Emma and Deacon kissed in the main hallway of headquarters. They had spent an amazing and romantic honeymoon and almost regretted coming home.
"I'll be seeing you later", said Deacon as he headed down the hall towards SWAT.
"You better", replied Emma as she headed in the opposite direction towards Narc.
"Hey babe"? said Deacon.
Emma stopped, turned around and smiled at him. "Yeah"?
"We never really discussed this but what do I call you now when we're at work"?
"I hope it's alright with you, I decided I'd be Detective Emmaline Kay".
Deacon beamed.
"I love hearing that".
"Me too. I love you".
"I love you too".
Both turned and headed towards their respective departments.
"There he is"! said Chris as Deacon walked in.
"Looking more in love, relaxed and tanned, than I have ever seen him", said Hondo jokingly. "It's good to have you back"!
"In all honesty, I wish we were still in the Bahamas, but man is it good to see you guys"! he said as he hugged each one of them.
"How's Emma"? asked Victor.
"She's good"!
"I bet she's good"! replied jokingly Jim.
Dom punched him. "You're still talking about my sister, Street! Watch it".
"And my wife"! chipped in Deacon.
"I was implying the relaxing time she had in the Bahamas".
"Bullshit", replied jokingly but firmly Dom.
"Sorry the honeymoon was short and is over, man", said Dom.
Deacon raised an eyebrow. "Who said it was over"?
They all laughed.
Early evening, just as the team was about to end their shift, Hicks and Cortez walked in.
"We've got a home invasion in Glendale. Seventeen-year-old, Tiffany Jameson was alone at the time. When the parents came home from work, they were shot at by the suspects. Suspects are still on site and have barricaded themselves in with the victim. We don't know how many there are for sure, but they seem to have quite an artillery. Anyone who approaches the house is bombarded".
"Alright", said Hondo. "Everybody gear up, you know the drill"!
Emma was singing and dancing in front of the stovetop when Deacon walked into the kitchen. She looked at him then walked over to turn off the radio.
"Are you okay"? she asked as she walked up to him.
"I'm fine", he said as he kissed her. "Smells awfully good in here".
"Babe? Talk to me".
"It's work-related. I don't want to bother you with that, Annie always made me separate"… his voice trailed off as he saw Emma raise an eyebrow.
He placed his hand on her cheek. "You're not Annie. I'm sorry".
"It's OK", she said as she turned and headed back to the stovetop and stirred in the stir-fried vegetables.
He walked over to her and placed his arms around her from behind.
"No. It's not OK".
He gently made her turn. She looked him in the eyes, trying momentarily to find the right words.
"David and Deacon are one and the same for me. I know what we do out there every day is hard, and I want you to be able to talk to me about it, just like I may need to talk to you about it. I don't ever want you to feel as though you can't share with me your worries, your fears, your pain. I married you for better or worse, there is no in between".
"You're right", he said.
He then inhaled and looked at Emma.
"We went to a home invasion today. The suspects were holding a young girl hostage. By the time we got there, she was already dead".
"I'm sorry. I know it's hard".
"She was 17, Emma. She had her entire life ahead of her. She was getting ready to go to college and now, her parents are going to have to prepare her funeral"!
Emma wasn't a parent, but she had so much empathy, that she knew from past experiences, how difficult it was for parents to lose a child, regardless of the age or the circumstances. In every parent's mind, it was them who should leave this world first, not the other way around.
"Maybe if we had gotten there sooner…".
She took his face in his hands.
"Deacon, don't do that. With ifs, we can recreate the entire world, but it won't change anything. You guys did everything you could to save that young girl. The fact that she died is not on you, it's on the home invaders. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, no matter what you do, there will be losses. It's hard, but that is unfortunately the world in which we live in".
"I just want to make this place a safer place for my children, for all the children".
Emma smiled. "I know you do; we all do. Otherwise, we wouldn't be doing what we do every day".
He nodded, kissed her and proceeded to help her set the table and finish cooking super.
Later that evening, as he watched Emma asleep next to him in bed, he couldn't help but think at how everything was different with her. When he was married to Annie, he tried to bring work home as less as possible. Even though she was understanding, there was a certain dimension that she couldn't grasp, and he hadn't wanted her to be aware of all the awful things he had seen. Emma, even though she wasn't SWAT, knew way too well how hard and horrible things could be. He never thought it would be, but is was a relief in a way, he didn't have to keep a lot of things to himself. It was nice to share the burden at times. He hoped it would always be the case.