TPWWBinter

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or Stargate SG-1. Not making any money…you guys know the drill!

Intermission: Where pride goes…

Norma Peters exited her limousine feeling very proud of herself. Pete Thornton had told them they had 30 days to vacate but for reasons airheaded Norma could not comprehend they had been told to stay an extra 3 months after that. The firm was even forced to pay them a compensation for all the guests they lost in the months the house was closed for renovations. With all the money they made over the years and the money Takako Takagi left them her husband was able to buy them a nice big house not far from here. People started waving at her as soon as she arrived. The usual suck ups gathered around her quickly now as she arrived. In Aspen she was still queen and reveled in the fact that Victoria had been unable to dethrone her.

'Take that Carmen! Take your hard work and decency speeches and shove 'em!' she thought smugly as she passed the cemetery on her way to the field where a stage and many tables were set up for the huge dedication gala at the Janeway Manor.

As of today the house had officially been declared a historical landmark. That was the only reason they could no longer live here. The only people allowed to work here now were especially trained historians. Norma didn't care as long as she was still the queen of Aspen high society. She had always resented her cousin Carmen for her popularity. She hated always being in her shadow and being the town pariah just because she liked having fun and enjoying her youth. She had enjoyed tormenting Tokio with all those stupid lectures about prudence her cousin Carmen and her mother were always forcing on her.

"Good Evening Mr. and Mrs. Peters," a waiter greeted politely. She smiled haughtily as the young man led them to their table. They had the table to themselves for the moment. Her son and his fiancée Dania were running late. They would be coming here after they wrapped up his fiancée's birthday party. The suck ups continued to come and pay their respects. Her old image of the town slut was long buried and she worked extra hard to keep that secret. Those who still knew what she had been like had long since left town. The few that remained had been silenced by her father in law. She couldn't understand why her parents still wouldn't talk to her.

'They could come back and be treated like royalty around here all thanks to me! And my little brother calls me stupid!' she thought smugly. Why they had cared about what happened to Tokio was something she could not understand. She glanced around and realized that all of Aspen's elite families were present along with the local news outlets. But there seemed to be a fair amount of people she didn't recognize. She was seated at a prominent table near the stage. Jagged Metal was doing a concert to commemorate the occasion.

'Carmen was their niece not their daughter. Who cares what happens to her brat?' she thought with a twinge of annoyance that she quickly banished. She played her grand dame part well these days though. Her father in law's position as a Senator was extremely dependent on their squeaky clean image and she gladly played her part. But her father in law understood the need for relief from all the pretenses they had to endure on a daily basis. She gladly assumed the role of stress relief for him over the years too. In return he made sure she had a very nice life with all the finest things money could buy. They had a nice arrangement, his wife died when Chris Sr. was young and she had no real husband so theirs was a mutually beneficial partnership.

And now that Chris Sr. was going to run for mayor she couldn't wait to rub her status in their faces. His "family values" and protection of "traditional" marriage campaign pretty much guaranteed him the election in this old fashioned town. It was everything she could hope for and more. She enjoyed the fact that it had all come so easy. She couldn't wait to call her family and tell them everything she had achieved. A local band was playing soft jazz while the guests mingled. Suck ups continued to drift towards them some pledging their support for Chris' mayoral campaign.

Victoria Stillwater arrived and created a buzz that annoyed Norma because it took attention away from her. She arrived with an entourage of bodyguards and students and the press swarmed around her. Norma did her best to keep her smile in place. Victoria and the boys Tokio hung out with scared her. She hated Tokio for associating with them and for allowing them to hurt her son. As far as Norma was concerned Tokio earned every beating she got. She felt Tokio was supposed to pay back for all the times Carmen had interrupted her fun!

'She deserved all of it!' she thought angrily as she watched Victoria pass by towards her table. At that moment Victoria turned and looked straight at Norma. She smiled at her in a way that made Norma more afraid than she had ever felt in her life! A woman near her asked her if she was alright; that she looked like she'd seen a ghost. Norma quickly composed herself and excused herself to return to her table and take her seat. A waiter refilled her champagne and she took a quick sip before she chanced a look at Victoria again. Victoria looked at her again still smiling from two tables away and raised her glass in a toast towards her. Norma willed her hand not to shake as she raised her glass and mirrored her gesture.

