Katie arrived for a surprise visit to the farm on a sunny morning; the weather in direct contrast to and no reflection on Luke's particularly quiet and withdrawn mood.

Noah wanted to spend time with Luke; make him smile. But the studio sent him the draft sound bites to edit and he needed to complete the work by the end of the day.

He was therefore grateful when he lifted his head to the study window and saw the two of them walking arm in arm toward the pond. He hoped Katie would have some luck in distracting Luke from the insistent thoughts currently plaguing him.

Totally unable to focus a second longer, he finished up the scene he was working on and pushed the chair away from the desk, squeezing the bridge of his nose. The past months of tension still weighed heavily on him and he wondered when they'd finally return to normal; whatever normal was. It seemed fate enjoyed playing her games as much as Noah struggled to keep them out of trouble.

Entering the kitchen he headed straight for the fridge and examined the contents, working out a meal he knew the kids would like. Well, Nicholas would like anything, but Mia was a little fussier when it came to mealtimes. She ate "like a bird" was how Luke described it.

He could hear the children laughing in the yard and he smiled. He knew they must be getting hungry and was surprised Nicholas hadn't already sought him out to announce it was lunch time.

"Now, now young man!" Emma exclaimed in disapproval, baby Jacob cooing on one hip. Noah was in the process of pulling a large glass dish of lasagne from the middle shelf. "What, pray tell, do you think you're doing, hmm?"

He stood there; mouth full of grape; one hand full of dish; the other full of fridge door; feeling and probably looking guilty.

"Sorry Emma." He apologised profusely once he'd swallowed, "I didn't think you'd mind… um… I mean I thought I could just…"

Emma laughed heartily as he stumbled for words, "Noah! Oh my dear, your face!"

Noah smiled shyly when he realised she wasn't angry, of course she wasn't.

"It's my job to feed the people in this house, Noah." Emma explained. "I know you have important movie work to complete today. I can take care of the children and that includes you two boys."

Noah smiled, "I know that Emma. I was actually just looking for an excuse to take a break. I'm kinda struggling to concentrate at the moment."

By this point he'd closed the fridge and placed the dish on the kitchen island.

Emma smiled, approaching him and patting the side of his arm, "You're worried about Luke, I know."

Noah smiled at Jacob and tickled his chin until he dribbled with glee.

"He's just been way too quiet lately." As he spoke his eyes drifted to the window, but Luke and Katie had long since ambled out of sight.

"Yes." She agreed. "I've noticed that too." She disappeared into the pantry for a few minutes and returned with a loaf of homemade potato bread. "It reminds me of the time just before he came out to Holden and Lily."

She placed the large loaf in the middle of the table as she spoke and returned around the island; opening draws in search of cutlery; Jacob's tiny face lighting up with fascination in the tasks.

Noah sighed, "It's so unlike him not to talk, you know?"

Emma stopped what she was doing to lift up on her toes and kiss him on the cheek, "You're such a special young man, Noah. I'm so glad Luke has you in his corner."

Noah smiled, "Thank you."

"And never you mind! You're the first person he'll seek out when he's ready. That boy can never stay closed up for long."

"I know."

He watched as she sat Jacob in his baby bouncer, handing him a teething toy to keep him busy and free up her hands. He immediately crammed the soft tip into this mouth with chubby fingers.

"Okay, well, in the meantime; let's get these little ones fed. What do you say? Would you like to help me?"

"Love to."

Noah savoured these rare moments with Emma. As the heart of the family it was often difficult to have her all to himself and he relished it. She made him feel warm and safe and part of something bigger than either of them.

They worked together preparing lunch as she laughed and told him stories of Luke as a small boy running around the farmhouse; and Natalie's penchant for bringing stray animals indoors and how Faith would disappear for hours until they found her somewhere outside lost in a book.

In no time she'd put together a homemade feast and after fetching in the other children they tucked into it with relish.

…

Nicholas pressed his elbow up against the trunk of the tree and hid his eyes as he counted, "One, two, fwee…"

Noah chuckled lightly to himself; watching Mia and Ethan scurry frantically around the farmyard looking for the best hiding place. Eventually Mia settled on a bush while Ethan hid behind a wheelbarrow piled high with freshly mowed grass.

