Not a Khaleesi

[justmedk]

Daenerys Targaryen had a feeling in her stomach that she couldn't quite describe, but it was certainly not pleasant. She had seen the man she was going to marry tomorrow only this very day, and he did not look pleasant.
She knew that this marriage was necessary in order for her brother gain the army of Dothraki warriors he needed to win back the throne that was rightfully his. But she did not WANT to marry this man. This "Khal Drogo" who was not only much older than her 14 years, but much bigger, and more intimidating and frigthening than confidence-inspiring.



She lay now in her bed, trying to sleep, but sleep would not come to her for the longest while, she felt. Her mind was full of images of imaginary scenes from next day's events. She'd heard much and more about Dothraki weddings, and how a Dothraki wedding with less than three deaths were considered dull.
What really troubled her mind was what awaited her after the "festivities" were over. She had, of course, been told what would happen then, and that she was expected to please her new husband.
Viserys had made it quite plain to her that he would be very upset if she did anything less than please Drogo entirely, and she had learned over the years what Viserys' being upset meant.



Daenerys sighed as she finally felt fatigue gaining on her, and she hoped that she could soon sleep.
The last thought she had, was a wish:

"I wish I was just a normal girl with a normal life", she'd whispered into the darkness just moments before slipping away.

______________________________________________

In the days that followed, she'd had cause to both regret and not-regret those whispered deep desires.
She'd found herself in an entirely strange place when she awoke. At first she hadn't known where she was, but it hadn't taken many seconds before she'd connected the dots: She'd gone to sleep in her own bed in. She'd awoken on the floor in a cold room she hadn't seen before, but wearing the same clothes.
What had happened had seemed clear to her: The Usurper had bribed some of the guards to keep her sedated and then taken her away.
She had figured that she was on a ship heading back to King's Landing, the capital of the Seven Kingdoms and the seat of the might of the Iron Throne, to be publically executed, and she'd been unable to hide her terror as she cowered in a corner while she heard the umistakable - but also inexplicable - sound of confusion and alarm outside the room she was in.

It had taken her an entire day of watching the strange people in their strange uniforms and with their strange weapons, and being subjected to strange tests and answered more questions than she ever had in her life combined, from people who called themselves "doctors", for her to accept that this was not the case.
But when she asked them to tell her where she was and what they were going to do to her, all she'd gotten were noncommital deflections.

It wasn't until a couple of days later, where the officer who appeared to be in command of the encampment she'd found herself in, told her a bit more:

She'd appeared out of nowhere in an encampment of the military forces of some country she'd never heard of, and no one had any idea how she'd gotten there.
At first they'd thought that she was making her story up. Apparently she'd ended up far enough away from the mansion in Pentos they'd been living in, that no one had even heard of Westeros, because whenever she answered the question of who she was, people had stared at her in disbelief.

Eventually, they'd ascertained that she was telling the truth, though she'd been observant enough to notice that while they no longer thought that she was lying, or insane, there was still something about people's behavior that told her that they were incredulous, as if what had happened, could not have happened, and yet had.

Now, however, it had been a couple of days, and the commander of the encampment had informed her that she could no longer stay there. Apparently, this particular place was supposed to be a secret from the people of the country, and it was not equipped for long-term habitation.
Her plead to send her back instead, had been met with sympathy, but ultimately rejected - the commander had said that they had no idea how she'd gotten there, and even less of an idea how to send her back.
Having spent so many years quietly and carefully observing her brother for signs of changes in his mood, Daenerys knew very well how to read someone. She saw that the commander told her the truth on at least that count.

So when he'd told her that he'd consulted his own superiors, all the way up to what he called "the top of the chain of command", and found a family she could stay with, she'd been moderately grateful, and certainly told him such. Living with a family had to be better than being on this base, and she could maybe explain her predicament to the Lord she was certain they'd place her with, and end up rallying even more support for Viserys' cause.
She was now waiting for her new foster father's arrival, and had done her best to prepare herself. She'd "showered" - that was one of the contraptions of this place that she thoroughly enjoyed and had plans to do all she could to bring back with her - and gotten into the nicest clothes she had. Which, sadly, wasn't much. One of the soldiers under the commander's authority had apparently donated some clothes that his own daughter could no longer fit, and while Daenerys knew that gratitude was expected, and she did express it, she also felt that it wasn't quite fitting for a girl of her status.

It would have to do, however, as she realized there was no time to procure anything else, not that she knew where to do that in any case.
And so, all she had to do was wait, now. She once again had butterflies in her stomach, but for a different reason this time.

[diceroller4]

Sansa could say that without a doubt the last few days had been the worst in her life. It seemed like just as all her dreams were coming true they had been ripped away. She was set to marry Joffrey, her golden prince, and she would be going to Kingslanding with her father as he was to become the new hand of the king. She could think of very little that could have made things better other then perhaps if she didn’t have to deal with her younger sister every day, and then it all fell apart.

