Disclaimer: Woohoo, my last disclaimer here! I own Kay and Paige, nobody else, no matter how soft of a spot I hold in my heart for them. :P
Black Ice
By Be Boring
Chapter 20: Saints and Angels
Kay smiled and gave a slight wave as Logan walked out the door to have lunch with Matt Sung. When she heard the telltale click of his departure, she rubbed her eyes wearily with her thumb and forefinger. As her hand fell back to her side and her eyes opened again, she looked down the hallway at the closed office door. She didn't know why she had done it. Really, what was the point? After Ben had left the day before, she went down the hall and shut the door, making it look as though he was still there. No one ever went in there to bother him, so they never knew the difference. She really didn't know what had driven her to do something so small, but what she did know was that it made her feel better whenever she saw that it was closed. It seemed like he could come walking out of that office at any moment. It almost seemed to erase the fact that he had walked out on her. Why is this any different from last time? Technically, he walked out on me at the fight, so why does this seem to hurt so much more? That was ridiculous. She knew why it was so much more painful this time; last time she was the one who pushed him away and eventually convinced him to leave, but this time she opened up and tried to be close to him again, and this time he was the one who left without any encouragement on her part.
Her mind was so jumbled that she hadn't said a thing to anyone else about anything; not about Ben leaving, discovering where Ray was, or the fact that Ames was now perfectly expendable. Ames just didn't seem so important anymore. In fact, she strongly suspected that if she let him go now, he would take Ray and run. What could he do now? The High Priest was gone and it would be extremely difficult for the cult to elect a new leader if they couldn't convene somewhere. Too many people knew about them by now, they couldn't possibly have a gathering without getting caught. Ames wouldn't have anyone to allow him back into the cult, so what would the point be of coming after her and Paige? He wasn't a stupid man, he would figure out that it was pointless to use her or his daughter as a bargaining chip again. The only reason she could see him showing up in her life again was if he decided that he wanted to be a part of his daughter's life. She knew he wanted to be, but she simply couldn't take that. They couldn't stand each other, and what would that be like for Paige? No, she was better off without him.
She glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was nearly noon, and she knew that's when Ray's bus would be arriving. Almost without her permission, her feet started walking determinedly towards the basement door. Kay, don't do this. You've made some really crappy decisions in your life, and this is only going to get added onto that very long list. Let Zack deal with him. The problem with that was that she knew Zack would kill Ames, and she wasn't quite sure she wanted that anymore. Sure, it had seemed like a great idea yesterday, but was it such a good thing for Ray? Stepping outside of her own feelings, she was perfectly aware that Ames was a wonderful father, if nothing else. And even though he put on such an emotionless facade, she knew he loved his son. As an X5 with more physical power than most people could even imagine, it was easy to fall into the role of playing God with people's lives. Killing was more than an instinct, it was a part of everyday life. She could throw away a human life as easily as an old apple core. Was that really fair? Just because she didn't particularly want Ames in her life, did that really mean that she had the right to kill him just to get him out of her way? That was what she was used to, but with Ray in the back of her mind, her instincts were being shoved aside. Common sense told her that Ames would stay away this time. He had too much to lose now, and hardly anything to gain no matter what he did. She knew he would realize that.
Ames stiffened when Kay eased her way down the stairs. A powerful sense of foreboding had struck him yesterday when no one came downstairs after their discussion. At the first mention of a deal, 452 should have been down here in a flash, but everyone had left him alone last night. At the very least he would have expected Zack to come down to hear what he had to say, even if he just took it as an opportunity to kick him around a little more. The fact that nobody had visited him immediately led him to think that Kay hadn't mentioned anything, and if she hadn't mentioned anything, then maybe she had other plans for him.
