The Huntingtons

[Nick Ryder]

"I've got plenty of grandkids... and a couple great-grandkids." Nick said with a wry smile. "I don't see them enough, but they get into enough trouble without grandpa adding to it. Although each of them are taken care of. I made some good connections and set up some solid plans so even if I'm gone, the family is set up for life. Plus my kids are pretty savvy on their own."

[Atticus Hall]

Atticus smirked, "Why am I not surprised?"

[Angel Ryder]

"Dad had good teachers." A woman's voice said from the door way followed by a couple of light raps with her rings on the wood frame. "And here I was worried you'd be all lonely with just little bro and Alice for company."

"Angel!" Nick leapt from his chair and ran to her and gave her a big bear hug and picked her up of the ground and spun her around. "This is certainly a surprise! Wait... nothing's... wrong is it?"

"No, no... I told Jack for my anniversary gift instead of wine I wanted to hang with my dad like we used to." she held up a bag. "Brought you goodies from Trini's orchard."

"Ohhh... I've missed these." Nick grinned and gestured to Atticus. "Angel, this is Atticus, neighbor and a good friend. And a doctor."

"Psychiatrist?" Angel teased. "My father is an incurable nutcase, but we love him." she extended her hand. "Angelica Lee. And yes there is a massive age difference between me and Gale. But my old man's in good shape, what can I say?"

"Speaking of good shape, after twins... girl, you take after your mother." Nick said as he looked at her. "A little soft in the arms."

"Well... there's a reason for that." Angel said and chuckled. "Took a new job. Oh look in the bag."

"What did you do?" Nick gave her a look and peeked inside the bag. "Oh... oh Angelica. Is this the effect pedal I loaned you while you were in the USO and lost?"

"The very same. Jena found it in an old crate, apparently she had it all along. So, uhm... hey thanks." Angel blushed.

"Well you know what the rule is, you give me gear back... we have to play with it. In public. With people. Atticus, think your wife would mind dinner at the pub?" Nick hummed. "She'll enjoy Angel's singing. Much better than mine. And I'd say she's a better guitar player than I am."

"Pff... please... we're both good in our own way. As long as you have a short scale for me." Angel said and held onto his arm. "It's been way way too long and I had no idea how much I missed you dad."

[Nick Ryder]

Nick kissed her cheek and smiled. "Don't tell anyone else this, because I'll deflect it, but... I missed you most of all." he whispered. "You were always MY kid."

"Oh everyone knows that. Your legacy was pretty hard to live down, but I made my own." Angel said and hugged him. "I'm sorry I didn't come around sooner. I guess... a part of me felt... like you didn't care, but it was your care that made you do what you had to do. We had to all grow up some time."

"And I take it you did?" Nick said with a raised eyebrow.

"You'd be proud." Angel said softly and nodded her head. "Does... he know... y'know?"

"That I'm from the future?" Nick said in a normal voice. "Of course, he figured it out years ago, I just waited for him to finally say something not that I hid it super well of late. He just doesn't know... all the facts. Maybe over drinks. Perhaps his revelation and your arrival are a sign of sorts. The Iljuna moves in mysterious ways."

"I'll say. I still have a lovely set of angel wings scarred onto my back thanks to it and my connection to Trinity." Angel said and shrugged her shoulders. "I actually had them defined a bit, they look pretty cool if I wear a backless halter top. Like the kind you HATED when I wore them when I was a teenager."

"I only hated them because you had no boobs. It was like wearing a napkin around your neck." Nick said with a laugh.

Angel raised her finger to refute it and then thought a moment. "Yeah... didn't really fill out those tops until I was almost 20. Are you sure Buscia's related to me?"

"Trust me... cross 50 and they'll pop out. Look at your mother." Nick whispered.

"Point." Angel nodded her head and laughed. "I missed this. I'm also rather curious about the company you're keeping. I saw the car collection outside and the wood pile. That's more work than even you can do. And I caught something about you and a Princess?"

"Long-ish story. Tell you what, we go to the Pub, we perform a bit, get hammered, and we get caught up. Atticus has been around here long enough, he should be in the loop, especially if perhaps I head back with you for a little visit. Jack told me a few things, need to see if the rumors are true." Nick whispered.

"You're just nosy, admit it pop." Angel swatted his arm.

"Okay I'm nosy." Nick said and smirked. "So Atticus... dinner at 7, pub. Tell your wife to find a sitter."

[Cassandra Windsor]

"Shit... uhm. Hi Nick... Atticus. Attractive brunette I've never met before..." Cassie said as she beamed in and looked a little shocked when she saw Atticus and Angel. "If you're one of Alice's models... you didn't see this." she hid a bag with some very sparkly fabric. "None of you did. This is supposed to be a surprise."

"Annnnd you beamed into My office..." Nick hummed.

"Well not from you. As if I could keep a secret. This is supposed to be something no one else sees before. Super new. Super rare." Cassie said and looked giddy.

