*
I watched the chaos flowing around me with more than a little astonishment. Despite all the people running around and arguing about this plan or that plan, there was no animosity. In fact, there was far more laughter than anything else. I can say one thing for my family -- when we make up our minds to do something, we do it. Manda and Rose were arguing with Bobby about the best way to infiltrate the building. Chris, Jase, and the twins were playing with the new projector, trying to see how intricate an illusion they could create. Claire had gone inside to make a few phone calls of her own, and Mike was watching me.
"What?" I asked. I could tell he was considering something.
He glanced over at my dad, who nodded slightly to him. I could only wonder what was going on this time.
Mike cleared away the excess maps and ran his hand around the area where the installation was. "Here's where we have to get." He moved his hand to point at the small country northeast of it that Mom's friend Piotr was the ruler of.
It's weird to think of my mom knowing a King, but then again I was surprised to find out she had received a medal from the President himself for some of the things she had done. She's done a lot in her time and, I swear, every day I find out something new about her.
"I'm quite sure Piotr will let you in, so you'll be starting here. It's a almost two hundred miles; what do you think we should do?" Mike was looking at me with a confidence I did not feel. What did I know about this stuff? Not enough, I was quite sure of that.
I looked down at the map, trying to see what Mike thought I could, but all I saw was mountains and wilderness for too many miles.
Mike tsked. "Stop trying so hard. Remember the lock, and the balls from this morning?" He raised his eyebrows.
Dad spoke then. "If there is one thing I've learned from your mom, it's that you have to trust your instincts and your talent."
I opened my mouth to speak, then changed my mind. I mean, I knew I had this weird knack for doing the right thing at the right time; it saved my ass from some serious stupidity on a couple occasions. Mom and Dad had also made sure that we all knew not to rely on our talents, that we were fully capable of doing things without them. There might come a time when our talents, our extra skills, either wouldn't help, wouldn't work, or would complicate things.
This wasn't one of those times, so instead of protesting that I couldn't help, I took a deep breath and simply pointed to a spot on the map. It was in the mountains about halfway between Piotr's border and the lab.
"Manda, can you zoom in on grid 14-C please?" my dad said as soon as I looked up from the map.
Manda didn't even look over at him. She was deep in a discussion with Rose that bordered on an argument. Mike picked up a stray piece of paper, balled it up, and bounced it off her head. She spun about with a snarl, but calmed once she saw the three of us just looking at her.
"Sorry, Mike. What do you need?"
"Grid 14-C, please," my dad repeated, and Manda tapped the commands on the control pad.
I got to my feet and walked to the display. "Closer," I said, not sure what it was that I was looking for. As the image changed I said, "Stop. Shift right please." Once it had I pointed to an odd landmark on the image. "What's that?"
Manda adjusted the image until what was obviously an ancient Buddhist monastery appeared. "How did you know that was there?" she asked me.
I shrugged. I hadn't, and I couldn't even try to explain why I had picked the spot. Just luck I guess.
Manda made a few more changes to the display and the image focused a bit better. "I'll see what, if anything I can find out about this place, but it may have been abandoned for years."
"Just so long as their military hasn't taken it over. I really don't want to incite a war, just rescue Dani," my dad said.
I swallowed hard. This could start a war? But we were just rescuing our sister, our family...
My dad must have caught my look before I got myself under control.
"You can change your mind if you want. No one will blame you," he said in a quiet voice. "You have the skills to do this; we've made sure of it. But it's your first time, and it's understandable that you'd be nervous."
Part of me wanted to stay behind. I was still a kid, after all. Is this what most kids my age did? No, but then most kids weren't part of this family. Mom and Dad had done their best to give us reasonably normal lives, but at the same time had prepared us well for what they knew the future could bring. The Chinese government grabbing Dani was just one example of the things that have happened over the years. Someone was always out to get us, some even from our own country. The MacTierney/Fawkes family was very popular, much to our dismay.
"Darien, he needs to be there," Chris suddenly said. He looked like he was staring off into the distance without really seeing anything. After a moment, he shook his head. "Sorry about that."
"The oracle has spoken," Rose commented in a deep voice.
"Funny sis, oh so ha-ha. Should I tell everyone you've been making time with Jase? Oops." Chris started to laugh as his younger sister glared at him.
Dad looked over at Jase, who was blushing furiously. "Rose, huh?"
Manda cleared her throat loudly. "People, we do have work to do."
I relaxed and watched the interplay between all these people, wondering if I would ever feel even half the confidence they were showing. They acted as if sneaking into enemy territory was a daily occurrence.
Then I wanted to whap myself in the head. Just what the hell did I think they had been doing all these years? This *was* just another job for them -- though perhaps a bit more personal than usual -- and they were treating it as such. Nevertheless, I felt a bit thrown off by it.
It was Bobby who spoke to me then. "Ben, if they let themselves get all emotional, they'd never stand a chance. They're worried, every one of us is, but they need to push it aside for now." He laid a hand on my shoulder. "Trust me, I've been there myself."
I nodded, trying but not quite understanding, not yet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was about two AM when Darien finally got a quiet moment with Alyx. Everyone had helped clean up and then headed for home, planning on meeting again the following afternoon. They all had to sleep sometime. He found Alyx standing in her office, thumbing through a picture album. It was the one he had gotten for her years ago, back when she was unable to have any contact with her kids. He leaned against the door frame and watched her.
"You okay?"
She turned to him with a smile. "Yeah."
"Liar." He walked over to her.
"What, you want the truth? Getting hysterical and emotional won't do a hell of a lot of good," she snapped at him. She had spent most of her life doing her damnedest to keep her kids safe, and yet, even as adults, they still faced dangers like this every day. It just got to her on occasion.
"This isn't like you," he said quietly. "You got Piotr to agree to help. Between you and Manda you'll have the intel we need. Come on, you've got one of the most experienced and talented group of agents that any agency director ever had wet dreams over. What could possibly go wrong?"
Alyx sighed. "To borrow a phrase: 'the mind boggles.'"
He laughed and wrapped his arms around her. "We'll get through this. You'll see, everything will work out just fine. Somehow it always does."
"Dare, I hate this. Hate being a target. Hate having made my...our...kids targets." Alyx sounded both lost and angry. "I'm getting too old for this shit."
"I take it you haven't looked in the mirror lately. This whole family looks like an ad for the fountain of youth, or a really expensive plastic surgeon." Even he had to admit he still looked far younger than he should. The few gray hairs that had begun to appear he ignored, knowing that he had more than earned them over the years.
