I'm glad you guys are liking the story so far! Thanks SO much for your kind reviews Seddielover945 (I love Lucid, such a great fic), rebeckyyy, Chloekingfanatic1894, and WriteOrDie1108. I've come up with a direction for this so I'm pretty excited to start writing a lot more for it, hope you all enjoy!

Lindy woke up in a fog, feeling hungover, but not like when she had spent the night with Jake (she shuddered at the thought) – but like a hangover from what had happened the day before. Was she really at another road block? Had her sister really just been lying to her the whole time? Safe from what? Did she know what lengths Lindy had gone to, that she had uprooted her life entirely – even becoming the target of a serial killer?

She was dragged out of her thoughts by the realization that Tommy's arm was resting comfortably around her and his hand had found a spot on her stomach. She sighed. What are you doing here, Lindy? She thought with exasperation. She would have to talk – actually talk – to him today. It's not that she didn't want to talk to him, she didn't want to talk to anyone. She heard Tommy moving and checked her phone – it was noon. Lindy rolled onto her back and glanced over at him.

"Morning," he mumbled groggily, not daring to smile. The state of their relationship was murkier now than ever, and he still had no idea what Lindy's terms or reasons for coming were.

"Hey," she greeted softly.

She became suddenly even more aware of Tommy's hand on her. He finally moved it away sheepishly, but neither of them dared to comment on it. Despite its absence, Lindy still felt her skin burning where it had been.

"Why are you here?" She asked.

"Um…this is where I live," he chuckled.

"Work?" She added.

"Gave me the week off," he answered casually.

But Lindy felt anything but casual – she knew what it meant. Cyber Crimes didn't give weeks off. This was the NYPD. It was only because of this case.

"Because of me," she whispered, her voice dripping with guilt as she averted her eyes to the ceiling.

"No," Tommy protested, touching her face so she'd look at him, but then quickly pulling it away. "No, Lindy. Because of me."

"How can you say that?" Lindy cried. "It's because of my case that you're –"

"Lindy, you didn't force me to do anything. Cyber Crimes didn't force me to do anything. Hell, even the spirit of Ben didn't force me to do anything. Anything I did – it was all me, all my fault," he explained firmly.

With that, and without waiting for Lindy's reaction, he rolled over and got out of bed. Lindy tried to avert her eyes as he changed his shirt, but hey, she was still human. Then he left for the kitchen and Lindy was alone with her thoughts once again. She quickly found that she didn't like it much, and scurried out into the kitchen herself.

"Sure you don't want more rest?" Tommy asked as if their previous conversation hadn't just happened. His back was to her, but he could still feel her presence in the room.

"Couldn't even if I wanted to," she shrugged.

Tommy poured another cup of coffee and turned to face her, sliding it across the table.

"What's on the agenda today?" He asked, taking a sip.

It wasn't that he minded Lindy being there, he just knew deep down that she was cooking up some plan. She hadn't come here just to play house and suppress everything forever. And, despite how much easier Tommy would sleep at night if that were the case, it also wasn't the Lindy he knew and loved.

She sighed. "I don't know. I guess just getting my stuff in order."

"We could stop by the CCU with that tablet-" He offered before being swiftly cut off.

"No…no Cyber Crimes. Not anymore, I'm sorry."

He put his hands out in surrender. "Alright, consider it dropped."

After sipping their coffee in semi-comfortable silence, Lindy finally came to a realization that made her guilt rise once again.

"Oh my god," she blurted, shaking her head. "I'm so sorry. This is your day off and I just barge in."

"Lindy," he laughed with a slight bitterness. "Trust me, I didn't have big plans. It's only been a day, the wound is still fresh."

Wound? Lindy wondered, but it didn't take her long to figure out.

"Oh," was all she managed.

The wound from her leaving essentially without a trace – by refusing to let Tommy help her. She might as well have gone off the grid, as far as Tommy was concerned. He was in no place to contact her. Did this mean she'd accepted his apology? Would they talk about it? It was safe to say Tommy had just as many questions as Lindy.

"I'm gonna go for a run with Boris – need to clear my head. It's kinda my routine," he said carefully.

"That's fine. Please, don't let me interfere with your day."

Too late, Tommy thought to himself.

"You'll be here when I get back?" He asked intently.

She nodded sincerely. She wasn't ready to go anywhere else. Tommy's eyes lingered on her for a moment, like he wasn't completely sure, but he eventually left with Boris following.

Lindy felt strangely comfortable in Tommy's apartment by herself. However, after a few minutes, she regretted not offering to go with him – she could've used the fresh air to clear her head, too. Sighing, she made herself at home at Tommy's table, pulling out her laptop. In a way, it felt foreign to her. She hadn't hacked anything since she put the spyware on Tessa's phone, and that was practically second nature to her at this point. She did some casual research, but nothing to the caliber of what she used to. She missed George, but she wasn't ready to go to him yet.

