Time moved swiftly for the pair, days turning into weeks as the unforgiving cold weather outside began to slightly warm up with the upcoming seasonal change.

They both continued to work the still unsolved cases, thankfully noting that no new ones have emerged in the four weeks that have gone by.

Nate gave a silent thanks to every higher power that there was for keeping Zara safe. No threats have been made since the last one on that cold rainy evening a few months past. He stifled a growl, promising himself that won't ever happen as long as he watched over her.

The other detectives in the Aces team were growing restless. They have not been able to find any evidence of who the culprit behind these murders was. Fear was running high from not just the citizens who lived in Allura, but the world at large.

Many were asking if the killer would soon be hitting their hometowns, fearing it may have had enough of the city that housed its playground.

He was curious too. Was this the end of the killings? Or would there be more?

Regardless of this whole mess, there was one thing he was grateful for. And that's the friendship that was slowly building between himself and Zara.

He could admit that it was all due to her. Unknowingly, she had opened the door for both of them on the very first day of their conjoined living arrangements. Nate knew she wasn't what she portrayed to be, he knew there was more behind the rigid Omega.

A small trace of guilt still enveloped his body. Although Zara had offered to lend an ear, he still couldn't take her up on the offer. Not now, while he had his own secrets to hide. One of them being the rose he had picked up and sent to the labs.

Her laugh drifted his way, grabbing hold of his attention.

She was sitting on an empty desk, papers in hand while she talked with the rest of the team about the cases.

He narrowed his eyes when he saw Oliver move his chair closer to her. It was soon replaced with a satisfying grin as she pushed the Alpha, chair and all, away with her foot.

Nate thought back to the first few days when they tried to navigate their lifestyle around each other. He couldn't deny that it had been rough, but they had soon found themselves working in tandem.

Lonely nights no longer fit in his vocabulary. The words were soon replaced by the evenings they shared, those that were filled by TV watching or working as a unit at the precinct. They had also started exercising together, whether it was running, sparring or hitting the gun range.

A small memory suddenly took form, making him smile. Last week, on their day off after a nine day work streak, Zara had decided to cook for them. Usually, Nate would be the one cooking since he liked the simple pleasure of being in the kitchen.

His mother had taught him from a young age that no matter what happened, whether he found a partner or not, he should always be capable of providing for himself.

Without her knowing it, his mother had gifted him something to truly value.

A chuckle slipped free, though thankfully no one turned their attention to him. The office was pretty loud today.

Like a film, it began to roll and play within his mind.

Zara had gotten up early that day, beating him by a few minutes. Before he'd even opened his door, the strong aroma of burnt toast filtered the air.

Nate could remember the sudden panic that had taken hold of him. Fearing the worst, he yanked the door to his guest room open, breaking the hinges from the doorframe.

Running out, he ignored the slam of the wood meeting the wall.

"Zara!" he had screamed, worried that something must have happened for her to leave the food unattended.

But how wrong he was. She wasn't in any danger. On the contrary, she was fine. Well, other than the guilty look coated on her face as she held the poor scorched toast up to him.

"Sorry, eggs were burning on the pan and I forgot about the bread."

All he could do in response was laugh. One so deep, that his sides began to ache from the burn of them. Nate knew it wasn't the kindest thing to do, especially when a blush flushed across her face.

However, soon enough, her laughed joined his.

"As you can tell," she said between fits of laughter, "I'm not that great of a cook."

That day, and so many others, made his realize something. Zara wasn't only his partner, but someone he considered a friend.

One, he admitted, whom he was insanely attracted to.

He looked up in time to see Zara get up and begin walking back and forth between desks that lined up the floor.

Nate sighed. He could feel his smile drop and the pounding of his head resume once again. He tried rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, hoping it would take the pain away.

"Fuck."

Irritation burned inside of Nate as he looked at the screen before him once again. After waiting so long for the results to come in, this is what they gave him in return?

Utter bullshit.

Luke had called him a few nights ago to give him a heads up that nothing had come up from the results. He didn't want to believe him, but taking a quick glance at the documents still plastered on the screen, he should have.

It would've saved him the headache that was slowly making its presence known.

Those damn words taunted him even now:

We're sorry to say that there was no DNA, other than the animal blood, found on the flower. We've attached the results from the tests that we've ran on the rose, though I'm sorry to inform you that there's no indication that suggest it was placed by anyone.

We deeply apologize, Detective Sanders.

Just his rotten luck.