AN: Hey I'm back. Sorry for the wait, hell of a case of writer's block.
Many thanks and big ol' hugs to Lori for helping me so much this chap! She
kinda co-authored it and actually wrote a decent-sized part of it. She's
the reason this came out a fast as it did. More to come soon!
The bar was silent. Richie stood among the boxes of beer and various other liquors staring at the door willing it to stay closed. Duncan stood on the other side trying to work up the nerve to turn the lock. He took a deep breath and reached for it. Richie swallowed as he heard someone unlocking the door and turning the handle. Quickly he stepped back cast his eyes to the ground.
"Rich?" Duncan asked tentatively stepping into the small room. Richie swallowed and scooted slightly to the side to make room for the other man. "Richie." Duncan tried again reaching out to him. Richie jumped away from the touch and bolted out of the room slamming the door shut behind him. "Richie!"
Richie leaned against the door, happy to be on the other side, and looked at the others with a shy grin. They stared back and Duncan began pounding on the door. "Richie! Let me out!"
"Now you know how it feels!" Richie called back moving toward Amanda, Adam, and Joe who were all still trying to work out the situation. "Just give me a decent head start?"
Slowly Adam grinned and chuckled lightly. "I'll give you all the time you want. I've wanted to do that for a long time."
"Just give me a couple minutes," Richie grinned back. By the time he got back to the dojo and Duncan joined him he would have had time to work out a plan. "Thanks." With a wave he turned on his heel and left.
"He's not embarrassed," Amanda commented as he left.
"Just clever," Adam answered.
"He's clever, alright," Joe agreed. "But this may be the last time we ever see him. I wonder how long it will take Mac to realize Richie didn't lock the door?"
As it turned out it took Duncan about two minutes to realize he never tried the handle. When he emerged from the storeroom he wasn't surprised to see Richie gone. "I think we may have to skip dinner. Richie and I need to talk," he said grabbing his jacket off a near by bar stool. "Maybe some other time."
"If the kid survives the lesson," Adam agreed. "Give my regards to your son," he added raising his beer in solute. Amanda slapped him on the shoulder and gave him a stern look.
. . . . . .
"I figured dinner was off and you wanted to talk," Richie said from the couch as soon as Duncan opened the elevator gate.
"You figured right," Duncan nodded.
"Thought so." Richie propped his feet up on the coffee table and folded his hands behind his head looking the epitome of the smug young man Duncan was trying to keep him from becoming. "Well?"
"I thought maybe you'd want to start."
"I'm fine. You're the one who wants to talk," he returned.
"Okay. Did I hear you right?" Duncan asked trying to get Richie to admit what happened.
"You mean; did I call you dad? Yeah, you heard me right."
Duncan paused. He hadn't expected Richie to put it so bluntly. Their relationship had always been hard to define. Strangers often mistook them for father and son. They usually just laughed it off and went on with their lives. Neither one had ever admitted any sort of feeling other than a close friendship. And for Richie to admit his slip so openly was out of character for the young man.
"Why did you say that?" Duncan asked. "Not that I mind," he quickly added. "I just never expected you to."
"Don't get your panties in a wad about it," Richie laughed. "I didn't mean it."
"Then why did you say it?" Duncan tried his best not to look as hurt as he felt.
Richie smirked. "Because it made you do what I wanted you to." Duncan just looked at him. "It got me out of the closet, didn't it?"
Duncan stopped and thought about it, then a smile slowly spread across his face. "You little manipulator!"
"Well, it worked!" Richie defended.
"I can't believe you did that."
"I'm claustrophobic," Richie lied. "I was starting to panic."
"So you played on the fact that you refuse to -"
"Do stuff like that? Yeah."
"Then you played shy and embarrassed -"
"To turn the tables."
Duncan sat on the couch next to Richie and ruffled his hair. "You're getting too smart for me."
"It was your idea for me to go to college," Richie grinned back happy to have avoided the inevitable disaster that would soon come for the time being.
. . . . . .
The next afternoon Joe arrived at the dojo to see how Richie and Duncan had worked things out. When he got there he found Duncan in the office.
