Author's Note: So here is the conclusion of my little story, thanks so much for reading. It ran a little longer than I anticipated, I had too much fun playing around with Jupiter's abandonment issues and the various pack/hive dynamics that require adjustment on all sides. Please leave a review, it makes me happy :-)

Later that week, Caine is called off-planet on Legion business. It's funny, Jupiter thinks, recalling how highly she used to value her space and her privacy (likely a direct result of having neither for pretty much her entire life). Caine is the opposite, at least within a romantic relationship. When they'd first returned to Earth, it had taken her a little while to get used to his constant tactile displays of affection - - touching, nuzzling, snuggling, he seemed to have an instinctual need to keep her physically close. Now that she is used to it, now that she craves the intimacy herself, she finds sleeping in their bed without him to be difficult.

The first night he's gone, she tosses and turns restlessly. The second night, she awakens from a nightmare to find her arms and legs trapped; twisted in the sheets, and hot tears streaming down her cheeks. She comes awake with a start and finds Stinger sitting on the bed beside her, hand on her shoulder as he gently tries to waken her from her terror. As the real world comes back into focus and the nightmare begins to fade, she blinks several times in confusion at the darkness of the room before realizing where she is and launching herself into Stinger's arms, sobbing incoherently into his shoulder. To her surprise and relief, he doesn't recoil. Instead, he wraps her in his arms, crooning soothingly into her ear.

"Shhh" he murmurs, stroking her hair "It's all right, t'was only a dream"

Jupiter remembers then that he raised Kiza by himself, and therefore can't be completely inept at providing emotional support. In fact, he's doing really well right this moment.

When she finally calms down and wakes up fully, Jupiter feels foolish. "I'm sorry" she apologizes, rubbing her hands over her swollen eyes, brushing away the remaining tears.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" he asks as she scoots away

"It was Caine" she begins "There was a Sargon . . ." she trails off "I don't want to relive it"

Stinger nods in understanding "Why don't I make you some tea?" he suggests, rising to his feet.

"Would you . . ." she hesitates before asking, slightly embarrassed (although truthfully, it's a miracle she hasn't had MORE nightmares considering the events at the refinery) "Can we call him? Just to make sure that he's okay?"

She knows she's being ridiculous, but Stinger humors her without protest and Jupiter has never appreciated his quiet nature more. Thirty minutes later, he does bring her that cup of tea (he's begun stocking her favorite herbal brand). She is sitting on the sofa, having wrapped herself in the afghan her aunt knitted for her when she was born, a kind of security blanket. They've already talked to Caine by this time and all is well, he'll be back in the morning.

Stinger stays by her side her until she falls back asleep. He tucks the afghan securely around her shoulders, kissing the top of her head gently before he turns off the light and heads back upstairs.

The next morning, Stinger makes pancakes, and Caine gets home just in time to join them for breakfast. Jupiter drinks her coffee, eats her food, and he tells them both about his trip. Her previous unease fades away at the sweet domesticity of the scene, and she can't quite remember why she was so worried anymore.

It's mid-August now, and the heat closes around the house like a vice, but they are happy inside it, Jupiter is happy in the small corner of the universe that seems to belong to her. But it is not to last. It happens on a Thursday, the hottest day on record, the heat of the summer a raging inferno, pressing down oppressively to cook them inside their own skin.

Caine and Stinger have been up on the roof since dawn – Caine is trying valiantly to make a handyman out of Stinger, guiding him through the re-shingling process with very little success. Jupiter is in the office, trying to focus on her studies with the sweltering heat being the least of her distractions as every so often the nail gun "pops" above her head, interspersed with occasional curses from Stinger and bouts of laughter trickling down through the floorboards. Just as she's about to give up on the book she's currently reading, she sees the boys come swooping down off the roof and fly gracefully across the field and out of sight toward the small pond at the farm's edge.

"Oh good" she mutters to herself as she tosses her book to the side and pads off barefoot to the kitchen. "Time for a break" she thinks, standing in front of the open refrigerator, letting the cool air slide deliciously across her overheated skin for a few moments before grabbing the pitcher of lemonade and pouring herself a glass. Knowing the guys will be down at the pond cooling themselves off with a swim, she pours some of the liquid into a plastic travel jug and decides to walk down to join them.

