Her Second Chance

Thirty-Nine: Will

On the return trip from meeting with Brigance at the police station, Jane and I ride back to the house in stunned silence. We got to see the bastard ourselves behind the two-way mirror while he sat in the interrogation room. His twitching hands and blank gaze are still burned into my brain and will be for sometime. J.R., whose real name is apparently Joseph Richardson, admitted to the break in at the restaurant before we were ushered out of the room by the other officers.

Jane sighs, and when I look over at her, there are tears running down her face. Maneuvering over to the shoulder of the road, I unfasten her seatbelt and pull her into my lap to hold her close. Her body shakes in my arms, so I tighten my grip on her. "It's over, J. You're safe." I repeat the words over and over, hoping to reassure her and myself for that matter.

One of her hands clutches my shirt as she presses herself close to me. "I-I can't believe it. I thought it would never end." Her voice is ragged.

"But it has. You're free now."

Her watery eyes meet mine, and she attempts a smile before looking away, "This has been my life for so long. It seems too easy for it to just be done."

I tug at her chin and make her look at me, "Sugar, not one part of this has been easy."

She gives me a real smile this time, "Back to sugar, huh? I should make a list of all these names you have for me."

"Make your list, J. I've got the rest of our lives to add to it."

She rolls her eyes at me like she usually does when I say something that she deems too out there to take seriously. The realization hits me that I have plenty of time now to make her see that I mean every damn word I say when it comes to her. Plus, I'm finally going to have enough spare time to buy a ring for her to prove it. As she scoots off of me to buckle herself in the middle of the bench seat, I put my arm around her. I'm glad that she wants to stay close to me.

"Let's go home, Fitz." I'll never get tired of hearing those words come out of her beautiful mouth. Never.

Alex, Pete, and Adam are still there when we walk through the door. I see that they've kept working while we were gone, and they've made a real dent in the destruction today, but we'll still have to stay closed for now. Maybe we can reopen our doors by the middle of next week if we're lucky. Each of the three take turns hugging and congratulating my girl on this nightmare being over. Adam swings her around this time instead of Pete, and I laugh just a little too long when her feet collide with Pete's knees, making him lose his balance and careen towards the nearest table for support.

Jane tries to apologize to him when Adam puts her down, but I pull her to me for yet another hug. "Is it too soon to go somewhere for dinner tonight? I want to take you out." I whisper the words directly into her ear and grin when her body shutters against mine.

"Get a room! There are children present." Pete catcalls.

"I'm not a child." Adam protests.

Pete huffs, "Who said I was referring to you?" He asks while he pretends to shield his own eyes from Jane and me. They continue to bicker as I lead Jane into the storeroom for some privacy. Taking her into my office, I sit in my chair and pull her into my lap. She twists her hands nervously.

"It's okay if you don't want to go out. We can take things slow." Her hands stop moving at my words and her shoulders relax.

"Will, I want to go on a date with you. I do. It's just that this news hasn't had time to really feel real to me yet. I've spent seven years locking myself away. I'm not sure that I can just turn it off." She stares up at me, and the look on her face alone makes me want to go back to that police station and strangle that asshole slowly. Even more so when I think about what he has taken from her. She's not going to feel truly safe for a long time regardless of the fact that he's going to be behind bars for the rest of his existence if I have anything to say about it.