The Ties that Bind

by Tracy LeCates

"Ties" is a Silk Stalkings, Kung Fu the Legend Continues crossover, involving characters from the Partners fanfiction series found on the Fu page and the story Unforgettable, found on the Silk page. "Ties" will be linked to both of these pages.

Peter white-knuckled the landing, his face the palest shade of green as the plane touched down and taxied down the runway.

Nicole glanced at him with wry amusement. "See? That wasn't so bad," she teased.

"Oh, nooooo... not bad at all... " he moaned. "Can we drive back???"

"No, we cannot drive back," she grinned. "We're down on the ground, and you don't have to think about leaving it again for two weeks. We are in the land of sun and surf and late nights and later mornings and rest and relaxation..."

The 'Fasten Seat Belt' light blinked off with a ding, and the twins started clamoring with excitement as the other passengers began disembarking.

"Hold on, you two... wait until some more people get off before you move," Nicole told them, leaning over the back of her seat. "Hope our luggage isn't in Colorado or... Iowa or something."

"Nope, nothing is gonna go wrong on THIS vacation," Peter shook his head, banishing all thoughts of anything interfering with their enjoyment of this vacation, and giving thanks to the Almighty for a safe landing.

Peter took the carryon bags from the overhead and reached back to unfasten the kids' seat belts as Nicole started down the aisle with the baby in her arms. "Tom said he'd have a sign that said "Caine" so we'd be able to find him," she called back over her shoulder, leaving the confines of the plane, and heading out towards the baggage claim area, Peter and the twins in tow.

********************

Meanwhile, on the other side of the airport.....

"That's such an incredible story..." Mel shook her head, pacing over to look at the Arrival Board again, watching for her husband's cousin's flight number to light up. "She was actually kidnapped and raised by those weirdo's?"

Tom nodded, watching his new wife with amusement. She'd always been so full of energy, never still for more than a few moments at a time. Watching her now brought a flash of memory to him, a memory of the first time he'd seen her... college freshman orientation. The gym as full of people as this airport was... and a blonde girl, wandering through the crowd, frantically looking for her roommate, the only person she knew, whom she had just lost in the crowd.

"What?" she asked, pacing back to him, a curious gleam in her eye.

"Nothing..." he shook his head, stilling her pacing by pulling her into his arms. "I just don't want you wandering too far."

"I'm not letting you out of my sight either. Not after these past six months," she assured him.

"The next six months have to be quieter." Tom cast his eyes heavenward in silent supplication.

"Well, we're starting off right, new house, a visit from a long lost relative, both of us taking two weeks off to relax with them... three kids to practice on."

"Hey! There it is, their flight is in." Tom kissed the tip of Mel's nose and brought up the sign that read "Caine", searching the crowd of passengers who were searching for their luggage, all hoping it was there in Palm and not in Colorado or Iowa.

*******************

Peter searched the carousel for signs of their baggage, grabbing each piece as it came around, as Nicole let her eyes wander around the terminal. "Hey," she elbowed Peter with enthusiasm, "I see them!!! There's a couple holding up a "Caine" sign!"

"OW!" Peter flinched at the poke. "A little less excitement, please?" he laughed, turning to see who she was pointing at. His eyes followed her line of sight, he saw the sign, and then saw the face of the man holding it. "Holy...." he stammered, dropping the bag he was carrying.

"Peter? Are you okay??" Nicole turned to him. His face was pale as he stood staring. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" he choked out. "That's your cousin!?"

"I would assume so," she replied, turning to look back at the couple approaching them, the man she assumed was her cousin wore an expression of pale shock similar to Peter's as he drew closer. "Oh, my God... do you know him or something??" she asked, not understanding.

"What do you mean, do I know him?!? Look at him, Nick! It's like looking in mirror!" he answered in a stunned whisper.

Nicole looked at Tom as he came to a speechless halt a few feet away. "A mirror of what?" she shot her husband an uncomprehending glance as she extended her hand to Tom. "You must be 'Cousin Tom'...." she smiled.

Peter and the twins continued to stare at Tom, who continued to stare at Peter.

"Daddy???" Cait giggled, looking up at Tom.

"No, sweetie, Daddy's over there... this is Tom..." Nicole tried to gently but firmly nip this in the bud. Obviously her husband and daughter had taken leave of their senses.

Tom smiled and picked Cait up, "Hiya gorgeous... My name's Tom... "

She grinned at him. Two daddies could be a lot of fun.

Nicole knew the one advantage of the kids being confused was that Cait might be the angel for Tom she was for Peter, which was a small comfort...

Mel finally stopped staring, for the moment. "Well, why don't we get your luggage and get out of here..." she suggested.

"Hell of an idea..." Nicole seconded the idea with gratitude.

Peter held out a hand to Paul. "Yes, let's I think three monsters could use a nap."

Gathering up the family's luggage, the group made their way out to the parking lot. Paul's eyes lit up when he saw the car Tom and Mel had led them to. "Mommy painted her car!" he exclaimed.

Nicole stared, finally believing that things were getting weird.

Tom grinned as he looked over at Nicole. "Fellow Mustang lover?"

"Yeah..." Nicole set her bags in the trunk and took out her wallet to show him a picture of hers, with the family in it, Cait at the wheel. "It was my father's and ... well I wound up with it. This is incredible... looks like more than law enforcement runs in our blood."

"This will be an interesting two weeks getting to know you."

Getting the whole group into the car was a trick, but the trunk was big enough for all the bags. Peter and Nicole sat in back with the kids, and Tom couldn't help but stare in the rearview mirror every now and again. Even some of Peter's mannerisms appeared to be the same. He was clearly left-handed as well.

Tom and Nicole chatted Mustangs most of the way back to the house... the 289 engine versus the Boss 302 or the 351 Cleveland or the 457 Interceptor. Sam was curled up asleep in Peter's arms the second the car started moving. He was starting to doze off himself, thinking that when he woke they would still be on the plane and this strange Doppleganger that drove this car would be nothing more than an odd dream. He half listened to the conversation going on, cars were Nicole's passion. Peter himself merely drove, put the gas in, and could do some minor work and that was it.

Mel stole subtle glances at Peter, pretending to be looking at the child he held. She could now notice the little differences, at least the haircut and the wardrobe preferences distinguished him from her husband, but God at first glance she could have sworn that was her Tom.

Paul and Cait were enthralled with the ocean when it came into view. They wanted to stop and go play immediately. The warm ocean breezes woke Peter from his light doze, and he sat up to take notice of the scenery with as much wonder as the kids. Certainly he'd seen the coast before, but not with the promise of fun and sun.

Tom and Mel had been married about a year, and had finally found the perfect house after Mel's civil suit against he ex-husband had afforded them the cash to purchase the four bedroom home right on the beach. As planned, they had recently started 'trying' for a family to fill those bedrooms. They considered having three kids in the house for two weeks would be a great test for them. Mel loved their enthusiasm and promised to take them out the second they got to the house.

The words were scarcely out of her mouth before Cait and Paul took turns asking if they were there yet. Nicole slipped one arm around each of her twins, with a hand firmly clamped over each mouth. "So, Tom, you see much action down here? How's the crime? You work homicide?"

Paul took the hint and settled back against her with a smile, Cait on the other hand started fighting her like a banshee.

"Yeah, I'm in homicide. We get the society murders... people who are so bored they have nothing better to do than kill one another..."

"So they die, but they die well-dressed is what you're saying..." Nicole snickered. Geography was evidently not the only difference between home and Palm.

"Or sometimes barely dressed."

"That's a far cry from home..." she smiled. "God it's gorgeous here... I love the smell of the ocean..."

Mel pointed happily, "That's it, home..."

Peter sat up, carefully moving Sam as not to wake her. "Beachfront," he nodded his approval. "I like."

"It's beautiful..." Nicole looked in awe at the view... this was MUCH better than going to some crowded resort... "But isn't it a little big for the two of you?"

"Not for long..." Mel grinned.

"If you can survive two weeks with these monsters, then you'll be well prepared," Peter chuckled.

"Call it trial by fire... " Nicole muttered. She loved those kids but Lord they could be monsters.

"They seem like perfect angels to me..." Mel laughed, climbing out of the car and holding the seat forward. Cait allowed her new relative to give her a hand getting up, not objecting to the affectionate hair-ruffling she received.

"Yeah... just wait..." Nicole snickered.

Tom and Mel ushered their guests into the house, getting them settled in their rooms. Nicole and Peter in the largest guest room, Paul in another small one, and Cait and Sam together in the last. An arrangement Cait did not approve of at all.

"How come he gets him own room?" Cait stubbornly demanded. "I don' wanna sleep with the baby." Her arms crossed in front of her as she glared at her mother.

Nicole took a deep breath and got down on eye level with her. The attempt at reasoning with the child was not easy, but she was learning. Parenting had not come second nature to her the way it had with Peter. "Because someone has to watch Mantha and your the oldest... "

Cait continued to glare as she seemed to weigh the pro's and con's of throwing a full-blown tantrum.

Peter lay a gentle hand on his daughter's head, "And you always said Sam was YOUR baby."

Cait looked up at him, seeming to see the reason in it as soon as it came out of Daddy's mouth. She smiled her brightest smile for him and nodded before dragging Mel down the stairs and out the door to make good on her promise of playing in the sand.

Nicole groaned inwardly, she'd just been totally dissed by a 3 year old.

Peter pulled her to her feet and into an embrace. He could see how hard she was trying, and how much it hurt each time their eldest child rejected her. "She loves you in her own way..." he whispered.

"Oh yeah... " Nicole nodded. "Now I'm getting a taste of how you must have felt during those first few... years... with me."

Peter smiled, tightening his hold on her. "She is her mother's daughter."

"Yeah, thanks for reminding me..." she laughed half-heartedly, pulling back to poke him in the stomach.

Tom stuck his head in the door of the guest room and saw Samantha had already gone down for a nap. "Anybody want a drink?" he whispered.

Nicole nodded, it was time to relax. "Sounds good."

