Disclaimer- Heavy Rain is very clearly not mine, though that does not stop me from letting my mind wander away with it.

Update- Went back through the interrogation stuff with Blake here and cleaned some of it up.

Part 5 / Epilogue

"Those trials? The issue I have with this-"

"Hmm, is that it?"

"-the fathers of the other victims were nothing but worthless sacks of shit. They abandoned their families-"

"...Nah, it's too far."

I've got to go back a little further than that...

Jayden nonchalantly waved his hand in the air and ARI complied, rewinding the video clip suspended in front of him.

"-ave you heard anything about my son? Anything at all?"

"He was brought to the hospital immediately after we found him. The doctors there are taking care of him as we speak."

That's close enough.

He rested his chin on his hand as he went through the footage. There was really no new information to find in Ethan's interrogation from earlier that day, but another look never hurt. ARI reminded him that it was getting late, but that didn't matter. He let the clip continue to run uninterrupted.

"Thank God. Shaun..."

"Now Ethan, you need to tell me exactly what's been going on over the last week. Madison was at the warehouse. I was at the warehouse. We both know who did this to you and Shaun. Your son's safe from him now and the killer won't be able to hurt him ever again."

He watched himself place his elbows on the table and lean in.

"What really happened? What did he make you do for your son?"

Ethan took in a deep breath, raggedly releasing it. The news of his son being all right and the pressure of the questions being asked were slowly beginning to wear him down. "I was being tested. ...An origami piece represented a new task every time, and succeeding got me one step closer to Shaun."

"The killer wanted a father to save his son. That was the goal of all of this, right? Those trials?" Blake's projection asked, pacing back and forth.

"The issue I have with this is that the fathers of the other victims were nothing but worthless sacks of shit. They abandoned their families. What fucked up thing did you do to make the Origami Killer pick you?"

"I...I made a mistake that cost me my son two years ago. That mistake almost cost me both of them."

He remembered it from the article he'd pulled up shortly after meeting Mars at the station. An auto accident. It killed his oldest son Jason, and left him in a coma for six months. Mars had been living the equivalent of the American Dream before then. The idyllic family, the successful career, the proverbial white picket fence. He had the whole nine yards and then some.

Losing one son had destroyed him. He appeared to have barely held it together after that. Losing Shaun would have crippled him completely. Jayden could tell just by looking at him.

"I'd do anything for Shaun. Anything. He was the only thing that mattered. When he disappeared I, I blamed myself..."

"But it wasn't your fault." His other self objected. "The killer got to Shaun when he was vulnerable. Used his former occupation to make him trust him. You couldn't have predicted that."

Blake halted his pacing, keeping his eyes on the mirror separating them from the camera. "He couldn't keep an eye on his own child, for fuck's sake. If he'd bothered to actually care about his kid, then maybe the killer would've ignored the giant target he'd helped pin to his back."

"Blake, you fucking prick." Jayden paused the clip and lifted up his glasses to rub his temples. It was amazing that they got anything out of Mars today. He let the glasses fall back into place and made a motion with his hand to continue.

Because in Blake's version of the police manual it's a perfectly valid strategy to take a father's guilt and shove it down his throat. Results are practically guaranteed, right?

The logic behind it threatened to leave him with a splitting headache. He tapped his fingers together and watched his recorded self react with similar disgust. Ethan had never before risen to take such bait, and now was no exception. He kept his eyes glued to his clasped hands on the table.

Blake took one look back at Ethan and snorted, turning back away. Jayden, on the other hand, shook his head and tried to continue as if nothing had happened.

"Tell us about the trials, Ethan."

It took a few seconds for him to respond, but the haunted look in his eyes was impossible to miss. "...There were five of them. Five origami pieces. Each gave me a specific task to follow and a means of seeing Shaun."

He referred to items in their custody, a cell phone and a shoebox filled with creased pieces of paper. Each had a typewritten command on them, and spelled out plainly what they expected of the recipient.

"How far are you prepared to go to save someone you love?" Ethan shook his head. "That's what I was asked."

What are you willing to do, it asked.

