A/ N: KNOCK KNOCK.

Hey there. So, I edited and fixed a few details in the first three chapter of this story, hoping that my moody muse would finally focus again. Apparently, that wasn't the worst idea ever. I actually have another chapter written, but it wouldn't quite fit in just now.

This chapter pretty much consists only of the last part of this flashback. Honestly, I didn't see that coming. But alright, I'll take what my muse is willing to give.

Just to mention it:

I moved the whole story from 2024 to 2026, because I had Dana's birthday set on the 12th of September 2017.

I changed a few details in my previous author's notes:

My tumblr RP blog for Dana moved from knockknockwarehouse13 to artifexadmiratio, a side blog of my savagesagacity (Camille Engelson).

I added Tyler Hynes' girlfriend (Instagram & YouTube: imkeekees) as Kate's face claim.

KTF CLM

31.12.2015

The way home after Steve's proposal was much more lively than the previous way to the Warehouse had been, and, understandably, carried a certain sense of positive nervousness. Steve was drumming a random tune on the wheel as he drove, but Claudia could swear she heard the melody of Mendelssohn's wedding march, (Which, of course, was one of the songs of which the very first recording was stored at the Warehouse.) but it could just as well be her own imagination. The redhead probably wouldn't admit it if her life depended on it, but she had caught herself picturing what it would be like to walk down the aisle once or twice already since she met Steve. Damn it, she was even looking forward to looking for a wedding dress with Myka and Claire. (They would have several discussions later, about how the older sister called it shopping. But again, Claudia stubbornly disagreed.) She couldn't wait to find her dress, pick out a hairdo, and see herself in the mirror once she was ready to get married. But most of all, she was looking forward to her fiancé's reaction to seeing her like that.

Her fiancé.

She loved the sound of that. It sounded like the lyrics of her new favorite song. One she hadn't even heard yet, but it was the sweetest melody already.

Dang it. She sounded like such a freaking girl. But honestly? Right now she couldn't really bring herself to care. She didn't see it like that. She wasn't a dreaming girl. She was a grown ass woman. A fiancé. A bride. A future wife. His future wife. She smiled softly, glancing over to the driver's seat. Claudia studied her future husband, and she couldn't believe her luck. She could never see herself as someone's wife before, but now she would marry the one man she could see as her husband. It wasn't just the wedding. It was everything that was to come. She already loved waking up next to him. She loved the way he looked right through her façade with those incredible blue eyes of his, with more adoration than she was sure she deserved. She loved drawing strength and feeling reassured by his mere presence. She loved burying her face in his shoulder, hiding from the world and forgetting all about facing terrifying nightmares or death scenarios. With Steve, she felt save. She felt respected, trusted and loved. And now, she could spend the rest of her life by his side. The redhead couldn't remember ever being so happy before.

"You know, usually I wouldn't mind it. But I already have trouble concentrating on driving without being watched so closely tonight. I'd like to bring my fiancé home safely."

His voice was teasing, mocking her. And she did roll her eyes in exaggerated annoyance, but she couldn't help it. Her focus was on another part of what he said.

"I freaking love that word."

He smiled at her admission, knowing exactly what she meant. But after all the negative tension earlier that day, it was finally time to keep the mood light. Now he could relax and smile again.

"What? Trouble? Yeah, I know. That's basically your proverbial middle name."

Claudia sent him a playful glare, smirking. "It is. But I meant 'fiancé'. It rolls off my tongue so easily. I like it better when you say it, though."

"Wow. Look who's being all soft around the edges today. Don't worry. I won't tell the others." Steve smirked teasingly, but forced himself to keep his gaze on the road. "I like it better when you say it. Don't get used to it, though. It's only temporary. Transitionally, until I finally get to call you my wife."

The redhead nodded approvingly, the smile never leaving her lips. "Husband and wife doesn't sound too bad either. I think I'll get used to this. I mean, we both know I'll never be a stereotypical wife, and I don't want to, either. But I'll happily deal with being called your wife." She paused, realizing just how cheesy all that probably sounded. That needed to be fixed. "You know, despite the last name."

