"Oh?" Ryker asked.

"Why?" he asked him.

"Because he's your father?" he asked further.

"Isn't that enough?" Aly asked Ryker.

"For sure." Ryker replied.

"I'm just wondering if there's more to it."

"......" Aly and Ryker were silent for a moment, before Ryker sighed and nodded to her.

Aly then got up and followed to where the piano was, standing at the doorway and watching Eke play. As she watched him, and listened to the music, she sighed quietly.

'...oh, Eke...' she thought.

'You don't deserve this.' she went on, mentally, before she approached the piano and listened to the melody that Eke was producing from it.

"......" Aly wasn't sure what to say here, and she felt that... really... nothing should be said at this point. Instead, she sat down in a nearby chair and took in the piece.

She sat quietly, daring not even to make a sound, before Eke seemed to finish the piece.

"...wow..." she said.

"That was... powerful, and emotional." she commented.

"...I hope we can all make it so that you don't need to vent your frustrations like this so often." she then said further.

"....." Aly was silent for a moment.

"Maybe we should talk to Ryker." she said.

"He seems really capable and strong and knowledgeable." she went on.

"We need to end this as soon as possible." she then reasoned.

"So let's talk to him and form a plan."

Aly was silent again as she watched Eke leave.

He was right. She was doing it again.

"...what ARE we supposed to do?" she wondered.

"I know what our goal is... but how do we do it? And do we have enough time?" she asked herself further.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Ryker had cleaned everything up, and standing out in their backyard, looking at the space and nodding to himself.

Ryker looked over to Eke's offering, and smiled softly, accepting the candy from him.

"....it's been wild, kid." he said.

"Never thought I'd be standing in this situation right now, but I am. Thanks to you." he told him.

"We've been through a lot... but it's not over yet." he went on. "We need to do something about this little situation, and maybe... just MAYBE... fate will allow you to finally have some peace in your life." he continued.

"No matter what happens, meeting you was the best thing to ever happen to me." he went on.

"But I've already said things like that already." he chuckled.

"Doesn't mean I don't mean them, though." he then added.

"..." Ryker was silent, before sighing.

"This is all really taking its toll on you, huh?" he asked, wrapping an arm around Eke's shoulders.

"Don't worry." he said.

"We'll find a way." he told him.

"Not sure how. But we'll find a way." he stressed.

"And you know Aly means well. She's just concerned about you." he then added.

"She told me she's working on that." Ryker responded. "But she'll slip up from time to time, and you just need to remind her of it." he told him further.

"But at least she's working on it, yeah?" he reasoned.

"And you might only be 16, but damn if you haven't matured a lot over the time we've known each other." he then added with a small smile... letting it fade slowly.

"Yeah... yeah it IS crap." he agreed.

"Crap that none of us needs in our lives." he continued.

"Crap that we just need to flush once and for all."

"....hm." Ryker muttered.

"I think so." he admitted.

"And perhaps some of my temper IS rubbing off on you." he then said further with a bit of a wry chuckle.

"But if you really feel like you could hit someone, or need to, there's always me." he offered. "Because of what I'm becoming, I'm durable as all hell, and I've learned I can actually heal back from serious injuries." he went on.

"Granted, extremely severe injuries DO still pose a serious threat, but if you want to break a bone or two in me, I can bounce back no problem." he added with another small laugh.

"I'm sorry." Ryker replied.

"I'm sorry you went through that." he said. "I didn't think it would be such a horrible ordeal for you." he went on, guilt in his tone.

"I honestly thought it would help." he lamented.

"....I'll make sure you never have to go through that, again." he then promised.

"As your brother, I'll do all I can for you."