A/N: I know it's been a long time since I've updated and I was going to put this up on Valentine's day, but I got a surprise visit from someone so I got a little distracted. Hope it satisfies for now. I don't own Monk or there would have been at least 10 seasons.

Leland Stottlemeyer was not having a good Valentine's Day weekend. He and T.K. were supposed to go on a romantic vacation to a spa, which did happen, but now there was a serial killer on the loose there. There were no clues as to how the man did it, or who he was. It made for a romance less trip. But they needed to solve the case, and fast before any more couples got killed; which meant having to call in San Francisco's most brilliant detective. Adrian Monk would not like this case at all.

Aside from the fact that Valentine's was one of his least favorite holidays, there was the fact that he'd have to go undercover, with a female cop, as a married couple. He did not want to call Monk in, but the unknown causes of death of four couples with no leads were forcing him to. He sighed, resigned to a hard weekend dealing with his various phobias and "things".

He wished Natalie could be a part of it, but the department was insistent that there be an actual cop there. With the most recent murder, he had been revealed as a cop, and thus the value of him and T.K. was moot. Leland knew that the only way it would work was if Natalie was there with him. She had always calmed Monk down, more than Sharona could, almost as well as Trudy did. Trudy. Monk's world had collapsed around him with the death of his wife Trudy. He had spent almost two years spiraling into a depression and nearly killed himself, cleaning as much as he did. Sharona had helped Monk get a job again and barely function in society. When she left, his world had again begun to spiral downwards until Natalie came along. Natalie. The woman was a wonder. Working her case had started his recovery. He'd watched them grow closer each and every case. The working relationship had turned into something more, perhaps even from the first case; both having lost spouses made them closer and more supportive of the other from the beginning. After the incident with Sherriff Rollins, there was a new kind of dimension to it. Almost as if they couldn't be without each other anymore. He'd noticed that after they'd returned home, there was a new closeness; almost as if they were together. Romantically involved. The thought was absurd in his mind, but ever present as he'd noticed that Monk hadn't asked for a single wipe, even if he did touch Natalie or when she touched him. The subtle smiles, the relaxed demeanor, and his concern for her warmed his heart. It also made him warier of Natalie, hoping she would not leave him or hurt him, even unintentionally because he knew Monk would never recover from it. He hoped that one day they would wake up, or Monk would wake up because Natalie wouldn't wait forever.

He'd known that Natalie had fallen for her quirky boss at least by the time that he'd pretended to kill him and Monk had gone to Nevada by her reaction when she'd found out he was "dead". She had been so torn up that she had used all her savings on his funeral and ceremony. When he returned, it had saved her from going down the path that she'd already had to face once. He was jarred from his ruminations by the ringing of his cell phone.

"Captain Stottlemeyer speaking"

"Hey Captain, its Randy,"

His voice immediately became exasperated, "Yes, Randy, what do you want?"

"Well, there are no female cops who are willing to go undercover with Monk. So the Chief said that it would be okay for Natalie to step in, as long as there is no danger. She can't end up getting hurt in a police investigation again."

The captain's spirits improved slightly at this. "Thanks Randy. I'll go tell Monk and Natalie. It should be easier with them both going."

"You know, I still say aliens abducted them and killed them Captain. There's evidence of that you know. I think I saw this TV show with two FBI agents investigating something like that once. I-"

"Randy, Randy. That was a fictional show. It was called the X-Files. There are no such things as aliens or abductions. Goodbye." He shook his head and chuckled at Randy's crazy theory of the week.

"But Captain there are stor-" He hung up on Randy and closed his phone.

"Where does he get that stuff?" he wondered aloud. He than left the car and walked up to Monk's apartment building. He stood in front of apartment 2G for 10 minutes after knocking. There was no response. He could hear what sounded like jazz through the door. After knocking again, he decided that it was important enough to go in. He pulled out his spare key to Monk's apartment and unlocked the door. As he stepped into the house he looked around. There was no one in the entry way or hall. He made his way to the kitchen, where he found the flowers and chocolates, still untouched. 'Now that's unusual. What's going on here?'

