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Chapter 8

Three days without a single incident. The mind boggles, right?

I say, without incident; I mean that nothing happened in the school. James, more so than Lili, was able to meet with the disgraced Dr. Shanahan and ferret out what exactly went down with why she went traitor. After his meetings with her, the Colonel was able to piece together the trail of evidence. It turned out that Doctor Doom was a pedophile before the fact, and was contacted via email with incriminating pictures of her in the act. Basically she was being blackmailed. Brian was just her latest victim.

With each new arrival she would send off what she could from an internet café in a neighboring town on her days off. It really made the Colonel, and me for that matter, wonder who was on the other end. The best Mrs. Fine could come up with was someone in our own government. Most likely, she says, the CIA or NSA. They'd give their family jewels for someone with our powers. Everybody was suspect, and nobody was beyond reproach.

All of the campus staff went through gatherings with James, Lili, Dani, and Tony without incident. I will say that Lili was a little bit worse for wear after everything was said and done. Her head had to be filled with so many dirty secrets by now that she was having problems dealing with it. That's when I stepped in and called a halt to using her for that particular assignment. The look on her face said that she was going to give me her first born child in thanks.

Liz was happy as a clam during her testing, and didn't suffer at all in having her first pelvic exam. She told me it was a rite of passage and it fulfilled an emotional release for her. She cried during the whole thing, but it was with happy tears. The Doctor didn't know what to think. So, she takes top honors for being the fastest adaptable student at the Center, a position I was more than happy to pass on to her. Something odd, no, that's not the right word. Hmm, something… else… that she had to do, was spend some evenings with me. When Ray was busy learning something or was just too plain tired after a long day of training, Liz would spend the evening with me.

She wanted to get started on her studies, and would like nothing better than to sit across from me at my desk and read her textbooks. Occasionally, she'd look up at me and smile, or even run to fetch me a soda or a snack. No, I didn't abuse the situation and have her gopher everything my little heart desired. She just wanted to be around me. The thing was… I didn't mind.

This threw me more than anything.

Liz loved to tell me about her day and all of her new girl experiences, not to mention how much she wanted to help out at the clinic. The doctor wasn't having any of that though. He told her that once she graduates medical school he'd be happy to entertain the thought of having an additional nurse or doctor added to his staff, but a teenager was out of the question.

I did let her heal my bruised hand after a particularly rough training session with Ray one day. It was amazing to watch her take my hand in hers and feel the warmth as the pain faded away seconds later, good as new.

But I digress.

Ray presented me with a vase full of wildflowers in the morning, at breakfast. "It's for your office."

"Thank you, Ray." I gave him a kiss as a reward, and I smelled at the different selections he had chosen. Liz smiled from her, now permanent, position on my left, and leaned over to have a sniff.

We had set our second date for the upcoming Sunday, barring any drama that happened to come up along the way, which was only two days from now. I could almost feel my hormonal clock ticking in anticipation.

When I arrived at the office for another day of studying I was almost relieved to hear that the Colonel wanted a visit from me when I came in. His door was open and he was staring at his monitor when I knocked on the doorframe. He motioned for me to come in and I shut the door behind me. Without any pleasantries he got right onto the subject at hand.

"Mrs. Stapleton brought something to my attention this morning." He spun the monitor around so we could both see. It was the headlines of the Rutland Herald, a newspaper out of Vermont.

Vermont Vampire Victim Four!

"Oh, you're kidding."

The Colonel didn't bother to respond to my disbelief. "We've retrieved the coroner's report from first three victims. There are no wounds to explain why the victims are dead. The blood isn't missing; it's just dried in their veins."

Our eyes met. "We've missed one," I concluded. He nodded that it was his thought as well.

"I need you out there today to see if you can get a handle on this. Take whoever you need."

"What about the retrieval tomorrow?" It wasn't like they could send one of the goons for this one. It involved another Pyrokinetic. Things could get greatly out of hand.

"You'll have to work fast." He saw the look on my face. "If it comes down to it, your team will leave and retrieve the subject. This takes top priority for now. It's already made the papers."

I understood. I was just trying to figure out a way to split us up. We really didn't have the human resources to handle multiple problems at the moment. "I'll have Max cover the Pyro. He can neutralize him at the very least if he goes rogue. I'll send Ray, Christopher, James, and Heather with him. Maybe they can help."

The Colonel nodded.

"I'll take, Dani, Lara, Sheri and Sean with me. I think they'll be our best chance in finding whoever is doing this."

He made to pick up his land-line phone, but his cell went off at the same moment. "Yes?" he answered. "You're sure of this." A major league frown upended itself on his face. He clicked off and holstered the cell. "We may have a bigger problem. That was Mrs. Fine. It seems as if the suspect was killed during another murder attempt."

I cringed. "That can't be good."

"I'm going to assign this one to Mrs. Fine. She has certain talents that will make sure the body of the killer won't make it to autopsy."

"I'm not even going to ask." Really. I don't want to know.

He nodded in agreement. "What are you planning for the Pyrokinetic?"

Adjusting to the quick change in gear that the Colonel was wont to do, I explained. "Considering his talent and EETDG I'm going to pick him up early, willingly if possible."

"EETDG?"

Ha! An acronym he doesn't know! "Estimated Exposure Time During Gestation — It's to base how strong we think the subject's talent is going to be. His is estimated pretty early, so, his talent is probably going to be pretty strong. If he goes rogue, I'd rather it not be in the middle of dinner with his father in a high income condo."

The Colonel considered the scenario. "What time are we looking at for First Emergence?"

"Six o'clock. Dani confirmed what Tony saw, but her vision was very short. All she could see was that he was in a dark room, and looking at the glow of his watch when his hair caught fire. So we don't even know if I was there or not, or where it was."

The Colonel pressed his lips together, which I was coming to recognize as his 'making a decision' face. "Go now, gather your team. I'll meet you in the mission briefing room."

I was punching away at my cell, texting everyone involved for a unscheduled mission. When I was passing the workout room I spotted Liz inside with her physical trainer. An overwhelming urge to tell her what was going on overcame me.

