“Don’t overthink it,” Isabel said softly, as if she could read her.
“I’m trying not to,” Victoria replied. “It’s new for me.”
“Yeah, I noticed.”
They both smiled.
A beat of silence passed before Isabel shifted again, propping herself up on one elbow. “I, uh…want to tell you something.”
Victoria felt her pulse pick up, though she kept her tone even. “Okay.”
“I started looking for jobs,” Isabel said. “Nothing serious yet, just seeing what’s out there. I don’t think I’m ready to jump into another department, but…I don’t know. I thought maybe consulting, private investigations, something that still lets me use my skills.”
Victoria nodded slowly, watching her. She could tell Isabel was nervous, even though her voice stayed steady.
“That sounds right for you,” Victoria said. “Something that’s all yours.”
Isabel smiled, small and genuine. “That’s what I was thinking.” She hesitated, then added, “And I want this. Us. I want to see where it goes.”
The words hit Victoria like warmth spreading through her chest. She hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath until she felt it release.
“However,” Isabel said, her tone gentle but sure, “I want to take it slow. We’ve spent so much time together under chaos and pressure, I think we should figure out who we are without all that noise. I don’t want to rush it and mess this up.”
Victoria looked at her for a long moment — really looked at her. The certainty in her eyes, the steadiness beneath the softness.
It hit her again how much shelikedthis woman. Not just desired her, not just admired her work ethic or her courage — but genuinely liked her.
“That sounds reasonable,” Victoria said, her voice warm. “We’ll go at your pace.”
Isabel’s smile deepened. “That’s a first.”
Victoria gave a quiet laugh, shaking her head. “Don’t get used to it.”
The teasing faded into silence, comfortable and easy. Isabel lay back down beside her, curling close, and Victoria let her arm settle around her shoulders.
Through the quiet, Victoria felt something she hadn’t felt in years — not control, not duty, not even pride.Hope.
It wasn’t loud or overwhelming. Just steady, like a heartbeat.
She turned her head and pressed a kiss into Isabel’s hair. “We’ll figure it out,” she whispered.
“I know,” Isabel said softly. “We will.”
The light stretched across the bed, warm and forgiving. Outside, the city was waking, but inside, for just a little longer, everything was still.
The station was already buzzing when Victoria walked in that morning. Officers crowded the bullpen, voices overlapping as reports were swapped, jokes traded, and coffee poured into chipped mugs. The familiar hum of it all wrapped around her like a pulse — steady and alive, her kind of music.
She greeted a few people as she passed, noting how many of them looked lighter these days. After the chaos of the last few months, everyone was finally breathing again.
Victoria was halfway to her office when Sergeant Blake caught up to her, a file in hand and a grin that said she was already halfway through her first espresso.
“Morning, Captain. I’ve got the post-incident summaries from the Harper case for you.”
“Thank you, Sergeant,” Victoria said, taking the file.
Blake hesitated, then added with a lopsided smile, “Hey, you talk to Torres lately? Everyone’s been wondering what she’s doing with herself now that she’s not part of the department. Kind of hard to imagine the place without her.”
Victoria stopped. For years, questions like that — personal ones — would have made her deflect, redirect, or shut down entirely. But something inside her shifted now, subtle but solid.
