A slightly longer chapter for you patient people who read my stuff after…three months… -hides in shame-

It turns out that the Massive Plot that I am in the process of taming is a bit bigger than originally thought. Think elephant becoming brontosaurus. Ahh well, more chapters… yippee.

†~†~†

Lisa had often heard it said that she would rather fight a virus with a chicken soup than advanced technology and it was entirely true. This joke went right over outsider's heads, but it was more than slightly insulting, that she would rather stick with traditional methods that weren't as effective, than use the cutting edge tech that she helped develop.

Someone usually cracked some variation around the beginning of cold season and it never failed to get on her nerves, more than a little because she had never thought of a properly witty reply to snap back and had to confine her responses to glares.

She childishly and vindictively addressed the absent joker. I'm going to take you out with one of the oldest tricks in the book, take THAT, new-fangled doodad-lovers.

†~†~†

Lisa's heart was pounding as she left the internet café; partly in excitement, partly in fear and dread.

On unsteady legs she walked a block to the car and got in. She remained quiet as Jac started driving and robotically began to remove the stage makeup that had acted as her disguise while she was in the café.

The smooth, almost-silent hum of the engine served as white noise that helped her calm down somewhat. Jac hadn't said a word since they left Mat and Alexandra's house and she was grateful for it. She desperately needed to come to terms with what she was doing and talking to an outsider would only prolong the agony.

I am betraying everything I have worked for for the last twenty years because of a woman I met not even a year ago. Someone put me in a straight jacket, I must be insane. I am also working to bring down an organization that has entirely too much power and has lost view of the principles that it was founded on…Lisa slowly collapsed into her seat, helpless. I don't know. I don't know. I just don't know…anything.

I don't know.

†~†~†

Jacob considered the woman's request. On one hand, it would be advantageous to bring down the Institute, they knew more than they should about matters that he wanted to remain hidden and they were becoming too uppity for him to ignore. On the other, they were a highly useful tool that had sought him both personal and professional knowledge for many years and were not likely to forget the things they owed him.

Even tools wear out and lose their usefulness, and a worn-out tool can be dangerous to use.

†~†~†

Lisa stayed silent for the entire ride back, lost in her own thoughts; thankfully Jac stayed silent as well, she felt as though she would break if she had to talk to anyone.

Even though she knew what she was doing was right by almost anyone's standards…it didn't mean that she was giving up anything less than the thing that she had put her entire life towards, and she regretted it.

More than anything, she had her regrets; anyone in her position would, she was sure of that, but she wouldn't change anything for anything. Lisa didn't like the position she was in, but she wouldn't be able to look at herself in the mirror now if she had done anything else.

But… But.

†~†~†

Alexandra didn't look the look of Lisa when she walked in the door; Lisa refused to look her in the eye and immediately went into the room of the house that was her and Jac's bedroom and locked the door.

She wanted to run after Lisa and make her tell her what was wrong, but the look on her friend's face was not the look of someone whose problems could be solved with her help.

She steeled herself to Lisa's pain and went to make some tea.

†~†~†

Come to terms… That was what she needed to do.

What a strange phrase. 'Come to terms with things.' It almost sounded as if there were a treaty that needed to be signed.

She could feel her moroseness receding, enough for her to get up from the bed and unlock the door. A quick look out of the window told her that she had sat in her puddle of self-pity far longer than she had intended.

Opening the door, she walked down the hall and paused at the kitchen door, trying to eavesdrop.

"Listen, even though it's chancy, they won't be expecting it. If there is some way to get inside and unnoticed before—Lisa, you really shouldn't be eavesdropping when people need your input."

Lisa slid around the doorframe like a guilty child. "Would that be another benefit of being a Methuselah?"

"You bet. Have a seat."

Lisa sat. "So, where are we getting who into?"

"Alex thinks that she should march up to that prison and announce herself to the wardens so they can put her back in." Mat said testily. "Seriously Alex, do you think I'm going to let you go after seeing what happened to you the last time I let you out of my sight?

"I never said anything about letting them capture me. All I want to do is provide a distraction so Lisa's friend can do some damage. Once they see me I doubt that they'll be thinking about much except capturing me, especially not someone trying to hack into their servers and deleting information."

Lisa looked at Alexandra as though she had never seen her before. Playing decoy was risky under normal circumstances, let alone when the people coming after you had stun rays and tranquilizers that could put down a blue whale.

