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AvalonReeseFanFics

A/N: Well Happy New Year my wonderful readers. Are you surprised? I know I am. I took so long to post this and I have no excuse other then I was so horribly blocked that I couldn't write anything. And to be honest, I'm still blocked. I make no promises about posting something next week but I am going to try. Anyway… I missed you guys, so here's the next chapter and let's hope I have something for you next week!

Chapter 399

They took the train, just like Rowan said they should. And it was absolutely beautiful, just like Rowan said it would be.

It took four days, to get across the whole country. The first time she did it with Wo Fat and Con, they told him they got off in each province to spend time in their capital cities. The whole trip took almost two weeks but Rowan had loved every second and Wo Fat had been happy to share that experience with her.

The first night they were on the train, Rowan had kept Steven awake so he could see the night sky dash by the window with all the beautiful streaky stars. She did the same thing to Nahele on the second night, and then one with her brothers, and then one last night with Trevor.

That last night with Trevor had been a sleepless night for both him and Wo Fat and Con because all three men hadn't trusted Trevor with her. They had all stayed up, taking turns dozing off before waking up almost violently. Rowan hadn't needed them, of course, but they were all ready to jump to her defence if needed.

When they finally got to Vancouver, they didn't have time to relax. They hopped immediately onto a ferry to Victoria.

Steve found out that he would once again have to be the face of the hotel reservations because both Rowan and her two brothers were probably banned from this hotel too. They weren't entirely sure, of course, which was fair, because they left in such a hurry each time. They were mostly sure, however, because all of the hotel rooms were booked with credit cards that were stolen and fake IDs.

"Is there a hotel that hasn't banned you?" Steve had asked and they had all shrugged.

"The one in California didn't," Rowan had said but Wo Fat shook his head.

"Yeah, I paid that one off with a stolen credit card too so…"

Steve shook his head. Honestly the three of them were damn disasters. The more they talked about that year they had her abroad the more he saw it. Ro was just as much of a mess as he had been and with her two brothers around her enabling her and making criminally stupid decisions, it had been as messy of a year as his had been.

It sort of made him feel better about the year. Yeah Wo Fat had taken her all of the places on her bucket list, yeah he had wined and dined her and treated her all around the world, but there was drama and crime at every turn.

It also wouldn't do to argue. So, Steve had checked them in and they all went to relax and sleep.

He figured they'd sight see the first day there, but no. No, Rowan woke him up that morning saying that Trevor had called. Trevor wanted to go skating, he knew she could skate, he wanted to know if she wanted to come with him.

And yes. Yes, she did want to go.

She said that Wo and Con knew the area as well as she did so they could take them around, if they wanted to go out. Except Steve knew that there was no way that Wo would let all three of them leave Rowan alone with Trevor.

That and Nahele wanted to go watch her skate.

So that was their whole family heading to the arena that Rowan used to skate in.

When they got there, Rowan was strapping herself into her skates, Trevor sitting beside her doing the same and Nahele sitting on her other side asking a bunch of questions. That left Steve, Wo Fat and Con sort of standing by themselves until someone whistled.

They both turned and up in the bleachers was her dad, waving them over. They dutifully climbed up the steps towards him. He smiled warmly at them in a way that none of the men really trusted, but Steve did his best to curb his paranoia and smile back.

"Had a feeling you guys would be coming. Seeing as you boys seem attached to the hip and all," Trenton said. He turned his back on the glares that had crossed all three men's faces. "I brought enough for everyone."

Enough of what?

Trenton turned and there were four more thermoses in his hands. One for each of them and Nahele. How nice.

"Let me guess… Hot chocolate?" Con asked reaching for his. Trenton nodded and he turned back to Wo. "Please tell me you got something that'll go with this."

Wo Fat nodded and went into the inside breast pocket and pulled out a flask that Steve was starting to realize he always had on him. He handed it to Con without a second thought.

"Just save some for me."

Trenton took that in with drawn eyebrows. "Uh…."

"You're better off letting it go," Steve said. "They're going to do whatever they want when they want. They're hard wired that way."

