A/N: Thank you, as always, for the reads, reviews, and PMs. This is the final chapter of this story, and I am so glad that everyone who followed this story did. I appreciate the feedback from everyone, and I definitely appreciate the honour of writing this story.

I hope to have more up soon including working on some of the ones already posted. (If some of those disappear, please don't panic. I am hoping to rework some of the flaws in some of the stories that are in progress.)

Always -
DMAA

Ch 31.

She used to wonder what kind of stories the city told, but as she looked around her, it occurred to her that the answer was all too easy. Theirs. The city told their stories, the stories of hundreds of thousands of footsteps every moment of every day, of first breaths and last, of fear and, more importantly, of hope. It was a story of dark pasts and bright futures. And, it was everything they designed it to be.

Alexandra

May 9, 2001

"You really think they'll pick up?" Alex asked as she scooted closer to her sister on the couch of her apartment. "And, you're sure they want to talk to me?"

Nataliya laughed. "Yes. They are so excited to talk to you, Sasha. They are waiting for weeks."

The phone rang again, and Alex felt her stomach drop. "What if they hate me?"

"You are daughter," Nataliya said, holding Alex's hand. There had been crying and a lot of hang ups already that morning. And, again, Alex reached forward to hang up, but Nataliya grabbed her hands, stopping her. "No. You let them answer. They love you, no matter."

Alex tried to pull her hand away, to go after the phone again, and Nataliya lay across her lap, pinning her hands down. "No nervous!" she yelled.

"Hello?" the sound of a Russian woman made Alex freeze. "Taliya, is that you?"

"Hi, Mama," Nataliya chirped. "I have someone with me."

Alex gasped, staring at the phone, the disembodied voice of her biological mother echoing over the speaker of the phone. "Mama?" Alex squeaked, quivering as Nataliya released her. She licked her lips, her mind racing and full while blank all that the same time.

"Sasha?" the woman replied. "Tali, is that Sasha?"

Nataliya smiled, watching Alex's face. "Yes, Mama."

"Happy birthday, my girls," the woman said, tears leaping into her voice. "Oh, my girls. And, I never thought I would hear both your voices at the same time again. Thank you. Thank you, God. Thank you, Tali. My baby girls." Their mother dissolved into tears.

Alex was not far behind, rocking as she struggled to control her breathing. It had been twenty three years since she had heard her mother's voice, and even with her memory being vague and absent for most of the time, there was the ache. Even when she had thought she was the child of a prostitute, she had never been able to recall her mother's voice, and she had always wanted to, even if she had not ever said anything or reached out to anyone about it. Now, hearing the woman's voice who gave her life, who raised her those first few years, it drew out all kinds of emotions. She rocked violently between overwhelmed, afraid, elated, and nervous.

Kibbles came lumbering over from the kitchen, resting her head on the couch with a soft whine as she checked on the well being of her human. Alex slid off the couch and wrapped her arms around the dog, petting her to reassure her as well as reassure herself that everything was the way it should be. There was a long history of pain. Both sisters had walked through hell. And, there was nothing quite like knowing that things were okay.

"Mama, stop crying. You are making Sasha cry. Go get Papa. Tell him." Nataliya wrapped her arms around Alex. "It is okay, sister. I told you, they want to talk to you. You are loved by your families. Your parents in America, and our parents in Ukraine. It's over. The hurt. It is over for both of us." She rubbed her thumb over Alex's shoulder.

"Thank you," Alex whispered, clinging to her sister.

Through tears, Alex talked to her mother for the first time in twenty three years. While their father remained largely stoic, as Nataliya had guessed that he would. Still, there was emotion in his voice, and he kept repeating how proud he was of his girls, how they had accomplished things that exceeded the normal scope of human resources.

It was nearly three hours before they hung up, Alex promising to call again in a couple of days.

"What do you think?" Nataliya asked.

"I'm so glad. Thank you for talking to them with me," Alex said with a smile. "Oh, hang on." She stood up and darted into her bedroom, pulling a small box from her closet and hustling back to the living room where she curled back up on the couch. "Now I know when our birthday really is, I – this is for you."

