AN: So, Rory's parents don't have first names in the books (yet) so I just went ahead and gave them some :)

Escape Impossible

Stephen stood pacing the meeting room in Thames House. He wrung his hands and kept looking out the window down onto the street. He was waiting for the car to pull up. Today was the day he was meeting Rory's parents for the first time and he could safely say that he was terrified. What if they didn't like him? What if they disapproved of the marriage? It certainly wouldn't stop Rory from marrying him but he would be devastated for her if her parents weren't there. And it would be especially upsetting if they didn't get on today because it was Rory's birthday. They were over for her 20th and they both thought that it really was now or never.

He ran through the story in his head. The real story: he had been assigned to her during the Ripper case and found her to be the strongest woman he had ever met. She had dealt with Newman, a murderous ghost, and had become a human terminus. The Shadow Cabinet then charged him to protect her but he had already vowed to do that for the remainder of his life because he had loved her since the moment they met. What he didn't realise was that the remainder of his life was only three weeks after the Ripper incident because he suffered an epidural hematoma due to a car crash that he orchestrated to save her. He had died but not really died because she had held his hand and kept him from really dying. Then she did a ceremony, came into the underworld to save him and brought him back, after which she joined the Shades - ghost hunting police. Now she and Stephen were getting married. It sounded crazy even to him.

The official story which he, Rory and Thorpe had come up with together: he had been assigned to her during the Ripper case and found her to be the strongest woman he had ever met. During the time she went missing, he was charged with finding her since there was already a degree of trust there. She came forward to him herself and she was placed in a witness protection programme because they didn't know if Charlottes disappearance was linked to the Ripper investigation and with Rory being the main witness from that case, everyone thought it best to keep her safe. She and Stephen had fallen in love and now they were getting married. Thorpe, their supervisor had offered them the privacy of Thames House so that they could meet.

He exhaled deeply and made one more circuit of the room, circling the table in the centre, before going back to the window. Thorpe and Rory had gone to pick up her parents from Heathrow and all that Stephen could do was wait. Another twenty minutes passed before he saw a car pull up on the street outside. He peered down at it and saw a shock of white hair emerge from the drivers seat. That was Thorpe. Unmistakeable. Then he saw Rory emerge from the back followed by two others. Her parents. They were laughing and joking so perhaps this would go better than he thought. However it went, this was it. All chance for a quick escape from the building were gone. He watched them enter the building and he backed away from the window. He smoothed out his hair, dusted the jacket he wore and adjusted his glasses. He exhaled a few times and ran through greetings in his head.

He heard voices in the corridor outside of the room, American accents similar to Rory's. And then the door opened. Rory came in first, smiled at Stephen and stepped aside to let her parents in. This was the moment she had been preparing for in the car. She had told them the official but definitely not real story about their relationship and they had seemed to accept it quite well. But this was definitely the moment that both she and Stephen had dreaded. The actual meeting.

"Ok." She turned to her parents. "Mom, dad, this is Stephen. He was assigned to me during the ripper case and since then he's been my greatest friend. I can't tell you how many times he's risked his life for me." He's given his life for me and I went into the underworld to bring him back, she thought. But there are somethings that you just can't tell your parents. "I owe him my life." She turned to face him as she finished. "And my happiness."

Stephen smiled at her warmly as she said that before turning his attention to her parents. He held out his hand to both. "Mr and Mrs Deveaux, it's an honour to finally meet you."

They both smiled at him warmly as they shook his hand, her father first, then her mother. Mr Deveaux spoke first. "Please, Stephen, there's no need for such formalities. The name's Frank."

"And I'm Louise." Mrs Deveaux said.

Stephen nodded and felt himself relax. "Frank, Louise, I'm delighted to meet you both. Your daughter is truly a remarkable woman." He threw a smile across to Rory who grinned as she sat at the table. Stephen gestured for her parents to do the same. Louise spoke softly as they walked. "That's very kind of you to say Stephen." Stephen took a seat next to Rory while her parents sat opposite.

Thorpe knocked on the door as they sat. "Everyone ok in here? Can I get anyone anything? Teas, coffees?"

"Coffee please." Frank said with a smile. His wife spoke next. "Coffee for me as well please." Rory laughed and asked for a hot chocolate while Stephen asked for tea. When Thorpe left, Frank pouted comically. "Forgive me for saying so Stephen, but I can't understand how the English can drink hot tea." Stephen laughed as Rory spoke. "I know, I tease him about it all the time."

"As I understand it from Rory," Stephen said, "the Deveauxs are iced tea drinkers."

Louise grinned. "You understand correctly."

"They actually sell iced tea in the stores here," Rory said. "I stock up on it."

"Yeah," Stephen agreed. "Our fridge is full of iced tea."

They all laughed as Thorpe came back with the drinks. They all thanked him and he nodded at Stephen, silently asking him how it was going. He smiled widely in return. It was going well. They continued talking for an hour before Rory reminded them that the day was waning.

"Ahh, yes," Louise said. "We leave tonight and we wanted to explore London before we do."

Stephen nodded with a smile and they all stood. They walked out of the room and and out the building still chatting. Rory turned and gave Stephen a kiss before she let her parents say goodbye. They stood back politely until Rory moved away at which point Frank approached him. "Well, my daughter as certainly chosen well. You are very welcome in our family." He held out his hand with a smile and Stephen shook it, pleased. "Thank you, Frank." Louise came to him next and gave him a hug before Rory came back to him. She took him aside for a moment.

"Well, they like you."

"Thank god."

"See? Everything was fine. I'm gonna show them around and then I'll be seeing them off on their plane again, so I'll see you tonight."

"See you tonight. Have a wonderful day."

She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him again. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Stephen, Freddie, Callum and Boo sat around the table that night. They had ordered a takeaway and were discussing the approaching wedding day. Callum asked Stephen if he was getting nervous and he replied that he no longer had anything to be nervous about. The front door opened seconds later and Rory and Thorpe walked into the room. The group smiled at them both. Stephen stood and walked over to Rory, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her. "Hey."

"Hey," she smiled up at him.

"Did you enjoy your day?"

"I did. My parents really like London. And you. They were singing your praises for the rest of the day. They kept telling me I'd made a good choice and found myself a good guy. But, of course, I already knew that."

He chuckled and kissed her again. She smiled as they broke apart. "Hmmmm, I smell pizza."

"Yeah, we got a takeaway. We put a few slices away for you and Thorpe."

"Thank you." She walked over to the table and greeted everyone before grabbing a couple slices of pizza. Boo walked into the kitchen and came back with a surprise birthday cake. Rory grinned and they all sang happy birthday to her before they all produced the presents they'd been hiding. The night wore on and Thorpe left at half ten. Everyone else went to bed around eleven. Stephen and Rory went to their room and, as she walked over to the bed to get her pyjamas, she felt Stephen spin her round. He kissed her before slowly lying her down on the bed. She giggled as he crawled on top of her and moaned softly when he ground his hips against hers. His voice was husky. "Since its your birthday, I think we should play a game."

"Oooooh? Do tell."

"I think we should play cops and robbers. I'll be the cop. You can be the robber."

She chuckled. "What have I stolen?"

He smiled down at her lovingly. "My heart."