It has been a couple of weeks. Avery's reading room is all finished and set up with bookshelves and some furniture including a sofa and a swing chair hanging from the ceiling. T.K. and Carlos have settled into their new apartment. Matteo has moved into the Strand residence since his old place was blown up, accidentally, by his roommates. Jason pulls up in front of T.K. and Carlos' apartment building. Avery had called him asking if he could give her a lift as she wanted to see T.K. and Carlos, and Jason being Jason couldn't say no. Avery unbuckles her seatbelt and turns to face him.

'Thanks for driving me.' She smiles at him.

'No problem.' Jason smiles back. They fist bump and hug before Avery gets out. Jason watches as she makes her way to the fire escape and not the front door. Furrowing his eyebrows, confused, he starts to drive slowly and pulls up beside her just as she's about to climb onto the fire escape. He lowers the window. 'Erm... what are you doing?' He asks, making her jump. She turns to face him.

'Scaring T.K. and Carlos.' Avery tells him.

'I don't even know why I asked.' Jason shakes his head and laughs. 'Why go up the fire escape?'

'Because the window leads to the open plan area so I can scare them without getting exposed to something I'd rather not see.' Avery explains and then shudders at the thought.

'Right.' Jason says slowly. 'Well, I will leave you to it. I'll be waiting right here.' He puts the window back up whilst Avery starts to climb up the fire escape.

Meanwhile, T.K. and Carlos are in their bedroom changing the bedsheets when they hear the noise of a window opening.

'Wait here.' Carlos tells his boyfriend. He grabs his gun from the safe and walks out into the open-plan, closing the bedroom door behind him. A minute later, T.K. hears Carlos shout, 'JESUS FUCKING CHRIST! AVERY!' T.K. laughs and shakes his head as he walks out to them. Carlos and Avery are standing by the window.

'Erm, please don't shoot my sister.' T.K. laughs slightly, looking at Carlos. He then turns his attention to Avery. 'And you,' he adds with a sigh, 'stop giving my boyfriend heart attacks.'

'Where's the fun in that?' Avery grins as she walks to the sofa and collapses onto it. Carlos and T.K. look at each other and shake their heads before they join her. Carlos sits next to her whilst T.K. sits on the arm of the sofa with his feet planted on the cushions.

'What brings you here?' T.K. asks her.

'I wanted to scare you guys.'

'You came all this way just to scare us?' Carlos questions. 'You are a fucking weirdo.' He laughs.

'Yup.' Avery smiles, proudly. 'I was bored and wanted to kill some time.'

'And you decided to disturb our peaceful morning?' T.K. jokes.

'You know you missed me scaring the shit outta you guys.' Avery smirks.

'Nah,' T.K. shakes his head. Avery picks up one of the cushions and throws it hard so that when T.K. catches it, he falls back, landing on the floor.

'Fucking hell.' T.K. groans as Carlos tries to hide his laughter.

'Byeeee.' Avery grins as she quickly rushes back to the fire escape and leaves. Carlos stands up, walks to T.K. and helps him stand up.

'I think we need to get child locks for our windows.' Carlos laughs.

'Nope.' T.K. shakes his head. 'Wouldn't work. When she was younger she managed to push open the stair gates when they were locked. You think a lock on our windows is going to work?' He adds. 'She's a devious little shit, nothing will stop her. Trust me, I've tried.' He rubs the back of his head. They walk to the window, look out and see her jumping into Jason's car.

In Jason's car, Avery buckles her seatbelt.

'Go, go, go.' She tells him quickly.

'What the-' Jason starts to say.

'Go!' Avery urges him.

'I was your getaway driver in L.A.' Jason raises an eyebrow. 'I'm not being it here. What did you do?'

'Nothing.' Avery states innocently.

'Ave.' Jason raises an eyebrow.

'Jase.' Avery also raises an eyebrow. Jason gives her "the stare" and she sighs. She goes on to explain what happened.

'So you ran because you're a devious little shit and wanted to get out of the consequences?'

'Please.' Avery scoffs. 'With T.K. there are no consequences.' She continues. 'He loves me too much.' Jason puts the car into gear and starts driving.

