Chapter 34 B

Serena – November 28, 2007 Wednesday

The lab was more what she had been expecting when she'd signed on in Roswell. It was a private lab but there were far more professor types around. Serena found the microbiology lab and asked for Dr. Skaarsten. She got pointed to an office with a small lab in it. It was empty. Serena set her bag down and sat to wait while she perused a text that was left sitting out.

"That's an abominable book. I suggest burning it later." A voice floated over her head sometime later. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, I'm Dr. Serena Caplan. I was sent by Dr. Liz Evans."

"You must be the bright young star." Dr. Skaarsten walked in and shook her hand. "Come, I must give you a tour and then we can get to work."

Serena followed her all over the building, learning where the best centrifuges were, and which workstations were haunted. Then she got to see the work. Liz called when she had a minute and they talked over what Serena needed to work on while she was in California. Jolene hung up and laughed. "Liz and I are juggling a lot of projects. Some are personal, some are for science and some are just for the hell of it."

"Doctor?" A voice from the doorway spoke. "Phone."

"I shall return, and we'll get started. Here. Read these."

Serena got to work reviewing the specs on the projects. She had a week to learn and she was going to learn as much as she could.

November 29, 2007 Thursday

Jolene brought breakfast to the lab. Serena had not gotten that far in her morning. She'd just managed to find some coffee and shower before getting to the lab. The breakfast was rich. Serena needed lots of water to wash it down. "Whoo. That's some fancy food."

"I'll take the compliment. I've been up for hours. I think better when I'm cooking. My husband says I'm keeping his doctors busy these days checking on his cholesterol. There's just no replacement for real butter."

"Oh, is that what that is?" Serena clutched the edge of her lab coat. "I don't think I've ever had real butter."

"At my age, I don't want anything with ingredients that the grandchildren can't pronounce. I did enough starving as a child. I will eat what I please, when I please." She smiled broadly. "I just blame my Swedish genes for not gaining much weight."

"You remind me a bit of our office manager. She has the same philosophy."

"Tess?"

"Yes!" Serena exclaimed. "Do you know her?"

"In a previous life, I think we were the same person. She's lovely. How is she doing?"

"I think she's been sick, but she keeps plugging away. Liz would never say it, but the office would collapse without her." Serena picked up the report. "Some interesting proteins in there."

"There are. Genetic anomalies. There's… an inversion of the same protein in the same fraction of the population." Jo stood and led her over to the monitors. "I have this one. Causes some… metabolic distress. I have to maintain my health to keep it from destroying me. The inversion is currently being treated in New York. We have one patient who has not had… any… tampering and it's the best sample. Completely pure."

"Why is that important?"

"Subject A is a young woman who was… drugged into becoming psychotic. Same defect as mine, identical but because she had been maltreated, we had to adjust her health regimen. My granddaughter has the same defect, poor thing, and… she had all the best doctors and facilities and… she's prone to… ideation and fixation. It could destroy her if she goes off the very careful regimen I concocted. I don't wish to air the family laundry but it's pretty much the only reason my daughter is speaking to me, right now."

"Goodness."

"This young lady. Subject C. She's been treated by laymen, essentially, and now that I've got my hands on her, she's doing very well. No psychosis, reduction in treatments after the first dozen or so. She's living her young life."

"So, what's the difference between the three subjects?"

"Well, Subjects A and B, had interference. These are genetic defects, and they are passed down. Somewhere… two generations ago, the Subjects line was interfered with. So, these defects came with a present. Infertility and that already fragile blood, was more so." Then she picked up a folder. "Then I got subject D."

"What's up with this person?"

"Almost no blood abnormalities. Fairly healthy and active, infertile for years. Corrected but… not an avenue that will work with the other subjects." Jolene tapped her hand on the edge of her chair. "I'm working on DNA analysis that will confirm a theory of mine. We'll see how it goes."

"I'm so glad to be here. I adore Liz but… we don't have a direction yet."

