The next day, Gwen tried to behave as though nothing had happened the day before, except a normal mission. She tried to push any thoughts of what had happened from her head and to go about her day as she normally would.

It quickly became apparent that that would be impossible.

When she went to let Loki out of his cage as she always did, he would not stop smirking at her. The blonde did her best to ignore him, refusing to say a single word to him. She began to wonder just how long it would be before she punched him or attempted murder.

Loki said nothing either, but he didn't need to. Everything was said in his expression. His stupid, smug expression. Gwen silently went about making breakfast, refusing to make eye contact. It was the most awkward encounter she had ever had with the god. A part of her wished that she could say something witty in retort, but nothing was coming to mind.

The silence in the room was broken by Jarvis. "Miss Strange, Mister Stark wishes for me to tell you that your father will be visiting later today."

Gwen groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. "What for?" she asked the AI. It wasn't that she didn't want to have her father visit, it was just that she didn't want him to visit now. Not with everything that was happening.

"Mister Stark said, and these are his exact words, 'You know Cap had to tell him.'"

Gwen put her head on the table. Maybe I can just dissolve into thin air right now. There must be a spell for that.

Loki laughed softly, the first sound he had made that morning. "So now your father knows," he said. "Oh, this will be such fun."

Gwen's head snapped up. "Get up," she instructed him.

"So demanding," he quipped, his smirk widening. He got off the stool as she approached him. "Chain me back up then, darling."

Gwen bit her tongue and avoided looking at him. She could feel herself flushing. Oh, that son of a bitch. He knows exactly what he's doing.

Gwen did her best to push aside her embarrassment as she let him back into his room. In her haste, she didn't even bother to lock him behind the glass door, and she simply slammed the first door shut behind him. Then, she slumped against the door, groaning again.

"What's wrong?"

Paige had snuck up on Gwen yet again. She looked sharply between Gwen and the door. "Did he do something?"

"You could say that," she muttered, before shaking her head and looking up at her friend. "How are you? After what Loki… after what happened yesterday, I never got around to asking if you were ok. Conner didn't hurt you too bad or anything, did he?"

Paige shook her head. "I'm fine. I've endured far worse." Gwen nodded. As usual, she was unsure how to sympathize with the ex-assassin. Paige didn't seem to mind though. "What did he do to you?"

"It doesn't matter," Gwen sighed, not wanting to talk about it. She got to her feet. "I've got to get to training. You'll be ok?"

"Yes," said Paige, nodding yet again. Gwen returned to her room, changed into her work out clothes, pulled back her blonde hair, and went downstairs for her training.

The only one waiting down there for her was Natasha. "Where's Sam and Steve?" asked Gwen right away.

"I told them not to come," Natasha said simply. "Besides, they're busy talking with Tony and your father."

"You mean he's already here?" Gwen said, exasperated. "And no one thought to tell me?"

"Don't lose your shit, Strange," said Natasha. "They're currently telling him of your decision to join us in taking down Hydra. Then they'll tell him all about the mission. And don't expect Tony to hold back any details."

Gwen groaned again, and muttered curses under her breath. "And why am I not allowed to tell him about it in my own time and on my own terms?"

"Because Tony's an asshole," replied Nat bluntly. Then she smiled a bit. "Also because Steve is worried that you won't tell him. Steve obviously likes you. He looked ready to kill when Tony told him what happened. Which is why I thought it was better if he wasn't here. And did you really want to hear Sam's jokes all throughout training?"

"No," agreed Gwen grudgingly. "Alright, let's get this over with so I can face my father's overreaction."

Natasha smiled again. "I'm sorry Tony found out. Honestly, he doesn't know when to keep something to himself."

"Believe me, I know."

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" offered the Russian. Gwen shook her head. "What about Loki? Is he pretending that it didn't happen either or?..."

"He's worse," complained Gwen. "He doesn't say much, but it's obvious that he's thinking about it, and taunting me with it."

