Bridesmaid Up!


Kaitlynn walked out of her bedroom, twirling once around, showing off her bridesmaid dress. Her long, brunette hair fell straight down her back with a few locks draped over her shoulders. A silver chain hung around her neck with a blue stoned 'K' charm resting just above her cleavage. "You know, for bridesmaids dresses, these aren't that bad." she noted.

Each Chandler sister wore the same colored dress, but in slightly different styles. Catherine wore a purple, thin strapped high-low dress, Kaitlynn wore a strapless, long dress with the hem reaching the tops of her feet, and Heather wore the strapless knee-length dress. The eldest sister chuckled, tucking some hair behind her ear, "Who are you right now?" she asked, seeing the wide smile on Kait's face.

"Yeah." Heather nodded in agreement. "A few months ago, you wouldn't even fill out the RSVP card and now you're gushing over dresses. Catherine's hosting the brunch tomorrow."

Kaitlynn rolled her eyes, "Our father is getting married in two days." she reminded, her hands on her hips. "I am excited." Her smiled widened.

"Excited looks good on you Katie." Cat wrapped her arm around her younger sister's shoulders and pecked her temple.

"And, if you want, you can totally hang out with me, Josh, Cat and Byron." Heather added.

"Heather." Kaitlynn sighed, looking to the youngest Chandler sister, her eyebrow arched. "Dad has found happiness after everything he's been through. We have to make sure that everyone has a good time. We are the daughters of the groom, after all." Catherine planted her hand on her hip and nodded in agreement.

"We are bridesmaided up!" Kaitlynn exclaimed slapping high-fives with her sisters, all three busting into a fit of laughter. "Okay, let me grab the stuff from my room while you two think about which shoes to wear with these."

The middle Chandler sister spun on her heels and headed towards her bedroom. "Bridesmaided up?" Vincent repeated, making Kaitlynn jump and bite her lip to suppress a yelp. She closed the door behind her and placed her finger over her lips as she turned towards her window. "Is that even a verb?" the older male asked in a quiter voice as he slipped inside.

A small smile crossed Kaitlynn's lips, "You are clearly still feeling better if you are calling me on my grammar." she chuckled, brushing her bangs aside and placing a hand on her hip.

"Well, I haven't blacked out since I got the serum." He informed, his eyes moving up and down, taking in the sight of Kait in the dress. "How's the leg?"

"Sore." she answered, moving her right leg. "And, I've got a pretty gnarly scar." Kaitlynn lifted the hem of her dress and peeled off the large bandage, revealing a pink scar on the back of her calf. "I'll have it for the rest of my life, but, whatever." she shrugged her shoulders, reapplying the bandage. "Hazards of the job." She let go of the fabric, meeting Vincent's eyes from across the room.

Vincent nodded in agreement, shoving his hands in the coat pockets. "Dress looks nice." he complimented.

Kait looked down and let out a nervous chuckle. "Thanks." she admitted, smoothing out the fabric. "I mean, this is just a dry run. In a couple days my hair will be curled and makeup done." She bit her lip and sighed, flipping a portion of her hair off her shoulder. "Trying to be as enthusiastic as I can for this wedding. Not that I'm not happy, but, you know how weddings are." she rambled on.

"So, you're-" Vincent picked up a small gift bag from the box in the middle of the bed. "overcompensating?"

"Totally. Yeah." Kaitlynn sighed heavily, her shoulders sinking. "I guess I've been so caught up with what happened to my mom that I haven't always been there for my dad." she admitted, running her hands through her hair. "V, I just, I want this to be amazing for everyone." Kaitlynn plopped down on her bed with a heavy sigh. "I wish you could go with me." She reached up and touched the 'K' charm resting on her chest.

The corner of Vincent's lips turned upwards at the comment, and made him happy that she thought about it, because in truth, he wanted the same thing. "I mean, there might be a few obstacles with that." he pointed out, sitting down next to her.

She glanced up, their eyes meeting one another's. "Oh, you mean the whole..."

"Yeah, they run out of pigs in a blanket, and I just kind of..." he finished the statement with a mock growl, which turned into a laugh from them both.

In her laughter, Kaitlynn leaned forward and draped her arm over Vincent's shoulder. "Yeah." she agreed, a few strands of hair falling over her eyes. "And it would be kind of difficult to explain the whole, 'dead' thing." she added. "Although, you could go as Vincent Zalanski."

"Zalanski?" Vincent repeated.

Kaitlynn chuckled, "Yeah, I had this huge crush on him in, like, second grade." she admitted, brushing her hair from her face.

"Okay." Vincent nodded. "Where's this Zalanski from?"

"Somewhere that I have no relatives" she answered. "Denver?" She shrugged her shoulders.

"Denver." he nodded in agreement. "So, I'd probably be a skier." he elaborated, raising an eyebrow.

"When you aren't busy saving lives in the E.R." she added, gently caressing his shoulder, her eyes still meeting his and a smile on her lips.

"I like the sound of my Denver life." Vincent returned the smile, reaching out and tucking some hair behind her ear, his fingers brushing against her jawline. "Well..." he cleared his throat, "...I came here 'cause, um, I have another case for you."

Kaitlynn sighed, patting his shoulder as she stood up, "It's always work, work, work with you, Zalanski." She rested her hand on hip, some of her hair falling over her right shoulder.

"Yeah, I was out walking, and I saw this guy heading into his brownstone, but he reeked of blood." Vincent informed.

"Was he injured?" Kait asked, quirking her eyebrow.

Vincent shook his head, "But the smell, it was coming from his briefcase as well." he added. "And the thing is he was nervous, you know? He was having trouble putting his keys in the door. His heart was racing."

Kaitlynn nodded along and jumped when she heard a knock on her door, "Katie, Heather thinks she's found-" Cat began to say, cutting herself off mid-sentence when she saw Vincent standing in the room. "the perfect shoes." she finished, quickly walking into the room and closing the door behind her. "Hi, Vincent." she waved.

"Catherine." the older male greeted with a nod of his head.

Cat saw the box of party favors on the bed and walked over, "I'm just gonna grab these and leave you two alone." she gave them both a smile, holding the box under her arm and quickly left.

Kaitlynn rolled her eyes at her sister before turning back to Vincent, who gave a friendly smile towards Cat as she walked out. He took out a folded piece of paper from his coat pocket. "Here's his address, for what it's worth." he handed it to Kait, his fingers brushing against the back of her hand.

"Thanks." Kaitlynn smiled up at him, felling a warmth rise to her cheeks. "It was great seeing you, Dr. Zalanski."

"Go bridesmaid it up." Vincent replied with a light chuckle.

"You're never gonna let me live that down are you?" she asked, arching her brow.

Vincent shook his head, "No." he agreed, still smiling. Both then shared a laugh. "Well, I should let you get back to your sisters."

"Right." the younger brunette breathed, remembering that both Catherine and Heather were in her living room. She ran her fingers through her bangs. "Thanks for the tip. I'll have KC follow up on it first thing in the morning."

"Great." Vincent sighed. He took a step closer and moved her bangs aside and softly kissed her forehead.

Kaitlynn's cheeks grew warmer as she looked into Vincent's eyes when he pulled back, his fingers still on her cheek. She smiled and stood on her tiptoes, bracing her hand on his shoulder and placed a soft kiss on his scar. "Goodnight, Vincent." she whispered, meeting his eyes when she stepped back.

A smile crossed his lips as he stared into her warm, brown eyes. "Goodnight, Kaitlynn." he replied, taking a couple steps back before climbing out the window and jumping over the fire escape railing.

She stood there for another long minute, her heart fluttering in her chest, a smile across her lips and a faint blush across her cheeks.


"So, someone saw a guy coming home with blood on him?" Kimberly questioned over the phone the next morning. "How much blood?"

"Caller didn't say, but it seemed legit." Kaitlynn answered, holding her cell against her ear while she hung up some pink and white pennants across Catherine's gas fireplace. "They gave me an address though."

"Where do you want these?" Heather asked Catherine as they walked into the apartment, carrying two large vases of pink flowers.

"Over there by the quiche." Catherine answered, pointing to the living room table.