"Blame the funding. She's smart, though."

"I was a little afraid she'd sent me out here as a sort of revenge."

"Oh, Darling, no. She wouldn't have sent you unless you were good. Why ever do you think she'd want revenge on you?"

Serena made a face. "I… kind of… had a night with her husband… before! Before they were married. I don't know how long they were engaged and…"

"Bless you." Jolene laughed. "Highly unlikely. This marriage was a sort of whirlwind affair. I'm sure she doesn't hold you to anything he did before she moved to the middle of nowhere. She was widowed this past March."

"Oh. I think things are making sense now."

"Should. She's lovely. I simply adore her. Her first husband's grandfather and I went way back."

"How far back?"

"His wife used to babysit me after elementary school. That far back."

Serena set herself to work on the samples that Dr. Skaarsten brought out and made sure to record her findings. The equipment was a dream come true. When she was done, she wandered about to stretch her legs and chatted up a cute brunette at the coffee cart. Phone number in her cell, she returned to find Jo and Liz on a conference call. Jo had to close her into the lab for some privacy.

Serena watched their faces out of the corner of her eye. Liz was frowning… in the bad way, not the thinking way. Serena felt the urge to duck her head and not look up again. Jo walked into the room. "Everything okay?"

"Just family business." Jo waved her off. She took a print-out off the machine and read it through. "That's some news."

"Something wrong?"

"It's not easy being the smartest person in a room sometimes." Jo took the printout with her and started typing up a report. She wandered in on her cell phone. "Todd, honey, get me some tickets to Vermont, please. Use my card... Yes, I am aware I was just there, but I do need to speak with Miss Dupree in person… So sorry to interrupt… You're right, I should get an assistant."

Serena studied with Jolene all afternoon and then went out to pick up dinner for the both of them. The private university was nice. The night air was cool with bite to it. Very different from New Mexico. Serena got another phone number at the Thai place. The hostess was cute, and she was into redheads. Two phone numbers in two days. It felt good breaking the dry spell she'd had since the summer before.

The lab was quiet when she walked in. "Dinner's on!" She didn't get a response, so she set Dr. Skaarsten's dinner on the table and took her own to the window. She missed her little corner of the lab in Roswell. She did not miss hiding when Tess shot her an IM that Max was in the building. She appreciated that little blonde mess. Taking her carton with her, she ate as she examined a wall of photos near Dr. Skaarsten's desk. Bunch of blonde girls. Daughters and granddaughters. Mr. Dr. Skaarsten was a hottie in his day. Then she found the picture of young, Dr. Skaarsten. The picture was obviously very old, but she'd swear… she scanned the pictures for Tess but didn't see any. The resemblance was beyond uncanny. Cloning wasn't that good, yet.

She set the picture down and went to the little restroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. That's where she found Dr. Skaarsten on the ground. The next hour was a blur of frantic phone calls and ambulance rides. Then she found herself in the waiting room at the hospital trying to explain to Dr. Skaarsten's husband what had happened. "I keep thinking that maybe I should have insisted on a salad or something at some point in the day… but I don't…"

"Jo loves her cholesterol. There's no stopping her." He shook his head. "She force-feeds me butter even though she knows that my metabolism cannot handle it." He laughed. "It's why we have two kitchens. I have a chef for my heart-healthy meals, and she has her kitchen that's also part laboratory. I never know if what's in the fridge is meal or formula."

Serena took a breath. "Mr. Skaarsten."

"It's Herbert. Herbert Hastings." He held his hand out. "You can call me Herb."

"I'm sorry." Serena blushed.

"It's a common mistake. Jolene's new pet, Liz Pierce, teases me all the time. I quite enjoy when she does it."

"It's Liz Evans now."

"Oh, did I miss some gossip?"

"She got married a few weeks ago."

"Ah, well, hopefully to a rich man like I told her to." Herb took a breath. "I'm going to hunt down a doctor. You should get some rest. The campus bullies will descend on Monday and you'll need to have your ducks in a row."

