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Written
17th, 18th December 2015

The sun had finally come out, the path outside seemed to be already drying from its warmth. A couple of laughing children ran right by. It had to be ten minutes by now, so she looked to the clock sat on the book shelf she knew was mostly just for show. What was behind and hidden by a holographic wall was a mystery to her. Getting her attention back to the clock, her impatience grew.

"Oh come on. You've been up there for an hour!" Amy shouted towards the stairs. Whether or not she was heard, she didn't know. It wouldn't matter, it never did. They'd make her wait, as usual.

On the next floor, in the largest of the bedrooms a little girl hovered in front of the wardrobe, scanning half of it for something. A brush gently went through her chocolate brown hair, styling it into a neat ponytail.

"Your sister's waiting, you have plenty of things to choose from," Jessie told her once she was done.

A pout developed on the girl's lips. "But, I have nothing that goes with the new red top I want to wear. Unless I want to go looking like Supergirl," she said, her finger on a navy item.

Jessie's eyes drifted up to the ceiling, smiling slightly. "Is this what I sound like?"

Her daughter swiveled around to look up at her curiously. "What's that mummy?"

"You're only going to the park again. Whatever you pick's going to get dirty," Jessie said, avoiding the question.

"I didn't say you're only going out with daddy again when I helped you pick something yesterday," her daughter said in a sweet voice. Her face scrunched a little, confused for some reason. "What we picked ended up dirty too, such a waste."

Jessie's face flushed a little, she tried not to stutter her next words, "they weren't dirty. They were ruff..." She cleared her throat to shut herself up. "You have some black tracksuit bottoms, they'll go with red."

"Granddad was mad. I don't get why, he doesn't care about fashion. He's terrible," she said, shaking her head and tutting once. It wasn't malicious, the little girl said it with affection. Her brilliant blue eyes always sparkled when she did. Jessie smiled and reached into the wardrobe to retrieve the trousers she mentioned. Of course the girl turned her nose up at it. "But those are not for going out."

"Alisha sweetie, you're missing the point. Your sister invited you out to play. You're not there to impress anyone," Jessie gently scolded her.

The little girl broke out into her usual bright smile. "Silly mummy, thinking I give a crap about what the other kids think. Have you seen how they dress?" she said the last sentence in a hushed voice.

Jessie laughed with her, "mmm hmm, so why did you push that last boy off the swing?"

"You don't want to know, trust me," Alisha answered, blinking a little too much. Jessie sighed, everytime she did that it meant trouble. She needed convincing and Jessie knew what buttons to press. Today the button was navy leggings. As expected the response wasn't in favour of them, she broke out into nervous stutters. "He started it. He pushed some younger boy to get on the swing. Eye for an eye, and daddy said not to take that literally. Also boy said I was the ugly sister cos blondes are cuter."

"I thought you didn't give a crap," Jessie teased, all the while putting the cuter and ugly words aside for now.

The pair heard a tap on the front door, Jessie briefly glanced towards the passage. Alisha shrugged casually, "he said it to Amy, creep. How much older does he have to be before daddy will slap him around?"

The question caught Jessie off guard, she burst into laughter. "Oh, so dad's gave you the talk already. You'll have to do your own slapping for a while yet, sweetie."

"Aaw, you won't tell me the age limit either? Mean," Alisha pretended to huff. "Is Sasha close?"

Hurried footsteps going up stairs caught Jessie's attention briefly. "No, and don't encourage him. You haven't seen how, erm, far your daddy used to go."

"Was it like what he did to the neighbour? I love daddy, he's so funny," Alisha asked, her smile came back brighter than ever.

Amy hurried into the bedroom while Jessie wondered silently how her youngest witnessed that incident. At least there was no way she saw the whole thing, which was a huge relief. "Mum, he's here," Amy stammered nervously.

Jessie tensed, she looked at her with a painted on smile. "It's okay, you stay up here. I'll deal with it."

Halfway down the stairs Jessie felt a rush of cold air strike her. For a moment she thought nerves had gotten the better of her. Then she noticed the blinds in the dining room fluttering everytime she felt it. Jessie glanced over her shoulder. It was coming through the downstairs passage, the front door. It wasn't like Amy to answer the front door, let alone leave it open. She knew she hadn't before she heard light footsteps in the living room.

Any anxiety she had been feeling was gone instantly. There was no need to be nice and polite, no fake smiles or anything. It was a relief, but the brazenness of the visitor was insulting. Fuming she grabbed the handle to the living room and pushed the door open. The figure standing on the other side, inspecting the photos standing on the window sill, turned towards her with a fake smile of his own.

