Mei was crying when the fire was finally put out and the firefighters found Luke, Emily, and Nathan in the fridge. The explosion had set them back a little, but they had won in the end. They'd managed to save the apartment side mostly. The diner part and half of the upstairs was badly burned.

"Luke," she sobbed, seeing him being carried out on a stretcher. He appeared lifeless. "Luke!"

Nathan stumbled out with Emily. She was covered in blood, and Mei knew it was Luke's. She ran towards them all.

"Adult male. Gunshot wound to the side. Lost a lot of blood," a medic was saying now as they started working on Luke while loading him into the ambulance.

"He's gonna be okay, right?" Mei asked Emily, who was crying as well. "Tell me he's going to be okay!"

"I don't know," Emily answered truthfully. "I don't know."

"Oh my God," Mei sobbed again. Nathan went to hug her now, knowing she needed someone to hang on to.

"Ma'am," another medic said to Emily. "We gotta check you out."

Emily let them take her to the other ambulance.

"I'm pregnant," she said to them. They needed to know that. She prayed she hadn't lost another baby to the fury of Roger.

"Let's get you to the hospital then," the medic said. "Get you checked out in more depth."

Emily closed her eyes as they shut the ambulance doors and started to drive away. She felt shattered. She desperately hoped that Luke would be okay, but a part of her felt that it was too late for him.

...

It was all very bright. Luke squinted as he walked down the path in front of him. He could feel the breeze and hear what sounded like an ocean somewhere around him.

"Hello?" he called. He turned his head all around to look, but nothing was familiar. He had no idea where he was. He kept walking because he didn't know what else to do. After a bit, he stumbled across a clearing and saw someone sitting on a bench and facing the now visible ocean. He felt a little strange as he stepped closer to them.

"Annie?" he said, shocked. She turned and smiled at him.

"Hey, you," she said, patting the spot beside her on the bench. "Come take a load off."

"Y-You're dead," Luke pointed out. He put a hand on his head, feeling dizzy suddenly. Did that mean...?

"That word is so final," Annie commented. "I like to think of it as a passing, and not like passing away but passing through."

"Passing through?"

"From one life to the next," Annie laughed.

"What is this?" Luke asked. "What's happening to me?"

"You've stumbled upon us for a moment," she answered. "You're not supposed to be here yet."

"I..." Luke trailed off. He felt so confused. Then he caught sight of a little girl laughing and splashing at the shoreline. The hairs on his neck stood up. Annie followed his gaze.

"She certainly takes after her father," Annie chuckled. Luke looked at her again quickly.

"Is she...?"

Annie got to her feet at this point and stood in front of him, putting a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

"We're okay, Luke," she told him. "It wasn't your fault."

"I'm so sorry," he said, his voice tight.

"Hey," she chastised lightly. "There's none of that here. No tears. No anguish. No pain. We're okay. I promise."

"Mommy!" the girl called, rushing towards them. Luke felt such mixed emotions upon seeing her coming closer to them.

"Go live your life, Luke," Annie said. "We'll see each other again."

The girl was getting even closer, but Annie reached to give him a very hard shove in the chest.

"Hey!" he shouted, stumbling. "Annie! Wait!"

She shoved him again, knocking him down. He fell hard. It all went dark again.

...

Lucy found Emily pacing the halls. She had been checked out and deemed stable. Now she was waiting to hear about Luke. Tito, Maria, Gil, Nathan, and Mei were in the waiting room.

"Hey," Lucy said, approaching her. "I'm so sorry."

Emily let her hug her tightly.

"It's okay," she said.

"I had no idea you were on the run," Lucy said.

"That was the point," Emily laughed a little. "But it's okay now. He's gone."

"I wish I had put two and two together," Lucy lamented. "I'm sorry."

"He was good. You can't blame yourself for not figuring out a psychopath," Emily replied.

"Are you going to leave? Now that he's gone?" Lucy asked.

"I don't know," Emily answered truthfully.

"Luke's gonna get through this," Lucy promised. "He's tough. Please stay."

"Ms. Charlton?" a voice asked. Emily turned to see the doctor. She gripped Lucy's hand very tightly.

