<[EMAIL PROTECTED] and [EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Julia:
She grinned at Kat's groa
n before looking back at the items now on the
screen and giving Derek a quick smile "I'm not going to take you away from
your favorite robe. That's just mean, no matter how comfortable it is."
She made a face at one of the items she saw on the screen - a 60's looking
outfit that said it was a dress but even for her style was more like a
halter top than anything near having an attached skirt. "Of course.. if
everything comes in this nasty lime green...."
Kat:
Kat slid out of her chair and took a peek at the screen. "I kind of like
it," she said thoughtfully.
Derek:
Glanced over and mentally groaned. He hated to think what Kat would wear
when she became a teenager. "I'm certain you will find something you like.
Something....more....suitable," he added.
Julia:
Julia smiled at Kat and made fun of herself, knowing full well what she'd
look like in that color "You could probably pull it off. Me? I'd look like I
was always sick and Derek here would make me stay in bed all the time. Oooh
here's a pretty one."
She turned it so that Kat could see, who had come up to stand between Derek
and Julia. The robe was an off-white silk thing but she squinched her nose
at it after showing Kat, imagining what it'd be like after taking a shower
and sticking that thing on. So she continued and ended up in the men's
department, only to stop and laugh as she came across a terry cloth robe
that resembled a cow's skin "Oh, Derek.. please tell me you wouldn't wear
something like this."
"Got milk?" she added, recalling the milk commercial and winking at the
joke/pun and working on getting Derek to laugh "Don't have a cow, man."
Kat:
Kat couldn't help but giggle, she could never imagine Derek wearing anything
like that, but the vision in her head of it was pretty funny.
Derek:
Derek glanced at the screen to see what was so funny. "Would it clash iwth
my eyes or something," he asked, though he would never seriously considering
buy or wearing anything of the sort. He did chuckle slightly at Julia's
reaction.
Julia:
Julia grinned back and looked at his eyes and replying "Nah.. but to keep
temptation from you," she added mock dramatically as she stood, the order
save for the send which she asked Kat to do by pressing 'enter' for her as
she walked to the office doors "I'm going to go change so you can have your
robe back then hop outside to do a parameter sweep."
She tilted her head to the side curiously, wondering if they were going to
hang out in here or if Derek wanted her to take Kat for a while.
Kat:
"Can I go," the little girl asked immediately. Truth be told she had been
cooped up inside with Derek for too long. Not that she didn't enjoy his
company, but she was getting bored and craved the outdoors, which he stead
fastly refused to let her explore on her own today for some mysterious
reason.
Derek:
"We'll meet you in the foyer," he told the young woman. He wasn't sure how
well she could do a perimeter sweep and keep an eye on kat at the same time.
He knew her well enough to know that she might get distracted by Kat. So,
he figured he'd tag along and check things out for himself. He'd had the
strangest feeling for most of the afternoon, nothing he could put his finger
on, but a nagging thought that the security had been breached. However, he
had checked the equipment over and over and saw nothing. It would make him
feel better to walk the grounds just to see for himself.
Julia:
She returned his gaze with a smile she truly felt even as Kat was hurrying
them up. Julia Walker never was one to lie to herself and she wasn't going
to start now. Her embarrassment left her as she admitted, at least to
herself, what she had felt and, chuckling at Kat's antics dismissed it in
that she thought he couldn't be held responsible for her own stray thoughts
and looped her arm through his with a mock tug "I'm fine Derek. And Kat is
going to come over here and give us a push if we don't catch up."
"And what," she asked quietly, low enough so that Kat wouldn't overhear as
they caught up enough to let her have a little headstart but was well within
their line of vision "Is on your mind? You seemed distracted with something
when I mentioned the parameter sweep."
Derek:
"Probably nothing," he told her. "Just an unsettling feeling. It is
probably related to Megan's arrival. She knows things she should not and
seems adement that I am the one who told her." This truly did concern him.
"She was a student of mine, and exceptional one. I might have mention the
Luna Foundation at some point, but I never discussed it at length iwth her
and I certainly did not tell her about the Legacy." Then there was this
thing with Rachel, which he did not wish to get into. He'd already told
Julia a lot more than he'd planned. Except the tiny doubt that he might be
loosing his mind, though it seemed far fetched the doubt was still there.
