AN: I apologize for taking so long with this update. I have been battling writer's block since the move. I am sure I will get my groove back. Thank you for your patience!

"So where are you going on your honeymoon?" Paul asked as they passed the food around the table.

"Hong Kong," Peter said. "I am going to see where she grew up." One day he actually would see it, but Texas was no place for a honeymoon in his opinion, and he certainly wasn't going to tell them that it wasn't where Leanne was originally from. They weren't ready for the realities of his world. "Then I'll show her where I was in Limbo."

"Why on earth would you want to show her that place?" Paul asked. He remembered the mess Peter had been when he'd first come out of Pine Ridge. If there had been one shred of evidence that he'd been abused, Paul would have taken that place down completely, brick by brick. He fully believed that abuses were going on at Pine Ridge, there was just no proof that he could take to the DA. The fact that an otherwise fearless boy was terrified of an orphanage just wasn't the kind of proof that convinced juries. He'd been told that often enough.

"Because we're going to take them on," Peter said. "There are more evils in the world than ancient cults and serial killers."

"Maybe we can lay some of those demons to rest if we pull it off," Leanne said, reading the look of worry on his parents' faces. " I'm a social worker. I'm trained to look for certain things, and because of that we think my word will carry weight if we find the evidence we need."

Paul ran his hand over his lower face, thinking for a moment. "I can't say I blame you for wanting to do this. But, can I ask what brought it on now?"

"Laura Navarro," Peter said. "She's had me stalked by private investigators since she left. She knew where I was and what was going on. If I can find that investigator, maybe they still have their files and it will give us a jumping-off point."

"I suppose there are only so many ghosts from the past that you can leave unresolved," Paul said. "I'd like to help since I wasn't able to do anything when we brought you home. So why don't you let me find this private investigator." He had found Peter's mother after all.

Annie frowned. "Surely the same people aren't running things after all this time. What if what you find doesn't give you any … closure."

"Then we just make sure that the new management isn't allowing the same things as the previous management," Peter said. "If there isn't a problem there anymore, then that is closure. Or at least I can stop worrying about every new batch of kids sent to that place."

Leanne rested her hand over Peter's. She just hoped that whatever they found, that it would stop the nightmares that plagued Peter's sleep. As horrible as the revelations about her grandfather had been for her, the knowledge that his mother had knowingly left him in the place that haunted Peter to this day, was far worse.

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Karen shook her head "You ask too much." She said. "Besides, I don't believe in what you're describing."

"Don't lie, Captain Simms. We both know you have had … experiences… with the Caines that would leave even the most skeptical of people believing in the mystical."

She continued to shake her head. "Kermit would never forgive me. I would never forgive me. You're asking me to betray a good man and I won't do it."

"You wouldn't be betraying anyone." He said. "You would be keeping him from making a terrible mistake, and of course saving your young man as well."

"Goodbye, Mr Yeoh." She said, folding her arms across her chest and turning her back on him, to stare out the window.

"Think it over. I will return tomorrow and we will discuss it further then." He left the room and the hospital, confident that Karen Simms would do exactly as he requested. They always crumbled where life and death were concerned.

Karen began to pace, glancing at Kermit, willing him to wake up and make the point moot.

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Peter opened the passenger's side door for Leanne. "Well, I won't say that things have thawed out exactly, but it's not exactly sub-zero temperatures anymore." He said.

"We're standing by our truce," Leanne said. "I'll take the win where I can get it. We'll get there eventually." She hoped. For Peter's sake.

"I hope so," Peter said. "Could be worse. He took a dislike to Caroline's boyfriend before Todd and he never let up at all. To be fair the guy was an absolute creep."

"How does he feel about Todd?" She asked.

"They get along just fine," Peter said as he took his ringing phone from his pocket. "Caine." He answered.

"Peter, it's Karen."

"Is Kermit alright?" He asked, he could hear the strain in her voice. "Are you alright?" He asked half a second later.

"There's no change," Karen said. "A man came to see me today. Called himself Yulong Yeoh."

Peter's blood ran cold. "I repeat, are you alright?" He asked in earnest.

She sighed tiredly. "I'm no less alright than I was the last time you saw me." She said. "He says he can cure Kermit, and all I have to do is tell him what you're up to, and where you have some book that he wants. I told him to take a hike, but I thought you should know what's going on."

