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Chapter Twenty-Nine

Simplification (All Tangled Up)

A little simplification would be the first step toward rational living, I think. – Eleanor Roosevelt

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The two words 'information' and 'communication' are often used interchangeable, but they signify quite different things. Information is giving out; communication is getting through. – Sydney J. Harris

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In which everyone thinks they're solving their problems in a reasonable manner. With tea.

NOTICE:

This site has been actively screwing with me, and I suspect has stopped sending out any kind of notification. If you see this, I'm going to keep cross-posting here for sake of posterity... but Archive of Our Own has very much become my primary place to post and it's where all my editing is done in full - in part because editing on here post-fact is a nightmare. So if you want to reliably know when there's a new chapter, I'd set up an alert over there.

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So… here we are at 57 pages, 35k words. I don't know, I had fun. All things considered, I think a two month turnaround on something this size isn't too horrible either? Did you see the chapter count get finalized? I have an actual outline for the rest of this, as well as the first chapter of Succession – though I'm on the fence as to whether this keeps its epilogue and stays at thirty-two chapters, or shaves down to thirty-one and Succession gains a prologue. I guess we'll find out.

Special thanks to Emily again for playing beta, and to both her and MystRunner for all the hours spent on helping me sort my own thoughts enough to get here – or calming my sudden terror that I might have made raccoons extinct in this universe (I didn't, apparently they're already in Europe, but I had a major moment of existential grief there, okay?). Without them, I'm not sure how much longer this would be in coming.

Enjoy! Reviews/comments are amazing writing fuel, I swear!

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January 21st 199 – Tuesday – Munich, Germany – Sarracenia

"Mm hmm," the tall blonde hummed appreciatively, looking around Relena's atrium with the same clear delight that most showed when brought here, nodding to himself. "Yep. Definitely a nicer spot to chat than anything I'd've come up with. Thanks for the invite."

Relena laughed softly as she stood, brushing off her skirt as she did so. "A great deal of the joy in having something so lovely, I believe, is the ability to share it with others." The corner of her lips hooked up in a gentle smirk. "And since you were already traveling, I thought I'd take the easier commute."

Jovaughn 'Jovi' Lluvia laughed at that, full and bright and just as charming as ever. The man was practically a portable ball of sunshine, and Cassidy could see Mai tilting her head thoughtfully as she picked up on that herself. He'd told her of course, but Jovi was… Jovi. If you only saw him on TV it would be easy to dismiss it as production magic, but in person, he managed to be both larger than life and companionable in a way that was hard to describe. He'd never been a leader in Stanton's crew, exactly, but the others had been in his orbit all the same.

Civilian life looks good on him. The veteran had settled on a hairstyle that was longer than military standard without being long, and had meticulously sculpted facial hair now. He'd worn a suit, but the shirt was some kind of subtle print – soft-looking, with the top two buttons undone and no tie. More formal than the polos and t-shirts he usually wore for public appearances, but in a Sunday church way – not 'important interview' sharp.

He wondered if that had been calculated to appeal to Relena's sensibilities – because it absolutely did – or if this was just as far as Jovi cleaned up. The man's exceedingly high emotional intelligence and mellow manner let him get away with far more calculating moves than most expected.

Very much like Relena, he thought, holding back a smirk. He doubted it was incidental that the Revenants had sent Jovi instead of Blue for their first talk. He never met the other rep from Stanton's crew, but the attitude he played for the screen wouldn't have survived in Cambyses. It was a good act, but Relena would have quickly seen through it.

Lin finished securing the room and took up his post closer to the door even as Mai moved to look busy by the tea tray instead of holding up a wall. Cassidy stayed put, waiting for Relena's cues. That, and he wanted to see how long it took before the other man truly noticed him.

"I'll admit that I like the sentiment," Jovi decided, "and appreciate the scenery." Smiling, he took a few easy, clearly telegraphed steps to hold out a hand to the princess. Yeah, he knows how carefully he's being watched. "It's a pleasure to meet you in person. I'm sorry we were a little slow to react to your first overtures; we didn't really expect to have your attention until we'd proven we could follow through, and you caught us flat-footed."

"I did have a few advantages over the public," Relena admitted somewhat ruefully, taking his hand for a brief shake before gesturing him ahead of her to the couches she usually did her paperwork on. "Jake Miller is a close confidant. While he wouldn't go into detail, I had some awareness of how deep your financial resources run. Given what you had already accomplished with the school programs alone in both scale and sheer finesse, I knew I wanted to work together with your group as soon as you announced your trio of new companies." She raised her chin in a politely inquisitive way as he sat, retaking her own seat across the coffee table from him. "Though I had begun to believe you wished to remain insular."

"Not as such," Jovi dismissed, leaning back and stretching his arms across the back of the couch – opening his body language and making it vulnerable, even as the move itself screamed comfort, even arrogance. Confidence. "As I said, we didn't expect fast allies." He grinned easily. "If anything… well, we expected Razo getting chatty would see us ostracized, not brought closer. I'm not complaining, mind, but it was unexpected. Half our people are busy in space with Da Capo, isolated by subpar communication even outside the construction zones – since we didn't think you would be interesting in making deals until spring, we didn't have a plan of action ready, and had to go run rounds." The grin softened into a smile as he glanced around. "As for Miller, I'll admit to some curiosity. I wasn't sure if he was going to be here or not."

"Not today," Relena dismissed, muttering a quick thank-you when Mai handed her a cup of tea. "He's been sick this last week, and part of my making time for this meeting involved handing off a few tasks that didn't require a face-to-face to him and my Vice Minister." After taking a quick sip and letting out an appreciative breath at the taste, she offered Lluvia a smile of her own as she admitted, "There are few I trust as much as him, however."

Nice. Almost a lie, but also definitely not. Relena might trust Jake with her everything, but she leaned on Mai, Lin, and Dorothy just as deeply – only at different angles, on different subjects. Relena had a way of believing in you, of keeping this absolute, unshakable faith in each of her people that made it impossible to deny her, even when you felt like you would fall short. He'd been under her spell on his first tour with her, and coming back, he could tell it had only grown stronger with her confidence. With Jake's confidence too, because it had been hard to untangle one from the other even before he'd left, but it had still been feasible at least. That ship had long since sailed, though, and now…

Well, Jake was more now too, which he would have thought impossible before. After the shitstorm that was Cambyses, he'd almost worried he'd come back to find he'd outgrown his hero, especially when he didn't know why his old commander had utterly lost his shit on Dave. But Relena and Jake fully on the same page, working together? Synergy. Plain and simple.

Also, Miller's bullshit was downright hilarious now that he could see through half of it. Back at the start, the shorter of the colonels had terrified him.

She wasn't lying about Jake being busy either. His cough looked to finally be on the upswing today, but had been bad enough the last two nights that he'd gotten up in the middle of the night to sleep in a guest room so he'd stop waking his girlfriend. Besides that, he was running the paperwork for his new candidate just as fast as Cassidy remembered for Relena's early projects – though both Des and Helena were involved somehow, and he was mostly sure Relena had been a solo effort. Running his new candidate, and chattering with Wilson too, probably. He hadn't been actively paying attention, but he'd caught enough conversation between the colonel and princess to know there was some kind of active dialogue happening there.

Not that the man couldn't have made it to the meeting if he'd wanted to; the decision to abstain had been calculated. After all, the Revenants were approaching Relena and RLTT separately – and while that wouldn't have been a problem six months ago, Jake planned to go public inside three months. Meetings he was included in would be well-remembered right now, and while it would also be clear that the lines bled through – because the couple had also made the decision to not lie about the timing of their relationship once it too was public – the fact that they made an effort to respect the differences would be remembered. Or at least, the fact that they aren't making a game of it; not doing anything that will embarrass the other party post-fact. They were busy playing that game hard with Noventa, but they had her in the bag whether or not anyone was happy about the situation. The Revenants…

Even if there wasn't the whole brother connection with Jake, or even without knowing the truth of the organization's roots with Stanton, Revenant Rubato needed to be courted. Noventa had come to them because she was out of worthwhile options – Rubato could always choose to walk and do… things Relena had no hope of accounting for or countering. Whatever his good intentions, Jake leaving his kid brother's inheritance out there like that, so huge, was a goddamn bomb waiting to go off.

So Jake was courting the seeming brains behind the group through RLTT while Relena approached from the front, with the plan to meet amicably in the middle. Meanwhile, the couple was… studiously ignoring whatever the fuck Jack was doing beyond hoping no one was shot over it, as far as Cassidy could tell. All things considered, that last seemed negligent – but at the same time, Jack was a grown-ass man with a proven interest in playing with fire.

"Mm, alright," Jovi returned agreeably, sitting up to take the cup Mai handed him and looking more bemused by the delicate china than anything. "Well, first things first: we are interested in working together directly, provided it's not under your auspices as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Rubato is a private organization with no interest in government contracts." He took a gulp of tea, appeared to consider it for a moment, then took a longer pull before adding, "Our interest in your work is primarily in that you've already built most of the foundations we would need. You know the demographics, the needs, and you have a system in place for monitoring changes in the places where you've settled roots. We could get there ourselves, but why waste time reinventing the wheel?"

Relena nodded, crossing her ankles as she brought cup and saucer down to her lap, very much the dainty lady today. "I can see the advantage," she agreed. "From my end, you're bringing in new industry that I alternately did not have the vision for or easy access to. My network, while decent, hardly covers all of Europe and Africa – by joining hands, that could be expanded, and everyone wins."

"The exact logistics of that are over my head, but that's the main thrust of it," Jovi agreed. "We have ground broken on eight WendSyn factories, five of those in Europe, and anticipate they'll be ready to open their doors before March – we want to begin training potential employees before Valentine's Day. We've also got four Neut plants half built in central and southern Africa, with estimated completion dates in February. There's been talk of obtaining a few sites in north Africa as well, but…" He grimaced. "We would rather not be the ones to suggest it, and frankly, very few of us are willing to physically return there for any reason, even with the new landscape. Barring unforeseen complications, we should have four agricolonies ready to be dropped piecemeal by February tenth, with an anticipated finalized construction on the sixteenth for at least two of them – all four if we can find enough qualified pilots to finish zipping them up."

Cassidy blinked. "Pilots?"

"It's a tricky enough process in zero-G. With gravity, you're going to need the heavy-duty construction MS to-" Jovi cut himself off abruptly, blinking and leaning forward, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth. "Kansas?"

Cassidy felt his own answering smirk twist his mouth. "Cleveland," he returned amiably.

"Cleveland rocks," came the usual rapid-fire response, the man's soft brown eyes dancing. "This is where you ran off to?"

"This is where I started," Cassidy admitted with a shrug. "Miller and Mitchell are best friends – when the first was assigned to guard the princess, he pulled Dave in as his second. I was part of the original crew, back when we still worked out of Brussels. Dave talked me into coming with him when he got approval for the Strike Force, but…" He shrugged. He'd been open about why he'd left, and Jovi's response then had been to say he only had another two weeks before he went too. He hesitated, debating if it was obvious or if it needed to be said… then decided to err on the side of transparency. Relena had made it clear they were in this for the long haul. "Miller is the one who trained me to the point where I could even consider the Strike Force; most of Dave's wilder stories where he's vague about names, Miller was his CO. He's sneakier than Dave, but he's one of the best commanding officers I've ever met."

"He's retired," Relena noted pointedly, bringing her cup back up to her lips.

"And we still jump into formation when he moves sharply," Cassidy returned blithely. "Changing his title doesn't make him not someone I'd trust to lead me out of hell." The riot had been so terrifying less because of his injured hand, the crushing vulnerability of it, as the fact that Jake had suddenly been broken – by a fucking light of all things. He hadn't been able to think through the pain, and there hadn't been anyone they could trust to get them out until Relena screamed at fate itself and made shit happen.

Jovi watched them for a moment, looking thoughtful, before nodding to himself. "That's good to know."

Cassidy didn't bother hiding his smile this time. That was a very careful response, especially given the source – Jovi's epiphany moments were usually both poignant and hilarious. "Can I get the unfiltered version?"

Jovi raised his brows, turning his gaze on Relena for a long moment, and only after she smiled and shook her head indulgently did he smile in his usual bright, impish way. "He's your Robby with Odin's physicality. Check."

Yep. Poignant, funny, and alarming. All points covered for accuracy. "Ouch. You think so?" He'd heard them all talk about Robby enough that he could see the clear line to how Jake's trainees looked to him, but he'd also heard plenty about how terrifying the man was in the field. The implication in that statement…

"Cambyses taught me to take blades seriously, and Robby taught me how much difference there was between a thug and a trained swordsman," Jovi admitted, still smiling pleasantly. "It's an entire world. Then I saw Odin get tired of his baby sister's growing fascination with swords and prove why it wasn't in her curriculum. The reach of a long blade doesn't mean much when a man can get inside your guard faster than you can put it to use." He shook his head, looking almost nostalgic. "It looks like a fluke every time, an impossibility, even when you've seen it twenty times in a row. Even with concessions, handicaps of several seconds or one-armed, Odin always wins." His smile broadened. "I don't know if Miller is that good, but I've seen Dave move. I'll wager he's not too far off."

…Yeah. He'd missed Jovi.

Relena let out a contended hum, settling her teacup again. "That is good to know," she agreed. "As intriguing as I find the subject, however, we do have a limited amount of time for a number of sensitive subjects today."

By the glint in the other man's eye, Lena had just earned herself another point in Lluvia's esteem – hard to tell if that was just her or by intent, though. "The topic merits a short visit," he argued mildly. "Much as we enjoy Jack's company, both he and Razo have put us in a limbo I'm not too fond of, and I'd like to settle a few points before shutting the door on that and getting to the meat of this arrangement."

Relena set her cup back on the table and folded her hands, focusing fully on the Rubato rep. "I'm listening."

"The boys that left before Dave reached us last June are dead," he announced bluntly. "Maybe that point can be revisited down the line, but for now, it both stands and is absolute. We have enough problems as it is."

Relena nodded. "Agreed."

"I am not here to talk for or about dead men," Jovi continued, gaze steady. "Including Robby."

Relena nodded again, but Cassidy grimaced, shifting his weight to catch the other man's attention as he settled part of his weight on the arm of Relena's couch. "We are aware of the name change," he admitted. The Revenants probably assumed, but better to clear the air. "Jack mentioned an empath swordsman with facial scarring, and we connected the dots."

"That's nice." Jovi's smile remained easy. "I won't be discussing it."

"Understood," Relena returned simply. "What else?"

Jovi inclined his head respectfully before continuing. "I am here to broker agreements between Revenant Rubato and Relena Darlian-Peacecraft in order to combine our efforts with the many individual programs she leads." He raised his brows again, face solemn. "More specifically – not the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Regime, or any other affiliations she may be associated with." He side-eyed Cassidy pointedly before focusing back on the princess. "Including the Soleil Coalition."

Right. Razo had been very clear about drawing lines, and about just how much he intended to tell his old compatriots. The information itself would have been rather barebones, but plenty more could be inferred just from how the armies were currently chasing each other around the black.

Relena smiled, eyes snapping with amusement, and spoke before Cassidy could decide how to defend that particular accusation. "Captain Foreman detached himself from the Strike Force before Brigadier Mitchell began streamlining his ranks for…" Her pause was thoughtful. "More specific loyalties," she decided. Leaning forward and retrieving her teacup, she added, "Colonel Miller similarly detached those with mixed allegiances from my household – once last winter, then we handled the final stragglers together before his resignation in September."

Jovi appeared to be considering that. "Stragglers?"

"David slipped in an agent after Jake threw him out," the princess agreed dispassionately. "We're all on amiable terms now, but David… Hm."

She was either trying to be too delicate, or didn't want to shine a light on her lover's uglier side. Fortunately, Jovi was good with that sort of thing. "Dave got something of an object lesson when trying to push Soleil agenda here, last July," he translated. The beating had still been uncalled for and a wildly inappropriate overreaction, but it was the kind of response that Robby's crew would all understand on a visceral level. "Jake doesn't respond well to threats."

Relena's gentle grimace was resigned. "Crude, but not inaccurate," she agreed. "I still would have preferred to simply talk."

It would have been confined to talking if you weren't there. He'd talked to both men about it since the truth was out and… while he didn't exactly want to defend the colonel's actions, he understood. Jake's temper was a problem, of course – but he'd lost it because intentionally or not, Dave had been threatening to expose him and then literally thrown him under the bus. The fact that Relena and Lincoln hadn't connected the phonetic 'volley' to the codename Váli, Norse god of projectile weapons and vengeance, was more to do with luck and wrong assumptions than any saving grace on Dave's part. If they had been looking in the right places, Lena and Lin could have figured out at least part of what was going on that same night. And the event did convince Relena that she needed to be wary of her friend's allegiances, even without that. That was a loss all on its own.

A calculating light shone in Jovi's eyes. "Early July? When he came back from his furlough all beat to hell and wouldn't talk about it?"

Yeah… there had been questions about that, for all that Dave had largely pretended to not hear them. "Yep." He decided to not mention that Jovi hadn't seen Dave until after his first two Remalene doses.

"Huh."

Relena sighed, though as usual, even exasperation looked elegantly pretty on her. It was either a natural talent, or a learned art, he couldn't quite decide – Dontelaine had it too, but Dorothy very much did not. "They didn't talk for nearly ten weeks afterwards, and were both miserable as drenched cats for it," Relena admitted. "I'm glad we're past it. Even friends so close as family have trouble when loyalties split." Meeting Jovi's eyes, she added, "It's one of the reasons I prefer to keep open communications whenever possible, but I understand your hesitance. I can agree to have no Soleil representatives present during our discussions and to lay out clear boundaries – however, I would like to point out that given Da Capo's scope alone, Revenant Rubato will have to make a connection with them at some point, and I am also willing to facilitate that."

Jovi held out his hands in a helplessly placating gesture even as he relaxed back into the couch cushions. "Da Capo is in its infancy and won't establish a colony cluster worth visiting for years. Our only concerns in space lie with protecting our assets, and our construction sites are far enough out in the black that we don't anticipate forced interaction with any government body. If our supply lines face significant difficulties due to the fighting, we'll address problems as they arise." He folded his hands over his belly and smiled. "The situation may change, of course, but we have no interest in Soleil at this time."

In other words, you're waiting to see how the wind blows before you commit. Which was fair, honestly. The Revenants' stance with the Regime was precarious at the moment, and without a direct inlet to Soleil, the organization's motives were still nebulous. That would be changing soon, but without an informant within the organization, they didn't know that.

At any rate, it wasn't a 'never' or even a 'no,' just 'not right now.' Not too bad, for first contact.

"Understood. My offer stands as well, however, if you change your mind."

"I'll keep it in mind," Jovi returned amiably. "Particularly if Miller is truly standing with you alone. Is he as firm with Treize as he is Dave?"

…Fuck. There went his grasp on this conversation.

Relena, meanwhile, only blinked once before smiling brightly. For all that her gaze had sharpened, he could see her genuine delight at the lighting strike, because she was a goddamn adrenaline junkie and loved this brand of bullshit. "Worse, honestly. David and Jake are best friends and happily agree to disagree when their opinions diverge, with rare exceptions. Conversely, Jake was raised to consider Treize his older brother, and they both love and fight like family – beautiful and vicious all at once."

Jovi's smile as he sat forward again, settling his elbows on his knees, was gentle. "I suppose you have some experience on that front."

Relena's laugh was almost wet, short and rough. "Less beauty, for me," she denied. "And more disdain. Wishful thinking doesn't make a relationship – you must first be entangled in order to become estranged. Perhaps my brother has memories to rely on, but I was very young when Sanc first fell." Shaking her head, she admitted, "I have friends I see as family now and look forward to making more, but I've long since concluded that Milliardo cannot serve as my frame of reference."

He was glad they were bonding and all, but since he was technically supposed to be the middle ground here, Cassidy figured it probably fell to him to ask the big question. "Did Razo…?" Khushrenada's survival was extremely sensitive information. For all that Jack said the Revenant phones were likely the most secure lines that could be found, that was still a big deal.

"Oh, no," Jovi returned dismissively, shrugging as he leaned back and looked away from Relena to meet Cassidy's eyes again. "Though I had wanted to ask, because I needed to tell him if he didn't know already."

So much for the simple answer. "He knows." Everyone Dave had kept instead of reassigning after Christmas knew and was fully on board with Dave specifically, which apparently was going to have less to do with Treize than anticipated, but… well, things changed. He wasn't going to explain it, though – the more people in on a secret, the faster it got out, and the Revenants would see the difference between Mitchell's personal army and Soleil inside the next two weeks anyway. No reason to tempt disaster on their already far too complex plan to handle the fallout of Marquise' latest stupidity.

