Sia nodded, "I know, Kida. I was surprised myself too...It was only a few hours ago upon lunchtime...I suppose Father was strong enough to talk more after his nap...Dr. Erskine must have been really respectful to grab his attention for a second meeting...".
"Do you...do you think Father thought about us since we told him the truth about healing Milo and Jacques?", Kida asked hopefully with an anxious look. Sia glanced at her, "Perhaps...He truly cares about the people, sister, but he never forgets about us when we go off hunting or exploring...And there's something you are hiding from me.", with a smirk.
Kida blushed, "I may have kissed Milo on the cheek, and he returned the same affection when I brought him to my sacred place.", and Sia widened her eyes, "Ooh...You are lucky, Kida...I...I think Jacques is trying to be respectful and honorable even if I am already flirtatious...Am I doing something wrong, sister? He held my hand longer than intended when reassuring me after I explained that I am single and all...The books and scrolls in French and other languages in the half-wrecked library couldn't be all lying, can they?", with a frustrated sigh, both sisters not knowing that Vinny is listening in.
She may not have been able to read Atlantean but having seen Jacques as exotic in her point of view in her visions, she went to the library to try to read and understand other exotic languages for the past few years, even if she has been speaking those languages here and there, and she thought that she got the hang of it, having found romance fiction in a small section of the library.
"It might just be the changing nature of society and all; after all, the customs above are all so different than what we know. But I think you are doing things right since I can tell that he has that spark...", Kida assured her as Sia sighed and nodded. "And unfortunately, they'll be gone soon...", she closed her eyes.
Kida looked at her sister, "Sia, my dear sister, we must hold to hope...I intend to make sure Milo stays here despite Father's orders, even if he may have changed his mind sometime after his nap, and perhaps he's looking out for his people while talking with Erskine once again, but I will help you hide them, just until Father changes his mind...Yet we cannot simply force them to stay here...You must speak with Jacques if he wants to stay here, and of course, you cannot forget Vinny either as you really care for the boy as well thanks to Jacques...I will do the same with Milo...I am going to ask him after I take him to the spot with the murals under the water.".
Sia nodded, "Yes, that sounds like an acceptable plan, and I wouldn't imagine not having Vinny with me and Jacques...He's such a darling, and yes, he may be almost a teenager, but he really loves having his papa which is sweet to me. Where do you think I could ask them?".
"Hmm...Perhaps the meadow with the nightglow flowers?", Kida suggested with a smile, and Sia smiled widely, "Oh, that's perfect! I bet they had never seen nightglow flowers before...Thank you, sister, for the advice.", hugging Kida warmly in a sisterly way of fondness.
"Hey, that's pretty much my job...", Kida teased. "What with me being next in line as well as being your older sister...". Sia rolled her eyes, hearing that.
Sia bantered back, "Oh, yeah? At least I'm faster in running and sparring than you, older sister!", and Kida laughed, "Details, details, dear little sister.", with a roll of her eyes before resuming the end of her meal when their hosts of the house gave out plates of dessert.
Several minutes later, while walking and all, Vinny asked Sia, "Sia, can I talk with Papa privately?", and Sia smiled, "Oh, of course, Vinny. I will wait at the corner in the distance. Is that alright, Jacques?".
Jacques nodded, "Sure.", and Sia hummed, heading to the corner of the makeshift street, and Vinny looked at Jacques with a raised eyebrow, "Papa, she really likes you!", not beating around the bush.
"Wh-huh? Sia? You couldn't be serious...", Jacques stuttered, shocked and stunned, and Vinny replied, "She has been trying to smooch up with you, Papa! I overheard her and Kida talking...She thinks she is doing stuff wrong, and you aren't even responding that great. If you are worried about me not liking her, don't be, because I like her! She's really dope!".
"Vinny...", Jacques sighed. He was obviously thinking much about what the situation was; that they were going to have to leave in less than half a day and never return; he would never see her again. It's not like that he didn't like her, he, of course, would want to spend much more time to know her better.
Vinny replied, "Ain't you sick of the war already? I mean, you've been in the French resistance for three years already! Why couldn't you leave it to the Americans? I mean, with fresh allies, the war would be overturning to their side...".
Jacques replied, "It's not that easy, son...Yes, I am sick of the war, but I have people up there who needs my help...But...there's something I can do...And I would be relieved all the same...".
Vinny looks confused and sad, and replied, "Why couldn't you smooch her up? I mean, I bet she ain't never had a kiss by a Frenchman before.", and Jacques frowned, "Because I don't want to break her heart...Ah, you'll understand someday, Vinny...", ruffling his hair gently.
