-1Epilogue
December 25th 0001
She sat on the window sill, wrapped in a blanket, watching the snow fall across the darkened city, the bells chiming as they rang out a new day.
A new day.
Christmas Day.
Lindsay shivered, clutching the blanket tightly around her slender shoulders. She rested her forehead against the window, welcoming the sudden clean bite of cold from the glass.
She needed to feel clean.
An hour in a scalding hot shower hadn't taken the taint of smoke from her skin. She could still smell it, clinging to her body, could still taste in the back of her throat.
She wondered if she would ever be clean again.
XxxXXXxxx
1st September
"Detective Munroe."
"Detective Flack." She smiled at him as she closed her locker door. "What are you doing here? I thought your shift ended over an hour ago."
"It did."
Lindsay laughed. "Shouldn't you be out, showing someone a good time, then? What are you still doing here, Detective?"
"Waiting for you."
XxxXXXxxx
December 25th
He startled her when he slid onto the window sill behind her, his arms around her, pulling her body back against his. "What are you doing here?"
"Waiting for you." She nodded towards the window, at the view of the city through the fogged and snow kissed pane. "Isnt the city beautiful?"
"Yeah." He shivered, adjusting the blanket so it covered them both. "Fucking cold though."
"I like the cold. Makes me feel clean."
"Come back to bed."
"In a while." She rested her head against his chest. "Anyway, it's Christmas morning, Don. Didn't you always want to stay up as late as you could at Christmas?"
"Yeah, when I was a kid, I never could sleep on Christmas Eve."
"Nor me." He felt her smile against his chest. "Mom always threatened that she would tell Santa to go away again if we dared come down the stairs before she called us."
He kissed her head through her hair.
"I need to sleep, Don." She squeezed her eyes closed, frightened to look at him, scared that she would see Reiner's contempt mirrored in his eyes. "I need to sleep, but he's there, he's…"
"Go to sleep, Linds." His kissed her hair again. "Go to sleep, I'll be right here. I'm not going anywhere. I promise."
She settled against his chest, her breathing slow and even, senses filled with him, with the smell of his cologne.
She needed something to take away the smell of smoke.
The End
And that's it folks!
Thank you so much to everyone that has read and reviewed and stuck with this story from the start. It's been a lot of fun writing it and I really hope you've all enjoyed it.
Thanks again.