Duke kept Mara tight against him when they went out to the Land Rover, afraid she'd stumble with the Aether blocking her sight. She slid into the back with Audrey, listening to Nathan calling Dwight, Vince and Dave to meet them at Gloria's office. She fidgeted, twisting her fingers around and around. She could feel the bandage Duke had wrapped around her arm soaking through.

Audrey was fascinated by Mara's eyes, and insisted on testing her vision even when Mara repeated that she couldn't see anything.

"Why is it covering your eyes now?"

"Because there's too much. Not enough room in my body, so it has to go somewhere. Hopefully it will settle down, but in the meantime, I can use it to help me."

Mara focused, forcing herself to flip to Aether-sight. She usually only used it in darkness- it was like looking through infra-red goggles; people and animals appeared red, objects were tinted green and it gave her a headache because everything was too bright, the afternoon daylight too blinding for the way she was trying to use the Aether.

But at least she could see a little. She would take what she could get.

When they parked, Duke ran to open the door for Mara, wrapping his arm around her and leading her toward the office. When Gloria saw them, she came right over to them. "There you are, how are yo- oh my. What happened to your eyes, kid?"

Mara tried not to laugh, but she couldn't help but smile in the doctor's direct attitude. "Just a little too much Aether. We fixed Nathan."

"Well I'm plenty happy for you, Nathan, but is this going to go away?"

Shrugging, Mara mumbled, "Maybe. Depends on if it finds room to fit."

"You sure do keep an old gal on her toes. What happened to your arm?"

She held Duke's hand, looking down as she answered. "Stab wound."

Gloria's nose wrinkled and she pursed her lips. "It was her, wasn't it?"

"It was the implant, yeah."

"Well, sit down and let me fix it so we can do some real tests."

Mara sat still as Gloria stitched up her arm, and then she was run through a huge battery of tests. Vials of blood were drawn, they did a CT scan and an ultrasound- Gloria did everything but open Mara up to take a closer look.

As the doctor read through the reports, Audrey sat down with Mara. "I was thinking, you didn't have any problem healing me, right? When you put the Aether in me?"

"No, why?"

"Well, what if you pushed more into me. If you have trouble stopping I can just pull away, and any extra I could make dormant myself, couldn't I?"

Mara tilted her head, considering. It really wan't a bad idea. "It's worth a try. Just pull back if something seems wrong at all. If you get more than you can use, I'll show you what to do."

Mara reached out her hands to Audrey, letting her vision go back to normal, back to the blindness and Audrey took her icy hands in her own warm ones.

With a slow exhale, Mara pushed Aether from her body directly into Audrey's. As soon as her vision cleared, Mara pulled away, shivers racing up her spine. "Do you feel alright?"

Audrey stretched out and shrugged. "I feel fine. Your eyes aren't black, can you see now?"

"I can see, and I was able to stop. Isn't that a novel change? A drive only to hurt myself, but not other people. Do your fingers feel odd at all? Stiff or gummy?"

Audrey wiggled her fingers, her nose wrinkling. "A little stiff, like I've been out in the cold or I'm wearing thick gloves."

"Rub your fingers together, focusing on the buildup in your fingers. Think about forming an orb." Mara encouraged Audrey gently and Audrey complied, a perfect orb forming from her fingertips.

"I did it!" Audrey sounded delighted and Mara smiled.

"You did perfect, good job. We'll get you a pouch to keep some in for if you ever need it. For now you can put it in your pocket."

Cocking her head, Audrey looked at Mara. "You're crazy overfull of Aether, I know- what does it feel like? If one orb makes you feel that uncomfortable, how bad are you right now?"

Mara sighed. "It feels like my whole body is stiff and sore. Like an overstuffed pillow. It hurts to move a lot, and the Aether itself makes me very cold. My temperature is probably around 94 degrees, maybe less. It makes my head and neck ache, and when it stretches or expands, it feels like my bones are going to pop apart. You saw how Duke was when he really needed to vent a Trouble? The shaking, the sweating, the pain? That's how it feels when it expands. But it goes in phases."

There was a knock on the door, and Dwight entered, Vince and Dave with him. They all appeared anxious and uncertain. Mara waved and tried to smile. "Thanks for coming. None of you had to, and I appreciate it."

