"Hey, Lara? Have finished looking over the first year's term papers?"

Lara looked up from the papers she was grading. Alex was standing over her desk with several folders of graded work from his classes in his arms.

"Yes, I've just finished." Lara said, indicating the stack on the end of her desk.

"Great." Alex said. He picked up the term papers, then deposited all of the paperwork on his own desk, which was surprisingly clean. "How were they?"

"Pardon?" Lara asked, glancing up from her papers.

"The papers. How did the first years do?" Alex said, sitting on his desk.

"Rather well, I thought." Lara said, leaning back in her chair. "Over all, they were very well researched and quite well written. I was rather impressed."

"Wow, that sounds good." Alex said, nodding approvingly. "And to think that they complained when I did a section on how to write term papers." He smirked.

"Well, it does seem to have paid off." Lara stated. "At any rate, they were much better than first term's attempts."

Alex made a thoughtful sound, then hopped off of his desk and sat down in his office chair. He opened his grading book and settled down to record the student's grades. Lara glanced at him. They had been acting like professional business partners for two months now. True to his word, Alex hadn't even looked at Lara in a sexual way. They were now able to handle their partnership like two adults who had no attraction to each other. Lara found this rather unnerving. She found herself wondering when Alex would simply snap out of it and starting hitting on her again. Even when Lara had sprained her ankle during a field practice. Alex had helped her to the infirmary, laying her arm across his shoulders and gripping her waist so she could lean her body weight on him. He had the perfect opportunity to do something immature, but he didn't. She felt practically suspicious of him now.

Lara shook her head from her thoughts and went back to grading the tests in front of her. She had almost completely regained her focus when the phone rang. She glanced at the phone on her desk, but then realized that it was Alex's phone that was ringing. He picked it up and she went back to work.

"Hello?" Alex asked, balancing the phone between his ear and shoulder as he began to sort the file folders into his bottom desk drawer. "Yeah." Lara tried to concentrate on her work, but she found herself listening intently to Alex's American accent as he continued. "Hey Ryan, what's up?" She suddenly found herself remembering the sound of his low sound of his voice when he was aroused. Lara then caught herself, chastised her brain for thinking about that, then returned to her work, determined to forget about Alex and his sexy voice. "Oh." Alex said, softly. "Yeah, of course. . . Sure, that won't be a problem. . . . I'll be out in a few days. . . Yeah. . . I'll see you then. . . Bye."

Lara heard the phone being replaced on the receiver, but she didn't look up. She finished grading a test and marked the number grade on the top with her red pen. She quickly flipped to another test before her mind could wander off again. She was almost halfway done grading when she noticed how quiet Alex was being. Lara looked up. Alex was sitting rigidly in his chair, his eyes staring blankly in front of him, the color draining from his face.

"Alex?" Lara asked. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. . ." Alex said, after a pause, his eyes still unfocused. "I think."

"Who was that on the phone?" She asked.

"Huh?" Alex's eyes regained their focus as he snapped out of his daze. "Oh, that was my brother, Ryan. He called to tell me that my dad just died."

Lara froze. She knew how close Alex and his father were. Hearing this only brought back the pain of when Lara lost her own father as a teenager. "Alex, I'm so sorry." She murmured, helplessly. Not knowing what else to say.

Alex held his face in his hands, his elbows resting on his desk. Lara rose from her chair and walked over to his desk, comfortingly placing her hand on his shoulder.

"How did he die?" Lara asked, softly.

"He-"

"Uncle Alex!" Kyra ran into the room, leaping into her uncle's lap as she cut him off. "Uncle Alex, the girls found a duckling outside their dorm and it doesn't have a mommy, can we. . . ." Kyra trailed off from her excited chapter, knowing from the grave look on Lara and Alex's faces that something was wrong. "What's the matter Uncle Alex?" She asked, reaching up and touching her uncle's cheek.

Alex wrapped his arms around Kyra and looked her in the eyes. "Sweetie, your Uncle Ryan just called."

"Did you get into a bad fight with him?" Kyra asked.

"No. He called to tell me that your granddaddy died this morning." He said, softly.

"Granddaddy. . . died?" Kyra asked. Alex nodded, solemnly. Lara wanted to comfort the child, but she knew that there was nothing to say. All the nice words had been said when her parents died and now, death was at it again.

