He arrives in JFK, on the most expensive domestic flight of his life, a frazzled mess. He drags his rocky luggage - one wheel sacrificed to TSA's rugged handling back in Cali - down the vast, off-white floor. The PA system lady talks about the nth flight to be delayed. People around him groan. He groans too.

Less than twenty-four hours ago, his daughter - not even a teen - ran away, leaving only the briefest note in the world.

It's not as fun when the person in the movie is you.

"Taxi, sir? Taxi!" The sounds start as soon as he passes through the large, glass, automatic door. He looks around, feeling loss.

Yes, Lili mentioned New York.

She just didn't mention anything else.

He can hit his usual hotel - let familiarity be his guide. It's unlikely that Lili would be adventurous enough to try a place she's never been.

It's Caroline Bingley that's the toss-up.

"Sir?" The taxi line is neglected this time of night. In his gut, Darcy wants to get an Uber - let tech be his friend.

Too bad he doesn't really know what to type into the destination bar.

He tumbles into the taxi, not even bothering to deposit his mini carry-on in the trunk. At least the driver doesn't complain.

"Where?" The front seat hollers.

Darcy groans. He doesn't want to waste time - but it's almost as if he doesn't have a choice not to.

His phone vibrates in his hand - Apple's most generic ring tone picks up. A glance tells him it's an unknown number. He doesn't pick up unknown numbers.

Then the ringing stops.

And he's lost again.

"Sir?" There's a stronger shade of impatience in the driver's voice now.

Darcy looks up. "I - uhm, Manhattan."

"Where there."

"I - " He looks out the window. City lights render the stars dim. His hopes of finding Lili alive and well seem to be fluttering as dangerously as the softest of the lights in the sky. "Time Square. Anywhere there."

The driver nods and takes off. It doesn't take long to be out of the airport's artistic curve.

Darcy grips his phone tighter - his last connection to his regular home.

Then, it lights up again. This time - with a text.

He sits up straighter.

'Lili's with me. She's okay. Come over to see her.'

As ransom notes go, it's not the most threatening.

Darcy feels his heart rate pick up. His fingers run on autopilot as he types his reply - asking for a location.

The reply comes as 'You forgot, didn't you?' before it relates the exact address.

Darcy shoves his phone in the driver's face - and waits for the next sharp turn.


The sudden, thorough, aggressive banging makes Lizzie jump. The two girls giggle. She smiles.

"Open up! Where's my daughter?" The voice through the door is frantic - desperate. Lizzie gulps. The rush of nostalgia that his voice brings along is inevitable - no matter his mood. "Open up!"

Lizzie holds up a finger - signaling a break from their plush animal party. The girls giggle and nod. There's a particular glint in Lili's eyes. The girl knows that voice too.

"Coming!" She hollers. The banging stops for three seconds, then it resumes again.

Lizzie weaves her way across and around eclectic, artsy furniture. Over the years, life has expanded - memorabilia has added up. Still, they've stayed here. Jane moved away. Lizzie and Gigi - they stayed here. Gigi grows up; they stay here. Gigi gets sick; they stay here. Gigi gets well again; they stay here.

There's something comforting about an anchor to a former life - a small piece of life that somehow doesn't change despite the winds and waves of reality.

"I said I'm coming!" She throws the door open - all braced for the inevitable sight of her ex-husband.

And sure enough - it's him.

And also sure enough - she's not ready at all.

"Lizzie?" He says, still squinting, still panting. The short, straight hairdo must be throwing him off. "Lizzie? It's - it's you."

"Yes."

He's sweaty, and he's lost. He looks like he hasn't taken a shower in the last 48 hours. He's grimy and messy and -

Well, he's incredibly sexy too.

"Come in," she manages - and turns to leave him space.

He walks in obediently, openly looking around her living space. As New York apartments go, she lives pretty spaciously. Still, she knows the decor isn't his type. He likes clean, sleek, and modern. This place is warm, old-fashioned, and ruffled to its last square inch.

"You've got a nice place," he says, turning around to face her.

She's caught by surprise - like that first night - that very fateful first night.

She clears her throat. "Uhm, thanks. I - it's where Jane and I used to stay."

