"Terry! I didn't do anything except shake his hand," Tracy argued, outraged at her boyfriend. The other patrons of Delancy's glanced at them curiously. This was new. Ever since Tracy had moved from Connecticut to be with Terry, things had seemed perfect. They had acted as if they were on their honeymoon. They did everything together. In fact, Tracy had even got a job tending bar with him. Peter looked at his twin, "Sounds like trouble in paradise." "Looks like," Wolf replied, popping a few peanuts in his mouth. "Oh dear," Annie said, as her husband Paul Blaisdell patted her hand. "They seemed so right for each other." Annie didn't normally go to Delancy's, but this time she was on a mission. A mission to get volunteers. She was the chairwoman of the County General benefit that was happening in a few days. However, besides being a chairwoman, she was also a mother. A mother who thought that her son should get on with his life and try to put the fiasco with Jordan behind him. "But you smiled at him too!" Terry shouted, slapping his dishtowel on the bar. "Are you telling me I can't smile at anybody?" "You can smile at anybody, just not him!" the bartender's normal calm demeanor had fled after seeing his girl meet a man who had been on vacation for several weeks. "Terry! This is ridiculous. It's you I love." Tracy placed her arms around him. Terry shrugged her off. "Look, I'm just a bartender. I know I can't compete with the police commissioner's son." He started pacing back and forth, ignoring some patrons attempts to place their orders. "Look, if you want to be with him, I won't stand in your way." "How can I prove that its you, I love? Not what you do for a living," Tracy implored. Peter focused back on his conversation with his mother. "So, can I sign you up?" Annie asked. "I don't know, Mom. What would I have to do?" Peter asked. Annie ignored her son's question. "Peter, considering how much time you spend at County General, I think it would be in your benefit to help raise money for them." "Why can't I just send them a donation?" "Look, Blake is willing to help, Wolf is willing to help, even Kermit," Paul said from his wife's side. Wolf leaned back on his chair, balancing it on it’s the back legs and wall behind him. When Annie had asked him a few days ago, he had been happy to offer his help, although she had yet to tell him what she needed help with. "Wait, why are only men on your list?" Peter asked suspiciously. "Because I only need single men to help me." "You can count me in, Mrs. Blaisdell," Terry's voice came from behind. Tracy screamed in frustration as she stalked out the door. She'd be back. Peter sighed, it didn't seem like anyone was having luck in the love department lately. "All right, Mom, sign me up." *How bad could it be? Maybe a dinner or talent show, right? Help setting up the stage? * Annie smiled. Peter got an awful feeling in his stomach. He'd seen that smile before. "Wait, what did I just sign up for?" "You two might want to get your tuxes cleaned," Paul said smugly. "You two signed up to be volunteers in the first County General Bachelor Auction." "We did what?!?" Wolf's chair dumped him unceremoniously to the floor. Kermit crossed his legs at the ankles on top of his desk as he waited for his computer to boot up. As the machine finished its’ initial security checks, Kermit activated his mail program and smiled as he watched the mail coming in. *There's one from Annie. That new program Wolf gave her must be working out.* From what he recalled, the program was a new prototype designed for the seeing impaired. It would read your email to you and you could reply by either typing or dictating a message back. Kermit reached into his top drawer and withdrew his stash of Gummi Bears. A knock on the door was all of the warning Kermit got as a group of men came in carrying all manners of office equipment. "Hey, man, where do you want this?" a man with a cigarette half hanging out of his mouth asked, pointing to the extra desk and chair his men were carrying. "What? What is all of this?" Kermit demanded, standing up abruptly. The man looked at his clipboard. "Says right here, deliver one desk and chair from supply to Kermit Griffin's office." "Who requested that?" Kermit snatched the clipboard from the man's hand and read the name. Oh God, that's right. Paul assigned Wolf to me. With my luck, he'll be just like Peter.* Kermit growled. "All right, just leave it over there in the corner." The men lugged the desk and chair to the corner and left. Kermit sat down again to read his messages. He was just about to click on Annie's when he heard another knock. A very petite Asian woman wearing dark shades walked in with a toolchest. Behind her were a group of men carrying various cables and equipment. "Yes?" Kermit looked at her, above his glasses annoyed at yet another interruption. "Hello, I'm Wan-Wen Wu, I'm here to install a couple of computer lines?" "Finally! The request went through." Then another thought hit him. "Wait a second, I thought Paul said there wasn't any money in the budget for this." The woman opened her toolchest and pulled out a work order. "Nope, it’s all right here. 4 lines. Two general and two that will hook directly to the Gannett Corp computers." "How long will this take?" "Mr. Gannett asked that it be done as soon as possible, so it should take no more then a day." The woman put the order down and motioned for the men behind her to get to work. Noticing his Gummi Bears, she asked, "Would you mind?" Kermit shook his head and passed her the bag. "Just let me take five minutes to finish my mail." *Could this day get any worse? First I lose half of my office space and know I'm getting kicked out of my own office. I'm going to have a talk with this new partner of mine and remind him who's the senior partner here. Although.... he did manage to get us some computer lines.