Author's Note: Sorry this is such a long chapter. I thought about taking some of this out, but I couldn't. I liked all of it. I hope you do too! Let me know! Review!

Chapter 59: The Final Secret

Micky woke up when Serenity started crying. Sarah groaned, but Micky told her that he'd take care of the baby. He wasn't really able to sleep soundly anyway; he'd only been asleep for 25 minutes when Serenity woke up him. Micky got up to feed Serenity and make sure her diaper was clean, but when he finished, he sat back down on the end of the bed. He was just too stressed out to even try going back to sleep again.

"Micky, you ok?" Sarah asked after a few minutes.

"Fine," Micky lied. "Go back to bed."

"You're not fine," Sarah said sitting up and scooting toward the end of their bed. "I know you. Talk to me."

"It's just...I keep thinking about all those other girls," Micky said.

"What other girls?" Sarah asked.

"The other girls that have been hurt in the past six years," Micky said.

"Micky, you can't think about that," Sarah said. "It's in the past. It's over. They're in jail. They can't hurt anyone else because of you."

"They shouldn't have been able to hurt anyone for the last six years, though," Micky sighed. "I should have spoke up about all this sooner. If I had…"

"Micky, you didn't have a choice," Sarah said. "No one was gonna believe you. We got lucky with Booth."

"I should have tried harder to find someone like Booth," Micky said. "I'm a coward."

"You were scared," Sarah said.

"That's kind of the point," Micky answered.

"Micky, being a coward isn't just about being scared," Sarah said. "You're only a coward if you don't do anything about it. You did."

"It took six years and people like Willow and you getting hurt," Micky said.

"I wasn't hurt because of you," Sarah said. "And neither was Willow. Micky, you were courageous enough to run away and escape with us then turn yourself over knowing they'd likely kill you just to help me and Rose start over."

"Sarah, I know you're trying to help, but it's just not gonna work," Micky snapped. "The truth is that I chose to hide and not say anything knowing full well that other people were being hurt. If I'd said something sooner, Willow wouldn't have been hurt and Serenity…"

"Serenity what?" Sarah asked narrowing her eyes slightly.

"Serenity wouldn't be sick," Micky said.

"You think that's your fault?" Sarah snapped. Micky tried to interrupt to get her to leave him alone, but she flashed him a very stern look that made him listen. "Let me tell you something: you are the reason she's even here. Every child I carried has died. I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to have Serenity either. I was sick. And that's no more your fault than it is mine. I was the one who carried her and I was the one who was sick. I was sick because of what Claire and the others did to me. But you supported me. You believed in me and you took care of me. It's not a coincidence the only child I've successfully had was yours."

"If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have even been put in that position," Micky said.

"If you had tried to find a cop to believe you six years ago, you would have failed," Sarah said. "Your dad was alive and word would have gotten back to him. He would have killed you. And you wouldn't have been there to save me when I escaped. You wouldn't even have helped me create Serenity, let alone support me enough to give birth to her. And you wouldn't have been able to help Willow. Look at how happy she is now compared to when we first met her."

"She's in love with Peter," Micky said.

"Yes, but that's because of you," Sarah said. "All of this is because of you. If you'd died, you wouldn't have been able to achieve any of this. And if you don't knock this off, it's going to eat you up. And then you won't be around for your friends or Serenity. She needs you. If you keep beating yourself up, she's gonna lose her father." Micky didn't know what to say. He knew she was right, of course, but he couldn't push away the feeling of guilt. Sarah didn't say anything else; she moved back to the pillow and curled back under the covers. After a few minutes, Micky joined her pulling her close to him.

"I love you," Micky whispered before finally falling asleep.

"Morning," Mike smiled as Micky and the others walked into the living room. Mike guessed they all must have smelled the large breakfast Rose was cooking as celebration. "How did you all sleep?"

"I smell bacon," Davy smiled.

"Rose is making breakfast," Mike answered.

