Mr. Monk is On the Run is my favorite episode of Monk. It showcased everything that was great about the dynamics between the characters.

Let's get ready to rumble!

The first part of this chapter is hot without being explicit.

Chapter 13: Frolic and Fight

For the past couple of years, Monk and Natalie had a Wednesday afternoon routine. They would walk in the park a few blocks from his apartment. Sometimes they would sit down on a bench and chat about cases, and sometimes they would just walk around and look at the scenery around them- children running happily, families having small picnics, couples lounging underneath shade trees on blankets. Dr. Bell felt it would be a beneficial way for Monk to connect to the world around him, seeing things that weren't necessarily part of observing crime scenes.

Ten days after their return from Berkeley found them part of the scenery instead of merely observing it. Adrian had drawn the line at a picnic. Eating food around dirt, flies, nature in general, was still unfathomable. But he and Natalie did find themselves underneath a shade tree, lounging on a blanket.

At first he said, "I don't really see the point of leaning against this tree." He rolled his shoulders around as if to shake dirt and bark off his clothing.

Natalie dropped to her knees in front of him. "If you don't lean against the tree, then it won't be nearly as comfortable for us to do this." She turned around and leaned against his chest, stretching her legs out and crossing her ankles.

Adrian's arms locked around her waist and he exhaled softly. "Why didn't we do this last week?"

"It had rained the day before. I knew you would never agree to this if the possibility of mud were involved."

Smiling, he laced his hands with hers. "You make so much of it go away. I'm not even thinking about all of the nature danger. I love you."

Lost in their own little world, they talked and laughed together.

"Adrian?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you know what was the first thing I loved about you?"

"No, you never told me."

"I loved watching you work."

Adrian's eyes opened and he looked down at her. "Watching me work?"

"Yes," Natalie exclaimed. She held his hands up in the air. "I would watch you bend to the side, and hold your hands up like so." She spread his fingers apart. Laughing, she said, "I tried that a couple of times, but by then I knew there was no one in the world like you."

Natalie sat up, rubbing her arms. "I just had a chill!"

"I can take care of that. Come here."

Natalie went into Adrian's outstretched arms, and he drew his overcoat around her. "Better?"

She rested her cheek against his chest. "Much better." Natalie inhaled deeply. "I've always loved the way you smell, too. It's almost all you. I can smell your shower gel, but the rest of it is uniquely you."

"The first thing I loved about you is your attitude. I marveled at how you had lost your husband and managed to stay positive, happy, sane."

"It was Julie. It was all Julie. Mitch was gone, but I still had her. She needed me. But feeling, feeling happy solely for myself didn't come until I started to work for you." Natalie looked up at him. "You know what I want to do? What would please me?"

Adrian kissed her hair. His soft baritone rumbled in his chest. "Anything you want."

"I want to make you feel the way you make me feel."

At this, Monk sat up and looked confused. "Natalie, you already make me feel the same way you do."

Natalie shook her head at this. "You don't get what I mean. You're very demanding when we're alone, and always take control of the situation. I don't mean that in a negative way. I feel like I'm floating on air and drowning in honey at the same time while you make love to me. But I would like to return the favor."

Adrian twisted his neck a bit. "Natalie, I don't want to hurt you."

She laughed, "Hurt me? The closest you've come to hurting me is scraping my face with your stubble. I've surrendered to you. I want you to surrender to me."

His breath caught, "Sometimes I have to rein myself in as it is. Losing control would..."

"Would be an enormous turn-on," Natalie finished. Burrowed underneath his overcoat, she lightly kissed him behind his ear and down the side of his neck. Her fingers traveled up and down his ribcage. "We could treat it like a job," she whispered. "I'm not the brilliant Adrian Monk but he's taught me more than a few tricks. We could...you know, go visit the scene, and I could start to look for clues. You could let me take charge of the investigation." She gave him her most sultry smile.

Adrian started to tremble and he ran his fingers through Natalie's hair. "God, Natalie...you don't know what you're doing to me."

"Oh yes, I do. I want to do to you what you've done to me. I want to please you."

"Good God, Natalie...you already please me. I love you so much," he groaned.

"Nope. It's not the same. And I love you, too. Trust me."

Adrian drew a finger down her cheek and said, "You know I do."

He bent down to kiss her, but it wasn't enough to release any of the sexual tension between them. Adrian's voice was ragged as he finally said, "We have a choice, Natalie. We either go home or call Captain Stottlemeyer."

"Why would we call Captain Stottlemeyer?"

"Because if I don't get you home, he's going to have to come and arrest us for indecent exposure." He released her and jumped up, and held out his hand to her. "Grab the blanket."

They were about to hurry off when an angry voice behind them said, "It's a good thing I'm not a cop because I think I'd throw your ass in jail myself, Mr. Monk." Both of them jumped when they turned around to face an angry Lieutenant Steven Albright.

Lieutenant Steven Albright, by unforeseen luck, had arrived home three days earlier than his scheduled return. At first, he thought he would go to Natalie's house. Then he remembered it was Wednesday and 2:00 in the afternoon. He would probably find her taking the weekly stroll around the park with her boss. After changing clothes and picking up his car, he drove over to Adrian Monk's apartment and began the short walk to the nearby park.