She had gone to bed thinking of the wonders of someday being queen and never having to worry about being embarrassed by her bratty sister again, and woken up somewhere completely different. She hadn’t known where she was other then being certain the strange place was not Winterfell. She thought she saw another girl briefly but then people in odd outfits came and bustled her away. They placed her in a strange room and asked her a great many confusing questions over and over, as if expecting her answers to somehow change.

Eventually when it became clear she wasn’t going to be able to give them whatever answers they were looking for, and after bursting into tears more than once, the questioning stopped and they seemed to focus more on their strange tests. Eventually she got an explanation, though it wasn’t one that made much sense.

The person in charge explained that she had somehow ended up in his army’s camp where no one was supposed to be. The country he claimed to be from wasn’t one she recognized of course but supposedly she was very far from home and for the moment there was no way to get her back. Instead they had found a family they trusted to take care of her for the time being. While she was far from happy with the answer she was forced to accept it, hoping whoever she was sent to stay with would be as kind to her as her own family had been to Greyjoy scion who they fostered.

So she was made ready to meet her soon to be sponsor. She took one of their odd standing bathes, she believed it was called a shower, and dressed herself in some of the strangely styled clothes she had been provided. She had an embarrassing moment when the woman who was helping her, who insisted she was a soldier and not a servant, had to explain odd small clothes she had been provided. She supposed she couldn’t complain too much about what she had been provided as her only alternative was the bedclothes she had arrived in but she was very much hoping she would be given a few proper gowns once she reached her temporary home.

For the time being however she had been sat in an undecorated room to wait. Supposedly her new foster father would be arriving to speak with her shortly. Sitting primly as she waited the redhead did her best not to show her impatiens. With nothing else provided to help her pass the time she idly listened to the guards chanting in the hallway, trying to make sense of the bits of conversation she managed to catch.


****


The Targaryen princess was only made to wait a short while before a rapid knock sounded on the door to the room she had been left in. A moment later the door was opened wide enough for a man with curly brown hair to poke his head in. He glanced around the room until his eyes will on the waiting teen. Immediately he gave the girl a smile and opened the door enough to come fully into the room.

“There you are,” the man exclaimed in a friendly tone. He was a tall and thin, moving in a smooth relaxed manner. So far the people the princess had seen since arriving seemed to wear one of three outfits; one for the officers, one for the doctors, and one for everyone else. This man however was wearing khaki pants and a black polo shirt along with a pair of black boots and thin silver glasses.

As he entered the room he seemed friendly. An easy smile remained on his face as he approached the teen and offered a hand. “You must be Daenerys,” he stated in a seemingly pleased tone. “An absolute pleasure to meet you little miss. My name is Roger Stevenson. You’re going to be staying with myself and my wife for the time being so I hope we’ll get along. Now how about we get you out of this dreary place, huh?”

Roger made a gesture with his head back towards the door, hoping the young lady would be agreeable. His black BMW was freshly washed and waiting for them out in the parking area. While it was used and a good few years old it was well taken care of and he somehow doubted a girl who had likely never seen a car before was going to complain much.

[justmedk]

Dani hadn't grown up in Westeros, but on the run in Essos, so she wasn't 100% certain on all the finer points of proper etiquette, though Ser Willem Darry had been a good role model for her, but he sadly hadn't been around for very long.

But she knew enough, that when she saw the door open, she stood, and then looked down deferentially when Lord Stevenson entered.

"Lord Stevenson", she said in the same tone. "Thank you for allowing me to stay with you. I promise to do my best to be a good ward to you", she put her new reality into the only words she really knew. "Lead the way, my Lord", she said, trying to smile, but still obviously somewhat nervous and taken aback by the situation, as she made a move to follow him.

That's when she heard something even more unexpected than the situation in and of itself: One of the other soldiers that passed them in the hallway after leaving the room she'd been placed in, said something to a comrade that she obviously wan't supposed to hear, but which also stopped Dani cold:

"Man.....Daenerys Targaryen AND Sansa Stark suddenly showing up on the same base on the same day? What kind of voodo is that?"

He went suddenly quiet when his comrade gave him an elbow in the side and gestured to Dani angrily, but the damage had been done. She didn't know the person he'd referred to. But she certainly did know who she had to be. "Stark". She felt rage boiling up in her, and she had not been sufficiently trained to suppress the emotion. Not that she'd had the best role model in that regard either. Viserys had a savage temper. And while she knew that he was a cruel man, he was also the only older role model she'd had after Ser Willem had died.

"So, the traitor's girl is here too", she said, mostly to herself, as she kept following Lord Stevenson down the hall. "I wonder if he even cares, or if he's too busy betraying his NEW "king" to care at all", she mused with a mix of resentment, anger and bitterness in her voice.


