"We should have put in that fireplace," Riley said from her nest of blankets and pillows on the couch.? A book - Pride and Prejudice; it was time for the annual re-reading - was open on her lap but she hadn't turned a page in over ten minutes.? Even the mug of coffee-flavoured sweetened milk had gone untouched. Between what had happened yesterday with Mesteno and Rhys's arrival, she felt as though she was slowly suffocating.

"We still could.? The place is ours, after all," David answered.? He was watching the hockey games she'd found for him.? Who would have guessed that he would end up really liking the game?? "Or you could just come over and sit on my lap."? He looked over at her and grinned.

"You're missing a hat and jingle bells," she said mildly.? Then she looked up and glanced at the door.? "I think he's here." She didn't move from her spot on the couch, instead she let David go to the door, while she chewed her lower lip in nervous anticipation.? Rhys had sounded...different on the phone that morning.? More...aware somehow.? She wondered what that meant...and was too afraid of what it could mean.

David looked over at the door, then stood and walked towards it. He hesitated a moment before opening it, though; people tended to find it weird when you opened it before they knocked.? Fortunately, the knock came almost immediately, and he pulled the door open.? It was Rhys, of course.? He didn't look too good.? "Hey," he said.? "Come on in."

Rhys had managed to clean himself up since they'd last seen him. He was still sporting a scruffy light beard, but he had showered and changed into fresh clothes - his usual jeans and t shirt, a wool pea coat over the top. His face was the only thing that showed signs that anything was wrong, a pained, worn expression on in eyes. He smiled weakly at David, in an attempt at politeness, but it was clear he wasn't feeling much like smiling. "Thanks."

Riley's nostrils flared as the door opened.? The gesture was mostly a reflexive action, but it brought with it a sharp scent of fear and pain.? She frowned and stood up, the blanket she'd wrapped herself in falling unheeded to the floor.? "Rhys?" she said quietly.? "What's wrong?"

When he spoke after a long pause, his voice sounded hoarse, strained. "I remember what happened."

Her brow arched.? "You remember..."? Her eyes opened wide as she realised what he was talking about.? She glanced at David and then back at Rhys.? "Oh," she said lamely, at length.? What else could she say?? Apologising seemed wrong somehow.? Congratulating him seemed just as wrong.? "Well...uh...come inside.? Sit down.? Want some coffee?"

He stepped inside, stopping and turning to David, with an almost hopeful look on his face. "Are you John? You know, reincarnated somehow?"

When David heard Rhys say he remembered, the first thing he felt, strangely, was relief.? Now they'd have a lot better chance of dealing with whatever was coming after them.? Immediately following the relief came the realization that the returning memories might make things a lot more awkward, too.? Then he was shaken out of his thoughts by the question.? "No...I'm afraid not."

The hopeful expression on Rhys's face fell away. His question to David question broke Riley's heart and she went to him, wrapping her arms around him to hold him close.? The gesture was, she thought, necessary for both of them.

He hugged her back briefly, reluctantly pulling himself away. "I'm sorry,? he said to David. ?I had to ask."

David nodded.? "I know," he said slowly.? "I'm sorry about John...and everyone else."? Riley had told him the whole story over the last day or two.?

Rhys stepped back from Riley and cleared his throat, feeling horribly awkward. "Can I...uhh...get a cup of coffee or something?"

Riley moved away from Rhys, the proverbial emotional knife twisting a little more in her heart as he was the one who broke away first.? She moved to stand awkwardly between them, her hands clasped together - to keep them from shaking - in front of her.? She nodded in response to Rhys's question and went into the kitchen immediately.

They were all just standing around, so when Riley went into the kitchen, he turned and nodded towards the couch and chairs in the living room.? "Why don't we sit down?"?

Rhys watched Riley depart and told David glumly, "You must hate me. I'd hate me."

David shook his head immediately.? "I don't hate you.? I know what happened to you, and it wasn't your fault."

In the kitchen, Riley sniffed, brushed an angry hand over her cheek, and shook her head, denying the tears.? She cried enough yesterday to last her for at least the next six months. She poured him a mug of coffee and brought it out to him.? Then she sat down in one of the wing chairs, curling one long leg underneath her and stuffing her hands into the kangaroo pocket of her hoodie.? She studied Rhys covertly under lowered lashes.

"I show up on your doorstep, like a stray dog... I'm not here to screw up..." Rhys trailed off, a hand wrapping around the mug, still standing there, unmoving, watching them both. "I'm not here to screw up your lives or... We need to end this once and for all."

She nodded and nodded in Rhys's direction.? "Sit.? You're giving me a crick in my neck."

A small smile flickered across his face at her admonishment, but there was no real joy in it. Taking a seat finally, he took a sip of the coffee and then balanced it against a knee. "How much do you know about what happened to me? I mean, after you left New York."

"The sword's beyond the Unseelie Court's reach now.? Maeve took it out on me."? She pulled down the neck of her shirt.? Her tawny, honeyed skin was marred by scores of tiny, white scars that looked like they'd been sliced into her flesh with the sharpest of knives.? "She tortured me.? I guess..."? She let go of her shirt and curled up in her seat, pulling her knees up underneath her chin and wrapping her arms around her legs.? "I guess Eamon sorta fell in love with me.? He arranged my release and left the Courts. He's just a Faerie now, not the Huntsman any longer."

