A/N: I stole some of this from an actual scene back in 2006- it's one of my favorites, mostly because David is really good at one liners, and also because I think it shows how deeply John is affected by his father's death. Anyway, don't sue me, I don't own it.

When he finally found the family, they re-erupted and cheered. He laughed, wrapping one arm around Natalie and leaning down to kiss her.

"Congratulations" she said, smiling.

"I can't believe it's over"

"How do you feel son?"

"Old" he laughed, keeping an arm on Natalie's waist.

"Well, we're proud of you"

"Thanks, Dad"

"I don't believe it" Eve said, getting emotional.

"Mom" John said, "I'm not even moving out"

"Oh, please" his mother exclaimed, "the weekend does not constitute living with us"

"We're all going to miss you" Michael added.

"There's still plenty of time before I leave" he said, "Now, I am starving"

John had gotten word his first day at the Academy was set for June 29 and he'd finish just before Christmas. He'd start work at the ACPD on January 4 when Natalie and Michael went back to school for after winter break. He'd decided to hold off on getting his own place until he started working for real, and of course that gave him and Natalie more time to figure out how she could spend time at his place once he got one. Until then, he took comfort in the fact that they'd live under the same roof. They went out to dinner, and his dad gave he and Natalie an extra hour on their curfew for the night, and they headed into his room so he could hang up his gown.

"So how you feeling?"

"I don't know" he said,hanging up his gown and turning towards her, "A little sad, but I think I'm ready for what's next"

"You mean your twenty four day vacation?"

"Let's go to the boardwalk or the beach one of these weekends"

"I'm in" she said, "Name the time and the place, I'm there"

"And in a cute bathing suit" he mused.

"It's a lot more real now, isn't it?" she asked him, "You leaving"

"I'm not leaving, not really, not yet" he said, "but yeah, it's a lot more real"

"Will you miss me?"

"I think- I'm going to miss you more than I know right now"

"Here" she said, handing him a gift she'd held behind her back, "I know your party's not til next week, and you'll get something from me then, too, but- this is just a little more private, I guess"

He smiled, opening it. It was a picture of the two of them, one of the ones his mom was always making them take. It had been a family trip to the boardwalk last summer, when Natalie was still being timid about living with them and he was working overtime to prove to her she was worth more than she thought she was. It looked candid, because they were laughing, but in actuality they'd been posing for his mom and Michael had tripped falling pretty much flat on his face. His arm was slung around her waist and she had her arm around his waist, an arm on his chest, and her head resting on his shoulder as she laughed. She looked beautiful. She had a blue tank top on, and he could see the string of her bikini underneath it, and he remembered seeing her in that bathing suit for the first time, trying to control his reaction with his whole family nearby.

It was in a faux-wooden frame, and the words "Love never fails" were engraved in black lettering. He smiled.

"Thanks" he said, "I really like it. Especially the frame"

"Well, I knew you liked that passage"

"So why this picture?"

"I don't know" she said, "When I asked Eve to steal one she just gave me a pile. That one jumped out at me"

"I really like it. that was a good day"

"Yeah it was" she said, "I want you to take it with you"

"I will" he said, and he pulled her down on his bed with her, drawing her into a deep kiss.

"Door" she murmured against his lips.

"Damn parents" he muttered back.

They reconvened themselves against his headboard and they stared at the picture for a while. She rested her head on his shoulder and he wrapped an arm around her, keeping her close.

"I'm going to miss you so much" she whispered.

"We'll be okay" he said.

"I know we'll be okay" she said, "It's just going to be so different"

"You know I want this passage read at our wedding"

"Oh you do?"

"Mmhhmm" he said, placing a kiss on his head, "Mom and Dad had it read at theirs"

"How does it go?" she asked.

He rested her head against hers, whispering "Love is patient, love is kind. Love is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated. Love is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick tempered, it does not brood over injury. Love does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in truth..."

"Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails" he muttered.

As if that were true, he thought.

And yet, as soon as he thought it, he realized it was. Because he still loved Natalie, wherever she was now. That endured time and whole lot else, and he still hadn't given up hope on that, try as he might.

He didn't know why he was thinking all that now as entered the courtroom. His mind should anywhere but there,on her. He sat down next to Michael.

"Hey" he said, "How are you?"

"I don't know" Michael answered, "Mom didn't want to come"

"I can't blame her"

"So this is it?" he said, "Months of missing him and, now what?"

"We'll see, I guess" he said.

They stood as the judge entered and the case was announced.

"In the case of the Commonwealth vs. David Vickers, the defendant is accused with the death of Thomas McBain and is hereby charged with murder in the second degree. How do you plea?" the judge read.

"My client pleads not guilty" the lawyer answered.

John withheld his outrage. He had no leg to stand on, what the hell.

