May

The cold New York winter was turning into spring. It made living there a lot easier for McCall, she was really missing the warm Californian weather.

The domestic case she and Mel were working on got stuck. Mike and Barry had checked out the brother's apartment but found no evidence Lenny had been there. His brother told them he hadn't seen him for a long time.

Jane was still unconscious. The doctor had examined her thoroughly and told them she had several broken ribs, a concussion, plenty of bruises and like, McCall thought, had been raped.

Lenny Donalds's name, description and photo was now known all over the country.

One morning Mel and McCall were sitting at their desks doing some paperwork,

"Did you send Hunter a reply yet?"

"I send him an email but he hasn't responded."

At that moment Mel's phone rang,

"Sgt. Baxter. Oh hi how are you? I'm fine. You are kidding,"

McCall looked at Mel questioningly,

"Hang on a sec."

She turned to McCall,

"Lenny Donalds has been arrested."

"Great, where?"

"Later. Yeah I'm still here, okay I'll be looking forward to that, bye." Mel put the phone down.

" Well?" McCall said anxiously.

"That was the good news, the bad news is he was arrested in LA. That was Rick on the phone."

McCall's face changed and she leaned back in her chair,

"Is he gonna be extradited?"

"Yes and we're gonna have to pick him up."

The computer on McCall's desk gave a warning sound for a new email coming in,

'Can I call you tonight, Rick.' it read.

"Now he's asking me if he can call me tonight," she sighed.

"Talk to him Dee Dee," was all Mel said about it.

"I will," so she send him her phone number.

McCall's phone rang and she picked it up hesitantly, "McCall."

Mel saw her relax, it wasn't Hunter calling.

"Okay thanks, we'll be there later," she said and hung up.

"Jane's awake, that was the hospital. We can talk to her."

They grabbed their coats and purses and left for the hospital.

Jane didn't have much to tell them, due to her concussion she hardly remembered anything,

"It's all so blurry," she said.

"I remember Lenny yelling and that I was yelling back. You two arriving at the door and Lenny completely freaking out over that. He went into the bedroom and that's when I ran. The next thing is waking up here."

"You don't remember being beaten by Lenny?" McCall asked her.

"No," Jane said softly. "I'm sorry I can't be of any more help to you."

"It's still early days, most of it will come back to you in time," the doctor, who was also in the room, reassured her.

"I don't know if I want to remember," Jane answered.

"It will be hard but it's gonna put Lenny away for a long time," Mel told her, McCall nodded in agreement.

"Have you arrested him?" she wanted to know.

"We know he fled to California and the LAPD arrested him yesterday," Mel explained.

"It's gonna take us a couple of days to get him here. I hope you can remember some more by then."

"I'll try,"

"You don't have to come with me to LA you know," Mel said to McCall on their way back to the station.

"I know but I'm gonna make that decision after I talk to Rick."

The computer screen on her desk told McCall she had a new email. It was from Hunter writing that Charlie had been badly injured in a shoot out and was in hospital in critical condition. Mel noticed her face turn white as a sheet,

"What's wrong?"

McCall turned the screen so Mel could read the email,

"Oh my god."

"I think the decision has been made for me," she said softly.

The next morning Mel and McCall were on a plane to LA.

"Did you talk to Rick last night?" Mel asked her.

"Yeah, he wanted to know if I was coming. I could tell he was glad to hear that I was."

"How is your boss doing?"

"Still the same. Some guy came into the squad room yelling and waving a gun. The police was gonna pay for what they did to him and his family. He started shooting, Charlie couldn't take cover in time and got hit. Brad was able to shoot the guy."

A couple of hours later they landed at LA airport. After gathering their luggage and going through customs they headed to where their ride was waiting for them.

Hunter was feeling nervous, it had been a long time since he'd seen McCall. A very long time.

Mel and McCall walked into the big arrivals hall and it wasn't long before she spotted his tall frame towering above the rest of the people there. The sight of him shocked her, he looked tired. Dark circles under his eyes and if you looked carefully you could see he had lost weight.

