So he took her home. As they reached the door, he was tempted to lift her up and carry her over the threshold, but he figured that was going a bit too far. She wasn't much of a romantic, anyway.

"Our home," he thought. She had called it home.

"Stop grinning so silly, Francis," she remarked as she dropped down on his couch.

"Sorry..." he muttered, still standing.

"I don't bite," she said when he made no signs towards joining her on the couch.

"Actually..." he began, "you did..."

"Sit down!" she commanded, and he finally did, only to get up a second later.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Do you want to go back? To the Station I mean." he asked seriously.

"I don't know," she replied, getting up as well, "I don't think I can."

"Okay..." They both grew silent for a while, him pacing, her just staring out the window at the quiet sea.

"Now what?" she asked, throwing a glance in his direction. He just shrugged his shoulders.

"We take it as it comes," he offered.

"I can't go back," she insisted.

"I know. Not now anyway. And no one's forcing us to."

"'Us'?"

"Yeah..." He gave her a sly smile.

"I can live with an us," she smiled back, "but..."

"Hush," he said with a with a silence gesture, "no but's. Let's just do it."

"We're not on the life in general subject anymore, are we?" she asked, and he frowned slightly, trying to think of a way to bring up his next thought.

"I sorta have a question," he said after a while.

"What?" "Okay, let's say hypothetically... if I were thinking about asking this woman to marry me.. hypothetically." She drew in a sharp breath, but kept her cool, playing along.

"Yeah? Anyone I know?"

"Kinda," he replied with half a smile.

"Ya like her then?" she asked with only the slightest tremor in her voice.

"Yeah, I like her a lot," he said, still with the silly half-smile.

"And ya reckon she likes you too?"

"Yeah, I reckon," he said, confidently.

"Ya thinking she's the one?" She mentally shook herself for being unable to keep the tremor out of her voice.

"Get a grip, Goldstein," she firmly told herself.

"Yeah," he replied, "so what do ya think she'll say?"

"Oh I reckon she'll say yes."

"Really?" he asked with a broad smile.

"Really. You're then irresistible charmer, right?"

"She resisted it for quite some time," he remarked, then grew serious as he took a step closer.

"You know it's you, right?"

"Yeah," she grinned, and he took another step closer.

"So..."

"Yes. I'm crazy for saying this, but yes!" The spark in his eyes was unmistakingly there now, and she saw it light up, a light that seemed to fill her up. He stared at her for two more seconds, then swept her into a powerful hug, squeezing the air out of her.

"Okay...I ... Can't... Breathe!" she gasped, and he immediately released her.

"Sorry," he muttered, the stared at her once again.

"You really..."

"Yes, yes, YES!" she cried out, laughing, and he soon joined in. They laughed and laughed, until they both collapsed in fits of hysteria. Finally they were out of breath, and she rolled over to lay on top of him and gaze into his eyes.

"Thank you," she said earnestly, "for everything."

"I love you," he replied, and managed to sneak in a kiss before she could reply.

"You little bastard! I can't believe you won me over."

"Took a lot of hard effort," he teased. She rolled her eyes, then got up.

"Rachel?" he asked worried.

"There's one more thing I need, Frank..."

"Name it," he said, getting up beside her.

"I need a lift.. to the cemetery."

He nodded, and offered her a hand. With a slight smile she took it, and he squeezed it lightly.

"Let's go," he offered. She let him drive, looking out the window all the time, watching the cars drive by. As they approached the cemetery, she felt her resolve begin to falter. It was the finality of it that scared her. And a part of her wanted so desperately to hold on.. but it was time. It was time.

And there they were. The cold, empty, silent cemetery. He pulled up, turned off the engine and turned to look at her, obviously concerned.

"Are ya sure?"

"I hafta do this, Frank..."

"I know..."

She pushed the door open, gathering all her strength, and walked out. Taking a deep breath, she marched up to the gravestone. It looked the same. A part of her wanted to run this time too.. but the part of her insisting she had to do it had grown stronger. Flowers covered the grave. The single red rose she had placed there, had long since died, and she picked it up. Tears fell silently down on the grass.

"David..." she whispered. Frank's hand rested comfortingly on her shoulder, and she silently thanked him.

"I miss you..." she began, feeling her voice crack. She bit her bottom lip.

"I found who did it," she added after a while, and reached out a hand to touch the stone. It felt cold under her fingers. So very cold. As her heart had been.

"You'll always be in my heart.. I love you..." she closed her eyes, then withdrew her hand.

"Goodbye."

She got up, threw one last look at the stone, at David's name, then turned around. A sense of terrible loss, yet peace filled her. There would always be a gaping hole in her life. But life went on. Life, for better or worse, always went on.

Frank stood by the gravestone a little longer. There was something he needed to say.

"Your mom.. is not a murder," he said quietly. Somehow, he thought it was important for David to know that. Then he followed Rachel to the car.

She was leaning on it, wiping away tears.

"I thought it would be easier..."

"And it wasn't," he stated.

"No.. But I can live with it. It's not smoldering me anymore, it's..." She waved a hand helplessly, not knowing how to explain it. He looked like her understood though. He too had carried many a loss.

He looked at her intently, then shifted a bit.

"Look Rach.. what I said about having a baby and such.. I meant it."

"Not only do ya wanna marry me, ya wanna have kids too," she joked

"I'm serious," he insisted, "we can do the whole thing, ya know."

"One thing at a time, Frank."

"Wedding first then," he concluded. She shook her head a bit.

"Are you sure ya want to do this?"

"I want you to have it all Rach.. Ya deserve it all. I want to do it right." She reached out to touch his cheek.

"You have given me so much already. You don't hafta marry me."

"I want to, " he insisted, "besides, I like the name Rachel Holloway."

"Who said anything about changing my last name?" she said with a raised eyebrow.

"I assumed..."

"Don't assume," she grinned.

"Okay, no assuming. Anything else I should know?"

"Yeah.. I'm driving!" He tossed her the car keys with a small chuckle, and she caught them in midair, giving him a challenging smile. Throwing one last look at the stone, she gave it a silent promise.

"I'm letting you go... but not from my heart," she promised. The tears would keep coming, and the pain would never go away, but time would make her stronger and allow her to carry it easier. And maybe time would let her and Frank work it out too. Stranger things had happened. Well, stranger things could happen. Besides, David would approve, she was sure. And maybe she and Frank could raise a little army of Holloway's and Goldstein's. Maybe they would go back to work, maybe they wouldn't. The beauty of it all though was, it would be together, no matter what they did.

Together.

FIN