fanfic fluffy Rabbit - ieg



Discovery


Part II

Go to Part I
Go to Part III


Leaving her stick behind had been a mistake, Jessica thought, following Joel out of the lift. She hadn't walked that far and already her legs felt like they were made of lead. All she had to do was keep going until she could sit down. Tommy was really going to rip into her for thinking that she was upto taking part in an active case.

Still it was too late to back out now when she was actually at the station and people were relying on her to help them solve the case. Perhaps once she'd seen the case notes she'd be able to point them in the right direction.

„It's right this way," Joel said pushing open the double doors which led to the bullpen, home of Major Crimes, „Some of the crime scene photos are very graphic."

„I don't have a problem with that," she replied, looking at a few photos wasn't going to do any harm, „I've worked graphic crimes scenes before." on seeing the look of doubt on his face.

„Simon, that is Captain Banks will want to be in on any theories you might have."

„That's fine with me." She didn't want to tread on anyone's toes, especially when she might be working with them again the future. She really had missed working out on the streets on a case. And it was only now just sinking in that she might never be able to work on a case like she used to.

„Do you mind me asking how serial homicides you've worked on?" Joel asked.

„Alone or with a team?" Jessica said.

„Alone."

„I'd have to say about six. But if you include the serial rapes and burglaries it's be close to a hundred," she said, „Don't let my age fool you, I do know what I'm doing. And I was trained by one of the best profilers in the field.

„Enter." Captain Simon Banks growled when there was a knock on his office door. He hoped that it was good news because he was tired of handling calls not only from the Chief of Police but the Mayor's office about the total lack of progress in the "Delivery Man" case.

„Dr Angel's here to go over the case notes." Joel said stepping into his office.

„Good, send him in and find Connor."

„Her." he corrected Simon, stepping to one side to let Jessica enter the office before going to find Connor.

„Captain Simon Banks," he said standing up and holding his hand out to the young woman who'd just entered his office.

„Dr Jessica Angel." shaking it briefly while giving him a faint smile.

„Please sit down doctor. Would you like some coffee?"

„Please, strong black," dropping her bag by the side of a chair before sitting down, „I have to admit that I'm more than a little surprised that you don't have anyone from the FBI working on the case."

„At the moment they're unable to spare anyone," he replied pouring her a mug of coffee, „And you came highly recommended."

„By Walter Edwards no doubt."

„Yes," he said, „He mentioned something about you having special talents."

„Did he?"

„I'd be interested in knowing what they were." handing her the mug of coffee he'd just poured.

„I solve puzzles, have a very high IQ," Jessica said, „My senses are also better than average."

„Dr Edwards said something about you have an assistant."

„My brother, he's a forensics expert. If I'm heading up a case he works with me..." turning her head moments before the door behind her opened.

„Connor," Simon said, when a tall red haired woman entered his office along with Joel, „This is Dr Angel, she's going to be helping you with the "Delivery man" case."

„I prefer Jessica," Jessica said, „Or Doc."

„Doc," Inspector Megan Connor said, „How much do you know about this case?" sitting down next to Jessica.

„Not a great deal I'm afraid," she admitted, „We've only just moved to Cascade."

„The first victim was discovered a month ago," Joel said placing a case file in front of her, „Since then there have been four more victims."

„That you know about," opening the file in front of her, „Never assume that the first is the first."

„He's sent us letters telling us where to find each of the victims," Megan said, „Each one was found three days after going missing. They're not out of order."

„That's not what I meant," Jessica said, looking at the autopsy photos, „To get as good as he is takes time and practice. See how clean the cuts are,' showing the picture she was looking at to Simon, „You don't just pick up a knife and do that straight away."

„You said he," Megan said, „None of the witnesses reported seeing a definite gender going into any of the victims homes."

„Try picking up Captain Taggart," Jessica suggested, „You couldn't even if you wanted to because he's heavier than you. No offence meant Captain."

„None taken." Joel said.

„Statistically speaking women are less likely to become serial killers than men," Jessica said, „You're looking for a man who is used to lifting heavy weights. Whether it's to do with his job or for recreation. He's very charming. He has to be to get his victims to drop their guard and let him into their homes with virtually no questions asked."

„If he exists who was his first victim?" Megan asked frowning slightly.

„He exists don't doubt that for a minute or you'll never find him. As for his human first victim, it could be an unsolved homicide, a stabbing."

„Great," Megan muttered, „Do you have any idea how many unsolved homicides there are every year in Cascade?"

„Probably a lot." she admitted.

„You said first human victim." Joel said.

„He wouldn't have started with people first, too higher a risk of getting caught before he'd had a chance to perfect his art. I'd look into cases of mutilated animals, anything bigger than a German Shepard. See if any large mammals have gone missing from the zoo or whether fisheries and wildlife have found an increase in dead bears etc. What he did wouldn't be noticed at first, not if you didn't know what you were looking for." Jessica said picking her coffee up and taking a sip of it.

„You sound as if you admire him." Simon said disapprovingly.

„He's clever, knows exactly what he's doing and how to avoid leaving evidence behind."

„Sending letters isn't that smart." Megan gloated.

„Are you sure that they're coming from him?" Jessica asked, „What about the grammar and punctuation?"

„Have a look for yourself." Joel said handing her another file.

„He didn't write these." looking briefly at the first letter in the file.

„How can you tell? You didn't even read it." Megan protested.

„The man you're looking for is highly educated, possibly to a degree level. He's very precise, proud of his work. A perfectionist. He would never send a letter with so many simple spelling mistakes in it," Jessica explained, „And the handwriting's different on each of the letters," opening the evidence bag that the first letter was sealed inside, „It's blood. I'd have it DNA typed and checked against the victims. Also check the handwriting against samples of the victims. I wouldn't put it past him to get them to write the letters for him."

„You can tell it's blood just from smelling the air in the bag?" Megan asked.

„Blood always a coppery scent to it." she replied.

+++


It was just a cave, Taz told herself, entering it with the rest of her group. Then why did she have a really bad feeling about it? She'd been caving before when she'd visited her relatives in South Africa. And the cave had to be safe otherwise they wouldn't have been allowed to go exploring in it. Not that that did anything to reassure her when she looked back towards the entrance which was rapidly disappearing into the distance as she ventured deeper into the cave.

„This is so cool." Daryl said looking around, the light from his helmet lamp bouncing off the rock formations in the cave, „I've got to get my dad to come down here."

„I want to go back," Melanie whined as she almost slipped, „It's slimy and it smells." And was not the sort of place someone like her should be seen in at all.

Daryl shook his head slowly then began walking faster in the hope that he could catch up with Taz and maybe get her to listen to his apology.

„I'm going to kill her," Tommy said after reading the note he'd just found under his sister's mug, „She knows damn well that she's not supposed to be walking around without her stick. Never mind running round the city chasing psychos." Of all the stunts she'd pulled recently, this had to be the dumbest, he thought. If she wasn't careful she was going to end up back in a hospital bed. „She'll run herself into the ground working the case. Then when it's over I'm the one supposed to put her back together again. She's been having trouble controlling her senses recently."

„What do you mean by trouble?" Blair asked.

