Ginny sat beside her brother on the sofa, a plate of reheated pizza on her lap. Gerry cradled the wriggling Nasya in his arms. As they watched a Fast and Furious movie. Ginny was pretty much scoffing her way through the whole movie. "Ugh. "How did you know the car would be there to break our fall?"" She said, imitating Michelle Rodriguez. "THAT"S NOT HOW CARS WORK, YOU DUMB SHIT"

Gerry snickered. "In these movies cars are downy soft. How do you not know this?" "It's dumb! It's stupid and it's dumb." She said, shoving a square slice in her face. "You're just jealous you don't live your life a quarter mile at a time."

"WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN"!"

They sat in silence for a moment before she glanced over. "How's Kara?" "She's good. After the thing with her dad, she was a little...rough, but she's better." "Good." Ginny nodded. "So...do you miss her?" "...Kara" I...literally see her every day at work." "No, numblick." "Oh. Yeah. Of course I do." Gerry glanced down at the baby with the big blue eyes. Eyes that always reminded him of her mother. Ginny frowned. "Are you happy?" Gerry smiled to his sister. "Yeah...It's not what I planned, but...given the circumstances" Things worked out pretty well." Ginny may not have been the biggest Ko fan, but she knew what the vulgar little rogue meant to her brother. And Kara WAS great for him, she had to admit. And if he was happy, so was she.

-

Speak of the hellion and she will appear, a black spot of pure shadow appeared on the far wall. It began to expand like a watered down ink stain that only seemed to get darker and darker as it expanded to a large hole able to fit a small person. There was static heavy in the air as it opened up to the blackened void, and out stumbled a familiar little rogue. She was wearing flat-bottomed boots and a pair of jeans with a button-up shirt. She probably looked healthier than Gerry or Ginny alike would've ever seen her. Her hair was brushed and her overall outfit looked nice without looking too unlike her.

Arms raised and flopped as the invasive Russian shook her head. "I'm never gonna get used to that.." she huffed. It took her a moment before she regained her bearings and shook off the dizziness. No, she wasn't drunk. Not even in the slightest, though a wave of nervous nausea did hit her all of a sudden. She'd blame it on the portal, because it was downright disorienting.

-

Ginny unleashed a horrified shriek and flailed, sending reheated pizza flying in the air as she practically flipped over the armrest of the couch in her panic. Gerry clutched Nasya protectively at the sudden flurry of activity. He watched that portal cautiously...and then his heart dropped into his stomach. For a long moment he was silent, just staring in wide eyed shock. Over the intervening months he imagined the moment when he saw her again...and here it was and he had nothing.

Not a word to say.

Gerry was much as he'd been when she'd last seen him. Still the mountain of muscle with the kind eyes. There were new scars on his face, including one at his temple. Clad in a simple grey t-shirt and jeans, barefoot for the moment. And then there was Nasya. She'd gotten so big. A shock of black hair upon her head and those impossibly blue eyes wide as saucers. She had SO much of KO in her.

-

Though she really did want to laugh when Ginny went into a panic, she also felt bad for freaking the siblings out. "Sorry....Would've called, but the long distance charges would've been taken out of my ass..." Also she didn't know their phone number and by the grace of borrowed magic, she was here. Suddenly she was in her own panic mode. Her eyes settled on Gerry, and there was emotion, and then to the child in his arms. She stared at the girl and swallowed hard, eyes watering. She'd expected it wouldn't be easy, hell...there were a million things going on in her head. What if he hates me for not coming after her" What if he gave Nasya up" What if he won't let me see her" What if... There were so many possibilities swimming around her head, and there he was. A shivering breath was caught in her lungs as she visibly paled as if she was going to fall right over. -

Gerry slowly got to his feet, towering over her as he always had. Any concerns he might have had about her coming and stealing the baby were gone the second he saw her face. Those blue eyes locked onto her as he slowly stepped forward. His heart pounded beneath his chest with every step. "H....hey." was all he managed. The expression on his face showing that he wished he had something better to say in that moment.

-

Keirra had no intention of stealing the baby, if only because she still cared for Gerry and wouldn't want her to feel exactly how she felt. She knew what he did for Nasya, Jameson told her everything before she turned him into a human pez-despenser. She took in another breath and he stood up and said that word, it wasn't the best, but it somehow managed to put her mind at ease. Her breath came out in a trembling manner, before she dragged those eyes up to him. Her voice cracked almost violently, "Can I hold her?" she squeaked out. She had totally planned to play this cooler in her head.

-

This didn't feel like reality. This felt like a dream. Like he would wake up any second and she'd be gone. He blinked, shaking out of his delirium. "Oh...duh..." He laughed quietly. "Of course." He walked up to her and smiled, gently cradling the little life they'd made as he passed her over to Keirra. His eyes stayed on her, still unsure of what to say to the little rogue. A million things popped into his head and died before reaching his lips.

