"This is the final countdown!"

Lindsay opened one eye to look at the clock, then groaned and pulled her pillow over her head. It was way too early to have all three kids jumping on the bed.

"If you mean the final countdown to tickle punishments, you're right," Adam said, sitting up and pulling all three kids down into his lap. They squealed delightedly as he tickled and kissed them all, foiling all their attempts at escape.

"Sissy's wigglin' away!" Ben hollered while Avery managed to slide out of Adam's hands and crawl over to Lindsay.

"Away!" she giggled, burying her head under the covers. "Avery go!"

"Don't you think mama's going to tickle you too?" Lindsay asked, peeking at her daughter, chuckling at the static and stuck up hair.

"No. Mama hugs."

"No, mama tickles!"

Avery tried to get away but Lindsay was too fast and grabbed her around the waist, blowing raspberries on her stomach. She couldn't imagine still living that small apartment with three kids who were loud and crazy this early in the morning. Their neighbors would have hated them bitterly.

"Okay, now that we got that junk outta the way," Colton started, stretching his arms over his head. "It is one week until school starts. That's why me and Ben said that thing about the final countdown."

"Oh, I thought you'd raided our eighties music stash," Adam chuckled, taking Ben's grubby glasses off of him and using the sheet to wipe off the lenses.

"Gimme back my glasses daddy."

"Here, now you're not seeing in a world of fingerprints and grape jelly from yesterday."

"Oh thanks. Talkin' of grape jelly, can we have breakfast?"

"Yeah, we should get up and moving so mama and I can get to work on time."

"Why do y'all have to go to work all the time?" Colton asked with a sigh. "I like goin' to Austin and Danny's and I like when Faye comes over and takes care of us too, but I like it better when you take care of us."

"I'm sorry buddy. We have to work so we can bring home the bacon."

"I won't eat no more bacon!" Ben offered with a grin. "Then you people stay home!"

"Oh bacon!" Avery laughed, patting her stomach.

"We could all go vegan, but mama and I still need to work. So march, offspring. Time for breakfast."

The boys hopped off the bed and headed down to the kitchen while Avery snuggled into Lindsay's arms and slid her pacifier into her mouth.

"I think it's time to get rid of that binkie," Lindsay said, taking it from her.

"No mama! Mine!"

"Nope, you're too big. Binkies are for babies. Are you a baby?"

"Yes!"

"Averylin, I don't want you to have this anymore. All done."

She put the pacifier in the nightstand drawer and Avery stared at her for a few seconds before bursting into tears.

"Daddy! Daddy! Mama bad! My binkie!"

"That is not nice of you, Avery. I said no, it's time to stop with the binkie. That's how it's going to be."

She felt pretty bad about just taking it away, but they'd been trying to wean her off of it for weeks with no success and they'd decided last night to just go cold turkey with it. They'd scoured the house for all the pacifiers and were pretty sure they'd found them all, and the only one left was the one Avery went to sleep with.

"My binkie!" she hollered again, kicking her legs against the bed. "Mine!"

"Avery-"

"NO!"

"Okay, let's go downstairs and have breakfast," Lindsay suggested, figuring that ignoring the tantrum was a good first countermeasure.

"No food! Binkie!"

"Avery, you don't even use your binkie during the day. Now come on, I bet daddy has some cereal for you."

Avery kicked and screamed and even spit before Lindsay figured getting her downstairs was a lost cause.

"Okay, you can sit up here and have your tantrum. Come downstairs when you're ready to behave."

She took the pacifier back out of the drawer and walked out of the room with it, leaving Avery to wail without an audience.

"That doesn't sound like it went well," Adam noted when she came into the kitchen.

"She's stubborn. It might have been a good idea to talk to her about it first, but I think she'll be okay once she gets used to it."

"It would be harder to take her thumb away, wouldn't it?"

"Put quinine on her thumb and she'll stop sucking it quick enough!"

"Movie reference I don't know…Gone with the wind?"

"You do know it honey."

"You're very proud, aren't you?"

"Yes I am," she said, taking out the kitchen scissors and snipping the end off the pacifier just in case Avery dug it out of the garbage, which had happened on one of their first attempts at separation. "Hey, you wanna make me some cereal with bananas in it?"

"I would, but I saved strawberries for you instead."

Her mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide with happiness.

"I love you so much."

"I love you too."

"I could tell by the strawberries."

He laughed and kissed her, then handed her the box of cereal.

"I'm going to go shower and I'll save you some hot water."

"Thanks babe."

"You failed to mention you were at the club that night, Dane," Jo started, her voice smooth and soft. "Is there a reason you left that out?"

He swallowed and stared down at the metal table, seemingly weighing his options.