Kaitlynn finished hanging the pennants and moved out of her sisters' way, "Just do a reverse look-up, see who lives there." she told KC. "The address is 621 23rd Street. I've gotta go. I'm gonna help sprinkle some confetti."

"I'm eloping." Kim said on the other line with a roll of her eyes before hanging up.

Kait chuckled at her partner's comment, slipping her cell phone in the back pocket of her black jeans as she walked into Cat's kitchen, grabbing a couple plates of fresh baked mini muffins. "These smell amazing, Cat." she sighed, setting them down on the coffee table in the living room.

"Thanks, I was up at six making them." the eldest sister smiled, smoothing out her red blouse. "New case?" she asked, stepping closer to her sister.

"Yeah." Kait nodded, glancing over Cat's shoulder, watching as Heather ducked into the bathroom for a minute. "Vincent gave me a tip last night, and KC's running it down while we're here." she added in a whisper.

"Sorry if I interrupted anything between you guys last night." Catherine apologized.

"You didn't." Kaitlynn assured, adjusting her navy blue sweater before reaching up to caress the 'K' charm necklace she was wearing again. "He just stopped by to give me that tip and got sidetracked when I was talking about dad's wedding."

Catherine noticed how gently her sister was touching the charm around her neck, knowing she treasured the gift Vincent had given her for Christmas a few weeks prior. Heather returned and grabbed a mimosa from the kitchen counter, "I love that necklace of yours, Katie." she smiled. "Where'd you get it again?"

"Uh, thanks." Kaitlynn replied, her hand dropping from her neck. "I can't remember where exactly. I just saw it and thought it was nice and bought it. If I find a 'C' or 'H' one, I'll get them for you two."

There was a knock on Catherine's door and she ran to open it, Brooke and her two friends standing in the hall.

Within minutes the brunch party was in full swing. "This was so sweet of you girls." Brooke said to Cat and Kait. "And to take the morning off of work-"

"It's no problem." Catherine assured.

"Yeah, this way, we can go through all the details." Kaitlynn added.

"Which reminds me." one of Brooke's friends, Sahara, spoke up. "Shoes."

"Yes!" Cat snapped her fingers, taking the spot on the couch next to her youngest sister. "Heather tried on this great silver pair." Kaitlynn smiled and sat on the couch's armrest next to her sisters.

"Silver's kind of hard to match though." Sahara pointed out.

"Can we do nude?" Brooke's other friend, Paige, asked, walking over and propping her heel on the couch cushion. "Check out my new Louboutins."

"I have the same ones." Sahara grinned. "I'm just afraid of scuffing them on the dance floor."

"Oh, just seal them with nail polish, I do it to all of my shoes." Paige suggested, sitting down on the other side of Heather. "But you know what, Brooke, you're the bride, what do you think?" she asked, everyone looking to the bride-to-be for the answer.

Brooke lightly bit her lip, her eyes landing on her three soon-to-be stepdaughters, "If you guys don't mind." she nervously replied.

"No." the three sisters answered, sharing a glance with one another. "Nude's great." Heather added.

"We can all buy the same shoe, and then we can be matching from head to sole." Catherine giggled.

"Brooke, your future stepdaughters are adorable." Paige chuckled, smiling at the three sisters.

"Meanwhile, Kaitlynn." Sahara glanced to the middle Chandler sister, who was sipping on her orange juice. "How is it you don't have, like, 18 guys to take to this wedding?" she asked.

Kaitlynn set her glass down and cleared her throat, "Um..." she swallowed, then her phone started ringing from her back pocket, "That's work. I should take this." She grabbed her phone and ran into the kitchen. "Hey KC, what'd you find?"

"So, the building's owned by Drake and Sabrina Meyer." the older detective informed. "You got to go online. Sabrina's this crazy matchmaker for millionaires."

Kaitlynn slid her sister's iPad closer to her and typed in the couple's names into a search engine, "Who's the husband?" she asked, tapping her boot on the floor.

"Some finance guy." Kimberly scoffed. "Apparently that's her specialty, which is why he's the poster boy for the business. You know, follow her dating advice, you get a guy just like Drake: ultra-educated, ultra-successful, ultra-boring."

"And if our tip is right, in ultra-trouble." Kaitlynn added. "See if you can find a victim. I'm here at bridal headquarters, making very important decisions about shoes." she rolled her eyes and hung up her phone. She walked around the counter, dropping her phone into her purse. "What'd I miss?"

Paige walked up to the counter and topped off her mimosa, seeing the article about Drake and Sabrina on the iPad screen. "Are you using Sabrina Meyer?" she asked, looking to Kaitlynn. "The famous matchmaker."

"Wait." Heather chuckled, "Katie, you're using a matchmaker?" she arched her eyebrow in her sister's direction.

"No." Kaitlynn rebuked. "I don't need a matchmaker."

"But if you don't have somebody to take to this wedding..." Sahara began to say.

"And Brooke knows all the cutest guys." Paige added, walking over and standing next to the aforementioned blonde.

"At least, let me sit you at the singles table." Brooke offered.

"Not necessary." the detective shook her head, shrugging on her blue leather jacket. "I'm happy to sit with Catherine and Heather."

"Cat and Heather are going with their boyfriends." Brooke reminded.

"So you're going to be sitting alone, directing the cater waiter on who's having chicken, steak, or vegetarian." Paige added. "And weddings can be torture by yourself."

"That's it. I'm changing your table." the bride-to-be stated.

"No, I have someone in my life." Kaitlynn admitted as she grabbed her purse off the counter, not realizing what exactly she just said.

"You do?" Heather questioned with shock, jumping to her feet.

Kait's eyes widened at the realization of what she'd just set in motion. Everyone, save for Catherine, started bombarding her with questions, "Who is he? What does he do?"

"He is..." the detective backed up a few steps, her back against the counter. "...a doctor."

"Wait." the youngest Chandler sister spoke up, "You're dating a doctor?"

Brooke crossed her arms over her chest. "And why aren't you bringing him to the wedding?"

Kaitlynn swallowed the lump in her throat, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation on the fly. "It's too early in the relationship for me to bring him to a wedding." she answered with a nervous chuckle.

"Please." Paige scoffed. "It's just a big party."

"Yeah." Heather agreed. "It's not like I'm in love with Josh or anything."

"I am gonna get him a place setting." Brooke offered. "What's his name?"

"No, Brooke." Kaitlynn shook her head, "Really, you don't have to."

The older woman sighed, taking one of the young brunette's hands in hers, "Look Kaitlynn, your dad's been really nervous about how you're handling this whole wedding thing." she admitted. "I think it'd be really nice for him to see you there with someone."

"Tell us his name." Paige grinned.

"Yeah, come on, Katie." Heather nodded with a smile. "Bridesmaid up."

Seeing all the looks on their faces made Kaitlynn sigh heavily, "His name's Vincent Zalanski." she answered, feeling her heart drop into her stomach as she wondered how she was going to get out of this tangled web she wove.

Excusing herself for the moment, with a quick lie about changing the bandage on her leg, Kaitlynn ran into the bathroom and closed the door, gripping the sides of the sink as she caught her breath. A few seconds later, the door opened and Catherine slipped inside, "Katie, what the hell was that?"

"I'm sorry, I panicked." Kait sighed, sitting on the edge of the bathtub. "I didn't realize what I said until it was too late and now I have no idea on how I'm going put this genie back in the bottle." she ran her hands over her hair.

"But, since you brought it up." Catherine rolled up her sister's pant leg and removed the bandage. She grabbed a new one along with some antibiotic ointment and started applying it to the scar tissue, "If it were possible..." she taped the bandage over the scar, "...would you want Vincent to go with you?" She stood up and helped Kait to her feet.

"Yeah. I do." Kaitlynn answered honestly, squeezing her sister's hand.


Kimberly hung up her desk phone, looking towards the bullpen entrance, seeing a distressed look in her best friend's eyes as she walked over. "What happened?" KC asked.

"I told them I have a boyfriend. And now that boyfriend is supposed to come to the wedding." Kaitlynn answered, plopping down in her desk chair. "KC, it was the way that they were looking at me. It's like we look at families who've lost their loved ones. Like they felt sorry for me." she rambled on, leaning back in her chair. "Or there was something wrong with me because I don't have someone to take."

