I've missed you guys! I know, I know, it's been a while. I do have an excuse though XD... I GOT MARRIED! Exciting, no? I know I am. Unfortunately that means I've neglected my stories for the past 2 weeks, but I'm working on updates for all of them...

Just gotta say, I've never gotten such a great response for one chapter as I did for the last one, so thanks for that :). Was it my heartfelt plea for reviews? Or the fact I left it for 2 weeks after? Anyways, love you guys and it would be great to see that repeated, *hint hint*. Anyways, here's the next bit, I sort of went on a tangent halfway through and ended up somewhere completely different. I think you'll understand and I hope you like it. Chapter title by Take That.

Disclaimer: I have a slightly dusty house, mountains of wedding gifts to open, and a sore hand from all the typing as well as Thank-You-Card-Writing. I would love to add Cold Case to the list of things I own. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening. Such is life.

Chapter 19: Patience

That night, Lilly folded a change of clothing into her overnight bag and frowned. Portland was a good four to five hour drive away. Even with Scotty's tendency to completely disregard the speed limit, they would be arriving in the middle of the night. With Vera's frequent bathroom breaks and Kat's hourly donut and coffee stops, they may very likely be arriving in the morning. All of this, Lilly was perfectly okay with. It's not like they hadn't made all night drives to pick up doers, or dealt with their colleagues' quirks before. What she couldn't shake was the lingering feeling of guilt at abandoning Boss and Will.

"Scotty?" Lilly asked, turning to her boyfriend, who was currently hammering out an email explanation for why he was all of a sudden in need of a few days off.

He looked up, immediately sensing the worry in Lilly's voice. "What's up?" Scotty asked in concern.

Lilly put down the shirt she'd been folding away and perched next to him on the bed. He immediately closed his laptop and gave her his fullest attention. "Are we doing the right thing, Scotty?" Lilly asked timidly as she linked her arms through his and rested her head on his shoulder.

"What do you mean?"

Lilly sighed. "Boss is gonna be pissed, and he's gonna see right through this." She gestured to Scotty's discarded laptop. "Where did you tell him you were going anyway?"

Scotty grinned ruefully, "Said my sister's eloping, and needs a witness for her marriage." His heart warmed at the sound of her light laughter.

Lilly smiled against his shoulder, his cotton t-shirt soft against her cheek. "I was just thinking… Why are we going? I mean, it's not like we're going to be much help. You know as well as I do that the feds aren't gonna want a couple of Philly's detectives interfering. We'll probably get the cold shoulder the entire time."

Scotty kissed the top of her head, "Because he hurt you, and all of us wanna put him behind bars for good." He said simply. "And he hurt me too." He added.

"You?" Lilly raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah," Scotty said indignantly. "If the bastard hadn't broken out I wouldn't have had to spend the night on the floor yesterday. My back's still killin' me."

Lilly laughed out loud, and Scotty once again congratulated himself for cheering her up considerably. "I know a way we could take your mind off of that." She smirked suggestively and pressed a kiss to his shoulder, travelling up his neck, to the corner of his mouth.

Scotty groaned, but pushed her hands away regretfully. "We've gotta finish packing, and then pick up Vera and Miller from Miller's place."

Lilly sighed, work awaited, like usual.

Kat Miller sighed regretfully, having packed both her and Veronica's bags. She hated that her job took her away from her daughter for days at a time. Oh, V was well taken care of, Kat made damn sure of that, and when she couldn't be the one to do it, her mom, or her sister would… but it wasn't the same. Kat knew that having grandma, or auntie around, wasn't the same as mama, which is why the Wednesday night ballet classes were so carefully guarded. Sweet little niches of life that belonged to mother and daughter, and mother and daughter alone.

"Veronica?" Kat called down the stairs, carrying the packed bags with her. "C'mon baby, you're goin' to grandma's for a couple of days. Mama's gotta work…" She trailed off, having walked into her living room and been rendered speechless by the sight before her.

