Summary: Rhapsody Angel and Colonel Scarlet meet for the first time.

Awkward Meetings

2097

The week after after Destiny Angel's funeral, Colonel Scarlet and his daughter and son-in-law, spent it dirt side, sorting out final details in regards to her estate and spending time with Simone's family.

As a result of this Scarlet, Coral and Mahogany missed the formal inductions for the new colour officers, and Angel pilots to Skybase.

One of these new recruits was Rhapsody Angel, aka Lady Dianne Simms, who was disappointed to learn that she would have to have to what a few extra days to officially meet Mahogany's wife and father-in-law.

0o0o0

Colonel Blue, with Lieutenant Coral and Dr. Fawn, watched quietly from the sidelines, as Colonel Scarlet and Captain Mahogany worked out the frustrations, that came from dealing with family members that didn't understand the the full details of their family's situation, in a sparing match in Skybase's gym.

Once upon a time it would of been Blue alone helping Paul work through his emotions, but while Adam was still fairly fit for his age and could give most of his Captains a fair run for their money, he couldn't keep up with Paul anymore - not without hurting for days afterward.

Mahogany at least could keep up, and if he did accidentally get injured, he would only be out of commission for a couple of minutes, maybe an hour.

So focused on the bout going on in front of him, Blue didn't realise that they had extra company until he heard the voice of one of his new Angel pilots call out, "Well that's something you don't see everyday," Rhapsody Angel commented. "Who's the stud muffin that's currently wiping the floor with Kallen's arse?"

Blue had react quickly to catch a startled pregnant Coral before she fell off the exercise ball she was sitting on, Dr. Fawn, who had been drinking out of a water bottle, spat the contents out across the room.

Blue turned to face Rhapsody and his daughter, Symphony Angel, aka Karen Wainwright, who was fighting a losing battle not to burst out with laughter.

The commotion on the sidelines had also caught the attention of the fighters, who stopped their fight, and ended up walking over to see what was going on.

Mahogany, after checking on his wife and pulling her to feet, greeted Rhapsody and introduced her to Coral, as Paul quietly moved up alongside Adam, "So, that's Dianne," he commented, thoughtfully, as he looked over at the new Angel pilot.

"- I also like you to meet my father-in-law," Mahogany was saying, as he gestured to Scarlet. "Paul Metcalfe, Colonel Scarlet, this is Lady Dianne Simms, a close Tracy family friend and the daughter of Aunt Penelope's cousin, Lord Robert Simms."

"Scarlet is, as you are very well aware Rhapsody, also my second-in-command," Blue reprimanded gently. "And will be treated as such."

Paul shot Adam a confused look, obviously he didn't hear Rhapsody's original comment, as Rhapsody's face flushed red with embarrassment, "Sorry sir," she replied, as Symphony, Fawn and surprisingly Coral completely lost their composure. "Won't happen again."

Mahogany also look confused, "Okay what's so funny?" He asked.

"You didn't hear Dianne's comment about Scarlet," Fawn snorted. "Before she realised who he was."

"Shut up, Ed," Rhapsody growled at Fawn, her face as red as her hair. "He doesn't need to know what I said."

"Huh?" Mahogany asked. "Surely it can't be that bad."

Rhapsody glared at Mahogany, "You could have warned me, idiot," she snarled, as she swatted him. "When you said that Scarlet looked younger than he actually was, I expecting to meet a silver fox, not a DILF."

Fawn and Symphony burst out in full on laughter upon seeing Mahogany's stunned expression, and Adam chanced a look at Paul, who was just staring at Rhapsody with a surprised expression.

Rhapsody turned to face Scarlet, "I'm sorry, Colonel Scarlet," she said, as she held out her hand in greeting. "For any misconceptions, I didn't know who you were, forgive me."

Paul smiled as he reached out his own, "I'll take it as a…" he trailed off as he took Rhapsody's hand.

Colonel Blue wasn't sure of what had happened when Paul took Dianne's hand, but the pair looked at their hands and then at each other with a stunned expression.