They nodded apprehensively and Nathan went to fill them in.

Gloria took off her reading glasses and sat back in her chair, pursing her lips. "Well, you were right about the barbs making it hard to remove. It's wrapped itself tight around two ribs. We could go in and cut through the ribs, do a bone graft. It's not unheard of to remove one rib completely and use it to graft a higher rib. What I'm worried about it that it could have some kind of defense mechanism, something that would hurt you or make you sick."

Mara exhaled loudly, slumping back in her seat. "Momma wouldn't have made it so it could just be removed that easily. She'd have taken precautions." She let her head fall back, staring at the ceiling. "Of course... she also wouldn't expect another Aether-user to be here. She wouldn't have known how to fix Audrey, she can't use Aether herself. Even William is limited. Genetically, I'm a freak even on my world. The level of Aether in my body is 80%. More that than person. William was 14% and even that is considered high for my people.

"Audrey is genetically identical to me, it's why Momma tried to do what she did. But she would never have expected me to have given Audrey the Aether. She may not know it's even possible. With practice, Audrey could learn to do Aether-based surgery. William did it on me a few times when I was badly injured. Audrey is capable of so much more than William, though. If you were willing to learn, you could enclose the entire implant in a ball of Aether, right through the bones. Then... you could tear it out."

Mara sat straighter, excited by the idea, though Audrey and Duke looked sick and horrified. Duke knelt at Mara's knee, looking up at her. "That sounds dangerous and painful. Won't that hurt you?"

She shrugged. "No more than removing those sections of rib in a normal surgery. And a bone graft could be put in after. It would keep the implant from spreading poison, it could save my life. Obviously I'd have to train Audrey, but if she's willing... I'd have to wait until after the baby is born, but it's the only good option without involving my mother."

Gloria looked interested, leaning forward over her desk. "Would we be able to sedate you for the procedure?"

Mara straightened her spine, trying to look stronger than she was. "No, but I can take it. I've gone through it before."

"What happened that time?" Gloria put her glasses back on, writing notes.

"I was tested regularly as a child. When I was about four in your years, Momma brought me to the scene of a transporting accident. I mentioned people being born with different abilities. Some can do teleportation of things and even people. But if they aren't careful, if they don't know exactly where they're sending something and make sure nothing is in the way, sometimes things get spliced.

"You know that two things can't occupy the same space at the same time. In a splicing, they do. The scene I was brought to, a girl had tried to transport into a room and misjudged distance. She spliced into a metal staircase." Mara's eyes slipped closed as she remembered. "Steel steps were sticking through her body and she was screaming, she was in so much pain. My mother gave me Aether and told me to fix it."

She clenched her jaw, looking away. "I tried. But I was so young, and the girl died. I was punished and warned that if I failed Momma again, she'd send me to the Void. When I was about six in your years, she was showing me off to a group of her peers in a scientific conference. I mentioned that Aether is addictive, like a drug. You can overdose. You can go through withdrawal. I can handle maybe ten orbs a day before I set off the sickness. I did 15 in one day once and was in withdrawal for a week.

"During this conference, Momma had me processing orb after orb. I asked to stop, and she warned me again about failing her, that if I embarrassed her in front of her peers, I would be punished. I got through one hundred eleven orbs before my body gave out. I had a seizure in front of all her buddies. She was furious. She gave me a pocket knife, took my ring and shoved me out a Thinny. I went through the worst withdrawal of my life, and I was left in the Void for over six human years. I was barely seven when I made it back. I had been attacked by one of the creatures in the Void. I killed it, but it had gored me,and the tusk was lodged in my gut. William removed it the same way the implant has to go."

There was nothing but stunned silence through the room, Duke's knuckles were white on the arms of Mara's chair and he leaned to press his forehead to her leg. She ran her fingers through his hair and felt him shaking, muscles tensed in fury.

"She left you in the Void alone for six years when you were a tiny child, because she purposely overdosed you and your body gave out? That's..." Duke trailed off, his arms wrapping around Mara's waist.

"Shh. It's okay, Duke. I lived. It didn't seem unusual to me, it's just how I grew up." Mara stroked his hair, trying to calm him down.