"Yes?" she said.

"He's awake," the doctor smiled. "And he's asking for you."

Lucy cried out in joy, hugging Emily again before letting her go so she could follow the doctor.

...

Luke smiled slowly when Emily came through the door. She was by his side in an instant.

"Hey," she said, touching his face gently.

"You can't get rid of me that easily," he said. His words were a bit choppy, but he was exhausted.

"I never wanted to get rid of you," she said back, reaching to grip his hand tightly in hers. The doctor had explained that it had been touch and go and they had to bring him back when he flatlined, but he was stable and starting to heal.

"I saw her," he said.

"Who?"

"Annie."

"Oh, Luke," Emily said, realizing he'd experienced something when he flatlined.

"She said they were okay," he told her. "I have a daughter."

Emily felt some tears in her eyes at this. If Luke had seen his daughter, then maybe she had a child somewhere waiting to meet her too. It all seemed surreal, and to others it would be unrealistic, but Emily chose to believe this.

"I'm glad they're okay," she said, bending to kiss his cheek. "I'm glad you're okay."

"I'm better now that you're here," Luke smiled again. She pressed her face against his, holding his hand tighter still.

"I have to confess something," he said after a moment.

"What's that?"

"It was me."

Emily lifted her head, feeling confused.

"You what?" she asked.

"The jittery, pissed off cop who took your pictures," Luke said, looking at her. "In 2009 when he almost killed you." Emily stared at him until it clicked. She put a hand over her mouth and sat back.

"Oh my God," she said. She could see it now very clearly. Luke had been younger of course, but it was indeed him in her memory. She couldn't believe she had missed it. So that's what Roger had meant when he said she'd gone to Luke for help before. He'd known anyway, even after she had left without reporting it.

"I thought about you for a long time," he went on. "Til my own shit came up, but I always wondered if you got away, if you were safe. And now, here you are."

This new connection to Luke just made her feel even closer to him. He'd truly seen her at her worst, and he had cared about her back then. She wondered what would have happened if she had let him help her.

"I had him," Luke said, reading her mind. "He was in my sights for being dirty with my team. I would have killed him if he tried to hurt you for leaving. I would have personally ensured your escape and kept you from harm."

"All I had to do was tell you," Emily whispered. He gave her a sad look.

"We can't beat ourselves up for taking a different road. The end result was the same, right? He's gone now," he said.

"I will always wonder," Emily said. "And feel regret. He was Nick's friend. I never saw it coming."

"Your brother was a very good cop, Emily," Luke carried on. "He came to me for help when he first realized Roger was dirty, that Roger had fooled him up until that point. I should have acted faster. I'm sorry."

"You didn't pull the trigger. Roger did," Emily said. That had been shocking to hear when Luke had confronted Roger about it. She was still trying to wrap her mind around it.

"I would have gone to the funeral, but they sent me undercover," Luke added.

"It would have been the third time our paths would have crossed," she pointed out. "If you had."

"I think I like how things happened for us," Luke said. "But that's just me."

Emily moved to kiss him then, and he gently touched her face with his fingers.

"Luke!" Mei cried, coming inside fast and interrupting. She went to the other side of Luke and went to hug him. Emily moved to avoid getting accidentally hit by Mei's hand.

"Hey, kiddo," he said.

"It's not your dying day," Mei scolded. "We have a lot of years of friendship left, you hear me?"

Will you be my friend?

Until my dying day.

Luke smiled. It seemed like yesterday they'd sat in that car about to start their new lives and she had asked that question.

"I hear you," he replied. Then Mei surprised him by kissing his cheek. She was not the type to normally show affection like that, so it meant she really did care about him.

"Good. Or else I'll have to kick your ass," she said then, putting on her tough face once more. She couldn't help the smile, though.

"I'd love to see you try," Luke joked.

"The others want to see you too," Mei said, moving on.

"Send them in," Luke gestured. When Mei went to do so, Emily touched his cheek gently.

"I'm still pregnant," she smiled.

"Thank God," he said. It had been something he had worried about after seeing the state of her in the diner.

