Eighteen

Chapter Two: Recovery Begins?

Summary: Just before Blind Mag leaves the Wallace residence, Shilo calls her back to ask why it is "too late" for her favorite singer. A conversation turns into a warm embrace, and Nathan's overprotective side emerges when he sees his daughter in Mag's arms…

Disclaimer: I do not own Repo! The Genetic Opera, unless we're talking about a copy of the DVD or the soundtrack.

Pairings: Shilo/Mag

Author's Notes: I am invoking the trope Idiosyncratic Chapter Naming. Each chapter in this fic is going to share its name with a song because…I am a weird panda. This chapter's name comes from a song by Fireflight; the first chapter's name comes from a song by AFI.


Despite the myriad outfits that Repo Men wore, they were easily recognizable by the other employees of GeneCo Tower. So as the Repo Man stormed through the hallways, carrying what was unmistakably one of the black organ-toting cases, he was given a wide berth, and the taciturn GeneCo henchwomen allowed him through whatever door he approached, including the door to Rotti Largo's office.

Rotti gave him a stern look that wasn't quite a glare as he walked in. "Nathan. If you've come to your senses…"

He was cut off by the Repo Man slamming the case down on his desk and opening it. Dry ice hissed from the case, revealing the blooded but undamaged biosynthetic eyes inside.

Rotti glowered. "It was supposed to happen after the performance. Now what is the public going to think?"

The Repo Man turned to walk out.

"Nathan! Did you take care of her?"

Without responding, the Repo Man looked over his shoulder. Almost spitting through his clenched teeth, Rotti spoke again. "Did you…take adequate…care of her?"

The Repo Man finally spoke, his voice gravelly. "I did the job." He stormed out of the office.

It was the Repo Man who arrived at the Wallace house, who slipped in through the secret entrance to the basement where he performed his repossessions. It was the Repo Man who callously power-washed the smeared droplets of blood off the head-rest of the operating table where Blind Mag's head had been strapped not an hour ago. But when the Repo Man's tools and uniform were clean, it was Nathan who went upstairs to call softly for his daughter. "Shi? Shilo?"

The Repo Man had left his daughter on the floor, too focused on taking revenge for her sake. She was no longer there, and her clothes were gone as well. Nathan called out Shilo's name and walked throughout the house, but Shilo was nowhere to be found; he could only assume that she had left. And most likely, she had gone to find Blind Mag.

Nathan was certain Shilo would have no idea where to go to look for a Repo Man's victim besides a hospital. So he drove to the nearest hospital, mentally rehearsing what he could say to bring Shilo to her senses, to reverse any harm that Blind Mag had done. He parked the car, walked into the emergency room, and politely asked the Gentern at the front desk if she had seen a girl who looked like the photo of Shilo he kept in his wallet. The Gentern nodded and said Shilo had come into the hospital with a man who had been carrying Blind Mag, but Nathan assumed the woman's memory was flawed; Shilo didn't know anybody in the outside world, and the Gentern must have mistakenly combined Shilo's arrival and the arrival of whatever good Samaritan had brought Mag to the hospital into one event. But she said she could show Nathan to the room where Blind Mag had been placed, and the girl currently was.


Shilo hated the ugly drying streaks of blood marking her godmother's beautiful face, so she had dampened some paper towels and wiped the smudges away. The Gentern had come back to check Mag's vitals and dress her in a hospital gown. The Gentern had reported Mag stable, if still unconscious, but she maintained that a decision couldn't be made regarding whether or how to wake Mag until after the head CT. So Shilo stayed at Mag's bedside, holding her hand, checking her pulse once in a while, even leaning over to kiss Mag's cheek. Fortunately, she was doing nothing of the sort when her father came in.

"Shilo?"

"Dad!" Shilo had been sitting next to Blind Mag's bed with her back to the door, so she started violently at the sound of his voice. "How…how did you find me?"

Nathan answered with a question. "Why aren't you wearing your mask? Shi, this is a hospital. There are pathogens everywhere." He handed her a surgical face mask, which she obediently put on.

"Now, let's go."

"Dad, I don't want to leave her." Shilo turned back to the unconscious woman on the bed.

