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| �Kit�did I hurt you?� Rick asked emphatically. �You�? Hurt me? You couldn�t even hurt a fly if you wanted to!� His fist had come very close to hitting Rick square in the jaw. �Oh� I see, and that is the reason why you can�t get away from me!� Rick yelled as he ducked again. He was beaten, and he could no longer hide his sobs. �Just for once, leave me alone.� Sweat was running down his face, mingling with his tears. �Oh not so fast Kit! I am not leaving you alone unless you are dead and in a grave. Not after what you just pulled! I will talk to you, but I am not going to leave you alone. We need to talk. If we are all going to accomplish what we came out here to do we need your cooperation. You can not really think that you can do this all by yourself?� Rick stared at him incredulously. �You may have managed thus far alone, but this is something you can�t do alone, and you know it. For once, be reasonable. I know this is hard to hear, especially coming from someone you seem to despise as much as me but let me be the voice of reason for once, your father, your mentor. Together, and only together we can accomplish this task; and I don�t want you going and barging head-first guns blazing before we question this Alan Skarzinski. We need to have him answer a lot of questions� Your Aunt and Jonathan need their explanations just as badly as you do, if not more so. They are in your shoes too, don�t forget that when your anger overtakes you.� For once Kit did not flinch when Rick made a reference to him being his nephew. Maybe this was going to work. Maybe Kit could forgive them, maybe, just maybe he could learn to love again. The two of them got up, and Rick, extended his hand out towards Kit. Kit hesitated at first but then eagerly took it up, and Rick embraced him in a hug, slapping him on the back. Meanwhile Evelyn, Jonathan, Izzy, Ardeth, and Alex had gotten off the Titanic ship and were standing watching the unbelievable phenomenon before their eyes�Rick and Kit were actually touching, without hurting each other! Evelyn stepped up to her husband�s side, kissing him on the lips and then whispering in his ear��I am so proud of you Rick!� Then she lowered herself and kissed Kit on the forehead. �Welcome to the family Kit. We are truly glad to have you here!� Emilee ([email protected]) February 25, 2003 Boy, Jonathan could definitely tell that he'd been in the desert too long. After all his years of experience he'd learned to tell the key signs of loosing his mind from what Jonathan liked to call 'desert-phobia'. Thought of that all by himself, he did. One of the signs was when he started getting Alex's name wrong, which the kid really didn't appreciate. After Jon had called him Lance seven times straight without even noticing, Alex just started walking away when his uncle walked up to talk to him. The other really big sign, among others, was when he started talking to himself. "Bloody hell...it's hot... damn straight it is... I wonder where the hell Lance, Charlie...no Alex! I wonder where Alex is? He went that way I think. Oh that way? Over there? No, other way. Oh right.." Jonathan told himself as he walked up to his nephew and sister and beamed proudly at him. Alex looked over at his mother, "Muuuuuuummmm....Uncle Jon is really freaking me out..." he whined. "Oh well just give him a cookie and maybe he'll go away." Evelyn replied offhandedly as she read from the book on her lap. Jonathan stuck his tongue out at his sister, then cursed because that was another sign that he was going loony. Looking up Jonathan saw that Alex was still staring at him, "What?" "Have you been taking your medication Uncle Jon?" "Left it at home..." Jon mumbled. Alex groaned and stalked over to see what Kit was up to. Shelby ([email protected]) March 1, 2003 After a long day of travel in the hot desert sun, the weary group of travelers made camp along side the Nile. After the tents were set up and a fire was built, Evelyn ushered her brother into one of them to have him get some rest, worried that the sun and the stress of trying to find Skarzinski had gotten the best of him. While Evelyn took care of her brother, Rick, Ardeth, and Izzy whose Dirigible they had to leave behind at the Oasis due to a hole in the main lining of the canvas balloon, talked about where they wanted to go tomorrow. It had been shear luck and nothing more that the group had found camels herding close to the oasis, or else they would have been doing all their travel by foot. With the men talking about tomorrow's travel, Kit had found a spot by the Nile to sit and relax and think about his own plans. These people were already becoming too attached to him, and he didn't like that. He was alone now and alone was how it was going to stay. From the pack on the back of his Camel, Kit now had a pack of cigarettes. He lit one then put it in his mouth, drinking in the smoke. He shut his eyes as he puffed it out, and was starting to relax when a small voice said, "What's that like," Kit opened his eyes to find Alex standing in front of him. Whether it was because he didn't want to describe to Alex what it was like to smoke a cigarette, or because he wanted to make Rick angry with him, Kit pulled one out of the shiny package, and held it up for Alex to take. "Take a smoke and find out," he said. Alex took the cigarette in his hand, looking around. He wasn't sure about smoking, and was about to say 'no', when Kit's comment changed his mind. "You going to let them scare you away from trying something new?� Alex imitated how Kit held the Cigarette then let him light it. He put it in his mouth, took a quick suck and blew it out. "This isn't that bad," Alex said, trying not to gag at the horrible taste the smoke left in his mouth. He sat down next to Kit, hoping maybe this meant they were friends. Kit chuckled. "You're wasting a perfectly good cigarette doing it that way. You want to inhale it into your body, that's the way it relaxes you." Alex drew in another mouthful of smoke and then inhaled. Promptly he choked and instantly dropped the cigarette. He felt his face redden as Kit started to laugh, then felt his blood go cold when he felt a strong hand on his shoulder. Finding it too quiet around the fire, Rick realized that Kit and Alex were no where to be found. He made a quick check in their tents then decided to have a look by the Nile. Finding his thirteen year old son with a cigarette in his hands was not something Rick was all that happy to see. "You go back to your tent. The only place smoke will be coming out is your butt when I get done with it," Rick said as he shoved Alex in the direction of the camp. Once he was gone his eyes locked on Kit. "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't smoke those while you are around my son," Rick said, trying to maintain his anger. "Well I'd appreciate going on my merry way, but we all can't get what we want now can we?" Kit asked as he put another cigarette in his mouth and lit the end of it. Rick glared at him. "Look we can either get along or I'll make your life with us for the duration of this trip a living hell," he said as his voice began to rise. Calmly Kit blew the smoke out of his mouth. "Too late, you already did that. All I got to relax me is my pack of cigarettes. Here have one it may help you relax," Kit said holding one out, knowing he was making Rick even more angry, |