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Diana's expression shifted subtly, vulnerability showing through her usual composed exterior. "Can I ask you something? Off the record, just Diana to Julia?"

Julia nodded, recognizing the significance of the Chief dropping formality.

"How did you know?" Diana asked, her gaze drifting to where Lavender was refillingglasses. "When to stop fighting what you felt?"

Julia considered the question, remembering her own journey from rigid protocol to chosen vulnerability. "When I realized that maintaining distance was the real risk. That protecting my heart meant losing something worth everything."

Diana absorbed this, her fingers tightening slightly on her champagne flute. "The department teaches us to compartmentalize. To separate the personal from professional."

"Sometimes the most professional thing we can do is acknowledge our humanity," Julia replied. "Trust your instincts, Diana. They've never failed Phoenix Ridge."

Across the room, Lavender caught Diana's eye, a smile softening her features. Julia recognized the look—the same one she'd seen in her own reflection when watching Ivy, the same one that had finally broken through her carefully constructed walls.

As evening approached, the celebration began to wind down. Federal agents departed for flights back to Washington, prosecutors returned to preparing for other cases,and the room gradually emptied until only their core group remained.

"One more toast," Lavender declared, producing a special bottle she'd kept reserved. "To the future we're building from the foundation you laid."

Julia raised her glass, Ivy beside her, Morgan grinning at her shoulder, Diana and Lavender standing closer than protocol might suggest, Dr. Mars completing their circle. The moment crystallized everything they'd fought for—not just Knox's defeat, but the community that had emerged stronger for having faced him together.

"To the future," they echoed, glasses meeting in a final crystalline note.

As they prepared to leave, Ivy leaned into Julia's side, her voice soft. "Ready to go home?"

Home. The word carried weight now—not just a place, but a choice renewed daily. Julia pressed a kiss to Ivy's temple, breathing in the familiar scent of her shampoo mixed with champagne and victory.

"With you?" Julia replied. "Always."

They stepped out into the Phoenix Ridge evening, the city's lights beginning to sparkleagainst the darkening sky. Behind them, through Lavender's window, Julia caught a glimpse of Diana helping with clean-up, their hands brushing in a way that suggested new beginnings emerging from concluded battles.

The future stretched before them, built on the foundation of trust they'd forged in crisis and strengthened through choice. And as they walked toward their car, Julia's hand found Ivy's with the same certainty that had driven her through Knox's warehouse, across department lines, and into a life she'd never imagined but couldn't imagine living without.