"You don't have to whisper," Peter told Tom, leaving the door of the guest room open a little as they walked out. "Nothing will wake her until she's good and ready to wake."

"I hope we have a couple as easy as that one." Tom smiled looking back in briefly at the little girl before showing them back downstairs and offering them their choice of wine or beer.

"Be careful what you wish for Tom," he warned. "Nature has a way of surprising you. We didn't know the twins were twins until Paul was born. Surprise."

Nicole picked up a picture of Tom and Mel off the coffee table. One side was their Homecoming dance in college, and the other side their wedding. "You two have known each other a long time I'd say on the basis of those haircuts," she laughed.

"Since college," Tom answered as he sat down.

"And you just got married last year?" She sat down on the couch close to Peter and pulled his arm around her shoulders.

Tom shrugged, "Neither of us saw what was right there in front of us. Fortunately we each got a shot at the one that got away."

"So you stayed single all that time in between?"

"No, we each married and divorced," he corrected. He could hear Mel outside playing with the twins. It was only a matter of time before it would be a familiar sound, children in the house. "Actually, my ex-wife is my partner at work."

"Hah! That's great... you trust your life every day to the woman you pay alimony to. I like that. Peter and I were partners once. That's how we met."

"We just traded that partnership for one of a different kind." Peter pulled her closer to him, more than a little surprised that she was allowing the display in front of a virtual stranger. Oddly enough he could sense very little of the closed off apprehension his wife generally displayed around others she didn't know well.

Tom looked long and hard at Peter again. "I just... I can't get over the resemblance... I don't mean to pry but... is there perhaps some chance that we're....?" he asked. He knew who HIS parents were, he looked just like his parents, but... could Peter be some long lost brother, he wondered.

Peter looked back with as much of a mystified expression on his face as the other man. "Not unless you're from a small town in California..."

"Boston, actually... this is bizarre... I have to get a picture of us together to show my folks when they get back from Ireland... they finally made their pilgrimage to the homeland... "

"Then unless you've got some Chinese in you, we really can't be related."

"Chinese? You don't look Chinese..." he smiled. "I'm all Irish... Chinese???"

"Quarter Chinese."

"No kidding... " Tom shook his head, "Then we can't be related... but.. it's astounding... and... " he started to smile, "...and it could get interesting around here..."

Nicole shook her head, "Clearly you are all high."

Peter shot her another look of complete and utter disbelief. "Can you recommend a good optamologist? I want Nick's eyes checked out."

"There's nothing wrong with my eyes. I want the name of a good rehab clinic to check all of YOU into, because clearly you're all high or insane. Look at the two of you... okay, kind of the same hair color and eye color... similar builds but that's it."

Peter took his wife's face in his hands and pointed her directly at Tom. "Nick, give him a little longer hair and a little more weight and we could definitely pass for one another."

She laughed with the futility of this argument, clearly they just were delusional. "Not with me you couldn't."

"With the rest of the world we could," Tom assured her, his eyes lighting up with devilish humor. "You wouldn't be willing to... nah..." Tom dismissed the idea.

"Willing to what?" Peter looked up at him.

"Well, it's just that Cassy, that's my partner, and my ex, needs to have a good joke played on her once in a while.. and THIS... THIS might be the all-time greatest opportunity I've ever had..." he chuckled a little with an evil gleam in his eye.

"Me pose as you?"

"Ohhhhhh brother...." Nick mumbled, "This is gonna be bad."

"This is going to be great.... Hah... I'm happier and happier about inviting you two to stay here all the time. You feel like throwing a couple of suits on and hitting the beach for a little while we've still got some daylight left?" Tom offered.

"Now THAT sounds like a great idea. I married a fish you know." Nicole jumped off the couch, eager to end the plotting.

Peter grinned. "We'll be right back down."

Nick dashed up the stairs, eager to get out into the sunshine and stretch those plane cramped muscles. She could hear the kids playing with Mel outside, sounding incredibly happy... and briefly wondered why Cait never seemed that happy with HER. Digging through the suitcases she came out with Peter's suit and her bikini.

Peter came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. "Love you," he whispered as he kissed the back of her neck. "And I love the fact that you packed that little black bikini..."

"Love you too..." she smiled, relaxing back against him. "More every day."

"I'm glad we took this vacation."

"Me too, we deserved it. And needed it. And Tom and Mel seem terrific... and best of all, the kids like them, so maybe I can get you to myself for a while now and then."

"I love the sound of that."

"Suits... beach... swim and tan..." she nodded at him with a smile... yet wanting to spend the whole two weeks in bed with him at the same time. They'd come a long, long way, in more than just a geographic sense. A family vacation, another first for them.

"All right," he agreed, unmoving. His fingers made slow circles over her abdomen, moving gradually higher.

"I don't care how much you think you and Tom look alike, I could never mistake anyone else for you..." Nicole sighed happily. Things were finally settling down in their lives, they were coming into such a good place. Finally things seemed normal, and right.

"You know my heart."

"Your heart, your soul and every other perfectly luscious part of you..." she grinned.

"That's because I make sure you get reacquainted on a regular basis."

"Uh-huh... can't be too regular about that kind of thing... now let's get those suits on and get out there... we've got allllll night to make sure we stay acquainted..."

He reluctantly let go of her and reached for the Speedos. "Race you to the water."

Nicole quickly changed into the bikini and waited for him at the foot of the stairs, towel in hand, to make sure they got an equal start. "Last one in is a rotten egg!!!" she shrieked, as they raced by Tom who was just coming out to find his wife.

Nicole was the faster land creature by far and beat him there by a mile, pausing briefly to perform the Dance of Victory. Peter streaked past her, grabbing her by the waist, pulling her into the water with him. Nicole went down with a shriek and came up spitting water.

Peter grinned at her, "You may beat me on land, but in the water, I'm King."

"All hail the King... King Chicken of the Sea..." she bowed before him in the waist deep water before he launched himself at her, bringing her under the water with him again.

Mel sat cross-legged on sand, the twins a few feet away, picking up sand and seashells. "Don't suppose we can keep them, huh?" she asked, looking up and smiling as Tom approached.

Tom dropped down easily beside her. "Hopefully soon we'll have one of our own."

"Well, if it was your side of the family that these twins came from, maybe we could have two!" she smiled.

"Oh God, could you see us with twins?" he laughed, pulling his wife into his arms.

"Sure I could! God, that would be great... can you see your PARENTS if we had twins? They'd lose their minds!"

"Mom would flip, Dad would laugh."

"They seem nice..." she nodded out toward the couple in the water dunking each other and throwing each other into the waves. "But God he looks like you... more scars though."

"Some real recent ones too." Tom had catch sight of Peter's chest and back when they'd streaked by him, the scars from his injuries almost a year ago still evident on his flesh.

"So I saw. And he's not even a cop anymore. I'm glad you don't work with him, and she's got just as many as he does!"

"Let's hope these kids don't take after them..."

"Ohhhh I have a feeling one of them will be getting into more trouble than the other two..." She nodded her head towards Cait, who had taken control of playtime. "I notice your cousin has a couple of tattoos... what would you think if I...?" she teased.

"NO!"

Mel continued to tease, squinting her eyes to catch a glimpse of Nicole before she disappeared under the waves again, "What is that... a dragon???"

"Mel, no!"

"What??? You don't think that's kind of sexy?" she asked.

"No, you look good enough without one. Whatever you're thinking, Mel, forget it."

"The kids seemed to like Frannie." Mel glanced over at Nicole as she drove downtown.

"Yeah, they sure did. But Paul likes pretty much everyone in his own quiet way, and Sammy is too young to care one way or the other... it's Cait that I was worried about."

"Why?" Mel laughed. "She's a perfect little doll."

Nicole smiled and looked away, admiring the scenery. Even the downtown area was gorgeous. "She's very selective."

"Well, Frannie was totally entranced by them."

"She's a sport to take them for the evening so the adults could play..." Nick grinned. She loved spending time as a family, but it was nice to be able to go out somewhere and not have to tolerate grown humans dressed as clowns or large mice taking dinner orders. "Wonder what the boys were doing today."

Mel grinned. "They really seemed to hit it off. He's got a great voice too, he and Tommy should take the act on the road."

Nicole started to laugh at the mental picture that brought to mind. Tom had taken out his guitar after the kids had gone to bed on their third night in Palm, and had sat down to play them a couple of songs. Peter had surprised all of them by joining in, lending his voice to a few of the numbers as well. "I had no idea... I mean NO idea the man could sing."

"You've never heard him sing before?" Mel asked, seeming amazed that the two could have been married for so long and yet still be learning things like that about each other.

"He's never even opened his mouth to sing along with the car stereo. You couldn't have surprised me more if you'd told me he was wearing my clothes around the house when I wasn't home..."

Mel took one hand off the steering wheel and slapped it over her mouth as a fit of laughter nearly drove them off the road. "You're bad."

Nicole sank down in the seat, a wide grin on her face. She hadn't been this relaxed in ages. The fact that she actually liked these people amazed her. Her cousin and his wife were full of life and fun and good humor. The two of them so clearly meant for each other it was unbelievable they'd waited until their thirties to finally figure it out. Nicole and Peter had yet to meet the infamous Cassandra St. John, but Nicole was certain divorcing Tom was the nicest thing the woman could have done for him. "Well, I hope the guys stayed out of trouble today..."

"Tom's a pretty good babysitter," Mel assured her. "I just hope Peter doesn't flip out when he finds out how much money you spent today."

"Hey, vacations are for forgetting about normal life, and budgets," Nicole shrugged.

"He'll probably forget about even asking once he sees you in that dress."

"Think he'll like it? It's not my usual style to wear something like this," Nicole muttered, looking down at the short black dress she'd practically painted onto herself at the mall she and Mel and the kids had spent most of the afternoon terrorizing. The spiked heel black shoes she'd purchased to go with the dress were killing her feet already, and she was beginning to realize they would have made effective torture devices.