"Thank you. I'm so sorry." Serena left him to it and started making calls. Liz was concerned. She gave Serena a list of things to go through to make sure they made deadlines. She insisted that Serena go and get some sleep. And Serena tried. She really tried to sleep but she couldn't. At 6 am, she was in the hospital and she got the news that they weren't really sure what had happened, but she was stable and in a coma. Serena took herself to the lab and got started on emails and the lists.

Methodical. She had the list to go off of. She toured the lab to make sure everything was okay. She found projects in progress and located their logs to make sure nothing was destroyed. Systematic. Methodical. Persistent. She only left when her stomach complained. She ate vending machine food.

Then she started going through the printouts and matching them to projects. DNA results. She set it aside. She'd find where it went. Jolene was pretty consistent with her marking systems. Then she sat and debated on if she should call. There was no telling when Jolene was going to come out of it. It wasn't a Liz project. It was just Jolene. Shit. She made the call. She had to. This person had a family. A surprise one, apparently. Then she tried to make sense of Jolene's handwritten notes on the file.

When her phone rang, she answered without looking. "Hello?"

"Serena, honey."

Shit. "Yeah, Dad?" Serena took a breath but as quietly as possible.

"Checking in. Haven't heard from you in a while."

"Been busy."

"Enlighten me, please."

Serena sank into a chair and put a hand over her eyes, head bowed. Like he was there, his hand on the back of her head, stroking her hair while she cried over some dumb kid or some stupid grade or job. "I mean… it's been good. I got a job in a lab. It's small outfit, still finding its legs. I'm actually out on assignment. I was supposed to get some hands-on with a mentor."

"Supposed to." He repeated. Not a question. A repetition of what she'd said so that he could get a feel for what she was saying.

"She's an older lady. She… had a stroke or something and she's in the hospital so… um… I'm cleaning up her office and making sure she had some experiments to come back to. Assuming… she recovers."

"Someone make you take that on?"

"No. I am my father's daughter, and I couldn't just stand by. And I also couldn't just sit in the hospital for someone I met two days ago. So, I am making myself useful. I'm due home in couple more days."

"That's it. You just work?"

"Haven't been out in a while."

"You would be happier if you'd just settle down."

"Not sure about that."

"Where you living these days? I want to send you some of your mom's stuff. Found a storage unit I forgot about."

"The bill didn't remind you?"

"I had you set up all those automatic payments… base accountant pointed it out to me. It was near Fort Jeff."

"We haven't been in Saint Louis in a long time."

"Yeah."

Serena sniffed a little. "What'd you find in there?"

"Your toy scope thing. Some plaster casts when you broke your ankle. I found your mom's jewelry. A lot of books."

"That's where they all went."

"I got transferred in a hurry and… I guess it was too soon… after."

"You lost track of a lot of things for a while."

"I guess I did."

"Hey Dad." Serena found herself staring at a file folder and a face she vaguely recognized. She'd been sorting data in her head while she was talking to her dad. Coping mechanisms. Yay. "You know of a… Special Agent Daniel Pierce? FBI or something."

"Shithead. Yeah. I've heard of him."

"Tell me how you really feel." She let out a little laugh.

"I don't know a lot. Most people don't. Just one of those things. Until he was head of the unit and the whole infamy thing."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Figured you knew if you were asking. It was all over C-Span last year."

"I was deep in a lab, finishing my degree."

"Right. Well. Uncle Sam set aside funds for some… sideways things to happen, the original intent is unknown. Or that's the official company line. Whatever this shithead did, he lost the faith of Uncle Sam and they didn't just take his funding, they accused him of stealing it in the first place. It's why I didn't want you joining any of those federal programs. You can get tied up in some stuff without knowing."

"Yeah, yeah. Northwestern ended up being awesome."

"I'm still paying for it." He reminded her.

"I'm never going to make a lot of money at what I do, Dad. It's just the way it goes but… I am doing good works in between doing my science thing."

