I'm not an expert on hurricanes. Google says it can last for days or hours depending on land size (quicker for small islands), so for the sake of this story, it lasted roughly a day. Thanks :)


Kate was feeling grouchy and emotional at work the next day. She saw Tavs sneaking looks at her every so often. It took her until lunch before approaching Kate.

"What happened?" she asked. "I saw J last night, and he looked like someone had shot his dog but wouldn't tell me what was going on. Did you guys fight last night? Is everything okay?"

"We broke up," Kate answered, deciding to be truthful.

"What?! No! Oh my God! What happened?!"

"This happened," Kate said, pulling out her phone and showing Tavs the information from Reggie. Tavs took the phone in her hands and read, brow furrowed. When she finished reading, she looked up at Kate.

"No way," she said.

"Excuse me?" Kate asked, surprised.

"He didn't do it," Tavs insisted, handing her phone back. "J is not a killer."

"This says..." Kate started, but Tavs held up her hand.

"Do you not see the way he looks at Piper?" she asked. "If he'd killed his wife, Piper's mother, do you think he could look at her like that?"

"I..." Kate couldn't seem to string words together.

"He doesn't even kill spiders, Kate," Tavs said. "He painstakingly captures them and carries them outside. House flies and moths too. J is not a cold blooded killer. That information is wrong."

"But..."

"He ran out into heavy traffic to save a cat, Kate. A cat. Does a murderer do that? Does someone with the capability of stabbing his wife do that?"

"Well, they might..."

"He isn't," Tavs insisted harder. "No way. Not him. He is a good guy, and I've known my share of really bad guys. He might do what it takes to save his family, but he would not hurt someone unprovoked."

"But why...? How...?" Kate tried.

"What was his explanation for it?" Tavs asked. Kate told her, and Tavs nodded along the whole time.

"You can't seriously buy that," Kate said.

"Unlike you, I know of Death Race. It was brutal, and I wouldn't put it past the warden there to frame J so he'd drive and keep their ratings up. I believe him, Kate. He's a good guy, and this shit does happen."

"You can't be serious," Kate said.

"Kate, really think about it," Tavs said firmly. "Please. If you'd killed your child's other parent, would you be able to look at them lovingly ever again?"

"A psychopath might..."

"J is not a psychopath, trust me. Just think about it. Hard."

Kate opened and closed her mouth. She thought about it. It was a disturbing imagery to explore, but when she did, she realized that Tavs was right. She also really did want to believe Jensen.

"Oh my God," she said, pressing her hands into her face. "I ruined it." Tavs put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

"Not necessarily," she said encouragingly. "Just go to him. Talk it out."

"I pointed a gun at him, Tavs," Kate said, looking at her through her fingers.

"Well, that's a bit much, but you just found out and were scared. That's understandable."

"He's not going to forgive me."

"I wouldn't count him out just yet."

Kate felt angst. She knew Tavs was being positive, but her own negative thinking was telling her that Jensen never wanted to see her again. She stood there trying to think it out when Tavs went to deal with a customer. She was dithering in the back room when Tavs came to find her.

"Just go," she urged. "Don't wait too long."

"It's too late..."

"Kate, for the love of God, buck up and go tell him you're sorry!" Tavs ordered, pointing her finger towards the back door.

"Okay, okay," Kate said, walking away. "I'm not coming back today."

"Fine."

"I'm taking your car."

Tavs tossed her the keys. "Go!"

Kate pushed the door open and stepped outside. She went around to the car and got in. She took some breaths. She started the car, and as she drove, she rehearsed what she wanted to say.

...

Jensen was up to his elbows in grease. He grunted as he tried to wrench off a part. The other workers were talking and laughing amongst each other; he just tuned it out and tried not to think about the look on Kate's face after discovering the worst moment of his life.

Car tires crunched on gravel, and he paid it no attention until wolf whistles started. He turned his head to see Kate heading right for him.

"Cosas calientes (Hot stuff)," one guy called.

"Esplendido (Gorgeous)," another said.

"Quieres salir conmigo (Will you go out with me)?" a third asked.

