Part Eight

Punk was sitting in his car across from Jeff's bar watching it anxiously.

"You need to relax." Dean told him. "Or you can go."

"What if he just pulls a gun on her and shoots her?" Punk asked.

"He won't." Dean assured him.

"And you're sure my sister isn't in there tonight?" Punk asked him.

"Yes." Dean said to him. "AJ wanted to do this."

"I just don't know if it's worth the six months." Punk said to him.

"She does." Dean reminded him.

"What happens if we do this he's away for six months and then we get nothing and he's back out?" Punk asked him.

"Then we're in the same position we are today but at least AJ had six months to enjoy her life a bit." Dean told him. "We have to work other cases, we can't just keep her in a hotel room forever and ever."

"I know it's the right thing to do." Punk reasoned.

"I know you care about her." Dean said to him. "I won't let her get hurt."

"Right." Punk said. "Where is she?"

"Kofi is dropping her off right in front." Dean told him. "Two more minutes."

"Is he here?" Punk asked.

"I'm sure he is." Dean said to him as they watched Kofi's car pull up and AJ got out of the backseat. "Everyone get into position." He said into his radio and watched as AJ looked around a bit and didn't see anyone.

AJ felt a little relief that he wasn't there. Maybe Jamie went home? Maybe she wouldn't have to worry about this anymore?

"April!" A voice yelled and Punk went to open his door and Dean stopped him.

"He's not breaking the order yet." Dean hissed at him. "Stay put."

Jamie was across the street.

"I can't talk to you." AJ said to him and walked towards the bar and Jamie jetted across the street and grabbed her arm.

"Why are you doing this to me!" He yelled crying and startling her.

"Move, move!" Dean yelled into the radio but Punk was out of the car first and already racing over.

"Why are you forcing me into this!" He yelled again reaching for his back pocket but was tackled to the ground by Punk.

"Jamie Meyers." Punk announced and the man cried as he felt Punk cuffing him. "You have the right to remain silent-"

"What's this?" Dean asked reaching into his back pants and finding a gun. "You just added another 6 months onto your sentence."

"You can put me away for twenty years and it still won't keep me away from her." Jamie told him coldly as they lifted him from the sidewalk. "I have a license to carry."

"We'll see about that." Dean remarked.

"You're the boat guy." Jamie said looking at Punk and it was the first time the two had come face to face. "You can't just have her."

"You can't have anyone." Dean said taking Jamie from Punk and leading him to his car.

"Are you alright?" Punk asked AJ who was shaking.

"Yea, yea it's fine." AJ said nervously and Punk took her hands into his. "I don't know why I'm shaking."

"It's alright. It's never wracking." He assured her rubbing her hands gently as Jamie watched from the backseat.

"He's really going away for a year?" AJ asked him.

"I hope so. At least for six months." He said to her.

"Was he going to kill me?" She asked him.

"I don't know." He admitted. "He didn't get a chance to do anything."

"You should have let him try he could have went away longer." She insisted and he eyed her like she was crazy.

"You're lucky I let him get this close." He told her.

"What do we do now?" She asked.

"We're going down to the office." He told her walking her to Kofi's car.

AJ was alone in Punk's office and looking around it when he walked in with coffee.

"What are you snooping for?" He asked amused.

"You don't even have a picture of Cassie in here." She pointed out. "Boring."

"I see a lot of ugly in this office and don't want to see people I love in the same place." He said passing her the coffee.

"How's Jamie?" She asked.

"He's fine. Not upset, part of me thinks he knew this was going to happen." Punk shrugged.

"Is he going off to jail now?" She asked sitting across from his desk.

"No. He'll be here until he can see a judge in the morning." Punk told her. "He did have a license for the gun though. It's new only got it a few days ago."

"So just the six months?" She asked.

"Probably." He told her. "But half a year in a cell is a lot of time to think and reevaluate your life choices."

"So I can like get an apartment?" She asked him.

