Freedom is Just an Illusion

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
Nathan made sure that he had everything before heading over to a small closet. "Roxie, you want a coat?" he asked her as he grabbed Gabriel, Peter, and Ian's coats. It had gotten a bit brisk since they landed in New York.

They had brought one of their mother's coats hoping that it would fit and match and all of the other things that went with picking out a coat for someone.

He quickly before she answered put his coat on. It was a black wool coat that draped down to his knees. He put it on and then popped the collar before buttoning it up. That's when he noticed that each of the brother's had the same coat in different colors. Ian's was light grey, Gabriel's was dark blue, and Peter's was a garish shade of green that only he could have pulled off.

Nathan held out a white leather jacket towards Roxie. He smiled a little. In his mind this little thing would be his repayment for her calming him down on the plane.

@ The Punisher

Emily took the white leather jacket from Nathan. "Thank you." She smiled at him before pulling it on. There had been a lot of things she brought with her, but surprisingly a coat had not been one of them. Really the agency should have made sure she had one, but she supposed that they didn't know where she was going until this morning.

Once it was on, she followed Nathan and his brothers off of the plane. As they did so, she popped the collar on the jacket to block some of her face from the wind before shoving her hands into the pockets. Emily turned to the brothers. "So where are we going exactly?" Sure they had said somewhere outside of New York but didn't really mean much to her. And it was a bit bothersome that Emily actually had no idea where she was going. Besides it surely wasn't that secretive if they were bringing her.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
The five got off the plane and another car pulled up in front of them. Once all of them had gotten into the car and Ian was driving them off did Nathan begin to explain. "We have a rather large house where a good chunk of the family lives. We don't tend to broadcast it since so many members of our family lives there. Our empire is a family business in every"

Ian managed to get onto the highway fairly easily. The road was uncrowded as most of the five o'clock traffic had dissipated by that point. "Also, hope you're hungry. Ma and our aunts will have made a huge feast to welcome you to the home." Gabriel told her as they got took the off ramp into a nicer neighborhood.

Another ten minutes passed and they arrived at Manor Colombo. IT was a quaint little brick mansion that looked homey. Not flashy but like some place you'd expect the kids to be playing out on the front while mom and dad sat on the porch with their three dogs. Thirty bedrooms and a good portion of them were filled with uncles, aunts, grandparents, or children. "Don't worry. You and Nate will have your own room for privacy." Peter told her as he jumped out of the car and sprinted inside. Gabriel and Ian got out and then went in to hold back the hoards of family members who would want to meet Roxie.

Nathan turned and then stuck out his hand. "Shall we?" he asked.

@ The Punisher

Emily smiled brightly when food was mentioned. "I am quite hungry so food is very welcomed." She had been so nervous that Emily barely eaten anything. Though her attention quickly turned to the mansion that they pulled up to. Her eyes widen slightly as she saw it. Even though Roxie Thorne was used to extragant things and houses, Emily was not. If she had been, Emily never would have gotten into this mess in the beginning...Though the manor was really something to behold.

Emily glanced over at Peter as he mentioned her and Nathan sharing a room. She had already known that was going to happen. The agency had mentioned it quite early. Though it was going to be a bit awkward sharing a room with someone she didn't know. Plus it caused the issue of some of her equipment being tampered with without her realizing. But the few things she did have were pointed towards woman with the hopes that Nathan would have no need to mess with it.

Emily felt anxious again as the brothers ran inside. She knew there would be others she needed to meet, and it worried her how it would go. It was even more stressful that Emily needed to get them to like and trust her. So when Nathan offered her hand, Emily took it and gave him a nervous smile. "Yes." She followed him out of the car and towards the house...or rather the big fucking manor he lived in.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
Nathan could see she was worried. "Try not to freak out. Ian and Gabe will have calmed them down a little bit. At most you'll be hugging everyone for about ten minutes." he told her as he stopped right before they entered. "Also, don't worry. The room we are sharing is my old room. It's a big room and I had Gabe help me bring a couch up when everyone else was busy. Just to ease into this whole thing you know?"

After that he walked in where he was flooded by a mountain of relatives who hugged and kissed him. He tried to keep an eye on Roxie but eventually was swept up and away until the next thing he knew he was at the dinner table sitting next to Ian. He turned and looked at him. "What happened?"

"We've been doing this for two decades now. You should be used to this." Gabriel told him as he got up to see if their parents were in the kitchen. Nathan stood back up to see if Roxie was even semi surviving Hurricane Relatives.

@ The Punisher

Emily was shocked when they went into the manor. She knew that Nathan had a big family but she never knew that it was to this extent. Though she didn't have the time to think about it as the first person came up and just pulled her into a hug. It took her a few moments to start hugging back. Though before she knew it, Emily was being pulled in by someone else.

The first few people were a bit of a blur. Emily hadn't had the chance to really introduced herself or see their face. Though she had heard their names. But not too far down the line, an older woman-perhaps an aunt- held onto Emily once the hug was over and started to ask questions.

