Adrian walked into Leland's office, smiling from ear to ear.

"Hello, Leland," he announced, comfortably sitting back in the chair facing the Captain's desk. "You wanted to see me?"

Leland inhaled sharply, his face taut and troubled.

"Oh, no," Adrian replied, his expression growing concerned. "What's wrong?"

"Monk, I need to talk with you about the Natalie situation." He paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I brought it up with the board, you know, the idea of you two working together again..." He hesitated again, toying with a metal figurine on his desk. "The department won't go for it, Monk. I'm so sorry," he sighed, shaking his head.

"But, why?" Adrian asked, his face etched with disappointment.

"The board believes that because you have made so much progress in your, uh, personal life, Natalie is not necessary to your ability as a private consultant anymore. And they feel that Natalie doesn't have the qualifications to warrant a paid position on her own at the department. They didn't think that they should have to add a paid position for Natalie to do what their already employed cops could do." Leland sighed and rubbed his temples before continuing. "They also said that they didn't think it would be a good idea for you two to work together now that you were in a relationship. They felt that if you two got into an argument, it would cloud your ability to do your job. And they said they needed your skills too much to jeopardize that. I'm sorry, Monk."

"But," Monk began, his brow furrowed, "How did they even know we are in a relationship?"

"I don't know, Monk, you know how word gets around this damn place. I mean, we are dealing with a bunch of detectives here. And you know, once someone gets wind of something, it spreads like wildfire."

Adrian sighed, leaning forward and resting his chin in his hands.

"I know you're disappointed, Monk," Leland continued, his expression dreary. "Just believe me when I tell you, I really tried."

Adrian nodded.

"No, I know you did," he replied, sighing heavily. "I just...I don't know how I'm going to break this to Natalie. It's probably going to break her heart."

Leland sighed, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his temples again.

"I don't know, Monk. I mean, maybe we can...I don't know, think of some other way."

Adrian nodded, though his expression was doubtful.

"Let me get back to you," Leland continued, "I'm going to do some more thinking on this."

"Thank you," Adrian replied quietly, slowly rising from his chair and plodding out of the room.


Adrian entered Natalie's house that evening, his shoulders slumped and his expression low. As he made his way into the kitchen, Natalie gasped, stopping what she was doing at the stove and hurrying over to him.

"Oh! Sweetie, what is it?" She asked gently, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Adrian sighed, sitting down at the table. He motioned for Natalie to do the same.

"Well," he began, "I talked with Leland today."

Natalie's face fell, knowing what was coming next.

"He said the department wouldn't support a paid position for you," Monk continued quietly, keeping his eyes downcast.

"What?" she asked hesitantly, biting her lip in an attempt to prevent herself from becoming emotional.

"He said that they thought we shouldn't be working together now that we are in a relationship. I don't even know how they knew that!" He responded louder, growing frustrated.

"Well, sweetie, to be fair, I think most people knew something was there before we even did," Natalie replied, winking at Adrian in an attempt to lighten the mood.

He sighed, managing a taut smile as he continued. "They also said you didn't have the qualifications for a paid position."

"Oh, honey," she replied gently, "It's okay."

She reached out and squeezed his hand, rubbing her thumb gently over his fingers.

"Maybe it's not over," she encouraged him. "I mean, maybe we can fight for this."

Adrian looked up at her, slightly cheered up by her positive reaction.

"Really?" He asked.

"Well, we can certainly try," she replied, patting his arm reassuringly. "If they don't think I have the qualifications, maybe we can prove to them that I do. I mean, we aren't just going to give up that easily, are we?"

Adrian smiled. Natalie's optimism was invigorating. He suddenly felt overwhelmed, taken back in time as he remembered how Trudy's positivity had always helped to keep him from slipping into a dark place. He felt tears sting the corners of his eyes, thankful that he had been lucky enough to find yet another wonderful woman who was so good for him. He reached out, taking Natalie's hand in his.

"I love you," He murmured, his expression now one of peace.

Natalie smiled, leaning in and kissing him gently.

"I love you, too, sweetie. Don't worry, we'll figure something out."


I know, I know - don't hate me! I know this is a short chapter and a not so happy one, but hang in there. Also, I'm happy to tell y'all that I have really gotten some more inspiration for this story, so, there will definitely be quite a few more chapters in the works! P.S. - I really want to thank you all soooo much for taking the time to leave such lovely reviews! Your reviews really keep me motivated and remind me of why I do this in the first place - I love to make people happy! Thank you, thank you, thank you for your continued support. It means so much to me!