So much for being inconspicuous. Darien's arrival - much like his arrival at the super-secret-special-superhero meeting earlier - was heralded with the peal of a sportbike engine at the Lo household, which ebbed into a quiet hum until the 2010 Suzuki Hayabusa was finally parked and the Aussie's helmet removed. He waited outside briefly, taunting the super kitty senses within before thinking about throwing rocks at the Cat's window. It was the romantic in him.

"If that man's bike is white, I'm not letting him in the house," Riley said to David, making an allusion to Death's pale horse.? David snickered and rose from his spot on the couch, headed for their bedroom to give his wife and her arch-nemesis a little privacy.? Riley watched him fondly and then opened the small house's front door, standing in the entry while she occasionally pushed the overgrown puppy back with her toes.

?Poor bloke. Bet th'Cat 'air everywhe'ah drives 'im bonkers,? Fenner muttered cheekily of the pup as he reached the doorway and slanted Riley a roguish smile. ?Miss me??

"Like I'd miss an extra hole in my head," she replied with just as much cheek.? Finn, the 100-pound, 7 month old puppy at Riley's feet, sat immediately and pushed his cold wet nose directly into Fenner's hand, snuffling and investigating.? Then the dog sneezed, shook his head, and withdrew, turning and heading through the house to the backyard.? Riley chuckled, glad to see that her dog had the exact same reaction to the journalist as she did.? "So, I guess you want to come in and I should probably offer you something to drink, too, huh?" she said, taking a step back to allow Fenner room to come inside.

?Yes t'th' first, no t'th second, and y'need new material, babe. I 'eard that one th'first time ya met wit' me.? It didn't make it any less true, though. ?Lo around t'night?? he asked, slinking in like the snake he was and shedding his leather jacket.

"He's hiding.? You scare him."? She led Fenner into the kitchen and nodded towards the little round table that was in the corner of the room, just beneath windows that looked out over the landscaped back garden, with its mature trees, small Buddhist shrine, koi pond, and the Rhy'Din river just beyond the wall.? "Have a seat.? I'm having some tea.? Are you sure you don't want any?? I thought you British people loved tea," she said, needling him a little.? Yes, she knew that he was an Aussie but she just had to give him crap.? It was pathological at this point.

?Then I'm makin' progress,? Darien said of the quip about Lo, grinning like a bastard. Conveniently he ignored the crack after that. Instead busied himself with dropping his jacket on the back of a seat and rolling up his sleeves. ?Y'know why I'm 'eah?? But before she could reply, he waved off the inevitable rejoinder, ?Aside from makin' your life a livin' 'ell, ruinin' borin' sex with Lo, et cetera??

She cackled at the comment about 'boring sex', tempted to correct him but knowing it would be like water off a duck's back.? She poured out a healthy amount of jasmine tea and took it over to the table to sit with it.? "I have no idea why you're here.? I sincerely hope it's not because you've gotten it into your head that I'm going to be a party to some weirdo fantasy of yours.? I respect your wife entirely too much to do that to her, and I respect myself entirely too much to do that to me."? She placidly sipped her tea, caramel eyes full of mirth as she watched him fuss with his shirtsleeves.? "So, why are you here?"

?Ar'roight... Let me run a few facts by ya.? Rather than sitting, he leaned on the table - probably an intimidation factor he'd used in some of his other interviews, and though he knew it definitely won't work with Riley, at least he could operate under the illusion that he held all the cards in the room. ?Fact one: As I und'astand it, you and hubby went on a trip t'Asia in th'past six months. Fact two: In my experience, the extent of RhyDin's organized crime 'as only ev'a been limited to piss-poor und'adealings in th'black market. Fact three: Almost two weeks to th'day aft'a you get back 'eah, Yakuza gang memb'as are magically everywhe'ah, sendin' racketeering lett'a's to our businesses, runnin' extortion schemes, and makin' threatenin' phone calls. Fact four: As far as I know, th' Yakuza are primarily based out'ta Terran territories - most notoriously Japan. Now call me crazy, but seein' as ya were there recently, I 'jes fig'ya'd that y'might know somethin' about why they seem to 'ave suddenly taken such an interest in RhyDin.?

She raised an eyebrow a bit but remained silent, wondering if there was a question in there somewhere or perhaps an accusation.? She had no previous idea that the Yakuza were in Rhy'Din; she hadn't heard anything about extortion letters and hadn't been on the receiving end of any threatening phone calls.? She did, however, go a little cold inside, hiding her very real fear and very real reaction to the sudden knowledge of the presence of the ninkyo dantai - or 'chivalrous organisation' as the Yakies referred to themselves - in Rhy'Din.? After a beat - and when it became obvious that he had nothing further to say - she asked in a deceptively mild voice, "Okay.? So you've done your homework.? What has all of this got to do with me?"

?Kit,? he said as he dropped down into the seat across from Riley and pinched the bridge of his nose. ?I need t'know if ya ran int'a or noted any particul'a resistance when ya visited Japan.? He gave her a surprisingly frank look. ?Because I'm gon'na be honest wit'ya. This is the only lead I've come up with. And I know it's a shot in'th dark, and the'ah are ten thousand Earths with twenty-thousand versions of gangs, but if there's a snowball's chance that we might be able t'figure out where these bastards came from, we might not be as royally f*cked as we were before.? He eyed her attentively. ?Did you see anythin' that might've indicated these might be from your Japan? Or should I be lookin' elsewhe'ah??

