Folding the note over he placed it on her desk, smiling as he walked out of her office. It had been a good day full of wins and hardly any losses. As he walked down the hallway and into the large station room, he thought about where she was. The smile stayed on his face.

Standing by his desk, he looked around the empty room and thought of what he was about to do. Two years had passed since they had joined together to go after a political mogul bent on tainting the one place his heart belonged to. He was ungrateful at the time because it all seemed so unattainable. Then the secrets unfolded and they kept unfolding, until he felt himself losing control. Luckily she had been there or he may have gone over the edge. He hadn't meant the things he'd said to her that night in the hospital. He was so full of rage and revenge that he wasn't thinking straight. Going back on the promise he'd made to her had been a severe breach of trust, and he worked like hell to make sure he got it back. He'd been so lucky back then. So lucky now that she accepted him not only as a police officer, but as a friend, a best friend. He looked up, hearing her voice faintly coming from the nearby locker room. Things had definitely changed. Her voice rose and fell in pitch as he strained to listen. After a few moments he figured he'd better just walk over there, just to listen but not be seen.

The door was ajar just enough for Jarek to peek inside. His eyes scanned the room once before he settled on any one group of people. The more experienced officers Jarek had known long before he even came to the force were standing in the back, keeping a watchful eye on the younger, more inexperienced ones who stood close to their leader. Jarek's eyes then landed on his partner Caleb who was standing off to the side away from either group.

Caleb had come into his own over the years he'd been Jarek's partner. The extreme loyalty Jarek now felt towards him had not been easy to come by. He remembered how he felt when Caleb was initially assigned to him, oh great here comes another hot shot fresh out of the academy do-gooder. What am I supposed to do with him? Back then, he hadn't realized how much Caleb really meant to him, so much so that he couldn't imagine being down in the gutters without him. Finally, Jarek felt he had been standing too long and left the room.

She unfolded the note, smiling as she recognized the unruly scrawl across the paper. She'd hoped it was him; she wanted to continue having secret rendezvous. To her, it was something they could both hang on to, away from the public eye where they both were always scrutinized.

Meet me at 7pm tonight. You know the place.

He stood on the Michigan Avenue Bridge overlooking the quiet, but dark Chicago River. He was leaning over the railing, his elbows resting on the railing while the reflections in the water made him contemplate the past two years. His job, his family, his brother, Gibbons, Teresa, suicide. Whoa, where did that come from? Shrugging it off, he blamed it on the fact that he was standing on a bridge over looking an ominous river that if he had the choice he could jump into and end everything there. He quickly reorganized his thoughts and forced himself to think of things other than that.

Everything had changed ever since Gibbons had been put away. Everything. His life was more fulfilling now than it had ever been while working for the PD. The drama of his past, and his relationship with his brother were distant memories in his mind. Even his relationship with Teresa was respected among his , peers, and was not being subjected to office gossip as it had been in the past. He was grateful for all of it, grateful in that some ways he had been given a second chance.

"Do you have a job proposition for me?"

Teresa, always bringing up the memories, aren't ya?

Turning around, he acknowledged her with a smile. "No, unfortunately I do not have that for you, but something tells me you may already have a well-earning, well-respected job on your shoulders."

She came out of the shadows and he could see she hadn't changed into something for the occasion. He didn't mind. There was no need to.

She was waiting for him to say something, but he stood there staring at her, probably for the same reason. So instead she took the initiative, walked to him and kissed him. Jarek leaned against the railing, while she wrapped her arms around him, the moments they spent alone together suddenly filling the space between them.

"Thanks, I needed that," she said. "I don't usually get to do this often."

"I should be the one saying thank you, and what do you mean?"

"We just haven't done this in a while, and I kind of missed it."

"We're here now."

"Yes, we are."

It suddenly became quiet; the only sound was the wind whipping off the river and through Teresa's hair. And then Jarek knew Teresa had no idea why she was here.

It shouldn't be like this. I should have a million things to say to her! Why do I always choke when the perfect moment arrives?

When he noticed Teresa looking at him strangely he found his composure and said, "There's a reason why I wanted you to come here tonight, to this place." He finally saw the worried look replaced with peaked curiosity on Teresa's face. Feeling a bout of nervous come on, he kept talking. "I feel as though this place has become our own little…refuge so to speak for when we can be ourselves and not have to worry about our job. And I know that we've had rocky times over these past two years, and we've overcome so much and…"

He stepped closer to her which forced Teresa to look nowhere but into his eyes.

"….you know me. You've known me better than anyone ever has." He reached a hand to caress her face. "I don't know what I was thinking all those years ago when I decided to leave you. I made a mess of my life then, and I am hoping against everything that the way things are between us have changed that."

Teresa couldn't speak. She was so transfixed on what he was saying, waiting for the climax.

He took her hands in his, and looking down, said "I have a very important question to ask you, Teresa." He met her eyes again, and Teresa's heart beat faster when she saw him go to his knees. Jarek saw she was trying to hold back her emotions. He didn't want her to. He wanted her to live this moment as he was living it now.

"I think you and I are something special, Teresa. It's something I've known for a long time and it's probably why its taken me so long to realize it. You became much more than a friend to me, you became my life."

He saw a wide smile spread across her face. He returned it never leaving her gaze.

You've helped me through some of the toughest times and I don't know what I would've done without you. I'm a better person today because of you, and it's why I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

He then reached into his pocket and produced a golden band with a single diamond. Teresa marveled at it.

"Will you marry me?"

She was going to ask him when it was her turn to talk, but instead pulled him off the ground and leaning him, kissed him slowly.

He pulled them apart and looking down at her asked, "Is that a yes?"

Feeling breathless, she nodded. "Yes, Jarek. Yes, I will marry you." Instinctively, she held out her left hand for him and he slipped the band onto it. She then felt his lips on her again, and she pulled him tighter to her, wanting to be in his arms forever.

A beam of red light reflected off a nearby building and suddenly went crazy when it landed in a forbidden spot. He quickly moved the beam away from its intended target.

"Shit."

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Why'd you say "shit" then ?"

"I almost caught them in my sights and if I did it would have blinded them. They would have seen it."

"Okay, so glad that didn't happen. What are they doing now?"

"They're getting hitched."

The man turned and looked at his partner.

"What."

The other's gaze never left the view from the window.

"The Super and her lap dog. He proposed. She agreed. They're getting married and sucking face down there on the bridge."

He ignored his partner's annoyed tone.

"Wouldn't this be the perfect time then?"

"No."

"Why? We'll spoil it for them! It'll be huge news!"

Finally losing his nerves, he turned from the window so fast his partner thought he was going to drop the gun.

He held up a finger in front of his face. "No. We wait until it's the right time. When it hurts so bad she won't even think of living anymore."