* Kermit took out a disk to save the important stuff and placed it in his disk drive as he opened Annie's message. "What?!?" *No way! This has to be some mistake. I am not-* "Is something wrong?" the woman asked popping a couple green bears in her mouth. "This!" Kermit pointed to his screen. Wan-Wen walked to his computer. After reading for a moment, she removed her shades and carefully looked him up and down, licking her lips. "Bachelor auction? The ladies will love you. In fact, now that I've seen what they're offering, I think I'll stop by as well." "Mr. Gannett must pay his employees well," Kermit muttered as he saved the rest of his mail. "For you? I'd empty my life savings." At that, Kermit ran out of his office vowing never to volunteer for anything again unless he knew exactly what he was volunteering for. Jody Powell walked into the squad room with a cup of coffee in her hand. She did a double take as she saw Kermit sitting in one of the interrogation rooms tapping on his laptop computer. She knocked on the door before walking in. "Kermit, what are you doing in there?" Kermit sighed and pushed his shades back up as he looked at the female detective. Reaching into his ever present bag of Gummi Bears, he popped one in his mouth before replying. "Some of Gannett's people are installing computer lines in my office." "That's a good thing, right?" She sat down on the corner of his table and raised the cup to her lips. "There's a wolf prowling in this frog's territory, and the frog is not happy, all right?" Kermit growled and looked back down at his computer. "I see." Jody put the cup down and waited for him to look at her again. "Did you want something particular, Detective Powell?" Kermit snapped. "Just wondering. What kind of date are you planning to offer at the bachelor auction?" "What do women hate most in the world?" "Cooking and cleaning," Jody replied promptly, thinking about her pile of laundry sitting in her apartment. "Exactly. Hence I will offer a trip to the Paris cooking convention. " "Paris, France?" "Uh huh. Why?" "Kermit, I think there are some women who would kill for a trip to Paris." "Maybe the cooking part will put them off?" Kermit asked, hopefully. "If you say so." Jody picked up her coffee and walked out of the door. As soon as she got out of Kermit's view she laughed. "Yeah, right." Taking another sip of her cooling coffee, she turned around as someone ran smack into her. Jody jumped back as the coffee sloshed out of her cup, spilling some on her new blouse. *Who ever just bumped into me is going to pay! This blouse cost me $40! * The detective looked up into the contrite eyes of one of the Caine twins. "Pe-" The twin shook his head and held up the files, which he was carrying in his right hand. "Wolf!" "Sorry, Jody. I got a call from one of my computer engineers. She said she'd be installing the lines today." Wolf shrugged. "I was hoping to get there before Detective Griffin, but the captain waylaid me with this new file." Wolf held up the folder again. "You're too late. They all ready kicked Kermit out of his office." Jody motioned towards the interrogation rooms with her coffee cup. "He's over there.". Wolf, seeing the cup, noticed the stain on her blouse for the first time. "Oh God, I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you? Besides reimbursing you?" "Well....." Jody pretended to think for a moment. "You can start by telling me what you and Peter are offering as a date for the auction tomorrow." Wolf groaned. "Please, don't mention the auction." "Well?" Jody grinned, she knew exactly what the men thought about being tricked into their roles. "Okay. Peter and I were thinking of maybe a double date, you know, to protect each other." "And where will you two be taking your dates?" "We figured, the one place where women would hate to go." Jody looked expectantly at him. "Where?" "Camping." Wolf hurried his explanation. "After all, what woman would enjoy roughing it? We figure, we could pack up two tents, one for us and one for the girls. You know, make a weekend of it." "What weekend?" Jody was going to make sure she was free, whatever weekend that was. This may be the only time she and Peter could go on a date. Although, if she really thought about it, she really wouldn't mind spending some time in close quarters with Wolf either. She'd have to decide tonight. Which twin to bid on. "You want to maybe....meet for lunch?" Wolf asked tentatively. "Sorry, Wolf." Jody apologized, "I need to pick up my dress for tonight." "Oh, I understand. Maybe next time." Wolf nodded quickly and hurried away. Peter nervously tugged on his bow tie as he waited with his twin and the rest of the bachelors behind a curtain. "Stop fidgeting, Peter!" Wolf reprimanded his younger brother. He pulled Peter's hand away and straightened out the abused neckwear. "How can you stand wearing this stuff?" Peter complained as his hand went towards his neck to loosen the pull of his collar. Wolf slapped his hand. "You get used to it." Peter looked at his brother. Wolf shrugged. "I was Dad's co- host for some of Gannett Corp's functions." He turned around and picked up the two bouquets of roses he had purchased up earlier. "Here." Peter accepted the flowers and handed Wolf a box of chocolates. They had decided to split their errands between them. Wolf had picked up their tuxes and flowers while Peter had picked up the candy and planned their weekend. Annie walked by with Paul guiding