The Truth

AJ strolled into Punk's police station like she owned the place. Everyone at the station was pretty familiar with her now and she headed right into Punk's office and saw Dean there.

"You're not my boyfriend." AJ remarked with an eye roll.

"I am not." Dean confirmed. "But it's nice to see you too."

"So, where's your girlfriend?" AJ asked sitting across from his desk and Dean looked up amused. "ADA Renee Young, only child of Clint and Rebecca Young, graduated from Yale, moved back home and took the Chicago city by storm. Has a 82% conviction rate."

"You are such a creep." Dean had to laugh shaking his head as he typed up his reports.

"If you're not going to tell me about your girlfriend, I'm going to google her." AJ shrugged with a grin.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Dean said to her.

"Meet the parents yet? I hear Clint is a real stickler." AJ remarked.

"He's not a fan. Yet. He will be." Dean remarked.

"Smug, I like that." AJ grinned.

"So are you stopping by on your way out of state?" Dean asked and she glared at him.

"Does he tell you everything? You two are like girls. I need a friend." AJ sighed.

"I'm your friend." Dean defended.

"No, you're HIS friend." She corrected. "You're partners and you sit around and you gossip about me."

"That's not true." He scoffed. "And we don't gossip."

"Maybe I'll introduce myself to Renee and we can talk about you." AJ remarked.

"Why are you here again?" Dean asked.

"I'm here to see my new roommate." She said to him and he eyed her. "With all the gossiping you two do he didn't mention he was moving in?"

"No he didn't. But now I know why he wanted me to come over and help him move some stuff around." Dean said to her. "He's moving into your small place? Why not just live in his nice large house?"

"It's not a house and it's not that MUCH bigger." She defended.

"It's MUCH bigger." Dean said to her.

"Smaller place means smaller rent which means we can save for a real house." She told him.

"How domesticated. I'm glad he asked you." Dean said to her.

"I asked him." AJ snorted and he froze. "What?"

"YOU?" Dean asked skeptically. "The girl who dated Elliot Daniels for like ten years and wouldn't even mail out a joint holiday card? The girl who wouldn't even accept a promise ring from her boyfriend of ten years?"

"Phil is different." AJ said honestly. "I want him around. I'm not scared of a future with him. A future with Elliot scared the shit out of me."

"Good for you." Dean said to her. "I'm not moving his shit into your place you won't even have room for it."

"Be a good friend or I will drop by ADA Young's favorite hangout where I imagine I'd find you as well." AJ warned.

"Hey." Punk greeted confused to see her and leaned down and kissed her in the chair then walked over to his desk. "What brings you by?"

"I'm here to see my beautiful boyfriend and my loyal best friend." AJ told them innocently.

"What do you need?" Punk asked not amused.

"I'm working a case." She smiled and tilted her head.

"Every time she tilts that head she needs a favor." Dean scoffed.

"What case are you working?" Punk asked turning on his computer.

"I was hired by Frank and Jennifer Castletin, their daughter ran away from home with her older boyfriend." She told him.

"If she's underage they should file a police report." Punk told her and she rolled her eyes.

"They did but she's 17 and he's 21 so it's not priority one." She shrugged and passed him a piece paper. "Can you run his plate and see if it flagged recently at any lights or anything?" She asked cutely.

"You know that's against the law, right?" Punk asked amused by her cute tone.

"I used to have a cop buddy in New Jersey who did it for me all of the time." She remarked and Dean turned his head and looked away when Punk looked at him. He took the paper from her anyway.

"What's in it for me?" He asked.

"Sexual favors?" She offered. "But that's more of a present for me."

"Jesus Christ I am sitting right here." Dean groaned standing up and leaving.

"Why didn't you tell Dean you were moving in?" AJ asked him curiously.

"Slipped my mind." He shrugged.

"Did it? Because you asked him to help you move. Do you not want to move in?" She asked him.

"Of course I do." He laughed. "Are you always detecting?"

"It's curious is all." She shrugged.