"Hey, Joe!" Duncan greeted. "What are you doing here?"
"Just came by to see what happened last night," Joe shrugged.
"We talked. He explained what he was thinking when he said what he did. I just haven't decided if I believe him or not."
Joe quirked a brow. "What did he tell you?"
"He wanted out and he knew that that was the one thing that would get him out. So he did it."
"And you think there's more to the story," Joe stated.
"I think he hasn't decided if there's more to the story," Duncan told him perching on the corner of his desk. "He'll tell me when he's ready."
"You're not going to push this?"
"I'm going to try not to. Joe, I really wonder about him sometimes," Duncan admitted. "There are so many contradictions about him. I mean when I met him, here was this young, punk thief with a big mouth and a bad attitude. He got on my nerves faster than anyone I had ever known. He made it seem like he had this horribly traumatic childhood, which is entirely possible. But then, where did he get his manners? His people skills? His work ethic? If his life was as terrible as he makes it out to be, why is he so normal?"
"Normal?" Joe chuckled.
"As much as he can be."
"Maybe he just hasn't told you everything," Joe suggested.
"I know he hasn't told me everything; he's barely told me anything. But whatever the truth is it can't be worse than what I've imagined. There are so many possibilities of what could have happened to him. I just want to know."
"Know what?" Richie asked entering the office.
Duncan looked up with a slight grin. "Why you're late."
"I'm not!" Richie defended. "I've been down here all morning!"
"Sorry," Duncan shrugged. "Force of habit."
Richie grinned and rolled his eyes. "I wasn't that bad."
"Yeah, you were, Rich," Duncan assured him.
Richie ignored him. "Hey, Joe. What's up?"
"Just came by to make sure you two didn't get into it last night," Joe explained giving the young man a pointed look, which Duncan noticed.
"Hey, Richie!" somebody called from on the mats. Richie glanced over his shoulder and nodded.
"Talk to you later. Bryan wants a rematch. Can't stand that a kid beat him," he grinned leaving the office again.
"You know," Duncan said as soon as Richie was out of hearing range.
"I told him I wouldn't tell you," Joe insisted.
"Just tell me if it's good or bad."
"It depends on how you look at it."
"Depends on how you look at it? Come on, Joe. Tell me." Mac practically shouted.
"I can't do that. I promised Richie that I'd let him tell you." Joe's face showed how conflicted he was. He was good friends with both men; Mac was one of his closest and Richie was almost like a son to him. Not like the kid needed another father; he already had two, but.still. "Rich just needs to figure how to tell you.he's afraid that you'll be hurt, overreact, do something rash. You're an important part of his life and he's afraid of losing you," Joe's voice trailed off. He watched Richie warm up on the mats outside the door in preparation for his match with Bryan.
"It's that bad?" Mac hesitantly asked, for the first time sensing how serious the situation was. He had just thought that Richie was having a hard time accepting that the two of them had gotten so close. Now he didn't know what to think. What would be so shattering that Richie would think that he would send the kid away?
"NO! I don't think it's bad at all, but I couldn't really find much information in the database about Mast." Joe stopped suddenly, realizing that he had said just a little too much.
"Database? Why would you be looking in the database? Is there another immortal at Richie's school? Have they been giving Rich a hard time? I'll go down there and make sure that Richie will be safe." Mac started to mentally arrange his schedule so that he could fly out that night and be back by tomorrow afternoon.
"Slow down! No, Richie isn't having trouble, I said too much. Just ignore this old man and wait for Richie to tell you when he's ready. Nothing is wrong. Okay?" Joe started to panic, recognizing Duncan MacLeod's famous 'I'm going to hunt down and kill whatever is ruining my sense of perfectedness' face.
Duncan didn't have time to respond as Richie walked in the office. "Hey, is everything all right? Joe doesn't look so good."
"Richie! What's going on at school? Joe just said you're having trouble with an immortal!" Mac jumped in without thinking.
"Joe! What are you telling Mac? There are no immortals other than Miller at school, Mac."
