This chapter has been written for a while and I've finally gotten it where I want it. Sorry for the wait. It ended up being a little longer than I thought. I hope you don't mind... :)

"I see you still aren't good at hellos either." Rafael smirked.

London rolled her eyes. "I bought you a coffee. I wasn't sure if you are still a coffee purist or not…"

"That's fine. Thank you." He sat down at the table.

"Thank you for coming."

"Of course." He smiled at her. "Anything for you."

She blushed.

"I see you survived Baltimore." He cleared his throat.

"Yeah. I did." She stared at her coffee.

He placed his hand on top of hers causing her to look up at him. "Are you okay?" He asked kindly.

"I don't know. Baltimore threw me for a loop." She liked the warmth of his hand on hers.

He noticed the ring on her finger and smiled.

"I couldn't part with it. She was such a sweet woman."

"That she was." He remembered her fondly. "You know she…" He didn't want to relive it but didn't know if she knew.

"Your mama called me." She interrupted.

"Of course she did. I should have known that she would keep in contact with you." He chuckled.

"She did. Abuelita called me not long after we split. She wanted to know why we split and if you had bumped your head."

"That sounds like her. She asked me the same thing." He shook his head. Abuelita had popped him on the head over it. "Did Mommy tell you it was my fault?"

Lucia had told her that Rafael blamed himself. "She didn't say it was your fault."

"So she told you what happened?" He frowned.

"She did. It's not your fault. You did what you thought was best for her. She knew how much you loved her."

He knew she did, but he still blamed himself.

"Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I didn't walk away." She changed the subject.

"Don't think that. There's no way to know." He had wondered the same thing many times.

"And there is no way to know what would have happened with Abuelita." She turned the tables on him.

"I'm glad you're back." He smiled.

"I am too." She agreed.

"I don't want to lose you again!" He blurted, sounding more desperate than he meant to.

"Rafi, I'm not going anywhere." She placed her free hand on top of his.

He nodded. "What about Liam?"

"What about him?" She didn't see the big deal. "Do you think there is something going on?"

"Is there?" He asked.

"No. I've known Liam for years. He started working for the AP shortly after I did. We're friends Rafi. Nothing more. You may hear me call him 'hon' or 'baby' but that's just my southern coming out." She smiled. "I promise."

He felt a little better. "What are you doing tonight?"

"I have a reporter's dinner and then I'm going out with Mandy. I think she was going to invite her coworkers so you should come too." She smiled.

"I'd like that." He admitted. "I've got to get to court." He said after glancing at his watch.

"Okay. I'll see you later then." She placed a light kiss on his cheek.

His heart soared. "I'll see you later." He cupped her cheek in his hand and kissed her mouth.

Her stomach flipped.

He pulled away and leaned his forehead against hers. "I've missed you." He whispered.

"I've missed you too."

He softly kissed her forehead before reluctantly walking away.

"Sarge. You need to see this." Nick said as Olivia and Barba walked in the squad room. "You too Counselor." He turned the volume up on the news. Details of the case had been leaked.

"How did this happen?" Olivia huffed.

"We're trying to find that out." Amanda said. "Carisi and Fin just left to talk to the newspaper reporter. A Benjamin Sudeski." She read the name.

"Look. Detectives. I want to help you, but I can't." The reporter shrugged. "I don't know where the article came from. It showed up on my desk this morning. He picked up the envelope off his desk. I ran it by my editor. He approved it." He handed the envelope to Fin. "The information I have is in there. Maybe you can figure out where it came from."

"Thanks." Fin said smugly.

"He's hiding something." Fin muttered as they walked outside.

"Agreed." Carisi looked over the notes. "Hey Fin. Look at this." He showed him one of the pages.

"Shorthand." He shook his head. "That could be anybody. Lots of reporters use it." He knew what Carisi was thinking.

"Yeah, but we know one such reporter." He said.

"Still, it could be anybody."

"Rollins isn't going to like this." He shook his head.

"I don't like it either." Fin said.

"Hey! What did you two find?" Olivia asked when Carisi and Fin walked in.

"The reporter claims he doesn't know where the information came from." Fin rolled his eyes. "I don't buy it."

"It's in shorthand." Carisi said.

"Shorthand?" Amanda asked.

"Yeah. I think these are scans of the original notes. I know London can write it and I'm assuming she reads it. I know she's a reporter when it suits…"

"When it suits?" Amanda interrupted with a chuckle. "She told you that?"

