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Chapter 31 – The Dad Chat

Karen held the phone in front of her as she spoke to her Mom. She sat on the sofa in Arles and Samuel's flat at the school. Arles stood behind her, turning back on the fire in the fireplace.

Samuel ran his hand through his hair as he stood in front of the food replicator. "I want tea. You, Arles?"

Arles smiled and sat down at the bar, "Certainly."

Samuel nodded and called from the kitchen, "Karen, Baby? You want tea?" He looked back at Arles and asked quietly, "Does she drink tea?"

Arles grinned, "I've never known her to."

Karen walked into the kitchen holding the phone, "I'm sorry, what?"

Samuel pointed at the food replicator. "Drink?"

"Wine? That…sort. Umm…pink." She said as she sat next to Arles at the bar.

Samuel realized what she was asking for, "Oh! I think I know the one."

Arles leaned over and smiled at Anne. "Hello, Anne. Miss seeing you."

Anne laughed, "You miss my cookies."

He chuckled. "I do. How is the Lieutenant?"

"Oh, he's on duty tonight. Something at the base. I don't know. I learned a long time ago to never ask. Otherwise, I get acronyms."

Arles nodded, "Are you alright on your own?"

She smiled, "Oh, he'll be home within the hour. And I have MPs just outside. But, thank you Arles."

Samuel handed Arles his tea and Karen her wine.

"So, Samuel is there?" Anne asked.

Karen laughed, "Yes, ma'am. He's just here." She looked up at Samuel and motioned for him to come over. He stood behind Karen, put his head on her shoulder, and looked at the lady on the phone.

"Hi, there. How are you?" He asked.

"Oh, Samuel!" Anne cheered and covered her mouth. "You have no idea how much Karen has missed you."

He grinned, "She's tried to explain, but words seem to fail her."

Anne laughed. "Indeed. Well, I've made some cookies. I know you like them."

Samuel continued to lay his head on Karen's shoulder to look at Anne on the phone. "Thank you. That is thoughtful."

Karen turned her head and asked him. "She wants us to come for breakfast in the morning. How do you feel about that?"

He kissed her cheek. "Sure. That's fine. Grand wants us at their place for Sunday dinner. Hopefully, she's not cooking."

Arles pointed at himself, "Me too, Anne?"

Anne smiled, "Arles, you are always welcome in our home. We'll see you in the morning. I'll have fruit salad ready for you."

Arles clapped his hands together and smiled. "YES!"

Karen and Samuel laughed at him.

"The way to this man's heart, Anne." Samuel laughed and walked away, sipping his tea.

Karen laughed, "We'll see you in the morning, Mom. Tell Daddy we're back and everyone is alright."

Anne waved and ended the call.

Karen sipped the wine. "Oh, that's just what I wanted tonight. Thank you."

"Not sick?" Arles asked her.

Samuel looked surprised at Karen. "Sick?"

She shook her head. "I'm fine. I was bit….queasy, a few days while you were gone. I get that way if I don't sleep a lot."

Samuel nodded, "Stress. Yeah. That will cause that, too."

Arles sipped his tea. "Yeah. That's what I told her. See, I'm not a Doctor….but, I do know a few things."

"You could be a Doctor if you wanted to be." Samuel told him.

"And I don't want to be. So, there." Arles grinned.

Samuel stood, looking in the refrigerator, "I want something, but I don't know what."

Arles chuckled, "Grapes. That's what I want."

Samuel closed the door. "I can do with that. Karen?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I like grapes."

Samuel went over to the food replicator and asked for a large bowl of grapes. He brought it over and sat it on the bar. He leaned on the bar and all of them started to eat from the bowl together.

Arles sipped his tea. "So, I spoke to Genie. I'll move to the flat next door in the next few days-"

"Arles. I'm sorry. I should have talked to you about this before I asked Karen to move in."

Arles grinned. "It's alright. I knew it would happen as soon as…well…."

Karen smiled proudly. "He remembered."

Arles rose his eyes in surprise. "You remembered!"

Samuel smiled. "Yeah. But more importantly, she said 'yes', again."

Arles looked at Karen and grinned, "You made him ask again? You're tough!"

Karen pointed at her ring finger. "I didn't make him. Look what he drew on my finger."

