Author's Note: Exists within my Unityverse series, but I'm posting it separately so as not to disrupt the timeline. For those unfamiliar with my other fic, it really just means Christina was resurrected. This takes place 11 years in the future. Written partly for the Tumblr AU week and partly as practice for portraying characterization.

"Myka!"

The shout made Myka drop the knife of peanut butter she'd been using to prepare the kids' lunch. She raced through the inn to see what had her step-daughter panicked. She found the back door open, ran outside, and nearly tripped over a tiny body.

"Ooph, Kaylee!" Myka gripped the red-headed toddler by the shoulders and checked her over. The girl seemed fine, but she kept looking past Myka and out to the yard. Myka turned her head and saw Christina corralling the other children by the back tree line. But something was wrong; Myka only counted two kids.

"Stay right here, Kaylee." Myka sprinted out to see what happened.

"Where's Sam?" She yelled.

"He fell," Christina called back. "I was bringing Kaylee back outside and saw him up in the tree. He fell before I could reach him."

Now that Myka was closer, she could see the boy lying on his back unmoving. Her heart pounded as she approached.

"Sam!" Myka knelt down beside her son. To her relief, he was conscious. Tears streamed down his face as he whimpered.

"Sam, are you okay?" The boy only cried. "Talk to me, Sam. Are you okay?"

"It hurts." She could barely understand his words through his sobs.

"What hurts?"

"There." He pointed vaguely to his right side.

"Where, Sam? I need you to tell me."

"There was a crack."

Myka flipped around to look at her nephew. "What?"

"It cracked when he landed," Brendan said. Myka turned back to Sam.

"Is it your arm that hurts?"

"Uh, huh." Sam nodded and struggled to sit up.

"No, no!" Myka stopped him. "Just stay lying down, okay? Does anything else hurt? Your back or your head?"

"No, my arm."

"Just your arm." Myka moved to check it, but Sam screeched when she leaned down.

"No, don't make it worse!"

"I won't," Myka assured him. "But I need to look at it, okay?" She tried again, and this time Sam didn't protest. She couldn't see any cuts or marks on his arm, but there was some swelling already in his fingers. Sam winced when she fingered his upper arm.

"I'm going to have to take you to the hospital."

"Is he dying?" Brendan cried.

"No, of course he isn't," Myka said. "But I think he broke his arm." Mentally cursing that Univille didn't have a hospital or really any proper emergency care access, she tried to think of alternatives. Everyone was either at the warehouse or on a mission, including Helena and Pete which left her without a vehicle. She caught sight of baby Kaylee on the back porch. The girl was probably getting upset from being left alone.

"Christina, take the kids inside. Call Grace and tell her Sam might have broken his arm and that I need a ride to the hospital. I'm hoping it's a quiet day at the sheriff's office, and she can drive us."

"Alright." Christina nodded.

"Hey and when you're done," Myka added, "grab the medical tape and anything flat and sturdy that could work for a splint and bring it out here."

"Yes, Myka." The teenager tried to usher the two young ones back to the house. Brendan, still looking unconvinced that his best friend in the entire universe wasn't dying, followed reluctantly. The girl wouldn't move at all.

"Hannah, come along."

Myka looked up at her daughter who'd been oddly quiet this entire time. Her deep, dark eyes were opened wide, and she stared unblinking. Myka couldn't tell if the girl was scared or in shock.

"Hannah."

The girl's gaze flicked to her briefly and then returned to Sam.

"Hannah, it's okay. Sammy's going to be okay." Myka said. "But right now, I need you to go with your sister."

"It's alright, Hannah." Christina took the girl's hand. Finally, Hannah moved, and Christina led the kids back to the inn.

Myka returned her attention to Sam.

"Just relax, Sammy. It's going to be okay. I want to wrap your arm before you get up. Then we'll take you to the hospital so you can get x-rays."

"The pictures of bones?"

"Mm hm." Myka nodded. "The pictures of bones. You're going to get to see inside your arm." She stroked his brown curls and continued talking to him to keep him calm and still. In a few minutes, Christina returned outside and rushed over to him.

"Will this work?" she held up a shoebox lid Myka thought might have come from Hannah's room.

"Yes, perfect." Myka took the lid and tape and began splinting Sam's arm.

"Grace is on her way over to pick you up," Christina said. "I tried to call Mum, but she didn't answer."

"They might be on the plane already. Did you try calling Pete?"

"No, I didn't think of it."

Myka tore the strip of tape from the roll and began another wrapping. "What time is it?"

"Just past one."

"I think their flight was at one." Myka tore off the last strip and smoothed it down. "Okay, Sam, we're going to stand up nice and slow." She helped the boy up, and the three of them walked slowly back to the inn. Sam didn't know what to do with his splinted arm, and honestly, other than 'don't move it', Myka didn't know what to do with it either. She she could carry him, but at six years old, he was too big for that.

