So here it is...the final chapter. I am a loser and took FOREVER to update this story... I know I suck. Nothing sucks more than waiting for a chapter to be updated and I really am sorry. I had school and finals then graduation and then surgery which took a while to recovery from. Then I had my cousin's graduation to go to and Father's Day. Basically life got in the way!

I have a great idea for another story for Unusuals but I want to get it mostly wrtten before I start posting so the same thing doesn't happen.

Now that it is summer, I hope to write more before I start Grad School in August.

I hope that there are people still out there reading this! Please let me know what you thought. It's not beta'd and of course I own nothing!

Chapter 11

Sergeant Brown leaned back in his chair watching his crew through the large window in his office. His eyes kept drifting to the newest NYPD couple. The previous week it had been Walsh and Beaumont making googly-eyes at each other. Now it was partners Jason Walsh and Casey Shraeger.

He didn't know what to think about it. Walsh and Shraeger were two of his best officers. Shraeger he had personally handpicked from vice and Walsh he had had a soft spot for since his first day when Brown had put him through the ringer. Surprisingly the rookie detective had lived up to and even exceeded his expectations.

Not only were both great detectives on their own, they seemed like a match made in heaven. Sure, Shraeger was still new to the whole homicide thing but she could hold her how and he respected her for it. Her downfalls seemed to be Walsh's strengths and vise versa. When the two of them worked together, bad guys beware. They just had an understanding and seemed to know how to be each other's equal while also having their own abilities.

That's why he was at a loss for what to do. Splitting up the team would make be a bad move. Plus whom would he partner them with? Walsh sure as hell wasn't going to work as well with anyone else and he hated to pull a partner away from him when he had just lost his previous partner that he had been with for years, especially a partner that seemed to match him so well.

But could he really have a couple who were dating be partners? It was hard enough for partners to be partners without bringing in the added stress of a relationship. He did know though that if any couple could make it work, it would be Walsh and Shraeger.

He remembered the brief look on Walsh's face when he had paired him with Casey. His first reaction had been upset at getting a new partner when his old partner's body wasn't even cold yet but once had seen her, a brief look of attraction and need at pasted over his face. It was so quickly there and gone that unless you knew Walsh as well as he did, you would have never noticed the difference.

He had almost considered not making them partners at seeing this because he knew what it could lead to but decided to give them a chance. He did not know that Walsh was seeing Detective Beaumont at the time, he thought there was a possibility of something going on between the two but had brushed it off. When his thoughts were confirmed however, he looked the other way because he knew that Beaumont and Walsh being together would keep Walsh's eyes away from his new partner.

He had obviously been wrong. This really didn't surprise him though as he had seen the looks they had been giving each other for a while now. What did surprise him was that two of his best detectives had completely missed the fact that he was sitting in the corner with his wife and a few friends at the Apollo when the couple had come in together. He was glad that no one in the rest of his squad was in the diner at the moment. If the whole department knew, this would cause trouble. He knew it was a matter of time but hoped the couple would keep it under wraps for as long as possible. Normally Walsh and Shraeger were both so aware of their surroundings; this was what gave him pause.

If they could miss something so obvious, then what would happen on the job? Not only did you depend on your partner for helping you catch the bad guy, but also you depended on your partner to watch your back. If the two of them were so concerned about each other would they really be able to watch each other's backs in a non-bedroom related way?

He wasn't sure. He knew there were rules about things like this but rules were made to be broken and he hoped that this couple was the exception. If they could prove to be professional and not let anything get in their way while on the job, he could look the other way about what they did at home.

He had quite a few decisions to make concerning the pair. He figured he would give them a chance and just see how they interacted for a while. As long as they solved their cases and didn't have any major problems, he would leave them as partners. This would be something they would have to prove to him. He wouldn't tell them they were being tested but he hoped they would live up to it regardless.

Sergeant Brown sighed and turned back to his desk, no longer lost in thought. He couldn't let Walsh and Shraeger's relationship distract him for his work either.

A month later, Brown surveyed the couple one last time. He had paid very close attention to everything they did; making sure that it was all strictly professional while on the job. They had been poster children of professionalism and neither ever let it slip that they were anything other than friends and coworkers while they were at work or the bar.

