This was written after I listened to the new radio broadcast of Waking the Dead. It does contain small pieces of information from that broadcast, so if you haven't heard it then this may not make much sense. That broadcast is the reason I now write Waking the Dead, my favourite couple became canon and my heart sang. Just a quick shout out to the guest reviewers and people who leave reviews when not logged in, Thank you, so, so much. Means a lot to know you are reading and enjoying my work. So, here's another of my stories, I have many more to come.

"Go home, this can all wait until morning," Boyd called out from his office doorway.

"You sure, boss? We can stick around." Spence offered, even though he didn't really mean it.

"No, go home. Get some sleep, I've got this covered." Boyd replied as he stepped out of the office and walked over to where Mel and Spence were sat.

Mel didn't need telling twice, shutting her computer down and closing all the files on her desk.

"Night, then," Mel said to Boyd as she wrapped her scarf around her neck.

"Night, Mel." Boyd managed to say as he stifled a yawn.

"Night, boss," Spence called out as he watched Boyd walk to his office.

Boyd didn't reply, just waved his hand in the air as an acknowledgement to Spence. Boyd turned to watch them leaving, the looked out to the now empty squad room. He rubbed his hand over his face before deciding he needed more coffee. As he returned from the coffee machine he looked into the lab and saw Frankie was still working on something, her back to him as she hunched over something on the bench in front of her. She was as bad as he was, no wonder they had fitted so well together back in the day.

It had been brief, and fun. He was married, she was unattached. What had started out as just sex had soon grown to mean more, not what either of them had planned. He had written her a letter, offering to pack up and move away with her, start afresh somewhere new. He had even said he loved her, told her as much when he phoned her to get her help to save his career. He was the one to finish it, said he should stay with his wife and she had been cast aside. They still worked together, still made the professional side of their relationship work even when the personal side imploded.

His marriage had ended badly, just like the first one. Too many hours at work and not enough time being a husband and father. He only had himself to blame, again. His love life was toxic, something that just caused pain and misery. Between Luke vanishing, his marriage going pear-shaped, and his complicated job, he knew he was destined to be alone. Now when he looked at Frankie he still got that familiar tingle, that dull ache he got in the pit of his stomach back in the beginning. He kept shaking the feeling off, pushing it back deep inside where it belonged. Frankie had changed since then, so had he. It didn't work then, who was to say it would work now.

Standing in front of the big see-through boards in the squad room he looked over everything pinned up, going over various options in his head. Weighing up different scenarios, looking at things differently. He had just sat down on the edge of Spence's desk when his office telephone rang. He stood up and with big heavy strides he walked into his office quickly and answered the call.

Four hours later he was sat hunched up and freezing on a park bench wishing he hadn't answered the call in his office. When Frankie came and joined him he could tell she felt the same way.

"Body's being transported back now, the teams picking up the last few bits. The rest has to be done back at the lab when it's light." Yawning as she finished talking.

"Good, let's go to bed." Boyd's sleep-deprived brain settled on as he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Been a long time since you said that me," Frankie said before realising what her equally sleep-deprived brain had replied.

They both just looked at each, neither daring to continue the conversation in fear of breaking the deafening silence that had descended over them both.

"Come on." Boyd finally said as he stood up and looked down at her, her nose and ears red from the cold.

Frankie stood up and looked at Boyd, his features schooled so she couldn't read what he was thinking. They walked back to his car in silence, watching as the police cars and vans drove off leaving just the van with the body and evidence in. When that pulled away they watched it until it's taillights we're just a tiny red spot on the dark road. Boyd opened the car and went to get in, watching as Frankie did the same. Once they both had their seatbelts on he started the engine and fiddled with the heating controls. A blast of warm air rushed out the vents towards Frankie and she half yawned, half smiled. He knew she hated being cold, had always hated it since that dark night when her life was turned upside down. As he pulled out the dark festered car park he weighed up his options. Option one was to drive past his house to another part of town to drop Frankie off. Option two was to drive them both back to the office and they could catch a couple of hours in a chair, or the interview room floor. Then there was option three, drive straight back to his place and they could both sleep there. The third option had both its merits and its faults, he just couldn't completely work out the difference at ten past three in the morning.

The heat flowed over Frankie in waves as he drove, her eyes growing heavier as her body warmed up. She was too tired to fight to stay awake, her body running on empty for too long. She let her eyes stayed closed, the heat a welcome relief from the nipping autumn air. She had no idea how long she had been asleep, or where she was until she felt a hand on her arm giving her a gentle nudge.

"Frankie, wake up. You can't sleep in the car all night." She heard Boyd say as she begrudgingly peeled her eyes open and a blinked a couple of times.

It took nearly a full minute to register she wasn't at her own house, or back at the office. The big townhouses filling the street took her straight back in time to a different lifetime, a life where things could have gone so differently.

"Why are we here? I thought we were going home." She managed to ask as she cleared her throat of sleep.

"We are, my home. It was the closet and we need sleep." As if her sharing a house with Boyd was the most natural thing in the world.

