Decisions

Disclaimer: Please see Chapter 1.

Thanks for the reviews everyone. well here's the next chapter sorry for the long delay but my muse kept running away. Massive thanks to Sam1 for helping me with this and reading it over as well. Dedicating this to Dark Flames Pyre for keeping on at me to update.

Chapter 15: Third Time's the Charm

Scott had been discharged from the hospital but was under strict instructions to rest and was, of course, grounded from duties as field commander. He was now on his way home with Virgil, who had been nominated to pick his brother up from the hospital. Truth be told, he was the only one who was willing to fly the pilot home. Scott wasn't a good passenger at the best of times but injured he was an absolute nightmare.

"You can glare at me all you want. It won't change the fact that you're not allowed to fly home," said Virgil, not looking around at his brother seated in the cabin behind him.

"It's not fair," muttered Scott.

"Well, next time, don't take a nap under a falling building."

Scott rolled his eyes at his younger brother, "Ha ha."

Virgil smirked slightly knowing his brother couldn't see it. "How did it go with Kate?" he asked.

Scott hesitated for a moment, "Not how I thought it would go," he finally admitted.

Virgil glanced around at his brother, "How did you think it would go?"

"Well, I didn't expect her to be so angry."

"What did she actually say?" asked Virgil, wondering if he was right that his brother had lost a chunk of what happened whilst they were trapped.

"Something about me not knowing what she wanted but if I wanted a goodbye then I got it," he replied, still looking confused.

Virgil shook his head. "Oh, Scott, you may be a top pilot, a brilliant field commander and probably the best big brother there is but when it comes to relationships you completely suck at it."

"Huh?" he questioned.

"She obviously forgave you for Emma and clearly still cares or else why would she care if you never wanted to see her again," explained the younger man.

"You really think so?" asked Scott, beginning to seriously regret not letting Kate get a word in.

Virgil nodded, "What else did she say?" After receiving no reply for more than a minute, he turned around to see a sheepish look on his face. "Scott?"

Scott sighed, "Nothing. I wouldn't let her."

"You really are determined to mess this up, aren't you? Why didn't you let her speak? She might have told you what actually happened when you were trapped."

"I don't know. I guess I was so sure she hated me that I didn't want to hear her say it," he admitted.

"But what if she was going to say she loved you, Scott? When Gordon and I rescued you both, she was unconscious but her first thought was you when she woke up. Plus, she came to see you in the hospital. Would she have done that if she didn't want you in her life?" questioned Virgil.

"I guess not," replied Scott and he was hit by a sense of having made one of the biggest mistakes of his life.

"You should have let her explain what happened. Yeah, she may have told you that she could never forgive you and that she wanted you out of her life but at least you would know. Now you're stuck with wondering what she actually said. Whether she would forgive or not and to me that's worse."

Scott just nodded and said nothing, his eyes drifting over to the window. How could he have messed this up again? He was normally so good at reading people. Had he really missed all the signs that Kate still cared? But then had he even really looked at her? He was so desperate to get his words out that he had barely even glanced at her. Hell, she was injured and he ignored that. "She so deserves more," he muttered to himself.

"What?" questioned Virgil.

"Nothing. Just wondering what to do now," he replied.

"Call and tell her you remember nothing."

"You think she'll listen?" he questioned, unsure as to whether she would or whether he even deserved her to.

Virgil turned round to face him once more, "I don't know but it's worth a shot. What have you got to lose?"

"Hey, Virge, can I borrow your cell?" asked Scott, walking over to the piano where his brother sat.

"Sure," said Virgil, handing it over.

"Let's see if she answers yours," muttered Scott as he wandered out the door.

"Good luck," called Virgil.

Scott dialled the number and waited for the inevitable divert to voicemail but this time he got a shock when she actually answered.

"Kate, it's me Scott, please don't hang up," he said quickly.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't."

"Uh, 'cause I'm an idiot," he replied, hoping a little humour might work.

"I said a good reason," she replied. "That is merely the truth."

Scott could see this was gonna be tough but at least she hadn't hung up yet. "Look, Kate, I've been a complete jerk and I don't deserve the chance to apologise but please five minutes?"

"Fine," she said with a sigh. "Five minutes and I'm watching the clock now."

Scott suddenly felt nervous, this was his one chance and he knew that if he blew it this time, he'd lose Kate forever. "Kate, the reason I said those things in the hospital was...Well, I thought it was what you wanted."

"Why would you think that?"

"Because I don't remember what happened when we were trapped," he admitted, knowing he had to be as honest as possible.

"You don't remember anything?"

"Nope, well except you being mad at me which led me to think you still hated me."

"Okay. First off, I never hated you. I may have been pretty angry but I never hated you. Second, you based all this on one tiny memory. Third and final, I was angry because you were being so stubborn and wouldn't admit that you were hurt."

"You really never hated me? Yes, dumb I know. Virgil said that was probably all it was," he said answering all three points. He couldn't hide the hope in his voice that maybe he hadn't screwed everything up.

"No, of course not. Uh yeah, so why didn't you ask me what happened?" She had heard the hope in his voice and smiled. "If you had listened to Virgil in the first place, you wouldn't be grovelling right now. You should listen to him more often."

"Grovelling?" He thought for a moment, "Okay, I'm grovelling but I'm man enough to admit that I was an idiot. I really like you, Kate, but please don't say stuff like that around Virge, you'll give him a big head," he replied, smiling.

"He's a good guy."

"Yeah, he is. Kate, I'm really relieved that you don't hate me. Are you willing to give this grovelling idiot another chance? I promise not to mess it up," he promised.

