Better Than Before
Epilogue

There was no explosion.

Looking back on the moment Moriarty hit 'one' in his countdown, it was a moment of absolute peace. Everyone in the room thought it was going to be the end. Holmes and I were sure we would never be able to speak to Kenzie and Terry again; as we would be sent elsewhere if they would have died. I was nervous, but remained calm and cool as we waited for something, anything, to happen. Alas, nothing did, and we all turned to look at the shocked expression on Moriarty's face.

"You deceived me!" Moriarty shouted, turning to point an accusing finger at Daniel Hawes.

"It was nothing I did." Daniel retorted, looking over at Kenzie.

Kenzie raised a confused eyebrow, then looked at the cell phone in her hand and the shattered blue thing Holmes told her to remove and shatter. It suddenly clicked. "That was the trigger."

Holmes had figured it out just in time, and nearly everyone in the room was grateful. Terry was more than happy to hold Daniel at gunpoint while Kenzie went to fetch a police officer. She watched in silence as they arrested him and dragged him from the room, not once turning to look at him.

We were surprised at how law enforcement and the government took little to no time to sentence Daniel. Then again, as Kenzie mentioned, he probably spilled the beans the moment they took him in for questioning. Daniel Hawes had been sentenced for conspiracy to commit treason. He was able to make a deal with the government by giving up all of his associates, including the majority of the New York City Irish mob. Gordon Everson was arrested but released with mandatory community service and two years probation, mostly due to the fact Daniel Hawes admitted to kidnapping Everson in order to force him into making the bomb.

Low and behold, two months after the mishap in Washington DC, the four of us were sitting in the flat on a rather beautiful winter day. Terry was eyeing Kenzie every so often, but wouldn't meet her eye when the other woman looked up. I couldn't figure out why for the life of me, until I remembered what Kenzie had said...

"I was invalided home from Iraq to find out my mother died and my father came to New York. So I'm here to find him and go home."

Terry thought Kenzie was going to leave.

I tilted my head to the side and considered the situation. Kenzie never would have thought her father would have anything to do with her mother's death, nor did she think he would be involved in a plot to destroy the United States government. The only thing she had to go home to in Scotland was her friend, Aidan. I wasn't sure if she had been in contact with him, as she was very good in hiding her phone while texting someone, but I was almost positive she wouldn't make such a big trip for one person.

Then again, she made the trip to New York City for her father, so I could be wrong.

Supernatural was playing on the TV in the background when Kenzie finally turned to look at Terry. "What are you looking at me like that for?"

Terry looked like a deer in the headlights, whereas Holmes looked over at Kenzie with a slightly quirked eyebrow.

"Nothing..?" Terry offered.

"Bull. You've been staring at me all day."

Terry sighed and looked over at Holmes for support.

"She thinks you're going to go back to Scotland."

Kenzie sighed and looked down at the floor. "I was afraid you were going to bring that up."

"Well, you did say you were only here to get your dad back... And, not to sound like an ass, but look how that turned out..."

"I know." Kenzie stated, sighing as she turned to look at Terry again.

"Well..? Are you going to leave?"

"I can't leave you any more than I can take Watson away from Holmes. So, no, I'm not. My place is here. "

Terry jumped off of her chair and hugged Kenzie tighter than I ever thought possible, especially when thinking back to how they behaved when they first met. My, those days were rocky. It was only after a few weeks that they were able to mesh and get along, just like what happened with Holmes and I.

"There's one more thing, though."

Holmes and I turned to look at Kenzie, who was now standing up looking very disheveled from her hug with Terry.

"Yes?"

"I... I sort of invited my friend Aidan to come and live here with us..."

Terry looked unamused. "You did what?"

"We have an extra room and he's really good for money so please don't hate me."

An awkward silence filled the room, before Terry finally sighed. "Is he hot?"

"Yes, he's quite attractive. I'm very happy to tell you he's mine, though."

"What?! Not fair! I didn't even get to meet him!"

"I've known him for the majority of my life! That entitles me to something!"

"No!"

"Yeah! What logic are you going on!?"

"American logic! Which states I have to give him the speech!"

"What bloody speech!?"

The fighting faded out... I smiled as I thought about how Terry and Kenzie were nearly spitting images of Holmes and I, personality wise. How Terry was behaving right now was very similar to how Holmes behaved when I told him I was dating Mary.

"Well, old boy, it looks as if we'll be spending more time together."

I snapped out of whatever daze I was in and turned to look at Holmes. The brilliant and rare smile on his face and the pure happiness in his voice made me smile at him and place a hand on his shoulder.

"Yes, yes. It does seem that way... And it makes me very happy."

A/N: I'm very proud to announce that this is the end of 'Better Than Before!'

Thank you to everyone who read, followed, favorited and reviewed this story. You guys helped inspire me to continue writing it, even though I lost my co-author very early on.

If you have any questions or you need advice with something, don't hesitate to PM me! I'm always more than happy to help!

Also, I'm always accepting fic and Beta requests.

But, yeah... Thank you so much for all of your support!