She was alone in the training wing, sitting high upon a bar stool-type chair, swinging her legs back and forth. Today was an exciting day because it was her fifth birthday and it meant that Alice was coming to see her. Father said that because she didn't have a mother who wanted her, it was very good to spend time with Alice because she could help her learn "girl things" that he could not teach her.
Alexandra loved spending time with Alice's fiancé, too, because John was cute and nice and never talked down to her like she was just some little kid. He even called her Alex, as she preferred, even though Father insisted on calling her Alexandra. Maybe she'd grow up to marry a man like John, she told her father. But Father had just laughed and said that as part of the CIA special agents, she would have no time for romance. It didn't make sense because Alice and John were both in the CIA and they were getting married. It wasn't wise to ask Father questions like this. The result was usually a hard slap that meant a bruised and sore few days.
Alex could see herself in that blue dress that looked so good with her copper hair. Alice had helped her pick it out, and today, instead of comportment lessons, Alice was taking her for ice cream.
Then the memory changed into the scene at the aquarium where the blonde girl was aiming for Alex with her gun but then John had stepped in front of her, taking the bullet in her place. She cradled his bleeding body and begged him to not die.
"You shouldn't have crossed Gordon," John gasped, but he stayed awake until she got him to the infirmary. Somehow he had lived but later, Alex found out that the bullet had been laced with a toxin that would kill him sooner or later, even if he recovered from his injuries. He did and this further compelled her to team up with him and do as he said.
She did not know why he insisted on saving her twin sister, of all people, but maybe he was just trying to make an attempt at amends before it all ended. Little did she know that she would completely understand that feeling sooner than expected…
Her father laughed in the same way in which he had mocked her when she expressed her desire to marry a man like John.
"You think you contracted the toxin because Lover Boy *bled* on you?"
Alex didn't say a word. How did Gordon know about her relationship with John? It was recent, after Alice had died, but she thought no one else knew.
"No. I dosed your coffee on the morning that you decided to leave us. Your fate, Alexandra, was sealed long before Sandy shot John with a laced bullet. He's going down, but you're going down with him. Fitting, don't you think?"
Alex sat up and drew in a sharp breath. She wasn't at headquarters with her father. She had gotten away. It was night in her Vienna hotel room and it had only been a dream. Her body, nightclothes and sheets were drenched with sweat. It was getting worse as time went on.
With disgust, she swept her hair from her neck and tiptoed into the bathroom to splash some water on her face. She looked at her own reflection in the mirror, at first catching a glimpse of the vulnerable girl she had once been, but quickly hardened into a resolute reflection that reminded her eerily of her sister. It wasn't enough that they were identical but she could slip into Marissa's demeanor like putting on a silk dressing gown.
"You're not dying tonight." She spoke to herself as if addressing another person. "Not tonight."
Alex fingered the locket that still lay on the bathroom counter. She picked it up and turned it over in her hand before putting it down again. She splashed her face with cold water once more before heading back to bed.
Hanna was restless. Dreams interrupted her sleep, as exhausted as she was. Thankfully, her movements didn't appear to bother Marissa. Good, thought Hanna. She'll need all the energy she can have when I show her the DNA results and the shocking thing in them in the morning. And I need to figure out if I am some kind of monster. Finally, Hanna began to get sleepy again and laid down on her half of the bed. This time her sleep was mercifully uninterrupted by dreams.
When Hanna opened her eyes, Marissa was already up, making coffee for both of them.
"I assume you still take yours black?"
Marissa inquired.
Hanna nodded. "Yes, thanks."
"I'm sorry that I fell asleep so early. I really wanted to talk to you about the DNA results. Do you have them now?"
"I do," Hanna began, taking the cup of coffee from the agent and savoring her first sip before opening a Pandora's box of mystery. She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled them out.
"First thing, you are identical twins."
Marissa's face fell and she swallowed hard.
"Go on," she said quietly.
"Then the tech noticed that the hair sample I took from her indicated some kind of poison in her system," Hanna said. "He didn't know what it was without running a further test, and I did not have time to wait. I kept the sample if we want to pursue that line of inquiry. But he did assure me that your sample was negative for the toxin." Hanna sighed with relief at the memory of that news. For a few horrible minutes, she imagined that Marissa, too, might have been poisoned. "Then as I was reading the results and looking at her genome, I noticed that it bore some similarities to mine."
"What? How?" Marissa was visibly shocked.
Hanna shrugged, handing all of the paperwork to Marissa.
"Alex is related to one of your biological parents," Marissa said slowly, letting it sink in. She looked up at the teen with a small smile. "But do you know what else this means?"
Hanna shook her head.
"If you and Alex are related, so are you and I."
Hanna broke into a genuine smile for the first time in months. It was what she had hoped for… some revelation that she and Marissa were more permanently linked than former enemies who now worked together for the good. No, Marissa was and would forever be part of her life.