His head snapped up and he stared at her with wrath in every line of his face. "It's not okay! Fuck, you killed my father for doing a hell of a lot less than that! And I'm still grateful every day. That's beyond child abuse, that's torture. How the hell did she get away with it? Did people know?"

"Yes, people knew. She's a doctor, a scientist. Because I'm an anomaly, she was legally allowed to experiment on me. Later, when I was almost an adult and would have been legally able to make my own decisions, she trapped me in the Barn. It's just how the law there works. You can't compare her to Simon. Simon had no motivation but to hurt you, he wasn't- it wasn't the same, Duke. I had to kill him so you would be safe. He would have ended up hurting you a lot worse than he already had."

"I'm gonna return that favor, Mara. I'll gut her without remorse. You know I hate killing, I hate it. But she deserves to die for what she's done. You and this baby are my family, and nobody hurts my family. Nobody." He pressed his hand to her cheek, eyes tight as he gazed into her eyes. "I'm going to make you safe just like you did me. I swear it."

Dwight stepped forward, frowning. "Nathan explained. I'm sorry about everything."

"No, I'm sorry. I was needlessly cruel to you. I was angry and scared. I shouldn't have been nasty to you, especially about your daughter. I am sorry, and I'm not trying to hurt anyone."

"Nathan said you fixed his Trouble?"

"Duke did. I just help him make the Aether dormant again. We're happy to help whoever we can, but it has to be people who can keep it secret. If my mother finds out, I'll have a bigger target on my back."

Gloria interrupted, coming around the desk to stand in front of Mara. "Can you show me the scar from the surgery?"

Mara stood as Duke pulled back to give her room, pulling up her shirt to show an old, puckered white scar a few inches from her navel. Gloria looked closely, nodding.

"Well, at least it's something to consider. Has anyone but Duke been able to affect the implant?"

"I don't know," Mara shrugged, "I haven't tested. Audrey tried, but she can't help.

"Is it active now?"

"It's starting to be. It's not burning yet, but soon."

"Well for goodness sake, line up, boys. Maybe if one of you helps, we can narrow down what's affecting it."

Mara sat back down and Dwight came forward, taking her hand. She smiled tightly, shaking her head. "No change, but thank you."

Nathan tried next, and she paused, taking a deep breath. "It's better, but not complete, not like Duke."

She squeezed Nathan's hand before she let go, and Vince came forward. The anxiety was starting to evolve into the desire to hurt, and she shuddered, shaking her head. "No. Thank you for your help."

Vince looked at her seriously, patting her hand. "It will be alright. We'll help you however we can."

Dave came next, jumpy as always but still giving Mara an adoring look. When he took her hand, her muscles relaxed and she looked up at him. "Stronger than Nathan, but not as strong as Duke."

Dave smiled brightly, his chest puffing out in pride. "If you need any extra help, just call me, I can be there in minutes."

Duke pulled a chair up to Mara's other side, wrapping an arm around her and taking her hand from Dave with a tight smile. "I think I got this, Dave, but thanks."

Dave gave her a sad look and moved back to his brother.

Gloria was looking curiously around the group. "So what do Duke, Nathan and Dave have in common that Vince and Dwight don't?"

Mara went very still, blood draining from her face as her stomach rolled. Duke looked at her, rubbing her neck with his free hand. "What is it, Mara?"

"I know what they have in common." She glanced at them all and then looked away from all of them. "I'm pregnant with Duke's baby. I had a child with Nathan when I was here as Sarah." She straightened up again, her eyes tight and posture defensive. "When I went into the Barn as Lucy, I was pregnant. It was Dave's baby."

There was a moment of stunned silence before everyone started talking at once, but Dave stood in front of her, his face serious and sad. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was going to. I came to your office the day I found out, told you we needed to talk, but you stopped me. Dave, it was the same day you told me about the Hunter! I asked you all those questions, do you remember? When I realized that there was no way the baby would be able to survive outside me by the time I had to go, I couldn't tell you. I couldn't hurt you more. It was already too much. I barely managed to-" her eyes shot to Duke but she took a breath and continued, "I barely managed to kill Simon in time. And then we found James's body, I just couldn't leave more pain behind. I'm sorry."

