Inner Child

To Edward
and with thanks to my real life Millicent Nichols, Nancy Hickman and to Jessica Ramage

Commander Ed Straker pulled his silk scarlet tie a fraction to the left, and decided to wear a small solid gold Air Force tie pin with the old logo etched into it. He had nothing but revulsion for the new modern logo his branch of the Armed Services had introduced. It seemed to him that changing it was on the same scale as painting a toothy grin on the Mona Lisa. His dad Daniel, whom he had met only a matter of days before, made an disapproving wince as Ed finished pinning it into place, and helped his son put on his bespoke navy-blue blazer with bright gold tone buttons, which matched Ed's sharply creased navy-blue linen trousers.

"What?" Ed wanted to know, checking his appearance in the Cheval mirror.

"Tie pins aren't fashionable anymore, Ed."

"I've told you, Dad. I don't follow fashion."

Daniel fingered the material of one of Ed's many Nehru suits.

"I noticed."

Ed shot him an evil look, and slammed the wardrobe doors shut, a few seconds too late to remove one or two of Daniel's fingers, as he had intended.

"Shouldn't you be calling that bodyguard person you and Alec are inflicting on me for this personal appearance, Dad?"

"Nah. Miriam will show up on time and drive us there in my Rolls. She doesn't like working for anyone other than me, but she follows orders."

"Neon green, Dad? You look like an irradiated avocado."

Daniel looked down at his silk suit. "It's a summer suit, Ed. It's a pastel."

"It's Autumn and it's an eyesore, Dad, is what it is."

* * *

The two men were continuing in their argument, sounding more like enemies than reunited father and son, as they went out onto the grounds of Silk Wood Manor, walking toward the Grade 2 gates. A light autumn breeze lifted and swirled a few silver hairs of Straker's normally perfectly groomed hair. A striking looking tall woman, whom Straker guessed was in her early forties, came out of a red, battered Fiat, and strode toward them. Her eyes were brown and her hair, short, blonde and tightly curled, framed an oval face with several long healed scars that kept her from being really beautiful. She wore a black leather bolero jacket over a white sweater and black jeans and boots. She looked at Straker boldly, as though he was a fish she was considering cooking for her dinner. Daniel waved at her. She never took her eyes off Straker. Straker regarded her back, as impassively as though she were no more than part of the Gloucester scenery. She relaxed somewhat after searching his expression for something, and not finding it there.

"You'll do, I suppose."

"Oh? Have I passed a test I wasn't aware of taking?" he asked, and his tone could have brought on an early winter.

"We don't have to like one another to work together, Mr. Straker. I'm Miriam Huntley." She stretched out a hand and he shook it, as though she'd invited him to make friends with a brown recluse spider.

"This will be a temporary job until my friend can find me someone more acceptable to work with full time." Ed reminded her crisply.

"I can see you two are getting along just fine." Daniel remarked sourly. "I wanted you two to be friends."

"As I keep reminding you, Dad, money can't buy everything you fancy."

Miriam was reaching inside her jacket as Ed turned toward her, his azure eyes narrowed.

"Nice little security apparatus you have at the front gate, Mr. Straker, it detected -"

Some grizzly bear like figure out of nowhere had come running up, grabbed Huntley by the arm, twisted it and knocked her backward with a body slam into the dirt, holding her down with both hands and a knee on her groin. The assailant repeatedly and mercilessly rammed her left wrist down hard, until she yelled and let go of the pearl handled revolver she had drawn from a handmade shoulder holster concealed under her bolero.

"Let me go, you filthy son of a bitch." she seethed at him.

"Blondie had a gun, Ed." Alec Freeman announced calmly. Ed strolled over and poked it with his boot toe, concealing the fact he was enjoying himself.

"Probably has a license for it too, Alec. Alec, the woman you are manhandling is my Dad's bodyguard. She's accompanying me on the Foundation appearance while you get things ready for my trip, and then she'll be joining us on the plane. Miriam Huntley, meet my long time friend Alec Freeman. He tends to dislike people that pull out their weapons around me."

"Some bodyguard. Never saw me coming." Alec didn't look penitent, but offered her a cautious hand and a cautious smile, and she ignored both, jumping to her feet like an annoyed cat, then retrieving her gun, which she stuck back in her holster.

"I'm in the business of protecting people, not stopping runaway elephants. You probably broke my wrist."

"Not judging from the lack of difficulty you had on picking that doll's accessory up." Alec said, looking at the gun in her holster.

"It's small, but I'm expert with it and it still leaves holes in a man, Freeman. I suggest you remember that."

"Threatening me is not a good idea. I have a bigger gun, and I'm expert with it, and it leaves bigger holes in a woman. I suggest you remember that. I'll go bring the Bentley around, Ed. Claire phoned, she's already at the Foundation breakfast, and your luggage is packed, and aboard the jet. She's fueled and ready to go. Ian is off with Robert for the day, so I'll be driving you to the airport afterwards too, as well as piloting the jet."

"Full-service Australian." Ed smiled, and gave Alec his key fob. Alec tipped an imaginary cap respectfully to Ed, and went off in the direction of the garage. Ed's secure cell phone rang, and he moved away gratefully to answer it.

"So what do you think of my son? Pretty special, isn't he, and good-looking?"

"If you like men that look like twigs. I prefer trees. Like Freeman. I thought a Sequoia fell on me or something." she grinned, wiping dirt off her clothes.

"For heaven's sake Mirm, don't tell me you already have a crush on that meddling Australian?"

"Danny, the way you always described him to me, he was slightly less offensive than Satan himself. He's a fine looking man, as men go. What's his relationship to Straker again?"

"Friend, confidante, chief cook, companion, and bottle washer. He would have killed you without breaking a sweat if you'd actually tried to shoot Ed."

"I just wanted to show your Straker that the metal detector he had built into that elaborate front gate of his actually worked."

"Ed finds that gate distasteful, it's English property or something. His wife Claire told me if the Heritage people found out he'd tampered with it, they'd have a hissy fit. Anyway, try to get along with him, Mirm, for my sake? You're going to be with him at least two weeks, and maybe he'll hire you permanently. If I trust anyone in this world to look after my son, it's you."

"He's a testy, arrogant son of a bitch. But that Freeman, if Straker means that much to him, then there must be something about Straker that I am not sensing. Tell me more about him, Danny."

"More about which one? Ed or Alec?" Daniel grinned. She slapped his arm playfully, and looked back at Ed curiously, with fresh interest. Ed was deep in conversation, a scowl marring his perfect features.

"It sounds like the aliens are interested in this cosmetic company, all right. Call me when the investigation is complete, or if you have anything further. Colonel. I'm about to be forced to go on holiday, but I'll be returning to limited command duties soon after that. My wife? Claire and I have discussed it. She didn't appreciate me returning so soon after-" Ed lowered his voice, said the words quickly as though that might dismiss the pain faster, like the temporary ripples of pain that appeared when that particular stone of memory was tossed into it- "after my daughter's accidental death. But Claire and I have been married a long time. She understands duty, and she understands me, and she believes work will be the best medicine for grief. She will be taking over the Foundation duties for me for a while. Yes. Yes. Keep me informed, Virginia. Glad to have you back at headquarters and out of the Commission. Hmm? The vote on your replacement? Oh, I'll worry about that bridge when I come to it. Straker out." Ed was about to slip the cell phone back into his pocket, when he noticed Hunter watching him. He half nodded to himself, remembering something, and punched another number into the cell.

* * *

A little earlier, Alec Freeman was wiping a non-existent smear off the Bentley windscreen, and feeling sorry for himself, a mood he was generally unfamiliar with, and which was usually wiped clean with half a bottle of whisky. Ed had told him he needed some time off, just to relax and accompany him on the holiday, so for that reason, Ed had agreed to have this Huntley be the security person for the trip. Her body hadn't gone unnoticed by him, Alec thought guiltily. And this after he had more or less promised Ed he'd cut down on the womanizing business, and lighten up on the drinking. He hadn't made much of a protest at Ed's suggestions, since he knew Ed was still in bereavement for Kamala. Finding out that Ed had requested limited duty back at Shado hadn't surprised Alec. Shado was in Ed's soul. It wouldn't have surprised him if they'd found the Shado insignia burned into Ed's brain. Damned stubborn brain it was, too. All of a sudden this Daniel had shown up and seemingly had become the center of the universe for Ed. Alec admitted he felt thrown into the rubbish heap. Maybe that was what this was all about. Ed didn't know how to tell him he wasn't useful anymore. Hell, anybody could arrange the damn trip and fuel up the damn car. Being invited along was all for show. Sure, the Brisbies were delighted to be looking after little Alec, and sure, after the whole Terry business, Alec could use a holiday as much as the next man. But he wasn't about to be a burden to Ed. Just having to see his face day after day probably added to Ed's pain of losing Kamala. Who would want to live in the same house as the man who had murdered your daughter? He made up his mind to resign when this holiday was over. That way, Ed could make the expected protests, and he could make the expected reassurances and both men's pride would be preserved. Ed had Daniel now, and Claire, he had an extended family in the Brisbies, he didn't need Alec Freeman. Alec's cell phone rang, he'd been expecting it. It was Ford calling.. The conversation went on for a good six or seven minutes. At the end of it,. Alec glowed in triumph as if he'd consumed an entire pub of whiskey, and he turned back to where they'd all been standing around.

Ed, in the meantime, permitted himself a rare chuckle, so rare, as a matter of fact, that Keith Ford, on the listening end, was considering marching into Shado medical and having his hearing checked.

"I see. Full service Australian indeed. Did you tell him that I had asked you for the report before he did? No? Good. I knew most of it, my father had filled me in on it last night. Thank you, Lieutenant. Oh, and try not to spill any coffee on the console. Straker out."

Straker was back in form, all right. Keith Ford looked down lamely at the cup of coffee he'd absently mindedly put on top of the radar console and hastily took it down, excused himself and headed for Shado medical for another antacid caplet, knowing that Straker would be hovering over his shoulder again in a matter of weeks.

Some days it didn't pay to get out of bed, he thought..

* * *

"Where's Ed?" Alec was asking Daniel and Miriam anxiously.

"Over there, making phone calls. You better tell him to hurry, or he'll be late, judging by my watch." Daniel checked his Rolex. Alec trotted off toward his friend like a seasoned racehorse, put his hand on Ed's back, and guided him off to the garden. Ed made a great show of giving him a startled look, as he got practically tossed onto his favourite bench.

"This is no time to revert to your past occupation as a sheep herder on a station, Alec. What's this all about? Make it fast, I'm late."

"Miriam Huntley is actually Miriam Walsh. She's got a prison record, Ed. Now I know you trust your father's judgement and everything, and nobody's blaming you for going along with a choice he made, but I considered it my duty to have Ford do a G6 on this Huntley person."

"A G6? I don't recall giving you clearance to do that, Alec." Ed crossed his legs and did his best to look imposing, which wasn't difficult. He looked at a nearby bush, and plucked off some lavender, and tucked it into his pocket.

"You aren't listening, Ed. This Walsh woman murdered her husband. Filled him full of lead with that toy pistol of hers. That father of yours is insane for even talking you into allowing her on the property. This woman is no more qualified to be your personal bodyguard than Molly is!"

"I don't know, Alec. Unless I ran into a pack of rabid rabbits, Molly would make a pretty good watchdog." Ed said, deep in thought, as if considering signing the dog up.

"Ed, what the hell is the matter with you?"

"Alec, I could ask you the same question." Ed stared at his friend, hard.

"Ed, for God's sake, that woman killed her husband!"

"Yes. Yes. She did. As a matter of fact she did. It happened in Vermont, Alec, over twenty years ago. She was a happy, beautiful newlywed bride. Her husband was a successful banker. It was a match made in heaven. He turned it into her own personal hell. He beat her, Alec. He beat her if there was as much as a spec of dust on the windowpane. He beat her night and day. You saw the scars on her face. They're nothing to the ones on her body. When she went to her family and local minister for help, they didn't believe a word of it. They told her that if he laid a hand to her, than she must have asked for it. This went on for months. Finally she snapped, and she shot him, and turned herself in, not caring what happened to her. They assigned a public defender to her almost as an afterthought. As fate had it, he happened to be a golfing partner of my father's. He suggested to Dad that he invest in her, because to prove that she had justifiable cause to murder her abusive husband was going to cost money. My Dad, as you know, was found guilty of something he didn't do, and was put away for it. So my Dad went and saw her at the prison. She refused to take his charity, and Dad said that he never made an investment without a reasonable chance of making a tidy profit. He said she'd work for him, pay him every penny back. She agreed. They got her acquitted. She took the name of the lawyer, Huntley, and has been working for my Dad ever since."

"You knew all this?" Alec said, astounded.

"Alec, I lost my daughter, and I lost my wits. I didn't lose my instinct. My father gave me the bare bones, and I had Ford do a G6 to fill in the rest. He told me you ordered one on her too. Efficient, Alec. She's proved herself many times over. And so have you. I know you think I'm replacing you. I'm not. The psychiatrist won't allow me to work at Shado full time, so I'll need someone in that seat that rest of the time that I trust completely, and that's you. I'll need security, and that may be Miss Huntley. Providing she eases up on that attitude of hers toward men. We didn't have all that auspicious a meeting." Ed smiled.

"Ed, I'm sorry, I thought-"

Ed jumped effortlessly to his feet.

"And I thought I said I was late! Colonel Freeman, get me to that Foundation breakfast! That's an order. And not in my Dad's stuffy Rolls. My car. Come on."

"Ed, have I ever told you what our relationship means to me?" smiled Alec. Ed winced.

