A/N: Dearest Readers, I apologize for my absence. 2014 has been an unexpected year of ups and downs (mostly downs) in my personal life. I had honestly very little time to sit and focus on my writing. And while I had hit quite a writer's block eons ago, now, it's just a matter of lack of time! Also, I recently obtained a full-time job teaching, so my time is even more limited (though for happier reasons this time). That being said, I probably won't be updating as much. But I do love this story, and I plan on sticking with it, whether it be years before it reaches completion (and Hollywood Coaching as well). I hope you guys continue this journey with me. I love writing and it means so much to me that there are still readers out there enjoying what I produce.

I had this chapter completed a while ago, but I was never satisfied with it, and I'm still not, but I wanted to give you guys something before the year ended, so excuse the lack of finesse in plot/character development. I hope you readers can still stomach it. :)

Disclaimer: Characters still aren't mine. I do miss them though.

After that long and gruelling week and that impromptu visit from his past, James decided not to go to the gym that night. Instead, he popped over to the local convenience store, bought a six-pack, and headed over to Kendall's place.

He rang the doorbell, expecting to see his friend appear wearing a hockey jersey and face paint. But the fates weren't with him, again.

Katie, dressed in skin-tight yoga pants and a sports bra answered the door. James tried to ignore the fact that his body was reacting in ways that was utterly against his desires.

He said the only thing that he could think of to distract himself. "What are you doing here?"

Katie raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't I be the one asking you that? I live here, dumbass." She shook her head. She turned her inside and shouted into the house. "Kendall, I believe you received some junk mail. I'm going on my jog now."

James could hear the confusion in Kendall's voice. "What?"

Katie rolled her eyes and popped in an earphone into one ear, before she could get the other, James grabbed her wrist.

"We need to talk."

She gave him a defiant look. "Fine. After my run."

James nodded, and let go of her. He watched as she began her trek. He told himself not to look at her behind, but like its uncooperative nature since he met her, his body refused to listen. He found himself appreciating the tight bounce whenever she moved forward.

"Oh that's just sick!" Kendall's cry interrupted his thoughts.

James turned around. "What?"

Kendall pointed in Katie's general direction. "You were just ogling my sister. Dude, the bro code. Thou shalt not date thy unrelated bro's sister."

"I was not ogling her, nor do I ever want to date her. I was checking to make sure that my car was locked." James argued.

Kendall's distinctively thick eyebrows went up. "Sure. Anyway, what's up?"

James held up the six-pack. "It's game night. Thought I'd watch the game over here."

"Come on in," Kendall said, opening the door wider in invitation.

James stepped in, following the blonde. "She lives here, now?"

"Yeah, Katie hasn't had time to actually go look for a place since she was hired right out of the training program. She lived on base while she was there, and grandma lives in Minnesota, which is where she was before that," Kendall answered, jumping into his armchair.

James wrinkled his brow slightly in contemplation. "What about your parents?"

Kendall's pleasant expression darkened. He glanced at James before looking back at the giant screen. "Our parents are dead, James."

James sat in stunned silence. Kendall had never divulged in his personal life, and he had always assumed that Kendall was untainted as far as history went. He had never told James about his parents, and he had to give him credit for never letting his mask fall. Losing parents, that's something one never gets over.

Kendall shrugged when his friend didn't respond. "Happened a long time ago. Nothing to talk about."

James didn't pry. He knew that if Kendall wanted to tell him, he would. Everyone was entitled to their privacy. He sat back and propped his foot on the ottoman. "Leafs are doing well."

Kendall scoffed, "For now. Crosby is going to cream their asses, and they've nothing on the Kings." Kendall grabbed one of the cans that James had brought over and popped it open. "So, really. What's going on between you and my sister? You guys can't seem to talk about anything. You guys practically blow up HQ every time you guys are within speaking distance." He took a swig of his beer, waiting for his friend to answer.

James shrugged. He came over here to avoid all drama that was life at GC, particularly the topic of his partner. He glanced at Kendall. "Look, I came over here to watch the fucking hockey game, not to talk about our feelings. What are we? A bunch of girls?"

