Sophia looked in the rear view mirror and swore violently. That fucking thing was back again! This was getting ridiculous.

How did he keep finding her?

It had to be some sort of precog. There was no other explanation she could see. Why the fucker was just following her around, she had no idea, unless it was some bizarre form of psychological warfare. But even in that case, the question was why? A PRT-associated Parahuman would have tried to intercept her, as would any normal law enforcement group, she was sure of that. This bastard just casually followed her around the place, somehow picking her up again every time she managed to lose him.

Considering how she was sticking entirely to small back roads and looping back on herself constantly, it was almost impressive. Not to mention the dozens of changes of vehicle she'd engaged in since she'd left Brockton Bay. No one should be able to find her through that mess even with powers, according to everything she'd learned while a Ward. She'd followed every trick she'd ever come across for throwing off surveillance, precognition abilities, and other forms of tracking, but he kept coming back!

It was infuriating.

She looked ahead, then down at the map open on the passenger seat, seeing that there was a small turn to the right half a mile ahead that seemed to lead into a mess of little country roads which ultimately fed into the low hills near the horizon. That way would be hard on her car but impassable for a big rig, so with any luck would let her lose the bastard behind her. Accelerating hard, she wove around the next two vehicles with the careless skill of someone with fast reflexes and lots of recent practice, turned hard right when she hit the side road, slid sideways in a shower of gravel, then straightened up and kept going. The paved road was left behind in seconds, the one in front unfinished and deeply rutted in places. Pushing her latest vehicle as hard as she dared, she headed deeper into the back country, hoping she'd find something else driveable before she killed this one.

Behind her, the truck rumbled past the cloud of dust still settling out in the late afternoon light, not slowing, while the driver inside the cab turned his head to look at the tire tracks on the dirt surface. Prodding a couple of buttons on the phone on the dash, he made his report, then went on his way.

Mel put the USB stick Metis had dropped off into the side of the laptop she was using for this project, one from which she'd removed the wifi and bluetooth card entirely to ensure it couldn't be connected to an outside source. Moments later after the relevant connection dialog had appeared and been dismissed, she started looking through what the Family had given her, while taking notes.

When she'd finished some time later she sat back in her chair and thought, occasionally writing down ideas. There was much to go through, but it looked like she was that much closer to discovering the truth behind Cauldron and the other puzzles she'd been working towards for years.

Those lizards might be scary and bizarre, but they were very competent. More things had come to light in that one visit than she'd managed in the entire time she'd been looking into the Case 53 issue, and the implications were earth-shattering. Mel had no doubt that if certain people found out anything they'd learned and deduced that there would be a lot of trouble. It could certainly, almost definitely would for that matter, have an impact all the way up to the top of the government and beyond.

She did not want to get caught up in that.

It seemed likely that the reptiles might know even more about this matter than they'd let on, since she was certain that they were extremely smart and once set on the path she'd shown them would keep digging. She suspected they wouldn't tell her everything, if only because they appeared to take the Rules fairly seriously as well as general privacy. It was slightly annoying, but on the whole she approved, as it went both ways and it wasn't likely that they'd tell anyone else anything about her or her people. She could live with that.

After considering the new information for some time, she finally closed her notebook, shut down the laptop, and carefully put both of them in her safe, arming the booby traps when she was finished then locking it securely. There was a lot to think about, more would undoubtedly come to light in due course, and she wasn't planning on any precipitous actions. It could wait until the whole picture emerged.

Mel was a patient woman. But one who always made sure she finished a job.

Sooner or later, she'd finish this one.

And if nothing else, she'd met some fascinating contacts that could well be very useful in the future, learned a lot that gave her insight into the direction the city was moving, and Newter at least had come out of the entire thing feeling he'd gained considerably from the entire exercise. She was happy for him, and curious to see what Ianthe would come up with for Gregor.

Shaking her head a little at how the city seemed to have altered rather more than seemed plausible in the short time they'd been away, the woman went back to her desk and started looking through the various job requests that had built up during the last operation. Money still needed to be made, after all, lizards or no lizards

As Taylor led Vicky over to the table, Amy inspected her sister with somewhat concerned interest. Her turning up like this out of the blue was a surprise, and the scents coming from her betrayed her worry and what seemed an awful lot like actual fear. She was clearly pushing herself into doing something she didn't want to do but felt she had to. Amy was impressed, in truth, since it was unlike the other girl in some ways. Her apparent growth as a person in the last two months or so, which had pleased the brunette, was more than skin deep, it appeared.

But that still left her wondering exactly what was upsetting her sister. It had to be connected to the weird attitude she'd had for some time now, which seemed to flare up at odd moments then go away again. Perhaps they were about to find out why?