"I think we should leave," she whispered to Chris carefully making sure her smile was still in place.

"As usual you are being stupid. We're not going anywhere especially now that I'm about to run for mayor. This is my big moment! Now be quiet," he whispered back behind an equally fake smile. The band stopped playing and as they left the stage Aoshi Shinomori came out to welcome everyone and introduce Jagged Metal. The lights dimmed and Norma realized that as the band began to play her son still wasn't there. A very beautiful woman with exotic features and long curly dark hair suddenly sat next to her in the seat her son was supposed to have. A man with white hair and intense blue eyes sat next to her husband.

"Where is Chris?" she wondered fear for her son's life infusing every fiber of her being. The woman smiled at her.

"Relax, your son is fine. His girlfriend broke up with him so he doesn't feel like coming to a party, that's all," said the pretty girl next to her in an exotic accent. Norma frowned and looked back towards Victoria who again just smiled and raised her glass to her in toast. Norma didn't move and Victoria just laughed as did the rest of the people at her table.

"I should go check in on him then," Norma replied nervously. Faster than she thought humanly possible the woman's arm shot out to grab her arm.

"Stay," said the woman with an evil smile. Norma shook her head but on the woman's other hand was a federal agent badge. She looked over to her husband and he looked white as a sheet.

"The show is just getting started," growled the man with the intense blue eyes and a very intimidating glare. She said nothing as her hands began to shake in her lap…

Dak Tracer ended his first song and began working the crowd in preparation for his big reveal. First he introduced the people from the historic society and talked about the ceremony earlier that day. He talked about his days starting out in Australia leading the crowd carefully towards the point where he revealed his true identity. He cracked a joke about reporters knowing everything from his birthday to the size of the tattoo on his butt!

"But if you asked them if they know what my mom's name was all you hear is crickets," he teased. The audience chuckled a little. His tone became serious as he continued and he saw from the corner of his eye Norma watching her table companions nervously.

"And that surprises me because she was well known in these parts. She was famous or infamous depending on whether you were on her good or bad side," he joked then paused to let the momentum build.

"Her name was Takako…Takako Takagi," he said. He was rewarded with a collective gasp and the crowd began to grumble that he was lying. Someone in the crowd quickly pointed out that Michael and Richard Takagi were dead and Takako had no other children. On a screen a large picture of a teenaged Michael Takagi suddenly appeared and he explained what his mother did. He fought the wave of disbelief with anecdotes of his youth that many in the audience could corroborate. He answered a few questions from reporters by recalling the way his predecessors had chased after him in his youth. He surprised one young reporter with a tale of how his father had been a big old snitch when he was in school.

"Any way, I didn't come back to pick up where my mother left off… no thank you!" he continued undaunted. He explained he came back because he wanted to put his family to rest for good. No Takagi – or relative thereof – would ever live in the house again and wanted to come and say goodbye and do a little reminiscing with some old friends.

"In fact, I brought pictures! My little brother was really good with a camera and back then you really had to have a knack for that stuff. He had his own dark room and everything!" he explained cheerfully. He teased the younger people in the audience by explaining what a dark room was. So he started his reminiscence with a little movie of his first real show: A rave at an empty warehouse. The band he was playing with was doing a cover of a Beatles song but the set was interrupted by three people in army uniforms.

Dak pointed out the younger versions of some of the people in the party. His movie started with a quick shot of him and an 18 year old Richard. The movie continued as first Richard wandered through the crowd behind the camera as young men and women - who looked either drunk or high - made faces at the camera or teased Richard. Dak teased Pete as he finally came on the screen looking just as young as Richard and having a full head of hair. When the three army people arrived on the seen booing could be heard amongst the crowd. There was one woman and two men. The camera stayed glued on the woman but she never acknowledged its presence.

