"Yes, I was."Peter replied sadly his mind instantly going back to the events of that horrible day. "You're brother gave his life to save mine and I will never forget that."

"He shouldn't have been there in the first place."Ian snapped.

Peter's eyes narrowed sharply. "Luke knew the risks involved with this job as we all do. This isn't a corporate job where we have breakfast meetings and go golfing. We catch the bad guys and sometimes unfortunately people get hurt."

"Now the great Alexander Addington will pay the price."Ian replied gruffly. "By losing his precious daughter and all of you."

"He has already paid."Peter replied softly recalling his first meeting with Alexander all those years ago."More than you know."

********

Even though Ian had bound and gagged her before he left Suzy strained to hear what was going on in the other room. She had heard Peter's voice but couldn't make out the words. Just then the door creeped open and a familiar dark haired head appeared. Followed almost immediately by a blonde one.

Suzy was never so happy to see Stone and Gabrielle as they quickly reached her and started to untie the ropes.

"You okay, Suzy?"Stone asked anxiously as he removed her gag.

The dark haired young woman nodded. "Yes, but am I glad to see you guys. Where's Peter?"

Stone and Gabrielle exchanged a concerned glance.

"Ian has him, doesn't he?"Suzy demanded before either one could reply.

Gabrielle nodded. "Yes, but Peter can handle Ian Brenner. Right now we need to concentrate on getting you to safety."

The last of the ropes fell away under Stone's small knife and Suzy stood.

"Let's get going."Stone whispered as he placed an arm around Suzy's shoulders. "I don't want to leave Pete with that nutcase any longer than necessary."

**********

"Yes I know all about his wife, Chantal."Brenner replied as he motioned for his men to back off slightly.

Peter relaxed a little when he heard the safeties click back on. "But this isn't about Chantal, or Suzy. It's about Luke and you've yet to present any hard evidence that you really are his brother."

Ian leaned against the wall gun still trained on Sinclair. "Luke and I were split up when my parents divorced. At the time Luke was barely a year old Luke went to live with our mother and I with our father. After awhile my father got tired of playing the single Dad role and dumped me off at some distant cousin of his in England."

"Why go through all this trouble now?"Peter asked quietly. "Luke's been dead for nearly six years now...."

Brenner sprang away from the wall eyes blazing as he slammed the barrel of the gun into Sinclair's chest. "By the time I was about to track my brother down he was dead. And that is the fault of Alexander Addington and his precious team!"

Peter shoved the older man away just as Stone entered the room from the hallway behind Brenner. Before Brenner could react fully Stone whirled him around and hit him with a strong left hook.
Ian went sprawling toward a wooden chair but caught his balance at the last minute. He angrily raised the gun and leveled a shot at Stone but Peter tackled Brenner to the floor.

By this time Brenner's men had recovered from their shock and were moving to aide their boss when Gabrielle appeared in the front doorway of the cottage gun drawn.

"I would stay where you were if I were you."Jamont commented with a wide grin as she pulled back the trigger.

The four men glanced at each other before reluctantly dropping their weapons.

"That's better."Gabrielle stated before turning her attention to her friends.

"You guys okay?"Gabrielle asked just as Peter was yanking Brenner off the floor.

Peter smirked as he and Stone came to stand next to her. "You two certainly took your time. Getting rusty?"

Stone laughed. "We're not the ones who got held at gun point, are we Pete?"

Sinclair glared at him slightly. "That was part of the plan. Did you get Suzy out?"

Gabrielle nodded. "Yes, she's safe in the van."

"Good."Peter replied quietly as he glanced at Brenner and then at Stone. "Let's clean up this mess and get Suzy home."

*********

Early the next morning in Paris


The team gathered in Alexander's office. Alexander sat on the sofa between Helene and Suzanne he had one arm around his daughter's shoulders drawing her close.

"I owe you all a debt I can never repay."Alexander began quietly as he glanced at the group. "You dropped your lives to come even though you knew the risks of us assembling again as a team."

"I'm just glad everything worked out."Peter commented as he looked over at Suzy.

"What will happen to Ian Brenner?"Helene asked as she leaned forward.

"The Irish authorities took him into custody for the bombing at our office and for Suzanne's kidnapping. He's not going anywhere for a long time."Stone replied as he sat on the corner of Addington's desk.

"Is he really Luke's brother?"Alexander asked quietly.

Gabrielle nodded as she came to stand next to Peter. "Well we'll never know for sure without a DNA test. But what he told Peter does check out with what I could find out about Luke's background. His father was a captain in the Army and was married to a Ann Cox for about five years. They divorced when Luke would've been about one or two."

"It's just sad that Luke never knew he had a brother."Suzy replied quietly as she pulled away from her father.

Alexander nodded. "Yes, but I'd like to think that he thought of the team as his family. I know we certainly thought of him as part of ours."

Peter smiled briefly. "He did, Sir."

Stone stood and moved to the center of the room. "So Mr. A. Is this the team's swan song or a new beginning?"

Addington glanced at the group with a smile."It's really up to all of you. I know you have lives to get back to."

Stone, Gabby and Peter exchanged a questioning glance.

"The software company practically runs itself anyway."Peter commented with a smile.

Stone grinned. "I wasn't exactly overwhelmed with PI jobs."

"I was doing freelance writing."Gabrielle replied with a wide smile. "I can do that from anywhere."

Helene glanced at Alexander. "That sounds like it's settled."

Alexander grinned. "Yes it does. I'm honored to have you back."

"It doesn't even seem like we left, Sir."Peter replied with a grin as he reached forward and shook Addington's hand.



End