Author's Note: I would probably recommend some tissue for this chapter. Nothing bad happens, but it's been a tear-jerker to write. So just a heads up.

Before the service, Kellie stood alone in the church, several feet from Charles's casket. She took a deep breathe and approached the open casket.

"You didn't belong here, Charles," Kellie said, "Not yet anyway… You were supposed to live happily ever after with Monica. Happily ever after Quartermaine style amongst all the arguing in the house. But after all those years you spent either in that massive Florida mansion just you and Tyler and your mom and then just you in a penthouse apartment or hotel room, I think you secretly enjoyed it. How different it was. Maybe I'm wrong. Who knows. I'm not really sure of a lot things right now."

Kellie looked away from Charles and the casket and then back at it.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do without you," Kellie said, "You were always there. Even when you believed I was dead, I knew you and Tyler were alive and safe. Now both of you are gone. I still don't understand it. That I'm the one still here. For a long time, I thought for sure at least one of you would outlive me. I was the just an orphaned hooker's daughter when you met me. I didn't even know who my father was at the time, being bounced around from foster home to foster home, running around in the streets. Lord, knows what would have happened to me if you hadn't of taken my case. I didn't expect much from myself. I was just trying to survive by whatever means necessary."

Kellie's eyes were tear-stained now.

"But you, you expected more of me," Kellie said, running her hands along the edge of the casket, "You believed I could be more than the hands I'd been dealt, be more than who my mother was. You always believed I was worth more, could be more than I thought I deserved. Even when I tried to make you leave me alone, you didn't give up on me. Hell, you welcomed me into your family. Didn't object to me marrying your son, even though I'm sure you had to have had reservations about that. Even when I was sure I had to have disappointed you, you never turned your back on me. I was so certain when Luis Alcazar framed Sonny for your son's so-called death and you showed up here in Port Charles looking for answers, you'd be furious with me. As far as you knew, I'd died a few years before when my car went over the bridge into the water during a storm. Now here I was running my father's alleged criminal enterprise and the reason we believed Tyler was dead."

Kellie's voice cracked, "Surprise, right?"

Kellie took a deep breathe.

"You had every reason in the world to hate me in that moment," Kellie said, "All you had for me was compassion, after the obvious shock of course. Every time I needed help, you were always just there. I didn't have to ask. I know I tended to brush off the help and tell you that you didn't have to. But I was glad you ignored me anyway. Damn, I hate that you're in that casket now. That bullet was meant for me and you got right in front of it. I don't if I'll ever know what to do with that."

Kellie collapsed to a sitting position on the floor, still crying. She slumped her head over her knees. She didn't notice Dante had been standing at the back of the church and was making his way to her.

Dante knelt next to Kellie and gently touched her shoulder.

"Hey," he said softly.

"Mom said that you came early to have a few minutes before the service," Dante said as Kellie looked up at him, "And that Jason was bringing the kids down a little later. I thought I'd just be here if you needed anything. How are you holding up?"

Kellie shook her head and looked up at the casket.

"I don't if I'm ever going to understand," Kellie said, "Why it's him in that casket and not…."

"And not you?" Dante finished the sentence. He sat down next to Kellie.

"The bullet was meant for me," Kellie said, leaning against Dante's shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her, "Even Tyler's Leukemia that was nature. At some point there was no fighting that. But this…."

"Is exactly how Charles would have chosen it to go, every single time," Dante said, "From what I heard, you were already putting yourself between your kids, his grandkids, and the bullets. I know if it was my kid, no question I'd get between Rocco and the bullet. There's not a doubt in my mind that Charles knew exactly what he would do if the choice was between your life and his. I don't think he'd have it any other way. Can you imagine trying argue this one with him?"

"No," Kellie said, almost laughing, "Lord knows that I never could argue with him when he'd made up his mind. I'd be all prepared to object to something and the next thing I know, what he's proposing is perfectly reasonable."

"It was why he was such a damn good lawyer too," Dante said, "Most of the PCPD was glad he kept most of his cases to business, the foundation, and foster kids."

