I honestly considered not posting this here since I am beyond sick to death of people bitching about me having so many stories, to stay focused, yatta yatta yatta, but I figured, what the hell, why not?

This was the product of insomnia, a random idea that I may do more with if I get enough response, so without further ado, enjoy!

Kaiser had been more than a little surprised when he had received the summons from his older sister, Iron Rain had been quiet for some time now, only appearing in public when their father demanded it and even then she had not shown her previous zeal during the rallies. In fact she had seemed almost sullen; near disgusted as she echoed Allfather's ideology, something Kaiser himself had never actually believed in but readily took advantage of.

Power was power after all, if you needed to pretend to be a racist bigot in order to maintain your control over your useful idiots to continue your ongoing profit, so be it.

Still, this was…so highly irregular he had nearly asked Krieg to come along as backup in case this was some elaborate scheme to catch him off guard and remove him from the line of succession but…that was not how Iron Rain operated. Despite her power set, she was a politically subtle woman, her little stint with Lustrum did not actually count since she had bailed on the movement the moment they had gained the Protectorate's attention.

Always the observant one, Iron Rain was.

That being said this was not subtle in the slightest and that fact alone was really all that kept him from keeping his best friend knowing what he was about to get himself involved with.

After all, Iron Rain was the only member of his family that he did not detest on an intrinsic level.

So, entering the Denny's restaurant he was supposed to be meeting his sister in he quickly found her sulking in a back corner booth and made his way to her, taking a seat he smiled at her blandly as she pulled a dark lock of hair behind her ear meeting his gaze evenly.

"Max," she stated flatly.

"Annette, shall we dispense with formalities and discuss what this meeting is all about?"

His sister sighed, leaned back into the cheap pleather seat while lifting her glasses high enough to rub her eyes in frustration before suddenly leaning forward, placing her arms on the table she shot him a tired look and smiled wanly, "I want out."

What?

He blinked then raised an eyebrow, "Pardon?"

"I. Want. Out."

She over enunciated each word and her meaning was clear, she wanted out of the Empire Eighty-Eight, she wanted out of the cape life, she wanted to leave her heritage behind.

Interesting.

"Why?"

She was silent for a time, then she raised her left hand exposing the gold ring that he had previously not noticed, he took in a sharp breath, "You married? Allfather promised you to-"

"Allfather can fuck the fuck off to whatever fucking hell he is fucking destined to and I hope that Satan himself fucks him up the ass on a daily basis for fucking eternity."

Max couldn't help snorting out an amused laugh as he shot Annette a wry smile, "Well you have certainly expressed the diversity of the word I will say that much. Why though, what changed?"

She sighed, shook her head then moved her gaze towards the window, "College, life, living, experiencing existence outside of father's pathetic little bubble. Did you know I had a girlfriend through my late freshman and sophomore years?"

He blinked in shock at that while shaking his head, "Hell no I didn't know, how the hell did that happen?"

A coy smile crossed her expressive lips as she shrugged slightly, "Clubs, alcohol, and extrovert roommates are a thing. After I had my worldview shattered in my first month at college I…rebelled a bit…a lot. If Allfa….if father wouldn't approve of it, well it seemed like a good idea to give it a shot. It sort of became a running theme for me and eventually it led me to my future husband.

Max relaxed at that, so her spouse was a man, that would make this an easier sale for father at the very least.

Sighing wistfully she shook her head slowly as she continued on, "I met Danny at a bar shortly after a Lustrum rally, I was fired up, looking for a fight, and he just sort of…shut me down. He was quiet, intelligent, and wanted to discuss my views and…our arguments would get heated sure, but the thing is Max? I kept coming back to that bar to argue with him, eventually the arguments turned to debates, then…dates, then…I don't know when it happened but I fell for him."

Max shook his head slowly while letting out a dry chuckle, "The mighty Iron Rain taken down by the power of love, oh how the poets shall weep."

His sister shot him a very annoyed glare while flipping him off, this made him chuckle more which she simply rolled her eyes at before continuing on with her story.