Her partner chuckled, rolling his eyes. Of course, she just had to spit out a comment about that. And he wouldn't have it any other way. "Hey, everything comes at a price. It could be worse."

"Oh, I know." Her eyes widened, a slightly overdramatic tone in her voice. "But, yeah. It's worth it. It always is."

Steve smiled, falling into his memories. It was obvious that she was talking about how she brought him back with the metronome. He knew it. Despite everything she went through for him, she never regretted it. He would do anything for her, and she would do anything for him.

He was thrown back into the presence by his fiancé's mocking voice, accompanied by a knock on the passenger's window.

"Hey, Shirley. I know you're probably on the edge of your seat about delivering the good news to Team Overprotective, but you're thirty seconds away from missing the turn into our driveway."

His bright blue eyes widened in realization at her words, and he pretty much managed to turn the vehicle last second. Claudia's head hit the window, but she didn't complain. Instead, she chuckled in amusement at his faraway state of mind.

It took a few seconds for Jinks to catch himself again, but once he did, he took a deep breath in and nodded. "Yeah. Well, actually, I already talked to Artie."

The redhead raised an eyebrow, unlocking her seatbelt. "You did?"

"I did. Since he's sort of my future father in law." Steve turned off the engine before he followed her example, smiling sheepishly. "I also needed his help to make sure everyone would be here for you."

For a moment Claudia stayed silent, the gears in her head turning. Her family hadn't celebrated completely together in ages. Of course she had her future husband to thank for the fact that they had all come this year. And when she thought about it now, it also made sense that Steve would go the old-fashioned way, past Artie. He knew how much family meant to Claudia. Plus, it surely didn't hurt her surrogate father's POV of the situation either.

The redhead smirked, suddenly reaching out to the driver's seat. She got ahold of her fiancé's collar, pulling him towards her so she could crash her lips into his. A few seconds later she slowly pulled away, one of her arms wrapped around his neck. "You're unbelievable, you know that?"

The blue ocean of his eyes met the welcoming warmth of her brown ones, and in that moment neither of them even realized that the rest of the world even still existed. A bomb could go off at the other end of the street and neither of them would notice it.

Until their comfortable silence was disturbed by a knock on the window behind Claudia.

Steve raised his gaze and Claudia turned her head, to see Artie sending a glare that was obviously meant for Agent Jinks and the hand that had found its way onto the older man's surrogate daughter's hip.

Jinks froze for a moment, but couldn't help smirking, while his wife-to-be just looked amused at her father figure's expression. She struggled to keep any comments about his eyebrows to herself, thinking that this probably wasn't the right time for jokes.

She opened the door and climbed out of the car, smiling. Now she was a little nervous after all. He knew what was going on. If Steve hadn't told her, she could have seen it right there in Artie's watchful eyes.

Their boss had taken a step back to let her arrive in peace, before his gaze found the engagement ring she was now proudly carrying on the ring finger of her left hand. For a few seconds neither of them said anything, while Steve respectively remained waiting on his side of the car. He wanted to let them have their father-daughter moment, even though he doubted too many words would be spoken.

Eventually she raised her hand, and his gaze followed suit. She smiled cautiously, waiting for some sort of reaction. Artie took a deep breath in, seemingly trying to pick the right one. This clearly wasn't easy for him.

"Congratulations, kiddo. I… I always knew the two of you make a great team. Steve's a good guy and… you really deserve to be happy. Both of you."

The redhead could basically see how her surrogate father swallowed anything along the lines of 'But if you ever hurt my little girl, I will murder you in the worst way I can think of. And I can be very creative when I want to.' when he sent a nod towards Steve, who now slowly approached the front door. But Claudia was simply grateful that he congratulated them. And she could easily tell that he was sincere. She knew him well enough by now.

Claudia reached forward, pulling Artie into a tight hug. She knew he wasn't a fan of hugs, or would at least never admit it, but she needed this. And he returned the hug, even though, unlike her, he was a little hesitant. But in that moment, the redhead couldn't care less. And her bright grin seemed to be contagious, because even Artie couldn't help smiling along when he followed her and Steve into the house once she let go of him.

