Chapter 46

There's Been Too Many Things We've Been Faking

Chuck Salinger whistled as he strolled down the maze-like hallway of the Playground. He'd finished his battle with updating the computers in the med lab and felt a bit guilty for brushing off that crazy agent that dropped a laptop on his desk a few hours earlier. He'd heard through one of the other agents that she was that wild because of some kind of accident with her kid. Nobody was sure what kind of accident it was but they were positive it was pretty serious. Chuck shrugged. How could the woman even be here at the base if she was that concerned about her kid? And what did the laptop have to do with it?

In any case he planned to at least check out the laptop…and maybe find out what was going on at the same time. Nothing like a little office gossip to keep things spicy because as far as Chuck knew none of the agents on base had a child. In fact he was pretty sure that when an agent became a parent they were usually transferred to some boring office paper pushing assignment for the safety of the child as well as the parent. Hell, maybe nobody knew about this Maid or Main or whatever the hell her name was, having a child.

Chuck whistled a livelier tune and pepped his step as he turned down the hallway that led to her office. He approached the door cautiously, after all the woman was a little testy and she'd already bitten off his head. Suddenly, this didn't seem like such a great idea after all. He'd lifted his hand to knock and dropped it to his side. Yeah this was just stupid, he'd back away and visit the common area. It was almost break time anyway.

As the man turned to leave he noticed the office door was not quite closed. For as odd as that seemed he took it as an advantage and gently nudged it open a bit more, hoping no one was inside. Letting out a quick breath, Chuck slipped inside and spotting the rainbow maned unicorn sticker that adorned the laptop. He looked over his shoulder once, tucked the device under his arm and hurried back into the hall after leaving a quick note that he'd taken the laptop to have a little look-see. Chuck pulled the door closed and hurried down the hall toward the break room.

xx

Daisy matched the footsteps of Phil and Melinda who walked on either side of her as they made their way from the holding cell floor to the floor where they shared an office. Given the stupid outfit she was wearing they both thought it would make more sense if it appeared they were escorting her to an interrogation room. It made for a lot less questions or raised eyebrows. Escorting a prisoner, even one with a few bruises was just routine. They stopped at the large elevator door and waited for it to open.

No one spoke or even looked at the other. Daisy rocked back and forth on the floppy slip on sneakers she wore and pulled on the jumpsuit that was definitely make for someone at least three sizes larger than her.

"You don't suppose we could find me something a little less Orange is the New Black¹?" She asked the door rather than addressing either agent.

Melinda glanced sideways, taking in the girl with just her eyes. "Suits you," she sneered.

Daisy blew a breath over her bottom lip sending the light hairs on her forehead flipping upward. "Yeah, if I was off to do landscaping or dolopping in fingerpaint." She huffed as she shoved her hands into the deep pockets.

Phil put a hand on the girl's shoulder as the elevator door opened. "We'll see what we can do." He assured her.

Melinda rolled her eyes as she stepped into the car a breath behind them.

xx

Three floors above, the trio stepped out of the elevator and moved down the busy hallway. Passing agents moved to the opposite sides of the corridor as they progressed, almost as if royalty were passing. Daisy grinned with some sort of odd pride to think her 'parents' were treated with such respect…or was it their shared fear of Maylinda.

She side glanced quickly at the woman on her left. This version of Melinda or May or Mom or whoever the hell she was…all pronouns aside…was nothing like the mom-May that cared for Skye in that quaint home she shared with Phil and Yeye. She was way different than her own private personal May as well. Sure this was probably her Agent May persona, the one she used in the base where no one was supposed to know she had a kid that she hugged and kissed and snuggled and smiled with at the end of every day. Was Skye a secret? No, she couldn't be…not the way that Rattatouli drilled her in that interrogation room. Nope, that bitch certainly knew Melinda May was hurting and she was about to do anything to help find her child.

Daisy thought about it for a while. It never really occurred to her that any of the team had lives outside of what they did as agents. To Daisy that was life. There was no home to go to or family waiting for her to come back, there was just the base and that was home. There was Coulson and May and Mack and Yoyo and Fitz-Simmons and they were family. Did they have somewhere else to go…to be when work was done? The thought almost made Daisy sob, it was so sad. She coughed to cover up the slip, when Melinda cast her a glare.