"And that is why I don't go to weddings alone." KC noted, sitting on the edge of her partner's desk. "For one of my brother's weddings, I was so hard up I took Joe."

"Joe?" the younger detective repeated, quirking her eyebrow. "Like our boss Joe? How did I not know about this? Does Miranda know about it?"

"Yeah, I'm sure Joe told her, and it was before you and I were partners." the older detective defended. "Listen, take Evan, okay? You took him to the engagement party."

Kait's cell started ringing from her purse and she checked the caller ID, "It's Heather." she sighed. "She probably wants to know more about my fake boyfriend. Who she knows isn't Evan because I gave fake boyfriend a name."

"Okay, so just tell everybody he's busy. They'll be so distracted by Evan's accent, they won't ask questions." Kimberly suggested. "Besides, that guy's got to get out of the morgue."

Kait declined the call and set her cell aside, looking over the papers on her partner's desk, "Hey KC, who's Neil Mendel from Chadmore Capital?" she asked, looking up at her partner.

"You can't take him 'cause he's unofficially missing." the older detective replied.

"And he's a finance guy, like our potential perp." the younger detective reminded. "What's his story?"

"It's only been a few hours but, you know, it fit the timeline, so I put him on the list." KC shrugged her shoulders.

Kaitlynn pushed her chair back and jumped to her feet, "I know it seems like a stretch, but what else do we have to do?" she looked up Neil's address inputted it into her phone's GPS.

"Besides find you a date?" Kimberly chuckled, which earned her a glare from her friend. "Okay. Let's go." she held her hands up defensively as she walked past the younger brunette, the pair heading off towards the parking lot.


The two female detectives walked into the potential victim's apartment, "So, preliminary reports say that Neil Mendel is single, 33." Kaitlynn informed as they began looking around.

"33?" Kim repeated, rolling her eyes, "We're so in the wrong line of work." They walked through the open bedroom door. Kimberly found a grey folder on the ottoman at the foot of the bed, "Maybe this holds the secrets to his success." she muttered, flipping through the papers in the folder.

Kaitlynn moved a portion of the blanket on the bed and found an open condom wrapper, "So much for him being single." she noted.

"There goes a wedding date option." KC joked.

Kaitlynn rolled her eyes and continued looking around, seeing two wine glasses on the entertainment center. She glanced down and saw a small, red stain on the white rug. "Kim." she nudged her partner's arm.

Kimberly glanced down and saw the same thing her partner saw, "Blood?" she guessed, the two detectives sharing a look.

"Mr. Mendel?" Kaitlynn called out, stepping around the stain. hearing a faint sound coming from the bathroom. "NYPD."

The two detectives stepped into the bathroom, which was filled with steam. Kait slowly opened the shower door, and they saw Neil Mendel with two gunshot wounds in his chest, laying in a pool of his own blood.


In another part of town, Vincent was hitting his punching bag to burn off some excess energy. The only though running through his mind was accompanying Kaitlynn to her dad's wedding that weekend. He grabbed the tranqu gun and set it in front of J.T. "You hit me, nothing happens, then maybe I can go out and..."

The professor quirked his brow, "You think you're cured?" he questioned his friend. "Because your DNA is what it is."

"I know, but maybe I have more control now." Vincent leaned against the table. "Kaitlynn's dad's wedding is this weekend. She wants me to go with her."

"Clearly your new lease on life has landed you in lala land." J.T. chuckled, shaking his head.

"Maybe, but we won't know until you try." Vincent shrugged. When his roommate just went back to what he was doing, he tried a different approach. "I'm the reason you don't have a girlfriend."

J.T. looked up at his friend, "I have a girlfriend." he rebuked. "Or at least, I'm on my way to having one."

The taller male nodded, "Yeah, I saw her picture online. She is hot. Maybe I'll sleep with her, too."

"Too?" J.T. quirked his brow.

"Your prom date, Jill McManahan?" Vincent reminded. "She was spectacular."

J.T. just shook his head and got up, grabbing his books and papers before leaving the loft and heading downstairs. "J.T.! Come on." Vincent called after him. "Okay, you know what? Thanks! Because now I'm more pissed than if you'd actually hit me. And...Nothing. I'm fine." He smiled to himself and punched the boxing bag a couple more times. "I know it's a dumb test, but I passed!"

Vincent's thoughts went back to the previous night, how his heart sped up when he saw Kaitlynn in the long dress and a smile on her face. How, when she brought up taking him with her to the wedding, it made him feel almost normal. Now, all he could picture was Kaitlynn in that purple dress, her brunette hair in waves of curls, and their arms around each other as they danced all through the night; her arms around his neck and his around her waist, eyes locked with one another's.


Kaitlynn and Kimberly returned to their precinct and informed Joe about what they had found at the apartment. "So, what's Drake Meyer's beef with Neil Mendel?" the lieutenant questioned.

"Not sure yet." Kim answered, standing to the right of her boss.

"But, we do know that he had a date last night." Kait added. "Unmade bed, condoms, wine glasses."

"Any prints or DNA?" Joe asked, looking to the younger detective.

"The apartment's been wiped down." Evan informed, walking up to the trio, forensic report in hand. "I couldn't even get partials of the glasses."

"What about the blood on the rug?" Kaitlynn quirked her brow, glancing up at her colleague and friend.

"It wasn't blood." the medical examiner corrected. "It was some kind of contaminant."

"But lucky for us, Mendel's financials show monthly payments to Finest Matchmaking." Kimberly pulled up their victim's financial records on her computer.

"And guess who's married to the owner of Finest?" Kaitlynn continued, pointing to the picture of their suspect on the board, "Drake Meyer."

Joe folded his arms over his chest, "Chandler, you may have some anonymous tip on this Meyer guy, but if I were you, I'd start by finding your date." he advised, patting the young brunette on the shoulder before walking towards his office.

Kait's eyes widened and she looked to Kimberly, "Okay, he is talking about the case, right?" she questioned, to which her partner nodded in confirmation before walking in the direction of the vending machines. She then turned to Evan, "Could I talk to you for a second?"

"About the wedding?" Evan inquired. "I said yes."

"Really?" Kaitlynn arched her brow. "Did Kim?"

"Kim? No. Heather." Evan corrected. "She was trying to call you. She asked me to go to the wedding with her."

"With her." the young detective repeated. "Heather has a boyfriend."

"Had." he rebuffed. "Apparently, her and Josh just broke up."

Kait sighed heavily, bracing her hands on her hips. "I thought she was calling me about something else." she bit her lip and shook her head.

Evan cracked a small smile, "Were you going to ask me to...?" he began to pry, but Kait held her hand up to stop him, "It's fine." she assured. "Just save me a dance." Kaitlynn flashed a bright smile and headed off after her partner.


"Wait, your sister is taking Evan to the wedding now?" Kimberly repeated, reaching down to grab the bag of SunChips from the vending machine.

"It's my own fault." Kaitlynn sighed with a roll of her eyes, pushing herself off the wall. "I told her I had a boyfriend."

A grin spread across KC's lips, "You know what, maybe you should talk to the matchmaker alone." she suggested, leaning against her desk, popping a chip into her mouth. "If we both go with our badges out, she'll clam up. But..." she lightly jabbed her friend's shoulder, "...if you go in with your wedding angst, she might offer some intel on the hubby."

Kait let out a scoff, "Translation; you want me to interview a suspect's wife just so I can get a date to my father's wedding." She tapped her fingers against her hip and quirked her eyebrow.

"Well, the wedding date would be an added perk." KC replied with a sly smile. All her partner did was narrow her eyes and grab her leather jacket off the back of her chair before heading out to the parking lot.


Kaitlynn followed Sabrina Meyer through the Finest Matchmaking building, having left her gun, badge, and leather jacket in her car. "Are you promiscuous?" Sabrina asked.

"I don't have time to be promiscuous." Kaitlynn answered with a light chuckle.

The older woman chuckled dryly. "Funny. Don't be too funny. Men don't like that." she stated, leading the younger brunette into a smaller waiting room. "The reason that I asked is, there's no sex on the first three dates. You break the rules, you're out, no refunds. Men don't like whores." She motioned for Kaitlynn to sit at the table by the window and held a grey folder in front of her. "And I need you to fill out a profile. No padding your resume or your bra size."

