She walked into Hank's office and he closed the door. He looked at her swollen lip. She could have tried to hide it, it was useless.

"What happened to your lip"? he asked.

"Nothing".

"Huh", he said. "How'd things go with Denny yesterday"?

"Nothing that couldn't be fixed. I took care of it".

"I'm sure you did", said Hank. "So why did you see him again today"?

She looked at him and before she could say anything he turned over, on his desk, a few printed pictures that Jay had taken.

She looked from them to him. Why did this have a feeling of déjà vu? First Denny? Now Hank!

"It's not what you think", she said to Hank.

"You don't know what I think", he said angrily. He walked around his desk and put himself right in front of her. "You want to know what I think? Let me tell you, it's actually a nice story. A beautiful woman happens to come into the bar I'm in. She finds the right words, what were they again, break or bend the rules? Seduces me, amazingly enough, assigns herself to my unit, and all of that to get dirt on me so that Denny Woods can take me down! That is what I think is happening here".

"I thought you knew me better than that. You really think that I've been spending time with you this past month and sleeping with you to trick you"? she yelled at him.

Adam's head shot up upon hearing her sentence. What? Hank and Ness being together, sleeping together for a month? What was last night? He wasn't the only surprised, all but Alvin, looked at each other.

"So, are you or aren't you"? asked Hank furious.

"I'm not"! she yelled at him.

"Then tell me the truth Ness! What are you doing with Denny Woods"!

"He's blackmailing me"!

Hank took a step back. He had been prepared to hear almost anything.. not that.

"What"?

"Yesterday, when I went over to his office to talk about the so-called agent problem, he….", she paused for a moment.

"He what"? said Hank in a lower tone.

"He showed me pictures of you and me. At first they were harmless but when I refused to help him nab you, he pulled out pictures of you and me… in bed".

Hanks blood started to boil. All along, he had been angry at the wrong person. Denny had played them both. "That son of a bitch"!

"He said that, if I didn't help him that he'd reveal them and I'd be out of a job. Hank, I couldn't. You are an honest cop and a great cop. That's why I saw him just now, to tell him I wouldn't help him".

Hank looked at her lip. "And he hurt you", touching it gently.

"It's nothing".

"What about your career? You said it yourself, you've been trying so hard to get back out on the field".

"Right now I don't give a damn about my career. What kind of agent or person would I be, if I cooperated"?

He looked at her. "You'd sacrifice your career for me"?

"Not just for you Hank, but for what I believe to be right".

"I'm sorry I doubted you".

"Don't be. If Denny has been prosecuting you for a long time, I'd be on my toes as well".

"You should have come to me".

"And you would have believed me? The only thing I wanted was to protect you, no matter how". She thought back to her night with Adam and seeing how Hank was reacting to what was really happening, she realized she had made a big mistake. She debated whether or not she should tell him. Knowing Adam was in the other room, maybe this wasn't the time or place.

"So what do we do know"? she asked Hank. "I care about you and have feelings for you, but I don't want this relationship to end your career".

He took her into his arms. "It won't. I can promise you that it won't. And if you're willing to sacrifice yours, then I'm willing to do the same".

She looked at him.

"And don't worry about Denny. I'll handle it".

"What are you going to do? It's his word against mine and you of all people should know he's got clout. And I'm sure he was telling the truth about making the pictures public".

He looked at her.

"This is not the way, I wanted people to find out about us Hank. Not like this. Not as some sort of scandal".

He took her into his arms. "Not the kind of foundation you want to build a relationship on, I know".

"If this goes public, it will tears us apart".

"You're right".

He thought for a moment about the options and there weren't many. Either they went with the flow and were reactive to this blowing out of proportion or they were proactive.

He smiled at her. "Unless, we got public first".

"What do you mean"?

"If we go public, the only way people will react to eventual pictures going around, will be directed towards Denny and how he's broken the law in regards to privacy".

"I'm with you so far. It could work, but I don't see how we can go public without it appearing as though we're trying to cover our tracks".

He looked deep into her eyes. "Marry me".

"What"? she said flabbergasted.

"You heard me. Marry me. I know someone who owes me a favor, they could falsify the date and make so that we got married the day you arrived in Chicago".

"You're crazy. No one will ever buy that".

"Oh they will. I've been to New York a couple of times over the past year. You were at the bureau in New York, we could have met there, had a long distance relationship and then I proposed".

"Hank, we can't get married".

"Give me a reason why not".

"You're not thinking straight. We hardly know each other".

"We'll work on that. Are you afraid of marriage"?

"No. I've been married before".

He looked at her surprised. It was indeed something he didn't know about her.

"Divorced"?

"No. I'm a widow Hank, just as you are".

"I'm sorry, I didn't know".

"Exactly and there are other things you don't know, that's why I think we shouldn't go through with this masquerade wedding".

"I have had the most amazing month in a very long time. I love what I see, I love who you are. I love who I am when I'm with you, how you bring out the best in me. The rest, I want to discover if you'll give me a chance. Marry me Vanessa, I promise you this marriage will work".

As she stared into his eyes, she saw how sincere he was about everything he had said. For a split second, she saw her future in his eyes. Maybe it was too soon, but she'd heard stories of couples getting married after a shorter amount of time and spend the rest of their lives together. Why couldn't it work for them?