Keri bounced down the main staircase of the small mansion. She was in a good mood. Lewis was healthy and happy, her new friends were healthy and happy, and…she stopped short in the stairwell of the second floor. Her grandfather was dead and her cousin was in custody for his murder. She sighed and dropped down to sit on the top step, hugging the wall. Taking several deep breaths, she forced herself to push the grief aside. Her grandfather was gone. Whether he had deserved his end or not, dwelling on it wasn't going to change anything. Dani, on the other hand, more than deserved being jailed for her crimes. Keri would just have to help make sure she didn't weasel her way out of it. Sharp footsteps echoed down the stairs; a moment later Mark came into view. "Is Anja up there?" Keri asked, thinking some nesting with her surrogate birth sibling would be a very good thing right now.

"No. If you don't see her on the grounds, check her quarters," Mark snapped without stopping.

"Her quarters?" Keri stared at Mark's stiff back. "Hey! What did you do?" She got up and followed him down the stairs then stopped short as he slammed the study door in her face. "Oh shit. What did you do?"

Mark locked the door behind him and stalked over to his desk. He dropped down into the chair and buried his face in his hands. Not only would he have to watch Anja keep company with another, he would have to deal with her surrogate sib every day. Groaning, he struggled to pull together his self-control. This would not do. He was section leader; he had to…The door rattled as someone tried to open it. "Mark?" Jeffrey's voice called. Mark stood, went and opened the door, then silently returned to his seat. Jeffrey entered and stared at him.

"Did you want something, Jeffrey?" Mark asked after several minutes passed.

"Ah, yes. Our people up north stepped in to liberate a team where the council refused, citing treason. They've freed a number of soldiers being held by the humans in Fort Lewis. Naturally the soldiers are…grateful."

"Naturally."

"We've had one of our truth finders talk to them, and a few have already been passed to join us."

"How many?"

"Three, their commander and two common soldiers. The soldiers have been assigned posts; you'll find the additions to the personnel roster already made. I've got the commander on his way here to meet with you."

"Fine." Mark stared at the disk that Jeffrey had handed him, his mind vaguely noting that Jeffrey was still talking.

"Mark, what's wrong? Mark!"

He blinked. "What?"

Jeffrey frowned at him. "Damn it, Mark. What's wrong with you? We've got an opportunity here, are we going to take advantage of it, or not?"

"What opportunity?"

"The commander from the Alaska facility. The codes he had have no doubt been changed, but he knows the content to search for. Our hackers will be able to take it from there."

Mark's eyes narrowed. "That's excellent news." He moved to insert the disk in the CPU. It was time to get back to work.

... ...

Sloan sighed as she looked out over the manicured lawn. The view was beautiful. The trees and bushes were artfully placed and the colors carefully orchestrated. More of Lewis' work, Tom had told her. She shook her head, amazed at the depths of the man. While she understood that many of his more reprehensible actions were tied to the trauma he'd suffered, Lewis was still one of the most coldly vicious men she'd ever met, and yet…

Tom glided into the room…yes, glided was the word for it. Now that he was no longer hiding his abilities it was easy to remember that he wasn't human. Or rather, that he wasn't Homo sapiens-sapiens. He and Lewis, oh, and Alexa, were just different. It didn't make sense to her. Their training as chameleons was supposed to allow them to blend in, to be anything or anyone. Yet they stood out as different even among their fellow Homo sapiens-dominants. Except, she remembered, when they were trying to 'blend in'. Then they effortlessly became their cover, as Tom had become an FBI agent and Lewis a psychologist. The police and media personnel had bought their stories without question. And so had she…until she'd found that other Tom Daniels.

"Sloan, are you okay?" Tom asked as he took her in his arms.

She smiled. "Fine." Leaning back into his embrace, she brushed her cheek against his. "Did you have a good workout?"

Tom grinned. He was doing a lot of that these days. "Great. I out-lifted Lewis for a change. Managed to do fifteen more reps at the same weight."

Sloan chuckled. Tom was so proud of himself; it was cute. She decided to tease him. "Well, he is like fourteen years older than you are. I should hope you could out lift him."

"You don't understand, Sloan. Lewis drives himself like a demon. I've never been able to best him at anything. Not ever." He frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe he still hasn't fully recovered from his incarceration or the reclamations."

"Doesn't matter," Sloan said firmly. "You did great."

"Yes, I did." Sloan chuckled again at his smug tone, and then sighed as he kissed her. "Lewis said he was able to reach someone this morning that can help with the last of the memory blocks," Tom murmured against her lips. "They've agreed to be met and brought out here to work with us."

"Tom, that's wonderful!"

"Yes." His smile faded. "If it works. Sloan, maybe I should just forget about it…uh, no pun intended. I…I've been happy here. Being with you, being safe, well, more or less safe. What if I remember something that drives us apart?"