"Yea about that I've been thinking we get the apartment in my name." He told her and she eyed him. "I don't want him googling your name and it popping up just in case."

"Can I even do that?" She asked.

"Of course you can." He said to her. "And lucky for you I have good credit." He teased.

"What about my mail and stuff?" She asked.

"Have it sent to your office." He suggested and her eyes lit up.

"I just realized I get to work in my office." She grinned.

"What you did tonight was really brave." He told her and she rolled her eyes.

"Please." She remarked. "I just stood there."

"You didn't have to though." He reminded her. "It was dangerous and you held it together you should be really proud of yourself."

"You guys are doing all the heavy lifting." AJ shrugged.

"It's a lot." He noted.

"Anything I can do to have a little freedom I'm all for." She told him.

"And you're sure about staying in Chicago?" He asked her.

"Yea, why are you now afraid that you have to actually take me out properly?" She teased.

"No." He smiled. "I've just been trying to keep my excitement low until it was all confirmed. I like having you around."

"Good. I like being around." She told him.

Dean walked into the office and AJ hugged him.

"Thank you." She said to him.

"It's only six months, thank me when I get him thrown away for longer." He said pulling away. "I want you to write a letter to the judge about how Jamie has impacted your life so much it will help when she sentences him and it will still on file."

"Ok." AJ said to him.

"You ok?" Punk asked.

"I just don't know how to put it into words." AJ said to them.

"You're great with words." Dean waved off. "Can you do it now? I want to have it by the morning before I see the judge."

"Here." Punk said standing up and typing on his computer. "Use my computer."

"I'd rather write it with pen and paper if that's ok? It's just more personal." AJ said to them.

"Yea sure." Dean said grabbing a notepad and pen.

"I also need to be alone." She told them. "When I write I need to be alone."

"You write for a living." Punk pointed out. "And you write a lot, I can't be around?" he asked and Dean rolled his eyes.

"Relax she'll make time for you." Dean mocked opening the office door.

"He's right, I'll make time for you." AJ smirked shooting him a wink.

"Stop snooping around my office." Punk ordered her before leaving and she scoffed.

"How is Jamie?" Punk asked Dean as they stepped outside.

"Doesn't give a shit." Dean told him. "I think he's going to kill me before he kills you though."

"What are the odds he moves on in six months?" Punk asked.

"Not a chance." Dean remarked. "Which is why we really have to dig deeper into his life. I know we have other cases-"

"No, I have other cases. I want you working this as priority." Punk told him. "You don't need a team to do it but I'll only call you in on cases unless it's absolutely necessary. I need you to get something solid on this guy."

"You really are falling for her." Dean had to say.

"Look how fucking relieved she is." He said pointing to the window of his office. "She doesn't deserve to be a prisoner."

"Alright." Dean said to him. "I still have some connection to my old unit and I'll run the case by them as well. Now that the serious stuff is out of the way are you marrying her in two months like you did when you met Amy?"

"I'm never repeating those mistakes again." Punk said to him. "We'll take it nice and slow."

"Do you know how to take it nice and slow?" Dean joked and Punk glared at him. "It's a joke." He defended.

"She's fucking special." Punk had to admit. "I just think about her all of the time and I wasn't like that with Amy."

"Because Amy never gave you a chance to miss her." Dean mocked. "Always fucking calling and texting and showing up."

"Who is always showing up?" A voice asked behind Dean and he froze.

"Amy." Dean greeted before turning around to face her. "It's been a long time."

"Not long enough." Amy remarked.

"What are you doing here?" Punk asked.

"Giving you the house keys since the new buyers haven't picked them up yet." Amy said passing him the keys. "I'm leaving in the morning."

"You'll be missed." Dean smiled sarcastically.

"Can we talk in your office?" Amy asked reaching for the door but Punk jumped in front of her.

"There are people in there working." Punk said walking her to a conference room.

"Bye Amy, always a pleasure." Dean remarked forcefully as she shot him a glare.

