A/N: Thanks for letting me know there are still readers! The weird thing is that the stats counter of this site seems to have died or something, it's been showing zero reads for like a month now. I don't know what has happened to it... anyway, let's continue.
She could tell Scotty recognized their route and destination about five minutes before they arrived there; he took a deep breath and from the corner of her eye she saw him tensing, sitting up more on his seat.
"Lil…"
"It's okay," she said quietly, biting her lip and guiding the car to the side of the road, turning it off; birdsong drifted inside, a few fluffy clouds moving across the blue sky. In front of them, a bridge crossed the wide, deep body of the Delaware River, offering vehicles a passage towards Bucks County on the other side; a safe passage, Lilly had once thought, perfectly safe until that one night when she had been on it, and had felt something slam heavily against the back of her car.
She swallowed, turning her eyes to the man next to her; he looked pale, a muscle twitching in his jaw and she placed her hand on top of his, knowing that being here wasn't easy for either of them. "Scotty… what did you hear?"
He startled slightly, shot her a quick glance before returning his gaze towards the river. "What?"
"I was on the phone, calling you, when…" She hesitated, grasping his fingers securely. "Did it… go through?"
She had never asked him about the accident before, too shocked and traumatized by it at first; then after physical recovery, she had directed all of her attention and anger towards Moe Kitchener, especially following his release on bail. She hadn't remembered many details right after the crash, but little by little the events had become clear again, and she'd recalled dialing her partner's number, wanting to tell him what she had just discovered, a potentially huge clue towards solving Kate Butler's murder. The phone had been knocked from her hand at the moment of impact, and she hadn't been sure whether the call had ended at the same time; judging by his expression, she now knew it hadn't.
"Scotty?"
"Yeah, it went through," he spat, pulled his hand from hers and undid his seat belt. "I heard it. All of it."
He got out of the car before Lilly could ask him to clarify what he'd heard; she exited too, circling around the vehicle and taking a tight hold of him again, watching his tense face. He sniffled, raked his free hand through his hair, eyes directed to the ground.
"I picked up the call, an' I heard… this grindin' noise; at first I thought you were on some construction site or somethin', but it was kinda late for that." Scotty inhaled shakily. "An' then tires squealin', an' this horrible, loud bang."
He lifted his gaze towards the bridge, and she could guess what had caused that bang: her car smashing through the railing. She remembered a feeling of falling, falling endlessly, like in some slow-motion movie, until the vehicle had breached the river's surface and begun to sink, even slower, towards what she'd been sure was her certain death.
"Then there was somethin' like static, an' the call cut off," he continued quietly, holding onto her hand like a lifeline. "I was just… I couldn't do anythin' for a moment, an' then I started callin' you an' callin' you, screamin' into the phone an' never gettin' through. At some point I called Boss an' told him somethin' bad had happened to you, but we had no idea what it was, or where you were."
A tremor moved through him, like he was freezing despite the warm day, and Lilly wrapped herself around him without hesitation; he held her tightly, a few tears evident against the skin of her neck.
"Boss alerted everyone, an' I raced to the precinct; I was almost there when Nick called. He'd been listenin' to the scanner, an' someone had spotted the broken railin' an' the tire marks on the road, called 911; the divers found the car just before we got here. We thought… this place is so close to the military institute that we thought it might be you, but we didn't know for sure until they got you out, an' all the time I kept thinkin'…"
His grasp on her tightened even further, probably enough to leave bruises on her light skin but she didn't say anything, just rubbed his back gently. "What, Scotty?"
"That… that maybe it wasn't you after all, an' you were somewhere else, alone, maybe dyin'. An' then I felt guilty because it was still somebody, but if it hadn't been you, we wouldn't have had the faintest clue where to start lookin' for you." He released a shaky sigh into her neck. "I was terrified, Lil, absolutely fuckin' terrified. An' then I saw your hair, an' your face, an' I was so relieved, until it dawned on me you weren't breathin', that they were tryin' to resuscitate you."
He pulled back a little, his eyes so dark with pain that they startled her, looking almost black. "Lil, you gotta stop this, okay? You gotta stop gettin' yourself into these situations; I can't take it anymore, especially not now that we're… I can't lose you. Can you please just stop tryin' to kill me like that?"
"I can't promise; I really wish I could," she whispered, kissing him tenderly. "We both know the risks of this profession; they're always there and they're going to continue to be there when we join the FBI. But I can promise to be careful, and I need you to promise me the same thing."
"Okay," he muttered, still looking quite unhappy and Lilly chuckled, kissed him a little deeper.