„They've been spiking," Tommy said, „Touch has been normal for the past two years. I think that the others are trying to compensate for it."

„Tommy, just how many heightened senses does Jess have?"

„You know Jess, she's always been able to hear and see better than anyone else."

„So that's two..."

„Then the others got better after she hit puberty."

„Oh man! We've got to keep her away from Jim." Blair said.

„Your roommate!'

„And my test subject. Put the two of them in the same room and KABOOM."

+++


CHAPTER FOUR

Detective Jim Ellison did a double take when he saw the small white jaguar laying stretched out in front of the door to Simon's office. He closed his eyes briefly and when he looked again saw that it had been joined by his spirit guide the black jaguar. Walking over to his desk a smile crept across his face at he watched the big black cat first sniff at then begin to nuzzle the neck of the smaller white cat which was ignoring it completely.

Relaxing his guard, he realised that if the white cat had posed any threat to him his spirit guide would have dealt with it. Sitting down behind his desk he carried on watching the interaction between the two cats. The larger cat tried to get the attention of the smaller one by alternating between nuzzling and pacing up and down before the smaller one. Until finally the smaller one had had enough of being bothered and flicked it's tail sharply across the nose of the larger cat before getting up and walking straight through the door of Simon's office.

„Guess she's not interested." Jim muttered. It had come to something when his spirit guide had more chance of getting a date than he did.

+++


If she looked at him then he'd think that she'd forgiven him for hanging out with Melanie instead, Taz thought when she saw Daryl walking alongside her. It was going to take a lot for her to forgive him, that was if she was able to. Hearing what she thought was a rumbling noise she stopped and began looking around. Seeing that there was nothing wrong she dismissed it was her imagination playing tricks on her and began walking again.

„Taz..." Daryl began, what was he supposed to say without making things even worse between them than they already were, „You can ignore me all you want but I'm not going away until you've listened to me."

„Just get it over with." she snapped.

„I'm sorry okay. I'm not, never have been or ever will be interested in Melanie Warren or anyone like her," he said, „If you don't want to be friends anymore that's okay. I mean I haven't behaved much like your best friend since we got here."

„No you haven't. Friends are supposed to stick together. Instead you went off with her," Taz said, „After everything she's said and done to me, you still chose her. Well I hope that you'll both be very happy together. Just don't come crawling back to me when she's dumped you."

„For the last time I'm not dating Melanie Warren. I wouldn't date her even if her dad paid me to," Daryl snapped, „I'd have to be pretty dumb to do that."

„Maybe you are," walking faster to get away from him, „I don't know whether I still want to be friends with you or not."

„Taz." he called after her.

„Just stay away from me."

+++


He'd made things even worse with apology, Daryl thought, so maybe he should have backed off and left her alone for a while. At least until she'd cooled down, although right now he doubted that she would. And he could just imagine what his dad would say when he told him that he and Taz weren't friends any more, he was really going to be disappointed with him for treating his best friend like that.

Even worst was the fact that right now Melanie would be telling everyone that she'd broken him and Taz up. There were going to be guys asking Taz out all the time now, and she was bound to say yes to one of them. Now who was sounding jealous?

„Doctor." Simon said sharply when he saw the glazed look in her eyes. He'd seen that same look in Jim's eyes when he zoned.

„What?" Jessica asked blinking.

„Are you all right?" Joel asked.

„Just got caught up in my thoughts that's all," she replied, „Right where were we?"

„Lack of evidence at the crime scene." Joel reminded her.

„Forensics have been over all the crime scenes with a fine tooth comb and they didn't find anything that didn't belong there," Megan said, „We even got Jimbo and Sandy to see if they could work their magic."

„Jimbo and Sandy?"

„Detective Jim Ellison and his partner Blair Sandburg." Simon explained.

„I'd like to talk to Detective Ellison." Jessica said.

„This isn't his case," Megan said, „And he didn't find anything."

„I'd still like to talk to him. Just to get another viewpoint of the crime scene," she said, „In a case like this it's the little things that will add up, not the big things."

„You'll have plenty of opportunity to talk to Detective Ellison later,' Simon said, „Now do you have any idea who he's going to go after next?"

„Not yet," she admitted, „But it's going to be soon. I don't think he's working to any set time table, such as the lunar cycle."

„So we still don't have anything solid to go on." Megan said.

„This isn't a precise art," Jessica said, „It's more like doing a jigsaw puzzle with no picture and most of the pieces missing. Given enough time I will find you something to go on."

„After how many more victims?" Megan asked.

„I'm going to need a desk and a couple of hours," ignoring Megan's question, „By then I might have something for you. I'll also need a list of everyone whose been at the crime scenes, forensics, medics. If someone was there I need their name on that list."

„Why?" Simon asked.

„So I know who to exclude," she replied, „I have feeling that he knows what procedures you follow when collecting evidence. He could also have been back to the crime scenes. A civilian would stand out."

„To laugh at us?" Joel asked.

„To gloat is more likely. He'd also be there to make sure that he hadn't left anything behind. And if he did, well there's damned good reason for trace evidence being there, he was officially at the scene."

„You're saying that he could be a cop!" Simon growled, the chief and the mayor were going to love that theory, he thought, „Do you have any idea of the panic that would cause if the papers found out?"

„We wouldn't be able to do our jobs," Megan said, „And how many serial killer cops have you come across?"

„One so far," Jessica admitted, „And I can't discount any possibility in case it's the right one."

+++




„Blair, what exactly does KABOOM mean?" Tommy asked following Blair out of the lift.

„Just that it would be a very bad thing for Jess and Jim to be together in the same room," Blair replied, „Jim can be pretty territorial. He's an ex-army ranger. He feels threatened and..."

„You mean Jess could get hurt!'

„She's not exactly able to defend herself right now is she?" If Jim felt threatened and lost it she was going to be in serious trouble.

„Jess would never threaten anyone. Not unless they threatened me or her first," Tommy said, „She's very protective of me sometimes."

„Because you help her with her senses right. You should have told me that all of them were enhanced."

„They're just better than everyone else's. And she has a hard enough time of it being as smart as she is. I don't want people treating like she's some sort of freak. Including you."

„Trust me I won't. But I would like to run a few tests, maybe compare her to Jim. See if gender has any effect on them."

„You'd have to ask Jess, but no pushing it if she says no."

+++


Rafe couldn't help but stare at the young man who'd just entered the Bullpen with Blair. He was even more handsome than he'd looked the previous night. And those jeans he was wearing looked as if they'd been painted on, the dark green shirt he was wearing only served to enhance the brilliant blue of his eyes.

Suddenly aware that H was looking at him, he stopped staring and went back to doing his paperwork. He'd been too obvious in showing his interest on the young man. Especially when that interest wasn't going to be returned.

„He's cute." Tommy said looking in Rafe's direction.

„I wouldn't say that to Jim," Blair said, „Not if you still want to be standing afterwards."

„Not your roommate, your friend from last night," he sighed, „Although if your roommate's the big macho blonde I'd line him up for Jess."

„The idea is to keep then apart, not throw then together." Blair reminded him.

„Pity, she could use some romance in her life. Been seriously lacking recently. Well forever to be honest."

