Lilly couldn't turn her eyes from her ring, regularly becoming distracted while getting ready for work on the following morning, catching herself staring at her finger with a smile constantly breaking onto her face. With the demanding case and the long days of the week, she really hadn't been expecting to get a ring so soon; Scotty had truly managed to surprise her with this utterly gorgeous, timeless piece of jewelry and the thought of having to soon remove it for the workday wasn't making her very happy. He appeared on the bathroom doorway, chuckling at the sight of her, her eyes firmly on her left hand while her right one was holding a mascara wand, frozen in the air and totally forgotten.

"I'm really glad you like it," he told her quietly, kissing the side of her head. "Do you want… it doesn't have an engravin' yet, so I thought we could decide on one together, go back to the store at some point soon to get it done."

"Sounds good." Lilly smiled, leaned against him and breathed him in for a moment before reluctantly withdrawing; they needed to get going soon. "Any ideas?"

"Hmm." Scotty looped a tie around his neck, started tying it. "Somethin' like… Rush an' Valens forever?"

She snorted, directing her attention back to the mirror. "Maybe not. A true statement, but no. Besides… it doesn't look like my name will be Rush for that much longer anyway."

"Oh right; there is that." He grinned, finishing the perfect tie knot. "Perhaps a date then, last Sunday when I asked you to marry me, or yesterday."

"Last Friday," she said softly, finishing with the mascara and glancing at him with a little smile. "That's when everything changed for us. Seventh of May."

"Sounds very good." His eyes were warm, and she could have drowned into the pools of delicious brown. "Seventh of May it is."

She secured her hair onto its usual ponytail and settled her bangs, watching herself in the mirror for a moment; she looked so much healthier than she had just a week ago, more color on her face, her eyes a clearer, serene blue. It really was quite amazing what love and a healthier lifestyle had already done; even with the case keeping them busy this week, Scotty had made sure she sat down for three proper meals a day, and Lilly couldn't deny it made her feel much stronger, mentally and physically.

"You're so beautiful," he muttered, leaning to kiss her as she returned to the bedroom; she smiled against his lips, for a while maintaining the closeness. Sighing heavily, she reached for the golden chain on her dresser and removed the ring, slotting it into the necklace; Scotty kissed her forehead, took the chain from her and attached it around her neck. The ring settled against her skin, hidden underneath her shirt, her finger already feeling empty.

"It's not for long," he reminded her tenderly, gave her a tight hug and grasped her hand. "Come on."

They didn't have a new case yet, and there was a lot of paperwork to fill out following the Cassie Williams investigation; the morning passed slowly and Lilly had just completed her report about the previous day's final interrogation when she suddenly felt a pair of hands landing on her shoulders, startling her out of the semi-daze she always drifted into when focusing on writing out interviews.

"Lilly Rush." The voice was rather familiar and then the person moved in front of her; astonished and probably with her mouth open, she stared right into the eyes of FBI Special Agent Ryan Cavanaugh. He arched an eyebrow at her, gave a little smile and she shook her head, wondering what bizarre alternate universe she had drifted into, out of nowhere.

"What are you doing here?"

Nick and Kat had forgotten all about their work, staring at them curiously; Will had gone out for lunch, and she was quite relieved Scotty wasn't there currently either. During the investigation they had interviewed Cassie's older sister Lauren, who lived about an hour from Philadelphia; she had immediately become very fond of him, telling him he reminded her of her own son who had passed away in his sixties, and Lilly had teared up while watching them, the sight making her smile. Earlier that morning, Scotty had asked Boss for permission to drive over again, so that he could give Lauren the information about her sister's killer in person due to her advanced age; Boss had agreed to it since they weren't busy, and Lilly had felt very touched by how much her fiancé cared, how he wanted to make sure all the victim's relatives finally had proper answers, found as much peace as possible. She knew he wasn't exactly Ryan's biggest fan, and her former fling's unexpected appearance could very well drive him into revealing their relationship, not intentionally but with his body language and behavior; he was due back soon, and she needed to somehow find a way to talk to him before he walked through the door.