Arles held her hand and saw the small heart with the words, 'Your Samuel', written above it. "That's sweet."

Samuel tossed a grape in his mouth. "I can't thank you enough."

"So, you remember your 'Ten'?"

"I never had worked out the Ten. I only had the first Five. Well, Six."

Karen sipped her wine. "Oh, tell us! We've talked about who we thought they would be, but wasn't sure."

Samuel laughed under his breath. "Well, Arles is 'One', of course."

"And it's my honor." Arles smiled back at Karen.

Karen rubbed his back. "He was amazing, Samuel."

Samuel smiled, "And Legate the Third is 'Two'. Dad is 'Three'."

Arles smiled, "Dad? Really?"

"Oh, yes. I want the Oncoming Storm in my top three. You've heard the stories."

Arles laughed and sat back. "Absolutely."

"And then 'Four' is Papa, 'Five' is Grandfather and 'Six' is Uncle Tony. I'm still thinking about the rest. I want to put Soli in there, but….not sure where. And I might change the order, I don't know."

Arles grinned, "Tony Tyler?"

"Oh, that ginger temper. Although, I'm going to have to make him one of the 'Ten.' He did save my life after all. Did I put up any sort of fight? Has he said anything?"

Arles shook his head and tossed a grape in his mouth. "I've not talked to him about it."

Karen asked, "Do you remember anything about it?"

"No." Samuel told her.

Arles nodded, "I think it's best if you don't try. But, that's just me."

"Doctor Arles." Samuel smiled.

"I agree with Arles." Karen sipped her wine. "Okay, so breakfast with my parents, then dinner with yours."

"With the time difference, we'll leave one and go to straight to the other one." Samuel smiled.

Karen shook her head. "We'll have to make sure you rest sometime in there."

"I'm fine. Really."

Arles teased, "Karen's Dad is probably going to give you the dreaded, 'Dad Chat'."

Samuel groaned and dropped his head. "Oh, hell. Have I met him, yet? Maybe this has already happened."

Karen shook her head. "What are you two talking about?"

Samuel took her glass of wine and refilled it as Arles' explained. "You know, the 'Dad Chat'. I imagine the Lieutenant's will go something like this:" He imitated Karen's Dad, "Okay, son. You're dating my daughter…"

Samuel sat the glass back in front of Karen and corrected Arles' using the same deep voice to imitate her Dad. "I mean, engaged to my daughter. And I need to explain a few things to you, son. First!"

Arles continued, still in the same voice. "You need to get up every morning and run PT around the NARS and do the FODOCD."

Karen covered her face and laughed.

Samuel pulled up his trousers and continued in the same deep voice, "And then, drop and give me 50-"

Arles added, "And then huff it up the hill-"

Samuel held his hands out dramatically, "To prove your worth to let you have my daughter's hand-"

"And don't forget, I know how to shoot someone-"

"And I don't care if you do know the Commander in Chief of the armed forces, I'll still shoot you! Send in the Marines! I have the…" He returned to his normal voice, "What do Navy people call themselves?"

Karen wiped her tears from her laughter. "Oh my God! My Dad is not like that!"

Samuel laughed, "All Dads are like that."

Arles tossed a grape in his mouth and shook his head. "Nah, Karen is right. John isn't like that."

"His name is John, too?"

Karen laughed, "Yes. And you haven't met him, yet."

"But, I have met your Mum?"

She smiled, "Yes. You've met her."

Samuel sipped his tea and tried to remember.

Arles drummed his knuckles on the bar top. "I'll be with you, man. I'll introduce you to your in-laws. They are great. Really, don't worry about this."

Samuel sighed, "I just wish I could remember."

Karen smiled encouragingly. "You will."

Arles' phone got a text. He looked down at it and grinned. "Oh, and brilliant."

Karen asked, "Who is that?"

Arles replied and smiled at Karen. "No one. Sammy. I think you and Karen should be alone, so, I'm going to step out-"

"Sneak out." Samuel corrected him. "Legate will break your arm if you get him paneled." Samuel thought and pointed at Karen. "We were eating breakfast in that Penthouse when he told him that!"

Karen laughed. "Samuel, you're going to be alright."

Samuel smiled proudly. "I remembered something else. Were you guys smoking there?"

