The air had a crisp autumn scent that was indescribably delightful to Murdoch. It consisted of a beguiling mixture of both the outdoors aroma and something far more biological in nature. For you see, he was arm in arm with the love of his life, one Julia Ogden. Since the horrific conclusion of their last case, she had become free from the bonds of matrimony. It was a good thing too, for her late husband had been the most devious serial killer Murdoch had ever heard of or had the misfortune to encounter. There was one blessing though, at least she couldn't remember her whole hypnotism ordeal. That's not to say that that event and the subsequent terrifying revelation hadn't left any marks on her psyche. In fact, there was virtually no way in which she could have remained completely unscathed. He only hoped that her psychological wounds would not be permanent ones. He prayed every day that they wouldn't.

Julia appeared normal enough though, when they were in public or at a social event of some sort, but when they were alone, when she let herself be vulnerable, he could see it in her eyes that everything was not all right. The last thing he wanted to do was bring up that deplorable topic, so he let the matter be. If she didn't want to talk about it, he wasn't going to force her to, even if he thought it would be beneficial for her. When she was ready, he was sure she would finally open up the flood gates of her mind and all those pent up emotions would come pouring out of her. Murdoch hoped he was prepared for just such an onslaught, but only time would tell.

Unbeknownst to him, Julia had started seeing a therapist. Someone Murdoch was well acquainted with. However, it would be a long time before she would admit to needing anyone's help in getting past everything that happened to her and moving on with her life. She was far too stubborn for that. After all, she was the one who willingly tied the knot to that psychopath. Therefore she felt it was her burden and her burden alone to carry.

Making their way along the park's well-kept path, they could see something tremendous in the distance. It was hard not to. The purple and white hot air balloon stood out like a sore thumb in the tranquil calm of their surroundings. A crowd had already gathered around to see the magnificent sight. Unfortunately for them, they wouldn't get to admire it for much longer. Murdoch and Julia weren't simply out on a run-of-the-mill stroll. No siree. They had a specific purpose in mind. That hot air balloon was theirs for the next couple of hours. They were going to celebrate their one month anniversary since getting back together. And what could be grander than an aerial tour of the city? While it was true that they had already done something similar several years ago, that didn't make this event any less special. If anything, it amplified it.

Besides being the most exhilarating two hours of their lives, their last air borne voyage had been a wonderful reunion after many months of being separated due to a painful breakup. They had hashed out a number of issues and as a result had become the closest they had been up to that point. Murdoch would love to do the same thing this time, if only to help Julia out, but he was still rather hesitant to do so. Their relationship was quite fresh and it had been far too turbulent in recent years for him to want to make her upset if he didn't have to. As well, this was supposed to be a happy occasion; he didn't want to mar it unnecessarily.

So his only goal today was to enjoy her company and the grand adventure in the sky.

As they approached the air vessel, Reginald came over to greet them.

Smiling widely while he firmly shook hands with Murdoch, he said, "Are you ready for this detective?"

"I hope so," Murdoch responded, politely returning his smile. "I've been looking forward to this all week."

Reginald then turned his attention to Julia. He took her hand and kissed it lightly; then began helping her into the vehicle. It was funny to think that Murdoch had thought him a romantic rival all those years ago. Then again, the truth of Julia's outings had been rather unimaginable. Murdoch didn't know anyone else who had actually desired to be at the mercy of such a bizarre form of transport. After all, it was simply an oversized basket attached to an even greater oversized balloon. One nick in the lining and it was game over. Not the safest thing he could think of, especially considering the number of birds in the area. He had hesitated going up the last time for just such a reason, but his desire to right wrongs had been strong enough to propel him upward and onward. It was one of his fondest memories. He wished he could be more spontaneous all the time but his rigid upbringing made it very difficult for him to do so.

Next it was Murdoch's turn to hop on in. Like the last time, he did it himself, with only the slightest of difficulties.

Reginald held out a bottle of absinthe and two glasses to Murdoch and said, "Don't want to forget about this, eh, detective?"

"No, I certainly don't."

"I really shouldn't even be letting you take this up with you but Julia asked so nicely that I just couldn't refuse." He winked at her, which annoyed Murdoch more than he cared to admit. "But don't overdo it. You need to keep at least some of your wits about you in order to operate this beast."

"I'll keep that in mind, sir," Murdoch said stiffly.

"I'm sure you will," he said smirking.

After Reginald ordered his men to let go of the ropes, he called, "Bon voyage. Have a good one. I'll see you two soon."

They thanked him and then held hands, beaming at one another, the sun mirroring them completely.