Claudia's hand automatically found Steve's when they reached the dining room, where the rest of the team was still gathered. Josh and Kate sat on two chairs, but they looked like they were glued together. He had wrapped one arm around her, and her head was comfortably resting on his shoulder. If you looked closely, you could see the impatience in their eyes. Josh was drumming a random tune on the table, while his girlfriend was now playing with the ring embellishing her left hand.

Pete sat in between Claire and Myka, with Claire sitting beside her brother. Both women were watching Pete (who had stuffed his mouth with more cookies than anyone should be able to), with a mixture of amusement and disgust written across their faces. When Myka, who was pretty much used to this sight already, had asked him why he thought it was necessary to show off that trick again, he simply excused it by saying Claire had probably never seen anything like this. The redhead had assured him that she didn't need to, but he had already been on his way to the kitchen. His partner was starting to wonder where he always found the loads of not exactly healthy food. Maybe she would ask him, once he swallowed.

It was Vanessa who noticed the other agents' return first, from her seat beside Myka. Artie had told her about his conversation with Steve, which obviously triggered different mental reactions in his mind. Of course, he was happy for them. But Claudia was like his very own child, more so than Scott. He was worried about her, and maybe only a little bit overprotective. It wasn't easy for him to process, that the girl he met all those years ago would get married now. But clearly, he was grateful that it was Steve. He preferred to see Claudia walking down the aisle towards her partner rather than anyone else. He knew Jinks, and he knew that he was good for her.

Vanessa sent Artie a smile, before her gaze settled on the younger agents. She raised an eyebrow at Steve, who quickly realized that she probably knew what was going on. He nodded firmly, earning a soft smile, while Claudia cleared her throat at his side. The five remaining pairs of eyes quickly found them, curious why the redhead was making such a big deal of their arrival instead of just sitting down with them.

Claudia was about to say something, but she was interrupted by a loud squeal. The source of the excited noise was quickly found, and recognized as none other than her brother's fiancé. Kate had jumped off her seat and before the redhead knew what was happening around her, she found herself trapped in a tight embrace. The brunette earned several confused looks for that move, but she didn't even seem to notice it.

Joshua watched the scene, unsure of what to think. Of course, Kate was a little hyper lately. And he couldn't blame her. But what the hell was this all about?

"Are you feeling alright, K?"

Kaitlyn turned around to face her future husband, rolling her eyes at him. She took Claudia's hand in hers, holding it out towards the dining table.

"I'm a wife-to-be. I spot an engagement ring easily from halfway across the planet."

While Claudia's brother froze visibly as the thought sunk in, their sister was the one to break the silence only split seconds later.

"I knew it!" Everyone turned to look at Claire, except for Joshua. He was still processing the situation. Artie, Steve, Claudia and Vanessa each raised a questioning eyebrow at the redhead. She simply shrugged sheepishly, as if she expected the end of this day to be obvious to everyone. "What? Am I seriously the only one who saw this coming?"

For a few seconds, silence got ahold of the room again. This time, Pete was the one to end it when he suddenly started to laugh. At first Claudia wasn't sure what to make of his reaction. Did he think this was some sort of joke? But that idea was quickly left behind when he approached the redhead and caught her in a bone crushing hug.

Claudia returned the hug, chuckling at his enthusiasm. She was honestly grateful that Pete was taking this so lightly, at least for now. Sooner or later, he would likely remember his role as the protective older brother in this.

That reminded Claudia…

While the rest of the room was filled with laughter and congratulations, and the redhead found herself in Claire's and then Myka's arms as soon as Pete let go of her, she hadn't heard anything from her actual older brother yet. He was just sitting there, silently watching the scene with an unnervingly unreadable expression on his face. Claudia smiled at the three women currently admiring her precious new piece of jewelry, thanking them before she carefully approached the table.

That seemed to snap Joshua out of his trance. He turned his head to look at the group, which was now gathered around a very distracted Steve, and afterwards he finally met his youngest sister's gaze. Claudia's breath got caught up in her throat as she waited for her brother's reaction. When he didn't say anything, she was getting impatient.

"Josh…"

Before she could continue, he finally decided to stand up. Claudia let out a relieved breath, and she could swear she heard how Steve did the same, when Joshua wrapped his arms around the redhead. He shifted to rest his head on top of hers, protectively holding her close to his chest.