"…eightnineten…" impatient, Nicholas hurried the last three numbers, "…coming!" he sang, excitedly turning away from the tree, "Weady or not!"

Noah couldn't see the other two children anymore but he heard them giggle in anticipation.

While Nicholas began his search of the yard, Noah dropped his head back down to the numerous studio e-mails Melanie had sent him. It was heavy going, a lot of the information irrelevant and wafting. But still, it was good to keep abreast of how his team were getting on as a whole and he was proud of the way they'd all covered for him in his absence. Things were still ticking along nicely.

"Hi Noah…"

He smiled to find Katie standing before him.

"Hi Katie." He stood up from the bench on which he was seated to hug her. "It's good to see you."

"You too. It's been a while."

Noah nodded, "Yeah it has. Thanks for coming by the way. I think Luke needed to see a friendly face today. Is he still down there?"

"Yes, he asked me to send you over actually."

"Oh, okay, thanks." Noah turned to gather the rest of his paperwork. He knew Luke would never have called for him; interrupted his work; if he didn't need him.

"Why don't you give those to me?" Katie suggested, "I'll put them back inside for you."

"Oh you don't have to do that!"

Katie laughed, "Luke told me you never like to accept help."

Noah felt his cheeks flush and he laughed before handing the documents to her, "Thank you."

"You're very welcome."

He nodded and turned to leave but Katie called him back, "Oh, hey, Noah?"

Noah turned midstride to find a rather contemplative Katie.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"Oh yes! I just wanted to say… you know?" she tucked a long strand of blonde hair behind one ear, "I guess I wasn't very fair to you… in L.A. When I accused you of… all that stuff with Reid and…"

Noah laughed, "Katie I thought we already went through this?"

"Yeah we did, but, since then… I mean whenever I see Luke…" she stopped to collect her thoughts, "He never stops talking about you. You're his favourite subject."

"Well, he's mine."

She nodded, "I see that. I guess what I'm trying to say is… it's obvious you're soul-mates. Just like me and Brad. I mean, I love Chris. Don't get me wrong. I'm really, really happy and in love with Chris. I want to marry him and I couldn't ask for a better father-figure for Jacob. But your soul-mate? That's something else entirely. There's only one of those. That's what Brad was to me. And I guess I'm just a little jealous of you guys."

Noah felt himself welling up, so instead of saying anything walked back up the hill to hug her once more and kiss her cheek.

She patted his back, "I'm just stating fact. Now get out of here!"

She pushed Noah playfully away from her and he saluted her in response, "Yes Ma'am!"

…

Luke was sat in his usual spot by the pond, knees drawn up to his chest, eyes scanning the water; searching for answers to the questions in his head.

Without a word needed, Noah sat down; straddling Luke between his legs and crisscrossing the man's arms in front of them, smoothing his thumb up and down the skin of one inner wrist. Luke leaned back and moulded naturally to him.

"You missed lunch." Noah said conversationally, even though he knew what was coming; confirmed by the warm wetness seeping through his cotton shirt to his chest.

He held Luke as he cried, pressing his chin to Luke's forehead; heart aching for him.

"Tell me." He whispered when the crying turned to sniffs.

"You already know…"

Noah pulled him in even tighter, "Of course I do… but it might help if you say it out loud."

Again Luke seemed to need a long wait before he could speak, "I didn't want to face it. I didn't want to go over it. But I had to. In order to write that article. It had to be included and ithad to be truth."

"Yes." Noah agreed.

"But now it's just there! In the forefront of my mind… when before I was ignoring it. And it's not so much the physical pain of the beating, Noah. It's… in particular… it's dug up the way they made me feel." His head shook from side to side against Noah's chest. "I don't like to think about all those people we left there."

"The envoy at the embassy said they're going to get that compound closed down."

"Yes… but what about the next one? And the next?"

"The Foundation project will go a long way to getting things changed over there, Luke. That will be your contribution. Okay? That and your writing…"

Luke nodded but didn't sound convinced, "I guess…"

Noah inhaled the air, ripe with the smell of damp leaves and fresh grass. They watched the pond in silence; Noah periodically kissing the rise of Luke's cheek.