He knew that some of the people in the department, especially Detective Beaumont, had to know about the couple but no one talked about it. He was very impressed with his squad.

He was however disappointed that Walsh and Shraeger did not let him in on the secret as he had gotten upset with Walsh for the exact same thing when he was dating Detective Beaumont.

He thought hard about it one day, not knowing if he should confront them or let them come to him. He had finally decided that he was going to confront them when Detective Walsh stuck his head in the door of his office.

"Mind if we speak with you for a minute?" Walsh nodded to Shraeger who was standing beside him in the doorway.

"Sure, no problem." Brown replied, obviously interested in what they were going to say.

The couple came in and closed the door behind them, each taking a seat in front of Sergeant Brown's oak desk. The look on their faces showed that they were nervous but were trying really hard not to let it show.

Brown would have laughed outright had he not wanted to give away the fact that he already knew. This was definitely going to be interesting and he wanted to make them squirm for a while before he let them off the hook.

Jason looked at Casey and then began to speak. "Sir, Casey and I wanted to tell you something."

Casey smiled and nodded at Jason, giving him some encouragement. "Casey and I….well we are…" he was really uncomfortable and Brown smiled.

"You are what?" Brown aided, trying to help him.

"Well, we are afraid we can no longer be partners, sir." Casey finally stepped in and took over explaining what Walsh was nervous to do.

This caught Brown by surprise as he thought they were only going to tell him that they were in a relationship.

"What do you mean you can't be partners anymore? Is this because you are dating? Because I already knew that..." panic was in his voice at the thought of losing the pair before him.

"You knew?" Walsh and Casey both had confusing looks on their faces as their boss confessed his knowledge to them.

"Well yes, I have known. I have been monitoring the situation though for any signs of issues and there have been none so I decided to let the two of you continue your relationship. I have no idea why you couldn't be partners anymore."

"Well, maybe this will explain it." Casey leaned over and handed Brown the papers that were in her hand.

Brown had not even noticed them before. As he looked at them, his eyes bugged out of his head and he looked back up. "You mean you are? You two? When did this happen?" He sat the name change papers down on his desk and looked up at the pair in front of him.

"Yesterday." Walsh smiled and grabbed Casey's hand that she had laid on her lap.

"I see. Well I guess you are correct then, you can't be partners anymore. I am sorry about that but this is a rule that I can't overlook. It would create too many problems." Brown then noticed the ring on Casey's left hand as Walsh kissed her fingers and smiled.

He had completely missed both their rings and the name change papers in Casey's hand. Maybe he needed to be a better detective. He had had no idea that it was that serious.

"You two have only been together a month! Are you sure that this is what you want?" Brown questioned.

They both smiled and nodded.

"Alright, Shraeger err… Walsh I guess now," the detective began, initially forgetting that Casey had a new last name. "I guess you will be paired with Alvarez for right now. Walsh?" He turned to Jason, "you will be on your own till we find you a new partner."

"Alvarez?" Casey questioned.

"For now, we will figure out something more permanent later." Now Brown had a smile on his face, Casey and Jason's seemed to be contagious. "Does anyone out there know?"

"Nope, not that we know of."

"Alright, do you mind if I tell them?"

"Go ahead." Casey said as she stood up next to Walsh and looked out the window. They had already drawn the attention of a few of their coworkers.

Brown walked to the door and Jason and Casey followed him out of the office.

"Can I have everyone's attention for a moment?" Brown asked calling the few people up there were not already being nosey. "First off Alvarez," Brown started speaking as he walked up to the group that was gathering outside of his window. "I am temporarily going to partner you with Walsh."

"Alright." Alvarez said walking up to Jason to shake his hand.

"Not that Walsh." Brown said, leaving Alvarez very confused.

"Detective Casey Walsh." Jason and Casey smiled and grabbed each other's hands once again.

"Um, Sarg, Casey's last name is Shraeger." Eddie said, clearly confused.

"Not anymore." Brown smiled. "My second announcement is that we have a new team member, I would like to introduce you all to Detective Casey Walsh."

The group all were at shock for a second before congratulations started going around the room. Everyone was truly happy for Jason and Casey.

"Let's all go to Apollo for some drinks, we are starting the weekend early." Brown announced as the team headed out the door.

That's the end...what'd ya think?