Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me. I simply play with them for my own amusement.

All lyrics to "In The Waiting Line" belong to Zero 7.

A/N: What can I say? I heard the song and, for some reason, it inspired me to write L/S. If you've never heard it, you should really check it out.For the sake of the timeline, let's just say that it takes place sometime during that magical period before Christina made her appearance. Also, this story was meant to be a standalone but, if I get a good response, I might consider writing the sequel.

Lilly couldn't tear her eyes away from the photo in her hand. It seemed so innocent and benign, like the thousands of others that she had handled throughout her career. It was simply one more picture that stood as a testament to a better time, a frozen moment in the victim's life with nothing different or unusual about it. In the normal course of things there would have been nothing that made it stand out from all of the others but, for Lilly, nothing had been normal since she'd seen that picture.

The case was closed, it's box ready to be sealed and sent back to the shelf where it had languished for so long before justice could be served. All she had to do was drop in the photo and close the lid, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. The case had caught Lilly's attention in a way that no other had, partially because of the photo that was still tightly clutched in her hand.

It was because the face that she was staring at so intently shared enough with her own that she could easily have been mistaken for the twin of a dead woman. Their similarities ended there, though. Beyond the physical, the two women couldn't have been more different.

Meredith Cahill had lived a perfect, picket fence life, her death itself an accident of fate as so many were. The wrong place, the wrong time, and a young life was snuffed out in an instant. She had married her highschool sweetheart right out of college, a man that had loved her so much that, five years later, he still wore the wedding band that she had given him. Two beautiful children, a boy and a pretty little girl with her mother's eyes, completed the image of perfection.

For Lilly, it was painful glimpse into what might have been. She knew how people saw her. That they thought of her as just one of the boys. Of course the others had noticed the resemblance and had thought it hysterical that the Lilly they knew could ever be confused with a suburban wife and mother. She just wasn't the type of woman that dreamed about those kinds of things.

What no one knew was that, for a brief, shining moment, she had been on her way to just such a life. Lilly had been young, a new cop still on patrol and dreaming of the possibilities that awaited her in the not so distant future. It was only after all of those dreams had come crashing down around her that she had resigned herself to the role of a sexless partner and friend.

Taking one last glance, Lilly finally dropped the picture into the box and quickly put the lid in place, blocking out the luminescent face that still gazed up at her. Marking it as closed, she returned the box to it's resting place and left the warehouse before the demons of her past could once again overtake her.

She didn't return to the office, her emotions still too fragile to face the good natured teasing of her co-workers. Instead, she opted for a tiny coffee house a block from the station, the anonymity that it offered exactly what she needed in her current state of mind.

Her drink ordered, Lilly took a seat at a small corner table that allowed her to observe the people around her. At the table across from her, a couple sat, so obviously in love that it was impossible to miss and Lilly's thoughts returned to the root of her problem. It was no longer the pains of her past that were causing her to reevaluate the path that her life had taken, but a new complication that she had never expected.

She wasn't sure when it had started but, at the time, it had seemed harmless enough. Lingering glances when their eyes met across their desks, the smooth glide of skin against skin and the brief intertwining of fingers as they passed files to each other. It had gotten to the point that Lilly could barely look at Scotty without feeling the heat of a blush rising into her cheeks.

The flirting had gone on for some time until it finally reached the point that a decision had to be made. They could either take the first steps toward beginning a real relationship or cool things off until they fell back to being strictly partners. Scotty was patient and understanding, never pressuring her but still leaving the final decision in Lilly's hands.

However, she still had no clue as to what that decision might be. Should she choose from her heart, allow the woman that she had once been to take a chance on finding love again, or should she use her head and consider all of the problems that were sure to arise? No matter how hard she tried, Lilly couldn't seem to reconcile the two halves of her nature. While she was waiting for inspiration to strike the relationship, whatever it was, stalled and Lilly could feel the time slipping away.

