Show: NBC- Crossing Lines Season 1, Episode 3 & 4 "Terminator" & "Long-Haul Predators"

"Ship"': Eva Vittoria & Tommy McConnel

I'm going to attempt to put my own spin on the episodes. I'm going to stay within the parameters, however I'm going to try to put myself in the character's heads. This may be OOC and I'm sorry for that. Also, I'm going to try to make it more "ship-centric" than it is. And if this seems callous so soon after Sienna, sorry! But I really like Tommy & Eva together.

YouTube: "Meet the Team" is on YouTube (FF is being weird and not letting me put the HTML on this so sorry!)

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything. All rights reserved for NBC and the creators/writers of their show, Crossing Lines.

His heart beat harder in his chest when he looked at her with the boy, Erik. The tenderness in which she spoke to him warmed some part of him that had been long forgotten. He watched her out of the corner of his eye brushing the hair out of his face, pulling him in for a gentle hug, tapping his nose. A sudden longing hit him like a sucker punch to the gut. Tommy wanted that. He wanted a family. He wanted a family, with her.

The complete terror Tommy felt when he and Eva were forced into the ring was something new. He had felt something akin to this once before, but Sienna had been in grave danger then. He knew that Eva could take care of herself, but he still felt the need to protect her. As he felt her flinch away from the bullets at their feet and into his back, his arm found its way onto her waist.

He tracked her movements with the missing woman therefore he hadn't realized that the missing father was able to unarmed him. He saw the man raising the tire iron to deliver the final blow when the sirens sounded. Relief swept through his system, but was replaced with concern as the Major helped Eva to her feet. She coughed and rubbed at her throat, walking unsteadily towards the paramedics.

He pushed himself against the back end of a truck and knocked his head against it, taking a deep breath. He rubbed his hands over his face and ignored the desire to pull her into his arms and reassure himself that she was in fact okay.

She stood comfortably next to him. Despite the freezing cold, she could feel the heat radiating off of him. The boy made his way over to them and she instantly crouched to his level. Her heart clenched, watching his cheeky wave to the boy and genuine smile. She smiled at the boy and in that moment she could picture it. Their future together was uncertain, but she was sure that she wanted one with him. His quip about their relationship as a fake couple might have deterred her had she not seen the quick smirk that genuinely accompanied his jokes.

She felt safe as he stood in front of her before exiting the truck, but logically she knew that she was not. She found herself unconsciously leaning into Tommy as the bullets flew around them. Her hand wrapped around the fabric of his coat and she held on tightly. His instincts to keep her behind him irked her, but that was greatly overshadowed by the confidence it instilled in her.

Hazily, she saw him go down and felt fear for the first time that night. She coughed against the woman's tight hold, and struggled to get free as Tommy lay on the ground. She wasn't scared for herself she felt in surprise, she was scared for him. She hadn't felt this way in years, and that scared her more than almost anything. The sirens pierced the air and she sagged against the ground and the hands around her neck.

The Major pulled her up, and her eyes flitted till they rested on him. He winced with every step and she wanted to tell someone to help him walk. His ribs had to bruised, but he didn't follow her to the medics. As her throat was examined, she saw him leaning against the truck. Worry and comfort for his safety battled within her.

They arrived at the office in different cars, but both snuck glances at the other while walking in. He could see that Sebastian's child problem was bugging her, and he wished that it was directed at him. She could feel him watching her, and fought against the blush that was creeping up her neck towards her cheeks. The whole team, minus Sebastian, walked out to their personal vehicles. They were going to be meeting at a bar, not far from the office. Tommy watched Eva mentally counting heads and instead of watching her, he turned his attention toward the lot and matched each car with a person. He came up short. He watched as Eva spoke briefly with the Major before hurrying back inside the office. Confused, he waited. She reappeared minutes later, tugging a perplexed looking Sebastian with her.

He watched her affectionately push Sebastian towards the black SUV and stand with her arms crossed until he was out of the lot. It was then that he put two and two together. She didn't have a car here. She was going to walk. A sudden burst of confidence flowed through his veins as he gunned his engine and pulled up next to her.

She jumped at the sudden loud noise, and saw Tommy sitting atop the gorgeous piece of machinery that many called a motorbike. She watched a smug look appear on the Irishman's face as she gaped at his bike.

"Fancy a ride?" His words slid over her and she weighed them against her other option of the bus.

"Sure, why not." Taken aback by her easy agreement, he patted the spot behind him with a grin.

Her agility when mounting the bike was not lost on him, but the sudden pain that accompanied her arms around his midriff overrode that. He clenched his teeth together, and forced himself not to grunt with pain as they took off.

She could feel the stiffness of his body against hers. It was then that she remembered with sudden surprise that he never went to get his ribs checked. They sped through the night, and she did her best to only squeeze into him when absolutely necessary.

More quickly than either of them would have liked, they arrived at the bar. She pulled her arms from his body and stepped off the bike, so that she faced the bar.