"And then I can get a guy as great as your husband?" Kaitlynn asked, taking the folder from Sabrina. "I saw on your Web site that he's a finance guy?"

"Real estate." Sabrina clarified, sitting at a computer. "Luxury resorts."

Kait put on a smile and flipped through the packet, "Woah, this is detailed." her eyes widened at the information on the pages. "Do all your clients fill this out?" The business owner gave a nod in confirmation. Kait tapped her finger on the tabletop for a minute. "Do you think I could get a sneak peek at my options first?" she asked, widening her grin.

"Sorry." Sabrina apologized. "We guarantee our clients' privacy."

The younger brunette nodded and sighed, glancing down at the packet in front of her. Her eyes darted back to Sabrina, and noticed the designer heels she was wearing. "Love your shoes. I was literally just drooling over a pair of nude Louis' this morning." she giggled.

Seeing that flattery wasn't gonna get her anywhere, Kaitlynn sighed and bit her lip, mentally berating herself for bringing her personal life into her undercover work, "The truth is, Sabrina." she let out a shaky breath, "My father's wedding is this weekend, and I had brunch with the other bridesmaids this morning, and not only do I not have the guy, I don't even have the shoes." Kaitlynn chuckled dryly and put on a pleading look, nervously playing with her fingers. "But being here with you, it just, gives me so much hope."

A smile crossed the businesswoman's lips, "That is why I do this job." Sabrina sighed, motioning for Kaitlynn to come to her computer, "Come on. Let me show you hope."

The brunette detective smiled back and jumped to her feet, taking a seat at the desk and began scrolling through the different male clients. It took her around ten minutes before the name of her victim came up. Kaitlynn took a breath, "Neil Mendel's a client?" she asked, glancing to Sabrina.

"You're his type." she noted, going over some information on her tablet, "But he is not available." she added with a shake of her head.

"No, um..." Kait tucked some hair behind her ear, "...he was found dead in his apartment this morning. I heard it on the news." She stood up and slid her hands in her jean pockets, "They think he might have been murdered."

Sabrina covered her mouth in shock at the news and braced herself against the desk behind her. A handsome man in a suit walked up to the two women, "Drake." Sabrina gasped, grabbing the man's arm, "Neil Mendel was murdered this morning."

"Oh, my God." Drake gasped, but kept his composure calm.

"Kaitlynn, this is my husband Drake." Sabrina introduced, before turning her full attention to her husband,. "He was with Britney McCabe last night. She called here really upset."

"Do you think something happened on the date?" Kaitlynn questioned, glancing between the wife and husband.

"Oh, no, no way." the dark-haired woman answered quickly, "I want to reassure you that we screen our clients very carefully." She looked around and grabbed the paperwork for Kaitlynn and handed it to her. "Why don't you take this packet home, look it over? I promise you, we will find you a great guy."

Kaitlynn nodded and took the file, holding it close to her chest, and placing a hand on Sabrina's shoulder, "I am sorry about what happened to Neil." she consoled, putting on a smile as she walked out of the building.


"So, Neil's mystery date is named Britney McCabe." Kaitlynn informed Kimberly over the phone as she entered her apartment, holding her paperwork with one hand. "She called Finest after the date, sounding pretty upset." She shut her door with her foot and saw Heather get up from the couch. "Speaking of upset, I gotta go. See ya tomorrow." She hung up her phone and slipped it in her back pocket.

"Where the hell have you been Katie?" Heather asked, standing up and already dressed for the rehearsal dinner. She wore a knee-length green dress and a pink headband in her hair. "I've been trying to reach you all day."

"Evan told me what happened with Josh." Kait sighed, hugging her sister. "Can't believe the jerk didn't wait till after the wedding."

The youngest Chandler nodded in agreement. "So, you're okay with me bringing Evan?" she questioned. "Because I can not be the only one alone at that wedding. And I've had this huge crush on him."

That comment made the detective blink in shock, "Wait. You have?"

"You're not mad, are you?" Heather met her older sister's eyes.

Kaitlynn shook her head, "No. I just didn't know." she put on a smile.

Heather grinned, "Good, because I never would've acted on it, but now that you're bringing this boyfriend, Vincent Zalanski..."

"You'd thought you'd make your move." Kait finished.

"Almost as crazy as Cat suggesting we run out and buy Louboutins." Heather chuckled. Her sister's cell started ringing, "Make that fast, you've got ten minutes to get ready." She reminded, pointing to the clock on the mantle.

"Got it." Kaitlynn nodded, grabbing her phone, "Chandler."

"So I'm your boyfriend now?" Vincent's voice questioned on the other line.

"I never said boyfriend." Kaitlynn defended, holding her phone against her ear as she slipped into her bedroom, where Vincent was waiting, leaning against the door frame of the bathroom. "She misinterpreted. And this is starting to become a habit." The detective set her phone and folder on her bed.

"Sounds like I'm going to a wedding." Vincent noted, moving closer to Kaitlynn.

The younger brunette chuckled dryly, "Yeah, that was just a dumb reflex." she defended. "I'm gonna get out of it. I'm gonna tell them at the rehearsal dinner tonight." She glanced at the black dress hanging up on her closet door, "Which I have to get ready for." She shrugged off her jacket and unclasped her necklace, setting it on her nightstand.

Kaitlynn grabbed her dress and ducked into her bathroom, keeping the door open so they could still talk, but keeping out of view. "Oh, we found a body." she informed. "There was a guy in a steam room." She took off her sweater and jeans, tossing them onto the floor of her bedroom.

Vincent nodded, standing by the foot of the bed with his hands in his coat pockets, "Maybe you don't have to get out of it." he brought up, changing the subject back to the wedding topic.

"The wedding?" Kait questioned, poking her head around the door, thinking on it for a moment. "You might be right. Mr. Blood-on-his-hands is married to a matchmaker." she went on, ducking back into the bathroom and stepped into her dress. "She said she'd find me someone for the wedding. Although, she doesn't realize that I'm trying to arrest her husband for murder." Kait walked out of the bathroom, turning her back towards Vincent, "Zip me?"

The older male swallowed, a sudden nervous feeling coming over him when he saw the younger woman's bare back, and a tattoo on the lower section of a small fax with its tail curled around its feet. "Maybe I could go with you." he suggested, zipping up the dress. "Everyone thinks I'm coming anyway."

"Vincent, I was kidding before." Kaitlynn admitted, turning to face him. She moved to grab a necklace from her nightstand.

"But I'm not." Vincent continued. He took the silver heart necklace from her and held in front of her neck, while she held her hair up so he could clasp it. "Look, I did a test today. Wasn't scientific but-" he cleared his throat, "in med school, you learn that if a patient says that they feel better, then they're usually right. Doesn't matter what the test shows." he clasped the necklace and let the chain fall against her olive skin. "And, I feel better." he assured as she turned to face him. "Much better."

Kaitlynn touched the silver heart charm, her eyes meeting Vincent's. "But are you gonna risk all of that because I don't want to go to a wedding alone?" she questioned, keeping her composure when she truly wished he could go with her.

"It doesn't feel like a risk." Vincent reassured with a smile.

The young brunette's heartbeat sped up, "I'm just..." she took a breath and exhaled. "I'm just concerned about you. What if you're exposed?" She brushed past him and grabbed a pair of silver hoop earrings from her jewelry box. "Let's say you are better, what about your identity? You have been working for years to fly under the radar, and then you're gonna introduce yourself to a bunch of people from all over the place." she put in her earrings and grabbed a silver clip, pulling a portion of her hair back. "And what about my dad?" Kaitlynn continued, sliding her feet into a pair of black heels. "You're gonna talk to him about your fake life in Denver, and then what?" she shrugged. "Then you're Vincent Zalanski to him forever. It's not fair to you."

She grabbed a tan coat from the back of her bedroom door. "I can handle being Vincent Zalanski." Vincent assured, walking up to her. "Forever." Their eyes met once again.

Kaitlynn swallowed the lump in her throat, taking one of his hands. "But if anything ever happened to you because I didn't want to go to my father's wedding alone, I'd never be able to forgive myself." she admitted, interlocking their fingers. "Thank you, but I cannot let you do this for me." She reached up and caressed his scarred cheek with her free hand. "I wouldn't know what to do if anything happened to you."