This is when she sees it, when it finally all makes sense to her. Caine is in the water; splashing and "whooping" playfully, and Stinger is lying on the small wooden dock, his wings splayed open wide above him, drying in the sun. Jupiter is approaching from the narrow path cut through the corn field when her eyes land on Stinger, and she realizes with a jolt that she has never before seen him so unguarded. Suddenly, she realizes that every expression she's ever witnessed has been a mask, a carefully constructed façade.

At this moment his face is not so serious, not so formal as it always seems to be in front of her royal presence. He's unguarded, his face relaxed and happy in the bright sunshine and he looks at least a decade younger like this, and Jupiter catches herself thinking for a moment that Stinger is really quite lovely in his own way, and THEN she notices his eyes. They're fixed on Caine, who is facing away from them both, fluttering a few feet above the surface of the pond as he whips the water from his feathers by beating them back and forth, and Stinger's eyes are filled with . . . . . . longing.

Jupiter feels like she's been punched in the gut. Barely managing to stifle an outward gasp, she puts her hands over her mouth in shock, stepping backward quickly, back into the cover of the half-grown corn stalks and turns to run back to the house before either of them know she was ever there.

She skips dinner that night, claiming a headache, which isn't a lie because every single part of her hurts right now, body and soul. The more you care, the more the world finds ways to hurt you for it, why had she let herself forget that?

Later, when she climbs into bed beside Caine, her mind replays the look in Stinger's eyes over and over on a repeating loop and her stomach flips with nausea. When Caine slips his hands beneath the sheets to touch her, she stiffens involuntarily in his arms.

"Not tonight" she murmurs, turning on her side, away from him.

Caine kisses her shoulder sweetly, moving to wrap his arms around her in their habitual spooning sleep-pose but she can not force her body to relax. The stiffness radiates from her every pore when he touches her and she knows that he can sense it. After a few moments, Caine exhales softly, a small whine in the back of his throat, and releasing her, he rolls onto his back to sleep at her side.

She's wounded him, she knows it without even opening her eyes. They've slept wrapped around each other every night since her return to Earth after Balem's death, they've had sex every night since they started having sex - - every night. In all their time together, she's never asked him not to touch her and she knows she can't leave it like this between them, his need to cuddle and lick and touch and be close up in her personal space is part of his instinctive lupine pack-dynamic, it's part of them now.

In past relationships, Jupiter had always valued her space and independence, but perhaps that was because those men had always been wrong, and Caine was right, so very very right. He made her feel safe, and secure and worshipped and loved and she found that she didn't mind his constant physical need for her at all. In fact, she really enjoyed it herself, taking complete and gleeful advantage of his stamina and his super-speedy recuperative powers several times a night whenever possible.

Now, when she thinks about it, about all of the rampant and not always silent boot-knocking they've been doing this summer it makes her more than a little queasy. They'd been screwing like bunnies in his – what? former lover's? house for the past two months. Oh god, she really is going to vomit. Caine whines beside her, his body twitching slightly with the anxiety he can feel radiating from her. This isn't his fault, he hasn't done anything wrong, Jupiter knows that on a logical level, everyone has a past, but her emotions are calling the shots right now and they can't help but feel betrayed.

"I love you" she whispers into the darkness, reaching her hand back to run it through his hair, scratching slightly, trying to reassure him "I'm just not feeling well"

It continues like this for three more days: she can't eat, she can't focus to study, and her mind whirls with imaginings. She takes long walks by herself, lost in her own thoughts until eventually Caine comes to find her as the sun begins to set.

Jupiter was born without a country, without a home, and she's always known that those scars of not belonging ran deep within her, making it hard for her to trust. She'd thought those scars were beginning to heal, but now the rug's been yanked out from under her feet leaving her flailing in the darkness alone once again.

As she walks, she replays previous events, finding that they look different through this new lens. She thinks back to Caine's original deal with Titus - - he'd wanted Stinger's wings back, he'd made the deal for Stinger's reinstatement because he owed him yes, but also because he loved him. She'd known that before, but she'd always assumed it was a brotherly or even a fatherly love, the bond between soldiers. Now she knew differently and she wasn't sure how to process that knowledge.