Knocking on the door alerted the occupants that I was in the room. Liz smiled big and toothy for a minute. "Sorry coach, I need to borrow Liz for about fifteen minutes." He nodded at me told her what to work on for the next session.

She bounced out of the door a minute later. "Hey, Mom. What's up?"

Something pulled at my chest again; this time it wasn't comfortable. "I have to leave right away. Something's come up. Can you watch Miss Bonsai for me?"

Liz's face dropped in worry. "Is everything okay?"

I shrugged. "There's someone that I have to pick up. He might pose a danger to a lot of people. I'm going to take care of it."

She stopped on our way to my room. Her face went even more worried. "You're not going alone are you?"

I shook my head. "Of course not. I'm taking a good team with me."

"Can I come?"

I gave her my crazy eyes. "Definitely not. You're not trained for this, Liz. Not yet, anyway." She was crushed. Even I wasn't trained for this, but it was my responsibility and with the help of my team, we might be able to do something. "I need you here safe for me, so I don't have to worry, okay?"

And for some reason I knew I would worry anyway. "Just take care of Bonsai for me and make sure you keep up on your studies." God, now I was sounding like her Mom for real. She just nodded and we hurried along so that I could meet up with the team.

I swiped my pass key and opened the door. Rushing into the closet I chose the dressed down version of the commando outfit. Basically everything from last time except for the baggy shirt and web belt. I looked a little butch, but I've seen worse where I grew up. Liz watched as I changed. Concern was still on her face the entire time, but I tried to ease her mind.

"This is part of my job, Liz. You know I have the power to protect myself. You don't need to worry."

When I was dressed I checked to make sure I had my cell. "I'll text you while I'm gone, okay?"

She nodded quickly, and tried to appear brave for me. It almost broke my heart to see. "Come here."

In a second she was hugging me and whispering. "Be careful, Mommy."

I kissed her on the cheek. "I will be, sweetie." Looking up at Miss Bonsai, I said to her, "Miss Bonsai, you watch out for Liz, okay. Make sure you go wherever she goes. Protect her. She's going to take care of you until I get back."

The Calico hopped down the bunk bed steps and ran over to rub herself on Liz's legs.

"Okay, baby, I have to go now." My face was flush and my eyes started burning. I kissed her on the cheek again.

Leaving them standing in front of my room, while Liz held Bonsai, wrenched at my heart. It felt like I was abandoning them to the wild or something, to fend for themselves. We were only going to be gone for a half day, one day at the most, but if seemed like it was going to be much longer.

We all met down in the mission briefing room. I was the last one there and the rumor mill was already in full swing when I arrived. Once I gave them the lowdown I dismissed everyone to Wardrobe to get properly attired and had Heather grab me an additional outfit to wear, Identical to the one I had on, and something casual, in case I was totally off base about how the subject dressed. The Colonel stood to the side as I ran the mission out for everyone, and after I dismissed them he nodded in my direction. I guess he approved.

He insisted I arm myself, so I took a butterfly knife and an asp, both easily concealable in my pockets. At my waist I carried, what looked to be mace, but was, in fact, the same crap they sprayed in my face when they kidnapped me. Last resort I suppose.

The teams returned dressed with a couple of overnight bags amongst them. Once we were in the air, The Colonel passed out our IDs.

"We had them made up to ease the way if you ever had to encounter law enforcement. A DC issued drivers license is in there as well. They're yours for the duration. Don't abuse the privilege."

I opened mine up: Kristyn Keys, Special Agent in Charge. The seal of the Department of Homeland Defense was prominent, along with my picture, expiration date, blah, blah, blah. On the other side was a gold, shield type badge with a spread eagle atop, looking like it was about to kick somebody's ass, or maybe snatch a field mouse for a snack… it could have gone either way.

"Um, thanks?" The Colonel was still lurking over me, waiting for something else. What's he want, a hug? "Do we get the neat looking holder things I can wear on a chain around my neck, like on cop shows?"

His eyes drooped, and the frown that I was becoming accustomed to returned. "No."

"Fine, take all the fun out of being a secret agent."

"That's Special Agent."

"Uh huh. Whichever."

Once we were in mid-flight I was getting decidedly uncomfortable. My stomach was tight, and my neck started hurting. It was like I was incredibly tense, and the more time I spent on the plane was making it worse. Constantly looking at my watch, and phone for some reason, was really starting to annoy me. Even Dani, who was sitting beside me, noticed.

"Kris, you look awful," she said at a whisper. "What's wrong." I gave her a frown, but she backed her observation up. "It doesn't take a Empath to notice you are seriously bothered by something. Is it the mission."

The truth was that I was on edge. The thought of having to leave… I groaned. "Liz."

Dani was lost. "Is something wrong with her?"

I shook my head. "Something's up with us. I feel like…" I couldn't figure it out. "Maybe you should take a look. Maybe you can tell what's going on."

She turned in her seat. "Okay, it's easier if you look at me." Meeting her gaze, I watched as her Topaz eyes went to work on my psyche. "You miss her. You're almost in agony having to leave her behind. It's like…" She gasped and broke her connection as she held her hand over her mouth.

"What. It's like what?"

She gathered herself together. "It's like she's really your daughter."

I think one of my eyes twitched. I must have seriously misunderstood what she just said. "I'm sorry, what?"

Dani took my hand in between hers. "You really, really care about her. It feels like a mother abandoning her child."

Okay, now I knew she was taking some serious drugs or something. "How would you know how that feels?"

Her lips pursed. "Kris. I've been working on deciphering my talent since the first week I've been at the Center. What I feel from you is loss, guilt, and love. A lot of love, and a lot of guilt, it's tearing you up inside."

My eyes were burning again. I can't deal with this right now. "How can I turn it off?"

She smiled at me, almost humoring me. "Sweetie, you can't turn off love. It just is." She paused for a second. "Send her a text. I want to see what you feel when you do. It's one way to make sure I'm right."

Steeling myself, I pulled out my cell and raised the text message screen.

