[ussbansheec] "Homecoming"

["Moria Grace" <bansheec@xxxxxxx>]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This log takes place after a soon to be released log "Adventures in Oz"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


"Homecoming"
Joshie and Moria McEntire and Frankie Murgo


Perth was hotter then any other part of Australia and it was reeking havoc on 
her asthma, so Moria knew it had to have been dealing one hell of a blow to 
Joshie. The guilt over leaving home and bringing him along weighted more 
heavily on her then the heat did. Leaving her brother asleep in the tiny room 
they were able to rent Moria sent out to find breakfast and a drug store. She 
wouldn't have said a word to Joshie, but in her stupidity of leaving home she'd 
forgotten her asthma medicine. As she walked down the street she sighed as the 
sun beat down on her. It wasn't even ten in the morning and it was already well 
about eighty degrees.

A half an hour later Moria was walking down the street with a brown bag full of 
breakfast sandwiches and tea, an over the counter inhaler in her pocket, and a 
local newspaper under her arm. The inhaler wasn't anything close to what her 
mother prescribed for her but it would have to do. When she got back to the 
room Joshie was still asleep so she set his food and tea aside and eat hers 
while looking through the paper. 

Joshie drew a slow deep breath and opened his eyes. "Good morning," he 
whispered, sitting up and looking around, blinking at the brightness of the sun 
at it streamed in the window. "What's the plan for today?" He asked after 
clearing his throat and blinking away the last of sleep. 

"Not rightly sure yet." Moria replied as she opened the paper and then looked 
up at him. "Haven't really thought this all out yet."

"Okay, well...tell you what. Let's eat," Joshie began, rising slowly and 
joining her at the table. "Then we can figure it out together."


Moria smiled at her brother. At least she knew he wouldn't hate her, she was 
sure the others knew and did by now. Looking down at the paper as she sipped 
her tea she scanned the print. One of the headlines made her pause, reading the 
article made her drop her tea and turn ghostly white. 

"Well Renown Starfleet Doctor Attacked by Lunatic in Her Own Home"
A decorated Starfleet officer and widely known doctor was attacked yesterday.  
Dr Sussanna McEntire (40) was working in her home practice yesterday when one 
of her patients attacked her for some as yet unknown reason.  The rest of her 
family are unharmed because of the quick thinking of her daughter, Patricia 
Jane (15), although two of her quints are still missing.  Dr McEntire is said 
to be in a critical but stable condition.

She began to shake as she read it again.

"Mo-mo, what is it?" Joshie asked as he sprang to her side. "What's wrong?"


Tears welled in Moria's eyes as she looked up at her brother, the only thing 
she could seem to say was, "Mummy."

"Oh, God," Joshie whispered as he read over her shoulder. Wrapping his arms 
around her, he held her tightly a moment then asked her gently. "She'll be 
okay, Mo-mo. She has to be." Drawing a another deep breath he gathered all of 
his strength, physically and mentally, then asked. "What do you want to do, 
Mo-mo. We stay together or we go together...it's up to you." Kissing her gently 
on the top of the head he assured her. "It'll be okay."

There was no long any question about what to do. "We go home."

Joshie nodded, standing back up and moving to make the bed, silently grateful 
she'd made that choice. He'd known fairly early on in this adventure that this 
probably hadn't been the best choice for him, but the alternative, letting her 
go alone, wasn't really an option as far as he could see. She was his sister, 
part of him. As long as he could help it, no Mac would never be alone."Okay, 
then, if you're sure. Let's go home."

Moria didn't move. She sat and stared at the print that said her mother had 
almost died in their home and that she was in hospital and in pretty bad shape. 
Thousands of tiny flashes of memory danced before her minds eye, and all she 
could do was nod.

Joshie counted out how much latinum he had with him - maybe it would get them 
home. Maybe. If he was careful. Gathering her things together, he put his arm 
around his sister's shoulder and gently helped her to her feet. "Come on, 
Mo-mo. Time to go." 


"Mummy's hurt." She said softly, tears welling in her eyes, her body trembling. 
She knew it was childish to think so, but Mummies and Daddies just didn't get 
hurt, and they really didn't get attacked in their own home by crazy men. "We 
weren't there and she got hurt badly."

"It's okay, Mo-mo. Daddy's with her, and we're going home now. Come on, okay." 
He eased her out the door, then closed it behind them and guided her toward the 
stairs. Placing her hand upon the rail, he guided her down, wiping her tears, 
only to be stopped halfway down by someone running up, taking them two at a 
time. Startled by the familiar face, Joshie froze, putting himself between the 
newcomer and his sister. "Um...hi...Auntie Frankie...what brings you here?" 
Joshie tried casually.