He remembered the desperate look Ethan had given him after they had all but locked him up and thrown away the key.

"-I beg you! You're his last chance. Save my son..."

How far are you prepared to go before it's too late to pull yourself back?

Jayden removed his glasses and placed his head in his hands. A familiar, tell-tale prick of pain had begun to sing to him, and he already knew his answer to that question.

Lieutenant Blake called her back while she was in the middle of cooking lunch. The smell of burning salmon provided an unwanted accompaniment to his gruff tone and Madison wrinkled her nose as she tossed the ruined dish into the garbage.

It had been almost a week since she had gone to the station and she had used that time to start getting everything down on paper. Pictures and documents were scattered all over the desk of her computer and the table in her kitchen. Too many hours had already been spent with Sam on the line and she wasn't even finished yet. That morning she had skipped breakfast in favor of a few articles covering "Dr. Death". Remembering that day in his basement had killed her appetite instantly, the memory of his hands on her almost making her retch. However, she still had to tell the public about his deeds, just like what had happened with Leland White. They had to be warned of the monsters lurking among them, no matter what feelings she had on the subject.

She still hadn't been in the mood to eat when she had started cooking lunch. She had developed a habit of skipping meals during the case, which did feel a bit hypocritical when she had reminded Ethan to eat, but in her rush she had failed to remind herself to keep up with it. Something like that would only hurt her in the long run, so today she had honestly planned to start fixing it.

Well, it would've been the start of things if Carter Blake hadn't burned it. That man seemed to have an uncanny ability to both directly and indirectly inconvenience anyone.

"Do we have an understanding, Ms. Paige?" he asked again over her phone, not willing to tolerate the wrong answer.

She eyed the mess in the pan in front of her and sighed. "We do. I'll be right there."

"Good." A dial tone sounded in her ear and she almost threw the phone at the wall.

How Jayden could work a day with him without punching him in the face, I'll never know.

Madison took in a few calming breaths and turned her attention to the papers spread on her table. The dishes would come first, but after that it would be down to business. This time around she wasn't going in empty handed. After cleaning everything up, she pulled out a blank folder from under the pile of documents, making sure to sort through them carefully.

And just to be sure, she called a taxi.

She asked the driver to drop her off at the main level of the police station. She didn't need him to wait for her, so parking spaces weren't an issue. Madison was also sure that heading through the warehouse level of the station would get promptly get her removed, so she figured that the more straightforward she played it, the better. The doors slid open, and she adjusted the bag on her shoulder while trying to maneuver herself inside on her crutches.

Once at the front desk a grand total of 30 seconds passed before Blake appeared and jerked his thumb in the direction of the back of the station. "Paige! Back there, now!" he ordered, his voice carrying across the room.

Madison made no attempt to tone down the displeased expression on her face. So much for the nice, warm welcome.

Jayden was already in the interrogation room when they both got there, and she inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. There was no way that she wanted to do this with Blake solo, and she found that having the FBI agent there gave her an added sense of security. He would give her the opportunity to explain herself and her actions before simply slapping a pair of handcuffs on her.

And considering what I've had to do over the last few days, that alone is a valuable asset.

He stood up and nodded in acknowledgment, a small smile on his face as he placed her crutches against the back wall. He looked much better than he had before, a good night's sleep likely the cause of that. The bruise on his head still looked painful to deal with, however, and she found herself inwardly wincing at it as he sat back down.

"Welcome back, Miss Paige. I'm sorry we had to call you in on such short notice."

"It's no problem. I wasn't in the middle of something important." She then asked the million dollar question. "What did you want to know?"

"We went by Scott Shelby's apartment a few days back. With the killer identified, it made sense to check there for any additional information."

"That plan, though, had one big problem with it." Blake stated, watching her from one of the corners of the room. "Shelby's place had been reduced to a smoking wreck. Know anything about that?"

Madison shifted in her seat, adjusting her leg. "Are you asking because you assume I've already heard about it?"

"No, I'm asking because three people identified a woman on a motorcycle fitting your description there that night."

She flinched at his tone and made a mental note this time to keep the bullshit to a minimum. Remember the old saying about waving a red flag in front of a bull? It's just not a good idea. Blake's no different. Don't forget that.

