I couldn't leave this story with the last chapter. I didn't like that chapter much at all. So I pretty much started another after I posted that one. I feel better about this one. Of course I could drag this story to here and there and everywhere but I don't want to.

So this is really it. :)

Thanks again!

Brenda was lying on the couch staring at the ceiling. She hated this. Hated it.

"Are you still having the dreams?" An even, steady voiced asked her.

"You mean nightmares?" She paused but her question wasn't answered. "Sometimes."

"And?" The voice asked again.

Brenda shrugged. "And what? I deal with it." She didn't offer anything further.

"How do you deal with it?"

Brenda sighed in frustration. This is why she hated this. She didn't need to talk about everything that was going on in her head. It had been a year after she had nearly been raped and killed by Phillip Stroh. A year of nightmares that diminished in time but still reared their ugly heads every now and again.

And she really didn't like talking about her personal life. "I wake up the person next to me and…they hold me until I fall back to sleep. That's how I deal with it."

For the rest of the hour Brenda told the therapist more details of her life than she ever wanted to reveal. Of course this woman had been asking her these same things for almost a year. Sharon had convinced her…or more like cajoled her to start seeing a therapist after the nightmares didn't go away and the lack of sleep was playing havoc on her body and mind.

When her required hour was over, Brenda stepped outside. Smiling as she recognized the car waiting under the awning, she pulled her purse strap higher on her shoulder and walked to the black Volkswagen.

"Hi there."

"Hi yourself." She noticed as the years passed his hair became more salt than pepper. But it was a distinguished look on him.

"So how did it go today?" He asked as they drove out of the parking lot.

"Oh that head shrinker! She wants me to talk, in detail, about my personal life, Fritzi!" She huffed and he only laughed and shook his head.

"Isn't that what they're supposed to do?"

She rolled her eyes and changed the subject quickly. For the rest of their trip, she kept their conversation to small talk.

The sun had started to fade over the canyon when he pulled the car into an empty parking space in the back of Farfalla restaurant. It was her night to pick the restaurant and she wanted Italian. She'd had a taste for good, heavy, bad-for-you pasta all week. The heartburn would give her fits later but it would be worth it. And Farfalla was the best Italian place in Los Feliz…and it was close to home.

It was starting to get crowded and they made their way to a table in the back. The exposed brick décor really made it feel like you were stepping into an authentic Italian trattoria in Tuscany. With his hand on the small of her back, Fritz guided her to their table. Suddenly, Brenda's eyes lit up.

Fritz pulled out her chair for her to sit across from him. But she wasn't paying attention to that. She was looking at the smirking brunette already seated at the table. Sitting down, she took Sharon's hand in hers under the table and leaned her body into her arm. Neither were too keen on PDAs. Their moments were for them not everyone else.

Fritz sat down across from Brenda and leaned over and kissed the cheek of the other blonde sitting next to him. "Have you been waiting long?" He asked.

"Not long." Deputy District Attorney Andrea Hobbs answered him. She'd known and worked with the FBI and the LAPD for years. They'd always been good acquaintances. But it wasn't until a few years after Fritz and Brenda divorced did they even acknowledge any mutual attraction to each other. But they'd taken things very slowly and now within the last year Brenda had returned safely to LA and her life did they start moving forward. Whether it had anything to do with her return, Andrea didn't know. But it was good to see Fritz happy again. The year Brenda was missing he wasn't himself. He was uptight and bitter. Andrea was there for him when he needed a friend or a shoulder.

But in the last year the two couples has become quite friendly. They tried…work permitting…to go to dinner together once a week. It was the first time Brenda had been friends with another couple. Odd as it was, the other couple was her ex-husband and former colleague but that wasn't an issue. She was happy for Fritz and Andrea. He really deserved to be happy. In the last years of their marriage she had made his life miserable. She realized that during her couch sessions with that head shrinker too.

As they waited for their food to come out, Andrea excused herself to the ladies room while Fritz took a call outside on his cell phone leaving Sharon and Brenda at the table alone.

"How was your session today?" Sharon asked quietly. She had been so concerned with Brenda's health and mental stability after coming off of that job that she somehow persuaded Brenda to see a therapist.

"Oh that woman! She drives me nuts."

The smile spread across Sharon's face. "I better watch out. That's what you used to say about me."

Brenda turned and looked at her…really looked at her. She was right. At first she couldn't stand Captain Sharon Raydor with her little notebook and clicking pen. But things had changed. She eventually saw the intelligent, beautiful woman for who she was. And had slowly fallen in love with her. Sharon Raydor was literally her savior.

And she knew that she would not have made it through this last year without her. That was a fact. After that first night she stayed with Sharon the nightmares didn't go away but they weren't as frequent and whenever Sharon put her arms around her and held her tight she felt safe. And when she kissed her and touched her she felt loved. And when she loved her she felt incredible.

They nervously admitted their attraction to each other after that first night. It would have been hard to deny after their kiss that night. They didn't take things as slow as Fritz and Andrea. No, Brenda moved in the next day. Sharon didn't want her suffering alone with her memories. That would have been hell to put her through that. And Brenda wasn't ready to be away from Sharon anymore.

Finally their food came and the four of them ate and talked and laughed like they did each week. After their meal, Brenda lifted her water glass for a toast. She hadn't ordered wine out of respect for Fritz. She realized, again in therapy, that she hadn't been as supportive of his sobriety as she should have been.

The other three picked up their water glasses too and held them out in front of them.

"To…" Brenda thought for a moment then looked lovingly at Sharon next to her. "To being completely and utterly and absolutely happy and content. And to happy endings."

"You are so sappy." Fritz grinned as they all clinked glasses.