"That's what Loki does," Natasha said. "He tries to get in your head, make you feel crazy or scared or angry. He just wants to get a reaction out of you, Gwen. Don't let him. Be stronger than him."

"Easy to say, not to do," said Gwen.

"Lucky for you, I know just the solution," Natasha replied right away. "Today we'll just work on shooting. It's a good way to vent frustrations."

Gwen nodded enthusiastically at the idea. "I like the sound of that," she agreed.

Gwen returned to her floor and was grateful to see that her father hadn't arrived just yet. She quickly changed back into her normal clothes, and while she changed, she thought. Natasha was right. She didn't want to let Loki win. If he wanted to get a reaction out of her, he wasn't going to get one. She was going to act as she normally did, no matter what he did or said.

Once she had changed and brushed through her hair, she opened the door to Loki's cage. He had entered the glass part on his own and was reading, as per usual. "Lunchtime," Gwen told him, going for a casual tone.

Loki was a bit surprised to see her again. He assumed that he had pissed her off enough to keep him stuck in his cage for a while. This girl kept surprising him.

He closed his book and followed her out into the living area. "I still need to make it," Gwen explained. "Should only take a few minutes." Loki slowly sat on the couch, watching her from over the top of his book. She kept her back to him.

So far, so good, Gwen thought. I haven't screwed this up just yet. Just keep acting normal.

Gwen started to make some sandwiches for their lunch, ignoring the fact that she could feel his eyes burning into her back. She had to pretend he wasn't there, just as Natasha had told her to. However, it didn't feel like it was enough. She needed something else to distract her. "Jarvis, play my music. You know what I like."

"Of course, miss."

Girl by the Beatles started to play, relaxing Gwen, as music always did. And for the time being, she was able to ignore the god and drown herself in the music.

She finished the sandwiches, and put one on a plate, to give to Loki. When she finally turned around, she saw that his eyes had not moved. He held the open book in his hands, but he wasn't reading it.

"Are you enjoying the view?" Gwen asked him sarcastically, dropping the plate on the table in front of him.

"I might be," he replied, giving her that same look that hadn't seemed to leave his face since the kiss. He stood up, so that he was towering over her, smirking down on her.

That son of a bitch, Gwen thought again, as she felt her face warm. He's going to milk this game for all it's worth. He's going to try and get a reaction out of me. That stupid, smug, arrogant son of a-

"Where is he?"

Her father had arrived.

Just when she thought things couldn't get worse.

Gwen turned away from Loki to face her father. "Dad," she said, trying to keep her tone calm. "Dad, it's o- "

"It is not ok, Gwen!" he roared. If Gwen had felt embarrassed before, she certainly felt that way now. So much for being an adult, she thought gloomily as Stephen pushed past her to confront Loki.

Loki had the audacity to look bored as Stephen came towards him. "Oh dear, am I in trouble?" he asked tauntingly.

This had its desired effect. Stephen's temper leaped. He ripped the book out of Loki's hands. Loki did not seem the least bit intimidated. "You think this is funny?" Stephen asked him through gritted teeth.

"A little," answered Loki right away. Gwen face palmed, knowing that this conversation wasn't going to get anywhere.

Stephen gave a dry smile. "It won't be so funny the next time you lay so much as a finger on my daughter," he threatened. "Stay away from her or there will be consequences."

"I'm shaking," sneered Loki.

Stephen opened his mouth to retort, but Gwen grabbed his arm. "Leave it, dad. He's just trying to piss you off. Look, I'll lock him back up and we can talk about this."

Stephen grudgingly backed away from the god. Loki's smirk had only widened. He followed Gwen without complaint to his cell. "I wonder," said Loki as Gwen opened up the door. He was standing so close to Gwen she could feel his breath on her neck. "Does your father know how much his little girl likes the scary god?"

Gwen opened the door and turned to give him a glare. He stepped inside without argument. "What makes you think I like you at all?"

He just gave a breathy chuckle. "Deny it all you want, darling. I can tell you liked it."

