A/N: So, I realize that I haven't updated in nearly a month....go ahead and flame me or throw pies....my muse left me briefly, and certain family issues were probably the cause of the writer's block. Sorry!

Oh, and if characters are OOC, let me know! Seriously. I can take it! I'll stop wasting your time with the author's note: On to Pushing Daisies!

Emerson Cod was not pleased with the current series of events. The sudden intrusion of Ned's father, while causing Ned emotional distress, was also making our investigator very nervous. If Jack personally knew Charles Charles, and Charles Charles knew about Emerson's somewhat illegal investigative methods, then Jack most likely knew as well. And legal trouble (or at least legal trouble that didn't involve death) was bad for business.

"This is gonna be bad for business." Emerson scowled, storming into the kitchen. Chuck trailed after him, melodramatically wringing her hands. "Leave it to Pie-Boy to get an emotional crisis when I have an important case."

"'Bad for business?'" Chuck quoted. "No, this is going to be bad in general! Ned's going to be so upset after all this!"

Emerson shrugged. "We should go over to the crime scene and let him work out his own daddy issues on his own."

Olive slipped into the kitchen with Jack's mostly empty coffee mug. "What was all that about with his dad?" she asked, letting the coffee cup fall into the sink with a clatter.

"We can't leave now!" Chuck exclaimed, turning her shocked puppy-dog eyes towards him. "What if he needs us to be here for him, for emotional support?"

"Why was he talking about Charles Charles?" Olive asked again, turning to check the ovens.

"He's going to want to talk about his feelings, and—"

"Enough!" Emerson barked. "One at a time! Jeez. Okay, Ned wants us to go investigate the crime scene, so that's what we're going to do. You—" he pointed at Chuck. "—you have to come with, or else the second I turn my back you're going to try to fix Ned's 'daddy issues' and make it worse."

Chuck didn't protest. "Since when do you listen to Ned?" she joked, forcing a smile.

He snorted. "Since there's a money reward involved in it."

"Really, Emerson," Chuck reprimanded lightly, shaking her head.

He frowned at Olive. "Why're you turning off the ovens?"

She jumped to attention. "I'm coming with! Can't leave the ovens on!"

"Olive, you should stay here and keep the store open," Chuck said, trying to gently dissuade her. "That's probably what Ned wants you to do."

"Oh, please." Olive rolled her eyes and put her fists on her hips. "People practically think that the Pie Hole is closed on Wednesdays anyway, with how often we close down. And Ned wants me to come with! He said so as he was leaving! Right, Emerson?"

Chuck turned to Emerson, and Olive quickly stuck her tongue out at her before also looking at Emerson expectantly.

He sighed. How did he get stuck with such a childish group of investigators?

"Fine," he sighed. "Just…go get in the car. We're wasting time, alright?"

"Yes!" Olive yelled.

Chuck's expression darkened considerably.

"Ned's car," he corrected quickly. He wanted the protective plexiglass shield, just in case.

Moments after Emerson, Chuck and Olive left the Pie Hole, Ned threw open the kitchen door and nearly tripped over Digby, who was nearly as eager to escape Jack as Ned was. Unfortunately, even though the door slammed close with a satisfying bang, the lock didn't click.

"Ned?" Jack asked from the other side of the door.

"He's not here right now," Ned called angrily, rummaging through the fridge for ingredients.

Jack pushed the door open cautiously. "I knew you weren't going to take the news well."

"You think?" he retorted sharply, throwing pans and bowls onto the main table with a clatter.

"I should have broken it more easily, maybe led into it better…" he trailed off. "What are you doing?"

"Stress baking." Ned said shortly, starting to roll out a layer of dough. "I never really used to do it until someone sent me off to boarding school, and I didn't have anything else better to do, because you had gone off and restarted your life without me—"

"I was scared, okay?" Jack snapped at him.

Ned continued to make the pie, not looking up at his father. "I'm listening," he finally said. Jack sat down on the opposite side of the table, fiddling with a spatula while telling his tale.

"I hadn't heard about Charles' death until that night. After all, Chuck's aunts aren't really fond of me that much, and I wasn't the first person they'd call. Or second. Or third. But they called me after—well, after Julia. They told me that she had passed, and that you were being taken care of, but I wanted to be there.

"I don't know how much of that night you remember, but you were crying when I got to the Charles' house. Lily and Vivian were doing their best, but as Lily so bluntly snapped at me, they had experienced a loss as well. So much tragedy in less than 24 hours.

"The strangest part of the night was something you said. Do you remember what it was?"

"No." Ned picked up a bowl of dead fruit, but suddenly stopped, wary of his father.

Jack pointed the spatula at the bowl. "You can use those, you know. It's not going to scar me for life. That's how your mother made pies."

Ned rubbed his eyes. Perhaps this explained his urge to bake pies after her death. How had he never noticed her in the kitchen, alive-ing again fruit? "The same way Olive's never noticed you in the kitchen. Secrets are easy to keep with practice." he thought to himself.

"But that night you said something very strange," Jack continued. "At one point, when you were crying, you blurted out to me 'I'm sorry.' Now, your mother had given me some quick details about the 'exchange', as she called it, and I suddenly realized why Charles had died. And I knew about the second touch, from the museum, and I was terrified. You were sorry. Did you know it was going to happen?"

"No!" Ned said, horrified. "Of course not!"

"I was just so scared," Jack continued. "I realize now that I was probably overly paranoid, but I feared that I would become the next Charles Charles, sacrificed to revive someone you loved."

"I don't bring back people permanently," Ned said quietly. "Just Mom. And Chuck. And Charles Charles, but Chuck tricked me, so he doesn't count."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply that you were a murderer." He set the spatula down and stared at Ned intently. "I sent you to Longborough because I was scared. I shouldn't have abandoned you like that, and I have no reason besides my fear. I'm sorry."

Ned looked down at his pie crust, filled to the brim with alive-again fruit. "I—you can't just walk back into my life and just—demand me to forgive you," he said finally.

"I know."

"I need time. Okay?" Ned said, finally meeting his eyes.

"Okay," Jack agreed slowly. "But I still do have questions. And I want answers, whether they're from you, or Chuck, or that private-eye that keeps bossing you around."

Ned nodded. "Okay."

Jack stood up, and after looking around the kitchen awkwardly, he asked, "Do you have, like, a newspaper or something I can read until then?"

"There should be a few out in the front room," Ned said, slightly confused at how quickly the conversation changed.

As Jack wandered into the abandoned front room, Ned contemplated leaving out the back door. Even though he would have had an excellent head-start, he decided to remain in the kitchen, making his Blissberry Pie. And so Father and Son spent a silent afternoon, each contemplating his past, musing on the new details that changed the memories slightly.

TBC

A/N: If there's any inconsistancies, like timeline errors, PLEASE let me know! And, I'm decidedly bad at titles, so if you've got a strategy/tip that would be helpful, I'd appreciate it! Oh, and what is a beta reader? Okay, that's all my questions :D Thanks for reading!