The entire time Billy stood there he seethed. He could feel every fiber of his being pulsing against his will. He wanted to reach out and strangle the man even more now that he had before. It was one thing to threaten his family, his children. It was another thing to take his wife's heart and manipulate it away from him in the matter of one week. This man was responsible for the death of a Godmother, almost of his only father he actually cared about, and now?

Billy sighed. It didn't matter, none of it mattered. Aurora was here and she was safe, Gavin was recovering. Billy would deal with the other shit as it came up. So when he turned to Aurora to ask her his question, he fully expected to just do what he was told.

"Alright what? Are you still hungry, or do you want to go see your dad?"

Aurora stood there unmoving as she spoke.

"I'm not hungry anymore and I don't want to see my dad... I want my husband to tell me what's eating him so I can try to sleep without worrying about it all night."

Billy shrugged.

"I'm an idiot who forgot for a couple of days who he married, that's all. And I snapped a bit. No big deal."

He smiled then and started to arrange the chairs so they were big enough of a surface for him to sleep in. As much as he would have loved it, the hospital bed was not big enough for the both of them.

She narrowed her eyes, "And what does that mean... 'idiot who forgot for a couple of days who he married' ... Billy if I said something to upset you I just wish you'd day it so I can apologize and we can get back to focusing on what matters here.  It's bad enough that..." She glanced towards the door Volkov left through and sighed.

"Look there's a lot that happened... so much.  I hope you know that I don't expect you to have an understanding of what is happening here until we have time to talk about it all and we will.  There's just... a lot and I wanted to focus on us.  Maybe I should have sat you down and gave you the play by play first."

She shook her head.

"I just... thought it could wait."  She closed her eyes for longer than a blink.  "I was wrong.  I'm sorry."

Billy shook his head and waved a hand.

"Nothing to be sorry about. I forgot whose mission this was and that it's not over yet. It's not over till we are home safe. When we are, then we can have a talk about everything that we need to. For now? I think we both need some sleep, and while I would love nothing more than to lay with you tonight. I just don't think it's possible to do that and actually sleep, for either of us. So, please Aurora, get into the bed and lay down. You don't need to stay awake all night to watch over your father anymore. Your husband his here, let me do that for now while you sleep, please."

He looked into her eyes. She had to know he already knew her. He knew full well that she would not have slept more than a couple of minutes at a time since her father went down. He also knew that she was going to start being worthless and cranky if she didn't go to sleep.

"I am sure that I can have a nurse get you something to help you sleep if you want."

She stared at the bed, despite its shabby state, it looked like the most comfortable bed in all the world at the moment. 

"No.  I won't fight you.  I do need sleep."  she yawned as she said the word.  She reached up under her shirt and with a few flicks of her fingers and with a bit of careful maneuvering, her bra came out from under her shirt and was put on the chair and atop it, her jacket.  Carefully she took off her shoulder holster and placed the pearl-handled guns beneath the coat and then pulled her father's gun from her waistband.  Finally, she bent down and pulled up her pant leg to remove the knife her father had given to her all those years ago.

"Your plan isn't a bad one."  She said as she removed all her weapons.  "Tara has a plane I need to get back to the States.  It was her home for years.  I need to go through it.  I've already arranged for her burial on a plot beside dad and mom's plots back home ... so... I'll fly to Philly and handle it.  Dad can come say goodbye to both Tara and Mom in a few months when the headstones are done.  We'll take him after things calm down some and he's up for travel.  The kids and Will too."

She kicked off her shoes, "I'll take some quiet time with the kids, like we were talking about earlier."  

She sat on the bed and yawned again.  Maybe Billy wasn't mad.  Maybe she was just tired.  Maybe she imagined it?

"Maybe we start working on that family expansion."  She slid under the blankets then.  "Are you... are you sure you're not mad at me for something I said?"

Billy smiled and shook his head.

"Of course I'm not mad at you. I don't get mad at you, I love you."

He leaned down and kissed his wife as he pulled the blankets tight around her.