"You still haven't told me." Noah whispered softy, when Luke refrained from speaking longer than he expected him too.

His husband sighed, "Noah, you already know what's going on inside my head… Please don't make me say it."

"I won't make you. I just think you should give it a voice." Noah chuckled as he realised what he was saying. "Look who's talking, right? What has Holden Snyder done to me?"

He felt Luke shudder as he joined in the laugh and was glad when Luke relaxed and took a deep breath, "When they whipped me, Noah?

Luke moved sideways in the embrace to look up at him and Noah nodded to encourage him on; squeezing his hand.

"I felt so…" he pursed his lips, forehead furrowed as he tried to get out the word they both knew he needed to say, "…so degraded."

Noah pulled him forward by the back of his neck, lips kissing his forehead before releasing him to continue.

"They made me feel…" he thought for a moment, "…less than a person… or not a person at all. Like I was some kind of animal and it… it's… I'm not even sure they would treat an animal like that. And that can only mean one thing…"

"What's that?"

Luke sniffed, "That to them, I'm less than an animal and so are all the other prisoners in that compound. So is anybody who's not like them."

Noah ran his hand down Luke's cheek, taking away a few tears with his thumb.

"But by far the worst thing… the thing that really gets me and, I guess the thing I'm struggling to get over… is… that they enjoyed it, Noah. They enjoyed whipping me. They laughed at me and it was a sport to them."

Noah pulled Luke's body close; both shuddering from recalled fear. He pressed Luke's cheek to his chest; rested his chin on Luke's head; moving calmly from side to side to sooth himself just as much as Luke.

"They got it wrong." Noah whispered with surety.

Luke pulled back to see Noah's face again, "What do you mean?"

Noah smiled, "You're more than a person, Luke. You're the best person I know. The best I've ever known."

"If that's true, why can't I see it for myself? Why do I feel so guilty to be happy here with you? Why do I still feel like I've not done enough?"

"Not done enough?" Noah asked him in amazement, "Luke! Tony is alive and back here in Oakdale because you refused to give up on him. And I know I was against you trying, but I can't help but love you even more for your motives. Nobody would ever have found him, Luke. He would have died in that camp."

"Yeah." Luke said with a little more lightness to his voice, "That is one good thing to come from it."

"And what about Laarman? You got that man removed from Uganda to a place where he couldn't hurt anybody ever again."

Luke smiled and nodded.

"And Kigongo? Lutalo? The others? You gave them their lives back. And what about the press coverage we've seen since we got back; especially since your article came out? Soon there will be enough signatures on that petition to submit to the Senate. And then maybe the United Nations will feel pressure to act."

"I really hope so bubby."

"I'm sure of it!"

Luke smiled again and Noah couldn't resist stealing a kiss.

"You feeling better?" he asked as their lips parted.

"I felt better the moment you put your arms around me."

Noah laughed and kissed him again.

…

After enjoying each other's silent company by the waters edge, they dusted off the backs of their jeans and began to follow the path back up to the farm house.

"I could sure use a slice of Grandma Emma's homemade apple pie." Noah dreamed allowed.

"Mmm," Luke agreed, "Sounds great. But you know there was only one slice left, last time I looked?"

"Really?" Noah questioned with a hint of mischievousness in his voice.

The curved section of path along which they walked was through a small band of trees where eventually it would break out into the main front farmyard. They walked the first part together; swinging hands between them and smiling softly in the moment. But as soon as Noah spotted the clearing he stopped.

"What?" Luke asked confused, looking back the way they came, "Did you forget something?"

Noah flashed a cheeky grin, kissed Luke's lips, jiggled his eyebrows and laughed, "Race ya!"

He took off before Luke could even process the thought and heard the blonde yell, "Hey? No fair!"

Noah was a fast runner. His long legs carried him quickly up the steep grass verge. But Luke was a natural athlete, shorter but no less quick, and it wasn't long before he was right on his husband's heels.

Usually Noah would be a fitting match for Luke's speed but he was laughing so much he ran out of air and Luke snatched the lead.

"That last slice of pie is so mine!" He shouted as he passed.

"No way, Snyder!"

