It had been four weeks since that first night that Luke and Katherine went out, and they'd been taking their time to get to know each other ever since. Tonight they were back at Luke's apartment, having just finished the most amazing italian take-out known to mankind.

"Where'd you find this place anyway?" Katherine asked him.

"Jenna recommended it - she went there with her parents years ago her first time in New York, and they were all floored."

"I'll say. Have you got any more tricks up your sleeve?"

"Not really, I'm kinda just winging it tonight. So what is your work situation exactly, when do you report in?"

"I'm cleared to return next week, but with the holiday, there's not really a point. I'll probably start back in a couple of weeks."

"Do you have plans for Thanksgiving, are you going out West to be with your siblings?"

She took a sharp breath and hesitated for a second.

"No, I'm not. My aunt on my dad's side is treating them to a cruise over the holiday. I was invited months ago, but I told them I couldn't get away from work like that. Of course that's all moot now." She answered morosely, her expression suddenly very troubled.

"What's wrong Kat, are you missing them?"

She shook her head without making eye contact.

"I could have gotten the time off, it was just an excuse not to go. We haven't had very much to do with my father's side of the family through the years. Over the last five years since my Mom died, my aunt has really been reaching out to us. Her heart's in the right place, it just brings back up a lot of negative things from my past." Katherine hesitated, shifted uncomfortably on the couch, and looked at him again.

"You remember that I told you there wasn't one certain event that drove me down my career path? That's not exactly the whole truth. You told me that you were a product of your environment Luke, and you could actually say that I am too.

My dad was around for the first few years of my life, up until I was seven years old. He was a police officer, a hard worker, and a loving man...most of the time. But I remember a lot of instability in his moods, lightning fast changes. One moment he was Mr. Sunshine, and the next second he could be slapping my mom across the room. He was verbally and physically abusive with her, off and on for years. He was always sorry afterwards, he even went to see a therapist a couple of times. We would have a good month, where everything was as close to perfect as you can imagine. But it always started up again - it was like living with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Sometimes I would wake up early in the morning, just wondering who we were gonna get that day.

My mom loved 'Jekyll', and believed that he could change. She lived with it for a long time, holding onto hope that the man she married could come home completely. Then my seventh birthday came, and I can remember it now as tangibly as if it had happened yesterday. It had been pouring rain all day, and my little brother and I were bored out of our minds. We'd been making all kinds of racket, driving my father crazy all day. He turned on us for the first time that afternoon." Katherine said, stopping for a few seconds when she got emotional. "I'd always been scared when I saw him hit my mom, but that was nothing compared to what that felt like. My mom came running when she heard our screams, it was like she already knew what was happening. I'll never forget her bursting into that room with my father's shot gun."

****

The sight of the diminutive latin woman brandishing his firearm might have made the man laugh, if he hadn't already noticed the deadly serious look her eyes and her clenched jaw.

"Enough Carl!" She seethed with through her own accent. "Get your filthy hands off my children, and get out of here! I'm going to the police, do you hear me? I'm showing them everything! And if you ever come back here I swear I will press full charges against you, or I'll kill you myself, whichever feels more convenient!"

He seemed to be frozen in time, with one hand still clenching each Katherine and five year old Brandon, afraid to make any sudden moves.

"Did you hear me Carl? We're through! Let them go and get out of this house!"

****

Katherine was quiet for a long time, before carefully going on.

"It was as if seeing us threatened broke something in her. This mother bear instinct immediately rose to the surface. My father was a coward at heart, so we were actually pretty lucky. He left that day, and he didn't come back. I learned something then Luke, that has never left me since. Up until that time, I thought that a girl just had to take it, no matter what the guy did to her. I watched my mom be mistreated for years, and assumed that she simply didn't have a choice in the matter.

That day when she stood up to him for the first time, it changed everything. What she didn't have the strength to do for herself, became readily available when it was time to protect us. I learned that a woman could stand on her own two feet, and didn't have to be shot down by anyone. Her determination that afternoon and her drive to support us as a single parent is largely responsible for making me the woman that I am today.

I dealt with anger for a long time, and didn't have a proper outlet for it. Then when my brother was thirteen he became enamoured with Jackie Chan and other Kung Fu flicks. He begged my mom to let him take Tae Kwon Do courses at our local YMCA. She was hesitant until she realized that I was interested too. It had a really positive impact on me, and I stayed with it all throughout my teenage years. I enjoyed the feeling I got from being a so called 'protector'.

That's part of the reason that I got interested in law to begin with. I figured that I could stand in the gap for people, and make a really good living doing it. So you know that I came out East for college. The first year that we started in depth case studies, I became extremely disillusioned with the whole court system. It got to the point where I was so discouraged, I had to force myself to show up for those classes.

Around that time I retreated back into my comfort zone, jumping back into Tae Kwon Do locally in New York. It was an outlet again for all my frustration, not knowing what I should do. I met a guy there who was pretty impressed with me, one of the instructors who also consulted on the side for the FBI, training some of their field workers. We talked about how unhappy I was with the career path I'd chosen, and he made the suggestion that completely changed my course." Katherine finished.

Luke laughed. "I have a feeling you're going to get along with the guys very well." He said, and then quickly got serious. "But uh, that's really intense Katherine. I'm sorry to hear about your dad. I can't picture what that must have been like."

"I just feel bad for ducking out on my brother and sister now. It seems like I've been doing it more and more, and it needs to stop."

"They are your family." Luke said quietly. "But then what were you planning on doing next week?"

She looked down at the couch and shrugged. "You're looking at it."

"That's not right, you can't be alone on Thanksgiving. Do you want to come down and celebrate with us?"

Her eyes widened a little. "Wait, is this an actual invitation to see where they live?"

"They're cool with it Kat - they told me to invite you if you were going to be hanging around New York."

"That's a step for us, kinda like going home to meet the family?" Katherine quipped.

"Quite a unique one." Luke admitted. "No pressure though."

"No it's fine Luke, I want to go. I'm just wondering what this means for the two of us." She said mischievously.

Luke paused for a second.

"I um...I want to be with you Katherine, I think you realize that by now. You're also aware of the baggage that comes with me. I want you to know that you would be a priority to me, but you also have to understand the importance of my relationship with the guys. When things go haywire, I pretty much live down there until everything is under control.

I'm not sure how to say this correctly, so I'll just try the best way that I know. They don't have a lot of options or help available to them. Marc is great for support, but he also works full-time. He can't always drop things as quickly or for as long as I can. The buck pretty much stops right here. I don't want to look too far down the road, but I also don't want there to be any mistake about where it is I stand. I guess what I'm attempting to say is...please don't ever ask me to choose between you, because you won't like the direction I go." He finished very carefully.

"Luke, it's alright." She said evenly. "I get it, I can relate with the crazy hours and time I have to put into my own job. This is much more personally relevant than anything I do with the FBI. I don't want to do anything to drive a wedge between you...I'd just like to be included in this part of your life."

"So you do want to come?"

She nodded, shifting her position on the couch to get closer to him.

"I'd love to Luke." She answered, meeting his gaze for a lingering moment.

He lightly brushed bronze hair off her face, tracing her cheekbone with his finger. They kissed for a few seconds, and then her intense amber eyes bore into him again.

"Does this qualify that we're in a relationship now?" She asked playfully.

"I guess it does, if that's what you want." He stammered.

"Is that what you want?" She clarified.

He smiled, and ducked his head for an instant. "Yeah."

"Then I guess it's a done deal."