Kendall grinned. "Don't let Katie, Cam, or Jo hear you say that. They'd probably rip off your dick for making a sexist comment about girls and feelings. Lucy might let you get away with it, she gets a kick out of politically incorrect statements."

James didn't answer, and luckily, Kendall understood his friend, accepting his silence just as it is. Kendall was aware of his natural quiet demeanour, but because he was James' closest friend, he allowed himself the luxury to somewhat open up outside of business. He knew that he wasn't the most amiable in the office, but that was how he liked it.

When the game reached the end of the second period, James stood up. "I'm going to look for something to eat."

Kendall waved his hand, paying more attention to the sports commentators on the TV screen. "Yep. You know where the kitchen is. Help yourself to anything in the fridge."

James headed towards the kitchen, once again admiring how a bachelor like Kendall could afford living in a spacious home as this. But never being one to delve into other's personal life stories, he never questioned it. If Kendall could live here, then so be it.

James was making himself a sandwich when he heard the front door open and close. He looked up to see a sweaty, but still attractive, Katie standing in front of him. His dirty mind led him to question if this was what she looked like after sex. He gripped the knife in his hand and counted to ten so that he could forget the image he just conjured up.

"Okay, I'm going to shower first, then we'll talk," Katie announced, looking at him with steely eyes.

James nodded stiffly, refusing to let his body react to the mental image of Katie in the shower. Counting to ten wasn't going to work. He imagined Gustavo in a bikini and grimaced. "Fuck, that's wrong," he muttered to himself.

As Katie was still standing in the room with him, she gave him a questionable look, "Uh, what?"

"Nothing." He held his plate with one hand as he made his way back towards the den. "You should probably go shower now," out of character, he took an exaggerated sniff when he passed her, "you stink." He continued on his way, feeling satisfied when he heard her gasp behind him.

He sat down back in his seat with a slight smirk on his face. This was good. Antagonizing her was something that was acceptable. It would keep their relationship clean. Even as he argued with himself, he could feel his body demanding some attention. It had been a little while since he last had sex. But his pool of no-strings-attached partners was limited, he needed someone new to add to the list. He instantly thought of the new girl on the San Francisco team. Annie. Hot, and hopefully only interested in some casual sex. As far as he could see it, emotions weren't needed to have sex, and that's the way he liked to keep it.

Kendall looked at him with weary eyes. "Don't push her, man. She can get pretty evil." He warned James, clearly hearing the exchange between him and Katie.

James responded by taking a bite of his sandwich.

Katie came downstairs a good half hour later. Standing to the side of the television, she crossed her arms and looked at James expectantly.

He gestured to the TV, "The game's on."

Katie frowned. "You were the one who said we needed to talk. I'm not going to sit around and wait until you finish watching your precious hockey game." She moved so that she could see what was happening on screen. "Leafs are going to lose. The game's at 3-0 and half-way through third period. They're not making a comeback. 'Specially not with the team playing with all defensemen." She huffed away dramatically as she exited the room.

James could see Kendall smirking out of the corner of his eyes. "She knows hockey?"

"Dude. She grew up with me. Of course she knows hockey. I taught her everything I know. Speaking of things I know, you should probably go after her. If there's one thing I've learned from my experience with women, it's that you don't keep them waiting."

James debated with himself for a moment. On one hand, he didn't want to give her the opportunity to be smug about the game, even if she was right. On the other, he was really tired of stupid pranks at work. She needed to learn how to be civilized.

James sighed then got up, taking his alcohol with him. He was going to need it if he was going to deal with the younger Knight. "Your sister is a pain in my ass."

"Yeah, well, I think the feeling's mutual," Kendall answered, not taking his eyes off the game and taking a gulp of his drink.

He shook his head and made his way through Kendall's house searching for the tiny brunette. He found her on the balcony sipping on a beer. The wrong way to drink alcohol. Really, wasn't there anything this girl could do right?

"You're not allowed to drink that," James stated matter-of-factly.

Katie peered at him over the bottle. She wiped her mouth ungracefully. "Really? I hunt demons for a living. I honestly don't think that downing a beer is what is going to throw me in hell." She gestured to the empty seat across from her. "Sit. Talk."

