Participants:
| Scene Title | A Family Affair |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Delia and Ryans discuss the emergence of Keira in their lives and a wayward time traveler returns home again. |
| Date | September 19, 2010 |
Gun Hill: The Ryans' Apartment
It's pretty late in the evening when Benjamin Ryans comes in finally from another days work. He looks like he's been working hard on something, probably the bathroom titles as his hands and clothing are covered in mortar. Patches of the pale gray substance flakes off his pants as he walks, leaving a small faint trail behind him on the hardwood flooring.
His eyes are on his hands, which are more gray then fleshy, fingers rubbing over each other trying to dislodge the dried material. "Lia?!" He calls, not even looking up. "Bring me the orange cleaner from the shower, please?" He has no doubt his youngest is there, having checked the clinic for her first. "And the scrub brush?"
Ryans' path takes him into the kitchen and especially the sink, where he turns the water on to run his hands under. Only then does he take a moment to glance over his shoulder. "Delia?"
Lifting her head from the book she's studying, Delia crawls off her bed, giving her room a quick once over before leaving it. She closes her door softly and then makes her way into the kitchen, stopping at the bathroom to grab the requested brush and orange cleaner.
"Hey Dad, how's it going?" Her voice is quiet and subdued, not depressingly so, just kept to a hush. After setting the two items down on the counter by the sink, she hops up on the counter opposite and swings her long legs around in circles. "Have a good day at work?"
She's trying to butter him up or something, obviously. Either that or she has a lot of bad news to tell him. Maybe it's a bit of both.
As soon as the brush is in his periphery, it's snatched up and applied roughly to the patches of mortar clinging to nails and cuticles. "Things have been better." He rumbles out, cause it's true. Thing have been piling up on the man's shoulders. So they both seem to have bad news.
"I've been meaning to ask you…" He started, finally glancing her way as he gives his hands a rinse through the steady stream of water. "…how hard is to have a paternity test done?" It's asked so innocently and yet, there is so much shock and meaning that comes with those words.
The soap is picked up and he works at a good lather, while offering, "Your little friend brought someone by the apartment the other day." He's decided not to make her demand it from him. "She knows me." Those words hang heavily in the air between them.
Thump thump… Benjamin gets a blank stare and a look of complete and utter disbelief. "A… what?" Paternity test, she heard it, she just can't believe it. Blinking rapidly, Lia just sort of stares at her father for a while before starting to breathe again.
"Paternity test? Uhm… I… uh.. I.. Did you..?" Cheat on mom, she can't say the words, it's too horrible a thought to even form verbally. "It's uhm.. different than an evo test. They have to do an entire spectrograph.. Look at all the genes, not just. Seriously Dad? Really?" The poor thing just isn't taking it well.
His question blanks out all of the news she was going to tell him. Whatever it was, she just can't remember anymore.
"No." He didn't cheat on his wife, the look Ryans gives his daughter shows that he's hurt that she's even think it. "She's several years older then you and Lucille." Well before he laid eyes on a red headed beauty at the store check out.
"She had a photo of me and said her mother said I was her father." That brush scrapes at the flesh of his fingers, bits of gray gathering at the bottom of the chipped white porcelain lined sink. "She didn't have a photo of her mother, and I didn't recognize the name… however, Huruma said that she believed what she was told." He glances at her before looking back at the work he's doing to his fingers. A faint hit of pink in the suds, makes him stop scrubbing and rinse again.
This whole thing was obviously bothering Ben pretty good, just by the fact he's scrubbing skin off.
"That doesn't mean anything. Anyone could have a picture of you… You're ol— I mean, you've lived a long time." He doesn't look old, not really. Not even a decade older than the man his daughter has designs on. Delia's eyes drift downward, betraying that guilty feeling she has for even thinking that her father might have dome something so heinous.
"So.. who brought her? The only friends I have that know I live here are Jaiden, Huruma, and Hokuto… and I don't think it could have been any of them." The sarcasm in her father's voice when he told her it was a friend is completely lost on the young redhead. "And why would anyone bring— Oooohhh… crap." Furrowing her eyebrows, Delia clenches her jaw for a while, incensed that Ben would even even joke about Amadeus being a friend of hers.
