A/N: Okay, I think I win an award for most forgettable updater. Sometimes finals week is more like finals month, you know? I hope you can forgive me. Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: If I were an established author, I'd probably be better at updating. I don't own a thing.

Chapter 28: Epilogue

~One Year, 3 Months Later~

A warm breeze struck Riley's face as she leaned over the railing. Below her, the frothy waves were lapping against the sand, creating the kind of noise you'd expect to hear in one of those "Relaxing Sounds of Nature" CDs. If she closed her eyes, Riley could hear nothing but the water and the gulls on the private beach.

A warm hand wrapped around her stomach from behind. Gabriel stood beside her and took in the view. "What do you think?"

They'd traveled to the beach from Angel's Bluff late last night. Ivy, the poor tired puppy, had slept the entire way. The dog was now sleeping on the edge of their bed.

Gabriel and Riley arrived in time to watch the sunrise over the Atlantic as they pulled up to the beach house and as they were unpacking, Riley noticed something weird in the waves outside one of the windows. As it turned out, a small pod of dolphins were swimming about fifteen feet from the shore. By now they were long gone, but she hadn't felt like going inside yet.

"It's amazing," Riley breathed. "We just got here and I already want to stay the whole summer."

"Glad to hear it," he told her and pressed a kiss to her neck that left tingles in its wake. She smiled up at him and admired the way the early light of dawn reflected on his face, highlighting the fresh stubble that graced his jawline. He cleared his throat and said, "As much as I like the woods, I'm glad we're at the beach instead."

"Agreed. Let's make better memories here, yeah?"

Gabriel nodded with a knowing smile.

"What?" Riley prodded. "You have that smile. The smile that says you're up to something."

His mischievous look disappeared almost immediately. He curled his arm in and brought her close so that their chests were beating against one another. Her hand automatically hooked on to his arm to keep herself steady, and Gabriel used his free hand to tangle their fingers together. The way he leaned closer and began to kiss her so sweetly brought heat to her cheeks.

"I'm just glad we're here together," he told her once they'd parted. Riley had tucked her head into the crook of his neck until her blush faded, but soon pulled back to look into his eyes.

"Lillian was really kind to give us the week off. What did you even say to make that possible?" Riley asked, eyeing his mouth and watching the way he chewed the inside of his cheek before answering.

"I have my ways," he chuckled. "Really I just told her we needed the time off. I don't think we've had a real break since the cabin incident. And that wasn't even a break…" he trailed off, absently brushing a strand of hair out of Riley's face. "Can you believe we actually thought she was against us all that time?"

"We should've known we could trust her," she said quietly.

Riley recalled back to that first week she and Gabriel returned from the cabin. Exhausted and euphoric at the same time, they'd decided it was time to share their newfound relationship with their boss.

"I know," was the first thing Lillian had said. They come for a private, informal meeting in her office as soon as she'd returned. Gabriel was sitting in a seat before their boss's desk while Riley was standing behind her chair, gripping the top of it to ease her nerves.

"What?" Came Gabriel's voice, high-pitched with surprise. "What do you mean 'you know'?"

Lillian turned towards him with a sharp look. "You obviously found out about the cameras, correct?"

"Yes," Gabriel frowned.

"I'd set up one in the kitchen late one night, and…" Lillian hesitated for a moment, "Well, it started rolling before you exited the closet. Together."

"Oh God," Riley couldn't help but exclaim, putting her head in her hands. Hiding in that closet had backfired spectacularly. Trying to maintain better composure through her embarrassment, Riley straightened her spine. "Ma'am, I completely understand if you want to transfer me. Or…" Riley gulped.

"Hey!" Gabriel interrupted. "You don't need to fire her, Lillian. You can't." He would've kept going but for the silencing look Riley gave him. She was silently imploring him not to say anything more.

"Calm down, Gabriel," Lillian commanded, but her voice was softer than either agent expected. "I told you before, Riley. I won't fire you for having an interoffice relationship."

"You said it was your personal preference for us not to have one though, right?" Riley sighed. "I need to know what's going to happen, Ma'am."