"Luckily I have this amazing partner who's always taken care of me; who knows what might have happened to me during the past seven years if I didn't have you. Everything you've done for me, Scotty… thank you. Thank you so much."
"My pleasure," he whispered, gently rubbing her neck; for a moment they were silent until lifting two pairs of eyes towards the bridge simultaneously, as though out of some unspoken agreement. She shivered, really not wanting to think about those events anymore but at the same time knowing she had needed to come here, had needed to face this particular demon, just one in a long list she was getting braver and braver to deal with. There was hardly any traffic at the moment, and there hadn't been much that evening either; she knew she had been very, very lucky that someone had been on the road not long after her car had crashed into the river, had spotted the telltale signs of an accident and called the emergency services.
"It's all over now," Scotty told her, reassuringly pressing his lips against her temple. "That bastard is dead, an' he's never hurtin' you again, Lil. Not ever."
"Yeah." She leaned her head against his shoulder. "I just hate it that he… Kate had so much ahead of her, such a bright future, and they took it from her; Kitchener might not have killed her, but he helped to hide the body, and he knew all along what had happened to her. She would have deserved so much more justice and… just so much more."
He nodded, sighing, kissed the top of her head; they fell into a slight daze, both quietly reminiscing until the ringtone of her phone drifted in the air and Lilly tugged it out of her pocket. "It's Boss. Hello?"
"Hey, Lil." The Lieutenant sounded distracted and she heard the rustling of papers in the background. "We got a possible big lead in the case; officers were going through the victims' banking statements, and it turns out they were all regulars at a Center City bookstore, especially the café that's on the bottom floor, each visiting it at least a couple of times a week. In addition, there was also a very interesting discovery in the interview report of the presumed first victim's husband."
"Yeah?" Lilly tapped her fingers against the phone. "Was she a regular too?"
"She founded the bookstore with her best friend back in 1995, sold her share a year before she was murdered. So it looks like the killer might be someone who knew her and possibly all the other victims from this store, and they could be picking their victims there; it's a busy place with lots of events and author visits, and basically all female customers could be at risk. Can you and Scotty come in?"
"Of course; we'll be right there." She ended the call, relayed the information to her partner; he nodded and she took a deep breath upon realizing something, looked at her ring. "I… I don't have the necklace with me."
He smiled, leaned close to kiss her forehead softly. "Maybe this is the perfect opportunity to tell them. Keep it on."
Lilly exhaled slowly, smiling, feeling quite nervous but definitely also relieved; she didn't want to take the ring off, ever again, and once the cold cases team learned the truth about their relationship, she was fine with everyone else seeing the ring too. There would be whispers at the precinct, speculation about who had been the man to finally melt the Ice Queen of Homicide; it would probably take about five minutes until the identity of her fiancé was discovered, and for once, she was perfectly happy to let the very effective rumor mill handle everything for them.
"Let's go then." She gave him a little kiss and turned to make her way into the car, throwing one more glance towards the bridge before leaving it behind; Moe Kitchener had wanted to end her life here, in order to keep the heinous truth about his crimes hidden, but he hadn't succeeded, and now that life was looking so much brighter, so full of hope and happiness.
Nick and Kat were already at the precinct, browsing through investigation reports and interviews; Kat glanced at them, gave a half-hearted wave in greeting, focusing back on what she was reading for a few seconds. Then her head snapped up again, a suspicious frown appearing on her face as she studied her blonde colleague.
"What's going on with you?"
"What are you talking about?" Lilly lowered a tray of coffees onto the desk, making sure to keep her left hand hidden, glanced down to her outfit of jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt. "Is it my clothes? I was out when I got the call so I headed straight over. Here, brought your favorite."
"Thanks." Kat took the mug from her, still frowning, her eyes switching to Scotty. "And no, it's not your clothes, you just look… I don't know. Different, both of you in fact. And you came in together."
Nick was studying them curiously now too; Scotty sighed, shrugging. "Would you believe we ran into each other at Starbucks?"
Will arrived, momentarily drawing everyone's attention from the two of them to Lilly's relief, and Kat was now frowning at him in turn. "What are you doing here?"
He chuckled, accepting his own coffee that Lilly had decided to buy even though she also hadn't been sure whether Will would be joining them. "I don't know what you mean; I'm not retired just yet. I still work here."
"Awesome." Kat turned her inquisitive eyes to Lilly again. "So?"
She swallowed, offered a little smile and escaped to John Stillman's office with one of the coffees; he was on the phone, giving her a nod as a thank you, and she reluctantly returned to the squad room. Nick was staring at Scotty with slightly narrowed eyes, obviously making the younger detective somewhat restless; he cleared his throat, starting to dig through one of the evidence boxes.
