Sublimation: Another Day In ... (NSFW)

[PrlUnicorn]

((Originally posted Nov 26, 2013 by Darien Fenner))

The hour was a while past midnight, and the hotel's outdoor bar was crawling with a unique dichotomy of pool guests and evening socialites. A few of them were from the ballroom, though by then the heels and bow ties had been shed and champagne flutes had been exchanged for blessedly undiluted cocktails and mixed drinks. Those in formal wear kept closer to the bar, its excessively varnished pine panels a safe distance from the heated, steaming pool where a handful of men and women in their twenties were spraying each other in a mocking quarrel over who should take their suit off next. After some debate, a twenty-something blonde feigned reluctance and reached behind her neck to unstring her bikini.

Happy fucking birthday. This whole trip had turned out to be one gloriously idiotic gift idea.

Darien turned his head away just as the whistles and cheers erupted, rapping his knuckles on the counter demandingly as the bartender passed by. The tender's words to him were muted by another wave of raucous clamor and laughter behind them, interspersed with repeated shrieks of "Give it back!"

"What?" Darien asked once the din died down and his glass was refilled.

"I said are you here with someone," the tender repeated, accent thick, while swiping a pair of glasses from the counter as a couple vacated their stools beside Darien. The response the journo gave him was a hard look, but the tender seemed unfazed as he filled drinks busily in the crowded vicinity. He stopped only long enough to point. "All I'm saying is if you aren't, she has been checking you out since you got here."

Darien looked over his shoulder, his eyes searching the crowd to find where the bartender had indicated. Sure enough, a redheaded woman smiled back at him, tousling her curls before her fingertips trailed suggestively down the impressively low cut of her dress. Mouth hitching in amusement, Darien turned back around and swallowed the contents of his glass. What amused him was not the redhead's transparent inclinations. No, what amused him was when he'd turned around he'd expected to see Collie, and felt disappointed when he hadn't.

Again, Darien rapped his knuckles on the bar. A new bartender had recently arrived for the one o'clock rush, and already she seemed flustered as she fed the Aussie's hungry glass more scotch. So preoccupied with the crowd, she didn't even ask for the name of the tab, so Darien patiently tugged his billfold from his back pocket, removed a ten note, and set it on the bar. He didn't even protest when he tasted the scotch and realized that in error she had replenished his Glenfiddich with Jameson. Miraculously he'd calmed down by then... at least somewhat. The three doubles of liquor burning away like kindling flames at the walls of his empty stomach probably had something to do with that. Then again, it could have been the relief of actual distance from what could only be considered the epicenter of insanity. Miraculously, it could fit inside a hotel room.

All at once Darien felt himself get angry again, and no amount of scotch could extinguish the rage flaring up inside him. Maybe I just don't love you enough, she'd said. If that were true, it would have made things so much easier. Hell. Maybe she didn't love him. Maybe she only claimed she did because she was tired of being alone. Parades of men and families could take their toll on someone who lived so long. Darien wished what she had said was true as much as he didn't. And still she blamed herself, all because she hadn't a clue about anything. Idiot woman.

More abrupt whistling and cheering arose from the pool, where a pair of blondes were mounting men's shoulders. His gaze drifted past them and through the crowd, back to the large collection of evening party goers mingling across the courtyard. The redhead was still there, and though she had her hand on a seated businessman's thigh, she looked remarkably more irritated than before.

Stifling a yawn with his fist, Darien flashed his room key at the bartender, who nodded and punched his tab into a computer nestled into a panel of colorful liquor bottles. The journo glanced through them to the other side of the bar, suddenly aware of how enormous the circuit of pine was. There had to be at least seventy people on stools, not to mention the dozens of others chatting amicably or ordering fresh drinks. More than a few were getting intimate, including a tall bloke who was grinning over his female companion's shoulder as he planted his hand on her rump.

The bartender deposited the receipt on the countertop, which Darien signed before rising and emptying the last of his glass. He mazed through the crowd aimlessly after that, more a rat than a mouse as he tried to find his way to the derelict but manicured hotel garden on the other side of the courtyard. All the while, he was reminded of her. Every damn thing reminded him of her. It irritated and pleased him, and the incongruity of it all enraged him even more. Suddenly he was seeing and hearing her everywhere. Collie's smile. Collie's laugh. That shrill, almost annoying chortle that made his eyes roll and his skin crawl. He could have sworn he heard it.

And heard it again.

Turning about, Darien searched the crowd, fortunate that he was at least a head above most of the other guests. The laughter rang out once more, and his eyes zeroed in immediately for the bar. There she was, chatting with the tall man he had seen earlier, and giving him the same grin that Darien was obsessively imagining only seconds ago. She shook her head and sipped from a glass. As she did the man's hand drifted past her waist and back to her bottom.

Before he knew what was happening, Darien was shoving through the crowd. He reached the bar in mere seconds, and paid no attention to Collie's shocked utterances as he hooked the man's collar and dragged him through throngs of startled party goers and toward the garden, the sound of his own pulse drowning out the cries of outrage from his tow or the shouts of indignation from his wife. The anger he had been working hard to quell all night suddenly jolted through his arm and made him fling the man through the parting of hedge like he was nothing. The bastard stumbled and tripped over stone, and as he lay sprawled over it, stomach-first, Darien closed in fast behind him and took the man's wrist, twisting it roughly behind his back. He would rip it off, he decided. Rip off the hand that was on his wife and the arm it was attached to.

A fist thudded between his shoulder blades, and for a moment Darien thought the man had backup. But when the livid pounding in his skull finally subsided he was able to make out Collie's voice.

"Stop it! Darien, what the hell are ya doin'!?" she yelled, beating at his back. The familiar contralto unmuddled his thoughts some, enough for him to realize that the man he had pinned was wailing in pain. Reluctantly he let go his hold, but before the man could scurry away he pressed closer.

"Keep your goddamn hands t'yourself, or lose them next time." The deadly message grated through his teeth, hardly able to sum up the control to let the bastard go. At last he did, and the man fell over himself as he hurried to make his escape, leaving Darien and Collie alone in the unlit garden.

"What the hell was that?" Collie asked, her ire patently obvious.

"What the hell was that?" Darien retorted, snapping his hand in the direction of the bar.

"Christ, Darien, I was just talkin'. I didn't realize you were goin' ta break the arm of every conversation companion," she grumbled, stalking past him toward the wall of masonry on the other side of the garden.

Darien followed, fists drawn tight to keep him from putting them through a wall. "He had his fucking hand on your ass!"

Seemed to Collie that Darien had acted before her now departed companion could remove his hand when when given a negative response to Are you here alone? "Oh... Oh, I see. Fine fer some woman ta be 'avin 'er lips up near yer ears like she's got a lovely dessert on the menu, but not fer a man ta be touchin' me?" She made it to the barrier and paused, looking this way and that as if trying to decide where else she should go.

"Oh, this about me now?"

"Isn't it always?" Collie whirled on him, her features defiantly calm. "Yer the one what stormed out!" It hadn't just been that night that he'd walked out.

"And that gives you the right--"

"It doesn't feel good, does it? I know it's on purpose, but I can't decide whether ya like doin' it or not." Enraged as she so obviously was, that same look of hurt was slowly killing the inferno behind her eyes. "Do ya?" Collie tried and failed to morph her expression into that infamous Court Mask. It was the face she often wore to formal gatherings when she didn't want people to know what she was thinking. That expression, that mien, was nearly impossible to maintain in the face of Darien Fenner.

That look strangled the retort in his throat, and for seconds he only rooted there, stunned. Suddenly, he cursed her name through his teeth and pinned her against the wall, crushing her body with his and silencing her protests with a savage kiss.

She fought him for only a split second before returning his kiss in full and wrapping her arms around his neck. The scant space between them vanished as Darien pressed her hard against stone, lifting her so that her weight sat on his hips and he could wedge himself tightly between her legs.

"I love you," Collie gasped against his ear, cradling his head.

Darien cursed. Maybe I just don't love you enough. In that selfish instant where he felt her skin beneath his hands, he let himself believe that was a lie. And in the hazy hours that found them back in their hotel room, he even let his head be filled with similar selfish thoughts. Thoughts such as saying the words back once she opened her eyes to him. Because he did, too. And if he did, he hated himself for it.

The buzzing of his phone woke him. Ribbons of sunlight were breaking through the drawn curtains, making patchwork patterns of the mauve bedspread. Leaning over, Darien snatched his trousers from the carpet and rifled through pockets until he found the device, already lit up with a new text message.

Moreau's.

[[Co-written with Collie's player, with thanks.]]