Nathan edged forward. "I don't know what she told you…"

"She hasn't woken up," Shilo whispered, starting to cry. "She hasn't woken up since she got here. The Gentern says she could be brain-damaged. I want to stay until she gets her head CT, and then they can tell…"

Nathan almost sighed audibly; he had been fairly certain Mag's head injury would render her unconscious, but he had still been concerned that Mag might have some opportunity to tell Shilo that he was a Repo Man. Of course, had that happened, he would have just told Shilo that Mag was either lying or delusional from the head wound. "No, Shi, it's past your bedtime. It's late."

"She could die!" Shilo burst out. "They say brain injuries are tricky. I don't want to leave."

Nathan gritted his teeth. What had Mag done to his daughter that had made her suddenly so attached? At the thought of the treacherous woman holding his poor naked daughter in her poisonous arms, he felt his hands curl into fists. "She won't die. Now, come on." He took hold of Shilo's wrist.

"No!" Shilo tried to pull her arm out of his grip. She had never disobeyed him like this before.

"Shilo, I am your father. It's too dangerous for you to be here. And I say it's time to go!" He gave her arm a yank and she stumbled along behind him, crying softly, continually repeating that she didn't want to leave Mag. She kept weeping during the car ride, resting her face against the window, her hot tears and breath causing it to fog up since she had taken her mask off.

"Dad, you didn't have to hurt her," Shilo whimpered. "She didn't do anything wrong. And then after you kicked her out, a Repo Man took her eyes!"

"Shi, I was trying to protect you," said Nathan gently.

"Mag didn't do anything wrong! She just wanted to…to cuddle. Everything else was my idea," Shilo insisted, because after all, it was her wandering hands that had led to anything beyond the gentle first kiss Mag had given her. "Now she won't be able to see again. And she might be brain-damaged!"

Nathan almost said, "Good", but instead he said stiffly, "She'll be fine."

"I'm worried about her," Shilo whispered.

Nathan took a deep breath. As much as he hated re-living the horrible scene he walked in on earlier that day, he had to address what had happened between his daughter and Blind Mag.

"Shilo, are you all right?"

Shilo sighed. "Just worried."

"So you're not hurt?" Nathan pressed.

"No…why would I be hurt?" Shilo gave him a puzzled look.

Nathan scowled. "I have to ask, after what I saw today."

"Wha…? No! Dad, Mag would never hurt me! And we didn't…I told you, we didn't sleep together!"

"Then what did you mean by 'everything else?'" Nathan challenged, anger creeping into his voice.

"I kissed her, okay? I wanted my first kiss from my celebrity crush, and she let me kiss her."

"Then why were you half-naked?"

"Because it was comfortable! She didn't…creep on me, or anything. She was really kind, and gentle. I kissed her, she asked me if I wanted to cuddle, I cuddled up to her, and she sang to me. That's it. And I undressed myself, by the way. And I don't think she's…you know, interested. She was just humoring me."

"I don't believe you have a celebrity crush on Blind Mag." Nathan countered.

Shilo was silent. After all, he was right; Shilo hadn't had any feelings for Mag until they met, and then Shilo had been inexorably drawn to Mag's kindness and charisma.

"And I don't think she's uninterested in you. I think she made you kiss her and take your clothes off."

"No, she didn't!" Shilo burst out. "Maybe she's into me—I don't think so—but she'd never make me do anything I didn't want to. She kept asking if I were comfortable, just to make sure." Nathan didn't reply to that, but Shilo saw a vein working in his temple, so she continued. "She didn't hurt me, or force me into anything. And she didn't touch me except for my back and my face. And my neck." Shilo remembered Mag's fingertips softly caressing the base of her neck and shivered.

Nathan glowered, but said nothing.

"Dad, I mean it. Blind Mag would never hurt me."


Nathan stood in front of the door to Mag's hospital room. Shilo sat sullenly in a chair in the hallway a few feet away. All that morning, Shilo had begged her father incessantly to visit Mag in the hospital, insisting she had slept badly that night because she was so concerned about her godmother. He had refused over and over until Shilo promised to wear her gas mask the entire time, even in the car, and he stipulated that he would speak to Mag alone before Shilo was allowed to see her.

