Chapter Two

Michael worked well into the night, poring over operative files from the appropriate time period, until he found the answer he needed. First thing in the morning, he called Jaime and asked her to come in to give another sample, hoping she'd come alone. This time, she did.

"I don't need another sample," he told her bluntly, "but we have to talk."

"Results - already?"

"You need to sit down."

"Michael, she's not my daughter, right? It's not physically poss -"

"Sit down, Jaime."

Jaime warily complied. "There is no way -"

"She is your daughter," he said softly. "There's no doubt at all."

"But -"

"And there's more. Jack Hansen's not her father."

"This gets better and better. Since we're already dealing in physical impossibilities, who is?"

Michael took a deep breath, bracing for the explosion. "It's Steve."

------

Jaime paced back and forth across the floor of the den, waiting for Oscar to return from his walk. She had no idea what to tell him, because she had absolutely no clue how any of it was even possible. The only thing she knew for sure was that she had to tell her husband.

Oscar knew the minute he walked in that something was wrong. He took his wife in his arms and led her to the sofa. "What is it, Jaime? What happened?"

"Kelly's...my daughter."

"You - and Jack Hansen?"

"No! I haven't been with anyone but you since - since before we were even engaged. But apparently, she isn't Jack's. According to the DNA results, she's Steve's daughter."

"Steve's - and your - daughter. Together." Oscar got up from the sofa. "I need a drink."

"Oscar, I have never cheated on you. Ever!"

"Maybe I could buy that if she was Jack's, but Steve? You two were awfully close once. Sometimes I've wondered if you ever truly got over him."

"Steve was a long time ago, way before 'us'. After 35 years you should know that I'd never do that to you. I couldn't!"

"Then how -?"

"I don't know how," Jaime snapped, "but I'm gonna find out."

------

An hour later, Jaime, having stormed out of the house in a fury, tracked her daughter down in the bowels of NESSA headquarters. "Stephanie, I need your help." Steph was instantly worried 'Stephanie' instead of 'Steffie' meant something awfully serious.

"Let's go up to my office, Mom, and we can talk in private."

Once they were both seated, Steph searched Jaime's face for a clue. "Is it the DNA tests?" she asked. Jaime nodded. "Kelly's my sister?"

"Half-sister. But that's not the problem. Jack isn't her father; Steve Austin is."

Stephanie groaned inwardly. "James' father?"

"That's what Doctor Marchetti said, and he ran all the tests twice."

"Oh. Does Dad know?"

"Yes, I told him. It wasn't pretty."

"I'm sorry, Mom. You said you needed my help?"

"I need you to talk to James, and find out how to reach his father. I need to talk to Steve."

------

Steve and Peggy Austin, as it turned out, was once again living in DC, acting as a sort of support system for their son in his new career. Thankfully, when Jaime called, Steve met her right away, and without his wife. Peggy would be finding out soon enough, but Jaime felt it was better to let Steve absorb it first. She suspected Peggy might not take it as well(?) as Oscar did.

"Thanks for getting here so fast," Jaime told him.

"This holds a lot of memories," Steve mused, looking around what was now Stephanie's office. "Not all of them good ones."

"I know. And you'll probably wanna add this to the list." She told him about Kelly, the DNA tests and Michael's findings.

"That's impossible; we never -"

"I know. But Michael showed me the tests. I didn't even need a microscope to see that everything matched. She's our daughter, Steve. With 99.9 percent certainty."

"Our daughter..." When they'd been together, Jaime and Steve had always talked about wanting children together, but this wasn't quite what they'd had in mind. "Wait a minute," Steve said, thinking out loud. "When did you say she was born? June of what year?"

"1990."

"Jaime, that puts me overseas, in Thailand, when she would've been conceived. Were you in Thailand in '89?"

"Not to my knowledge. But the tests..."

They both sat quietly for a good three or four minutes, deep in thought, before an almost visible lightbulb appeared in Steve's head. "I've got it. Jaime, I know what happened."

------

Peggy was even angrier than Oscar had been. "A daughter? You and Jaime have a daughter? But nothing happened between you. Come on, Steve - do you really expect me to believe that?"

"I was in Thailand, Peggy. I swear to you, nothing happened between us!"

"So you flew home for a visit, had her flown over there - who knows what you did, but whatever you did was enough to make a daughter! I would hardly call that nothing!"

"I know what happened, but I have to prove it first, then we'll explain -"

"WE? Since when are you and Jaime a 'We'? And you'd better be able to explain pretty damn quick, because I swear to God, Steve Austin, if you did sleep with her, I will leave you!"

"Tomorrow, Peggy; I promise."

"For whatever good your word is! Twenty-four hours or less, Steve, or I am gone!"

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