Hearing the doorbell ring, Taylor put the plate she was holding down on the table, which was covered in similar ones, then went to answer it. She could see from the thermal image coming through the door that it was Amy and Vicky without trouble, both of them being both distinctive and familiar enough to identify instantly. Opening the door, she smiled. "Hi, guys, come in. I'm just getting some snacks ready."

Standing aside she let the two girls in, Amy smiling at her and Vicky looking around with interest. "You've moved things around," the blonde said.

"Just that bookcase," Taylor replied, closing the door again. "It was in the way. It's funny, it was where it was for years and everyone kept bumping into it, but we never thought to solve the problem by actually moving it, we just learned to go around it." She shrugged. "I finally saw the light and moved the stupid thing four feet to the left. Problem solved. I can't believe it took that long to work it out."

"Guess you get used to things and just work around them," Vicky laughed. "At least now you don't bump into it."

"No, but Dad and I keep walking around something that isn't there any more," Taylor giggled. "Habits are weird. You guys want a drink?"

"Sure, I'll take some apple juice," Amy said. Vicky nodded. Both of them followed her into the kitchen.

Handing them each a glass, Taylor waved at the table. "Help yourselves. Juice, soda, water. Lots of snacks, and I'm going to make some sandwiches now. Tuna, ham, and egg salad, I'm just boiling the eggs at the moment."

"Ooh, I'll have an egg salad sandwich when they're ready," Amy said eagerly. "I love those when they're fresh."

Vicky wrinkled her nose. "If I needed proof that we're not blood relations that would do it," she said, making Amy grin. "Yuck. I hate egg salad."

"What are your feelings about ham?"

"Ham, that I can deal with. Any sort of dead pig meat is fine by me," the blonde replied happily.

"Great, I'll make bacon sandwiches later as well." Taylor went to the stove and inspected her eggs which were rolling around in the boiling water, checking the timer. "Another four minutes should be enough."

The doorbell going again made her head back to the door. This time it was Mandy and Lucy. "Hi. Come in, both of you." Mandy greeted her with a hug, then turned and waved to the car at the side of the road, which got a return wave from the driver who then pulled away.

"Mom wanted to make sure this was the right house before she left," the girl explained as she entered the house.

"Fair enough. Hello, Lucy, how are you?"

"I'm very well, Taylor," the other girl replied with a smile. "I haven't had any major problems in the hour and a half since we last saw each other."

Snickering, Taylor led them into the kitchen. "Help yourself to snacks. Feel free to look around, living room is through there, bathroom if you need it is upstairs on the right."

"Thanks, Taylor. Nice house." Mandy looked around with interest, while Lucy picked up a cookie and nibbled it. "Have you lived here long?"

"All my life," she replied, turning off the stove, then pouring the boiling water in the pan down the sink and refilling it with cold from the tap. The eggs made little crinkling sounds from the sudden temperature change. Putting the saucepan on the counter, she started removing the shells, washing the eggs in the water to remove the small fragments before dropping them into a mixing bowl. "Mom and Dad were given the house as a wedding present by his parents a long time ago, it was in the family for years before that. I grew up here. We could move, I guess, but I don't want to, and I don't think Dad does either." She looked around the kitchen, smiling gently. "Too many memories."

"You mentioned you were going to do some improvements," Amy remarked, coming over and helping her with the eggs. She moved slightly to the side to make room. "When are you going to start?"

"When the weather improves a bit, I think," Taylor replied. "The outside needs work, it's been left for longer than it should have been, and repainting it needs warmer conditions. Dad was saying that he was thinking about just replacing the siding completely rather than repainting it, actually. Still a little cold for that, though. We're looking at a new kitchen and bathroom as well, but we haven't decided on the style yet."

Finishing with the eggs, she got rid of the saucepan, then rummaged in the fridge for the mayonnaise, while Amy chopped the eggs up. "I kind of like this kitchen, I remember helping Mom cook here, but it really does need to be redone. Half these cupboard doors are falling off."

