"Do you think she'll like me?"

Joel chuckled as he parked his truck outside Melanie's flat. They had just been on another date and he had announced that Sarah wanted to meet her, "Why wouldn't she like you?" he asked, turning off the ignition and raising an eyebrow at Melanie, "I like you just fine and so will she."

"I've never had to...meet a boyfriend's daughter before," Melanie said uncomfortably "I'm just scared she'll hate me and then…and then I lose you because you'll never pick a girlfriend over your daughter and I don't want you to do that, ever, but I also don't want this to end..."

Taking her hand in his, Joel shook his head "Sarah is…well, she's an amazing kid. I know I'm a 'lil biased when I say that being her father but she is. She isn't holding out for her mom and I to…reconcile…she won't see you as an obstacle. So, I think you two will get along fine."

"You promise."

"Scouts honour."

Melanie smiled a little and leant over to kiss his cheek, "Fine, I'll take your word for it. So what are we doing tomorrow?"

"Me and Sarah go on hikes sometimes," Joel said grinning a little at her, "how about you come with us."

"I don't think I've got many hiking shoes," Melanie replied, thinking of the high heels in her cupboard. Not hike friendly at all.

He shrugged at her, "I don't know…how about you come to one of her soccer games? If they keep winning they're gonna be in the championships, be good if you're there. Show some support."

Nodding slowly, Melanie smiled to herself "Yeah, yeah that sounds like fun," she turned to him and winked "I'll even buy the victory pizza afterwards."

"She's definitely gonna like you."

"OK, let me see if I get it straight. If you mess up your fourth down, then you give the ball to the other team?"

Melanie rolled her eyes: for the past few hours Joel had been teaching Ellie the rules of football and she had felt completely lost. What was annoying was that Ellie was picking it up fast. Now she was the only one who didn't get it. The young girl was sitting behind Joel as they talked and Melanie couldn't help but smile at the sight. Despite what had been said before in the ranch, it was clear there was still a bond between the two of them.

Joel nodded approvingly "Right, it's called turnover."

"And if you clear the ten yards then you're back at…first down?"

"First down. That's right."

"Man, that's confusing. No wonder you don't get this 'Mel."

Snorting, Melanie shook her head "I worked in that bar long enough and never understood the game. I could have sworn Tommy and Joel made up most of the rules."

"They probably did," Ellie agreed, raising an eyebrow "I wouldn't put it past them."

Joel chuckled "You two ladies just gotta play it a couple of times. It'll all make sense."

"Can I get that in writing?" Melanie asked sceptically "Because I highly doubt that."

They kept up good pace and Melanie recognised the street they were and glanced at Joel. "Hey, if my memory serves right – we're getting close to the University," she said and frowned slightly at how quiet it was. It was unusual that no Firefly guards were surrounding them for approaching their headquarters.

"Really?" Ellie asked as the horses stopped in the middle of the street, "'Coz none of these buildings look like a mirror to me."

Melanie nodded, "It's a little further up the road, trust me…I'm just concerned why there isn't anybody standing guard," she said quietly "this is where they do all their research."

"Well. We'll head to central grounds," Joel said, glancing around warily "should be able to see most of the campus from there and keep an eye out for any unwanted attention."

"Sounds like a plan."

They kept going down the street this time in silence as they listened out for any Fireflies or worse roaming the seemingly abandoned streets. Joel, almost as if he was showing off, got his horse to jump over a bench and Ellie giggled behind him.

"That was fun."

Shaking her head, Melanie tried not to smile but upon seeing the both of them laugh she couldn't help but smile softly. It had been a long time she had good reason to smile.

"Hey, over there!" Ellie said quickly "Is that it?"

Melanie shielded her eyes from the sun and looked to where the younger girl was pointing, "Yeah, yeah that is it," she said happily "told you we were on the right track."

"Hmm, I guess it does look like a giant mirror," Joel admitted, glancing at Melanie.

"I did say."

Joel nodded "You did…come on, we should try and get there before it gets dark," he glanced around and seen a wall knocked down leading into some rooms "looks like we can cut through here."

Carefully guiding her horse over the debris, Melanie took the lead and scanned each room as they entered the building. "How many people you think are there?" Ellie asked them curiously "Fireflies, I mean."

"Reckon it takes quite a crew to run that operation," Joel replied, ducking his head to avoid smacking it, "Melanie's the one to ask really. She's been here before after all."

Melanie shrugged, "Tommy and I didn't really get the whole tour of the building…just did a few missions for them before we decided to leave. There could be hundreds or hardly any Fireflies in there."

"What made you want to leave?"

Thinking carefully, Melanie forced a smile as Ellie and even Joel looked at her "Just wasn't the life for me," she said honestly "after everything I've been through, I just wanted something better and…and I found it."

"I'm glad you found what you were looking for," Joel said, his voice a little stiff as he kept his eyes averted from her.

Not knowing why he was prickly Melanie didn't answer him and Ellie, sensing the tension, decided to change the subject. "You think there'll be other people my age?"

"Ah…I'm not sure on that one kiddo," Joel said, frowning a little as a closed gate blocked their way, "we'll just need to see when we get there. Just you keep Callus calm."

Melanie raised her eyebrows as Joel dismounted 'Callus' and stood in front of the gate, "You named your horse Callus?" she asked smiling a little.

