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“I hope he can help us.” Sarah said. “Our powers aren't much use for situations like this.”

“Oh, I don't know. Vash could probably wipe his memory.” Erica replied.

“He's not the only one we have to worry about though. He has to report to someone. And that person will start paying a lot of attention to this area if their agent suddenly turns up without his memory.” Sarah said.

Erica grimaced, “That's a good point. And if we find that person and wipe their memory we'll have someone else to worry about! Well, I'm sure Dad will come up with something. Now come on, or you'll be late for work.”

Sarah grabbed her purse and Erica drove her to work. After a quick kiss goodbye Sarah walked in and met up with Tiffany. “How did things go with Dad last night?” Sarah asked.

Tiffany shrugged, “I really don't know. He didn't talk much. He just stared out the window the whole way.”

“I wish I knew what he's thinking. I'm worried he might tell someone about us.” Sarah fretted.

“I doubt it. Who would believe him?” Tiffany said. She didn't seem very worried about it.

“Agent Garner might.” Sarah replied.

“I don't know, Vash seemed to think he didn't really believe in magic. He might dismiss it.” Tiffany replied as they clocked in. After that they had to get to work and were kept too busy to talk until lunch time.

As they were walking to the break room Sarah remembered her appointment. “I just remembered I've got to leave early tomorrow for my doctor's appointment.” she said.

“When is it?” Tiffany asked.

“Three. Do you think I'll have trouble getting the time off?” Sarah asked worriedly.

Smiling, Tiffany replied, “Considering that I'm your supervisor, I think you'll be okay. Besides, it's only a few hours. Are you nervous about it?”

Sarah nodded, “Yeah, I am. I mean, there's so much I just can't tell him!”

“That shouldn't be a problem. All you have to tell him is about knowing you were a girl since you were little, and how you've been living as a woman for a few weeks now. It shouldn't be too hard to avoid talking about magic.” Tiffany said.

“What about my father?” Sarah asked worriedly.

“Well,” Tiffany began cautiously, “you might be able to skip that. But, maybe it would help if you didn't?”

“What?!” Sarah nearly yelled, “You want me to talk to the doctor about my father?!”

Tiffany held her hands up in a placating gesture, “Whoa, calm down! I'm just saying that you've been through a lot, even without magic, and maybe you'd benefit from talking about it.”

“Benefit from talking about what?” Tina asked as she walked in. Tiffany and Sarah exchanged panicked glances before Sarah relaxed and nodded slightly to Tiffany to let her know Tina hadn't heard anything else.

“Talking about her father.” Tiffany said, relieved that Tina hadn't heard any more, but also worried that this was something that Sarah wouldn't want to talk about.

“What about your father?” Tina asked Sarah while she sat down and started eating her lunch.

Sarah glanced at Tiffany, who shrugged, and said, “He, uh...” She trailed off awkwardly and looked beseechingly at Tiffany.

“He beat her, when she was a kid.” Tiffany said bluntly.

Tina's hand flew up to her mouth in shock, “Oh my god, he did?!” Sarah nodded weakly. “Was it because of, you know...” Tina waved her hand at Sarah and shrugged.

Sarah sighed, “I suppose you've heard about me from some of the other people here, huh?”

She glanced at Tiffany, who immediately protested, “Not from me she didn't!”

“Sorry, I know you wouldn't.” Sarah said.

“Uh, yeah, I heard about you from some of the others.” Tina said apologetically.

Sarah waved that off, “I should have realized you would. After all, everyone but you and Kris knew me as Sean.”

“Oh, is that what your name was?” Tina said. Sarah nodded. “So is that why...?”

“Yes, that's why he beat her.” Tiffany said for her.

Sarah looked down uncomfortably. “Sorry, I shouldn't pry.” Tina said and continued with her meal.

Sarah took a deep breath and looked up, “It's okay. Maybe Tiffany's right, maybe I should talk about it.”

“You mean like a shrink?” Tina asked hesitantly.

Sarah nodded, “Yeah, I've got an appointment with one tomorrow.”

Tina nodded thoughtfully, “Sounds like a good idea to me. You do seem kind of tense about it. I know my friend felt a lot better when she finally talked to a shrink after she was raped. She refused at first, but after she tried to kill herself she gave it a try.”

Tiffany and Sarah looked at each other in surprise at this revelation. “Is she okay now?” Sarah asked hesitantly.

“Well,” Tina replied, “she doesn't want to kill herself anymore. She still has her bad days, but she's a lot better than she was. I guess it could be a lot different for you, though, since it all happened years ago. But, didn't that guy who used to work here attack you recently?”

Sarah snorted, “Which one?”

Tina looked confused at that, so Tiffany explained. “Oh, wow! So you've got an attempted rape to deal with, on top of everything else? I really think you should talk to that doctor now!” Tina exclaimed after hearing Tiffany's explanation.

“I agree.” Tiffany said. “You keep stuff to yourself too much. You should really consider talking to the doctor about all this.”

Sarah was saved from having to reply to that by the fact that it was time for them to get back to work. She sighed in relief when she noticed the time and threw herself back into her work. Tiffany and Tina both looked worriedly at her, but they were all too busy to talk anymore.

After work Tiffany was again driving Sarah home. She decided not to say anything more about their previous conversation until they got there. She knew that Erica would back her up with Sarah.

The drive was quiet and uneventful. When they got there Erica wasn't home so they went over to Mike and Jill's place. Nobody was in the living room or kitchen when they got there, so they went back to Jill's studio to look for them. When they got in Mike was there and motioned for them to be quiet, and then pointed at Jill. She was painting, as always, but what was different was the fact that some of her brushes and paints were floating in mid air and seemed to direct themselves to the canvas!

Mike gestured for them to be quiet again when it looked like Sarah was going to say something. She snapped her mouth shut and watched in amazement as Jill painted with five brushes at once, only one of which was in her hand. The other four flitted about, adding color here and there without Jill even glancing at them. As usual she was totally absorbed in her work, and Sarah suspected she might even be unaware of what she was doing.

After watching for a few minutes, Mike ushered them both out the door and into the living room. “She told me she noticed some of her paints and brushes were floating around when she finished painting yesterday, but she wasn't aware of them actually doing anything besides floating. I guess she's learning this telekinesis thing pretty fast!” he said with a glance back towards Jill's studio.

“I guess so!” Tiffany agreed in awe. “How can she handle five brushes at the same time?!”

“I don't know.” Mike replied. “But she is! I'm beginning to wonder if she's going to end up painting with telekinesis alone! After all, if she can control the paint itself, she won't need any brush!”

“That would be interesting! I wonder if it would be noticeable that she didn't use a brush in the final product?” Tiffany mused.

“Probably.” Sarah said. “Come on Tiffany, let's get dinner started. I don't know when Erica's going to get back, but I'm sure Jill will be engrossed in her work until we pull her away.”

“Sure.” Tiffany agreed.

Mike decided to join them in the kitchen and took a seat at the table. Before long some great smells were beginning to fill the room and he knew it was a good choice. Erica felt the same way when she arrived and she sat back and relaxed while watching her future wife.

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To Be Continued…