A/N: Full OC scene. However, it's important. And I hope you care enough about these two by now. :)

Sciencegal, I've been meaning to use that tape for a while. Glad you enjoyed it. XD

D. Gavin. I. Just. Gah. He didn't turn out like planned. At all. You'll get a talk between him and Mia...soon. *whistles innocently*

October 2
11:48 A.M.

Melody should feel comfortable inside George Baker's private office. Her robotic features were fully covered, regardless of how the heat made her pant. The older gentleman looked across his desk with a trademark smile. And no matter how much paint or new furniture replaced the older versions, the fact remained: here, she and Baker had plenty of deep conversations.

In fact, she sat in the same chair. Why hadn't he replaced that?

"So," Baker started, "are you going to tell me why we're here? Or would you rather sit in the near-dark?"

"Forgive me," Melody said. "I feel more comfortable this way…"

Baker's bulbous nose scrunched with his smile. It accentuated the wrinkles around his deep-set eyes, which reminded her so much of her mother. Really, they could've been related…

"What do you need, Melody?"

Melody fidgeted. In her lap, her hands twisted the polyester surrounding them, but despite the attempt to contain her anxiety, it shook her voice. "Well, I…something has happened to my family."

Right; frankness would be best. It always had been.

"Oh?" Smile easing, Baker lifted his worn, leathery hands onto the desk and interlaced his spotted fingers. "This is the family you have been living with since last winter, yes?"

"Yes."

"With Miss Brown."

Mel nodded. "She's Misses Hamato now. Like me."

"Married?" The elderly man shook his balding head. "You don't visit nearly enough, Melody. I would love to know these things."

Had the cyborg flinched? She didn't think she had, yet Baker's expression softened in the lamp's light.

"Is everyone alright?" he asked.

"Yes," answered Melody, monotonous.

"What happened?"

"Home invasion. The place was destroyed. We had no insurance. Now…"

"You're homeless again."

Melody's vision averted to the yellow-bulb peeping atop the desk lamp's cover. "I—I did not know where else to turn. We are considering prospects; however, our income is minimal and renovations alone are expensive."

"How many are you?"

"Seven. Eight if my brother has his way. With"—Mel held her tongue then gave into honesty—"a baby in our future."

"Gracious."

"Sarah," the name sounded odd to the cyborg's ears, "she and my husband are the only ones capable of work. The others…We're—"

"Say no more." Baker sounded every bit as forthright as Mel. That wasn't why her jaw grew slack. The man stood from his chair to rummage through a local filing cabinet then pulled out a square piece of perforated paper, which he surveyed.

"I have no right to ask anything of you," she told his backside. "You're already pouring so much into my school tuition an—"

"And you need money," Baker concluded in a light tone.

The cyborg shook her head, the man's short figure partially obscured by her hood's brim. "I'm not here to beg. I was just hoping you'd have some resources or connections."

"I do." Baker slid the paper across the glass-top desk. "Me," he added with a chuckle.

"What is this?" asked Melody softly. She knew they were checks, but she hadn't been questioning about them. Baker sensed as much.

The older man rounded the desk until he reached its other side. Leaning against the lip, he lifted a leg to sit on it half-way, his gaze every bit as serious as his voice. "My purpose on this planet is to help. I have no blood family. That's okay. I have this hotel instead. So everyone I've helped pull off the ground has been a child to me, a sister, a brother. When I won the lottery, I immediately started crying because…I could only imagine how many people I could save with it."

"Still." Melody's whisper caught like a barb in her throat. "I can't. You've done so much already. I…"

"I know, Melody."

"Know what?"

"The truth."

Mel narrowed her eye. What did he mean? He continued smiling and risked slipping from his perch to gather her hands. He squeezed them. The hard metal below the gloves would be a dead giveaway of their true nature, but his smile only grew.

"Tabitha told me," he added in a whisper. He met her gaze then pushed back her hood.

Why deny what he already knew? Melody let him pull down the cloth around her face as well; it let her breathe a little easier, even if his dark eyes shined with a pain that twisted her gut.

"You're each different," he said.

"We were crafted with different skills in mind. I was the muscle. Sven was the hacker. Tabi…" No; the name stung too much, so Melody lowered her gaze to the old hands that held her.

"I thought it seemed strange," added Baker. "Before, you three had no problems letting others know you lived in this Hotel. Tabitha, especially. When you returned last winter, everything changed. You were closed off even more than before. And the cloaks? Only folks with something to hide wear those."

Drawing in a deep breath, Baker's round chest puffed then deflated. "I made posters for you. No else would, so when you walked into my hotel again, it felt like you had risen from the dead. But you weren't all there, were you?"

Melody ducked her head; she hated seeing that look in the man's gaze—that fatherly concern.

"Do you remember the boy Tabitha had a crush on?"

"Tanner?"

"Little punk led her on for ages. Got a girl in the time she was gone. He didn't let her know that when she came back. It got to a point where she felt she could open up. She…let him see her changes."

Mel's narrowed gaze lifted, wanting him to have better news than what she felt he had.

"He rejected her," Baker continued. "Told her she was hideous and didn't belong with people"

"For his sake, he better not hang around here," Melody said through clenched teeth.

"Not anymore. That night, Tabitha came to me. Said you were busy with your new family, so…she didn't want to bother you."

Guilt. It curled what little food Melody had managed to down during breakfast, and her hands almost crushed what she held, until she noticed Baker's pain.

He flinched, his wrinkles deepening, yet he kept a hold of her. "Tabitha didn't feel her parents could help her through her feelings. She trusted me more than them. Same with Sven. Really, it hurt that you couldn't tell me outright.

"Why would I reject you? The changes were forced. You went through so much hell, and…your kind needs helped more than most."

"My kind?" echoed Melody with a lowered brow.

Baker sent an ambiguous grin, its intent either flippant or all-knowing. "If your family faces the same troubles you do, it's not your fault. You shouldn't be punished for it."

"So you—you're willing to…?"

"Of course. All that aside, this is for everyone's benefit. You're the only doctor who can understand the clientele that will frequent my clinic. I trust you, Melody—your morals, your judgment, your heart. Which is why I feel at ease while giving you these blank checks."

"I—I can't. George."

"You can and will. For your family's sake. For your future nieces or nephews, sons or daughters—whatever it may be. I have this money to do good. Let me."

Melody stared at the blank checks on the desk. So lifeless and dull and yet they held a promise. They could shelter her clan, regain their security—possibly even leave room for expansion. Yes, it was a hand-out. God, did the cyborg hate handouts. But her pride mattered little when compared to the well-being of those she loved.

After all, Nia and Raphael's child deserved something better than scraps of bricks.

"You…you won't regret it, Mister Baker," Melody said as she reached for the paper.

Baker laughed, saying, "That I know as well."

A/N: I teared up while writing this. I won't lie. George Baker is a SAINT and another positive 'parent' figure in Mel's life. Just letting you know he's still present in the universe (like other forgotten OCs: Jezabel, Damien, Kenneth, Miriam, Doctor Olson, ect.). I don't forget people. They just rear when it's important. ;)