"Mistress Lièrén," Lobsang quietly admitted, "the young woman you call Skye...she is my daughter."

Beckett was glad she was sitting down. "Your *daughter*?" she asked. "I thought you said little Alexis was the first child born to a Guardian?"

"I thought that she was," Lobsang countered, "until a few moments ago." The Mùshī took a moment to get his raging nerves under control. He turned to Esposito. "I suppose you saw that Skye's mother was the daughter of a missionary in the western provinces of China?" When Esposito nodded, Lobsang continued, "that is only what her father wanted her to think." His features softened as the memories rose to the surface. "Abigail was such a radiant creature. Blindingly intelligent. The gentlest, kindest spirit I had ever met. She always seemed to know exactly how to make me laugh..."

"An empath, perhaps?" asked Beckett.

Lobsang smiled. "I suspected similar at the time. Abigail had not 'flipped', as you and your fellow Guardians have called it, but I do believe she possessed a strong sensitivity to the emotions of others."

"So what did her father do?" asked Esposito. "Why were they in China?"

Lobsang's face fell. "He was a dealer in opiates. First opium itself, then later heroin."

Beckett raised a wary eyebrow. "Someone in that business would make a great deal of money."

Lobsang nodded in agreement. "Remember, young one, this was during the height of the communist party's power. If he had flaunted his wealth, he would have been thrown out of the country...or worse, thrown in a prison to rot. No, Abigail's father was as smart as she was. He invested most of the money he made in funds for his children and kept up the pretense of missionary work by teaching his children to adhere strictly to the Christian religion..."

"Even if he wasn't all that 'Christian' himself?" asked Esposito.

Lobsang nodded again. "Abigail's devotion to her spirituality was one of the things that drew us to each other. She was fascinated by my religious beliefs, as I was with hers. She taught me English through her Bible, and we would talk from when the sun went down in the west until it rose again in the east behind us..."

Beckett suddenly frowned, confused. "Wait, you took vows of celibacy, right? And Abigail would not have believed in sex outside of marriage. So how did the two of you get to the point where you would be willing to throw those convictions away?"

Ngawang glared at his brother long enough that Beckett realized she must have opened up a long-standing wound. Lobsang blushed under his brother's withering gaze, then confessed, "When the Dalai Lama went to try to negotiate peace with the Chinese, Jamyang, Tsewang and Ngawang went with him to provide escort and help with the process. Wangchuk and I were tasked with protecting the village should negotiations fail."

"Which they did," added Esposito.

Lobsang nodded. "Wangchuk was killed in the early battles with the Chinese Army. When I watched him die, I panicked. Shut down. Closed myself off to my gifts and my brothers and ran."

"Leaving us blind and deaf for all that time," Ngawang grumbled.

Lobsang deliberately avoided his brother's gaze as he continued his story. "I wandered around the villages of western China for decades, alone and fearing for my life at every turn. Abigail treated me with kindness and respect - much more than I ever deserved. Being the only western woman in her village, she understood what it meant to be alone. In the end it felt like the only ones we could trust...the only ones we could count on...were each other. After one night where we had been talking for hours on end, crying on each other's shoulders...Abigail was one of the few women I was lucky enough to have loved. After having been alone for so very, *very* long...that love, that *connection* was far more important to me than even my vows. It may have been a grave mistake to give in to that temptation at the time, but I will never, ever regret it."

"Did you know that Abigail was pregnant?" asked Esposito.

"I did," replied Lobsang. "We were making plans to escape when Abigail's father discovered her...situation. Being such a 'religious' man, he knew he couldn't kill his daughter or the child she carried while they lived in the village, no matter how sorely tempted he was to do so. But since I was the 'heathen' who had 'defiled' his daughter..."

Beckett suspected she knew the direction Lobsang's story was headed. "He took his anger out on you."

"Or rather, his men did," Lobsang agreed. "I was 'executed' by a gunshot to the head, then my body was dismembered while Abigail was forced to watch. After my death, I did not know what became of Abigail or the child. I had simply assumed that her father's temper finally got the best of him and they both died at his hand."

"They escaped," Ngawang admitted quietly. "I do not know how they escaped, but Abigail did not die in the village of her birth. Of that much I am sure."

Lobsang squeezed his brother's shoulder, grateful for the information. "Thank you for telling me, brother."

"While I have always been disappointed by the *way* you broke your vows," Ngawang explained, "I know how much you loved the girl."

"What I still don't get," Esposito chimed in, "is why Skye is as strong as she is. Every flip we've dealt with so far has been limited in what they can do, but Skye..."

"Why are you so concerned, brother?" Lobsang asked, eager for as much information about his daughter as he could absorb.

"From what little evidence we've gathered so far," Beckett explained, "we believe that Skye may have enough power to override free will."

Tsewang's eyes went wide. "Really? That is fascinating..."

"We have no way to explain how Skye could be that powerful..." added Esposito.

"I believe I might," Tsewang countered. "Young ones, when a Guardian dies, the spirit that fuels our abilities is freed from the body and immediately begins to search for the other parts of its whole. When it merges with the living Guardians they inherit the abilities of the one who has passed on."

Beckett caught on quickly. "Would an encounter with this spirit have provided enough energy to flip Abigail?"

Tswang shook his head. "A full-grown adult woman? No, I do not believe so. However, the child of a Guardian and a potential, being exposed to that energy while still growing inside her mother's womb...yes, I believe it is entirely possible that the encounter with the spirit would have been more than enough energy to 'flip' Skye. And her abilities would have only strengthened as she grew. However, this situation is indeed so unprecedented that I am only guessing..."

Esposito's eyes lit up. Beckett couldn't help but notice the smile that was slowly creeping across her partner's face. "Espo?" she asked warily. "What are you thinking?"

"Tsewang," Esposito asked, turning his attention mostly to the Yīzhì. "What if you didn't have to guess? What if you could get the chance to examine Skye for yourself?"

Lobsang perked up, immediately sitting at attention. "What are you proposing, honored one?"

"We know that Skye has the gene, has flipped and her abilities are probably fully mature," Esposito replied to Lobsang's question before turning his attention back to Beckett. "Can you think of any reason why you shouldn't be able to bring her here, just like you bring any of us?"

Beckett shook her head, her own excitement increasing as she turned to Lobsang. "Well, brother...would you like to finally meet your daughter?"

"Nothing would please me more," Lobsang replied.