Walt was standing in front of his bathroom mirror, rubbing his hand across his face in an attempt to wake up. His hair was still disheveled from sleep, and his facial scruff was definitely in need of a trim. He contemplated giving in, and going down to see Joe for a shave and a haircut, but his rumbling stomach distracted him from making any major life decisions.

Standing in front of the fridge, door open, he realized he hadn't made it to the store this week to pick up groceries, and his breakfast options this morning were pretty slim. Even more disheartening was that he was out of coffee, and caffeine was sorely needed right now.

He heard the sound of gravel crunching outside and then brakes being applied. Walt looked down, happy to see he had actually dressed during his morning stupor. He walked to the front room, and as his right hand reached to open the door he unconsciously ran his left hand through his hair to smooth down the unruly locks.

Already seated at the top of his porch steps, Vic turned at the opening of the front door.

"Mornin' Walt, hope I didn't wake you." She looked him up and down quickly. "By the look of it, I might have."

"Vic," he nodded, looking down at her from just inside the open door.

"I can see you're extra chatty this morning. I brought you a coffee and thought you might like a breakfast sandwich, as well," she said as she held up a white paper bag.

Walt's stomach loudly rumbled in agreement.

After a moment's hesitation, he shut the front door, and sat down next to her, taking the bag and coffee cup she offered.

The two ate in a comfortable silence.

With much of his sandwich and half of his coffee consumed, and feeling a little more awake, Walt looked over at Vic. She was dressed in athletic attire, as if she was about to go out for a run. He realized he must have been staring, because when his eyes rose to her face, the expression it held made it feel like she had caught him checking her out. Which he hadn't been. Or at least hadn't meant to.

"Here to see me, here to be alone or here because you are hiding out?" he asked.

"Would you believe me if I said all of the above?" she responded.

"Rough week?" he asked, even though he knew first hand it had been. When she hadn't been avoiding him, or giving short don't-bother-me-now responses, she had been getting in to heated spats with Branch. Anytime he stepped out of his office to see what the disagreement between the two of them was about, they would both clam up, tell him nothing was going on, and one or the other would head out.

"Not my best," she replied.

"I'm surprised you wanted to be around anyone this morning after avoiding us most of the week."

"It was for your own good, Walt. Better to avoid you then take it out on you," she said before bringing her coffee cup to her lips for a long gulp.

"Sean leave for Australia?"

"Yep. Thursday."

"How did it go?" he asked. Vic gave a non-committal shrug. Walt waited for her to expand further, but she didn't.

"Who are you hiding from?"

"My mother. Somehow she found out about Sean and me separating, most likely through Sean's parents, and in one quick phone call my mother managed to express her disappointment in me, and her insistence that I shouldn't be alone right now. She arrived yesterday, and I couldn't get out of the house this morning soon enough. I told her I needed to go for a run," Vic said, as she pointed out her running attire.

"Ruby said you had left work early yesterday."

"Yep. My mother arrived in the afternoon. Not only did I need to pick her up at the airport, but I had to get my mind in the right place before I did. She's a force to be reckoned with, and pretty exhausting. She has no filter, no respect for another person's privacy or space, won't take crap from anyone and can be quite dramatic about things."

A smile appeared on Walt's face as he looked into his coffee cup. "I see no resemblance. Are you sure you are related?" he said, as his smile grew larger.

"If you think I am bad, my mother is far worse than me."

"I'd like to see that."

"I don't know if I'd unleash her on you. And she might give you an earful. She seems to think I am responsible for Sean leaving…and that it couldn't possibly be a mutual decision, and no one individual's fault. She's looking for another culprit. One look at your handsome face and she is going to zero in on you."

Walt looked over at Vic, wondering if she had realized what she had just said, and what her statement had implied, but Vic just looked straight ahead, seemingly nonplussed, as she continued. "She would talk your ear off, and you would be like me, looking for a place to hide."

"How long is she here until?"

"Thankfully she heads back to Philly tomorrow evening. But that still means I have another two days to get through."

They both found themselves staring at the view in front of them, a silence settling in.

"Walt?" Vic finally said, breaking the silence.

"Mm hmm," he responded, finishing up the last of his coffee.

"Why were you avoiding me these past few weeks?" she asked.

Walt turned to look at her, but said nothing, surprised by the drastic change of topic.

"Ever since Sean showed you the picture that Gorski sent him, you have been out of the office a lot, investigating things on your own, sending me off on separate assignments, or partnering me up with Branch," she said, turning towards him.

"I wouldn't say I was avoiding you." The look Vic gave him clearly indicated she didn't believe him.

"I just didn't want to be a source of trouble for your marriage. You and I know there was nothing going on between us, but you can't necessarily make someone else believe that. So better not to add fuel to the fire. Also…" Walt trailed off.

His hesitation caught Vic's attention, and she raised an eyebrow, encouraging him to continue.

"I've been investigating Martha's murder, in an attempt to prove Henry's innocence."

"Something I could be helping with," Vic interjected, placing her hand on his arm. "You shouldn't have to bear this alone. You have been shouldering the burden of Martha's murder by yourself for too long."

Walt looked down at the hand on his arm, and then back up to Vic's face. "There's too much risk, too much danger, to involve you…anyone…too much in this."

"I'm not just anyone. I thought we were partners. I thought we were friends. I thought I meant…" she removed her hand from his arm and stopped herself from expanding on her last thought.

"We are. That's not…"

She must have seen turmoil in his eyes, as she seemed to back down a bit.

"You have put yourself in danger repeatedly for me, Walt. And I opened up and shared personal stuff with you, in regards to the situation with Gorski. Stuff that I didn't want to tell you, in fear that it might change how you saw me. But I did it because it was you that was asking."

She paused to watch Walt. "I want to be there for you, as you have been there for me," she said. "I'll be here if you want my help, or need someone to talk to. When you're ready."

Looking directly at her, Walt took Vic's words in. "And I'm here if you want to talk about Sean," he added.

The tension subsided. Vic smiled and Walt smiled in return. Vic stood up, gathering the empty coffee cups and sandwich wrappers, and placing them in the paper bag.

"Against my better judgment, I am bringing my mother to the Red Pony tonight. If you feel up to it, I would like you to join us. Might ask Ferg and Ruby as well," she added. "But I've warned you. Don't blame me if you feel like you've been thrown to the wolves," she said, the smile growing on her face.

Walt smiled back. "We'll have to have a signal for Henry, when we need him to come over and distract your mother by working his charm on her."

"I'm counting on you to be the charming distraction. Take some of the burden of my mother's attention off me," Vic said with a laugh. She placed her hand gently on the side of his face for a moment, before turning to step down the stairs.

"Might want to think about shaving," she said over her shoulder. "My mother would find this cowboy look way too appealing. Don't know if I could handle her flirting with you in front of me."

Walt made a mental note to stop by and see Joe at the Uptown Barber Shop that afternoon.