"Well I—" She began before a high pitched laughter cut her off. Everyone's attention snapped towards the doorway, freezing with surprise at the sight.

A white ventriloquist doll stood, clad in an equally white wedding dress. Behind it was a woman hidden in black. Behind the curtain Ethan could only see the bottom half of their body. Not like he needed to see more as the doll appeared to be the one talking and moving without a string, as if possessed.

"Dimitrescu and Heisenberg getting along? Oh, how exciting! Can I play too?"

"What are you doing here, Donna?" Lady Dimitrescu shook herself from her surprise. With subtle movements she moved to block Donna's view of Ethan.

The doll giggled at the attempt, "I saw you traveling here with Ethan. You shouldn't leave us out of the fun!"

Heisenberg shifted his weight, muttering under his breath. "Damn creepy doll…"

"Does Mother know about our guest?" She asked, ignoring the remark in favour of sneaking a peak of Ethan. The doll joints clicked as she moved to the side but didn't approach.

"Of course." Ethan was learning fairly quickly how poor the woman lied. Her voice was nothing short of conspicuous. "Mother Miranda is well aware of Ethan's presence."

"The stuck up giant is lying about Mother Miranda?" She cackled, "Oh you guys have got to be doing something fun! I want it! I want in!"

Lady Dimitrescu's lips twisted into a scowl as Heisenberg openly laughed as if it was the best joke he'd heard in years. "You dare accuse me of lying!?"

"You're not? Well, I'm sure you'll have nothing to worry about if I talk with Mother Miranda then…"

"Absolutely not!"

"Oh? Why not?"

"Well, because—"

Heisenberg waved Lady Dimitrescu off, "Oh, give it up! The cat left the damn bag hours ago." He turned towards the doll, no longer amused by the situation. "What the hell do you want, Donna?"

"I said I wanted to join!"

As the doll huffed the two bioweapons looked at each other. Ethan watched their silent conversation as it ended in a mutual look of surrender. Heisenberg sighed as Lady Dimitrescu stepped aside, revealing Ethan's hesitant features. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"You have Rose too!?" Angie yelled in excitement as she rushed over.

Ethan reflexively guarded the girl in his arms, taking several steps back from it. "What the hell!?"

"Relax, she's harmless." Lady Dimitrescu offered.

He relaxed…marginally under her reassurance, watching her face to find only casual observation in return. He looked back down at the doll when she demanded, "Let me hold Rose!"

"Fuck off," he pushed her away with his foot and a grimace.

"Let me hold the baby or I'm telling Mother Miranda!" She yelled.

Ethan's brows furrowed as his mouth opened, no doubt about to say something snappy back to deny her once more. Something that never came out as Lady Dimitrescu interrupted him. Her attention towards the woman in black that had yet to say a word, "I'm sure Ethan would be far more comfortable if you held Rose, instead of your...doll."

Ethan watched as the woman who'd gone unnoticed walked closer, stopping in front of Ethan with her arms out to recieve Rose. The look of skepticism across Ethan's face was neon as he turned to look at both Heisenberg and Lady Dimitrescu. Each wore a similar look, telling him to give in. As reluctant as he was he gently handed the bundle into her arms with a heavy sigh.

She held the baby well, peering down at her from underneath her veil. Still, without a word she ambled over to a lone chair by the wall. Every step watched like a hawk by Ethan, ignoring the excited giggles of the doll tailing behind her.

"Now that little...interruption is taken care of. Are you going to continue lecturing me or are you going to let me get to the fucking point." Heisenberg spoke up, calling attention back to him and their earlier discussion. When Lady Dimitrescu scowled but said nothing he decided to continue. "Thank you. Now!" He ambled back over to his board. "In dear old mother's lab she has papers on all of us. How our bodies reacted to her experiments and how unfit we are as hosts for her precious Eva. We're failures."

"If what you're saying is true…" A look of pain and acceptance were written along her features. A pause to digest came, "…Then we can't let her have Rose."

"Thank fuck…" Ethan sighed in relief.

"Now you're catching on!" Heisenberg cheered. "That child has an immense amount of power! We use her against Mother Miranda! She'll be our greatest weapon and we can finally escape that bitch's grasp!"

"Woahwoahwoah—Hold up!" Ethan's hands snapped up with open palms to halt them. In the next motion he pointed at Heisenberg. "We are not using my daughter as a weapon! Are you insane?"

In exchange he looked at Ethan as if he were the crazy one. "Do you—do you not know what kind of power little Rose has?"

"What the hell are you talking about? You know what? No. I don't care what powers she does or does not have. She is my daughter, not a weapon."

"You have two choices here, Ethan. Either use Rose as a weapon and you can live happily ever after or you don't...and Miranda kills us all."

"Bullshit! There has to be a third option."

"Wishful thinking, Ethan! But—"

"Both of you drop this." Lady Dimitrescu spoke with authority, causing their quell to immediately cease. "I won't rule out using Rose, but as a Mother myself I'd prefer we not use the child."

Heisenberg shifted his stance, a patronizing smile written across his face. He sauntered closer to her, taking deliberately slow steps with the air of someone's cord plucked the wrong way. "Oh, look at you, Lady Morality. You were fine with chopping her up into bits earlier!"

"Plans and alliances change, Heisenberg. We'll discuss alternatives, I'm sure Ethan will be far more cooperative that way." She replied with a glare and stern tone.

A long stretch of silence formed between them. Lady Dimitrescu's fixed look never swayed as Heisenberg's own remained hidden under his glasses and an unreadable thin line along his lips. In the background there was a soft giggle from Angie but nothing more as Donna enjoyed holding Rose.

"…Fine." Came his next words much to Ethan's further relief.

The next thing to come was Rose's crying. He was immediately at her side, taking her from Donna's outstretched arms. Her voice was gentle as she spoke, "She's hungry."

Lady Dimitrescu looked from the scene towards Heisenberg. "We'll discuss things later. For now, I'm taking Ethan back to the castle. I'm sure the Duke has something edible for her."

Ethan, with a quirked brow, looked up from softly rocking his little bundle "You know the duke?"

"Of course, everyone knows the duke. Now come."