Kya

He took her outside, and signalled to the parked car. Lights came on almost immediately and the car pulled up beside them. Nate opened the back door and helped the pregnant woman into the vehicle.

"Sir?" Came the question.

"Take the lieutenant back to Alameda, she is awake." He said, then stood back as the car drove away, red taillights dimming in the distance until it turned the corner and was gone.

He turned and slammed back through the bar doors to charge up to Donovan, and was stopped by both of the Naval Officers.

"I'll kill him! Let me go. He killed her!"

"Sir, Sir! Captain Briggs! It's not worth it, Sir." One of the officers said.

"Get him out of here! Donovan, you ever set foot in my bar again, you're a dead man!" Nate snarled.

Special Agent Donovan laughed. "Doesn't matter, Captain. I figured out how they did it. How they could store a personality. Now we can do it too."

"She wasn't a toy, you sonofabitch. She was my woman!" Nate said, again getting held back by the burlier of the two Naval officers.

"Damn straight she is." Nate turned to see the Admiral standing in the door, greatcoat still on, surveying the scene, and as angry as Nate had ever seen him.

"Special Agent Donovan. I just got a telephone call. Seems to me one of the survivors of a horrific aircraft accident has had a relapse, courtesy of your continued interference." He said, walking up to where Donovan stood.

"I told you, if you got involved again, I'd have your gun and badge. I guess you don't understand what being a man of his word means, do you, son?" The Admiral continued as Police cars pulled up outside the bar, lights flashing.

The doors opened and police walked into the bar, followed by another guy in a suit. Only this one seemed to have some authority.

"Sean Donovan? I am placing you under arrest for violations of Title 28, Section 533, of the United States Code. Also, for repeated violations of the Patriot Act." He turned and pulled out his credentials for the Admiral and Nate to see. "Deputy Assistant Director Sloane. Admiral, my apologies that we were unable to stop this sooner. The matter came across my desk only days before your call."

He held out his hand, and an officer handed him Donovan's holstered gun and his badge as the other man was cuffed and taken out of the bar.

"If you need anything, Admiral, you call me directly. I have been given full jurisdiction in regards to your situation, and I answer only to Director Comeby himself in these matters." He then turned and left as Nate leaned against the bar, then slid down to be on the floor, his face a mask of pain and loss.

"Bloody hell and blast it." The Admiral said, then struggled to get down on his own knee, then sat down beside Nate.

He pulled Nate to him and held the younger man until Nate managed to compose himself.

"Why do you care so much, Sir? What is she to you?"

"My Granddaughter, Captain. I had a granddaughter, and she enlisted without my knowledge. DeSinlo was my brother's wife's family name. Kya is my blood."

"What will happen to her now?" Nate asked later as they sat at a table, a mass of empty beer bottles and used shot glasses littering the surface.

"We will put her back together. Hopefully, this time for good, son. The only thing I don't know is, how long it will take." was the reply.

"When can I see her?"

"Not until she is stable, son. It will all depend on how long it takes for us to either submerge Kiara, or to finally integrate the two halves into a uniform whole that can handle the horror and cope with it."

The Admiral downed another shot of whiskey then looked at Nate.

"You recall what the findings were of flight 484, son?"

Nate struggled to recall through the slowly growing alcoholic haze. "They died by their own hand, massive levels of adrenaline, and the pilot was scared. Terrified beyond understanding. I think the report said they literally were scared to death."

"Correct, Captain. They were scared to death. Kiara still has memories of whatever scared them. She remembers it, and every time it comes close to the surface of her mind, she comes closer to dying also." The Admiral slammed the glass down on the table had enough to make Nate jump. "But, we solved it. We can and did bury it, using Diamond actinic light to keep Kiara buried and keep the memories safely locked away, so Kya could have a decent life, without the horror, or the mental trauma. Until that fool Donovan dumped a pile of diamonds in front of her and dazzled her with reflected light."

"You can help her though, Admiral. Right?" Nate asked him.

"I'll never rest until she is stable, Captain. You have no concern on that score. The only regret I have, is that this will probably take four or five months. She will most likely give birth and you won't be able to be there for it." Was the succinct but sad reply.

Nate sighed, but nodded his head. "Her health is more important than that, Admiral. You get her better, if she can come back to me, then it's a bonus. As long as she is healthy, that's got to be the priority."

"The police and the local FBI are going to begin asking questions, Captain. It's their job. A woman is now going to be missing. We need to keep what's really going on under cover. Can you handle keeping this quiet?" The Admiral asked him.

Nate looked at the older man, the grandfather of the woman he loved, for a long moment before nodding. "She's gone, Sir. I have no idea where she is, and that is the truth."

The next two weeks were rough, the police were all over the joint, and the FBI, a different group than the one Donovan was attached to as well. A woman was missing, and they suspected Nate had killed her, because he'd been in an intense relationship, and she vanished the night the police arrested somebody at the bar. That very night she had vanished.

