Disclaimer: Okay, Ookay. I really don't own Cold Case.

Scotty slipped his hand in his pocket; it brushed up against the note. His winter coat had become obsolete the day before, and Scotty had decided that he would keep the note on himself for one more day. This was the last chance he was going to give himself.

If he couldn't work up the courage now, Scotty decided, he never would.

This was serious and it had to be treated it as such. Approaching Lilly to…he could barely think it out loud. Approach Lilly to go on a date. That's what he really wanted: a date. A date with Lilly. A date with his partner…And just like that he talked himself out again.

This internal struggle thing didn't work for Scotty. He'd never make his move if he spent all his time thinking about it. Scotty needed to take off the training wheels. Dive into the deep end. Go for it—headfirst.

"Hey, Lil," Scotty called to his partner as he drew near her. "You got a minute?"

"Sure, Scotty," Lilly nodded. "What is it?"

"Ah, see…I'm sort of in this...predicament and I was wondering if you could help me out."

"I can try but I'm not making any promises," she said, settling back into her desk chair. "What seems to be the problem? You flirting with more 'legally separated' women?"

"Nothing like that," Valens smirked. Sobering himself, he continued, "No, it's actually kind of big. I was thinking we could get a bite to eat and you could help me think it through, y'know? Two heads are better than one."

"Um," Lilly paused, "I'm actually kind of busy right now, Scotty. I'm sorry. Maybe the boss could give you some advice?"

"Oh, yeah," Scotty was stunned, so taken aback he couldn't even think to say anything but: "Sure, right. Sorry, I was just thinking you might need a break. Hoping—" For what, he wasn't able say. His throat felt tight.

Lilly face twitched vaguely in confusion, but she didn't speak.

His hand flexed in frustration. He cleared his throat, "Never mind." He turned around and walked toward the door, shoving his fist into his pocket. It brushed up against the note.

Valens stopped dead. 'No,' he said to himself.

"No," he said it out loud this time, firmly. Scotty pulled the note out of his pocket, keeping a tight grip on it. He turned on his heels and headed back to Lilly's desk.

A/N: Cliff hanger? Oh, snap! Don't worry, I got a plan. And I didn't take too long to update, all because fo you, faithful readers: Ebony10, FloatingAboeba, Wyaline, Rhonda Roo, Grengras, fbi-woman, BananaXPancakes, Mari, lulubell6, and aeternus aenigma. And all you folks who have the story on alert and such!

Also, do y'all think I should change the summary? Cause we've moved past that a little bit in the plot.