An Echo Through Time

Author: lois88

Disclaimer: Don't own 12 Monkeys or any of its characters.

Summary: Cassie remembers … and the aftermath.

Spoilers: For the entire show

Author's Note: So, according to my profile, I haven't posted anything in almost five years – then the 12 Monkeys finale happened and I really wanted to see Cassie dump Aaron, so here we are. This is my take on it – I hope you like it. Reviews of any kind will be very much appreciated.

Do you ever have the feeling that you are forgetting something of grave importance? Something your life may have very much depended on in another time and place?

Cassandra Railly had that feeling as she was walking back to her car one fateful night. It wasn't a special night by any means, just another day spent, another lecture given. Only half listening to her boyfriend on the phone – he wouldn't make it home tonight after all – she let herself into her vehicle and closed the door behind her, feeling unusually tired all of a sudden. Which surely had nothing at all to do with the chill creeping up her spine at the sound of the closing door.

So, do you ever have the feeling that there's someone in the backseat of your car? And more importantly: Do you ever end up disappointed when there isn't?

Cassie really didn't know what was going on with her today. But when she finally got home after taking far too many wrong turns – Shouldn't she know the way to her own apartment better than that? – the one thing she knew for a fact was that she was glad to be alone tonight. She didn't think she could have put up with Aaron's presence right then. Somehow, the mere thought made her want to punch a wall, the smell of burning flesh crawling up her nose without warning.

Where the hell had that come from? He had just suggested a weekend getaway for just the two of them – alone in a cabin in the woods, no cell phones, no email – it should have sounded heavenly to her overworked brain. And somewhere deep inside her it did, but in another life, with another man. A man whose face she couldn't quite conjure up in her mind's eye, as if he was slowly but surely slipping from her grasp. The thought made her nauseous.

She pushed the feeling away. It was silly, really. She had been with Aaron for ages, there wasn't another man to think about at all. With new conviction, she grabbed a frozen dinner out of the freezer and shoved it in the microwave, intent on eating too much and crashing on the couch, as she had planned all along. She got stuck watching an ancient black-and-white movie – not her usual cup of tea, but she could have sworn she had seen it before somewhere. Maybe when she was a kid? Either way, it did the trick and made her feel a great deal more settled and more at home than she had felt all evening. So she finally drifted off, a long forgotten – maybe imagined – argument over the remote control dancing at the back of her mind. It was silly, wasn't it? There hadn't been enough channels to justify such an argument back then anyway …

Back when?

The question seemed important. And yet, before Cassie could fully discern it, she was already dead to the world. As if she hadn't slept in a really long time.

Aaron eventually made it home late the next night, finding her still lounging around their living room – it was Saturday, after all. Dropping his bags by the door, he made his way over to her, intending to greet her with a peck on the lips – which she skillfully diverted to her cheek, pretending to be interested in whatever was on the TV screen. She didn't know why. He on the other hand didn't even seem to notice. No, he simply smirked and proceeded to unpack, talking about a special dinner the two of them had apparently planned for tomorrow. She couldn't remember it for the life of her. But just as well, for some reason, she'd rather be with him in public anyway.

So she nodded to his remarks and threw in a couple unintelligible sounds of assent, all the while keeping her attention on the screen. She couldn't even tell which channel she was watching. Eventually, Aaron claimed exhaustion and went to bed, surely expecting her for follow suit. The next morning, he found her deep asleep on the couch, her head at an angle that couldn't possibly be comfortable. No wonder she was so quiet the evening before, he mused to himself while busying himself with the coffeemaker. She must have been completely exhausted after the week she had had.

But in only a short couple of hours, none of that would matter, he knew, as he had something planned that would surely lift her spirits. How she rolled away from him so he wouldn't see that she had in fact been awake for some time, he didn't notice, being all wrapped up in planning their perfect evening.

Predictably, dinner turned out to be overly fancy. Not something out of the ordinary for Aaron or even Cassie herself. But all of a sudden, she felt uncomfortable drinking sparkling water from expensive crystal and eating an overpriced salad by candlelight. She couldn't put her finger on the reason, though. She just knew she would have much preferred a nice evening in and a cheeseburger in front of the TV.