"He's never liked me." Amy said to Punk as they walked into the empty room. "I'm really leaving."

"Ok." Punk said to her simply and she pulled a ring out of her pocket and he rolled his eyes. "I don't want that back it's yours. Sell it."

"Maybe you want to give it to your new girlfriend." Amy shot at him.

"Why would I give her your old ring?" He asked seriously and she shot him a nasty look.

"Who is she?" Amy asked.

"She's not your business. You don't know her." Punk said to her. "You've moved on and I'm in the process of moving on let's just leave it be."

"I hope she's worth it." She said to Punk who let out a tired sigh and rolled his eyes.

"I didn't leave her for you." Punk reminded her. "You pushed me away. You're the one already moving on and getting married."

"I don't want this." She said putting her ring down on the table and walking out and Punk didn't stop her but just watched her leave instead.

The next day AJ and Cassie were apartment hunting finally. They looked at what had to be 6 places until AJ found one that she really liked.

"Look at how high up this is." She noted looking out the window.

"It would make me nervous." Cassie had to admit. "But hey, do you."

"You've never had a man staring at you in your sleep from a bottom floor window before." AJ said to her and Cassie had to agree.

"So how did it go with the judge?" Cassie asked.

"He got six months." AJ told her and Cassie felt relief herself. "It's not perfect but it's better than nothing. I can have my own cellphone, my own place, this feels amazing."

"I'm happy for you." Cassie told her. "And for my brother who seems to really taken to you."

"Your brother is a mystery." AJ told her.

"He is." Cassie agreed. "But stick around and you'll get through those walls."

"He's been really good to me." AJ told her. "I don't know why."

"At first it was just about helping you but now he's crazy about you." Cassie shrugged. "I like seeing him happy and he's been nicer to Jeff."

"I just worry I'm jumping the gun here." AJ admitted. "I want to be here for the job and stuff but a big reason I want to stay is Phil and what if it doesn't work out?"

"Then you still have a badass job you love making good money living in a safe place." Cassie remarked with a shrug. "But I don't think you have to worry about Punk. He seems very invested and that's not like him."

"He got married after a few weeks." AJ laughed.

"Yea and he promised himself to never do that again." Cassie pointed out. "Amy isn't you! He actually smiles now and whistles! I've never heard my brother whistle before."

"He makes me whistle too." AJ blushed a bit.

"Ew." Cassie said to her.

"So, what do you think of the place?" The building owner asked walking into the apartment.

"I love it." AJ told him excitably.

"Then it's yours. I have to rent it out and my last offer fell through. Should we do the paperwork?" He asked her eagerly.

"Her boyfriend is going to be doing the paperwork." Cassie informed him smugly and AJ eyed her.

"Oh, I wasn't aware that it was two of you." The man laughed a bit. "That's no problem."

"I'll just be living here." AJ assured him and he eyed her. "You can have my credit history and whatnot it's all good but my- my friend thinks it's safer to put it in his name because I'm a single woman living on my own."

"Friend." The man smiled a bit. "That should be ok."

"Boyfriend." Cassie corrected and AJ eyed her. "He's in the FBI."

"Right." The man said to her. "Can you call him and have him meet us here? I'd like to get this squared away."

"Sure." AJ told him.

"I'm going to get the paperwork." He told them then left the apartment.

"Why did you keep telling him I had a boyfriend." AJ said to Cassie. "I don't even know if Phil is my boyfriend."

"He's your boyfriend." Cassie remarked. "And his eyes lit up when he thought you were single."

"You think he's like a creep?" AJ asked nervously.

"No." Cassie assured her. "Not everyone is Jamie Meyers but he had a ring on and checked out your ass twice."

"I'm going to call Phil." AJ said rolling her eyes at Cassie.

"He did!"

Twenty minutes later Punk was inspecting the apartment.

"Does it meet your expectations?" AJ asked amused.

"If it's good for you it's good for me." Punk reasoned. "I just want to see if it's worth the price."

"What do you care? I'm paying it and I can afford it." She said to him.

