Christmas continues, Nolan drives a point home, we (finally) get a sneak peek into New York, and celebrations in Chicago are cut short.

Enjoy!

***

The Severide cabin out in the woods was a much better type of secluded than the house in Portland had been. Their mother had become more isolated with each city they moved to, and the Portland house had been no different. In fact, that had probably been part of the reason no one had noticed their aunt had abandoned them for so long. Both houses were surrounded by trees, but the Severide cabin, at least, felt like a home and not a ticking time bomb.

Plus, the snow on Christmas made the cabin feel like they were in the middle of a Hallmark movie, and Griffin had no idea he would appreciate such a comparison.

But it was worth seeing Ben smile and laugh as he ran through the trees while being pursued by Sylvie, the pair illuminated by the moon and stars in the sky. It turned out the blonde was ridiculously competitive when it came to snowball fights, and both the boy and the paramedic were covered in snow. Griffin leaned on the porch railing, running a hand through his dripping wet hair as he watched Sylvie quickly duck behind a tree, Ben's snowball hitting the bark with an audible thud. "Come on, Ben!" he goaded when his brother sprinted into view. "Get her!"

"Griffin!" Sylvie loudly protested.

"You got me out of the game!" Griffin grinned. "I'm on my brother's side!"

Any further arguments were silenced when Ben ran towards Sylvie's hiding place, and the blonde squeaked and took off again, her braids flying behind her. "Get back here!" Ben barked, not hesitating in pursuing her.

Griffin laughed in delight, cradling his hot cider in his hands as he watched. His brother's cheeks were flushed, but it wasn't in frustration or anger. No, everything in Ben's bearing screamed happiness as he tried to nail Sylvie with snow. It was such a change from their last Christmas that Griffin realized with a pang that he had barely spared their mother a single thought.

"You look like you're thinking hard."

Griffin jumped in surprise and fumbled not to slosh hot liquid over his hands. "Jesus, Nolan," he huffed in annoyance.

"Sorry," Nolan smiled apologetically, leaning on the railing next to him. "Apparently, I need to wear a bell or something. I've been doing this a lot."

"Yeah, you do," Griffin sighed. "Sorry."

"No need to be sorry," Nolan shook his head. "Something on your mind?"

Griffin fidgeted and stared down into his drink. "This is our first Christmas without our mom," he said quietly. "And yet . . . it's the first Christmas that feels like Christmas since our dad died. It actually feels like 'happy holidays.'"

Nolan nodded in understanding. "Feeling a little guilty?"

"A little," he admitted. "I mean . . . she's our mom."

"And yet, you yourself said that the last time you felt you had a stable environment was the last time you were in Matt's care."

Griffin ducked his head. "Yeah."

It was silent for a few seconds, and while it wasn't uncomfortable, Griffin was relieved when Nolan finally spoke again. "From what you, Ben, and Matt told me, you went above and beyond to care for yourself and your brother when your aunt left you, and I am very impressed you did that while keeping up with your schoolwork. Despite that, Griffin, you're seventeen. You still have time to be a kid. You shouldn't have had to be the adult in your family. This is probably the first time since your mom's arrest, or at least since your aunt left, where you don't have to act like one, right?" Griffin nodded, and Nolan tilted his head. "How does it feel?"

"Really good," Griffin confessed. "And relieving."

"And that's exactly how you should feel," Nolan said firmly. "The really good part, at least. The relief, not so much, because you shouldn't have had to be in the position you were. You and Ben deserve to have happy holidays, and as horrible as this may make me sound, if that means you don't think about your mom, that's OK. You still have Ben, and you have Matt and Kelly, too."

"And you and Sylvie," Griffin pointed out.

Nolan let out a startled laugh. "Yeah, I guess you do."