"Awesome. Mm, that bodes well, I think."

Relena looked more amused than anything, which was probably a good part of why she was the politician, and he the soldier. "If you don't mind my asking, how do you know about Treize?" the princess asked, sounding no more than mildly curious as she brought her teacup back up for another sip.

Jovi blinked, then smirked, looking startled. "You know… I'm not actually sure. The way you mean, at least. Robby said it was one of the first things Odin told him after leaving Africa, the night they first started cooking up the plans for Rubato." He looked to the side, obviously thinking, and the smile turned sly. "Would've been right about the same time big brother took exception to Mitchell, come to think of it." Chuckling, he decided, "You'd have to ask him."

…Great. He wasn't sure they could get any more of an alarming non-answer.

Relena pursed her lips. "I didn't think he would be willing to talk to us at this juncture," she noted.

Jovi visibly considered that, then nodded. "You're not wrong," he agreed. "Try Jack."

Lin had evidently hit his limit. "Jack," he repeated.

Jovi nodded again. "Talking to Odin is an endurance exercise in patience and frustration with the pacing of a broken Jack-in-a-box. You generally come out with more questions than answers and the feeling that you've barely dodged something deeply disturbing – dissemination of information is not his strong suit." He shrugged. "Jack seems pretty into it, though. I haven't decided if he's just desperate or legit gets it, but it's been working out so far."

Cassidy slumped. "Your metaphors need work."

"My metaphors are awesome," Jovi immediately countered. "It's the puns I can't get a good angle on."

"You're trying too hard," Cassidy agreed. "And awesome is not the word I'd use."

"Mm." Jovi shrugged. "Anyway, that's what I'd recommend. Like I said, Rubato doesn't currently have any interest in Soleil, so as far as I'm concerned, it's none of my business."

"You won't ask for us?" Cassidy tried.

"I told you, even if he bothered to do more than smirk and walk off, I would somehow learn something deeply technical about circuitry or hear an alarming childhood anecdote about Molotov cocktails. Maybe he'd share a deeply poignant view on how something I never thought about is of absolute philosophical importance. If I kept redirecting him, I might learn something about Treize eventually. Ten percent odds – but only if he didn't get bored and bail on the conversation at some point in the middle, so… more like five."

…This sounded like something worth seeing.

"Jake's relationship with his father is… tenuous," Relena admitted.

Jovi shrugged again. "Then don't ask – it's not like anyone's shouting it from the rooftops." He paused, then turned a more frank look on the princess. "Given everyone's history, though? Hearing the truth from the kid who fostered with the Khushrenadas might hurt less than other sources."

…Shit. Cassidy glanced at Lin, hoping… but of course, his friend had his game face on. Please tell me Jake planned to do that before the end of the month. That was a really good point that… he didn't remember coming up. That said, while he was on the list of heavy hitters for Relena's guard, he wasn't into every nook and cranny the way the majors were. All the same though… Was Noin involved with the planning at all? Probably not. The man was living on campus and generally around, but when it came to the intrigue he very much worked for RLTT, not Relena or her Ministry. They… might have forgotten to add that aspect of personal life back in. Jake was actively trying with his dad, but he was also both distracted as hell and not very good at it.

So… he was going to go bother the Noins this evening. Offer to hold a baby so Cassie could do something or other she'd been putting off, hear some stories because Des had great ones… and maybe hand over a new cannister of tennis balls. He doubted the same trick would work twice, but it was the thought that counted, right?

"I will be sure to mention that to him," Relena decided, setting down her empty cup on the coffee table and reaching for the thick file of folders set next to the tea tray. "Delicate matters aside – shall we begin?"

The Revenant leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Absolutely, let's do it."

Relena's smile was a touch wry as she flipped the bulging file open. "Alphabetically, or by region?"

oOo

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January 22nd 199 – Wednesday – Szczecin, Poland

"But then where did it go?" Marie protested.

Felix nodded sagely. "That's the name of the game."

She rolled her eyes. "Seriously, though. Show me?"

He blinked a few times, then gestured back at the screen. "No, that's the problem – I don't have an answer. It's part of why Ardith is continuing to light fires, and Cat is checking back, but…" Grimacing, he shrugged. "Your brother is more used to coming from this from the opposite end, but he can't get too far without a root cause or motive, so… nothing yet."

Marie frowned, thinking that over, then shook her head. Ardith's dance with media had more to do with PR than investigation, though of course it was both. She'd known that – she just… wasn't used to her teachers hitting a wall like this. It was discouraging.

That wasn't really fair, though – Odin wasn't looking at this because he had nothing helpful to add, which meant he had hit the same wall. Maybe Cat would know better but he wasn't back yet, and she was going to miss him anyway because apparently she was going to go see gundam construction, and… Maybe we just don't have enough information to make a picture yet?

That didn't make this not frustrating, though. "Money doesn't just disappear," she protested.

"Not unless someone makes it disappear," Felix agreed. "But since the trail jumps through four different places before petering out…" He shrugged. "It's hard to say who's laundering it, or to where."

"…Crap."

Felix shrugged. "Basically. For now, at least. And if it's a singular event, then that's probably that – but if we've got a repeat offender, a pattern should start to show up the more rocks that get turned over." He gave her a soft smile, then continued leadingly, "And if Sharpman was truly onto something instead of just paranoid on top of the crazy…?"

"Then the trail will lead back to some kind of black book government project," Marie finished, thinking about it. "Which… really is crazy conspiracy theory stuff."

"But also feasible," Felix argued. "If Zechs wanted to do something off the record, winding the paper trail through Romefeller nobles who would have something to gain from dirty business would be a brilliant way to misdirect attention."

"He's an autocratic dictator with a history of attempted genocide who has proven he can do whatever he wants," Marie returned flatly. "Why bother?"

"Hey, Alex!" Sio called from up the hall. "Did you have those numbers back from Aithan yet?"

Felix glanced at his watch. "Not as of forty-five minutes ago. I'll check again in a minute." Focusing back on Marie, he absently tapped out the access code to unlock his slate. "It could be as simple as something he couldn't secure legitimate funding for. Historically, it's often something socially embarrassing when it comes to government officials, but the numbers are a bit high." He grimaced and shrugged. "Well, not necessarily, depending on what bad habit he's trying to hide. That or, even if Sharpman was on to something, it might not go all the way to the top. An empire like the Regime has a lot of moving parts, which means a lot of caretakers, even in an autocracy."

He kept mentioning her. "Why are we believing anything from the crazy bomber lady's files?"

"Because some of it was very interesting." Felix's smile was sly this time, verging on sharp. "The war memorial in Ieper was hosting some kind of secret to do in one of its conference rooms – but since the evacuation got started, it's hard to say for sure who was involved other than undersecretary of materials, June Kurtz. Even then, we only have that much because she was caught on camera leaving the scene – dressed all business sharp too, so less likely she was out on holiday. The office building in Charleroi was being leased by a no name consulting firm, but there's some good evidence it was connected to the Regime too; there's a fairly direct money trail. Not that the Regime is at all above subcontracting, but the details are off – too vague, the numbers don't make sense, or… something." He frowned. "It could just be bad management, but it looks like a front."

Marie squinted, thinking about that. "So… she wasn't crazy?" That idea… made something in her belly swoop. And not in a good way. Duo hadn't gone into any details, but clearly he'd investigated her, and now she was dead, so-

"Sharpman was criminally insane," Felix denied, face twisting into a snarl. "She killed thousands, and planned much more." He shook his head, visibly calming himself as he focused back on his slate's screen. "But that doesn't mean she wasn't on to something too."

Her stomach settled. Not completely, she didn't feel normal but… that was good. She still had a ton of questions, but Felix had already said he was out of answers and was apparently running something between Interstellar Knightly and Rubato, or more likely Knightly and Sally, if Ethan was sending some kind of statistical data over, so… "I'm going to see if Cole is busy," she decided. She wanted to pick Darren's brain again before the week was out, but he wouldn't be back until tomorrow, and she'd been meaning to bother Cole about the legal stuff he'd learned while he was still in academy. Even if the police regulations and laws he'd talked about when he'd been learning to be an American cop weren't really applicable now, it was a way of thinking that she didn't know, and that would give her a better idea for what to look into for the current rules. She'd been meaning to ask Vaska too but he was around less, and… she was mostly sure that apprentice police and Russian detectives were also really different.

Or at least, maybe she should figure out the one before the other, so she didn't get mixed up?

If she wasn't going to be able to poke at any of the guys for a couple weeks, she wanted to at least check a few things off her list. Odin was down in Switzerland for another day or two anyway, and she couldn't get keys for the new Berlin property until Friday.

"Have fun," Felix murmured absently, squinting at a block of text.

Marie rolled her eyes and grabbed her bag. She could tell when someone was busy.

oOo

oOo

January 23rd 199 – Thursday – Munich, Germany – Dorothy's Townhouse

Kalvelage, Drozd, Nepomuceno, Sunstrum, Webb, and Desautel, Jake mused, counting heads and trying to internally map that out. On top of Dontelaine, of course, as well as Noventa, that… wasn't bad. Not to mention, these were only those close enough to invite a social for, maybe mix a bit of business in, but nothing to draw attention. Leave it to Dorothy to call out for a surprise tea party of all things, and no one will bat an eye at her audience. The Romefeller Heiress was currently playing queen bee that even Relena was acquiescing to – her house, her party, her rules – and was clearly in her element.

It was good to see. The noblewoman had been withdrawn since Christmas – maybe since Thanksgiving, if he was being honest. But… also maybe not? He knew he and Relena had been distracted while they redefined their lives, interweaving even tighter, but he was mostly sure that Dorothy would tell him if she was feeling neglected. It was something they talked about, ever since the first clubbing scare. Asking regularly – despite how awkward it felt – made her happy, so he'd made a point to never stop, even when he was… busy trying to blow up his whole life.

Though she still hadn't explained what she was so upset about last July. She said she would, and he believed her, but… it was strange to be shut out. Relena thought it had something to do with Treize. She'd been directing it all at Olivia, but the girls had known about Treize by that point while lacking any context of what that meant. That night when he'd asked her how you could trade one loyalty for another, she had been so dark, as depressed as he was, and then… Nothing.

The thing was, Dorothy was as good an actor as he was. Her tactics were grossly different and she had little experience with holding up under pressure, but she wasn't truly mercurial enough to have recovered so absolutely as she evidently had, days after the event. She'd been lying through her teeth to pass as normal, and without any permission from her or real idea of what to do about it, he'd had to let it go. The mask slipped occasionally, but whose didn't?

Though… Maybe Lena's right about it having to do with Treize's standing. If his friend had had any intention of ruling Romefeller, none of the aristocrats would have given Dorothy a second glance, despite her current standing as Heiress. But if that was it… wouldn't she have told him by now, instead of saying she didn't need his help 'yet'? That qualifier had been very pointed, and yet…

Mm. She'd both visibly settled and told him she was doing better than before, once the secrets came out. And despite her increased distance from him, he had thought she seemed entirely herself again after Halloween. Less clingy, maybe, but she had been making more friends. Despite their rocky start, Dorothy and Olivia were practically attached at the hip these days, and when it wasn't Olivia, it was Addie, or Daniella, or…

She's just widening her circle, he decided. He hadn't seen her in over a week, but she'd been on campus at the Noins' on at least three different occasions – come to bake with Cassie, or maybe just socialize in general. Des had been all too amused, seeking him out in the sitting room he'd more or less converted into a personal office to tell stories of a noble girl with her hair pinned back in intricate braids, showing up on his doorstep with a fresh apron like a milkmaid out of some fairytale. 'Cass is loving it,' he'd admitted with a wry grin. 'She's spending a decent amount of time with Raina and Addie too, and it's good for her; I was worried about her missing all her girlfriends with the move. Oh, but my ancestors would be rolling in their graves to see me mixing this deep with the upper class again.'

Des just… said things like that periodically. The Noins hadn't been aristocrats in some five generations, but that history had been a large part of why Lu was extended an invitation from OZ. His own attendance at the Academy had been through the Khushrenada sponsorship, a loophole for the nobles to get what they wanted when the rules didn't suit their mood, but Lu… That had been pedigree as much as talent. Snobs as they were, Romefeller didn't forget, even when you wished they would.

Despite the way he said it, though, Des was just amused. Jake had asked, because despite not getting it, he knew that kind of impression could be important, but the old man maintained that it was about freedom, not history – and Lu had made her stance clear even before Jake decided to cast his lot in with whatever rules of aristocracy came next. Wherever Lu was… It would be fine. The aristocracy had to remain because they weren't willing to burn down what Zechs had left of the world, not because there would be a massive divide between classes.

Lu was well enough to write notes to her father, even if she was staying out of the mix otherwise… and not for the first time, Lu's notes to Des made him think of Relena's damn paper lily. She'd worn it for weeks before learning it was a message from Maxwell – and until she'd told him in September, he'd just assumed the thing was destroyed in the riot. Not that it mattered, the message had been little more a quick tip of the hat to say he'd bowed out entirely, but… Learning the truth of that flower sunk hooks into him just because Lu had done the same thing.

Not that he begrudged her retirement – just the silence. But… he figured he'd earned that. If not by deed, then by company; either way, he'd set his own stage, so there was nothing to do about it. She'd been clear from the very beginning that while she believed in Treize's ideas for change and loved to fly the same way most people did breathing, she hadn't wanted to fight. She hadn't been able to stand by when the crisis was right in front of her, when her asshole boyfriend was leading her on yet another bullshit scheme despite swearing he was done, but…

All of them had broken in one way or another at Libra. It frankly spoke well of her that she'd decided to walk away from toxic influences and refuse to look back.

And the messages meant it wasn't forever – from Lu, or from Maxwell and Chang either. Clear the filth, and they'll turn up. Two and five were out for the count, one and three confirmed on the field… though if the fourth didn't turn up sometime in the next year, the Winners would face civil war. Relena was confident that the gundam pilots would show their faces again once they were no longer fugitives, and given what they'd seen so far, he was inclined to trust that. She'd met Maxwell a time or two, but the only two of the five gundam pilots she'd known were Yuy and Winner. She'd never even met Barton or Chang, and the latter had sent her extremely vital intel from half a world away. Relena…

He didn't bother resisting the smile the came on him with the rising warmth in his chest as he picked her out of the crowd, laughing at something Elidia Drozd was saying. She… was everything, somehow. He didn't have any better way to put it. And for all that it seemed everyone but her brother felt the same pull, she was his. Sometimes the truth of that, the sheer joy left him shaking and senseless.

"You look happy."

He shifted his weight to meet Sunstrum's eyes, not bothering to try to hide what he'd been doing; the possibility of getting caught had been half the point of letting his emotions show. The Regime had one foot in the grave, and they wouldn't need to attempt a coup or transfer of power – instead, Relena and Noventa were going to raise a new court from the alliances made since the Fall, and this group was the starting seed – or a good chunk of it, at least.

Besides, Lena's ring was at the top of the goldsmith's queue – their relationship wouldn't be a secret for much longer. "I have a lot to be happy about," he admitted, though he grimaced as his voice distorted on the last word. Damn cough. It was mostly gone now, but the inflammation was lingering. Clearing his throat, he admitted, "Though this cold isn't one of them."

Edmund smiled, giving him a subtle conciliatory nod as he looked back to the women with considering eyes, obviously trying to pick out which one in the knot had had his attention. "New world order has a way of opening doors," he returned agreeably.

From anyone else, that would have been a dig at Jake's distinct lack of social standing. Technically it still was, he supposed, but tone and context were everything. Edmund had been firmly shuffled away from his dream career because he was an aristocrat – the class system could be problematic in both directions. Des's words felt more true every time he interacted with Relena's cohort of social revolutionaries; you would think that a fourth son would have some say about what he did with his life, even when his father was a Marquis.

"Freedom of choice should be a universal luxury," Jake agreed. "On all fronts." He debated, but… he had to start somewhere, and the opportunity was perfect. "I know you took measures into your own hands, but if you're still interested once this all settles down, I have a few favors I can call with engineers, both independent and with firms."

The man's smile turned wry as he focused back on him. "I'm nontraditional enough that I doubt they'd be interested. But it's a nice thought."

Jake shrugged. "Howard Oclaire likes nontraditional."

Edmund's brows raised, and he gave Jake a far more thoughtful look. "That is a name," he mused.

It was Jake's turn to smile wryly. "Mind, he has to survive the coming conflicts for that the be an option – but he's always had a nose for knowing which way to jump." He shrugged. "I'm obviously not in contact right now, but he's an old friend – and he's not the only possibility either. Just the most notorious."

Realistically, if Junior was half the engineer Jack was making him out to be, he'd reserve the right to a little nepotism when it came to asking Howard for favors on his time. But he still didn't know his brother, and they were only talking theoreticals – and in any case, Howard had had five formally contracted apprentices and another handful he mentored when they worked on Peacemillion together. He doubted the old man would see having the pick of the litter as a hardship when he tended to adopt by the dozen anyway.

"I wouldn't mind having that conversation," Sunstrum decided, tucking his hands in his pockets. "After, like you said. I have commitments right now, but they won't last forever."

"That's fair." The noble did have obligations, pointedly to Relena – and aside from that, he'd surely want the time to measure Jake's worth before testing his integrity so far.

Edmund watched the women for another long moment before shaking his head and turning back to Jake with a more openly friendly air. "Tea, of all things," he groused. "What did you end up with?"

Jake's snort turned into a croaking cough that had him raising his mug back to his lips. "Nothing that anyone sane would want to drink," he noted after forcing down another long pull. "It's supposed to help me get better."

Amusement sparked in the other man's eyes. "Dorothy's always been pushy," he agreed. "Is it really that bad?"

Jake wordlessly held out the unholy herbal concoction out for inspection, and resisted the urge to laugh when, after leaning forward to sniff the air above it, his new friend reflexively pulled away from the unholy combination of echinacea, elderberry, licorice, and god only knew what else. "Right?" Bringing it back to his mouth, he tried to finish it off, but… Ugh.

Edmund made an incredulous noise. "Why are you drinking it?"

He made a face, debating how many swallows were left. "She's usually on to something when she insists," he noted mildly. "And my breathing has gotten better since I started on it." Whether that was due to the herbs or because he was so distracted by trying to get it down without visibly gagging was debatable, but… if it worked, it worked? All the same, he was disassociating strongly enough to get by that… Damn it. "I think she might have laced it with cough syrup, actually." There had been a heavier, almost sweet flavor in the last pull, now that he was getting to the dregs. It might just be the honey she'd insisted on that he suspected made the taste worse, but….

Ugh. Tipping his head back, he hid the face he made with the mug as he forced the rest down. He mostly repressed the shudder that came with it, but when he opened his eyes again the other man looked dubiously impressed. Jake smirked. "Here, swap with me," he suggesting, handing over his empty cup and reaching for the barely touched one Sunstrum was largely using as a prop – he clearly didn't want it. "Let's see if she reacts."

Smiling bemusedly, Edmund went along with it, then shook his head at the happy sigh Jake made on his first sip of something decent. "Really? I hate mint."

"Mm. There's a lot more going on in this than mint," Jake decided. White chocolate, soft herbal notes, and… something not black tea, but he didn't know beyond that. "It's really good," he decided.

"I can smell peppermint," Edmund argued. "That makes the rest nonrelevant."

"Mm, good to know." He didn't know if the other man's tea preferences would ever be pertinent information, but it wouldn't hurt to remember either. He was mostly glad to get that taste out of his mouth… and becoming more convinced that his mental state had been altered. Ugh. Was I really that bad?

Given the number of times Relena had asked if he was sure he wanted to come to this, it was possible. His chest ached.

"So… what's your role in all this?" Edmund asked after a moment, clearly trying to find a common thread, or at least make small talk.

"Mm, logistics and analytics, mostly," he admitted. "I've done a lot of work with RLTT over the years." He smirked, quirking an eyebrow. "People ask for things, and I figure out how to make them happen."

Edmund's lips twitched as he tried to look skeptical and settled for begrudgingly amused. "Capable, powerful, and mysterious. Nicely done."

Jake croaked out a laugh, sipping again to tamp down the freshly shredded feeling in his throat. "I was trying," he acknowledged.

"If either of you are desperate, one of the staff here moonlights as a barista," Jayden Vail announced as he came to stand with them, blowing steam off some kind of latte.

Edmund stood up straighter. "Which one?"

"We're at Dorothy's," Jake returned dryly. "All of her staff could open a coffee stand." He debated. "Alexis is probably the best, though. He runs the house."

Jayden made an interested noise. "Olive skin, boxer's stance?"

Jake shook his head. "That's Tristan. Alexis is the short blonde with curls."

"You're calling someone short?"

