And here it is. The last chapter. Thanks for taking this crazy ride with me.
- Shin xx

Percy was not really in the mood for anything she had to do today, at least it was a light day, caseload wise. They didn't have any urgent cases, they were just working their normal number of cases and that meant she had time to think. It had been four days since she and Deena had decided to end things, and all Percy could do was run through the other potential scenario in her head and hope that she didn't mess it up. It was a chance though. "You done anything about our conversation?" Was the first thing to break her from her thoughts all day, and as she looked to Patton she just shrugged a little.

"You mean the one about LaSalle?" As if there was anything else he could be talking about. Patton hadn't even been working on a case recently, so it wasn't as though he would be asking about a case. The look on his face was enough for her to sigh and be honest, because she knew he would make her either way. "No, not even a little bit."

"Why not?" He normally wasn't as pushed as Brody could be in personal situations, but clearly Patton had decided to push like Brody would in this situation, because otherwise she probably wouldn't ever talk about it, and they both knew that that would be a bad thing for everyone involved. Brody had been less available than usual recently, and Percy wasn't sure what that was about. Really though, she just didn't know how to approach LaSalle about all of this.

"What do I do, go up to him and say 'hey I broke up with Deena wanna make out'." She was being stubborn and facetious and it probably wasn't entirely called for, but she couldn't help it. It just came out that way. "I spent the last few months pushing him away, there is no chance I can just turn that around." She sighed because she was certain that he wouldn't be the happiest about it.

"Sure you can. He's nuts about you Sonja, you don't have to be so worried about how he'd feel about it." Patton would know how LaSalle was thinking, probably Patton had gotten most of LaSalle's thoughts on all of their drama over the last 6 months, and it wouldn't surprise her if Patton just wanted them to get together to save his own sanity. "He'd just be happy you eventually came around."

"Is it OK to be both happy and sad about all of this?" She had to ask, because while she was sad that things hadn't worked out with Deena, she was actually happy about the fact she could look forward, and she could make the move on to LaSalle and see if they actually did have something. But she was fairly sure that wasn't how she should be feeling.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Patton asked and he seemed genuinely confused. Percy wasn't sure what about her question had confused him, but clearly she wasn't as clear as she'd wanted to be. "You can feel however you want, happy, sad, indifferent. What matters is that you're OK with it all."

"I don't think you're meant to ever be happy after a break-up." She commented, but the truth was that she didn't really know. Deena was only her third serious relationship. She'd never had the time before, she'd been too busy working or too disinterested to begin one. She somewhat hoped her next relationship would be her last one.

"Only you can say that Sonja." Patton smiled, and she had to admit that his insight was actually more helpful than she would have thought. He was definitely helping her feel less like she'd done something awful in ending things. "You and Deena are still friends, and she gets that you have feelings for LaSalle. She don't care, she let you go."

"Yeah, she just wants me to be happy, and knew that wasn't going to happen the way we were going." They hadn't even been fighting, not much. They just hadn't been doing anything, which had almost been worse. You could try to fix things when you fought, when you were both just distant, there was nothing to fix.

Patton nodded again, and that made her feel like she was right about all of this. From what she was doing to why she was doing it. "Deena is a really sweet person. She'll be there for you too." Percy knew that. She knew that Deena would be a good friend, and she actually hoped they could be friends, but she would back away if that was too much for Deena.

"I know. Thanks for being my sounding board, P." She thanked him, not knowing what else she could do to demonstrate that she was truly thankful for all that he'd done for her, recently. It was something she'd never be able to repay and she was uncomfortable with owing anyone anything.

"Any time, you going to this thing at the bar tonight?" The change of conversation was not transparent at all, and Percy was actually even more thankful for that than she could ever really say. She hated to talk about how she owed someone too. Thinking about the gathering that night, she remembered Pride saying they all had to be there, and there was to be no getting out of it.

"Kinda think it's mandatory." She laughed, then looked down and reminded herself that she needed to go home and get herself changed. She didn't want to go to the bar looking like this, even if it was a mostly private event. Her work attire was not what she wanted for a night out. "Speaking of, I should go change. I'll meet you there."

She was conversation-ed out, and talking was not something she was prepared to do again just yet. Spending some time alone to change and then get to the bar would give her the time to recharge and prepare for what she was going to do tonight. They all had tomorrow off, so she and LaSalle could talk tonight then spend the following day thinking about it before they'd have to see each other again. That was what she needed.

The bar was beautifully decorated when Percy walked in, and she still stuck to the sides when she was there. It was easier to watch people like this. Though it wasn't normally her who was watching people, that was normally Brody's job at a party, but today Percy accepted it. She was still watching when Pride pulled his wife up to the front and smiled around at their guests.

"Hey, everyone." Pride yelled, and Percy stepped forward to stand one side of LaSalle, seeing that Laurel had fallen in on the other side of him. It was probably a good position for them both to be in. Brody and Pride both looked very happy to be stood where they were, and Percy realised how good they'd actually been for each other, which made her feel even guiltily for how angry she'd been when they first announced it.

"Yeah? I thought we knew everything." LaSalle called, and Percy didn't even really need to think before slapping his arm lightly, not realising that Laurel on the other side had decided he needed to be punished for that heckle too. Really, if they needed to talk too everyone there was probably a good reason.

"Alright, so tonight is to celebrate the fact that King and I decided to get married in, well, June." A glowing Brody said, and Percy got the feeling that there was a baby announcement coming up too. There was something about the way she was standing, and the cardigan she was wearing. Both just made Percy think that maybe she was pregnant, and how had none of them picked up on that before.