Gwen fought off her angry retort and slammed the door shut.

So, you want to play it that way, do you? she thought. Well, two can play at that game, your highness.

"Sorry about that," Stephen said when she returned to the living room. "I know I should be treating you like an adult, but… Stark told me what he did and I just lost my head. I should've let you handle it."

Gwen brushed it aside. "It doesn't matter. Loki would be unbearable no matter what happened." She set her jaw stubbornly. "But he's not going to win this time. If he wants to play this game then…" She stopped, realizing that her father would never approve of what she had to say. "Then I'm not playing along," she finished.

"Good."

"Let's go get lunch," Gwen suggested. "Paige can take care of Loki and I could really use a break right now."

"Sounds good to me."

Gwen grabbed her purse and slipped on her sandals. Then, she went to knock on Paige's door. The blonde opened it right away, as if she had been expecting this. "Hey," greeted Gwen. "Listen, I'm gonna go out to lunch with my dad. You got this, right?"

Paige nodded at Gwen, but shot a glare at Stephen, who shifted uncomfortably. He couldn't help but be reminded of Clara when watching her, which he thought was odd.

Gwen and Stephen left in a bit of a hurry. It had been a while since either of them had had a break from their jobs. Or since they had had lunch together.

"Did I do something to piss off your friend?" Stephen asked Gwen as they hailed a taxi. "She looked ready to kill me."

Gwen shrugged. "I wouldn't take it personally. She always looks ready to kill. But she also hates doctors, so that might be why she looked more pissed off than usual."

"She hates doctors? Why?"

She shrugged again. "Who knows? Probably for the same reason I hate dentists." Stephen rolled his eyes, knowing he was about to hear another one of her ridiculous rants. "Stupid dentists. I can poke metal things into my gums for free and without years of schooling. Why should I pay them for it?"

"Yes, I know. You're a rabid anti-dentite," he said, cutting her off before she could continue. Though he was also amused by his daughter's antics. She had such random hatreds for such random things. "Where are we going for lunch?"

"Wherever. Just anywhere that isn't this bloody tower," she said, jerking her head back at the Avengers Tower.

A taxi pulled to the side and let them get in. "The nearest Chick-Fil-A, please," said Stephen. He knew it was one of Gwen's favorites.

Gwen gave a groan of pleasure. "Yes. I would kill for some chicken."

"You sound stressed," commented her father as they drove away. "Are you still enjoying your job?"

"Yes, for the most part," Gwen said. "I think it's just, well, Loki." She closed her eyes and leaned her head back. "He was literally just starting to act like a halfway decent human being… god… thing. And then he had to go and pull a stunt like that, and now we're back to square one. But instead of ignoring me, he's…" She trailed off again, not wanting to tell her father the things Loki said or did. That was the last conversation she wanted to have with him. "Forget it," she sighed. "He's just being an asshole, as usual. I'll get over it."

"If he touches you again, I want you to tell me," Stephen growled. "I'll take care of him."

"He won't," Gwen assured him. "I'll kill him before he does."

Stephen chuckled, knowing that that was probably true. He was amazed when Tony told him that Gwen hadn't already attempted to kill Loki. His daughter had a bit of a temper, after all, and he wouldn't have been surprised if Gwen had tried to hurt Loki back.

"Just promise me you won't do anything too rash," Stephen asked her, a warning in his tone.

"Come on, dad. Would I ever?"

They returned to the Tower shortly after. They had barely stepped a foot inside when they heard the voice of Jarvis. "Doctor Strange and Miss Strange, Mister Stark wants to see the both of you in the basement."

Gwen exchanged glances with her father. She had only been down to the basement once, when she was first given the tour of the building. The parking garage was down there, and Tony confessed that that was where they had kept Loki before Gwen had agreed to guard him.

"What does he want us down there for?" asked Stephen.

"He either wants to show off some of his cars, or he might have a prisoner down there," Gwen explained. "I'm really hoping it's the latter. I don't want to endure another speech about how Lamborghinis are better than Mustangs. I could give a shit less."