"You can't deny it, Dane. We have you on the security tapes."

"We just need to know why you were there and how you didn't see her."

"I just went out for a drink."

"That's not really a place many people fly solo. Not to mention it's a little far out of your neck of the woods."

He stalled, staring at his hands and taking deep breaths for a few moments until he could steady himself and decide what to say.

"I was there. I didn't see Katie."

"Are you sure about that? She looks exactly like your girlfriend you know. It would be hard to miss her."

"I didn't see her."

"Funny because you followed her out the door when she left. Ready to change your story?"

"I was just going to say hi to her. When I got outside she was gone."

"Oh was she? What happened to your hands, Dane?"

He flipped his hands over and studied the road rash on them, as if he had never seen it before. They were infected and puffy and Lindsay was dying to swab them to see if her hunch was correct.

"I… uh…it happened at work."

"I see. Well then you don't mind if we take a sample, do you?"

"Hey, am I under arrest here or something? You called me in here and said you just wanted to ask some follow up questions."

"These are follow up questions to you lying about the last time you saw Katie. We just want to make sure we've got everything straight."

"I saw her but I didn't talk to her okay? Can I go? I don't want to leave Laura alone for too long."

"Let me swab your hands first. If you're telling the truth then it will rule you out. How about that for a trade?"

"Fine, whatever."

They had been hoping he would crack under the pressure of the questioning or at least give himself away a little more, but at least with this swab of his hands there would be hard evidence to come back at him with. They'd noticed the abrasions the first time they'd met him but it hadn't all connected until they saw the video. The trace amounts of asphalt and other road dirt on Katie's neck didn't just appear there magically, and it was quite suspicious that they were concentrated right in the area where she'd been strangled.

"Okay Dane, you're free to go, but we would like you and Laura to stay in town so we can let you know of any new information," Jo said, standing up and opening the door for him.

"And maybe you could figure out exactly what happened that night, since you still seem to be unsure," Lindsay suggested, sealing the evidence bag.

Dane gulped and exited the room while Jo raised an eyebrow at Lindsay.

"So we're playing good cop bad cop?"

"Yeah. I thought that was clear."

"Well then the bad cop can go process that trace and the good cop is going to go out to lunch."

"Meeting Mac?"

"Yeah, he's in court today."

"I'll expect you back in no less than two hours."

Jo nodded knowingly and they left the interrogation room, going their separate ways.

"So how'd it go?" Jess asked, tossing the Nerf ball back across the room to Austin.

"If we were betting you would have just won."

"Sorry for the jinx."

"Yeah well, it won't be long if the GCMS decides to cooperate."

"How long have you two been playing that?" Flack asked as he had to walk around the Nerf tossing game to get to his desk.

"One hour. Not a record but not shabby," Austin answered.

"Well I would hate to break a record but I really can't let this hullabaloo go on any longer."

He jumped up from his desk and tried to intercept the ball, but tripped on a piece of paper and fell to the floor. He writhed there for a moment before letting out an embarrassed whimper and clutching at his shin.

"And he's out of commission," Jess sighed, standing up from her chair and going to check on him.

"Did you see his limbs all akimbo?" Austin laughed trying not to fall out of her own chair. "He looked like Mowgli."

"And his hair stayed perfectly shellacked in place."

"Hey shut up, I coulda broke a hip!"

Austin was sent into gales of laughter as Flack struggled up off the floor.

"Shuddup Grace!"

"Between that and the image of you jumping into a frozen lake, I may be laughing for the rest of my life."

"Glad I could be of service, now go get me an ice-pack."

"Does this count as an on the job injury?"

"How would you even classify that one?"

"Idiot seeks workmans comp."

"Jess! You should be on my side here."

"I am. But you're an idiot. And you stopped our game. And if you injure yourself into disability I am the one that has to work for the rest of my life. So I have very little compassion for you right now."

"Geez."

"I need to go actually do my job," Lindsay chuckled. "But thanks for the laugh, Stuntman."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Hey babe what'cha got cookin' over there?"

"Not sure yet," Lindsay replied with a yawn as Adam walked by and dropped a kiss to the top of her head. "You?"

"Various bits and bobs of trace from the Freeman case. You gonna be at the stove long?"

"Oh my word you are so weird. And just a few more minutes."

"I can deal with that. You're off on Sunday right?"

"Yes, hopefully. Why?"

"I thought we could do something special with the kids before school starts."

"Like what?"

"Pajama day maybe."

"I love pajama day. I wish every day was pajama day."

"It's a plan then. I'll find some movies."

"That sounds really good."

"You know what doesn't sound good? You popping your neck like that."

"It makes it feel better."

"Yeah and you'll regret it when you get arthritis in your spine someday."