Julia:
"I know." Julia replied with a thoughtful expression as they headed toward
the first mark. And she did know. There was no way Derek would have spoken
of the Legacy to anyone unless they were already a member and even then it
was only in private and not where others could hear. She also knew, darn
his stubbornness for probably not wanting to 'burden' her with what all was
happening, that there was more that he wasn't telling her. She looked at
him with an expression that was still humorous but let him know in no
uncertain terms she knew she was being left out of the loop. "Hard to help
when I'm flying blind, Derek."
Derek:
Derek let his eyes drift from Kat to the young woman beside him, considering
her words carefully. He could use the help, but then again he could get Ria
or Lani to what needed to be done with regard to Megan, and possibly even
Rachel, Ria certainly. Then a thought struck him. Philip, yes perhaps
Philip could help Rachel. "It seems Rachel is having some sort of mental
break down," he told her making certain his voice was low. "Alex and Nick
are with and I'm thinking of sending Philip over." Though he still thought
the idea of a hospital was the best, he knew that was not secure enough, not
with the stalker out there.Julia:
Julia's gaze became troubled, although she averted it away from Kat she knew
Derek would have caught it. She chewed her bottom lip wondering if it had
anything to do with her bringing Patrick back. Especially with the way
Rachel had reacted when she showed up at the door and called out to her.
"Do you know if she's.. said anything since she got into the car with them?"
she asked quietly, hoping it wasn't the reason but having a sick feeling in
her stomach that maybe with the added danger of the stalker and Kat having
put herself in danger... maybe Patrick's visit had some how been a catalyst
that had sent her over the edge.
And Julia had brought him........
Derek:
"Not much," he told her seeing the distress on her face. "There is someone
playing games with her life," he told Julia firmly. "This has nothing to do
with last night," he felt sure of that and thought Julia needed to know. "I
really do not have all the facts, but I am certain of that fact."
Kat:
Kat was getting bored just running around the edge of the property. She
wanted to play and not by herself. The little girl came running back to
where Julia and Derek were, she reached and touched Julia's shadow, "you're
it," she called and ran off, hoping the woman would pursue her.
Julia:
They still had a little while to go until the mark and Julia looked up at
Derek, seeing the conviction of what he said in his gaze and felt herself
releasing a relieved sigh and then turning it with a quirk of a smile when
Kat 'snuck' up on them and .... tagged her shadow?"
"Thanks Derek." She smiled at him before raising a finger in a 'just a
moment' way and dashing off after Kat "I'm going to get you!"
Both she and Kat started laughing as they chased each other's shadows and
Kat was on her way around a flower bed when Julia hopped over a corner and
'tagged' hers, only to make a sharp turn and half run back toward Derek was
watching them "You're it!"
Derek:
Derek shook his head at her, though he did smile. He was also feeling
secure int he knowledge that he knew her very well. As serious as she was
about her work, she couldn't resist the little girl and that was fine,
that's why he'd come along in the first place.
Julia laughed and slowed her pace down so Kat would have a chance to catch
her, but stayed just enough ahead of her to give her a good chase.
"God, this kid's fast!" she gasped/laughed as she neared Derek and made
ready to duck behind him to keep from getting tagged, ducking her head out
to make a goofy face at Kat to see her running pell mell toward them.
Kat:
Kat slowed her pace down a little when she noticed Julia running straight
for Derek. She knew the woman was up to something and was trying hard to
figure out what is was, so she could do something that would catch her and
surprise her.
Derek:
Derek was about to dodge out of the way, just on reflex, however something
caught his eye. A small gopher hole hidden by some decorative grass.
"Julia," he called out in warning and immediately moved towards her to help
her keep her balance as her foot slid into the trap designed by nature
alone.
She heard him calling out to her a second after her foot had found the hole
and sent her falling forward - and right into Derek, knocking them both over
with him falling onto his back and Julia literally bumping heads with him as
she landed on top, both of them grunting with the fall and the knock. And
here they were always being accused of doing it figuratively.