Mack had a brother and a family home. He probably thought about it and him. That's why he took Yoyo there. That's why he wanted her to meet Ruben. It brought people closer together when they got to know each other's family members.

Then there was Fitz, who had a mom somewhere in Scotland. She never really paid attention to where that was and couldn't even remember if he ever even mentioned it. There was photograph of a woman holding a curly haired toddler with laundry wafting in the background on the nightstand in the room he shared with Jemma. She'd seen it there many times, but never really asked just assumed it was Fitz. Although, she did wonder why he didn't have a photo taken after he was out of diapers.

Jemma had family too, a mom and a dad. Did she have brothers or sisters? Daisy didn't know. It certainly was possible but Jemma never mentioned them. Probably some SHIELD regulation, she told herself. The less you talk about family the less danger you put them in because of your work. It made sense, but Jemma did visit at least twice since they'd met albeit once was when they were working on finding that whacko Bizerker staff.

May had a mom and dad too, they were divorced and lived a continent away from each other, but she had both. Daisy smiled having met the grandparents she never knew she had while in the Fitzwork. She wondered if she'd ever meet them in reality. Of course the way things were now, she'd be lucky just to get out of that damn almost completely destroyed base just to get a breath of fresh air let alone go visiting.

Then there was Coulson. He had SHIELD. That was his baby. She smiled at the fact. That was his home, where he hung his hat and kept his heart. And he had May, oh they tried to hide it but the team knew. They way they looked at each other and the subliminal things they said that had her and Simmons avoiding any and all eye contact as it would lead to uncontrollable giggling and impossible explaining.

Here it was different. Here Coulson, no Phil had Melinda and she had him and together they had Skye. They worked and did what needed to be done to keep the world safe and went home to their family almost every night.

'Nice set up, Fitz' Daisy thought to herself as the trio turned another corner and walked down what looked like a dead end corridor. Five hundred feet, she almost breathed a sigh of relief. Five hundred feet and she'd have that damn laptop. A few clicks, a restart and bam Fitz could reboot and get everyone back where they belonged.

"I said, you're awfully quiet," Melinda remarked as they neared the door to her and Phil's office.

Daisy shook off her rambling thoughts. "Huh, yeah, uh…just thinking," she mumbled.

"More classified nonsense," Melinda retorted. It wasn't a question. Apparently no version of this woman asked anything, just made statements that nine times out of ten were true.

"Hmph," Daisy shrugged, barely paying attention.

Melinda snagged the girl by the arm and pulled her to a stop. Phil stopped a few steps later and turned to see what had happened.

"If this is some kind of farce, I swear there won't be enough left of you…" Melinda shook the girl hard.

Daisy held up a hand as Phil rushed back to stop whatever was going on now. "You already recognized the scar…I…"

Melinda grabbed Daisy's hand and glared at her palm. "Anyone could have known about that. It's part of Skye's medical record. If you're as good as you say you are you could have gotten it from any computerized records.

Trying unsuccessfully to pull her hand free, Daisy shook her head. "Hell, I didn't even know about it myself until you said something." She pulled back quickly, rubbing her cheek where Melinda's hand landed unexpectedly.

"Hey!" was her only reaction.

Melinda raised a finger to the girl's nose. "I warned you."

Phil shook his head and stared at the floor to hide his soft chuckle. "Mel," he began.

"No! No, Phil," Melinda stopped him but continued looking Daisy in the eye. "There's no way to prove anything she told us and if she's the hacker she claims to be she could have found that information on her own. We give her that laptop and she can delete any information that might lead us to Skye."

Daisy's mouth dropped open into an unspoken 'what?!'

"Melinda, the things she told us about the computer room and the incident at breakfast aren't on anyone's data base. Come on, Mel, you can't be that paranoid." Phil spoke calmly as he moved closer and placed a hand on top of his wife's.

"When it comes to Skye…" the woman swallowed the crack in her voice and drew a quick breath. "When it comes to Skye I need to be absolutely certain." With that comment she flipped his hand from hers and yanked the girl a few feet down the hall and through a swinging door quickly kicking the lock that would jam it shut.

Melinda swung Daisy in a half circle letting her go to catch her balance on her own. The younger agent put out both arms and widened her stance to stay upright. "What the he….ck?" She demanded, remembering her digital mother's previous reaction to such an innocuous term. Hell, she could think of things MUCH worse.

