Home


"And… we're home." Cassie smiled happily, closing the car door over as Theo sat in the wheelchair which she'd just helped him into.

It was his first day out of hospital after two weeks, and although he was very far away from being recovered, finally getting to go home seemed like a pretty huge triumph. Even if he was wheelchair bound until further notice.

"There's not a party going on in there, is there?" Theo looked up at her.

"No." She laughed a little, "But someone did have to stay and look after our son." She reminded him, "So my parents are inside." She nodded, "Look what my dad built for you." She rushed over to their doorway, folding down the ramp over the steps as Theo raised a brow.

"A ramp?" Theo asked.

"Yeah. He made it at the docks. Prison made him very handy apparently." She waved her hand.

"I'm sure I can walk just a few steps." Theo shook his head.

"I don't care if you can. You're not supposed to." Cassie warned sternly, "Don't make me yell at you when we're not even inside yet." She scoffed, pinching his neck playfully as she got behind the wheelchair and pushed it.

"I'll only use this for a week. That's what the nurse said." Theo insisted as Cassie opened up the door.

"We'll just wait to see what the doctor tells you." Cassie nodded, "For the time being I've set up the couch. The stairs will really take it out of you." She said as Theo nodded along.

"Are you joining me on the couch?" He asked as he just heard her chuckle a little from behind as she pushed the wheelchair into the living room.

"Daddy!" Chase immediately noticed his father, finally home, abandoning his toys he was playing with and running over.

"Hey, buddy." Theo smiled, "You got a haircut." He noticed, turning to Cassie unhappily.

"It was just getting too long." Cassie insisted. She had been at the point where she was tying her son's hair up in a band, it had gotten so long, and she figured it was starting to annoy him now.

"I wanted it all cut." Chase insisted, standing by the wheelchair.

"No." Theo shook his head with exaggeration, "You don't wanna be bald." He nudged his son who chuckled.

"It's so good you're finally home, Theo." AJ smiled happily. It was all just a relief to know Theo was officially on a more steady road to recovery.

"I think I'm under more surveillance here than I was at the hospital." Theo scoffed.

"I heard that." Cassie piped up immediately whilst picking up some of Chase's toys.

"Well maybe you should just let her take care of you." Punk advised as Theo just nodded with a small smile.

"Thank you guys for having Chase during all of this. We appreciate it." Theo nodded to them.

"Oh, don't be silly." AJ waved her hand, "I've made some dinners for you both, they're in the fridge and some are in the freezer, they just need taken out the night before to be defrosted." She explained as Cassie nodded along, "Just to make it easier for you both."

"We'll be fine, mom. Thank you." Cassie smiled, "He just needs to rest." She rubbed Theo's shoulder softly.

"Well we'll get out your hair." Punk nodded whilst AJ put her coat on.

"Just a phone call away, remember." AJ said with habit before leaving the house with Punk.

"How are two people who have been through so much crap still so damn nice?" Theo wondered as Cassie laughed a little.

"They have their moments." Cassie assured him.

"Oh, yeah? Like when?" Theo asked, slowly pushing himself up from the wheelchair.

"Careful." Cassie rushed over to him, helping him move from the wheelchair onto the couch.

"I'm good." Theo nodded.

"My dad used to always yell at me for leaving hair straighteners on my room floor. Plug facing up." Cassie said, "I realise how minor that is compared to the shit you have going on with your dad." She nodded, "You heard from him?"

"No, he's back in Mexicali as far as I know. Until I get shot again." Theo shrugged as Cassie sighed.

"I did the right thing, didn't I?" Cassie asked him.

"With what?" He asked.

"Throwing him out." Cassie said, "You wouldn't have wanted him in there."

"You did the right thing." Theo assured her as she nodded, "So, how has work been?" He asked her, desperate to shift conversation topic. If she really wanted him to speak about his father, she'd need to get him a little less sober, and she knew that.

"Slow, if that makes sense." She said, sitting down beside him holding one of Chase's fire trucks whilst the six year old went back to his toys on the floor.

"It does. Given what happened." Theo nodded, "Is everyone on edge?" He asked.

"A little but… I guess we're a group of people who know how to put brave faces on." Cassie said, "Everyone that passes me asks how you are. And it seems genuine. Not just because they feel like they have to ask." She said.

"I don't know how the hell I'm supposed to go back in there." He shook his head as she turned to him, not expecting him to say that. He lived and breathed his job. She knew it meant the world to him.

"Hey, it's like riding a bike." Cassie smiled comfortingly, "Doesn't matter how long the absence is."

"I could have prevented it all." He nodded quietly, looking over at Chase who was running his toy cop car up the side of the couch.

"Theo, we're not gonna do this." Cassie made clear.

"I didn't take it serious enough. If I did… maybe it never would have happened. My own son gets a note put in his bag with the word spic on it and I… what did I even do?" He shook his head with frustration.