Angel glanced over at the bag and smiled and chuckled lightly. "It IS very rare." she sized up the woman and surmised that she was the apprentice. "So... daddy. Alice actually lets you keep her?" she whispered.

"Oh they're best friends, they're like sisters. If her sister was a Princess and a semi-reformed Bad Girl." Nick replied.

"Whew... I mean, not judging or anything... " Angel whispered and giggled. "I'm Angelica. His first born."

"Cassie, Alice's BFF and model." Cassie replied and looked at Angel's hand. "You're a designer too, you have the same calluses."

"I may have designed and made a few dresses and frocks." Angel said cryptically. "Among other things. So Atticus, Cassie... I hope you join us tonight."

"Considering the only offspring of Nick I've ever had any real contact with besides Gale was your little brother Jack, this should be interesting. I'm shocked you don't have an accent." Cassie whispered.

"Jack's comes from when he spent time at Oxford and affected it so he could do pretty girls' homework so they'd go out with him." Angel replied. "I grew up in Honolulu for the most part, other than that stint when mother was stationed in Chicago. I'm an island girl. I don't like the cold. If you can't take a dip in the pool at midnight after a long day and not freeze to death, what's the point?"

"Amen to that." Cassie smiled and pulled the side of her blouse to reveal her bikini. "I was planning on taking a dip after I put things away and YES... the Laird gave us permission to use that castle under three conditions. We leave it as we found it. We spend an entire week there, apparently the staff is lonely, and three... I have to go on a date with his nephew. Which is the part I'm not crazy about. His nephew is super wealthy and owns half of Greenshire Row. The press maaaaaay be around me. I'm totally into the idea, but not the part with the press. They've been bored with me of late, but with a wealthy, handsome Scot... and drinks... " she winced.

"You'll be fine. Besides, not the first one you've been out with." Nick replied.

"True... but... it's been a while. Last time I was on the cover of the Times in just my knickers with the girls out." Cassie replied.

"That was also ten years ago... you've matured. Somewhat." Nick teased.

"That's what I'm afraid of. What if they like the new me and somehow Buckingham starts to pressure me to come back. I don't want to." Cassie said and sighed. "What am I worried about... it's one bloody date. I'm off my sodding rocker."

"There ya go." Nick chuckled. "Have a drink and relax. Atticus brought the good stuff."

"Doctors sure know where to find the good stuff. Sure you weren't a royal in a past life? I used to think only we could find this. I never saw it anywhere else." Cassie picked up the bottle and poured herself a glass. "Has it really been ten years? I was just a wee lass when I met you. Barely legal age and already with a rap sheet and a list of sins longer than I am."

[Angel Ryder]

"That's my dad, making respectable women out of people that others cast off." Angel said with a smirk as she took a sip of the whiskey and smiled as she took a seat and looked around. "I'm always amused at how you decorate your offices, for as much shit as you gave mother about Feng Shui, you lay them out according to it. No desk in front of the window or doors. You have a water feature." she gestured to a small fountain. "Red." she pointed to a red framed piece of artwork. "Your guardian wall." she pointed to the bookcase. "Your guardian hill." she pointed to the potted plant in the corner was suspiciously Banzai tree shaped. "What I'm not used to is it actually being clean and your desk only minimally cluttered. I only see three tools and a few padds."

Nick and Cassie looked at each other and chuckled. "Cassie and Alice spent a day cleaning it up last week. It... was a disaster. BUT we had an architecture student doing a history on the manor house and Alice said, and I quote 'if you don't clean this clobber up, I will do it and you're going to have to redo my entire closet." he blushed slightly. "I... procrastinated and got involved in some project and... next thing I see are them barricading my door and pointing to a pile of wood and fixtures and about three wardrobes full of clothes."

"It was pretty horrid. No less than forty broken tools, ten half finished guitars and four or five dozen padds, isolinear chips and circuit boards on the desk alone. We also made the place smell less like burnt wood and more like it is now. I can actually walk in and not think I'm at a bloody bonfire." Cassie said with a chuckle.

"I've really gotten into wood working." Nick said in his defense.

"I still recall when he had brought in a shuttle pod engine into the living room of our Honolulu home while mother was on a mission and parts were sitting in there for weeks after she got back." Angel giggled. "They had SUCH a fight over it."

"Yeah, because it was HER pod's engine!" Nick laughed. "I was trying to fix it so she wouldn't have to have it decommissioned. They stopped making the intake manifolds for that pod and replicating the right assembly took days to do properly, which... was why it was discontinued but also the whole pod itself was well over thirty years old at that point, but she liked it because it was built specifically for her line of work and it was given to her by an old mentor. Of course, the reason we had the fight wasn't the mess, but because I took too long and she was expecting me to have it done. Which was around the same time I had just been promoted. Also... that was shortly after her... other personality took over and took pleasure in yelling at me."