One of the reasons she ended up at Tommy's finally dawned on her – she felt alone. Sophia was in the hospital. George had done enough for her, she needed to give him a break. Connor was...Connor, and while they were on better terms now, she doubted they'd have much to talk about, plus she was sure she wasn't the first person he wanted to hang out with since she was basically the reason Sophia's in the hospital in the first place. She wondered just when she and Tommy had become friends – or whatever the hell they were – just to have the ties severed by his betrayal. And now they were in some weird limbo. But for some reason, his apartment was the safe place that her feet took her to. She thought about Ben. She and Tommy had both felt that pain deep. She often forgot that Tommy had been affected, too. Once she had seen the video of Ben that horrible day in the basement of the CCU, she realized she really never knew Ben as well as she thought. It didn't make her love him less, just gave her a lot to think about.

Tommy was gone for a while, nearly an hour. By the time he came back, Lindy still hadn't made any more progress regarding Sara.

"You always run that long?" She raised an eyebrow at him. It sure would explain his physique. But she tried not to stare.

"A lot to think about," he shrugged, and Lindy understood. "I'm gonna go take a shower…"

He felt awkward not having to tell her to be careful or call for him if anything happened – it had only been about a day since that need ended. Of course he wanted her to be careful in whatever she did, but now the threat of a murderer/stalker breaking in had lessened exponentially.

Once Tommy was dressed and settled in, Lindy's curiosity got the best of her and she decided to speak up.

"Tommy, where's your family?" Lindy asked bluntly, feeling inspired by her realization that there were few people she honestly really knew.

Tommy looked taken aback, but kept his demeanor cool, laughing bitterly. "What family?"

"I mean like really…besides Boris." She gestured down towards the dog that she was now petting absentmindedly. "I know I'm always talking about Sara and, well, I know you've been working day and night on my case. So where's yours?"

"Well," He sighed. "If you couldn't tell from the name, I come from an Irish family. The police force runs deep. Except for my dear old dad – only thing that runs deep for him is his alcohol. And his tendency to get violent. Classic story – guy gets drunk and violent, takes it out on his wife. Not too long ago, mom left. Didn't affect me much, I was already training for the force. But I haven't heard from her since, except for the note she left me. And I've severed ties with my father."

Lindy was silent for a few seconds. "Oh my god, Tommy."

"Don't feel bad for me," he shook his head.

Suddenly it made sense to Lindy – maybe too much sense. Tommy joined the force not just because of his family tradition, but to prove that he wasn't like his dad. Maybe even to put people like his dad away. She had an inkling that his mother's departure lent itself to his protective instinct. She mentally flashed back to the night he was waiting on her stoop because she hadn't answered his calls. He hated not knowing. It was no surprise that the guy was a worrier.

"What was she like?" Lindy asked softly.

"My mother? Amazing. She was the most caring, loving woman in the world. She worked hard and cared about her family more than anything. Fiercely independent, but she had one weak spot – my old man." He looked wistfully into the distance at nothing in particular.

"How did she get out?" Lindy realized just how invested into this story she was.

"Her sister had been pleading with her to leave for years. I was older and out of the house, I guess my aunt's words finally got to her. Dad got to be too much without me around," he shrugged. "I was proud of her, y'know? So proud. I just wish she had kept in touch."

Lindy reached across the table, gently placing her hand over his. "Tommy, I'm so sorry."

"For what?" He shook his head.

"When I just left without a trace yesterday. I didn't realize-" she stumbled over her words, not entirely positive what she was trying to say.

"Lindy, stop. You're doing what you had to do for your family. I guess that's what my mother did, too. I can't expect you to clue me in on where you are simply because of something personal that happened with my mom," he sighed. "Besides, it was so long ago. I've seen enough in this job to make me happy she escaped – wherever the hell she is."

That was the difference between Tommy and Jake (one of many). Jake was wrong – pain didn't fester. Not in good people. Not everyone became a monster.

Her voice was shaking. "Jake said something the other day, while he had me trapped."

Tommy winced at the thought and mention of his name, but Lindy continued.

"He said, pain festers and makes monsters of us all. But that's not true. Not everybody. Not you, Tommy," she said earnestly, then realized she had been holding his hand.

She pulled back hesitantly. Tommy wasn't really sure why she was saying it, whether she was telling him or more so just telling herself.

Tommy sighed deeply. "He's a sociopath. A serial killer. Please don't give him a second more of your thought. Don't let his words take up any more space in your brain."

She simply nodded with a grave expression on her face. She knew he was right. And his story served as even further evidence of why they were drawn to one another like magnets – they both felt the same pain. Lost mothers and destructive fathers.

That's all for now! As always, please review, I love reading feedback. Also, a note on Tommy's parents - I didn't want to make the story sound too much like Lindy's (I know she mentioned that her father drinks), but I couldn't exactly remember what she said, so I just kinda went for it. I'll be back to write more sometime this week!