Together they teleported everyone to a side street where they wouldn't be noticed by anyone passing by. Ashley and John then led them to a construction site. John looked between the two groups. "Ashley, why don't you and I go get things ready for your mother's present while your grandfather fills everyone in?"

"Yeah, sure dad," Ashley agreed. She gave them all a nervous smile before gripping her father's hand tightly. "Come on James," she called to the dog. He yipped twice and followed. Ashley didn't loosen her grip until they turned a corner. "Do you think it's going okay?" she asked.

"It's going fine," her father soothed. "Your mother was a bit surprised that's all. She's fine now. And you seem to get along well with that new girl."

A slow smile formed on her face. "I do, don't I," she agreed.

"There you are," John smiled. "See? Everything will be just fine. No need to worry."

"If it's not, I'm taking out my frustration on you," she informed him with a smile.

Gregory watched them go until they were out of earshot, and then turned to his daughter's group. "What is it you have to tell us father?"

"Three things, actually. Do you recognize this place, Helen?"

Helen stared around for several minutes before the answer finally came to her. "It's the Italian Sanctuary."

"It is. It was the final test run for Ashley and her clones before attacking her home. They completely destroyed it before a signal could be sent out. There will be more on that later. The second thing is John and Ashley can't teleport around here because of the energy cloud. They were hoping your team could do something about that. Finally, don't be surprised if you hear people referring to Ashley as Maggie. She had to change her name a while back."

"Why?" Henry asked.

"Ashley was out getting some food for herself using her real name. Some Abnormals that had been displaced in the Sanctuary attacks overheard her. They were angry at what happened and wanted revenge on anyone they could get. They attacked and nearly killed her."

"She looks fine now," Will pointed out.

"John stepped in to save her," Gregory explained. "But it was decided that she could no longer be called Ashley Magnus outside of the house. She began to call herself Maggie Druitt."

"Maggie?" Kate asked.

"Short for Magnus," Gregory said. He looked up at the sound of footsteps. "Here he is," Gregory smiled.

"Helen Magnus, meet Horace Fabrizziti," John introduced. "He's the foreman at this construction site."

Helen shook his hand. "Good to meet you," she smiled.

"It's an honor," Horace replied. "I know this all looks jumbled but I promise you there is an order to it."

"Happy Birthday," Ashley grinned. "This is the second part of the present. Grandpa is funding this entire project to rebuild the Sanctuary."

"Truly?" Helen breathed.

"Truly," Horace agreed. "There was over half of the original building left but we had to guy most of it in order to build back up. We haven't been able to work on the lower observation levels or the SHU because of a wiring issue."

"Hopefully that will be rectified before the day is out," John said. "I'm sure Dr. Magnus will be pleased to look over your plans and such but we have a few things that must be ironed out. We'll meet up with you after we're done, alright?"

"Of course," Horace nodded. "The men have cleared out from that back corner."

"Thank you," John smiled. He turned to the group. "This way please." Ashley fell in between him and her grandfather. John looked down to see that her hands were balled into fists and she looked slightly sick. With a small smile he reached over to brush his hand against hers. Ashley looked at him with painful hope in her eyes. John winked at her. She felt a bit better after that.

They reached the elevator and ushered everyone inside. Ashley scratched James behind the ears and took deep breaths to calm herself. Her father and grandfather said things would be fine. They just had to be right. She heard the gasps as they opened the door to reveal the awful conditions. "Ashley is this where you've been living?" Magnus asked.

"Not quite," Ashley told her. "This is where dad was living for about a year and a half. I only had to deal with two weeks until Grandpa showed up."

"Not about to let my granddaughter live in such squalor," Gregory said. Ashley smiled at him. "Show them the rest of it," he instructed.

Ashley and John went to the machine and pulled off the tarp. Next to be revealed was the control panel. "This is the machine that brought me back," she stated.

"That is my machine," Tesla gasped.

"Oh, good. You can tell us what it is," Will said.