They took the elevator down to the basement, where Steve, Natasha, Clara, and even Paige and Loki were waiting for them.

Steve stepped forward to explain. "Hey. So, we're keeping Conner down here, along with the other Hydra agents. We're going to interrogate them now. Gwen, we thought you should be here to see how it's done. Doctor, we would appreciate any insight you have."

Both Stranges nodded, agreeing to watch and help where they can. "We found out the names of the others." He handed over a few photos to the two of them. "That first one is named James Marlow. He's thirty-one, and pretty much a no-name otherwise. He has no major accomplishments inside or outside Hydra. Paige doesn't even recognize him.

"The next one is named Jared Fuller, twenty-nine. He was a spy for Hydra in SHIELD. I met him once or twice, I think, but otherwise, I have no memories of him. He's your average Hydra thug.

"The next one is Brian Tanner, thirty-seven. He's a scientist, like Conner, but nowhere near as brilliant. He helped manufacture the serum that gave Paige her powers."

Gwen, of course, recognized the faces of all the men. She had only arrested them yesterday, after all.

"We'll start with Conner first," Steve explained. "Natasha is the best at interrogation, so she'll take care of this." He gave Natasha a nod, and she returned it. With that, they all followed her towards the cells.

They all stood behind the glass partition while Natasha entered the room. Conner was handcuffed to his chair. His face was bruised from his encounter with Paige, which gave Gwen a sense of satisfaction. He was pale, probably from blood loss. His expression was eerily calm, though Gwen thought she saw a flicker of fear in his eyes when he saw Natasha.

The Russian remained standing, leaning on the table and staring at him. "I figured they'd send you in," Conner said. "You'll try to wheedle whatever information you can out of me, but soon you'll realize it won't work. I won't speak to anyone but her."

"I think she said all she wanted to say to you yesterday," Natasha retorted, gesturing to his face.

He smiled. "Oh, I'm not referring to Scarlet. All she knows how to do is kill. She's like an animal. She can't be reasoned with." Gwen, Paige, and Clara scowled, clenching their fists. "No, I will only speak to my wife. I know you've got her behind that wall there." He jerked his head towards them. "Send her in and I'll cooperate."

"You're in no position to be making deals," Natasha told him.

"I think I am," he replied, that creepy smile still on his face. "You see, I have information you want. And I won't give it to you. Only to Clara."

"I have other ways of making you talk," said Natasha threateningly.

Mike laughed. "Are you going to torture me, Agent Romanoff?" He shook his head. "You won't. You're the good guy now. Don't want to put red back in your ledger, do you?"

Natasha paused, taking a moment to think. "And what if Agent Anderson refuses to see you?"

"Then I guess you won't be learning anything from me."

Clara cleared her throat. "I'll go in, Natasha," she said, speaking through the commlink they had.

Natasha nodded, even though she couldn't see them. "I guess today is your lucky day, asshole," she told Conner before opening the door and leaving.

"Are you sure about this, Clara?" Steve asked. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to."

Clara nodded. "I can do this." She released Paige's hand, giving it one last reassuring squeeze before entering the room.

Mike's smile widened at the sight of her. "Clara," he greeted her. "It's been too long."

"It's Agent Anderson," Clara snapped at him.

"Anderson?" he echoed. "That hurts, Clara. Whatever happened to Conner?"

"Why would I want to be associated with you?" she practically spat at him.

"You married me," he reminded her. As if she needed to be reminded of that. "If that's not association, then I don't know what is."

"Enough," growled the ex-agent. "Tell me this instead: why have you been hanging around the mall like some teenage girl? Don't you have something more important to be doing?"

"I thought it was obvious," replied Mike, tilting his head. "We got word that Scarlet was spotted there. Of course I wanted to go find my daughter there." Gwen felt Paige tense up at her side. Like Clara, Gwen reached over to take her hand.

