Nick drew in a slow breath, eyes wandering to the hundreds of new faces mingling around on the ship's deck. How in the hell he found himself standing out here was rather a mystery. It was as though those three days ago while sitting with Ellis he had unconsciously made up his mind. And although they had never really discussed where he officially stood on the whole 'meeting your long lost sister' issue, they still found themselves checking the incoming survivor list daily.

It was today that they got the confirmation they needed. Somewhere in here… somewhere in this new mass of people wandering around, was his sister. And god forbid she'd spot him first. I mean… did he even look the same as he did all those years ago? Did she? Would they even recognize each other if they saw each other? What if—

"Nick?" He blinked once at the voice, feeling every muscle in his body tensing and then suddenly a wave of dizziness hit him. His legs trembled under him, but he somehow managed to turn to face the new voice. And, God. It was her. It was really, really her… She still retained that same prettiness he remembered, almost as though he had just stepped on that train for Chicago. There was no denying who she was. "Nick… is that you?" she quietly asked again.

He blinked slowly at the woman. His lips moved to form words but nothing really came out, just silent words that no person could have possibly hoped to understand. But it was his eyes that betrayed him. Those green-gold eyes so alike to hers that confirmed the words he couldn't speak. She let in a startled little gasp, one hand reaching up to cover her mouth.

"Hey, Emily..." It was the only thing he could think to say.

She dropped everything she was carrying—what little worldly possessions she had managed to obtain in this hellish Infection—and threw her arms around him in a desperate embrace. At first Nick simply stood blinking stupidly. What now? She hugged him tighter, sobbing as she did and he felt a shudder of guilt. In the corner of his eye he could see that Ellis was giving him an insistent nod of his head that pretty much said 'hugging-her-back-would-be-a-good-idea'. And so he did.

As he held her, he didn't now whether to laugh or to cry. But whatever he was feeling, his emotions seemed to pile together to form a bewildered state. He blinked widely and risked a few glances at her still-sobbing face before he let his gaze lift back up to stare wide-eyed into the distance. Well, holy shit. He could feel his heart thundering in his chest, it was almost painful.

Emily regained some of her composure and she finally removed herself from her brothers arms. She was smiling now and she brushed at her tears. "My God, Nick… Where have you been? Where did you go?" She reached up to touch his face affectionately, eyes searching his. "You've grown so much… It's been so long."

Was he supposed to answer those questions? He figured yes—but not now. "Yeah, it has been... some time."

There was a long silence as they simply stared at each other—trying hard to recall every half-forgotten memory that would remind them that they weren't strangers, but brother and sister. But shit… fifteen years pretty much made you a stranger, didn't it?

"Emily?" Well that had to be Michael. The man cautiously moved forward, two little girls in tow on each hand. Both of the children were staring at Nick and he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. He decided to not look at them directly; all considering he wouldn't even know where to begin.

"Oh, right." She laughed absently. "Nick, you remember Michael, don't you?" They gave each other nods of acknowledgement—although Michael seemed to have an underlying glare. Well, Nick didn't blame him. "And these are my girls, Erin—" That was the older one—practically a spitting image of her mother when she was that age; green-gold eyes, dark hair and a shy little smile. "And Stacy…"

"Are you my uncle?" Stacy asked, staring with wide-eyed wonder.

Nick blinked once. "I… I guess I am, yes."

Stacy beamed, waving enthusiastically. "Hi Uncle Nick!" Well, wasn't that just cute.

Nick smiled gently. "Hey there."

"Here's an idea," Ellis said suddenly. Nick looked to him, one eyebrow raised. "Uh… I'm Ellis by the way. I'm Nick's friend. I can help ya'll find yer room an' stuff. I mean, I ain't tha' good at all them directions stuff, but I'll find it. An' while we're off explorin' we can le' Nick an' Emily here do some catchin' up."

Ellis, you fucking asshole! Leave him alone with her? What the fuck! "Ellis…" Nick started in between clenched teeth, his voice low. "I thought we agreed you were going to stay with me."

Ellis shrugged slightly, talking through the corner of his mouth; "Changed my mind, Nick." The little southerner bounced to Emily's side. "If ya like, I can carry yer things ta yer room fer ya, Ma'am."

"Oh, yeah… " She reached down to lift her luggage. "Sure, thank you, Ellis…"

Her baggage in hand and grinning from ear to ear Ellis ushered the rest of the Welsh family away. "All righty, ya'all. I know exactly where ya'll gatta go—well, sorta. Yer gonna love New Orleans! Ya ever been here 'fore? I mean we's got some bad weather sometimes in the south, but really it ain't so bad. An' I don' mean ta brag, but we got the best food in all America an'—" Nick scowled as he watched the retreating group disappear off the deck.

"Nick?"

He jerked back to attention. Emily was staring at him, eyes softer now, more worried and filled with sadness. He felt another pang of guilt in his chest that made his heart hurt. "…Yeah?"

"Sit with me." She took his hand and lead him from the mingling groups and found a quieter corner. She sat herself on the deck and stared up at him, waiting for him to join her. He hesitated a moment before doing so. "Nick… where have you been? We thought you were dead."

Dead? He didn't think he left that impression at all, but come to think of it, falling off the face of the earth was pretty close to being dead, wasn't it? "I went east," he finally said. God, how that sounded so stupid.

She shook her head, very confused. "Why?"

He shrugged slightly. "I wanted to get away, I guess."

"From what? You just left… without a word. For what reason?" Was that a hint of anger? Probably.

"I guess I got sick of the fighting. I got sick of listening to Dad's bullshit or Mom crying. I just… couldn't deal with it anymore…"

Emily didn't say anything at first. She simply tucked her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. She stared off into the horizon in silence. Nick desperately wanted her to say something. Finally she shook her head once. She was smiling, but it was mirthless smile. "Dad died a year after you disappeared."

