Here we go! I'm updating all at once, so everything's settled and the holiday is open to relax. Because holy crap, I finished a story – what a great way to end a year!

Well, well, well. Second to last chapter. We're so close! I can taste the finish line. Thanks to the newest reviewers: imagine believe, XxBlue and CrimsonxX, teamBLAZE, ScipioPB, CAPJHMPAgirl, and asheya! Holy carpal tunnel, Batman – 170 reviews! Even though this story is crazy long, I feel like you guys have been typing more than I do. xD Thank you for all of your comments and encouragement!

Domino Effect

The plane was stuffy and a little cold. Molly hugged her shoulders, rubbing her arms to warm them up as she stared out the window. There was a prominent notch of worry in her brow as she bit at her lip. Her quick glances to her left became more frequent until she finally turned.

"Hey!" She got his attention with a start, almost shouting it. Cowering in embarrassment, Molly slouched as casually as she could. "Er… did you want the window seat?"

"Nah," Vaughn shook his head. He had been wearing the cowboy hat she got him at the bazaar constantly, probably since he couldn't regularly wear it to the office. Molly hadn't expected him to like it so much. At first, it was supposed to be more of a gag gift. "You enjoy."

"Okay… I mean, thanks…" she trailed off, huddling up closer to the window and staring out across the little air base. Since her first class seat was big enough, Molly had plenty of room to fidget.

Their trip was already over. It was only three days, so it shouldn't have surprised them, but it was still disappointing to leave. The flight was scheduled to land back in the city just after lunch, so they'd have plenty of time to stop at the office and get back to work. Of course, that wasn't in the plan. Vaughn was determined to take the full day just meandering around the airport and taking it slow, dreading re-entering the office for work bright and early tomorrow.

"We'll be taking off soon," the pretty flight attendant stopped by their row, smiling enthusiastically. "Was there anything you needed?"

"Molly?" Vaughn lightly nudged her arm.

"Eh?!" She twitched, flinching away from his touch. She looked up and found the stewardess judging her as she bit her nails. "What? I'm fine. No alcohol."

"We're good, thanks," Vaughn replied more clearly, nodding to the woman. She gave them a tiny bow before leaving to check on the other first class passengers. Vaughn stopped reading their printed out, collective notes on Zephyr and looked at Molly. "Hey. You alright?"

Molly pounced on the question and the arm rest, obviously panicked. She still avoided looking him in the eye though. "Was that really it? Did it mean anything? Are we just going to pretend nothing happened?!"

Vaughn blanched and clenched the papers in his fists, unsure of what to say. He was surprised. He had no idea Molly was so bothered by… the night before. His face involuntarily darkened.

"I can't help but feel like it's all going to disappear the second we leave the ground…" she settled in her seat, turning back towards the window.

Though he thought her fears were unfounded as she herself had hit the nail on the head when she guessed Vaughn wasn't going to love her and lose her, he had to admit it was going to be more complicated than that. If they were going to be an item, they'd have to do it under wraps. It'd feel like they were doing something wrong to avoid being exposed to company policy, straining their already tedious connection.

Vaughn shook his head. He was thinking too much like this was a business deal. But this was Molly. The mousy, mischievous secretary turned into his best friend. Come to think of it, they'd taken leaps and bounds in the last year. This time in June, Vaughn would usually be complaining about how hot it was in the office and escaping to go on fishing trips with Denny - which he hadn't done in too long. Now he was thinking about saving up and buying a farm, leaving the city for good.

He looked at Molly, admiring her profile even though it was troubled. He wanted to reassure her that nothing was going to change, but not in the way she was thinking. Vaughn wasn't going to forget about her just because their vacation was over. Tell her he didn't care for their company's policies either. Screw it. Kiss her all over. But! This was not the time nor place for that.

Vaughn smiled to himself as he reached over and took up her hand. Molly watched as he rested their intertwined fingers on the shared armrest, going back to his reading with a calm expression. He gave her palm a squeeze, and she smiled. Molly snuggled into her overstuffed chair, idly stroking his hand with her thumb as the announcements for takeoff began.

Molly took the steps one at a time, her feet falling like lead. Her eyelids drooped despite the two cups of coffee she had in her system, and she stifled a yawn. A gentleman running late dashed past her to the subway below, and she watched him go in envy. Molly knew the hardest part about getting back was not being able to sleep in. That was arguably the best part of Zephyr. Well, not really. Jeez, why do I have to think about this now?!

