An: While this story isn't a romance in itself, to me, it shows an important part of the overall love story. This is also the story of the deterioration and resurrection of a friendship. Chapters will range from short to extremely short. Spoilers for 5x13: Nesting Dolls.


January 2005

He had the feeling that came when he knew he had every piece of information but one to crack a case and couldn't see how the pieces fit together without it. The only thing he knew for certain was that somehow, somewhere, he had screwed up. Badly, and probably more than a few times. And he had thought that for once when it came to Sara, he was doing something right.

But it wasn't about him, he realized. It was about her, and even though she had been doing better lately, something was off, had always been off. Some part of her was damaged and he had never seen it for what it was. It had always manifested as symptoms that were excusable as something else. He had known her for years without knowing that he didn't know.