Nataliya took the box from Alex's outstretched hands. She bit her lower lip, chewing at it as she looked over Alex. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Happy birthday, Taliya," Alex replied, satisfied that she could still feel complete. Her world had not been bad, not as an adult. She had been raised by the Cabots in a nice home with love and opportunity. Learning everything she had recently had turned her world upside down. It had torn everything she had thought she knew apart, but in so doing, it had repaired holes she had gotten so accustomed to them being there that she had forgotten they were there. The sheer weight eased from her was what made her remember it had been there in the first place, and it was startling.

Nataliya smiled, pulling the lid from the box, gasping as she blinked back tears. "Alex," she whispered, pulling the airplane ticket from the box. "To Ukraine?"

Alex nodded. "Yes," she answered. "It's a voucher. Whenever you're ready to go, you can on any flight with an open seat. I can't imagine what it's been like for you to be so far from home for so long, but you did what you came here to do. You found me. And, no matter what, we will keep in contact."

"You will come?" Nat asked.

"Yes," Alex said. "I want to meet our parents. But this, it's a guaranteed way home, after the trial or whenever."

Nataliya threw her arms around Alex's neck, hugging her tightly. "I have something for you, too," she said. "I had no money, so it's a place."

Alex smiled. "Really?" she asked. "Nat, you don't have to. I mean, this is the second time I'm celebrating turning twenty-nine."

"But, it's the first time you are right," Nataliya said, her grin wide. "Please?"

Nodding, Alex bit her lip. "Alright, Tali," she murmured. "Thank you so much."

Alex dressed, changing from the yoga pants and over sized sweatshirt she had tossed on that morning into a pair of jeans and button down blouse, casual but nice as well. "This okay?" she asked as Nataliya looked over the couch at her.

"Yes. It is simple place," she said. "Olivia tell me how to get there on subway. Oh, she say bring Kibs."

Alex nodded. "Great. You lead the way," she said with a warm smile. She followed Nataliya out of the apartment building, locking the door securely behind her, the dog happily trotting along on her leash.

As they exited the subway, Alex pinched her brow. "It's close to the precinct?" she asked.

Nataliya flushed. "It is where detectives work. Olivia and John." She smiled excitedly as she took Alex's hand and pulled Alex towards the precinct.

"What did you guys do?" Alex asked, growing more suspicious.

Up in the Special Victims office, Alex was brought to a halt. Even Nataliya stopped, apparently surprised. "It was lunch," she whispered.

"Yea, but these detectives, they go all out," Alex answered, walking into the office, impressed by the balloons and banner. "I feel like I'm turning three."

Olivia laughed. "Just shut up and celebrate. This was Nataliya's idea. We just built on it. You both deserve a great birthday. After all, it's the first one together that you will both remember."

They laughed, chattering while they ate pizza, drank beer, and socialized. Fin and Elliot had even gotten Nerf guns for everyone, and things had kind of devolved from there.

Laughing, her arms covering her head, Alex hid under Fin's desk, loaded Nerf gun in hand. She popped up quickly, looking around her, but she was already at a disadvantage against four police detectives and one captain. She saw the top of Olivia's head behind a gun and squealed as she ducked, diving back under the desk.

Taking a risk, Alex bolted to the Captain's office, sliding behind the door, a Styrofoam bullet smacking into the glass window behind her.

"Hey," she said, startled by Nataliya who had already been using the office as a hiding place from the all too accurate shots of the detectives. "You and me against them?"

Nataliya smiled. "Against the world," she murmured before Alex pulled open the door, and they took off running, laughing as they both stitched up pieces of themselves that had been missing. They could not recover the missing laughter of their childhood, but they could create new memories with each other, ones with joy and smiles and support. There was a darkness hanging over both of them, a rolling cloud of electricity and hell. But, it was not what defined them, and Alex, for one, knew that she would not be defined by the hell she had experienced but by the actions she took in spite of all of the bad.