Anchor

"You coming to bed?"

Tom jumped a little at the unexpected voice and turned from where he had been studying yet another casefile. He blinked, clearing his vision and trying to loosen his contacts from where they were dried to his eyes after staring too long without blinking at the information at hand. He reached up to rub the heels of his hands at them as a yawn escaped him. "What time is it?"

"Ten. You've been bent over those files all evening."

He watched as she padded towards him, pulling her sweater around her a little more tightly as her blue eyes skimmed what he had been working on. She sank to the floor with him and it didn't sound like she was upset, just noting the hour.

After a moment her gaze broke from the files and flickered to meet his. "And I'd bet that you've been pouring over them most of the day too."

"The detective from my case sent some more over today," he explained softly and his wife hummed an acknowledgment.

"You just don't have an off switch, do you?"

That pulled a short laugh from him. "I, uh, get kind of focused."

"Focused is one thing. You get fixed on a goal and don't let up," she said, her voice just a little teasing and she leaned over to press a kiss to his scruffy cheek. "And if I don't pull you away from it you'll be up all night and won't realize it until the sun comes up. You'd do the same for me. C'mon."

"I'll be there in just a sec," he promised, scanning a document that caught his eye. "I just need to-"

"How did you turn it off when you worked in the field?"

"Huh?"

"When you were on a job and had a puzzle of some sort to unravel," she clarified. "How did you switch it off so you didn't drive yourself into the ground?"

Tom blinked hard, his brain drawing a blank for anything to make the answer sound better than it was. She was staring at him, expecting an honest answer, and he swallowed hard. "A lot of times I'd just push straight through and crash once it was done. I mean, not on long ops, obviously, but if they were just a few days-"

Liz reached over, her touch gentle but firm as she grabbed his chin, guiding him to look at her. "You can't do that now. Pick it up in the morning."

"But I-"

She rocked forward, cutting off his argument by pressing a kiss to his lips. He sank into it, fingers loosening on the file so he could turn towards her, his now-free hand moving to tangle his fingers in her hair as they deepened the kiss. A sense of peace wash over him that pushed the anxious need to find the answers he was looking for right then aside and pulling his focus around solely on her. They broke after a long moment, both a little breathless, and he leaned in, his forehead touching hers and his eyes drifted closed as he focused in on all of the little things. Her breathing, her hand in his, the way he felt just being close to her. She was his tether. His anchor. She made sure he didn't lose himself, and for that and so much more he loved her more than he could ever express.

"You need a board," she murmured after a long moment.

"Hmm?"

"A board. To keep things organized. To work out the pattern, you know?"

"Instead of the living room floor?" he chuckled and he could almost feel her smiling in return, her hand in his, his thumb ghosting back and forth over her knuckles in a steady movement, as they sat there together.

"There is that."

"A board means I'm all in."

"Babe, I hate to break it to you, but you were all in the moment you tracked down that detective."

Tom snorted a laugh and Liz shifted, pulling him up with her as she stood. He followed and he offered her a small but very real smile. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Being there. Being steady. Being… everything."

She squeezed his hand. "It's not going to be easy, Tom, but if anyone gets it I do. I'll do whatever I can to support you, just like you did for me. Even if that means calling you on it when you slide too deep."

"I need that. Thank you," he breathed.

"You're welcome." There was a small glint of mischief in her eyes as she pulled him towards their room.

"Okay, okay. Sleep," he chuckled and she tightened her grip.

"Something like that."

He caught her drift and Tom grinned, willingly following his wife to their room. He had been worried that looking into his past might risk their future, but it wasn't an either or scenario. He wasn't going to risk losing himself to the search because Liz would keep him grounded. She would pull him back if he needed it, and he trusted her to do so. To hold on and not let go, and they would be there for each other. That's what you do for the person you love.

Notes: I cannot express how much I loved this episode, and I'm incredibly happy that it opened it up to write this little one shot. A version of it has been bouncing around in my head all week after watching the preview, and Liz finding out that he's looking into it afterall panned out just right for me to be able to write it.

I'm seriously on cloud nine still, and have no plans to come down any time soon :D