So now he opened the door and shut it instantly behind him, walking slowly to Blind Mag's bedside. She was asleep with fresh bandages wrapped around her head, covering her empty and damaged eye sockets. He shook her arm.

Mag stirred and moaned. "Shilo?" she breathed, her voice weak. Nathan could have strangled her. So he gripped Mag under the chin until she gasped, clawing weakly at his arms. "Nathan…p-please…" He released her, and she fell back onto her pillow, fighting for breath. "What would Marni say?" she managed to say. "You beat me and took my eyes. Marni would despair to see what you've done to me!"

"You would be dead to Marni if she knew what you had done to Shilo," Nathan spat.

"I didn't do anything!" Mag wept. "Shilo is my goddaughter, and I promised Marni I'd be part of her life. I kissed her, that's all. I'd never take advantage of her. Marni would have believed me. Nathan, what has become of you?" Mag was almost sobbing. When Nathan didn't reply—he merely gazed at her, fists clenched and jaw set, which Mag of course could not see—Mag continued. "Are you going to kill me? Shilo will know it was you."

"I'm not going to kill you," said Nathan, his voice perfectly emotionless. "Marni would hate you if she knew what you had done, but she would not want me to kill you."

"You shouldn't say that. Marni would have understood."

Nathan locked his hand around Mag's throat again and hissed in her ear as she struggled. "But lay your filthy hands on my innocent daughter again and I will tear you limb from limb." He let her go. "I'm going to let Shilo in now. Clean yourself up and don't you fucking dare tell her what just happened."

Still barely able to breathe, Mag nodded.

As Nathan opened the door, a Gentern was walking past and addressing Shilo with, "Are you Shilo?" Shilo gave a surprised nod, to which the Gentern replied, "Finally. She's been asking after somebody named Shilo since we woke her up."

"Shi? You can come in now," said Nathan, swinging the door open as wide as possible. Immediately Shilo bolted inside and flung her arms around Blind Mag. Mag, despite Nathan's threat, couldn't help but return the embrace; when Shilo climbed onto the bed, Mag let her head loll against the girl's shoulder and began to cry softly. Nathan glared; apparently Mag's spell over Shilo was still as strong as ever.

"Don't cry," Shilo whispered, stroking Mag's hair cautiously so as to not touch the stitches on the back of the woman's head. "Please don't cry, Mag."

"Shilo, what…?" Mag reached for the girl's face, but her hand met only the strange, cold surface of the gas mask.

"Dad says I have to wear my mask. There are too many germs in the hospital."

"I see."

"How do you feel?" Shilo asked tenderly. "Are you in a lot of pain?"

"Right now it hurts…I was just given Zydrate. It takes a while to take effect when it's actually being used for medical purposes. But I'm glad you showed up before it set in."

Shilo's brow furrowed. "Why?"

"I hate Zydrate. It leaves gaps in the memory, which many people…appreciate. But if the Zydrate had kicked in now, I wouldn't remember this tomorrow."

Shilo continued caressing Blind Mag's hair. "Did they wake you up?"

"Yes; they told me how, but I was too disoriented to remember what they said. I do remember that my head CT showed only very minimal swelling in my brain, thank God."

Shilo heaved a sigh of relief. "So…what are you going to do now? I mean, your concert was supposed to be last night."

"I won't sing again. Not for GeneCo," Mag murmured. "They have my eyes. My contract is fulfilled."

"Would you sing for me?" Shilo asked softly, remembering the previous night when she had been lying in Mag's arms and Mag had sung for her.

A ghost of a smile passed over Mag's lips. "Of course. You're my goddaughter." Mag pronounced the last phrase with emphasis, hoping Nathan would hear.

"Could you sing something for me now?"

Mag felt weak from the pain, the Zydrate, and Nathan choking her, and she wasn't sure she could sing, but it was Shilo asking, so she tried, choosing a song that was rather easy; a tune she had often used as a warm-up for voice lessons. It was in French and called "Dirait-on." Shilo helped her sit up and tried to assist in Mag keeping her back straight while she sang so she could get proper breath support. After the song, Mag lay back down and she and Shilo talked in quiet voices for a while until Nathan spoke up.

