Author's note: Here's Scotty's night! (Also, I still don't own anything.)

Crouching, looking up at the mirror, voices rising on the other side. Lilly's voice. Standing, staring—at me. For a split second. Is he directly in front of me? Where's Lil? I have to shoot. Now. Lil said now. The mirror shatters. A glass waterfall. It's so dark inside. He's not standing. He's not standing! I got him! But…Lil? There's Jeffries. What's he kneeling next to? Lilly! No. No, no, no, no, no. She looks like a ghost. Don't think like that, stupid! She'll be fine! Fine. Go stop the bleeding. How does she have so much blood? It keeps coming. Seeping through my fingers. More pressure. More blood. "Stay with me, Lilly!" C'mon, c'mon, c'mon. Where's the EMT? Where's Jeffries? Just us. Why is she looking at me like that? Can't take it. C'mon, Lil, I didn't hurt you. Did I? Was it me? I didn't hear the other shot... God, Lil, you're so brave. Just stay with me, Lil. "Stay with me." Not responding. Staring into the blue…she's not focusing. Holding her face. So cold. No. So pale. No. So…

"No!" Scotty jolted awake, his scream still ringing through his room. He looked around, checking his surroundings.

He was in his bed. Lil was alive. She had been for months.

Slowly, his fists released the sheets at his side from their grasp and his hands came up to his head. He sighed and leant against the headboard, trying to rub the image of her face from his eyes. He had been right about having the dream tonight, but he hadn't expected it to be so vivid.

Though he wasn't surprised. Scotty Valens' passion was not tempered by sleep.

He didn't look at the clock. Whatever time it was, it was too early. It didn't matter anyway. As usual, he wasn't going back to sleep tonight. Not with Lilly in his head.

This time was different though. He didn't turn on the TV or head to the kitchen to try and get his mind off of it, off of her, but instead he slowly lay back down, letting himself sink into the thoughts that had been swirling around in the back of his head since that afternoon.

He couldn't help it if he was protective, okay, maybe overly so. He knew she could take care of herself, better than anyone he knew. That didn't make a difference. Maybe it was just because of how he was raised, or how he took the lead in his personal relationships with women. He was the tough one, the protector, the knight, and that didn't disappear just because Lilly was pretty much the opposite of the damsels he dated. Plus, they were partners—they were supposed to look out for one another. He'd act the same if anyone else on the squad got hurt.

Wouldn't he?

He'd get angry, sure. Anyone trying to hurt his co-workers—his friends—had better watch out. And he'd be there for them, no doubt.

But nightmares months after the fact? Haunted by ghosts that weren't there? Being so afraid of losing her—them?

Though his theory hadn't been put to the test, and he prayed it never would, Scotty couldn't help but think he would never have this hard of a time moving on if it had happened to anyone else—Boss, Vera, Will, even Kat.

All right, so it ain't a girl thing or a friend thing… it's a partner thing, he thought, Nothin' more than that. He and Lil were a step beyond team members. He had spent the most time with her since coming up to Homicide; she was responsible for him getting hooked on the cold jobs he had once wanted to dismiss outright. Hell, they had been to Tennessee together. If 20 hours on the road doesn't forge some sort of bond, something is wrong with you.

In a weird sort of way, she was his best friend. Despite all of the things they kept from each other, they had this sense of understanding. Personally and professionally. When they were in the box with a suspect, they interrogated him like they had been rehearsing it for months. Their dynamic worked. They fit.

Outside of work, they still got each other, but there was a whole lot less talking. Scotty had to admit that most of the time he was just as bad as her.

After Elisa, she had put herself out there for him. A message on his voicemail, a kind glance—small things, but more than he could have ever imagined. And he ignored it. He talked to Jeffries, Nick, even Kat, but he couldn't bring himself to talk to Lil. She didn't push. She knew not to push. But she had been there, if he had just been able to ask for her. Before he fucked it up by sleeping with Christina.

At the mere thought of it, he shivered involuntarily, trying to shake the memory away.

Talk about regrets. He and Lilly had moved past it, in their own way. Honestly, that argument in the lobby in all its fury had been one of their most open conversations. It was cruelly funny. Maybe they were just trying to avoid a repeat of that disaster when they closed off to each other.

Scotty found it strange that he knew her so well while knowing so little about her. He wished it could be different. He wished that they could hash it all out in the open, maybe with a beer or two and a hug or two. But "hey" was as far as it got.

He'd just have to be okay with that, and if that's what it took to keep being her other half, he definitely was. She was a kick-ass detective, and even with her flaws, the best partner he could imagine. He admired her. He respected her. He loved her.

I love her?

Now it was time for television. Quick.