"Only when you're sober. Not when you're drunk, which, thank God, is most of the time. And if you decided now is the time to get maudlin with me, you have another think coming. Come on, let's go. There's something I want to discuss with you on the jet. Lake called me, and told me about an incident-"

"Oh no, you don't. This is a holiday, Ed. No shop talk for two weeks. Doctor's orders." lectured the Australian. Alec glowered at him.

"Islands in the sun. Tropical holiday. Beach paradise. Having to listen to my Dad lecture me about how stuck in the seventies I am. I'd rather have a root canal without painkiller." Straker said, walking alongside Alec in the poorest of moods.

Alec Freeman just grinned at Ed.

Ed Straker stretched out his bare legs, squirted a inch or so of gel from the plastic tube he was holding, and rubbed it into his legs and arms. He and the others had made camp on a white expanse of beach, sand and softly lapping water as far as his eyes could see. Those eyes, at the moment tinged with a suggestion of discomfort, were housed behind a pair of gold rimmed aviator sunglasses. Next to him, on a striped beach chair identical to his, Miriam Huntley watched him in a furtive manner through her red sunglass lenses. At least she hoped it was furtive. Next to her, Claire was pouring lemonade into paper cups.

Meeting her, Miriam thought, had been a surprise. She had expected Straker would have a creamed, Botoxed, tanned, permed, and perfumed size six trophy wife with more diamonds than brain cells. Only the friendly, soft spoken brunette physician, closer to size sixteen than size six, had welcomed her, and made her feel comfortable during the long trip on the plane. The trip too had been a surprise. She'd known from Danny that his son Straker was ex-Air Force, God knew Danny had mentioned it enough times, proud as punch of his son's military career. Ed Straker had surprisingly done most of the piloting on the trip, stopping only before the last two hours to allow Freeman to take the controls, and, as he had put it, grab some sleep. Her experience of men as rich as Straker was that they didn't do anything for themselves, they usually had a butler to wipe their nose when they sneezed. Straker, on the contrary, didn't have a personal butler, and served himself, and more than that, seemed to enjoy his independence. He'd seemed much more comfortable 20.000 miles in the air aboard his Dassault Falcon jet than he had on terra firma. She looked over at him again. A long, thin scar on his pale right hip was revealed as he moved to rub more gel on his skin, and it caught her eye. He had an impossibly slim body, but most of it was concealed under a short, navy blue terry cloth robe with short sleeves. A twig he might be, but he was a damn good looking one. A perfect birch one, the kind you'd carve yourself a walking stick out of. He looked like a walking stick, come to think of it.

* * *

"Miriam, want me to top off your lemonade?" Claire asked, cutting into Miriam's private reflections. Miriam had the funniest feeling that Claire knew what she had been thinking, and was enjoying it.

"Thanks."

"Sweetheart, where's my journal?" Ed asked. Claire fished through a leather haversack and handed him his leather journal and a pen. "Why do you have it in your bag?" he demanded.

"Because you always lose it accidentally on purpose, dear."

"Very funny."

"You keep a diary, Mr. Straker?" Miriam inquired, inoffensively. It didn't work. Not that she expected it to.

"I keep a journal, Huntley. On my psychiatrist's orders, part of my bloody therapy plan which I had to agree to, so that I'd be cleared to go back to work. Thirteen year old teenage girls keep diaries. Where the hell is Dad? He's been in that cabana for what seems like hours now. And if Alec stays out in that water any longer, he's going to grow fins." Ed grumbled.

"Edward, why don't you go take a swim? I did earlier, the water is wonderful. Oh here comes Alec. I can't believe he actually is wearing those Aussie flag swim trunks." giggled Claire.

"I didn't think anything could be older than he is, but those swim trunks are. Well, well, if it isn't the Creature from the black lagoon. Here." Ed reached over and threw a water drenched Alec Freeman a towel. He grinned openly at Ed and settled next to him in a lounge chair, wrapped the towel around his shoulders, obviously in no hurry to dry off. Claire passed him a cup of lemonade with some ice.

"You need to get out there, Ed. The water is crystal clear. Can't remember how long it's been since I've been in the ocean."

"You look to be a strong swimmer, Mr. Freeman." Miriam said, admiring the curly salt and pepper hairs on his unexpectedly muscular chest.

"Second nature to me. Not an Aussie alive that doesn't love the water. Where's Daniel?"

Ed scowled, pausing in his writing.

"God only knows. He's supposed to be changing into his swimming outfit. Maybe he needs someone to zip his pants up or something."

"I should have expected Ed to be complaining. That lemonade looks good, Claire-what's the matter?"

Claire had spilled her lemonade into the knapsack, eyes wide, not believing what she saw. Ed had jumped up like a kangaroo wearing athletic shoes, dropping journal and pen into the sand, and grabbed his father, wrapping a towel around him hastily.

"What the hell has gotten into you, Dad? You're stark naked!"

"Will you stop acting like your Puritanical mother? This is a clothing optional beach." Daniel threw the towel into the sand. Alec raised an eyebrow.

"A what? Dad, put that towel back around you now, for the love of God!"

"Edward, Daniel is an adult. If he wants to-" began Claire to no avail. Miriam, used to Danny's behavior, just turned the pages of a news magazine and said nothing, privately hiding a grin at Straker's reaction.

"I don't care one whit what he wants. Dad, put this on, and put it on now, or I am packing and going back to our hotel. I mean it."

"Will you grow up?" Daniel exclaimed at his son. Without a word, Ed retrieved his journal and pen, and began to fold up his lounge chair. "All right, all right, you impossible prude. Give me that damn robe of yours."

Ed handed Claire the journal and pen, removed his robe, passed it to his father, and settled into his chair after he had unfolded it again. Miriam removed her sunglasses, staring openly at Ed's many scars, particularly the jagged ones across his left collarbone. Alec caught her shock, and shook his head ever so slightly in warning, before Ed noticed. She quickly put on her sunglasses, and picked up her magazine. God, she thought.

Claire said nothing, and picked up the gel, and began to rub it into Ed's back and chest. He made a low grumble, but offered no resistance. He was wearing blue and white vertical striped swim trunks. He settled down, and began to write again.

"Ed's too much of a coward to show that lily white body of his, and get some sun. The only light he gets is from his halogen desk lamp." Alec teased, between sips of fresh lemonade.

Without looking up from his writing, Ed was ready with a retort, as Alec had expected.

"How long have we known one another, Alec?" he inquired, his tone higher when pronouncing his friend's name.

"Let's see, I made the fatal mistake of introducing myself to you back when man invented the wheel."

"So you know perfectly well that I burn easily if I am not covered up and wear sun screen with my fair complexion. Besides, I'd like to see you go full Monty in front of an audience."

"Oh? How much would you like to see that?" Alec asked. All heads shot in his direction.

"I'm beginning to like you, Freeman." grinned Daniel. Alec grinned back.

"You wouldn't dare." Ed said, eyes twinkling behind his expensive sunglasses..

"How much are we talking, Ed?"

"Bottle of any whiskey you fancy."

"That's no grand prize and you know it."

"What do you want?" Ed asked.

"Claire told me there's a dance place near the hotel. Little band, cocktails, finger food, samba music. She read about it in the hotel brochure. Said it's been forever since you two wore down a parquet dance floor. I strip, we all go there tonight and make fools of ourselves."

"Done." Ed allowed himself a crescent of a smile. Miriam's eyes widened. Alec casually threw down the towel, gulped all the lemonade in his cup, and removed the showy souvenir trunks. Claire laughed.

"I owe you one, Alec." she said.

"I haven't seen anything that little since I looked up your intelligence quotient." Ed remarked calmly. Miriam let out a sharp laugh, Daniel guffawed and Claire giggled . Ed looked over at Miriam for a moment and gave her a half crescent of a smile.

"'I wouldn't talk, Ed. I've seen you in the shower." Alec countered.

"I didn't know you Australians knew what a shower was." Ed said, handing Alec his swim trunks after wincing at their design. Alec grinned and accepted them.

"Do they always do this? " Miriam wanted to know.

"'It went on for two hours once. It's a game they play. My husband usually wins." Claire assured her with a smile. Ed's secure cell phone rang. Claire sighed.

Ed patted her hand, reached for his mobile.

"Straker. Anytime you interrupt my holiday is a bad time, Ford, so get on with it, will you? What is it? Yes. Yes. I see. All right, I'll be there tomorrow evening at the earliest. I have a promise to keep. Straker out. Sweetheart, we have to go. Something's come up at the studio. That contract matter I told you about. We can go dance to a few numbers, but then we have to fly out tomorrow. I'm sorry." Ed looked for a moment as if he was dreading her response. Mary's phrase '..you always have to go..' echoed in his head like fingernails on a chalkboard. Claire just smiled at him. It filled him with relief like a rainbow after a storm.

"Do you remember how to dance, Mr. Straker?"

"I think so, if I forget I'll just make something up. Samba band, huh? Sounds enchanting. Hey." he said softly.

"Yes?"

"I love you." Ed said tenderly.

He moved toward her, and she kissed him. It lasted a fraction of a second. Miriam turned away, swallowing sudden emotion down. She didn't see Alec look at her thoughtfully nor did she realize he'd seen her gulp, and blink repeatedly to fight tears.

"I'm glad. I love you too. Just think, tonight you can write in your journal about your two week holiday that lasted two days." added Claire.

"That's an eternity for him." Alec chuckled. Miriam smiled at him. Ed muttered to himself like a wizard conjuring up a magic spell.

"Psychiatrists. Bah. If I hear another goody-two shoes, new age, spiritual platitude from that Indian female shrink, I'll choke her with my bare hands," Ed said, starting to pack their things.

"I don't think that's a wise idea, dear." Claire mused. "I'd hate to have to smuggle a file to you in jail concealed in a lemon drizzle cake that Frances baked."

"Oh shut up, and help me fold the chairs." Ed grinned a little. Miriam had never seen anyone so happy that a holiday was about to prematurely end. She made a mental note to ask Freeman about Straker's scars when they had a private moment. And then she scolded herself for the warm feeling she had at the thought of having a private moment with Alec Freeman.

Alec Freeman had to be a very intelligent man indeed, no matter what Straker might say, she thought wickedly. Maybe if she yelled timber, he might fall on her once more. Jesus, what is the matter with me, she wondered. I swore I'd never get involved again. I'm even beginning to like Danny's son. Wonders never cease.

Alec smiled at her, and she strode alongside Straker protectively, deciding there and then that she wanted to be a part of these people's lives forever. She walked toward their hired jeep in a happier mood than she had been for years.

* * *

"Ed, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about. Hey, what is that stuff? Smells good."

"Lord only knows. Some cologne that Claire bought me at a duty free shop. Here." Ed tossed the closed bottle to Alec after dabbing some on his neck after shaving. Alec caught it and sniffed at it cautiously then sampled some. He was dressed in a black dinner jacket, black trousers with a satin cord down the leg, frilled white shirt and white bow tie, all hastily and expensively purchased at the hotel shops after the realization he hadn't packed anything appropriate for the dance club. Ed was resplendent in an identical outfit, only his was white, and the bow tie he'd chosen was cobalt blue. Combing his hair into place, he shot a look at Alec in the gold vein mirrored tiles. The two of them were sharing the bathroom in their hotel suite. "I'm waiting, Alec. What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

Alec leaned on the edge of the spacious sink, pensive.

"About your father. Security matter."

Ed sighed.

"Let's have it."

"Your Dad knows about Shado. Incidentally, we can talk freely here, I ran a check for bugs."

"Efficient as ever. And how would he know such a thing, Alec?" Ed asked, his tone like broken glass.

"After Kamala-you-"

"Had a nervous breakdown. Yes. And broke. Yes All my inhibitions and personal walls crushed, like a child's toy under a jackhammer. I've been in therapy for nearly two months since witnessing her death, remember? Dr. Goody-Two shoes and her insistence on journal writing. I told you earlier, I lost my wits, but not my instincts. I had Dr. Schroeder put me under, Alec. I went over everything I said to my father in those desperate hours I spent with him. I made mention of wanting to go back to headquarters, which could have meant anything, might even have referred to my days in Military Intelligence. It seems that all my training to resist spilling out my guts about Shado even under duress worked." Ed gave an ironic smile.

"But he said he knew, he boasted he hadn't gone to the press." Alec pointed out.

"He wanted some leverage over you, Alec. He made it look like he knew much more than he did. He thinks that I am involved in some military project, and that the studio is a cover for it. He thinks that is why I gave up my career. My dad is closer to the truth than he knows. Everything in his psychological profile indicates that he is telling the truth. He won't expose me. He just enjoys the satisfaction of thinking he knows it all. Alec, when will you realize this isn't a completion between you two? Do I want my father in my life? After that little nudist incident, you'd think I wouldn't, but God help me, I do. But does that mean he could ever be a replacement for you? Inconceivable, Alec. Now is there anything else going on in that pea brain of yours I should know about?"

"Miriam."

"What about her?"

"Ed, I really-what?" Ed had made a face like he'd bitten into something rancid and sour, and Alec stared at him, puzzled.

"No. No. A hundred times no. A million times no. I'm not letting you get in over your head again, I wouldn't be your friend if I did. I saw what Terry did to you, did to all of us. Stay away from her, Alec. She has too much emotional baggage for you to start acting like a lovesick schoolboy around her. You have a baby son to think about. Take some time, pull yourself together. You don't need a woman in your life any more than you need a drink. You just think you do, from habit. Habits can be broken."

"Ed, Miriam and I talked all the way back on the jet. I've never felt so alive, so right, as I do with her."

"Altitude sickness." Ed gave a dismissing gesture.