"I think he'll think he'll need a drool rag. And you'll need a big stick to keep men away from you."

"Would have liked to have had a big stick back there at the gas station."

Mel shook her head as she pulled into the parking lot at The Moonlight. "I know he was coming on a little strong, but was the threat to dislocate his face really necessary?"

Nicole just looked at her and smiled as she climbed out of the BMW.

***************

Tom and Peter had arrived at The Moonlight at half hour early, and taken seat at the bar to wait for the respective spouses. Tom checked the door every few minutes, waiting with slight impatience. "She should have been here by now."

Peter set his beer mug back on the coaster on the bar and looked around, "You sure she got the message?"

"Positive. I called back and asked Harry, he said he'd told Cassy I wanted to meet her here at 7:00. It's 7:15 now. Our wives are gonna be here in a few minutes and the whole thing is gonna be blown."

"They just don't appreciate our senses of humor is all..." Peter had been looking forward to the prank all day, and now it looked like things just weren't going to work out.

Tom sighed, "Well, maybe we can take a trip down to the precinct tomorrow and surprise her... You don't miss being a cop? Even a little?" Tom asked. Spending the afternoon with Peter, he'd gotten a chance to know the man a little better, and had seen firsthand the fact that this man was still a cop at heart, no matter where his paycheck came from. Peter Caine saw everything.

"Maybe a little, once in a while. But it's not the danger I miss, it's the people. The gang at the 101st were my family. They were the only family I had for a long time."

Tom listened to his words, and the emotion behind the words. Over the past several days he'd gotten to hear Peter's story in bits and pieces. His life at the temple, his father's 'death'... his time in the orphanage... and about the Blaisdell family, who had saved that kid from certain self-destruction. Nicole had been more reticent about her life, sharing stories about the 101st, and her life with Peter, but nothing from the time before she reached the 101st. Tom's mother and aunt had told him ahead of time that Nicole had been raised by some strange cult and had had a difficult life, but details had been sketchy. And the way it looked, they would remain that way. The only other thing his family from the Midwest had been able to tell him at that point about his cousin was that she didn't react well to being hugged.

"... besides, it seems that we get in the same amount of trouble now that we did when we were cops, and the pay is better..." Peter finished with a laugh.

Tom joined him in the humor for a moment, then slid off his barstool. "I'm gonna go call Cassy and let her know not to come down here, that I'll just talk to her tomorrow at the precinct..."

Peter nodded to Tom as he walked away, and signaled the bartender for another beer.

Mel and Nicole walked into the club, both immediately attracting male attention. Mel's long blonde hair and tanned good looks stood in stark contrast to Nicole's glossy near black hair and paler complexion. Both dressed to the hilt for a night out on the town, they wove their way through the crowd towards the bar.

Mel spotted the man sitting alone, sipping his beer and smiled as they approached. Nicole held a hand up to her and corrected her quickly, "Mine..."

Mel stopped in her tracks, embarrassed. She still had a hard time telling them apart, yet even at a quick glance Nicole had been immediately able to discern it was Peter.

Peter felt someone approach him from the side and his eyes flicked briefly over. Seeing a shapely body in a tightfitting black dress standing next to him, he quickly and almost guiltily averted his eyes. He was married, but he wasn't pushing up daisies yet.

Nicole slipped up to the bar between Peter and another man. She'd noticed his sideways glance, and reaction. "Come here often?" she asked, leaning against the bar.

Peter's head snapped up in recognition of the voice and realized with surprise that the body he'd briefly admired belonged to his wife. His eyes met hers, then traveled downwards in now open appreciation. "Holy...." he stammered.

Nicole's smile grew. "How about buying me a drink?" she asked, enjoying his reaction more and more.

"Hey, baby..." a voice from her other side slurred. "I'll buy ya a drink..."

Her smile faltered as an uninvited hand found its' way to her forearm. Her cold gray eyes flicked briefly to the hand, then to its' owner. "Gonna lose that hand one finger at a time if it hasn't moved by the time I get to three. One...Two..."

"Okay, babe, where would ya liked it moved to?" the man grinned wickedly, taking her words for flirtation.

"...Three..." Nicole's hand moved in a flash, grabbing the hand on her arm by the forefinger and twisting.

Peter winced as the scream from the man now on his knees on the floor tore through the air and silenced the conversation at the bar. Peter reached out and took hold of Nicole's free hand as he stood, "Come on, music's playing, I think the world will be safer if you're on the dance floor..."

Nicole's smile returned as she released the finger she held, and followed Peter out to the dance floor. Conversation at the bar resumed, and the man climbing to his feet, grasping his broken finger was quickly forgotten.

"Can dress you up, can't take you anywhere..." Peter grinned, pulling his wife into his arms.

Nicole fell into step with him easily, swaying to the rhythm of the music. "Nice of you to stand up for me, my Protector...." she grumbled, her slight smile giving her away.

"The day you need me to come running to your rescue from anything less than an armed terrorist is the day I call the Space Patrol and report an alien-body-snatching-pod-person on the loose. And, by the way, nice outfit....." he growled playfully in her ear as he pulled her closer.

"You like?"

"I like..." he nodded. Peter's fingers started a slow trek down her spine.

"Can I cut in?" an icy voice interrupted.

Nicole looked over. A petite blonde with startling blue eyes was glaring at them. "No," Nicole answered. "Get your own. This one is taken."

The blonde's stare could have frozen the fires of Hell. She reached out and grabbed Peter's arm, hauling him backwards. "What the Hell do you think you're doing?"

Peter stared in confusion, looking from the blonde, back to his wife and offering a shrug in response.

The blonde glared at Nicole and pointed to Peter, "I know this one is taken, this is a married man..."

"I know he's a married man..." Nicole growled, taking hold of Peter's other arm, making him feel a little like a wishbone.

"You always go after married men?" Cassy's eyes narrowed in derision. "And what the Hell were you thinking?" she asked, jabbing a finger into Peter's chest. "You call and tell me to meet you here, and I come down to find you doin' a slow dance with some bimbo while your wife is sitting at home? You must really like Divorce Court!" she exclaimed.

"Bimbo?!?" Nicole's face was beginning to turn red as she moved towards Cassy.

"Yeah, Bimbo!" Cassy returned, meeting her glare for glare.

"Cassy, NO!" Tom grabbed his ex-wife from behind, pulling her back as he and Mel finally found Nicole and Peter.

Cassy recognized Tom's voice and whirled around, staring at him in shock.

"THOMAS?!?" Cassy gasped, her eyes wide and darting between her ex-husband who held her by the arm, and his double, who stood behind the dark-haired woman, an arm snaked around her waist to restrain her.

Mel appeared between them, shaking her head and looking reproachfully at her husband. "You two are really, really rotten. We couldn't leave the two of you alone for the afternoon without you concocting some sort of warped little prank..."

Tom hung his head. Busted. "...wasn't supposed to turn out like this..." he glanced apologetically at Mel.

"Cassy?" Peter repeated the name, a wide grin spreading across his face. He started to laugh.

Nicole looked back at him, then at Mel and Tom. "This is your ex, the one we asked you guys not to play that stupid joke on..." she groaned, finally understanding. "Nice to see your taste has improved."

Cassy was still frozen in her tracks, shooting Nicole an icy look. "Tom, who the Hell are these people?"

Tom sighed in resignation. "My cousin Nicole, her husband Peter Caine," he introduced his newest family members.

"Wait a minute..." Cassy stammered, pointing at Nicole, "SHE'S your cousin? Not him? You're not related to him?"

Tom shook his head. "Nope. We've already covered that ground, Cass...." he told her, starting to smile again. The look on her face was utterly priceless. She was still staring at Peter, searching for the subtle differences not apparent on first glance... or second...

Cassy opened her mouth and finally laughed with a little embarrassment. She offered an apologetic glance at Nicole and shrugged, "Sorry about the ahhhh, the bimbo thing... I mean you can see where I made my mistake..."

Peter had to make another restraining grab for Nicole as she started to launch herself at Cassy again, "Mistaking me for a bimbo?!" she growled.

Cassy jumped back a step and assumed a defensive posture. "I meant you could see how easily I could mistake your husband for Tom! And when I thought I saw him groping at someone who is NOT his wife, I thought he was cheating on Mel like he cheated on me!"

Tom stepped in between them, "Cassy, I never..."

Cassy waved her hand dismissively, "Oh, whatever...."

"This is why we asked you not to mess around..." Mel interrupted, glancing at Tom and Peter. "Come on, Cassy, Nicole, this was all just a misunderstanding..." She looked at both of them, practically seeing the violent thoughts shooting back and forth. "Look, let's just forget about this whole thing, sit down, have some dinner and a few drinks. Okay?" Mel took hold of Cassy's arm and tried to steer her away, "You'll join us, the least Tom and Peter can do is buy you dinner..." she offered.

Nicole shook loose of Peter's grasp and ran a hand through her hair in frustration. What she really wanted to do was take a whack at this woman, not have dinner with her.

"Down, girl...." Peter whispered in her ear as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Let it go...."

An hour later the five of them were seated at their table, looking at the remains of their dinner and working on their third bottle of wine. Peter kept Tom and Cassy entertained with his tales of the 101st. They'd all seen their share of action in their careers, but the crime in Chinatown was far different from anything Tom had seen since his first days on the beat when he'd handled the seedier side town. However, Peter stuck to the regular cop stories they expected to hear, leaving out tales of traveling to Shambhala, evil board games, Shadow Assassins, spider-people and ghoulish carnival ride owners who dabbled in the dark arts.

The ice between Cassy and Nicole, however, had yet to show signs of thawing. The two shot thinly veiled insults at each other every opportunity they got, and only Peter knew how close Cassy was to losing an appendage or two.

The 'party' finally broke up shortly before closing, and cabs were called. One to take Cassy home, the other to bring the slightly staggering foursome back to the beach house where hangovers certainly awaited the two men, who had begun their drinking earlier in the day, and had engaged in some testosterone inspired drinking contest towards the end of the evening.