"Popping and cracking bones has actually not been linked to arthritis."

"I hate that you know things that rebut me when I'm trying to do what's best for you."

"You need better arguments."

"I didn't know being married to you would be like every day on the debate team."

"At least being married to me doesn't get you teased every day."

"Yes it does."

"Okay, but that's only because I am so insanely smitten with you that if I didn't poke fun at you on a daily basis, I would be constantly emotionally verklempt."

"So you have to bring me down a notch in order to save your sanity?"

"It's not my fault you're so irresistible."

He chuckled and they locked eyes for a moment, both wishing they weren't at work right now.

"You gonna kiss me or what?" she asked after a while, waggling her eyebrows. He looked around to make sure no one was watching then leaned down and kissed her softly.

"I love you."

"Love you too. And I am all done with the stove, you can use it now," she said, taking everything out and printing off the reports.

"You gonna sit here and entertain me?"

"Can't. I just solved the case."

"Actually you took the evidence out in time. Machine solved the case."

"Is that your way of bringing me down a notch?"

"Yes it is."

"Okay I can deal with it. I'll see you at home later."

"Be safe."

"I will. You don't worry."

"I won't."

She gathered everything up and left the room and he sighed to himself. He always worried when she was out in the field and with the few scrapes she'd gotten into in the past he felt that was justified at least to some degree. He had nightmares of getting phone calls, racing to the hospital, finding her dead because it had just been a simple interview and she hadn't taken the necessary precautions. He dreamed that every time they were in the middle of a case, every time she was out in the field instead of in the lab with him where it was safe. He hated those dreams not because they scared him but because with one bullet they could so easily be true.

"Dane, open up, it's us again!"

Lindsay snickered at the way Jess announced them so unprofessionally but without shame. She'd never really be one to break the rules, but there were times when she couldn't be bothered with the tried and true manners of the NYPD.

There was a scuffling noise from inside the apartment and they could hear some arguing going on too.

"Dane, we've got a warrant and I don't really think you want us kicking the door down. They're not cheap to replace."

"What are you doing Dane? Just open the door!" came Laura's voice, sounding worried and confused.

"Stay out of this!"

"What did you do? What did you to do Katie?"

"Shut up!"

"Dane, you've got five seconds to open this door," Lindsay warned, grabbing for her gun. "Or we're going to kick it down. And I don't want to do that. These are new shoes."

"Look, you've got the wrong guy."

"No we don't. Open the door, it will be easier on everybody," Jo added, trying to add a level of calm.

"Dane let me go! Open the door, please!"

"This is all your fault!"

There was the sound of a scuffle and the girls didn't waste any time in kicking down the door. Laura was scrambling away from Dane who looked to be absolutely out of his mind, having covered it up to the point where it was eating him alive. There wasn't time to feel sorry for him though, as they cuffed him and placed him under arrest. Laura was crying, certain she knew what was going on, but not sure why. Jo helped her out of the apartment while Jess and Lindsay took Dane down to the squad car. He'd fallen silent and they knew they couldn't do much in the way of talking to him, so they made sure he was secure in the car before they shut him in.

"Jo, you okay takin' Laura?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. We'll meet you there."

The drive back to the precinct was long and hot and when they finally arrived, Dane asked for a glass of water and a lawyer, then refused to say a word. He couldn't afford a lawyer so they had to wait for a public defender, which was going to take a while. It was already late and the sun was setting and Lindsay glanced at her watch, figuring on at least a fourteen hour day, if not more.

"I'm going to call home while we wait. Adam's going to need some moral support."

"The Binkie Battle?" Jess asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah. And you know how loud that daughter of mine can scream."

"Yes I do. Go call. Let me know if he needs a white jacket that ties in the back. I know where to get them cheap."

Lindsay laughed and went into the hallway, calling Adam's phone and waiting as it went through his ringback tone twice before Colton picked up.

"Nerd girl I don't deserve you, I don't get the references you refer to. I like your Lipsmackers and your lack of perfume, I hope to get you home by curfew!"

She chuckled as he continued singing along with her ringtone, as if he had heard it a million times before.

"Hey buddy. Why are you answering daddy's phone?"

"Because he's trying to put Aves to bed and he told me I could answer it and talk to ya. What's goin' on?"

"I was just calling to say goodnight."

"Talk to Ben first, I need to brush my teeth."

"Okay."

"Hi mama, this is Benjamin speaking."

"Hi Ben Ry. Are you getting ready for bed?"

"I am already ready mama! I'm all snuggled in with White Teefy the Bear."

"Oh good. Did you have a good day?"