Their eyes met only for a second but it seemed like an eternity. She looked even more beautiful then the last time he saw her. He found himself breathing rapidly and felt his heart pounding.

Mel's hand on her shoulder broke the gaze,

"Are you gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, I think so."

They walked towards him,

"Hi Rick, good to see you," Mel said to him.

"Hi, how was your flight?"

"Fine."

After loading the luggage into the car they got in and headed for the precinct. The tension in the car was thick, Mel decided to make some conversation,

"How is your Captain doing?"

"Better, he woke up about an hour ago. The doctor said he's going to make a full recovery."

"That's good to hear, why don't you just drop me off so you two can go see him," she looked at McCall who wasn't pleased but nodded in agreement.

"Okay," Hunter said hesitantly.

Not long after it was just the two of them in the car,

"How have you been?" Hunter broke the tense silence.

"Good and you?"

"Good."

Silence again.

Hunter pulled the car over and turned off the engine.

"What are you doing, this isn't the hospital?" McCall looked at him in surprise.

"I know, I can't do two things at the same time," he said and looked her straight in the eye.

"I really miss you Dee Dee and it hurts. It's on my mind constantly and I can't figure out what it is that made you make a decision like this."

"I was following my heart Rick, I can't explain it otherwise. Seeing you at the airport made me realize I miss you a lot. I don't know if I'm ready to come home yet, give me some time, please."

"All the time you need."

A faint smile played he lips, "Now can we go see Charlie?"

The nurse showed them the room Charlie was in, "Not too long," she warned.

Charlie opened his eyes when he heard the door, "McCall?"

"Hi Charlie, how are you?"

"Felt better but they say I'll live. Are you back to stay?"

"Can't say yet."

"That's an honest answer."

"Mel and I are here to pick up a prisoner and take him back to New York."

"I know, Hunter told me about it."

The nurse came in telling them visiting time was really over now, "Mr. Devane needs his rest."

"Promise you'll drop by before you leave," he said to McCall.

"I will."

"Wanna have something to eat?" Hunter asked her as they walked back to the car.

"I should really help Mel with our prisoner but we could have a chilidog on the way."

"You're on."

Five minutes later they were enjoying their snack in the car,

"So Lenny is in a lot more trouble then I arrested him for." Hunter said between bites.

"What did you arrest him for anyway?" McCall wanted to know.

"Shoplifting. Remember that little supermarket where I always do my shopping?"

She nodded.

"I was picking up some groceries when I saw him put a can of beans in his pocket. Turned out he had enough food in all of his pockets to feed an orphanage. When I ran him through the computer your APB came up."

"Stupid move."

"The need for food can do strange things to people," Hunter said and took a bite from his chilidog.

Back at the precinct Mel had already talked to Lenny Donalds,

"I explained to him why he's being extradited. He denies he ever laid a finger on her, let alone rape her."

McCall sighed and sat down on the edge of the desk, "And his DNA?"

"Wouldn't give us any but we have enough to take him with us and hold him for a while."

"How long before we leave?"

"Somewhere tomorrow. Now all we need is a place to stay the night."

"You can stay with me if you want." Hunter suggested.

"What do you think?" Mel asked McCall.

"Fine with me, beats a motel."

At the end of the day they arrived at Hunter's beach side house,

"What a great place to live," Mel's reaction made Hunter smile.

"It's better than a small apartment on the third floor." he quipped.

"You were right Dee Dee, this sure beats a motel."

Later McCall was sitting on the small stairs leading from the deck to the beach watching Mel taking a swim. Hunter was busy firering up the BBQ.

"I have to go back tomorrow," she said looking straight ahead.

"I have to finish this case. It's important to me."

"I understand."

She looked at him wondering what it was she had done to deserve a man like this. Mel snapped her out of her thoughts,

"Why don't you join me, the water is great."

"Yeah go in, these steaks will take a while before they are ready," Hunter pitched in.

"Okay, I'm coming."

"You sure know your way around a BBQ, these steaks are great," Mel had just swallowed the last piece on her plate.

"I can't eat another thing or I'll burst," McCall leaned back in her chair, he hand on her stomach.