Peter was quiet for a moment. His thoughts swirled rapidly in his head, was it a good idea was it not a good idea, much as he had done in the past he ignored the thoughts begging for caution. "He's going to keep coming back. " Peter said. "Don't make it seem too easy, but agree,"

"Peter, No." She didn't care for that idea at all.

"Hear me out." He said.

"I have always hated it when you lead with that," Karen said. "But fine, tell me what you have in mind." He was going to get his way. Peter Caine always got his way, even if he had to bend the rules a little to do it. He got away with it because somehow he always managed to turn his insanity into a solid plan that worked when it had no business working at all.

Peter opened Leanne's door for her and closed it before getting into the car himself "We've been trying to come up with a way to lure him into a trap." He said. "If he thinks he has you over a barrel and that you won't risk crossing him … you could help us bait that trap" With luck, they could do it without putting that damned book into play.

"Okay. I can go along with that." She said. "Peter… can he really help Kermit?"

"I don't know," Peter said. "According to my father's soon-to-be ex-wife, he cured her cancer, but I'm not sure anything she says can be trusted. Let my Pop try first. He's better at that sort of thing than I will ever be."

He wasn't lacking in confidence as a priest any longer. He just knew that he was not a healer. He felt that his destiny (even though he hated that word) was to fight against the evils that plagued his community. Whether that was the criminal element, cults, or ancient wizards like Yulong Yeoh. He felt that was why he had been diverted from temple life as a child. He needed to become a cop for a while to learn what he could from Paul. His father managed to be a healer, a protector, and a mystic. In Peter's albeit limited experiences, men like his father were rare.

"Skalany called earlier to check on how Kermit is doing. She and your father are coming by this evening." She said. "Does he know what you are planning with Yeoh?"

"Yeah. So feel free to talk to him about my request." Peter said. "We're headed back to our place now. "

"I'll let him know." She said and ended the call.

Peter started the car and pulled out of the driveway.

"Is everything alright?" Leanne asked.

"Your grandfather has just tried to turn Simms into a spy," Peter said. "I think he just made his first mistake."

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Once the clean-up efforts had called it a day and people had gone off to their various homes, Caine had gone to Peter's Kwoon. Peter and Leanne had cleared the glass and debris out and put up plywood to cover the gaping holes where the plate glass windows had previously been. But there was still much to do.

Caine began to make the repairs needed. The wedding day was coming faster than anyone was ready for and they still had to get the apartment finished they couldn't afford to be without an income with so many things happening all at once.

He smiled when Mary Margaret joined him with a bag of take-out food.

"I thought we should eat before we go see Kermit." She said and sat it on the makeshift workbench. She looked at what he was doing and frowned a little "You're replacing the stairs."

"Yes." He said, "The wood was… soft… and mold was forming in the recesses underneath."

"That would have been a nightmare in a couple of months." She said, taking the clamshell containers out of the bag. "Does that mean you'll have to take out all the sheetrock down here too?"

"I do not know." He said. He hoped not, it would be devastating if they did. "I will check tomorrow." He could take a section out to see what it looked like inside. Replacing one panel wouldn't be a hardship. The community would help. Peter gave greatly to the community. They would give back.

He set aside his tools and picked up the food she had brought.

"The precinct should be up and running again tomorrow." Mary Margaret said. "So I won't be able to help. I'll be glad to get back to work though. We have an escaped prisoner to track down."

"Javier Navarro," Caine said with a nod. "Do you think he is still in Bayview?"

"I'm not even sure I think he's alive. He disappeared when the roof caved in." She said. "That was the height of the storm. It's possible he got to safety, but he didn't strike me as that kind of resourceful. Unless he had help I think we're going to find his body in a pile of rubble somewhere."

Caine nodded but said nothing. He might have had help from either Laura or Yeoh. If it was Laura, then Navarro would be easy to find. If not then he might not even be in the mortal realms.

Skalany set aside her chopsticks. "You've got that look. You think he's out there and he's not just looking to get out of jail free."

"It depends on where he is hiding. I do not believe he is dead." Caine said. "I do not yet know who is giving him shelter." It was currently low on his list of priorities. He could not focus on anything but capturing Yulong Yeoh. Even the repairs on the kwoon were secondary to his quest. His son's life and Caine feared his soul, hung in the balance. Not that Peter would see it. His one complaint, his only complaint, about his son was that he did not always see what he needed to see when it came to his own safety. Caine sometimes thought it was deliberate.