Inside, she sat him back in a chair in the living room. Hannah and Brendan were sitting solemnly on the couch. Kaylee was standing and fidgeting by the arm rest. She turned and laid her head on her brother.

"Is my mom coming?" Brendan asked as he patted his sister's hair.

"Yeah." Myka glanced around for something that needed to be done.

"Is she gonna take you guys to the hospital?"

"Yep." Myka noticed Hannah staring at the floor. She never stayed that still. "Are you kids alright? Hannah?" She got a nod from her daughter.

"Can I come with you?" Brendan asked.

"No, you'll stay here with me," Christina said. Myka looked at her.

"Aren't you going out with a friend, tonight?"

"I think this takes priority."

"Are you sure?"

"Myka," Christina interrupted. She wore a look that was all too reminiscent of her mother. "I'll watch the kids. It's alright."

Myka breathed and nodded. "Okay."

"Oh, hey!" Brendan suddenly said. "Hey Sam, if you get a cast, you can pretend to be half-robot and hold your arm and - pew pew - act like you're shooting lasers and stuff."

"Like Iron Man," Sam said. His light giggle assuaged some of Myka's fears.

The door opened, and Grace walked in.

"Sorry, I was out at the Telford farm when you called. How is he?"

"Mommy!" The toddler girl who'd been so calm up until now broke into tears at the arrival of her mother. She rushed over to be comforted.

"Hey Kaylee-bug." Grace scooped the girl up into a hug. "Shh, you're okay. Sammy, how are you doing?"

"I hurt my arm," Sam pouted.

"That's what I heard."

Myka folded her arms across her chest. "Thanks for driving us, Grace. Everyone's out for work so I didn't have a vehicle."

"I know, I know. It's not a problem," Grace assured her. "Univille existed for years without a sheriff before me. The town can survive another day."

Kaylee still clutched at her neck.

"Sweetie, you have to let go. Aunt Myka and I have to drive Sam to get his arm checked."

"No!"

"Here Kaylee," Brendan said. "Stay with me, and I'll teach you how to drive in Mario Kart."

This caught the girl's interest and, after a little more coaxing, she released her mother and toddled back over to the couch.

Carefully, Myka loaded Sam into Grace's patrol car. For once, she was grateful Univille rarely had money for governmental services as it meant the patrol car was old enough to still have waist-only seat belts. She didn't have to worry about a shoulder strap with his splint. She walked around and slid into the back seat with her son while Grace started up the car. They backed halfway down the driveway when Sam suddenly shouted.

"Wait!"

Grace hit the brakes.

"What is it?" Myka asked.

"Cookie Monster." His lip trembled, and tears welled up again in his pleading eyes. "I need Cookie Monster."

"Okay. I'll be right back." Myka raced back inside to fetch his beloved doll.

"Myka?" Christina asked as Myka returned.

"Forgot Cookie Monster." In a moment, she had the toy and was running back to the car.

"Here you are." Sam crushed the plush doll to him tightly with his good arm.

The drive to Rapid City was an hour during normal traffic. Grace got them to the hospital in forty-five minutes. The nurses took Sam back as soon as the paperwork had been filled out, but they had to wait several hours for doctors and x-rays. Sam had indeed broken his arm. The humorous was snapped clean through about an inch above his elbow. There wouldn't be any permanent damage, but he needed surgery to insert metal pins that would keep the broken bone in alignment. Sam refused to let go of her hand when the doctors tried to wheel him away. Myka assured him she would be there when he woke up, but a compromise allowing the boy to hold on to Cookie Monster was required before he relented.

"Hey," Grace said when Myka returned to the waiting room. "Is he in surgery now?"

"Yeah." Myka pulled out her cell phone to check the time. "It'll take a couple of hours." The phone said it was just after seven currently. She couldn't remember how long flights from Florida to South Dakota were or if it was a direct flight or required a changeover. She tried calling Helena anyway.

"Would they be in yet?"

On the fourth ring, Helena's smooth British accent popped up instructing the caller to leave a voice mail, but Myka hung up. The chances of Helena checking her messages were slim to none. The missed call notice is what would grab her wife's attention.

"Apparently not," Grace answered herself.

"Nope." Myka tapped the phone against her palm. "I need to walk around or do something."

"Want me to come with you?"

"No. No, it's fine. I just can't sit still right now. I'm going to go find a vending machine or something. Do you want anything?"

"Chips?" Grace shrugged. "Any kind really."

"Okay." Myka walked to the hall.

The vending machines were too easy to find. It only took her a couple of minutes to reach them. She stared at the selection for a long while, eyes scanning but not really registering. She did notice there weren't any Twizzlers available. Finally, she inserted money and hit random buttons. A cherry pie fell into the receptacle. She repeated the alphanumeric code and got the apple pie behind it, too. The sound of boots tapping on tile echoed towards her.

