When Maggie got back into the JOC with OA her eyes landed on Jubal straight away and she couldn't help the small smile that escaped when she saw the smile on his face when his eyes landed on her. They both wanted to escape and have time to talk but this case was really moving fast and they wanted to catch their suspect before anyone else got injured or was killed.
They had brought in the suspects brother and Isobel had told Maggie and OA to go in and talk to him, try to get him to help them find his brother. Maggie sat down opposite the suspects brother and she told him about her own little sister that had some issues, she told him about her car accident and how she became addicted to the pain meds before they were no longer enough so she turned to drugs. Maggie told him about how her sister had gone to rehab and got clean and was now here in New York at University but that she is constantly checking in with her to make sure that she is okay. She tells him that if she found out her sister was out there relapsing she would be doing everything she could to find her, to get her the help she needed.
This got the suspects brother to open up to Maggie, he told her that he totally understood, said that since his younger brother had been diagnosed schizophrenic he had been trying to look out for him and get him as much help as he could. He told them what was going on currently in his brother's mind which meant they now had an idea where his next target would be. OA stood in shock in the corner as he listened to Maggie talk about her sister, now it made sense to him as to why Maggie had been so distracted. Jubal had been watching the interview in the observation room and he saw how emotional Maggie had gotten while talking about Erin, he wanted to go in and take her out of the case but he knew that she was getting answers. He just wanted to help her and ease her worry or remind her that she wasn't alone, this was definitely not how they pictured her first week back at work.
Maggie, OA, Tiffany and Stuart went to where they believed the next target would be and Maggie was able to talk to their suspect to distract him enough until OA could get around the back and in through the back door. This was Maggie's way of making sure that their suspect wasn't injured or killed in the take down, she knew that he was someone that really needed help. She was glad that OA was able to safely take him down, they handcuffed him and helped him in to the back of one of the cop cars before they headed back to the JOC.
When they got back to the JOC Emily was saying her goodbyes again to everyone, Maggie was waiting for Jubal who was in with Isobel. As soon as he came out he made his way to Maggie but before he could say anything to her Emily had appeared beside them at the top of the JOC, keeping her voice low so that only they could hear her.
"I just wanted to say that I am really happy fo you both, you guys clearly make each other very happy and I can't believe that I didn't notice it until now."
Maggie and Jubal were both surprised with Jubal being the one to find his voice "How did you figure it out?."
"I honestly don't think I would have noticed if I didn't have the time away from you guys, but being away and coming back I have noticed the way that you two are around each other. How close you stand to each other, finding reasons to touch, the way that you look at each other."
"That's why you came straight to me when Maggie's sister turned up here?"
Emily nodded smiling "I can't believe that I didn't notice it the first time I was here, but don't worry I won't be saying anything to the other's, that is up to you two to tell them. However, I am going to need to hear about Kristen's reaction when she finds out that it's Jubal that she has been calling adorable."
This got Maggie laughing as she shook her head "I'm also looking forward to watching that so I will definitely let you know about her reaction. Thank you for not saying anything to the others just yet, but we are getting close to the stage that we want to tell them."
Emily smiled looking at Maggie and Jubal "They will be happy for you both, now that I have figured it out I can't stop seeing how much you two love each other and they will be able to see that too." Emily hugged Jubal and Maggie telling them to stay in touch before she left.
Maggie turned to face Jubal when Emily left "There isn't going to be many people left to actually tell if anyone else figures it out." She chuckled softly.
"I guess Emily was seeing us with kinda fresh eyes this time around so that made it a little more obvious to her, but the two main people that want to know still don't know." Jubal shook his head laughing "Are you ready to get out of here so that we can sit down and talk about Erin baby?." Jubal was keeping his voice low so that only he and Maggie could hear him.
"Can we talk here somewhere babe because if you are going to agree with my suspicions then I want to go straight to her dorm rather than going home." Maggie kept her focus on Jubal, she wanted his opinion on this no matter what it was.
"Well why don't we talk in the car? We can talk as we drive to the University and then sit there before we go up to Erin's dorm?." Jubal knew that Maggie would want to get to Erin's dorm as soon as possible so he thought this was the best option.
"That sounds perfect, I'm just going to go say goodnight to OA and the team and I'll meet you at your suv?." Every part of Maggie wanted to reach out and touch Jubal's arm but she knew that there was just too many in the JOC for that to happen.
"I just need to grab some things and then I'll be in the car." Jubal smiled softly as he looked at Maggie, he could read her expression, he knew that she wanted and needed the contact so he gently touched her elbow as he stepped around her which hid his touch. "I'll see you in a few minutes."
Maggie couldn't help the soft smile that appeared when she felt Jubal's hand on her elbow, this man really did know her better than anyone and him reminding her of that just made her fall in love with him even more. She nodded hearing him as she went and said goodnight to Kristen and the other's before saying goodnight to OA.
OA smiled as he hugged Maggie goodnight "If you need to talk about your sister you know I'm always here to help in any way that I can."
