Rhys looked over at Nat, wondering what the hell Adam was trying to get at. If there was one thing he hated almost as much as demons, it was witches. The ones of the evil variety anyway. "Maybe you should just start at the beginning," Rhys prompted, not yet filling Adam in on what they'd found out while in Avalon. He reached into the sack Gina had provided for a sandwich, assuming this was going to take a while.

Meeting Rhys' glance, Natalya shrugged. There were many beings who could teleport or transport themselves and others in many different ways, though it sounded as though they could cross the witches themselves off that particular mystery's list. What they needed to know was what had happened to Adam since he had spoken to Gina two nights ago, what had sent him to Mystic in the first place. What had he found out"

Now that the sniping and lecturing were over, Rhys and Adam settled into a familiar and fond camaraderie, and Adam opened up to tell Rhys and Nat everything that had happened since his phone call with Rhys a few nights ago. He told them about his search through the archives, his discussion with Sheriff Long, his decision to take matters into his own hands, deeming a poke into the past would be harmless enough, but that was where things got weird. He told Rhys in as gentle terms as possible what had happened in 1988 after he'd passed out, how demons had taken his sister, and if it hadn't been for angelic intervention, they might have taken him, too, or killed him where he lay, or worse.

That was where things got weird and a little confusing. He'd come out of his trance to find he was no longer alone, though still safe within the circle of salt. He'd extinguished the candles as soon as he'd realized there was movement in the house, but it was already too late. After that, things had happened fast, almost too fast for him to absorb. The protective circle had been broken and he'd found himself surrounded by figures in dark hoods and cloaks. A scuffle had broken out, and shots had been fired, but before Adam's life could be put in any mortal danger, someone or something had intervened.

There was no explanation for what had happened next except to call it angelic intervention. Just as Rhys' life had been saved as a child, so had Adam's as a man. It hadn't been a woman bathed in white light who'd appeared to intervene, but a man. Tall and fair-haired with an ethereal beauty not of this world and a pair of white wings at his back, but before Adam could react, he'd been thrust aside by some force he couldn't explain and when he'd awoken, he'd found himself safely back in his hotel room in Centerville, and it was the next day.

There was so much Nat wanted to say to Adam the moment he confessed to having a poke into the past on his own, but she kept her silence, forcing herself to listen to what they had known must have happened. But still, to understand that a demon had cut Rhys' baby sister from their dead mother's womb was an horrific epiphany. As Adam described his meeting with the coven - for it could only be a coven of witches, to have overpowered him - she found her hands gripping the steering wheel tighter, aching to know the ending before he got there. And then ...."An angel," she murmured, taking her eyes from the road to stare at Rhys for a moment, wide-eyed and disbelieving. "Why would an angel be involved in this?"

Rhys had gone shockingly quiet as he listened to all of this, his face turning pale when Adam revealed what had happened to his sister, the sandwich forgotten in his lap, his appetite failing him. He tried hard not to imagine it in his head; if he did, he thought he might be sick, and he didn't want Nat to see that or for Adam to know about his own weakness. He'd witnessed plenty of horrific scenes over the years, some by his own hand, but the thought of his mother cut up like a lamb for the slaughter was almost too much to bear. He turned his head away from Nat to stare out the window, his hands clenched tightly together, the muscles on his jaw jumping with tension. "I've been ignoring them for too long," Rhys replied quietly, after a moment. He had been denying his own angelic heritage long enough. The Lady had reminded him that he only had to ask for help from his own Guardian and he'd receive it, but who was this other angel who'd come to the fore" Was it Adam's Guardian or someone else?

Without thinking, Nat reached over with one hand to grip Rhys' shoulder. She didn't offer any support aloud, sensing that he wouldn't want his friend to know how badly he'd taken the news of what had happened to Rachel to bring her into the world in the first place. "What happened to the angel, Adam?" she asked. "Do you know" Did he say anything, or has he visited you since you woke up?"

Rhys' silence was almost deafening, at least in Adam's mind. He knew his friend wouldn't take the news well, though he'd tried to be as gentle as possible in the telling of it. He'd had his own experience with angels, at least, in the more recent past during his trip to Gavarnie, but those had been archangels, and he sensed this angel was different somehow. There was no denying the fact that he'd more than likely saved Adam's life. "I don't know. I only woke up a little while ago." He paused a moment, needing a little reassuring of his own. "Are Gina and Joey okay' I don't want them involved in any of this."

