A/N: Thank you all so much! I really enjoy seeing the reviews. I hope you like this chapter as well.

Chapter 29

I was apparently making it a habit of collecting children.

Erica was glaring at me. "You're late."

"I'm sorry. What's on the agenda for tonight?"

She made a face at that. "Agenda?"

"What do you want to do?" I clarified. "Your choice."

"Of course it is," she said haughtily. "My stupid brother isn't here, so it's just us. The best way." She paused for a moment. "Can we watch Alien?"

"No," I said instantly. "Your parents would kill me."

"Fine," she sighed, overdramatically. She perked up suddenly. "Can you make me a sandwich?"

"Sure. Caviar and pickles?" It was worth it just to see her face.

"No! Ew! I want the good one."

I rolled my eyes playfully. "I am forever at your service, mademoiselle. Come on, let's go to the kitchen."

"Yes!" Erica raced there before I even started walking. She had managed to get all the ingredients and lay them out on the counter before plopping herself down into a chair. "So why were you late?"

My throat tightened. "I was at a funeral." I tried to shove it back and focus on making the sandwich.

"A funeral? Who died?"

"A-" my voice cracked. I paused, trying to gain some control of my emotions. I had spent the last hour trying to hold back the flood of tears, listening to Joyce cry. I thought this would be a good diversion, something light after what I knew would be a painful experience. Apparently not. "A friend of mine," I said softly.

"Oh." She paused and I took the time to slice the apple. "Are you okay?"

I put down the knife and turned to look at her. "No," I said. I moved to sit in the chair next to her. "I probably won't be okay for a while, if I'm honest."

"Why?" she asked, frowning slightly. "Was it your best friend?"

"Yeah," I said softly. "He pretty much was. Sometimes, when you lose someone, when they die, it takes a long time to not miss them as much. It's not that you forget, but the sadness fades and eventually, you just remember the good things. It helps when you have others around too." I gave her a small smile. "I'll be okay, kid. Don't worry."

"Are you sure?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah." I got up and went back to making her food. I felt her arms wrap around my waist quickly.

"I'm sorry 'bout your friend."

I turned and wrapped an arm around her. "Thanks, Erica." It was nice to know that at least these kids were turning out to be good people. "You know...I can't make a sandwich with an attachment," I teased. She let go of me instantly.

oOo

Erica did her best to keep me distracted. She told me many impossibly outrageous stories of her friends and the antics they tended to get into in school, not that Erica was ever in trouble. She made sure I knew that. The troubles of an eight-year-old seemed like bliss compared to what I was dealing with. It made me wish I was a kid again.

It wasn't the first time I had ever made that wish either. The older you got, the more you tended to appreciate the things you took for granted when you were young. Maybe it was just because of everything that had happened in the last couple of weeks, but I was a little jealous of children. Well, maybe not these kids. The ones I had met since my arrival couldn't seem to stay out of trouble. Aside from Erica. I was aiming to keep her as far from it as possible.

When her parents finally made it home, Erica was fast asleep and I took the opportunity to speak to them.

"Is something wrong?" her mother asked, looking concerned.

"Not at all," I tried to reassure them. "I just wanted to inform you that I had been at a funeral before I came here today and Eric asked about it."

"Oh dear, you should have told us," her mother said.

Her dad nodded. "We would have changed our plans."

"I wanted to be here," I tried to assure them. "I needed something like this. I just...Erica asked about why I was sad and we spoke about it a little." I watched as her mom glanced at the stairs in concern. "She's a sweet kid. She gave me a hug and then spent part of the time trying to make me feel better," I smiled softly. "I just wanted you to know that you guys are raising a wonderful young woman. I'm glad I get to be a small part of her life. She's going to be great."

Her mother pulled me into a hug. "Thank you, Kate and I'm so sorry for your loss."

My throat tightened again. "Thank you." I still didn't think it was fair that he died, but it was nice to know that people like the Sinclair's existed. They didn't know anything about the monsters or government running experiments, they just were good. Like Bob. It was a relief to know them.

oOo

I couldn't convince Tammy's mom to let me stay home. There was no reason in her mind. I was healthy and despite being sad, was fine enough to suffer through the fate of classes. I couldn't bear to be there though. Not today.

Robin was still avoiding me, despite the increased presence of Veronica near her. I slumped against the desk, head resting on my arms. I had to figure out what to do about that too.

"Hey, Princess, you dead?"

"Not yet," I said dryly, head still buried in my arms. I had no desire to deal with Billy and whatever games he wanted to play.

"Thought you were avoiding me," he kicked his feet up to rest on the bar on the side of my desk. "Since you're fucking around with Harrington. Funny, as you said you had barely spoken to the dickbag."

I sighed. This was what I had been trying to avoid. Of course it had to be today, of all days, that he managed to corner me. I lifted my head up and rested it on my hand. I looked over at him. "As I said that night, the only reason I spoke to him was because I had to pick up your dumb ass. A friend died, Billy. Steve has just been trying to provide some fucking shelter from people who want to disturb me. Now I understand you feel the need to make yourself the centre of attention, but I can't be bothered at the moment. Now, when the time comes that I'm not grieving, I'll pencil you in."

I got up and grabbed my books. I couldn't do this anymore.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

I ignored Billy and stormed out of the class, right past the teacher. I muttered something along the lines of my period. It was enough to see him blanche. He didn't stop me.

I got down the hall before I heard someone calling after me.

"Hey! Kate! Hey! Hold on!"

I muttered swears under my breath before I turned to see what Steve wanted. He was running after me. "What?"

"Hey, I was hoping I'd see you. I have something for you." He opened his backpack, dropped down and started to dig through it. "It's nothing special, but I saw it and asked Will if he'd make another one for you. Dustin told me that the new girl in the group he has a crush on, Max? She said you were friends with this guy Bob and I realized that was the funeral that Nancy went to with Johnathan last weekend and I thought you'd want this, y'know?"