"Lose the jumpsuit," Melinda commanded.

Daisy's eyes went wide as her mouth dropped open.

The older agent reached forward and yanked at the girl's drab brown outfit releasing at least four of the snaps that held it closed. Daisy quickly grabbed the cloth and pulled it back together. "Hey," she repeated. "That bitch Rattatini didn't issue under armor with this garb!" She pulled back and fumbled with refastening the snaps.

Melinda grabbed the girl by the shoulder and yanked harder, popping several more closures that Daisy struggled to hold together. "Drop it or I'll do it for you." She threatened.

Daisy felt her cheeks flush as a myriad of scenarios ripped across her mind, none very good and each a little worse than the one before. She pulled away from Melinda and stood her ground. "I'm not a kid, May. I'm sorry I slipped a couple no-no's back there, but there is no way in hell you're gonna paddle my bare ass in any reality!"

Melinda smirked as she stood back and folded her arms across her chest. She looked the girl up and down and was sure she saw her Skye buried in that defiance. She watched as Daisy drew deep breaths and let them out in short bursts, how she maintained eye contact waiting and watching for her mother's next move. The older agent let out a breath and shook her head. "For as tempting as that may be, I had something a little less dramatic in mind." She watched as the girl before her slowly let down her guard and waited for her to relax.

A light tap at the door interrupted before she could continue. Phil's voice came soft and quiet, close to the crack near the door handle. "Everything okay in there?"

"We're fine." Melinda barked before Daisy could respond. "Out in five."

She turned back to Daisy and relaxed her own stance without dropping her arms. "My Skye has a birthmark, a tiny birthmark…always hidden." She almost laughed then glared at the girl. "It better always be hidden."

"A star," Daisy breathed. "You told me you would always know me. You said it wouldn't matter what I called myself or how old I was. You said you felt my first breath. You were the first one to hold me. And the first one to notice that little star shaped birthmark on wǒ de dǐbù." She looked down to hide her blush. "You called it cute." She barely whispered.

Melinda nodded. She remembered the conversation. "You asked me if I would still love you if you changed and became someone else."

"I did." Daisy sighed morosely as she shucked the jump suit off her left shoulder and let the oversized garment drop as she turned her back to Melinda.

She felt May's hand on her back as she pulled the jump suit back into place and turn the girl to face her. Melinda pulled the garment closed and fastened the snaps then placed her hands on Daisy's cheeks.

"And I do, baobei." She smiled and kissed the girl's forehead. "This is all so insane, so out of this world, bao bao," she spoke in that same soft voice Skye was used to hearing. "I had to know for sure." She pulled the girl into a hug. "I will always love you my sweet girl and I am so glad you have grown into such a strong woman. I only wish I could have shared every moment of that with you."

Daisy couldn't help the tears that streamed down her cheeks. She understood this May's loss. She understood the pain of not being there to share all those little things…all those moments that make life…all those things Fitz was trying so hard to give her and she just kept screwing it up for herself and everyone else.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to this Melinda mom. "I'll fix it, I promise." Without thinking she wrapped her arms around May and hugged the way she knew Skye always embraced her mother. "I promise." She breathed again.

xx

Skye walked hand in hand with May as they made their way back to the computer room. Phil had gone ahead to be sure the young technician was there. The little girl tried hard not to feel afraid of the burnt out hallways and wondered about the strange memories she was having. Maybe they were just dreams she'd forgotten…nightmares really…nightmares she had thankfully forgotten but were reemerging due to the weird atmosphere of this even weirder place. She knew the whole world wasn't blown up because she'd been out there when she kinda borrowed Daisy's body a few weeks ago.

She saw the bodega across the street and the people going in an out. In the subway there were those awful men that wanted to capture her. Skye couldn't really understand why but she was sure they were afraid of her…or really of Daisy, but why. Why would anyone, especially all those guys with all those guns, be afraid of her…Daisy? A shudder went through her and May stopped, pulling her hand a little closer.

"What's wrong?" The woman asked, worry definitely etched across her face.

"Am I bad?" She looked up at May with questioning eyes.

"No, bao bao," May smiled as she brought the small hand to her lips and kissed it. "None of this is your fault and we are going to fix it."

Skye nodded once and took a step then stopped and turned back to May. "I mean is Daisy bad? Did she…I do something awful?"

