Dr Andrew Dracos flipped up his visor, got off the bike, set the steering lock, and wearily trudged with the shopping into the house to a greeting of barks and wagging tails. It was starting to rain, again. Having a car would make the shopping easier here in Tideswell. In Storybrooke, for eight years, there had been no need for car or bike, and raising the six kids, even with help, had taken up too much of his time. He knew that in some previous life he had driven a car, but he also knew that his abilities had been marginal at best, and now he just didn't think and respond like a human. Now, he still didn't have time to learn how to drive a car; his main recreation for the first two years in the UK, besides ghost writing the Morrowind computer game and practising the violin and harp, had been getting the bike licence. Riding a bike was the next best thing to flying, since hang-gliders were so impractical, and was needed for his site survey.

The family had spent two years in Boston, and they had all hated it, well He, the boys and the dogs hated it. The girls found Boston's urban environment ideal for their evil little schemes. The city apartment had been ok, but they all liked some greenery, and He and the boys needed somewhere to spread their wings. But how could one go and play in the woods when there was some gun-toting sociopath behind every tree, trying to kill not just the poor wildlife but anything else that moved. And He knew that if they were discovered there would be hell to pay, unlike here in the UK were people were relatively passive and restrained. Finding a family of Dragons would be a nine days wonder for the media, then everything would settle down again, apart from a few scientific and religious pests wanting to pay a visit. The worst problem might be government epidemiologists wanting to do health checks.

He had spent the first two years living in the north of Derby, going up to the Peak District at least one day a week on the bike while the kids were at school, or at weekends going on bus trips with the kids. They had discovered that the water in the Tideswell and Castleton areas had "magical" properties that they could use for making magical potions. It was also relatively close to the stone circle at Arbor Low, the henge and tumuli at Stanton Moor, and various other ancient arcane sites. During this time the business, in advanced electronics and computing AI, had expanded nicely from the main offices in Boston and Nottingham. More home office and laboratory space was needed. There were also various covens of Wica, mostly deluded but a few had real merit. The Peak District also had many groups of British arcane Abnormals and Wesen, such as the Shia, Tuatha De Dannan and Fervulag. So the place had a good atmosphere for the dragon family.

He would have liked to buy Haddon Hall, More Glass Than Wall, no, that was Hardwick Hall. Eventually He had located a nice large Elizabethan / Jacobean stone house with all mod cons not unlike the home they had in Storybrooke, and He had "forged" the planning permission needed to build a computing room and laboratories. The house was near Tideswell, but was not walking distance, unlike in Storybrooke. There was a sizeable estate, and privacy. Since there was a bus stop near, getting the kids to school was not an issue. The boys went to one school, where they got a bad reputation as hyperactive pains in the neck. The girls went to another school, which soon became known as and the constant recipient of back-handers to prevent the girls being expelled. The science block burnt down more than once, and the computers needed special protection against unauthorised access. It was never proved that the girls had passed their exams on the basis of stolen exam papers, since scrying had been used. And, after He had paid it a visit, traces of neither gunpowder, dynamite or TNT were ever found amid the ruins of the Science Block.

The boys Higher Education was done by sending them to Derby University to study science. They were able to commute each day on their supercharged bikes, there being an abnormally high failure rate with the north bound traffic cameras; having farsight and being able to levitate proving useful when the driving conditions were bad. The girls went to Nottingham University to study both business studies and science, coming home at weekends to be a pain the tail and demand money with menaces. By this time He had got the boys into the habit of improving the houses' ambience by wearing Tuxedos or Faustian Tails at night. Tudor dress with ruffs was another dress option which they enjoyed.

After ten "happy" years in Tideswell, it was time to move again. The UK could not provide all the technical infrastructure and resources needed to produce the equipment needed to generate a "Dragon Magic Field" around Tideswell or Storybrooke, and supplying the US military with high tech equipment demanded access to US manufacturing. So Dad was forced to set up offices and manufacturing in Portland, Oregon, a Wesen rich area. An apartment was purchased near to the Portland Technical University so that the boys could all do higher degrees. The girls opted to stay in the UK for now and look after the house, pursuing higher degrees in Nottingham or London. Later the girls decided to move to New York and pursue various power mad schemes. Periodically they would come home and twist Dad's arm, getting Dad to teach them more about psi abilities and its links with magic. Yes, look out Regina.

The Portland operation expanded rapidly over the next 8 years. Leo joined the local police force to spy on what the authorities were doing until he was needed to help run the business. Rex joined the security company we used and then owned. Trian did a PhD while, as Technical Director (or Junior Mini Me as the Staff called Trian), helping to run the labs. A larger home was bought near the labs, and later Dad purchased a regular mansion with estate, after the owners left following a "Banshee" problem. This was the sort of place where Dad and the boys always felt like wearing their Tuxedos or Faustian Tails at night, unless they and the dogs morphed and went for a romp around the grounds.

Then Emma returned to Boston.