This is my fault, thought Gwen, her stomach churning. If I had just stayed in the tower like I was supposed to…

"Who told you she was there?"

"Well, obviously I have spies all over this city," said Mike. "My spy at the mall tipped me off. I just happened to be in the area at the time, luckily. When we couldn't find her the first time, I figured she might return later, with that blonde girl and that dark haired man. Loki, right?" Gwen glanced over to Loki, who looked just as surprised as she did. "Yes, I saw him on my way inside this tower. Clever of you, to use him to your advantage like that. And that other girl. I would like to meet her very much. Clearly she must be powerful if you have her babysitting Scarlet and Loki."

"You're not meeting anybody," Clara told him firmly. "Now tell me this: where is Loki's scepter?"

"I'm surprised you let Scarlet out of the tower," Mike continued, ignoring her question. "She's a weapon, after all. You of all people should understand that." They saw Clara's expression harden. "You designed her. You may try to give me the credit, sweetheart, but you and I both know that you did most of the work. Without you, Scarlet would've just been a dream of Hydra's." Mike shook his head ruefully. "The most powerful weapon in existence. You're wasting her potential, keeping her in here. She's designed to take down entire countries, dismantle government organizations from the inside. Not for wandering the mall, or taking a sniper position in a parking garage."

"Keep Paige out of this," Clara told him, her voice dangerously low. "If you have no other information you're willing to give us, then we're done here."

"Are we?" retorted Mike. "You need me, Clara. I know you do. Not just for information. You still love me. I can tell."

Clara's fists clenched and unclenched. She was having a hard time forcing herself to stay calm. "You're delusional," she spat at him.

He smiled slowly and shook his head. "No I'm not. You love me and I love you. We were meant to be, Clara. You and I, we can start all over again. We can raise Scarlet as our daughter, the way it was supposed to be."

"This conversation is over," Clara said, heading for the door before she snapped. "And by the way, Paige is not your daughter. If you remember, we used Barnes' DNA. She is not yours and she never will be." With that, she threw open the door and left Mike alone.

"Are you alright?" Steve asked her right away.

"Fine," Clara snapped. Then she sighed. "Sorry. I just… I need a minute." With that, she left them all alone.

An awkward silence settled over the group. "Doctor," said Steve, breaking the silence, "I know you and Clara knew each other before all this. Did you know Conner as well?"

Stephen shook his head. "I remember Jessie telling me about him, but we never met."

"Would you mind giving him an examination? He sustained injuries yesterday. If you could go in there and make sure he's not knocking on death's door, we would appreciate it."

"I can do that," Stephen nodded. "Gwen? Do you want to help me?"

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," Natasha piped in before Gwen could speak. "Conner already knows she exists and that she is close with Paige. Not to mention he clearly wants to talk with her. I think it's best if we keep them separated for now."

"For now?" echoed both Gwen and Stephen.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he demands to speak with Gwen at some point," explained Natasha. "If that's the case, would you be ok going in there?" Gwen nodded right away. While she was somewhat intimidated by the man, she also half-wanted to give him a piece of her mind. "Then we should wait until that moment. For now, you should go in alone. Unless you need someone there?"

"I might," Stephen confessed. "My hands still are somewhat shaky. I might need some assistance."

"Then we'll send Bruce down here to help you," said Steve. Then he looked over the group. "I think that's enough for today. Tomorrow, we'll continue our interrogation." He gave them all a nod, which they took as their dismissal.

Paige, Gwen, and Loki all got on the same elevator. It was a silent ride up to their floor. When they did reach their floor, Paige immediately retreated to her room, slamming the door shut.

Gwen did not blame her. She couldn't imagine how stressful that had been for her. She would want some time alone if that man was her father, too.

Not her father, Gwen recalled. That's Barnes, apparently. This news had come as a surprise to Gwen. But it also explained a lot about Paige and where she got her powers from. It also made her ten times cooler, in Gwen's opinion.