She thinks back to the first day she met Stinger and Kiza, to the knock-down, drag-out fight on the front porch - why hadn't she recognized the emotion behind the violence and brutality? Why hadn't she seen the passion between them then?

She remembers her rescue from Titus's cruiser, how Stinger was the only person Caine had trusted to have his back, how he'd forgiven his betrayal so easily, so instantaneously. She should have seen it sooner. Jupiter walks, for miles and miles as her brain whirls, but she doesn't think to leave him, it never occurs to her to try to stop loving him. Her life's timeline is divided into two sections now: Before Caine and After Caine.

Caine is worried about her, on the fourth day she overhears him talking to Stinger in hushed tones - he's afraid she's ill and he wants to send for a doctor. For the first time in their relationship, he doesn't instinctively know how to help her because he can't figure out what is wrong. Jupiter realizes once again that she can't keep going on this way, she needs to do something in order to sort this out.

She decides to talk to Stinger. Stinger understands Earthly-ways better, he has lived here longer, he will understand why she is so heartsick. Part of her knows even without asking that Caine is naïve when it comes to Earth customs, that he will not understand the source of her feelings. She knows already that if he had realized his history with Stinger would bother her, that he would have told her about it. She knows she should talk to him, but she just can't, not yet, because whether or not he comprehends the source of her hurt and anger, she knows he will turn it inwards upon himself, feeling guilty for causing her pain, and she just can't handle his hurt along with her own right now.

Jupiter tells Caine that she's feeling better and asks him to fly to Chicago to get take-out from her favorite Chinese restaurant. He's happy to go, he looks so excited that she's asked him to do something for her that her heart squeezes with guilt and flutters with love simultaneously.

When she comes back inside the house after Caine leaves, Stinger is waiting for her. For once, his eyes meet hers steadily and she can see that he knows she's guessed his secret. She can also see now that it wasn't anger or resentment he was hiding, it was guilt. Now, he looks maybe even a little relieved mixed with the anxiety of the inevitable confrontation. She walks into the living room and sits down on the couch, tucking her bare feet beneath her. Stinger chooses the chair on the other side of the coffee table, sitting across from her.

Jupiter starts "You were lovers?" she asks, already knowing the answer

"Yes" he confirms

"The military doesn't have rules about that sort of thing between commanders and subordinates?" she queries, not really sure why she's asked since it's hardly the problem at hand.

"It's different than it is here on Earth" Stinger starts cautiously "There isn't a stigma associated with bi-sexuality or such a focus on monogamy in our culture. Our people are free to explore pleasure wherever they find it with the small exception of Entitled and Splices, which is sort of an unwritten taboo"

"Yeah, that one I knew already" she sighs, shifting her legs beneath her

When she doesn't say anymore, Stinger continues. "After you've lived for millennia, you come to understand that love isn't as narrow a concept as Earth's "fairy tales" make it seem".

Jupiter remembers Kalique saying something similar, about time changing one's perspective on a great many things.

After another prolonged silence, Stinger speaks again "Regardless of our own customs, Caine is aware of what's expected here on Earth, he understands the covenants, he will not break them"

Jupiter winces, realizing that she hadn't really considered that as a possibility during her endless walking "Is that your way of telling me that the two of you haven't been screwing around behind my back all this time?" she asks, knowing she's being unkind.

"We haven't been" he says flatly, a touch of insult tingeing the edge of his voice "Neither of us would do that to you" he insists

Feeling guilty for taking such a cheap shot, she takes a few deep breaths "I didn't think that, not really" she says quietly

It's true, she didn't think they were still carrying on. However, exes are one thing, and exes who are still in-love are quite another. It's cards on the table time, so she takes a deep breath and says it "But . . . . . you're still in love with him"

It wasn't actually a question, but Stinger nods in affirmation anyway.

"Is he in love with you?" she asks, already knowing that answer too.

"Not like he is with you" he responds, meeting her eyes without artifice, quiet certainty in his voice.

When he sees her knitted brow, he continues "It's like the difference between C4 and napalm" he explains, using an analogy that is so perfectly Stinger "One causes a tiny, localized explosion, and the other burns so hot that it irrevocably changes the surrounding landscape forever"

Jupiter doesn't say anything for a few moments and the silence isn't entirely comfortable but she doesn't know how to break it "Why did you two break-up?" she asks finally.