______________________________________________

William Jackson had not anticipated this when he got up that morning. But it had taken little more than a phone call and a 30 minute conversation with Kayla, before the decision had been made.
They couldn't keep Sansa on the base indefinitely, just as they couldn't keep Daenerys. First of all because a military base is no place for children, but secondly because it was a SECRET military base, and they weren't supposed to even be there in the first place. The fact that they WERE there was something that no one could explain, not even the eggheads down in the lower levels that had been declared Top Secret.


He was second-in-command of the base, but not even he had been read into everything that went on downthere. All he knew was that they had been doing some kind of high-energy experiments, and suddenly two people who weren't even supposed to exist, had popped up out of nowhere. He'd listened to the chief egghead - a Dr. Greg Collins - explain about the multiverse and probabilities, and other such things, but hadn't cared much. He cared about two things right now: Getting these girls somewhere safe, secure, and appropriate for them. And off this base.

William didn't blame POTUS for first being angry when General Peters had called to ask for orders once it had been established that these girls were in fact who they said they were. Heck, he wouldn't have believed it himself if he hadn't been there to see it. It took actually flying out to the base and seeing the two girls, hearing the testimonies of the science staff, in order for POTUS to finally drop his threat to court-martial Gen. Peters for wasting his time. It was then that he'd looked at William and Gen. Peters and said:

"Fix this. Get them a good, loving home in the meantime. And get the eggheads under control."


The two men had obliged. William had told the general that he'd take care of it, if he was granted carte blanche. Peters, happy to pawn off the responsibility for this part of the mess on his XO, had eagerly agreed to those terms. The exact words used were:

"You heard POTUS. Fix this, Major. I put this in your hands. Give me names, and papers, and I'll sign them. Just get this done"


William knew few people he would trust with something like this, and fewer who had the necessary clearance.
In fact, only two people sprung to mind: Rodger Stevenson - the contractor from IT........and himself and Kayla. It hadn't taken long for him to make that decision, and he'd personally ordered the vetting of, and subsequent security clearance for Mrs Stevenson as well. He hadn't been fond of the vetting-part, but it was absolutely necessary. He hadn't expected any troubles from it, and he hadn't been surprised that there weren't any, either. William would never forget the look on Rodger's face, though, when he told him what he wanted him to do, and that despite how it sounded, it wasn't a joke. That had been priceless.

The phone call to Kayla, however, had been a different story. He had had to recuse himself from that particular vetting process for obvious reasons. Peters had looked at him, with that piercing look that only COs and determined parents knew how to give, and asked him flat out:

"Are you two ready for this, Bill?"

William had thought only for a second before he'd nodded and answered in the affirmative, at which point Peters had nodded himself, satisfied with the answer, and begun the vetting for Kayla as well. Again: No surprises. No one really knows everything about anyone else, but William knew his wife well enough to know that it wouldn't be an issue.
It had only taken a few moments to make the call, but convincing Kayla that it was not a joke had taken a lot longer. And the pressure had been great. POTUS was adament about getting the girls somewhere else, and so was Gen. Peters. If they didn't take Sansa, she'd likely be shipped off to some other less classified facility first, and then to someone else he couldn't control.

That had been enough for Kayla. He knew his wife well enough to know that. He knew that she'd pictured a child being moved from pillar to post across the country, and that was something she couldn't accept. So they'd agreed.


And now the moment of truth had come.

Kayla had been preparing their home, setting up the guest room as Sansa's new room - making sure that it was "bare" enough for her to be able to put her own touch on it, but not enough so that it would seem uninviting. It was a delicate balance, but he knew that Kayla would manage it.



Now he was standing outside the door to the room they'd put Sansa in, taking a deep breath, and then opened the door.

"Sansa", he said with a smile. He'd always loved children, and the fact that he'd now become responsible for a child - and a very abnormal one at that - overnight was admittedly overwhelming for him. But he knew he and Kayla could give her what she needed: A good, stable, loving home. And that was what mattered.


"If you'll come with me, please", he said gesturing to the door he'd just entered by. "You'll be staying with me and my wife, and she's very much looking forward to meeting you", he went on as he went over to her, put his hands on her shoulder in a gesture meant to convey comfort, before looking into her eyes:

"I have no idea how this happened, Sansa. I also have no idea on how to reverse it, or if that's even possible. But I can promise you that for as long as you're here, my wife and I will take care of you as if you were our own daughter", he said reassuringly as he again gestured for the door. "Come on. Let's go, hm?"

When they were walking down the hall, two soldiers coming towards them from an adjacant hallway - meaning that the two soldiers couldn't see Sansa and William approach - had a conversation loud enough that it was unavoidable for Sansa to hear:

"Did you hear what Roberts did?", one of them said incredulously. "He more or less just told Danaerys Targaryen that Sansa Stark was here too."

