Well, here is the next installment. Now, I am sorry I am so late getting it posted, but unfortunately I live just outside of Washington, DC. For those of you that know your geography, this means that I was among the millions that had to bear the wrath that was Irene. Luckily, I never lost power or anything of the sort. However, due to the fact that I share the computer with two others, I am just now getting a chance to post this chapter.

Many thanks as usual to kellymutt for her wonderful beta work. Be ready for some twists and turns. There are some doozies coming up!

As usual, I own nothing that you recognize from the original show.

Chapter 10

Hank sat there, wondering just how he was going to explain all of this to both Christie and Mike. Then he had a thought: pretend this is a dry-run for when the time comes to tell John Gage. This way he can tell the story without risking making himself or his family out to look like fools. His father had told him a long time ago that even though he had a sister, he had to pretend that he didn't. She was disowned from the family and therefore there could be no mention of her around either of the parents.

"OK, as you know I said something earlier to imply that I knew Rose Gage before John entered into the fire service. The truth is simple...she and I are related. However, I need both of you to not interrupt me, just listen. Especially you Christie, as this will not be easy for me."

He took a drink coffee trying to calm his nerves and collect his thoughts. Then he began his tale. "I come from a family with four siblings. I was the youngest with the oldest being eight years older and the only girl. Despite the age difference she and I were the closest. That being said, she was also not exactly the most stable of people. She also had done things to the family that were for the most part unforgivable and had been given an ultimatum by our father: leave the family voluntarily and still retain the family name and honor or be disowned by the family and left to fend for herself. She did the only thing that for her made the most sense to her…leave on her own accord. Little did she know that she would still be disowned by my father?

"You see, due to where we lived there were a number of men that were coming back from the military service and they needed work. My family not only was in the fire service, but we also owned and operated a farm in Maryland about halfway between Washington, DC and Annapolis, Maryland. My sister was apparently pretty enough to attract the attention of the various soldiers coming back home and she liked to make them feel extra welcome, if you get my meaning?" He shot both Mike and Christie a look that begged for them to understand. Both nodded and he continued.

"Well, one of them was really smitten with her and her with him. His name was Daniel and he was about seven years older. It made him seem so much worldly to her, I guess. Well, I don't want to get into a lot of details, but here is the gist of things. They were together for about 5 months and my father found out that they were together. He never really approved of what she had been doing, but he never figured she would fall for one of the soldiers. One day Daniel came around to ask my father for her hand in marriage. Surprised the entire family like nothing else could. He gave his blessing, but not until she turned eighteen, and that wasn't until late July. Now, most fathers would have been thrilled to have their daughter find someone to spend the rest of their life with. However, my father wasn't too sure about Daniel. So, he started asking around about him. It took only about a week for the information to come back to him, but when it did it would tear apart my family forever.

"See, my father found out that Daniel's full name was Daniel Greywolf Gage and that he was a full blooded Native American…or as my father called him a 'dirty no good injun.' Oh, the fight that erupted from that was the stuff of legends around town. Mom and dad both confronted my sister and gave her an ultimatum…break it off with him and stay in the good graces of the family or be with him and be disowned by the family. This was May 25, 1947 and on May 26 she was packed and gone. She left me a letter explaining what she was doing, but I was only ten years old at the time. I didn't really understand what had happened. Mom tried to explain it to me later, but I think I was still a bit too upset. My father was prejudiced and I didn't realize it. I mean, one of my best friends growing up was a black kid that lived next door and his dad worked with my dad. I didn't get to see her again for eight years. That's when she came to my high school graduation. How she found out about it, I don't know, but she was there. We saw each other briefly and she said she was living in Montana with her husband and his family. Unfortunately, my father found us and damn near tore my hide apart for speaking to her. She left after that and I didn't see her again for about another five years. That's when I moved out here to California in 1960."

