Author's Note: This chapter references the episode "Family Tree" a great deal, i.e. the Jack parts. If you don't remember it well or haven't seen it, you might get lost on some of the references. Drop me an e-mail and I will be more than happy to fill you in on the basics of the episode (as it is one of my personal favorites).

Closing the door gently behind him, Duncan turned to face his enraged lover. "Have you completely lost your mind?"

"I most certainly have not." Tessa was indignant at the accusation. "I am not the one who went traipsing across the state and almost got myself killed."

"Tessa, he's fine." Duncan replied tiredly.

But that reassurance far from calmed the woman. "I know that. I also know how dangerous what he did was. We cannot simply let him get away with something so foolish."

"Of course not, but yelling at him isn't going to help anything." Duncan shot back.

Only for Tessa to quickly retaliate. "And giving him hugs and kisses is?"

"It's better he trust us than fear us." The Immortal returned.

The Frenchwoman had no problem handling that argument. "It is better he respect us and knows we are in charge."

"He knows we're in charge, Tess. He is more than aware of who owns this place and who signs his checks. Power isn't the issue." Duncan shot back.

Tessa was not grasping his logic. "If power isn't the issue than what is he doing running off without telling us? Obviously, he thinks he is in control."

"Of his own life, yes." Duncan relented. "He sees us as temporary, Tess. We take care of him now by mutual agreement. He works here, we maintain him. It's an arrangement made between adults that can be ended by either him or us at any time."

"He is 15, Duncan!" Tessa was indignant.

"He's acting 18, though." The man reasoned. "And he probably thinks he is more than capable of playing the role. After all, we believed him for this long."

"He always seemed young." Tessa nodded slowly. "But who were we to question?"

"Exactly. Who are we?" Duncan replied, glad she had led up to his point so well.

The Frenchwoman did not understand, however. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"We've spent the last few weeks not questioning, letting him live his own life. All of a sudden we learn a bit more about him and decided to step in. What right do we have, Tess?" Duncan replied.

"Every right." Tessa was enraged. "We are not simple acquaintances! We have never simply allowed him to live his own life, Duncan Macleod. You know very well how much a part of our lives he has become. Finding out his age has nothing to do with my wanting him here with us. We were searching for him well before you found out anything about his past."

"Of course we were, but he doesn't understand. All he knows is that when he left yesterday, we were his landlords and employers. He doesn't understand any of this. I've never told him he was a part of our family, have you?"

"It goes without saying." Tessa replied stubbornly.

"To you and me, yes. But not to him." The Immortal returned.

Tessa didn't believe it for a second. "He knows very well that we care about him."

"If he knew that, he never would have left in the first place." Duncan replied quietly.

Tessa stared at him for a moment. "We still don't know why he left, do we?"

"No, we don't." Duncan nodded in agreement.

There was no anger in the woman's next question. "We need to find that out, don't we?"

"It might help us figure out how to show him that he belongs here." Duncan replied.

But that was not where Tessa's thought process was headed. "Oh, he will understand that his place is here. That is not the issue. I simply want to know what he was thinking."

"Tessa, it's important we try to understand him." Duncan returned, afraid that they were still on different pages.

Tessa's response provided no insight, however. "Of course we need to understand him. And he needs to understand us."

"So we agree that we need to talk things out with him? Calmly." Duncan questioned.

"We were never in disagreement about that, Duncan." She replied, impatiently. "We need to figure out what is going through his head and correct it."

"By showing him that he can trust us? By letting him know how important he is to us and that we only want to do what's best for him?" Duncan asked hesitantly.

"Of course." Tessa waved off the questioning impatiently.

Which hardly eased Duncan's anxiety. "Good."

"Are you satisfied now?" Tessa questioned. "Richie is waiting for us."

"Right." Duncan replied quietly, as he followed the determined woman back towards the living room.

