Leanne dozed on the window bench in Lo Si's room. Peter stood beside it staring out the window as dawn approached. He could feel his father's eyes on him and turned his head to look at him.

"We're fine," Peter said. He supposed there had still been some tension between them when they had come back up. "Apparently I'm overprotective." He smiled a little. There were far worse things he could be called. Hell, there were far worse things he HAD been called by lovers during and after an argument.

Caine smiled a little. " It is healthy to argue occasionally." He said. "Was it because you do not wish her to be involved in her grandfather's capture." He said.

"Of course, I don't. But I've been overruled." He grumbled. He had wanted to tell her no, absolutely not, instead, she had been the one to tell him no. Well, they had both said no quite a lot, among other things that they both regretted by the end of the argument. He'd never been "I don't know to tell her that it's not just the danger. I… I don't want her to have to act against the only family she has left. His being an evil son of a bitch doesn't change the fact that he's her grandfather and she loves him. I'd probably say it wrong and she'd think I don't trust her."

"She would not think that," Caine said.

"I don't know. The word twisting was impressive earlier. From both of us if I'm being honest." Apparently being on the path of enlightenment didn't make arguing with your woman any less dramatic.

"You are unsettled," Caine said. Since he and his son had reconnected in France, Peter had been well grounded, more at ease with himself and the world around him. He was not grounded now. It was hard to watch Yulong Yeoh chip away at that one piece at a time.

"I am," Peter admitted. "You wanna take a walk?" He asked.

Caine nodded and got to his feet. They quietly left the room and began to walk through the corridors.

"What troubles you, my son?"

"What if I'm not up to this, Pop?" He asked, looking at his feet as they walked.

"No one individual is … up to this… on his own. It is why I requested aid from Shamballa." Caine said. "It is not a failing on your part."

"If I'm not up to it, then I can't protect her, and if my attention is divided between what I'm doing and her safety then I'm going to screw up both jobs."

"And this is why you do not wish her to be involved."

Peter nodded.

"Do you not trust her to be able to protect herself?"

"See! That was where she took it, too. That I didn't have faith in her and that's not it."

"You do not have faith in yourself," Caine said and watched Peter's features crumble before he nodded in agreement. "Peter…" Caine put his hand on his shoulder. "You are more than capable. You were capable before you completed your training."

"I've never faced anyone that powerful before. This guy claims to have been the source of every bad thing in my life, the major ones anyway. It's like he's been trying to break me my entire life. Losing her would do it Pop. Especially if it's because I fail to protect her. "

"Ah." He said as they started down the stairs. "You are not the only one responsible for her safety."

"I know she's capable. She's older than both of us combined and I am sure that she's had her fair share of encounters. You don't live in our world and avoid it. But that's not the point."

"Not merely you, or her. We will all be responsible for one another. It will be very much like the dragon's wing. We must trust that each individual can not only do their part but do all that we can to protect others as well. When one falls it weakens the whole. So you must have faith in the others, faith in Leanne, and most of all, Peter, you must have faith in yourself."

"Normally confidence isn't my problem. I don't think about it until it's over and done and there isn't anything to worry about anymore. Somehow this is different." Peter said. "I don't know why. But it is."

Caine frowned and said nothing at first. "I think perhaps we now know the reason your mother was sent here."

Peter's brow furrowed and he tilted his head quizzically and waited for his father to continue.

"If she had not told you that Yulong Yeoh had claimed responsibility for the pain in your past you would not have these thoughts. He would be just another enemy to be faced. It would not have shaken your confidence."

"I don't think she did that intentionally," Peter said. "I'm not happy with her obviously but I don't think she came here to hamstring me."

"I do not either. But it is not difficult to manipulate someone once you know their nature. You must find your balance again." He opened the door at the base of the stairs and they walked out into the main lobby.

"Easier said than done," Peter said. He walked toward the tempered glass front wall of the hospital. "And from the looks of things out there I don't have long to sort that out." The rain had slowed to something resembling a normal rain shower and the trees were no longer bending with the force of the wind. The sun was just beginning to come up, and while it was still obscured behind clouds, it could be seen. Yeoh would expect the book soon.

"I have faith that you can do so," Caine said. "It is after all not heights."

Peter laughed quietly at his father's gentle teasing. "There is that." He stepped away from the glass and began to walk again.

They walked through the halls, not paying much attention to which part of the hospital they were in, just continuing to walk and talk. They rounded a corner and found themselves in the ER waiting room.

Peter stopped short. "Captain?"

Karen Simms was pacing the waiting room like a caged tiger. She stopped as she heard Peter's voice.