"That's the one." Just from the look on his youngest daughter's face, Ryans knows she's figured it out. "And I know that it doesn't mean anything, but this young woman believes that I am her father." It could be a persuader that made her think that for all Ryans knows.
The water is shut off making the room seem uncomfortable quiet. A dish towel is plucked from the where it's hooked through the handle of the oven. "I'd like to know… because it will mean she's in danger… IF she isn't then she is a danger, since — thanks to Deckard's kid — she knows where we live."
The thought that she was sent to find them, has also crossed his mind, but it's a conclusion that Ryans is trying not to draw, yet. It would mean him having to take certain actions and if Delia has learned anything about her father, he'd do it.
Delia would rather think that the woman's claims make her a danger rather than put her in danger. If she's a friend of Amadeus, she can't exactly be on any top ten list except maybe the top ten most wanted list. Narrowing her eyes a little, she purses her lips angrily and turns to her father before speaking again. He's given a long and thoughtful look, "Do you think Mister Deckard would mind if I killed that son of a bitch?"
The redhead doesn't swear, just like her mother. Having spent all of her life tucked into Mary's pocket, she's taken on many of her mother's good qualities. Lately, they've blended in with her father's more protective instincts. "You'd have to go to a lab to get a paternity test… It'll take a few days. I don't know if you can do it when we're trying to hide."
A sharp look goes Delia's direction, but then it softens. "I haven't seen Flint, so I have no idea, but I'm tempted to do so myself. Thankfully, Amadeus shouldn't be too much more of a problem, since Miss Rowan is getting ready to shut this building to Ferry business only." The woman too high profile to keep civilians out of the organizations business.
There is a heavy sigh at what she says about the test, his head giving a small shake. "That might not be totally possible." The words growled with frustration. "Maybe… ask Cathrine about it?" The woman seems to know something about everything. "I know these people have resources and she seemed to know a lot."
"I— I've seen him, Dad. He said I could tell you he was here, but he didn't want anyone else to know." Once again, Delia's guilty expression returns as she makes the admission to her father almost a week late. Flint said she could tell Ben, but she'd kept it to herself just in case. "He looked like hell but he said he has a place to live, if that makes any difference… He promised he would come and see me again."
Ben's sigh is followed by another, just as heavy, from Delia's lips. "I don't think you should do it, it's too dangerous. It takes a long time and they'll have to contact you for results. Can't you just give her a blood sample or something and tell her to get lost? She can get her own test then."
"You do realize… if I do that, she could still come back and say it was otherwise? Or have a fake one made?" Ryans brow twitches upwards, he's just slightly paranoid. "I'd rather have it done myself then to risk putting the ball in her court."
He reaches into his back pocket to retrieve his wallet, before turning to where he can leans back against the counter while he searches the contents. "I'm glad to hear that Flint made it out okay." That coming a little out of right field. "You see him again, make sure he knows the door is open for him."
Finally, he seems to find what he's looking for and extracts a plastic ID card, handing it over to her. "We won't need to use my real name, that is a cover of mine, the Company never knew about it. I have no idea how the registration stuff will effect it, but it's not compromised."
"Then get some of her blood, just… Don't go anywhere with her or contact her. Also, we should think about moving if that freak is bringing people here. God, I could just kill him. Why was he even here in the first place? How does he even have any friends?" Incensed, Delia jumps off the counter and stalks to the fridge, grabbing an apple from the crisper.
"If I ever get good enough to do that thing I do without touching people… I'm going to make him jump out of a window in his sleep." Whether the threat is serious or not remains to be seen. It's likely that she doesn't care about Ben's reaction to her words either because she just takes a big bite out of the apple and leans against the tall appliance. "By the way… I got a warrant out for my arrest."