"Well, let's see." Ryan crossed his arms, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face. "For some strange reason, our HR department seems to have misplaced your job application. Oh but wait… could it be that it hasn't even been received yet?"

"Agent Cavanaugh." Lieutenant Stillman appeared by her desk, extending his hand to the younger man in greeting. "Let's head to my office."

Lilly frowned, her eyes moving between the two. "You knew he was coming over, Boss?"

"I did." Stillman turned towards his office door. "We'll talk later. Agent?"

She watched Ryan follow their boss into the room, the door closing after them; she slowly turned back to the remaining members of the team, biting her lip, trying to think of something to say.

"Maybe there's another case or something; if it was just about the job offer, I'm sure he could have called, or..."

"Who knows; I thought you'd be happy to see your FBI boyfriend again, Lil." Nick shrugged, turning back to his computer, wincing as Kat reached to give his arm a harsh whack with the file she was holding. "What? What did I say now, Miller?"

Kat rolled her eyes, exasperated; Lilly took a deep breath to calm herself, really needing to be close to Scotty now or at least get a hold of him by phone. He'd messaged her just a little over an hour ago to let her know he was leaving Lauren's house, which meant he was probably mere minutes away; she stood, grasped her phone and jacket.

"Ryan's not my boyfriend." She locked her computer, shrugged her coat on. "I need fresh air and proper coffee; can I bring you two some as well?"

Nick nodded; Kat gave her a very grateful look. "Thank you so much. Is everything okay, Lil?"

"Yeah," she muttered, glancing towards Stillman's office. "I'll be right back."

Scotty didn't pick up when she tried to call him and she groaned, leaning against the back wall of the elevator that was thankfully empty; downstairs, luck was on her side and she spotted him upon stepping out in the lobby. He was just about to get into another elevator a little further away, clearly intending to ride up and she called for him, feeling enormously relieved when he turned at the sound of her voice.

"Hey, Lil." He met her halfway, giving a smile but otherwise keeping the professional distance they'd agreed on. "Are you headin' out for lunch? Or did we get a case?"

"Neither." She bit her lip, nodded towards the hallway that led to the stairs; it was a bit quieter there, away from the busiest hustle and bustle of the lobby. "Listen… Ryan's here."

Scotty tensed for a moment, a frown appearing between his eyebrows. "Cavanaugh? Why?"

"I have no idea, but it's probably about the job; it looks like he's set up a meeting with Boss or something." She shook her head, touching his arm briefly. "I just… I needed to find you to… just try to stay cool, okay? I know you don't like him, but…"

"No, I don't." His jaw twitched, eyes darkening. "But I'm not goin' to get us both in trouble because of it, Lil. I'm not an idiot."

"I never said you were, that's not what I..." She rubbed her forehead, sighing; this day was rapidly getting worse now, after having started off so well. To placate herself, she tugged at the chain around her neck a little, just enough to be able to touch the ring; Scotty sighed at seeing that, the anger disappearing from his face.

"I'm so sorry; it's just been a rough mornin'. You don't have to worry about me; I'll behave. I promise."

"Thank you," she whispered, watching him for a brief moment, trying to convey with her eyes what she couldn't say or do here; there were people walking past them constantly. He offered a tiny smile, just enough to tell her he'd understood and Lilly gave a nod, clearing her throat. "I need to head to Starbucks; I made up an excuse about going to get some fresh air and proper coffee. Do you want one?"

"Sure." He made a move back towards the elevators, then hesitated. "I can come with you."

"It's okay; you go up. I won't be long." She again brushed her fingers against his arm very briefly and turned towards the exit; the day was warm and sunny, the rainclouds banished at least for now and she crossed the street to the coffee emporium, happy to find there was a bit of a queue so she had some time to gather her thoughts.

Returning to the office with a tray of four coffees, she automatically glanced towards Stillman's door; it was still closed and Lilly distributed the drinks, waving off Kat's attempts to pay her back. "Don't worry about it. Have they been in there throughout?"

Kat nodded, taking a big sip of her coffee and closing her eyes with a happy moan; Scotty tossed over a teasing grin, his fingers tapping against his own takeaway mug.

"Looks like it's decision time, Lil."

