The standoff between the two went on for a few more minutes. Burt was the first to break the silence.
"It's been a long time," Burt's voice was soft. "I thought you never wanted to return. How's your sister?"
"It has been a long time," Heather used the same tone. "My sister is fine. I also visited my mother for a while. She's doing great."
"How's the HK91?" Burt asked.
"Still works," Heather gave him a soft smile. "Looks like you have gotten over the Soviet Union collapse."
"You didn't come back just to see me, what are you really here for Heather?" Burt didn't want to drag this meeting on anymore, especially when all eyes were on them.
Heather took out the letter. She handed it to him, bridging the distance. Burt stared at it before taking it from her. He had a hunch what that letter was about. He skimmed it over. It was what he feared but there was a sense of relief since they could save him. Burt handed the letter back to Heather. "Why did you hide that I had a son all these years?"
"So you knew?" Heather rebutted.
Burt gaped. "What do you mean I knew? I had a Hell of surprise when he came up claiming he was my son."
"But you still knew that he was nearly killed!" Heather raised her voice. There were faint gasps around them. This was news to the rest of the town.
"I'm still in shock myself! Do you think that telling you was my priority?" Burt was skeptical.
Heather grit her teeth. "After all we have been through?"
"I still can't believe he is our son!" Burt spat out. "You coming here confirms that. I'm just thankful they could save him. You should have warned him from ever coming here."
"I did!" Heather justified. Burt stared at her wide eyed. "I warned him about taking this job, that it wasn't worth his trouble, but he insisted. Now, I don't even know where he is recuperating at."
"I know someone who does know," Burt confirmed.
"Wait a minute Gummer," Twitchell interjected. The group stared at him. "I have orders that we, as in all of Perfection and surrounding area, are not supposed to tell her."
"Tell who? Me?" Heather was about to show him the letter.
"No," Burt shook his head. "It's the scientist he's working with, we aren't supposed to inform her."
"We actually weren't supposed to know anything either," Twitchell sighed with remorse. "The reason Mrs. Gummer knows is because two sections were working with him. One section was ordered not to relay any information out, that's the section our scientists are under. The other section is what Wes and I work with, they went through the proper procedures."
"So what exactly was he doing?" Heather looked over to Twitchell. "I heard that his job was just protecting Perfection. I was thinking it was due to the many graboid attacks from that El Blanco. What is going on here?" Heather looked back to Burt.
"Let's get you settled in," Burt suggested. "I'll tell you everything."
"You better damn well tell me," Heather fumed.
"Wait, before anyone leaves," Twitchell stopped them. "I need to inform everyone that there shall be no communication to that scientist until further notice." He was about to say something when his phone went off. He walked a bit away to answer it. His back was turned to them. "Twitchell speaking. Yes." There was a long pause. The onlookers were curious why he had stiffened up. "Yes. I shall inform them. Goodbye." He dropped his hand and turned around.
"What is it?" Tyler saw the horrified look on his face.
"Because of the incident, Perfection has been temporarily blocked off from visitors," Twitchell informed them.
"Blocked off?" Jodi came out of the store to confront Twitchell. "What about my business? Tourists are what keeps our town going. How long?"
"Until further notice," Twitchell explained. There were groans and complaints. "Hey, don't get mad at me! I just got informed as well. I can't leave either."
"You mean we are quarantined for the time being?" Burt asked him.
"Hey, I know this is none of by business but I have a gig I need to be at next week," the musician stepped out. "Is there any way that some of us could still get out of here."
"I knew it!" Nancy exclaimed in a bit of rage.
"Mom, now's not the time," Mindy tried to intervene. The group had a new focus.
"Sorry, they will probably shoot us down if we tried to leave," Twitchell informed. "Anyone got an extra bed or couch?"
"They can't be that extreme?" Tyler was skeptical.
Burt was itching to grab his radio. Twitchell noticed. "Don't even think about it, Gummer. No communication with the scientist. If her section figures out anything, they'll have all our necks."
"What are you doing here?" Nancy didn't care for the moment. "I thought that once we separated, you wanted nothing to do with me anymore."
