On the way back out of the condo building, Elisa made a point to stop and speak to the Wing members at the desk and let them know that the kids were home, and no one was to go in or out.

Period.

Elisa and Matt got back in the car, but neither seemed eager to go back to work.

"Do you still want me to keep calling the City Watch people?" Matt asked quietly.

"Yes," Elisa said firmly. "We're going to need to start coming up with what we're going to tell them."

"Photoshop?" Matt suggested.

"Maybe," Elisa said softly.

Matt looked at his partner. "Do you have something in mind?"

"Not yet," Elisa admitted. "I just want to find a way of working it so that I'm not lying about or denying my own child's existence."

"She'd understand, Elisa," Matt pointed out.

"That's not the point," Elisa said fiercely. "Understand or not, it would hurt her, and I'm afraid that we've already done enough of that in her life already unintentionally."

Matt looked puzzled. "You're going to have to explain that one."

"Later," Elisa promised. "For now, we're going to have to figure out what to tell everyone."

"I hope you don't mind me saying this," Matt said cautiously, "but you're taking this a hell of a lot better than I would have."

"Really?" Elisa said, putting the keys in her ignition but not turning them yet. She reached out with her hands and grasped the wheel. "How so?"

"I'd be mad," Matt said. "Furious. If someone took pictures of my daughter and put them on some tabloid show and even hinted that she was anything other than an amazing child, I'd be yelling. Hitting something. Throwing things. I don't know," he ran a hand through his hair, causing the red strands to go every which way. "Something other than sitting there so calmly like you are."

"Would me yelling and throwing things change anything?" Elisa asked quietly. She flexed her fingers, and Matt heard the creak as the wheel's covering began to protest. It was only then that he realized that her knuckles were turning white with the tightness of her grip. "And, for the record, I am supremely pissed off right now, but I can rant and rave later. Right now, I need to take care of this and make sure that my children are safe."

Matt nodded. He could see it, the tenuous grip that she had on her control at the moment.

"So, where to?" Matt asked.

"It's too late to go to the station that airs that crap program," Elisa bit out, "and too soon for me not to knock some heads together there if we went now. I think it would be better if we went to the castle and got the clan in on this."

Matt nodded. "Want me to drive?"

Elisa shook her head, relaxed her grip and finally turned the keys in the ignition. "No. Driving will help me think of something else for a little bit. Clear my head."

"Just let me know if you need to trade off," Matt said.

"Thanks Matt," Elisa said, finally putting the car into gear and moving towards the parking area exit.