"Yes Daddy…" The sullen words are spoken exactly how she would have when she was getting into trouble as a youngster. Heaving a long sigh, she takes another bite from her apple and chews it slowly. It sort of surprises her that her father hadn't reacted to her announcement at all. If it had been any other situation, she might have been pleased that he's ignoring the fact that his daughter is also a wanted fugitive.
A few more bites are taken before the redhead actually looks at him and turns her lips downward. "Dad, how many times was she taken? And if this place is compromised… should I go somewhere else? This guy, Jason, that I met, he told me about a bunch of other places they have. I'm supposed to be visiting a few of them soon, to give people checkups and make sure all the kids are healthy."
And maybe the fact she has a warrant isn't all that much of a surprise, considering what happened shortly after he picked her up from her arrest. The warrant is expected.
"Only the once, but it was enough it seems." Ryans offers softly, watching his youngest thoughtfully. "I don't think the Ferrymen would let you anywhere else, til they make sure we are okay." He points out, before amending with, "However, once they give you the okay, if you feel you need to move out to else where…" He's not totally happy with the idea, but… "I will support your decision." Even if it would be hard to adjust to a quiet, empty apartment.
"Just once? Are you sure?" Delia seems a little confused at the answer and furrows her eyebrows deeply. "I thought it was more than that…" Shaking her head a little the redhead lets loose a long sigh and purses her lips together. She wanders over to the garbage and presses the pedal to open the lid, tossing the apple core away.
"Daddy, Jaiden told me I could stay with him, if I didn't feel safe here. That we both could." It's obvious that the young woman doesn't want to leave the apartment, but with Amadeus escorting random strangers to their doorstep, something has to be done. "If you wanted… he says he has a safehouse."
He starts to say something about her moving in with Jaiden, it's just not something a young girl should do. However, that is until she elaborates and includes him, that has his mouth shutting again. There is a moment, before he slowly shakes his head. "No. If it was just you and me, I might consider it. But there is more then just you and me hidden here. There are other agents counting on me.
"I need to stay here, at least for the time being." A hand lifts to forestall her possible protests, "I'm thinking maybe we should move to one of the lower floors, at least. Lynette knows these people are looking for me, I'm sure she won't tell." Ryans gives his youngest a soft smile. "I'll get it figured out."'
The young woman's eyes fall to the floor and she glares at the hardwood for a long time before swallowing audibly. "Daddy, are you sure she's only been taken by them once? It hasn't been more?" The glare has turned to an expression of deep concentration and concern as her blue eyes meet the matching ones of her father. "It's important… really important that I know."
Her father's trust in their landlady, the fact that he calls her by her first name, the familiarity… All of this worries the redhead. Not that she cares if her father enters a relationship with the blonde woman (of course she does), it's mostly the fact that the woman in question is an addict of the worst kind. Functioning. "And how are we going to stop Amadeus and his friend from coming in again?"
"Just the once." Ryans affirms, with a short nod. "She was in their care for several months tho. The Institute is known to experiment on people. Much like they claimed The Company did. Who knows what hell they put her through."
It's a good think she isn't voicing any of that relationship stuff, Ryans would kindly remind her that he has no time for relationships. The old man spends a majority of his time worried about the safety of others, not whether a woman things of him a certain way. "One thing that will stop them is that Lynetter is telling anyone not within the Ferrymen they have to move out, before the building has been condemned. So…" He spreads his hands. "As far as he will know this building is unlivable. Will it work? I haven't the faintest clue."
"Daddy… Be careful around Lynette. Please?" The tone of Delia's voice is quite serious and level, the sort she uses when she's talking about school, work, or something else of great importance to her. "I know that she runs this place and everything but… Just trust me?" Dropping her head, the young woman moves toward the door and places her hand on the knob. "I'm going to head down to the clinic for a bit. If that's okay."
Eyes narrow at his youngest's warning, brows furrowing slightly with concern, but then finally he gives a slow short nod of his head. "That's fine… I need to shower anyhow." When she disappears from view, Ryans' gaze drops to the floor, wonder touching his features. What did she mean by that?
"Just be careful." Benjamin adds after a moment longer.