"Can't believe you were married to that woman..." Nicole groaned, looking across the back seat of the cab at Tom.

"She's not so bad, you two just got off on the wrong foot..." he insisted tiredly.

"I know where my foot almost WAS..." she growled in response.

"Lotta people say the same thing to me about you ya know..." Peter teased, ducking quickly. "And if that was the most trouble you and I get into on this vacation, then I'll take it." He looked gratefully at their companions. "This has been the greatest, most relaxing vacation I've ever had in my life."

"Wait til you see what we've got planned for an outing on Friday night," Tom grinned.

"Without Cassy?" Nicole asked, shooting him a look.

Tom laughed. "Without Cassy."

"Oh yeah.... things are looking up..." Nicole chuckled.

The remainder of the week passed uneventfully, which was exactly the way the vacationing couple and their hosts wanted it. Mornings were spent lingering in bed for as long as the three children would tolerate, and lazy afternoons were spent laying on the beach and playing in the surf. Tom was getting a chance to show off his flair in the kitchen, and Mel was getting the chance to practice parenting. The children had taken to her immediately, and when it came bedtime for them each night, it was Mel they begged bedtime stories from.

Late Friday afternoon the kids were dropped off with Frannie to spend the night. Reservations at one of the newest hot spots in town had been made for 8:00. By 7:00 Peter had showered and dressed in casual black pants, and a white button-down shirt, showing off his new tan. Tom and Mel had disappeared into their bedroom an hour earlier and hadn't been seen since.

When Peter walked back into the guest room, Nicole was just pulling a new off-white sundress over her head. The past week in the sun had given her a spectacular tan. "Nice view..." Peter commented as her head poked out of the dress.

"You like?"

"I like." Peter moved closer and placed his hands on her hips, pulling her tightly against him.

Nicole's eyes widened, as did the smile on her face. "I believe you do..."

"We have to do this more often," he whispered in her ear, pulling her closer. "Get away, take a break... I don't think I've ever seen you this relaxed."

"Don't think I've ever been this relaxed. Do you realize we've been here a week and nothing bad has happened? No trips to the ER, not a single armed robbery no matter where we've even or shopped, no sick kids, nothing... it's like we finally got over the hump and things are just gonna normal out for us."

"Won't we get bored?" Peter asked, amusement in his eyes.

********

The two couples were seated at their table at exactly 8:00. The Carribean music the band played soaked the air with atmosphere that highlighted the theme of the establishment. Lush potted trees and plants contributed to the air of the Islands.

"Great place..." Peter nodded his approval as he took in the view from their table.

"Yeah, we should come here more often..." Mel nodded, casting a glance over at her husband. They rarely went out for dinner. In fact, the last several weeks before Nicole and Peter had arrived, they'd barely gotten out of their bed in the evenings.

Tom caught her glance. "You love my cooking so much we rarely go out..."

Mel's face reddened slightly as she attempted to hide behind the menu. "Yeah, that must be the reason..."

Peter hid his smile as well. Tom and Mel reminded him of Nicole and himself.

"Gotta love those honeymooners..." Nicole chuckled.

"They'll be like that for the rest of their lives. Look at us. We're on a second honeymoon."

"Yes, but you owed me a honeymoon from the first time we got married," she reminded him

Mel smiled, "That sounds romantic though, renewing our vows every couple of years..."

"Vegas each time?" Tom suggested.

"We'll be the Chapel of Love's most frequent customers..."

Peter glanced at Nicole. "Not a bad idea. But in that case we should renew ours in a hospital chapel..."

Nicole actually entertained the idea for a moment. "Well, we're already County's most frequent customers, I'm sure they'd let us use the chapel once in a while..."

"Pro bono too."

"We've put a lot of doctors kids through college..." she explained to her cousin.

"One more visit and we get free surgeries for life."

"We've both been turned down as organ donors... too many holes in all of them..."

Tom turned his eyes to his wife. "And you thought I was bad."

Mel shook her head, "I'm just glad Tom doesn't work with the two of you... "

Their first round of drinks arrived and the band kicked up again. Other couples had made their way to the dance floor, swaying to the Island rhythms. Peter watched the dancer's, his eyes following their movements, entranced.

Nicole polished off her drink and stood, taking hold of Peter's hand. "Come on..."

"Where are we going?" he asked, looking a little confused.

"Goin dancing.."

He arched one eyebrow at her, but followed. "I don't know how to dance to this music."

"... I do..." she smiled. Her eyes lit up, she pulled him out onto the dance floor.

"Still learning new things about you everyday...."

"And I you..." she nodded, positioning his hands. "The day we know everything about each other is the day we can really hang it up..."

The music led her, and she led him into the sensuous rhythms. Peter was a little awkward at first, but under her instructions, he picked up the rhythm and started moving with her. "Been a while since we really danced."

"Too long..." she whispered. They moved well together, in sync with each other's bodies. They were a perfect fit. Nicole guided him, loving that he was picking these moves up so quickly.

"We keep promising to do things...." he murmured, starting to get lost in the music and the movements.

"We're just not planners... that's all..." Nicole answered. She was getting lost in the music and the motions as well, and in him. Her hands wandered over him as they danced.

"So how do you know to dance like this?"

Nicole gave him a mischievous grin, "I always dance with a man before I kill him..."

"Then I won't close my eyes tonight...."

"I'll make sure of that..." She pulled closer to him, their bodies pressed tightly against one another as the music changed, the beat growing more erotic. Peter allowed her to lead him into a more sensual style of dance, her body moving against his. People were beginning to watch them. In fact, almost everyone in the place was watching them. Including Tom and Mel. Tom finally pulled his eyes away from them, and looked at his wife.

Mel's heartrate was getting faster. She leaned over in her chair and kissed him passionately. Tom placed a hand on the back of her neck, holding her there as he returned the kiss with enthusiasm. His cousin and Peter had created a sensual aura in the room. Mel was seconds from crawling into his lap. The whole room was getting warmer, and everyone there was feeling it. Nicole and Peter were generating an air of raw sexuality that everyone was becoming aware of.

Tom pulled back and placed a quick kiss on her forehead. "I'll be right back," he whispered.

Mel watched him walk away, aching for him already. Her eyes returned to the dance floor, Peter and Nicole were making love on the dance floor. They were fully clothed and standing upright, but that was exactly what they were doing.

Tom returned before the song ended. "I need to give Peter something, then we've got a date upstairs," he whispered as he sat back down.

"God I love you..." Mel's eyes shone brightly with anticipation.

"Right now, the feeling is closer to lust...."

"Ohhhh definitely..." she whispered in a breathless voice. The song finally ended and Mel was relieved to see Peter and Nick making their way back to the table, arms around each other, oblivious to the fact that there were considerably fewer people in the place than there had been when they'd gone out onto the dancefloor.

As Peter sat down, he felt Tom handing him something. He looked down to see the keys to the Mustang.

"If you'll excuse us..." Tom took Mel by the hand and quickly led her out of the restaurant and towards the hotel.

Nicole looked after them in confusion then looked at Peter, "What...?"

Peter grinned and held up the keys. "Think we're on our own tonight."

She eyed Peter with a wicked grin, "Maybe there are some similarities between the two of you after all..."

"I think our little display heated them up...."

"Display????" she gave him her most innocent look, then looked around the room, which was now nearly deserted.

"How much you want to bet the hotel's rented a lot of rooms for tonight?"

"Wanna skip dinner and take advantage of having the house to ourselves?" she asked, standing again and grabbing her purse.

"Right behind you..."

"We could have a place like this..." Peter suggested lightly, sneaking a peak at his wife as they pulled into the driveway of the beach house.

"I like the winter too much, the change of the seasons..." she shook her head. "But a little vacation house might not be out of the question."

Peter laughed. They were doing well, but not THAT well. Not yet anyway. He parked the Mustang in front of the house, and turned off the ignition. He handed the house keys to Nicole and gave her a secretive smile. "Go on in. I have to get something out of the trunk.."

"What's in the trunk?" she asked, her eyes lit with curiosity.

"Something for my lovely wife. Now go on in, get in bed and I'll be right there..." he assured her, pulling her into his arms for a brief, playful kiss before pushing her towards the door. "Love you."

"Love you too... I'm going, I'm going..." she called back to him as she let herself in.

Peter watched her enter the house, closing the door behind her. So far their vacation had been ideal. Away from the demands of the business, together, with the kids and family members that were quickly becoming friends, their marriage never stronger. She was going to flip when she saw the surprise he'd gotten her, and had hidden in the trunk, intending to present it to her later that night. In the large bag of purchases for the kids and for family back home, was a small black velvet jeweler's box. Inside the box was the diamond engagement ring Nicole had deserved years earlier. Smiling to himself, he tucked the box into his pocket, closed the trunk, and turned back towards the house.

His thoughts occupied with the evening ahead, Peter failed to hear the soft footsteps behind him, unaware of the man behind him until the sudden sting of the hypodermic needle penetrating his thigh through his jeans shocked him back into reality for a brief second before everything went black.

*******

Tom and Mel lay contentedly in the large hotel bed, the blankets and sheets long ago having joined their clothing in rumpled, uncerimonious heaps on the floor.

"You know..." Mel panted, still trying to catch her breath, "If I got pregnant tonight, we should name the baby Peter, or Nicole."

Tom began to laugh helplessly. "Deal... "

"I hope they weren't pissed about us taking off like that..."

"I'm sure they understood. They didn't look like they were really in the mood for dinner anyway."

"No, they didn't, but...." Mel cut her sentence short with a groan as she heard the beeper in Tom's pants pocket begin wailing for attention. "Damnit."

Tom sat up and dug into his pants, which were laying on the floor beside the bed. "They know I'm on vacation, if they're paging me it must be important..." He checked the number and nodded, it was the precinct.

Mel sank back against the pillows in disappointment as she watched Tom dialing the phone. Moments later she sat back up again. Tom's face had lost all color. "What?" she asked.