her. She clapped her hands for attention. "All right, men. I want you all to go out there and strut your stuff!" She heard the groans from her victims. "Come on, men, do it for charity!" Paul Blaisdell took on his captain's voice. "Line up and meet your fate like men!" The men grumbled as they picked up their flowers and candy before lining up. Wolf lined up behind his twin, humming the Taps. Peter turned around and kicked his brother. "Boys, behave yourselves!" Annie said, as she passed by, heading out to the front of the stage. Peter immediately stopped as he heard the applause at her entrance. "Oh, God," the man ahead of the twins muttered. "I'd rather be back in the war zone then over here." "Kermit?" Peter asked. The man turned around, letting the twins see his forest green tux. He was grasping the life out of a bouquet of pink roses with a bag of green Gummi Bears dangling from them. "What?" he asked belligerently. "Will you two be quiet?" Blake whispered from behind Wolf and Terry. "They can probably hear you all the way in the back row!" The three men turned to look at their electronic expert. "Um, Blake?" Wolf ventured out. "What?" "What's that thing dangling from your flowers?" Blake looked down. "A surveillance bug." At his fellow officers' looks, he reassured them, "Don't worry, it's not one of the police's. I made this one on my own with parts from my local Radio Shack." "How can you be so calm about all of this?" Peter demanded. Blake shrugged with a sad smile. "How do you think I met my wife?" The men were silent. Wolf had heard about the tragic story of Blake's wife from the office gossip. Annie's voice from the other side of the curtain brought them all back to attention. "...And the first hunk of beef or should I say frog? I'd like to offer you ladies is, Detective Kermit Griffin." Kermit froze at the loud applause, from the single women of Sloanville. *Nope, no way! * "Detective Griffin?" came Annie's voice. He had no choice. "I'll remember this the next time you two need backup!" he muttered as the twins pushed him out to the shark infested waters. *Oh God. They're all looking at me. All right, Kermit, if you can walk through mine fields, you can do this. Hey, maybe that will work. Think mine fields, Kermit* Kermit carefully walked down the runway as Annie continued her speech. "Detective Griffin is offering a weekend in Paris to attend one of the most prestigious cooking conventions ever. All of the best chefs will be there. Do I have an opening bid?" "$50 !" a voice called out. "Do I hear-" Annie started, before the bidding continued without her encouragement. "$60!" "$100!" "$150!" "$500!" "$1000!" "$1500!" a voice called out, halting the others. Kermit had stood stunned as the bidding had risen. He searched the room until he met the gaze of a woman he had just met that day. A woman who had kicked him out of his own office. * What was her name? Wan-Wen Wu.* Kermit shrugged. *At least she's easy on the eyes and she likes Gummi Bears.* He left the stage as Annie set out to introduce the twins. "Now I have to offer you something you don't usually find in most auctions. A pair of twins." The audience gasped as Annie continued. "They're offering a double date for a weekend trip camping in the mountains. The first one to be sold will be my son, Detective Peter Caine." Wolf shoved his twin out onto the stage. Peter stumbled. As he tried to regain his balance, he pulled Wolf onto the stage with him. "Peter!" Wolf stood up and offered a hand to his younger twin. Peter accepted the hand and brushed off his tux. The two looked out into the silent audience. "Peter?" Annie's voice bounced off walls, thanks to the help of her microphone. Peter cringed. "Um, yeah, Mom?" Peter called back. "Are you quite done?" Peter was embarrassed. He nodded, temporarily forgetting that his blind foster mother couldn't see him. "Yes, Annie," Wolf called back for his twin. "Ah, Wolf. Ladies, may I present Peter's twin brother, Wolf Gannett?" At that the ladies stopped gaping at the twins and started clapping. "Okay, let's get on with the bidding. Peter, you first!" Annie's voice commanded, causing the young man to jump. As he started down the runway, she reminded him. "And remember, this is for charity!" Peter sighed and started to strut his stuff. He added a slight sway to his walk and gave a blinding smile to the masses of women looking at him like a hunk of beef that they wanted to examine. "$300!" came Jody's voice "$400!" came the counter bid. "$600!" Jody counterbidded. "$1000!" At that price, Jody dropped out of the running with a sigh. "$1500!" another woman's voice took up the slack. "$1500, do I hear more?" Annie shouted. "$2500!" "$3000!" Everyone looked to see who had made the offer. It had been the woman sitting next to Wan-Wen Wu. Peter made eye contact and did a double take. *Dr. Chin?* He saw Kermit's date whisper to his twin's ex-doctor. Dr. Chin just shook her head and whispered something back to her friend. "All right. Sold for $3000!" Annie motioned towards the stage. "Now what will you give for his twin, one of the newest members of the Sloanville Police Force?" Wolf strutted down the walkway with his patented Wolf Gannett swagger. Upon reaching the end, he gave his trademark growl. "$1000!" came Jody's starting bid. "$1300!" came another woman's voice. "$1350!" Jody retaliated. "$1400!" her competitor replied. "$1500!" Jody counterbidded, glaring at her competitor. Wolf carefully watched the two continue bidding over him. *She didn't bid that high for Peter. Maybe I do have a chance with her.