"I do," Griffin nodded, gaining confidence as he spoke. "Matt did his best to hide it, but Ben and I both know how much the possibility of moving to Portland took a toll on him. He didn't want that at all, and neither did we, but he would have done it without hesitation if it meant he could keep his guardianship of us. In less than a month, you've cared and done more for us than anyone in the past has done since we left Chicago. Hell, you got us an attorney who should, unless our luck really turns for the worse, get us out of Portland and into Matt's care for good. I don't think I can put into words what that means for me and Ben. The amount of adults we truly trust after everything our mom put us through . . . we'd have fingers left over if we counted them. You're one of the few, Nolan. I know you came here for Sylvie, but . . . thank you for everything you've done since you got here."

Nolan smiled softly, and when he held out an arm in invitation, Griffin immediately curled into his side, letting the prosecutor hug him. "You are very welcome, Griffin. I'm glad I came."

Laughter erupted from the woods, and the pair looked up in time to see Ben hurtle towards the porch, an ear-to-ear grin on his face. Sylvie pursued him at full speed, her braids dripping behind her. Griffin realized what Ben had done at once, and he burst out laughing. "Did you drop a pile of snow on her?" he asked.

"Of course!" Ben laughed.

"Oh, you are going to pay for that," Sylvie ground out, but her voice held no heat in it as she stomped up the porch steps. "Preferably some time when it's warmer and I'm not going to freeze out here."

Nolan grinned as he opened the door to the cabin. "Maybe don't say that when he can hear you, soror cara."

"I'm too cold to care right now."

The way Matt and Kelly did double takes when Sylvie trudged into the cabin made Griffin break into hysterics again, then Matt saw Ben's smug grin and sighed. "You won the snowball fight, didn't you?"

"Yep!" Ben chirped.

"How big was the snowball you hit her with?" Kelly asked, fighting a grin as he watched Sylvie remove her coat.

Ben tilted his head innocently. "Who said it was in a ball?"

Nolan laughed and nimbly stepped back to avoid water droplets as Sylvie shook her head like a dog to get some of the water out of her hair. "It definitely wasn't in a ball."

"Of course not," Matt shook his head fondly. "You OK, Sylvie?"

"Peachy," she nodded, smiling thankfully as Nolan handed her a towel. "Though I call dibs on jumping in a hot shower before you, Ben."

"Fair," he nodded in agreement.

"Well, before we do anything else," Matt cleared his throat, drawing attention back to him. "There's still something I need to give you boys."

"What?" Griffin blinked and shook his head. "Matt, you don't need to - "

"You've already done so much for us this year," Ben hastily added. "You didn't need to get us anything."

"I know," Matt said, holding up a hand to stop them from protesting further. "But this is something I want to give you. I needed most of the firehouse's help for it."

Griffin didn't understand until Matt pulled a book off the shelf, and Sylvie gasped in realization. Griffin recognized the type of book he held right away, and he swallowed hard, holding out his hands to take the scrapbook Matt held out to him. Ben immediately shucked off his coat and boots to join Griffin on the couch, and the older teen eagerly flipped open the book. Their father's beaming face grinned up at them, Matt and Kelly bracketing him on either side. Every page was filled with pictures from Firehouse 51 and around Chicago, making a complete catalogue of Andy Darden's life from the fire academy all the way to his final shift.

After years of their mother trying to wipe away every memory from her life, therefore wiping every memory from their lives . . . "Matt," Griffin swallowed hard, feeling his throat begin to clog with tears.

"We practically tore the firehouse apart looking for every picture we could find," Matt admitted, gesturing between himself and Kelly. "We wanted to include everything we could. Boden, Herrmann, Mouch, Cruz, Capp, and Tony helped, too. Everything we found is in this book. I don't know how much you remember - "

"Almost nothing," Ben interrupted, shaking his head as he peered over Griffin's shoulder, his wide, dark eyes locked on an image of Andy roughhousing with Cruz while Kelly egged him on. "This is . . . " He trailed off before bounding up off the couch and lunging for Matt, making the captain grunt in surprise when Ben engulfed him in a hug. "This is perfect."

"Thank you, Matt," Griffin smiled widely, carefully placing the scrapbook to the side to join his brother. "This is the best Christmas ever."

