Jessica walked into the waiting area and offered one of the two coffee cups to the haggard woman seated in a chair. "We look like crap." Jess said noting the woman's red puffy eyes, dark shadows under the eyes, and the low hasty ponytail. By now much of the hair had fallen out of the little nylon band in wisps that hung around her head. Jess knew she looked no better, she just hadn't cried as much and her hair was an uncombed mess around her head.

"Neither one of us looks us bad as the men we're here for." Her companion answered accepting the coffee.

"True." Jess admitted sitting next to the almost stranger. "So Melissa what's your last name?"

"Granger." Melissa answered trying to shove some of her hair back out of her face. "You're Alex Lawrence's half-sister right?"

Jess giggled. "We're half siblings yes, but we grew up together, we usually just introduce ourselves as sisters. We have the same last name."

Melissa nodded.

A silence fell over the two. They sipped coffee for a while.

"Is your sister still fighting with the hospital?" Melissa asked.

"No. Davidson stepped in and made the Chief of Medicine give her the proper amount of energy and all." Jessica replied.

"Davidson does that a lot." Melissa said with a half smile. "He likes to throw his weight around."

"I think in this case it was a good idea. I still wish they'd let Alex pay to have Rick moved to the Estate. She hates working with spectators."

"I don't think they could move either of those two right now." Melissa said.

"Maybe not, but it makes me nervous. They only let us in for a few hours."

"And then we wait out here while our men are monitored and worked on." Melissa finished for her. The women shared a smile. Jess looked over at the sleeping girl wrapped up in her father's leather jacket. Her eyes were red even in her sleep.

"Poor kid." Melissa murmured. "She just fell asleep laying there while you were getting coffee."

"Penny's not used to so much action. It's been a long thirty six hours. Rick's never been in such a situation before."

"Working with the FBI can do that." Melissa whispered. "It's a shame Linson wasn't so fortunate. Maria is such a nice young woman. Quiet too. She must be devastated."

"And here we are complaining about the FBI when we still have our men to worry about." Jess looked away.

"We're in love." Melissa said kindly, "With men who have chosen to walk dangerous paths."

"I know."

Footsteps in the hall. Alex rushed towards them a glower on her face. She came to a halt and spun on her heals her fiery hair a mess. She glared at the reporters following her. "It's 7 am, I have a lot of work to do. You want to see my work? Call me in six weeks!" She turned back to the women.

"Jessica, Melissa," She greeted. The women stood up.

"While Grant's been looking over Walter's injuries and making sure he's ok, he had a suggestion. I can't guarantee the FBI will clear it, but I want to offer Walter an option." Alex spoke quickly.

"You mean a cybernetic option?" Melissa asked. She seemed to have mixed emotions. Alex nodded. "I guess you'd have to ask Walter. It's his choice."

"But if he accepts my offer are you going to have issues?" Alex asked. "I don't want to ruin your relationship."

"No. It's a very generous offer. It would be a blessing for him to keep his work." Melissa answered.

Alex smiled. "I'm glad to hear that." She turned to her sister. "I need these intern wannabes and newspaper hounds out of my operating room. And I need it now. I don't know how Rick damaged so much of himself, but I have to get it fixed and now." Jessica nodded.

"We'll handle them." Melissa replied. "And tell your husband thank you for taking care of Walter. I didn't know he had a Medical Degree."

Alex grinned. "He's the Doctor, I'm the Bioengineer. We balance each other out nicely." Alex turned toward the group of eight or nine people who had been following her. "Doctor coming through!" She yelled.

They made a path for her as Jess giggled. "If you'll all please come over here?" She called. They looked at her. No one made a move. "I can answer questions for you, I'm Dr. Lawrence's sister."

People slowly came closer. Some glanced back towards the doors Alex had disappeared through. "Everyone please, Lawrence is quite busy and requires complete silence to focus on her work." Melissa added. Jess smiled at her. For being complete strangers they sure were getting along fine.

"What questions can you answer?" One man asked. He wore a button with a local newspaper logo.

"Shoot." Jessica replied.

"Is Lawrence looking to start a new research foundation?" A woman yelled out.

"No."

"How about if she's planning on furthering her experiments with cybernetics?"

"These aren't experiments." Jessica replied coldly.

"Did the FBI hire her to create a cybernetic weapons system?" Melissa and Jess shared a perturbed glance.

"Alright!" Melissa shouted. "That's enough. Everybody out before I call the FBI in!"

At that moment Davidson walked in. He was in a crisp suit and looked like he was sleeping well. "Davidson!" The two called. He looked at them and at the crowd throwing questions at them, "You've got to get rid of these people." Melissa begged. "They won't let Dr. Lawrence and Dr. Grant do their work."

Davidson nodded. He had begrudgingly begun to respect the scientist s and their work. After all it had saved lives and helped catch a terrorist. He turned a stony face to the people. "Get out or I will have you all arrested for trespassing." People began to hurry.

"Thank you." Jessica said as Davidson walked down the hall.

Melissa began pacing. "Now we go back to waiting." She murmured.