Chapter 50


"Home sweet home." Tex said to Miller as they turned down the street towards his home. They'd stay for the debrief and hand their weapons back into the armoury before heading home. Miller could have stayed out or gone to the hospital but he felt he should stop in and see his Mom. That was priority number one while number two was having a shower.

"Do you think she'll be ok?" Miller asked Tex referring to Larrin. They'd been talking about the last mission piecing it together just so they could digest what happened and move on. It helped given they couldn't tell Kat or his Mom what happened. Like he'd want them to know.

"She trusted you, which means she can't have forgotten everything." Tex said to him as Cruz had told pretty much everyone what a bad ass Miller was running into fire for Larrin. Miller didn't mind Cruz telling the story but he didn't like how Cruz tacked on the end that Miller was broke and needed money to take Larrin on a 'hot' date in celebration of him risking his life for her. So far he heard that $100 had been raised in donations for Miller and Larrin. It was embarrassing given he didn't want the charity or people in his personal business.

"She didn't recognise you." Miller pointed out. He didn't care that Larrin had forgotten him. He was more concerned about her forgetting her family and who she was. That trumped knowing him as he felt if they were meant to happen; it would happen naturally as it did before. Hence he wasn't going to dwell on it.

"Yeah, I'm disappointed about that as I am a distinctive guy but then there was a psycho killer and the Captain in the way. Those two tend to dominate a room." Tex said with a smile as he parked the car out the front of the house. "Look at the silver lining, if she can't remember anything then she can't remember killing those men or what Julian did to her. That trauma is wiped away, sure good memories are gone to but she can make new ones." Tex said to him.

"True." Miller said, as it was an upside that she didn't have to carry that with her.

"Remember, she picked you out of 200 better looking assholes that day in St Louis. So your odds are good it will happen again." Tex said as he clapped a hand on Miller's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"I'm not-" Miller started but Tex cut him off.

"I know but seriously $100 can buy a good steak dinner." Tex told him with a smile. "Come on let's go inside." he added as he got out of the car.


"You've been moved." Tom remarked as he found Rachel in a shared room. A bed over; Larrin laid unconscious; hooked up to IV lines, a vitals monitor and oxygen. Her broken arm in some kind of rigging to immobilise it. She had been cleaned up and changed into hospital gown. She was pale and bruised

"Yes, I didn't want to be alone and Wolf appreciates someone being close by who can look out for her while he steps out to get coffee and whatever else he needs to do." Rachel said to him.

"How long are you going to be in here for?" Tom asked looking to her, she looked better than she did earlier. She was still pale and looking drawn but she had a bit of colour in her cheeks, her hair had been washed and blow dried as it looked better managed than before. In fact it looked like it had been cut properly to even out the mess that Julian had made. Her eyes were more alert and she was no longer on oxygen.

"Another week." Rachel said off handedly though she had to wonder why he even cared. She didn't even know why he was here at all.

"After that?" He asked out of curiosity.

"Andrea offered me a room at her bungalow. I'm going to take it." Rachel said, she had appreciated everything Andrea had done for her in the last few hours. She felt she had a friend and it was nice to know she had a place to go to after here that wasn't going to be a full house like Tex's. Not that she had seen him but she knew she would and he'd offer her space but she wasn't ready to be surrounded by people. She needed to get back on her feet and slowly acclimate into the world. Tex's place from the sounds of it was too crowded and lively for her.

"I didn't know you two were friends." Tom remarked.

"There are many things you don't know about me." Rachel assured him.

"I learning that."

"She's going to be ok, how extensive her memory loss is; we won't know until she wakes up." Rachel told him.

"Julian's dead." Tom told Rachel hoping it would bring some ease to know she would be safe from him. He knew Wolf was glad the man was dead and Tom didn't blame him after what they'd found in the house.

"At least something went right today. The man is an animal." Rachel said relieved that Tom had let go of his morals to let the man die.