If her mind wasn't so preoccupied, Kay would have at least smiled at the tension in Ames's body, even though he wasn't letting it show in his face. She came to a stop mere inches from him, stared down into his cautious but curious eyes, and walked around to kneel down behind him. She winced at the flash of pain that shot through her, but she gritted her teeth and started to undo his binds anyway. Zack sure knew how to handle chains. It took her nearly ten minutes of awkward silence to finally get the hard, cold knots undone. Ames slowly eased himself to his feet, trembling with the effort of pushing his exhausted, defeated body into a standing position after so much time spent sitting down. He only looked briefly in Kay's direction. When she merely stared back with her arms crossed, he decided he wasn't going to waste any time. No one else was here, he could hear that much, which meant that he didn't have time to spare. He needed to be gone before Zack returned.
Kay watched him wearily climb the stairs, and was almost tempted to help him when he had to pause and grip the banister for support, but thought better of it. She wasn't in such good shape herself, she couldn't exactly be a crutch for him. As soon as he had finally reached the main floor, she followed him and cut him off just before he reached the front door. "Ray is arriving at the bus station just outside of town at noon. I suggest you hurry if you're going to get there in time."
He would have sneered if he didn't already know how much it would hurt his face. "And just how do you expect me to do that? It's not like I can call a cab, I don't have any cash on me at the moment."
She peered out the window. "That old Dodge Neon down the street has its keys in it, sitting just on top of the driver's mirror. I can't give you any guarantees about how much gas is in it, but it's your best shot. I think you already know what the stipulations are on this little situation, am I right?"
"Don't worry, you're not going to see me again," he replied quietly, wishing he could take the words and choke her with them. Paige was his daughter just as much as Kay's. He had every right to be in her life. Sure, he would leave now, maybe he would stay away for a few years, but he couldn't stay away from one of his children forever. He needed to see her grow up into a young woman, just like he needed to be with his son.
Kay knew perfectly well what was running through his mind. "Wait here," she ordered sharply, stepping around him to head back to the guest room. She knew this wasn't a good idea, but if he was going to be leaving, he may as well get to see Paige one more time. To her surprise, Paige was already awake when she reached the room, laying on her back and staring up at the ceiling as though fascinated with the bumps in the paint. She made no noise as Kay lifted her and carried her back out to where Ames was waiting, honestly not expecting what Kay was bringing him. His eyes widened when he saw Paige lying comfortably in her mother's arms, staring at everything around her with large, eager eyes. He was even more surprised when Kay held the little girl out for him. He glanced at her tentatively, then gently took his daughter from her.
"She's grown so much," he commented softly, studying everything he could in the short time he had with her; her delicate little nostrils flaring with each breath, one tiny hand resting against the chest of his shirt, the other dangling off the edge of his arm but clutching blindly for something that wasn't there, and both perfect little feet sticking straight out past his hand, all ten toes curling and uncurling for a reason completely unknown to him. She blinked up at his face, looking just as amazed with him as he was with her. He brushed his fingers against the light brown fluff on her head, smiling at the surprising thickness of it. She reminded him so strongly of Ray as a baby. Of course, she looked a lot more like Kay than him, but he could pick out his own features occasionally.
The longer Ames held Paige, the more nervous Kay became. She just wanted him to leave, take Ray, and stay as far away from her as he could. Finally, she lost her patience and gently reached out to take Paige back. She felt him hesitate for a moment, but he then nodded in resignation and let her remove the baby from his arms. With his frustration at having to be separated from another child, Ames couldn't bring himself to say anything, but he satisfied himself with the thought that he would come back for her someday.
Relief spread through Kay at lightning speed as soon as he pulled away from the side of the road and disappeared from her sight. The others wouldn't be particularly happy with her, but she would deal with that later. She sat down on the couch, letting Paige squeeze and pull at her fingers as she gazed thoughtfully out the window. Where could Ben possibly be right now? He had been all over the country on his own, he knew it probably even better than Zack did, so he had more than his fair share of hiding places. He probably aimed to get as far from me as humanly possible, she thought miserably. The worst part was that he probably wouldn't come back. He would first try to lay low and sort out his feelings, and without her there he would most likely decide that he was better off alone and he would continue with his killing spree. Suddenly, she pulled her hand from Paige's grasp, abruptly stood up, and headed for the door. It was a ridiculous thought, and it might end up being an extremely disappointing waste of time, but it was all she had, and her gut was telling her to go with it. If she was wrong, she'd come back and try to pick her life back up. But if she was right, maybe she could get things to turn around.