Ginny slowly rose and peered over the arm of the couch, those wide eyes taking in the scene before her.

-

It felt like a dream to her too, and if she hadn't planned to come for a few days, she might've thought so, too. He was passing her over, and Keirra's arms reached to wrap around the child to pull her closer. It took a moment, and she honestly didn't know why she was as emotional as she was, but the tears fell from her eyes as they closed tightly and she barked out a whining, "She's so heavy..."

Edited from play with Gerry's mun and I with permission. Big shout out and thanks to him.

He almost winced at that. He perceived it as being far more combative then she had meant it. A verbal beating was, of course going to come. And you deserve it, he told himself. You took that piece of shit's word for it and didn't even TRY to tell her the truth. In his heart, he knew it was a crock, and nothing he tried would have worked...but rational thought was not on the menu tonight. -

That hand came back to rest on her lap as she herself tried to find suitable words for him. "I..." she started, sniffling, swiping at her nose. "I know what you did," she whispered. "I know...why you did it." Keirra's fingers came back to comb her hair back and out of her wet face. "...and thank you...Thank you for making the right choice."

- A wave of relief ran through him when she said that. The weight he'd been carrying since February was finally gone. All he wanted to do now was hug her, but he resisted, not sure if she was ready for that. "I tried so hard. To find another way..." -

Fingers pressed against her knees as she sat there awkwardly. She wasn't sure if she was ready for it, either. "There wasn't," she shook her head at him, finally raising her eyes up to look at him. "I hated you, hated you for leaving me, and he got exactly what he wanted.." Keirra said with a weak smile. "But...I figured out the convenience of his escape date, and your disappearance, and....I got answers."

- Something about the way she said that chilled him to the bone...and partly made him happy in equal measure. "That son of a bitch..." he said. "He didn't...I mean...did he....hurt you?"

-

May as well bring it all out into the open. If this was going to work, she didn't want there to be secrets between them. Instead of answering, she leaned forward so that her chest was pressed against her knees, and lifted up her shirt, protecting the naughty bits, but showing him that shredded, scarred up back.

-

She heard his knuckles crack as he clenched his fists. He wanted to cross over, find him, and beat his face until it was a mushy, red paste. He wanted to carve him up and leave him to be devoured by dogs. He wanted to wipe that piece of human trash from the face of history. -

Those knuckles cracking made her wince, "Woah, dude.." she said, sitting up and putting her hand up. "Chill your muscle tits," she shook her head. "Seriously, you don't have to worry about him anymore," she swallowed hard. What was he going to say' Or do' She was on the verge of admitting to murder. -

"What happened to him?" he asked, his voice low. All he knew in that moment was that Jameson had maimed somebody he loved...and make no mistake, Gerry still loved her. Always would. And that meant he was protective of her. -

Keirra sat back and stared up at the ceiling. Her voice was distant, her eyes seemed far off as if she were playing it over and over in her head. "...I....went over for answers....I just wanted to know if he had anything to do with your disappearance..." Keirra's fingers entwined awkwardly with one another as she tried to busy her hands. This is it...he's never going to let me see Nasya, but I can't lie to him... "He told me...everything..." she whispered, voice cracking. "So...I wanted to hurt him.."

Leaning her head further back, she took in a quivering breath. "I tried...to stab him...and he punched me right between the eyes....I was on the ground and he threw me into a table, and kicked me..." Eyes narrowed for a second to get the tears out, "I didn't..." she swallowed hard. "I didn't want to die—and—I could....I can." Maybe she should've started with that. "I picked up the chair and I hit him, and...I kicked him through the glass doors of the balcony..." Eyes continued to stare distantly as she swiped at her face once more. "...he had so many guns, and we just....we kept playing cat and mouse," eyes fell shut now. "I jumped on his back, but...he pulled me off and threw me through a glass table...."

-

He was already beginning to piece it together, but he didn't feel it appropriate to interrupt. There might have been a small part of him that felt a hint of revulsion at the fact that she'd taken a life...but it was DEEP down. What he felt...was glad. That son of a bitch deserved whatever happened.

-

This was it, she was coming up on the end of the tale, and she was sure he was going to order her out of the house. "He lifted me up and had me against the wall...he was choking me. I felt a piece of glass sticking out of my thigh and I shoved it right up through his jaw.." Keirra leaned forwards pressing her forearms on her knees. "I wanna say so bad that it was him or me....That I had to kill him...and in a way, I did....but..." Keirra turned those dead eyes to him and took in a deep breath. "I wanted to....I pulled the glass out of him and stabbed him over and over....I wanted to make sure he'd never come after you or Nasya, I wanted him to pay, and I wanted him dead." Then her hands opened to show the scars on her palms from where she stabbed him over, and over. "I'd do it again..."