"No need to demonstrate again," Vicky smiled, sitting in one of the kitchen chairs. "I remember what happened last time."

Taylor and Amy both laughed. Mandy and Lucy looked at each other, then Taylor, expectantly, so she explained, which made them giggle as well. While she was finishing making the egg salad, the doorbell went again. "I'll get it," Vicky said, putting down her glass and hopping to her feet, then lifting a few inches into the air and floating out of the kitchen. Taylor watched her go with a grin.

"She really doesn't walk anywhere she doesn't have to, does she?" she commented to the room at large.

"Not unless she's forced to, no," Amy sighed, buttering some bread. "Mom is always complaining about it at home."

"Your family life must be really weird," Mandy grinned, sitting down and grabbing a pack of chips.

"You have no idea," Amy snickered. "Sometimes I dream of only having a weird life. It would be an improvement on what really happens."

They all laughed at her comment, making Eric, who entered the room then with Rich, stare at them. "I didn't think we were that funny," he said to the other boy behind his hand, loudly enough to be heard by everyone. "Girls can be very strange." Lowering his hand with a grin, he looked around, then added, "Hi, everyone. Nice place, Taylor."

"Thanks." She waved the knife she was holding at the table. "Help yourselves. I'll finish making these and then we can go into the living room."

He nodded, turning to look at Amy. "Dad and I went and checked that truck over for you, Amy," the boy said, taking the cookie that Lucy offered him with a smile of thanks. "Sweet ride, is what Dad said. We both think it's in really good condition. Couldn't find anything serious wrong with it, aside from a split fuel return line which is where the gas was leaking from, the cracked rear window your Mom spotted, which to be honest isn't worth bothering with, and the tires which are all shot to hell. It needs a new wheel bearing on the front left, new brake pads and rotors, and all the filters changed, but they're all consumables anyway."

He grinned for a moment. "What the hell did your Mom do to that poor dealer? We told him all this and he went pale, then said he'd get it all fixed by tomorrow morning."

Taylor glanced at Amy, both of them sharing a grin of their own. "Mom can be a little… direct," Amy replied. "She talked to him for a while, then he couldn't wait to get rid of us as fast as possible. I think he's thinking of retiring soon if she comes back."

Chuckling, Eric nodded respectfully. "I don't know whether to be impressed or worried. Anyway, it should be ready to be picked up after school tomorrow. It's a really nice vehicle, you found a good one."

"Thanks very much, Eric." Wiping her hands on a dishcloth, Amy retrieved her jacket which she'd hung over one of the chair backs and rummaged in it, removing an envelope. "Two hundred and fifty bucks. Money well spent."

"That's too much, Amy," he protested, holding the envelope and staring at it. She waved a hand dismissively, going back to her sandwich-making efforts.

"No, it isn't. Share it with your dad if you want, but you helped me out using knowledge I don't have, and I do have that money. You earned it, take it. And my thanks."

"If you insist," he replied, still looking somewhat surprised, but he put the envelope in his pocket. "Thanks a lot."

"You're more than welcome," she smiled over her shoulder.

Shortly they were all in the other room, a large plate of sandwiches on the coffee table, and some popcorn in bowls as well. "Movie first, then work?" Taylor suggested. "Or work first, then movie?"

"How about movie, work, movie?" Vicky grinned.

"We need more work to movie ratio, I think," Rich replied, making her laugh.

"Why don't we watch this to put us in a good mood, then Taylor can spread her mathematical largesse over us in a thick layer, after which we can do the movie thing," Amy suggested, holding up a USB stick.

"I don't have a largesse, do I?" Taylor asked quizzically in a worried tone, looking down and back. Amy stared at her, then collapsed in giggles, while the others roared with laughter.

"Your Esse is fine, Taylor," Amy snickered, pushing her friend down onto the sofa. Taylor grinned widely. "You idiot. Where's your laptop?"

