Aegis 3.0

[Wyosch]

Hunter nodded, giggling.
"Yes, I remember! You were trying to fly faster than me and then I again tried to fly faster than you - and then I just let you win.", she replied, winking, as she cuddled against Macon tighter.
"Remember when you proposed to me? We'd had a fight, I ran off and you followed me. Whilst I was crying in anger and fear you kept telling me how much you loved me and then you asked me to marry you.", she sighed happily. "I just love you so much."

Jim gently grabbed William out of Rachel's arm so she could cuddle her kids better - and so Will wouldn't be crushed.
Kai and Angel hugged Rachel as tightly as possible.
"Mommy you're back!", Kai called, quickly wiping a tear off his face. He was a big boy. Boys don't cry.
Jack was just standing a couple of feet away from his family, watching the scene. He couldn't be happier that his mother was back... but she too had promised him to never leave him again, yet she did.

Emma freed herself from Sam's grip, her expression saying 'I'm furious at you', yet her eyes gave her away - she was scared.
"This is not about you, Sam.", she replied coldly. "I get that you have traumatizing memories of what happened to you in your past, but you are not the only one. I too have had a bad past - sexual assault, rape, physical abuse - name it all."
She looked down to the floor, another few tears rolling down her cheeks, before she looked back at Sam.
"It's about the fact that you could even think about the fact that I might have used you, which only tells me that you do not know me at all. Would I have wanted to only get Mike out of prison, I would've married that billionaire who's had an eye on me for years. He would've guaranteeded a safe future for my kids and could've gotten Mike out of prison with his money - but I didn't, because I am not such kind of a person!"
Her voice was cold and filled with rage, her face filled with tears.
"Don't you think I am scared too? My parents left me to die in a garbage can, I grew up from foster home to foster home, was raped only countless times, physically abused by all of my exes and sexually assaulted by one of them. I have been left numerous times to rot in the dust.
And the worst is that my kids have been left too.
I do not want them to get hurt again, especially because they all look up to you as a father."
She backed off again, shaking.
"Only how could my fiancé think that I used him and that I don't love him?"
She turned away from him, her fingernails digging into her skin again.
"Well... thanks for the broken heart."

Mike sighed, yet stayed calm.
"Coby, I did not kill your parents. I never even touched a gun.", he explained. "I wasn't a tracker nor a hunter, I was just some random guy who helped in the prison and in the labs."
He slowly approached his boyfriend, stretching out his hand to put it on his shoulder.
"Listen, I was young, foolish and I wanted to get away from my family. I am not like that anymore, okay? I am me - I am not the Michael who is a HACK member... okay?"

 

[Scripted Away]

Macs eyes just started sparkling even more now.
"If course i remember", he sighed happily as he closed his eyes to enjoy Hunter's closeness and warmth.
"Remember our wedding? The song we danced to?"
With a small smile, he gently pulled her to her feet and danced through the air with her, just like back then.
"You take me...you take me as I am...", he sang softly. "Oh, or Noah's birth. I can only imagine how much trust it must have taken you to let me perform that c-section. You're weird, Mylady. Marrying a doc while you were afraid of docs."
He chuckled silently, with a totally silly smirk on his face. "Well i guess that's what it all is about though, isn't it? We're all a bit weird. And life's a bit weird. We just need to find someone whose weirdness is compatible and fall in mutual, happy weirdness- calling it true love-" he stroked a streak of hair behind her ear with sparkling eyes. "My true love."

Rachel sighed happily as she hugged her kids tightly, but then sighed silently when she looked at Jack.
>>Jackie, I... honey I would have never, never left. There was this bad man...he had tried to become my boyfriend when daddy and me weren't married yet, but i of course told him off. He was angry at me, and kidnapped Rose. And when i tried to save her from him, he hit me with a huge brick of ice and I... i fell asleep, although i didn't want to. Like sleeping beauty, you know?<<

Sam let out a soundless sigh, wiped those tears off his face and looked at Emma with a dead tired expression.
"Emma you don't understand what I'm trying to say...i'm not scared to lose you because of you. I'm scared because of me. Because i just can't believe that a woman like You, so strong and beautiful and brave...i mean, look at you. You have the sweetest smile on earth, the face of a friggin goddess...you are stronger than anyone I know, for sure stronger than me...you found your way back into a normal life after the worst tragedy that could happen to you...and then look at me."
He scoffed silently, staring to the ground.
"I'm just...im just a guy. Goddamn and not even a very good one. Okay I might have the looks, bless hack for once, but apart from that? I'm neither as smart as my sister, nor as brave as you. I'm probably the crappiest God you can imagine because i constantly lose control over what happens in my world- ; Jesus I can't even read properly! My three-year-old nephew reads faster than me! And apparently...i'm a horrible fiance as well... how in all worlds could i ever hold a candle to You? That's why I'm terrified. Because you... are better than me. And one day you'll see it and..."
He sighed. "I... it's just so hard to believe someone like you could live someone like me... that's why I reacted like that. But you are of course right."
By now he was talking to the ground like an ashamed child, and didn't even dare to look his fiancee in the eye.
"Of course i know you would never...that was my dear talking there, not...me..."
But when Emma spoke about what had happened in her past, he looked up with a completely deadpan face, nothing but shock written in his eyes.
"You have never told me about anything of that...", he mumbled silently. "I mean, you told me that you married a guy you didn't love to have a father for your son and since you were awaiting a second child from that man, and that Emily was the result of a job in a club, but...the rest... your childhood... the rapes..."
His hand was shaking as he gently put it on Emma's. "Hey...please stop hurting yourself there...", he mumbled. "Emma I'm sorry. I was being a douche...and completely wrong. I'm just so scared to lose you that I... lost my mind for a moment, I guess. Will you please forgive me? I... I love you..."

"I don't care what part of hack you were!", Coby snarled furiously. "I don't care if you shot people or "just" kept them locked in those horrible cages! You made others pay for your pain, you- I don't even- why am i even bothering!"
Steaming, he turned his heel and made his way towards his farm.

 

[Wyosch]

Hunter wrapped her arms around Macon's neck, staring into his mesmerizing eyes, smiling lovingly.
"I still don't trust docs. Because they made a mistake I wasn't able anymore to dance.", she glanced down at her ankle-band, and then up at her husband again. "Thanks to your invention again, though. I mean, you're the only doctor I trust."
She gently ran her fingers through his hair and then over his back, pushing herself against him.
"I remember your reaction when I first hugged you in that dark corridor... fetus Macon, hehe."

Jack's eyes widened, his mouth opened and tears started rolling down his cheeks.
"I'm so sorry, mommy!", he called, running into his mother's arms, and hugging her as tightly as never before. "I will find the bad man and I will defeat him!"
Jim raised an eyebrow at Jack's words, but then realized what he meant.
Drake
That bastard.
Jim would find him though, and make him pay for almost killing his wife and son and for kidnapping his daughter.
"Asshole.", he scoffed under his breath, luckily silent enough for none of the kids to hear it - he knew Rachel didn't like it when he swore around the kids. Or at all.