"Because she knew you wouldn't touch her. At least outside of a holodeck." Angel nodded her head.

"Never hit her in anger intentionally in training. Or outside of training. Although I've cut off fingers and stabbed her a few times." Nick winced. "BUT ONLY BECAUSE SHE WANTED ME TO"

"Yeah... same." Angel winced and nodded her head. "If I'm not bleeding in the next ten seconds, you are failing this exercise and I'm enrolling you in Marine boot camp.' That was always the big threat. We did not want to be Marines. And... that's kind of why Marcus got in. Mom and him had a huge blow up and she actually flew him there. I think... it was when he got Kirby pregnant the first time."

"First time?" Nick raised an eyebrow.

"He got her pregnant during like... sophomore year. She had a miscarriage, she didn't know she was pregnant when she was taking those treatments for that bacterial infection she got in Brisbane remember? When she had that huge open sore... that took like months to heal. Well apparently Marcus and her... did it, she was about a month pregnant and then lost it. Mom found out a year later when she was pulling medical records and had him beamed out of his bed and into the recruiter's office and pretty much jumped into the Corps. THEN... on his first leave he went back... got Kirby pregnant with Zeke and then fucked off for three years." Angel sighed. "Then I found out my twin sister was bi when I found her and Kirbs in bed pretty much every night and a lovely assortment of toys in my old dresser. And I'm talking Starfleet Commandos action figures either."

"I knew before your mother." Nick replied. "But I never knew about the first time. Huh... why am I finding out about this now?"

"I didn't know either until Kirby and Liv were telling stories a few bottles of homebrew into a night of drinking and it came out." Angel said with a slight wince.

[Nick Ryder]

"Looks like we have a lot to catch up on." Nick said and put his arms around his daughter.

"Yeah... lots actually." Angel said softly and closed her eyes. "I've wanted to come and see you for ages... I just... felt like..."

"Like you were 'running to daddy'. I get it. I do. Felt the same way with mom." Nick replied and kissed her cheek. "And I'm sure your daughter feels the same way too. Daughters actually. How are they doing?"

"Seraphina is a little prodigy like her mother. And Nathan tells me that Karina and Jay are the brightest kids in pre-school." Angel said and winced slightly. "Nathan and I... are kind of... separated. Been that way for a while now. I gave him Kitea and the kids."

"That's shocking." Nick said as he sipped his drink. "I thought you two liked serving together."

"We did, until it didn't work. And... I kind of... resigned. BUT I followed in your footsteps. Went into office." Angel said with a slight wince and smile. "Not mad at me are you?"

"Why would I ever be mad at that? I get it all kid. Been there done that, have the t-shirt, the book and the pin." Nick chuckled and hugged her again. "At least it wasn't any kind of cheating, otherwise... I'd go home just to cut his bollocks off."

"Oh he knows better. I think he secretly fell in love with my ship more than me. I mean, Kitea is a gorgeous bird. Great crew. I think he started to fall in love with her when I saw him stroking parts of the ship and commenting 'if I knew it'd be this good, i'd have given up the New Zealand years ago'. We still have regular 'date' nights. I mean... we're not over but... if we spend more than a weekend together, we start bickering, which usually sex and distraction of a kid usually stops but... then he feels as if I'm 'stealing' his crew even though it's not my crew anymore. So he has the kids as often as its safe, the rest of the time they're with me or with Liv and Kirby at Olive Grove."

[Atticus Hall]

"Woah," Atticus chuckled in his throughly Yank accent that normally stood out in this area. "And I thought Nick's life here was complicated. No wonder he ran away." The aging doctor stood, his back stiff for a moment. "Well my friend, I'll see you tonight. I assume my wife can tag along?"

[Nick Ryder]

"Of course!" Nick replied and patted him on the back. "Yeah life was complicated and insane and when a woman like Alice who's nearly unflappably British in the face of everything else goes 'NIcholas, I've had enough. We're leaving' you take some drastic measures. It was worth it though. My sanity is almost back to what it was." Nick said and saw Angel's smirk.

"I've never met a sane version of my father. Although can't say life wasn't boring. I don't think we've ever uttered the words 'I'm bored'." Angel said and smiled at Atticus. "You'll have to fill me in what trouble my dad's gotten up to. And if you even so much as think about pulling out a cred card or credits or whatever... this is on me."

"That's usually my line." Nick replied with a wink of his eye.

"I know, but for once, let others do nice things. And you and Alice are paying me back in other ways." Angel said and nudged his shoulder.

"It's funny you look nothing alike and yet you two are clearly father and daughter, you move like him." Cassie said as she watched them together. "Like you and your kids Atticus. It's so bloody adorable when they try to pass off a Yank accent."

[Atticus Hall]

"That's easier for them than it is for me to sound like a proper English gentleman. To you I will always sound like a backwater hick or a cartoon character."