"Yep! Faye took us to the park and we played there all mornin'. Then when we came home and ate lunch and sissy throwed a fit about her nap and Faye told her that she was not allowed to act like that and sissy cried herself to sleep. And me and Cole played in the yard and I finded some flowers for ya, but that was a secret so don't remember it, okay?"

"I have no idea what you're talkin' about Ben."

"Okay. Daddy maked pesto pizza for dinner. We gobbled it all up and then we 'membered that you didn't get none and we feeled bad but daddy said you would just eat cereal anyways."

"He's probably right."

"When will ya be home mama?"

"Late."

"Will you come in and kiss my cheeks?"

"Yes I will."

"Okay. Cole is back. Night mama. I love you."

"I love you too Ben. Sleep good."

"Hey mama can you smell my minty fresh breath through the phone?"

"Colton, you sound like your daddy."

"That's what I was thinkin' when I thought of sayin' that!"

She laughed as he got into bed and snuggled himself down into his blankets. He cleared his throat and his voice dropped lower as he started in on his normal bedtime questions.

"Did you catch a bad guy today mama?"

"Yes, I did."

"What did he do?"

"He hurt someone. And he lied about it."

"Oh. But now people are safer?"

"Yeah, a little."

"That's good. I miss you mama."

"I miss you too buddy."

"I like that you call us at bedtime though. I like hearin' your voice before I go to sleep."

"Then I will work extra hard to remember to call when I can't be there."

"That's a deal," he sighed, reaching up to scratch at the mosquito bite on his forehead. "I love you a lot."

"I love you a lot too."

"I am kind of worried about going back to school."

"Why?"

"Just all the kids asking questions. When you are home next time can you and me and daddy talk about it?"

"Of course we can."

"Okay. I am about fallin' asleep."

"That's alright, I've got to get back to work. I'll call daddy in a bit."

"Night mama."

"Night Colton. Sleep good."

They hung up and rubbed her eyes, wishing she was home with her babies instead of here. She wouldn't ever want to quit her job, she just wished there were more hours in the day so she could be there for them every waking moment and still do the job she felt called to do.

"I know you love Laura, Dane and I know that you thought of Katie as your sister and you loved her too. You need to let Laura have closure. If you really love her, tell us what happened."

He sat there quietly, staring at the table and clenching and unclenching his jaw while his lawyer consulted the case notes and made if very clear that his client had nothing to do with the crime and had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"See that's where you're wrong. We have the evidence. We really don't need your confession at all. We just thought you might have an easier time at sentencing if you came clean and let us know just what happened."

"I can see that you're sweating, Dane. I know somethin' inside you is just dyin' to get out," Jo added, leaning forward in her chair.

"What is it? What happened? Come on, we all know that keeping it in isn't going to help anyone. It's going to eat you from the inside out. Are you prepared for that Dane? Day in and day out, constantly gnawing at you, there at every turn, driving you mad? Are you really ready for that?"

"Detective you would be kind to stop badgering my client."

"This isn't a court of law, sir. I can ask him any question I want. Including why he killed Katie. That swab I took of your hands? The same traces of road water were found in your abrasions as were on Katie's neck. And the muscle cream she used that night was inside the cuts as well. And when we booked you and took your handprints, they matched the small prints we already had on her skin. You put your hands around her neck and you strangled her."

"I didn't mean to!" Dane shouted suddenly. "I didn't know it was her!"

"So then who did you intend to kill?"

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry."

"What happened that night, Dane? Tell us."

"One of my buddies called. Said he saw Laura at the club and I might want to come down there and see what she was doing. When I got there I saw her flirting with some guy, drinking, dancing. She told me she was at work! She lied to me. I was mad and I kept drinking and when she left, I followed her to confront her. She wouldn't stop when I called her. I chased her. I was so mad. She was cheating on me just like I thought. It was over before I knew it happened. I looked at her and it wasn't Laura. It was Katie. I'm so sorry, I never meant to hurt her!"

"You didn't realize you had the wrong person until it was already done."

"I would never have hurt her. I loved Katie. I just didn't know. It was dark. I was drunk. I didn't know."

He dropped his face into his hands while his lawyer fumbled around, trying to come up with something to say to salvage this case in his favor. Simply put, there was nothing he could do. His lawyer helped him up out of his chair and out the door where he would be moved to a temporary cell before they could get him transferred to prison.

"Sometimes you don't really feel a sense of closure after a case," Jo mused, picking up the papers and putting them back in the file.

"No. There's just no winning this one, is there?"

"Now that I think about it, I don't think we ever really win."

Lindsay sighed and stood up from her chair. Jo was right, no matter how hard they worked and how many truths they uncovered, the victory was never really secured because learning the truth didn't make anything go back to how it was before. Nothing could erase the loss and for as nobly as they worked, they would probably always feel a sense of not really being done.