He smirked. "Am I supposed to be unique?" Rolling his eyes, he added, "I don't have curls." His hair tended to get wild when he let it get this long, but he'd had years of practice in tamping it down – but even at his worst, it was still very straight.

Jayden grinned without reserve. "Touché." He sipped again, humming. "Any idea how much longer before the small talk dies down?"

Nursing his own cup, Jake grunted. "Naturally? No idea. I'm working on an interruption we can use, though."

Edmund snorted. "You really think-"

"She has a matching tea service for sixty, and you're now holding the odd one out." Jayden was too, but it hadn't been in the original pouring – his had. "If she's innocent, she'll pout; if she drugged me, she'll get worried."

Jayden blinked, then smirked as he put it together. "That cough was terrible," he noted.

"The sickness is over," Jake informed him pointedly. "It's leftover irritation. If I was infectious, I would've stayed home." That and someone else in his house would have gotten it by now, but that was a separate point.

…His head really did feel disjointed, though. Damn it.

"I doubt it's any more sane over here, but at least it's quieter," Sylvia announced primly as she came to stand by them, waving off Alejandra when she looked as if to follow.

"Debatable," Jake groused.

"You're making less of a racket, at least," she sniped. "Why are you even here?"

He snorted into his cup. "I'll tell you when you're older."

That startled a laugh out of Edmund, though he made a fair attempt at containing himself when the woman glared at him. Jayden, meanwhile was shaking his head. "Easy, Noventa. He's been here since the start of Relena's post-Fall campaign; he's allowed to see it through."

"There's more to it than that."

Jake nodded agreeably. "There is."

When he didn't elaborate, Edmund started to snicker again.

Resisting the urge to laugh himself, he decided, "If you're going to be offensive anyway, you might as well just say it."

Sylvia's eyes narrowed… but she took the bait. "Whose bastard are you?"

He rolled his eyes. "That's your best shot?"

"It would make sense," Edmund offered, sounding a little apologetic even as his expression remained skeptical.

Jayden snorted. "That's an old theory. The lot of you are too young to remember, but there used to be good money on him being Amarianna's."

Something in his chest shriveled up and died. Possibly his heart. "What."

Jayden shrugged. "The widow had a regular gentleman caller with a child in tow – and she was rarely seen the year before you were born. People talk." He took another drink of his coffee before adding, "The rumor fell out of favor when it was decided the timing was wrong for the younger boy to be hers, though it didn't die out entirely, especially after she kidnapped you from the rebel and sent you to the Academy."

"I… wasn't kidnapped." His words felt hollow.

"Only because she bribed the right officials into erasing the charges while filing forged papers," Jayden returned dryly. "It was… something of a sensation. I didn't much care at the time, but my mother and aunts didn't stop fixating for nearly three weeks – it nearly ruined my winter break." He shook his head. "A practical kidnapping, if not a legal one."

Jake closed his eyes. Jayden Vail was roughly seven years older than him and not an OZ grad, which would have made him sixteen or so and attending university at the time. "Does it count if I asked for her help to do it?"

Jayden gave him a level look. "You were nine. That would make it a kidnapping with elements of juvenile coercion."

Given what he remembered about being nine he found that debatable, but it also wasn't wrong. At the time, he hadn't cared about or bothered to ask about how he got away from Jack beyond making sure it would work. As an adult now… it was hard to look at from any angle, objective or otherwise. He'd been a vindictive little shit who didn't much care about the consequences of anything he did unless it involved Odin or his brother, right up until Lu had pulled him into her orbit.

If he thought about it too much, he looked at his father and practically started to drown in guilt. But on the other hand, Des kept telling him he had been a child, and now strangers were too, so…

Well. Some problems didn't really have a right answer. There was nothing for it except to try and do better. Dave was coming in for a short visit before it all went to hell starting tomorrow, and when he'd reached out to his father, Jack had confirmed he'd be by sometime Saturday. The way he'd said it, without mentioning work beyond a 'it's not an issue, don't worry about it' had had Des pinching his lips together – which led to him and Des talking about that too, which… fuck. Back to the bottomless pit of guilt. He… had vaguely known his father had employment issues, but had made a point of never investigating, assuming he'd have heard about it if it grew severe. He definitely had not known that the only reason it never reached that point was because Des maintained a safety net.

He was glad Dave was coming early – they could sit down and go through the facts and his best friend could help him figure out everything he needed to say beforehand, this way. Relena had offered, but the idea of that… He would cry if he tried to iron it all out with Relena. She wouldn't judge him for it, she loved him and she already knew, but all the same…

He would really rather work through it with Dave.

Jayden looked thoughtful, now. "Based on your reaction, I'm going to guess you aren't her child, then?"

"Not… by blood," Jake confirmed, trying to regain his footing. "My uncle did take us to the Khushrenada estate enough that I saw her as a maternal figure, though."

"That doesn't answer my question," Sylvia reminded him.

"My parents were married." Not that it mattered. Divorced by the time his mom had died, but even that was something of a legal loophole, since Jack hadn't had any say in the process.

Sylvia only looked more determined. "Second generation, then?"

He blinked, processing that concept. That one hadn't occurred to him, but if she was trying to find a Romefeller connection for his money and drawing blanks, it wasn't a bad guess. "No. Revolutionaries on one side, and drug addicts on the other." He technically had no idea if his Lowe grandparents had been married or not, but the way they'd traced genetics through his uncle wouldn't have worked unless he and Rhea had been full siblings – so they had at least been as good as married, especially considering the twelve year age gap between his mom and Odin.

Sylvia's mouth twisted, but apparently she was determined to leave no stone unturned. "The doesn't actually clear most families, but fine." She resettled her weight, staring at him. "To be clear: your parents were married to each other?"

He understood her line of reasoning, especially given his history of lying, but at the same time? "That's just rude."

Her eyes gleamed. "That's not an answer."

He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Dorothy was looming over him. "What are you drinking?" she demanded.

"Not dextromethorphan," he returned brightly, refusing to let her think she was intimidating. All the same, Dorothy was tall enough these days all on her own – Dorothy in heels was frankly ridiculous.

Unfortunately, she had yet to realize that.

Her eyes narrowed, but he caught the brief flash of shame, there and gone in a fraction of a second, before she protested. "Don't be ridiculous! I-"

"I drank it," he interrupted. "But I would've rather you just handed me the shot of the stuff, because that was foul."

She pursed her lips, obviously considering, before insisting, "The herbs are important too."

He doubted that, but he probably would've gone along with it anyway, so there wasn't much point in arguing their efficacy. "Still would have been less gross taken separately," he informed her.

She scowled. "It was honey-flavored."

He rolled his eyes. "You've clearly never tasted it, don't just…" He sighed. "Just ask next time, please."

She crossed her arms over her chest before admitting, "I didn't think you would agree."

"Which makes this better how?" he asked exasperatedly. If she had approached him on the subject, he would've at least re-evaluated how he was acting to see if she had a point, and probably left the decision to Relena if that didn't give him a clear answer. Perspective was a bitch, he knew that.

…And now she looked about ready to cry. Fuck my life. He'd expected her to sniff at him disbelievingly or laugh it off, but maybe now that he was making her think about it she'd remembered her own experience with drink tampering. "It's fine. I trust you, and you probably had a point," he soothed. "Just involve me in the process, next time."

Sylvia apparently lost her patience. "Your mother caught someone's eye, then. Hush money on a large scale doesn't usually apply much to men."

He'd been half waiting for that jump, but at the same time, he wasn't in the mood to reward the stupidity of it. Besides, someone ought to get a kick out of this shit. "Dorothy's the only one allowed to say that kind of thing about my mom," he decided.

Sylvia's eyes narrowed as she scowled, but Dorothy cackled, mood swing gone as fast as it had come. "What?"

"I didn't mean it!" Dorothy protested.

"Only because you were being facetious," he argued happily. "You still said it."

"I'm sorry!"

"Tch, no you're not."

His friend laughed again. "I'm embarrassed?" she offered instead.

He grinned. "A little," he agreed. He hesitated a long moment before shrugging. "It was funny." Both at the time – however mortified he'd been, he'd mostly been trying to keep a straight face – and now.

"I'm almost afraid to ask," Relena announced as she joined them, the rest of the group trailing after her.

He hesitated for a moment, but really… this was the core of Relena's new court, and he was on a timeline anyway. "Do you remember Thea's early theories about Rhea Lowe?"

"They were jokes," Dorothy insisted, still laughing.

"I should hope so," Relena remarked with a sly smile. "Fan of mine or no, I don't see how you could have realistically thought another woman might have my babies. That's just logic." The smile broadened. "Thankfully, it should still work out."

Oh, so we're doing this today.

Jayden looked bemused. "Oh?"

Relena shrugged elegantly. "The proprietor of the Rhea Lowe Tomorrow Today fund likes to slip into his projects as core essential staff to keep an eye on things."

There was silence for a long moment, before Edmund laughed again. "'Done a lot of work with RLTT,' huh?"

Jake grinned back at him. "I have." He just hadn't clarified his role with the organization. Chancing a glance over at Noventa, he suppressed a smirk at her pale, frozen face. Maybe it was petty, but honestly? She'd been such a bitch to him right out the gate, even while she tried to brownnose up to Relena for RLTT's scraps.

"You sound better," Relena mused, moving into his space to sniff at his cup.

He let his hand fall naturally to her waist as she pulled the mug away from him to take a sip. "I'm a little stoned," he admitted, pressing his face into her hair. He was glad she had developed a taste for those little ballet flats; his pride could take it if she kept growing, but since he was wearing boots, they were the same height, like this.

"That's probably for the best. If you don't stop coughing long enough for your lungs to heal, then youwon't stop coughing," she pointed out, resting part of her weight on him for a moment before pulling away handing his mug back. "I don't know about everyone else, but I'm ready to move on to business." Glancing back to Dorothy, she asked, "Dining room?"

"It's set and prepped," the other woman agreed.

Jake took another gulp of tea, starting to feel more normal instead of like he was trying to wash his mouth out, and decided to acknowledge the fact that Sylvia was still just… staring. And was a little too pale. As much as she annoyed him, he wasn't actually trying to chase her off. "I'm new money," he explained quietly. "Not a by-blow. My uncle made a dragon's hoard of profit playing Romefeller against each other, and by the time I inherited the Khushrenadas had taught me how to manage funds aggressively – I grew what he left behind." He met her eyes pointedly. "As much as you keep pointing out my bloodier history, I've always been RLTT too, so can you maybe just… calm down?"

There was quiet for a long moment before Jayden let out a quiet chuckle. "'Calm down,' he says. I didn't think the Tomorrow Today Fund would ever shed its secrecy." He looked contemplative. "Though I also assumed the anonymity might stem from the money being ill-gained."

"Times change," Jake acknowledged with a shrug. "And… yes and no. My uncle did the kind of dirty work that makes me look an angel, but I can't really track what came from where." Making a face he added, "In any case, he's been dead for over a decade and that's enough distance to work with. I designed RLTT to have the goals it does in fair part because I inherited blood money." Sighing, he added, "As for the publicity… I'm trying to ease into it. I won't be making a public announcement on the Fund for a few more months. Well, at least that's the plan." He chuckled. "I didn't think Relena wanted to tell anyone about us until my standing was a bit more solid, so I guess we'll see."

Edmund snorted. "Well, before she did that, with the way you were bickering? I thought you might have been watching Dorothy."

Jake actually flinched at that, making both men laugh as he shook his head. "No. Definitely not." If that was Relena's point of logic in moving today, then he was more than glad to skip over those rumors. "She's Lena's closest confidant, and somehow she's become my bratty little sister along the way."

Jayden smirked again. "If Delaina and Amarianna hadn't died, you might have found yourself in that position anyway," he pointed out.

Jake sighed because… yeah, the thought had occurred to him, more than once. "Maybe. None of the Catalonias were around too much when I was at the manor as a kid, before or after my father got me away from my uncle. I'm not sure if that was by design or everyone having their own lives – Amarianna actively encouraged Treize and I to go find adventure, the little time we were even home from Academy. The age gap is negligible now, but… I was nine when I moved in, and…" Fuck it. "I had no business being near a five-year-old." Junior hadn't been normal, and even if Dorothy wasn't either…

"You… had a brother her age," Jayden argued, tone slow and contemplative.

Dissociation was useful; laughing only hurt a little. "Yeah, and I taught him how to handle the recoil in order to accurately shoot someone before he turned four. He was better than me at parkour at four when I was eight, we're lucky he didn't smash his brains out doing…" His next laugh turned into a cough, and he closed his eyes, regathering himself. "It's fine. Everyone involved with raising us is dead, I can't ask, and not knowing Thea when we were little could just as easily have been about her mom's schedule as anything else. Even Treize barely ever saw her."

He was surprised when Sylvia spoke next, and even more surprised at how… cordial she was. "Romefeller as a whole rarely show off their children before the age of seven. Girls are often held out of public eye for longer, even as late as ten or twelve. It's part of why the Darlians were able to pass off Relena so easily as their own. Many families don't even release the names of their children to the public until after their formal introduction to society, and the Peacecrafts followed that principle."

He blinked his eyes back open to stare at her. The childhood secrecy trait was common, a point he understood given the degree of limelight the average noble faced – it was a safety measure. Romefeller families talked easily about having young children, but it was always 'my boy' or 'my girls' or 'my youngest'. It was an expected level of privacy that he actively appreciated. But he hadn't realized it was also gendered. He'd never had reason to look into it beyond thinking that some families held onto it longer than others, but… "Why?"

Sylvia's answering smile was slight, and wry. "Propriety. A degree of finishing school, often. Control." Her mouth twisted into something darker. "Most of the girls at Relena's school were on their opening debut, let out on their own for the first time. The setting was neutral enough that many of the ones not considered 'ready' for the marriage market for one reason or another were allowed to go, especially if their parents thought they might get inside information or a new inlet to a re-established Sanc. Even Dorothy was rarely seen before then, for all that Augustin liked to brag of her achievements."

"That's archaic," Jayden grumbled, sipping his coffee.

"Yet still terribly normal," Sylvia reminded him, enough acid in her smile to etch glass. "Though I do appreciate how progressive the Vails are. Brilliant as Dorothy is, Augustin Dermail only ever intended to show his granddaughter off enough to snag a useful husband to further the legacy. True, so long as she provided children in a timely manner, she would have been allowed her own interests – but if you think her unaware of those expectations, you're a fool. I suspect her ploy to kill the man off had as much to do with a refusal to lose the freedom she had tasted as it did any of the political gains." Meeting Jake's eyes again, she added, "A great deal of Relena's appeal as an empress is because I know the social reforms she will push for. With how many men have died, we actually have a decent shot at changing the status quo."

He'd known that, just not the depth of the problem. "I agree with that."

The look she gave him was coolly assessing. "I know."

He narrowed his eyes at her. The complete flip in attitude was… "Five minutes ago, you were looking for an excuse to crucify me."

"Five minutes ago, you were part of Treize Khushrenada's 'good old boys' club with a propensity for spying and knives in the night. I was still trying to figure out why Relena was tolerating or using you," she returned flatly. "But RLTT has run fourteen candidates that were intensely focused on public philanthropy over the past ten years, and only three of them have been male."

Her point seemed arbitrary, but if they were going to do this, fine. "Eighteen," he corrected. "Not all of them would have benefitted from public attention. And I don't see your point, but a total of four of candidates were men."

She nodded decisively. "Exactly."

He felt tired. Fucking cough meds. "Exactly what?"

Her smirk was playful, possibly for the first time since he'd met her. "If you can't figure it out, I'm not going to complain." She started to walk towards the dining room. "Come along, gentlemen. We're late."

oOo

oOo

January 24th 199 – Friday – Berlin, Germany

Lucrezia smiled, closing her eyes on the credits. "The book has a different ending," she admitted. "But I like the drama of this one. It's a weird movie, but fun you know?"

Odin rumbled out a sound of agreement, arms tightening around her briefly in acknowledgement even as his hands continued their absent play across her stomach. When he'd first slipped his hands under her shirt twenty minutes ago she'd thought he was trying to start something – had been ready to tease him or at least pause the movie since it was right at the crux of the reveal – but he'd just wanted the skin on skin.

It was just nice. At first, any time he touched her was deliberate, goal-oriented – but the more time they had together, the more naturally he reached, without thought. Some part of that had to just be in response to her doing the same, but… It was probably a little unfair, how thrilled she was every time he initiated something – even as simple as tugging her down to sit between his legs and wrapping his arms around her after she'd gone to grab a drink refill. They were deep enough into this that she really ought to have stopped comparing him to Milliardo by now. She didn't need to think about him, and it wasn't fair to Odin, but her brain just kept up the comparisons anyway, and…

Well, at least it only happened when her new lover did something so much better than her ex that she felt butterflies all over again.

"I'm trying to decide if it's possible to be that functional while also being so insane," he decided after a moment.

Lucrezia snickered, dropping her head back onto his shoulder and pressing her mouth to his neck. "I hope not." All the same, you didn't show someone a movie like 'Fight Club' and expect them to not question reality. "It's an interesting thought experiment, though."

Odin tightened his hold, crossing his arms over her and settling a hand on either side of her waist in a solid grip. "You've read the book?"

"Yeah. It focuses more on the thought processing, the different values clashing. And the consequences." She thought about it for a moment, considering some of the other things he'd read, not to mention the abject failure of 'Black Beauty' – she and Moira had sat down at the kitchen table and gone over that damn list of books, looking up the details on what few titles neither of them were familiar with for more landmines. He hadn't argued or even asked about the handful they'd crossed off. "I think you might like it. The film only brings up the philosophies enough to push the story along and otherwise focuses on the sensationalism angle. It might be your kind of interesting."

"Hn. Maybe." He twisted to press his lips to the corner of her mouth, indulging in an all too brief kiss when she shifted for a better angle, before asking, "Did you want to watch another one?"

That didn't sound like a bad idea, but she hadn't expected it either. "You're not bored?"

"Hn. You're relaxed, like this. It's better."

Lucrezia grimaced. That wasn't a 'no,' but she followed his point. "Sorry," she mumbled, hiding her face in his neck. This last week had been such shit, between unplanned battles in places she did not want to be and finding opposition where they'd expected easy, quiet raids, but that didn't mean she had to dump it on him.

"I'm not complaining," he reminded her again. "I don't care what we do. I've enjoyed what you've picked so far, and even if I didn't, this…" He buried his face in her hair, caressing her skin, then sighed. "I'll lay down when you do, but I don't want to sleep tonight. It feels like a waste."

She smiled tiredly at that. "You miss me already, huh?"

His chest rumbled as he made a frustrated sound. "That sounds stupid."

But you're not denying it. Feeling her smile broaden, she sat forward so he'd loosen his grip and twisted around to straddle him, sinking her fingers into his hair and leaning in for a heartfelt kiss. He opened with a sigh, more than a little pliable, and let her control the pace as he met her stroke for stroke, hands still under her shirt, running up and down her back. Her breath hitched as he reached the clasp of her bra, anticipation snapping through her because yes – only to have him slide under the strap to palm more skin and press her closer. His other hand tightened on her right hip as he surged forwards, still not changing the pace but sealing the gap between them.

A chill ran down her spine and she moaned, hot and cold all at once because they fit together perfectly like this, holy shit. She arched her back, pushing into him as hard as he was her, and let out a low chuckle when he groaned at the roll of her hips. Nibbling on his lip, she let go of his hair long enough to tug her shirt off, reclaiming his mouth as she dug her nails into his shirt, dragging it up to- Damn it. "Lose the underpinnings ahead of time on date nights," she demanded, reaching down again to tug harder on his undershirt, the material stretching more than coming untucked and irritating the hell out of her.

He laughed, low and sensual as he let go of her long enough to tug it free himself, mouthing at the underside of her jaw for a moment before pulling both layers over his head and tossing them behind the couch. "All of it?"

She laughed too, dragging her fingers down his back hard, feeling more than hearing him rumble in pleasure. "If it makes you feel pretty," she decided, pressing fully up against him again, wrapping her arms around his neck and stretching up so her breasts were right below his face in a hint he'd better damn well take.

He rewarded her with another of those low chuckles, looking down with deliberate consideration. "I thought this was a different bra," he mused. "Is it new?"

She rolled her eyes. "I left it in a dresser back at the Carpathian base for a while," she denied. Though… She smirked. "I could use a few new ones." Pointedly looking down at the bland, full coverage piece of underwear – she didn't have any clothes from before Libra and she'd only bothered with cheap utility, so sue her – she added, "Something more fun – I'm not picky." This one was in decent shape, but she'd only dug it back out because her most of her favorites were just about shot.