[PrlUnicorn]

(( Originally posted on Nov 27, 2013))

Collie spent much of the trip home in silence. She seemed to be in a deep meditative state; it was what her children had come to refer to as going internal. Her mind was flooded with questions. Not the least of which was Which was the lie, he did or he didn't? What Darien had said the previous night, coupled with the two remaining nightmares, had her mind reeling. The year before, he had been all too quick to deny that anything was going on between him and Fionna outside of a professional relationship. She had wanted to believe in her husband's innocence, especially after a long chat with Fio over a stack of pictures that had all the earmarks of infidelity about them. Pictures that that Colleen had never spoken of to her husband. There had been an audio disc in that package as well. Without listening to it, Collie had turned it over to her daughter for analysis. Maybe it was time to hear it.

Then there was Riley the not. Could those marks on her husband's face have part of some kind of mating ritual? Or an attempt at one? It was a known fact that cats could be violent during sex or while trying get away from such an encounter. Previously, Colleen hadn't considered there might have been a deeper motive behind the now deceased Riley's disclosure that she had met with Darien while his wife believed him to be off world. She'd heard of more than one mistress that said such things to a wife to drive a wedge. On the surface, it was simple information, but after everything her captor had done and Darien's confession, it wasn't so simple anymore.

The silent treatment from Colleen was far worse than her temper flaring. She was thinking, calculating, considering possibilities and options. She was considering best and worst case scenarios.

She left her husband to enjoy his scotch in their private cabin as she went to find the communications center. One way or another, guilty or innocent, she needed to know that truth about Darien Fenner. Outside of watching him cope with what she'd believed to be survivor's guilt, Collie didn't ask much about what came before they'd met. Had he cheated on Jilly, too? Was that why he drank to the bottom of bottle after bottle? Was it guilt over driving her away then losing her to the one entity he couldn't fight to get her back? Death.

The passenger communications center had private booths for personal transmissions. The contents of the calls and data were supposedly confidential and secure, but nothing was ever certain. Was it?

The first call went to Nordstrom Women's Center. Normally, Colleen would have gone to Riverview, but she had no desire to put Maranya in the awkward position of having to keep secrets from a friend because of professional ethics. Some time ago, Collie had placed an addendum onto the girls' medical records so anything added would be immediately sent to Darien. Notations regarding her maternity care were also available. Darien often missed the obvious while digging for the hidden. The only public record on file connecting Collie to Nordstrom, dated in June of 1999, was for the transfer of a female infant into the care of the then Colleen Lasher. It had never been a secret that Diana had been born to a surrogate mother. The circumstances surrounding her birth, however, were in closed files. The center's administration didn't really want to admit what had happened.

"Dr. Rizoli, this is Colleen Fenner. I'm callin' about m'test results."

"We're running a few of the tests again, Colleen. We should have the results back to you later today or tomorrow."

Based on the time, the result would be ready when they got back home. She couldn't keep the disappointment out of her voice. "Thank you, Doctor." Colleen cupped her face in her upturned palms. While she was fairly certain the damage was irreparable, she prayed that she was wrong. She needed to put the ghostly voice of the crying child to rest in some way. Confession, supposedly, was good for the soul. Some things are better not shared lest they be seen as a weakness.

The next call went to Diana. Colleen sorted out her mental to do list as she waited for her daughter to answer on her private office line."Hello, Diana."

"Hello, Mother," Diana settled into the chair behind her desk, "is this business or social call?"

"More business than social, but would like to know how you are."

"Keeping busy as always. You know how it is."

"Yes, I do. I know you're evading like your father in a cockpit being chased through a black hole."

She chuckled huskily as she heard her mother's remark. ?Nice one, Mom. What's got your feathers ruffled?"

"I need you to do some digging ... about what happened last year."

"You're asking me what I found in the warehouse?"

"Yes." It was a simple word with a lot of weight behind it.

Diana was silent for a moment before asking, "Are you sure?"

"Diana, I'm finally ready to face it. I know there's no turning back once the door is open."

"We found a lot of recordings and pictures, evidence of him following you, Darien, and a few other people. We're still researching the list of drug and compounds he used. Mostly mind altering drug combinations. They're laced with a number of herbs known for combating depression like St. John's Wort. Geraldine has a list compiled, I'll make sure you get one. Of course these things have multiple properties."

Colleen had latched onto one of Diana's remarks like like a dog with a bone. "Who else did he follow?"

"Any of us that went into town regularly were followed at some point. He has photos of Aja. It's clear evidence that he was planning that flower handoff to her for some time." Diana handled it all as matter-of-fact and everyday business.

Collie was quiet for a bit. Lifetimes, he'd been planning it for lifetimes. "It doesn't surprise me. The best way to get to know someone is to keep track of those they are close to. What''s the old line? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer? He was playing a game of chess and not understanding the rules of the game."

"I think he was concentrating on one tactic far too much. You know the the one I mean?"

"Mmmhm," Collie took a deep breath. "Too much on getting the queen off the board and forgetting about the other pieces that held his king in check."

"Yes, and he forgot what happens when pawns finally cross the board to the last row on the other side."

"His biggest mistake was not in coming for me. His biggest mistake was threatening your sister's life."

"He has recordings of that along with his reaction to you getting her out." Diana chuckled humorlessly. "Clearly, he was too blind to understand the fury he was unleashing."

"That audio disc that I gave you with the pack of photos he sent me, did you review it?"

"Yes, I did. What do you need to know?"

"What's on it?"

"It's a conversation that includes several voices including Darien's, Fionna Helston's, Aja's, and yours."

"I want to hear it for myself. There are questions that need to be answered."

"You should know that parts of it were edited into things that Vickers used while he," the silence was deafening as Diana paused to find the right words, "tortured you."

"Tortured, raped, drugged. He did everything short of actually killing me." It was Collie's turn to be silent as she remembered what the outcome had been for the recent visitor to her home.

"I'll have everything delivered by courier by the time you get home."

"Thank you." Collie took a few minutes to clear her head before making the last call.

"Good afternoon, Harker's Academy. This is Pearl speaking."

"Seamair, it's Gran. Is your mother there?"

"Hold on, I'll check. She was planning to leave early."

Another voice came on the line. "What's wrong?" When it came to her mother, Rhiannon Harker knew her behavior patterns better than most.

Colleen knew better than to even try to lie about it. "I'm not ready to talk about it, just yet." The chime on her wrist watch struck the hour. "I need a favor, Rhi."

"Whose neck needs wringing?"

"It hasn't come to that, yet." Colleen chuckled lightly. "I was hoping you might be able to keep the girls for a couple more days."

"Sure. Maggie loves doing the storyteller thing for them."

"Thanks, sweetheart. I love you."

Time stood still. Something about the tone in her mother's voice set Rhi's teeth on edge. Something foreboding in it. "I love you, too, Mama."

[PrlUnicorn]

((Originally posted on Jan 12, 2014 by Darien Fenner))

To: Mtwert@rhydinpost.net
Re: ANON (Encrypted)

04 Dec. 2013
Got another one today. Took care of it temporarily, but you're better off consulting the firm. Keep DeMuer out of it.

As he hit send, Darien cringed. Courtesy of the season, the latest outlook update had replaced the usual outgoing message chime with a sleigh bells sound effect. Shaking his head, he closed the laptop and made a mental note to keep the machine on mute for the remainder of the year.

He never much liked Christmas. It reminded him too much of childhood and his mother, just the two of them, exchanging gifts; him handing her a gram of so of chang he'd gotten off the lads at Hallam station, and she reciprocating with a crinkled envelope stuffed full of enough cash to buy the same amount three times over. Between the celebratory marathon of nose-ups chased with lukewarm chardonnay, she'd reach the yearly epiphany that she ought to get her shit together one of these days. Then she'd pass out half-on-half-off the couch, pissed out of her mind from the Valium he'd crushed into her last line so he could lift the car keys. Ah, holidays.

Even so, he didn't mind it as much this year. Though things had been noticeably tense between them lately, or perhaps because of it, Collie had blessedly excused him from the MacLeod family Christmas tradition of trimming up the house with pine garlands, ribbons, and enough blinking lights to signal the RASG in for an air raid. Most days were spent at the Post building or plucking away at the computer in a more secluded area of the house. Amid the toxic amount of tinsel, the back-and-forth car rides, and the bleary haze of Times New Roman regularly publishing itself in obviously regurgitated stories, both offices had begun to look exactly the same. Thus, when the knock at his door sounded, Darien took a longer pause than usual trying to reorient himself to his surroundings.

"What?" Darien grunted, chair croaking as he leaned back and dug into his pocket for a toothpick. The door pushed open, Alexis Laurent ... Twert's newest hire - on the other side. She had a fax in one hand with threateningly bold letters from an anonymous human rights group in RhyDin.