"Any idea what happened there?" Jayden asked, wanting an answer to that question as well.

I'm the only one aside from Shelby who knows exactly what happened. ...The only thing is, where do I start?

"Shelby had evidence there. Enough to implicate him entirely if found." She reached into her bag and pulled out a manila file, opening it up. "When I got there I made sure not to waste any time gathering what I could. I had a small camera on me and made sure to photograph anything that could be used against him. The quality of these are questionable, but it was the best I could get at the time."

Jayden slid the first picture out and examined it closely. The look of recognition on his face told her volumes. "Orchids."

"He was growing them in a hidden room kept behind the wall of his closet. The closet itself had an old cop's uniform which he had probably used to get the victims to trust him, but behind that back wall was what we were really looking for. In fact," Madison pulled out two more photos and laid them out for all three of them to see. "Here is the typewriter that he used to write letters to the fathers, along with a camera broadcasting from the warehouse."

Blake had moved in closer, unfolding his arms as he looked down at the images, while Jayden's eyes rapidly moved from one to the other. His troubled look was markedly more noticeable. All three focused on the last one Madison had brought to their attention, the small fuzzy screen displaying a circular well with a heavy metal grate placed over it. The face of a small boy was barely visible from within.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, remembering all too well the feelings that came along with her discovery. "He had been watching Shaun drown. That's where he watched all of them drown."

"...Fucking hell-" Blake's expression twisted as he walked away, and the empty chair next to Jayden went flying into the wall.

Jayden's fingers lightly grazed the edges of the photo. His restraint kept him from reacting openly like Blake, but the look in his eyes nearly sent a chill down her spine. He took in a deep breath and exhaled, briefly making eye contact with her before pushing the photos away.

"That explains the camera in the warehouse. However," he gestured to what was in front of them, "you sure as hell wouldn't have been able to get these if Scott Shelby had actually been home at the time."

Madison nodded in agreement. "He wasn't there when I knocked. At that point Shaun didn't have a lot of time left, so I didn't want to lose that chance to get inside and find a way to him."

"So you broke in." Blake replied, continuing to face the wall.

She stared at his back for a few minutes before letting her eyes drop to the folder in front of her. "The apartment was still in one piece when I got there, and I...found a way around the lock. I checked the folders on his desk, the drawers, the files in the cabinets beside them, and found nothing but older cases he had worked on as a PI. On the surface there was nothing there to be found."

She pulled out a photo of a metal container. "Then I found this. When I had opened the door, I thought that I had smelled something burning. This was it. I didn't have a chance to go through it, but it had been on fire recently enough for me assume it had been evidence."

Jayden folded his fingers in front of his face. "Shelby had told the parents of the other victims that he was investigating the Origami Killer case. Any evidence he had recovered from them could've been disposed of right there." He was silent for a couple of seconds. "He'd probably been there at least 30 minutes before you'd dropped by."

"Well," Madison felt her hands begin to fiddle with the hem of her shirt. "Shelby wasn't there when I arrived, but I had no idea when he would get back. Soon after finding the camera with Shaun I noticed a laptop. It was password-locked, but after a few tries I managed to figure it out." She leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. "Right there in front of me, clear as day, was what we all had been looking for. Shaun's location. The address came up as soon as I got in."

Blake slowly turned to face her, the conflicted look from earlier replaced with one much more familiar to her. Irritated annoyance. "You had valuable information that we needed. Tell me why it never occurred to you to share that information with us?"

"That was what I was planning to do as soon as I got myself the hell out of there. There was just one big problem with that." She shook her head, half-heartedly smiling at them both. "He came home while I was still inside. I stepped out of that closet only to have Scott Shelby force me back in at gunpoint."

"No evidence, no witnesses... He wanted to erase the trail behind him, through any means necessary." stated Jayden, his mind processing the details as they were given. "Primary analysis of the scene suggested that the damage was caused by a propane tank explosion."

