Cassidy knew Irisa was on Home doing an early morning interview so was surprised to see her office lights on and to hear noises from the inner depths of her sanctum. Hoping her interview had been canceled and that he could give her the flowers he held in person, he walked through into her main office.

What he saw gave him pause. Frilly wasn't Irisa, and yet frills were what he was looking at. Said frills were attached to the very short skirt of a petite blond with curly short hair, a turned up nose and friendly amber eyes. "Hi!" the blond said, giving him a bright smile.  "You shouldn't have!"  She sashayed over and took the flowers out of his hand before he could get a word out. She smiled dimply at him He was still trying to figure out how to protest as she expertly cut the stems and slid then into a vase full of fresh water.

"She'll like 'em. I hope you're Cassidy."

"I am," he finally managed to say.

"Hullo, I'm Daisy. I understand the operative word around here for my job title is 'minion'.  Close your mouth before a fly gets in it, that's what my grandpop used to always say anyway. You know, I really hate this office. Maybe if I put up curtains?  Purple curtains with big white daisies. Whaddya think?"

"Uhm, well...I'm hardly the one to say.  Not my area of expertise at all.  Jordon, my a...minion...does the feng shui,"  Cassidy said trying hard to imagine the curtains and failing.  Maybe you had to have an extra x chromosome.

"Oh? feng shui? I'll have to check out his office then. Thata way?" she asked pointing in the right direction,

"Yes, uhm, good luck with the, uhm decorating."

"Thanks!" she said as she thumped him on the back. She was a bit short to reach his shoulder.  He watched her frills head down the hallway ruminatively.

Jordon, bless him, wasn't any more ready for Daisy than Cassidy had been. "Hey, hear you do feng shui. Oh, yeah. Look at this office. All straight lines and nary a cute thing in sight.'

"Er, cute Miss...ah...Miss?"  Jordon stammered looking around wildly, suddenly wondering if he'd failed applied feng shui.  Then he got himself in hand.  I'm Jordon Sinclair, Mr. Cassidy's aide, or minion depending on who you're talking to.  And you are?" he asked holding out his hand, a grin on his face.

"Daisy Thompson, I'm Irisa Diamond's new minion. So where's the clubhouse?" She shook his hand and he had to check to make sure he had all his fingers.  When she saw that, she said, "Oh, sorry. My daddy raised us GRITS."

"Grits?" Jordon asked, lost.

"Girls Raised in the South, honey.  I was pullin' car engines when I was nine."

Jordon nodded like he understood.  "Well, Reno's in charge of the clubhouse, Natha decorating it.  You should talk to him about that.  He's Marc's minion."  Jordon caught up with the conversation then.  "Say!  How'd you know 'bout that?"  he demanded.

"Oh, I've got my ways," she said, flashing her dimple at him. "Know where a girl can get some help with the furniture? Not that I can't move it by myself but I wanna scoot it around some to see what looks best."

"Well, we minions are always ready to help other minions.  We could go see what Reno and Tommy are doing.  Marc's away right now riding dragons so even if Tommy's busy, Reno might not be."  Jordon led her to Reno's office and let her enter first, gentleman that he was, and dying to see the look on Reno's face.

That look was entirely satisfactory, for Jordon. Reno goggled. Then recovered and smiled. "Hi, Miss, uhm, miss?"

Daisy held out her hand. "Daisy. Thompson if you must know. Don't use it much. Daisy does fine. You're Reno? What kinda name is that?"

"It's uhm, my last name."

"What's your first?" Daisy asked.

"Look uhm, what's up?" Reno asked.

"She wants some help with the furniture," Jordon explained.

"Uhm?" Reno was lost.

"I'm Irisa's new minion.  And I want a club card."

"Oh..." Reno was feeling slightly faint. He was having visions of frilly curtains and tablecloths in the clubhouse.

Jordon saw him pale and leaped into the breach. "Requires a vote of the full membership, doncha know.  Bylaws and all."

"Ah, well, maybe we can all get together and discuss it over lunch.  Come on then."  She marched Jordon and Reno out of there down the hallway.

Jordon hit the brakes at Trevor's office.  He looked and said a prayer of thanks.  Natha was in...she'd handle this.