"In my room, hold on, I'll get it." She jumped up again and retrieved the computer from her bedroom.

"What are you showing us, Amy?" Lucy asked curiously as Taylor plugged the laptop into the TV.

"Unreleased footage of myself and a very large friend of mine," Amy smiled, handing Taylor the USB stick. They shared a private look for a moment, Taylor seeing her friend's amusement in her eyes. "She always wears a camera like Saurial does, you know."

"You've got RaptaurCam footage?" Eric snickered. She nodded, grinning, as Lucy clapped her hands excitedly.

"She gave me a copy. Some of it is pretty fucking funny." Sitting down, Taylor handed her friend the laptop, which she prodded a few times. "Here, this is the first time, the entire ride home." Hitting play, she sat next to Taylor, the others all finding seats as well. Taylor, when she'd given her friend the files the week before, had edited out anything incriminating that might give her identity away, but left everything else in.

They watched the Raptaurs-eye video, exclaiming with excitement. Even Vicky looked impressed. "Holy crap, sis, that's horrifying!" she said when it was over. "How the hell fast can she run?"

"At least eighty miles an hour," Amy smiled, "We were overtaking everything on the freeway. One guy was obviously thinking about racing us but thought better of it when he saw that cop car. The cops just waved at us. It was kind of strange."

"From what I hear they like the Family and probably didn't want to cause any problems," Rich noted, looking fascinated. "Not to mention that technically she wasn't speeding, there was no vehicle involved."

"I guess not," Mandy laughed. "And would you want to try pulling her over?"

"Ma'am, please get off your horrible monster and join me in the car," Eric intoned in a deep voice. "License, registration, and monster owner's certificate, please."

Amy started snickering to the point she had to hand Taylor the laptop before she dropped it. "Yeah, I can see it now," she said, heaving with laughter. "New Wave healer pulled over for violating both traffic and natural laws. Full story on the News at Nine."

Eric howled with laughter, leaning back in his chair. "Oh, god, that would almost be worth it," he chuckled.

"Mom would pop a gasket," Vicky put in, grinning. "She's still not sure about the Family, although she's a lot happier about Saurial than Raptaur. The big one is really scary, but I like her."

"What about the really big one?" Lucy asked, smiling.

"Don't know her personally," the blonde replied. "But I'm familiar with her work."

"Tuesday was the strangest day I've ever experienced," Rich commented idly, eating another sandwich. "I'm still sort of coming to grips with it. I think everyone is. Yesterday everyone was walking around with a dazed expression, today they're all looking thoughtful."

"At least no one is really looking worried, though," Mandy noted. He looked at her, then nodded thoughtfully.

"That's true, and I think it's a good thing. From everything I've heard, and seen on TV and in the papers, people are cautiously optimistic more than anything else. Some of them are wildly optimistic. What does your Dad think about it all, Taylor?"

"Well, since most of it was sort of his fault, he's in favor," she replied with a grin. "So is everyone at the DWU. They're really excited, it's already saved everyone's jobs, and should add a lot more even just in the next six months. Dad said he's already had nearly a hundred applications just for the DWU businesses themselves and he's heard from other unions that are associated with our one that they're all inundated with them as well. It's going to take some time for the new jobs to happen, but he's sure they will."

"Which will pump a lot more money into the local economy very quickly," Eric said. "All those people will be spending what they earn, on rent, fuel, food, entertainment… This really is a big deal."

"A very big deal," Vicky remarked. "About eighty feet tall. And with a peculiar sense of humor."

Everyone nodded as one, Taylor and Amy sharing a glance. "Play the next one, Ames," Vicky suggested.

"OK." Reclaiming the computer the healer did so. "This was the second run, including the stop for burgers where we ran into Assault and Battery."

They watched it, laughing most of the way through. The confused expression on Assault's face had Vicky rolling on the floor gasping for breath. "God, that's fucking hilarious," she said through her laughter. "I've never seen him look like that before. Normally, everyone else looks like that when he's around."

