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I looked up at him as I laid on his lap on the couch that same night. I needed to tell him what happened earlier today. But I was scared of how he would react. I couldn't have him go off on his own again. We were a team now.

I studied his features as he read a book. The freckles seemed to dance across his face in such an aesthetically pleasing fashion. His eyes were full of curiosity as they moved back and forth as he read. He looked perfect. I loved him. And if I really wanted to be a team with him I had to spill. I couldn't keep this from him. I needed to be honest. How could I demand him being honest to me if I wasn't honest to him? 

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Kale put down his book and looked at me. He smiled as he brushed some hair behind my ear. "Aurora, I am completely and utterly in love with you. I love your smile, you're crazy curly red hair, the way when you hum while making food in the kitchen, and the way you show your love for others. You have changed a lot over the past few months and even year. I would be lying if I said I didn't change as well. I strongly believe that instead of growing apart like most people do, we grew closer. I love you and I want to be with you. I am not going to leave you again. I promise."

I sat up and looked at him, making sure this wasn't a dream. Finally I decided it wasn't and hugged him, as tight as I could. "When Sherlock comes home I'm going to tell him I'm moving out. I want a life with you."

He smiled at me but then frowned. "We have to finish the case though, we are still under Mycroft's watch."

I shook my head at him. We did not owe anything to Mycroft. I was fine with giving him the bird and moving on with my life. I could black mail him back if he gets snippy with me. I had loads of dirt on him now. "No, I don't care about that anymore. I just care about you."

Kale sighed. "You know people will die if we don't solve this. Good honest people will not go home that day."

Kale had a point. But I was so tired of risking my life for people that didn't give a care about me. I didn't want to work with Mycroft any longer. But I thought about all those innocent people dying in Ukraine. I owed it to them to stop this because if I didn't all this work would be for not. "Ok. After this case, we will start a life together."

Kale smiled at me. "I wouldn't want it differently." He then pulled me into a passionate kiss.

I kissed him back and I wanted to enjoy the rest of the evening just like this but I knew I couldn't. If we were going to finish this case as soon as possible I had to bring up the attack as soon as possible. I pulled out of the kiss and frowned at him. "I have to be honest with you," I said and looked firmly into his eyes. "I was attacked today." I pulled my hair up into a pony tail to show him the small cut I had in on my neck.

I watched as his eyes get worried as he looked at me from head to toe as if making sure nothing else was wrong. "What else did they do to you? What did they want?"

"They were looking for you."

I watched his face show anger for the first time in a long while. His hands clenched up in fists as he said, "this wasn't supposed to happen. I was careful. I made sure no one knew about my life here. How did they find you?"

"I was in an alley way. They came up to me and asked me about you. But that's in the past. I am ok," I said and cupped his face. I smiled at him, to help calm him down. "We need to make a plan about what to do with them."

He shook his head as if I didn't understand something. "Yeah and the plan is for me to go to them, alone. I don't want you in this."

For once in my life I felt like John and how I always forced him out. Before I went to Russia, I thought that it would be safer that way but since then I have learned that was wrong. I felt left out and frustrated that Kale wouldn't want me to help him. "Oh please, you sound too much like me! I am already in it. I am with you till the end. I hope you know that." I grabbed his hand in mine.

He gave a small smile and said, "What do you have in mind?"

I was hoping that he would ask me that. I had made a plan a bit ago, I was just waiting for him to be on board with it. "You are going to meet them in that alley. I will be hiding and will follow to where they take you but I know that when I was attacked there were only a few warehouses in that ally. I bet they will take you into one." 

Kale frowned, not liking this idea. "What if they find you."

I shook my head. While in Russia I learned the art of hiding. They wouldn't find me. "I will be fine. Tomorrow we can set surveillance around the building. And I will look at the blueprints of the warehouses so we know them inside and out. I think if we hand you in and with my help we can get more information from them. It's like any last information before you die kind of thing. And when the time is right, I will come in and together we can beat them and get you out."

I watched as he face changed from worry to something else I couldn't read. He was thinking hard about all of this. I knew that there were flaws in the plan but I don't think he could come up with anything better. "That could work. But what if we ask Mycroft for backup?"

I frowned. I was not going to ask anything from that man. I would make it just fine without him. "I know we can do this on our own. Besides Mycroft rather us die than help us."

Kale nodded. I was right. Mycroft did want us dead and out of the way. He wouldn't help us if he knew our lives were in danger. "But what if we get to a building that is completely different. What then?"

"I'll follow you. It won't be hard. I did it all the time in Russia and Ukraine. The only down side would be not knowing the building well enough to get you out of safely quickly. But we could manage."  The truth was that I thought about a lot of different out comes to this plan and to me, this one was the most positive. I think this could work if Kale was willing to go along with it.

"Ok I'm in."

I smiled at him. It was now time to get ready for the real work. "This could give us more information about the group. And just think, if we can bring them in? We can exchange that for our freedom from Mycroft."

His smile was small but genuine almost like a parent smiling at a kid as they were being too hopeful about something. "That could happen. but let's just not focus on that for tonight," he said and kissed me.