John and Lucy continued their passionate lovemaking long into the night, the pair of them only stopping so they could get some sleep for the day ahead. Lucy pressed herself into him, taking a little spoon position on the bed as he enveloped her lithe body with his arms, hugging the smaller woman tightly.

  "I can't stay." She said after a few minutes, then quickly added. "It is Rei. I don't want her to wake up and not be there."

  "Of course." He replied, kissing the top of her head. "Go to your daughter, I will be here in the morning."

  "Do you... I want you to come sleep with us. I know it is soon, but I want her to get used to you being there now. That is, if you still want a-" She started to say something self-deprecating again, but John stopped her by pcing a finger on her lips.

  "What did I say about talking down about yourself. Let me get dressed, I would be honoured to come sleep with you two." He said, then kissed the top of her head.

  They had a very quick shower, got dressed, and then went to her room. Lucy had somehow acquired a few old, threadbare bnkets, letting her and Rei sleep in retive comfort. Rei herself was asleep on the edge of the bed, so Lucy crawled in first and wrapped her arms around her daughter while John came in behind her. After pausing for a moment, he wrapped his arm alongside Lucy's, holding the pair of them tightly. He kissed the top of her head again, then drifted off to sleep, feeling more content than he had in a long, long time.

  "OOPHH!" John gasped, startled awake by a weight on his chest.

  "I KNEW IT! YOU AND MOMMY WERE SLEEPING TOGETHER! That means you're my Daddy!" A little voice shouted excitedly, jumping up and down on John's chest.

  "REI! I told you not to wake him!" Lucy said, coming out of the bathroom. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun, with half-applied makeup on her face. John barely noticed it, his attention fully on the ball of energy trying to give him chest compressions.

  "I dunno, would you like it if I was?" He asked, grabbing her by the waist and lifting her up like she was flying.

  "Hehehe, yes! I always wanted one! Mom always said maybe someday, but then we had to leave." She said, her mood growing more serious, her lower lip trembling a little bit. "So, can I call you Daddy?"

  John looked over at Lucy. She was holding her hands to her chest, a worried expression on her face. He just smiled at her, then pulled Rei down into a hug. "Of course you can, little one. Of course you can." He said, rubbing her back. "I'll be your Dad from now on, okay?"

  "I love you, Daddy!" She said into his ear, causing him to start crying. Lucy, tears dampening her cheeks as well, came over and joined the group hug on the bed, the three of them sharing the first of what John hoped was many more tender moments. He gave Lucy a chaste kiss on her lips, pulling her in beside them. They talked for a few minutes about some inconsequential things, then got up out of bed to begin their day.

  It was actually quite early, just after dawn, and John was still pretty tired from the night's activities. He popped a Substance X pill to bolster his stamina, all too aware that it wasn't the intended use for the product, but today was going to be rough. He had refrained from using them since he arrived in this world, not wanting to fall into a trap like he had st time with their overuse.

  They walked out of the building a half hour ter to the sight of the Guards and people from Bckstone already hard at work trying to put a dent in the huge pile of supplies. Dar, using her mech to drag a battered mech chassis out of the cave to where the Leopards were waiting, stopped in front of them. A window from her cockpit popped open, and she stuck her head out.

  "Morning, Hon. The old man said to send you down to check on the FedCom people when we saw you. He hasn't had an update from them this morning, though apparently they were working all night to try and activate the doors' release mechanism." She shouted.

  "Alright! Any word from the old man if we are going to stay or evacuate back to Bckstone?"

  "He wants to see what they are bringing for mechs first. We can escape down the back route if we need to, funnelling them onto that narrow path. He went to Bckstone first thing to see if he could drum up a surprise for them. He will be back in an hour or two with the next dropship." She replied, then turned her gaze to Lucy. "I don't know how you are walking straight today, girl, but good job on wrangling that one in. He needed someone other than Freddy in his life. Just next time, gag yourself or something, the walls are pretty thin here." She winked at her, then closed the hatch. Lucy started to blush fiercely, having not realised how loud she was st night.

  "Mom, what is she talking about?" Rei asked, causing Lucy to turn even redder.