But, they had no leads, no body, and no idea if she was dead or alive, she was just gone. Nate was released from the last batch of questioning and came back to the bar, still in a fugue of loss and regret. He missed her, hell, he loved her and wanted her back. Even as he knew the Admiral would keep her safe, it didn't matter to a part of him, he wanted to hold her, to smell her, to feel her warm breath on his skin again. To feel her in his arms, to kiss her lips, hold her in his arms and fell her wrapped round him.

Nate shook his head to clear the memories. She would be back, the Admiral said she would. She just had to heal.

Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. The Admiral told Nate at one point Kya had safely given birth, but refused to give any other details, not even if it was a boy or girl, only that Nate would find out in due time.

Christmas came and went. The saddest Christmas Nate had ever experienced. He was alone, Kate was there, she refused to leave him, she nearly broke up with Charlene until Nate had actually put her over his lap, in front of Charlene, and spanked his sister's naked ass until she was crying. Then told her in no uncertain terms that he'd lost one love, and no damn way was he going to allow her to lose her love. Kate managed to maintain her own level of stability, and the romance between her and Charlene continued.

As Nate said later, that was the only bright spot in his day, knowing that his sister still had her partner.

That summer was cold. Not many days over 70 degrees, so they predicted a very cold winter. Nate was fine with it, he didn't sail the boat any more, so she stayed moored in the Marina. Nothing mattered to him except running the bar, and he put all his energy into that. The Admiral would come in once every couple of weeks, let him know how things were going, but not give any real details. Other than to say she was still alive, and they were solving the final problems with the mental trauma.

Nate couldn't go see her though. He had accepted that after the twentieth time he'd asked, and been told by the Admiral that it was not going to happen. It hurt, it burned, and he had cried himself to sleep that night, the first time in a long time that he had felt so alone.

Every time a woman entered the bar with long blonde hair, Nate had to stop himself staring, trying to see if it was her. Every time it never got easier, and he had dodged a few jealous boyfriend bullets by tending to grace the woman with a free drink, in honour of memories. Most of the regulars knew that, Nate had made it a habit that any woman with natural hip length or longer hair, got their first drink free, to honour Kya's memory.

...

Christmas Day, a cloudy day, full of heavily pregnant clouds ready to break free of their moist loads and dump the first snowfall in more than a decade on the Frisco bay. Nate was busy getting the place set up to open at noon, which was tradition, and Shirley was working with him, Charlene and Kate would be in later in the afternoon.

He was in the back room, pulling out some kegs of Ale and Beer and hooking them up to the pumps when he heard Shirley call out, so he finished fitting the one keg, then wiping his hands on the towel came out to see her staring out the windows as the white flakes began to fall.

"It's snowing, Nate." She said, smiling at him as he joined her at the big windows in the front of the bar.

"Yep, first time in a decade. This promises to be a cold winter." He replied.

"It sure is pretty. The flakes coming down, blowing around in the breeze, the fog is rolling in, gonna be a peaceful day I think, Nate." She said, then with a squeeze of his arm, Shirley went back to cleaning the tables and getting all the glasses lined up and ready for the Christmas Day crowd.

Nate finished hooking up the fresh kegs of Ale and Beer, then made sure all the pumps and piping were in good order, checking each tap to ensure there was pressure and the alcohol could flow easily, and he noted that the line for Guinness was running sluggish, so he pulled out a toolkit and dove under the maze of piping to find the problem.

An hour later, he had replaced a valve and the Guinness flowed smooth, just in time for the bar to open. Christmas music was playing in the background, Shirley had cued up the Christmas Day parade on the big screen TV's in the bar, and they opened the doors for the crowd, both of them wearing Santa hats and shouting Merry Christmas to everybody who entered.

Nate kept busy, pouring brews and chatting idly with the counter customers as Shirley swept her way around the tables, circulating fresh drinks, picking up the empties, chattering and flirting in her own way with everybody there, the place felt good, it was warm, the snow was falling even harder, and with the fog it was a peaceful time.

Nate was in the back when he heard the door open, then Shirley called to him "Nate, get out here, right now!"

With her tone like that, there was trouble, so Nate put down the fresh keg he was about to hook into the system and came out front, wiping his hands on the towel, and stopped dead in his tracks.

Standing just inside the door was a woman and a small child. The woman was Eurasian, olive skinned, with long blonde hair in an intricate braid, and the child had brown hair, also braided. Both of them were wearing heavy winter coats, and the woman was bent down, carefully unbuttoning the childs' coat. She looked up and Nate was in motion, walking around the counter and coming right up to her as she got back to her feet, just in time to be gathered in his arms as he hugged her to him so tightly he was sure he was going to break her, but he didn't care.

He held her for what seemed like forever, until she gently pressed him back and knelt down to finish removing the coat from the small girl, who stared up at him with those same big eyes, except hers were green, much like his own.

Nate also knelt down and looked at the little girl.

"Hello." He said softly.

The girl looked at him, then at the woman, who nodded, smiling gently, and said "Papa." Then the girl opened her arms then hugged him awkwardly, as little girls often do.