"He did?"

"Well, not directly to her of course", the first voice replied, "But he said it loud enough while she was close enough that she definitely heard"

William stopped, stared ahead for a moment, then smiled at Sansa. "Stay right there for a few moments, okay?", he ordered gently, before he walked briskly over to the approaching soldiers who by now had arrived at the midsection of the crossing of the two hallways.

"And you gentlemen have now done the same", he said angrily. "If you can't keep your mouths shut about matters that are top secret, then at least do consider how spending a few decades in Leavenworth would be", he said, meaning to scare them straight. It worked, too. The two came to a stiff attention, and William headed back to Sansa, still smiling kindly as he led her down the hall.


___________________________________________

No one had anticipated, or planned, for what actually happened. But it did.
As fate would have it, both girls were led towards the exit at the same time, so that it didn't take Dani more than a moment to realize that the redhead being led to the same door she was being led to, was this Sansa Stark, but she did manage to keep quiet and not say what was on her mind. She did not want to anger her foster father right now.

[diceroller4]

Rodger let out a chuckle at the young teen. “Wow, can’t say I’ve ever been called a lord before. We don’t really have titles like that around here Little Miss,” he told the girl as he lead her from the room. “Some place still do but not here. You can call me Mr. Stevenson when we’re in public I suppose, good manners and all that, but when we’re in private Rodger will do.”

The tall man was still a little surprised that he had been selected to foster the girl. He and his wife had been talking about perhaps trying for a child of their own but had been a little hesitant so imagine his surprise when he had been informed that he was determined to be the best match. He had the clearance to of course but he had a feeling they still would have prefered someone who was still active duty if not for his own father’s reputation helping him out. Regardless this wasn’t an opportunity he meant to squander.

As they passed down the hall he couldn’t help but hear the soldiers chatting indiscreetly. He turned to give them a dirty look but luckily spotted an officer heading their way who also seemed to have heard their chatter. Rodger decided to focus on his own charge while the men were dealt with, glancing back at Daenerys to confirm she had heard them as well. “Just ignore them Little Miss,” he advised her with a smile. “Nothing that you need to worry about just now.”

Despite his words Rodger had a feeling that things were not going to be that simple. Sure enough he heard the princess muttering to herself but chose to let it go for the moment. She would have plenty of time to come to terms with everything later, for now she just needed to get to a better environment. Of course as luck would have it he spotted someone else coming from the other direction as they neared the exit and had to bite back a curse. He gave the XO a nod but tried to hurry Daenerys out before there would be any awkward conversation.


********


Sansa’s head snapped up at the sound of the door opening. She immediately rose to her feet at the arrival of what looked like an important man, as far as she could tell at least. He seemed nice enough at a glance and upon hearing him mention that she would be staying with him she felt a bit relieved. He didn’t look like any kind of a monster, really he reminded her of some of the more serious lords she’d seen visiting her father.

“Oh course my lord,” she agreed easily while giving her best curtsy. “It’s an honor to be invited into your home and I thank you very much. I promise I will not make you regret your kindness.” She bowed her head for a moment before glancing up cautiously and finding meeting his gaze. His assurance were heartening to hear and felt much better than she had since her arrival.

Feeling much lighter and more carefree Sansa fell into step behind the man. Hopefully this would be the start of a much more pleasant experience until she could go home. It occurred to her as they walked that she hadn’t actually caught the man’s name but as they were already leaving the room she couldn’t think of a polite way to rectify this.

While the redhead was pondering how best to inquire into the lord’s name she was distracted by a conversation happening just ahead. The young woman froze as she processed the words the men were exchanging. Daenerys Targaryen? It wasn’t a name that she had heard much of but she vaguely recalled that she was suppose to be the child of the mad king.

After hearing mention of the other young woman Sansa was more than a little distracted, barely noticing anything as first her new foster father chewed out the men who had been gossiping then lead her through the camp.

As they were nearing what seemed to be the exit however she spotted man up ahead leading a girl just a bit older than her. The girl looked out of place, and not only because she was the first person Sansa had seen hear her own age since arriving in this place. Looking her over the redhead couldn’t help but notice that she bore the distinct coloring of the Targaryens, or at least how she had heard them described.

“That’s her isn’t it,” Sansa suddenly spoke up as her eyes narrowed,”Daenerys Targaryen?” Even she was surprised at the venom in her voice. Actually had it been almost anyone else from her homeland she would have been relieved to meet them, but this was the mad king’s daughter. Sansa’s grandfather and uncle had been killed by this girl’s father, and her own aunt had been stolen away but the older teen’s brother.

Without even thinking about it she started glaring at the other girl. “Why is she here my lord,” she asked harshly. She did her best to remain polite like she had been taught but it was not her best effort. “You do know who she is don’t you? What her family has done?”