"That's good to hear."

"My boss… her main funding comes from DNA testing in evidence. It's boring but… it's nice that when I fill my quota for the week that I helped that many people. Solved that many cases. Exonerated or imprisoned people. You know?"

"I don't understand any of that stuff but… you can't aim a gun to save your life, I'm glad there's something you're good at."

Serena shut her eyes and sat back. "Dad."

"I worry. I would have worried if you had enlisted."

"Is it possible this Pierce person wasn't as bad as they say?"

"It's actually possible he was worse. I don't know anything about his unit. That's how bad it was. Whatever they aired, that was whitewashed, redacted. Underground shit, off the books."

"You think his wife knew?"

"Not the details. Man like that can't pillow talk about work." He cleared his throat. "Why you asking so many questions about some asshole in a black suit?"

"I work for his widow."

"She smart?"

"Yeah. Beautiful. Already remarried."

"Looks like he was a shithead at home, too. Usually the way it goes."

There was a long silence. Serena sat up straight and put her free hand on the desk. "I think I'm in love with my boss."

"Serena." Her dad sighed heavily.

"I know she doesn't love me. Can't. She's… anyway. I have a history with her husband. I thought about quitting after I realized, it was really awkward but… this is an opportunity I'll never get again. I keep having doubts about working there but I'm doing good deeds, good works. I do have time to pursue my own studies and I get to travel and meet biologists. It's a good thing."

"Don't mess it up. I don't understand what you do. Not really. Just… I'm glad you're being an adult about this."

"You're not getting grandkids. At least… not natural ones."

"I know."

"Then why do you want me to settle down?"

"Habit?"

Serena said her goodbyes and picked up the folder that had caught her eye. She looked over the stacks of tests inside. She saw the proteins. She saw the circled DNA couplings. She pulled the profiles up in the computer and set them to compare. She shut her eyes and willed away thought until it the computer did its thing.

Around midnight it dinged. She grabbed some coffee and a candy bar before she set to examine the results. Huh. But once she knew one of the subject's names, figuring out the rest wasn't that hard. She called Liz. She just didn't mention the weird proteins that showed up on some of the samples. That was… something that had to be seen to be believed.

December 3, 2007 Monday

Serena had to show her credentials and a few other things when she met with the Dean and the department head. She had already preserved what she could of Dr. Skaarsten's work so they were marginally happy. The report from Mr. Hastings was no news. His daughters had shown up with their kids, so he was deep in it.

Serena brought a beaker of formaldehyde with her. She had it capped securely but maybe the smell would be something Dr. Skaarsten would like. The hospital was very quiet. The waiting room full of blonde women, slight in stature, piercing blue eyes. Herb waved her over. "No news, still."

"I figured. I'm being called back to the mothership, but I thought… a familiar smell might do." She handed him the beaker. "It's quite strong, so just… open the lip a bit to waft it near her."

"This is fabulous." Herb laughed a little. "The doctors say there's no damage they can find which is actually good news. She's just… not awake."

"Dad, really?" One of the blondes approached. "Could you pretend you care about your wife?"

"Hannah, could you pretend we sent you to finishing school and you were gifted manners not afforded most people?"

Serena had to bite her lip. Herb was a savage man. And she loved him. The blonde made a face that looked vaguely familiar. Then she gestured to Serena. "Who the hell is this tart and why is she here?"

"Dr. Serena Caplan, I work with the Claudia Parker Initiative at the Parker Medical and Research Laboratory." Serena held out her hand. "I was working with your mother the day…"

"Oh."

"Apologize." Herb held the formaldehyde in one hand and motioned with the other.

"I'm sorry. You don't look like a lab nerd."

"Neither does your mother." Serena pointed out and shrugged.

"Fine." Hannah looked around. "Where is Todd?"

"On his way."

"Todd is coming?" Serena glanced around.

"Oh, now I know where you work." Hannah rolled her eyes, glanced at her watch then returned to the bevy of blondes.