"Noted" the judge said.

"Your Honor, we ask that bail be set-"

"Your Honor" the DA interrupted, "the defendant is a serious flight risk, he has a history of travel and access to large sums of money"

"Yeah, I'm rolling in it" David answered.

"To clarify" Hughes responded, "He has friends. His brother and his former fiance-"

"Your Honor, I assure you my client is not going anywhere" the lawyer jumped in, "He's been cooperative, he's innocent, and I intend to prove it"

"Save it for the jury" the judge said, "bail is set at one million dollars"

As the courtroom adjourned, Michael nudged him.

"I want to talk to him" he said, "Can I do that?"

"Yeah, I can make that happen" John said, standing and asked the guard attending to Vickers to leave them alone for a minute.

"What do you want?" the lawyer asked.

"My head on a platter" David answered.

"Oh, i got nothing to say to you" John said, "My brother wants a few minutes"

"That's not a good idea" Hugh said, in the background.

"I just want to tell him something" Michael said, "I'm not going to hurt him. That's not going to bring my dad back"

"Give us five minutes" David said.

As everyone but the two of them filed out of the courtroom, Hugh started to apologize about the bail. John was only half listening.

"John?" he asked, "Where are you going?"

"Anywhere but here"

He walked to his car, getting in and driving back home.

In five years, he'd wanted to pick up his phone and call Natalie more times than he could possibly count. But none of that compared to how much he wanted to call her right now. If he could talk to her, he wouldn't feel so alone. He wouldn't feel like everything he'd done since his dad had died had been worthless. He wouldn't feel as though his career was worthless. Maybe he wouldn't feel like all his efforts had been in vain. He'd promised his dad justice, and he was still nowhere near that. He opened his door, turning on the radio to the jazz station, trying to forget.

The DJ gave a news update, which informed John that bail on Vickers had been posted. He grabbed the baseball bat out of his closet and smashed his radio to pieces.

She'd know the right thing to say. She'd kiss him and make him forget. If only she were still here for him to call.

He'd hugged his brother and his mom. His dad went to hug him.

"I'm so proud of you, John" he whispered.

Somehow it meant more to John now, in this moment that his dad was proud of him.

"We'll see you on Friday" his dad said, and he nodded.

Silently, they all stood there, looking at Natalie. She put on a good face, but he could tell she was fighting tears.

"Natalie" Eve said, "We'll wait for you in the car, okay?"

She nodded. The second the three of them were out of the room, John had her in his arms and she let her tears out.

"Hey" he said, "ssshh. It's going to be okay"

"I just miss you so much already"she said, looking up at him.

"You haven't had the chance to miss me yet" he said, wiping her tears out of her face.

"Still" she said, "What am I going to do without you?"

"It's only five days"

"We haven't been apart a full day in over a year"

"I know" he said, "But hey, you're the strongest person I've ever met. You're going to be fine"

She leaned up to kiss him, and he kissed her deep.

"You brought the picture, right?"

"Yeah, I brought it"

"I love you so much" she cried

"Ssh, I love you, too, Natalie"

She leaned up into his lips again.

"I know you want this, I'm not trying to make it hard, I just-"

"Hey" he said, "i know it sucks. But it's just temporary. Just a pit stop on the way to someday"

She teared up again, "I don't know what I'm going to do without you"

"Hey" he whispered, "don't do this to me. You know I won't let you go if you cry"

"I'm sorry, I'm really not trying to-"

"Hey take a deep breath" he said, and as she did, he said, "Listen to me. I'm coming home to you every Friday for the next five months. Five days at a time. You can do that, I know you can"

"That doesn't sound so bad"

He kissed her once more.

"I love you" he whispered.

"I love you" she said, "Alright. Five days" she said, and after one more kiss was gone.

He watched her leave, feeling the magnitude of his new living situation fully for the first time. The picture she'd given him was on top of his suitcase, and he took it out, admiring her again.

"Love never fails" he whispered, placing it on his dresser.

That night as he and his new roommate hung out after orientation, he was asked about the picture.

"That your girl?"

"Yeah" John said, "That's my girl"

"How's she taking this?"

"Not well" he said, "but she will. She just needs the time adjust"

"She's real pretty"

"Yeah, she is"

"You love her?"

"Yeah, I love her" he said, "I'm going to marry her. Someday"

"You sound sure"

"I am sure"

That Friday, when they were released, he drove straight home. He knew he'd miss dinner, because they didn't get out until 6, but all he wanted was to see Natalie. He saw her hair in her bedroom window as he drove into the driveway. She was waiting for him. His heart swelled at the thought.

He'd only made it to the hood of his car when she ran into his arms. He caught her, taking a step back as she kissed him fully. He could feel her tears against his face, but maybe they were his.

