'You're an asshole,' Tommy said in between laughs. 'Be serious.'
I smiled and clasped his hand 'You know I've always got your back. You and your family. Anything you ever need me to do, it's done. No thanks are ever needed.'
Tommy starting walking again as everyone in the doorway made sure they had somewhere else to be before we got there.
'You need to call Sara. She's been discharged from hospital, and she'll probably be at home by now.'
'I will. What's going to happen to Olivia?'
'She's going to have some serious questions to answer. She didn't ask for back-up and involved a large number of werewolves in reclaiming the headquarters, which she lost in the first place. Avalon will want a full investigation, and she's already been told to stay away from Winchester until the Avalon representative turns up in the morning.'
'She did the right thing.'
'I know, but she didn't do the Avalon thing. She put people ahead of being detached from the situation. She may lose her position, but more likely she'll be suspended. Which will probably do her some good, although don’t tell her I said that. I hear you're off to Toronto'
'In a few weeks, yeah. I need to learn how to control whatever it is I can do now. Hades is a good teacher.'
Tommy's grin could have split his face in two. 'He's going to kick your ass every single day.'
'Yes, yes he is.'
'I wonder if he'll film it? I'd quite like a copy.'
I chuckled. 'Now who's being the asshole?'
'Hey, it'd be educational. And funny. Very, very funny.'
'I'm glad my misery will amuse you. Anyway, about that song-' I called after him as he left the gym to go see his family.
I didn't take Tommy's advice to call Sara. I went round to see her instead. A personal visit had two benefits. Firstly, it allowed me to actually see Sara, something I felt I needed to do. But it also let me ride my bike, and getting out into the, admittedly cold, weather felt wonderful. Although by the time I pulled up outside Sara's house my body felt a little sore. Still, it was worth it.
I opened the gate to the small front garden and knocked on the front door. Footsteps, heavy and slow- someone was in no hurry to answer the door-were audible through the wooden door, which opened to reveal a man. He was about thirty-five, maybe forty; with shoulder-length dark hair and a few days of stubble. He appeared tired; the bags under his eyes making him look a little like a raccoon.
'Can I help you?' he glanced at me, and then at the bunch of flowers I'd purchased from a florist on the way to see Sara.
I switched the flowers from my right to left hand, and offered my free one. 'Sorry I’m Nate. I came to see how Sara was doing.'
The man took no time before he smiled and took my hand. 'Nice to meet you, I'm Will.' His handshake wasn't compensating for anything and he maintained eye contact. 'Come on in.'
I followed Will into the house and along the hallway, walking past a kitchen where some pleasant aromas made my stomach rumble.
Will turned back to me and chuckled. 'My rhubarb crumble always has that effect on people.' He opened door, and I stepped into a small study.
Sara was sitting in an old leather armchair reading one of the books from the hundreds that lined the shelves all around us. For a small room, it was quite the library.
'We're quite big fans of reading,' Will said. 'Can't stop us, it doesn't help that I'm a University Professor. I swear, I bring home more stuff to read than it's possible to read in one lifetime.'
Sara smiled and got gingerly to her feet, using the desk in front of her to steady herself until Will, moving quickly, was at her side to help. 'I'm fine,' Sara protested and was soundly ignored.
'You need to be careful,' Will told her. 'You're still sore from the fall.'
'Fall?' I asked.
'Well, yes,' Will said, looking a little confused. 'The fall down the stairs at work.'
'Sorry, 'I said, 'I thought you meant another one. I was worried for a second there.'
'There will be a second one if she's not careful. She's lucky she only got bruising and a concussion.'
'These are for you.' I passed the bouquet of flowers to Sara who took them with a smile as she smelt the mixture of scents. 'We were worried about you.'
'I'll be okay,' she said, and then had a short conversation with Will about shopping, which ended with Will saying his good-byes and leaving Sara and me alone.
'I'm sorry,' I said. 'I never thought they'd go after you.'
Sara forced a small smile. 'None of this is your fault. Reid lied to us all. And they didn't want to hurt me, not badly. They only used me to get you and Olivia out of the way while they went to get Tommy and Kasey. I'm glad they're all okay, by the way. I spoke to Tommy on the phone this morning. He was trying very hard not to ask me if I'm coming back to work for him.'
'Am I allowed to ask?'
Sara's smile came easily the second time. 'Yes, I'll be back. If I left now, I'd always feel like I missed out on something important. I got to help you catch someone who'd murdered dozens of people. I got to help you bring justice to those families. Even if all I did was hang around and listen and learn, it's still a hell of a feeling to be a part of something like that.'
'I'm glad.'
'There's one thing though. When I got hurt, Will was the first person at my side. I love him, Nate. I hate that I've had to lie to him about what happened. But whatever the attraction between you and me, it's not worth throwing away what I have with Will for.'
I wasn't sure how to respond to that. But when I found my voice there was only one answer that felt right. 'I agree.' I genuinely meant it. It wouldn't have been fair of me to disrupt Sara's life for something that might never be.
'Tommy tells me you're off to Canada, anyway. When do you leave?'
'A few weeks, I imagine. I'll be gone for a few months, so I'll make sure that Tommy assigns someone else to train you. Which is probably for the best anyway.'
'You're right, it would be.'
I offered my hand, and Sara ignored it, choosing to kiss me on the cheek. 'Thank you for everything,' she said, as the front door opened behind us.
'Get better soon,' I said to her, and then told Will to take care of her before leaving the house.
Epilogue
The movement sensor went off well before the car pulled onto my driveway. I had it positioned at the bottom of the long windy path that led to my house. If an approaching car was going at a normal speed, it gave me up to sixty seconds to prepare. In this case, the car was moving slowly, the driver obviously in no hurry, and I counted ninety seconds before the headlights appeared. It was daytime, but the sky had been so dark with cloud that it was much darker than it would normally be during the day.
It had been three weeks since Peter's death, since the battle at the LOA office and the return of Hellequin. And it had been mostly quiet. As Tommy had expected, Olivia had been suspended from her position until Avalon decided that levelling several miles of city in order to keep the lich contained wouldn't have been a good idea. Mostly, because it wouldn't have worked. But Avalon, like all structures of power, has always liked having boxes to tick and procedures to follow. Even if they're incredibly stupid.
The gates to the driveway were already open; I hadn't bothered closing them from earlier in the day. But the car, a red Mazda of one make or another, with almost blacked out windows, stopped at the start of driveway and
