Legacy

Disclaimer: I don't own Daria or The Killers

(Prologue)
Over and in
Last call for sin
While everyone's lost
the battle is won
With all these things that I've done

All These Things That I've Done - The Killers

He stares at her in amazement, the man named Dr. Geoffrey Hopkins thinking this isn't the first time he's had to look at her like that. "What on earth happened to you?"

She's grinning maniacally, making the sight of her in her paint covered fatigues even more off-putting. "Some of the boys in company B tried to put my back against the wall. I was waiting for them with company D. About time that little rivalry started working for me rather than against me."

He laughs, honestly appreciative of her efforts. "Not much of a send-off though."

She sighs before sprawling on the only couch in his room, visibly enjoying the flinch he gives as he thinks of the paint staining his couch. "That's later on tonight. Word around the campfire is some of them are taking me into town for one last huzzah. I'll sleep on the way to Maryland."

He becomes serious in an instant. "You're not planning on talking to your father on the way back? That's a long ride to spend in silence."

She burrows further into the couch looking for a comfortable position. "I can't imagine what I'd say to him after 5 years. The few things I had to say to any of them were in the letters I sent. It's been a long time and if it wasn't for my mom offering to pay for college if I came home, I wouldn't be going in the first place."

He frowns as he remembers something she said not long ago. "I thought you were set on West Point or the Air Force Academy? You wouldn't need your parents to pay for those on account of government funding."

"Yeah but they're selective and you have to be the best of the best. Only about 20% of West Point cadets are women and Colorado Springs might not take me cause I barely make height requirement. A civilian college will be expensive as hell when it comes right down to it and I can't afford to take out student loans when I'll soon be on a private's commission and I won't if I don't have to."

He holds up his hand in the universal sign for timeout. "Hold on. Give me a minute to get out my BS detector and I'll promptly deflate that argument for you. First and foremost, you know I'd be willing to hand deliver you two congressional recommendations which is one more than you'd need to qualify for Big West. Second, you're 5'2 now; your height's not an issue anymore and it hasn't been for a good year or so. Third, depending on what civilian college you go to you could get a sports or academic scholarship providing your body of work is as impressive as it is today which it damn well better be. And last but not least, college loans are for the broke and talentless. What's really going on here?"

She holds up her hands in surrender. "Okay McGarett, quit grilling me. The military can wait. I'm doing this because I want my family to see how good I've become; how much I excelled. I want them all to know that I became someone worth knowing, worth admiring. I want them to see me become a productive and influential member of society. And when that happens, I want them to know they had nothing to do with any of it."

"So you're still compelled to get revenge for the perceived slight they've given you oh so long ago?"

She springs off of the couch in outrage. "Perceived sleight? They wrote me out of their family! Every year I get this stupid little f***ing Christmas card with the three of them on it grinning out to the world saying, "This is our family. We love each other. Oh, where's the geek you ask? We got rid of her years ago!" And now that mom's about to become big s*** on campus as she slithers her way up the corporate ladder, she wants to present the facade of one big happy family to the bigwigs while she decides how she's gonna make her bid for The Supreme Court. So what do they do? I'll tell you what they do; they invite me to "take my place among the family again" like I walked away from them as they fell to their knees and begged me to come back as I went on, letting their words fall on deaf ears and bounce off of a hardened heart. And to add insult to injury, they try to order me back. Order me like I'm some slack jawed idiot that'll thank them on bended knee for the right to be in their presence. And when I go "hey, make it worth my while" they pull out what they think are the big guns and say they'll get me a car. I'll get my own car, thank you very much and I'll do whatever I want with it and they'll give it to Quinn over my dead body. So I'm gonna make them pay out the nose for college if I don't get into West. I'm gonna make them pay for Harvard or Yale just for s***s and giggles and get started on the most useless degree on the face of this planet before I say "ha ha, fooled you" and drop out 2 years in. I'm not going to Maryland to play nice! Of course I'm gonna shove it in their DAMN FACES THAT I'M HAPPY AND WELL ADJUSTED! AND IF I HAVE TO SHARE A ROOM WITH QUINN AGAIN..." Here she pauses in her tirade to give a bone-rattling kick to the couch.

He's calmly tells her, "It's an inanimate object Daria. You can't hurt it."

