March 11^th, 2017. 5:14pm.

Alex hadn’t found anything at Susan’s house. No missing clothes, no missing anything. Even all of her toiletries were still there. Was it possible she’d been killed, or disappeared outside of her relation to the case? The odds weren’t really high, but hell if Alex knew at that point. Katy’s call that Tally had recognized Susan and Devin on the television had lent a frantic urgency to her search, but it hadn’t changed the outcome.

She shifted her weight to her other leg, arms crossed over her chest, as she thought about her next step. Greg hadn’t found anything; none of the BOLOs had generated good sightings and the roadblocks hadn’t found them either. There was only so long they could keep up the expenditure of resources.

“Go home,” Greg advised.

Alex looked at him, blinked once. How long had it been? Hours, at least.

“We need the patrol officer back on duty.” Greg’s explanation was simple.

Alex let out a sigh. He was giving her a convenient excuse, a convenient cover story. “Whose side are you on, anyway?” she muttered, not intending for him to hear.

“Tally’s,” he said simply. “Katy’s.” He smiled at her, winked, and then turned back to whatever he was doing. Like several of the other detectives, he’d developed impressive bruises underneath his eyes from a lack of sleep. Alex knew from experience that wasn’t going to stop until he either caught whomever it was or passed out from exhaustion.

He wasn’t just racing to catch fleeing suspects, he was racing to solve the case before it could be declared cold. Alex had seen it before, a handful of times. The child returned, and the case being put on hold when no leads were generated. The priority was less when the child was home safe and sound, especially since so many other children went missing all the time.

If she guesstimated, he had a week, if that, before he’d be pulled off the case and sent back to another active set that would require priority. And Greg was a good man. He was going to do everything he could to find whoever had taken Tally, she knew it.

Even if he did seem to be playing matchmaker at the same time. She sighed, but couldn’t help the faint smile. She wondered exactly how close Greg and her father had gotten during the original investigation. Greg was the one who’d put her on the liaison role. Part of her was thankful, really. Yes, it was best for the case. But the personal benefit didn’t go unnoticed.

When she got to Katy’s, she nodded to the patrol officer, who saluted her and then drove off. She could hear the faint sound of music drifting through the opened windows, and it made her smile. She didn’t recognize the songs, not clearly, but she could tell it was children’s music. Something light and happy, with a catchy tune.

There was Eleanor’s car in the driveway, something Alex noted with a nod. It was — crap, it was dinner time. How had that happened? She looked at her clock with alarm.

No wonder Eleanor was there. Alex vaguely remembered Katy saying something about dinner, or something, when Alex had talked to her that morning.

Alex still slept in the guest room, of course. Even though she didn’t want to. Even though she dreamed of going into Katy’s room, getting under the covers and pulling her close. Comforting her, holding her.

Yeah, that wasn’t what she wanted to be thinking about right before seeing her. She didn’t want that on her face; for an FBI agent she had a shit poker face when it came to her personal life and she knew it.

She knocked on the door, surprised when it opened before her knuckles made contact with the wood. “Come in,” Eleanor said, a smile on her face.

“Thanks.” Alex gave her a hug when Eleanor came close, patted her on the back. Unexpectedly, both Eleanor and Lucia had embraced her. Out of the blue, in Alex’s opinion, since Alex was working on Katy’s case. But whatever. Alex wasn’t going to bring it up if they didn’t.

“Lucia couldn’t make it,” Eleanor said as she led Alex towards the kitchen. “Poor thing is sick. But she sent a casserole.” She pointed to a pan.

“Isn’t that supposed to be the other way around?” Alex cracked, and Katy chuckled.

“That’s Lucia, I’m afraid,” Katy said. “Even when she’s sick, she’s a giver. Doesn’t want anyone to fuss over her, she says.”

Alex hummed softly, smiling at Katy as Katy smiled back. Tally was sitting at the dining room table in her usual spot, but when Alex looked at her, she was looking back, not focused on the paper in front of her.

“Did you have a good day?” Alex asked, getting close enough to Tally that she could crouch down next to her.

Tally nodded. Her gestures were getting bigger now, more emphatic. She picked up one of the papers and gave it to her, a hint of a smile on her face.

Alex looked down at the paper, and her breath caught in her throat. There was one large stick figure, which she guessed was Katy, and a smaller one, Tally. Off to the side, a far corner, were two more figures. Both stick figures, both all in black.

“Who are these?” Alex asked, her voice as gentle as she could make it.

Any sort of joy drained out of Tally’s face, and she looked down.

Shit. Alex didn’t regret the question; it was useful information. But she hated putting that look on Tally’s face. “This is a wonderful drawing,” she said, reaching out to put her hand on Tally’s leg and then pulling back at the last second.

Tally reached out and poked her hand with a finger. Her social skills were still more a four-year-old’s than a seven-year-old’s, which made sense. Still, Alex smiled. “Do you want me to give this to your Mom?”