"It uses electricity to flood the system and propel you through different dimensions. I drew up the plans for a machine like this one years ago." Tesla glared at John. "You stole my notes," he growled. "It was you who invaded my lab at that Sanctuary and you stole equipment from my work space in Russia."

"Guilty," John agreed. "On all counts. But in my defense each act was to save my daughter."

"And let's bring the testosterone level back down," Ashley requested. She noticed Tesla moving towards the machine. "Dude, I seriously wouldn't—" Ashley was interrupted by Tesla touching the machine and being electrocuted. "Do that," she finished. Sighing, she turned to her father. "And he's supposed to be a genius?"

"Well, I've never called him one," John said mildly. "Gregory?"

"Not I," he added. "Give him a moment. He'll wake up, I'm sure."

He was right and Nikola was soon struggling to his feet. "What was that?" he demanded.

"That was you not listening," Ashley snapped. "We made it work but you forgot the instructions on how to turn it off."

Nikola glowered at her and turned to the controls. "Give me a moment," he snapped. It wasn't long before the machine powered down.

"Now they can do their work down here," Gregory said. "I'll tell Horace when we're done."

"That can wait," John decided. "I think it's time for Ashley to tell her story." He settled himself on the bed. "James," he called. The dog jumped up next to him. Gregory sat at the desk. "Whenever you're ready," John said with a nod to his daughter.

Ashley reached up to her locket. She gripped it tightly for a moment before taking a breath. "It all started two years ago," she began. "After my…death." Ashley swallowed hard. Just thinking about all that made her nervous. "I didn't die when I teleported. I was thrown out of sync with this world. I was alive but I couldn't communicate."

"Why didn't you try to contact me?" Magnus asked.

Ashley gave her a sad smile. "I did," she said. "I tried to talk to everyone. You, Will, Henry, even Tesla. I talked, I screamed, I raged. I did everything short of throwing books but none of you paid any attention. Dad was the only one that could see or hear me and I found that out by accident."

"Accident?" Will repeated.

"I was up on the roof of the Sanctuary, south corner, feeling pretty ticked. Dad was up there thinking, I guess and I started ranting. I didn't think he would hear me. No one else had. Instead he turned around and began speaking." She gave her father a warm smile. "It wasn't the best beginning."

Everyone turned to John who shrugged. "I thought she was a ghost," he explained.

"You thought your own daughter was a ghost?" Kate asked.

"Be fair," John countered. "All evidence at that time pointed to the fact that she had died three weeks earlier. For all I knew, I was hallucinating."

"He actually said that to me," Ashley agreed. "He thought he was going mad and I was something his mind dreamed up."

"What convinced you?" Henry asked.

"Ashley," John gestured. "We had quite the talk on that rooftop."

"That's one way of putting it," she smiled. "Anyway, our next step was to figure out what was wrong with me. That next day we went through the library and found some theories by Da Vinci. That led us to Uncle James' journals."

"Those were looked in my office," Helen recalled. She turned to John. "How did you manage to steal them?"

"I didn't," he replied. "It was all Ashley's plan."

Ashley gave a mock bow at the praise. "I told him to be a distraction to you while I searched the office. Then I tried to teleport out. Not the best idea."

"This has something to do with the night you spent in Ashley's room," Helen said quietly.

"I was watching over her," John told them. "Teleporting caused Ashley great pain. So much so that she passed out. She didn't awaken until the early hours of the morning."

"And couldn't talk well because my throat was sore from screaming," Ashley nodded. "But moving on. We began going through the journals. Let me tell you, Uncle James knew how to keep a secret. Finally, we found plans for the machine you see before you. The problem was the plans weren't completed. We needed to find the rest of the plans and a place where we could work in secret."

"I take it this has something to do with the power surge in the Sanctuary," Helen stated.

Ashley looked sheepish. "My fault," she admitted. "I set up the power surge so Dad and I could sneak out. I'm also the one that hacked your bank account and freaked Henry out."

"Where did you learn to hack bank accounts?" Will asked.

"Long story, not important," Ashley declared. "So we got here and I showed Dad the place. Don't ask me why the wiring still works, I don't know. We found out that Tesla's half of the design was in Russia. So dad teleported to Russia and stole those plans."