"Did you see this?" she asked, not asking for permission before entering his office. She held the page over his desk, thin lips screwed up unattractively in a scowl. He didn't need to look at it; he'd received an identical message in his inbox that morning.

"I saw," he replied, eyes level with hers in spite of the view her lean presented him. He slid the cinnamon pick between his teeth.

She didn't move, ice blue eyes lit with expectation and worse, ambition. "Are you going to do something about it?"

Patiently, Darien folded his hands behind his head. "It's handled."

"What do you mean, it's handled?" Alexis retorted, only half suspicious. Her first mistake, and one she'd regretted in the past.

"It's handled," he repeated, waving her away like a stray that had wandered onto his property.

Laurent's jaw set, ruining her otherwise decent face with unsightly severity. "It better be," she threatened like it meant something, then spun and clopped her unnecessarily high heels right back in the direction she came. "And why the hell did you give out my number for Moreau's?" she added. "If you want to confirm your reservation, call them yourself." Then, as an added jab, she disrupted his privacy by leaving the door gaping open.

Of all the restaurants in the city, he mentioned that one. It made sense that he did, as it had been the first restaurant Darien had found when he came to RhyDin that reminded him the least bit of Gene & Georgetti's back in Chicago. It had been days since his alternate sent the original text message, and still the journo had made no plans of heading anywhere in that direction. And because Darien knew that, he knew that, which was probably why Moreau's had called Laurent's number for a reservation confirmation and not his. That impossible woman had gotten on his - their - his nerves ever since they worked together at the Chicago Tribune; it wasn't a leap that his alternate had sent Alexis in to taunt Darien for his deliberate avoidance.

Sooner or later, Darien would have to deal with it. If he were him ... and he was ... he'd already made his plans and would act on them soon. But Darien had gotten older, blunted by relationships and platitudes. He was out of practice and he knew it.

And he knew it, too.

Best to get it over with quickly, even if it would be anything but.

A vibrating phone alarm alerted him to the hour. Usually it was ignored, but tonight Collie was waiting. With one finger, he typed a message into his phone and sent it.

Be home soon.

[PrlUnicorn]

((Originally posted on Jan 12, 2014 ))

She was so engrossed in what she'd been doing that she missed his message, so much so that a half hour later it still remained unread. Darien being at work had given Colleen yet another time to sort through the pile of things on her desk. Vickers had left detailed records of every photograph he'd taken or received from his cohorts; dates, times, locations, and persons involved. It had only been a few weeks, but it felt far longer. What'd had taken her about a month to read had taken Vickers years to amass. Her stomach turned when she saw the pictures of herself out with Rhi, Nicole, and the grandchildren while doing the holiday shopping. She'd been pregnant with Abby and Madison. Nicole, Rhi, and Maggie were far from defenseless, but at the time Rhi's twins were somewhat vulnerable. "They wonder why we teach them young," Collie muttered as she shuffled through picture after picture of herself, her husband, children, grandchildren, their friends, and business associates.

Diana's presentation of the warehouse's audio-visual content had been quite detailed. The more Collie read and listened, the more the evidence stacked up to support Darien's anger spurred comments about infidelity. Had it been just an angry outburst or had it been the truth? Familiar female faces, like Fionna's and Riley's, continued to crop up with her husband's across restaurant tables, side by side at bars, and in various corners about Rhydin.

Amidst the hard copies of documents she found various footnotes from Diana and her team including the following:

Mother,

As per your instructions, the family avoided reading the gossip columns after your husband's temporary departure from the homestead. However, there are no rules regarding it, now. Attached are print outs of Gossip GangSTAR with relevant information.

The audio you requested has been provided in the edited formats. The first of which was timestamped within 72 hours of the corporate meeting you called in May 2012. Based on that date, I was able to track down the original recording from the orb archives.

She steeled herself to listen to the familiar voices. She might have deemed part of it as teasing, but Darien was well aware of how she felt about sharing even as a joke. Disappointment was what she experienced. It was, in fact, the possibility of that that caused her abrupt departure the first time she'd laid eyes on him. How odd it was that he told her to not press Riley's counterpart, yet, had effectively humiliated his wife in the best known gathering place in Rhydin. Colleen felt alone and isolated; it wasn't the first time.

She picked up the phone to dial Aja, but set the phone back down. Collie had decided it was better to handle things on her own. When one did not open a discussion one did not have to answer questions.

The earbuds in place once again, she missed front door being opened as the sound of her captor's voice filled her ears. If she doesn't remain with me, I have taken steps to make sure that she never carries the spawn of any other man. She won't even know she's doing it to herself. More followed, but that was enough to tell her the why. The how was another matter. The answers had to be there. Her already fair skin became ashen. The horror and sorrow that she felt were reflected in her eyes and the tears that slid from them.

A beeping noise through the ear buds interrupted her thoughts. Two e-mails had arrived. One was from Nordstrom, but she couldn't bring herself to read it. When she stood abruptly, the jack for the earbuds was pulled from the machine. She dropped the rest the contraption on the table next to the laptop and headed for the hallway. Collie couldn't breathe, it was as though the walls had begun to close and crush her. The redhead was in such a state, she nearly collided with her husband as she muttered to herself, "It was all true. Every bit was true. If all he wanted was a ..."

Keys still in hand and caught by surprise, Darien stumbled. He recovered quickly and placed a steadying hand on Collie's shoulder. "Easy the'ah. Y'alroight?"

She doubled her fist in frustration, but held back from bruising her husband's jaw. "No, I'm far from alright," there was bitterness in her tone. "Good gods, man, ya could've told me that was all ya wanted! I would've been fine wit' it!" Collie shrugged off his touch and snagged her black cloak off the rack in the hall.

"Collie? What're y'talkin' about?" he asked, genuinely confused.

She fastened the silver clasp at the nape of her neck then turned to eye Darien. The facade of fury was being cracked by the hurt that it masked. "You, Fionna, Riley, Riley the not, the whole lot o' them! Ya weren't just trying to make me jealous! It was true. Every bit!"She swung the heavy oak door open, snow began to blow in on the floor. "All I can I think o' right now is wantin' ta make ya feel the same way I do!" Her eyes closed a moment. When she opened them, the words she spoke were delivered in a strained whisper, "Some part of me wishes ya had never gone to that warehouse. Yer life would be easier right now." Without hearing what he had to say, she stepped out the door. She needed to walk, to breathe, and to think. Why? Just why? Was that bastard right all along? How many were there? All this time, I believed? Such a fool. Such a fool.

"Collie, wait?" he called after her, reaching for her arm. When she moved swiftly from his reach, he circled around her to stop her in her tracks. "I don't? I don't know why I said those things. I ... jes..." Winter's chill made his words visibly white, coming in short, strained gusts. "I didn't - don't - didn't want y'tget hurt. I don't want t'hurt ya." His shoulders shook, but it wasn't from the cold. "Collie?"

Her eyes closed again, she had to remind herself to breathe. Breathing through it had helped with so many things over the years. It had helped everything from childbirth to avoiding throttling the child that had gotten on her last remaining nerve on a bad day. It wasn't helping with this and that troubled her. "I can't do this." Her hood moved as her head shook. "Not now. I need time ta think." Much as he had walked away from her in the hotel, she turned and started walking down the drive. The trees were beautiful dressed in their coats of snow and icicles. Colleen disappeared into the fog that rose.

As Collie retreated, the angst and turmoil so patently evident on Darien's face only moments earlier evaporated. With a casual twist of his head, the vertebrae in his neck comfortably popped. "Convinced yet?" he asked aloud, knowing full well who was behind him. He turned, sliding his hands into khaki pockets as his future counterpart approached, footsteps like lead and seething with palpable devastation and murderous intent. The sight of him was disgusting - the series of bad choices that he was - and it was all he could do not to take the man down then and there and beat him until he developed some sense or a thorough case of amnesia. When his counterpart didn't respond, Darien repeated the question, "Are. You. Convinced. Yet?"

"Of what?" his future snarled, leather creaking as his fingers flexed.

Darien's eyes narrowed, having identified the sore spot long before he had. "That I'm as good an actor as you."

His future self's mouth closed, eyes gravely staring straight through him. Nothing else needed to be said, and both of them knew that. "I'll be waiting. But don't be too long. The Nexus is almost out'ta flux."

He left the husband there, simultaneously deconstructing and rebuilding the conversation he'd had with that woman exactly as he suspected the other one was. The realization was there; just pathetically disguised. Long, easygoing steps carried him away, but not in the same direction she had gone... rather around the side of the mansion, past a familiar parked black Suzuki Hayabusa he'd been eying at the dealership in 2009 - only days before he'd been hurled into this nightmare of a reality.

