Rose headed quickly down to one of the pubs to meet up with Jeremy. Her beau was an American working in the Army, and so had been stationed here for the time being. He was the reason Rose wanted to go to the United States for her college years. She walked into the pub and breathed in the stuffy air. Everywhere around she could smell living humans. At times she felt she could almost taste their pulse on her tongue, but she shoved such feelings into the back of her head and ignored them. They were from her vampiric heritage and had no place in her life currently. She headed over to a table near the window where two young men and one woman sat. The male sitting next to the woman had brown hair brushed back, slightly long, and the red-haired woman leaned over to run her fingers playfully through it. The other male's eyes lit up when he saw Rose walking toward them. Jeremy stood to greet her, standing six inches above her five foot ten form. He had black hair that was perpetually mussy and intelligent light blue and gray eyes. He pulled her chair out for her in a gentlemanly manner.

"I see you escaped again," he said with a serious expression, but laughter in his voice.

"Of course. What are they going to do to stop me?" She leaned over and kissed him lightly on the cheek in greetings. He shook his head and smiled, amused by her. The four ordered drinks, Rose getting a glass of water, staunchly avoiding the alcohol. She didn't know if it was something of her vampiric or Soul Reaver heritage, but she never achieved the 'buzzed' feeling of being drunk, and never lost her grip on reality. The only thing that happened was her body began to hurt terribly as it purged the alcohol from her system. So Rose has just decided to cut a corner and avoid drinking all together. Her friends all thought it was because she had been brought up as British aristocracy and she was too snobby to drink beer. She just let them believe it. It made it easier on her when answering questions about it.

After a while of chatting, Jeremy excused himself from the table. Rose spoke softly to the young woman, Katie by name, and kept herself entertained until she heard the pub's door swing open. Normally, she'd ignore it as just another customer, but one of the senses buried deep within her mind went off and she looked up. Standing in the doorway was none other than Kain. Rose barely suppressed the urge to groan.

'This is not going to end well,' she thought to herself darkly. He spotted her and walked toward her, dismissing all the humans around from mind. He glowered down at her, and she in turned stared up at him.

"Rose, it's time to go home," he rumbled gruffly. She blinked in surprise at him, then settled on a rebellious expression.

"No," she responded shortly. "I'm having fun and it's not like I have to be home at some certain time. I'm not a child anymore."

Kain leaned down toward her, bringing his face dangerously close to hers and hissed, "Oh, yes you are still a child. Especially in consideration to your father and myself. You will obey your elders or else."

"Or else what?" she shot back. He bared his fangs and looked like he was about to respond when he felt a tapping on his shoulder. He turned and glanced down at a young boy with brown hair.

"Hey," Jeremy intersected. "Leave her alone. She doesn't want to go."

Rose dropped her face into her hands as Kain growled, "Stay out of this, boy. This is not your concern."

"Of course it's my concern," Jeremy retorted. "She's my girlfriend, and I certainly won't let her get pushed around by you."

"Jeremy," Rose pleaded. She went unnoticed as Kain and Jeremy glared at one another eye to eye. Kain shook his head abruptly, deciding it was just not worth the effort and turned back to Rose. Jeremy grabbed Kain's shoulder and pulled him back up to face him, and Rose groaned, knowing that as far as Kain was concerned, Jeremy's fate was sealed.

"Don't turn your back on me," Jeremy hissed.

"Don't turn your back on me, boy," Kain retorted in a dangerously low voice. Any vampire or human on Nosgoth would have turned tail and run. Jeremy, however, had been insulted and his girlfriend all but threatened, and that was a challenge that could not be unanswered. He pulled back an arm and punched Kain.

Jeremy was well built and after a few years in the Army, his punches were not the weapons of simple mindless brawls. He could send most people, especially if they weren't prepared, rolling head over heels backwards. A part of his mind that was still rational and calm realized he was screwed when his fist connected with what felt like solid metal under the skin. Kain hissed lightly and cracked his knuckles once.

"My turn."

His retributive strike sent Jeremy slamming into the bar. The wood broke underneath the American's weight and he let out a cry of pain. He shoved himself up, gritted his teeth against the pain, and moved forward to try to retaliate. Kain caught him with a casual backhanded strike, and the rest of the people in the pub knew the fight had been over before it had started. Blood crept out of Jeremy's lips as he slammed up against the wall, shelves and bottles falling to the ground and shattering about him. Kain took a step toward him, fully intending to finish the kill, when he heard a very familiar 'click' next to his head. He turned slightly and gazed out of the corner of his eye down the barrel of a rocket launcher. Rose glared at him.

