Author's Notes: In case you're curious, I'm using the same method on this story that I used to lose 50 pounds over the last year: CICO. Except instead of "Calories In, Calories Out," it's "Chapter In, Chapter Out." Every time I write a chapter, I'll post a chapter. I'm pretty far ahead, but it's not anywhere near done yet. I'm actually not 100% sure how long this fic will be yet, but definitely not as long as "The Good Fight." My best guess at the moment is maybe around 50k words. I've also been writing slower than usual, but I'm definitely still writing.

Aaaanyways. That's how it be. Here's a chapter!

Chapter Two: Family

Dina removed her gas mask the moment they emerged back out onto the street, her hands shaking with anger. "I cannot fucking believe this, Ellie. You married that monster?"

"She's no more a monster than I am," replied Ellie calmly.

"You saw what she did to Joel. You were THERE, Ellie! And did you forget about Jesse? About the father of my child?"

"I haven't forgotten about any of that, not even for one day. You don't need to remind me of what she did. We both remember it constantly. But if torturing someone or murdering someone is what makes you a monster, then I fucking qualify too, Dina. I did all of that in Seattle. Did you forget that?"

"It doesn't matter!" shouted Dina. "What difference does that make? I mean, what exactly is your point? That the shit you did cancels out the shit she did? That's fucking insane! If you want to be with a murderous bitch then that's your prerogative, but you have no business being with that particular murderous bitch. She destroyed your fucking life! There should be nothing in the world that could possibly redeem her in your eyes!"

"You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about," shot back Ellie. "You haven't been in my life for years, Dina. And I've been with her for a lot longer than I was with you. You have no idea what Abby and I have been through together, and you certainly don't have the slightest idea of what she's actually like or who she really is."

Dina gave a sardonic laugh. "I know enough," she said. "I was the one who found you in the basement that day. I saw first-hand exactly what she did to Joel, and then for years afterwards I saw the long-term damage she did to your mental health. No one else has ever hurt you that bad."

"That's true," Ellie acknowledged. "And it wasn't easy for me to get past that. But I did, okay? I did. I forgave her for that a long time ago."

"Why, so you could fuck her? Got yourself a guilt-free roll in the mud, did you?"

This made anger flare up in Ellie's belly. If she'd been talking to anyone else, she would have resorted to violence at that moment, but because it was Dina she managed to restrain herself. "I forgave her because it was the right thing to do!" she burst out hotly. "I forgave her because it was the only way I could ever heal! All that shit I went through - the panic attacks, the flashbacks - none of that had anything to do with Abby. I did all that to myself. I don't feel guilty for loving Abby, I feel guilty for not allowing myself to ever properly love anyone until she came along. Not Jesse, not Joel, not even you. I was so scared of being alone that I never let anyone get too close because I didn't want to lose them. I was keeping everyone at a distance. I was sabotaging myself. And it's only thanks to Abby that I could finally see just how badly that was destroying me inside."

"I don't believe that," said Dina shakily. "You loved plenty of people. You loved Joel."

"Yeah, I did - and I loved you, too. Except I still I shut you both out. It wasn't healthy."

"You're telling me you didn't shut her out?" Dina jerked her head in the direction of the bookstore.

"I tried. God, I tried so hard. But we were going through so much, and we needed each other. I couldn't do it. I couldn't live like that anymore."

Dina crossed her arms over her chest. "Of all the people in the world, though…"

"Life is funny that way. You know as well as I do that you don't get to choose who you fall for."

After a long moment of silence, Dina looked away and said, "I can't. She traveled hundreds of miles and then tortured and murdered Joel. I can't understand how you could ever…"

"Joel killed her father," said Ellie, cutting her off mid-sentence.

Dina's eyes snapped back to hers.

"He was the surgeon at St. Mary's Hospital in Salt Lake City," Ellie continued. "When Joel came to save me, he shot Abby's dad while he was wearing his fucking scrubs in the operating room. I'm not saying it excuses what Abby did, but when I learned about it I realized that she's a human being, you know? She'd had this whole life that I knew nothing about. And more than that - I could relate to her. When you and I traveled to Seattle, our intention was to do the same exact thing to her and her friends that she did to Joel. So what right do I have to judge her? Yes, she did some shitty things, but so did I. And don't forget: She let me live after I did them." She sighed and went to sit on a nearby park bench that was overgrown with weeds. After a moment, Dina followed and sat on the other end. "It's so much more complicated than you want it to be, Dina. I don't think I'll ever be able to make heads or tails of any of it. All I know is that I love her, and being with her feels more right than anything I've ever done before."

"That is just so… unbelievably fucked up, Ellie."