She can tell from his face that it's exactly as she'd feared.

"Caine was sent to the deadland and I was posted here" Stinger answers slowly "We didn't see each other for several years, so it just sort of ended"

But it hadn't, she wants to scream, they hadn't grown apart, they hadn't fallen out of love with each other, cruel circumstance had separated them and then Caine had met her. A portion of Jupiter feels irrationally guilty, like she's swooped in and stolen something precious that belonged to another, while the rest of her has no intention in hell of giving it/him back.

"You must hate me" she whispers, feeling the sting of tears behind her eyes even as she realizes how foolishly childish the question sounds. Why should it matter? Why should she care how he feels about her?

To his credit, Stinger looks aghast at the question, genuinely shocked, as if that never occurred to him and he can't imagine why she would think such a thing "Of course I don't" he replies, and his voice is so firm that he's almost shouting at her.

Jupiter wonders, does he not understand the concept of jealousy? Is that a bee-thing? She feels inexplicably relieved at his answer though, because he does matter to her, whether she wants him to or not, she couldn't bear it if he hated her.

"What should I do?" she asks him helplessly

"Talk to Caine" he advises "He'll do anything you want him to in order to fix this. He'll walk away and never speak to Kiza or I again if you tell him that's what you want"

She can't help herself from asking because it would explain so much "Is that why you've been so weird, because you thought that's what I'd do if I found out?"

"No" he responds softly, his eyes filling with remorse "You have been so kind to Kiza and so forgiving of my failings" he says, clearing his throat, thinking of the incident with Titus "I was ashamed of myself" he pauses again " For . . . ."

"Coveting my boyfriend?" Jupiter supplies, arching her eyebrows

"Keeping secrets from you" he allows

"Why did you?" she asks, rubbing the heel of her hand across her ribs where a constant and painful pressure have been sitting ever since the pond "Keep it a secret, I mean. I get that Caine didn't know he should tell me, but you knew"

Stinger stands now, pacing back and forth several strides before sitting back down, like he's trying to find the right words. He's not a man close to his emotions, not used to expressing them outloud.

"I didn't know you well at first" he answers thoughtfully "Some Territes can be . . . small-minded" he says, rubbing his chin "By the time I knew that you were different, that you wouldn't forsake him, Kiza was already so fond of you, and I'd gotten used to having you around, and it just seemed like why make it awkward, you know?"

She does know, she knows all too well.

Caine comes home with the food then, and it's the end of their discussion.

Something inside of her feels lighter now, having talked about it, though she can't quite explain why since nothing has been resolved. It reminds her that she's always liked Stinger, from the first moment she'd met him. When she'd asked him for the truth about the Earth, he'd provided it for her just as he had done now, even when he thought she didn't truly want the truth.

She feels better after talking with Stinger (and eating the Chinese food from her favorite restaurant) but she needs some time and space to think, to process everything. The damnation of it is that she'd only just begun to discover what she thought would be her new place in the world and now everything is all muddled and complicated again. Now, she needs to figure out how this new information fits into the picture she had begun to envision for her future.

She goes home to Chicago to visit her family. "I love you" she says because she KNOWS this for certain if nothing else, kissing Caine's cheek on the front porch as Stinger watches from the office window "I'm coming back to you, I just need some time to think" she promises.

Caine doesn't understand why she is leaving, and she knows he thinks he's being punished somehow, that he's done something wrong, but he lets her go without argument, which only makes her love him more. And miss him.

At Vassili's house things are much the same as when she left. In her absence, her younger cousin Stasha has made herself quite at home in Jupiter's closet and make-up drawer, but she can't find it in her to be mad, family being what it is. Besides, wardrobe seems like such a trivial matter when compared to the aborted annihilation of the Earth, so Jupiter doesn't even comment.

She's back for only a day when she begins to miss the farm, but it takes her two more days to recognize the knot forming in her stomach for what it is. She misses Caine, but that she had expected – she's madly in love with him, she's supposed to miss him. What she hadn't expected was to miss the place, the house, and Stinger, that takes longer to wrap her head around.