Blue looked at Mahogany and Coral for an idea on what had happened, but before he could get an answer, Major Green's voice sounded over the loudspeaker, breaking the spell, "Can Colonel's Blue and Scarlet report to the bridge," she said. "You have a call from Colonel Rigby of the GDF."

Blue touched his communicator, "S.I.G. Major," he replied. "Scarlet and I will be with you shortly."

Scarlet gave Rhapsody a sad look, "I'm sorry, duty calls," he said. "Another time?"

"Another time," Rhapsody agreed softly, as she let go of Paul's hand.

As Blue and Scarlet left the room, Blue heard Symphony ask, "Okay, what just happened here?"

0o0o0

"Okay, what just happened here?" Karen asked.

Clara Metcalfe Tracy sighed as her husband wrapped his arms around her, silently asking if she was okay.

Surprisingly she was, the romantic relationship between her parents had been slowly dying for years and had completely died a couple of months before her mother passed, her father deserved to be happy, but she wasn't going to mention her theory on what happened out loud just yet, Dianne and her father especially, were not ready to hear it.

"I don't know," Dianne replied, as she looked at Kallen for an answer. "Is it some kind of Mysteron thing?"

Kallen shrugged, obviously not wanting to voice the theory either, "I don't know," he finally replied. "There aren't a lot of us around to get a clear baseline of what's normal and what's abnormal."

Dianne thought about it for a moment, then she turned to Clara, "I'm sorry for what I said about your father," she apologised. "It was inappropriate for me to say that, even though it was true, I hope I didn't upset your father too much."

"Dianne, relax," Clara reached out and took Dianne's hand. "He's not offended, trust me on that."

Edward cleared his throat, "Hate to break up, the bonding session," he commented. "But I'm expected back at medical and Burgundy is expecting Coral for a routine check up."

Clara growled softly, as much as she and Kallen liked seeing pictures of their unborn child, the vultures at R would have her strapped to the scanning machines 24-7 if they thought they could get away with it.

"That's okay," Karen replied, "Destiny is going to start to wonder where Rhapsody and I are, if we don't get back soon."

"Would be okay, if I catch up with you three after our shift?" Dianne asked. "I need to discuss what I'm going to tell Penny."

Kallen nodded, "I'll make sure Daniel is there too," he replied as Karen and Dianne, left the gym.

As soon as the Angels were out of earshot, Edward pulled Clara and Kallen aside, "Did Paul just try to mentally bond with Dianne just now?" He asked. "Because the last time I saw something like that was when Kallen first met you, Clara."

Clara looked at Edward and nodded, "I don't know if it's a Mysteron thing or not," she replied. "But there is definitely a connection between them."

"How do you feel about that, Clara?" Kallen asked. "Will you be okay with your father moving on?"

Clara patted her husband's arm, "You and I both knew this was going to happen, eventually," she replied. "We knew this well before mum died, was I expecting it to be this soon with Dianne, no, in fact if I didn't see it with my own eyes I may have questioned it." She sighed, "But I am okay with it, in fact, my biggest fear is what's going to happen if something happens to Dianne, or if she ages out like mum did, the connection between her and Dad seems to be stronger…"

Kallen and Edward were silent, they both knew there was a very strong possibility Dianne was going to age out and die before Paul did.

"So do we tell them?" Edward asked. "That we know?"

Kallen shook his head, "They have to figure things out for themselves, unfortunately," he replied. "We say anything now we will probably end up doing damage," he sighed, and kissed Clara on the forehead. "I'm hitting the showers, I'll meet you two down in medical."

"S.I.G."

0o0o0

If you were to ask Paul what the meeting with Colonel Wayne Rigby was about, he honestly wouldn't be able to tell you.

No, as the meeting droned on, his head was filled with thoughts of blue eyes, red hair and wondering if said hair was as soft as it looked.

His hand still tingled from Dianne's touch…

Notes: Myst's age three times slower than humans when they are in between the human equivalent of 20 to 70 years old, so while Paul is 61 in human years he is only 41ish in Myst years. Dianne is 30, so definitely not a child.

As for Karen, Adam already has a wife and a happy marriage, so I made her a Daughter Adam had in a relationship he was in before he joined Spectrum, she is born in the same year as Dianne.