"Sorry kid, I didn't tell him much, but I kinda slipped. Just that I didn't have much in the database about Masters. Nothing else." Joe was upset. He didn't usually make stupid mistakes like he had made with Mac. He didn't mean to pressure Richie; he had promised that he'd give the kid time to tell Mac and now the boy would be forced to tell his mentor. Mac would refuse to give up without finding out every detail.
Richie sighed. He knew that Joe had made an honest mistake. He wouldn't betray him. He knew that he'd have to tell Duncan sooner or later about Greg, and he guessed it would sooner. "Just give me a second, Mac; I want to tell Bryan his match needs to be postponed. This will take a while." Richie walked to the door and called out to his friend. "Bryan, I have to talk with Mac. Rain check?"
"Sure, I'll be in tomorrow. Be here so I can kick your ass!"
"Sure, sure, whatever you say," Richie chuckled and turned back to Mac, his face turning serious as he shut the door.
"Well?" Duncan demanded expectantly. Richie swallowed and looked him in the eye before shifting his gaze to his bare feet. "Richie, what's going on, who is Masters?"
"A guy," Richie answered carefully. He had no idea how to tell Duncan. He had a plan, but it involved the opening of 'Mac, I need to tell you something' not 'I have to tell you because Joe slipped and now you're freaked'.
"That's real helpful, Rich."
"Look would you just give me a sec!" Richie snapped.
"Maybe I should leave," Joe said turning toward the door.
"No, I want you to stay," Duncan stopped him.
"No, leave," Richie contradicted.
Joe nodded, "I'll wait outside," he compromised.
"Richie, you've got to tell me what's going on down there," Duncan half pleaded.
"Can we do this upstairs?" he asked quietly. "It could get noisy."
"Okay," Duncan consented, opening the door for Richie. Quickly Richie moved past him and to the elevator; Duncan followed. When they got to the loft Richie moved into the kitchen and began searching the refrigerator.
"You hungry, Mac?" he asked hopefully.
"I'm worried, Richie," Duncan answered putting his hands on Richie's shoulders and leading him to the couch. "What aren't you telling me?" The boy pulled at the fabric of his sweat pants and refused to look at Duncan. "Whatever it is, it can't be as bad as you're making it out to be," he assured him softly. "You were always the dramatic one." He saw Richie grin slightly. "What happened?"
"It's a long story."
"So start it," he prompted gently giving the boy a slight nudge.
"The reason I want to play for Roberts is more than that I just like his team," Richie began. Duncan nodded and waited for him to continue. "I wanted to play for him because Greg Masters did."
"So Greg is your hero?" Duncan supplied.
"Among other things," he consented.
"He's teaching you?"
"He has."
Duncan thought for a minute then shook his head. "I don't see what the big deal is, Rich."
"Because I haven't told you the big deal part, yet."
"What is it then? Richie, if you're worried that I'm mad that you found another teacher, you're wrong. Immortals have multiple teachers; everyone needs all the experience they can get. Richie, I think you're making a big deal out of nothing."
"He's my dad!" Richie blurted his voice breaking. He let out a shaky breath and looked up to Duncan to get his reaction.
Duncan stared at him for a minute. "Rich," he started quietly. "We've been over this; you don't have a dad, none of us do."
"Not my real dad," Richie clarified. "I know that. But he has been. since I was eight."
"He was a foster dad," Duncan realized. "And he's immortal and you ran into him again."
"He's the reason I went to Missouri," Richie added quietly getting up from the couch. "He's always wanted me to play for Roberts; I knew that if he still cared he'd come find me if I just let him know where I was."
"Richie, you've been in the same place since you were a baby," Duncan reminded him. "Why didn't he find you before?"
"He wasn't here; he had to move. He tried to adopt me, but they wouldn't let him. So he had to leave me."
"How long did it take him to find you again?"
"Seven years."
"Richie, don't you think he would have tried before now?"
"He did," Richie told him. "He came back. He came to get me like he promised. He did, Mac, he did."
"I don't get what you're saying," Duncan admitted.
