There were so many things that Casey could have said as she stood there, but the one she chose was calm, restrained...loving.

"What's wrong?" She asked crossing to the bed and sitting down beside a rather forlorn-looking Derek. He was dressed in his usual long-sleeved t-shirt and expensive jeans but they looked more crumpled than usual. As did he.

He raised an eyebrow. "What? No "What the hell are you doing here?" No "Get out of my bedroom, Derek!"?"Even tired and stressed he still managed to roll out the smallest of smirks, but where as once it annoyed the hell out of her, now it was something she loved about him. In her most soppy moments she liked to think he even had a smirk that was totally hers.

Casey recognised it now and she smiled even as he took her hand. She kissed his fingers and explained.

"I know you. I know it would take a lot to get you here when you've refused before. I might have thought it was good news but," she lifted their joined hands to point at him. "...you look like shit."

He nudged her with his shoulder affectionately. "You sound like me."

"You're a bad influence." They smiled at each other, mouths and eyes, before her expression became serious. "Tell me, Derek. You're killing me here."

He tilted his head to one side, took a deep breath and then slipped his arm around her shoulders.

"They found me." he said softly. "They know I'm not dead."

"Oh fuck!" Casey exclaimed as he confirmed what she had sort of expected but also feared. If it wasn't so serious he would have teased her about the curse.

"Yeah...my thoughts too." Derek settled on.

"You seem remarkably calm." She commented, unconsciously moving closer and sliding her own arm around Derek's waist so that they were wrapped up in each other – seeking a reassurance that neither of them really felt.

"Apparently Sal's known for a long time – months even. They know who I am, where I am, but despite the fact I know they still intend to kill me, they haven't made a move..."

"...yet." Casey finished.

"Yet." Derek confirmed.

She was thoughtful.

"So why are you here? In London, I mean." She wanted him to say he needed her, but she knew it was a pipe dream.
He shrugged. "I panicked. I saw red and all I could think of was making y...the family safe." He looked away. "I've fucked up all sorts of ways though. I've probably drawn them to you. I'm a fucking idiot. I know better!"

"Does Spike know? About Sal?"

"Yes."

"Then you can bet your life there's a protection detail outside here right now." Casey reasoned, pressing a kiss against his cheek.

"I know, I just..." he looked back at her and his arms tightened.

Casey suddenly knew why he was there and her voice was suddenly accusatory. "You're going to run again, aren't you?" she said, pulling away.
Derek didn't like the distance. "I don't want to."

Casey shrugged. "Then don't." They were still sitting together, but now there was a distance between their bodies which neither of them liked.
"Casey." Derek warned. "I don't have much choice."

"You're asking me to kiss you goodbye and let you leave. I can't do that."

She was right. It was exactly what he was asking her to do. He didn't like it but Casey should be with the rest of the family, away from him and safe. They would be given protection; watched twenty-four seven. He would know she wasn't in danger.

She wasn't with him, but that would be bearable to know that she was out of harm's way.

"I just..."

"No. Derek." Casey said firmly and stood up. "I won't let you do it."
"Not even if it will keep you safe?"
"You keep me safe. Or my mind at least. The choice you are offering is physical harm or mental harm – I'd rather have the former. I can't go through the last seven years again."

"Casey. It won't be like that." he warned. There would be emails, phone calls. Maybe he'd even allow himself to visit every now and again – if he was really careful. Of course he would be off the scene and the way would be open for slimy creatures like Robin to step in and "entertain" the very single Casey...

Derek stopped liking the idea quite so much. Before he could comment further, Casey put her hand up and her foot down.

"No. Look. I need to go. Mom's waiting for me. I'm in the middle of cooking dinner."

"Red pesto chicken." Derek said with conviction. He recognised the smell. It was comforting and homey. Casey nodded.

"Can you put off the running until I've got rid of the family?" She asked, eyebrow curled. "They're all here you know...the entire clan."

Derek nodded. He'd heard their voices as they arrived because by that stage he had already climbed in through her bedroom window. The security in this apartment was shit and if he seriously thought she was going to be spending any significant time in it her would be having words with Casey about it. Then he remembered that Marti also lived here and resolved to pester Casey about it anyway.

