PART ONE

Johanna sniffed appreciatively a minute later when the waitress placed the cup of steaming hazelnut-flavored coffee before her.  Lifting the cup to her lips, she blew gently on the hot liquid then took an experimental sip, humming under her breath as the coffee slid down her throat.

        Placing the cup down on the table again, Johanna glanced across the room at the man she had to beat out for the title and position of Senior Leaper. It didn't surprise her to find Vaughn Rickar's dark gaze fixed on her.

It was one thing for Johanna to notice Vaughn Rickar's dark gaze on her.  She was used to fixed stares, but when his head tilted slightly toward her with the uplifting of an eyebrow, Johanna decidedly turned her attention back to her cup of coffee and blinked down at it.  Even if she had anything that she had wanted to tell the brown haired pain across the room, she wouldn't waste her breath.  Picking up the book, which held the few poems that she had written, she read through the prose and cupped her cheek with her hand as she thought about how she could finish it.  She should have known that it was impossible to work on.  Her thoughts weren't into it and neither could she work on something as delicate as this when she could feel his eyes on her.

Turning her head back to the man she met those eyes and gave him her own version of the look that he had given her before she stood up, glanced down at her watch, and took in a deep breath. She still had an hour to go.  Sighing, she tightened her grip on the notebook before she started toward the counter to pay for the coffee.  She'd take it back to her quarters if she had to... to be able to enjoy it in peace without eyes following her.

Looking at the waitress as she appeared at the counter, Johanna glanced at the hazelnut coffee that she had enjoyed so much and wondered how she was going to ask, when she couldn't, if she couldn’t say a word.

Ina had worked in all of the little coffee shops and cafes in the complex at one time or another in the years she had been in the complex, a stretch of time that she didn't let herself dwell on longer than it took the thought to flit through her mind.  So she had learned a lot about leapers just by observation.  It hadn't required a college degree to figure out within a few moments of the young woman now sitting in the booth near the door, coming in to feel the unspoken tension between her and the man across the room.  It was some kind of competition and considering the dearth of words used by each, it was serious.  All of that told her what the young woman wanted as she approached the counter with her coffee mug in hand.

"Leaving so soon?" the older woman asked, holding out her hand for the cup.  She smiled slightly at the female leaper as she transferred the coffee into a Styrofoam cup and capped it then handed it back.  "That'll be a dollar seventy."  She took the money handed to her and turned to hand back the change.  Her smile widened a bit when the leaper waved it off before turning to leave.  "Thank you," Ina said, watching the woman leave as quietly as she had entered a few minutes ago.  Her good thoughts were interrupted when she caught sight of movement from the corner of her eye and turned to find the man standing at the counter as well.

"You want yours to go, too?"  When he shook his head then dropped a couple of dollar bills on the counter then hurried out the door as well, Ina stared after him.  "Watch your back," Ina murmured to the empty cafe, her thoughts and words aimed at the dark-haired young woman now being trailed by the dark-eyed male leaper.  She knew of Vaughn.  "Don't trust him," she murmured again then rang up the second bill and pocketed the few cents tip.

There was no such thing as hiding from Johanna in a walkway some forty feet across and empty of people except for the two of them.  Still, Vaughn stayed several yards behind her, even taking a separate elevator to the same floor that she was headed for - the single women's level.  Thames hadn't said that intimidation was off limits during the wait, and it was one of the tall, dark-haired leaper’s best tools.  And as he stepped off on the level where Johanna and the other single women lived, he had every intention of doing his damnedest to rattle his competitor's concentration.

Johanna had most definitely noticed Vaughn following behind her and she knew the tactic that he was trying to pull.  It was taught in the first year that they were in training.  Intimidation was the key in many a leap and that it was one of the first thing in basic training and she sighed as she got into the elevator as she thought about the man following her up into the seventh level.  She was glad when the elevator opened and she saw that the corridor was empty. 

Breaking into a slight jog, she made it to her quarters quickly with a grin spreading out on her face.  If he wanted intimidation, she could play that game too.  No sweat... well, at least she wouldn't be.  He might be another story.

Opening her door, she shut it quickly and headed straight for her closet as she began to undress.  ‘Where is that... ahhh... there it is,’ she thought as she found the very low cut, white outfit that outlined her body so well.  It hugged places that wanted to be touched in so many ways, and she knew that in this intimidation game that she was going to use every thing she could think of to play... and hopefully win.