Matt smiled happily, hugging both boys close to him as Kelly, Sylvie, and Nolan watched, Sylvie with tears in her eyes. "Merry Christmas, boys."

***

If the charity gala hadn't been four nights ago, Gabby would have thought she was imagining things because of potentially having too much to drink.

As it was, she stared at her email for the third time, put aside her phone to finish her coffee, then returned to her email again, thinking she possibly could have missed something. But no, the amount of money raised at the charity gala remained the same as it had been the first time she checked her email.

No way.

She abruptly stood from 51's table, and Antonio blinked at her in surprise. "Gabby?"

"I'll be back," she shook her head, walking to the door that led out onto the apparatus floor. She knew just who she had to talk to. Sure enough, she found the person she was looking for perched on the squad table, abandoned since the entire house was out on a call. "What did you do?" she demanded.

Nolan gave her an unimpressed look then returned to his phone call. "That date and time should work perfectly, thank you. I'll get back to you later." He ended the call and placed his phone to the side then folded his arms and raised an eyebrow. "How can I help you, Dawson?"

Gabby flushed, feeling a little guilty for interrupting his call, but she straightened when she remembered why she was outside. "What did you do?" she repeated.

Nolan snorted. "I'm gonna need more than that. I've done a lot of things since I got here."

"The gala," Gabby explained. "I saw you making the rounds. You talked to a lot of people."

"I did," Nolan confirmed. "When I wasn't with Sylvie, at least."

"Nolan . . . " Gabby swallowed. "I got an email from my supervisor this morning. That gala . . . we got more donations in one night than we have in over a year."

Nolan blinked in surprise, then a smile spread across his face. "Nicely done, Dawson."

"Me?!" she squawked. "You don't get it, Nolan! I saw a list of the donors - the majority of them spoke to you at least once during the night."

"Yes, I talked to people," Nolan nodded. "I gave them my thoughts on your charity. I didn't tell them to donate to it. While my job is to get people to agree with me, I know they won't always fall in line with me." He gave her a pointed look. "And while I'm not always happy with that result, I've learned to accept it when I lose."

Gabby flinched, recognizing a barb when she heard one. "But . . . " She shook her head in disbelief. "Why?"

Nolan blinked again. "Why what?"

Gabby gestured to him in frustration. "I'm pretty certain you hate me," she said bluntly. "So why do what you did at the gala? You didn't have to do that! In fact, you could have ruined our work!"

"Why the hell would I do that?" Nolan asked, sounding genuinely confused. Gabby opened her mouth, but Nolan shook his head and held up his hand to stop her from talking. "Seriously, why would I? You're right that I clearly don't like you, and I haven't hidden that fact from anyone here. But I saw everything your charity put together for the gala. I heard stories about all the work you've been doing. You serve an excellent cause, Dawson. Why should your charity suffer because of my personal feelings for you? My dislike of you has nothing to do with your work. Does that really sound like something I would do?"

"But Chief Kilbourne," Gabby began.

"He harbored a childish, immature grudge against a lieutenant who did nothing to deserve his ire," Nolan interrupted, and Gabby shut her mouth with a click. "That grudge led to him coercing a female firefighter with a bright career ahead of her to lie and blame Pelham for her injuries, and that could have been the end of Pelham's career. Commissioner Grissom was already taking action against him. When he made a move against my sister, that combined with his heinous actions meant I just pushed for the harshest consequences for him. He fully deserved what got handed to him. Your charity hasn't done anything like that at all."

Gabby wilted where she stood, hearing the hum of rigs returning to the firehouse behind her. "No," she whispered. "It hasn't."

"So I ask you again: why should your charity suffer because of my personal feelings for you?" Gabby swallowed hard, unable to speak. "No, no, better question," Nolan stepped closer, his multicolored eyes boring into hers as the rigs parked on the apparatus floor. "What does it say about the two of us when that was the last thing on my mind . . . but it was the only thing on yours?"

Gabby's heart sank to the pit of her stomach, and Nolan tilted his head with a pointed look at her. "Nolan?" Sylvie asked quietly.