"We raised her better but she's bitter." Herb commented. "Jolene had such a hard life before we met and somehow, she managed to have this… very Swedish outlook. Despite her home life, she had such hope for life and science. When we met, I didn't tell her I had money. She wasn't looking for it. She just… wanted to have fun. I wanted to have fun. We kept our lives separate for a long while and then I had to have her. It's hard to see her this way. I love that my money let her have her science. I love that my money let us have our family and she used that science and creativity to give other families the same opportunity. She's so good. I… haven't been. The luster wears off but… I still love my wife and I don't want her to leave me yet. So, when those women over there interrogate you in a few minutes, you'll know why they all hate me."

"Jolene's convinced they all hate her." Serena offered.

"They do, for different reasons. Being a strong woman is hard and being a mother of strong women is harder still." Herb took the beaker to the room and left Serena to be slowly engulfed by the Hastings women. She met Hannah Drummond and her daughters Alice Skaarsten (Hannah rolled her eyes when she said the name), Julia Drummond. She met Heather Hastings-Munroe and her daughters Theresa and Melissa (twins). Hannah and Heather looked put upon to be in the waiting room. The children seemed to not like each other but were politely having conversations that if Serena was to interpret correctly, were really rich people snipes at each other.

"How long did you go to school to be… whatever you are?" Alice made a gesture with her hand.

"Just graduated last semester so… double course-load for seven years." Serena nodded at her.

"Wow."

"That's tremendous. I applaud your efforts to go to college and make something of yourself." Theresa nodded to Serena and Serena could see Alice fuming in her seat. "I'm a sophomore at UCLA. I don't know what I want to be yet. Seven years seems like a long time to be in college though."

"It kind of… flew by. I enjoy what I do."

"The rest of us aren't very… science-y." Melissa offered. "Grandma got the bulk of the brains, I think."

"You know she hates to be called that." Alice blinked at her cousin.

"I don't speak Swedish." Melissa rolled her eyes. "You only learned it so you could get all the good toys."

Julia bit her lip and examined her nails but didn't say anything for a long time. Alice was cutting daggers at her sister. "I hope your vacation with Mormor was worth it."

"Is that what we're calling her… rest time." Theresa whispered to Melissa.

Alice was fuming and bolted to the doors as Todd was walking in. "I hate all of them."

Todd stepped inside. "Are we playing nice while Auntie Jo is fighting for her life?"

"Cousin Todd. How's that beard you're growing?" Theresa swiped a finger over her chin.

"My wife is parking the car. Why did no one call me to tell me what was happening?"

"Mom called your Auntie Rose. She said she'd call you when you got back." Melissa offered.

"Dr. Caplan, I hope dearly that my sweet, sweet cousins have been cordial." Todd turned to her. "How is Auntie Jo?"

"She's stable, in a coma." Serena offered. "Liz wanted me to head back but… um… I wanted to talk to you about some of her projects before I left."

"Come." He turned to his cousins. "Can you all just pretend that you're here because you love her and not because you're hoping to inherit something? Hmm?" That put sour looks on all their faces. Todd guided out to the parking lot. "I hate all of them. What happened with Alice? She say something?"

"She stormed out. I think they were saying she sucked up to Jolene or something. I'm not well-versed in this level of umm…."

"Bitch? I am. Fortunately. Yeah." Todd took a breath. "Is she really okay?"

"They don't know what happened. She went to the restroom and I found her on the ground. They were thinking stroke of something but… so far, nothing."

"I'm a spoiled brat and I love my Auntie Jo far more than any of those brats. I didn't even like my own grandmother. Our family has a wide range of bitch. Liz started blowing up my phone last night about something in one of the projects you're about to tell me about. Lawyers have been engaged and Ms. Galvez is loading up the Batman gear. We need to get her an Alfred."

"Well, I was just… tidying up so that none of her projects spoiled while she was… here. I might have stepped in it. I found some DNA results, they were incomplete. I gave um… Laurie Dupree the basic result but she had no idea that Dr. Skaarsten had done a DNA comparison."