It took me a second to process everything he just said. "Dustin has a crush on Max?"

"Uh, yeah." He swept back his hair out of his face as he looked up at me from where he was kneeling. "Found it! Here." He handed me a piece of paper. I took it from him and looked down. It was a kid's drawing...of Super Bob.

Tears welled up in my eyes instantly.

"Shit, I didn't mean to make you cry," Steve said.

I shook my head. It fit him perfectly. "Why..." I stopped and tried to keep my voice from cracking. "Why did you give this to me today?"

Steve shrugged. "I just got it from the kid today. This is just the first time I saw you."

I nodded slowly. "Thank you," I said. I sniffled and tried to stop myself from crying. "Seriously, Steve. Thank you."

"Yeah, no problem. You okay? You need anything?" He frowned slightly as he stood up. It occurred to me suddenly that he was taller than me. I was so used to being taller than others as Tammy. The girl towered over the other girls.

"It's a day," I said softly. "I'm gonna ditch for a bit. I'll see you later."

"Okay, sure."

I left Steve in the hallway and clutched the picture to my chest. Bob was a superhero. More than he would ever know.

oOo

I ended up at Joyce's store.

She waved me in as soon as she saw me. I hadn't seen her since the funeral. I walked in slowly, keeping an eye out for anyone else. There was no one around. It was a miracle the store was still in business.

"Hey, Kate," she said softly. "How are you doing?"

I burst into tears.

"Oh honey," she moved around the table. She wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a hug. "What's wrong?"

"It's-" I tried to stop crying. "It's-" I took big, gulping breaths, trying to calm down. Once the sobbing slowed, I was able to speak. "It's my birthday," I said, hiccuping. "I'm supposed to be twenty-nine, not seventeen!"

Her arms tightened. Despite her being much shorter than Tammy, I leaned down and rested my head on her shoulder. Joyce had mom hugs down to a tee. "I know it's not fair that this happened to you. I don't know how to fix it, but I'm glad you're here, Kate." She rubbed my back softly.

When my tears finally stopped, I pulled back away from her. I wiped at my face. "Thanks. Sorry, it seems so stupid to be crying because I'm not getting older."

"It's okay," she said softly. "It's okay to be upset. You're in a strange position and you lost everything. You can be upset about a birthday."

"I just…" I started crying again. I wanted to go home.

"I know," she said. "Come on, sit down." She moved me to walk around the counter and to sit in the spot she vacated. As I tried to gain control of myself, she left. I used the edge of my shirt to dry my eyes.

I knew that my birthday was going to arrive, but Bob's death and everything else that had happened pushed it to the side. It just felt like it highlighted everything that was wrong. I had accidentally stolen Tammy's body, changed her entire life simply because I refused to adapt to the standards the girl had given herself. I told myself that I was doing it for her own good, that it would help her when she returned...but what if she didn't want it? Was I being narcissistic in thinking I knew better?

"Here," Joyce cut into my thoughts. I looked up to see her place a hostess cake in front of me. It had a single candle in it. I blinked, unsure of the sight. "I don't have a lighter," she patted herself down before looking around. "Maybe we can call Hop? Get him to sing to you."

I snorted at the idea. "You didn't have to do this," I told her.

"Of course I did," she gave me a smile. "It's your birthday, Kate. Even if it's not...Tammy's, you should still celebrate it. Happy birthday."

"Thank you, Joyce." She was a good woman. I didn't know how many other people would reach out like this. Bob was right. I did like her.

oOo

"Tamara Katherine Thompson, where have you been?"

I winced automatically at the tone of Tammy's mother's voice. "Sorry."

"Don't say sorry to me. Why were you not at school?"

"Um…" I did not have a good answer. At least not one I could actually give. She wouldn't understand.

"I deliberately told you you could not skip school today."

"I know."

Deanna walked towards me and crossed her arms. "I had thought that after the concert, you'd have stopped this behaviour. It's not that I'm not proud of you for sticking up for yourself, but you haven't been talking to your friends and now you're leaving school?"

"I'm sorry," I said again.

"You will be. I'm afraid I'm cutting your privileges. Your school has already called and issued detention for the next three days. When you are finished, I expect you home. You are not to delay, is that understood?"

That wasn't as bad as it could be. "Yes."

"And I will be speaking to your father about this."

"Okay," I said softly. "I understand." I headed upstairs to my room. It was the icing on the cake that now I was getting in trouble with Tammy's parents.

oOo

"I don't know what is wrong with her, Sam," I heard Tammy's mother say. I was standing at the top of the stairs and her voice echoed up.

"She's fine, Deanna."

"I'm just worried. She's never been like this before."

"She's growing up into a remarkable woman. Much like her mother."

I closed my eyes tightly.

"I know, Sam. You know it has a lot to do with you too," I heard her mother say. "You're a great father."

"Maybe you should call your sister. See what she says."

"You're right. I should also invite her to Thanksgiving. At least formally."

I went back to my room. Now Tammy's creepy aunt, the very one who gave me the palm reading, was coming. She was the whole reason Robin and I were on the outs. That was not an ideal birthday present. I climbed into bed and buried myself in the blankets. I couldn't help myself. I started crying again.

None of this was fair...to any of us. I wanted them to have their girl back. I wanted to go home. I wasn't sure why I was brought here, but I was over it. I was tired of the adventure, of the pain. I wanted to go to sleep and wake back up as my twenty-nine-year-old self. I wanted to be legally able to drink again. I wanted everything to go back to normal and the longer I was here, the less it seemed possible. Being seventeen was the worst.

[tbc]