"I don't want granddaddy to die." Kyra said, tears spilling from her big blue eyes. Alex held her against his chest, gently stroking her hair.

"I don't want him to die either." Alex told her, his eyes watering. Kyra clung to him, burying her head in Alex's shoulder.

"Alex," Lara said, lightly touching his shoulder. "Do you want me to leave?"

"You might as well." Alex murmured, looking up at her. "School's over. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Alright." She said. "Until then." Lara went over to her desk to collect her shoulder bag that she kept her teaching things in, she was just about to walk out when Kyra lifted her head from her uncle's shoulder.

"No!!!" Kyra screamed.

Lara jumped and turned around to look at the girl. Kyra hopped off of Alex's lap and ran to Lara, wrapping her arms around Lara's legs.

"You can't go!" Kyra sobbed. "I don't want you to leave me, too!"

"Don't be silly, Kyra." Lara said, picking her up. "I'm just going home for the night. I'll see you first thing in the morning."

"No!" Kyra sobbed. "Everybody leaves me and then they don't come back. I don't want you to go, Lara"

"Kyra, honey, calm down." Alex said, getting out of his chair and walking over to the two. "Lara'll come back tomorrow, then you can see again."

"No!" Kyra insisted as Lara began to wipe her face with a Kleenex from her desk. "Mommy and daddy didn't come back. Now granddaddy won't either. Nobody ever comes back from heaven! If you and Lara leave I won't have anybody left." She said, sniffling, then burst into another round of tears. Alex and Lara exchanged glances. Alex shrugged helplessly. Neither had any idea what to do.

"Look, I'll come and have dinner with you, then after Kyra's calmed down we can talk to her a bit, okay?" Lara asked, not knowing if that plan was going to work at all.

"Alright." Alex agreed.

*

Lara idea had gone relatively well. She Alex and Kyra had gone back to the house, Kyra insisted on one of them holding her at all times. But when Kyra had finally calmed down, she had a terrible headache. Lara took Kyra to lay down and watched her while she slept as Alex made dinner for the three of them. Dinner was eaten in a stony silence. Alex was unfocused and seemed to be lost in his own bleak world, Kyra clutched her fork possessively and nibbled on a dinner roll, not bothering to touch the food on her plate, while Lara sat there, lost in her own thoughts and worries. What a fine bunch they made. She thought, sarcastically.

After dinner, Lara and Kyra snuggled together on the couch and talked. Talking to her was rather haunting if Lara was honest with herself. This six-year-old child had already had the same thoughts and feelings that Lara had had when she was a teenager. All children seem to possess a strange wisdom, but Kyra possessed a lot more and a much more mature brand of wisdom than any that Lara had ever heard. Although Lara thought the talk was helpful, she thought it would be best if Kyra saw a professional. She told Alex this after reading her a bedtime story and tucking her into bed. He seemed too overwhelmed with his own grief to be able to comprehend what Lara was saying. He only nodded slightly.

Lara had left the West house profoundly worried for the two people inside. What a horrible thing for either of them to have to experience, she thought. Alex had now lost his brother, sister-in-law and his father while Kyra was orphaned and now having to deal with the death of her grandfather. Lara thought back to when her father died. She hadn't handled it well. Not at all. The poor man, who came to tell her that they discovered his body, was branded a liar half a dozen names that would have made a sailor blush, then slapped across the face. Lara had started lashing out at everyone, including Hillary, so consumed in her grief. Her father was the most important person in her life, his death left her filled with rage and terror.

Lara sighed deeply as she stared at the ceiling of her bedroom. She knew that this wasn't really her problem, but after seeing how Alex was that evening, it was obvious that if he didn't get help with Kyra and with his own grief, the situation would only get worse. Lara rolled over, thinking about Kyra. It was strangely comforting to snuggle with her the way they did when they were talking. Lara had suddenly felt so maternal and caring. It was as if Kyra was her own daughter. What an interesting family they'd make. Lara mused. Sort of a Lilo & Stitch family. Although Lara figured that she would probably end up being the violent alien. She sighed again and pulled the blankets over her head. She didn't know what to do.