"What the hell Paris... you can't just barge into somebody's home uninvited!" she snarled.

The man didn't even blink which was even more insulting. "Your lovely daughter let me in."

"Yeah right," Jessie said. Amy was still far too shy to do so. Unless it was a family member or a friend, she'd always tell her or James. There was no chance in hell she'd open the door to this man, let alone invite him in. "Leave, I won't have people barging into my house. I don't care who they are."

"That's interesting, because your husband isn't so like minded," Paris said, his eyebrows furrowed slightly, seemingly feigning confusion.

What did that mean, Jessie thought to herself. She hoped it had nothing to do with why he was here today. "The odds of James being okay with you walking into our house on your own, then making you a nice cup of something, is lower than your son keeping his mouth shut for ten minutes."

Paris' smile turned into a genuine smirk. "That's not what I mean. You're wondering why I'm here, I assume." The glare was more than enough of an answer. "Where is your husband, may I ask?"

"Out. If you have a message, I can relay it," Jessie said in distaste.

"For someone who no longer has a purpose in life, he's sure out a lot," Paris said.

A few years ago the Admiral would be nursing a black eye for a comment like that. Today Jessie had to hold it back. It was the response he wanted from her, she knew it. "I didn't realise he was under house arrest. Why is he being monitored?"

If he was disappointed at her reaction, he didn't show it. "I guess I beat him here. Very well." Jessie flinched, the comment made her think he already knew where James was. Luckily she had plenty of experience with hiding her concern. "You were correct, for the most part. He will be monitored very closely. The slightest miss step and he'll be in prison for a very long time."

There was no reason to keep any neutral or fake expression on now, the blood drained from Jessie's face anyway. "What? On what charge?"

"What else?" Paris said with a shrug. "Security breaches, trespassing and my personal favourite; murder."

"That's ridiculous. James and I have a normal life here now, for once. You said it yourself, there's no reason for him to do anything," Jessie snapped as she stepped forward.

Admiral Paris' face tensed, his eyes flickered in anger. "Animals don't change their nature. A Slayer as violent as Mr Stuart would never settle for a happy family life. It would be too boring for him."

Jessie involuntarily clenched her fists, it took all the strength she had not to do anything with them. "You've always had nothing but contempt for him. Why is that?"

Paris' eyebrow raised, while his pupils dilated. The question surprised the Admiral. "I beg your pardon?"

"You wouldn't believe him when he said a Game would destroy a city, you even accused him of doing it to get attention. I don't recall you ever recognising what he did to get Voyager's crew, including your son home. Who by the way insisted that him and Lena should be commended for their actions. Your attitude everytime you walk into this house," Jessie answered as calmly as possible. "It seems a bit strange to me. I'd like to hear your excuse... oh sorry, reason."

Paris took a step closer, leaning forward a little to look her in the eye. Jessie stood her ground, daring him to even think of trying something with her deadly gaze. Instead he smiled. "You're right. A suitable reward for his actions in the Game Sphere is long overdue."

Jessie noticed movement behind the Admiral, the second door to the living room sliding open carefully. "Be careful. You don't want people to think you're..." Jessie said as somebody walked through the tiny gap in the door. "Giving him preferential treatment."

"Hmm, it would be expected," Paris said as the new arrival edged towards them.

"Would it? The public regard James and Lena as heroes. The fact that officials have never said one word about them has always been a question," Jessie said. "It'll look a bit odd now after so long."

Paris stared her down. She couldn't tell what he was feeling, whether or not she had made her point a little too well or at all. At the very least he wasn't aware of the third person almost right behind him.

"I know what your pet has been doing," Paris hissed. The figure behind him momentarily stopped to mouth the word pet with a narrowed eyed, raised eyebrow and near smirk expression. "I know about the callous murder of the Klingon chancellor last week. I know he infiltrated Starfleet Command and his cold blooded assassination of council member Barton. I know that your next door neighbour was buried in his own back garden." Jessie was worried, but mostly because a weapon was slowly being pointed at the Admiral's head. "And I know the rat's behind me."

"Then I can ask. Have you got anymore stupid names for me before I cut your head off?" James said in a light tone.

Paris smiled darkly, only Jessie could see it though as his back was still facing James and the weapon. "Was that a threat?"

"An inevitability," James answered.

"Hmm. I doubt it. Not your ability or attitude, that's never been doubted," Paris said. He turned slightly so the pair were on either side of him. "But of your family's survival instincts. My location, my lifesigns are being monitored. You can't get away with it."

Jessie clenched her jaw as she resisted the temptation to hurt him. "You son of a..."