"I know."

"You'll never get my blessing on this."

"I know," Ellie said again. "Luckily it's not up to you. I know this won't be easy for you to accept, but I hope we can at least still be civil."

"This definitely changes the way I feel about you," Dina admitted. "And I have absolutely no intention of 'being civil' with her. But… I can deal with you. And if you want to tell me about what happened, I'll listen. I doubt it'll change my mind, but I will listen. I suppose I owe you at least that."

This was pretty much the best that Ellie could hope for. She'd known all along that this would be an uphill battle. "Okay. I'll tell you about it, but not right now. We're headed to Jackson, so maybe we could do that another time. We're planning to stay a couple of days," she said.

"Why?"

"We have vaccines," Ellie told her. "Enough for the whole city."

The breath caught in Dina's throat. "Are you serious?"

"Yep. We have an RV parked just beyond those woods. We only came to this town so Abby could look for some new books to read. By the way, what the fuck are you doing here, and why are you alone?"

"JJ's birthday is coming up so I was looking for gifts. I'm not actually alone. He and Amanda are camped just up the hill near the stream."

"Well, we've got a little room in our RV if you three want a ride back. We were gonna set out soon."

As though she hadn't heard this, Dina said suddenly, "You told me I'd like her."

"Huh?"

"The day you vaccinated JJ, when I asked you about the woman you were seeing, you said she was prickly at first but that I'd like her once I got to know her."

Ellie chuckled. "Yeah, I guess 'prickly' wasn't a strong enough word."

Again ignoring this, Dina said, "Why did you say that I'd like her?"

"Because you would. Abby is awesome," replied Ellie. When Dina gave her an odd look, she continued, "I'm serious. She's just… Great. There's a reason I married her, is all I'm saying."

"Gotta admit, I wouldn't figure you to be into her physical type. She really is built like an ox."

"Dude, it took me by surprise, too," laughed Ellie. "It was almost like figuring out I was gay all over again. Combine that with the fact that she was my mortal enemy, and it's safe to say it was a very confusing and disturbing time."

"Was it?"

"Of course it was. Did you think my feelings for her changed overnight? When I got to Los Angeles, she was the first person I saw. I thought I was being punished by a higher power. But she was a Firefly. I should have known she would be there, but I guess it never occurred to me that she'd want to re-join them too. I thought she'd gone back to Seattle. I almost decided to bag the whole Firefly thing when I learned she was there but I decided to suck it up and deal. Then we got assigned to the same fucking squad and given a really dangerous mission. We still hated each other, but we also had to rely on each other to stay alive and complete our mission."

"I'm guessing you did a lot of fighting, huh?"

"Nope. None. Abby came to see me as soon as we learned we were going to have to work together and offered a truce. As long as we were stuck together on the mission, we weren't allowed to bring up our history. That way we wouldn't fight about it."

"And you actually trusted her to keep her word?"

"Yeah, I did," Ellie said.

"Why?"

"Because of what happened in Santa Barbara. I never told you about it. It was… Not my finest moment. To make a long story short, she'd been captured by this super fucked up militia group a few months before I found her, and by the time I caught up to her she was near death. I'm talking hours away from it. I rescued her from the people who captured her and then… And then I forced her to fight me."

Dina took a second to process this strange turn of phrase. "You forced her? Meaning…"

"She didn't want to fight. And it wasn't just because of her physical state, I could tell. It was more than that. She'd already moved on from her anger, but I didn't care. I made her fight me anyway. So yeah, when she offered the truce I believed her, because I already knew for a fact that she'd put it behind her a long time ago." Ellie leaned back on the park bench, contemplating development of her relationship with Abby. "Once we had that truce in place, it was actually relatively easy to get along with her. We kinda clicked right away."

Despite her deep disapproval, Dina couldn't help her curiosity. "So how did it happen? How did you guys get together?"

Ellie chuckled. "That was all thanks to Abby. As soon as she knew what she wanted, she asked for it. I said no, even though we both knew I wanted it too. But I couldn't let all that shit go, you know? Abby struggled with it too, but she was able to figure out how to do it sooner. She's a lot more emotionally well-adjusted than me. Anyway, she only asked that one time and she never pressed the issue. She was really respectful and patient about it even though I could tell it was hurting her a lot. Eventually I couldn't… didn't want to say no anymore. But if she hadn't said something first, I'd probably have gone back to Jackson and that would have been the end of it."

"You should have kept saying no," said Dina bitterly.