He jogged over to her "Who's been hurt?"

"Kermit." She said. "The ceiling fell at the precinct, he was pinned under the ductwork. He hasn't come to for hours. They were just now able to get an ambulance to him."

"We'll wait here with you if you want." Peter wasn't going to give her platitudes. Karen Simms wasn't the sort of person to want or need them. He was worried about his friend but there was nothing he could do for Kermit at the moment.

"I'd like that." She said. "I suppose I should let you know that Navarro escaped in the confusion somehow. It hasn't been the most pleasant of evenings." She took a seat on one of the benches and smiled sadly as she was flanked by the Caines.

"He won't have gotten far in this weather. No way out of town" Peter said. "He'll show up at the hotel half drowned and his wife will call the cops herself. According to my brother, she put up her jewels as collateral to the bail bondsman."

Karen laughed despite herself. "Well a woman has to have priorities, I guess. If I had to choose between expensive jewels and a man who is bad enough that the DST came looking for him I think I'd choose the jewels too." It didn't escape her notice that he referred to his mother as Navarro's wife, but her son he called his brother.

"Don't worry. Paul taught Kermit how to not get caught." Peter teased, grinning a little. "No one's going to come looking."

She gave him a look and shook her head. "Being a mercenary working for the government is a bit different." She said. "I haven't had the chance to speak to you since your fiance's abduction. How is she?" She needed to think about something else, anything else, or she would go mad.

Peter smiled. "She's doing well. She's upstairs with Lo Si at the moment. He's the reason we're here at the hospital. His age is catching up to him." It was the simple explanation.

"I'm sorry to hear that." She said

"He'll be alright," Peter said. "He's already back to being cantankerous and flirting with the nurses."

They looked up as the doctor approached.

"Captain Simms?" He asked.

"Yes." She said standing up. "How is he?"

"At the moment, he's still unresponsive." He said. "From what we were told he's been unconscious for seven hours give or take. That is a long time, and a little alarming. He's been sent to imaging for an MRI. I want to make sure no bleeding or swelling is going on inside his skull. After that, he'll be sent up to ICU. We'll make sure he's comfortable, and monitor his brain activity. I don't want to say that he is in a coma until the neurologist has a chance to look at the EEG. The other injuries are minimal. Some nasty bruises on his back, and a few minor lacerations. I'm sorry I don't have more definite information for you."

Karen nodded. "Okay. When you take him to ICU can I see him?"

"One visitor at a time will be fine."

"Thank you." She said and let Peter put his arm around her.

"He'll be okay." He said, giving in to platitudes after all. "He has to be. He's going to be my best man. He wouldn't leave me in the lurch like that."

She laughed and sobbed simultaneously and rested her head against Peter's chest. "He better not. It's bad enough he's leaving me a man down. I don't suppose I could talk you into coming back until he's on his feet." It wasn't a serious request.

"The force doesn't have a temporary employee option for cops that I remember." He said "And I don't think anyone can do what Kermit does on a computer. I know I can't"

"I suppose you're right." She said.

"Come on. I'll buy you a cup of lousy coffee." He said and led the way over to the vending machine. "You look exhausted but I know you won't let yourself sleep anytime soon."

"Would you?"

Peter shook his head. "No. I wouldn't. I'll stay up with you." He promised.

Caine stood back and watched his son. Peter's fears and worries were instantly forgotten because someone needed him. Kwai Chang Caine couldn't be more proud.

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Javier Navarro had tried convincing Yeoh to allow him to bring his children. He would have happily left Laura to her actual husband and considered it good riddance to bad rubbish. But his children were another matter entirely. The old bastard had refused, and you didn't tell that man to piss off if you wanted to keep your head attached to your shoulders. That bothered Navarro as much as being told no in the first place. He liked the illusion that he was in control of his own life, and his destiny, and was willing to do terrible things to hold on to that illusion.

More than anything else he hated this place. This Mountain In The Sea as they called it. Why the hell couldn't they just say Island like normal people? No, everything in this dimension had to be labeled poetically. This place… He had become the warden to the Isle of Dr. Moreau. It was full of half-human creatures, the local humans called them demons, but they were nothing like the demons he had learned about in his strict Catholic upbringing. Demons were fallen angels in service to Lucifer. They were not ghosts or half-human abominations that could be so easily contained or enslaved.

He walked through the compound alongside the administrator Yeoh had introduced him to before leaving to return to Bayview. That was something else that annoyed the hell out of him. The administrator annoyed the hell out of him.

"Yeah, yeah, Yeah… fine." He said. "I don't need to know all the details of this operation. I need to know if things are on schedule, I need to know who comes and goes and I need to know where my quarters are.

