Relax


A few months later and Mike, Jacob and Bill were all imprisoned. It wouldn't have seemed so abnormal, since their job was centred around finding the bad guys and arresting them, but because it was people they knew, it seemed a little strange, but it didn't let it affect them too much.

It was coming up for a year that AJ and Punk had been dating, and in celebration, they had decided to take the weekend off and go to a hotel in the city, nothing too fancy but still something to look forward to, and Dean was kind enough to agree to looking after Ace. Punk knew AJ, he knew she didn't like a fuss, so this seemed simple enough. They had cleared up any work they had to do and set out on the Friday afternoon to the hotel they were staying at.

"Have you been to this place before?" AJ questioned as they drove to the hotel, Punk keeping his eyes on the road.

"I was there for a case one time. It was when I was just a rookie, though." Punk said, "Just edging myself in." He said as she smiled.

"I remember starting like it was yesterday." AJ smiled to herself, "Everyone seemed so much… larger than life." AJ nodded, "And then once you settle in, everyone just looks like normal people." She laughed to herself as Punk nodded. He knew what she meant.

"Did you get everything cleared up before we left?" Punk asked her. He knew he had some cases up in the air for the past few weeks, but she was getting leads on them quickly, and he hoped for her mind's sake, that she had managed to get them cleared up.

"Yeah. I got them all cleared up." AJ smiled, "So I can… finally relax for once." AJ took a deep breath. She very rarely got the time to stop and take a deep breath. Of course, her and Punk still made time for another outside work, but this was different, this was a full weekend away with no interruptions, just the two of them. She couldn't believe it had almost been a year since they got together. She guessed it felt like longer since they'd been in each other's lives for nine years.

"There's a spa here. If you wanna… relax and do some stuff on your own, I'm fine with that." He nodded. He didn't really know what she'd like. He didn't ever hear of Jacob taking her anywhere, but he figured he couldn't go wrong with a weekend away.

"A massage does sound really good." She admitted to herself, "But I don't wanna leave you doing nothing." She smiled a little to him.

"I'll find something to do, don't worry about me. As long as you come back to me." He said as she laughed lightly. He wanted her to relax. That was the most important thing. For her health, her body, her soul. She worked so hard, and he knew that better than anyone. She deserved a break, and so did he.

"I feel like I wanna just… order room service and walk around naked the entire time." AJ admitted as Punk almost crashed the car onto the other lane.

"I'm… I'm fine with that." Punk gulped as she grinned to herself.

"I knew you would be." She said, "We have the whole weekend. The world is our oyster really." AJ said.

"I know. Imagine us having a whole weekend off." He shook his head, "It's bizarre."

"It's nice." AJ smiled. She never even used to like taking days off of work. She was so connected with her work and obsessed that she never really felt the need to take a day off. But now she was obsessed with someone else in her life, and she really did want to spend the weekend away with him.


They got to the hotel they were staying at and checked into their room which was beautiful. AJ done a full tour of it before unpacking her things. They might have still been in Chicago, but it was still beautiful, and they had a beautiful view of the water.

"Did you ask for this?" AJ asked, standing over by the desk and showing him the bottle of champagne that was next to a tub of raspberries.

"Yeah. Me, a straight edge guy and you, who doesn't drink." Punk nodded, "What does the card say?" He asked her as she opened up the card that was next to the champagne.

"Thanks for all the hard work you do." AJ read out, followed by the name of their department commissioner, "How did he know we were coming here?" She shook her head.

"Dean was at a meeting the other day with him. He must have said something about it." Punk said, "I guess that was nice." He said. It was nice to be recognised for all the work they done, even if the gift wasn't something they could enjoy.

"He spelt Mendez with an S." AJ said, "And Philip with two L's." She laughed a little, getting a kick out of it, "Shows how much we see him." She shook her head.

"Nice gesture, though." Punk shrugged as AJ sat the card down.

"Mhm." She nodded, wrapping her arms around his neck as he smiled down at her, "I'm so glad we're here. Just us two." She whispered as he nodded.

"Me too." He smiled, leaning down and pressing his lips against hers softly. It was nice to just be together.


The next day, AJ had decided she was going to go for a massage. She normally wasn't a very openly confident person, especially when it came to people touching her, but she figured it'd be relaxing, and she decided to go early whilst Punk was still sleeping. She knew he'd probably be still sleeping when she came back up from the massage.