"Yeah. What's so funny?" He didn't know why she was laughing at him.

"She's been a reporter for years. It's her full time job."

"So she can decipher it?" He asked.

"Yeah." She nodded.

"Would she have written it?" Olivia asked.

"I don't know. I didn't think she knew much about the case, if anything at all. We have our rule. I don't ask about her work and she doesn't ask about mine. We keep work and friendship separate." She explained.

"Call her and ask her to come in." Olivia instructed.

Amanda nodded.

London stepped out of the cab. She had downplayed the importance of this event. It wasn't just a dinner. It was more of a gala. She was wearing a black long-sleeved floor length gown. Her hair was up in a clip. She was walking up the stairs when her phone started ringing. She stopped to dig it out of her gold clutch. "Hello?" She answered without looking at it.

"Hey!" Amanda said. "Are you at your dinner?"

"I just got here. Everything okay?" She wondered if something was up.

"Uh yeah. Liv was wondering if you could come by and look at something." She had her on speaker phone. Olivia nodded.

"What is it Amanda?"

"It's notes in shorthand." Olivia answered. "I don't have anyone that could translate it as fast as you. The reporter was no help. It seems like there is more than what's in the article." The article was short. There were pages and pages of notes.

London sighed. "Alright. I at least need to say hello to the boss man. He's supposed to be here somewhere. I'll come by after that."

"I'll send a uniform to pick you up." She offered.

"Hmm. Is Rafael there?" She asked.

"I'm here." He spoke up.

"Tell them what happened over spring break." She said before hanging up.

He smirked.

"Was that when she was arrested?" Amanda asked. "She's never told me that whole story."

"Mmhmm." He nodded. "She was working on a story for her journalism class. The story changes on what exactly was said, but words were exchanged between her and a twenty-three year veteran of the Atlanta Police Department. Unfortunately for him, her parents are both high-power attorneys in Atlanta. She tried to tell him that she couldn't be booked and fingerprinted." He chuckled. "He didn't listen. Apparently she is allergic to the ink. Her parents filed a suit. He was forced into early retirement. She felt terrible about it."

"Maybe I should go pick her up." Nick said.

"No. We need to go over your testimony for tomorrow." Olivia said. "Carisi. You go."

"Got it." He headed out.

"Hey Counselor." Amanda called him.

"Yes Detective?"

"You went to go see her. Didn't you?" She smiled.

He gave her a small smirk before walking to Olivia's office.

London walked out of the New York City Library. She rolled her eyes when she saw Carisi leaning against his car. "You my escort?" She snorted.

"Apparently so." He opened the door for her. "You look nice." He commented.

"Thank you." She got in the car. "Rafael told you what happened before?" She asked after he got in.

"Yeah. So Sarge sent me."

"I just didn't want there to be another misunderstanding." She rolled her eyes and looked out the window.

"Whoa! You seriously understated this dinner." Amanda commented when London walked in with Carisi.

"Technically it was a gala." She shrugged.

"I'll say." Rafael looked her over. "You look great."

"Thanks." She blushed. She had forgotten how he could make her feel. "So what do you want me to look at?" She cleared her throat.

"Here is the article." Amanda showed her the white board. "And here are the scanned pages of shorthand." She pointed.

"So most reporters have a signature of some kind to their shorthand. Something distinctive." London started reading. "These two pages are the basis of the article." She pointed to the first two pages.

"Do you see a signature?" Olivia asked.

London held up a finger while she continued to read. "These pages are something else entirely. This is personal. A tribute. Flowers have poured in. No one really knows what to say about you, a beautiful boy who died." She felt a lump grow in her throat. "You were bright. You were funny. Ronnie, I only wish we had more than four years with you.." The pieces were making sense. "Son of a…" She muttered and her phone rang. It was Liam. "Hey. What's up?" She usually called him baby, but it didn't feel right with Rafael standing there.

"I'm at the gala. Have you already left?" He was walking outside.

"Uh, yeah. I had to help Mandy with something." She tried to swallow the lump in her throat.

"Your hot cop friend?" He smirked.

"Yeah." She rolled her eyes. "We need to talk."

"Yeah we do." He hailed a taxi. "You at the 16th precinct?" He knew what precinct Amanda worked at.

"Yep."

He gave the driver the address.

"How long have you been back in New York?" She asked.

There was a pause.

"Liam. How long have you been back in New York?" She repeated her question.

"A few weeks." He admitted.

"Damn it Liam!" She knew for sure he wrote the article.

