"Max, I need to talk to you" Zoe mumbled as she lay in Max's bed, the sheets barely covering her body.

"Hmm?" Max replied, distractedly. He was running his finger along the intricate lines of her tattoo, his lips following the path that his finger was taking.

"No, no stop it." She protested, pushing him away from her. She was really dreading how to broach the subject, and his distractions didn't make it any easier. "I really need to speak to you" she warned, sitting up as he did. "I need to go away for a while" she whispered, it sounded like a euphemism, like she was trying to break some horrible news to a child. "I have to go, to Spain, for a while" she told him, wringing her hands nervously.

"Why?" He asked confused, he didn't understand why she suddenly wanted to up and go to Spain.

"I used to foster a little girl, her mother died and I couldn't save her" she began the long story if herself, Abby, Sharice and Finn. "Anyway… Her grandfather passed away a few years ago and now Kay's sick, like terminally ill" Zoe told him, relaying the details of a phone call she'd had a few days ago. "She asked if I'd go out and help with Sharice, and I couldn't say no. I'm the closest thing she has, had to a mother"

Max looked at her, trying to fit the pieces of a puzzle together "so, what about when her gran… You know" he hinted.

Zoe looked at him, he was catching on quick "I'll bring her back with me. Social Services are fine with it, its all been arranged" she told him. "I leave tomorrow" she shook her head sadly.

"And… What about us?" Max asked, raising his voice slightly. He felt angry and betrayed, she hadn't spoken to him about any of this. "You didn't think to tell me about any of this?" He asked, frowning at her.

"Max…" Zoe replied softly, reaching out to touch his arm.

He shrugged her off, glaring at her "Why. Didn't. You. Tell. Me?" He asked, slowly his words dripping with anger.

"Because, I didn't know how you'd react. That girl was my entire life, she means more to me than anything in this world and I have a second chance" she took a deep breath before she spoke again "it's not like we're serious, but Sharice, she comes first" Zoe nodded.

"I think you should go" Max told her, he thought that they'd go somewhere, that their relationship was more than just sex but apparently not.

Zoe got dressed in silence, looking at him sadly "all going to schedule I'll should be back by the twenty second. I'll call you then" she whispered feeling slightly put out when she didn't receive a reply.

.

Zoe stepped off the plane into the sunshine if Barcelona, she placed her sunglasses on her eyes as she made her way into the carpark; having struggled through customs and baggage claim. Hailing a cab she gave the name of the hospice where Kay was, living out her final days, hopefully in peace.

"Hola" she smiled as she entered the reception of the clinic; her Spanish was rusty at best. "I'm here to see Kay" Zoe told the receptionist, passing over her email from the clinic when they had first contacted her.

The receptionist shook her head sadly "I'm afraid she passed away a few hours ago, Dr Hanna" she told her in her thick Spanish accident. "Im terribly sorry"

Zoe felt the tears welling up, she felt sorry for Sharice. Her and Kay had never been friends but they'd blinded over the little girl. "Where is her granddaughter?" She asked, choked up slightly as a few stray tears escaped.

The receptionist gestured for her to follow, letting her into a side room with a couch and TV.

Zoe could only see the back of her, hunched over slightly with her eyes fixed on the TV. "Hello stranger" she whispered softly, as not to alarm her to her presence; she could believe how much she'd grown in the three years since she'd last visited, she was twelve now.

Sharice whipped her head around, she had no idea of Zoe's impending arrival. "Zoe!" She screamed, throwing herself Into her arms and breaking down and letting her tears fall "nana's gone" she mumbled into Zoe's chest.

"I know, I'm so sorry. You're safe now" she whispered, stroking her hair lightly and kissing her head "you're safe now"