Sharp

A/N – Once again thank you to my faithful reviewer – nice to know someone's enjoying the story :)

Epilogue

A few weeks later

"So you drag me out here, in the freezing cold" Kate looked up, holding her hand out, catching the first few flakes that fell "Oh and the snow too, whatd'ya want Flack?"

"Stop being so grumpy" he teased her "I've got something to show you"

"I'm not being grumpy" she sniffed "I'm being sensible, we both got a whole weekend off, like all weekend, which never happens. When I go back on active after doing the sniper exam, I'll be working odd hours again. And instead of spending the time in bed, where I might add, it's warm, you wanna take a walk in the snow?"

"It's romantic" he grinned, pulling her closer "Stop whining, we can spend the rest of the weekend in bed, I have no objection to that, at all"

"Romantic?!" she stopped and stared at him "Since when do you do romantic?"

"I can do romantic" he said, pulling her by the arm to start walking again "I brought you wine and chocolates yesterday"

"You ate most of them" she laughed, taking his hand. It was true, he wasn't into big romantic gestures, but he didn't need to be. He did little things, held open doors, carried heavy things, insisted on picking her up from work when it was late, those were the things that mattered.

He laughed "Yeah, true, they were nice. But still, it shows I can be romantic"

"I gotta tell ya" she smirked "Ordering me to 'Get your ass in the bedroom now', is not considered romantic"

He smirked back "Works though right?" he raised an eyebrow at her "Every time"

She tucked her arm into his as they turned off through Central Park "Where are we going?" she asked.

"I told you, I got something to show you" he grinned.

"Ya know" she laughed "A lot of men have been arrested for saying that to a woman and leading them into central park"

"You should be so lucky" he chuckled.

"I am that lucky, and sometimes I can't believe how much" she smiled at him. The look on her face made his stomach flip. He stopped pulling her towards him and kissing her.

"Oh, I'm the lucky one" he said, his eyes meaning it.

"And don't you forget it, I don't" she murmured.

"I don't intend to" he said, releasing her so they could walk again "But I have to agree, you're a lucky woman"

"Modesty, one of your shining qualities" she joked.

…...

They stopped on the street, with black railings around low windows, steps led up to a door. He led her up the steps, fishing some keys out of his pocket.

"What are you...?" she asked, confused.

"Sssh" he said, a sly smile on his lips "Be patient"

They went through the door, and he closed it behind them. The hallway of the townhouse was huge, doors flung back revealed rooms to left and right.

"What do you think?" he asked quietly, not looking directly at her.

"It's a …... hallway" she said, giving him an odd look.

"How'dya like it to be our hallway?" he asked, still avoiding eye contact.

"Ours?" she looked taken aback "As in me and you? Living together?"

"Well, yeah" he chanced a look at her face, the expression was hard to read, somewhere between surprise and …. happy? "Seeing as since Sam went home, I spend most of my spare time at your place anyway, my place is turning into an expensive storage area. I thought, maybe, make it official?"

"Do I have to decide right now?" she frowned, catching the look of disappointment on his face she took his hand "No!" she said "I mean yes, oh God" she stopped, she wasn't getting this right at all. She took a deep breath.

"What I meant is" she pulled his hand so he looked at her "Yes, I think moving in together is an …... amazing idea. But can I see the rest of this place before we decide to move here?"

He smiled "Go ahead"

She didn't move "I'm sorry" she sighed "I screwed that right up didn't I? I'm not very good at all this"

He looked at her "All what?"

"All this relationship and love stuff" she said "I always manage to say exactly the wrong thing"

"I'm getting used to it" he laughed, leading the way through one of the doors "Lounge" he pointed through an archway "And kitchen"

"It's huge!" she said, the guard was down, he was getting used to that too, she had started letting her guard down more and more when they were alone, the more he saw, the more he liked.

"Two bedrooms through there" he said "One en-suite, so I don't have to fight you for the shower"

"We didn't fight for the shower this morning" she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"We can't do that every morning getting ready for work" he said, kissing her forehead "As much as I might want to"

"Spoilsport" she said, turning around, he kept his arms around her and she rested hers lightly on top of his "I love this place"

"So that's a yes then?" he said in her ear.

"Yeah" she confirmed "But, how much is it? Can we afford it?"