Amy snickered. "I know, it was really funny. How the hell I managed not to laugh and ruin it I have no idea."

"Can Raptaur really eat anything?" Lucy asked, apparently fascinated.

"As far as I know, yes," Amy replied. "She got rid of the garbage by eating it, and I've seen her chow down on plastic, metal, ceramic… you name it, the Family can apparently digest it."

"Like boats and Kaiju," Rich said, looking impressed. "That was… disturbing. Funny, but disturbing."

"Biggest practical joker in the world, literally." Eric looked amused. "Do you have any others?"

"Well, there is one, but you have to keep it a secret," Amy said after a glance at Taylor. "I don't want anyone else finding out about it right now. It might be… a little embarrassing."

"Why?" Her sister suddenly looked worried.

"Because it shows a public figure getting a shock," she grinned. "And if he found out, he'd probably be pretty mad. I'm sure not going to put it on PHO. But I'll show you guys if you all promise not to mention it to anyone."

"That's not fair, now we have to see it!" Mandy exclaimed, shaking her head. "Sure, I'll promise."

"Me too," Lucy said eagerly. As Amy looked around, everyone else nodded as well.

"No one will hear it from me," Eric vowed, holding his hand over his heart and making a serious expression, causing them all to smile.

"OK." She selected the relevant file and played it. There was a stunned silence, then the entire room collapsed in hilarity.

"Oh, god, was that Max Anders?" Vicky chortled, staring at the TV.

"Yep," Taylor grinned.

"He looked like he saw a ghost," Mandy gasped, giggling furiously. "That poor man. What did he ever do to you, Amy?"

"I just don't like him much," she explained with a smirk. "He's too smooth. Anyone that slick has to be doing something wrong. I think he's pulling the wool over everyone's eyes and is really a bad person."

"You can't come to that conclusion just because you don't like his attitude," Rich protested. "I mean, you had a reputation as a grumpy sarcastic girl, but you're actually a lot of fun and a good person."

"But I'm also genuinely a grumpy and sarcastic girl," Amy chuckled. "Although I have to admit that since I met all of you guys, the grumpiness has gone down a lot."

"Still sarcastic, though, sis," Vicky told her.

"No, really? I would never have guessed," Amy replied, completely straight-faced, making the blonde laugh again and put her arm around her sister.

"Idiot."

"Bimbo."

"Thanks."

"No, thank you."

They shared a grin while the others smiled. "Anyway, I see why you don't want that getting out," Vicky went on. "Whatever he really is, he's very public and that video wouldn't help his image much."

"Nope. But it's fucking funny, so I'm keeping it. I watch it every now and then when I want a giggle. He's all like..." Any made a face of comical shock and surprise mixed with slight terror, which to give her credit was remarkably close to that which Max Anders had ended up with when he'd looked up and seen Raptaur and her rider right outside his window. They all laughed uproariously again.

"Good blackmail material, if nothing else," Lucy giggled.

"I would never do something like that!" Amy exclaimed, looking innocent. "I am a hero, you realize."

"Yes, she's The Amy," Taylor snickered, making her friend look at her and sigh. Vicky stared, wide-eyed, then slumped over in peals of laughter.

"The Amy?"

"We decided that was the right name for her when she stops messing about with healing and goes out to beat up muggers," Taylor grinned.

Amy sighed again, more heavily, crossing her arms and giving her a look of annoyance. "You mean, you decided. I seem to recall saying it was a silly name."

"You saved me, The Amy!" Lucy suddenly wailed, diving across the room and clasping her arms around Amy's legs. "Thank you! Anything I have is yours. All hail The Amy!"

"Hey, get off, you weirdo," Amy protested, as everyone else nearly collapsed. Lucy looked up at her with a face glowing with grateful innocence.

"But… But… You're The Amy! The bestest hero in the entire city. You saved me."

"Oh, thanks a lot, Taylor," Amy grated, while her friend laughed helplessly. "Now I have a fangirl."