[justmedk]

While they were heading for the exit, the same thing that had occured to Sansa, occured to William, and he chuckled a bit and sat down on a chair outside an office, before looking up at her.


"I'm sorry Sansa, I have you at a disadvantage, it seems. I neglected to tell you my name, didn't I?", he said with a reassuring smile.

"My name is William Jackson", he explained. "I'm a "Major" in the military of this country. I guess the best equivalent would be....", he began, searching his brain for something Sansa would be able to relate to.

"You know how when your father goes to war, he is command of his entire army, but he's delegated part of that responsibility to other men who he trusts, and then gives orders to, so he doesn't have to know everyhing himself?", he tried.

"Well, I'm one such man", he went on with a smile. "I receive orders from my superiors and carry them out, just as they receive their orders from their superiors and carrry them out. And so on all the way to the top", he explained. "More specifically, I am second-in-command of this base", he told her, gesturing to their surroundings. "That means that if General Peters who you met before should become unable to lead, the responsibility would fall to me", he finished, hoping she'd understood that.


"You can call me what you're comfortable with in private", he said with a smile. "Though in public, it's is customary for children to call their guardians "sir" if male, and "ma'am" if female, if they're not their parents", he said. Of course he hoped that she in time would come to see Kayla and himself as such, but he also knew that this time was not today, and wouldn't be for quite a while. So for now, he had to give her something, as they continued towards the exit.



William had thought that he and Rodger had managed to effect a daring escape for both their new charges, to avoid the girls meeting. Both of them knew, of course, that the girls would meet. Despite their differences, they shared so much, still, that trying to keep them permanently apart would not just be impractical, it would be not be in their best interest either.
Once they got over their habitual and baseless hate for eachother, the two men hoped that the girls would bury the hatchet and become the support for eachother that both of them needed.

Both men also knew, however, that that day was not this day.
And thus, trouble was on the horizon when Sansa spoke up.

_____________________________


Dani nodded mildly when Rodger corrected her address. She figured that she would have to get used to a lot of things in this new place, and this was apparently one of them.
The title "mister" was close enough to "Maester" that Dani instinctively associated the two and concluded that Rodger had to be a high-ranking Maester of some kind. Though what he'd said about having a wife puzzled him. This would have to be a strange country indeed where there were no Lords, and the Maesters were married.

When she heard Rodger's advice, she nodded calmly to herself, secretly proud that she'd not only managed to keep back her anger, but please her foster father in the process. It was only when they'd gotten outside, and were almost at the gate shielding off the base from the outside world, that things went south.


Dani had marvelled at this strange new place she'd arrived at. It was cold, and she shuddered a bit at the cold wind hitting her like a brick of ice. Though it was a typical Midwestern October, it was also quite a bit colder than what Dani had been accustomed to in Pentos. She'd tried to take in her surroundings, when she heard a voice behind her. She didn't recognize the voice, but from the words she heard, and what had been overheard earlier, she knew who the speaker was.

This time, Dani could not keep silent, though to her credit she had tried again. And failed.
Instead, she spun around and looked at Sansa with contempt.


"My family", she began with contempt in her voice, mixed with anger, "brought 300 years of peace and prosperity to you savages that had been warring among eachother for millenia"


It was Dani's voice, but the words were Viserys'. Not that Dani didn't share her brother's anger, but it was usually more subtle than this. Now that she was face to face with a living manifestation of the betrayal done to her family, however,

she could not hold back from falling back upon the words of some of Viserys' rants she'd overheard.



"Sansa Stark", she said with a venoums grin as she gave Sansa a look that basically screamed "You're beneath me", though without her saying the words aloud.



"The traitor's spawn.", she continued, "You're lucky you don't have your father's cold eyes. Whether you have his cold, deceitful heart remains to be seen, however. As for the lies of the Usurper and his dogs about my family, you can let the others take them like they will drag your traitor father down to the lowest of the seven hells when the stranger finally comes for him", she continued, her body language now screaming anger, and anyone even remotely adept at reading body language could see that it was only a matter of time before things would escalate.

"It wasn't enough for the "honorable" Ned Stark to overthrow his rightful king, was it?", she continued. "He had to murder two children and rape their mother.", she finished, before spitting on the ground in front of Sansa.

[diceroller4]

Sansa did her best to understand what her new guardian was explaining to her. The last time her father had gone to war had been the Greyjoy rebellion and Sansa had been far too young to remember anything clearly. It did sound like the man was something like the Captain of the City Watch in Kingslanding or the master-at-arms in Winterfell, someone put in charge of a large number of men without necessarily being a lord. Of course it made far more sense when he revealed he was a Sir. Of course someone trusted with so much responsibility would be a knight!