She sighed, taking a seat opposite him, just wanting to wrap herself around him; to everyone else he without a doubt looked perfectly normal, but she knew him in so much more detail, always had and especially did now, and the tightness in his face and shoulders was obvious, as was the slight undertone in his voice, revealing her possible departure still wasn't very easy for him to talk about.

"You try to decide something that will probably affect the rest of your life, Valens; it's not that simple."

"I know." He gave a small nod, focused back on his report and Lilly reactivated her own computer, took a sip of her coffee.

"How did it go with Cassie's sister? How did she take the news?"

Scotty shrugged, scratching his cheek. "She was pretty horrified; like she told us earlier, she's never been particularly close with the guy, but I don't think she ever really had any reason to suspect him either. She was relieved to have closure, but it it was still a nasty shock to have confirmation it was someone from Cassie's family."

"I can imagine." Kat made a sympathetic noise. "It's not something we'd ever want to believe out of someone, especially someone we've known for decades."

"Yeah." Lilly managed to type a few words; then Stillman's door opened and she looked up, swallowing, watched the two men make their way over. Ryan gave Scotty a nod, a slightly scrutinizing look, then turned his attention over to her.

"You got a moment?"

"You can use my office; I need to check on something at the lab." Boss offered them a little smile and she stood slowly, turned the screen off again, glancing at Scotty from the corner of her eye. He appeared nonchalant, clearly forcing himself to behave normally like he had promised her, but she wasn't fooled; the others would be, however, and that was what mattered. She followed Ryan into the office, closed the door, clearing her throat.

"I'm sorry about the… I know it's already been a while since you made the offer, but I don't really have an answer yet. It's… it's a big decision."

"It is," he agreed, leaning against the Lieutenant's desk, "but I thought you were pretty much set on accepting; at least I got that impression when we talked in New York."

"I was, but... a lot has changed since then." She found herself giving him a very brief recap about Christina and Lizzie; Ryan grinned, shaking his head.

"Wow. That's amazing." He smiled at the picture of the baby she showed him on her phone. "She's adorable; looks like you a lot. What else?"

Lilly frowned. "What do you mean?"

"What else has changed?" he clarified, arms crossed in front of him again. "Your niece is lovely, but I can't bring myself to believe you would be having so much difficulty with this decision just because of her, especially as you wouldn't be that far away and could still see her easily. So what else?"

"I…" She swallowed, nervously picking at her thumbnail; she could feel the ring, warm against her skin where it seemed to have settled to the site of her heart now, giving her a boost of strength. "Well, I'm also seeing someone now, and…"

"Ah." Ryan's lips twitched in a small smile, his eyes shifting to the glass wall of the office that was almost entirely covered with blinds, but still allowing a view through. "I'm going to take a wild guess that it's your partner, who's trying his very best to kill me with his glares."

"What? Crap." She spun around, but only saw Scotty focused on a report; she, however, had definitely confirmed Ryan's suspicions herself now and the agent chuckled.

"Don't worry; he's doing it pretty skillfully so I don't think anyone else is noticing, but it was kind of obvious to me already back during the sniper case that there was something… other than just partnership between you two." He gave a rueful smile. "I take it the others don't know?"

"Not yet; it's only been a week, and nothing happened between us before we... well, before things just suddenly changed." Lilly rubbed a hand over her face. "We haven't told anyone here because of this… uncertain situation, but… it does make this decision a lot harder."

"Hmm. I can imagine." Ryan pushed himself off the desk, grabbing his briefcase. "Well, luckily I may actually have a solution to that problem; as a matter of fact it's a part of the reason I came here today in the first place."

"What is?" She frowned, swallowing, but only received a brief smile in response before he made his way out of the office, heading straight towards Scotty's desk; she stumbled after him, now rather nervous again, without even knowing why.

"Detective Valens, may I have a word?"

Scotty lowered his pen slowly, glanced at his partner with a frown; she lifted her hands in a shrug, equally clueless and he looked back to Ryan. "A word about what?"