"Anyway, I graduated, we got married, and I kept toeing the line with father's demands that I perform my duties required of me by the Empire and I just sort went through the motions until…until recently, when things changed."

Her emotional shift gained Max's attention immediately, "Dear sister, what changed?"

She wringed her hands for a few moments, took in a few deep breaths, then met his gaze evenly while smiling brightly, "I'm going to be a mother."

His elder sister, his role model, one of the most terrifyingly dangerous members of the Empire Eighty-Eight was pregnant, and she looked like a blushing maiden while stating as much.

Reality was most certainly more fanciful than fiction.

"I…see…"

Annette raised a brow at that, "Do you? Do you really?"

Max was quiet for a time before he nodded slowly, "You don't want father anywhere near your child, that's why you want out isn't it?"

She nodded, and he understood completely.

"He'll hunt you down you know, no one, especially his own progenies walks away from the Empire."

She smiled slyly at that while shrugging, "I already had a meeting with Marquis, he has agreed to take credit for my murder, even has the body of a rather unfortunate overdose victim to brutalize as a stand in. For all intents and purposes Annette Anders is dead to the world as of tomorrow morning, and so shall Iron Rain for that matter."

Max stared at his sister for a few moments, then sighed, "A done deal then?"

She nodded, "Yes, I just…thought my little brother should know."

Pinching the bridge of his nose Max closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, then let out a sigh before he dropped his hand to the table and met her gaze evenly, "What is the man who made you abandon your legacy's name?"

Annette smiled in turn, "Danny, Danny Hebert."

Max nodded, stood up adjusting his shirt, then nodded, "I hope he is worth it. I wish you a good life sister dear, and rest assured…father will never hear of this."

He could see tears gather at the corner of her eyes as she smiled back at him, "Thank you, little brother…"

Max Anders ran the Empire Eighty-Eight much like his father had, primarily because it worked and if a system functioned without your constant overview he felt there was very little need to change things up. Sure over the past decade he had to tweak things here and there; Marquis having to squirrel off to Boston after the Brockton Bay Brigade had violated every facette of the unwritten rules had massively destabilized the city. The no holds bar free for all that had kicked up had taken literal years to repair and had actually caused the disbandment of the idiotic super hero team which caused even further problems as Brandish and Lady Photon founded their own new teams in the aftermath.

On the plus side, they were at least predictable, Brandish's band of fools, the 'True Path' were impulsive, violent, and didn't heed to any sort of authority but their own and had the Protectorate on their asses more often than not. Lady Photon's Minute Men though were cold, calculating, and would not strike unless they had a guaranteed victory, a mindset Max could appreciate.

That change was acceptable if annoying, it was the arrival of Lung and the unification of the myriad of Asian gangs into the ABB that gave Max constant headaches, they were not even that well equipped but every time they got into a turf war the Empire had a fucking dragon to deal with.

Seriously sometimes being a crime lord was just not worth the goddamn effort, if his ego would allow it he'd probably just wash his hands of this entire E88 thing and focus his efforts on Medhall. Unfortunately he enjoyed the adulation, something his soon to be ex-wife had pointed out before she had smashed a perfectly good bottle of twenty year old bourbon on his head before stomping out of their penthouse during their last, final argument.

He wasn't really sure what it said about him that he really didn't know what upset him more, the end of his marriage, or the waste of a perfectly good bottle of liquor.

Likely, nothing pleasant, but such is life.

These were the thoughts mulling through his mind as he read his morning newspaper, as was his wont, and suddenly his meandering thoughts came to a screeching halt as his eyes flicked over the obituaries.

Annette Rose Hebert.

Her picture was there, it was his sister, Iron Rain, and she was dead due to car accident of all the fucking things…

He just…what…

"FUCK!" He picked up the closest object to him, a rather gaudy gargoyle paperweight a client had gifted him with, and threw it at the wall.

As the polystone figure shattered he fell into his chair and let out a vexed sigh, after a few moments of contemplation he picked the paper back up and read the details, and his brows rose slightly.

"Huh…I have a niece…Interesting."