Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. Minor block, but I think it's over. And I figured these two were due for some spotlight. :D
Chapter 56: Good News, Bad News
Peter stood in the shed that he and the boys had just finished building. Davy, Micky and Mike had walked back to the cabin to shower, but Peter wanted to stay and admire it a little longer. The girls had stayed inside watching the babies while the boys worked. Now Peter put some final touches on the shed by arranging the tool shelf. Mostly he just didn't really want to go back to the cabin. He very rarely got any alone time anymore. He wasn't upset by it, but he needed these fleeting moments where he could just be alone with himself and his thoughts. He barely had time to think before he felt someone wrapping their arms around him.
"Looks good," Willow whispered in his ear.
"Yeah," Peter said turning around. "Micky and Mike really know what they're doing."
"I think they had some good help," Willow smiled. "How about a little reward for all your hard work." Before he could really answer, she leaned in and kissed him. Peter smiled and relished in her kiss. They'd gotten together a long time ago and she'd been the one to make the first move. She'd said she'd noticed him looking at her, but also noticed how shy he was. Then she'd just grabbed and kissed him. He'd turned a very bright shade of pink according to her, but since then they'd shared every moment together they could. Which unfortunately with two little children and a full house of adults, was hard to come by.
So even though he had really wanted to be alone and he was sore, when she slipped her hand down his waistband, he groaned and let her do what she wanted. She slipped his sweatpants he'd worn to work in down and let them fall around his ankles. She wrapped her fingers in his hair for a moment before letting go and getting down to her knees. Peter wanted to say something, but his words caught in his throat when he felt her mouth wrap around him. His knees instantly started to shake and buckle forcing him to grab the edge of the table she'd leaned him against to keep from falling down.
He closed his eyes and tilted his head back almost without even thinking about it. His breathing quickened as she played with him so expertly. After about 10 minutes, he felt the familiar pull in the pit of his stomach telling him he was almost there. His hands tightened around the table as his knees and legs got even weaker. His breathing was nearly coming out in gasps and he tried to keep from being too loud in case anyone else walked by. He groaned heavily when she pushed him over the edge. Having no energy left, Peter pushed her away from him just enough so he could move and dropped to his knees and pulled her close to him.
"God, that was amazing," Peter whispered. "I can't...I have no strength...after building this…"
"It's ok," Willow smiled and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. "I wanted to do that without expecting anything in return."
"I love you," Peter smiled pulling her into a kiss.
"I love you, too," Willow smiled when she pulled away. They sat there together for a while just relaxing. Peter enjoyed just holding onto her. They'd made love for the first time several months ago and it had been amazing for both of them. It had been Peter's first time and he had been terrified he'd hurt her. Especially after what she'd already been through. But she'd loved it. And it had been in that moment, they both declared their love for each other. They hadn't exactly told their friends about it, but Peter knew that they could tell. For about a week, Davy had felt very left out with Peter and Mike and Micky all having someone to hold at night, but he'd quickly gotten over it when he'd realized how much he cared about each of them.
After a while they heard a car pull up and Peter carefully got up and peered outside the window. He was relieved when he saw it was Agent Booth's car. Peter told Willow that it was just Agent Booth and they composed themselves before walking outside. They met Booth and his friends outside and saw that Davy's grandfather had come with again. Peter had almost forgotten that tomorrow was Serenity's first birthday.
"Hey, guys," Peter said. "It's good to see you again, Mr. Jones."
"Likewise," Mr. Jones answered. "How are you, my boy?"
"Good," Peter answered hoping he didn't show any signs of what he'd just done. "We finished building the shed. I'm exhausted so I think I'm gonna go inside."
"Sure," Agent Booth said. "After you."
"Hi," Micky greeted them with damp hair as they walked in. "I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow."
"We need to talk to you all," Agent Booth said a little solemnly. "Where's Mike?"
"He's in the shower," Micky answered. "Did something happen? Is Hope ok?"