His eyes darkened, and oh… He likes that idea, huh? She'd mostly been feeling flippant, but… Damn, but the thought of him shopping for that put enough heat in her belly that this was worthwhile even if he only turned up with stripper pieces. He might find the middle ground too, but even if he didn't…

If everything he buys belongs in a porno, I can always take him shopping myself. Mm, that had some real merit; Odin would probably be more fun in a lingerie shop than the few girlfriends she'd done that kind of giggly errand with before. The man didn't shy away from anything, which was going to get her in trouble one of these days, but it was getting harder and harder to care.

His eyes dropped down, and he ran his fingertips along the straps of the bra like he was inspecting it for flaws, making a thoughtful sound when she shivered at the graze of a nail along her ribs. Slipping his hands under the band on either side, he nodded a little to himself, a hint of a smirk twisting his mouth. "I see what you mean." That was all the warning she got before his shoulders tightened and with a quick jerk, he ripped the thing in two.

That… should not have been a shock. It was cheaply made, and she loved the way he could just manhandle her, she knew his strength and it was only a flimsy bit of fabric – but for a moment, all she could do was stare at him.

…And clench her thighs. She was pretty sure she was doing that a lot harder than she had been a moment ago, almost shaking from the force of it. What with how she was wrapped around him, she figured that got her approval across even if she was staring at him like a star-struck idiot.

She licked her lips.

Odin's smile widened, and he leaned in to press another kiss just below her ear. Gently dragging the ruined garment off her shoulders and palming what was underneath, he murmured, "That's a new one." Grinning outright, he ducked his head under the strap to get the scrap of cloth out of his way without making her let go of him – and that was a sight too, mm, casual as you please, shit, ah…

"I wonder what else will get me this reaction," he mused, gaze calculating as his fingers teased, there and gone again, and damn it, would he just-!

"You should get on that," she taunted, feeling out of breath, and pressed herself forward again pointedly.

He huffed out a breath of a laugh… and dipped his head.

oOo

oOo

January 25th 199 – Saturday – Munich, Germany – Sarracenia

Des quietly closed the door to the nursery behind himself, looking around the quiet main room. Lyle had managed to get so tired playing that he had trouble falling asleep, which was always the oddest of things in his opinion, and getting the boy down to nap had taken longer than he'd expected. According to the clock, it was almost one. Did I miss Jack coming in? Someone probably would have waylaid him before he could reach the guesthouse, so maybe… Yes, he could see the convertible parked out in the driveway. Shaking his head, he grabbed the thick cardigan he'd been using as a housecoat since Christmas – it would do for getting him from one building of the compound to another – and checked that the baby monitor was paired properly with his phone before heading out the door.

Fuck, but it was cold out. He'd thought everywhere had gotten cold enough post-Fall that moving north would hardly make much difference, but he'd clearly misjudged that. All the same, instead of darting directly for the main house, he stooped to peer in the Ruzzi's back window – and spit out another curse. Despite being wrapped in linens, those were recognizably computer monitors in the back seat, among who knew what else. The car was packed.

On the bright side, he was mostly sure his friend would have said something before packing if he didn't have somewhere to go, and he wouldn't have packed the car up like this on a visit if he was trying to give it back, so… he was headed somewhere. Probably. There was a chance he'd decided to drop the few things he actually cared about off for safekeeping before trying to figure something out on the fly. He'd actually done that once, but he'd asked and Des had paid for a local storage closet instead of trying to finagle the distance. They'd looked into bringing him closer a few times too, but Italy had shittier laws about his visa that made the idea unpalatable. The man had been good and settled in Switzerland for a solid five years now, he hadn't thought Jack would want to leave, but…

Well, he'd been worried about what he wasn't saying about his job, lately. This was probably the culmination of that. At least I finally got Jake to acknowledge it, he groused, shoving his hands into his armpits and trudging up to the front door of the main house. If he hadn't, what came next would have gone much worse.

…Shit, please tell me he's not planning to try living out of the car. Short-term or not, the Ruzzi was tiny and it was January. Working with Jack's pride was a bloody balancing act sometimes, but that would be insane even for him. If that's his idea, I'm finding him some kind of short-term lease. Putting the man too close to Jake for too long was asking for trouble, but even if this went to hell in a handbasket all over again today he was absolutely doing that much, and Jack could just get the fuck over it.

Hopefully the brat could keep his head and the Millers would both hold on to their tempers long enough to reach a more amiable, permanent solution; but having plans for worst case scenarios made him feel better.

Stomping his feet out a few times on the outdoor mat, he opened the door for the entryway and spent a while stomping and scraping in there too before calling, "Hayden?"

"Kitchen!" the boy shouted from the surveillance closet. Polanski liked to call it his war room, but that was more cute than truth. A card table did not make for a planning session – but Hayden had played too much D&D to believe anyone on that front, so they'd mostly settled on it being cute.

"Thanks," he muttered, knowing he'd be heard. He debated slipping out of his shoes entirely, but it looked like everyone else had been tracking water around, at least on this floor, so there wasn't much point. Jack can't have been here long if they haven't shuffled off to either Relena or Jake's office. That was good. There was usually a pot of coffee brewing in the kitchen too, and he could definitely use that. Fifty meters between houses, and I'm already regretting going outside. I'm going to have to put Lyle in a bloody snowsuit just to make the distance.

He made himself stop and take a deep breath before heading further into the house. Calm down. Whatever was going on, they were going to work it out before his best friend did something truly stupid, and he didn't need to get this worked up over it. It was fine. Also, he should probably start wearing an actual fucking coat when trotting between outbuildings, because that was at least half his bad mood – which was absurd. He grinned. I need to bundle up me in a snowsuit to walk fifty meters. Snorting out a laugh, he shook his head and turned down the right hall. I really am turning into a grumpy old man.

He'd have to tell Cass. She'd laugh at him and suggest finding a stocking cap the same color as one of Lyle's, 'so my babies match.'

…He should get pictures of that. Especially if he could get his boy to scowl with him for the camera – that would be stinking cute.

Tugging at his sweater to make sure it wasn't all bunched up, the lines of it falling straight, he strode purposefully for the purple kitchen. Now that Raina had the commercial one up and running in one of the outbuildings, this one was more social space than constant chaos.

Jack's voice came filtering down the hall. "No, she was mostly into greens. Her favorite blend varied by the season, but sencha was always a good standby."

"Mm, Lena's partial to greens," Jake offered. "English style blacks, too, but if it hadn't gotten so hard to find, I think she'd drink dragonwell every day."

"Mm. There's a couple agricolonies in L1 that keep a focus on the green teas, especially since the Fall."

"Yeah, but she won't agree to the expense of making it a regular import. A treat is one thing, but she's too practical to allow for the habit."

…He was becoming less convinced that coffee was in his foreseeable future.

David spoke up next. "Do we know yet if Japan is on the list for Reclamation?"

"It is, but not in the first wave, or even the third," Jake admitted. "It's too far north to be prime real estate, not to mention close enough to China to make everyone nervous. Maraggos has it in her queue for desalinization, but there aren't any plans to colonize it. Unless someone wants to buy property up there, it'll probably stay empty for a while."

Dave scoffed. "Buy it from who?"

"…Maraggos, I suppose," Jake decided after a moment. "Part of the deal Noventa's made with Nueva Terra is shares in restored land, but… I honestly haven't looked into it. The Pacific colonies being established as insular new states aren't operating that way, but… there's some kind of exchange. It's not a sale, exactly, but a certain degree of investment in an area is required for any kind of claim to go through."

That was probably enough eavesdropping. "Alright, the boy is asleep," Des announced, coming around the corner with his hands jammed in his pockets. "What are we drinking?" He hated green tea, but he'd get over it in the name of warmth and common ground.

"White chocolate peppermint rooibos," Jake returned cheerfully.

Des blinked. "What?"

"I stole it from Dorothy." Taking a deep drink from his mug, he added, "It's basically Christmas in a cup."

Jack chuckled. "I don't know if I'd go that far, but it's not bad," he acknowledged.

Des focused on his friend, and… Huh.

Jack… looked better than he had in months. If not years. His hair was a little more styled than his usual buzz, though still incredibly short, and the edges were sharp enough that he had to have seen a barber within the last couple of days. The clothes were new too, excepting the boots, though those looked like they'd seen some polish recently, and… they were good casual clothes, not something he'd scraped together for an interview. Well-cut to suit his frame for once, instead of something he'd grabbed off a sales rack. And maybe part of it was the clothing, but… he stood a little straighter too, more settled in his skin than Des was used to seeing, especially in Jake's presence.

His friend had always looked a bit older than he deserved. Today, though… if not for the scattered bits of grey in his hair, he could pass for thirty-something, instead of forty-five. Hell, if he carried it right, he might be able to do it anyway. Jack had always made a point of staying a level of fit that most dropped by the time they reached twenty-five. Part of that had been because of his line of work, but… well, Jake had gotten that sheer physicality from somewhere. It seemed like instinct as much as habit.

So. New job, not on the hunt. That was a relief. Though… That seemed a bit off too. The man had been through too much shit to count his chickens before they hatched, and didn't care half as much about appearances as he should – unless he'd gotten thrown out of his apartment, getting new clothes before the move didn't make sense. And anyway, the last time that had happened, he'd pulled together a new wardrobe out of a thrift store, not… this. The quality and cut suggested branding.

Jack gave him a resigned glower. "You too?"

Caught out. "You look good."

"That makes it sound like I looked bad before."

"…No comment?" Des returned dryly.

He groaned, shoulders slumping. "I don't understand why it's such a big difference."

Des's lips twitched. "Have you tried using a mirror?"

David snickered.

"It doesn't make sense," Jack argued. "I can't figure out why one thing is…" He sighed, running a hand over his hair. "I can tell it's different, but don't ask me how. I'm just… rolling with it. It's been a hell of a week."

"I was trying to figure out how to ask," Jake admitted, looking awkward. "We thought…"

Leaning back against the counter, Jack sighed when Jake trailed off. "Your brother's friends are an absolute riot," he announced. "Particularly when they decide to mob you."

Some mix of apprehension and genuine delight bloomed in his chest. No… He'd had his misgivings, but so far? "Yeah?"

"Junior realized I was looking at jobs in Berlin, and the next thing I know, he's following me home to help me move," Jack admitted. "Well, he did some kind of business shit in Berlin first, and then… Well, no." He let out a long sigh. "Apparently I've been on a shortlist for colony construction work for over a decade? But I never heard about it because headhunters always dropped it once they realized I was living on Earth." He shook his head. "I took a weekend trip up to see Junior at this show a bunch of the Rubato guys were going to; Audi set it all up before you asked for help moving out of Italy, Des. Then during breakfast the morning after, Da Capo's HR manager sidled up and started eyeing me like a piece of meat."

Des's face hurt, he was smiling so wide. "Da Capo is building terrestrial colonies," he breathed.

His friend's returning smile was tired but genuine. "Yeah. And they're more than aware of potential security and design change pitfalls. They were looking for someone familiar enough with the tech to design then maintain both physical and digital security, not to mention finagle the details between the various companies involved when they hit a snag. It's… actually a lot." He clasped a hand against the back of his neck. "There's going to be a lot of traveling, mostly by air, so the Ruzzi will spend a lot of time in a garage after all."

He laughed. "That job description was practically made for you." The experience required was exactly what his friend had been doing all his life, including the less reputable parts.

Jack let out a disbelieving little laugh. "Right? I mean, if Junior hadn't been as startled as me…" The next laugh was a little closer to hysterical. "He had no idea, but Des, he said… Fuck." He covered his face with his hands. "I was looking at apartments in Berlin, but he said it was covered – some kind of corporate housing, I think, especially with all the travel. I haven't seen it yet, but the building has some kind of concierge service that's got my key."

Jake nudged at Des's elbow, handing him a mug when he glanced his way. "That's really cool," the kid agreed, looking fascinated and hopeful and guiltily ashamed all at once.

He rested a hand on the boy's shoulder and gave it a squeeze before cupping the warm porcelain with both hands. Little brother beat you to it, huh? Better late than never, but… well, this was turning out better than anything he'd imagined. Jake was getting there, but maybe he'd do it a bit faster if he had some competition.

"Let's go sit down," David suggested. And oh. So I'm not going to have to shepherd this discussion by myself. That was nice – Dave hadn't done too bad a job on Christmas, even, so maybe he'd keep raising the bar with some practice.

"Mm, yeah, I actually had sandwiches set out in my office already," Jake admitted. "We just got sidetracked."

"By tea," Dave agreed, looking deeply amused as he led the way. "I thought you were stealing Dorothy's stuff, not her habits."

Jake groaned. "I hate cough meds."

Jack frowned. "You're sick?"

"Don't pity him, he was being stupid," Des dismissed, changing the subject. Jake got self-conscious about anything out of his control, and he still had questions. And I might as well get some needling done while I'm at it, because apparently the kid who didn't have parents is doing a better job of this than the one I helped bring up. That burned a bit, but eh – it was a fixable problem. In the meantime, distraction. "Junior helped you move?"

"We canceled my flight and took the train down to Zurich," Jack agreed. "Which was… really nice, honestly. We ended up in our own compartment. The new place is furnished, so I didn't figure it would take too long, but then…" He huffed out another disbelieving laugh. "We'd been there for maybe twenty minutes when Skye, Jon, and Luke showed up too, and then it's a whirlwind I can barely keep track of until Mister PR opens my closet and announces I have ten minutes to pick out my favorites before the rest of my clothes go to charity and he's taking both of us shopping, because neither Odin or I can be trusted to dress respectably."

Des snickered. "He's as bad as you?"

Jack scoffed. "Apparently he's literally been wearing whatever people hand him – he's just made a point to have various women do it for him over the last few years, so, quote 'people stopped giving me looks.'"

He snorted. "Did they?"

"Absolutely not, though I don't think it's something he can help. I guess he was dyeing his hair, but even as a brunette, he's striking – he does a decent civilian amble in public, but he still holds himself with too much confidence to be anything but a dangerous pretty boy." He groaned. "I'm a little worried about what he wore before if he thinks he isn't noticed now. He's passable but he doesn't blend. He's also not-" he waved a hand at himself, "not whatever this is, and I don't think he has any literal concept of modesty." A laugh seemed to bubble out of him almost involuntarily. "Or propriety, or personal space. Not that he casually invades most people's, but I met two more of his best friends, and it's…" He shook his head. "He's a human-shaped alley cat."

Des snorted again. "That bad?"

"I have no idea what to do with it," Jack agreed. "Kasey's just as weird, and I feel like the only reason Adam is any better is because he effectively has ADD – a malicious Puck version of it."

He blinked. "That's… daunting."

"You're telling me," Jack agreed. "They've got that same peer relationship as with Cat, though, and some of the things they said… The four of them definitely pulled some shit together before the Fall. The rest of Rubato is distinctly Cat's crowd and friendly by association, but those four… they're woven tight."

He considered that. "So friends from before the war, then."

Jack shook his head. "Odin… he's cagey about it, but… it's what he doesn't say? He brings up horrible shit he's gone through like it's hardly worth a mention, but he also acts like his life started in 195. He's point blank said he'd never had a friend before the war, and he's got some… really distinct abuse markers." He gusted out a sharp breath. "Wherever he was between Senior dying and 195, at least four of those years were with someone he thought was a friend but has since decided wasn't, who both never used a name for him and, when the guy was mentioned? The kid got visibly shook up at the idea that the man might not be dead."

Des felt cold. "That sounds like mentor abuse."

"Yeah," Jack snarled. "But the most he'll say is that it's too large of an issue to avoid triggers and that, quote, 'it can't happen again, so not thinking about it mostly works.'" He rubbed at his mouth. "His friends aren't used to seeing him upset despite being bizarrely close, especially Kasey." He snorted out a laugh. "Though some of the shit they say… they bicker like an old married couple." He winced. "A divorced old married couple. Except Kay is happily married, the boys snuggle, and the wife thinks it's adorable. I can't make heads or tails of it."

Des raised his brows. "Well…" How did you bring this kind of thing up with your very straight, vanilla best friend?

Jack rolled his eyes. "Give me a fucking break, I'm not stupid. It's not like that either, and yes, it was explicitly stated." The corner of his mouth turned up in a smirk. "Though it wouldn't be the first time someone's made that kind of mistake about Kasey. He's just… touchy. I think his concept of physical boundaries and affection are as blurred as Jake's are rigid, and apparently he's Junior's first friend, which puts my kid's baseline somewhere in outer Mongolia." He shook his head. "Anne calls it 'queer platonic,' and it seems to boil down to 'I will rearrange my whole life and do anything for this person because he is my friend,' and that's… a defining feature of his psyche." He sighed. "Even when it's nuts. Apparently Kasey shot him the first time they met."

About to ask about the newest name in the mix, Des hesitated over that long enough for Jake to snap a flat, "What."

Jack sighed, looking like he couldn't decide if he wanted to laugh or cry. "Yeah. I asked, but Odin just laughed like a kid with his hand in a cookie jar and said he deserved it. Maintains that he wasn't actually doing what Kay thought, but that if their positions had been reversed he would have done a lot worse than graze someone's tricep." He groaned. "Mind, this conversation started with Kasey frowning down at the pair of crease scars Odin has on that arm and saying 'I know I didn't double-tap you' before my kid laughs and relates some story about covering for Cat and having bad angles that made no sense whatsoever." He reached up with one hand to pinch his nose. "The lot of them swap between very serious, thoughtful talk and crap like that with no warning. The Rubato guys aren't much better."

Fun times. It sounded like maybe Jack was finally getting a taste of his own medicine. When it came to Junior's friends, though, there was still another point to add to the constellation. "What about the L5 one with the younger Cambyses kid that you mentioned –Yasha?"

Jack shook his head. "Yasa is the kid, and… that's something else, I don't know. They weren't there this time, and… they're on good terms, but nothing like the insanity with Kasey or Cat. I poked a bit, but all Odin would say was that Xutao and the kid were part of a group they were friendly with, not Rubato."

Jake froze, then turned back to face them sharply enough that his father flinched. "Xutao Chang?" he demanded.

Jack made a face, shoulders settling into a solid line. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"

Jake blinked, before the aggression abruptly flowed back out of him. "I… No, that's… if he is, that's… fine." He frowned, taking a step back and shaking his head before meeting Jack's eyes again. "Maybe even good, but… is it?"

Jack studied him for a long moment before shrugging. "Probably. They have said Chang, but it's a common surname."

"L5 native of straight Chinese descent with shoulder-length hair? A martial artist sharpshooter who can make parkour look like literal flight?"

"…Probably. I've only really seen him be threatening or try to exasperatedly pretend he's not surrounded by psychos every time Rubato starts bantering. He's the one your brother handed me off to that morning I found him, though."

Jake's shoulders drooped, and he nodded a little to himself before looking back to David. "That might be how," he decided. "We're still not clear on how Barton found out, but we know he told Chang."

"Don't go counting chickens," Des admonished, mind frankly too crowded to even think about the implications in that connection just yet.

"How what?" Jack demanded evenly.

Jake met his father's eyes again, then sighed. "Come on, we're almost to my office. Sarracenia is secure, but I'll be more comfortable going over everything in there." His lips twitched with a grimace, there and gone again in a flash. "It's actually something I meant to bring up already – I just didn't think you'd have anything to add."

Jack eyed him for another moment before nodding a little, clearly catching both the intent and the mood. "Okay." He hesitated when Jake headed back up the hall. "Do you know anything about Grójec?"

Jake frowned, looking over his shoulder. "Not off the top of my head, but maybe? It sounds familiar."

"So far as I can tell, it's the name of a town in Poland."

Jake stopped, then took a deep breath before staring to walk again. "Maybe. I need to check something."

And time for a distraction. Jack clearly wanted to pick at that, and if Des let him, the situation might spiral. He wasn't sure about any details beyond Xutao Chang being very definitively Insurgence personnel, but so long as Jake had a moment to regather himself and settle his nerves, he wouldn't lose his temper. "Who's Anne?"

The suspicious concern vanished from his friend's face, replaced by a bright smile. "You're not going to believe me."

He bumped his shoulder against the other man's in a friendly shove. "Won't know unless you try," he argued.

The smile widened as Jack's eyes danced. "Odin's twenty-nine-year-old, married with a kid, career therapist foster sister."

His breath caught, and he could tell he was mirroring Jack's expression now. "Excellent."

Jack barked out a laugh. "Yeah, when we first parted ways and he told me not to follow him? Apparently he was heading to see his mom. He's got some issues about titles that I haven't worked out, he just calls her by name, but… Des, I tilted his world on end by introducing myself, and he hung out with me a couple days before going to go talk about it with the closest thing he has to a mother-figure."