The run in between the teen girls was so sudden and unexpected that Rodger hadn't realized at first that Dani was no longer following him. By the time he turned around and processed what was happening the young woman was already unleashing her temper on Sansa. The former marine moved to break things up but wasn't fast enough to get there before the redhead got her own remarks in.

The younger girl shied back away from Dani's temper but hearing the words the princess directed at her father stoked her own anger. Her sister got under her skin on a nearly daily basis and her brothers managed to on occasion as well but nothing like the Targaryen girl before her. Ever Lord and Lady she had ever met was adamant that Ned Stark's honor was without question, even when she overheard the servants mention him it was in a good light. How dare the Mad King's daughter besmirch his name?

"Take that back," she demanded in a voice that was chillier than her homeland. "My father is ten times the man yours ever was. Your father burned people alive and your brother kidnapped girl. No doubt you're just as bad. How will the Mad King's daughter managed to reach greater heights of insanity than he did?"

"Alright that's enough," Rodger sternly commanded as he finally caught up and stepped between the girls. "Daenerys now is not the time for this. Let's get going and once we get home we can discuss the appropriate way to express ourselves in public." His tone promised it would not be a fun conversation but he wasn't taking no for an answer. "Come along Little Miss." With that he started firmly ushering the girl towards his car.

[justmedk]

Dani scoffed at Sansa's response.

"Take what back? It's not my brother's fault that your aunt couldn't keep her legs together", she said, and was about to continue when she heard her new guardian telling her in no uncertain terms to stop. Like all other children, she was very sensitive to the types of address adults use. He'd called her "little miss" until now, but now he'd used her name, and she heard the tone clearly. She did, obediently, stop speaking while gritting her teeth as she turned on her heels and followed him into the waiting "car".

"I apologize", she said, but tone tone of her voice was more formal than truly apologetic. "I shouldn't have gone off on the traitor's wench like that. She's beneath me", she said with a sigh as she stood outside the vehicle, realizing it to be a carriage, but not realizing what would move it.

"Say, Maester Stevenson", she began. "What happened to the horses? We won't get far without horses", she said, as if she was stating the obvious.
When she was told to get in, she did, somewhat hesitantly, failing to see the point of getting into a carriage that could not move, but she also realized that she was in a bit of trouble with er foster father, and didn't want to get into any more by disobeying him. When the car came to life seemingly out of nowhere, Daenerys jumped in her seat and looked around.


"What kind of magic is this?", she asked, now somewhat alarmed. The noise of the engine wasn't loud enough to be actually uncomfortable, but what caused her discomfort was the fact that she had no idea where it was coming from. And life on the run from the Usurper's dogs had taught her that unknown sounds equalled danger.

_________________________

William had had something happen to him that hadn't happen very often: Surprise. He had been surprised by the coincidence of the two girls appearing at all, and so closely together. He'd been surprised by the lack of planning - though when he was honest with himself he couldn't blame anyone but himself as he'd been given carte blanche to fix the situation and hadn't thought of this - and he'd been surprised at the suddenness and viciousness of the girls' exchange.

William did not like being surprised.


"That's enough!", he said louder than he intended, to snap Sansa out of the battle with Dani that she was in, only moments after Rodger had done the same, as he saw that Sansa was about to reply to Dani's last outbust, and knew that this needed to de-escalate, not the opposite.

"Come along", he ordered curtly, trying to tell himself to calm down. None of this was Sansa's fault, so his frustration with the unknowns of the situation should not be taken out of her. He did, however, need to have a conversation with her about proper behavior in public.

"We'll have a talk about behavior in public as well, young lady", he said sternly as he opened the car door - the back seat, not realizing for the moment that the chance that Sansa would understand the chastisement of being placed in the backseat like a younger child was very slim - and strapped her in with the seatbelt.


"Don't be alarmed", he had the wherewithal to reassure her as he did that, "this is a safety measure. We're about to be moving at very high speeds compared to anything you know", he went on, "and if any accidents should happen, this will ensure that you're not hurt", he said, throwing a little white lie in there. Seatbelts made sure that the damage was less than it would have been otherwise, but they didn't prevent injury entirely.
That, however, was not a point for today's conversation, and the risk of actually getting in an accident was exceedingly small. He'd driven jeeps through IED-filled roads in Afghanistan, while trying to get to comrades pinned down by Taliban. After that, no driving seemed difficult to him.


"I'm very disappointed in that behavior, Sansa", he said seriously as he looked at her in the rearview mirror. "And I doubt that your father would have approved of you taking your anger at what her father and brother did out on her", he put the idea out there for her to chew on, as he started the engine without a second thought, to get them home.

[diceroller4]

"Thank you for apologizing but I don't think I'm the one you most owe an apology to Little Miss," Rodger told the girl as he opened the door for her. "But as I said we will discuss that when we get home. For now buckle your seat belt." He climbed into the drivers side and indicated how to buckle the seat belt then double checked she had done so correct before starting the car. "Don't worry, nothing to fear here. You see instead of horses the car has what is called an engine and I suppose the most straightforward way of thinking about it is that it takes fire and puts it to use powering the car. It's not magic, just science. It's pretty complicate but if you are interested we can teach you more about it."