"Jesus, Dina," said Ellie. "Haven't you been listening at all? I have literally never been happy before. And now that I am, you think I should have thrown it all away over some fucked up need for revenge? Do you want me to hold on to hatred for the rest of my life? Isn't that why you threw Tommy out the day he brought Abby back into our home? Isn't that why you chose to stay behind instead of coming with me to Santa Barbara?"

"Yeah, but I never thought you'd end up fucking marrying her! I mean, fuck, did you follow her to California because you thought she was sexy? Were you into her even back then?"

"Of course not!" shouted Ellie. "How could you even ask me that?" After a brief pause, something clicked in Ellie's mind. "You think I left you and JJ for her."

"Well, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but not like that! I wanted to kill her back then. It never even crossed my mind to think of her as a romantic partner until we were months into our mission with the Fireflies. Everything you're mad about, I was mad about it too. Part of me will always be angry with her. But people change, Dina. I did, and I swear to you that Abby did too. If you can find it in your heart to get to know her better, you'll see it for yourself."

Dina shook her head. "I doubt that."

"Well, give her a chance to prove you wrong. Trust me - I'm fucking married to her. I know her better than anyone. And you know me. That should be enough evidence for you. With all our history together, my word should count for something."

For a long time Dina didn't say anything. Then she glanced up at the sky and said, "It's been way longer than an hour. Why hasn't she come looking for you?"

Smiling, Ellie said, "She's hiding. She really didn't want to come here. We could sit here all day and she wouldn't interrupt. She wants this visit to be as non-confrontational as possible."

For the first time since it had happened, Dina remembered the way that Abby had instantly backed off and put her gun down the second she had recognized her. "I promise I won't hurt you," Abby had said. Too late, thought Dina.

But she sighed deeply and made a call that went against her better judgement. "Give us an hour to break camp, and we'll meet you down by the highway," she said, and Ellie's face lit up with a smile.

"Great," she said brightly and stood from the bench. "I'll go tell Abby." Without another word she jogged off so that Dina wouldn't have any opportunity to change her mind. She didn't bother with her mask when she went back inside the store. She found Abby laying on her back on a couch in the spore-filled cafe, also maskless and with her eyes closed. "Hey, you," she said affectionately. "Don't fall asleep and breathe too many spores. Wouldn't want to have to inject you with Doc's antidote."

Abby opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling. "I shouldn't have come here," she said.

"You were listening, huh?"

"Not to the whole thing, but I heard enough to know this is a mistake."

"Why?"

Motioning vaguely to the door, Abby said, "I hurt her so fucking bad. You, too. In ways I can't ever change. Maybe it's not such a good idea to be digging all that up again."

Ellie knew exactly what was bothering Abby. She walked over and took Abby's hand, pulling her so she was sitting up. Then she knelt down on the ground in front of her. "Yeah, you did hurt me, Abby. You murdered Joel. And you murdered Jesse. But I knew you did all that when I chose to be with you. Coming back here and having to face that again isn't going to make me want to leave you."

"Maybe, but it might make you feel ashamed of that choice."

"It won't," Ellie assured her. "Look… I will always love the people here. Dina, and JJ, even Maria - they will always have a place in my heart. But they're not my family anymore. You are. You, and Lev and Brandy… You guys are the only people whose approval I need now. You're the ones I care about."

"If that's true, then why spend such a long time trying to justify our relationship to Dina?"

"Dina's special. I won't lie - I'd like it if she could come around to being okay with you and me. But if she doesn't, it's not going to make me want to leave you - it'll mean I have to part ways with her. I don't have a lot of friends, so I'd like to avoid that if possible. But I can afford to lose her. You, on the other hand… I'd fucking die without you."

For a long moment Abby just stared at her, then she leaned forward and kissed her softly. She pulled back and sighed, rubbing her thumb along Ellie's jawline. "Okay," she said. "I'm sorry. I'm just being insecure."

"Yeah, I noticed," Ellie teased. "Don't be, okay? You've got me, and you have the tag to prove it." She reached out and playfully tugged on the chain around Abby's neck. "I love you so much. Nothing's going to change that."

"I love you, too." Abby flashed a self-deprecating smile. "Obviously, since I turn into a coward any time I'm faced with the prospect of losing you."

"You haven't been faced with that prospect since the day I decided to stay with you. I thought that whole 'getting married' thing would have been enough to convince you that I won't change my mind about you."

The marriage had been a somewhat spontaneous decision, one reached mutually and without any fanfare. Three years earlier they'd been sent on a particularly grueling and dangerous winter mission in which Ellie had been captured by hunters and only narrowly escaped death. Upon returning to the island, the emotional trauma of the event had naturally led to the decision that it was time to make things more official. It didn't really mean anything from an administrative standpoint, but it was a way to remind each other that they were both still alive, and they were both still together.

