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Sequel - Part Two

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Well, I won't give up on us (no I'm not giving up). God knows I'm tough enough (I am tough, I am loved)

We've got a lot to learn (we're alive, we are loved). God knows we're worth it (and we're worth it)

I won't give up on us

Even if the skies get rough

I'm giving you all my love

I'm still looking up

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Kate slumps into the passenger seat, her eyes closing as she feels her mind drift. She drove up to the campsite, which means Rick has the pleasure of driving them home, and while she's normally itching for that position, after five days away she's happy to decompress in her seat.

"Kate. We're home." Rick's voice breaks through her fatigue as he pulls into the long stretch of their driveway and she reaches across the console, squeezing his thigh in acknowledgement. "You want to unpack the car or deal with the little dude?"

Both choices have their pros and cons, but Nicholas has been clinging to her leg all morning and the idea of taking half an hour to unload the car and deal with the hundred-odd loads of laundry that have built up wins over trying to get her son in the bath and dinner on the table.

Opening her eyes, her head tilting in Rick's direction, she smiles tenderly and he smirks in response. He nods as he turns off the car, twisting to look in the back seat. Alexis has one ear bud in, the other extending to her brother's side as they share her music; Rick's been pleading his case to buy Nicholas his own iPod, but Kate is digging her heels in. He'll only be four later this year and she feels that is still too young.

"Nicholas, you're with me. You can watch five minutes of TV while I put some dinner in the oven and then it's straight into the bath."

She watches out of the corner of her eye, mostly focused on gathering their belongings from the car, but she sees her son nod absentmindedly. He in turn is more focused on his sister who is taking the music off him, but thankfully no tantrum appears to be brewing.

Dragging herself out of the car, Kate begins the slow process of unloading. She lets Rick deal with Nicholas on his own, which means holding on to the remark about the TV still being on as she places another bag onto the floor of the laundry room.

"You want a coffee, Kate? It's late but-"

"Yes." She doesn't let him finish, doesn't care if she is up until midnight; the caffeine needs to be coursing through her body now if she has any hope of getting through the next few hours.

Making her way to the car and back again, she doesn't notice the eerie silence that's descended, the chill that's taken over the living room. It's not until the mug in Rick's hand falls to the floor, the sound of it shattering into a hundred shards, that she realizes something has gone wrong.

He stands frozen, one hand cupping his son's mouth, smothering any noise from their little boy, eyes locked on the screen, but it's his face that has her own heart breaking apart.

"Dad? Dad? Does this mean… Dad, can we go home?" Alexis' plea has Kate's head twisting in confusion and she searches the girl's face for a clue, something to tell her what she's missed, what's gone so wrong, and then the voice from the television explains.

"We have confirmation that the car accident earlier this morning had no survivors and it is with sadness, not only for the American people, but for us all, that we report President William H. Bracken, and three other support staff have been killed. We repeat, the passing of President Bracken has been confirmed."

Oh.

Rick forces himself not to react to the tantrum slowing building inside his son. Nicholas has done well considering everything that has happened in the last twenty-four hours, not to mention the last twenty-four days, but everyone's patience is wearing a little thin.

The news that the man supposedly holding a guillotine over their heads is dead had led to more than one night of heated debate of whether it really is safe to go back to the States. To go home.

Does having the head of the monster gone kill the long stretching tentacles below? And what if Ryan was wrong four years ago? What if it was never Bracken who was behind the continued threat on their lives?

This was all argued out; both he and Kate switching sides of the disagreement depending on their state of mind each day. Alexis was left to watch silently as her fate was once again left to the two of them. Nicholas, they'd hoped, was unaware of what was going on, but their normally happy little dude has become increasingly upset recently and Rick assumes it's because he is picking up on the fact that the main three people in his life are constantly walking on eggshells.

"Buddy, I've asked you to hold on to my hand. There are too many people in the airport and we will lose you if you don't." Kate's reprimand has a steel edge that is unlike her. He can feel the tension rolling off her in waves. The closer their plane got to their destination, the more she has been shutting down.

His feet halt at that realization, and it takes Kate and Alexis several more steps before they notice he has come to a stop. He won't let this happen, won't let Kate withdraw into herself just because they are back in New York, so he stands and waits for them to return to him.

"Rick? What's wrong?"

He says nothing, bending down instead to haul Nicholas onto his right hip, uses his free left hand to snag Alexis. Bringing her in close to his side, his eyes silently plead with Kate. Thankfully she reads his expression, closes the space between them. Each of her hands finds its way around their children, encompassing them in their version of a family huddle, and while he guesses it looks odd to the hundreds of people jostling past them in the terminal, he needs a moment. They all need to remember what is important; that as long as they have each other they will survive.