"That was when you broke into Tesla's lab," Will connected. "So when you were talking to yourself, you were actually speaking to Ashley."

"I insisted on going along," Ashley shrugged. "Dad wasn't happy about it but I'm persistent."

"We've noticed," Tesla said.

Ashley shot him a glare. "Dad started building the machine. I found James not too long after that. I tried to help with the building but it wasn't pretty."

Helen looked at John. "How did you survive here?" she asked. "You have neither bank account nor credit cards. There were no funds to pull from."

It was Ashley who answered. "Convenience store heists and Chinese takeout."

"My taste buds will never be the same," John drawled.

"Laying low means eating cheap," Ashley told him. John rolled his eyes with a smile. And she continued. "It took a year and six months to finally get it built. We were both a little leery about using it but it was my best chance."

"It must have worked," Will said. "You're standing here.'

"Yeah, it worked fine."

"So you were safe and sound, why not go home?" Kate asked.

Ashley shot a worried glance at her father who gave an encouraging nod. "Because I wasn't sound. I had these new powers and I didn't know what to do with them. Dad came up with a drug treatment to reverse what the Cabal did to me but I could still teleport. I told Dad I wanted to stay with him until I had a better grasp on everything."

"So when did your grandfather enter the picture?" Henry asked.

"Yes, I'm quite curious about that as well," Helen agreed.

"I called granddad a few weeks after I came back in sync," Ashley explained. "I had found something in Uncle James' journals that I needed his help with."

"What was that?" her mother asked.

"There's these…injections he thought up," Ashley said. "They keep me and dad from…from…"

"They keep us from becoming out of control and killing anyone in our path. Or really anyone at all without conscious will," John interjected.

Ashley gave a nod and gestured to him. "Like he said. Anyway, I called grandpa and he came to get us. We set up shop in the villa since we knew no one would be using it. And now we're all here."

"Indeed we are," Gregory sighed. "If that's the end of the question and answer period, I'd suggest we move back upstairs. The air down here is too musty for anyone's lungs." Ashley grabbed her father's arm as they headed upstairs. John shook his head but didn't pry her off.

Back out in the sunshine they split into groups once again. Will, Henry and Kate moved off to talk amongst themselves, Nikola had retrieved a few of the journals and was going through them, Gregory took Helen to discuss things with the foreman and John and Ashley found themselves alone in the middle of the work.

Gregory leaned heavily on his cane while walking his daughter to where Horace was waiting. "Helen, I hope you realize what a delicate situation you have here. Ashley is in a very fragile state at this moment."

"I understand that, Father." Helen ran a hand through her hair. "Or I will once I finally come to grips with the fact that my dead daughter is not, in fact, dead," she added ruefully.

"It's a lot to adjust to Elly, I know. But you are her mother and Ashley does love you very much."

"I love her too, father. And I am very glad she's back."

"Good. Which is why I think you should keep John around for a bit."

"How's that?"

"Ashley has grown very dependent on John these last two years. I don't' think it would be wise for them to be split up just yet. Obviously you and John will need to work out the details together but it would be beneficial for all involved if he were allowed to stay on at the Sanctuary."

"I'll speak with him, father," Helen promised.

Gregory smiled at her and they continued on their walk. Once they found Horace, Gregory relayed his message and then left his daughter to find out all about how they were reconstructing her Sanctuary.

While Gregory and Helen were talking, the other father daughter pair was having a discussion of their own. "Ashley, you are not five," John hissed. "You cannot hang onto my arm like a life raft."

"But Dad—"

"No 'but's, young lady. They are your friends, are they not? Go talk to them."

"I haven't seen them in two years dad. What if they're…different?"

"You're different in case you hadn't noticed."

"I've noticed, believe me."

John gave a deep sigh. "Ashley, you will go over there and talk to them. You'll never know what's changed if you don't try." Having said his piece he shoved his daughter forward before she could protest.

Ashley stumbled and glared at the ground. She got her footing but before she could turn to snap at her father someone was in front of her. "Hello," she said, blinking at the sudden appearance.