It didn't come to her during their main course either, or when she opted to decline dessert, much to Aaron's dismay. But then it did. Precisely, when he got a velvet box out of his jacket pocket …

For a moment, time seemed to stop – the irony of which Cassie wouldn't appreciate until much, much later. Meanwhile, Aaron said some things, probably even profound things at that, having had a whole elaborate speech prepared to go with their dinner. She didn't hear a word of it. Because when he finally opened the box, everything was all wrong.

The ring was ostentatious, to say the least. Befitting the wife of the future senator Aaron fancied himself to be, she supposed. What it certainly was not, was the kind of ring a simple mechanic would buy for the mysterious girl he fell in love with against his better judgment. The kind of ring his son would one day get out of the glove compartment of a by then ancient Camaro – which would miraculously still be running – to give to the woman he loved. On a deserted beach while the sun was setting in a sea of red, the world already ending all around them.

Cassie couldn't breath. "See you soon," said in his voice, the only voice that mattered, swirling through her head in an endless loop.

James.

Her right hand clasped around her left seemingly on its own accord, feeling the weight of a ring on her naked ring finger. The right ring, the one that had resided there for far too short a time. She remembered the day she had had to take it off for good, back at the CDC, when she had gotten word that they had finally found him. The finality of the simple task had almost destroyed her – severing one of her last connections to him before her cycle would come to its end he would just … be gone. But in the end, she couldn't have risked him seeing it on her, or worse, finding it on her corpse before they would ever meet – the implications endless. So the ring had disappeared in her desk only minutes before their last meeting, the prospect of dying in his arms, at least, the only thing she could have looked forward to. Now, she didn't even have that anymore. All she had left was her – his, their – watch, the one he would now never wear.

Seconds, minutes, maybe even years passed while she sat there and basked in her memories. Who could tell anymore? But at the sound of her name being called, repeatedly, she forced herself to snap out of it, trying to focus on the here and now, however painful it may have been. She had seen the end of the world, if there was one thing she could do, it was compartmentalize. Break down and grieve – for him, for the life they never got to live, the son they never got to raise – she could do later.

When her sight became clear again, it zeroed in on the thing right in front of her: Aaron. Who still looked at her expectantly, probably thinking she was overwhelmed by whatever romantic bullshit he had just peppered her with. Even never having heard the question, her answer couldn't possibly be any less difficult.

Taking a deep breath, her hand shot out once more, grabbing the velvet box with unshaking fingers – much to Aaron's delight, it seemed – to snap it shut resolutely, a sound of finality reverberating through the restaurant. "No," she simply replied, her voice as clear as it had ever been.

Aaron's completely surprised, maybe even heartbroken expression may have caused her a flicker of guilt once, if it weren't for the fact that she now also remembered his complete and utter betrayal in all too vivid detail. So before she could do something she would regret later, like maybe break a couple of his fingers along with his heart, she gathered her things and left the restaurant without looking back, not even noticing the hushed whispers and pitying looks the other patrons began to send in Aaron's direction. Or the way he kept staring at the ring box on the table in front of him, not having moved an inch.

None of it mattered, anyway. They had saved the world – and Cole was gone.

She didn't allow herself to cry on her way out to the street, where she quickly managed to hail a cab. Or on the way back home, where she quickly threw together a bag for a couple of nights. How did she have so many clothes in her closet? Having lived with the bare necessities for so long, it seemed unfathomable to her now. She knew Aaron wouldn't be back anytime soon, but that didn't mean she could linger, so she left as quickly as she had arrived, hopped into her car and drove to the only place that made any sense at the moment: the Emerson.

They didn't know him, had never even heard his name. Their room, their first home of many, where they had spent entire lifetimes together, it seemed, wasn't theirs anymore. Somehow, it was free anyway. So without giving it much thought, she booked suite 607 – with her credit card, not with cash like her inner time traveler advised her to do – and let herself into her little sanctuary. Needless to say, it was different, the decor updated and much more modern than she remembered. The picture of the two of them together long gone, never having existed in the first place. And yet, she still felt a little bit better just being there. So after checking the door multiple times, although being aware that no one should be after her anymore – old habits die hard – she stripped out off her clothes and climbed into the shower, the bathroom resembling the one she remembered a little more than the rest of the suite.