Roger pulled out of his spot slowly, not wanting to scare the girl. As they drove away he kept the pace fairly sedate. "See, smoother than any horse ride but actually much faster. Trust me I could easily get this thing moving faster than any horse could run and actually do so on most days. In fact at the speed I normally drive home not even a dragon could catch us." The last was said with a grin and a wink but the former marine decided against showing off said speeds. Instead he changed the subject to easy topics, asking Dani about things like what foods she liked or pointing out some of the more easily explained sights out the windows.

Eventually they arrived and Rodger pulled the car into the driveway. "Here we are," he said indicating the most house before them. "Home sweet home. I know it's probably not as grand as the manse you're used to but I hope you'll come to love it as much as I do." Climbing out Rodger came around and opened the door for the princess before showing her how to unbuckle her seat belt. Once he had helped the child out he couldn't help but smile at the sight of the blonde woman bustling towards them.

"Well I guess someone couldn't wait for us to even get inside," he joked as he moved to greet green eyed woman with a kiss. He had to bend down a good bit to do so and could only laugh as he got only a quick kiss back before he was pushed aside. "Daenerys this is my wife, Wanda Stevens," he explained quickly,

Wanda for her part was clearly very excited to meet Dani and she greeted the girl with a wide smile. "Hello there dear. I hope Roger has been good to you so far. He at least got you here without doing something foolish as far as I can see so that is a start." As she spoke she laid her hands on the girls shoulder and turned her first this way then that as if inspecting her for damage before pulling her into a hug. "Oh we are so glad to have you. Come come, I've got some food just about ready. Lets get you washed up and properly fed." With that she started bustling the girl towards the door, all happy energy and big smiles.

~~~~~~

The sudden interference of the unknown man and the sharp tone from the Major caused Sansa to jump. Upon seeing the man's expression the redhead wilted, knowing she had disappointed her knew guardian. "I'm sorry Sir," she said softly as she hung her head and followed meekly.

While Sansa was a little confused that the wagon was without horses she didn't dare speak up after having just upset the man. She demurely let him strap her in place, even if it did make her feel like she was some kind of criminal who needed to be restrained during transport. His explanation made some sense but she still couldn't help nervously tugging a little at the belt. Of course it was odd that her climbed into the drives compartment himself as she would have assumed someone so important would have a drive to handle the horse for them.

When the scolding continued Sansa once more hung her head and shrunk into her seat. "I'm sorry," she repeated softly. "You're right Sir William, what I did was very wrong. I hope you can come to forgive me." Honestly she wasn't sure how she felt comparing the princess to her family, after all it made sense to worry when the whole family was clearly mad, but she certainly shouldn't have said what she did. It wasn't very lady like.

The redhead's musing and self recriminations were interrupted by the starting of the car. She grabbed onto the first thing she could find, a handle connected to the door which seemed to be for this very purpose, and hung on tightly. "Sir William? Is there something wrong with the carriage? Please I think we need to run but you've strapped me in too tight." To indicate her point she let got with one hand to give her seat belt a few strong tugs.

[justmedk]

Dani wasn't very keen on the idea of apologizing to Sansa, but she wasn't saying anything more about it. Instead she wondered what was meant by "buckle up", until he showed her, and she felt a little bit intimidated by being restrained at first, but that only lasted until this thing started, and her attention was on the insanity she was in.


She looked out the window as everything went by at speeds not even rivalled, she was sure, by her ancestor Aegon the Conqueror flying in on Balerion. She stared wide-eyed at teh landscape that passed her by, and when they reached the suburbs, she marvelled at the strange houses they passed, until they came to a stop.

"At least here", she said as she answered his remark about the house, "no one is going to try to kill me". Usually when teens talk about being "killed" they mean it figuratively, about getting in trouble. It was, however, clear from Daenerys' voice that it was a dry statement of fact, and there was a bit of exitement about that fact in her voice too.


She had only gotten out of the car when she saw a woman, presumably his wife, come out rushing towards them. Dany was a bit confused at the woman's enthusiasm to see her. It seemed genuine, though she couldn't understand its reason. It was very welcome, though, as she couldn't remember the last time anyone had shown her true affection, and she soaked it all up like a sponge would with water, and though she was surprised by the hug, she returned it, somewhat more tightly than a normal teenager would have, and held it for a little bit longer than a normal teenager would have, until she was shepherded inside. She was happy about the prospect of food and a bath, none of which she'd had for...seemingly ever. Of course she'd been fed on the base, that went without saying, but there was a difference between a military encampment, and a home, and she had momentarily forgotten all about the earlier scuffle with Sansa, as she went inside the house when prompted, happy to finally live in a safe place.

