AN: This has deviated from the show, so we're definitely in AU territory. Several more chapters to come. Deciding if I should end it there or continue on. Either way, there are still at least 5 more to come.

Ch 7

Walt strode down the road toward the diner. His thoughts were on Vic and their time together last night. He had known her for less than a year and yet now she knows more than his best friend of nearly 40 years. What's different about her that made him want to tell her everything? That allowed him to sleep in her presence? That made him want to know her secrets and reveal his own?

Even in those first weeks she was on the job, when he was still not in the right frame of mind for working, he felt a connection with her. It felt easy to work beside her. Like they had been working together for years. Like he'd known her all his life. It felt like they balanced one another. It's a connection he had never experienced before her. A connection that didn't yet feel complete, but another piece of that connection between them had locked in place tonight.

He thought back to the quiet moments with her. Her hand on his shoulder. Her fingers in his hair. The two of them side by side. His head in her lap. Her palm to his cheek. Each moment making a connection. Each moment reinforcing his trust in her. Each moment a balm to his battered soul.

He couldn't achieve that with Lizzie and if he was honest he didn't want to. The woman had no subtlety. She had no discretion. She broadcast her feelings for everyone to see and he would never be comfortable with that. She wants people to think she won him like some kind of trophy to show off. While the attention was mildly flattering, he was just going through the motions with her. It's probably a mistake and it will end badly, but a guy's gotta start somewhere. Especially when the guy can't have the one he wants.

He can't imagine sharing with Lizzie the pieces of himself that he shared with Vic. He would never trust her with something so private, so intimate. Lizzie didn't understand him at all and didn't want to. She just expects him to behave and respond like other men. Vic is different. She understands his work, his calling. She understands the need to find the answers, even when they don't come quickly or easily. She understands the crappy hours, the long days and nights, the soul crushing nature of the vile things they have to witness. Vic seems to understand him in a way Lizzie never will.

Walt entered the diner and sat on a stool at the end of the counter. He ordered their usual and made a few grunts of acknowledgement to the waitress' nosy questions. Fortunately for him, she was distracted by another early riser so he could sip his coffee in peace.

Relieved to exit the diner, he began the walk back to the station and mulled over how he would send Vic home without raising any questions. She'd had a couple bad migraines since she started here that usually resulted in her vomiting if she didn't take her meds right away. That seemed the best play to keep things off anyone's radar.

Sighing with relief as he entered the warmth of the station, he made his way to the office and stopped in his tracks when he saw her. She was laid out on his couch sound asleep. She was so still in her slumber, he decided to let her sleep as he put his things away, took a seat in his chair and kept watch over her. He could let her sleep another 30 minutes if she were going to eat with him before she left or for an hour if he would send her home with the take out.

Deciding to return the favor, he let her sleep and let his mind wander to a place where she wasn't married and what might happen between them. Did she feel the same connection to him as he felt for her? He'd like to think so, but maybe for her it was just about friendship. In the deep recesses of his mind, the only place he would entertain these thoughts, he imagined them together in every way. Making love long into the night and waking up with her in his arms. Riding out on the plains with her on horseback. Sharing evenings in front of his fireplace. That he was having thoughts like these was an indication of his grief starting to heal. That Vic was the only one he cared to imagine in this context was somewhat concerning. She wasn't available, nor was she the one he was "seeing".

After last night, he realized that he wanted Vic as more than just his colleague. She was very tactile with him and seemed oblivious to the effect she had on him. Her touch awakened feelings in him that he thought were lost to him and not just physical desire. Desire for companionship, for intimacy, for the simple act of sharing a thought.

In the months past, he didn't want anyone around him for any reason. He didn't want to hear their condolences, the lectures on taking care of himself, the speeches on living again, the endless comments about cancer or the remarks on the unfinished state of the cabin. Everywhere he went people fell over themselves to offer sympathy and condolences. While he appreciated the sentiment, it was a constant occurrence for weeks on end which is why he stopped going anywhere unless he had to. He got to the point where he just wanted tell everyone to leave him alone. He actually considered moving at one point, but this was his home. This is where he built his career and his family. He loved Wyoming.

Eventually, he decided to go back to work. It got a little easier as the buzz died down about his wife and every conversation wasn't started with an 'I'm sorry' or 'I heard about…'. He found work to be a good distraction and having to train his new deputy, while not high on his list of things he wanted to do, was out of the norm which changed up his routine. He found that it was a welcome change. She was competent, inquisitive and unlike anyone he had met before. He enjoyed working with her and came to rely on her more and more.

It was coming up on the time that he needed to wake her. He let his eyes take her in one last time. Her petite yet sturdy frame that was stretched out along the leather couch. She was now the keeper of his secrets and that didn't bother him at all. She would guard them with the same ferocity she guarded him and he was ok with that. Truth be told, he was shocked when she went after Mathias and he had to pull her off of him. He would never say it to anyone, but he was flattered that she would defend him in that manner and he really wanted to let her have a go. He always felt protective of her, given her smaller stature and her gender, but now it's different. He knows she can handle herself. He's protective of her now because he cares about her as a partner and a friend. It may look the same from the outside, but his motivation changed as his respect for her grew.

He got up and sat on the edge of the couch next to her and brushed an errant lock of hair behind her ear. He gently rubbed her upper arm to wake her.

"Vic."

TBC