Unsure of what else to do, Emily started answering them and before she knew it, she had what she considered a hoard of people around her kinda just shouting questions at her. They wanted to know where she was from, and about her family, what she did for fun and if she supported the NY Giants. All of them seemed curious about her life. Though some of them really wanted to know if anything was decided for the wedding. Emily grew stiff as she realized she was kinda stuck until someone came to get her, after all she couldn't afford to be rude or be seen as such. Though as she answered their questions, Emily looked around for Nathan, hoping he would come back from wherever he went. After a few questions, Emily looked at the group and asked, "Has anyone seen Nathan?" Asking it for some reason elicited an 'Aw' from some of the older woman.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
(This was so hilarious to write for me)

Nathan stood on the edge of the hoard of family members. Gabriel walked up to him and put an arm on his shoulder. "I know you must go this alone. But here's a piece of rope. When you need to be pulled out tug three times." he told him as he tied the rope around his waist. "God speed brother."

To anyone else this would be silly, but the situation was anything but silly. After a couple of good tugs Nathan delved head first into the swarm of family members. He hugged, kissed, and had his cheeks pinched by nearly every open hand.

After about five minutes of wading through the family members he managed to find her. He walked up and picked her up bridal style. “You’re going to want to hold on.” he told her as suddenly they were whipped back through the crowd at breakneck speed. The relatives were blurring by him until eventually they ended up in Gabriel’s arms.

“Thanks bro.” he told him as he hopped out of his arms and then placed Roxie onto the ground. “You alright?” he asked her as he glanced over and wiped off a few lipstick smudges.

@ The Punisher

Emily looked up at Nathan, beyond grateful that he got her out of the crowd of relatives. Normally she would have been pissed if she was just picked up like that, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Especially since the relatives had the best intentions but it came with horrible results. Before she answered him, she pressed a hand against her chest, taking the time to get her breath again. They almost hugged her until she passed out.

Once she managed to, Emily looked up at him with a thankful smile. "Thank you. I thought I was going to be stuck in there for days." She then looked around him at Gabriel. "Thank you to you too, Gabriel." Emily looked back at the crowd, seeing that they had managed to start talking to each other. It was like they barely noticed that her and Nathan basically flew past them. Was this a normal thing?

She shook her head a bit before looking back at the brothers. Emily pulled off the white leather coat before reaching up and putting her hair back into place. It had gotten all messed up in between the hugs and the flying... "So... I heard that there is food?" Emily said as she looked at them both hopefully. All she really wanted to do now was eat something and then head off to sleep.

(That was beautiful )

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
(Thank you. This is why we have the brothers around lol)
Nathan smiled and then showed her to the table. Pulling her chair out and then letting her sit down. "Yes, also Ma and all my aunts and grandparents are awesome cooks." he told her as he sat down next to her. Peter and Gabriel sat across from him while Ian took a seat next to Roxie.

Soon a bunch of people brought out a giant amount of Italian food. The table was full from end to end as everyone gathered around the thirty-five person table. Soon Mama and Papa Colombo came in. Mama Colombo sat at the head of the table and Papa Colombo sat to the right of her.

Before the meal began Mama Colombo came over and kissed her sons on the forehead. "Hello my loves. I see everything went well."

"Yeah ma. Really well." Gabriel told her. Mama Colombo went back to the head and told everyone to dive in.

@ The Punisher

Emily looked up and down the table as everyone sat down. She wanted to get an idea as to how many people were there and also pick out some faces that the agency had showed her before hand. While not everyone played an active role in the gang, some of them were rather big players.

Though once they were told to go ahead and eat, spying went out the window. Emily filled up her plate before digging into the delicious food that the Colombo family had made. Plus with all of the food that was out, Emily had the idea that she would never go hungry in their house.

Once she did finish eating, Emily took a mental tab of the people she knew she was going to have to speak to and be trusted by. Though besides Nathan, her big goal was Papa Colombo. If she could get him in her pocket then Emily might as well start packing her bags to finally go home. While everyone was preoccupied, Emily started turned the gem on her ring again to let out another GPS signal.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
NAthan hadn't had his mother's cooking in months. Before this he had been flying around and was talking to all of the other heads in order to make sure they knew who the new person in charge would be.

After an hour the meal was finished. Everyone helped clear the dishes and then bring them into the kitchen and helped them wash and clean up. With all the help everyone was done in record time. After this the three other brothers went upstairs to their rooms to sleep.

"Shall we retire?" Nathan asked her as he leaned against the counter. His fingers drumming on the granite surface.

@ The Punisher

Emily glanced over to Nathan, nodding. "We shall." She told him with a small smile. After everything that had happened today and with what little sleep Emily had gotten the night before, she was exhausted. So when Nathan started leading, she was glad to be following him upstairs. Though she was still nervous about it. Even with them not sleeping in the same bed, they would be in the same room and it probably wouldn't be long until they were sharing his bed.

Once in his room, Emily headed into the bathroom to change into her Pjs. Her suitcases were already in the room thankfully. Once ready for bed, she headed out of the bathroom to let Nathan used it if he needed. She sat down on the couch, looking around the room. It was quite spacious and rather nice.