"I decided to stay," she told him. "And be with you."

"Good," he said. "Cos I didn't really want to follow you around the world like a nomad just so I could father my child, but I was willing to."

"A nomad, huh?" she asked, laughing softly.

"We'll figure it out together," he promised.

"Okay," she whispered.

"And Em?"

"Yea?"

"We're even again."

She choked out a laugh, understanding what he was talking about. He smiled. Then Tito was there and everyone else, so she sat back and let them talk and laugh with Luke. She felt good.

She felt at home.

One Week Later

Luke stirred, and without opening his eyes, he reached across to put his hand over the place where his baby was currently growing. He found Emily's hand already there.

"Still there," she murmured.

"Just checking," he murmured back.

This was their morning ritual it seemed. The sunlight was filtering in through the blinds, landing on Luke's left eye. He moved to curl up behind her, and she let him.

The sound of a harmonica came from downstairs.

"Must be eight," she sighed.

"Must be," he agreed.

Gil had ever so kindly opened his doors for Luke, Emily, Nathan, and Mei to stay with him. He claimed his house was so big and empty that they'd hardly see each other, but they knew he liked the company. Some of his habits, though, were hard to get accustomed to.

"I could get used to this sleeping in thing," Luke said, playing with her hair now.

"It's a wonderful thing," Emily agreed.

"I'm still getting used to the waking up with the beautiful woman thing, though," he went on. "Two new things might blow my mind."

"That's what might blow your mind?" she asked, turning to face him now. "After everything you've ever done or experienced?"

"Yup," he nodded, making a popping sound after the "p."

"I could probably blow your mind with something else," she said coyly.

"Oh yea? What's that?" he asked, playing along.

"Oh, I think you know," she said. He raised a brow.

"Hmm, you might be right." He leaned to grab her journal from the bedside drawer. It had survived the fire because she'd kept it in the small safe she'd found in her bedroom along with some money and her I.D. (Nathan's too).

"What are you doing?"

"Finally going to read whatever is in here cos it'll blow my mind," he replied, smirking as he flipped it open.

"Luke!" She dove to reach for it, and he pulled it out of her grasp.

"'Luke was acting like a pompous ass today,'" he read, faking Emily's voice.

"Stop it!" She tried to get it back again, and again, he pulled it away.

"'Luke has OCD. He won't let me leave the menus on the tables.'"

"That's not what it says!"

He was laughing as she managed to pin him down and pry the journal from his hands. She was trying not to giggle as he moved to tickle her to get the book back. She rolled over onto her stomach, hugging the journal against her chest.

"Come on," he said. "I have to know if I'm the bad guy in there."

"You're not the bad guy!" she exclaimed.

"I saw my name..."

"It's nothing bad."

"Then you were writing how much you had the hots for me?" he asked, pinching her sides and making her laugh again.

"You're too obsessed with my journal."

"I just like knowing what you were thinking," he replied, kissing the back of her neck.

"Alright, alright," she caved, rolling onto her back again. She flipped a few pages and looked at him before reading. "'I think I'm falling in love with my boss. I don't know what to do because I've never felt like this before and the last time I trusted someone, I got very hurt, but there's something about Luke that makes me trust him and know that he won't hurt me. I can't explain it. I think if I let myself love him, I won't regret it. The way he looks at me tells me he feels the same way, but I'm afraid to talk about it because what if he doesn't? What if I'm wrong? I don't think I could survive that kind of disappointment. I'd rather have him as a friend than lose him altogether.'"

She stopped reading and looked at him, shutting her book.

"You're not wrong," he said softly.

"I know that now."

He pressed his face against hers. He ran his fingers across her skin.

"You see? You're not the bad guy."

"I'm sure you wrote some things in there that I did to annoy you."

"Yes, but who wouldn't? You were a pain in my arse," she retorted. He pinched her again, making her yelp and laugh.

"So," he said once she calmed down. "You were going to blow my mind?"

"I already did," she replied, teasing. She held up the journal.

"Oh, no," he said. "You don't get out of it that easily." He took her book and set it on the table as she ran her hands over his chest.

"Come on then," she egged him on. "Show me what you got."

