– Chapter Thirteen –

When Leigh walked into the small visiting room, Tracy was already there. The older woman didn't seem to notice Leigh at first. She looked like she was thinking hard about something.

"Aunt Tracy?" Leigh asked, standing beside the table.

Tracy looked up at her, startled. "Ashleigh! Sorry, was proper havin' a wander then," she said, standing to hug the orange-haired clone.

"Everything OK?" Leigh asked in spite of herself. She was eager to get answers, but at the same time, it was a bit odd to see Tracy spacing out before a visit.

"Yeah, it's fine, don't worry," Tracy assured her as she sat back down. "Just…ah, never mind. We ain't here to talk about that. You're wantin' to know about DYAD, yeah?"

"Yeah," Leigh nodded, sitting down as well. She'd thought about what she was going to say during the drive up, and decided to get right to the heart of the matter. "I spoke to Ray. He told me about Hailee, and how you gave her up because of another surrogate. This surrogate...was her name Amelia?"

Tracy looked surprised and perhaps a bit pained to hear about Hailee. She nodded anyway with a soft sigh. "Aye, it was Amelia."

Leigh's throat tightened. So it was true; she finally had a solid lead on Amelia. "I need to know as much as you can tell me about Amelia. Do you know where she is now?"

Tracy arched an eyebrow with a subtle frown. "Why're you askin'? How'd you even find out about all of this?"

Leigh stared at her, biting her lip for a minute before she spoke. "I've known about...about my origins for a while now. Look, Tracy, I need to find Amelia, and so does DYAD-"

"DYAD?" Tracy repeated. "DYAD sent you? Leekie?"

"Yes – no – sort of," Leigh struggled. "Not really. They want to find Amelia, but I have my reasons for helping them. I wouldn't be doing all of this if I didn't believe it was the right thing to do, whether DYAD's involved or not. Whatever you tell me, I'll make sure none of it comes back to bite you. You've gotta trust me on that, and I've gotta talk to Amelia. I know she vanished along with her clone child, and that's the reason Leekie took my sister away from my family. I want to understand why everything happened the way it did."

Tracy stared at her, stunned. "Wait, that's what happened to your mum's other daughter? Shit…I knew Janet lost a kid, but at the time she made it sound like there was a complication and the kid died or somethin'...she never told me DYAD took her other kid away..." she breathed.

"They did," Leigh nodded. "My sister was raised by the people who were supposed to get Amelia's kid. Please, tell me what Amelia found out, and why she ran away with her daughter."

Tracy was quiet for a moment, before speaking quietly. "Amelia said she overheard something…she said that the couple that asked her to carry their baby were really scientists, and they were talking about putting the baby into a social experiment, or somethin'. Amelia got spooked and wanted to hide the child away…wanted to give her a chance at a normal life. I helped her."

"Go on," Leigh encouraged her. She was painfully aware of the limited window of time they had to talk. She needed to get as much out of this visit as possible.

Tracy nodded and continued her story. "The way Amelia was talking, it sounded like the child would've been put through all sorts of unethical treatment. I helped her cover her tracks and vanish herself, so that DYAD couldn't find her or take the kids back. It weren't until she actually gave birth that we found out she wasn't just carrying one clone, but twins. Amelia…she were a proper sweet lady…she got attached to the babies, and wanted to protect 'em."

Leigh was stunned to hear that Amelia's child wasn't just the clone who may have become Helena, but also another clone too. "You helped her hide them? So wait…did you two hide Hailee and the twins together? Through the adoption system?" she asked, trying to fit all of this new information together.

"Nah," Tracy said with a shake of her head. "I was still pregnant when all this went down…Amelia had her kids in March, and Hailee weren't born until May. Amelia decided it'd be safer to split her twins up anyway…she gave one to the adoption system in England, and she gave the other to a church."

Leigh felt quite sick then as she recalled Helena yelling about God…could it be true then? Could Helena have been the baby that was raised by the church, before being kidnapped by the Proletheans? "A-and all this made you want to give up your own daughter as well?"

Tracy hesitated, then sighed and nodded. Leigh thought she looked quite sad then. "When Hailee was born, I took a few days to really think about what kind of future I wanted for her, and decided it would be better for her to grow up away from DYAD as well. It didn't seem like Leekie ever found Amelia's daughters once they got into the adoption pool, so I figured it was my best shot at keeping Hailee safe from them. Hardest decision I ever made though, believe you me. Took ages to convince the nurses to keep her name...always wanted to try and find 'er again some day, y'know? Just to see if I made the right choice…but I dunno if that'll happen now I'm banged up in here for life."