Emma turned her head away from Sam, just not being able to look him in the eyes.
She knew that what he had gone through was awful, but it still was no excuse for his behavior.
"Stop it.", she mumbled, shaking her head. "What does it matter if you're not as smart as your sister? I don't care. I wouldn't even care if you were a legal idiot. I don't care about your looks either. Sure, you're hot - but I would've loved you even if you looked like Quasimodo. And brave? You're much braver than me. You were brave enough to attack three armed men to save a woman you didn't know... you were brave enough to trust her... brave enough to be a father to her kids which she all wouldn't have had if it weren't for her past..."
She sighed silently, wiping away some of her tears.
"There is a lot I didn't tell you about my past because I didn't want you to think that I thought what you went through wasn't as bad as what I went through...", she whispered, turning her head to Sam again.
"I am scared to lose you too. Because of me and the kids. I'm always scared it might get too much for you. I mean, we all have our problems..."
She slowly walked up to him, stroke over his cheek and gently kissed him.
"I love you too. And I forgive you. Just please... don't ever think I don't love you."

Mike watched Coby walk away, and just sighed. It wouldn't help much now if he'd run after him.
So he just decided to go and find Dylan. After all he'd left to Lola's and hadn't returned anymore.
He used his new teleporting abilities to quickly teleport to the street in which Lola lived.
"And now where to find you?"

 

[Scripted Away]

Mac grinned as he thought of the day in the corridor.
What a day.
If he had known earlier how life-changing it would be- ...what? Then he would have put on a fresh shirt?
He chuckled about his own thoughts for a moment, before he raised one eyebrow at Hunter with a smirk.
"Hey! Not. My. Fault! You almost caused an outage!", he chuckled. "You know; it wasn't the hug itself that overwhelmed like that there", he explained silently. "It was the fact that you trusted me enough to come so close. That, although I told you that I had been a part of hack for years, you already saw the man I would be; long before I could see him myself. You literally know me better than I know myself. Crazy, isn't it?"

Rachel sighed happily once more when she finally got to hug Jack as well, but shook her head and looked into his eyes at his words.
"No no no honey, you won't go and defeat anyone. An eye for an eye is not the way we live. We are civilized people- means we're not going to consecent on the niveau of people like Drake. Okay? Hurting people is no solution. Never."
She smiled softly as she ran her fingers through his hair... just as fluffy as Jim's!
"You already are a little hero, no need to get vengeance for me."

Sam sighed relieved as Emma hugged him again, quickly healed the wounds she had given herself by digging her fingernails into her skin and then smirked slightly.
"We actually weren't allowed to do that, but... now that there are no elders to kick my butt..."
He tightened his hug around her and disappeared in a bright light, appearing again on a vast meadow, as big as the eye cold see, nothing but fresh, green grass, with a slight golden shimmer, swaying softly in the breeze, that carried the silent melody of an oboe.
I thought it was time for you to see me in my real appearance...and the world I'm keeping, he explained, again in his true form, a bright, shining light, looking as if it was caught in a human shape of glass.((yknow; like the aliens from 'the knowing'))
He was just standing there, his shining arms gently wrapped around his fiancee, as he spoke.
I think you...misunderstood my relationship to our kids. To me, I'm not like their father. I am their father. And what father would ever leave his children?"
The sun gained some more brightness as Sam gently turned Emma around to him and some butterflies suddenly emerged from the grass.
You know, in that eternity that i already lived...i never met someone or something like you. You know, my brother was the strongest timeplayers i have ever seen, he could do basically everything. And he wasn't able to defeat me. And then you came, smiled at me, and brought me to my knees with just that. Aren't you a beautiful miracle..."

 

[Wyosch]

Hunter smiled gently at Macon, taking his hand and stroking over it.
"It's not like that.", she replied, her eyes suddenly changing their color to something which looked like a landscape from a fantasy movie. She started moving her hands, making pictures with her snow and ice powers.
"You see, when I meet someone I don't look at their outside or their personality or their past - I look at their heart.", she started explaining. "I could feel you had a good heart. I could feel it glow when you talked about your past. You were truly sorry, and I felt that. Your heart is one of the brightest I have ever felt. So beautiful. It was longing for love. For acceptance."
She made a heart appear out of her fingertips, smiling gently.
"Rachel's heart for example is just like yours, but fiercer. The heart of a fighter, someone who never gave up. Her heart glows. It's really just like a ray of sunshine."
Her smile faded, and a slight frown appeared on her face.
"Jim's heart is... worrying me. One half is glowing as fierce as yours and Rachel's - and the other half is pitch black, filled with hatred and guilt. And sometimes the halves grow. Remember when we thought Rachel was dead because of the explosion? I didn't feel a heart anymore, because the blackness had entirely taken over. You know, when one of us is mad or annoyed, a small spot of blackness appears, and it grows a bit when our emotions are really strong. Rachel's heart has only been black one time - when Jim was executed."
Hunter's eyes turned normal again, and the snow disappeared.
"Like I said - I trust people based on how I feel their hearts."

Jim frowned slightly at Rachel's words. He knew her better than that. Those were for him, not for Jack.
Urgh.
But what if revenge was all he could think of?
"Mommy?", Jack asked after a while, turning his head. "Who are those dogs over there?" He pointed at Daisy and Echo with his eyebrows raised. "More babies?"

Emma was mesmerized by the beautiful landscape at first, her smile as big as never before at Sam's words - but it lastly vanished, and her eyes saddened.
"Sam?", she asked silently, turning away from him again.
"You... you said you already lived an eternity...", she mumbled silently. "Does this mean you won't age? You're immortal? You'll just watch us all age and die and then you'll move on to another family... forgetting about us?"

 

[Scripted Away]

Mac listened intently, completely fascinated by what Hunter was telling him.
"I wish i could see the world through your eyes, just for a day...", he mumbled completely in awe.
"That sounds...amazing."
While he was still trying to imagine how the world would look for Hunter, when she used that ability, a thought came ti his mind and he looked to the ground for a moment, before he looked at Hunter again with big eyes.
"...could you...could you see Nico's heart?", he asked silently. "Could you see if he's really not blaming me for his death.. ?"

Rachel grinned slightly at Jack's question.
"Well, this cutie here is Echo. She used to belong to some very bad people, but your daddy saved her."
She looked at Jim with a proud smile for a moment, before gesturing towards Daisy, who was casually trotting closer and gently poked her nose against Jack's shoulder as a greeting. "And this gentle old lady..." Rachel had to chuckle slightly. Daisy was good two heads taller than Jack. "...is Daisy. She will help William, because he can't see. Daisy will make sure he won't get into danger and will help him to find things and so on, once grows older."