* "$1850!" "$2500!" Jody called back. The other woman raised her sign again. "$3000" Jody did a quick mental count of her savings. "$3500!" "We have $3500, any one else?" Annie asked. At the sound of silence, she banged her gavel. "Sold!" The twins left the stage, passing a nervous Terry on his way out. "And now, ladies, we have Terry, a man of many talents. He's offering a weekend at the beach-" "He's mine!" a voice shouted before the bidding started. All of the people in the room turned around to see Tracy bursting through the side doors. "Tracy!" Terry groaned. He hadn't seen her since their fight. For a while, he thought she'd left him. After all, Candy had left him when she found out he hadn't had any higher aspirations then being a good bartender. "I bid $1000!" a woman near the stage called. "$1500!" Tracy called back, her eyes never leaving Terry's. "$2000!" "$3000!" Tracy glared daggers at the other woman, forcing her to back off. Annie banged the gavel. Instead of returning back stage, Terry leapt off of the platform and went towards Tracy. "Tracy?" he whispered. "I love you, you big lug!" Tracy grinned. "But you don't have this kind of money to spend!" Tracy shrugged, "So I'll sell off all of my possessions. You're worth it." Terry took her in his arms. "I'll help you pay it." "You don't have that kind of money either!" Tracy protested. A sheepish grin spread across his face. “Actually I do. I’m not just the bartender at Delancy’s. I’m the owner as well.” Tracy looked at him, bewildered, "So why is it called Delancy's? And why didn't you tell anyone?" Terry shrugged. "That's me. Terry Delancy. No one ever bothers to ask the bartender's last name. So no one knows except you. As for not telling..." his voice trailed off before quietly admitting, "I wasn't sure that I would succeed. I mean, I never even finished college." Tracy nodded in understanding. "Can we go now?" Terry looked around as Annie told the women about Blake's offer to wire any video and electronic equipment anywhere they wanted. As they walked out the door, the last bid they heard was for $10,000. Wolf watched as Dr. Wendy Chin laughed and threw a duffel bag from inside the 4 Runner in Peter's direction. His twin was grinning wildly as he caught and set the luggage on the ground. *Looks like Peter is finally getting over Jordan.* "Hey, Wolf? How do we set this up?" Jody looked at the two dome tents spread on the ground under a large tree. Peter had decided on the 2 small tents instead of the large one they had bought for the camping trip with Tom. This way, privacy could be insured. *Although *, Wolf mused, *I wonder exactly what kind of privacy he was thinking about? The way this is looking, I'm not going to be bunking with Peter.* Wolf sighed. Sure enough, while they went off in pairs to gather firewood, Peter pulled his brother aside. "Umm...Wolf?" Wolf stopped in mid-motion and turned to his twin, as he was about to pick up a stick. "Yeah?" "Would it be all right if I shared one of the tents with Wendy instead?" *Wendy, otherwise known to me as Dr. Chin* Wolf mentally noted and picked up the stick. "I see. And I guess I'd be bunking with Jody." Peter nodded and winked. "It might even be the perfect time to get to know her." "Peter," Wolf said in a warning tone. Peter placed his hands out in a defensive position, dropping his wood. "Hey, it was just a thought." Wolf sighed. It had been 2 months since the fiasco with Jordan. And in that time, Peter hadn't shown any interest in anyone or anything. However, ever since the bachelor auction a couple of weeks ago, Wendy and Peter had been dating as often as their schedules permitted. "All right. I'll switch tents with you. But if Jody tries anything, you'd better defend my honor!" Peter laughed as he picked up the wood he had dropped and started towards back towards their camp site. Wolf shook his head. *He thinks I'm kidding. For the past couple of days, since the auction, I've been getting signals from Jody. Like she wouldn't mind having me in her bed. But does she want me for who I am? Or for who I resemble? Although, if I think about it, she did stay and bid higher for me then for Peter.* This scene was written with the help of my editor, Tracy Lecates, one night on AOL chat:) It was time. Time to go to bed. Peter and Wendy walked hand in hand into one tent. Jody poured a bucket of water over the fire as Wolf shoveled some sand on the drenched remains. Then they both looked at each other. Wolf looked at Jody nervously as she looked at him in anticipation. Then they both look at the one remaining tent. "I'm trusting you to stay on your side, otherwise we'll have to divide the tent with pillows down the middle," Wolf finally broke the silence and told a crestfallen Jody. Jody appeared totally crushed. Her expression mirrored that of a kid who'd been presented with a box full of chocolate and been told that she can look but CAN'T TOUCH. *Maybe I can convince him that I'm going to need the extra warmth? * They glanced uncomfortably at one another as they can hear the other two in their tent going at it. "Don't even think it! Otherwise, I'll have Peter come and defend my honor!" Wolf ducked inside the tent and quickly closed the zipper. She could hear him stripping inside. She licked her lips at the thought. "All right, I'm in my bag. You can come in now." Jody unzipped the tent and walked in. Wolf was on his side, turned away from her, so she could change in privacy. *Drats, why does he have to be such a gentleman? * She could see Wolf's bare shoulder gleaming in the moonlight coming in from the screen window. *Hmmm...just because he's a gentleman, doesn't mean I have to be a gentlewoman! * Wolf, as if sensing her gaze quickly tucked the bag up to his shoulders. Heshifted in his bag. It was almost as if he could feel her gaze piercing through and stripping him naked. *This is all Peter's fault! Peter probably planned the number of tents just so that this would happen too! * Wolf snuggled down to the bottom of his bag and pulled it over his head. "Come on, Wolf, it’s cold out here," Jody whined, hoping that Wolf would gallantly offer her some of his warmth. Wolf groaned. *Why wasn't this girl going to sleep? He'd get Peter for this, if it were the last thing he'd do.