Veronica lay sleeping on the couch, snoring quietly and looking perfectly content… in the arms of none other than Nick Vera. That was a whole other thing. Nick Vera. In her house, and not for the first time either. Kat felt her heart soften at the sight of her daughter and her boyfriend. She sat down on the coffee table, facing them both, and trailed a hand down Nick's face, earning a quiet sniffle of contentment. She thought back to the first time she realized that, well Lilly had been right that time she said Nick only looked like a Neanderthal.

It had been a cold December day, not unlike today, a year ago. At four in the afternoon, Veronica's afterschool daycare had lost power in the snowstorm. Kat's mother had been out of town, and her sister down with the flu. With plenty of work left to be done and nowhere else to turn, Kat had done the only thing she could think of, bring Veronica into the precinct, sit her down in a rolling chair and impress upon her the importance of staying out of trouble while mama went out on a interview. She'd left Veronica there with a pad of paper, and lacking pencil crayons, a variety of colored pens and highlighters.

When she'd returned, it was well past Veronica's bedtime, and she'd found the precinct empty except for Nick and V, curled up on the couch together reading… Oh for the love of God, reading what looked like an interview report from the day before. Kat remembered thinking, as she stood in the doorway watching them curiously, why the man had chosen such a stupid replacement for a story book. But then, Veronica had fallen asleep, and Nick had stood up, careful not to disturb her and pressed a soft kiss into her hair before shrugging off his jacket and covering the 5 year old, and all thoughts other than 'Nick can do sweet?' were wiped from her head.

Kat had stepped out of the shadows then, seeing Nick in a whole new light. Upon feeling a blush creep up her usually dark skin, Kat had muttered something about needing to get home. Nick had looked on as she awkwardly tried to gather a sleeping Veronica in her arms, and balance her coffee, notes, and bag at the same time. With a sigh, he'd offered to carry her into the car, and when Kat refused, he'd rolled his eyes and picked up the sleeping girl anyway.

Kat smirked as she remembered inviting him into her house, the slightly awkward, first date like conversation they'd made after, and the ensuing relationship. To say that the care he took around her daughter had touched her would be wrong, it was more like… that care and tenderness allowed her to trust him. Because he'd done those things without any request, or any indication from her, it set him apart from the other men who only wanted a piece of Kat, and tolerated Veronica. That had tipped the scales for her, and for the first time in years, she'd stepped back over the line from celibacy to the dating world, with none other than Nick Vera. Unusual, sure, but it sure worked for them.

They'd never told anyone, it just didn't seem necessary. Of course, they'd had to come clean to Boss, and he'd nodded along understandingly, as though office romances were none out of the ordinary in his experience. Then, he'd done some digging around for a rule book, some police conduct manual as thick as a phonebook and just as dusty and unused. Since they weren't partners, there was nothing more they had to do, and IAB had never gotten involved.

"You just gonna sit there lookin' at us?" Nick's gravelly voice brought her back to the present as she noticed that his eyes had opened, and he was smiling back at her lovingly.

Kat smiled, feeling happy tears well in her eyes and hoping that Nick wouldn't notice. He did of course, "Hey, what's the matter?" He asked, the alarm apparent in his voice as he sat bolt upright.

Kat reached out and placed both hands on his shoulders, her touch calming him like nothing else, "Careful." She whispered, "You'll wake her."

Nick sighed in relief, climbing up off the couch to wrap an arm around Kat. "You know V, a truck coming through here wouldn't wake her. Anyways, we've got to get her to your mom's place."

Kat leaned on his shoulder, "Let her sleep. I'll call and ask her to come over instead." She knew that Lilly and Scotty would be here any minute, and that this was most likely the last moment of peace they'd have for the next few days, the last few minutes of freedom. Wanting more than anything to make it last, and get in all the little cuddles and kisses that they'd miss out on in front of their other colleagues. Not that the other colleagues didn't have a secret of their own to protect.

Nick nodded, "Who would've thought, huh?" He asked, looking around her home, which had become his as well, bathed in a soft golden light and littered with Veronica's books and clothes.

"What?" Kat asked, closing her eyes.

"That us three, we'd be a family." He replied, "You know, that I'd fall in love with you."

Kat laughed, "I love you too."