^What's wrong with Vicky?^ Taylor asked silently, glancing at Amy, then Lisa, whose 'Metis' head was tilted a little in thought as she also watched the blonde girl walk over to the table.

Lisa's eyes narrowed a little for a few seconds during which Taylor motioned to a chair and Vicky sat, looking around at them somewhat nervously although she was hiding it well. She couldn't hide the scent though. Then they widened slightly.

^Crap. She's worked out something about you, and Amy too,^ Lisa's mental voice sighed. ^Or she thinks she has. She's… seen similarities between you and Saurial? Something along those lines. And there's some reason she's worried about Amy… Ah. She's seen something she can't explain which is making her wonder if Amy is actually a lizard in disguise.^

Amy looked at Lisa in startlement, as did Taylor. Even the Varga stared at her.

^How the hell did she work that out?^ the healer asked. ^Whatever it is.^

^Something about your tail,^ Lisa replied. ^And clothing.^

^I thought the cloaking spell was supposed to stop that?^ Amy glanced at the demon, who was now watching Vicky with great interest.

^It is, and it's very reliable,^ he replied slowly, sounding intrigued. ^There are ways around it but every one I'm aware of requires very considerable magical talent and experience. With the modifications I've made to it, and the power I can drive into it, even those probably wouldn't work now. And I'm sure there are no mages on this world capable of bringing that amount of skill and power to bear in the first place, assuming they existed at all which I feel unlikely.^

^Some Parahuman power we haven't come across before?^ Taylor asked.

^Again, I think it very unlikely, but it's not completely impossible. The question in that case would be why and how Vicky ran across such an ability.^ He studied the blonde for a moment more. ^Very interesting indeed. I suggest the best method to discover the truth of the matter is to ask her.^

They'd only been silent for ten or fifteen seconds, but that seemed enough to make Vicky even more nervous, which Amy and the others could easily tell. Not wanting to worry her sister, Amy smiled. "Hi, Vicky," she said as calmly as possible. "Sorry to stare, we were right in the middle of discussing something interesting and it surprised us to see you turn up like that. Is everything OK?"

"Yeah, fine, everything's… fine." Her sister looked around in a way that made it obvious she didn't know quite how to begin. "Fine..." she said again after a moment.

Walking over to her, Amy sat in the next chair and took the other girl's hand. "Something isn't fine, I can tell that easily," she said quietly. She could tell from the cortisol production and other stress hormones that the blonde was on the verge of panicking. "What's wrong? Is it Dean again?"

Vicky looked quickly at her, then past her to where Taylor's aspects and Lisa were watching. "No, everything's fine with Dean. Just fine, thanks."

"Stop saying 'fine' and spit it out, Vicky," Amy smiled. "You've been acting odd for days now. What's the problem?"

Her sister chewed her lip, a mannerism Amy recognized as one denoting worry, as she looked around at them. To add to all the other signs. Whatever it was, Vicky was very wound up about it. Eventually, she visibly summoned her courage and met Amy's eyes directly. "Um..." There was a pause, then she said in a rush, "AreyouagiantlizardandpartoftheFamilyandhaveatail?"

Amy stared.

"What?" she asked a few seconds later, completely befuddled.

Vicky, who'd leaned away as if she was expecting something bad to happen, deflated a bit with a sigh. "Oh, hell. I know this is all sorts of bad under the Rules, and common sense, and god knows what else, but it's driving me completely insane!" She fixed her gaze on her sister, and went on, "I have to know what the fuck is going on or I'm going to end up in an asylum or something."

"What on earth are you talking about, Vicky?" Amy asked, still wondering what her sister knew and how.

The girl sighed heavily once more, leaning her head on one arm and picking at a speck of grime on her pants leg with the other hand, yet another little action that told Amy she was serious, and seriously confused. "Remember when I sort of flew into that building a while ago?"

"You didn't sort of fly into it, you actually flew into it," Amy grinned. She got an aggrieved look back and fell silent again, to let her sister speak.

"Yeah, OK, I flew into it. I'm never going to live that down. But do you know why I flew into it?"

Amy shook her head.

"I was just going home after doing some shopping, you know, nothing serious, and more or less thinking about random things. I started thinking about math, and how good Saurial was with it, then it crossed my mind that Taylor was also really good at it. And that led me to think about how sometimes, if you look hard and know both of them pretty well, some of their little mannerisms are kind of similar. Like me chewing my lip like Mom does, that sort of thing. That sort of habit tends to pass through a family from long contact and exposure to it, I realized. I even looked it up later and it's true. And I got distracted and that building got in the way..." She took a breath, while the others listened closely.