"Maybe the owner will give AJ a discount." Cassie offered and Punk looked at her while AJ glared at her. "He was looking at her ass."

"Was he now?" Punk asked amused.

"He was not." AJ said to him.

"This place is really close to mine." Cassie told AJ happily.

"It's a good area." Punk nodded and the owner walked.

"This the friend?" The owner asked.

"Yes." AJ said to him and Punk eyed AJ with a smile now.

"I have all the paperwork." The owner said to him.

"Good. I want to make sure my friend isn't getting ripped off." Punk said to him and grabbed the paperwork.

"Now he's all upset." AJ hissed at Cassie.

"He's always upset." Cassie hissed back. "I have to get to work. I'll call you later." She told AJ then waved at Punk as she left.

"Everything ok?" AJ asked walking over.

"Yea, I'm just looking over for the fine print, friend." Punk smirked looking back down at the paperwork.

"Can you give us a minute?" AJ asked the owner.

"Uh, yea I have to make a call take your time." The owner said walking off.

"Why are you mad at me?" AJ asked him folding her arms.

"I'm not mad." He laughed. "Its just we've been spending so much time together that I assumed I was out of the friend zone."

"You are." AJ insisted.

"So why did you call me that?" He asked.

"I didn't know what we were to each other you never communicated it to me." AJ defended and he frowned as he gave it thought.

"You're right." He agreed. "I consider us dating. Minus the dates obviously but that's going to change. I haven't done right by you since this whole thing started."

"I don't need fancy dates I just need communication." She insisted. "Are you seeing other women?"

"No." He said to her.

"Good." AJ said to him.

"I don't want to just be your friend." He told her.

"I don't want that either." She agreed.

"I'll work on communicating better." He told her as well.

"You should." She agreed and he glared at her. "You said it not me."

"I want to take you out." He told her. "Somewhere real nice tonight."

"I wanted to go to the bar tonight to thank Jeff for helping me and also pack up my stuff." She told him sweetly. "I was hoping my boyfriend with a big truck and strong arms would help me."

"Now I'm the boyfriend." He teased.

"You're the boyfriend." She confirmed wrapping arms around his waist. "Will you help me tonight?"

"Of course I'll help you." He groaned and kissed her lips gently. "I still want a worthy date."

"A bar is a worthy date for me." She told him seriously.

"You're worth more." He told her tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Are we all set?" The owner asked.

"Yea let's sign." Punk said to him.

Later that night after packing her stuff up they decided to stay for dinner.

"It feels weird to sit here and not work." AJ told Punk.

"You worked here for like two weeks, you'll get over it." He said taking a bite out of his food.

"First night of freedom and this is where you take her?" A voice asked and Punk looked up and saw Dean and Kofi standing over them.

"Seriously, what do you see him?" Kofi asked her.

"He's great in bed." AJ told him seriously and Punk let out a laugh. "Sit, join us." AJ offered and Punk glared at her. "I think they deserve drinks after all the help they've been to me."

"I agree." Dean said pulling a chair over as did Kofi. "Game is coming on."

"Drinks are on me." AJ told them.

"First round." Punk corrected quickly. "These two will drink you to the poor house." then noticed a man in the corner of the bar watching them and when he made eye contact he looked away.

"So, you're a Cubs fan right?" Dean asked AJ while Punk kept his eye on the man at the bar.

Punk had no problem going out and having a good time but he was always on alert and was always good at catching things. This is why he was so good at his job.

"You ok?" AJ asked after a few minutes trying to get Punk attention.

"Yea." He brushed it off. "I have to talk to Jeff about something." He said standing up and leaving AJ with Kofi and Dean.

Punk walked over to the bar and waved Jeff over.

"Who is that guy at the end of the bar?" Punk asked nodding but not looking.

"No clue. Never seen him before. Been here for about an hour nursing the same beer." Jeff explained. "Why?"

"He's looking at my table." Punk told him and looked at the man but he was looking at AJ and not him.