"Jane - of course." He face falls a little, like he's embarrassed. Her skin starts to tingle at the onslaught of forgotten moments, now remembered. She still knows, in the deeper, unused recesses of her mind - how he laughs, how he eats, how he talks, how he sleeps, how he acts when they're in be -

"Dad?" Lili turns around the corner. "Daddy, you're here!"

"Lili!" Darcy runs to scoop up his daughter - their daughter. The two souls share a happy, spinning hug by way of reunion. Lizzie feels warm - and a little bit jealous.

"What were you thinking running away like that?" Darcy questions the moment he puts Lili down. "I was so worried."

"Sorry, Dad. I - I didn't think it through," Lili confesses.

"What would profess you to believe Caroline Bingley?" Darcy stands tall again. He runs a hand through his hair. Lizzie's heart does its third somersault ever since he's arrived at her doorstep. "I thought you hated her."

"Well, I - I do." Lili shrugs, hands behind her. The pose reminds Lizzie of her own younger self. "It's just that she - "

"She what?"

"She told me she would bring me here - and she really did."

"So? Why?"

Lili looks up at her father. Her eyes are big, jumpy. It's obvious she's calculating - weighing the odds.

Then she talks. "She promised she would bring me to Mom."

For a moment, the room falls completely still. Softly, silently, tears creep their way up from Lizzie's throat to her eyes. Her daughter - a bargaining chip, a consolation prize in the heat of a lovers' quarrel, a name on an ill-advised legal document - has travelled cross-country with a person she hates - just to see her.

"Lili," she whispers.

Lili turns. She's dressed in pajamas now - still Gigi's size despite different genetic makeup.

"Mom," she echoes.

"Lili." It's Lizzie's turn to sweep up her daughter - to hold her close and never let go.

Beside her, Darcy is watching - Darcy is waiting. For a moment, Lizzie doesn't care.

Then she suddenly has to.

Because, suddenly, it's Gigi's turn.

"Dad?" She ventures. She's always been soft-spoken - friendly in a cotton candy sort of way. She walks closer - gradually approaching where her mom, sister, and dad are now standing. "Dad?"

Darcy chokes up.

Gigi looks scared.

Then, five heartbeats later, Darcy opens his arms, his tear ducts, his chest. His arms beckon. His daughter follows.

"Gigi!"

"Dad!"

Around them, the clocks, the posters, the plush toys, and the curtains keep existing the way they've always had.

Inside of them - inside four broken, lost souls - Lizzie's quick to realize that things would never be the same again.


"She really said that?"

"The other guy did - the guy who's, like, her sidekick, I think. But she totally agreed, Dad. It's her fault too," Lili pleads.

Lizzie walks out of the kitchen with all four requested drinks - iced tea for the girls, tea for herself, and black coffee for Darcy.

It's been a while since she last served coffee that way.

The sight is cozy when she approaches the others. Lili is on Darcy's lap. Gigi sits on the carpet, at his feet, hero-worship still glistening in her young eyes.

Lizzie sighs - unsuccessfully trying to dissipate the confusion in her mind - and closes the last two yards to her now very over-populated couch.

"Stay hydrated?"

The two girls instantly look her way, look at the drinks on her tray, and dash for the drinks on her tray. They grab a glass each in perfect sync - as if they've been fighting over food their entire lives.

Lizzie clears her throat. It's too bad her thoughts don't shut up.

"Lizzie." Darcy looks up at her. It still warms her up - the way he says her name. His eyes look sad, offended. "Did you hear - "

"Yeah." She bends down to slide the tray on the coffee table. She nudges a few magazines to make room before she stands back up with his coffee in hand. "Lili told me - and Gigi correlated what she said."

"I mean - nude photos." Darcy looks appalled. It's a little satisfying to see him so indignant and protective. "I know Caroline's an obnoxious flirt, but I didn't think she would - "

"She wants to hurt Mom!" Lili announces. Gigi, ever sweet and prim and proper, nods vigorously beside her sister.

"I know." Darcy sighs. He takes the coffee wordlessly - and downs half the cup in one go.

Lizzie narrows her eyes.

"How long have you been dating her, Will?" She asks. He doesn't look up.

"Dad, she's new, right? Your last girlfriend lasted long - "

"Lili!" Darcy groans. He drinks the rest of his coffee before placing the emptied Andrew-Lloyd-Webber-themed mug back on the tray. He doesn't look happy. Lizzie wonders if the source of his anger is either of the girls or she.

