Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

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Author's Notes:

Here is chapter two already. It's also rather short but I hope you like it anyway. I promise the next one will be longer. Thanks for reading. Also, I wouldn't classify this story as a crossover, since Skate are the main characters, but this is the first chapter that will mention a character from another TV show that apparently had played somewhat a part in Kate's life in the past ... please review what your thoughts are on that twist. I'm curious to hear from you. Thanks!

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Kate looked over her shoulder and down the hallway of their hotel-floor, reassuring herself that nobody was following them while James unlocked the door.

James pushed the door open and held it for her to step in, following her in but not before giving the two numbers an almost menacing glance before he shut the door behind him.

She stood still and he came up beside her as both of them took in the room in complete silence. It was a nice room, similar to the ones they had stayed in during their honeymoon up and down the California coast. The walls were an off white and with the sunlight, streaming through the large French style doors that lead to the balcony, it gave the entire room a warm and inviting glow.

Without uttering a word he reached for the backpack that she was holding in her hand and placed it on the floor next to his.

James stepped further into the room now, his attention suddenly on the two suitcases that stood beside the white linen bed. He began fussing with the first one, but was unable to open it since it had a lock that required the input of four numbers. The second one had an identical lock.

"Son of a bitch." He cursed his frustration out loud and gave the lock a good smack with the palm of his hand.

Brought out of her temporary daydream about their honeymoon she quickly found herself kneeling on the floor beside him, "Let me see." Urging him on to finally let her have a go at it.

James stilled his hands and let her take over assessing the locks in detail, "We need a code, four digits, or something to pick the lock."

She looked up at him. "What could it be?" she asked, suddenly realizing she was still wearing the scarf and began to unwrap it and tossed it onto the bed. She tried to run her hands through her curly hair, but to no avail. Her long wild mane had several snags in it and was in desperate need of a good wash and a healthy portion of conditioner before she feared she'd end up looking like Claire in her island days.

James's voice brought her back to the current problem at hand, "Your guess is as good as mine, princess."

Forsaking her current hair situation, her hands fidgeted with the lock again, her right hand thumb changing the numbers with no particular strategy behind it, but the lock didn't give. "It has to be something that has meaning to us." Her eyes met with his for a brief moment, seeking confirmation from him.

He nodded, "You would think so, but then again, Ben always found a way to fuck with our heads." And suddenly it dawned on him that Ben must have booked this particular room for them to do just that.

"Fifteen was probably booked up." He mumbled under his breath as he got up off the floor and looked for the minibar.

"What did you say?" Kate inquired.

"Nuttin', hon', just thinkin' out loud." Critically eyeing the contents of the mini-bar, "Want anything?"

She craned her neck to see what they had to offer without getting up, "I take a soda and ... and a candy bar ... Apollo bar."

He retrieved both for her and found himself a couple of small liquor bottles, then crossed the short distance of the room and settled back down beside her.

She took the cold soda can from him and held it against her temple, closing her eyes and sighing in relief. Then she quickly put the soda down, unwrapped the blue candy bar and took a hearty bite from it.

James stopped and watched her almost mesmerized as she moaned in pleasure from the sugary delight she was currently devouring. "Hell girl, don't mind me as you're getting' off all by yourself over there."

Pink immediately rose to her cheeks and she shot him a look that was equally apologetic and embarrassed. "It's soooo good." She mumbled while chewing, and a tiny piece of chocolate flew out of her mouth, landing on her jeans. She swiped it back up and put it back in her mouth, grinning like a little kid.

James raised his eyebrows and grinned, "I can see that." He mocked her, "Hadn't meant to interrupt your make-out with Apollo there."

She quickly finished the candy bar and took a sip of soda while James had already downed his second miniature liquor bottle, and now they both turned their attention back towards the locks. "I say we just pick it." James said but didn't move and merely just looked at her.

"Hold on. I have an idea." She began inputting a series of number on one lock and James mimicked her numbers on his. 0815. 8150. 3160. 0316. 0108. 1080. None of them worked.

They tried several varieties of his birthday, and hers, and their anniversary as well, but nothing seemed to work. At last they even used the numbers from the hatch, again in various ways. 4815, 8151, 1516, 5162, 1623, 6234, 2342, and then all of them backwards again but none of them worked on either of the two suitcases.

"I'll find somethin' to pick it with." James said, clearly losing patience as he was pushing himself off the floor.

"Wait." Kate grabbed a hold of his pants before he could walk away, "Let's just try a few more."

He watched on when she worked her fingertips to adjust the numbers on her lock once again.

0922. Click.

The lock clicked open to her delight and right away James adjusted the numbers on the other suitcase as well, but ... nothing. "Son of a bitch." He cursed for the second time since they'd arrived as he once again gave the lock another hard whack.

Kate leaned into him to reach for the lock, and quickly turned the wheels to adjust the numbers, altogether ignoring James' words of discouragement as he threatened to 'just shoot the god-damn-lock' if he had too.

2004. Click.

Kate smiled at him and his jaw dropped open, "You've got to be kidding me." He muttered in denial that she had indeed solved this puzzle as well.

The suitcases were opened simultaneously by the both of them and the first thing they found were two large yellow envelopes.

The one in his hand read 'Kate' and she held the one that had 'James' written on it, so without another word they switched the heavily packed envelopes and ripped them open.