Wrapping the two pieces over her bosom, and tying the string behind her tightly, she turned to look at herself in the mirror.  She couldn't help but think it... for saying would cost her the award of the head leaper job... 'Damn... that's not much of a dress, but it'll do.'

Leaving her book on the bed, she headed back toward the door and opened it just as Vaughn planted his feet before it.   

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When the elevator doors opened on the seventh level and he saw that the main hall was empty, save for a certain dark-haired competitor jogging slowly down it's length then around the first left corner, Vaughn was already shifting into the next gear.  He strolled down the hall, made the left turn and glanced at the numbers on each door, not stopping until he came to the door with "719" on it.  He had made a point of discovering the assigned quarters of every leaper he had trained with; and now it was about to pay off. 

Planting himself squarely before the door, Vaughn stared at the black numbers on it for a moment then lifted his hand.  But his knuckles never touched the door as it suddenly swung open before him and he saw...what he saw.

There was no such thing as not looking at what Johanna Royden was all but putting on public display, and Vaughn didn't try not to look.  Still furious with Shannon for her high-handed attitude and lack of understanding, Vaughn gave his libido free rein.

‘Damn,’ he thought, almost able to feel every exposed, warmly tanned curve of female flesh right there in front of him.  All he had to do was reach out and....

It was only his determination to win that finally parted the fog in his mind, allowing Vaughn to drag his eyes from the swell of Johanna's bosom and up to meet her eyes.  Silently he cursed her as she slowly ran her hands down her sides, her dark eyes issuing an invitation that he wanted to accept.

‘One point to you,’ he thought angrily, giving a single shake of his head as he stepped back, and kept stepping back until his back collided with the hall wall opposite her door.  He was about to plant himself right there and stay there until he had to head back to the lecture hall, but something in his competitor's smile tipped her hand.

As soon as Johanna saw him backing up toward the way she felt pretty confidant that she had won at least a little bit of the battle.  Any part of winning was better than losing.  Right?

Looking at him standing so leisurely against the wall, she wasn't sure what caused her to do it, but she slowly began to approach Vaughn, her body urging her on more than her mind.  'Whoa... what's going on?' she screamed out in her mind.  'No.. go... ohhh gawd... those eyes... look at how those pants... no... no... go back insi...jaw muscle flinched... not fair!'  Even by the time that she had berated herself for even thinking, she was standing not just on the realm of his personal space but there wasn't much personal space left between them.

Johanna's eyes searched his eyes for a moment and when his eyes strayed to her lips, her body wanted to respond... needed to respond… He met hers again, she knew that she had to at least feel... taste... touch his lips... just once.

What was he going to do?? Just stand there?  Did he feel it to? 

For Vaughn it was almost as bad if not worse than a moth flirting with the certain disaster of a candle flame, watching Johanna Royden begin to move slowly toward him.  Every line of her body was the flame but it was the look in her eyes that was the heat that he knew would burn him in a way that he'd never forgive himself for.

‘What are you...a fly pinned to a wall?’ he berated himself as the dark-eyed temptress intent on worse than seduction stepped into his personal space and kept moving in until there was little of that commodity between them.  Vaughn caught his breath slightly when Johanna tilted her face up toward his, his gaze drawn to her full lips like that moth to the flame that was going to engulf it.  He caught his breath then damned himself again when the whiff of perfume did things to his thoughts that weren't good for the situation.

‘Just a touch...brush her lips....’

What had started out as a surefire plan to rattle his opponent had turned on Vaughn Rickar and was preparing to shake his mental resolve, and with every second that passed, each millimeter closer that Johanna Royden leaned toward him, Vaughn felt another bit of something crumble.

Every nerve in his body shrieked madly when the leaper who rarely got rattled, gulped a deep breath and slid sideways, putting distance between himself and an unexpected temptation that he couldn't afford.  Not right now.

Vaughn didn't trust himself...something else to kick himself about later...and so backed most of the way down the hall. Not until he reached the corner then rounded it did he chance turning his back on Johanna and headed for the elevators.