They had been independent operators for years, it would be hard to curb those tendencies now.

The two men had sat down, huddled together, the tops of their thermoses in one hand while Con doled out generous amounts of what was probably whiskey into their drinks. Trenton shook his head as Steve took a seat between them, purposely putting himself between them and Trenton. He trusted himself more than he trusted them to be civil.

They fell quiet as they watched Rowan and Trevor glide out onto the ice. Nahele, however didn't move.

"Nahele," Steve called lifting up the thermos that was meant for him. "Hot Chocolate."

Nahele bounded up those steps and grabbed the thermos. "Thanks Dr. Pierce."

"Oh… uh… you can call me Pop-pop if you want…"

"No thanks I have one of those already," he said then turned away and bounded back down the steps.

Wow, yeah, usually Nahele was much more polite than that. "Sorry… he means my dad… he calls him Pop-pop… also… I guess we never really discussed who exactly you'd be to him…"

"Fair."

Trenton turned his eyes out to the rink to watch Rowan and Trevor skate together. They seemed to be discussing and showing off different moves. There was no music yet, he wondered if there would be music as some point.

He'd love to see a full routine.

Beside him Wo Fat nudged him with his elbow. He turned to him to find that he was offering him the flask so he could spike his own hot chocolate.

"I drove here," Steve reminded them and the two of them just shrugged and Wo took the flask back. Now he was worried that Wo Fat was driving drunk or at least buzzed. Did he have a drinking problem?

He'd have to ask Rowan.

They watched Rowan flawless execute triple twist-jump thing that Steve didn't know the name of and Trenton let out a sigh of appreciation.

"Wow… she's really good."

"Rowan almost made it to the Olympics," Wo said almost proudly. Steve had to bite back the chuckle, it always surprised him how much Wo seemed to like bragging about his sister. That announcement even came with a puffed-out chest.

He was just so proud of her.

Trenton's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Really?"

"Well, yeah," Steve said. "That's what she told us. That in her world she had almost made it to the Olympics."

"I guess she messed up during the qualifiers."

See, now why would he assume that? Steve immediately bristled, in fact the whole atmosphere changed as both Wo Fat and Con frowned at that comment.

"No, actually, her version of Trevor pulled her into the Stepanov's heist crew to clear his gambling debts and it culminated in her crashing a car and breaking her leg."

Steve held Trenton's eyes as he told him, he saw the surprise on his face. He saw him realize that, while he and Trevor seemed to be holding their extradition against Steve, Steve and her brothers, were holding her past with a different family against them.

Steve knew all too well that it wasn't these Pierces who hurt Rowan and turned her into the horribly fractured and insecure woman he had married, and loved with all his heart, flaws and all. But they were a version of them, and they were all Steve and her brother had.

"I suppose that influenced your decision all those years ago," Trenton whispered.

Steve nodded. "We haven't heard the most glowing review of her family. Though mostly it's your ex-wife who seems to have done the most damage. You were just absent."

Steve turned away, letting Trenton flounder with that accusation. Instead he sat there watching Rowan and Trevor twirling through a routine. He often wondered it would look like watching her skate the way she was meant to skate, with her brother. He had feeling that whatever it was, it looked rehearsed and amazing, and while this wasn't as rehearsed and a little clumsy it was still pretty good.

"Nahele!" he called down to the younger boy who was practically leaning over the barrier watching Rowan and Trevor skate. He turned around to look at him but didn't move to join them. "Come on up here!"

"I'm good!" he called and then went back to watching and Steve shook his head.

Trenton sat there for a little while before whispering: "Trevor tried to get to the Olympics, he never even came close."

Yeah, the way Rowan talked it was clear that the only reason Trevor had gotten as far as he had was because she had been skating with him. It was why there was such contention once she was started skating by herself.

"Oh shit."

It was so strange to hear Trenton Pierce swear. Steve immediately focused in on Rowan, who looked fine. She was spinning around a million miles an hour, not looking dizzy or wobbly or like she had just fallen. Trevor hadn't fallen either. Nahele was still where he had been, watching her in rapt interest, so he had no idea what could have made the man swear like that.