'God, I can understand why you get on their nerves so much.' Jason mutters under his breath.

.

It's the next day, Avery and Megan are out shopping using some money and vouchers Avey had gotten for her birthday. By around lunchtime, they're finished shopping so they decide to go and grab some coffee and sandwiches from Starbucks before they head to the fire station as Avery had agreed to meet Owen and T.K. there. Avery is walking out of Starbucks with the coffees and a brown paper bag when she sees Megan talking to a woman. Just before she reaches them, the woman hands an envelope to Megan before rushing away.

'Who was that?' Avery asks as she joins Megan.

'My mom.' Megan replies quietly as she glances down at the envelope. When she looks back up, she finds that her mom has disappeared. Avery hands Megan her drink and she takes it as she places the envelope in her pocket.

'What did she give you?' Avery asks as they start to make their way to the 126.

'I don't know.' Megan shrugs. 'I'll have a look when we get to the station.' Sensing that Megan didn't want to talk much about it right now, she changes the subject as they carry on walking.

.

A little while later, Megan and Avery are sitting by the trucks in the station whilst the crew do equipment checks and cleaning. Avery catches Megan looking down at the letter she had received earlier, still unopened.

'Do you know what it could be?' Avery questions.

'No.' Megan mumbles, shaking her head. She opens the envelope, takes the letter out and starts reading it.

'It says Craig isn't my real dad.' Megan says in disbelief. Megan has told Avery about her "family" situation before, so Avery knows what she is talking about.

'What?! Does it say who it is? Or who it could be?' Avery asks as Megan continues reading the letter.

'Some guy from L.A. Mike Leighton.' Megan reads the name from the letter.

'What?!' Avery exclaims as Megan shows her the letter.

'Do you know him?' Megan asks hopeful, knowing that Avery is from L.A.

'I recognise the name but I can't place why.' Avery says.

'It says that my mom listed Craig as my father on my birth certificate because she never told Mike and she was already pregnant when she started dating Craig.' Megan explains, reading the letter. 'This changes a lot. It changes everything. Craig wasn't my dad but this Mike guy might be.'

'You do realise that if this is true you might have a whole ass family out there, right?' Avery states the obvious but all Megan can do is nod and keep looking at the letter.

'Jeez.' Megan sighs as she folds the letter and slides it into her pocket. The two sit in silence for a couple of minutes.

'You okay?' Avery asks, breaking the silence.

'Yeah, this is just a lot to take in.' Megan answers truthfully. She stands up and grabs her bag. 'I have to go. I'll see you later.' She starts to leave. Avery stands up and followers her.

'Megan! Wait!' Avery calls after her but it's no use, she's already gone. Avery sighs, walks out of the station and leans against the wall. T.K., who had heard the commotion, walks out to her.

'What was that about?' He asks her. She turns to face him.

'I don't think it's my place to say.' Avery replies quietly but she sees the look T.K. is giving her and sighs. They both stand with their backs against the wall. 'She found out that her birth dad isn't her real dad. Someone her mom dated in L.A. is, well, might be.' Avery explains. T.K. is just as shocked as Avery was.

'I thought she hasn't seen her mom in years?' T.K. asks.

'She hasn't.' Avery shakes her head. 'I think that's why she took off. She needs some time alone.'

Later that afternoon, Avery was in her reading room, in her swing chair, reading whilst talking to Megan on the phone. T.K. and Carlos were around for dinner so they were downstairs with Owen, preparing food. The two teens had been talking for a while about how Megan was feeling.

'I just don't know, Ave. I just need to see if there is even a possibility of this being true. If it is, then so much could change. This guy might not want to know me but he may want to know me and I need to find out.' Megan told Avery. Avery can hear Megan moving around. She puts her books down and sits upright.

'Wait, so you're going to L.A.?' She catches on.

'Yeah, I have some money saved up. I've just booked the ticket. My plane leaves in two hours. I managed to snag the last seat.' Megan replies.

'Are you sure this is a good idea?' Avery asks. 'I mean, you don't know L.A. that well and this guy could be a serial killer or something.' Megan laughs.

'I'll be fine. I found the hospital he works at. I'm going there so I think I'll be safe.'

