Disclaimer: Don't own, never will. Malory, she's mine, but Sikowitz, and his past, that's mostly not.

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Sikowitz smiled, bracing himself for another day of teaching. 'New year, new students.' He reminded himself, even as he went over his notes for the first day. 'Can't start out by shocking them, not that hard, but I still need to get then out of their own way. Too many people think too much when it comes to acting. Yes, we think, research, find the character. But more so then anything else, acting is about doing, and that'll do for part of my opening speech, but best not to over think that part.' He scribbled a few notes on the paper, and went back to planning his week.

"Erwin, what're you doing?" Malory Pierce asked, her welsh accent giving away her origins. The European model had dropped by for an unexpected visit, and found him less exciting then he'd been a dozen years ago, when she was starting out, and he'd helped her see parts of the world.

"I'm planning my first week of school." He told her, not looking up. 'Best not to look, cause she's somehow got the wrong impression about who and what I was back then. I knew she was only sixteen then, and not legal, damn what the local country said. Girl was to busy trying to be an adult when she should have been enjoying her youth.' He knew she'd be wearing something that enhanced her looks, as opposed to the more comfortable tee shirt and jeans she'd been wearing when she dropped by unannounced just a few days ago.

"You once told me too much planning can get in the way." She said, moving a touch closer.

"It can." He agreed. "And too little can as well." He finally looked up, relieved to find her in a skirt and top. "It's been what? Ten years since I helped you out of that bad shoot?"

"About." She nodded, long dark hair waving with the movement.

"You realize, at the time, I was just doing the decent thing. I was just starting as a teacher, and the pay, not so great. I also wanted to enjoy seeing a few parts of the world I hadn't before. Who knew that small country, where was it again?"

"Yerba." Malory told him. "They entered a war they're still in the middle of, and you got me out safely."

"And I wanted to say, again, it was just the decent thing to do." He pushed.

"And I wanted to assure you, the young girl who had that crush on you is long gone." The model promised. "But not the girl who fell for you while driving through the desert with that circus group. I remember that girl with the extra fingers, how she cut through the water at the lake. Or the fat lady, and how she could move so quickly when she wanted, because her condition prevented her from losing weight, not exerting." Her beautiful face fell. "She's dead now. All her work, and she still died from her condition… I heard about it only a couple of months ago, and decided, I wanted someone who could understand me." Piercing green eyes sought his. "The real me, not the fashion model turned designer, cause I hated being everyone's puppet. But the real me, the woman you taught to think for herself, forge her own destiny."

"And that's why you came looking for me?" Sikowitz asked.

"That, and I'm signing a developers deal with this company, here in La La land, and was in the neighborhood." She shrugged. "It was convenient, but I'd have done this anyways, once I got past the hardest part of changing my life." She sighed, again. "Still a model, selling my looks, but I want more. And part of more is the poor fool only twelve years my senior, who I fell for that one summer driving across the desert."

"Twelve years, at your age, is a long time." Erwin warned.

"In my world, it's not uncommon to have suitors twenty years our senior." She giggled. "I chose my ideal, and it's not about money, or fame. It's about the weird. You can handle it, most can't." A smile, that devastating smile, again appeared. "I think it's why you make such a great teacher. No amount of weird freaks you out, while even the most ardent of my suitors quickly find my myriad of interest starting to wear on their nerves."

"Is this about those weeks I helped you learn Klingon?" He wondered. "Or maybe the weeks we spent examining that cave, cause you wanted to know how your early ancestors did it. Or maybe that week you spent…"

"None of those." She cut him off. "All of those. Erwin, I went with you on that summer trip because I'm not normal. I don't feel like I fit in with the glamour world. I look like one of them, sure, but inside, I'm all over the place. I'm looking for that one moment, that one, when I feel normal. You help me feel normal, and I want that. I want to start a family where we can be safe from the assumptions of the masses, when I decide I want to raise my children to understand nature in all it's glory, not just camping, but the darker world as well."

"Children don't fit with some of our adventures." He warned.

"No, but they're needed if people are gonna go on adventures in the future." She countered. "Circus freaks and those on the fringe, we need to make sure they have people like us, the truly weird, who can blend, but don't let it cost us who we are. For the future, that future, we need to breed." She stepped back, catching him with her eyes before giving a twirl. "You thought I'd dress to seduce, didn't you?"

"I've dealt with that before." He admitted. "Dangers of being a popular teacher. Always some girl with a crush."

"Only, I'm not." Malory insisted. "I'm the one who thought this out, made a plan, and is busy making it a reality." She slipped a touch closer, but still not on top of him. "This new venture of mine, it's gonna tie me down, as much as a child will. More so. I'll still have my adventures, but not as many, and I'll have to plan out what and when. You, I want you to be a part of that plan. So, lets date."

"After I finish my plan for the beginning of the year." He said, looking back at the paper he'd been working on. "I just haven't decided how I'm gonna make my entrance for my freshman class. It has to be dramatic, get their attention, set the stage for the year, but they say I can't cause psychological damage any more."

With a huge smile on her face, the model settled in to help him brainstorm ideas. True to who she claimed to be, he found her truly outside the box.

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This w as on my computer, being ignored, and I found it clearing my recently worked on list, even though this is a touch older. Hope you enjoyed.