"So, what are we…?"
"Scotty and I have news," Lilly blurted out, interrupting her partner mid-sentence; despite her nervousness, she needed to get this done, needed to come clean or she'd never be able to focus on the case in an adequate manner. Nick lowered a pen from his hand, Will looked at them expectantly and Kat leaned back in her chair, arching a questioning eyebrow.
"Thought so. What's up?"
"I… we…" She bit her lip, for a moment wondering if she should just talk about their FBI decision; judging by Kat's expression, however, there was no way that would be enough, so she took a deep breath, gathered her courage and lifted her left hand for everyone to see.
For a moment there was complete silence, even deeper frowns appearing on their colleagues' faces until the penny dropped, three pairs of eyes zeroing in on her fourth finger; Kat gasped loudly, her mouth falling open, while Nick just stared, motionlessly, his expression utterly stunned. Will was the first to recover, a warm chuckle emanating from him, accompanied by a wide smile.
"Well, well, well. I'll be damned."
"What?" Kat closed her mouth, then opened it again; she pointed at the ring, staring at it like it was some sort of an apparition. "Are you two…?"
"Mmhm." Scotty moved to the blonde, kissing her forehead tenderly; she grasped onto him, closed her eyes, feeling reassured by the closeness. Boss emerged from his office, smiling as he obviously understood immediately what was going on.
"Thanks for coming in, everyone. Scotty, Lil, I take it you have… revealed your relationship?"
"Wait a minute." Nick turned his eyes slowly to the Lieutenant. "You mean you knew already?"
Stillman chuckled. "I'd be more surprised if none of you did. It was somewhat obvious all of last week if you paid attention."
"Okay, okay, hang on." Kat shook her head as though trying to clear it. "You two are engaged? Since when? And since when have you even been dating?"
"Scotty proposed last Sunday," Lilly said quietly, leaning against her fiancé harder, still feeling quite nervous to be in the center of attention like this about her personal life, as she normally preferred to always keep things very private; he seemed to sense it, slotting his arm around her waist and tugging her closer. "Things… changed for us on the day we… when we were looking for Christina."
"Yeah, I'd say things have definitely changed." Nick chortled, shaking his head, the shock on his face slowly getting replaced with a grin. "Engaged after being together for what, two days; you're certainly not wasting any time, huh?"
"I think you're perhaps forgetting the seven years of partnership that has been leading up to this." Will stood, made his way to them, gently pulling Lilly into a warm hug. "Congratulations to you both."
"Thank you," she whispered, tearing up; the older man grasped Scotty's hand, producing a stern expression onto his face.
"Now you take the very best care of this one, all right?"
"I promise," Scotty replied quietly, reaching to brush a tear from Lilly's cheek. "There's something else we wanted to tell you all as well; we're going to take the FBI jobs."
Boss nodded slowly, his eyes shining with emotion. "It will be a big loss for us, but I definitely think it's the right decision for you. And hopefully we will all work together again sooner or later, if you two return to Philadelphia."
Kat seemed to be over her biggest shock now, glanced over to Nick with a teasing grin. "Oh my God. Are you crying, Vera?"
"No way," Nick said defensively, secretly wiping something from under his eye; Lilly smiled, heading over to hug him. The burly detective groaned, wrapping his arms tightly around her in return.
"Okay, so maybe I am." He sighed, rubbing her back. "Damn, Lil, I'm gonna miss you. Who's gonna keep me and Kat in check now, with you and Will and Valens all gone?"
She laughed, kissing the side of his head. "I guess that leaves Boss then. And I trust Kat to look after you; you'll be fine."
"Yeah, I would, except that I just realized something horrible." Kat whimpered, clutching her coffee mug with white knuckles. "The cold case team… it's going to be me partnered with Vera, all the time. Jesus Christ, please kill me now."
Nick shot her a wounded glare, receiving a big smile in response. "Just messin' with ya, idiot."
"Don't worry; we'll bring in some new reinforcements, so you two can show them the ropes." Boss chuckled and Lilly finally felt herself relaxing; she made a move back towards Scotty but Nick beat her to it, placing his hands on his hips and cutting a rather intimidating figure as he stared at the younger detective.
"I haven't forgotten what you did with Christina, Valens. I swear, if you ever hurt Lil like that again…"
Lilly swallowed, quite shocked; somehow Nick had obviously noticed much more during that time than she'd been aware of. She thought about interfering but couldn't really come up with anything to say so she just watched the two men, sharing a quick sideways glance with Kat, who looked slightly astounded as well.