"Hi boys, what's up?"  Natha asked, then saw the blond.  "Oh, you must be Ms Diamond's new minion.  I'm Nazareth Caravalhos...Natha.  Welcome to the Refuge.  The boys been giving you the tour or did they bring you here cause they can't figure out how to talk to you?"

"The latter I think. Daisy Thompson, nice to meet you. Nice threads, by the way. They tell me I have to beg entry to the club. Bet they told you that too."

"We didn't" Reno protested.  "All we said was full vote of the membership.  Just like when Natha joined.  We all voted.  Then we asked her.  Waved the initiation AND changed the name so she could be in, too."  He was clearly indignant at such blatant slander.

"Yeah!  Her vote was unanimous"  Jordon agreed.  "You asked for a vote at lunch and that's what we gonna have."

"Way ta go, Daisy!"  Natha said, offering her a high five.  "Couldn't have done that better myself.  You got my vote!"

The gang then trooped down the hallway to the last minion's office. Poor Tommy had no idea what lay in store for him. Reno tried to warn him, but it was Daisy who got in front and led them all into the outer office. Tommy was only half visible, sorting through files scattered across the floor around his chair.  When he heard them he was delighted - any excuse to get out of this.  He looked up, a smile on his face.

He stood up automatically when he saw her, scattering all the sorted papers in his lap and knocking the stack off the desk.  Flaming bright red, he didn't know whether to drop to his knees and retrieve the papers or what.  "Uhm, er, a...hi....ah excuse me," he finally got out, flushing red again not knowing where to look, her legs or her curls.

"Oh, crap," Daisy said and was suddenly on her knees scooping up his papers. He went down on his knees too, in self defense.  Papers got scooped up and suddenly Tommy was nose to nose with Daisy.

After a minute or so, she patiently repeated, "Here," trying to hand him the stack of files she'd picked up. She smiled at him but it didn't seem to help much.

"Oh, ah, thank you," he said reaching for them and almost dropping them again.

She put out a swift hand to save them and smiled at him again, her dimple flashing.

Tommy stared at it mesmerized.  He couldn't even remember his name.

"Are you Tommy? You don't look like Stephen," she added, frowning as she studied him.

Grateful for the help he nodded.  "Yeah, Tommy.  That's my name.  Thanks, I forgot."  Then he flushed even redder and stood up abruptly.  "Can I help you?" he asked trying to salvage his dignity.

Meanwhile Reno and Jordon were staring fascinated while Natha tried valiantly to control her twitching lips.

"You can give me a hand up," Daisy suggested.

"Oh yeah, right, sorry," he said, grasping her hand and towing her to her feet.  Then he just stood there again, so taken by her eyes that he almost forgot his name again.  He certainly forgot to let go of her hand.

"May I have my hand back?" she asked after a minute's worth of fruitless attempts to pull it away gently.

He let it go like it was on fire.

Jordon looked at Reno.  "Oh yeah.  Gonna need a lot of meetings of the IBMs coming up soon, I think."

"Yup," Reno agreed. "Come on, let's help Daisy with the furniture."

The gang of them trooped down the hallway to Irisa and Daisy's office. Daisy stood by and directed them first this way, and then that way.  Jordon suggested feng shui but Daisy wasn't having any of it. "I wonder if I should paint the walls," Daisy said as the guys sat around panting after moving the furniture back and forth. Natha was lounging on a chair enjoying the hell out of the scene.

"We'd do that for you, wouldn't we, guys?"  Tommy offered.  "What color are you thinking, maybe a nice cream or egg shell?"

Jordon rolled his eyes and Natha bit her cheek to stop from laughing.  Reno looked around and shook his head, "No, I'd go with some color, maybe a real pale blue."

"I'm thinking...."  Daisy said, and every guy leaned forward to hear... "hot pink!"

Natha choked and executed a successful conversion to coughing.  Reno and Jordon just goggled.

"You know," Tommy said seriously, "I can picture that.  You think Ms Diamond would like it?"

"Hmmmm," Daisy said looking around. "Okay, maybe not. How about a nice light peach." She snuck a wink at Natha.

"Well...." Tommy pursed his lips considering.  "Whaddya think guys?  Peach would be good.  A good color for girls.  Right?"

"Oh yeah," Reno agreed. "A good color for girls."