"What's going on?" Matt asked sharply.

Gabby lowered her eyes from Nolan's and took a deep breath. "Nothing," she answered, backing away from the prosecutor and conceding defeat.

"Just making a point, Casey," Nolan nodded. "And I think it hit home."

Gabby felt multiple pairs of eyes staring after her as she hurried back into the firehouse, shame coiling in her gut. Oh, yes, that point had hit home perfectly.

And while she didn't know Nolan Price very well, she thought she knew him well enough to know he would not pull his punches if she confronted him again.

***

The days leading up to the holidays in New York always meant the halls of the courthouse were infested with cheer despite some of the horrible cases that crossed prosecutors' desks. Now that they were in the past, staffers were back to business, noses buried in paperwork and whatnot as they swarmed from office to office.

It was a familiar sight to Jack McCoy as he approached his own office after his lunch break, though the ragtag group that waited outside the door was one he was still getting used to seeing. He couldn't help but chuckle as he walked past them to unlock his door. "How's the juggling going?" he quipped cheerfully.

"How the hell does Nolan do this?" Peter groused, running a hand through his hair. "Even I didn't cover this wide spread of cases under Jefferies."

"Admitting you can't do something, Stone?" Elliot grinned. "There's a first."

"Shut up, Stabler," Peter glowered. "I can handle it. I just can't imagine doing this every day."

"Not every day," Jack shook his head, opening his door and walking to his desk. He didn't stop the gathered group from following him inside. "But depending on the severity of the case, Nolan could be handed a case from any jurisdiction."

"Like the Wheatley case," Olivia nodded in understanding.

The name made everyone grimace, even the teenager with her dark hair in braids. "Exactly," Jack nodded, raising an eyebrow at the teenager's father. "And before anyone asks - "

Frank immediately held his hands up in the air defensively. "I wasn't going to."

Jack ignored the snickers of Olivia and Elliot. "I gave Nolan leave through the start of the new year," he continued. "If he decides to come back to New York before then, you'll be the first one to know."

Frank huffed in exasperation, but Jack noticed the tension that lifted from his shoulders. "I really wasn't going to ask," he grumbled, but he nodded gratefully.

Lily bit her lip to contain her giggles, and Jack winked at her. "As long as you keep from terrorizing Peter, I'll keep you updated, Cosgrove."

"Oh, thanks, Jack," Peter rolled his eyes.

"How long did you last before you called Price to complain?" Olivia grinned.

"Jet did, too," Elliot smirked.

"I apologized, didn't I?" Frank glared at the captain and the detective, both of whom snickered. "He disappeared from the city a week after he won the case against an organized crime boss who's got pull all over the place, and he did it without a word. Excuse me for reaching the worst conclusion!"

Well, when it was put like that . . . "Nolan himself didn't know I had put in the leave for him until he got the notification and I visited him at the end of the workday," Jack reminded Frank. "But you make a good point." His phone chirped with an incoming message, and he absently rummaged through his coat pocket to find it. "Rest assured, though, I know where he is. He's as safe as he can be if he isn't here."

Frank sighed. "That's reassuring."

"You still don't know where he is?" Elliot asked in surprise.

"And you do?" Frank retorted.

Elliot shrugged. "I think Jet does," he admitted. "Apparently, Price has asked her for a few favors while he's gone. I don't know what they were, but depending on what he asked her for, she's probably figured it out."

"Then that's three people here who know," Peter nodded.

Frank snorted. "Of course, you know."

"I sure do," Peter smirked smugly and perched on the edge of Jack's desk. "And that bugs the hell out of you, doesn't it?"

"Are you trying to get my dad to hurt you?" Lily asked, no jape in her tone.

Elliot barked in laughter and hastily coughed to cover it up. Olivia merely sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "No hurting my partner, please," she requested. "Or I get to hurt him back."

Jack hummed absently as he checked his notifications. "Please don't incite a war between your squad and whoever Nolan will bring to Cosgrove's defense, especially since it would likely be between different departments."