"Volver al trabajo (Get back to work)!" the boss man hollered at the heckling men.

"Vete al cuerno (piss off)," Kate said as she passed them.

"Ooohhh dama descarada (sassy lady)!" the first guy said, laughing. Jensen stared as she walked right up to him and stopped, crossing her arms.

"Can we talk?" she asked. Jensen had no words at first. He kept staring at her. She'd freaked out and waved a gun at him last night, called him a murderer without listening to his explanation, and now she wanted to talk?

"I'm sorry," she blurted out when he still said nothing. "I freaked out without listening to you. I just...all I could see was me getting hurt again, and I went into self-protection mode. It was wrong, and...and I'm sorry. I believe you."

Jensen didn't want an audience any longer, so he set down his tools and climbed out of the boat, jumping from the second last rung and hitting the cement floor with a thud of his boots. He gestured with his head for her to follow, and they walked outside and around back where no one was listening.

"Please say something," Kate begged now. "Anything."

"What made you believe me?" he asked.

"Something Tavs said," Kate answered truthfully. "And she's right. I was too blindsided to see it at first."

"You really hurt me," Jensen said, crossing his arms. "I thought you trusted me."

"To be fair, finding that out about you would have made anyone freak out," Kate replied.

"I know that, but you called me a liar."

"I'm a former FBI agent, okay? Forgive me if I question things because every person I've ever arrested claimed to be innocent," she shot at him, and he felt instant surprise. She was a what?!

"Excuse me?" he asked. "You were an FBI agent?!"

"Yes," she answered.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"The same reason you didn't tell me about your wife," she fired back. "But I have a bit more of an urgent reason for keeping my secret."

"Someone's after you," Jensen said, getting it. It all made sense now. He'd assumed it was her ex. He was wrong. It was someone from her job. She swallowed visibly.

"Yes," she confirmed. "So me not telling you was for safety reasons."

"Do you know what other men do to wife killers?" Jensen asked, tilting his head at her. "Even though I'm innocent, a whiff of that to anyone means I'm at risk of getting killed."

"Okay," Kate said. "Then we both had our reasons. Case closed."

"No, not case closed," Jensen corrected. "We obviously don't feel that we can be fully honest with each other, even if it is for safety reasons, and in my mind, that's not a good foundation for a relationship. I think this is for the best, Kate, that we stay broken up. But I thank you for your apology."

"Jensen..."

"It's over," he cut her off. She closed her mouth and pressed her lips together.

"Okay," she finally said, sounding defeated. "Okay." She turned to go, and a part of him wanted to stop her, but the other part of him told him to let her go. It wasn't going to work. He waited until she was gone and he had a grip of his emotions before going back to work.

...

Hot tears went down Kate's cheeks as she drove home; Tavs was getting a ride from her boyfriend. She'd messed it up. She'd lost Jensen. She shouldn't have lost her head last night and just took a second to breathe and think and talk it out. Instead, she reacted badly and lost the one good thing she'd ever had in her life.

She pressed a hand to her face as she kept driving. What was she going to do now? How was Piper going to react when she saw that Kate wasn't going to be around anymore? Because Kate knew Jensen would be uncomfortable with her there, and why should she let Piper get her hopes up about them getting together for nothing?

She banged a fist against the wheel and made a sound of anguish. What was she supposed to do now? She'd gotten so intertwined with Jensen that she had nothing and no one else to fall back on. She felt awkward around Tavs now. She really just didn't know what to do.

Two Weeks Later

Jensen missed Kate. He didn't want to admit it out loud, but he did. Ever since their break up, she'd kept to herself, and he'd stayed away, only seeing her in the distance on the ball field, her cap low over her eyes. Piper hadn't understood, and it was hard to keep telling her that Kate was busy or not feeling well. He knew it was a matter of time before his daughter figured it out.

"So, she tells you that she believes you, and you just let her go?" Tavs asked from his left. It wasn't the first time they'd had this conversation. They were standing on his deck, and he was watching the storm clouds brewing. There was a warning of a hurricane, which had everyone on edge and preparing for it. There was a cellar at Tavs's place they could shelter in if needed.