The three female family members wait patiently for the only man present to form his words.

"She - she's Charles' sister," Darcy offers, a minute later. He sighs. His eyes look dark and tired. "I didn't think she would be that different from him."

"Will, I - "

"She kidnapped me, Dad!" Lili ups the drama. "Can you imagine who could have done that?"

"I thought you wanted to come?" Gigi asks.

"Well, I - she - "

"You wanted to come to New York, right?"

"Well, I - " Lili groans, tongue-tied. Darcy is too engrossed by the empty coffee mug to budge.

Suddenly, the tension rolls off Lizzie. The comedy of the two sisters - same in birth, separate in temperament - lends a lightness to life that she's never really realized she wanted before. They're funny - the girls. One is too much like her and the other too much like Jane for the two to ever be alike. But, still, somehow, they go together - sweet versus witty, spirited versus gentle.

Was it ever right to have separated them the way they did?

The doorbell rings - long and precise. The touch is a woman's. The hour is strange.

Lizzie glances Darcy's way. Darcy shrugs. The girls are too busy arguing with each other to even notice the sound.

"It's probably one of my writers." Lizzie shrugs.

Darcy nods as if he agrees. She nods back before getting the door.


"Excuse me!"

Darcy starts at the voice. He knows it. He's angry that he knows it.

"Miss Bingley, right?" Lizzie's voice is clear, direct - the ultimate no-nonsense theatre producer. Caroline's taller, so the top of her over-coiffed head peeks up above the back of Lizzie's head. Darcy feels both daughters drawing closer.

"Excuse me, Miss Bennet - " Caroline chuckles viciously. She sounds wild, deranged. Darcy feels disgusted at having gone on a date with her at all. "It seems that I have misplaced my boyfriend at your apartment."

"My dad is not your boyfriend!" Lili shoots up. She marches, head first, towards the door. The rage in her tone is something Darcy's hearing for the very first time in the little girl's entire life. Lizzie turns to make way for her fuming child. "He's here to see me - not you."

Lili stomps her foot. Darcy realizes he needs to address that action later.

"Well, hello, darling." Caroline levels her gaze at Lili. It's both awkward and hilarious - the tall blonde with the tiny brunette. "Care to bring your dad with us?"

"I'm not going home with you!" Lili crosses her arms. She's a veritable diva. Darcy feels Gigi leaning closer against him. The similarity to Georgiana's younger years is heart-rending.

Caroline scoffs. Even with his partial view, Darcy feels as if he's right beside the scene.

"And so you'll stay on the streets?"

"No," Lili insists. She wraps her hands around Lizzie's waist. "I'm staying here - with my mom."

Caroline sputters. If this weren't his own life, Darcy would have found the whole thing extremely comedic.

He stands up then, starting to realize his best friend's crazy sister wasn't about to leave without catching a glimpse of him.

"Daddy?" Gigi's eyes are large - compelling.

Darcy offers a weak smile. "I'll be back."

"Really?"

"Yes." Darcy nods.

Gigi nods back, and Darcy makes his way towards Caroline Bingley and Lili Darcy's stand-off.

"Darcy, Will - darling!" Caroline exclaims when he approaches. She tries to enter the apartment. Lizzie blocks her with her body.

Lizzie is sexy.

Darcy gulps.

"Caroline."

"Shall we go, dear? Surely, this - this trash bin of a place isn't worth your - "

"How did you find me?" Darcy demands. He tries to keep his voice level, tries to be calm and in control.

"I - I - well, of course, I - "

"You tracked me, didn't you?"

Darcy tries not to be distracted by Lizzie's gasp and knowing gaze.

He strips his wrist of the expensive, supposedly-limited-edition Rolex she'd generously given him on their second date.

"You're psychotic, Caroline." He tosses the watch on her collar. It lands on her open palms.

"You're a tool, William Darcy."

"Great." He sighs. He reaches past Lizzie to grab the doorknob. "Then leave me - see you never."

He feels justifiably relieved when the blonde curls tumble down the stairs and whirl out the building with an angry, slammed door.


A/N: Goodbye Caroline! Let the fluff-fest begin :)