This is just a little test to see if it's worth starting another WIP once I've wrapped up my current fic. I'm still working on coming up with a title and summary, so if anyone has any ideas about what I should call it, let me know and I'll take them on board. It's AU this time because I needed a break from the FFs and because I wanted to go back to writing something fluffy and mythology-lite. Everyone's back story is mostly the same, I just tweaked them a little to fit the concept. The only major difference is that Kate isn't a fugitive... ;)


Chapter 1.

"Bloody hell!" a voice cried, followed by a muffled crash, causing Kate to look up from digging through her purse for her keys.

At the other end of the hall, a girl she guessed to be about nineteen or twenty was struggling with an armload of groceries. Half of them had already slipped from her grasp as she tried to let herself in; frustrated that, at close to nine months pregnant, she couldn't bend down far enough to retrieve them, she kicked at one of the oranges that spilled out.

It rolled along the carpet, landing at Kate's feet. "You look like you could use some help," she told her with a grin as she stooped to pick it up.

"Thanks," the girl said with a sheepish laugh when Kate brought it back to her, dropping it back in beside a loaf of bread.

"No problem." Kate gathered everything up and put it back into the bags, taking all but the last one from her so that she was free to unlock the door.

"Where do you want these?" she asked her as she followed her into her apartment.

It wasn't the student pad that she was expecting. Everything – from the immaculate beige carpet to the black leather couch and modern furniture – was nice, but expensive and generic, sterile, except for a few sparse decorations like cushions and throw rugs, as though someone had been trying to make it seem homier.

"Just in the kitchen, if you don't mind," the girl called back over her shoulder. "I'm Claire, by the way."

"Kate," Kate introduced herself, glancing back over at her, trying not to let her gaze linger on anything for too long. It was none of her business. "I live in 4F."

"I haven't seen you around," Claire remarked as she led her into a large room with granite benches and a gleaming metal refrigerator.

Despite the state of the art appliances, it didn't look as though anyone had done much cooking there in a while: the countertop was bare expect for a coffee maker and kettle, and there was a stack of take out menus by the phone.

"That's because I just moved in a couple of days ago," Kate confessed, depositing her bags on the island.

She wasn't sure what else to do with herself, so she started to unpack, allowing Claire to direct her in putting things away.

"So are you from L.A.?" she asked.

"Iowa, actually," Kate corrected her, forcing a smile.

Claire glanced over at her with a curious look. "That's all the way on the other side of the country, right?"

Kate knew from her accent that she wasn't American: British, or Australian, maybe? "Yeah," she agreed, bracing herself for the inevitable question. Her life before wasn't something that she wanted to talk about. She'd come to L.A. to start over, away from all of that.

As she swung the fridge door shut, her eyes fell on a picture of Claire standing beside an attractive man in his late thirties with a boyish smile that seemed to contradict his severe no nonsense crew cut. "Is this your boyfriend?" she asked, eager for a new subject. He seemed a little old for her: almost old enough to be her father. No wonder she was able to afford all this stuff…

Claire snorted with laughter, as though she'd just made a great joke. "No, that's just Jack. My brother," she elaborated when Kate just stared at her with a blank expression, her blue eyes sparkling with amusement.

"It's just that you don't look alike," Kate pointed out, concentrating on stocking the pantry to cover her blush at making such an embarrassing faux pas.

When she snuck a glance at Claire to check her reaction, she was relieved to see that she didn't seem bothered by her mistake. "That's because we both take after our mothers," she explained with a wry smile.

It was Kate's turn to be surprised. "You're only half siblings then?"

"Uh huh," Claire agreed with a nod, and Kate decided that she liked her open, friendly nature, so different to her own reserved one. "I didn't even know he existed until I went looking for my dad. It took him a while to get used to the idea, but then he said we could stay here for as long as we needed, so here we are."

She took two cans of soda from the fridge and offered one to Kate. "What about you? Do you have family here?"

Kate accepted it with a grateful smile. "No," she confessed. That was what had made moving to California seem like such an attractive prospect. That and the beach. She pulled the tab, leaning back against the island to take a sip.

"Friends?"

Again, Kate shook her head.

"A job?" Claire tried again.

"I do have one of those," Kate agreed with a self-deprecating laugh. "Today was my first day. I'm a nanny," she added off Claire's patient look. She'd spent most of her teen years watching the younger kids in her neighbourhood while she saved up enough to run away, so when it came time to look for work, she figured this was one of the few things she was qualified for.

"Good, so I know who to call if I ever need a babysitter," Claire teased her, patting her belly with her free hand.

"How long have you got to go?" Kate asked her. It was the first time that she'd made reference to her pregnancy; she got the sense that she had mixed feelings about it.

"Six weeks. Thank God," Claire complained, rolling her eyes with an exaggerated sigh. "Do you know, I can't remember the last time I actually saw my toes?" But she grinned to show that she didn't mind as much as she was letting on.

"You must be excited." Kate prompted her with a kind smile.

"Terrified," she admitted, averting her gaze to her can, tracing the rim with her finger.

A shadow passed over her doll-like features, changing her expression to one of almost shame as she confessed, "I think I would have put the baby up for adoption if it wasn't for Jack." Her voice was so soft now that Kate had to strain to hear it. "He found me an OBGYN here and told me he would help me if I wanted to keep it."