Nate gathered her into his arms and lifted her up, carrying her effortlessly, his other arm wrapped around his woman and they walked back over to the counter. He deposited the girl on the counter so she was sitting and turned to look at the woman, his Kya. Gone for so very long and back again.

"Hello Natanial." She said quietly, a few tears trickling down her perfect cheeks.

"Hello Kya." He said, then brushed the back of his hand down her cheek, gathering the wetness and wiping it away.

He was aware the people in the bar were quiet, most of them watching what was going on and not interfering, and that Shirley had taken over the role of barkeep to allow him all the time he needed for her homecoming. Jake looked deep into Kya's blue eyes and could feel her and her, no ... their daughter, watching him also.

"What have you named her?" He asked quietly.

"Nalia, after you, my Natanial. Her name is Nalia." Kya said softly.

"A perfect name, for a perfect girl. Are you here to stay?" Nate asked her, hoping to hear the right answer and almost dreading the wrong one.

"As long as you'll have her, Captain Briggs." He heard and turned as the Admiral walked through the doors, followed by a couple of other officers.

Nate turned and saluted the Admiral, who returned the salute, then walked forward and shook his hand firmly.

"No need to salute me any more, son. You're retired now, as is Miss DeSinlo here." He said.

"You were successful then, sir?" He asked, looking at Kya, not able to take his eyes off of her.

The Admiral chuckled. "We didn't do nothing, other than just give her the time, and make sure she had clean diapers for your daughter. Kya did it all herself, with Nalia's help."

Nate escorted them all to a table, but only the Admiral sat, and once Kya was seated with Nalia happily settled in her lap, a big mug of coke in front of her with a curly straw, Nate sat down also.

"What happened, Sir? I would really like to know." He finally asked.

"I'll let our retired Lieutenant explain. She knows it better than me anyway." Was the gruff yet tender reply as the Admiral sipped a scotch.

"I'm no longer two people, Natanial. I am whole again, and the demons are gone for good." She said, playing with Nalia's small hands and cooing at her daughter as she explained.

"What Donovan did started a slide into darkness, but I was six months pregnant, and the hormone changes prevented me from sliding too far down. I was trapped by my body's need to finish developing my baby, and my mind's desire to escape the demons. My body won, and my mind had to sort it out, for the safety of Nalia." She took a cup of coffee from Shirley with a bright smile and drank some.

"Once she was born, she was my entire focus, nothing else mattered. The demons would haunt me, and I would hold Nalia. The demons couldn't touch her, and she needed me. The demons slowly went away. I've not seen or heard from them in nearly six months, and then I told Pappy I wanted to see you, he was very ready, but asked me to wait for today. He felt we were close enough, and this would be a great present for you."

"So Nalia saved you?" Nate said, looking with love and wonder at the small girl that was part of him sitting on the lap of the woman he loved with all his heart.

"Aye, she saved us both, Natanial. She was proof of my love for you and your love for me." Kya replied.

"You're here to stay now, Kya?" Nate said, looking at the Eurasian beauty sitting beside him, their daughter quietly sitting on her lap playing with the curly straw.

"As long as ye will have me, Natanial. My place is with ye, if that be good?" She said with a slight smile.

"It would make me the happiest man alive." Nate said, then leaned over and kissed her.

He broke the kiss as the door opened, letting in a burst of cold air, swirling snow, and Charlene and Kate, both dressed in oversized coats against the chill. Charlene pulled off her coat, and helped Kate off with hers, then they both turned and saw the scene at the table.

"Kya!" Kate exclaimed, shocking everybody. The first word she had spoken in more than two decades. Kate ran over and hugged the other woman, tears streaming down her face as she embraced her, like a lost sister that she had never had.

"You're healed now, Kate. You're all better now." Kya murmured, hugging the other woman back. Kate pulled back, still struggling to speak, but was stopped by a finger to her lips. "One step at a time, Katarina. Simple words, let the feeling fill ye, then charge forward, just a wee bit more."

Kate smiled as Charlene came up and hugged her partner, they both looked down at the small girl sitting on Kya's lap.

"Is that...?" Charlene asked.

"Yes, this is Nalia, our daughter." Nate said, gently picking the girl up who immediately wrapped her little arms around his neck as she looked around silently.

Kate turned to look at the Admiral as he rose. She saluted him, and then spoke again, a faltering "Admiral." came from her lips.

He took her into his arms and hugged her, which Kate returned with her normal smile and warmth.

"It has been a long time, young Katarina. I'm glad that you're finally regaining your speech. You keep an eye on your brother, he's not as sharp as he thinks he is." The Admiral said, which made Kate smile and giggle.

"We need to go, Nate. You take care of Kya, you got a whole family here. You got any questions or if any problems come, you call me. Don't try to handle things on your own again, you pick up that phone and you make the call, clear?"

Nate stood to attention and saluted the older man. "Crystal, Sir. Thank you."

"No, Nate. Thank you, for giving this young lady the chance at a normal life. It's all she ever needed, and what she certainly earned and deserves. You take care now." He pulled on his jacket and put his hat on, then disappeared out the doors, followed by the two other officers, into the swirling snow and blowing wind outside.