I can't believe this is chapter 11 already/ That I wrote 11 chapters! So, the vast majority of people who had an opinion said just to keep the chapters together and give you a heads up where the M stuff is so you can skip over it if you want…works for me. Thank you guys so much for your amazing reviews as always!

Last Chapter: Rick and Kate returned to Kate's apartment, and Kate had a difficult time dealing with the devastation, but of course Rick was there to comfort her. Kate eventually gathered herself enough to get her stuff so that she and Rick could go home..awww

Chapter 11: Home

Together they left her apartment.

She pulled the door shut behind her and locked it, wishing putting all of this behind her (or at least out of her mind), was as simple as hearing the soft click of the lock.

She had put down her duffle back to lock the door, and Rick scooped it up without her noticing.

When she turned to grab it and leave she saw Rick already had it sung over his shoulder.

She shook her head at him, as a sign of disapproval, but decided not to fight him on this one.

She knew that she would simply never win.

She started walking towards the elevator, and felt Rick wrap his free arm around her waist, as he caught up to walk beside her.

She looked down at the floor and smiled softly to herself. Before she wrapped her arm around him.

It was nice for her to have someone to lean on for once.

He held her tight to him, all the way to the car. Where he kissed the top of her head before letting her go.

She grabbed his wrist to stop him, and pulled him back to her as she placed a firm kiss on his lips. Before saying, "Thank you."

And walking to the driver's side of her car and getting in.

Rick stood here for a split second, staring after her, before scrambling to get in the car before she noticed his delayed reaction.

But, of course she did noticed, and she shook her head at his reaction. While at the same time storing that move in the back of her mind … for future use.

The ride to the loft was pretty easy, but they were both exhausted, physically and emotionally. So, while the ride was quick in reality to the two of them it felt like it took an eternity.

How they managed all those late nights in a row was hard to fathom, but it was finally catching up to them.

Even though their small break in the case had given them a boot through their day at work; the stress of returning to Kate's apartment had taken a toll on both of them.

Kate was putting on a brave face, but she was still shaken, and Rick could feel it.

He wished again that he knew what to say, but there really was no good response or remark to help ease her situation.

Everything he came up with seemed so lame.

Kate spent the car ride pushing images of her and the other victims' apartments out of her mind.

It took a lot to mess with her composure, but this guy managed to.

Though, if she had it her way, he would never find out.

At long last Kate pulled her car into the garage.

They remained quiet during their ride on the elevator.

Once locked inside the loft Kate dropped her bag (that she had deftly stolen back from Rick while they were getting out of the car), and let out a long sigh.

It was 8:30 at night, and they were ready for bed.

What were they a pair of extremely elderly people?

Rick leaned back against the door saying," We haven't eaten yet, but I'm too tired to cook. Do you want take out?"

"Sure." Kate replied, figuring if she didn't get away with the 'I'm not hungry' line last night then she wouldn't get away with it tonight.

"Okay, any preference?" he asked.

"Why don't you surprise me." She replied. Then remembering some of this ideas of delicious creations, namely the smorlette, she wisely added, "Just not too big a surprise."

"You've got it." He said pulling out his phone.

Before he dialed Kate asked, "Do you mind if I go take a quick shower?"

"Of course not, go ahead." He said dialing the number to the mystery take out place.

Kate picked up her bag and headed upstairs to shower.

It was heavenly. She let the warm water soothe her sore muscles, and when she got out of the shower at least her muscles, if nothing else, felt more relaxed.

After drying off and changing into her more comfortable clothes she headed downstairs, and was greeted by the delicious smell of Chinese food.

"Hey" she said, entering the room, and seeing that he too had managed to take a shower, and was now putting the food on plates.

"A wise decision." She said feeling a little bit excited at the prospect of eating.

"Well, thanks to my studious observations; I have noticed that you prefer Chinese takeout during cases, and prefer Thai or Italian after a case is over. I personally think it's the MSG that helps you solve the case." He responded

"Mmhmm." Was her only response.

How exactly does one react to someone else making an observation about your habits that you hadn't noticed about yourself? She thought she would have gotten used to it by now, but sometimes it still scared her just how well he knew her.

They sat next to each other at the counter, enjoying their meal.

Both of them were too tired to think of a good way to start a conversation.

So, they spent the majority of their meal in an amicable silence. That was occasionally broken up with a comment on how good the food was.

They both finished their meals and began cleaning up.

Kate was glad that this time Rick let her help.

It gave her something to do with her hands, and made her feel a bit less useless.

Working together they finished the chore quickly.

Exhausted and ready for bed Kate said, "I think I'm going to head upstairs and brush my teeth; get ready for bed."

"Okay, are you coming back down after?" he asked.

Her original plan was to stay upstairs, but she couldn't say no when he had that hopeful expression.

"Yeah." she said.

He tried to suppress his smile, but she noticed it anyway.

She headed upstairs smiling at how little it took to make him happy. Tired or not, it was worth it.

It didn't take her long to brusher her teeth, and soon she way on her way back downstairs.

She heard the TV on, but when she walked into the living room she didn't see him.

Hmm, well that's a little odd. She thought.

Only to turn around and see him emerging from his study.

She flopped down in the middle of the couch, and waited for him to come join her.

"Hey," he said walking over to her and leaning against the back of the couch," Do you want something to drink?"

"No, I'm good." She replied looking up at him.

He circled around the side of the couch and sat down, leaving a fair amount of space between them.

It was a thoughtful gesture.

Usually she did like her space, but right now, that wasn't the case.

She scooted closer to him and leaned back onto his chest, letting her head rest on his shoulder.

He wrapped an arm around her waist, letting his hand come to rest on her stomach.

"I didn't want to assume…" he said quietly.

"I know." She replied softly placing her hand on top of his.

Turning her attention back to the TV she began to trace light patterns on the back of his hand.

She tried to pay attention to the show, but her exhaustion was quickly catching up to her, and the even rhythm of his heart beat lulled her to sleep.

Rick noticed she had stopped tracing patterns on his hand, and looked down to find her fast asleep.

I'll just watch the end of this, and then I'll wake her up. He told himself, only to soon feel his head snap down and jerk back up.

Unlike Kate he didn't have a giant human pillow to lay on.

And if she was awake Kate would have to agree that he was very comfortable.

"Kate." He said, rubbing her arm to wake her up.

"Come on, it's time to go to bed."

"Mmm, sorry I was just so tired." She said keeping her eyes closed, but stretching a little bit.

"Let's go to bed." He said yawning and stretching, as much as he could with her still half on top of him.

She opened her eyes, registering what he said.

She slowly sat up next to him gathering her thoughts.

It'd been less than 24 hours since he kissed her, but she felt it'd probably be safe because based on both their current mental statuses it was clear that, at least for now, sleeping was really going to be the only thing they would be doing.

He had stood up while she was still thinking. His words broke through her thoughts, "I just thought it'd be nice, but it you don't want to I'd completely understand, no pressure."

"No, I want to." she said standing up and rearranging her clothes, that had shifted slightly.

She grabbed his hand and laced her fingers through his and said," I'm exhausted, let's go to bed."

Hey guys so I typed this really quickly and only read through it once because I'm running off to take my chemistry final (also why this chapter is so short, sorry). Anyways, I apologize if I missed some typos. Let me know, and I'll go back and fix them later tonight…while I'm impatiently waiting for the season finale! Your feedback is always appreciated, and I hope you enjoy the finale.

Always,

Elizabeth