Arles snapped his fingers and laughed as he stood up. "Thank you for reminding me. You've stopped smoking."

"I have?" Samuel asked.

"Yep. And I'm going to take some with me."

Karen looked up at him. "Remember, what I said."

He smiled at her. "Worry about your Samuel. I'm fine." He leaned down and kissed her cheek. He walked out of the room. "Night, honey. Don't wait up."

Samuel chuckled, "Alright, dear."

Karen looked back at Samuel. "You're okay with that?"

"He's a grown man. I can't tell him what to do."

She sipped her wine.

Samuel walked over to sit next to her at the bar. "He's always been like that."

"I just worry about him. Samuel. There are some dangerous people out there."

"Oh, believe me. I know it. I have scars to prove it."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that-"

"No. I shouldn't have said what I did. I'm sorry." He took her hand and kissed it. "You said you needed to talk about something with me?"

She smiled, "Oh, the craziest thing."

He sat up and tossed a grape in his mouth. "Oh, I'm going to love this."

"When you were gone, we stayed with my Mom and Dad. Dad and I had a date one night, and he told me the strangest thing."

Samuel sipped his tea and looked back at her.

"He told me that he found me, on a ship. I was just a few days old. If that."

Samuel looked confused. "What kind of ship?"

"He was serving on a Destroyer. It's a …umm…"

"I know what that is. Women aren't allowed on those."

Karen rolled her neck back. "How do you know that?"

"I went on a tour of one when I was a little boy. I remember the man told my Mum that. Anyway. How did you get there?"

"No one knows. He said it was night, he was looking through his binoculars, and when he put them down from his eyes, I was there. Just next to him."

"Like, in a bundle of blankets?"

"I don't know. He didn't say."

"Where there any lights in the sky?"

"That's what Arles' asked me. Dad said no."

He rubbed his chin. "Well, I could do a Heritage Test on you. I just did one on myself a few days ago." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "A few weeks ago. Oh, that's so strange."

She rubbed her fingertips against the back of his hand. He smiled at the tingle that started. "How do you do that?"

"It's a blood test. It's painless."

She sipped her wine. "When you are feeling better-"

"I feel fine." He told her.

She propped her head back up on her fist. "We'll do it. But, not now."

He nodded. "It will take the computer some time. Gosh, it was so slow with mine."

"What did it say you were?"

"It couldn't find what I was." He leaned on the bar and looked back at her. "No big surprise there. My Dad is the last of his people, and no one has heard of them here. He tells everyone he is a Quauthin if they ask. It just makes everything easier with what he deals with."

"So, an unknown something is bad?"

"People are frightened of what they don't understand. That's not just a thing that humans experience, that's all over the galaxy. Me, being part of him, and Mum….I shouldn't have thought it would have been able to identify me."

"So, there's a possibility it won't be able to tell me what I am."

He nodded and sipped his tea. "There's always that possibility."

He seemed to become lost in his thoughts again.

"What is that? Remembering something?"

He looked back at her. "Us, being engaged. That's the biggest thing I had forgotten, right?"

She smiled. "Yes."

He nodded. "Okay. Just want to make sure nothing is going to shock me. And I met your Mum?"

Karen laughed. "Yes. She liked you."

He smiled, "Did she?"

"She was at my flat when you came back home. You brought Legate-"

"Legate?" He asked.

She smiled, "He did the dishes and you both ate cookies that she had baked."

He shook his head. "I don't remember that. What kind of cookies are they?"

She leaned over and kissed him. "You'll find out."

He smiled at her. "You're not going to tell me?"

She drank the rest of the wine and laughed. "No."

He grinned. "Want some more wine?"

She shook her head and ate some more grapes. "No, thanks. I want to keep my head about me."

"I'm keeping you on your toes, huh?"

She nodded. "Oh yes. You know, I am surprised at how much aliens look like….people."

"There are…small differences. Like Quauhtin. They have extra organs because of things they can do. There's a thing in their head that allows them to telepathically join to their unit. An organ in their chest that causes them to phase."

"Phase? Arles has never told me about this."

"Well, he's not able to do it. He used to be able to, but….something is preventing it."

"What does that even mean?"

