They're awakened at the be-damned hour of six in the morning, when dawn is just starting to glow through the curtains. It's Lynley's mobile that rings, Nkata speaking rapidly about some barrister murdered in his office.
"Do I need to ring Sergeant Havers, sir?"
"No – uh, no, I'll do that. She's difficult enough in the morning as it is."
Barbara stirs sleepily beside him, curling closer against his side.
"Wake up, darling," he murmurs in her ear. "We have a case."
Lynley's used to the foul words she mutters under her breath every time she's awakened from a dead sleep, so he ignores her as she pulls on jeans and bundles her hair back.
"Shite," he says suddenly. She looks at him, wide-eyed."
"Your flat's not on the way this time. You'll have to leave – ten minutes after me, I think."
He doesn't miss the flash of disappointment in her eyes. They've been lucky in the three months they've been doing this; her flat has been on the way to the crime scene every time they've called in early so they don't have to explain why they're sharing a car.
But this time, it won't work. They have to drive separately, and they hate it.
Right then and there, Thomas Lynley makes a decision.
He's not stupid enough to go over her head on this, so he waits until lunch – when they have the case more than half wrapped – to sound her out.
"I want to tell Hillier about us."
She chokes on her Earl Grey, but luckily manages to avoid the cliché of spitting it all over the table. After a few seconds she swallows, and squeaks hoarsely, "You want to what?"
"I want to drive in with you every morning and leave with you every night. I want to be able to yank you aside and kiss you when I feel like it, and I want to be able to defend you without having to hold anything back. Barbara, I want it all with you. I said I was willing to wait to marry you; I can't anymore. And I think I can make him see sense and keep us together. Will you let me try? Please?"
She looks into earnest dark eyes, and a wave of yearning nearly drowns her. She reflects on everything they've been through together in the past decade, every time their lives had turned on their trust of each other.
Can she trust him with this?
Hell yes, she can.
So she says yes.
They agree that he'll talk to Hillier after their shift, while she waits for him at one of their favorite pubs – the Hound and Hare. The rest of the day is a buzz of nervous energy. He'll steal a glance at her; she'll brush his hand with hers as they pass.
For them, the tension is palpable. But at last, the day ends.
She's been waiting half an hour, sipping a glass of Scotch to steady her nerves and trying to finish her latest romance novel, when he walks through the door and makes his way through the crowd to her corner table.
When their eyes meet, the spark is electric. But before she can open her mouth – before she can so much as formulate words – he goes to one knee before her and takes her hands in his.
"You have been by my side for ten years. In that time we have faced life and death, pain and healing, sorrow and joy. You have been my confidante, my constant, the person I turned to when I had nowhere else to go. You were my solace, and you are my strength. You are my partner, my love, and my best friend, and I want – I need – to spend the rest of my life with you.
"Barbara Lynne, will you marry me?"
She's so overwhelmed she can't find language, but her eyes are blazing with everything he ever needed to know. She doesn't know what he said to Hillier, and at this point, she doesn't care, because all her universe is in his eyes as she begins to tremble.
When she manages to squeak out "Yes! Yes!" the entire pub erupts with cheers.
Barbara and Lynley don't have a clue. He's kissing her all over her face and holding her close, and she's clinging to him like an anchor in a storm and trying to absorb the reality that all her dreams have just come true.
And that's when the music starts.
It's an old song, from a little-known animated movie. But it could have been written for them.
We were strangers starting out on our journey
Never dreaming what we'd have to go through;
Now here we are and I'm suddenly standing
At the beginning with you…
And she remembers that beginning, so long ago, sure that the partnership would never last and one or the other of them would get transferred, hopefully before they killed each other. She remembers the fights and the fears, the joy and the trust, the teamwork and the partnership. Their journey has been long, with stops, starts, turnarounds and hairpin curves, but she would not trade it, ever, because it brought her here, standing in Lynley's arms, the world at her feet.
No one told me I was going to find you
Unexpected what you did to my heart
When I lost hope you were there to remind me
This is the start...
He'd never expected to fall for his cranky, sarcastic partner. He hadn't, in fact, even expected to like her. And yet here they were. She'd stuck by him all through his depression over Helen; it didn't seem to matter what he threw at her, she stuck. And it had been she who had pulled him out of his rage and anger and given him hope again.
And so here they were at a brand new beginning – and yet in so many ways not a beginning at all, because their history, the experiences and feelings they'd shared, were the foundation on which their love had grown and blossomed.
And dear God, he could marry her. He could marry her, shout to the world how much he loved her, how much he needed her; he could kiss her when she came up with a brilliant deduction and go home with her at the end of every day.
He could have it all; he had every answer he'd ever needed in his arms.
Soon enough they'd have to get back to the case, back to work, back to life and reality.
Well, hell. Reality can wait.
This moment is theirs and theirs alone.
More information about my Lynley/Havers fic can be found in my profile. Thanks for reading!