Turning on the water as hot as it would go, she stepped under the scalding spray – and finally allowed herself to break down and cry. Cry for the man who never was and never would be, but who still was everything to her. Her life would never be the same again, not without him in it. And yet she thanked a God she didn't believe in – or maybe time itself – that she was allowed to remember him at all. A week ago, her life was easy. She would have said yes to Aaron and lived blissfully unaware ever after until her dying breath, never knowing how it was supposed to feel. But now she remembered. She remembered that the real thing – true love – could never be undone. So she would continue to love him and their son with everything she had. And not once, not even for a second, would she ever wish to forget a single memory she had of them, no matter how much it hurt.

Because ultimately, her memories were all that she had left.

The next couple of days she spent in bed, crying herself hoarse until she just couldn't anymore. Then she just stared at the wall. It wasn't helping much, but it beat having to look at his empty side of the bed any longer. She didn't think she would ever be able to bear seeing anyone else there in his stead. Frankly, she preferred it that way.

Her cell phone had been ringing like crazy ever since the morning after she had left Aaron sitting at that restaurant. The battery was long dead by now, her voicemail probably full of messages she had no intention of ever actually listening to. And yet, he just wouldn't leave her alone. The realization hit her four days into her self-imposed exile, when insistent knocks on her door where followed by his raised voice, pleading with her to open up already. Woken from a for once blessedly peaceful slumber, she cursed herself for not listening to her gut when it had told her to pay cash. Because how else would he have been able to find her? This particular Cassandra Railly had no connection to the Emerson Hotel whatsoever, no matter that it felt like home at this point.

Dragging herself out of bed after realizing he just wouldn't leave, she didn't bother to check her appearance in the mirror. She looked a mess, that much was certain. She also didn't give a damn. So – wearing nothing but the oversized t-shirt she had wallowed in for the past few days, her hair looking like a bird's nest – she shuffled to the door, opening up before Aaron could get the harebrained idea to kick it in.

"You tracking my credit cards now?" she then all but spat in his face.

Aaron reeled back, surprised – because of her greeting, her appearance, the fact that she finally opened the door or all of the above, she wasn't sure.

"Cass," he simply stated after a while, seemingly not able to take his eyes off of her.

Rolling her own, she turned around and moved back into the room, slumping down on the all too modern couch that had replaced the old loveseat, grabbing the bottle of Scotch from the coffee table that she had ordered from room service after having emptied the minibar. "Say your piece and leave, Aaron. Though I really don't know what there is left to talk about."

Shutting the door behind him, he regained his composure and moved to join her in the living area – wisely taking a seat across from her. "You don't know what to talk about?" he repeated incredulously. "How about giving me an explanation for the other night. Don't I deserve at least that much?"

"You don't want me to tell you what you deserve, believe me," Cassie mumbled into her Scotch, not bothering to make eye contact. "As for an explanation – I could give you one, but you wouldn't understand, so what's the point?"

"You're probably right – because I really don't understand. We were fine a week ago, Cass. I was waiting for you to come to your senses, to come home. But then I called your practice to find out you haven't been to work all week. So there's clearly something wrong. Whatever it is, you can talk to me."

Cassie snorted at that, having realized a long time ago that she actually couldn't talk to him when shit got too real. But right now she simply wanted him gone, so what the hell, why not give him the truth? "You're right. We probably were fine a week ago. I honestly couldn't tell you anything about it though, because for me, that was a lifetime ago. In fact, I haven't really thought about you in years. But if you really want to know what happened in between, I will tell you."

He couldn't make sense of whatever she was saying, but she was talking to him, which was far more than he had gotten out of her in days. So he nodded, motioning for her to continue. How bad could it possibly be?

She chuckled at his eagerness. "You want to know what happened to me in the last week, Aaron? I've seen the world end, that's what happened. It ended and then it didn't. I killed seven billion people to make sure they could be saved in the end. And then I almost let them die all over again anyway, because I couldn't bear losing the one that meant so much more to me than all the others combined. But he's gone now, because he sacrificed himself for a world that will never know that he even existed." Her tears were flowing again, she didn't bother wiping them away. "So excuse me if I couldn't find the right words the other day, or come up with the perfect break-up-speech, but the love of my life was recently wiped from existence so that you and everybody else out there could live again."

Aaron just stared. What else could he do? But the devastated look in his eyes – that was one she remembered all too well. It was the same look he had given her when she had told him about the mysterious man from the future that had disappeared right in front of her eyes. Great, he thought she was crazy again … well, what did she expect?