"I think that was the first night I'd slept through the whole night in a really long time," Peter smiled. "Probably the most sleep all of us have had in a long time."

"Speak for yourself," Micky yawned. "You don't have a cranky one year old to wake you up at 2 am."

"That's not the reason you didn't sleep," Sarah said glaring at him. She was mostly drowned out by the sound of a knock on the door.

"I'll get that," Mike said sensing the tension between the two. He almost ran to the front door to let Agent Booth, Angela, Jack and Doctor Brendan in. He got a little scared when he saw the serious look on Booth's face. "What's wrong? Please don't tell me something went wrong?"

"No, not really," Booth said.

"Then why do you look so upset?" Davy asked perking up even more than he did when he realized Rose was making bacon.

"It's Heather," Booth said.

"What about her?" Mike asked when Booth fell silent as though he were trying to figure out just what to say. Mike felt his stomach knot as possibilities swam through his head.

"She...she's demanding to see Emmett," Booth said.

"Not a chance in hell," Mike spat. "I stand by everything Davy and Peter said to her. She's not his mother; she doesn't deserve to see him. She won't see him."

"She shouldn't be demanding a damn thing," Micky said. "She's a felon. She can't demand anything. You don't owe her anything."

"Why are you even entertaining the idea?" Sarah asked.

"He's not!" Mike argued hoping he was right but had a feeling he wasn't.

"He wouldn't even be telling us about it if he weren't entertaining the idea," Sarah said. "Booth?"

"I wouldn't normally even give it a second thought," Booth said trailing off again.

"Do you want me to just tell them?" Doctor Brendan asked.

"No, it's fine," Booth said before taking a deep breath and starting again. "I wouldn't normally even be giving her the time of day, but she says she has something for us. Some information we need. And she won't tell us unless she can see him."

"She's lying," Mike said.

"She's just trying to fuck with us," Micky agreed.

"That may be," Booth said, "but I wanted it to be up to you. If she's actually telling the truth and she has information for us, it could help someone else."

"I can't put my son through that," Mike said firmly.

"I understand," Booth said. "I wouldn't want to do this in your situation either. I really didn't even want to come here and tell you about this, but my bosses are making me. They think that maybe she has more names for us. And that means more victims saved."

"Do you really think she's telling the truth?" Sarah asked.

"I think there's something she's holding back," Booth said. "But what it is and how important, I'm not sure."

"We won't know anything unless she can see him," Dr. Brendan said.

"She's not going to," Mike said. "It's not going to happen."

"Can I ask you something?" Angela asked. "What do you plan on saying to Emmett when he grows up?"

"What do you mean?" Mike asked more trying to avoid answering; he knew what she meant.

"When he asks who his mother is," Angela said. "What are you going to tell him? I know Rose is taking care of him and acting like his mother, but are you going to tell him Rose is his mother? Or are you going to tell him the truth?"

"I don't know," Mike said. "I have a while to think about that. Why does that even matter?"

"I understand," Angela said. "But you also have to realize that he's really young and he won't remember any of this. If you decide to tell him the truth, you can tell him about this and tell him he was brave enough to help save lives. It matters because this could play an important role in what he decides to do later. If you tell him who his mother really is, he can use this as a basis for understanding who she is. That she's the kind of person who won't help others unless there was something in it for her. You would."

"If she's telling the truth," Mike said.

"That doesn't really matter," Angela said. "What matters is the intention behind it."

"We can be in complete control of the situation," Booth said. "She wants to be alone with you and Emmett, but we can be in the next room watching. At any time, you can pull the plug. You don't even have to tell him who she is right now."

"Don't you think he'll question it?" Mike asked.

"He can barely talk," Micky said. "He's not gonna even understand what's going on, honestly."

"What would you do, Micky?" Mike asked. "Do you think it's gonna hurt him?"