"Yes, he also kept trophies of his previous victims, passports, wallets etc. So we'll be able to add their names to the registry, so their families can find closure." Tom said not adding that they had found Doc's wallet with her driver's licence in it which had been placed on the floor before a wall that held a sick mural to the women that Julian had killed. Tom wished he could tell Doc her identity but he left that to Mike as this here with Rachel was his way of celebrating even if he had a lot of mending to do in regards to their relationship.


"How's Larrin?" Kat asked after she hugged her father. She was so relieved to see him alive that she didn't care that he was a little roughed up or stank. He was alive and that was all that matter to her. Though she did take a step back for the sake of her sense of smell.

"She's alive, there's still a lot to sort out." Tex told her as he smoothed his hands down the sides of her hair and pressed a kiss to her forehead before stepping away from her.

"Is she coming home?" Kat asked as she had been worried about Larrin just as much as she had for her father.

"Not tonight, but if she's up for visitors we'll see her tomorrow." Tex said to her.

"Ok, well dinner can wait half an hour." Kat told him.

"For what?" Tex asked with a frown.

"You to have a shower." Kat said with a smile, Tex laughed and pulled his shirt away from his chest and took a sniff. His nose scrunched in disgust as he was definitely not smelling like a garden of roses. He hadn't missed Halsey keeping his distance as he laid on the floor in the living room looking interested but wary as if afraid of breathing in the bad smell might kill him.

"Ok, I'm going." he told her as he moved in the direction of the downstairs bathroom

"I love you." Kat offered to smooth over the invisible insult of telling her father he stank.

"You could use one too." Barbara told her son as smiled at him. She was so relieved he was alive and unscathed. But she like Kat didn't appreciate the smell of two sweaty men in their home given they'd spent the better part of the day surrounded by men.

"Alright, I'll be back in 5." Miller said to his Mom.

"Make it 10 and remember to wash behind your ears." She told him.

"Mom, really?" he asked her, he was tempted to remind her he wasn't six yrs old and knew how to clean himself but kept it to himself. He wanted to have a good evening and it was nice to come home to people who cared for him. Plus he knew no matter how old he got; his mother would still see him as a kid with a superman cape on.

"Please and there's soap." Barbara informed him.

"I know how to have a shower." Miller told her as he raced up the stairs before she could embarrass him further.

Barbara laughed behind her hand as her son disappeared and turned to Kat. The girl she had quietly adopted as her own as she liked her. She had grit and wasn't shy of hard work. Something she'd shown today as they'd finished the nursery and gotten to work on the nursery furniture. It just needed a quick repaint and varnish. Then it and few other sundries and baby paraphernalia would call the nursery complete. Neither of them knew Kara very well but they figured given she liked Tex's house then following on it's theme wouldn't hurt.

"They reeked." Kat said as she moved to the dinner table setting the place settings.

"I know, and I thought spending all day in that house was like being in a men's locker room." Barbara said as she helped her. The dinner was set up in the kitchen ready to serve when the men were showered and smelling better.

"Agreed, but the house looks good." Kat said with a smile as she felt proud of how it was turning out. She had never really created something with her hands before. Sure on the farm she had chores but it was just a way of life much like washing dishes or clothes. There wasn't much to them and there was no real achievement in doing them. Renovating the house on the other hand was enlivening as she could imagine Lt Foster being happy in the house with her family. It was a good feeling to give back and working on the house helped her work through her own emotional junk.

"It does, we'll finish up the furniture tomorrow and I've called around to see what the go is for baby wares to see what we can horse trade and what will cost money. So hopefully we can finish that room perfectly while the rest we'll leave to the couple. Lord knows, they got enough on their plates." Barbara said with a smile as she didn't envy them.

She had had her grandfather and a couple of strong friends supporting her while majority of the town shunned her for being a single mother, they slowly came round with the times. It took years to be accepted again but a coffee machine and holding her head high helped earned respect from the townsfolk and raising a respectful young man like Eric helped too. She wouldn't change a thing but she could appreciate she had it easier staying in one location and having a career that worked around her son. Kara and her partner Danny had jobs that weren't so flexible and the way Kara spoke; being in the Navy was a big part of her identity and goals. It was not going to be easy for the woman to step back from her career for her baby but she would, at least Barbara, Tex and Kat would be next door to support her when Danny was deployed.