"Quauthin can be in several places at once. Like a….blinking ghost. Then, they center in where they want to appear, and become solid."

"That is really cool."

He smiled. "Uncle Tony made a device where he can do it, but Dad said it caused damage to his body. I wonder if we shouldn't look at that again."

"What are the other differences?" She smiled.

"Well, Ashena. You've met her, right?"

"Yes. That night you brought me here. She was here with Logan."

"And you saw her hair?"

"No. She had it wrapped up."

"Oh. Yeah, she does that when she's here. I forgot."

She smiled, "What about her hair?"

"Well, it glows. Because she's the Queen. There's a…whole ceremony that they do. The crown that is put on her head, reacts with her hair follicles, and causes it to glow. The throne where she sits does the same thing. She wears jewelry that makes it continue to glow. There's a lot of science that goes in it."

She rose her eyes in surprise and asked quietly. "Really?"

He grinned. "Yes. Dad. He has backup systems. That's what he calls it. Two hearts. Two livers. Anything he could double up on."

"That's remarkable. Do you have two hearts, too?"

He shook his head. "No. But, Dad believes that I'll start that when I regenerate. Has he explained that to you?"

"Arles did. He wanted to prepare me in case you had done that."

Samuel nodded. "Okay."

"And you will look different?"

"Completely. Just like I'm a completely, different person. In fact, if someone comes to you, saying they are me. Don't believe it straight out because of that. Ask me things that only I would know."

"Like, where we met?"

"Nah. That's too easy. Ask me…..ummm….got it. Ask me where my Dad is from. No one knows that. He doesn't tell anyone because they don't exist here."

"Where is he from?"

"It's a planet called Gallifrey. It's red. The city was enclosed in a glass dome. A desert planet with trees that have silver leaves."

She smiled, "Have you been there?"

"No. He's shown it to me. In my head, when I was a little boy."

"So, he's a…"

"Gallifreyan. But, he's a Time Lord. All people from Gallifrey are Gallifreyan, but not everyone is a Time Lord. It's….something else. But, it's not something he actually talks about. At least when I'm from."

She propped her head up on her fist. "What if I am an alien?"

He grinned at her. "I'll still love you. It won't matter to me."

She smiled, "Well, of course not. But, what do you think I would even be?"

He sat down his tea and shook his head. "I don't know. Hmm…"

"Need to look me completely over again to be sure?"

"I'd like to." He grinned.

She giggled at him. "See if there is….anything you missed before?"

"I missed it all." He continued to grin at her.

She smiled and watched him become serious again. "Samuel? What's that look for?"

He sat back and groaned. "That's….not going to work."

She took his hand, "Samuel-"

"This just…I hate this. I want to just be well, again."

She quickly wrapped her arms around him. "Shhh… Samuel. It's alright."

He held her and didn't say anything. She ran her fingertips across the back of his head sending feelings of comfort through his body.

She felt him relax in her arms as he told her quietly. "I'm so glad you're here, Karen."

She leaned back at looked in his eyes. "Tell me, what you are thinking."

"I…..can't really put it into words."

She took his hand. "I know what you need."

She led him into his bedroom, closing the door behind them.

"How do you know where my room is?"

She pointed at him. "This is going to be a bit of a problem for us for a while. And Samuel, you don't have to think we can only have sex to show me how you feel about me."

He put his hands on his hips. "Have you met you? That, raging libido? I can't do a damn thing about it, Karen."

She put her hands on his chest and smiled at him. "You, are only thinking about that one bit."

He rose his eyebrow. "I'm listening."

"We can, do other things."

"I don't think you'll like that as much."

"No, you're too bashful to try."

He grinned, "I have an open mind. What's on yours? A toy?"

"Well, how do you feel about that?"

He ran his hand through his hair, "I've never really thought about it. Never used one. You?"

She smiled and shook her head.

"We could do that. I guess." He sighed. "Conversations I never thought I would have."

She put her hands under his jumper and rubbed his chest. He closed his eyes as the electrical sensation began to run through his body and relax him. "Oh, I love this."

She whispered, "So, do I. Samuel, please know that I don't have to have that."

"I do." He admitted. "I really hope this doesn't last too long."

"The more pressure you put on yourself, the longer it will not work."

He nodded. "You're right."