"Send something that you feel, and do not try to cover it up, Kris. It needs to be real."

Dammit. I closed my eyes and thought of Liz, and the last time I saw her stand there in the hallway in front of the door holding Miss Bonsai. She was miserable and at that moment, and so was I.

Liz, I miss you. I'll be home as soon as I can. Love, Mom.

Before I could stop myself I hit the send key, and then felt tears drop from my face. Dani slipped a tissue into my hand. "Tina said that you were by her bedside when the transition occurred." I only nodded in conformation. "Maybe something happened.'

I dabbed at my eyes. "She was scared. I told her I wasn't going to leave her. That's when she first called me Mommy."

Dani sat in thought for a minute or two. "Kris, I may be talking out of my butt here, but maybe it's like an imprint or something." I didn't say anything, but I let her know that I didn't understand. "Oh, where's Sheri. She can explain this better than I can."

I turned back and motioned for the purple-haired girl to come up. She turned the seat in front of us around and leaned forward. "What's up?"

"Sheri," Dani opened. "Tell Kris about Emotional Imprints."

She raised her eyebrows and then blinked like she was recalling specific information.

Dani shook her head. "You were just talking about this last week weren't you?"

She nodded. "I can give you the basics. It's related to what I do. She shook her head when she noticed she was going off on a tangent. "Basically, a traumatic event causes them. You've heard of haunted houses, right?"

I nodded as I tried to follow along.

"A major crime, or a particular betrayal that causes a suicide or death are the main causes, but anything specifically, emotionally charged can leave a residue or a bond in the area it happened. Sometimes a specific object can be the holder of an Imprint. That's where being a Token Reader comes in."

"How about between people?" asked Dani.

Sheri considered it and then shrugged. "I've never heard of that happening before. What's going on? Is it related to the mission?"

Dani looked at me, and I rolled my eyes. "Go ahead."

"I think something happened to Liz and Kris during Liz's transformation. Kris never left the room when it happened."

"I was holding her hand," I confirmed.

"And you've seen how Liz follows her around like a puppy."

Sheri nodded her head. "It's hard not to. You think she left an Emotional Imprint on Kris?"

Dani shrugged her shoulders. "All I'm getting from Kris right now is that she is feeling seriously guilty for leaving Liz behind."

I mentally thanked her for not mentioning the love part. Not that she heard.

"So this whole Mom thing is for real?" she asked.

"I'm not her mom," I hissed back. Then I felt seriously guilty for denying that physical fact. "But I feel like I am." My head dropped back to the seat rest. "Somebody just shoot me, please."

Dani continued to rub the back of my hand. "Kris, there are worse things in the world than being a mother."

"I'm sixteen."

"There are a lot of sixteen year old mothers out there," confirmed Sheri.

"I haven't even had sex yet."

Sheri laughed. "Well there's only one virgin mother that I know of, and you ain't her, sister."

My cell chirped at me. Did I want to look? I opened the inbox and saw it was from Liz. When I opened the text I read her message and the waterworks started again.

Mom, Miss Bonsai and me are in bed. Lili told the doctor that I was crying and he made me go to my room to sleep. Mrs. Fine let me in your room to swipe your pillow cause it smells like you. I'm okay now. I miss you. I love you. Come home soon. Love Liz.

"Oh, Kris." Dani held me for a minute until I could get myself under control, then she made things worse, or maybe better. I'm still trying to figure it all out. She made me tell her everything that I thought of when I pictured her in my head.

I'm not going over that because It's very personal, but it was obvious that I thought of her as my daughter. There was no other explanation for it. The only thing I wanted to do at that moment was land in New York, kick the living crap out of the pyro for pulling me away from her, and get home as fast as I could. Okay, maybe I should just spray the pyro in the face with the magical sleep potion.

So, I just sat there, grinding my teeth, facial muscles working overtime to provide a nasty scowl, left leg and foot bouncing along in with nervous energy.

Is this what it's like for mothers that leave their daughters with babysitters, when they go back to work, after the whole birth thing?

The good part about this? I won't have to hold the pyro's hand while he transitions as well. I'd be a crispy critter if that happened. One daughter figure in my life is more than enough… too much actually. God, I felt guilty when I thought that.

We must have looked quite the picture stepping off the plane at JFK Airport. Me in my urban teenage-rebellion outfit, Dani in a short skirt and heels, Sheri and her purple hair, James in Dockers and a red polo, Max dressed in the latest Manga-chic, and Rita, in her jean shorts and green tank, not to mention her funky red hair. All of us were being led by the Colonel who was still in his off-the-rack, blue, two button suit.

Just one SUV this time, and the Colonel was riding shotgun. Goon was driving. By the time we had made it to Greenwich Village, through the traffic, it was almost nightfall.

Jason Knapp was a clubber, spending most of his time, when he wasn't at his summer job, at one of the seedier dives in Greenwich Village. Industrial dance music was his pleasure, hence why I was wearing the urban outfit. It opened at eight and the line was already forming was quickly being dispersed down into the basement club. The two bouncers were swiping a wand over the customers, so I took out my knife and Asp and gave it to the Colonel.

"Metal detectors."

He nodded and handed the Asp back to me. "Ceramic."

Right. Patting myself down I made sure I had my newly issued ID, and a wad of cash. The Colonel handed me an earpiece, which I looked at for a second. "You haven't been to a place like this before have you? There's no way I'll be able to hear anything once I get inside that club, and you can forget trying to hear me."

Sheri confirmed my description, before checking my makeup one last time. It was dark, matching my outfit and the general theme of the club. She did make me take off my sports bra, saying it was expected with the outfit. Her last gesture to me was to hold up a lipstick. "For touching up."

I grimaced. "I'm not going in there to make out with anyone."

With smile she almost laughed at me. "How, exactly, are you going to get him out of the club?"

Set phasers on stun. "Uh."

"Right," she said with more than enough satisfaction in her voice. "Take the lipstick."

I grabbed it and put it in a thigh pocket.

"Do you at least know how to dance?"