"Oh yeah, I can see the Agency upping its fundage by selling illegal glands. 'Just six months of quicksilver use and you too can look like a twenty-year-old forever.'" Alyx stepped away from him, going to the window. "And all these fat forty-somethings forking over their cash to have a hole drilled in their heads." She leaned against the glass and looked out over the darkened yard. "I still haven't decided if it's worth it, and I've lived with the results for over twenty years."
He couldn't argue. In many ways it was a high price to pay. Yeah, she got benefits of youth, possibly a longer life span (barring accidents) and remarkable intelligence. But she also got a lifetime of working just to keep herself free and her family safe, of trying not to worry overly much about who might be lurking around the next corner. It was one of the few reasons she had stayed with the Agency back in the good -- or bad, depending on your interpretation -- old days with Charles Borden as the Official.
Borden had retired, his goals accomplished, a few years after Dani had come to work at the Agency, after Darien and Alyx had been married and Ben was, to all appearances, growing just like any other child. Since then, there had been seven other directors. Three hadn't lasted very long, and none of them really understood how to handle a group of literally super-powered agents. Time and time again either Alyx, or Darien when he had still been working there, had been forced to explain, in simple terms, what they would and would not do. One director had left after only a month, having discovered that Alyx really could read minds. The thought of it made the guy so terrified he'd ended up in a psych hospital for a short stay.
Johnson, the current idiot in charge, was simply nasty. He stayed within the rules that Alyx had laid out so long ago, but barely. He was cold, callous, and thought of them as nothing more than tools to be used as appropriate. He insisted on defining what was 'appropriate,' even though he never took the time to understand what they could do as individuals. Their talents varied and, on more than one occasion, he'd sent the wrong person to get the job done. You don't send a telepath to do a job that needs a telekinetic, even if both can quicksilver.
It was obviously getting on Alyx's nerves. She'd worked at the Agency far longer than most people. Agents usually moved on to more reputable agencies as soon as they could or retired, their careers over, but she had stayed. Part of it was a need to do something with the abilities she had, even though she still disliked using them. It had taken years before she was truly comfortable with them.
Darien sat down on the sofa that was off to one side of the room. "You could always quit."
Alyx shook her head. "Not yet. I talked to the kids; when Johnson finds out about this, and he will, I plan to take full blame for it. I'm senior and I'm their mother. I can claim undue influence and Johnson won't be able to argue with it. Especially if I go over his head."
Darien nodded, unsurprised at her solution. Time to spring his decision on her. "I talked to Claire and Chris." He rubbed the back of his head, caught himself doing it, and sighed. "I'm gonna have the temp put in."
She turned to look at him, more than a little surprised. "Why? I mean, what influenced your decision?"
"Out of those going, only you and Rose have active quicksilver. I thought having a third person might be helpful. It's not like it's forever or anything." He leaned forward to rest his forearms on his thighs.
"You don't have to do this." Alyx walked over to stand before him. "I know how difficult a decision this is for you."
"You know, in the end, it wasn't that hard at all. I just asked myself what lengths I'd go to to help our kids, and decided I couldn't do any less for yours." He reached out and took her hands. "Looks like the world is going to have to get used to dealing with the original invisible man again."
Alyx laughed for a moment. "Thank you."
"No need." He pulled her down to sit next to him. She curled her legs up on the cushions and leaned against him. "Try and get some sleep."
Alyx snickered. "Sleep? What's sleep?"
Darien growled at her under his breath, but without malice. "Pretend, then."
She shifted slightly and sighed. "For you."
It took a few minutes, but he knew when she finally fell into at least a light sleep. She'd probably had to force herself into it. Not surprising, given the circumstances.
Darien wasn't ready for sleep yet. He'd be sleeping for several days when they put the new gland in, and when he woke he'd be able to quicksilver again. Part of him was convinced he was nuts to be doing this. Part of him was terrified something would go horribly wrong. Part of him was afraid it would work perfectly and that he'd find himself unwilling to give it up when the time came.
He caressed her face gently and she muttered something in her sleep.
Time would tell, he supposed. Time would tell.
"So Claire, how is the work going?" Alyx was perched on the edge of a table as Claire checked over Darien's vitals. He would be coming around any time, and the initial tests had all come back normal.
"Quite well, actually. We may never be able to recreate your parents' work exactly, but we've made some incredible headway. The potential benefits of their theories are enormous." Claire made an adjustment to the I.V. drip and walked over to stand beside Alyx. "We're doing human trials with three of the correction drugs now. The one for Downs Syndrome is having the greatest success rate, especially since that one can be treated in utero."
Alyx nodded. After the gland removal problem had been solved, she had turned the focus of her private lab onto recreating the original QSX project, with the hopes of using the information to prevent or correct any number of illnesses or conditions. Their biggest success so far was a vaccine that, initially, seemed to protect against a variety of cancers, but that was still only in the animal testing stages.
After Darien had left the Agency, Claire had taken the time to get Christopher up to speed and then left to take the job Alyx had offered her. The theories behind the QSX Project had always intrigued her, so she had jumped at the chance to work on it with the funding that it deserved.
One group was actually working on figuring out the Phase I drug. So far, with little success. They had tracked down some information, but the director in charge of the project had destroyed all known copies of most of the data, except for the list of children and the basics for Phase II. He had eventually become the director of the 'Changeling' agency that used deep cover operatives to further their worldwide goals. Eberts had been a member of the group, and when Alyx had come to the Agency he'd been given the task of testing her until she broke. If she broke, he was supposed to eliminate her. If she failed to break, she was to be brought into the group.
Cleaning up that nest of nasties had taken a ton of work and nearly three years from when they discovered Eberts was one of them. It had taken a long, long, time to get over that experience, for all of them, but it earned them their first Presidential commendation.
On the bed, Darien groaned and opened his eyes. Claire went over to him and helped him sit up. "How do you feel, Darien?"
He gingerly touched the back of his head, and was surprised to find it didn't hurt nearly as much as he expected. "Okay, better than the first time. How long was I out?"
"Four days, as expected." She sat next to him and removed the I.V. line from his arm. "You ready to give it a test run?"
"Now?" he asked, a bit surprised. He assumed he'd get a chance to get used to the idea before having quicksilver crawling over his body again.
"Normal procedure," Claire answered. "You've done this before, so see if you can trigger it on your own."
Darien tried, but without success. It felt like how he remembered doing it, yet nothing happened. He shook his head. "Out of practice, I guess."
Claire turned to Alyx, who got up and came over to the bed. Darien hadn't even realized she was there. "Well, Dare, think you can handle the new training method?"
"Not the spiders again?" Darien complained. He'd really hoped to not have to worry about his heart rate and adrenaline this time.