Her hair fell forward and around their faces when she swiped it to the side
not really realizing the kind of curtain it made toward Kat and, although
her own forehead stung she touched his without thinking, knowing it must be
stinging him just as much as it was her "I'm so sorry, Derek! Are you okay?"
She stuck her bottom lip between her teeth and looked at his forehead
worriedly before letting her gaze move down to his eyes her fingers
stilling, "I...."
Julia:
She heard him calling out to her a second after her foot had found the hole
and sent her falling forward - and right into Derek, knocking them both over
with him falling onto his back and Julia literally bumping heads with him as
she landed on top, both of them grunting with the fall and the knock. And
here they were always being accused of doing it figuratively.
Her hair fell forward and around their faces when she swiped it to the side
not really realizing the kind of curtain it made toward Kat and, although
her own forehead stung she touched his without thinking, knowing it must be
stinging him just as much as it was her "I'm so sorry, Derek! Are you okay?"
She stuck her bottom lip between her teeth and looked at his forehead
worriedly before letting her gaze move down to his eyes her fingers
stilling, "I...."
Her gaze went to his hair where a couple of leaves had gotten entangled and
she slowly moved her hand to remove them, her touch gentle and slow. Then
she looked back at him, into his eyes and felt her breath stop in her chest
but not in an audible gasp.
Derek:
Derek lay on the ground stunned for a moment. He hadn't seen it coming at
all and for a moment wasn't even sure what had happened. He gazed up at her
feeling her slight weight on top of him. He felt his heart speeding up
slightly as he looked up into her eyes and felt the gentle touch of her
hand. "I'm fine," he managed to reply his voice coming out hoarse. Though
there was some doubt in his mind that he really was "fine." In fact, he
realized quite suddenly that he wasn't or rather wasn't going to be, as he
felt signs of his own body beginning to betray him in a most embarrassing
way. He was save, at least he hoped, by Kat who arrived beside them.
Kat:
"Are you guys okay," she asked worry creasing her face.
Derek:
"Yes," Derek told her shifting Julia gently to the ground so that he could
sit up, and hoping with every ounce of his soul that physical change he
experienced was only noticed by himself. Just the thought made his feel
very hot and he covered it with his hands rubbing his eyes and forcing the
all these thoughts out of his head.
Julia:
"I think," Julia said with a smile to ease Kat's concern, even as a myraid
of emotions washed over her on the inside as she came to terms with her
reactions just now "it's safe to say I tagged Derek's shadow."
This was said not only for Kat's benefit but Derek's. She had seen a flash
of something in his gaze but she could well imagine his reaction if he had
known what had ran through her. Julia had a couple of options. She could
brush it all under the carpet with a joke about it being his accent, like
she had teased him earlier, or - and what she wanted to do personally - just
accept what she was feeling and hope that he would too... don't analyse it,
she wanted to say, just ...... let it.
She wanted it to be the second, but... if he wanted to, she would go with
the first. But she wouldn't know which until..
She reached out and gently took one of his wrists, moving his hand away, a
ghost of a hopeful smile on her lips as she got up and quietly offered him a
hand up. What she couldn't say she was pretty sure was in her gaze.
"Maybe we should stick with I spy." she suggested to Kat before looking back
at Derek, her gaze asking him not to push her away.
Kat:
"I think you tagged a log more than that," the little girl said giggling a
little. Poor Derek looked like he'd been run over by a truck instead a
fairly small woman and Kat couldn't help it. It was really wierd seeing
like that, though she didn't see the slight tinge in his cheeks as it was
hidden by his hands as he will himself to get control of his emotions.
Derek felt Julia pulling one of his hands away and so let the other drop,
meeting her gaze for just a moment. He opened his mouth to speak, but found
himself temporarily speechless, which in itself made him feel very odd. He
swallowed hard and managed to reply to Julia's suggestion about playing
other games.
Derek:
"I think that would be a good idea," he said. His gaze met Julia's again,
but he averted it quickly, starting to get up. Julia was far too young and
he had no plans of entertaining the emotions he was feeling and had been
feeling for quite a while. It wasn't fair to her.
Julia, Derek and Kat
