Author's Notes: OKAY, SO HERE'S THE THING. Remember when I said that if I didn't have this finished by Monday Santa could give me coal? Well, know what Santa did give me? One nasty cold on Sunday and Monday. Which basically left me dead to the world and ergo, not capable of any writing. BUT I'M SORTA MAKING UP FOR IT. This isn't the last chapter, there's only ONE more to go and I swear, swear, swear on the Heroes life that that one will be posted by Wednesday! Okay? Okay.


Love Ever After - Pt. 9

He wants to open the elevator door and run after her, asking her to repeat what she had just said. To confirm it.

'We broke up'

The words echo in his head and everything around him has become nothing but a dull silence. They broke up. Kate and Declan. They broke up. She was free. Henry tried to keep the beating of his heart down, but priorities had suddenly shifted and he didn't know what to make of this.

The ding of the elevator's doors opening broke him out of his reprieve and Henry had to use all of his willpower to not push the button back up again. She must have known what that revelation would mean to him, hadn't she? There was a reason she said it. There had to have been a reason she said it.

Come home safely.

That was the reason. And Henry swore to himself that before, before he was leaving a part of himself here but now he was going to do everything to come back to it. Because they broke up. And that meant he had another chance. And he was a damned bastard, an idiot that didn't deserve any chances at all. But he had one.


It took longer then he thought it was going to take. Tracking down the suspect proved to be easier in theory, but they kept at it. Day and night and night and day. Until the days of the weeks became a blur and notions of returning to the Sanctuary successful became farther away. Henry was going to return to the Sanctuary anyway, there was no doubt about it. But he wanted this so badly, wanted to bring an end to this wild goose chase that had been going on for far to long.

It was during their 5th consecutive week living as wolves that some news actually came. Henry had gotten used to staying more in HAP shape then in human, it was easier not to think of home like this. He was concentrated on the chase. The smell was weak, and faraway, they had picked up on it early on.

But the attack came out of nowhere.

They weren't expecting much, but having their enemy come to them certainly wasn't one of their plans. And yet it happened. They were quick and noisy and Henry hadn't been this scared in a long time. But he fought back. They had a plan and they fought back with everything they had.

The hunters weren't ordinary werewolf hunters, their prizes were based on who their catch was as a human, more then as abnormals. Being killed was the least of their problems. These hunters were looking for more, for entertainment, for a prize that wasn't normally seen.

The lycan black market was so underground you didn't even know about it, no matter how hard you searched. But it was there. And it was harsh. While in human form, they served as practically slaves and while in wolf form, they were drugged and put against one another as if nothing more then mindless animals. It was even worse for the woman. Luckily for Erica she had managed to avoid that. Death had never been so peaceful.

It was thoughts like these that raced through Henry's mind as he fought, for himself for the others around him and to bring an end to all of this. They didn't seek to kill these men, no, only hurt, maim them maybe, the point was to seek information out of them later on. Victory was becoming theirs and Henry could see, finally, an end to everything that had been going on. But that wasn't to say their side hadn't lost people either.

When the sun was barely rising, the silence surrounding the clearing was defining. Around them, bodies laid splayed along the grounds, humans and lycans united in death. Those that had been kept prisoners – for lack of a better word – were slowly being tied down one by one as the HAPs changed back into humans. Henry was the last among them, looking around, willing his amber eyes to see against the darkness of the dawn around them.

It was over. He could go home.

Finally allowing himself to drift with his thoughts, Henry didn't sense the threat until he was right behind him. By then it was too late. He heard his wolf cry out in pain as the world went black around him. His last thought drifting to how this couldn't be happening. Not now. Not now that it was finally over and he had another chance. He wanted so much to have another chance.


Kate raced down the hallways as fast as her feet would carry her, practically flying down the steps. She needed to see for herself, to believe it. She skidded down the corridor, making a sharp right and opening the door not as gently as she probably should have. She'd deal with that later, for now she just needed to see it. See him.

