The Walk Says It All
Rated: G
Spoilers: "Mercy"
Writer's Comments: Sappy goodness... :)

Susan marched away from her slightly off kilter partner with a sense of dignity. It was a sham, though. Her properness was masking something that had nearly come bubbling to the surface. Even now, her head was spinning. Her mind was a blur of thoughts and emotions. He wasn’t supposed to have looked at her that way. He was supposed to have held her gaze for that long. But, then, again, what did she expect? This was David Creegan- he never did anything he was supposed to.
The sunset, the boats... A difficult case closed and her crazy partner... It had all led to a moment in which she let down her guard. A moment in which she knew Creegan had looked at her eyes and saw a glimpse of something he wasn’t supposed to see- love. She had struggled with her true self for a long time now, when it came to him. It scared her because she didn’t want to care this much about anyone ever again. She could not go through that again. She would not go through that again. So she had made a joke out of it... She had broken the seriousness of it all by fixing his collar. Deep down, though, she knew Creegan hadn’t bought it.
Susan is so engrossed in her own thoughts that she doesn’t notice the small incline in front of her and promptly stumbles over it. From behind, she can hear Creegan’s laughter. For a second, anger passes over her but, then, she realizes something. He is not laughing at her- he is laughing for the sheer joy of it. His is the laugh of a man who loves life. Susan smiles slightly at this but keeps walking.
She doesn’t understand how she feels about David. It’s not the love she felt for her fiancé... It’s not the love she felt for Laney... It was something far different... David and she could communicate without words. And he knew that she cared about him and she knew that he would do anything he could to protect her... They weren’t just partners, they weren’t just friends... They weren’t just anything... It didn’t make sense but as Susan reached her car something came to her- she didn’t want it to make sense. If it made sense, David wouldn’t have anything to do with it and that was something she didn’t want. She didn’t want a life without David in it any more... Even if neither knew where they wanted to go from here, that was okay. What they had was enough for now.