Natha cleared her throat.  "Uhm...girls did you say, boys?"

 

Jordon hastily denied ever allowing the word to pass his lips regarding any female past puberty.

Tommy looked at her puzzled.  "You aren't girls?"

"Women, honey," Natha said. Daisy and Natha linked arms and marched out leaving the men standing where they were mouths hanging open.

Jordon recovered first.  "Right guys, I think it's time to talk strategy and that requires a drink.  Time for the coffee bar."  And led the way.

Tommy got a cup of tea and found a table while Reno and Jordon messed around waiting for lattes.  He'd heard that the new housekeepers had arrived yesterday but he hadn't met them.  He just hoped they'd be easier to deal with than Tabitha was.  Maybe Stephen would stop telling him to kiss her too.  The thought perked him up so much her started wondering if they had dimples too.

The guys returned with their lattes and were sitting down when Reno suddenly thought he was seeing double. Natha and Daisy arrived then and walked over to join the doubles.  Er Twins.  Jordon was staring at the sight. Four single women.

"It's the new housekeepers."  Tommy said.  "Murgatroyd...Minnie and Murgie they're called," he said and moved on to his problem.  "Now, I don't get it.  She calls us boys but we can't call them girls?"

"It's the whole PC thing", Reno explained. "We guys always get suckered." He stared down morosely at his latte. Lucky Melly didn't worry about those things.

Jordon and Tommy had eyes locked onto four females. Yeah, even Tommy since the girls, er, women, weren't looking his way.

The four women laughed and Natha looked back toward the three minions, and said something which made the Murgatroyds blush.

"Uh ho," Jordon said.  "We're under discussion."

"Huh?" Tommy said.

Jordon shook his head and sipped his latte.  "So, uh, you know them Tommy?"

"Who?"  Tommy asked, blinking and pulling his attention away from the foursome. OK, the dimples.

"The housekeepers."  Jordon prompted.  "You know them?"

"Oh, yeah.  They interviewed with Marc and Stephen.  They're living with Tabitha.  Stephen said Tabitha promised Mabel she'd keep an eye on them or something."

"The one on the right is cute," Jordon commented. The other two just looked at him. "Well, she is," Jordon said defensively.

"So's Daisy," Tommy replied.

"Hot pink!" Reno and Jordon said simultaneously and making faces.

"Well, it's a nice color." Tommy protested.  "And if she likes it what's wrong with that?"

"EEEk," Reno said, then added, "Oh. My. God. Heads up. They're headed this way."

And so they were, all four women stopped at the coffee bar, got their preferred beverage and came toward the guys.

"Hi boys," Natha said, pulling up a chair."  "Mind if we join you?"

Jordon scooting over to make room, judged the question to be rhetorical.

Tommy also scooting over, glared at Natha.  "It's not fair, we're past puberty and you still call us boys."

"Yeah," Reno decided to get indignant too. Purely in support of Tommy.  "Bet you wouldn't call Stephen or Marc or Cassidy boys," Reno finished.

The women looked at each other and all laughed.  "One is off riding dragons, another is hopping in bed every chance he gets, and the other, well, he's besotted with Irisa. Yeah, we would," Natha finished. "Now ask me about Laz and Trevor, I dare you."

Tommy hadn't gotten that far yet.  "Stephen only sleeps with Doni," he pointed out, defensive of his boss.  "They're bonded."

Jordon choked on his latte and only just stopped himself from spraying the table.

"Erm, Tommy,"  Reno said gently.  "I don't think that was the point."

"No?  Then what was the point?  She makes it sound like he sleeps with anybody.  Even when he thought she was dead he was faithful to her."  He gave Natha the full blast of his indignation.  "Trevor has a wife and he goes home to her every chance he gets and Laz is so stuck on Dinah he can't see straight.  And what wrong with riding dragons?  Wouldn't you if you got a chance?"

Reno looked at Tommy and then his tea cup.  "I gotta try some of that."

"So," Jordon tried, looking at the Murgatroyds. "Settling in?  Anything we minions can do to help?"

The Murgies shared a look then one of them said, "Thanks very much for the kind offer. We're doing fine. Everyone has been very nice."

"That's nice to hear.  Still if you need anything just let us know.  We're here to help.  So, ah, which of you is Minnie and which Murgie?"