„You could always get her together with Rafe." Blair joked.

„Not her type, too dressed up."

+++


There was that noise again, Taz thought, and she had that bad feeling again. Something strange was going on but she wasn't sure what. It was too late to turn back now and it would spoil it for everyone if she made a fuss.

Looking back she realised that she was quite a distance away from the rest of the group, which Daryl was heading up with Melanie just behind him. She couldn't even see Mr Smith who was supposed to be in charge. Stopping she waited for everyone else to catch up with her.

„Where's Mr Smith?" Taz asked.

„He must have gone on ahead." Daryl said.

„I haven't seen him for the last half an hour. I think something might have happened to him."

„It's not our problem." Melanie said callously.

„Of course it's our problem," Taz replied, „He could be hurt. I'm going to look for him, but the rest of you should go back and tell someone." They just couldn't leave someone down there when they might be hurt.

„I'll go with you," Darly said, „If he's hurt you're going to need help getting him out of here."

„We need you to get us out of here." Melanie whined.

„All you have to do is go back the way we came. It's a straight line, I doubt that even you could get lost following a straight line," Taz snapped,

„Harold, I want you to keep everybody together on the way back. And tell them what's happened when you get back to camp." Harold was probably the most sensible one amongst the rest of the group.

„I'm not doing anything he says." Melanie protested.

„Fine, don't," she snapped, „But if you get lost it's not my problem."

„I'm going to tell my dad and he'll fire your brother." she threatened.

„I don't give a damn about your dad. He can go fuck himself for all I care," moving towards Melanie, „And you can do the same."

„You can't talk to me like that." Melanie whined.

„Yes I can," Taz replied, „Come one Daryl." turning and walking away from Melanie.

„Harold do as she says." Daryl said before hurrying to catch up with Taz.

„Guess this means we're friends again." he said walking along side Taz.

„For now," she replied, „She'll probably get lost and blame me."

„Maybe," he admitted, „You really let her have it though. She won't bother you for a while."

„Yeah right, I showed her up in front of all her friends. She's not going to forgive me for that in a hurry." Losing her temper had just given Melanie more ammunition to use against her.

„You stood up to her, that counts for something."

„Not a lot." she admitted. Brian was going to be really upset with her because she was going to be reason that he was going to be fired. Still at least Daryl had volunteered to go with her to look for Mr smith. Not that it proved anything, he probably just wanted to play hero so that Melanie wouldn't dump him as soon as she'd dumped all the other guys she'd gone out with.

+++


Hearing her brother's voice coming from outside the office she was in made Jessica's heart sink. She was really in for it, if she was lucky he wouldn't drag her out of the office and straight home. He might even wait until they got home before really ripping into her. By the time he'd finished with her she'd be lucky to if he let her walk to the bathroom on her own. Still maybe he had a point about her trying to push herself too far. She was starting to feel really tired now, but she had to keep going. Falling asleep over case files just wasn't an option that she could take right now. There were too many people relying on her, just like there always were.

„Hey Jim," Blair said, standing in front of his partner's desk, „You feeling okay?"

„I'm fine Chief," Jim replied more than a little confused as to why his friend was asking him that particular question, „Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" looking at the nervous looking young man standing next to Blair.

„Sure, Jim, this is Tommy, Tommy, Jim. Tommy's sister's going to be helping Joel and Megan with their case." Blair said.

„She's a profiler, and teacher." Tommy said.

„They could use the help." Jim said. Well that answered the question of who the white jaguar belonged to, he thought.

„You want to go to the break room?" Blair asked.

„Not at the moment," he replied, „Why don't you just tell me what's going on Chief." His friend was nervous about something because his heart beat was all over the place.

„I just don't think that it would be a good idea for you and Tommy's sister to meet up right now. Not until I've done some research." Blair said.

„Trust me Chief , it's not going to be a problem," Jim grinned at him, „If it was I'd be in lock up right now."

„So no adverse reactions?"

„None, I take it that your friend here knows all about it."

„I help her," Tommy said, „She's not a threat to anyone, she shouldn't even be working on this case."

„I wouldn't worry too much," Jim reassured him, „Joel's not the sort to push, and I'll keep an eye on her." Would be nice to talk to someone else who had enhanced senses, maybe her guide was just as big a trouble magnet as his was.

„Maybe the two of you could get together over dinner," Tommy suggested,

„She gets a bit lonely sometimes. And she makes a mean burger."

„When?" Jim asked.

„Tomorrow night." he replied.

„That's fine with me." It looked as if he'd been successful where his spirit guide hadn't.

+++


„I don't think he's down here." Darly said,

„Maybe you're right." Taz replied, they'd been walking for the past half an hour and hadn't seen any sign of him. „We'll have a break then head back." slipping her backpack off and sitting down on an outcrop of rock.

„Think the others have made it back okay?" he asked sitting down next to her.

„Should nearly be there by now. We'll probably meet up with the search team on the way back."

„So how come you know so much about caving? I can't see your brother being into it."

„No, Brian hates the outdoors," she said, „As for how I know so much. My uncle's a geologist. Every time I visit he takes me caving. Usually a lot warmer than this though." shivering slightly as she opened her back pack and took out a bar of chocolate.

„Think you can forgive me for being such a jerk?"

„Maybe," she admitted, „But that doesn't mean I'm going to share my chocolate with you."

„I've got my own." smiling at her.

+++


This was the perfect opportunity to get her own back on both Taz Rafe and Daryl Banks for the way they'd treated her, Melanie thought. But first she was going to have to get Harold Barclay to do as she said. And as much as she was going to hate it she would have to let the little geek touch her.

„Harold," Melanie purred sidling upto him, „I think you're so brave leading everyone to safety like this."

„R,Really." he stuttered while blushing heavily.

„Really, not just anyone could take charge like you have. They were pretty selfish to leave everything to you to do."

„Someone had to go and look for Mr Smith."

„I really admire people who are as brave as you." Already she could feel her stomach churning from being so close to him. „There's no need to tell anyone that they went looking for Mr Smith is there."

„I have to, they could get into trouble." he replied.

„They just wanted to spend sometime alone."

„Why would they want to do that?" Harold asked.

„Why do you think ?" Melanie replied, „I mean dark romantic cave, nobody else around. And David Ross said that Daryl didn't go back to their cabin last night. So I wouldn't worry about them too much if I were you."

„I don't know."

„Harold, they're not going to be very happy if you send a search party after them. You wouldn't want them to get into trouble would you?"

„The most I can give them is a couple of hours," he said, „If they're not back..."

„It doesn't take that long." smiling at him.

„Did you hear that?" Taz asked as a rumbling sound rang out.

„Yeah," Darly replied, „Maybe we should get out here mow." as dust began to fall from the ceiling along with small pieces of rock.

„I think you're right," standing up and slipping her backpack on, „No point in hanging around here..." looking up she could see a crack rapidly forming in the roof of the cave and a large piece of rock which looked as if it was going to fall at any minute.

„What?"

„Run." grabbing hold of one of his arms and dragging him deeper into the cave.

„The other way." he shouted as piece of rock narrowly missed him.

