So far so good. Thought Casey a few moments earlier as she listened to Spike tell Derek's tale from the beginning. Her mom and George were listening avidly but without showing any emotion: which had to be good, right? They weren't weeping and wailing or throwing things at Spike. So far they weren't throwing things at Casey either. Long may that continue!

Casey had not seen much evidence of her mom and step-father throwing things or wailing but she figured there was a first time for everything – all things considered. George had been known to shout a little – okay a lot! – at some of the things Derek had done over the years. But he had been provoked.

Did this count as provocation? Hiding the fact that your step-brother was alive? Would he flip over that? What if she added the fact that she was sleeping with said step-brother…engaged to him…expecting his baby? How much would it take to break a Venturi's cool?

Of course, all Spike was currently telling them was a generalised account of Derek's tale. There would be questions later – questions that only Derek could really answer.

That would be the hardest part: revealing Derek.

Spike had promised a while ago that he would be there tonight. He knew it wasn't going to be easy hearing how their son had hidden the fact he was alive from his family for nearly a decade. Spike wanted to be there to let the family know that the initial deception had not been Derek's idea, and the further deception was purely to keep them all safe in a bad, dangerous situation: all meaning Derek and the rest of the McDonald-Venturi clan.

Last night had been an anxious one for Derek and Casey. They knew that in twenty four hours the biggest secret they had ever kept from their parents would be revealed. They knew their parents, loved their parents but even they couldn't guess how their parents would take the news.

Derek had phoned Sam and asked him how he should handle it. Sam told him to tell the truth – and to duck! In view of Casey's initial reaction to him being alive, the ducking seemed like a good plan. When he mentioned that to Casey however, she had snorted and said it was different for her and that the ducking would only be necessary when Nora found out she was pregnant and the baby was Derek's.

Derek thought she was joking…probably.

Casey was not joking now, sitting there surrounded by almost all the members of her family, nervously playing with her engagement ring. She wasn't sure at what point Spike was going to do the whole reveal thing. She suspected Spike had a flair for the dramatic and was proved right when he made his comment about meeting the team who had closed the case. There was a definite flourish of the arm there and Marti had dramatically thrown open the door with such enthusiasm it crashed against the wall.

And then there he was, the love of her life, standing in the doorway revealing himself to his family after eight long years of self-exile.

And behind him, Jazz and Bea. For moral support.


Silence.

A silence so loaded you could not only hear a pin drop you'd probably be able to see it slowly slide through the thick tension as if the mere air were jello. Everyone had frozen, only their eyes betraying their shock. Their jaws remained firmly closed and Casey had a moment to wonder at the inaccuracy of the phrase "jaw-dropping".

Then Derek spoke.

"Hi."

He looked nervous, because he was. She knew he'd thrown up before they left their apartment, the same way he always did before a big hockey game.

When there was still no response he glanced over to her and she saw the look of panic on his face. It passed quickly as he turned again to the rest of the room. Derek's eyes narrowed.

"Hey Dad! Nice tie! Are you wearing it for a bet or was it dark when you left home this morning?" he quipped.

Casey groaned. "Der-ek!" It was typical of him to resort to humour in an awkward situation.

Marti giggled and came across to hug him. "You never change, bro."

"I do. It's just Dad's taste in neckwear that doesn't." Derek said, hugging her back. "Hi sis. Miss me?"

"Yup. You owe me thirty bucks."

She turned to Jazz. "Nice to see you again…particularly as my fridge is hundreds of miles away. You ate me out of house and home you know." She winked so that he knew she wasn't really upset. Bea laughed at the expression on her boyfriend's face.

Meanwhile, Robbie was on his feet. "Derek?" He asked cautiously. His instinct recognised his brother but like the others he didn't believe it. He was however, braver than the others. Something about growing up in a house full of sadness.

Derek moved away from Marti and crossed to his little brother. There maybe eighteen years between them but the fact that they were brothers was very apparent.

"Wow! Robbie! What happened to my little ankle-biter?"

"I grew!" Robbie said proudly – and relaxing as he knew his instinct was right. "Just like you said I would."

"You remember that?" Derek was surprised. Finding Robbie in tears one day because he couldn't reach his favourite toy was one of the last things Derek remembered about his family. The little boy had been a toddler and now stood before Derek on the cusp of eleven.

"Of course I do. I remember a lot about you. I remember you reading Superman comics to me and Mom telling you off for pulling me round the garden in the trundle truck."