"Auntie Jo does that all the time. She's looking for the answer to her own medical bullshit. My cousins are mean and nasty, but Alice got some weird psycho bullshit on top of the medical shit. I've got a taste of it but it's nowhere near as bad as Auntie Jo's branch of the tree." Todd shook his head. "Who did she find in Laurie's tree?"

"An older half-brother."

Todd's entire person shifted. "Who?"

"Took me a while to put that part together. I know she sent a report somewhere and Liz said she knew when I called her. So, I don't know if she sent the report to Liz or someone else told Liz."

"Why are you so concerned that Liz knows about this?"

Serena blew out a breath. "Her husband is the half-brother."

"Max?"

"Oh, no… her first husband. The… alien hunter government guy. I looked him up last night."

"Mr. Pierce?" Todd waved to his wife and she halted where she was. "No. He's… His family tree was never in question."

"I think someone was keeping secrets. Laurie Dupree and Daniel Pierce share a father."

"I think I know where we can find some visuals. I never met Laurie's father. Our families didn't socialize together for a long time and… well, let's see what we find. She was showing pictures not long ago but after I showed them to Auntie Jo, I went out and I hardly remember that day." Todd reached out for Madison. "Darling, we're hitting the big house. We're not needed or wanted inside right now."

"Is she okay?"

"She's not going anywhere. And if she was able, she'd be in the lab or going to do what we're doing."

Serena rode with them to the mansion and Todd led them upstairs to the private sitting room and library of Jolene Skaarsten. "Auntie Jo pulled some boxes out for another relative of the Dupree family not long ago. She didn't give him everything, but she did spend time pawing through this stuff."

"What are we looking for?"

"Pictures of Laurie Dupree's father. I think his name was Charles Jr. but they may have called him Deuce. That's sticking in my brain for some reason. Maybe it was Chip? I don't know. Mom said that Auntie Jo was always acting above her station and she learned it from the rich folk she hung out with growing up. Auntie Jo told me that she didn't have friends growing up but from what I now know, the Skaarsten's were dirt poor and the Mortons didn't have a lot of money but they had friends in the right places. Old Man Morton could turn a buck quickly. Old Man Dupree hit it big in copper and like… silver or something. Anyway, he was new to money, too. You talk to any Dupree who lives in big house now, they act like they are sixth generation, at least, money. Mads, you could call them on so much shit. I hate them."

"Okay." Serena sorted through pictures and glanced at the backs.

"So, my theory is that someone had to teach these guys the ropes. Mr. Pierce left his will in such…" Todd breathed. "It shook Mrs. Pierce some. There's not a lot she owns outright. The bulk of his estate was left to the children in a way that if some children were discovered later, they would all have to split it. That's why Amelia did what she did." He exchanged a look with Madison. "From what I understand of Old Man Morton, he did a similar thing with his will. He left all the property to Mr. Pierce. Various funds and sundries went to his own children, but he left the bulk to his favorite grandchild, the only one who was visiting him in his old age."

"They got some drama in that family." Serena murmured.

"And I don't have all the details, just what I'm told and can glean from gossip and instructions I get handed to give to lawyers. I'm getting very good at this." He took a breath. "If Morton and Dupree came up together, investing in each other. Friends. Helping Auntie Jolene with her messed up family dynamic. I'm sure they learned from each other. So, I've been reviewing the lawyer's documents for Laurie Dupree's claim. She got left the bulk of the estate… but the phrasing leaves it to the children of Charles Dupree II."

"So, Charles Senior knew there was another child." Madison gasped. "Wow. So, this is going to freak out the evil aunt and uncle."

"Especially since the brother's dead. If it is true that Mr. Pierce is a third generation Dupree, whatever he gets, goes to his children. It gets put in the same conservatorship with their current inheritance. Mrs. Pierce… Evans. Mrs. Evans won't be able to touch that either. She might get a windfall through the details of Mr. Pierce's will, but her kids are going to age into a fortune and rights to copper and silver and whatever else is in the claim."

