Author Notes: Okay, I don't know people's names, so Sam's brother is married to Susan. Their kids are called Jessica (8) and Tom (5). Mark is only a few years older than Sam, maybe four. I haven't seen any episodes in relation to them, so I'm making it up. Thanks for the reviews everyone!

Chapter 8: A Mother's Love

"Thanks." Sam paid the taxi driver and grabbed her bag. She was outside a family suburban home in San Diego. Steeling herself for an argument, she walked briskly up the path and rang the doorbell.

"Coming!" A muffled voice sounded from the other side of the door. A smiling head poked around the door, it then took a second before he realised who it was, "Sam!" He enveloped her in a hug, having made peace with her and their father a few years ago.

"Hey Mark."

Ignoring how tired his sister sounded, deciding to bring it up later, Mark draped his arm around her shoulders and led her inside. They hadn't made it one step before two bundles of highly strung energy collided with them, accompanied with high-pitched squeaks of excitement. Sam barely got her head round the muddle of questions that she was bombarded with; was she staying, how long for, did she bring presents, why was she here, when would she play with them, and many more along the same vein.

"Whoa! Guys, Auntie Sam has only just got through the door, give her five seconds at least!"

"It's okay, here I got you some chocolate at the airport, if your Dad approves?" Mark signalled that it was okay, "Share it."

While the kids were occupied, Mark turned to his little sister, "So, why didn't you call? Not that I don't think it's great you're visiting."

"It was a very last minute decision. I need to speak to you urgently, and I couldn't do it over the phone, it needed to be personal."

"It can wait until you've recovered from your flight at least?"

"Sure."

Sam sat in the garden with Mark, watching the two kids playing together, or rather arguing together, "So where's Susan?"

"Business trip, she's back tomorrow. I said that I could work at home till she got back. So what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

Sam drank the remainder of her water, "Can we talk in your office?"

Mark frowned, but nodded, "Jess! Tom! Me and your aunt are gonna talk inside. Stay in the back garden will ya? No games round the front."

"'Kay Daddy." Tom called back from the headlock his sister had put him in.

"Jess honey, he'll pass out in a minute." Sam smiled.

"Sorry." She let him go.

She followed her brother into his spacious office and closed the door behind her. Mark spoke first, "So. What's all this about Sam? You look pale." He pulled up a chair for himself, and gestured to another, but Sam remained standing.

Deciding to go directly to the point, Sam blurted out, "How did Mum die?"

Mark stared at her in shock. "What?"

"Answer the question Mark."

"In a car crash, you know that. I was the one who was landed with the job of telling you for god sake."

"You're lying."

"What? No I'm not! Sam! What's got into you, why are you bringing this up all of a sudden?"

Tears pricked Sam's eyes, before she whispered desperately, "Please. Please tell me the truth."

Mark decided to go for a different tact, "Why would you think that she didn't die in a car accident?"

"Because I recently discovered it to be a lie."

Mark rose to his feet and grabbed his sister by her shoulders, "Listen to me Sam, this is very important. Who told you this piece of information? Sam?"

Wrenching herself from his grasp, Sam took a step back, tears now streaming down her cheeks, "No one told me you idiot! So it's true then? What happened? Why do you know and I don't? When I came here I didn't think you would know anything, it was a long shot, but now I know you've been lying to me for so long!"

Mark sighed and sat down, pressing his fingertips onto his eyes, "Sit down Sam."

"I'd rather stand."

"The reason you don't remember is because Mum made sure of it. She was a great scientist you know, and a doctor, it's why they had her on the project. When she found out what the final aim of the project was though, she wanted out. Unfortunately, by that time they had you and me. After she made me promise never to tell you any of the past couple of years, she put you through some kind of procedure. She erased all of your memories that remotely related to what had happened and replaced them with new ones; I don't know how she did it. The only problem was, she couldn't get us out with her, which meant she couldn't erase my memory like she did with you. So instead, she gave me a gun, of all things, and told me to keep you safe - you were thirteen at the time, we'd been there for over a year, I don't think Dad knew. We got out in a crate."

Sam was silent for a while before she asked, "What happened to Mum?"

"Well, to say that these guys must've been pissed that they'd lost us is an understatement. Mum was the only scientist successful you see, and we were the only subjects – her incentive to get it right. She destroyed most of her notes before we escaped; I think they had to close the program down. I presume they would have come back for us, but by them I had contacted Dad and told him about the 'car crash'. We were safe, just like I'd promised."

"You avoided my question."

Mark sighed again, "No scientist was allowed to leave the facility for fear of betrayal, Sam. There was no way she could've got out. She committed suicide so we could live," Mark smiled weakly, "Sometimes I wonder if I was adopted, I'm the only member of this family who has never gone out of their way to get mixed up in anything involving guns."

Sam ignored him, instead pressing him for the one answer she needed to hear, the one nagging memory she couldn't place or explain, "What was the project?"

Mark looked up at her, "Look Sam, let it be. It's in the past now. It's over. There's no need to drag it back up kicking and screaming. I told you about Mum because I thought you should know. I don't think you should know anything else. Trust me; I would give anything to be in your position. To forget."

"You may be my brother, Mark, but you have no right to decide that for me. Either tell me, or I'll find out myself."

"I doubt that these guys were legal Sam, so I seriously doubt they have a website."

Sam gave him a crooked smile, "Thanks for the help Mark, I just wish you could've helped me more."

She stood up and walked back out into the garden, "Jess, Tom!" They came running, "Look guys, I'm really sorry, but I've gotta go home. Your Grandpa just called and he wants my help. I'll come visit soon okay?"

"Promise?"

Sam smiled weakly, "Yeah, and next time I'll bring more chocolate."

That seemed to satisfy the two children, who returned to their game of terrorising the pond's goldfish. Sam strode back into the house, grabbed her bag, and then turned back towards Mark, trying one last time to get him to explain the two words that confused her the most, "What's Project Phoenix?"

Mark's face hardened, and he answered through gritted teeth, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Bye Mark." She stated coldly, before slamming the door shut behind her.

Mark sat on the stairs and ran his hands though his dark hair, long dead images flashing unbidden behind his closed eyelids. Listening to his children's happy screeching, he wished now more than ever that Sam had stuffed the career and had kids too.

To Be Continued…

Author Notes: Review my lovely people! Let me know your feelings!