______________________________

William sighed. She did seem genuinely repentant, and he didn't want her to feel that she'd ruined everything. Lord knew that those two houses had a lot of bad blood between them, and even though the two children had never met, they still knew of that enmity.


"Of course I can forgive you, Sansa", he said, "What kind of guardian would I be if I let one incident ruin everything? But you need to learn to control your temper, and that there're things that are just not acceptable kinds of behavior in public, even if you don't like someone.....especially when you don't have any reason to not like that someone. She's not responsible for what happened between your family and hers, after all", he began, "And she shouldn't have spoken to you like that either. Knowing Mr. Stevenson, he's making the exact same point to her as we speak", William went on.

As the car started, William couldn't help but smile when Sansa was startled, though he quickly forced himself to be serious. Seeming to make fun of her fear about the unknown was not a good way to start a parental relationship.

"Nothing's wrong, dear", he said softly, but also in a tone of voice that left no doubt as to the veracity of it, to reassure her. "This carriage moves without the use of horses. The reason how is.....complicated", he said with a smile, "But trust me, there's nothing wrong. I have driven these carriages for many years, also in...in battle", he said, finding no better way to describe the situation in Afghanistan he was operating under than the word "battle".

By the time they arrived in another suburb, Kayla was already ready for them. Of course she hadn't been able to decorate Sansa's room, and she also thought the girl should get the chance to do that herself, but the house, including the guest room, was clean, and there was food on the table. When she heard the car pull into the driveway, she smiled and opened the door.


Unlike Mrs Stevenson, Kayla stood in the door and simply smiled, waiting for them to come to her, and she kissed William briefly on the mouth, before looking at Sansa.

"Welcome, honey", she said, her somewhat chubby figure bending down and taking Sansa into a hug. "I'm very happy that you're here, though I would of course help you get back if I could. That's for the eggheads at William's base to deal with, though", she said. "Mine is to give you the best home I can while you're here, and to care for you as well as I can. And we're going to do just that", she said, then looked at William who nodded his complete agreement.

"Come along", she said, gesturing for Sansa to enter the house. "Food's on the table. I'm sure you haven't had a proper meal in this place yet"

[diceroller4]

Had Rodger heard Dani's comment about people trying to kill her he would have likely taken the time to sit her down and convince her that he would in fact be keeping her safe. However the tall man had missed it so for the moment the comment went unaddressed.

Immediately inside the front door was a warm living room, decorated with a colorful though eclectic array of figurines and paintings. The furniture was generally large and overstuffed, the kind that could be hard to get out of and even harder not to fall asleep in, and one was was mostly taken up by the tv and surrounding entertainment center.

"Rodger will no doubt take great joy in explaining all that later," Wanda jokingly said as they passed through the room. "For now lets get you clean and fed. Would you rather have a shower or a bath?" As it turned out heading straight through the living room lead to the kitchen while on the right was a hall. The first door was a bathroom which was their intended destination. Wanda helped guide the teen through how to get her choice of shower or bath working and the water just right, doing all but stripping the girl herself and washing her. She was tempted to offer to do just that if the girl needed it but decided Dani was probably old enough to speak up if she couldn't bathe herself, and likely be embarrassed by the offer if she could.

"Alright here's a few towels," she said pointing to the fluffy white linens she laid out. "Please put your dirty clothes in this hamper here, don't just leave them scattered around the floor. As far as clothes I had my sister send over some things my nieces out grew that should fit you but we'll go shopping soon so you can pick out things yourself, okay Sweety? For now I laid out some night clothes because I figured you'll probably be tired by the time you are done eating."

Sure enough on on the counter was a nightdress and underclothes donated by Wendy's nieces. Wendy had actually been worried about finding things to fit the teen on such short notice until her husband and Though the oldest two were only fifteen and fourteen themselves they took after their own father in height and had outgrown the clothes Dani's size some time ago. "Just shout if you need anything," Wendy told the girl as she finally left her to her own devices.


~~~~~~~~

Once Sansa's fears subsided she actually started to enjoy the car ride. The way things sped past out her window was fascinating, especially since she didn't know what half of it was. The ride was much smoother than travelling in a carriage or horse, and Sir William certainly seemed to know what he was doing. Briefly the redhead wondered if there might be any songs of the knight's exploits.

Upon reaching the house Sana was a bit surprised to be greeted with a hug by the stranger waiting for her but didn't protest. After going from being constantly surrounded by her loving family to several days in the military base a little maternal comfort was much appreciated. "Thank you very much," the young lady said offering a smile. After a beat she recalled what Sir William had told her earlier and hastily tacked on a, "ma'am." At the offer of food her stomach loudly made it's feeling known, causing the teen to blush brightly as she hurriedly entered the house.