Why Intrigue and Home Movies Don't Mix

Lucas had been wrong about one thing. Telling Dan they were doing it for the good of the team hadn't been the right reason. "Screw the team," he'd roared the next morning when they'd told him over breakfast. "You're better than all of them! But no scout is going to look twice at a player who gets kicked out of games for fighting, so you both had better shape up and think of your futures!" Then he'd sent them out for a run --"5 miles and not a yard less", not knowing that it was the perfect cover for them to discuss how to proceed. After much discussion, they had decided to include Haley, but no one else. "She's got a devious little mind when she wants to," said Lucas, and Nathan had no trouble believing it.

Her first mission was to go to a bookstore and find a copy of The Art of War, since Karen, though she had addressed them with less bluster, had been every bit as furious and had grounded them from every activity outside of home and school, so they couldn't get to the bookstore themselves. Presuming to include Nathan in the grounding had sent Dan further up his tree than he already was, if possible, but she'd just smiled and said "just following the judge's orders, Dan." Nathan knew Dan wouldn't make a big deal if he did go out, but he decided in solidarity with Lucas he would follow the rules. He could hardly make a pact to not let their father tear them apart and then at the first chance take advantage of the fact that he was living with said non- rule-enforcing father while his brother was back with the very rule-enforcing mother. Or stepmother, depending on your perspective.

The other thing they'd agreed was to confine their activities to times when they'd be together anyway, like Lucas weeks, since anything else would look suspicious. Today was Sunday, and the beginning of a Lucas week. Dan and Nathan were pulling up to the big house for the traditional dinner but for the first time, Nathan was actually looking forward to it even though Lucas had suggested that their interactions should be "polite, stiff, and distant. Like soap opera people". It was a good plan. Now he just had to pull it off.

Dan was still smarting from the fight, Whitey's putting them off the bus, and the grounding. "Really," he said to Karen, "we should think of suing. They could have been in serious danger."

Karen shook her head. "He called me the minute the bus pulled away. They were there not even 40 minutes."

"Yeah, that reminds me Nathan," Lucas interjected. "How did you know he called someone?"

Nathan hid his laugh and went for a small grin instead. "I saw him take your phone out of your bag as the bus was pulling out. I figured he had to be calling someone to come get us it would have taken all night to walk home. Not even 30 gazillion winning seasons gets you coverage against that kind of punishment."

"Still think we should sue..." Dan muttered. Karen gave him a sharp look.

"Dan, let it go. Besides, at least they're talking now, so it turned out to be a good thing."

The rest of the meal was taken up by discussion of inconsequentials. Dan was stewing silently and Karen took the opportunity to try and lead Nathan and Lucas around to topics of common interest, unaware they already had one. They had a good time, though and the animation was contagious. By the end of the meal even Dan had unwound enough to tell a joke that started "An Englishman, a Scotsman, and an Irishman walk into a bar...." For one short minute, Nathan imagined that this was what a family was like, a real family like he'd always wanted, but then Dan had turned to him and said "So, what do you think tomorrow morning: weights or a run?" and he'd lost it. This wasn't a real family, and it wouldn't be until they figured out a way to corral Dadzilla.

Lucas came into his room again that night. He flashed back briefly to the last time that had happened, thankful that he wasn't going to have the same kind of encounter this time. "So, what did you think of Sun Tzu?"

Lucas held up the book Haley had bought for them. "I think it's exactly the kind of book Dan Scott would have on his shelf. I'm surprised he hadn't made me read it already."

"I kind of wondered myself. But he probably thinks we're not ready for it."

"He's probably right. I didn't get parts of it," Lucas admitted. "But I did recognize a few things he's said in the past. Anyway, while I get while the judge freaked out on you, I still don't see how reading it helps us."

"It's right there," Nathan said. "You have to understand your enemy and prepare."

Lucas cocked an eyebrow. "Our father is our enemy?"

"Not really," Nathan conceded. "Just his current incarnation. We have to figure out a way to make him human again. Like you remember from when you were little. You get your dad back, I get a dad period, he gets two sons who don't want to run screaming from whatever room he's in. Everyone wins."

"I don't know... I'm still not sure we can overcome that ego of his," Lucas said.

"Yeah, that is the challenge. Any ideas?"

"None yet. Haley's coming up dry as well. Maybe instead of trying to act like soap opera people we should start watching more soaps. They always have good revenge plots."

Nathan threw himself back onto the bed. "About that, I'm sorry. I kind of failed with the polite, stiff, distant thing. It's just... With all the drama and Mom dying and people walking on eggshells, I haven't had a normal conversation in months. It was nice to just talk."

Lucas waved it off. "No big. Dad was too peeved to notice and Mom thought it was sweet."

"Speaking of your mother, we need to make sure that whatever we come up with doesn't hurt her."