"When I was thirteen and he had to leave he promised when I turned eighteen he'd come back. He'd come back and take me with him to wherever he lived; we'd be a family again."
"When you were eighteen you were living with us, did he come back then?"
"Yes. That's why he didn't take me, he saw me with you guys and figured that I was happy and he didn't want to make me leave again, he didn't want to make me choose."
Duncan fought the urge to point out all the holes in Greg's excuse for not getting Richie. "So when he found out you were playing in Missouri he came to see you. You've known about this all year?" he asked carefully.
"No," Richie shook his head. "He came back this semester. He was the immortal who wanted to talk to me after I broke my wrist. He was the one who helped me fake it; he kept me away from the doctors. Stepped in as my dad and took over."
"You told me Miller did that," he pointed out. "Richie, you lied to me. again."
Richie's face paled and he swallowed. "Mac."
"Richie, you can't keep doing this," Duncan told him in a calm, rational voice that Richie hadn't been expecting. Yelling would have been better. "You have to trust me. I'm not going to freak out because you had a life before me, I don't mind that you have a dad, I do mind that you're lying. I deserve the truth. I've never lied to you; I don't know how long you've been lying to me."
"Mac, I'm sorry. I didn't know how to tell you," Richie told him softly staring up at him with sincerity. "I've been trying to think of a way since I met you practically. I knew you were going to get mad either way."
"Why would I be mad that you have a father?" Duncan demanded finally letting his voice rise. "Richie, you are a grown up, I've told you this before. Why is it so hard for you to act like it?"
"Mac."
"It's not hard Richie. You seem to be able to pretend to do it, why can't you just do it?"
"Mac, I can explain."
"Weren't you the least bit hurt that he ignored you for seven years?" Duncan demanded. By the look on Richie's face he could tell he hit a sensitive point.
"Yeah, I was. I was pissed. I wanted yell and scream at him for doing that to me," Richie admitted. "But I didn't, I left. I waited until the next day when I knew I was thinking clearly and went back. You taught me that." Richie turned and went to the spiral staircase in the back corner of the loft.
"At least I know you didn't completely ignore me," Duncan returned going for the elevator. In their frustration they didn't notice the way their personalities mirrored each other.
The bar was silent. Richie stood among the boxes of beer and various other liquors staring at the door willing it to stay closed. Duncan stood on the other side trying to work up the nerve to turn the lock. He took a deep breath and reached for it. Richie swallowed as he heard someone unlocking the door and turning the handle. Quickly he stepped back cast his eyes to the ground.
"Rich?" Duncan asked tentatively stepping into the small room. Richie swallowed and scooted slightly to the side to make room for the other man. "Richie." Duncan tried again reaching out to him. Richie jumped away from the touch and bolted out of the room slamming the door shut behind him. "Richie!"
Richie leaned against the door, happy to be on the other side, and looked at the others with a shy grin. They stared back and Duncan began pounding on the door. "Richie! Let me out!"
"Now you know how it feels!" Richie called back moving toward Amanda, Adam, and Joe who were all still trying to work out the situation. "Just give me a decent head start?"
Slowly Adam grinned and chuckled lightly. "I'll give you all the time you want. I've wanted to do that for a long time."
"Just give me a couple minutes," Richie grinned back. By the time he got back to the dojo and Duncan joined him he would have had time to work out a plan. "Thanks." With a wave he turned on his heel and left.
"He's not embarrassed," Amanda commented as he left.
"Just clever," Adam answered.
"He's clever, alright," Joe agreed. "But this may be the last time we ever see him. I wonder how long it will take Mac to realize Richie didn't lock the door?"
As it turned out it took Duncan about two minutes to realize he never tried the handle. When he emerged from the storeroom he wasn't surprised to see Richie gone. "I think we may have to skip dinner. Richie and I need to talk," he said grabbing his jacket off a near by bar stool. "Maybe some other time."
"If the kid survives the lesson," Adam agreed. "Give my regards to your son," he added raising his beer in solute. Amanda slapped him on the shoulder and gave him a stern look.
. . . . . .