"Yes, she's fine," Angela smiled. "It's nothing like that."
"We'll wait until Mike comes out," Dr. Brendan said.
"Wait for what?" Mike asked coming out of the shower toweling his hair dry a little.
"Perhaps you can wait until after dinner," Mr. Jones said. "We just arrived."
"They need time to process it and make a decision," Booth said.
"Process what?" Micky asked. "Just tell us."
"Sit down," Booth said. The group exchanged worried looks with each other but still sat down before Booth took a seat with Jack, Angela, Davy's grandfather and Dr. Brendan. Booth took a deep breath before continuing, as though steeling himself. Peter grabbed Willow's hand and squeezed in support. "Someone in town recognized you while you were out shopping and reported it to the authorities in California. Word got back to Rose's captain and I was told last night that Claire and the Captain are on their way up here now. They should be here tomorrow morning."
"This is bad," Davy mumbled.
"Do we have to move again?" Peter asked.
"They don't know exactly where you are or where you're staying," Booth said. "So it could be a while before they find this cabin. But that's not the point."
"You have enough evidence to arrest them by now, don't you?" Mike asked. "So why are we even talking about this? Why can't you arrest them?"
"I have enough to arrest Claire," Booth answered.
"But not my boss," Rose said.
"All we have is your word," Booth said. "He can easily say he believed Claire and Dr. Eichmann. That he didn't know better."
"So what do we do?" Peter asked.
"Well, you have two choices," Booth said. "You can either let me arrest Claire and hope that scares the Captain enough to make him back off…"
"Doubt that," Micky mumbled.
"Or?" Mike asked.
"Or get him to incriminate himself on tape," Booth answered.
"How do we do that?" Willow asked.
"We get caught," Micky answered for Booth. "Wearing a wire. Am I right?"
"You can't do that again!" Sarah exploded. "Last time you let that bitch catch you, she nearly killed you! You wouldn't be here if it weren't for Mike!"
"And if we don't get the evidence we need against the Captain, we're gonna be stuck running from them our whole lives," Micky argued. "Do you want that for us? For Serenity?"
"Don't put that on me," Sarah said angrily. "Serenity needs her father, too."
"She's got family," Micky said.
"We would be there for her in an instant, Micky," Peter chimed in, hating arguments. "But it's not the same as having her father around."
"We would be there, Sarah," Booth said. "Me and my best men. We'd make sure nothing happened to him."
"And he doesn't have to do it alone," Jack said.
"He doesn't have to do it at all," Rose said. "Micky, you know as well as I do that if Claire finds you, she's not going to be in any mood to talk. She'll shoot you first. You've escaped her twice. She's not gonna give you the chance to do it again. The plan could work, but not with you leading it."
"So one of us?" Peter asked.
"Not necessarily just one," Angela said. "It can be a few if you'd feel safer that way."
"Fine, then I'll do it," Davy said.
"David," Mr. Jones said in a warning tone.
"I'll be fine, Grandpa," Davy said. "I have to do it to keep us safe. So we can finally go home."
"I can't let you put yourself in harms way, Davy," Micky said.
"We already are in harms way," Peter said. "I'm going with Davy."
"It's dangerous, Peter," Willow said.
"No, it's not," Peter said. "Agent Booth will protect us."
"You guys are going to get hurt," Micky said. "If you let them take you, they're going to hurt you."
"And if they do, that'll provide the perfect evidence, wont it?" Davy pointed out.
"And Agent Booth will stop them before they get too far," Peter agreed.
"We'll be fine," Davy said.
"Tomorrow is Serenity's birthday," Micky said. "You have to be here for it."
"We will," Dr. Brendan said. "We can put Booth's plan into place in a few days."