At first, he was a bit confused, because he didn't see the familiar blonde head walking with her boss. He was actually wondering if Natalie would ever leave her job with Adrian Monk. Two years ago, he had trained her in handgun usage, police knowledge and procedure, and pulled all the strings, using Natalie's years of assistance to him to have her licensed as a private investigator. Natalie said she liked the adventure. Her boss was quirky, and had his compulsions, but he was a different man than he had been when Albright first met Adrian Monk all those years ago. He had told her that soon she wouldn't have to work at all, but she had always said she loved her job. She said that she did something that was meaningful- helping Monk solve murder investigations. She didn't have the Rain Man thing going on the way Monk did, but she had a better head on her than a lot of cops did.

He knew that Natalie had a gentle and affectionate manner with her boss, but nothing prepared him for the sight he saw in the park. Then he realized why she never entertained the idea of leaving her job. There sat his fiancée, underneath a tree with her boss. He shook his head because to his knowledge, Adrian Monk had never shown any romantic interest in any woman. But his eyes weren't fooling him. Monk had his arms wrapped around Natalie, practically making love to her with his eyes as they talked and laughed, his lips occasionally caressing the top of her head. He watched Natalie turn around as Monk enveloped her in his arms, underneath his overcoat. The worst part of it all was that Natalie was wearing a look on her face that she had never favored him with. She was passionately in love with him. It was no wonder that women chuckled among themselves about the stupidity of men. He was too stupid to see how torn apart she was when Monk was dying, too stupid to see she had loved him for years. Growing angrier by the second, he decided to approach them from behind, and see if he could hear what they were discussing.

They were secluded from most public view, underneath a shade tree. His military training enabled him to slip off his shoes and approach in silence. What he heard further confirmed what his eyes had already told him.

"God, Natalie...you don't know what you're doing to me."

"Oh yes, I do. I want to do to you what you've done to me. I want to please you."

"Good God, Natalie...you already please me. I love you so much," he groaned.

"Nope. It's not the same. And I love you, too. Trust me."

He watched as Monk drew a finger down Natalie's cheek. "You know I do."

They started to kiss and then they broke apart. The detective's voice was ragged as he finally said, "We have a choice, Natalie. We either go home or call Captain Stottlemeyer."

"Why would we call Captain Stottlemeyer?"

"Because if I don't get you home, he's going to have to come and arrest us for indecent exposure." Monk released her and jumped up, and held out his hand to her. "Grab the blanket."

They were about to hurry away when they heard his voice. "It's a good thing I'm not a cop because I think I'd throw your ass in jail myself, Mr. Monk."

Natalie was shaken to the core to find herself face-to-face with Steven. She had wanted to tell him privately, quietly. But now he had found out in the worst manner possible. "Steven! I...I thought you weren't coming home until Saturday."

Albright's face was stone as he said, "Gee, Nat. Lucky me."

Monk knew Natalie needed him. "Lieutenant, this is my fault. I..."

Albright whirled around to Monk, "Shut up. I'm so sorry I interrupted, Mr. Monk." He growled in a lower voice. "Don't pretend that she wasn't an active participant as you were about to take her home and fuck her brains out." Then the Navy officer doubled up his fist and went for the punch.

Adrian Monk was no longer a police officer with the San Francisco Police Department, but he was still a cop. Instinct took over, and he was still the man who had dispatched the knife-wielding Frank Nunn without a firearm. He deftly blocked the punch, and then grabbed Albright's arm and held it behind his back in an arrest hold. "I'm not going to let you hit me, and you're going to watch your filthy mouth in front of Natalie!"

"Let me go, you son-of-a-bitch! The two of you can do it, but I can't say it? No wonder you got her licensed and trained her in weapons and police procedure, Monk. You couldn't let her go. How long has this been going on? Months? Years?" Albright's blue eyes were icy with rage as he glared at Natalie. "Were you ever going to tell me? Or was it going to be a big secret just like any other slut who steps out while her man's deployed?"

At this, Adrian absolutely snapped. He loosened the hold he had on Albright's arm, jerked him around and punched him. Albright reeled back, his lip bloodied. He stared at Adrian. "Think you're tough for an old man?"

"What I think you're going to do is shut up or I'll shut you up!"

Natalie was hysterical by this point. She tried to step between the two of them. "Stop it, both of you!"

"Natalie, I can't let him talk to you that way!"

"Let him protect your honor, Nat," sneered Albright. "I'm surprised he has the balls to do it."

Natalie turned to Adrian and looked at him. "Please, Adrian."

Adrian's eyes softened for a moment. "Alright, Natalie. Let me handle this. I won't stand for him talking to you that way." He circled around Natalie and stood protectively in front of her.

"You're going to listen to me, Lieutenant." There was steel in Adrian's voice as he pointed at Albright. "Not one more filthy insult about Natalie out of your mouth. It's been going on for three weeks. She intended to tell you as soon as you came back. She didn't know you were coming back early."