Alyx laughed. "No. We set up the fear/flight response as a secondary life-saving protocol only. We ended up using Mikey's idea." She reached out to touch his face. "I'm going to show you how."
It took him a moment, then he caught on. "Ohhhh, I get it. Do it. The sooner I'm functional, the better."
"Close your eyes and relax," she said, doing the same.
He still did the meditation and biofeedback, just as Alyx did. It had become a habit after so many years, and it helped after a long or bad day, so he'd kept in reasonable practice. He felt her gently enter his mind.
*Ready?*
*Always.*
She quicksilvered then, showing him how to do it, or at least how she did it. A moment later, he was able to do the same. He'd forgotten how much he disliked the feel of the quicksilver as it oozed out of his pores and slid across his skin. He had to force himself not to shudder in revulsion. Next he felt her putting other info into his mind. Teaching him the fine control he would need, and setting up the secondary programming. She did this quickly and easily, as if she had done it before.
When she slid back out of his mind, he opened his eyes to look at her. The quicksilver had fallen away under his control and he grinned at her.
"Holy shit," she breathed, sounding almost shocked.
Claire came over and looked at him. "Well, that's new." She turned to Alyx. "Maybe it's because it's his second gland. He already had the original neural pathways set, so the gland might have increased production because of it."
"Ummm, guys, care to tell me what is going on?" Darien asked, concern creeping into his voice.
"See for yourself," Alyx said, gesturing at the mirror over on one wall.
Darien tossed off the covers and swung his legs out of bed, surprisingly steady given what he'd been through. Looking in the mirror, it took him a moment or two to notice anything beyond the mess his hair was. Then he focused on his own eyes. "What the...?" He turned back to the two women in the room. "Is this normal?"
"For gland recipients, no, but you are a special case." Claire walked over to stand beside him. "They should return to normal when the gland shuts down."
"I think they look neat, but then I'm a bit biased," Alyx said from where she still sat on the bed.
Darien turned around with a laugh. "I guess I can live with it for now."
His eyes had turned silver, just like Alyx's.
They spent two days letting Darien finish recovering and making sure he truly had the control necessary to quicksilver when needed. It still surprised him to think that there were as many as six agents at any time running about with these modified glands. Who could have guessed all this would happen back when Kevin successfully implanted the first one into Darien's head.
There were some differences between then and now. Since the response was no longer tied to adrenaline, he had to relearn how to control it. So he practiced, sometimes with amusing results. The basics that Alyx had dumped into his head were very useful, but the was still the one who had to learn the control. In some ways it was harder for him because he had done this before, but he had to admit the benefits were interesting.
The first time he convinced himself to hold the quicksilver beyond thirty minutes was frightening for him. Even after nearly ten years without a gland, he still had a near hysterical fear of going quicksilver mad. But when there were no headaches, no pain, no degradation of his sense of self, he was able to relax and even begin to enjoy the experience. He couldn't help but think about all the trouble he could get into. There was this one piece of art work he'd been coveting for a while, and the temptation was so strong he could almost taste it.
Alyx put it into perspective though. "Can we get Dani home first, before you start casing places, hmmm?"
Darien actually looked a bit embarrassed, but he knew she wasn't really angry at him.
They were leaving at the end of the week, so they continued to gather intel and disseminate what they did have. They had the plan set to get them into Piotr's country and to his border. They had a plan to get them to the halfway point, that semi-abandoned monastery in the mountains. From there, however, they were running into trouble. The installation was like China's version of Area 51 in Nevada. The government didn't officially acknowledge the place existed. Zoe summed it up best: "Methinks they doth protest too much."
Manda used Alyx's security clearance and Johnson's signature to get any and all information they could find, including what the governments of several other countries had collected on the place. Between satellite reconnaissance, pooled information, and records they had been able to filch from the Chinese government, they had an approximate layout of the building.
They were suitably impressed by the engineering feat it took to divert that river, but this was the country that dammed the Yellow river. The largest project of its type, ever. Creating an underground river and power plant must have seemed simple by comparison. In fact, some of the same engineers had worked on both projects, which is how they had tracked down some of the blueprints and schematics for the lab.
The day before they were to leave, Alyx declared a party. They had been working on this non-stop for over a week, and they needed to blow off some worry and anxiety before they left. She fired up her smoker and declared that they were not allowed to discuss the mission at all. It was verboten. She had trouble holding to her owns rules, though, after they discovered some interesting communiques hinting that Dani was indeed at the lab and was still alive.
Alyx watched her family as they strolled about the yard, doing their best to pretend they were having a good time. She knew most of them had tomorrow on their minds. Both Darien and Ben kept rubbing their wrists where they'd had their trackers put in. The trackers doubled as vital sign monitors and would send a signal out if the person were to die. All of the I-Men had one implanted as a precaution. Darien's had been slipped in under his old tattoo, no need for a new one. Ben had his covered with a four leaf clover. Everyone had one. Rose had a rose covering hers, Manda a black and white yin yang symbol, Chris had chosen and intricate Celtic knot pattern, and Alyx's was a triskelion. The tattoos were small, about the size of a dime, and the devices were almost undetectable under the skin. The tattoo's did act like monitors; the colors bright when the trackers were active, dull and muted when inactive.
Neither Darien nor Ben had been thrilled about the idea, but had relented when Alyx showed them she had one herself. She had avoided getting one for years, but after one really awkward mission, she'd decided it was better to have the tracker than to risk being permanently lost. She'd managed to get out of the situation on her own that time, but it had been close. There were just enough people who knew about them out there that some situations ended up being far more dangerous than even they could predict. Like this situation with Dani -- this was not the first time tempting bait had been set out that they had fallen for. It was just the first time the trap had worked.
The afternoon was successful, although at one point Alyx had to order Manda tossed into the pool because she refused to stop working. Manda had taken the hint and actually enjoyed herself the rest of the day. Even, maybe especially, for this family, it couldn't be work all the time. They'd start to forget that they were indeed human beings and not tools to be used when needed and then put away without a thought. A paycheck could not, and did not, make up for being treated like a thing.
Once the party was in full swing -- the young ones suitably entertained, the adults cheerful and relaxed -- Darien snagged Alyx and dragged her off to a quiet corner. "Hey you, the Keep..." he caught himself as he slipped back into old habits. "Claire has ruled me fit for duty and removed my newest set of stitches."
Alyx chuckled. "Guess at this point we should be surprised if the hair even grows back in."
"Don't say that. Don't even think that," he said, dismay evident in his voice.
Alyx just laughed harder. "Why'd you drag me away from the fun?"
