A look into Justin and Amy's relationship. A sequel to "When You Least Expect", with a few companion chapters from Amy's and Justin's point of view. This is what happens when you fall in love.


Amy had been in Washington for almost two years now, and she and Justin were doing fine. Amy was busy, dividing her time between DC, New York and Raleigh. She was almost always on the road, but usually she would be back in a couple of days. She actually avoided long missions where she could be stuck for months, after what happened in Syria. Justin's deployments would sometime put him on the other side of the globe for months, but he would always do his best to stay somewhat in touch. Those missions usually took a toll on them, but their relationship was solid enough to see them through the dark patches.

Sometimes he would flight out to meet her, spend the weekend. Usually in New York. Those weekends were always fun, since most of the times he was in New York they would meet Jake and Finn for a couple of beers. But he had also met her in DC a couple of times. It would always start up as a work thing, and he would manage to squeeze a day or two to be with her. Those days were the best days, where they would spend the majority of their time in bed, making up for the lost time.

But it was working. So far, better than they were expecting. They had a long weekend ahead of them. The guys were planning a barbeque tomorrow, to celebrate the end of another tough mission. They had deployed shortly after Jake and Juliet's wedding, and just as it happened with that mission to rescue Cameron, almost 3 years ago, they had to leave with no short notice, no planning ahead. The girls were starting to think that weddings were cursed events in this little group.

They've been gone for close to two weeks this time, which was not very long, but long enough for the ones waiting for them. Amy had took a flight to North Carolina as soon as Justin told her he was leaving, so she could be closer to Rory and Sarah. Their friendship was one of the only things that got them through this ordeal, and they tried their best to be together when their husbands were deployed. Usually, Sarah and Amy did a lot better than Rory, they had a lot more experience with life in the military, but Rory was getting there.

Amy would stay for the barbeque, but she needed to be back in Washington that same day, she was taking the read eye home. The guys were busy with the grill, and Rory and Amy were still talking about Jake's wedding. More specifically, about Anna and Logan hooking up at Jake's wedding. Jake still knew nothing about it, but Rory has seen the two of them leaving together, all hot and heavy. She was still debating if she should tell Jake, because he was very overprotective of his sister, and well, Logan was Logan, after all. She still hadn't heard back from Anna, or Logan for that matter, so she didn't know if their tryst had continued after the wedding. So far, the only other person who knew about that was Amy, because she had caught Rory flabbergasted while she was waiting to Tristan and Justin to bring the car around so they could all go home.

So they were currently sitting at Rory's porch, while they waited for their sandwiches, and having a whispered conversation. They stopped talking when they saw some movement on the porch, and they both smiled when Justin approached them.

"Can I steal Amy for a while? I know you two are probably discussing very important matters, like national security important, but I missed my girlfriend these past weeks, and word is she's abandoning me today." He said, smiling. He took her hand when Rory just smiled widely, and pulled Amy to him, and they left the porch in each other's arms. Rory stood that, just watching them walk away. She was very happy for the two of them, but she couldn't help but think that someday, sooner or later, this long-distance relationship was going to kick them in their asses.

She knew that Tristan was studying making a change. They were talking about having kids, talking about starting a family. They were still not trying, not yet. She needed to have her annual check-up before trying for real. But she knew that talking about starting a family with Tristan meant a change in his carrier too. So he was weighing his options, talking with his superior officers, looking for a change. She knew it would take a while, and they were not in a hurry, but the important thing is that they were talking about it. Maybe that change would also be good to Justin. Maybe it would put them on the path for their own reevaluation.

This was how Tristan found his wife, sitting alone in the porch swing, watching Justin and Amy walking away together.

"You're worried about them?" He asked, knowing his wife.

"Not worried, worried. More like thinking that it must be tough, this long distance thing between them." She said.

"Well, you had experience with it. What do you think?" He asked, thinking back about Rory's past relationship with Logan. It still turned his stomach, thinking about her with anyone other than himself, but he could actually say Logan's name out loud without flinching nowadays.