Leigh frowned, feeling both sad and sickened by this whole mess. She couldn't imagine three children being given up just like that, even if it was to keep them all safe from DYAD. "Do you know where Amelia is now?" the hairdresser asked, getting the subject back on track. "Is there any way I could contact her?"

Tracy held in a sigh. She leaned back in her chair and watched Leigh for a moment. "All I know is she hid away in Ireland. Limerick, or so I heard, but I don't know if that decision was final. I...don't know if you'd be able to contact her. Everyone who helped to hide her, the twins, and Hailee...everyone who helped...even I don't know where they are now. We lost contact after Amelia hid away, and I went back to my life with Ray. You're having a laugh if you think I can help you track down anyone."

"You must have names of the people who helped Amelia disappear," Leigh said. "Tell me and I can find them myself."

"Why do you need those names when you already have Amelia's?" Tracy demanded.

Leigh stared coldly at her. "Because I don't have Amelia's name," she said. "Not her full name anyway, and I'm guessing she probably changed it in any case. I need to know who else helped her to hide away; people who might know what name she goes by now. If I can find them, they can help me track her."

Tracy shook her head very slightly, and she looked a bit lost. Leigh stared hard for another few seconds.

"What?" she asked. "Why can't you just tell me? What don't you want me to know, because I know something isn't adding up here."

Tracy still said nothing, and instead took to staring blankly at the table surface below her. Leigh could see she was inwardly struggling with something.

A thought crossed Leigh's mind. "Why are you in here, Tracy?" she asked. Tracy looked up at her abruptly. "You murdered someone. That has something to do with all of this...doesn't it?"

Tracy remained still and quiet for a short time, just watching as Leigh stared expectantly at her. Then, she released a heavy, reluctant sigh. "As I said, I went back to my life with Ray once Amelia left. Everything was normal. DYAD accepted that I changed my mind about raising a clone, and then some years later, I had Jake and Gabby...but about a year and half after Gabby was born, I realised I'd been tracked. It all led back to one of Amelia's daughters."

Leigh nodded and urged her to continue.

"The man I stabbed and killed was a religious extremist," Tracy explained. "His lot in particular called themselves Proletheans."

"Oh Jesus Christ," Leigh breathed, her eyes wide. There was no doubt in her mind that one of Amelia's daughters was in fact Helena.

"They traced everything back to me because someone in our network betrayed us," Tracy carried on, ignoring Leigh's interruption. "These Proletheans, they knew about the clones because of this double-crosser. They saw them as abominations. They saw you as an abomination, Ashleigh. They knew of your existence, and they knew where to find you."

Leigh froze for a moment as the events all lined up together in her head, each one suddenly connected and making perfect, yet impossible sense. "You killed that guy to protect me," she stated numbly.

"I had to," Tracy said. "They would've taken out your mum and dad n'all if they got in the way, and they threatened my kids too, because I wouldn't give you up."

"Is that why I wasn't allowed to know anything?" Leigh asked. "My mum and dad; they went to see Ray when you were arrested, and I had to babysit Gabby and Jake, and nobody would tell me anything – that means my parents knew about all this too? And they kept it all from me?"

"They knew an organisation opposing clones intended to wipe you all out, yes, but they didn't know details. It was safer that way. I killed that man before he could pass on confirmation of your whereabouts to the rest of the Proletheans – that's why you were safe from then on. He intended to kill you himself, Ashleigh, and I couldn't let that happen."

"And DYAD?" Leigh asked. "Did they know?"

"No," Tracy shook her head. "They knew nothing about any of it. It was safer for me to keep quiet about it all...safer for you...safer for Hailee..."

Leigh slumped back and sat in silence for a bit. So, Tracy had let everyone believe she killed out of an act of madness for all these years. This was the reason her family fell apart...

"That's why I won't give you any names," Tracy spoke again. "One person in the network already betrayed us. For all I know, any of the others could've as well. If that's the case, you do not wanna go there, Ashleigh. And if it's not the case, sending you to them might put them in danger. You're a target however you look at it."

"And yet you're trusting me to keep Gabby safe," Leigh said coldly.

"All the more reason for you to back the hell away from all of this!" Tracy raised her voice now. "You start diggin', you're only gonna put her in danger. I don't know who we can trust and who we can't; this whole thing is a mess and it ain't getting any easier to handle."

"Who was it?" Leigh asked. "The person in the network who betrayed you? You must know who it was. Are they still out there?"

"Hell if I know," Tracy spat. "She were an insider at DYAD for a while. Helped with the origins of the experiment, apparently, but then she helped us hide Amelia and the clone children, and turned her back on DYAD. Maybe she was workin' with the Proletheans all along; I don't know...Chen, I think her name was. Maggie Chen."

