A/N:

Yes an Author's note before we begin. This chapter will probably not be what any of you expected. After all this is Nick's story, but I started something with Ana and I really wanted to explore it more. And truth be told, I LOVE writing Ana. I missed it. So a very good friend of mine told me, just write her.

So I did.

Ana will have this and next chapter dedicated to her. She will of course still be in the rest of the story, but these next two are just her. So please do enjoy :)

Chapter 20
Ana's choice

Ana walked into the small breakfast nook, the tantalizing smell of cooked bacon and eggs drifted through the tiny apartment making her stomach growl. She didn't remember much of the ride to Keane's place. After the strange altercation with Eugene everyone had seemed in a daze, especially Keane. She could not remember when she had last seen the warrior so shaken up.

Keane had decided against getting a rental and simply got a taxi. Moments after getting settled into the car, Ana had fallen asleep. It was almost like all the strength had been drained from her, she had been exhausted. Someone must have carried her inside to bed, because the next thing she remembered was lying in a strange bed. After stretching and getting her bearings Ana looked at the time on her phone. It read ten a.m. She had been sleeping for at least fourteen hours.

When Ana had finally regained consciousness she had found Evie gathering some clothes for a shower. She and her sister had slept in the giant bed which took up most of the room, while Keane and Nick had slept in the living room.

Now awake and sure she had not been kidnapped she got a better look at the house she was in. Well, house was not the right word for it, it was more like a small sardine box. Ana moved to the small window and gently pushed the curtain to the side; she realized they were in an apartment on the third story. When Keane had said his house, she had assumed it would have been something posh and extravagant. A small castle on a large estate in the country, or a classic English home with a cute thatched roof and stone walls. But instead he had brought them to a tiny, one bedroom apartment in the middle of busy downtown London.

As Ana emerged from the bedroom, Nick was still asleep while Evie was in the bathroom. Ana let her eyes roam the little flat when they soon landed on Keane, who to her surprise was by the stove, cooking. Freshly showered with his hair still damp and comb back, he stood barefoot while flipping the last strips of bacon. Seeing him cooking was rather odd and somehow felt very intimate. Ana had seen Keane the warrior, the caretaker, the bad guy and even the savior, but she had never really imagined him as the housekeeping type.

Despite his relaxed appearance he still wore his stuffy clothing. From his dark trousers to the light colored button up shirt, except without the overcoat. The button up shirt had a few buttons unfasten at the top, and his suspenders hung freely on the side of his trousers. Ana swallowed thickly as she watched him work. His face held an air of concentration as he set the rest of the bacon onto a plate. He shut the stove top off and turned around to find Ana gawking at him.

-"Anastasia, I didn't realize you were awake." He smiled, grabbing a towel from the rack and wiping his hands.

-"You can cook?"

Keane gave a snort as he pulled a chair out and motioned to Ana to sit down.

-"Of course I cook. You don't think I employ an army of chefs simply to cater to me, do you?"

Ana cautiously took a seat at the small round breakfast table. Her stomach growled at the sight of the giant platter of food Keane set in front of her, which included eggs, bacon and assorted fruits.

-"I - I hadn't really thought about it." She quickly said, suddenly feeling stupid for even mentioning something like it.

Keane sat down at the chair next to her with his own heaping plate of food. Thanks to the small state of the apartment as Keane sat down, his knees hit Ana's knees. He mumbled an apology as he settled into his seat. But to Ana's horror, his long legs barely fit under the table. He moved slightly to the side causing his legs to intertwine with hers. Ana tried to ignore the sudden onset of butterflies that fluttered in her stomach. She cast her eyes down and stared at her food.

-"This is ... cozy." She commented, trying to calm the tension that was building between them.

Keane shrugged.

-"It was never meant to house this many people. I simply use this place as a quick stop when I am in the city."

Ana nodded.

-"Oh, I somehow never pictured you as the cozy apartment type."

Keane let out a light laugh.

-"No, I suppose not. Then again you also didn't imagine I cooked." Keane stuffed a forkful of eggs into his mouth as his expression turned pensive. "It makes me wonder how you have seen me all these years." Keeping his eyes on his plate he grabbed a piece of bacon. "I am just a regular man, Anastasia, with the same wants and needs." He paused and Ana felt her cheeks get warm. "I just happen to be immortal, that is all."

Keane looked up and meet Ana's stare with his intense hazel eyes. She knew she should look away, her brain was screaming to not keep studying him but Ana ignored the voice and let her eyes drift from his face to his neck where Eugene had held him in such a tight hold that it would probably have crushed a regular person's windpipe, but not being just anyone, Keane had only sported the mark of his assaulter fingers on his skin last night. Now all traces were gone.

-"Your bruises are gone." She whispered a bit flabbergasted. Ana had always known he would heal faster thanks to his immortality but never having witness it until now was rather startling.