She headed downstairs and was back up after two hours of pure relaxation. She was a little nervous since she'd never been for any sort of spa treatment before, but she couldn't believe the wonders it had done to her mind, body and soul.

She got back to the room, walking in where Punk was still sleeping.

She climbed back onto the bed, forcefully shaking him as he grumbled a little, "Wake up, sunshine." She said playfully as he opened his eyes.

"Did you go for a massage?" Punk asked her as he woke up, rubbing his eyes as he watched her get off the bed. She spoke the previous night about going early in the morning when it was probably least busy, and he was wondering if she had gone or not.

"Yeah I did." AJ nodded, "It was so good." She almost moaned, "I feel like I have new shoulders." She said, "And the guy was so sweet."

"Uh… guy?" Punk sat up in bed.

"Yeah." AJ nodded casually, "What?"

"I didn't think… well I thought the guys massaged the guys and the girls massaged the girls." Punk said, "Were you naked?" He raised a brow.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "Under a sheet." She shook her head.

"Just your back, right?" Punk asked.

"What is this? Twenty-one questions?" She laughed a little, "No. My arms too. And I got a facial." She said as Punk tried to bite his tongue, "He was sweet. Stop being weird. It's his job. I bet you he's massaged prettier women than me." She laughed modestly.

"I honestly doubt it." Punk shook his head, getting out of bed and placing boxers on, "As long as you enjoyed it." He said, trying to find control inside himself, not thinking about a man touching his naked girlfriend's back with oils and creams.

"I did." AJ smiled, "I needed it." She nodded, "And the day is still young. What do you wanna do?" She asked him.

"You know I'm easy." Punk said, stepping out onto their small balcony, "It's a nice day." He said, walking back into the room, "No point in staying cooped up in here."

"Ok. I'll go for a shower. I still feel sort of oily." She said as he faked a smile, watching her head into the shower as he shook his head. Had he known it was a guy who was gonna massage her, he wouldn't have encouraged it so much. But, he was just being childish. He was glad to see she enjoyed it.


Punk and AJ wound up at the beach the entire day. It was so nice to be out and not have to be on high alert, or have a gun by their side. It was nice to just chill out and relax. They relaxed, had ice-cream, walked to some shops, played around in the water like kids, and AJ spent around half an hour petting a dog whilst implying she missed Ace terribly.

"I normally don't even like the beach." AJ admitted, sitting on their towels on the sand, her legs in a basket as she enjoyed her second ice-cream of the day. They'd relax for a bit, and then they'd get up and wander around, and then come back to their spot. The beach was pretty crowded, but it was nice.

"I'm gonna be picking sand out of my ears for the next five weeks." Punk said as AJ laughed lightly, "But today was nice." He nodded, "What do you wanna do for dinner?" He asked her.

"I don't know. I kinda feel like ordering in room service and renting a movie." AJ shrugged, "I know we can do that at home but… I'm ok staying in."

"Hey, you know I'm easy. I'll do whatever." He shrugged, "As long as you're happy." He nodded as she smiled.

"Did you ever think it'd be like this?" AJ asked him, "Me and you." She said, continuing to eat her ice-cream. Her hair was up in a bun and she had sunglasses on, sported with a pair of jorts and tank top. While Punk had his t-shirt off and a pair of basketball shorts.

"I don't think we could have predicted this." Punk admitted, "Everything just sort of… fell into place." He shrugged, "I wouldn't change anything."

"I wouldn't either." AJ smiled, "Do you want an ice-cream kiss?" She asked him.

"Go on." Punk nodded as she smiled, leaning over and kissing him softly.


Later that night they got back to the hotel and they just ordered room service and rented a movie. They much preferred that than going out to fancy restaurants like Jacob would always try and impress her with on the rare occasions that they'd go out. Punk knew what she liked.

They ordered a pizza and some sides, sitting the tray on the bed whilst taking their time with it. They barely even watched the movie since they were just talking all the way through it. Sometimes they'd talk about work, other times they'd talk about completely random things, and other times they'd talk about family life or what they classed as their 'biological families.'

"You still thinking about your mom?" AJ asked him, playing with the side of his hair that curved around his ear. He lay further down the bed whilst she sat up against the headboard. She knew he had been thinking about his mom, and how she had warned him about Mike and his behaviour. It wasn't weighing him down by any means, but she knew it was on his mind.

"It pops up every now and then." Punk nodded, "It's not keeping me awake at night or anything like that." He shook his head.