Vincent caressed the back of her hand he held and kept gazing into her eyes. "Okay." he relinquished, even though it hurt inside.

"Okay." Kait echoed, her hands pulling away from him. She leaned up and pecked his cheek. "I'll call you tomorrow." She stepped back and shrugged on her coat, grabbing her phone and purse, digging for her keys as she stepped out into the hallway.


"And then we live happily ever after." Brooke grinned after finishing up the ceremony walkthrough. The bridesmaids all applauded and hollered in excitement.

"And then we get to eat." Thomas added. "Which I suggest we go do now. See you, boys." He waved off his groomsmen, who walked out of the event hall with the bridesmaids in tow,

"Can I talk to you guys for a second?" Kaitlynn tapped her father's shoulder, halting him and his bride-to-be.

"Katie, I've actually got something for you." Brooke smiled, handing the younger female a place card with Vincent's name written in calligraphy on it.

"Wow." the brunette sighed, taking the place card. "It's wonderful, but..."

"What? We didn't spell it right?" Thomas questioned, to which Kait shook her head. Brooke sighed in relief. "I have to go talk to the wedding planner about our song list." she excused herself, kissing Thomas' cheek before leaving.

"Sorry if she pushed a little hard about Vincent." Thomas apologized to his middle daughter.

Kaitlynn chuckled lightly, clearing her throat, "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about-"

"No, you're taking him." Thomas interrupted, holding up his finger to stop his daughter from protesting. "What? You think it's too fast? He'll be in the pictures, and what if it doesn't work out?"

"Exactly." Kait nodded in agreement, putting on a small smile.

"Katie, sweetie, you're thinking too much." her father brushed her bangs aside, lightly tapping her forehead. "Ever since your mom died. The same thing happened to me." Thomas informed, after seeing a flash of sadness in his daughter's eyes. "When I first met Brooke, I kept thinking of all the reasons that it couldn't work. I'm too old. She's too young. Your mother." he listed off, lifting Kaitlynn's chin so he could look into her eyes. "And then I just realized, what am I waiting for?"

The corner of Kait's lips turned upward and she swallowed the lump in her throat. "And here you are." she noted, glancing around the event hall where people were working on putting up the decorations.

Thomas nodded, "Proof that there's no reward without the risk." he moved his hand and tapped his daughter's nose, "So, you're taking him." he told her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "Besides, I can enjoy my wedding now, and not worry about you." Thomas leaned down and kissed the top of Kaitlynn's head and gave her shoulders a light squeeze. "C'mon, let's get some dinner."


The next morning, Kimberly read over the Finest Matchmaking profile her partner had filled out. "Strong, vulnerable, intelligent, heroic?" She read off some qualities her partner had listed, quirking her brow and glancing to the younger brunette.

"Okay, I filled it out late last night, while having a couple glasses of wine." Kaitlynn defended, popping two Ibuprofen pills and chasing them down with a swig of peach flavored tea.

Kimberly flipped through the packet, "The whole thing?" she chuckled, setting it on her partner's desk.

"Okay, you didn't see my dad's face." Kaitlynn sighed. "He was almost in tears when he found out that I was bringing someone." She picked up the packet, debating on if she should actually turn it into Sabrina.

KC smiled at her young partner, "Anyway, your little visit with Mrs. Meyer proved incredibly profitable." she informed, pulling up a file on her computer. "I called her to follow up on that message Britney McCabe left after her date with Neil. Don't worry, I didn't blow your cover, but listen to this."

She hit play on the audio file 'Sabrina, it's Britney. Look, I guess I had too much to drink and things got out of control and I did something really bad.'

"Sounds like a confession if you ask me." Kimberly rested her hand on her hip. "Maybe Neil forced himself on her; she fought back."

The younger detective shook her head, "She and Neil had sex. Maybe that's the bad thing she's talking about on the message." she looked up at her partner.

"Sex is a bad thing?" the dark skinned detective arched her brow. "Maybe that's why you don't have a date to the wedding." she chuckled and nudged the younger girl's arm.

"No, KC, it's one of Sabrina Meyer's rules." Kaitlynn rebuked. "And if anyone breaks the rules, they're out."


Later that night, Kaitlynn drove to the warehouse to talk with Vincent and J.T. "Looking for Watson?" the professor joked, holding the door open as the detective stepped inside, offering her a bottled water

"Hello to you too, J.T." the brunette smiled, taking the offered drink.

"What I want to know is, when's he getting on the payroll?" J.T. asked. "'Cause he's living on my salary, even though he's doing your job."

Kaitlynn arched her brow in confusion, swallowing the water she drank from the bottle. "What's he talking about?" she asked, walking towards Vincent while screwing the cap back on the bottle.

The older male shrugged his shoulders, "I figured, if I can't be your fake boyfriend, then maybe I can be your fake detective." he clarified, handing Kait a file he found at the crime scene he checked out earlier that day. "It's bogus."

"A resort in Kuwait." Kaitlynn read over the file. "This must be what Neil was talking to his lawyer about." she closed the folder and set it down on the table beside her. "Unfortunately, he alibied out. That's what I came to tell you."

"Maybe it wasn't blood on him, and it was that paint you were looking at." J.T. shrugged, sipping from his coffee mug while going over papers.

"Wait, what paint?" the detective arched her brow.

"I found some red particle in the floor. It looked like blood, but was actually red paint." Vincent answered.

"Huh." Kaitlynn bit her lip, remembering her meeting with Sabrina Meyer a couple days prior, specifically the black Louboutin heels she was wearing. Paige's words from the bridal shower brunch about sealing the bottoms of her shoes with nail polish coming to mind. "Unless it was red polish on the sole of somebody's designer shoe." she inferred, dropping her purse on a nearby chair.

Both J.T. and Vincent looked at her with confused looks, not knowing what she was talking about. The detective held her hand up, "Girl secret." she defended. "Alright, let's say that Drake found out that Neil was going to expose him." she posed a hypothetical scenario. "He told his wife, whose livelihood depends on his reputation. She takes matters into her own hands. She kills Neil, panics, so her husband comes over and cleans up the evidence."

"Which is why the blood was on him." Vincent concluded, the pair having stepped closer to each other without realizing it. He looked down into her warm, brown eyes and noticed the smile across her lips. "What?" he asked her, hearing a slight uptick in her heartbeat.

"You're not fake." Kaitlynn rebuffed his earlier comment, reaching up and touching his shoulder. "You're the real thing." She continued to stare into his eyes for a few more seconds, until her cell phone rang, which snapped her out of her daze. Snapping back to reality, Kait grabbed her phone from her purse, "Chandler. Sabrina? Hi." she chuckled lightly, tucking some hair behind her ear. "I answered my phone like that because I'm watching Law & Order and got caught up in it."

She walked around the loft, listening to Sabrina. Kaitlynn shook her head, "No, I didn't get a chance to fill out the entire thing." she lied about filling out the dating profile, which was folded up in her purse. "You found a date for me?" the detective blinked in shock, "No, he sounds great, but I'm gonna go alone. Yes, I will be in touch very soon, promise." Kaitlynn ended the call and sighed heavily, rolling her eyes. "Kinda bummed she's our killer. Now my dad's gonna have to worry about me the entire night because I cannot find someone to go with me." she slid her phone into the pocket of her brown leather jacket and ran her fingers through her hair.

Seeing the look in her eyes, Vincent thought of a solution that could help her. "Okay, J.T., do you still have your tux?" he looked to his friend.

"Vincent." Kaitlynn looked at him, her hand on her hip.

"No, you're not going." J.T. rebuked, shaking his head.

"It's not for me." the former soldier clarified. "You are going to take Kaitlynn to her father's wedding."

"What?" they both questioned in unison, J.T. practically jumping out of his chair.

Vincent met Kaitlynn's eyes, "Your dad wants to see you with someone." he reminded. "J.T. has a PhD. He cleans up pretty nice. So, he can be your fake boyfriend. No strings, no risk."