The music from the stereo behind the counter changed and Lilly felt herself begin to sway to the deep, sensual rhythm. It was unconscious, instinctual, another of Lilly's little secrets. One more thing that no one would ever guess. Lilly loved to dance. It had been a long time, though, since she'd allowed herself to indulge. It was just one more thing that she'd let fall out of her life when her engagement dissolved.

She closed her eyes and let herself drift as the soothing melody helped to melt away the strain that she had been under since the Cahill case had been reopened. It was then, when her defenses were at their lowest point, that her inspiration arrived in the most unlikely form.

Wasting my time, in the waiting line

Lilly's eyes snapped open as the lyric ran through her head over and over again. Wasting time. That's all she was really doing, wasn't it? Letting her life, the things she loved, pass her by while she wasted all of her time mourning the betrayals of her past and protecting her heart from the future. Wasting her whole life when she should have known better.

If being a homicide detective had taught her anything, it was that time is a precious thing. She could die tomorrow and all of the petty concerns and problems that she'd tormented herself with would mean nothing. All of th reasons for why she couldn't get involved with Scotty, the disapproval of their colleagues and the worries over what might happen if it didn't work out seemed irrelevant in the long run.

She was feeling something for Scotty, something that she hadn't felt on a very long time, and that was something that really mattered. Lilly wouldn't call it love, it was much too soon for that, but she knew that she trusted him when she so rarely trusted anyone. He made her laugh and lightened the shadows that so often haunted her mind. When Lilly entered a room his eyes lit up and Scotty could never hide the smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth. He made her feel special and, in her entire life, no one had ever done that for her. Whether or not all of those things would grow into love, Lilly couldn't say but, finally, she was ready to find out.

As she left the coffee house, Lilly couldn't help but smile at the twist of fate that had brought her to this moment in a single flash of blinding clarity. Because of a picture and a song she was on her way to change her entire life.

Her head in the clouds, Lilly began her walk back to the office, not noticing until she bounced off of his chest that there was someone else on the sidewalk. She had already stepped back to apologize when she realized who it was that she had walked into. Apparently, fate had decided to intervene once again.

"Hey, Lil, I was just on my way to grab some lunch. You wanna come? It's my treat."

Scotty gave her a boyish smile, his eyes sparkling with laughter. Now that she was actually face to face with him she could feel her old insecurities trying to fight their way to the surface. For that one crucial second, Lilly froze. She watched as his smile slowly died and realized that he had taken her silence as a rejection.

"Another time, then. I guess I'll see you back at work."

Before he could walk away, Lilly caught his shoulder. "Scotty?"

When it came to emotions, Lilly had never been good with words. She stumbled and faltered until everything was so twisted that it was impossible to untangle the knot that her tongue had created. Instead of talking, when Scotty turned to face her, Lilly followed her instincts and did something that she had been dreaming about for months.

She kissed him.

He was shocked into stillness as she pressed her lips to his, remaining unresponsive for several seconds. Scotty recovered quickly, though, sliding an arm around her waist to pull her more tightly against his body, his other hand lifting to lightly stroke her cheek. Lilly shivered at the sensation of his lightly calloused palm caressing her skin.

His tongue ran in a soft glide over her bottom lip, asking entrance that she was more than willing to give. They lost themselves in each other, for the moment forgetting that they were less than a block from the police department.

The sound of a honking horn brought them back to their senses and they pulled away, both breathless and flushed. Lilly dropped her eyes, shyness making it difficult to meet his gaze, until a gentle hand under her chin forced her to raise her head. The look that she saw in his eyes took her breath away and made her heart race until she thought that it might jump out of her chest.

Scotty smiled at her then, reaching up to tuck a strand of her unruly hair behind her ear. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but you mind telling me what brought that on?"

Lilly had to smile herself. It was so simple, really. She had finally gotten tired of wasting time and she had never been happier because of it.