Her heart was still beating wildly in her chest, but she'd managed to calm down her breathing a bit, taking slow steps as she made the rest of the way into the cold, white room. She'd never liked this room. It was cold and white and smelt funny and always, always meant that something hadn't gone right.

Kate made herself take a deep breath, knowing her presence had been noticed from the moment she had not so silently opened the door. But she didn't meet anyone's eyes, no matter how hard Magnus tried too. She even avoided Biggie's questioning gaze, who had become an expert way to easily on reading her.

She was right beside his bed and Will made room for her, gesturing to the plastic chair which she ignores. Her eyes are on Henry's face and she slowly reaches out to grab his hand as she entwines their fingers. Her grey eyes trace his figures slowly, there's a deep gash a little over his eyebrow, and the skin near his jaw is purple, mostly likely a punch. She knows there are stitches near his forehead, hidden by his hair and he's thin, thinner then what she remembered.

Kate strokes his hand with the pad of her thumb, letting the warmth from his hand soothe her more then he would ever know. He's beaten, he's bruised, he looks like he went to hell and back again… But he's okay. And he's back. He's okay and he's back and Kate never thought she'd like being inside the infirmary so much, but there it was.

The chair is pushed to her once more and this time Kate sits, her hand unmoving from his, her eyes taking in the rest of his condition. He's going to have a hell of a headache when he wakes up. Because he's going to wake up. She doesn't care that he suffered from a concussion or that he was lucky. He's going to wake up or she'd kill him herself.

She wasn't above that.

The others had left and it dawned on her that she should have noticed it a lot earlier. It also flashes through her mind that her reaction spoke more then she could ever try to say. But this was Henry and this was her. This would never not be her reaction. And she realizes that, in that quiet moment, alone in the infirmary with her thumb ever-caressing his hand. They always knew, always expected it.

Minutes, hours, pass in a blur and she's unmoving by his side. Kate doesn't know what this means. It should be obvious and apparently it is to everyone around her, but not her. She doesn't know if she's willing to go down that road again. It hurt to much the first time around. Forgiveness is easy, but it's not as easy to forget. And she remembers it clearly. The hurt, the pain, the lost.

She remembers the lost more then anything else.

Not losing him, no, that came with the pain and the hurt. But she remembers what it was like to feel that lost. For someone who had always been so sure of her path, her way, being lost, it scared her. More then it should. More then she admitted it. Because that's not how she worked. But she had let him take away her certainty and let life surprise her.

And well, it sure as hell had surprised her.

Henry stirred and Kate was pulled away from her thoughts. When he showed signs of waking up she let go of his hand, missing the contact. The touch between them was more about her then him. Her way of knowing that he really was okay… Well maybe not okay, but certainly alive. She got up and went to call on Magnus, alerting her to his presence in the 'real-world' again.

She was by his side when Magnus arrived, closely followed by Will and Biggie. He opened his eyes slowly, blinking at the harsh light as Magnus tried to soothe him with words. The hand she had previously been holding clenched emptily around thin air, making her feel guilty for letting go. Holding onto him when he was awake was admitting to more then Kate could at the moment.

His vision was fuzzy as he tried to key in on what was going on, what had happened. Everything hurt, but at the same time there was a numb feeling coursing through his body. And by smell alone he knew where he was – even if he didn't know what had happened. Finally able to focus his eyes, they searched for the one face he'd been dreaming about seeing. To convince himself that he was still here, still alive.

Convince himself that he still had his chance.

Blue met grey in the dance they seemed so good at and he felt himself relax when she smiled back at him. No matter how brief it was. Kate didn't stay long and maybe it was for the best. He really wasn't able to follow what Magnus was trying to tell him with her there. And while there were other more pressing things in his mind, he had to know what had happened.

Lucky was an understatement.

