Silence lingered in the air as the soft rushing of wind passed by the yacht whilst it continued to cruise calmly around the island. The low hum of the propellers mixed in with the sounds of the ocean, and Alice sighed softly as both her and Magnus sat out on the decking of the lounge they'd previously been in, that was now empty.

Only half an hour before they had left the third floor room, feeling dazed and stunned from what they'd experienced... and returned to the lounge to inform Otis that Poppy hadn't been feeling well. Both him, Fynn and Naomi had left to attend to her, now leaving Magnus and Alice alone. "Do you think they'll be mad that I just left her in the bathroom?" Alice asked suddenly, her voice quiet.

"No." Magnus replied simply, both of them vacantly staring out into the distance of the ocean. Moonlight sparkled off the waves but the beauty of it seemed lost in the moment. "... My mom's a psycho," Magnus murmured, feeling a mixture between dumb founded confusion and pride.

"I think she's brilliant." Alice replied after a few seconds of quietness between them.

"Of course you would." Magnus snorted softly, blinking suddenly and pulling himself out of his daze and reaching for the bottle of champagne left on the coffee table. They were both sitting on the plush couch facing the ocean view at the front of the yacht, and could hear the muffled thumping of the music from downstairs.

"Did you have any idea?" Alice asked, finally blinking after her eyes went a little dry and looked over at Magnus as he took several long gulps from the champagne bottle before passing it to her.

"Yes and no. I thought it would've been drugs or... something fucked up like human trafficking." Magnus replied, causing Alice to furrow her eyebrows and look away and back out towards the view at his expectations. "I never expected mom to be some like.... dark web internet oracle."

"Well... it makes sense." Alice shrugged, causing Magnus to raise an eyebrow and look over at her just as she took a long sip of the champagne bottle and smacked her lips before looking at the label on the bottle as if she knew anything about champagne. "Like... with all the technological advances out there these days like... someone was bound to do it. Someone has to be first."

"I know but... it's... she does yoga and decorates houses and shit... it's- she's my mom." Magnus muttered, evidently still heavily confused as Alice settled into the idea of it all pretty quickly. Inside her mind she seemed to place Julia Johnson on top of a pedestal, and began to decorate the floor around her feet with candles and flowers as she zoned out for a moment before realising what Magnus said.

"Would it have made more sense if it was your father?" She shot at him, looking over at the profile of his face with an accusatory look.

"No." Magnus replied honestly, "It really wouldn't." He added and sighed heavily as he lent back against the back of the couch and ran a hand through his hair. He knew his father, and if it going to be either of his parents, it wasn't going to be Hans. He had always suspected his mother ran the show... But this... wasn't what he expected at all.

Alice rolled her eyes subtly and looked away, reaching to place the champagne bottle back down on the table and place her hands back in her lap.... a new democracy... her skin tingled with goosebumps and she shivered because of the wind. She'd never really felt truly inspired before and was over excited at the new sensation suddenly. She related to what Julia had said in her speech... and let herself assume that just maybe they had things in common. A fascination with the dark side of human nature... Psychopaths. Killers. Violence. Corruption.

Her eyes seemed to twinkle as she thought about it more, and she wondered more about what Julia's plan was down to all the punctuation marks in her notes she must've written somewhere. "What're you thinking about?" Magnus asked, seeing as Alice had barely moved a muscle and had been staring into the distance in complete silence.

"Noth-" She began, but trailed off... taking a second before she looked at Magnus. "What did you think about your mom's speech?" She asked, "and the technology?"

The wind brushed over Magnus's hair, moving a few strands out of place as he sat up and leant forward, placing his elbows on his knees as he sighed subtly. "I think it was..." he hesitated as if he was searching for the right words. "I think it was different. I think it was... insane." He murmured.

"Insane?" Alice replied, feeling defensive,

"I didn't say insane was a bad thing." Magnus replied whilst raising his finger as if to stop Alice from carrying on. "My mom knows how to captivate people so... I think she knows what she's doing. And honestly that mother thing creeped me out."

