Blackness all around me.

My head felt heavy. As my foggy mind slowly cleared, I opened my eyes and immediately shut them again. The darkness had given away to piercing white, and it hurt my eyes.

I let my eyes slowly adjust to the room in which I now lay. It had starkly white walls. A white ceiling. A television in the corner. Looking down, I saw I was sitting in a rather standardized bed with comfortable blankets. The air smelled of hand sanitizer and bleach, and a constant beeping sound was coming from beside me. I sat up slowly and saw a monitor correlating perfectly with the beating of my heart.

A plump nurse walked briskly through the door, and, upon seeing me awake, gasped in delight.

"Hello, dear!" she said brightly, walking toward me happily. "You're finally awake!"

I frowned at her. The last thing I remembered was Meta restraining me. O'Malley threatening me. Tex kidnapping Church.

"Where am I?" I asked.

"The local hospital," she said kindly, bustling around and checking my vitals.

I looked out the window hesitantly. The sky was blue. One sun hung brightly in the sky, and white clouds floated gently around as well. Below the sky lay a street. The grass was green.

"Wait… I'm on Earth?"

The nurse looked over at me, frowning. "Of course you are. Why wouldn't you be?"

"Because—because—" I stammered. What the hell had happened? How did we get rescued from Blood Gulch? Had Hale ordered me home? Where was Church? What about the others? "Was there a rescue or something?"

"That's right," she replied. "Thank goodness the paramedics arrived in time, or we would have lost you. Your car was completely totaled."

I cocked my head, confused at that. "Wait, do you mean the Puma?"

"Honey, the last time I checked my records, you owned a Chevrolet."

What the hell was this lady talking about? "What happened to the others? Are they all right?"

"Others?" the nurse asked me. "There were no others, dear. The street was icy and you spun out of control, crashing head-first into an old office building."

I gaped. "Wait—you're talking about a car crash?"

The nurse stopped what she was doing and gazed at me in pity. "Oh, dear. They warned me that you might not remember anything." She took a deep breath. "Honey, I think you may have amnesia."

"Wha—what are you talking about?" I demanded. I knew exactly what had happened. "I remember everything! We had just tracked down the AIs and the Freelancers tricked us! I think the Reds and Blues are in danger!"

The nurse was looking at me with definite alarm now. She shook her head slowly. "Honey, no. You must have been dreaming. You have been in a coma for weeks now after that horrible car crash. We were almost starting to give up on you. Your family is worried sick."

No. This wasn't possible.

"I'm sorry, but there must be some mistake," I said, attempting to get out of bed. "I wasn't in any car crash. I have to go—"

The nurse stopped me kindly but firmly. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that. You just got out of a coma, and after an accident like that, I have to make sure you are healed before you go."

"But—but the others!" I protested. "I have to help them!"

The nurse watched me steadily. "There were no other people in the car with you, Ellen."

"Wha—Ellen?" I asked. "Who's Ellen?"

The nurse shook her head pityingly. "You are, dear. Your name is Ellen."

"No, it's not!" I said, almost laughing. "That's just a derivation of 'Eleven.' My name is—"

"Do you want proof?" the nurse asked. She shuffled through some papers on her clipboard and handed it to me. "Here's your birth certificate."

I stared at the piece of paper. It was… my birth certificate. Every single bit of information on the sheet of paper was correct… except for my name.

I stared at it. What. The. Hell.

"Ellen Church?"

"Yes, honey."

I tried not to panic. This wasn't possible. This wasn't my name.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "Okay, okay," I said. "Is—is there anyone here I know? Someone I can talk to?" I prayed that someone I knew could explain what the hell was happening.

"Why, yes. Your brother is here to see you," she said.

All right. Maybe I could handle this. I had three younger brothers, and seeing any one of them would be perfectly fine with me.

"Which one?" I asked.

"Honey," she responded, shaking her head. "You only have one sibling."

I swallowed and decided not to tell her she was wrong again. That look of uneasiness she had given me after I had mentioned the AIs and Freelancers made me nervous, and the last thing I needed right now was to be checked in at a mental facility. She left, and, a few minutes later, a man walked into the room wearing a powder blue dress shirt tucked into khaki pants.

It was Church.

We saw each other and both gasped—he in delight, and I in shock.

"Ellen!" Church cried, rushing over to me and grasping me into a tight hug. "I knew you'd wake up soon! I knew it!"

What the hell was he doing? He never… hugged… people. I tensed up my body in surprise, and he seemed to realize what he had done, because he let go quickly and looked at me worriedly.

"Do you remember me?"

I gulped. "You're my brother?" There was no resemblance between us.

"Yes," he seemed relieved. I had never seen him so… compassionate before. It was freaking me out. I didn't even know Church could have any emotions other than irritation. "Do you remember my name?"

"Church," I blurted.

"Yes," he said slowly. "That's our last name, Ellen. What about my first name?"

"Uh… Leonard."

"Oh, thank God," he said, sighing in relief. "You do remember."

He hugged me protectively again, and, this time, I went along with it. I just needed to play along with this nonsense before I could figure out what the hell was going on.

"Um, Leo," I asked, going out on a limb with the nickname. He smiled when I said that; apparently, I had done so before. "Was I really out for weeks?"

He nodded. "I didn't know if you would ever come back. After the crash, God… I just didn't know if I'd ever see you again. I don't know what I'd do without you. It was especially hard for Dad."

"Uh… Dad…?"

Church was still staring at me intently. "Listen, Ellen, the nurses said the amnesia would take time to get over, but that we can work through this together. You just have to be willing to trust me, okay?"

I frowned. "Okay," I lied.

"All right," he continued. "Do you remember Dad's name?"

I shook my head. "No."

He grinned. "Think really hard, okay? It's a name you've heard before."

I waited for him to go on, still shaking my head.

"Leonard. It's Leonard, too, Ellen. Remember now?"

I closed my eyes for a moment, not wanting to ask the next question.

"You—you don't mean Dr. Leonard L. Church?"

A wide smile split Church's face. "I knew you'd catch on quickly."

Holy shit.

The Director was my father.

There were so many things wrong with this I didn't even know where to start.