A couple of hours later, Scotty pressed down harder on the gas pedal, willing the car to get there sooner. On his right, Lilly gazed silently out the window and Scotty wasn't sure if she was lost in thought, or flitting in between sleep and consciousness. In the back seat, Kat and Vera's snarky bickering had died down to a companionable silence, broken only by the occasional teasing insult as well. Despite late nights at the office, and even later nights at home alone, studying the case files, that had become second nature to all of them, everyone was feeling the late hour. The lighted dashboard told Scotty it was 3 AM, and his aching muscles chose to remind him of their recent night on the floor. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"You okay, Scotty?" Lilly asked. Apparently she wasn't asleep and Scotty turned to give her a grim smile. How did she always happen to look up when he didn't want her to?

"Fine, Lil." He replied, knowing the weariness was starting to show in his voice, and cursing the fact that he was as transparent as he was.

Predictably, Lilly raised her eyebrows, "Fine?" She asked. Oh no, you don't, she thought, somewhat bitterly, I invented that line. Hell if I can't see through it. She wasn't going to let sink into the habit of pretending he was okay when he wasn't. That was her game, and she knew it all too well.

Scotty sighed heavily, feeling his resolve shake beneath the already wobbly exterior. Damn it. Was the woman psychic? Or was he just that readable? Scotty raked a hand through his hair, leaving one hand on the steering wheel. "I hate this, Lil." He burst our angrily.

In the back seat, Kat and Nick gave a start of surprise. The bubble of sleep they'd started to fall into effectively burst by Scotty's angry words. They exchanged a glance, neither of them saying a word. Lilly knew how to deal with his moods the best; they'd all borne witness to that on multiple occasions, and sure enough, Lilly's next words were exactly what he needed.

"I hate it too, and so do Nick and Kat, but you don't see us yelling at anyone, do you?" She asked softly. The car was filled with silence at Lilly's words, and Scotty seemed to be holding his breath, trying to prevent the torrent of words from bursting forth. He only lasted a few seconds before breathing out shakily, façade completely dropped.

"Okay." He said, "I ain't fine. We're goin' to Portland. Fuckin' Portland, Goddamnit. It's the middle of the night, and we're chasin' after some sorta psychopath, against Boss's orders." He gave a low chuckle, "That don't make you guys think there's somethin' wrong with all our lives?"

Lilly couldn't help but bury her head in her hands. "Pull over Scotty." She commanded, her voice tired, but still laced with that determination he usually loved about her.

"What?" He asked, his neck making an ominous snapping sound as he whipped around to face her. The sound of a car horn from beside them jolted Scotty's attention back to the road, and he cursed as he pulled the car back into the right lane.

"You heard the woman, pull the hell over," Vera said, speaking for the first time in an hour, "Before we all wind up as road kill."

Furiously, Scotty pulled over onto the shoulder, bringing the car to an abrupt stop and causing everyone to cling to their arm rests in alarm. They sat in silence for a few seconds until Lilly spoke again, "Give us a second?" She asked, turning around to face Kat and Nick.

Kat nodded knowingly, giving Lilly an encouraging smile. She knew, this was no longer a work thing. It went deeper, to something between them two that even Kat, the only one who knew for sure what was going on, couldn't begin to fathom. Sure, Scotty was frustrated with the situation they were in, but his anger was brought about not by one of the soulless doers they saw everyday, but by the enigmatic blonde sitting next to him. Kat immediately reached for the door, silencing Nick's unasked questions with a single penetrating gaze and indicating he follow her. With the roll of his eyes, he followed her out of the car, slamming the door behind him.

"What the hell is his problem?" He burst out angrily, walking over to Kat's side of the car and leaning against the divide in the middle of the highway. They both shivered in the December air, reminding them that snowfall was imminent.

Kat placed a soothing hand on his shoulder, knowing the dark night would hide their actions, just as well as Lilly knew she and Scotty would have privacy in the car. "Nothin' you wouldn't understand." She said lightly.

Nick gave her a blank look, and Kat couldn't help but roll her eyes in exasperation. Men, you just couldn't count on them to take the hint. "What if it were me?" She asked, taking on a different tactic.

"What if you what?" Nick asked, his gaze still vacant of any understanding. Damn it, why couldn't she just tell him right out what she knew? Why did she have to spin his head around in circles like that all the time?