Lillian looked at her curiously. "I won't lie and say I'm happy that you disobeyed my orders."

Riley nodded her head, but kept it held high awaiting the verdict.

"I would've been more disappointed had you failed to bring back Gabriel alive," she continued. "You two got yourselves into a mess, but both got out of it with minimal damage. The guardsmen were brought down, and the chip didn't have lasting damage."

"What about the civilian deaths at the hands of his men?" asked Riley, referring to the guardsman's breakout at the holding facility.

"It's not like you could've prevented the breakout when you were kept away at the lodge," Lillian remarked, oddly sounding like she was defending the agents. Which, of course, only confused Riley. Wasn't she supposed to be getting reprimanded?

"I suppose not," the agent said warily.

Gabriel kept silent for once, watching the exchange.

"Here's what's going to happen. I'm not going to transfer you," Lillian started, pausing at the visible surprise on Gabriel's face, and continued, "Yet."

"When, then?" Riley asked, not feeling it was safe to celebrate quite then.

"So far, you've dug yourselves out of the trouble you've caused. Your partnership works out. Riley, you're the longest lasting bodyguard our agency has ever hired to protect Gabriel, and you do a fine job of it," Lillian said, but her stern face didn't lift. "That being said, the moment that this partnership-" she gestured between the two of them, "-doesn't work out, then we're going to have to change the situation."

"It won't," Gabriel said immediately. "Riley's far too professional to let anything like that get in the way of what's important."

"Keeping you, and the chip, safe," Lillian emphasized to get her point across. "You'll need to visit HR before you leave," she added, assuming that was the end of the conversation.

"Wait," Riley spoke up. "We need to know about the cameras."

"Why?" Gabriel finished, standing up. He didn't ask the question in a threatening way, just a genuinely curious one. He still found it odd that Lillian would do something so secretive.

"I was hoping I'd get the chance to explain. Thanks for the reminder, I suppose," Lillian said. The line that formed on her forehead was the same one that appeared every time Gabriel did something off-book to upset her, only this time he knew it was something else too.

Their boss took a breath and sat up straight. "You're familiar with how Tetazoo likes to come in and take over on certain missions, correct?" She waited for both agents to nod. "It seems he's been given some sort of promotion in his field where he now feels the need to try and oversee what we're doing at random intervals."

"Like when we arrived at that cabin?" Gabriel asked

"Almost immediately after," Lillian agreed. "I believed he was just trying to show off his new power, but he got ahead of himself. I'm sure I said something to piss him off, and soon after he demanded I keep a better eye on my agents, seeing as…well, you know what happened on that first mission that started all of this."

Gabriel nodded as if remembering something. He held his tongue as Lillian continued.

"I conferred with the rest of our team, and we all agreed it would be a waste of our resources. Besides, taking a trip up to deliver spy equipment defeats the purpose of going into hiding. Tetazoo believed the area you were placed in was too rural for anyone to notice me around," Lillian scoffed, frowning. "Not that it mattered after that neighbor of your campsite led the guardsman straight to where he wanted to be."

Gabriel swore under his breath at Chris. He would forever hate the man's guts, and regretted the fact he wasn't conscious enough to come and shoot the hiker when Jameson and Riley and found him wandering around the campsite.

"I believe Nelson took it upon himself to send faulty equipment. I instructed him to let me have sole viewership of the cameras, so I was the one who could watch the surveillance on a private device before proving to Tetazoo that we did as asked of him. Unfortunately, installing faulty equipment meant that the live feed cut as soon as I got out of a certain range of the lodge. So, the device automatically rewound to the first recorded scenes."

Which was how she found out about the agents. Ah, it made more sense now. Sort of.

"So that's when you figured out something was wrong?" Riley asked.

"Yes, but by then I was too close to home to turn around. If you both had bothered to answer the phone, it wouldn't have been a problem and I could've warned you earlier that the guardsman had escaped" she finished with the returning scowl.

"Honestly, it was an accident. And before I forget, I apologize for how angry I got on the phone. I-"Gabriel started.

