Heather didn't see what happened next, but Jon did

Heather didn't see what happened next, but Jon did. One second Shawna and Xander were hanging in the air, the next they were plummeting to the gorge below. Shawna was closer to the edge and twisted in the air, catching the edges of the rocks and holding onto them for dear life. Xander had been further out. There wasn't anything close enough for him to grab including Shawna.

The helicopter that had been approaching was practically on top of them, and it suddenly went into a dive after him. Jon caught a glimpse of a blonde woman falling out of the side of the helicopter, a rope trailing after her. He wanted to go to the edge and look, but Shawna had swung herself back up onto solid ground, and she looked just a little pissed. A second later, the helicopter started getting louder again. Shawna looked torn between killing them and seeing what was going on. To Jon's relief, she checked below first.

Heather looked up when she heard Shawna's shout of triumph. She hadn't killed them both. Was that good or bad? She really didn't want to kill anyone, the man back at the cave was more reflex than thought, but she didn't want anyone else attacking her today. She had reached her limit of tolerance.

The helicopter was coming back up the side of the gorge. Snow was blowing everywhere, but Heather could still see into the cockpit. She wasn't sure, but…wait, beside the pilot…that was Uncle Cole and Ms. Miller! Heather jumped to her feet. Oh my God, she thought desperately, what have I done? Then she noticed the rope dangling from the side. A few seconds later, and the wind had cleared enough to see what had happened. Mom was dangling at the end of the rope, her leg twisted up in it, one arm extended in an iron grip around Xander's wrist.

They swung over solid ground, and Alicia let him go, easily untangling herself and dropping to the ground beside him. For a moment she stood there facing her brother and sister that she hadn't seen in almost twenty years. Then she promptly hauled off and slugged Xander in the shoulder, a hit that would probably have broken a norm's bones. He just winced.

"I still can't go five minutes without having to save your ass, can I?" she half yelled at him. For a moment he looked shocked, and then started laughing.

"I wouldn't have needed it if you didn't spawn off a hellion just as bad as you!" he declared, and then grabbed her, pulling her into a tight hug. "Good to see you're still there when we need you the most big sister," he whispered into her ear. He let go of her quickly, knowing that she probably wanted to get to her hellion. And she did.

The helicopter had swung around to reposition, Zack repelling out of it as Alicia went to Heather. Heather hugged both of her parents tightly, and then suddenly burst into tears as she realized she really was safe now. Alicia felt herself tearing up while holding her daughter tightly. When Heather and Daniel were little and had been kidnapped, she hadn't been scared. In a matter of a few hours she was literally tearing apart the men that had dared to touch her children. This time, she had been absolutely helpless. Her baby was halfway across the country, and there was nothing she could do to get to her quickly.

"Mom…Dad," Heather managed to get out, "I really was careful, and I didn't tell anyone at school or anything, and…" she was sniffing again.

"It's okay, honey," Alicia said. "You couldn't predict this."

"We didn't see it coming," Zack soothed her, "there's no way you could have either." He'd never been so proud of his daughter in her life. She thought she was in danger and she just popped those two sixers right over the edge. From what Cole had said, she hadn't gotten hysterical once, and had pulled her weight as a member of the team. Who the young man with her still remained to be seen, but for now, he was proud as hell of her.

Heather felt better. They weren't mad at her. Actually, they looked almost proud of her. She took a deep breath. They weren't going to like this part. "This is Jonathan," she introduced, stepping back and next to him. He looked like he was about to faint. "He totally saved my ass," she said matter-of-factly. She didn't have to tell them that he knew a hell of a lot more than he should.

"We'll deal with that later," Alicia finally said. She needed to deal with Xander and Shawna. It was so strange to see them again. It felt almost like no time had passed at all. How much did they know? Did they resent her? Had Cole told them? She had never asked what he said to the others, and he never volunteered the information. Cole had said right before she had jumped that he saw a decent place to land, and as he moved away, she stood there wondering what to say to them after so long.

"You know," Xander said with a tight grin, "why is it every time that I'm around you two, I end up falling off of high places?"

"The Eiffel Tower was your own fault," Alicia and Shawna promptly responded at the same time. All three broke into a grin. Without hesitating, Alicia went to them, hugging them both in turn. She didn't need to ask any more questions. What had been had been, and they were both so clearly happy to see her again. That's what counted.

Heather couldn't believe how different her mother seemed talking to her siblings. Cole had always been there, but these two acted like they knew a different version of her mother. Well, maybe they did. Cole had adapted to not thinking of Mom as the leader of an elite strike force, but these two seemed like they would be ready to grab her and go off on some wild mission in a moment's notice. Dad had noticed it too from the way he was so tensed. His gaze seemed leveled on Xander, eyes cold, lips taunt.

"This is Xander and Shawna," Heather heard Mom say. She managed to get out a little smile.

"Sorry bout earlier," she said in a small voice. "I do things like that when I'm stressed."

Shawna glanced at Alicia with one eyebrow raised. "And I thought Lydecker had a tough time with us," she quipped.

Alicia sighed. "You have no idea." She looked at her husband. It had been years since she had seen him this tense. "And I'm sure you two remember Zack."

Xander rubbed his chin. "Not something I'd forget in a long time." Zack wasn't relaxing. "Don't worry," he said with a grin, "That's all ancient history now."

"You've been tracking my family," Zack said coldly.

Xander didn't seem the slightest bit put off by the tone. "Yeah, well, I've made it my job to keep any of us out of the hands of foreign powers or rogue agents like him," he said, indicating the body lying in the snow. "We're not enemies anymore," he said simply. He smirked. "Besides, after tangling with you and that little brunette in New York, I learned my lesson about playing with X-5's. I was bruised for a week."

It seemed that the tension slipped just a notch, and then there was a rustling in the woods. Cole and Janice came out onto the ledge. Instantly Xander was gone, and Mr. Brickman, CIA agent extraordinaire was standing there, his Glock targeted right onto Janice.

"I knew you were part of this," he growled. "You two always traveled in a pack." His finger caressed the trigger. "Be glad you're not worth a slow and painful death."