"You handled it like a grown up." Cassie said, "Despite how you really wanted to handle it." She said.

"Didn't get me very far, did it?" Theo shook his head, "All those kids." He shut his eyes and shook his head, trying so hard not to think about it. But it was all he was thinking about. Every minute of the day.

"I'm not gonna let you feel guilty for this. It was a mass shooting. Two lunatics with guns, one who just so happened to have a run in with you, what? Ten years ago?" She questioned, "This is not on you." She made clear.

"It is when I could have stopped it." Theo nodded to her as she shook her head, "I could have found him before he got the chance to shoot up the station."

"You can't do this to yourself. I am begging you." Cassie shook her head. She knew the type of guilt he was feeling was dangerous. To hold himself responsible for so many deaths and injuries was cruel and torturous, and she knew she couldn't let him think like that for a second longer, "Please." She took a hold of his hand, "Don't do this to yourself." She said as he looked at her.

"So, are you sleeping here with me tonight or not?" He smiled, trying to shift her attention as she forced a smile, leaning her head on his shoulder. She knew it wasn't just the physical rehab he had to prioritise.


"You can't even give me any ideas? There's really nothing you want?" Jude asked, sitting in her art studio, laptop in front of her, skyping Thea who had similar set up in her kitchen, alongside a bowl of popcorn.

"Nothing I need." Thea shook her head.

"You're gonna be forty. I need to get you something exciting." Jude insisted.

"It's just a number. I don't want a fuss. In fact, me and Dominic were gonna go away for my birthday with the kids. Just the five of us." Thea nodded, "The older I get, the more I'm turning into you. It's very strange." She admitted as Jude rolled her eyes.

"What? Anti-social you mean?" Jude asked.

"Exactly." Thea nodded, "I just don't want the fuss. And I like the idea of just spending it with Dominic and the kids. No offence."

"Oh, none taken." Jude shook her head, "Maybe run that by mom and dad, though. You know they like to throw a big birthday celebration. Especially a big number like forty-"

"It's not a big number." Thea snapped.

"It's bigger than thirty nine." Jude nodded, "Remember your thirtieth party?" She chuckled a little.

"Wasn't that when Uncle Dean accidentally concussed Cassie?" Thea wondered. With so many occasions celebrated in the past, it was hard to remember specifics.

"Yeah." Jude chuckled, "Dad had to take her to the hospital." She nodded, "Man, I was childless then." She thought about it.

"And less stressed?" Thea wondered, grabbing a handful of popcorn and bringing her knees to her chest.

"No, I don't think so. The girls don't stress me out." Jude shook her head.

"Wanna swap with mine?" Thea asked as Jude chuckled, "How have things been out there? With Sean? He moved back in yet?"

"No." Jude shook her head.

"But let me guess… he's staying the night most nights?" Thea asked as Jude just shrugged, mumbling something Thea couldn't hear as she chuckled a little, "Is it weird?"

"What?" Jude asked.

"Well I figured if… if my husband cheated on me, sleeping with him again might be a little difficult." Thea said, "Knowing that another woman was-"

"Yeah, I get it." Jude stopped her from going any further, "It's probably the only time where I don't think about it, actually. It's kinda like… things are normal again. Maybe that's unhealthy and we should stop." She thought to herself.

"No, I think that's a good thing." Thea assured her.

"We've been doing more things with the girls which I'm happy about." Jude nodded, "I don't know. I guess it will just take some time. Some days it's all I think about and other days are… good and I'm glad he's around." She said.

"It might be up and down for a while." Thea said, "Just trust that you know what you want." She said as Jude nodded.

"How has Cassie been? I know Theo was getting home today which is great, right?" Jude nodded.

"Yeah, of course." Thea nodded, "She seems ok. Back at work and keeping her distance. So… her normal self I guess." She said.

"You keep an eye on her, right?" Jude nodded worriedly.

"My little sister? Yeah, sometimes." Thea said sarcastically.

"I'm serious. It's not gonna be easy with Theo being out of work." Jude said. Being the only one who knew about Cassie's miscarriage was difficult, but she didn't break promises, and would never tell anyone. She still wanted to get the point across to Thea, though. To check in on Cassie.

"I sometimes grab coffee with her on our lunch breaks. She seems ok." Thea nodded.

"Well, I'm just saying." Jude said.

"I know worry is your middle name but… we're alright." Thea said as Jude nodded, "A lunch box." She blurted.

"What?" Jude shook her head.

"Get me a lunch box for my birthday. For work. I can't find my old one." She nodded.

"Don't. You're depressing me." Jude sighed at the gift idea as Thea chuckled, grabbing another handful of popcorn.


A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the lack of updates, I've just been super busy and not had a chance to write. Thanks to those who are still reading!