* Wolf slowly unzipped his bag and sat up. Jody licked her lips as she saw his chest. Finally, she would get close to him. *Thump* Wolf had thrown something at her. She watched sadly as he sank back into his bag, re-covering his head in the process. She looked down to see what he had thrown at her. *Darn, another sleeping bag! * Jody decided to take another tactic. Despite her former protests that it was cold, she started getting undressed. *His head may be under the sleeping bag but he can still hear* She grinned at that thought. Inside the bag Wolf stuck his fingers in his ears when he heard Jody disrobing. *Why was she taking her clothes off if she was so cold? * Although his ears were plugged, his imagination was not. Throughout the whole ordeal, he silently recited a mantra. *I will not be tempted. I will not be tempted. * The sounds of the other couple in the other tent carried into their tent as Jody lays there wide-awake, hyper-aware of the presence of the man just a foot away... the one she wanted. Badly. Very Badly. After a while Wolf unplugged his ears. He could hear his twin with his lady from the outside as well. He also could hear Jody sighing. He knew with just a word, he could be making those noises as well, however, did Jody want him for his mind or for his body? Jody realized she was getting no where. "Sorry..." she sighed. "This whole situation is such a turn-around from every other relationship I've ever had, it's just... " she started laughing in frustration. "I'm sorry too. It's not that I don't find you attractive...it’s just that when I was younger, I made a promise to myself. I promised myself that I wouldn't sow any 'wild oats'. I saw how girls felt when they found out how the guys who did really felt about them." Wolf sighed. "I guess I'm afraid that I'll end up like one of those girls. I'm afraid that I'll be cast away when someone better comes along. That's one reason why I'm waiting till my wedding night." Jody's heard the 'wedding night' declaration before but it still threw her to hear those words coming out of his mouth. Her laughter had faded, but the smile persisted. "I still can't believe I'd ever hear those words out of a man. There IS no one better to come along. I tried so hard for so long to get your brother in bed..." she confessed. "I honestly thought he was my soulmate. And now I think about making love to Peter, and it would seem more like... incest or something." "Wait a minute, Peter turned you down for HER? I've seen the love you have for Peter," Wolf asked incredulously. How could Peter turn down a nice girl like Jody for Jordan? What did he do? Get the two names and faces mixed up because they both started with the same syllable and were both blondes? "I'm glad that you never went to bed with Peter. I don't know, it just wouldn't feel right to me." "I'm glad now too. I wasn't so glad a lot of nights in the past," she laughed. "The two of you are so completely different I don't even get confused when one of you walks in the room anymore. I know right off which one of you it is. I think things worked out for the best. I honestly respect your beliefs, and I think it's the sweetest thing I've ever heard but... GOD it's not easy..." she growled. Wolf smiled, "It's not easy for me either, but its something I believe in." Wolf was sorry that he was making Jody feel this way. But he also didn't want her to lose interest like she had in Peter when he hadn't slept with her. There was more to a relationship then just sleeping together. "Jody?" Wolf called in the darkness of the tent. "Yeah, Wolf?" Jody replied. She was taking deep calming breaths. "What are your dreams?" Wolf waited silently for her reply. "Dreams?" she smiled. This was a little like the campouts she'd gone on with friends when she was a kid. But no guy had ever asked her about her dreams before. "Yeah, if you could do or be anything that you wanted, what or who would it be?" Wolf rolled so that he was facing Jody. He wanted her to know he was serious about this. She turned her head and faced him. "I like being a cop... I feel like I make a difference out there... but I want more out of life. I want to be needed for more than just my ability to shoot straight. I want to have a home and a family some day. I want a career and a husband and a couple of kids..." Wolf nodded his understanding, then realized that Jody might not be able to see him. "I understand where you're coming from completely. Truthfully? I would like the whole nine yards. A house in the burbs, a wife, and a couple of kids...and I wouldn't even mind if my wife wanted to work. It's not as if I 'd need the money or anything. Being a cop is what I'm good at, but it's not my dream job." "It's nobody's dream job..." she laughed. "It's more like a calling... it's just something you DO because it's what you ARE... Would that house in the burbs have a... nice backyard for cookouts?" "Yeah, and a little picket fence too. So the dog can run around the yard. I've always wanted a dog, but my sister was allergic to them." Wolf waxed nostalgically. "Although, we did have a couple of very nice fish." "I love dogs... And I'm sorry about your sister. My