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[ He needs some time with Arthur after the breach. But it isn't long at all before he's picking up his communicator. He doesn't even expect what pops out of his mouth before it does. ]

Riri, babygirl, are you-

[ A clear of his throat. ]

Aerith. How are-

I want to make sure you're doing okay. A-after the breach. Are you doing okay?

[Her breath caught in her throat on the other line. Then there was silence. And yet still-]

Dad?

[She took in a deep shaky breath. No, that wasn't right.]

S-sorry John that- that wasn't right. Sorry.

[Her voice sounds raspy. She's been crying a lot.]

No, it-

[ He swallows, because this isn't the first time he's had a kid in a breach. First it was Natalie, then it was Peter, and now it was- ]

Was it? Right? I don't know. That's... why I'm calling.

[The sound she makes is pained. It hurts. She shouldn't do this to John and yet-]

It-it does feel right. But I-

Even when Vincent was my dad, in breach, he didn't feel like my dad. Not- after. And I-

I-I've never had a father before.

No 'but'.

[ It's terrifying. Especially with everything coming from this breach, all the emotional upheaval. He's barely functional after the talk with Arthur but he is, at least, functional. Enough to know how he feels. What he wants.

More joy. More connections. If something feels right, he won't turn it away. ]

It felt right to me too. Very... very right.

[ A swallow. ]

I don't generally-

Breach connections aren't the life I've lived, the life I've chosen. They aren't me. But- [ a shuddering breath ] I do think sometimes they... point things out. Make things clear. Make us realize what's already there but we... were too cautious to allow.

[She can feel her breath catch. The breach memories are very vivid this time, and she can feel herself starting to cry again. She's not sure she's very functional right now. She'd been crying from the heart break of not having the love she had felt, the support. Those three men loved her with all of their hearts, and she loved them in turn.]

For me, a lot of breach relationships are just a...way of showing me something that could be there. With Ashton- it was there. Something we could want. And when I called them what I did...it felt...right.

And...I think you're right. I...I-I want...

I want to be your daughter. Because I love you like a father. P-please, can I...? Can we...?

[ The answer isn't on the communicator. The answer isn't even remote.

It's arms closing around her from behind, warm affection flowing through the touch, the smellfeelsense of him gently drawing her close and giving her a squeeze as he speaks. ]

You are my daughter. In every way that matters. Because we choose. We choose each other.

[Aerith's breath catches. She had told him that he was on the filter since that first nap over at his place. In case of emergency, in case of her needing help.

There was a breach blurring of a father who was not quite right since her mother died. There was the being who found her injured body bleeding and holding a dream.

There was the father who remembered how much she loved strawberries.

She wrapped her arms around his, and squeezed as if it would stop him from vanishing.]

Yes. Yes. I'm...I'm gonna cry a lot. I don't know if it's happy or-or relieved or just...sad for that John and Aerith.

[ He'll be here. And he's going to kiss the top of her head, very much like that John used to, and he'll hold her for as many tears as she needs to shed. ]

You can cry all that you need to. And... if you have questions for that John, I can answer them. [ A sigh. ] I know he couldn't tell you things and it hurt you.

[ He's going to start petting her hair. His sweet baby girl. Riri. ]

[The tears start falling. The head kiss, and what felt like years of love, echoed in that moment. Her John. Her father. Dad. Daddy even.]

She became a spy because she wanted answers. She wanted to help her Uncle Arthur and Uncle Clem and most of all, her father.

Why...why were people after them? After her...mother died, things got so dangerous so fast.

[ He's just going to keep holding her. Petting her hair. Maybe a little bit of rocking her as he answers. ]

Your- her mother had something special in her genetic code. Something that she passed onto... that Aerith. Her work was a guarantee of her loyalty and paid for you to have a normal life. When she... died-

[ That comes out a little robotic, the pain still too fresh, but he continues. ]

They wanted to take you, raise you in a compound, train you to take her place. He didn't want that, but he wasn't... her. He didn't have the skills she had. So he had to give them more. Had to allow them to use him, break him, as a guarantee that... she wouldn't be used against them.