"Samuel. I'm serious. Okay?"

"You're really….okay…..without-"

She smiled at him. "I am with you. That's all I want."

The feeling of comfort continued to wash over him with her touch. "You're amazing, Karen. Thank you."

"But, I am going to talk about it. Is that alright?"

He laughed under his breath. "Okay. Like a….porn that I can't remember seeing."

"Do you remember, what it felt like when we made love?" She continued to rub his chest under his jumper.

"It was….nice." He smiled and closed his eyes.

"I mean, without the condom. Do you remember that?"

He opened his eyes and looked shocked at her. "We've done that?"

She smiled and told him softly. "Yes."

"Was it different?"

She giggled. "It was….amazing."

He smiled proudly. "Amazing. Alright. Hang on. Why didn't we use a-"

She stopped his question as she began to snog him. He cupped her face with his hands as she continued to rub his chest under his jumper. The electrical current made his hair feel like it was standing on end.

She whispered to him, "Samuel, I've missed this so much."

He caressed her face and smiled at her.

She kissed him as she walked, bringing him over to the edge of his four poster bed. The electrical sensation was flowing throughout his entire body very strongly. She smiled at him as she pulled off his jumper.

"Take off everything, but your 'pants'." She told him as she pulled down the duvet and undressed.

He did as she asked and watched her climb onto the bed with him, completely nude.

"Babe." He started. "This is not going to make this happen."

"And it doesn't need to. I don't want to make you sick, again."

He sighed. "I'm really fine, Karen."

"How will it look for me to have to call your Dad again? Samuel, he'll put you in the med bay for a week."

Samuel lay down next to her and ran his finger tips up her bare chest. "So, I'm just looking?"

"You are just looking. Touching… if you want."

"This is good. Okay."

She lay and watched his eyes look all over her as he gently touched her.

"Seeing every flaw-"

"There's no flaws." He smiled. "You are perfect. So, beautiful."

She smiled, "I love the way you look at me."

"I want to kiss every inch of you."

"Every time you kiss me, it feels like a burst of electricity runs though me."

He smiled, leaned down and kissed her chest.

"Yes. Just like that."

She rose up and held his hands.

He looked confused at her. "You had that shot didn't you?"

She pointed at him. "We've already fought about this-"

"We did?"

"And yes. I took the shot. I won't take another one. We'll figure out something. Focus. We're naked."

He nodded, "Right. Sorry. Naked."

She giggled and lay back down. They held one another and snogged. Enjoying the electrical current that moved between them. It grew stronger the more they touched one another.

He continued to run his fingertips up and down her back and arms. "Baby. We might not be able to have sex for a while."

"That's not a big deal to me."

"Sure?"

"Even if we could, I think its best we didn't. I don't want you to wear yourself out."

He sighed. "Yeah. I'm tired now."

She pointed at him. "Then, I'm getting some clothes and you are going to sleep."

"You're bossing me around?"

"Yes! Lay down. I'll put some clothes on so you aren't tempted."

He laughed under his breath as he lay back on the pillows and watched her climb out of the bed. She walked over to the bags they had brought back from the ship. He smiled as she slipped on a pair of jim jams and a t-shirt of his.

"That looks great on you."

She smiled and tossed her hair across her shoulder. "Brown. See, I'm learning a thing or two from your sister."

He laughed as she lay back on his chest and he pulled the duvet over them. "Anything of mine is yours. You know that, right?"

She played with the hair on his chest.

"I need to make some space for your things." He told her and kissed her head.

She smiled, "I'll handle it. I want you to rest as much as possible. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day."

"Yeah, eating all day." He grinned.

"I want you to be honest with me. If you get too tired, or need to take a break-"

"Karen, I'm really fine."

She sat up and looked at him. "I mean it, Samuel. Please, don't overdo it and make yourself sick again. You scared me to death."

He smiled. "I promise, Karen."

She lay back down and started rubbing his chest again, sending the current through his body. "Have I made you do too much?"

"No." He said sleepily. "I just need to rest a bit."

She kissed his lips and snuggled closer to him. "Samuel. Everything will come back. Soon, this will all be a memory."

He sighed, "I'm ready to be there."

She continued to rub his chest.

He smiled, "I love that feeling."

"I love that you are back. Shhh….sleep."

