OOM: Visiting Family

[geeky_agent]

She almost wishes Caiti would be there.

It would mean more questions and more problems, yes. They'd still have to explain Caiti having met Jack already in Morocco two years prior and she just knew that wouldn't go over well.

Still, she can't help but wonder if maybe it would be better to get everything out in the open now. (Not everything.) Caiti had always been good at dealing with problems between her sister and brother and it sounded like she and Jack had gotten along pretty well and she hadn't seen her in months...

This had probably been a bad idea but it was too late to back out now.

Comments

The Meeting

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

Jack looks up at the passing road signs, then down at the map, dragging his finger along their route. "Okay, looks like the turn-off should be coming up on our right in the next couple minutes."

Glancing over at her, he gives her a slightly nervous smile; her nervousness is all over her face, not that he can blame her. "We should be there about when we said we would, relax."

Re: The Meeting

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

That would be enough to rankle her but she realizes he's right, so she sighs and keeps her eyes on the road.

"I don't see the turn-off." Just miles of trees and wooded areas. "Are you sure you..."

Chris' mouth snaps shut when she spots the sign a few yards ahead, partially obscured by a tree branch. Mumbling, she adds, "It should be easier to see. Especially during the day."

Re: The Meeting

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, someone should hack that branch off," he says, bracing himself a little as Chris has to slow down pretty quickly to safely make the turn. "So what exactly does Ryan like to do when he's not working?" It might help if there's some common ground between them, somewhere.

Re: The Meeting

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

Chris doesn't answer right away, looking around at the scenery and relaxing as she remembers the area. They only have a few more miles to go.

"What? Oh. Um... he likes teaching obviously. The law. Arguing," she adds with a smirk. "And that counts as work. Right. He likes sports! He's pretty athletic - jogging, playing softball. Stuff like that. He reads a lot, mostly nonfiction like me but he's not as into science. More politics and military stuff. And philosophy, sometimes."

There's a pause as Chris thinks this over, then adds in a thoughtful voice, "He and my dad have similar tastes in books, actually."

Ryan-Jeannie Conversation

[theredshirts.livejournal.com]

Ryan's smile fades as they leave the room. Jeannie hands Tori a sippy cup and Tori seems to remember the coloring she'd left during the excitement of a new person and her Aunt Chrissy. Once their daughter's occupied for a few moments, Jeannie finally makes eye contact.

"That bedroom is next to Tori's," Ryan says quietly.

Re: Ryan-Jeannie Conversation

[theredshirts.livejournal.com]

"You really think that will be a problem?" Amusement and concern in her voice, she paused from getting the food ready to look at him.

"This is Chris we're talking about here. I don't think we need to worry. She has had boyfriends before."

Re: Ryan-Jeannie Conversation

[theredshirts.livejournal.com]

"You think Dad would have let them stay in the same room?" Ryan walks over to the fridge and pulls out a bottle of water. "He's at least forty and while Chris has had boyfriends, there's something about this guy I don't trust." He twists off the cap and takes a sip.

"What do you know about him?" As he talks he wanders over to Tori and she hunches over the table, her arm protecting the picture from view.

Re: Ryan-Jeannie Conversation

[theredshirts.livejournal.com]

There's a scoff at his first statement. They did share rooms together, if only to save space, and they were much younger than Chris and her friend.

And not always on their best behavior.

"She's a grown woman," Jeannie reminds him, setting a platter of food on the island top. Though her amusement falters at his last question.

"Not that much," she shrugs and turns back towards the food. "They've been together for a year and he works for CTU."

Jack-Chris Conversation

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

Jack follows Chris up the stairs to the bedroom Jeannie had mentioned, heaving the bags onto the bed. It's a nice room; comfortable, with a nice view out the window, looking out over the trees.

Unzipping his suitcase, Jack gives Chris a small smile. "Why do I get the feeling Ryan isn't too happy with the thought of us sharing a room?"

Re: Jack-Chris Conversation

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

"Well, I don't care how he feels. I'm older than him, he can deal with it," Chris grumps, pulling her clothes out of her bag.

Re: Jack-Chris Conversation

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

Well, this weekend is getting off to a good start. "Jeannie seems nice; you said you two were friends at West Point?" he says, pulling out a few shirts and hanging them in the closet.

Re: Jack-Chris Conversation

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, we were roommates our Freshman year," she says, putting closing the drawer with the last word. Turning, she leans on the dresser and looks at him. "So, what do you think?"

Jack-Ryan Jr. Conversation

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

Dinner is quiet, tense, as by unspoken consensus they keep to small talk, Tori gleefully filling the silences by talking about the dog that lives next door or her preschool. Once the dishes are cleared and washed, Tori drags Chris off to look at something, Jeannie heading outside.

Jack walks out into the living room, looking out at the view for a minute, then moving over to a table with photos on it. He smiles, spotting one of Chris and Ryan Jr. sitting on a dock, grinning; Chris is missing one of her front teeth. Behind it, there's one of Ryan Sr., helping Chris hold onto a fish. Chris looks about seven or eight, beaming at her catch, while Ryan looks down at her with a kind of amused pride.

Despite everything, he still can't help but feel a small stab of guilt, knowing that Ryan will never get the chance to come back to this place, won't get to meet his granddaughter or see his other children again. But that blame needed to be put at Stephen Saunders' door.