"Hey," May spoke softly as she squatted down to the girl's eye level. "I thought we covered all this. You did nothing wrong and grew up to be a wonderful young woman. Coulson…your dad and I are very proud of everything you've done."

The little girl chewed her lip for a moment and narrowed her brows. She really wanted to believe this version of her mommy but something didn't feel right and the more she was in this place the wronger it felt. She shook her head. "Why were those men afraid of her?" She exhaled quickly and looked into May's eyes waiting for an answer.

"What men, baobei?" She couldn't imagine what the little girl meant.

"The ones with all the guns in the subway," Skye explained as if she could not believe her mother didn't know. "They wanted to take me…" she shook her head. "No, Daisy, they wanted to take her. They said if she moved they would shoot. They didn't want to, but they were afraid of her. Were they afraid she'd hurt them?" Skye was almost in tears.

May was at a loss. She knew about the incident in the subway and how Mack and Elena had arrived in the nick of time, but no one had even considered offering Skye any kind of explanation and then she was gone. The little girl was gone back to her own reality and Daisy was here safe and sound. May hadn't even thought about it since it happened and just thought the little girl had forgotten as well. She tucked a stray hair behind Skye's ear and smiled.

Even if it were possible how could she explain this to a child?

Skye let out a soft breath. "You aren't going to tell me are you?" She dropped her gaze to the floor, mostly disappointed that the woman who was supposed to be her mom didn't trust her here.

May gave a weak smile as they started walking again. "It isn't that I don't want to tell you, Skye." May sighed. "It's just very confusing and you know what we said about not telling you too much and spoiling all the surprises."

"Even the bad ones?" She pleaded.

Melinda stopped and again squatted to her level. "Baobei, everyone has bad things happen to them but even bad things help you to become a whole person."

"I don't think I like bad surprises, mommy." Skye almost whimpered. "They're too scary."

May pulled the little girl into a hug and smoothed the back of her hair with one hand. "Oh, Wǒ kě'ài de bǎobèi nǚ'ér," she kissed the little girl's head and hugged her tighter, ignoring the tear that leaked from one eye. "I will always be right there for you no matter what."

Skye pushed back and looked into May's eyes. "Even the bad ones?"

"Especially the bad ones, baobei, especially the bad ones," the woman smiled a teary smile then stood and patted Skye's hand. "Let's go see what Fitz is up to, okay?"

Skye nodded as they continued on but watched her own bare feet walking through the sooty hallway rather than looking up at May. For a few feet they walked in silence until Skye stopped again. She stared down a very dark corridor and squeezed May's hand tightly. May looked in the same direction wondering what could have caught the girl's attention. No one had been down that hallway in almost a year. No one wanted to remember what happened there.

"She's gone forever, right?" The little girl whispered taking a step back and leaning against May. She looked up at her, terror in her eyes. "She can't come back?"

May looked down the hall again, squinting into the darkness and wondering just what Skye was seeing. "Who's gone, baobei?" She asked the little girl as she stepped between her and the hall, effectively blocking the child's view.

Skye peeked around May once then looked back up at her. "The robot lady," she barely whispered, "the one with the red eyes and sparking hands." The little girl shivered and took a second peek.

May took a breath. This could not be happening. How could Skye… She didn't let her self complete that thought. Placing her hands on Skye's shoulders she kept her voice calm and gentle.

"There's no one in that corridor, Skye. We don't use it anymore." She grinned slightly.

Skye looked up and blinked a few time before responding, "not anymore…she's gone now. She was bad, very bad." She tried to inch around May and continued staring into the blackness. It brought back more of the nightmare memories.

May took the little girl's chin, forcing her to look only at her. "Skye there is no one there, no one. There is no bad lady or monsters down that hall." She took the little girl's hand and tugged her forward, away from the spot.

Skye went willingly, but took one last look over her shoulder. "Not anymore," she whispered to herself.

xx

"Don't be ridiculous, she can't remember things that haven't yet happened in her time." Fitz shook his head as May glared at him.

Skye had been whisked off by Jemma for a quick medical review; just to be sure things were as okay as they could be with a computer generated child. Weird thing was that internally as well as externally everything about Skye was right where it was supposed to be, so her remembering things that happened before she was even digitalize was not so surprising. Jemma was starting to think that absolutely nothing would ever surprise her again. In any case, she'd keep Skye busy while the others tried to solve this new bit of insanity.