Until he followed his gaze.

Standing just by the entrance, right before the stairs that lead up to the bleachers, was a woman. Steve didn't recognize her right away though she seemed similar.

She had this pin straight light brown hair cut in a severe bob. She was wearing expensive clothes, looking like that PTA mom ready to go riding and she was staring out at the ice with an intense sort of glare.

"Oh fuck me," Con hissed and Steve turned to them. Both Wo Fat and Con were staring at this new woman and clearly they knew her.

"Okay… this isn't that bad…" Wo Fat started but Con cut him off.

"Not that bad? I'm the one that knocked her out flat."

"Yeah, but she didn't see your face, she saw mine."

"True."

"Do you think we could get her out of here before Rowan notices her?"

The woman turned her narrowed brown eyes in their direction and both and Wo Fat and Con went still beside him.

"Who is that?" Steve asked. "You said you attacked her? Why would you attack her?"

"We kind of had to," Wo Fat hissed as the woman began to climb the steps towards them.

"What does that mean?"

"We broke into her house and they got caught and she kind got in Rowan's face for a bit…"

"That's her mom?!" Steve hissed putting two and two together right away.

Trenton stood up and stepped over, first Steve, then Wo Fat and Con. "Rosie… Roselyn, sorry, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see my son," she said stiffly. Her eyes darted past him to three men sitting beside him. She then turned back to the ice.

"Is that her then?" she asked. "The one you're certain is… her?"

"Yes… that's our… uh… well I mean not ours… not really. She's from a different reality…"

"Really, Trenton, how long are you going to hold onto that delusion?"

"It's not… honestly, my experiment worked, I actually pulled her through…"

Roselyn put a hand out to stop him and the words fell quiet on his lips. The look on her face, the way she held herself and the way her eyes narrowed in that familiar way, was almost exactly the same as Rowan's Ice Queen mask. It was clear where Rowan inherited her imposing disposition, and it warmed him to see it, because now he could 100 percent say that his wife hadn't borrowed those mannerisms from Wo Fat after all.

Oh yes Steve could still see where she had borrowed someone of his likeness, but it was clearly her mother who taught her how to do it in the first place.

"I guess I'll just have to talk to her…"

"No," flew out of Wo Fat so fast that it surprised the other Dr. Pierce. He stood up right away, his own imposing glare on his face. "No, you'll be leaving her alone, thank you very much."

She should have been intimidated by him, everyone else was, but she merely cocked an eyebrow at him as she looked him up and down.

Like mother like daughter.

"The older brother I would assume. The Crime Boss," she said and then she turned to Con. "And the younger, older brother. The assassin."

It was clear that this was a threat of some sort. That if she knew who they were and what their criminal titles were they'd be afraid of her. It just didn't work.

Con stood up right away, shoulder to shoulder to stand up with Wo Fat against her.

"You call her a monster to her face and I'll fucking knock you out. No joke, I pistol whipped you once and I'll do it again, right to your fucking mouth."

Now that seemed to get Roselyn's attention, probably because it was a lot aggression right out of the gate.

Roselyn's eyes widened at Con and then turned first to Wo Fat who she clearly thought was the more reasonable of the two to find him glaring at her. When she realized he was probably going to back Con up she turned to Steven who, arguably, was the most reasonable of the three of them, but he too would 100 percent let Con sucker punch that woman if those words came out of her mouth.

"Uh… Rowan's version of you is a…" "—she's a fucking Bitch," Wo interrupted and Steve had to nod. "… well I was going to be nicer about it, but yeah."

Roselyn blinked her eyes and then focused in on Rowan and Trevor who were still skating together and then back to three men in front of her who were all still glaring at her.

Well, Steve wasn't glaring he was just staring at her, but Wo and Con were definitely still glaring at her. Steve probably should have tried to get them to stop but after all of Rowan's horror stories about the things her mother used to say to her, he too couldn't help but glare at this version of Dr. Roselyn Pierce just like Wo and Con.

