"See what I mean Mikaela? All cops are pigs. You saw what they did to Principal Randall's boy right?" said Sky as Annette drove them back home from the SZPD Headquarters.

Mikaela didn't respond. She was curled in a ball in the backseat, and was looking out the window.

The whole thing had smelled fishy to her.

For one thing, Principal Randall had made all the teachers come with her to the police station, and Mikaela herself had come along because Annette was a teacher.

Then there was the fact that both Officer Vasquez and Officer Martinez had always been nice to her, which meant that whatever Principal Randall's son had done must have been bad.

And finally, Mikaela had decided to never believe anything Sky said about the police, and therefore, she just covered her ears and retreated into her own world.

Sky gave Mikaela a glare, but dropped the subject.

They finally arrived home, and Annette parked the car in the driveway.

Mikaela got out of the car, and ran into the house, before Annette or Sky could stop her.

"What's gotten into her these days?" growled Annette, as she got out of the car.

"Too much pig influence is what I would say," said Sky, leaving for the house across the street.

Annette sighed, and followed Mikaela into the house.

----

"All right Friedrich, we've got the first conventionally powered shipments of our hardware products out. How is the Bach's construction coming along?" asked Aaron over a secure video call.

"It's nearing completion. We've got the hull almost finished, and the electronic systems are being fitted out, thanks to the fabs being just next door," said Friedrich.

"OK, the first shipments using the conventional cargo ships have already started, but I'd really like to get our nuclear cargo fleet going as soon as possible," said Aaron.

"Shipyard 2 is almost complete, we should be able to lay down the keel of the Aristotle in about a week," said Friedrich.

"That's excellent progress. What about the reactors?" asked Aaron.

"Reactors are assembled, but we'll have to get the fuel loading timeline just right. The second NATO sniffs plutonium in these ships, they'll be storming the docks," said Friedrich.

"I've already thought of that. First, we'll time the fuel loading with the waste extraction of the power plants, we'll ship the waste out to your facilities in Germany as part of a waste processing deal, that will throw them off the scent," said Aaron.

"Good idea. What about the second part?" asked Friedrich.

"The second part is that we induct the Aristotle as Libya's naval flagship, and first nuclear-powered missile cruiser. We can fuel it under a military contract deal, and then have it stationed at the shipyard to guard the Bach, and we'll use the cover of the radioactive waste shipping to mask the Bach's reactor lighting up. NATO will throw a fit, but can't do much about it," said Aaron.

"And how do you intend to strong-arm every port in the world to let the Bach and the rest of the nuclear cargo fleet dock?" asked Friedrich.

"I don't. Hajime has already got his conventional fleet prepped for at-sea cargo transfer, the Bach and the rest of the nuclear cargo fleet will handle the long haul, and Hajime's fleet will take their cargo and unload it at the ports," said Aaron.

"You're still playing things pretty close, Aaron. NATO isn't exactly averse to bombing the shit out of Libya if they think Saladin has crossed the threshold from useful warlord to strategic threat," said Friedrich.

"That's why he's at the UN trying to cast himself as visionary leader and not authoritarian warlord," said Aaron.

"Well for all our sakes, let's hope he's able to convince the UN that he's not a threat to Western interests," said Friedrich.

----

Annette pushed open the door to Mikaela's bedroom.

"Mikaela, sweetie? What's wrong?" she asked gently.

Mikaela was on her bed, curled up, and clinging to her teddy bear.

"Nothing," she said, her voice muffled by the teddy bear's fur.

"It's not nothing, sweetie. You can talk to me," said Annette, sitting on the bed.

"I don't like Sky," Mikaela admitted, her grip on the teddy bear tightening.

"What? Why not? Sky's wonderful. They just are a little sensitive to a few things," said Annette.

She attempted to stroke Mikaela's head, but Mikaela flinched away.

"Leave me alone," said Mikaela, her grip on the teddy bear tightening even more.

Annette sighed, and stood up.

"Fine, be that way. But you better be civil with Sky. They already face a lot of discrimination as it is," said Annette, before leaving the room.