"I thought it was cool," Alice interjected, sitting up a little straighter. "Like that A.I out of iron man."

"Jarvis?" Magnus replied and Alice nodded. "Hm." He hummed, not having made that connection before but couldn't shake the resemblance. Both of them began to think the same thing at once, and as Alice began to giggle softly Magnus smirked. "I am iron man," Magnus mimicked, and Alice laughed a little harder. "I am Julia Johnson." He added in the same voice, watching Alice's face intently as she laughed more. He laughed briefly, the sound blunt, since he was more focussed on humouring Alice than enjoying his own joke.

"Stop it." Alice laughed, shoving his shoulder gently. "This is serious stuff, your mom could really take over the world." She giggled, her voice quiet and hushed just in case anyone was creeping around.

"I'll believe in all this shit when I see it," Magnus shrugged, "Until then, I'll assume mom's on coke and these are all her over excited wine friends." He continued bluntly.

"Oh my god." Alice laughed softly, but reserved the feeling of inspiration for herself as she settled back against the couch and sighed quietly. She couldn't help but believe in everything Julia had said, everything she wanted for the future and hoped something would come of it...

* * *

Magnus stretched and breathed in deeply, hearing the sounds of the island wafting in from the open double doors... the gentle hum of the air conditioning fading into background noise as he woke up more... he glanced over to his right almost immediately, noticing the waves of silky blonde hair spread across the pillows. He reached for his phone and checked the time, seeing it just coming up to half six in the morning.

He sighed heavily, running his hand through his hair and pushing it out of his eyes and letting his mind wander back to the previous evening... he couldn't believe it, and if he'd had a lot more to drink than he did he would've whole heartedly believed he had imagined it. He'd left with Alice alone after the yacht had pulled back into the marina, deciding to give his parents some space since he didn't have much to say and he was sure Alice wouldn't feel comfortable asking questions just yet.

He turned over to face Alice as she slept with her back to him, and reached forwards to touch her blonde locks to see if they felt as soft as they had done yesterday. Her hair wound around his finger and he could smell her sweet scented shampoo from where he was lying. "Mmm." Alice hummed quietly, waking up only a little before turning over and shuffling herself closer to Magnus's chest. He watched her closely, lifting his arm and letting it hover in the air as she made herself comfortable and quietly drifted back off to sleep...

Her forehead brushed against his chest, and he sighed carefully again before putting his arm back down across her upper body. A calm quietness washed over the two, and Magnus's gaze watched the french windows as the drapes wafted in the breeze... he could see the twinkling blue ocean in the distance and let his mind wander as he continued to watch the view quietly.

His mind wandered back to the previous night again... why? He wondered. Why did his parents feel the need to do this? And why include Alice? His mind focussed suddenly on the sparkle he'd seen in Alice's eyes and subconsciously he seemed to pull her closer to his body as she slept. He did notice the similarities with traits between his mother and Alice, and furrowed his eyebrows tightly as he thought about it more. He brushed it off quickly, but it bounced back immediately as his mind started to wander about why his mother had such a focussed fascination with Alice in particular. She'd known about Veronica, and although Magnus had made it clear they weren't in a relationship, his mother had taken little to no interest... but even at the mere sight of Alice, she had been over the moon and the most smallest of interactions.

Questions and theories seemed to flood Magnus's mind and be stared very intently at the view, seeming to barely blink now. "I can literally feel you thinking." Alice's sleepy voice suddenly murmured. She laughed softly and stretched, keeping her body close to him but was wary not to swipe his face as she stretched her arms above her head. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked, rubbing her eyes and looking up at her boyfriend who had moved his gaze from the view to her, without moving his head.

"I'm just thinking about last night." Magnus replied as Alice turned onto her back and stretched her legs. His hand moved to place itself on her stomach, since he was still lying on his side. He could feel the softness of her skin from where her t-shirt had ridden up slightly.