"I'm telling you Fitz, she stopped at that corridor and almost described AIDA to a't'. She was as terrified as if she watching it take place. And where the hell would the kid get 'robot lady'?" She pursed her lips and waited for some kind of explanation.

"Maybe she overheard something in the com room?" Coulson volunteered. "Or maybe Daisy…"

"She hasn't been out of our sight, Phil and Daisy would never tell a kid, even a kid that was her…" May paused at the absurdity of her statement. "She would not put that thought in her kid self's head."

Phil threw up his hands. "Then the only explanation is she is remembering. Just by being here she's remembering."

May shook her head. "She asked about the incident in the subway."

Phil raised his eyebrows, silently asking what she had answered.

"I told her it wasn't her fault." May almost shrugged her shoulders uncharacteristically.

"It will all be nothing more than a moot point once Daisy reboots that laptop. Then I can reverse all of this and put everything back in place." Fitz spoke to the couple behind him as he once again reviewed his data streams hoping to see some progress on the other side. He let out a frustrated breath when he did not. He spun around on his chair ran both hands through his short hair.

"We have to keep her isolated. That may help, but it could be just being here is what's causing her to assimilate Daisy's memories." The young man leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. He stared at his palms for a moment before rubbing them together and standing. He walked across the room and stopped next to the gurney where he last saw his friend. "I don't really know how far those memories will go…or if…" He stopped and stared at the biometers that still kept track of Daisy's vitals.

"If?" Coulson asked as May stepped next to him.

Fitz continued to stare at the meters. "If those memories will wake up her powers," he almost mumbled.

"What?" May barked. "You said her powers couldn't manifest in a child." She tried not to sound as volatile as she felt.

Phil merely stared in disbelief.

"That was before…" Fitz hesitated.

"Before what?" The couple demanded together.

Fitz dropped his gaze to the gurney and tapped it with one finger before he turned to face them. Slowly he raised his eyes to meet theirs. He let out the breath he was holding through puffed cheeks. "Before Skye started to become Daisy."

Coulson and May exchanged a glance before turning back to him for further explanation. They did not have to ask.

"The longer she's here the more…more human she becomes, the more Daisy she becomes." He turned to his myriad of computer screens and keyboards. "I used everything I had to develop this program, to make it as real as possible for all of you."

"You didn't…" May huffed, closing her eyes and shaking her head.

"Fitz," Phil took a breath and blew it out slowly. "Please tell me you did not use any of AIDA's tinkering in your work."

"I filtered out everything that could go all evil and villainous." He defended his action. "There were holes in the Framework, glitches where reality poked through, things that made little sense or just couldn't be explained logically. I wanted this to be true for Daisy. I wanted her to have the life she deserved. I…no we…we all owed her that." Fitz drew a deep breath, squelching the tears in his eyes and the catch in his voice.

"Fitz," Phil spoke softly as he put a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "I agree, she does deserve that but you know how this turned out the last time."

Fitz tapped a foot and rubbed his thumb into the palm of his opposite hand. "None of this should have happened." He said more to himself than the others.

"That's what they all say right before it all goes to hell." May growled. She huffed again as she paced to the door of the room and back then marched to Fitz and poked a finger into his shoulder. "You need to fix this and fix it fast."

The man bounced back with each poke but did not give in to the pain it brought. Before he could answer Skye rushed into the room with Jemma close behind.

"I'm sorry," the young doctor let out in a breath. "She just got away from me, said she needed to see you. I…I couldn't stop her." Jemma apologized as she tried to catch her breath.

"Mom," Skye breathed as she crashed into Melinda, throwing her arms around her middle and squeezing tightly. "You're okay, you're okay," the little girl sobbed.

"Of course I am," May cast a confused look before kissing the top of the little girl's head. "We told you we were just going to talk to Fitz. We're all fine."

"Promise me she can't come back," Skye sobbed into May's embrace. "Promise me he's gone too." She stared at Fitz, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Coulson looked from his little girl to Fitz and then back before he move to her side and knelt down to speak to her. He rubbed his hand on her back and she turned her head to face him. "Who's gone, sweet pickle, who? He spoke softly.

Skye dove into Coulson almost knocking him off balance. "The Doctor, daddy, the Doctor, don't let him get me, please. He hurt me so bad, daddy. He hurt me."