"I'm not going over this again," Jensen said wearily.

"Well, it's just stupid. She apologized. She understands. You love her. What's the big deal?"

"The fact that she could easily mistrust me like that scared me, okay? I need someone to fully trust me without a doubt."

"Your situation is a bit different than most..." Tavs started.

"I know, but I'm not a liar. She's been around me long enough that she should know that."

"Are you sure it's not because of her FBI background?"

"I don't care about that."

"She's not doing well, J," Tavs advised. "Please just talk to her."

"And say what? It's done."

"You are so annoying," Tavs growled. She turned to leave. "I gotta go take care of some things."

"Alright."

She left, and Jensen heard the thunder in the distance and wondered just what was coming for them.

...

Kate hated storms. She didn't like the look of this one, which was apparently a damn hurricane. Hadn't someone said this place rarely got one? She didn't understand. Everyone had hoped it would miss them, but it appeared to not be the case. She'd gathered her essentials and prepped, doing her best to not think about Jensen or Piper. When the storm grew closer, she hunkered down and prepared for the worst. She wished Jensen was still speaking to her because she'd have gone to be with him, but he wasn't, and she was stuck here alone. She forgot all about Tavs in that moment. Her brain was niggling at her about something, like she was forgetting something important. She let it go, her anxiety too amped up now to think straight anyway.

She hugged her knees and braced herself for the worst.

...

Jensen did his best not to show his fear for Piper's sake, but he felt it. It snaked around his chest and squeezed with every crash and howl of wind outside. They were in the cellar; he wasn't taking any chances. He couldn't figure out where Tavs or Kate were, though. They should be here by now.

"Daddy," Piper kept whimpering, covering her ears with her hands and clenching her eyes shut tight at the sounds of the wind and thunder. Buddy was whining. Daisy was somehow there, too, having been over at his place when it started and he'd just taken her with them. The cellar door whipped open then, and Tavs fell inside drenched and swearing, yanking the doors shut behind her.

"Tavs," Jensen said sharply, and she snapped her head to see him and Piper. Her face became apologetic for the swearing.

"Sorry. It's a wretch out there." She got to her feet and came over to them.

"Where's Kate?" he asked, noticing she wasn't with Tavs.

"I...I thought she was here," Tavs replied, looking around. "Isn't she?"

"No," he answered. They both stared at each other. "You did tell her about the cellar, right?"

"I...I'm sure I did..."

Jensen got to his feet, feeling nervous. "Tavs, you told her, right?"

"I was so sure..." Tavs trailed off. She looked stricken. She couldn't remember.

"Daddy, make it stop," Piper said now, and he looked at her. She had tears tracking down her cheeks, and her bottom lip was trembling.

"I can't," he told her, "but you're safe here. I promise."

"I'll go back for her," Tavs started.

"No," he stopped her. "I will."

"But..."

"Stay here," he ordered, heading for the doors.

"Daddy! No!"

Piper tackled him from behind, and Jensen grunted from the impact. He turned so that he was facing his daughter, and he knelt down in front of her, putting a hand on her wet cheek.

"I will be right back," he promised.

"Y-You c-can't leave m-me," Piper sobbed.

"Tavs is here. She's going to keep you safe. I have to go get Kate. She's not safe, Piper. You want her to be safe too, right?"

"Y-Yea. Of c-course..."

"Then let me go get her," Jensen reasoned.

"But w-what if y-you don't c-come back?" she asked in despair.

"Hey," he said, putting his other hand on her other cheek now and holding her firm. "What is it I always say?"

"You come back," she whispered.

"That's right," he confirmed. He moved to kiss her forehead, holding it for a moment before pulling away. "Be good for Tavs. I'll see you soon." He let go of her face and reached to squeeze her hands.

"Daddy," she tried. He let go and stood up. "Daddy!" He heard Tavs move to catch Piper before she ran outside after him. He tried not to let her anguished scream cut him to the core. Already soaked to the skin from the driving rain, he shut the doors to the cellar and ran for Kate's.

...