If Sam had eyebrows in this form, he would have raised one. Instead, a duck walked by, squawking something that sounded like "wut?"
Now I'm the one to be hurt!
But Sam's voice was clearly amused.
I just said i couldn't live without You, and that i never, in my entire eternity of lifetime, have had a relationship, and you think i would just move on?
He shook his head, chuckling as a little bird flew around Emma's head.
My vessel will age just like you and our family. And when your time will come to leave this life, May God give you a long and prosper life, my life will end as well.
A few raindrops fell from the sky, but the sun kept shining nonetheless.
My kind doesn't love like humans. We don't know divorce. We don't know splitting up. We only have one partner, in our entire eternal life. And We literally become one, a bond from heart to heart that lasts beyond death. Some bonds were so old your kind doesn't even have a numbers high enough to count it in millenia. When we devote ourselves to our true soulmate... we devote ourselves entirely, with everything we are.
We feel each others feelings and sensations like they were our own.
The one feels pain- the other does too.
The one dies- ...the other dies too.
While he had talked, Sam had teleported back home to sit on the bed comfortably, while explaining heavy stuff like that.
"You can't feel it because you are a human, not one of my kind, but... From the second I devoted myself to You, I did it, knowing I would give up my immortality. I felt it how you dug your fingernails into your arms, and i can feel our child growing inside You just as You feel it. And my heart is bound to yours. You die- I die. The other way round you will live on though, as you're not my kind. I am literally yours."

 

[Wyosch]

Hunter sighed silently, shaking her head.
"I can't feel the hearts of deceased ones. I wish I could.", she replied, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"And honey, why should he blame you for his death? He died saving you. Or well, trying to. He couldn't have known about your condition."
She smiled softly, her eyes sparkling.
"Did Jim ever blame you for when he died saving you? Did he blame Rex when he died for him?"
She shook her head and gently kissed Macon's nosetip.
"If Nico is only slightly like you, he'll be glad that you got to live."

Jack giggled as the elderly dog put her nose against him, and started petting her head.
"Why can't William see?", he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Kai slightly tilted his head and looked at his mother and brother, before at his dad who was still holding his newest brother.
"Is he blind?"
"Mhm.", Jim replied, only nodding. The baby was sleeping and he didn't want to wake him up - and he wasn't in the mood for talking right now. He didn't show it though. He'd disappointed his kids enough already.
"Oh... Well then I will be his eyes.", Kai replied.
"Me too!", Angel called, Jack following with the same words.

Emma cuddled against Sam's chest, listening to what he was explaining.
"Incorrect.", she mumbled, turning her head to look up at him. "When you die, I die too."
She smiled sadly, drawing hearts on his arm.
"So you feel my emotions too?"
She slightly re-arranged her position to make herself more comfortable, but lastly just decided to climb onto Sam and sit on his lap.
"I wish I could feel what you feel too... maybe then it'd be easier for you to talk to me about your past and your feelings."

 

[Scripted Away]

Mac Smiled softly as he hugged Hunter tightly and sighed happily.
"You always know what to say when I'm down", he said smirking and gently stroked through her hair and over her cheek.
"Thank you honey. You're the best."

Rachel smiled proudly when Kai and angel said they would be William's eyes, and thought about how to explain it all to Jack.
"Well, remember I told you that bad guy made me sleep for so long?", she asked.
"The wounds I had were so bad that they hurt William too, and that's why he turned blind, basically.", she explained. "But kids that are already born blind usually get used to it very very easily, and can play and live just as good as every other kid."

Sam raised one eyebrow.
"Sweetheart it's not hard at all for me to talk to you about my past or feelings", he said with a soft smile, until his eyes started glowing slightly; from the sun breaking entirely through the clouds in his world.
"I can do that for you though... close your eyes...", he mumbled and pulled her into a deep kiss.
Slowly, with a soft glow, his soul melted into hers, giving way for everything.
A soft glow, nothing but light everywhere.
...who am I...?
You are everything, my child.
Who-? Who are You?
I am light and dark, I am sound and silence. I am everything.
But...you said i am everything-?
You are my effigy. I created you. I am your father.
Father...
The scenery fastened, millions over millions of memories of places no human would even be able to imagine.
Can't we help them?
The scenery of a dying sun devouring a helpless planet.
We can't.
But why?
Their end will be the beginning of something new.
And then- blackness. Nothing.
Father?
Yes my child?
Are we dead?
No. We are waiting.
And then light. So bright everything else seemed to vanish in it. Planets growing, evolution, solar systems, humans.
See them, son?
What's with them, Father?
These are special.
But father...they are flawed, they fight and make mistakes and-
And they always try to make it better.
Everything went faster again, pictures over pictures of universes and worlds far away, lives lived in millions of vessels, millions of species...-
You have to run. Run away, and save them!
Father, they killed them! All of them! I need you help, I can't do this on my own, i-
I can't.
Again, a bright light. A vessel, barely able to live. Years, lost in a hazy mist.
Then darkness.
A cage.
Endless pain, for what felt like millenia.
Father...i need you...help me...
Nothing. More pain. More fear.
Father, where are You?!
Nothing but silence where he used to hear his siblings' voices.
Blood.
Endless pain.
FATHER!!
Nothing.
A man with grey hair and cold, blue eyes.
"Give up, alien. The one you are calling is gone. You are all alone. He left you."
"He wouldn't. Never."
I will never give you up, father...
Waking up in a hospital. Freedom. Finally able to leave his vessel again.
Two years out of his human vessel, seeking for his father.
Nothing.
Pain, longing.
I will never give you up...
Rachel.
Aegis.
A woman screaming.
You love them...i will protect them for you...
Saving the woman.
"Please...dont kill me...!"
"Why would i kill You?"
Can you see her? She fascinates me...
Hours of talking and growing closer...
Emma's story.
I understand you now, father. They are special...she is special...
First kiss.
"I love You."
"I love you too."
I feel as if the giant hole inside me is slowly healing...
...
"Will you marry me?"
You... out of all the ones I met...you are the one...
...
"Guess who's gonna be a daddy!"
How have I been living without you for an eternity?
...
"I'm sorry."
I'm sorry I'm not perfect.
I'm sorry I hurt you.
I'm sorry I said what i said.
I'm still nothing but a child...
I'm still nothing but a child lost in a crowd without his father.
I'm lost, and found, at the same time.
It so confusing.
I'm still learning.
But I will always give my best.
I will follow You, no matter where it will take me.
I will follow You, in life and death.
You are a part of me.
You are my life.
I need you.
I love you.
"That's what 'I love you' means in my world, by the way...", he whispered with closed eyes as he ended the connection, his whole body shivering slightly.

 

[Wyosch]

Hunter smiled softly, enjoying Macon's gentle touch - until her eyes widened and she facepalmed.
"The tacos...", she groaned, sighing frustratedly.
"I was making tacos for you - and then that friggin' spider appeared."
She turned her head to her husband, her eyes sparkling slightly.
"By the way - you know what Misha said to me?", she asked, letting out a giggle. "He wants to be a trashcan when he grows up."

"I hope he can play good.", Jack replied. "He's got to play with me."
The little boy leaned against his mother, yawning.
"You tired, kiddo?", Jim asked, smirking gently at his family. God they were so perfect.
"I'm not tired!", Jack replied, yawning again.
"I am.", Angel mumbled, holding her big brother's hand, who seemingly was tired as well.
"It's quite late already. Time for bed. There's a lot we gotta do tomorrow."
"What then, daddy?"
"It's a surprise."