Tom placed the phone back in its' cradle and slowly let his eyes drift back to his wife. "That was Harry..." he mumbled. "He... he wanted to let me know that.... that someone I put away, I guess it must have been about 5 years ago got loose this afternoon during a prisoner transfer from one facility to another."

"Oh, my God..." Mel whispered. From the look on Tom's face, there was more to it than what he'd just told her.

Tom's eyes began to focus again. "Michael Adams was the only truly psychotic person I ever came up against. He'd already kidnapped, drugged and tortured a half dozen people by the time my partner and I found him. Actually, my partner at the time found him first, or maybe I should say that Adams found my partner..." Tom's halting story stopped completely for a moment as he fought back the terror he recalled, finding his partner that night in the clutches of a madman. "Adams swore he'd get me one day..." he finished, running a hand through his hair.

"They'll find him long before he gets anywhere near here..." Mel assured him, sitting up to wrap her arms around her husband. "Nothing to worry about.... I'm sure he's probably forgotten all about revenge anyway..."

"Yeah..." Tom repeated numbly. I'm sure he has."

An hour later their peace was once again shattered by the sound of Nicole's voice, calling loudly through the hotel door as she pounded on the other side for attention. Peter was missing.

"Once more, Nicole, a little slower this time?" Tom called from behind the half open bathroom door as he pulled his clothing back on.

Nicole paced about the hotel room, her grey eyes flashing with unshed tears of worry and anger. "He's...GONE..." she repeated, punctuating the words. "Is that slow enough?!"

Mel winced at the frantic aggression in her friend's voice as she pulled her own clothes on.

Nicole took a deep breath, trying to control herself. "Sorry... I went into the house, Peter said he would be up in a minute... something about getting something out of the trunk. I went upstairs, I got into bed, and I remember hearing the trunk slam shut, then I waited... and I waited... and he never came in. I gave him another few minutes, then I went looking for him. The keys were hanging out of the trunk lock, and Peter was gone... DAMNIT WHY CAN'T WE HAVE A NORMAL VACATION LIKE THE REST OF THE FREE WORLD?!?!?" she screamed, hurling the nearest ashtray against the wall.

Tom poked his head out of the bathroom, glancing at Nicole to determine if there was going to be an onslaught of items being thrown or if it was safe to come out. Seeing her hands were empty, he stepped back into the bedroom. His heart had already taken the sickening dive into his stomach as his mind made the tenuous connection between Michael Adam's escape from custody and the disappearance of a man who looked just like him. He looked quickly at his wife, "Come on. I'll drop you two back off at the house. I'll get hold of Cassy and we'll get to work."

Nicole's eyes shot wide open in surprise, "Excuse me??? Go home and be a good wife and wait for the cops to handle this? Is that what I hear you telling me to do?"

"Nicole, please. Cassy and I will find Peter. I need you to go home and stay there. We don't need you getting into trouble down here too.... You've been out of the police business for a few years now, not to mention the fact that you never carried a badge down here at all..." he tried to reason with her. He'd only known her a week, and so far had only seen the loving wife and mother side of her, aside from the averted cat-fight with Cassy... he couldn't have the man's hysterical wife getting under foot no matter how good her intentions.

"Been out of the business?" she repeated with a cold stare. "Listen, Cousin, I've been IN the business since I was a kid. You don't think I can cut it down here, tracking down my husband? You drop me off at that house and I can guarantee you that I will be out the door five minutes after you leave, and on my own. And if I'm the one who finds him first, you're not gonna have the option of bringing in whoever did this alive. There won't be enough left of the S.O.B. to suck up in a Wet-Dry-Vac."

Tom stood staring into the eyes of his cousin for a long moment. In his police career he'd had occasion to stare into the eyes of cold-blooded killers before, and his heart knew in that instant that he was looking into them again. The cold, hard, coolly calculating eyes reminded him of a cobra waiting to strike. He nodded slowly, knowing Harry would have his ass for what he was about to do. "Mel, we'll drop you back at the house. Nicole, I'm still going to need Cassy on this."

Nicole's look of relief was barely visible. She nodded, knowing that Tom would want his partner, and must trust her on the job. "Fine. I'll be in the car." With that she turned on her heel and walked out of the room, knowing Tom and Mel were only a few paces behind.

*****

Tom explained the story of Michael Adams to Nicole on the ride back to the house, watching her closely as she put aside her personal fears for the moment and became a professional again, knowing that only as a professional would she be of any use to her husband at that point. He'd reached Cassy on his cell phone and she was enroute to the house even as they arrived.

Nicole paced off her excess energy in the driveway as they waited to see the Porsche appear. Tom spent the waiting time on his cell phone, speaking with an officer on duty at the station he was friendly enough with the garner some information from off the record. He was more certain than ever that Michael Adams was the one who had Peter, and that there was no time to go through official channels. Peter wouldn't last that long. As Tom recalled, Adams favorite thing to do was drug his victims with a homemade concoction that rendered his victims powerless to resist, but able to feel every bit of the slow torture he put them through

Nicole returned to Tom's side as the Porsche came down the driveway, parking next to the Mustang. Cassy killed the engine and jumped out, "You got a possible location?" she asked Tom.

Tom nodded. "The barn. The property is still on the market and the barn should be vacant. Adams is a creature of habit, he'll go back to his den if he can. It's a farm about 10 miles out of town, it's where we found my partner..." Tom explained to Nicole.

"They're not looking for him there already?" Cassy asked, climbing into the Mustang..

"They don't think he'd be stupid enough to go back there, or fast enough to get there. He must have stolen a car..." Tom grumbled, starting the engine as Nicole slipped into the back seat.

Cassy and Nicole eyed each other cautiously over the back of the seat. "Truce," Cassy finally muttered.

"Truce..." Nicole agreed uneasily

Cassy was still unnerved by the fact that Tom was allowing an involved civilian to come along with them on something that they weren't supposed to be doing anyway, but she kept her mouth shut, trusting his judgment for once..

Nicole remained silent for the remainder of the drive, attempting to calm and center herself for the task ahead. There was no way she was coming back without her husband. That was her goal and whatever it took to achieve that goal is what she would have to do. Period.

The closer the trio got to the old farm, the more on edge Nicole became, her old instincts merging with her protective nature, and her fear for her husband's safety, creating a powerfully dangerous combination. Her nerves tingled and her senses were completely open. It had been years since she had worked side by side with anyone but Peter or Kermit. She had no desire to get either Tom or Cassy killed, and not having worked with either of them, she had no idea of what to expect from them, or them from her.

Tom was having similar thoughts. The only person he flowed smoothly with was Cassy, they could almost read each other's minds. "How do you want to handle this? In the front door or what?" he asked Nicole with a cautious glance.

"Scope it first... don't want to burst in and spook him into doing something fatally stupid... If we can sneak in, all the better. And if he catches sight of you... while he thinks he has you captive, things could get interesting."

"Might give you time to get Peter out of there," Cassy offered.

Nicole glanced forward at her with a slight nod. "Might... but we're not doing anything stupid. We're going in to get my husband's ass out of there... I don't want to have to come back in an hour and get one of your asses out too, or even worse, I don't want you to have to come back in and get mine out ... if it plays off, fine, if it's too risky, we'll take the direct approach."

Tom nodded in agreement, trying to get a sense of the third member of the trio. "Then let's check out the situation, grab Peter, and get out of here... We can call the cleanup crew as we're driving away."

Nicole replied coldly, staring out the window. "It's a plan... however I'm not going to shed any tears if the sick puppy decides to put 'be stupid' first on his list of things to do today and I have to take him out with my bare hands."

Tom reached over and unlocked the glove box, digging out his spare gun. "Use this one. If any questions are asked, the bullets would have come from my gun, I can say I shot him." He shot a quick glance at Cassy, sitting beside him, who was pretending not to listen to this conversation, for her own protection as well as his.

Nicole examined the gun, checking the ammo and the balance of it in her hand, it fit nicely. "God I love these family outings... " she muttered with half a smile as they rolled to a halt within view of the barn and Tom cut the lights and engine. "Let's go do us some recon..." she whispered, slipping from the car behind Cassy and closing the door noiselessly behind her.

Climbing out of the car, Tom followed her, just as silently, Cassy pausing and falling in behind him.

A light glowed dimly from within the building. The three padded up to the windows, but they were too high to see in. Nicole put her hands together, signaling that she wanted a boost up. Tom nodded, then knelt down. Nicole stepped with one foot into the cradle of his hands and rose another two feet into the air, the top of her head clearing the sill... she looked in through the grimy window and saw the source of the light. A small kerosene lamp burned brightly... and a large man knelt by Peter's bound body, every few seconds forcing Peter's hand into the flame. She could see Peter wince, but he did not cry out. Tom held Nicole up, but was desperately wanting to know what she was seeing.

Nicole fought the impulse to shatter the window and blow the guy away from where she stood, her anger rising to a dangerous level. She waved her hand to let Tom know she wanted down, and came slowly back to the ground with a deadly gleam in her eye. "We go in now... through the back, his attention is 'diverted'," she growled.

Tom blanched slightly at her tone.

"How bad is it?" Cassy asked in a hushed whisper.

Nicole took the gun out again, and muttered, "Give me a reason buddy, just give me a reason..." She turned her attention back to her partners. "Bad enough. Come on..." She led the way around back to another door she'd seen behind the man.

Tom followed without question. Nicole had an edge to her that not even Cassy could dream of. He found himself hoping he was never on Nicole's bad side. He could feel Cassy following behind him, feeling her apprehension.

Nicole moved silently, aware that Tom was moving in sync with her, without making a sound either. For a football player, he certainly can move softly... she thought to herself.

Reaching the back door, Nicole stopped and stood on one side of the door, Cassy moving to the other side, leaving Tom to do the honors if he chose. Surprise would be to their advantage, plus the shock of seeing Tom... it would buy them a few seconds at least.