Healthy coping mechanisms. What do you know? "Fantastic. When do you meet her?"

Jack grimaced. "I'm not sure. They're in the middle of moving – Odin's exasperated by how involved it is, but I can't tell if it's actually a difficult situation or if he's being dramatic because he has no frame of reference. Either way it's evidently a process, and the mom, Moira, is presiding over it from Israel; but Anne brought her daughter to see the circus." He shook his head. "She's got a good sense of humor, and isn't shy about giving someone hell if she thinks they deserve it; she mostly treated me like an adorably awkward colt she needed to herd around, but she tore Kasey a new one at one point and…" He blew out a breath. "That one, I can't figure out. Kay's disposition mostly comes off like a lovable puppy, but sometimes he moves like a fucking black ops assassin and it's enough to give you whiplash."

Des debated, but only for a moment. The only reason Jack didn't know was because his time around his son was limited. "Jake's that way, often enough." You had to get him relaxed enough to loosen his grip on his body language, though, which… His father had never seen.

Jack gusted out another sigh. "I'm starting to think the only reason Odin isn't is because he doesn't try covering it in the first place."

Des smirked. "There are worse things." He'd mostly been joking before when he suggested the Millers might be more of a mess than the baby of the family, but so far? "So you managed to make a sane one."

Jack's grimace was severe. "That's… not the word I'd use."

Probably fair. "Stable and happy?"

Jack considered that a moment, then licked his lips before nodding. "Yeah. I've gathered that that's more recent, he keeps mentioning heart-stopping shit about anything before 197, but… yeah."

Cassidy and Vaughn looked up as they came into the office – more of a lounge, really, with filing cabinets and a minimal desk to one side. He knew from experience that the large windows were one-way, and Dermiglass to boot, with all the features entailed. Given the location on a first floor corner facing the central grounds, he imagined this had been part of a ballroom, once; Jake had remodeled so extensively, however, that it was hard to say.

"Hey Boss! Was starting to think you'd gotten lost," Vaughn greeted with a grin.

"In three more minutes, I was going to eat your dessert," Cassidy deadpanned. "You cut it close."

Jake snorted, waving the guardsman away from the desk chair he was occupying while Jack and Dave dropped onto a couch and Des went for his favorite armchair. "You only would have gotten away with it until Cassie asked what I thought."

"Cassie's cookies are worth the consequences," the other man returned in the same flat tone, raising an eyebrow even as he moved away from the computer. "I thought the goal here was social."

"I need to check something."

Des stifled a groan, shrugging when Cassidy turned that flatly unimpressed look on him. Sure, Jake could be warmer, but no one had gotten offended yet. He'd take it. As it was… Well, clarifying the Insurgence issue was important too. "What do we know about Xutao Chang?"

Both brows went up this time, but Foreman didn't fail to impress. "He was a secondary choice to pilot the L5 gundam, and has the skills to match; BJ thinks he might be flying Heavyarms these days. Either way, he's one of Sally Po's top dogs, alongside Schbeiker."

"Po?" Jack breathed. "The lady with the only Regime rebel group big enough to earn a name?"

"Libramentum has a name," Vaughn pointed out.

"Those shitheads named themselves, it's different," Jack argued, leaning forward and gesturing emphatically. "Also, Po has a gundam."

"And unlike the pendulum idiots, she's only picking fights that are strategic and have little to no civilian collateral," Cassidy agreed dryly. "Why are we talking about Insurgence agents?"

Des only hesitated a moment. "Because apparently they hang out with the Revenants on the weekend."

Jack covered his face.

Cassidy blinked a few times, standing up straighter. "You don't say."

"No." Jack's voice was muffled through his hands and he sounded disgruntled, but his tone was resolute.

Des frowned. "You said-"

"They've been exceedingly clear. Xu and Yasa aren't working with Rubato."

Nitpicky. "And the hanging out is…?"

"They trade favors with Odin." He pulled his hands down to glower at him. "The others acknowledge him in passing, but Xu is friends with my son, not the group."

…Oh. Oh that was a point of distinction. Though he wasn't sure if it was a good or a bad one.

Jake spoke up next, not looking away from his computer monitor. "In the second quarter of 197, Xutao Chang ran both of my parties on a merry chase across two continents. The Regime almost caught him in July, in a Polish town named Grójec before losing his trail entirely." Spinning back to face them, he smiled wryly. "I had to bow out. Troops were closing too tight of a net around him, and my resources weren't close enough to do much – but then someone dismantled it from the inside and vanished him. No one got a good look, but the favorite theory has been that Po deployed some kind of surgical SWAT team to get her man back. Not that that made sense either, it was a snug net, and to slip even one person through… he would have had to be fast as hell." The smile turned tight, even as his eyes shone with more amusement. "There were injuries, but no fatalities – deep bruising, a few concussions, six different bullet wounds in non-fatal areas, and apparently Lieutenant Corso's knee hasn't been the same since, but…" He shrugged, looking down and away. "It was well done."

Cassidy blinked a few more times, looking between Jake and Jack, who were… Both slumped in their seats, pointedly not looking at each other. "Ah."

"…Are we fangirling or deriding?" Vaughn asked. "I can't tell."

Jake honest to God giggled. "Fuck. Fangirling. Let's go with fangirling. I don't know the full details of that night, but it was impressive."

Jack closed his eyes. "Not a problem, then."

Jake froze up for a moment, then leaned back with a sigh. "Basically the opposite, actually."

Des's friend opened his eyes again, glanced at his son, then focused on the ceiling instead. "You were Regime, back then."

Jake's jaw clenched. Then he visibly forced himself to relax before admitting, "Only on paper."

That dark brown gaze cut over to the young man again, sharp and calculating, before Jack, too, visibly forced himself to relax, elbows resting on his knees. "Yeah?"

Sighing, Jake stood up and walked over to the couch facing his father, grabbing a glass of water off the tray on the coffee table before sitting again. "For the record… a lot of my career has been that way. Even joining the Academy was that way, not…" He swallowed. "We wanted to change things. OZ was only a means to an end, even for Treize. And I mean… the way the war panned out shows that we did it, even if it didn't go half as smooth as anyone could've hoped. The Alliance is gone, OZ is gone, the overall structure of Romefeller is broken, and…" He gusted out a sigh. "I don't know. No one was ready for Libra or what came after. As bad as it is, I think it could have gone a lot worse."

Jack was quiet for a long moment, watching his son fidget. "Okay," he agreed. "I guess I can see that."

"I never believed in OZ's ideals," Jake added. "Even… I mean, everyone knows Treize's real rhetoric now, he talked enough at Libra and the soundbites went viral, but there were points when he took an 'ends justify the means' stance and… we fought over it. I left OZ entirely because I was worried about the repercussions of having to tell him to fuck off on official orders one more time – I think General Catalonia only tolerated my bullshit because he thought it was funny. That, or he decided Treize was getting an important life lesson out of it. It's hard to say, with Demetri." His mouth twisted. "Just… is it really so different? Even we thought it was a fucked up system – we were trying to take it all apart from the inside. We thought we'd have a better chance of making a difference than anything the colonial rebels had managed."

There was another long, pregnant pause before Jack nodded again, tension falling out of his shoulders as he sat up straight. "I suppose I hadn't thought about it that way," he admitted.

"I… didn't want you to," Jake admitted quietly. "It… that kind of cover is important, you know?"

"…And you hated me."

Jake bit his lip. "It… was a really convenient reason to think I hated you?" he offered. "Letting it compound into everything you hated and misdirecting that back onto the Khushrenadas, who I knew I loved, even when I was… deliberately lying to myself. Because it was easier." He took a deep breath, grumbled in annoyance, and set the water glass back down on the table to rub damp hands on his pant legs. "I'm sorry. It wasn't fair, and I didn't even try, because every time I thought about maybe fixing it I either lost my temper or spiraled back into depression, and then you'd show up and say something that I just couldn't-" He cut himself off, chest heaving, and closed his eyes again. "I'm sorry. It's really fucking stupid that it's taken me fifteen years to acknowledge how fucked up this all is, but I can't change it, it's done, but I don't want to be like that anymore, I don't have to hide in plain sight like that anymore, and I just… thought you should know." His shoulders slumped. "You deserve to know. I'm a shitty son, I can't believe I didn't even think about it from the political perspective until-"

"I stopped caring about the politics a long time ago," Jack interrupted. "It's fine."

"It's not fine, you-"

"I decided to stop caring, because what was left was more important," Jack continued. "Especially after Amarianna died. You'd made it damn clear by then that my opinion didn't matter, so I wasn't going to waste time on it unless it had future impact. Treize used to worry me but he never held a candle to his mother, and Dave and the Noins made a good counterbalance – so yes, Jake, it's actually fine." He took a deep breath. "I'm glad to hear you confirm there was more subterfuge involved than I was told, but I'd half guessed as much, and it didn't matter. I only care in as much as it affects your future, because that is all I give a damn about. You." He closed his eyes, dropping his head back in his hands again, before amending, "You and your brother. And that's as awesome as it is terrifying, because so far, it's too fucking good to be true. I'm hoping all this dread I'm feeling is just because you and I have been so bad at this that my expectations are shit, but…" He hesitated, licking his lips, before whispering, "What if he's counter to-" He cut himself off, squeezing his eyes shut. "I… I can't-"

"Relena wants an alliance with the Insurgence." Jake looked a little wild about the eyes, but his voice was firm, confident, and… actually? Decently reassuring. "We have an active treaty with the Soleil Coalition, we're in the middle of negotiating deals with Rubato from two different angles, and before the next month is out, Relena is going to be completely detached from the Regime. I was anti-OZ by the time the war started – whatever Junior did during the war, I don't care." He huffed out a semi-hysterical laugh. "So long as he's not gunning for Lena, anything else is manageable."

Des raised his brows, impressed in spite of himself. Even if he wasn't able to acknowledge it right now, Jack knew his son well enough to recognize how much was implied in that spill of highly classified information. More than anything, Jake showed trust through offered vulnerability. Which made this a big leap. Finally, something like progress.

Jack swallowed, not looking up. "Okay."

Jake hesitated, obviously wondering if he'd said it wrong, if he should try again, but instead he just stared for a long couple of seconds before quietly asking, "You said he had good fosters?"

"…Yeah." Jack flopped into the back of the couch to stare up at the ceiling again. "The mom is the actual attachment point, followed by the granddaughter, with Anne and the husbands practically an afterthought. But little Leah practically thinks he hung the moon, and…" He sighed. "He's good with her. He's good with Audi too, but Leah is only five, it's different. He's just… good."

Jake nodded, looking a little wistful. "Good. That's… great."

Jack's answering nod was absentminded, throat bobbing as he swallowed without looking away from the ceiling. "They… It's not typical. He only met them in 197, but… It's a familial bond." He sighed. "It's trauma-induced, but that doesn't make it not real. Apparently Junior was about six inches from dead when Moira and her husband took them in, and Cambyses snatched Cat while your brother was still bedridden. He hadn't seen Kasey or Adam since 195, and he was… really alone."

David grimaced, slumping in his seat. "Shit."

Jake… was very still.

"But he's got… really pragmatic views on that kind of thing?" Jack was still staring up, probably as a way to avoid their reactions. "He adopted Audi because he found her homeless on a street corner, and he's… intimately familiar with what that's like." He swallowed again, then sighed, pulling himself upright and dropping forward with his elbows on his knees again to meet his son's eyes. "He's a fucking hurricane in a bottle. But he's got your same absolute devotion once he commits, and that's how he is about his friends. And since he doesn't have a line between friends and family…" Another sigh. "Even if he never acknowledges the past, I'm pretty sure he'll take you as a new brother. He… There's been a lot of trauma, but it looks like his workaround is to attach – despite being one of the most awkward people I've ever met, but he's really into people. When I… He said if I didn't want the Da Capo job, he'd take care of what I needed to find a different one, and when I pushed back… he basically laughed and told me he'd do it for anyone, so I shouldn't take it personally. He's got this rhetoric about happiness being about individual choice, and… As much as he says he's not actively involved in Rubato? The more I talk to him, the more I realize their party lines quote him. He might not be involved in the day to day, but he's at the heart."

…Damn. That was promising.

Also? Good to confirm just how deeply in love Jack already was with his youngest, even as he dismissed the fact that he had the same insane commitment values as his sons.

"…I can accept being a foster brother," Jake murmured after another long moment. "I… I get that."

Jack nodded even as he grimaced, drawing himself up. "Good. But… While we're on the subject and not at each other's throats?" He licked his lips, bracing himself before barreling on. "I should have said it before, but… I'm sorry about Treize. My issues with Amarianna shouldn't have carried down, and even when we've disagreed… I know what he meant to you. Even if you're getting Junior back, it's… really shitty that you've lost another brother."

Jake closed his eyes for a moment, setting his jaw. "Jack?"

"I'm sorry, I'm not trying to overstep, I just wanted to-"

"Dad."

Jack froze, turning wide eyes on his son.

Jake's smile was sad this time, and only a little chagrined, for all that Des could see his clawing guilt at Jack's shock – Jake referred to Jack as his father, sometimes even in front of the man, but when was the last time he'd said it to him?

Jake visibly steeled himself again before admitting, "I didn't."

Jack blinked. "Didn't what?"

That sad, wry smile was back full force. "That's the main reason I asked if you could come today; what I was trying to work myself up to. I never actually worked for Zechs… and I never lost Treize."

"…Oh."

Silence.

"…That's what I meant, with the whole… Xutao thing. Treize had enough people seeded into the Regime that I could direct them to follow other interests while under official auspices, and-"

"I can't know this," Jack abruptly announced.

Jake wilted, curling in on himself. "I didn't-"

"I am barely going to be able to hold onto the Treize intel," Jack interrupted. "Mostly by not thinking about it, but Jake, I can't play secret keeper between the two of you, I'm already-" He cut himself off this time, clutching at his head. "Fuck, I'm happy for you, but you can't tell me this kind of shit and expect me to keep it from-"

"The genie's already out of the bottle," David announced, speaking over both men when Jake tried to cut in. He shifted close enough to Jack that their knees were touching, leaning in at an angle to meet his eyes. "You've got a point, but we're still in the clear."

Jack was definitely the one wild about the eyes now, and he focused all his attention on David. "What?"

The kid doesn't deserve that much heat. "The Revenants already know," Des explained, drawing his friend's attention back on himself as he stood and walked over to sit on his other side. "Treize is part of the triad that makes up the Soleil Coalition's power, and when Relena met with a Rubato rep earlier this week, one of his opening salvos was to point out that they're making deals with her, not her allies." He grimaced. "Which is really interesting to me, given how the second half of that jump was supposed to be even more classified."

"That was Razo," David dismissed. "We knew he'd tattle on that point, it was part of his agreement – he didn't want to risk crossing enemy lines with Stanton."

Jack's eyes had narrowed. "I've heard that name a few times now. Who is Razo?"

"Dave's new second in command, who was Stanton's second in command back in Cambyses," Cassidy explained. When Jack continued to stare at him, not saying anything, he shrugged. "We're all getting a little interwoven."

"No shit," Jack snapped back, continuing to stare at the captain.

Cassidy crossed his arms, eyes lighting up with amusement. "You have no room to talk."

"The information transfer is a good thing," Jake announced. "Everyone's talking. We're not all friends yet, but we're talking, and that's the first step."

Jack focused back on his son, mouth all pinched up. "But when Zechs finds out-"

"We're handling it," Jake insisted. "It's a controlled fall – I've got it in the bag, okay?"

"Not if you don't have control of the intel!" Jack argued. "What the fuck, what about Relena, it's not going to matter that you quit his army, he-"

"I've got it covered," Jake insisted again, looking both genuinely touched and like he was trying to not laugh out loud. "We have a plan, it's a good one, shit, you're starting to sound like Lena, don't-"

"I'm going to take that as a compliment," Jack returned with a glower. "This is your life, not a cover you can walk away from."

"I know. I- Jack, I know, okay? Don't worry about it."

The noise that came out of the man to that was entirely appropriate.

"I," Cassidy announced pointedly, "would still feel better if we knew where the leak was."

Jake's mouth firmed up, and for a moment, he and Jack really were reflections of each other. It was distorted, Jake took heavily after the Lowe side, but it was still there, plainly visible, if only for a moment. "We're not mining my father for intel," he informed them all evenly.

Jack guffawed. "Because that makes any sense!" Then he frowned when everyone went silent. "…What?"

"It's probably Xutao," Jake dismissed. "Barton knows, and he's working with the Insurgence, so if they know and Junior is friends with Xutao, then that's as complicated as it has to get."

Vaughn, quiet so far, snorted out a laugh. "Are you even listening to yourself?"

Des nudged Jack with one elbow gently as the group started to bicker in earnest, taking a sip from the mug he'd carried from the kitchen – mm, not bad – before offering it to him. "How are you holding up?"

Jack stared at the cup for a long moment before opting to fall back into the couch cushions instead of acknowledging it. "I don't know," he admitted. "This week just…" He licked his lips. "Well. Everyone's reactions to hearing Junior was around the Khushrenadas a lot as a kid have an entirely different context, now."

He hadn't thought of that. "I'll bet." He held the cup out more pointedly, until Jack shook his head. "It sounds like it's been a pretty good week overall, though."

His friend let out a soft chuckle. "Yeah. Bizarre, but… I got a lot of time with him, you know?" He shook his head. "He's brilliant. Whenever we had downtime, he was pulling out this interactive 3D projector that… It's like a pocket version of a development lab. I have no idea what he's working on, but it's complicated, and apparently it's some kind of original design for Da Capo. He left for one of their construction sites this morning, and he said he wasn't going until he'd finished it, so…" He shook his head again. "Do you have any idea how big of a deal that is?"

Des considered. "Only in general terms," he admitted. Colonies were the pinnacle of modern technology. Lucrezia had argued before that high-end suits were too, the same way that a powerful laptop was as impressive as a computer with three times the CPU – compression, miniaturization, gain without loss of mobility instead of sheer versatility – but personally, he figured it was easier to compare a high end sports car to a cruise ship. Which is to say that while maybe the engines have a lot in common, it's still apples to oranges. The venue was just too damn different to really argue the point – and his little girl was obsessed with anything that went fast, so she was biased anyway.

"It's a really big deal," Jack insisted. "Even if it's something minor or experimental, that's not junior tech work. It doesn't matter if it's only for a specific segment of the whole, only in the single digits of percentage involvement – that's full partner status in engineering."

Des considered Jake's startled look at that before shrugging. Cool. He'd take their word for it. At any rate, if the kid truly was just some studious engineer with a history of violence, he'd be more than willing to let bygones be bygones. The problem was still immediate, though, and he'd covered for it long enough. Besides, we already managed to cover three different inflammatory subjects without an explosion; might as well make use of the setting. He wouldn't have guessed that adding the two guardsmen into this meeting would help temper the mood, but since it was working, he was willing to take advantage. "Did you ever find out why he was pissing off drug dealers?"

Jake blinked. "What?"

"Your father left Tivoli early a couple weeks ago because he overheard Junior get into a gunfight with a heroin syndicate while they were on the phone," Des informed the room evenly.

Silence.

Jack sighed, closing his eyes and rubbing at one temple. "It was over by the time I got there," he reminded Des.

"It… couldn't have been about money," Dave offered slowly. "So… is that a problem?"

Jack looked more tired than offended, though it was definitely both. "No, he doesn't even take his prescriptions. I did ask, he gave the shit away because he didn't want to deal with disposing of it. And…" He groaned. "I don't know. Apparently it was some kind of information grab that Adam botched and asked for help with? Odin was exasperated as hell about it, but somehow it escalated to the point that he… called Xu to come handle the cleanup. Shit." He shook his head. "With Po… that dynamic is starting to make a lot more sense. Xu hasn't said ten words to me collectively, but the Rubato boys are downright fascinated with Yasa. If your brother has a connection to Po through Xutao, then tagging him with the runaway might be a bid to get more conversation going between the groups."

Cassidy frowned. "What's so special about the kid?"

"Other than the fact that skill-wise, he's basically Jake at twelve? He got himself out of Cambyses all on his lonesome a solid year before the Strike Force came, and likes to tease Rubato for 'being a bunch of copycats.'"

"Oh shit," David breathed, eyes bright.

Jack snorted. "Yeah. He's also somehow one of the sunniest personalities I've ever met; he's a bouncy, happy, sassy little shit, and the way he shadows Xu? If Xu is someone's agent, then Yasa is his partner."

"That… doesn't bother you?" Vaughn sounded surprised.

Jack blinked. "What?"

"I thought you were super against all this child soldier shit," the bodyguard protested, sitting up properly for the first time since the rest of them had come into the room. "What with what happened to your sons, and-"

Jack let out a sharp, disbelieving bark of a laugh… then didn't stop.