"You know baseball, right?

"Um, yes. Why?

"Then you know the 'three strikes and you're out", right? Strike out this time, Scott, and there is no fourth chance."

"Okay, I won't," he said and the determination was clear in his voice.

There was a noise in the background that Scott couldn't quite figure out. "That's the door so I better go. I will speak to you soon, Scott."

"Okay, You take care," he replied, grinning.

"You, too. Bye, Scott."

"Bye," he said and ended the call. Scott wandered back to the lounge and threw the phone back to its owner.

Virgil could see that his brother looked much happier now so the call must have gone well before he could ask anymore the klaxon sounded alerting them to another rescue.

The next four days passed by with no word from Kate and Scott found himself beginning to wonder if she was having second thoughts. He sat in the lounge staring down at his cell, wondering whether to call her. She had said she would call him so would it seem desperate if he called her. After all it was only like four days and she did work. Nah, he would leave it. This way he wouldn't come across as harassing her.

So wrapped up in his own thoughts, Scott hadn't seen that Gordon had entered the room. He missed the evil grin that crossed the red head's face and hadn't even noticed him leaving. He wasn't aware of anything until something cold landed in his lap. Looking down he saw a tub of ice cream which was quickly joined by a spoon. He looked up to see Gordon moving towards the TV. Turning it on, he flicked through the channels until he found what could only be described as a chick flick and then he turned giving Scott that infamous grin of his.

Before Scott could make any reply his phone began to vibrate in his hand and he almost dropped it in surprise. After a bit of juggling and almost falling off the couch, he got control and was able to hold the phone properly.

"Oh, if only I'd had my camera for that. That was epic," laughed Gordon.

With his hands full holding the phone and trying not to drop the tub of ice cream, Scott was unable to show his younger brother what he thought. Help arrived in the form of another of his brothers. Virgil cuffed the back of Gordon's head and flipped him off. "Scott wanted me to tell you that you're number one in his books. Now get lost, Fishface."

Gordon just grinned and wandered out of the room. Scott was able to answer his call just as it was about to switch to voicemail.

"Hello."

"Hey, it's me," said the voice he had been waiting to hear from.

"Was beginning to think you had forgotten about me," he replied, trying to keep himself from sounding too excited.

"As if. I've just been really busy. Umm, Scott?" she began and then hesitated.

"What is it, Kate?"

"I want to see you. We didn't really get to talk the other day and I really want to talk all this through," she paused for a second and Scott heard her take a deep breath. "I care about you but I'm scared of getting hurt again. I need to be sure."

"I can understand that but I'm not going to hurt you again, I promise. I just have to get Dad to let me leave the Island," he replied.

"You can go, Son," said a voice to his side and he turned to see his dad there.

"Hold on, Kate," he said and then moving the phone from his ear, he faced his father, "Really?"

"Yes, Scott. You have been moping about here for days now and you're still not fit for active duty for at least two more weeks so why not go and see Kate," replied Jeff, smiling at his eldest son.

"When can I go?" he asked, grinning at his father. He couldn't wait to actually see Kate again.

"How does tomorrow sound?" asked Jeff. It was good to see his oldest son look so happy. He knew Scott needed this and he was happy to help. He could see a lot of himself when he first met Lucy in Scott right now.

"Thanks, Dad," he said and then placed the phone back up to his ear. "Are you free tomorrow?" he asked

"Yes, I am but don't come to mine okay. I don't want the press finding out and then camping on my doorstep for the next few months."

"Okay. Where do you want to meet then?" he asked. He could understand her reluctance to meet at hers given what happened the last time.

"My friend has a flat about a mile from here that she never uses so she won't mind. I'll text you the address."

"Okay, great so I will see you tomorrow."

"Yes, you will. Goodbye, Scott," she said and hung up the phone before he could reply. He was a little surprised by this but put it down to her wanting to get the address to him as soon as she could.

Barely a minute later his phone vibrated again alerting him to a text and the address he had been waiting for appeared before him.

Virgil appeared behind him and read the message over his shoulder "Is that where you're meeting her?"

"Yep, the last thing she needs is the press hounding her again," he replied, whilst mentally planning what he would need to take and arrangements to get him there.

"That is true. Well, have a great time, Bro," replied the younger brother. Although he could understand her reasoning for not wanting to meet at hers, he was surprised she hadn't suggested a more public place.

Scott just nodded and jogged off to get himself ready. He couldn't deny he was excited about the opportunity to see her again and really spend some time with her.

Scott pulled his car up outside the apartment block and was surprised by how run down and empty it looked. No wonder her friend hardly spent any time there. He climbed out of the car and looked around for another car but the place was empty.

"She lives nearby, dumbass, and probably walked," he said to himself as he began making his way to the door.

Though rundown the building was still locked and had a series of buttons for each apartment. He pressed the right one and waited for a reply. He didn't have to wait long.

"Hey, Scott, come on up," called Kate through the small speaker.

The door buzzed and opened so he made his way up. The inside was marginally better than the outside and Scott could see signs that clearly people did live there. The elevator was out of order so he made his way to the steps and up to the third floor. He soon arrived at number 13 and he knocked on the door.

"It's open," called Kate but her voice sounded strained and Scott suddenly felt concerned.

He opened the door and entered cautiously, "You okay?" he asked, seeing no sign of her.

He got no reply so walked further into the apartment. The place was furnished but he could see signs of dust on most of it. A noise from a room to his left drew his attention and he made his way towards it.

"Kate?" he called and again there was a noise. It sounded very much like a muffled scream and it was to be the last noise Scott heard.