"It was totally different. We had a time frame, I knew when he was coming back, so it was easier. Well, at least they get to see each other with some frequency, when Justin is not overseas." She said. "I just think that, one day or another, they are going to realize that they will not be able to do that forever. I mean, don't they want to get married, start a family?"

"I don't know, babe. I mean, Justin comes from a family who's been in the Military for generations. He's kind of used to seeing their lives arranged to accommodate it. So it's easier for him then it was for me, I think." He said. "And Amy has some experience in that area too."

"Also, they are both very carrier driven, and both very stubborn. They will figure it out eventually." He continued.

"Did Justin ever talked about him and Amy with you?" Rory asked.

"Well, sometimes. Usually after I threaten him with bodily harm to make him talk." Tristan joked. "They are both very private people, but I wouldn't worry about them." He said, pulling his wife to her feet and walking her back to the party.

Meanwhile, Justin and Amy were on their way home, with no idea at all that their friends were talking about them. They were in their own bubble. It was not unusual for them to not see each other for two or three weeks, but it was always harder on them when those weeks were spent on missions overseas. Especially when Justin, and not Amy, was the one to deploy. He was a damn fine soldier, and an expert sniper, but his job took a toll on him. He was very aware of that, and he would always search for comfort in Amy's arms when he got back.

Even his friends noticed that. Even since they started dating, he has been ditching his friends as soon as his feet were on the ground. Before, he would let up some steam on the boxing ring, or running a few miles. They would work out until they were not so restless, and then go for a couple of beers on the local bar. They would joke around, and talk about mundane stuff, and put those nightmares behind them.

Tristan was the first one to break the pattern, and then Andrew joined them, and he was already married when he started. Now it was Justin. Which left Dylan, Aaron and Kent the only bachelors who still made good use of the gym equipment on the base.

"So, how are you doing, Soldier?" Amy asked. He had avoided this conversation since he came back. He had a haunted look on his eyes, like he usually did after a mission.

"Good, considering how I spent the last couple of days." He told her truthfully, after a couple of seconds of silence. "It takes a toll. Every life we take, I take, takes a toll." He told her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked. She didn't know the level of clearance from this mission, and she would always wait for him to tell her, if he could. She was a high ranking FBI agent, so she had a pretty high clearance. There were very few missions where she would need to be kept in the dark, and she was usually okay with that.

"Not really." He said. They were both silent for a while. "He had a kid, Amy. And he was using her as a human shield, his human shield. She couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years old, and she was scared out of her mind."

"You had no choice…" She said, hugging him. They were practically home, just a few steps, actually. But she was in no hurry to get inside. She knew he needed to talk, so she waited him out.

"I had no choice." He repeated. "He was going to kill her, either way. There was no time to even warn her of what we were about to do. I knew that, if we didn't stop him, she was not going to be the only kid murdered. They were ready to blow the whole school. A children's school. It didn't matter to him that she was his kid."

"I know." She said, softly. "You did what you had to do."

He was silent for a while, and she just stood there, hugging him to her, waiting for him to finish talking about it.

"It was a head shot. He dropped as soon as I fired, and Dylan got the girl out before she could register that her father was dead." He said.

"And the school?" She asked, wanting him to get it all out.

"Evacuated on time. We had Aaron, Andrew and Kent ready to take the children out, even before I was positioned. Dylan was covering them, and Tristan was covering me. If we were a minute late…" He said, and took her face in his hands. He looked deep into her eyes. She could feel the haunted look he was sporting. It would take some time for the memories to fade away, she knew. But she would be there to help him.

"I'm proud of you, Lieutenant." She said. She got on her tiptoes, and kissed him, telling him without words how much she loved him.

He kissed her back, slowly maneuvering them to his front door. He blindly reached for the door handle, taking him a couple of tries to get to open the door, but he managed to get them inside. He needed her, he needed her to help erase those memories, and create new ones. He wanted to ask her to marry him, but he thought it was too soon, still. He could wait a while longer. He would first broach the topic of her moving to North Carolina again. But not now. Now, he would concentrate of getting her undressed and under him. He missed her.