Mikaela shut her eyes, and hugged her teddy bear tightly.

"I want Daddy," she whispered, before breaking down in tears.

----

"Welcome back, Ivan. I've been busy while you were at Taipei," said Stefan as Ivan entered his office.

"Please tell me you've got some good news," said Ivan.

"The good news is, I've managed to get Annette's restraining order against you lifted. The bad news is, she won't agree to supervised visitation unless it's at the Palm Springs house, in the presence of both her and a third party of her choosing, and you can't buy or give Mikaela anything without her approval," said Stefan.

"That's a start I guess," said Ivan.

"Yeah, but it's a lot of hoops to jump through. Oh, and she reserves the right to bar you from seeing Mikaela if she thinks you're acting inappropriately," said Stefan.

"I bet she'll use that clause the first chance she gets," said Ivan.

"Well, you can counter sue for full custody, but all we've got is one incident of neglect on Annette's part, and just circumstantial evidence of Mikeala being unhappy," said Stefan.

"Fine, we play the long game. I'll take the supervised visitation for now," said Ivan.

"Well, I've already arranged for your first supervised visit, Annette will be notified that you'll be coming over this Saturday," said Stefan.

"All right, thanks Stefan," said Ivan, as he got up to leave.

----

Ivan arrived at the Palm Springs house, dressed in a gray MIT hoodie and jeans.

Parked outside was the SZPD Stormkreuzer, with Officer Vasquez and Officer Martinez sitting inside.

"Hello Officers," said Ivan as he got out of his car.

"Hey there Mr. Zakhrov," said Camille, waiving from the car.

"Why are you still here? The restraining order is lifted," said Ivan.

"Force of habit I guess. Besides, we've kind of taken a liking to Mikaela," said Camille.

"Well, thanks for coming. I guess it's good to have some friendly faces around," said Ivan.

"Well, we're not exactly friendly faces to Annette," said Michelle with a grin.

"All right, I better get inside, before Annette decides that talking to you is inappropriate," said Ivan.

Ivan walked up to the front door, and rang the doorbell.

After a few moments, Annette opened the door.

Her face was sour as she silently let Ivan in.

In the living room, sat Sky, nursing a cup of tea, and looking pretty much at home.

"So, you're the ex-husband," said Sky, looking Ivan up and down.

"And you're the non-binary math teacher," said Ivan, looking Sky up and down, surveying Sky's pronoun bracelet and septum ring.

"Yes, I am, and I'm also the third party. And I don't like you," said Sky bluntly.

Ivan was about to respond, when he noticed Annette's glare.

"Where's Mikaela?" he asked instead.

"Before you see her, we need to set some ground rules," said Annette firmly.

"Fine, what are they?" asked Ivan.

"One, you will not call her 'Princess', or any other terms of endearment. Two, you will not touch her or try to hug her. Three, you will keep your questions and topics of conversation to only school, and her health. And finally, you will not breathe a word of endorsement of the SZPD, or anything to do with Sirius Software," said Annette.

"Fine," said Ivan.

"Good. Now, sit down, and wait. Sky, let's go get Mikaela," said Annette.

"Sure," said Sky, getting up.

However, before they could leave, Mikaela herself appeared at the top of the stairs.

Her long black hair had been cropped short, and her eyes were bloodshot from crying.

She was wearing an oversized blue hoodie, and jeans.

She came down the stairs slowly, and approached Ivan hesitantly.

Ivan struggled to not come forward and hug her. Instead, he settled for a warm smile.

"I've missed you Mikaela," he said, his voice cracking slightly.

"Hi Daddy, I've missed you too," said Mikaela, struggling to keep her composure.

She had overheard Annette's rules, and gave Ivan an apologetic look, as she sat awkwardly between Annette and Sky.

"So, how have you been Mikaela? How's school?" asked Ivan.

"It's OK, I guess," said Mikaela.

Ivan raised an eyebrow at Annette, who said nothing.