"I just want to talk to her. See if she's as legit as you all think she is."

"She's not your daughter," Steve snapped. Echoing what he usually said about Wo Fat. "So whatever magical test you think you can give her to prove her realness to you probably won't work. And it'll kill her. You've given her enough issues, thank you very much."

"I?!" she thundered and Steve had to roll his eyes.

"Okay, so maybe not you, you, but a version of you… basically all her self-image and self-doubt issues come from her mother, which I recognize isn't really you but just… just leave her alone, okay? She already feels like her mother doesn't think she's good enough, it'll get worse if you do it too, okay?"

"I say I knock her out now…" Con said turning to Wo Fat. "We'll stash her in the Audi's trunk."

"So she can find her when she puts her skates away? Come on, you're smarter than that," Wo snapped.

"Now, now, boys," Trenton said. "Let's not rush straight to violence."

Except violence was all those two knew. It was their default mode.

Steve should have been stepping in but he had the same reservations as the two of them. He didn't want her mother anywhere near Rowan either. He was hoping to kick her out, not knock her unconscious and stash her in the trunk of their car though.

"Oh hey mom!" Trevor called and they all turned. Trevor was skating towards the wall, a smile on his face, leaving Rowan standing in the middle of the rink.

Her eyes found her mother and then they darted straight to where Steve and her two brothers were standing, fear and worry shining in them.

It was that look on her face that did it. Wo Fat and Con went ramrod straight beside him, a look of determination settling on all their features. He knew then and there that her two brothers were going to do anything to stop Roselyn Pierce from hurting Rowan in this reality too. And Steve was going to be standing right there beside them.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

Trevor came off the ice first, while Rowan trailed behind.

Trevor was immediately enveloped into his mother's arms and Rowan just stood there, still on the ice watching. Not sure what to do.

Trevor had said that his mother didn't want to meet her. Her daughter from another reality, mainly because she didn't believe the story. That was fair, it was a pretty fantastical story. Most people wouldn't believe it.

The only reason her husband did was because he was there when she dropped… and when her powers started to manifest.

She didn't really want to show her mother her powers though.

Too many people knew about her powers as it was. They were literally her worst kept secret.

Rowan's eyes kept darting, first to Trevor and his mom, and then to her own family. Nahele had stood up, had come to the boards closest to her, no doubt sensing her fear. Steve and her brothers, could tell outright, she could tell by the way they were looking at her.

All three were already moving.

Steve had gone to stand with Nahele, which was right where Rowan wanted him. Comforting their son was more important than comforting her. Con and Wo, however, stood one bleacher row above them, both pair of eyes pinned in a dark glare on the back on Roselyn Pierce's head.

That most definitely did not bode well.

Rowan had no doubt that if Roselyn Pierce tried anything her two brothers were primed and ready to back her up and deal with the situation.

Rowan hadn't come off the ice yet, though. She was almost too afraid to get close, but she couldn't stay on the ice forever, so she forced herself to move.

The plan was to move towards where Steve and Nahele were standing so she could get her skates off and her shoes on. She figured if she could get her stuff, with her boys around her, she could get out of there without a single upset.

But that was not destined to be.

She took one step off of that ice and Roselyn Pierce's eyes were on her immediately.

Rowan froze again. Her mother had always had a way of doing that to her, freezing her in spot like that, making her feel small.

"So… you're Rowan Pierce. Or Wick as you called yourself," she said.

"You don't have to talk to her," Con said butting his shoulder with her mom's and coming to stand in front of her. "If you're not comfortable we can leave."

At that Wo appeared at the other side and completely blocked Roselyn from Rowan.

"He's right. You don't have to talk to her, or do her test…"

"Test?" Rowan echoed and at that point Roselyn pushed herself forward. Literally shoving her two brothers to the side as if they were nothing.

"Honestly," she snarled. "Yes I do want to test you, because I don't believe you're my daughter."

