*****

Bo knocks on Carlotta's front door. It had been a long morning, to say the least, and it looked like he was finally going to be able to let the murder of John Sykes rest. But not without eating some crow first. He grimaces at that, as he hears footsteps come towards the door.

When Todd whips the door open and sees Bo, he immediately stiffens and goes on the defensive.

"Look Buchanan, if you're here to make some more of your stupid accusations against Téa, you can forget it. That sick bastard cop ..."

Bo cuts him off. "Can it Manning, huh? Look, I need to see Téa."

"No way Bukie, you tell me what you want with her."

"Todd, it's okay," Bo hears a tired voice from behind Todd. He's shocked at Téa's appearance as she comes into view. The normally vibrant, fiesty woman looks tired, haggard. Not something Bo was used to seeing on Téa Delgado. "What do you want, Bo?"

"Can I come in?"

Todd shoots him a look, but before he can stop Téa, she opens the door. He pulls her aside as Bo walks past them into Carlotta's kitchen. "Delgado, you think this is such a good idea? Let me call Sam huh? Just to be safe."

"I can handle this Todd."

"Yeah God forbid you let someone help you."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that you're not alone ok? So quit trying to act like the 'woman of steel' who can handle anything and everything and let me call Sam!"

"That won't be necessary," Bo interjects, having overheard Todd. "I'm here to tell you the investigation has been dropped. There will be no charges brought against Téa."

Téa's eyes widen as she looks at Bo. "What? What happened?"

"They finally figured out what a creep that loser was Delgado, that's what happened. And now the honorable Bo Buchanan is here to tell you that he was just doing his job, putting you through hell after one of his henchman got through with you," Todd spits bitterly.

"Listen Manning, there was a lot of evidence pointing to the fact that there was more there than meets the eye. One of my men was killed and it was my duty..."

"Save it Bo, you tried to railroad Delgado and you're not gonna get away with it."

"Todd....just wait ok? What changed Bo?"

Bo sighs. "As unbelievable as it sounds, I actually got a tip from Blair. Apparently Starr saw a picture of Sykes and mentioned that she had seen him going into that building across from the park."

"That old run down one?" Téa asks, brow furrowed.

"Yeah, that's the one."

"How did Shorty know who he was?"

"Well she didn't really, she just referred to him as the 'creepy guy who was always watching Tee'. I checked it out, apparently Sykes rented one of the apartments there. Landlord said he kept to himself, wasn't there often, just checked in there every once in a while. Paid his rent on time, didn't bother anyone so the landlord pretty much left him alone."

"I don't see what this has to do with me."

"When I checked out his apartment, well let's just say he had a rather interesting decor."

Todd rolls his eyes. "Stop being cute and just spit it out huh?"

"The place was papered with pictures of Téa. Pictures of you and Tea," Bo says, pointing to Todd, "with you ripped out and Sykes glued in. Very creepy. I'd say that corroborates your story that he was stalking you Téa. I'm sorry I had to put you through this, Sykes was very thorough, looks like he wanted you to pay if anything happened to him."

Téa glances at Todd and can see he's about to give Bo a hard time. She puts her hand out towards him to stop him and just shakes her head. "Whatever, Bo...I'm just glad it's over." She turns to Todd, who is looking at her incredulously, amazed that she doesn't want to fight this. "I just want to get back to rebuilding our life, okay Todd?"

Todd gives Bo the evil eye, then looks back at Téa. As much as he wants to rake Bo and the department over the coals for putting Téa through this, he can tell by the exhausted look on her face that she just wants to move on and put the whole ordeal behind them. He sighs exasperatedly, and nods, signalling he won't push it with Bo.

"Well, I'm gonna go back to the station and tie up the loose ends. Téa, I really am sorry," Bo says, heading for the door. Téa walks over to the kitchen table and sits down. As Bo gets to the door, Todd grabs his arm.

"Don't mess with her again," he says in a low voice. Bo notices the fierce protectiveness in Todd's eyes, and while he has the urge to get into it with Todd, he realizes he'd be acting the same way if it were Nora. He nods, and walks out the door.

Todd turns and looks at Téa. She smiles weakly at him. "Well, it's over."

"Yeah," he replies, joining her at the table. "So, what now?"

She reaches over and covers his hand with hers. "Now, we go home."

*****

Two months later...

Todd leans back against the porch railing. Yeah, life didn't suck too much right now. He hears the pots and pans clanging from a distance as Téa and Starr make dinner. After the whole Sykes ordeal had finally been dealt with, Téa and Todd had sat down with Kevin and Blair and had come to a truce of sorts, and while nowhere near being friends, they tried to get along for Starr's sake. She now spent every other weekend with Todd and Téa.

Things with him and Téa were...good. He had gone back to his therapist after the Sykes thing had been settled, and he and Téa had even had a couple of sessions together. They still had a lot of stuff between them, but they were getting back to the point where they had been at their best. Comfortable. Scared the living daylights out of him, he had been brought up to believe that 'comfortable' didn't last, but he was beginning to trust it. And every morning that he woke up and saw Téa laying there next to him, he trusted it a little more.

He gets up off the porch and heads inside. As he nears the kitchen, he hears Téa's and Starr's animated voices as they try to make burritos. He grins as he watches Starr spread flour on the counter to roll out the tortillas.

"Is this right, Tee?"

"Perfecto, mi Estrella," Téa says with a smile. Out of the corner of her eye, she notices Todd standing in the doorway. "Don't tell me you're actually going to help?"

"Nah, chick work," he says with a grin, and is promptly rewarded by a handful of flour in his face. He coughs slightly, the white dust floating around him. "Nice Delgado, you realize your teaching Shorty how to treat a husband?"

"This is how she should treat a husband with an attitude like yours," Téa quips with a devilish grin. Starr giggles as Todd brushes the flour off of him.

"Oh, you think this is funny huh?" Todd says as he quickly grabs Starr and begins tickling her. "That's it, tickle torture for you."

Starr squeals with laughter as she wriggles out of his grasp. She races towards the living room, with Todd chasing her. Téa smiles as she watches them play, tears coming to her eyes. Just a year ago, she was in the depths of despair, thinking her true love would never come back to her, she would never have her family back. And now, here she was. All the trials and tribulations were worth it, because she had never been happier. She leans her arms on the counter and watches Todd and Starr. Feeling her gaze, Todd looks up at her. Their eyes meet, and she sees a grin tug at his lips. She could see her own thoughts mirrored in his beautiful hazel eyes.

Yeah. To get to this place...it was all worth it.