It's Not Over

Right Before My Eyes

"I'm going to Seattle," Rosie's voice pulled Ira away from his computer, where he was half heartedly finishing paperwork for a case. Catching the bad guy was always more fun.

"Change of heart?" He asked, inviting the distraction.

"I'm looking to expand the lab. Maybe to northwest," Rosie explained casually, leaving out the prospect of participating in a cutting edge clinical trial. "I know Daisy wants to see her. I think you do too. I'm looking at some property next week. I'm open to company if you want to come along."

"She doesn't want to be found, Rosie."

"She asked me to make her stay and I froze. I'm the reason she's there. I sent her away from her life."

"You got a plan?"

"No, but I think on my feet." Rosie flashed his overconfident smile, overcompensating for how he really felt about seeing Annalise again. Especially if she didn't know he was coming. She could do anything from slam the door in his face, to drop kicking him, or in the best case scenario, actually being glad to see the familiar face. They hadn't split on bad terms exactly, but their friendship had surely ended that night.

"I'll talk to Daisy," he said, hoping it might help the woman he loved to recover from her daughter abandoning her a second time for an escape, and missing her himself. Daisy didn't hesitate, immediately informing Ira of the secret she'd held for less than a day. Her daughter had drunkenly called her the night before from a payphone in Seattle. She hadn't made out a lot through the tears but she heard the woman say she missed Miami.

"I'm trying so hard to let go. I love it here. But I miss you so much. I miss everyone. And I can't forget. I'm sick over it, ma. I don't know what to do," she recalled her daughters words. Ira was shocked to hear she'd been crying. As long as he'd known Annalise, she never spilled a tear in front of him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked his fiancé, holding her close.

"I didn't want you to think she's unhappy. I want to go to Seattle. I want to see she's okay. I want her to be at our wedding."

"Okay. We'll go." And so a week later, the three of them set out on a plane to travel all of the way across the country. Rosie was going to go to the station ahead of them. That way she wouldn't feel ambushed when her entire past showed up at her work. All of the time he spent thinking of what to do or say when he saw her resulted in a simple plan to invite her to dinner and work his Rosie magic until she relented.

But actually standing outside the station, he was terrified. The battle for his life and the countless times he'd gone into the field with Villa felt like someone else's life. If he couldn't walk into the station, how could he have faced death so many times before? Somehow, he got his feet moving, hoping the whole way to the door she still worked at this station and it was her shift. If not, he'd have to wait another day to face her and he wasn't sure he could handle that.

"Hi, can I help you?" A woman asked with a large smile as she walked in from the barn to the office, sweaty and covered in soot, clearly returning from a call but somehow still full of energy.

"I'm looking for Anna- Andrea Herrera."

"Yeah. Sure, come with me," Vic told him, kindly, confused about who this man was but not thinking too hard about it. She and Andy were friends but they weren't as close as they each were with other members of the fire house.

He studied the barn as she led him around a the firetruck, impressed by just how nice this station was. A familiar sound from years before rang out eyes soon searched for the source of the laughter.

"You get all the glory just because you come out holding a cat," Andy spoke just as his eyes fell on her. She was smiling at a man with dirty blond hair wearing a matching uniform. She was holding her turnout jacket and covered. Her hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, highlights lighter than he'd ever seen in her hair. But still, it was Annalise only twenty feet or so away from him. Even knowing he would likely see her, he wasn't prepared and couldn't process the sight of her fast enough, freezing near the barn doors as Vic smiled at him adding,