Maggie hugged OA a little tighter hearing him "Thank you OA I really appreciate that. I am going to head now to see her and spend the night with her." Maggie was reminded in that moment how lucky she was to have these amazing people in her life, she knew that Kristen, Stuart and Tiffany would all offer their help if they knew about Maggie's sister. They really all had become family. She said goodnight to OA before heading down to the parking garage climbing in to Jubal's car as he was already in the drivers seat waiting for her.
Jubal smiled when he saw Maggie climbing in to the car "You ready to get out of here baby?."
"Definitely, this case has felt like it has been months long and we still aren't close to actually getting home and I really can't wait to see our bed." Even though Maggie was exhausted and was worried about Erin she still smiled softly as she looked at Jubal.
"This really was a long case, and you've been dealing with your worry about Erin which has made everything a little bit harder. But we will be getting to go home to our own bed tonight baby and together." Jubal was still enjoying the fact that he now got to have Maggie beside him again every night after being apart for five weeks, he glanced at Maggie before back at the road as they pulled out of the parking garage and headed towards Erin's dorm.
Maggie was quiet for a few minutes before reaching over and taking Jubal's hand in her's as she turned to face him a little "I really want to ask something but I'm afraid of saying it wrong and upsetting you."
Jubal squeezed Maggie's hand gently stealing a quick glance at her, he could tell that she was really nervous and that was the last thing she needed when trying to deal with what was going on with Erin. "You want to know as a recovering alcoholic if I can tell if Erin has slipped or not?."
"How did you…." Maggie shook her head gently, she had really wanted to ask him but the last thing she wanted to do right now was upset the one person that she really wanted and needed by her side.
"Like you said to me once baby, we both would like to think that we now know each other better than anyone else. But I want you to know that you can always ask me anything Mags, I would rather that you ask me than keep it bottled up." Jubal was caressing her hand with his thumb.
"You really are an amazing man Jubal Valentine and no one is going to ever change my mind on that." She lifted Jubal's hand kissing it before resting their joined hands on his thigh. "I know that you have had some personal dealings with drug addicts, sometimes it's hard to see when it's someone that we love and care about. So I really want your opinion on this Jubal, it really does mean so much to me."
Jubal gently squeezed Maggie's hand again "I have had some dealings with drug addicts and I have hung out with Erin a number of times now but you know her better than I do Mags. But if you want my honest opinion then yes I think Erin has slipped but she really hasn't meant to, I'm not sure what has happened but University has a lot of temptations and something has gotten to her."
Maggie let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding until she heard Jubal's answer "I thought that I was maybe just overreacting, trying to protect her too much or not trusting her because of the things we see on the job but when I was talking to her in the conference room she had something in her system I could see it."
"Her eyes gave her away, I was talking to her about the kids, she had asked if they were excited to have you home as I had told her they were the reason she hadn't got to hang out with you yet, so she was slightly unguarded and relaxed and I could see how glassy her eyes were. We have to be careful with how we handle this baby, I know you want to protect her and do whatever you can to help her but Erin needs to also want the help."
"I'm not mad at her Jubal, I can only imagine how hard University is for her, I have no idea how hard it is to live with an addiction, but that's not going to make me love her any less. She's my little sister, I just want to help her, she deserves to get the best out of life, she worked so hard on getting clean the last time."
"I can phone Tom, he will be able to get her in to a rehab that is close to us so that she can stay in New York and we can help her sort something out with University." Jubal wasn't sure if Maggie would be comfortable with his offer but he wanted to do what he could to help.
"You would really do that for Erin?."
"Mags, Erin is family so of course I will ring Tom, he helped me when I was getting sober, that's how I met him and he does a lot of work with rehab centres so he will help us out if you are okay with that?."
"Of course I am okay with it, you really are the sweetest man Jubal Valentine." She lifted Jubal's hand kissing it again "I had no idea where I was going to even start with rehabs or how to even handle this, yet here you are making it all that little bit easier for me. I really have no idea what I would do without you."
"I'm just trying to help out the woman that I love and if it's up to me you will never have to worry about doing anything without me because I'm not going anywhere baby." Jubal pulled into a parking space outside of Erin's building. "I'll ring Tom now so that we can tell Erin we have a place in rehab for her."
Maggie leaned over kissing Jubal softly but with so much love "I really can't thank you enough for everything you are doing and have been doing for me lately Jubal and I know you are going to tell me that I don't have to thank you but I want to because I want you to know that it really does mean so much to me."
Jubal smiled as he kissed Maggie with just as much love and he lifted his hand to cup her cheek "I know you appreciate everything baby, you show me that every single day, that's why I tell you that you never have to thank me. That and because you know that I am doing all of this simply because of how much I love you, I want to do anything I can to make things even a little bit easier for you."
Maggie leaned in to Jubal's hand on her cheek as she ran her hand along his arm slowly "You really do make my life better than I could have ever imagined just by being you. I really do love you so much babe."
"I love you too baby and that love just continues to grow." Jubal leaned over stealing one more quick kiss before taking out his phone and ringing Dr Tom Stevenson.