"I'm not though, not really…"

Roselyn glared at her. "I don't believe you're from another reality, I don't believe you're really Rowan, I think you're preying on Trenton's sadness, that's what I think."

Wo Fat shoved himself forward again. "And you don't have to prove yourself," he said. "If you want to leave, we'll leave."

"I'll even knock her out again," Con called.

It was very nice that her brothers were there and ready to deal with the problem in the only way they know how. The problem was that she wanted to belong. She wanted to be someone's. And she kind of got the sense that maybe… since this version of her mother had been so upset she had died, that she'd actually want her.

"I can try to answer your questions," she said as Roselyn shoved herself back in front of Wo Fat. "I can't promise that they're going to be right. Things change from universe to universe."

"Right, well, I really only have one," she said. "Wick. You chose Wick as your cover name when talking to me." Rowan nodded because she had. "Well, why Wick? Why did you choose Wick?"

"I uhm… it's an old family pet name…"

"A pet name?" Roselyn echoed. "And who gave you that pet name?"

"My mom. She called me her little Wicky. Uhm, you know before Wikipedia became a thing. Once people started getting those two confused it got shortened to Wick."

Her eyes narrowed at her. "And did your mother ever tell you why she called you that?"

"Uh… yeah?" Rowan said sounding rather unsure of herself. Roselyn gestured for her to continue and Rowan cleared her throat and did just that. "Well… because of my name."

"Your name?" Steve found himself whispering.

"Yeah. Uhm… so… my mom was told that she wouldn't be able to get pregnant again after Trevor. Some sort of problem with her uterus and… uhm… well she was sad. And my dad, he decided that he'd take her out on this romantic date that just ended up being at the conservatory, even though they go all the time so it wasn't really special. They were stargazing, which is usually romantic but he stares at the stars for work, so like… it's not."

Roselyn turned back to Trenton who was scowling. Clearly this was a problem that they had in this universe as well.

"Anyway, on that date, they… well… you know… I don't like thinking about it cause they're my parents, but god… they had sex. Okay? And well, here I am."

"What does that have to do with your name though?" Trenton asked.

"Oh! The tree they had sex under was a Rowan tree. And my mom, she said that the Rowan tree was a magical tree, and since it had given her me, she named me after it."

"Okay, but why did that turn into Wicky?" Trenton asked again.

Rowan's eyes were on Roselyn who had gone white. She had a feeling her mom knew why, and she could see that Rowan knew too.

"The old English name for Rowan is the Wicky tree. They used to hang witches off of it because they thought it was what gave them power. A lot of olden wands were made from the bark of Rowan trees." Everyone was staring at her and she realized she had kind of gone off on a tangent. Clearing her throat again she added: "And yeah, that's why my family called me Wicky, and I went by Wick when you were talking to me… and when I first introduced myself to Wo Fat."

"So your mom called you Wicky… and then Wick…"

"Well, Wicky was still a thing, I wanted it to be Wick, but my family kept up Wicky. Cause… you know it was kind of this inside joke about how Wikipedia is so smart and I'm not… It was ironic and they thought it was funny…"

Behind them Wo groaned, more than audibly. Steve could guess why, which was because that was a new story from Rowan, and it highlighted once again that the family she came from fucking sucked.

Roselyn's eyes were wide and Trenton and Trevor turned to her.

"Is that true? Is that why you picked that name?" Trevor asked.

"I mean, we did have that romp outside of the conservatory… were those Rowan trees we were under?"

"They were, and that was why I was going to name her Rowan. I… I didn't want to tell anyone the reason because it sounded silly. Especially since we were having such problems with pregnancy, I wanted to be sure I had my miracle baby in my arms before I told anyone about the magic part and then… well… you died…"

There were tears in her eyes as she looked Rowan up and down.

"I got lost in dreaming of what you could have been, and now here you are and… and…"

"You fucked her up?" Wo asked sarcastically and Roselyn winced.

"That's not fair," Rowan whispered. "She's not the person who did those things to me."

No, she was just a version of her. Which meant that Roselyn had the capability to be that person if they let her.