That got him four looks of confusion. "Seriously?" Elliot asked, sounding more curious than irritated.

Jack, however, ignored him in favor of smiling when he found the image that had just been sent to him by Nolan. While he had never visited Chicago, he knew what a courthouse looked like, and that was where Nolan and Sylvie stood with a number of people surrounding them, all with bright smiles on their faces. He caught the glint of sapphires on Sylvie's right hand as she snuggled into her brother's chest, Nolan holding his sister tightly to him, both beaming at the camera with matching looks of glee. It was the caption, however, that made him do a double take.

Best Christmas present in years, Jack. Thank you so much. - Nolan & Sylvie Price

Jack blinked then laughed warmly, holding out his phone for Peter to see. "You're gonna have to amend one of your contacts, Peter."

"I what?" Peter blinked as he took the phone. When he saw the message, however, he blinked then grinned widely. "Oh, my God, really?" He paused and frowned. "Wait, when he says Christmas present - ?"

"Not mine to him," Jack chuckled. "My present was kicking him out of the courthouse for the holidays."

Peter whistled, sounding impressed. "Did we teleport into a Hallmark movie or something?"

Elliot guffawed. "Did we what?"

"Rhetorical question," Jack waved away the question and took back his phone when Peter held it out to him. "But I guarantee Nolan is just fine."

"Better than fine, by the looks of it," Peter agreed. "He didn't mention anything about moving, did he?"

Lily's eyes widened in alarm, and Jack snorted. "Trust me, I would be fielding complaints both from here and there if Nolan made that decision. I'm not sure who would be worse."

"Cosgrove," Elliot said at once. "I don't know what the other option is, but I already know the answer."

"Which one?" Olivia asked, pointing between Frank and Lily.

"Yes."

Jack shook his head fondly as he turned on his computer. "If we have to worry about anyone leaving, I don't think it will be Nolan," he remarked. "It would take one hell of an incentive for that to happen." He tilted his head in consideration. "Now, if we're discussing someone coming back, on the other hand . . . "

Peter balked. "Serious question. Would Manhattan be ready for that?"

Jack smirked. "The city handled it before."

"I'm lost," Lily mumbled.

"We all are at this point, hon," Olivia patted her shoulder.

"Look, as long as Price is safe and doesn't have any of Wheatley's goons on his ass, I'm satisfied," Elliot shrugged and headed for the door. "Just warn me in advance if the DA's Office hatches some master plan to take over the city."

Peter guffawed. "What?"

Jack merely hummed. "Where's the fun in that?"

Elliot gestured wildly at Jack. "You see?!"

"You see?" Frank told Lily. "This is why I decided it's a good idea to stay on Nolan's good side."

"And everyone's sanity thanks you," Peter quipped.

Lily giggled hysterically, and Olivia grinned. "I'll keep my prosecutor happy, and you do the same thing for yours. Deal?"

"He's not mine," Frank muttered; if he saw the dubious eyebrow Lily raised at him, he ignored it. "But fine. Deal."

"My team needs its own prosecutor, apparently," Elliot huffed as he opened the door. He did a double take when he opened it and found someone poised to knock. "Ayanna?"

"Elliot," Ayanna swallowed hard.

Her tone made Jack tense, and he looked up sharply from his computer. "Sergeant Bell," he greeted.

"Sir," Ayanna nodded respectfully as she stepped inside.

Jack took one look at her face and felt his heart sink. "What happened?"

***

"You aren't gonna be pissed at us if we automatically say Brett for a few shifts instead of Price, are you?"

Griffin couldn't help but laugh at the question, and judging by how quickly Nolan ducked his head to take a drink of the bourbon Herrmann had poured, he was just as amused. Sylvie just giggled and patted Capp's shoulder comfortingly. "Don't worry, Capp. I won't sic Nolan on you if you mess it up once or twice."

"Or a dozen," Tony snarked.

"Or a hundred," Cruz continued the trend.

Sylvie immediately turned her back on the brewing argument, shaking her head in exasperation. "Honestly, if someone doesn't call me Brett at first, I'm going to be a little disappointed."