James sat down.

"You're an asshole," Katie said, getting right to the punch. "You know that, right? Like, what gives you the right to boss me around, insult me, blackmail me, disregard me as a partner −"

"I apologize."

"Treat me like, wait, what? Did you just apologize to me?" She asked incredulously.

"I will not say it again."

Katie blinked. "Wow, I was not expecting that. At all." She drank from her bottle again.

The two sat there in silence as they both replayed that moment.

James, every so observant, watched as Katie ran her fingers up and down the bottle, playing with the condensation. He silently admired her nimble fingers. There was a lot that this girl could be capable of. Even in the short amount of time that he actually knew her, he could see her amounting to something much greater than she, or he for that matter, gave her credit for. Still, some underlying thought, he refused to say emotion, kept him from allowing her to grow.

She sighed, staring off at the view in front of her before speaking quietly. "We're at an impasse. I think it's pretty obvious that we can't work together. And even though I'm not usually one to back down, and I love working with my brother, I think...I think after this case, I'm going to ask for a transfer. I love hunting, and if I can't work with you, I'm going to end up hating my job, and I don't want that. Hunting is the really the only thing I've got going for me."

It was the first time the girl had really spoken softly with him. At every moment, it seemed that she and him were constantly butting heads, not that he didn't play his part in their arguments. James gulped his beer as he pondered what she had just said to him. Her leaving was exactly what he wanted. It would solve all of the issues that he had with her. However, Griffin was most likely going to send down another replacement and who knows how well that will go. Katie, at least he knew, had some level of competency. James wasn't sure if he was going to regret what he decided.

"No. Kendall will be devastated if you leave. We will adjust accordingly," James vaguely replied.

Katie grinned, signalling that she knew that was his way of offering an olive branch. She turned her big brown eyes on him. "I need you to acknowledge me as your partner. You can give me pointers and you can teach me whatever it is that I need to learn, but I refuse to let you treat me like I'm some sort of baby-sitting job." She leaned over her armrest. "I'm good. I know I am."

James studied her, then acquiesced to her demand. "I will call you my partner in exchange for your obedience. And by that, I mean, you need to be able to listen to commands. Part of being a hunter in the corporation is learning how to listen to orders." He paused and turned away, thinking about his week. "Sometimes, you do things you don't want to."

He could feel Katie eye him. "Okay. I'll try my best to do that. I can't promise you that I'll be perfect. I'm just naturally rebellious. Cheers." She held up her beer.

James held up his bottle and knocked it lightly against hers. They drank to their compromise.

Katie held up a finger. "One other thing: Katie."

James squinted at her. "What?"

"Katie. That's my name. You can use it."

James frowned. He hadn't realized that she had picked up on the fact that he had avoided using her name around her. There was just something personal to it. He didn't like making things personal, but now was a good time as any to start breaching his barriers. He would give her this one as well. It was after all, only a name.

"Katie."

She grinned at him. Possibly for the first time since he knew her, her smile had nothing to do with her being a hunter. It was just because of him. He felt something kick his gut. He set the beer down. He was never eating anything from Kendall's fridge again.

"Oh. There's something else," Katie said hesitantly.

"What is it?" He was already getting tired of her growing demands.

She sheepishly smiled. "You might wanna call a tow truck."

James narrowed his eyes. "What for?"

"I may have...slashed a couple of your tires. And smashed a tail-beam or two. And maybe, froze over your engine." She smiled sweetly at him, but narrowed her eyes when she saw that he was fuming. "Hey, don't blame me. I told you I was going to get you back and I did it before you apologized to me. So, we're square."

It took James every ounce in his body not to strangle the girl in front of him.

A/N: Thanks again for waiting ever so patiently! I hope the chapter did you some justice.

As always, I would love to hear from you guys!

Happy New Year!

-D

P.S. I'm not writing much, but I do love the social life. You can catch me on Tumblr here: www. canuckheart. tumblr. com . or on Twitter: CanuckHeart (I've also been obsessed with Supernatural for this past year, so I post a lot of material related to the show/actors than is more than healthy). Would love to communicate with you guys!