Derek looked over Robbie's head at Nora and she smiled weakly.

"Actually, she didn't tell me off for that." Derek corrected him. "She told me off for hanging you upside down so much you barfed your breakfast all over her shoes."

Robbie pulled a face. "Ew!"

Derek chuckled. "Good times!" he said winking at his step-mother. Nora rolled her eyes but the smile was warmer.

Edwin felt something touch him on the shoulder and glanced up into Lizzie's face. She squeezed the place where her hand rested and mouthed. "Are you okay?"
He shook his head.

How could anyone be "okay" when the impossible had just been revealed? Derek, his dead brother was standing in front of him, as large as…no larger than life. It doesn't happen, resurrection. It just doesn't happen.

"I don't understand." A voice stated, but it wasn't Edwin's.

Everyone turned to look at George who was half-sitting, half-standing in indecision. He looked old, grey, and more ancient than he had ever looked before. Derek was concerned.

"Are you okay Dad?" He asked the older man, moving towards him, wondering whether the shock was about to kill his father.

George shook his head but he finished standing and by the time Derek reached him, was in a position to be able to accept his son's embrace.

"I don't understand." George repeated into Derek's shoulder. The hug was tighter and longer than any they had shared before.

Casey watching from the sidelines saw her fiancé close his eyes in relief and heard him murmur "It's okay Dad. I'll explain it all soon. Just give me a fucking hug because I've missed you all so much."

Her hormones got to her then and she felt the tears start to fall from her eyes.

Nora too was watching her partner's interaction with his son. She stood slowly and approached them. Derek saw her coming and opened the embrace to include her without words. Casey knew her mother would be a wreck in the midst of the two men.

The room remained quiet, giving them time to themselves.

Marti sauntered over to Edwin and Lizzie.

"See. Told you they'd have other things on their mind."

Edwin looked suspicious. "You knew?"

He jerked his head round to look at Casey now that he noticed she didn't seem surprised either. "You both knew. How?"

Marti smiled. "I paid attention, Ed. I listened to what Casey was telling me rather than writing her off. I figured it out before she did."

Lizzie raised an eyebrow. "Which was when exactly?" She asked slightly petulant.

Casey sighed. She had always known that Edwin and Lizzie would be hard to pacify over the whole business. The secret she and Marti had kept from them went against the sibling code of honour.

The big stuff you may very well keep from your parents, but you do tell your siblings.

"I discovered Derek was still alive when I first visited Ottawa." Casey admitted and then, in an attempt to get someone to share the blame. "But Marti knew before Christmas."

Marti snorted and stuck her tongue out at Casey. But it was all in jest. This was too good a family moment for her to mind.

Nora had heard though, despite the way her husband and his son gripped her. "You knew!" She said, pulling away and regarding her daughters in horror. "You knew and you didn't tell us?"

"Mom…" Casey started but Spike got there first.

"Nora, Casey and Marti were pretty much ordered not to tell you. They had no choice."
Nora resumed her previous seat as George, sensing that there was more story to tell also pulled away from Derek.

"Ordered by whom?" Nora asked.

"Me." Derek said.

Edwin coughed. "Well that's no excuse, Casey! You've never done anything Derek told you to anyway."

Marti snickered in response as Derek crossed to Casey's side. "Yeah well, what'd'ya know. I ordered and this time she listened."

"After I'd smacked you in the face for being alive." Casey leaned against the chair she had been sitting on and grinned at him.

Derek smirked. "It's okay. It didn't hurt. I was still in shock from your initial reaction."

Casey's eyes widened. Not yet! They signalled to him. Derek smirked. He wasn't ready to out their relationship yet either.

George took a deep breath. His colour was better now and Derek was happier that his Dad would survive their reunion. All the same he was rather glad that his fiancée was a trauma specialist. He wondered idly if Casey had brought her medic bag with her.

Casey saw the direction and tone of his gaze. "He's fine." She whispered. "But I've got my bag just in case."

George made himself comfortable. "Spike, I think I'm ready to hear the rest of the story now."

The other family members concurred. It was Casey however, who took up the tale. It was a tale she had told them once before but even now it was hard to repeat. It was hard to tell though he was standing beside her, his body so close she could feel its warmth against her own skin, and their baby growing inside her.

Unseen Derek slipped his hand down to her own and linked their fingers as Casey began.