"Hey, you get no argument from me. I'd have been perfectly happy if the divorce court had given her sole custody, but you know Dan Scott would never let that happen." Lucas had been walking around and picked up one of the pictures of Nathan's mother. There were a few, from different parts of their life. In the one Lucas had picked up she was holding an infant Nathan, smiling at the camera and looking almost ridiculously young. "Tell me about her."

Nathan looked surprised. "You want to hear about my mom? I thought she led Dan down some primrose path of vice and debauchery." What he'd meant as a joke came out far more bitter than he'd intended. There were obviously still some wounds between Dan's boys.

Lucas blushed. "Look, I'm sorry. You've been nothing but decent to my mom, and I've said some horrible things about yours. Done some horrible things too. You can help me start to make up for it by telling me about her, since I won't get to meet her."

Nathan considered Lucas' request and finally nodded. "Okay. She was... she was always kind. She never passed a homeless person without putting some money in the cup, even when we barely had enough to keep a roof over our heads. She would go out of her way to help people. The first time I met Brooke, she reminded me so much of one of Mom's foundlings, a girl named Tammi. Tammi had somehow managed to get bonded even though her prior employment had been as a prostitute. Don't give me that look... It's Nevada, it's legal. Anyway, Tammi came into the bank scared out of her wits and with absolutely no idea how to behave outside the whorehouse. Mom took her over, taught her how to dress and wear her hair and makeup. Taught her what was needed to get ahead without flaunting her chest. She's still there, three years later. Don't get me wrong, Mom could be very strict. I was never allowed over to anyone's house until she had met their parents and given the family her seal of approval. She was also so sad. I used to watch her sometimes, when she didn't know I was there. She'd just start crying for no obvious reason. And she'd cry and cry and cry but the next time she saw you you'd never be able to tell anything was wrong. It was like this mask she put on for everyone else, including me."

"Why?"

"For me, I think it was because she never wanted anything in my life to make me sad. When I was little, I wanted a puppy, like any other little boy. But we lived on a really busy road, and Ithink she knew there was no way we could have a dog for very long without it being doggy pancake. So she scrimped and saved and put away for a year so we could move onto a quieter street and I could get my dog. It was like, anything to make me happy. For everyone else... I guess she just didn't want them to see her as some kind of victim. You know, rich girl abandoned by her boyfriend and disowned by her parents, raising her son all alone... it has all the makings of a movie of the week."

Lucas looked up. "Rich?"

Nathan snorted. "Oh yeah. It wasn't something she talked about much, especially since it was all past tense, but you could just tell she came from privilege by the way she carried herself. She once told me her mother's family owned half of Raleigh. I think their name was... Lancaster? That sound familiar to you?"

Lucas' eyes went wide. "Holy shit, yes. They really do own half of Raleigh. Old money. Seriously, you're talking about some serious North Carolina elite there. That's your mom's family?"

"Well, part of it anyway. It's not like they're anything to me. They kicked her out for getting pregnant. Can you imagine what they'd say if I turned up to claim my share of the millions?"

"Good point. Still, she sounds really nice. She actually sounds a lot like..."

"...Karen, yeah, I know. You know what?" Nathan jumped up and started rooting around under the bed, emerging with a black box. "Why don't I show you?"

One of the amenities the Scott family considered a requirement that Nathan had never had before was a TV and VCR in each bedroom. It was actually a DVD player in the others, but Nathan had asked Dan to get him a VCR instead, and he'd complied, puzzled. Nathan hadn't told him about the many video tapes he and his mom had made. Parties, school plays, Little League games, Nathan's kindergarten graduation... they were all recorded. Most of them would never be watched again, but Nathan couldn't bear to part with them. This one, however, was one of his favorites. In most of the others, his mom was this disembodied voice from behind the camera, but this one had been a birthday party he and some of her friends had thrown as a surprise when she turned 30, so for once she was in front of the camera. With the volume turned way down to avoid waking Dan, he and Lucas watched her screech as everyone jumped out from behind the furniture, greeting and hugging all the people who'd turned out to celebrate her day, and trying to blow out so many cake candles they'd almost set off the smoke alarm. Nathan had watched this tape a few times since she'd died, but seeing it this time, with Lucas, for some reason made it 10 times worse for him, and after only 20 minutes he had to turn it off. "I'm sorry. You can watch the rest of it later if you want."

Lucas shook his head. "That's okay. I think I understand her better now. Do you think Dad knows?"

"What, that he fell in love with the same woman twice? Good question. No idea." He looked back at the blank TV screen. "Lucas, she never, ever would have gone out with Dan if she'd known about you and Karen. Breaking up a family... that's the complete opposite of who she was. That's why she never told him."

Lucas nodded. "I think... I think I get that now." He stood up from the chair he'd plopped himself into when Nathan had put on the tape. "Thank you for sharing her with me."

Nathan nodded. "Hey, you've shared yours right? Isn't that what brothers do?"

Lucas smiled. "I don't know. I'm figuring it out as I go along. It's late. I'll catch you in the morning."

"G'night."

"You too."