"Was that what you wanted to hear? It's all you'll get from me, so you can leave now."

He swallowed, trying to find the right words for a few moments. "Cass," he finally repeated again, as if she had forgotten her own name for some reason. "You've been working a lot lately, haven't you? Maybe you really need to take a longer break. How about that cabin in the woods? Or maybe we could even call someone for … professional help?"

Her eyes almost rolled out of the back of her head this time. "I'm not crazy, Aaron. Just a wayward time traveler with way too many memories in her head. But I already told you that you wouldn't believe me, so there's that. So could you please leave me alone now?" She stood up to lead him back to the door, her look pleading, softer around the edges. She was at the end of her rope and would break down again any second. She'd rather have him far away when that happened.

Thankfully, Aaron moved to follow her, coming to a stop right in front of the door, laying a hand on her arm, causing her to flinch. "You need help, Cassie," he repeated, the pressure of his grip increasing. "I don't want to see you get hurt."

"I can assure you, I can take care of myself," she replied with a fake smirk, removing his hand with her own. "If you want to keep the apartment, I'm sure we can work something out. I'll send someone over for my stuff as soon as possible. Just contact my office with the details. Don't try to call otherwise, I'm not going to answer. And don't send one of your government flunkies to check up on me, either. They wouldn't like the results."

Aaron swallowed, his hand reaching out for her once more. "You're saying that's it? You're not coming home?"

Against all odds, a miniscule smile appeared on her face at his question. "For now, I am home."

He shook his head, both of his hands landing on her upper arms this time, grabbing her tightly. "Cassie, get it together. Are you even listening to yourself?"

She wasn't right now, least of all to him. The continued invasion of her personal space being the straw that broke the camel's back. Muscle memory from another live kicking in, Cassie had his arms pinned behind his back before either of them could do so much as blink, his face squashed against the entryway. He mumbled something against the wood, something she wasn't interested in and couldn't make out anyway.

"I tried to be nice," she said instead, still putting pressure on his arms. "I even tried to explain it to you, knowing you would never understand. But I'm not in the mood for nice anymore, Aaron. So let me be clear: I am not going to marry you, not in this life or in any other. Bright side, you haven't betrayed me to my greatest enemy this time around, so I guess you are not going to burn alive, either. It's a win-win, really. So you are going to leave now, stay in our apartment or move out, I don't care, find a nice girl that will look good in your future campaign ads and forget all about me. Understood?"

Unable to do much else, he eventually nodded against the doorframe.

Satisfied with the answer, she let go of his hands and opened the door in one fluid movement, almost sending him tumbling into the hallway.

"For what it's worth, I really wish you a nice life, Aaron," she finally stated into his dumbstruck expression, before closing the door in his face. It wouldn't be the last she would see of him, she was aware of that. But at least for now, she had scared him off.

Weeks later – after she had pulled herself together, dusted herself off and gotten her life back in order like Cole would have wanted – she was back at work, her only solace in saving lives again, one at a time for once. Not all that surprisingly, if not for her staff than at least for her, one day one of the official hospital shrinks showed up in her office. Apparently, someone had called in an anonymous tip they had to investigate in order to ensure the safety of her patients. Suppressing a slight chuckle, Cassie – a grade-A-bullshitter at this point – offered the strict looking woman a cup of coffee and wasted no time at all in pinpointing the source of the complaint. After explaining that her ex was simply offended after her rejection of his proposal and offering complete insight into all of her files, she had gotten a few laughs out of the other woman and maybe even made a new friend.

Also not surprisingly, one of Aaron's security guys did end up following her around – embarrassingly easy to spot, by the way – for a couple of days. She allowed it for a while, hoping he would report back that there was nothing to tell. But after a week she had had enough of being tailed rather clumsily and surprised him in one rather scary looking dark alley. After disarming him and giving him a few tips on how to better handle his weapon and perform his craft in general, he bolted – and she never saw him again. She could only imagine what he told Aaron in the end, though she doubted it was the truth.

It got quiet after that – she saw him on TV in his official capacity a couple of times, that sort of thing – sometimes making her wonder what kind of shady CIA business Senator Royce was involved in in this timeline. It would come out in due time, she knew, it always did. However, she couldn't dwell on that for too long, because only seconds after that particular news report, none other than Jennifer Goines appeared on her screen, apparently having bioengineered a unicorn. Meeting her friends gaze through the TV, Cassie laughed like she hadn't in months.