She was about to argue with him, say what a monumentally bad idea this was when she felt his finger on her lips.

"Later, Frankie. I'm tired and cold. Let's just get inside, please." Adding the please knowing she would agree since he had asked nicely.

It took all Frankie's willpower not to flick her tongue out and lick the finger resting on lips. She was not starting this, no matter how much she had missed him. She undid her seatbelt and reached to open the door, opening it and shivering as an icy blast of wind wiped around her. She pulled her coat collar up and got out the car, closing the door behind her as she looked up at the big house. She was so occupied with memories of the past she didn't see Boyd go and open the door. She gave her head a shake when she heard him calling her name, he was going to think she was mad.

Dragging her feet up the stones steps she stepped inside the house and moved to one side, turning to watch as Boyd closed and locked the door. Four locks later he turned to face her, saw her watching him as he reached out to flick the hallway light on.

"Go on up, first door on the right, bathrooms straight in front of you at the top," Boyd said as he took off his coat and hung it up.

Frankie just stood there, her mind trying to make sense of everything. She was stood in Boyd's house, at half three in the morning, and he was offering her a bed. If it was Mel, or Spence, or even Grace, none of this would have been as absurd as it currently was. But it wasn't, it was Boyd, Peter Boyd, boss, colleague, friend, ex-lover. When Boyd turned back around he saw Frankie was still stood in exactly the same spot, her eyes half closed yet her mind working overtime.

"You need me to carry you? Hold your hand? Just go to bed Frankie, we'll talk about all this later." Gesturing to the house and their surroundings as a whole.

Frankie yawned again, her legs and arms feeling like lead weights as she turned and started to climb the stairs. When she reached the top of the stairs she turned right and reached for the door handle, turning it and pushing the solid door inwards. There was light shining in through the open curtains, a dull orange glow from the street lights in the back lane. She glanced around the bedroom, took in the king size bed and old style furniture. She could tell the room had once been occupied by a woman, the odd ornament still dotted around. Yet now it was more manly, the dresser empty of hair brushes and makeup. She looked down at the bed, neatly made and very inviting. She was tired, too tired to argue the where and what fors of what was happening. Instead she stripped off and climbed into the big bed, the sheets fluffy and cold but having that strong masculine smell that was most definitely Boyd. She closed her eyes, took in a deep breath and smiled, she had missed this, missed being completely surrounded by his smell, his warmth, his touch.

When Boyd entered the bedroom he nearly tripped over the pile of clothes and shoes on the bedroom floor. He bent down and picked them all up, moving them to the dresser and placing them neatly laid out. When he came to Frankie's bra it dawned on him, that not only was Frankie in his bed, but all she had on was her knickers. His mind filled in the gaps, images of Frankie completely naked and sleeping beside him, her body fitting perfectly against his. He turned to face the bed, the orange from the streets lights illuminating Frankies dark hair fanned out on his pillow. That was all he could make out of her, the rest of her body tucked safe, warm and sleeping under the duvet. He yawned as he stripped down to just his boxers, his eyes feeling heavy as he pulled the covers back and sat on the edge of the bed. He climbed into bed as gently as he could, ever mindful of his sleeping companion. He turned to face her, his curiosity still peaked no matter how tired he was. God, she looked just as beautiful as he remembered. He wanted to reach out and move the strands of hair that had fallen over her face so he could see her face properly but he daren't.

"Go to sleep, Boyd. You're making me paranoid." Frankie mumbled into the pillow.

"Sorry, just remembering." He willing admitted.

"Me too." She managed to say before she turned over and shuffled back towards where Boyd was lying.

Her back rested against his broad chest, her legs fitting alongside his much longer ones. She was warm, soft, and sleepy.

"God, Frankie." He whispered into her hair as he wrapped his arm around her waist and nuzzled her neck.

"Night, Peter." His given name slipping from her lips as she fell asleep.

"Night, Frances." He replied as he kissed her naked shoulder, closing his eyes and hoping this wasn't a dream and that he wouldn't wake to a cold empty bed just like he had been doing since Jen left.

As Frankie slowly opened her eyes she took in her surroundings slowly. The tall wardrobe, the dresser with her clothes all neatly laid out on it. The warm body spooned around her own, the heavy masculine arm draped protectively over her waist. She closed her eyes and buried her face deeper into the pillow under her head, the smell of Boyd's aftershave and soap overwhelming her. It was like a flashback in time, a time when she thought anything was possible. Now, things had changed so much, had become so complicated. Not that they weren't back then, just complicated in a different way. She sighed, and his arm shifted slightly, squeezing her back against him as he kissed her hair.

"Morning." His gravelly morning voice again stirring up memories she thought were long since buried.

"Is it? Are you sure we've even been to sleep, I'm still knackered." Frankie yawned as she settled her own hand on top of his where it rested on her stomach.

Boyd swapped his hand on her stomach for hers, placing his hand on top of hers and squeezed it, at the same time placing feather light kisses to her neck.