"It got me thinking that if I was right, maybe Taylor's family and the Family were a lot closer than the story the public knows says. Like if they'd grown up together or something, that was the most sensible idea I could come up with. Maybe Saurial was Taylor's adopted sister, or a little scaly foster child or something like that." She half-grinned, still looking very nervous, and glanced at both aspects. "At one point I was thinking that maybe the Heberts are actually all lizards in disguise, and that led me to wondering if maybe the entire fucking DWU was lizards too. I didn't sleep very well that night."

Amy looked at Taylor, who looked back, neither knowing quite what to say. Lisa was listening with interest and a completely neutral expression but smelled fascinated. The Varga was also listening quietly and from experience Amy knew he was impressed.

"Then I started looking things up online, and in the school library. I wish to god I'd never even heard of H P Fucking Lovecraft. I had nightmares for a week that time. But it all fits in a weird way and I couldn't work out if it was coincidence, or you guys playing a practical joke on everyone, or him knowing something no one else believes, or what. And every time I try to figure it out the entire thing gets weirder and weirder. Saurial is way too familiar with the Hebert house, like she's lived there her entire life. Danny treats her like she was his own daughter, even though he's careful not to make it obvious when other people are around. Everyone at the fucking DWU treats the entire Family like they're cousins or something, or best friends at worst, and have known them for years too instead of three months or so."

She paused for breath, her voice having got louder and more excited while she ranted, apparently having thrown caution to the wind. "None of it makes any sense at all. I just get a massive headache when I try to think it through. The more I learn, or tried to work out, the worse it all got. And then..." Vicky waved her hands expressively. "A few days ago in school, I was cleaning out my gym locker because it was too full of crap and found a pair of your jeans that must have got mixed up with my clothes sometime a few weeks ago."

Amy suddenly got an idea of where this was leading and suppressed a tiny wince.

^Your sister is very far from stupid, Amy,^ the Varga said in her head. ^And is considerably more observant than most people. I am definitely impressed.^

The other girl shook her head, an expression of complete bemusement and irritation on her face, carrying on, "I started folding them up to bring home and give back to you, then I saw something. Something really, really weird, but something I've seen before." She looked at 'Saurial' for a moment, the demonically-run aspect cocking her head a little in an inquisitive manner. "That damn pair of jeans had a tail sleeve in the ass! I swear it did." Her voice sounded plaintive. "I just stared at it in complete shock, not knowing what to think, then put it back into my backpack and left. I was trying to figure it out the rest of the morning. And then, the really fucking bizarre thing happened… When I checked at lunch, it wasn't there any more!"

Her voice had gone up in pitch and now sounded not only bewildered but aggrieved like the universe was personally playing tricks on her.

"I know I saw it! Either that, or I had the most vivid hallucination I've ever heard of and imagined it, and if that's the case I don't even know if I can trust my own mind now. And no matter how much I check, it's still not there. I put it back in your closet when I got back, but I pulled it out again yesterday to check again, that's why I was in there. All I get when I look at it, or even think about it, is a fucking horrible headache and the sensation that the world doesn't make any sense any more." She looked around at them all, her face betraying her desperation.

"What the fuck is going on? Am I imagining everything? Is my mind going?" Pausing, she laughed a little raggedly and ran her hands over her face, which was covered with a fine sheen of sweat. "I know I'm getting too close to the Rules, but fuck it, I feel like life is trying to drive me nuts and I don't know what else to do."

After a moment, Amy stood up, then hugged her sister hard, the girl throwing her arms around her in turn and holding her with enough force that without her upgrades her ribs would have cracked. She was trembling, obviously on the edge of a breakdown, and Amy was simultaneously amazed that she'd put all that together, proud of her sister for being so persistent and so smart, and horribly guilty about inadvertently causing her that much mental stress.

Wordlessly, Taylor got up too and headed over to the coffee machine while Lisa and the Varga exchanged a look. "It's OK, Vicky, none of us are mad at you. I'm so sorry you've had so much trouble with everything. I wish you'd said something before, but I understand why you didn't." Amy pulled back a little and looked at her sister's face, which had a couple of tears running down it. "Don't cry, you're not crazy, and I'll explain."

^Do we tell her everything, or sanitize it? She could just be told about your tail. Maybe it's an experimental thing Ianthe wanted to do and you volunteered…?^ Lisa commented silently.