Entering the living room, Duncan was almost amused. Richie had literally not moved from his spot since Tessa had ordered him to stay put. It would have been funny, had Duncan not gotten a good looked at the teen's face. Obviously, the position was not that comfortable, especially for someone who was undoubtedly sore from a marathon event the day before. Plus, he appeared downright afraid. Tessa's wrath was not something the teen had been the target of before.

As Tessa went to stand in front of the expectant boy, Duncan found himself leading her into the armchair. As he calmly took a seat on the couch next to the teen, he was well aware of the look she was giving him. It was more than apparent that the woman thought he was taking sides against her. He didn't care though. He needed to make it clear that there was only one side here. Richie's side. Even if they had different opinions about what that meant, they all wanted the same things. Or at least he fervently hoped they did.

Tessa immediately began the interrogation. "I just want you to tell me one thing, Richie. One thing." Her tone was more controlled, Duncan noted. And, looking on the positive side of things, one question was better than the barrage she had been throwing earlier. "What, in God's name, were you thinking when you ran off?"

"I didn't run off." Duncan cringed even as the words came out of Richie's mouth. That argument was definitely not going to go far with Tessa.

"No?" Tessa's tone was not one of amusement. "What would you call it, then?"

"I left a note." Richie said in a desperate attempt to defend himself. "I just decided it was time for me to move on."

"Move on?" Tessa rose at that. "Move on? And just where did you think you were going to 'move on' to, young man? The end of a bridge?"

"Of course not." Richie replied, annoyed.

"No?" Tessa continued. "That's funny, because that is exactly where you were found. Do you mean to tell me you just ended up there by chance?"

"That's not what I said." Richie retorted.

"You either meant to go there or you didn't. Which is it, Richie?" The woman pressed.

"This isn't getting us anywhere." Duncan finally interjected, having witnessed quite enough of Tessa's style of handling the situation. "Tessa, sit down."

Opening her mouth in protest, the woman immediately changed her mind and sat down quickly. With a wave of her hand, she crossed her legs and faced slightly away from the couch. "Fine, you talk to him."

"We all need to talk this out." Duncan returned in frustration. The woman's rigid posture made it clear to him that she was not happy with his input. However, he had no intention of backing down.

"Why do you want to move on, Rich?" Duncan asked in his most non-confrontational tone. "Are you unhappy here? Have we done something to upset you?"

"No. You guys are great. Its just time for me to move on." Richie replied, looking down at his hands.

Putting a hand on the teen's shoulder, Duncan attempted to catch his eye. "Why? If you're happy here, why would you want to leave? Did you think we didn't want you around?"

Richie shrugged at that question. "I just figured my time here was up."

"Because of what happened with Jack?" Duncan continued to probe.

"You were right, that's all." Richie replied.

"Right?" Duncan asked, completely confused as to what Richie was talking about.

"Yeah, about me being my own person." Richie replied.

"Rich, I'm trying hard but I'm not following you." The Immortal urged him on.

"You said I was lucky that I don't have a family because I get to decide what happens to me." Richie explained.

"I would never." Duncan stopped mid-sentence as he realized what Richie was referring to. "Richie, that isn't what I meant. I meant you are lucky because you don't have to be defined by your past. So you don't know who your biological parents are. So what? That just means you don't have to compare yourself to anyone else. Everything about you is original Richie, no imitations."

When Richie turned hopeful eyes on him, Duncan felt compelled to continue.

"I did not mean that you are on your own. Just because the people who made you aren't around doesn't mean you don't deserve a family."

"I don't need help from anyone." Richie replied defiantly.

As Tessa scoffed, Duncan tried to reason with the teen. "Of course you do. Rich, it's okay to depend on other people. I'm sorry if I made you think I wanted you to leave. I never meant that. Tessa and I want to be here for you, but you have to meet us halfway. What's going on with you? Why would you leave like that? Please, Richie, just tell us what you need. Give us a clue."

"Nothing." Richie replied flatly. "Nothing is going on. I don't need anything from anyone."

As the teen hurried off the couch and down the hall to his room, Duncan turned helpless eyes on Tessa. Things were definitely not going well.