Chapter 3

They walked into John's room, John carrying a 6-pack of beer and Natalie carrying the case file and crime scene photos. Over the last couple of months they had spent several nights like this, pouring over notes and photos while bouncing ideas off each other. Tonight was different though, this was an all too familiar crime. Both John and Natalie had been deeply affected by the man they both suspected was at it again.

John opened two beers and put the rest in the fridge. He handed one to Natalie as she handed him the crime scene photos. Once she had her notebook and pen ready, he started walking through the pictures and making comments that she noted quickly.

After a few minutes he stopped talking and put the pictures down. "You ok?" Natalie asked worriedly.

Rubbing his face with both hands, he exhaled a long breath and looked at her. "Yeah."

"What are you thinking about?"

He held his arms open and she settled against his chest, tightening her arms around his waist. "Finding you on my bed, thinking you were dead. Those were some of the longest seconds in my life, until you woke up and I could see that you were going to be ok."

"And then you freaked out on me and pushed me away."

He kissed the top of her head. "I know. I'm sorry. I didn't know what else to do then."

"What else?"

Smiling at how well she knew him, he continued. "Then finding you with that damn bomb strapped to you."

"And you stayed with me."

He reached down and tilted her chin to bring her eyes to him. "I could never have left you."

"Not physically anyway."

The tone in her voice belied the insecurity she still felt at times because of the times he had pushed her away. More times than he cared to remember. "That's in the past. I'm not going anywhere."

"Promise?" Tears threatened to fall from her eyes.

"I promise."

She sighed heavily with relief.

"You really thought I would do that again?" He was surprised that she was so nervous at the idea.

"Every time you think I'm in danger, you've pushed me away."

"That was before I let myself realize how much you mean to me. I know now that I would rather have you with me for whatever time we have on this earth than live another day without you."

This time the tears were of happiness, not fear. She pulled his face toward hers and pressed her lips to his. "Show me how much."

He smiled as he deepened their kiss, before pulling away just enough to say, "my pleasure."