"Alec, don't even think about it," Jondy snapped, rolling her eyes and smacking Alec on the arm. He stepped back from the window of the house they were delivering a package to and blinked at her innocently.
"What?" Even as he struggled to remain as sweet and pure-looking as possible, he couldn't stop his eyes from wandering back to the window longingly.
Jondy sighed and tipped her head in the direction of the house right next to them. "That. I know perfectly well what you were thinking."
"You mean about how much I would love to give my little mother-to-be a wonderful present, such as a nice, fairly new-looking home theater system complete with a big screen TV, combination VHS and DVD player, and what looks like an incredible surround-sound system?"
"No, I mean about how you were going to sell that TV, VHS and DVD player, and surround-sound system so that you could buy yourself something that I'm sure would be completely unnecessary."
At the stern look in her eyes, he sighed in defeat and threw his hands up helplessly. "You know, you used to be fun."
"Yeah, well, you knocked me up, big boy. Deal with it." She grinned to show that she was kidding and knocked on the door. Bored without the prospect of something good to steal, Alec drifted away from the door and back to the street next to his bike, gazing around blankly as he waited for Jondy to get the signature. Just as he turned around with the intention of perhaps looking in a neighbor's window to see what they had to pawn off, three bikes barreled past him, forcing him to jump back to avoid a collision. "Assholes!" he shouted at Max's, Brin's, and Zack's fading backs.
Max grinned and glanced back at Brin, whose mischievous eyes matched her own. Even Zack looked mildly amused in his own way. "I'd swear I'm dealing with nine-year-olds again," Zack commented under his breath, but not quite low enough for the two women to miss.
"At least we know how to have fun," Brin shot back. "You never loosen up. You don't tease anybody or crack any jokes. You'd think with all the dirt you must have on us, you'd at least try to embarrass us for fun. You just aren't capable of it. You're way too stiff."
So, she thinks I can't embarrass her? "Funny how that's such a bad thing now. It didn't seem to bother you last night."
Max screeched to a stop so fast on her bike that she nearly sent herself tumbling headfirst over the front of it. Brin had luckily managed to come to a cleaner stop, but she was staring at Zack in unabashed horror. If anything, he looked rather pleased with himself. Max blinked furiously a few times, trying to get rid of any mental images that Zack had conjured, then finally managed to choke out, "I don't care when you guys choose to have a lover's spat, but please don't say anything around me to insinuate that you ever do more than hold hands. My stomach just can't take it."
Brin finally loosened up enough to laugh at her sister's expression. "Hey, you've gotta admit that was a pretty good comeback, no matter how embarrassing." She practically growled the last word, glaring at Zack with the hardest look she could muster.
He was about to say something else, but a beat-up old gray sedan went rattling past them with speed that he couldn't imagine it was made for. His eyes narrowed for a moment, then widened again. "Was that Kay?" The women turned their heads, but it was too late, the car was too far away. He shook his head, almost as though trying to convince himself otherwise. "No, it couldn't have been. She doesn't have a reason to leave the house."
Brin opened her mouth to comment, but thought better of it. The truth was that she had gone in to check on Ben last night, only to find the office completely empty. All his things were gone; if it weren't for the fact that the room was sparkling clean as opposed to the tragic mess it used to be, no one would have been able to tell that anyone had been there at all. She didn't know what had happened, and she didn't think it was a good idea to ask Kay about it. He must have left when the others were gone. That meant Kay must have known he took off. Does this mean she's going after him, or is she just leaving us again on her own?
As the afternoon sun peered for the first time through the window and connected with his closed eyelids, Ben finally snapped out of the heavy sleep that had threatened to waste the day away. He almost couldn't believe it when he looked at the dusty, incredibly-still-ticking clock on the opposite wall. His stress lately had been triggering more migraines, which seemed to wear him out quickly, which meant that he slept nearly twice as much as he usually did.