"Look at everything Lewis remembered. It pulled him and Keri closer together." God, Sloan thought. I can't believe I'm saying something positive about Lewis.

"True. And maybe we can bond."

"Tom, don't get your hopes up. You know what Dr. Richard…uh, Carla said. It's rare, very rare, even between two of your people. And remember, I don't have PSI gifts, well, not like Keri does."

He nodded. "I know. It's just…I love you, Sloan. And I want the best of everything for you. A mating bond is, well, the best thing there is for a relationship."

Sloan smiled, "Okay. I believe you. But that doesn't mean we won't be happy without one." She kissed him, softly at first, and then slid her tongue between his lips as they parted. His arms tightened around her and he fiercely returned the kiss. She moaned and ground her hips as his hand cupped her derrière and pressed her against his erection. He suddenly pulled away and she whimpered at the loss.

"Slo-oan," he ground out plaintively. "We can't."

"I'm sorry." Sloan tried to act contrite. From his expression he was not buying it. "I just get carried away…you are a very sexy package, Tom Daniels."

He shook his head. "Just you wait, Dr. Parker."

"Oh, I am, I am," she mock-groaned.

... ...

Alexa frowned at the two barely dressed sapiens lying on the blanket in the middle of the lawn. Why Dr. Tate spent so much time with that biker child was beyond her understanding. She found herself stalking down the walkway between the buildings and pulled up short. Why did she care what a sapiens did? Alexa shook herself mentally and continued on to the main house. She looked over her shoulder as Amy turned on the blanket. The bikini top barely contained the girl's full breasts. Alexa gritted her teeth and shoved the screen door open with possibly a bit more force than was necessary…

"Whoa, Alexa! Take it easy!" Jeffrey told her as he barely avoided colliding with the door.

"Sorry."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Jeffrey frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. She recognized the look he was giving her and knew she needed to come up with an explanation and quickly, or he would become intrusive. His intense training to interact on an intimate level with sapiens made it difficult for him to keep a proper and respectful distance with his own kind. "The number of sapiens in the complex is difficult for me to deal with. It's different when I've prepped for a mission. This is…unexpected and therefore uncomfortable," she told him.

"I see." The former breeder operative raised an eyebrow.

"I am…working on it."

"Of course."

Alexa sighed. He obviously did not accept her explanation, but the irritating man was not going to say so. Fine. It was time to change the subject. "Did you inform Mark of our expected guest?"

"Yes. He seemed pleased."

"He should be. This will also solve our problem with our contingent of soldiers. They haven't really accepted my leadership. They obey, but it's obvious that they miss the guidance and camaraderie they had with Stephen."

"Do you think Hunter will be able to replace him satisfactorily?"

"He and Stephen trained together, or so James has said. I think it will work out well."

"We should give him Stephen's quarters then. I'll have Erik see to it." Alexa nodded her agreement and stepped past Jeffrey, heading for the kitchen. "Alexa, I haven't been distracted," he called after her. "I will figure it out eventually, you know."

Damn it, Alexa fumed. Ah well, perhaps if he figured it out, he could explain it to her.

... ...

Caryn frowned at the latest DNA readings. The retrovirus that Ed had described which could change sapiens DNA to dominant was radically different than anything she'd ever heard of. But then, genetics was not her strong point. She switched screens to the comparative EEG study results. This was more like it. A comparison page showed scans of twenty different brains, some of them Homo sapiens-dominant, others of the Homo sapiens-sapiens residents of their facility. Without exception, the color renditions of the electrical activity in the brains of the dominants showed that it reached astounding levels. The scans of the sapiens brains, however, were not uniformly dimmer as she would have expected.

Typing quickly she ordered the program to hide the scans that showed levels typical of the sapiens brain. The remaining scans were reordered and displayed. "Well, would ya look at tha-at," she muttered, her accent thickening with her agitation. All of the scans now displayed, including those of three people whose DNA registered as Homo sapiens-sapiens, showed activity well within the normal range they had established for Homo sapiens-dominant.

"What am I looking at, my rose?" Jeff purred in her ear.

She jumped, clutching a hand to her heart. "Je-eff! Dayum, you scared me."

He chuckled and nuzzled her cheek. "I'm sorry. I thought you'd heard me come in. I wasn't exactly quiet about it."

Caryn turned to look at him, her expression was, no doubt, rueful. "Well, ah guess ah was concentratin' a bit too hard."

"What's wrong, Caryn?" he said and then laughed. "Sorry, I seem to be saying that a lot this morning."

"It's okay. What makes you think somethin's wrong?"

"I can plainly hear West Texas in your voice, dear lady."

