by both parties involved.

"Tell me" Sharon voice was almost a soft whispered. "Tell me how you feel."

Cat stared Sharon deep into her eyes for a moment before she answered: "I think I am in love with you." Was all she managed then and there, not sure where she got the courage to reveal this, right here and now, and to Sharon.

Sharon glared at her and a smile emerged on her face. "Good," she simply stated, "I am glad you do, because I think I am in love with you too." She then reached out with her hand to Cats face and held it gently, before placing a soft kiss on her lips.

A loud moaning followed by an 'oh. my. god.' was shouted out in the cool night air several times over followed by "fuck!" and several other profanities thrown there, as the couple had started enjoying more than a sunset and wine with each other.

Sharon was in the midst on a rippling wave of orgasms, caused by the skilful tongue of Cat, who had been torturing the poor woman with licks and sucks of Sharon's engorged clit for the longest while now. As the couple had moved to the bedroom after their kisses had heated on the sofa and the sun had long since set. Making love to each other and in general enjoying each others bodies now that they had come to a consensus of their relationship, which was that, a relationship, much to both parties surprise. Sharon and Cat were laying on top of the bed, both on their backs, both women panting heavily after the latest orgasm they had coaxed from each other.

"God Cat, you, are going to be the death of me if we continue like this." Sharon managed finally to articulate in words.

"If that is the case, let's make a deal to die together, in the throws of passion." Cat smirked as she too was breathing more steadily now.

Cat was looking at Sharon in her glistening nakedness in the darkening evening light and she felt her own libido to stir again. Sometimes she even surprised herself on how active her sex drive really was, especially with the hot package like Sharon was. Cat licked her lips and turned to her side. Her fingers walked the short distance on the covers reaching Sharon.

Sharon had also just now started breathing normally, when her eyes hooked with Cats, seeing the building desire there. Sharon was surprised on how passionate Cat was and much to her own surprise, Cats look was enough to start up her own libido again. Sharon had to admit to herself, that she had never had this much great sex in one go, not before she had met Cat. She had been worried a little in how to keep up with her lover, but it seemed that worry had all been in vain.

Cat was ready for another round and hoping Sharon was game too. The look in the eyes of Sharon had convinced her she did and that she was.

"So," Cat joked," do we have a deal or not?" she was still on about their dying together in the heat of passion pact.

"Deal!" Sharon managed, before she pounced and pushed Cat on her back and pinned her down there.

Sharon was sitting on top of Cat, holding Cat's arms with her own, grinding their wet pussies together and reaching down to kiss Cat on the lips, hard and demanding. She was really enjoying the contact of their clits and she usually came fast in this position, but today she wanted the sensation to last longer.

Sharon was in control and Cat was enjoying the ride. To be honest, Cat loved the bossy side of Sharon, mostly in bed, but also when they were working together. Cat threw herself in the moment and let Sharon drive her, closer and closer to the edge, where there was no coming back from, only the mind blowing pleasure to be endured and loving it.

The sucking and nipping, the grinding was getting harder and faster. Sharon knew she was close but she hoped to bring Cat to the edge with her. She paused her kisses and rose up, paused all action for mere seconds. Both women looking each other in the eyes for a frozen moment, until Sharon made her final move, starting a chain reaction of ripples, causing both of them to gasp in unison, then a few cries were heard in the otherwise still night, before the orgasmic moment was over. Sharon collapsed on top of Cat and they lay like that for a while, both of them breathing heavily. It took a while before either could talk at all, but then Cat broke the silence.

"God, Sharon, that was really," Cat was trying to find the right words and for the lack of better ones, "fucking awesome," she laughed out loud, "literally!" She kissed Sharon on the forehead then.

"Yes, it really was, fucking awesome." Sharon repeated the words of her lover, smiling and not wanting to move. Still basking in the afterglow, Sharon was satisfied, felt most happy she had ever been. If not before, then at least now, she knew this was love.

Cat was running soft circles with her finger on Sharon's back. She felt the best she had ever felt with anyone past or present and hoped this moment would last forever.

"Sharon," Cat started.

"Yes, sweetheart?" Sharon asked.

Cat took a deep breath before continuing. "I love you."

Sharon looked at her lover, smiling and then she reached for Cats lips and kissed her, softly this time before replying. "I love you too."

Sharon and Cat were laying in bed, the room totally dark now, but they could see the city lights reflected in the dark night sky from the glass various surfaces of the decor in the rooms.

They were both very happy and most satisfied. Earlier that evening they had both been thinking the same thing. How to dare to ask the burning question from the other one, 'what were they to each other'. Just an extended one night stand or something more. And now they knew.

But there was more Cat was gathering the courage to ask, which happened almost at the same time Sharon was thinking exactly the same thing apparently.

"I was thinking.." Cat started at the same time Sharon was saying "I would like to..."

They started to laugh.

"You first" Cat said then.

"No, please, go ahead." Sharon told her.

"I was wondering, if you wanted to hang out here, with me, you know, with the view and all." Cat almost stuttered out the words. 'What the hell was that' she thought. Cat had already confessed to being in love and she knew she wanted Sharon to be a permanent fixture in her life, preferably under the same roof is possible at least at some point in time.

Sharon hearing the words, but reading between the lines having her own answer there, she had been wanting to hear. It took a moment and then, she responded.

"The view is not the only thing I enjoy here," Sharon, her smirk almost invisible in the pale light, "I really enjoy spending time with you too, here or where ever we are." Sharon wanted to clarify her words, but she felt like a teenager again, finding first love and being asked out on a date. Despite the fact they had shared their naked bodies together more than on one occasion, it felt new all over again and a bit scary too.

'Thank you, thank you, thank you!' was all that was running through Cat's mind. Cat looked at Sharon, her face, her smile, her body, all visible even in the darkness of the room at least to Cat as she knew quite well now how Sharon looked at felt. It was all crystal clear now to her. She knew how she felt and what she wanted, and what Cat wanted was Sharon. Cat did not respond in words, but she kissed Sharon, deeply. More kisses followed, as did caressing of each other, leading into more and more satisfaction, either could have hoped to find.

Chapter Twenty-eight: The Sales Pitch

The duo were laying in bed in the after glow of the passion they had shown each other during their love making over the course of the night. And, instead of sleep, they had started to discuss plans for the future, their future. The topic popping up, just like that, out of the blue. Well, maybe not so really, as they had gotten to know each other already on some level and both their intentions were pretty much on the same level. To be in a relationship with each other and then the discussion had winded to other things such as travelling and vacation time, which they both seemed to have pending in bulks.

"Maybe we could take some time off in a few months time, and do some travelling, let the others do the work for once?" Cat suggested.

"Sounds like an excellent plan! Did you have a place in mind?" Sharon asked softly as she could see the two of them somewhere together in her minds eye already, a beach, or a new city, what ever it was, she loved the idea very much.

"Maybe, we start with a trip to Paris? The city of lovers? I know this nice little restaurant by the river Seine close to the Eiffel Tower. So, this is what I was thinking we could do…"

Cat continued painting the images of those far away vistas to her lover, knowing she had landed her sales pitch after all and there would be a continuation to their relationship. And even if it had all happened quite unexpectedly, their liaison, a one night change encounter turning to something much much more, well, it was well worth the risk, in both ladies minds.

FIN