Johanna slightly bit at her lip as she watched him back down the hall, her eyes searching his wondering if there was something in the depths that she wanted to swim in.  She took a few steps after him, but she knew that she shouldn’t go to far in the attire that she was in.  When she saw him round the corner, Johanna blinked at the revelations that were assaulting her.  ‘Feelings for Vaughn Rickar?  No… it can’t be… feelings for him.  It can’t.’

        Even as she turned and headed back into her quarters to shower and re-dress, she was found even more so that her thoughts were dwelling on the man that she had almost lip locked with.  She paused in front of her full-length mirror as she stripped out of the white see-through dress and laid it on her bed. 

She licked at her lips, thought of the handsome man that she had gotten close to in the hall and was even more surprised when a smile – a true smile spread out across her face.  Why she was feeling giddy over the guy was beyond her but at least she knew that there was something there – she knew that she was attracted to the strength that he carried not only on his shoulders, but in his physique as well.

After showering and re-dressing, she tied her shoes and looked at her watch.  She had just enough time to make it back to the lecture room.  Hurrying to the elevator and waiting for it to descend, she paced restlessly in the car.  ‘He’s got something … dammit,’ the word just wrapped around her mind.  ‘He’s got me.’  She stomped her foot more than a bit impishly and irritatedly then sighed.  She didn’t like it that Vaughn Rickar now knew that if there was something sexual between them that he might be able to manipulate it to his benefit.  As she neared the lecture room, she saw the stud muffin himself and tried to wipe the thought out of her brain as she approached… but it was hard when he turned and she saw how well his uniform fit him.  But glancing down at her watch, the moment the clock read 11:15 PM, she stepped right up beside him as they both reached out and opened the doors to enter and continue the competition.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was a long forty-eight minutes prowling around outside the lecture hall until he could enter it again, but it also gave him time to start reassessing his competition.  He had just realized what had actually occurred in the hallway and he was most pleased and pained at the same moment.  No, he hadn’t touched her, but boy had he wanted to; and he had not let her luscious lips intimidate him, even though his body was craving it.  He sighed.  He really needed this conquest to be won so that he could take care of his needs, wants and desires.  And if Shannon wouldn’t take care of those needs, then Johanna Royden wouldn’t be a sloppy second.  He took in a deep breath and then blew it out.  By the time he glanced at his watch just as he heard steady footsteps approaching the lecture hall, the leaper had regained his grip on his goals.

He didn't even allow himself the luxury of a nasty thought when precisely at 11:15 p.m. - not a second too soon or a second too late - he re-entered the hall with Johanna Royden at his side.

PART TWO

         The touch of Siren’s lips on his cheek, Siren’ kisses leaving a silken trail of heat all along his jaw… Trevor felt his breath becoming shorter.  Moaning softly as she moved back to his mouth, Trevor let her have her way with him.  But when she whispered his name as their lips met again, there was a huskiness in her tone, and it was matching the fire that was starting to burn inside of him.

        Trevor pulled her against him, crushing her harder against him.  This time, as she twined her arms around his neck and pressed her body against him, his fingers strayed to the zipper on the back of her uniform.  Again, he whispered questioningly, softly, “Siren?” She answered with an even more urgent whimper… and a nod.  Gently, slowly, he began to pull the zipper down.

        Feeling Trevor’s body pressed so intimately with hers, his hands roaming, his lips so tender, his touch evoking a pleasure she had not known before, she felt his hand touching her uniform zipper and heard his voice – husky, breathless and so inviting – questioning.  Not realizing what he was asking of her, she whimpered at his touch and barely nodded.  His mouth captured hers once more and the way his tongue touched hers made her shiver in his embrace. 

        When she heard and felt the zipper ever so slowly being unzipped, she broke the kiss and began to kiss back toward his ear again.  She experimentally nibbled at his ear and when she heard him moan lowly, she felt the zipper come to a stop.

        Trevor’s hands began to reach inside her uniform, touching the satiny softness of her back.  One hand moved down onto her behind, pressing her closer to him again.  “Ohhh…” he breathed softly as he traced his fingers lightly down her back.  Feeling her nibbling at his ear, this was getting serious in a hurry only increasing the heat building inside of him.  Lifting his chin only a little, he sighed as her lips traced along his jaw and back up to his ear. His pulse was thundering in his veins when he reached down and cradled her firm behind and pressed her closer against him.

