This is done, finally. Not my finest work but certainly fun to write.

Title: If You Go Down in the Woods Today

Pairings: Unknown at this point but probably Grace and Boyd

Summary: Team Bonding

Rating: K+

Spoilers: up to and including season seven.

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If You Go Down In The Woods Today

Part seven

It had been a long weekend for all of them, one which none of them was overly keen to repeat.

Boyd had been the first to declare that any future team bonding would take place over a curry and a few beers, and end with him sleeping in his own bed. A sentiment shared by all of them.

Another particular bonding session he hoped would be slightly more intimate, but also ending with him sleeping in his own bed, but not alone and with less sleeping involved.

The simple orienteering exercise had taken slightly longer than the predicted two to three hours, not least because the parties involved seemed unable to remain focused. Stella's team had arrived only minutes before Eve's, tired but in strangely good spirits. Stella's eyes had drifted over the obvious grass stains on the back of Eve's coat and the twig in her hair. Spencer for his part was grinning inanely and avoiding eye contact with anyone, leaving little doubt in Stella's mind that she was the only one not getting any.

Lunch had been a welcome interlude, tensions and inexplicable moments laced with gentle teasing. The mood had continued through the afternoon as the women sat on a grass bank and watched as Boyd and Spencer released their pent up testerone on quad bikes. There was little time for intimate moments or anything more than simple glances, at least not until after dinner when the younger members of the team had announced their nightly walk and disappeared into the distance leaving Boyd and Grace alone again.

After a moment of awkwardness Boyd had looked at her, the moonlight making him somewhat nostalgic. "So?"

She raised an eyebrow in question and found herself staring into his eyes as he moved towards her.

"Boyd?"

Gently, he ran his fingers down her cheek and cupped her face in his hands before lightly kissing her. As she broke away the first time he tugged her back, kissing her passionately on the lips, the moment dissolving into minutes as he continued to kiss her, his hands roaming her body as he tried to pull her harder towards him.

Finally, Grace stepped back, glancing nervously around the campsite.

"What? Are you worried about the squirrels and things?"

Grace placed a hand on his chest, pushing him away as she gave him a strange look.

"It was just an example."

"The whole damn world is going to know what we're up to if you don't lower your voice." She hadn't really considered it before and it certainly hadn't cropped up in any of the erotic dreams she'd endured about her boss, but Boyd couldn't seem to do anything quietly.

"What you're worried we're going to scar the kids for life," he teased, returning to nuzzling her neck.

"Boyd."

"Grace."

"Are you sure about this? I mean . . ."

"Shouldn't we remember who we are, and what we do and let common sense reign us in? No, Grace. For once I think you should just shut up and consider the possibility that I know what I'm doing."

"Oh, I have no doubt about that." Since the first kiss she had been convinced that sleeping with Boyd would be memorable, with age came experience and there had certainly been no hesitation. "Maybe you should shut up and do something."

Having learnt that arguing got him nowhere with her he did as he was told.

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"How much longer do we need to stay out here?" Stella whined as they followed the same path they had for the two previous evenings, Eve's torch guiding them over well trodden grass.

"It's Boyd, shouldn't take too long," Eve retorted, banishing the thought the second it entered her head.

"God, will you two stop it. It's Boyd and Grace." Spencer stopped walking and threw his hands up in frustration.

"They're old, Spencer, not dead. And god knows he needs to get laid."

"Eve!"

"I mean, he's not the only one, but life for all of us would certainly be a little less difficult if he could get laid more often," Eve continued, shrugging her shoulders in surrender to something that was true.

Spencer groaned audibly and shot her a look of disbelief. "You want Grace to . . ." He couldn't finish the sentence. It was too much like thinking about sex and your parents.

Stella's grin widened as she reached in the pocket of her oversized coat. "She wasn't complaining when they were in the woods earlier." Stella pulled out the bottle of red wine. "Drink anyone?"

"Bottle opener?"

"Yep. Grace thinks of everything."

Spencer's deep groan broke into the silence.

"What now?" Stella asked, confusion evident in her features.