"Myka."

She spun around and sighed in relief at the sight.

"Helena." Her throat tightened. Helena immediately rushed over, black hair fanning out, and enveloped her in a hug. Myka couldn't stop the sobs and held on to Helena tightly.

"Darling, you're leading me to question Grace's summary of events," Helena said after a moment. "Has something happened?"

"Sorry." Myka pulled back. "Sorry. Sam's fine. Or he will be fine in about six weeks. He's in surgery now for pins and the cast."

"But he's otherwise alright?"

Myka nodded.

"Then why the tears?" her wife asked, brushing at the streaks still running down her cheeks.

"Because he fell," Myka said. "From a tree. The kids must have been climbing like we always tell them not to do, and he fell. He could've broken anything - his back or his head. He could've di…" Myka choked on the word.

"He didn't," Helena said firmly.

"But…"

"Stop! It's only his arm. Arms heal."

Myka shook her head. "How can you possibly be this calm right now? A few weeks ago, Hannah catches part of her room on fire, nothing's hurt except some scorch marks on the floor, but you flipped."

"Myka."

"But now, what? A broken arm is just no big deal?"

"Myka! Look at me."

Myka cut off her outburst and met Helena's eyes. They hardened, and the brown reflected even darker than it normally did.

"I assure you," Helena said, "I am not at all calm about this. But as you are already 'flipping out' as you say, I fail to see how my own breakdown will help anything."

Myka took a breath. "I'm sorry."

Helena reached out and squeezed her hand. "Samuel will be just fine."

"Mmm hmm," Myka nodded.

"And later, when we're home, we'll concoct a method to keep the children off the trees even if it requires every bloody tree in town to be cut down."

A laugh escaped Myka.

"Okay," she said, nodding and wiping away the last of her tears. "Okay."

"Good." Helena pulled her into another hug. Myka sighed and dipped her head to kiss the side of Helena's neck.

"I'm glad you're here now."

Helena stayed silent for a moment.

"Am I awful for thinking I'm glad I wasn't here before?"

The pain and fear in their son's eyes flashed through Myka's mind.

"No."

Grace found them a few minutes later. Now that Helena had arrived, she was going to leave. She had to pick Pete up from the airport because, apparently, Helena had left him stranded. ("That was his own fault. He walked too slowly.") Myka thanked her for her help, and Helena asked if she and Pete could keep the girls at their place for the night.

"Christina's nineteen," Myka pointed out. Helena shot her a look that quelled the rest of her argument.

"Okay," Myka said after Grace left. "I don't feel so ridiculous for crying over Sam's broken arm."

"On panic and paranoia, I shall always have you beat."

"At least Christina understands why and won't be annoyed."

The two of them returned to the waiting room and settled in to wait for an update. Myka nibbled on the cherry pie she'd purchased from the vending machine. Helena only eyed the pastries suspiciously and wouldn't touch either flavor.

Finally, some time past nine, the doctor came out to say the surgery went well. Their son was awake, and they could see him now. When they entered his room, Sam opened his eyes and blinked groggily at them. Myka's tears threatened to start again.

"Hello, Sammy." Helena walked over and sat carefully on the side of his bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Weird," he said.

"I can imagine. Do you still feel tired?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah." Then he frowned and blinked up at her a few times. "You weren't here."

"I just got back from my business trip," Helena explained. "I was quite worried to learn you've hurt yourself."

"I fell."

"Yes, I know.." Helena pointed to his newly cast and slinged arm. "Did you choose the color?"

"What color?" Sam tried to glance down at his arm.

"Your cast is blue."

"Oh." He looked dazed, and Myka thought the anesthesia must have still been affecting him. "Yeah, I wanted blue. There were other colors, but I don't like other colors."

"I know." Helena smiled at him. "You only like blue, just like the color of your eyes."

"Yeah. Only blue."

"Speaking of blue," Myka said, "did you see who's beside you?" Sam didn't understand so Myka reached to his left and picked up the Cookie Monster doll a nurse must have tucked next to his pillows. A large grin broke out across Sam's face.

"Cookie Monster," he giggled. Myka handed over the doll which he happily took and crushed it to his chest. The boy looked at Helena.

"We almost forgot him," he explained.

"Oh dear. That would've been dreadful."

"Yeah, but then Mom went back in and got him so it was okay."

"Well I'm very glad you didn't forget your Cookie Monster. I'm sure he would've been very distressed if he'd been left behind."

Sam yawned.

"You should get some rest, Sammy," Myka said.

"Okay," he mumbled. He closed his eyes and swiftly fell back asleep.