"I'm Murgie, the one on the left said, she's Minnie."

"So, uhm, Tommy says you know Mabel." Reno said.  "I've met her, seems a...nice...woman."

The Murgies giggled in unison. "Nice hardly describes her. Have you seen her wield an Uzi?"

Tommy sat up. How come he was always missing the exciting stuff."

"My kinda gal," Daisy commented. "I wonder if she'd like going hunting with me."

Jordon blinked at Daisy, then snuck a look at Tommy.  Oh yeah, lots of meetings.  "Dunno, Daz, you can always ask her.  She runs Dinah's hotel."

"Ah. I've heard interesting things about that place," Daisy said, staring speculatively at Tommy.

"Ahem," Reno said, to ease the pressure on Tommy, who was likely to fold, "so do you two hunt too?" Reno asked the twins.

"Oh yes!" they both said happily. "With our Uzis."

Lots and lots of meetings, Jordon thought.

Doni groaned and leaned her head against the side of the sink, reaching above her for the wash cloth. She wiped her face, closed her eyes and concentrated on breathing through her nose while her stomach roiled rebelliously. After a few minutes she sighed and pushed her self up from her knees and sat down on the edge of the bath.

She took a deep breath and focused inward, probing. She was still at it when her stomach lurched nauseously and she collapsed back in front of the toilet, heaving and gagging helplessly even though her stomach couldn’t have been emptier.

Eventually she returned to her seat on the tub and resumed her inner investigation. She was unsurprised to discover she was pregnant. She was more than surprised when her probe revealed the presence of two steady heart beats.

She groaned and laid her head in her hands, resuming her self appointed task of breathing exclusively through her nose while she reminded herself she’d been trying to get preggers, she wanted to be preggers and morning sickness wasn’t chronic and usually wasn’t fatal. Whether it was the mantra, the breathing or just plain time she didn’t know but she eventually felt well enough to attempt to stand.

She made herself a cup of chamomile tea and looked longingly at the coffee pot. For the next few days she was going to have a hell of a headache, she thought, as she dunked the teabag. Sipping she turned her mind to how to tell Stephen he’d proved himself a man and not only knocked her up, but also the delightful news that they were expecting not one but two little munchkins in about 8 months, give or take a few days At least she wasn’t going to have to deal with being nine months gone with twins in August. At the moment she was inclined to consider that a poor trade for the caffeine.

She wrinkled her nose and finished the tea, trying to decide whether to tell him now and blow his mind at work or wait until tonight. She grinned and opted for work. Serve him right if he couldn’t concentrate for the rest of the day.

A few minutes later she grinned again, this time at Tommy. “Is he free?”

“Yes ma’am,” Tommy said.

“For how long?”

“He’s got a meeting with Cassidy, Marc and Cal after lunch.” He told her.

“Cool.” She gave him a conspiratorial smile. “He’s now busy until then, just in case anyone asks.”

Tommy looked at his blotter, blushing, wondering why women always did this to him and why he never got used to it. ”Yes ma’am.”

“Oh, and Tommy, one more thing.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“It isn’t ma’am, it’s mom.” And with that she walked into Stephen’s office closing the door behind her. “Hi.”

“Hi, yourself,” he said.

Doni snicked the lock on the door silently and approached the desk.

“What’s up?” Stephen asked, eyeing her warily.

“Did I ever tell you,” she asked, moving to the side of the desk, “about this fantasy I have?”

She leaned her hip against the edge and smiled, a sultry smile that sent all his systems to battle stations. “Erm, not that I recall.”

“Oh, well…it goes likes this, “she said moving between him and his desk, resting her rear against it and positioning herself so that he had no option but to look at her or the ceiling.

“I tell you the rabbit died twice, then you go all masculine on me and have your evil way with me right here and now on the desk.” As she said the last she looked right and swept everything on the desk surface to the floor with a crash, then did the same on the left.

Tommy, who heard the twin crashes started for the door and thought better of it.

“Twins,” Stephen said, his voice hoarse. and distracted by the mess she’d made on the floor with the work he’d been doing. “Twins?”

She moved a little closer placing her hands on his chest. “Twins my love. As in two. Now there’s one more part to this fantasy that I have.” She told him her hands drifting towards his buttons.