"He had it hooked up in the main area of the apartment." She remembered emerging from his burning bedroom only to see the large tank sitting right in the middle of the inferno. "I almost had a heart attack on the spot when I noticed it. After breaking out of that room and dodging most of the flames, how was I supposed to deal with that?"

I almost couldn't. Only the ticking of that goddamned tank kept me moving.

"I was choking on smoke and looking for the nearest exit. All of the windows I came across were too high to safely jump from and the front door was out of the question. The only path left led to the kitchen."

"The windows in there were actually right across from the windows in the next building." Jayden commented, intently focused on her. "From there, all you'd have to do is find a way across so you could take the stairs down to the street. Ideally, of course. I doubt the rain would've helped much."

Madison had to laugh at that. "Sounds like I should have called you earlier. Anyway, you're probably right, but at the time I wasn't even considering windows any more. I was so scared that I was willing to use anything as a shield."

Blake folded his arms and stared her down. "What could possibly keep you from being blown to pieces in there?"

...I think I'm going to regret admitting this. "The table was in there was out of the question, so I went for the next best thing. The refrigerator."

Jayden's eyebrows shot up while Blake waited for a second and then burst into laughter. Judging by the way he was hugging himself it could only be the side-splitting kind. The FBI profiler in the meantime had leaned back in his seat and settled into a look of pseudo-confusion and contemplation. His mouth opened and closed periodically before settling into a thin line.

That's it. Forget having them take you seriously, Madison. They now think you've absolutely lost it. She couldn't argue with herself there. It was ridiculous. Seeing their reactions to her statement only confirmed that fact, but while physics couldn't explain it, something still gave it enough of a scientific loophole to make it work.

That alone kept her expression as dead serious as possible. "I know it doesn't make any fucking sense, but that refrigerator kept me safe from that explosion. Without it, I'd be dead."

Blake snorted at her comment, shaking his head. "...A goddamn refrigerator, she says."

Jayden had folded his hands in front of his face as he attempted to work out the mechanics of such a thing, but after a few minutes shrugged and gave up. "It was one of the only things left standing in his apartment. Though in your case, Blake, try not to think too hard about it. It's not worth the damage."

"Fuck you, Norman."

The smirk on his face was carefully kept out of Blake's line of vision. "Just saying." Jayden then gestured towards her, his amusement disappearing completely. "Sorry about the interruption, Miss Paige. Please continue."

"...Everything was a blur after that." She rubbed her neck and recalled how dark the small space had seemed in spite of the bright white lights. "Somehow the door stayed shut. The tremor that I felt shook the foundation of the building, but didn't bring it down. I didn't know how long to wait before getting out, but as soon as everything had settled I opened the door and prayed that the floor wasn't about to fall out from under me. The next thing I remember is running down those stairs and being grateful that I could finally breathe."

Once the burning in her lungs had subsided she found herself facing three difficult choices. Two of the numbers on her list wanted the information she had, but she only had enough time to consider calling one of them. One was Ethan, who she would've called in an instant if he hadn't have been locked up by Blake and the department. The other was Jayden, someone who she had yet to meet, but still knew would benefit greatly from the tip.

The last option involved skipping the phone call altogether, choosing instead to head off to the old warehouse alone. That one spoke to her in panicked whispers in the back of her mind, threatening to paralyze her with nervous tension. Was she wasting time that would be better spent getting to Shaun? Would Jayden trust her information if she offered it? She didn't know the answer to either of those questions, but she knew that it would be stupid of her to ignore this opportunity. The more help she had, the better the odds were when it came to saving Shaun.

By the time her mind had come to that conclusion, her fingers had already begun to dial Jayden's number. It didn't matter that he already knew the information. What did matter was the determination in his voice when he told her that he was already on his way.

"I knew I didn't want to go there alone, so I let Agent Jayden know about the address. At least then one of us would be able to get to him in time."

"...And the rest is history." Jayden added, looking back at her.

She nodded, a wan smile on her face. "That's right. I don't think I need to go over what happened after that again for you, do I?"

"No, we've already got that on record." Blake glanced at the glass wall in front of Madison, made a motion for the recording to stop, and approached the table. He pushed all the photos back inside the folder and picked it up, holding it above her head. "This, however, will be treated as evidence and confiscated."