Tally shook her head, then pointed to Alex.

“It’s for me?”

Tally nodded this time.

“Aw, thank you.” Alex wasn’t sure how to reach out and thank her, so she stood up. “Can I draw with you?”

“We’ll finish up dinner.” Katy came by, pressed a kiss to Alex’s forehead. Tally had recovered from Alex’s question, and Katy didn’t seem to have noticed, distracted by Eleanor and dinner.

“I’ll be right back, okay?” Alex patted Tally’s hand gently and then stood, taking the drawing with her. She needed to talk to Greg.

Was it confirmation that Susan and Devin had taken her? Or was it something else?

She took a photo of it with her phone, sent it. Even if she couldn’t do anything else at the moment, she could do that. Greg texted back an acknowledgement, and Alex hung the picture up near the kitchen where she could see it. She started to fold over the edge where the two figures were, then stopped.

Tally was watching her, shaking her head. They were only a few feet away from each other. Alex studied her, trying to figure out what she meant to say. Instead she turned back to the picture and placed it with a pin, smiling as she stepped back. “Beautiful,” she told Tally, sinking down into the chair next to her.

“Casserole’ll take about thirty more minutes,” Eleanor said. She was leaning against the counter not far from Katy, and had a glass of beer in her hand. She must have brought that, too.

“Wanna come draw with us?” Alex lifted a piece of paper in her direction. “There’s plenty more paper.”

“I will.” Katy plunked down into the seat opposite Alex.

“I’ll just stay here with my best friend,” Eleanor drawled, raising the beer glass in their direction.

Alex snorted her understanding, her attention drawn to the paper. It’d been forever since she had drawn anything. Yeah she had dabbled like all kids did, but she’d never been an artist.

She searched the kitchen, looking for inspiration. She started with the cupboards, drawing her best approximation of a 3D rectangle. Then she started on the line of the counter, the coffee maker on top, the mixer stand somewhere nearby. It was oddly therapeutic.

A hand appeared in her line of sight and she paused, then looked at Tally expectantly. “Yes?”

Tally pointed to the piece of paper, then herself.

“You would like this?”

Tally nodded.

“Want me to finish it first?”

Another nod.

“It’s yours the moment it’s done,” Alex promised. When she looked up, Katy was watching the two of them with a soft smile on her face that sent butterflies through her stomach.

Oh God, she was so head over heels, and it was such a bad idea. But she smiled back, feeling the warmth flood her. It wasn’t just lust, she cared for both Katy and her daughter. And not in a professionally detached way; there was something about them that Alex just felt drawn to.

Katy’s phone beeped, catching her attention. A crease formed between her eyebrows, and Alex studied her for a moment. It couldn’t have been case-related, or there would have been the stormy look on her face. Instead it was mild discomfort. Her gaze flickered to Eleanor, then back to Alex. “My parents want to Skype.”

She turned to look at Tally, who was looking at her. There was a sparkle in her eyes now, something that had appeared over time. It was something Alex thought Katy would never take for granted, ever again. “Do you want to meet your grandparents?” Katy asked. She looked over at Alex, as if for approval, and Alex nodded slightly.

At this point, Tally could make the decision. It was her life, after all. And if Katy didn’t reintroduce them now, it didn’t mean that she couldn’t do it later.

Tally nodded once, although Alex noted that her grip on the crayon had tightened.

“Do you want to bring some of your pictures to show them?” Alex suggested, pulling a couple of the papers closer to Tally.

Tally looked at Alex, frozen for a few moments, then her chin dipped in a nod, twice. Emphasis.

“Thanks,” Katy mouthed to Alex.

“Any time,” Alex mouthed back.

“Let’s take them to my office, okay?” Katy stood, holding Tally’s chair steady as Tally stood up.

Tally nodded, gathering the drawings in her hand, but she turned to look at Alex instead of following Katy.

“You’ll be right back, promise,” Katy soothed.

It broke Alex’s heart, watching their interaction. She’d met seven-year-olds, their opinionated selves, and Tally just wasn’t there. She’d lost so much in the past three years. It would come back, eventually. It would just take time.

Tally shook her head, pictures still grasped tightly in her hands.

“Do you not want to go?” Katy frowned thoughtfully.

Tally walked over to Alex and poked her with her index finger.

“Do you want Alex to come with us?” Katy guessed.

Tally nodded.

Alex’s eyes widened fractionally, then she smoothed out her expression. “Are you sure?”

For the first time since she’d come home, Tally looked her age. She had apparently mastered the ‘are you stupid’ expression so common to children, she just didn’t deploy it often.

“All right then,” Alex said, trying to hide her grin. When she looked at Katy, Katy was smiling too, even if Alex could see tears at the corner of her eyes.

Katy wiped them away as quietly as she could and then led the way to the office, Alex and Tally behind her.