sister was killed too... I know what that feels like..." "Do you?" Wolf asked, leaning his head on one elbow. Jody couldn't seem to answer. She was staring at him. Wolf followed her gaze and brought the bag back up to his shoulders. "Sorry." This brought on another embarrassed smile. "Can't help it. You're gonna have to sue me for sexual harassment." Wolf chuckled. "That'll be a first. I've never heard of a guy suing a girl for sexual harassment. You think I'd win?" "I think you'd have a hell of a case. Since I'd break under pressure and confess on the stand. But I don't have any money, and you've already got more than enough, so what would you seek in damages?" "Oh, I don't know, maybe a date with the lovely lady? A real date?" Wolf held his breath. Jody was the first girl he's asked out since his wedding fiasco. Would she accept? She looked shocked, she looked thrilled. "You could have that without suing me." "Then it's a date then." Wolf replied. Maybe he should pick up some tips from Peter before going out.... wait, somehow it seemed like Peter's dates ended up in bed, maybe he shouldn't. He didn't want to send Jody mixed signals. Maybe, he should give it a chance, and just be himself. *After all, all girls couldn't be like Monique, right? * "It's a date," she repeated, a wide, almost goofy grin spreading across her face. "Now, if I promise to keep my hands behind my back, can I get a goodnight kiss????" she batted her eyelashes at him comically. Wolf thought about it for a second, "I....I guess that would be okay. But you have to close your eyes." Jody nodded. She'd do anything he asked. After seeing her close her eyes, he carefully inched his way out of the sleeping bag. She kept her eyes obediently closed, hearing the rustling of his sleeping bag and wondered what he was doing... maybe he was going to bolt out of the tent... Just as their lips were about to touch, there was a thump, shaking their whole tent. Wolf quickly backed away and covered himself with his sleeping bag as Jody's eyes flew open. A loud whisper could be heard. "Hey, you guys have any spare condoms in there?" Jody growled and picked up her purse, quickly moving to unzip the tent flap and hurled the purse out at the offending whisperer... "In my wallet!!! You pig!" she hissed in frustration. *Thump* Wolf heard whatever Jody had thrown connect with her target. And a person swear in Chinese. *Wait a minute, Chinese curse? * Then something else hit him. *That hadn't been Peter or Wendy's voice! * Wolf looked at Jody as Jody looked back at him. "Something's hinky, something's definitely hinky." Wolf fumbled around until his hand connected with the flashlight. Flicking it on, he shone it right into the grinning face Lo Tou, Tsu's right hand man. Note '' denotes mindspeaking *Why? Why can't I ever have a normal camping trip? Why must the Sing Wah always drop in unannounced? It must be Peter's fault! This never happened when I went camping with my other family! * Lo Tou motioned for them to exit the tent. "Hey, at least let us get some clothes on!" Jody complained, pulling her sleeping bag up. Tou sighed. "You have one minute." Wolf and Jody hurried into their clothes. "Any ideas?" Jody whispered softly. Wolf was shaking his head when he felt a slap on his cheek and a hard punch to his gut. As he doubled over, he could hear his brother outside, continually taunting the Sing Wah. 'Did you have to do that, Peter?' 'Hey, Big bro, I hope you have a plan. Right now, we're all tied to a tree.' 'All?' 'Yeah, Kermit and Wan-wen is here as well. Apparently Tou grabbed them at the airport on their way to Paris. "Anything here we can use for a weapon?" Wolf whispered to Jody. Jody silently handed him their flashlight. Her eyes lit up as she suddenly remembered something, she rummaged in her duffel bag and pulled out a Swiss army knife. Wolf patted his jeans' pocket and took out his keys. He deftly separated them as quietly as he could and removed them from his key chain, a miniature Swiss army knife. He slid it into his back pocket and signaled that he was ready to go. "Our goal is to free the others." Jody nodded her understanding. She knew that she and Wolf were no match for all of the Sing Wah. They would need to free the others to help as soon as possible. Together they took a breath and opened the tent flap. One of the Sing Wah yanked them out, causing them to stumble to the ground. Wolf glared at the man as he glanced around, taking note of his surroundings. Besides Lo Tou, there were about twenty Sing Wah watching. He saw Peter and Wendy with two others tied around a giant oak tree. Tou walked over to them and sneered, "Glad you two could finally join the party." He grabbed the flashlight out of Wolf's hand. "You won't be needing that anytime soon." Wolf wrapped his arm around Jody, as if he were escorting his date to a restaurant. "Too bad I can't say the same about receiving your invitation." Two Sing Wah roughly separated and pulled them towards the tree. Another came up with some of the twine that Peter had put up earlier to be used as a laundry line. Tou gloated as Wolf and Jody were tied to the tree. "Master Tsu will be so proud of me." He pointed to Kermit. "I've got his mistress's killer and his date, and I have the Caine twins." Kermit fought the ropes holding him to the tree. "Give us all a break and shut up." He was not a happy frog. He had let his excitement of going to the Paris cooking convention block out his need for caution. Tou had grabbed him and Wan-wen right out in public. Tou laughed. "I'm the one in charge here. If I want to talk, I will." He turned to a small group of Sing Wah. "I want all of you to stand guard while I go inform our master of his new prisoners." Without waiting, he turned and left the campsite. Note '' denotes mindspeaking As the group of Sing Wah turned from them to start a campfire, Wolf and Jody squirmed in their bonds. "I'm sorry for getting you into this," Peter said to Wendy. Peter had been impressed with how calm she had been throughout the whole ordeal. "No problem," she replied. *So that's the Sing Wah's new right hand man.