Val sat at the kitchen table with Mia and Letty having a cup of coffee while they waited for Leon to start showing signs of withdrawal. So far, they were starting to notice little things, but it was nothing serious at the moment. He had taken a long shower. Brian had given him some of his clothes to wear. He seemed to keep his distance from Val, but she was okay with that.

It was somewhere around one o'clock when it was time for Leon to go into the worst part of the withdrawal. They managed to get him into bed with little trouble out of him, but he was making sure to avoid all eye contact with Val. Val was setting up the IV so she could hook some fluids up to Leon so he could stay hydrated.

She grabbed his arm gently so she could try to find a vein to put it in. She frowned when she noticed that his veins had collapsed. She wasn't going to be able to hook him up with fluids because of it. Leon reached out slowly, still avoiding eye contact with Val, and took the needle away from her. Val watched in disappointment as he was able to find a vein and put the IV in with little issue.

"Just get some sleep," Val suggested standing from the chair she had sit at the edge of the bed. "You're going to need it." Leon nodded and laid back on the bed. He ran his fingers through his hair and Val checked on the IV to make sure it was dripping. She turned to leave the room, but stopped when Leon called out her name. She stopped at the doorway and turned back at him.

"I'm sorry for this, Val." She nodded her head lightly. She wasn't sure why he felt the need to apologize to her. It wasn't her that needed the apology. She left the door cracked so she could hear him if he needed anything. She found Dom in the living room flipping through the channels on the television. She sat down next to him and leaned against him. He had a cup of coffee resting on his knee. He ran his thumb over the rim of the cup absentmindedly. She could smell the coffee and she regretted not going into the kitchen to make her a cup.

Dom had found an old episode of Night Gallery. Val loved the show. It was one of the family traditions that they had when their father was still alive. They would get together and watch Night Gallery, The Twilight Zone, Perry Mason, Columbo, and any other show that came on at night. Val had completely forgotten Night Gallery's existence. She sat up on the couch and stood so she could grab herself a cup of coffee. She wasn't going to be sleeping while Leon went through his withdrawal.

Once she grabbed a cup of coffee and went back into the living room, Mia had taken her place next to Dom. Jack was wide awake in her lap. Mia was hardly holding her eyes open while she watched television with Dom. Val sat down on the couch on the other side of Mia. Jack crawled over into Val's lap and snuggled up in her chest.

The days passed by slowly, but that was to be expected since Val wasn't sleeping. She felt like she was high due to the mixture of caffeine and lack of sleep. Leon's withdrawal was a fairly bad one which consisted of sweats, the shakes, and severe nausea. He groaned in pain as he curled into the fetal position. Val wished there was something that she could do for him, but it would defeat the entire purpose of the withdrawal if she gave him any type of pain medication. So, instead, she sat on the edge of his bed with a cool washcloth and dabbed his forehead with it slowly.

All the toxins that were leaving his body was causing there to be a stench in the room, but it was bearable. It was going to take forever to get the smell of the room. Leon kept trying to talk to Val, but there was very little that he was making any kind of sense with. She imagined that everything his body was going through at the time was making him slightly lethargic.

Mia played nurse and made sure she recorded Leon's vitals every time that she took them. His blood pressure and heart rate was as normal as someone who was going through withdrawal could be. It took four days for the symptoms to completely subside and at that point, all Val wanted to do was sleep for the next week. She felt so sluggish and dainty.

Dom had agreed to care for Leon's remaining days so Val could go home and get some sleep. Luke had picked her up so she didn't have to drive. There was a large chance that she would have fallen asleep behind the wheel and no one wanted that.

She slept for thirteen hours before she pulled herself out of bed even if she felt like she could sleep for another thirteen hours. Luke was gone and she imagined that he was away at work for the day. She lazed about the house for the day. She felt so tired and lazy. She couldn't even get the gumption to get up and make herself something to eat.

She thought back to when Luke told her about Samantha wanting to move in with them. She was still a little shocked that Luke had asked her to move in with him even though her house was bigger than his. She remembered that he had suggested that they just get a place together, but she really didn't want to do that since she had just bought her house barely a year ago, but she supposed she was willing to let it go if it meant that she and Luke could live together.

Val was curious as to what Shana and Jerry were always fighting about. Was it her fault? Had they been fighting since Jerry had met Val or had it been happening for longer than that? Val prayed that they weren't arguing because of her. She didn't want to be the underlying reason for their fights. She didn't want Samantha thinking it was Val's fault that they were fighting all the time.