"How many stalkers does she have?" Jeff asked him.

"This guy isn't a stalker." Punk scoffed. "He's working."

"What?" Jeff asked confused. "How could you tell that?"

"He's not drinking." Punk pointed out. "He knew to sit in a spot where he could look at the mirror and not directly at her and look how he's dressed. Is he dressed for someone who was going to send a few hours at a bar?"

"So, what do you do?" Jeff asked.

"I'll be back." He said to Jeff then went to sit next to the man at the bar.

Punk looked at the man who was looking straight ahead.

"Why are you watching her?" Punk asked him. "Private Eye, right? That's how Jamie found her to begin with."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." The man said to him.

Punk placed his credentials on the bar and the man let out a sigh.

"Don't make me ask you again." Punk warned him coldly.

"He wanted to know where she was staying." The man told him.

"You are aware she's an order of protection against him, right?" Punk asked and the man looked at him.

"No." The man laughed. "I looked into that before I took his payment."

"When did you take his payment?" Punk asked.

"About three months ago." He told Punk.

"Order of protection is a month old he's also in jail." Punk told him. "For violating that order."

"Fucking brilliant." The man hissed.

"Maybe you should look into your clients more carefully going forward." Punk suggested. "If I find out you're feeding him anymore information on her-"

"That won't be a problem. I don't do this to help psychopaths." The man said throwing money on the bar. "I didn't even know he was locked up. We spoke two days ago."

"What does he know?" Punk asked.

"She's been careful so not much. He knew what hotel she was in and that she was hanging around you but I couldn't even get your name and now I know why." The man remarked annoyed. "Son of a bitch."

"What did he tell you?" Punk asked him.

"He told me she was his ex and took off with some guy and robbed him blind in the process. He just wanted to track her down to talk to her." The man told him.

"You know those two never dated and have actually barely talked?" Punk asked.

"I did not know that." The man admitted. "You should know that I'm not his only private eye. He had previous ones."

"Is this the only thing you've worked for him?" Punk asked and he nodded.

"I'm local so he sought me out when he got here. Someone else gave him the info to come here. He cam recommended from a friend in New Jersey." He told Punk.

"I want that name." Punk told him and the man reached into his pocket and opened his wallet and looked for a card.

"Here." He said. "Tell him I said thanks for nothing when you talk to him."

"Are you planning on seeing Mr. Meyers?" Punk asked him.

"Fuck no." He said standing up. "This could kill my business. He also lied to me and violated his contract with me." Punk just nodded and watched the man leave.

Punk walked back over to his table and could hear AJ laughing with is friends. She really did fit in. Amy would never sit and chat with Dean or Kofi.

"Everything alright?" Dean asked.

"Yea." Punk said sitting back down next to AJ.

"Dean said I have to stay and watch the game." She told Punk.

"It's true, she does." Dean said nodding. "She's never watched a game!"

"Then we have to stay for a little." Punk said placing his arm around AJ's chair.

When AJ turned to talk to Kofi Punk handed Dean the card.

"What's this?" Dean asked.

"Jamie's first PI." He told Dean who looked intrigued.

"He pays all these guys in cash." Dean noted.

"I lucked out." Punk told him. "New Jersey."

"Good. We'll go next week." Dean told him.

"We?" Punk asked. "I just got back from there."

"You trust me to go all by myself and ask the right questions involving her?" He asked Punk who looked at AJ then back at Dean.

"I guess I'm going back to Jersey." He sighed sipping his water.

"Who's going to Jersey?" AJ asked.

"Dean and I for work." He told her and she just smiled. "What?" He asked.

"I'd really like to see my parents." She told him. "And pick a few things up that I didn't get a chance to pack." She grinned cutely.

"I guess we're all going to Jersey next week." Punk forced out.

"I don't want to interrupt your work though." AJ said to him.

"It's fine." Dean said to her. "You are the work so it works out."

"I'll talk to you later about it." Punk said kissing the side of her head.