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Chapter 10. Taking The Long Way Around

"Berlin, Jack? You can't be serious," Kate argued, and Jack had to remind her to lower her voice. "What if they find out? We almost lost you once…" She felt tears burn her eyes, and she ducked her head, to stare at the ground. She was going to lose him no matter what, but at least while he was alive, there was still hope.

"They won't," he assured her, cupping her chin in his palm to get her to look at him. "I'll make sure of it."

"How're you gonna do that? One look at the manifest will tell them everything they need to know," she reminded him, confused when he grinned, as if he'd already come up with a solution to this.

"You were on the run for three years, Kate – what did you do when you didn't want the marshal to know where you were going?"

"I took the long way around," she explained, realisation dawning on her when he responded with another smile, and an emphatic nod. "You're not going to Berlin, are you?"

"I was thinking somewhere like Copenhagen," he agreed. "Then, when my plane touches down, I'll buy a train ticket for cash."

"If I can't talk you out of it, then I'm coming with you," she blurted out without sparing a thought for the consequences, as though they were back on the island, and it was another hike through the jungle that she was volunteering for.

"No, Kate," he said, shaking his head, and she could see that he was bracing himself for an argument. "It's too dangerous. Someone has to stay here and keep J.J. safe."

"And who's gonna keep you safe?" she insisted, frustrated when she felt another bout threatening to escape. She wasn't ready to trust him again, and she wouldn't be until she saw that he could cope without drugs. "You said it yourself – you need me to stay clean. You're sober now, but there's no telling how long that'll last."

The harshness of her words wasn't lost on her, even though she knew that what she was saying was the truth; she expected him to lose his temper with her then, but he didn't.

He laughed.

"Motherhood hasn't done anything to help with that stubbornness, has it?" he said with an affectionate grin, lifting her hand, and squeezing it.

"Haven't you heard what they say?" she teased him, returning his smile now that he wasn't trying to fight her, "Mothers always know best," and he laughed again.

"I'm not sure that includes other people's," he pointed out, and she slapped his shoulder with her open palm.

"It does if I say it does."

"Fine," he agreed, rubbing his arm in an exaggerated manner, "You know best," before his mood turned serious again, "But that doesn't change the fact that we can't both go to Berlin–or Copenhagen–without drawing unwanted attention to ourselves."

"So I'll go somewhere else," she told him, reaching all the way back to high school geography for a map of Europe "—Paris."

"Are you gonna listen to me if I tell you no?" he asked, and she shook her head, crossing her arms as she dug her heels in.

"No, just like you wouldn't listen to me."

He sighed, resigned, as he leant back, running a hand over his hair. "I'm starting to think it wasn't the best idea for us to procreate," he told her with a lopsided grin, and she hit him again, laughing.

"He's pretty mellow now, but when the time comes for him to start rebelling, we're just gonna have to gang up on him," she agreed.

They spent the next hour making travel plans, organising to meet at the Berlin airport in three days time.

Once the arrangements were finalised, and committed to memory, Kate stood up, collecting her purse, but when she leant over to kiss Jack goodbye, he put out a hand to stop her.

"You want it to look like we just broke up, right? In case they're watching," he checked, his expression grim, and flashing back on her conversation with the man in the car park, she nodded. "So just walk away. And don't forget to give that bear to J.J. for me."

"I'll make sure it's the first thing I do when I get home," she told him as she straightened, forcing the smile from her face. "I guess I'll see you in Berlin."

And she did, resisting the urge to look back.

J.J. was sitting on his mat on the living room floor when she got home, playing with a pile of blocks.

"Look, J, look what Daddy has for you," she said to get his attention, crouching down to his level, and pulling out the bear. "You remember Daddy, don't you? He remembers you."

He chuckled when she waved it in front of him, reaching out for it as she danced it through the air towards him; shoving its ear into his mouth and chewing once it was in his hands.

Her father was reading on the other side of the room, but he glanced up when he heard her son's laughter. "What's that?" he asked, curious. He was the one with cash to burn, so he bought most of J.J.'s toys.

"A present from Jack," she explained, her eyes still on J.J., trying to crystallise his reaction in her mind so that she could describe it to Jack later, when he asked. "He asked me to give it to him."

"That's nice," he agreed, taking his glasses off, and putting his book down on the arm. "You haven't said much about him since you got back yesterday. How's he doing? Better, I hope." He was trying to sound supportive, but she could hear the disapproval in his tone. Now that the shock had worn off, and there was no permanent harm done, it seemed that he still hadn't forgiven Jack for what he'd tried to do.

"He wants me to go to Germany with him," she admitted, standing up, and his eyes widened.

"What's wrong with wherever you've been meeting him?" he asked, but while he framed it as a joke, she could see that the question was serious.

"It won't be forever," she assured him. "Just a few days. We have a friend there. He can help." She did her best to make the trip sound reasonable, but she could see that he wasn't convinced.

"Katie," he said, with a sigh, his voice slow and careful, "Honey, I know you miss him, and I'm sorry for that, I really am, but you can't let yourself get dragged back into that life. You need to think of your boy."

She glanced over at J.J., still munching on the ear of his bear, oblivious to the silent battle raging around him. "I am," she agreed.

Next chapter: The adventure begins... ;)