There's a knock on the apartment door. A halting knock, one rap followed by a pair of knocks after. "Hello? Delia? Mr. Ryans? 'S Jaiden. Anyone in there?"
She hadn't even stepped into her bedroom when Jaiden's knock and call sound through the door. "Jaiden! Oh my god!!" Racing through the apartment, she flies to the door and wrestles with the locks, trying to undo them as fast as she can. Poor Benjamin, he might have to replace the chain as it's yanked off when she throws open the door.
The young redhead's heart catches in her throat at the sight of the Australian man. "Jaiden…" his name is said in a breathy whisper, as though she can't actually believe what she's seeing.
It's Jaiden, definitely, looking extremely tired and disheveled - even a little pale. He's dressed in a heavy woolen coat with a pack near his right foot, as if he just stepped off of a bus and into the hallway at Gun Hill. Now, other than the substantial bloodstain on his right shoulder from what appears to be a non-lethal but unpleasant bullet wound, he's peachy.
The knock and the familiar voice and names, brings Benjamin from the kitchen, his face unreadable and cautious. The one thing that grabs his attention above all else is the stain of red at his shoulder. Ryans' long legs carry him across the smallish apartment. "Jaiden. What happened?" Eyes darting out into the hall as if he'll be able to see for himself.
A hand reaches out to grip the younger man at the elbow of his good arm, as if to direct him into the apartment. "You look like hell worn over."
"To make a bloody long story short, I went back in time to 1999. Had to save a friend and got shot for my troubles by the person I was supposed to save her from." Jaiden fully expects to be viewed as insane, but accepts the offered hand from Ryans, making his way into the apartment after nudging his pack into the room with a toe - no sense in leaving something like that out in the hall where anyone can stumble on it.
Delia's eyes widen in fear and the gasp that fills her lungs is expelled slowly as her father brushes past her to help the younger man. "Jaiden.. oh my— I'm… Daddy get him to my bed or to yours… I'm going to get some stuff from downstairs. Just.. Jaiden, oh my god!" She pulls his pack in the rest of the way before turning to her father and giving him the look that says now.
Tripping over her own feet, she catches herself with a hand on the wall as she races to her bedroom to fetch the keys to the clinic downstairs. In less than a minute she's out the front down and running down the stairs. Stealth is not the name of her game right now.
Less than three or four minutes later, the redhead returns with an overstuffed medical kit. One that is kept stocked for just such emergencies. Unlike the last time the two Ryans' had to dig a bullet out of a friend, she's got everything needed.
There are only two people that ex-agent Ryans knows of that can manipulate time, and last thing he knew little Odessa couldn't do something like that. Still, brows furrow slightly at the young man's story. "Come on, son." As his daughter takes off. "If I don't have to laying down by time she's back, she'll probably flay my hide." A hint of a smile twitches at the corner of his mouth.
The younger man will be guided to Delia's room, by her father, and made to lay down. Of course, his first thought is that they will have to get her a new mattress after this.
He's not bleeding _that_ much, and as he's helped down the hall and to the bed, Jaiden works on his jacket buttons with his one good hand, wincing at the pain from having to move slightly to shrug out his jacket, but otherwise not complaining in the least. He does protest a bit at laying down - he'll ruin the sheets with his shoulder if it's not cleaned before he does - but if Ryans insists, he will.
The bullet entered just at the upper part of Jaiden's bicep from the side and skirted the shoulder joint (just getting close, no damage really) before exiting the upper part of his shoulder. All meat, no bone or nerves hit. It'll leave a wicked-cool scar and might ache in the winter sometimes, but other than that, it's what can be referred to as a 'million dollar wound.' Hell, he'll be fine in a week or so of healing.
"Sorry to just appear on your doorstep. I didn't want to go to a hospital, what with them testing everyone now, and this place, having a clinic and Delia…well…kill two birds with one stone, y'know?"
Stomping into the room, Delia's got her stethoscope hung around her neck along with a blood pressure cuff. She's just in time to see Jaiden peeling his jacket off. "Here, let me put this under your shoulder.." she says softly as she pulls a white towel out from the closet. Towels are so much easier to clean than anything else.