"I want to live with you." He assured her. "I just didn't know if you wanted to tell Dean, I assumed if you wanted him to know you would have told him yourself."

"I was very happy to tell him. I don't want you to feel like I'm pressuring you." She insisted.

"You're not." He promised her. "I want to be closer with you, I want to go home after a long crazy day at work and even if I'm too tired to talk I want to crawl into bed with you and smell your hair and have Larry squeeze in between us."

"You smell my hair?" She asked scrunching her nose.

"I love your smell." He smiled.

"Alright." AJ said to him. "I'll buy it, for now."

"Ape, if I didn't want to live with you I would have said no." Punk told her. "I asked Dean to help me move, that should tell you something."

"I suppose." She remarked eyeing him.

"Stop looking for something that isn't there." Punk warned her. "I'll run your plate but give me a little time."

"No problem, I have lunch plans anyway." She said standing up.

"Do you now?" He asked amused.

"Yea, tall, rich handsome business man looking to hire me into his business partner. I think he's just lonely after his divorce." She confided and he glared at her.

"What's his name?" He asked her.

"I can't reveal that." She said walking over to his chair and kissing him.

"Ape." He warned turning his head away from her kiss.

"It's your mom." She laughed and he sighed.

"Why do you torture me?" He asked her.

"It's fun. And it's easy, you're easily jealous." She shrugged.

"You're having lunch with my mom?" He asked her and she nodded .

"Do I need to not tell her you're moving in? Is it a secret from her too?" She asked.

"She knows. She's thrilled." Punk told her. "My mom never asks me to lunch." He remarked.

"Your mom feels bad because I have no mom or dad or siblings or friends." She trailed off thinking about it.

"You have friends." He laughed.

"Dean." She remarked. "And you stole him from me he's more your friend now."

"That's not true." He defended.

"Right." She snorted.

"You have friends." He remarked.

"Do I?" She asked. "Name one."

"Celeste." Punk answered.

"That lives in this state. I've lived here for almost a year now." She pointed out.

"I thought you were going to hire someone at your office. They can be your friends." Punk reasoned.

"I have to pay for a friend. I haven't had to do that since middle school." She teased.

"My mom is your friend." He told her.

"I can't gossip to your mom about you, she'll take your side." AJ said to him.

"I'm your friends." He said to her and she gave him a sweet smile.

"You're my best friend." She corrected.

"And I won't take my side." He promised her.

"Right." She said to him. "You'll call me when you run those plates?"

"Of course." he said to her and she kissed him. "I love you." he told her.

"You're alright, I guess." She teased then left his office.

At lunch AJ was sharing a pitcher of sangria with Punk's mom over pasta and bread at a local Italian restaurant.

"He didn't tell him because he didn't want to jinx it in case you changed your mind." Pamela told AJ. "I know my son, and he told me that."

"Why would he think I'd change my mind?" AJ asked taking a big bite out of her bread.

"Because you're the most amazing woman he's ever been with. He doesn't want to blow it." Pam explained. "Don't read too much into it."

"Reading into it is what I do." AJ admitted. "It's who I am, I don't like it, but it is what it is."

"You're reading so much into this. You need to prepare more for him living with you." Pam insisted.

"What do you mean?" She asked sipping her wine.

"He's a neat freak." Pam told her.

"Yea, I mean I kind of like that though." She grinned. "Sometimes when I know he's coming over I won't straighten up because I know he'll do it."

"You are a smart girl." Pam laughed. "He worries about you."

"Why?" She asked.

"He mentioned you were looking for that guy who abducted you." Pam confided. "He can't lose you."

"I didn't think he'd be there. I thought his friend would." AJ sighed.

"You're very important to him. Like you, he's lost a lot in life." Pam pointed out. "He works a terrifying job and he's never been with someone as independent as you."

"He never really talks about his past dating taste." AJ admitted.

"Probably because he's embarrassed." Pam laughed. "Horrible women. All beauty and no brains. Nothing was ever that serious with them."

"He's an old man." AJ pointed out. "You're telling me that his whole life he's never had a serious girlfriend."