"Which part?" Alice teased, even though she knew what he meant.

Magnus smirked instantly, feeling distracted very quickly as he remembered the latter part of the evening. He lent down to kiss her suddenly, pressing his lips against hers and surprising her. The sound she made caused him to pull back and tilt his head a little with confusion, "What?" He asked and Alice covered her face.

"I just woke up... I'm gross," she mumbled behind her hands, and Magnus chuckled quietly but the sound was short and Alice almost didn't hear. She peaked out from behind her hand to look at him, seeing him still watching her with the edge of his lip tilted up.

"Are you twelve?" Magnus asked, "Who cares."

"I care!" Alice whines softly and shuffled away from him before getting out of bed and hurrying to the bathroom. Magnus snorted softly and turned to lie on his back, watching as Alice tactfully kicked the door a little closed before he heard her brushing her teeth. He thought briefly about how used he'd gotten to her being next to him before bed and after waking up, he'd gotten used to the sound of her breathing when she slept, and had even developed an annoying habit, in his eyes, of checking her side of the bed every time he woke up throughout the night.

In the space of four days they'd seemed to have grown even more comfortable with each other than before... even though this moment suggested they still had a way to go. But Magnus was determined now to break down a few walls and got up, making a bee-line for the bathroom door before he heard a knock. "Darling?" A voice whispered, the sound of Julia's voice wafting through the crack as the door opened.

"Mom," Magnus hissed in annoyance as the door opened fully, and Julia stood, fully dressed to perfection, and smiling. "You can't just open a door like that, we could've been-"

"Sleeping, darling, it's seven in the morning." Julia finished for him and smiled. "Your father and I would like to speak to you when you're ready." She continued, "Alone." She added with a lower tone. She didn't wait for Magnus to respond and left after smiling again, closing the door behind her with a soft click just as Magnus heard the shower turn on.

He was torn suddenly between wanting to find out what his parents wanted to talk to him about, which he assumed could only be about last night, and slipping into the bathroom to join Alice in the shower. He wondered if she'd purposefully left the door partially open to tempt him... but nevertheless, he found himself pulling on a t-shirt and some shorts and vanishing through the bedroom door...

~

Twenty or so minutes later Alice stepped out the shower. She'd been stood under the luke warm jets of water shaving her legs then exfoliating the rest of her body. She had a light tan line, and felt proud that she hadn't burnt anywhere other than her nose since she got carried away with sunbathing on the first day.

She did her usual morning routine, moisturised her body, blow dried her hair but left her face make up free and instead applied a thin layer of sun protection. She dressed herself into a red bikini she'd bought from an island boutique and pulled on some denim shorts. After a grabbing her book from her nightstand and her sunglasses she left the bedroom, assuming Magnus had wandered downstairs to find something to eat...

The villa was strangely quiet when she reached the ground floor, the sound of her flip flops echoing across the tiles as the sound of the palm trees rustling in the slightly strong wind wafted in through the open windows. "Mags?" She asked as she wandered into the kitchen area, looking for a note or something that would indicate where everyone had gone... the back door leading out onto the patio was open, but from what she could see no one was there.

Alice found a note saying 'out shopping' stuck to the fridge with a number underneath who she assumed to be Julia's and sighed quietly... they'd just left her? Without saying anything?

Confusion set into Alice's bones but she brushed the sad feeling off as she retrieved some orange juice from the fridge instead of staring at the note in silence. Had Magnus gone with them? Why didn't he say he was leaving? She couldn't stop the disappointed pout as she closed the fridge carefully, holding the glass bottle filled with the orange liquid and turned around...

"Oh my god!" Alice gasped involuntarily, dropping the glass bottle and jumping away from it seconds before it shattered on the tiles. Peter Couture was stood by the dining room table, dressed in a suit shirt and beige suit pants, his hands were tucked into his pockets and his expression was blank. Alice's heart had jumped into her throat, and she was blinded with confusion and panic suddenly as she attempted to figure out where she could run.