Audrey rested her hand on Mara's shoulder. "What happened to the baby?"

Mara looked away again. "She's dead. She was born in the Barn, Momma let me carry her to term since I was in custody anyway, and I refused to tell her who the father was. She was so beautiful. She was Gifted, had abilities. I knew what my mother would do to her. She wanted to know if she was a Gifted half-human, but she was full-blooded Omni, because Dave is trapped here but he came from my world. I begged and I pleaded and I cried, and William loved me enough to take pity. He took her, brought her back to this world. She was adopted and I thought she was safe from Haven."

Mara looked miserable for a moment and black tears rose in her eyes but didn't fall. "She ended up coming to Haven. Not to look for me, she never knew anything about me. She came to help Duke and Audrey." She raised her chin defiantly. "Jennifer was my daughter and I couldn't save her because I couldn't get free until too late. She died because of me."

Dave stumbled back to sit on Gloria's desk and Duke looked green. Even Nathan and Audrey were silent and gaping. Mara dropped her head to her chest, a tear falling on her hand where it reabsorbed. She tried to pull her hand from Duke's, certain he would be disgusted by her, but he held on tightly, leaning to whisper in her ear.

"You're not the only one with a past, Mara. It doesn't change us."

She couldn't look up. "Do you mean that?"

"I swear it. It's kind of a relief, understanding why I was drawn to her."

"But you loved her, and she died because of me."

"No. She lived because of you. You weren't in control down there. Not until after you pushed William. I know you were bleeding through, but I could always tell who was who. It's not your fault."

She hugged Duke, refusing to cry in front of all these people.

Dave's eyes were red and his voice hoarse. "I got to know my daughter. She was smart and pretty and tough. I wish I'd known who she was, but even if you had told me you were pregnant, I wouldn't have thought to guess Jennifer was my daughter. It's not your fault. I knew the danger of opening that door. You did the best you could." He bent to hug Mara, kissing her cheek before returning to Vince and Dwight.

Gloria spoke up. "So we know what the link is. During pregnancy, mothers develop certain antibodies to the fathers blood. What blood type are you, Mara?"

"AB, RH null. One of the rarest blood types on this world. Pretty rare on mine, too. But I didn't have any RH factor compatibility issues with either pregnancy, and this one seems no different. I believe that's just because my body is more advanced in some ways, better able to carry a baby. When nobody is after me, at least."

Gloria scribbled more notes and Mara rested her head on Duke's shoulder. She was so tired.

"Until and unless I can find something else, I think you should start training Audrey. If we can't find another way, we should be prepared to get that thing out of you. I did an obstetrics rotation same as every other doctor, I know you can't see a regular doctor so if you want, I'll take care of you."

Mara looked at Audrey. "I won't pressure you or guilt you. I respect your decision and I won't push, but are you willing to learn? Are you willing to do surgery on me?"

Audrey was pale and her eyes were wide, but she nodded. "I'll help however I can. I promised and I meant it. But what will the practice be?"

"You'll be learning to force the Aether in your body to concentrate in your fingers while I make other parts of me focused Aether as well. It will allow you to push your fingers into my body, like putting your hand in water. You have to learn to do that and also how to surround an object with Aether to trap it. I know it sounds gross and I'm sorry. But you're the only one who can do it."

"Well, Dave is from the other world too, could he help?"

Mara shook her head. "He doesn't have the ability to use Aether. But I mean it, if you're too uncomfortable, then say no. I don't want to force you into this. Maybe you could just form the orb to cage the implant, and then I can do the rest. Maybe that would be best. I don't want to force you into something that makes you uncomfortable. So I'll just teach you how to trap the implant in Aether. I can do the rest myself. Or Gloria can, so she can do the bone graft. Let's do that instead. It's far less work and not traumatic for you."

She tried to smile at Gloria. "I would like it if you can help me with medical issues. I don't need much in the way of prenatal care. I can scan myself when I need to. I delivered James at home, I want to do the same with this one. I don't want Momma having any chance of getting word that I deliver earlier than she's expecting. That would be a disaster."

"We can get the Guard looking for her. Maybe if we find her, we can keep you safer." Dwight made the offer without hesitation, and Mara smiled at him.