Nodding, Tom took a step back, then kicked the door open. Stealing second, he slid into the room, gun out and aimed in the escaped con's general direction as he slid. Adams had moved away from Peter to retrieve another toy.

Nicole came in fast behind him, her gun trained on the man's head, fighting the urge to follow Cassy, who went straight for Peter, "JUST FLINCH ASSHOLE, JUST FUCKING FLINCH!!!" she invited in a wild scream.

Adams didn't even notice the two women. He stood staring at Tom. He nervously fingered the handle of the large Bowie knife he held in his hand.

Keeping her gun trained on him Nicole moved closer, "Drop it Fucker! Drop it NOW!!!" she ordered.

Adams finally tore his eyes away from Tom who was slowly moving from his position on the floor, keep the laser point of his weapon trained on his quarry's chest. Adams' attention finally shifted to the woman screaming at him. His eyes took her in and his expression turned to a scowl. "New partner, Ryan? Will she be as much fun as the last one?"

Cassy glanced at Tom to see what the hell the man was talking about...

Tom shook his head, not playing into the man's hands. "Don't even think about it... she has guys like you for snacks."

"I'd never be that hungry Tom, besides, the taste of dirtball makes me sick. Now drop the goddamn blade or I might have to take your fucking hand off shooting it out," she growled.

"I like 'em feisty." Adam's took a single step towards her.

"Thanks for the excuse..." Nicole leveled the gun at his hand and fired. The bullet struck the blade of the knife and sent it flying out of his hand. She leveled the gun next at his face. "Keep coming, shithead, keep coming, but keep in mind that's my husband you've been playin' with and my mood is not good..."

Adams held his arm, eyes wide. He was used to controlling, people being afraid of him. This woman wasn't about to let him do either. He stopped in his tracks.

"I'm displaying uncharacteristic control here because I don't want my partners here to be up all night doing paperwork... now be a good asswipe and get your face on the ground so we can cuff you and call it a night."

Tom's jaw hit the floor as Adams did just that. He looked over at Nicole, trying to reconcile the image of her standing over the suspect, gun trained at his head, prepared to pull the trigger without hesitation should he make one move that was required to breathe, with the image of her from less than 24 hours ago, having a tickle fight with her children. "Want to move down her and join the Palm Beach PD?" he finally asked as he cuffed Michael Adams.

"Yeah I'm sure Harry'd welcome me with open arms..." she muttered, keeping the gun in hand, and moving quickly to Peter's side. Cassy had already wrapped a clean rag around his burned hand to keep him from injuring it further as he moved on the hard concrete floor. The needle punctures stood out on his bared arm. Nicole dropped down beside him, the anger and venom gone from her eyes and voice, "Peter..." she whispered gently, drawing his eyes to her.

He looked up at her. Pain, relief, anger all shone in his eyes.

"Can you move??? We need to get you to a hospital... no vacation is complete without at least one visit, right???" She reached out to gently touch his face, relief in her eyes as well.

"With plenty of support," he whispered. "Whatever he gave me, isn't agreeing with me too well.... I think I'm gonna be sick..."

Nicole was being about as sympathetic as she could be... and about as protective as a mother lion. She hovered over her husband who drifted in and out of pain-filled consciousness as the EMT's moved him onto the gurney after wrapping his burned hand in sterile bandages. They gathered the scattered hypodermic needles for analysis at the hospital, unable to give Peter anything for his pain until they knew more about what he'd been injected with already.

The black and whites arrived before the ambulance left and collected a rather subdued escaped convict. Tom looked on, warily eyeing his cousin, who just a short time ago had been begging a man to give her an excuse to perform and execution. She now knelt by the side of her husband, her voice soft, loving and reassuring.

"Cass, you think you could hitch a ride back into town in one of the units?" he asked, casting a glance at his ex-wife. "I want to follow the ambulance back to the hospital. If you can avoid filing anything on this until I can get there..." he asked, a silent plea in his eyes.

"Yeah, sure, no problem..." she nodded, also watching the scene being played out before them.

Nicole dogged the EMT's as they loaded the gurney into the ambulance, never more than half a step behind them. Her constant stream of chatter was meant to keep Peter's mind off the pain, but from the look in his eyes, he was only marginally aware of the pain, or her presnece any longer. By the time the ambulance arrived at the hospital, Nicole knew the background on every attendant that had touched him.

No matter how quickly the staff reacted to the situation, it wasn't near fast enough for the overprotective spouse. A new hospital meant a whole new staff of doctors, nurses and orderlies for Nicole to 'break in'. She began her assessment of them the instant her foot hit the floor inside the ER. Reluctantly she parted with Peter as he was taken immediately into an exam room. By that point Peter was mercifully unaware of anything.

A nurse guided Nicole back to the desk and handed her the standard forms to fill out, and began to ask her the standard barrage of questions concerning insurance and medical history.

Nicole responded with few words, digging into her purse and retrieving several floppy disks. The one labeled "Peter" was pushed across the desk to the nurse. The disk labeled "Nicole" was slipped back into the bag.

Tom flew in the door a few minutes later, spotting his cousin immediately. "Any word?"

"Nothing..." She turned to him, running a hand through her hair. "They've gotta analyze what was in those hypos before they can give him anything to counteract the drugs... "

Tom sighed. "I called Mel on the way over, she said she'd go get the kids in the morning if you wanted her to."

"Thanks. I don't know what to do about the kids... They don't need to see him in the hospital again..." She turned back to the nurse at reception, "I told you he only has bad reactions to drugs, right??" she asked for the 30th time.

"Yes, you did. We're taking the best care of him that we can. As soon as we know what he was given, we'll let you know."

Nicole began to pace around the waiting area, trying to work off some of the nervous energy. "Jesus, Tom... just once in our lives I'd like to take a vacation and not have it end up with a trip to the ER..."

Tom nodded, following her down the hall as she wandered. "Makes me feel worse knowing this one is because of me."

"It's not your fault, Tom... you didn't let the guy out of the nutbin or anything... By the way... how are you going to file the report on this?"

"On what?"

"On tonight! They've got the guy in custody again, and you and I were at the scene when cleanup got there... how is this going to get filed?"

Tom shrugged. "We were out, the guy grabbed Peter at the house thinking he was me... I went in after him, you came in after he was subdued. Who's to dispute that?"

In a rare act, Nicole reached out and hugged Tom. "Thanks... there's hope for you getting away from that 'book' yet..."

"Shhh... don't let that get out," he laughed softly.

"Trust me... I'm good at keeping secrets..."

He smiled. "Good. So am I. I don't care what that guy screams, you weren't there. Your prints won't be on my gun. And we know you don't have one of your own down here, so..."

"...thanks... I don't need to end this vacation with Peter in the ER and me behind bars... man that guy was a sick little weasel..."

"Yes, he is. Hopefully they'll place him in a higher security prison."

"Hopefully he'll accidentally hang himself with his underwear..."

Tom snorted at that one. "Let's head back to the waiting area. See if there's any word."

"Hey..." She bumped him gently under the chin with her fist, "If you ever want to quit this life and move to the big city and become a PI??? I know a firm that would snap you up in a heartbeat. We work well together... Yeah, let's go, but you do the talking okay? They make me cranky..."

"I'll think about the offer." He led the way to the waiting room, stopping in front of the triage desk.

A long hour passed before there was any word on Peter's condition. The doctors felt they had a fix on the contents of the homemade drug cocktail Adams had administered, and were gradually feeding Peter more IV drugs to counteract the concoction. He would be placed on a dialysis machine to help his system filter out the chemicals.

Nicole groaned at the news. "Oh man.... he hates needles... never mind machines... Can we see him?" she requested in her most controlled voice.

The doctor delivering the news nodded. "For a little bit. We've just started the treatment, so he still looks a little rough."

"He never looks rough to me..." she smiled a little and took Tom's arm, dragging him with her.

Tom followed her, not having much choice. "You sure you want me in there?"

"He really, really hates hospitals, and he really, really hates being alone..." she replied quietly, opening the door.

Peter remained unaware of their presence as Nicole and Tom sat by the side of the bed. His skin was a pale gray color and his body lay still, save for the small shudders and tremors that stirred through him every few minutes.

Nicole leaned down and softly kiss his cheek. "Hey there stranger... I brought a friend..." she whispered, speaking to him as though he could hear her, because somehow she believed that he always did. "He's a good cop, by the way... you should have seen him stealing second and sliding in... it was a sight to see..."

Tom smiled at the compliment. "You're not bad to work with yourself."

"Hah... you're one of the only three living people to think that then..." she laughed. "I'm trying to convince cousin Tom here to join the family business... he says he's thinkin about it..." she told Peter, as she absentmindedly stroked his hair.

"You need to open a branch down here. I may have grown up in Boston, but I'm not too fond of winters."

Nicole never took her eyes off of Peter's face, her voice soft and soothing. "It's a thought... we kind of like the water... me and my beloved fish here..."

Tom watched her with him. She was a totally different person with Peter. The blatant violence and cold menace he'd seen in her eyes earlier that night were now completely gone, as though it had never happened. Peter had always brought out the gentle soul that lived inside her, the one she kept hidden so well. Just as Peter could never hide anything from the world, she could never deny Peter anything. "Love you..." she whispered in his ear.

Tom stood up. "I'm going to get some coffee. You want some?"

"Strong hot and black, thanks..." she nodded. "I'm just gonna sit here with this captivating conversationalist for a bit..."

"That's fine. I'll be back with it."

Nicole sat with Peter, keeping the physical contact up, and talking to him. She knew from experience with him that he was always aware at some level of her presence. "Gonna have to watch you a little more carefully from now on... Time to get the leash out again... that could be fun, huh???"

A nurse entered the room quietly, looking at Nicole apologetically. "I need to give him some more medicine and check his lines."

"No problem..." Nicole nodded her assent, moving away only marginally.

"He's responding to the treatment. We've been monitoring his vitals, and they've been strengthening. We're admitting him, they'll be moving him up to a room shortly."

