Ten years later

A myriad of faces slid across the large screen, each one lingering only for a few seconds before switching to the next.

Kyle didn't need more. He'd become accustomed to catching the tiny detail he was looking for in the split second it was on screen. Over the years, he'd had to absorb impossible amounts of information and comb through it to find what he needed.

At first, it had been information about the agents the Counters still had. Then, as their war waged on and the Counters crumbled, they'd branched out to leaders of various crime rings. He did have and entire army of men to keep busy after all.

And as they searched and eliminated, they had finally come to the point where he believed they'd reached the final head of the Counters. The last man standing.

"Hey, how's it going?" Kay came next to him and leaned her elbow on his shoulder. "Dinner is almost ready."

He leaned in a planted a short kiss on her lips. "Good, I'm starving. And I'd say it's going pretty well. These are the people on the last personnel list Corey provided."

Kay's blue eyes focused on the screen as her finger played with a loose tendril of golden hair. She hadn't changed much over the years, if at all. She was still as gorgeous as the day they met and smelled like lilies. As fun, as intelligent and as ready for action.

"Huh..." She pushed a button on the console in front of the screen and the image froze, displaying Harry. "So, he's still with them?"

Kyle glanced at Sam's former best friend as well. "It's not confirmed. Corey and Vanessa think he might be on the run, actually."

"Well, good luck to him," Kay mumbled, pressing the button again and letting the images resume their hectic dance.

And as the headshots flickered by, it was Kyle's turn to press the button to stop the slideshow. The haggard face of a man filled the screen. His cheeks were saggy, like a bulldog's, and his eyes sunken, with heavy bags under them. The pockmarks and the papery aspect of his skin indicated he was a heavy smoker. His hair, even if barely visible because of the buzz cut, seemed to be mostly white.

"Ugh," Kay said. "Seems like a fit. And that name... Rufus Peck."

"We might be looking at the last of the Agency heads," Kyle said. The information accompanying the photo fit. Ex-military, early sixties, around for the Counters' descent into madness as the Cold War ended and they remained pointless.

"So..." She hesitated for a moment. "Are you planning to go after him personally?"

He tapped his fingers to his chin. "I don't know, I haven't considered it yet. Would be only fair."

"I guess." She tried to sound casual, but she was obviously nervous.

He grinned. "Still worried about me, sweetheart? After all these years?"

She turned and slapped his arm. "I'll always be worried about you. Comes with loving you."

"Or maybe you girls would like to take a stab at him." Because they had been joining them on missions for the past few years, since the kids were old enough to look after each other and they could all head out again.

It had seemed to breathe new life into Kay, Jessie and Angie, to be out on assignments again, infiltrating and bringing down human trafficking rings. And it was how it was supposed to be. Kyle had never intended to cut their wings and keep them inside. They were, after all, very efficient.

Kay's entire frame relaxed and she gave him a seductive smile. "Maybe we could do it together." And she ran her hand down his cheek, on his shoulder, then his side.

It gave him other ideas about what they could do together, so when he leaned over to kiss her, it was with a lot more purpose than before. She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him back with the same intensity, wrapping herself around him. He put his hands under her thighs and hoisted her up, placing her on the console. The imagines started flickering again, but he didn't care. Getting lost in her was much more important. The years hadn't dimmed the flames between them at all, only morphed them into something which relied heavily on intimacy. It made everything more intense.

"Hey, Dad. Ew, what the fu-- the hell?"

"Five dollars in the swear jar, Alex," Kay said, pulling away from him.

Kyle cursed under his breath as well. Now they had the kids interrupting, not just Jerry.

"Come on, Mom, I stopped myself."

"But you wanted to say it." She hopped of the console and crossed her arms over her chest, giving him the mom glare.

With a sigh, Kyle turned back to his oldest son, too. "What's up?"

Alex's protest died on his lips, his gaze moving from Kay to him and back, as if choosing his battles. Apparently the five dollars were less important than what he wanted from them. Which made it pretty obvious what it was. Kyle had been expecting that talk for a few weeks.

"Um, Mom, could you leave us alone to talk?"

Kay raised her eyebrows. "Why? What's going on?"

Alex shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He'd had his growth spur and had long surpassed his mother in height, but he still cowered before her. "It's guy stuff."

"Guy stuff," she said flatly.

Kyle leaned over and pretended to kiss her behind the year. "I think they're finally asking," he whispered to her.