“Uhm, ok, what’s that?” he asked, his eyes glued to her hands.

“This,” she said, as she grasped the fabric and ripped the bottoms off, spreading the sides wide and letting her hands roam freely. “So uhm, you gonna stand there gob smacked? Or are you gonna help me celebrate the vigor of your ahhh little fishies and have your way with me?”

“Whaddya you think,” he asked, yanking her against him. “You locked the door, right?”

“Trust me. Tommy’s innocence is safe with me. “Yours however, is toast.”

Later she stirred from where she lay on top of him on the couch. “You are handling the two o’clock feedings, you know. I can maybe try and fix it so you can even bring ‘em to work with you, a dual papoose sortta thing if you want.”

He stopped her with a kiss. “You’re scared, aren’t you?”

“Yes, down to my marrow.”

“Just don’t shut me out and we’ll be fine,” he promised her, stroking her back.

“Stephen, I…I’m happy about it. Really I am, but the other’s there too.”

He shifted under her on the sofa so he could see her face better even though his mind was filled with her through the bond they shared. “I’m listening.”

“Nothing to listen to really. Just what I already said, what you already know and what I already know…you ain’t him, now ain’t then and it’s what I want too. Just it comes back sometimes and this morning, when I realized, in between throwing up, it was just like it was yesterday, that’s all.”

He pulled her close and held her, offering her no words, but sharing the comfort of his presence and his love until the tension left her and she relaxed again.

“You have a meeting, I’m told.” She kissed him and rolled off the sofa, gathering her scattered clothes. When she was dressed she looked around. “Probably ought to pick up in here before the boys arrive.” She lifted his shirt. “And fix the buttons.” She dropped it on lap. “I gotta run, Tabitha’s expecting me. She kissed him again. “Thanks for the ravishing, see ya at dinner.” Then she zapped out and left him alone, smiling at the mess and wondering how worried he needed to be.

Cassidy leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.  His mind went of it's own volition and with no protest from him back over each moment he'd shared with Irisa in the past few days.  His brain stem complacent and content, lolled lazily amid the images of her...tangled in the sheets and slumped against him...hot and needy, wanton and abandoned in his arms...laughing at him, teasing him about his possessive and protective propensities...engaging him in debate, her mind incisive, quick...all the facets of herself that she was slowly revealing.

After a few moments of wholly masculine content his frontal lobe nudged him, reminding him of the media shoot coming up.  His brain stem stopped lolling and lazing.  It sat up, stunned, demanding he tell her she couldn't go.  Cassidy sighed.  Things between him and his brain parts had been going so well.

Irisa had been approached by a news outlet about sending a crew along on a call out for a New One.  After some back and forth between Stephen and himself, Stephen had agreed to allow it, probably facilitated by some quiet prodding from Marc.  All of which was fine as far as e was concerned.  If the press got themselves hurt, it was their problem not his in the long run.  They knew the risks and accepted them as part of the job when working on assignments such as this one.

What wasn't fine was that Irisa had made it plain she'd be accompanying them on the shoot.  The crew would be there for a whole day, going out on as many of the call outs as they could.

He knew there was nothing he could do.  Trevor had the security angle in hand, it being plain to the slowest intelligence that dead reporters weren't the images they wanted on the news at six.  Ever precaution was being taken that could be.  There was nothing he could do.

"Sure there is," insisted the brain stem.  "Must be persistent," the frontal lobe.

"Wanna lose her?" Cassidy asked pointedly.  "We promised, remember?"

"You promised, I didn't," his brain stem growled.  "Yeah, what he said," his frontal lobe chipped in.  "Dumb move, too." they both observed in their varying ways.  Shoulda known better.  Give her an inch and she'll drive you insane with worry.

"Get used to it," he snarled at them, "or find a new brain to invade."

Cassidy shook his head at himself.  If anyone heard these conversations he had with himself, they'd lock him up, no questions asked.

"Maybe he could go along, he thought, help protect her," the frontal lobe suggested.

"And maybe pigs could fly."  Cassidy replied, thanking the frontal lobe for its help.  He spun his chair to the side and stared unseeing at the view outside the window.

She'd be careful, he assured himself, he knew she would.  She wasn't foolish or prone to taking unnecessary risks. Trevor would be keeping a tight rein on things.