He reached up and firmly gripped the edge of the table next to him to help pull him to his feet. He could understand why he hadn't gone to the bed, he had no interest in going near that bed ever again, but even in his exhausted daze last night he should have had the sense to head for the couch. Of course, he hadn't been thinking clearly at all. Yesterday, for the first time ever in his short life, he had gotten completely lost. He had driven in circles for hours, unsure of where he wanted to go, and as his mind slowly mulled everything over and dwelled on all that had been said, a migraine had practically attacked him. As the pain nearly took over all of his senses, he saw a familiar sign come out of nowhere, and instinctively he headed in a direction he knew so well. It was almost against his will. Something beyond his ordinary mind had been at work last night, bringing him here when it was the last place he should be. He needed to avoid more stress, not open the door and invite it in. When he had burst through the door last night, he didn't look around for a soft place to land, he simply collapsed on the most open piece of floor he could find.
Ben rubbed his eyes groggily as he slowly wandered towards the door he had accidentally left open the night before. He paused as he stared outside; he couldn't believe he had forgotten just how beautiful this place was. He stepped out onto the small front porch, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to enjoy the clean air that his lungs didn't normally have the pleasure of experiencing. Just as he exhaled, he heard the distinct sound of tires on gravel. You're just imagining things. It's pretty clear by the way this place looks that no one has been here for months, so why would anyone bother showing up now? He determinedly kept his eyes squeezed shut to block out the noise, but suddenly he heard the very obvious sound of a car door slamming, forcing him to throw out the possibility that it was all in his head. He couldn't have possibly imagined that.
"I can't believe you're actually here."
His eyes finally popped open to see Kay standing around fifty feet away, next to a gray car that he couldn't believe had actually managed to get her here. Just through the windshield he could see Paige, wrapped comfortably in a large blanket to keep her from wobbling in the seat too much. He was so taken aback by their appearance that he didn't bother to hold back his surprise. "How did you know to look for me here?"
Kay glanced around, a fleeting rush of joy shooting through her at the sight of her old home. Sure, the familiars had burned a lot of the place down, but her house was still pretty well intact, and a lot of the pastureland had already grown green again. She could even see some of the horses off in the distance, grazing peacefully or sunbathing contentedly on their sides. "I don't really know. It was the only place I could think of, and I hoped that with how fast you rushed out yesterday that maybe you decided to come here. It's not like you had time to make any plans." She was silent for a moment as she took in the deserted, half-burned down houses around her. "It doesn't look like anyone has been here for a long time."
Ben's eyes flicked back to the car, then he sighed and turned back towards the door. "You may as well bring her inside. I get the feeling you don't plan on leaving right away."
As he disappeared back into the house, Kay felt a rush of relief that he hadn't turned cold yet. He'd had a night to think over what she had said yesterday and maybe to sort out the mess in his own mind. She didn't know if that was enough time for him or not, but she hoped that it was enough to push him in the right direction. She took her time getting Paige out of the car, giving him a few minutes to accept the fact that she was here right now, whether he wanted her to be or not. When she stepped into her house for the first time in almost exactly a year, it took her a moment to collect her thoughts. Many things were charred from the fire, but for some reason her house wasn't nearly as bad as the others. It still strongly resembled the home it used to be. Even the table that Ben was currently sitting on was still strong enough to hold up his weight.
Ben watched her take in the changes to the home that they used to share with an unanticipated attack of nostalgia. It felt strange to be back here with her after so long, and somehow it made their problems seem so small. Even as he stared at her, it seemed so much more obvious to him than ever before that she hadn't changed as much as he had tried to convince himself. Every little facial expression was the same, the slight, almost unnoticeable sound of her breath catching in her throat when she was surprised was just as he remembered it, and the softness that was coming over her face now that she was back in a place where it was evident she felt comfortable made him recall her expression every morning when they first woke up. That was when he had been the happiest, and it was written all over her face that she felt the same way.