"Now, my darling, please go to sleep. Because I can't unless you do and I am very tired."

Gavin was awake by the time Aurora peaked in on him.  Billy had gone out in search of what he called an 'actual breakfast' no matter how much it was going to cost him.  She suspected a very old Russian woman was about to have a windfall because he didn't speak the language and probably had no idea the rate of exchange.  More than likely he'd buy a new home for someone in exchange a pound of bacon and a dozen eggs.

"Well, look who's up."  She said with a smile.  "I just got off the phone with Brigitte, she wanted me to give you a hug and kiss from her and to tell you that she beat Uncle Will in texas hold'em with a royal flush last night.  I'm not convinced that Will didn't set that up, but she's over the moon and can't wait for you to come home and play with her.  She says she's rich after beating Will and his friend last night... I asked Will who his friend is and he had to get off the phone quickly."

She chuckled.

"Good to know some things never change.  How are you feeling?"

Gavin hadn't been in a bed for a year. Now, he barely left it. He didn't smile, but he kept his expression thoughtful. He answered the question like a mechanic, rather than a philosopher, priest, or therapist.

"Breathing better. I need to get up and moving, though, or my legs are going to stop working. I've slept better than I have in a year... the bed, I think. As for Will... I'm sure his friend is very beautiful."

Gavin quickly threw the question back at Aurora, going on the offensive.

"I don't feel comfortable holding you back from seeing Gav. Billy, too. I'd like the two of you to fly back in... the plane. I'll take the train to Lisbon. Buy me a stack of books and I'll be fine. It doesn't take much exercise to sit down."

"I'm taking the plane and Tara to Philadelphia, tomorrow actually.  We got the final word from US customs that they'll allow her to come home."  She drew a breath and came alongside the bed.

"And the day you buy a stack of books to start reading is the day I should start having your grave dug.  It's a joke dad, a poor taste one but a joke... look, Billy will take the train with you.  It's already decided.  Once Tara is resting near mom and Uncle Will, I'll fly back and meet you both in Lisbon to sail home on a steamer."

She dismissed his objections immediately, "We didn't have a proper wedding or honeymoon.  A week on a ship at sea isn't a hardship for us.  I miss the kids but honestly, Dad, it won't be much longer.  They're fine with Addie and Will." 

Aurora hated the idea of being another day, another second away from her baby, but she would never forgive herself if her Dad died of complications in transit and she wasn't there with him.  She put her hand on his forearm.

"Anton promised me he'd be in touch.  Gave me a way to reach out to him too."  she tried to meet her father's eyes as she came to sit on the edge of the bed.

"When we get you back home, I'll see about finding the biggest poker tourney in the whole damn city.  You and me... we'll go clean the place out.  Or... rather you will, I'll just make a pathetic showing and you can tell me again how much I've improved to assuage my ego."  

When she said Tara's name, Gavin looked like he'd been slapped. He'd started to say it earlier and stopped himself from doing so.

"I'm... glad things are settled. Everything will be fine, Aurora."

He didn't smile, but he nodded at her.

"And Aurora, I'm very proud of you. If you weren't here and Tara... and I had tried to do this ourselves, we both would have died. Maybe Volkov, too. You did good, kid. Real good. I... just give me some time. Tara and I, we spent 52 years together. Even when she was in Europe, she was always right there. Between losing your mother and losing Tara, I feel like I've had both my logs chopped out from under me. The only thing that could possibly be worse would be losing one of my children or grandchildren. I'll be okay. And if you need to talk, I can talk. But if I'm quiet... I'm just trying to find my legs again."

Aurora slid closer to her father and put her arms around him as she imagined her mother might have done were she here for this horrible moment.  Dad wouldn't want it.  She normally wouldn't try to give it.  Mom, she wouldn't have cared. 

"Don't be an idiot."  She whispered. 

He would have tolerated it for Bella's sake, just as he now did for Aurora, thinking the hug was more to comfort his daughter... but she knew, he needed it too and so held him.  Stroking his hair she held him, hoping she was capable of some small bit of the magic that her mother seemed to possess with each gentle word and caress she ever gave to her children or their father.  