"Jesus Christ..." He whispered when she revealed what they'd done to her. It felt like someone had just thrust a dagger in his heart. His face turned pale and he felt tears prickling at his eyes. His eyes lifted to her face, his voice was hoarse with emotion. "I'm so sorry."

One corner of her mouth lifted in a smile.? "Except for the mind-numbing fear of anything having to do with Faeries and the occasional nightmare, I'm pretty much over it."? She chuckled self-effacingly.? "Last summer, David and I and a...a friend were in London and the Summer Queen came to me, healed me of a lot of the grief and pain I was enduring and gave me the Faerie Bat Signal."

He looked away, unable to meet her gaze. There was nothing he could do to comfort her. She had David for that now. And if it hadn't been for him, none of it would have happened. His chest tightened painfully. She might have been granted healing, but he hadn't and it was almost too much for one person to bear. He nodded numbly, listening to her relay the story, staring into his coffee cup so neither of them would see the pain he was trying to so desperately to hide.

She unfolded and reached across the coffee table with her free hand to take Rhys's.? "Hey," she said softly.? "You don't need to do that.? Besides, I've got a Super-Kitty nose, remember?"

To Rhys, she had always been the brave one, braver than him. It was what had led to their parting in the first place. "So, the sword is safe." That's what it boiled down to. The sword was safe, but they were not.

"The sword is safe and out of the game.? We have to figure out what the new game is, though."

He was remotely aware that she was holding his hand, and he pulled slowly away. Even that brief, innocent touch was too much for him to take. "I called you while I was on the road..."

"The night before Orla's memorial service.? I remember.? You talked to Baron more than you talked to me."? A hint of a playful pout coloured her words.

He shook his head. "No, not then. You were with Lindley. You told me..." He had to stop momentarily to steady his voice. "You told me you never wanted to see me again. That I was a sick bastard and that Deacon was going to make sure I got the death penalty for everything I'd done. He told me to stay away from Tucson. He said if I came anywhere near Tucson, he'd have me arrested and sent away for life or worse."

Her jaw fell open and she blinked.? "What?? I never!? Deacon never said any of that! I never went back to him. No. That wasn't me, Rhys."

He continued as if he hadn't heard her. "So, I went to see David and... I had this... this dream. God, Riley. We were so happy. We were married and we had a family. Three kids. Two boys and a girl." Tears were filling his eyes at the memory of it. "We were living in Brooklyn. John and Gina were married and expecting a baby. It was beautiful. But it wasn't real. David was dead and... I was trying so hard to get back to you."

She was still stunned, but doubly so now.? She cast a guilty look at David and stood up, the need to move too overwhelming to ignore now.? She began to pace the length of their living now from the stairs to their bedroom door, her arms crossed over her stomach tightly, jaw set firmly.

"I wanted it so badly and now..." Rhys broke off, knowing he'd said too much. He wiped a hand across his face.

David shifted in his chair, glanced at Riley, then down at the floor.?

"I know what they did to you, to our boy." Rhys lifted his head, looking as if his heart was breaking. She'd had time to grieve, but he hadn't. "I'm so sorry."

She stopped in mid-stride and said, with a lot more anger than was probably necessary, "This is not..."? She trailed off and shook her head.? "Rhys...? I'm sorry.? I'm so f*cking sorry that you're getting this sh*t dumped on your head right now, all at once.? But..."? She sighed and shook her head, realising that perhaps she should just shut up and let the poor man grieve.? She'd had a solid year - plus an afternoon with a Faerie Queen - to get over all of the pain.? He'd had, what?? A day, at most?

Rhys moved to his feet, not wanting either of them to see his pain. "I should go. We can talk about it later. Figure it all out."

She started to tell him no, stay, but one look at David's face silenced that thought.? Instead she nodded dully and went to stand next to Rhys, wanting to hug him, kiss his cheek, do anything to help heal that pain he was feeling.? She settled for a soft smile, uncertain how a hug and a kiss would be received.

"I need some time," Rhys said apologetically.

She nodded.? "Take all the time you need," she said softly.? "I'll...we'll be here."

He nodded and wiped a hand across his face again, looking from one to the other and forcing a small smile. "I'll see you around."

"Oh, wait!"? She went out and grabbed a box from underneath their little tree and held it out to Rhys.? "From Father Christmas."

As Rhys walked down the path and away from their house, he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his forehead against her hair and inhaled the familiar scent of her.? "Sh*t," he muttered, "that was harder than I thought it would be."? He sighed unhappily.?

She nodded but didn't trust herself to say anything just yet.? The revelations that she and Rhys had both made were still too fresh, too painful to allow her to speak without crying.? And if there was something Riley hated almost as much as she hated Faeries, it was crying.

"Come on," he said, turning her away from the door.? "Let's go back inside.? You're not dressed for the cold."? He tugged her gently in towards the house, closing the door behind them.