Aaron followed her work from afar – what else was there to do? After she had suffered what was surely a nervous breakdown, he had tried to get her help, of course he had. But as far as he had been told, his warnings were completely unfounded, as Dr. Railly was clearly the consummate professional she appeared to be. Even the security guy he had wisely sent to keep an eye on her had reported that there was nothing suspicious going on in her life – even stating off the record that maybe he should simply leave his ex alone – she clearly didn't want him in her life anymore. The guy had clapped him on the back and shot him a sympathetic look, for heaven's sake. Did he seem that desperate?

But it didn't matter. Something was wrong with her, he knew that much. She would come to her senses soon enough. All he could do in the meantime was wait – wait for her to come back to him and claim the ring that was waiting patiently in the top drawer of his desk, where he had easy enough access to take it out from time to time, to remember …

It took a lot longer than he had anticipated. As she had promised, she didn't answer a single one of his messages. One day, only some time after their last conversation, all her stuff had simply been gone from their shared apartment, as she had obviously found a new place. He could never figure out the address. Eventually, even his calls were made obsolete, as she had apparently gotten herself a new number. And calling her office one more time, he knew, would only make him look like the fool he was, so he stopped that, too.

Then he got distracted by work, the planning of Senator Royce's campaign taking up most of his time. So it was to his utter surprise, when he – purely by chance – found out that Cassie had apparently bought a house in the middle of nowhere and moved herself and her entire practice to Binghamton, New York, of all places. After his initial panic passed, he told himself it would be good for her. Some quiet time, a less stressful job – it would help her get her things sorted, clear her head. She would call eventually.

She never did.

In the end, he did what she had told him to do, he moved on. Or tried to, at least. Pretty women began adorning his arm at official functions, the kind who were searching for a man with influence, looked amazing in a photo op, said the right things to the press … and were otherwise completely uninspiring, lacking any real drive of their own. It never lasted long.

He convinced himself he didn't need it to. Work kept him plenty busy. So busy, in fact, that one fateful winter day while campaigning in Manhattan, he craved a shot of caffeine so badly, that he allowed himself to disappear from the senator's speaking engagement for a few minutes to grab himself a cup of coffee and with that a couple of minutes of peace. The closest coffee shop was inside the bookstore next to the venue – which of course was packed so shortly before Christmas. He paid it no mind, his triple shot Americano awaiting in the distance.

For hours, it had been the only thing he could think about – until he couldn't think of anything at all, as soon as the woman he had bumped into on his way through the aisles turned around to face him. "Sorry," he mumbled, already about to move around her when his eyes settled on her face. "Cassie?"

A picture flashed through his mind's eye – of her, the last time he had seen her. Her eyes swollen, her hair a mess, alcohol on her breath … Now she looked the complete opposite. Her eyes were bright, her cheeks flushed from the cold, her golden locks mostly hidden by the dark purple hat on her head, her entire body wrapped in heavy winter attire, a smile playing around her lips – she looked absolutely radiant. And happier than he had ever seen her. He swallowed.

"Aaron," she greeted back after a second, her smile wavering for a moment, yet never entirely leaving her lips. "Didn't think I'd run into you today. Doesn't Royce have some event scheduled around here?" The increased security in the vicinity had really been a hassle.

His coffee long forgotten, Aaron nodded, leaning against the closest bookshelf. "Right next door. I just had to get out of there for a moment."

She smiled in acknowledgment, but otherwise refrained from continuing their conversation.

"You look amazing," he therefore added, looking her up and down once more.

"You look good, too," came her reply, more out of politeness than anything else.

Grasping for things to say, he chuckled nervously. "So, the quiet life is doing wonders for you, it seems. What brings you to Manhattan?"

"Oh, you know, Christmas is around the corner. And I have this annoying friend who insisted on an extended shopping trip. Can't seem to say no to her." Her words should have sounded irritated, but there was a fondness in her expression he wasn't used to seeing.