Neither woman slept much that night. The hospital chairs weren't very comfortable, and Sam woke often which in turn woke them. A couple of times, he complained of pain, but mostly he complained of being hungry. Due to the anesthesia and due to the late hour, the best the nurses could bring him was a popsicle. Sam devoured this eagerly, but it did little to satisfy him. Finally, Myka decided to hell with the risk and gave him the second pie she still had. He kept it down easily, and it tided him over until morning when the nurse could bring him a real breakfast. By the time he was released, Sam was in decent spirits and eager to get home and share every detail of his adventure with Brendan.

Myka and Helena were much more exhausted than their son, especially by the time they reached Univille. They stopped by Pete's to pick up Christina and Hannah before continuing to the inn. Myka was prepared to face another tiring day, but once they walked inside, Helena insisted she go off to sleep for a few hours.

"I'm fine."

"Darling, you hardly slept last night."

"Neither did you, plus you just got back from a retrieval."

"Which I venture to say was quite a bit less demanding than what you went through."

"But…"

"Myka, go to sleep."

So Myka trudged upstairs to her bedroom feeling more tired with every step. She slid off her shoes and laid back on the bed without changing. She felt sleep swiftly overtaking her when she heard a light tapping. She opened her eyes and spotted Hannah wavering in the doorway.

"Sorry, are you sleeping?"

"Not yet," Myka said, sitting up. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." But Hannah stood fidgeting, neither leaving the room nor entering further.

"Hey, come here." Myka patted the covers next to her, and Hannah slowly walked to her. "What's the matter?"

Hannah climbed up on the bed beside Myka, sat with her knees tucked underneath her, and chewed on her top lip.

Finally, she whispered, "It was my fault."

"What?" Myka frowned.

"It was my fault," her daughter said a bit louder. "Sam broke his arm because of me. It's my fault."

"How could it possibly be your fault, silly?" Hitting and shouting, Myka expected from those two. But arm-breaking was a far cry from their typical sibling bickering.

"They were playing Tarzan in the trees."

"Who was?"

"The boys," Hannah said. Her words picked up speed as she talked."They wanted to surf down tree branches, but you can't because the bark is rough, but then I remembered the tarp Uncle Pete uses when he takes us camping so I grabbed it and put it up over the branch and it worked kind of because I slid and fell off." She shook her head, but didn't pause. "I didn't get hurt, though, so Sam wanted to do it. But he stood up on the branch and the tarp slipped and he fell off and that's how he got hurt." She finally took a breath.

Myka tried to absorb this information, but her sleep-deprived mind was making it difficult. "You put a tarp in a tree?"

Hannah nodded. "To make the branches slicker so they could surf."

"Oh, Hannah." Myka closed her eyes. Her daughter was entirely too smart for an eight year old.

"I'm sorry, Mommy. I didn't mean for him to get hurt. I'm sorry." Myka opened her eyes to see tears welling up in Hannah's. The girl's bottom lip quivered, and her expression - guilty and expectation of reprimand - increased her resemblance to Helena in a painful way.

"Hannah," Myka said, her heart breaking. She tugged her daughter into her arms and laid back with her. She felt the girl's tears soak through her shirt.

"It's not your fault," she said firmly. "It's not. No, you shouldn't have put the tarp in the tree, and no, you guys shouldn't have been climbing the tree, especially not when there weren't any grown-ups out there to watch you. But Sam falling was an accident, okay? That wasn't your fault."

"Uh huh," Hannah said, but she didn't sound convinced. Myka pulled back and made the girl look at her.

"Hey." She wiped away some of the tears. "It's not your fault."

"Am I grounded again?" Hannah asked while also wiping at her tears.

Myka sighed. "No. Not this time. But you know better than to try surfing tree branches now, right?"

Hannah nodded. "Can we not tell Mum?"

"We don't keep secrets from your Mum. You know that."

"But she'll be really mad at me."

"No, she doesn't…" Myka paused. "She doesn't get mad at you, Hannah. Or at Sam and Christina. She just gets scared when you guys do something that could hurt you. We both do."

"People don't yell when they're scared," Hannah argued. "They yell when they're mad."

"People definitely yell when they're scared."

"I don't."

"Well, you may not, but your mom does. I do."

"I don't believe you."

"Okay, but it's true."

Hannah hummed critically, and Myka smiled.

"So are you okay?" Hannah nodded. "May I go to sleep now?"

"Yeah." Hannah looked at her. "Can I lay down with you?"

Myka arched her eyebrow.

"May I lay down with you?" her daughter corrected. Myka was surprised by the request.

"Yeah, of course you may." She helped Hannah under the covers while climbing under them herself. She noticed Hannah looked almost as tired as she felt and wondered if the girl had been up all night fretting.

She kissed the top of Hannah's hand which made the girl crinkle her nose.

"Good night, Hannah."

"It's afternoon."

Myka nudged her. "Smart alec."

Hannah smirked, her eyes still closed. Myka settled into her pillow, and in a few minutes, they were both fast asleep.