With one finger gently stroking the side of her husband's neck, Nat was the one who answered Adam's question, understanding that need to know better than most. "They are both very well," she promised him. "We saw them last night, both of them. Gina said to tell you that if you don't call her after you speak to us, she's going to start putting chilli sauce in your morning coffee when you get home." She couldn't help chuckling a little as she passed this information on, despite the bone-deep tension in the car.

Adam was grateful for the attempt at humor on the other end of the phone, though Rhys was still too quiet for comfort. He knew the news he'd given them was upsetting at best, but at least, they had their answer as to what had happened to his sister, or part of the answer. Rhys and Nat had yet to share the other half of that story. "She's next on my list, believe me. I would have called her first, but..." He trailed off, not finishing his thought. Rhys has sounded desperate to hear from him, and his was the first number he'd dialed.

"Wise man." Reluctantly, Nat let her hand slide from Rhys' shoulder as she spied an exit ahead, pulling the Chevelle off the main road at the first opportunity. Whether he needed her to or not, she was going to pull over and cut the engine for a while, hating the fact that she couldn't comfort her husband in any way while she was driving. "No, she was expecting you to call us," she told Adam, ignoring a loud honk of a horn behind her as she finally got off the main highway. "We have news of our own."

Rhys was quietly going over all of what had happened over the last few days in his head. He knew what they had to do next, and in his heart, he'd known what must have happened to his sister, but for some reason actually hearing it out loud had come as something of a shock. And what the hell were angels doing involved in all this again, and what was he - no, what were they supposed to do about it' It wasn't like he could just summon his Guardian at will, the way he could summon Caliburnus, was it' What did they want now"

"What news is that?" Adam queried on the other end of the phone. "Am I going to be an uncle?"

Though Nat might not be able to hear Adam's concern from a few hundred miles away, he certainly felt for his friend, regretting the way their conversation had started, though they both knew each other well enough to know it was only out of concern for the other that they insisted on busting each other's balls. "Okay, I'll let you go. We can catch up on the rest when you get here. I'm gonna call Gina, take a shower, grab something to eat, and check on Sheriff Long. Anything I can help with before you get here?"

"No, I ....wait, yes, there is." The thought suddenly occurred to her, and Nat knew this was also something that was going to need to be done quickly. "Can you get together some ingredients for me" Four blue candles, a bowl of water - natural water, not filtered or from a tap - and sandalwood oil. Is that something you can do, or do I need to stop somewhere?"

There was a bit of scrambling on the other end of the phone as Adam rifled through a drawer near his bedside for a pencil and paper. He scribbled the items down on the pad, presuming Nat was preparing for some spell, though he wasn't sure what. "Might take a little digging, but I can handle it. You just get your asses here safe and sound. And Nat?" he paused as if debating whether or not to say what was on his mind. "Stay safe and take good care of my future niece or nephew."

She smiled, unable to keep that expression from making itself known. She should have guessed he wouldn't be so easily put off from the truth, no matter how teasing he was about it. "Niece," she told him with a gentle chuckle. "And yes, mother, I will be good. We will see you in a few hours, Adam. Be safe yourself."

Adam wondered just how far along she was if she already knew it was a girl, but he wasn't going to have long to wonder. He chuckled a little at her reply. "I'll be fine. Tell Rhys not to worry. We've been through worse than this." He didn't bother explaining. She knew enough of their history to understand what that meant. "I'll see you in a few hours." And with that, he hung up the phone to make good on his promise and call Gina.

Setting the phone into her pocket, Nat slid out of the car to crouch beside Rhys, her hand gentle on his back. "Milaya" Are you well enough to go on?" She wasn't stupid enough to ask him if he was all right, wishing she could have softened the blow of that news for him. But it was a realisation he had to come to himself, however shocking it had been. Her fingers stroked through his hair tenderly, waiting with infinite patience for him to answer.

Rhys was finished being ill, his stomach wrung out and empty and aching with soreness, face pale, not so much with exhaustion or fear, but with the anguish of a past trauma that had reared its ugly head again. He worried she'd judge him weak, not of body but of mind. There had been another, after all, who had seemed to pass that judgement on him in the recent enough past. It was a trauma he had buried deep inside a long time ago, not wanting to think of it or of what must have really happened to his family all those years ago. "I'm sorry," he muttered, head bowed as he crouched on the ground, ashamed of his own weakness, but not afraid to go on.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, my dearest heart," she promised him softly, lowering to one knee to wrap her arm about his shoulders as he breathed deeply. The other hand lifted the bottle of water from the ground beside them, offering it to him. "Wash your mouth out," she told him, almost mothering him in that moment, needing to make sure he knew that she would look after him when he needed her to. "And take a few slow sips. It helps."