"He was never with a woman who understood his job. He could never connect properly with them." Pam said waving this off. "You're the real deal for him."

"I feel like I threw myself into his life." AJ confided. "Like he wasn't ready for me and now I'm making him change his whole life around by moving."

"When you were in New Jersey he told me he might be moving to New Jersey." Pam informed her. "He told me he met this amazing woman that he couldn't have dreamed up even if he tried. She was strong, beautiful, loyal and smart and he was going to pick up and leave if you didn't come here."

"Really?" AJ asked trying not to blush. "He kind of told me that if I didn't move here he'd break it off with me."

"He never would have stuck to that." Pam scoffed. "I told him he barely knew you but he told me he knew enough. He said you were the one and he was not going to blow it."

"That makes me feel better." AJ said smiling a bit.

"This is new for him and for you, you're still learning about each other enjoy that." Pam insisted. "But like him, I'm worried about you running off into danger tracking a killing."

"I'm not tracking him, I'm tracking his friend." AJ said shaking her head and looking away to sip her wine.

"What? There's more to it. I have daughters I know that look." Pam said to her.

"I'm scared." She confided and Pam frowned. "This guy killed my mom and when I say I want to find him so he can pay for it I mean it. But I'm also scared. This guy grabbed me on the street, he tortured me for hours he was capable of killing me and I got lucky. I have no reason to believe he won't do it again. I'm the start witness if he gets caught." she reminded Pam. "I don't think I can move on with my life living in fear."

"That's understandable." Pam said to her. "Phil made it seem like you moved on from all of it. It concerned him."

"I don't want him to know I'm scared." She told her. "I feel like he has this image of me being so strong and fearless."

"He wants you to be honest." Pam corrected. "He won't think less of you. Don't be afraid to be you. And if you're scared he's the one you want to tell because he'll say all the right things to make you feel better."

"I suppose." AJ sighed. "I'm sorry for laying this all on you-"

"-don't ever apologize for that." Pam warned her. "And no I will not go back and tell my son. You have a safe place with me."

"Thank you." AJ said feeling the first bit of parental love since her mother passed away.

At around five AJ walked into her office and was surprised to see Punk sitting in her office.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were working?" She asked surprised but happy to see him.

"I have your plate information." He said holding up an envelope.

"Thank you." She grinned taking it and he kissed her cheek.

"I'm also here to apologize." He said to her as she sat behind her desk.

"For what?" She asked opening the enveloping.

"For not telling Dean." He said to her and she looked up at him. "I was afraid if I told him and more people I would jinx it. I believe in jinxes."

"Doesn't believe in luck but believes in jinxes." She remarked amused. "It's fine. I get it."

"Do you?" He asked and she nodded.

"I know you want to live with me." She said to him.
"I really just want to live with Larry." He teased in a serious voice. "You're an added bonus."

"Lucky me." She grinned back and closed the envelope. "Maybe I wasn't so honest with you about tracking Dickie."

"How so?" He asked.

"I'm scared." She blurted out. "Every time I come here or go home and you're not there- and no I don't want to live with you because I'm scared if anything I feel like I'm putting you in danger but asking you to move in but I don't know if I can live my life like this."

"Why didn't you tell me this?" Punk asked. "And if you're so scared why are you tracking him?"

"It's his friend." AJ reminded him. "I just want to help find him so I don't have to be afraid of ending up like my mom."

"I am NEVER going to let that happen to you." He assured her leaning over her desk. "You get that right? Whether we're living together or not I'm always going to protect you. Always."

"I don't want to be in a place where I need to be protected." She sighed. "I hate living that way. I hate that every time I leave the apartment I hold mace in my hand and have 9-1-1 ready to dial, I hate that I think I see Dickie everywhere I go. I hate feeling this way. I thought if maybe I could catch him from a distance with his friend I'd make it all go away."

"It's never going to go away." Punk told her bluntly. "You're always going to look over your shoulder and believe me I'm not saying that to scare you but what you went through was horrific. It's going to stick with you and some days you won't think that much about it and other days you'll feel like you can't handle it."