"Let's go," Gwen told Loki. She knew that she should go see Paige and make sure she was ok, but she needed to lock up the god first.

"The Avengers are still searching for my scepter?" Loki asked as they walked to his room. Gwen grunted in reply. "If I had my powers back, I could find out the location from that man in a matter of minutes."

"I don't doubt it, your all-powerfull-ness," said Gwen. "Unfortunately for you, you have no powers. So I guess that plan is scarpered." She opened the cell door to let him in. Remembering her plan from earlier, she gave him a small bow before closing the door. "Good night, your worship." If Loki was confused by her actions, Gwen didn't get to see because she had quickly closed the door and locked it up. She had other matters to attend to.

She knocked on Paige's door and, without waiting for an answer, opened the door. Paige looked up, her eyes ablaze. "What?" she all but spat at her.

"I think you could use some company right now," replied Gwen, feeling surprisingly calm in the face of Paige's anger.

"What I could use is a moment alone," Paige shot back.

"Look, I can't imagine how much it must suck, having that guy as your dad, or whatever the hell he is to you," Gwen said. "And it must've hurt even more to see him messing with your mom like that, and then insulting you, and, well, everything else that asshole has ever done to you. I could never understand what you're going through, so I won't even try. But you should know that if you ever need to talk about it, I'll always listen, even if I can't understand. And you shouldn't go to bed angry. It won't help you sleep."

Paige softened a bit at her words. Again, Gwen had an odd way of showing sympathy, but it was just what Paige needed to hear. "Whenever I feel overwhelmed, I like to watch a movie and eat comfort foods," Gwen suggested. "Maybe we could try that instead of punching more holes in the wall?"

Paige smiled briefly and nodded. "Ok. Cool. Let's go get a movie started."

They went to the sitting room and pulled up Netflix. "Do you care what we watch?" Paige shook her head. "Let's watch The Office." That was Gwen's go to show when she didn't know what to watch.

The two girls watched The Office and ate snacks until they passed out, curled up next to each other on the couch.

"I'll let you know when we get back the final results," Bruce told Stephen as they stepped off the elevator and into the penthouse. "Thank you for your help."

"You're welcome," Stephen replied, watching him retreat into the labs. Stark had shown him the labs before. Stephen was impressed by them, for sure, but he was a medical doctor, not a scientist like Bruce Banner or Tony Stark. Most of that stuff was beyond his understanding.

He was about to return to Gwen's floor to say goodnight when he heard a song playing from the kitchen. It sounded vaguely familiar and he was curious, so he followed the sound. What he found in the kitchen was a bit of a shock.

Clara was slumped against the counter, a bottle of whiskey in her right hand. Toxic by Britney Spears was playing from the overhead speakers. Clara was mouthing along, while taking the occasional sip from the bottle. She looked up after a minute of Stephen just staring at her, and grinned lopsidedly. "Ah. The good doctor. What can I do for you?"

Stephen had never seen Clara like this. True, he didn't know her very well, but this was not the Clara he knew from college. "Are… are you ok?" he asked hesitantly.

She snorted. "Just great," she responded sarcastically. "I just faced my psychotic and manipulative bastard of a husband again for the first time in nearly twenty years, so I'm right where I want to be." She took another swig from the bottle, then held it out to him. "You want some?"

He hesitated only a moment before accepting her offer. A drink felt welcome at the moment. It would certainly relax him. "That's one of Stark's thousand dollar bottles," she told him. "I'm pretty sure it's French, too." Clara gave another derisive snort. "Damn French."

"Jessie loved the French," Stephen couldn't help but mention. He saw Clara smile sadly at that.

"Oh, she never shut up about the French and their fashions," Clara agreed. He saw a tear leak out of her eye. "I wish she were here."

Stephen did not cry very often or very easily. But that sentence hit close to home for him. Tears started to well in his eyes. "So do I," he replied in a low voice, trying to keep his voice from cracking with emotion.