"Ed, damn it, will you listen to me? Don't you want to see me have some personal happiness?" The moment the words were out of his lips, Alec regretted them, because Ed had flinched, genuinely hurt. It might have been subtle, a play of light and shadow, unseen by anyone else, but Alec knew Ed Straker better than anyone else in the world, and he was capable of catching the most subtle of feelings in the younger man. When Ed spoke again, his voice was low, rich and evocative.

"I'd give everything to see that. Everything, Alec, to be assured that you found the happiness you richly deserve. No man in this world has contributed more to it from the mere fact that he lives and breathes in it than you have. Your entire life has been one of service, Colonel, asking for very little in return. And no man or woman has served me so well,, often when I didn't even deserve it, than you have. I could speak for the rest of my days, in an attempt to come close to describing what you've contributed to my life, and never come close to succeeding. Alec, before meeting you I merely existed. Knowing you, I managed to live." The way Ed pronounced every word, it seemed to ripple in the cool air.

"Christ, Ed. I didn't expect a speech." Alec muttered, touched, and not knowing what to do with his feelings, blinking back tears. "Knowing you has been a privilege and a pleasure, and you know it. I don't know what else to say."

"You know something? I haven't seen you cry like that in a long time. That nuisance of a psychiatrist I see on a weekly basis tells me it's a good thing for a man to do once in a while. Of course, I don't buy it for a moment.." Ed said quietly, wearing a serene smile, letting his hand rest on Alec's shoulder.

"God damn you, Straker." Alec said, losing it altogether. The two men embraced for a long moment.

Ed handed him a tissue when they reluctantly separated.

"God might or might not, but I know Claire will, if I don't follow through on my promise to dance with her tonight. You okay?"

"I'm okay."

"Stay away from Miriam Huntley, Alec."

"Ed, for God's sake you told me you fell in love with Mary at first sight, why couldn't it happen to me?" Alec grumbled.

"It doesn't happen to men with horrible taste in swimwear." Ed responded, and walked with Alec out of their suite and back into the corridor, toward the elevators, Ed turning his electronic pass over and over in his fingers, a smile on his face and a bounce in his step. When the doors closed behind them, Ed shoved the pass into a pocket, pressed his lips together firmly, hit the button for their floor, stared at the scarlet flocked wallpaper.

"What?" Alec said.

"I haven't been completely honest with you."

"When are you ever, when you're in one of your little scheming moods? Okay, what is it?"

"Terry. You recall that after the incident where she made it look like you'd forced her into her bed? I talked to her and made her agree to go and stay out of your life."

"Right. And off I went on walkabout, in an drunken, guilty huff. What about it?"

"I paid her fifty thousand pounds to agree to disappear, Alec."

"YOU WHAT?"

The elevator doors had opened, and several people had heard Alec's roar, and looked in his direction, but only momentarily. The hotel, chosen by Daniel, was one where people were paid richly to overlook the eccentricities of the wealthy.

"Alec, I hope you're hungry. I know I'm famished. I hear they make very good steaks here."

"We'll discuss this later, you bloody, buggering interfering Bostonian."

"What happened to the love?"

"Shut up, Ed."

* * *

"How long have they been married?" Miriam speared an olive with a toothpick topped with a bright cellophane frill and nibbled on it thoughtfully. She was sitting at a cozy corner table with Alec, a candle glowing in a brass holder on top of the white tablecloth. The two of them were watching Ed twirl a barefooted Claire, in a black and white lace cocktail dress, to the rhythm of a fast samba number on the dance floor. Her strappy high heel sandals had been removed and kicked under their table.

"Damn showoff. Thinks he's Fred Astaire. Married? Oh, seven, eight years. Look at him. Having the time of his life. Wish I had their camera, I'd like to show a photograph of Ed to an acquaintance of mine named Keith Ford. He's never seen this side of Ed, but I have. After I had to shoot his little girl, I never thought I'd see it again. I'd like it if he'd take the entire two weeks off, but the bloody fool won't, and at least he has tonight."

"He's a good dancer." Miriam took a sip of her club soda.

"There isn't much Ed isn't good at. Except taking care of himself. That's where Claire and I come in. I didn't think any woman would be good enough for him. I see now that I was wrong." Alec gulped some of his bourbon. "Maybe that's why he did what he did."

"What do you mean?"

"He paid my fiancee fifty thousand pounds to scram and not be in my life. All this time I thought she did it because he'd talked her into doing what was good for me. Now I know she was just after the money. I let her control my life. Never again. I can't say I'm sad that she's dead."

"He may be your boss, but I'd never put up with someone telling me how to live my life. He's a strange man, your Ed Straker."

"On the surface, it may look that way." Alec said defensively,"'But you don't know him like I do."

"Speaking of the surface, my God, Alec, how did he get all those scars?"

"I'm glad you didn't mention it to him. He's sensitive about it. He could have plastic surgery, I suppose, but he can't be bothered to take time off for something like that. He's vain, but not that vain. He was involved in the Vietnam conflict, his Phantom reconnaissance plane was shot down, and he was captured by the Vietnamese, imprisoned and tortured and brainwashed on about a daily basis for just over a year. They broke him when his best friend betrayed him. Shoved him in a hole in the earth and were burying him alive. He's been claustrophobic ever since. Oh, he claims it doesn't bother him as much now. Hogwash. It bothers him. I always make sure his hotel rooms are spacious when we travel together. Anyway, that's where he met Angel. I spoke to you about Angel earlier, he's looking after my little boy with his wife, Frances. They were going to move the prisoners to another permanent camp when Ed gave them the opportunity to stage an escape. He was shot, of course, blasted his collarbone to pieces. Still doesn't have complete strength in that left arm, although to look at him now, you'd never know it. If he spins her anymore, she's going to throw up her twenty pounds worth of steak and salad." Alec grinned.

"You want to dance?" Miriam asked tentatively.

"No, if you don't mind, I'd rather just sit with you. Look, I went to Ed. Told him I believed I was falling in love. I never in a million years expected anything like this to happen to me. Imagine falling in love at first sight at my age. Anyway, Ed tried to talk me out of it. He isn't trying to interfere. He's trying to keep me from getting hurt again."

"Alec, I think I'll head up to bed if you don't mind looking after him by yourself."

"What's wrong?"

"I just want to go, all right?" Miriam jumped up, and left. Ed and Claire had concluded their dance, and had seen her fly off.

"Something wrong, Alec?" Ed said, his lighthearted mood rapidly vanishing.

"I was trying to explain to her, how I felt about her, and she just walked off."

"I'll handle this." Ed snapped, and stormed off after Miriam.

"Ed! Wait!"

"Alec, no, let him. This is important to him. Please. He has to." Claire said, stroking Alec's hand. Alec sighed, stared into his empty glass.

* * *

"Come in. Oh. I was just going to bed, Mr. Stra-"

Ed slammed the door closed so violently behind him that Miriam's hand shot toward her pistol, which was on the night table.

"You planning on breaking his heart and then shooting me, is that it?" Ed glowered at her.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"He came to me, and he told me he was falling in love with you. I'm not blind. I wish I was. I saw it happening. He's a lonely man, Miss Huntley. A lonely man with no wife and mother for his son. Why the blazes are you laughing? I can assure you, there is nothing funny about this!"

"Shit, shit, I thought he was talking about someone else! Danny and he had gone shopping, I heard them talking about women, I didn't know, oh my God, Mr. Straker. Danny said you're an intelligent, careful man, so I suppose you wouldn't have agreed to my guarding you unless you checked out my background?"

"With a fine-toothed comb. Go on." Ed's words were ice.

"Then you know I know what it's like to be hurt. Alec was just telling me you'd objected to him falling in love. I didn't understand it was me the big brute of a bear was talking about. Mr. Straker, I swear to God to you, you have to give us a chance. Please. I haven't felt this way about anyone since I met and married my husband. I believed in soul mates back then, and even after everything I went through, I deep down still wanted to believe that there was someone out there waiting for me. Someone I could look after, someone I could love and he'd love me back. Mr. Straker, he told me you paid his fiancee a lot of money to walk out of his life. I'm telling you now, there's no amount of money that could make me turn my back on that man. I can understand that you are worried about him. But you have to give him a chance. Give me a chance. Please."

Ed sighed, leaned against the wall, arms crossed, jaw set.

"Why did you and my father never become intimate?" Ed suddenly asked. "He seems very fond of you."

"He wasn't in love with me, he simply wanted a one night stand after his wife died. I wanted more, and I wasn't in love with him. He and I have always been honest with one another. I try and look after him the way you do Alec. But he doesn't have that kind of place in my heart. I haven't gone to bed with anyone but my husband. You wanted to know what kind of test you had taken, Mr. Straker. I was concerned about Danny. I wanted to know if you were genuine, or if you were just wanting to share in his power, and prestige, and money. I saw that you were a decent man. I apologize for staring at you the way I did when we met."

"I have more than enough of my own power, prestige and money, no matter what my Dad may think of me or the way I live and where I live. Now see here, Miss Huntley-"

"Miriam. Please call me Miriam."

"Miss Huntley, listen well to what I am about to say. If you hurt him, you won't live to regret it, because they'll find your body in an alley somewhere with my hand prints on your throat. But I give you both my blessing. Go on, he 's still at the club. Go take a walk with him. It's a nice night."

"Mr. Straker, wait!" Miriam called, but Ed disappeared out the door. "Stubborn overprotective son of a bitch!" she fumed. But then she beamed, and grabbed a coat, not bothering to dress in her excitement, and ran out of her room.

* * *

"Edward, tonight was wonderful. You were wonderful, everything is wonderful."

"How was Dad?"

"I checked in on him. He's sleeping like a baby."

"I don't see why he feels he has to make a production of everything. The way he carried on with that chef because he didn't think the lettuce in his salad was fresh. I kept expecting someone to yell 'Cut! that's a wrap'" Ed complained. He and Claire were in bed, snuggled together under the covers.

"He just was trying to impress his good-looking son, that's all."

"Oh he made an impression on me, all right." muttered Ed.

"Isn't it wonderful about Alec? When I left your Dad's room, I sneaked over to the club. There's nobody left in there except them, not a soul, and the band left hours ago, but Alec and Miriam are still dancing. It's so romantic."

"Ummm." Ed responded, rolling away, and reaching for the drawer pull. He grabbed his maps, slide rule and a pen and began jotting a flight plan on a pad.

"All right. What's bothering you?"

"Nothing. Go to sleep. I have to do this-Claire! Claire, damn it give me those back."

Claire shoved everything under the mattress and turned to face him.

"Either you tell me now, or I tear everything in your wardrobe to stitches and you wind up flying to England the way Alec looked without those ridiculous swimming trunks. I'm waiting, Edward. Cough it up, you'll feel much better."

Ed gave an exaggerated sigh and slipped under the covers. She slapped him several times until he popped back up in exasperation.

"Damn it! I have to get up early tomorrow to fly the jet!"

"Edward, I am waiting." Claire repeated stonily.

"Argggh. All right! All right! Alec actually thought I didn't want him to be happy. Can you believe that?"

"Yes." she said seriously. He reacted as thought she had knifed him in the gut with a scalpel. Tears came unbidden into his wide eyes.

"My God, how can you sit there and say something like that to me?"

"Because that is what your secret pain is about, darling. Do you remember what him being married to Yetunde was like? She wanted you, but she settled for him. It never worked out because she didn't want it to. And then the disaster with Terry. She never was one of the family, and she couldn't stand you, she was jealous of you."

"What pain are you talking about?"

"Edward, you two are sewn from the same cloth. Alec thinks Daniel is going to replace him in your heart. And you think anyone that loves Alec will take him away from you. You want him to be happy, but you are afraid of being left alone after all these years of having him by your side. That's one reason why you're so depressed about this. There's a inner child in you which doesn't understand why he can't be content and happy with just you. That child thinks it will be abandoned, abandoned yet again by someone he loves, the way all of the people he loved seemed to leave him. It's breaking your heart. You always think it's some fatal flaw in you. But Alec will never leave you. Nor will I. "

"Claire, Claire." Ed whispered, tears running down his cheeks. "I'm ashamed. I can't keep him with me forever. He has a son now. And he-"

"Doesn't need you now?" Claire said, and Ed nodded tightly. "You're such a soft hearted fool, just like he is. He will always need you and you will always need him. There's no need to be ashamed of that. You're so hard on yourself, Edward. You push yourself so hard, without the common sense to yell for help even if someone set you on fire. You grieved for Kamala but you wouldn't let yourself come to me for help, because you somehow thought I would think less of you for being something more human than the stoic Commander Straker. And look at what happened. The man of ice. It's such a load of crap." she chuckled. He smiled a fraction, laid against her.

"Is it?"

"If it wasn't, I wouldn't have married you. Now go to sleep. I have a feeling that Miriam has been looking for a family all her life, and that she wants you to be a part of it. Edward, I think she'd make a fine bodyguard for you, and she'd share Alec willingly with you. She isn't anything like Terry. She won't keep Alec away from you, won't try to change him like Terry did, she understands that it would harm both of you too badly for words. Oh Edward, I love you. It's going to be hard losing you even for a little while, but I know keeping you from your duty would harm you too. Just please, please, remember that you have a home to come to now. People that love you. You're my world, my sweet Edward, I love you so much."

"I love you too, precious. You make me feel so safe and warm. You know what?"

"What?"

"It would serve them both right if they locked them up in that club all night, making me worry about them like that." Ed said thoughtfully. Claire giggled, and Ed broke into a wide smile.

"You're impossible. Go to sleep, Mr. Straker."

"I have better things to do tonight, Mrs. Straker," he whispered in her ear, and started kissing it while he unbuttoned her nightgown.