She thinks about how Stinger said he'd "gotten used to" having her around and ridiculously, it fills her chest with warmth. She's making the morning coffee for her mother and aunt when it strikes her suddenly that Stinger doesn't drink coffee, actually said that he hated the smell of it once, and yet he had always made a fresh pot for her when she awoke in the morning. Why hadn't she taken notice of that before?

He'd also gotten a television and satellite dish installed for the summer because Jupiter was addicted to American Idol, he picked up peach Snapple when he went to the market, and he didn't complain when she hung her bra over the shower rod to dry. Stinger had even spent countless hours answering her endless questions on the republic and various other worlds. He was probably bored senseless and it was probably all really basic stuff to him, but he'd never made her feel stupid or foolish for asking and he'd always taken the time to answer her.

Looking back now, Jupiter recognizes that somewhere halfway through the summer, without even being aware of it, she'd begun to stop thinking of it as a vacation and started to think about it as her actual life, her future. Maybe that was why she had been so gutted when she'd found out about Caine and Stinger's past? Because she'd unconsciously assumed that this revelation would signal the end of her new and blissfully happy family, because how could they realistically move past it? She and Caine could move out of course, find their own place, but then they would both lose Stinger and Kiza and the familial connections they'd forged together, Jupiter didn't want that. But she couldn't see how she and Caine could stay, share a bedroom next to Stinger's and look him in the eye every morning over breakfast.

Somewhere between cleaning the third and the fourth house of the day, Jupiter starts to wonder if she hasn't been giving herself enough credit. After all, she's already been gob-smacked once by the revelation that not only is Earth NOT the center of the universe, but she is a reincarnated queen who now owns it's title. She survived numerous assassination attempts and fell in love with a species she'd hadn't even know existed six months ago. She'd managed to adjust to THAT new reality, maybe she can adjust to this too, it is merely a matter of figuring out what she wants and how to accomplish it. It's like Kiza's surgery she reckons, slamming the lid down on the last toilet seat - - where there's a will, there's a way.

She's sitting at the dinner table half-listening to her uncle and cousin Vladdie argue about the White Sox pennant chances when she makes her Earth-shattering revelation. Stasha has just walked in dressed for a night-out wearing Jupiter's favorite red cocktail dress, the one she'd saved six months in order to afford because she'd seen it in Katherine's closet and had to have one for herself. There was a time Jupiter would have yelled and screamed before reluctantly letting Stasha borrow that dress (because you make compromises for family). Now, she merely smiles and tells Stasha how beautiful she looks, and that's when the answer comes to her.

Jupiter shakes her head at herself when she realizes she's comparing Caine to a dress, but she asks to be excused from the table and she packs her bags that very night, heading back to the farm. She's realized that although her uncle's house will always be her home and her family will always be her family, there are people she belongs with more right now, and a new place that her heart has begun to call home.

Stinger hears her coming and walks out onto the porch to greet her. He looks a little tired, maybe a little stressed and Jupiter's mind leaps immediately to worst case scenarios. "Have you heard from Kiza?" she asks worriedly

"What?" he asks, taking a moment to process before he understands her concern "No, Yes, she's good, great in fact, she'll be on a transport back home next week"

"Good, I'm glad" she answers fidgeting a little as she darts her eyes from side to side wondering why Caine isn't there to greet her.

Reading her mind, he answers her unspoken question "He's running a quick errand for the marshals off-world, he'll be back in a few hours"

Jupiter nods, walking up onto the porch to stand beside him, suddenly aware that she hasn't really planned how to begin the conversation.

"How is your family?" he asks when the silence stretches too long, saving her from her own awkwardness

"They're good, thanks" she responds easily "Loud, nosy, dysfunctional, but good"

She walks over to sit down on the porch swing, breathing in deeply, enjoying the country air. Now, she knows just where to start. "I've been thinking about family, the concept of it, you know?" she asks rhetorically, looking up at him "You're born into one that you don't choose and it's sorta luck of the draw who you end up with, and then, you spend the whole rest of your life assembling another family, one you DO choose."

"Yeah" he answers noncommittally, and she can't tell if he's following her train of thought or not.

"It's weird" she confesses "Visiting Chicago didn't feel like going home anymore, not like I thought it would"

Now she thinks he understands because his eyes are focusing intently on hers.

"I was wondering" she begins "Would you mind if Caine and I stayed past the summer?"