"I missed you" she said, and those three words conveyed so much.

"I missed you, too" he said, and kissed her again.

He was sure his brother and parents were watching from the door, but at this moment he didn't care. After he and the family caught up, he and Natalie ended up in her room, sitting on her bed, just catching up, talking as they always did. Slowly, they ended up laying down, John holding her against him, his head resting on hers, tucked in the crook of his neck. She could tell he was tired, and she wished he would just go to sleep, but he wanted to wait until 11, take every minute of the time they had. She was telling him about the schools she was thinking of applying to and what she and Michael had been doing in their spare time when she became certain he was asleep. She smiled up at him, and kissed the side of his face. She carefully got out of his arms and headed out, closing her door behind her.

"Natalie?" she heard Thomas.

"Hi" she said.

"What's going on?"

"I'm going to sleep on the couch" she said, "John- we were talking and he fell asleep. he has to wake up so early in the mornings, I didn't have the heart to wake him up to tell him to go upstairs"

"He misses you, you know. I don't know if you can see it the way I do, the way he looks at you. Like he has to memorize every curve of your face before he leaves again"

"I do know" she said, "Doesn't make it any easier"

"Yeah" he said, "It'll get easier, I promise. When you start school again, you're not just thinking about him all the time"

"Yeah, I know" she said, "i just worry about him, you know? He's so wonderful and he can get so lost himself-"

"Yeah, except for when you're around" he said, "You're so good for him"

"I hope so. So much of who I've become is because of him"

"Why don't you go back to bed?" he said, "He can stay down here for the night"

"Really?"

"Yeah" he said, "it's been a rough week for both of you"

"Thanks" she said, going back into her room and cuddling back into his side.

"Natalie?" he groaned, feeling her back.

"Ssh. Go back to sleep. You can stay here for the night. Thomas gave the okay" she lightly kissed him.

"I love you" he said, wrapping his arm around her again.

"I love you, too, John" she said.

"John, I want to finish this as much as you do, but without a weapon, it's not going to be easy" Hugh started on him.

"He's hiding the gun"

"Then get a warrant"

"That means interrogating him and he won't talk without his lawyer" John said.

"John, you're going to be able to figure this out. You're the most qualified person to do it"

"All of my qualifications don't mean anything if I can't get him" he said, "If I could just figure out how Truman fits into this-"

"Truman?"

"His brother shoots my dad and his ex operates on him drunk. You wanna tell me there's no connection there?"

"Do you have any ideas?"

"I think Truman's pulling all the strings. Vickers is too stupid to cover this up on his own"

"So go to Spencer"

John shook his head, "Truman's reaping the benefits"

"What do you mean?"

"He has them both in the palm of his hand. He ain't giving that up"

"So what's your plan?"

He took a breath, "Paige"

"I don't know John-"

"Our other option is cutting Vickers a deal, and I don't want to do that yet"

"Alright. Keep me posted"

"John, I want to help, but I signed-"

"As far as I'm concerned this can stay off the record" he said, "I know I can't go after you, because believe me I would have"

Paige didn't say anything.

"What I don't understand is that you were chief of staff. You could have had anyone do that operation. So why you?"

"I-"

"There were three other surgeons on staff that night. And enough nurses were in that room to have noticed you couldn't see straight-"

"What are you insinuating, detective?"

"Why did you and Dr. Truman split up?"

"I don't see how the two are related"

"Yeah, your shock tells a different story" he said, "Look, you got your sanctuary. My dad's dead. I just want answers"

"Me and Spencer split up years ago"

"Why?"

"He had some dirt on me- the alcoholism, and he got me to do so pretty awful things so it would stay hidden. Eventually, I got him to agree to a divorce-"

"How?"

"I guess he realized that just because we would separated didn't mean the blackmail had to stop"

"So he's still blackmailing you"

"I've been sober for years"

"You didn't answer my question"

"Yeah, he is, on occasion" she said, "All those things he got me to do, I still did them and he has proof"

"You want that to stop?"

"What?"

"You tell me what he has to do with all of this, he could go away for a very long time"

"John, I know you want answers, but you have them. I botched it, you know that"

He shrugged, "You're the one getting blackmailed"

He walked out of interrogation and back to his office. That confirmed it, he knew Truman was in this up to eyeballs. If only he could figure out how. He still had so many questions for Paige, something didn't quite add up.

I've been sober for years.

Except she hadn't been. She'd been drunk operating on his father, so why did she say that? Recovered alcholics typically took their sobriety seriously, and it didn't make sense to him that she would say that when it wasn't true.

Unless it was true.

All the nurses present in the OR had been given severance and fired, which meant there was no witness of Paige's state when she was operating. It made sense, but it was also a perfect story to cover up something.

He started making calls.