"Now, please." The agent motioned towards the hallway between the office and the elevator, making his way over; Scotty had no option but to stand and follow, looking somewhat bewildered, and Lilly was at a complete loss, kind of wishing she'd be proficient in lip-reading. Well, at least the two weren't coming to physical blows or engaging in a shouting match, which was a definite plus.

"What's going on?" Kat appeared by her side, followed by Nick; the burly detective crossed his arms, scoffed.

"I think it's the damn Feds stealing half of our squad, that's what's going on. First Lil, and now they want Valens too."

Lilly startled, tossing him a surprised glance; Kat looked at her for a moment, then shrugged, arching an amused eyebrow. "And? Are you jealous 'cause they're not trying to steal you, Vera?"

She listened to them bicker with half an ear, the rest of her focused on Scotty and Ryan; Jesus Christ, could it be… Boss returned, throwing the two a look and offering her a smile, shaking his head when she opened her mouth to ask what in the world this all was about. And then she saw the familiar blue folder appear from the briefcase, Ryan handing it over to Scotty; Lilly gasped, had to grab onto the corner of the desk to stay upright, pressing her fingers tightly into its surface and using the slight pain to make sure she was actually awake.

The men made their way back over, her partner looking absolutely dumbfounded; Ryan gave her a small smile, nodded at Boss. "I need an answer by the end of the day on Monday, from you both. John has the details; let me know if you've got any questions."

He proceeded to give her a quick hug, definitely just a friendly one and she felt relieved, hoping Scotty would also be able to see that there was nothing romantic between them anymore, if there ever even had been, really; in New York they'd both been… needy, she decided that was the best description, needing the physical contact with another human being after reliving some painful things in their pasts. And it had helped, lightening the burdens of them both, but that was really all there had been to it.

"It was good to see you." He released her, extended his hand to Scotty; her partner took it after a brief hesitation, and Ryan headed out of the office, leaving behind Boss, two very baffled detectives and two of their colleagues who looked rather intrigued.

"Lil, Scotty, my office." John Stillman led the way and they followed dazedly; Lilly closed the door, reaching to pick the blue folder from Scotty's hand to check it. Sure enough, it was the same new agent application form she had received a couple of weeks earlier.

"What is going on, Boss?"

The Lieutenant signaled for them to sit down, smiled at her. "I'm sorry to confuse you both like this; I knew this decision would be next to impossible for you to make, Lil, but as much as I would love to keep you here forever, I think it's time for the next step forward in your career. Same goes for you, Scotty. Yesterday I was watching you two interview Martin Williams, and like many, many times previously over the years, I was blown away by how good you two were, and how amazingly well you operated together."

Lilly swallowed, glancing at Scotty quickly, receiving a tiny smile; Stillman was quiet for a moment before continuing. "So, I called Agent Cavanaugh last night, asked him to come over; I wanted to talk to him because… look, you two have been together since the day Scotty arrived to Homicide seven years ago, and quite frankly, I don't think either of you can thrive without the other. Lilly could go to the FBI and Scotty could stay here, or vice versa, but neither of you would be truly happy, professionally. And as for your personal relationship…"

She froze on the spot, some kind of a whimper escaping her; Scotty clearly seemed a little paler suddenly too, and she wasn't sure whether to jump directly into denial or to reach for his hand which would confirm everything the older man was obviously suspecting.

"Boss, I…"

Stillman lifted his hand briefly. "Let me finish. I'm not blind, Lil, so don't bother trying to tell me there's nothing going on; it's obvious that something has changed between you two. I'm assuming it happened last weekend, when you were off searching for your sister. Am I right?"

She gave a little nod, deciding there was no use to keep anything secret anymore, grasped her necklace and tugged the ring from under her shirt. "We're engaged. Since last Sunday; I know it probably seems really fast and unexpected, but..."

"My goodness." The Lieutenant seemed shocked for a brief moment, then smiled, leaning forward to look at the ring. "It's stunning; congratulations, both of you. And no, it doesn't seem that fast, definitely not unexpected since it's you two; I'd say it was about goddamn time in fact. Isn't that supposed to be on your finger though, Lil, not hanging around your neck?"