"Shilo? Time to go."

"Can I stay a little bit longer?" Shilo begged.

Nathan was quiet for a moment. "You should sit in the hallway. I have to find a restroom. You can come back in here when I get back."

"Okay." Regretfully, Shilo got up and followed her father into the corridor. She sat down in the same chair where she had been earlier that day, carefully watching Nathan and waiting for him to vanish from sight. As soon as he turned a corner, Shilo leapt into action. She flung the door open and raced into the room, and as soon as she reached Mag's bed, she tore her mask off and kissed Mag deeply.

Mag had heard Shilo's frantic footsteps and figured out what was coming; she kissed Shilo back, stroking the girl's neck and shoulders as Shilo clung to her. "Thank you, little one," Mag whispered between kisses. "I needed this."

"You're welcome," Shilo replied shakily when the kisses ended. "I'm sorry…if Dad comes back…"

Shilo, you have no idea, Mag couldn't help but think grimly. "I understand."

Shilo hurried back to her chair in the hallway, making sure to shut the door behind her. As she replaced her mask, she found herself wishing she were in a book or a film. If she were, Blind Mag would have gently made love to her on the couch, they would have found a way for Mag to leave GeneCo and keep her eyes, and her father wouldn't have gotten so angry. But there was no way Nathan would be all right with Shilo being in any kind of non-familial relationship with Mag, and as attracted as Shilo felt to Mag, she wasn't sure if she was ready to sleep with her. They had just met, and Mag clearly still had some awful issues with intimacy due to how GeneCo had treated her.

Nathan returned within the next few minutes and let Shilo back into Mag's hospital room. Shilo immediately went to Mag's bed again, but the Zydrate was kicking in and making her drowsy. So Shilo got up onto the mattress and sat cross-legged, cradling Mag's head in her lap and stroking her hair until she fell asleep. After that, she really had no argument against her father saying it was time to leave. She got up carefully, thankful that the mask kept her from acting on her impulse to give Mag a goodbye kiss on the forehead, and quietly followed Nathan outside.

She had spent the entire morning pleading with her father to take her to the hospital, so she hadn't eaten breakfast and was hungry. Nathan made her a fried egg on toast and brought it to her in her room, cautioning her about how she should be particularly careful to rest and relax for the rest of the day as she wasn't used to exertion like what she had been through that morning. Shilo barely listened. After all, visiting Blind Mag in the hospital was nothing compared to the previous day's panic over her disappearance, and of course the time she had passed out because she got so worked up over her father trying to strangle Mag. Shilo found herself wondering just how intimate she and Mag could ever be; if her blood pressure became out of control from being afraid for Mag's well-being, it was unlikely she could ever safely do anything beyond kissing Mag. That thought made tears spring to her eyes; Mag deserved better.

Shilo's stomach was in knots for the rest of the day. Her father brought her lunch, then dinner, but she barely touched her food. She knew it didn't make sense—she had only met Blind Mag the previous day—but she couldn't get the injured woman out of her head. Blind Mag had effectively gotten under her skin, and despite how much Shilo now knew about her, the woman remained something of a mystery. Obviously working for GeneCo had caused her great pain, but Shilo still had little idea of what exactly had happened. Mag had mentioned that her clothes were designed by GeneCo for "easy access" to her body; had Rotti Largo sexually abused her? That thought made Shilo's skin drawl. What had been done to Mag that she felt that she would "pollute" Shilo by touching her? What had she meant when she said she had been "passed from hand to hand like a filthy coin"?

Some time after her father had brought her dinner, he knocked on the door. "Honey? Can we talk?"

"Come on in, Dad."

Nathan opened the door. "You sound tired. Are you all right?"

Instead of replying, Shilo jumped straight to a question that had been plaguing her. "Can Mag stay with us?"

Nathan looked puzzled, and then a dark look passed across his face like a shadow. "Why would you ask that?"

"Well, at the hospital, they said her eye sockets needed to be routinely cleaned. And she'll need somebody to help her bandage herself. Dad, she's blind now. She needs help. If she stays here, I can help take care of her."

Nathan clenched his jaw. "She can surely pay somebody to do that."

"It's different to have a family member helping you," Shilo protested. "Somebody who actually cares."