"I got the call at home. Everyone else was out. I can't remember where everyone was but the next few hours are printed on my brain. Apparently, one of the people who fled the bank when they saw the gunman was at school with us. She had recognised Derek and called me. She was in hysterics saying that he was inside the bank and there was a gunman." Casey could feel herself losing it.

Derek put an arm around her and rubbed a thumb against her bare skin on the shoulder where his hand rested.

She went on.

"I thought it was a prank but I heard the gun shot on the phone and ran. By the time I got to the bank everything was cordoned off and the place was crawling with police and paramedics. They didn't want to let me in because they were trying to stabilise Derek but in the end one of the doctors gave the police a funny look and they let me past the cordon. I realise now they were sure he would die."

"Despite this, when they decided Derek was as stable as they were going to get him they called for a helicopter transfer to Toronto – and they let me go too. So as soon as I knew it was Toronto I rang Sam and asked him to meet me there. I also asked him to keep trying Mom and George while we were in the air."

Casey felt the tears looming again. Derek forgot himself and leaned close to kiss her temple. She smiled up at him and he whispered something to her.

It was tender, warm though it surprised the family who didn't know. Keen for more information from Derek and Casey about how he was alive, they wrote the affection off as extreme circumstances.

And the moment passed.

"Derek "died" three times during the flight. But the medic guys brought him back. When I got to Toronto however, I still had to say goodbye. I held Derek's hand and kissed his face once and then they whisked him away from me to surgery. I never saw him again."

Casey broke down and Derek pulled her close to him, whispering in her ear all the time.

I'm here. I'm alive. We're together now. I love you. I love our baby.

Nora nodded to Edwin.

"Pour Casey a glass of something strong, Edwin please."

"No!" Derek and Casey chorused a bit too suddenly.

"I'm fine mom." Casey said trying to calm herself. "Water will be enough."

Derek kissed her head and released her again. Then he took up the tale.

"I woke up about a month later. They had kept me in an enforced coma to allow my skull to repair, and to monitor me for any blood clots and so on. When I first woke, I couldn't remember anything after an argument Casey and I had at breakfast." He grinned at Casey again. "So basically, I woke up pissed at Casey."

They all laughed at the irony. Derek always woke up pissed at Casey – as far as they were concerned.

"Gradually, I came to, and asked for my family. They kept telling me that I was in isolation and that it was too soon. Eventually, after a week of being given the run around, I got angry. Or rather as angry as someone who was weak and pale could. I couldn't say boo to a goose, but they were worried about my heart rate and my mental state, so eventually they sent in Spike to see me and give me the bad news.

I knew it was bad news as soon as he walked in the room." He smirked at Spike. "Sorry boss." He said cheerfully. "You don't have any kind of poker face."

Spike shrugged. "I have other methods of winning." He said.

Derek continued. "Spike looked very, very angry, but I could tell it wasn't aimed at me. He told me that someone higher up the chain of command had decided that we should go ahead with the plan to put me in Witness Protection…and they had already made the arrangements and killed me off."

Nora gasped.

"They made the decision without consulting you?" She asked.

Spike coughed. "My predecessor in this job was an asshole of the highest calibre. Excuse the language but there's nothing else to say that's good about him. I spent days arguing with them but by that stage it was already too late. He had made the decision within half an hour of Derek being admitted to the hospital. Nothing I could say would change his mind."

"You all lost one person. I lost everything I had ever known: My family, my friends, my career, my past. I had nothing left and no one to turn to except some faceless bureaucrats who had made a major decision about my future without any consultation."

There was silence and this time it was Casey comforting Derek.

"I told you before D, you didn't lose us. We were still there. I know that you said we were out of reach but we never stopped thinking about you."

He sighed.

"It didn't feel like it. I tried to insist that I was allowed to go back, but that was when Spike took me to one side and spoke to me. He told me that you all thought I was dead. That you had held a funeral and memorials; that you had made donations in my name – and spent long hours crying. But, he told me that if I went back, I would be targeted again, and this time, they might hurt my family too." He shrugged. "When he put it like that I realised they had left me no choice. I will protect my family."

Edwin piped up. "So where have you been for the past few years then?" There was an element of accusation to his question.

"Well you have to remember that until last month my case was still open, which left Spike with a problem. He needed to protect me, but he also needed the case solved. So he employed me."

"As what?" Lizzie asked, surprised.

"A mountie." Casey said with a small grin.

Derek glared at her.

"Why couldn't you just say "a cop"? Now they're going to start with the horse and tight pants jokes."