"Nice bike."

[PrlUnicorn]

((Originally posted Jan 12, 2014 and Jan 13, 2014 by Ripple in Time))

A light still burned in the window of Colleen's office and a woman's figure was backlit like a shadow. Had she heard the voices? Had she seen the pair of men engaging in a heat discussion? Perhaps, she had. She had certainly felt the anger being raised like a Samhain bonfire. Eventually, one of them would step through that door and she would be waiting. But waiting for what?

It was far too silent inside when he finally made his way inside the house. Far too silent, and far too empty. The blinking lights on the banister seemed unnatural, the floorboards cold despite the embers dying away in the hearth. The home itself was inviting yet unfamiliar - a feeling he'd experienced before. It reminded him of then. That hotel room. When he picked up the phone and had heard Diana's voice, reminding him of what he had left, or rather, what he didn't.

Why was he thinking about the hotel room?

Muscle memory brought him to the unopened bottle of scotch resting on the kitchen counter. Collie always kept it stocked and never questioned him about it. The first dose of anesthetic was administered directly, skipping the glass altogether. When it did nothing to numb the static buzzing of his nerves, he retreated to his study, identical though it was to another office in RhyDin.

A woman soon stood in the hall just outside the study door, her features shadowed by the hood of a royal blue velvet cloak. A study had been made of the man when he entered the house. She was certain which vintage of Darien Fenner this one was. Everyone had telltale markers on or about their person, you just had to know what you were looking for and with a clear head. Colleen's objectivity had been impaired, but hers wasn't. She glanced toward the library door as she realized how she could lure the wolf from his den.

Once upon a time, she had been mistress of this house. She was careful to avoid the boards that creaked or groaned as she moved into the library. A few buttons pushed on the laptop that was still turned on set a sound byte playing. It hurt to hear it, to relive it, but she was certain the man across the hall never had known it had happened.

"I'll be good, I promise. Just let me go home to my babies." The words were broken by sobs. "Please." It was Colleen's voice, she was terrified.

"Just your babies?" He chuckled lowly. "What about that pig you call a husband?" The answer came from the ghastly voice of her kidnapper.

"You killed him! You showed me that! There' nothing you can do to change it and only makes me hate you all the more!"

That's where you're wrong. I did do something. He was a lying cheat. He'll never do that to you again.

She adjusted the volume and quietly left the library to wait. The laptop had been in the midst of what had been collected.

It took only seconds for the journo to appear in the hallway, steps crossing as he hugged the wall with uncanny expertise when the cloaked woman came into view. The Taurus 9mm in his hand may as well have weighed nothing, so perfectly it fit him, and he aimed it just as well. "Put your 'ands whe'ah I c'n see them," he warned the intruder, his voice even but firm. The message felt clumsy but wasn't. It was something he had said before. Many times, in fact.

Her face remained shaded by the hood, but she lifted her hands up. Silvery rings adorned both ring fingers. "Really, Mr. Fenner? Do you think a gun is the answer to everything that startles you?" Her voice was reminiscent of his wife's, but somehow it seemed older and deeper.

"Only things that breathe," he replied, pistol still trained on her person. The situation had distracted and grounded him, eradicating pesky introspection, and it showed in his demeanor and resolve. "Turn around slowly and show your face."

Only things that breathe. The words echoed in her head and she wondered if Darien Fenner had any idea how ironic his own words were to her, a dead woman. She turned to face him. "Are you sure that's what you want, Darien?" She moved the hood back. Her snow white skin was a stark contrast to the golden red of her hair. Was this the twin his wife had spoken of? Had she somehow been caught in the workings of the Nexus? When the light in the foyer glowed on her face, it became clear that she was not. Unlike his hurt and angry wife, this woman was the picture of serenity. The blue and white satin fabric of her gown seemed to whisper as she took a step back from him to fully remove the dark blue velvet cloak. The cameo of a mother and child affixed to a blue satin ribbon rested against her throat.

"Collie?" The handgun lowered slowly, against his better judgment. His eyes swung briefly to the front door of the house where she'd stormed out just minutes earlier, then back to her, abruptly narrowing. "Is this some kind'a joke?"

"If only that was case." Her expression had become rueful. "I was awakened and came looking for answers." She gestured toward the front door. "Unlike that one I saw out there with you, I'm not looking to cause her any unnecessary grief. He reeks of hatred of some kind."

The firearm remained lowered, but he did not holster it. "What d'ya want?"

"I had what I thought I wanted, then things changed." She shrugged as she moved her fingers over the ribbon against her throat. "Life as I knew it was over. One day the Nexus shifted and woke me from my slumber." She stopped and cleared her throat. "You'd think I would have learned to not ramble," she muttered. "I came here for her help. She gave it and now she needs mine." One hand closed over a bracelet on the opposite wrist. "She calls me Morrigan for the Phantom Queen. And I should warn you, there's another running about."

"Another what?"

"Another piece of her. Colleen is what is. I am what might have or should have been and the last of us represents what happens if a specific event doesn't occur at a specific time."

Darien half-turned, as if looking for more visitors, the handgun finally resting against his thigh. His throat bobbed as he swallowed. "This is an' noth'a quirk of the Nexus, uh?" It could be something temporary, if fate favored him, which wasn't often.

"Yes, it is. I want to go back where I came from. I don't belong here anymore." She tipped her head. "Your wife is beginning to think she doesn't either. That other part of you taunting her isn't helping things."

[PrlUnicorn]

Darien's mouth closed before he said something he knew he would regret. Finally, though with some reservation, he slid the weapon into the shoulder harness concealed beneath his leather jacket. "What're y'gonna do, then?" he asked, eying the computer from outside the study, thrown off by the context of the message playing from its speakers.

"Turn that sound off, that's first thing I'm going to do." She moved through the library into Colleen's study. It was familiar ground. She turned the sound loop off then stared at what was on the desk. "This is worse than I thought." Morrigan gestured to the neats stacks of photos and notes on the desk. "How much of this have you ..." her words trailed off a moment as she lifted up a faxed copy of an article from newspaper's archive, "seen." The Post had been closed when Colleen and Madison were snatched off the streets of Old Temple. The headline was from the Star's End Chronicle, "Body Found in Dockside."

25 July 2012

Remains of a murder victim found in Dockside have been positively identified as Colleen Fenner. Cause of death has been ruled as exsanguination via the carotid artery aided by drowning. The family has asked for privacy during this difficult time.

Her hand moved to her throat. She remembered all too well that glittering knife that was the harbinger of her own ending. A second article page had been under the first.

2 August 2012

In a private service, Colleen MacLeod Fenner was laid to rest in the rose garden of the family home near Dublin, Ireland. She was the wife of Darien Fenner, investigative journalist with The RhyDin Post.

Mrs. Fenner owned several businesses including Navarra Farms and Plant Nursery. She was the chairman of the MacLeod Foundation which supports several charitable causes.

In addition to her husband, Colleen is survived by her children, grandchildren of several generations, nieces, nephews, and cousins. She was preceded in death by her parents, grandparents, two sisters, two sons, and a daughter.

The family will hold a public memorial in Rhydin at a later date. The family has asked that in lieu of floral tributes that contributions in Collie's memory may be made to the Rhydin Orphanage, Riverview Clinic's Pediatric Wing, or other organizations benefiting children.

She started digging for something, it had to be there. She knew Diana would have saved it. Morrigan's own husband was never shown the contents of a particular package. Was it possible that Colleen had never shown it to hers either? On top of the large padded envelope marked Photos - Do Not Bend, she found a print out of selected portions of Marc Franco's blog. Her eyes moved over them, one at time.

The first group had been dated May 18 2012, May 26, 2012, and June 1, 2012. Each one dealt with fingers being pointed at Darien and who he might or might not be bedding. The two remaining carrying a more sinister theme. They placed Darien as not just a person of interest in the disappearance of his wife and daughter, but as the likely instigator.

June 30 2012
3. Tragedy in the MacLeod-Fenner family! It's hard to miss the missing person flyers all over town but just in case you have been under a rock over the past week, this is DEFINITELY a need to know item! According to their family, Collie MacLeod-Fenner and her five month old daughter, Madison, are missing! The pair was headed to a doctor's appointment but never made it. Their car was found abandoned in the Old Temple district and there hasn't been word from them since. All of this comes amid rumors of her troubles with her husband, Darien Fenner, who is all sorts of shades of shady. Her children have complained that he's been seen hanging out far too much with other women, not paying attention to his wife or child, and there's rumors of a drinking problem. We sure hope they're okay but we sure hope that the Watch is looking at the most obvious suspect!