"Of course, Sir." The administrator said. "This way."

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Peter waited quietly outside Kermit's room in ICU. Karen was in his room, holding his hand and speaking to him. Peter couldn't hear what was being said. He could only hope that Kermit could.

He smiled sadly when Leanne joined him, sliding her arms around him. "There hasn't been any change." He said, turning in her arms to be able to hold her close. "How is Lo Si?"

"He looks almost like his old self again. I think your father's tea along with Wukongs leaves are going to bring him back to normal, given time, and of course, if the nurses don't veto it entirely."

"Modern medicine and traditional medicine don't always get along," Peter said. He'd nearly died once because the doctor handling his case had tried to prevent his father from doing what needed to be done.

"Sometimes they are right to be dubious," Leanne said. "There are a lot of con artists out there pretending to be practicing traditional medicine."

"Snake oil salesmen by any other name," Peter said. "Wasn't that blamed on the Chinese railroad workers or something?"

"They used a liniment made from the oils produced by the Chinese water snake for sore muscles and arthritis, and it worked. A lot of omega-3 acids in the water snake. Some idiot decided to cash in on it and threw together some random oils, claimed that it was made from rattlesnake oil, and sold it as a cure-all. Which of course cured nothing except maybe dry skin."

Peter nodded, and said nothing for several minutes, resting his head on top of hers. "I'm sorry I was a bit of a jackass last night.." He said eventually.

"You weren't." She said. "Not really. Unreasonable maybe, but so was I."

"I can't lose you."

"You're not going to." She said. "I'm immortal, remember."

"So was Lo Si."

"I don't know…" She said. "I wouldn't count him out yet. Peter, we can't spend our lives worrying about who could die and when. With our lives, we'd both be basket cases before our first anniversary."

"I suppose there's something to that." He said and sighed, kissing her head lightly. "I just have to get used to not always getting my way." He teased.

She laughed "When did you have a woman who always let you get your way? How long did that last? Till the second aborted argument with a 'whatever you say, Darling.' "

"More like the fourth. It was… you know… high school." He laughed then, letting some of the tension go. "I didn't know what to do with that at all."

"I remember that." A familiar voice said, and Peter turned to see his foster father approaching. "As I recall, she called the house several times a day for two weeks trying to get you to take her back. "

Peter stepped closer and hugged Paul. "Were you stuck in town through the storm?" He asked. "I called Mom before the cell tower went down. She said she was at Carolyn's so I didn't head over there."

"I got in about half an hour ago. I started trying when the hurricane hit international news. I figured it would go the way it did." He said "I spent the duration of the storm in that ratty little motel between here and River City. This morning Simms contacted me about Kermit. She couldn't reach his sister and my number is second on his emergency contact list."

Peter nodded. "There hasn't been any change. They say it's not a coma though. His brain waves are too active for a coma. We haven't heard anything about what they found on the MRI yet. I get the impression they're really busy now that people can get to the ER again."

Paul nodded. "Did the two of you come in for Kermit?"

Peter shook his head. "No, we were just conveniently here when he came in. Lo Si was admitted just before things got dicey out there. We were here for him, my father's here too."

"He came back from France. Good." Paul said. Peter needed one of them in his life and unfortunately, he couldn't be around regularly. He was pushing his luck as it was, but he had been so worried about Annie that he had risked it.

"Yeah. We all came back on the same plane. And a few days later Laura Navarro showed up and wanted a divorce and to try and be my mother again."

"You know it's alright if you let her. Your mother won't be threatened by that at all."

Peter smiled. "I know. I went to see Mom to talk about Laura. I've got one mother and you are married to her. What I do have now is a younger brother and another sister. Also in town. Their father had been arrested and managed to slip out during the accident that injured Kermit."

"I get the feeling we are going to have a lot to catch up on before I leave town again."

"Any idea when that will be?" Peter asked.

"I'm tempted to stick around until Kermit is out of the woods. But I don't want to put anyone at risk."

"You don't need to worry about me," Peter said. "What did Mom have to say about that?"

"That I should stay put. Of course, she also implied that I should stay put indefinitely. I'm not sure that's the safest option for anyone. I'll think about staying for Kermit."

"Maybe Mom could go with you for a while when you leave," Peter suggested. "Call it a second honeymoon."

"We had one of those, remember? You stayed at the house and watched over Kelly." Paul pointed out.

"Okay, a third honeymoon. You can take off, have a good time, come back for my wedding, and then I'll go on a honeymoon."

Paul chuckled "I'll talk to your mother about it."