Things got weirder still when he walked into the living room. There was some slow jazz playing, Norah Jones. It was Natalie's favorite song. As he looked around the room there was another sight that completely made him think he was in the wrong apartment. Monk and Natalie stood, leaning towards each other, about to kiss.

He cleared his throat loudly. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked, smirking.

They jumped accidently bumping lips as he startled them out of their world.

Natalie came to her senses first, "No."

"What did you need Leland?" Monk asked, still distracted by Natalie and looking at her lips. They moved so that they were standing next to each other, facing him now.

"You're needed on a case. Four double murders with no clues. Just that the people were vacationing at the same spa. We need you to go undercover there. We need a new couple there."

"Umm Captain, when I said no undercover after the DePalma case, I meant it. Adrian got confused about his personality after that one."

"Natalie, I don't want him to this, but we have no choice the Chief requested Monk on this one because he can see things no one else can. You need to be packed and at the police station in an hour Monk. No excuses."

"I-I can't Captain; I don't do undercover. Especially not with people, you know that I don't know. I can't pretend to you know, kiss someone. Or anything like that." He twitched and rolled his shoulders until Natalie put a calming hand on his arm. It seemed to relax him immediately.

"Well it's a good thing the department agreed that Natalie could go too then." He said, "You'll need to be an engaged couple. The others all were newly engaged, spending a romantic vacation there. And Monk, try not to be you. You have blend in. Be normal. None of your suits or anything; wear jeans and normal shirts."

Monk and Natalie exchanged a look, surprised that she would be allowed to work undercover with him.

"Captain, isn't this a bit… dangerous? I mean if four couples have been killed why not send in other undercover officers?" Natalie asked.

"T.K. and I are actually relaxing there. We were trying to enjoy the weekend, but the new killer is making that impossible. Everyone knows I'm police, so I won't be of any use anyways. We can watch your backs. But you won't be able to know us beforehand. We'll have to arrange a meeting. But you shouldn't be seen with us that much or they'll figure it out."

"I don't want to do this Leland. I have a bad feeling about it." Monk said, thinking of all the things that engaged couples did. He shuddered in partial disgust and maybe some nervousness. He wondered where they were getting the ring for it and thought perhaps he had one that would work.

"When do you not have a bad feeling about anything Monk? You have to do this in order to keep your job. I have to arrange the rest of this undercover. I'll see you in an hour at the police station." He said and walked out of the apartment, closing the door behind him.

Monk sighed, uneasy about the whole thing. It scared him to go undercover again. At least Natalie would be there for him; with him. She'd make it easier to get through.

"Well that was nice. There goes Valentine's Day." She muttered, walking towards the bedroom.

"Natalie!" Monk called, "You can't go in my room!"

"Adrian! I have to! We've got to get packed. I have a feeling we'll need to go buy you clothes for this." She replied shaking her head, "They better reimburse us for that..." she muttered continuing her walk. She was irritated at the Captain for choosing that moment to barge in and then he had to ruin the rest of their day as well.

He walked, defeated and followed Natalie into his bedroom. She already had a suitcase open and was tossing clothes in.

"Natalie!" Monk exclaimed, exasperated, "You can't just throw the clothes in there! They have to be folded then put from light to dark! Natalie!" He began to re-pack everything that had just been tossed into the suitcase.

"There!" Natalie triumphantly exclaimed, "We're done with that. Now just grab your toiletries and we'll go to my house to get my clothes then buy you some shorts and swim trunks."

"Sw-sw-swim trunks? Natalie I don't do water! I don't do pools! Do you know how many germs are swimming around in a pool?" He whined looking mortified at the very thought.

"Call the Captain," he began, "I can't do this. I'm not tough enough to. It'll never work."