"What if it were me who wound up in the hospital, who had to spend a night in the precinct, just in case some creep was out to kill me?"

Nick contemplated for a second. Just imaging her, the woman he was completely and irrevocably in love with, in that position, well it made him sick to his stomach with anger. "I'd want him dead." He said bluntly, "or at least locked up for the rest of his fuckin' life. And I'd want to be the one who did it."

Kat nodded. "That's what Valens is feelin' right now."

Nick stared back, processing what she'd just said. He would feel like that because he's in love with Kat. Completely understandable, he reasoned. But Valens… Well, he and Lil were close, but after all, they were only partners, friends. Nothing that would warrant such intense anger. He fixed Kat with a questioning gaze, and then it hit him.

Holy shit.

Lil and… Valens.

The realization must have washed over his face because Kat was nodding at him, a small smile coloring her features.

"He's got it bad for her, doesn't he?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

Kat only nodded, and Nick continued, "And she's got no idea just how deep it goes for him, otherwise she'd be runnin' for the hills." The detective instinct kicked in, "But they're in a relationship, 'cause Valens isn't completely miserable, more just… frustrated with her."

Kat beamed. "Got it in one." She immediately sensed a danger, and was determined to circumvent it, "But you don't know." She pressed upon him, "You gotta act like you have no idea."

Inside the car, Lilly shifted in her seat to face Scotty, taking both of his hands in hers. "Scotty…" She began haltingly, "Could you just look at me please?"

Scotty tore his mutinous gaze away from the road, immediately softening when he saw the tremulous look on Lilly's face.

"Scotty…" Lilly began again, "Thanks." She squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"Thanks for what?" He spat bitterly. "I didn't do anythin'. That's why we're here remember?"

"Thanks for taking care of me when I got sick, and sleeping on the floor yesterday, and… for making me laugh and putting up with all my craziness during the last couple of weeks. I-I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say 'cause I honestly haven't done this before, the whole, relationship thing, but you have. So maybe you can tell me…" Lilly rambled on, but Scotty cut her off with a quick kiss, hot and desperate.

"I did those things because," I love you. Scotty swallowed the words, "I'm your boyfriend. That's what I'm for." He ducked his head, willing her to meet his eyes, and when she did, holy shit… the things he would do to her if Kat and Nick weren't standing right outside the car.

"I need you to forgive yourself, Scotty. If we're gonna have a chance in the long run, you can't blame yourself for everything under the sun that goes wrong." Lilly fought to hold onto the bit of sanity that his smoldering gaze was quickly robbing her of. "It's just… Scotty, stop it, please… listen to me." She exclaimed.

Scotty's bitter, worried, self-hating look had suddenly changed to one of pure joy and adoration as he leaned his forehead on hers and trapped her face between his hands. He kissed her, smiling against her lips.

"What?" She asked, confused at his sudden change of demeanor. She knew she was good, but this good? Had she really singlehandedly flipped a switch on his demeanor? Not that she wasn't enjoying the feel of his lips on hers… but it would be really nice to know what it was she had said.

"You said…" Scotty managed between kisses, "us… in the long run."

Lilly gave a start of surprise. Had she? Had she inadvertently let slip the idea of a long term relationship, as in longer than the few months her relationships usually were, with none other than her partner? "I guess I did." She heard herself saying.

Scotty smiled again. They could do anything together, they really could. He didn't know why he was angry, worried, or frustrated before, not with Lilly next to him. Not with her deciding she wanted a long term thing with him. Who cared about Wayne Simms? They would deal with him, and then they'd be happy. "Okay then, Rush."

"Okay?" Lilly asked uncertainly. What exactly was he agreeing to?

"Okay, I'll stop being an idiot for now." Scotty replied with a grin.

Lilly smiled, "Didn't know that was possible, Valens." She retorted instantly. Inwardly though, she was satisfied. That was exactly what she'd been looking for. "We should probably get going, before Vera and Miller start knocking on the windows."

Scotty nodded and rolled down the window. "Yo, Miller, Vera. Don't we got a murderer to catch?"

As always, please leave me a review if you have a minute, and you feel like I am deserving of such. Maybe as a little wedding present? ;)