"I didn't mean to startle you." He said calmly, still stood very still. "Julia gave me the address and time to be here."

"What?" Alice replied, the onslaught of new information seeming to swipe her across the side of her head. "What?" She repeated, feeling breathless as she stayed stuck where she was, unable to move her legs even tho she'd been partially splashed with orange juice.

Peter stayed quiet for a moment before deciding to cross the room... Alice backed away and tried to control her breathing, but it felt as if someone had tied a belt around her chest. "You don't need to panic, Alice." Peter murmured, stepping into kitchen area and wrapping a dish cloth around his hand as he bent down to pick up the shards of glass from the floor.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Alice blurted, "How do you know Julia? What the fuck?" She rushed, feeling her eyes stinging with the threat of tears as her heart raced. She was confused, shocked, and a little scared, too. Her adrenaline had spiked, and she couldn't think straight. Was this a dream? was she imagining this entirely? The last time she'd seen this man had been in Quebec weeks ago and they had only briefly glanced at each other, and suddenly he was here, right in front of her. Speaking.

"Don't swear." Peter said bluntly and Alice closed her mouth, pressing her lips together. "You'll have to forgive my social skills, all those years of solitary confinement did me no favours, but I assumed Sophie would have raised you with better manners." He continued, placing the glass in the trash and turning back to look at Alice carefully. His eyes were terrifying, blank... emotionless, but the stare as calm as it looked to the untrained eye was so intense they set Alice's nerves on fire. She thought Magnus's stare was bad the first time she laid eyes on him, and she wondered if she would grow used to Peter's too.

"I'm sorry." She whispered without thinking, unable to look away from Peter's eyes as he stood up straight and placed the dish cloth back where he found it. He was around the same height as Magnus, but he looked like all he had done for the past sixteen years was lift weights. "So... you know who I am?" Alice whispered, still feeling the burn of adrenaline but her mind seemed to be cooperating with her mouth pretty well.

"Of course." Peter replied,

"Why... why didn't I know about you?" Alice asked, her curiosity taking over her nerves and distracting her from them now. "Are you really my... my dad?"

"I think the answer to that is obvious, Alice." Peter replied and tilted his head slightly. "... you look a lot like her when she was your age." He murmured, "Sophie, I mean."

"I know." Alice whispered. "You guys were together for like... a decade." She mumbled, remembering the information she'd asked Noah to find out. Peter released a short but quiet laugh that sat on the line between in bitter and amused.

"You've done your research." He murmured, pushing the unwelcome memories of Sophie and himself in their youth, making plans for the future, falling hopelessly and irreversibly in love until it all came violently crashing down, to one side. He was staring at the product of that love for the first time really, and wasn't sure how he felt about it. "I'm sure you have questions." He continued, turning away and motioning to the dining room table. "Sit."

"Okay." Alice whispered, following reluctantly and stepping over the spilt orange juice and moving towards the dining room table. She carefully took a seat opposite him and breathed in deeply, trying to calm her nerves more as Peter stared in silence with his hands clasped on the surface of the glass. "Um..." Alice hesitated, feeling a hundred and one questions fall into her mind and try and scramble towards her mouth. "How... did you know I was here?" She asked first, making sure she spoke carefully since she didn't want to stumble over her words.

"I have, also, done my research." Peter replied, his stare pinning Alice where she sat. "And it seems that Julia Johnson, your boyfriends mother, also did hers. I had an invitation sent to my home to become one of her business partners."

"So... you were at the event last night?" Alice asked and Peter nodded. "So she knew..."

"You are surrounded by very highly intelligent people with access to unlimited information, Alice. It would be best to assume the Johnson's already know everything about you and everyone you know." Peter replied simply, before clearing his throat. "When I was released from prison it was my main priority to get to know you... I heard from your grandmother that you would be in Quebec, so I requested a meeting. Unfortunately you left before I could introduce myself."