Emma stared in front of herself for a moment, lost in thoughts, lost in the emotions she was feeling right now.
>>Oh my god.<<
She gasped, her hand in front of her mouth, her eyes filled with tears.
"I am... I am so sorry I made you feel that all again. That's terrible- I...", she shook her head, frowning sadly - until she came up with an own idea.
Her idea.
"Baby... I want to tell you something too. To understand our love. A human's love."

 

[Scripted Away]

Mac raised One eyebrow in wonder.
"A trashcan...?", he repeated, thought about it for a while but couldn't come up with any reason why someone would want to be that.
"Now that you mentioned the tacos I just realized that I never cooked anything for you, did I?", he asked, almost something like a startled expression on his face. "What's your favorite food, honey? Apart from chocolate ice cream."

Rachel smiled gently at get kids, watched rose, who had apparently chosen the couch as a place to sleep already, And carefully picked her up.
"Ill bring rose to bed", she explained silently, so she wouldn't wake her daughter up.
Smiling at Jim, she winked. "And then you and Me finally have some quality time as well. When was the last time we could cuddle without that giant baby belly getting in the way?"
Smirking, sure made her way upstairs.

Sam took a deep breath to still his shaking and just rested his chin on Emma's shoulders, his eyes closed.
"It's okay, I didn't mind sharing this with you", he said silently and suppressed a smirk when Emma said she wanted to tell him something.
For some reason, that got him really really curious.
"Okay, tell me", he mumbled smiling.
"From what I've seen over those thousands of years of human life- and I've seen a lot as you know now- it's far more complicated than out love sometimes. We don't know conditions, or romantic attraction to others than our partner... But I've seen that happening to humans...Quite often, actually. it's confusing. None of us ever understood how humans could... kinda loose their love, You know? For such a young species, You are incredibly complicated."

 

[Wyosch]

Hunter giggled at Macon's unknowing expression.
"He said he wants to be a trashcan so he can give the stuff other people throw away to people who need food but don't have it.", she explained, smiling proudly. "Cute, isn't it?"
She thought for a while as Macon asked her if he had ever cooked for her - and she actually couldn't think of a day he had.
"But I don't mind cooking for you and the kids. I like to cook." She gently kissed his cheek, her eyes sparkling.
"But if you really want to know - Tagliatelle Alfredo with chicken breast, but in small pieces and mixed in the sauce."
She grinned slightly.
"I was a really picky eater as a kid and my mother would always cook these foreign dishes for everybody and for me Tagliatelle Alfredo. I literally had that at least once a week... until I started starving myself but that's a different story."

Jim watched Rachel head upstairs, smirking, and gestured to the kids to follow her.
While Kai and Jack raced up the stairs, Angel grabbed her father's free hand and looked up at him with big eyes.
"Daddy?"
"Yes, sweetie?"
"Why are you so big?"
"Do you mean big as in big shoulders or big as in 'I can hardly fit through doors because I'm so tall' ?", he asked back, raising an eyebrow.
"The second one."
"Well, when you grow older you also grow taller. And some grow taller than others."
"Oh. Well, I want to stay like this."
Jim just smiled back at her, not wanting to tell her that she'd keep growing until she was at least 15.
All of the kids were in their beds, waiting for their parents to come say goodbye, Jim was just helping Angel get comfortable.
"Daddy?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you tell me a story?"
"A story?"
"Yes. A bedtime story. Could you tell me the story of Snowwhite?"
Jim gulped akwardly. He hadn't read about this yet.
Sometimes when he wasn't able to sleep he'd look up things he should know but didn't because of his childhood. He'd read about how kids can sometimes ask really silly questions and how he should act then, and what to do if a kid did something bad - one thing he hadn't read anywhere was hurt it or lock it up in the basement filled with water - or if the kid was throwing tantrums because it didn't get what it wanted... but fairytales, nope. He didn't even know one.
"The story of Snowwhite?", Jim repeated, frowning thoughtfully while looking down at William who was still sleeping peacefully in his arms.
"Ehm... well... once upon a time there was... a... young girl. Yes, a young girl. And she... eh, her name was... Angel. Yes yes. Her name was Angel too, just like yours. And she eh... she lived in a small village where... there... were... many cats. Yes, cats. And she eh... she was good friends with the cars - eh cats. And ... no, but because the cats... had... special powers! Sorry. The cats had special powers and therefore all the other villagers were afraid of them... and because Angel was good friends with her cat-buddies, they were afraid of her too... and eh... she... she didn't have... no... eh... Angel didn't mind because she had her cat buddies? And... eh... they... they threw many parties. You know.. eh... tea parties. Little girls like to do that, I read that. Eh... and... on those tea parties... they... they eh... oh yes they put on fancy clothes. You know the cats had... pretty dresses. And Angel too. And eh... her favorite color was... white. White like... snow? And she always wore white dresses. Pretty dresses, yes. And eh... the... cats kept calling her... Snowwhite... and that's why she... re-named herself and is now known as Snowwhite... the end?"
Angel smiled tiredly and kissed her father's stubby cheek.
"I like the other version of Snowwhite better. But yours was good too.", she mumbled, already half asleep. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight, honey."