Good, he could work with that. Ask about her friend, about her life in general, maybe ask her out for coffee … Gearing up to do just that, he spotted someone familiar right behind Cassie's shoulder. "Hey, isn't that that crazy heiress who bioengineered a unicorn?" He knew it was. Markridge was a huge donor for all kinds of causes, running from low-rent theater productions to space exploration – though much more on the small scale since Jennifer Goines had taken over the reins of the company. Her father had been a big political donor. Once he had thought getting money from the daughter would be child's play – she seemed to throw it in every direction, not much caring for where it landed. But a very confusing phone conversation later – she had mostly talked about dodo birds – he had known better. Her company was a success, though. So either she was an evil genius or the luckiest crazy person on the planet.

Right now, he tended to the latter. The heiress was crouching on the floor of the bookstore in front of a bright blue stroller, clutching one of the giant stuffed unicorns they were selling in the children's section – Why were they in the children's section? – seemingly having an animated conversation with its occupant, a baby not looking much older than a year, at best. He hadn't known she had a child.

Amazingly, the kid seemed to hang on her every word. The man behind the stroller rolled his eyes at their antics, but tried not to laugh at the same time. "Come on, Jennifer, that thing is more than twice his size."

"He's tiny, Otter Eyes," came her deadpan reply. "Everything is bigger than he is. You want this, don't you, Athan? Tell your Daddy!"

As if he had understood perfectly, the kid's head turned around to look at his father, his eyes big and pleading. "Oh, you're ganging up on me now? I need some help over here!" the man called into the store, looking for someone.

"It's fine," came the response – much closer to him than Aaron could comprehend at the moment. "We said she couldn't get him a real one until he's at least ten. That was the compromise, remember?" Cassie laughed in their direction, her whole body glowing with happiness at the sight of her little boy, tiny hands reaching out to grab the plush toy his favorite aunt was still snuggling with.

Deciding he was done messing with Jennifer, Cole shook his head with a laugh – he would have never won this particular fight, that he was smart enough to know. Smiling, he looked up again and over to Cassie, who had wandered off to look at children's books, only now recognizing the man standing behind her. Gaze darkening, he motioned for Jennifer to look after Athan – the two of them continuing the one-sided conversation only they could understand – and moved over to the bookshelves.

Recognizing the look in his eyes as one reserved for their other life and the occasional nightmare, Cassie grabbed his hand mid-stride, greeting him with a quick kiss on the lips. "She's gonna spoil him rotten," she said to appease him, "we've always known that."

Cole smiled at her distractedly before extending his hand for Aaron to shake. "James Cole. You must be a friend of my wife."

Cassie suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. Subtle James, really subtle …

Aaron just stared at Cole's outstretched hand, not really knowing how to react. Realizing who the little boy's mother really was had shaken him to the core. While he had been looking at an unopened ring box in his desk drawer more often than could be called healthy, always waiting for the one that got away to come to her senses, she had done what, exactly? Moved to the middle of nowhere, met Mr. Ruggedly-Handsome and started a family? All the while striking up a friendship with one of the richest women in the entire world? How did that happen?

After a little eternity had passed, he managed to bring himself out of his stupor, finally shaking Cole's hand. "Aaron. Marker. Pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," the other man replied, not even intending to sound halfway sincere.

Aaron swallowed, pulling his hand away when his fingers started to crack under Cole's grip.

Before either of them could say another word, Athan began fussing in his stroller, immediately stretching his little arms in his mother's direction, despite Jennifer's attempts to calm him down. His father smirked. Good boy.

"That's my cue," Cassie replied immediately, not even sparing her ex another glance. "It was nice to see you, Aaron. We should do it again sometime." Another lie. And with that lie, she was gone from his life once more – standing only three feet away, a crying baby in her arms, and yet further away than ever before.

Cole smiled at his little family for a moment, awestruck by the fact that he was allowed to have them in his life again – and keep them this time. It was far more than he had ever dreamed of. But back to the matter at hand … "So, meeting your ex's husband. Not too amusing, I imagine?" he offered, trying for sympathy. Under different circumstances, he could have felt sorry for the guy.

Aaron grimaced, nodding his head. "To be honest, it's a surprise. The last time I've seen Cassie … let's just say she wasn't doing so well."

Yeah, Cole knew all about that. He had even brought it up in those first couple of weeks back home, back when they had accomplished little else than stay in bed all day. Stroking her golden hair that had tickled his naked chest while she had been looking for something to watch on TV, he had asked about Aaron, saying he wouldn't have been surprised to have seen her back with him – she had thought him gone, after all. Cassie had lifted her head from his chest, looked at him as if he had grown a second head and called him an idiot. Then she had given him the CliffsNotes version of her break-up with Aaron only moments after fully remembering him, them. And that was that. They had spent the rest of the night binge-watching Doctor Who and arguing about the inconsistencies in the Doctor's various time travel shenanigans. It really didn't work like that.