"Ah." She shook her head. "I've got to watch that," she enunciated clearly. "Too much of a barometer…don't want to make it too easy for you, we're supposed to keep you men guessing."

Jeff started laughing again and caught her hands in his. "Please, give me a break. Don't you think the species differential is enough of a handicap for me without throwing in the Mars-Venus thing?"

She smiled as he kissed her fingertips. "I suppose." His lips moved to her palm and she gasped. "Jeff, stop that. What if someone comes in?"

He sighed. "All right. I know you prefer privacy for romance, yes? But you have to promise me some private time later."

"After dinner tonight I'm all yours."

"Really?"

Caryn flushed. "Well, within reason."

"Damn, I knew that was too easy."

Laughing, she pushed him towards the door. "Get on out of here, you. I've got work to do and you're way too good a distraction."

... ...

Lewis sat cross-legged on the hood of the Mercedes sedan, nodding and suppressing a smile as Anja continued lecturing him on the finer points of high-performance engines. He'd built performance engines for a racing team some fifteen years ago while on assignment, but the girl was clearly passionate about her subject, and was actually proving to be a fine teacher.

She finally wound down, and then flushed as she caught the indulgent look in his eyes. "Hmm, you know about this already, ja?" she asked.

He grinned and slid off of the car. "Yes, but you explained it very well. I am impressed with your knowledge."

"Thank you," she said with an odd dignity. "So, asking about my car was icebreaker, no?" She continued at his nod. "What did you want to see me about, then?"

"How is your physical therapy going?"

"You've had reports."

"True, but I want your opinion. You know better than anyone how quickly you can bounce back from a devastating injury."

Anja pursed her lips in a mutinous expression. "This was not devastating," she said with a dismissive tone.

"I'm glad to hear it. When do you think you'll be at one hundred percent?"

"Soon. I have to be. When I was hurt, I called in to the council and told them I'd had accident on my bike. They expect me back in a few days."

Lewis frowned and leaned back against the car. "Mark still needs you for undercover work then."

"Of course. The data I intercept is vital to the coexistence effort."

"Of course," he echoed thoughtfully.

"What?"

"Hmm? Oh, I'd hoped to have time to give you some training. Now that Keridwen is reasonably safe from her family and her government she will want to leave the grounds and she'll need someone trained as a bodyguard to accompany her."

"And you would give me what training? I can fight and shoot already. Couriers are trained like soldiers for that, and then some."

"Keridwen is important to me. I consider the training level of a soldier or even a courier, inadequate for her protection. The training I had in mind is generally reserved for chameleons."

"I could be chameleon?!"

Lewis' lips twitched at her excitement. "No. That takes many years of training and methods to which I am certain you would be opposed. But you would be much more than you are now; certainly much more than any soldier or courier could be."

Anja nodded. "I would like that. Is it okay with Mark?"

"Yes, so long as it doesn't interfere with your council tasks. He did promise me assistance with Keridwen's security."

"And this training would give me more skill for faction, too!"

"Yes, it would." Lewis let the smile show this time.

... ...

The roar of Harley engines split the tranquility of the afternoon. "What the hell?" Amy muttered and sat up.

Ed glanced over and grinned appreciatively as her breasts were revealed. "Uh, Amy? You might want to fasten your top before you go anywhere," he told her as she started to get to her feet.

"What? Damn." Amy flushed slightly and pulled the straps of her halter style bikini top back up around her neck and tied them. "Enjoying the show?" she asked.

"Definitely," he told her, ducking as she threw her water bottle at him. "Hey, you asked!"

Amy muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'men are all alike' and stomped off. He scrambled to follow her. He'd barely caught up when the bikers came around from the garage and stopped on the main driveway. Amy ran up to Bear. She looked pissed and Ed was grateful that he wasn't going to be on the receiving end of her anger. "What's going on, Bear? Nobody told me we were moving out."

"We ain't darlin'. Yer stayin' here. Lewis is gonna see ya get yerself educated, like."

"What are you talking about? I'm fine. I don't need no college or nothing."

"Amy-girl, ya ain't gonna be like yer ole man!" Bear sighed. "Look, ya like these here folks, dontcha?"

"Yeah…"

"Specially some a them fellas, yeah?"

"Aw, Daddy, what's that got to do with anything?" Amy folded her arms across her chest. Uh oh, Ed thought. This could get ugly…Amy was damn near as stubborn as Sloan was.

"Shi-it, girl. Ya don' belong on th' road. Yer gonna get yerself knocked up or kilt."

"I've been doing just fine!" Her face was sheet white with a bright red spot on each cheek. Ed took a step back…he'd seen Amy explode at one of the bikers the other day, stepping back did not mean he was a coward, nope, not at all.

