Alright… at least the last chapter is up soon. I hope this comes not too unexpected. Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing, and I hope you like the ending. :D

When Ed's fingers in her throat choked her for the third time, Eddie decided to stay awake. It was almost four in the morning. Her bedroom was never really dark, since right next to the building was a hotel trying to outshine the stars, and watching Jamie sleeping beside her definitely was a better option than going back to her nightmares.

Only ten minutes later, though, Jamie started murmuring her name and his brother's, and even if she couldn't understand anything else Eddie knew that his nightmares were probably worse than hers had been. When he started to cry for his mother, she gently touched his face. "Ja-"
He jolted, eyes wide open but not yet seeing. "No!"
"Jamie, it's okay!" With much more security than she felt, Eddie took his face in her hands and forced him to look at her. "I'm here, and it's okay." Six hours ago he had said those words to her, and they had helped.
Jamie smiled, so obviously faked that it hurt. They were together for a couple of hours and he already felt he had to lie to her? Why? Why did that happen?

Suddenly close to tears, Eddie snuggled close to him, burying her face on his chest. At once his arms wrapped around her and held her warm and safe. Eddie sighed in relief. "Why can't it be like this forever?" she whispered against his skin, only half-noticing she had spoken aloud.
Jamie pulled her up and kissed her, hair, forehead, nose, lips. It was not an answer but what should he have said? Because this was earth, not heaven, because there were people needing them, because they were part of the world. Because they were cops, and had sworn to dedicate their lives to the people of New York City.
Because every day they had could be their last.
The last kiss was heavy with desperation as Eddie realized it would never be as it had been before. "I love you, Jamie Reagan." She had told him so earlier this night, more than once, but it seemed important to say it once again, now, so he would know it if there was another Ed Rickers coming her way. Another someone or something to tear them apart.

Jamie's voice was dark with grief as well. "I love you." He avoided her eyes but Eddie knew whom he was thinking of.
"So what's gonna happen now?" She allowed her unromantic-cop-part to take over, she couldn't cry now.
They young man closed his eyes. "I don't know. You need a new partner but I don't know who it will be. I can't. I still got to train Taylor."
"They made me officer earlier than I should."
"That's because you're amazing." Slowly, the lightness crept back into his voice, and Eddie found herself grinning, both at the compliment and the fact that she could cheer Jamie up.
"Taylor helped saving our life. Just saying…" She broke off as Jamie's face darkened.

It was there again, the glimmer of pure hate she had got to know only yesterday.
"If Rickers had…" the words wouldn't leave his mouth but even so it was enough to make both of them shudder.
Eddie swallowed. "Jamie, stop that. It's over. Nothing happened."
Jamie kept staring into the darkness, seemingly unable to speak.
"Jamie!" Eddie forced her voice to be steady. She had often enough been afraid of the people she loved the most. "I need you to be with me now, and not thinking about where you could have been in the past! Understood?"

Her voice was loud in the small room and Eddie shivered with relief as she saw it reaching through to Jamie. The terror and hatred in his face slowly receded, his hands, coiled to fists, relaxed. Quickly Eddie took them in hers, pulling her boyfriend close to her. "You told me you didn't see me as a victim, Jamie. You promised me. Now keep that promise. We are no victims. We survived. We are here, and tomorrow we'll be saving lives again." Her throat was dry, caused less by her words than by the expression on Jamie's face. "I was in Harvard" he whispered hoarsely, his hands winding out of hers and gently travelling up and down her body, "and still you outsmart me, officer Janko."
"Well, I… I had a great teacher."
As his movements got deeper, hungrier, Eddie bit her tongue to keep a clear head. "Promise me, Jamie."
"Promise what?" He teased, whispering into her navel.
Gasping, Eddie shoved him away. She knew this kind of game, and she was good at it.
"Promise me to stay here" she said earnestly, "promise me not to let any of us go back into the past if we don't have to. Promise me…" Her voice faded till she sounded like the little girl she had been when Robert had come. And then never again.

Jamie understood. He laid rolled off and lay next to her, allowing her to curl up in his arms like he had done in the car. "I promise" he whispered into her hair, caressing her, "I promise I will not let you go. I promise I will take care of you, and of us, and…" he struggled for the right words, "I promise I will try to… to not think about what could have happened."
Eddie looked up to him in surprise. Jamie had been a what-if-person since day one, and while his rookie, she had teased him for that, even though she was the same.

"And how about you?" His voice rose her from her thoughts. Still in awe, Eddie nodded. "Okay. I promise to try… no past?"
"No past." No Robert, Rickers, Sydney,… Jamie took a deep breath and kissed her once again, sending every thought in Eddie's head flying away.
"Just us."

"Eddie!"
"What?" Very reluctantly, Eddie opened her eyes. With Jamie's arms around her she had slept peacefully, and felt like she could do so for another twelve hours.
Jamie was looking out of the window, smiling. "It's snowing."
"Snow? What…" And then she understood. Eddie giggled at destiny's irony. Or whatever it was that reigned the course of this city.

"Edit Janko, now that winter's back will you go ice skating with me?"
"Yes."