"Boyd, don't." Frankie protested half-heartedly, but at the same moving her head so he had more access to her neck.

"Mhhh, I don't want really want to, and you don't really want me to either, do you?" Reaching that spot just behind her ear that he knew used to make her moan.

"God, no." She moaned as he kissed, then licked, the little spot behind her ear.

Frankie pushed back against Boyd, her whole body starting to tingle as he assaulted her neck with kisses before nipping the delicate skin with his teeth.

"We shouldn't do this, Boyd. We've done so well these past few years." Her words coming out raspy as her heart raced and breathing increased.

"Why? We made a good team, still do." His teeth scraping her neck as he sucked hard on the creamy white skin, knowing he would leave a mark but not caring.

"Shit, Boyd." Frankie pulled away, turning over to face him and looking into his deep brown eyes.

"I forgot how beautiful you look with bed hair." Reaching out and tucking some hair behind her ear.

Frankie opened her mouth to say something but was stopped by a shrilling phone ringtone. Boyd growled and groped around blindly behind him on the bedside cabinet for his mobile. He finally located it and brought it to his ear after flipping it open. Frankie went to get out the bed but he stopped her, pulling her against his chest so she was facing him, his arm wrapping around her shoulders holding her to him.

"Yeah, Spence?" Boyd asked as he started to run his fingers up and down Frankies back.

The man was so infuriating, yet he knew what buttons to press, what spots to touch, how to get her so she was lying with her head on his naked chest as he talked to Spence on the phone. As she watched him talk she wondered if the feelings and emotions racing around her head were new, or if they had always been there but being this close to him again had just unsurfaced them. She knew back then, back when things were the same but different, she was starting to fall in love with him, could have fallen in love with him, even more, had he not decided to end it. She knew it was for the best then, he had a wife, a baby on the way yet it still hurt. Now, he was divorced, still had a young son he hardly saw and an older son who had disappeared. He was still a workaholic, devoted to his job above else. Then again, so was she, then and now.

"Okay, we'll be there shortly." She heard Boyd say as he took the phone from his ear and shut it.

"We? Where does he think I am for Christ sakes?" Seeing Boyd smirk.

"I said you were here, just wasn't very specific where exactly here was." Looking down at her as she closed her eyes. "We should get up, Spencer and the gang are waiting for us, apparently they've had a breakthrough on the case already."

"Oh good, so we can go in, let them crack the case and then come back to bed?" Her word choice not going unnoticed by Boyd.

"If that's what you want." Seeing her shuffle up the bed so she was face to face with him.

"Yeah, that's what I want, I think." Leaning in to brush her lips gently across his.

He returned the kiss, his fingers tangling in her hair as they kissed.

"Come on, we can continue this later." Breaking the kiss and hearing her grumble in complaint.

He laughed as he let her go and got out of bed, seeing her rake her eyes over his body appreciatively. He grabbed some clean clothes out the wardrobe before heading out the bedroom and into the bathroom. When he came back out fifteen minutes later he was washed and dressed, his immaculately pressed shirt, smart expensive suit and tie, and designer shoes all making him look even more irresistible.

"I'll go make some coffee, do you have clean clothes at work, or do we need to make a detour?" Seeing Frankie kick the covers off exposing her body to him.

"I've got some in my car at work I think, I'll sort something out." Getting out of bed and going to grab her clothes from the dresser.

She felt his eyes on her, saw the way he took in every part of her body as she passed him. After a shower, Frankie felt half normal again, or at least more awake than before. She towel dried her hair and stood to look in the mirror as she brushed it. It was then she spotted the very angry red hickey on her neck, she was going to kill him. She hoped the spare clothes in her bag consisted of a jumper, preferably with a big neck. By the time she made it downstairs she was pleased to see Boyd had made coffee, the reusable cup in his hand showing her he had either drank his or had skipped it all together.

"I know what you're like without morning coffee." Handing her the cup as she approached him.

"Thanks. You ready?" She asked him as she took the cup.

"Yeah, let's go see what horrors the world has to share with us today." Opening the front for her to step past him.

When they arrived at the cold case headquarters they walked in together, Frankie carrying the coffee cup tightly in her hand. Grace recognised it instantly, she would do since she had bought it for Boyd for Christmas. She never said anything, just looked between Frankie and Boyd. Boyd noticed Grace watching him and followed her gaze between himself and the cup Frankie was drinking from. He twigged instantly, the cup she had bought him was now being used by Frankie. He just shrugged it off and smiled, how Frankie had his cup wasn't a huge issue.

Spence filled them in on what they had found out, and what they still needed to know.

"I'll go catch up in the lab, I'll let you know soon as I have something," Frankie called over her shoulder as she made her way out the main office, the coffee cup still clamped tightly in her grasp.

"Thanks, Frankie," Boyd responded, seeing her turn back and smile at him.

Grace watched the interaction, smiling to herself. Maybe they had finally sorted out what was or wasn't going on between them. It hadn't worked between them the last time, but maybe now it could, only time would tell.