Kay could feel his eyes on her, but she didn't want to speak just yet. She just wanted to feel the memories that seemed to float in the air around her. Everywhere she looked, something flashed before her eyes almost as if she was watching a poorly edited movie. She could see Brin in the kitchen, laughing as Zack attempted to help her and somehow managed to completely screw it up. Ray was sitting at the table, eating an omelet and chatting happily with everyone who happened to come within earshot. When she looked into the living room, Ray disappeared from the corner of her eye and instead she saw Wendy sitting on the couch with a bowl of ice cream, telling her about one of her stories from her supposedly happy married life. Even Lydecker wandered through the living room, glancing furtively over his shoulder to where Ben and Zack were shooting him dark looks. Everything was thrown together in a confusing jumble, but a wave of sadness struck her at the realization that those days were gone. Although at the time she had thought that her life was some sort of freak circus, this place had been where she had her happiest memories. Closing her eyes briefly to shut out the memories before they completely consumed her, she tried to turn her attention back to Ben. As much as she wished she could go back to those old times, she had to deal with the problems before her right now. She had to at least make an attempt to get her life back on track. "What were you planning to do after you left here?"
He stared down at his feet, dangling just a few inches from the floor. Anything just to keep from looking at her right now. "I haven't decided on anything yet. Are you going to go back to Seattle, or are you going to run away again?"
She sighed and settled Paige onto the couch. It didn't sound like he felt much like working things out. "I'm going back to Seattle. I have friends again, I'm not going to leave them. What about you? Are you willing to leave your family?"
"Are you trying to make me feel guilty? It's better if I leave, even you must see that."
"Don't you think that's exactly what was going through my mind when I found out I was pregnant? I was wrong, I can admit that, and you need to do it too. You leaving is no different from me leaving. It's going to hurt them just as much."
He crossed his arms and finally looked up at her. "You didn't come here for the sake of the others. You came here to talk about us. Just say what you think you have to say and get it over with."
She crossed her arms as well and moved forward to stand right in front of him. "You know what? You heard what I had to say yesterday. I was as honest as I could possibly be, so there's really not much more I can add. No, I want to hear what you have to say. I don't care if I won't like it, I think you owe me at least that much."
He didn't really enjoy being put on the spot like that. "Exactly what do you need to know that I haven't made clear already?"
"Do you love me? Somehow through all your accusations and complaints, you never managed to make that perfectly clear."
He rolled his eyes in frustration. "Of course I love you. Feelings don't disappear that quickly, and I guess without any closure I didn't bother to throw them out. But that's just not enough, not with you. The fact is that we don't know each other at all. We thought we did, but like you said at the fight, we more or less became new people while we were here, rather than showing who we really were. The moment we were away from each other our real personalities came out, and it turns out that not many people like who we really are. Max killed me when I was really being myself, and you got yourself into one hell of a mess. We can't just go back to being happy. Too much has happened. Did you really expect things to just go back to normal by talking things out with me?"
"Of course not. I didn't even expect anything romantic again, at least not at first. I'm just asking for some level of tolerance from you. I'm also asking you not to leave. Everyone accused me of running away, which is true, that's what I did, but why is it okay for you to do it and not me? Because you have extra interests that you can't enjoy when you're around them? That's hardly an excuse. You're running away to do something that even you know is wrong." When he opened his mouth to snap something back, she held up a hand quickly to stop him. "Look, I'm not going to even try to get into your special interests. Like you said before, I'm here to talk about us. We've both said the words that matter, now we've got to decide what to do about it. Do you really want to leave? Really?"
He shrugged, already feeling the first hints of another migraine approaching. "Maybe not, but you know it will be easier if I go."
"Easier, maybe, but not better. Ignoring me, you have so much waiting for you in Seattle. You're really good friends with Brin, I know Max wants to get to know you a lot better, Zack will always be there for you, whether you want him to be or not, you always used to be close with Jondy, so maybe you can get to be good friends with her again and be with her through her pregnancy, and Paige will be there. I know you connected with her, and it would be hard on her if you left. I'm not asking you to make any definite decisions about the future, just come back to Seattle with me. You can figure out everything else as you go along. If you still decide you want to leave in a few months, then by all means, leave. Just don't take off now when you haven't thought anything out."
