Chapter 28

"She's what?" Scarlet asked in complete shock. Having Yelena come back into his life after all these years had been enough to mess with his emotions…but to add this bombshell on top of all that? He didn't know what to say.

He had a daughter.

How was this even possible?

"How…what…when," was all he could manage. If he thought that the explosion in the lab had packed a punch it had been nothing compared to this.

"I can understand that you must have a lot of questions right now…" she said.

He nodded.

"…and I promise I will do what I can to answer them all."

A million thoughts and questions raced through his head.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked his words barely audible.

"I wanted to," Yelena confessed. "But as time went on it just became harder. I heard that you had been accepted into Spectrum and the last thing I wanted to do was destroy all of that."

"Are you telling me that she is the reason why you left me all those years ago?" This time his voice was louder and there was anger there. Not that Yelena could blame him.

"I'm sorry Paul," was all she could think of to say. She knew that telling him the truth would be difficult and no matter what she said it couldn't take away the pain she was causing. But she had come here to be honest with him; she knew she owed him that much after all this time.

"Why did you do this?" he asked his voice lower this time as he spoke.

"Paul I…believe me I wanted to tell you. But I knew how important your military career was. I knew that you wanted to one day join Spectrum and I didn't want you to jeopardize that…"

"That was my decision to make Yelena," he snapped, "You should have told me, I had a right to know."

"I know and there's nothing I can say to make up for what I did."

Yelena watched as Scarlet's gaze moved back to the photo that she had handed him. He couldn't stop looking at the smile on his daughter's face…his daughter. He felt his chest tighten as the realisation hit him that he had missed everything; that he didn't even know…

"What's her name?" he asked softly.

"Gabriella Paulina. We call her Gabby."

"Paulina?"

"I wanted her to have something of her biological father," she explained.

"But she thinks that Raymond is her father," Scarlet said sadly.

"Ray adopted her after we got married. He knew I had a daughter when we first met. I never truly explained everything to him. All I told him was that Gabby's father didn't want anything to do with us. I'm sorry."

"Did he know that I…"

"That you're Gabby's father?" Yelena finished for him. "No, not until we arrived here at Skybase and he realised that I knew you."

"I see," he replied as this time he took a seat on the edge of the bed. His eyes still fixed on the picture in his hands.

"Paul, there's something else that you need to know."

"What's that?"

Yelena took a deep breath as if readying herself for what she was about to say. "Gabby's sick."

When Scarlet looked up at her, it was if what little colour he had had drained from his face. "Sick…sick how?"

"She has a genetic condition. The doctor's told me after she was born that she probably wouldn't make it to her teenage years."

"I'm sorry," he said as he didn't know what else to say.

"She was the reason why I went into nano research. The hope was that we could use our technology to find the genetic defect that was causing her condition and find a way to reverse it."

"Is that even possible?"

"Unfortunately our research has had to take a back seat" she told him, her voice laden with sadness. "Once the World Council found out what we were working on, they gave us an ultimatum. Help them with the development of our nano tech to use as a weapon…"

"For use against the Mysterons," Scarlet commented.

"Yeah, or our research would be shut down and we would both face criminal charges," she added.

"Criminal charges?" he asked surprised.

"Come on Paul, you must know that nano research was made illegal decades ago by the World Council."

He nodded, he did know that. "The biggest argument against its use was that it might be used to harm others."

"Amongst other reasons," she agreed. "But I was short on options and my research told me that nanotech may provide the best chance for her to recover. That was how Raymond and I first met and when he asked me to marry him, I said yes."

"I see,"

"When we were told about the Mysterons and about your condition, of course I was curious, it peaked my scientific curiosity. As we worked on the weapon and had been given a sample of DNA to test our nonetech on, I did some initial tests to find out if there was any way that it could help Gabby…"

Scarlet looked at her in surprise. Was she saying that his condition may be useful in saving the life of the daughter he didn't know?

"…If I had known that the sample we were given had come from you…I'm sorry Paul…"

"It doesn't matter now Lena," he assured her; using the old familiar nickname. Over the past ten years the only person who called her that was her husband, hearing it again from his lips brought a small smile to her lips. "All that matters now is finding a way to help Gabby."

She nodded. There was still so much that she wanted to tell him, but in that moment, she couldn't find the words. However, there was one thing she knew she wanted to say.

"I want her to meet you. Please Paul; will you come back with us so you can finally meet your little girl?"

It had been several days and Scarlet was due back on Skybase within the hour. Blue paced anxiously waiting for his friend to return. Destiny watched him with a small grin on her face.

"Adam will you please, just sit down, all you're pacing is making me queasy," she said with a small laugh.

Reluctantly he sat in the chair next to the one she was sitting in. In all honesty, Blue was surprised by how calm Destiny was being about all of this. Scarlet had returned with the Bishop's, and although he didn't know all the details. Blue knew that his best friend was going to meet the daughter he didn't know he had. Just knowing that much had been enough to make him worry about his friend; the three days of radio silence just made him feel anxious.