"Tommy, wait." He froze at her words, and she felt her stomach drop at what she was about to say. "Look, I get the whole 'macho' act, but you need to get your ribs looked at…" She let her words fade as he looked at her.

"I'm fine." His words shouldn't have surprised her as much as they did. Of course he would say that he was fine. That was just who he was.

"I'm not going to let you go into that bar like this!" He was surprised, but managed to hide it quickly. He didn't think that she had noticed, but he supposed he should have known. His heart jumped at the possibilities of what that could mean. But he squashed that down. She cared about the whole team, it was obvious when she rushed in after Anne-Marie collapsed and in how she went back for Sebastian tonight.

"Who are you to stop an Irishman from getting a drink?" He asked, in an attempt to ease the tension that had slowly been building up all week. She leveled him with a look that cut through the BS. He returned one of his own right back and they stared at each other. Finally, she sighed.

"I'm not going to leave you alone until you at least let me check that it isn't worse than bruising." She wanted nothing more than to demand that he go home and go see a doctor, but he was stubborn. He wasn't about to do that, and she wasn't naïve enough to think that he would have listened.

He took in the firm set of her mouth and knew that if he wanted to get a drink inside, soon, he would have to compromise.

"How about after we are finished here, you check me out?" He waited for her to give him a small nod. "That settles it then, doesn't it."

She gave a slight nod and watched as he hobbled slightly when getting off of the bike.

He could feel her gaze on him all night: assessing his condition, glaring at his stubbornness, blushing at his blatant staring. When it finally came time for him to call it a night, she quickly followed. Afraid that if he were out of her sight, something horrible would happen. The ride back to his flat was quiet and tense. Neither wanting to say something that would ignite the crescendo-ing tension.

He parked the bike in the garage, and they made their way to his door quietly. The only sounds came from the slap of her shoes against the hard wood floor. His dropping of the keys against the counter and his motioning with his head broke the tension.

"First aid?" She asked tentatively. He opened the cabinet above his left shoulder and pulled out the gauze and tape that would be necessary for the wrapping.

He threw the supplies at her and shrugged his sweater off. As she looked up to berate him for not just handing it to her, her breath caught in her throat. He inwardly smirked, but on the outside, he preceded to peel the dirty wife-beater off. Again she let out a gasp, only this time it wasn't due to his muscular physique. It was because of the bruising.

Purple and yellow splotches covered his left side. Her yes darted to his in wonder.

"How…" She trailed off and gestured to his side.

"I've had worse." He said. The simplicity of his statement made her realize how much she really didn't know about him.

She shook herself and forced her mind to stay on task. The process was short, but effective. Ice, painkillers, wrapping the ribs, and rest. All the while she worked, she felt his eyes on her. However, every time she would look up, he looked away. This went on for almost 25 minutes until she finally finished.

She lightly trailed her fingers across the bandages before snatching her hand away and handing him a bag of ice.

"Twenty minutes on, twenty off… You know the drill." She said as she inched her way back and out of his personal space. He nodded and the silence stretched out between them.

The chiming of a clock broke the retrieve. She smiled at him before turning and attempting to make her way out of the flat. She had only taken a few steps when it dawned on him that she had no mode of transportation. The closest metro rail was at least a half-kilometer away and she would be forced to walk if he didn't drive her.

"How're you going to get home?" He slurred. The lull of the pain pills was setting in, and his body was begging to sleep. But he knew that he wouldn't sleep peacefully without knowing if she had made it home safely.

"I'll take the bus. You need some rest. Go to bed." She gave him another pacifying smile before turning to leave again.

He cursed his conscious and aching heart as he began to step towards her. Hearing his low grunt of pain she spun around.

"Tommy!" She was at his side in an instant, her hands flitting over his chest and shoulders uselessly. "What are you doing?! You need rest!" She was standing so close that she could see the flecks of grey in his blue eyes. His eyes conveyed what he couldn't with his words, and her reluctance was fading fast.

"Stay." They were standing so close that the slight exhale his words created fanned across her cheek bones and caressed her lips. She looked down before responding.

"I-"

"Please?" His plea came out more softly than either of them had expected. She softened considerably and ran her hands from the top of his shoulder to his injured side and back up.

"Alright."

Both of them relaxed at her agreement, and it was then that something truly began to change.

She supposed that it had begun earlier, much earlier than either of them had realized. For her, it started when he had challenged her about missing bullet in her gun. She had always been vivacious, but the flirty-ness seemed more prominent around Tommy.

He supposed the attraction had always been there, but with Sienna, he hadn't even given her a second glance. He hadn't even thought about her that way until he saw the way that she had reached out to him. Despite his harsh words, a small part of him reveled in the attention that Eva had graciously bestowed upon him.

The playful and easy going banter floated effortlessly between them. The visible chemistry between the two was palpable. Eva seemed to understand how Tommy worked. She understood that his rough exterior was a result of hardships that she couldn't even imagine. She understood that he still felt vulnerable and unsure of himself because of Sienna's death. But most of all, she understood that he didn't need to verbally tell her that he cared. She saw it in his actions.