AN – Thanks for the reviews. To Spike's Girl – haven't you noticed how much I like torturing people?? (grins) Especially Richie! Nearly there .. probably two more Chapters after this - still lots more things for Richie to be afraid of first.

***

"So what happened?" Duncan spoke gently.

"I happened." Richie shrugged.

"Rich." Duncan protested, with fond affection.

"At first everything was great." Richie began. "I mean the guy was like straight out of a sit-com or something. He helped me with my homework. Took me to museums on weekends ..."

"Museums?" Duncan asked.

"How do you think I know so much about Antiques?" Richie smirked.

"Not to mention security systems." Duncan added.

"What?" Richie's head came up. "Oh. Nah. That's a whole other story." He grinned tightly.

"Anything I should know?" Duncan raised a brow.

"Um. Probably not." Richie amended quickly.

Duncan shook his head with a grin. Richie had way too much in common with Amanda.

"It was such a rush you know?" Richie said softly. "I mean .. for the first time in my life I had a real Dad. Not one who had to work weekends, or who I had to share with other kids. He would be there to give me a ride to School in the mornings, he'd come in and talk to me before I went to sleep each night .. I really liked that .."

He paused

"You OK?" Duncan nudged him gently with his knee.

"Yeah." Richie rubbed at his face. "I guess I never really realised how much I needed all that guy stuff until I had it huh?"

"How old were you?"

"I had my fourteenth birthday  a few days after I moved in." Richie looked up. "Man. I'd never seen so many parcels. It wasn't like I'd expected much .. these guys barely knew me." He smiled. "Teresa had been saving up all year to buy me this really cool stereo. I wasn't supposed to know, but .. you know me."

"Let me guess. It was right there in plain sight .. hidden on top of  her wardrobe ..?"

"Pretty much." Richie laughed. "So, anyway, I was just happy that these guys had done something, they've even got a cake and balloons and stuff, it was like a regular party."

"Sounds nice." Duncan smiled.

"So how do you celebrate your birthday?" Richie asked curiously. "Cos, I'm guessing ice-cream and cake begins to loose its appeal after the first few centuries or so."

"Well apart from the fact that ice-cream wasn't invented back then, usually Tessa and I .."

"Forget I asked." Richie shook his head with a grin.

Then he frowned. "Ice-cream had to be invented?"

"Richie. Stop trying to change the subject." Duncan admonished.

"So. I'm opening my presents and I'm trying to be polite, cos the clothes were a little too Brady Bunch for my taste, not to mention a couple of sizes too big. And the gifts were a little off – somehow he'd managed to get me this football signed by the Seacouver Patriots, - I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd never even been to a Game." He stopped.

"Rich?" Duncan prodded.

"I just figured they didn't know me real well yet." Richie shook his head. "Shows what I knew."

***

"So the guy was a bit of a Sports fan, huh?" Duncan asked as he bit into his sandwich.

"That's an understatement." Richie chewed. "It was like an obsession."

"You mean like you and girls?" Duncan teased.

"That's hormones." Richie informed him loftily. "I'm just fulfilling my genetic programming."

"You said you liked Biology." Duncan acknowledged.

"Yeah. Trouble is I wasn't so hot at Sports." Richie shifted uncomfortably.

"Oh. I don't know." Duncan couldn't help himself. "You can run pretty fast."

"Yeah." Richie allowed. "Just so as there aren't a bunch of 200 pound Neanderthals waiting to flatten me."

"You want to explain that?" Duncan reached for the ketchup. "In English, preferably."

"He wanted his kid to be the star Quarterback."

"A Quarterback?" Duncan paused with his sandwich halfway to his mouth.

"Uh huh." Richie chewed.

"Oh." Duncan considered that. In many ways Richie was a natural athlete, the style and grace which served him so well on the basketball court would also equip him to be a fine swordsman. But he simply didn't have the bulk to excel at a sport like football.

"You couldn't be an all-state Basketball Star instead?" Duncan suggested.

"He thought basketball was for girls." Richie looked at the ground.

"Rich .." Duncan began.

"I mean, how do they work these placements out?" Richie's voice quavered. "Its not like one size fits all."

Duncan slipped an arm around Richie's shoulder and was relieved when the teen leant into his strength.

"Tell me." He commanded gently.

"I tried so hard." Richie managed. "There was nothing I wanted more on this earth than to make him proud of me. I went to practice and got pummelled on a regular basis. They had like a whole first aid kit just for me."

"And the Coach allowed this?" Duncan's voice had a dangerous edge.

"He and my foster Dad were like old High School buddies. They were determined to make a man of me." Richie forced a laugh.

"Killing you won't make you better." Duncan muttered.

"Ain' that the truth." Richie scoffed. "I sucked .. big time."

"Rich. You were fourteen, playing with guys who were a year older than you." Duncan pointed out. "At that age .. that's a huge difference."

"Didn't matter. Not to him." Richie sniffed. "I guess he finally got tired of trying to make me into the kid he wanted."

"What do you mean he got tired?" Duncan growled.

"Come the big game of the season, there must have been like a major epidemic or something cos I ended up making the team. I mean, I wasn't starting or anything. I think the Coach was kinda hoping he wouldn't have to play me but ..." His voice was ragged.

"Pretty rough hey?" Duncan said, trying to make it easier on him.

"You don't know the half of it." Richie shook his head. "When I got home that night he'd packed up all my stuff. Well. The stuff I'd taken with me. He kept all the rest .. the stuff they'd bought .. for the next kid."

"The next kid?" Duncan felt like he was going to be sick.

"Yeah." Richie swallowed hard. "He said he hoped he do better next time, cos Richie Ryan wasn't the type of kid that any father could ever be proud of."

Duncan swore fiercely in Gaelic and his sword hand itched to inflict justice.

"Its no true. Do you hear me?" he tilted Richie's face up to meet his eyes. "You mustna believe it."

Richie regarded him, eyes wide and vulnerable, a lone tear trickling down his face.

"It always has been."

***

They were both quiet on the walk back to the car. Duncan made sure he kept his arm wrapped firmly around Richie's shoulders.

"People are gonna talk." Richie protested half heartedly.

"Let 'em." Duncan declared firmly. They both needed this.

He could think of a hundred thousand reasons to love this child. Trouble was he didn't think Richie would believe any of them right now.

He would just have to prove it to him.

He wondered exactly where Connor was right now. It didn't matter. He would come.

"Rich." Duncan tried to keep his tone casual as he opened the door to the T-Bird. "What was his name?"

"Mac." Richie gave him a knowing look. "You promised. No reaping vengeance down to the third generation."

"Hey. I was just thinking of a few friendly games of touch football." Duncan gave a positively evil smile.

"Doesn't matter anyway." Richie shook his head at him.. "I heard he's dead now."

"Really?" Duncan wasn't sure he believed him.

"Yeah. Really." Richie assured him, reaching out to change the radio station. "Car crash or something."

Duncan tried to feel bad about that.

"Well. For what its worth, I think the guy was a short-sighted idiot. You're still developing Rich, Lord knows I don't think those people ever fed you enough, but you already have the makings of a first class athlete."

"I do?" Richie looked sceptical.

"You do." Duncan assured him. "But even if you were a klutz. We still wouldn't throw you back."

He expected Richie to grin and roll his eyes, instead the teen blushed positively bashfully at the praise and offered a lop-sided smile.

"Thanks Mac. Coming from you. That means a lot."

All the way home Duncan tried to work out exactly why that worried him quite so much.