"And how is Sky's class?" asked Ivan.

"Sky's nice," said Mikaela.

Ivan sighed wearily.

"Tell you what. How about I read you a story?" he asked.

"I need to see the story first," said Annette firmly.

"Don't we have a copy of 'Alice in Wonderland'?" asked Ivan, raising an eyebrow at Annette.

"I got rid of all the heteronormative books. Here, you can read this one," said Annette, handing Ivan a copy of 'Heather Has Two Mommies'.

"I see," said Ivan, as he opened the book.

He began to read the book aloud, trying to keep his voice light and cheerful.

After five pages, he stopped, and looked at Mikaela.

"I think that's enough for now. Sky, I think we've gotten off on the wrong foot. I'm Ivan Zakhrov, he/him," he said, standing up and extending his hand.

Sky looked at his hand for a moment, before taking it.

Ivan pulled Sky towards him and threw them onto the coffee table, shattering it.

Sky's scream was cut short as Ivan shoved the rolled up book into their mouth, gagging them.

"Let's make something perfectly clear. I don't care what you and Annette are doing to each other. But if you try to spread this poison to my daughter, I will hunt you down, and kill you with my bare hands, you got that you filthy degenerate?" asked Ivan softly.

"Ivan Zakhrov! Get out of my house!" screamed Annette, trying to pull Ivan off Sky who was sobbing and shaking.

SLAP. Annette was sent reeling backwards as Ivan backhanded her across the face.

"Don't ever touch me again. I'm done with this. You can have this thing, and stay the hell away from Mikaela," said Ivan letting go of Sky, who still sputtered and trembled on the floor.

He turned to Mikaela who was rooted to the spot.

"I'm sorry, Princess. I didn't mean to do this in front of you," he said gently, getting down on his knees and opening his arms.

Mikaela took a tentative step towards Ivan, but Annette threw herself between them, seized Mikaela, and fled up the stairs.

"Daddy!" screamed Mikaela, as Ivan chased after Annette.

Annette ran into her bedroom, slammed the door shut, and locked it.

Mikaela tried to call out for Ivan, but Annette covered her mouth, while she fumbled for her phone.

Keeping a firm grip on Mikaela, Annette dialed 911.

"911, what's your emergency?" asked the operator.

"Yes, I need the police. My ex-husband just assaulted me, and my daughter. I've locked myself and her in the bedroom, I'm in 114 Palm Springs. Please come quickly," sobbed Annette.

"Ma'am, please stay calm. Help is on the way. Can you tell me if your ex-husband is still there?" asked the operator.

"I don't know. He ran after me, but I locked the door," said Annette.

"OK, stay on the line with me. Officers are on their way," said the operator.

"Thank you," said Annette.

Mikaela struggled to get free, but Annette, still clamping down her hand over Mikaela's mouth, dragged her towards the bed.

She sat down on the bed, and fished out a bottle of sleeping pills from her nightstand.

Ignoring Mikaela's muffled screams, Annette opened the bottle, poured out a handful of pills, and forced them into Mikaela's mouth.

Mikaela struggled, but Annette held her down, and forced the pills down her throat.

Mikaela kept struggling, but eventually, the pills took effect, and she slumped against Annette, unconscious.

A minute later, there was a polite knock on the bedroom door.

"Ms. Petra, it's Officer Vasquez, you can open the door now. Ivan Zakhrov has left the premises," said Camille.

Annette quickly hid the bottle of pills, opened the door, and let Camille and Michelle in.

"Thank God you're here. He hit me," said Annette, pointing to her cheek.

"Yes ma'am, we know. He confessed everything and turned himself in," said Camille. She spied Mikaela slumped on the bed, and went over to her.

"Is she OK?" asked Camille, checking Mikaela's vitals.

"She fainted, I think from shock," said Annette.

"All right, I'm calling an ambulance," said Camille, pulling out her radio.

"Please! Don't take us to the Sirius Zone! Please take us to downtown Boston!" begged Annette.

"All right," sighed Camille, before calling in the ambulance.

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