* * *

Ed Straker got out of the car and went up to the Shado operative on duty, who was suppressing a yawn. Behind Ed, Alec and Claire trotted along. Miriam and Alec and Daniel had slept all the way back to England, and Claire's resolve to keep Ed company as he flew the Dassault Falcon home had broken in the second hour. In the middle of telling her about the UFO incident, she had begun to snore loudly. Ed had grinned, removed his jacket, and placed it over her as she slept in the co-pilot's seat.

Miriam hadn't appreciated both Ed and Alec disappearing off to what they'd told her was Harlington-Straker Studios without her, but encountering the Brisbies and Alec's baby son had placated her for the time being.

Short on sleep and patience, Ed now barked at the weary looking young man, whom he didn't recognize.

"Straker."

"Lieutenant Roy Hadley, incident containment department, new, just out of training. Pleasure to meet you, Sir." The muscular Hadley, red-haired, green as a shamrock and as eager as a dog wagging his tail, thrust a hand out at Ed. Ed reacted to it as though it was smeared with manure, and Hadley looked confused. He'd expected petting, and instead had gotten a newspaper whacked across his wet nose.

"Report."

Hadley looked distinctively uncomfortable, pulled the hand back, dropped it and Alec looked down at the pavement to hide a sympathetic grin. Claire was used to Ed's feats of legerdemain by now, his ability to pull his icy Commander persona out of a top hat like a live rabbit, and merely checked the latches on her medical field kit.

"Definitely the origin of a UFO landing, Sir. Colonel Lake is interrogating the only civilian we found now, his nametag identifies himself as one Lionel Decker, some sort of chemist. Location is a cosmetic laboratory, housed in what used to be an old farmhouse. Pretty out of the way place, I'd say. The people in the surrounding area have been relocated, and the area cordoned off We've hauled off most of the computers and chemicals, but we're still looking around, trying to ascertain what may have happened here. Another thing, Commander, there's five or six kids on the premises. Apparently they had a nursery setup here for the children of the employees to play while their parents worked. They seem pretty odd. "

"Children." Ed repeated, troubled. Claire shot a look at him but said nothing.

"Why the has-mat suit, Hadley?" Alec asked.

"Borderline radiation in the area, sir, nothing serious, just as a precaution."

"Get me three suits, Hadley. Be quick about it. Where's Colonel Lake?"

"Van, Sir. Three suits, yes, sir." Hadley said, moving off and Ed had already forgotten him and had gone to the Shado van.

"Fill me in, Virginia." Ed told her, eyeing a man with short grizzled-looking hair in a lab coat, who was bent over, head in hands.

"This is Lionel Decker, Chief chemist, director of the company. I haven't been able to get much from him, he's in shock, not very responsive."

"I need answers, Colonel." Ed said in a barbed-wire voice, eliciting a scowl from Lake, and the man looked slowly up. His eyes were like holes, Ed thought. He'd seen the aliens, all right.

"Have you come to save us? We need help. They came, you understand? We didn't have any choice! My wife, she's-I saw them, God, please help us, you've got to help us!" he yelled at Ed.

"Easy now. Can you tell me what-" Ed backed away as the man's eyes bulged.

"You're one of them! Aren't you? MONSTER!"

The man screamed, jumped up, rushed Ed and locked his hands around Ed's neck, squeezing the life out of him with the strength of the deranged. Ed didn't even have a second to cry for help. Lake, astonished at the change in her captive, was paralyzed for a minute. It took quick action on Alec's part to pry his hands off Ed, as Ed gasped for air. Claire already had a tranquilizer out and without bothering to swab the arm of her husband's assailant with alcohol, jabbed Decker with it.

"Monsters! Monsters! They made me do it, do you under-" The drug hit his bloodstream, and he collapsed, and Lake finally reacted, hauling him with difficulty back into a chair. Claire went to Ed, Alec had been supporting him as he steadied himself..

"Edward." she said, worried.

"I'm all right. Get him back to-"

"Commander, he's dead." Lake said from behind the trio, feeling for the man's pulse.

"Impossible, that was a measured dose." Claire spat out. She shoved the empty hypo into the disposal unit, and examined the man herself. "Damn. That shouldn't have happened. My guess is a massive cardiac infarct. I'm sorry, Edward. A post mortem may tell us more."

"What's done is done. Lake, get his body to Shado medical centre. I'm taking over here."

"This has been my investigation-"

"I believe I outrank you, Colonel. What happened to those hazardous materials suits I asked for?" Ed said, already heading out the door. Lake scowled but nobody stayed to see it. She scampered out the van after grabbing a clipboard of her notes, and headed to where Alec and Ed were standing, accepting the bright orange protective suits from Hadley, who was jumping around like bubbles in boiling water, in an attempt to placate Straker. Ed pulled the suit over his brown jumpsuit after removing his jacket, and Lake chose that moment to approach him.

"I didn't have the opportunity to tell you everything I learned after starting my investigation, and since you are taking over, (her tone seemed to indicate she would have preferred to say stealing it) I thought you would want to be filled in on the details. UFO activity in the area had increased 3%, so after an assessment of the area, my guess was they were interested in this cosmetic laboratory. We destroyed three, but a UFO had managed to elude SkyOne, and had crash landed nearby, we don't know why yet.. Nothing to see there, I'm afraid, it was totally charred, and is the cause for the minor radiation readings. Our people have brought the remains of the pilot and the UFO to headquarters. Did you want to talk to the children we found before I take them back to HQ for the amnesia treatment?"

"Poor little things, must be pretty shaken up." Alec said, zipping up his suit with a little difficulty, wishing he hadn't had that Ayers Rock-sized piece of peach cobbler after dinner on the island.

"I'm afraid so. They are acting in an odd manner. Hard to put your finger on it. I confess there's something about this entire thing that is eluding me." Lake responded.

"Where are they?" Ed wanted to know.

"In the smaller van. Here's my report."

"Save it, Colonel, I'll read it when I get back to headquarters. What's taking Claire so long?" he wondered aloud, irritated.

* * *

"You need any help with that suit?" Hadley asked Claire, watching her get into it.

"No, I can manage."

"Too bad. You're a lovely bird, aren't you. If there's anything I've noticed since I've started with Shado, it's that the women are much more attractive than I was used to back in my police days. That Straker, he's a bit of a sourpuss, isn't he?"

"He can be." Claire said, fastening her utility belt around her waist, and accepting her medical field kit from Hadley.

"Listen, how's about you and I getting a bit to eat when this job's done? I know how to show a girl a good time."

"I'm married, Lieutenant, to a Shado operative, as a matter of fact."

"Is that so? I know just about everyone, who is the lucky fellow?"

"Ah, here comes my husband now." Claire said with a smile, and relished it as Roy blanched when Commander Ed Straker marched up to her.

"What's holding things up?" demanded Ed, Alec behind him.

"I'm ready. See you later, Lieutenant."

* * *

"Oh yes, oh yes, aren't you the sweetest little thing? Yes you are, baby, yes you are." Miriam cooed to Alec's son. Daniel sat opposite her and just stared.

"You think you know someone-" he muttered.

"Oh hush, Daniel, every woman has a maternal instinct." Frances scolded him while Angel poured him a non-alcohol ale and laughed.

Miriam shook her head at Daniel.

"You're just jealous of the attention I'm giving him, Danny." Miriam said, and laid little Alec against her, shaking his teething ring at him. "I've said it before, I'll say it again, how the devil am I supposed to protect Straker when he won't even let me go with him?"

"Guarding Q-tip is like guarding a slippery eel. If Nathaniel were alive, God keep his soul, he'd be the first one to tell you that." chuckled Angel.

"Tell me again why you call my son Q-tip?" Daniel said, looking around the snug with distaste. He was sitting in Ed's favorite green leather wing chair, flipping through a newspaper.

"In the rare times the gooks-" Frances gave Angel a sharp look, and he started again, "In the rare times our captors would let us exercise in the yard, we'd look at one another, try and match the tap code we used to communicate to a face and body. If we didn't know a name, we'd assign a nickname. I was Angel, me mate Quentin was Drummer. Anyway, when I saw that skinny body and that light hair on top, Ed became Q-tip. He seemed to like it. Told me he had that kind of metabolism, thin all his life, so the things those beasts did to him was especially hard on him. He couldn't afford to lose the weight like he did. He was one of the sickest there."

Daniel closed his eyes tightly for a moment.

"If only I'd been able to find him then. That Lawrence Malone person wouldn't tell me where they had him. Wouldn't let me talk to Rosemary, I didn't even know she'd died until much later.. All that time he was rotting away in that hospital, I could have gotten him out, gotten him to the best Swiss doctors, fixed that body of his up right. Instead, he lands at Bethesda, and they do that blasted patch job on him. Bastards."

"You really do love him, don't you, Daniel?" Frances said thoughtfully.

"I made the mistake of my life, throwing him away like that. Each day he allows me to spend near him, I have more hope he'll forgive me for being so selfish."

"I don't think I've ever heard you talk like that, Danny." smiled Miriam.

"It's the shock of you being lovey-dovey with the meddling Australian!" Daniel said, and buried his face behind his newspaper.

"What's this?" Angel said.

"Alec. And her. Making out like two spotty teenagers." Daniel said.

"What were we supposed to do? The owner locked us in that club all night." Miriam groaned.

Daniel tossed the newspaper aside with a hearty laugh.

"Owner? Is that what you think? Ed told me about it that morning. Said he and Claire had crept out and bribed the owner to lock you in, and pull out the telephone lines. Hung a sign on the door, saying property condemned. I about burst a gut laughing. He said he knew Alec had his cell phone-"

"WHAT? Alec told me he left it in the hotel room!" fumed Miriam, as baby Alec cooed in a matter that suggested he knew what his father had been up to. Frances stepped out momentarily to fetch something from the kitchen and came back with a tray of goodies.

"Ed knew he had it, said that if there had been a genuine emergency, he needed a way to get help, but knowing Alec, he'd take advantage of being left alone with Mirm, which is what Ed intended." Daniel chuckled. "Besides, he went and rescued you in the morning, didn't he?"

"Straker set us up?. That sneaky bastard," Miriam said, but she was grinning. "Maybe that means he trusts me with his precious Alec, although he won't even call me by my first name yet. And wait until I get my hands on my Alec. No cell phone, huh?"

"Oh quit acting like it was a big deal. Ed said that when he sneaked up and hung the sign, he peeked and you two were still slow dancing, and kissing," Daniel reminded her, enjoying himself.

Miriam grinned.

"Alec's talking about getting engaged. He says we have to work on Ed so that he's comfortable with it. I like Straker. Mind you, I don't know why, and it's going to be hell working for the grouch, if he even hires me full time, but I talked with Claire, and together we're going to launch Operation Straker on him. Get him to trust me. I like a challenge, and he is one."

"Dear, Alec is practically a widower, it seems a bit premature for him to be thinking about marriage again," Frances said, pouring Miriam a cup of tea. Daniel reached for little Alec as Miriam accepted the porcelain cup with the pink rosebuds on it thoughtfully.

"Oh Cupcake, where's your faith? I didn't set out to fall in love with you when I came home and had to tell you Drummer was gone, now did I, you a widow?"

"But you have more sense than Alec, Stanley, and you know it." Frances said, offering Daniel and Miriam freshly baked peanut butter cookies from the tray. Angel had to snatch his own.

"More sense than Alec? That wasn't what you were saying earlier this evening." Angel answered, getting cookie crumbs all over the plush Aubusson rug. Frances scowled at him.

"Let's not get into that again. A gay practitioner has no place in the C of E, Stanley. The Yanks mean well, but they have it all wrong."

"So I suppose I should throw out all the gays in my congregation? Maybe you and I should move away from this neighbourhood since Ian and Rob are looking for a place to live in here? Is that it? I didn't hear you say word one about our archbishop wanting to ordain females, did I now?"

"That's different. Women can serve the church just as well as men." She sipped her tea daintily.

"Prat." Angel said flatly.

"Stanley Mitchell Brisby, I am not speaking to you!" Frances slammed her cup down and the tea splattered all over. She jumped up and left the room. Strangely enough, Angel grinned.

"What's the matter with you? She has the right to her opinion, even if you and I don't happen to agree with it, Reverend." Miriam told him.

"Call me Angel. This isn't what it seems. We're about to celebrate our fiftieth-second anniversary tomorrow, and she thinks I've forgotten it. Look." Angel pulled a purple velvet bag out of a hip pocket of his faded tan cord pants, and showed them a large sapphire pendant on a gold chain. "Haven't played the horses for months. Been saving up. Can't wait to see her face. Silly old darling twit she is. Excuse me, I'm off to make amends." Angel said, paused, shoved the necklace back into the bag, shoved it back into his pocket, stuffed another cookie in his mouth, and left. Miriam chuckled.

"You know, no matter what you say about what a tiny mouse hole it is, Danny, your son Straker has a beautiful house here. Cozy, lived in. So it looks like we are on our own, how shall we spend the rest of the evening? Claire was nice enough to tell me I could have any guest bedroom I wanted, and I'm staying in Alec's bedroom tonight, near the nursery." she decided.

"I'm going for a walk with the baby. I'm worried about Ed. He sure seemed in a hurry to go where ever he was going, and he hadn't had enough rest."

"He said he was going to the studio, Danny. Contract matter."

"Ed lies as smooth as a bottle of 100 proof scotch, Mirm. Who conducts studio business at seven-o-clock on a Saturday night?"

Miriam furrowed her forehead.

* * *

Ed slid open the van doors, and what he saw made him pinch his lips together in a thin line. Another Shado operative, a female, looked up at him with recognition as he did so, looking relieved to finally have see adult company. She kept her voice low so her charges wouldn't overhear her.