Emma smiled lovingly at Sam, ran her fingers through his hair and sat down, carefully pulling him with her to the floor.
"Well... somewhen in November, 34 years ago, a baby girl was born. On December the third in the same year, she was found, almost starved and frozen to death, in a garbage can. Against all odds - she survived.
The first two years of her life were spend in an orphanage, until she was adopted by a man. She was sad that her friends were left behind, but she'd have to go on into her better life... which turned out to be the beginning of a never ending nightmare.
Her new dad had only adopted her to try and get a woman to love him - which failed, and so she was brought back to the orphanage.
Not long after, she was adopted again... but her parents got pregnant only a week after - and gave her back.
This circle went on and on for another three years. People kept adopting her because she looked so cute, and then gave her back because she either didn't fit or they didn't want her anymore.
When she was about five years old, a young woman decided to adopt her. She was infertile, and couldn't get a baby of her own. That woman however had a boyfriend... one who didn't like that the kid was now getting most of the attention. He started beating his girlfriend. The little girl would hear her new mother cry every night. It'd be okay. Her new mother would take care of her... and she did. Until she committed suicide, and her boyfriend fled - together with the kid which wasn't his.
They fled to Mexico, where the man sold the kid to a man living in a drug cartel..."
Emma shivered for a moment, but kept on talking.
"The little girl was used as nothing more than a pet. A pet which the man could take his anger out on... or his desire...
She was only six years old.
After about a year of physical and sexual abuse, the man was arrested for his drug crimes... and the girl went back into an orphanage.
Again, she wandered from foster parents to foster parents, and lastly ended up in a family with an alcoholic father, a drug-addicted mother and a pedophelic 'brother'.
When she wasn't living a nightmare at home, she lived one at school. She wasn't bullied because she was weird or so... she was bullied because she was pretty. And that only got her into much more trouble...
At the age of 14 - a boy and his three friends raped her in the bushes after finding out she'd become infertile due to her past of being a sex toy... they kept taking turns... and she got pregnant.
A year later, her kid was born. Michael.
She was abused at home even more in order to keep her kid away.
Three months after the birth of her first child, her pedophelic brother took his turn, and nine months later, Jasmine was born.
She was only 16 and already had two kids. She lived in a home where everyone abused her, physically and sexually - and so she decided to run off.
Together with her two babies, she ran off to Florida - where she met a guy who kept promising her a good future. After all she'd been through, she believed him.
He knocked her up.
Third child.
Dylan.
She stayed. She was too afraid to leave. He kept telling her he needed her, and he would take care of her and she believed him. Foolish.
Dylan was only a day old... and the girl was pregnant again. Her 'boyfriend' liked to rape her whenever he'd want to. And she'd let him. She didn't have any energy anymore to fight back.
At the age of 17, her fourth child was born.
Cole. His twin brother, Danny, was a stillborn.
The young woman married the man at the age of 16, having faked her documents.
Her husband didn't work. He kept abusing her, getting drunk every day only to make it worse for her.
She never finished school. How could she find a job then?
She had to use her looks... and so her husband found a job for her.
'Miss Victory' was now her new name.
Forced to make men watch her dance almost entirely naked.
Forced to do what they wanted to do.
For years.
At the age of 24, she had her fifth child. Emily. Raped on her job.
At the age of 28, she had finished her law school. She'd been taking evening classes - in secret to her husband.
She was planning on leaving him.
And she did.
With five kids, she lived in a small apartment, actually made for one person only, and only was just able to get enough food for them.
She wasn't able to pay rent.
And so... her sixth kid. Paul.
He died a year later due to lung cancer...
At the age of 30, her 'husband' returned. And she let him. She let him use and abuse her, and so she just grabbed the alcohol at night to forget about her pain.
Two years later - her husband died in a fatal car accident. Her third son was in the car too. He ended up losing both his legs... and so many brain cells that he... he acted like a three year old. He needed special care. Her eldest son was in prison. Her youngest son was... lost. Her daughter... she was only 8, yet tried so hard to be the adult.
A year later, her oldest daughter jumped from a skyscraper.
The city they were living in was switched to the capital city in Montana.
Fresh start, right?
Not entirely.
Nobody wanted a lawyer with a past like that woman - and so she went back to the only thing she'd ever did to earn money.
Working at the club day and night, she tried everything to take care of her children, but it was never just enough.
Her thoughts were only getting darker and darker - and she was thinking about ending it all.
Until one day, she was being attacked by three men on her way back home, and was saved by a hero.
Her hero.
She had never met anyone like him.
He was understanding, he didn't judge her, and even though she kept a lot a secret to him, he trusted her.
And she fell in love.
For the first time in her entire life, she felt love.
Real love.
Whenever she would think of him, she'd feel this tingling feeling in her belly. He made her world light up. She felt fireworks when he looked at her, when he touched her... She felt home.
She had never believed any of the love stories she'd heard. About calling someone you're one and only and feeling safe and secure.
But what she had right there was so much more.
She found someone she knew she would love forever. She found someone she knew she would cherish and never let go. She found someone who made her feel pretty on the inside and outside. Someone who didn't force her to do anything. Someone who loved her truly for who she was. Someone who did everything to help her. Someone who cared for her children as if they were his own.
Someone to spend a lifetime with."
Emma smiled lovingly and grabbed Sam's hand, looking deep into his eyes.
"Humans are difficult creatures, I admit.
But their love isn't difficult at all.
Their entire life they search for their person, the one they would die for, they one they want to die with.
Sometimes when a human falls in love, it's not real love. It's a test phase. Is this the person? It might take days, weeks, months or years to find out that you were wrong. And you split up, and you go on with your search for the real one.
Yet, once you have found your person - there is not a thing you wouldn't do for them.
You are my person."

 

[Scripted Away]

Mac chuckled softly, a proud smile on hus face as Hunter explained misha's dream job.
"We really have to do some charity thing with him sometime", he said smirking.
"I know Cole and Bailey want to start their own center for victims of war and abuse once they graduated university. Bailey asked me if i would help them out occasionally. Maybe misha could help them design the rooms and so on. He's got my sharp eye for little details and your good heart after all. What a great boy... And you know what? He's our son!"
By now he was grinning like a jerk.
"Alright! Are you hungy? I'm hungry. I'll make us dinner. And before you ask- yes, I can cook. Mom showed me."

Rachel, leaning in the doorframe, chuckled silently and entered the room to give angel a good night kiss.
She had already said good night to everyone else, and now took him down into the living room with a soft smirk.
Smirking, she handed him a piece of our as she sat down on the couch.
"Once upon a time, there were a king, And a queen.
The queen, although all the doctors from all over the kingdom had tried helping her, couldn't have a child.
And one cold winter's day, when she was sitting by the window and stitching, she watched the snowflakes slowly fall to the white ground.
Distracted by the beauty of the glittering snow and the dancing of the flakes, she stung her finger, and three red drips of blood fell into the snow below.
And as she saw how beautiful the red looked against the white, she sighed wholeheartedly, and said "I wish a child.
A child as beautiful as this winters day, with skin as white as the snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony."
And the next day, the whole kingdom celebrated in happiness, for the queen finally awaited a child.
Nine months later, her beautiful daughter was born, with skin as white as the snow, lips as red as blood and hair as black as ebony, and she was named snowwhite.
But a tragedy shook the kingdom soon after: the queen died, and nobody knew why.
After years of grieving, the king married again, a beautiful, but very proud queen.
With every passing year, little snowwhite grew more and more beautiful, and the queen became more and more jealous, for she wanted to be the most beautiful woman in the kingdom.
And so, she asked her mag8cal mirror, every day.
"Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the most beautiful of them all?"
And every day the mirror would reply. "You, my queen, are the most beautiful here, but one to claim your place is near."
She kept asking, day after day, year after year, until one day, on snowwhite's eighteenth birthday, the queen asked again "mirror mirror on the wall, who's the most beautiful of them all?"
But the mirror replied "you, my queen, were the most beautiful here, but snowwhite took your place, I fear."
Oh, no words could describe the queen's wrath as she heard those words, and so she sent a Hunter, to kill snowwhite, and bring her heart for the queen to eat it.
But when the Hunter saw snowwhite, so beautiful and innocent, he couldn't hurt her, and instead hunted a deer, brought its heart to the queen and told her it was snowwhite's.
And while the queen felt right to be done, snowwhite ran and ran, until she found a tiny house, barely high enough to stand straight in it.
But it was cozy inside, and she had run for so long. As nobody seemed to be there, she ate, she drank, and went to sleep in one of the tiny beds.
Soon, the residents came back: seven men, only ten apples tall, with hats pointy and colorful, and their faces smeared with earth and Cole dust.
The men were dwarves, and watched in wonder, when they saw the beautiful girl sleeping in one of their beds.
"We will send her away!", they decided, but when snowwhite woke up and told them what had happened, they couldn't.
They agreed that snowwhite would do the household for them, and therefore could stay at their place.
Meanwhile in the kingdom, the queen asked her mirror again. "Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the most beautiful of them all?"
And when the mirror said "you, my queen, were the most beautiful here, but snowwhite, behind the seven hills, with the seven dwarves, took your place, I fear" she was furious, and decided to kill snowwhite on her own.
As the queen was a witch, she made herself appear like a handsome man, and travelled to bring snowwhite a poisoned comb.
Snowwhite, blinded by the beauty of the evil queens disguise, took the comb, and when it touched her hair, she fell into a deep slumber.
The dwarves startled when they found the beautiful girl on the ground, but one of them found the comb and pulled it out of her hair.
Snow white woke up again, and the queen made a new plan:
She disguised herself as a salesman, and visited snowwhite to give her a dress.
But snowwhite put it on, it became tighter and tighter, until the girl couldn't breathe anymore and fell unconscious.
When the dwarves found her, they cut the back of the dress open, so snowwhite could breathe, and again, she woke up.
But the queen had already made up her next plot.
She cursed an Apple and disguised as an old woman.
And when snowwhite took the Apple, and bit into it, a piece of it got stuck in her throat, and she fell into a deep sleep again.
Nothing the dwarves did could save her this time, and so they built a beautiful coffin of glass for her.
And as they grieved by her coffin, a young prince came by on his horse, and saw snowwhite.
"What happened to her?", he asked, and the dwarves just cried even more. "She but into a cursed Apple and won't wake up!"
But the Prince went to her coffin and kissed her, and the piece of the Apple in her throat disappeared.
Snowwhite awoke and instantly fell in love with her savior.
And so she waved the dwarves goodbye, to follow the Prince into his kingdom, to live happily ever after."
She smiled softly. "That's the story of snowwhite, honey."