"You saw the article. Mandy needed you to translate my notes." He leaned his head back against the seat.

"Why didn't you just tell me? I would have understood about Baltimore." She had tears in her eyes.

"I know Babe. My head is messed up right now. And Sonia is a wreck." His voice cracked.

"I'm so so sorry." She put her face in her hand as she started weeping.

"I'll be there soon." He ended the call.

London set her phone down and cried into her hands.

Rafael wanted to comfort her, but he didn't know if he should.

Olivia nudged him.

He walked over to London putting his hands on her shoulders.

She looked up at him with smeared makeup and wrapped her arms around him.

He held her in his arms, relishing the moment. He didn't care if her makeup got on his suit.

She sniffled and pulled away. "Liam wrote the article. These are his notes. His nephew was the four year old boy who…" She couldn't bring herself to say it.

"Damn." Fin muttered.

"He's on his way here." She picked up a notepad and wrote down the translation.

Liam walked in the squad room still in his tux. His eyes were red.

"Hey." London hugged him.

"Hey." He returned the hug and pressed a kiss into her hair. "You clean up nicely." He joked.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you too."

Rafael recognized him. He had been in the courtroom.

"Hey Mandy." He hugged her.

"Hey Liam." She smiled.

"So how did you find out about the article?" He asked her.

"It was on the news." Amanda said. "And also in the Post."

He frowned.

"Tell me you didn't send it to Benji." London had her hands on her hips.

"Yep, that's who I sent it to."

She smacked his arm. "You might as well have released it yourself!" She fussed at him.

"I know okay!" He fussed at her. "I told you my head is messed up right now."

"Hey!" She fussed in Romanian. "You should have told me. You know I would have helped you. And I certainly wouldn't have been so pissed about Baltimore!"

He rolled his eyes. He didn't like it, but she was right. "I know. I'm sorry. I will owe you forever. I just can't believe he's gone. That Bastard killed him!" He rubbed his face. "So how much trouble am I in here?"

"I don't know. They haven't said. They were trying to figure out who leaked the story."

He nodded as he answered his phone. "Hey Sonia." He walked out of the room.

"So?" Amanda asked her.

London shrugged and threw up her hands. "I don't know. He's upset. Blames the doctor for what happened."

"But is it the doctor's fault?" Rafael asked. He hated playing Devil's advocate.

"What the hell kind of question is that?" She cut her eyes at him.

It hurt for her to look at him that way. "Look. What the guy did makes me sick. But. I need to know if it was possible that Ronnie was going to die anyway. If I don't bring it up the defense will. And I'd rather not be blindsided."

She understood where he was coming from. "You'll need to talk to his parents. His mother, Sonia, is Liam's sister."

Liam walked back in. "What about Sonia?" He asked.

"I need to talk to her." Rafael said. "I have some questions about your nephew. I'd rather find out before the defense brings it up."

"Like what?"

"What was Ronnie's prognosis? If it was grim to begin with, the defense could argue that while the doctor's actions may have hastened his death; they did not directly cause it. That could get him a lesser sentence."

"I'll talk to her." Liam nodded. "I can't promise that she'll agree to talk to you, but I'll try."

"Try hard. Otherwise we can arrest you for obstruction because of the article." Fin spoke up.

"Yeah. I know." Liam said. He turned to London. "I owe you for Baltimore. I promise I will make it up to you." He spoke in his native tongue.

"Get Sonia to talk to them. That's a start." She answered.

"We've got to work on your Romanian." He chuckled. "It sucks."

"It doesn't suck." She swatted at him.

"Maybe it doesn't suck, but you're definitely rusty."

"Oh yeah?" She placed her hands on her hips. "Which part?"

"All of it."

She cut her eyes at him and swore at him in Romanian.

Rafael had to hide his smirk. That look and her fiery temper was funny when it wasn't directed at him.

Liam held his hands up and chuckled. "Fair enough. It's not rusty." He turned to leave.

"He is so full of crap." She scoffed.

"I forget you speak Romanian." Amanda said.

"Mmhmm." She nodded.

"We're still on to go out. Right?" Amanda changed the subject.

"Yeah. I need to go change."

"Why?" Rafael asked.

"I'm overdressed."

"We don't care." Amanda said. "Let's go." She grabbed her friend's arm.

"So in case you hadn't noticed." Amanda whispered in her friend's ear. "Barba hasn't taken his eyes off of you."