They had ended up back inside the house and he was trying to lead her upstairs. "Because you are not following your own decree, and I didn't think you'd enjoy being tossed in the pool."
Alyx froze halfway up the staircase and refused to go further. "What are you talking about, Darien?"
Instead of trying to force her up the stairs he simply sat down. "You've spent all day making sure everyone else was having fun and not thinking about tomorrow. I don't think you've sat down even once, and usually we can't get you and the twins out of the pool."
Alyx sighed. "I just..." She sat down next to him. "I needed to keep busy, that's all."
"It's not your fault you know," he said quietly.
"I know, but it is my responsibility." When Darien began to protest she shook her head. "No one, especially Johnson, who is still off in the land of denial, was willing to take responsibility for what happened. So I did."
Now it was Darien's turn to sigh. As usual, she was working too hard and trying to cover everyone else's ass. "Well, for the next several hours you are not going to do anything."
"But..."
"The kids will be fine. There are plenty of adults down there who will gladly take care of them while you get some much needed down-time." Darien drew her to her feet and gave her a slight push to get her moving up the stairs.
"But..." she tried to protest again.
At the top of the stairs he spun her around. "No more talking. Besides, I want to check how this gland works under certain specific conditions," he whispered in her ear.
That got her attention. "And what conditions might those be?"
"Close contact ones," he replied. "Thought I said no talking." He moved closer and she backed away with a smile.
When he finally caught up with her, they were both breathless and she was more than willing to let the worries of the present fall away.
"Uncle Mike, where are they going?" Ari nodded in the direction of her parents.
Mike looked down at the girls as they bobbed in the pool, currently not spraying water at anyone who came near. He decided, given what they were capable of, to go with honesty. "Your dad thinks she needs some quiet time before tomorrow, and I agree."
"But wasn't that the point of today?" Zoe asked.
"For everyone to relax and not worry for a while?" Ari added.
"Quite true, but what has your mom been doing all day?" Mike asked so that they would see for themselves.
"She's been cooking..." Ari began.
"And cleaning... " Zoe added.
"And making sure everyone's been having fun." Ari finished.
Mike had learned to simply follow the sentence instead of trying to keep track of who said what. Typically they were saying the same thing anyway. He just raised an eyebrow at them.
"Oh," they said after moment.
"She's been making sure we had fun..." Zoe started this time around.
"And not having any of her own," Ari said, completing their thought. "Well, she's been real worried about Dani, and then about Dad..."
"But today she's feeling better." Zoe turned to her twin with a shrug.
"How do you girls know that?" Mike asked them, not really all that surprised. "Have you been eavesdropping on your mom?"
"Not like brother dear does," Ari said shaking her head.
"We just kind of 'feel' what she does," Zoe tried to explain.
"Come here, you two." As they swam over to the edge of the pool, he moved to sit at the edge, dangling his feet in the water. When they were near he laid a hand on each of their heads and very lightly checked them over. When he was done he looked down at them with a sigh. "Well girls, it looks like you're developing a touch of empathy there." He removed his hands. "Just remember, eavesdropping with empathy is just as bad as listening in on what someone is thinking."
"We know, and we try..." Zoe went first this time.
"But sometimes we can't help it," Ari added, her voice going quiet. They knew the rules and knew why the rules were there.
"We're sorry," they said as one.
"Now, do I sound angry to you?" Mike said to them with a smile.
They shook their heads, unsure of their voices.
"We'll just have to work on those shields of yours, now won't we?" he said, trying to make sure they knew he was not angry or even upset.
"Okay, but not today..." Ari was frowning.
"We're supposed to be having fun and not working, remember?" Zoe stated with an astonishingly serious tone.
Mike laughed. "Agreed."
He watched as the girls took off with a whoop and a splash and he wondered again how his sister managed to deal with such a handful.
He looked over the crowd of mostly adults and tried to comprehend the miracle that all these people were. Even Jase, who was a normal human compared to the rest, was a miracle of science. Mike had seen photos of Kevin Fawkes, and the resemblance was uncanny. He'd watched the boy grow up over the years and, even after growing up in a house full of geniuses himself, watching Jase come into his own had been a joy to behold.
They had made a point to channel his energy away from anything medical. It had been astonishingly easy; even as a boy, he'd shown a knack for designing electronics. Mike, along with Jase's mother, Rachel, had made a point of encouraging it. They were trying to avoid him getting involved with the quicksilver project again, and they succeeded, at least partially.
And now Jase and Rose were seeing each other. Not a big deal -- in fact it was nice that they had found each other. Mike knew how hard it could be for people like himself and his family to find someone to be with. Your average person just couldn't comprehend what they were, so most relationships were short term at best. Relationships with coworkers and others in the government were risky, and always had underlying currents of distrust. People like Bobby and Claire were rare, and every member of this family valued them highly. Not only for what they had done, but because they truly were friends with all of them. Two 'normal' people who showed no fear or covetousness for their abilities. They were friends -- family -- nothing more and nothing less.
Mike looked over at Ben who was lying along one of the table benches with an arm flung over his eyes. He pushed himself up and walked over to him. "You okay Ben?"
Ben moved his arm and looked up at his uncle. "Just a headache." He sat up and gestured for Mike to sit beside him.
"You sure? You are allowed to be a bit apprehensive about all of this," Mike said. The boy was more than capable of handling it, at least with the people he was going with, he just didn't realize it.
"Well, yeah, a little, but I don't see them worrying about it." He waved his hand at the various family members spread across the yard. Some in various states of inebriation.
"That's how they've been trained. Trust me, on the inside they're just as nervous as you are. They, we, always are before every big mission. Whether we have a week or just hours to plan for it." Mike wanted Ben to understand that, for all that his family could do, they were still human.
Ben nodded. "Mom's real worried. She thinks it's her fault," he said this quietly.
Now, Mike knew that Ben knew better than to eavesdrop, which meant he must have been picking it up randomly. Not difficult; Alyx had been broadcasting her distress loud and clear to anyone who could pick it up. Ben's empathic talent must be kicking in a bit stronger. It had always been a bit vague and weak before, usually just ancillary to his telepathy.
"Not quite, but she does feel responsible, for many reasons," Mike clarified for him.
Ben nodded in agreement. "True." He rubbed the back of his head, in unconscious imitation of his father. He looked at Mike then.
Those blue-gray eyes of his still looked out of place, considering how much he looked like his father. Darien's looks and Alyx's pre-quicksilver eyes. "Trust yourself and your family, Ben. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised."
Ben laughed a bit ruefully. "Mike, every day is full of surprises with this family."
Mike joined the laughter. What could he say? It was true.