I gave her my best withering glare before opening the door and sliding down to the concrete. The Colonel opened his window and gave me the once over. I shook out my hair to make it look a little messy and arranged the back of my tank into the waist of my pants. "How do I look?"

His eyes stopped at my unbound breasts poking from the inside of the tank. "Young."

I smiled. "Good enough." My cell holster was belted down as I double checked and gestured to it. "I'll text you every thirty minutes. Send me one when he arrives."

He leaned back in his seat and I took off across the street.

Fifteen dollars to get in! I guess there's something to be said for living in a midsized American town. I've never had to pay more than five dollars to go to the under eighteen clubs back home. Maybe the all ages thing here had something to do with it. Probably. With the nicely faked DC ID I was able to acquire an armband that let me do whatever I pleased inside.

The stairs were lined with those white Christmas lights and I could already hear the thumping of dance music. My ears weren't going to be thanking me by night's end. When I hit the club proper, I noticed the walls weren't normal. They were dressed up cave-like, and the wall just to the left of the entrance had hand holds, like those rock climbing walls in the mall. I looked up and there was something akin to a tree house up there. I could see a couple of arms flailing about. This place is weird.

The bar was pink lit in the background and black light was everywhere. It wasn't too busy just yet. The dance floor was only a quarter full at the moment and the long bar had ten people waiting on their drinks served by three tenders. There were too many off shoot rooms around. It was going to be a bitch finding Knapp when he did show up. I didn't want to be standing at the bar watching the door the whole time. I'd be too tempted to drink. When one of the bartenders pumped his chin at me and smiled, I also know that I'd have to have a decent cover.

"What you having, baby?"

Oh god. I'm a single girl in a dance club. Maybe this wasn't such a good plan after all.

My usual fare from my boy days would be a Crown and Coke, but that wasn't going to fly here, plus I didn't want to get drunk. I think that would probably be frowned upon. What's a good chick beer? Something lite, obviously. "Bud Lite."

He reached down and in the span of three seconds had a longneck on the bar with the top popped. "Eight bucks."

FOR A BEER?!

I only pissed myself for a second before tossing a ten beside the bottle and walking off with my single drink. Maybe Budweiser is spiking club beer with mood altering drugs. It was the only thing I could come up with.

You want to know something? Walking around with no bra is annoying. My breasts were jiggling with every single move I made. Thank god I wasn't cursed with something in the overly large size. C-cups were big enough, and quite unwieldy when they were unleashed.

The vibration of my cell alerted me to a text.

Hi mom, I hadn't heard from you in a while and was getting worried. Are you okay?

The tightening in my chest, that I didn't realized I had, eased a little. I breathed out and smiled after, before returning her message.

Hey sweetie, Mom's on the job at the moment. Have you been studying like a good girl? Is Miss Bonsai watching over you? If you scratch her on her back right near her tail it makes her poke her tail straight up. I miss you baby. Mom.

I reviewed the message before I sent it and smiled then frowned. When did I get all… sweet and girlie? Liz would like it, and right now what made her feel good made me feel good, so I hit send. Deal with my new oddities later.

Three check-ins later and I felt another vibration. It was from Dani.

Game on.

By the time he arrived I had the whole dancing as a girl thing down pat. The beer was long gone and the Coke that I had in my hand had to go. I knew guys, and I also knew that guys zeroed in on girls with certain drinks. Beer was low maintenance, and the girl, aware of how she drinks. Mixed drinks were high maintenance, cold and annoying. Mixed drinks were too girl-aggressive, something that I didn't want show and put him off. His file said that he was more likely to be the aggressor in a relationship. Wine was totally out, and frankly nasty. It was the shot-girls that interested guys went after. They were looking to get drunk, get out, and get laid; not necessarily in that order.

I made it to the bar at exactly the same time he did, purposely. My skin was glowing from the dancing I was doing. I knew I looked hot, and not in a 'can someone lower the thermostat, please' way. The bar was crowded so I slid sideways, and pressed my breasts against him as I tried to squeezed through. I know, I'm awful.

I was looking at the pink lit mirror behind the bar and saw his face drop down and his eyes widen at the contact. That was way too easy. A different bartender pointed at me.

"I need Sex on the Beach." Yeah, I purposely said it that way.

The bartender laughed and I turned my head to the body that I was pressed up against. Knapp's eyes jerked to mine, and I gave him one of the smiles I reserve solely for Ray. "Sorry, I'm really hot and really thirsty." Stress on the word 'hot'.

"Any time."

Making a production out of eyeing his body and smiling satisfactorily I asked, "What's your name?"

"Jason," he yelled over the music.

"Ten!" the bartender said. I tossed a twenty at him and smiled. "Thanks!"

Taking the shot glass I upended it into my throat, and swallowed in a single gulp, shook my head and smiled as bright as I could. Knapp grinned along until I grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him down. "I'm very horny and I want to have sex right now!"

Letting him go was kind of funny. He didn't move hardly at all, just enough to see my face. I gave him my best interested look. Oh shit. Maybe I went a little overboard. His hand was behind my back and his lips were on my mouth. I guess that's one way to test the waters. It wasn't Ray, and I wasn't good enough to try to fantasize that it was him kissing me, so I stuttered a little at first, but eventually I guess I convinced him. I may have to brush with bleach tonight to get the taste of a random guy out of my mouth, but I didn't think I'd yak right there in the club.

His hand dropped down and squeezed my butt, so I did the only thing I could and grabbed him by the belt as I turned away, and pulled him along with me. I grimaced on the way out. Hopefully the alcohol from the drink would burn away the guy cooties that were in my mouth. Sheri was just going to love the fact that I couldn't get out of there without a lip-lock.

I already knew the answer, but once we got outside I immediately asked him where he lived. He got a little nervous. "Um... I still live at home."

"That's cool, are your parents home right now?" I already knew the answer to that too.

"My dad works nights."

I didn't ask about his mom, 'cause she was dead, and if she were there he'd say something. "Let's go then. Lots to do."

