Trubel and Hank continued down the hall to polish off the few Black Claw and Reaper members that remained. They were surrounded by HW agents that helped in the effort as well as their friends.

One friend was about to make a discovery...

Renard was working with the agents to liberate Nick and Trubel. He had just passed Trubel's room and was coming up on a door from which a female's screaming could be heard through the cracks. The screams came to an abrupt halt, and Renard couldn't contain his curiosity as he pulled the door handle and investigated the room. After all, he needed to make sure there were no Black Claw members that needed to be taken care of.

He stood in shock as he saw the smiling face of his daughter greet him when he entered the room.

"Diana?" he asked in horror as he looked down at the mutilated body of Griese at her feet. She was definitely dead this time.

"Hi, Daddy!" Diana greeted happily.

"You're supposed to be back at the house," Renard began to reprimand her.

Diana made a pouting face and said, "I am." Technically, in body, she was back at the house. Her spiritual double, however, was at the enemy compound killing the leader of the sadistic operation.

"Well, go all the way back to the house," Renard ordered her.

Diana continued to pout, but she listened to Renard's commands and disappeared.

Renard sighed with frustration.

Ever since Diana had teleported to the compound the first time and saw the guards beating Trubel, Renard and Adalind forbid her from returning. Of course, she had seen all kinds of horrors and would have been potentially helpful at finding Nick and Trubel, but Renard and Adalind knew that letting Diana return to that horrible place was bad parenting. Who knew what she would see or do? Surely, they couldn't let her witness Nick or Trubel's death, and Renard and Adalind had no way of ensuring that wouldn't happen if Diana teleported back to the compound.

Adalind and Renard had taken turns keeping an eye on Diana to make sure she didn't disobey them, but clearly they had slipped up. As Renard stood in the room with Griese's dead body, he realized that Adalind must have gotten so distracted thinking about the raid's outcome that she forgot to watch Diana. Oh, well. It ended up saving Trubel's life, so Diana's rebellion actually paid off.

Renard left the room and continued the fight against the Reapers and Black Claw members alongside his allies.

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

Despite the drama and near-death experiences, the whole raid only lasted about ten minutes at most. HW and the others took a "no survivors" policy, making the ordeal both simpler and more rewarding, at least in Nick and Trubel's eyes.

There was only one "Black Claw" survivor who lived. Angel's fate rested in Trubel's hands.

The HW agents remained at the compound in order to document the dead and see if they could hack into the computers of Black Claw and Reaper members that hadn't been completely destroyed during the fighting. Renard, Nick, Wu, and Hank all left the compound, waiting outside for Ian who said he needed to "take care of something."

Ian, with Angel standing handcuffed at his side, was waiting inside one of the rooms near the compound's entrance for an agent to bring Trubel to him. Trubel arrived quickly and was met outside the door by Ian.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

Truebl nodded, looking tired. "I just want to get out of here."

"Before you do, someone here says he knows you and that you'll vouch for him," Ian told her. He handed her a loaded gun and added, "If he's lying, take care of him and meet us outside."

Trubel took the weapon and walked into the room.

She thought there was no living person from the compound that she could possibly care about enough to save... until she saw Angel standing between two guards.

"Hey Lixa," he said calmly as he smiled at her blissfully. He was relieved that she was okay and now couldn't suppress the stupid and loving grin on his face.

Trubel would have doubted that the man in front of her was truly Angel, but he knew the password: Lixa.

Trubel walked over to him quickly, threw her arms around him, and buried her face in his chest.

"Oh, Angel..." she said, sounding choked up. She couldn't finish whatever she was about to say.

Angel chuckled lightly.

Trubel heard a sudden metallic click, and then Angel's arms were around her. He still had the handcuff key that Trubel gave him, and he used it to unlock his handcuffs and embrace the love of his life. The guards next to him exchanged disgruntled looks and were suddenly happy that Angel was on their side; he was crafty, and the guards had no idea that he had been unlocking his handcuffs while under their supervision.

Trubel pulled away from Angel just long enough to hand her gun over to one of the guards before she wrapped her arms around Angel again and kissed him.

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

Trubel and Angel eventually caught up with the others. Nick was confused since he had never heard that Damien was actually Angel and that Angel was in fact alive. Trubel explained everything and soon after everyone was transported by HW agents back to their respective houses - all except Trubel who went to Nick's house with Angel and Nick who was meeting Adalind at Renard's.

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

Nick opened the door to Renard's house and found Adalind pacing in the living room. When she turned to direct her pacing toward the door she saw Nick in the doorway and froze in shock. It took fractions of a second for her to gather herself and begin a walk/run toward Nick. He did the same and took Adalind into his arms when the distance was finally closed between them.

They exchanged "are you okay?"s and "I love you"s before Nick asked to see Kelly who was asleep in a crib next to the couch.

Nick picked up his son and kissed him on his head while he cooed with happiness. As Nick had his moment with his son, Renard walked up to Adalind and asked her where Diana was.

"She was tired, so she's taking a nap upstairs," Adalind explained. She was too busy staring lovingly at her fiance and her son to care why Renard asked the question. Meanwhile, Renard mumbled, "That explains it," to himself, crossed his arms, and watched as Nick reunited with his Kelly.

Eve was also still at Renard's house. 

"I'm glad you're okay," Eve told Nick while he smiled down at his son. Nick looked up and now smiled at Eve.

"Thank you for keeping them safe," he told her earnestly.

Eve grinned and put a comforting hand on Nick's shoulder. "Always."

Adalind walked over to Nick's side and leaned her head on his shoulder as he spoke to Eve and held his son. When she saw her chance, she told him, "I think I'm ready," in a peaceful voice.

"To go home?" Nick clarified, looking at her with confusion.

"To get married," she told him gently.

After everything, she didn't want to wait anymore.

Nick laughed happily and playfully told her, "Me, too" before leaning down to kiss her head.

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

One more chapter left! Wu-hoo!

Thanks for reading!

-TRBL247