"Thank you. We were thinking, maybe we should talk to everyone. Like a town-wide Hot Stove meeting, so we can tell them our story and get them to stop all the petty infighting. It's not fair that people are blaming you for believing her, Dwight. She fools people, it's what she does. This town has one enemy. They shouldn't be fighting each other. Besides, it's their story too."

Dwight was taken aback. "You would do that? You'd tell them everything?"

"Yes. They deserve to know. Especially if it helps them work together. I'm not saying I'm not worried, I am. They're dangerous and short tempered. Reactionary. But they need to be working together, not sniping at you for trusting someone they all trusted too."

"Thank you so much. You don't have to do this, I wouldn't ask you to. You're going through enough."

"I want to, Dwight. For all of you. I'd appreciate if you could try and keep people from trying to hurt me, though. Some won't care that I was a child. As much as I'd like to fix all their Troubles, if Momma finds out she'll be furious and she'll try to find a way to hurt me more. She obviously doesn't know Duke is blocking the implant, but there's still a real chance that she'll come after me physically. Nathan and Audrey heard her too, she said she could learn just as much from dissecting our baby as she would from letting it be born. I had to threaten to burn myself to death to get her to let me carry to term. She doesn't know about the Aether so she has no way of knowing I'll deliver sooner."

Duke's hand tightened around hers and he snarled, "I fucking dare her to come near you. Where you go, I go. I won't let her touch you, but I'll make her pay. She'll be the one begging when I'm done with her."

"Ah, death threats. Still a romantic at heat, aren't you?" Mara smiled softly at Duke, squeezing his hand.

"You know what I mean. I'm done letting her hurt you. I wish I had known, I would have shot her. You shouldn't have let her go."

"But you didn't know, and if I had killed her you would have thought I was more evil than you already did. I'll outlast her, Duke. If you want me, I will stay with you no matter what. I'm not perfect, but I'm stubborn. I don't give up on things I love."

Dwight's gaze was fierce as he sank to one knee in front of Duke and Mara. "I'm sorry about all of the fighting, everything that you've gone through- and it sounds like there's still a lot I don't know- but I will never let her hurt you guys. I won't let anyone hurt you."

Mara tilted her head at Dwight. "You have nothing to apologize for. You were always kind to me. Kinder than I deserved. You were so sweet I even had trouble insulting you properly. That's something that just doesn't happen to me." She smiled wryly and Dwight chuckled, smiling back.

"It bothers me that I had... feelings for her. Knowing how cruel she could be to her own child."

"You didn't know, Dwight. She fooled a lot of people. Even me, and I knew better. Don't let it make you suspicious of your feelings in the future. Don't let her damage you like that. You have such a good heart, and it shouldn't be locked away."

"Thanks, Mara. I really do appreciate it."

"No thanks necessary. You deserve to be happy, not hurt."

He smiled at her and she ruffled his hair.

"If you don't need us for now, we should get home so I can start teaching Audrey what she needs to know to help me. When you guys have a date and time to meet with everyone, just call Duke. We'll be there. Thank you all for your help."

Vince and Dave left first, Dave stopping to kiss Mara's cheek and whisper in her ear. "I'm sorry that I didn't find a way to keep you here, and I understand why you didn't tell me. I really do, and I'm not mad. Please try and relax. We'll help you."

Mara nodded, kissing his cheek as he left. She turned to Gloria, using sign language again.

"Thank you. I appreciate everything you've done."

"You're welcome. But how are you holding up?"

"I'm worried that I'm pushing Audrey to do something she doesn't want to. But I can't do it myself."

"Have faith. It will be okay, sweetheart."

Mara nodded and kissed Gloria's cheek, following Nathan and Audrey as Duke held her hand and Dwight followed, insisting on walking them to the car for protection. "If you need me for anything, call. Even if you just want to talk."

"Thank you. Come by the boat when you can, we'll get rid of your Trouble. Audrey has to learn anyway. There are some things we should discuss about Charlotte anyway. Whenever you have time."

"I will. It's going to be okay."

She nodded and smiled as she slid into the Land Rover, exhausted, and held Duke's hand all the way home.