scout n 1: a person sent out to give information.

Jamie sifted through the assignments for the week and came across something that made his heart hitch. Detective Davis had teamed up with Eddie for a UC? And not just any UC. Eddie was to be used as bait to lure in a thief and sexual predator. The thief part he didn't mind so much. Eddie was a kick ass cop and Jamie had no doubt she could handle it. But the sexual predator part? The fiancé in him wanted her nowhere near a guy like that. Eddie already had a history of being a victim of that kind of insidious crime. He never again wanted to see the physical and emotional bruises she wore after Jake attacked her in a manner that made Jamie want to wrap his hands around another man's throat and squeeze with all his might. This was something that he couldn't allow to have happen to her again. No man was ever going to lay a hand on his future wife. But the Sergeant in him knew that he could not treat Eddie any differently than any of his other officers. So there had to be a way around this. A way to let her down gently to make her understand that she should not be involved in this. Maybe he could use the fact that Detective Davis was known to be reckless and untrusting. Jamie decided to do some more digging into Davis's record so that he could dissuade Eddie from doing this. She would be smart enough to see that she couldn't trust Davis to have her back.

(night) watchman n 1: a person assigned to watch: GUARD

She couldn't stay away from it. Well, neither could he. Hiding behind the bushes, Jamie remained highly alert as Eddie began her strut down the sidewalk. The rain made her tight clothes even tighter, revealing every inch of all of her curves that he knew intimately well now. And those stiletto heels added the extra touch to make her legs long and shapely, and the way she walked in them made her hips sway, drawing his eyes to roam up and down her body. Her wet hair and makeup gave her a sexy, edgy look. Jamie hated this getup. It made him sick. She looked too tempting. He hated the fact that his girl was out there looking like this and any man would be crazy not to notice her. To want her. To touch her and make her his. Nope. Not on his watch. He would always have her back.

cavalry n 1: troops mounted on horseback or moving in motor vehicles

And then it happened. He saw the perp grab her roughly by the arms and throw her to the ground and giving her a swift kick, leaving her dazed and in pain. Jamie didn't even hesitate in his reaction to take this guy out before anything further could happen to her. Because something even more awful was about to happen to her if he didn't stop this guy. Hurling himself and flying through the air to get to her as quickly as he could, he knocked the perp down hard and away from her with more force than he originally thought he had in him. In the corner of his eye he could see her struggling to move, to breathe. Was she alright? As he cuffed the perp, the restraint it took not to throw a punch at him proved to be difficult. So he decided to take his rage out on Davis, shoving him hard in the chest, screaming at him as to why he would wait to allow Eddie to be sexually assaulted. But the fury didn't last long as the need to be with Eddie won over. With wild eyes he looked her over to assess the damage but couldn't quite come to the conclusion that she was okay. He gently helped her up. He desperately needed to hear from her that she was fine. Instead, he got the cold shoulder as she limped away mad that he had stepped in.

His eyes never left her as he watched her gingerly walk through her kitchen. With shaky hands she was finally able to unscrew the aspirin bottle after several attempts. She struggled to reach an arm up to the cupboard to get a glass, her sore shoulder preventing her from doing so as she outwardly hissed in pain, annoyed that Jamie was watching her and had to see that.

"I'll get it," Jamie said quietly from behind her. "Go lay down. I'll bring it to you."

"I'm FINE, Jamie," she spat. "I don't need to lay down."

Wordlessly, he stepped right in front of her and looked her straight in the eyes with hands on his hips until she was forced to look up right back at him. She could see the concern and seriousness in his face and knew that she was not going to win this argument.

She nodded and started walking toward the couch. He joined her shortly with a glass of water and the pills, which she took from him and quickly swigged down. He moved the pillow to the end of the couch and helped ease her down. He sat at the other end and lifted her legs up and set them on top of his lap, resting his hands above her knee.

He watched as she placed a hand on her forehead, pressing her fingertips in hard and closing her eyes. Tonight was a wakeup call for Jamie. Being both her boss AND her fiancé was like walking a tight rope. They had to talk this through. He sighed heavily.

"Eddie…you asked me if I was acting as your Sergeant or your Fiancé…" Jamie began. "The thing is, I am both. And we agreed to keep those things separated. But...I'm realizing it's not black and white like that. Not when it comes to blatantly putting you at risk. When your life is on the line, the husband in me is always going to win over the Sergeant. Because I HAD to fulfill my vows to you tonight. I love you too much not to. I had to be your scout, your night watchman, and your cavalry. And you were the one that wanted that…wanted us to realize our vows NOW, and it's why you wanted to be at the two-nine. So it's YOU that needs to decide. If you can't handle that, then you should transfer back to the twelve. Because I know now that I'm not always going to be able to just turn off the most important role I have of being your husband for the other of being your boss."

"I needed to do this myself, Jamie. I hated you being out there—" Eddie honestly replied.

"Eddie…" Jamie gasped in disappointment. Why couldn't she understand?

"—until I realized you were right about Davis."

Jamie immediately calmed. Thank God. She finally got it.

"Damn it, Jamie. I hate it when you're right," Eddie complained.

"Better get used to it," he looked at her and smirked with his famous grin.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Eddie mumbled and smiled back at him. Her smile faded when she was quickly reminded of what it felt like to be thrown to the ground…it was like being thrown around by Jake in her apartment all over again. She shivered at the thought. "Thanks for having my back," she said seriously. "I love it that you're my scout, my night watchman, and my cavalry. I don't want it to be anyone else but you. Don't ever stop."

"Never," Jamie promised.