"I understand. Standard police procedure."

He then shifted his attention to Jayden while he moved towards the door. "Norman. You can wrap the rest of this up without having me babysit, right?"

Jayden's eyes narrowed, but his tone was deceptively cheerful. "With the proper paper, tape, and bow, you betcha. I'll even make it extra pretty just for you."

Blake's hand paused on the handle, before yanking the door open and letting it slam shut behind him.

They both anxiously watched the door for a few minutes, wondering if Blake was going to change his mind and storm back in, but after a while it firmly stayed shut. Jayden sat back in his chair and exhaled, staring at the ceiling. "Christ..."

Madison folded her arms in front of her. "Someday he's going to find an excuse to cripple you. You're going to provoke him and no one will be able to do a damn thing about it."

"Good thing I don't plan on sticking around much longer then." Jayden wryly replied, looking more than a little bitter. "The station's just as anxious to see me leave as I am, and I wouldn't want to rob them of that now, would I?"

He got up from his chair and walked around the table to help her get up. Madison had gotten to her feet already and took the crutches from him as they were handed to her. "If I were you I'd almost stay longer out of spite."

"I don't know if I'd have the heart to go through with it. Vacation, maybe, but even that's debatable." He watched as Madison regained her balance, staying nearby in case she needed something to hold on to. "With a choice between DC and here, I'd have to wait until at least spring for this godawful weather to clear up."

She pulled her bag from the chair and threw it over her shoulder. "Don't remind me. I'd trade my crutches in an instant for some sunshine and a warm breeze."

"A-fucking-men to that."

He stepped over to the door and opened it for her, allowing her to get through with minimal fuss. She froze at the sight of the papers on the officers' desks, however, and put a hand on Jayden's shoulder to keep from falling over.

"Wait! I can't believe I almost forgot this, but here." Only a few people would be able to see them from where they were standing in the small hallway, but she still did her best not make too many awkward movements when she reached into her bag to pull out an accordion folder.

Jayden eyed it curiously as he took it from her hands. "What's this?"

"All of my notes, summaries, and extra photos that have to do with the case. The organization's kind of hit-or-miss, but earlier you mentioned that you wanted my perspective of the events. This is it."

"...And you waited until Blake was gone to mention them. Interesting." he noted, a hint of a smile present.

Madison tilted her head to the side. "Do I really need to explain my reasoning behind that?"

"Hmm. Good point. You said this is everything?"

"It's close enough. You can't ask a lady to give away all of her secrets." she joked, winking at him.

Jayden chuckled and turned the folder over in his hands. "No, of course not. ...Thanks. This'll be a huge help."

She pretended to shrug it off this time, and started moving down the hallway from the interrogation room into the main area of the station. "No problem. That should also do wonders to help Ethan get out. As for paying me back...coffee should take care of that."

He raised an eyebrow. "Coffee?"

"You still owe me one after what happened." she said, looking back at him over her shoulder.

"Owe you- lady, if anything you owe me for saving you from that!" he exclaimed, looking mildly offended.

Madison tried to keep a grin off of her face, but that was quickly becoming damn near impossible around someone like him. "All right, then the next time you find your way down here you owe me a decent cup of coffee. Shouldn't be too hard, right?"

Jayden held the large folder against his side, tapping his fingers on its edge. "Maybe. We'll see."

Even if it's just to humor me, it's nice to hear him consider it. He's way too polite for his own good.

She smiled faintly. "Take care, Norman. Watch over Ethan for me, okay?"

"I'm not leaving until he's out of there, so no worries. The same goes for you too. You're damn lucky, you know that?" Jayden remarked, a spark of amusement lighting up his eyes.

Her eyes lingered on him a bit longer than she expected them to. "It's funny, but I'm starting to think so too."

The gears in the cell door shifted as the lock was disengaged, reacting loudly as all the defenses installed in it were removed. Jayden knew they had been placed there for a reason, but all those reasons applied to the usual violent and unbalanced criminals. The same standards just didn't apply when your prisoner was an innocent man. Ethan Mars was no threat to anyone, but as long as he was here, he would be treated as such. Ethan had been sleeping, but the guard pounded on the glass pane with the heel of his hand, forcing him to wake up.