"Lieutenant Beverly Beale, Sir. Senior member of the incident containment department. This is the lot of them. I suppose they're suffering from shock, so that may explain it, but they aren't like any children I've ever seen. I put through a call to headquarters, faxed them the descriptions of the children together with photographs. That girl in the corner with the doll has been positively identified as one Anne Newhall, daughter of a Dr. Katherine Newhall, dermatologist, one of the employees here. Her father is dead, died several years back in a boating mishap. As for the rest, nobody has a clue. No children matching their descriptions have been reported as have gone missing. We may get more of an idea when we take them back to Shado headquarters and do tests. I tried to examine them all more closely, but in the interest of not traumatizing them further, I decided against it. Orders, sir?"

"I'll try and talk to them. Take a break, Lieutenant."

"Yes, Sir."

Ed looked at the five children crammed into the van the way you'd cram clothing into a suitcase so you could latch it closed. The little girl named Anne, around six or seven years of age, was in a corner, clutching a tiny doll, looking like she was trying to become part of the wall, huddling in utter fear. Another older boy was laughing to himself, and wearing a laboratory tunic smeared with dirt that was far too large for him, was scratching at the skin on his hand. He seemed in the same age bracket. The rest of them, six in all, seemed to range from age five to twelve. One girl was muttering to herself and looking in a hand mirror. All of them were wearing clothing far too big for them except for Anne, who was in a simple striped sweater and skirt, with flower print shoes. It was all too much of a bizarre scene, Ed mused, like a genteel Monet painting of children copied by Salvador Dali.

Claire slowly approached the scratching boy and smiled.

"Is that hurting you? I'm Claire, I'm a doctor, who are you?"

He just laughed in response, and went on scratching his hand. On closer examination, she saw that he had ripped the skin open until it was raw and bloody. Taking a chance, she began to clean and apply antiseptic to the wounds. It had to sting, Ed reasoned, but all the boy did was laugh.

"They must have all lost their minds." Alec said, startling Ed, he'd been so intent on the children that he'd forgotten for the moment that Alec was there.

"Can someone tell me what happened here?" Ed asked.

The little girl turned toward him.

"Are you going to hurt us too?" she squeaked.

"Why do you ask me that? Has someone been hurting you?"

"Bad men. They killed my mummy."

"My name is Ed, what's yours?"

"Anne."

"How do you know that, honey, that they killed her?" Alec asked gently, not doing a good job of concealing his feelings about what had been done to them. A look at Ed told him Ed was doing even a worst job. Claire finished bandaging the boy, and studied her husband, afraid that the situation would damage him.

"I saw it." the little girl said simply. "They cut her open."

Ed shivered, he couldn't help it. His voice remained calm when he managed to speak. Everything in Claire cried out to her to hold him, but her training won out, and she didn't react. Alec had gone white, and turned away for a moment, then he stepped closer to Ed as if reading her mind.

"I'm so sorry. We're here to help. We're going to take you to a safe place."

"Take dollie. She's scared."

"You can take her with you."

"No, you take her, and take good care of her, please? She said she likes you." Anne thrust the doll into Ed's hands.

"I promise."

Beale came back into the van, and Anne backed into the corner again, as if she had never spoken in the first place. Seeing the doll in Ed's hand, Beale was puzzled.

"Get them to headquarters, and have our medical and psychiatric people have a look at them."

"Right away, Sir."

"Goodbye Anne." Ed said.

The little girl broke down crying, and Ed left the van feeling like the oldest monster in the world. Carefully, he unzipped his has-mat suit and put the doll into an inside pocket then zipped it up again.

"Ed, if you want to go with Claire back to Silk Wood Manor, I can handle things here." offered Alec. "You haven't slept for hours."

"I want a look inside that laboratory. I'm not letting this case go until I have a better idea of what the aliens wanted here."

"Edward-"

"No, Claire. We owe it to Katherine Newhall to find out what happened to her daughter. She's out of it. Her daughter will carry what happened here for the rest of her life."

"But surely the amnesia drug, Ed, won't that-"

"The psychiatrists will have to make sure these children deal with and are treated for the trauma of what happened here. Then and only then can the drug be administered to wipe out their memories. Come on, we're wasting time." Ed disappeared back into the building, and Hadley was there, fully alert this time.

"Radiation in the immediate area has dissipated, Commander, the equipment shows-" Hadley paused, watching the Commander go past him like he didn't exist, with Claire half-running to keep up with her husband. Alec stopped, and Hadley looked grateful.

"Hadley." Alec said.

"Sir?"

"Shut up." Alec said, and followed Claire into the building.

Claire, Ed, a rattled Hadley, and Alec wandered around the farmhouse. It was all but devoid of furniture, and all of the test tubes, Bunsen burners, and other apparatus was gone. An office area had been completely trashed, chairs upturned, binders on the floor, a flowerpot smashed and the soil scattered everywhere. There was a nameplate that caught Ed's eye, it read Katherine Newhall. He picked it up, dusted the soil off of it and placed it on the desk.

"Not much here, Ed." Alec said, still trying to coax the Commander into going home.

"We're not accomplishing anything by staying together. Everyone split up. Stay in touch on the radios." Ed ordered.

"That isn't the wisest idea," the Australian began, but Ed was already out the door. He looked at Claire, she bit her lip and headed in another direction reluctantly.

* * *

Ed found himself in the storage area, which at one point must have housed animals, his nose told him. No amount of bleach had been able to disguise the telltale aroma. The conversion of the farmhouse to a cosmetic laboratory must have been fairly recent, judging by not only the odor, but a rather unprofessional paint job over brick. Steel shelves lined the walls, with various empty boxes with different colored labels arranged on top of them, together with stacks of office supplies, manuals, file folders. Some boxes had been opened in the search for anything. An industrial size cardboard rubbish bin stood to one side, chock full of shredded paper. Ed frowned, it was evidence, evidence that the Shado team shouldn't have overlooked. Probably that fool Hadley. It was plain enough from his body language with Claire what he'd been delaying her for. He turned with the intention to go out and stick a verbal ice pick in the younger man's back, when he heard a noise. He froze for a nanosecond, and then with a fluid motion unzipped his suit and retrieved his Glock, snapping the safety catch off. What was it that Alec had said? Splitting up wasn't a good idea. Someday he'd actually listen to his friend, he mused darkly.

"I know someone is here! There's no other way out. Show yourself, hands in the air unless you want me to empty my gun into you." Ed demanded.

There was a rustling of paper, then nothing. Ed looked around carefully. Yes, he thought. The only place he could be concealing himself. Gun readied, Ed approached then gave the rubbish bin a sharp Savate Chassé kick to overturn it. The strips of paper went flying but so did a naked little boy who looked at Ed resentfully. Ed groaned, then chuckled softly, lowered and returned his Glock to its holster after snapping the safety catch back on. The boy had scrambled to his feet, staring at Ed wildly.

"Playing hide and go seek, are we? How is it the teams didn't find you? You're in immediate need of a fig leaf or two, you aren't exactly a cherub. My name's Ed, what's yours?"

Abruptly the boy made a run for it, and Ed easily caught him, and he began kicking and snarling. Suddenly he lowered his head and sunk his teeth deep into Ed's hand, tearing in his ferocity right through the Shado Commander's glove like a bull mastiff, and Ed screamed, trying to pull his hand free.

* * *

Alec had caught up with Hadley and Claire, stifling a yawn.

"That's it. If he doesn't agree to go home and get some sleep, I'm knocking him out and carrying him all the way there." Alec said, looking at his wristwatch.

"I'll sanction it," Claire chuckled. Hadley looked at the two of them, wondering if he should report them. This Shado gig was getting out of hand, and he briefly considered going back to giving witless tourists directions to Big Ben. All three of them went white when they heard Ed's unmistakable scream, and Alec didn't bother to unzip his suit, he ripped it open with a burst of adrenaline, pulled out his gun and went speeding off in the direction of the sound, with Claire breathlessly close behind him. As they turned the corner, the boy came dashing out, and Alec heard Ed yell.

"GET HIM, ALEC!"

The Australian didn't need to be told twice. He grabbed the boy, hoisted him over one shoulder, and ignored the boy's pounding on his back. Claire whipped out her ever-present hypo, adjusted the tranquilizer dose to suit a child, swabbed the boy's bare butt with alcohol and jabbed the needle in. The boy yelled in pain, gasped, then flopped over like a dead fish on a boat. Ed was half crouching, and Claire hurried to him.

"Little tyke bit me. Hard too. He was hiding in the rubbish bin, Hadley, what kind of ineffective job did your team do when you searched this place? I want everything, every last item in this entire farmhouse crated and labeled and brought to headquarters and I want it done now. Do I make myself clear?"

"I'll get assistance, Sir, we'll do it right away! Shall we take the kid?"

"Thick as two planks, aren't you? Yes, take the boy, and do what Commander Straker said, now get out of here." Alec grumbled. Hadley made himself scarce.

"Stop fussing, Claire, I'm fine," Ed said, wincing hard, and obviously as far from fine as the earth was from the moon.

"Edward don't you tell me my job, a human bite wound is far more prone to infection than even an animal bite, now hold still. Dear God, I may have to stitch this closed."

"Kid had quite a pair of jaws on him. Strewth. Got any bourbon handy?" Alec asked.

"I don't drink, or have you forgotten that?" Ed said, through clenched teeth as Claire cut away the remains of the glove and swabbed the wound.

"It isn't for you. It's for me. I can't stand the sight of blood." Alec joked. Ed rolled his eyes around like marbles in a vase. Claire grinned in spite of her worry and carried on with her work.

"This is going to hurt a lot, even with the local anesthetic." Claire warned, getting out her suture tray from the field kit.

"What the blazes happened to doctors that assured the patient that it won't hurt a bit?" complained Ed. Alec smiled at him.

"They went out of fashion, like Nehru suits." replied Claire. Alec guffawed, and Ed opened his mouth to protest, but clamped his teeth back together when she started to put the first stitch in. A painful five minutes later, Ed's hand was lightly bandaged, and they headed out to the Bentley and home. Or at least that was where they'd been headed. A last minute phone call from the medical centre had summoned Ed back to Shado headquarters. Hours later, Claire stood wearily leaning against Ed's desk, with Alec flipping through the report she'd handed Ed, a expression of amazement etched on his weather-worn features. Ed was seated at his desk, staring into his now cold coffee in a flimsy foam cup so fiercely she feared it might melt.

"You must have made a mistake, Claire. This is nuts." Alec said from his customary black leather seat in the corner.

"Are those five dead bodies in the Shado morgue nuts, Alec? I either did or sat in on the post mortem of every single one of them. The toxicology report is yet to come in, but the cause of death for them was clear cut. A first year medical student that was blindfolded could tell you what killed all of them. Only little Anne Newhall seems to be fine, relatively speaking, but she has scars that make it obvious they did tests on her."

"They were all in various states of shock, but they were alive! I saw them as clearly as you did." Alec said. Ed slammed down his cup, got up from his chair and took the report from Alec's hands none too gently. He brushed his fingertips against the plastic report cover in disgust, causing a snapping sound.

"Advanced prostrate cancer, lung cancer, enlarged heart, skin cancer, and liver cancer. It just doesn't make sense, When can I expect that toxicology report?" Ed demanded.

"I can go see what progress they're making on it." Claire stood upright, brushed off her plaid skirt.

"I want to see it for myself." Ed announced and was out the doors. Claire groaned, and Alec shook his head, and both trotted after the Commander like rats in a race. It didn't take him long to reach the laboratory, and a familiar looking figure in a burgundy trouser suit under a lab coat heard him stomp in, and spoke without raising her head from the electron microscope.

"There's no mistaking the sound those ankle boot heels make on the floor, Ed."

"Constantine! What the hell are you doing here? You were supposed to be marrying so-and-so in Austria, or is it Belgium? You were also supposed to be dosed with the amnesia drug." Ed reminded her sternly, but with the barest trace of relief in his voice. She looked up, smiled, and shook her head, setting her silver and garnet earrings into motion. Claire smiled at her. So did Alec. She waved at them.

"I hate shots. And Mr. Right turned out to be Mr. Wrong. Dearly beloved was turning out to be neither dear nor beloved. And I couldn't leave my Bunsen burners, or the thrill of you yelling at me because I don't always hand in my reports on time, and I leave Starbuck non-caffeinated double expresso stains on the pages. You look like crap, Ed. Which is quite an accomplishment for a man that looks like you. Enjoying our journaling, are we? Millicent and I share the same tailor, and she said you were making progress on your twice a week sessions." Dr. Caroline Constantine grinned wickedly.

"She's driving me crazy with her insistence that I drink water, cut down on coffee, take time to smell the roses, and read a positive affirmation at least once a day. I'm not here to discuss the progress of my therapy, Constantine."

"You were lured by my overpowering sexuality and smoldering beauty?"

"Constantine." There was the promise of her imminent homicide in his voice.

"Okay, okay. Toxicology is coming in. I need to kick the damn machines before I can throw together the kind of conclusive 500 page report that thrills your little, and I do mean little, frosty heart. But I can tell you this. Somebody was playing with cellular regeneration, transplants, chemical compounds, blood cells, DNA, some sort of metabolic booster that I've never laid eyes on before, in all probability alien in origin, and massive vitamin and mineral doses. The data we've been able to get off their computers indicates they were doing age reversing research for some new wonder face cream, and it turned ugly when the aliens paid them a visit. Makes injecting sheep cells look tame. There's more, Ed, and you probably won't like it."

"Do I ever?" he asked, stifling a yawn.

"When's the last time he slept? When man crawled on all fours and ate McDinosaur burgers?" Constantine made her way to the coffee machine precariously tiptoeing on her spike heels, and poured fresh coffee for Ed, fixed it sweet and light, as was his preference, and handed it to him.

"I'm waiting, Constantine."

"The computer data contained DNA studies on all the staff that worked at that firm, and the Newhall child. Working from that, I was able to identify the five bodies, Ed."