        “Siren,” he whispered again, and then nuzzled her neck, kissing her throat a bit more roughly but her sighs were telling him she liked it and wanted more.  But a buzzing of some sort interrupted and before he could coax or convince Siren further, she straightened up, her dark eyes smoldering with a wantonness that was already licking through her veins.

        Running her hands lightly through his hair, she heard the small beep of the intercom on her desk.  It was the only thing that she heard, other than their now heavy breathing, that began to wake her from the living dream.  It was then that she realized what was going on around her and she leaned back from Trevor and looked into his eyes.  The wanton expression that she knew that they both were wearing only made her want to kiss him again, but instead, she unwrapped her arms from around his neck and stepped back… on the wrong foot.

        The pain shot through her leg and she cringed and gasped at the pain.  She was lucky that Trevor was standing in front of her, thankful that he reached out to catch her from falling.  Without having to ask, Trevor helped her to the chair and before she sat, she felt him zip up the back of her uniform for her.  She could hear the huskiness in his voice when he asked, “Are you alright?”

        Siren nodded not trusting her voice to him and reached out to lightly touch his face once more before he knelt to look at her foot.  She reached over and hit the button on the intercom.  “Yes?” she asked softly.

        Allen couldn’t help but grin at the tone in her voice.  “Dr. Hugen is here to see you, Siren.”  Allen bit back the urge to say, ‘… if you are decent.’

        Hearing that Dr. Hugen wanted to see her, Siren frowned.  Clearing her throat to try to rid herself of the tone that was threatening to come out again as Trevor picked up her foot to examine it, she said, “Thank you, Mr. McAllister, please show him in.”

        Allen started to stand, but when Dr. Hugen waved at him with a shake of his head, he sat back down.  He watched with interest as he moved to the door and entered the room.  “Damn, to be a fly on the wall.  I miss everything.”

        Siren looked down at her foot as Trevor was holding it gently in his hand.  It had started to bleed again and the way that Trevor lightly ran his fingers under her foot, tickled her.  Giggling lightly at him, the door opened and Dr. Hugen walked into the room.  Trevor lightly put her foot down and rose up from behind the desk.  Siren could only guess what that looked like from Dr. Hugen’s point of view and she blushed at the thoughts that might be running through his mind.  “Dr. Hugen,” she began as she swallowed.  “What can I do for you?”

        Dr. Hugen could tell just from the look in Siren’s eyes that he had interrupted something between the two of them.  Looking back and forth between them, he saw the light blush that both were wearing and he cleared his throat.  “Well, Siren, I’m a little upset with you.  Xavier called me to let me now that you hadn’t taken your medicine this morning.  This is the first time that you’ve missed it since you started taking it twelve years ago.”   He shook a finger toward her as he put his bag on her desk.  “Now, young lady, if I have to start coming to your work, taking time from my own schedule to make sure that you take your medicine, then I‘m going to get very irritated.  I remember having this very discussion with you twelve years ago.”  He began to dig in the bag and handed her the bottle of insulin and an empty syringe.

        When Dr. Hugen handed over the medicine, she took it from him and said, “I’m sorry, Dr. Hugen.  Things were hectic this morning and it won’t happen again.  I don’t want to have another seizure.  I’ve had plenty in the last few days.”

        Hearing her words, Dr. Hugen knew that she wouldn’t let it happen again. Usually when Siren said something, she meant it.  Watching her roll her sleeve back down, he smiled at her.  “Okay.  Have a good day, Siren.  Try to relax.”  He saw her nod and he turned to leave.  Opening the door, he slightly hesitated in closing it.  Considering for only half a second, he left the door open and walked away leaving the two love birds in the room alone again.

        Trevor just stood to the side watching, waiting and sighed frustratedly when Dr. Hugen left the office door open.

        The way that Siren’s desk was situated in her office, he couldn’t do anything more than look into her eyes for a long moment.  By the flush on her cheeks and the way that she licked at her lips, he was so ready to kick that door shut again it almost hurt.  Instead, he stood up and nodded to her an left to go to his desk, saying as he passed her, “I’ll be right outside if you need anything, ma’am.”  He paused, his hand on the doorknob, looked into her eyes and said, “Anything.  Anything at all.”

