Huge thanks to babythunder for doing an awesome job of betaing, and helping out so much with the fic. And now, for the end of this fic (yay!).

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She looked down at the body as her heart sank. "That's not Trish," Vivian declared.

Jack sighed. "Can I have a word?" He grasped Vivian by the arm and led her off to the side, away from the sirens and the yellow tape and the chaos. She looked irritated, but the lines in her face were worn and haggard. She was beginning to break as her vulnerability began to show through.

"We're out of leads," he began gently. "We might be able to make a case against Edward, but if he has an alibi, we're done for."

"There has to be something else," she began, insistent and stubborn. "What about more searches and -- "

"Viv." He commanded her attention and she broke off. "We've already spent a week or so on this case. There are other people out there that need our help. Giving up on six other people only to find one dead body is not going to do anything."

She knew he was right. The minute she had received the casefile, something inside her had told her that Tricia, like the others, would never be found alive. What she had never figured upon was not finding her at all. Desperately, she searched for words, an excuse, something that would help the Elliots, but nothing came.

"Jack," she said. "Please."

"Go home." He said it kindly. "You can run her prints every week, you can keep looking. But we need to find others in the meantime."

But she had admitted defeat already and only stood there in silence as he walked back to the crime scene.

-

"And make sure he gets plenty of rest."

As the nurse left, Danny breathed a sigh of relief. "I hate hospitals. Let's get out of here."

Sam wheeled him down the hall and into the elevator, pushing the button for the lobby. "I told you getting shot wasn't all it was cracked up to be."

"Next time I'll listen." He grinned.

They continued to talk on their way to the car and to the apartment. "Are you sure you don't need anything?" she asked.

"I'm fine. You go and get some rest, too." As Estrella appeared and they hugged, he closed the door behind him and Sam was alone in the hallway.

Sighing, she took her cell phone out of her pocket and pushed the first speed dial button. A moment later, she was speaking into the voicemail.

"Um, hey, Jack, it's me. I just wanted to know if maybe you wanted to grab a bite to eat or something tomorrow or later this week or whenever's good for you." The old rush she used to feel when she talked to him -- when they talked more about things other than cases -- came back as her words became more awkward and her voice stuttered occasionally. When she hung up, she smiled to herself, and then drove off just as it began to rain.

-

"Hey, baby," Marcus greeted a soaking Vivian at the door. "Are you all right? It's midnight, I was worried about you."

"I'm fine," she sighed, hanging up her coat and sinking down into the couch.

He sat down beside her and placed an arm around her shoulder. "Reggie and I already ate, but we saved some leftovers if you want me to nuke 'em."

She shook her head, feeling the rain drip beneath her collar and run down her back, sending a shiver down her spine. "We had to stop looking for her."

His face turned from cheerful to melancholy as he pulled Vivian into an embrace. "It's okay, I'm sure she'll turn up eventually."

She knew better, but she was frustrated at him as well as everyone else for being so ignorant. "She won't just turn up, Marcus, she's not a remote control or a lost pet."

Regaining control of her anger, she added softly, "I just don't know what to say to the parents. How am I going to tell them that we can't look for their daughter anymore?"

He didn't respond, just pulled her closer.

-

"Hey, Sam, it's me." Jack inhaled sharply as he stood in the rain outside of a small café where they used to sit and eat and talk together, it's lights still bright despite the late hour. "Are you still up for that coffee?"

He waited for her reply and smiled. "Okay, then, I'll meet you at the café in a couple of minutes. There are these dreams I've been having . . . well, I've just been wanting to talk to you for a while now about a lot of things."

-fin