"Well?" he said, after sipping the steaming coffee.

"My theory is that the aliens wanted to experiment with prolonging their own lives by reversing the aging process, thus enabling them to procreate again. One more thing, the UFO fragments had microscopic remnants of both alien bodies and the body of Katherine Newhall, and her charred organs. The bodies of the children-" Constantine hesitated, and Ed prepared himself for the worst.

"Go on."

"The bodies aren't bodies of real children, Ed.. They've somehow been turned into adult-child hybrids by the experiments performed on them. . . They're the bodies of the staff."

* * *

"Edward, come home, please, you need some sleep, and not in the lounge here. You need a square meal and eight hours in your own bed at Silk Wood Manor." Claire pleaded. Alec stood next to Ed, reminding Claire of a faithful squire attending a knight who had seen far too many of his men die in campaigns. The Australian hadn't said a word, but his forehead resembled an accordion.

"There's something I want to do first. No, I intend to do this alone. I'll meet you in about a half hour at the car. You two grab something to eat in the restaurant. That's an order." the Commander said, and went off in the direction of the lounge. They watched him go. Some of the authority had faded from his step.

"Want me to knock him out and hoist him over a shoulder?"

"I'm tempted, believe me, Alec, but seeing you shot for a court martial offense wouldn't help me either."

"Bugger food. I have a favorite pub nearby, with a dartboard I always picture Ed's face on when he pulls something like this. I'm buying."

"I get first chance with the darts, and I may have to buy the pub a new set when I get through with them." Claire declared, and let him guide her out.

* * *

"Ed. Goodness. What are you doing here? You should have gone home hours ago. We have an agreement, remember? No full shifts."

"I could ask you the same question, Dr. Nichols. Why are you here after your own shift ended?" Ed studied the short woman who served as his current therapist. Her hair was cropped short, and she was in her customary blue suit, with turquoise bracelet, earrings, and choker which all matched. She had a white binder she carried under one arm, a pen tucked behind an ear, and a wicker tote

"I'm in charge of Anne Newhall's care. I brought her a choice of toys from my office play therapy room."

"How is she?"

"Ed, I understand she reminds you of your daughter. You mustn't go looking for more grief when you have more than enough on your shoulders to bear. What are you doing? What happened to your hand? Ed?"

"I want to see her. Alone, Doctor."

"All right, Ed. I expect to see you first thing tomorrow afternoon at home, and we'll see if we can't pick up the freshly broken pieces of your heart. It'll at least do her some good, she is fond of you, talked to me quite a bit about you, you charm women of all ages, I told Caroline. Apparently you reminded Anne of her deceased father. Don't stay in there too long. And remember, it takes more courage to cry, and you've always been a courageous man. Tomorrow then, and don't forget to journal when you get home."

"Do I have a choice?"

Millicent Nichols snickered.

Ed sighed, managed a hair-width smile.

"I didn't think so. It was worth a try. Hope springs eternal."

"See? All those positive affirmations I give you are paying off." she decided, and went off. Ed made a decidedly sour face at her departing back.

"Be careful, Ed, that scowl may freeze on your face," she said without turning back toward him, and disappeared down the corridor. He sighed heavily, tried to come up with a brand new way to kill her, found at that late hour he was long on ambition but short on creativity, and tapped the door button.

* * *

Anne Newhall was transformed. Ed suspected that between her two faerie godmothers Constantine and Nichols, they'd waved their magic wands, and the little girl looked less like a victim of trauma and more like a little girl. She wore a white lace pinafore over a pink velveteen dress, pink socks with embroidered flowers on them, and patent leather shoes with a rhinestone buckle. At first, she was too intent on pouring tea into a tiny teacup, and asking a large brown bear (which strangely enough reminded Ed quite a bit of Alec, but it may have been lack of sleep) if he wanted sugar or honey in it. Only he could see there was no sugar, no honey and no tea. The tea set and bear were real enough.

"Is there enough tea for me?" Ed asked.

Anne looked up in surprise.

"Do you want to come to my tea party?"

"Do I need an invitation?"

"No, Dr. Nichols said you were a Commander. That's a big thing. So you don't need an invitation. I wondered what happened to you."

"May I sit down?"

"Uh huh. Did dollie come too?"

"She's in the car."

"Is she going home with you?"

"Yes."

"Will you sing to her at night? My daddy used to sing to me at night."

"Dr. Nichols said I remind you of your father."

"You smell the same."

Ed chuckled a little.

"I hope I don't smell bad. It's been a while since I had a shower."

"Uh huh. I like how you smell. Kind of lemony. I don't like showers, I like bubble baths better."

"I'm sorry about your mother, Anne."

"I don't want to talk about Mummy. It makes bear feel sad. It makes me feel sad too."

"My mother is dead, and it makes me sad sometimes. I sit out in my garden, on a bench that I know from my lawyer's letters to me was her favorite, and I pick lavender she grew, and I think of her. The people we lose-the people we loved the most never leave us. Your mother will watch over you. Your father too."

"You really think so?"

"I sure do, Anne. May I have some tea?"

"What's your name again, I forget."

"Ed."

"What kind of tea do you want, Commander Ed?"

"Whatever he's drinking." Ed told her, indicating the bear.

"He doesn't want to share."

"Not very polite of him, is it?" Ed asked, looking at the bear sternly, and crossing his arms. She giggled for the first time, and it lightened his heart. "I don't want his old tea anyway. I brought my own. I'll share it with you, but not him."

"What kind is it?" she wanted to know, her expression showing her delight at Ed sharing her playtime.

"Hmm? Oh, the tea? Magical. It tastes like strawberries." Ed moved his hands in a gesture to indicate he was pouring, and he filled her cup, and put the imaginary pitcher aside. With all the elan of royalty, she sipped at the invisible liquid daintily.

"It's delicious!" Anne handed him something he assumed was an pretend scone, and he accepted it. " What happened to your hand?"

"Nothing to worry about."

"Does it hurt?"

"Throbs, now that you mention it. Itchy, too. I'll get my wife to put something on it when I get home."

"Is your wife Claire?"

"Yes." Ed stretched, trying to shake off the curtain of exhaustion that was threatening to force him into inevitable collapse.

"She's nice. She got me vanilla ice cream from the restaurant after she listened to my heart and stuff and then she went away. She said you would want a report and if you didn't get it you would be cranky."

"She did, did she?" Ed shifted in his seat.

"Are you cranky?"

Ed looked thoughtful.

"Do you think I am?"

"No, you're nice. Will you play with dollie?"

"I don't play anymore." Ed wondered why there was an overwhelming feeling of sadness associated with that fact.

"You just played tea party with me."

"I guess I did. I need to go now, Anne."

"Will I ever see you again?" she asked as if she knew what he'd answer.

"No, Anne." Ed replied honestly. He pressed his lips together so hard it caused pain, making the transition to Commander again, knowing that as soon as she was psychologically stable enough, they'd give her the amnesia drug, wiping away all memory of Shado, what she had experienced, and him. The thought stung him anew, and made his hard won control waver. At least she was alive, and he prayed she'd stay that way. Her brown eyes glimmered with tears.

"You'll keep dollie?"

"For the rest of my life," he said, surprising himself with the fervor of that vow.

"You'll take her home?"

"Yes."

"Do you have a nice house?"

"Yes, yes." Ed rose from the chair, and Anne was visibly more anxious.

"She'll be safe with you. She likes you a whole bunch.. Don't forget to sing to her before she goes to sleep."

"Goodbye, Anne. Be good."

"Ed?" she called his name with almost adult desperation. He slowly turned, with great reluctance. That act made him weak and dizzy, and he grabbed a shelf to steady himself, took a deep breath, waited until four little girls became one again. Lack of sleep was taking its toll on him, he reasoned.

"Yes?" His voice was impassive.

"Will you hug me goodbye?"

Ed toyed briefly with the idea of repeating his farewell, and leaving. A second after that, he was ashamed at even considering it, after all this child had endured, yet he was keenly aware that he was in no shape to put himself through this kind of anguish again. He hadn't even looked at any pictures of any children after burying Kamala. Now, there she was, echoed in this little girl, wanting a little comfort, wanting a little solace, after having her mother not only torn from her, but having to witness the unthinkable way she had died.. The terrible abuse she had suffered at the hands of the aliens. He could walk from the situation and go home, have a sense of peace, at least for a little while, escape the reality of what the aliens could do to human beings.. She had no home to go to. No parents to love her. A sense of longing filled him, but he swallowed it down like a bitter pill. He had swallowed many pills in his lifetime. Some of them stuck in his throat, cheating him of air.. The loss of his wife and son, of his baby daughter, of Kamala. Many bitter pills to swallow without complaint.

This one, for instance.

He'd never see little Anne again.

"Please?" Her voice stirred him from underneath the weight of his thoughts, and he went over to her, crouched, and threw open his arms expectantly. She buried her head against him, and he hugged her tightly, emotions blinding him, crushing him, drowning him . . . He wanted to flee, but he remained stoic, allowing the torture of the experience because she needed him. He heard her soft weeping, felt her tiny body trembling and then an unfamiliar deeper sound. It took him a little while to realize it was his own, heavy, relentless sobbing.

* * *

"God, these shoes are killing me." Constantine wailed.

Millicent Nichols grinned at her across the table in the Shado restaurant. Both of them had mutually decided to dispense with diets for the night, and were eating impressively sized portions of fish and chips for dinner, after deciding that the Anne Newhall situation was too damn depressing to handle on rabbit food alone.

"You saw them in Harrods, and decreed that if you couldn't have them, life wouldn't be worth living. Now you are here, your wallet lighter, and you possess those things, and you are complaining about it. I'd rather walk on a tightrope than go near the instruments of torture you call shoes."

"Sure, that's because when you get off duty, you wear those eyesores that are more suited to mountain goats. Ugliest things I ever saw." Constantine popped a chip into the malt vinegar, and kicked off her shoes, wiggled her lavender enameled toes under her hosiery. From the corner of her eye, she saw Keith Ford and Roy Hadley stroll in, engaged in a lively conversation, and queue up at the buffet line. Every other word Hadley said was Straker, and Ford, perpetually looking like a man who had apologized to the entire world population, beginning with his mother right after his birth, was nodding gravely. "Look, Shado's dream team."

"Car, that isn't nice." Millicent chuckled, using her pet name for her friend, and stretching out her legs, on which she wore hiking shoes as predicted.

"Did you actually pass Hadley? Our noble, fearless Hadley? Our Hadley, who is the poor man's Paul Foster? How the devil did that man get into Shado?" Constantine engaged a piece of fish in deadly combat with her teeth, and won.

"The same way he got into the police department. Relatives at No. 10 Downing Street. Now, back in California, he wouldn't qualify for street sweeper. We don't like to think that an organization as important as Shado has to deal with such a petty thing as office politics, but it does. Hadley's competent enough, or he wouldn't have made the team. He just doesn't apply himself. Personnel is hard to come by these days, so we do the best the can with what we get offered. He isn't exactly the kind of person I'd hand pick to be a mentor for Keith, but they get on. But then, you wouldn't think that Alec and Ed would be friends, and that relationship is one of the most important ones in Ed's life. Oh, Car, I meant to ask you. I got a copy of Hadley's incident report on my desk, but I haven't had a chance to read it, and since I've been mainly looking after Anne Newhall, I won't get the chance to skim it until I go home. Can you break it down for me? I noticed Ed's hand was bandaged today, and I wondered what happened to him?"

"I noticed it, but you know Straker. He makes clams seem outgoing, and didn't volunteer an explanation, and I knew asking would be a waste of oxygen. I have been swamped with the toxicology workups so I didn't get to that incident report either. Here comes Hadley, we can interrogate him."

"Hi girls Mind if we share a table?"

"Of course not, Roy, sit down." Millicent said, hiding a grin at Constantine's reaction.

"No, as long as you quit calling us girls, and you keep your hands off our food, Lieutenant. Hi Keith." Constantine added.

"Hi Maam. Seems we're all working here late tonight. I pulled double shifts. Money will come in handy though. Roy's going to sell me a motorcycle." Keith smiled, and added sugar to his tea after neatly cutting his chicken sandwich in two halves. Roy crammed most of his hamburger in his mouth, and after swallowing a bite that was the dimensions of the studio, he licked ketchup off his stubby fingers. Constantine looked at a nearby steak knife intently, but then, Shado had these pesky little things called rules, which forbade sticking the cutlery into a colleague's back.

"You selling him a condo in Antarctica too?" Constantine asked sweetly? Roy predictably enough looked puzzled. Keith turned and grinned at Constantine, knowing the reputation Hadley had. Millicent, reluctantly turning the mutual love fest back toward the original topic, spoke up.

"Commander Straker was injured today, I understand this is the first time you'd met him since he's returned to limited duty? Do you know what-"

"Cripes, what a out and out unfriendly jackass he is! I introduced myself, good to get on the top dog's good side, if you know what I mean. He's as tight with praise as Island Revenue is with refunds. Blamed me for not finding that damn weird little boy that bit him, can you imagine? What does he expect us all to be, psychic? Mind you, I did put my foot in it, I flirted with his girl. Pretty thing, she was."

Constantine and Nichols had both gone as white as a starlet's teeth. At the same time, they pulled their mobiles out of their handbags, and punched in Straker's secure number.

"What is it?" Keith said.

"Goddamn that man. He's turned off his mobile." Constantine yelled, causing the few operatives that were having a late supper to stare at her. Millicent shook her head fiercely.

"Ed wouldn't turn it off for anything, you know that, Car. I'm going to ring Alec. Thank God, it's ringing!"

"Will someone tell me what the heck is going on?" Hadley said, after taking a large gulp of non-alcoholic beer.