"I never told anyone why I wanted to name you Rowan," Roselyn whispered, ignoring Wo Fat's accusation. "You'd only know that if I… or some version of me told you."

"It's a pretty common story," Rowan said but Steve had a feeling that was because her mom liked to throw it in her face.

You were born of the magic of the Rowan tree and you're somehow such a disappointment!

"So did I pass?" Rowan asked. "Do you believe me now?"

Roselyn nodded. "I do." Then they stood there staring at one another. "Can… can I hug you?"

Rowan nodded, trying very hard to not burst into tears then and there. Her mom never asked her for hugs. Rowan would always have to ask her for one.

Roselyn came forward right away to wrap her arms around her, and though she said she wouldn't cry, the second she felt Roselyn shaking through her tears she started crying too.

"I missed you," Roselyn whispered to her. "I didn't know I could, but I did."

"I missed you too."

And for a long while all they really did was hug.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

After that emotional meeting it was decided that Rowan and her family would come over for dinner that night.

Roselyn was very excited to properly meet everyone. Especially Nahele as he seemed to be the closest thing to a grandchild they'd get until Trevor decided to adopt or something.

She also dropped a hint that she was expecting an apology from both of Rowan's older brothers, but Rowan knew that that wasn't going to happen.

What Rowan wanted was time to get prepared for what was going to be a long and awkward event. The problem was, Trevor wouldn't take the hint that Rowan wanted some time to herself. And since Trevor wouldn't leave, Steve wouldn't leave her side either.

They had gone back to the hotel and Trevor had wanted to stay for lunch. Fair they had worked up an appetite. So they had had lunch together, but then Trevor wanted to sit and talk. Nahele was tired and wanted to nap, so he was sent up with Conejo to do that. Wo had wanted to call Jian so he had gone to his room to do that, and, no doubt, to also inform his bosses about what was happening.

Steve would have to confirm that Wo Fat was still with him, but she knew he would.

She had an after-lunch coffee with Trevor and Steve, who refused to leave her side and finally, with a stern: "I think we'd like to rest now," from Steve, Trevor finally got the hint.

She had, however, walked him to the lobby doors to say good-bye and promise that she knew the way to their mother's home. Because it was her childhood home too, even if technically, in this reality, she hadn't lived there with them.

The problem was, the second they got to the lobby someone called Trevor's name. The man turned to the sound right away and then he was grinning and rushing to meet the woman coming towards them.

Steve didn't know her, but Trevor clearly did. She was probably a few inches taller than Rowan, with long straight blonde hair. She was in a pair of jeans, black riding type boots and a hunter green sweater. She looked like an average white woman.

"What—? Sarah?" he cried moving to hug her. "I thought you were on the mainland with Ev. What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you!" she cried. "We have some chatting to do and when you didn't come back to your apartment, I called you mom. She told me where you probably were."

Rowan had gone straight beside Steve, which meant she knew who this person was. And if it was the Sarah he was thinking, he knew who she was too.

Sarah turned, her green eyes landing on Rowan standing there beside Steve, her hand gripping his tightly, no doubt waiting to hear what she had to say.

"So this is her huh? The sister," Sarah asked looking her up and down. Her eyes then moved to Steve who was standing there no doubt looking imposing. "Oh and you made McRow official huh?"

"McRow?" Steve echoed.

Rowan leant in to whisper: "Yeah, The Savannah Walker show coined that. It's our ship name."

Steve shook her head. "That would not be the name of a ship," he muttered but he was ignored.

"Yeah, I'm Rowan!"

Trevor stepped up. "I don't know if your world has a Sarah but she's my…."

"Best friend," Rowan said. "Not yours, mine. We've been best friends since grade seven."

Sarah's eyebrows shot up her forehead in surprise. "You? You and me? Best friends?" Rowan nodded and Sarah scoffed. "Oh yeah, if you're my best friend, how about you tell me something only I would know?"

Oh not again.

Rowan blinked her eyes. "That's not entirely fair, I don't know the secrets you would have kept in this reality."