Jul 22, 2012
1. We're Starting To Lose Count. So in this week's NOT DEAD files, it seems that Collie MacLeod-Fenner is NOT dead.... and, yeah, we think this is one for the NOT DEAD file, not the UNDEAD file. Biiiig difference. Anyway! Collie was reported missing by her family several weeks ago and then there were rumors that a body washed up looking quite like her's. There was also some talk that her husband, the ever so shady Darien Fenner, was behind her disappearance and possible murder! Things had NOT been looking sunny in that marriage before her disappearance but it seems that this brush with death has changed all of that. They were spotted together in the Inn one night this past week hanging out together with friends (although we use the term loosely in Darien's case), including Aja, Yeardley, and Audrey. Collie was overheard saying that being told to come claim your dead wife's body can change your priorities. We wouldn't speak too soon if we were her. Give it some time. That dog will be right back to his old tricks!

Her mind was working on a puzzle. There was a piece that didn't fit into place. Sliding the packet of photographs toward Darien, she said, "These arrived after you departed and before she was taken. I doubt she ever showed them to you. Some are pretty damning as far as proof of infidelity goes." Morrigan withdrew one photo in particular from the package and pointed out the date and time stamp with the tip of her index finger. "I remember that date well. I had an argument with my husband, the next morning, which included his vehement denial of having an affair with at least one business associate. Yet," she tapped the backs of her fingers against photograph on the desk, "there are you are with your ear as a woman's dessert." She was quiet for a moment or two as she glanced out the window. It was still snowing. "My husband left that same morning. I never saw him again." She moved her hands behind her neck to open the clasp that held the beribboned cameo in place. The choker had hidden what was once an ugly gaping wound. A skilled mortician had closed it, "I never found out ..."

"You should read these, Darien." She suddenly moved her head like a raptor that was tracking its prey. Something had triggered instincts that were long out of use. "Son of a sailor's mother in Galway," she muttered. "Tell me something, Darien, will you? If your wife said that she wished you'd never gone to that warehouse, what would you say to her?"

As he took in all her state - the macabre choice of gown, pale and her neck stitched up like some gruesome ragdoll - Darien understood what Morrigan was. She was a choice, or a possibility that the Nexus had produced. From an infinite number of possibilities, he had to meet this one. Little regard was given to the literature on the desk, however engrossed in it Morrigan was. Darien had no interest in possibilities, only realities. And that left only one thing to do. "I'm sure I could point 'er in your direction."

She chuckled humorlessly as she put the choker back in place. "You're just the same as one of your counterparts, Darien Fenner. You turn over every stone, look under every rock, and oft forget the moss that grows upon them. I said I came to her for help and received it. I also said she's the one that calls me Morrigan. That, Mr. Journalist, should have told you that she already knows that I'm here." The laptop chimed again, the reminder that mail was waiting. "You see, that's what she said to the man that was in hallway a bit ago. Had it been you, you would have known what she was talking about. He didn't." The Nordstrom return information caught her attention. "What the hell would she be getting from them?" Unlike Colleen, Morrigan didn't hesitate. She opened the e-mail and read it. Her face twisted into a pained expression as she read. "So, the nightmare has become a reality." Almost reverently, she closed the laptop with both hands. "Arís, ní mór an bhean tarrthála í féin," the words were almost like a prayer.

She was silent as she listened to the Westminster chimes in the front hall striking the hour. Morrigan picked the microcassette off the desk, the diminutive item fit within her palm. She gazed down at it. "Such a tiny little thing, don't you think?" Her fist closed around the audio tape. "In and of itself, it's innocuous. Yet the words recorded on it caused more pain than anything he did or could have done to us." The plastic casing creaked as her fist tightened.

Her quiet words held the cold of grave, "When you have survived being drugged, tortured, terrorized, and raped without letting go of your sanity, one of the few things that will break you, break your mind, is being shown the betrayal by the one you love most." With no fireplace in the room, Morrigan rolled the wick of a candle between her fingers. The filament sparked to life in a bright flame. "To escape from that pain, you pray for death, and you welcome oblivion." She held the offending thing above the flame and waited a moment. Morrigan set the tape on the desk and opened a drawer. She retrieved a micro recorder, plugged the tape into it, and pressed a single earphone into one of her ears.

As she listened, her already pale skin became ashen just like her counterpart's had not long before. A memory was awakened, her body remembered being ravaged. She remembered every word that had been played for her while Randy Vickers tore into her; unwelcome and uninvited. That had been embellished some, but this was the raw conversation. Morrigan drew in a ragged breath. Even after all the time that had passed, the talk of infidelity between a man and a woman to whom his wife had given her trust cut through her like a carefully sharpened weapon. Colleen's voice rang in her ears as her own filled her memory.

Her expression had run the gamut between hurt, rage, sorrow, and, finally, acceptance; stages of grief. Quietly, she clicked off the machine and set the earbuds next to it. When she looked upon Darien Fenner, Morrigan's countenance held a look of disappointment. Her hands were held out, palms upward in a gesture toward the small machine on the desk. "I," she hesitated briefly as if reconsidering her options, "cannot help her." Her next words were a mix of cantrip and prayer, "Of all the things that I am able to do, I cannot mend a heart broken in two." Silk rustled as she started to move past Darien. "I wish you well," she whispered as once again the incoming mail chime sounded through the laptop's speakers. This time, however, Morrigan resisted the temptation to look at it. She paused in her exit to glance over her shoulder. "She's one of two places. Where I ended or where the two you nearly ended before you had truly begun."

She had anticipated some kind of retort from him. "It's what I would do." A minute later, she was gone.

((Note: Portions of the Gossip GangSTAR were used with the permission of Marc Franco's player))

[PrlUnicorn]

((Originally posted on May 29, 2014 by Mairead Harker))

Late May 2014

Her spiffy new gadget in hand, Maggie went with her grandmother to pay a call at the home of her aunt and uncle. Colleen spent some time admiring Eregor's garden while Maggie executed her master plan for Father's Day surprises. The eight year old pointed the camera at Abby and Madison. The toddlers were busily building block towers and playing with shape puzzles. Maddy paused in her little game after placing square and triangle shaped pieces into the sorter box. She lifted her head and turned her attention toward the door. Mimicking her younger sister, Abby looked over to find Maggie with a camera in one hand and waving gleefully with the other.

"Meg!" Abby squealed and made a beeline for the eight year old.

Shaking her head and looking far too serious, Madison said, "No, Abby! Mag-gee." She spoke slowly and carefully as she had been taught to. It was a method of compensating. Her mother was of the mind that just because Madison had been born hearing less than her sister that there was no reason her voice couldn't be heard by others. The tiny redhead's hearing loss, due to exposure to RBF, had made learning and reaching the usual childhood milestones a challenge.

Maggie was calling her little project a success. The resulting hour long production was filled with vignettes depicting normal daily life for the Fenner twins. During the filming of everything from playful sisterly silliness to potty training woes, it was primarily Rhiannon Brock and Eregor that were shown attending to the girls. Clearly the scenes, shot over a week long period, did not take place in the old homestead as Collie sometimes called it.

"Ok, girls, wave and say hi to your Da!!" Maggie's voice was cheerful.

At the mention of their father both girls, clad in pajamas, started to look around the room and were clearly disappointed when his face didn't appear.

"No Da?" Madison pouted and was nearly on the verge of tears when Abby hugged her.

Abby had taken her cue from Maggie's chipper demeanor. She waved at the camera then brought both hands up to her mouth and blew kisses. "Hi, Da!"

Maggie added her own message. "Hi Darien! It's me, Maggie! I grew a whole two inches since I saw you last time! Abby and Maddy don't know how to work a camera yet, so, I helped them out with that! I hope you like this cause I know you're away working a lot and pictures aren't always enough!" Maggie waved and helped Madison blow kisses. "Happy Da's Day!"

"Maggie?" It was Colleen's voice in the background. "Don't forget, I'm taking Max home with me tomorrow. I'm sure he had a lovely vacation with you, but it's ..." she paused as she realized Maggie was playing with her camera again. "Och, sorry, lass didn't mean to interrupt!"

" 's ok, Gran, we're finishing up!" On that note, Maggie shut the camera off and set it aside. As Collie ushered the children off to attend to the bedtime ritual, Max opted to put his two cents in with barks and chuffs. His long tail swept the camera off the end table where Maggie had left it. The camera, now under the side table and pointing at a sofa, was turned on again and recording the dog poking his nose at the toys.

[PrlUnicorn]

(( Originally posted on May 29, 2014))

The three girls and their grandmother could be heard chattering for a few moments before Maggie took on the task of reading, "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" as a bedtime story. A glass of tea in one hand and dog treats in the other, Collie returned to the playroom for a game of fetch and fussing over Max.