"I'm pretty sure this is where my little brother fell in love with Carmen," Dak teased and was rewarded with a few chuckles from the crowd. He pointed out Chris Peters as Rick hurried to keep up with the Carmen. He was making out with someone in a hallway and Rick interrupted him to find out which way Carmen went. The first bombshell of the night dropped and a shocked silence canceled all the noise in the crowd. Chris Sr. was aggressively making out with another young man. It was impossible to deny it was him. The young man on the old movie was practically a clone of Chris Jr. All eyes had turned to Chris and Norma who were apparently glued to their seats.

Dak continued as though he hadn't noticed the sudden silence and the second bombshell arrived as Rick caught up with Carmen. She had found her cousin in a small back room. Carmen was yelling at her in Spanish and Dak attempted to make a joke by apologizing for not putting any subtitles.

"We're already well past the PG-13 no sense in pushing it," he joked casually. There we a few scattered chuckles most of them coming from Victoria and her entourage. Carmen swatted the joint out of Norma's hand. All eyes in the audience were glued on the young woman being dragged by her hair now half naked by Carmen. The movie ended there and Dak continued. He talked casually as though he were reminiscing with old friends at home.
He showed picture after picture of his youthful indiscretions. He was rock star and his image would not suffer from the pictures.

"Oh this was a great time! Hey Norma do you remember this one?" he asked cheerfully as he showed a picture of himself and a friend on a stage with Norma. She had taken off her shirt and was in the middle of a lewd dance pose as the two men played their guitars at either side of her. He joked that Carmen had yet again crashed their party and that he got a tattoo on his butt to cover the boot print she left there when he tried to pick her up with a very bad line.

"We had such good times back then," he concluded in a fond reminiscing tone. He continued peppering pictures of Chris with other men in compromising positions in between pictures of his own misadventures.

"Ah the sixties…to be that young again," he added with a sigh "all the parties, free love, stickin' it the man…wait what's this?" he asked as the party was interrupted by several men in black suits and shiny badges hanging around their necks. The crowd murmured in speculation as they watched the train wreck of Norma and her husband frozen to their seats…

With great satisfaction Special Agent Jethro Gibbs hauled the shocked Chris Peters out of his chair. Federal agents had arrived to serve him a warrant for his arrest. He was being charged with nothing more than tax evasion but the timing was spectacular. Dak had played his part well! He had exposed them for the hypocrites they were now the final humiliation came as Chris was hauled away in chains. Ziva was keeping Norma put as the woman began to cry. She begged Ziva to let her go home but his junior member was having none of it. People in the tables mumbled in shock and surprise…some in anger.

"You know it's a Michael Takagi party when somebody gets arrested," he teased and some chuckles rose from the crowd. "Hey fellas! You might wanna hang out for little while you might have to haul me away too as soon as I get into the champagne!" he called out and Gibbs joined the few in the crowd as that laughed. DiNozzo and McGee appeared and in a tongue in cheek way DiNozzo let him know he'd stick around for a while and keep him company. And that was part of the plan, there were bound to be some angry people whose political agendas had been destroyed by Dak's trip down memory lane. For his safety they would stick to him until he left town.

The party continued as Dak produced more photos of other so-called pinnacles of virtue in town…tearing down with satisfaction the facades of the elite.

'For you my sweet niece…' Dak thought as he continued his campaign to show the world who the "elite" of Aspen really are…

-0000000-

Chris Peters junior sat in his grandfather's study back in his house in Washington DC late that night. All of his dreams had washed down the toilet. He tried hard to wash down the bitter taste of regret and heartbreak with his grandfather's expensive whiskey. Senator Peters poured another glass of whiskey for him and his son. His deal with Victoria was that Chris Jr. would be spared jail and he would continue to be oblivious to his true parentage. He was the only one of his sons the senator would be allowed to save in exchange for his obedience to Victoria's orders. Chris Sr. would go to jail and all his money and properties – even some belonging to junior – would be seized. If he wanted to help Norma it would cost him extra. John was still thinking about it and hadn't decided what to do about her yet.