Even though it sounded a bit ridiculous, the young detective couldn't argue with the point he made. "Food'll be good?" she glanced over her shoulder at the professor, who reluctantly agreed, his expression showing everything but enthusiasm at the idea. Kaitlynn said her goodbyes to the two men, grabbing her purse and heading out, not even noticing her Finest Matchmaking profile had fallen out and landed on the concrete floor.


Sabrina Meyer sat in one of the 125th's interrogation rooms alongside her lawyer. Catherine sat across from them, tapping her nails on the table. The door opened and in walked Kaitlynn, who smiled at Sabrina in greeting before standing next to her sister.

"You've got to be kidding me." the matchmaker scoffed. "I spent hours finding you a wedding date. She posed as a client."

"We're not here to talk about my love life; we're here to talk about yours." Kaitlynn stated, leaning against the corner of the table.

"My client's love life is none of your business." Sabrina's lawyer spoke up.

"Except for when she's a person of interest in a homicide." Catherine corrected, pushing her chair back and standing up.

"Oh, and your perfect catch hubby-" Kaitlynn continued, "he's next door telling my partner everything about his Ponzi scheme of a business."

Sabrina's eyes widened, but her lawyer interjected saying she has no knowledge of her husband's business deals. "Drake's business is 110% legitimate." she stated.

"Bullshit." the detective spoke over her, calling out the fraud. "You sell happily ever after like it's a recipe. No sex, don't be funny, fix your flaws, and then you can have someone as great as Drake." she pushed herself off the table and stared down the blue-eyed woman. "So how dumb do you look if it's exposed that your grand prize is a booby prize? And I don't think that's padding it." she smirked with a chuckle.

Sabrina leaned forward, not backing down from the young detective. "You bitch." she said with a sarcastically sweet tone.

Kaitlynn shrugged her shoulders. "You knew Mendel was unavailable even before the news of the murder broke."

"I meant, he was already fixed up." Sabrina defended.

"Britney McCabe, the woman that you set up to be your fall guy." Kait noted. "Neil said that he liked petite brunettes. She's a curvy blonde. So why even set them up?"

Catherine cleared her throat and opened the file in front of her, "We looked up Miss McCabe and found out that she has a record." she informed. "Something you already knew about because you run thorough background checks on every single one of your clients. It may seem pretty open and shut with her being the last one with him and her record."

"But we both know that you shot Neil to keep him quiet about Drake's business deals." Kaitlynn added. "Oh, and you left your red nail polish at the crime scene."

Sabrina leaned back in the chair, showing off her french manicure nails. "I don't wear red nail polish."

"Not on your nails." the detective glanced down at the businesswoman's designer heels. "Sealing them prevents scuffing, right?" she quirked her brow.

"Okay, Sabrina, let's go." her lawyer ordered, getting to his feet and helping her up. "It's clear they don't have anything to hold you."

"Not yet." Catherine replied. "But we are holding her husband on fraud charges."

Kaitlynn walked up to Sabrina, staring her down, "You have spent your entire career telling women that if they are single, they are broken." Sabrina's lawyer held the interrogation room door open, "Between the two of us, which one's the real broken one?"

The matchmaker smoothed out her coat and walked out, keeping her head high. Kaitlynn just shook her head and leaned against the table, glancing to her older sister. "I'll talk it over with the DA and see if we can work out a plea deal, if Drake's willing to admit Sabrina's role in all this." Cat informed, grabbing her briefcase. "But, that will have to wait till tomorrow, because we have an appointment."

"Yeah, I've got my car, I'll follow you." Kait nodded, the two sisters walking out into the bullpen. "See ya at the salon."

"Okay, love you Katie." Catherine kissed her sister's cheek and headed out, while Kaitlynn walked to her desk and shrugged on her blue leather jacket.


At the warehouse, J.T. was complaining about having to attend the wedding and lie about being Kaitlynn's supposed ER doctor boyfriend. "I don't know anything about Denver, or ER medicine." he groaned, hanging up the tuxedo on a shelf. "This tux isn't going to fit, and I hate bow ties."

While his friend continued his ranting, Vincent was reading over Kaitlynn's matchmaking profile, the corner of his lips turning upward. "Her ideal date is dinner on a rooftop or hanging out on a fire escape."

"What are you talking about?" J.T. asked, looking at his friend.

"Listen to this. I want to find someone that I can be myself with and feel like I don't have to hide anything." Vincent read off from another section of the profile. "Someone who knows everything about me, the good, the bad, even the tragic, and still accepts me, in spite of it all." His smile only widened when he realized that the entire profile was about him.


Thomas and Brooke's wedding ceremony was beautiful and a little tear jerking, and afterwards, everyone enjoyed themselves at the reception. Kaitlynn sat at her table, her brunette hair falling down in waves of curls, her nails freshly manicured, her lips coated with pale pink gloss, eyelids coated in soft silver eyeshadow, and a Sapphire charmed necklace around her neck.

A waiter came up with two plates and she pointed to the empty chairs, "Steak. Vegetarian. Chicken, and another steak." she directed.

Paige walked up to the table and knelt down next to Kaitlynn, "Is he still not here?" she asked. Paige wore her blonde hair in a low ponytail that draped over her shoulder, similar eyeshadow and lipgloss as Kaitlynn, a Quartz charmed necklace around her neck, and wore a knee length bridesmaid dress with simple straps

"Nope." Kaitlynn shook her head. "Just me and the cater waiter."

"I don't understand how he couldn't get his shift covered at the hospital." Paige shrugged her shoulders.

Seeing as how the festivities were well underway, Kaitlynn decided to come clean. "Paige, there is no Vincent Zalanski." she admitted. "I made him up."

Paige's jaw dropped as she stood, Heather dancing up to the two of them, Evan right behind her. "The music is so good." she giggled. Heather wore her short, strapless dress with makeup like her sister's along with a pink headband in her hair and an Emerald charmed necklace.

"Your sister doesn't have a boyfriend." Paige informed.

"Yep, I lied." Kaitlynn leaned back in her chair, noticing Catherine and Sahara joining them. Sahara's dress was like Paige's, only longer, and her hair was pulled back with a matching purple ribbon, silver eyeshadow adorned her eyelids and her lips were coated with light pink gloss, and a Ruby charmed necklace rested against her skin. Catherine's hair was curled and she also wore a Sapphire charmed necklace, her makeup like the rest.

"Why?" Heather asked.

Catherine stood on the other side of her sister and patted her shoulder. "You guys kept threatening to put me at the singles' table." Kaitlynn shook her head, glancing between her two sisters. "Dad got married today. It's his wedding. We should focus on that."

"Maybe I should get us some cocktails." Evan suggested, smoothing out his tie.

"Good idea, Evan." Catherine agreed, and the medical examiner walked off.

Kaitlynn sighed, twisting a ringlet around her finger, "There's just so much pressure to have a plus-one, like if you don't, you're damaged or broken."

"We don't think you're damaged or broken." the youngest Chandler rebuffed, her tone a bit higher pitch and words slightly slurred.

The middle Chandler pursed her lips together, "Maybe I am." she sighed, draping her arm over the back of her chair. She looked out at the dancefloor and saw her father and new step-mother dancing and laughing, their arms around each other and in total bliss. "I don't know if I'm ever going to have that."

Paige sat down in her chair, "We all feel like that." she sighed, her expression solemn.

"Yeah." Sahara agreed. "My fiancé tried to call our wedding off twice."

"Yeah, and I just got dumped right after our brunch." Heather reminded.

Catherine sighed and lightly squeezed Kaitlynn's shoulders, "Byron and I broke up." she informed, earning a jaw drop from her youngest sister. "Things haven't been good between us lately, and we decided to end it. He left ten minutes ago."

"I'm so sorry Cat." Kaitlynn laid her cheek against her sister's hand. Heather nodded and walked over, hugging her oldest sister.

Paige took a deep breath and exhaled, "Tom and I are separated." she blurted out, grabbing her napkin and dabbing the corners of her eyes.

Sahara and Heather comforted her while Cat and Kait watched. Catherine glanced around and saw someone standing by the open french doors that led out into the courtyard. She gently tapped her younger sister's shoulder, "Katie." she whispered. "Look."

Kaitlynn stood up and followed her sister's line of sight, her own eyes widening when she saw Vincent standing outside, wearing a tux and had his hair slicked back. Her lips curled into a smile. Catherine nudged her sister in the side, "Go." she mouthed.