* Wan-wen let out a light gasp as she discovered that her hands were suddenly free. As one of the Sing Wah looked over, she quickly placed her hands behind her again. She looked at her mistress, 'How?' As if they had heard her question, the twins quickly glanced at her, before looking away. 'It wasn't me, your boss has a small knife in his possession.' Wendy replied. The twins looked at her in amazement. 'Can you two hear me?' Wolf tried. Wendy and Wan-wen looked in amazement at him and nodded slightly. 'Jody and I should have you all free in a moment. ' 'How is it that you two can hear us?' Peter asked. 'Explanations later,' Wolf broke in, 'Tou's coming back.' Tou walked back towards them, a bounce in his step. Behind him was Ling Han Tsu, leader of the Sing Wah. He was carrying a sharp jeweled knife. Without uttering a word, he walked straight to Kermit. "Are you the one called Kermit?" "What's it to you?" Kermit snarled back. He felt the ropes around his wrists start to loosen. "I wish to see your eyes as I plunge this knife through your heart." With that, Tsu used the knife to flick Kermit's shades off. Kermit glared at the man. "Was that supposed to impress me?" Without any warning, Tsu thrust the knife towards Kermit's chest. Kermit ducked and rolled away from the tree. As if that had been a prearranged signal, all of Tou's former prisoners jumped up and stood in fighting positions. "Don't you ever talk?" Kermit asked as he kicked one of the Sing Wah. "Or is it only Tou who has a big mouth?" The Sing Wah muttered something in Chinese. Kermit looked at Wan-Wen who finished off her own opponent before replying. "Kick him again, " she advised. "He just insulted your parentage." "He did what?" Kermit kicked the man again. He shook his hand to get rid of the stinging feeling. *What I wouldn't give to have my Desert Eagle in my hand. * He sighed as another Sing Wah stepped in to replace his fallen comrade. *Hell, now I know why the academy insisted on all of those hand to hand classes. * Jody thought as she squared off with one of the pajama-clad men. She surveyed the man in front of her. "Don't you know that went out of style years ago?" She ducked the punch the man threw at her. "I am already a very frustrated lady, you don't want to piss me off!" With that she kicked the man's legs from under him. Meanwhile, the twins and Wendy were having problems of their own. What Sing Wah that weren't fighting were forming a line behind Tou, who was behind Tsu. "Not this again!" Wolf groaned. Tsu smiled. "This time it is us against just the two of you." The twins looked at each other. They knew that combined, their power was formidable, but could they defeat the Sing Wah without their elders' help? Wolf slapped his right palm to Peter's left to combine their chis. A blue glow emitted from their other two palms. They faced them towards Tsu's glowing red ones. *Here we go again, * the twins thought as one. Kermit threw the last Sing Wah over his shoulder and listened in satisfaction at the thump his opponent made as he collided with a tree. He shielded his eyes at the sudden blue and red glows. *Now what? * Kermit shook his head as he retrieved his shades from where Tsu had discarded them. *My life was relatively uncomplicated until I met Peter and his family. * "What's going on?" he asked as he joined the others. Peter and Wolf strained to push the evil red glow back, but it was no use. Tsu was gaining ground. Suddenly, the twins felt a hand on each of their backs and a golden glow mixed with their blue to push the red back. Wan-Wen was about to join their chain when she noticed the knife that Tsu had tried to kill her date with. In her head she could hear the lessons her mistress had taught her. * Never disturb one who is focussing with their chi. * She grinned and picked up the knife. Testing its balance, she got as close as she dared and threw the knife at Tsu. *Shit! It missed. Wait! The twins were winning. What happened? Yes! The knife got Tou right through the heart. * She shook her finger at him. "That was for messing up my date with Kermit!" When Tou fell to the ground, Tsu lost the support of his Sing Wah. At that moment the golden blue vanquished the red. Tsu fell to the ground, panting in exertion. Seeing his fallen men around him, Tsu sighed and created a doorway with the last of his energy. His men picked him up and ran through. The twins closed their eyes and disentangled their chis. The others watched as they and Wendy took some deep breaths. Peter opened his eyes and looked at his new lover, "All right, who exactly are you?" Kermit looked at Wan-wen with the same question on his lips. Wan-wen went to stand beside her mistress, before declaring, "This is my mistress. She is the leader of the Butterfly Sect." Wolf nodded, "And the Butterfly Sect have been the enemies of the Sing Wah for centuries." "Yes," Wendy confirmed. "We were thinking of an alliance with the Shaolin, and so I sent Wan-Wen undercover at Gannett Corp. to find out about she could about its president and his Shaolin cop twin." "And what did you find out?" Peter demanded. "The Shaolin are truly on the side of good." Wendy bowed slightly, "We would be honored to form a partnership with