"You really want to encourage them?" Kelly smirked.

Matt snorted. "Like they need any encouragement."

"Yeah," Sylvie sighed. "They really don't."

"At least they're a good crew," Ben said, grinning when he saw the squad crew dissolve into bickering. "You know they have your back."

"They do," Kelly nodded in agreement with a fond smile. "They always do."

Matt sighed and looked into his drink. "Speaking of having our backs . . . "

Nolan immediately narrowed his eyes. "What happened?"

Matt cleared his throat. "Kidd talked to me after shift," he said. "Remember that call we had with Truck 72?"

Kelly made a face. "That bunch of idiots?"

"Kelly!" Sylvie swatted his shoulder.

"What?" he asked defensively as the Dardens burst out laughing. "They were! They were completely useless! We would have been better off on that call without them!"

"Well, their lieutenant is leaving Firehouse 25 and transferring out of the state," Matt said. "And Kidd told me she's looking into transferring."

Kelly choked on his drink. "Wait," Sylvie's jaw dropped. "Really?"

"I thought we would be dealing with her until your custody case concluded," Kelly coughed.

"Me, too," Matt admitted, clapping Kelly on the back in an attempt to help him clear his airway. "But apparently, whatever conversation Gabby had with Nolan struck a chord with all of them. She's still going to work at Molly's, but she's applying to be the lieutenant of Truck 72. She actually sounded excited about whipping a crew like them into shape."

"Well," Kelly cleared his throat, glancing over to the bar as Stella delivered refills to Gallo, Ritter, and Violet, "given the job she's done with Girls On Fire, she'll certainly be able to accomplish it."

"And she's no longer around to hound you on shift," Sylvie added.

Matt sighed. "It means I'll need to find a new member of Truck 81. Again."

"Oh, you'll find someone," Kelly shook his head. "And you've always found the right fit. Remember Gallo?"

Matt snorted. "Remember how much arm twisting it took to convince Boden about him?"

"You saw Sylvie at the paramedicine panel, right?" Kelly pointed out. "Pick anyone, she'll convince Boden within a minute. I'd even put money on it."

Sylvie groaned and dropped her head into her arms. "This is why I dropped out of the debate team in high school," she muttered. "Everyone kept nominating me to give our arguments."

"And remind me, how did those debates go?" Nolan grinned.

Sylvie glared at her. "I'll let that pass if you get me a refill."

Nolan chuckled and stood from the table. "Well, since you got me such a great present."

Sylvie smiled innocently at him, and Nolan laughed and kissed the top of her head as he plucked her empty wine glass from the table. Griffin watched him head to Herrmann, who was speaking with the Halsteads at the bar, then looked back at Sylvie. "I'm glad you're that close with your brother," he said.

"I'm lucky to have him," Sylvie smiled, watching Nolan turn to answer a question from Will. "He was just starting to make his career when our parents died. He could have pushed me to the side in favor of his work, but he didn't. He prioritized me instead, and I watched him turn down countless career pushes in favor of ones that kept him close to me. Jack recognized that and respected that while still pushing Nolan to reach his full potential. I don't know what kind of relationship Nolan and I would have if Jack hadn't been as supportive as he was."

"Something tells me you may not have been as big a target," Matt mused.

"Probably not," Sylvie admitted, giving Nolan a quick glance when he checked his phone before returning her attention to Matt. "Who knows? I may have never left Manhattan."

Kelly made a face. "I don't like that thought."

"Especially since that probably means we would still be in Portland," Griffin remarked.

Matt grimaced. "Yeah, let's not go there."

Ben, however, frowned, his attention drawn elsewhere. "Nolan doesn't look happy."

Sylvie immediately twisted in her seat. "What?"

Griffin turned to look, too, and he saw what Ben had noticed. Nolan had his phone pressed to his ear, and his mirthful expression had vanished. In its place was a professional mask, one that had the Halsteads turning to look at Sylvie in concern. "Something happened," Griffin realized.