"She is not your family," Nathan snapped.

"She's my godmother!"

"If your mother could have seen what happened yesterday, she would never let Mag see you again."

"Dad, I don't know how many times I have to tell you: she didn't do anything wrong!" Exasperation crept into Shilo's voice until it was almost a whine. She clenched her fists in frustration; her dad never listened to her when she whined, even if she hadn't meant to. She took a deep breath and tried again. "Dad, please. She seems really lonely, like she hasn't had a real friend since she started working for GeneCo." That was a guess, but Shilo doubted it was a wrong one. "I think…I think Mom would want you to help her."

Nathan's expression softened. "All right. Maybe. If…if it's possible."


The following day, Shilo again pestered her father to take her to the hospital to see Blind Mag, although this time Nathan waited until the afternoon to accede to his daughter's request. Not long after they arrived, a Gentern stopped by to check on Mag; she mentioned to Shilo and Nathan that as Mag had not sustained a serious head injury, she could be discharged. (Shilo was overjoyed; Nathan was irritated.)

Mag had been asleep in a Zydrate haze when Nathan and Shilo had arrived, but she woke soon enough, and when she woke, Shilo was sitting at her bedside, holding her hand. Shilo felt Mag's fingers curl slightly as she stirred.

"Mag?" Shilo whispered gently.

"Shilo…"

"Hey, you." Shilo brushed a few strands of hair away from Blind Mag's face. Drowsy and drugged, Mag allowed herself a peaceful smile. "A Gentern said you could leave the hospital today if you want. And I was thinking…maybe you could come home with me and Dad. I could help you clean your…your eye sockets, and help you get dressed and everything. You know, until you're more used to being…well, blind again." Shilo wished she had been able to think of something to assist with that hadn't potentially involved a naked Mag. Shilo had no objections to that idea—quite the opposite—but surely Nathan would.

"That sounds wonderful," Mag sighed. She made an attempt to stroke Shilo's arm, but the Zydrate made her too uncoordinated. Shilo found herself wondering if there was any way to decrease Mag's Zydrate dose without her suffering too much.

"See, Dad? She wants to come home with us."

Nathan glowered, but said nothing.

Mag held her arms out for an embrace; Shilo complied willingly. "I can home with you?" The singer whispered.

Shilo mentally cursed her mask using language she hadn't even known she knew; if she weren't wearing it, it would have been so easy and natural to turn her head and kiss Mag's cheek. "Yes, honey. You can come home with us."

The "us" must have startled Mag into remembering that Nathan was there, because she stiffened suddenly. "Are you sure?"

Nathan walked over, and at the sound of his footsteps, Mag extricated herself from Shilo's arms.

"You may stay with us," said Nathan in a voice so startlingly rough that Shilo jumped. "If you will agree to certain conditions."

Shilo could have sworn Mag looked afraid, but she nodded.

"Dad, I don't get it. What conditions?"

"Conditions Mag and I will have to discuss privately." Nathan's voice was cold.

Mag dipped her head in a way that was so subservient it unnerved Shilo. Something was passing between her father and godmother that was very, very wrong, but she couldn't identify what exactly it was. Was her father still worried that Mag would in some way molest Shilo? Didn't he understand that not only would Mag never do such a thing, but neither of them would want to be intimate when Mag was so badly injured?

"I understand, Nathan," replied Mag quietly.

Not knowing what to say, Shilo wrapped one arm around Mag. Her godmother slouched just enough to tuck her head under Shilo's chin, looking demure and almost helpless. Shilo hated seeing her like that and hoped she was either acting or still groggy from the Zydrate.

When the drug wore off, Mag was able to speak more cogently about what she needed before going to the Wallace residence. Since she was no longer technically an employee of GeneCo, she likely couldn't send one of her valets to her house to retrieve her things. So she would likely have to pick up her belongings herself, with help from someone who could still see.

"Can I come with you?" Shilo pressed, but Nathan refused.

"You need to stay home. I shouldn't even have let you come here." He paused. "I'll go with Mag."

Any color that remained in Mag's face left it. But she nodded again.