"I haven't wanted to think about it all these years," he explained. "But I guess it's the only explanation, isn't it?" He turned his head to face her, his face wet with tears. He didn't care if she saw him cry; she had seen his tears often enough and even shared them, but to see him become physically ill was another matter. It was humbling, embarrassing even. He took the bottle of water from her with a shaky hand and did as he was told, rinsing his mouth out and spitting the water on the ground, before taking a few slow sips, feeling his stomach starting to settle. He hoped to hell the nightmares wouldn't come again, like they had years ago.

What he didn't seem to have realised was that Nat didn't care that he'd found the truth so horrifying it had emptied his stomach. She had been there herself; she had been in the grip of something so traumatic to understand that she had vomited copiously without control over herself. But she had let him empty his stomach without interference, understanding, too, that his pride might not be able to take having his wife close beside him as it happened. "I did not want to talk to you about it," she confessed. "It is the only logical explanation for Rachel's survival. But it is ....too awful to put into words."

He was about to wipe his mouth with the back of his hand when he noticed the box of tissues and snagged one of those instead. "Yeah, but she's alive, and that's more than I ever hoped for," he admitted, striving to see the bright side of things. His mother may have died, but his sister was alive. Now it was just a matter of finding her. "I'm gonna kill those sons of bitches for what they've done," he said in a low voice, grizzled with rage and hatred.

"Yes, you are," she agreed with him. "But not before you have sat down with Adam and made a plan, and sworn to me that you will keep to it. I may not be a part of his fight, but I will not lose you to a stupid mistake made in anger. I will not raise our daughter alone, Rhys."

"No, I won't do anything stupid. Not this time." He wiped a hand across his face and blew his nose into the tissue. As sick as he'd felt inside, it almost felt like cleansing as for the first time in years, he allowed himself to acknowledge what had happened to his family and react to it. "They have no idea who they're dealing with," he added quietly. The time for stubborn pride was over. He had powerful allies now. He had a legion of Avalon knights as his calling and a sword that went all the way back to Arthur, but most of all, he had the love and loyalty of the three people he loved most in all the world, and he might just have another ace up his sleeve they hadn't considered before. He sniffled again and moved to his feet, seemingly regaining control of his emotions. "Do you mind driving a while longer?" he asked, not feeling really well enough to take the wheel just ye.

"No," she agreed, proud of him for taking that first step toward acknowledging just who he was and what that meant. "They don't have the first idea of who they're up against. You may wish to warn Adam before you start summoning allies, though." She smiled, leaning in to kiss the corner of his mouth, regardless of how recently he had been vomiting. "Come. I will drive, you make your plan. Give me ten minutes when we reach Centerville, and I will be able to tell you where your sister is. After that, it is up to you."

Not for the first time, she amazed him with her infinite patience and selfless support, surprising him with the kiss and the lack of judgement or scolding. "Have I told you lately how much I love you?" he asked, as he snaked a single arm around her waist and offered a weak smile. He knew they couldn't linger much longer. Adam was waiting for them and more importantly, so was his sister.

"Not since I fell asleep last night," Nat smiled to him, looping her own arms about his waist to kiss him once again. How could she possibly judge him for what he seemed to perceive as weakness, when it was just a part of being human' Her thumb stroked down his cheek gently as she nuzzled to him. "I love you, my Rhys. Let's get going, shall we?"

"Yeah, let's get this over with," he replied, kissing her again before letting her go so they could be on their way. They were only five hours away from ending a quest that had lasted over twenty-five years, and Rhys was anxious to be done with it anxious to close the book on his childhood forever. There was no denying there was a lot to be done when they got there, but the end was finally in sight, and Rhys, for one, was determined that one way or another, this was one battle they weren't going to lose. He was pulling out all the stops on this one - he'd summon the Legions of Heaven themselves if that was what it would take to find his sister and set her free. Losing was not an option. ((Muchos kudos to my partner in crime for this scene and for being the most awesomefantastic partner EVER. Stay tuned for more coming soon! :grin:))