Last chapter everyone I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget tomorrow begins one shot week and then it's short story month!

Ch. 21 You Won The Battle You've Won the War

(CLARE)

"So are you ready to move into your own place tomorrow?" Fitz asks as we lie in his bed.

I've been staying here for just over a week, since the night I woke up screaming and Jake took me from the house. He was arrested but released and I spoke for the first time in eleven years. Our parents have been arrested on suspicion of murder and their parental rights revoked until after trial. Jake has emergency custody of me but Grey and Daisy are working at making it permanent.

A full scale investigation into my birth father's disappearance and "suspected" murder has begun. I know he's dead but the law needs a body or proof. They took my DNA and they were able to get DNA from all the blood evidence found in my parent's room but they haven't tested them yet. At least our parents aren't allowed anywhere near us.

"Yes and no," I reply quietly.

"Why no?" Fitz asks.

"I won't…be h…here with you every night," I tell him and he tightens his arm around me.

Talking is still hard for me, forming words and using my voice, but it gets easier the more I do it. I still haven't spoken in school or around large crowds or anything just my friends and Jake. I do talk with Fitz every night, usually just a few sentences but it's something.

"Jake said I'd have my own key to your place like you guys have for here and he'll let me sleep over. Probably not every night but I promise this is not the last night you'll spend in my arms," he says before gently kissing my temple.

"I love you Mark," I tell him as I write the words on his chest. I feel Fitz pull in a breath and tighten his arms again.

"That's the first time I've heard it in your voice. It was beautiful, your voice is gorgeous just like you. I love you Clare," he says tipping my chin up to join our lips. "We should get some sleep we're meeting the others at seven," Fitz yawns. I close my eyes and fall asleep happily in Fitz's arms.

We wake to his alarm and get dressed, Bianca is ready to go when we come out to the living room. The three of us drive to Adam and Drew's house. We're all meeting here for breakfast before we go to the new apartment Jake and I have. Owen is here to help us move in and so are Anya and Jane. Audra and Omar along with Owen's parents helped us to find furniture that we'd need for the living room. However, the first thing to do is go to our old house and get our beds. So after a nice big breakfast we load into a few cars and the moving van and go back to that terrible house.

"I…d…" I try to talk but it's just getting trapped in my throat. I don't want to be here. I type on my phone showing it to Jake and Fitz.

"I know, none of us do. We just need our beds and dressers; you can wait out here of you want?" Jake offers.

I bite my lip and think about it a moment. No I want to do this. I need to. I need to see one last time just stay close.

"We'll be right here with you," Fitz assures me.

We get out of the car and he puts his arm around me as we walk in. Our parents were released on bail but both were removed from the house so we could come get our stuff without having to see them. The house feels so cold and eerie, it's almost surreal to be back, to be here. The air is heavy and I can still see the remains of the forensics search in the house, furniture moved and other things. Since our parent's room has been declared an active crime scene it's still taped off and they have been sleeping in the living room or maybe a hotel I'm not sure. You can see where they sprayed to look for blood spatter, and in places you can see where there must have been large amounts because large chunks are cut out of the mattress and floor and the nightstand is gone.

I freeze for a moment, looking at the room and all I can see is the memories. The blood from that day, all the blood, my father lying on the floor and my mom telling me never to speak of it. My eyes flood with tears and I turn to Fitz hiding in his chest. He tightens his arms around me and kisses the top of my head whispering that I'm safe. I nod and turn away from my parent's room, Jake goes into his room with Drew and Bianca while Owen, Fitz and Adam come into mine. I finish emptying out my dresser and my desk while the guys strip my bed and break it down. Our furniture is moved downstairs and into the moving truck. Jake and I look through our rooms and the house to see if there's anything else we want to take and put it in a box. The truck already has the rest of our stuff so we drive to our new apartment to move in. Jake has the keys, he gives one to Fitz and one to me, he also made copies for Owen and Adam in case of emergency.

"So what do you think?" Jake asks as we walk into the apartment.

"Nice," I breathe the word out easily as there's a lightness in my chest now. I feel like I can breathe, speak, I feel safe.