Sarah just rolled her eyes which made Rowan scowl. "So, she's just a liar then."

Trevor frowned at her. "Sarah," he hissed in warning but Rowan knew that wouldn't deter her at all.

"Fine… my Sarah wasn't telling people that Howard Czernyc was actually Evolet's father. Is that something you're not telling people?"

Sarah had gone white and Trevor turned to her.

"That's not true, is it?" Sarah turned to him, wide eyed and horrified and that was enough of an answer for him. "Seriously? Howard Czernyc? The man who tormented the both of us all of high school?!"

Sarah blinked her eyes. "She couldn't know that, I literally have not told anyone!"

"In my world, she fucked him on the eve of his wedding. She didn't tell anyone because he refused to run away from the wedding with her. And since she revenge fucked his best friend both, at the wedding, and few times after, she passed it off as his. Well… that's not true. In my reality we were hoping it was Bruce, but uhm… Sarah wanted to be sure, so I helped her get DNA from Howard all secretive like to do the test. Evolet was his but we just… never told him. Bruce never was too bright, either. He never did figure it out. Plus he was pretty good as a co-parent, is he not good here?"

"She, seriously, should not be able to know that!" she then turned back to Rowan. "Who do you work for?"

"Uhm… Atlantic Records, I write songs. I'm based out of the Hawaii office," Rowan answered softly which made Sarah's eyebrows furrow together in confusion.

Trevor, on the other hand, was not deterred. "Wait, so she's right? That's… no!"

Sarah turned to Trevor and then turned back to her. "How do you know that?"

Rowan shrugged. "My Sarah told me everything." She then turned to Trevor. "She didn't tell you that she's been like in love with him since like grade five?"

Trevor gasped and then turned back to Sarah, his mouth agape as she stared at him with wide green eyes.

"SARAH?!" Trevor cried. "My bully?! Really?!"

"Hey, so wait, he's your bully here? Really?" Rowan asked. "Huh…"

Now that got Trevor's attention. He turned back to Rowan right away. "Why did you say it like that? Was he not my bully in your world?"

"Oh no, I nipped that in the bud right when we moved," Rowan said. "I guess without me here to beat the crap out of him, he never learned to leave you alone."

"Wait… you beat the crap out of him?"

"Broke his jaw, actually," she said. "Never got in trouble for that one because he didn't want to admit that he got beat up by a girl almost two years younger than him. But he never bothered you again after that."

Trevor and Sarah blinked their eyes together. "Hi, sorry, what?" Sarah cried.

"Oh my god, we're going to do this in a lobby?" Steve hissed but was ignored. Rowan just launched right into it.

"Kay, so when me and Trevor moved in my world, Howie was what… grade eight at the time or something? Yeah, he's two years younger than me, but that's the because of the birthday… I think. Anyway, Trevor was in his grade, and he decided to make an example out of the new kid so he knew who was in charge and all that. He came at you after school one day, on our walk home. Guess he thought that I was a harmless little sister… and well… he put hands on you and I kicked the shit out of him."

"Kicked the shit out him?"

"Yeah, got him in the nuts so he was down at my level, and then hit him with a spin kick so hard I broke his jaw," Rowan said. "He never touched you again."

Steve tried not to roll his eyes. Of course his wife, at the age of probably eleven or twelve took down a thirteen year old boy. Of course, she broke his jaw, of course this story was a part of her childhood.

Honestly why was there so much drama and violence in her childhood? It was kind of like she had no choice but to end up the way she had. She had been handicapped from the start.

"Wow," Trevor breathed out and then turned to Sarah. "I think you and I need to talk about this." Sarah winced but clearly they did have to talk. Trevor, on the other hand, turned back to Rowan to give her a hug. "Thanks for the story, and uh… sorry… but I gotta go. I'll see you tonight for dinner. Okay?"

Rowan nodded and Steve was finally able to pull her away. He wanted to rest too, but he wanted to do it with his arms around his wife.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

To his credit, Trevor didn't actually start lecturing Sarah until he got her back to his apartment. He ushered her in, he offered her a drink, he let her sit down on his couch and then he really let her have it.