„Too late."she screamed as there was a deafening roar behind them as the roof caved in.

+++




„Joel, will you make sure that Dr, Jessica has everything she needs," Simon said, Connor I want you to help her go through all the case notes."

„Actually I prefer to work alone," Jessica said, „And I'm sure that your officers have more important things to do than baby-sit me while I go through some files." She really didn't like anyone other than Tommy watching her when she was working.

„This is our case not yours," Megan said bluntly, „You need someone to any questions you might have."

„If I have any questions I'll ask them once I've gone through all the case files." 'I'd still like Connor to assist you." Simon said.

„You're the boss." Jessica said.

+++


She was beautiful, Jim thought when he saw the young woman following Megan and Joel out of Simon's office. It was no wonder that his spirit guide had been so interested in getting to know hers better. And he could see why she wasn't any threat, she was limping. Having dinner with her wasn't going to be any hardship for him, although she might nor think that spending the evening with a middle aged cop was such a good thing.

„Will you excuse me for a minute," Jessica said, „I just need to talk to my brother about something."

„Your desk is the one in the corner." Megan said frowning slightly.

„I shouldn't be too long." she replied. She had a right to talk to Tommy if she wanted to, besides he was going to end up working on the case with her. Sometimes he even gave her her best ideas as to how to proceed with a case.

„Make sure you're not."

+++


She had a serious attitude problem, Jessica thought walking over to where her brother was stood with Blair. She wasn't a novice at profiling cases so she didn't deserve to be treated as one. Hell she wasn't even getting paid for helping them out so they were going to have to cut her some slack, especially when she started teaching.

„You're not supposed to be here," Tommy said, „And you're not going to be for much longer."

„Why? It's not as if I'm going to be running around the streets," she replied, „All I'm doing is looked at case files. Which I can do sitting down. And you are." looking past her brother at the muscular blonde man sitting behind the desk.

„Jim Ellison." he replied smiling at her.

„Jessica Angel." smiling back at him. He was seriously cute, not that she could let herself get distracted while she was working on a case. She had to keep an even keel otherwise her emotions might start to influence her view of the case she was working on.

„The two of you have a lot in common." Blair said.

„So I heard," she replied, „Is seven thirty okay?"

„It's fine." Jim replied.

„Good, now if you'll excuse me I have to go and try to catch a serial killer." heading towards the empty desk in the corner of the Bullpen.

„She's not usually like that," Tommy said, „Once she's working on a case all her social skills tend to disappear along with her ability to sleep."

„Sound familiar?" Blair asked looking at Jim.

„I'd be very careful if I were you Chief," Jim warned him, „I know where you sleep."

„I'd better go and keep an eye on Jess, make sure that she doesn't run herself into the ground on her first day," Tommy said, „Blair has our address."

+++


Slowly Taz opened her eyes and found herself face down on hard rock. At first she was confused as to where she was and what she was doing there. Daryl! Oh god, he'd been right behind her when the roof had caved in. By running the way she had she'd killed her best friend. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes and then began their slow journey down her cheeks. She should have accepted his apology because she hadn't really been that angry with him. Now he was gone and she wouldn't ever have a chance to tell him that she forgave him for being such a jerk. And what was she supposed to tell his dad, that it was all her fault, that Daryl hadn't volunteered to go with her to look for Mr Smith then he'd still be alive.

A wave of panic washed over here when she realised that she might be trapped in here until she died. Which wouldn't be long if there wasn't any air getting in. Suddenly she wished that she wasn't so smart because then she wouldn't have been able to calculate how long she had until she suffocated. Hearing a faint moan coming from just to the left of her, she peered into the darkness trying to see what was making it.

„Daryl?" she asked tentatively, there was another moan, „Is that you?" She was going to have to move in case it was him. He could be hurt, she thought. Using her arms to push herself up onto her knees she crawled to the left of her, putting a hand out in front of her to feel for anything that was there. Her hand brushed against something that felt like fabric with a buckle on it. A backpack! If it was then he was face down just like she had been.

Sitting down she slipped her back pack off. Her fingers fumbled with the fastenings as she tried opening it. With any luck the torch that she'd packed would be all right, failing that she had matches and candles. Brian had laughed at all the extras she'd packed , well now it looked as if she'd been right to. Feeling around in her backpack her fingers finally wrapped around the torch. Pulling it out she switched it on, aiming it in front of her.

It was Daryl, she thought looking at the dust covered figure laying in front of her. Shining the light from her torch upto his head, she took a deep breath then she saw the small pool of blood on the floor. He'd hit his head, and that could be really serious. Next she shone the light down the rest of his body until it reached his feet. Good, she could move him if she had to because there wasn't anything trapping his feet. Moving up to his head she touched his face.

„Daryl," she said softly, „Wake up," moving her hand to his shoulder and shaking it gently, „Daryl," louder this time prompting a moan from him, „You have to wake up. I forgive you."

„Taz..." as he tried turning his head in her direction.

„I'm right here," she reassured him, „Can you tell me where it hurts?"

„Everywhere."

„Okay, I'm going to turn you over, but if it hurts you have to tell me." She'd worry about getting his back pack off later. Carefully she began rolling him over onto his back, „I'm sorry." she murmured when she saw the look of pain on his face.

„S'okay." Darly moaned.

„You hit your head pretty hard." looking down at the bump on his forehead and the deep gash on the right side of his face. So that's where the blood had come from, she thought. „Help shouldn't be too long, but until then you're stuck with me." Back hurts."

„That's probably your backpack digging into it. When you're feeling upto it we'll get you sat up and take it off." But it might be a while before he was upto doing that though.

„He's interested." Jessica said softly when she caught her brother looking across the Bullpen at where Rafe was sitting.

„He's straight," Tommy replied, „Blair said..."

„You shouldn't let that stop you. Ask him if he wants to go for a beer tonight."

„I couldn't."

„Couldn't! From the man whose got me a date with a total stranger. If you don't ask him I will."

„Okay, I'll ask him but later. You know how homophobic cops can be."

„Yeah I know," she replied, „But it's only going for a beer. Whereas I have to cook."

„Just don't poison the poor man." Tommy joked.

„I've never poisoned anyone. Except for when I made that pork curry, and I told you not to eat it."

„You made such a lovely nurse though," he said, „But a lousy patient."

„Maybe if your bedside manner improved."

„Like you would know all about bed and manners."

„Look just because I've chosen not to date for a while it doesn't mean that I don't know anything." Not that she was really in much state to do much at the moment.

„Be honest Jess, you've never dated. Other things have always been more important to you. First it was studying then it was work."

„And I'm still a geek," Jessica said, „Always have been, always will be." He'd always found it easy to get dates, while guys wouldn't even look twice at her. She just wasn't the dating type, but she'd go ahead with tomorrow night , be nice to Jim and then never see him again.

+++


He looked a little better, Taz thought when she'd finished cleaning his face up. There were going to have to be careful with the food and water they had because they couldn't be sure of when help might come. By now Harold and the others were probably back at camp, it's take a while for a search party to be organised though. And then it could take hours for them to dig through the rock which was blocking their way out of the cave. At least the air didn't seem to be running out yet.

„Feel like trying to sit up now?" she asked.

