Things had not been easy for her, he knew, since the Alliance, since she left at first for the love of Drake Morpheus. He had begged her to return, giving in one final time by allowing the likes of the DreamWalkers to roam the hallways that his forefathers had built so carefully.

Still, from time to time, he wondered if it had truly transpired, and now, as he walked briskly down the chilly sidewalk, a scarf wrapped 'round his neck and his hands shoved deep within his pockets, he wondered if perhaps it would have been better off if left well enough alone.

Antony hated to see her this way, so rigid and unhappy, but what more could he do? Jogging up the steps to her loft, he hoped she was home, so that he could check on her away from MSI, in neutral ground.

Raising a pale hand, he rapped quickly, three time in succession on her door and waited, glancing from side to side, always aware of his surroundings.

Raelin heard the knocks on the door through the fog of her sleep and jerked awake, checking the clock she groaned, she should have been up hours ago!!! She looked around frantically and towards the door where god knows who was waiting and scrambled to her feet. "Be right there!" she shouted at the top of her lungs as she hurried into her closet to at least grab a pair of pants. She yanked them on mid run to the door and almost fell on her face. Finally she fingerbrushed her hair and yanked open the door.

"Anthony! Sir!" she corrected herself in shock. "Uh...you're here..." sleep still muddled her mind, Drake's shirt sat crookedly on her shoulder and her hair was a birds nest of tangles. "Come in..." it took everything she had not to phrase it as a question as a yawn suddenly attacked and overtook her. "I'll turn on coffee," she decided out loud as she walked into the kitchen. "Shoes off! I just had the carpet cleaned!" she reminded him. "Two months ago..." the inner voice said acidly with some amusement. She padded into her kitchen and turned on the coffee pot with proceeded to produce the strongest sludge known to man. She took down two mugs and yawned again as she set them on the counter.

"So uh...it's early?" she looked at the clock which shouted 10:30 at her, she should have been up at 5 and working by now...even though it was her day off. The coffee pot chimed and she held up a slim finger which clearly translated to "hold that though I'll be right back, just getting the coffee then we can continue this conversation," and left to go get the coffee.

IOn less than a minute she had returned and haded one cup to Anthony while she curled up on her couch, tucking her feet beneath her canvase clad rumpus to warm them, she should start a fire soon, but she didn't feel like getting up again. "You were saying?" she prompted him.

Antony couldn't help the small grin that invaded his eyes at the notice of her quite disheveled appearance.

As asked, he kicked his shoes off at the door...And knew that only Raelin could make him do such a thing. However clean the floor might be, Antony was not one to remove his shoes. It wasn't the way of a gentleman...But what was it he had said to Danae? Ah, yes, wrapped around their finger, he was.

"So uh...it's early?"

Brow raised in disbelief, he gave a slight shake of his head, waiting for her return with the object of her addiction.

"Early is dawn...Late is noon. I do believe this is somewhere in the middle," he mused, taking the cup she offered and easing himself down into a chair adjacent to her couch with liquid grace.

One leg propped idly on the other, he sipped the coffee that could have risen the dead, and downed it easily. She had been making his coffee for years...He was pleased to see that even at home, her methods rarely changed.

Glancing at her, looking over her face, he tried to get to the heart of his visit, wondering just how working so closely to Drake Morpheus was affecting her.


"You were saying?"

"The reason for my visit is to...Well, quite frankly, to see how you're handling this developments that have become so set in stone at MSI."

Rae narrowed her eyes at Anthony for a moment, she could try and lie to him and tell him that everythign was fine, hunky dory, never better, but of course he would know that was a lie so it really was no use.

"It sucks of course, at least when Drake wasn't around I had no problems not thinking about him and now that he's here all the bloody time I can hardly concentrate on my work!" she snapped. She brooded for a moment. "It's just...not fair," she concluded.

She had hoped for the longest time that MSI and the Dreamwalkers could become allies though she never expected it to spell the doom of her relationship. Alot had changed since that day, when the alliance was announced and if possible she had become even more hostile.

She'd already worked through her jealousy of course, realizing that was reason for her bitching and she'd almost pushed Drake completely away when she finally realized what she was doing. But still the empty house, her foolish pride that made her refuse to go over and sleep with Danae or Marcus for that matter (he'd offered several times but again, she always refused), it was growing weary, she was getting too old for this, she wanted a family, she wanted peace and quiet, she wanted to shoot everything and everyone and just be done with it.