The sun disappeared behind her as she entered the shadowy entrance. Three steps from the bottom, she stopped and stared in dumb surprise at the person waiting for her at the bottom. Hands in his pockets and silver hair sticking up from his own rough wake up call, Vaughn spotted her and left his spot leaning against the wall with various cell phone users. His usual briefcase was exchanged for a heavy shoulder bag he didn't have to worry about carrying.

Molly grinned as he approached. "I miss the hat."

"So do I," he affirmed, a hand immediately going to his head and only mussing up his hair worse.

She took the last couple of steps and stood under him, ignoring that she was probably going to miss the first train. "Not taking your car?"

"Gas is expensive," Vaughn shrugged.

Right… Molly rolled her eyes. He still sounded grumpy as hell, but his actions were just as sweet. Even if it was the dangerous time of day when Vaughn was sure to snap if he didn't get some more caffeine. Molly found one hand had left his pocket and was stiffly held out to her. She decided to annoy him by gallantly taking it, falling into step beside him and brightly swinging their hands back and forth to make a scene.

Though his first reaction indeed was annoyance, Vaughn tolerated her chipper behavior for the exchange of riding the subway with her. Seeing her every morning and doing everything from eating to touring Zephyr Town from dawn until dusk felt like routine already. It didn't feel right going alone.

As they neared the turnstile, Molly smiled to herself, staring straight ahead. "I could get used to this."

Vaughn refused to giddily grin in public so openly, keeping the tight, dour frown of embarrassment he was wearing. He was still surprised when Molly let go, only to see she was digging in her pocket for her pass. She easily slid it through and tossed it to him, waiting for him to catch up on the other side. He scanned her card again and pushed through the bars.

Standing together on the platform, Molly couldn't quite place why she felt something was wrong. Vaughn wasn't a PDA person, so she wasn't expecting him to start following her on their morning commute. Not that she didn't appreciate it, of course. He was keeping his promise that Zephyr wasn't a fling and proving it. Now she could look forward to her early mornings if they made this a regular practice. Still, she felt his mood change to one of frustration.

Molly chanced a look his way and found Vaughn staring at the sign above their heads, telling them the blue train was going to stop in a few seconds. But she looked down and found his hand held out to her, open and waiting.

She snorted and wanted to tease him for being a needy bastard, but it was a pleasant surprise. So he wasn't going to talk about it, but… Vaughn really cared. In his own, cranky way.

Gratifying the outstretched hand in offering, Molly took it in her own, still giving him a sassy eye roll she couldn't repress. "You're so spoiled."

He lightly blushed, grunting at her teasing, as the train whirled in and came to a stop. The doors opened on their side, and Vaughn pulled her along. Molly happily followed.

The office was just as they had left it. A little musty and much too loud for eight in the morning. Especially the usual greeter.

"Molly, my lovely, I've missed you!" Allen tackled her at the elevator. He dizzily spun her around and planted a kiss on her cheek that Vaughn was quick to glare at. It was lucky glares were his usual expression, otherwise, their whole plan to keep their secret safe would have been lost at the get-go.

"Morning, Allen…" Molly greeted in turn, rubbing at her harassed cheek.

"Vaughn and Molly are back!" Tina announced, spotting them and dropping the papers she was bringing to the copy machine. Her eyes were back to their usual, bright eagerness and the bandages left behind.

Luke stuck his head out of their office, his bandana resting slightly askew on his head and a pen sticking out of his mouth. "They're back?"

"The triumphant return…" Dan mumbled from his pillow.

"Yay, they're back!" Rod cheered bouncing up and clapping for their return.

"Welcome back," Louis shyly waved with a smile.

"When did any of you care so much?" Vaughn growled, determined to push through to his desk.

"How was Zephyr?" Tina asked Molly as Vaughn's bitterness was going ignored.

"Yes, how was little Zephyr Town?" Allen purred, drumming the tips of his fingers together with a snide smirk.

"Really fun! The bazaar they have was great!" Molly cheerily pointed out.

"I'm sure," Allen agreed, seemingly seeing straight through them and demanding the juicy details.

Vaughn promptly escaped, doing as promised and nearly knocking Rod flat to get around everyone crowding the elevator. At his cubicle, he found Alice across from him. She was oddly perched atop Gill's desk, but he was determined to overlook her choices as usual.