Ben stood up and walked to the window, staring out at the pasture to clear his head. "What do you want to happen in the future?" he asked quietly. "If you could have your ideal life, where would we be ten years from now?"
Kay nervously walked up next to him, keeping just enough distance to not seem intrusive. "In my ideal life? We'd be together raising Paige, maybe with a baby or two of our own. I'd love to rebuild this place and get it going again. It wouldn't be like it used to be, but I think it would be happy. We'd visit everyone in Seattle as much as we possibly could, we'd find Buddy and Mary and bring them back here, and maybe we'd even convince Zack and Brin to move back. I know Brin's much more suited to country life. I don't want to use the words 'happily ever after,' but that's what I would hope for. What about you? What's your ideal future?"
To her surprise, he half-smiled and glanced down at her. "I don't know, but everything you just said sounded pretty good. I just don't see how we can be together again. We can't pick up where we left off."
"Then we'll start over. Maybe we'll just be friends for a while and really get to know each other this time. I don't think you ever really told me about your childhood after you got out of Manticore, and you never had much interest in hearing what I did for Manticore after you left. Maybe we should talk about all that to really get everything out in the open. We'll find out everything we need or want to know about each other. If in the end we decide that it's better if we stay separate, then so be it. I'll just be happy knowing that we gave it a shot. What do you think about that?"
He gazed out of the window, wondering if anything she had just said could come true. "Do you really believe any of this could work?"
She shrugged, almost positive that he wasn't interested in her idea. "I don't know. That's part of the fun, isn't it?"
He sighed and stepped back from the window, wandering over to stand above Paige. "I don't know about fun, but it might be interesting. Let's just get one thing straight, though. If in a couple months things really don't seem to be getting better, I don't think I'll be able to stick around. Can you handle that?"
Their eyes connected for the briefest moment, then she took his original place by the window and stared out at the pasture. "If I have to, then I'll deal with it. You know me, I usually get back on my feet pretty quickly. Besides, I have Paige now. At least if you go, I'll still have someone really special in my life. It just won't be the same."
Ben looked up at the clock on the wall, unable to believe what he was about to say. "You know, if we don't get going soon, we won't make it in time for dinner."
Her eyes widened and she turned to face him. "Does this mean…?"
He reached down and lifted Paige into his arms. "Let's take my car, since I don't think the one you brought up here will survive the return trip." When all she could do was continue to stare at him, unsure if she was just imagining everything he was saying or not, he truly smiled for the first time at her in almost a year. "You're never going to get to the car at that pace."
Almost in a daze, Kay followed him out to the car and took Paige from him so she could sit in the passenger side with her. She really wanted everything to work out, even more than she would ever admit to herself, but she was curious about what he was thinking. She remained silent, however. At least he was open to the idea of working things out, which was so much more than she had expected. She had thought this would be a wasted trip. Now it looked like things might get better.
Ben glanced over at her every now and then, thinking almost the exact same things she was. She seemed so much like how he remembered her right now, and somehow it just seemed to be more possible than he would have thought to get things back on track. He had no intention of hurrying things along, he wanted to see what happened as they went along, but he was almost looking forward to the future. He had no idea what was going to happen, and like Kay had said, that was part of the fun.
Logan stared at the empty guest room, feeling the ever-rising sting of tension in his stomach at the thought that soon Max would be home from work and he would have to tell her that while he was with Matt, Kay had taken off. He couldn't believe she had left, especially since she had made up with Brin and Max. The only possible positive piece of information he had was that Ben was also gone. He had immediately gone to the office to see if he knew where Kay had gone, but he didn't know if the fact that they were both gone was a good thing or not. Even worse, he had checked the basement, and White had disappeared. Max is definitely not going to be happy about this. The thing that bothered him most was that Max would probably call the other X5s and they would come over, and Zack was more of a shoot-the-messenger type of guy. Why didn't I just stay home? It's not like that lunch meeting was that important.