"You know an awful lot about Mrs. Evans business." Serena sat back.

"It's very interesting." Todd told her.

"Very." Madison agreed. "Bordering on Gothic now that we're in this stage. It's my favorite soap opera." She stepped aside to let Todd have more access to the box. "Mr. Pierce had to change his name when he stepped into the Special Unit business. He faked his own death. Before he was Daniel Pierce, he was Daniel Russell. His mom, Anette Russell, was Anette Morton. She eloped with Nathaniel Russell when her parents found out she was pregnant."

"Stephen Morton told me, quite by accident, that he had never even seen Nathaniel until Thanksgiving that year. He came to dinner for a minute and took his sister out on the porch but that was that. No one even knew they were dating or that they had been together until Anette ran off less than a month later." Todd filled in. "He didn't do that math, but I've been doing the math since I was a kid. My mom loves to gossip. So, I dug in, skills I learned from the late Mr. Kinney and discovered that Nathaniel Russell transferred into the high school about two weeks before Thanksgiving. I did the math on Mr. Pierce's birthday, in April. Now, unless Mr. Pierce was a super-preemie… that puts his conception back around August or September." Todd motioned with a handful of letters. "I've kept my eye out for the missing link for a while. I just didn't think it was going to be in the family."

"The Mortons are related to the Duprees?" Serena frowned.

"No, no." Madison shook her head. "The Mortons, the Duprees and the Skaartens are like… a mini-mafia. Or they were. Auntie Jolene has been trying to resurrect whatever bond they had. She wants to hand this all off to Todd eventually. Todd, Laurie and Liz, who is only Morton by marriage but she's… she's amazing."

"She is." Serena nodded and flipped a stack of pictures over to see the backs.

"There was an event that bonded them. The rumor is that it drove Morton into the FBI, Dupree into an asylum and Auntie Jo into the lab."

"Wow. It's got to be powerful, then." Serena sat back a moment. This felt like something she shouldn't step in, but the door was being held open.

"It's huge. I don't have the absolute facts, but I think it has to do with government experimentation with cloning in the late 40s. That's how long everyone has been around each other. I don't think anything was fruitful until the 80s, though."

"Why?"

"Show her." Madison jerked her head.

"Well, I never met the crew until they were all ancient but, they love pictures." Todd grabbed an album off his great-aunt's shelf. "This is Auntie Jolene when she was young and hot."

Serena frowned. "That's Tess Harding."

"No, it's not. I forgot about these pictures until Tess came to meet Auntie Jo. She brought her right up here like she was family." Todd took a breath and flipped a few pages. "That there is her babysitter when she was a kid."

Serena blinked at the page. "I recognize her."

"You've never met her?"

"No." She shook her head.

"Well, how about the babysitter's husband?" He flipped a page.

"That's Max Evans."

"Got it in one." Todd nodded. "Mrs. Pierce's new husband, childhood sweetheart, looks exactly like her late husband's grandfather."

"Who's that?" Serena pointed to another picture.

"That's Charles Dupree. You recognize him?"

"Mr. Guerin, from security at the Parker Lab."

"Yup."

"He's kind of cute." Madison said with a dreamy tone to her voice. "But he's a little scary. I met him once in Pittsburgh."

"He likes when people are scared of him." Serena nodded. "So… clones?"

"It has to be. No way there are this many secret babies. On top of that. There's another man who looks like Darryl Morton in New York. I've had to go there a few times. Exactly like Max Evans, maybe a year or two difference in age." Todd set the letters aside for a moment. "Mr. Lockhead and Mr. Evans look the same, but you can tell they grew up in different environments. Like those squirrels on separate sides of a canyon who are genetically the same but behaviorally different due to the conditions on the different sides. Max Evans grew up in… comfortable means, no opulence… just… cared for. Maybe coddled a bit. He blushes at the drop of a hat. Less so these days."