As neither of them were religious, the ceremony had been held in the library of Catalina Casino, which had great lighting, high ceilings and was one of Abby's favorite places in the whole world. It had been officiated by Doc, which was unusual for Fireflies - ordinarily, if no religion was involved, then Liz would officiate. But as neither Abby nor Ellie had any particular affection for Liz, they went with Doc instead. It had been attended by Lev, Brandy, and a few other close Firefly friends. Ellie had gone into it anticipating thinking that the whole thing was a little silly, but as soon as Doc had told her to reach out and take Abby's hand, and her three fingers had entwined with Abby's five, the significance of the moment had sunk in. For Abby, too, it had meant a lot. It cemented the fact that they were bound together, now and always.

After that day their relationship had deepened and grown. They were more of a solid unit. There were no secrets between them, and they made every decision with each other in mind. It was as though exchanging dog tags had turned them into one soldier, far stronger together than they were separate.

Reflecting on this always brought a happy glow to Ellie's core, and she pulled Abby forward to engage her in a kiss. "I wonder," she murmured against Abby's lips, "if anyone else has ever made out in spores before."

Laughter made Abby break the kiss. "At this point? Probably. Might be the only lesbians to do it, though."

"You're straight though, right?"

"Jesus Christ, Ellie. Really? Seven years together and you're still giving me this bullshit? How many times do we need to have sex before you believe I'm into you?"

Ellie pretended to consider this carefully. "Well, let's see… We're young so we've hopefully got at least another 50 years in us. Three hundred and sixty five days in a year, so fifty times three sixty-five…"

Abby nodded. "Got it. If that's what it takes, I'll do it."

"Wow, you agreed to that a lot faster than I thought you would."

"What's the down side? I get to sleep with the woman I love every day for the next fifty years. Most people don't get this lucky."

Smirking, Ellie said, "Lucky, huh? I wonder if anyone other than us has ever gotten that lucky in spores before."

"No, I think most people aren't quite as depraved as you and they can refrain from jumping their partners until after they're clear of the spores."

"None of them have a partner as sexy as you," responded Ellie.

Abby squinted at her as though trying to figure her out. "What's going on with you? What are you buttering me up for?"

"Umm…" said Ellie innocently. "Well, I may have told Dina we can bring her and her wife and JJ to Jackson in the RV with us."

"Ah," said Abby. "I see."

"Is that okay?"

"Has to be," replied Abby. "We can't leave them hanging."

"That's not what I meant."

Sighing, Abby said, "It's fine. I'd have to face them at some point. May as well be now."

Ellie reached out and soothed down the crinkles between Abby's eyebrows, effectively removing the scowl from her face. "Don't be mad at me."

"I'm not," Abby assured her.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I'm not mad about this. But I was mad at you this morning about the shitty job you did parking the RV."

"I know you were," replied Ellie, grinning. "And I appreciate you being so nice about it."

Abby shook her head. "It's hard to believe that just ten years ago we wanted to kill each other, and now I bite my tongue when you fuck something up because I can't stand to fight with you. I totally get why my butch points are so low."

"So you're not confrontational. That's fine. You're still more jacked than anyone else I've ever met."

"True," said Abby, flexing her forearm. "Thanks. That makes me feel better." She leaned forward and gave the smiling Ellie a peck on the lips. "Come on. Let's go pick up your ex." They rose and left the bookstore, heading back to the RV. "I hope you know I plan to be very jealous and possessive."

"Sexy," commented Ellie, grinning. "I'm into it."

"Of course you are," laughed Abby. "Fucking weirdo."

They drove down to the highway and waited, and soon enough three figures wearing backpacks came out of the woods towards them. Ellie watched their approach, unable to tear her eyes away from the little boy who was bounding excitedly in front of his parents. JJ was so much bigger now - and he looked so much like his father. As the group drew nearer, JJ became visibly shy and hung back a little, reaching up to take the hand of the only member of the group Ellie had never met before: Amanda. Once she was able to tear her eyes away from JJ, Ellie took her first good look at the woman Dina had ended up with. Amanda was tall and had short, pale blonde hair. Her eyes were a piercing shade of blue, and as they approached the RV she surveyed the two strangers warily.

"Hey," Ellie said awkwardly. She wiped her hand on her pant leg and then held it out for Amanda. "I'm Ellie."

"Amanda," she replied as she shook her hand firmly.

"And this is Abby," Ellie said, gesturing to Abby.

"Nice to meet you," Abby said. "You don't have to shake my hand."

Amanda looked her up and down. "Okay," she said.