What both of them found were detailed instructions concerning the remaining journey home. Every little detail seemed to have been planned out precisely for the both of them, so it was to no surprise that the contents of the envelopes also included money, back up passports, credit-cards and driver licenses matching all the necessary paperwork and visas ... and best of all, cell-phones.

Kate nervously walked around in the room, glancing out through the glass doors, while she held the cell phone to her ear and listened on to the unanswered ringing.

Her first order of business was to call off the cavalry, otherwise known as Sam Austen, who had, according to the information in the heavily stuffed envelope, practically been harassing Claire and Cassidy in efforts to get in touch with his daughter. Making it very clear to both women that he was highly concerned about his daughters abruptly disappearance following so shortly after her husband's death.

Kate sighed and shook her head to herself, she should've known he'd be worried about her, undoubtedly so.

Suddenly her father's voice answered the phone, "Austen residence."

"Dad?" She asked, almost whispering. She felt goose bumps rise along her arms; she hated having to lie to him ... again.

"Katie?" He asked, suddenly sounding much more aware.

"Yeah, it's me, dad." She answered, feeling like she was 15 years old again. She glanced over at James, who was still eagerly looking through his papers, and he looked up just in time to meet her worried gaze.

"Jesus, Sweetheart, where are you? I have been worried sick. I've been calling Claire and Cassidy. I've even been by their ho-"

"I know dad." She nodded as if he could actually see her. "I know, Claire told me. She really didn't know where I was, she wasn't lying to you, dad."

"So." He paused for a moment, "Are you alright, honey?"

"Yeah," she wiped the tear that rolled down her cheek at the sound of concern she could hear in her father's voice. After almost six years of no contact with her father, it hadn't even crossed her mind that he would worry about her now, and neither was she prepared for the onslaught of emotions that rushed through her when she realized just how much it meant to her that he did care about her after all. "Dad, I'm fine. I'm just ... I needed some time to think, you know."

"It's just." He sounded a bit confused, "Do you know what time it is?" He asked.

Suddenly caught off guard by such a simple question, she looked to James for help, but her husband was blissfully unaware of her current dilemma, she stuttered, "Yeah ... I know ... I ... I'm sorry." She said without the slightest clue as to what time it actually was back in Fort Irwin, CA, but she hoped her answer would suffice.

"Well ... that's alright, I had to get up in an hour anyway to get ready for work, but why are you up at 4am in the morning?"

"I couldn't sleep!" she sighed in relief at the smooth transition, "And I couldn't wait any longer calling you."

"So, everything is alright with you?"

"Yes, dad. I mean ... as alright as things can be with my husband being dead." She tried to sound as truthful as she could and the way James suddenly turned his attention to her didn't go unnoticed.

He put the envelope aside and stepped towards her, but Kate took a reluctant step back and away from him, holding her hand out to keep him at bay and shaking her head vehemently. She knew if he hugged her now that she would just break down crying, and tears would be the last thing her father needed to hear as she tried to convince him that she was doing okay.

James understood, kept his distance, leaning against the dresser and folded his arms across his chest, unable to divert his attention away from her now.

On the other end of the line her father sighed loudly into the receiver, "I'm so, so sorry, Katie." He paused and when Kate didn't speak he spoke up, "I know at first I wasn't too keen on the idea of you marrying him, but ... but I know he loved you. He told me so himself."

Her eyes darted at James, who simply mouthed a silent 'what?' in her direction.

She shook her head and carried on with her dad, "Yeah, he did. And I loved him too."

James watched her intently, trying his best to get her attention when he pointed his own big thumb at himself, now soundlessly mouthing the word 'me?'

She nodded, but had to roll her eyes at him now when he grinned like an idiot over there as he pushed his chest out like she'd never said it before.

"Yes, Sweetheart, I know." Her father's voice was soft and consoling, and she could tell that he wasn't entirely sure what to say to her either. "Where are you?"

She looked around as if the room would help her voicing the lie, "In a hotel room."

"I figured that much, but where?"

She hated having to lie to him, "Oh, here and there."

"Katie, please, for heaven's sake tell me you didn't break your probation terms. Tell me you didn't leave California."

Pretending to be offended by his statement, "What? Why would you even think that?"

"Because you're avoiding telling me where you are and the fact that those tabloid rags haven't printed any recent photographs of you has me a bit worried."

She sighed, already regretting where this conversation was heading now, not only did she have to lie, but she had to implicate other people in her lie to get her father of her back and soothe his worry that she was in fact somewhere where she shouldn't be. "I'm hiding out, avoiding the press like the plague, dad, and I didn't wanna tell you where I am because I knew you wouldn't like it."

James rose to full height and a worried look crossed his expression now, fearing what his wife was about to say next.

"But I didn't leave California." The lie left her mouth and instantly pink covered her cheeks again. She just hated this, she wished she could just cut this conversation short, but she knew there was no way back now. There was only one place where she could still find solace. A place where she hid out all those years ago when she was on the run, but her father didn't agree with that place or the people living there. In fact Sam Austen cursed the day he'd ever brought his daughter to that little town in Northern California.

Kate locked eyes with James while listening intently for her father's response. She knew her dad was a smart man and because of that she feared he was already putting two and two together, so she waited patiently for his response.

And then it came, "You're in Charming, aren't you? Are you staying with Jackson Teller?"

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End Notes:

This is not a crossover story, so don't worry about that ... and the Jax/Kate relationship is not going to turn into another love triangle either, I promise. But I'm curious to hear from any fellow SOA fans and what your thoughts are. Please review. Thanks!