I’ve got them. - Nick’s communication to Felicity through Briel’s cell phone, April 2.

Belize. – Felicity’s response to an email from her mother, April 2.

Once they reached The Lodge, the front seat emptied, its inhabitants forming a semicircle outside Adam’s door. Briel then opened the door, and Adam descended, pulling Brendon out behind him. Liam pointed a gun at Brendon, and Adam – who had managed to zip tie Brendon’s hands some time on the trip – yanked Brendon toward the corridor leading to the basement cell where they had held Felicity for the short while before.

“Make sure you find something better for his hands,” Felicity called out after them. “Those zip ties are pretty easy to bite through.”

Jase gently tugged her elbow, leading her to a small lobby that led to the elevators. Other than Adam, who stood guard over Brendon, the rest of Briel’s team trudged up the stairs. With a start, Felicity realized that did not include Jase.

Once in the little lobby, Jase pulled the two modern chairs until they faced each other and almost touched. He led Felicity to one and seated himself in the other, taking her hand in his.

“You are crazy, Felicity. You gave me a heart attack back there.”

“Well, you gave Bill one. And I think the effect will last longer.”

Though he smirked, Jase said nothing for a moment. “I think you’re wrong about that,” he murmured, and the sadness in his voice tore Felicity’s heart to shreds. Apparently, the time had finally come.

“First of all, I want you to know that while you were sleeping, Briel called in a favor with some of her coworkers who went and retrieved your kids from Bill’s compound. Your brother has them now.”

Felicity had felt so relieved to be out of Bill’s hornet’s nest, she had almost forgotten that her children were held hostage. The guilt of her forgetting warred with her relief at their rescue. Once her emotion at her children’s plight passed, Jase took a deep breath to go on. “It was well done,” he assured her, “and Briel has set up a really nice place for you guys once you are back with Nick and your parents. Your parents are prepared to move wherever they need to keep you guys safe.”

“I guess it makes sense to move,” Felicity frowned, slightly troubled.

“You wouldn’t want to go back to that house,” Jase shrugged. “I mean, of course you can go back, but I have paid movers to stand by for your instructions. Nick is ready to manage it when you are ready. If you don’t ever want to go back, you don’t have to.”

Strangely, Felicity found that she liked the idea of never going back to that house. It was like a pretend world, an illusion that had bound her in lies and deception for fifteen years. Going back felt like entering a faerie world, ephemeral and dark. Maybe someday, when someone else had moved their very different things into the property, Felicity would knock on the door and see if the myth had shattered once new spirits had invaded it.

“No, you’re right,” she nodded to Jase. “You can tell the movers to pack it up. I think it’s probably best for the kids, too, if they can have a clean break.”

“I also thought you should know that Brendon has already asked for a deal. He will corroborate everything on those files if the government will shorten his prison sentence. White collar. Briel has enough connections that I feel pretty confident she will deliver him what he wants.”

Felicity pressed down her rising anxiety. “How long do you think he’ll go to jail?” she queried as dispassionately as she could manage.

Obviously attuned to her, Jase leaned in forehead to forehead, his injured hand joining hers. “It will be at least a year,” he comforted.

“Only a year,” she whispered. “Then my kids will have to go back to him.”

“A year is a long time,” Jase comforted. “Your kids will be older and wiser, and so will you.”

Despite his assurances, she did not feel entirely consoled. Still, there were so many unknowns, she decided not to try to solve them all just yet.

“There’s something else,” he leveled, his tone raising the hairs on Felicity’s arms. “I’m going back to my old occupation.”

“Government work?” Felicity wondered.

“Like it,” Jase admitted, “and it works out, because you and I were going to be separated soon anyway.”

“’Be separated’?”

“We talked about this before,” he explained, leaning back to look out the glass walls of the lobby. “I don’t fit with your kids, and they don’t fit in my world. And you owe them first love.”

Felicity reached to touch his face with her uninjured hand.

Looking back to her eyes, he mirrored her move, reaching for her face. He brushed his thumb gently over her lips. Despite the sadness of his tone, Jase smiled at her. “You made things very clear from the beginning.”

“But I was just scared!” Felicity insisted. “I didn’t want to make a mistake. I didn’t want to go further than I could pull back from.”

“And you were right, Felicity,” he continued gently. “It was – well, maybe not a mistake, but a temporary fix.”

Felicity thought back to her drug analogy, a sob rising in her chest.

As if sensing her misery, Jase pulled her onto his lap, encircling her with his arm. For several minutes, neither of them said anything.

“I was right,” she finally allowed, lowering her head to his shoulder.

“You were. And now you’re free…” As he said the words, he gently gripped her left hand raising it to their eye level as he stroked his thumb over the pale ghost of a ring that encircled her fourth finger. “You’re free.”

Raising soft eyes to his, her lips curved up at the corners. “You fixed it,” she smiled.

Instead of responding, Jase entwined his fingers in hers and lowered his face until his lips brushed her temple. Unable to bear it, Felicity turned to him, wincing as she gripped his face with her other hand, but not letting the pain of her arm deter her. Her lips found his, and he seemed to light on fire. He released her hand, instead weaving his fingers through her hair with one hand and tugging her closer with the other, as if he couldn’t stand the space between them. Tears began to run down her cheeks, and Felicity found herself dizzy with lack of breathing.

Finally, Jase gasped, as if he, too, hadn’t breathed for too long.

It was a release, a dismissal, and goodbye. Wiping the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs, Jase brushed the warm skin of his cheek against hers before leaning away.

“Don’t say anything,” he whispered, and Felicity knew she couldn’t have spoken anyway. He gently stood to his feet, sliding her to her own.

Her tears flowed anew, and he brushed her hair out of her eyes, gazing into them with a strange ecstatic melancholy. He again stroked his thumb over the pale circle where her ring had been. “I won’t say it either.”

Turning from her, he stepped through the door and strolled out beyond the glass walls of The Lodge. Once he had faded into the grey light of dawn, Felicity sat down in his chair and wept.