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Daren looked around and saw there was nothing else to do, "i'll be alright, Tim, thank you. we aren't that far away from the house." he made one last check before waving to everyone, "we're going to head out too. see you and thanks for everything."

Iroh nodded, "i need to head out too. thanks again for inviting me, Tim."

Anna smiled, "all of you get home safe, ok? have a good time, thank you for helping clean up, Iroh." he nodded to her thanks as she lead her husband out, holding his hand to make sure he followed.

Daren shook his head a bit and walked out with Iroh and Tim. he said goodbye to Iroh at the cars and got in, sighing as soon as the door were shut, "am i glad to be heading home. it was a great party Tim, i'm just tired."

Daren smiled, returning the hug, "I promise, i'm ok." he pulled out and got them home, "used to driving tired, comes with the job." he parked and got out of the car, stretching before getting into the backseat. they'd found cardboard boxes to put the presents in and he grabbed the two big ones, stacking them in his arms. "if you could get that bag and the little box there we can get these up in one trip." he waited for Tim before heading to the elevator. "you can open all these up when we get into the flat. i'm still surprised they didn't want you to open them there." the elevator stopped and he head to the front door. "think you can get my keys out of my pocket and get the door?"

Mori took a long drag on his cigarette, his eyes on the apartment building, watching and waiting. he'd followed the two home at a distance on his bike, and now he was waiting in an alley across from their apartment. He had his helmet resting on the handles, his engine purring idolly. it was just a matter of time before he got the information he wanted.

Lights turned on and Mori grinned. he dropped his cigarette and put it out with a vicious grin of his heel. "Got you." he put on his helmet and drove off, his plan already forming in his mind.

Daren shook his head, "no idea. i've a feeling there might be a bit of lion paraphernalia in there-at least in mine there is." he had one very distinct package that looked like someone wrapped tissue paper around a stuffed lion. "alright, start opening." he put the boxes down by a chair at the table and sat down opposite, his phone in hand, set on camera. "i'll take pictures of you opening them so that people can get your reactions."

Daren made sure to take pictures of everything, including the tears. "that just shows how much they care about you, Tim." he put the camera away after getting a good shot of Tim in the hat and sat back. "your boss talked to me today. he already got in trouble for bringing work with him, so he didn't want to bother you again. he wanted me to ask you if starting work again next week would be ok with you. he wants, actually, no. the better word would be that he needs you to come back. soon. he's going crazy without you to help him."

Daren leaned back, "sorry. we should have gotten you a new phone ages agao. they just have to search everything that was given to you by him. your car will be returned to you exactly how they found it...well, mostly. I talked with some of our guys the other day. they said you had an oil leak and are going to fix that and your AC before they hand it over. free of charge, of course." he winked before looking at his own pile of gifts. "Want to open them for me?"

Daren grimaced, he'd hoped Tim would do open them for him, but the idea of being pictured while opening them was too much. "It won't mean the same as pictures of you opening them do. they don't know me so it's just silly to send them pictures. if anything, they might think i don't like them or something silly like that." he started to open his small pile of half a dozen gifts. "See, told you." he held up a stuffed lion doll, "Look, you can squeeze it and it rawrs." he did just that and had to shake his head at the silly sound that came from the thing, "that's a rawr? huh." he continued through, finding a nice handkerchief, a pair of good gloves, a couple more lion themed things until finally he was left with an envelope. there was no From on it, just his name written across the top. "Wonder what this is..." he opened it and pulled out a piece of paper, frowning as he saw that it was the back of a picture. the face was towards Tim, giving him a good view. "it's not anything dirty, is it?" he grinned and turned the picture over, but the color drained from his face as he looked into the woman's face. "Oh gods." he stood up, the chair toppling behind him as he continued to stare. "No, how-who?" he dropped the picture on the table and grabbed the envelope, searching for some kind of clue. "who would have her picture?"

Daren found nothing in the envelop, but he went to the kitchen and got a baggy, dropping it inside quickly and sealing it. "i need to get this checked out. i bet Maki would-" he pulled out his phone and started to text. "there shouldn't have been anyone there that had access to this picture, Tim. it's when she was younger. before she was married, probably when she and-and-" his face went slack and he sat down, "before he entered her life. who would know them? it was over thirty years ago!" he dropped his head to his hands for a moment but his phone buzzed and he jumped a bit before pulling it out to check. "she'll do it. i'll find out who sent this one way or another." he looked at the picture, his hand slowly reaching out, his fingers lightly stroking the smiling face, "she looks happy, doesn't she?" even he had to admit, his voice sounded small, broken. "I wish she had never met him. maybe she would have staid happy-"

Daren looked at the frame curiously and then up to Tim, giving him a small smile. "thanks." he accepted the picture and looked at it, "I-don't, didn't have any pictures of her. he destroyed the ones from when they were dating and when he started to...well, he didn't want any proof. the frame is nice, Tim, thanks." he stood up and took the picture to where he'd placed Anna and Tarte's most resent family photo, putting his mom with his closest friends. "I am sure she would want me to be happy." he touched her face once more before pulling away. he took a deep breath and forced his emotions down and away. "Right. you tired enough for bed or want to stay up a bit longer?"