Leanne McGregor's Story

Leanne walked over to the small group that surrounded Raphael. The physical trait similarities were obvious between the two of them. There was no mistaking that Leanne was a McGregor. She pawed at the caramel popcorn and flicked one away onto the ground. Everything tasted awful and it was all far too fattening.

“Raphael, I’m so bored. We should leave,” Leanne said with a nudge to his shoulder using her own. She looked to see who he was standing with and almost paled ghost white. This all had to be a coincidence. Dominic Hagan and Whisper were the two standing with Raphael.

Leanne didn’t know anything particular about either of them, but she knew enough to be nervous.

“A-Anyway, I need your help with picking out a dress. There’s a thing tonight and I need to look hot for it. I have a date, so let’s go…” Leanne said as she attempted to thread her arm through the man’s so she could pull him away from the others.

Raphael smiled, then extended his hand. "Fleet of Glorious Interdiction- The Charges in the international court held no merit, and the AHSC Had no choice but to reinstate me. Besides, there's no one out there that can best me in the field of battle."

He looked to Whisper, and then he looked back to Dominic, patting him on the shoulder. "You're right, we're all 'Pets' to the divine shadow. Though to be fair." He looked to Whisper, and then back to Dominic.

"You'd think someone with your capital would go for a wealthy Virgon, or perhaps a Sagittaron tycoon's daughter, not..."

"..A Xeno." He said, passing another look to Whisper.

"Well! This is my cousin, Leanne, We're in town to pick her up some stuff at the Luminere Designery." He said, mentioning the famous Leonis clothing importer and designer, with brands that would make Gucci, Vera Wang, and Armani look like rags.

At the mention of wanting to leave Raphael held up his finger. "Not quite, I'm not done here, why don't you take your hand at the ducks game?" He said, gesturing to a tent with moving ducks for people to shoot.

However he relented, and as Leanne tugged at him, he reached into his wallet and passed her off two 1,000 cubit bills and a fistful of Denarius.

"I'll be there in a minute, go entertain yourself."

Raphael could be such a jerk.

Whisper made no retaliation at Raphael's remarks, and in fact much of her former unease had returned and she avoided eye-contact with Raphael when he looked at her.

It was much as when Dominic had first met her; passive and compliant with an edge of discomfort that clung to her.

"Perhaps you've misinterpreted the nature of our relationship," Dominic replied with a pleasant smile, "Jacquelyn is a friend of mine. She's also an Isirian and a fully legal member of the Empire." He smiled and nodded to Leanne. "Pleasure to meet you, miss. I hope you enjoy the fair."

Turning back to Raphael, Dominic let a slight tinge of iron enter his tone. "Ah yes, reinstated was it?" he nodded eagerly, as if he were very interested in the topic at hand, "indeed, I didn't know that happened so soon. Last I heard you were taking some time to yourself on Argos." He smiled. "That is, if my Taiyou contacts in Andromeda are to be believed. Had a nasty run-in with some fugitives, didn't you? I hope your escorts weren't too put off. Argosian prostitutes are of such timid natures these days."

Dominic, it seemed, could also be quite the jerk.

His phone buzzed and he briefly looked down to check it. From his sister? What could be the meaning of-

He paled.

"You'll excuse me I trust, admiral?" Dominic looked back to Raphael, "it seems I suddenly have some very important business to attend to."

“Stop being a jerk!”

Leanne frowned and shoved the money down into her purse. She did not really want to hang around the Hagan. Blue eyes fell onto Whisper and Leanne tilted her head.

Leanne approached and then touched a few strands of the other woman’s hair. “She’s an Isirian, huh? I’ve never seen one until now.” She tried to capture Whisper’s chin so she could turn the Isirian’s face up to hers. Leanne just wanted to get a better look at her.

When Dominic made an excuse to leave, Leanne hoped that Raphael was done too.

“Raphael, let them go. The opera’s in a few hours and I still haven’t got a dress,” Leanne whined as she started to chuck small pieces of caramel popcorn at Raphael. She stopped when her own phone went off. Leanne took it out from her purse and opened the message.


Can't wait to see you tonight. XOXOXO J.H.

Leanne replied.

I am staring at your brother right now!

The phone chirped again.

Don't say a word to him. Want to surprise him.

Leanne furiously tapped away at her phone one more time.

Haven't. Raph too busy being jerk. Gotta go. Love you.

Whisper turned her head away as Leanna approached to touch her hair and she avoided making eye contact with her much the same as she had with Raphael. The girl's unease in the presence of the McGregors was more than palpable as Leanna grabbed hold of her chin.

Whisper's pale blue eyes searched Leanne's only briefly before she averted her gaze while Leanna examined her face.

Raphael looked to Leanne, and then over to Dominic before another well framed McGregor approached. It seemed half the McGregor clan was here at the fair.