Casey sighed and Derek inwardly made a fairly accurate guess that not all of that was about him leaving – that a decent part of it was the sadness that he couldn't reveal himself to their family. His face reflected his own disquiet and he stood.

"I'm not doing this to hurt you, princess. Or them." He murmured pulling her close and burying his face in her hair.

Casey pulled back only slightly to look at him.

"I know. But you're trying to make decisions for me that only I can make." She explained. "We'll talk about this later." She pressed a quick kiss against his lips. "I need to go and..."

But then Derek was kissing her again.

It wasn't passionate and it didn't rank higher than a seven on the Derek and Casey "past kisses" scale but it was warm and affectionate, and Casey hadn't seen him for two days. She joined in, wishing she had the confidence to make more of this kiss; to turn it from a soft, open-mouth kiss into something deeper, needier...inviting.

Their bodies were close together and they both grasped the other's clothes, although Derek had one hand in her hair now and Casey began to lift her own hand to his face to reciprocate.

Behind them the door opened.

"Casey, Nora wants...holy shit!" Marti exclaimed in a hoarse whisper, stopping dead just inside the door. Her eye bugged and the door closed behind her without her noticing.

Surprised in their kiss, Casey and Derek broke apart and there was an awkward silence. Derek was rather grateful Casey shifted to stand in front of him.

Marti coughed to clear some kind of emotion from her throat.

"Casey." She said with a passing impression of calmness when her mind returned. "Nora is looking for you. The sauce is done."

The elder girl also coughed and fidgeted with her dress. "Okay I'm going." She turned to Derek. "You...sit and stay. You had better be here when I get back or the only person after you that you'll need to worry about is me."

"I'll be here." He said quietly and when his eyes met hers, a glimmer of the emotion from just a few seconds ago remained. Unseen by Marti, Casey smiled slightly.

She turned back to Marti. "The family can't know he's here, Smarti. Leave him be and we'll talk when the rest of them have gone."

Marti nodded still somewhat stunned at what she had just witnessed.

It wasn't just the sight of Derek back in her life after so long, or the fact that he was supposed to be in Ottawa rather than here, it was the fact that she had just caught him mid-kiss with Casey. Sure it looked chaste by most people's standards but the Derek Marti last knew would have cut off his own lips rather than kiss Casey.

Clearly things had changed - and suspicions Marti had entertained for one mock sibling she now began to believe for the real deal.

Marti followed Casey out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her, and Casey was really grateful for that. Her little sister could so easily have made a scene, blowing Derek's hiding place. Casey was glad that Marti was ready to give them the benefit of the doubt. She was grateful that Marti hadn't made a scene about the situation she had walked in on.

Or at least, that Marti waited until they were alone in the kitchen, plating up the food before she pounced.

"Wow!" Marti hissed quietly, as soon as Nora took the garlic bread into the living room – together with a rolling pin to stop Venturi hands.

"I know. It's a lovely recipe." Casey commented. "I got it from the chef at my favourite restaurant."

"Screw that Casey. How long have you been dating my brother?"

Casey chuckled. "Dating?"

"Yes...dating."
"We're just friends, Marti."

Marti snorted. "Friends do not kiss like that. It looks to me as though Derek was telling you something tonight."

Casey removed the hot dishes from the oven.

"That's just normal Derek and me." She said dismissively.

"Normal? You mean you've kissed like that before?"

"Yes. We're just being affectionate. It's the way we are."

"How often?"

Casey shrugged. "Most days."

Marti put down the bowl of salad she was holding.

"And you sleep together?" She knew this from the conversations they had had about furniture.

Her step-sister shook her head. "We share the same bed. It's not...physical between us."

Marti snorted again and picked up the salad bowl. "Looked pretty physical to me." She said and then disappeared into the living room.

When she returned she watched as Casey took a plate out from the cupboard and began to load it up with pasta and sauce.

"I thought people were helping themselves." Marti queried. Casey shook her head.

"This is for Derek." She explained.

"Really?" Marti sniggered.

Casey said nothing more, because the smile on her face as she met Marti's eyes said it all.

"Tell me what you've done with the apartment." Nora asked as Casey took her seat and they all tucked into their food. Nora knew what the apartment looked like, because Casey had emailed her pictures. They were just pictures of the place where Derek and Casey lived – without Derek and Casey in them.