"Talk it over with each other," Booth said. "This is a big decision. And it does involve some danger, I won't lie. But we will be there listening and watching. And it is the best way to get everyone involved behind bars where they belong." Micky didn't say anything; he got up and left the room. Peter could tell Micky was angry, but didn't know if Micky was angry at them or the situation. He guessed, however, that Micky was angry at the situation. He'd tried so hard to keep them all safe and Peter and Davy were about to dive back into danger. Peter thought about getting up and following Micky to talk to him, but had no idea what to say. Mike, who always seemed to know what to say, got up and followed Micky with Sarah close behind while the others waited.
After a while, Mike came out of Micky's room and told them Micky would be fine but that he just needed to process all this and that everyone should go to bed. Davy said he was going to take his turn at the shower while Rose and Willow helped to make up places to sleep for Agent Booth, Davy's grandfather, Dr. Brendan, Jack and Angela. They said they wanted to stay the night to make sure everyone was safe, even though Booth assured them all that Claire wouldn't arrive in town until the next afternoon.
The next morning, they began the celebration for Serenity's birthday. Rose started making a cake for the party and Peter finished wrapping the presents. Micky didn't say anything about the plan to get the evidence while they celebrated Serenity's birthday. Peter wasn't exactly surprised; he didn't want to spoil the celebration either. Serenity was as enthusiastic about her presents as Emmett had been, tearing off the paper as best as her little hands could and giggling gleefully when she inspected her new toys. She'd gotten more dolls to play with, a purple princess dress, and maracas from Davy. She played with each of them, sharing with Emmett who'd gotten a new set of army men figures.
At the end of the night, Peter went to his room to start getting ready for bed. He sighed and sat on the end of the bed, dreading what he was about to do the following day. He couldn't lie; he was terrified, but he knew there was no way out of this. They had to do this. He buried his face in his hands as all the ways their plan could go wrong swam through his head. He didn't hear Willow come in, but looked up when she sat next to him.
"You should really go to bed," Peter said turning to look at her.
"I couldn't sleep," Willow said. "I wanted to come sleep in here with you."
"Oh," Peter said. "Ok."
"And I was hoping to talk you out of this," Willow said.
"I can't...I have to go," Peter said.
"You don't have to do this," Willow said. "It doesn't have to be you."
"It does," Peter said.
"Mike and Micky know more about this world than you do," Willow argued sounding choked. "They stand a better chance-"
"No, they don't," Peter interrupted. "They'll both be killed the second they're seen. Rose and Sarah are right. I have to do this to keep them from getting themselves killed."
"And what makes you think they're not going to kill you the second they see you?" Willow asked.
"Nothing," Peter answered honestly. Something told him this was probably a time where he should lie to make her feel better, but he'd always hated lying. Her face paled the minute he said it and he felt a little sick. "Look, I don't know what's going to happen to me tomorrow. No one can know that. But I do know that if either Micky or Mike does this, Claire is going to kill them. She's pissed off that Micky escaped twice and she's gonna kill him to make sure it doesn't happen again and she'd kill Mike because he helped Micky twice. And there's the fact Mike took Heather's son. And I know that if anything happened to either Mike or Micky, the entire case against them would crumble. Booth needs them. And so do Emmett and Serenity."
"Are you trying to tell me you're expendable?" Willow asked angrily.
"Yes," Peter answered honestly before thinking again.
"No, you aren't!" Willow snapped punching him in the shoulder. "You aren't expendable! I need you!"
"Serenity and Emmett need their parents, Willow," Peter said. "You're a strong woman. You will be fine with or without me. Would you rather those two children lose their parents?"
"Don't put that on me," Willow said softly.
"I'm not," Peter said. "This is the way it has to be. I'm sorry."
"It's not fair," Willow said.
"No one said it was," Peter answered. "But it has to be done. For you. For Sarah and Rose. For Mike and Micky. For Emmett and Serenity and Hope. And for everyone else they've hurt and may hurt if I do nothing."
"Promise me you'll be careful?" Willow said wrapping her arms around him and kissing him softly on the cheek. Her face was wet, stained with tears and again he felt sick. He hated hurting her like this, but he knew what he had to do.
"I promise," Peter answered.