„Yeah." Darly replied weakly.

„It's going to hurt." She'd do her best to try not to hurt him, but she was probably going to anyway.

„Just do it. I'll be okay."

„Think you're upto standing up? Only the wall over there looks pretty smooth," flashing her torch over to where she meant, „You can rest your back against it."

„I can try to," he replied, „I'm going to need some help though."

„You've got it." Now came the difficult part, she thought, once he was on his feet she'd be able to get him over to where he could sit down. Kneeling down next to him she helped him to sit up so that she could take his back pack off. Putting it down next to hers she draped his left arm around her shoulders while wrapping her right a around his waist. „On the count of three okay. One two three." she said standing up dragging him to his feet.

„My leg." Daryl moaned raising his right leg slightly off the floor.

„It's okay, we don't have far to go. I'm not going to drop you." No matter when she wasn't going to do that.

+++


After a lot of struggling Taz got Daryl settled against the wall. Retrieving both back packs from where she'd left them and sat down next to him.

„How's your head?" she asked going through his back pack to see what he had in it.

„Doesn't hurt that much now," he replied, „I'm sorry for being such a jerk."

„It's okay," she said, „This is all my fault. We should have run the way you said."

„Taz, it was an accident. Things could be a lot worse."

„How?"

„I could have been trapped in here with Melanie," he replied, „How much use do you think she'd be?"

„Not much," Taz admitted, „I can see her whining about getting dirty. That if the roof didn't go back up she'd tell daddy."

„You find anything useful in there?" he laughed.

„A couple of things. I might be able to make a splint for your leg. I'll have to wreck the straps on your back pack though."

„Not as if we're going to be hiking anywhere soon," Daryl said, „Taz, I don't know much about this survival stuff, so..."

„I understand, but I'm not going anywhere without you. We both get out of here or we both stay. No middle ground." Even if there was a way out she wasn't just going to take off and leave him behind, not when he was hurt. She wouldn't be much of a friend if she did that. „You going to be okay if I turn the torch off. Don't want to run the batteries down too soon."

„As along as you keep talking to me I will."

„Sure I'll talk to you." she reassured him before turning the torch off and plunging them into darkness.

+++




„Something just doesn't feel right." Jessica said putting the case file she'd been studying to one side.

„What do you mean it doesn't feel right?" Megan asked.

„Like there's something missing," she replied, „How many people have had access to these files?"

„I don't know." Megan admitted.

„Well I need a list of everyone who's touched them." If she could just figure out what was missing then she might have a solid lead for them to work on.

„Maybe you should take a break," Tommy suggested, „Have a coffee, get something to eat. You haven't eaten anything today. You're going to get sick if you don't eat. I'll have to call him if you get sick."

„You wouldn't!" Jessica said, „He'd make split pea soup and make me eat it."

„It's your choice, either take a break or I call him."

„Okay I'll take one. Just don't call him," she replied using the desk she was sitting behind to push herself upright, „I need to use the bathroom anyway."

„And don't forget to get something to eat." Tommy reminded her as she began limping towards the exit.

„Yes dad." she replied.

„Who were you going to call?" Megan asked.

„The only person who can put the fear of god into her," Tommy replied,

„Dad."

„She's scared of your dad!'

„Actually she's scared of what he'll do if he comes. He's not exactly your average dad. He and Jess are complete opposites."

„And?" sensing that there was more to it than that.

„Have you ever met Naomi? Blair's mom."

„I've heard about her." she admitted.

„Well our dad's a lot like her. He has a tendency to embarrass Jess, he doesn't mean to though," Tommy said, „I don't think she's forgiven him for ruining her sweet sixteen party."

+++


He couldn't come, Jessica thought entering the break room, because she would never be able to live it down if he did. It wasn't that she didn't love her dad, he just went over the top most of the time. She supposed that she could always say she was adopted, she'd done it in the past. But then she'd hurt his feelings.

He might even bring someone with him which would be even worse. Yet another of his long line hippy bimbos, as a child she'd never been able to keep track of them all or their names. Sometimes there'd been more than one woman a week passing through his bedroom. Which was probably why he called them all Babe, after all it was a lot easier than trying to remember who he was sleeping with that night.

She hadn't like most of them and the ones she had, well. She'd learnt that that it wasn't good to get too attached to anyone other than Tommy because people moved on after a while.

„Taz, you still there?" Daryl asked, she'd been pretty quiet for a while now.

„Yeah, I was just thinking." she replied.

„About what?"

„Brian, he's going to be really worried when he finds out. And he doesn't have anyone to help him deal with it."

„What about H? They're partners."

„That's not what I meant. He needs someone to look after him when I'm not there. I don't want him to be on his own anymore."

„So what you going to do? Find him a girlfriend?" he asked.

„Or..." it was probably better if she didn't say what she was thinking in case she was wrong.

„Or what?"

„Bri used to have this friend Damien. This was like way before he became a cop. They were best friends, did everything together."

„And?" Daryl prompted.

„We didn't live in a house then. We lived in an apartment. Damien would stay in Bri's room, sleep in his bed." He had to have some idea where she was going with this, she thought.

„Whatever it is you can tell me. I told you all about my mom and her friends."

„Okay, but this stays between just the two of us," Taz said hesitantly, „I walked in on them once and they were kissing."

„Your brother was kissing another guy!'

„Yeah."

„So what happened to this Damien guy?"

„I don't know, he just left one day. He and Bri must have broken up," she replied, „Since then he's only dated women."

„So he's gay!'

„Bi, I suppose."

„You know it's not such a big deal."

„It is if you're a cop. I mean what would your dad say, or even worst Melanie's." Taz said.

„My dad's cool about a lot of stuff. As long as your brother does his job he can't really say anything," he said, „Melanie's dad's a different matter. He had Detective Dobson fired because she didn't get all the puppies."

„That sucks. I should have let her have the puppy."

„No way," he said, „You ever wonder where her dad gets his money? I mean five grand for the gym team place, and the puppies weren't cheap."

„Guess being Chief of Police pays allot" she replied, „Has to, keeping Melanie in lipstick and nail polish must cost a fortune." Not to mention all the designer clothes she wore.

„A problem your brother doesn't have."

„Wanting to look like an over painted doll isn't high on my list of things to do." she replied.

„You ever notice how sickly she smells?" he asked.

„Oh yeah. It's like someone's dumped a bottle of perfume over head."

„How come you never smell like that?" Daryl asked.

„I just don't want to. I have got perfume. Mrs Brown gave me a bottle for Christmas, I'm saving it for a special occasion." she replied. Not that she could think of one off hand though.

„So how do you know them?" Jim asked looking at his partner and friend.

„Naomi," Blair replied, „Their dad's a friend of hers. We stayed with them a couple of times when I was growing up."

„Friend?" He knew all about Naomi's friends.

„They had this on off thing going on for a while. I thought maybe Naomi would settle down for good. Their dad's a great guy."

„So what happened?"

„Naomi screwed up big time," he replied, „She thought they should know how their mom really died. Thought their Karma would be totally damaged if they didn't know."

„And?"

