Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, nor anything connected to it.

Author's note: This chapter is unbeta-d.

Chapter 10

After Derek passed his final exams, he was so desperate to see his family again that he arranged to graduate in absentia. The Mounties had arranged his flight, ensuring it included a transfer, apparently that made it more difficult for people to track, not that the threat was as great now that the trial had finished. The stopover was only two hours long, but to Derek it felt like days, and when the last people to board the flight wandered on, he glared at them with a vehement loathing. When the plane finally touched down in Montreal, he jumped up from his seat, and practically sprinted to baggage reclaim. It had been four years since he'd seen his family, but the ten minutes spent waiting for his bag to come around on the carousel seemed like an eternity.

As he passed through the arrivals gate he scanned the area for them, and spotted them at the closest end of the barrier. Marti was jumping up and down with the anticipation of seeing him again. Marti. The shock winded him, as he realised how much she had grown - she no longer looked like his little Smarti. She caught sight of him first, and surged forward, past the designated area.

"Smerek!" cried Marti, as she sprinted towards him, throwing her arms around his neck, now that she was tall enough to do so. As he lifted her off the ground, and squeezed her tight, he felt other family members join the hug. The relief was overwhelming, and it was only when he finally opened his eyes, and spotted an old lady tearing up at the sight of their ecstatic reunion, that he remembered they were in a public place, and pulled back.

"Dad! Edwin! God, it's good to see you guys. And Marti! My Smarti! Am I still allowed to call you that?"

"Of course!" laughed Marti, rolling her eyes.

"You're so grown up!" Derek's voice broke slightly, as he realised he was stating the obvious.

"She is twelve after all," said Nora, in a sing-song voice that suggested this was a much repeated phrase. She stepped forward to hug Derek, having refrained from the previous throng, in order to give the Venturis some space.

"Hey, Nora. You look good," said Derek, though in truth he thought both his dad and Nora looked a little more frayed around the edges than when he had last seen them. "Where's Lizzie?" he asked as they began to make their way out of the airport, slowed by Marti suckering herself to Derek's side.

"She's gone to off to study at university," provided Edwin, his expression betrayed that he wasn't entirely happy about it, "She said to tell you that she was sorry to miss you."

"Have you got change for the ticket machine?" interrupted George, as he rooted around in his pocket.

"I left my bag at home," admitted Nora.

"Some things never change," Derek laughed, as details of his previous life came flooding back to him.

"It's quite comforting," agreed Marti, her calm reflection was testimony to how much the ordeal had shaped all of them.

"Not to mention quite expensive," griped Edwin, as he passed a handful of change to his father.

Confused by Edwin's apparent attitude, Derek passed a puzzled look to Marti who nodded, and leaned up to whisper in his ear, "He's been like that since Lizzie left," her concerned tone revealed even more than her words. Derek nodded, and made a mental note to spend a bit of one-on-one time with his brother later.

"Are you hungry, Derek?" asked Nora, and Derek gave her a look that made it clear the answer was obvious, "Stupid question," she admitted, mainly to herself, but Edwin nodded all the same, as they made their way over to the car.

"Are you happy to sit between Edwin and Marti in the back?" asked George, and Derek nodded. "We've not been able to put you on the licence yet, since we didn't know your new name," he explained, as they squeezing into the small hatchback.

"The car's only big enough for five, so Casey couldn't come, but she'll…" explained Nora, as she started the car.

"Casey?" At the mention of her name, Derek jolted out of his seat, and spun around to face his stepmother.

"Yep. She transferred to a distance learning course in her third year. Missed us all too much to stay away," explained Edwin, his implication being that Derek and Lizzie hadn't.

Derek slunk back in his seat, reeling from the news that Casey was home, and that he was about to see her. He hadn't allowed himself to consider the prospect, in case he had been setting himself up for disappointment, if she had been relocated elsewhere. The car started, and the family's chatter resumed full flow, so much so that they didn't notice Derek's lack of involvement in the conversation.

"…We had to be home-schooled after we moved again," Marti provided a blow by blow account of her daily life. Derek was tempted to ask about incident that had forced them to relocate, but he decided to wait until Marti wasn't there; he didn't want to risk upsetting her. "Dad and Nora were teaching us, but they don't remember much from school, because it was so long ago. Casey took over tutoring us when she got back; she's really good at it, far better than she used to be, though she's still a dud at maths, which is why it's so impressive Edwin got into McGill. He's commuting into university every day, studying Commerce, his professors say he has a real talent for entrepreneurship," gushed Marti, apparently some of her older-brother-adoration had been transferred to Edwin, in Derek's absence.

"Casey's really enjoying tutoring though, and she's signed up for distance learning, so she can go into teacher training when she's finished…" Nora took up where Marti had left off, updating Derek on their lives. He hoped that she would change the topic soon; the knot in his stomach, caused by the realisation that Casey was home, couldn't get much tighter.