Then again, like most things in his life, Henry realized that there was more to his luck then he deserved. A stray hunter, who had managed to conceal himself in the woods during the fight, had shot him down. And it was the most unlikely of people to save his ass. None other then Declan himself, having kept an eye on any suspicious activities happening near the UK. It had been more like a hunch then anything else, but Henry knew he owed his life to the Brit. In more ways then one.

A part of him kinda felt guilty.

The hunter that attacked Henry had been shot down and taken into questioning along with the others. Henry had been rushed to the infirmary and luckily there weren't any major traumas. He had gotten a really bad concussion which had Magnus worried the first days, along with cuts and bruises along his body. If he had been human at the time the wounds would most certainly been fatal, but as a lycan his body had more protection. Henry guessed he owed his wolf a thank you.


The days went by slowly, being confined to the infirmary had never been his favourite pastime. Then again, he doubted anyone actually enjoyed being strapped to a bed with disinfectant washing over their senses. He really did hate that awful smell. But the visits did make everything better. Except the one person he wanted to visit him, had yet to do so.

"Look what I have!" Will's voice brought him out of his reprieve and for a second Henry was tempted to ask if it was Kate.

"Tell me it's something Magnus told me I'm not allowed to eat and you'll be my best friend."

Will chuckled and shook his head. "I'm already your best friend and no, sadly it isn't. You forget I'm a doctor too."

"You're a shrink."

"Still get to be called Doctor." Will laughed, sitting down on the plastic chair that had taken residence beside Henry's bed and handing him the small stack of comics he had brought along.

"Does that work with girls you date?" Henry asked, chuckling.

"Sometimes."

Henry smiled at him and shook his head, eagerly taking in the new comics. He had been bored out of his mind.

"Speaking of girls…" Will started, letting the sentence hang loose in the air.

"Nothing to speak of." Henry replied, knowing exactly where the shrink was going to go with this conversation.

He let Henry flip through the comic book in his hands, watching him take in the pictures before the geek got fed up with Will's observant eyes and met his stare.

"Yeah?"

"Nothing." Will said, holding up his hands and grabbing a comic book himself.

Henry waited a beat before sighing. "….Just say it."

"Okay, so are you going to do anything?" The shrink really shouldn't have this much enthusiasm over something that didn't even concern him.

"Dude, you need to get a life."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"You sound like a girl."

"Are we avoiding the question Henry?"

"No, the answer to your question is still; nothing." Henry interrupted him before Will could speak again. "For starters, I'm tied to a bed, Magnus doesn't let me leave this place even if I'm feeling 100% fine."

"Yeah, she's kinda annoying when you almost die." Will joked, having had his fair share of Magnus' evil infirmary glare.

"And second…" Henry's voice trailed off again as he stared glumly at the door. "She hasn't been to see me."

"Oh." Will's eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh?" Henry asked, curious.

"I just, I find it interesting that she hasn't been to see you, but she didn't leave your side when you were unconscious."

"Oh." It was Henry's turn to raise his eyebrows. "Maybe she just wanted to make sure I was alive. Not have that sort of guilt or whatever."

"Maybe." Will repeated, but he knew as much as Henry did that they both didn't buy it.

They stayed in silence, for which Henry was grateful. Maybe Will had finally picked up on how much of a non-talking subject this was for him. Or maybe Will had just stopped trying to push on something that wasn't there.

Either way, Henry chose not to think about it. It was better this way.


It was dark, and probably very, very late, but Henry had spent so much time cooped up inside that he'd lost the notion of time properly. He was supposed to be dozing off, but he had a headache, the first one in a while and he was torn between calling Magnus or just sucking it up. It wasn't even that it hurt that much, she had just warned him to call her if he felt anything. But a part of Henry knew that if he were to say anything, that could mean more time inside.

And they could call him a kid for all he cared, but he really didn't want to spend more time in there then he had too.