She rubbed the German Shepherd's ears and smiled. "So, what do ya think, Beastie? Ready ta go home after yer long stay wit' Maggie?" Her tea and the treats were set aside as Collie settled on the sofa and used her index fingers to rub under the dog's jaw near the base of his skull. He found it soothing and got one of those sleepy puppy expressions on his face. "I know ya missed Darien 'n' the girls 'n' if ya got along better wit' the Riddle that lives 'ere ya would be stayin' 'ere. As it stands, though, Maggie was the best one ta charge o' ya while we were ... gone." Gone, it was the only word that seemed to fit; away wasn't quite right. I can bring ya here ta visit wit' the girls, but," her smile had faded, "I don't know what Darien's been up to of late. I'm sure he'd love ta have his dog about, but I'm thinkin' 'e's been travelin' again 'n' that's not a comfortable thing fer a fellah like yerself what doesn't like sittin' still fer long."

Max dropped his head into Collie's lap. He gave her one of those doggie expressions that seemed to be asking her to tell him more about it. He nuzzled Colleen's hands. He'd grown used to Maggie speaking to him in his own language of barks, chuffs, and, albeit rarely, growls. It wasn't that Maggie didn't use the Common tongue when speaking to the dog that easily outweighed her by 60 lbs. It was, however, that she had found her comfort zone with him by acting as a translator as well as caregiver. He made soft woofing noises that were quite understandable to Colleen.

"I know," she murmured, "I miss the three of them, too, but there's not much I can do about it just now. The more pieces I fit together, the stranger things become. The best thing I can manage right now, Max, is to take you home."

[PrlUnicorn]

((This series was originally posted on Jun 09, 2014))

((The following posts were written with the player of The Lame Smith. Thank you!))

She sat quietly with the dog. Max was content to have his head rubbed and listen to her speak to him in the familiar soft growly tones that her version of his language was spoken in. The German Shepherd's ears perked as footsteps paused in the hallway outside the room that had been made toddler safe. His expression was one of curiosity, no warning alert registered on the animal's face. The steps were too heavy to be one of the children out of bed. Colleen turned her head toward the slightly opened door and called out, "Who's there?"

"Just me," came the reply as the door opened to reveal Hephaestus. "I apologize if I'm intruding, but Eregor mentioned that you were here with Maggie, and I thought I'd say hello." He held up the longsword in his right hand. "I originally just came to pick this up, but you know how it is, visiting with old friends."

She gestured for him to come in. "There are very few occasions when your presence would be considered an intrusion." She managed a smile. "I'm not in the bath nor in my boudoir, so, they don't apply here." Colleen rubbed Max's head before the dog went to investigate the smith god. "Remember, I still think of you as a brother."

He smiled and stepped inside, bending down to offer his hand to Max for a sniff before scritching the dog behind one ear. "In that, I consider myself honored, Colleen."

Max allowed the touch as he inhale the lingering scents from the domain of Hephaestus. Some things a dog could smell, no matter how much washing had been done.

Colleen eyed the dog and smiled slightly. "He's fine unless someone is a threat to the children. He's always been more Darien's dog despite having been a gift to me."

That comment drew a raised eyebrow from the smith as he settled down in the armchair beside her. "I find that unusual, given your way with animals. Is your husband such a charmer that he can win this fine dog away from you?"

"He might well be." It was hard to say if that was a tease or not. "Some dogs just bond better with one person more than others. Max is that sort of dog. It could be that Riddle was living on the estate at the time and it was a dominance issue. Alpha males are funny beasts," she paused, "no offense intended."

"None taken. I leave that sort of nonsense for ... others in the family." Hephaestus sneered and gave a little chuckle. "My brother, mainly." Though he had many brothers, it was clear from his voice exactly who he meant. Ares. "He likes to pretend he's something of an alpha among our generation. Never mind that Athena could out-fight him any day if she wished it."

"Forget out fighting him, she can just outsmart him." Colleen grinned. She gestured to the tea and juice pitchers on the table. "Would you like something? I'm afraid all I have in here that's clean are plastic tumblers. Glass isn't something I keep around the girls." She held up her own glass. "I snagged this one after bedtime."

He reached out and picked up a tumbler, filling it with tea. "Your care for your children has always been admirable, Colleen." Taking a long drink, he sighed and set it down. "Now that is good."

[PrlUnicorn]

"I do try." She sighed. "There are times, though, when I feel as though I have failed them." Her head shook slightly. "I suppose most mothers have those times."

A heavy silence fell between them for a moment as Hephaestus considered his words. "I imagine so, though I can't recall from personal experience. My own childhood was far from typical, of course, and it has been centuries since I had any children myself. Still, I would not fault you in your motherhood, Colleen. You love your children." He seemed about to say more, but pulled back and sipped his tea.

"The house is empty without them in it." Before she went on, she eyed Heph. "Go on, you have something on your mind, say what it is."

"What of their father?"

"You wield words like you do a hammer. Directly to the temper line on a blade." She cleared her throat. "He doesn't know the girls are here. And I don't mean just them. All of the children are out of the house for the time being." She rarely separated herself from those children that were still in need of her care. "Most are grown as you know. Mir, the youngest of my sons is staying in Mellor with his grandparents. Draven is working the farm with my eldest. I think he's hit one of those .. needing to try his hand at being independent stages." She looked up at the ceiling. "You know, I raised them all to be that way and gave them the tools to make their way. You'd think it would be easy to step back, but there's this part of me yelling... 'He's still a baby.' In my day, fifteen year old boys were men fighting wars." She sipped her tea. "Funny how things change with time." She smiled slightly. "Enough evading your question. I haven't seen Darien since... March. Around the time of Maggie.s last birthday." And that was when her guard was let down and her face showed the regret and sadness she had been feeling for some time.

"You feel he has betrayed you." It was more a statement, an assumption, than a question. "I know something of what that is like. Do you still love him?"

"Yes, I do." She blew some stray strands of red out of her eyes. "It would be far less painful if I didn't." She turned slightly to get more comfortable. "It isn't simple betrayal. It's one of those long and complicated snowballs." She swallowed and was quiet a moment before speaking again. "Do you know what the problem is with being one of the strong ones, Hephaestus?" Her voice was just above a whisper and devoid of any trace of the familiar accent. "When that strength finally fails you and you're laying at the bottom of the now empty well that had sustained you for so long, people expect you to pick yourself up and move onward as you always have." She let out a breath. "The water eventually starts to fill it again and you start to drown. If you recall, I can't swim. It's ironic, isn't it?"

[PrlUnicorn]

Setting his tumbler down, Hephaestus turned to regard her steadily. "I hate people that expect such things. It's an excuse, that's all, a justification for them to absent themselves from those in pain and need." Though his expression was calm, there were occasional flashes in his eyes like sparks from hammer and anvil, and he seemed to be looking past Colleen and then back at her from moment to moment. "They leave us alone, saying 'Oh, you'll get through this,' and walk away, the ones that profess to care, to love us." Finally his lip curled into a sneer. "Words!"

Colleen closed her eyes and she drew in a long breath. "I think, perhaps, that you are partly right. Many make excuses, but some that have watched the ones that get up, again and again, are at a loss for just what to do."

Like her, Hephaestus took a deep breath, and while his eyes remained open, the sparks left them as he smiled sadly. "Sometimes there is nothing that they can do except help gather up the shards of a life shattered." He reached out and took Colleen's hand in his, gently. "I can't know how it hurts, this complicated snowball of yours. Yes, I was betrayed by my love--and of course I loved her, how could anyone not, being what she was --but my story was simple, as the stories of gods often are. You and yours, with your intricate lives, are truly marvelous and grand, and so your pain must be equally grand. Still, I am your friend, and I would help you if I can." He paused, and shrugged. "Even if only by listening."

"You have always been kind to me, Hephaestus, and looked well upon my children. Some of your brothers and sisters didn't." She patted his hand with her free one. "Do you know why Abby and Madison are here? Here as in why they are within the home of Eregor and Rhiannon?"

"I asked Eregor, but he would not say." He turned his gaze up to the ceiling and the walls. "Yet I daresay he needn't have spoken. This place is a haven against Time, a fortress of Chronos himself, and that alone tells me that time is a danger to them."

