"Went dat badly, eh?"

"Worse."

Zarabeth's hands fumbled with the mending she was working with as she listened to Silver and Jim in the kitchen, little Morph balanced on one shoulder as he watched the girl try to distract herself. It had become a sort of tradition for Silver to spend a few nights a week with them for supper, Zara grateful for his cooking to relieve Jim of his efforts. He was certainly improving, but his years as a kitchen boy had done little to hone in on perfecting more than toasting bread or reheating soup.

"Ya didn't let Amelia know any of t'is?"

"How could we?" Jim's tone was low and cold, frustration hinting at every word as he scrubbed the counter he and Silver had be working at. "She's already over her head in trying to live with the woman for the next two weeks. We didn't want to upset her further. Not like she can do anything."

"She can throw this she-devil out is what she can do!"

Zara flinched as Silver's words were punctuated by the crashing of a pot against their wooden table, the girl's concerned glance met by an apologetic attempt at a smile from the old cyborg.

"Sorry, Zara. I just feels so helpless fer the pair of ya. It ain't right."

Managing to get up from her seat in the adjoining room, Zarabeth was met half way as she found herself surrounded in Silver's warm embrace, the shapeshifter moving from the girl's arm to float towards Jim so as not to be caught between the two as they hugged.

"I wish I could make it better, lass. I'd throw t'is feline ta the streets myself if I was able. I'd not let a single clawed finger o' hers touch my precious girl."

"Well, she knows how Amelia feels about it, at least in part. Vanessa understands that Amelia never did and never will view me in the same light as she always has. All she wanted from me was a reaction...and I let her have it without a fight."

"Zara, ya haven't seen 'er in, what does that make it now, goin' on a decade? Yer allowed some fumblin' about. She's just a heartless ol' witch."

"You can say that again..."

Jim's attitude had remained rather foul over the course of the following days, doing neither him nor Zarabeth any good.

"Jimbo, Zara, listen here. The two of you need not stick around fer the next two weeks. There be no reason for it! The Captain has offered ya their town house and I think you ought to take it."

"Silver, Jim and I have discussed this many times this week. We can't go anywhere, not with the baby so close to coming. I could never forgive myself if something were to happen while we were away, something that could be avoided by not running from this."

"It ain't really runnin'-"

"But it is. Silver, I'm free. Legally she no longer has any power over me. I shouldn't feel the need to leave."

"But she-you can't-oh mercy..."

Raising her hands to rest on either side of the cyborg's face, Zarabeth managed to bring Silver's eyes back to her, hoping her soft smile was enough to reassure him. "I wasn't truly ready for her last time. I've seen her now, and I know what to expect. I won't run, but I won't simply hide out here either. Next I see that woman, I'll be the stronger one."

"Zara, stop this." Having stayed quiet for as long as he could bear, Jim moved from behind the counter to stand alongside the two, pulling a hand over his eyes in exasperation as he fought to be understood. "You've seen her once and once is one too many. You have nothing to prove. We won't necessarily avoid Vanessa, we'll just simply...try to keep from running into her. There's no shame in that."

Releasing a heavy sigh, Zarabeth took a few steps back toward the heart of the kitchen, her hands propped against her back to stabilize herself as she watched the fire from the stove lick at the bottom of the teakettle she had just put on. "I know you're both worried, and I'm grateful for it, I really am, but I've already made up my mind. I'm inviting Vanessa to tea."

"Tea." Jim knew he'd regret the tone of irritation seeping further into every word, but at the moment, he was too exasperated to care. "You wanna have that witch here? In-In our house? Honey, have you lost your mind?"

Offering a small cracker up to Morph as he lazily flew about the girl, she didn't move to face the others, striving to keep her own reactions calm and collected with her reply. "No, Jim, I haven't. I'm going to prove to her that I'm not afraid of her anymore. I have to show her that I'm completely free. I don't want her respect or understanding, I don't even want her repentance, I just want her to see me as a person. I need to show her that I'm thriving apart from that life she forced me to endure all those years."

Finally turning to face the two once more, Zara had guessed at the expression of her husband, but Silver surprised her. He didn't look horrified as Jim did, he seemed only sad.

"Jim, before you say anything, yes I've already made up my mind on this. In fact, I...I already invited her."

The boy's eyes showed just how close to anger he was, not at Zarabeth but at the situation as a whole, his hand visibly trembling a little as he moved the hair out of his eyes. "When?"

"This Thursday."

"Zara." Jim's anger instantly melted away with her simple reply, replaced by evident concern as he leaned against the counter separating him from his wife. "I'm not going to be here. Silver and I are at the spaceport Thursday almost all...wait. You planned that, didn't you."

"Yes."

Anything Jim was about to say was quickly diverted as Silver's low chuckling rumbled through the tense room, the cyborg gently nudging the boy as his eye twinkled in amusement.

"Oh, Jim ma boy, she's a right trixy one, ain't she?"

"Silver, it's not funny!"

"Yes i'tis, Jimbo, your wife's outsmarted you good. Oh, but in all seriousness, she'll be alright lad. The other night truly was on Vanessa's terms. This time 'round, Zara be holdin' all the cards, or most at least. And surely the Captain will be wit' 'em, right lass?"

"Of course I invited Amelia. I'm not completely daft."

"I wonder sometimes..."

Removing the kettle as it began to sing, Zarabeth glanced back to shoot the boy a warning look, her expression softening as Jim managed to give her a small smile in apology.

"There we be, then. The Captain will look after Zara while you an' I get some work done. Everyone's a winner. If we're lucky, things'll blow over wit' the she-devil and the two weeks will be up before we know it."

His words were reassuring to the girl's weighted mind, but twinges of doubt still plagued her as Jim's expression remained dark and uncertain. Timidly stepping closer to stand in front of him, Zarabeth gently took hold of the boy's hands to lay them over her stomach, a gesture that had become a soothing sort of ritual over the past months. "Jim, I'll be alright. You trust me, don't you?"

"It isn't you I don't trust."

"Jim, please, I don't want you worrying. I need to do this. No, don't deny me that, I'm serious. If I don't do this, I'm afraid I'll forever wonder if I truly am still afraid of her."

"You have every right to be."

"I know...but I don't want that. This is for me. Not Amelia, not Vanessa, me. Alright?"

Giving a small nod in resignation, Jim's tensed mouth relaxed into a gentle smile as he found himself surrounded in Zara's warm embrace, leaving a small kiss against her neck as he spoke close to her ear. "Alright...Just promise me you won't overdo it? Just tea."

"Yes, just tea. I promise."

"Good, then let's eat that dessert Silver brought before it goes stale."