Des sighed, dropping his head in one hand. He supposed it had been inevitable – but they'd been doing so well.

David, bless him, tried to explain. "If you're not in school it's because you work, with colony kids. It's not…"

"It's one of the reasons OZ was able to sweep through so fast with recruitment during the war," Jake agreed. "Fourteen or fifteen is the average graduation age, and if they didn't matriculate or have an apprenticeship lined up, military service would have looked appealing – especially with the PR campaign Une ran. She made it look like all the shit their parents told them about was all the Alliance, with OZ come to save the day."

Dave side-eyed Jack, who was hiding his face again. "And if you graduate at eleven…"

"Twelve isn't a child," Des reiterated, even as the words curdled on his tongue. Truthfully, Lulu hadn't been a child anymore at twelve either, but… well, that was yet another price of the nobility. Joining OZ had meant sacrificing those last years of childhood.

Jack trailed off, groaning. "Yasa is fine. Even if he hadn't survived the Sahara, he's both old enough and has the maturity to make his own decisions. He's an irreverent brat, but I'm not worried about him. He's clearly got a better handle on what he's doing than I did at… ever, actually. Hell if I know how, but I think that kid might be one of the most emotionally balanced people I know." He grimaced, eyes going bleak. "Jake was four."

Let's head that off at the pass, before we spiral into Senior's myriad of sins. "So Junior put you off again about the heroin thing," Des concluded, redirecting the conversation back to a topic he wanted answers on. Because if it was some kind of thrill-seeking, that could also be a problem. Not that it sounded that way so far, but he was running out of ideas – too much of what had been said so far sounded like placating excuses.

Jack, to his surprise, shook his head. "I paraphrased," he admitted. "I think he did explain, but too much got lost in translation. Odin and Rolf were both adamant that wiping that syndicate off the map was the right thing to do, even as they were also clear that Rubato was only involved in the first place because Adam is a member and they weren't going to leave him high and dry. Kasey asked Adam for some kind of favor that involved intel, then Adam hit trouble and roped Odin in. Odin was apparently game at first, but hit a point where he said 'fuck it' and called in the cavalry of both the Rubato vets and an outside crew led by Xutao." He visibly bit down on a laugh before adding, "It was… heavily implied that his breaking point was getting propositioned for giving back a bunch of heroin because they accidentally robbed the wrong syndicate. By the time we were on the phone, he was annoyed enough that he was debating ways to piss off Kasey in retaliation for the whole mess – but as much as he didn't want to be there, he also wasn't willing to leave one of his best friends in hot water."

David started laughing. "So he's not as much of a horndog as you were worrying?"

Des felt his brows go up as Jack blushed. "I am about ninety percent certain there's a girlfriend. There's too many things he's not saying even while he's…" The blush deepened. "Between the timing of whoever is marking up his neck in exactly the same way on a regular basis and what he both will and won't talk about, nothing else makes sense. If he was a little more shy with details I'd think maybe he just had a sense of decorum about his extracurriculars, but…" He gave a helpless little laugh. "I'm starting to appreciate how repressed Jake is."

It was Jake's turn to flush. "I'm working on it," he grumbled.

Jack's face did something complicated. "That's not-"

"I know everyone thinks it's a joke, but it's my head and I'm trying, I'm not-"

"I'm glad," Jack interrupted, raising his voice to talk over him. "And I never want to hear you've been up to the same shit! I can just see the tabloids! He thought it was funny that he'd been caught out, but Relena is royalty, and-" He cut himself off, rubbing a hand over his mouth. "No one would ever be able to kneel to her without waves of old scandal, or there'd be fucking commentary every time she wore a skirt, and-" He covered his eyes. "I'm glad he doesn't have your issues, but please, never follow his example. For everyone's sake."

There was a brief moment of silence while everyone digested that before David started howling, and Des hid his smirk in his cup. Hm. He hadn't known Jake could get that red. Well, then. Time to diffuse the situation – ideally before his foster son collapsed from lack of air. "Exhibitionist streak, hm?"

Jack sighed, resting his elbow on one knee and covering his eyes. "Something like that. His defense boiled down to his head hiding the view and that the two of them weren't the only ones out of hand." He groaned. "I am never following him into a club. Maybe he goes to other kinds too, but… I'm not equipped to handle that."

Des took another sip of his weird tea to control his expression, making an understanding noise. He… didn't have anything helpful to add. Maybe it would be different if his friend hadn't gone out of his way to avoid any kind of intimacy for two decades, but… Well. It had been a while, anyway. Cass's games were fantastic, but his sweet little hedonist didn't get off on adrenaline.

Meanwhile, Jake's face was somehow getting darker, and he still hadn't gotten a straight answer. "He couldn't have explained it that well if you didn't follow," Des persisted, switching back to the heroin issue.

Jack sighed, dropping his weight onto both elbows before meeting his eyes. "He used a term I didn't know but everyone expected me to understand, and I decided to let it lie. I'd already been too confrontational, and they were so earnest about it that I didn't want to upset the balance."

Cassidy shifted his weight, crossing his arms before asking, "And you didn't look it up later?"

Jack turned a glower on him. "I am a convicted felon immigrant with a gun. I am on at least five government watch lists. No, I did not call up a web search on something that sounded proprietary and is dangerous enough that one of my sons wanted it destroyed with prejudice." He shook his head. "When a five word explanation is supposed to easily convince me that eradicating an entire syndicate was the obvious choice, I can assume it's a big deal."

Cassidy frowned, looking at Jake for direction – who was starting to regain his composure, thankfully – before suggesting, "So ask us?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "He said the cartel was selling something called Gamora's Tears."

Des felt his breath catch, and found himself staring as the blood drained out of Jake's face entirely.

Jack's eyes narrowed. "Jake?"

The young man swallowed, looking like he was about to start shaking. "Are you sure?"

"It's a pretty specific name," Jack agreed. "Biblical and everything. I wasn't going to mix it up." He frowned. "What's this about?"

"Did he say anything else?"

Jack's expression turned annoyed. "No, I already said. Kasey and Adam thought they had some kind of lead based on something that happened with Adam in October." He sighed, looking up as he tried to recall details. "Odin thought it was a stupid lead that wouldn't amount to anything when it was all going down, something about Kasey whining at him and Adam… being sloppy? But…" He closed his eyes. "When I was still in Tivoli, before someone opened up with a fucking Kalashnikov, he said Xu was on his way – that he was going to tease Adam for needing help, but that he wasn't leaving until Xu replaced him. Something about shared interests." Frowning as he opened his eyes again, he added, "But then the next time I talked to him he was bitching about the dealers sampling products they couldn't aim properly in reference to the assault rifles, and he wasn't surprised when the shooting started, so maybe that was Po's interest point, weapon sales?" Sighing, he slumped a little. "I don't know. Rolf said they handed off the dealers to Xu because Rubato doesn't talk to the Regime." Shaking his head, he finished with, "They all seemed to think it was case closed, last weekend. Kasey's the one who started it, but at the same time he was really hands off? They said it's rare for him to travel; I don't think he left Amsterdam while any of this was going down."

Cassidy, previously staring off into space, snapped back to attention. "Amsterdam?"

Jack gave him a weird look, then rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Rubato is Cat's baby and Adam's a wildcard, but Kasey's married with an extended family – Audi spent almost a solid forty-eight hours palling around with the boys he brought with him. For all that the Rubato guys seem to rove about as endlessly as Junior, I guess the von Kolls coming into allied Germany for the circus was kind of a big deal."

…And now it was his turn to stare. He could not be saying what Des thought he was saying.

Never let it be said that Kansas let an opportunity go to waste. "You met the whole brood, then?"

Jack shrugged. "The wife, sister, niece, and two little brothers in the mid teenage range; a bigger group was implied, but not in any detail. And they're close-knit enough that when Kay stayed up late, Karina and Melissa curled up in the same bed with the baby between them and left him to fend for himself – which ended with him crashing on a couch wrapped around Odin for half the night." He rolled his eyes. "Rubato made a lot of jokes about that, but I was waiting for trouble right up until Melissa laughed and dropped into my son's lap, demanding he braid her hair."

David scoffed, though his eyes were a little too wide for the impression to come off genuine. "He braids?"

"He's raising a thirteen-year-old girl and is tactile as fuck," Jack retorted. "Of course he braids. Kasey mostly seemed offended she didn't ask him, which I get because that man has way too much hair, but then his sister giggled at him and demanded he do hers, and they went back to being domestic. The boys sat there fucking comparing notes on technique." He rolled his eyes. "I told you, the dynamic is weird."

Jake let out a slightly hysterical little laugh. "Oh shit," he breathed.

"It matches up?" Cassidy demanded.

Jake closed his eyes, a helpless sort of smile on his lips, and asked, "The baby's name was… something with an R? Renee?"

Jack froze, staring at him in something like horror. "How do you know that?"

Jake let out another off-kilter giggle, curling up so his head was almost to his knees. "Holy shit." It came out almost like a whine.

David sighed, bumping his knee against Jack's companionably. "Well, let's look at it this way: the kid's got good taste." He shook his head. "Though I've never heard of him ever leaving the Netherlands."

"Von Koll rarely leaves his neighborhood," Cassidy countered, crossing his arms again. "How the hell would he have gotten a lead on the Tears?"

Vaughn made a thoughtful noise. "There's a lot of black market trade through the democratic zone. Maybe he caught something through a channel that way?"

"…You've all heard of him," Jack realized, eyes flicking around the room, knuckles going white from where they gripped his knees.

Des sighed, the entire situation starting to feel a little surreal. "So have you," he countered. Waiting for his friend to meet his eyes, he explained, "Most people just call him 'the Dutchman.'"

Jack stared at him for a moment before licking his lips. "The vigilante?"

"He's more of a syndicate leader, but yes," Cassidy confirmed.

David gave a long-suffering sigh. "The gangs in Amsterdam rose up to fill a power vacuum after the Fall, just like they did in so many other cities," he argued. "Without them, a lot of civic centers would have become entirely lawless, and as these things go, the Devil's Get is relatively benign."

"A mostly benign, extra governmental, paramilitary group that heavily influences the lower levels of commerce in a major city," Cassidy amended with a smile. "Which has recently expanded into the rest of the Netherlands and The Hague."

"Are they technically paramilitary when most of them work for the militia?"

Cassidy grinned. "Technically, the militia is a paramilitary group, they're just heavily sponsored by him." That last was said with a gesture to Jake.

Jake sighed, sitting back upright. "There's a government contract in its framework." Meeting Cassidy's eyes, he added, "Anyway, try looking at what the Devils do. Despite BJ's moaning about the Dutchman, the problem is other people trying to follow his example poorly – as for the man himself, BJ's annoyance centers on not having any eyes or control in the area, not what's happening. By all accounts, von Koll is damn good people."

Cassidy nodded, grin still sharp. "Who has his wife break kidnappers to pieces before he throws them off rooftops."

Jake's lips twitched. "He did do that." He shrugged. "He also got the kids back."

Des resisted the urge to rub his temples. "Vigilante is a good word for him," he reassured Jack. "The only reason it's less accurate is because it implies there's a law other than him in the Devil's Quarter. But aside from a great deal of trade facilitation that no one can track, the only 'rules' the Devils are known for laying down have to do with minimizing violence, particularly toward women and children."

"Also, the majority of the Devils are not fighters," Jake added. "Luc von Koll founded the group by dragging together whatever remnants he could find of his neighborhood post-Fall with the economic collapse, then picking up strays who didn't want to fall in line with the far more vicious gangs that rose up. It started as a way any of them could afford housing and mutated from there. Kasey took up the mantle after his brother died in the riot last year; the food shortages made the urban areas a hellscape all over again, and honestly? He was probably a key factor in how well Amsterdam pulled through that clusterfuck. His network isn't understood because it's all in microscale, just additive as hell, but it mostly centers around spreading basic human necessities like food."

Des frowned. "I didn't realize you knew so much." He didn't go digging through BJ's reports, but… That was a lot of information, delivered with absolute confidence.

Jake's smile was wry this time. "A Devil helped save my life in the riot," he reminded them. "Katrien. She and Lena struck up a friendship while I was in surgery and they were locked in a safehouse to wait out the worst of it, and it's Lena – they ended up talking economics. Otherwise, we touch base now and again, and when Lena asked, she laid out the kidnapping incident in a lot more detail than made the news." He shrugged again. "Legality is technically an issue, but a lot of the poorer areas across the Regime are really fucking grey – von Koll is someone with his heart in the right place willing to go through a lot of effort to at least level the playing field for the disadvantaged, if he can't fix it outright."

"Katrien's biased," Cassidy pointed out blandly.

Jake rolled her eyes. "What the hell, you like her and it's the truth."

"Of course I like her," the bodyguard returned, rolling her eyes. "She's awesome. And she's probably accurate – but someone needs to be the voice of logic here, and you are failing."

Jack was eyeing them all suspiciously. "So it's not a problem."

"Oh, we like the Devils," Vaughn confirmed, grinning broadly. "I'm officially fangirling harder."

"I agree with von Koll's ethics," Jake clarified. "He's got heart, he's efficient, and he means business." He hesitated, looking thoughtful. "It's not exactly a character reference, but… knowing Junior has a good relationship with von Koll honestly makes me less worried about what he might be hiding."

"Syndicate. Leader," Cassidy reminded them all pointedly. "In a town that regularly reports bodies found in his district."

"In a part of town that's been a cop's no man's land for over two years due to violence from trained ex-military personnel trying to play kingpin," Dave temporized. "Compared to the surrounding districts, the Devil's Quarter is practically a utopia." He hesitated, then added, "Also, the overall militia administration in Amsterdam is run by a Devil now, and it's frankly doing better than any of the surrounding or similar cities." He paused again. " But knowledge on the Tears doesn't make sense. The black market might be rampant there, but…"

Jake bit his lip, but nodded. "I want to say I'd need to ask BJ to be sure, but… there has been nothing, and we've had people looking through every possible channel, legitimate or otherwise, for months. The first bomb was in July."

Jack swallowed, then settled his stare on his son. "What the hell is Gamora's Tears?"

David grimaced. "A rare, truly nasty chemical compound that was being used by one of the two bombers currently terrorizing Europe."

"Berlin, Paris, Ieper, Charleroi, and Hannover," Jake confirmed, meeting Jack's eyes. "Dijon was Libramentum, and all the other bombings have been a copycat that we're starting to think is a Libramentum splinter cell." He sighed. "Spaceports aside, the one using the Tears is far more concerning. The copycat is using her infamy to cover for military strikes, while the original is just…" He made a helpless gesture. "I don't know." Grimacing, he admitted, "If he knows anything he's willing to share, that would be…" His shoulders hunched. "Can I even ask? No strings attached, completely anonymous, I swear, just- Fuck." He cut himself off, closing his eyes. "That's not a thing. Never mind."

Jack stared at him, jaw working… before his mouth twisted. "Can I use my phone here?"

Cassidy visibly perked up. "Razo and Jovi brought theirs," he noted. "So far as general scans show, the Rubato phones are only concerning in that they don't stop listening – we don't want one in a truly sensitive area like the atrium or surveillance, but they're not a concern otherwise.

Jack nodded. "They have keyword activated spyware," he agreed. "I've combed through most of the code, and while I'm not sure on the details, there's nothing malicious. I'm pretty sure it's how Audi got backup to Odin so fast that morning I found him – I don't know the passphrases, that part of the code is encrypted and I didn't want to risk breaking it – but there's no access even for that if it's turned off." Reaching into a pocket, pulled out his newer phone and pressed a button to show it was turned off, and decided, "I can ask. I think he actually likes questions. If he tells me to leave off, that's it – the most important rule he has is to not push." When Jake nodded, he pressed the power button, shaking his head. "He might not answer. Like I said, he was heading out today, and I don't know how far he has to go before he loses service."

Des settled his mug in his lap, watching the screen light up. "You're just going to call him?"

"Text," Jack corrected. "At first because it seemed less invasive, but now that I know he carries the damn phone to firefights? I'm not sure I'll ever call." He did look Des's way then, and offered up a wry smile. "He's alarmingly casual about some of the craziest things – it's a tossup on whether it's a lack of normal life experience to provide expectations, or if he's just that weird."

Considering everything else Jack had already said over the last month? He might have more in common with his brother than anyone wants to believe. So far, that sounded mostly good, though. "Really altered perspective, huh?"

Jack hesitated, obviously considered his audience, then sighed before deciding to speak his mind anyway. "He says he's trying to be better about it. Anne says they've been trying to teach him to be better about it, and everything Rubato weaves near him suggests they are too – and since they answer to the spaceheart, I assume they're all on the right track. But even if he's trying to act like he knows… I don't think he believes anyone will ever be there for him." He licked his lips. "And he's not bitter or upset about that, he just… doesn't even consider the option until it's happening, and then… he's so quietly happy when someone is suddenly stepping in that you can tell, Des. He… went a long time without anyone reliable. And I think he's responded to that by trying to be the dependable one, even when he gets overwhelmed."

Des considered that, adding the puzzle piece to the whole of what they knew of Junior's missing years. "That's the first step on getting there," he reminded the other man quietly.

His friend's answering smirk was wry, if a little sad. "Fake it till you make it, huh?"

He shrugged. Sometimes… He was seven years older than Jack, and most of the time, he could forget. But sometimes… the other man was so young. Not even in age, exactly, and he was hardly sheltered with some of the things he'd survived, but… he hadn't gotten to live as much as his age implied either. "When you're making a change, you have to start somewhere," he pointed out. "Stick with something long enough, and so long as you don't hate it? It'll become natural. It just takes a bit of elbow grease to get there."

Jack sighed, tapping out a security code on his screen and opening a text program. "If that's all, he'll do fine," he muttered, staring at the screen before starting to tap out a message. "Kid doesn't have much a of a middle gear."

I meant the same for you. Though whether the subtext had gone over Jack's head or he'd intentionally ignored it was hard to say. Instead, he took a different tack. "Just like you and Jake, hm?"

Jack shook his head, worrying at his lip as he stared at the screen, erasing something. "More like Senior," he corrected. "I have a hard time sitting still, and Jake's worse. Junior's happy in a meandering stroll, lazy as a cat in the sun – but when he's up, he's just… gone." He shook his head. "There's probably a middle step sometimes, but I've yet to see it." Sighing, he tapped something else out, then angled the display for Des to see. "How's that?"

'Just found out exactly what you said those Italian assholes were selling /was/ and am a little freaked out. I don't suppose you know anything about their buyer that I could pass along? Got a way to do it anonymously.'

It was probably petty to feel smug that he was the one being asked instead of the young pups who knew more about what was going on – but if you couldn't gloat a little in your own mind, your life had reached a new low. "Seems good." He resisted the urge to preen when Jack hit 'send' without letting anyone else see the screen. Mine. Not that he didn't want for Jack to belong to his own son too, especially seeing as Jake was also his son, he could share, but he liked everyone knowing when someone was his, and Jack was his best friend. Whatever did or didn't get better between the Millers, that wasn't changing, and they could deal with it. "Is he usually pretty fast to respond?"

Jack made a face, dimming the screen and tucking his phone under one thigh. "It ranges. Whatever Audi did to the system doesn't allow for read receipts either, so I can't tell if he doesn't always pick it up right away or if he sometimes stews on his responses."

"Mmhm." He took another sip of his tea before gently elbowing him. "Text me your new address. And next time, tell me beforehand – I just about had a panic attack when I saw the Ruzzi packed to the gills."

"Ugh, this week has been insane, and I already planned on coming by, so I didn't want to get into it over the phone." He elbowed him back. "I thought you'd be there to greet me, and then I could've complained about the suits."

Des grinned. "Suits, huh?"

"Apparently I'm a fucking businessman now, and Luke told Odin that if he wore something off the rack again, he was going to replace all his leggings with wool."

David guffawed. "He wears leggings?"

"Religiously," Jack groaned. "I haven't figured out what that's about; maybe he's just cold all the time." He sighed. "Maybe it's a winter thing, but he always has an under layer of skin tight pants and a sleeveless top." Closing his eyes, he added, "And either he doesn't care, or no one's had the nerve to tell him yet that he's as good as naked in that get-up. He tends to laze about in just that in the mornings, and…" He groaned again. "It's been implied that he used to run around in public that way, so I guess I should take this as a win."

"That's probably your answer to being worried about what he used to wear," Des mused.

"…Probably."

He considered. "Luke's a bit of a snob, then?" He couldn't say he minded the results, but it sounded a little odd for someone who had presumably come out of Cambyses. Though it might just be relevant. Jake was getting accepted so easily into the ranks of the affluent in fair part because of how he was dressing, and Rubato was dealing with a lot of money. Sometimes the subtle things made a difference.