As he walked back into the kitchen to check on the chicken in the oven, he heard the front door open and Max's familiar strides crossing the living room. When she turned the corner to see what the wonderful smell in the kitchen was, there was Logan, looking rather strained and nervous. She automatically crossed her arms. "Okay, what happened that I'm not going to like?" she teased. He usually took on that look when he somehow messed up a meal, although those times were unbelievably few and far between, so she wasn't currently taking his demeanor too seriously. "Did you burn the tip of a chicken leg?" That was definitely chicken she smelled, even though she didn't detect anything that seemed burnt.
Logan forced a smile and braced both hands on the table, drumming his fingers against the surface a few times before speaking. "Actually, I have something to tell you that you won't be very happy about."
"What?" Jondy asked as she walked around the corner. To Logan's inner horror, which he was struggling desperately not to show, Jondy was closely followed by Alec, Zack, and Brin. Max noticed the strain grow more evident around his eyes and she grinned. "Didn't I mention that I invited everyone over for supper? We still have enough leftovers from last night to add in with our food tonight so we can take care of all of us. Is that a problem?"
"Problem?" His smiled became even more forced, if that was possible. "No, of course not. There's always room for the family here. Could I talk to you in private for a moment?"
Zack, who had very quickly caught onto the other man's unease, crossed his arms and leaned against the frame of the entranceway into the hallway and living room, effectively blocking any escape routes. "If something's wrong, I think you should tell all of us. If it affects Max, it affects us."
Logan hated that self-satisfied glint in the X5's eyes. As everyone stared at him and waited for him to speak, the click of the front door opening caught their attention. "Hey, has supper been served yet?" Kay's voice called out. Everyone started to move in that direction to see why Kay had gone out, but Logan managed to slip to the front of the group. To his extreme joy, Kay was standing there, holding Paige and slipping her shoes off, with Ben just behind her closing the door.
Brin smiled at the sight of them together. They both looked more at ease somehow, and the fact that they looked that way while in each other's presence was definitely a good sign. "Where were you two?"
Kay smiled and walked over to them, lightly bouncing Paige in her arms. "It's a long story, but right now I'm starved. What's for dinner?" As everyone slowly made their way back into the kitchen, chatting lightly and relaxing with the knowledge that another day was over, Kay looked back over her shoulder to where Ben was standing at the back of the group, looking just as hungry as the others. Their eyes met and a brief smile flashed over both their faces. When Kay grabbed a handful of silverware in one hand and started to set the table with Paige nestled safely in her other arm, she knew that she had one more obstacle left; telling everyone that she had let Ames go to be with his son, but she also knew she could handle it. It had been a rough year for everyone, but now they were bringing the difficult part to a close, and starting off with the true healing process. With the prospect of a halfway normal life for the first time since she had been outside Manticore, acted out her role as the second key, and crossed over the black ice that life had placed in her path, she just couldn't wait to get started.
We're only human baby
We walk on broken ground
We lose our way, we come unwound
We're turnin' circles baby
We're never satisfied
We fall from grace, forget we can't fly
But through all of the tears that we cry
We'll survive
Cause when we're torn apart
Shattered and scarred
Love has the grace to save us
We're just two tarnished hearts,
But in each other's arms
We become saints and angels
I love your imperfections
I love your everything
Your broken heart, your broken wings
I love you when you hold me
And when you turn away,
I love you still, and I'm not afraid
Cause I know you feel the same way
And you'll stay
Cause when we're torn apart
Shattered and scarred
Love has the grace to save us
We're just two tarnished hearts,
But in each other's arms
We become saints and angels
These feet of clay (feet of clay)
They will not stray
Cause when we're torn apart
Shattered and scarred
Love has the grace to save us
We're just two tarnished hearts,
But in each other's arms
We become saints and angels
The End
Author's Note: Well, the tale of Kay is finally finished. I know I left it pretty open-ended, but that's how I like leaving stories. It leaves some work up to the imagination. The song is "Saints & Angels" by Sara Evans. I love that song, and I thought it fit pretty well. Let me know what you think!