"I thought she was a Family fangirl?" Vicky snickered. "How fickle, forgetting her favorites so quickly."

"I can fangirl for both the Family and The Amy at the same time," Lucy retorted, releasing Amy and standing up, putting her hands on her hips. "I can multi-fan. It's a thing."

"Sure it is."

"It is. Anyway, you're only Glory Girl. Your sister is… The Amy." Her voice dropped mysteriously. "Healer during the day, mugger-beater at night."

"It was one mugger," Amy said, at the same time as her sister exclaimed, "I can beat up muggers too, you know." Both Dallons looked at each other, then shook their heads, grinning. Appearing pleased, Lucy went back to her chair, while everyone else laughed again.

"You're both very good," Taylor said soothingly. "Now, let's do something more useful. I propose we start with something simple like differential calculus. An hour or so of finding derivatives should work up an appetite. Then we can go onto something difficult."

"Who are you who are so wise in the ways of mathematics?" Rich asked slowly after an appalled silence.

"I am Taylor, King of the Britons," she announced proudly. "No. Queen. Queen of the Britons. Brocktonites. Brocktonians?"

"You're invincible!" he shouted, raising a fist.

"She's a loony," Amy sighed.

"Stop mangling Monty Python quotes and get the textbooks," Mandy giggled. "And we're not starting with calculus, differential or otherwise. Pick something I can actually do, then teach me to do it properly."

"OK," Taylor agreed mildly. "If I have two beans and add two more beans, how many beans do I have?"

Mandy threw a cushion at her.

"What do you think?" Emily asked as they drove back to the PRT building, in heavy Friday evening traffic.

"I think Mr Hebert knows a lot more than he's saying, but he's never going to tell anyone without a very good reason," the woman sitting next to her replied after a few seconds. "The PRT isn't, in his mind, a very good reason. I'm not sure what would be." Costa-Brown glanced at her, then went back to thoughtfully watching the traffic ahead of them. "Though I agree that you were right. Threatening him, or putting pressure on him at all, would be very counter-productive. That is not a man who breaks easily."

"He's known to have one hell of a temper if you push hard enough," Emily noted soberly. "Apparently, it rarely comes out, especially since that trouble with his daughter was finished, but when it does even people like that Zephron character walk quietly and stay out of his way. One contact I had said it was a terrible cold rage that tended to end up with bones broken if you got in the way." She shrugged. "Last time we know it happened for sure involved someone twice his size with a baseball bat. Man threatened his daughter."

"And?"

"Hospitalized with several bad breaks, internal injuries, and a case of 'don't let him get me' like you seldom see."

"Why wasn't he prosecuted?"

"No one saw anything, basically. Even the cops who turned up. Unofficially, word was that it was an entirely justified beating, someone was going to get hurt once the bat came out and the other people all agreed that it was the fault of the guy with the bat in the first place. Guy was a known bully, but this time he picked entirely the wrong person to get into a drunken fit of road rage at. If he'd just walked away nothing would have happened, but threaten his family..." She smiled grimly. "He's not the sort of man who lets that go. I fully understand why he gets along with Saurial and Raptaur so well. They work on the same basis although a different level."

"I see. There was nothing in the background check about that."

"There wouldn't be. It never got to the point of a record. He has a lot of people who respect him. A lot more after that. To be honest, I respect him. I don't particularly like him, but I don't particularly like most people." Emily smiled a little. Her companion chuckled.

"So your reputation would say. Thank you, that's interesting to know."

They were silent for another few traffic lights. "We're no closer to finding out the origin of the Family, how many there are of them, or any other motives, though," Costa-Brown sighed.

"No. At the moment, I think all we can do is wait and watch. I'm sure more information will come to light in due time." Emily pondered just telling her superior about the Biotinker theory, which was still the favorite, even Legend agreeing in the end that it was the least unlikely of all of them. But he'd also suggested that it be kept between the five of them for the moment, at least until the entire Coil mess could be resolved and the PRT systems scrubbed. Hopefully Costa-Brown would soon decide she'd seen enough and go home, taking Alexandria and Eidolon with her.

