formerlysiryn | [Dated October 21st]

Terry doesn't know exactly how or why it happens, just that it does. One night she's dozing in her new apartment with Sean fast asleep on the bed beside her, a tiny ball of warmth along her side. (The place was still bare, and with every news report that showed the breach getting worse, Terry realized she'd miss her friends on the other side deeply -- but she had Sean. As much as it hurt, she couldn't imagine making any other choice, and she knew they'd understand.)

The next moment, she's waking to Sean's cries and when she stumbles out of bed in the dark and scoops him up, nothing is right. The nightlight is gone, her bedside lamp is no longer where it should be, and when she finally stumbles to a wall and flips a light switch, the room is not one she's expected.

"What the..."

Sean doesn't give her much more time to stare at her bedroom in the Darrow School for the Gifted. His piercing cries break up the sleepy, confused fog she's in, and Terry is grateful to see that if they've somehow made it back to Darrow, at least all his baby items have arrived with them. There's no apartment kitchen to find baby formula in, but the diaper bag with extra formula is sitting on his bassinet and Terry grabs it on her way out to the school's kitchen. If his food hasn't come along with them, at least she has something.

The first thing she does when she reaches the kitchen is check the fridge for the pre-made bottles she'd put away hours earlier, and Terry's only slightly surprised to find the two sitting in the fridge as though they belong there. They probably do, now, though that's a conversation she'll have to have with Raven when the sun is up and she's had a bit more sleep.

Raven. Bloody hell, if Terry is properly back, she'll be glad to see her friend again. She'll be glad to see all her friends again, and though it's very late (or very early, she can't tell yet) Terry plans on sending out some texts to let them know she is back and have them meet Sean.

But that's for daylight. For now, she's got a warm bottle of formula and a baby to feed.

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"I'm good," Terry nods, smiling up at Luke as she pulls away. She'd needed that moment, tangible proof that she's actually here, back home -- for this place has become her home -- and safe. With Sean.

"And I have news, like I said." The smile fades as she tries to figure out how best to break the news. Raven and T.J. were the only ones who'd ever known Sean had even existed, and now Terry's realizing for the first time that she's going to be ripping up an old wound and healing it again all within the same conversation. Multiple times.

Best to get on with it, and remember that she has Sean now. The old hurt is still there, but now, so is he.

"I had a son a few years ago," she starts, deciding to dive right into it. No stopping now. Stopping means crying, and she's done plenty of that in the last few hours alone. "I lost him within hours of his birth. I've never forgotten him, not a single detail."

Terry takes Luke's hand briefly to lead him back down the hall to her room. "He had blue eyes and brown hair, just like his da. I named him after mine." When she reaches the door, Terry lowers her voice and opens it enough for Luke to look in. "I found him again, Luke. He was still in his hospital blanket and the first diaper I ever put on him."

Through his life, Luke has known pain. Exceptional pain, really, the kind few people ever experience, but he's very aware he has never once known pain like that. He had seen it in Jocelyn every year, every single time she had taken out Jonathan's box, the little lock of blond hair, every time he'd caught her with wet, red eyes and he'd known. He's seen it, but he can't imagine it, because he's always had Clary. They may be apart now, but he still has her, he knows she's safe, he knows some version of Luke Garroway is still back there for her and that's enough for him to be content.

He squeezes Terry's hand when she takes it, because there's nothing at all he can say to take away any of that hurt. If he were to ever lose Clary, it would be unimaginable and not a single word would ever be a true consolation.

So caught up in that bit of information, in the thought of loss to that extent, he isn't even remotely prepared for what she tells him next and Luke stands in the doorway of Terry's bedroom, staring in at the tiny boy with his jaw slightly dropped. She found him again. Still a newborn, still wearing his first diaper, and his brain tries to process this information before he leans forward a little, far enough to really see the boy, then turns back to Terry, his eyes wide with wonder.

Then he laughs softly, aware there's a sleeping baby very close by, and ducks down to wrap his arms around Terry again, lifting her clear off her feet. He may not have the slightest idea what to say, but he does know it's a cause for celebration and congratulations.

Luke is honestly the first person Terry had wanted to tell after Raven; he's enough of a presence in her life that she can't imagine him not being a part of Sean's life in some way, and she's grateful that she doesn't have to be alone anymore. She'd been prepared for it, for staying in that other Darrow with Sean, but she's glad she's back here. Whatever has happened and however it's all worked out, she's simply happy to be here right now.

And honestly, there are few people she's ever known who give hugs the way he does. She hangs on, laughing quietly into his chest. When her feet on the ground again, she takes his hand, unwilling to let go just yet. "He'll have to meet his Uncle Luke when he wakes."

"He's beautiful, Terry, he really is," Luke says, his voice hushed, taking care not to wake him as he gives her hand a gentle squeeze. There's so much yet for her to explain to him, he has no idea how all this really works, but what's important is how happy she looks. What's important is that she has back a part of her family she'd thought she had lost.

"Come back to the kitchen with me and you can tell me where you found him," he says softly. "I'd love to hear all about it if you're willing to tell me."

And then he can tell her what he and Reid have been planning, the steps they're already taking toward getting Jack into their home. He thinks of how nice that will be for all of them, for Jack, to know Terry's son, to be able to help him grow, too.

Terry nods, shutting the door quietly behind them with only a small amount of reluctance. She's had enough nights with him that she can appreciate a couple of hours of quiet time, but she also finds herself sitting and watching him sleep just because she can.

"Ye want some coffee, or tea?" she asks as she leads them back to the kitchen, making for the fridge once there. They keep the basics stocked, but some of Sean's items have already claimed a shelf in the fridge. "It's a bit of a story."

"Coffee, please," Luke says. Even now, years after no longer being a Shadowhunter, he associates tea with healing, with something necessary after a fight when runes aren't working as quickly as he would like them to. He'll serve it to other people happily, but he preference will always be for coffee.

"Did he not just show up here like we did?" he asks curiously, wondering how that works. A baby arriving on the streets of Darrow would be completely helpless and at the mercy of whoever found him. The very thought makes him uncomfortable, because Luke knows how many terribly cruel people exist in the world. People who might hurt a child they simply found on the street.

"Not quite," Terry says, busying herself in starting a small pot of coffee for Luke and putting a kettle on for herself. It's easier to tell this part of the story when she has something to distract her, when she doesn't quite have to look Luke right in the face.

"He was in the other Darrow. I found him in an empty apartment when I was searching for any trace of me da."

"You found him there?" he asks, although he has no question to follow that up, stunned for a moment at the idea of the baby having just been there in another city. Darrow can be cruel, he's seen that countless times, but the very thought of a helpless child abandoned in an apartment, waiting for someone to find him, that's horrible.

"He was alone?" What if Terry hadn't found him? Luke doesn't even want to begin to think about those awful possibilities.

[Dated October 21st]

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