Before she knew what she was doing, Ana reached out and with the lightest of touch her fingers skimmed his neck. The alabaster skin was slightly rough under her touch even though he was freshly shaved. Ana watched Keane's Adam's apple violently bob as he swallowed thickly.

-"Yes ..." Keane replied, his voice low and husky. "My injuries never last long."

Keane kept as still as possible as he studied Ana, until she realized what she doing. With speed she wrenched her hand back. Keane cleared his throat as if sensing her unease. And just like magic, Evie emerged from the bathroom just as Nick let out a groan and slowly sat up. Keane gave Ana a mischievous grin before his attention went back to his food, leaving Ana to wonder if Keane had somehow been keeping Evie and Nick away.

But that was ridiculous right?

oOo

Once everyone had eaten their fill and the dishes were done, Keane, Evie, Nick and Ana all moved out to the living room. It was late morning but the room was dark thanks to the typical London weather which was dreary and rainy. Ana and Evie both sat on the loveseat while Nick took a seat in the recliner. Keane stood in front of the coffee table, his arms were crossed and he seemed preoccupied.

-"So now what?" Nick asked, as he stretched his legs in front of him. "Do we wait here until the order and Zak track us down?"

-"Yes."

-"What?" Evie and Ana replied at the same time.

-"What the fuck are you playing at?" Nick jumped to his feet as if he was ready to pounce.

Keane rolled his eyes at Nick's reaction.

-"If we run they will keep following us, no matter where we go, it will just be a matter of time before the order caught us. They have spies everywhere." Keane turned towards the wall behind him which had a large bookshelf with several books that looked like they belonged in the last century. "What we need to do is some research. It is obvious that this new government group is aware of things I am not. I do not like being in the dark about things." Keane pulled out a dusty volume with a leather cover and a very worn spine. "There is one thing that the government group has right ... we need to find a way of closing the doorway between this world and the shadow world, at least the doorway that allowed Ana and Evie to enter it."

-"I thought the only way to do that was with Evie?" Nick still stood by his chair, with his arms crossed.

Keane turned around and lightly tossed his book to Nick, who caught it flawlessly.

-"Yes. That is the obvious way. But Eugene said something last night and I did not realize what it meant until this morning. There is another way, we just have to discover it."

-"How do we do that?" Evie asked her eyes on Nick as he flipped through the book Keane had given him. "We look through old books?"

Keane nodded.

-"This isn't even in English." Nick grumbled with a frustrated frown.

-"How are regular books going to help us?"

-"You have to know in what books to look." Keane said simply. He walked over to Nick and yanked the book from his hands. "I have errands to run, I will be back."

-"Right now?" Nick turned to glare at Keane who rushed into the bedroom.

-"Yes. I need to call on an old friend. It will not take long." Keane spoke loudly from the bedroom but soon came back out sporting his usual long Victorian blazer. He finished doing the last button and slipped on his eleven holes black work boots. "You lot, stay here." Keane headed for the door but stopped short and back-tracked to Ana. He bent down and whispered close to her ear. "Pick a place, any place in London you want to visit and we will go."

Ana could feel Keane's soft breath tickle her cheek which made her grow flush.

-"What do you mean?" She asked, confused.

-"Something fun, or boring, which ever. Just pick something to go see."

-"Shouldn't we be doing research or something?" Nick asked from behind Keane.

Ana nodded agreeing with him.

-"I think Nick is right." Ana started. "We really should start –."

-"We will." Keane interrupted Ana. "But it's important to have fun and relax as well and you haven't had fun in a long time. You will work better, trust me." Keane straightened back up and gave Ana a smirk. "But those two are not invited, so they can find something else to do."

With that he turned around and left the apartment leaving everyone to gape at him. Ana wasn't sure why she was surprise by him. After all she should be used to the unexpected with Keane, but sometimes he just puzzled her beyond belief, it also was not helping that she was feeling extremely conflicted.

Keane was sweet and kind. He was protecting her and giving her that funny feeling in the pit of her stomach where it felt like it might leap out of her throat at any minute. He made her heart skip and stop at the oddest moment. Keane made her feel wanted and useful. Something she had not felt in a long time.

-"I fucking hate that guy." Nick mumbled as he flopped back down into the large recliner.

Everyone was quiet for several minutes until Evie stood and walked to the bookcase, she scanned the volumes with interest.

-"If Eugene told some secret message to Keane, I wonder if that means that Eugene might know how to close the doorway." She said pensively.

-"I don't know ... but I don't see how old books are going to help us." Nick kept his eyes firmly on Evie.

-"Books are full of information; you'd know that if you would read one, once in a while." Evie snapped.

Nick made a face behind her back.

-"I meant, if that stuff was in books, wouldn't the whole damn world know about this shit?"