Jayden tapped his foot impatiently and waited as they observed Ethan's behavior. Two weeks in here, and finally some progress.

This whole case to him had been nothing but a bunch of bureaucratic bullshit. Madison's information had sped the case along. No doubt about it, but with Blake and Perry at the helm, getting Ethan out had still been like getting your car stuck in a particularly hellish patch of mud. The ground had a suction-grip on the tires, the damn rain wouldn't stop pouring, and the car itself had begun to be swallowed up by all that muck. In effect, it was nothing short of a fucking mess.

Ethan sat up, watching the door with a mixed look of hesitation and suspicion when it opened. Jayden stepped forward but the guard present temporarily held him back. "No more than five minutes. Perry's orders."

He nodded. "No problem. That's all I need."

The guard removed their hand, letting Jayden move into the cramped space. It was always lit, stealing away any privacy that the occupants might want or need and he found it the entire room stifling. Sitting or sleeping in a place like this for a day would be bad, but for two weeks? He would go crazy. The window to the station almost compounded that feeling, because denying someone interaction with the world did not do positive things to their mental state.

Jayden stepped inside and took a seat beside Ethan on his make-shift cot. The thing was stiff as a board and uncomfortable to sit on, let alone sleep on. Another pang of guilt hit him, but he shrugged it off and looked over at a curious Ethan. "I'm sure you're wondering why I'm dropping by like this."

He looked between the open door and Jayden, wringing his hands all the while. "I'm mostly wondering why I haven't been hauled off to that interrogation room again. Your partner isn't here right now, is he?"

"No, he's on his lunch break. I'll probably hear a complaint or two from him later on, but that doesn't matter. I wanted to give you an update."

"Update?" His eyes widened in panic. "Is it Shaun? Did something happen to him at the hospital?"

"Relax, Ethan." Jayden held up in hands and made sure to keep the tone of his voice consistent and calm. "Shaun's doing just fine. The doctors checked him out and let his mother take him home a couple of days ago."

Ethan's shoulders slumped as his head fell into his hands. Even with his son safe now, it would likely take him a while to go back to a life without worry. Weeks, months, years, who knew, but that feeling wasn't one to disappear overnight.

Considering what he's been through all ready, it'll take a long time to heal. Having Shaun there should keep him sane, though. He went through hell for his kid, something most dads might hesitate to do. The least they deserve now is a moment of peace.

"I dropped by to see him while he was there. Nice kid." Jayden rubbed the back of his neck, and pulled a letter out of one of his suit coat's inner pockets. "Thinks you're a superhero, or something like that. He made me promise to give you this the next time I saw you."

Ethan looked up and gingerly took the white envelope with 'Dad' scribbled on the front of it from him. He handled it almost as if it were made of glass, taking his time to rip it open carefully. A sheet of folded white paper was pulled out, and he took a deep breath and exhaled as he unfolded it.

The letter wasn't a long one, but Ethan read it slowly and carefully. Minutes ticked away as he did so and Jayden did his best to be patient. Ethan needed to see this and would have as much time as he could afford to give. After reading a few lines Jayden noticed tears in the father's eyes and turned away. It was a pathetic attempt at giving him some privacy, but Ethan didn't even notice. All of his attention was on the letter in his shaking hands.

He wiped his eyes when he reached the end of it and refolded the letter as best he could, shaking his head. "...I don't know what to say."

"There's not much to say." Jayden replied, twiddling his thumbs.

"You saved my son. I can't possibly repay you for that."

"You don't owe me a damn thing. In fact, I'm fucking embarrassed that we've kept you here so long. Nothing says trust like leaving an innocent man behind bars, right?" He cleared his throat and hoped that he didn't say that last part too loudly. The last thing he needed right now was to piss off the guard and get tossed into one of these cells himself. "As for the update, most of the casework involving you has finally been wrapped up and settled. You're clear of all charges."

