This one's a little short, but it can't be helped. Also, MAJOR cliffie. :D

To say the least is to say that Mark was not happy to have his 'little brother' join them in the Thames. Almost every time Robert started, "Hey, big bro-" Mark would snap back, "I'm busy!", even if he was just moodily eating his fried egg and toast.

This led Veronica and Emily to start avoiding Mark, as they both claimed something along the lines of, "He's not usually like this. I think Tugger just got to him."

Trish and Cole started talking to him quietly, as if consoling him to act a bit friendlier towards Rob.

Reagan and Max kept going about and being sickeningly mischievous, and more than once Nurse Graves came across them in empty halls, only to find them doing nothing but talking with the occasional giggle.

Mitchell mostly stayed in his room, with 'fighting him' as his only excuse. Veronica wanted to go in to talk to him, but Mitchell wouldn't let her, and eventually Veronica ended up sharing a room with Robert, as Mark was with Emily, and the twins shared with their siblings.

Robert tried to stay out of Mark's way, but (more often than not, two or three times a day) he sometime's forgot and bounded up to him, with something or other that he was very excited about.

Finally, the last patient that had contacted Graves the night Veronica arrived had finally found a way to come and was going to arrive around lunchtime. Graves had decided to wait until he arrived to address them about the cat issue, as more of them had called themselves cats since Max and Reagan.

She entered the cafeteria, located Mark, and walked over to him. He was sitting moodily, staring at his plate and fiddling with a piece of paper in his hands. Graves sat down in the seat next to him and cleared her throat.

He looked up, scowling. "Hi," Mark started. "I guess you're wondering why I'm acting so weird." He sighed. "Well, I don't really like my little brother."

At this point Graves sighed as well. From their family records, Robert and Mark weren't the least bit related.

"He's so different from me. He's always a ladies man, and he always comes just to annoy me. And we used to be really close."

"Hey, it's alright." Graves said, awkwardly patting him on the back. "I'm sure if you give him a chance, you'll be close again."

He sniffed. Was he crying? "It's just… after Old Deuteronomy died, I've been under so much pressure," He looked at Nurse Graves, tear streaks staining his face. "He was the old leader, and our father. We have another brother, but…" He trailed off, looking once again at the paper in his hands.

Graves took it from him, and he didn't even put up a fight. It was scrawled in messy hand writing.

Hey, bro. I dunno why you're acting like this but it's starting to really get to me. Remember the good times we had? Anyway, I hope you can talk to be or something. We're still brothers after all.

Mark sniffed again, one tear falling onto his lap. "I just don't have the heart to tell him that our father died."

From the looks of Mark's records, his biological father had died recently. Graves assumed that if he had been alive, he would have soon been in the same place as Mark and the rest of them.

"Why don't you wait until everyone is here, then announce it?" She suggested.

"I can't. That'd take too long. There's to many of us. I have to do it today." With that, Mark got up, without even drying his face, and sat down next to Robert.

Graves decided to sit down across from Emily, who was eating alone.

"You know what Victoria told me?" The nurse started.

Emily looked up, dripping spoon halfway to her mouth. "That I don't have a talent or some shit like that?"

"Oh… well, yes." Graves said, flustered.

"Don't believe her. No one is born with a stupid talent or whatever. She just doesn't like people who are different, I think. Like me and the twins. And about half the tribe." She paused, thinking. "Or maybe she just doesn't like me."

"I see." Graves said, scribbling on her notepad.

Often mention a 'tribe'.

"Now, was it really necessary to make me take off my nail polish when I got here?" Emily said, showing Graves her bare nails. "I had just gotten this nice black stuff and your minions made me take it off."

Before she could answer, her beeper went off. "Oh, that must mean the last one is here early!" She got up and hurried out the door.

X

"He made us take the train." The newest addition's escort elbowed him, obviously annoyed.

The man had bright red hair, with a thin patch at the top of his head. He had a small goatee and a fuzzy mustache.

Steve Stays "Skimbleshanks"

Gender: Male

Age: 52

Birthday: December 2

Height: 5' 7'

Hair: Red, thinning

Eyes: Brown

Graves took him down to the cafeteria to have breakfast and meet the others.

Victoria refers to Skimbleshanks as "Daddy!"

X

Nurse Graves knocked on Mitchell's door to see if he was up for lunch, and, surprisingly, heard "Come in."

She entered, and almost dropped her notepad.

Mitchell was pacing, and had looked up when Graves entered. Another boy who looked around his age was sitting on one of the beds, and looked almost exactly like Mitchell, except he had brown hair only a little lighter than Mitchell's and light brown eyes.

"Wha… how did… Mitchell, did you sneak one of your friends in or something? I don't under… stand…" She sputtered.

"Well," Mitchell started, obviously annoyed that she didn't comprehend. "This is Quaxo."