A/N: Just tossing out my thoughts, on the eve of The Rookie season finale.

Grace Sawyer was just out of the locker room showers, stuffing her scrubs into the laundry bin, when she heard her cell phone go off. Clutching her towel around her body, she went swiftly over to her locker and picked up the phone.

The caller ID said "Simon", and she didn't hesitate before sending the call to voicemail with a sigh. Probably wants to know what time I'll be off shift, she thought. When can he come over to spend the evening with us, in the house I rented after I left him, the house he's never set foot in, the house that has been our sanctuary, me and Oliver.

It used to be flattering, the way he pursued her. Then it was alarming. Now it was just... wearying.

As she closed her locker, the phone rang again, this time from inside her bag, and she ignored it. She would recognize the ring tone from Oliver's school - come to think of it, she should assign something distinctive to Simon's calls - and bidding her colleagues a brief goodbye, she left the locker room and went quickly down the stairs to the parking lot.

Once in her car, doors locked against the outside world, Grace took out her phone and prepared to listen to whatever message Simon had left. The screen showed there were two voicemail messages - and one was from John.

"You had a family, and now you don't. And it's heartbreaking."

Those words from John, weeks ago, had been lodged in her brain, and her heart. There was nothing more true, or more important, about that loss that couldn't be embodied in those words. What was more, Grace knew that no matter what happened between her and Simon - and Oliver - she would never have that family back. There would always be a fissure, however mended, between the before and the after.

She owed it to Oliver to try to mend it, but she expected no miracles, no sunny outcome, perhaps just an agreement, an arrangement of mutual benefit. John and his ex-wife had managed it; Grace resolved someday to ask him how that had worked. Whether it had worked. Someday.

She shook herself and tapped on the voicemail from John.

"Grace, it's me, John. I hope there isn't anyone else listening in because this message is only for you. I'm not asking you to do anything or say anything or decide anything - it's not like this situation lends itself to specific options or actions. I get it, I really do. I just want to say - "

She could picture him, closing his eyes and licking his lips as he pauses to form a sentence.

" - I just want to say that I am here for you, in any way that you need, no matter what happens between you and me. If you need to talk, or help figuring things out, or just a hug - I am always, absolutely, your friend."

Grace's eyes began to tear up. She heard him sigh.

"You should also know that - and I hope this doesn't mess up that friendship - I'm falling in love with you. There's stuff going down at the precinct, and I didn't want to let any more time go by without telling you. In case, you know, anything happens. I guess this is better than leaving a note on your door, right? You know what, call me when you can talk. I do this kind of conversation better in person. Obviously. I gotta go. Hope you're doing all right."

The moment the message ended, Grace hit John's number on the speed dial, only to hear his voicemail pick up. Twice more, and she didn't leave any message. What on earth could she say to him in a message? He was right - they needed to talk in person.

Just because her heart had skipped so lightly when she saw his name on the screen, and sank so quickly when she saw Simon's, was that a sign from the universe?

A/N2: We shall see.