"I think he's still young enough he won't remember anything," Micky said. "And if you decide not to tell him about any of this, he won't know the difference. Even if Heather tells him she's his mother. And he has enough love and support around him that he's gonna be fine no matter what happens. I'm honestly more worried about giving Heather what she wants than what it's gonna do to Emmett."

"Do you think she knows more than you do about the things they've done?" Mike asked.

"It's possible," Micky said. "It's actually very probable. She spent the last six years working alongside them."

"So what would you do?" Mike asked. "If you were me?"

"I've spent a very long time remaining silent," Micky said after a long moment of silence and a not so quick glance at Willow. "Who knows how many other people have been hurt because I've been silent for so long. If I can do something now to save even more lives, I will. I get that she may be toying with us and she doesn't really even have anything, but that's a risk I'd be willing to take no matter what that means for us. The only people this is going to affect is us. Because we just don't want to give her what she wants. And as much as I hate it, I would do it to save other people from having to go through what some of us did."

"You know whatever you want to do, we'll support you," Rose said startling Mike a little. He hadn't realized she'd even come out of the kitchen.

"If you decide to go," Micky started, "I'm going with you."

"When do I have to do this?" Mike asked.

"We want to do it before we move you," Booth said.

"So today?" Mike asked feeling the weight bear down on him even more.

"Right now," Dr. Brendan said. "The flight to California leaves this afternoon."

"Ok," Mike said taking a deep breath. He realized they all had valid points; Emmett wouldn't remember anything and he had to take the chance to help other people. The thought that they'd found women being held in his father's mansion made him sick. Micky didn't explicitly say the two of them had both been too silent for too long, but Mike definitely felt it. Not that this was the first time he was gripped by the guilt. He knew exactly how Micky felt and what Micky was dealing with. Mike shot his own glance over at Willow. They both knew that she'd been taken and tortured after Micky and Mike had escaped 5 years ago. If they'd spoken up, they may have been able to save her. He knew he had to right that. If it wasn't gonna hurt Emmett, he had to at least try and get Heather to give up whatever she knew. "Let's go."

"Don't you wanna eat breakfast first?" Davy asked.

"I'm not really hungry anymore," Mike said. "You guys eat. I'll be back."

"Are you sure?" Peter asked. "We can go with you, too."

"Actually, you need to rest," Dr. Brendan said. "It's bad enough letting you on a plane with your concussion."

"I'm fine, Peter," Mike smiled knowing Peter didn't really care about any of that. "I've got Micky. You guys just stay here and get everything ready to go home."

About an hour later, Mike and Micky found themselves in a room with Agent Booth and Doctor Brendan. Mike could see into an interrogation room through a two-way mirror where a few small chairs and small table sat in the middle of the room with a metallic ring in the center of it presumably to keep the prisoner restrained to it. The room was so far empty; Booth had sent someone to retrieve Heather from her cell downstairs. Mike held Emmett against his hip and started wondering if he'd made the right decision. He looked into his son's happy, smiling face and felt terror grip him. He didn't want to put his son in any danger mentally or physically.

"She's not gonna hurt him," Micky said as though he could read Mike's mind.

"How do you know?" Mike asked.

"Because if she does, I'm gonna make sure she knows what pain really is," Micky said coldly. "I'm not gonna lie; she may try to hurt him because she doesn't want you to have him, but the second she makes a move, she'll regret it."

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear any of that," Booth said. "But she'll be chained to the table. She won't even be able to stand up."

"She's good," Micky said.

"So am I," Booth said. "It appears the cameras are malfunctioning. That's a shame."

"I watched you turn them off," Dr. Brendan said. Booth shot her a look and she seemed to understand that he'd done that on purpose. "Oh! I get it. Very clever."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Booth said shaking his head a little. Within a few minutes, a pair of agents brought Heather in the interrogation room and shackled her to the table in the middle of the room. She looked smug and Mike suddenly felt the urge to punch her in the face.