And he was going to be old before his time.

"Maybe he should take Stephen's tack and get her pregnant, so she'd stay home," his brain stem offered.

Cassidy didn't even dignify it with a reply.  Knowing Irisa she'd handle a Q&A in the morning and give birth in the afternoon, returning to work the next morning.  Well, maybe not exactly, his frontal lobe pointed out.

But bloody close, his brain stem muttered.  Bloody close.

As the day wore on, Irisa dreaded the end of it more and more. She should have, she admitted, given Cassidy some warning of what she was going to propose in the meeting. But she'd already known how he would have taken it, and all that would have done was prolong any argument over an even longer period of time.  So, she'd sprung it on him, fully aware he would resent that.

After the meeting Marc had even brought Cassidy and his reaction up with her, hardly having not noticed his response, although at least he hadn't argued in the meeting. But it wasn't like they were in a permanent relationship, as much as Cassidy wished that was so. For her it was.. what was it? It was ... her mind skittered away from putting a name on it.

She should have told him a lot of things she hadn't. He didn't know what she did for Marc on Home. She shuddered at what he'd say if she shared that. If just the idea of her going out with tons of security and amidst a media swarm, what would he say about that?

And then it was time to leave the office and go home, shower and dress and wait for him to meet her. Tonight they didn't have big plans. Just dinner together. And the fight she figured was looming afterwards.

She sighed, stood, turned the office lights off, wished Daisy good night, and went up to her rooms. She showered and was dressed and ready when 6pm came.

Cassidy checked his self control and knocked on the door.  When she opened it he smiled at the sight of her, then cupped her cheek with his hand and drew her mouth towards his.  "Hi," he said softly.

He was surprised that she fell so easily in with that kiss. She'd been, for the most part, slow to unwind around him. She was, he'd discovered, reserved by nature, so for her to let go with abandon always involved a process of getting there. He was relieved to learn, after studying it, that the time to accomplish this feat had been getting shorter.  But this sudden surrender at the first moment threw him.

When the kiss ended, she said, brightly, "Ready for dinner?"

"Starving.  Do we have to start with food?" he asked, kissing her again.

"What else do you have in mind, sir?" she asked archly.

"You," he said, pulling her closer and deepening the kiss.

She let him back her up to the bed and then pulled him down on top of her with a laugh. "We're going to be such a scandal."

"I doubt it," he said.  "Just consider Marc and Dinah, or Doni and Stephen."  Then he snatched her attention and focused it on himself, on what he was doing, and what he was going to do next.  He undressed her slowly, taking his time over it, savoring each bit of flesh he exposed and learning it anew before moving on the the next.  He explored her leisurely, memorizing the taste of her mouth, the sensitive lobe of her ear, the valley between her breasts.  By the time he reached her navel she was frantic, when he slid his hands between her thighs, parting them gently she was pleading with him with her body, her hips shifting restlessly.  When he entered her she rose up to meet him as wanton and abandoned as he could have wished.  After that he concentrated on seeing just how much more abandoned he could make her.  The result, he thought later, as she convulsed, orgasming under him was as delightful as he'd hoped....for both of them.

They lay in each others arms, dinner forgotten, since their appetites had been filled by other means. Irisa had both her hands wrapped around one of Cassidy's, it being much bigger than her small delicate ones. She opened his hand and studied his palm, tracing its lines with a finger.

"I'm sorry," she finally said. "I knew you wouldn't like it. So ... I'm such a coward."

"What did you think I'd do?  Beat you?" he asked, mostly teasing.

She met his eyes and he saw shock there. "Of course not," she said, entirely too seriously. "I just... I thought we'd argue. And I wouldn't give in, and you'd .. you'd tell me about your protective streak, and I'd feel horrible and still have to do this."

"Ah," he said, playing with a strand of her hair.  "The only moaning and groaning you'll ever do as a result of my hands in contact with your flesh, or screaming too for that matter, will be with pleasure.  Or ecstasy...can't forget that."

"So, I can do as I like and you'll just accept it?" she asked, unsure, clearly trying to imagine that.

"Well, that wasn't what I meant.  I meant that I'll never hit you, nor use fear or violence or the threat of violence to control you." he explained.