He looked like he hit the jackpot. Too bad that this slot machine wasn't paying off tonight. Knapp's condo was two blocks over from the club and on the third floor. He insisted on holding my hand. It probably would have been rude not to go along with it considering what I was going to do to him tonight, not to mention it would have looked a little weird asking him to have sex, and not look eager until we were inside closed doors.

Surprisingly, the place was very tidy. Not surprisingly, it was very male. It almost seemed like home to me in a past life sort of way. It made me miss my father more than I already missed him.

"Can I get you something to drink?" he politely offered.

"Water for me, please. Feel free to drink whatever you want."

The beer didn't do anything to me, but I was feeling very loose from the shot I downed about fifteen minutes earlier. The irony of being handed a bottled water wasn't lost on me. Well, I wasn't giving birth any time soon, so hopefully I'd be okay.

Knapp mixed himself a screwdriver. It was teenager's mixed drink. It's hard to mess up the ingredients. Believe me, I'd know.

"Jason, I have something to tell you, and I need you to hear me out."

He stopped stirring his drink and his shoulders slumped. "You aren't a guy, are you?"

I actually laughed at that one. "Um, no." He brightened.

"Good, I swear, I have the worst luck sometimes. Some guys out there can really pass for girls. I mean reeeeeally pass."

I know, one of them is a good friend of mine. I didn't say that, but I did nod in understanding. "This isn't about me, well, in a way it is, but this is about you."

Now he was stumped. "Do I know you?"

"No." I took out my DHS ID and showed him. What the heck, it might make him take me seriously. He took it and was, well I guess stunned would be a good word. He was just looking at it like he didn't understand what it was and why I was showing him. He did look up at me and down at the photo a few times.

"Is this for real?"

I nodded somberly. "Yeah."

He swallowed. "You're not really horny tonight are you."

I shook my head.

"And you really don't want to have sex, either."

They weren't questions. He knew I'd led him here under false pretenses.

"No. I'm here for another reason."

He frowned at his drink and turned to the wet bar to toss it down the drain, but I stopped him. "You really might want to hold on to that for now. You're gonna need it."

The glass started shaking and a some of his drink spilled over the side. He caught himself and set it down. "Is this about my dad?"

I shook my head again. "No, this is only about you."

Gears were in overdrive within his brain trying to figure out what it was that he did. Then his eyes widened. "Look, I can erase the downloads. I really didn't want the music anyway. It was Mitch, he said it was cool, but I knew better…"

"Jason! Stop, I'm not here about illegal downloads." I was just making things worse. "Bring your drink let's sit down."

Once I had him on the couch and he'd drank about half a glass of alcohol he seemed to be less nervous. I explained the bottled water fiasco. It was something that he never knew about. His dad never told him anything about his mother. It was a touchy subject in the Knapp household.

"So, I'm intersexed is what you're saying?"

I nodded.

"What does that mean?"

I leaned over and poked him twice low on the abdomen. "It means, here and here are ovaries. They aren't functional at the moment. That's why you haven't had any health problems, and you don't have any feminine characteristics."

He stared at me for about thirty seconds like he didn't believe me before he downed the rest of his drink in one long pull. I watched as he returned to the bar to have another drink. Maybe I'd discovered a new way to introduce this to new subjects! Just get them drunk and lay it out. For some reason I didn't think the Colonel would go for it. He was probably going to be pissed that I didn't drink Coke for the whole evening.

"I have to get these things out of me, right? An operation?"

I shook my head. "That probably wouldn't be a good idea. We have… I'm skipping over things here. Come sit back down."

"There's more?"

I nodded, and was about to suggest bringing the bottle along, but he beat me to it. When he situated himself, he took another drink and set the glass on a coaster, but still held onto the vodka bottle as some type of familiar object. Well, I know people that cling to teddy bears, why not vodka bottles? More cathartic in my opinion.

"The water did something else to you."

Before I got it out he just blurted, "It's gonna turn me gay isn't it? I thought telling Mitch that he was looking good the other day was just a nice thing to do. I mean he was going out on a date with Stephanie Hightower and he asked. I mean what was I supposed to say?"

He caught me off guard with that one. I just stared on, a bit open mouthed. Then I clicked it shut and shook my head. "No. As far as I know, you aren't turning gay. That's entirely up to you and your own lifestyle."

I jumped at my cell phone vibrating. Lifting it up, I saw that Liz had sent me another text.

I love you.

I smiled and it made my heart warm at the thought. "Sorry, it's my daughter… never mind. Just a sec." I typed in a return. Almost done, sweetie.

"How old are you?" he asked with skepticism. "I mean you don't look…"

"I'm sixteen."

While he was processing that, I dove in to the meat of the subject. "You have a talent, a power that's going to manifest itself tomorrow night." Okay, I'd lost him with that one. "Watch."

I did the arcs between the fingers party trick. He totally ignored the orange juice and took a hit right from the neck of the vodka. His eyes started watering, and he took a deep breath to cool his throat.

"What the hell was that?!"

"My talent. I'm a Electrokinetic, just like you're going to be a Pyrokinetic."

The phone rang at that moment, startling both of us. Jason stared down at the remote phone sitting on the coffee table. At the same time, my own cell started chirping at me.

"Answer it. I've got a call too." I watched him numbly pick up the phone as I clicked on mine. "Keys."

It was the Colonel. "Was that the house phone going off?"

"Uh, yeah. What, are you listening?" Duh, stupid question. I'd totally forgotten about the whole tapping into the cell phone spy thing that they can do.

"Three teen-aged males are entering the building. Did your subject let them in?"

"Hold on." Jason just set down his phone. "Who was that?"

He shrugged. "They said they had a delivery for my dad."

I had a really bad feeling something really bad was about to happen. "We're hitting the stairs, Colonel. Clear the way!"

I grabbed his hand and jerked him to his feet as I rose. "We have to leave now. Those weren't delivery men. Come on!"

"What? What's happening?"

We were to the door, which I opened it to check the hallway. "Which way to the stairs?"

"To the right, by the elevator. Where are we going?"