Kate was pretty sure she was going to die today. She was curled in a ball under her bed with her hands over her head. She'd never experienced anything like this before. The howling wind alone was enough to push her over the edge. She didn't know where Daisy was, and it scared her.

Rare hurricanes her ass. She should have moved to England or something.

A faint noise made her lower her arms, frowning. What was that? She listened hard, trying to hear it again over the wind and thunder. Then, her front door blew open.

"Kate!"

Jensen. He'd come for her. She almost started to cry in relief. She wasn't going to be alone anymore.

"JAY!" she hollered. His footsteps came towards her, and he skidded to a stop outside her room.

"Say again!" he shouted.

"In here!" she called. She looked towards the door, and then he was there on his stomach looking back at her.

"What are you doing?" he asked. "Why aren't you in the cellar?"

"There's a cellar?" she countered.

"Damn it, Tavs," he said, more to himself. "She really didn't tell you about it?!"

"No..." To be fair, she'd hidden herself away from Tavs as well and hadn't really talked to her in a few days, but then she thought maybe she had been told about it when she first got here. Her brain was too addled to remember properly.

"Come on," he said, reaching for her. She let him take her hand, and he dragged her out from under the bed. She noticed how soaked he was as he pulled her to his feet.

"Are we even going to make it there?" she asked as they went to the door. If it was even possible, the wind had picked up more in the last few minutes. Jensen stopped with his hand on the doorknob, contemplating something. The thunder and lightning alone was terrifying her.

"Shit," he said, taking his hand back. "We won't."

"So what do we do?" she asked. Instead of answering, he pulled her towards her bathroom. "Wait, how is this safe?!"

"Smallest room in the house," he answered, yanking back the shower curtain. "Away from a window." She looked up at the small window close to the ceiling. He had a point. She stepped into the tub with him and tried hard to stop shaking. Jensen put his arms around her, holding her close.

"I don't know where Daisy is," she started.

"She's in the cellar."

"And Piper?" she asked, feeling relieved her dog was safe.

"With Tavs in the cellar too."

"Oh..." She was thinking hard and coming to a conclusion quickly...one that startled her almost. "You left her to find me?"

"She was safe," he reasoned. "You were not."

Kate looked at him, surprised that he cared that much about her after everything. It touched her deeply.

"J," she started.

"You'd have done it for me," he interrupted, and her words died on her lips. He was right. She would have.

"Thank you," she said, meaning every word of it. Something crashed right outside, and she yelped, burying her face into his chest hard and clinging to him. The guilt of him possibly dying and leaving Piper behind because of her was strong suddenly.

"It's alright," he said to her, still holding her tightly. "It's all gonna be alright." From his tone, she wasn't sure who he was trying to convince more: him or her.

...

Jensen held onto Kate for hours. He felt fear at times that the small house wasn't going to hold, but it managed. Kate was trembling and trying not to lose her shit. They barely spoke. By the time things calmed down, his arms were sore from being so taut.

"Is it over?" Kate asked, and he almost didn't hear her as his ears were still hearing the roar of the storm.

"No," he answered. "Just the eye."

"So...how long do we have?"

"Enough."

She looked at him, and he felt conflicted inside about his decision to end things permanently. Right here, right now, he was having trouble remembering why.

"Jensen," she said softly. "I really am sorry."

"Don't worry about it," he replied, not knowing what else to say.

"But I am. I was awful to you."

"I think most people would have had a similar reaction," he replied. "Like you said." She tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear, looking down a bit.

"It just really shocked me," she said a moment later. "And my brain couldn't seem to piece together that the man I knew you to be couldn't possibly be the one to do something so terrible."

"And now?"

"I know you didn't kill her, but the man you say killed her...where is he now?"

He hesitated, but he needed to be honest. "I killed him. He was in the race with me at the jail, and I...I killed him." She moved out of his grasp at this point and sat beside him, her knees pulled to her chest. Jensen knew they had to get to the cellar, but he needed to hear her response first.

"You killed him," she repeated.

"To be fair, he was going to die in that race anyway," Jensen pointed out. "It was the whole point of the damn thing. I just made sure I got to be the one to do it."