"Don't freak out" he warned "It's for rental with an option to buy in three years, I thought if we're still here in three years, it might be something to think about. So the rents a bit cheaper, it's less than our combined rent on two apartments"

"Huh" she didn't move. Kate barely thought three days into the future, never mind three years. It was a huge commitment renting somewhere together, but one she wanted to do "I guess if I can stand your snoring for three years, and you can stand my bitching, we could think about it"

"Good" he hugged her close "I'll call the agent on Monday, this place is popular, but he's an old acquaintance, he's holding it until Monday"

…...

She lay with her head on his stomach, he was stretched across her couch, legs on the coffee table, watching a hockey match, she dozed.

"Damn it!" he swore as a shot was missed, looking down as she stirred. He'd switched channels when she'd fallen asleep.

"Sssh" she said, not opening her eyes "If we're gonna live together, you gotta learn not to talk while I'm sleeping"

His body moved as he laughed, he stroked her hair "Sorry babe"

"Hmmmm" she sighed "I'm awake now, what time is it?"

"Seven thirty" he replied.

"We gonna eat soon?" she yawned, still reluctant to open her eyes.

"You gonna cook?" he asked, a teasing side to his tone.

"If you want" she said "You finish watching this"

She frowned as he clicked the TV off "There's something I gotta say first" he said, pushing her gently back down as she made to sit up "No, stay there"

"What's wrong?" she asked, her tone worried.

"I gotta say this, I want to tell you. Please just hear me out?" he asked.

"OK" she replied, but she was worried, scared that he'd changed his mind, that he thought things were going too fast. They'd been together over six months, and yeah, it might be a little quick, but it felt right.

"The morning Jess died, my life changed, I changed. I woke up that morning and went to work and everything was great. I had a good reputation for doing the job I loved, a wonderful woman in my life, great colleagues and friends. Life was looking good. That night I went home and I had nothing. Jess was dead, my best friend was fighting for his life and I'd killed someone in cold blood" he paused "It took me a long time to come back from that, to start seeing things clearly again. I watched Danny struggle with his pain, and I struggled with mine. I wanted to help him, to be there, but I wasn't. That felt bad, I was struggling with everything, I couldn't even face walking into work, knowing Jess wasn't there, knowing everyone looked to me with sympathy on their face after what I'd done. But I'd do it again, I realised that when Sam was threatened, if someone hurts someone I love, I hit back, it's who I am"

"I know that" she said quietly.

"I know there's going to be times when I smother you, when I get too over protective, I need you to tell me Kate, to tell me when I'm smothering you"

"If you hear the words 'You're smothering me'" she said "Then hold the pillow over my face tighter"

He gave a small laugh, they often joked or used sarcasm, but it had it's place, sometimes it let them say what they needed to without feeling exposed.

"I don't want to screw this up" he said "I don't want you to feel unhappy because of me"

She ignored his request to stay where she was, sitting up and turning around she looked at him.

"Even when you were freaking out over my accident" she said "I wasn't unhappy because of that, I didn't feel smothered. I was scared you were walking away. My parents, they smother me, being so far away, conversations with my mom usually consist of her asking me to either get a 'good husband' to look after me, so I don't have to work, or start working in a flower shop" she rolled her eyes "But you worry, I get that. You're not the type to wear your heart on your sleeve, I get that too. We'll work it out, I'm not exactly gonna be jumping for joy when you limp in having had the crap beaten out of you. We both know the risks of the job Don, we both know what might happen"

"I want to do this right" he said.

"We will" she assured him "We are. Now what do you want to eat? I'm hungry, so I'm very surprised that you're not complaining about needing to be fed"

He laughed "What can we have?" relaxing again.

"Anything" she stepped over him, standing up "When you've been to the store to buy it. I have half a bag of salad and a yoghurt. Need to go grocery shopping"

He stood, folding his hands over his chest "I expect better service than this when we live together" he smirked.

"You want your dinner on the table and your slippers warming by the fire" she pointed at him "You picked the wrong girl buddy"

"I don't wear slippers" he laughed now, pulling his shoes on and checking his jacket for his wallet "What shall I get?"

"Whatever" she replied "Surprise me, and by surprise me, I mean not steak" she told him.

"OK" he rolled his eyes "Dinner, not steak. You want anything else?"

"No I don't think so" she stuck her head into a cupboard "Oh, maybe milk and bread, and something for breakfast. Not..."

"Steak!" he replied "I get the hint, you're bored of steak"

They both laughed as he kissed her before heading out.

…...