He pulled his bag from around his head and opened the main compartment. Producing their packet of notes, Vaughn tossed them to Alice. They landed with a thump on the desk beside her crossed legs. "Zephyr. Do what you want with 'em."

"Eh, give it to Dan," Alice shrugged fiddling with her fingers and admiring what seemed to be her nails in the light.

"You know how he is," Vaughn said, shoving his desk clear and booting up his computer. "Just get it over with."

Alice leaned forward, holding the desk for balance as she appraised him. "Things have changed around here since you two left, Vaughn."

"Gone for a day," he reminded with a huff. He roughly typed in his login with an annoyed frown. "People acting like it's been months…"

"I quit."

Vaughn looked up, slamming the drawer he was looking in for a spare pen. Alice enjoyed his reaction, spinning the object on her finger she had been playing with since he entered. A diamond ring. "What the hell is that?!"

"Didn't you hear~?" Allen slunk over the cubicle in that familiar way. "Alice is getting married."

"When did that happen?" Vaughn asked, pretending like this wasn't news.

"Last night," Alice said, holding her hand out and admiring the stone from a distance, kicking her heels back and forth. "Put in my two weeks."

"So you're quitting to become a trophy wife? We're so proud," Vaughn rolled his eyes.

"No, I'm quitting to make sure my fiancé doesn't have to deal with being written up. Company policy, you know," Alice smirked.

Vaughn openly gaped as Gill sorted through some files as he walked. As he passed his desk, he gave Alice a peck on the cheek with a 'morning, dear.' Dropping the folders on his desk, Gill went about his usual work, taking a sip from his coffee mug.

"I'm in the Twilight Zone," he deduced, staring at them in frozen horror.

Alice merely giggled in response.

"The hell did this happen?!" Vaughn turned to Allen for answers.

Allen casually shrugged his shoulders, offering his hands up in surrender. "Oh, it's been a topic for quite some time. Sneaky devils."

"I suggest you all get to work," Gill muttered, opening one of the manila filing folders and thumbing through the pages.

"What else did I miss? Louis' Spiderman? Luke has an IQ of 140? You come out of the closet?" Vaughn grouched.

Allen clicked his tongue. "Vaughn, Vaughn, Vaughn. I told you—"

"Yeah, yeah, you told me," Vaughn interrupted him. He shot a not too subtle look to Tina who was giggling over Molly's desk with Luke and Louis. Her apparent relations with Allen still weirded him out. He shuddered.

"Oh, but you missed Gill's mom coming in and beating the shit out of Mr. Hamilton!" Rod volunteered the information, waving his arm over his head from his desk.

"You're kidding," Vaughn gave a look to Gill, hoping to see him fuming at the joke, but instead he got confirmation. Gill had frozen above his work, looking horrified at the memory.

"You should've seen her!" Allen goaded, leaning further over the wall in excitement. "Swinging her purse around like a WWE fighter. Platinum blonde with a no nonsense attitude. She looks exactly like him."

"Enough about my mother!" Gill shouted but to no avail.

"But Allen… You were hanging all over her. Doesn't that mean you think Gill's hot?" Rod piped up from behind his monitor.

Allen pondered this logic with interest, stroking his chin as he stared off in thought. "Hm… I have to say he's pretty. Not handsome – but… very pretty."

Gill dropped his things and quickly made for the sanctity of the break room. Alice missed his sleeve as he passed, hoping to stop him. "Oh, Gill! Come back! Allen's just an asshole; he can't help it!"

"So Vaughn~" Allen proved her right, swishing a finger around in his hair before he was swatted away. "Tell us about Zephyr."

"Zephyr was Zephyr," he answered stubbornly. "Just read the notes if you're so curious."

"Oh, come on," Alice rolled her eyes, getting revenge against the boys picking on her boyfriend. "We all know a couple of hotel rooms for two nights make people more than chummy. Are you two together now?"

"What?" Vaughn deadpanned, keeping a decent poker face. "Can't go on a business trip without getting engaged like you? You sound ridiculous."

"Something happened," Alice determined, folding her arms and sitting up straight. "I refuse to believe the sexual tension you and Molly have been batting around made it through a weekend without event."

"Think what you want," Vaughn shook his head, picking up his empty mug.

"Gee, I hope you two weren't kept up all night working so hard," Allen mused, nearly making him crack.

Vaughn just made his exit about as subtly as Gill had, going straight for the ruse of getting coffee. Once the door to the break room rattled shut behind him, his composure broke. Vaughn let out a breath to his bangs and collapsed to a sitting position.