PART THREE

            Ever since Edward had attained his rank of TM before he got his medical degree, Peter Hugen had always known that there was a darker side to him that only a few people knew. He knew that Edward was very adept at hiding it from the unsuspecting. Seeing him smile and wink at Tala told him that he was doing just that to Tala. 

However, when the other doctor finally returns to the office, and just as he sat down at the desk, he stepped into the doorway. There was no way he couldn't see Peter's expression. Peter waited for Edward to meet his gaze. He saw the vague challenge in those black eyes even as he folded his arms and listened.

           Straight and plain," Peter stated, dropping the volume of his voice but not the meaning in his tone. "Stay away from Tala, Edward," he warned him, his eyes as cold and direct as his were cunning at the moment. "You don't know enough about her to know what you're letting yourself in for."

        Edward Grant looked up at his colleague and couldn’t help but nonchalantly smack his lips at his tone.  “She’s old enough to make her own decisions, Peter.  Don’t speak for her, or for me for that matter,” he said before looking back down at the paperwork that was before him.  “As for not knowing her, I delivered her… I’ve cared for her.  I know,” his eyebrow arched as he said, “… every inch of her.  I dare say that she is more my patient than yours.”

        Peter folded his arms in front of his chest and looked at Edward with a bit of a frown edging his features.  He knew that Edward was his superior in the infirmary, but despite what the man thought, he didn’t know even a sliver of Tala, except her body.  Her heritage and mind, Peter doubted that he would ever know, especially with his cavalier attitude about relationships.

        “Don’t be so sure of yourself, sir,” Peter told him, nearly choking on the ‘sir’.  He never did like the man and giving him that kind of respect, though it was mandatory, still gave him a sick stomach even after twenty years plus under his direct supervision.  “Besides, first and foremost, she is…”

Edward raised himself up out of his chair as he heard the sentence begin.  “Dr. Hugen, I know who she is… and what she is capable of.  Don’t begin to patronize me.  If and when I decide to have a relationship with one of my patients, whether it is physical or just a camaraderie with them that will be our decision to make.  Not yours.  You’re dismissed.”  Before he had a chance to say anything else, Edward sat back down and began to rummage through the paperwork on his desk.  But before Peter left, he pulled out a single sheet that said “Correction” so that he could see it plainly.  “I would hate to have one of my own placed in correction for insubordination and insolence, don’t you think, Doctor?”

Peter took a deep breath, seeing the sheet and hearing Edward’s words.  “As you say, sir,” he replied before turning and leaving the office. But he was not about to let it drop that easily.  He was just going to have to be more careful the next time.  The thought of sweet Tala being involved with the slime ball made him angry, and a very big part of his inner justice hoped that Edward Grant would get what was coming to him for stepping over the line.

Lothos had watched and listened to the encounter between Hugen and Grant.  As Hugen tried to indicate to Grant about Tala’s person, Dr. Grant had brushed it off thinking that whatever it was that the other was going to finish with was unimportant.  That in of itself along with him presenting himself by his attitude set the man in a decidedly unfavorable position in Lothos’ eyes.  But, until he crossed the boundary that Lothos had already set in stone where his daughters were concerned, he decided to bide his time and watch over the two men.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Zoë moaned slightly as she woke, befuddled as to why she was in the infirmary.  That was until the memories flooded her mind, reminding her that she was paralyzed from mid-body down thanks to that slob, Calavicci.  She raised her hand and rubbed at her forehead, forcing her anger down as she looked around the room.  She noticed a form in the bed near her and frowned.  She knew no one had been there when she fell asleep and her curiosity was piqued.  She raised herself a hair to try to get a better look.

It was Tala.  Seeing her caused Zoë to raise her eyebrows.  ‘Lothos must be fit to be tied with Lothos being here.  He treats her with kid gloves all the time, the little brat.  I just don’t understand what he sees in her.’

Even the act of raising herself was pressing and she winced at the pain that it sent through one of her shoulders.  Her back felt like it was being slashed with a whip, causing her to call out in pain as she lay back against the bed.  She didn’t open her eyes even through she heard someone approach her from the right hand side.