Nathan drove Shilo back to their house, then returned to the hospital for Mag. Shilo waited impatiently for her father and godmother to return, listening to her favorite Blind Mag album and hoping Mag's voice would soothe her nerves.

When the two adults returned, Nathan was carrying two suitcases—one small, one rather large—and Mag was walking with a cane, sweeping it to and fro in front of her almost robotically. She looked weak and white and half-dead. Shilo watched from the top of the staircase, having planned to rush back to her room before her dad saw her, but when she saw how fragile Mag looked, she couldn't help herself. She walked downstairs and offered to help carry one of the suitcases.

"Shilo, you should get back in your room," Nathan admonished. "Your help won't be needed. Mag will be sleeping on the couch."

Shilo was stunned; didn't that defeat the purpose of somebody helping Mag with her morning routine? "Can't she stay with me?"

"The couch is fine." That was Mag, speaking without any inflection. She was now sitting on the aforementioned couch, arms crossed and back hunched.

Shilo knelt in front of Mag and touched her shoulder. "I wanted you to stay with me. So it would be easier to help you with your bandages and everything."

Mag was quiet for a moment. "Nathan…I know you are concerned about Shilo's immune system. Perhaps I could sleep here for a few nights—until it is established I'm not carrying any pathogens—and then move into Shilo's room?"

"We'll see," said Nathan, his voice wooden.

"It would be immensely helpful to have somebody there to help me in the mornings," Mag added.

Nathan grunted and walked off, almost storming.

Shilo sat next to Mag and tried to embrace her, but Mag shied away.

"Mag, what's wrong? …is that a bruise?" Shilo lightly touched an ugly bluish spot festering on Mag's cheekbone. Mag flinched.

"Yes."

"What happened?"

"I accidentally ran into a door frame," said Mag flatly. That made sense—of course Mag would be running into things if she were newly blind, and dizzy with Zydrate to boot—but Shilo sensed that it was a lie. Shilo kissed her godmother gently, a few centimeters below the bruise so as not to aggravate it.

Mag let out a single, pained sob and flung her arms around Shilo with surprising strength. Startled but still pleased, Shilo returned the embrace, threading her fingers through her godmother's hair.

"I wanted you to stay with me," Shilo whispered.

"I know," Mag sighed. "I wanted that too."

Shilo could hardly imagine anything more pleasurable and comforting than sleeping beside Mag every night, perhaps sharing good-night kisses before falling asleep. It wouldn't all romance and sweetness, Shilo knew—she did want to help Mag recuperate from her injuries—but she wanted to cuddle with Mag again. And to be able to kiss her…

"You're still wearing your hospital gown. Would you like to change? I can help you."

After a short pause, Mag nodded.

So Shilo dug through the suitcases Mag had brought, surprised to find that many of the clothes inside were of simple styles and plain, solid colors, very different from the elaborate getups she wore in public.

"Those are my clothes from before I started working for GeneCo. I wasn't allowed to keep many."

Shilo almost asked why Mag wouldn't want the dresses she had worn while under GeneCo's employ, but then she realized the answer was obvious. So she picked out a pair of cloth capris and a long-sleeved T-shirt that looked comfortable and brought Mag to the nearest bathroom to help her change. After closing the door for privacy's sake, she moved to remove Mag's hospital gown, saying "Here, I can get that."

Mag flinched away, clutching the hospital gown like a security blanket. "Please don't, Shilo."

Shilo was puzzled; after all, she had seen Mag nearly naked before. "Why not?"

Mag sighed. "I suppose I might as well tell you. Your father does not want you seeing me in any state of…indecency."

"He's not here," said Shilo as kindly as she could, touching Mag's shoulder. "And I closed the door. He won't know. Mag, please, I don't want to have to leave you to your own devices because my dad is being a…a hard-ass."

A tiny smile curled Mag's lips. "May I have my clothes, please?"

Mag shucked off the one-size-fits-nobody hospital gown and was left standing in just her undergarments, arms crossed over her chest; Shilo made sure Mag's pants and T-shirt were oriented properly so they wouldn't be backwards before handing them to her. Shilo could not help but admire Mag's body while she was undressed, but kept her thoughts to herself.

"Are you comfortable?" Shilo asked when Mag was finished dressing.