"Mr. Monk! Mr. Monk! Adrian! Calm down, you'll be fine. I'll be right there with you the whole time, I promise. It shouldn't take long at all knowing you. You'll solve the crime and have us out of there by tomorrow morning. I know it." Natalie walked up to him and rubbed soothing circles on his back.

"Come on, we've got to get everything done in 45 minutes."

"Thank you Natalie." Monk spoke with determination, "For everything. I really wouldn't be able to this without you." He turned her to face him and with a courage neither knew he possessed he gave Natalie a small kiss on the lips. It wasn't anything invasive, but it charged the air between them, bringing back feelings Natalie had tried to bury, and that Monk didn't know he could feel after Trudy's death. The rush of emotions intensified the kiss, bringing them both to part, slightly overwhelmed with the sensations. Suddenly overwhelmed, Adrian turned away from Natalie and took a few deep breaths closing his eyes. He opened them to find a confused Natalie looking at him in concern.

"Are you okay M- Adrian?"

"Yes. I think I am Natalie. It's just been a long…" he cut off, realizing it had been over 10 years since he'd kissed someone like that. On a feeling, a whim, and felt that rush of love again.

"-a long time." Natalie finished for him. "I know, Mr. Monk, for me too."

"Natalie, I think, I think you should probably call me Adrian, especially if this is going to work." He gestured between the two of them and smiled at her.

"I know Adrian, but sometimes I still… It's been, what six years of calling you Mr. Monk? Takes some time, you know?" she smiled back at him and they continued on the way out of the house. They were almost to the car when Adrian suddenly had a thought.

"Natalie, I forgot something upstairs. I'll be right back." He said, running up the steps to his apartment. He walked into his bedroom and to the nightstand that he never used. He opened the drawer and pulled out a dark purple velvet box. He opened it and looked at the ring shining up at him. It was gold, with ten evenly spaced diamonds adorning it. 'Perfectly even. If we're going undercover as an engaged couple…' Monk thought as he closed the box and slipped it inside the pocket of his jacket. 'We might as well do it correctly.'

As Natalie was packing her clothes into the other side of suitcase Monk was pacing in the upstairs bathroom. In this very spot almost two years ago he promised her he would come home once he figured out who was trying to frame him for murder. Here was the last time she saw him before thinking he was dead. He couldn't imagine what that would feel like. He didn't have to imagine what that felt like. He knew what it felt like, to remember the last place you saw your loved ones face and have to go there and live there every day. He'd been doing that for the past 10 years. He wondered if she loved him, even back then.

"Yes. I did love you then too, Adrian. This moment here, it made me realize how much you meant to me. Especially when I thought you were…" Natalie spoke quietly, startling him, as he didn't even realize he'd been speaking out loud.

"I…. know… it was the only… I thought it might be the last time I'd see you…. You have no idea how hard it was… I almost called you… I even dialed your number before realizing that Sheriff Rollins might be listening. Leland told me how hurt you were… I never, I guess I couldn't see it then." He said looking at her. He seemed distracted, focusing on something else as he spoke again.

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah, I'm just about done. I just have to grab my shampoo and toothbrush." She replied, brushing past him and picking up the aforementioned items.

"We'd better get there soon. The captain's already called twice." She said as she checked her phone on the way out of the house.

"Oh. Okay…. Natalie, wait a second." Monk said, as he reached his left hand into his jacket. "I figured because we're going to be undercover as… well…. Being engaged…that maybe… well… here." He took out the box and showed her the ring.

"But, Adrian, its Trudy's ring." Natalie exclaimed surprised and honored that he would even consider letting it be used for undercover police work.

"Exactly Natalie. You deserve to wear it. It won't distract me because I know it's perfectly even. Besides, who knows where the police would get one… It could be covered in germs or … uneven." He replied, taking it out of the box and slipping it onto her left hand. It was a perfect fit.

"I… Thank you Adrian." Natalie said, again surprised at what this man was capable of.