She frowned and nodded. "Yes. You see, that's where the complicated snowball begins. The more I learn, the more questions I have. The Nexus went crazy." She chuckled huskily. "Crazier than usual, I should say. Maybe, a year ago?" she questioned her own memory, it had been faulty of late. "I don't even know where to begin telling you about all of this. I've come up with only one answer make it right. I don't think it'll be popular." She held up her hand. "Maybe where I came into the story might be best." She folded her hands into her lap. When I last saw Darien, I was returning from Rome. Why I had been in Italy in the first place, I don't know. I was wakened by a phone ringing with someone on the other end telling me it was my reminder of a meeting in an hour with representatives of the Vatican." She looked at Hephaestus. "Yes, the Vatican, you heard me correctly."

That brought a little grin to the smith's face. "You met with the Pope? Or just his representatives?"

"Not this time." She grinned right back. "His representatives had heard of the work the MacLeod Foundation has done for children in various areas and wanted to know if we could render aid in a project they had in mind." She tipped her hand, palm up. "I think you know my answer to helping children is 'yes' when it's in my means." She took a drink of tea.

"Of course."

"Once it was over, still clad in the black silk suit I had worn, I took the first shuttle to Rhydin. I called home, there was no sign of anyone there, no answer, not even the machine was picking up." She shook her head. "Something went wrong with transport home, so, the farthest I could get at that point was the good old Red Dragon Inn. And ... there ... nice as you please was Darien at the bar," her voice went up a notch or three. She was upset even remembering it. "I don't remember why my first question wasn't, 'where are our children?' No, it was something inane with him refusing to even look at me. So, I told him that I hoped that he and whoever he had left me for were happy." She let out a long gust of air. "And ... he smashed a glass and left just as I got the call telling me where the girls were. One of my messages left at some point got to my housekeeper." She shrugged. "I never got to tell him they weren't home let alone why."

"And you haven't seen him since that night?" Hephaestus frowned and shook his head. "But you didn't ask about the children, and that's unlike you. Unless?..."

"I had hoped that he was going to tell me that he knew where they were." Colleen lifted her glass for another small drink. "When he offered no information, I realized that he was as clueless as I was regarding their whereabouts." She caught one side of her lower lip between her teeth. "Darien can be a vindictive jackass over some things, but he knows how much the children mean to me. He wouldn't have kept that from me. Nor I from him, but it was too late and I had the distinct impression that he was not in a talking mood," she followed that with a hushed, "again."

[PrlUnicorn]

Another moment of silence fell as Hephaestus considered her words, and his own. "You said that Darien knows what the children mean to you. How much do they mean to him?"

"If you asked me that question, say six months ago, I would have told you that he'd give his life for them, but now, I'm not so sure." Her inhale was coupled with a soft sniffle. "I'm fairly certain he has no desire to remain married to me. You see, the web gets tangled. When the last major Nexus flux happened, people seemed to be rising from the dead. Doppelgangers were popping up all over. I met Darien's. That's where the insanity started in this phase of my life."

"Hmmmm. How did that particular meeting go?"

"It was a masquerade ball. I had been expecting my husband and realized that masked man in front of me walked like him, but didn't quite talk like him. I was careful until I got back home. There was my Darien, not quite dressed to go out and with that blasted electronic leash in his hand. Seems he was told someone was calling and kept him on hold for at least half an hour. We both realized that said double was now actively inserting himself into our lives." Collie looked regretful as she shook her head. "My husband knew things that his double didn't. Like my sister died when I was much younger than I am now." She swallowed the lump that formed in her throat. "He must have gotten smarter and learned more. I'm certain, now, that he was the one I encountered when I was coming out of the house before things went what's the phrase.. timey wimey, wibbdley waddly?" She made a whatever gesture with her hand and hoped the point was clear. "I was sitting on the front step of Dare's old penthouse. I know it was his double that showed first. We were talking when my husband arrived. That, Hephaestus, is when things got blurry. I see bits and pieces in the back of my mind, but I don't know if it's dreams or having been tossed forward in time or... if I've just lost my mind."

"Such things, I'm sad to say, are not my specialty; matters of the mind, I leave to my sister." He took a sip of tea and then refilled his glass, offering some more to her as well. "I can see the structure of a thing down to the most intimate detail, but I've not the same skill with people. That being said," and he paused for a moment, "if you were displaced, is it not possible that Darien was as well? Are you certain that the man you saw at the Inn was your husband and not his doppelganger?"

"I believe he was displaced or the thread cutter would never have given the warning that both of us were about to do something that could cause ... could cause ..." it was a stutter, "our girls to be in danger."

Hephaestus' eyes widened in surprise. "Atropos gave such a warning?"

"Yes, she went to Rhiannon, the younger, and told her to take the girls and keep them safe. Atropos had to have known what she was doing or she would have gone to the elder Rhiannon. Eregor's tower is the safest place because it will shield them from the effects of time ripples." She quieted, "The one in the inn was not the doppelganger. What concerns me is where he might have been before that."

"Or when." He shook his head. "The Moirai don't appreciate their threads being torn before they can be cut, and distortions in time can do that. I wonder if, indeed, the children had ceased to be outside of this tower for a moment, when you were confronting him." A black expression came across his face at that thought, though it passed an instant later. "Rhiannon was wise to act on that warning quickly."

"Rhiannon is of the mind that her aunt has been trying to undo something that was done many, many years ago. Being at the wedding was the first step. Out of jealousy, Atropos cursed me or found someone to do it for her. The Irish have various names for those things. The point is she wished upon me great joy in motherhood, but to never find love that was lasting." She set her glass down and refilled it. "To give a warning like that means she either has grand plans for those girls or that she truly is a penitent. Perhaps both." She coughed slightly before having another drink.

Hephaestus raised an eyebrow as he pondered that. "The Moirai are not known for their mercy, but they are essentially fair-minded. If Atropos was convinced that she had acted unfairly, she would do her best to make amends."

Colleen nodded once as she pursed her lips. "There are some things I should tell you. I might have brought this down upon myself and, by extension, Abby and Madison as well." She studied Heph's face as she continued. "Two years ago, I was kidnapped. Madison and I were kidnapped. I did everything I could to get her to safety. I bless the technician that made the bracelet that eventually saved her life." She curled her fingers around her opposite wrist. "It was meant to track life signs of the wearer and if it no signs were recorded, a signal would be sent to transport the wearer to safety." Collie managed a small smile. "The criminal didn't know, just saw it as a piece of jewelry. When he left us in a room, I managed to make contact, but the signal was so weak, they could only only get her out." She shook her head. "Hurts to think about having to trust my baby's life to a gizmo that I still don't understand. But she was safe and that's what mattered." She lifted her hand and rested her chin on it. "That's why waking up in Italy makes no sense at all to me. The room that man kept me in was a perfect replica of a suite Darien and I had stayed in on our honeymoon. After what was done to me there, I never wanted to go there alone again."

"Yet you were there alone, by chance or... Fate." He sighed and set down his empty tumbler. "If you were cast adrift in time, it is possible that your consciousness, your essence, latched onto a piece of your past like an anchor, but you said that you'd had an appointment with the Vatican, didn't you? So clearly you didn't simply arrive there." The smith looked over at Colleen and shrugged. "I picked up some timey wimey talk from Eregor."

[PrlUnicorn]

She smiled, but her eyes had started to mist up. "Truth be told, I hadn't seriously considered that Darien was unfaithful to me until I was bombarded with image after image of him with different women. Words that were spoken were, shall we say some could have been edited, but others that were inappropriate in conversation with a married man had been proven to be true. I tried to let it go. I started to heal, I couldn't talk to him about it, he avoided listening." She brushed her fingers under her eyes. "And then there was Galway... "

"What happened there?"

"We went there for my last birthday. He confessed to adultery with two women. I didn't know if it was a lie or the truth. If he knew what was done to me in that warehouse, would he have been so cruel?" She closed her eyes, she looked both regretful and guilty. "As feuding couples are sometimes wont to do, we made up in spectacular fashion." She cleared her throat. "It didn't even occur to me until I was back home from wherever it was I was sent, that the man I had been with might not have been my husband." There it was, one of the complications.

"That must have been maddening." He reached out again to clasp Collie's hand.

"That's a good way to put it." She squeezed his hand. "The reason I said I might have brought this down upon myself is ... we had been slowly losing each other. No matter what I tried, Darien kept pulling away. Insulating himself. In anger and frustration, while I was on my way to that penthouse staircase sit in," she smiled slightly but it was humorless, "I asked myself what if we had never gotten together, what then? There were a few points in time where that would have changed, but ... to prevent us from having fallen in love would have meant Abby and Madison would never have been." Colleen swallowed more tea as if drowning the words. "I couldn't do that. But there was a way to free him of the unhappy marriage he was finding himself in and keep our daughters safe. Maybe safe is a relative word, but you know what I mean. Maybe Darien was the one that unraveled the plans the Moirae had for me by preventing my death." She got quiet.