„She went into pretty graphic detail," Blair said, „Jim, they were five at the time. Jess hasn't stayed in the same room as Naomi since then."

„Can't say I blame her Chief. Your mom can be a little difficult to handle..." So is this guy a potential candidate?"

„Could be. He knew Naomi before I was born," he relied, „But Naomi says she doesn't know so..."

+++


Of course she doesn't know, Jessica thought, pouring herself a mug of coffee in the break room, because she'd been too high on drugs to remember who she'd slept with the month Blair had been conceived. But it sure as hell wasn't her dad, he was the only one who hadn't slept with Naomi during that month. She'd heard all about Naomi's exploits during the sixties from her dad and some of his friends.

Growing up she'd actually felt sorry for Blair having Naomi as a mom. He'd been dragged all over the place, dumped with total strangers whenever she'd felt like taking off. No matter how much her dad had embarrassed her over the years, he'd always been there for her when she'd really needed him, even if Tommy was his favourite.

+++




„You ever think about dating?" Taz asked using the straps she'd got off Daryl's back pack to fashion a splint for his leg, „What sort of person you'd date?"

„Sometimes," he admitted through gritted teeth, „So what would he be like?"

„I don't know." she replied.

„Why did you ask then?"

„Not exactly a lot else to do in here. I'll remember to pack a radio for the next time we get trapped in a cave."

„How about a cell phone?"

„Rocks too thick, signal would never get through it. If I had one which I don't." When they were out she'd ask Brian if she could have one for Christmas.

„I want to know what he'd be like." Daryl said.

„Do I really have to tell you?" Taz asked.

„Yeah, if you tell me I'll tell you."

„Well..." she began hesitantly, „He'd be tall, because just about everyone is taller than me. Have a sense of humour. I guess he'd be a lot like Brian."

„White, middle class."

„Not necessarily. As long as I'm happy he could be purple with yellow spots," she replied, „It's your turn now."

„Someone like you," he said, „That I could be friends with. My mom and dad weren't friends. Not like we are."

„I think there's a big difference between being friends with someone and marrying them. But I can see how it would make things easier. You'd have a lot in common to begin with, similar backgrounds, values."

„Just like us." Daryl said.

„Yeah, just like us."

„So if someone like me asked you out, you'd say yes?"

„I guess so. Could we talk about something else now."

„Why?"

„I just don't want to talk about it anymore," she snapped, „So just drop it."

„Taz..." he began.

„I've said drop it." turning the torch off and moving away from him.

+++


He'd upset her, Daryl thought sitting there in the darkness. He hadn't meant to, and he couldn't afford to upset her because she was his best friend and she was his only hope of making it through this okay. Melanie had claimed that Taz was jealous, she'd even sounded jealous to him. But that was ridiculous, Taz was the sort of person who would tell someone if she liked them more than just as friends, she hadn't said anything to him about that though.

So maybe he did like her more than as a friend should. Not that he'd said anything to her, it wasn't easy to tell your best friend that you might be in love with them. What was love anyway? He'd asked his dad that once and he hadn't been able to give him a definite answer, just that he would know what it was when the time was right.

What if she'd only been pretending to be jealous to annoy Melanie. If he said anything he could ruin their friendship. For the time being he wouldn't say anything to her. Being friends with her was more important that anything else right now.

+++


Looking at the names on the list Megan had got her Jessica frowned. There was one name that was listed for every case file. So it wasn't anything solid yet, but it did warrant a closer look at the officer involved.

„Well?" Megan asked impatiently.

„I think I've found something," Jessica replied, „One person has been at every crime scene and has handled every case file."

„So?"

„So since when did record clerks attend crime scenes?"

„They don't'

„Exactly. Of course I haven't found any solid proof against him. But with a little digging you should be able to find something linking him with them."

„You're sure it's him?" Megan asked, „We can't just go around arresting people."

„I've given you a potential suspect, which is a lot more than you had two hours ago," Jessica snapped, „You know my brother was right, I shouldn't even be doing this. I'm not getting paid for it. And don't start telling me about not accusing people wrongly."

„We have to be sure."

„Do you know what sure really gets you?"

„No." Megan admitted.

„It gets you two years of agony. Because people like you don't always listen to people like me. You have a suspect so go do your job because I've done mine for the time being." Did she really think that she would just pick any name at random to get it over and done with as quickly as possible.

„I will but if you're wrong..." Megan began.

„It's him, or someone very close to him. He might even have helped them,' Jessica said, „I should be at home resting not putting up with crap from you." standing up, „Blair has my phone number if you need any more help."

„You can't just walk off an investigation." Megan protested.

„It's your investigation not mine," she replied, „And in case you hadn't noticed I can't run round the city chasing suspects." trying to limp away from her.

„Just because..."

„Because what?"

„You screwed up your last case." Megan shouted.

„For your information I didn't screw up," Jessica shouted, „It was someone like you who did. And I've spent every day of the past two years paying for it." Megan looked at her in stunned silence. „Two weeks that bastard had me, two weeks. The fucking cops wouldn't even start looking for me until Walter put a gun to the head of their Chief of Police and threatened to blow his brains out if he didn't put an APB out on me."

„The file said..."

„What that I accused a thirty year old desk sergeant of being a serial killer?" Jessica asked, „Didn't mention the fact that there was a stack of sexual assault complaints against him did it. How about the fact that he was engaged to the Mayor's daughter at the time?"

„No," Megan admitted..

„I was in what was supposed to be a safe house when he grabbed me. After walking straight past all his cop buddies he took out four FBI agents. And even then they wouldn't look for me because they were still so sure I was wrong. They ignored all the evidence, and he killed three more people after he grabbed me," she said, „He even held poker games for his friends, while he was holding me. One of them even saw me and said nothing about it. Two paramedics fainted when they found me. They had to use fingerprints to identify me because no-one recognised me."

„I'm..." Megan began, aware that everyone was looking at her.

„What sorry, that's a first. I'm still waiting for one from those bastards who screwed up. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going home." Jessica said pushing past her.

+++


She'd really screwed up, Megan thought, and there was nothing that she could say that was going to make matters any better. She was going to be hauled over the coals by Simon for this.

„You go anywhere near my sister again and I'll personally kick your butt all the way back to Oz," Tommy said glaring at her, „She doesn't need some jumped up sheep shearer telling her how to do her job because she is the best there is. By the way I will be reporting you." walking off to find his sister.

+++


She had no money and no way to get home, Jessica thought, getting out of the lift on the ground floor. There was no way that she could walk home as her leg was hurting her too much. And to make matters worse she was starting to hallucinate again. There in front of her she could see the small grey jaguar that she'd been seeing for the past several weeks. She couldn't help but smile when she saw her spirit guide Soliel circling the cub as if to stop it from wandering off. Who it belonged to she didn't have clue, just that it needed protecting until it was big enough to look after itself.

Moments later it was joined by a black wolf cub. Now that was a new development, she thought, he was unsteady on his feet as if he hadn't been born too long ago. Maybe he hadn't, spirit guides had to come from somewhere so there was no reason why they weren't born like normal animals.