"I wouldn't mind at all" Stinger responds, and he's almost smiling now, the corners of his mouth turned upward just a little "In fact, I'd be really glad of it"

Jupiter smiles in response because his face is so much more expressive now that there are no more secrets between them. She thinks she can read how much he wanted her to stay, not only for Caine and Kiza, but for himself also, palpable relief evident in the uncrinkling of the lines on his forehead.

"You meant what you said?" she asks, because although she can see it on his face now, she wants to hear it all the same "I'm welcome in your home, in your family?"

"I meant it" he nods, walking over to take her bags and carry them into the house in case she needs further proof.

Jupiter smiles and follows him inside.

"I grew up in one tiny house with a huge extended family" she tells him later, when she's finished unpacking her things and he's poured her a glass of wine.

Stinger is leaning against the porch railing watching her as she reclines on the swing, occasionally taking a sip from the mason jar he's given her. It's not really appropriate for the wine, but perfectly appropriate for his level of reluctant domesticity.

"I shared a bedroom with my mother and my aunt" she says, taking another sip "I shared a bathroom with three more besides them. I learned really early the art of compromise, of sharing/give and take. It's necessary in a large family like mine" she continues, looking around at the numerous honeycombs that cover the porch and yard, knowing that Stinger already understands this concept himself.

Jupiter sits up gracefully, putting her bare feet on the ground to stop the rocking of the chair "You know, a 'what's mine is yours' kind philosophy?" she inquires pointedly, pinning him with her eyes.

She walks over to where Stinger is leaning against the railing and stands beside him, setting the mason jar on the rail next to his hand. "I don't want Caine to miss out on anything he wants because of me" she says, putting her hands on either side of Stingers face and pressing her lips gently to his. It's not a come-on, but it's definitely more than just friendly. She pulls away after only a second "I don't want you to miss out on anything because of me"

Stinger remains frozen in place, just looking at her.

"I guess what I'm saying is . . . . . I'm used to sharing with family . . . . . I'm willing to share with family" She can tell the exact moment that he understands what she means because he stops breathing and everything in the night around them is so perfectly still that she thinks she can hear his heartbeat thundering in his chest.

His eyes come to hers, searching, and she meets his gaze steadily.

"You don't have to do that" he manages, his voice a croak.

"I want to" she responds, reaching out to take his hand in hers and twine their fingers together "There's very little I wouldn't do for the people I love"

Stinger knows this already. He remembers thinking it months ago when she'd gone willingly onto the refinery, knowing Balem would surely kill her, remembers thinking that he'd never met anyone more quietly courageous than she was. If she counted him now, among those she loved, he was a lucky man indeed.

"I'm game if you are" she smiles, winking to ease the tension.

Stinger swallows hard, finding his voice trapped in his throat "Yes" is all he can manage.

His voice is even rougher than usual, gravely with an added rasp of surprise and Jupiter notes that it's pretty damn sexy.

Caine comes home then, finding the two of them standing face to face, the electricity between them palpable. Stinger makes himself scarce, disappearing into the kitchen with the offer of warming up some cold pizza while Jupiter and Caine "take a walk and talk things over".

After the walk and talk, after the pizza and a little more wine, Jupiter finds herself on Stinger's bed, sitting up against the headboard, chewing thoughtfully on her index finger as she watches Caine and Stinger devour each other. There's really no other word for it, they are a tangle of skin and feathers, growling and buzzing. They're kind of making a mess, banging against the wall, chipping the plaster and knocking lamps over - - it's shockingly violent and surprisingly beautiful, and she can't pull her eyes away.

Jupiter Jones smiles, unbelievably content now that she's found her place in the universe and that's really saying something since it turns out that the universe is a far bigger place than she'd ever imagined and miraculously, her broken compass has led her here - - to her new family and the future she was meant for.

She closes her eyes, her mind free from worries for the first time in her life. Smiling dreamily, she waits patiently for them to turn their attentions toward her . . .

The End

Author's Note: I hope the non-traditional pairing didn't put anyone off, I really wanted to explore their group dynamics and give everyone involved a happy ending. Plus, on a personal level, I would NOT mind being the cream in a Sean Bean/Channing Tatum Oreo ;-)