"You said you were going to blow my mind," he corrected.

"Oh my-...come here then," she ordered, pulling him down. She kissed him softly then harder and faster. He rolled to his back, pulling her on top of him and getting completely lost in her when the knocking started.

"Kids, breakfast!" Gil called through the door.

"Eight fifteen," Luke sighed, resting his head back on the pillows and resisting groaning in frustration.

"He was late with the harmonica then," Emily reasoned. "Because I know that wasn't fifteen minutes ago. It wasn't."

"Kids?" Gil called again.

"Be right down!" Emily called back. She heard his footsteps go down the hall and thump down the stairs. She looked back at Luke, who was smirking.

"What?" she asked.

"Better go fast then," he replied, pulling her back down.

Gil didn't say a word when they showed up twenty minutes late for breakfast.

...

"Ah!" Mei yelped, dropping the hammer and waving her hand while hissing in pain.

"Don't do that," Luke pointed out, a teasing smile on his face. Mei shot him a look.

"Duh," she retorted. She bent to pick up her hammer again and went back to work. Luke resumed doing what he was doing. They were rebuilding the diner. Thankfully, most of the damage was in the diner part itself, but they were replacing anything that was questionable. Fortunately, Luke was able to afford it.

"Has anyone ever told you how incredibly handsome you are swinging a hammer?" Emily asked, coming up behind him and looping her arms around his waist from behind.

"I may have heard it before," Luke replied thoughtfully.

"How's it going?" she asked as he turned around to face her and hug her.

"It's going," he answered, kissing her.

"Ugh," Mei commented. She set down her hammer. "Let me know when the make out show is over."

"You're just jealous," Luke retorted as she walked past them.

Emily watched Mei go chat with Nathan, who was learning from Tito how to do something complicated that Emily did not understand.

"Does everyone just know how to do everything around here?" she asked.

"Pretty much," Luke nodded.

"Did they ever find Gary?" Emily asked quietly, noticing a police cruiser passing by a block from them.

"No," Luke shook his head.

"It's my fault," she said. Luke grabbed her chin at this and forced her to look at him.

"It's not your fault," he disagreed.

"If I hadn't dated him, he'd be alive right now."

"You did not know that you were being watched," Luke insisted. It angered him that he didn't notice. It angered him further to know that Roger had heard them discussing private things. The police had found where Roger was staying, and they had it all in evidence. Luke wished they would just destroy it.

"I'm sorry that I came here and disrupted your great life, ruined your place of business..." she trailed off.

"Hey," he said, tapping her forehead lightly with his finger. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

She smiled, and he kissed her again.

"Did you two not get enough of each other this morning?" Gil asked as he walked past, a board in his arms. He was grinning. Luke gave him a sheepish look in return. So he had known. Figures.

"I'll leave you to it," Emily said. "Before I get you in trouble." She saw Lucy coming anyway, and she wanted to talk to her.

"See you later," Luke nodded.

Emily dodged his playful pinch and shot him a look over her shoulder while walking away. His laughter followed her.

"Hey," Lucy said when she saw her.

"How are you?" Emily asked.

"Embarrassed. Ashamed. Guilty. You name it," Lucy answered, looking down. Emily reached for her hands, making her look back at her.

"You didn't know, and how could you? I never told you."

"But he played me," Lucy said. "I fell for it."

"I fell for it too, in the beginning. He was very good at it, Luce. Please don't beat yourself up over it forever. He's not worth it."

"But you almost got killed. And Luke..."

"We are both okay. I promise," Emily said firmly, giving Lucy's hands a shake now. Lucy didn't look reassured, so Emily gave her a hug to try and convey she was really all right. No one knew about the baby yet, not even Nathan or Mei. Emily was waiting a bit before telling the news. It was their secret for now.

"I am never dating again," Lucy said adamantly. Emily caught sight of Brent watching them from across the way.

"I said that exact same thing, and look where I am now," Emily said, gesturing to Luke, who was now teasing Mei and giving her a hard time about something.

"Not me," Lucy shook her head.