Sam remained silent for quite some time, and lastly just cuddled against Emma tighter.
"I promise, I will protect you from things like that ever happening again...", he mumbled silently, trying to get rid of the goosebumps Emma's story had left on his arms.
"I will make sure no one will ever hurt you again. Ever."

 

[Wyosch]

Hunter giggled, nodding.
"Okay honey, if you want to cook then you can cook. But if you burn down the kitchen we know who'll be cooking afterwards.", she winked, kissed his cheek and climbed onto his back.
"Into the kitchen!"

Jim had eaten the slice of pie by now and was staring at Rachel with big eyes, raising an eyebrow.
"That doesn't make any sense at all.", he replied. "Why would somebody go and kiss some random sleeping stranger who then miraculously wakes up even though she had a piece of apple stuck in her throat - and then go marry her?"
He was obviously very confused about the story, asking himself how someone could've done that.
"And how on earth did that queen become pregnant by just staring at blood in the snow?
Nothing in that story makes sense!"

Emma cuddled tightly against Sam, sighing silently.
"I know honey."
She looked up into his eyes and gently kissed him, stroking over his back with her hand.
"And you never have to be afraid to lose me. You won't."

 

[Scripted Away]

Instead of going into the kitchen, Mac carried Hunter into the living and grinned at her widely after he had handed her his giant folder full of DVDs.
"Nope. You, princess, watch whatever you wanna watch, and I'll get the dinner ready. No discussion. Time to put my mother's lessons to the test. We don't have chicken anymore though, so I'll have to improvise."
And he hurried off into the kitchen.
From the dough for the spaghetti to the sauce, he made it all on his own, in hours of work.
Smirking, he carried the plates into the garden, where he had already arranged candles, tablecloth, just everything.
For once his love for tiniest details payed off.
in the middle of the table, he arranged a plate of spaghetti for both of them, friggin chicken straight from friggin heaven - literally created in the dream sphere just for this dinner - and a dessert that looked like straight out of a restaurant.
Smirking like an idiot, Mac led Hunter to the table.
"Do me a favor and don't tell Jimbo I can do things like this. He'd keep teasing me" he chuckled.

Rachel burst into laughter, resting her forehead on Jim's shoulder.
"Jim!!", she chuckled. "It's a fairytale! A legend! They aren't made to be realistic."
Her gaze softened and she more or less hugged herself as a sad smile crossed her face. "My mother always used to say 'legends are stories that teach us the truth'. What this fairytale is trying to say is that beauty is no guarantee for a good heart, that a good heart doesn't always have a beautiful body, and that even in the darkest hours, good things may happen. And..."
She looked up into her husband's eyes with a soft sparkling in hers as she took his hand. "... that sometimes, we need to go through darkness to find light. Just as we did, honey."

Sam sighed happily as he kissed Emma back and pulled her some closer.
"And you won't ever have to fear that this family will be left alone again. I'll always be there, for you and our children. No matter whose DNA they carry."
With a soft smile, he lay down on the bed and pulled Emma closer into his arms as he closed his eyes peacefully. "I love you."

 

[Wyosch]

Hunter's eyes widened in awe as she excitedly grabbed Macon's hand and gasped.
"Wow!", she called, turning her head to Macon again.
"Wow!"
She happily closed her eyes as the scent reached her nose.
"Oh my god this smells amazing!"
She hugged her husband as tightly as possible, kissing him all over his face.
"You're such a romantic and I love it!", her eyes sparkling happily, she made her way to the table and sat down.
"C'mon, I'm hungry!"

Jim'd frowned slightly as Rachel laughed at him, but lastly just raised an eyebrow at her explanation.
"I... get the message, but why make such a strange, unrealistic story?", he asked.
"Are all fairytales like this?"
He just thought it was extremely strange that people would read and love such stories. They were unrealistic, and honestly quite boring. Well the only one he knew was.
"And people really like stuff like that?"

Emma sighed happily as she buried her face into Sam's chest, enjoying his closeness.
"Honey?"
Drawing hearts on his arm, she pulled one leg up on his and quickly looked up into his eyes.
"Tell me and be honest - what do you want our child to be? A boy or a girl?"

 

[Scripted Away]

Mac smirked his typical evil little smirk as he sat down at the table opposite of Hunter.
"I have no idea what makes you think I could ever be romantic", he chuckled grinning, but then sighed silently and looked at her with exactly the same expression as back then on their wedding.
"But seriously now- I could spend my entire eternal life on trying to find the right words, but I'd never find the right ones to tell you how much you mean to me", he mumbled. "You and our little ones. I mean, I already miss them being babies! And they're not even three. God they're growing so fast..."
Laughing silently, he headdesked. "God im so cheesy!"

"Yes man!" Rey chuckled. "I've always loved the fairytale of sleeping beauty. Oh and the boy who went to learn fear. That one was cool too."
Smirking, she ran her fingers through his hair.
"I used to make up so many stories for Jamie..."
Her eyes instantly darkened.
"...Jamie..."

Sam raised one eyebrow as he smiled at Emma and nuzzled into her hair.
"Or genderneutral, or Trans, or genderfluid, or one of the vast other genders- or just simply cis male or female- I don't care. Whatever it will be- it will be perfect."
His eyes turned bright golden when the sun shine brighter and brighter.
"Giving the question back- what do you hope for?"