"It was just an image, a deeply disturbing image." He shook his head and snatched the bottle, taking the first swig, hoping that a little more alcohol would clear his mind.

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Grace lightly ran her nails down his back, eliciting a low moan from him. "Ssh," she whispered, leaning up to silence him with a kiss.

Boyd's fingers tangled in her hair, holding her firmly against her as he deepened the kiss. Holding her with one hand he used the other to guide them down gently onto the sleeping bag.

Her fingers stopped moving as her eyes widened to look up at him. She hadn't expected to find herself in this position when she'd recommended to the Chief Constable that the team needed a little time away. Nor had she expected to find herself in the woods on a bonding exercise but that didn't really matter when she was gazing into Boyd's eyes and finding herself able to read him more clearly than ever.

"Grace?" he whispered, suddenly confused by the stilling of her motions. "I don't . . ."

"Why is it you choose to talk at the most inopportune moments?"

"Is there something else you'd rather I be doing?"

"You don't normally wait for my opinion."

Boyd slipped his hand from her hair and rose silently to his feet, pulling his sweater over his head and discarding it. His shirt was the first in a pile of clothes in the corner.

Grace smiled to herself, as she sat up and removed her tunic, suddenly finding herself sitting before him in her bra, the omnipresent effects of age fleetingly crossing her mind. The enormity of the moment hitting her. It had been a long time since her husband died, the last time they had made love sometime before that, and now she was about to give something of herself to the person that for all their disagreements was her best friend.

"Maybe we should just go to sleep. . .," he trailed off as her forehead crinkled in confusion. He slipped out of his shoes.

Grace gave him a warm smile, her fingers reaching to briefly lace with his. "Peter, I haven't . . ."

"Apparently it's like riding a bike, you never forget how to do it."

She couldn't help herself, her laughter causing her to lose balance, landing on top of him, the silliness of the moment breaking the tension, the change of positions bringing a new found confidence. Her lips met his and her fingers began a new, strangely more focused exploration of his body, Boyd's feeble protests resonating around camp.

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Grace stared down at him, her eyes drifting over his body as her fingertips gently teased at his chest.

His eyes stared back at her, a little glazed, a little in awe, but mostly in adoration for the woman he realised he loved.

A chuckle escaped her lips before she could stop it.

"What?" he asked, his voice laced with paranoia.

"Nothing." She shook her head, her smile widening as she lay her head on his shoulder. She was frightened of snakes and spiders and bumps in the night which is why the woods was her least favourite place. For some reason all she could think about as her fingers drew lazy circles over his stomach, slowly dipping lower, was the children's rhyme 'If you go down in the woods today you're sure of a big surprise.' The weekend had brought one surprise after another, not least the rather engorged one her fingers were now gently stroking.

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There was a mixture of trepidation and amusement as Grace opened her eyes and caught sight of Boyd snoring softly beside her. Flashbacks of the night before came rushing back to her as she pulled the sleeping bag back up over her. The simple realisation that she had finally slept with Boyd brought a smile to her lips.

"What time is it?" Boyd grumbled, rolling over onto his back.

"Five, five-thirty."

He groaned and ran his hand over his eyes. "Next Saturday we sleep till noon."

Grace shifted position, her fingers barely an inch from running through his hair when she realised what he had just said. They hadn't actually talked about what came next or even if there would be a next. There were certainly no concerns about what the team may or may not infer from the last few days. When it bothered them all enough they would ask. When it came down to it whatever happened depended entirely on them, and them alone.

"Then if you're good I'll take out for lunch," he whispered, tangling his fingers in her hair and tugging her mouth towards his.

"We need to get up." She felt his lips quirk up.

"Yeah, but it's a long drive back to London."

Grace swatted him with her hand as his lips pressed against hers, all thoughts of the drive, of being alone in the car with him and whether after a brief weekend of letting go, they could make it work, pushed from her mind. There would be time for that later when they argued about other things and didn't talk about the one thing they really needed to talk about. "You're incorrigible."

"Oh, Grace, encourage me, will you."

A short distance away a man's deep desperate groan resonated.

The End