Okay, can I first apologise for this ridiculously late update? Thank you all ever so much for being so patient with me here; I really appreciate it! Once again, do leave reviews / comments as I love reading them as always!

Hope you like it! Not long to go now until the big question! :D

AthenaX :)

It was now around two weeks later and both Alfendi and Lucy were lying next to each other on their bed, dressed in their pyjamas, as they chatted about the events of the past few weeks, their fingers intertwined with one another.

"It's been a pretty eventful few weeks, hasn't it?" asked Alfendi, grinning as he shifted to face Lucy, looking directly into her brilliant blue eyes.

"Oh you can say that again, Prof!" laughed Lucy, her cheeks flushing slightly with Alfendi's intense gaze, "So what are we going to do today?"

"I have no idea." said Alfendi, his insides fluttering, making him feel queasy. What he was planning in his mind, he was grateful that she had no idea about, "What would you like to do?"

"Oh whatever you want to do, Prof." said Lucy, placing her head on his chest and sighing contently, "I'm happy just to stay here for eternity."

"You mean that?" asked Alfendi, his eyes lighting up.

"Of course, Prof." she mumbled, burying her face into the crook of his neck, "Wouldn't you?"

"If there was anything more than eternity," he said, placing his arms around her, "I'd say yes to it in a heartbeat."

He felt her smile against him as he held her close to his body.

"How is Hilda?" asked Lucy, opening her eyes to look up at Alfendi, who was still gazing fondly down at her, "I haven't seen her in a million years."

"Lucy." said Alfendi, biting his lip to conceal his amusement, "You saw her yesterday."

"But that seems so long ago." groaned Lucy, as she slipped her arms around Alfendi's neck, "And I'm so bored with no work to do."

"I know what you mean." sighed Alfendi, "The house isn't exactly the same as the Mystery Room."

"Hilda's been solving our cases for us, along with Florence and Sniffer's help." said Alfendi, reaching for the telephone on his bedside desk, "Do you want to talk to them?"

"Maybe later." said Lucy, grinning mischievously, "I have you all to myself right now, though."

"And what are you planning to do with me, Baker?" chuckled Alfendi, a hint of Potty Prof flashing seductively across his face as he stared at her.

"I…." whispered Lucy, rendered breathless by his penetrating stare.

Alfendi leaned down, took her face in his hands and kissed her passionately, his lips increasing in pressure against hers. She responded and kissed him harder, her fingers trailing to undo the top button on his crisp, white shirt that was rolled up at the sleeves. He had one hand tangled in her vibrant, orange hair and another at her waist, as he deepened the kiss.

"Gosh, how much I've missed you, Lucy." he mumbled, his lips still against hers, "Do you have any idea how insane I went, down in that dungeon?"

Lucy remained silent and bit her lip cautiously.

"I can't believe I fell for this…. lie!" snapped Potty Prof, as he rested his forehead forcefully, yet gently against Lucy's in apparent annoyance.

"Justin always lied, Prof." said Lucy, running a hand gently through his hair, unfazed by his rapid personality changes, "That was the only thing he was good at."

"I have to hand it to him, the bastard." sighed Potty Prof, his hair changing slowly back to its normal shade, "But I didn't think he would go that far."

"I don't think anyone did, Prof." said Lucy, shutting her eyes, "But what puzzled me, was that Hilda admitted she loved Justin."

"It didn't really surprise me." said Alfendi, thoughtfully, "She used to be in love with my old personality and in many ways, the old me was as sadistic as Justin was, right up until the day he died."

Lucy shook her head.

"But I don't understand." she said, resting her head against Alfendi's chest again, "After everything he's done-"

"Look at you and I." said Alfendi, cutting gently across her, "Why do you love me? I'm just as messed up as Justin; perhaps even more-."

"You're not." said Lucy, indignantly, "You're nothing like Justin, Prof."

"Sometimes I wonder how I ever ended up with an amazing girl like you." said Alfendi, smiling, "You accept me for who I am and you never question me. You've believed in me since day one, even when everyone else thought I was a murderer and a psychopath."

"You're neither of those things." said Lucy, kissing him gently on the cheek, "You're a kind, loving and gentle man and you're always there for me and everyone else at t' Yard. Not to mention the fact that you're one hell of a boyfriend."

Alfendi grinned.

"Even though I am a bit crazy?" he asked, raising one eyebrow at her.

"We all are, aren't we, Alfendi?" she said, smiling as she leaned in to kiss him again. Alfendi's stomach erupted with butterflies; this was one of the rare times that she'd actually called him Alfendi and not Prof and it filled him with the most beautiful feeling of longing and desire. He kissed her once more, feeling a small box bulging in his back pocket, slightly worried at the thought of what he was planning to do later.

"Hilda." said Alfendi, sharply over the telephone.