"I know it won't happen again," Lillian interrupted sternly. Strangely, Gabriel felt like he was forgiven. The cross look on Lillian's face gave him doubts, though.

"So, no one else knows about…us?" Riley asked, ears tinged pink.

"No," Lillian answered quietly. "Anything else?"

"What's the situation with Tetazoo?" Both agents were looking at their boss curiously.

"I think the higher-ups saw the spectacular fail of the hideout in the woods as his fault. He was de-promoted before we even found you two."

"Sounds too good to be true," Gabriel half-grinned.

"I'm sure he'll be back again soon enough," Lillian had agreed, responding with a small smile of her own."

"I can't believe it's only been a year. Feels like longer," Gabriel remarked. He'd wrapped Riley up in a hug, still watching the sunrise and the distant waves that reflected the colors of the dawn. He held his best friend close and rested his cheek upon her hair.

Riley smiled against his chest. A small pelican landed on the shore ahead of the beach house and started quarrelling with the gulls, presumably over a breakfast of crabs. "It's been a great year, though. However long it felt," she hummed.

"Hey," Gabriel spoke up and leaned back to look at her, grinning with those devilish dimples that she so loved to kiss off of him every morning. "Let's take a walk along the beach. It's the perfect morning for it."

Riley couldn't help but smile back when his grin was so infectious. "Yeah. After all," she said peering past him for a second, "This beach goes on farther than I can even see from here. Up for a long walk?"

"Sure," he said. "It's a good thing we got a good sleep before we started driving. Usually after a road trip, I just collapse on the bed."

"We can always try out the bed later," she said, and Gabriel mocked making a suggestive face. Not intending to sound dirty, she laughed and buried her face in his shirt again. "You know what I meant."

"Not at all," he insisted, and brought her face back up so that he could kiss her forehead. Warmth filled his chest whenever he saw her smile lately, and he was just too happy that this day had finally come. Excitement and anticipation flooding him, Gabriel leaned down close again until he could feel her hot breath against his lips. It delighted him, being so near to Riley. He was amazed at how those feelings at the cabin, and everything else he'd ever felt about her, never disappeared. The sensations only grew more intense.

"I love you," he told her.

"Love you back," she whispered against his mouth. And so, he covered her lips with his and savored the feeling of Riley in his arms like he could never get enough of it. It was true, anyways.

When breathing became necessary again, they separated to get ready for the walk. Riley searched around their bedroom for her shoes and put them on while Gabriel grabbed her sweatshirt, just in case the breeze off the ocean was too chilly in the early hours of the day.

Riley got up off the bed, petting the drowsy Ivy that lay blinking tiredly. She started heading down the steps of the porch, asking Gabriel if he was ready to go, but he turned to the bedroom once more instead of following her.

"I just forgot something. I'll be there in a second," he called back.

Before running down the beach to grab Riley's hand, Gabriel opened up a hidden pocket in his suitcase that held a small black box that fit perfectly in his fist. It was one that he would later pull out to show Riley, for an event he'd been planning for weeks.

Ivy perked up when she realized her owners were taking a walk, and ran down the beach to watch Gabriel bend down on one knee. As Riley was agreeing to marry him, Gabriel knew his life could only get better from there.

THE END.

A/N: (Crying because this was so hard to write and I really didn't want it to end) (This is the real end by the way, so thank you for putting up with how long it took me to write this short little epilogue.)

HUGE thanks to everyone who came along for the ride! I'm thankful for each and every one of you, quite seriously. I'm still giving out hugs to you guys and anyone who wants them. Hopefully I'll have time to write that short little Christmas fic, but it might come late…either way. I still want to write it.

Before I forget, here's a shout-out to those who reviewed the last chapter! XO: Kathleen Murphy, clay cowan, amy. .9, Angel Blue, sunshineforever, CelicaChick, kittiesgalore101, nrdhrd3, kwisteria, purpledolphin1, evincis, Midgardian Avenger, Blue Obsidian Butterfly (our Twitter thing is still the funnest thing ever), Sephiria Arks, and of course Nina542 for everything. LOVE YOU ALL.