you." Peter looked at Wolf, who shrugged back at him. "We could use all the help we can get," his twin replied. "Especially with you." Wolf turned to look at Wendy, his eyes narrowing, "You weren't just playing with my brother, were you?" Peter anxiously waited for Wendy's response. "No. I was interested in Peter before I found out that he was the Shaolin cop everyone in Chinatown was talking about. Although I should have known it was him, considering all of the times I glimpsed him in the hospital." "And you?" Kermit asked Wan-wen. "It was the Gummi Bears," she replied. "Not many men I know openly eat my favorite candy." "Ummm....guys?" Jody broke in. "What are we going to do with this body?" She pointed at Tou's cadaver. "The Sing Wah take care of their own," Wolf answered, "They will be back for it later." "What do you think? Should we pack up now? Or come back for the stuff later?" Wolf asked. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I am not too fond of camping here anymore." Kermit pressed a button on his watch and looked at Wan-wen. "If we hurry, we can probably catch the next flight to Paris." "I think we may have a problem. We got 6 people and 5 seats." Peter remarked. "I guess that answers the packing question. Do we draw straws for who sits in back?" Jody wondered. "My 4 Runner, I drive," Wolf declared. "The rest of you draw straws." "I'll sit in the back, more room for me," Wan-wen said. She wanted to go already. The more time they spent arguing, the less time they had to make the flight. As Wolf helped Jody into her seat, he asked, "I guess I owe you a camping trip then?" "You bet. I paid good money for you." Jody smiled. "Only next time, how about we leave Peter at home?" Wolf chuckled as he walked around to the driver's side. He had been thinking exactly the same thing. Jody leaned towards Wolf and tapped her glass of wine to his. "To beginnings?" "To beginnings," Wolf agreed as he took a sip and looked into her eyes. The couple jumped apart, startled, as Peter pulled out the chair next to them. The elder twin took a napkin and wiped at the wine that had sloshed onto his lap. "Warn a guy next time, will you?" "Huh? Oh, sorry." Peter waved his beer around. "It's just nice to have everything back to normal. Music's good, beer's good, Kermit and his date are living it up in Paris." He motioned near the bar where a couple was locked in a deep embrace behind the bar. "Even Terry and Tracy are back to normal." "Hey, Terry! Tracy!" Stacy, one of Delancy's waitresses called. "You working today or what? When your boss hears about you fooling around on the job, he's going to fire you." The couple reluctantly broke apart. Tracy grabbed her waitressing tray and headed towards their table. "Any of you ready for refills?" The detectives shook their heads. "So how was your weekend at the beach?" Tracy clutched the tray to her chest and looked back to where her boyfriend was tending bar. "It was great." "Despite the weather?" Wolf asked. "Weather?" Tracy asked puzzled. "Yeah. According to the papers, there was a storm going on near the shore," Wolf replied. Tracy blushed a deep red. "I guess Terry and I didn't exactly notice the weather outside." Just then, the ring of a cell phone was heard. Each of the detectives patted their jacket pockets. Wolf held up his ringing phone in victory and got up. "Excuse me for a moment." Peter shrugged and took another sip of beer before looking at Jody. "So what's going on between you and Wolf?" Jody looked into her half empty wineglass as if it held the answers to the world inside. "It's none of your business, Peter." "The Hell it isn't." Peter banged his bottle down on the table in front of him. "If you hurt him in any way...." "I know, I know. But Peter, I'm serious about him." "Do you know for sure? Just two months ago, you were serious about me." "Look, the only way I know to convince you is to stay with him. And that takes time." Peter raised an eyebrow, "He told you?" "About his rule about sex? Yeah." Jody grimaced. "That and what happened at his wedding." She reached out and touched his arm. "He talks a good game, but I have a feeling that I'll have to go slow with him. I don't want to scare him off. And if he says wait or slow down, then I'll wait. Because I have a feeling that things will work out in the end for us." She saw the doubtful look on his face. "Really, Peter." Peter nodded. If his twin could trust Jody with this information then maybe he was worrying for nothing. Wolf walked back to their table with a worried expression on his face. "What is it, bro?" "That was Cassy St. John. You remember, Tom's partner?" Peter nodded and motioned for his twin to continue. "Something's happened to Tom." Wolf answered. Peter rose from his chair, reaching for his cell phone with one hand. "I'll call Captain Blaisdell." Wolf nodded and opened his cell phone as well. As Peter hit the speed dial for his foster father's home, he asked, "Who are you calling?" "If something's happened to Tom, Uncle Damon will want to know." Peter gave him a thumbs up sign and turned his attention to his phone. "Hullo, Mom? Yeah, I know it's late. But can I talk to Dad? It's important." Beside Peter, Wolf talked in his own phone. "Hello, Uncle Damon? Something's happened to Tom. Yes, Peter and I will be on the next flight out to Palm Beach. We'll meet you at the station." Wolf and Peter snapped their phones shut simultaneously. "Ready?" Wolf nodded and turned to Jody. "I'm sorry, Dollface. Can I take a raincheck for the rest of this date." "I understand. Is there anything I can do to help?" Jody asked, reaching for her jacket. "Drop us off at the airport?" "You got it."