Alexis is the first to pull back, taking hold of his hand while Kate moves to their daughter's free side, interlocking their fingers together so that as a unit they can move forward through the crowd.

Each step takes them closer to their past, but hopefully not into danger. They'd had a tearful conversation over the phone to Javier; he was the only one whose old number Kate could remember. Watching her share the information about where they were and what they had been through was one of the most heartbreaking things he has ever witnessed and they'd decided together that the rest of those conversations would be done in person. Javier was given the task of contacting everyone he could from their past; he'd remained suspiciously vague throughout their call when asked about the others and they'd left it in the too hard basket. As much as they wanted to know, the process of getting back - of going home - had to come first.

It seems the longest walk of their life, but as a family they eventually get through baggage claim and customs without an issue and he breathes a sigh of relief. Until he catches sight of the group waiting outside the arrivals gate, and his heart leaps clear from his throat.

Off to the side stands not just Javi, but all the family that they were forced to leave behind. His mother has remained ageless, looks almost exactly the same as the last time he'd seen her. He has always been a little thankful that his memory of her was a colorful flurry out the loft's front door.

He takes in the image of the boys standing proudly next to each other, smiles stretching wide as they catch sight of them heading their way; Jenny is clutching Kevin's side excitedly with what appears to be their kids holding onto available legs.

Lanie's squeal of, "Oh my god!" causes a giggle from Kate and he turns to look at her and Alexis. The sight of both women, tears streaming down as they too try and absorb all that is before them, makes him realize that he's got his own tracks across the skin of his cheeks. At some point he has started crying and he can't stop, especially as Kate breaks free to be encircled within her father's arms.

They've always been home as long as they had each other. It's just now home has some extra people under its roof and he's so thankful to be back here once again.

Kate drags the last box toward the bookcase. They'd shipped their belongs from Australia back to New York last month but with everything that had been going on - settling into old lives as new people - unpacking had taken a back seat.

"Hey, Kate, I thought we were doing the last box together? You know, the symbolism and the-"

"It's a box, Castle," she replies cheekily, drawing out his last name; even if she rarely uses it now, she can and that's all that matters. "It needs to be emptied and I had the time, so..."

His shoulder nudges hers and it bumps her far enough sideways for him to be able to access the box labelled books. Rick's fingers delve straight into the cardboard cube and he pulls out several. It looks like it's mostly copies of his books, ones she'd bought over the last four years and she watches as he eyes them wearily, before looking up at the rows and rows of books in the office; duplicates dot the room and he clearly has no idea what to do with these.

"We could give them to Alexis? A house-warming present?"

His questions are beyond ridiculous - no one wants their father's books as a gift - and Kate hides the eye roll that fights for release.

Leaning to pull the books into her own arms, she answers, "We can find a library to donate them to." Not waiting for a reply, she hurls them back into the box, but is stopped as Rick's fingers dart into the stack.

"Not this one, Kate." Pulling the book free, he holds it between them; her pregnancy diary once again nearly lost, and smiling, she observes him making room on the shelf next to the last Nikki Heat release.

It looks so very right next to Heat Rises.

"It's like the next part of their story in a way," explains Rick, having read her mind, as always, and she huffs a laugh.

"I don't think Nikki needs to get knocked up."

His only response is a soft hum and she sees the flutter of his fingers against his thigh. The constant drumming is tattooing a path up and down his leg and it's something that she hasn't seen in far too many years.

"Rick?"

Again, he gives nothing but a barely there acknowledgement and she forces his chin to turn toward her.

"Go write. Go write us, our story. Go tell the world how we couldn't walk away from each other."

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The End

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So this is the part where I try to type without crying, lol, a lot of blood, sweat and tears went into this story, especially as the first twenty-two chapters were written in thirty days for National Novel Writing Month back in November, so it's with an odd sense of sadness that I will press the complete button.

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A big thank you goes to Nic for helping out at the start before life got in the way and to Jamie for picking up the baton without batting an eyelid! It's much appreciated!

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This story, way back when it was started, was dedicated to Jo, for taking my simple request for a beta six months ago and making it so much more! Thank you for the hand holding, encouragement and support as we pumped out those 50,000 words. Thank you for all the beta work and teaching me all I know about grammar and spelling.

Most of all thank you for being you!

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Lastly thank you for reading.

All the alerts made me smile, and each review left me giddy. Never doubt how much each word has meant to me.

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Xoxo