"Thanks..." she replied, not taking her eyes off Peter. Now she wanted the kids... they'd always been a comfort to her, and now that she knew he was responding to treatment, she'd have positive news for them.

Tom came back in carrying two cups of coffee.

Nicole took hers from him gratefully. "What? Nothing for my fish?"

"Didn't think he'd like hot coffee in the IV."

"You're right... he much prefers tea in his IV..." she nodded. She was exhausted and getting a little punchy. Dawn had broken already and the sun was climbing. "You think Mel would bring the kids down?"

"I can call her. I'll be right back again."

"Thanks..." she yawned. All she really wanted to do was crawl in bed with Peter and close her eyes.

"Here..." He pushed the chair towards her. "Sit before you collapse."

"Yes, Mom..." She sank down into the chair. "Ya know, that hospital bed CAN sleep two.."

Tom gave her a slightly amused glance. "Wait until they've settled him upstairs."

"Yeah, you're gonna fit in just fine with this family..." she assured him as he went to call Mel.

The nurses assured Nicole an hour later, as they moved him to a private room, that it was perfectly normal for Peter to still be unconscious for quite some time. But as strongly as they advised her to go home and get some rest herself, she would not be moved.

By the time Peter was settled into his room, Nicole's hands had begun to shake slightly with fatigue. The adrenaline rush was gone, and she'd come down from the fear-high that had been keeping her on her feet. Through it all, Tom Ryan stood at her side, lending what support he could, listening to her rant at times, sitting with her as she sank into the silence of her memories of other hospitals and other injuries, other scares... The good memories associated with hospitals, such as their first marriage and Sam's easy birth she spoke of in a conversational tone of voice, as though sharing them not only with Tom, but reliving them with Peter, whose warm, unresponsive hand she held. The harder memories, his most recent shooting, the birth of the twins and her subsequent brush with death she spoke of in a near whisper.

Her sleepy eyes lit up at the sight of Mel, standing in the doorway. In her arms was Samantha, and following obediently behind her were the twins. Paul ran to his mother immediately, climbing into her lap and hugging her around the neck. They'd seen their father in the hospital before, but the place frightened them. Cait headed straight for the side of Peter's bed, pulling herself into Tom's lap even as he was trying to stand to greet his wife. "What happen to Daddy?" she asked, shooting an almost accusatory look at her mother.

Nicole blanched at the expression, but forced a smile to her face, "Honey, he's gonna be fine... a man did something not very nice to him, and that man's in jail now... Uncle Tom arrested him..."

Cait looked at the distance over to the bed, then back at Tom. "I want up."

Tom didn't want to place the little girl on the bed with Peter, fearful of her inadvertently dislodging one of the IV feeds or touching his bandaged hand, yet he could see from the look in her eyes that there was going to be a tantrum if she didn't somehow get her way, he moved over and sat on the edge of the bed with her in his arms. "Careful of the wires and tubes, Cait... your dad's getting medicine through them..." he told her quietly.

Cait nodded, though she hadn't been listening. She was too busy watching her father and wondering why he was still sleeping.

Nicole smiled at little as Mel sat in the chair Tom had just vacated, still holding the sleeping baby. "If it was ME in that bed, she'd be running to pull the plugs..." she whispered to Mel, nodding towards Cait.

"Possessive is she?"

"You think I'M scary when crossed? Try to move her from that spot and you'll be pulling back a bloody stump..."

Tom looked over at Mel. "Have they eaten?"

"No, we came right down... Cait insisted. I'll take a walk down to the cafeteria and get bagels and coffee for us all."

"I'll come with you...Tom offered. "Nicole, you'll be okay in here with the kids for a few?"

"Sure... Go ahead. You don't even have to stick around, you've been up all night and you should get some sleep yourself."

"In a little while..." Tom nodded.

Mel reluctantly parted with Samantha, handing her over to Nicole. Tom set Cait back into the chair by the side of the bed and took his wife's hand, leading her out of the room, headed for the cafeteria.

Cait looked sadly over at her father. "When is Daddy gonna wake up?"

"When he's stronger... when the medicine gets a chance to work..." Nicole answered, reaching over to touch Peter's hand.

"His hand..." Cait pointed to the bandaged hand that lay across Peter's chest.

"It got burned. But it's not bad, honest."

"Daddy come home now?" she asked, looking hopefully at her mother.

"Maybe in a couple of days... then we'll take him home and take care of him there. You can help me take care of him, okay?"

Cait nodded, a serious expression on her face.

Nicole reached out to brush an errant lock of hair out of Cait's face. "I know that you'll take good care of him..."

The girl sat still and allowed the gesture, however, the expression on her face said she didn't like it. Nicole stopped after straightening her hair a bit and pulled her hand back. The constant rejection from her first born stung every time.

Tom and Mel returned soon with bagels and cream cheese, coffee for the adults and milk for the kids. Cait took hers from Tom with a polite smile, saying "Thank you," just the way she was supposed to, and dug in. Paul merely picked at his the way his mother was doing. Nicole had no appetite.

"Would you two mind taking the kids? I'll just grab a cab back a little later...?" Nicole asked quietly.

"Sure..." Mel agreed, reaching for Sam. "You sure you want to stay?"

"I'm sure."

"I want to be here with Daddy," Cait protested a little loudly.

"Okay, honey..." Nicole relented. She was in no way ready to handle a hissy fit. She looked at Sam, asleep in Mel's arms, and Paul, dropping off quickly too, they really hadn't gotten enough sleep the last night.

"Try and get some rest Nicole," Tom advised as he reached down to pick up Paul, who looked like he was too tired to walk out himself.

"I will... I know if I drop off, my assistant nurse here will keep a good eye on the patient..." she winked at Cait.

Cait nodded and settled back down in the chair next to Peter.

Nicole watched them leave, and felt her energy leaving with them. She glanced over at Cait, "Kind of like Saturday mornings, only no cartoons, huh?"

"No. Don't like that." She pointed at the dialysis machine.

"Me either, but it's helping your dad, while he gets all that nasty medicine out of his body."

Cait looked at her without saying anything before returning her eyes to Peter. Nicole closed her eyes in frustration, she had no problems communicating with her other two kids... just Cait... she had no idea how to get through to her.

The slight movement in the bed an hour later drew Nicole's attention back to Peter. She moved from the chair to the side of the bed and lay a hand on the side of his face. There was movement behind his eyelids, and he turned his head slightly, away from the touch of her hand. "Peter???" she whispered, trying to wake him up.

His movements increased slightly at her voice, his eyes began moving more rapidly under the closed eyelids. A few moments later, his eyes slowly opened, and he fought to focus. It was a visible effort for him to keep them open.

"Hey, babe.." she smiled, kissing his forehead, "Feeling better???"

"Where?" His voice was hoarse and muffled.

"Hospital... Palm Beach... you remember what happened?" she asked gently.

"Went to the car.... then blank...."

"You don't remember anything after that? You remember what happened before that right???" she smiled.

He smiled weakly at her.

"Okay... at least that memory is intact..." she smiled.

"I owe you...."

"You owe me for what?"

"Last night.... unfinished...."

"Got a lifetime to finish that..." she whispered, her eyes lit up with humor and relief and love.

"Kids?"

"One sleeping in the chair directly on your left... two with Mel and Tom. While you were out at the car one of Tom's old collars grabbed you thinking you were him... socked you full of some nasty potions..."

Peter's eyes drifted towards the dialysis machine. "What's that?"

"Nothing to worry about, everything's fine... it's just helping your body out a little so it doesn't have to work so hard while it's filtering out the drugs..."

A stubborn look crossed his features. "Take it away...."

"No can do... Doctor's orders."

"I don't like it...."

"I knew you wouldn't. Cait doesn't like it either, but... mommy knows best."

"Don't need it...." Peter snapped tiredly.

"You gonna give me a hard time...?"

"Yes. I don't want it..."

"Please...." she sighed, out of energy to really fight with him on this. She knew he hated it, and she knew he needed it, "Please... for me? I just want you to get better..."

"Where's the doctor?"

"Fine... You want to be that way..." She got up and went in search of the doctor. She returned with him a moment later.

"Mr. Caine, you're awake, good... "

"Why that?" He pointed at the machine.

"That is for helping your body to filter out the drugs that you were given last night. Your body can't do it on its' own."

Peter repeated his wishes. "Don't want it..."

"Mr. Caine, it's necessary. Otherwise your body will not get rid of the toxins."

"Take it away... Don't want it... Don't like it..."

"Look, Peter... you're barely awake, you've still got a lot of that shit in your system, you're not thinking clearly, and you'll be falling asleep again soon anyway... by the time you wake up again, maybe it'll be gone... you won't even know it's there..." Nicole tried to reason with him. She'd seen him doing his stubborn act before, and she'd expected him to be unhappy about the machine, but he was truly carrying it further than she had anticipated.

The doctor stood up and walked out of the room, returning a moment later with a syringe. He put the contents into one of Peter's IV ports. "That will put him to sleep. It won't do any damage to his system, nor will it worsen the effects of the drugs he was given."

Nicole leaned over and kissed Peter's forehead before he was pulled under by the sedaive, still protesting. "Love you... stubborn man." She turned to the doctor gratefully. "Thank you.... he can be very... pigheaded..."

"We should be able to remove him from that this evening. You look like you need to sleep."

"I just have to pry our daughter away from her father's side."

"Doctor's orders. He'll sleep for several hours. Go home, sleep, eat some dinner and come back later this evening."

She nodded, "You're all right Doc, we could use you in the hospital back home..." She smiled, then stooped to gently pick up Cait, trying not to wake her.

The doctor walked out of the room after being assured that she would go home and rest. And Cait awoke the second her mother touched her. "Where you taking me?"

"Back to Tom and Mel's... The doctor said Daddy's going to sleep until tonight... I promise, we'll come back right after dinner."

"Don't wanna to leave," she cried, struggling in Nicole's arms.

"I know you don't, but we have to for now. We need to get some real sleep, and some food and we'll come back later." Nicole started towards the door with the struggling child.

