Story 4 – Homecoming

A Daniel & Kate Story

By Brown Eyes Parker

Shout-Outs: ChristyLouisGilmore17, Wolfhound159, Postinlover4ev, Kelly of the midnight dawn, M. L. Ayala, 753398445a, and Guest

Rated: K+

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author's Note: This was inspired by the track Homecoming by George Fenton, from the Ever After soundtrack, the title of the story comes from the same place.

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Homecoming: 1. a return to one's home; arrival at home.

". . . Think it will be for the best. . ."

". . . the hallucinations to start. . . do we. . ."

"No. . . not. . ."

The conversation between Kate and his doctors came into his room in snatches, they were so close to releasing him from the hospital but they wanted to make sure a few things were in order before they let him go. Daniel was anxious to get away from the doctors and the other patients and try to get back to his normal routine.

A few minutes later, Kate came into his room and took the seat across from his, smiling easily at him. "Hey Daniel, I was just talking to the doctor and they suggested that I move in with you when you go home. They think if I'm there then it'll lessen the chances of the imaginary me coming back to visit. What do you think about that?"

"What do you think?" Daniel asked carefully. "Do you want to move in with me?"

And with all my hallucinations, he added mentally.

"I don't mind, if you don't," Kate answered. "It isn't like I have a place of my own right now; I'm still living in my old bedroom at home. And even if I was living all by myself, I'd give it up in a second if I thought it would help you."

"Let's do it," Daniel said. "I'm not promising it'll be easy though."

"I don't care, I'm willing to try anything to help you out," Kate told him. "Besides, the doctors already filled me in on everything that could go wrong, so I know what to expect. I'm not afraid Daniel, if that's what you think. I've stared down scarier things than a mental illness."

"No you haven't," Daniel told her quietly. "You think you have but you haven't seen me during one of my episodes, not really."

"I'm not running away!" Kate said firmly. "Nothing you can do or say will scare me away, Daniel Pierce. Just stop it now, I'm going to go home with you and I'm going to take care of you. There is nothing you can do about it."

"Okay," Daniel finally agreed.

"Good. Now, I have to get back to my father's apartment, I promised I'd run the bar for him tonight. But I'll be back tomorrow, try and get some rest. You have a big day ahead of you," Kate said, gently putting her hand on his and smiling at him. "You're going home."

"Yes. . . home," Daniel repeated.

"Don't worry; I'm going to be with you every step of the way!" Kate assured him as she pulled her coat on. "Everything's going to be okay, I promise!"

Daniel wanted to tell her not to make promises that he couldn't keep, but when he looked in her eyes, he saw the possibility that maybe she was right and everything was going to be okay. He would take her word for it, he had always trusted her before and even though she had left him for a little bit, she had never given him a reason to doubt her once.

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"You're going home today," Honey said as she threw the curtains back and let the last of the autumn sunshine seep into his room. "Praise Jesus!"

Daniel just smiled at her as he shuffled around the room in his slippers and looked for his glasses. There was no need getting into the argument about whether or not God existed again. Honey never listened to him about it anyways; she was a good Baptist girl from the south.

"Is Miss Kate coming today?" Honey asked.

"I'm here, actually!" Kate answered, coming into the room. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, we've pretty much got him all set to go," Honey replied. "We're just waiting on the doctors to finish signing off on his discharge papers and then you're all set."

"Thank you for everything," Kate said.

"Oh, it was no problem at all!" Honey assured her, patting her affectionately on the cheek. "Now Daniel, I don't want to see your pretty little face around here ever again! You take care of yourself, do you hear me!?"

"Yes," Daniel answered, looking at Kate.

"And you two take care of each other!" Honey said sternly.

"I'm planning on it," Kate promised.

Honey scooped them both up into a hug and gave them each a wet, Mike & Ikes kiss on the cheek. "I better go. I have other patients to attend to. Good luck to the both of you."

"Thank you," Kate said.

"Yeah, thank you," Daniel echoed, folding his arms across his chest.

"So, are you ready?" Kate asked Daniel when they were alone.

"As I will ever be," Daniel replied.

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Everything was just as he had remembered it, except for a little bit cleaner. Max had cleaned the whole house to perfection and had even picked up after him, putting away all the papers and books he had spilled before being put in the hospital.

A welcome home sign was hung up in the entryway and a classical piece was floating from the living room and into the entryway. Daniel closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he took in familiar surroundings.

He was home.

Kate slid her hand through his, drawing his attention to her. "You're okay?" She checked.

"I'm fine," Daniel assured her, realizing he still hadn't breathed out. "It's exactly like I remembered it. Except. . ."

"Yes?"

"Now you're here," Daniel answered. "But I think that it's a good thing."

Kate smiled. "Yeah, I do too."

Max came out of the kitchen, breaking the moment between the pair and grinned, wiping his hands on a towel. "Welcome home. . . both of you," he said.

"Hey Max," Kate replied cheerfully, not even letting go of Daniel's hand for a second.

"Dinner's almost ready, I'm thinking we'll eat first and then we can get you both settled."

Daniel nodded. "Sounds good. I hope you made something vegetarian."

"Of course," Max answered. "Just because you haven't been here in a few months doesn't mean I forgot all of your preferences. I made something different for us, Kate. I didn't think you'd want rabbit food."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Very funny Lewicki."

"Well, I do try."

They followed him into the dining room and Daniel was thankful that everything was quickly returning to the way it had been before Kate had left and he had hallucinations of her coming back to him. He hadn't realized it the day before but he had been terrified that things would never be able to go back to normal. . . that maybe he had damaged them too much to ever go home again.

But it was like he had never left.

And aside from some damage that had been created from her leaving, it was almost like Kate had never left either.

It was over now though. He wouldn't dwell on it anymore.

Because they were both home now.

_The End_

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Author's Note II:

I was severely disappointed by the finale of Perception. I was hoping that it would end nicely for Daniel, not with him all alone and in unrequited love with Kate. I will continue to write stories for this fandom; it was and still is one of my favorite shows despite how they ended things for my favorite characters.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this one-shot and that you will tell me what you think. I am looking forward to hearing from you. I should have a more therapeutic story out soon. Be on the lookout for that and the continuation of this series too.

Love,

Holly, 3/20/2015_