Sebastian seemed to be the most confused member of their slightly unorthodox work-family and stated probably the most obvious thing. "And it's now November." He said, and Percy couldn't help but burst out laughing along with everyone else. At least Sebastian seemed to see the funny side too.

"Yes, yes. It's been almost 5 months, we know." Pride was still chuckling as he spoke, which was good as almost everyone was still laughing a little. That was when he gave a look to Brody and took a deep breath. Percy just knew, already, that she was right. "But we also have something else to announce."

"I'm pregnant." Brody confirmed with one of the biggest smiles Percy thought she'd ever seen on the other woman's face. Suddenly everything made sense, and Percy couldn't be happier about it all. "And we're having twins." Brody continued, and that just made everyone stop, but almost all eyes were on a very, very shocked Dwayne Pride.

"Wait, what?" Pride asked, and it was quite clear that he was the most shocked he'd ever been in his life. Percy actually laughed a little at Brody deciding to tell him at the same time as telling everyone else, because it gave them all the opportunity to see him truly speechless, for the first time since most of them had known him.

"That's why you already left CGIS, good on you Merri." Percy said after a few minutes, deciding to save Pride from any more attention, stepping forward and giving Brody a hug, after waiting for her little nod to say she could. Percy had learnt over the 18-months she'd been on this team that that was always a good idea.

"Hey, you need parenting advice, hit me up." Patton grinned when she'd pulled back, and Percy jumped back down, going to stand beside LaSalle again. He looked almost as surprised as the rest, and Percy could understand. At the same time she couldn't help but laugh both at LaSalle and at Patton's offer to help. "If I added another P it would stand for Paternal."

"Thanks Patton." Brody laughed, and Percy just smiled, watching them all, hoping that they were as happy about it as it seemed. She knew that Brody had had mixed feelings about having children, so to see her so happy about this was great, and it showed that Brody was maybe finally comfortable.

"We're having twins?" Pride asked, but it came out more like a mumble than something that people would be able to understand. Percy turned away a little, as the moment turned decidedly personal for the couple, leaving them to talk about it seemed polite.

"We should give those two a minute." Loretta echoed Percy's unspoken thoughts, and that was what lead Percy to watch others disappear around, while she just ended up turning to LaSalle, who also didn't move even an inch. It wasn't exactly a comfortable silent that they stood in, it was just a silence, but she couldn't cope with that, and she needed some way to break it.

"They're having a baby, can you believe it?" That was a lame start, but it was also something that would, hopefully, kick off a conversation. Any kind of conversation really. It didn't have to be about them or anything related to them, it just needed to be something. "A little them."

"Two babies, though King looked more surprised than anyone about that." LaSalle pointed out and chuckled. Percy tried not to laugh at it too, because she couldn't help but think that two children comprised of the Brody and Pride genes was going to be a terror, for all of them, not just their parents.

She tried to focus on Pride, but as she looked at LaSalle she couldn't help her mind turning to her situation and what she wanted to say. "Yeah he did." She mumbled and realised that how distracted she was was probably showing up by now, so she decided to just bite the bullet and go for it. "So, I broke up with Deena."

"I heard you had, I didn't want to ask." LaSalle admitted, and instantly Percy felt better about it. He'd known she was single now and hadn't pushed for anything from her. That was a sign that he had taken her thoughts seriously. "Want to talk about it?" He offered, and she just nodded a little.

"She realised I had a crush on you." It fell out of her mouth before she could stop it, and Percy felt the flush rising up her cheeks after it, and given how well LaSalle knew her now he would see it, and probably one day in the future he would use it to his advantage. She knew him well enough by now.

"Wait, what?" LaSalle s response was pretty much exactly what she'd expected, and a hilarious repeat of Pride's reaction to Brody announcing they were having twins. Those two men were so similar at times. LaSalle however just looked a little perplexed. "Sonja you tried to end anything before it had chance to begin."

"I know, I know." She conceded that fact, because a few week ago she'd wanted to make her relationship work, but it hadn't been possible and that had sucked. "But Deena knew that I still had feelings for you, and I never even told her about that night." That night was burned into her memory, but she regretted that it had happened while she was in a relationship. They should have had more control. "So, I guess I gave up."

"Fighting for her?" LaSalle wanted clarity, and Percy couldn't blame him. After everything that had gone on over the last few months she'd want it if the situation was reversed. Being honest was going to be the most important thing here. She had his back, and she knew that wouldn't change whatever happened.

"Yeah. I realised… that no matter how much I loved Deena… she'd never be you." That had been the hardest realisation of her life, and that came across when her voice cracked on the last word. She mentally cursed herself even as she felt LaSalle's hand land on her shoulder softly. "She doesn't know what I face at work every day, and she has no idea the stress that comes with it." Maybe that was why Brody and Pride were so happy now. They were both with someone who understood the job. That was what Percy needed. "You know it all. I need you."

"Are you certain that this is what you want, Sonja?" LaSalle asked, but he had clearly understood what she was implying, and she was happy that he had caught it. She wanted him to be happy with it too, and while it was what we wanted, it was more sensible to not rush into anything.

"Can we just take it one day at a time?" She asked, reaching up and lifting his hand from her shoulder, then sliding her fingers between his. This was what she wanted right now, and maybe that was enough. If he was happy with that, then it was all they needed to commit to right now.

"Sure, we can do just that." LaSalle answered, and Percy broke into a wider smile. It had taken a terrorist, 6 months of confusion, a 4 month relationship and a pregnancy announcement to make her realise that the best thing for her had been LaSalle all along. Now they could begin working on the future, and they could all heal from the last year. It had been harder than they could have ever predicted, but they were here, and they were still together. That was all they needed.