She let him lead her around, still too stunned to react on her own.? "That phone call," she said softly.? "It must have been Lilith or maybe Namaah."

"Yeah.? They might be demons, but they're using classic misdirection strategies.? Divide and conquer.?? Turn your enemies against themselves."

She nodded and sat down on the couch again, snuggling into her nest once more, fluffing pillows and dragging the blanket over her body, pulling it up under her chin and tucking it around her like a cocoon.? She glanced up at David, tears shimmering in her eyes, threatening to spill over.? "I'm sorry you had to hear all of that, David," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.? "It can't be easy to listen to a man describe in detail the life he wants...wanted...to live with your fiancee."

He sat down next to her, sighed, and nodded.? "It hurt," he said honestly.? "I'm...conflicted inside."

"I love you," she said simply, not knowing what else to do.? She could try and spin a pretty story, ply him with words, make promises, but she knew that words were empty sometimes.? She hoped he knew by her actions where her heart and soul lay.

He reached out and touched her cheek, cupping his fingers around the side of her face.? "I know," he said.? "And I love you.? I don't have any doubts about that, either way."?

She closed her eyes briefly and leaned against his hand, a huge weight lifting from her shoulders with his words.? "So...if it's not me - us - that you're conflicted about...what is it?"

"Rhys," he said simply.? He paused for a moment to put his thoughts into order.? "The cop side of me sees a victim; a guy who's been d*cked around by forces way beyond him, and wants to help him.? The...David side of me sees a guy who obviously still has really strong feelings for you.? All that talk about the life he wanted with you with kids and a house...? That side of me wants to tell him to f*ck off."? He broke off, studying her.? "You know what it's like to have two sides of yourself in opposition."

She smiled sadly and nodded, meeting his eyes.? "I can't..."? She trailed off and cleared her throat before continuing.? "I can't force you to help him.? I can't...? I shouldn't even ask you to.? This is not your fight.? This is all Rhys and me.? It started long before I met you."

"Maybe so, but I can't just sit there and watch.? I won't just sit there and watch.? Whatever I might feel towards him, I can handle that.? What kind of loser would let the woman he loves go into danger and stay home?"? He gave her a little smile, only partially forced.? "Not me."

She searched his eyes for a long time, nostrils flaring as she did so.? After a short time, she nodded.? "Okay.? Until death do us part, right?"

He nodded solemnly.? "I wouldn't be looking forward to marrying you if I wasn't ready for that."

She gave him a patented lopsided smile and exhaled like she was letting go of a heavy burden.? "So...what now?"

"Now I'm going to kiss you."? And he did so.

A year later, she surfaced from the kiss and snuggled against him, her head cradled against his chest, their fingers linked together in her lap.? "You know, that's not exactly what I meant.? Not that I minded, understand.? But I was sort of looking for a...battle plan."

He let out a little chuckle and nodded.? "I know.? I think we both needed it, though."

"Yeah, I'm never gonna turn down a kiss."? She closed her eyes and snuggled closer to him still, listening to his heart and taking strength for its slow, steady beat.? "I'm scared, David," she admitted softly.? "Not about the angels or the demons, though I probably should be.? But...the Fae.? The Unseelie.? They're always mixed up in it."

He ran his fingers through her hair and leaned down to kiss the top of her head.? "I know, love.? Just remember that they're scared of you, too.? All these times they keep coming after you, and you keep beating them."

She laughed mirthlessly.? "It's hard to believe that they're scared of me, David.? Considering every time I encounter them, I'm the one who goes rigid, unthinking with fear."

"They wouldn't keep trying to stop you if they weren't," he pointed out.?

"Pretty to think so.? I think...? I think it's like Bjorn and I.? Maeve understands the concept of saving face.? I've beaten her...three times now.? It's gotta sting.? And god knows what it's doing to her control of her Court.? Frankly, I'm surprised she's still on the throne."

"That's right, you've beaten her three times now.? Maybe you're right, and she's just trying to get revenge.? I think it's more than that, though.? I think she knows that you're a threat to her."

She looked up at him, a little smile on her face.? "Let's hope so."? She stirred then, sat up straight and pulled the blanket off.? "I'm starving.? Shall I make lunch?"

He laughed.? "Even demons and faeries can't dull your appetite.? Let's go."? He stood, reaching for her hand.

"Hey, I gotta make sure Jaguar's well-fed.? She's gonna save our life at some point in the not-too-distant future."? She led him into the kitchen and pointed at the table.? "Sit.? I'll cook.? You talk.? What do you want?? I can do sesame noodles and chicken."

"Sounds good to me."? He sat as ordered. With a nod, she began lunch preparations, moving around the kitchen, fetching out ramen and the various spices and oils necessary for the sesame-flavoured sauce. "The first thing we need to do is get some defenses established,? he said. ?We already know how to defend ourselves against faeries, so that's easy enough.? Demons, we need to learn more about, what their weaknesses are."? He paused, thinking about what she and Rhys had said earlier.? "You talked about both Heaven and Hell getting involved.? Are we going to have to fight angels, too?"? It was definitely a little surreal to be asking that.