Hello everyone!

Here is a new one. It's a secret relationship AU (Yayyy!) that takes place at the end of 5.09 'Last Resort'. I hope you'll enjoy it, and I'll see you soon!

70. Cross my heart and hope to die.

She'd been waiting for him in the lobby, relieved to know that he was okay – that all of the hostages were okay.

After the SWAT team had burst through the room, he'd run back in and had demanded that Thirteen were taken to a dialysis, stat. By then she'd been needed back in the lobby and had turned away before she could say something to him.

He'd stepped out of the elevator eventually, looking a bit dazed. He'd taken a Vicodin before finally catching her gaze, which had seemed to ground him a little bit. She'd discretely gestured towards her office and he'd followed her there a few seconds later.

By the time he'd stepped in behind her, wisely locked the door and lowered the blinds, she'd had time to take in the destroyed furniture, his makeshift whiteboard on her wall, the half-dried blood stains from a gunshot wound…

She turned back towards him, taking in the sight of him for a second before rubbing her palm against his stubbled cheek. He had a slight frown, and she knew she must have looked far more shaken than he was – she felt like she was. All the anxiety and terror she'd kept locked within herself during the entire day had flooded out the second he'd shut her office door. Without a word, she pulled him towards her and locked her arms around his neck. He immediately wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.

They stayed like this for as long as his leg allowed them. Sometimes she inhaled deeply or held him just a bit tighter, as though she couldn't believe he was there.

The way she held onto him – he realised he hadn't been afraid for his life. Thirteen he'd worried about. The hostages he'd protected. But God, if Cuddy had been in the room…

He held her even tighter.

"Promise me that you'll never find yourself in this situation again," she spoke up eventually.

"Cross my heart and hope to die," he said solemnly, hoping to lift the mood a little – but she could tell he was sincere. He pulled away. "I'm going home to change." She nodded. "I'll be at your place at 7."

"Bring a change of clothes," she demanded more than she suggested.

He smiled, recognising the need behind those words. "Yes."