"It was all connected."

Alma startled at the familiar voice next to her, and she looked up from her newspaper to see Dylan sitting there, looking a lot more put-together than he normally did. The scruffy beard was gone, and the small stubble that was there gave him a more dignified look than he'd likely been going for as an FBI agent.

"Credit Republican, Tressler Insurance…" he finally looked at her, and with a slight teasing attitude, he said, "Bonjour."

She laughed a bit and smiled fondly. "Bonjour," she echoed. After a moment, she glanced back at the newspaper with the spread on Lionel Shrike and went on, "And Elkorn? What is their connection to Shrike?"

Dylan looked distinctly nervous, but determined to tell her the truth this time. As he explained about the safe and how Elkorn had made a faulty one that he'd used, she listened sympathetically, and finally revealed that she knew who he was.

"He was your father," she said simply. She understood; she knew where he was coming from and why he wanted his revenge. She wasn't going to hold it against him.

He explained about the day that Lionel Shrike had died, and she felt another pang of sympathy for him at the pain in his eyes – though it seemed more muted now than it had during the case. She figured this was likely because the Four Horsemen had been able to go through with the plan. During the case, she could understand why he would be so high-strung when those were his people out there, and there was so much riding on everything going just right.

"…I planned, I worked out every detail, but the one thing that I…couldn't imagine happening – was you." Dylan finished, and she could never mistake the fondness in his eyes that he finally showed freely.

"I had hoped that you would figure out whatever you needed to soon," Alma admitted, folding the paper in half and setting it next to her.

"New Orleans – that's when you figured it out, wasn't it?" Dylan guessed.

"Yes," Alma acknowledged. "You weren't very subtle hiding your watch from me, no?"

"No," Dylan conceded with a small, self-deprecating smile, and Alma's eyes went down to where he'd worn the watch before.

"May I see?" she requested, holding out a hand, and he allowed it, extending his arm and turning it so that his wrist was visible.

A delicate finger traced along the inky letters that spelled out Alma Dray. She had seen part of the letters that night at the New Orleans show, and it had been easy to put the pieces together from there. His name, Dylan Shrike, was lettered along her side, after all.

"I understand why you did what you did," Alma said at last, releasing her grasp on his wrist and shifting instead so that she was clasping one hand in hers. "But perhaps it would have made it easier to bring me in on it, no?"

"Well, it certainly would have saved me from having to yell at you to keep my cover," Dylan said, squeezing her hand in wordless apology. "I wasn't sure by then if you knew, though."

"Well, after I did figure it out, your immediate dislike for me made sense," Alma said with a smile. "But you were right – I asked for the case. I was hoping that I might be able to meet my soulmate – I knew Shrike's story, and I thought there might be a chance his son would be involved in it somehow. And, it worked."

"Hope it wasn't too big of a disappointment," Dylan laughed a bit, but she could see in his eyes that he was uncertain, his words only half-joking.

She leaned forward, pressing a chaste kiss to his stubbly cheek. "No," she said fondly. "It turned out perfectly."

…

"So, am I going to get to meet these Horsemen properly, then?" Alma asked him a couple of hours later as they walked hand-in-hand along the river. "They know who you are now, oui?"

"Yes," Dylan said with a chuckle. "To both questions. They're not so irritating when they're not trying to piss you off."

"I can imagine," Alma agreed with an amused smile. "Did you tell them we were soulmates before coming?"

"Henley practically shoved me out the door," Dylan said with a laugh as he remembered the Horsemen's reactions. "And the others just looked on in complete agreement. They wanted to meet you properly, too."

"Did Mr. Atlas and McKinney ever resolve their problems?" Alma asked curiously a bit later. "I would have thought one of them would run from the rest of the group after their acts were over, so there might not be so much tension."

Dylan's face transformed into a broad grin. "There never actually were any problems," he confided. "That was a bit of an act to help Atlas, but all four of them are each others' soulmates."

Alma stopped short in surprise, causing Dylan to stop before he went ahead of her. "Really?" she said in shock. "That is amazing."

Dylan nodded. "I had watched them for months before recruiting them, and I still had no idea," he admitted. "I underestimated them – all of them."

Alma began walking again, processing these words. "But how would the act help Mr. Atlas?" she finally questioned with a frown of bewilderment.

Dylan winced slightly at the question. He knew the answer, and he knew that the Horsemen knew that he knew, but Danny hadn't ever actually said that it was alright for Alma to know, and he wouldn't want to risk breaking their trust now – not so early into a relationship. "Ah…you'll have to ask them that. It's not really my place to tell."

Alma nodded in understanding. "I will," she said. "Although perhaps I should wait until they like me a bit more before asking that they trust me with one of their secrets."

Dylan smiled fondly at this comment, and reached down to clasp her hand in his, fingers intertwining. "Sounds good to me," he agreed.

"Now," Alma said, changing the subject. "We can talk about the Horsemen on our way back to America. For now, we are in Paris, and I've always wanted to show my soulmate some of my favorite spots." She smiled up at him in excitement.

Dylan smiled contentedly at her and leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips before nodding in the direction ahead of them. "Lead the way, mademoiselle."

…

Whew! That's it! I'm done! Thank you to everyone favorite, followed, and reviewed – I hope you guys enjoyed this! Thanks for reading!