I pulled him into a run, but he wasn't feeling the danger. "Those guys you just let in are probably coming to kill us. I'm getting you to a safe place." It was sort of true. They would probably try to kill me, which I'm sorry to say is a little more important on my not to do list.

As we hit the door I heard the ding of the elevator announcing that the car was arriving. Of course this elevator out of all the slow clunkers in America happened to be the fastest. I shoved the door closed and hoped that they didn't hear. I looked around for some thing to block the door, like in all of the spy movies. There'd always be a heavy trash can or maybe an old timey fire hose that I could conveniently tie off the knob so it wouldn't open. Apparently the engineers that planned this particular building hadn't seen those movies.

I held my finger to my lips and shushed any further conversation while I tried to listen at the door. Nothing. Pointing down, we made tracks down the stairs until I heard the patting of shoes racing upward. We stopped and I pushed Jason against the wall out of the way. "Stay there. Let me deal with this."

It didn't take long. Another few seconds and a blond-haired boy rounded the corner, he reached up one hand to his ear and the other out at me. My dad didn't raise a stupid child. Nothing good was coming out of that hand at me, and I wasn't going to wait to see what it was.

All he got out was, "They're in the…," before I gave him the shock of his life… literally.

He slammed back into the wall behind him and collapsed to the floor.

"Come on, move!" I felt like the Roadrunner, my feet were spinning so fast on the stairs. "They know where we are."

The second floor whizzed by and we were about to the first when I heard gunfire from outside the final door. "That leads to the outside, right?"

Jason, already out of breath, nodded.

"Hang on, I have friends out there. We'll be safe soon."

Something exploded and I heard rain. Rain? Max! "When I say run, you run straight toward a big black SUV. It should be right outside the door. Okay." He nodded. I pushed against the emergency door and, of course an alarm sounded. Well that might not be a bad thing.

A quick check and I saw the team about fifteen feet away. The Colonel was popping shots off at a car to the left and Max was using a fire hydrant to blast a jet of water at them. Perfect.

"Max, get'um wet!"

All I saw was a smile from his face when I rounded the door. "RUN NOW!"

Pulling up a large amount of my power I let loose in the direction of where the water was landing. Remember Max's warning about water and electricity not mixing very well? I did get to see something from the movies that I've always wanted to see. A car explosion!

By the time I turned to make a break for the SUV, Jason was diving inside and the driver was backing up to make a break for it. The Colonel jumped back in the truck and I was a couple of steps away when something hit me. It was hard enough to spin me around and drop me to the concrete below.

"KRIS!" Someone female, screamed.

I was dazed for a second and then the searing pain in my shoulder hit me. Landing as I did I had a perfect view of the front of the building and the two teens that were standing there, one of them holding his hand out at me and grinning. Fear, pain, anger, and everything else that was coursing through me screamed up and out, as I let loose with another bolt of energy directed right at them.

"Again!" "Clear!"

A jolt of energy coursed through me.

"Dude! You can't do it that many times, you'll kill her."

The Colonel's voice filtered through my aching head. "Keep him out of the way. Keys? You awake in there?"

I honestly didn't have the energy to answer.

"Charge it again."

"Give me a chance to tie off the pressure bandage, dammit!"

"Try her hands, that's where she's always recharged before!"

Two circular somethings were pressed into my palms. "Clear!"

Okay, I felt that one, and it felt good. My eyes blinked open.

"Kris!"

I groaned. "Fuck… is my arm still on?"

The Colonel leaned back on the heels of his feet. Apparently I was on the floor, and from the looks of things, already on the jet. "Yes, but you have a really big hole there." He looked over at Sheri. "Kirsch, start a unit of B negative for her. She's lost too much blood. Marks, hand me that kit."

The burning at my shoulder started to increase to the point where I was about to say something, but the Colonel beat me to it. "I'm going to give you something for the pain. It'll probably knock you out."

I nodded in thanks. Yes, drugs would be good right about now. "Liz."

"She'll be waiting for us when we land. You worry about yourself."

A little prick at my left arm let me know that he was already shooting something into me.

"I want her to heal me. She can do it."

The Colonel gave me a stern look. "She hasn't been trained to do something like this, Keys."

I grabbed at his hand, and he took it, squeezing reassuringly. "I trust her. I want her to do it."

I didn't get to hear his answer before he blurred out, and my eyelids grew too heavy to hold up.

The sound of somebody weeping woke me. My right hand was being squeezed to death and the back of it was wet. I blinked my eyes open and I saw a mass of raven black hair hovering over my hand laying on the bed.

"Hey," I said. My voice was a little rough from sleeping, but before I even had a chance to clear it, Liz's hair whipped up and around, as she jumped out of the chair and on top of me.

"Mom!"

I wrapped my arms around her and it felt like the best thing in the world to me at that moment. It was amazing how much I could miss a person that I hadn't known for less than a week. Whatever this imprint, bond, or link we had actually was, I wasn't seeing a downside at the moment. I'd probably retract that statement at some point, but the feeling of holding someone that I considered my daughter at that moment was absolute heaven for me.

Her voice was muffled at my neck, not to mention the sobbing that was going on, but I could still understand her quite clearly.

"Never again. I'm going where you go. You don't ever leave me again. Never. Ever."

I squeezed her tighter, and she broke down into my arms.

The door opened and I saw the doc stick his head in. A frown from my face, and one returned from him wound up with him closing the door. Since there wasn't a gigantic bandage on my shoulder and I wasn't in any pain I deduced that Liz had been at work.

"You fixed me."

Her head nodded quickly. "Uh huh."

"Thank you."

She pulled back and I could see she was a mess. Her eyes were swollen and red, along with her nose. "Mom, you gotta promise to take me with you next time."

I looked to the side, where a small table was set up, complete with a box of tissues. Plucking one, I dabbed at Liz's tears and smiled. "Sweetie. It's dangerous out there for us right now. I'd never forgive myself if you got hurt."

"But it's okay if you get hurt?" she gasped and then grabbed at the tissue to blow her nose. "I could have helped you."

I nodded. "And we were in a gunfight as well. You could have been shot and then what would I have done?"