When she gets to the bed, the redhead rakes some of her wild hair behind her ear and leans in a little closer to spot the wound. "I hope you don't want to keep this shirt," she emits with a little smile. Without waiting for him to answer, she pulls a pair of shears from the bag and begins cutting away the sleeve and shoulder.
"How long ago were you shot? Tell me everything…"
Once his daughter is in the room, Banjamin steps back. The tall man looming in a nearby corner as his daughter attends Jaiden. Arms cross over her chest, making him look like a hulking bouncer, even as he says gently, "I'm curious as well. For one, who is the time traveler?"
Ryans watches his daughter, there is a sense of pride seeing his little girl, working with such confidence. Not… that he's ever really spoke of such things. It's there tho'.
Jaiden reaches down with his left hand to retrieve his pocketwatch, clicking it open and reflecting on the face for a second, doing a little mental calculation based on the digital clock on the nightstand, and then answers.
"Depending on how you look at it, either ten to twenty minutes ago or nine years. Looking at the blood, I'll guess ten to twenty minutes ago." He slides his pocketwatch back into the pocket and watches as his shirt is cut to ribbons. No, it wasn't one he wanted to keep - one of the cheap souvenir "I <3 NY" shirts, his eyes closing as she works. "I take it you got my letter then, Delia?" He takes in a deep breath. "I was afraid you wouldn't remember me." He glances over to Ryans after a moment. "Hiro Nakamura. You know him?"
The air of professionalism and concentration softens as the redhead looks down on him and gives him another little smile. "I got the letter," she murmurs gently, taking the time to brush her fingers against his cheek, they're still dry so no little streaks this time. "I don't think I could ever forget you, Jaiden the Giant.."
Ryans might remember that name from years ago, when Delia was less than ten and stomping around for months looking for her giant. The giant was associated with unicorns and abberjininnies, but no one ever explained to the company man what an abberjininy was. Possibly because only Delia and Jaiden knew.
Tearing her eyes away from the man in the bed, she concentrates on the wound, examining it carefully. "I wish I had an x-ray… just to make sure there's no pieces left in your shoulder. The best I can do right now is patch you up and hope there's nothing." Digging around in the bag again, she comes out with a packaged needle and a little vial of clear liquid. "Tetanus shot, just in case… Unless you know you're current?"
"Yes." For a moment, it seems like that's all he'll says, but then he adds, "I know who he is. I worked for his father, Company Founder Kaito Nakamura, and remember Hiro as a small child." Ryans says softly, with a small nod of his head. Only having seen Hiro a time or two, in the halls.
After a moment longer, Ryans finally steps forward to pat the young girl on the shoulder and head towards the door. He knew he was no help being there, leaving the time weary man to his daughters capable hands.
Left alone with Delia? Jaiden must have said something right or, at least, looks to be too tired to try anything uncouth. Jaiden smirks, rocking a little as Delia works on his shoulder. "I can't feel any fragments in there, and as far as tetanus….no, I'm not current. My last tetanus shot was in 2005." He closes his eyes and lets out a breath, the blood from his shoulder a slow ooze - easily stopped with some gauze. "I feel like I can sleep for a week, queen Abberjinny."
Delia glances over her shoulder as Ben leaves the room, "G'night Dad." The needle is plunged into the vial to draw out a single dose as the nurse explains, "2005 would still put you current, but it won't hurt to get a boost. Just in case. I don't know what time travel does." His good arm is swiped with a little alcohol wipe and the needle is pushed into his arm. In less than ten seconds that whole unpleasant ordeal is over, the needle is pulled off the syringe and placed in a safe container.
As Jaiden's eyes close, the redhead smiles down at him and continues to work on his shoulder, packing the wound and then wrapping it up carefully. By the time she's all finished, he might be sound asleep, but that doesn't stop her from whispering softly to him. "You look like you could sleep for a week… I'm so happy you're home. Eleven years is a long time to wait."