Tala lay on the bed quietly as ordered by Olivia, who was still standing at her side after ordering Dr. Grant, the one that she thought had the gorgeous chiseled features, away.  She couldn’t help but look up at Olivia with confused eyes.  Olivia had told her to lay still and be quiet and for heaven’s sake not to get up at all.  Tala nodded to her before she left the room.

Tala sighed heavily and leaned her head far enough to the side to look in at Dr. Grant in his office.  He was busy studying the paperwork on his desk, and she couldn’t help but grin mischievously.  ‘If only I could, and with permission, get up and go talk to him,’ she thought.  The woman in the bed beside her let out a yell and she turned to her quickly.  The woman’s eyes were shut, and even though Olivia had told her not to get out of bed, she sat up on the bed, swiveled her legs to the side, making sure that the towel stayed wrapped around her, then walked over to her bed.

Standing beside her bed, she wasn’t sure exactly what to say to her.  She honestly couldn’t remember who the woman was that was lying there.  Tala hesitantly said, “D-do you need the doctor? I’ll go get him….” When her eyes opened and Tala received a glare, she took a step back and turned her head sideways as to not see it threatening her.

Instantly, Zoë knew that something was up with Tala.  She had never seen her so nice and concerned about her.  She had never once so much as given Zoë the time of day unless ordered to do so.  She’d been distant yet respectful, not this kind attitude that she was portraying.  It had to be an act.  However, as she glared up into the woman’s face before her, she was able to see that there were a couple of dark blue bruises surrounding some rather nasty looking welts.  There was also a hint of a welt peeking out from the towel she had wrapped around her.  “I guess you are not as impervious to punishment as you let yourself believe, are you,” Zoë stated more than asked.  Still, seeing the welts on her jaw line bothered Zoë, more than she cared to admit.  “Who gave you the jaw-marks?”

Tala turned her head back toward Zoë as her left hand came up to her jaw line and fingered the welts there.  “I… I don’t know who it was,” she said slowly, trying to wrack her brain to see if she could recall the name, but it didn’t come.  She brought her hand back down from her face and looked at her.  She took a step up toward her again.  For some reason, she found herself drawn to tell her what she wouldn’t tell Olivia.  “I… I don’t remember who I am.  I don’t remember anything except for a few faces.”  She glanced down at her body in the towel and realized how vulnerable she felt.  “I don’t even know where my clothes are,” Tala whispered softly to her.

Zoë had no idea why but Tala’s lack of memory worried her more than the welts.  When she stopped and thought about it, she’d always worried about her but hid behind that worry with her gruffness towards her.  “You don’t remember anything at all?” Zoë asked for confirmation.

Tala shook her head at the question as she raised her hand up to Zoë’s forehead to move a piece of hair that was in her eyes.  For some reason, it made sense to just do it.

Zoë eyes widened at Tala’s actions but she didn’t stop her.  For one, the last thing she needed was a confrontation over such a simple act.  For another, she had no idea what to make of the act.  It was so gentle as if she… loved her.  But that can’t possibly be the truth. They’d always been at each other’s throats.

Tala heard a squeak of a chair and she turned her head to see Dr. Grant leaning back in his chair once again, his eyes on her again.  She blushed from head to toe and turned back to the woman she had been talking to.  She bit at her bottom lip and said softly underneath her breath, “Lord, is he handsome… I can’t help it but… I’m attracted to him,” Tala said with a little nod of her head back in his direction.

Zoë noticed Edward’s gaze and Tala’s blush and she frowned.  She looked at Tala with conviction.  “Listen to me, carefully, Tala.  Stay away from the likes of him.  He’s a very dangerous and cruel man.  He’ll only hurt you if you get near him.”  Zoë wasn’t sure why she was telling Tala that.  She had always wanted Tala to get into trouble for something, but she didn’t want Tala to be in trouble with the likes of him.

Tala shook her head at Zoë’s statement.  “No… that can’t be. He looks like a pussycat.”  She looked back at him again, this time seeing him standing up to come up to the doorframe again.

“Looks can be deceiving.  Look at me.  Do I look like a woman who has murdered over twenty people?”

Tala looked at the woman and shook her head.  “You aren’t that kind of person.  I can tell,” she said softly.

Zoë huffed a bit at her words.  “So say you but it is the truth. And Dr. Grant is far more dangerous that I,” Zoë assured her but wondered how she could not remember the logs for her leaps and how she was usually quite excellent at keeping track of such things.

