A/N: A quiet moment in the Survivors' lives and Nick reveals to Ellis his most cherished item in the world: his childhood. It also allows Rochelle to make some discoveries on who or what's behind the Beast and her killing spree. Reviews are welcome!

DISCLAIMER: Recognize it? (C) VALVe

Chapter 11: Broken Home

The block had become a ghost town but Nick was haunted by the images of a thriving life. This was a place where he and Ellis had to walk to; none of the buses or trains made a stop there anymore. He put a hand on the bright red bricks covered in grime and sighed out, "Mia madre, Mērī mām̐," he let slip, lost his memories. The mechanic knew that look: the look of a son. He pictured his lover, a child besides his mom, running and playing with his toy while they did errands. It brought back feelings of nostalgia; God, he missed his own mother back in Austin. By this hour, Miss Cordy would have a pot of gumbo or some bird Keith brought from the market for all four to eat.

"C'mon, El; I have something to show you. This place may be dead but it still has its secrets," Nick stated, snapping out of his reverie and leading his partner down the street and into the third building. One well-placed push got the door on the floor and ran up to the second floor. "Careful, this place always had a problem with termites." "No shit, it's got holes bigger than a freakin' watermelon," Ellis added, noting the large stains of past Infected presence. Seventh door to the left and Nick located the right door. "Don' tell me..."

A quick nod and charged kick later and the two Survivors were inside Nick's childhood home. "Lived here until my mother married and moved away," he explained, slightly sorry at how bare the apartment was compared to his memories. Ellis was blown away at how much Nick was allowing him into what was essentially the most intimate place in his life. So he remained quiet while the gambler searched around the kitchen. He found the characters etched into the underside of the counter and grinned, "She loved to call me Nika when I was good, Nicolas when I was in trouble, and my full name when I really screwed the pooch."

But before Ellis could properly stare at the marks, Nick was already tearing out one of the floorboards in the smaller of the two rooms. He took out a small Bible but he shook it until a Polaroid slipped out and put the book aside. The photo portrayed a woman, wearing a sari over her dress, carrying a small boy in her arms who had a mess of black straight hair and deep green eyes. The label read, "Amrita & Nicolas (name got smudged by age), 1979." "Yer mama was pretty, Nick..." "I could never understand why I love her, even after she abandoned me," Nick mused aloud while his hand held onto the old photo. "Tha's easy, Nick," Ellis looked up to his lover, his blues looking into greens with an eternal smile, "A mother is God in th' eyes o' her child."

Nick gave it some thought and grinned, "Wow, I never believed you possible of carrying such a complex thought." "Yer precious, really," Ellis shot back then leaned against him. "Why didya split with yer wife? Yew two made each oth'r happy once..." The smirk fell and Nick toyed with his sword, examining much deeper than usual. "It's complicated, Ellis," was his bare answer but Conquest wasn't satisfied. "Fixin' a jet's complicated, yer jus' not willin' to tell me 'bout her," the hick-now-transgenic concluded and stood up from the spot they were sitting, grabbing his katana along the way. They'd finally talked a bit about Nick's past and it was shut down by the man's insecurities.

"We were married for ten years," Ellis heard from the lobby and looked up. "First three years, yeah, I did love her but the other seven was just us festering hatred against each other," Nick added to his confession from the second floor before jumping off the rail and landing just besides his lover. "I don't talk about her because it's a chapter in my life I have no intent on looking back. I'm with you now and I intend to keep it that way for a nice long while."

When they did arrive at the bus station just a walking distance, Nick didn't get off the ride as Ellis did. "What're yew-" "Don't worry, Ellis; I'll be fine. I'm just going to tie up some loose ends," the older of the two assured and gave the mechanic a rare public kiss on the lips. "If I'm not back by sunrise, round up a search party." "Like hell, I'll find ya personally," El shot back and gave him a wink.

~0~

Meanwhile, Rochelle was deeply focused on solving the massacre that linked her and her comrades. She knew CEDA was involved but she couldn't find how it could be. She knew, deep inside, that McKinley had to have had a hand in creating the monster; the scent of Rhamnusia coated the scene the moment she found the bodies. But where would she find the resources to make a full human being out of her lab? Using a false account Nick and Coach used back in Meridian to create their new identities, the ex-reporter knew that Erin didn't have the technology to produce something like that out of thin air: one needed a mother and proper supply chains. Come on, please tell me something good...she prayed until she located a file on Imports/Exports: City 2-CEDA.

"Bingo," Ro smiled and clicked at it. Just as she suspected, Chicago was importing and exporting subjects to the government labs. It explained the ten Carriers the Horsemen killed that day; they were either volunteers or most likely taken from the city. But this wasn't what she was looking for; she was looking for any mention of this so-called Beast. What Rochelle couldn't give to hear Ronnie's last words, she was the first person shot and probably let the killer in as per her nature.

And then she found a news article, dated three months ago: "CEDA management outsourced to Proserpine PharmaGroup." "What the hell? When did THIS happen?"