So that she could have a normal life as a normal child.

...oh. Oh dad that's...it's so much worse then I thought. But it also...

[She stops. Swallows. Rocks back against him, feeling her tears overwhelm her for a few moments.]

It sounds like when I was in the lab. How they wanted me and- how there was something different from other people.

I am so, so sorry they hurt that John. And you. It must have been so lonely.

[ He'll just hold her for a moment, move his hand to her shoulder and her arm, let her feel a steady, soothing pat. ]

He hated that he left you- her for so long. And that he made her doubt that he wanted to be with her. But he never regretted what was done to him. What he chose to protect her. Even if it was lonely. Even if it made the people he loved doubt him.

[ A breath out. ]

Breaches often echo things from our lives, reframe them so we can see them differently. Or watch them play out in a different way. I think both of us, that John and I, are glad that-

That they were able to protect their daughter.

[It's soothing. It's steadying when she's filled with...grief, she thinks it is. It's easier to get it out now, to relax with her father being here.]

I-she- was worried. She loved him so much. And losing her mother and father- if it wasn't for Arthur, she might have been broken.

[She took in a slow, deep breath.]

It was me.

My mother was the last known of her kind. And she passed it to me. My otherness- It's from her.

My adopted mom tried to make sure I didn't go back to the lab. Live a normal life.

And I got to play out both sides of that right in front of you. Oh, Aerith...

[ He'll give her another squeeze, hold her carefully as he offers up not just warm affection but also the willingness to accept: pain, grief, loss. He'll take it, hold her, hold it, if she needs to let it out. ]

At least you weren't being tortured to death in front of me...because I was the spare. But I could replace...her. And that John.

[He loved his daughter so much. All the grief, the pain, the loss. She covered her face in her hands. It's safe here. She can let go. Maybe then she can be angry and howl from it, with her father as witness. The rage of it all. How unfair John was treated. How they deserved better. How her mothers deserved better. Her fathers too.]

Right.

[ He won't deny any of that. ]

He was good at negotiating. It's how he got his first date with her. Her mother.

[She just hated that thanks. But no use in sugar coating it at all. She offered though, a little watery giggle.]

He did? I thought she was more stubborn then him. From what little I remember.

Oh no, [ and he says that fondly ] She was. But he was more patient.

Persistent, even.

[Another watery giggle, and a sniffle, as she tries to rub the tears from her eyes.]

That sounds like you too.

[ He wobbles a hand. ]

I can be patient for important things. [ Beat. ] I don't like it.

I'm mostly patient with plants. And people.

[She paused. Another sniff.]

Sometimes people.

But...how should we be...father and daughter, from now on?

How have we been?

[ He gives her a little squeeze. ]

Like I said: it feels like we've finally seen what was already there. So. Now we're looking at it. What do you see?

[She sniffs, and offers a gentle huff, rubbing at her eyes.]

...this is going to sound...maybe creepy. But...I trusted you from the moment we met. I'm still...figuring out what it means to be someone's daughter.

I love you like family John. It feels like...I can trust you to have my back. And you'll have mine. It's...okay for me to be honest with you, with all my feelings. And...I hope you feel the same way.

That...we can help each other, support each other. I...don't know if I'm using all the right words.

I'm kinda new at all of this.

That's the nice thing about trust, [ he says it slowly, thoughtfully ] namely that there are no... 'right' words. There's better words and words that might take a little longer. But they're all good words. And you don't have to be 'right'.

[ He kisses her temple. ]

It's not creepy, though. I...

I've felt the urge to look after you for a long time. A-and we'll figure out together, what being my daughter is, what me being your father is.

[ Wry. ]

Pretty sure most people only do it for the first time once. So... we're off to a good start.

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