November 2019- Seven Years After the Blackout

"Wow, you're shaping up to be quite the fighter." Miles commented dryly. Hudson took a step back, smirked a little, and dropped his sword. Mia let out some noise of irritation, squared her shoulders, and turned to face her brother-in-law.

"What do you want?"

He stared at her for a moment, trying to decide whether he should be pissed or amused. She was the one person outside of Nora and Bass who didn't seem to be afraid of him in any way.

"I'm walking you home. Let's go."

"Thanks but no. I'm not finished here."

"Actually, you are. Hudson has been summoned. So unless you want to fight yourself, you're coming home with me."

"I don't have to go home. Nice offer but see you there."

He walked towards her, easily disarmed her, then twisted her arm behind her back. He knew he hadn't hurt her. It was a simple technique they taught in all their training but it was still enough to piss her off. Hudson whistled softly as he exited the building.

"It wasn't an offer. Let's go."

"And if I don't?"

"God, you are so much like your sister, it isn't funny."

"This what you do to her? Manhandle her until you get your way?" she snapped. "Let go of me."

"Not until I can trust you won't run away."

She swiped her foot back to kick him but he moved swiftly out of the way with an irritated sigh.

"There's really no point in trying to fight me. You won't win. Seen it all, done it all. I'm sure Hudson's been great and everything but if you wanted real lessons, you should have come to me instead."

"I don't want your help."

"Yeah that's right. That's why you broke into one of my camps a few months back. You were just stopping in to say hello."

"Still sore about that? Maybe if you weren't such a shit general and trained your troops better, you wouldn't have teenagers getting past your perimeters."

He dropped her arm and she turned quickly to look at him with a smug smirk on her face.

"Yup, still sore. Wounded pride and all that."

"You're a lot more annoying than she is."

"At least the feeling is mutual." she stuck her hand out and wiggled her fingers. "Give me my sword."

"No," he sheathed it and began walking. "Either you follow or I'm tying you to a horse and dragging you back."

"Give me my sword."

"Kids shouldn't play with sharp objects."

"I'm not a kid."

"You're right. You were better behaved when you were one."

"Don't fucking act like you know me." she snapped angrily. He turned to face her, taking only slight pleasure in how quickly she crumbled, then walked back towards her.

"You're right. I don't know you. I know bits and pieces and frankly, that's enough for me. You want to know why? I find your brooding, snark, and angst to be ridiculous and irritating. I have very little patience for that. I don't appreciate your attitude but I don't let it bother me. You're here, fine. You're not my responsibility. You're seventeen. You can handle yourself. I don't need to hold your hand.

"Typically, I'd let you wreck yourself but your sister has been crying her eyes out in my office and I don't like that. When someone does something that upsets my wife, I take care of it. Now, I know you hate me and I certainly have no sort of feelings towards you either way, but lashing out at her because of it isn't going to work anymore and neither is running off and having a temper tantrum, which is what this whole I wanna be a bounty hunter thing is. So, I know you care about your sister and I know you don't want her upset."

"I don't care about her. She doesn't care about me. Why waste the energy?"

"This is where the angst and temper tantrum comes in. As stupid as you're acting now, I know you're pretty intelligent so let's cut the crap and admit that you are well aware Nora cares about you. She does everything for you Mia. You're just upset that someone else is part of her life. Some would say it's ridiculous but I understand why someone would be jealous of me."

"I'm not jealous of you, you stupid dick."

"You resent me. I get it. For a long time, it was just you, your mom, and Nora. Your dad really wasn't in the picture and after the blackout, Nora was everything for you. Then, unfortunately, I met you guys and that screwed up your dynamic. The timing was awful, which is why I understand that you think she deserted you for me. You were a kid, didn't have a real grasp on things at that point. But I am telling you, I have been with her close to every day since then and not one day has passed when she wasn't thinking about you or worrying about you. We had been planning on bringing you out here. We had even consulted your father, who had said no but the asshole up and left you in the end anyway. It is not fair what you are doing to her when she has only ever tried to think of you and your well being. So, now that that is settled, enough with the Xena Warrior Princess act. You're going back to school."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes you are and I will take you there and sit there for six hours each day until June to make sure you actually stay there. That's going to piss me off and be a waste of my time if I have to. You're going to apologize to Nora, then tomorrow you're back at school, and no more of this crap."

"I'm not doing this because of her. You won't find my dad."

"The only reason I would have to find your father would be if he committed some crime against the Republic. Despite being a gigantic asshole, he hasn't committed any sort of crime. I don't know if you've noticed, but my militia is kind of strained at the moment. I don't have extra men to send off on personal requests and your sister is needed for more pressing matters."

"Then I'll do it myself."

"No. You'd be dead in a day."

"I can handle myself."

"You're not going. Why would you want to?"

"He's my dad."

"As far as I'm concerned, he doesn't even deserve that. It would be a waste of time."

"I have to find him."

"He's not going to want to be."

"I don't care!" she yelled, stomping her foot and balling her hands into fists. "I don't fucking care! I'm not trying to bring him home! I just want answers! I want to know why he took off and why he didn't come back for me. I want to know why- why I'm not- not good enough."

She stumbled over the final sentence, sucking in hard breaths in an attempt not to cry. He suspected she had bundled this up for some time and the tension and arguing only intensified it.

"I-I want him to be dead because I'm so- so angry but then I get- get mad at my-myself because I know it's not true. I just- why can't I- I ever get him to- to stay with me? I know he- he doesn't deserve it so- so why do I care so much?" she broke down into tears, crying loudly. "I have never been-been good enough for- for him and I try so- so hard."

It took a second but he closed the gap between them and held her gently. He thought she would push him away but instead she collapsed against him and held on, probably too tired of fighting to continue.

"None of this is your fault, okay? I don't understand your father. Some guys are just shit at it. I have no respect for him. He has two great daughters and wasted every opportunity. You shouldn't be asking why you're not good enough for him. You should be asking why he was never good enough to you two. And I'm sorry but if you go looking for him, you're never going to get the answers you want. You might as well accept that and move on. You've tried and Nora's tried and he has never given in. Don't waste your time. You need to understand that we're here and we're doing the best we can. You want to leave, fine. But not until June. You're finishing out school, after that, the choice is yours. Right now, it's our decision. I think you're not used to having someone care but you're wanting it so badly you don't want to share it when you do find it. Nora isn't your dad. She's not going anywhere. And... I will try better with our relationship but you need to at least meet me halfway."

They stood quietly, only the sounds of Mia's cries punctuating the silence. After a few minutes, she calmed down, and let out a ragged breath and sniffed loudly.

"I still hate you." she mumbled.

"You're welcome."