"Well, when you figure it out let me know. We'd like to get our hands on him again. So would the French government."

Caine nodded. "Yes. I imagine so. I wonder how they knew to look for him here…"

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"I just got off the phone with Peter. He's safe and back at home." Julian told his sister. Amelie had bonded tightly with their brother simply because he had come to find her when he didn't have to. Julian was amused by this complete turnaround in her attitude. Grateful for it, but amused.

Amelie nodded. "Thank you for checking."

"I wanted to find out too." He said.

"I do wish the two of you would leave Peter alone," Laura said as they sat down to dinner. The hotel still had power, which enabled them to still provide room service to their guests.

"I'm not you, Mother. I can't just ignore someone just because it's easier. Besides, we all know that the reason you don't want us to have anything to do with him is because he doesn't want to have anything to do with you." Amelie said.

"Now you're being ridiculous." Laura refilled her cup with coffee and added sugar to it.

"I don't think she is, mother. Not about you and Peter anyway." Julian said. "The rest might be sour grapes, but that isn't."

"Not you too." Laura sighed, long sufferingly. "Let's not fight. It solves nothing."

"Have you heard from Father?" Julian asked. He chose to ignore the smug look on his sister's face. It was rare that he took her side against their mother. He couldn't blame her for enjoying it while it lasted. Didn't mean he was going to take part.

"No. I'm beginning to worry. He should have found a way to get word to us by now."

"That would be foolish of him," Amelie said. "Father has many flaws, like the rest of us mere mortals, but foolishness isn't one of them. The police likely have us all being watched so that they will know when he contacts us."

"Not yet. By morning I imagine you are correct but the storm had shut everything down. They would need a warrant to tap the phones." She answered.

"Not to just watch though," Amelie said. "I don't think we will hear from him for quite some time. Not until he is safe somewhere that won't send him back to Paris."

"You're probably right about that," Julian said. Although he did think his father was occasionally foolish. After all, he had broken into Peter's apartment and trashed it without wearing gloves. That had been very foolish indeed. Unlike his father, yes, but it was nevertheless foolish.

"I want you both to stay here in the hotel until the city is back to normal. It's dangerous out there."

"I'm going to go to Chinatown tomorrow and help with the cleanup," Julian said.

"What did I just say, Julian Michel Navarro?" Laura asked, completely aghast.

"I'm 18 mother." He told her. "I've applied for a student visa as well."

She tossed her napkin at the table and glared at her younger son. "You are attending the Sorbonne, that was decided long ago. You have been accepted and you are going."

Julian leaned back in his chair. "Of course I am. But not this coming fall. I'm going to be staying here in America."

"Did your brother ask you to do this?" Laura demanded.

"No. He doesn't know about it yet. It is my decision and mine alone."

"I do not believe what I am hearing. Why would you do such a thing? This has something to do with Peter, I know it does."

"Of course it does, Mother," Amelie answered. "Because nothing is ever about what we want. It's always what you want or what Father wants, the two of you make every choice in our lives. Our friends, our hobbies, what we're allowed to eat or drink or do when we're out in public. You couch it in terms of our safety or some variant on what is best for our future, but it's all just about control. So of course it's completely alien to you that something you disagree with might actually be Julian's decision."

"That's enough," Laura said. "I think perhaps you should take your dinner in your room, Amelie."

"No." She said and began to slowly eat her food.

"Amie I am serious."

"What are you going to do, Mother? Father's not here to enforce things for you, and it's going to be a long time before he is."

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Kwai Chang Caine stood at Kermit's bedside, one hand over the man's head, the other over his heart. His eyes were closed, and he quietly intoned a mantra for deep meditation.

Karen Simms paced as he did so, too nervous to sit, no nervous wasn't the word. What he was doing didn't make her nervous. It was the first thing in that entire terrible day that had made any sense to her at all, even if it was only because she had seen him do extraordinary things in the past. It was that SHE couldn't do anything and it made her feel helpless. She wasn't accustomed to that feeling at all.

"I've seen him bring people back from worse," Mary-Margaret said. "It might take a few sessions but I have faith in him."

Karen nodded. "I know. If it's possible Caine can help him. Unfortunately, I know that it might not be possible."

"I know it's hard. Try and have faith. A little can go a long way."