*
I watched the chaos flowing around me with more than a little astonishment. Despite all the people running around and arguing about this plan or that plan, there was no animosity. In fact, there was far more laughter than anything else. I can say one thing for my family -- when we make up our minds to do something, we do it. Manda and Rose were arguing with Bobby about the best way to infiltrate the building. Chris, Jase, and the twins were playing with the new projector, trying to see how intricate an illusion they could create. Claire had gone inside to make a few phone calls of her own, and Mike was watching me.
"What?" I asked. I could tell he was considering something.
He glanced over at my dad, who nodded slightly to him. I could only wonder what was going on this time.
Mike cleared away the excess maps and ran his hand around the area where the installation was. "Here's where we have to get." He moved his hand to point at the small country northeast of it that Mom's friend Piotr was the ruler of.
It's weird to think of my mom knowing a King, but then again I was surprised to find out she had received a medal from the President himself for some of the things she had done. She's done a lot in her time and, I swear, every day I find out something new about her.
"I'm quite sure Piotr will let you in, so you'll be starting here. It's a almost two hundred miles; what do you think we should do?" Mike was looking at me with a confidence I did not feel. What did I know about this stuff? Not enough, I was quite sure of that.
I looked down at the map, trying to see what Mike thought I could, but all I saw was mountains and wilderness for too many miles.
Mike tsked. "Stop trying so hard. Remember the lock, and the balls from this morning?" He raised his eyebrows.
Dad spoke then. "If there is one thing I've learned from your mom, it's that you have to trust your instincts and your talent."
I opened my mouth to speak, then changed my mind. I mean, I knew I had this weird knack for doing the right thing at the right time; it saved my ass from some serious stupidity on a couple occasions. Mom and Dad had also made sure that we all knew not to rely on our talents, that we were fully capable of doing things without them. There might come a time when our talents, our extra skills, either wouldn't help, wouldn't work, or would complicate things.
This wasn't one of those times, so instead of protesting that I couldn't help, I took a deep breath and simply pointed to a spot on the map. It was in the mountains about halfway between Piotr's border and the lab.
"Manda, can you zoom in on grid 14-C please?" my dad said as soon as I looked up from the map.
Manda didn't even look over at him. She was deep in a discussion with Rose that bordered on an argument. Mike picked up a stray piece of paper, balled it up, and bounced it off her head. She spun about with a snarl, but calmed once she saw the three of us just looking at her.
"Sorry, Mike. What do you need?"
"Grid 14-C, please," my dad repeated, and Manda tapped the commands on the control pad.
I got to my feet and walked to the display. "Closer," I said, not sure what it was that I was looking for. As the image changed I said, "Stop. Shift right please." Once it had I pointed to an odd landmark on the image. "What's that?"
Manda adjusted the image until what was obviously an ancient Buddhist monastery appeared. "How did you know that was there?" she asked me.
I shrugged. I hadn't, and I couldn't even try to explain why I had picked the spot. Just luck I guess.
Manda made a few more changes to the display and the image focused a bit better. "I'll see what, if anything I can find out about this place, but it may have been abandoned for years."
"Just so long as their military hasn't taken it over. I really don't want to incite a war, just rescue Dani," my dad said.
I swallowed hard. This could start a war? But we were just rescuing our sister, our family...
My dad must have caught my look before I got myself under control.
"You can change your mind if you want. No one will blame you," he said in a quiet voice. "You have the skills to do this; we've made sure of it. But it's your first time, and it's understandable that you'd be nervous."
Part of me wanted to stay behind. I was still a kid, after all. Is this what most kids my age did? No, but then most kids weren't part of this family. Mom and Dad had done their best to give us reasonably normal lives, but at the same time had prepared us well for what they knew the future could bring. The Chinese government grabbing Dani was just one example of the things that have happened over the years. Someone was always out to get us, some even from our own country. The MacTierney/Fawkes family was very popular, much to our dismay.
"Darien, he needs to be there," Chris suddenly said. He looked like he was staring off into the distance without really seeing anything. After a moment, he shook his head. "Sorry about that."
"The oracle has spoken," Rose commented in a deep voice.
"Funny sis, oh so ha-ha. Should I tell everyone you've been making time with Jase? Oops." Chris started to laugh as his younger sister glared at him.
Dad looked over at Jase, who was blushing furiously. "Rose, huh?"
Manda cleared her throat loudly. "People, we do have work to do."
I relaxed and watched the interplay between all these people, wondering if I would ever feel even half the confidence they were showing. They acted as if sneaking into enemy territory was a daily occurrence.
Then I wanted to whap myself in the head. Just what the hell did I think they had been doing all these years? This *was* just another job for them -- though perhaps a bit more personal than usual -- and they were treating it as such. Nevertheless, I felt a bit thrown off by it.
It was Bobby who spoke to me then. "Ben, if they let themselves get all emotional, they'd never stand a chance. They're worried, every one of us is, but they need to push it aside for now." He laid a hand on my shoulder. "Trust me, I've been there myself."
I nodded, trying but not quite understanding, not yet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was about two AM when Darien finally got a quiet moment with Alyx. Everyone had helped clean up and then headed for home, planning on meeting again the following afternoon. They all had to sleep sometime. He found Alyx standing in her office, thumbing through a picture album. It was the one he had gotten for her years ago, back when she was unable to have any contact with her kids. He leaned against the door frame and watched her.
"You okay?"
She turned to him with a smile. "Yeah."
"Liar." He walked over to her.
"What, you want the truth? Getting hysterical and emotional won't do a hell of a lot of good," she snapped at him. She had spent most of her life doing her damnedest to keep her kids safe, and yet, even as adults, they still faced dangers like this every day. It just got to her on occasion.
"This isn't like you," he said quietly. "You got Piotr to agree to help. Between you and Manda you'll have the intel we need. Come on, you've got one of the most experienced and talented group of agents that any agency director ever had wet dreams over. What could possibly go wrong?"
Alyx sighed. "To borrow a phrase: 'the mind boggles.'"
He laughed and wrapped his arms around her. "We'll get through this. You'll see, everything will work out just fine. Somehow it always does."
"Dare, I hate this. Hate being a target. Hate having made my...our...kids targets." Alyx sounded both lost and angry. "I'm getting too old for this shit."
"I take it you haven't looked in the mirror lately. This whole family looks like an ad for the fountain of youth, or a really expensive plastic surgeon." Even he had to admit he still looked far younger than he should. The few gray hairs that had begun to appear he ignored, knowing that he had more than earned them over the years.
