Here's the final chapter of this FF. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for the feedback.

She looked down from the top of the building at the lights blinking below, thinking about how far she had come. Behind her, her friends and family had gathered inside the penthouse suite for a party complete with delicious food and good music. She had mingled and enjoyed herself for an hour or so catching up with everyone she had missed for so long while she had fought her way back from the darkness to rebuilding her life, in the light.

He joined her a few moments later, as she knew he would and stood beside her in silence as they both took in the breathless sights of L.A. He dressed in black tie, with the tie of course askew around his neck and she, in her favorite white summer dress, which accentuated her tanned skin and dark mahogany hair which framed her face with curls resting on her shoulders.

After they had apprehended Daniels before he could harm any of the mustangs, they had spent the next day witnessing the wedding of their close friends, Jonathan and Rhonda which had been one of the most beautiful ceremonies that they had ever attended. The bride and groom recited their own vows surrounded by members of their wedding party including C.J. who had been the maid of honor and all videotaped for posterity by Butterfly who at this time was carefully editing her material into its final product to be burned on DVDs to send out to everyone who attended. After the wedding and an afternoon of dining and dancing, Jonathan and Rhonda had ditched their guests, changed their clothes and got on their bikes to continue on with their road trip. C.J. and Matt had stayed a couple more days, spending them fishing in the lake, hanging out with their friends and spending nights enjoying the starry splendor of the Rockies and each other before heading back to L.A.

Before they left for the airport to board his jet, Matt had asked her one more time if she were sure she were ready to return to L.A. and the corporate building where she had been abducted over a year before by men working for Andre Duval. She looked at him and nodded yes and he knew then she had come home.

Walking back into the building had not been easy but C.J. with Matt beside her walked into the garage. She closed her eyes for a second until the sensations passed and her heart beat slowed down. The fleeting sights and sounds of that night hit her, the scent of chloroform as she remembered it threatened to smother her. But she took a few deep breaths to ground herself in the present and the feelings soon ebbed. Matt looked at her, concern in his eyes until she smiled at him. She asked him to leave her alone for a few minutes and he nodded before walking away so that she could put those demons to rest that had kept her away.

After she had finished doing that, she took the elevator up to the top floor and as it opened, her eyes widened as she saw the large group of people congregated in the suite, eating food and she listened to the sounds of chatter and laughter that filled the room. Roy manned the bar along with Vince Novelli who had decided to stop and visit some old buddies and haunts in L.A. before heading back to his family in Miami. Hoyt stood near the door to the helipad talking with his former LAPD colleague Brody. Brody walked over to where C.J. remained standing.

"What's going on here," she asked with a smile.

"Matt's been planning this for days," Brody said, "He had me working on it even though organizing parties is clearly not in my job description."

She looked around the room at the people enjoying themselves.

"Wait a minute," she said, "How did he know I even was going to accompany him to L.A. I just decided…"

Brody smiled.

"He knew it was something you needed to do," he said, "He was just trying to make it easier for you."

Her smile broadened and she walked over to hug him.

"This is very nice," she said, kissing him on the cheek, "Thank you."

"The pleasure's mine," Brody said, "It's great to see you again. That was quite an adventure you had in Colorado."

"It worked out very well in the end," she said, "The ranchers got what they wanted which was to keep their land and their way of life."

"And what about you?"

"I got what I always wanted too," she said.

"He's in the kitchen checking on the food," Brody said, "I do have to thank you for whatever you did or said to him. I've never seen him this relaxed, even about the workload at the agency."

"You can blame that on the pristine mountain air," she said, with a laugh.

He laughed and she left him to head to the kitchen. The odors of chili hit her along with the sound of more laughter. She saw Matt standing by the stove talking to a vivacious woman she knew had to be Ginger. Both of them looked up when they saw her.

"This is such a wonderful party," C.J. said, "Brody told me you'd been working on it."

Matt and Ginger looked at each other.

"Well it started out much smaller but I think it turned out wonderful," Ginger said, extending her hand, "You must be C.J."

C.J. shook it.

"And you're Ginger who works at the county art museum," she said.

Ginger nodded.

"I was just telling Matt here not to worry about the bill for damages from the charity bachelor auction," she said, "They've been paid for in full by a mysterious benefactor."

Matt scratched his head.

"It really wasn't that bad C.J.," he said, "except for the ice sculpture of what's his name…"

"Adonis," Ginger said.

"We could have paid for it out of what's left in the broken furniture fund," C.J. said, winking at him.

He coughed.

"Apparently that won't be necessary."

Ginger looked at the two of them.

"Should I sign you up for next year's auction," she asked.

Matt put his arm around C.J.

"I'll tell you what," he said, "I think I'll just send a check."

Ginger nodded.

"That'll work," she said, "So what's next for the two of you?"

"I've got to get back to work in a few days," C.J. said, "My vacation's just about over."

"I'm going to do some contracting with a friend's security firm," Matt said, "At least until I decide whether or not to set up a new franchise of my investigative agency in Houston."

Matt and C.J. looked at each other.

"Then we're going to go out and look at some ranch land," she said, "So we only have to work in Houston."

Ginger smiled.

"That sounds really nice," she said, "Just promise you won't make yourself too scarce."

C.J. nodded, thinking of all the promises she had made in the past several years that one was pretty easy.

She sighed as she watched the sky darken from a navy blue to a darker black, a crescent moon shining above the city. After she had eaten some great food and had enjoyed her friends, she had wandered out to the place she often sought when she needed to reflect on her life. She and Matt were spending the night at his beach house in Malibu and then heading out to the airport to take the jet back to Houston. There, her life waited and now it seemed his life waited for him too, their new life they were building together. She had checked her phone messages and her supervisor called her with news on a new case. Her realtor called to report that she had found some property just outside of Houston for her to look at. Chris and Dan and their family along with Fran, Carlos and the twins were back there getting back in the swing of things with Butterfly filling Chris and Dan with stories of all the great film schools she wanted to visit. Chris had sighed with the latest news that Butterfly had switched from wanting to make films about vampires and zombies to focusing on documentaries. C.J. had smiled realizing that the experiences that Butterfly had during the summer had rubbed off on her even though she had pretty much forgotten about poor Carter by the time her plane landed back in Texas.

Everything seemed to be coming together at last.

She looked over at Matt just as he looked at her and he took her hand in his and they both looked out towards the journey they would be taking together. C.J. thought back to the visions that had flashed through her mind when she felt her life slipping away again, images of her life with the man she loved and children. Were they glimpses of her own future? She hoped so.

"Great party," she said.

He shrugged.

"We have a lot of great friends," he said.

She smiled.

"Yeah we do."

"But you're my best friend," he said, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing it.

She said nothing then, just reached to touch his face with her fingers. Then they walked back towards the penthouse together. As they entered, they heard the phone ring and decided to let the answering machine pick it up because whatever it was, could wait. The caller on the other end frowned in disappointment that no one answered not that it mattered because his message required few words.

"It's not over yet…"