"Very, thank you." On an impulse, Mag held out her arms to Shilo, who immediately stepped into the hug and held Mag tightly. "Shi, will you please get me some Zydrate?" Mag whispered. "My eyes…they're hurting…"

"Of course."

The hospital had provided Mag with a small bag of replacement bandages, antiseptic, and Zydrate. Nathan had put it somewhere without Mag's knowledge, and Shilo had to go searching for it; she eventually found it in the kitchen. She did not know how to use the Zydrate gun, but even without her eyes, Mag was able to figure it out. Shilo could only assume that she had dosed herself after first having her eyes replaced.

The Zydrate took about half an hour to set in. Until then, Shilo sat on the couch with Mag's head in her lap, reading a book out loud so Mag could hear; she would have much preferred cuddling with Mag, but there was too much danger of Nathan coming into the room. But then the drug made Mag sleepy, and she dozed off while Shilo stroked her hair. Shilo waited until her godmother was asleep, then carefully edged off the couch and covered Blind Mag with the very blanket under which the two of them had cuddled not a few days ago. She kissed Mag's forehead and reluctantly went upstairs, praying that her wounded godmother would be allowed to move into her room sooner rather than later.


The reason Nathan was not around to interrupt Mag and Shilo's interaction was that he had received a call from Rotti Largo to come to his office immediately. Suspecting that Rotti might have ordered either other GeneCo employees or GeneCops to kill him (he may have repossessed Blind Mag's eyes, but Rotti had likely found out that Mag was still alive, and Nathan hadn't waited until after the Genetic Opera to take Mag's eyes), he dressed in his Repo Man suit before departing.

So while Shilo helped Mag change out of her hospital gown, the Repo Man who had been Nathan Wallace not too long ago was walking into GeneCo tower and being cautiously avoided as he made his way to Rotti Largo's office.

He was still wearing his entire Repo Man outfit when he burst in; Rotti glanced at him casually and said, "That won't be necessary, Nathan."

He removed his helmet and waited for Rotti to speak again.

"Blind Mag is still alive." Rotti raised his eyebrows questioningly, but the effect was ruined by a coughing fit. Nathan waited until his boss had himself under control before replying.

"Unfortunately, she made contact with Shilo," Nathan explained. "She revealed to Shilo that Marni had asked her to be Shi's godmother. Shilo is very attached to Mag all of a sudden."

"The public must know what happens when people cross GeneCo!" Rotti snapped.

Nathan scowled. "Mag won't last long," he said, a growl creeping into his voice. "She has…an interest in my daughter. I'm just waiting for her to make a wrong move."

Rotti nodded, but his voice was stern when he spoke. "Sooner rather than later, Nathan."

Nathan nodded curtly, once, and turned to leave.

"Oh, and Nathan?"

Nathan narrowed his eyes, certain he wasn't going to like what was coming next.

"As you are aware, I like to keep an eye on the daughter of my best employee." Nathan wasn't fooled, and said nothing; Rotti went on. "She seems quite…frail. Perhaps you're overdoing it?"

"What are you saying?" Nathan demanded.

"You will stop poisoning Shilo."

"How did you know!" Nathan hissed, reaching for one of his scalpels. Rotti snapped his fingers and two impassive henchwomen marched into the room in lockstep. Glaring daggers at Rotti, Nathan slid the scalpel back into its holder.

"GeneCo knows everything," said Rotti simply. "You will stop giving Shilo poison, or I will tell Shilo that you are a legal assassin and a murderer, whose first victim was your wife."

Nathan stood stock-still for a moment. "I need Shilo to stay safe. She can't leave the house."

"And you can keep her safe without sickening her, can't you?" The GeneCo's CEO's tone was almost mocking.

Nathan clenched his jaw and curled his hands into fists.

"You're dismissed. You have twenty-four hours to find a way to convince your daughter she's cured."

Nathan Wallace walked, nearly staggering, from Rotti Largo's office and rode the elevator to the first floor. He drove back to his house in a daze, barely able to believe that he had only twenty-four hours left of keeping his beloved daughter irrevocably safe.


A/N: Nathan, if you keep clenching your jaw that much, you're going to need to see a dentist.