"You're a fraidy cat, Papa! And before you tell me that you can't, Sia deserves to know! You can't leave her hanging, wondering.", Vinny glared at him, and Jacques groaned, closing his eyes, inhaling and exhaling for a minute before he opened his eyes, and looked at him, "Fine, just for you...Jesus Christ, you are a heck of a stubborn kid.".
Vinny smiled widely with an overjoyed look, "And proud of it! Come on, let's go! I want to see what Sia got to show us!", skipping ahead, and Jacques shook his head in fond exasperation, "You are so lucky that I allowed you to have dessert, son...".
Sia, of course, was taking her sister's advice very seriously and was doing whatever she could to make at least what little time they might have left together, unforgettable. She was practically running herself ragged just trying to make sure that everything was perfect for them. "Okay, deep breaths...", she said to herself. "It'll be alright...".
A half hour later, they got to a thicket of bushes, with a narrow pathway, as Sia smiles at Vinny and Jacques, "Here we are...It looks like nothing, but it's something beyond those bushes...Come along...", lifting a branch upwards, and Vinny, very curious, walks through, with Jacques following him behind, with Sia right behind him.
Vinny blinked in surprise, "It's a meadow...", and Sia smiled, "Not just any meadow...", before leaning down to blow warm air, and then a flower opens upwards, grazing its neighboring flowers along, opening them up, and then suddenly, like a building of lights turning on for the night, the petals of all the flowers became glowing purple as the moonlight from the translucent ceiling of the cavern above, hits the flowers.
"Whoa...", Vinny gasps in awe as Jacques whispers, "Incredible...", in awe of the spectacular sight, and Sia giggles before sprinting on through the meadow to wake up the other flowers, and Vinny laughs, following her, with a wide smile.
After a few minutes, Sia rejoins Jacques as Vinny is still searching for any unopened flowers, admiring the flowers up close, smelling the perfume that is subtle and sweet, a wide smile on his face.
Jacques replied, "What do you call them?", and Sia smiles, "Nightglow flowers...I know, kinda on the nose, but it works...This was actually my sacred place before Kida accidentally found me when I was not doing my chores one evening...".
"Sacred place?", Jacques asked as Sia smiled. "More or less certain places me and Kida would have to be to ourselves that we kept from each other. I still haven't found Kida's.", she told him. "Even after all these years?", Jacques smiled.
Sia chuckled, "You can be surprised at how this city can hide places here and there high or low. Yet there's a reason why I took you and Vinny here...Because having a man for the first time here in my sacred place, it...I wanted to show you this place because I was trying to...".
"To say that you really like me?", Jacques replied softly, and Sia looked at him, brushing her hair over her ear, nodding, "Yeah...I'm...I thought I messed up...I thought flirting was the way to do...".
"I don't blame you for thinking that.", Jacques told her. "Obviously, the way to go about it are much different between our two worlds.", he told her as she sighed.
"Are... are you upset with me?", Sia asked. "I mean, I'm not upsetting you by doing all this... Gods, I don't even know if you might have a mate waiting for you back at your home...".
Jacques reached out to grasp her hand, "No, no, you haven't made me upset, Sia! I never had much time to find a woman to date, to have a wife, er, a mate as I was so focused on helping my people in the war up there on the surface...In my culture, many cultures up there, men wear rings on their right hand to say that they are married, er, mated, and I'm single since I have no ring...I really want to know you better...but I don't even know if the war is still ongoing or over by now...I have to go back up there just to know if my people in the resistance are safe...".
Sia blinked, "Oh...I understand...I was really hoping that I'd ask you to stay here, but if you needed to know that your people are safe, it's important, and I'm not even mad for that...That makes you even more attractive in my eyes...", with a soft smile.
Jacques smiled, blushing lightly, "Thank you, Sia...But there's something else as well...You are a reason for me to come back, but I'd feel better if Vinny is the second reason for me to come back here as well...C-Could you somehow convince your father if you can keep Vinny safe here for me? I ...He lost his original family, and I cannot take him to France as the war's there...Sure, I know he would be safe with Mr. Whitmore or anyone of the team, but if the war's still ongoing, the team, my friends, they would be busy trying to help others in their own homelands, and Mr. Whitmore, he's elderly, even if he's still spry at times, he couldn't keep up with an almost-teenager boy.".
"Jacques, I adore Vinny already with all my heart. I will watch over him for you, and I will argue with Father if I must, but Vinny will be safe and happy, I promise!", Sia nodded vehemently with determination, not knowing that her declaration just made her even more beautiful and attractive in Jacques' eyes, and he decided to take a leap of chance, or in Vinny's words, 'to smooch her up.'.
"Thank you...", Jacques simply said before he leaned forward to kiss her on the lips. Sia was surprised by what he was doing for a moment there before she closed her eyes and just melted into it.