"Hey," Kate smiled.

"That was totally not planned," Ashley informed her with an awkward gesture. "The tripping, I mean."

"Yeah, I got that. Uh, can we talk?"

"Sure."

"Look, I don't want you to think I was trying to elbow in on your territory or anything, okay?"

Ashley was confused and she was sure it showed on her face. "Territory?"

"With your mom or, you know, with the guys."

"Oh please, those guys need someone to kick their ass," Ashley stated. "It's cool. Really."

"Really?"

"Really." Ashley shot Kate a relieved smile. "It's good to know I'm not the only one who's freaking out."

"Not even close," Kate assured her.

John watched the exchanged as Gregory made his way over. "I wonder if this is how parents feel on the first day of school," John commented idly.

"I would doubt it. Somehow I can't picture my granddaughter clinging to Helen like a piece of wet kelp."

"Fair enough. She seems to get along well with Kate."

"Let's hope that continues. Ashley's going to need all the friends she can get in the next few months."

"Months? Try years."

"Point taken."

Both men turned at the sound of clicking heels. Helen was making her way back to the group. "This is incredible," she stated. "And I need to get back home so that I can try to digest all of it."

"We need to stop back at the villa," Gregory told her. "But after that, I'm sure John and Ashley have no problem taking everyone home."

"Ashley!" John called. The blonde turned to him with a question in her eyes. "Villa."

That one word was all Ashley needed to see that everyone was back at her mother's vacation home before they could blink. "You might as well come in," Gregory told them. "John and Ashley need to get their luggage."

They stepped into the grand hallway to see that the butler and maid were there with the bags. "Everything is packed, Dr. Magnus," the butler said.

"Did you get the stuff for James too?" Ashley asked.

Emily smiled. "Of course, Miss Ashley. It's all there."

"Is there anything else you'll be needing, Mr. Druitt? Dr. Magnus?"

"We're fine, thank you," John said with a dismissive nod.

The butler left but Emily paused to hug Ashley. "I'm so very happy for you Miss," she whispered.

"Thanks," Ashley grinned. Emily gave them a bashful duck of her head before scurrying off. Ashley frowned as she looked at the luggage. "Grandpa, there's only mine and Dad's stuff here. Aren't you coming?"

"Not this time, sweetheart. I'm staying here to look after the villa and the Sanctuary." Gregory smiled softly at her heartbroken look. "None of that now. I'll visit, I promise. But you don't need me there gumming up the works. I've done all I can for you right now. The rest is up to you."

Ashley hugged him tight. "You really will visit, won't you?"

"I promised, didn't I? I am a man of my word, young lady."

"I love you, grandpa. And I'm going to miss you."

"Miss me? Love, you can call me anytime you want. Or email and such. I do know how to work a computer. Now, no tears. Promise me."

"No tears," Ashley nodded as she stepped back.

Gregory turned to John. Both men drew themselves up to their full height. "I'm counting on you, John. And I will be watching."

"Understood, sir."

"Daddy," Ashley called. John turned to her and she was grinning. "Let's go home."

They teleported everyone to the front hall of the Sanctuary. Ashley knelt next to her dog. "Look at this, James. This is our new home. What do you think?" James yapped and waved his tail. Ashley laughed as she rubbed his head. "Come on, Dad," she said, tugging his arm. "We've got to put our stuff away and it's long past time for meds."

John gently untangled himself from his daughter. "Ashley, I need to talk to your mother right now." He saw a slight twinge of fear in her eyes and kissed her forehead. "Go upstairs, put your things away and drop my things off next to my door. Then get everything ready in the infirmary. I'll be up as soon as I'm done, sweet girl. I promise."

"Love you, Dad," she whispered as she hugged him. Then she was gone with a laugh.

John turned to the group. "Helen," he said, extending his hand.

"My office," she told him, place her own hand in his.

Will let out a low whistle once everyone but he and Henry were gone. "That was weird," he said.

"The weirdness hasn't even begun," Henry predicted.