Jack gusted out an exasperated sigh. "Honestly, I think it was more of an excuse? Well, maybe not with Odin, but apparently that had more to do with him wearing formal clothes that fit poorly in order to not print his guns. I'm not sure if we ended up at such a nice shop because he thought the quality was necessary or if he decided the only way to get my son to wear something that looked good was to have it tailored for conceal carry. Either way, the experience was like something out of a fucking movie. I'm sure it was very expensive, and I more or less tried to follow Junior's example of keeping my mouth shut and agreeing to whatever was suggested in order to move things along." He rubbed at his forehead. "I'm not actually sure what was decided at the end of it all, but apparently I've got stuff being delivered to the new apartment on Monday." His shoulders slumped. "I… I have ties now. How the fuck do you knot one of those things around you neck without strangling yourself?"

Des smirked. "Moving up in the world, hm?"

Jack hid his face in his hands. "I agreed before asking about the wage, and then I had to look up what the fuck 'salaried' meant."

Definitely moving up. "With the position you described, anything else would be unfair," he acknowledged. "Clocking hours isn't going to make much sense with that kind of project focus." Not to mention all the time on the road or living on site or out of hotels it was going to entail. As good of a fit this is for him, it's going to be a major adjustment. Though given some of the shittier work conditions he'd faced over the course of his life, it made sense that it would be something of a shock – everything his friend had ever done fell into either militant or blue collar territory.

Jack just sighed again, not looking up, and Des grinned, reaching over to pat his back consolingly. "I doubt you have to actually wear the ties, but I'll show you my favorite knots before you go," he offered. "Are you staying the night?"

"I hadn't decided. I'd get in late, but-" Jack cut off, his eyes going wide.

Des frowned. "Wha-" Before he could finish his question, however, his friend shifted in his seat and they all realized his phone was ringing. Which… Excellent!

Except… Jack didn't look happy. "Jack?"

"He's never called me," the man whispered.

"Should probably answer, then," he advised. Then, realizing at least half the trouble, he focused on all the damn extras in the room and narrowed his eyes. "Out." That wouldn't be enough to budge Jake, and David could be stubborn too, but the spare guardsmen were easy enough.

Or at least, they should have been. "Oh, come on!"

"If he realizes he has an audience, how likely is he to bail?" Des snapped back, standing. "Net gain zero plus emotional trauma, get the fuck out." He pointed at Jake when the young man started standing. "You have to stay, because Jack doesn't know what to ask or clarify in the first place, and you made the promise." Shifting his gaze pointedly to David, he gestured at the other two and took a step towards the door. "Come on."

Before he could take more than a step towards the door, however, Jack had grabbed the trailing edge of his sweater and dragged him back down next to him, taking a shuddering breath and accepting the call. "I'm not alone," he announced in lieu of a greeting.

A muffled thump sounded from the coffee table, which was confusing until he realized with dismay that Jake's wireless setup for conference calls had picked up the line. "If you don't care, I don't," a deep voice – low baritone verging on bass, much lower than he would have expected from Jack's bloodline – decided. "But if it's a better idea to wait, that's fine."

Jack had his eyes shut. "I'm at your brother's, in a secure room, and he's serious about the anonymous part. Just… explosives? That seemed… really important." He grimaced. "I can narrow it down more, or I can leave and we can talk again later, I wasn't trying to put you on the spot or-"

"If you trust it, then it's fine." There was a pause, then, "Hn. Am I on speakerphone?"

The grimace deepened. "That was kind of an accident, and I can change that too," Jack assured him.

A low chuckle came through the speaker. "It's fine, Jack." Another pause. "Hi."

Des couldn't help but notice that even as Jack's body language loosened up, Jake wound tighter. For his part, he reached behind Jack to swat Dave's shoulder before catching both of the guardsmen's eyes and miming a zipper over his mouth. Personally, he was still inclined to make them all leave; but his best friend clearly wanted him in the room, and he didn't think he could kick them all out at this point without making noise.

Meanwhile, Jake was swallowing, running his hands over his pant legs again. "Hi," he returned, voice uneven. "I… guess you don't remember me, but… Hi. I'm Jake."

Junior made an amused sound. "A lot of my early memories are twisted up to the point that they don't make a lot of sense. I wouldn't take it personally." There was another pause, then, "You had questions about the Bianchis?"

Jake was faintly shaking and his grip on his knees was white-knuckled, but his voice smoothed out, at least. "Only in as much as it relates to the Tears," he admitted. "I'm not sure how much you know about the bomber situation, but they shouldn't be able to do nearly as much damage without access to that compound, and I know the Regime has been trying to track down any supplier for it since Paris." He bit his lip. "I was overly specialized and out of the Regime power structure for over a year even before I resigned last fall, but if you know anything that might lead to less bombs going off in civilian venues, I can pass it on and make it look like I got the intel from an old informant. I have enough clout that if anyone bothered to question me, it wouldn't be deeply enough to matter."

The pause was longer this time, and Jack broke first. "Odin?"

"I'm not sure what to do with that," came the hesitant answer. "Try something more specific."

Jack chuffed out an exasperated laugh, closing his eyes again. "How did you even get mixed up in this anyway? Kasey heard something?"

That deep bass snorted. "Hardly. I told you, Adam was sloppy. He tumbled through the Bianchis chasing an artillery sale in October, then wandered off on another lead before finishing the job. Kasey asked him to go back and see what they knew. But the two of them start fights more than they finish them, and they already knew Adam's face – he wanted backup, and then it turned out they'd moved house, and since he didn't bother remembering more than a defunct address and the fact that they wanted him dead, we had to dig." An annoyed sort of hum came through the line. "He never bothers with names. Adam can find just about anything if he's been there once, even from before, but he runs too much on instinct to be reliable about details."

Jack blinked, his face screwing up in confusion. "Why was Adam chasing artillery?"

The groan was deeply exasperated this time. "I've stopped asking. I'm not sure if it's some kind of crusade against chaos or just something he resorts to when he's bored, but he's made a hobby of toppling the stupider or more chaotic rebel cells that rise up since the Fall." He hummed. "I'd wonder if it was just to round out his collection, but he almost never goes back to his stockpiles. It took him months before he realized I'd ransacked a few last summer, and he was happy because it meant he had room for the shit he'd taken off some morons in Toulouse. Tch. Just habit, maybe?"

Des clenched his teeth to keep himself from letting out a disbelieving laugh. Malicious Puck ADD. Right.

His friend was pinching the bridge of his nose now. "So Adam heard about the Tears in passing or something, but didn't realize what they were until later?" he tried.

"No. Adam was following a half imagined paper trail and clues he never tried to identify beyond 'interesting' and heard a ticking sound coming from a broom closet. Apparently Sharpman had an odd sense of humor – she put an exceptionally loud egg timer on a slow fuse chemical bomb just to screw with anyone who found it."

Des sucked in a breath, thoughts whirling, because what? Thankfully, Jack was on the same page. "Wait, what? Where?"

"The museum, in Ieper. And… I'm glad. If she hadn't been stupid about it…" The pause was heavier this time, before Junior continued with, "But she was, and Adam panicked, pulled the fire alarm, and ran. Showed up at Kasey's a week or so later, asking for lessons on how to disarm bombs." He snorted derisively. "Not that that got anywhere. I can't set a shaped charge in an unpopulated area on a remote detonator without him freaking out, and I can't think of anything safer. Adam just doesn't handle explosives anymore."

Jack sighed. "You implied he'd earned that."

"He got left for dead after a blast and ended up with retrograde amnesia, so yeah," came the sardonic response. "That doesn't make it not annoying."

His next question would have honed in on the name drop, especially given the past tense, but Jake had other ideas – probably something about order of events. "Your friend got the Ieper evacuation started in time, and then Kasey put it together?" he tried.

"Hn. Kasey's been losing his shit about the bombings right from the start – his father-in-law got caught in the first. He started chasing Adam to figure out how he ended up in Ieper in November, but they were both…" Another irritated noise. "Being weird about it opposite ways. Adam had some family trouble with all the fighting going on in space, and that kept him busy for a while. Then he was back on Earth and the bomb went off in Hannover, and they finally got together long enough to decide to try digging information out of the richest dealers he'd gone through before Ieper just for lack of a better idea. And like I said – they already knew Adam's face." He let out a dark chuckle. "Once we found them, their security was a joke. They hadn't had any stock of the Tears since May. The only thing they didn't half-ass was tracking their buyer far enough to make sure she wasn't a plant or someone out to double-cross them. I don't think they even realized their product was being used for something high-profile."

Jake let out a slow breath. "So you tracked the buyer."

"I didn't," Junior informed him pointedly. "But I'm sure she's been listed as a missing person by now. I'm told her lab was located in a Dortmund slum."

It was very strange, Des reflected, to feel hot, cold, shocked, and elated all at the same time. Because on the one hand, damn, that was a major problem neatly solved. But on the other… definitely still very dangerous.

Jack looked entirely done – exasperated, content, and not really surprised.

Jake, meanwhile, looked a little like he was falling in love. "Damn. Okay. Thank-you."

Junior didn't sigh, but there was a moment of hesitation, and an audible intake of breath. "Like I told Jack, no one wants that on the market. The plastics are more than enough to contend with, and at least they're usually stable." Another uncomfortable sounding breath. "I don't like demolition-level charges any more than Adam. Too many things can go wrong."

Des only noticed Jack's flinch because he was sitting thigh to thigh with him; otherwise, he hid it fairly well. Jake didn't seem to notice, but he still hesitated before carefully admitting, "I've only ever done more precision work. Sometimes on a macro scale, out in space, but not…"

"It's better, that way," Junior agreed. "Less…" A sigh. "It doesn't matter." There was a rustling of some kind as the kid presumably resettled himself. "Do you know why Odin was always sad in August?"

Des's stomach dropped. He'd always assumed Jake's yearly depression was uniquely acquired. Did it start off generational?

Jake was shaking again, but definitely breathing, so doing okay. "Ah… Mom, I think." He slid into Japanese, mumbling out something else, but even if the context didn't give it away, he recognized the word 'kaa-san' enough to guess.

Junior's answering deep rumble was thoughtful, but then whatever he said had both Millers flinching back as if struck.

"Iie," Jake protested, white as a sheet again, shaking his head. "Of course not, why would you even-"

"It would explain a few things," Junior interrupted, still entirely calm. "I'm not sure if it would be better if it was intentional, but…" He let out a sharp bark of a laugh. "It doesn't matter. Whether it was because of her or anything else, it doesn't change what happened. I'd just been wondering."

Jack's hands were in fists. "Tragedy changes people," he pointed out quietly.

"Of course it does." Junior's voice wasn't so much scornful as… Well, it was scornful, but not so much in a scathing way as a 'duh.' "Why are you saying that like it's an excuse? He had more options than I can even recognize, and he chooses to-" He cut himself off with an aggravated noise. "Whatever. It doesn't matter, I just thought you might know."

"It… sounds like it matters?" Jack offered hesitantly, glancing over at Jake.

Junior snorted. "It's done. It's long done, and I have too much now to bother with regrets that no one cared about in the first place. Your mistakes define you, they define everyone around you, but you are the only one who can decide what they mean. Regret is just an excuse to give up – I won't fall back into the trap of letting someone else decide what I want." He scoffed. "Better to do something about it."

…Damn. The room as a whole seemed to be stunned silent, and… Well, he was seeing what Jack had meant about Junior being the heart of Rubato. Mm. He was starting to regret his decision to pretend he wasn't in the room. The kid's conviction was something he wanted to poke at; it was so similar to Jake's yet also so alien that… Mm. Promising.

Junior sighed again, tone relaxing. "I don't know. If you're right, then it just means that it's important to have multiple anchors. One person or thing shouldn't be everything."

Jack grimaced. "That's not something people can just decide," he argued.

"Hn. Maybe not directly," Junior acknowledged. "But that doesn't make it less of a choice. If my mother was the only person Odin was invested in, it's because he chose not to bother with anyone else. Which is stupid."

Des clenched his jaw, pressing a fist to his mouth to smother a laugh.

Jack looked caught between wanting to laugh and cry. "Odin, it's not that simple."

"It really is," Junior argued, sounding rather pleased with himself. "It's only half the process, but you have to start somewhere. You invest yourself in someone, see if they do it back, and if it takes, you build on it. If it doesn't, just try someone else. Eventually you start losing track of where each of you ends or starts."

Oh dear Lord.

Jack growled in aggravation, dropping his hands between his knees. "Remember the part where your foster sister tore Kasey a new one for abusing that level of trust?"

The boy's returning groan was tired. "We fixed it, and Moira is not my mom. She moms me, but you can't be someone's mom when you met them already grown up."

"That's not how that works!"

"She is not at fault for me any more than you are, so however it 'works,' it's something else."

Not at… Mother of God. That was… succinctly dark. Maybe not terrible, exactly, but fucking hell.

On the bright side, however, Jack had caught the implication of getting lumped in together with the not-mom. "You mean…"

"I don't know yet," the kid returned, sounding downright disgruntled. "It's not like this ever turns out the same way twice. I have over five dozen relationships now and I only understand the rules for two of them. Why does anyone even bother with titles? It's not like anything stays the same long enough for one of them to be accurate. The only constant is change."

Jack hung his head. "Because communication requires definition, and people like to organize their lives into terms they can understand."

Junior scoffed again. "That's arbitrarily simplistic."

His friend slumped down even further. "Not everyone is as good at it, then."

"I'm not good at it," Junior argued. "I just don't stop trying. Either it'll make sense eventually or the answer is somewhere in between and it doesn't matter." He made an amused noise. "Why would I have so many friends if I was good at making anchors? I am literally making this up as I go." Another thoughtful hum. "Why didn't Odin talk to you, anyway? And didn't you say he was friends with the Khushrenadas?"

Jack's jaw was clenched. "It's not that simple."

Technically, it really was. Des understood what his friend was getting at, but-

"You got better," Jake whispered.

…Shit. He eyed Jake speculatively, but despite being wound tighter than a string, his color was improved, and… apparently he was doing this. So much for baby steps towards progress, Des mused. Hopefully he can land the bound.

"What?"

Jake swallowed. "The court split custody, and Odin disappeared with you, and… I couldn't reach him for a year. But he said… you weren't okay. You wouldn't make a sound for half a year, or meet his eyes, or do anything, until… suddenly you were normal, but you didn't remember me. I… I could hear you talking in the background, and it was like…" He closed his eyes. "So long as I wasn't there, you were okay."

That was a decent sum of the crux of Jake's issues, he supposed. But-

"That's stupid."

Laughing, Des reminded himself, will not be helpful.

Jake covered his face with both hands, curling in on himself.

Jack levered his elbows back onto his knees. "Odin-"

"He literally had people reaching out to us, and he-" He cut himself off, breathing audibly. "Hn. Figures."

A female voice came through the line. "Odin, that is literally horrible, and that's the best you've got?"

Junior made a disgusted noise. "I thought he got worse. Apparently he just directed it at other people. He-" A rather unpleasant laugh filtered through the room. "He did it twice. It was a pattern."

"Odin-"

"It was even at the same age," Junior breathed. "He didn't decide to run one day – he never stopped. He'd been running for years. I just didn't know."

There was quiet on the other end of the line before Jack licked his lips and asked, "Audi?"

"Uh, hi, Jack," came the awkward response. "Just, like… give us a minute. This is… a whole thing." She cleared her throat. "How was the drive?"

"He's in Munich, and he's not the only one on the line," Junior groused. "I'm fine. We're not to the checkpoint yet, are we?"

"Fifteen minutes out."

"I'll be ready. Meet you up front?"

She made an agreeing sort of noise and presumably left before Junior sighed. "Okay. My father was worse than I thought, but that's… Tch. Not new." He sighed again. "I thought I was the only one he abandoned. That's… probably still better, actually. Weren't you with the Khushrenadas?"

Jake didn't look up. "He left you where I should've found you."

"He bled out telling me about how I shouldn't listen to anything but my personal feelings and never once mentioned a safe place or person I could go to," Junior announced bluntly. "There was time. So no. I think he wanted to get rid of me and not deal with the consequences. He was rather clear on the first point for nearly a month before he brought us to L3-X18999."

Well, shit. Jack had implied something along those lines a few weeks ago, but for all that he'd hoped this conversation would give them… Apparently closure was a bitch. He nudged Jack with one knee, trying to ask if he was okay, as Dave stood up and moved around the coffee table to sit next to Jake.

When no one responded to that landmine of the statement, Junior sighed again, sounding almost… relaxed. "I'm still not sure how to feel about the Treize connection."

David eyed Jake for a moment before apparently deciding to throw caution to the wind. "So, hi! I'm Dave Mitchell and your brother's best friend – while he reconfigures his brain over all that, can I ask you about Treize?"

The kid's bark of a laugh was bright. "I suppose." He hummed thoughtfully. "Strike Force Mitchell?"

"Yep. Here for a visit before shit hits the fan again," Dave returned cheerfully. "Jovi said you're the one who told them about Treize?"

Junior's voice was laced with deep amusement. "Aa."

"Well, how'd that happen?"

"Mm. Ivan Alekseev."

Des watched the rest of the room collectively blink, even as Vaughn looked vindicated. Not Xutao. Which, he supposed, meant more holes in the veil. Objectively, it was something of a miracle that the secret had been kept so long as it had.

David was frowning, clearly trying to remember something without much progress. "Who?"

Junior let out an amused rumble. "A double agent of Treize's with spectacularly bad operational security. I tagged his phone and followed him for more than six weeks, and he was reporting directly to Treize regularly. He never noticed me. I even broke into his hotel room to steal the phone number – what kind of moron doesn't bar their windows?"

Des closed his eyes again, leaning his shoulder into Jack's as he shook with silent laughter.

His friend's voice was incredulous. "You have a phone number for Treize?"

"I mean, I doubt it still connects," he agreed, sounding like he was trying to not laugh himself. "I just wanted to have the option. I figured if he had people strung tightly enough through the Regime to run a counter manhunt on someone like Xu, then I could probably leverage a deal if I got cornered." His hum was definitely pleased this time. "I never needed it, but I like having options."

…Oh, but he was starting to like this kid. Reserve blackmail was always a good idea.

Jack sighed. "Yeah, about that – Grójec, huh?"

A laugh this time, short and bright and infectious. "I'm not talking about that," he informed them plainly. "Besides, I dropped Alekseev when he decided to follow a lead into Russia." Another snicker. "Someone in this crowd talks to Treize, right? You might want to tell him. I left the recording device I was logging all his calls on in his bag for three days at one point. He didn't even get suspicious. He took pictures on it, and after I broke into his room again to take it back, he went and bought a new one." He laughed again. "He talked to me on his way into the store. It was surreal."

Jake had one hand in his lap and the other over his mouth now, eyes bright and shoulders shaking with silent laughter – a decided improvement. Mitchell, however, while still definitely amused, was obviously chewing on the details. "Three days seems like a bit of a stretch," he noted.

"I only planned on one? I… got distracted."

Jack's easy grin faded into a frown as he picked up the hesitancy. "Distracted with what?"

"Hn." His tone turned curious. "If it lasts three days, can you still call it a one night stand?"

Des grinned as Dave started laughing, watching Jake blush vividly again.

Jack just sighed. "Seriously?"

"It seems like there should be a better word," Junior agreed. "Anything else I've found implies more than reality."

Apparently the effects of his glare had worn off entirely – the next thing he knew, Vaughn was suggesting, "I'd call that an abduction with benefits."

"…Not inaccurate," the kid decided.

Jake leaned back into David, relaxing as he pitched in to argue, "Abduction implies limited consent."

Junior's hum was far more uncertain this time. "Mm. Yeah."

The boys' eyes went wide, and Des felt Jack take in a sharp breath before growling out a warning, "Odin."

"I had no idea what was happening at first," he defended. "I didn't- There wasn't an issue. She was really explicit for a solid ten minutes before she got my pants undone, and I wasn't arguing. But her introduction was… predatory." He snorted. "It was a good three days. Educational. We played tourist too, and half my clothes are things she picked out It was… a paradigm shift. I don't think I understand what beauty was, before. I'd never taken the time to just… be."

Jack's shoulders had smoothed out after the first couple sentences of his son's response assuaged any overt concerns, but he relaxed more at that, shaking his head with a wry smile. "The clothes Luke threatened to burn?"

"That's because I've been wearing the same six outfits for eighteen months and it's starting to show," Junior argued. "He wasn't wrong, I just didn't want to figure it out on my own." He snorted again. "I caught him watching your ass enough times that I figure he knows what he's doing."

Des smothered another laugh in his fist as Jack rolled his eyes. "I was trying to ignore that," he returned pointedly.