Trying to break the uncomfortable moment, Ellie knelt down in front of JJ. "Hey, buddy. You probably don't remember me, but I knew you when you were really, really little."

"I know. Mom told me," JJ replied.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Ellie put her hand on her chest and looked up at Dina. "He talks! Holy shit, Dina."

Unable to resist, Dina smiled at her. "I know. Fucking crazy, right? Enjoy it while you still can, because soon you'll wish he would shut up."

JJ stuck his tongue out at his mother. "Meanie," he said. But he grinned when Dina reached out and ruffled his hair. "Do we get to ride in that?" He pointed at the RV. It was by far the largest vehicle he'd ever seen, and he was clearly excited about the prospect.

"You sure do!" Ellie rose and glanced at Abby. "Want to get going?"

"Yeah," Abby said. "Here, let me take your bags for you. We'll have to store them down below. We don't have a lot of space in the back." The three visitors handed their heavy packs over, and Abby went to put them in a storage compartment on the side of the RV.

While she did that, Ellie unlocked the door to the back living area of the vehicle and said, "Come on in. Make yourselves at home." The three guests filed into the vehicle and looked around. The entire space was packed with boxes and gear, but she and Abby had managed to clear out the booth in the kitchen area for the three of them to sit. "I'll give you the grand tour while we're waiting on Abby." She waved her arm around the general area. "Here's the kitchen and living room." She opened a tiny compartment off to one side. "Here's the bathroom." Then she pulled aside the curtain at the back of the vehicle, revealing the bed. "Here's the bedroom. This concludes our tour."

JJ giggled.

"You think that's funny?" Ellie asked him.

"My dog is bigger than this place," he said.

"What a punk!" Ellie exclaimed. "I can't believe how rude this kid is."

"He's not rude," Dina said absently as she was shamelessly looking in a box that was sitting on the kitchen counter. "He's observant. What is all this shit?"

"Vaccine stuff," Ellie answered. "We need a lot of it, obviously. A good chunk of space will be cleared up once we're done with Jackson, but most of this has to go back to the base in Avalon with us."

The driver's side door opened and Abby climbed in behind the wheel. "Ready to go?" she asked.

"Yep," Ellie answered. "Have a seat, and we'll be there before you know it."

Dina and Amanda sat in the booth, but JJ followed Ellie up to the front of the RV and watched as Abby put it in drive and they set off down the highway. "Can I stay up here?" he asked.

"Yeah," Ellie said, and she scooted closer to the door so that he could sit on the seat beside her. "Pretty cool, huh?"

JJ nodded. "I like it. You really live in here?"

"We do."

"Cool." He went silent for a moment as he looked over at Abby, observing her closely.

She glanced over at him. "What?" she asked.

"You're really muscly," he said.

"Well you're really scrawny," she replied.

"But you're a girl. Why are you so muscly?"

"What difference does that make?"

JJ shrugged. "I dunno."

"Girls can be muscly too," Ellie said.

"Yeah, I know that now," JJ replied, rolling his eyes. "'Cause I saw her."

Abby laughed. "You're pretty smart, huh?"

This clearly flattered JJ, and he smiled shyly. "What's your name again? I forgot."

After a moment, Abby replied, "Abby."

It wasn't hard for Ellie to guess what Abby was thinking about. She, too, must be looking at JJ and seeing the face of the man she'd murdered. And she was realizing that, for whatever reason, Dina hadn't shared this information with her son.

JJ reached over and poked Abby's bicep. Grinning despite her immense guilt, she took her arm off the wheel and flexed for him. "Can you fight?" he asked.

"Yeah, I do alright," Abby answered.

"How many infected have you killed?"

"A lot. Ellie, too. We kill them together."

"I'm going to kill a lot too, when I'm old enough to go on patrol," JJ said confidently.

From the back, Dina called, "It's okay to tell them your secret, JJ. Ellie is like you."

JJ whipped around to stare at Ellie so fast that he bumped his head against her shoulder. "Are you immune, too?" he asked loudly.

"I am," Ellie replied. "And so is Abby."

"What?"

"It's true," Ellie said. "And you know what? Soon everyone in Jackson will be, too. That's why Abby and I are here. We're gonna make everyone immune."

"My moms too?"

"Of course. They can even be first."

JJ looked back and forth between the two of them, and slowly his eyes welled up with tears. "You really mean it?" he asked. "You're gonna make everyone immune?"

"Yeah," said Ellie. When JJ didn't say anything, she prompted him with: "Are you happy about that?"

"Duh!" he shot back, raising his arm to wipe at his eyes. "Can I help?"

Ellie grinned and ruffled his hair. "Yeah, buddy. You can help."