Albright rolled his eyes. "Oh, she didn't know I was coming home early. Then that makes everything different. Natalie, you're throwing away our relationship of over three years for a short fling with your boss?"

Tears streamed down Natalie's face. "I didn't mean for you to find out this way. I wanted to tell you in private. I can't marry you. This isn't a short fling. I'm sorry. I hated the idea of you being hurt in all of this, but I didn't want to send you an email telling you I couldn't marry you. But I'm in love with him. I have been for years."

"So you agreed to marry me, knowing you were in love with him?"

"I never told him I loved him. I only confided once, years ago, to a close friend."

Albright shook his head. "It's always been him, hasn't it? I watched both of you for 20 minutes. You've never looked at me that way." He looked over at Monk. "You...you were always about your late wife. But now all you can see is her."

"Yes," Monk whispered. "All I can see is Natalie."

"What changed, Monk?"

"I started to wake up. You asked her to marry you. I couldn't let that happen without telling her I loved her. I had no idea that she had ever loved me until three weeks ago."

"Steven," interjected Natalie. "I thought I had buried it all. I thought I was over him. I never meant to hurt you."

Albright looked at Monk. "I'm not the only fool here. I don't know why you never saw it. The way she would always take your arm when she walked with you. I don't see how I missed it. When you were dying, all she did was sob uncontrollably. Then she picked up one of your stupid wipes and then she was poisoned. She might have died, too. But all she could do was ask for you, ask about you. I heard about how unhinged she was when she thought you were dead...that she tracked you down and went on the run with you, and helped you clear your name. But I told myself that it was before I entered her life. When she didn't start dropping hints about marriage, I assumed it was because she didn't want to risk being a Navy widow again. I should have known. She's never looked at me that way. She never even looked at Mitch that way."

Then he turned to Natalie, "Can he make you happy?"

Natalie nodded. "I'm sorry, Steven. He's the only one who can. It has always been him."

"I'm sorry too, Nat."

Natalie reached in her handbag and pulled out the ring she hadn't even looked at since she removed it from her finger. "I didn't want to humiliate you. I intended to tell you the moment you came home, in private."

"I'm sorry I said those things to you, Natalie. I'm going to go by your place, and get the things I've kept there. Then I'll drop the key off at the police station, with Stottlemeyer. Is that okay with you?"

Natalie silently nodded.

Albright turned to Monk and looked at him, his shoulders slumped. "I ought to hate you, but I can't. There's enough blame to pass around, Monk. We were both blind. Natalie and I really weren't right for each other, were we?"

Monk shook his head and his voice was gentle. "No. But you're better than I am, Lieutenant. If someone tried to take Natalie from me, I would hate their guts."

Natalie walked into Adrian's arms as they watched Steven walk away. Albright turned around and stared at Monk one more time. "Take care of her, Monk."

Adrian merely nodded at him as Natalie buried her head under his neck and started to sob. They stood there for a long time, in a tight embrace.

"That was awful, Adrian. You know I never meant for him to find out this way."

"I know," he whispered. "I'm sorry I hit him. I came unglued when he insulted you."

"I know you did it because you love me. Thank God it's over. The waiting was starting to wear away at my nerves, Adrian."

Adrian kissed her softly and they walked home, his arm wrapped protectively around her.

Several hours later, Lieutenant Albright walked into the police station. Stottlemeyer was startled at the sight of his bloody lip.

"Did Monk do that to you?"

"I deserved it. I caught them together in the park, and then I said some things to Natalie I shouldn't have said. Monk nearly dislocated my shoulder when I tried to hit him, and then when I said something awful to Natalie, he snapped and busted my lip. I came to drop off my key to Natalie's house."

Stottlemeyer pulled a bottle of whiskey and a glass out of his desk. "You look like you could use a drink."

"You knew, Captain." Albright shook his head. "I'm not even the husband, and I was the last to figure it out."

"Not by much, Lieutenant. Monk didn't know until I told him. We all knew, but Natalie had never confided to anyone except my wife."

Albright accepted the drink gratefully. "I underestimated him."

Stottlemeyer laughed. "You wouldn't be the first. It took time for me to learn not to do that, Albright."

"No, I mean- he was so angry when I insulted Natalie. I think he could have kicked my ass."

"He was a cop. One of the best to ever wear a badge. They all think of him as this harmless, but genius crime-solving machine. The reason he wound up framed for murder is he went to the man who set off the bomb that killed his wife. Frank Nunn was wielding a blade at Monk. It didn't faze him at all, because he proceeded to disarm him with his bare hands, and then he beat the holy hell out of him before he finally pulled his gun on him."

"Is that when everyone knew Natalie loved him?"

Stottlemeyer nodded. "Everyone except Monk. He couldn't see the forest for the trees in those days. Natalie threw me out of her house because she thought I shot and killed him. I won't lie, Lieutenant. Monk is like a brother to me. I'm thrilled they're together. But look at it this way, Albright. You'll eventually land on your feet. I don't think Monk could even breathe without Natalie."