Nick felt his heart plummet and his eye twitched. "He… what?"

"He got in a car accident on the way home from the bar sometime around Thanksgiving." She shook her head slowly. "It was awful."

"Jesus Christ," he breathed. What in the fuck…? He probably should have been alarmed by his lack of caring that his father was dead, but instead he found himself more focused on the fact that his death had meant that at any time he could have returned without the burden of his toxic presence. He let out a few shaking laughs and covered his eyes with one hand. All this time… All this fucking time… he could have just gone home… All this fucking time…

"And Mom wouldn't leave the house after you left. Not ever." Now there was definitely a hint of anger laced in her tone. Nick reluctantly met her gaze. "She would just sit on the porch every day, Nick. Just waiting for you to come back. She said she wanted to be there when you did. She wanted to make sure someone was there when you came home." Emily bit her lip, obviously trying to fight off tears. "Even when CEDA came and told everyone to evacuate, she still refused. It wasn't even a day after Michael and I took the kids and left that the Infection hit Omaha."

"I… I don't know what to say." And he didn't. All he could feel was overwhelming guilt and shame that was almost suffocating. God, how his chest hurt with misery.

Emily let out a noise of exasperation. "A 'sorry' would be a good start."

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, painfully. "I really am. I'm sorry."

She sighed, tucking back a lock of her long hair that was so similar to his. God, growing up everyone use to think that they were twins. Even though she was older she had always been small and petite, making their five year difference almost incomprehensible. He wondered if people still thought they were twins as they sat side-by-side with that same almost mirror like imagery of each other.

"Em?" Nicknames still? Did he even have the right to call her that? She looked to him, smiling slightly at the nickname. "What… what about Eric?"

She sighed quietly. "Eric moved to California about six years ago. We haven't heard anything from or about him…" she trailed off. "He got his life back together after you left, you know. We spent three years looking for you… And he quit all that drinking just so he could actually help. It was sheer will alone that got him through it. I've never seen anyone so brave. The detoxing was horrible, but he stuck with it. You would have been proud of him, Nick… He did do it for you."

"Yeah…" Nick said softly, smiling. Well, it appeared that at least one good thing had come out of him leaving.

Emily shifted forward suddenly and gently gripped Nicks arm. Her eyes were pleading. "Nick? Come back to Omaha with us."

Omaha? He stared back. "I'm sorry, Emily… I can't."

"Why not?"

"I don't belong there. It's not my home anymore…"

She sat back again, frowning. "I never would have thought you'd want to live in New Orleans."

"No, I was only in the south for—" he paused briefly, "—business. I just got caught up in an outbreak…" He hesitated again. "I live in North Carolina." Well, will be—but she didn't need to know about his lack of commitment to a real home all these years.

"Oh…" She seemed to think for a moment. "Where'd you meet that guy at then? He sounds southern… really southerner…"

"What guy—oh… Ellis?" Nick chuckled. "Funny story, actually. Got my ass literally stuck in the middle of an outbreak and when I tried to catch one of the evacuation helicopters, the fuckers left us right there on the top of a burning building. Ellis and I fought with a girl from Ohio and another guy. We came from Savannah to New Orleans." He grinned mockingly. "It was a fun trip."

"You… you fought your way to New Orleans? From Georgia? What…? I don't understand?" She stared. "Why didn't you evacuate when you were supposed to?"

Oh, if only it had been that simple. "Savannah didn't really have a mandatory evacuation, I don't think so anyways. When the Infection hit, it pretty much spread instantaneously and with little warning. CEDA was so fucked up and disorganized that they ended up leaving hundreds, probably thousands of Survivors behind." He shrugged slightly. "Most of them died or became Infected themselves. Believe me, I know."

"I… I didn't know… I thought that most people got evacuated…" She blinked, searching the ground. "I guess I didn't know any differently. We were one of the first groups evacuated in the Mid-West. I guess I never dreamed that anyone had to… fight... their way through any of that. I've seen news coverage of the Infection… I can't believe you were in all that… I mean…" She paused awkwardly. "Are you okay?"

"Do I look okay?" he asked, smirking.

"You look… oddly content." She tilted her head. "I mean… when I saw you standing there you looked understandably nervous… But… you were standing with that guy and I swear you were holding hands… And you looked happy." Nick flushed. "You were holding his hand, weren't you?"

"Well… In the south… They uh…" Well man-hand-holding wasn't exactly smiled upon in the bible belt here. That wasn't a good lie. "Well… That's… That's Ellis for you." To be fair, that wasn't exactly a lie.

"Are you in love with him?" He looked sharply at her, but she was smirking slightly. "Wow, I didn't think you were into that. But I guess times have changed. He is pretty cute. He seems like a real handful though." Nick continued to stare. "What? You think I care? I haven't seen you for fifteen years, Nick. The last thing I'm going to do is nitpick about your lifestyles. I really honestly don't care how you go about your personal life. You're my brother… and I love you." He still stared. "The proper response to that would be 'I love you too, big sister'."

Nick finally seemed to snap out of it. He grinned. "I love you too, big sister."

"Well, now that that's settled," she shifted over and with a little sigh drew him into another hug. "I'm so glad to have found you again, Nick."

He blinked once before a smile found his lips, "Yeah, me too."

He returned the embrace without any hesitation this time.

A/N: I hope Emily's not annoying. I really debated the whole bringing in an OC thing, but I figured it would have been incomprehensible to not have her try and contact him after figuring out he's alive. I promise to not involve her too much since I understand that she's… not a L4D2 character and no one cares LOL. I reckon there's only about 5ish chapters left… then again, I'm bad at that estimating. Could be more or less lol