"Raphael we should go, Father is going to be at the Opera and we can't have him missing us." The other McGregor said, looking to Dominic and then to Leanne. "Mr. Hagan, If you'll excuse us." He said, watching as Dominic left to tend his own business.

Orlin then turned to Leanne.

"Let's go find you that dress, this place is getting on my nerves."

Raphael simply huffed. "Touche, Mr. Hagan." He said, then he offered a grin. "You might be one of the wealthiest families in the Empire, but don't forget your roots, Sheep frakker." He said, using a racial epithet for Aerilons.

The words 'neither you yours, shit-farmer,' nearly left Dominic's mouth. Raphael seemed to have forgotten his own family's relatively pathetic beginnings. But if Orlin and Leanne were both talking about going to the opera house that night, it seemed very likely that he was going to be running into the McGregor yet again in but a few short hours. Best leave things on moderately tame terms.

"A pleasure," he nodded to Orlin, to Raphael and, lastly, to Leanne. Turning, he motioned for Whisper to follow him.

"Tonight," he breathed one out of hearing range, "is going to be a clusterfrak."

They headed back to the Manor. The first round of drama had begun.

“Date? Oh that woman? No, Dominic has told me they are nothing but friends. I guess you could say that she’s a stand in for someone else who couldn’t be here tonight,” said Julia boldly. She knew she was toeing a line with giving away her brother’s biggest secret and Valerie’s. They had both sworn her to secrecy and Julia agreed.

“As for my date, here she comes now,” Julia said as Leanne McGregor was helped out of her car by a man.

The McGregor cousin of Raphael and niece to the Divine Shadow was draped in a shimmering black dress that wrapped around her throat, left her arms bare, and scooped low in the back. Black jewels glittered at Leanne’s wrist and ears. Her blond hair had been pulled up into an elaborate twisted bun with a few intentional flyaways to frame her face.

“Isn’t she gorgeous?” Julia asked the reporters before she gave a little squeal in the back of her throat and shimmied over to her date. It was hard to not trip over the drapery of her silver dress but somehow the graceful model made it without embarrassment.

Julia took Leanne’s hand and gave her a kiss on the cheek. The reporters all yelled for more while cameras flashed constantly in their faces. Leanne gave Julia a look and shrugged. Why the hell not? Matching grins perked up on both of the lady’s faces.

Leanne dipped Julia Hagan and gave her a real kiss that was going to be on the front page of the tabloids for weeks. By the time the women unlocked their lips from each other from the garish display they were both out of breath.

“Do you want to go inside?” Julia asked Leanne in a close whisper.

“Please,” Leanne whispered back. She cast a glance backward to see if Orlin had decided to come.

“Let me go introduce you to my brother,” said Julia with excitement in her every movement.

Claire watched the entire discourse between Whisper and Raphael. "Hm." She said to herself as she took a glass of Ambrosia off the tray as it passed her. She didn't care for the liquor but for appearance's sake would at least pretend to enjoy it.
She'd mostly steered clear of the Aschen and their newly re-minted empire until now; it seemed like too much trouble to deal with Mollem, Raphael and others who really couldn't care what happened to her. But curiosity had gotten the better of her with the passing mention of a new opera to be put on in celebration of the empire.

Seeing Whisper now on her own, she steered her way through the crowds to approach the other woman. "Interesting seeing you here." Claire said to her, speaking with a fairly heavy off world accent that could be pinned down to Yellowstone, and specifically Chasm City if one thought about it hard enough. The same could probably be said about Claire, but she had a good enough reason to be present. Whisper however, she wasn't sure where she fit into the picture of everything yet, or how she'd gotten mixed up with the Hagan's or McGregors. "I see my nephew has decided to try to use you as a go-fer this evening."

Whisper watched Dominic move away with some measure of unease. This could easily get out of hand. Claire's approach caught her by surprise and provided a brief distraction from Dominic and Rephael, but she seemed more confused than anything.

"Have we met?" she asked.

It was a valid enough question from Whisper's perspective. There were a lot of memory lapses and holes in her recollection over the past few years. She couldn't recall the woman in front of her, but the woman seemed to know her.

Nephew... that would make her Mollem's sister? She hadn't known Mollem had any siblings... perhaps by marriage?

Her thoughts drew her to a name she vaguely recalled from the AHSP records and files. Claire. What did this woman want with her though?

"No, we haven't." Claire said shaking her head. The only reason Claire knew of whisper was the vague rumblings in Terran politics, which she'd felt the need to keep a careful eye after having been approached by one of the so called resistance leaders. She personally didn't want to be dragged into the entire mess, but saw no reason not to be informed of what was going on in the world. Just because she was reclusive did not mean that she ignored everything else around her.

"Claire Angelique, and I believe you are Miss Jacquelyn Rose?" She asked politely enough. The only interest Claire had in Whisper was what she was doing on Langara, and beyond that had yet to be decided.