She whirls back to face him, leaning in to glare right at his face. "YOU"RE AN INANIMATE F***ING OBJECT!!" As always when she gets a little too ridiculous in her rage, she starts to calm down by taking even breaths. Unlike the first time this happened, she's under control again in less than 30 seconds. He watches her impassively while she takes a bandana out of her pocket and wipes at her reddened face and tries to smooth her hair into some semblance of calm. In the end she simply gives up and pulls it back into a ponytail. Throughout her rustlings, her breathing comes consistently even and timed.

He hands her bottle of water from a mini fridge to the right of his desk, watching as she takes a long pull. "Better?"

The girl laughs, suddenly grinning and settled like her outburst never happened. "Yeah just get a little hot thinking about it."

"Mt. Vesuvius was a little hot. You're Mr. Fahrenheit." He comes around to the front of his desk and gently grabs her by the shoulders so he can look into her face. "Now look Daria. You know I like you. You've got a good head on your shoulders, you know right from wrong, and you're not afraid to work hard once you're motivated. You're a good kid and I'm only going to say what I'm about to say because I want you to make good on the progress you made here so if I offend you, it's out of love. Here it is: You don't have the sense god gave a goose when it comes to The Ridge. This place isn't a good place or a safe place for you and you used to know that. If you were smart, common sense smart not book smart, you'd spend the rest of your high school career staying away from Buxton Ridge, far away. No good can come of you being the only female cadet here and I think that the past has proven that, no matter how admirably you bounced back from the situation. The commandant is full of s*** because no matter what line he's fed the press and the parents, it'll be a cold day in hell before we go full co-ed. Even if you never feel like you can really be a part of your family again, do not screw yourself at that place. You might hear otherwise, but you won't have a place here again. Once you're gone, you're gone. The uppers look at you like a failed experiment and that's not because of what happened with Sloane; that I can guarantee because like I promised you, that's stayed between the three of us. It's just been a little too much for the old guard; the press, losing boys to give you your own barracks, the things some of the other cadets do to get your attention. They're old and set in their ways and they patted themselves on the back for giving you a chance but women's lib might as well be something you ladies do to yourselves when you're on your monthlies as far as they're concerned, if you'll excuse me putting it that crudely. Go home and get some perspective before you're so eager to sign your life over to Uncle Sam and if you still feel like you want what West can give you come your senior year, I'll take you down and tour the facilities with you myself. Okay?" He pulls away from her and listens carefully for what she's gonna say to his news.

She looks troubled. "Hopkins, I'm not stupid okay. I'm gonna go and be the model prodigal daughter; maybe I'll even get into a sport and blow their minds. I'm gonna chew my food with my mouth closed and be as polite as I possibly can while they try to "re-connect" with me." Her face is unbearably disgusted at the thought. "But forgive and forget is not my motto okay? They dropped me here like garbage and I'll never forget that as long as I live. As for Buxton Ridge not letting me back in? Who do you think talked to the press in the first place? I'll be damned if some f*** that won't let chivalry just die like it should keep me from getting back here. I'll be fine; I just gotta keep my temper down a little better and I'm set. But I will think about what you said as far as enlisting right out of school because I do believe you know what you're talking about when it comes to that. No worries."

Stubborn as the day is long. The pang in his chest isn't new when it comes to her; he's known for a long time that he'd miss her when she left. Only time would tell if she stayed gone; he'd bet on Buxton Ridge but he wouldn't bet a lot. He sees she's already about to crash after expending all of her energy in that outburst and he wants her to be able to sneak into town and have her send-off, even though he supposes as staff he should be trying to herd her in more. But honestly? He's never found it easy to do that. It didn't matter though; they've said everything there is to say. "Daria, it's been...interesting and enlightening."

She salutes him before going to leave. "Thanks for everything Geoff." Then she's gone, off to do who knows what.

He chuckles as he realizes she called him by his Christian name for what has to be the first time. Odd little girl to the end. He pulls out his tape recorder and stops the recording of his last therapeutical session with her. "Au revoir, Daria."

End Prologue.


AN: So when I first typed out this story it was really super serious and the lyrics were Zero by The Smashing Pumpkins. As....lighter as this version is I think it'll be more twisted. HOORAY!

Edit: Fixed. Thanks Brother Grimace.