  "Something you will learn about when you're older," John said, then pointed at a beat-up old jeep that was sitting nearby. "Come on, let's see if there are keys in that. Do you two want to come with me?"

  "Yes!" Rei said excitedly, successfully distracted from the awkward topic. Lucy mouthed a silent thank you to him for that.

  They jumped in the vehicle, its bench seat letting Rei sit in between them. She bounced excitedly as they drove down the cave, where the Star League cache was supposed to be. He ruffled her hair again, causing her giggle some more. She quickly settled down in her seat when he threatened to tickle her.

  The dirt path quickly turned into concrete*, running for nearly a kilometre before coming to a fortified gate. A set of massive doors was inset deeply into the gate, scarred and battered from countless pirate attempts to bust through. The armoured car the FedCom agents had brought with them was parked to one side, next to a small door presumably leading into some sort of gatehouse.

  John parked his jeep alongside it, then the three of them piled out. He greeted one of the guards who was sitting in the car's turret, invisible until now, then made his way inside. They quickly found Abby inside the control room, buried deeply in a pile of ancient electronics. They had the doors ripped off all of the control panels, apparently trying to force the mechanism that operated the doors to activate.

  "How's it going in here?" John asked, standing in the doorway. He didn't want to step inside, in case any of the exposed wiring was live.

  "Huh? Who- *Bang* Verdammt! You startled me, Mister Wayne." Abby said, banging her head off the edge of the control panel she was half tucked inside of. She sat up the rest of the way, rubbing her head. "It isn't going well. The pirates had already torn this pce to pieces, trying to force the door open. Then it looks like they gave up and just started to shoot at it. Arschgeige!" She cursed again, then looked up at him. "We are doing our best to try and rewire everything, but as you can see, it will not be done quickly."

  I wonder why those curses didn't transte?

  "We might need to evacuate in a hurry. Listen..." He said, then passed on the information about the imminent arrival of the pirates sometime today.

  "Schweinehunde! Fine, Mister Wayne. Please excuse me while I keep at this. My brother is napping in the back of the car right now. Please don't bother waking him; he will just get in my way down here. I will inform him ter." She replied, then dived back under the control panel, cursing more in German.

  "Let's go," John said, leading the girls back outside. He walked over to the side of the car, intent on returning to the base. Instead, he rested his hand on the door handle, considering his options.

  Do I do it? I mean, there is no guarantee that there will be anything of use in there. Did my New World Bonus come up yet? Do I even get one here? I have never relied on getting one before, they just kind of happened... Oh damn it, fine, Alec, I'll bite. Let's crack open this Kinder Egg.

  "Lucy, I am going to do something. Like st time, please don't mention anything. If-" He started, then looked down at Rei and changed his wording to not include surviving the battle with the pirates. "I will tell you about everything ter, okay?"

  "Do you want us to stay here?" She asked, already knowing John had some weird secrets. She was curious but wouldn't press the issue; her respect for him was too great to want to delve too deeply into anything he wasn't ready to share.

  "That depends." He said, smiling at Rei. "Can you keep a secret? Daddy can do some pretty cool magic tricks, but only if my daughter can promise she won't say anything. It will be our little secret, okay?"

  He knew she would probably tell her friends, but right now, that only included Sandy. He was going to take Alec at his word and pn on bringing these two with him to another world at some point. A world where he had already revealed himself, so it wouldn't be devastating if she did say anything.

  Maybe High School of the Dead when I get everyone settl- Oh god, there is a Rei there already... would that be weird?**

  "Yes, Daddy!" She said excitedly.

  "Are you sure this is a good idea, Dan- I mean, John-sama?" Lucy asked, clearly worried her daughter was going to say something.

  "It will be fine." John said, then asked, "Who is Dan?"

  "Not a who, I just didn't complete the word. Danna, it means husband. I... I have spoken too soon, I'm sorry, John-sama." She said, bowing her head to him.

  He stepped over to her, lifting her chin up so he could look her in the eye. She looked terrified that she had made a mistake. He kissed her, taking her into his arms. "I would be happy to be your Danna, as long as you are good to be my... suma?" He said, straining to recall what Alice's parents had called themselves back in High School of the Dead. He thought that was his wife at least.