"I figured dinner was off and you wanted to talk," Richie said from the couch as soon as Duncan opened the elevator gate.
"You figured right," Duncan nodded.
"Thought so." Richie propped his feet up on the coffee table and folded his hands behind his head looking the epitome of the smug young man Duncan was trying to keep him from becoming. "Well?"
"I thought maybe you'd want to start."
"I'm fine. You're the one who wants to talk," he returned.
"Okay. Did I hear you right?" Duncan asked trying to get Richie to admit what happened.
"You mean; did I call you dad? Yeah, you heard me right."
Duncan paused. He hadn't expected Richie to put it so bluntly. Their relationship had always been hard to define. Strangers often mistook them for father and son. They usually just laughed it off and went on with their lives. Neither one had ever admitted any sort of feeling other than a close friendship. And for Richie to admit his slip so openly was out of character for the young man.
"Why did you say that?" Duncan asked. "Not that I mind," he quickly added. "I just never expected you to."
"Don't get your panties in a wad about it," Richie laughed. "I didn't mean it."
"Then why did you say it?" Duncan tried his best not to look as hurt as he felt.
Richie smirked. "Because it made you do what I wanted you to." Duncan just looked at him. "It got me out of the closet, didn't it?"
Duncan stopped and thought about it, then a smile slowly spread across his face. "You little manipulator!"
"Well, it worked!" Richie defended.
"I can't believe you did that."
"I'm claustrophobic," Richie lied. "I was starting to panic."
"So you played on the fact that you refuse to -"
"Do stuff like that? Yeah."
"Then you played shy and embarrassed -"
"To turn the tables."
Duncan sat on the couch next to Richie and ruffled his hair. "You're getting too smart for me."
"It was your idea for me to go to college," Richie grinned back happy to have avoided the inevitable disaster that would soon come for the time being.
. . . . . .
The next afternoon Joe arrived at the dojo to see how Richie and Duncan had worked things out. When he got there he found Duncan in the office.
"Hey, Joe!" Duncan greeted. "What are you doing here?"
"Just came by to see what happened last night," Joe shrugged.
"We talked. He explained what he was thinking when he said what he did. I just haven't decided if I believe him or not."
Joe quirked a brow. "What did he tell you?"
"He wanted out and he knew that that was the one thing that would get him out. So he did it."
"And you think there's more to the story," Joe stated.
"I think he hasn't decided if there's more to the story," Duncan told him perching on the corner of his desk. "He'll tell me when he's ready."
"You're not going to push this?"
"I'm going to try not to. Joe, I really wonder about him sometimes," Duncan admitted. "There are so many contradictions about him. I mean when I met him, here was this young, punk thief with a big mouth and a bad attitude. He got on my nerves faster than anyone I had ever known. He made it seem like he had this horribly traumatic childhood, which is entirely possible. But then, where did he get his manners? His people skills? His work ethic? If his life was as terrible as he makes it out to be, why is he so normal?"
"Normal?" Joe chuckled.
"As much as he can be."
"Maybe he just hasn't told you everything," Joe suggested.
"I know he hasn't told me everything; he's barely told me anything. But whatever the truth is it can't be worse than what I've imagined. There are so many possibilities of what could have happened to him. I just want to know."
"Know what?" Richie asked entering the office.
Duncan looked up with a slight grin. "Why you're late."
"I'm not!" Richie defended. "I've been down here all morning!"
"Sorry," Duncan shrugged. "Force of habit."
Richie grinned and rolled his eyes. "I wasn't that bad."
"Yeah, you were, Rich," Duncan assured him.
Richie ignored him. "Hey, Joe. What's up?"
"Just came by to make sure you two didn't get into it last night," Joe explained giving the young man a pointed look, which Duncan noticed.
"Hey, Richie!" somebody called from on the mats. Richie glanced over his shoulder and nodded.
"Talk to you later. Bryan wants a rematch. Can't stand that a kid beat him," he grinned leaving the office again.
"You know," Duncan said as soon as Richie was out of hearing range.
"I told him I wouldn't tell you," Joe insisted.