Sia cradled his neck with her hands, caressing his scruffy cheeks as Jacques slowly caressed her shoulders, holding them gently as they kissed, and then they pulled back, looking at each other, not noticing Vinny until he spoke as he smiled widely, "I am so going to find a really good girl someday, like you, Papa.", standing before them as he looked at them.
Blushing and giggling, Sia rested her head against Jacques's shoulder as Jacques cannot really argue against that comment, and only smiled at his son, his son who he couldn't thank enough for pushing him to take a chance.
Vinny then replied, "I'm gonna go to the beach, don't take too long, eh?", with a teasing smirk before he left, heading through the narrow tunnel of the bushes from the meadow, and Jacques groaned, "I swear, he's gonna give me some gray hairs...".
Sia giggled, "Gray hairs, eh? I never thought about it, but that would be attractive...with that scruff on your face...", with a smile, and Jacques replied, "You...you don't mind the scruff? I could always shave it away...".
"Oh, do not shave it away, Jacques...Your scruff is part of you...And it makes you handsome...handsome in an exotic way that somehow all of the Atlantean men couldn't compare to...", Sia complimented warmly, and Jacques huskily replied, "Sia...", before she moved in to kiss him this time, and as their lips were barely starting to touch, a shout was heard, "What are you doing?! Hey, ow! Stop it! Papa, Sia, help!".
Jacques practically shot up when he heard that. "Vinny!", he called out as he immediately started to run towards the direction where he was hearing the noise. Sia was wondering what was going on herself, she was sure that the boy couldn't really get into any trouble especially in the safety of the city's edges.
The couple ran out the narrow tunnel from the meadow through the bushes, seeing a Hydra stormtrooper holding Vinny threateningly, and Jacques narrowed his eyes as he shouted, "Hands off him, you Nazi bastard!", before six more Hydra stormtroopers came out of nowhere, ambushing Jacques and Sia as Vinny shouted in fear, "Papa, Sia!".
Sia went into warrior mode, bashing heads and grabbing their long guns, jabbing them, kicking them in the shin as Jacques went into soldier mode, throwing them overhead, bashing them in the head by arm or leg and jabbed their long guns into their stomachs as they tried to get to Vinny.
Then suddenly, a gunshot rang out, and Sia froze in fear and confusion as Jacques looked immediately and saw Rourke holding a smoking pistol at Vinny's head as he held Vinny in a handhold, with the boy in near tears yet trying to keep brave, scowling, "I hate to waste ammunition, but I'll put one in your brat if you two don't stop resisting...Christ, Helga was right...You have gone soft, Dernier.".
Jacques was stunned for a moment before he finally regained his composure, "Heh... you had us all well fooled, Rourke. Never in my darkest dreams would I have suspected you to be a murderous Boche bastard.".
"Well, we all have our reasons; they had a really good offer.", Rourke smirked. "Now then, I would recommend you do what your countrymen are good at and surrender.".
It was a standoff for a few moments before Jacques sighed. Sia could tell that the fight now was hopeless. Sure, she probably could kill Rourke and a few of the other Stormtroopers but she couldn't get them all, and certainly not before they'd all be gunned down.
Jacques and Sia got cuffed and grabbed by the less hurt Stormtroopers, and Rourke slightly relaxed his grip on Vinny, "Excellent...Now, if you may, princess, where is your older sister and Thatch? And before you dare to lie, I still have a weapon on your new brat, and I can order one of those Stormtroopers to kill your new boyfriend.".
Sia glared at him before she looked at Vinny who is trying to hold back his tears, and she then looked back at Jacques who silently looked so conflicted in fear yet determination, but he is resigned to know that they're outnumbered as much as she does, and looks at her with a tiny nod, hating to do it, but his son, their son, is in danger.
She then gave a deep sigh, and then looks back at Rourke, "They're on the right side of the outer edges of the city.", and Rourke smiles smugly, "See, that wasn't so hard when you got hostages, eh, boys? Alright, let's go, and one of you, radio Helga and her stormtroopers that we got Dernier, his brat, and the younger princess. I wonder if she is right about Carter bedding Rogers. I don't even see what that dame sees in that runt, anyway, and he's such a Boy Scout too...".
Jacques growled as Rourke rolled his eyes for a moment before he smashed his fist into Jacques' face. "Maybe that will teach you to be a bit more complacent with your captors.", he huffed. "Now, then, let's make sure the whole family is together before we see the King.".
-End of Flashback-
At about the same time, Peggy's heart pounded as she stared at Helga and her three Hydra stormtroopers, feeling Steve tighten his arm around her protectively under the blankets, clearly waking up, and Helga scoffed, "And I thought you'd be trouble with a gun under your pillow, Carter...Pathetic...I bet it wasn't too hard for you to whore yourself into a goody-shoes guy's pants. Does he even have a real penis down there?", still holding her gun at Peggy.