"Howard Czernyc. You had a crush on Howard Czernyc since before I met you and not only did you not tell me about it… you slept with him… made me the godfather of your kid with him… and didn't tell me?"

"It sounds horrible when you say it that way…"

"Sarah?!" he cried. "That man tortured me… all through high school! And you saw that happen! What was your thought process? That you'd start dating him, get married and I'd just be fine seeing you two together? That's I'd forgive him for literally making my life a living hell?"

"No… I unno… honestly I never even thought I had a chance and then… well…"

"You fucked him at his wedding…"

"The night before his wedding actually," she whispered and Trevor groaned. Yeah, like that made this better! "His uhm… his bachelor party showed up at the bar I was working at. He flirted and well… I figured it was my last chance. It was supposed to be a one-night stand…"

"Not according to Rowan's story…."

"That was her universe, not ours."

"So you didn't ask him to leave his wife?"

"I did when I realized I was pregnant, but that was after the wedding," Sarah admitted. "I never told him I was pregnant though. If he didn't leave her, I was going to keep our baby all to me. He wouldn't get a say."

"Were you sleeping with him after the wedding?"

Trevor was asking because he knew something was going on around that time, something she wanted to be secretive about. He had always assumed it was a boyfriend she didn't want to tell him about but when she never told him he figured it didn't work out and it wasn't important. Now he was realizing it was because she was dating his bully.

"Yes. A few times," she admitted. "I threatened to tell his new wife about our affair, but he just laughed in my face. He said that they didn't get married for love, they got married for money. I could tell her about it, but she wouldn't care. So I…"

"Started sleeping with his best friend. Poor Bruce… does he know?" when she nodded, he sighed. "How is he taking it?"

"Not well. He's devastated. And he's not talking to me right now."

"I mean you baby trapped him…"

"I did not!" Sarah cried. "I didn't make him stay with me, or marry me. I didn't even ask for child support. I needed a father, and I gave him a title, he didn't have to do anything."

Except he had. He had stuck around and been a pretty good dad to Evolet.

And poor Evolet, did she know who her real father was? Did she even understand what was happening? She may have only been ten but she was smart, she had to know something was going on.

"How about Evie? How's she doing?"

"She's okay, I've kind of explained what's going on. Bruce came to say good-bye, and that, she could always talk to him if she wanted, but he wasn't her dad. She was a little confused but I think she's okay. Bruce has agreed to step away little by little so she's not just up and abandoned."

Yeah, Bruce was a good guy like that. The only thing Trevor could really fault him for was being friends with Howie. Bruce never participated in the bullying, he knew it was happening though. That didn't make it any better, but Bruce had never been the brightest bulb so Trevor never held it against him.

There was really just one last thing he wanted to know.

"Does he know?"

"He does now."

"Sarah…"

"Evolet was going to die. I had to tell him that she was his daughter. That we needed him to donate blood or she was going to die. And…"

"And he just agreed?"

"Yes."

"And you didn't think it was odd?"

"Course I did but I just… I wanted her to live…"

He knew then that something was wrong, something had happened. This was why she wanted to talk to him, because it was all out in the open and she didn't want him to find out from someone other than her. And because something was coming, something she'd need his support for.

"What does he want?" Trevor asked her.

Sarah swiped at her eyes and glanced to Trevor. "He wants custody."

"Alright… I guess that's fair…"

"Full custody. His wife likes the idea of a ready-made kid she doesn't have to push out. They're going to take me to court for full custody. They're saying that this parent alienation and… yeah."

"Oh my god."

"He has so much more money than me, he can afford a better lawyer than me… and… he's going to take my baby away."

Sarah broke into sobs and Trevor slung an arm over her shoulder.

"Don't you worry, we're going to fix this. We're not going to let him take her away," he whispered to her.

He knew Sarah would have doubts, but Trevor didn't have any. Because he was going to tell Rowan and he was going to let her and criminal brothers deal with this.