She was rather nervous having all three of the Triumvirate in the same city at the same time. It was a little like finding a box that you'd been ignoring for months at the back of the closet was now emitting a faint but distinct ominous ticking sound.

Legend was fine, he was a sensible and decent man, but the other two… She'd heard stories. Alexandria could be absolutely ruthless, while Eidolon somehow gave her the feeling of someone with something to prove. A little like Colin sometimes did, but worse. It made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up when she thought about it too hard, considering who and what he was. Colin, for all his faults, would listen to reason, especially if you had figures to back it up. She had no idea whether the other man would.

Adding those two on top of the Family…

No, that could only end with something giving way if the situation went on long enough. And she had the weirdest feeling it wouldn't be Kaiju who started anything.

Giving her head a quick shake, which attracted a glance from her passenger, although she said nothing, Emily dismissed the faint sensation of imminent doom that had been gathering at the back of her mind.

"What do you want to do next?" she asked instead.

"I'll go over my notes tonight and talk to the others," the Chief Director replied. "Once Alexandria and Eidolon..."

"And Legend. Don't disappoint Mr Hebert," Emily snickered.

"...and Legend, have visited Kaiju," the woman went on, smiling slightly, "hopefully we should have enough information to decide on a strategy. I think that in all likelihood your wait and see approach is the common-sense one. If we could get them on the books as PRT-associated independents that would be ideal, but I doubt we could hope for more at the moment."

"I doubt it very much. We have nothing they really either want or need," Emily commented. "Their association with the city and the DWU gives them resources, people, political access, and good will. More than I have, in many ways, which is very irritating."

The woman laughed. "I'll see if I can increase your budget, Emily. Your requests are read, we just have a lot to do."

"Fair enough, although I still want more access to therapists. We have several people who are, in my opinion and that of Gallant, perilously close to some form of PTSD. I've been complaining about that for literally years yet nothing has been done. Trust me, I know the symptoms, and where it leads." She gave the other woman a significant look. "Nowhere good."

Costa-Brown sighed a little, nodding. "I'll bring it up at the next budgetary meeting, I promise."

"Thank you."

A gap in the traffic presented itself, allowing Emily to stomp on the gas and whip the heavy PRT vehicle ahead of the annoyingly slow bus in front of her, grinning viciously. She rather enjoyed driving, but only at a sensible speed.

Danny leaned his office chair back as far as it would go, staring thoughtfully at the ceiling. His door opened, but he didn't look. "Hi, Lisa," he said after a moment.

"How did you know?" the blonde girl's voice said curiously. A moment later, she added, "My perfume. Clever."

"It's distinctive, and the airflow from the door opening goes right past me," he smiled, lowering his gaze to see her looking amused. "Certain people I know are very good with scents and it made me pay more attention to them."

She looked more amused, and also very slightly worried, but after a moment the worry disappeared to be replaced with her common sly grin. "I see. You can learn new tricks at even your advanced age, apparently."

"Hey!" he retorted, glaring at her. "Mid forties. Not advanced. Middle aged at worst."

The girl grinned more widely. "And looking good with it. How did it go?"

"As well as it could, I suspect," he replied, tipping his chair back upright. "They had a lot of questions. Costa-Brown more than Piggot. They're very curious about the Family, of course, and were obviously trying to figure out where they come from. And I'm almost certain wondering if they had some hidden agenda."

"They do, of course," Lisa smiled.

"It's not so much hidden as private," he replied. "Mainly being to make sure no one they care about gets hurt. Or at least that's how it started. I think now it's more like no one at all gets hurt if possible." He shrugged, as she nodded. "Seems fair to me. Why fight if you don't have to? A lot of arguments can be settled without that sort of thing if you try."

"Some people don't want to try," she noted. "Some actively like fighting. Like Lung. Some are just idiots. Like Skidmark."