"Just tell me if it's good or bad."
"It depends on how you look at it."
"Depends on how you look at it? Come on, Joe. Tell me." Mac practically shouted.
"I can't do that. I promised Richie that I'd let him tell you." Joe's face showed how conflicted he was. He was good friends with both men; Mac was one of his closest and Richie was almost like a son to him. Not like the kid needed another father; he already had two, but.still. "Rich just needs to figure how to tell you.he's afraid that you'll be hurt, overreact, do something rash. You're an important part of his life and he's afraid of losing you," Joe's voice trailed off. He watched Richie warm up on the mats outside the door in preparation for his match with Bryan.
"It's that bad?" Mac hesitantly asked, for the first time sensing how serious the situation was. He had just thought that Richie was having a hard time accepting that the two of them had gotten so close. Now he didn't know what to think. What would be so shattering that Richie would think that he would send the kid away?
"NO! I don't think it's bad at all, but I couldn't really find much information in the database about Mast." Joe stopped suddenly, realizing that he had said just a little too much.
"Database? Why would you be looking in the database? Is there another immortal at Richie's school? Have they been giving Rich a hard time? I'll go down there and make sure that Richie will be safe." Mac started to mentally arrange his schedule so that he could fly out that night and be back by tomorrow afternoon.
"Slow down! No, Richie isn't having trouble, I said too much. Just ignore this old man and wait for Richie to tell you when he's ready. Nothing is wrong. Okay?" Joe started to panic, recognizing Duncan MacLeod's famous 'I'm going to hunt down and kill whatever is ruining my sense of perfectedness' face.
Duncan didn't have time to respond as Richie walked in the office. "Hey, is everything all right? Joe doesn't look so good."
"Richie! What's going on at school? Joe just said you're having trouble with an immortal!" Mac jumped in without thinking.
"Joe! What are you telling Mac? There are no immortals other than Miller at school, Mac."
"Sorry kid, I didn't tell him much, but I kinda slipped. Just that I didn't have much in the database about Masters. Nothing else." Joe was upset. He didn't usually make stupid mistakes like he had made with Mac. He didn't mean to pressure Richie; he had promised that he'd give the kid time to tell Mac and now the boy would be forced to tell his mentor. Mac would refuse to give up without finding out every detail.
Richie sighed. He knew that Joe had made an honest mistake. He wouldn't betray him. He knew that he'd have to tell Duncan sooner or later about Greg, and he guessed it would sooner. "Just give me a second, Mac; I want to tell Bryan his match needs to be postponed. This will take a while." Richie walked to the door and called out to his friend. "Bryan, I have to talk with Mac. Rain check?"
"Sure, I'll be in tomorrow. Be here so I can kick your ass!"
"Sure, sure, whatever you say," Richie chuckled and turned back to Mac, his face turning serious as he shut the door.
"Well?" Duncan demanded expectantly. Richie swallowed and looked him in the eye before shifting his gaze to his bare feet. "Richie, what's going on, who is Masters?"
"A guy," Richie answered carefully. He had no idea how to tell Duncan. He had a plan, but it involved the opening of 'Mac, I need to tell you something' not 'I have to tell you because Joe slipped and now you're freaked'.
"That's real helpful, Rich."
"Look would you just give me a sec!" Richie snapped.
"Maybe I should leave," Joe said turning toward the door.
"No, I want you to stay," Duncan stopped him.
"No, leave," Richie contradicted.
Joe nodded, "I'll wait outside," he compromised.
"Richie, you've got to tell me what's going on down there," Duncan half pleaded.
"Can we do this upstairs?" he asked quietly. "It could get noisy."
"Okay," Duncan consented, opening the door for Richie. Quickly Richie moved past him and to the elevator; Duncan followed. When they got to the loft Richie moved into the kitchen and began searching the refrigerator.
"You hungry, Mac?" he asked hopefully.
"I'm worried, Richie," Duncan answered putting his hands on Richie's shoulders and leading him to the couch. "What aren't you telling me?" The boy pulled at the fabric of his sweat pants and refused to look at Duncan. "Whatever it is, it can't be as bad as you're making it out to be," he assured him softly. "You were always the dramatic one." He saw Richie grin slightly. "What happened?"
