The sun was just setting by the time Ed and Sloan returned to her apartment. Ed was reluctant to close the door behind him. It would mean this great afternoon would have to end. He finally did close the door tossing their wet towels into the bathroom. It had been so wonderful to see Sloan almost constantly smiling and laughing. It had been far too long since he had heard her laugh. Since he had seen her so relaxed without a care in the world. At least for a few hours.

Sloan’s startled scream sent Ed racing back into the living room. Sloan was standing by the edge of the kitchen counter,facing the living room. Her back to him.

“Sloan?”Ed asked with concern as he came up behind her. Then he saw the reason. Tom Daniels was standing in the center of the living room.

“Get out.”Ed ordered forcing himself to keep his voice even. A fight would only upset Sloan and cause stress for the baby.

Sloan snagged his elbow as he started to step past her,”No,Ed. Its alright. I’d like to talk to Tom alone for a few minutes.”

Ed’s gaze never left Daniels as he asked,”Are you sure? I can have him out of here in two minutes.”

Tom grinned,”You think highly of yourself,Ed.”

Ed glared at the FBI agent but Sloan interupted any retort he had planned to say.

“I’ll be fine,Ed.”Sloan replied forcing her friend to meet her gaze,”There are some things Tom and I need to discuss.”

Ed sighed,his gut told him this was a bad idea,but he had to respect her wishes,”Alright,I’ll pick you up tommorrow and we can head to work together?”

Sloan nodded as she squeezed his hand,”I’ll be fine,Ed. Thankyou for this afternoon,it was wonderful.”

Ed smiled briefly,”Yeah it was. We need to do that more often. I’ll see you tommorrow.”

Sloan nodded,watching as her friend retrieved his small blue backpack from the kitchen counter and quietly left the apartment.