"She mentioned it," Cole finally said to Aaron.

He looked surprised at that and was about to reply, when Cassie's voice reached them again. "We really don't need two of those, you know?" she informed Jennifer, who now had one giant white unicorn under each arm, about to head to the cashier. Athan had quieted down in his mother's arms.

"Not for him, duh," Jennifer rolled her eyes. "One for him and one for his granny!" With that, she was off to pay.

Aaron's eyebrows shut up again, looking at Cole in question.

The other man just smirked. "Our family is weird," he informed him, knowing Hannah would absolutely love that plush monstrosity. If anything, Christmas was going to be even weirder than Thanksgiving had been – especially for Elliot, who remembered enough, but still didn't understand half the things they talked about. Especially since he still had trouble coming to grips with the fact that Cole was his grandson.

Aaron cleared his throat, realizing he wouldn't get any more than that. "Well, anyway, I'm glad Cassie's happy, she deserves it."

"She does," Cole agreed. And for a moment, he wondered whether he should say something else. Should he tell this man, who clearly thought Cassie had been crazy at one point or another, that she saw the world clearer than most, because she had helped save it at some point? Ultimately, he decided against it. What was the point? Aaron wouldn't believe him anyway. Plus, it wouldn't help him get on with his life any faster, either. Sometimes, ignorance really was bliss. So he clapped the other man on the back, bid him goodbye and rejoined his family at the store's entrance, where Jennifer was currently thrusting two giant shopping bags toward the poor employee she had tasked with carrying their stuff around all day.

Taking the now dozing Athan out of Cassie's arms and deposing him back into his stroller, he looked up at her questioningly, pointing at Aaron in the distance. "You okay?"

Not even turning around, she kept her attention on him and their son, the most important people in the entire world. "Couldn't be any better, why do you ask?"

And it really couldn't. The night Aaron had proposed to her was one of the worst of her entire life – both lives – because it had reminded her of everything that she had lost at that point. Seeing him today had been the exact opposite. It had reminded her of all the good things that had happened since. Time had returned Cole back to her in one piece. Athan joining them again almost as quickly and surprisingly as the first time around – and she had known it was Athan down to her core from the very beginning – had made their life complete again. Sure, she still had nightmares of losing them both all over again, but every time she woke up, Cole was there to hold her, to reassure her, to watch their sleeping baby with her … just like she did for him. She wouldn't have it any other way.

She had her happily ever now … and it was perfect. It wouldn't always be, she didn't have any illusions about that. They were still the same people, Athan was still Primary. It wouldn't always be easy. But, catching sight of the watch now securely back on Cole's wrist, she knew they would make it through, because against all odds, they had each other.

Wrapping one arm around him, she waited for him to grab the stroller and together they followed a happily bouncing Jennifer out of the store, not minding anymore than she would probably drag them to at least ten more exactly like it.

Aaron hadn't moved from his spot leaning against a shelf full of children's books, now impossibly late for whatever his assistant had put into his calendar for this afternoon. He didn't really care. The woman he had believed to be the love of his life was leaving him behind once again – husband and baby in tow. How had this become his life? Swallowing down the lump in his throat, he thought about the ring still residing in his desk drawer. It was about time he got rid of that now, wasn't it? She hadn't wanted it then and she certainly wouldn't want it in the future.

Suddenly, one thing became all too clear to Aaron Marker: After today, he would never see Cassandra Railly again. And maybe that was exactly as it was supposed to be.

The End

Note: Aaron did get a little bit stalkerish in this one, didn't he? But after what he did in season 1, it wouldn't surprise me – he always was a lot more into Cassie than she was into him. Plus, he never really understood her motives. And if her breaking up with him the way she did seemed a little harsh – well, he did betray them to Olivia of all people, Cassie's by far biggest foe. I feel like that would have factored into her reaction. As for Athan – yes, I'm convinced he would be back. After all, the timeline he was conceived in originally had been aborted and he was born anyway. Why would it be any different now? Time still needs Primaries. And I think he already knew that when he died the first time around, seeing the bigger picture from above.