Summary: Takes place between episodes 3x13 and 3x14, in the month in between. Helen and Mina are about to leave for London when she gets a call from Max;

Author's notes: Hey all! Happy (not) Dam Day! Here's the next installment! For those of you that read "Ease away my doubts," I'm still working on the next chapter, so this is to tide you over. Thank you for your patience! Enjoy!

The week goes by in a blur. There's so much to do to get Mina ready for her move across the ocean: helping her apply for a student visa, buying plane tickets and any school supplies she will need, calling King's College to get Mina's living situation finalized, and both she and Helen getting pre-travel Covid tests.

Up until the day before she leaves, Helen's workweek is so busy that she doesn't get a moment alone with Max. Some days, they're in the same room working a case together, but there are always too many people about to really discuss… whatever they are. While standing at the nurses' station in the ED one day, Helen can feel Max's lingering gaze on her, but as soon as she looks at him, his eyes dart away or back down at the paperwork he's supposed to be filling out. They both know how they feel, but it's like Helen and Max are in that weird stage between friends and lovers where they don't know how to act in each other's presence.

Friday, before Helen leaves for the day, she looks around for Max, but can't find him, not even in his office. She is disappointed to learn from Sandra Fall that he had already left for the day. Not that they would have had time for a full-blown discussion about them, but Helen wished she could have said goodbye to him before her flight the following day.

Saturday morning, Helen and Mina arrive at the airport and, once through security, sit in the waiting area until it's time to board the plane. Originally, Helen had thought about asking Max to take them to the airport, but thought better of it, given they're not even officially in a relationship yet, plus the fact that Mina would be there too. That would be too awkward.

Helen pulls out her phone and considers sending a text to Max to wish him well over the next few weeks. She keeps on drafting, erasing, then rewriting, trying to figure out the perfect thing to say that will assure Max of her feelings toward him, but they all sound too cheesy, so settles on a simple, "About to board my flight. I'll see you in a few weeks." Helen's thumb hovers over the send button, overanalyzing her message, then quickly adds "I'll miss you," and hits send before she can second guess herself again.

Not two minutes later, Helen's phone starts buzzing. Max's name is on the screen. She chuckles to herself and swipes to answer it. "Really. I'm gone for less than a day and you're missing me already," she teases.

"Woman! I thought your flight was tomorrow! You didn't tell me you were leaving today! If I'd have known that, I would have said goodbye to you yesterday!"

"What? No, Max, I explicitly told you my flight was today. You must not have been paying close enough attention. It's not my fault you're absentminded."

Mina glances up from her phone at the mention of Max's name, and gives Helen an amused, knowing glare.

"Oh, shush," Helen mouths to her.

Max lets out a strained chuckle. "Helen!" he practically whines. "What am I gonna do without you for three weeks?!"

"You'll have plenty to occupy your time, I'm sure, now you've got Luna back."

"Yeah, I guess." he sighs into the phone. "So… what are you doing right now?"

Helen looks at the clock on the wall. It's 7:30 a.m. Surely, he should be getting ready to leave for work. She gets the sense that he's just trying to keep her on the phone, not quite ready to say goodbye just yet. "Mina and I are waiting for our flight to begin boarding. What about you?"

"I, um…" Helen can hear the indiscernible chatter of a little toddler through the phone. "Daddy's coming, Lu," Max says away from the speaker. "I'm trying to get dressed for work."

Helen gets a mental image of a shirtless Max fumbling around his bedroom, phone pinched in between his shoulder and ear, attempting to shrug on his pants over his (what she can now confirm that he wears) boxer briefs. She lets out a shuddering breath and shakes the image from her head before her imagination can go too wild. It's too early in the day to be thinking those kinds of thoughts, particularly at an airport… in front of her niece.

"Then I saw your text," Max continues, "and I just wanted to wish you a safe flight. But I've got to get Luna ready for the nanny or I'll be late for work."

There's a pause on the other side of the phone and a change in the way Max's voice comes through the speaker. Helen wonders if he had put her on speakerphone to either put on his shirt or shoes. It feels so… intimate, being on the phone with him while he's getting ready.

"Um, when can I call you again? Would tomorrow be alright? Or is that too soon?" he asks a little nervously, hoping he isn't coming off as desperate.

"Well, Mina and I have to get another Covid test upon arriving in London and then isolate for a few days until our test results come back. Tomorrow sounds perfect. I'll still be growing accustomed to the time difference anyway, and I'd enjoy the company to pass the time."

"Okay. Um, good. Then I guess I'll… talk to you tomorrow?"

Helen can't help but smile to herself at Max's awkward, endearing farewell, earning another amused glare from Mina. "Oh, shut it," she mouths to her niece. "Yes, I am looking forward to it," she reassures him.

"Alright, then, bye, I guess."

"Goodbye." Helen clicks off the phone and bears a bashful grin as she stares at the screen, feeling like a teenager in the first throes of love.

Love. Sure, she and Max have been in love for longer than either of them would like to admit, but now that they're finally pursuing… whatever this is, verbalizing it as
"love," even in her own head, makes Helen feel excited, exhilarated, and nervous. It's almost scary.

"So, Ammeh Joon, who was that?" Mina asks in a sing-songy voice.

"You know very well who that was. Stop giving me that look," Helen half-scolds at her smug-faced niece.

"I'm just saying, I knew I saw something between you two when he burst into your office a few weeks ago."

"Mm-hmm. Of course you did," Helen hums in fake affirmation. "Just go back to minding your own business and stare at your phone like a normal teenager."

Author's notes:

"Woman!" Another Goldman IG live reference!

I'm trying to figure out the timeline a little bit. My guess is that season 4 (the three weeks later part) opens on September 21st, just like when it was released, which means Helen returned from London likely on August 31st. So I am writing her and Mina's flight to London to be on August 7th.

Also, we know from episode 4x05 that Helen's birthday is shortly before August Bank Holiday, so she will definitely be getting a "Happy Birthday" call from Max while she's away 😉