"Yeah," Sylvie whispered, swallowing hard and watching Nolan nod and take the glass offered by Herrmann, the lieutenant watching with a small frown. "Yeah, something did."

"No, thank you for telling me, sir," Nolan was saying into his phone as he returned to the table, placing Sylvie's wine in front of her. "I'll tell Voight and Jefferies and keep you in the loop. Thank you."

He hung up with a heavy sigh, and Griffin's heart sank. "Nolan?" Sylvie asked quietly.

"That was Jack," Nolan explained, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Richard Wheatley got sprung from Rikers."

Griffin swallowed hard. "So you need to leave?"

"Yeah," Nolan nodded. "He's calling me back in case Wheatley tries tracking me down. It's more likely he's going to go after Stabler, but considering I'm the one who prosecuted him and got him locked up in Rikers in the first place . . . " He shrugged halfheartedly and smiled bitterly. "It comes with the territory, unfortunately."

Sylvie exhaled shakily and nodded in resignation. "OK."

"Hey," Nolan gently tilted up her head so she looked at him. "I was able to stay this long, and we knew something like this could happen. We'll see each other again, Sylvie. Even if I have to twist Voight's arm to make it happen." Sylvie giggled at the mental image, and Nolan playfully winked. "We'll be OK, soror cara."

"Yeah," Sylvie nodded, and when she moved closer to Nolan, her brother tugged her into his chest for a hug. "We always will be."

"How soon do you have to leave?" Matt asked quietly, noticing Molly's had gone quiet when their friends saw what was happening.

"As soon as I can get a flight," Nolan admitted, rubbing Sylvie's back when she whimpered in protest. "So if there's a redeye tonight with seats available, I'll probably catch that one."

Kelly whistled lowly. "Damn."

Nolan shrugged, his smile appearing forced. "Organized crime bosses and their oily fingers in everything, you know."

"Well," Matt blew out his breath in a rush. "At least you got a heads up."

"I did," Nolan conceded, looking down at Sylvie. "And I do have a few more hours."

"Not enough," Sylvie whispered.

Griffin winced at the pain he heard, and Nolan nodded, resting his chin on top of Sylvie's head. "Not enough," he agreed. "I guess that just means we need to see each other again soon."

That brought a ghost of a smile to Sylvie's face. "My turn to visit you next time."

Nolan chuckled. "You're on."

"Yeah, he got to see Chicago," Ben piped up. "That means we need to see Manhattan."

Griffin nodded firmly. "It's only fair, right?"

"Sounds fair to me," Matt grinned. "But that'll have to wait until after this whole custody issue."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Kelly nodded.

"Deal," Nolan decided, pulling back to smile down at Sylvie. "Besides, Stone is going to be insufferable if you don't visit despite all his attempts to convince you otherwise."

"Soon," Sylvie promised. "And I need to meet this team of yours. Who knows, maybe the boys will get along with Frank's daughter."

"I think they would," Nolan nodded, then he took a deep breath. "Right. Back to Manhattan." He sighed and examined his drink before downing the rest of his bourbon in one go. "Maybe I can convince Stabler to let me have another go at Wheatley once they catch the bastard. He made my vacation end early."

Sylvie burst into a fit of giggles. "As long as I get a video if that happens!"

Nolan grinned smugly, and despite his displeasure at knowing one of his new favorite people had to go, Griffin couldn't help but smile as well. Even though Sylvie was obviously disappointed that Nolan had to leave early, her brother had done his best to turn her tears into laughter. A blind and deaf person would be able to tell Nolan loved her dearly. Griffin hated that he had to leave, but Nolan made it clear they would see each other again.

Griffin couldn't wait.

***

Wheatley has to ruin everything, doesn't he?

Well, Nolan had to go home eventually. He ain't happy about it, but at least he knows there's someone he can take that unhappiness out on. But hey, he's leaving with a much bigger family than before, and that's what matters.

Next chapter: Nolan flies back to New York, and depending on where my muse takes me, it may be the transition chapter into the time jump. We'll see!

graphic by marvelity