-"Not necessarily." Ana spoke up. Books were her area of expertise after all. "If we are talking about really old books, most of them are not even in English or at least not the English that we use anymore. They could have just been dismissed as old legends and things like that."

-"That's true." Evie pulled out a book and casually flipped through the thin pages. "I mean seriously Ana and I are the things of fairy tales ... who knows what could be written somewhere about us and someone just filed under not important."

-"Yeah maybe ... I just think we should be doing something else."

-"Like what?" Evie's eyes glared at Nick. "Should we barricade ourselves with a crate full of guns and just wait?"

Nick stood and took a step towards Evie.

-"No, I just think that we could move somewhere more remote, that is not in downtown London, then we get a new plan."

Evie slammed the book shut and put a hand on her hip.

-"Well I think this is a good plan, so we are staying here to do some research. I don't see what it will hurt; a little knowledge could help us out."

-"Of course you'd take Keane side in all this." Nick spat back, obviously upset.

Ana wondered if she should excuse herself from the strange argument that had popped up out of nowhere.

-"What the hell does that mean?"

-"It just means you two are pretty tight, you got the hots for him or something?"

Evie let out a frustrated groan.

-"Of course not!" She took a step towards Nick; the two were almost nose to nose. "I think he is okay. He is trying to help us and we can trust him, that's it."

-"Trust him? How can you even say that?" Nick roared. "He has been trying to break up Ana and Zak for years, he's messed with all of us, and he manipulates every situation so the outcome works for him. How is that trust worthy?" Nick's face was bright red in anger.

Ana stiffened at the mention of Zak's name.

-"Well maybe I think Keane is a great guy for my sister. She can sure as hell do better than that guy she married!" Evie shouted back.

Unable and unwilling to listen to any more of it, Ana quickly stood and rushed towards the door, dashing out of the small apartment.

oOo

Ana didn't wander far. London was a bit more intimidating then she remembered it and she would hate to get lost, so she simply sat on one of the stone stairs outside. The rain had stopped but the sky was still grey and gloomy. Although it felt warm. Well compared to the snowy weather from Chicago anywhere would feel warmer.

With her elbows on her lap she held her head with sorrow, the thought of Zak and his betrayal returning to her. It hurt ... she couldn't put into words the pain she was feeling. She had never been stabbed in the back like that. Not by someone who was supposed to love her forever. He had not only been keeping secrets from her, he had been plotting murder! Who did that?

-"Ana?" Nick called softly from the doorway. Not bothering to turn around she sat as still as a statue. She had expected to be followed, but not by Nick. He sat down next to her. "I'm sorry." He said in a small voice.

-"It's okay." She replied, keeping her eyes on the road in front of her.

-"No, I was a dick in there. I shouldn't have said anything about you and Zak."

Ana nodded, moving her head slightly to look at Nick. His expression was sad and somber. She hadn't been the only one who had been hurt by Zak's action.

-"Why do you think he did it?" She asked.

Nick was quiet for a long moment. Ana looked around the small neighborhood road they were on. It was nothing like in America. The road was narrow with cars parked along it, but the most peculiar thing was the houses and apartments. Every single one looked alike on the road. All an exact copy of each other with little differences, but it was still somehow charming.

-"I wish I knew ..." Nick finally replied. "I have asked myself that a million times. Why would he willingly fuck up his marriage, his friendships ... his entire life for this?" Nick exhaled loudly. "All I can think of is fear."

-"Fear?" Ana replied surprised.

-"Yeah ... being scared makes you do stupid shit."

Ana let out a small humorless laugh.

-"Like pushing away people who care about you?"

Nick glanced at Ana and let out a snort.

-"Something like that."

Ana nodded.

-"Evie likes you. I can tell. Just be patient with her." She offered.

Nick shrugged. They both remained in a comfortable silence until a familiar form was spotted at the end of sidewalk. The cocky walk, his tall, slim frame. Keane was on his way back and it had only taken him a short time as he had promised. Despite herself, Ana felt her heart rate pick her and her breathing sped up.

She also felt Nick stiffened next to her, as if he picked up the changes in her body. He looked in the direction that Ana was staring at. Seconds later he stood, but moved down to eye level with Ana.

-"Ana, you been like a sister to me, since we met. You are sweet, and adorable." He put a friendly hand on her lap. "But you are also pretty naive sometimes ... Don't let Keane fool you. He is still that asshole that did all that shit to you and Zak."

Ana frowned.

-"Keane never did anything to me ... he just ... he had feelings for me, but he accepted the fact that I was with Zak. That's all."

Nick sighed.

-"Well ... you are a grown woman, and Zak was an ass, hell I don't know if you should forgive him, I'm not telling you too. I don't know if I can. But don't do anything you will regret later, okay?"

Ana nodded. Nick gave her knee a squeeze and placed a kiss on the top of her head before hurrying back inside leaving Ana to wrestle with the feelings she had buried long ago for Keane.