"Did you know he talked Sonny into making deal with Uncle Lo for his safety?" Kellie said, "After it came out that he was working with government and you to take him down."

"I'd heard rumours Dad and your uncle cut some kind of deal," Dante said, "But if anyone could talk Dad into making a deal with Lorenzo after that, Charles definitely could."

"Yeah," Kellie said. A brief silence settled between them.

"Dante, he should still be here," Kellie finally said, "I think some part of me really believed he'd always be here, despite the risks of being associated with me."

"Like you kind of thought he'd live forever," Dante said.

Kellie nodded.

"He was your Officer Poletti," Dante said, "I told you about him at some point."

"He was your father figure growing up," Kellie said, "Right?"

"Yeah, to a lot of the kids that didn't have dads around," Dante said, "But I remember thinking he was invincible. When he was murdered…"

Dante shook his head and let out a deep sigh.

"Sonny was suspected of his death, wasn't he?" Kellie asked.

"Yeah," Dante answered, "It was what drove me to go after Dad undercover in the first place."

Kellie looked back up at Charles' casket and back at Dante,

"Why does our relationship with Sonny have to be so complicated?" Kellie asked, "I know he didn't pull the actual trigger, but his inability to face reality regarding the business since he came back from Nixon Falls….I blame him for this."

"I know," Dante said, "And I get it. Some part of me still holds Dad responsible for Officer Poletti."

"How did you get past it?" Kellie said, "You've managed to build a decent relationship with him."

"I can't really say I got past it," Dante said, "I guess curiosity about Dad and time allowed me to build a relationship with him. It wasn't easy. I can't say what getting to a better place with Dad would look like for you."

"I honestly don't know if it's possible anymore," Kellie said, "I always hoped, but it's always fraught with tension even when it seems like we find an even keel briefly. I thought that when he'd lost his memory in Nixon Falls maybe it would be fresh start and then I found out he chose not try to find out who he was at all. Aftere that everything went really sideways with the business and now this…"

"Your relationship with Dad has always been complicated," Dante said, "I suspect it probably always will be. The best thing you can do is make the decisions that are best for you when it comes to relating with him however that looks for you."

"I honestly don't know where to start," Kellie said.

"Not starting is a perfectly acceptable decision," Dante said, "If you don't have answers or a plan right now, that's okay too. Take it as it comes."

Kellie didn't reply and just let out a deep breathe.

"I'm happy sit here as long as you'd like," Dante said, "But people will start showing up soon. Do you still need a moment here with Charles?"

"I don't know how to say goodbye," Kellie said.

"You say goodbye when you're ready," Dante said, "Maybe today isn't that day. Maybe it's another day or…"

Dante reached into his jacket pocket.

"or what or when?" Kellie asked as Dante pulled out a flask.

"I thought maybe we could both use a drink," Dante said, opening the flask.

"You could have started with that," Kellie said as Dante handed her the flask.

Kellie took a sip, "Is this?"

"Whatever specialty tequila you like from Mexico," Dante said, "Yes. Lulu told me where to get it. I figured Charles ought to go out with the good stuff that you like."

Kellie handed Dante the flask and he took a sip.

"This is actually good," Dante said.

"Of course it is," Kellie said.

They passed the flask back and forth again each taking another sip.

"You ready?" Dante asked.

"No," Kellie said, shrugging, "But….."

Kellie and Dante stood up and faced the casket.

Dante lifted the flash in tribute to Charles and took a sip, "Thank you for taking care of my sister when the rest of us weren't around to and making sure that she could still be here with us. That's debt I don't think we'll ever be able to repay."

Dante nodded and turned back to Kellie.

"I'll be at the back of the church," Dante said, "when you're ready."

Kellie nodded and Dante walked away.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you," Kellie said, turning her attention back to Charles, "And I don't know how to say goodbye yet. Maybe someday. You did so much for me. I wish I had the words to tell you how much you meant to me. How much it meant that you treated me like a daughter since you took my case. I'm sorry I was too stubborn to recognize it. My brother is right, I'll never be able to repay to the sacrifice you made. The only thing I can do is try to be the person you always believed I could be."