Kaitlynn nodded and walked across the dancefloor. "Hey." she greeted, still smiling. She glanced over Vincent, taking in the sight of how handsome he looked in the tux and his hair out of his face.

"Hey." Vincent echoed, his breath getting caught in his throat as he also took in the sight of Kaitlynn all dressed up, the way the ringlets framed her face, how the curls fell over her bare shoulders and down her back, and how the Sapphire stone sparkled against her olive toned skin. She looked absolutely stunning in his eyes and he felt his own heart begin to race.

A light blush rose to Kaitlynn's cheeks, "What are you?" she began to asked, but had trouble finding words to say in the moment.

"Well, uh-" Vincent cleared his throat. "you said in your profile you like to dance, but, you see, J.T. doesn't."

"Do you?" the young brunette quirked her brow.

Charlene Soraia's slowed-down rendition of 'Wherever You Will Go' played over the speakers and Vincent extended his hand, answering her question. Kaitlynn took it and Vincent pulled her close, his hands on her hips while hers braced on his shoulders. They gazed into each other's eyes, everything else fading around them. Kait closed her eyes and laid her head against Vincent's shoulder, glancing across the room at Thomas and Brooke as they danced with their forehead's touching.

Her lips formed a smile and she linked her arms around Vincent's neck, pulling back and meeting his eyes. Vincent kept his hands on her waist, gazing into her warm, brown eyes, and for the first time in over a decade, he felt like a normal guy. Being around Kaitlynn brought back that sense of normalcy he's wanted, and he knew in that moment, he never wanted to be without her. Kaitlynn Chandler was the saving grace he's yearned for all these years.

"So, what?" the detective questioned as they continued to dance. "J.T. beg you to take his place?"

"No." the older male answered. "I begged him."

The brunette female's smile only grew at his response, and she was genuinely happy for the first time in ten years. Their faces inched closer together, their noses barely touching, when the sound of clinking glasses reminded them they weren't alone.

"Hey, everybody." Thomas addressed the room, his arm around Brooke's waist. "My wife..." the room erupted into cheers and applause, Kaitlynn clapping along. "...would like to remind everyone that dinner is served, and it's actually pretty good for wedding food, so, please." He motioned for everyone to return to the dining hall.

"Okay, come on." Kaitlynn whispered, taking Vincent's hand and ducking out into the courtyard.

"Kaitlynn." Vincent halted, the couple stopping by the gazebo. "I didn't come here to hide." he reminded, their hands dropping. "I'm here because I want to be. Besides, I did my Denver research, got my story down."

The younger brunette chuckled lightly, "Yeah, about that." she cleared her throat, rubbing her arms. "I confessed. I told them that there is no Vincent Zalanski." She exhaled and brushed a ringlet from her face, "It doesn't matter though. My dad, he is so happy. Who cares if people think I don't have a plus-one?"

"Hey, I am standing right here." Vincent reminded, both of them sharing a chuckle. "At least introduce me to the people you didn't confess to."

Kaitlynn shook her head, "I don't think I need to." she admitted, meeting his eyes. "I think I lied because..." she took a deep breath and exhaled again, "...I feel like I do have someone in my life." She bit her lip and rubbed her arms, "It wasn't that I wanted to show him off; just that I wanted him to be here. To share this moment with him. But there are things about you that neither of us can change, so..." Kait glanced down at her nude Louboutin's.

"So it wasn't really a lie then." Vincent finished. "You just got his last name wrong."

Kaitlynn nodded, "And his hometown." she added.

"You know, um, he is hungry." Vincent chuckled.

"Oh. Steak or chicken?" Kaitlynn asked, and he shrugged his shoulders. She smiled and headed back inside, grabbing her white leather jacket off the back of her chair before going for a plate of food.

Kaitlynn grabbed a plate and put one of each meal on it, and two pairs of silverware. When she turned around, Heather was stumbling up to her, "I think I'm in love." the youngest Chandler sighed. "Evan's, like, the smartest guy I've ever dated."

Kaitlynn took note of the empty champagne glass in her sister's hand, "Okay, I think you need to slow down there Heath. Remember, I told you Evan's a bit of a flirt."

"Oh, my God, you are in love with him. I can tell." the younger brunette noted.

Kaitlynn shook her head, taking the empty glass from her and setting it on the table behind them. "Heather, you are drunk and you are rebounding, and I just don't think that he is the person for you to do that with." she said calmly.

"Yeah, but he's so smart." Heather sighed. "Did you know that he just got some major grant on DNA research? Apparently, there's some weird DNA that's mutating or something."

"Wait, mutating?" the detective repeated. "How?"

Heather just chuckled, "Don't remember, I was too distracted by his hotness." she giggled. "But listen to me, you're here alone, and I'm blabbing about. Evan!" She beamed when the medical examiner walked up to them, a full glass of champagne in hand.

"I see I should've got two." he laughed, handing the drink to Heather.

"Um, sis, can I talk to your date for a minute?" Kaitlynn asked. "It's about work." Heather smiled and nodded, walking back into the dining hall. "Evan, my sister said that you're doing research on DNA. I thought you'd let that go."

"Actually, you let it go." the British male corrected. "Which I understand. Too much has happened for me to just dismiss it. I mean, I know what I heard in that subway. And the corrupted samples." he went on. "Now I've got someone breaking in to my lab."

Kaitlynn blinked, but kept calm, even though her mind began jumping to worst case scenarios. "Do you know who?" she asked.

Evan shook his head, "I've got a sketch. I think they're trying to access what I'm finding."

"Which is what, exactly?" Kaitlynn pressed. "Heather said something about mutations." She flipped a portion of her hair off her shoulder.

"The samples from the cases that I collected, including your mom's..." Evan informed, "...indicate that the L2 capsids are targeting changes in the basic structure of the DNA."

"Translation for someone who didn't major in Biochemistry." Kait pressed.

"They're coming from the same being." Evan simplified. "And whatever it is, it's changing." Seeing the twitch in his friend's eyebrow, he continued explaining, "Basically, the animal nucleotides are taking over from the human ones."

"He's becoming less human?" Kaitlynn breathed out, swallowing the lump in her throat.

"Or it." Evan corrected. He cleared his throat, "Anyway, this isn't wedding small talk. How about that dance?"

"Actually, I am starving..." Kaitlynn chuckled lightly, lifting up the plate for emphasis. "...so, um, later." She flashed her friend a smile and hurried back to the courtyard.


Kaitlynn ran up to the gazebo and set the plate down on the table, "I got you both." she smiled, setting the silverware down.

"Thanks." Vincent returned the smile. He could sense something different about Kait and turned to face her. That's when he heard the rapid beating of her heart. "What's wrong?" he asked, his tone more serious.

The brunette female sighed, slipping her hands in the pockets of her jacket, "I think I know why you've been feeling different lately." she told him. "I ran into Evan, and it turns out he's been studying you, your DNA, which I just found out myself." She swallowed another lump in her throat. "He says it's mutating. Something about this L2 something..."

"L2 capsid?" Vincent questioned, and Kait nodded in confirmation. "What about it?"

Kaitlynn licked her lips, "He said it's becoming more...more animal." she answered, glancing up at him.

Vincent exhaled, shaking his head, "No, I feel great." he reminded.

"What if that's what the blackouts were?" Kaitlynn questioned.

"J.T., would've caught it." he cut in.

"J.T. wouldn't know; he doesn't have the equipment." she reminded. "That's why we had to break in to the morgue. Which, I'm pretty sure Evan knows about too." Kaitlynn bit her lip and pulled her jacket tighter around her.

In that instant, reality crashed back in focus for Kaitlynn and Vincent, the air around them changed. "Seems you were right." Vincent admitted, meeting Kaitlynn's eyes, "This was too big a risk. I should probably go."

Kaitlynn let out a shaky breath, running her fingers through her curls, "This is what I was afraid of." she sighed, biting her lip to suppress her tears. "That you would come here and that we'd dance and have a good time, and..."

"And remember the fact that there's no Vincent Zalanski." Vincent finished, brushing a ringlet from Kaitlynn's face and tucking it behind her ear, caressing her cheek with his thumb.