"Hadley?" Keith Ford said.

"What?"

"Shut up."

* * *

The sound of the grandfather clock in the Great Hall echoed through the rooms of Silk Wood manor with the melody of Westminster chimes, and then chimed twice. Ed Straker, dressed in soft blue pyjamas and flannel plaid robe, listened attentively until it stopped. He then grunted, sneezed, and then scurried down the dusty staircase that led down from the spacious attic, pulling three large cardboard boxes, all tied together inexpertly with twine. One got loose, and slipped down the remaining stairs, crashed to the hallway, scattering all its contents around. Ed chewed on his lower lip, waiting. Claire might hear. No, she was still asleep. Alec had gotten her drunk, and brought her home, and put her to bed. Ed didn't like it at all, because his hand hurt, and he couldn't wake her up. Then Alec had gone away, cause his father had insisted Alec go and move back into the cottage with Miriam, since little Alec had been crying, and Ed needed his sleep. Only he wasn't sleepy, so he hadn't stayed in bed. He abandoned the mess, went into the kitchen, picked up Hazel, spent several minutes petting her, set her on the counter, and opened the refrigerator. Not intending to be left out, Cecilia, Fiver, and Dandelion scampered in. Ed discovered leftover salad in a plastic container, and set it out for them. Hazel was on the verge of being the first rabbit to jump the chasm from counter to linoleum floor, when Ed remembered her, and set her down too. There were carrots in the vegetable bin, and he broke those up and added them to the bowl, along with some raisins he knew they liked. He then set upon searching for something for himself. The cake stand was empty, which was disappointing. Nobody had even bothered to leave him as much as a crumb or trace of lemon icing he could surreptitiously lick off the plate So he opened the freezer compartment of the refrigerator, discovered containers of Ben and Jerry's, and grabbed two. He then located a spoon, and padded barefoot toward the snug, past a grouping of rabbits, whom at the moment were acting more like pigs. They'd conveniently neglected to tell Ed that Miriam and Frances had seen to it that they were all fed. Ed was in the hall when he decided to go upstairs and see if Claire was still sleeping. She was making an awful racket, and he set down his spoon and ice cream haul, and shook her. She was not only snoring horribly, she smelled horrible, too. The only thing he liked about it was that in the morning she would have a hangover. His friend Alec had a lot of them, and they were fun to watch. Ed covered her up, and took something he had hidden under his pillow, tucked it under an arm, reclaimed his frozen treasures, and headed back to the snug. He then lowered himself to the Aubusson carpet, put the object in his lap, and placed the ice cream within reach.

The doll in his lap stared sightlessly at him.

"I'm supposed to sing to you. Only I don't know any good songs. Do you know any good songs? Do you know what I did? You won't tell, will you? Okay. I can tell you won't tell, you're my friend. I turned that phone off. I don't like it anymore. Ring, ring, ring. How can I play if all it does is ring? I threw it in the hamper when I took my bath. My bath was lonely. I can usually get her to scrub my back, but all she is doing is sleeping. What if she never wakes up? I won't have anyone who loves me. I'm scared. I'm scared real bad. I hate that baby, if Alec didn't have that baby and that stupid new girlfriend he wouldn't have listened to my Dad and gone away. And I hate my Dad, because he didn't stay with me. He's not my friend anymore." Ed paused at intervals to cram a tablespoon full of cherry vanilla ice cream into his mouth, and eat it thoughtfully

"Do you want some ice cream? I really wanted cake. I wanted cake on the special plate with my initial on it that Claire brings to me, only she isn't here, and my hand hurts, and I have nobody to play with. Except the bunnies, and I got tired of playing with the bunnies after a while. My hand hurts. I don't know where she keeps the aspirin. In that bag thing of hers I guess. I don't like it, it has needles in it. They hurt. It isn't easy to be brave, you know."

The doll watched him cry until he couldn't breathe, watched with as much sympathy as a thing of porcelain could muster, as his lower lip trembled, and he cried some more. After a while, he heard a noise. ALIENS! Well, he wasn't scared of aliens. They'd done bad things to his friend Anne, but he had a gun. Ed jumped up, knocking the doll over, and went to the bedroom, opened the night table drawer, and got his Glock. Then he ran back to the great hall, and he saw the handle of the front door turn slowly, and he took a deep breath, and he took off the safety, and squeezed the trigger repeatedly as the alien came in.

Well it wasn't quite like that. He'd forgotten to put bullets in the gun. And the alien gawked at him, wondering why it wasn't spurting Australian blood.

"Christ, Ed, you bloody gave me a scare. It's just me, who else has a key to your door?" Alec said, trying not to wet his pajama bottoms from the fright.

"You're not my friend anymore." Ed said, and tried to stick the Glock in a holster he wasn't wearing. Frustrated, he put it on the hall coat tree.

"What?" Alec managed to say, but Ed ran into the snug again. Alec went after him. Ed plopped down on the rug again, moved the doll close to him, and turned his back on Alec. Alec grinned a little at the sight of the ice cream, and wasn't sure what to make of the doll.

"I'm not letting you have any ice cream either," Ed said, in a tone that was supposed to indicate that that prospect was even worse than not being his friend anymore. "Go away."

"Ed, are you all right? You're acting a bit strange, did you get any sleep?. I know yesterday was a bit of a strain, and I know that I shouldn't have gotten Claire drunk. How was I supposed to know she couldn't hold her liquor? Anyway, look, I'm sorry. I only came because Miriam has the munches, and I forgot to bring any food with me."

"Go away. Go away with that mean girlfriend of yours, and that crying baby. See if I even care."

"What? Ed, your hand is bleeding."

"It hurts, and it itches. I can't get her to wake up. She'll never wake up. I won't have anyone to take care of me. It'll be like living in my old house again, all by myself. I hated it. I thought when I got married and everything that it would be okay. But it isn't. I'm scared. Alec, I'm scared!"

Alec crouched down beside Ed, and to his utter and complete shock, Ed threw himself against him, sobbing. Alec instinctively put an arm around him, aware that something was terribly wrong.. Was Ed suffering a nervous breakdown again, the way he had after Kamala's death? He might like to think otherwise, but Ed was human, sometimes more human than other men Alec had come across in his life. There was always that heartbreaking quality Ed had, that seemed to say, for God's sake don't leave me, and don't come any closer at the same time. You wanted to cry for the man sometime, because he rarely permitted it in himself. That feeling that Alec felt, that being Ed's friend was what fate had chosen him for, and he didn't want much out of life besides that. It seemed as if here was Ed Straker, guardian of the whole world, standing alone, so alone. Not any more. There had to be a self appointed guardian of the guardian. There was no finer job. Terry hadn't understood that, but he thought Miriam might. Claire certainly did.

"Ed, I think I better get Claire-"

"Alec, make all the bad things go away! Protect me, you always protect me, right? I thought you were an alien, and I wasn't scared of the aliens, but I am! I am! They're big, and I'm small, how am I supposed to be the good guy? I didn't even remember to put bullets in the gun. And I went and tried to get my toys from the attic, so I could play, but the boxes are too heavy, and I think I broke something, and Claire is going to be cross, and Anne told me to sing songs to her doll, and I can't think of any." Ed burst into tears again, and Alec stared at his blood stained hand, recognition finally dawning on him.

"Oh bugger all, your hand. He bit your hand. You've got it. Ed, I need to get Claire. We have to wake up Claire. You wouldn't want anyone else to see you like this but Claire. Come on, we're friends aren't we?"

"Do you like the baby more than me?"

"With all the yelling it was doing last night?"

"What about that girl?"

"I've known you a lot longer than any blasted sheila. Come on, we'll toss Claire in the shower. Cold tap, full on. That always works with me. That and plenty of black coffee. That ought to do it."

Ed grinned happily at this plan, amazing Alec with his change of moods. Children were like that, though. Christ! Ed Straker was nearer sixty but he'd become six!. It was all too incredible to believe, but there it was. He'd need Alec much more now, Alec reasoned. He felt ashamed for letting Claire get smashed, because looking after this complex man was a job for two now, not one. Ed always had a boyish, mischievous side that was seldom seen, but this development was taking the inner child inside every adult theory a bit too far. But there he sat, with that familiar expression on his face that Alec knew meant trouble.

"I want to see that." Ed declared, in a tone that reminded Alec of the Commander you never said no to. Now he knew where that arrogance originated from, Alec thought with a glee that soon died.

"I wonder if-Christ-" Alec had the awful thought that Ed might die, die like the other staff have. He quickly put it out of his head so he wouldn't frighten Ed, and gestured at Ed to follow him. "Come on. She'll be as mad as a soaked cat, until she hears what the situation is. Come on."

Caroline Constantine felt like a cat coughing up a furball, no, make that a cat coughing up another cat, as the woman she had once considered a friend and confidante whizzed down another road, precariously close to other cars. She had the sudden understanding of how Dr. Millicent Nichols had gotten so many so-called loyal patients.

She calculatingly drove them nuts with her driving, and then she treated them for the resulting trauma for the rest of their lives, making them utterly dependent on her.

"I hate driving this fast, I hate this lorry, I hate you, I hate Shado, I hate Strak- NOOO! You're going to plow into that-BLOODY HELL! This is ENGLAND! Big Ben! Number one downing street! This is not Cali-everyone is suntanned, pierced and dotty-fornia, where you came from. We drive on the LEFT here! And slow down!"

"But Car, Ed and Alec could be in serious trouble. Alec isn't answering his mobile, and we know Ed has the disease. We have to haul some ass." Millicent took in the approaching traffic, a deep breath, and jammed the stick shift into overdrive with a groan from the horses under the hood, who were all seriously thinking being made into glue had advantages, compared to how this driver beat them into going faster. "Damn if were on horseback, we could cut travel time in half. We have at least one half hour to go. I'm getting through this traffic one way or another."

"And killing me in the process? Oh GOD, no, you can't get through this traffic, Millie, NOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooo." Constantine shut her eyes tightly closed, and wished she were back in Austria, making her new husband weinerschitzel or something.

* * *

If Claire Spencer Straker had labored a breech birth of a humped back whale with only aspirin as a painkiller, it wouldn't have made any difference. She wouldn't have screamed as loud in that hypothetical situation as she was now, with her own husband, and his cohort in crime, Alec, sticking her for some diabolical reason under the shower with the cold water turned fully on, still dressed in her street clothes.

"You two better have a DAMN! GOOD! REASON! for this. Oh God, my head. Oh God, I'm going to throw up," she said, and soaking wet, she reached the toilet, and did, repeatedly. Ed Straker watched approvingly.

"Alec always does that, then he feels better, huh, Alec?." he smiled. Alec grinned at him.

"Can you go check the coffee for me, Ed?"

"Sure. Claire, you look funny." Ed laughed, and giggled and went skipping off.

Claire sat on the rim of the toilet, after flushing it and closing the lid. She peeled off her hosiery, skirt, top, until she was just in her half slip and bra. Alec wondered vaguely if she knew she was doing it in front of him. She threw the wet clothes into a hamper and grabbed a towel and started rubbing herself dry.

"Alec?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you a question before I rip out your heart with eyebrow tweezers for letting me drink that much at that pub last night, and now throwing me into icy cold water and giving me pneumonia?"

"Yeah, but make it quick, I have some news to tell you."

"Did my husband just skip out of here? Commander Straker giggling? Edward? That husband? Skip? Or did the cold permeate my brain cells?"

"Claire, when that staff member bit him, it caused him to become a child. He's got it." Alec said, hesitatingly.

"Oh my God! Oh my God, oh GOD, how stupid could I be, yes, of course, he seemed so upset, oh God how stupid can I be-" she jumped up, ran into the bedroom, stripped, and grabbed clothes, pulling them on like a madwoman. "Does he know? What happened? Alec, for God's sake we can't leave him alone! "

"Claire, wait, there's a mess in the kitchen, Claire, slow down!"

She paid Alec no mind, running down the staircase, headed at top speed for the kitchen. There, she gasped. It looked like London after the blitz, only instead of mortar shell, there was bunny poop, bunnies, lettuce, carrot, and a growing trail of blobs of spilled coffee from Ed shakily pouring it into a cup for her from the coffee carafe.

"I wanted to surprise you." he said charmingly, but it failed.

"What in the world happened here?" she shrieked. That wasn't a wise thing to do, because Ed dropped it, smashing it, startling guilty looking rabbits, who ran in all directions. Ed gave one sob, and ran out and upstairs. Soon they heard a door slam loudly. "Edward! Oh Alec, what am I doing? He's a child, a child!"

There was a loud knocking on the door, and Claire cursed, and went to answer it. Caroline Constantine, looking a bright lime color, and an anxious Millicent Nichols stood there.

"We couldn't reach Ed or Alec, Alec's phone rang but he never answered it, and Ed's phone is not on. We believe the Commander may have whatever killed those people. Alec! Are you okay?" Nichols hugged Alec in relief, and he patted her shoulder. Alec nodded.

"I left my mobile at the pub, because Claire was drunk and not all that happy about going home, and it dropped out of my coat pocket while I was struggling with her." he confessed.." I figured it out in the car, and meant to collect it in the morning. Sorry. And yeah, Ed has it all right. He's acting about six years old or younger. Claire, give it to me straight. Is he going to di-?"

"No, Goddamn it, I won't let him! Come in. He's upset with me, he evidently made a mess in the kitchen and without thinking, I yelled at him." Claire sighed, closing the door. The two of them headed for the drawing room, Constantine grabbing the entire crystal bourbon decanter, and sitting in Ed's customary green leather wing chair and gulping it, and Nichols grinning in spite of herself, and taking a place on a hassock, looking curiously at the two melted Ben and Jerry containers on the aubusson rug. However, what really caught her eye was the doll, and she picked it up.