Leigh's mouth fell open in utter shock. "Maggie Chen?" she repeated. "Maggie Chen? Are you sure? Are you serious?"

"Yes I'm serious," Tracy muttered. "I'm sure it was Chen somethin', in any case. She were all right at first, but she got proper psycho after turning on us…might've always been that way and were just hidin' it; hard to tell…one thing's for sure though; them religious nutters will kill any clone they find, no questions asked. Ya get mixed up with them, then you're just askin' for trouble. I had to off one of 'em, otherwise your lot never would've stood a chance, believe you me."

Leigh swallowed hard, struggling to take all of this in. "Maggie Chen is dead," she whispered.

Tracy stared at her with wide eyes. "You friggin' what? How the fuck do you know that?"

"Because I've spoken with the clone who killed her," Leigh said, rubbing her eyes as her mind worked overtime. "Maggie tried to go after one of the others, and lost. It happened several months back."

A short pause followed.

"How bloody deep into this are you, Ashleigh?" Tracy almost whispered.

"Deeper than I ever thought I'd be," Leigh admitted. "Long story short; over the past year, I've met several other clones, and I've already had a few run-ins with the Proletheans. I know full well that they're fucking psychotic and they've got a taste for clone blood. I had to watch them kill two others right in front of me, and injure many more. I was trying to stop them and protect the other clones somehow…but I had to come back here and lie low again due to…unforeseen circumstances, let's say."

"Bloody hell…" Tracy breathed, looking like she was at a loss for words. "How you're not already dead is beyond me."

"Yeah," Leigh said quietly, briefly thinking back to Aryanna's death. Leigh knew that it would have been her bleeding to death in the street if the Italian clone hadn't intervened and taken the bullet for her. She shook her head and refocused. "I haven't seen any of the other clones or any of the Proletheans in months. I still need to find Amelia though."

"You need to back off and keep my daughter safe," Tracy growled firmly.

Somehow Leigh knew she'd hit a wall. It was obvious that Tracy wouldn't help her any further in the search, but at least Leigh had more information to work with now. Glancing at the clock, the hairdresser saw that they only had another fifteen minutes until the visit would end.

"Fine," Leigh told her, willing to back off for the time being. She needed to think and process everything she'd been told anyway, and knew she could revisit this topic later if need be.

She suddenly remembered what else she needed to know. "There are other clones here on the wing, right? At least two of them? Please tell me what their names are. I think at least one of them is my friend."

Tracy stared at her for several moments, before sighing. "Aye. There are two of them. One's called Morgan, and the other's called Aila."

Leigh felt her throat tighten as a surge of emotion pulsed through her. "Shit…Aila doesn't belong in prison…" she whispered. She didn't know who Morgan was, but she was happy that it seemed like Rat and Katja had escaped whatever had happened.

"She the friend you mentioned?" Tracy asked, watching as Leigh nodded. "So that's how she knows about DYAD…" the older woman muttered, half to herself.

Leigh blinked slowly. "You've spoken to Aila?"

"Aye…I was curious 'bout her, since she's a Scot n'all…thought there were some small chance she might've been Hailee. She flipped out and told me to piss off though, and accused me of spyin' on 'er for Leekie," Tracy explained. "Keeps bouncing between bein' distant and bein' snappish whenever I come near her."

Leigh frowned. That didn't sound like Aila at all, but then again, the very last time Leigh saw Aila was directly after she was tortured by Daniel. Had something changed in the doctor between then and now?

"She probably thinks you're her new monitor," the hairdresser offered with a sigh. It was impossible for a self-aware clone to not be paranoid about DYAD, after all. "Don't take it to heart. She's really lovely and supportive towards people she trusts. She's my best friend, if I'm honest. God, what the hell happened for her to end up here?"

"Dunno really," Tracy shrugged. "Just keeps sayin' that the courts think she killed someone. I don't know any of the details."

"Fuck…" Leigh muttered. Her mind immediately flashed back to Aila's old monitor, Josh, and how the police thought Aila killed him. Leigh still wondered if DYAD was involved with this, and if Rachel knew about it or not. "I need to talk to her somehow. I can vouch for you."

Tracy arched an eyebrow. "If she sends ya a visiting order, it'll probably be flagged by DYAD."

"Yeah, they can't find out that I know about this," Leigh agreed, lowering her voice. "Is there any kind of…I dunno, secret way for inmates to communicate with people on the outside?"

Tracy blinked, looking mildly unimpressed. "Do you think this is some kind of TV drama? 'Bad Girls' or some shit?"

Leigh gave her a half-hearted glare. "Of course not! I'm bloody serious!" she snapped.

