"Hey, is Antonio here?" Laura asked, following Platt up through the gate. Erin was the first to get up and greet her, walking across the room and observing the bag in her hand.

"No, he's out with Voight straightening out some details for the operation. I'm not sure when he'll be back, but you're welcome to wait in here. You won't be bothering anyone."

"No, it's fine. I've got to get back to the shop soon. I just wanted to bring him lunch and see him before they started. He said he'll be home pretty late the next few nights, so…"

"Yeah, I can put that on his desk until he gets back. Here-" Laura handed the bag to Erin who walked a few steps over to place it on his desk. She noticed that Laura seemed to linger for a moment, looking at his desk and slightly tilting her head.

"Hey, he's going to be fine, okay? He always is."

"I know, I just can't help but worry for him constantly."

"Which is natural. It means you're a good wife who loves her husband. And he loves you." Erin pulled Laura into a quick hug, assuring her again with, "He'll be fine." When they moved apart Laura smiled and wiped away some of the wetness from her eyes.

"So does he start today? Is he going to be coming home tonight?"

"No, we're just going to kind of get everything organized today, like a run through of it all. We're going to check out the place, see where we can put in some bugs, get him and Jasmine familiar with all the faces they need to know, all the information about their identities." Laura shifted her weight to another foot and crossed her arms, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. "Jasmine already got a place inside working, so now we're just getting Antonio in there to act as a buyer, get whatever information he can. We figured it would be safer to have him going in there with a hooker we know."

"Yeah, of course. But Jasmine, she's his CI, right?"

"Yeah." Erin looked at her defensive stance for a moment and began to realize the situation they were in. "Wait, wait, wait. He did tell you all this, right?"

"Oh yeah, yeah. Maybe not in as much detail, but I just wanted to make sure I had it right. So you think he will be coming home tonight?"

"He should. It may be a little late, but not too bad. Hey, you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I appreciate you for sharing those details with me. I'm sure it's not exactly encouraged, but it does make me feel a little better about it all. Thanks."

They said goodbye and Laura followed Platt back downstairs, signing out and returning to her shop, anxiously waiting for Antonio to return home.

He checked his clock before opening the door. It was 11, so there was a slight chance everyone was still up, but unlikely. He was counting down the days until he got home in time to see his family together. The only time like that he got was in the morning when everyone would be trying to hurry and rush out the door.

He shut the door quietly noticing most of the lights were off, but as he walked farther in he saw that the kitchen light was still on. Laura was sitting at the table so her back was to him and a plate of food was at the spot to her left.

"Hey, baby, you didn't have to wait up." He came up and placed both his hands on her shoulder, massaging them briefly while he leaned over and kissed her cheek. "And how did you know I was starving." He moved over to sit down and picked up his fork, but when he looked at Laura she wasn't looking at him. She was staring at her folded hands on the table, looking as if she were struggling with something.

"What's going on? Are the kids okay?" Her eyes shot up to him like she had been pulled out of a daze. She then relaxed and looked around, tucking a fallen piece of hair back behind her ear.

"The kids are fine."

"Then what's going on?" He reached out and grabbed one of her hands from the table, rubbing his thumb against her palm. "Talk to me."

"I visited the station today hoping to see you. I brought you some food-"

"And thank you, it was great."

"Well, I ran into someone up there who told me about your undercover operation or whatever. They were going through all the details, which sounded familiar to me because you told me those things, but then they started talking about something you seemed to have left out." Antonio's eyes fell to his plate and he slowly let go of her hand. "Apparently, they told me, you would be working with Jasmine." There was a moment of silence as Antonio sighed and shook his head slightly, running a hand through his hair.

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want to worry you more-"

"I'm worried now Antonio because you didn't tell me. I know you said I shouldn't feel threatened by her, and after meeting her I know she is a good person, but at the same time I know without any doubt that she has some interest for you. There's a part of her that hopes something could happen between the two of you and now she's going to be-" Laura placed her hands over her mouth and nose, steadying her breath. Antonio left his seat and came around to her, pulling her chair out from the table and angling it away so he could sit in front of it. He took both her hands from her face and held them in her lap, refusing to break eye contact with her.

"I don't care if there's any interest on her part because there isn't any on my part and that's all that matters. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to be worried more than you already were, that's the only reason, okay? I'll tell you now, I go in with her so she can catch me up on what she knows, I go looking through this guy's office and try to find whatever evidence I can, and if I get caught somewhere I shouldn't be, she comes in and acts like I'm lost and takes me to a room. From there we leave. That's the end of it, okay?" She looks at him as he fills her in, but once he's finished she gets up and he stands to get out of her way, following behind her as she gets the pot from the stove and takes it to the sink.

"Tell me what you need to hear, please." She turns on the water and starts to scrub the pot, hurriedly tucking the same piece of hair behind her ear.

"Do you have to kiss her, or, or something-"

"Listen, I'm going to be honest with you. If we get in a lot of trouble and really have to sell the arrangement, she might kiss me. But that's all, nothing else, and that, believe me, will be avoided in any way it can." He wrapped his arms around her and settled his chin on her shoulder, watching her drop the sponge and turn off the water.

"Any way it can?"

"Any way it can. Trust me, babe, I don't want to kiss her. I only want to kiss you." He watched her dry off her hands and then turn around so she was facing him, his arms still wrapped around her.

"Promise?"

"Oh, I promise." She smiled as his hand moved up to her face and his eyes focused on her lips.

"And it's only part of your job?"

"The worst." She laughed and hit his chest as he leaned in and kissed her, his other hand pushing the small of her back so she was pressed up against him. He moved from her mouth to her neck, slowly kissing his way down.

"Hey, hey!" She pulled his head back up to look at her. "Maybe we should take this somewhere else, you know, in case the kids come down for a midnight snack."

"Good idea." He smiled and pulled her up so her legs quickly wrapped around his waist.

"Antonio!"

Next chapter starts the operation where he will be working with Jasmine. It will probably take longer to write because it will be fairly long, unless I decide to split it up somewhere...we'll see. Well I hope you liked it, please leave a review!