Ellie quickly hailed a cab as Lucas continued to stare at everything around him. The harbor had been greatly built up since Ellie's time, when it had really been nothing much at all. A cab pulled up to the curb, and she opened the door.

"Lucas!"

He snapped back to attention. "Yeah?"

"Come on, we've got to get you into town!"

"Oh…right," he said, heading for the cab. Ellie slid in and moved all the way to the other side as he slid in next to her.

"Where to kid?" the driver asked.

"Uh," Lucas said, pulling his confirmation out of his pocket. "The Millennium Biltmore please."

"Sure thing," the driver replied.

"Wow, swank," Ellie said.

"Is it? I don't know, it's where UEO personnel stay on shore leave."

Ellie nodded and looked out the window.

"Kid, you've got to be joking with me right? You? UEO personnel? You can't be more than 16," the driver said.

Ellie opened her mouth to say something but Lucas put a hand on her arm and she sat back quietly.

"I'm not kidding you, I am UEO personnel."

"Sure kid, and I'm Queen Cleopatra."

"Wow, well I'm pleased to meet you but I thought you were supposed to be beautiful?" Lucas replied.

Ellie snickered before covering her mouth, and Lucas smirked.

"Good one kid, but I still don't believe you."

Lucas unzipped one of the front pockets of his bag and pulled out his badge. "Believe this then," he replied, handing the badge to the driver.

The driver held the badge up in one hand so that he could look at it and still watch the road. "Well, I guess I was wrong. Sorry kid. How did you get that kind of job? Or are you older than you look?" he asked, handing back the badge.

"No, I'm not older than I look. I'm only 17, but I've already graduated from college. I'm a systems analyst."

"You a genius kid?"

"You can say that again," Ellie replied.

"Who are you? His girlfriend?"

"Nohhh yeah….I'm his girlfriend," Ellie said, smiling.

Lucas stared at her in abject horror and she turned to look at him. She raised her eyebrows and shrugged, telling him without words to be quiet. He quickly realized that there was no way she could say she was his mother and that agreeing with the driver was just the easier way of changing the subject.

"Heh, lucky kid. Hope your superiors don't find out what you're really gonna be using that room for!"

Lucas wanted to scream, the thought was so totally wrong. Ellie bit her lip to force herself not to laugh and slid down a little farther in the seat.

"Oh my god…." Lucas muttered, putting his hand to his forehead.

The rest of the ride passed in relative silence as they came into the Financial District where the Biltmore was located. Lucas got out and quickly saw that Ellie had been right; it was swank. He turned around and paid the driver as Ellie got out of the cab

"Thanks kid. Have fun you two," the driver said, winking at them.

Lucas' mouth dropped open and the driver pulled away. "MAN! That is SO wrong!"

Ellie was laughing too hard to breathe, let alone say anything. She was having a hard time standing and she grasped Lucas' shoulder for balance. As he noticed that she was close to tears, he started to laugh too, realizing the absurdity of the whole situation.

"I have to check in," he said, still laughing.

"Okay," she replied, wiping tears from her eyes.

They entered the hotel and walked through the lobby to the check in desk. The young woman behind the counter looked at them as they walked up, and Ellie noticed the way her eyes lingered on Lucas. She raised an eyebrow in interest, as the girl at the counter quickly looked away. Ellie turned her eyes on her son and tried to remember how she had looked at Gavin when he was Lucas' age. She smiled at the memory of it, not blaming the girl for her interest.

"Welcome to the Millennium Biltmore. How can I help you?"

"Yes, um, I'd like to check in please," Lucas replied.

"Certainly sir, do you have your confirmation?" Lucas nodded and pulled it out of his pocket again, handing it to the girl. "Thank you, and for security purposes, the name on the reservation please?"

"Lucas James." Ellie's eyes widened and she turned slowly to look at Lucas, who smiled at her.

"Thank you Mr. James. And might I see your UEO badge for confirmation of your personnel status?"

Ever prepared, Lucas pulled out a fake badge that he'd pirated the night before leaving. Everything on it was the same as his regular badge, except that this one had his name reading Lucas James.

"Nice," Ellie whispered. Lucas nodded once and winked at her.

"Thank you. Here are your room keys and your map," the girl said, before turning her attention to Ellie. "Will she be your guest in the room sir?"

"Yes," Lucas replied smoothly. "She's my sister, if you need to add her to the room I understand. Her name is Ellie James."

"Thank you sir, I'll add her name. Have a pleasant stay."

"Thanks," he said, sliding the electronic keys off the counter and walking away.

"Very good Lucas," Ellie said. "You let that lie out like it was nothing."

"Well, I'm going to be doing a lot of it this next two weeks, so I'd better be as smooth as I can be."

Ellie nodded, completely understanding. The reached the elevator and headed for the top floor.

"What should we do first?" she asked excitedly. "We should do things today, just you and me."

"I don't know. You lived here, what should we do?"

"Hmmm," she said, pondering a moment. "Are you hungry?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

"Good point. Food it is then."

"Sounds like a great plan."

Stepping out of the elevator, they followed the hallway down to his room. They stepped inside and Ellie sucked in a breath. "Wow," she said.

The room was decorated in a very elegant manner. Ellie stepped up to a wall and ran her fingers over the walls covered in ivory silk. The curtains and bedspreads were made of wine red velvet. There were plants throughout the room perched upon marble stands, with the furniture made of highly polished cherry wood.

Lucas grinned and set his bags down on the bed. "Nice room," he said.

"Nice? This is beautiful!"

"We had a guest room like this at home when…" Lucas started.

Ellie turned and looked at him, trying to conceal something but not doing a very good job. "When you lived with Cynthia and Lawrence," she finished.

"Yes, I'm sorry I didn't mean to…"

She waved him away and walked toward the bathroom. "Lucas! Check this out!"

He headed over to see what she was looking at. "What?"

"You have a huge bathtub with jets! That'll be nice."

She was so easily pleased, he thought. "You can use it," he replied.

"How?"

"Oh…right."

Ellie smirked. "Let's get food. I know just where to go, but we'll need a car."

"I can't drive."

"Who says you're driving?"