A/N: Just a little aside that occurred just after the last minutes at the cabin between Brad and Kiera. I like this pairing and think there are a lot of places it could go. I'm excited to watch it.
The Peaceful Minutes
Kiera watched as her Alec and Emily walked away. She supposed he really wasn't her Alec anymore, though. She couldn't stop thinking of him that way, even though she knew he would never really forgive her. They had gone through too much, but she still longed for the boy who had first offered her comfort in a strange place. She regretted that he was gone, that he had learned these hard truths about life so young.
She felt Brad coming up behind her, and when he placed his arm around her, she felt less alone. She couldn't deny that there was a bond between them, a connection, and she found that his touch really did comfort her. It had been so long since she felt comforted by someone's presence. She considered the new time that she was living in. She really hadn't wanted to think of it head on. The changes she and Alec had made in this new timeline could mean she never was actually born, or that her son probably wasn't born. She had to face that the future she had been trying so desperately to get back to was no longer valid.
Brad had felt grief. He had been alone. The man he was when he came to this time was not the same one that stood here at this cabin. He couldn't believe that he had a second chance to make things right. He had killed Kiera, and had given very little thought to it at the time. But then he met her, and she was so kind and giving. He saw the loneliness and vulnerability that she tried to hide under her strength. She reminded him of himself. He had vowed that he wouldn't let anything happen to this Kiera. He loved his wife, and grieved her loss deeply. Part of him felt like he was betraying her by allowing these feelings for Kiera to happen. He knew what his wife would tell him, she'd tell him to shut the hell up and hold tight.
Kiera realized that everything was uncertain. She thought that she could make things better, when it may have been her actions that caused Brad's future to replace her own. The only thing that she was sure of was how right it felt to be standing here with Brad's arm around her. She made a decision, and imperceptibly shifted her weight. She leaned into his embrace, taking solace in the contact.
Brad noticed the change in Kiera's stance. He knew it signaled an acceptance of hard things. In her mind, he knew that Kiera still had a husband out there somewhere. He knew he would not push her, that he would wait for and accept everything in her own time. He also knew that he would protect her with his life.