"Jeez Al." said Hilda in an exasperated tone, "Would you stop with the phone calls? You've called me about four times already today!"

"Hilda….I…." stammered Alfendi, tripping over his words in frustration.

"I've got this under control, Al." said Hilda, firmly, "I set everything up just like you asked me to, but I need you to come and stick the final touches on everything."

"But Lucy's-"

"Got that covered already." said Hilda, suppressing a chuckle, "You see, Florence and Sniffer wanted in on a bit of the action, so they're working on a case to give to Lucy so she'll get distracted for a bit."

"But isn't that too obvious?" said Alfendi, worriedly, "I mean she's going to catch on-"

"Well they're not making it too obvious this time." said Hilda, "In fact, seeing as you're coming back to the office, they're making it look like a real case that you have to solve as part of your normal work-a-day life."

"And since solving cases is the only thing that's been on Lucy's mind ever since we got out of the hospital," said Alfendi, in agreement, "She'd hopefully go with it."

"Exactly." said Hilda, "So trust me when I say we have this covered."

"Thanks Hilda." mumbled Alfendi, trying not to lose his cool over the phone, "I owe you."

"Now no more phone calls until you get here, understood?" said Hilda.

"But I'm only 5 minutes away on the bus." said Alfendi, his voice laced with confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"You've called me once already on this bus journey." said Hilda, laughing, "Now hold on until you get to Scotland Yard, or Lucy's going to think something is wrong with you!"

"She's upfront talking to the bus driver as usual." said Alfendi, looking up at his girlfriend who was chatting away to the bus-driver, her face shining.

"Well aren't you lucky." said Hilda, sarcastically, "Now get yourselves over here and I'll set Lucy up with Flo and Sniffer whilst you and I go through the plans for tonight."

"Fine." said Alfendi, battling not to let Potty take over, "See you."

He put the phone down just as Lucy came over.

"Ah sorry about that Prof." said Lucy, flopping down on the seat next to him, "Ernie is just wondering how to pop the question to his girlfriend in a few days!"

"Really?" asked Alfendi, trying to suppress a smile, "How is he planning to do it?"

"Oh that's what he was asking me about." said Lucy, grinning as she looped her arm into Alfendi's, "I said to him that a beautiful rooftop proposal would be the right way to get to my heart for sure!"

Alfendi chuckled to himself. He was proud of the thought that he'd got the proposal idea right.

"Who were you talking to on the phone, Prof?" asked Lucy, looking at him.

"My father." said Alfendi, trying to remain calm whilst his face flushed red with the telltale signs of embarrassment.

"Oh eh up, Prof." giggled Lucy, "Why are ya' so embarrassed by that?"

Alfendi looked into Lucy's eyes and his heartbeat started to race once more.

"He….er.." stammered Alfendi, "He was talking to me about one of his graduate students who had heard about me and wouldn't stop asking to meet me."

"Haha!" laughed Lucy, her laughter echoing around the bus, "What's the name of this lass?"

Alfendi panicked and stared directly out of the window for inspiration. He saw the sign for the Metropolitan Police Station located a few metres away.

"P…Polly?" he said, his voice faltering as he looked at her.

"Sweet name." grinned Lucy, "Although you'd better not go runnin' off after her, Prof or I'll chase you for the rest of your life!"

"There's no way I'd go after another girl." said Alfendi, taking Lucy's hands in his, smiling earnestly, "I've got you."

Lucy blushed and rested her head against Alfendi's shoulder.

"I love you so much Lucy." murmured Alfendi, kissing the top of her head gently.

"I love you too Prof." she said, shutting her eyes as a small smile crept onto her face.

"Hope you still do later." he thought, worriedly.

Alfendi and Lucy walked into Scotland Yard and were both immediately greeted by Sniffer, who pelted up to them at full speed.

"Lucy." said Sniffer, "We've got a case for you."

"Just me?" asked Lucy, puzzled, "But what about the Prof?"

"Don't worry about me, Lucy." said Alfendi, smiling at her, "I have some work to take care of too."

He spotted Hilda walking up the stairs to the roof and exchanged a quick look with her. She nodded slightly and carried on walking.

"Are you sure?" asked Lucy, holding onto Alfendi's hand tightly.

He gave her a warm smile and kissed her gently on the forehead, before pulling away, slowly.

"Yes Lucy." he said, "Go on. Get to work, you've missed this."

She smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him in tightly for a hug before kissing him on the cheek and walking away with Sniffer. Alfendi walked away to the stairs to join Hilda and turned to look back at Lucy. She smiled and waved, as she disappeared into one of the lab rooms. Hilda placed a reassuring hand on Alfendi's shoulder as he stared at Lucy's retreating figure.

"It's going to be okay, Alfendi." she said, smiling, "Trust me."