"I warned you," Nick continued, shaking his forefinger at Scotty. "I told you, be with anyone else but not with Christina. Anyone else. I told you she was the one woman you needed to stay away from; you didn't listen to me, and where did that get you? You decided to get involved with her, and you didn't care that it would hurt Lil terribly; you risked an amazing partnership because of a stupid fling, and if you ever disregard her like you did back then, you better have your affairs in order, because I will be coming after you. Is this clear?"
Scotty looked slightly pale and Lilly wiped some more tears from her face, astounded and so touched by the fierce way Nick was looking out for her, protecting her; then again, he'd always been like some kind of a brother to her. They had worked together for almost ten years, and during those years he'd learned many things about her and she about him; she knew he was someone she could always trust without fail and vice versa, and she appreciated his support so, so much. Nick tilted his head at Scotty, his eyes again narrowing threateningly.
"I repeat: is this clear?"
Scotty finally managed to nod, clearing his throat. "Yes. Crystal."
"Good. Now come here." Nick pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. "I'm happy for you, and all I can say is that it was about time you two realized some things."
Kat chuckled, sipping her coffee. "Wow. Good speech, Vera; maybe I'm a little bit glad I will still have you in the team, to look after me too. Just a little bit though."
She winked teasingly at his exasperated expression, stood and made her way to Lilly, hugging her tightly and whistling as she reached to pick up her left hand. "Nice. That's a damn fine ring; Valens, you've got taste. I'm impressed."
"I definitely agree." Lilly watched the ring herself for a moment, smiling. "Nick, I really appreciate you taking care of me; Scotty and I have talked a lot about Christina and everything's okay, I promise. You don't need to worry."
He acknowledged her words with a nod, obviously choosing to believe her for now but she had no doubt Scotty would still be on a very short leash, expected to prove himself to their colleague. She couldn't blame Nick, after all the doubts and fears she'd experienced herself lately; she was still dealing with some of them, but many past events no longer haunted her as badly as they had previously, even when it would still take time for the scars inside her to heal completely.
Kat moved to squeeze Scotty in turn, making a quip about the squad definitely not being the same without his pretty face there every day; he groaned, making everyone laugh, and Boss nodded towards the boxes on the desk.
"All right, now that we've heard this happy news, let's get to work. Lilly, Scotty, I'm really sorry, but you know I'm going to have to keep you separated for the remainder of your time here. We don't need to tell anything to the IAD, I don't want to deal with them any more than you do, but for your own safety, I can't allow you two to go out on interviews together anymore."
She sighed and nodded, making her way to her fiancé and now ex-partner. "I understand, Boss."
The Lieutenant gave them a smile. "As for what you do within the walls of this building, I trust you to be able to stick to full professionalism, but I don't think anyone will have anything against it if that sometimes… slips a little."
Scotty grinned, tugging Lilly closer, finding her lips in a tender kiss; she tensed slightly at first, as revealing their engagement to Nick, Kat and Will had taken a lot out of her, and despite her earlier thoughts about not caring if anyone saw the ring, she felt like she definitely needed a moment to gather herself before she and Scotty became the top item on the rumor mill. Then she remembered that apart from their team, there were no other officers in the room at the moment, and in all honesty she knew he never would have done this if there had been; he respected her far too much to subject her to any public gossip, always had. Even when they had been at war over Christina, the heated argument down at the lobby had been the only time he'd allowed anyone outside their own team to spot anything was wrong; Lilly hadn't fared quite as well, her hurt and anger becoming too much at times, probably clearly readable in her behavior, in her coldness towards him. Her mind settled and she smiled against him, closed her eyes and surrendered fully to the magic, to the incredible feeling every touch evoked in her; someone wolf-whistled loudly and then she heard whooping, Kat clapping her hands joyfully.
"Well, by the look of things, we won't have to wait very long for that wedding. I should have known; I did hear rumors about a certain bouquet finding you a while ago, Lil."
Scotty chuckled, stayed against her for a while before lifting his head and kissing her forehead again; Lilly felt her cheeks burning, took a moment longer to calm down a bit more before opening her eyes. Glancing at Boss, she received a warm smile; genuine happiness for them was evident in his eyes and coming from him, that meant the absolute world to her.
"So." She took a deep breath, managing to turn from Scotty but still remaining connected to him by entwining their fingers, not really wanting to get started on the evidence boxes; to her he was still her partner and always would be, even if they never actually worked together again the same way they had before, and delving into the case would now mean the official end of that partnership. Despite that, she knew she had no choice; several victims were waiting for their killer to be caught, waiting for justice, and like always, Lilly was absolutely determined to find it for them.
"Do you want to brief us, Boss?"