  "Tsuma." She said, correcting his pronunciation. "You know the tongue of my home?"

  "Just a little that I have picked up here and there. I will tell you about it ter, my Tsuma." He replied, pnting another kiss on her lips. He put Rei up on his shoulders again, the little girl grabbing onto his hair, then they walked over to the main doors of the complex.

  Standing before the massive doors that had to be over twenty-five yards tall and nearly eighty wide, he spoke one st time to his step-daughter. "Remember this is a secret, at least for now, okay, Rei?"

  "Yes, Daddy."

  "Good girl. Dig!" John said, punching out a one cubic foot hole in a spot where the door's armour had already been thinned by weapons fire. A heavy steel block fell to the ground in front of them, causing Rei to squeal in surprise.

  "What is that?" Lucy asked, amazed.

  "It is magic." John said, looking right at her, "I am not kidding. That is how you recovered so fast, that is how the Hunchback was defeated, and that is how we are going to get through this wall in thirty minutes or so."

  "My Danna. Are... are you blessed by the Kami?" She asked, reaching to her ancient Shinto beliefs for an expnation.

  "I am not sure what those are, but there are some powerful beings involved. Listen, and I will tell you a little bit while I dig through this door." John said, giving up on the ‘ter’ part of his pn. He gave her a full recounting of how he had died and his travels up to this point. "So right now, I am travelling to a couple of other worlds at these gods' bidding, so I can return to another world to get the magic I need to save a bunch of people in yet another world. Then, in that world, there is a magic I need to save two more people in two other worlds. It is bloody confusing, but if I have the chance to save these people, I will."

  "My Danna," She said, leaning on his back. "Will you come back to us when you leave?"

  "Well, I was thinking about that earlier. How tied are you to staying here? If I gave you the option to get so far away from your Uncle that you would never need to worry about him again, would you take it?"

  "In a heartbeat. He is a Shogun, and a powerful one at that. I fear that no matter where we settle, they will be able to find us." She said, "Even if it is in one of these worlds where you have many women, I am fine with that. Concubines are common in the High Nobility of the Combine."

  "Okay then, though you will never just be a concubine to me." He replied, taking out yet another block. He had set Rei down earlier and had her stand to the side while he moved the blocks out of the way. They were quite heavy, but he was able to manage them; it was much easier than the first time he tried to move one of these blocks. Granted, he was shifting them on their edges and not trying to lift them completely. "Let's talk more about the worlds ter, and see if you have a preference. I think I can squeeze through here now."

  The hole he created was nearly ten feet deep and had taken him nearly an hour to make. He hadn't realised how much time had passed while they had talked, the sheer amount of things he had done since coming to DEN easily filling the time. It was a narrow hole, only a foot wide, but if he blew all the air out of his lungs, he could just barely fit.

  Squeezing past, he entered the other side of the gate into a nearly pitch-bck room. To the side was was a old control panel, lit up with a single dim red light. He walked over to it and, with a quick gnce at the buttons, hit a green button that simply said 'On'. A loud bang came from somewhere, then the overhead lights suddenly came on, illuminating the facility in blocks. It continued back, further and further, finally stopping over top of a towering Mech.

  "Oh, you have got to be kidding me." He said, his memories knowing exactly what this was.

  "What is it, my Danna... why is there a Charger in here?" Lucy said as she squeezed through the gap with Rei on her heels, looking at the very heavy, lightly armed, 80-ton assault css scout mech.

  "Because Alec wants to kill me." He replied, shaking his head.

  Far off in a distant pce, Alec sat there watching the show, a wide smile on his face. "It wasn't me this time, John. Enjoy!"

  * - Technically, Battletech calls it Ferrocrete, but I have been using concrete this entire time, so I am not going to bother changing.

  ** - I literally didn't even think of HOTD Rei when naming BT Rei. Whoops! And if they are both in the same world, calling him daddy... god, both cringe and hirious. *Jolts down in notes for further consideration*