Scarlet was still recovering from his near death experience, then having this additional news thrust upon him…Blue had no idea how his friend was handling all of this. He knew that Scarlet had spoken briefly to Destiny after he had left Skybase, so Blue knew that he was doing okay in his recovery. But there had been no mention of how his meeting with his daughter had gone.

"I know you're worried about him Adam, but you don't need to be." Destiny said.

"Why? What did he say?" he asked her, his anxiety still there in his words.

Destiny resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The friendship that existed between the two men was a strong one, and Destiny had to admit that she sometimes felt some jealousy around it. But she also knew that it was necessary to have that level of trust considering the job they did.

Even if in this moment she knew more about what was going on than she had admitted to the other man. Scarlet had talked to her very openly about everything that had happened while he had been away…or as openly as he felt he could over a comm. line; even one as secure as those used by Spectrum. But he had promised her that they would talk properly on his return.

However she knew that Blue would soon learn what she knew, that was just the way his relationship with Scarlet worked and she was grateful for that. She was glad that Scarlet had someone he could confide in much the same way that she could with her fellow Angels.

The door to the officer's lounge opened and Scarlet walked in. He saw Blue and Destiny and made his way over to them. The smile on his face and the colour that had returned to his cheeks told both of them that his time away had been worth it.

"Paul," Blue said as he got up from his chair and embraced his friend. It was a move that surprised Scarlet, since it wasn't how the two of them usually acted around each other, despite the closeness of their relationship. But Scarlet welcomed the contact and returned his friends embrace with matching enthusiasm.

"Hey Paul," Destiny said softly, as she stepped forward and placed a kiss on his cheek once the two men had separated. "How was your flight home?"

"Good," he replied, "It's good to be back."

"I'm due on duty, so I better go," Destiny said with a sad smile, "I'll see you tonight?" she asked him.

"You can count on it," he told her as both Scarlet and Blue watched Destiny leave the lounge. With Destiny now gone, Scarlet was surprised to see that the two of them now had the place to themselves. He took the chair that Destiny had been using and the two of them sat in companionable silence for several moments.

"Out with it Adam," Scarlet prompted , finally breaking the silence, "I know you want to know how things went."

"So what was she like?"

"Inspirational," Scarlet told him, the largest smile breaking out across his face. "Considering how much time she has to spend in and out of hospitals…"

"Just like her dad," Blue commented with a chuckle, his words getting a laugh from Scarlet in response.

"Very funny," he said, although a similar though had crossed his mind. He just hated that whenever he ended up needing medical treatment he always knew going in that he was going to walk back out as if nothing had happened. He hated that there was no such guarantee for his daughter just yet. "She just deals with it all as if it's normal. Although I guess for her it is."

"Does she know…"

"That I'm her dad?" Scarlet said finishing Blue's question for him. "Yeah; Yelena told her everything. With everything she's gone through in her short life, it's made her grow up quicker than she should i guess. I mean she is so smart...she seemed a little shy around me at first, but she eventually opened up to me and the two of us talked and played and generally spent time together. It was just so surreal. We even had a day out together just the two of us where we went to the zoo because it was what she wanted to do."

"That's great Paul. How were things with Raymond Bishop when you were there? I got the impression that he wasn't your biggest fan once he realised who you really were."

"No he wasn't. But that was because he was under the impression that I was the one who walked out on Yelena when she was pregnant," he explained.

"What?"

"That's what Yelena told him anyway. But it's all been cleared up now. He finally knows the truth about what happened all those years ago…we both do. Honestly though, when he's around Gabby, it's like he's a different man and she loves him so much. So I guess he can't be that bad…"

Blue nodded. "I guess his attitude towards you was understandable if he had this idea in his head that you abandoned your family like that."

"Mmmm. Actually the two of us even got to talk and he's actually a very understanding guy once you get to know him. It was nice to be able to have some time with all of them."

"Including Yelena?" Blue asked curiously.

"Yes," Scarlet acknowledged. "Even Yelena. She's an amazing mother, and it was amazing seeing them together as a family like that. It made me feel a little like an outsider; which I suppose I am. But they welcomed me into the mix and they said I'm welcome back any time. Gabby even said she'd call me every week."

"That's great."

"We're all going to keep in touch and Yelena said she'll keep me updated with Gabby's situation and any developments they make in finding a treatment. I even told them that if they wanted any more blood samples all they have to do is ask," Scarlet said, his gaze looking out across the room. Despite the positivity in his voice, Blue could tell that there was more to it.

"Paul?"

"It was just tough." He confessed, "Meeting her, knowing that I've missed out on so much and knowing that even with the work Yelena and Raymond are doing, they may never be able to find a way to save her." Tears filled Scarlet's eyes and he blinked them away; he felt stupid feeling so emotional like that when he barely knew this young girl who had only just come in to his life. He admitted it to Blue.

"There's nothing wrong with how you're feeling Paul. She's still your daughter and you're entitled to your feelings. And it seems to me like she's the luckiest girl for having the three of you fighting in her corner with her."

"Thanks Adam."

"Anytime, you know that."

"Thanks," he said again, "For everything. It helps knowing that I have friends like you at my side."

Blue gave him a small smile, "Always."

The End