"Oh yeah, I can see the Agency upping its fundage by selling illegal glands. 'Just six months of quicksilver use and you too can look like a twenty-year-old forever.'" Alyx stepped away from him, going to the window. "And all these fat forty-somethings forking over their cash to have a hole drilled in their heads." She leaned against the glass and looked out over the darkened yard. "I still haven't decided if it's worth it, and I've lived with the results for over twenty years."
He couldn't argue. In many ways it was a high price to pay. Yeah, she got benefits of youth, possibly a longer life span (barring accidents) and remarkable intelligence. But she also got a lifetime of working just to keep herself free and her family safe, of trying not to worry overly much about who might be lurking around the next corner. It was one of the few reasons she had stayed with the Agency back in the good -- or bad, depending on your interpretation -- old days with Charles Borden as the Official.
Borden had retired, his goals accomplished, a few years after Dani had come to work at the Agency, after Darien and Alyx had been married and Ben was, to all appearances, growing just like any other child. Since then, there had been seven other directors. Three hadn't lasted very long, and none of them really understood how to handle a group of literally super-powered agents. Time and time again either Alyx, or Darien when he had still been working there, had been forced to explain, in simple terms, what they would and would not do. One director had left after only a month, having discovered that Alyx really could read minds. The thought of it made the guy so terrified he'd ended up in a psych hospital for a short stay.
Johnson, the current idiot in charge, was simply nasty. He stayed within the rules that Alyx had laid out so long ago, but barely. He was cold, callous, and thought of them as nothing more than tools to be used as appropriate. He insisted on defining what was 'appropriate,' even though he never took the time to understand what they could do as individuals. Their talents varied and, on more than one occasion, he'd sent the wrong person to get the job done. You don't send a telepath to do a job that needs a telekinetic, even if both can quicksilver.
It was obviously getting on Alyx's nerves. She'd worked at the Agency far longer than most people. Agents usually moved on to more reputable agencies as soon as they could or retired, their careers over, but she had stayed. Part of it was a need to do something with the abilities she had, even though she still disliked using them. It had taken years before she was truly comfortable with them.
Darien sat down on the sofa that was off to one side of the room. "You could always quit."
Alyx shook her head. "Not yet. I talked to the kids; when Johnson finds out about this, and he will, I plan to take full blame for it. I'm senior and I'm their mother. I can claim undue influence and Johnson won't be able to argue with it. Especially if I go over his head."
Darien nodded, unsurprised at her solution. Time to spring his decision on her. "I talked to Claire and Chris." He rubbed the back of his head, caught himself doing it, and sighed. "I'm gonna have the temp put in."
She turned to look at him, more than a little surprised. "Why? I mean, what influenced your decision?"
"Out of those going, only you and Rose have active quicksilver. I thought having a third person might be helpful. It's not like it's forever or anything." He leaned forward to rest his forearms on his thighs.
"You don't have to do this." Alyx walked over to stand before him. "I know how difficult a decision this is for you."
"You know, in the end, it wasn't that hard at all. I just asked myself what lengths I'd go to to help our kids, and decided I couldn't do any less for yours." He reached out and took her hands. "Looks like the world is going to have to get used to dealing with the original invisible man again."
Alyx laughed for a moment. "Thank you."
"No need." He pulled her down to sit next to him. She curled her legs up on the cushions and leaned against him. "Try and get some sleep."
Alyx snickered. "Sleep? What's sleep?"
Darien growled at her under his breath, but without malice. "Pretend, then."
She shifted slightly and sighed. "For you."
It took a few minutes, but he knew when she finally fell into at least a light sleep. She'd probably had to force herself into it. Not surprising, given the circumstances.
Darien wasn't ready for sleep yet. He'd be sleeping for several days when they put the new gland in, and when he woke he'd be able to quicksilver again. Part of him was convinced he was nuts to be doing this. Part of him was terrified something would go horribly wrong. Part of him was afraid it would work perfectly and that he'd find himself unwilling to give it up when the time came.
He caressed her face gently and she muttered something in her sleep.
Time would tell, he supposed. Time would tell.
"So Claire, how is the work going?" Alyx was perched on the edge of a table as Claire checked over Darien's vitals. He would be coming around any time, and the initial tests had all come back normal.
"Quite well, actually. We may never be able to recreate your parents' work exactly, but we've made some incredible headway. The potential benefits of their theories are enormous." Claire made an adjustment to the I.V. drip and walked over to stand beside Alyx. "We're doing human trials with three of the correction drugs now. The one for Downs Syndrome is having the greatest success rate, especially since that one can be treated in utero."
Alyx nodded. After the gland removal problem had been solved, she had turned the focus of her private lab onto recreating the original QSX project, with the hopes of using the information to prevent or correct any number of illnesses or conditions. Their biggest success so far was a vaccine that, initially, seemed to protect against a variety of cancers, but that was still only in the animal testing stages.
After Darien had left the Agency, Claire had taken the time to get Christopher up to speed and then left to take the job Alyx had offered her. The theories behind the QSX Project had always intrigued her, so she had jumped at the chance to work on it with the funding that it deserved.
One group was actually working on figuring out the Phase I drug. So far, with little success. They had tracked down some information, but the director in charge of the project had destroyed all known copies of most of the data, except for the list of children and the basics for Phase II. He had eventually become the director of the 'Changeling' agency that used deep cover operatives to further their worldwide goals. Eberts had been a member of the group, and when Alyx had come to the Agency he'd been given the task of testing her until she broke. If she broke, he was supposed to eliminate her. If she failed to break, she was to be brought into the group.
Cleaning up that nest of nasties had taken a ton of work and nearly three years from when they discovered Eberts was one of them. It had taken a long, long, time to get over that experience, for all of them, but it earned them their first Presidential commendation.
On the bed, Darien groaned and opened his eyes. Claire went over to him and helped him sit up. "How do you feel, Darien?"
He gingerly touched the back of his head, and was surprised to find it didn't hurt nearly as much as he expected. "Okay, better than the first time. How long was I out?"
"Four days, as expected." She sat next to him and removed the I.V. line from his arm. "You ready to give it a test run?"
"Now?" he asked, a bit surprised. He assumed he'd get a chance to get used to the idea before having quicksilver crawling over his body again.
"Normal procedure," Claire answered. "You've done this before, so see if you can trigger it on your own."
Darien tried, but without success. It felt like how he remembered doing it, yet nothing happened. He shook his head. "Out of practice, I guess."
Claire turned to Alyx, who got up and came over to the bed. Darien hadn't even realized she was there. "Well, Dare, think you can handle the new training method?"
"Not the spiders again?" Darien complained. He'd really hoped to not have to worry about his heart rate and adrenaline this time.