"What are you doing here?" Gill snapped.

Vaughn looked up and found the blond sitting on the floor against the opposite wall underneath the clock. He answered truthfully. "Hiding."

"From who?" He asked, knees at his chin in a fetal position.

Vaughn sprawled his legs out, setting his mug aside on the floor beside him. "…Mostly Allen."

"Aren't we all," Gill agreed.

There was a strange silence between them. He couldn't pinpoint the reason for the awkwardness until Vaughn realized he had never really held a proper conversation with Gill before. Hell, they were never really the only two around. There was always someone else Vaughn could work off of to pick on Gill, and Gill would always shoot back and belittle him.

"I'm fairly positive you could get away with anything after what you did for us," Gill guessed correctly, making Vaughn wonder how obvious his relationship with Molly really was. He hid his chin behind his knees, sending Vaughn a suspicious glance. "It's not like the higher ups are going to fire you now. Or ever."

Vaughn sighed. Telling Gill didn't sound like a smart move, but he felt strangely safe about it. For the first time, they could both totally relate with something. Dating their coworkers – who'd have thought? "I don't want to have to ask permission. If it comes up, then it comes up. Otherwise, it's our business, and I'm keeping it that way."

"You haven't grown up much," Gill observed with a disappointed frown.

"But you have," Vaughn returned the look.

Gill settled his legs to the floor, bashfully picking at his pants. "It's been an eventful year… Harvest Hobbies, Alice, Mr. Hamilton…"

"I think we came out alright," Vaughn decided, leaning against the door and looking to the paneled ceiling.

Gill snorted, surprising him somewhat. "As rough and tumble as you can cross a finish line, but yes, I suppose we'll survive. For now."

Vaughn glared across the room at him. "What do you mean?"

"You can't save the world," Gill said. He crossed his arms with an air of confidence and bitter cynicism one would expect from the goody-two-shoes stickler of the office. "Another Taylor's going to come along. All of that farmland is going to be bought up by someone else you don't like, doing things with it that it wasn't meant for. Then they're going to leave it scarred and unrecognizable after they've gotten their fair use out of it."

Vaughn frowned, uncomfortably shifting in his seat. "We did something. I'd rather fail trying than sit back and do nothing about it."

Gill nodded, a softer expression taking his face. Almost like a look of nostalgia. "…But then someone else might just come along. Build a house. Raise a family. And the most you can say is you left your mark on the same spot…"

Their eyes met, scrutinizing one another across the empty space. The coffee machine on the counter above them sputtered.

"I never said it, and don't you expect me to say it again," Gill warned he wouldn't be trumpeting his praises about the office like their boss with an irate finger point. But he settled back, sounding sincere. "I never properly thanked you. For stepping up."

"You don't have to," Vaughn interrupted with a wave of his hand. "It was all Taro."

"And if you hadn't gotten him involved? What then?" Gill challenged. He sighed, running a hand down his impeccably ironed tie. "For whatever it's worth… thank you."

Vaughn nodded after a pause. "Right. Thanks."

"What are you thanking me for?" Gill retorted.

Vaughn couldn't help the cocky smirk rising. "If you weren't so easy to prank, Molly and I might've never become friends."

Gill actually snorted with a humorous 'fair enough' wave of his hand.

He let his arms fall to his sides. Vaughn could hear their peers outside the door getting louder. Something was definitely going on. There was a crash, and Tina shouted: "We will not get implants!"

Then there was Hamilton. "But we need to keep the balance after Alice is gone! Take one for the team! Or… two rather."

"I will totally call the police," Molly threatened.

He smiled at hearing her and felt Gill watching him. Vaughn raised a skeptical eyebrow, asking: "Do you really think we could get away with it?"

"Vaughn, I found out my boss is also my father," Gill made it short. "Anything is possible."

Vaughn chuckled in defeat, rubbing at the back of his head. He stood and Gill did in turn, meticulously brushing himself free of dust and wrinkles. "We'd better get back out there."

"Right," Gill agreed, meeting him at the door. "Or else we'll become the new, popular ship."

Vaughn firmly shook his head. "No way in hell."

"I couldn't agree more," Gill gave him a silly bow.

They left to face the war happening as the girls defended themselves from the usual advances of their manager. The blinds on the break room door blocked the scene as Vaughn and Gill left it behind. The noise muffled as the door closed with a slam.