After Mary's birthday party, Anna and John had begun to spend more alone time together. They ate lunch together at the station, sometimes carpooled to work, and spent time at the Crawley's home during family nights and gatherings. There was a palpable, unsaid connection that the two of them felt even just being in the same room. And it didn't go unnoticed by others as well. After one of the Crawley family gatherings Robert had taken John aside before leaving.

"John. I can't help but notice…is there..is there something going on between you and Anna?" John was taken by surprise. The look on his face must have worried the Chief because he quickly said "If there isn't I'm so sorry that I asked. I didn't mean to pry. Its just..well to be honest I haven't seen you this happy for quite a while, my friend."

John couldn't help but smile because it was true. All the time he had been spending with her had lifted his spirit immensely.

"Well…I..I don't know if she feels the same, but yes…" He paused. "I do have feelings for her. It feels ridiculous really."

"What? Why on earth do you say that?" Robert asked, flabbergasted.

"Well," He chuckled lightly, "She's much too good for me. Look at me, Robert. And look at her. She's gorgeous and young and I'm-"

"I'm going to stop you right there," Robert said placing his hand on John's shoulder. "Anna is one of the kindest people I've ever met, but…so are you. Do I need to remind you again that you saved my life? You deserve each other. And that's that. It's plain and simple."

Now John was the one who was flabbergasted. He touched him deeply to hear his old comrade say those words.

Holding out his hand to shake, John said "Thank you. Truly it means a lot to hear you say that."

"I'm getting soft in my old age!" The two men chuckled heartily. Then suddenly Robert became rather serious. "All I ask is that you take care of her. If she gets hurt-"

"She won't." Bates said with certainty

"Of course, of course. Just know that she's practically a Crawley, and we've all grown quite fond of her."

Anna sat hunched at her desk, brows furrowed, trying desperately to get her work done. Almost everyone in the station had already gone home, but Anna hardly noticed. As she was doing her routine filing, she found something that connected the dots on an old, open case. She wasn't positive if she was correct, and she didn't want to bring it to Chief Grantham's attention until she was 100% sure that she was right. Her gut told her that she was.

A knock at her door made her nearly jump out of her chair.

"Good god!" She laughed when she saw it was only John Bates. She looked at her watch, it was nearly 10:00pm. "What are you still doing here?"

He smirked at her. "I might ask you the same question." He gestured at the chair in the corner to ask if he could join, to which Anna nodded her head.

"Well…you see I think I found something." She bit her lip nervously, wondering if she should even tell him.

"You found something? What do you mean?"

She took a breath and said it quickly to get it off her chest. "I think I've found the missing piece in the Coyle case from five years ago." She finally met his eyes in anticipation.

His dark chocolate eyes widened. "Isn't that the case with the group of missing girls that was all over the news?" She nodded silently. "Wow. That's-

"Insane, I know." She sighed. "But…something tells me that I'm right. I just have to prove it."

His lips slowly spread surreptitiously into a small smile.

"What?" She asked. He only shook his head in response. "What is it?" She pressed.

"You're incredible, you know."

Her heart gave a little flutter in her chest. "Well..I don't know about that…but I do know that if I don't crack this tonight, I won't be able to sleep. So, if you don't mind Detective, I need to get back to my work." She said teasingly.

John began to take off his jacket. "Alright let me help you."

Anna blushed. "Oh no, no. I can't let you do that. I wouldn't want to be a bother." John only rolled up his shirt sleeves in response.

"Anna, it would be an honor to be bothered by you." Anna opened her mouth to protest but found that when she looked into his kind eyes, she just melted.

"Oh alright. You can start by going through that stack of papers on the floor and looking for this license plate number." She said handing him a sticky note.

"You're the boss." He said with a wink.

They worked and worked, only stopping once for a quick coffee break. The silence wedged in between them was never awkward, but welcomed. Anna found that even without talking to him, she felt comforted by his presence, a feeling that didn't happen very often in her life. It was 3:00am when finally she hit it.

"Oh my god!" She shouted. John looked up with concern, but his concern immediately faded when he saw the look on her face. "Oh my god, I've got it!"

Without a second thought, she flung herself into his arms with elation. She realized with sudden embarrassment that they had never touched like this before. She slowly broke the embrace.

"I'm sorry. I don't know-"

Before she could finish her sentence, his lips were melting onto hers and an immediate warmth spread throughout her entire body like the first sip of a hot drink. They broke apart and grinned at each other like moony-eyed teenagers.

He placed his hand gently on her cheek. "I've been wanting to do that since the moment I shook your hand." She placed her hand gently on top of his.

"Really?"

"Absolutely." This time she was the one to initiate the kiss. Their lips fell perfectly in sync with one another.

"We should…probably…get going.." He said breathlessly. She reluctantly let go of him as her mind floated back to earth.

"You're probably right." Before he could put his jacket back on, she slipped her hand into his. "Thank you. For helping me tonight. Truly." He squeezed her hand in response.

"I'll always help you Anna Smith. Anytime, anywhere, anyplace."

The next morning, Anna wearily presented her newfound piece of evidence to the Chief.

"Golly gumdrops!" Chief Grantham bellowed, then looked at Anna. If she weren't so tired she would have tried harder to suppress her laughter.

"You found this last night!?" She nodded. "By God it's marvelous work."

She smiled with relief. "Thank you, sir."

He bounded to his office door and shouted "Molsley! Get over here!"

Anna peeked her head out to see Molsley clumsily make his way to the Chief. "Molsely, I need you to run this paperwork to the DA's office immediately!"

"Yes, Chief Grantham."

Chief Grantham then turned back around to Anna and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"You've done a fine job Ms. Smith. A fine job indeed and I couldn't be prouder." He squeezed her shoulder gently.

Anna found herself blinking tears back.

"Thank you so much, sir."

To he surprise he whipped around, opened his office door wider, and shouted to the entire station.

"Everyone! Everyone, could I have your attention please!." After several moments, the busy chitter-chatter, and office sounds died down. "It is my honor to announce our newest Detective: Anna Smith!"

Anna's jaw dropped and her cheeks flushed as he guided her next to him to stand in front of the station. Everyone started clapping for her and suddenly she felt like a bashful child getting praise from their teacher. Her eyes landed on John, who had the giddiest grin of pride on his face. Her friends began to gather around her to congratulate her, but her eyes kept wandering back to John. Her dream job and a man. She simply could not believe her luck.