^I feel that is probably not enough, Lisa,^ the Varga replied thoughtfully. ^She's much more perceptive than she's given credit for and has put far more of it together than I would have expected, especially with the cloaking spell in play. That's why her headaches were happening, it's the same problem Danny had when we initially experimented with the spell to hide Taylor's tail, since he knew it was there to begin with. Unless the spell is high powered enough, the cognitive dissonance of being forced to not see something the brain knows is there causes problems.^

^Why did she see the tail sleeve in the first place?^ the black lizard asked.

^Because those jeans were in that locker long enough to let the spell power drain just enough to make it not quite as effective as it should be,^ Taylor replied from by the coffee machine. ^And not close enough to Amy, or me, to recharge through proximity like it normally would. The way it's set up magical energy from us recharges Amy, and that then recharges the spell on her clothes since she's normally only a few feet from them at home. It would take, what, a week to ten days to drain that much?^

^Approximately, with the current configuration, yes,^ the Varga confirmed. ^More power would make it last for longer, but we didn't think it was necessary since Amy sees us essentially every day. In the longer term, by the time we might be separated for long enough for it to become an issue, I was hoping to have worked out some method to ensure the spell could be powered without that requirement. Either by teaching her enough magic to produce the energy herself, or possibly by some form of magical storage system. There are a number of common ones we can make with a little effort and practice but so far that hasn't been necessary.^

^It nearly worked,^ Taylor sighed.

^We neglected to think of what would happen if Amy misplaced some of her clothing,^ the demon confirmed. ^A small mistake, but we're lucky it was Vicky that discovered it and not someone else, I suspect. Amy's mother might have been… less discreet^

^Poor girl looks and smells like she's right at the edge of her self-control,^ Lisa said sympathetically. ^She's been driving herself nuts trying to work all this out.^

^The spell was causing a lot of the problems, I suspect,^ he sighed. ^With it powered up again, and in conjunction with the one on Amy's tail, not to mention on Ianthe and Metis, it was producing enough conflicting data that her brain was running into some logical loops. I don't think she would ever have come to the correct conclusion by herself, but I am genuinely impressed she came as close as she did. That must have taken a lot of effort and an admirable refusal to admit defeat.^

^She doesn't give up easily,^ Amy confirmed fondly. ^Silly Vicky. She should have come to me earlier.^

^She wants to do the right thing by the Rules, which I approve of,^ the demon agreed. ^Under normal circumstances that would have been correct, but in this particular situation she's come close to driving herself into a nervous breakdown. Unfortunate. I like her and don't like seeing her like this.^ The Saurial aspect glanced at Taylor who was returning with a tray full of drinks. ^We have no choice, we have to tell her at least some of the truth other than about Amy herself, or she's likely to still have trouble with the inconsistencies she's noticed. I am disinclined to push more power into the spell to attempt to override that issue without a good reason as there is a small but real danger of neural overload due to the cognitive mismatch.^

^I agree,^ his Brain nodded slightly, putting her tray down. ^Amy, you're sure we can trust her not to tell anyone anything? I mean, I'm pretty sure myself, but you've known her a lot longer than the rest of us.^

^Look at her.^ Amy sighed under her breath. ^If she was going to tell anyone, she'd have done it already and not almost made her brain leak out her ears trying to figure it out herself. She won't mention it to anyone else, I'm sure.^

^My power is too,^ Lisa added.

^Well, if Mr Thinky is certain, that's probably good enough for me,^ Taylor snickered, making Lisa glare at her and the other two to laugh.

^Idiot.^

Taylor merely grinned.

"Vicky? Here, have a drink, it'll help," she said out loud, gently poking the blonde on the arm to attract her attention. "And like Amy said, don't worry, we're not angry, and you're not crazy."

Lifting her head from Amy's shoulder where she'd been quietly trying not to cry, Vicky looked at her with somewhat reddened eyes, then down at the mug she was holding out, handle towards the girl. After sniffing hard, she let go of her sister with one hand and took the offered drink. "Thanks," she said hoarsely. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize, it's not your fault," Taylor smiled.

Taking a swig of the coffee, Vicky shuddered a little, then released her sister with both hands and let Amy move away enough to pick up her own mug. 'Metis' and 'Saurial' both took one, as did Taylor, who returned to her seat.

After a few more sips, the blonde sister sat with her mug in both hands, looking at them all somewhat like a mouse looking at a group of cats, her eyes a little wider than normal and her scent betraying her nervousness. This was less than it had been but still apparent, like she was waiting for the other boot to drop.

"OK, before we say anything, you need to realize that you'll learn things that we don't want getting out, for reasons we're sure are good ones. You'll understand, but we need you to promise you won't tell anyone, no matter what." Taylor looked at Vicky without rancor, although her voice was firm. "Amy is at risk if you mention any of it, for a start, and there are other people who could be hurt. I give you my word it's nothing that will harm people, but it's very private and there are other reasons too."