Moria blinked as she looked over her brother's shoulder to the brown haired 
woman who was now staring at them.Frankie was Grandma Jo's oldest girl which 
made her Uncle Josh's sister, the only one her father says looks like their 
lost God of an uncle. There was fear, worry, relief, and anger in her Aunt's 
eyes and it made Moria rest her head against the back of her brother's and 
mutter, "Fuck."

"Hello to you too," Frankie smiled, looking them over carefully, trying to make 
sure they were okay without making it too obvious she was worried. "I'm not 
gonna ask you guys what the hell you thought you were doing. Not yet anyway. 
But I don't suppose you two are done galavanting around and would like to go 
home now, would you?"

"As a matter of fact, I think we're done here," Joshie answered in what he 
hoped was a  casual tone. "If you're heading back toward the ranch, sure...we 
could maybe use a lift."


How many people in the next week were going to lay into them over this? A lot, 
Moria sighed. "I want to see my mother." She said softly. 

"Okay, then," Frankie answered, determined not to ride either of them about it 
right now. She was sure they'd hear more than their fair share of it later. 
They didn't need it now. Not when it was so obvious neither felt well and at 
least one had been crying. "Come on. Let's go."

Moria nodded and followed her brother as he followed their Aunt. She didn't 
know how Frankie had found them and she really didn't care at the moment. The 
only thing on her mind was her mother. "Aunt Frankie?"

"Yeah?" Frankie asked, opening the door to her shuttle and ushering them in. 


Tears welled once again in Moria's eyes. "Is.. is Mummy ok?"

"She will be," Frankie assured her as she started the shuttle and took off, 
though she sounded less certain than she usually did. "How about you two? Are 
you guys okay?"


"Joshie should see a doctor." Moria said softly. "He left his bubble early to 
come with me." She didn't say a word about herself. 

"I'm fine," Joshie lied. "But Mo's asthma's acting up. She's the one who should 
probably be looked at."

"It's settled then. You'll both be checked when we land. You have your 
albuterol, Moria?" Frankie asked, reaching into her satchel as she did so.

Moria shook her head. "I grabbed an OTC this morning but it's not the one Mummy 
gives me." Then she reached over and poked Joshie. 

Joshie winced at the surprising sharpness of her fingers as Frankie passed the 
albuterol inhalor back. "Here, now. It should help. You forgot it at my place 
when you stayed last month."

Taking the inhaler Moria shook it and then used it, making a face at it's nasty 
taste. You'd think with all the medical advancements they could make this thing 
not taste like rubbing alcohol. "The paper said we were missing."

"And so you were. And now you're not," Frankie answered calmly. "How's the 
breathing for you, Joshie Mac? And the pain and all? Not too worn out or 
anything?" 

"No, Auntie," Joshie answered with a side. "Not too bad. I'm fine."

Moria chewed her lip for a while before finally asking. "How mad is everyone?"

"Most are too worried and upset to be too angry right now," Frankie answered 
with a sigh. "there's a debate whether you left voluntarily or were abducted in 
the madness."


"Voluntarily." The girl admitted as she looked out the window. 

"You'll forgive me if I don't put it quite that way to anyone else. My version 
is you heard trouble downstairs and, trusting that Jamie would take care of the 
others, you elected to get the one least likely to save himself right now out 
of the house. You took Joshie and ran in fear for your lives. End of story." 
Shooting them a warning look she added, "You'd do well right now to stick with 
that version of the truth. Understood?"

Moria blinked. "You want us to lie?" Apparently her Aunt didn't know she was 
the world's worst liar.

"Nope. I want you to say nothing. Let me do all the talking. I'll convince them 
not to press you about it." Frankie answered simply.


"Isn't that the same as lying?" She'd go along with it since anything beyond 
this was just icing on the cake, but they'd better do it away from Victoria. 
Her youngest sister had an eerie knack for knowing when Moria wasn't being 
honest or hiding something.

"You're not lying, you're refusing to incriminate yourself and letting me keep 
your ass out of trouble. Look at it this way. Would you rather let me protect 
you and your brother from trouble or be honest and put both your asses in a 
sling?" Frankie shrugged nonchalantly as she added. "Up to you, kiddo."

Moria opened her mouth to say something but suddenly didn't know what to say. 
Blinking she looked over at Joshie to see what he thought.

Joshie sat quietly beside her, head tipped back and eyes closed, listening to 
his aunt's proposal. Feeling his sisters eyes upon him, he opened his own to 
look at her, then shrugged. "Either way, Mo-mo. I promised I'd follow wherever 
lead. Still will."