"Alexandra… I really don't think that this is a good idea. You have no idea what those people are capable of and what kind of technology that they have. Take it from me, they could take you out and capture you easily, I helped design several things in there that would certainly not meet public approval and there is no way that anything could stand up to the arsenal that they have, including Methuselah."

Alexandra fixed her with a piercing look. "You're assuming that you know everything I can do."

"What else can you do then?"

"This, for one."

Alex disappeared and Lisa felt pressure on top of her head. She looked up to see a grinning Alexandra using her head as an armrest. "Teleport?"

"Moving fast." She smirked.

Jac was looking rather pale. "Lisa, can I talk to you outside for a minute?"

†~†~†

Once they were outside and a good distance down the path Lisa spoke. "Jac…" Her tone was placating, even pleading, but he would have none of it.

"LISTEN to me for a minute, would you! I don't care that you feel obligated! By following them you are putting yourself in God-only-knows how much danger and I refuse to help creatures who prey on humans. Don't you have any sense of self preservation?" Softening his voice, he said, "Just come home and we can work this out, please."

Lisa wanted to shrivel up as she listened to her husband. I know, I understand, but you don't understand my choices. You can't see beyond your protectiveness and prejudices. And I don't know how to make you understand. I'm sorry. As much as she wanted to curl up into a ball and wither away, she knew she couldn't afford to.

Not just yet, anyway.

If she had learned anything as a mother, it was that there were times that the only solution was to suck it up and deal, no matter how crappy things were, and she clung to that bit of steel. It was the only thing keeping her sane at the moment.

When Jac finished, she took a shaky breath and tried to explain. "Jac, do you honestly think that I can escape the Institute's notice without their help? If you don't want to come…I would prefer that you didn't come, actually, since it's going to get exponentially dangerous and you really had nothing to do with it. But there's a price on my head, so to speak, and I threw my lot in with Alex's when I decided to break her out and I'm grateful that she's willing to help me in turn. They have probably disappeared several times before and there is no way that I can afford to be choosy about whose help I receive, especially experienced help…" Lisa trailed off, not sure of what else to say.

One half of her heart was demanding that she get rid of the other, and it was tearing her apart. She left Jac to think about what she had said and made her way back to the house. If I hated him, if we were separated, this would be so much easier for both of us.

She stopped before she got to the porch and instead followed the foundation around the house to the back yard where she saw a vegetable garden in the fading light. She wandered among the tomatoes and nearly lost a patch of skin when she avoided stepping on the zucchini. Picking herself up, she felt the dam burst and tears cascaded down her cheeks.

Why does it…why can't everything…whywhywhywhy!

She punched and clawed the dirt under her until she exhausted her violent frustration. She lay in child's pose, kneeling with her forehead on the ground, until the mosquitoes began to arrive in force. She brushed herself off and felt her way across the darkened landscape to the back door. She carefully padded through the dim hallway to the bathroom, not wanting anyone's pity.

She washed her hands and found that she had bloodied a knuckle and torn three nails past the quick. Wincing at the sting of cold water on the cuts, she quickly finished cleaning her skin. Her slacks were beyond saving.

Her temper tantrum in the garden had not done much to relieve the pressure that was still building behind her breastbone. The most it had accomplished was tilling the soil. She could feel her shoulders tensing and forced herself to relax. She had physically exhausted her frustration with Jac, but that had done nothing to relieve the deeper pressure.

She stared at her reflection in the mirror, noting that the dark circles under her eyes were now dark enough that it looked like she had two black eyes. She tried to bring some emotion into her expression but her face stayed frozen in its mask. She slapped off the light and made her way back to her room, avoiding the lit doorway that led to the living room and kitchen.

As she pulled back the covers on her bed she decided that she would rather sleep alone. Grabbing a pillow and spare comforter off the foot of the bed, she opened the door to the room next to hers and Jac's and pulled back the sheets on the twin bed. She needed time alone to think, she needed to understand within herself why she was doing this and having anyone present would prevent her from being objective. She didn't understand her own feelings or why they were so strong; she had never felt like this before, felt so strongly about something.

It scared her.

She depended on control of herself. It was the only thing she had any true control over. She was losing and she didn't know what that meant or how to not lose. Everything was spiraling out of control and nothing was remaining in place long enough for her to grasp it to gain some kind of clue or stability.

Her best friend was keeping secrets.