"Maybe she was just… trying to look out for you." AJ shrugged.

"Well she said it was my dad who was suspecting it. Maybe she was just the messenger." Punk shrugged, "Whatever, he's in prison now." He waved his hand.

"You never talk about your dad." AJ noticed as he looked up at her.

"You never talk about your dad." He replied.

"I don't know my dad." AJ tilted her head at his childish response, "You know that." He said as he nodded.

"I don't know, I've never had a problem with my dad. He's not a bitter guy. He just… ruined his life for alcohol. In and out of prison. Losing any sort of jobs he got-"

"I didn't know he was in and out of prison." AJ shook her head.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "When I was growing up he was always in and out. Just petty things." Punk said, "And you can look at it from two perspectives. Mike grew up, drinking, spending his money, eventually becoming a killer, and his response was probably, oh I saw my dad do it." Punk shook his head, "And I grew up, I didn't want anything to do with drink, I wanted to be a cop, and people ask me why… I say, oh I saw my dad." He said, "You know?" He said as AJ nodded, "People deal with situations in different ways." He said.

"Did you get on with your dad when he was… sober?" AJ asked.

"Yeah, we did actually." Punk nodded, "He still took me to my first cubs game. He still helped out at school. He still done way more than my mom ever done for me." Punk said, "Maybe that's why I don't talk about him much."

"Sounds like he just needed some help. Maybe some counselling." She shrugged.

"Well he was stubborn too. Kinda like your mom with her bipolar disorder. My dad never wanted to admit he was an alcoholic." He said as AJ nodded, "And you wanna help them. You know the feeling. But they think they have it under control because they're older than you." He shrugged.

"Yeah, I know the feeling." She said, brushing her hand over his hair just by habit, "I guess we spent our childhood trying to parent our own parents, huh?" She said as he nodded.

"I gave up pretty quickly. I figured if he didn't wanna help himself, how could I help him?" Punk asked as AJ nodded. He never spoke so personally with anyone but her. He trusted her. He could open up to her, and he was glad he felt so comfortable with her, "Do you think your mom would ever reach out to you?" He asked her as she laughed a little.

"No." AJ shook her head, "It's like she's scared of me." She said, "And I know she still hasn't gotten over Gabrielle. Not so much her death but the fact she wasn't even there."

"You had to do everything?" Punk asked as she nodded.

"Yeah, I had to… identify the body. Talk to police. Let them look around Gabrielle's room. Doing all that at such a young age… I think it scarred me a little." She admitted.

"Do you think it's what encouraged you to become a cop?" Punk asked her.

"Yeah, I think it was." AJ nodded, "I wanted to prevent what happened to Gabrielle. I wanted to make sure the… people who hurt her, couldn't hurt anyone else." She said, "But they're probably still out there." AJ whispered.

"How do you know it was more than one person?" Punk asked.

"Because I went to the place where her body was found. They'd kept her there for a few days before they killed her. I thought nothing of it since she had a boyfriend at the time, and sometimes she would stay with him for a few nights during the week." AJ nodded.

"So, you were just as curious then as you are now?" Punk smiled.

"Well, it was my sister." AJ shrugged, "I was upset, and then I was angry. I went to the hut where her body was found. There was no hard evidence left but I know there wasn't just one person involved." AJ said, "I just know it."

"How have you been? Staying away from her case?" Punk asked her.

"It's hard, I won't lie." AJ nodded, "You know what I get like if I have a manic episode. I just wanna look at things." She said as he nodded. He didn't just help her through her depressive cycles, but her manic ones too, which weren't as frequent as the depressive ones.

"I know you do." Punk said, "But… you know that it's bad for you, right?" He said, "You know that now?"

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "I guess I just never had someone who cared enough about me to tell me or even notice that it was bad for me." She said.

"I'm proud of you." He smiled, "I know it's not easy for you." He said, placing her hand on her knee as she smiled.

"You know how much you mean to me, right?" She smiled, cupping his cheek softly as he smiled up at her.

"I've got an idea." Punk nodded as she smiled, leaning down and pressing her lips against his softly as he kissed her back deeply, placing his hand at her neck as he moved up the bed, pulling her leg over him as she rolled on top of him. It was nice to just get away and enjoy each other's company without any distractions.


A/N: Can anyone tell I'm giving you all the cute chapters to prepare you for what's coming? Lol. REVIEW and let me know what you think!