"Yes, but…" She hesitated, tearing up now from the obvious acceptance of their boss, who truly was like a father figure to her, had been for so long; his support meant everything to her, just like she knew it did to Scotty too. "We weren't sure if it would be… okay. And we didn't want to face the IAD tearing us into pieces, since I might be leaving anyway."

"I see." Stillman laughed a little, leaning back in his chair. "Well, I can definitely understand that; the IAD's job is to make sure all officers are safe and able to perform their duties to a high standard, and sometimes they can be a little… strict about it, but it is only to protect you. However, what they don't know can't hurt them, so there's no need to rush into reporting anything right this second. Everyone here will be happy for you, so please don't worry; you have my full support, every step of the way, no matter what you decide to do."

Scotty looked touched, chuckling softly too; she loved that sound, loved the fact that the tension was obviously disappearing from him, his entire body relaxing now. She kind of wanted to kiss him, very much in fact, but it might give Kat and Nick a heart attack if they saw, and that wouldn't be a good thing at all; Boss smiled, pressing his fingertips together and leaning his jaw on them.

"It is of course up to the Bureau to decide whether your relationship affects anything, if you do join them; they have their own code of conduct to follow. But even if you couldn't technically work together, you would at least be in the same office, the same city, which obviously is where you will want to be now that things have changed."

He cleared his throat. "I know you both have strong ties to Philadelphia, by family, by blood, really, and I would hate to lose you two permanently to the Big Apple, so Agent Cavanaugh suggested that if you wanted, you could return here and join the local division in the near future. This would be after training, and then working in New York for six months to a year, at least, to get used to how things are done at the FBI; it's completely up to you two, of course, but I just wanted you to know it's an option."

"Oh." Lilly swallowed, her mind swirling wildly; this plan really did make a lot of sense, and solved many of the problems that had made her hesitate about the new job in the first place. She turned to look at Scotty, arched an eyebrow to ask a silent question, slightly worried by the tense expression on his face.

"So… the Feds would only be takin' me on too so that they can get Lil?" He rubbed a hand over his forehead. "I would be some kind of a… supplement?"

"Absolutely not." Stillman fixed his detective with a stern look. "I definitely wouldn't be letting you go anywhere if I thought so even for a second; they want you both in equal measure. Agent Cavanaugh requested both of your files straight after the sniper case was resolved, for potential employment; he told me you would both be ideal candidates for the Bureau, but then Lil happened to be in New York and proved her investigative skills even further so she got an offer first. Last night, he asked me if it would be okay to extend one to you as well, Scotty; I said it was fine by me, and that the final decision on whether to stay or go was yours, of course, but if my opinion carried any weight, then I would prefer you being able to stay together."

"Thanks, Boss," Lilly said quietly, blinking some tears from her eyes, finally reaching to grasp Scotty's hand. "Besides, you were asked even before I was; I happen to remember Diane Yates trying to recruit you right over there at the office, two minutes after first meeting you."

He chuckled, shaking his head. "I doubt she was serious about it; I'm sure you heard her reasonin' as well, about me fillin' my suit nicely, an' bein' willin' to kiss some ass."

"Uh-huh." She made a face at the memory, remembering the flash of annoyance that had crossed through her upon hearing that; it had probably been jealousy more than anything else. "And I definitely agree with the first point, but if she knew you at all, she'd also know that ass-kissing is pretty much the last thing you'd ever do."

Stillman gave a brief smile. "Well, whatever her reasons for it were, you both definitely made very good impressions on the FBI straight away. Take some time to think it over; on Monday, I want to hear your decision and see that ring on its correct place, Lil. There is absolutely no reason to hide it, nothing you need to worry about when it comes to the precinct. Is this understood?"

"Understood," she whispered softly, smiling at the older man, filled with such deep gratitude. The Lieutenant's phone rang and they left the office; she sank down into her chair, released a deep breath. Kat arched a questioning eyebrow at her, clearly brimming with curiosity; she opened her mouth to ask something but just then Boss emerged again, making his way to them.

"Just got a call from Northwest; a murder victim was found in Germantown last week, and they suspect it's possibly linked to some previously unsolved cases. Let's get back to work, everyone."