Her husband was trying to protect her by putting himself in danger.

The company she worked for had a price on her head.

The one person who might be able to get her out of the hole she had dug had an interest in Alex that went beyond personal or scientific boundaries and she had no intention of handing Alex over without a fight.

She was trying to bring down the most powerful company on the planet with nothing but a little bit of computer knowledge and a friend.

And she was swept up in a whirlwind of emotion that forced choices on her that she never asked for and didn't want, in addition to keeping up appearances so Alex wouldn't worry. Because she couldn't let herself collapse just yet.

Sometimes, being a mom sucked.

Tearful laughter at the last thought. Yes, it can. And right now it sucks royally.

God, how she wanted to break.

†~†~†

The next morning, Lisa changed into the clothes that Alex had lent her and padded down the hall, the faux wood floor chilling her feet and emotional mask firmly back in place.

The blue-eyed woman standing at the stove waved toward the table, so she took the seat closest to her, which happened to be the seat closest to the counter that Alex was working on. A steaming mug appeared in front of her.

"What would you like for breakfast? Since things got crazy I realize we have hardly been feeding you properly and it's high time we started. Belated celebration breakfast, if you will. What will you have?"

"French toast."

Alex looked like she was about to say something but decided not to, instead she flickered around the kitchen, gathering ingredients. Literally flickered. She moved so fast that even sitting still and concentrating Lisa could barely see her between stops.

"Alex? There's something I need to talk to you about."

Alex stopped and set the cinnamon next to the bread and beaten eggs. "This has to do with the conversation you had with Jac last night, doesn't it?"

Lisa nodded and rested her head on her folded hands, unconsciously hiding her face. "Could you tone it down when Jac is around? He's not used to working around the unknown and I think that your and Mat's…physical advantages…are making him nervous. I don't think he likes being reminded that you could pick him up like a baby and play catch with him if the whim struck you."

The image of playing catch with a grown man was so funny that Alex had to laugh, but she sobered up when Lisa's request sunk in. "I'll try, and I'll talk to Mat. I suppose I haven't been exactly subtle, neither of us has. I'll keep those things to a minimum. Sorry…"

Lisa could almost see the other woman's wings drooping. Wait…wings? She shook her head, dismissing her active imagination, but she still got up and stepped closer to the Methuselah and wrapped her in a loose hug. "I don't mind. You don't have to have masks with me, okay?"

Alex laughed quietly. "How do you always know what to say?"

"Mom Telepathy. A necessity with moody teens." A smile snuck onto her face as well.

Alex stepped out of her embrace and took her by the shoulders. "Something has been eating you since last night."

Lisa froze and said stiffly, "That…has nothing to do with you."

Alexandra didn't respond except to tighten her hold on her shoulders.

She felt her breathing accelerating as she struggled not to break down weeping, unwilling to lose face in front of her best friend, but she came completely undone when she was gathered up in cool arms and Alex whispered, "Let me take some of the burden. Please."

She ended up telling her everything, from the first doubt that she had about the Institute to the fact that her husband and the love of her life couldn't or wouldn't understand why she insisted on continuing to follow what she felt was right.

The Methuselah listened patiently as she bled out her doubts and all the poison they contained, occasionally offering a comment to keep her talking

When her tears and words ran dry, Alex cupped her cheek and brought her eyes up to look into hers. "You shouldn't take everything on yourself. Even mothers need to depend on someone sometimes, let me share the burden that you are carrying in my place. You shouldn't think that just because you participated that everything afterward is your cross to bear alone. I have equal responsibility for what has happened. If I hadn't been caught in that building collapse we wouldn't even be in this mess. So please stop acting like you're the only one who isn't allowed a shoulder to cry on. Okay?"

Lisa took a shaky breath and nodded once.

"Good. I have an excellent recipe for french toast that will have you singing its praises for years, and I'll even let you watch. Slice the bread for me, would you?"

***End Chapter 15***

Ugh, I hate writing fights…I always feel like I'm walking in on something that I have no business with.

In a review last chapter someone asked about when Abel and Lilith would come in. I'm so sorry for having so much backstory, but Lisa kept springing plot twists on me and refused to tell me what happened next until I wrote enough for her. =_=;;; (being bossed around by your characters, so not cool)

Also, in this story they are very much siblings so it's not AbelxLilith, it's Abel with Lilith (and Cain and Seth but there's only 2 slots). Just in case you wanted to know.