Her admission took Kate by surprise. She didn't know what to say; she didn't want to give her the impression that she was judging her. "Your brother sounds like a great guy," she answered carefully. "You're lucky to have someone like that looking out for you."

"I know," Claire agreed with a watery smile, wiping her eyes with back of her hand. "I worry about him though – I really wish he'd let me do something to repay him."

A moment later, she was back to her ebullient self. "Hey, you wanna see the nursery?" she asked. "It's almost finished."

Kate didn't feel like going back to her empty apartment yet, so she nodded. "Sure," she agreed with a smile, setting her empty can on the bench.

She trailed after her into a hall that, as best as she could make out, branched off into two bedrooms, a bathroom and a home office.

Jack's, she decided.

"This is where Master Aaron will be sleeping," Claire announced in a grand tone, throwing a fifth door open to reveal a small room furnished with a crib, changing table, rocking chair and matching dresser, all in a monochromatic blue and white colour scheme.

"Let me guess – it's a boy?" Kate teased her.

"I hope so," Claire agreed. She slid open the top drawer of the dresser, shifting a pile of pastel t-shirts aside until she found what she was looking for. "Jack already has his team picked out for him."

"Oh my God," Kate breathed, breaking into a grin when Claire shook out a tiny Red Sox jersey. It was a perfect miniature of the ones she'd seen the players wearing on TV. "That's so sweet."

"I know, isn't it?" Claire gushed, folding it back up. "He's pretty excited about being an uncle. Just look at all this stuff."

Kate let her eyes wander from Claire, back to their surroundings, marvelling at how much work had gone into getting everything ready. "You're telling me your brother did all this?"

"Not all of it," Claire assured her. She shot her a sidelong glance as she replaced it and closed the drawer. "But he did pay for most of it."

"He must have a lot of money," Kate remarked with a wry smile, in two minds as to whether or not she should be impressed. He must not have any children of his own if he could afford to spend this much on his nephew.

She almost laughed when Claire explained, "He and our dad are both surgeons." The man she was describing sounded too perfect to be real: sweet, handsome, rich… and a doctor. And to top if all off, he had a soft spot for kids.

"He's a pretty good one from what I hear," Claire continued in an innocent tone, stealing another glance at her. "He's won a bunch of awards. You should see his office…"

She was still rattling off his list of accomplishments when the front door slammed and a male voice called out to her from the foyer. "Claire?"

"Speak of the devil," she said in a conspiratorial tone. "I was hoping he'd be home soon so you could meet him."

She didn't wait for Kate to respond, cupping her hands around her mouth to shout back at him. "We're in here! The nursery!"

She heard his footsteps grow louder and then he was right outside. "Have you eaten? Because I was thinking we could just order…" he continued as he rounded the corner, trailing off when he saw that she wasn't alone.

He must have bent his knees when the picture was taken, so that they could both fit in the frame, because he was much taller than he'd appeared at a glance, his long, lean body clad in a red dress shirt and tailored dark suit.

His soulful brown eyes held Kate's for a moment, his mild expression impossible to decipher, before he shook himself out of it, turning his attention back to Claire.

"Sorry, I didn't realise you had company," he told her, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck in what seemed to be an unconscious gesture.

If Claire saw how awkward he was, she didn't let on. "Jack, this is Kate," she announced, looking almost smug as she glanced from one to the other. "She just moved into Mr. Stevenson's old place."

"Hey," he greeted her, flashing her the same lop-sided grin that had caught her eye in the picture.

"You're American," was all that she could think to reply when she noticed that his accent was different to Claire's.

"California born and bred," he agreed with a quizzical smile. "Is that important?"

She could feel her cheeks warming. "No, I just thought…" she stammered with a flustered laugh, chastising herself for getting tongue-tied like a schoolgirl with a crush. She'd met plenty of good-looking guys and none of them had affected her like this before; she silently cursed Claire for talking him up into a god among men so that she had no idea how to act around him.

"I was Australian too?" he supplied, looking amused.

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. "Yeah."

"It's okay, everyone makes that assumption," he assured her. "My dad met Claire's mom in Sydney around the time I went off to college. She raised Claire there after he came back to the States."

He let out a soft, awkward chuckle when he saw that Kate still wasn't following. "It's complicated," he finished with a shrug. "We're still piecing it together ourselves."

Great. He must think that she was an idiot now, incapable of intelligent speech, she realised. "I should be going," she told them, trying to remember where she'd left her purse. "I still have to finish unpacking."

"Well you're welcome to come back over any time," Jack told her as he and Claire wandered after her, towards the kitchen. It was still on the on the island where she'd put it with the rest of the bags; she pulled the strap over her arm. "I'm sure Claire wouldn't mind showing you around."

The familiar emotion that swept through her at his invitation caught Kate off guard: disappointment, she noted with surprise. Already, he had her intrigued; she wouldn't mind getting to know him better, but he only seemed interested in her as a potential friend for Claire. "I'll remember that," she agreed, forcing a polite smile. "It was nice meeting you, Jack."

"You too, Kate," he echoed. He held out his hand; his palm was warm, and softer than she would have imagined. "I guess we'll see you around."

"I guess so," she agreed.

"If you need help with anything else, just let me know," she told Claire, but her new friend wasn't ready for her to end her visit just yet.

"I have a great idea," she announced, just as Kate was about to make her escape. She turned to Jack with an enthusiastic smile. "Why doesn't Kate stay for dinner..?"