Phil stood with the little girl wrapped tightly around him. He glared at Fitz for a beat then turned and walked from the room. May clenched her fists and sighed at her own guilt before following them.

xx

Daisy and Melinda stepped from the ladies room to a very confused Phil. Whatever brought them in there must have been solved because both looked a lot better than they had before. He simply shrugged it off. Stepping aside he allowed the women to proceed down the hall toward their destination.

May placed her palm on the pad outside the door. Daisy smiled as she did the math in her head. It had to be at least sixteen years back and SHIELD already had this much advanced tech or maybe Fitz just plugged it in as a bonus. 'Kudos to you, Fitz' she thought and reminded herself to tell him so when she got home…

Home, there was that word again, that place that doesn't really exist except in your head. It wasn't a building or four walls or even a giant flying secret spy Bus. Home was in your mind or mostly in your heart. She remembered reading a plaque that said 'home is the place where, when you go there, they have to let you in'. That never really made sense to her. She'd been in lots of 'homes' and after a while they just let her out. She was certain if she knocked on those doors they would not be so quick to let her in.

Yet here she was more than eager to get to that damn burnt out place that was home. It was home because all the people she loved were there; probably doing everything they could to help her do just that. And if Skye was as there as she was here, then she needed to get her little self back home too.

She shook off the feeling as Phil pushed the door opened.

"It's on my desk, right he…" May stopped mid-sentence pointing at the spot where the two desks met, face to face.

Looking at the same spot Phil drew a quick breath. The laptop was definitely not there. He quickly scanned the office, but it was nowhere to be seen. "You were pretty upset, Mel. Maybe…" Phil offered. He snapped his mouth shut at her glare.

"I know exactly what I was doing and exactly where I put that damn blasted thing." She let out an aggravated breath.

"Maybe this'll help." Daisy offered as she pulled a yellow sticki-note from the opposite desk. "Who's Chuck?"

Melinda learned across both desks and yanked it from her hand. She glanced at it then crumbled the small paper in her own hand before throwing it across the room. "Damn, damn, damn him to hell." She propped both hands on her hips and turned away and then back.

Phil narrowed his eyes and picked up the small yellow wad. He uncrumbled it. 'Gonna take a look. Sorry, I didn't know. Chuck' He held it between two fingers and looked at Melinda then Daisy. "Who the hell is Chuck and how did he get in our office."

"Some moron tech nerd," Melinda growled, slamming her hands on the desk. "I took the laptop to him…" She let out a snarly breath. "I thought he could fix it…"

"You took it to tech?" Phil sounded incredulous.

"What else was I supposed to do?" She spat back. "It's not like you could do anything and I don't know a damn thing about computer blah-blah." She stepped closer to him. "Those jerks are supposed to know what they're doing. Hell, they put the damn thing together for you." Her voice rose as she continued her tirade.

"I didn't have them design it to do whatever the hell it did or is doing or can't do." Phil shot back.

"Well, that doesn't really much matter now does it?" Melinda roared.

Both seemed to have forgotten the girl who stood watching them as if it were some battlefield tennis match.

"They'll just take it apart and put it back the way it's supposed to be and then maybe, just maybe we can end this…" Phil paused and ran his hands through his hair. "Whatever the hell this is."

"Whoa," Daisy interrupted. "That is a very bad idea." She kept her voice even, definitely not wanting to fuel the fire. "Old Chuck reconfigures that thing and we're all…" She made a 'kaboom' face and wriggled her fingers outward and away.

"All of us?" Phil was perplexed.

"Not sure about you but me and Skye…" Daisy tried not to think about Jemma's last words to her before they entered the Framework to rescue the team. 'If you die in there…"

Those guys take that laptop apart and it all goes to hell. She was trapped here and would just evaporate with everyone else. If this place was anything like its predecessor, Skye would also perish.

"No," Melinda shook her head. "No, my child is not going to just blip out of existence because of some asinine computer program from a future she hasn't had the chance to experience." She drew a deep breath as Phil picked up his phone and tapped in the exchange for Technology. "And I won't lose the woman she's become either." She reached out a hand toward the young woman standing a few feet away.

Phil smiled at his wife squeezing his grown daughter's hand and placed the receiver back in its cradle. "Chuck's not there. They're pretty sure he's on a lunch break, suggested we check the com."

They were out the door before he finished the sentence.