Bear looked her up and down and shook his head. "Fine, mah ass. Ah ain't gonna argue witcha Amy. We's already discussed it," he said, indicating the other bikers. "Yer stayin', that's final."

Renee leaned out from behind Bear. "Amy, your daddy loves ya honey. Can ya at least try it? If it don't work out, you can go to my folks' place."

Amy still looked mutinous, but the red was fading from her cheeks. Ed sighed with relief. "I guess," she told them. "You know, you could have asked me."

Bear grumbled "An' ya woulda said no."

"Probably." Amy threw her arms around Bear's neck. "I'm gonna miss you."

"Ah'm gonna miss ya too, Amy girl. Now ya better behave, ya know or Lewis'll toss ya out on yer ass."

"Nah, he wouldn't do that. He's too cool." Ed choked at Amy's casual praise of the man he still couldn't get over seeing as an enemy. She turned to him. "Hey, he is, you know."

"I'm not going to touch that one with a ten foot pole," Ed told her, holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

... ...

Lewis turned to look out of the kitchen window as he heard the Harleys roar down the driveway. Finally, there would be something approaching order on his property. He turned and almost dropped his mug of coffee. Bets was standing there with a forlorn but determined look. His eyebrow rose. "Do you need something before you leave?" he asked.

Bets frowned at him. "I'm not leaving. Mark said it was okay if I stayed for a while."

His other eyebrow rose. "Did he?"

"Yeah. I just couldn't go back out…not without Kurt." She shrugged. "I only rode 'cause of him, you know."

"I see." Lewis pushed down his annoyance. While he owed the woman for her loss, he did not appreciate being manipulated.

"Mark said I should ask you if there's anything you want me to do around here."

"Mark is responsible for the maintenance of the property."

"Yeah, well, he thought maybe I could do things for Keri…well, for you, for Keri."

"Keridwen is quite self-sufficient."

"He thought maybe she might be lonely."

Mark, Lewis decided, was thinking far too much, and about things that did not concern him. "Keridwen has me, and she has Anja. She needs no one else."

"No? The scientists are always busy. Amy's still a teenager. Don't you think maybe she'd like a human…ah, sapiens friend closer to her own age?"

"From what I understand of it," Lewis said coldly. "Friends are made, not assigned."

Bets' chin rose. "Don't get all high an' mighty with me, hon, I'm already her friend. I guess I'm just asking 'cause of that bond thing. Don't want you thinking I'm trying to come between you and your mate."

Lewis frowned at the mixture of grief, outrage, pride, concern, and caring that was rolling off of the sapiens woman. She wasn't trying to manipulate him, to get something out of him. She really did want to be there for Keridwen, and she truly couldn't face going back on the road without her lover. "Very well. Keridwen is setting up genetic records and PSI testing protocols for the lab team. Perhaps you can assist her with that." He tilted his head, considering. "I imagine she would enjoy the company."

... ...

Smiling, Walter Attwood looked over the organized chaos of their new lab. They now had two M.D.'s working on their research full time and Carla Richard planned to stop by every other week to look over Ed Tate and David Bowman's results and determine if there was anything they were missing from the Dominant point of view.

Their Ph.D. researchers were also top-notch. Caryn Townsend was well known in the field of Behavioral Neuroscience. They'd had to put out a story of them accepting jobs in the private sector to cover her and David's disappearance from the government lab. Sloan was light years beyond what she should be capable of in her field. Besides her Bioanthropology expertise she had learned a great deal from Ed in Applied Genetics and Immunology.

And then there was Keri Ashton. She rarely joined the others in the lab, demurring with the comment that she was 'not a scientist', in spite of her Ph.D. in Parapsychology and her separate Masters in Genetics. But when she did show up, things happened…like Sloan, she had an uncanny ability to ask the right questions to inspire the others to find new answers in the most unexpected of places.

It was a hell of a team, he decided. They certainly wouldn't miss his contributions while he was gone.

"Walter, you ready to go?" Ray Peterson asked. "Goodbyes all said?"

"Yes. Didn't you notice Sloan giving me the look?"

"Oh, is that what that's all about? I got lucky. She accepted my excuse of needing to see Grace and Matt."

Walter favored Ray with a sour look. "Yes, lucky you." He sobered as he felt Ray's worry. "I'm sure they're fine, Ray. As soon as we check out the neighborhood, we'll pick them up."

"They aren't answering the phone, Walter. What if it's already too late?"

Suppressing his own misgivings, he clapped Ray on the shoulder reassuringly. "Everything will be fine. Now let's go find the soldiers Mark is lending us and get moving."

"Oh, yeah." The former police detective wrinkled his nose. "James and Bonnie already have the car out front."

"Allies, Ray. Think allies."

"I'm trying. God knows, I'm trying."