"That's it? I'm free? ...What's going to happen now?" Ethan asked, still unsure of where he stood with the department.

"Tomorrow they'll let you head home. We've already let your family know about your release, so you should have a few guests of honor there to see you when you get out."

The guard leaned into the doorway and signaled for Jayden to hurry up. He pulled out his phone and looked at the time, checking to see that Blake was still as far from the station as humanly possible. Huh. Won't be back for at least another 15 minutes. Perfect.

With that confirmed he got to his feet. "The station will be handling things from here, but you shouldn't have anything to worry about."

"Handling things? They don't need you here any more?"

"No, I'll be finishing things up back in Washington, but I'll still be keeping tabs on things here. You run into any hiccups, let me know and I'll see what I can do." He caught a glimpse of the irritated guard's face peeking out on one side of the door and frowned in equal irritation. He didn't want to rush through this, but he didn't have much of a choice.

"...Anyway, Ethan. You love your son. He loves you and thinks the world of you. You've earned a second chance here. Don't waste a moment of it."

Ethan cradled the envelope in his hands, keeping his eyes on it. "...I won't. I swear it. Thank you." He looked up, a genuine smile on his face. "Thank you."

"Remember to keep your seatbelt fastened until the captain turns off the fasten seatbelt sign. Stay safe and enjoy your flight."

The prerecorded voice cut off abruptly after that, reminding them which airline they were currently flying with in spite of the logo staring all of them in the face. Jayden leaned back in his seat and wondered if it was worth picking up the magazine in front of him. They never took the time to throw the older ones out, so he could probably quote half of the articles in there without even trying. Then again, with a drama playing on the big screen, and little else to do to occupy his time, he found himself seriously considering giving the magazine another shot.

At least then I could convince the lady I'm sitting next to that I'm not in need of serious medication. Damn airplanes.

Turbulence always made him jumpy, and now was no exception. The plane had taken off without a hitch, cutting through the cloud cover as neatly as possible, but bumps periodically ran through the cabin. He had taken to compulsively tapping his fingers on the armrests and took a break only to down the complimentary water the stewardess had handed to him. Even a crossword puzzle would've helped on a trip like this. He had gone a little pale, but continued to pointedly ignore the one thing that would settle his nerves in an instant.

That's not what it's for, and even if it was, keep it together man! You're trying to quit, remember?

He took in a few calming breaths and forced himself to think of anything but that. The open window to this right caught his eye and he noticed the gray clouds blotting out the sky. It only took one look for him to briefly consider giving the departing city the finger. The insult itself would mostly be aimed at the weather and his lovely coworkers, of course, but as he watched the city pass by his motivation to do so fizzled as quickly as it had appeared. Not everyone down there deserved that sentiment. He may have been a born cynic and skeptic, but humanity still had a way of surprising him sometimes.

Determined fathers and stubborn as hell reporters included. Those two had surprised him the most, and convinced him that in the end maybe things really would be okay.

Any further contemplation was interrupted when a small bump suddenly caused the cabin to lurch, and he clung to the armrests for dear life. He needed a better distraction, stat. When it passed, his arm shot up so he could wave down the nearest stewardess. One pulled up with a cart of sodas and packaged peanuts. "Yes?"

"Ma'am, you don't happen to serve alcoholic drinks on this flight, right?" Jayden asked, keeping his voice steady.

"We have a few available here, sir. What did you have in mind?"

"A vodka martini sounds pretty good right now."

The plane shook again and he swallowed the growing lump in his throat. "...Actually, scratch that. Just get me the vodka."

This was going to be a long flight.

Fin

And that's that!

The length of this exploded. (A lot of things have exploded over the course of this fic, actually, but that's the main offender right there... XD) The POV shifts helped this part tell and conclude the story, so I hope they work with the structure overall. I'm already thinking ahead about a follow up of sorts to this, so look for that sometime this month.

Thanks for sticking with me, and thanks for reading and reviewing! I really appreciated hearing your thoughts on this since this was my first attempt with this world and its characters, so feedback concerning those items was especially important.

See you next time and until then, thanks again for reading! You all make the story as fun to write as the characters do. ;)