She set her empty mug down on the table and cradled her head in her hands, the sleeves of the borrowed shirt dropped to reveal pale arms and some of the cuts that she had recieved once upon a time.

"It's not fair." she repeated.

"It sucks of course, at least when Drake wasn't around I had no problems not thinking about him and now that he's here all the bloody time I can hardly concentrate on my work!"

Antony gave a slow nod, one hand idly tapping its fingertips against his knee. Yes, Drake Morpheus had become quite the distraction within the realm of MSI, much to Antony's dislike. "He is a distraction, my dear...I'll give you that. I've quite considered recruiting only Investigators of the male persuasion just so I won't have to see nearly ever female within the halls staring as he passes by..."

It was ridiculous really. The man was as old as time and still, ladies flocked to him as if he had some sort of magnet within him...Natural magnetism. Antony had to chuckle at that, even if Raelin was not aware of the cause of his current amusement.

Looking up, he saw her head fall to her hands and sighed. Setting his mug down silently, he stood and walked to her, easing down beside where she sat.

"It's not fair."

Fair...It had been true, the saying of long ago. Life is never fair. If life were fair, his daughters would not be so unhappy now. Danae would not hide behind her smile and Raelin would not lash out...Perhaps she would, but for a different reason entirely.

While Danae had been affectionate for most of her life, Raelin had been quite the opposite. Now, not caring about that aspect of her personality, Antony put one arm around her shoulders in an attempt at consolation. "Darling, nothing in this God-forsaken life will ever, ever be fair...But you are stronger than this life, than this trials you face. You know this..."

He thought of Muriel, of his father, of the secrets he harbored that could never be revealed. He thought of the Alliance, the Darkness that had fallen....No, nothing was ever fair.

Raelin couldn't stop the scant tears that dripped from tightly shut eyes. She pressed her face deeper into Anthony's shoulder and took a deep, shuddering breath. It was times like these she regretted most when she was by herself, the times where she let her emotions overcome her, when she showed her fear of being alone.

Sometimes she wished that she could be like Danae and just smile her problems away or bury them in the backyard, but no, she had to react and react violently. Her hand gripped his shirt tightly for a moment before she let it go and pulled away, physical contact making her uncomfortable.

"Sorry," she wiped her nose with a tissue and scrubbed the unshed tears from her eyes. She didn't know what else to say, what else to do, she wanted to initiate conversation but she couldn't think about what to say. So she sat there, and idly leaned her head back against Anthony's shoulder, enjoying the view outside her window, maybe for today this wouldn't be too bad to have company.

Antony had learned over the years when to hold on, and when to let go. With Danae, he could hold on, but with Raelin, he knew the easiest way to hold her close was to merely be by her side.

"Sorry."

He shook his head, reaching up and wiping away a stray tear as she pulled away. "Nonsense," he told her, shaking his head again as further confirmation. "I've known you most of your life, my dear...Your tears won't send me running away, particularly not when they are duly shed."

Slowly, he removed his arm from around her shoulders and stayed by her side, letting her have her own moment to gather herself as he knew she probably needed.

Leaning back against the couch that they both now occupied, he looked up at the ceiling, then around her apartment, thinking that she had done quite well on her own this time around.

Rae took a few deep breaths and continued to lounge against Anthony. A strange sight for anyone who thought they knew Raelin Lorcan but Anthony was one of the few people she couldn't stay mad at no matter how hard she tried. He was simply too much of a father figure for her to fight too hard against him when he got into one of his "fatherly moods".

The scene before her was beauftiful, the clear blue sky was dyed a deep indigo blue as the lazy white fluffy clouds floated by. "You know, this would be great if we had some popcorn right about now," she tried to joke with a cough.

Antony said nothing as she rested against him. In fact, he did not even glance down at her, but only looked ahead, watching the rolling clouds as they passed through an abnormally clear sky. He knew that she had her pride, and in that, she would wish for no one to see her that way...And none would see her that way, save for him. Since she had come to MSI, he had taken her under his wing, and now, he felt the rewards of such a bond as he sat in silence with the daughter he had never had.

"Popcorn...You know, I'm not fond of popcorn..." he told her idly, crossing his legs lazily as he glanced around the room they occupied before looking back to the window again. "Gets stuck in one's teeth, I find. I much prefer those gummy things, bears...worms...whatever it may be."

It was entirely false, but just the same, he cast a grin her way, hoping to divert the wayward thoughts that surely were passing through her mind. He knew that her life had not been easy, and now, he could only be support for her..."Now...I do believe we've lazed away enough of this day. Come...Join me for a walk, Raelin?"