Casey had managed to get the loaded dinner plate smuggled into her bedroom and Derek without the rest of the family seeing because they were all so busy filling their own plates. She was glad that Marti was all grown up because her seat was directly opposite the door to Casey's room and a younger Marti, who wasn't in on the secret, would have been the first to call attention to the clandestine manoeuvres going on behind Nora and Lizzie's backs. The male portion of the family were arguing over garlic bread.

Casey relaxed a little, relieved that Derek was still there, that he now had food in front of him and was clearly adhering to her request – for the time being at least. She just hoped he could stay quietly in the bedroom until their family took themselves home.

Dinner was...interesting. Oblivious to the tension between Casey and Marti, the other Venturis were happy to laugh and joke – or in Robbie's case "fart and joke". Gentle teasing and bodily functions included, the meal began to resemble some of the choice ones of Casey's teenage years and if she wasn't so distracted by the impending doom, she would have been mildly nostalgic.

"Hey! Case. Did Dad tell you about his latest car-tastrophy?" Edwin asked, his mouth still negotiating garlic bread – a fact which earned him a look of disdain from all the females around the table. Casey ignored the temptation to comment on the sight before her, because he was after-all an adult now, and shook her head to indicate the negative.

"Go on Dad tell her." Edwin insisted.

"Edwin..." George complained, but Nora was giggling.

"Go on Georgie, it's a good one."

"No it isn't." George insisted and then turning to Casey... "No. It. Isn't."

Casey grinned. "Very embarrassing?"

Nora and Edwin glanced at each other and dissolved into a flood of giggles. Robbie laughed so hard he started to choke and Lizzie had to bang him on the back.

"Well I think it was very silly and..."

"And nothing Lizard!" Edwin interrupted. "Go on Dad. You know one of us will tell it if you don't."

Casey frowned. "Edwin. Maybe George doesn't find it as amusing as you do." She raised a questioning eyebrow to Marti.

"Don't look at me. I haven't heard it either." The latter replied.

George sighed.

"You're going to bug me until I give in, aren't you?"

"Yes!" The whole family said in unison. Nora patted his hand.

"There there, honey. Just spit it out and it will hurt less...like a band aid." She chuckled. George shot her a look of contempt.

"Oh what the hell..." He said and threw his napkin on the table. "You know that I've been looking for a new car for a while." He led.

Casey nodded. George and his "new car" (which the family had nicknamed The Vehicle Soon To Be Known As The Prince Mark II) had been the stuff of legend – before he had even picked the car up.

Also legend was his competition with his co-worker who had a similar love of cars – or as Nora liked to put it "a late-middle age crisis".

"Well," George went on. "I finally picked the car up two weeks ago last Thursday."

"Is it nice?" Casey asked politely.

Derek, listening through the small crack in her bedroom door rolled his eyes at her question. "Nice?" Cars weren't nice. Or at least not the ones he hoped his father would buy with a little money and the approaching doom of fifty on the horizon.

Derek was sitting against the wall, the door open a minute amount, the plate of pasta on his lap, and a full wine glass on the floor beside him. Just because he couldn't interact with his family, didn't mean that he couldn't listen to them interact.

"Nice?" George coughed in surprise. "Nice? You don't call cars like this "nice"! She is an angel. She glides like a dream and purrs like a jaguar and..."

"And Nora, I think the time has come to file for divorce because clearly Dad has been unfaithful to you." Marti pointed out. "With a hunk of steel and rubber. You know if he could he would probably sleep with it."

Nora laughed. "I've been sleeping with it for nearly a year now. The pile of brochures he's acquired and insists on reading in bed..."

"Am I telling this story or are you?" George objected.

"Sorry." Nora said, raising her napkin to wipe her mouth clean of food– and the last snigger from her face.

Casey met Marti's eyes with a grin.

"So as I was saying." George resumed. "I've got a new car."

Edwin piped up.

"It's not just a car. It's sex on wheels!"

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "Edwin... It's a car. If that's "sex" for you, you need to get out a lot more."

(In Casey's bedroom, Derek clamped his mouth together to avoid making a sound.)
"But it's..." Ediwn started.

Robbie leaned back. "...430 horse power, 0-60 in 4.2 seconds..."