"Gee thanks." Moria sighed as she turned to look out the window again. ''

Thinking about it carefully, Joshie added so only Moria could hear, "honesty 
might be our best option, though. No way to trip up the truth the way you can a 
story, you know?"

Moria nodded. She already felt like shit, she really didn't need to add to it. 
Tears once again welled in her eyes. She hated disappointing her parents. 
"Thanks Aunt Frankie, but I think it would be best if we told the truth."

"Okay," Frankie answered, sounding surprised. "If you're sure. It's your 
asses..."

"Yeah but it would be worse to get caught holding back." Moria replied without 
looking away from the window. 

"Maybe you better explain to me why you left. We'll see if there's any way I 
can help with that." Frankie offered.
Moria sighed and closed her eyes. "Don't ever ever playing the Alphabete game 
with a whole bottle of Jameson's." She began. "I got drunk, I got James drunk, 
worst yet I got Z drunk. His parents and Mum walked in and we were all pissed 
out of our minds. I took full blame and James got off light, don't know about 
Z, but instead of Mum going off... She's just tired of me is all. I thought 
things would be easier without me around mucking up all the time. I know, 
pretty damn selfish."

"Was not." Joshie muttered. "I love Mom to death but her cold shoulder sucks 
the long hard fat one. Cheap shot considering you didn't force anyone to do 
anything, and you're all old enough to be responsible for your own choices. I'd 
have said to hell with it and left, too." After a moment's thought, he laughed 
a little, adding. "Oh, yeah. I did, huh."


That made Moria turn her head so she could look at her Aunt. "You ran away?" 

"Hell yeah. Lots of times." Frankie grinned sheepishly. "My mom was a hardass 
like yours. But only 'cause she loved us. Again, like yours. I think we all do 
at one time or another. It's a teen thing."


She loved her grandmother dearly but Moria didn't think was was the right tense 
to be used regarding Grandma Jo, it was more like still is. Moria snorted. 
"Wouldn't catch the others doing it."

Frankie laughed. "As the dumbass in the back there with you has already pointed 
out, he did."


Moria smiled at Joshie and then leaned into him. "Na, James said he's thought 
about it but would never do it, PJ might but never with one of us, and Vix 
woule never ever even think of it."

"PJ's done it," Joshie whispered, hugging her gently. "Twice. Once when we were 
seven and again when we were twelve. Daddy got her both times before Mom found 
out."

It surprised her but Moria wasn't sure why. "Why?"

"She said she was tired of being 'one of five'. She wanted to just be PJ for a 
change." Joshie answered as if it should be obvious. Why did PJ do anything she 
did?


Moria never could understand PJ's need to be alone. She liked and needed to be 
part of the set, even if she did feel over look most days. "What did Daddy do?"

"Took her for ice cream and talked to her gently, like always," Joshie 
laughed."What else?"


Moria nodded and then turned her head to look out the window again. 

"You're daddy's good like that. That's why he was so good with my brother. He 
can calm you down and make you think without making you feel like a dumbass." 
Frankie grinned. "Even if you are one."

"A huge selfish one." Moria groaned. 

"To be fair, he really wasn't. He came across sometimes like it though with all 
his quirks, from what I understand, but he definitely wasn't." She smiled sadly 
as she began their decent.


Moria sighed. She had meant herself. They only knew of their uncle as the saint 
their father painted him as. 

"Why the big sigh?" Frankie asked, checking her readouts again.


"I always sigh." Moria replied. "Mummy says half the time since I turned 
fourteen I sound as if I've a slow air leak."

Frankie laughed. "My mom always said that about me. Abbie, too.  I think Zoe's 
the only one who escaped it."

Moria smiled a little at the mention of her other aunts. "Aunt Zoe's to 
bubblely to sigh."

Frankie laughed harder. "Oh,God, I dare you to call her that to her face!"


"I'm daft, but I'm not stupid." Moria said with a touch if lightness in her 
voice.

"ready to debate that?" Frankie grinned. 


Moria laughed softly. "Not at present, Aunt Frankie."

Smiling gently, Frankie answered, "Proves you're not right there. Hang on. Time 
to land."

Her heart leapt to her throat as the shuttle descended towards a landing pad on 
the hospital. Her face flushed at the mere thought of having to deal with her 
family and the fear that gripped her over her mother. As the shuttle landed 
Moria was finding is harder to breath.

"Breathe deep, Moria.Through the diaphragm. And wake you're brother. We're 
here." Frankie instructed as she opened the hatch. "I'll get a couple medics 
out here to give us a hand with you both. Hang on."



"Wake up Joshie." Moria said as she poked her brother. "It's time to face the 
music."

Other related posts:

[ussbansheec] "Homecoming"