Hank had by this time finished off his initial cup of coffee and Mike had gotten another one for him. Christie had a glass of water, not trusting anything else in her system as she had a very bad feeling where all of this was going. Little did she know that Mike had an inkling where this was going as well. He changed seats and sat next to Christie to offer her a bit more support. Support she would be thankful for later.

Then Hank continued, "Well, I had been here for a few months with my new wife and we were looking for a house and to get out of the apartment. She was pregnant with the twins and we both knew it would be a bit too cramped very soon. Since I had already not only went through the academy in Maryland but also almost four years of experience on the job we just decided that a change to the West Coast was the thing to do, especially since that's where Emily's family comes from. Anyway, while out looking at the real estate market we ran into my sister. Now, if you haven't figured it out by now, my sister is in fact your aunt Rose Gage. By this time, I noticed that she seemed to be a bit…off. Not anything really noticeable but enough for family to spot right away. I found out that she had been pregnant twice before and had miscarried both times. Due to this, she was deeply depressed. To be honest I wasn't sure if I wanted her around my new family, but Emily convinced me to.

"After almost a year she tells me that she and her husband are going back to Montana for a bit but would be back. She wasn't sure how long she would be, but they had sold their house so I assumed they were going to be gone for at least six months. Oh, if I only had known what was going to happen I would give anything to have been able to reverse it? The next time I saw her was when she came back with her nephew in tow…one little Johnny Gage. She fed me the story of what happened to the family, except she included in it about her own husband being in the fire as well. I thought she might want me to help her with providing a positive male figure in her nephew's life, but she made it quite clear that she wasn't going to have that. I had very little contact with him during the first two years. Later, she forbids me from contacting either of them. I saw that my sister was quickly becoming someone that might not be able to take care of someone like a young boy. But, there was not a whole lot I could do except try to keep an eye on things from a distance. The best I could do was to make sure I had an idea where she would be living and try to watch things from a distance."

By now, Hank had finished off his coffee and had wanted water to ease his throat. He sure wasn't used to speaking like this but he figured he had better since he was going to have to repeat the story one more time, if not two. After asking Mike for a glass of water and receiving it, he settled down to continue. He knew the story wasn't done quite yet, "All I could do was bide my time. All I wanted to do was to make sure that the young man my sister was taking care of was actually being taken care of. Now, as you know, I served under Patrick McConnikee while he was still a captain. He was promoted in 1969 that fall. However, before that, he had one more thing to do. See, every year the Fire Department, along with the Police Department, various federal agencies, the military and such, hold job fairs throughout the county. We present information to the students at each school, answer questions, hand out pamphlets and hopefully sign up any recruits. The Fire Department is a bit different in that we don't sign you up right away. Instead, we get your information for our files and give out information about signing up. We, along with the Police Department want to make sure that the students are making the right decision. Well, the last fair of the year was being held at one of the schools on the north side of Los Angeles. McConnikee was the only man handling the station as we were in the middle of a nasty wildfire and he had been injured about a week before. From what he told me a lot of boys came to the display and asked questions, but only one actually made any kind of commitment. You can probably guess that it was John. McConnikee told me about him and when I heard his name, I let him know my connection him and his aunt. That didn't sit too well with the captain, but he said he would keep an eye on John. Well, after graduation he entered the academy and not long after that was when McConnikee was promoted. I think you know the rest of John's history for the most part, but what you probably don't know is that he and his aunt got into one hell of a fight. She even came to my home and accused me of having some kind of influence over John, knowing full well that she never let me near him."

Hank by now was pretty well spent. This was a lot to get out and he didn't realize he would be so tired…no drained after talking about it after all this time. When he looked at the faces of Christie and Mike he expected to see surprise and possibly shock, but what he saw well and truly surprised him. On Mike he saw the shock and the surprise, but also an anger that he couldn't quite place. On Christie, however, he saw only two things…shock and fury. That actually didn't surprise him. What did surprise him was that she got up and went outside to the back yard, presumably to cool off. That left him with Mike. Nothing else was said for a little while, then without warning Mike began to speak.