"Black. With black leather seats." Edwin chipped in.

"Alright!" George shouted. "Let me tell this f...freaking story before I lose the will to live!"

Several faces hid grins...except Derek who, not having to hide his grin, chuckled softly from his vantage point on Casey's floor.

"So. I get my new car and Annabelle is just..."

"Annabelle?" Nora asked, suddenly interested.

George looked uneasy. "Erm...yeah... Annabelle."

"Who the hell is Annabelle?" Nora asked, the volume increasing with each syllable.

George muttered something which Nora failed to catch.

"What?"

Lizzie sighed. "He said Annabelle is the car. He named his freaking car...Annabelle."

"Well that scuppers the "Prince Mark II" nickname." Marti commented into her glass of wine. " I guess "The Prince" just became a "Princess"."

"Oh for F..." George caught Nora's eye. "Oh hell! Let me get on with it...please!"

They all coughed and settled down.

"I drive my car out of the dealers and because it's my lunch hour, I drive around a bit...enjoying her – I mean...it." George amended as Nora's eyes narrowed.

"Eventually, it's time to go back to work but that particular afternoon we were on a seminar at the local Holiday Inn, so I drive straight there instead.

I'm a little late when I get there and the hotel only has valet-parking which is a bit chaotic because, as I find out later, three of their valets are off-sick with food-poisoning."

"They ate in the restaurant." Lizzie pointed out. "I worked there once when I was a new student. Worked there...I wouldn't eat there."

George glared at her.

"Sorry." Lizzie said and mimed zipping her lips.

"I pull up, and I give the guy my name and the car keys and then I go into the hotel and join my colleagues."

Nora sat up straight. "Now what you have to understand," she said to Casey and Marti. "Is that George has been fighting a "I'm a bigger-man-than-you-are" battle with Antony Shufflebotham from Accounts about their cars. They both think they know everything about cars. That they are...what's it call Robbie?"

"Petrol-heads Mom. Dad thinks he's a petrol-head."

Marti bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing.

"And when they both decide to replace their cars at the same time..."
"Let the games begin!" Edwin interjected. Nora smiled and nodded

"So..."

"So!" George interrupted his wife with a glare. "I leave the car with the valets who are supposed to guard the cars with their lives yet clearly don't because..."
"...because when Dad comes out again at the end of the evening...he's lost the little ticket which unites him and his car." Edwin explains.

"Okay..." Casey said in understanding.

"So..."

"So! I go up to the valet desk and try to explain and after fifteen frustrating minutes, the production of my driver's licence and the bill of sale for the car, the valet manager agrees to hand me my car."

George paused while he sipped his wine.

"They pull up in the car at the drive-thru collection point hand me my keys: a set of 2011 Chevy Corvette keys...brand spanking new swinging from the brand new key fob. I am so relieved to finally have my car that I merely glare at the concierge guy, press the bleeper, get in and roar off. I cruise up the highway excited to see Nora and the rest of the family because I know they are going to love Ann...the new car." George paused again.

"And then it happens."
Casey looks taken aback.

"What happens?"

"About twenty minutes into the commute home, I see flashing lights in the rearview mirror."
"Don't tell me you were going over the speed limit again. I thought Mom..."
"No! I wasn't. I was just under the limit actually."

"So why...?"

George ignored Casey.

"I pulled over at the next opportunity and the cops promptly arrest me."

Casey's eyes widened.

"Why?"

Edwin chuckled and filled in the story before George could.

"Theft of a motor vehicle. It turns out Antony from Accounts is so like Dad that they ordered the same car at the same time from the same dealership. Antony's had come in earlier in the day and he'd picked it up before joining everyone else at the conference. The only difference between the two cars was the colour – which under the sodium lights at the valet drive-thru were all skewed."
George frowned. "The incompetent valets had given me the wrong keys and let me drive away with the wrong car."

Casey laughed. "But surely it was easily rectified?"

Nora giggled. "Not until they had rung me to go and bail him out. Which of course I did...although if I had known about Annabelle..."

George looked unimpressed. "And then that cheeky asshole, Shufflebotham tries to get me to pay for his brand new car to be deep steam-cleaned because my shoes were dirty and it was raining." George huffed.

Derek thought he was going to piss himself.