Tracy sighed, shaking her head. "I'll see if I can figure anything out and call you on Gabby's cell during the day if I do."

"Thank you," Leigh told her sincerely. She still had a heavy feeling in her stomach, and was eager to learn what went wrong with the other clones traveling to Canada. She'd need to think long and hard about everything she learned today. How was it possible that everything became increasingly more complex?

"Why are you 'ere, Kyle?" Danielle demanded threateningly.

Rat had agreed to let Kyle into the entrance hall of the building so he and Danielle wouldn't have to talk out on the street, but the hacker refused to let the other man inside the main library. Rat herself stood in the next room to give Danielle and Kyle some space.

Or so they thought. Of course Rat couldn't help standing close to the door to listen in. She couldn't help herself.

Kyle smiled and shook his head in disbelief as he gazed at Danielle, his eyes glistening with tears. "I can't believe you're really still alive," he murmured. "I figured out you were, but to see you here in person..."

"But 'ow did you find out, Kyle?" Danielle snapped. She clearly was not as happy to see Kyle as Kyle was to see her.

Kyle didn't respond for a moment, but Rat had stopped paying attention anyway. She was more curious to the fact that Kyle spoke with an American accent.

Wasn't Kyle French?

"I think you know how already, Danielle," Kyle spoke again. "My people. They helped me...you left behind too many tracks...amateur, really..."

"Don't belittle me, Kyle," Danielle hissed at him.

Kyle just shook his head again, looking a bit sad suddenly. He stepped forward and gestured as if wanting to hug Danielle. "I'm happy you're safe-"

"DON'T," Danielle yelled now. She shoved him away and he stumbled a bit. "Your people found me? Zey knew of all zis all along? Zat is why you were sent to spy on me; because you all knew of girl clones too? You and your lot were working wiz DYAD-"

"No, Danielle; no," Kyle insisted frantically. "You already know why I was sent on a mission...I should've told you it was to get inside info from DYAD, but I...thought you didn't need that. I didn't know you were a clone as well...I didn't know about female clones..."

A very sick feeling settled in Rat's stomach. She fell against the wall and allowed herself to lean on it for support as Kyle's words sunk in.

"So why?" Danielle lashed out. "You really expect me to believe you didn't know you were monitoring a clone? Everyzing else I knew 'as been a lie; why should I believe zat you are any different?!"

"Will you keep your voice down," Kyle hissed, painfully aware of Rat's presence in the building. He didn't know she was just around the corner listening in, but he didn't want Danielle's yelling to attract her attention.

"Why?" Danielle asked again. "You scared, Kyle? Scared of me spilling your secret? Zat is why you came to find me, oui?"

Kyle was silent, confirming Danielle's suspicions. The skater huffed dramatically and shook her head, disgusted. "So you really do not care. Stop pretending zat you care about me, Kyle, because we both know it's not true."

"I do care," Kyle insisted. He slowly approached Danielle again, looking and sounding desperate now. "But Danielle, you know too much and I don't know enough! We have to discuss everything that happened...and this...this Rat person; the other female clones...I need to know how we all fit together, because it can't just be coincidence..."

Kyle trailed off and his eyes bulged wide to see Rat standing in the doorway of the next room. She'd stepped out of her hiding place, deciding she wasn't willing to go without answers for a moment longer.

She shifted her intense, accusing stare to Danielle. "Danielle...what the hell is going on?" she demanded.

Danielle froze, taken aback to see Rat so close. Had the Swiss clone heard any of what was said? By her accusing stare, Danielle knew that she had. "R-Ratty, I…um…" she said, looking between Kyle and Rat.

Kyle stared at the Swiss clone, his expression becoming blank. "Nothing you need to know about."

"Like hell it's nothing I need to know about," Rat snapped with a glare. "You're with DYAD, which makes you a threat to us. I want to know why the hell you came back, and what Danielle knows that you don't seem to want getting out. Tell me what you meant by 'I didn't know you were a clone as well'."

Kyle scowled. "So you were listening in the whole time!?" he shot accusingly.

Rat stared at him darkly, before looking at Danielle. The skater looked oddly nervous and conflicted suddenly as she looked between the two. "Danielle?" Rat asked again.

"I-I can explain, Ratty…" the French clone said, shaking her head as she ran a hand through her hair.

"You can not tell her-" Kyle growled, but Danielle silenced him with a sharp glare.

"She needs to know, Kyle," Danielle said firmly. "About you and your brozers, and about your mission. If you want information, you need to give information. She needs to know zat zere are ozers..."

"Other what?" Rat asked with wide eyes, not liking where this was going.

"We are not zee only clones," Danielle told her before Kyle could speak again. "Zere are male clones as well, and Kyle is one of zem."