As Nathan came out of the bathroom, Emily stared at him. She was curious about him, and wanted to know more about the man she would have to call hers for the next year or so. She wanted to ask Nathan so many questions and she wanted to have a full conversation with him, but now wasn't the right time. Emily let out a small hum. "Are you busy tomorrow?"

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
Nathan had just changed into his PJs and was freshly showered when Emily started humming. Nathan looked at her. He had some paperwork to look over in the morning but he was free for a majority of the day. "I have a few things in the morning but how about you and I spend the day together tomorrow? At least let's go on one date before we are married you know." he asked as he massaged the back of his neck. "Besides, I think you've hung around my brothers enough for a while you know?"

@ The Punisher

"Yes, I was hoping that you would have some time open. And a date sounds good. I would like to know you at least a little before the wedding." Emily knew that the marriage was for the 'unity of the gangs' and not their happiness. But she was sure that Nathan wanted to get to know more about Roxie before he married her. It would be a good opportunity for her to form trust with Nathan. Also she was glad he was a little busy in the morning because it gave her the chance to set up a few things.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
Nathan smiled as he went to his closet and grabbed his spare pillow and a couple of blankets. He went over to the couch and made it up the way he liked it. "Why don't we head into the city around noon? Lunch at one and then we can just explore the Big Apple for a little while?" he asked her.

He wasn't sure how often she had come to New York. Knowing the Thrones they hadn't come to New York City in years since this was prime Colombo territory. Well, they would have fun tomorrow. "Well, sweet dreams. We have a big day tomorrow." he told her as he got under the covers on the couch. Turning the lights on that half of the room off.

@ The Punisher

Emily blinked a few times when Nathan got under the couch blankets and turned off the lights off on his side of the room. She had assumed she would be the one on the couch, since it was his bed. Though Emily certainly was not going to complain, or say anything. After all she had spent the last year sleeping on what the government considers 'comfortable cots' that really weren't that comfortable. "Sweet Dreams." With that, Emily headed into the bed and fell asleep quickly.

In the morning, when Emily did finally get up, she noticed that Nathan had already left the room. So after taking a quick shower and getting dressed, she headed over to her suitcases and started to dig through them. There were a few things that the agency had given her before letting her go. It was nothing too fancy, and nothing suspicious, but a few things to help her contact them when she had information, and to possibly protect herself if she needed it.

First, Emily shoved a few things in her purse before grabbing the sketchbook they had put in. The first few pages actually had sketches they forced her to create herself. Though back hardcover was going to be the easiest way to contact them. The words she traced on the hard back was sent to the agency so she could send full reports. And the nice thing was that it didn't leave any marks on the sketchbook. Once Emily was finished, she shoved the sketchbook back in her bags before making her way downstairs to eat.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
Nathan had woken up early so that he could spend as much of the day with Roxie as possible. It was something that he was going to have to do from now on. His dad was sitting in the corner as Nathan finished up another handful of paperwork before he filed and put them away. "Done, I'm heading out." he told his father.

His father stopped him for a moment. "Be careful my son. It is wise that you are putting in the effort. But even then try not to give all the secrets to our family out on the first date."

"Come on dad. It's me." Nathan told him as he left the office to head down to grab a quick bite to eat. The only people there were Ian, Gabe, Peter, and one cousin who was playing with Peter. They had gotten some pastries from the bakery down the street.

"Sweet." he told them as he grabbed a muffin. Right after that Emily came downstairs. Nathan paused for a moment. She looked good when she had cleaned up a little and didn't looked jet lagged.

@ The Punisher

Emily smiled as she saw Nathan in the kitchen. She had assumed that he still had a little more work to do, but it seemed that was not the case. "Good morning. You were up pretty early this morning. Are you already ready to head out?" Heading over to the treats, Emily looked down at the pastries before pulling out a muffin and taking a bit of it.

After taking another bite, Emily nodded to the others in the room, giving them a quick hello before turning back to Nathan. "While we are in New York, could we stop by a coat store? I checked my suitcases and it seems that I had forgotten to pack mine. I have a feeling that it is only going to get colder here." Emily had never been to New York so she had no idea what the weather was going to be like exactly, and luckily it was unlikely that Roxie had been there any time recent since it was Colombo territory.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
Nathan smiled before looking at her for a moment. "I forgot how long it had been since one of the Thorns had been in the Big Apple." he told her as he walked over to the closet and grabbed the jacket that she had worn yesterday. "You'll need this for today. We can stop by a clothes store and buy you anything else you need." he told her as he tossed it to her.

"I'm going to go get the car." he told her as he grabbed the keys to the BMW and then went out to the garage. He got into the car and adjusted the mirrors and the seat and left the garage. Pulling up to the front and parked. Waiting for Roxie to come out.

@ The Punisher

Once the jacket was on, Emily made her way to the front door, looking out the window as she waited for Nathan to drive up. When the car did come around, Emily headed out and slid into the front seat. For a moment, Emily watched Nathan before glancing out of the window to watch the large city come into view. "New York is quite beautiful." She turned to him with a large smile. "Your family has been quite lucky to hold onto it for so long."