Lex was lounging by the pool, a drink in her hand. She'd just gotten back into the city the night before and her only plans for the day were to sit in this spot and do nothing. Well nothing but drink, she was definitely going to drink. Nikko was going to be gone the whole day too, so that was a bonus. It was rare when she got some time to herself, especially since they'd put in the L3 implant a year ago. Nikko wanted her with him wherever he went, not only as muscle, but as a tool. The biggest rumor about biotics was that they could read people's minds, and Nikko was happy to let anyone he dealt with believe it. As the leader of one of the biggest gangs in the city, having a biotic on a leash was a gold mine for him. She didn't know why he'd let her stay home today, but she wasn't complaining.

"You let me in or I'm calling the cops! You hear me?" Lex sat up as she heard someone yelling from inside the house. She didn't recognize the voice, and she wondered who would be stupid enough to threaten to call the cops in Nikko's house. She got up and walked to the backdoor, curious to see who it could be. "That's my daughter in there, and I have rights!"

Lex couldn't believe her eyes. Her mother was standing right in front of her, at her front door. She'd never spoken to the woman before, but she knew who she was. She remembered seeing her sometimes at her grandparent's house when she was growing up. And later in the neighborhood. Although they lived in the city, theirs was a small neighborhood and everybody knew who's kid she was. She'd seen her mother a few times, but the woman had never made an effort to talk to her, so she hadn't seen a reason to bother with her either.

The woman looked over and spotted her. "Lex! Lex tell this asshole to let me in, tell him who I am."

"And who would that be?"

"I'm your mother!"

"Really? My mother? Why do I suddenly have a mother now? After sixteen years? What do you want, Lizzy?"

"I'm so sorry baby, I really am. I know I messed up. Let me in, and I'll explain everything to you. I promise!"

(Oh, this should be good for a laugh.) "Sure, why not? Let her in Mike."

The guard at the door gave her a questioning look. "You sure? I don't think Mr. Nikko would like it."

"Well I could give a shit. Just let her in." The big man sighed, and stepped back letting the older woman walk past him and into the living room. Lizzy made a move to sit down, but Lex stopped her. "No, let's sit outside. One thing is letting you into the house, Nikko would go nuts if I let you sit in his precious living room. Come on." Lex sat back down on her deck chair and motioned for Lizzy to take the one next to her.

"You look good, Lex. Nikko's taking good care of you, right? I knew this would be the best place for you, that's why I let him take you in."

Lex laughed. "Yeah, he's a regular Daddy Warbucks, Lizzy. Thanks so much, for that!"

Lizzy fidgeted in her chair, she hadn't stopped moving her leg since she'd sat down. "Well good, good."

(Apparently she has no concept of sarcasm.)

"I knew he would. That's why I didn't say anything when he moved you in. I knew he'd take care of you."

"Yeah, that's why you didn't say anything. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the money he threw at you. How long did that last you, Lizzy? A year? A few months?"

"Hey, I'm your mother, you can't talk to me that way!"

"Oh please, don't try to walk in here after all this time and pull that shit with me. I'm not some sentimental idiot, Lizzy. You don't give a shit about anyone but yourself, and if you're here now it's because you need something. So out with it, what do you want?"

"Well see, that's where you're wrong. I'm here for you, 'cause I have some news. Your father wants to meet you."

"What the fuck are you talking about, Lizzy? How high are you? Jimmy died years ago."

"Jimmy? Jimmy wasn't your dad."

Now that got Lex's attention and she looked over at Lizzy. "If Jimmy wasn't my dad, then who was?"

"He's a soldier. We were dating for a few months before he shipped out. I didn't find out I was knocked up until after he was gone. And I couldn't find him to let him know. But now he found us, Lex and he wants to meet you!"

Lex sat up. "He found us? He came looking for me?" Someone actually came looking for her. "What does he want? Nikko isn't going to give him anything."

"No, no he doesn't want anything from Nikko. He wants to see you."

She eyes Lizzy suspiciously. "And what's in it for you? And don't lie to me, Lizzy, I swear to god you'll regret it."

"He's rich. Like old money rich. His grandmother just died and left you a bunch of money. 'Course, you can't touch it till you're eighteen, but he still owes us for all those years he wasn't there, and you are still a minor. So he's gotta pay."

Lex could practically see the greed flowing from Lizzy. Of course, it was about money. Why else would she had bothered to come see her? "I don't need money, Lizzy." She laid back down on her chair.

"Of course you do! Just think, you could go where ever you want."

Lex thought about that. To be able to leave all this behind, leave Nikko. She'd have to be rich to do that, because Nikko would never stop looking for her. "Fine, but still if the old lady left me the money in a trust, I'll get it at eighteen regardless. I don't have to meet anyone." She didn't want to meet this man. Any one that would go near a woman like Lizzy couldn't be worth shit.

"Don't be a greedy bitch, Lex. I need this money."

"Fuck you, Lizzy. I could give a shit, just ask him for it. Like you said, he owes you, right?"

"But he isn't going to give me nothing if I don't let him see you. Look, all you gotta do is meet him tomorrow. We pretend we're some happy little family and he'll pay up. Then you don't gotta see me again."

Lex laughed. "Oh my god, he thinks I live with you, doesn't he? He thinks you raised me. That poor sucker, he doesn't have a clue."

"Hey, I tried, I did the best I could by you."

Lex was up in a flash, her hands on Lizzy's arms, pulling her up to face her. "The best you could? You used me as an experiment in the womb, so you could make some money. Then you dropped me at that nightmare house when that didn't work. I lived with those bastards for eight years. And I know you know what that was like for me. Then that foster home, not as bad as your parents, but still crap. I lived on the streets for years. You did shit for me, Lizzy." She pushed Lizzy away from her. "This here, this is all me. I'm the one that went through the fucking hell to get the biotic powers, I'm the one that spent another year of hell training and then had this thing surgically implanted in my fucking head. And I'm the one that has to spend each night lying next to Nikko, because he figures since he's put so much money into me, he might as well get the most out of it."

Lizzy was crying. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I tried. I wanted to be a good mother. I went to Steven's house and I tried to get his grandmother to tell me where he was, but she wouldn't. She wouldn't even give me money to help take care of you, and they had the money. Then I met Jimmy, and he promised to take care of me, he said we could make enough money to take care of all three of us if we did the eezo thing. So I let them expose me to that stuff and even took the red sand, 'cause I thought maybe it would help, but nothing happened. And then Jimmy, he said he would leave me if I kept you. I couldn't lose him."

"Get out, Lizzy."

"I need this, damn it. You can't do this to me, you have to help. We're family, we're blood. You just gotta pretend for a little bit, that's all. Then I'll leave you alone, I promise."

Lex didn't believe her. She knew if she did this for Lizzy, she'd want to keep on doing it until she bled that man dry. She didn't know what he was like, if he deserved it or not, but she didn't want to keep dealing with her. There was only one thing she could do. "Okay, Lizzy. I'll help you. Just once, I'll do this and I never see you again. Deal?"

"Yes! Yes, never again, I promise." She was smiling now, her tears miraculously gone. "I told him we'd have dinner tomorrow. We'll go someplace outside of the neighborhood. We'll…"

"No, has to be tonight. Nikko won't be around, and he won't want to let me go anywhere out of the neighborhood alone when he's back."

"Fine, fine, he wanted it to be tonight anyways. I'll call him. You put on something nice. Something that makes you look like a kid. Make a good impression."

Lex smiled. (Oh, I plan to make an impression.)