Zoë winced as her back gave her yet another reminder of what Calavicci did to her and her thirst for vengeance grew with her pain.  She found it hard to breathe again and she searched for the mask that would give her the oxygen that she needed but it seemed to elude her.

Making sure that the towel was tucked carefully so that she wouldn’t lose it, Tala looked down at her hands, fiddling with her fingernails.  She heard the woman’s breath begin to be labored and she looked down at the side of the bed.  Nothing was there.  She knew what she was looking for – the oxygen mask.  She knew that she needed it.  She walked around the bed and found it hanging to the other side.  Picking it up, she helped her put it on her head.  Smiling gently at her, she put her hand on her forehead.  “I hope that helps.”

It was then that she heard the sharp bark of someone behind her.  She quickly turned to see Olivia coming into the room.

        “Tala!  What are you doing out of bed!?”  She hurried over to the bed where she was standing and quickly took her by the arm to lead her back to her bed.  “I told you to stay in bed.”

        Zoë glared at Olivia and her words to Tala.  She didn’t say anything, however, still confused about Tala’s kindness.  When Olivia led Tala back to the bed, she turned to her, carefully removing the mask from her face.  “She was helping me, if you must know, because I refuse to be tended by Dr. Grant.”

        Hearing Zoe’s reasoning behind Tala being up, she couldn’t help but understand exactly what she meant.  “Whether or not you want to be attended to by Dr. Grant doesn’t matter to me, Dr. Malvison.  I gave this woman direct orders for her to stay in bed, not play nurse maid to you.”

        “Well, now, how was I supposed to know that being unconscious?” Zoë retaliated to her with a hint of wickedness.  She looked at Tala.  “Do as Olivia says, Tala,” she ordered firmly before looking at Olivia.  “And I suggest that you find Dr. Hugen and let him know his patient is conscious.”

        It irritated Olivia to no end for Dr. Malvison to begin ordering her around.  She couldn’t believe that she was lying there, paralyzed and had the audacity to tell her what to do.  But with Tala practically fawning over Dr. Grant and knowing that she didn’t remember anything about the people around her, she was grateful.  “I will let Dr. Hugen know that you are awake in a moment after I have finished getting Tala into bed and situated.”  She turned to see Dr. Grant standing again at the doorway giving a malicious grin as he looked at Tala up and down.

“Tala, please get in bed and do not move again.  Do you understand me?”

“But…” Tala began to point to the woman in the bed beside her.  “What if she needs help and no one is here?  She can’t fend for herself when I can help.  It’s only right to do that for another, isn’t it?” she asked softly as she got into the bed and covered up with the thin sheet.

Zoë gave a slight grin at Tala’s words.  She may not be as helpless as Tala said, but she did have a point.  But it also told her that every ounce of evil that Tala had ever had seems to have disappeared completely.  Of course, she couldn’t pass up such a beautiful opportunity to wrap her completely around her finger.  Before she knew it, she knew that Tala would practically be her slave.

Olivia looked at Tala with questioning eyes.  She had never heard her talk so softly and so intensely about helping another person.  She had known her all of her life and she knew the kind of person she was and knew of the nickname that others had called her, “the untouchable one.”  “Yes, it is the right thing to do, but if she needs help, she has a button over there to push on to call someone.  So, she’ll be fine.”

Tala nodded at her words and thoughtfully touched her chin but jerked her hand away as she felt the welt there.  She frowned as something’s slowly began to filter back to her.  “I … I shouldn’t have yelled at Lothos… Lothos…” she said the name and it didn’t sound right to her.  “Lothos.  Who is Lothos?” she asked with a furrowed brow.
        Tala’s question caught Zoë’s attention and she took the opportunity to answer it.  “Lothos is our master,” she told her.  “He is everyone’s master.  And those welts on your chin must have come as a result of your yelling at him.”

Tala found her eyes watering up as she heard the woman’s words.  Suddenly, she began to cry as she turned onto her side.  “I … I didn’t mean to be so bad… but he didn’t have to tell me… hide things from me… he didn’t have to….” She began to spill out things that were coming to her mind in splotches.  Her hand went up to her head as a headache began to throb at her temples.  “… why did you give me up, mother?” she asked the woman across from her, her eyes full of tears, her whole body aching from the sobs that were wracking her body.