It's when he hears it, soft footsteps coming towards his door and he wonders for a second if he should feign sleep. It was probably the Doc coming to check on him, or even Biggie. He knows who he wants it to be, it's always the same person. But after it not happening so many times, Henry had just given up on Kate every coming to visit him. Which tears at his heart more then it should, really.

But this time somethings different and he almost has to sniff the air twice to be certain. Sweet, yet spicy, of flowers and something herbal and a distinctive something had he has never been able to name, but recognizes it the moment he had first smelt it.

"You're supposed to be asleep." Her voice carries easily to his ears, even if a whisper. She knows him well enough to know when his HAP ears pick up on stuff.

"So are you." He answers, because it's somewhat the truth and he doesn't know what to say. "Biggie have you keeping tabs on me?"

"Not this time." Is her response. She knows he's upset about her lack of visiting and while she wants to, Kate just can't seem to find a good enough excuse for him.

"Ah…" Her lips can't help but curl into a soft smile as she slowly makes her way towards him.

"Do you mind?" She knows he doesn't, but she asks anyway.

Henry indicates towards the chair and sits up against the bed, bringing his pillow more comfortably behind him. "Never."

Kate waits for that awkward moment between them to come and when it doesn't, she's not really sure what it means. He senses it too, because he's suddenly staring at her, expectantly and she doesn't know what to do. Things aren't awkward anymore, but that doesn't mean that they're easier.

"How you feeling?"

"I'm actually feeling fine." Henry answers, this time meaning it, not like the million times he's repeated it to Magnus on the previous days.

"How's the headache?" She asks and it should surprise him how she knows, but this is Kate, and this is him and she's always been able to read him so crystal clear.

"I actually think it's just a headache and nothing more serious." He answers, giving her a smile. "No need to be telling the Doc on me."

Kate rolls her eyes at his antics, but there's a whisper of a smile on her face. "Trust me Hank, I wouldn't wish this place on anyone."

She'd called him Hank and they've both noticed. This time it wasn't by accident. But he doesn't call her on it, not this time, and nor the next time she does it. Truth is, he's missed hearing it from her lips almost as much as she'd missed saying it.

They sit in silence, but it's comfortable and it's comforting and they haven't felt it in much to long. It's that moment that he realizes that they're finally back to being friends. No strings attached, no complicated feelings, just friends. And as strange as it seems, he's very much okay with that.

"You should rest." Kate says, watching him watching her.

"Ditto."

"I don't have a concussion and various bruises around my body." She points out, grinning as Henry tries not to pout.

"Yeah well, wanna switch?" He jokes. "Great Jello."

"That sounds like a really sweet deal Foss, but somehow, I'm not inclined."

"You're not inclined?" He raises an eyebrow at her vocabulary.

"Nope." Her chuckle is contagious and Henry finds his headache disappearing. As cliché as that might seem.

Kate eyes drift towards his bedside table, it's her turn to raise an eyebrow as she slowly picks up the paperback rested against it. Gone With the Trash. Their eyes meet over the book and Henry just shrugs, giving her a small smile.

"Figured it was more then enough time."

She nods, running a hand over the worn out cover. "And?" There's a hint of a challenge in her voice.

"And it's good." She raises her eyebrow and he rolls his eyes, nodding again. "And it's really, really good."

"Took ya long enough to admit it." He wished she didn't sound so smug.

"Well, what can I say, guy's gotta hold onto something."

Kate stares at him in thought, turning her head a bit as her fingers drum over the cover. "Yeah, I guess he does."

Her eyes, locked on his, say a lot more then they should. There's a moment of silence before Kate smiles at him again, putting the book back on the bedside table.

"Goodnight Hank."

"Night Kay."

She turns her head at that, wanting to say something and a part of him dares her too.

It had started as a joke between them, him mocking her on the way she signed her texts and notes. Just the first letter of her name, as if writing the other three were to much of a hassle. She'd ignore him on most days, but the truth was that it was sweet and special and it was theirs.

Which is why she didn't say anything, just smiled as she left.