 

[Wyosch]

Hunter giggled softly, gently grabbing Macon's hand and stroking over his palm with her thumb.
"Honey, they're still babies.", she replied. "Just a little older. With every day there are more things we can teach them. More things to experience. More memories."
Her eyes sparkling lovingly, she sighed happily.
"Noah will go to preschool soon. He'll get some friends, he'll learn a bit... he'll have playdates. Misha is currently in his exploration-phase: he wants to know everything and questions every single new thing he sees or learns. And Heather... well she's currently more in her play-phase I'd say. She keeps dressing up her stuffed animals, or having tea parties with the squirrels and birds outside in the yard."

Jim frowned, furrowing his eyebrows. He put his hand on Rachel's shoulder and gently hugged her.
"Don't think about him, honey.", he mumbled, feeling the rage starting to grow inside of him again. Jamie was the reason for so many bad things that happened. It was his fault that not only James abused Jim, but also Scott Jeffreys. And-
"Wait.", Jim was now frowning confused, having taken his arm away from Rachel, rubbing his temple with his hand.
"No. Yes. I think. Mhm. Could be... what if?", he mumbled to himself, thinking out loud. "I could check. Devil powers. Hell, yes? What if not? Luna's land absolutely no-go. Purgatory neither. Has to be send there. Nobody did."
After a while of mumbling some more gibberish to himself, he turned to Rachel again with big eyes.
"I have to talk to Lucifer."

Emma enjoyed Sam's closeness, and just cuddled against him more.
"Well, I don't mind either.", she replied. "A sister would be great for Emily, but she'd be too busy with her own children. A little brother would be great for Cole too, so he can be a role model to him like his brothers were. But like I said, I really don't mind. As long as the baby is healthy and happy, I am happy too."

 

[Scripted Away]

"I've just been to busy lately", Mac mumbled while he unintentionally performed a perfect autopsy on his chicken filet.
"My job and then everything happening in heaven at the moment, and the last crappy four months that I constantly tried to keep my brother alive and prevent him from killing himself...i barely had time for you all, didn't I?"
A determined smile crossed his face.
"Screw it, I'm gonna take a week off. Scott can teach my class for me for a week. And Ezekiel can keep an eye on heaven for me. Lets Let's go away for a week. Somewhere. Anywhere! Just You, me, and the kids."

Rachel raised one eyebrow in confusion.
"Um, well he's somewhere i the city, I believe. Said he wanted to meet new people and enjoy life as a human or so..."

Smiling softly, Sam closed his eyes and sighed happily.
"Hey, tomorrow, on our wedding... are you ready to meet my family? Some of them are...well, hard to get along with, I'd say. My uncle, for example. My aunt and cousin as well..."
He furrowed his eyebrows for a moment.
"That is, if they come at all..."

 

[Wyosch]

Hunter stared at Macon with big eyes for a moment, before she started nodding excitedly.
"Oh my god that's an amazing idea!" Her eyes sparkling like diamonds, not only because the food tasted so good, but because they would go on a vacation.
"A vacation! Our first vacation together!"
She giggled excitedly, feeling like a kid again.
"Where should we go? Somewhere the kids can enjoy themselves! The beach would be great for Noah and Heather, but Misha doesn't want to go into the water. He only keeps building sandcastles. Wouldn't be fun if he'd do that an entire week long, right? What else could we do? Cultural? No, that's too boring for the little ones, right? Right? Do you have any ideas?"

Jim nodded seriously for a moment, shook his head and snapped out of his thoughts.
"I'm sorry for that, honey... I don't want to think about other stuff than you right now.", he sighed, forcing a soft smile as he looked at her.
"What you said to Jack earlier, about Drake... that was meant for me, wasn't it?", he asked silently, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin on his palms.

"Why wouldn't they come?", Emma asked, raising an eyebrow. "And why are they hard to get along with?"
She smiled softly, closing her eyes for a moment as she enjoyed Sam's warmth.
"Honey... I have a question. Cole told me that, in the hospital, you'd said to him that you had known his father because of our surname."
She now looked up at Sam again, frowning confused.
"But that's not possible. Cole's biological father's name was Patton. My surname is Anderson. My dad's surname... did a DNA test a couple of years back to finally find out about my biological parents. Looks like they were killed in a car accident... but still."

 

[Scripted Away]

Mac lifted one shoulder, smirking as he looked at his plate for a moment.
"Well, I was thinking it could be exciting for the kids to meet people from very different cultures and so on. I have friends amongst the Sioux and Inuit. Many kids to play with, exciting new things to see and learn, cast space to play... it all depends on whether they and you would prefer to make holidays in the warm or cold."

Rachel nodded silently.
"It was meant for both of you. Jack is a lot like you, and you both have to learn to control your temper at times."
She pulled him into a gentle hug and rested her cheek on his shoulder.
"If we act like those who tried to kill us, we wouldn't be any better than them. And we would be a horrible example for our kids. Jim...ever normal person has a natural barrier that keeps them from hurting or killing others on purpose. We don't have that barrier, it has been broken by the years of war that made us numb for things like that. So we have to be aware of our actions and make sure we won't cross a line that we can barely see. You understand, honey?"

"Well, I knew what Cole is from the moment I saw him for the first time. I mean, he was in a comatose state, basically, not aware of what he was, but he was radiating this unique kind of energy only my kind inhabits. And since Cole is a unicorn as Well, I just had to put one and one together", Sam explained with a shrug. "Cole clearly has Arabi roots. The hair, eyes, tan skin. You clearly don't, so it had to be his father who was at least partly Arab. And he must have been a unicorn. Our genes are extremely dominant, the chances of a child from a unicorn-human unison becoming no unicorn is about 1:1000000. So his father had to be a unicorn with an Arab vessel. When the timeplayers killed us one by one, some of us went to earth to...well..."
He shifted uncomfortably and shook his head with a sad sigh. "They betrayed our ways. They reproduced like rats, trying to create enough unicorn's to form an army.
Didn't work out though, since the timeplayers found them far quicker thab they had thought. There are probably dozens of unawoken unicorn's roaming earth..."
He sighed.
"We were a network. Everyone was connected to everyone. We could hear each others thoughts. See through each others eyes...no one was left out or unknown. We knew every single one of our species. Which was no wonder since we were already pretty rare before the timeplayers decided to make us the next dinosaurs."
Another sad sigh.
"Cole's father...he was desperate. He loved us so much it drove him insane to see us dying one by one. And when our father disappeared...he just lost it."

 

[Wyosch]

Hunter lifted her shoulders, not knowing what to think of Macon's suggestion.
"You know I'm always in for a culture-shock, but we have three toddlers...", she replied, frowning slightly. "Of course it's a good idea to introduce different cultures and new people to our kids, but I don't know if it's a good idea for as young kids as ours. Noah isn't even three yet."
She played around with her fork, staring at her husband with big eyes.
"I mean, they have barely left Aegis yet. The only place they've been to which was not the lake or our yard were the grocery store and occasionally the playground - where they didn't really try to play with other kids..."