"Thank you ladies, it's a good thing I forgot to buy desert," he said with a grin.

"Can I interest the ladies in a cup of coffee then?"

"Yeah," they said simultaneously.

The clock told McCall it was ten past eleven,

"I think I'm gonna turn in, busy day ahead tomorrow."

"I'll sleep on the couch so you two can fight over the spare room and my bedroom." Hunter said.

"I'll take the spare room," Mel answered.

"Well that leaves Rick's room for me then," McCall sighed.

As she was sitting on the edge of the bed a lot of memories came flashing back to her. Times she had spend there taking care of him or he taking care of her. And the nights they had spend loving each other.

Hunter was lying on the couch thinking about the woman he loves, having her so close and not being able to be with her.

For the both of them sleep didn't come easy. In the middle of the night Hunter woke up, he had to go to the bathroom. On his way back he sneaked into his bedroom and watched McCall sleep for a while before going back to the couch.

It was just after eight in the morning when McCall was woken by strange sounds. She got out of bed and ran into a sleepy Mel in the hallway,

"Is he always so active this early?" she wanted to know.

"Never."

They went down and as they entered the living room Hunter was just coming out of the kitchen,

"Did I wake you?" he asked when he noticed them standing there.

"You sure did," Mel answered.

"Well you better get dressed then, breakfast will be ready in a minute."

Two showers later they were all sitting at the table eating.

"What time does the flight leave?" Hunter asked.

"Three thirty." Mel answered him.

"If you want to I can take you to the airport."

"I was kinda hoping you would."

"Can I borrow your car this morning," McCall asked Hunter.

"Sure, if you drop us off at the precinct first."

"No problem."

"Where are you going." Mel asked before taking another bite.

"I promised Charlie I'd come by before we left."

"I can go with you," Hunter offered.

"No, I want to go alone," she told him and turned to Mel,

"Can you handle the paperwork?"

"I can but you owe me one."

After dropping Mel and Hunter off as promised McCall drove to the hospital. She explained to the nurse why she wanted to see Charlie outside of visiting hours,

"Okay, but not too long."

Charlie was happy to see her,

"So you are going back to New York."

"I really want to finish up this case, it's important to me."

"And after...?"

"I don't know."

"I've never seen him so sad as the last month Dee Dee. He's had a really hard time. Everyone in the department suffered cause of his moods. He really loves you."

"When I saw him at the airport yesterday I realized how much I've missed him. My love for him is stronger now. It was the way he looked that really scared me, he looks like he's lost weight."

"I warned him. He's been living at the precinct, not eating right. Drowning himself in work."

"Charlie, I'm coming back. I just don't know when. But there's a part of me that says he deserves better."

"Better? Who can be better for him than you, you keep him on the right track. He respects you, your opinion and most important he listens to you. He needs you Dee Dee, the only thing is he'll never admit it."

She looked at him and sighed, "Why is love so difficult."

"It isn't. You just make it that way. Go and finish your case and please come back."

"Thanks Charlie. I will."

She gently kissed him on the cheek and left.

At the precinct a lot of heads turned as McCall got off the elevator, she ignored them and headed straight for Hunter's desk. He looked up and saw her coming, a look of determination written all over her face. Planting both hands on the desk she leaned forward to look him in the eye,

"I'm going back to New York today to finish this case. It might take a while but when it's done I'll be on the first flight back. I want to make this work, I want to make us work."

Hunter stood up from his chair, enveloped his arms around her and held her tight.

By the end of the morning he drove them to the airport. In his mind Hunter flashed back to the time that he said goodbye to McCall before she left for New York. Now he had to do that all over again.

McCall checked them in while Mel guarded Lenny and talked to Hunter,

"She is coming back you know."

"I know, I'll be waiting."

The speaker announced the passengers could start boarding the plane, Hunter took McCall aside,

"Hunter, my plane."

"This won't take long."

He lifted her up and kissed her passionately, she returned his kiss. He put her down,

"Go now, that plane won't wait."

"Bye." she squeezed his hand before letting go and walking towards the gate.