Wanda and Gregory picked up Myles from the B&B the following morning. It was supposed to snow the next day, so they all thought it would be best to get one last round of fishing in before calling it a season. It was also an excuse for Wanda to check up on Myles without being upfront. She had received a call from Myles' FBI friend - Jack Hudson - yesterday afternoon and was asked to check up on his well-being as his family was concerned for his health and safety. From Wanda's perspective, Myles looked great! He looked as if he finally got some sleep, was still sarcastic and slightly cantankerous, and showed no signs of flashbacks, so she deduced that her guest was having a good day. Once they got back to the cottage, Wanda would be sure to inform Jack that his friend was in his right mind. Unfortunately, after much deliberation with her husband, Wanda and Gregory made the decision to go home tomorrow as there was obviously still something going on with their guest who needed help, and it was supposed to snow storm. They would give Myles the opportunity to stay (he was an adult, so they couldn't force him to leave), but they thought it was best to take him home to prove to his friends and family that he was indeed okay.

As they all stood on the shore of the furthest and deepest part of the lake, waiting for a catch, Wanda started in Myles' direction, "Gregory and I are planning to go back to Brandy Station tomorrow."

"Really?" Myles' heart sank. He hoped that they weren't going back because of him. "What made you two decide that?"

Wanda answered, "There's going to be a snow storm tomorrow afternoon, so the highways will be a mess and dangerous to travel on. In addition, we're not winter people, so there's no use in staying here. We will be cleaning up the cottage this afternoon and tonight, and then head out by eight in the morning. Are you okay with leaving with us, so we can take you home? Or were you wanting to stay at Lake Moomaw, and we can pick you up at a later date?"

Myles blinked. This was unexpected. He'd just started to get comfortable here, and now they were leaving? He said, "Winter doesn't bother me…"

Wanda interjected, "You're welcome to stay. And if you decide that, you can stay at the cottage, so you're not spending more money at the B&B. You said that you were more of a winter person anyway. If there's a big snowfall, and the snow decides to stay, cross country skiing is offered here."

The offer was tempting. If he made the decision to stay, he could continue with his private yoga lessons, enjoy some possible winter activities, and have free room and board while avoiding burdening anyone. However, he could do all of that in and around the city too. He had to admit though that he was getting home sick, and that no doubt his sister would be on her way home after that voicemail he left her.

Myles answered Wanda, "No, I'll go with you guys. I don't want to bother you with coming back for me, so if going home is what you want to do, I'll respect that decision."

Wanda was content with that. She said, "When we are done here, I'll make sure to get Gregory to filet some fish for you, so you can take it home, and have supper and lunch for days."

Myles gave Wanda a slight smile. "That would be nice. Thank you…for everything."

Then, Myles looked in the distance and saw a bird - a swan in particular - flying towards the clouds, and would probably be returning in the spring. He said in his mind, "Thank you too, Gary, for leading me to peace."

After finally grieving over the control that he lost, Myles was able to work on the meditation exercises with Lydia. Now that the worst was off his chest, shoulders and mind, he found that the meditation part of yoga was getting easier. He was less distracted, and when he closed his eyes, the voices and flashbacks that occurred in the dark weren't so prominent. He was starting to relax, and it was a rejuvenating experience. Myles then informed his instructor that he was leaving Lake Moomaw the next day due to the impending snow storm and wouldn't be returning, so Lydia reluctantly crammed in as much of her knowledge as possible, so he had something to take home with him and complete on his own time. Her goal was for him to understand that his complex PTSD was going to be a part of him, and there was no use in fighting it, but accepting it and finding a way to distract himself from it in a healthy manner. Maybe…just maybe…when he'd hear or see things - especially in the dark - his mind could tune it out, despite it still being there.

When his two hour session with Lydia was done, and he was prepared to take what he had learned in such a short time home, he went back to the B&B to pack. He was going back to Washington a week early, and he wasn't sure what he was going to do with that time. Joining a meditation yoga program was on his list of things to do, but…he did like the isolation. Once he was done reminiscing about the good times he had in Lake Moomaw (fishing, yoga, campfires, and the swan), he also thought about the fun he had with Gregory and Wanda; despite how annoying they could be, they were very generous people. He might ask to go back with them in the future.

Then, he picked up the phone and called Jack. His friend didn't answer, but Myles left a quick message stating that he was coming home early and would be arriving at his place by noon the next morning. He also stated that he was feeling okay, and didn't want visitors for another week. He didn't want a welcome wagon; he just thought that notifying his friends was courteous…after all, he hadn't been so courteous lately.

Back in Washington, Dimitrius sauntered inside the deli; luckily, there weren't any customers, and Mr. Giordano was alone in the back, probably slicing some meat. The door alarm rang, which indicated to the man that a customer was present. However, instead of helping him, Mr. Giordano disappeared from sight, and out came a younger man, ready to service Dimitrius' every need. He was tall, broad shouldered, and looked like he would be hard to take down if he were a convict on the run. He started:

"Good morning, sir. Can I help you?"

Dimitrius took a second to examine his surroundings. On the right side were fridges, freezers and cold cases of cheese, perogies, and frozen soups and the other side were shelves of spices, and oils. Ignoring those areas, Dimitrius went to the meat counter. He first looked at the ribs, then the pork chops, and finally the cold cuts. He told himself that he should pick some up for him and his wife for their lunches, because eating out was starting to get expensive.

"Um," Dimitrius said, "I'll get eight ounces of turkey, eight ounces of ham, and…uh…eight ounces of that habanero turkey."

"Will do," said the young man. First he grabbed the ham, and went to the slicer. Dimitrius tried to make conversation:

"It's a beautiful day…probably the last one we will ever have until April though. I hear there's supposed to be a snow storm tomorrow, and that we're supposed to get a lot of it."