Jim leaned back in the couch with a slight frown. No, he would not say out loud what he was thinking right now.
"Mhm...", he mumbled, slightly annoyed. Or maybe he was just grumpy. He didn't know. He didn't want to be, though. He had his kids back, his wife back... his life back on track...
right?
"What if Drake will attack again?", he asked finally after a while of silence. "Wouldn't it just be better to get rid of him now before he hurts you or any of the kids again? Or what if he'll hurt Macon? Or their kids?"

Emma raised an eyebrow, frowning, and slightly backed off.
"Don't tell me you're defending Cole's father now.", she hissed silently, clearing her throat. "No matter how much he loved your species or how much he wanted to save your kind - what he did doesn't make him a saviour or a hero or someone who wanted to help. What he did makes him a monster, and I do not pity and definitely don't forgive monsters."
She sighed silently, turning her head away from him.
"I'm sorry if that offends you or your 'friend' - and I'm sorry if I don't quite empathize right now, but you don't know what that man did to me and the kids... and yet you talk about him in a way as if he were normal, someone who made a mistake and should be forgiven."

 

[Scripted Away]

Mac slightly shook his head.
"Look, people get a culture shock because they are overwhelmed by things they aren't used to, because they are so taken in by their own culture. kids however don't think like that. They might wonder "why do they do it that way?" But they aren't like "that way must be wrong because whatever". They are more open, you understand?"
He smiled slightly, thinking of Noah.
"Last time we were on the playground with them, Noah started playing with that other, five-year-old boy, remember? Later that day he told me Teddy- the boy- is his best friend, and they stayed in touch with telepathy. When i asked him how they had become best friends so quickly, he just shrugged and said "we just are." That's how things work for them. In a way, we can learn a lot from them. We keep questioning the wrong things. We need a sense in everything. A payoff. That's just how our culture works. Things have to be efficient. Kids question why. They dont wonder what it would bring them, or how they could spend their time better. That's why I think it's just the right them for them to meet the world. Before they start closing up. That's when they would get a culture shock. Also- you can't hide them forever, honey."
He gently took her hand and smiled softly. "Wherever we would go, they would meet loads of new people. People very different from us, because we are different from most."

Rachel shook her head, now frowning.
"Jim, we want to be treated as equals, but that won't work if we don't act like equals. We don't have the right to decide over life and death of others. What we did back in the war was self defense. We had to kill to survive."
She closed her eyes, still frowning as she drummed her fingers on the table. "Now it would be murder, because we are not in danger. Wherever drake is, he isnt here, and he isn't threatening us. And as long as it is like this, killing him would be murder. We are no murderers. HACK was. Not us."

Sam was frowning deeply as he sat up and crossed his arms.
"Are yo seriously thinking I would defend someone i just called a traitor and rat?", he grumbled. "Someone who betrayed what we stood for- righteousness, peace, love, ahimsa- someone who made us bow in shame- someone like him- a friend? He was my brother, but what he did is unforgivable. And I honestly can't believe you think I would try to defend someone who hurt you, the one I love more than...anyone or anything i have ever known, this much. Emma!"
He facepalmed, sighed, and shook his head, but then gently cupped her face and stroked over her cheek with his thumb.
"I'm just sad I lost my brother like that. I'm sad he let his pain take him so far as to do such unforgivable things. I'm sad I'm unable to forgive him. I want to...but i cant. I just..."
He sighed soundlessly as he closed his eyes and slightly shook his head as a tear or two glittered in his eyelashes. "I used to look up to him, being the youngest of us until Cole was born. And now I have to find out that the one I would have trusted blindly has turned into a... a monster. Can you imagine how that feels like for me? I'm not trying to defend him, Emma. I couldn't. I'm grieving for a brother I lost twice. To the timeplayers killing us and to his own madness."

 

[Wyosch]

Hunter smiled, sighing.
"I guess you're right...", she mumbled, resting her elbow on the table and her chin on her palm. "I think I'm worrying too much about the kids again..."
She looked up at her husband at the other end of the table, her eyes sparkling happily.
"I love you.", she whispered, reaching out for his hand and gently grabbing it.
"So... tell me about the idea you have for our first family-vacation."

Jim just leaned back in the couch, nodding.
"If you say so.", he replied, staring at the table for a moment before he looked away again.
"Can't we talk about something else?", he asked, his tone grumpier than he had intended to. "I don't want to argue.", he added, his voice indicating that he was slightly scared, but he would never admit that when she would ask. He would just let his thoughts consume him and make him suffer instead of talking about it to someone. Especially since he didn't want to make her worry even more than she already did.
He just didn't want to lose her again.

Emma sighed silently, leaning her head against Sam's shoulder again.
"I'm sorry, honey. I get slightly hostile when someone talks to me about my past... I mean, when someone talks 'good' about it. You know?"
She hugged him tightly, gently running her fingers over his back.
"I'm sorry you had to lose him like that."

 

[Scripted Away]

Mac Lifted his shoulders, smiling softly. "And when it gets too much for them, we can still go home anytime."
At her question about his plans, he smirked.
"Well, as i said, I have friends amongst several native groups all over the world.
A few Inuit friends asked if we would visit them sometime. It would all just depend on wether or not the kids are cold resistant like us. Wouldn't want them to freeze there."

Rachel smiled sadly and sat down on Jim's lap, facing him so she was basically kneeling on the couch.
Resting her arms on his shoulders she gently kissed him and rested her forehead against his.
"William couldn't sleep tonight. He kept crying 'da da da!' Went on until I placed a photo of you beside his crib. Smiled and fell asleep within a minute."
She chuckled silently.
"Hey, Grumpyface. I love you."

Sam smiled sadly as he cuddled against Emma again.
"It's okay honey...hey, let's change the topic. We've had so much heavy talk today. Should cheer up a bit! Hey- what's white and disturbing when you want to breakfast? An avalanche."
He chuckled silently.
"Sorry, sorry. That one was horrible."

 

[Wyosch]

Hunter smiled, nodding, as she got up from her chair and walked over to her husband. Gently pushing him back, she sat down on his lap and cuddled against him.
"Inuits have cute dogs.", she replied, giggling. "If the kids are cold resistant, we could go. And if not...?"

Jim placed his hands on Rachel's waist, enjoying their kiss and her warmth.
"I love you too, babe.", he replied, his breaths deep and peaceful, his eyes calm. "Sorry if I was a lil' grumpy just now. I didn't want to sound like that."
He hugged Rachel tightly, never wanting to let her go anymore. If he did... he could lose her.
Not wanting to think depressing thoughts anymore, he changed topics to William.
"He's a little cutie, isn't he?", Jim mumbled happily, smiling proudly. "I'm so proud of our little one. Our little ones. And you."

Emma sarcastically raised an eyebrow, chuckling.
"You're horrible!", she gently hit his shoulder, smiling lovingly.
"I have some horrible jokes too!", she laughed, holding up her index finger and clearing her throat.
"Have you ever tried to eat a clock? It's very time consuming."