Done

[Rebecca Talon]

It was dark when Rebecca came to. Someone had found her and she was now in a hospital tent erected near the battlefield. Her hurts were healed, and she felt some semblance of normalcy, but she still hurt a lot.

Rolling out of bed no one noticed her stand and leave the tent. A pair of Scottish Army privates stood guard in their distinctive camo pattern uniforms. They nodded respectfully to her as she walked by. She returned the courtesy and disappeared into the sea of individuals.

The Jase'dasis camp wasn't far, but it was definitely separate from the rest. The younger knights and apprentices stared in aw at her. A few greeted her with "Master Talon," but for the most part she was left alone. She likely looked like he'll.

Approaching the master's tent she pushed the flap aside and entered. She sat down next to Master Jera Kol her hands folded into her lap. They sat in silence for several minutes before Kol spoke.

"You are troubled my friend."

"I am," Rebecca said honestly.

"And I can help?"

"You can. I understand you are familiar with the ritual for stripping someone of the ability to tap into the ijulna."

"I can do that." There was another long pause as Human and Bajoran sat in companionable silence. "I don't belive you are asking for someone else."

"I am not. I do not want this curse. It is nothing but pain, and every day it is harder to not fall to the path of the Ajem'dasis."

"Self-awareness is a great power for someone to have, but, know that struggle is there for us all."

"I nearly gave in today. I almost took it too far. I don't want this burden any longer. I may not be evil like Dominus, but I am also not pure of heart."

"You only know what's best for you."

Three hours later Rebecca was wearing a pair of blue jeans, and simple white tee shirt and cowboy boots as she walked away from the camp and the battlefield as a whole. It took her a better part of the rest of the night to make it home hitchhiking all the way.

She paid her nanny and made sure to add a heafty gratuity. Alone with the kids she turned to Young Ethan and Kim. "You two pack your things okay? Just clothes and anything that means a lot to you. Yes, Kim like your rabbit."

She wrote a few quick letters while the kids were in their rooms. She gave her ranch here and on Earth to Aimee. She sent her resignation as SecNav to Tony and the President. With that she lead the kids with their backpacks out the front door and locked it an hour later.


<England, Earth, 48 hours later>

Rebecca walked up to the door and hesitated. She didn't know that she was right for sure. Her research said she was, but research and practical application were often two different things.

Sighing she rang the bell. When the door opened she smiled, "Hello Nicholas. It's good to see you."

[Nick Ryder]

Nick smiled warmly and gestured for her to come inside. "I see you figured out how to find me. If anyone could I knew you would." he said and hobbled over to an easy chair. "Nothing to worry about... just tripped on one of Gale's little toy cars and I landed flat on my arse... my neighbor, a Doctor, is completely unconvinced I'm as old as I tell people I am." he looked at her and frowned slightly. "Your connection to the iljuna... it's not there is it?"

[Rebecca Talon]

"I severed it, and left the 25th Century. These kids need more. I can't do that dead or always off fighting, and I can't sit on the sidelines. I'm just not built that way, so I removed myself from the temptation. Most people can't believe how old we are," she said tiredly. "Though, without the ijulna I suspect I will age at a normal rate now."

[Nick Ryder]

"Pfft... you'll still age like fine wine. I've seen your family tree, trust me... you'll get fewer wrinkles if you keep out of the bloody sun!" Nick said with a chuckle. "Yeah... that's why I came here, either my son would grow up without a father or I'd be continuing to fight the fight that the people we trained to carry on in our place should be fighting." he gestured to the old house. "And I'm very happy here, I do miss Angel and Olivia and KIrby and my mom but... at least I know they're where they should be, they're alive, they have their own lives to live." he got up with a slight wince and shook his head. "So... you got any living arrangements or do you want to bunk here? I've got room. There's a little 3 bedroom house on the property I was going to turn into a little Makerspace but it's all yours and Ethan and Kim's. As long as you don't mind my guys revving engines and cussing although it's British cussing. Can't understand it half the time."