"Your legs are still here, Mom... Tara, they're both here with you and they always will be.  You're just..."  Aurora started to laugh before she said it, "... not used to them being so damn quiet." 

She tried quiet her laugh that was nearly a sob.

"I'm sorry.  I'm sorry."  she let him go and looked into his eyes.

"They are though.  Every time I think she's gone I find myself thinking back to something she said or did and it helps... how do you think I knew what to do with Volkov.  I told you, I dreamed that she came to me.  Everything Mom and Aunt Tara gave us both, it doesn't disappear.  And I know it's not the same but it's what got me through when I thought I'd lost Billy.  Just, remember that the people who mean most to us are part of who we are.  They change us.  They make us better and in that way, they're never gone.  The best of Mom is with you and Tara too."

She sighed.

"Mom's better at these sorts of pep talks but the point is this... I know you'll be fine, Dad.  You're gonna be fine because you have us and we're too stubborn or stupid not leave you to your own ends.  I can't let you go home and climb trees to talk to squirrels for the next year while you figure things out, besides we don't have trees and squirrels in Vegas.  And cactus is just too dangerous and the kids would miss you."  she smiled at him fondly as she did when she was a little girl.

"I'd miss you."

Gavin sighed, but the barest hint of a smirk crossed his face at 'so damn quiet'. He patted his daughter's hand.

"I know all that, Aurora. I don't need a pep talk. I like to think that I taught you that pep talk. That I gave it to you. And I believe everything I tell you, so there's no need for me to hear it back. I'm going to be fine. When I lost your mother, I had to learn how to move around with one leg missing. But I learned. I'll learn this, too. But I'm not going to pretend to be happy right now, if I'm not."

"I don't need you to say anything, Aurora. But I'd like for you to stay for a bit, if you can."

Compelled by a desire to support him, Aurora moved to sit next to him on his inclined bed and, gently, hugged her father and, even more gently, rested her head on his uninjured side where his chest met his shoulder. Gavin froze for a moment, then started breathing again. He didn't say anything for a long, long time.

Gavin was not a superstitious man. He had no belief in gods or ghosts.

Sometimes, that made things harder for him.

On this particular day, he stopped wondering about belief and simply accepted the fact that his daughter was leaning against him in the precise way that Tara did when they were growing up.

After she'd stitch him up, Tara would rest her head against him. She always said that it was for her, because she was scared, but Gavin could tell that she did it for him- to express her gratitude for the brother that shielded her, that absorbed violence for her and never asked for anything. 

Gavin looked into the reflection in the window and, through a blurry world, could see ten year old Tara with her arms hugging Gavin, resting her chestnut hair on him in the same place Aurora's hair rested now.

Had he told her about him and Tara napping like this? It didn't matter.

Without trying to alert his daughter and pretending his nose had an itch, Gavin Byrne wiped the wetness from his cheek. Over the next fifteen minutes, his daughter felt his breathing change as he fell into a deep, restful sleep.

SEVERAL DAY LATER

LAUREL HILL CEMETERY - PHILADELPHIA, PA 

Aurora put down the bag of hot peanuts as per her mother's ritual on William Bowden's grave.  She never knew why mom left peanuts.  She always just did and so, Aurora did as well.  She cleared away the small amount of fall debris from the headstone and noted that the earth no longer appeared freshly turned.  It wasn't old yet, grown over perfect, but the summer had been kind and the grass had grown thick and green.  She missed Philadelphia so much that just being here in this place of death, it broke her heart.

She leaned down and kissed the rough-hewn stone and smiled at the word Champion there.  "Rest easy Uncle William."

She turned back to the place where she knew her mother & now Aunt Tara were resting and saw her brother standing there.  Aurora walked up the rampart towards the large shady oak and smiled at the sight of the small river running just below the stone wall.  The autumn wind blew through her long blonde hair and for a moment she and William stood in silence just appreciating the beauty of the place.