Their new house was a terraced townhouse, in one of Montreal's outer suburbs. It was still light when they arrived, but Derek failed to notice much, such was the anticipation of seeing Casey again.

"She's been up since dawn getting the meal ready," revealed Marti, as they made their way inside.

"It's almost like she thinks of you as company," joked Edwin quietly, though it was a big occasion for them all, truth be told.

When Derek entered the front door, he was physically paralysed by the familiar scent that hit him; he could smell the meals that his dad had burnt, the potpourri that Nora was so fond of, and Casey's perfume. Casey. He was still processing that thought when she emerged from the room at the end of the hall.

"Hi, Derek," her voice barely louder than a whisper, but his eyes were fixed on hers, and he heard her as though she had shouted. He was rendered mute, unable to verbalize any of the greetings, questions, or jokes that flooded his head. "Welcome home," she continued tentatively, unnerved by his lack of response. He advanced on her, and pulled her into a hug, which she didn't return. He quickly pulled back, and was further disconcerted when he caught sight of the look in her eyes, she looked almost frightened. He had been so thrilled to see her that it hadn't occurred to him that she would still be upset; the fight seemed like lifetimes ago to him.

The rest of this family recognised this shift in mood, and when they sat down to eat, conversation was stilted and awkward. Both Casey and Derek were noticeably silent, and Casey avoided making eye contact with him at all costs. It was painfully obvious to everyone, but no one could bring themselves to remark on it; they assumed it was due to the changes in circumstances, and the pair maturing at university. As Casey had prepared the meal, she was able to excuse herself under the guise of serving the food, and she took every possible opportunity to flee to the kitchen. As she fetched desert, George raised the topic everyone was avoiding.

"This was always going to be a little strange for everyone; you and Casey haven't seen each other for four years," began George, and Derek stared at the tablecloth, so as to avoid looking anyone in the eye.

"You've both have matured at university. You fought like cat and dog before, so I'm sure you won't want to fall back into that pattern. It'll just be a matter establishing a different sibling dynamic, by developing new methods of communicating with each other," suggested Nora, and Derek almost choked on his water; apparently the upheaval of the Witness Protection Program had caused Nora to check out some self help books, and amateur psychology was not welcome addition to the Derek and Casey saga.

"She seems to be biting her tongue, so maybe she's not planning on 'developing new methods of communicating' with Derek, maybe she's just planning on not communicating with him at all," Edwin's input was as unreassuring as the past few hours had taught Derek to expect, and he fleetingly wondered if his brother would now qualify as emo.

"I thought she was just nervous," offered Marti. By twelve she had become more reserved, waiting until everyone else had contributed to the conversation before sharing her insight, but she was more intuitive as ever; her guess was the most accurate.

"Why don't we open a bottle of wine…" suggested George, hoping to remind everyone of the evening's earlier, festive tone "… to celebrate Derek's return."

"That's a nice idea. I'll…" Nora was about to get up, when Derek stopped her.

"I'll get it," he offered, already half way to the kitchen.

"But you don't know where we keep it…"

"I'll ask Case," yelled Derek, as he proceeded to neglect his task, and instead, confronted Casey in the kitchen.

"Are you still upset about our fight? Because I'm sorry, I was out of line; stuff was just getting to me," his apology was sincere, and she blinked, before averting her eyes at the strength of his gaze.

"It's ok," she reassured him quickly, before scurrying to the fridge. She had resorted to freezing him out, but was uncomfortable with him trying to make amends; he had not known the context of their fight, since she had chosen to keep him in the dark. She turned to face him, but kept her eyes fixed to the floor. "Look, I'm sorry. It's not your fault. It's really me who should be apologising..."

Casey hurriedly took the cake and cream back to the table, leaving a perplexed Derek stood in the middle of the kitchen. He considered Casey's behaviour as he collected up the glasses, which took longer than normal, because he hadn't yet familiarised himself with the cupboard layout. He couldn't fathom why she would be sorry; she had never apologised for her reaction to his behaviour before, so that wasn't the reason. He was tired and frustrated by a lack of answers, so he resolved to speak to her later, and poured himself a glass of wine, before returning to the dining room.

"Casey said that she had eaten too much whilst cooking, so she's gone to her room," explained Nora, in an apologetic tone.

Casey was definitely hiding something, decided Derek.

Author's note: Thank you for all of your reviews, I hope I did this chapter justice, it was difficult to guess how everyone would have reacted to the reunion. I hope no one is too freaked out by emo Edwin; I figure that suddenly being the eldest sibling, in such difficult circumstances, would have had a major impact on him, and on his relationship with Lizzie, so her leaving could have been the final straw (he's also a teenage boy, and they defy explanation). Derek and Casey don't make it easy on themselves, but fear not, the next chapter is the last one, and I have a hunch they'll be on speaking terms by the end...