Surprisingly, he actually hadn't been expecting that - and his expression shows it. ?Fine.? That's as good a 'cross my heart' she'd ever get out of him.

"You know how there's like...a flobbity-jillion different Earths? And essentially they're all the same cosmetically?"

?Yes. I read a flobbity-jillion atlas once,? he said, deadpan.

She stuck her tongue out at him saucily.? "Be nice or I'm not telling you my story." He waved his hand in a grand gesture - go on.

She took a deep breath.? "The medallion didn't work.? It took us to the wrong Japan.? We didn't realise that until our first night there.? Things were just a little...off about that Tokyo and we couldn't activate the medallion to come home."? She paused for a moment and sipped more tea.? The dog came in through a rather large doggie door and headed to his water dish, slurping loudly and leaving a line of drool across the tiled floor as he headed into Riley and David's bedroom.

One of Fenner's eyebrows shot up. ?How did'ja know it was different?? he asked, and more importantly, how did they get home?

"We were watching TV on the night we got there and noticed a certain show was in its ninth season, but on our worlds, it had been cancelled after the first."? She gave him a slightly embarrassed smile, as if admitting that she watched TV somehow took away some of her mystique.? "Anyway, we found an Onmyoji, a Shinto sorceress, who agreed to help us get home.? On the way to meeting her, we passed by a Yakuza club."

That much gathered the rest of the journo's attention, some of which had been straying to the large dog making a mess of his water nearby. ?How'd that go??

She took another deep breath and decided to coat a lie with just enough truth-flavouring that she wouldn't give away David's secrets.? "They thought David was a member of the Hong Kong Triad and...well, they came after us a few times.? Rifled through our hotel room, tried to jump us in an alley, sent 15 guys to kill us outside the sorceress's shop, and finally...uh...they followed us to the place where the Onmyoji created the portal that got us home.? They shot David as we were going through the portal."

Darien's expression became instantly unreadable. ?Did ya both'a t'look be'ind you? See if ya left th'door wide open f'r 'em??

She narrowed her eyes dangerously.? "Sorry, but making sure that my husband didn't die in my arms was little more pressing at the moment.? Did you not hear me say that they shot my husband?"

Under the weight of such a terrifying look, he did something unexpected - or perhaps it really was expected, coming from him. He chuckled. ?Lo. They were aft'a Lo.? He muttered, rubbing his chin with a dangerously unhinged smile. ?Listen, Riley,? he said, using her actual name and rising from his seat to don his jacket. ?I like ya. I mean, I hate ya, but I still like ya.? His expression became grave as he watched her, his voice hard. ?But Collie's sick. She's showin' signs of RBF. If this escalates... And even if this isn't completely your fault...? A few seconds of complete silence passed before he spoke again. When he did, it was broken with roughly-bridled emotion. ?If Collie dies, I'm blaming you.?

Concern and sympathy took up residence in her eyes and her expression and she nodded.? "Whatever I can do help her, Darien, I'll do it.? You should know that I take care of my friends.? But the Yakuza being here...? Think about it for just a minute."? She stood, too, crossing her arms over her chest and giving him a very neutral look.? "They might have followed us here and thought to take out David quickly.? But now?? With all this tech laying around?? And the fact that there's no organised police force to keep them in check?? They see this place as a f*cking candy store.? They've completely forgotten about David by now.? They're going to use Rhy'Din to boost their profits back home."? She shrugged.? It made perfect sense to her.

?That's why you're 'eah, Kit.? His smile was cocky and remarkably cryptic. ?I'll be in touch,? he told her, righting his jacket. On his way back to the door, however, he paused. ?Oh, and one more thing,? turning back to face her. ?Some shrink might be by lat'a claiming that the gov and I gave 'im the instruction t'interview ya.? He grinned wolfishly. ?I'm sure you'll do me the favor of tellin' im whe'ah 'e c'n shove it.?

She grinned and followed him into the living room to open and hold the front door for him.? "Yeah.? No problem there."? She reached out and laid a gentle hand on his arm, halting him before he left.? "Let me know about Collie, okay?? Give her my love, too."? And before he could respond, that grip on his arm tightened in a brief warning.? "And not a word about our involvement with the Yakuza, okay?"

The journo slowly looked down at the hand gripping his arm, then back up at Riley's face. ?Babe, if I wanted to start sh*t f'r ya, I'd 'ave told everyone about our romantic exploits months ago.?

She chuckled and nodded, releasing him and stepping back.? "Don't pine, Fenner.? It's not an attractive sight."

?View's perfect from whe'ah I'm standin',? he shot back, making a show of sizing Riley up. Clucking his tongue, he touched two fingers to his brow. ?Watch your six, Kit. And make sure Lo doesn't get himself shot again.? And then he was off and jogging for his bike.

"You, too, Fenner."? She watched him leave and once he and his ridiculous bike disappeared, she shut the front door and went to find David.? She had much to tell him.