Jake smiles and so does Fitz. We walk in with boxes and the guys move up the furniture with dollies. Once everything is in it actually looks like a home. It's not that different from Fitz and Bianca's apartment, two rooms in back separated by a Jack and Jill washroom. There's also a small living room, dining room and kitchen area. It's not very big but it's ours and it's home. Jake has a job at a hardware store after school and on the weekends. And we get money from the government too. With everyone's help we get moved in and unpacked by the end of the day. We'll have to go to the store tomorrow and get some other basics but Audra and Omar along with Owen's parents got us some basics like dish soap and that sort of thing. Jake orders pizza for dinner and we all eat together but everyone is tired from the move and everyone but Fitz goes home after dinner.

"I'm going to shower," I tell Fitz and Jake when everyone is gone.

"Your voice is so strong," Jake grins.

"I'm not silenced anymore and I don't feel that strangling pressure anymore," I reply and Jake's smile gets bigger.

Fitz kisses my cheek and I grab one of our new towels from the linen closet and take a shower. Not only does the warm water feel good but the shower feels great because it's in our apartment and I don't have to worry about my parents. After a nice long shower and brushing my teeth I am very happy to see Fitz already in my bed when I go to my room. I smile and go to the dresser to get out my pajamas.

"Don't," Fitz says rolling on his side, "sleep naked with me. I promise we won't do anything you're not ready for but I want to feel your skin, all of your skin, against mine."

I smile and get into the bed, he wraps his arm around me and I put my head on his chest. I like the feel of his skin against mine and just as I start to fall asleep I write I LOVE YOU MARK across Fitz's chest.

(FITZ)

"Hey Fitz," Jake greets when I use my key to get into the apartment, "she's getting ready I'm going to go pick up Katie and I'll meet you guys there."

"Hang on I want to talk to you a minute," I tell him.

It's Saturday, February 1st and they've been in this apartment for exactly two weeks. Yesterday was Adam's birthday and Monday is Clare's so the two of them are having a joint birthday party tonight at the Torres house. Of course one of the best presents Clare could have gotten was to find out Jake has permanent custody of her.

"What's up?" Jake questions.

"Well now that your parents are in jail and awaiting sentencing, and you have custody, I think Clare needs to say goodbye to her dad. She really never had the chance and she had to live with the two people that killed her father and stole her voice. But that's all behind her now and I think it would be good for her to have a formal goodbye, a memorial or something. Maybe we can even get a marker for him at the cemetery."

"That's a great idea. We'll talk about it later I need to go pick up Katie and Clare should be almost ready. See you guys at the party," Jake says before leaving.

Just after he exits the apartment I hear Clare coming out of the washroom. She emerges in black jeans with white boots and a light blue sweater that brings out her eyes.

"You look gorgeous," I grin tipping her chin up to capture her lips in a gentle kiss.

"Thanks," she smiles when I release her from the kiss.

"You ready to party?"

She nods and we lock up her apartment before going down to my car. I drive us to the Torres house and we arrive just as Owen and Jane do. They hug Clare and wish her happy birthday and we walk into the basement together.

"Happy Birthday Adam," Clare grins.

"Happy Birthday," he smiles back and they hug.

Drew is here of course and so are Anya and Bianca. We greet everyone and Jake arrives with Katie. It isn't long before the house is full of party guests. Alli, Jenna, Eli, Connor, Dave, Wes and K.C. are all here. We kept it to just the people Clare was comfortable since it is her party, thankfully all the people she's comfortable with are also Adam's friends.

"You hear anything about your parents?" Owen asks Jake.

Clare is sitting with Adam and Anya and the three of us are at the back of the room getting the cake ready. After a few days of questioning, and when the blood in the room was proven conclusively to be Randall's, Helen turned against Glen and confessed to everything. The three of us have seen copies of her confession, she and Glen were having an affair and Randall caught them. Helen hit him over the head and Glen started hitting him before cutting his throat. Clare came in and after they got Clare back in her room they cut up Randall's body in the bathtub and put body parts into different garbage bags and then they loaded the garbage bags in Glen's truck. He dumped the garbage bags in different dumpsters and dumpsites throughout the area. They cleaned up the blood, said Randall ran off and the two of them got married.