[Rebecca Talon]

"Nothing yet. I'm looking at Scotland. It's pretty, and with this hair I'm sure to fit right in." She sighed contentedly relaxing fully for the first time in decades. No Wars. No ominous tinge from the ijulna. This is how the other half lived, and she was liking it.

"Dominus is dead. He and I were in a fight to the death. He nearly completed the job." She shrugged, "Jack and Kensy showed up and finished it. Bellatrix is dead. She went down with the Vindicator, and Ian is in the deepest darkest hole we could find in the Mount. There's only Ophelia and Órlaith left, and Órlaith joined us. She's serving on the Kitea with Angel."

[Nick Ryder]

"Well that's something..." Nick said with a smile and went over to the small bar cabinet and poured two drinks. "Ophelia... yeah I got this feeling she's going to be a pain in their backside for a while. I always did wonder what our kids would be like... if for whatever reason we hooked up and produced something. Always pictured them like Angel but wilder." he handed her the crystal glass and sat back down. "So Kinsey killed Dominus... I'm assuming that it was her since I don't see Jack as taking that kind of action, even after everything that happened to him. Not entirely shocked though, after what Dominus and Ophelia did to her and to Cece." he took a sip and chuckled. "I knew it would happen eventually... we got a care package from further ahead in the future that came just as we got here, so apparently I had things set up so we'd be set here. Even have Bellatrix's broken kilden that I'm guessing Angel found and added to the care package. But bottom line... future went ahead just fine without me and it'll go ahead just fine without you too."

[Rebecca Talon]

"It is something, just not sure what that something is." She shrugged and looked lovingly at her two kids, "Where's Gale?"

[Nick Ryder]

"With a Princess." Nick chuckled lightly. "His Nanny and my Apprentice. Princess Cassandra Windsor. They're out shopping with Alice. Yea... who would have thought, a tour of Buckingham Palace would lead to their 'royal bad girl' basically coming to live with us and she's scary strong with the Iljuna. History has almost no record of her in our era which leads to me to think either she was disowned by her family or she did something horrendous but even then they'd still keep a record, or... she disowned the family, told them to forget she was ever born and came to the future with us at some point. Alice practically considers her family. Which is nice since the majority of the Huntington clan aside from a few, were royal arsehats." he sipped his drink and shook his head. "108 year old ancestor of Alice's lived in this estate pretty much alone for the last 12 years of her life, what was left of the family ignored her. I've been here almost a year and I've found a grand total of ONE Huntington and that's a male that's just as much of a douche as her father. And I suspect that he isn't even a 'real' Huntington, the women are angels. Oh by the way... it's Nick Huntington here, I'm determined to give history at least ONE decent Huntington man besides our son."

[Rebecca Talon]

"Nicholas Ryder, the consummate feminist," she teased. "I don't reckon I'll be here forever, but I want to raise these kids right. I failed Aimee, though, the truth is, I simultaneously gave her a better life than I could have otherwise. I was a mess after her father was killed, and seeing what I was doing to Ethan, and Kim... Yeah, this is the best choice."

[Nick Ryder]

"And you came to the same era as your best friend who would support you through anything." Nick said with a smile. "You've always been there for me and I always try to be there for you. So let's enjoy our retirement. Stay the night at least, the kids'll enjoy it. And we can figure out where in Scotland you can find a place. The fewer beautiful women living in my home the better... the local teenagers are already trying to figure out creative ways to peep into the pool we had installed when Alice and Cassie go out. I know it was a silly idea especially in England, but it's heated and there's a canopy that'll keep it a balmy 77 degrees no matter what. That IS part of the reason why I moved to Honolulu, water regulates my heat a bit better and when it's already hot out, I can expel my excess easier. Of course, lately that's what the AliceCores are for. I've got this whole estate set up to power off a series of them."