"Oh I've noticed." London smirked with her glass against her lips. Rafael was standing at a short distance talking to the guys and Olivia. "When we dated he would look at me like that; like I was the only woman in the room." She had gone by Amanda's apartment to change even though he had said she didn't need to. "Did you see how he looked at me when I walked in the squad room earlier?" She felt her cheeks flush.

"Yeah, it was kind of hard not to." Amanda nudged her. "The man is definitely still in to you."

"I'd say so. He kissed me earlier."

"What? And you didn't lead with that?" Amanda smacked her hand down on the bar.

London shrugged. "It was sweet. And perfect." She grinned.

"You are either drunk or still in love with that man." Amanda chuckled.

"Definitely. And I'm not drunk." London winked before standing up. She didn't quite have her balance when she stood up.

Rafael noticed and was by her side in an instant. "Are you alright?" He touched her arm.

"I am now." The words spilled out before she could stop them. Maybe she was tipsy.

He smiled. "Good. I'm glad. You and Rollins get to talk?"

"We did." She nodded. "I was going to come over and see what y'all were talking about. Work?"

"Actually no. Carisi is taking night classes; law school."

"Whoa that's tough." She reached for her drink, taking a sip.

"It is." He nodded.

"You should help him." She teased. She knew how he hated tutoring.

His smile fell. "That's not funny." His eyes narrowed.

"Oh you know it is." She laughed, loosening his tie. "Just admit it."

"Hmph. I'd rather not." He shook his head. He was trying to stay focused, but she was throwing him off his game.

Her fingers curled around his tie without her realizing it. She wanted to get lost in his eyes.

"You are so beautiful." He whispered.

Her breath caught in her throat. She hadn't been told that in a while. There might have been a guy or two who just thought he could get lucky, but the last guy who meant it had been Eddie. She let go of his tie. "Be right back." She muttered and turned from him. "Bathroom?" She looked at Amanda.

Amanda nodded and walked with her.

"What did he say?" Amanda asked when they reached the bathroom.

"He told me how beautiful I was." London had tears in her eyes.

"And that's a bad thing?" She didn't follow.

"The last guy who really meant that was Eddie." She threw her hands up in defeat. She loved Rafael and she knew she would always love Eddie.

"Oh Honey!" Amanda hugged her.

"Where did Barba go?" Amanda asked when she and London reappeared from the bathroom.

"Outside. He got a phone call." Nick said. "You okay?" He looked at London. "He looked worried about you."

"I'm okay. Is he still outside? Or did he leave?" London needed to see him.

"He said he would be back." He shrugged.

"I'll go see." She walked for the door before Amanda could say anything to her.

Rafael was standing outside leaning against the building. He had faked the phone call. He needed fresh air. He hadn't meant to upset her.

"Hey." London saw him. "I said I would be right back." She teased.

"Phone call." He shrugged.

"Don't lie to me." She saw right through it.

"I needed air." He let out a defeated sigh. He couldn't hide from her.

"I'm sorry. I just…"

"Don't be. I didn't think before I said it and I'm sure this must still be hard for you." He reached up and stroked her face.

Tears appeared in her eyes again. "It is sometimes and Eddie was the last one who really meant it when he said I was beautiful. I know you really meant it…" She took a step closer to him.

That was all he needed. He pulled her in his arms and kissed her hard.

Her arms flung themselves around him as she returned the kiss.

He could taste the cinnamon from her mouth and he didn't think life could get much better in this moment.

She struggled to keep her mind clear as he deepened the kiss and their tongues clashed. She knew she had to be careful or she would end up in bed with him. Not that that would be a bad thing. She wanted to be clear headed; not drunk. He deserved better than that. Her stomach squirmed just from the thought of being with him again. She pulled away breathless and giggling. "I'm sorry!" She giggled. "I was out of breath." She tried to catch her breath.

"I was too." He nodded. His heart was racing. He held her face in his hands.

"Rafi." She whispered. "I've missed you." She pressed her lips against his.

He relished the feel of her lips on his. "I've missed you Vern." He smirked.

"Ruin a beautiful moment Rafi." She rolled her eyes.

"It's not ruined Veronica London." He said her full name, or the name he had always called her anyway. "Do you still use Winters?" He asked hesitantly.

She nodded. "It's still on all of the paperwork. If my name is on an article it's London Winters." Her words weren't coming out as clear as she wanted them too.

"It suits you." He smiled. "Beautiful." He kissed her head and held her close.

Thank you for reading! Let me know what you thought. :) Ideas/suggestions/critiques/etc. are always welcome!