She didn't like that question, and instead of arguing, she lay her head back down against my breast. "It feels so good to have you back. I missed you so much."

Running my fingers through her hair soothed something inside me as well as her. She sighed with satisfaction. Before long, I heard her breath deepen, and knew she was asleep. I must have dozed off again as well, because the next thing I knew, someone was touching my shoulder. Ray.

"Hey beautiful," he whispered.

I smiled up at him. "Hey yourself."

Leaning down he kissed me sweetly on the lips and stroked my hair back. "How are you feeling?"

I shrugged lightly. "A little tired, but Liz fixed me up."

He looked down at her, and turned his head like he was studying her sleeping face. "She was almost hysterical when she found out what happened to you." His face turned serious. "And I've got to say that I wasn't too happy myself." After giving me a disapproving purse of his lips he added, "I can't believe you left me behind."

"If the mission went as planned you would have never been needed, Ray. But that's changed. Now, every mission is going to be very high risk."

He nodded and then looked down at Liz again. "What's up with you two? She wouldn't even leave your bedside when the Colonel ordered her to. She told him to fuck off."

My eyes widened at that, but it brought a smile to my face. "I'll have to talk to her about that."

"Kris, she thinks she's your daughter, like for real."

There was that satisfaction feeling back again. "In a way, she is."

At his inquiring look, I explained. "Dani thinks she imprinted on me when she transitioned. I was there with her the entire time."

He considered my words and Dani's guess. "Is there a way to break it."

Liz and I answered at the same time. "No."

She cringed when she looked up at me and I gave her the raised eyebrow treatment. "Been listening for long, miss nosy pants?"

Liz ignored my question. "I don't want it to be broken. Please don't let them break it."

By this time I was wholeheartedly in her corner about that topic, but I was also the adult figure, between the two of us, so I had to consider the best thing for her. "Sweetie, I want you to think about something. What happened to us isn't exactly normal. I'm only a couple of months older than you are, but I feel as if I gave birth to you." I frowned. "As weird as that sounds." Before she could get a word in edgewise, I continued. "We don't look anything alike, so I can't even say we're related like sisters."

Her face was crumbling again. I know she thought I was rejecting her. Tears started to stream down her face. "Liz, I'm just saying you need to think about this, and not just go with your heart."

"I'm not dumb, Mom. You don't think I realize how weird this is? When I woke up after I changed, and you were there, holding my hand, I felt so loved and wanted. It was just like I imagined having a real mom would be. So what, if we're a little weird. So what, if you're just a little older. When I'm with you I feel so safe, like you wouldn't ever let anything bad happen to me."

I nodded. "That's how I feel. I have sympathy for the person that even looks at you wrong around me."

She looked at me like that should have been so obvious. "See. Are we hurting anyone?"

I shook my head.

"Are we hurting ourselves, by loving each other this way?"

"Probably not," I admitted.

"So where's the harm?"

I cupped her face and then set her head back down. "No harm at all, baby girl." I kissed her on top of her head. "No harm at all."

Ray looked wistfully at the two of us and smiled. "We are going to have such a weird relationship."

I shrugged. "Who wants to be normal?"

Liz's hand slid around my ribs and her breath was warm and humid against my neck. "Can I change my last name to Keys?"

We wound up spending the rest of the night in the hospital bed so the doc could keep an eye on me, and review Liz's talent at work. By mid-morning I was finally allowed to leave the clinic to take a shower, and get into some real clothes before heading off to a debriefing with the Colonel.

He didn't seem surprised to see me up and around. I was beginning to think that he had two moods, plotting, and suppressed anger, never surprise.

"Recovered from your nearly fatal wounds?"

I made a face at him. "Thanks to my daughter."

He acknowledged that comment with mild interest, but other things held more of a priority. With a spin of his monitor I saw the front page of the New York Post.

Terrorist Strikes In Village

There was a picture, probably taken by a cell phone. It wasn't very good, but I could see a decent profile of my body. Luckily my face was obscured.

"The President wasn't pleased."

I glowered at him. "Well then next time that we have to defend ourselves, I'll give him a call and ask his permission first."

He almost smirked, but caught himself in the end. "It wasn't that. That could be explained away any by any number of believable scenarios. It was the lightning strike on a clear night, the resulting explosion, the virtual destruction of the front of the building, and the resulting black out in a ten block radius, that held most of his concern." He held his finger up so I didn't interrupt. "Not to mention the death of two former members of Naval Intelligence that happened to be electrocuted, and half blown up from the car explosion down the street."

"Naval…"

"I'm not done yet."

"Sorry."

The Colonel spun his monitor back around and clicked a few keys on the computer before spinning it back to me. "These two were supposedly missing in action almost twenty years ago in the Iraqi dessert. They were assumed dead until now."

That brought a frown to my face. "So, it is our own people that are against us."

He nodded. "It's a fair assessment to say the President is disturbed by this, and has called a meeting with the directors of every agency to the White House. He want us there representing Homeland."

"Us?"

He nodded. "Me, you, select members of your team. A sampling. He's going to lay it out in the open and hopefully put a halt to whatever is going on."

I clicked a second later. "He wants to out the person responsible."

"It's a fair assessment to deduce that one of the directors knows about their own group's existence."

With a nod from me he closed down his computer. "I want you, James Cook, Christopher Duncan, Debra Webb and Sheri Kirsch at the meeting."

Liz isn't going to like that I'm leaving again so soon, and without her. "May I bring Liz along as well?"

He didn't answer right away. "What's this unusual attachment that you two have formed? Don't think I didn't notice you calling her your daughter when you sat down there."

Just rip the band-aid off. "She's imprinted on me, as near as we can figure out, anyway. It makes her believe that emotionally I am her mother, with the reverse effect on me as well."

The Colonel opened his mouth, but then closed it again.

"She wants to change her name to Keys as well." I looked away at that admission. That little something in my chest? It was almost purring at the thought of making our relationship official.

I may have slumped a little in my seat, to subconsciously reduce my target size for his response.