"Oh," she whispered back.

"Could you guys... um, not?"

"We're not doing anything," Kay said with an eye roll. "Jerry."

"Ouch," Alex mumbled.

"But fine, I'm going." Kay headed for the door. She halted the moment she opened it. "You guys know you can go in, too, right? I know it's not guy stuff."

Kyle bit back a grin as Jenny, Sammy, Robin and Zoey made their way inside the room, dragging their feet and looking sheepish. Kay gave him a wink and closed the door behind her.

"As an FYI, I'm not intimidated by large numbers," Kyle said.

"That's not the point," Alex said quickly. "We just want to talk."

"Okay."

There was silence after this. Kyle raised his eyebrows, but the kids stayed silent. Jenny played with her thick braid, Sammy glanced at the screen behind Kyle which was still randomly displaying faces, while Zoey and Robin stared at Alex.

"Dad," Alex finally said. "We were thinking... We've grown up a lot. I mean Sammy's sixteen an Jenny and I... You know we've been training hard and we're pretty damn good at what we do." He paused as he realized he owed another dollar to the swear jar.

"Agreed, you are," Kyle said by means of encouragement.

He knew what they wanted to ask, but he wasn't going to make it any easier for them. He also knew they were right. They were much better trained than he'd been at their age. At everything. Fighting, shooting, identifying dangers and plotting their way out of them. Every useful skills any of them ever had, they'd passed down to their kids so that they could be even better.

"So, we were thinking," Jenny said, picking it up. "We really appreciate everything you've taught us and the school work Sam and Christine put us through. I mean, we've all taken standardized tests and aced them. But..." She lowered her light blue eyes and stared at her trainers.

Kyle just waited. This was one thing they had to do if they really wanted to go out into the world. Speak for themselves. "Why are you beating around the bush?" he asked. "What do you actually think I could do or say?"

"Say no," Robin mumbled.

"Not coming out with it is a definite no."

"We want to go to school," Sammy blurted out. "Like normal people."

Kyle fought hard to keep a straight face. "Ah. So you wish to face the challenges of high school."

"You guys all got to," Alex said. "I know what you're going to say. There's a lot of us, so it's not like we don't have kids our age to hang out with, but we're all related!"

Kyle couldn't help laughing at that. "Found a pretty girl in the village there, Alex?"

He turned beet red and dropped the fight immediately.

"Yes, Daddy," Jenny said with an eyeroll. "We're teenagers. We might want to see how these flirting and dating things work."

It didn't sound as funny coming from her, but Kyle fought his impulse to go grab a gun. He'd raised them well and he trusted Jenny with his life.

"Okay, I understand why you're asking. But you..." He nodded towards Sammy, Robin and Zoey. "You have your own parents. Why are you here?"

"They all listen to you," Zoey said with a shrug.

"Yeah, when it comes to work stuff, not your families. I don't think your dad listens to anyone anyway."

"He listens to Mom," Zoey said.

"And you can talk to them," Robin said, his voice pleading.

Kyle had to admit it threw him off a little that the kids appeared to identify him as the weakest link out of all the parents. Was he really that lenient?

"Okay, so let's say you tier one and tier two kids can go to school because you're old enough and definitely could anticipate dangers. What about Davyn and Hannah?"

"Tier one and tier two kids?" Sammy asked amused.

"You know what I mean!"

"Davyn said to give you this." Jenny stepped forward and passed Kyle a folded piece of paper.

He raised his eyebrows and opened it. It contained a large and very detailed drawing of a school building and school buss with tiny people milling about. Davyn had always been exceptionally good at drawing. On one side of the drawing he'd written "I want to go here" in cursive, with an arrow pointing at the school. In the other corner, he's signed his name in the same beautiful cursive. Davyn Robert Grant.

Great, little Bob wanted to go to school, too. His grandfather would be proud of his determination.

"Hannah also wants to go," Robin said. "She made a drawing, too, but I think Jules has it?"

Kyle glanced at the drawing, making calculations. It wouldn't be fair for the older kids to go to school and the little ones to stay behind. After all, Davyn and Hannah were well trained and they'd be having their brothers looking out for them. But his heart still clenched uncomfortably. He didn't feel ready to let Davyn go. Plus, even if his youngest looked exactly like him, he'd somehow inherited Tom's chaotic personality, and that worried Kyle more than he cared to admit.

"We'll think about it," he finally said, folding the paper. "Now head on to dinner."