"Sounds good." Kat said with a smile.


"We found this at the house, I think it belongs to you." Mike said as he handed over the wallet to Doc. She took the wallet and looked at it. It was a long Mimco tan coloured wallet with cut out stars on it. She opened it, she took a deep breath as she hadn't expected to feel so emotional at seeing something that was hers. But it was as there was a photo of her with an older woman in the photo space that people normally used for their driver's licence. She had to guess it was her mother given the similar physical features.

She looked at the cards and pulled out a driver's licence, looked at the name. "Hannah St. Claire." She said reading the name on the licence. The photo was terrible but it was her, the address said she came from the West Coast.

"Nice to meet you Hannah." Mike said, Doc scrunched her nose at the name. It wasn't that she hated it but she had been banking on being a 'Zoe' or something a little more daring like 'Gabrielle'. That and being younger as it said she was 32. She couldn't help but smile as every assumption she made about herself was wrong.

"I still prefer Doc," she told him as she returned the driver's licence to it's place in the wallet and pulled out another ID for a hospital which stated she was a Doctor and her department of Emergency Medicine. "I spent months trying to put piece some sense out what I knew about myself. I feel I was wrong about it all." she said to him, even though it was her wallet she still felt like she was invading someone's personal property and frankly she just wanted to digest all the information before her in privacy.

"It's not all bad," Mike said in amusement as he couldn't help but sense her mix of joy and disappointment. As he could only imagine what life she cooked up for herself.

"No, it's not. Thank you for this." She said to him sincerely, she didn't know what she was supposed to feel as she was happy to finally have a name but with it came history and people that potentially missed her. Something she wasn't ready to address yet.


"Tex," Rachel said in surprise as the man appeared at the doorway with a canvas shopping bag in hand. He smiled at her in his usual charming manner that warmed her as it was great to see someone she considered a friend. He had a bruised cheek and cut above his eye but otherwise he looked healthy and whole.

"Hey Doc, I brought you dessert and some food for the ugly one over there." Tex said as he gestured to Wolf who was currently asleep in a chair by Larrin's bed. He stepped into the room and pulled out a Tupperware container with fork wrapped in a napkin and placed it on the bed near Rachel's hands before he moved over to where Wolf was and placed the bag by the man's feet.

"You didn't need to bring you anything." Rachel said as she picked up the container and opened it to find a custard tart. She smiled as she couldn't remember the last time she had a custard tart but also because it smelt delicious and was still warm.

"It'd be rude not to." Tex said as he pulled up a chair beside her bed and sat down with a relaxed sigh. He was reaching the end of his energy reserve for the day but didn't want to leave Rachel just yet given it would be rare for them to have a quiet moment in the future.

"It smells divine." She told him.

"Mrs Miller made it from scratch, she and Kat dominate the kitchen. It lucky Kat will have a good teacher in that department given I can barely cook toast." Tex said with a smile.

"Can't say I'm a culinary expert either." Rachel said as she carved out a piece of the custard tart and then used the fork to pick it up. She ate it and murmured her enjoyment as it was delicious. "This is delicious." she said.

"I'll let them know. So how are you?" Tex asked her.

"I'm ok." Rachel told him, it wasn't entirely a lie as every passing hour she did feel more and more like herself. She was still tired and sometimes she felt a little lost and depressed. But thankfully for some weird reason her clean and nicely cut hair helped ground her in the present than in the past. It also made her feel more human. It also helped when she reminded herself that she wasn't so alone in her troubles either.

"Sorry, I wasn't here sooner. I got wrapped up in the mess and Larrin needed me." Tex said to her.

"I'm glad someone was looking out for her." Rachel told him.

"Then you'll be proud of Miller." Tex said with a smile.