"Which is why he stopped and is back to dramatically sighing and muttering about having terrible luck," Junior agreed. "Something about having unfortunate standards that are going to leave him forever alone and miserable." Another laugh. "I can't figure out if he's serious or just likes kicking a fuss." Another rustling sound. "I need to go, but I'll probably have service for another day or two. I don't know if it'll be stable for more than sporadic text, though"

Jack nodded. "Alright. If I get in late, do you think it will it be a problem to get my key? I could always stay the night here and reach Berlin tomorrow afternoon."

"Shouldn't be," Junior returned. "Garage security is twenty-four-hour, and they know you're coming this weekend; do what you want." There was a satisfied sound, like maybe he was easing into a stretch. "I think all the basics are sorted, and your boxes are in the dining room. Just don't leave anything sensitive lying around. Cleaning people are supposed to come through on Tuesdays, but I haven't tested the accuracy of that."

Jack blinked. "You… brought my stuff up personally?"

"No, I had it shipped to the Rubato property in Berlin; it arrived Thursday. I took it over yesterday and spent the night. Security there isn't perfect, but it's not bad." He made a thoughtful noise. "There's both pros and cons to mixed use buildings."

Jack was getting a queer look in his eyes as he licked his lips. "Yeah?"

"The bottom two floors are commercial, with the garage underground," Junior explained. "Only the upper levels are residential."

Something about that statement settled his friend's nerves. "I can see how that might be convenient," he offered.

"Probably. Mm. Catch you later?"

"Bye for now," Jack agreed.

"Aa." And the line disconnected.

Silence reigned for a long moment before Jake blew out a breath. "He sounds like Odin."

"Yeah, he does," Jack agreed, slumping a little. "He got his voice, but it stands out most when he gets going in Japanese – he's got Senior's accent too. It's eerie."

Jake closed his eyes, swallowing, before whispering, "I can't believe he asked that."

Jack grimaced and visibly hesitated before shaking his head. "Better brace yourself. That was fairly tame."

The young colonel pushed both hands into his hair and gripped hard. "Shit."

More power to him, Des decided. Again, maybe the closure would see them actually getting somewhere on the topic. Still, he thought the brat in front of him might be misdirecting. "You caught the part where he defined you as another child in that mess that wasn't responsible, right?"

Jake just dropped his head down to his knees, groaning.

Right then, moving along. Better to give him time to resettle. Meeting Foreman's eyes, he raised his brows. "So. Stanton, von Koll, and Junior are old war buddies." He turned that over a few times in his mind before deciding he was on the same page as Vaughn, essentially. "I'm liking this pattern." So far, the propaganda on the first two seemed pretty spot on.

"Plus Puck," Vaughn added with a grin. "Wouldn't mind reading that guy's diary."

Jack groaned, sitting up straight again. "The more I learn about Adam, the less sense he makes," he admitted. "All I really know is that when he and Odin get together, it seems half as much shenanigans as anything else. I mean, they built a fucking throne out of the heroin before giving it back, and took pictures posing on it." David wasn't the only one to guffaw this time, and Jack rolled his eyes, grinning. "Yeah, they hid their faces with a goddamn fedora, all gangster style, and Adam's sister framed it."

Oh dear Lord. That was an image.

"They've got a fairly wild tit for tat running that I'm not sure I ever want the full details on," Jack continued. "Half of which Kasey just about stuck his fingers in his ears and started humming to avoid." He sighed, rubbing one temple. "But… I don't know. They were earnest, like I said, but… They're stopping bombers, anarchists, and arms deals on their own time and dime? That's… way better than anything I'd been imagining."

He had a point. "And stopping kidnappers," he mused aloud. "And saving good men out of Cambyses, rebuilding the shattered school system, building terrestrial colonies…" Not to mention more housing, jobs, factories…

"And possibly funding the Insurgence," Cassidy announced blandly.

Silence.

"…We're pretty sure we like Po, right?" David tried.

Cassidy rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, though he was only partially successful in holding back the broad smile he clearly wanted to show. "The lot of you are hopeless," he declared. "I call not-it on telling the spymaster any of this."

There was another breath of silence before Jake let out a nearly hysterical giggle… that quickly turned into a coughing fit.

oOo

oOo

Amsterdam, Netherlands – Devil's Den

"No, I- Argh. Are you kidding me?"

Nic looked away from the football match on the screen, debating if he really wanted to know as Kay grew visibly more frustrated, one hand diving into his hair. "Should we ask?"

Melissa, however, just rolled her eyes. "I'm trying to teach him to ask for help instead of waiting for a rescue," he informed the room at large.

There was quiet for a moment, before Carlos snorted. "Here I thought you already had him housebroke, 'Liss."

"Relapses here and there are normal," she assured them with a smile, blithely ignoring Kasey's glower.

"I'm thinking," he muttered into the phone, not breaking his stare from the side of his wife's head. "It's not something I've done." He blew out a slow breath. "Who's her best friend these days?"

Anika frowned. "Are you two fighting?"

"Well, there you go, ask her," Kasey continued.

"No," Melissa reassured them all easily. "He's just being ridiculous."

"They absolutely talk about these things, trust me. No, it's called being resourceful, they like it, just- You know what? Rina!" He waved down the blonde as she skirted the edge of the room, walking towards her. "I need an expert opinion!"

Dev scowled. "Expert on what?"

Carlos swatted the back of his head. "Don't be rude."

Melissa looked like she was trying to hold in a giggle, biting at her lower lip and grinning broadly. "Dating, I think." When they all turned to look at her, she rolled her eyes. "Kay and I went about it all backwards, you know? We're not a good reference." Her smile turned sweet. "Odin's deep in the pining stage, and Valentine's is coming up. It's honestly adorable."

Laura considered Karina's expression as it shifted from bemused to delighted, then grinned herself. Planting one foot on the seat of the couch, she vaulted over the back. "I'm going to go help."

Melissa did giggle then, turning to watch for a second before standing as well. "Oh, why not."

oOo

oOo

January 26th 199 – Sunday – Berlin, Germany

In retrospect, the hallway should have been his first clue. An argument could be made for the garage, but honestly, the security and service there was on par for Des's choice garage in Baden. And then there had been multiple elevators, so…

Jack forced himself to take a deep breath, and shut the door behind him. Obviously, this was the right place – security was good, and the key the doorman had given him worked. He'd been given a heavy manila folder that felt mostly like paper, and…

That was a piano. And not a school quality, upright thing on casters. That… was a really fucking big piano.

…Okay. First things first… dining room. It was probably on the first floor. Odin had said all his crafting shit would be there, and then… Shit. He wasn't sure what then, but… Dining room.

The kitchen was the size of his last apartment, but his stuff was stacked on top of a fairly ordinary looking table. Which answered one question, at least. He wasn't… Impulsively, he strode over to the wall of windows and rapped hard on the glass – not glass – and let out another breath. So… like at Jake's. Space-grade, and… He tapped again, more deliberately, listening. Muted. That was more than one-way. He scraped a nail along the pane over to one of the seams, pressing hard and slowing his heart and holding his breath to feel for the faint vibration that gave away its innards. Damn. If the entire thing wasn't a controlled screen the same as a ship visor, then it at least had enough embedded circuitry to control transparency. Full control, strong enough to survive a missile launch, and… a fucking five by fifteen meter view of downtown Berlin.

This must have been some Romefeller family's private little nest egg. The neighborhood was nice enough, but not high end, and the building didn't stand out. Like Odin had said, the area was primarily commercial. From outside, looking up, you'd probably assume it was all offices up here.

Blowing out another slow breath, he walked as much of the perimeter as he could without opening doors, passing a sunken living room with massive sectionals and some kind of sitting area, and… Yeah, that's about half the building perimeter. Most of the main floor had the insanely high ceiling to showcase the wall of Dermiglass and was laid out like an enormous loft, but there were two levels of balconies facing the view too, accessed by wide, artistically sweeping stairs that stretched up to a level he couldn't see. Which… Yeah, this takes up the top four floors. There aren't any neighbors.

Feeling a little lost, he made himself let out another long, deep breath, considering his pile of stuff. Fuck it. Leaving it all there for now, he started opening doors.

Half bath, overly large laundry room, an office, something that was probably meant to be a library and lounge given all the shelves, and a smaller living room, maybe, on the main floor. There were a handful of varying closets too, including an enormous walk-in that he was mostly sure was a pantry – someone had dropped a few bags of non-perishables and dry goods in there. The second floor balcony had one door going to a full bathroom that connected to the bedrooms situated on either side; there were even larger, ensuite bedrooms on either side of those. Each were furnished, but only the suites had the beds made. Each bath had the towels all laid out like a hotel, but were otherwise empty.

The second balcony, though, only had one door, and while it was recessed so it didn't hang over the second, making the landing far smaller… this was the master suite. Not that the lower ones didn't fucking qualify, but this was a penthouse unto itself, and this one had signs of life. The bed was made but lazily, not by a professional, and when he opened the closet, there were a couple things hanging in there, including two of the shirts he'd seen Luke press on his son. Heart in his throat, he strode into the bathroom –the absurdly decadent bathroom, when the fuck had this become his life – to find shampoo left behind, shaving supplies…

…and that was some kind of lipstick.

Taking another deep breath, he picked it up, checking the color – a deep pink that bordered on purple more than red. He'd never seen Audi wear more than gloss, but he was reasonably sure she wouldn't try for something this dark even if she was inclined – it was the kind of color women used to turn heads, to make a statement, and she was still too young for that. Or at least, he hoped she knew she was too young, but she'd never… Licking his lips, he set it back where he found it, and picked up the very femininely decorated perfume bottle left near it, spraying once and considering. A subtle but intricate floral of some kind, sweet with just a bare hint of musk.

Audi almost always smelled like some kind of fruit, if she had any fragrance at all. Strawberries, or something she'd happily informed him was supposed to be pears. Always bold, and never flowers.

The bottle was half empty.

Taking another deep breath, he put it back where he found it. Girlfriend, he decided firmly. Flings didn't leave behind toiletries, at least not to this extent. A girlfriend he doesn't want you to meet, he reminded himself, grimacing and turning the light back off, walking out of his son's room. Odin had brought up Moira, he'd introduced Anne, and Anne had stuttered over not mentioning someone whose judgement Odin deferred to, so this was important. Don't get greedy, he reminded himself. Somehow, Junior was turning out as a combination of only the best parts of him, Senior, and Rhea combined, and he did not need to question it at this stage.

Maybe later. But also maybe not, and definitely not right now when he'd…

Leaning against the balcony railing, he raised his face to the sunlight and closed his eyes, trying to catch his breath. His chest hurt. Every time he thought he'd caught back up to this, that he knew what to expect…

Groaning, he pulled his new set of earbuds from his pocket and slipped one in. He was really fucking glad he'd decided to finish the drive today, because if he'd come in to this last night?

Des picked up on the second ring. "Pronto."

Jack took another deep breath, the sound of his friend's voice helping to steady him out. "I," he announced calmly, "do not have an apartment."

There was a pause, before the other man cursed. "What went wrong?"

Looking down at the lower balcony and its series of impersonal bedrooms, he licked his lips and… realized that he probably was supposed to pick one. "I," he began again, "appear to have keys to Junior's house." Maybe there was a better word for whatever this was, but… it was a house. He had no idea what the fuck was on the next level, even, but – You know, Des might know. "What do you call a piano the size of the Ruzzi?"

"…a grand."

He nodded a little to himself, looking down at the thing. "That seems fitting," he decided.

"…Damn. Do you think he plays?"

Honestly? From this view, it looked like this place had been built to accommodate the instrument. "I have no idea," he decided, then remembered yesterday's comment about not understanding beauty before 197. Probably not. "I'm pretty sure it came with the place." He sighed, leaning fully against the railing. "I can't think of a way to have gotten it in here." Most of the furniture was that way, so there probably was some kind of method, but… Well, Junior had made his opinion on this kind of thing known before. "I doubt he furnished this place at all, it's… not new, and it's all tastefully themed, quality. I'm pretty sure it came furnished." There were a few pieces of arm on the walls, but not enough to suit the space, it was overall too empty despite the furniture and linens, and not just because it was a big space.

The still bagged food in the pantry came to mind, and the way… He'd as good as said it yesterday, hadn't he? "I think he just bought this," he decided. "But he's got clothes in the master suite's closet, and toiletries left around, a couple blankets thrown over the back of the couch, and more than leftover take-out in the fridge. This isn't temporary space." Opening his text program, he started tapping out a quick message.

"You still haven't given me the address."

Jack grimaced. "And at this point, I'm not going to," he admitted. "I don't think he wants unexpected guests. There: 'You could have told me this was your place.'

"What if I want to send you something?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not negotiating this one." He considered the stairs leading up for a moment, but ended up shaking his head and going down again instead. He'd… come back to that.

"I can't get you a housewarming present?"

"Abso-fuckin-lutely not." He grinned, feeling… his chest still freaking hurt, but it wasn't in a bad way.

His phone chimed.

'Seemed easier this way. And I don't know how often I'll actually be there.'

He started to laugh. That little shit.

Another chime. 'I wanted non-Rubato property in the area anyway. Skye and Audi found it.'

Jack groaned. That… God, he'd just waved it off because his baby sister really did hold the purse strings, didn't she? Not entirely sure what to expect, he opened the fridge – condiments, that fake chocolate shit Audi was damn well addicted to, butter, a small carton of milk, and… the same types of bread, cold cuts, and yogurt that had been in his fridge when they emptied it. There were a couple of take-out boxes too, and, shrugging, he pulled one out – he hadn't had lunch yet.

"Jack?"

My son lets a series of women run his life. Not that Jake was much different at this point. Aloud, he announced, "I guess he thinks he'll be home about as often as I will."

'Which room is Audi's?'

Des's voice was gleeful this time. "I feel like I should say congratulations, but at the same time, people are usually a bit older before they move in with their children."

Jack snorted, popping open the carton. "Fuck you. And what do you call moving into Sarracenia anyway?" Huh. Some kind of fancy appetizer? Not really something he recognized. Frowning, he set it down on the counter and pulled out another two boxes.

"Almost a hundred people live in this compound now, and it's not so private that I can't list my damn address, that's what. Also, I only borrow Jake – you're the one who spawned him."

God, but wasn't that an appropriate term for his oldest? Spawn. Then again, Junior's syndicate leader best friend thought he was freaking space spawn, so that was… auspicious. Maybe the two of them made a matched set after all. "You can't only claim him when he's behaving himself," he argued.

His phone went off again. 'She saw the property when she closed on it, but she hasn't spent the night yet. You get first pick.'

Jack raised both brows, considering the fish dish that smelled good even cold, and… he was mostly sure that was steak in the other box, not mutton. Expensive. He… stayed the night on Friday without Audi, had company that left behind her make-up for a later visit, and had a fancy dinner. Grinning, thinking he knew what was missing, he walked over to pop the lid on the trash and pull out a tall bottle. Nice. Nothing he recognized, but he'd never done the wine thing, so, "What's a Moscato D'Asti?"

There was a hesitation, then Des's deeply enthralled voice came through again. "Sweet champagne. What are you doing?"

"Being a nosy trash panda." Rattling off the brand name, he asked, "Is this expensive?"

Des scoffed. "It's cheap sugar water that kids like."

"…So Cass drinks it."

"I will deck you, and you are going to stand still and let me do it because that was rude," Des informed him grouchily, though he could still hear a thread of laughter in his voice.

"Yeah, well, you don't know where I live, so let's put that off," he sassed back. "She totally does, huh?"

"Why are you dumpster diving?"

Jack grinned, shaking as he tried not to laugh out loud. Oof, she probably has the exact same bottle in the house. Still, he'd walked right into that one, and if he couldn't handle a little ribbing now and again about his wife being twenty-four years younger, then he didn't deserve her. "He left Audi with Rubato and had his girl over here on Friday. Fancy leftovers in the fridge, empty wine bottle, and more female accessories around his bathroom than his own."

"Mm. Date night before he's out of town for a while," Des concluded.

"Yeah." Going to drop the bottle back in the trash he blinked, because that looked like… Nope. He dropped it back in, let the lid fall, and looked around for something else convenient to throw on top for good measure.

Des let out an amused snort. "Maybe remake your bed."

Jack sighed. Because as deeply as he knew Cassie and Des loved each other, he had also been there when the two of them started dating, and the love had come later. Even if he'd managed to avoid any incidents – he hadn't – Cassandra had a complete lack of anything resembling a filter. "I'm done talking about this."

"You're living in a bachelor pad now." Des's voice was viciously amused, and damn it all, but he was paying for calling Cass young already. "You have to think about these things."

"The fuck I do," he argued, opening cupboards until he found the plates and upending the fish thing onto one so he could jam the box into the trash can.

"Living dangerously, mm?"

"Like an ostrich," he agreed, trying to figure out where the microwave was.

Des just laughed delightedly. "What just set you off?"

This was the downside to having a friend who knew him so well. "I don't want to talk about it," he repeated. "I'm going to make a quick lunch then unpack the car. I'll catch you later."

Des just laughed at him, so he hung up.

oOo

oOo

January 30th 199 – Thursday – Dublin, Ireland – Trinity College Campus

Grinding his teeth, Nick turned up his music another notch after someone else bumped into his table, trying to drown everything out. Trying to get shit done in public spaces was actually part of his therapy homework, but he was getting really close to giving up – less because he was having issues with the crowd, though, and more that he was surrounded by inconsiderate idiots. He was starting to wonder how anyone got anything done in the quad. Should have gone to the library. But he'd wanted food too, and combining the errands had made sense. He supposed he could head there now, but at this point he just wanted to be done with this stupid assignment, and…

Fuck it, but he couldn't remember the contents of the last paragraph he'd read. He'd been reading it, but the meaning just… wasn't there.

His table jostled hard again, and he growled, slapping his hands down and scattering his papers even more. "Do you mind?" he growled. Not that the response mattered, he couldn't fucking hear anything anyway through the Mozart blasting his eardrums, could barely hear his own voice, but he looked up to snarl some more at the latest offender, who wasn't even looking at him, and-

He blinked, sitting up straight and really looking around for the first time in a minute – Five minutes? Fifteen? – because something… was off. At first, that sent another wave of irritation through him because seriously why couldn't anyone- Oh yeah, why didn't they bother the built, obviously angry guy who was pointedly ignoring everyone? Jesus. It was hot in the quad, and he'd stripped down to his t-shirt, which meant all the scars along his lower arms were on display, so yeah, why wouldn't people have tried to get him to take his headphones out. Stop being such a little bitch. Taking a deep breath, he yanked on the cord to tug out his earbuds, and was surprised with how close the room was to the same level of sheer noise. His phone had already given him two warnings about possible hearing damage, the fucking nag, so what even was this?

There were too many voices at once; he couldn't make out anything coherent, but the mood was… Not clear, actually. Mixed? Something had happened, but this wasn't panic – well, it wasn't mostly panic, or grief, which was a good sign – but seriously, what the fuck?

Grunting, he paused his music and tucked one earbud back in, turning off his do not disturb features and opening a browser – nothing looked obvious in the clickbait. That meant it was either local, or so fresh no one had gotten a chance to write anything about it yet, so he switched over to his broadcast app and frowned at the image of… Treize Khushrenada?

Who still cares about this guy? Romefeller, he guessed, and a bunch of vets, but still. Three years was a long time. Some old scandal brought out front and center? He still couldn't see why anyone would care, but…

…Didn't the guy have longer hair than this when he died? And he thought he'd seen all the clips there were of him from 195, he'd done a big report on him for class not long after the Fall. He'd never seen anything with the man's hair this short, and they didn't look like old pictures. If anything, he looked older than his last pictures, and he'd always been a smug ham for the camera – this was a grim expression. Serious and cold in a way he'd never shown to the public before, so… some kind of lookalike? A hidden second son come to make new trouble? It'd be a bit late to the party, frankly, but you couldn't fake those Catalonia brows or cheekbones, people had tried, so…

Belatedly, he scrolled down enough to read the title on the video, and froze. No way.

Khushrenada Alive & Declaring War on Peacecraft Regime

Motherfucker.

oOo

oOo

Simplification (All Tangled Up)

oOo

Thoughts? Favorites, theories? I can't believe I have a 29 page scene in this, it just… kept going. Hilariously. This is probably last call on guessing what Dorothy's been up to – not sure if it's next chapter or the following where that little secret comes out. Next chapter is going to start off with the mano a mano confrontations between Zechs and Treize, which is going to be a different kind of fun, I think. Also, Jack might be developing an issue over either of his sons telling him "Don't worry about it" seeing as they… really never use that phrase when it's actually appropriate.