'Wait-' Avery starts but Megan cuts her off.

'Bye.' Megan states before hanging up.

'Crap.' Avery mutters as she quickly stands up and runs downstairs.

'Woah, where's the fire?' Owen jokes as she runs into the kitchen.

'Who died in the book?' T.K. asks, not looking up from his phone.

'Megan is about to get on a plane to L.A. to find her dad.' Avery blurts, taking Carlos, T.K. and Owen by surprise.

'What?' T.K. snaps his head up from his phone.

'We have to do something.' Avery adds. 'She shouldn't be doing this alone.'

'What are you thinking?' Owen asks, sensing his daughter has an idea.

'Megan said she got the last seat but flights to L.A. are pretty regular. I bet I can get a seat on the next flight. I know L.A. like the back of my hand. Megan doesn't. Another reason I should go.' Avery says.

'Are you sure you want to do this?' Owen asks his daughter.

'It's Megan, dad. She'd do the same for me.' Avery says simply.

'Okay, let's see if we can get you on a flight.' Owen takes his phone out and starts to look for flights. When he finds one, he shows his phone to Avery. 'I booked you an open return.' Avery looks at the time of the flight.

'That's good. I'll only be about an hour or so behind her.' Avery nods.

'Go pack a bag. I'll sort everything else out.' Owen tells her. 'I know you don't like me saying this but please, try and eat properly.'

'Don't worry. I think Megan will be on my back about that.' Avery laughs slightly. 'Thank you.' Avery hugs him before rushing upstairs to pack her bag.

'Don't forget your meds!' T.K. shouts up the stairs.

'Gottem.' Avery shouts back since they were the first thing she packed.

.

It's the evening, Avery has arrived in L.A. Megan had told her what hotel she was staying in so she made her way there and was able to get into Megan's hotel room by lying to the desk clerk saying they were sisters and showing them a picture of the two of them. She is sitting in one of the chairs when she hears Megan mumbling outside. Megan opens the door with her eyes fixated on her phone. Not looking up, she drops her bag and jacket on the table and shuts the door. She turns around but before she can fully turn around, Avery speaks up.

'Surprise bitch.' She grins, making Megan jump and she fully faces Avery.

'Jesus fucking christ Avery! What the hell are you doing here?!' Megan exclaims, her hand on her chest.

'Firstly, I am not going to apologise for scaring you. We both know that's what I do best.' Avery starts. 'Secondly, we didn't want you to be alone. Dad put me on the flight after yours.' Avery explains.

'How did you even get in here?' Megan asks, raising an eyebrow.

'I told the dude at the front desk we were sisters and showed him a picture of us together. He believed me and let me in.' Megan sits down on the bed. 'So, how'd it go?' Avery asks.

'Good, I guess. He was shocked. Obviously.' Megan replies. 'But here's the thing. My mom told him she had an abortion right after she told him she was pregnant. He never got a chance to tell her his feelings towards it all.' Megan tells her.

'Really?'

'Yeah.' Megan nods slightly. 'I mean, it does sound like something my mom would do.' She shrugs her shoulders. 'Anyways, I agreed to meet him at the hospital in a couple of hours when his shift finishes.'

'Do you want me to come?' Avery offers. 'You know, just to make sure he's not a serial killer or something?' Avery teases in an attempt to lighten the mood.

'He's a doctor so I think I'm safe.' Megan laughs. She then sees the looks that Avery is giving her. 'Fine.' Megan gives in. 'But only to meet him.'

'Cool.' Avery grins. 'I'll either come back here or go and meet some old friends.'

'Deal.' Megan smiles. 'Thanks for coming.' Avery smiles slightly.

'I don't know about you but I'm a little hungry. Let's order some room service.' Avery says, grabbing the phone. 'And don't even argue. My dad gave me one of his credit cards. He said not to go overboard but to make sure we eat and to not use all of our own money.' They ordered room service and decided to chill before heading to meet Megan's dad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soooooo!!! This marks the start of a massive storyline involving Megan from Addicted by DharmaWinter so be sure to go check that story out for Megan's perspective of this storyline! 

Be sure to comment your thoughts on this chapter!!

Much love