"No! Put me down!"

"Cait, you and I are leaving now. Period."

"NO!"

Nicole put her down on the other bed and held her sitting there, looking her in the eye, meeting her glare for glare, "Don't you use that tone with me young lady. And don't bother causing a scene because I will carry you out of here kicking and screaming if I have to."

"I won't go!"

"Yeah, well, guess what? I'm bigger than you and I say we're going..." She picked her up and carried her out.

"NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Nicole ignored the screams and carried Cait out to get a cab. They garnered a lot of stares as they went through the halls and out the lobby. Cait was not only screaming but kicking as well. She was still throwing a fit when they got to Tom's and Mel's.

Paul and Sam were still sound asleep. Mel looked up as Nicole brought the screaming kid into the house. "Nicole? What happened?"

"She didn't want to leave the hospital," she explained, finally putting Cait down.

Cait aimed one last kick at Nicole's shin before storming from the room. "I hate you!" trailed behind her as she stomped throughout the house.

Nicole sagged tiredly against the wall, defeat in her eyes. "I know you do..." she whispered after her.

Mel glanced apologetically at her. "She's just upset, Nicole. Give her some time to calm down. You're both on edge over Peter."

"...no... she hates me... " she half smiled, tears in her eyes. "I gotta go lay down..."

"Go on, Paul and Sam are asleep. I'll go find Cait. She doesn't really hate you.... she's at that age..."

"She's been at that age since she was born..." she muttered dejectedly, heading for the bedroom. "But... thanks."

"Go sleep. Tom should have dinner ready by the time you wake up."

Nicole nodded silently and headed upstairs. Slipping into a pair of loose sweats and a t-shirt, she lay down on the bed and closed her eyes. Exhausted as she was, sleep just seemed to elude her. Visions of Peter laying on the floor the previous night, the large Bowie knife in the other man's hands... a knife which might have been used had they arrived even five minutes later than they had.

His bull-headed behaviour in the hospital had confused her. Certainly they'd each spent a good deal of time in hospitals, and always he'd welcomed the comfort she offered, but not this time. And Cait... Right from the time Nicole had come home from the hospital after their birth, the child had cried when Nicole held her, squirmed away from her when learning to crawl, and her first steps had taken her straight away from her mother. Nicole often thought it was because she had been absent for the first two weeks of Cait's life, leaving the infant to bond with her father instead of her mother, but Paul's obvious adoration of his mother shot that theory full of holes.

The sound of the child's laughter outside brought her to her feet. Looking out of the window she could see Cait running happily towards the beach, Mel just a few feet behind her.

Tom knocked on the closed door, startling her from her thoughts. Nicole crossed the room and opened the door. "Hey..." she smiled.

"Hi." Tom held out a cup of tea. "Though you might need to relax some."

She laughed a little, taking the cup and sitting crosslegged on the bed, "Now you sound like Peter's dad..."

"My mom always gave us a cup of tea to relax us."

"So it's family tradition then. I'd say that one of these days we'd get to Boston and meet my aunt and uncle but... you can see how our vacations go..." she shrugged.

"Well if you don't leave the family house, you should be okay."

"Ohhhhh, I don't know about that." She smiled until the sound of Cait's laughter outside reached her ears. "I don't get it Tom... " She looked down, shaking her head sadly. "I love that kid... I really do... "

"And she loves you in her own way. My sister was always butting heads with my mom, now that she's an adult they get along fine."

"This goes a little further than head butting. I don't know if we'll both survive until she's an adult."

"You will. Peter balances you two out... Paul does too."

She nodded. "I used to kill people for a living without even flinching... I've been felled by a toddler."

"Kids have a way of humbling even the strongest of people."

"You got that right..." Nicole looked up at him, reaching up to touch his face with a little smile. "Yeah... maybe there is a little resemblance..."

He smiled. "Go to sleep, Nicole. We'll wake you for dinner."

"Thanks..." She handed the tea cup back to him and lay down again.

*****

Mel returned to the hospital with Nicole and the kids that evening. The fact that Peter looked so much like her husband was unnerving, especially seeing him lying in the hospital bed, when it was Tom that Adams had been after in the first place.

Nicole's first glance in the room told her the dialysis machine was gone. He'd been removed from it as the doctor had promised. She smiled as she saw that Peter's eyes were open. He stared blankly at the ceiling, not seeming to be aware of their entrance at first.

"Peter??" she whispered, coming forward to take his hand.

A soft moan came from him as he blinked repeatedly and turned his head to look at her. He moved his burnt hand slightly, bumping the railing. His eyes flew wide in pain.

Nicole reached over to quickly grab the arm, restraining it, not allowing him to thrash around with it any more. She cringed in sympathetic pain, "Easy, easy... you okay?"

Though his eyes had been open when they'd entered the room, he was apparently unaware of where he was at the moment. He looked around the room, orientating himself, recognizing the sterile surroundings. Once he remembered where he was, he immediately searched for the dialysis machine.

Nicole knew what he was looking for, stubborn man... "It's gone..." she assured him.

"New doctor," he demanded.

She cringed inwardly, the first words out of his mouth were cranky, not an encouraging sign. "Sure... I'll see what I can do..." she humored him.

"I mean it." His voice was hoarse.

"I know you do," she nodded. "How do you feel?"

"Pissed.... like shit..."

Nicole knew she was in for a bad time with this recovery. Drugs did bad things to the man. "I bet... and we're gonna do whatever we can to make sure you're feeling better quick..."

Cait rushed to the side of the bed, hauling herself up into the chair and trying to climb onto the bed. "Daddy!"

"They shouldn't be here..." Peter stared up at Nicole, finally realizing the kids were there.

"They wanted to come.. they needed the reassurance... Especially Cait."

"Take them home..." he insisted, clearly not in the mood for company of any sort.

Nicole nodded, Paul and Sam would go easy, but Cait... "Cait, honey, your daddy is real tired and doesn't feel too good, like when you were sick last month... he just wants to be alone to get some sleep, okay? I'm gonna have Mel take you home."

Cait shook her head, the stubborn look back in her eyes. "No. You stay, I stay."

"Cait, I think I'm gonna have Mel take me home too. I don't think Daddy wants any company right now."

"Caitlyn, go!" Peter snapped, not even looking at her.

Nicole took a deep breath and tamped down her reaction. "Come on guys... maybe we'll get some ice cream and let Daddy sleep."

Peter had already reclosed his eyes, but obviously wasn't asleep. He had simply dismissed them all. Nicole stared down at him, she knew when he was faking sleep. She reached out for Cait's hand, "Come on babe, let's go."

"NO!" She jerked away from her mother.

"Caitlyn, your father wants to be alone, we're leaving right now... screaming didn't help you this morning and it's not going to do any good this time either, now you know I'll just carry you out again..."

"STAY!"

Peter opened his eyes again and glared at her. "Caitlyn Laura, go with your mother..."

Cait was in too much shock at having been yelled at by her father to even think of fighting her mother as Nicole picked her up and carried her out of the room.

After a two day stay in the hospital, Peter Caine was deemed well enough to be released. And not a moment too soon for the staff who had begun to understand their Sloanville counterparts' feelings about the Caine family.

The family's remaining days in Palm were spent quietly, on the beach, in the water, and in bed. Peter remained subdued throughout, though his sense of humor had returned. Nicole watched him like a hawk, which was not difficult, considering the fact that Peter had taken to behaving as though they were joined at the hip. There was something of a quiet desperation about his attentiveness to her, and hers to him as the vacation drew to an end.

It rained the day the Caine family boarded their plane, headed for home. The gray skies cast gloom over the horizon as Tom and Mel stood in the terminal, watching the jet take flight. Tom's arm slipped around his wife's shoulders in an absentminded affectionate gesture. "I can't believe two weeks are up already..." he said softly.

"I bet it'll be good to get back to work, where things are quiet..." Mel laughed half-heartedly.

"They'll be all right..." Tom reassured her with a gentle squeeze. "From the stories Nicole told me while we were sitting in the hospital, they've been through a lot worse. Peter seems better, and the doctors released him with a clean bill of health."

Mel wrapped an arm around her husband's waist and steered him towards the exit. "I like our nice quiet life. I think I'm gonna reserve a third bullet-proof snowsuit for you when we go skiing. I'm not taking any chances."

The soft patter of rain on the canvas top of the Mustang relaxed Mel nearly to the point of sleep on the drive home. "The house is gonna seem a little empty without the kids running around," she yawned. "What do you want to do for the rest of our last day off?"

Tom grinned as he glanced over. "Work on getting some kids of our own to keep the house noisy..."

And with Peter and Nicole's departure from Palm, so ends The Ties that Bind. Be sure to tune in for "Dissolution", the next story in the continuing saga... where we will find that ------

The snow which had fallen and covered the ground while they were away was not the only change that had occurred in Sloanville. The evening they returned home, Peter and Nicole received a visit from an old friend. A distraught old friend. Mary Margaret Skalany broke down quietly in tears as she told them of Kwai Chang Caine's departure. Lo Si, she told them, had produced a decade old photo of Laura Caine, seated at a small cafe, the Parisian scenery behind her unmistakable.

*****

One morning, scarcely a month after Peter and Nicole's visit, Mel woke up earlier than usual, sick to her stomach. After three consecutive mornings of nausea and an over-the-counter pregnancy test, Mel and Tom announced their impending parenthood. The house would be quiet no longer. Their call to their cousins in Sloanville to share the news was met with enthusiastic congratulations, and a hasty hang-up. The call had come in the middle of a marital brawl in the Midwest.

******

With Mel two months pregnant, Tom hadn't wanted to take any chances. The couple had agreed to keep their reservations at the ski resort in Colorado, but that Mel would stick to the indoor activities and not attempt to show off her rusty ski skills. The conversation turned out to be unnecessary. The ski trip would be cancelled days before they were due to leave. Cancelled by a phone call from Nicole. She and Peter would not be joining them after all. Peter and Nicole were divorced.

FIN