"It's a nice spot."  William said.

"Alucard picked it."

William scoffed.  "The concierge of cemeteries."

Aurora chuckled.  

"How long before they make it back?"  Will asked.

"Another week.  You want me to have Billy bring dad up to Harvard to see you?  He can."

Will shook his head.  "Nah.  Get him home.  Have him put his feet up and bring him a blonde sunny side up."

Aurora glared, "Will!"

Will looked at his sister's blonde hair.  "Oh yeah.  Redhead then.  Blonde might be weird."

"You're still a scab."  

"I know."  Will smirked his father's smirk and then, he surprised her, he put his arm around her.

"You're not mad at me?"  She said brow furrowed.

"Of course I am.  You dragged me away from mom, you were there with Tara in her final moments... shit Rora, I'm pissed at the whole damn world right now, but you of all people should know that doesn't mean I stopped loving your dumb ass."  He kissed the top of his sister's head.

"Do you think Dad's gonna be okay?"

"About as good as he is without Mom."  Will said softly. 

"We're gonna have to step up our game with him you know..."

"Rora, there's something I need to tell you."

"... keep him busy, you know?"  She finished her statement.

"I can't."  he said, his voice barely heard above the rustling oak leaves.  

Aurora turned to look at him, her head tilted to the side slightly.

"I can't help you with Dad because... I won't be around much.  Holidays maybe.  Special occasions, like mom wanted you to do when she asked you to stay out."

"You're out?"  she arched an eyebrow.

"I'm out Rora.  I can't do this.  I won't live like this and I won't make my future family live this way either... I mean it was fun as kids, fleeing in the night to God alone knew where, we used to think it was camping and shit... but it's not fun anymore.  It's not fun when people come kicking in your door and pointing guns at people you love.  It's not fun wondering if they'll come back... and it sure as fuck isn't fun when they don't."

"I know."  she whispered.

"You wanted this, Rora, why... why in the hell are you all glum about it.  Isn't this what you told me to do when you left us in Detroit?"

Aurora was silent for a moment.  She looked down at Tara's grave and the one that would be her father's one day.  "I did.  I just figured you weren't going to listen to me."  she looked up at him.  "You never listen to me, Will."

He sighed.  "You finally said something smart."

She looked away from him and out towards the river, "Scab."

Will drew a long breath and again they stood in silence.

"What will you do with yourself?"  She finally asked him.

"Harvard.  Law school.  Politics... just like I told Mom.  I meant every word of it Rora.  One day I'm going to be the God-Damned President... or at least a Senator."

She arched an eyebrow at him, "And you think that'll make you less of a criminal?"

"I'm a good looking rich white guy... of course I'm going to be a criminal but unlike you, I'm a lot less likely to get shot when I go to war with our enemies using a briefcase and my votes."

Aurora made an understanding noise.  "It's not done for you."

"Not by a long shot, but we both come at this your way... and maybe we both die before anything comes of it."

She shook her head slowly, "I don't know that I do want revenge, Will.  I think I just want to live my life... with my family for as long as I can get away with."

Will looked at her skeptically, "No shit?"

"No shit.  It's just a house Will.  Mom wouldn't want us dying over it... or her.  I got kids now.  A family.  I need to think about them... the way she thought about us."

"You used to say Marie Lucania and Salvatore were reckless... that they didn't really love you because what dumb shit has kids in the life?  What happened to the girl who used to think like that?  The one who thought they'd brought her into the world as some sort of accessory to their already wildly full lives?"

Aurora turned to her brother and sighed.  "She grew up, Will."  She kissed her brother's cheek.  "See you at Christmas?"

"Christmas."  he agreed.  

Aurora put her hands in the pockets of her leather jacket and walked into the wind, away from her brother at the graveside.

"I love you, Aurora."  He called out.

She stopped and looked back to her kid brother, "You don't have to say goodbye, Will.  We'll be together again soon."  And with that, she made her way towards Neil and the kids in her car.