They all skipped out, grins filling their faces, obviously understanding that the lack of an outward no was actually a yes. They were so smart and he was both proud and terrified. He knew this day would come, and it wasn't like they would be on their own one hundred percent. They still got to watch from afar.

"Maybe it is time for them to start their own adventure," Kay said as they walked hand in hand on the beach after dinner, heading for the camp fire spot to meet the others.

They'd settled down in Costa Rica for the past year and, for once, absolutely no one had bothered them. It was true that their compound which served as a command center and housing for the kids was rather secluded, as were the tiny huts on the beach they spent their nights in, but the silence was a blessing, as was not having to move around for such a long time. Then there was the obvious advantage of sun, see and palm trees. Made worrying about anything rather hard.

"I can't believe you're so cool with this," Kyle said.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Dunno. Though you'd freak out. But I guess that if you didn't freak out about them sneaking out at night to go into the village and dance, then this would be less shocking."

"They're doing what?"

Kyle laughed. "I thought you knew. It's not a secret."

"How was I supposed to know if they're sneaking out? How long has it been going on?"

He hummed in thought. "About three months after we moved here?"

"And you never told me?'

"I thought it was common knowledge. Also, it's not like I left them unsupervised. Speaking of which." He pressed his communicator in. "Eric, did they sneak out yet?" There was no answer. "Eric? Matthews are you wooing Vanessa instead of doing your job?"

"Kyle!" Kay said, though she sounded amused rather than reproachful.

"I'm sorry," Eric answered, a little out of breath. "No, I'm on it."

Yeah, right. "Look, I could send Eye Patch or Rud. Just let me know in advance next time."

"No, no. I'm going. We could use some dancing. I mean, I--" Eric stuttered.

Kay was giggling next to him and it was hard for Kyle to keep sounding serious. "Okay, fine. Just keep a lookout, okay? Though, honestly, I trust Vanessa more than you at this point."

"Thank you!" Vanessa yelled over the line.

"He's with her, isn't he?" Kay asked as they continued their walk.

"Yeah."

Honestly, Kyle was a lot more lenient than he should be towards them because he was just glad Eric had gotten over Kay and seemed to be finally building his own life. And Vanessa had been one of his most promising trainees at the Agency. They made a good pair.

"So you've known about this for months and never stopped the kids?" she asked.

"I didn't want to give them the chance to identify better methods to hide from us. I'm sure they know they're being watched and as long as no one says anything, it's the best form of balance."

She pouted. "I still can't believe you didn't tell me."

"I honestly thought everyone knew."

"So not true, and I'll prove it." She pulled his hand and hurried towards the camp fire already visible.

The others were already there, lounging on the sand. Kyle dropped next to Jessie. Jimmy lay with his head in her lap and she played with her hand in his hair. Across the fire, Sam, Christine, Sarah and Jerry sat cuddled up. Tom sat a little further away, to the side, leaning back on his hands, Angie between his legs, resting against his chest.

"Okay, question," Kay said, settling herself in Kyle's lap. "Did everyone know that the kids are sneaking out?"

"Pretty much," Jimmy said, not even opening his eyes.

"Wait, what?" Angie asked, turning to look at Tom.

Sam, Christine, Jerry and Sarah looked flabbergasted as well.

"What?" Tom asked. "I thought it was common knowledge."

"Ha!" Kay said, turning to Kyle and poking him in the chest. "See? Not everyone knew."

Maybe, but he hated losing, so he hugged her against him and nuzzled her neck, drawing a giggle out of her.

"Wait, which kids are sneaking out?" Jerry asked carefully.

"The older ones," Jimmy said. "I don't think Michael, Davyn or Hannah are."

"Yeah, that's true," Kyle confirmed. "Plus, I always have them followed, so they're safe."

"Why didn't anyone bother to tell us?" Angie asked, giving Tom's chest a light slap. "And you're okay with this? You have a daughter!"

"Who can take care of herself just fine," Tom pointed out. "I pity the fool who would dream of touching her without her permission."

"Let them have their fun," Jessie said. "They're young."

"Just makes me realize we're not young anymore," Sam said with a sigh.

"Are you kidding?" Christine asked, nudging his shoulder. "You're hotter than ever."

"Yeah, you Grant men age like fine wine," Sarah added.

"What are you talking about?" Jerry asked. "You are gorgeous."