"I think sometimes what we're looking for is right in front of us," Emily said, nodding her head in Brent's direction. Lucy followed her gaze, and she inhaled sharply.

"No," she said.

"You two have something," Emily argued. "I've seen it."

"Maybe we could have, but I met Tan-sorry, Roger. I hurt Brent in the process."

"I think you might find that he's more understanding than you realize," Emily said. "Just think about it, okay?"

"Okay," Lucy reluctantly agreed.

Emily patted her shoulder and then went to stand and observe everyone. Despite the mess around them, there was nowhere else she'd rather be. She hugged herself and smiled.

She was finally safe again.

Three Months Later

Emily was sitting on the back porch, her feet up. There was still the odd whiff of new wood smell when the breeze went by. The diner was back up and running, thanks to the many helping hands in this town. Everyone was back to work, but Luke made Emily sit down more and insisted she didn't need to help out.

"I'm pregnant, not dying," she had pointed out. It hadn't gotten her anywhere.

Now, she was feeling anxious. Her leg wouldn't stop jiggling, and her fingers pulled at her hair.

"Stop it," Luke chastised lightly, swatting her hand gently after noticing. "You're gonna have a missing patch of hair on your head if you keep that up."

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm just really nervous."

"I'm telling you, it'll be just fine," Luke assured her. They both looked to see Lucy walking out of the diner with Brent. Both were smiling and laughing.

"At least she took my advice," Emily nodded.

A car pulled up before Luke could reply, and Emily tensed.

"Come on," he said, pulling her to her feet. "I'm right here if you need me."

Emily walked towards the car slowly as both doors opened and two people got out. She stopped, taking them in, just like they were with her.

"Oh, my baby," Mrs. Charlton said, bursting forward.

"Mum," Emily said thickly, feeling the tears coming. Her mother reached her in no time, grabbing her into an embrace and rocking her back and forth. Her father soon joined them, and Emily relished the feel of both her parents' arms around her.

Luke stood back, observing. He felt a little jealous because he knew he'd never get an opportunity like this, but his happiness for Emily overshadowed that.

"We missed you," her mother said. "Why didn't you call us sooner?"

"It's complicated," Emily answered. "But I'll explain it all to you." They knew Roger had treated her poorly, but they didn't know all of it, especially about Roger killing Nick. She was dreading telling them that, but it had to be done. At least she had Luke's support.

"I'm so sorry," her father told her. "I never liked Roger. I should have intervened."

"Dad, don't," Emily shook her head. "It's okay."

"Where's our grandson?" her mother asked.

"In school. He'll be home soon."

"You must be Luke," her father said, coming to shake his hand. "I'm Greg. That's Bonnie."

"Nice to meet you both," Luke nodded.

"Thank you for looking after her," Greg said.

"I'd do anything for her," Luke said honestly. "Including laying down my life for her."

"Glad to hear it, son."

Bonnie was still hugging Emily until she realized there was a baby bump there under the dress.

"You're pregnant!" Bonnie squealed. "Honey! Emmy's pregnant!"

"What?" Greg asked, surprised. He went back over to her. They fussed over her for a moment until Bonnie suggested they go inside and sit down. They walked ahead of Luke and Emily.

"Emmy?" Luke asked, teasing.

"Call me that and you'll never see this woman naked ever again," Emily warned, gesturing to herself.

"You give me such tough choices, Miss Charlton," he joked. She made a face at him, and he laughed while leaning to kiss the side of her head.

"But seriously, thank you," she said.

"For?"

"Encouraging me to reach out to them."

"Anytime."

Then they were inside. They visited for a bit until Nathan and Mei came home. Then there were exclamations of his height and build and tears shed over how much they had missed him. They greeted Mei as though she was already family, which made Luke smile. He went about making dinner, leaving them all to socialize. He felt good, having everyone here. Maybe he didn't have his own family, but he had Emily's now, and they were soon going to have their own.

He was taking Annie's advice. He was living his life.

And he'd make sure to live it to the fullest.

Until his dying day.

The End

Thank you to those who followed, favorited, and reviewed! Of course, there will always be more crossovers with Statham and Blunt characters. Stay tuned ;)