"Get out. Now."

Kain met her gaze a moment, weighing her conviction, then turned and walked out. He didn't feel particularly like getting shot in the head with a rocket, and while he'd probably survive, it'd worry a lot of people if he showed up walking down the street two days later. Rose dropped the gun, a gift from her mother, and ran over to Jeremy, carefully looking him over.

"Who . . ." Jeremy coughed a little blood. Rose could sense a few bruised ribs. Kain must have been in a good mood if that was the only damage that had been done to him. Suddenly, one of the guys standing near the door shouted, "Dude! Come look what he's doing to your car!"

Rose helped him stand and both went to the window. Rose watched in utter shock and surprise as Kain stalked up to the jeep that Jeremy drove, jammed his clawed fingers into it, and picked it up. He flipped the car, slammed it into the ground once, then sent it spinning away down the street. He breathed in deeply, as if he had just gotten something off his mind, and walked away calmly from the scene as people collected. Jeremy turned to her, and she saw the horrified expression in his eyes.

"Who was that?"

Rose bit her lip and she nodded for someone to call an ambulance. She released a breath as she answered him, "He's my uncle."

"Uncle?" he repeated blearily. "You're related to that monster?"

"Well, sort of—"

He shoved her hand off of him. "Get away from me," he managed through his lips. "I don't ever want to see you again if that's what your family's like."

Rose stared at him uncomprehendingly for a moment, then Jeremy quickly added a broken jaw to his list of problems as Rose punched him in the face and stormed out of the pub. A few of the women nodded slightly as she walked out. They knew what it was like to be dumped because of family. Rose headed home and slammed the doors open where they made a muffled explosion. Raziel and Lara, who were in the kitchen, turned slightly, listening to their daughter storm up the stairs and slam her room door shut. Both turned accusingly to the other male in the room. Kain looked at them blankly.

"What did you do to her?" Raziel growled. Kain shrugged simply.

"Rose's 'boyfriend' challenged me."

Raziel's eyes narrowed and Lara slowly began to reach for one of her weapons.

"Did you kill him?" Lara demanded.

"No." Kain shook his head. "Rose stopped me before I could."

Lara and Raziel exchanged a look in which they spoke to each other in perfect silence. Kain abruptly found himself looking at the Soul Reaver unsheathed and the barrel of a Desert Eagle.

"I suppose you want me to go apologize," he stated with a sigh. As one, Raziel and Lara nodded.

"No," he told them simply and teleported away. Lara let out an exasperated noise as Raziel clenched his claws angrily.

Midnight. The chimes of the grandfather clock in the hall went off, their chord spreading through the still air into the room Rose sat in. She was curled up in the corner of the couch, wrapped up in a blanket. During the time she had gone to school, she had been forced to sleep during the night. Now that she was out of school, she has slipped back into her favored sleeping habits. She blinked slowly, staring uninterestedly at the fire as it crackled and ate the wood feeding it. After a time, she became aware of another presence near her. She looked up and found Kain staring into the fire as well. He didn't move for a few minutes, then he turned and looked down at her. He reached into a pocket and held out a small box to her. She took it and opened it, recognizing the ring Jeremy had given her. She looked up at him curiously.

"It looked like it had been yours and you might have had some attachment to it," he stated simply.

"In other words," Rose summed up, "it fell out of the jeep as you were swinging it around."

Kain just nodded once. Rose stared down at the ring for a long moment, then pulled back her arm and threw it into the fire. Kain applauded her quietly. She sighed.

"Thank you."

Kain looked down at her, surprised. He smirked slightly as he commented, "And here I was, thinking you'd be silly and expect me to apologize. All the same, what are you thanking me for?"

"For showing me what an asshole he was," she snarled vindictively. He chuckled slightly and sat down next to her, both of the watching the fire. After a time, she let her head fall against his shoulder. He blinked down at her a moment, deciding whether he was going to shove her off or not. After a moment longer, he simply placed an arm loosely around her shoulders.

"My Uncle."

"My little twerp."

"Hey. Stop being mean."

"It's what I do," he responded.