Redhawk Caldera It's not just where you make your bed

Towhee withdrew to take a seat beside Fennec, missing her question as her eyes immediately bounced from Rue to Phox. She motioned for the Specialist to join them even as her gaze remained riveted on her brother's face. There were so many thoughts flying through her head in the face of this development, though one popped to the forefront: Niamh had, in a sense, kidnapped his children.

They were supposed to be hers too, though they were his blood. Towhee's face contorted in anguish on his behalf. And when he began ranting again, referencing the feud with Reyes, something clicked in her head. Was Reyes feeling this same agony, being cut out of his children's life at the whim of their mother?

But that was a thought for another time. "I don't," the Sovereign began, still inarticulate. She found herself making eye contact with Rue's dead fish as her brow scrunched and she tried to sort through the positively overwhelming slew of shit running through her mind.

Finally, she found her words, for Phox's sake. "I'm so sorry." Towhee was sorry this was happening to him and sorry for her part in it. If she'd just choked down her rage and spoken to Niamh, could this have been avoided? Or had the former Regent always been a ticking time bomb, bound to explode by some trigger or another?

"I'm here. We're here," Towhee said after another purely bewildered pause. She motioned at Fennec and Rue, then at her own belly with a frown. She knew he would be a great dad to them, though she also knew how horrible Phox must feel about his other litter. After all, she knew the feeling well herself, having had her own dreams of a happy family destroyed in part by Niamh.