She looked him in the eye, and slowly nodded. "We finally agree on something," she mentioned. Then she smiled. "Jess would never believe it."

He couldn't help but smile back at that. She was completely right. Stephen and Clara hadn't agreed on anything the entire time they had known each other. It was almost as though they had sought out reasons to bicker and argue. Slowly, Stephen sank to the floor, across from Clara. He took another swig from the bottle before handing it back to Clara. "She told me a bit about Conner, back in the day," he admitted. "She said he was a creep even back then. How'd you end up with the asshole?"

Even in her drunken state, Clara was surprised that Stephen was showing any interest in her life. After Jessie's funeral, he had made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with her. Then again, she supposed that none of them had planned for any of this to happen. "He could be charming when he wanted to be," Clara explained. "And then he told me all about this science experiment he had in mind, and how my research would help them in their endeavour. I… he never mentioned the name Hydra or anything like that. He just told me about human experimentation and I was interested." She took a swig and stared up at the ceiling as a way to quell her tears. "Mike made me feel so important," she recalled. "He made me feel smart and loved. And it wasn't until Jessie died that I started to see what she had seen. The way he reacted to her death… It wasn't normal. I mean, I know he wasn't exactly fond of her, but still. It was as if he didn't care. And then he said something about putting Paige in a lab for experiments, and I started to gain some common sense again. I ran away from him. I thought I could keep both Paige and I safe." She swallowed a lump in her throat. "I was so stupid. So naive."

Stephen took the bottle from her and took a drink. "You know I don't like you," he told her bluntly.

"Thanks for the sympathy."

"So when I say that none of that sounds like your fault, you'll know it's the truth," he continued, ignoring her retort. "This Conner guy is obviously a clever, manipulative son of a bitch. He took advantage of your brains and your feelings. And you did what you could to protect Paige. He's the one who's at fault for what happened to her. Not you."

Clara was at a loss for words. This was not what she had expected from Stephen. To be honest, she wasn't sure what she had been expecting. Not comfort, though. He surprised her again when he gave another chuckle after taking another drink. "Earlier today, right before Gwen and I left for lunch, Paige gave me this glare. And all I could think of was you. She looked just like you do when you're pissed at me. Guess I know why now."

She smiled softly. "And Gwen is a lot like you," Clara returned. "She might have Jessie's face, but everytime she opens her mouth, it's all you. It takes me back to our college days."

A single tear fell out of Stephen's eye. "I wish I could go back," he confessed. "There are so many things I would do differently. I was stupid to let her go."

Clara nodded after a moment of awkward silence. "Yeah, you were," she agreed. "I take back what I said at her funeral. It's not your fault she died. And you definitely deserved to raise Gwen. She's turned into a wonderful young lady. I'm sorry I ever said otherwise. I was just hurt and upset and you seemed like the perfect target to take all that out on."

Now it was Stephen's turn to be surprised. He had not expected an apology from Clara. They hated each other. They fought and that was it. That was their relationship. Not this. Not getting drunk together while sharing their life stories, and then apologizing for past transgressions. "I deserved it," Stephen finally replied. "I was an asshole. To Jess and to you. I made plenty of mistakes, and someone needed to let me know that. I'm sorry too. I'm sorry for keeping you out of Gwen's life. You're her godmother. And Jess loved you like a sister. You deserved to be a part of her life."

"I think all could be forgiven," said Clara slowly, "if you're willing to forgive me too?" He hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Clara smiled a bit. "Then all is forgiven. Now, hand over that whiskey."

They continued to drink, exchanging stories, all while knowing that Jessie was smiling down on them from wherever it was she had gone.

Clara didn't know how late it was. She couldn't even remember what day it was, if you were to ask her. Clara found herself sitting close next to Stephen as he finished off the last of the whiskey. "I'm tired," she mumbled to him, as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah...yeah me too," Stephen mumbled back to her as he slung his arm around her shoulders and rested his head back against the counter. It wasn't long before both of them had fallen asleep together in the middle of the kitchen.