"Let's get this over with," Mike said holding Emmett a little tighter. He'd explained on the way that Emmett was going to meet with a woman that might try to scare him, but that daddy was going to be right there with Uncle Micky and Emmett shouldn't be scared. He told Emmett to tell Mike if he was scared and that he would make sure to take Emmett away from the scary lady.

"Remember, you can get up and walk away any time you want," Booth said.

"Thanks," Mike said as Mike and Micky walked to the door separating the two rooms. Micky went through first and Heather looked disappointed until she saw Mike enter with Emmett on his hip.

"I said I wanted to be alone with you," Heather said.

"Tough," Micky said. "I'm not gonna let you play games. Deal with me or we leave."

"Fine," Heather said turning to Emmett and smiling. "He looks like you."

"Thank you," Mike said. He'd always been glad Emmett looked like him and not like her. He was afraid that he wouldn't be able to handle seeing any piece of her in him.

"What's his name?" Heather asked.

"Emmett," Mike answered begrudgingly. "For my mother."

"It's not a terrible name, I guess," Heather said. "Do you know who I am, Emmett?"

"Scary lady," Emmett said.

"Are you scared, Emmett?" Mike asked turning Emmett away from Heather a little.

"No," Emmett answered. "Daddy said scary lady."

"You told him I was a scary lady?" Heather asked.

"We weren't sure if you were going to scare him," Micky answered. "I think we're done here. You saw him. That's it."

"Not yet," Heather said. "Emmett, sweetie, I'm your mommy. You don't have to be afraid of me. Don't listen to grumpy daddy."

"No mommy," Emmett said. "Mommy home. Mommy nice. Daddy no grumpy."

"Mommy at home?" Heather repeated. "Daddy lied. I'm your mommy."

"No, you're not," Micky said. "You were the incubator. That's enough. We're done. Tell us what you know."

"No," Heather said. "I want him to know who I am! I AM his mother! I gave birth to him! I made him! You can't take that from me!"

"Watch me," Micky said. "Mike, let's go. She's got nothing for us."

"The hell I don't," Heather sneered. "I have something you really, really want."

"You have nothing I want," Micky spat as he moved toward the door, pushing Mike as he went.

"Are you sure about that?" Heather asked. "You don't wanna know who your father is?" Micky and Mike both stopped in their tracks. Mike didn't really care much, but he knew deep down Micky wanted to know. Even if he wouldn't admit it.

"Judging from what I know about the men mom slept with, no, not really," Micky said turning to stare her down. "And if that's the big information you said you had, then we wasted our time in even coming down here."

"You aren't even a little curious?" Heather asked.

"No," Micky said turning to walk back toward the door.

"But you'll never know who your brother is," Heather said.

"Why should I care?" Micky snapped. "I have such a lovely sister in you. Then there's Daniel who was a piece of shit, too. So tell me, Heather, why should I give a crap about some brother I've never even met!?"

"But you have met him," Heather smiled. Mike noticed her eyes flicked toward him and her smile grew bigger. Something clicked in his head and he almost froze in shock.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Micky asked.

"Forget it, Micky," Mike said grabbing the back of Micky's shirt. "Let's just go. We're just egging her on. She's enjoying this too much."

"That was a colossal waste," Micky said.

"Not really," Mike said. "I know who your dad is. You're real dad. If you care."

"How do you know?" Micky asked.

"I just figured it out," Mike answered. "I had all the pieces, but I never put them together. Are you sure you want to know?"

"I don't know, do I?" Micky asked.

"I noticed your mom and my dad kinda seemed to have tension between them before we left," Mike sighed. "Like they'd kinda shared something a long time ago. He told me that he'd known her since they were teenagers. And then just now...Heather said you knew your brother...and she...she looked directly at me."

"What are you saying?" Micky asked in a tone that suggested he knew the answer but didn't really want to believe it.

"I think...I think your dad is my dad," Mike said.

"So we're...brothers?" Micky asked.