You Need to Know (Rupert)

[Fiach Davidson]

He looked right at her. This was it. If he said it, he'd never be able to deny it again. And as much as he had almost hated his other relatives, he wanted to keep on denying it.

"They're dead, Karia," he said quietly. "They're all dead." His gaze dropped to the sword in his lap, and he glowered. How could Granddad do that, just collect half of his great-grandson's entire family? Then again, maybe it wasn't Granddad. Maybe Asgard had their own Death...

[Karia Sto-Helit]

Karia sat perfectly still, stunned for a moment. They were all- That meant all of them? There were so many, an entire species. Millions, if not more...she had hardly had any dealings with the Asgard personally, having only met Thor and Loki a few times, but she knew Rupert had spent time with them.

Her hand flew to her mouth, barely muffling the "Oh, my god," that she uttered as the news sank in. She stared at her brother for a moment before enfolding him in probably the warmest hug she had ever given him. As unpleasantly apathetic as the Asgard could be, they were still his relatives.

"Do you know what happened?" she asked gently, not expecting him to answer if he didn't feel like it, and releasing him from the embrace.

[Fiach Davidson]

Funny. It required some great personal tragedy for his sister to show him any affection. What would he have to do for another hug? Become a quadriplegic? Rupert cast his bitter thoughts aside and turned to the matter at hand.

"There...there was a disease," he said slowly. "Because of all the cloning. Since I'm a mutt, I'm immune. But they were all going to waste away and die anyway," he finished. "They wanted to...to end it quickly."

It was so weird to talk about it so frankly like that. An entire species was dead.

"I guess I'm a little out of whack," he said. "It's weird like that. I've grown up in both worlds without being a real part of either. And now I don't even have a chance to join the one, so I'm just pushed out into the other. I don't belong here," he said, shaking his head. "Not now. Not like this."

[Karia Sto-Helit]

That was very strange; Karia knew the Asgard had been working on trying to revert back from the cloning process, but she hadn't gotten any recent news on anything even relating to them or that universe.

"You should have been given a choice," she replied quietly. What was she supposed to say? How do you comfort someone who lost his entire species for goodness sake? She sighed. "Well, in the meantime you're stuck here fighting demons and dodging spells. But when you find where you do belong, send me a postcard, okay?"

She smiled sadly at him. Her brother had deserved better from her, from the Asgard, even from their parents. From now on she made a promise to herself to be a whole cartload and a half nicer.

[Fiach Davidson]

"Well, I wasn't," he said brusquely, trying to get the emotional moment over and done with. "Besides, I think this is the best place for me right now. It's sort of an in-between place, isn't it? There are more unbelievable things here than there ever were on either side."

Funny thing was, there were, weren't they? Rupert shook his head. "Even at home we didn't have to deal with demon hordes invading every other Tuesday. The closest thing to that were mum and Susan's periodic fights." And those were demon battles in and of themselves. He tried a smile. "Thanks for the sword. I'll keep it safe for you."

[Karia Sto-Helit]

Karia nodded. "Yeah. It's kind of like a hub, where all sorts of places can meet. It's...safe," she said, and then paused. "Well, aside from the whole demon horde thing... But it's nice, to have a home away from home."

"Yeah, and those were always a real bundle of laughs, weren't they?" She smiled again. "I expect you to be around to give it back," she said stiffly. Even if I'm not around to recieve it...