"I'm glad that you have someone who makes you happy, Claude. I haven't seen you smile so much since you were a kid and driving all adults crazy by outsmarting them." The siblings shared a smirk, even though neither of them could see the other's expression in that moment. After a few seconds, Joshua left a kiss on top of her head before he pulled away with a more serious look on his face. "But I hope Steve knows that I have access to a lot of dangerous stuff where I work."

Claudia crossed her arms in front of her chest, a devious shimmer in her eyes. "So do we, Big Brother. You of all people should know that."

"Touché, Little Sister." Joshua smiled at the familiar attitude, clearly calming down. He was still processing the fact that his little sister was going to be a bride, but he had missed seeing her like this. Well, he had missed seeing her altogether. He smiled, deciding that now was as good of a time to deliver the news as any. "Who would've thought that you would get married before either of your older siblings?"

The redhead's expression froze for a second, before confusion crossed her face. "Aspetta un attimo. Did I miss something there?"

Kate, who was listening closely for a moment to jump into the conversation, stepped over towards them, catching the whole room's attention once again.

"Well, I figured we could wait a few more months. Who knows how much weight I'll have gained by February? I could look like a freaking marshmallow."

Joshua rolled his eyes in exaggerated annoyance, even though he was clearly sincere. "I'm sure you would look amazing anyway, K. And it's only two months. But, I can wait."

Claudia's gaze traveled in between her brother and his fiancé, realization dawning. "You're…"

"Pregnant." Kaitlyn confirmed, her dark red lips forming a wide grin. "We're having a baby!"

This time around, Claudia was the one who squealed and wrapped her arms tightly around the other woman. But she pulled away quickly, turning to hug the father-to-be. "Congrats, guys! That's amazing!"

She stepped back, once again easily finding Steve's hand to take and his shoulder to lean on, to let her sister have her turn congratulating their brother. Claire had a knowing smirk on her face, seeming happy, but rather unsurprised. She kept her voice at a low volume, so only Joshua could hear her.

"I saw that coming, too."

"Guys!" Before any more hugs could be exchanged, everyone turned to look at Kate for the third time that night. She pointed at the expensive looking watch around her wrist, excitedly sinking her teeth into her lower lip. "Three more minutes to midnight."

Claudia looked towards the garden, her eyes widening. It was indeed dark outside, with only a few fireworks in the distance. It was already surprising that there were any at all. The redhead guessed that they went off in Featherhead, even though they seemed oddly close…

Pete was the first one to hurry outside, followed suit by Kate who was dragging Joshua along with her. Vanessa took Artie by the hand and led him to the garden, following Myka and Claire. The oldest agent had set two chairs closely together, for himself and Vanessa to sit on. Joshua remained on his feet, holding the future mother of his child close to his chest. Meanwhile, Pete had sat down on the table and pulled Myka and Claire down to sit beside him, the brunette to his right and the redhead to his left. That earned him an amused chuckle from Claire, while his partner merely rolled her eyes. But even she couldn't help smirking at the sheepish grin on his face.

Steve and Claudia stayed in the doorway, her back leaning against his chest and both of his arms wrapped around her waist. The redhead smiled peacefully, her gaze studying the sky. He bent down to leave a kiss on her shoulder, pausing to catch a glimpse of her for once so calm expression.

The fireworks got louder, and the group started chorusing the countdown to midnight.

5.

Steve raised his gaze to look at the colorful sky, even though he kept finding himself distracted by the adoring spark in his future wife's eyes.

4.

Claudia's right hand unconsciously found the ring on her left ring finger, carefully brushing over the surface of her new most treasured piece of jewelry.

3.

His lips left a kiss on her jaw, close to her ear. They remained there, so she could understand him despite the loud noises from above.

2.

"Any New Year's Resolutions, Girl Wonder?"

1.

Over the others' vociferous cheering and the fireworks welcoming the upcoming year, he could hear her soft voice and see her content smile as she turned to look into the admiring ocean of his bright blue eyes.

"By the end of this year, I'll be a wife and an aunt. I don't think I need anything else for 2016."