Rain made small pattering noises at the glass panes of the sitting room windows where Gina sat alone, drinking a cup of tea and pondering Bane's offer to find her twin brother. He'd asked if she would leave once Ben was recovered to her... and Gina knew that she would.

They'd been best of friends once, they'd shared everything - including a rather charmed existence with two parents that adored them and one another in a modest house that was always warm, and smelled of bread. Thinking of it now made Gina's throat tighten. Ever since that first black rose had arrived on the doorstep of St. John Manor, signaling to the rest of the community that the Rose Death had arrived there - ever since that moment on that too sunny Tuesday morning - all she'd wanted was to go back, to restore that former happiness. To resurrect the life she was supposed to have.

But everything had fallen like sand through their fingers after that first rose. First Mama, then Papa. The funerals. Then Aunt and Uncle and Francis and Georgina had arrived and Gina and Ben had become imposters in their own home. And then, the greatest wound of all was the slow deterioration of her other half. Her twin, with her in all things until that moment, had began to pull away.

"Everything alright?"

Gina jumped at the sound of Malcolm's voice. She hadn't heard him enter at all, so lost in her grief she'd been. Odd, she didn't ususally allow herself that kind of contemplation, that kind of examination of the pain she'd sufffered over the last seven years. Usually she kept it tightly boxed up - wary of Pandora's story like a warning against opening the thing up.

"I'm fine," Gina answered, swiping the few tears that had escaped down her nose as she'd gotten lost in the past. She gave herself a shake, smoothed her skirt and turned her attention on her brother in law. He was looked tired this morning, but dressed in the latest fashion color pallete that the Mart could offer, and clean shaven as they came.

"I made you something," the younger Sefton brother announced with a gentle smile as he produced from behind his back a walking stick. It was beautifully carved, polished smooth to the touch, with little pictures of vines going the length until they bloomed into flowers where one's hand would rest.

"Oh - thank you," Gina sputtered, surprised by the gift, she swiped again at her face and accepted the offering. Her leg had been troubling her less today... and she did so miss the freedom of walking by herself.

"You were crying," Malcolm accused gently, coming to sit with her on the small sofa. Like his brother, he seemed to fill whatever furniture he landed on. Gina studied his face for a moment, mentally comparing the two men. Here was a fair bit of Bane, and then a tendency towards Merigold in the eyes... she wondered what each of their parents had contributed, wished she had been able to meet them both.

"It's nothing," Gina insisted brightly, she knew how to behave, and sobbing on the shoulder of a man who infuriated your husband was not anyone's idea of wisdom.

"It's him, isn't it?" Malcolm asked, voice soft, eyes narrowed on her face as if he could read her thoughts. Only he was so far off that it miffed her, picked at her just enough that she felt her mouth twist sourly as she considered her next words.

"If by 'him' you mean my husband - you'd be incorrect," Gina answered primly, eyebrows going up in feigned ignorance. Mal studied her carefully, holding his chin in his fingers for a long moment, still with that narrow eyed gaze trained on her face. It was beginning to irritate her.

"You can tell me you know," he tried again, "I know what he's like, George..." and here Malcolm reached across the small space left between them to taker her hand in his.

"My name is Gina," she bit out at him sharply, snatching her hand from his grasp with a scowl, "And beg your pardon - but you hardly know your brother at all if I had to guess."

"Oh really?" Mal scoffed, leaning away from her, his face in a little pout, "Enlighten me, please - I'm dying to know what story he's spun to convince you he's such a saint."

"You're an ass, aren't you?" Gina blurted, probably not one of her finer moments, but she found herself nonplussed as Malcolm blushed hard at her fowl language.

"Excuse me?!" he sputtered, mouth agape.

"Did you really come in here to ask me what I find attractive about your brother? And in a tone that fully communicates your disbelief that there could be any such thing?" she asked, eyebrow cocked in disdain, like a governess who'd found out a little liar, "I chose Bane with fully faculty of mind, and I am not interested in whatever malvolent rolling in the mud and self pity you have in mind. I will be no part of it."