"And you?" His voice was short and measured.

I shrugged, but nodded afterward. I couldn't bring myself to verbally respond to his question. Maybe it was the last remnants of maleness in me that was dying off. I was a young woman now, and I was taking a major step of womanhood, officially becoming a mother. Being responsible for the care and well being of my semi-adopted daughter was beyond anything that I'd ever imagined. That would mean changes and new responsibilities, but with those came a grounded feeling, a sense of delightful contentment. It might not be the real thing. I might not have physically given birth to a sixteen year old girl, but I honestly couldn't tell what the difference could be.

The clacking of his keyboard brought me out of my musings. The Colonel's jaw was grinding a little. He wasn't mad, I could tell that much, but he wasn't exactly happy either.

"There you go. Miss Keys, you are now officially the mother of a one hundred and ten pound bouncing baby girl. Your request to have her attend tomorrow is accepted. Have your team ready, and dressed in the uniforms that will be delivered to your rooms. Make sure this is on the QT."

I blinked. "On the what?"

I'm sure the Colonel was feeling his age when he replied. "It's a phrase that old people use. It means, on the quiet. Keep the information on a need to know basis, Miss Keys."

I nodded and realized I was being dismissed. Before I made it to the door I turned around. "Um, I thought you said I wasn't going to be wearing a uniform."

His hazel eyes turned to me. "I lied."

"Right."

We were heading out that afternoon. I'd have to miss Jason Knapp's transition, but he as secure in the bunker until it happened. I did stop by before going up to check out the uniform I was supposed to wear.

After opening the door, I stuck my head inside. "Hey, you want some company?"

"Holy shit, your arm is healed!"

I smiled. "One of the perks we have. Instant healing."

Jason jumped up off the bed and tossed the magazine he was reading to the side. Neither of us knew what to say at that point. I mean I never had the chance to tell him about the last part of the situation involving his transition.

Looking around the bunker I marveled at how there was nothing in there, and the walls were scorched. They looked clean, but I guess you can only clean so much, and what was the point in painting. "This is where I changed."

"Really?"

I nodded. "I don't remember it too much. I was a little out of it at the time."

"Lucky you. The waiting is killing me, and the vodka wore off hours ago." He didn't wait too long before asking the inevitable question. "Is it true, that you used to be a guy?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Last week sometime."

"And I'm really going to change into a girl," he commented with a depressed finality.

"Yeah, that's pretty much a given." I tried to joke a little to lighten the mood, or at least try to. "If it's any consolation, we're all pretty nice looking. You probably won't be a…"

"It's not." I got really uncomfortable. It seemed like Jason's way of dealing was to ask questions. "They said that I might look like I was born as a different race."

"Yeah, I was white bread, big time. Now I look Mediterranean or something. We're guessing it has something to do with what nationality your ancestors were. I'm guessing recessive genes or something. I wasn't that big in biology, sorry."

"I'm a mutt. You name it and it's in my bloodline." He kept staring off at one of the walls, like they weren't ever there.

"Have a preference?"

He shrugged. "I kinda like Italian, but… body hair." He shivered. "Maybe Swedish, that would be kind of cool."

"Blond hair, buxom, tall…"

"Yeah, good point. Maybe not. I wasn't that big of a breast guy."

I laughed a little. "You seemed to like mine well enough."

He shrugged, shyly. "Well, there was supposed to be sex involved at the time."

"Good thought. That always skews the viewpoint."

He rubbed at his chin and the darkening peach fuzz that was there. "My mom was supposed to be from East Asia somewhere." He shook his head. "Forget about it. It doesn't matter. I don't have any control over it anyway."

"Maybe you do." I shrugged. "We don't know a lot about this Jason. If you want any control of an uncontrollable situation then try to make a difference. It'll give you something to think about other than how much time you have until the evening.

"What do you mean?"

I was making it up as I went along. How was I to know? "I dunno. Try to visualize a race, hair color, body size, everything. See if it works."

He sighed and closed his eyes before growling in frustration. "I don't want to be a chick, dammit!"

I stepped in and took grabbed a hold of his wrists to pull his hands down. "Well, neither did I. Now do you want to look like a big blond bimbo, or do you want to have any say in the matter? If you don't care, then lay back down there and enjoy the last few hours of your masculinity, but if you want to accept that the change is going to happen whether you like it or not, then try your damnedest to tailor it, so you can accept what you are."

His hands were shaking, and I could see that he was seconds from breaking down in front of me. "Jason, we don't have a choice. You don't have a choice. But it's not the end. We've all dealt with the change, and come out better for it. I have more friends here than I ever had before. I have a daughter that I love, and that loves me, and I also have a guy that I am severely attracted to. We get to make a difference in people's lives every day that we hang on and push through."

His hands had stopped shaking, and he was staring at me, but there was still something missing.

"When's the last time that you really made a difference in someone's life, Jason?"

He shook his head.

"Well, you're going to have a very strong talent. You will be right by my side when we go out there to help others like us. I need you there, Jason. I can't do this by myself. The others help, but they just can't know what it's like to control real power. So, I need you to cowboy up, mister."

He blinked at me, his mouth looked like it wanted to function.

"Now, what nationality do you want to be?"

"Asian," he whispered.

"Fine, what color hair?"

He smiled and looked off to the side with his eyes. "Light purple."

"Ahh, manga. You'll get along with Max, real well."

He choked on a laugh. "I doubt it. I like girls."

I shrugged. "Leave that for later then until you figure out what you want. How tall do you want to be."

"I don't know?"

"Well, don't go too tall. They make you wear high heels around here until you're used to them. How about five-six, five-seven?"

He nodded.

"Pick one, Jason."

"Five-seven."

"Great. You want long legs, and a tiny waist, big breasts? What kind of butt? Big feet, tiny feet? Concentrate on it, Jason. Get a damn good picture in your mind and make it happen. Can you do that?"

He sniffed and then nodded.

I gave him a single nod, and leaned in to hug him. "Good luck, Jason. I mean it. I'm right there rooting for you."

Photo Credit: Kristen K.