Amarillo by Morning

[Angel Ryder]

"You and I need to train." Angel walked over to her work bench and picked up a kilden she had finished building. "That's why she's keeping her. Because she senses that she could be strong in the Iljuna, this battle isn't going to be fought with phasers or bullets." she tapped a purple gem on the side and ignited the blade. "It'll be fought with these. We're getting our asses collectively handed to us when a reasonably trained Ajem'dasis attacks, we need to be prepared, we need to know our enemy and... we need to know ourselves." she reached out her hand another more rugged looking kilden snapped to her hand. "Normally each Jase'dasis makes their own, but I'm too much like my father, I make things when I'm nervous. I'm also... late." she touched her stomach. "Not sure yet if it's because of stress or Nathan and I made another sibling for Trini, but I'm not going to let my children be undefended." handing the kilden to him she looked into his eyes. "You're still pretty raw with your ability, but raw is good, it's chaotic, like the Ajem, we need to be a tad more grey. I don't buy into the whole faith part of it, but my years of learning martial arts has taught me that calm is stronger than angry. Focus is what wins a match, finding your center is what gives you that strength." she cocked her head. "And some people, their center is a violent center and that's not bad. Olivia has a violent yet calm center. I have a calm yet hyper center. I will be entirely honest Ethan... I have no idea if we're going to be able to pull this off, we're doing this on the down low. I don't want it too well known we can defend ourselves like this. A few tricks here and there is one thing. We legalized being augment and destigmatized powers and abilities, on the surface we're capable of some 'cool' bar tricks, 'oh look I can make this thingy float'. But we're going to train hard. You and I are going to save our girl."

[Ethan Talon]

Ethan stared at the Kliden, "Using the ijulna when you are red hot with anger doesn't mean you command it to your will." He tossed her the bullet. On the soft lead was scratched the words, "For the Bitch".

"That's what I know. Magic tricks, and fancy swords are no match for a pistol at your side. Mom went down that path, and it got her killed. MY mom not the Admiral here, which it all but got her killed too. Did you talk to Young Olivia before they froze her? She wouldn't say much. Temporal Prime Directive, and what not. But, I got a sense that a lot of us who chose to carry the kliden died by the kliden."

[Angel Ryder]

Angel chuckled and poured some of the Whiskey into a mug she had sitting on the workbench and took a sip. "Well, my hope is we won't have to live by it for long and no not because they're going to cut us down." she crossed her legs and looked at Ethan. "You know what the hardest thing about going to the past was? The unknown that I would never see you and Trinity again. I feel older, I know I'm only marginally older but... seeing the years tick down months and years at a time, I didn't come out of my cryo freeze the same woman I went into it. I suspect neither will young Olivia. She may wake up around the same time she left, but she's not going to be the same." she sipped her whiskey and closed her eyes. "Trinity won't be the same either when we rescue her. Bellatrix isn't keeping her so they can have mani-pedis together and talk about boys and music. She's going to try and turn her against us. Torture may be off the table, for now... but there's the kind of torture you don't see the effects of. Ajem are masters of it. Look at Cece. Ever since her time with the Underwoods, she wasn't the same. Changed her name, her style, resigned her position, although some would consider it a promotion, being Chief of Staff, but still... we're going to need to be there for her and we're going to need to let her do her own thing."

[Ethan Talon]

He smirked remembering, "I wasn't supposed to be here. I suppose I would be dead, or not even exist now. She came to me one day to say goodbye. She wouldn't tell me where she was going. We were just friends at the time mind you. 'It's a secret mission,' she kept saying. But, I brow beated it out of her. I only knew one thing: life isn't worth living without Trinity had. So, I snuck on board her ship, and now I'm here. I had to know. I had to know for certain that my future never came to pass. That's why I had to talk to my niece."

[Angel Ryder]

"You do realize you were never 'just' friends with Trinity, the way she tells it, she just didn't want you to see her die if the trip back to the past failed. But she wanted you with her. She loved you since you were both little kids. Maybe earlier. Little Trini already enjoys playing with Little Ethan. And you're one of the few men she actually falls asleep easily for. Even my dad can't get her to pass out like you do." Angel smiled and chuckled. "I envy you two. I never really had that. Mom taught my sister and I that 'boys are only for achieving a goal'. To which I'd ask, 'what about daddy?' and she's coyly smile and reply 'he's different' but I never had any real boyfriends growing up. Nothing like what you two have. Got older, got more career driven, then I got reeeally close to 30 and realized I had to do something... lost my virginity to a Spec Ops guy who's code name was 'Meat'. He was a really great guy... I just didn't like when they'd go on Ops and I couldn't be informed until after the fact. I was in full Hawaiian dancer dress for a date on the holodeck, waited four hours, gave up sent him a few pissed off pictures of myself only to find out that his unit had been deployed and it was being kept off the books. Then I slept with our CMO... not my proudest moment. It felt like a very Julie Lei move."

[Ethan Talon]

Ethan grunted in acknowledgment, and topped off Angel's mug. "What about Nathan? I always thought you had a similar relationship to him as Trinity and I."

[Angel Ryder]

"Not quite like you two." Angel chuckled. "I love him, dearly and completely, but I never quite had the life long love you two have." she sighed. "Not like my brother and sister. To the same girl, but still. Jack and Kinsey... that's epic there. Kind of funny that my sister in law is still my sister in law, but I'm related to her by marriage and by Jack. " she sipped her drink and closed her eyes. "I am proud of you two. always was, and always seem to get more impressed and proud as time goes on."

[Ethan Talon]

"Don't be proud of me," Ethan grunted. "I'm just a stupid cowhand who keeps failing upward. Mostly because of Trinity. Most say their wife is their better half. Mine really is."

[Angel Ryder]

"Ethan, you're a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for. You just found your partner, the one that brings out the best in you. As a marriage should be. Look at the differences between my mother and Alice. My father was a genius with Julie, but he's gone next level since he's been with Alice and he's happier, more content. He still spends a lot of time in the lab, but partially because she's right there with him. You and Trini have that, she became a rancher and found she really enjoyed it because of you. You know she didn't get that from me. I can barely keep a bamboo plant alive for more than a year."

[Ethan Talon]

"It's not that hard to keep a cow alive. You feed it, and you water it. Really not much more complicated than that. Sure you have to occasionally rescue the beasts from their own stupidity, and calving can be a challenge but ranching is pretty straightforward. That's why I love it."