Ray and Neela opened the door to the archived filing room and inspected what would be their home for the next few hours. The place was dark and dusty, with a grimy light bulb hanging from the ceiling.

"It looks…" Ray started.

"Dingy…" Neela finished.

"Well I was gonna say, 'like a shit house', but dingy works too."

Laughing, Neela said, "Come on Ray, let's get this done."

The two made their way into the 'dingy' room just as the door 'mysteriously closed behind them. Ray thought he heard Abby's laughter, but he shook it off and made to open the door.

"No Ray. Leave it like that."

Barnett froze and Neela's words, but wouldn't let himself read too much into them: it hurt too damn much to hope.

"Alright then. It stays closed. What did Kovac say we had to look for?"

"Um…white woman, DOB 1972, signs of domestic abuse."

"Right. We didn't get a name, did we?"

"Actually…no."

"Great. Don't you love being on the lower rung of the hospital ladder?"

"Oh yeah. Let's just get this done with. The sooner we start, the sooner we can go yell at some interns for fun."

"Ok deal. You start on this side and I'll get the cabinets by the window."

Ray had to make his way past Neela to get to the window and in doing so, brushed past the woman slightly. Without warning, both doctors felt a shock, a tingling wave of electricity go through their bodies. Ray had always felt that way around Neela, but for the fist time Neela enjoyed the exhilarating rush of one in love.

"Oh…God" she whispered.

"What was that Neela? Did you say something?"

"N-no…"

Ray shrugged and began looking through files. But Neela was not the patient type.

"Wait Ray. I need to talk to you."

"Alright, shoot."

"Okay, this is sort of a long winded explanation."

Ray waited, listening.

"When I began seeing Gates, I really needed someone…material. I wasn't in the correct state of mind to be with someone both physically and emotionally."

"Tony helped me. I can honestly say that I'm better now, concerning Michael, concerning…everything."

"But getting back to my point, the night that we broke it off….mutually, I might add, Tony told me something that I'm not sure is true, anymore. Something about you…and us. At first I wasn't sure about how to react to what Tony told me. But after some time, and a lot of thinking, I've realize that I want what he said to be true."

"So…I just wanted to say…"

"I love you, Neela."