Alyx laughed. "No. We set up the fear/flight response as a secondary life-saving protocol only. We ended up using Mikey's idea." She reached out to touch his face. "I'm going to show you how."
It took him a moment, then he caught on. "Ohhhh, I get it. Do it. The sooner I'm functional, the better."
"Close your eyes and relax," she said, doing the same.
He still did the meditation and biofeedback, just as Alyx did. It had become a habit after so many years, and it helped after a long or bad day, so he'd kept in reasonable practice. He felt her gently enter his mind.
*Ready?*
*Always.*
She quicksilvered then, showing him how to do it, or at least how she did it. A moment later, he was able to do the same. He'd forgotten how much he disliked the feel of the quicksilver as it oozed out of his pores and slid across his skin. He had to force himself not to shudder in revulsion. Next he felt her putting other info into his mind. Teaching him the fine control he would need, and setting up the secondary programming. She did this quickly and easily, as if she had done it before.
When she slid back out of his mind, he opened his eyes to look at her. The quicksilver had fallen away under his control and he grinned at her.
"Holy shit," she breathed, sounding almost shocked.
Claire came over and looked at him. "Well, that's new." She turned to Alyx. "Maybe it's because it's his second gland. He already had the original neural pathways set, so the gland might have increased production because of it."
"Ummm, guys, care to tell me what is going on?" Darien asked, concern creeping into his voice.
"See for yourself," Alyx said, gesturing at the mirror over on one wall.
Darien tossed off the covers and swung his legs out of bed, surprisingly steady given what he'd been through. Looking in the mirror, it took him a moment or two to notice anything beyond the mess his hair was. Then he focused on his own eyes. "What the...?" He turned back to the two women in the room. "Is this normal?"
"For gland recipients, no, but you are a special case." Claire walked over to stand beside him. "They should return to normal when the gland shuts down."
"I think they look neat, but then I'm a bit biased," Alyx said from where she still sat on the bed.
Darien turned around with a laugh. "I guess I can live with it for now."
His eyes had turned silver, just like Alyx's.
They spent two days letting Darien finish recovering and making sure he truly had the control necessary to quicksilver when needed. It still surprised him to think that there were as many as six agents at any time running about with these modified glands. Who could have guessed all this would happen back when Kevin successfully implanted the first one into Darien's head.
There were some differences between then and now. Since the response was no longer tied to adrenaline, he had to relearn how to control it. So he practiced, sometimes with amusing results. The basics that Alyx had dumped into his head were very useful, but the was still the one who had to learn the control. In some ways it was harder for him because he had done this before, but he had to admit the benefits were interesting.
The first time he convinced himself to hold the quicksilver beyond thirty minutes was frightening for him. Even after nearly ten years without a gland, he still had a near hysterical fear of going quicksilver mad. But when there were no headaches, no pain, no degradation of his sense of self, he was able to relax and even begin to enjoy the experience. He couldn't help but think about all the trouble he could get into. There was this one piece of art work he'd been coveting for a while, and the temptation was so strong he could almost taste it.
Alyx put it into perspective though. "Can we get Dani home first, before you start casing places, hmmm?"
Darien actually looked a bit embarrassed, but he knew she wasn't really angry at him.
They were leaving at the end of the week, so they continued to gather intel and disseminate what they did have. They had the plan set to get them into Piotr's country and to his border. They had a plan to get them to the halfway point, that semi-abandoned monastery in the mountains. From there, however, they were running into trouble. The installation was like China's version of Area 51 in Nevada. The government didn't officially acknowledge the place existed. Zoe summed it up best: "Methinks they doth protest too much."
Manda used Alyx's security clearance and Johnson's signature to get any and all information they could find, including what the governments of several other countries had collected on the place. Between satellite reconnaissance, pooled information, and records they had been able to filch from the Chinese government, they had an approximate layout of the building.
They were suitably impressed by the engineering feat it took to divert that river, but this was the country that dammed the Yellow river. The largest project of its type, ever. Creating an underground river and power plant must have seemed simple by comparison. In fact, some of the same engineers had worked on both projects, which is how they had tracked down some of the blueprints and schematics for the lab.
The day before they were to leave, Alyx declared a party. They had been working on this non-stop for over a week, and they needed to blow off some worry and anxiety before they left. She fired up her smoker and declared that they were not allowed to discuss the mission at all. It was verboten. She had trouble holding to her owns rules, though, after they discovered some interesting communiques hinting that Dani was indeed at the lab and was still alive.
Alyx watched her family as they strolled about the yard, doing their best to pretend they were having a good time. She knew most of them had tomorrow on their minds. Both Darien and Ben kept rubbing their wrists where they'd had their trackers put in. The trackers doubled as vital sign monitors and would send a signal out if the person were to die. All of the I-Men had one implanted as a precaution. Darien's had been slipped in under his old tattoo, no need for a new one. Ben had his covered with a four leaf clover. Everyone had one. Rose had a rose covering hers, Manda a black and white yin yang symbol, Chris had chosen and intricate Celtic knot pattern, and Alyx's was a triskelion. The tattoos were small, about the size of a dime, and the devices were almost undetectable under the skin. The tattoo's did act like monitors; the colors bright when the trackers were active, dull and muted when inactive.
Neither Darien nor Ben had been thrilled about the idea, but had relented when Alyx showed them she had one herself. She had avoided getting one for years, but after one really awkward mission, she'd decided it was better to have the tracker than to risk being permanently lost. She'd managed to get out of the situation on her own that time, but it had been close. There were just enough people who knew about them out there that some situations ended up being far more dangerous than even they could predict. Like this situation with Dani -- this was not the first time tempting bait had been set out that they had fallen for. It was just the first time the trap had worked.
The afternoon was successful, although at one point Alyx had to order Manda tossed into the pool because she refused to stop working. Manda had taken the hint and actually enjoyed herself the rest of the day. Even, maybe especially, for this family, it couldn't be work all the time. They'd start to forget that they were indeed human beings and not tools to be used when needed and then put away without a thought. A paycheck could not, and did not, make up for being treated like a thing.
Once the party was in full swing -- the young ones suitably entertained, the adults cheerful and relaxed -- Darien snagged Alyx and dragged her off to a quiet corner. "Hey you, the Keep..." he caught himself as he slipped back into old habits. "Claire has ruled me fit for duty and removed my newest set of stitches."
Alyx chuckled. "Guess at this point we should be surprised if the hair even grows back in."
"Don't say that. Don't even think that," he said, dismay evident in his voice.
Alyx just laughed harder. "Why'd you drag me away from the fun?"