"If you do anything, you won't be able to stop the news from spreading. Your secret would be out," James said, strangely calm despite what the Admiral said.

It surprised the Admiral slightly, his eyes wavered for a second or two. It helped calm Jessie's angered nerves. Still her fists remained clenched. "I'm not the one keeping secrets," Paris said, his voice had lowered to a near croak. "I'm not the one murdering innocents."

"You have no proof that I have, or you would've had a battalion of redshirts out there," James said. Before the Admiral could respond he grabbed his arm roughly, "now get out of my home." He didn't give him a choice, he dragged Paris to the front door. Jessie followed closely, secretly hoping he'd resist in some way so she would have a reason to smash his nose.

"You're making a big mistake here, Slayer. Don't think for one second that I can't touch you," Paris snarled as he was pushed out of the door, light enough to keep him on his feet. "You'll regret playing games with me."

Jessie scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Unlike you, we don't play around, tricking people for our amusement. The games are over, accept it and move on while you still have some dignity left."

"Or people left," James added on.

Paris broke out into quiet laughter. "It's only just beginning." He walked away with his head turned so he could maintain eye contact for a while.

James closed the door, rolling his eyes at the same time. "They all act like a poor man's Damien impressionist. It was hard to keep a straight face."

"Maybe you should have opened with that then," Jessie said with a half smile. She sighed in relief, "I don't need to ask if your trip went well, at least."

"It could've gone better," James said reluctantly.

A city filled with lights, spanning miles in all directions had a gap in it. One building within a mixture of old buildings centuries old, and modern ones built a few decades ago. It appeared to be abandoned, not a soul in sight. Entirely made of glass, it would've been lost in the night if it were not for the street lights reflecting off a few windows.

The grounds before it were eerily quiet, until footsteps crunched against gravel on the walkway. One step brushed against something that clinked across the concrete, their second step landed on top of it to stop it. The door behind them closed on its own when a figure hiding in the shadows let go of it. They walked the few steps toward a lump lying in their path.

They looked around discreetly, then crouched down to lift the object up from the ground. Further clinks and crunching until it was completely clear. With it they walked back into the building, leaving behind only the shattered glass.

Jessie shook her head. "A bricked building would've been far noisier, and longer to clean up."

James considered that for a second, then he scrunched up his face before smiling a little. "Yeah, but if I had been similarly careful in one, the odds of him escaping it would've been lower."

"Hmm yeah, you did clean up the glass, right?" Jessie asked, suddenly worried.

"You act like this was my first time," James said, laughing slightly.

Jessie didn't feel better though, "Paris knew. If you covered your tracks, how?"

"The net's closing in, it's a good sign. I guess him knowing so quickly is a bit odd," James answered.

"He's getting bolder. Desperation or confidence, I wonder which it is," Jessie said as her worry drew her gaze to the window.

"Knowing him, both. We're prepared for either. They know without their network they're weaker, they'll do anything to get that power back," James said.

"That's what I'm worried about," Jessie mumbled.

On his way back to his shuttle Paris caught sight of a pair of young children, one teenage boy and pre-teen girl. The girl with her long curly black hair, paler complexion and brown eyes. The boy with messy blond, slightly darker skin and blue eyes. At first glance they would look like polar opposites. A closer look a stranger would see their shared facial features and shape, making it obvious they were siblings.

Paris smiled at them as he walked by on the opposite side of the path. The boy noticed him and stared back, his eyes narrowed with every step.

"Good day, son," Paris said politely despite his sharpened eyes drilling into him. The boy rolled his eyes and kept going. His response amused the Admiral, encouraging him further. "Just in case I miss tomorrow, give your father my best wishes for his birthday."

The boy hesitated on his next step, stopping him momentarily. The girl kept going, his reaction made her frown over her shoulder. "Ignore him Duncan," she said.

"I'll see you tomorrow, all going well," Paris finished with, now behind them and a few feet from his shuttle.

"Are you still here?" the boy asked rudely, bringing the Admiral to a stop. The boy turned around so he could see his face, a twinkle in his icy eyes. "Haven't you got somewhere to go, home perhaps..." his mouth dropped open in mock concern. "Oh wait, you don't. My bad."

"What! How dare you be rude to me," Paris hissed.

The boy's lips curled into a smirk, exactly how his father's would, Paris felt like he was talking to a younger clone. "Careful, you don't want to throw your last toy too far out of the crib, you'll be left with nothing." He walked away, leaving the Admiral lost for a decent comeback. He seethed quietly to himself.

TO BE CONTINUED

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