Nick leaned forward in his seat, simply thinking for the time being. He was trying to find the correct words to use to give the truth of the matter. Quite a bit of him wanted to just continue to lay out the dirty laundry of his father, to prove that the man was a bad person. But part of him was telling him that he already had. Giving only the negative perception of a person allows for the chance that, if they are actually met, they could turn the tables on the muckraking. It was a good fifteen minutes before Nick finally broke the silence. With a sigh, he finally answered the question. "He's always been... expecting. Before everything went to hell with my family, he was in the military. Actual military, not the Hunters' military. He always pushed for better. Him working aggressively for a promotion, for better housing -whether it be just for him or for those of his rank, it didn't matter- for me to bring my grades up, for me to earn myself a better place in this sport or that," Nick chuckled. "You know, I never played a sport I decided to play?"<br/><br/>"But he was an alright father, until a one of the beasts, I can't even remember what type it was, flipped my mother's car and broke her back. We could afford a spinal replacement, partially because my father's medical plan covered it. But still, after that, he stopped having those moments of pride when they were reasonable," Nick said, continuing. "And then, as I said, when my mother's firewall -if it could have even be called that- was taken over, he fought to try to get a containment team instead of a kill squad. Of course, he couldn't." Nick paused and rubbed his hands together, trying to collect himself as anger and sadness equally began to fill him for very different reasons. "He quit his service the moment he was able. He wasn't stupid. He knew if he left before he was able to get the most out of it, then he would be left with very little. He immediately got in touch with some of his old war buddies, and people who he had worked with that lost people specifically because of this government or that government opting out of containment and founded the Iron Brotherhood. He didn't even take command of the organization right away, just so when he did finally get command, not many people were left that didn't hold the mindset he had. They either were in agreement or neutral on the matters that my father proposed."<br/><br/>"I didn't see him much during this time. When I did, he was distant and cold. His drive for me to do better skyrocketed. And when I did, he simply asked -no, demanded- better. The moment I could pass for eighteen, he sent me off to Hunters' HQ to receive basic military training, expecting me to join him in the Brotherhood," Nick said. "Last time I saw him, he was walking out of the little 'graduation' shaking his head, right after the speaker announced my choice to join the Kingdom. I didn't want to have to have my life and my job at risk because I did not want to be a part of his grand plans."<br/><br/>The amount of time that Nick took to formulate his thoughts and relate them to Ava was substantial, as the jumper finally settled down on one of the retractable pads at the compound. Nick unbuckled and stood. Without stopping to grab any bags, Nick walked to the back of the jumper, waiting for the vehicle to finish being lowered into the basement. He needed a drink.