They had ended up back inside the house and he was trying to lead her upstairs. "Because you are not following your own decree, and I didn't think you'd enjoy being tossed in the pool."
Alyx froze halfway up the staircase and refused to go further. "What are you talking about, Darien?"
Instead of trying to force her up the stairs he simply sat down. "You've spent all day making sure everyone else was having fun and not thinking about tomorrow. I don't think you've sat down even once, and usually we can't get you and the twins out of the pool."
Alyx sighed. "I just..." She sat down next to him. "I needed to keep busy, that's all."
"It's not your fault you know," he said quietly.
"I know, but it is my responsibility." When Darien began to protest she shook her head. "No one, especially Johnson, who is still off in the land of denial, was willing to take responsibility for what happened. So I did."
Now it was Darien's turn to sigh. As usual, she was working too hard and trying to cover everyone else's ass. "Well, for the next several hours you are not going to do anything."
"But..."
"The kids will be fine. There are plenty of adults down there who will gladly take care of them while you get some much needed down-time." Darien drew her to her feet and gave her a slight push to get her moving up the stairs.
"But..." she tried to protest again.
At the top of the stairs he spun her around. "No more talking. Besides, I want to check how this gland works under certain specific conditions," he whispered in her ear.
That got her attention. "And what conditions might those be?"
"Close contact ones," he replied. "Thought I said no talking." He moved closer and she backed away with a smile.
When he finally caught up with her, they were both breathless and she was more than willing to let the worries of the present fall away.
"Uncle Mike, where are they going?" Ari nodded in the direction of her parents.
Mike looked down at the girls as they bobbed in the pool, currently not spraying water at anyone who came near. He decided, given what they were capable of, to go with honesty. "Your dad thinks she needs some quiet time before tomorrow, and I agree."
"But wasn't that the point of today?" Zoe asked.
"For everyone to relax and not worry for a while?" Ari added.
"Quite true, but what has your mom been doing all day?" Mike asked so that they would see for themselves.
"She's been cooking..." Ari began.
"And cleaning... " Zoe added.
"And making sure everyone's been having fun." Ari finished.
Mike had learned to simply follow the sentence instead of trying to keep track of who said what. Typically they were saying the same thing anyway. He just raised an eyebrow at them.
"Oh," they said after moment.
"She's been making sure we had fun..." Zoe started this time around.
"And not having any of her own," Ari said, completing their thought. "Well, she's been real worried about Dani, and then about Dad..."
"But today she's feeling better." Zoe turned to her twin with a shrug.
"How do you girls know that?" Mike asked them, not really all that surprised. "Have you been eavesdropping on your mom?"
"Not like brother dear does," Ari said shaking her head.
"We just kind of 'feel' what she does," Zoe tried to explain.
"Come here, you two." As they swam over to the edge of the pool, he moved to sit at the edge, dangling his feet in the water. When they were near he laid a hand on each of their heads and very lightly checked them over. When he was done he looked down at them with a sigh. "Well girls, it looks like you're developing a touch of empathy there." He removed his hands. "Just remember, eavesdropping with empathy is just as bad as listening in on what someone is thinking."
"We know, and we try..." Zoe went first this time.
"But sometimes we can't help it," Ari added, her voice going quiet. They knew the rules and knew why the rules were there.
"We're sorry," they said as one.
"Now, do I sound angry to you?" Mike said to them with a smile.
They shook their heads, unsure of their voices.
"We'll just have to work on those shields of yours, now won't we?" he said, trying to make sure they knew he was not angry or even upset.
"Okay, but not today..." Ari was frowning.
"We're supposed to be having fun and not working, remember?" Zoe stated with an astonishingly serious tone.
Mike laughed. "Agreed."
He watched as the girls took off with a whoop and a splash and he wondered again how his sister managed to deal with such a handful.
He looked over the crowd of mostly adults and tried to comprehend the miracle that all these people were. Even Jase, who was a normal human compared to the rest, was a miracle of science. Mike had seen photos of Kevin Fawkes, and the resemblance was uncanny. He'd watched the boy grow up over the years and, even after growing up in a house full of geniuses himself, watching Jase come into his own had been a joy to behold.
They had made a point to channel his energy away from anything medical. It had been astonishingly easy; even as a boy, he'd shown a knack for designing electronics. Mike, along with Jase's mother, Rachel, had made a point of encouraging it. They were trying to avoid him getting involved with the quicksilver project again, and they succeeded, at least partially.
And now Jase and Rose were seeing each other. Not a big deal -- in fact it was nice that they had found each other. Mike knew how hard it could be for people like himself and his family to find someone to be with. Your average person just couldn't comprehend what they were, so most relationships were short term at best. Relationships with coworkers and others in the government were risky, and always had underlying currents of distrust. People like Bobby and Claire were rare, and every member of this family valued them highly. Not only for what they had done, but because they truly were friends with all of them. Two 'normal' people who showed no fear or covetousness for their abilities. They were friends -- family -- nothing more and nothing less.
Mike looked over at Ben who was lying along one of the table benches with an arm flung over his eyes. He pushed himself up and walked over to him. "You okay Ben?"
Ben moved his arm and looked up at his uncle. "Just a headache." He sat up and gestured for Mike to sit beside him.
"You sure? You are allowed to be a bit apprehensive about all of this," Mike said. The boy was more than capable of handling it, at least with the people he was going with, he just didn't realize it.
"Well, yeah, a little, but I don't see them worrying about it." He waved his hand at the various family members spread across the yard. Some in various states of inebriation.
"That's how they've been trained. Trust me, on the inside they're just as nervous as you are. They, we, always are before every big mission. Whether we have a week or just hours to plan for it." Mike wanted Ben to understand that, for all that his family could do, they were still human.
Ben nodded. "Mom's real worried. She thinks it's her fault," he said this quietly.
Now, Mike knew that Ben knew better than to eavesdrop, which meant he must have been picking it up randomly. Not difficult; Alyx had been broadcasting her distress loud and clear to anyone who could pick it up. Ben's empathic talent must be kicking in a bit stronger. It had always been a bit vague and weak before, usually just ancillary to his telepathy.
"Not quite, but she does feel responsible, for many reasons," Mike clarified for him.
Ben nodded in agreement. "True." He rubbed the back of his head, in unconscious imitation of his father. He looked at Mike then.
Those blue-gray eyes of his still looked out of place, considering how much he looked like his father. Darien's looks and Alyx's pre-quicksilver eyes. "Trust yourself and your family, Ben. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised."
Ben laughed a bit ruefully. "Mike, every day is full of surprises with this family."
Mike joined the laughter. What could he say? It was true.
*