She closed her eyes and turned her face into his hand just as he pulled it back. Her eyes opened and met his, "I guess this was just too much of a risk for both of us." she shuddered, pursing her lips together.

Vincent didn't say another word and turned and walked away, the sound of Kaitlynn's shaky breathing and heartbeat echoing in his ears. He knew their dance was one moment that could never last, no matter how much he wished he could hold her forever.


After composing herself in the bathroom, Kaitlynn joined everyone else in the reception hall. As daughters of the groom, each Chandler sister prepared a short speech in honor of their father. The guests applauded after Catherine finished hers and Kaitlynn hugged her older sister before she stood at the front of the room. With her champagne glass in hand, Kaitlynn cleared her throat, "Hi everyone, I'm Kaitlynn Chandler, the middle of us three." she chuckled nervously, pointing to her sisters.

The young brunette cleared her throat, crumbling up the papers in her hand and tossing them in the trashcan by the table. "I really don't know what to say that hasn't already been said by my sisters, or that doesn't sound like a cheesy cliché." she chuckled, casting a glance to her father, before her eyes wandered to the open doors leading to the courtyard. Kaitlynn sighed heavily, "Funny thing, Brooke and my dad shouldn't even be together, you know?" she pursed her lips, "I mean, they're complete opposites. For starters, she's a Mets fan..." some of the guests chuckled at the comment, while others stifled some laughter, "...so I don't know how they're gonna deal with that."

"Then there's the age difference..." Kaitlynn continued, gently brushing some hair from her face, "...and for a lot of people, that would have held them back. Especially given everything we've been through." she cast a glance to her two sisters, placing her hand on Heather's shoulder, and Catherine put her hand on top of it. "Not that being with Brooke is a risk. It's not." the middle Chandler looked back to her dad and new stepmom. "Brooke's amazing. She's so sweet and caring, and accepted all of us from the start, even though we were hesitant at first."

Brooke smiled at her three new stepdaughters, her green eyes welling with moisture. "Just being in any relationship is that-a risk." Kait went on, her mind flashing back to Vincent. "It's accepting that there are no guarantees. Who knows what the future brings, and just going for it, anyway." she softly chuckled, remembering her time spent with Vincent on the fire escape or the roof of her apartment building. "Even if she's a vegetarian, and he eats cheeseburgers." All the guests, and even the bride and groom laughed at that comment. Kaitlynn cleared her throat and raised her glass, "So, to my dad and Brooke, for jumping in." she toasted. "You guys are an inspiration to us all." Cat and Heather shared a smile, raising their glasses too. "Especially to me." Kaitlynn added, her eyes locking with Thomas' and Brooke's. "Cheers."

"Cheers!" everyone echoed, which was soon followed with clinking glasses and soft laughter.


After the toasts and dinner, guests mingled with one another and went back to dancing. Kaitlynn shrugged on her white leather jacket and slung her purse strap over her shoulder, weaving through the crowd in search of her dad. "Daddy." she called out when she found him. "I'm sorry to have to do this, but I need to go." she informed.

"Before the big sendoff?" Brooke questioned.

"Yeah, I know, my timing sucks." Kait sighed. "It's just, there's someone I need to talk to." She admitted. "You mind?"

Thomas shook his head, "Not at all sweetie." he replied, pulling his daughter in for a hug.

"Yeah, go do what you need to do." Brooke added, hugging her next.

"Thanks." Kaitlynn smiled, returning the blonde's hug and stepping back. "Have a great time on your Honeymoon and we'll all have dinner together when you get back."

"The first of many family dinners to come." Thomas promised. "I love you, Katie." He hugged his daughter once more and kissed the top of her head.

"You too, Daddy." Kaitlynn pecked their cheeks and turned to leave, digging for her car keys.

She bumped into Catherine on her way out, "You okay, Katie?" she asked, her hand on her younger sister's shoulder.

Kaitlynn tucked some hair behind her ear, "Yeah, I'm just on my way out." she answered, pulling her keys from her purse. Catherine quirked her brow, indicated she wanted to know more. "Cat, I need to go find Vincent." the middle Chandler elaborated. "When I was giving my speech, I had this, I don't know, epiphany or something. Wondering, 'what am I-"

"Say no more, sweetie." Catherine cut her off. "Go."

"You're sure?" Kaitlynn asked. Cat nodded and pulled her sister into a hug, rubbing her back.

"Katie?" Heather questioned, stumbling over to her sisters. She saw her older one with her keys in hand, "You're leaving?" she said with a bit of a whine to her tone. "We're about to throw rice for the Honeymoon sendoff."

"Yeah, I know, but I need to go and find someone." Kaitlynn replied. "I already talked to dad and he's fine with me taking off early." Evan walked up to the three sisters and Kait looked to him, "Evan, you mind taking Heather and Cat back to my place?"

"Uh, sure." the medical examiner agreed. The detective flashed a smile and brushed past them on her way out into to the cold, winter night.


Kaitlynn drove her Impala down the deserted road, checking her phone screen until she got one bar, then hit Vincent's contact name, getting a busy signal. "C'mon Vincent, please pick up." she whispered, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel. The Seether cover of 'Carless Whisper' played on her sound system, her leather jacket in the passenger seat. She tried again, this time getting a dial tone.

Bright headlights came up behind Kaitlynn, nearly blinding her as they bounced off her rearview mirror. The car sped up and rear-ended the Impala. Kaitlynn tried to steady her car, but after another hit, it spun out and rolled a good few feet, landing right side up again, but heavily damaged. In the chaos of the crash, Kait hit her head on the steering wheel.

The red sports car skidded to a stop in front of the damaged Impala and out stepped a woman in a nice business suit and black Louboutin heels. "How was the wedding without a date?" Sabrina Meyer questioned.

Kaitlynn blinked a few times, her vision coming back into focus, and blood dripping down the side of her face from her head wound. "Sabrina." the detective coughed.

"You ruined my happy-ever-after." Sabrina shook her head and held a gun directly at Kaitlynn. "Now I'm gonna ruin yours."

Kaitlynn quickly grabbed her gun and held it ready. Both women pulled the trigger at the same time, and Sabrina fell backwards with a hold in the center of her forehead. Kait panted and dropped her gun on the floorboard, a wound in her shoulder. "Vincent." she muttered, leaning her head against her seat. Her breathing grew labored as her eyes started fluttering closed. "Vincent." she spoke again, her head falling forward.

"Kaitlynn!" Vincent's voice echoed as he ran up to the crash. He saw the totaled Impala and looked through the broken driver's side window. "Kaitlynn." He panted, seeing her unconscious and bleeding. Her breathing was labored and her heartbeat was faint. Vincent tried opening the door, but it was jammed due to the crash. In his panicked state, his features shifted to his beast state and he tore the door off and tossed it aside. Using his claws, he tore through the seatbelt and scooped Kaitlynn out of the car, her head falling to the side against his shoulder.

A few miles up the road, Heather was in the backseat of Evan's car, asking him about his job and turning up her flirting. In the passenger seat, Catherine rolled her eyes and rested her elbow by the window. "Oh, my God." Evan gasped when his headlights illuminated the crash site.

Catherine sat up, "Is that Kaitlynn's car?" she swallowed the lump rising in her throat.

The car slowed as it got closer to the crash site, and Heather covered her mouth, "Katie?" she sniffled.

Evan stopped the car and cut the engine, but left the headlights on. He squinted slightly, catching a shadowed figure standing by the wreckage. "You two stay in the car." he told the two sisters, stepping out.

"Oh my God, is Kaitlynn okay?" Tears started to fall down Heather's cheeks and she reached forward to take Catherine's hand. The eldest sister unbuckled her seatbelt, and kept one hand on the door handle, ready to jump out if needed. She too saw the shadowed figure by the wreckage, and knew it was Vincent.

"Kaitlynn." Catherine breathed out, squeezing Heather's hand while she tried to catch her breath.


A/N: Cliffhanger! So sorry it took so long for this chapter to get finished, I know how much ya'll love this story. I was feeling really under the weather the past few weeks and didn't do much of anything. Anyway, hope ya'll like the new chapter. As always, reviews are appreciated. Look forward to seeing what you guys thought.

Next time: Seeing Red