Gazing at her for a few seconds, Vicky then looked at her other aspect, Lisa, and finally her sister's face. Amy nodded. "Honest, Vicky, it's important. For all of us."

She sighed a little. "OK. I promise. Not like anyone will believe me, I think, even if I did say anything. I mean, I don't know what to believe right now..." Taking another sip, her hands still trembling slightly, she shook her head once she lowered the mug. "I doubt you can tell me anything worse than all the shit I came up with all by myself anyway."

The small snort of amusement Amy produced made her look worried again.

^She'll stick to her word,^ Lisa assured them all.

^I know,^ Amy replied without looking away from her sister.

"Right, then. Where to start?" Taylor murmured.

"At the beginning, I would suggest," 'Saurial' said with a small smile. "It's often the best place."

"I just want to know why Amy has jeans that sometimes have a tail sleeve," Vicky muttered, sounding confused.

"I need them so my tail has somewhere to go," Amy smiled, standing up. The Varga took the hint and canceled the spell. Amy's tail was revealed to her sister, who stared in total shock, her eyes widening and widening…

Vicky felt dizzy as she gaped at the reptilian appendage that had appeared out of nowhere sprouting from her sister's backside. It twitched a little, the tip moving back and forth in a sinuous manner than made it abundantly clear that it was completely real and alive.

The dizziness increased and her vision wavered.

As she slid from her chair, dropping the mug which bounced off the floor, while her mind just gave up, she could have sworn she heard the deep voice of Metis say, "I'm glad it's not just me that does that."

She had no idea what that meant, and was unconcerned about it moments later as her mind just went on holiday for a while.

"Oops," Amy sighed, looking down at Vicky who had fainted in shock.

"That's normally my line," Taylor chuckled. "Oops indeed. Let's get her comfortable. I doubt she'll be out long." She bend down and retrieved the mug, then mopped up the spilled coffee with a quickly materialized cloth, while Amy straightened her sister out from the untidy pile she'd landed in.

"She's fine, it just got too much for her," the healer reported a moment later. "I'll let her wake up normally, it'll probably be better for her." Amy was kneeling next to Vicky, one hand on her wrist. "Christ. I didn't expect her to put all this together like that. I feel kind of guilty about it, she must have been driving herself nuts about it all."

"It's not your fault, Amy, you had no idea what she was thinking. None of us did," the Varga reassured her. "We didn't deliberately do anything to the poor girl, it was entirely self-induced, and now we know what the issue is we can fix it."

"I sure hope so," Amy sighed. "I love her and I don't want to lose her."

"You won't," Lisa smiled. "She loves you too, and she's not going to let anything get between you two. Remember what happened when your mom went weird at you."

"Yeah." Amy shook her head, looking fondly at the girl on the floor. "Ah, she's coming round."

Vicky stirred with a small faint groan, then lifted her hand to her face and covered her eyes. "Ugh," she mumbled. "What happ…"

A moment later she sat bolt upright, staring at Amy. "Holy shit, you have a tail!"

Amy lifted her tail over her shoulder and waved at her sister with the end of it. "Yep."

"A tail."

"Yep."

"It's real."

"Yep."

"Stop saying yep!"

"OK."

"You have a tail!"

"I do. Yep."

They looked at each other, Amy not quite hiding a smile and Vicky with her mouth open. Taylor watched in amusement with her friends as the tableau held for about twenty seconds, until Vicky suddenly hugged Amy again.

"Oh, thank fuck for that. I really thought I was going totally insane," she said in what appeared to be genuine relief, making them all smile a little.

After a moment, she released her sister and looked suspiciously at her. "Why do you have a tail? How do you have a tail? How long have you had it? Are… are you really a lizard?" She sounded worried again, as well as extremely puzzled.

Amy stood, giving her sister her hand, and pulled her to her own feet. "We'll get to that," she assured the other girl. "It's sort of a long story."

"And a weird one," Taylor smiled.

"Although it's quite entertaining," the Varga aspect added. "At least we think so."

"Do you have anywhere you need to be for the next few hours?" 'Metis' asked. Vicky shook her head.

"No, I didn't have anything planned. I was too worried to think about anything else."

"Good." Taylor quickly retrieved a fresh mug of coffee for her and handed it over, then sat again. "This is going to take a while."

Sitting down once more, Vicky looked at her, then her sister. "I'm listening. And I'm really, really confused."

With a smile, Taylor started. "On the first day back to school in January, my former best friend and her two accomplices shoved me into a locker full of biological waste products as the final assault in a two year campaign of bullying," she said quietly. "That's when everything changed forever..."