The young man nodded. "Yeah." After slicing the ham into the requested portion, he continued, "But my siblings and I plan to go back to Italy in a couple of days. We don't get much snow where my parents live."

That statement piqued Dimitrius' interest. Siblings? Italy? Leaving? "That's nice," Dimitrius lied, "Say, you look familiar. I feel like I know you from somewhere."

The man stopped for a moment as he placed the giant ham back where it originally was and grabbed the habanero turkey. "Really? Because I've never seen you before."

Dimitrius answered, "Maybe I've seen you here. I thought you were here once."

"Actually," the man quietly replied, a tad embarrassed, "I haven't been working here for very long. Only a couple of days…I'm quite new. I'm thinking of quitting though, because the man in charge is a little hard on me sometimes."

"Huh…I wonder why?"

The young man shrugged. "I have no idea. Maybe it's because of who I am."

"Because of who you are? Like a family name?"

"Something like that." He gave Dimitrius both the ham and habanero turkey. Then, he moved onto the regular turkey. He sliced it, weighed it, and packaged it like the others.

Dimitrius raised a brow. He acted dumb, "What's your family name? I wonder if I know some of you guys, because you just…look so familiar to me."

The young man, way too trusting, said as he placed the turkey in Dimitrius' reach, "Orlando Abato."

Dimitrius furrowed his brows. "And how many siblings did you say you had?"

"Two brothers and one sister."

The two then had a staring contest. Once one of them blinked, the young man called Orlando asked, almost robotic, "Can I get you anything else?"

Dimitrius answered, "No, that's all. Thank you. I'll pay now."

Without a hitch, Dimitrius paid for the food, then calmly left the shop.

After Dimitrius left the vicinity, Orlando grew worried, and started sweating at the forehead. Who was that man? He hadn't seen him before but for some reason, he knew him? Then, he had a thought and it wasn't a good one. He went to the back of the store, and headed to the office where Mr. Giordano sat and looked at his accounting books. Orlando started, "Hey."

"Yes?"

"I need to go. My sister called and said she isn't feeling well, and she needs a ride home. All the customers at the front have been assisted."

Mr. Giordano - in his swivel chair - turned and gawked at Orlando. He said, "Fine. Are you just taking her home?"

"Yes, and then I'll be back. I won't be gone for more than an hour."

Mr. Giordano took his gaze away from the young man, and Orlando took the gesture as an indication that he could leave. He then took off his apron, and headed to the back door. Once outside, he took out his cellphone and made a call, telling his siblings - in Italian - that he made a big mistake and that they need to leave…now."

Mr. Giordano then looked back at his vacant office door. He drew a big sigh of relief. He knew who the man was, he knew about the bank robbery, he knew about Leandro and found out he was taken into custody, knew that Orlando was there to hold him at gunpoint, and now knew that the true enemy was caught. He just didn't say anything because he was also involved in the scheme due to competition between the families and blackmail; however, he didn't need to tell anyone about that…especially the FBI.

Orlando flew down the alley. Before he could think about where to run and hide, he noticed two people in professional clothes running after him. There was a big, burly man and an equally tall and built like a brick wall blonde woman on his tail. He knew it! He knew that the man inside the store was a cop or something.

However, he wasn't fast enough, because before long, the woman caught up to him and tackled him to the ground. She must've played Rugby in the past or something, because she hit him hard. While face down on the pavement and catching his breath, the agents quickly cuffed Orlando and notified him of who they were and why he was being detained. Orlando swore at himself; his siblings were right. He had to be careful of what he said, because he was the dumbest one out of all of them. Hopefully, his siblings heeded his words and left the country by the afternoon.

"Good job team," said Jack, back at the office, "You've successfully apprehended one of the suspects. Unfortunately, he's asked for a lawyer, so we or the police cannot question him until one is present. There's also a ninety-five percent chance that he called his accomplices before running, and they are on a plane over the ocean now. But…on the bright side, let's be proud that we caught two of the bank robbers, and that the two million dollars has been retrieved and will be returned once the trials are over. They thought they were being smart by hiding the money electronically, but we all know that in this day and age, that was the stupidest thing they could have done. They were dumb, but according to Dario, the siblings were always trouble makers; and they aren't in our system, so they are good at evading the law. Once we know what the other siblings look like, we can ban them from the United States for good. Regarding Mr. Giordano, we will be questioning him later as to why an Abato member was working there in the first place since the families were apparently enemies." He then paused. He wasn't sure if he should say this in front of Elke, but Tara, Lucy and Dimitrius had been asking for an update on Myles for a while now, and it was only fair to notify them of his imminent return.

"In addition, I received a call from Myles that he will be returning to Washington early. He assured me that he's on the road to getting better, but would like to be alone for the rest of the week. I say that we respect that wish of his. He'll be fine. He also said that it's likely he'll be taking another month off, but will be welcome to visitors at that point."

The team then congratulated each other. When they all celebrated with smiles and a fresh pot of coffee, Bobby turned to Elke and said, "Well, just one more week with you on our team…however, it sounds like you might get extended if our co-worker is taking another month off of work. He does miss his friends."

"My, my…it sounds like we are finally getting along. Sorry I messed up with Leandro."

Bobby shrugged. "It's old news now. We caught Leandro and one of the Abato siblings, so we can say that we accomplished something. It'll be sad to see you go."

Elke replied, "You make it sound like you don't want your friend to come back. Believe me, I'll still be around the building; however, I do have my own unit to go back to, so I doubt I'll be extended, and they'll just find another person to fill your friend's position until his return."

Bobby chuckled. "Good tackle by the way."

Elke smirked. "Like I said, I'm a champion."

Chapter 24 is next…

AN: Thanks for reading. There's only going to be like 3-5 chapters left.