Tim walked into the house he now shared with Kelly, Shannon, and Gibbs after work. He'd gotten a job repairing computers nearby. He'd been there for about a week. The others also had jobs. Shannon worked at a convenience store, Kelly for another computer company, and Gibbs took odd carpentry jobs.

Tim walked into the kitchen and found his wife placing two plates of food on the table. "Hey. Where are your parents."

"Hey. They went out to dinner. They needed a night to themselves, so I decided to take care of dinner for us," Kelly said.

"Y...you made that?" Tim asked apprehensively. The food looked and smelled good, but if Kelly made it, it was most likely inedible. Kelly was a terrible cook.

Kelly rolled her eyes. "No, I ordered out, so you can stop looking at it like it will kill you."

Tim relaxed. "Sorry, Kel, but you really suck at cooking."

"Quit with the compliments," Kelly deadpanned

Tim chuckled. "So what do we have?"

"Tai. I haven't had it in forever and I know you love it," Kelly said before sitting down.

Tim went to the fridge. "Beer?"

"Oh, yeah, I knew I forgot something. Drinks," Kelly said.

Tim pulled two beers out of the fridge. He opened them with the bottle opener that laid on the counter and then brought them to the table. He gave Kelly hers and sat down.

"How are things going at work?" Kelly asked.

"Alright. It's not something I love, but it's okay," Tim said.

"Sorry," Kelly said guiltily.

"Stop. It's not your fault and I don't have any regrets. A month ago, I was happy with my job, but not much else. Now, I'm less than thrilled with work, but things are getting better in other aspects. I prefer it this way," Tim said. He couldn't say he was totally happy now because he still had issues with Shannon and Kelly, but it was getting better every day. He loved them both and would take life on the run to be with them.

"It just shouldn't be this way. You shouldn't have been forced to come on the run. I did that to you. I've put a price on your head and forced you to leave everyone you care about behind," Kelly said.

Tim started getting angry. This conversation, that had started off so innocently, was bringing up memories of being left and also the knowledge that his wife and mother-in-law would've continued to stay away if the Reynosa Cartel hadn't noticed him. "Kelly, please stop!"

Kelly didn't speak for a few minutes. The two of them just began eating in awkward silence. Finally, Kelly looked up at him again. "I'm sorry. I'm not trying to make you angry."

Tim sighed and sat back in his chair. "I'm trying really hard to get over this, but it gets really hard when you basically tell me you regret our marriage!"

"That's not what I said," Kelly protested.

"You said you regretted bringing me into this. That sounds like the same thing to me," Tim said.

"Well, it's not. I love you. I could never regret our marriage. And the fact that I can't just makes me feel more guilty," Kelly said.

"What? How does that make sense?" Tim asked in confusion.

"I shouldn't have brought you into this. I should've left you alone. But doing that would've meant never loving you and never marrying you and that's a place that I don't even want a flicker of," Kelly said. She didn't want to imagine never loving Tim or being with him. She loved him so much. He was the only good thing that ever came out of life on the run. It had nearly killed her to walk away.

"Yeah, well, that place you're referring to, I lived it for nine years," Tim couldn't help but say.

"So did I. Before you say it, yeah, I know it was my choice. I just want you to know that I hurt myself almost as much as I hurt you," Kelly said.

"I hope that wasn't meant to make me feel better," Tim said. No more wanted her to feel pain than he wanted to feel it. Despite how much she hurt him, he loved her and he didn't want her in pain. "Look, you need to stop feeling guilty about bringing me into this because I'm not sorry about it. All I've wanted since you walked out of my life was for you to come back into it.

"You can't tell me that you have no regrets. You left family and friends behind," Kelly said.

"The only family I have is Sarah. I miss her and I hate that I can't be there for her anymore, but she'd understand if she knew the truth. She'd want me to stay with you and be happy. Same thing with my friends," Tim said.

"You're always going to be in danger," Kelly pointed out.

"I already was. No, not as much now, but danger comes with the territory when you're a federal agent. I don't care about the danger. I've told you several times that I'll take it in a heartbeat to be here with you," Tim said before taking a sip of his beer.

"I don't understand how you can be so willing to live like this. I've hated the way I lived. I would've given anything to go back to a normal life without having to run and be afraid," Kelly said.

"Didn't you say that for years you thought you were safe?" Tim asked.

"Reasonably safe, but that didn't mean we weren't looking over our shoulders a lot. When I was little, Mom was really overprotective. I couldn't protect myself, so she was extra cautious. I couldn't go anywhere without her for years. She homeschooled me so I didn't have to be away from her when I was at school," Kelly explained.

Tim cringed. That really did suck for a kid. He didn't blame Shannon. She had no choice. She had to be cautious or she and Kelly would've been killed. It was just really unfair that they both had to live like that would always have to. He and Gibbs would now too, but honestly, he could live with it to be with them. Then again, outside of Sarah and the team, he didn't really have anything fulfilling in the life he'd had.

"You need to know that I won't put a child through that. My mom had no choice, but I do. I won't do it," Kelly said firmly. In other circumstances, she would love it if she and Tim could one day have kids, but there was no way in hell she would bring a child into the world only to raise it in fear.

"I understand. I wouldn't want that either," Tim said. He was willing to live this life if he had to to be with his family, but he had no delusions that this was idea and he wouldn't force it on a kid. "Let me ask you something. Why didn't Shannon consider going into Witness Protection? It might have been better than this."

"Because she thought it was too much of a risk. After that car accident that we thank God weren't in, Nick told Mom that it was better not to trust conventional methods of protection. They didn't want any kind of trail from any database, including one as secure as that in Witness Protection. It was better going completely off the radar. It worked for a long time," Kelly said.

Tim nodded and turned back to his meal.

"You know, I've made peace with this now. I still hate running all the time, but I've accepted that it won't ever change, and you and Dad being here now makes it a lot better," Kelly said.

Tim reached forward and grabbed her hand. "Look, I'm sure you know that I'm still not over the lies and being left behind."

Kelly nodded. She really didn't expect him to be over it after just a few weeks. She'd left him with nine years of pain. He wasn't just going to forgive her overnight.

"But I love you and we will get through it. I want you to know I'm not going anyway," Tim said.

Kelly nodded and smiled, then the two of them returned to their food.