After finding out that Helen turned against him Glen turned against her. He told pretty much the same story but blamed most of it on Helen. They both plead guilty so there's no trial and sentencing isn't for a week.

"I know they found some bone pieces in a couple of the places that Dad told them he dumped. It will take too long to prove that they're Randall's with the sentencing next week. They pled guilty so now it's just waiting to see what the judge gives them but Grey said they were trying for a minimum of ten years. By that time Clare and I will have graduated and live somewhere else and we'll never see them again," Jake says putting the last candle in the cake and lighting the candles.

We sing happy birthday to them and they blow out the candles. After cake we do presents, most people give them cash or gift cards. Bianca and Katie got them some clothes. Owen and Jane got Clare tickets to a show that I'm sure I'll be escorting her to. I had to think a lot about what to get Clare for her birthday. She's turning sixteen, she's away from her parents and she's speaking. Finally, after a lot of thought and considering budget I got her a ring. A silver ring with an amethyst in it, I had it engraved with I LOVE YOUR VOICE – MARK I hope she likes it. When she opens the box her eyes light up, I take the ring from the box and slip it on her finger.

"It's beautiful I love it, I love you," Clare smiles linking her arms around my neck and capturing my lips in a passionately loving kiss.

"I'm glad you like it," I grin.

"It's perfect," she smiles.

Clare shows off her ring and they finish opening presents, the party goes until after midnight. We help clean up before going back to Clare and Jake's apartment. Katie is spending the night too but they'll be in Jake's room.

"Listen I was talking to Jake earlier and I think you need to say goodbye to your dad. Randall not Glen. A funeral or memorial or something. Jake and I will look into getting a marker at the cemetery so you have somewhere to go to be close to him. You never got to say goodbye or even really grieve for him," I tell her and her eyes begin to wet with tears. She doesn't say anything but she nods and puts her head on my chest. It's bringing up something for her and she starts to sob lightly, I put my arms around her tightly. "Let's go to bed, I'll hold you all night long."

She nods and then kisses me gently. We get ready for bed and I hold her, when she stops crying we talk a little before falling asleep. When we wake up, and after eating breakfast the four of us go to a mortuary at the cemetery to pick out a marker for Randall. It turns out it's rather expensive. However, after meeting with the Torres family for lunch Omar says he's pretty sure that Helen and Glen's estate can pay for it.

It takes a few days but they manage it and Clare, with some help from Jake and me, picks out a marker and a place in the cemetery to put it. The memorial is arranged for Saturday and we keep it small. Of course Jake will be there, so will I, Bianca, Drew, Adam, Owen, Jane, Anya and Katie, along with Audra and Omar. Clare decides not to have everyone dress in black but we do dress nicely and everyone has a rose. We meet at the cemetery and walk to Randall's plot, there isn't actually anything in there but there's a simple marker that says Randall's name and that he was a loving father with his birthdate and date of death.

"I don't know what to say," Clare whispers to me.

"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. This is just to give you closure," I whisper back.

For a moment Clare stands there in my arms looking at the marker and turning the rose in her fingers. Then she kneels down setting the rose on the ground and running her finer over the marker.

"I'm sorry you were killed for their selfish love. I'm sorry that when your life was stolen they stole my voice and I couldn't say anything," she says before standing again.

Then one by one each of us kneels down and places down our rose and we leave. It wasn't much but it was enough for Clare to say her goodbye. After leaving the cemetery we return to the Torres house for food, it's not really a wake more of a gathering to support Clare.

"I feel better, I wasn't sure I would but it helped," Clare tells me.

"I'm glad," I smile. "March break is soon, what would you like to do?"

"Just be with you, it's all I want to do is be with you and my friends, hang out and…and talk. I never thought I would be talking, let away from my parents with friends and a boyfriend I love."

"You've come a very long way in a few short months I can't tell you how amazed I am or how proud."

"I never would have done any of it without you Mark, I love you."

I grin and cup her face before bringing our lips together, "I love everything about you Clare."

I hope you enjoyed this last chapter. Replacing this will be Hold Me Now & Don't Let Go which will premier after short story month on Sunday, August 7th.