A/N: I am actually republishing this story. There have been edits made. Text that has been italicized is a flashback, and text that has been bolded is from the show. I am merely borrowing characters besides though that are not recognized.
"Uh, remind me again why we are here," Gail says as she gets out of Kathleen's car and looks up at her parent's house. "Why aren't we out having fun?"
"Mandatory dinner," Kathleen recites as she shakes her head and locks her car. "We can still hit a club or something after dinner."
"But it's Canada day weekend," she says as she walks towards the front door. "You wouldn't rather be out at the lake with Luke?"
"Luke volunteered to work this weekend," she replies snappily as they enter the house. "He's hoping for Civic Weekend off, not as busy at the lake."
Gail glares at her as they turn into the living room. She notices that her brother, mother and father are already there waiting for them. "No, Uncle Donny," she asks as she kisses her mom and dad hello.
"He's running late," Bill says as he greets the girls. "Last minute stop he said."
"Meaning a CI called and is desperate to meet," Kathleen says as she sits down on the sofa with Gail. "We could wait a while."
"I'll call him in about fifteen minutes," Elaine says as she hands both of the girls a glass of wine. "How have you two been?"
"Busy, there is talk about creating a section for pediatric hospice care," Kathleen says as she takes a sip. "It seems the numbers keep rising."
"That is so sad," Elaine says before turning to her daughter. "How are classes going?"
"Good, I passed them all," she says as she sips her wine. "Brought my GPA up to 2.8. Are you starting your photography class this month?"
"They start Tuesday. They run Tuesdays and Thursdays evenings. Though I was looking at the part-time listings. I am considering going back," Kathleen says as she sips her wine.
"You're taking a photography course?" Steve asks, looking at her as he sips his scotch. "What brought this on?"
"I wanted to do something for myself. Plus, they offer plenty of language courses as well," she says as she hears the door open. "Guess he wasn't running that late."
"Sorry," Donovan says as he reaches the living room. He places a kiss on the women's cheeks before sitting down next to Steve. "What have I missed?"
"Nothing. Gail's grades are up and your daughter is considering going back," Bill says as he hands him a drink.
"That's good to hear," Donovan says as he sips his scotch. "What are the plans for the rest of the weekend?"
"Gail and I thought we would check out Kane Tiki," Kathleen says as she looks over at her cousin, who smiles. "We've been hearing a lot of hype about it."
"That's the new Hawaiian-themed bar on Dundas," Bill asks, as he looks at the girls.
"Yup, we thought it would be nice to do something tropical," Gail says as she looks over at her brother. "Unless you have something against us going?"
"No, actually a few of the people at the Division were talking about it," Steve says as he looks at them. "Nothing illegal. A couple of good friends want to spread the tropical feel throughout the city."
"I take it to you girls aren't driving?" Elaine asks, looking at the two of them. "I don't want a call from a division."
"Cabbing it," the two girls say.
"What does Luke say about this night out?" Steve asks looking at Kathleen. "I thought I saw the two of you over at La Vecchia. It could have been last week."
"We had dinner," Kathleen asks as she looks at him. "Aren't friends allowed to have dinner together?"
"Friends," Steve asks as he shoots her a pointed look.
"Steve, your techniques need some work," Donovan says. "Kitty, are you and Luke seeing each other again? In a non-platonic way?"
Gail snickers at her brother as her cousin turns to face her dad.
"Direct, I appreciate that," she says before turning to her cousin. "He is right. You need to learn to read people better than that and your observation skills need a lot of work."
"That's not an answer," Steve says as he looks at her.
"Yes, Luke and I are seeing each other in a non-platonic way," she says as she looks at her dad. "Anything anyone wants to add to this?"
"Nope," Bill, Elaine and Gail say before looking at the other two men.
"I am all good for now," Donovan says as he goes back to his scotch.
"Am I the only one who remembers what happened seven months ago?" Steve asks as he looks at them. "He had you in tears. He broke your heart."
"Steve, stop being dramatic," Gail says as she looks at him. "They had a disagreement that they've worked through."
"For every cop, there will be that case," Donovan says as he looks at Bill and Elaine, who are nodding. "The case that will never get solved. The one we can't solve."
"Second time, though," Steve says, looking at her. "First it was the Martinelli case, and now the Ryan case."
"Initially, we all thought the two cases were connected," Bill pipes in.
"We didn't take a break after the Martinelli," Kathleen mentions. "The two of us didn't have time to fit each other in. We formed this weird date night schedule. That would be one of us bringing dinner to the other."
"This time," Steve asks as he looks at her.
"This one hit a lot closer to home than any other case," she says as she looks around the room. "Between you, Luke, Sam, dad and your parents, I could scarcely go anywhere without a police escort. Hell, even Gail came and stayed at my place for a few days. Someone maliciously attacked 6 girls. They all lived within a 10-block radius of my apartment. Every characteristic could have matched me."
"We know the details," Elaine inputs. "We do not need to go over them again."
"I get that," she says as she looks around the room. "How many times did you have to take a second look at the victim? How many times during this investigation did you wonder if that next victim was going to be me? We all can not deny I matched the victim's profile."
The four active members of the force all looked at each other before looking back at her.
"Exactly. Now, what do you think was going through his head as the lead investigator?" she asks as she looks at them.
"If he pissed the guy off," Gail starts as the eyes turn to her. "It would be easy for him to take his revenge without changing his motive."
Donovan, Bill and Elaine all nod as they look over at Steve.
"What does that have to do with anything?" he asks as he looks at the others.
"If he pushed Kathleen away, it may have ensured her safety," Gail finishes.
"Oh," Steve says as he looks at her. "That doesn't make it right."
"We never said it did," the rest of the room replies.
"Trust me, I explained to him," Kathleen starts as she looks at her dad. "I did that with my dad and I wasn't doing it again."
"I don't get it," Gail starts as father and daughter share a moment. "Why didn't he temporarily move in with you? It's not like any of the parents would have killed him."
"Because that would have been the simple solution," Kathleen says as she turns to her cousin. "Think of the number of times your brother has used the simple solution."
"Ahh," Gail says as she looks at her brother. "Good points. Guys aren't good at that."
"Hey," Steve says as he looks at his dad and uncle for support. "Aren't you offended?"
"No, because she is right," Donovan says as he turns to his daughter and niece.
"We should have moved her out of the target zone," Bill adds. "Simple, move her into her dad's, here or Steve's, and no danger."
"What was wrong with Gail's idea? Why couldn't Luke move in or her move into Luke's?" Elaine asks as she looks at her husband and brother-in-law? "I know you two are not that old fashion."
"Elaine," they both start before stopping as she gives them a look. They both stop before returning to their drinks as the younger generation shares a laugh.