Although what she was seeing was amazing, there was something wrong. The two cubs should have been playing together instead they were totally ignoring each other. Even when Soliel nudged them towards each other they moved apart the moment she went to nudge the other one. She was going to have to talk to Tommy and see if he couldn't work out what was wrong. Because apart neither of them were going to survive long enough to grow up.

+++


Where was that light coming from, Taz thought, looking around. Checking to make sure that the torch was switched off she found that it was. That meant that there was light getting into the cave from somewhere outside. Looking across at Daryl she could see that he was fast asleep. And he looked a lot worse than he had when she'd just had the torch to use for light. Now that she had some proper light to work by she could patch him up a lot better than she'd been able to so far. She might even be able to start digging them out now that she could see properly.

After digging out the water bottle she'd opened earlier and her first aid kit she got up and moved over to where Daryl was. He looked so cute when he was asleep, she thought. There she'd finally admitted to herself that she thought Daryl was cute. Not that it meant that she forgave him for the way he'd treated her or anything. But he needed her to take care of him right now. Casting a quick glance at her watch she realised that it was a lot later than she'd thought it was. And that help was taking it's time coming.

„Mom." Daryl moaned when something cold and wet touched his face.

„It's Taz," she said softly, „Go back to sleep."

„What time is it?" he groaned.

„Four in the afternoon," wiping the dried blood off his face, „Help's taking a little longer to get here than I thought. But it will get here. We just have to sit here and wait."

„How long?" trying to stretch then regretting it when his body protested.

„Could be tomorrow," she admitted, „Last time..."

„Last time!'

„This isn't the first time I've been trapped in a cave okay," she said, „It was warmer than this though."

„No wonder you're not freaking out." he joked.

„Wouldn't do any good to."

„So where was it and when?"

„South Africa when I was ten," Taz replied, „Believe it or not it was my first visit to my uncle on my own."

„You went all that way on your own when you were ten!" disbelief showing in his voice.

„Bri couldn't get away because of this big court case and H wouldn't have been too welcome there at the time. I was okay, except I ended up sitting next to this really old lady who ate mints the whole way there."

„My dad wouldn't let me go all that way by myself even now," he sighed,

„What's it like there?"

„Now or before Mandela?"

„Both." Daryl replied.

„I guess it depends on where you go and who you meet. Like anywhere else really. My uncle knows some really cool people."

„So how come you got trapped in a cave?" moving to get more comfortable as he suspected that it was along story.

„There was a cave in. I got stuck on one side and my uncle on the other,' Taz said, „Luckily I was carrying the food and water. It got really boring after the first three days. Not a lot to do in a cave except sit and wait to be rescued. Good thing I brought a book with me this time."

„Why? You can't read it without using the torch and I thought that we were saving that."

„It's light enough in here to see without the torch." Maybe he'd got a bigger bang on the head that she'd originally thought if he couldn't see the light. She couldn't really say anything in case it scared him. „How's your leg feel?" changing the subject.

„Feels stiff. So how come you can see in the dark and I can't" Daryl said. Well, I, er I've always been able to." It wasn't exactly a complete lie, she thought, she'd always had better eyesight than her brother and it had got even better after she'd been trapped in that cave.

+++


Zoning in the middle of a police station lobby was not a good thing, Tommy thought when he saw his sister standing there staring into space. She'd over done and now she was paying the price. Once he'd brought her out if he'd get her home. Then it would be straight to bed for her where she'd be staying for at least the next twenty four hours. And she wouldn't be working on anymore cases.

If she didn't listen to him then he was going to have to call dad. Because he'd make Jess listen to him. He'd last spoken to him to tell him that Jess had changed careers and gone into teaching at Rainier. He'd been so pleased that finally she'd seen sense. Now he was going to have to break the news to him that Jess had taken on another case, one which was similar to the one which had almost got her killed. This time though he wasn't going to let her down, if anyone wanted to get to her then they were going to have to go through him. And he had a gun.

„Jess," Tommy said gently touching her on the arm , „Time to go."

„Where?" she asked.

„Home, you need to get some rest."

„Maybe I do," she admitted as the scene in front of her faded, „My leg hurts."

„That's what happens when you push yourself too hard. You should never have agreed to take on the case."

„All I've done is look at case files," she reminded him, „And I found them a possible suspect."

„We're going to have a long talk about this when we get home."

„Does this mean we're friends again?" Daryl asked when Taz had finished cleaning his face up.. He hoped so.

„I don't know maybe," she replied, „You want a drink?"

„Yeah, you got anything to eat?"

„Some chocolate and a couple of apples."

„I'll have an apple." he said.

„You only brought chocolate."

„I'm not the expert at getting trapped in caves." he joked.

„You won't be laughing when we're licking lichen off rocks." handing the bottle of water that she was holding.

„No way am I licking anything off rocks."

„When you're hungry enough you'll eat anything." she said going to get him an apple. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that though, she thought, help had to come before it got that bad. Right now there was a search party being organised, or at least she hoped that there was. Harold was sensible enough to have got everyone else back safely and to have told someone where they'd gone. But she wouldn't put it past Melanie to try and throw a spanner in the works just to teach her and Daryl a lesson. If that was the case then they could be trapped for a very long time. Not that she could tell Daryl that, because it was her fault that they'd got trapped in the first place.

„Taz are you okay?" Darly asked.

„Just thinking." she replied.

„I wish you wouldn't do that."

„What think?"

„Go quiet like that, it's unsettling." he said.

„Sorry, so what do you want to talk about?" handing him the apple she'd just got him. She wasn't really in the mood to talk but if that's what he wanted her to do then she would.

„Why did you want me to drop it earlier? You know when we were talking about who we'd date."

„There was no point in talking about it. No-one is ever going to want to date me."

„That guy asked you out." he said.

„For a dare. I'm a geek, nobody dates geeks." she sighed.

„Taz, you're not a geek. Just because you're smarter than most people it doesn't make you a geek."

„Daryl, I've never fitted it," Taz said, „No matter how hard I've tried to I just can't. I'm not like other people and never will be." There she'd finally admitted it to someone else.

„Then don't try to fit in. I like you because you're not like everyone else."

„Sure right." she muttered. No matter what he said she knew what the truth was.

„So you were just pretending to be jealous of Melanie."

„You really don't want to know the answer to that." Because if she told him then that would be the end of their friendship for good.

„You weren't pretending were you?" he asked.

„No, I wasn't pretending. There now you know the truth. Happy now," she snapped, „Now you can have a good laugh at just how pathetic I really am." moving to the other side of the cave that they were in.

+++


She hadn't been pretending, Darly though, that meant that she had to like him more than just as friend. That was good because he liked her as more than as friend as well. So why was she still so mad with him. Somehow he got the feeling that this was one of those "I'll never understand women" moments that his dad had told him about. No matter what he said or did at the minute it was going to be wrong, but that didn't mean that he shouldn't try to get her to understand how he felt about her. He should just go ahead and tell her because he couldn't make things any worse between them than they already were.

„Taz, I'm not laughing okay," he said staring into the darkness at what he hoped was her, otherwise he was going to be talking to a rock wall, „And I don't think you're pathetic. If anyone is, it's me." She obviously agreed with that because there wasn't any denial coming from her. „We're friends, we should be able to talk about anything right. At least I always thought we could. Guess I was wrong. Just some things you can't tell me right."