"I'm sorry Chris," he said softly. Chris had not been spared humiliations though. He had spent years telling people that Tokio had gone insane after the deaths of her family and that they were forced to send her to a mental institution in California after her "accident". He had told many a fake sob story to his friends about how far gone her mind was now to the point where it wasn't safe for anyone from her past to visit her. It had garnered him a whole lot of sympathy and popularity. But during his fiancée's birthday Tokio's friends had infiltrated the party disguised as caterers.

Instead of the videos reminiscing of his fiancée's childhood they had shown videos of a very mentally healthy Tokio. Some were videos with her friends, some short videos with her brand-new fiancé and of course surveillance videos taken by private detectives and pulled from street cameras and ATMs: videos that showed Chris being physically abusive towards Tokio. His friends turned on him in an instant. They all believed the stories he told that Tokio's mind was fragile and she had to be left alone. Those were the stories they had been told as children by their parents and Chris had this used to hide the campaign he had engaged in as part of Takako's dirty deal with him.

"You were right Grandpa. We should've just left her. We should've just sent her away from us the instant the old lady died," he replied drunkenly. His girlfriend had railed against him. She had been Tokio's best friend in school and clung to Chris begging for news of Tokio. Her parents had been friends with Tokio's parents and took her out of the school when Tokio's parents died and moved away from Aspen. She never knew why and by the time she returned and tried to find Tokio her best friend was gone. She had come to Chris despite her parents' objections and believed all the lies he told her. That was how they first came together. He loved Dania; the anger in her eyes and her words had cut deep. He tried to explain that he was trying to protect his mother but that just made it worse. She threw her engagement ring at him and spit in his face calling him a filthy scumbag and to never come near her again.

"It could have been worse Chris," his grandfather said softly. Chris merely nodded. The prestigious marketing firm in New York where he was about to accept a very lucrative position called to tell him they no longer wanted him. His current job in a marketing firm in Aspen called to tell him he'd been fired and not to bother coming back to the office because his final check and his personal effects from his desk would be shipped to him. He'd been blacklisted and no company would hire him now. His career was over and after tonight his grandfather's career would be in shambles too. His grandfather's men had come to rescue him and whisk him away from Aspen and brought him to DC.

"I suppose not going to jail is something," he replied in drunken slur sloshing the whiskey around his glass. One of the Oniwaban infiltrators had shown him a movie of when his parents were young that was to be shown at the gala that night. His mother and father would be humiliated tonight in front of all their friends. To top it off all the years that his parents rented out the rooms they had not paid taxes because his father believed it was a historical landmark and could be exempt. The Takagis had never paid taxes on their property but his grandfather explained that Tokio's ancestors had always found someone to blackmail into paying it for them. A fact Takako failed to mention to Chris Sr. His father was probably already in jail by now and by morning his mother would be on the street.

"What's gonna happen to mom? Is she going to jail too?" Chris asked. John shook his head.

"I don't know," John replied truthfully. He had secured a position for Chris in the American Embassy in Australia. He could start over and make a nice life there and maybe someday he could return once the scandals died down. If it didn't well John would just go and join him there once his Faustian contract with Victoria was concluded.

"Your mother is a survivor. She'll land on her feet. Don't worry about her," he added by way of reassurance. He decided then he would wait and see how Norma would be affected by this and let her figure her way out of this situation on her own. Victoria had already warned him that if he wanted to help her he'd have to re-negotiate their deal with him. She already had a tight enough leash on him and her imagination seemed to know no bounds. He didn't want to give her any more leverage against him. Chris Jr. was his only priority right now.

"Pride goes before a fall…I remember you said that to dad all those years ago when Takako was talking him into taking control of the house…you told him not to do it…he should've listened," said Chris sadly draining his whiskey and holding his glass out for more. John obliged him. He would concentrate on protecting young Chris for now and let the rest sort itself out…

Hey Fic Reader!

I'm glad you like how Haji handled it with Lisa and Kelly! It's his nature to protect his turf. Lisa was always the one who noticed what no one else noticed. The shallow air head thing always seemed like a cover. She will make it up to her but I can't say much because it would spoil the next chapter :) I can't say much about Maybourne or anything else without giving away my next chapter but you are on the right track! Thanks for reading!

TTFN