"Elisha is a good man. And will...be a good ally." Should things go badly for the boys. And he would speak with Judith, do what he could to protect them as best he could.

But nothing yet could be done without proof- no matter how angry he felt in the pit of his stomach. And he was- he was angry. He felt a rage that had been a foreign memory to him for over a decade now. And it warred with his morality, sense of right and wrong.

It was not, he thought, his finest of moments. But then he no more wanted to die, than he wanted to have anyone else die. He wanted to see his son grow up, fall in love, marry, have children of his own. He wanted to be there for those moments when a son needed his father....

And was that really too much to ask?

"Do what you must," he said after a moment, leaning against the exam table.