„Guess so." came a hesitant reply.

„I really do like you, not just as my best friend. Maybe, that's if you wanted to we could go on a date date."

„Maybe," Taz said, „If Brian would let me that is. Which he won't."

„Because it's me?"

„No, he just doesn't want me dating anyone. He says I'm too young."

„But if he let you, would you want to?" A simple yes would do he thought.

„Depends."

„On what?" he asked.

„Where you were planning to take me," she replied, „Wonder burger isn't going to cut it."

„You know I only get twenty bucks a week allowance."

„You'd better start saving up then." she joked.

„Drink it while it's hot," Tommy said handing Jessica a mug of tea, „It'll help you to relax."

„Just for once couldn't you make proper tea?" she asked sniffing the contents of the mug, „This smells like pond water."

„It's good for you so drink it." It would also help her to sleep, something that she hadn't been doing a lot of recently. Maybe after a good night's sleep she would think again about working any more cases.

„Why is everything that smells and tastes bad good for you? Wouldn't it be a lot easier if pizzas were good for you, or how about hamburgers."

„Of course it would. But life wasn't meant to be easy." And she knew better than anyone just how true that was. „And don't think that distracting me is going to work, you're still going to have to drink your tea."

„Did you know about that Jim guy?" drinking her tea down in one go.

„Jess, I swear all I knew was that Blair had some test subject, not who or what he was," Tommy reassured her, „You know that I would never..."

„It's okay, I believe you. From now on I will try and do a better job,' tears forming in the corners of her eyes, „I just get so tired sometimes. I want the pain to go away for just a little while so I can remember what it was like before."

„It will," taking her now empty mug off her, „You have to be patient. Time is the only thing that is going to make it better." She'd never had much patience except when it came to working on her cases. And her patience had been pushed to it's limits again and again over the past two years. He didn't like to see her so down. Maybe she'd feel better tomorrow night after she'd had a chance to talk to Jim. After all he was the only other person who understood that it was like to see the world totally differently to everyone else around them. „Do you want me to run you a bath?"

„Yeah, might loosen the muscles up a bit," she replied, „Do you think he's cute?"

„Who are we talking about?" Tommy asked.

„Jim."

„He's a bit too macho for my taste, but yeah he could be considered cute." smiling at her.

„Chief, if you want to go see your friend, make sure she's okay," Jim said,

„I've just about finished for today."

„I think I should. Tommy could probably use someone to talk to," Blair replied, „I didn't know that she had all of them until..."

„It's not a problem. you'd know if it was."

„So you like Jess?"

„She's nice." Jim admitted, and he wouldn't mind getting to know her better if he had got the chance to. „Has a tough job."

„Had, she's teaching now, or will be from after half term. She's sharing my office."

„She could use someone to keep an eye on her."

„Tommy's done a pretty good job of it so far. At least she doesn't have to hide what she is as well as you have to," Blair said, „Might be nice for her to have someone she could talk to. And she might have some techniques you could use at crime scenes."

„What makes you think that she'll want to teach me anything?" The last thing she probably wanted or needed right now was him bothering her.

„Because helping other people always helps distract her from her own problems."

+++


Something was wrong, Harold thought, Daryl and Taz should have been back by now. Maybe he should have stood up to Melanie when he'd had the chance to. Now if he said anything about where they'd gone he was going to get into serious trouble. Not that what Melanie had done was worth that much trouble. Beside it would come down to her word against his and he knew who everyone would believe. He'd give them unto it was dark to be back by, then he'd go looking for them himself. If he couldn't find them then he was going to have to tell someone in case they were hurt.

+++


The little creep was having second thoughts about not saying anything, Melanie thought when she saw Harold wondering around. Not that anyone would believe him if he said anything, after all he was just a friendless geek where as she was very popular. Still she couldn't take the chance that someone might think that there was something wrong and decide to check where Daryl and Taz where for themselves. Not that she'd done anything wrong, they'd decided to go and look for Mr Smith no-one had asked them to. And it was their fault if they'd got hurt or anything. She was going to have to keep a close eye on Harold for the time being though, just so he knew that it would be better for him not to say anything. And if he dared to, well then both her and daddy could make life very unpleasant for him.

„Ellison, Sandburg." Simon bellowed as Megan left his office. He was going to find out just what exactly had taken place in his department between Connor and Dr Angel. The young profiler had admitted that her senses were better than average and she'd zoned in front of him. There was still a lot that he didn't understand about the whole Sentinel thing that was going on with his best team. But if something was going to affect it then he needed to know before anything happened.

„You bellowed." Blair grinned as he and Jim entered Simon's office.

„Close the door," Simon growled, „Dr Angel..."

„She didn't start it," Jim said defensively, „Connor did, she..."

„I know exactly what Connor said. But that doesn't excuse Dr Angel walking off the case."

„Jess didn't have any choice," Blair said, „Megan backed her into a corner."

„After she'd given her a suspect," Jim reminded him, „The only one anyone's been able to come up with."

„I'm well aware of that fact," Simon said, „Also that Dr Angel zoned. Is she..."

„She was a full Sentinel, but now touch is normal." Blair said.

„Are there going to be any problems that I need to be aware of?"

„I don't think so do you Chief?" Jim said.

„Not unless she has to work with Connor again," Blair replied, „Sentinels and red heads don't mix." earning him a cuff round the head from his partner for that comment.

„Joel'll be handling all contact with Dr Angel from now on. As well as apologising to the Dr for Connor's attitude problem."

„That might be better coming from Jim," Blair suggested, „You know Sentinel to Sentinel. It's his tribe that's insulted her. And you never know when you might need her help in the future."

„Just make sure that she knows that Connor's been reprimanded for her behaviour." Simon said dismissing them.

+++


A real date date with Daryl, Taz thought, that would be really cool. But there was no way that her brother would let her go on one. By the time that they got out of this cave she'd be lucky if he let her go to school by herself. Still she didn't have to tell him that it was a real date she as going on. After all he was used to her hanging out with Daryl now. Looking at her watch she realised that less than an hour had passed since the last time she'd looked at it. Another couple of hours and it would start getting dark outside. Already she could feel the air in the cave starting to get cooler. She'd be fine if the temperature dropped because she could get up and move around to keep warm. Daryl wasn't going to be so lucky though with his injured leg. It was going to be upto her to try and keep him warm. Getting up from where she was sitting she walked across and sat down next to Daryl.

„How you doing?" she asked.

„Okay," he replied, „But I'm going to need the bathroom soon."

„Oh!" That could be a bit of a problem, she thought as he wasn't going to be able to stand up on his own, well to do it. „We'll work something out when you really need to go." But what, she wasn't exactly sire of at the moment.

„I'm starting to feel cold." he said.

„It's the damp," Taz said, „I'll see what I can sort out. By the way how much do you like your backpack?"

„Right now not a lot."

„So it's okay if I rip it apart?"

„Sure." he replied.

„I'll buy you another one when we get out of here." she promised as she began to work out the best way to take his backpack apart so that it would be of the most use to him.

Go to Part I
Go to Part III