"It's how I feel now." She admitted.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of. It's natural." He said to her seriously. "I hate to break it to you, but you're normal."

"Not normal." She gasped teasingly.

"Yea." He smiled sadly at her. "I wish you would have told me you were feeling this way. But I assumed you were."

"Did you really though?" She asked.

"Ape, we leave the same time most mornings, I see you ready your mace and phone, I know you have a stun gun taped under your desk right now, I know you wake up at 2am most nights on command and check the locks I also see you subtly check your surroundings before getting in your car. I see you, Ape. I've just been waiting for you." Punk told her.

"You noticed all of that, huh?" She asked. "I guess I'm not as sly as I thought I was."

"You are sly but I notice you, Ape." He said to her. "And I have to tell you, the fact that you're telling me this right now means a lot to me."

"You have a right to know that you're shacking up with a nut." She remarked.

"You're not a nut." He said to her. "You know there are support groups and therapists."

"No thank you." AJ said to him. "Me speaking to you about was enough sharing."

"Never be scared to tell me anything." He told her. "So, your car was picked up in town." he said pointing at the paperwork he gave her.

"Yea. This case isn't going to be as exciting as I thought it was going to be." She sighed dramatically. "They're probably at his family's cabin. I went by after lunch and no one was there but someone was there recently. They're probably hiding out during the day and going back to sleep." She said to him.

"Going to go back and check?" He asked.

"No. I'm afraid I'm going to spook them. I went by before coming back here. I'll be back first thing in the morning better chance catching them sneaking out." AJ told him.

"So you're free tonight?" He asked and she eyed him.

"I might be." She said to him. "I was going to go home and do laundry and clean so you didn't walk into a pigsty."

"How about you don't do laundry or clean and you let me take you to a movie and dinner after? I have the night off, we closed our case early." He offered.

"A date?" She gasped.

"A date." He confirmed. "I'll open and close all doors, pull out your chair and even buy you popcorn."

"How can I turn that down?" She asked in awe standing up and he took her hand.

"I'll even hold your hand." He offered.

"What a gentleman." She grinned.

"No need for your mace or stun gun." He told her and she nodded. "What?"

"Do you think I should get a gun?" She asked.

"No." He told her. "If you lived alone and lived out here without anyone having your back then sure but you have me, you have Dean you don't need a gun. You also would hate to use it."

"Have you ever shot anyone?" She asked curiously as she gathered up work to take home for the evening.

"Once." He told her. "I didn't like it."

"You're a good person." She confirmed. "Did you kill him?"

"No. He was raising his gun to shoot, well, Finn actually and I got him in his hand. Perfect shot." He told her. "I don't want to take anyone's life. I don't want to shoot people it's not why I became I cop."

"I know." She said to him.
"But make no mistake, I will take Dickie's life in a heartbeat." He told her in a serious voice. "I just don't want you to have to do that."

"Do you think he's going to come back for me? And forget I'm your girlfriend, think of me as a victim from one of your cases." She told him.

"I highly doubt it." He told her honestly.

"Why?" She asked folding her arms.

"He knows that you're not in some rural town in New Jersey you're in a crowded busy City, a City that is still searching for him, you live with a police officer who will shoot first and ask questions later, your brother Dean also lives out here and it was easy to get to you at first because no one was looking for him now everyone is looking for him." Punk told her. "Even if he thinks he can kill you and get away with it, Eliza Daniels still spilled to the police, even if he some how got to her his DNA still matches other crime scenes there's no way out. He doesn't have a personal vendetta against you. He wanted you out of the way when you had those pictures now you're just a small fish in his large pond of shit."

"You're right." She agreed.

"I'm always right." He agreed back and she rolled her eyes. "Let's get out of here and go on one of those things the kids call a 'date' then we can go back to OUR apartment and walk OUR dog and have sex in OUR bed."

"You are so romantic." She sighed happily.

"Through and through baby." he teased and opened her office door for her and followed her out.

Once they were gone a shadow stepped out of the bathroom in the office and peered around the now empty and dark office...