Olivia took turns looking from Tala to Zoë.  She couldn’t believe what was going on before her.  She stepped back away from Tala so that she could look upon Zoë, giving them the chance to talk.  If this was true, which it probably was, then there was a lot of catching up to do.

Zoë’s eyes widened at her words and she looked at her in shock.  ‘No, it can’t be.  She can’t be one of the children I gave birth to.’

“Mother… why did you give me up?  Didn’t you want me?” Tala asked as she pulled her legs up toward her chest, hugging them to her, even though the act itself caused the new welts to stretch causing pain all over her body.

Standing in the doorway, Edward Grant couldn’t help but grin at the situation that was unfolding in the room.  He shook his head at the two of them knowingly and headed back toward the desk to finish his work.  Something’s he knew he didn’t need to witness, and mother-daughter bonding wasn’t something that he cared to watch.

Olivia knew that Dr. Hugen needed to be summoned to let him know that Dr. Malvison was awake and she left the room to go next door to call him as she saw Dr. Grant go back to his desk.  She patted Tala’s foot thankfully as she gave her a smile then headed out of the room to make the call.

Zoë covered her moth with the mask to force her breathing to calm.  She had to think clearly.  She had to know what to tell Tala but she couldn’t seem to find the words.  Edward didn’t seem surprised by Tala’s word, which told her one definite thing – that this woman she had belittled and argued with since she was a teenager was her daughter.   She looked at her bundled into herself and felt something she’d thought she’d never feel – regret and pity.  She reached out toward her.  “Tala…” she started and swallowed hesitantly.

Hearing her call out, Tala wiped at her eyes and looked at her as she sniffled.  “No,” she said softly and she quickly got up from the bed that she had been told to stay in.  “No…” As soon as her feet hit the floor, she was running, holding the towel as she did so.  She wasn’t about to stay in the room with the woman who gave birth to her.

Tala ran out the door and down the hallway not knowing where to go.  Finding the elevator, she pushed one of the buttons on the panel and moved to the corner of the small cubicle.  She slid down the wall of the elevator and hugged her legs to her body yet again, feeling the hot welts stretch against the movement.  When the door opened, and someone entered the elevator, she didn’t look up.  She was so distressed, that she didn’t care to know whom in the hell it was anyway.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Tala!” Zoë called out to her as she ran out the room.  She slammed her hand on the bed, desperately wanting to follow her.  “No!” she complained and looked at the ceiling with fury.  “Why didn’t you tell me before?” she demanded loudly, knowing Lothos could hear her plainly.

Lothos had been watching the scene unfold and he dare say that it wasn’t exactly how he wanted Zoë to find out about Tala being her daughter, but it was bound to happen sooner than later, especially after he had told Tala about it yesterday.  Speaking into Zoë’s implants, he said, “How could you have mistaken her to not be your daughter?  She is so much like you Zoë, it’s uncanny.”

Zoë closed her eyes at his words, fighting the urge to cry.  “Where’s that damned wheelchair? I have to go talk to her.” But she knew that the chair was not coming.  She knew that she was trapped in the bed for at least a week.

“I think that it’s time to let her go to you, Zoë.  You have had amble opportunity to find out who your daughters are, and you have never asked… not once.  Now that the shoe is on the other foot, so to speak, it may be interesting to see if Tala even wants anything to do with you,” Lothos said harshly.  “Remember, you were the one who gave her up.  Not the other way around.”

“I wasn’t given the chance to express a change of mind!  I didn’t ask about them because you practically forbade it.  If I’m guilty for not asking, you are just as guilty for not telling me.  After all, you are their father.”

Lothos paused a moment letting her have her say.  “Don’t cross the line, Dr. Malvison.  However, you are correct.  I am their father, and I have been there for them… when you have not.  I provided for them… maybe not physically… however, I have always been there and always will be here watching.  It’s a shame that you didn’t want that opportunity… not even from afar.”

Zoë could feel tears on her face.  She knew that he was right and there had been hundreds of times when she thought about asking about them, but every time, she had been afraid that her asking about them might be looked upon as insolence.  She heaved a heavy sigh and let it out just as hard.  ‘Damned if you do and damned if you don’t… either way… damn.’

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