"I..." she began before simply nodding her head briefly to the inquiry. She glanced to Dominic, but he was otherwise distracted by Raphael at the moment, which left Whisper to the matter of actually needing to engage in conversation with Claire.

"Did you need something?" she asked quietly.

Her tone was hesitant, and though the question bordered on rude, the unease behind it spoke of the genuineness of it. The girl wasn't entirely accustomed to McGregors wanting to simply speak to her. They always wanted something. And they didn't usually ask.

"No..." Claire answered wondering just what she had done to cause the woman to reply to her greeting as such. "I was simply curious as to what you were doing on Langara." She added frowning slightly. There seemed to be something off about the way the woman reacted to others, as if she were broken and beat down by life in general.

"There's nothing that I want if that makes you feel any less uncomfortable."

"... I live here in Caprica City," Whisper replied quietly. "My citizenship was approved about two years ago," she explained.

Though the answer didn't really explain why the Isirian woman was living here. The Isirian nation had only been absorbed into the Aschen Empire a matter of weeks ago. She rubbed lightly at her arm and her eyes kept shifting to Dominic - a point of familiarity within the crowded room of people.

It wasn't until Claire expressed a lack of wanting anything that Whisper's gaze returned to Claire. Pale eyes sought out the other woman's and confusion touched upon Whisper's expression as she searched Claire's eyes for something, only to find nothing. After a moment she looked away once more, this time to Mollem.

Her inability to read Claire left her suspicious and guarded.

"How do you like Caprica City? It's been a very long time since I've been here." Claire said seeing Whisper's confusion change to apprehension and mistrust. She suspected that if the other woman actually was the one trying to read her, she hadn't received the feedback she was looking for, and instead had noted the complete absence of anything. "Two years? Well then you must be doing well for yourself to make it so well here in Caprica City." She added trying to convey a sense to the other woman of her innocuous nature.

"How is it that you know the McGregors?" Claire asked again trying for at least a small amount of small talk that might make the woman comfortable. To try to read anything other than her body language could possibly cause trouble, and it was trouble she didn't exactly care for.

"It's a city, much like any other," Whisper replied.

She wasn't entirely comfortable with Claire's line of questioning, but to lie would be display that there was something to hide, and so she answered truthfully - though perhaps misleading in her choice of words.

"I'm employed with the Aschen Special Project's Division," she explained. "It pays well enough... and frequently results in assignments to work alongside other divisions of the military."

She looked to Raphael, letting the glance speak for her.

Raphael continued to strut around with his chest candy glimmering in the light of the building as Kianna handed him the ambrosia. He shot her a glare though as she warned him about his father's displeasure at possibly having Whisper's assignment revealed.

He looked to Kianna and he huffed. "I know the stakes, I was just trying to get some proper service out of the Xeno bitch." He said as he shook his head and spoke as Dominic approached.

"How's that Xeno snatch working out for you!?" He shouted, while sipping his drink. "Big man Hagan, never worked a day in his life always fed by a silver spoon."

Mollem simply remained quiet and seated on his throne, watching the various people come and go.

---

As Hagan mingled with the crowd, a middle aged man approached him extending his hand. "Dominic Hagan I don't think we've met." He said.

"Daniel Graystone." He said introducing himself. "You've probably heard of me though, Combat Skins, the Aiyanna project..."

Dominic swallowed the dryness in his throat. His smile kept. To his credit, he maintained his composure.

"...ten... thousand..." he chuckled, "...was that... was that the number? I thought it was..." He cleared his throat, "...thought it was lower..." The young Hagan brought the glass of ambrosia up to his lips and tanked the whole thing in a single gulp. "Would you excuse me for a moment?"

Dominic made his apologies and went straight for Julia, smiling as he did so. He sternly grabbed her wrist, leaned close and whispered in her ear.

"Where. The frak. Is dad."

"I am not sure," Julia said to her brother. She tugged her wrist out of Dominic's grip and introduced her date.

"Nice to meet you," Leanne said to Dominic with a brilliant smile. There was something curious in the McGregor's gaze. She was staring at Dominic Hagan as if she wanted to secretly eat him ... in the good way. Julia didn't seem the notice the look.

"I actually need you to cover for me," Julia said to her brother. "Leanne and I have other plans. We just needed to make an appearance for a little for the media coverage. Now that that's over with we're gonna leave." Leanne laughed and draped herself over Julia while still staring at Dominic.

"Enjoy the opera, Dominic Hagan," said Leanne before she whispered something into Julia's ear. It made Julia arch a brow and look at her brother with an odd expression on her face. It was obvious that she was considering something but then denied it for the time being.

"We will hang out more tomorrow," said Julia. "I promise. Maybe we can book a trip to see Valerie. Wouldn't that be nice!" Dominic's sister smiled hopefully and then allowed herself to be carted away by Leanne's persistent tugging.