Val imagined that she and Luke needed at least a four bedroom home for them. Val did eventually want to have a baby and Luke was just going to have to get over that. They hadn't really discussed the possibility of having a baby together, but Luke knew that she did want to have at least one baby.

She didn't have what one would call "baby fever" or "baby crazy", but she couldn't help, but feel a pang of some type of weird jealousy every time Jack called Mia "mum". Maybe it was her age. Her biological clock was no longer ticking, it was pounding. She supposed her body could feel that with each passing day she was getting closer and closer to the point to where she would miss out completely on being a mother. She supposed that she could always adopt if need be, but she really didn't want it to come to that. She wanted to feel that little life growing inside her. She wanted to feel the little movements. She wanted to feel that bond that was unique between mother and child

She managed to pull herself up from the couch and made her way into the bedroom so she could gather up some clothes to take a shower only to discover that all of her clothes were dirty. She rolled her eyes and sighed. She dug around in Luke's drawer until she found one of his t-shirts and decided that it was going to have to do until she done laundry.

She stood under the hot water of the shower. She had every intention of washing her hair and body, but as soon as the hot water hit her tired muscles, all she wanted to do was let the water do its magic. She rubbed her tired shoulders a little so she could relieve some of the tension build up.

She was stressed, but she honestly didn't feel that way. There were worse things that had happened in her life that would cause stress. She supposed that Leon coming back into the picture, discovering why her accident happened, finding out Samantha wants to move in with her and Luke, and Luke asking Val to move in with him all within a matter of days was a little overwhelming.

She sighed leaning her head on the shower wall. She felt like she needed to go back to sleep so she could meditate on everything that had happened. She wasn't certain why her thoughts were so jumbled. Maybe she needed more sleep, or maybe she had too much sleep. She couldn't recall ever being that tired whenever she had to work doubles and even triples at work.

Once she was done with her shower, she got out and dried off. She dressed in Luke's t-shirt and threw on a pair of small shorts so she didn't have to worry about flashing anyone. She threw a load of laundry in the wash and started it up when she heard a knock at the door. She didn't even have a chance to get to the front door before Tej let himself in.

He carried several bags in his hands and Val groaned. She wasn't sure what was in those bags, but she wasn't in the mood for it. All she was in the mood for was that big, soft, king sized bed that was currently whispering her name from the bedroom. That was, at least, until she saw the angry look in Tej's eyes.

"Alright, whose ass am I going to have to kick?" Val asked as she followed him into the kitchen. He set the bags down on the countertop before facing Val.

"My computer's ass," he said simply. She grinned.

"Oh, no. What happened?" she asked grabbing an apple from a fruit bowl that sat on another part of the counter. She hopped up on the counter as she took a bite of her apple.

"Fucking code being difficult. So I need a break," he said with a shrug. Val perked up. If that was the case, then there was only one thing that was in those bags. She slid off the counter and rushed over to the bags. Inside was assorted items for making cookies. Tej had a hidden talent that he really didn't like to voice because "it wasn't very manly". He could bake the best cookies, cakes, and other pastries that the world had ever tasted.

Anytime he was messing around with a program that wasn't agreeing with him in any way, he would bake his troubles away. There was something about it that helped him keep his mind off the frustrations of making a program or whatever it was he was doing on those computers of his. When Roman had found out about his talent, Rome had made fun of him all the way up until he tasted his chocolate chip cookies. Then Rome started treating him like a god whenever he was baking.

Val started pulling everything out of the bags so she could figure out what he was going to be making. It appeared to be chocolate chips, peanut butter, and no bake cookies. She hummed as she heard Tej rummaging through her cabinets for everything that he would need to bake the cookies with. His no bake cookies were her favorite.

"So, how is…" Tej started, but he trailed off at Leon's name. Val grinned.

"Leon," Val helped.

"Yeah, how is he?" Tej asked as he started preheating the oven. Val shrugged tossing her apple core in the trash.

"He's going to live. He's still trying to sleep it off though, but he's through the worst of it." Tej nodded.

"What's Dom going to do about this?" Val sighed and shrugged again. She wasn't sure why, but there was a certain frustration that tugged at her edges at his questions. She didn't want to talk about that. It was over for her. Her job was done. Leon was better and was only going to continue to get better if he allowed it to happen. She didn't really talk to Dom about what was going to happen with Leon after they sobered him up other than the fact that he would have to prove himself to return to the team.

"Is this going to be a little weird for you?" Tej prodded some more. Val crossed her arms over her chest.

"Why would it be weird?"

"Mia said he was one of your old boyfriends," he said nonchalantly. She rolled her eyes.