George snickered.

Edwin looked horrified. "Wouldn't dream of it, D."

Lizzie shook her head. "Neither would I." She protested.

But George was already humming…

"Saddle up my travelling shoes, I'm bound to walk away these blues…"

"Dooooo South!" Edwin, Marti and Lizzie chorused.

"Casey!" Derek whined. "Tell them to stop. I'm a cop not a tourist attraction."
She laughed.

Nora didn't. "Is it dangerous?" She asked. "Your job?"
"It was." Spike answered for him. "But Derek's office-based now."
"Why?" It was an astute question from an astute woman.

"Because I'm not fit for active service anymore." Derek admitted with a large chunk of resentment. "I got injured closing the case and they decided that it was too dangerous for me to get put in that situation again."
"Injured?" Nora pushed.

Casey straightened. "When Derek got shot all those years ago they repaired his head trauma with a surgical plate. Initially, he was fine but he had a fall during the last case and it took a long time for him to come round. There's no further permanent damage from this instance but they don't want to risk it."

"But you're healthy otherwise?" George asked with concern.

"I'm fine, Dad." Derek said dismissively. "They were being over cautious."
"Derek I had to re-start your heart!" Casey pointed out.

"Ah that!" He said waving her comment away. "I was just faking so you'd give me the kiss of life." Derek lied.

"Moron!" She snapped back, eyes flashing. He grinned at her. Casey took a deep breath to deliver a stinging retort.

"Now now, children." Bea said with a grin. "Don't argue."

"You haven't see the half of it!" Marti said to Bea and then grinned.

"You must be Bea. I've heard a lot about you."
Bea raised an eyebrow. "Really? Do tell!"

Jazz frowned. Casey chuckled.

"It was all good, B. He never shut up about how much he was missing you when we were in London."

She turned to the rest of the room.

"Sorry. We should have introduced you. This is Jazz, Derek's partner and Bea, Jazz's…"

"Millstone." He muttered. Bea elbowed him and he smiled weakly up her. Then they both laughed and he threw an arm around her shoulders.

As the tension in the room dissipated somewhat, Casey suddenly realised she was beginning to feel a little nauseous and immediately knew the cause.

Hunger.

"Guys, I know we still have so much to talk about, but let's take this downstairs. They are expecting us soon and it would be nice to sit and eat while we talk."

Edwin leapt up and Robbie followed him.

"I'm all for that!" Ed said. Lizzie rolled her eyes.

The family gradually began to move towards the door, but Casey and Derek hung back as the younger ones left. Spike too was not quick leaving.

"Mom?" Casey asked with concern. "Are you and George okay with all this?"

Nora glanced towards the door, satisfying herself that Robbie and their other siblings had gone.

"I'm just a little…I don't know…blown away by it all." She admitted.

George nodded. "I'm sorry if we don't seem excited Derek, it's just that it's a lot to take in."
Derek and Casey nodded.

"I understand." Derek said. "Believe me I understand. But if it wasn't for the need to keep you safe I would have told you sooner. Honestly. And Casey…it wasn't her fault at all. When I told her the story I made it clear no one could know."
"Okay. I do understand, really." George said. "Just give us some time. Now, let's go get some food. I don't know about you but all this drama has given me an appetite."
Casey smiled. "Oh Derek's hungry. He threw up before we came here."
Nora looked concerned. "Are you alright?"

"It's nothing Mom, just the usual Derek nerves." Casey answered for him.

"You still do that?" George queried. Derek groaned.

"Unfortunately, yes."

The three men sped up and made their way out of the door. But Nora stopped Casey before she could follow.

"When do we meet Mikey?" She asked, but Casey knew from the accompanying look that Nora was asking something else.

"Yes. Mikey is Derek." She confessed.

Nora nodded. "I thought so. Things are different with you two." She informed Casey thoughtfully. "Derek behaves differently with you now." Her expression queried.

Casey blinked. "We're friends." She said shortly, and then "Mom. There's more to tell you about lots of things, but for now let's go join the family and let Derek and the family have their reunion before anymore drama."

Her mother picked up her purse from a table.

"You look different." She said. "Happy."

Casey smiled. "I am. Very. Happier than I've ever been in my life but nowhere near as happy as I know I'll be in the future."

The elder woman smiled. "Then I don't think either of us have anything to worry about the confessions to come."

And she swept in front of a surprised Casey and out through the door.