"Nancy, that was the past," the musician explained. "And it was a mistake. A terrible mistake. I should have never let you go. You were the only one who saw the good in me."
"Well, I moved on," Nancy readjusted holding her box.
"Oh yeah, what's his name?" The musician crossed his arms.
"I don't know his name yet, but we've been talking for a while," Nancy looked him in the eye.
The musician chuckled. "Alright what's his internet name then?"
"Nomaddefender63," Nancy retorted.
Burt gaped. He then glanced to see how Heather reacted. His heart started to race. Tyler knew the situation. Burt had mentioned to Tyler about their conversations.
"Wait, are you desertflower78?" Tyler asked.
Nancy did a double take at Tyler. "Y-yes?"
"Oh, is that you?" The musician gave him a look over. He had the confidence that he could still win against him.
"N-no," Tyler saw the knowing looks from Jodi and Rosalita. "That's-someone else." He stole a glance at Burt. The two women had followed his eye sight. Jodi could see that it would be getting worse if that information was leaked. Rosalita, on the other hand, was enjoying the drama. She wished she had some popcorn to enjoy this development.
Heather picked up on the situation. "Didn't think you were the type to go to online dating." She chuckled in disbelief.
Burt flinched. Nancy and the rest heard Heather's comment. The group looked at him. The musician raised an eyebrow. "I-I didn't know it was Nancy." Burt was embarrassed but also didn't want to ruin anything.
Nancy was shocked. "Burt, you're nomaddefender63?" She covered her mouth. "Oh my God!" Burt was the last person she thought she would ever get along with romantically.
"I think all of us need a drink right about now," Twitchell stopped this nonsense from going on any further.
Larry took this opportune moment. "Oh, drinks are on me. I have been experimenting with new cocktails for the bar." The group followed him in.
Nancy, Mindy, and the elusive musician were all sitting at one table. Burt and Heather were at another. Harlow and Twitchell were being served by Larry. Rosalita, Jodi, and Tyler were next to the bar area.
"This has turned about to be quite the day," Jodi couldn't believe the turn of events. "First Heather coming back, finding out that Wes had a near fatal injury, Nancy and her husband, and now being quarantined."
"It's like living in a novella," Rosalita tried to stay positive. "I'm glad Roberto left when he did or he would never get to leave. Hey since we are quarantined, do you think the government is going to compensate us for our lost wages?"
"I hope so," Tyler took a sip of his drink. "I had a full load of customers today."
"They should," Jodi set a drink down for Rosalita.
"Mom, why didn't you tell me that dad was a musician?" Mindy argued.
"Because he didn't want to be a part of my life anymore so I didn't think you needed to know," Nancy stared her husband down.
"But you still have my last name," he sipped his drink.
"Even if we did separate, no one would know that Lucas Sterngood was Damian Neptune and he had a wife and child," Nancy retorted. "You didn't even want to live with me."
"If I had known you were pregnant at the time, I would have come with you to live in this pipe dream of yours," Lucas sighed. "By the way, are you still smoking? If you don't, I can understand this place creates things so you don't need to take anything."
Mindy stared in surprise at her mom. "You smoked?"
"Everyone did," Nancy defended herself. "Besides I cut myself off to raise you right."
"Yeah, I heard you did a one eighty on your lifestyle," Lucas was intrigued. "Mom pants do not suit you but you still looked kind of cute."
"You showed him pictures?!" Nancy gave her daughter a knowing look.
"Mom!" Mindy retaliated. "I believe I had the right to know about dad."
"How did you two meet?" Nancy looked between them.
"I'm surprised you never got me to pay child support," Lucas leaned back in his chair. "You're too nice, Nancy."
"I found Dad," Mindy came clean. "I hired someone to find my biological father. He was in the system and our DNA matched."
"Was it from that fight when you had to spend a night in jail?" Nancy raised her eyebrows.
"No, it was from another fight," Lucas looked away.
"Why are you two so harsh on me then?" Mindy scolded them. "It seems like you two had quite lifestyle. You didn't like it when I went after Scarecrow and you even know how to make a bomb!"
"Who's Scarecrow?" Lucas became overprotective.
"That doesn't mean you need to follow in our footsteps," Nancy reprimanded. "Besides that's just a skill I acquired."