She sat up, propping herself up on an elbow. "But verbal argumentation is a go?  How about emotional blackmail?"

"That's a big no on the blackmail." he said flatly.  "We go toe to toe, nose to nose, and fight it out if we have to, until it's settled.  But we don't abuse each other's trust nor take advantage of the other's vulnerabilities to win."

"I'm still not convinced you have any." Her voice was quiet, heading toward reserved again. He gave her a moment before allowing himself to answer her and was rewarded with the added comment, "Can we put the requirements of our jobs off the table entirely?"

He thought about it for a long time, his fingers moving in her hair, his eyes focused on the middle distance.  Finally he sighed and rolled her on top of him so he could see her eyes.  "I love you.  The thought of something happening to you stops the breath in my lungs.  I can barely even form the thought that you might die.  It freezes my brain dead in its tracks.  You're my vulnerability Irisa and always will be.  If I take your job requirements off the table, does that include the work you do for Marc?"

She sighed. "I was trying to figure out how to tell you about that. This is getting way too complicated, Cassidy."

"Let's uncomplicate it."

"I'm not sure how."  She crossed her hands on his chest and rested her chin on them, obviously thinking. "Marc, like Stephen, needed allies.  He could handle his equals on a fair playing field, but he was way behind the power curve on the cabals and complications of past relationships. So, he spoke with me. And Reno. It isn't like I run around with an Uzi. All I do is gather information for him."

"I've gathered information in my time and know it often isn't quite that simple."  He held up a hand to stop her when she started to protest.  "I'm not here to tell you to be or how to do that.  But I need to know if you understand it's not just about you anymore and your right to self-determination.  That when my heart stops at the thought of you in harms way it has nothing to do with thinking you're just a mere female who's here to do my bidding."

She studied him seriously for a moment. "No. I don't think that. But what makes you think I won't be just as worried about you? Are you going to promise me that you won't go grabbing a gun and heading out after the next fellow who pops into the Refuge and attacks us? Do I get to argue you out of that? I know, I know, you're military and trained, but it's the same thing, Cassidy."

"Don't put words in my mouth.  What I think is is that if it matters enough you should be allowed to try and make your case, trusting me to understand it's about you caring about me, Just like I think if it matters enough to me I should be allowed to try and make the case, trusting you understand it's about loving you and needing you around so I can keep loving you in the flesh and not just the spirit."

"Try and make my case," she repeated, frowning. "Who decides if I do or not? And if I don't, in your estimation, then what?"

He sighed and speared his hands through her hair, gently holding her head so her eyes were looking into his.  "There's no formula, sweetheart.  That's why they call it a relationship.  We both do our best to listen to each other, really listen, to what's said and what isn't and what falls in the spaces in between, and we go from there."

"I know," she said after a time of just thinking over what he'd said, "that it is obvious for you that we're in a 'relationship.'  But I'm just not there yet."  She said it sadly, it apparent she knew it wasn't what he wanted to hear. "You're going to have to give me time, Cassidy. Not just space and time to do my job, but space and time to figure out where I am, and what I want. I've loved before, and swore I'd never do it again. And that I'm heading that way is far scarier than anything I do for Marc or going out with the teams."

"Irisa, what I just suggested would apply if we were friends, or even just lovers who worry about each other.  Just so you know, okay?  We have a relationship because we relate to each other, we interact.  And as for the rest, I know that.  And you have all the space and all the room you need albeit within the context of us relating to each other...in lots of different ways."

"Ah, well then, you won't mind me dating someone else then?"

"No more than I'd mind you playing with a wounded polar bear.  I know I've no hold on you, nor right to expect you not to.  At the end of the day that's your choice.  I can only hope you've enough respect for both of us to not go there.  I'll walk away before I'll share you."

"All right, let's get dinner. Or are we too late, and will we have to settle for the sandwich bar. My rooms, I get dibs on the shower first."

He rolled her under him.  "Tabitha left me a key to the refrigerator.  'Cause she likes my dimples.   So we aren't stuck with sandwiches." Then he kissed her, slowly and thoroughly.  "Still in a rush to shower alone?  I'll wash your back for you."

"Tempting... But then you'll have to go to the kitchen and raid it and bring the spoils back because I'll be too worn out to go with you."

"A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do." he said, sighing dramatically.