Sarah blushed and planted a kiss on his cheek. It was true that the passing years didn't seem to touch them that much. Maybe because they'd stayed active and young at heart. And so in love.

"Kinda hurts not to be too young anymore," Sam said with a smile.

"Next step in our evolution: I'm too old for this shit," Jimmy said.

They all laughed because it was still funny as long as they didn't feel too old for anything.

"Speaking of being young and wild, would it ruin the kids' night if we went out dancing as well?" Tom asked, tapping his foot to some inaudible music.

"Probably," Jimmy said with a smile.

"Anyway, we have something else to discuss," Kyle said. "They finally asked."

"Oh, God," Jerry said with a sigh. "We knew this moment would come."

"The thing is, the Counters are pretty much done for," Kyle said. "The last batch of files Corey sent us does contain the name of what appears to be their final leader. After we go after him and make him swallow his cyanide pill... Well, the danger reduces considerably."

"Huh. Just when I was starting to enjoy this life on the run," Tom said.

"Does this mean that we'd be able to return home?" Christine asked, obvious hope in her voice.

"Maybe not right away. But in, let's say, maybe a year, we could go back to Chicago."

"Or we could make a life here," Tom said. "I rather like Costa Rica. Quiet. Great weather."

"We also won't be forced to stick together anymore," Kyle pointed out.

"Are you kidding? We'd suffocate without you guys," Angie said.

"True," Tom admitted with a nod. "I love you guys more than beaches."

"So are we going to let them go?" Sam asked. "And if so, where?"

"We'll actually need to ask them that." Jimmy sat up from Jessie lap and leaned his forearms on his knees. "But knowing them, they'll want to go to Chicago."

"Why do you think that?" Jerry asked.

"Except for Davyn and Hannah, all of them were born there. Sammy still has memories. And, to be honest... It's sort of where we all belong."

Kyle had never seen it that way, since he'd grown up in Texas, but looking back, he guessed he'd always thought they'd return to Chicago when they were done. And even if it had taken longer than any of them had anticipated, the prospect of going back and running everything from there was very inviting.

"Maybe we should send them to X Race," Sam said.

"Or Saint Agnes," Tom said. "If you want to be more poetic."

"We're really doing this, then?" Kay asked.

"Honestly, even I can tell they need to be with kids their age," Jerry said with a sigh. "They need to start their lives properly, to grow."

"Remy, are you okay?" Sarah asked with a laugh.

"You know I'm right. You think the same."

It was true. They apparently all did. They'd done their best to prepare their kids for anything, but they couldn't keep them in the nest forever.

"Then it's settled," Kyle said. "We let them pick a school, and come September, they're all going."

"How will that work if we're not moving back yet?" Christine asked.

"Both Saint Agnes and X Race are boarding schools," Sam said. "It would be safer for them not to be associated with us for a while anyway. We're still supposedly dead."

"Does this mean that we get to give them secret last names?" Tom asked, excited.

"We'll let them decide on that, too," Kay said with a smile. Then she turned to Kyle, looking a bit worried. "What about Davyn?"

"He's old enough to go to any of those schools. And his brothers and cousins would look after him and Hannah."

"I can't believe we're doing this," Angie whispered.

"They'll be fine, babe." Tom kissed her temple. "Better than fine. We were a lot worse off at their age, remember?"

"That's true..."

They all fell silent and it was settled. They were letting their kids out into the world to start their own adventures. And when the time came, they would come back out into the light, too, and resume their lives as if nothing had happened. As if they hadn't spent the past decade wiping out a threat to the world. As if they wouldn't continue to do the same from the comfort of steady homes.

Yes, the Counters were through, and the Jewel Project and Serum Project were buried forever, but there was still work to be done.

Because they'd decided to continue their crusade against major crime, to keep fighting any threat overlooked by general law enforcement for being too complex or too dangerous, and that was something that was going to last and keep them active for as long as they chose to face it.

Their own adventure was far from over, but their kids were free to build their lives however they wanted.

Kyle hugged Kay tighter against her, and as he took in his brothers and sisters-in-law, just as young, as in love and as ready for adventure as ever, his heart filled with love and hope for the future. They'd been through so much together, and yet, they didn't let it break them. 

Through the fear, the torture and the loss, they'd pushed through and came out stronger than ever. Even if they had been so close to dying so many times, here they were, living their lives to the fullest. After everything they'd been through, on thing was clear to all of them.

They had left an important legacy behind.

And because of that, they were gonna live forever.

THE END