Dedicated to @drunk_af for the amazing support right from my first Wattpad story :) Check out her beautiful poems in the book Black and Blue, which may leave you feeling blue hehe.

"Is there any chance I could convince you to let this go just until a reasonable hour in the morning?" Nathan asked Natasha who was pacing across the lounge after he'd finally managed to tear the phone out of her hand.

Natasha glared at him in response and Nathan sighed.

"I'm starting to regret waking you," he said as she walked past him again.

"Why can't I get through to my mum's phone? Something's wrong, I can feel it. We have to trace her phone," Natasha said.

"Maybe she just turned it off so she could get some sleep. In any case, it's 3 a.m and there's nothing we can do. Now please, go back to bed," Nathan pleaded.

Natasha halted as a horrid idea formed in her head. "What if the killer has my mum and they forced her to make that call at gunpoint?"

Nathan  thought it was more likely Lily was the killer and she'd made the call to cover her tracks but he didn't dare mention that to her.

"How about this; we'll call the State Court House and see if they can collaborate her story as soon as they are open for business. For now just try not to freak out," he suggested.

"But what if I'm right and we're too late?" Natasha bit her lip worriedly.

"You're only panicking based on the fact that you can't get through to her phone. It's probably nothing and I promise I'll get you answers as soon as I can," Nathan pointed out.

"This is serious! My mum could be murdered! Why aren't you taking me seriously?" Natasha yelled, getting annoyed at how nonchalant Nathan seemed. "Call the station there and ask them to look into it."

Nathan ruffled his hair in frustration. " And say what? Your mum's phone is off so they should hunt down court officials and find out where she's staying then demand that she turns it back on? I already told you there's nothing we can do right now. Short of driving to the capital and banging on doors with that story, we'll have to wait 'til morning."

"Then let's go!" Natasha exclaimed, eyes wide. "Let's go to the capital and find her."

He stared at her in disbelief. "Natasha..."

"Fine. I'll go by myself," Natasha cut in, already heading for the stairs.

Nathan grabbed her hand as she walked past him, halting her escape. "And how exactly do you think you'll get there? Your car is at the station."

"I'll take yours," she said defiantly looking him in the eye.

He cupped her elbows, turning her to face him straight on. He kept holding her hands as they looked at each other in silence.

"I can't let you go alone," he said softly. "It's not safe and if I trusted any other cop with you, I would have them here in a heartbeat to take you to your mother. But I don't."

Natasha opened her mouth to say something but he spoke again before she could.

"I've been up for almost 24 hours now. I can't guarantee that I can get you there safely and I can't promise that I'll be able to protect you if any danger arises there. If you tell me you want me to take you there regardless, I will but..." he paused and took a deep breath. "If anything bad happens to you, I won't be able to live with myself knowing I'm responsible for it. I won't...I won't survive that again."

His pained expression brought tears to Natasha's eyes and without overthinking it, she hugged him. The action surprised Nathan and he remained still for a while before tentatively looping his arms loosely around her waist.

"I'm sorry," Natasha spoke with her cheek resting against his chest. She pulled away slightly to look up at him. "I'm really sorry. And you're probably right. Mum does occasionally switch her phone off when she doesn't want disturbances."

Nathan nodded slowly and she smiled up at him as she reached up to smooth out the lines on his forehead. She pushed away the dark brown locks falling over his forehead and ran her fingers through his hair. All the while, he watched her in silence, barely breathing until her fingers trailed back down to his face. He laced his fingers with hers and moved her hand to his lips, kissing it briefly before letting go and stepping away.

Natasha clasped her blushing cheeks as she remained standing while Nathan sat back on the couch. She managed to suppress  the grin threatening to break out on her face and cleared her throat.

"Get some sleep. I'll take this watch," she said. Nathan raised an eyebrow in response. 

"Don't argue with me Detective, I'll force sleeping pills down your throat if I have to," Natasha threatened heading to the cupboard in the hallway for blankets and a pillow.

"You wouldn't do that," Nathan said when she came back into the lounge and handed them over.

 "Try me," Natasha challenged settling on another couch under one of the blankets, thankful that the slightly awkward tension between them had disappeared. "I promise I'll wake you if the lights so much as flicker."

***

Natasha tossed and turned restlessly on the couch long after Nathan had finally drifted off to sleep until she decided to do something productive than just sit and stare at the door. It had been a while since she had fulfilled her obligation to the bakery and she craved the peace that came with creating delicious treats so she headed to the kitchen and started making cupcakes. She made double her usual amount, planning to give the extras to Nathan and some to Benny and his mother to apologize for her absence.

She was just finishing up icing the last batch when the sound of a car stopping outside her house caught her attention. Thinking it was her mother she deserted everything and ran back through the lounge and right up to the entrance where she yanked open the door and peered outside. Her heart sank when her eyes landed, not on her mother's black SUV as she had expected, but on a white van. The words H.B News were scrawled across the side of the van in blue and the doors at the back of the van were open. The shrill tone of the phone ringing snapped her attention away from the car before she could take a closer look and she shut the door and went back into the house. The phone had woken Nathan and he was sitting up on the couch, hair sticking up all over his head as he covered his face with his hands. When she rushed past him to answer the phone, blue eyes peered at her through the gaps between his fingers. 

"Hello," Natasha said when she picked up the receiver, giving Nathan a small wave. He groaned in response and threw the blanket back over his head.

"What the hell happened to your phone? I've been trying your cell for the last ten minutes." Kelsey's panicked tone surprised Natasha.

"How are you up at 7.am?" Natasha asked incredulously. 

"That's not important!" Kelsey practically shouted. "We have a code bloody-red!"

"What?" Natasha asked as fear gripped her. Code red was something they had made up when they were in high school to indicate an emergency and when the code skipped right past red to bloody-red, it meant something big had happened.

"Turn on your t.v. You're on the news and they're saying you killed Macmillan Bandieer!"

***

Once again, thank you for your patience. Just thought I'd put a light chapter to prepare you for what's coming hehehe. 

I had so many gifs for this chapter but I had to pick one or else my addiction may turn into an obsession lol.