As they ascended into the air and closer to the sun, Murdoch couldn't help but be partially blinded by the light that dazzled off of Julia's white dress. It was quite stunning on her. She had bought it specifically for this occasion. The same thing went for his suit. She had insisted on buying it for him shortly after making her own purchase. While her generousity was admirable, he was reluctant for her to spend quite so much on him, all for just a mere piece of clothing. Julia only laughed and bought it anyways. And so it was that he was wearing a handsome blue suit, one that had been tailored to fit him like a glove, something he found fairly uncomfortable. But he bore his discomfort gracefully, with a smile and as much dignity as he could muster. The absinthe would soon help matters greatly.

"Here's to us," said Julia cheerfully as they clinked glasses. "May we stay this way for the rest of our lives."

"I'll drink to that," he said, equally joyfully.

With arms linked, they gazed out across the vast urban landscape of downtown Toronto and just soaked in the sights for a few minutes while they sipped away at their drinks. Before long it was time for a refill and Murdoch busied himself with the task, taking slightly longer than he should have, for he was already beginning to feel the effects of the green fairy. He was a much bigger light weight in that arena than Julia was but he wasn't about to call it quits already. Besides, it didn't take that much skill to operate the machine. He was sure he'd be able to safely manage at least one more drink.

After the effects of the second glass took hold of him, he was feeling quite tipsy. So much so, that he wished he could be the one leaning his head against her shoulder, rather than the reverse being true. It took a fair amount of effort for him to not sway, let alone remain upright. Julia didn't seem to notice though, the alcohol dulling her own senses as well.

When they had consumed a third glass, he decided that the only way he wouldn't be tempted to keep up with her drinking prowess was if he chucked the bottle out of the basket. Not that it mattered much at that point for they had consumed most of it anyways.

Julia looked at him blankly for a few seconds and then burst out laughing.

"What in the world did you do that for?" her words slightly slurring.

"It seemed like a good idea," he responded, his words extremely hazy.

There was silence for a little while and then Julia blurted out loudly, "So when are we gonna get married? Let's just elope! Whaddaya say?"

Murdoch stared at her briefly and then averted his gaze.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Don't you still wanna?"

"Of course I do!" he exclaimed.

"So what's the problem, William?"

He grit his teeth and said what he had wanted to avoid saying at all costs.

"It's just…I think you need more time to get over what happened to you. I can tell that you haven't." Tears started to form in her eyes but he continued on, nonetheless. "And that's perfectly understandable, but I don't wanna officially start our new lives together with that storm cloud hanging over our heads. I wanna clean start, a fighting chance to have everything that we've always dreamed of. I think we deserve that much, don't you?"

The tears were now freely flowing but she wasn't sobbing at all. She flung herself into his arms, making them both fall over backwards. Luckily the basket was big enough and she didn't knock them overboard. Murdoch ended up sitting propped up against the side of the basket and she clung to him desperately. He didn't know what to do so he just held her, waiting for whatever came next, which as it turns out, was not what he was expecting.

The storm hit without warning. Thunder rumbled mightily and the basket shook violently, and as a result, they both fell over again. Murdoch scrambled to his feet and began manning the trigger for the propulsion system. He was attempting to lower them down to safety before their aircraft could be damaged. Julia was screaming something at him but he couldn't make out her words above all the booming. It was then that he realized that he wouldn't be able to lower them, at least not by opening the blast valve. All the heat would do is take them higher up into the storm. He was annoyed that his mental faculties had been dimmed so much by the alcohol. At that moment, lightning flashed and cracked across the sky and he jumped involuntarily. It felt like it was just a few feet away, so high up in the atmosphere. Finally he regained his senses and closed the blast valve completely. The balloons' buoyancy would become gradually less over time. The question was whether they'd make it safely to the ground or not.

Murdoch hated that he had no control over the situation. He was utterly helpless and at the mercy of Mother Nature. He silently began praying for her to be kind to them. It began pouring and they huddled up together in one of the corners. Not just to avoid the rain as much as possible, but also because it had become extremely difficult to keep their footing.

The basket twisted and turned for what felt like hours. He was sure that they must have blown off course quite badly by now. It was going to be a pain to get back.

Then his worst fear came true. Something must have ripped through the balloon because they started to descend rapidly, much faster than could possibly allow for a safe landing. They shared a terrified look and then screamed as they plummeted to the ground. There was a horrendous noise as they crashed and were flung out of the basket. Murdoch attempted to hold on to her to protect her from harm but failed miserably. Then he felt a searing pain in his head and knew no more.