"Whatever," Mindy rolled her eyes. "So Burt and Heather really have a son together?"
"Yes, Wes is a nice young man," Nancy looked over to them. Burt was explained to Heather everything that had been going on. "I would say to find yourself a man like him, but it seems he's a bit held up by the scientist."
"Who is this scientist? It's not Casey, right?" Mindy kept her voice low.
"No, she's about the same age," Nancy explained. Lucas was interested in this conversation. "She is intelligent and courageous. She helped saved some hikers who went missing."
"And no communication with her at all," Lucas thought out loud. "Your town is weird. I like it! It could be my next hit!" Nancy let out a groan.
At headquarters, Wes was sitting in the infirmary with his leg bandaged up. He was in one of the rooms that had two beds. A nurse came by to check up on him. After she took his vitals, she moved the curtains from the other bed to reveal a young man with hair parted to the side. Wes was curious about who was his roommate. He also wanted out and his questions answered but all he could do was get his health back and wait.
The guy next to him didn't wake up until an hour later. Wes could hear him get up and move around. The guy had his right arm in a bandage. He fumbled to find his glasses. The guy looked around to see that he had a roommate.
"Hello," the guy called over.
"Hey," Wes replied.
"What are you in here for?" The guy was trying to make conversation.
"Attack from an unknown creature," Wes stayed vague as he could. He knew this place held many secrets but he didn't know what all he could say.
"OH! You're on the failed Project M.M.," the guy smiled. "Nasty creatures she's finding down there. Glad you're not that hurt."
"What about you?" Wes inclined his head to the bandaged arm.
"This?" He lifted it up. "It's nothing. I was out in the field studying on the Galapagos Islands when I got attacked. I'll be fine. It's not the first time, it won't be the last."
"You've been here before?" Wes perked up. He may get some information out of him.
The guy chuckled. "I'm Dr. Jekyll. You are S.S., am I correct?" Wes nodded. "Yes, I am very familiar with this place. I've spent a few times here in the medical ward along with the other sections. I enjoy studying out in the field not in the lab."
"So you know who she is?" Wes was hesitant.
"Yes, Dr. Frankenstein is a friend of mine, a close friend," Dr. Jekyll had a softness to him. Wes could pick up on the relation between the two of them. "She also enjoys studying in the field. We don't see each other often. The group doesn't see each other often."
"The group?" Wes was interested into their past.
"Yes, a group of selected individuals to investigate the world few know and have access to," Dr. Jekyll explained. "I'm explaining this to you since you have a code name. You may think it's a nickname but here, it's a code name. Those with code names get more access to information. The code name individuals are Dr. Frankenstein, Dr. Moreau, Dr. Pretorius, Dr. Morbius, Dr. Octavius, Dr. Watson, Dr. Skully, Dr. Molder, Dr. Van Helsing, and me." He didn't say Dr. Hyde, because he was not fond of his twin brother anymore. They used to be close but after a few incidents, he did not want anything to do with him anymore. He didn't even want to explain he had a twin.
Wes shook his head. "What is your group name? Monster Doctors?"
Dr. Jekyll laughed. "It seems that way doesn't it, but some double as nicknames. No. We aren't the Monster Doctors. We don't have an official group name but we have been called the Last Pioneers."
"Because you are the Last Pioneer to do something?" Wes was confused while trying to figure out their group name.
He kept laughing. "No, we are the Last Pioneers to actually go where few are willing to investigate or down the path of that border welfare and rights while maintaining non-sociopathic qualities."
"No Mad Scientists you mean?" Wes speculated.
"We're definitely not all there, but none of us have that sort of record," Dr. Jekyll spoke but had thought there was one who was like that. "We've been called the Prodigals, Prometheus's Children, and some subgroup names."
The two chatted about the area and their job, the information they could give out to public and certain individuals. Dr. Jekyll showed Wes pictures of his fellow colleagues. He was surprised that he had recognized some of people. Wes wanted to show pictures of what he had taken in Perfection but none of his belongings were given back to him. Dr. Jekyll informed him that it was his first time here and they are paranoid that he would leak out information. He would get his belongings when he is closer to getting out of here.