"And Tavs said you weren't a killer," Kate said, slightly sarcastic.

"It was him or me," Jensen said evenly. "In the end, that's what it would have come down to...regardless of what I did. And he'd already tried to kill me once in there outside of the race."

"I see."

"Has that ever happened to you?" he asked, and she shifted uncomfortably.

"That's different," she answered. "I was law enforcement. That's a job where taking someone's life is kind of inevitable."

"Well my job was to survive that race so I could get Piper back," he advised. "And I did."

"Joe," she said now. "Was he there too?"

"Yea."

"Case?"

"She was in the women's prison for killing her abusive husband." He could see Kate's reaction to this, and he wondered if that thought had ever crossed her mind towards her ex. "She was my navigator in the race."

"Did you and her ever...?"

He wasn't sure why she needed to know this again except her needing to reaffirm trust. "No."

Kate nodded slowly, processing it all. "Tavs explained about the race. It sounds horrible."

"It was." He paused. "Hennessey ruined my life and manipulated me. But I have release papers, Kate. Signed by her. Her plan was to never let me go, but I outsmarted her. Then I left the country because I just didn't want to be recognized. It wasn't a big news coverage at the time, but still...it was obviously out there for your friend to find. I don't want to have to keep proving myself to people that I didn't kill my wife, so that's why I'm way out here."

"I hear you." She looked at him again, and he felt unsure of what to do or say in this moment. When sunlight came through the small window, he was jolted back to the present.

"Come on," he said, getting up. "We need to get to the others before this starts again." He reached for her hand, and she took it. They walked side by side to the cellar, where Piper leaped into his arms the moment she saw him and started crying.

"I'm so sorry," Tavs said to Kate, hugging her. "I thought I told you about the cellar!"

"It's okay. You might have and I forgot. My head hasn't exactly been on straight lately."

Jensen watched Piper let go of him and rush to Kate, hugging her next. It was clear how much his daughter missed her.

"We're all here now," Tavs stated, giving Jensen a meaningful look. "It'll be over soon."

Kate met his eyes over Piper's head, and he wanted to know what she was thinking. He wished he could make her understand that he really wasn't a bad guy.

"Can we play cards?" Piper asked hopefully.

"Yes," Kate answered, looking down at her and smoothing her hair with a hand. "Let's do it." She followed Piper to the card table, and Tavs joined them. Jensen watched at first until he got dragged into it. He had to admit, it was nice to have fun with Kate again, even if he didn't know what she thought of him right now. When the storm started again, Piper grew nervous, but the three of them kept her entertained for the most part. Hours later, after it was finally over, Jensen let them all out ahead of him, and Kate hovered last, looking at him. He waited for her to say something, but instead, she stepped into him and kissed him on the mouth. After the initial shock, he kissed her back. When she pulled back a moment later, she put a hand on his face.

"Thank you for coming to get me," she said. "That meant a lot."

"Yea," he replied. "Of course."

"Can we maybe talk? Soon?" she asked.

"Sure."

She looked relieved. "Good. Okay. I'll be in touch."

"Okay." He nodded, and she stepped away from him and then left. He followed, finding Piper waiting for him with Tavs.

"Everything alright?" Tavs asked.

"Yea," he answered, watching Kate walk to her place, stepping over downed trees and other debris. They all had some cleanup to do. "Everything's alright."

Tavs nodded, and Piper took his hand, and they went their separate ways.

Two Days Later

Kate was ready to talk. She'd cleaned up most of the mess the hurricane had left, thankful it hadn't been worse than it could have been. She had texted Jensen to ask if he wanted to meet for a drink at their bar, and he'd accepted. She felt nervous but also slightly excited. It was looking like maybe they could make things work after all.

She went to grab her keys and head for the door when she saw the shape standing to her left. She let out a shriek and lurched backwards, wishing she had her gun closer to her than where it was. Her heart was racing as she finally recognized the person in front of her.

"Hello, Kate," Alejandro Gillick said, his head slightly tilted to the right. "Long time no see."