"All too true," he sighed.

"I'm sort of surprised that fuckwit hasn't been around causing problems yet," Lisa added. "Bearing in mind how all this work is going to remove a lot of what he thinks of as his territory, and if he's thought it through, a lot of his customers."

"I somehow doubt he's ever thought anything through in his life," he remarked with a small smile, which made her nod agreement. "But you're right. Sooner or later he's probably going to make himself a pain in the ass. That happens pretty regularly around this damn city. Luckily, normally he goes after some big flashy target and the Protectorate hands him a beating. Or the E88. The only good thing they ever do is when Kaiser loses patience with him and kicks him around for a while."

Lisa snickered, sitting in one of his guest chairs. "It's a good point. Kaiser has been suspiciously quiet for a while now. And completely silent since Tuesday."

"Perhaps he decided he should find another line of work?" Danny suggested.

"What sort of work could a Nazi go into if he wasn't Nazi-ing?" she asked. Both of them thought for a moment. Danny snapped his fingers after a few seconds.

"I have it! Light bulbs."

"What?" she asked, looking befuddled. "How did you get there?"

"It's obvious. If he turns the E88 into a lighting company, he could corner the market. Which would let him run everything."

She didn't look any the wiser.

With an evil grin, he added, "Surely you've heard that the world is secretly ruled by the IllumiNazi?"

Her groan of pain was music to his ears.

Taylor looked up at the sound of her father's car approaching. It was still a quarter of a mile away but he'd be there soon. Hopping to her feet she excused herself from her friends and went into the kitchen, filling the kettle and turning it on, then preparing the coffee cup. She had a full cup of coffee steaming away in her hand when he came into the house.

He looked at it, then her, before smiling. "Nicely judged, dear," he said, taking his coat off, hanging it up, then relieving her of the drink. Sipping it he sighed happily. "Exactly what I needed."

"Long day, Danny?" Amy asked from the living-room doorway, Vicky and the others standing behind her peering out curiously. He looked at her and nodded.

"Moderately, Amy. Nothing too difficult, although I did entertain Director Piggot for a couple of hours. And Chief Director Costa-Brown."

Both Amy and Vicky's eyes widened at this.

"Both of them?" Vicky asked, sounding slightly shocked.

"Yes. They seemed curious about the Family and BBFO for some reason," he chuckled. She grinned, but still looked a little worried.

"I hope there isn't anything bad happening as a result of Tuesday," the blonde said.

"No, nothing like that, they're just very curious about the whole thing, understandably so. It is somewhat unusual, all things considered." He smiled as everyone in the living room nodded. "It'll blow over. So, Taylor, introduce me to your friends."

"OK. You know the Dallons, of course. Over there is Mandy, my first friend at Arcadia and someone I'm very grateful to have met." Taylor waved to Mandy, who grinned. "Lucy is next to her, that's Eric, and over there is Rich. Guys, this is my dad, as you may have already worked out."

"Hello, Mr Hebert," everyone chorused with remarkable synchronicity.

"It's nice to meet you all," he replied. "I was going to suggest pizza, but by the look of things you've got enough food there for a small army."

"We're not starving, that's for sure," Amy grinned. "Although I'm still waiting for the promised bacon sandwiches."

"Finish your homework and you get bacon," Taylor replied calmly. "You still have two equations to solve."

"Taskmaster," Amy sighed, returning to her notebook and sitting down glumly. Taylor grinned at Vicky, who was giggling.

"You have three."

The blonde's face fell, making Taylor's father snicker. "A strong hand on the helm, I see. Well, I need to clean up, but if you're making bacon sandwiches, stick enough bacon on for me. I'm starving."

"OK, Dad," she replied. "We're going to watch 'Inception' when we're done, do you want to join us?"

"Happily," he told her. "Very good movie. See you all soon." She watched him go upstairs with a fond smile, then went back into the living room with her friends, feeling that the day had worked out very well.