"Dr. Nichols, how do I act toward him?" Claire said, overwrought, and sinking into the couch.

"How do you normally act toward him when he is afraid and upset?"

"I always approach him and take my cue from him, sometimes he'll be open with me about what's on his mind, and sometimes he will just sit with me and say nothing."

"He will be looking to you to be the way you always are, Claire. You and Alec are his anchors when he starts to drown. Just be with him." Nichols absentmindedly started stroking the doll.

* * *

There was another knock on the door, that became a pounding.

"Damn it! Not now!" Claire sobbed, and started to get up. Alec put up a hand, and went for the door himself.

"Mirm!"

"Who did you think it was? Santa Claus? Alec, you've been gone so long, I just wanted potato crisps, did you go all the way to Idaho or something? What's going on here?"

"Give me the baby. Uh, I can explai-"

Suddenly, Ed came flying down the stairs, and popped into the drawing room. Miriam furrowed her brow, and trotted in that direction. Alec gasped, and stood in her way.

"Mirm, you uh--you--you can't-"

"Alec, what the sam hill is going on? Where's the fire?"

"I hate you! Do you hear me? I hate you, Claire, and I'm running away!" Ed Straker screamed at the top of his voice. Miriam blinked, pushed a wildly protesting Alec aside as he held a none too happy yelling baby, and strode into the drawing room. Claire looked stricken, trying to form words. Ed was standing there, and then he dropped, grabbed the doll from Nichols, and held it to himself, huddling.

"Ed, what happened?" Miriam asked in disbelief. His face twisted.

"No, no, I don't want you! I don't want to see you. I want Claire, I want Claire. Everyone hates me! I'm running away and I'm going to be with Anne, she's my friend, and I'll sing songs to her dollie, I promise, I'll find songs to sing to her dollie. I don't want you. I'm scared."

"What bastard did this to him?" Miriam exclaimed to Alec, "Because I want their head on a pike."

"Miriam-" Alec began, not knowing what to say. But Claire did.

"Alec, stay with Edward a while, I need to speak to Miriam."

"I want my toys." Ed interjected. Claire hesitated only a beat.

"Alec, go to the attic with him and get his dog and his airplanes and things. I'll be back in about ten minutes. I need to talk to Miriam."

"You won't go away, will you?" Ed asked forlornly.

"Edward, when I come back, I'll have to examine you, and ask you questions, and then I'll clean up the kitchen, and bake a cake, and we'll play."

"Can I have lemon cake like auntie Frances makes?"

"No, because I'm not that good at it, but I'll try my best. Darling, you go with Alec."

"If the kitchen needs cleaning, Caroline and I will do it," Nichols said, "before she becomes an alcoholic," and she grabbed the half empty decanter away from the other woman.

As Nichols was leading Constantine toward the kitchen, Constantine was heard to say something about a truck and before she'd get back into it, she'd walk home.

"Come on then, Ed, let's go see about those airplanes. Miriam, can you take the baby?"

"Now I'll get some answers," Miriam said, and took the baby, and left with Claire.

* * *

"Oh lukewarm shit," Miriam said reverently. "Danny was right. His son commands just about the most secret organisation in the world. Aliens. Jumping jesophat, aliens. And Alec is his second in command. Oh mercy. The studio, the way Ed acts, the scars, the pretense, the funny way Alec acted when I mentioned some things. It all comes together."

"I can get in deep doo doo for telling you. But somehow, the way you reacted in there, the way Alec might, wanting to beat the crap out of anyone who harmed Ed--it makes me think Shado could use you."

"I like your Straker. It killed me to see him like that. Alec isn't the kind of person who would throw away a chance to have his own life, just to stick by a man who wasn't worth it. Straker intrigued me. I've seen few men that good looking, with that air of authority, and yet that sense of veiled helplessness around him, which he'd burn out of himself with a cattle brand before he'd ever let a stranger know he felt that way. I've seen the pride and the exasperation, and yeah, I guess the love in Alec's eyes when he talks about Ed. On the trip to the island, it was all Ed did this, and Ed did that, and Ed gave me a paying job on his Foundation board, and that damn Ed always beats me at this, and beats me at that."

"Alec hates sheep. And Edward one time told me the irony was that under the influence of an alien rock, he thought his boss saw him as a shepherd tending sheep. Alec one of the sheep. But I always kidded Edward that it was the other way around, that Alec was raised on a sheep station, and would die a sheep wrangler, he finally found a stubborn son of a bitch sheep that was a big enough challenge to him to handle. My husband." Claire smiled wearily. "And my wayward sheep of a husband, who hides a love for bad puns, said to me, shearly you jest?"

Miriam and Claire chuckled together like schoolgirls discussing their crushes on attractive professors. Then Claire's giggles became hysterical, and then transformed to sobs.

"Oh you poor kid." Miriam said, hugging the woman, who was older than she was by twenty years. "You think he's going to die like the others, don't you? Way deep down inside. He can't, honey, he's got you, and he's got my big koala of an Australian, and well, he just can't. Too many people love him too damn much, Danny has for years, he just has trouble expressing it. And you said when I march down the aisle with my man Alec, that I'll be marching with Ed too. So he means almost as much to me as he does to you. I see Alec in him, and him in Alec. Come on, Claire. He's wanting you, you saw how scared he is. I need to talk to Alec."

"Wait, Miriam, Alec mentioned to me that you fell in love with the cottage Edward gave him."

Miriam brightened like someone threw a lamp switch on.

"I can't wait to get my paws on that place. Make a real home for Alec."

"He was a little unhappy about it, he has bad memories there. Shooting Kamala, seeing Edward's agony, and finding his little daughter Aloymide murdered. He'd never tell you, but I think it would be a good idea if we redo the entire place, get those vibes out. Ed and I were discussing redoing the entire second floor of the manor, expanding the library, putting in a balcony outside the master bedroom, so that Edward and I can eat breakfast upstairs in privacy and watch the day begin. Frances and I are going to redo part of the garden, except for my husband's favorite area to sit and relax, and we'll make a pen for the rabbits to roam in. They've never been outside. After that mess in the kitchen, I almost felt like turning them over to Frances to make pie out of! The point is, you could redecorate."

"I have some money saved up. Not much. I hate to say this, but I never cared much whether I lived or died, and I figured money was made to be spent. Now its different. Now I want to start saving, and getting Alec some things. But I don't have the kind of money it would take to spruce up our place."

"Edward does, I do. And this would-no, Miriam, I know you're a proud woman. But this would make Alec happy, and that would make Edward happy. Alec means everything to him. Edward took it hard when he saw Terry trying to divide them up. You pry them apart, and they both bleed. I've seen it. I learned to care about that Australian almost as much as Ed does, and I owe him a great deal for all the times he grabbed Edward by the ear, got him fed, listened to him, saved his life, and got him back in line. No, Miriam, it would be my wedding gift to you. And if Edward-" she hesitated, but forced herself to say it, "If Edward dies, I'll need a project to lose myself in. Or else I'll go mad."

"Honey, if Ed dies, there will be no need for the cottage to be redone. Alec will be the next one we'll bury. I don't want to see myself as a widow with a baby. So we can't let your man die. You're a doctor, you're a doctor before you're a woman, and you have a sick little boy in there that needs you. I need to settle Alec down, assure him Ed will be all right. He won't be of any use to Ed if he hides all that worry inside him like a kangaroo hides her joey in a pouch. Come on. We have no time to lose. You promised a little boy a cake."

"Oh Miriam. This is so wonderful. I haven't had anyone to talk to, not really. I sometimes clam up around Frances. I've watched Edward grieve, and I've felt so helpless. I wasn't as close to Kamala as he became. Just when I think that maybe Daniel showing up-"

Miriam's cell phone rang.

"Hello? Oh, Danny. What? When? Okay. Go on. Uh huh, yeah. Why? Well, can he? Danny, what damn bastard of a Lord are you talking-what? Danny, I can't, I can't right now. Get a taxi. Yes, I know you hate them. I just can't drive out there, damn it. Danny, don't you dare. Fine Danny. Straker will hire me. He wouldn't remind me of everything he did for me. Your son is a gentleman, unlike you!" Miriam slammed the mobile shut, and burst into tears. "God, he is just such a bastard sometimes. I'm pretty much all he has. The family, your husband's mother, the lawyer, treated him like shit, even knowing he was the real father. That's why he hated Alec so much, because Alec kept him away from his son the way they did. At least he sees it that way. I think he likes Alec now. But now he's in some legal trouble about that castle he owns. Someone is taking him to court, saying the man he bought it from had no real right to sell it at any cost, its the family castle of some mucky muck, the family seat of some guy, some Lord of something, made money on painting. I dabble a bit in oils, you know. Anyway, everyone thought he was dead. Danny just found out the hard way he isn't. And leave it to Danny to start picking on me when he can't express his worry. He gets in these rotten moods, where he thinks he owns me, like a car or a new antique. He spends his entire life accumulating things to show how much better he is, when he should just forget what happened to him, and start living his life. It's what I'm going to do. I might even paint again."

"Edward snaps at me when he is upset too, or when he's working, but I don't mind so much because the making up is fantastic." Claire smiled. "All right, Miriam. Let's go save our stupid men."

* * *

Claire and Miriam walked back into the drawing room, and Ed came galloping up with something in his hand.

"Look! Alec fixed my airplane! Zoom, zoom, zoom!" Ed Straker spun around, hand in the air, taking the toy airplane on imaginary swoops, and turns and unbelievable speeds laughing delightedly. That was a bizarre enough thing to watch, but then Alec Freeman came toward him, eyes narrowed, holding another airplane in his hand like it was a dagger, and he was about to slit a throat under cover of darkness. He didn't seem to be aware of either Miriam or Claire, and Claire had the chilling idea that maybe Alec now had the peculiar disease.

"Watch out, enemy at six o clock, coming to shoot you down! Rat-a-tat-tat! Rat-a-tat-tat!" Alec said, shaking his airplane to simulate fire. Ed started lowering his slowly in a death spiral, agitated.

"Mayday, mayday! I'm hit, I'm gonna bail out! Whoosh! Gonna open my parachute. KABOOM!" Ed announced, and dropped the airplane on the rug and himself along with it. Alec dropped alongside him, laughing.

Miriam grinned at Alec. Alec finally seemed to notice them, and went a bit red.

"That was a rotten thing to do to your best friend." Claire said, pointing to Ed's crashed plane.

"Alec was the bad guy and I was the good guy." Ed explained.

"It was either me or him." Alec insisted, with a defiant spin of his little propeller. Claire chuckled, relieved that Alec was just getting into the spirit of things

"I left the room and there was one little boy." Miriam said pointedly. "Now there's two."

"Don't kid yourself, Miriam, there's always been two. Edward, I hate to interrupt your play, but I'm going to fix breakfast, and then I have to examine you. Do some tests." Claire informed him, swallowing the pain she felt at watching the fear in those wide blue eyes grow.

"It's gonna hurt." Ed said, bursting into tears, and edging toward Alec a little. Alec opened his mouth to protest, saw the futility of it, and sighed.

"We'll play afterwards. We'll set up your toy soldiers and have ourselves a real battle. Or we can set up the train if you like. " Alec suggested. Inwardly, he cursed, wishing there was something more he could do. Having to watch Straker suffer had always been unbearable, but now, when Ed didn't have the adult fortitude to really understand why people he loved were hurting him, it just tore at Alec's gut to let it happen. Alec could tell Claire was struggling with her professional persona, too.

"I'm sorry, Edward, you're the last person in the world I want to hurt, but it has to be done. If I'm to understand how this works, I have to watch the progress of the infection, or whatever it is. I can't just study a computer model of it. I'll need tissue samples, cell samples. "

"It'll hurt so much, I can't stand it, I hate it, hate needles, hate hospital, I never-" Ed paused, and looked at the tiny airplane, picked it up. He brushed some imaginary dust off it. His forehead furrowed like the flexible part of a straw, and he started into the windscreen of the small airplane, gathering up the energy to form words. His voice changed, took on a totally different timbre. He seemed confused to be on the rug, and he slowly stood, settled on a nearby Louis XII style chair, setting the plane aside. "Airplane. I've actually- actually flown her. Nam. Went down. Couldn't return fire. Had to jettison, jettison fuel. Recon. Wrong coordinates from the base. Was supposed to be a milk run. Captured. Have the damn bugs in my system to this day. Malaria. Lost almost a year of my life, tortured, interrogated, snapped, snapped like I did with Kamala, Kamala is dead, isn't she? So confused. No. I need to stay with this. Concentrate. I feel it, can't do this- Alec, help me-" Ed held out his arm, and Alec gripped it for a moment.

"Christ! I'm right here, Ed. I'm right here. Christ, he's making a breakthrough." Alec exclaimed. Claire brought up her fist over her mouth to keep from crying. She looked helplessly at Alec.

"Ed! Ed, go on. Keep talking. Fight it." Miriam pleaded.

"Edward, oh sweetheart, oh my darling, I told her everything. It's all right she understands." Claire threw her arms around him, and he looked up, managed a tired smile, held her hand, seemed to gain strength from it. He slowly turned toward Miriam, questioningly.

"Saw me. You saw me." Ed said, uncertain.

"Straker, I want a crack at those mother fuckers. I want to work for your organization. Claire told me, that's right. I need to do this. You can beat this. You have to stay alive. None of us will allow what happened to the others to happen to you."

"Wife, has a big mouth, matches her heart. Need to - fight this. Got to- be an answer. Has to. Wait. Anne. Where is she?"

"Still at headquarters." Millicent Nichols had joined them, looking almost as tired as Ed did, with a semi-recovered Constantine at her side. Millicent set down a tray with tea thi