"Well - I - just -" but Gina didn't let him finish.

"You may call me Gina or Sister from here out - not Georgina and certainly not the pet name that is only used by my husband. I do not want to hold your hand, and yes I do think you're a bit of a little boy compared to your brother if that's what you've been asking for all this time," she paused to take a deep breath here, "And furthermore -"

"Gina - " Malcolm was smiling at her now, arms crossed over his chest, and relaxed into the sofa.

"And furthermore, what's it to you what I love about your brother or what we've shared? Nothing. It's no one's business so stop asking -"

"You love him?" Malcolm repeated with a grin, interrupting her tirade. Gina realized what she said with a sinking feeling in her stomach, and clamped her lips together as if that would bring the words back. Malcolm laughed softly, rubbing tiredly at his eyes and settling further into the couch, "I knew it."

"You don't know anything about me," Gina spat back, blushing to the roots of her hair.

"I do now," Malcolm corrected, "I just needed to see what you were after, dear sister," he said it in a mocking tone, but without looking away from her.

"Excuse me?" Gina drew out the words, now she was the one crossing her arms against herself protectively.

"I just wanted to see if you could be... persuaded against him...you wouldn't be the first bride of my brother's to be found false in her affections for him."

"And so you came to test me?" Gina hissed, her anger bubbling to the surface, shoving aside any feelings of embarrassment over her earlier confession.

"Who knew you'd pass with such color?" Malcolm teased, laughing in earnest now, "You should've seen your face!"

"You're a horrible little brat," Gina concluded flatly, unable to think of a better rebuddle as she saw what Malcolm's ploy had forced her to confess.

"You're in love with Bane," Malcolm shot back, utterly too pleased with himself. Gina pursed her lips and stared daggers at her opponent for several long seconds, unwilling to reply or be entrapped again by her new brother in law.

"Saints if I don't like you, Gina!" Malcolm declared with almost joy, "He's not an easy one - I know that more than anyone, but he's a good man. I've always looked up to him for it."

"And you repay him by attempting to seduce his new wife?" Gina pointed out begrudingly, despite feeling a bit more at ease now.

"Forgive me," Malcolm pleaded halfheartedly, reaching again to take her hand in the space between them, only this time Gina didn't feel the need to pull away, "Come, let's be friends?" he asked.

"Friends -" Gina had barely gotten the word from her lips when the door to the sitting room opened and both of them jumped apart.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Bane roared from the doorway. Gina flinched under his anger, wasn't there anything he would ever trust in her?

"Care to say it louder? I don't think the whole mountain has heard you just yet," she asked in a sharp voice, then with the help of Mal's gift, raising from the settee she limped to the doorway he still occupied. He was heaving in breaths, eyes sparking fire at her, and in that moment, Gina knew she loved him.

It was such an awful moment to understand such a beautiful thing. But it was the out of control jealousy, the fear that sat just behind his expression of anger - and how badly she wanted to gather him in her arms over it. She wanted to kiss his scars and tell him he was a fool. In fact she blushed at the overwhelming thought.

"George if you so much as -" he began, finger wagging at her scoldingly. But she surprised him easily, reaching up to place one hand against his scarred cheek, running a thumb across the smooth scar tissue.

"You shouldn't let your little brother get under your skin so easily, my dear," she said it gently, quietly, smiling without thinking about it as she looked up at him. The endearment came to her lips without permission, and she found it settled on her tongue as naturally as her own name. Bane just stared down at her, eyes wide and mouth hanging agape. Gina sighed and withdrew her hand.

"Try not to kill each other," she called over her shoulder as she moved past Bane through the doorway beyond, leaving the two brothers alone. Her heart was heavy with her admittance to Malcolm - let them fight their own squabbles now, she needed a nap.