"It's a long story."
"So start it," he prompted gently giving the boy a slight nudge.
"The reason I want to play for Roberts is more than that I just like his team," Richie began. Duncan nodded and waited for him to continue. "I wanted to play for him because Greg Masters did."
"So Greg is your hero?" Duncan supplied.
"Among other things," he consented.
"He's teaching you?"
"He has."
Duncan thought for a minute then shook his head. "I don't see what the big deal is, Rich."
"Because I haven't told you the big deal part, yet."
"What is it then? Richie, if you're worried that I'm mad that you found another teacher, you're wrong. Immortals have multiple teachers; everyone needs all the experience they can get. Richie, I think you're making a big deal out of nothing."
"He's my dad!" Richie blurted his voice breaking. He let out a shaky breath and looked up to Duncan to get his reaction.
Duncan stared at him for a minute. "Rich," he started quietly. "We've been over this; you don't have a dad, none of us do."
"Not my real dad," Richie clarified. "I know that. But he has been. since I was eight."
"He was a foster dad," Duncan realized. "And he's immortal and you ran into him again."
"He's the reason I went to Missouri," Richie added quietly getting up from the couch. "He's always wanted me to play for Roberts; I knew that if he still cared he'd come find me if I just let him know where I was."
"Richie, you've been in the same place since you were a baby," Duncan reminded him. "Why didn't he find you before?"
"He wasn't here; he had to move. He tried to adopt me, but they wouldn't let him. So he had to leave me."
"How long did it take him to find you again?"
"Seven years."
"Richie, don't you think he would have tried before now?"
"He did," Richie told him. "He came back. He came to get me like he promised. He did, Mac, he did."
"I don't get what you're saying," Duncan admitted.
"When I was thirteen and he had to leave he promised when I turned eighteen he'd come back. He'd come back and take me with him to wherever he lived; we'd be a family again."
"When you were eighteen you were living with us, did he come back then?"
"Yes. That's why he didn't take me, he saw me with you guys and figured that I was happy and he didn't want to make me leave again, he didn't want to make me choose."
Duncan fought the urge to point out all the holes in Greg's excuse for not getting Richie. "So when he found out you were playing in Missouri he came to see you. You've known about this all year?" he asked carefully.
"No," Richie shook his head. "He came back this semester. He was the immortal who wanted to talk to me after I broke my wrist. He was the one who helped me fake it; he kept me away from the doctors. Stepped in as my dad and took over."
"You told me Miller did that," he pointed out. "Richie, you lied to me. again."
Richie's face paled and he swallowed. "Mac."
"Richie, you can't keep doing this," Duncan told him in a calm, rational voice that Richie hadn't been expecting. Yelling would have been better. "You have to trust me. I'm not going to freak out because you had a life before me, I don't mind that you have a dad, I do mind that you're lying. I deserve the truth. I've never lied to you; I don't know how long you've been lying to me."
"Mac, I'm sorry. I didn't know how to tell you," Richie told him softly staring up at him with sincerity. "I've been trying to think of a way since I met you practically. I knew you were going to get mad either way."
"Why would I be mad that you have a father?" Duncan demanded finally letting his voice rise. "Richie, you are a grown up, I've told you this before. Why is it so hard for you to act like it?"
"Mac."
"It's not hard Richie. You seem to be able to pretend to do it, why can't you just do it?"
"Mac, I can explain."
"Weren't you the least bit hurt that he ignored you for seven years?" Duncan demanded. By the look on Richie's face he could tell he hit a sensitive point.
"Yeah, I was. I was pissed. I wanted yell and scream at him for doing that to me," Richie admitted. "But I didn't, I left. I waited until the next day when I knew I was thinking clearly and went back. You taught me that." Richie turned and went to the spiral staircase in the back corner of the loft.
"At least I know you didn't completely ignore me," Duncan returned going for the elevator. In their frustration they didn't notice the way their personalities mirrored each other.