Serena nodded. She didn't want to spill any more beans today. "And Mr. Lockhead?"

"He's starting to gain weight but… he's lean. Like… lived on the streets lean and not… working out in the gym lean."

"Have I met him?" Madison picked up a small box from the larger box.

"No, I don't think so. He doesn't come around Pittsburgh. Word from Mr. Kinney was that there was a falling out when Mr. Lockhead left the unit."

"Oh." Madison held up her box. "I found a Laurie." She flipped through the pictures. "Here."

Todd took the stack. "This has got to be him. Figured Mr. Pierce would take after him a little more." He made a face. "She does say that Mr. Pierce took after Anette a great deal. Except the eyes. Nathaniel Russell had blue eyes but not like Mr. Pierce's. Not like the little ones."

Serena took the picture when it was handed over. "Well, Laurie has… green eyes, looks like."

"Yeah, so did Anette."

"Charles Dupree had brown eyes… Charles Dupree Jr… has… blue eyes?"

"His wife had blue eyes. Ada Jane Dupree." Todd pointed out.

"It would track." Serena nodded. "It's not really a dominate gene but I have seen Liz's kids and they all have the same bright blue eyes. She mentioned, once, that she carries the gene for blue eyes. She just didn't get them."

"I don't understand." Madison shook her head.

"Dominant and recessive genes. If two blue eyed people have a kid, there's a very good chance they'll have a blue-eyed kid. If a brown-eyed person and a blue-eyed person have a kid… there's a slight chance the kid will have blue eyes but depending on who had the dominant gene, the kid could have brown eyes. Liz Evans parents both have blue eyes. I've seen them at the Crashdown. Liz has brown eyes. Her grandfather had brown eyes and her grandmother had blue eyes. It's just the way it shakes out. But green kind of complicates things as it's far more rare. It's boring but depending on a lot of circumstances… it's possible."

"So, we have photographic evidence."

"I need to get it to a lawyer." Todd started gathering pictures to scan and send. "We'll pick up some food and head back to the hospital. We need to get you to the airport."

"Right." Serena helped clean up and as she was heading downstairs, she ran into Tess Harding. "Hi."

"Hi…" Tess looked bad. Real bad. "Is Jolene here?"

"She's in the hospital. Liz didn't tell you?"

"I've been out of pocket the last little bit." Tess swallowed hard and looked like she was going to puke. "What happened?"

"Not sure. She's… out of commission. Not sure when she'll wake up."

"Okay. Then… um… I need you."

"What can I do?"

"I don't know who else to trust and things are about to get really, really bad." Tess gripped her side and took a breath. "I think I have some bruised ribs, but I don't have time to get to a hospital. We need to get to the Pittsburgh lab. Discreetly"

TBC

AN: SO. I had intended to post this days ago. Intended to work on the story this week BUT. Some Bitch-Ass Winter Storm (coughURIISABITCHcough) had another idea. I'm okay. I've been lucky. I had to deal with rolling blackouts on 45 / off 3-4 hours at a time. I have water. I have gas heat. I lost 6 pounds because I didn't have time to prepare and all I had in the house was healthy fibery food. Yay my new healthy outlook. You can't stress-eat fiber. You can... but there are consequences.

ANYWHO: I had to work from home (normally not allowed; long story) and with all the mess, that was a disaster but my coworker and I pulled it off to the last minute and now I can take my monitor back form my work laptop... yes, I needed more than one screen and don't make me get into the geography of my apartment. I don't know if I can work on the story this weekend because I have been sitting at this desk all week and I hate my chair. I hate. THIS. CHAIR. I left my butt pillow at work.

I was going somewhere with this... I don't remember. I'm tired and I need some real sleep. Trying to sleep while thinking about possible water pipes bursting and what if I have to boil water forever, are my family members across state okay... I took a nice hot hoe bath and feel marginally myself again. I am hoping to have a real shower by Sunday night.