"I did not name the horse, Ellie did…" Joel narrowed his eyes at the girl who was smirking slightly "What kind of name is Callus anyways?"

Ellie shrugged "You weren't gonna name him and he needed one…

"I'm sure he did."

As Joel opened the gate, Melanie frowned as the two horses began to neigh nervously and back away slowly. Looking up, she seen that Joel also had a concerned expression on his face as he grabbed the reins of Ellie's horse and tried to calm him down.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa…" he said softly, patting his head "What is it boy?"

Melanie clapped Red's neck comfortably, "There must be something up ahead to get them all riled up," she said quickly, "I don't wanna think about what it could be."

An unintelligible holler echoed throughout the abandoned campus and Melanie froze: she knew that sound too well now. Gripping at the gun at her side, Ellie looked a little worried "Sounds like runners," she whispered.

"You stay with Melanie and the horses," Joel said firmly, slipping out the gate and closing it behind him. Ignoring, Melanie's look he shut the gate and got out his gun, "I'll go check it out."

Ellie glanced between the two adults and then her eyes settled on Joel "Are you sure about this?" she asked "Should we really be splittin' up?"

"Yes, I am," Joel said quietly, putting a finger to his lips, "I don't want them running off."

Melanie frowned at his not so subtle hint for them to be quiet, "And what do we do when you run into trouble and we can't get to you?" she hissed through the bars at him.

"You get Ellie the hell outta here and leave me behind," he replied grimly, looking over his shoulder at her, "her life is more important than mine."

"Joel!"

Watching as he disappeared down some stairs, Melanie let out a growl of frustration before dismounting her horse too, "Don't say you're leaving as well," Ellie whispered, a hint of worry in her eyes.

"No, no, I'm just gonna keep watch behind us," Melanie replied reassuringly, patting Red's neck as she walked by him, "don't want to end up trapped in here."

As she got out her gun, she heard Ellie get down from Callus, "You know, I never did thank you for coming with us," Ellie said quietly "you didn't have too."

"You kiddin' me?" Melanie smiled a little as she looked over her shoulder at Ellie, "You may possibly be the cure for mankind, I'll be in the history books if we pull this off. What sane person turns that down?"

Ellie grinned slightly and leant against the wall, "Still…thanks for tagging along…I appreciate it. So does Joel."

"Don't mention it kiddo," Melanie said nodding "I don't mind."

There was only a few moments of silence before Ellie spoke again, "So after all this…getting to the Fireflies and curing mankind…what will you do?"

"Well…I'd probably go back to Tommy and Maria," Melanie said slowly, not really knowing the true answer to Ellie's question, "they have a good thing going there and it's better than what's happening in the cities or anywhere else. Why do you ask?"

Ellie began playing with a loose thread on her jumper and shrugged "I was just wondering…do you-do you think I could go back there with you?"

"I don't think that will be a problem."

"And…and Joel?"

Melanie hesitated "If that's what he wanted to do…I don't know if it is or not," she said softly and then glanced at Ellie, "has he mentioned anything to you about his next move?"

"Nope, nothin'," Ellie said, swinging her arms as she stood against the wall "I don't think he even knows what his options are. Maybe you should tell him?"

Before Melanie could reply, they could hear gunshots and shouting come from the courtyard and she sighed: that man could be stupid at times. "Well, if he doesn't start thinking things through he isn't gonna have options," she muttered.

"He really likes you."

Melanie looked over to Sarah in surprise, they had went to a fast food place for pizza to celebrate Sarah's team going into the championship and they were waiting for Joel and Tommy to come over with the food.

"Huh?"

Sarah rolled her eyes and pointed over to her father and uncle, "My dad. He's so into you it's kinda embarrassing."

"Really?" Melanie smiled a little and then glanced at Sarah, "How can you tell?"

"Well, he's sings in the shower now," Sarah said unimpressed, "gets a goofy smile on his face whenever you guys talk on the phone or when you send him a message. He's more of a teenage girl than I am."

Laughing loudly, Melanie stored that useful information away and turned to Sarah "Well, while its made my day much better knowing your dad likes me….I just wanted to know if you like me too," she cringed a little at Sarah's look, "not in the same way obviously."

"Obviously not in the same way," Sarah said giggling "I'm just happy that he's found someone he likes. For ages he was alone and unhappy…I know what my mom did hurt him really bad and it's good to know he's not completely shut everyone out when he could have, so for the record I do like you," Sarah told her and smiled "I think you're cool and I wouldn't mind hanging out with you."

Feeling relieved at what the younger girl said, Melanie sighed happily, "You don't know how pleased I am to hear that," she said "to know you don't mind me and your dad dating."

"Anyone who buys me pizza is okay in my book," Sarah said jokingly "oh and by the way, thanks for coming to my game today, you didn't have too."

Melanie's smile grew as she realized that Sarah, as well as Joel, had accepted her into her life and she didn't grudge it. It was a good feeling, "Well, I'm glad I did," she said "and I can't wait to go see your team win the championship next week. We'll do something fun to celebrate after."

"Sounds like fun…but can you do me a favour first?"

"Sure 'hon, what is it?"

"Convince my dad to stop singing in the shower? It's getting embarrassing."

A/N Sorry about the long wait, there's been a major loss in my family and it took me a while to get back to writing. I hope I haven't disappointed in this latest chapter.

Thank you to everyone who's reviewed JI love to read them and know I'm doing a good job!

BSI.