He kissed her head and relaxed.

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It was late in New York. Pepper walked down the steps of the Penthouse in Stark Tower, running her hands through her long hair. She still wore a pair of tan slacks with a white blouse that she had put on while they were on the ship earlier that day. She had taken her shoes off and walked barefoot across the floor.

"Gosh, what a long day." She sighed.

The sitting room was quiet, dark, and empty. She looked around and put her hands on her hips. "Jarvis, where is Tony?"

Jarvis replied, "He's in the shop, Miss Potts."

She walked through the darkness and down the steps to the shop. She entered the code next to the door and entered.

Tony sat at his desk, rubbing his face with a glass of something in his hand.

"You alright?" She asked.

He looked back at her and held out his hand for her to join him. He sat down his glass on the desk.

She walked over and sat on his lap. She could smell he had been drinking as she wrapped her arms around him. "Something is wrong."

He kissed her lips. "Lartius is preparing to go to war over Soli."

"War?" She asked in shock.

"Soli is a mythical creature, Pepper. These things that took Sammy, they are going to come back."

She sighed. "Yeah, I was thinking about that earlier."

Tony picked up his glass and drank the rest of it.

"How many is that?"

He sat down the glass on the desk and pointed at the bottle. "Jarvis. Tell Pepper how much I've drank."

"The bottle's contents are missing 67.3%."

Tony rose his eyebrows. "There."

"What are we going to do?"

He wrapped his arms around her waist. "Do you feel safe?"

"We have Exton and Arcite. Soli is really amazing. You're not bad in a fight."

He rubbed his side of his head. "Yeah, but do you feel safe?"

"Do you?"

"Pepper. You grew up in fear that someone was going to come and take you away from Jimmy. Now, this is going on. I don't want you to think this is normal. Home should always be a safe place."

"Yes, it should." She smiled and whispered. "Thank you, Tony. That's thoughtful."

"You are the most important thing in my life. I want you to feel safe, but beyond that, I want you to actually be safe."

She smiled and kissed his lips. "I love you, too."

He grinned. "Soli is asleep?"

"Three Doctor Seuss books. Those are his favorite."

Tony groaned. "I hate those damn books."

She laughed and ran her fingertips through his hair.

He groaned and laid his head into her chest.

"You are drunk."

His muffled voice told her, "I was thinking."

"Drunk thinking?"

He looked back up at her. "I do my best work in an altered state of mind."

"I disagree."

"I wrote a press release-"

"Oh, God-"

"And I've already sent it to-"

"No, you haven't. You are lying."

He grinned. "You can tell that?"

"You better be lying."

He poured himself another glass. She took the glass from him and sat it out of his reach. "You've had enough, Mr. Stark."

"I've not figured this out yet, Mrs. Stark."

"Drinking, isn't going to solve this problem."

"Neither is going to war over this. War, Pepper. Seriously. He's sent a delegation to discuss this. Ashena wants a meeting with me to discuss….business."

She sighed. "Meanwhile, they are probably on their way back. They know he's here."

"They know we're here, too. I think it would be best to move all of us to the island. At least until we know everything is safe."

"Tony, I have to work-"

"No, you don't!"

"I do! Who else is going to do this stuff?"

"As Vice President, you are allowed time off-"

"Tony, I just don't have time for that!"

He rubbed his face. "Okay. Work remotely from the island. We're leaving tomorrow morning and setting up camp there. I'll have Lance copy everything from here to there. We'll lock out the Penthouse."

"And the workshop? There's a lot of stuff in here."

"I can lock it out. It's not a big deal."

"That's going to drive you crazy. You need to be working on something. That's just what you do."

"I need to be a husband and a father, and keep my family safe. That's what I'm working on."

She smiled. "I never thought I would hear you talk like this."

"Sure you did." He grinned. "Why else would you have married me?"

She smiled. "You're right. Okay. So, tomorrow morning."

"I'll talk to Lance tonight about it. I think it's for the best."

"I agree. Okay. Oh, Jackie wants us to come to dinner tomorrow night."

Tony held up a finger, spun his chair around to get his drink, and sipped it. "Is she cooking? I've heard the stories."

Pepper rolled her eyes and laughed under her breath. "Oh God."

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