Hephaestus shook his head slowly. "I don't know what sort of plans the Fates have for you, and I've found it is folly to try and second-guess them. Still, the girls are safe for now; we need to find out what must happen to keep them that way." The fact that he'd included himself in this cause slipped out naturally. "As for your marriage? I'm not one to offer counsel there. If he doesn't love you as you love him, then there is always the path of dissolving it, sad to say." Then he raised a cautioning hand. "But be sure that is the best path before you tread upon it."

"Death ends marriages," it came out as a matter of fact statement. "There is something that has haunted me and, while bittersweet, gives me hope of another path. I want to show you something, a gift from the father of my former life." She took a bowl of sudsy water that the children had used for bubble making and moved it between them on the table. "It's interesting what you learn to do when you find out that you had a gift all along." She swirled the water with her hand and images started to form. "I have been haunted by a dream of a child crying out in the night. The simple message of 'I want to be' kept hammering at my brain." Her eyes closed and her voice became a whisper. "It was the last of several ... dreams ... nightmares, I don't know which word is right. Unlike the others, that one still persists. The last piece of that puzzle is now in place. I know who that child is. I don't know if I was dropped into a possible future and left with that memory or if it was a dream. It can be cruel to be taunted that way. Now, I'm not so sure it was taunting." The images took form on the water and rose up like a hologram. Voices could be heard from the figures.

[PrlUnicorn]

Valentine's Day 2032

"How is she holding up?" The quiet words had come from a tall golden eyed woman in her late twenties. She'd come up behind another woman, a few years her junior, and caused a moment of reverie and reflection to be disturbed.

"Hmm? Oh, well enough I suppose." The redhead's tone said more than the words themselves. "How's that ... surprise coming along?"

Maggie's lips twitched as she rested a hand on Abby's shoulder. "Slowly, but I think I've got it this time. I tried once before you know."

Abby turned her head to make a quick study of her niece. "You did?" She was incredulous.

"Yes, for your tenth birthday, but I was only fifteen then and not quite as adept with some things as I am now."

"You could have asked Eregor for help," Abby pointed out.

"This time, I did," Maggie said. "This is special, it's the only thing Madison spoke of that no one could buy for her."

"How do you think she'll," Abby's head inclined toward the nearly closed pocket doors in front of them, "take it?"

"I hope she takes it well. And if she doesn't, well, I suppose I'll have to remind her that it's Maddie's day and not hers."

"Good plan."

"You do know this should have been your birthday, right?" Maggie said quietly.

"I've been told that," Abby replied with a nod.

"Hey, Gabbigal! You're on deck!" Kit Harker called down the stairs.

Maggie rolled her eyes. "And she calls me Bossypants."

"Very funny, Kit," Abby complained as she gathered the hem of her strapless pale peach gown and rushed up the stairs.

"You'd think I was the one that asked her be the maid of honor!" Kit chuckled and headed into the bedroom next to the old nursery. The room was serving as a bride's room for the preliminaries of the days event.

As Abby headed up the stairs, a tall young man came down. He inclined his head toward the closed doors to the master bedroom as he addressed Maggie. "Is Herself in there?"

Maggie murmured, "Yeah, but you should knock, loudly. It's that kind of day." Maggie just seem to disappear as she headed to the room across the hall.

That kind of day. A frown flitted across his lips as he nodded. "Got it." That kind of day meant that the lady of the house had been wrestling with more emotions than those associated with the wedding of her youngest daughter. He steeled himself for what might come and entered the room when Colleen bade him to do so. He'd left the doorway open a bit in case they called from upstairs.

Maggie had somehow succeeded in her mission and came out of the room directly across from the master bedroom.

"So," Collie said as she adjusted the young man's tie, "all set for events of the day? Weddings can be taxing on a body and soul, you know." Her voice carried into the hallway as Maggie emerged from the study with a finger pressed to her lips for the benefit of the man entering the foyer with her.

The man in the hall opted to ignore that shushing finger as he asked, "I'm here for a wedding? Well, this is rich. You brought me back here in time for her to ... "

"Shush! Pay attention, won't you?" Maggie's tone was more serious than it had been just a few moments before. Darien Fenner had never exactly been the epitome of social graces. Before he could utter another word, Maggie said, "Keep it up, Darien, and I'll make it snow on you this time.'

The expression on Darien's face had slowly become one of recognition.

Maggie waved a hand in front of the journo's face, "You alright there, Darien?"

"Magpie?" he asked with one brow lifted.

An impish smile appeared on Maggie's face. "You can bet your sweet Suzuki on that, Koala." Her fingers suddenly rested in the crook of his arm.

"Exactly what is going on?" Darien eyed Maggie like she was speaking in tongues.

"The short version is that you've been missing for about eighteen years. This is the second time I tried to find you and bring you home."

"Why'd you hunt me down? Why try now?" His tone was one of irritation and his aquamarine eyes narrowed at her.

"This time I knew more was more careful about ..." His first question took her by surprise, but her bitter sounding answer cut to the heart of the matter and answered both. "Oh, I'm sorry, Darien, I just assumed that you might like to help grant your younger daughter's wish of having her father walk her down the aisle to give her away."

The wind went out of Darien's sails. "I thought it was Collie ..." He couldn't finish his thought. It was Maddie that was getting married and not her mother. Was there still time?

"Gran?" Maggie shook her head. "No, she never even took off her wedding ring in all this time let alone want to remarry. She either loved you a lot or gave up on ..." She got quiet as the voices in master suite got a bit louder.

"You need to get out and mingle with the guests. They'll be disappointed if you don't," Collie's visitor chided her gently.

Her soft laughter filled the air and her hands went up in a bit of a defeated. "Och, I know, I know. I'll be up shortly to see if Maddie needs anything. She's crowded in with Abby, Kit, and a photographer as it is. Which reminds me, a stóirín, you should get up there, you were summoned for pictures. Did you forget why you needed this noose tied for you?" Her fingers came into view as she parted the pocket doors to allow the young man an egress. He didn't seem to notice Maggie and her company in the hall.

Darien smiled slightly. How often had she asked him why he wore a noose to work? Ties, it was how she saw them. "I'm goin' in the there, Mag. The groom shouldn't see the bride before the wedding, what's happened to ..."

"Give her a minute." Her hand closed on his arm.

"From what you said, she's had a long time already." His patience level was dropping and it showed in his voice..

"For once in your life, Darien, close your mouth, open your ears, and listen to her."

The glare he gave Maggie was unmistakable, but he didn't barge into the room.

Collie set at her vanity table and, for a few moments, she sat silently with her face in her upturned palms. The silence was broken when she lifted her head and brushed her fingers over a wood framed picture that "It hasn't been easy without you here, Darien. It isn't that I couldn't do it alone, I did. It's that I didn't want to." She brushed out her hair and pinned the champagne colored roses into place. She stood up and removed her dressing gown to reveal a hand beaded dress with a hem that fell at her ankles. She looked liked something out of 1920's Chicago. "If I had to do it all over again, knowing what I do, it would would be painful and bittersweet to even be offered the choice of the man I still love after all this time and ..."

"Mama!" The voice was coming from the top of the stairs. "We're ready!"

When Colleen stepped into hall, the sight of Madison on the landing left her speechless. Maddie wore her mother's wedding gown; she was a vision wrapped in blue and white satin. Her something borrowed was the diamond Journey necklace that had been gifted to her mother on a Valentine's Day many years before.

Maggie whispered, "Isn't she beautiful?"

"She's gorgeous," Darien murmured as he swallowed the lump that formed in his throat.

"I'm surprised Gran didn't have Jamie wear a kilt." Maggie stifled giggling.

"His name's Jamie?" Darien asked.

Maggie nodded. "Yes. I thought you had this figured out."

[PrlUnicorn]

((Originally posted on Jun 23, 2014 by Mairead Harker))

The conversation continued long into the night, but the camera's batteries gave up the ghost not long after the watery image faded. Maggie retrieved her camera in the morning. After breakfast, she was accompanied by her Aunt Rhi to the offices of the Rhydin Post to deliver her precious cargo, a camera memory card, in a padded envelope that was addressed:

From:
M. Harker
A. and M. Fenner
Garden Tower
Old Temple District
Rhydin

To:
Darien Fenner
c/o The Rhydin Post
Rhydin Town Center
Dragon's Gate District
Rhydin

The enclosed card was signed:
Maggie!
followed with the printed letters A and M along with a handprint made in blue ink from each of the twins.

Maggie watched as Mia, one of the receptionists, placed the envelope in the box marked: Fenner, D. Satisfied that her part was done, she had a lunch date with two of her aunts.