"Maybe, but that was like ten years ago. A lot of shit has happened and a lot of shit has changed," Val said a little more harsh than what she wanted. Tej paused for a moment and studied Val, but didn't say anything.

"What about Hobbs? He doesn't really come off as the jealous type, but…"

"It's because he's not the jealous type," Val snapped. "He's okay with this. Leon needed our help." Tej paused again as he studied her. Val knew what it was. She was being snippy with him and for no reason. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "I'm sorry. It's been a long couple days."

Tej moved as if her words were enough to drop the subject. She was glad for it since there was no reason for everyone to be worried about the fact that she and Leon once dated years ago. She was able to leave him without giving it a second thought, so maybe she didn't care for him as much as she thought even if they were together for so long.

"Luke asked me to move in with him," Val said simply. Tej shot her a look.

"Yeah, because you guys practically don't live together right now," he joked. Val chuckled and shook her head.

"Yeah, but he asked me to move in with him. I'm not sure how I feel about it though." Tej tilted his head a little in curiosity. "Sam said that her mom and her husband are arguing a lot lately and wants to move in with Luke. I was joking about it, but I told him that the only reason why he wanted me to move in with him was because he needed someone to watch Sam while he was gone. Now it's all I can think about."

"Do you really believe that?" Tej asked as he started mixing ingredients together in a mixing bowl.

"I don't think I do, but that doesn't stop me from thinking it," Val said handing him some of the ingredients that was out of his reach.

"Well, that's because you're a woman. You know how they are," he teased. Val cackled as he turned on the mixer to mix everything together. He turned it off and pulled it out of the dough. He reached in and grabbed some of the dough and held it out to Val.

It took three batches of cookies before Luke finally returned. By then, there was enough laundry done to where Val was able to change into a regular t-shirt and a pair of short shorts. Val was a little shocked to see Sam with him since she was pretty sure that it was a weekday and she had school. As soon as Sam walked into the kitchen, Val could tell that she had been crying. Her brown eyes were puffy and red rimmed them. She went to Val and wrapped her arms around her waist.

Luke stepped into the kitchen looking around at the mess Tej and Val had made.

"Did you kidnap Betty Crocker?" he asked with a grin.

"Tej's computer is being mean to him so he's baking his aggressions out," Val said holding Sam against her. Tej grabbed a cookie and tossed it to Luke who caught it with ease.

"You bake?" Luke asked with amusement as Tej handed another cookie to Samantha. Sam took it from him with a small smile.

"I bake," Tej confirmed as he winked to Sam who shyly hid her face in Val's stomach. Luke tasted the cookie and his eyes widened. He looked down at the cookie then to Tej who had a proud smile on his face.

"I know, right?" Tej said with a chuckle.

"Sam, go ahead and get your stuff in your room. I need to talk to Val," Luke said before tossing the rest of his cookie in his mouth. Sam was sure to grab a couple more cookies before leaving the kitchen to do what Luke had asked.

Luke snatched up another cookie before turning to Val. He glanced at Tej out of the corner of his eye, but still paid him no mind.

"I talked to Shana, she thinks it would be a good idea for Sam to come stay with us at least for a little while." Val crossed her arms.

"I thought we were going to wait until after we got a place together to have her come stay with us," Val hissed in a low voice. She didn't want Sam to hear what she was saying for fear of her taking it out of context. "It would have been better that way."

"Yeah, that was the plan until Shana told me that she left Jerry up in Canada and she's going to go back. Jerry's mother is sick and they're going to stay until…" Luke's voice trailed off leaving the rest of the sentence to the imagination. Val lowered her gaze. As much as she wanted to feel sorry for Jerry, she just couldn't bring herself to doing it.

"You should have woke me up," Val said walking to him. Luke snatched another cookie from the tray.

"I tried, you didn't move," Luke said taking a bite of his cookie. He grunted looking down at the cookie then waved it at Tej. "This is unnatural." Tej laughed as he removed another batch of cookies from the oven then popped another batch in.

"What about school?" Val asked catching Luke's attention.

"She's only got two weeks left or so. We can deal with it until summer break then we can go from there." She bit her lip as frustration shot through her. She wasn't even sure why she was feeling that way. She was okay with Sam staying with them. She couldn't make heads or tails of why she was feeling so moody.

She reached her hand out so she could grab one of Tej's cookies, but Luke slapped her hand away. She glared at him, but he ignored her as he picked up the platter that was stacked high with all the cookies that had been made so far.

"Get your own," Luke said walking out of the kitchen with all of the cookies.

"No, you share!" Val snapped, but made no move to go after him.

"Not a chance!" Val pouted a little then looked to Tej who was trying to keep from laughing.