Re: Jack-Ryan Jr. Conversation

[theredshirts.livejournal.com]

Ryan's anticipating the day that Tori asks for a dog of her own. Once she gets old enough to use the 'But Aunt Caiti had one' line, he knows part of his time will be spent taking care of the dog and he'll wind up walking it around their Long Island neighborhood during a Nor'easter. Listening to her talk about Baby, though, he thinks that if it makes her happy he'll gladly take on the responsibility.

Jeannie tries to start conversation that doesn't involve Tori but it fails quickly and after dinner Jeannie takes the opportunity of a free babysitter to get some alone time with a new book. Ryan looks out the kitchen window, wishing she stayed, but it's a not-so-subtle hint that, 'Do you want the mustard?' doesn't count as getting to know Chrissy's boyfriend.

Ryan turns away from the window and heads into the living room. Jeannie mentioned that Jack worked at CTU and Ryan has the uncomfortable feeling that he knows more about them than he'll ever divulge. When they get back home, Ryan thinks, he might have to do some investigation of his own.

"Is this your first time up here?"

Re: Jack-Ryan Jr. Conversation

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

Jack's a little startled, having been lost in thought and not having hear Ryan come in, but he manages a friendly smile. "Upstate New York, yeah. Usually most of the times I got to this side of the country it was on business. It's beautiful."

Re: Jack-Ryan Jr. Conversation

[theredshirts.livejournal.com]

Ryan glances at him, surprised that he could be easily startled, but files it away for future rumination. He nods and folds his arms. "Yeah, most people think of New York as just the city and forget about the other 99.9 percent of the state. What kind of business were you on?"

Jeannie-Chris Conversation

[theredshirts.livejournal.com]

Coming in from outside, her arms full of Tori's toys and other things they'd left outside, Jeannie casts a quick look over at Jack and Ryan talking over by the living room windows. They're talking quietly, their expressions serious, but not antagonistic. That's something at least she thinks, hoping that conversation is going well. She wants to like Jack; she does like him, from what little she knows about him so far. But she has to admit, the main reason she doesn't want to find fault with him is because Chris has been so distant, they don't need something else pushing them apart. Not just for Ryan's sake either; she and Chris had been friends before she met Ryan, and she misses that friendship.

Walking up the stairs to the second floor, she can hear Tori chattering on excitedly, hear Chris' occasional question or comment, when Tori lets her have a chance to get a word in edgewise. At least it looks like one conversation is going well, she thinks, smiling to herself.

Pushing the door open, she smiles at Chris for a minute before turning her attention to Tori. "Time for bed, sweetie. Auntie Chris will be here in the morning, so you can tell her everything else you want to then. Go and brush your teeth."

Re: Jeannie-Chris Conversation

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

Tori looks from her mom to her aunt. "Are you staying, Auntie Chris?"

"Yes," Chris answers with a nod. "I'm spending the night here, like you. And I'll still be here in the morning and we can go out to the lake. In the morning."

After a quiet moment of what could be thinking, or could be stalling while she colors for a little longer, her niece accepts this answer with a nod and an, "Ok!"

Chris gives her a hug before she walks out of the room, then starts picking up all the toys and crayons that had been left behind.

Re: Jeannie-Chris Conversation

[theredshirts.livejournal.com]

"I think you're her new favourite person," Jeannie says with a small smile. She kneels, helping pick up some of the toys scattered across the floor as she listens for the sound of teeth being brushed. "I hope she didn't talk your ear off too much."

Chris-Jack Conversation

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

After saying goodnight and after Jeannie and Ryan have headed upstairs, Chris and Jack go outside by the lake. It's still warm outside, even with the lake so close, and the only thing that can be heard are the crickets and the sound of the waves.

"So," Chris comes up to Jack and slides her hand in his. "How'd the cross-examination go?"

Re: Chris-Jack Conversation

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

Jack gives her a bemused smile. "Well your brother didn't run off to find one of your dad's guns, so obviously it didn't go too badly."

He lets go of her hand so he can wrap his arm around her waist. "It went all right. I think he's still going to be suspicious about some things, and things we don't agree on, but we seemed to have some kind of an understanding. It wasn't exactly a CTU interrogation."

Re: Chris-Jack Conversation

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

"Thank God for that," she says with a snort. Then she looks up at him with a keen interest. "Did you tell him anything about why you left CTU?"

Chris-Ryan Conversation

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

For reasons she doesn't quite know, Chris wakes up before everyone else. Trying to fall back asleep doesn't work and if she stays in bed, she'd only wake up Jack more than she already has.

The only obvious solution to her is to go downstairs and make breakfast for everyone.

Over the pop of the sizzling bacon and the sound of coffee brewing, she hears someone walking down the stairs and assumes it's Jack. "Hey, you decided to get up after all!"

Re: Chris-Ryan Conversation

[theredshirts.livejournal.com]

For the first time in months, Ryan dreamt of Afghanistan. He's not sure whether to blame the conversation he had with Jack or the memories this place accidentally brought up. Jeannie was there and telling him the patrol route was dangerous and he ignored her advice, sure that he had a good plan of action and then the shooting began. He woke up to the smell of breakfast and was surprised to find Jeannie still sleeping soundly next to him.

Chris sounds amused and Ryan tightens his robe before reaching the kitchen.

"When did you start cooking?"

Re: Chris-Ryan Conversation

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

Chris is surprised to see her brother instead of Jack but laughs anyway. "I could always cook! I just never had much reason to."

Definitely not when she was growing up and living at home. Their mom was a great cook and they were spoiled by her in that regard.