Halfway up the hill they realised they were being followed by Nicholas, Ethan and Mia; who saw them coming and were keen to join in the fun.

Noah quickened his pace, reaching out his hand until he caught Luke by the wrist; spinning him around and losing his balance. Before long he was lying flat out on the grass with Luke wedged on top of him.

"That pie is mine!" Noah insisted, "Emma said."

"She did, did she?" Luke asked, stretching above them to grab a fistful of grass from the nearby wheelbarrow and throwing it mischievously in Noah's face. "I didn't see your name on it."

"Oh-ho-ho!" Noah exclaimed, "So that's how you wanna play this game?"

He pushed Luke sideways; grabbed two fistfuls of grass for himself and chucked it back at his husband.

The children, giggling and thinking this the funniest thing ever, decided to participate by digging hands into the barrow and pelting Luke with the freshly mown grass.

"Hey!" Luke complained, just making the kids laugh even more and this time aim their loads at Noah.

"Looks like we're under attack, Luke!" Noah laughed, fending off the tiny grass lengths with his elbow and winking in Luke's direction.

"Sure does!" Luke agreed. "Only one thing for it!"

Quickly, both men hopped to their feet, loaded their hands with grass and flung it at the three little faces beaming back at them. Carnage ensued as the children screamed and giggled, returning fire as they encircled the barrow, trying to dodge each other's missiles.

Pretty soon they were all on the ground laughing so much it hurt, tears streaming down their cheeks and it took the person standing nearby a few clears of her throat to get any attention.

"Jenna!" Luke exclaimed as he rolled off Noah and sat on his backside, arms leaning on his knees, "Hey! We were…"

"Yeah…" Noah laughed through breaths, one arm curled around Mia's waist; Nicholas slung round his shoulders, "We were just…"

"We were playing." Luke finally explained, leaning over to tickle his baby brother until Ethan squealed.

Jenna rolled her eyes, "Whatever… Could I ask the two of you to return to adulthood long enough to have a conversation?"

"What?" Luke asked with fake surprise, "You don't want to join in?"

"What do you think?"

"Awe! Come on Jenna. It's fun…" Luke stood to load up on another handful of grass from the barrow. "Don't you remember what it's like to have a little fun?"

"You try that Snyder and you might find your-" she cut off, remembering the children, "…your B.A.L.L.S. wrapped around your head. It's bad enough I've had to be stationed in Hickville without having nature thrown at me too."

Noah snorted, "I think she's serious, love."

Luke cocked his head at her, "You think? Sometimes it's really hard to tell."

They both laughed together.

"Ha. Ha." Jenna replied sarcastically. "Look, could we get serious here? I've got some important news. It's about Laarman."

Luke grimaced at the name, "What's he done now?"

"Died."

Her flat reply took them both off guard.

"What?" Luke questioned and both men stood to their feet.

The children, quick to get bored with the adult conversation, went back to flinging grass at each other.

"Somebody took him out in a church yesterday?"

"Took him out?" Noah asked watching for Luke's reaction.

Luke turned his back to both of them, looking out over the farmyard.

"Yes. He was shot in the back. Execution style and professional job according to the police."

"Do they know who did it?" Noah took a step closer to Luke, reaching out to pull a strand of grass from the back of his hair.

"They're still working on that. Could have been any number of groups. Luke's article didn't exactly paste Laarman in the best light, if you get my drift."

Noah nodded, still focused on his husband's head. "You okay, babe?"

Luke nodded but didn't say anything at first. Noah heard him inhale deeply and when he turned his eyes were big and wet, "Is it bad of me that I'm glad he's dead?"

Noah took the final step to his side and hugged him, shaking his head, "No. I feel the same way."

Luke nodded, pulling back and smiling softly up at Noah. This time it was his turn and he reached up to pull a few grass strands from Noah's curls.

"Anyway," Jenna continued, obviously getting uncomfortable with their easy display of affection, "I was just on the phone with Jarvis. He wants us back in L.A. pronto."

Without breaking eye contact with Noah Luke laughed, "I think I'm ready to go home now, bubby."

Smiling and suddenly feeling elated, Noah's lips found Luke's of their own accord, pressing soft at first and then a little firmer before they pulled apart, "Same here."