"Whoah, I'll have to get this out to the newspapers -- sorry, news-texts."  Alex cupped her hands around her mouth and called, "Everybody, Nicholas MacKellar has an idea!  Oh Nick, I was joking.  Don't give me that hurt look -- you'll bring out my maternal instincts."

Nick grinned cheekily.  "Then there'd be no saving me."

"That's right!"

He keyed the print-out request on the text he'd been scanning and tossed her the hard copy.  "Look.  There's an equestrian competition being held at the Seattle Superdome.  I think I might enter."

Alex grabbed the piece of paper and read it through.  "Mmm, I bet you'd look great in those little red jackets.  Can I come and watch?"  She held up her hands.  "Promise not to distract you this time."

"Well, I could hardly do worse than in 'Frisco," he said, pulling a face, "Sure, come along.  Besides, it's only a local event, not international.  I might do okay."

"You'll do great!  When is it?"  she asked, even as she scanned the print out to answer herself.  "Day after tomorrow!  Can you be ready in time?  What about your horse?"

"Echo's stabled in 'Frisco -- that's only an hour by transport.  And I competed just last week with her.  She's sharp enough for it.  The only thing will be the late entry.  I'll have to move it to register in time, and they won't let you do this sort of thing electronically."  He tapped the vid-text.

"I'll come with you."  Alex bounced off the bed, already dressed in her 'non-asylum' clothes, as she called them, but MacKellar looked uncertain.  "Aww, c'mon Nick, I'm going crazy in here.  I'll take the blame.  I'll tell Van Driel I forced you at Alex-point."  She wiggled her fingers menacingly with a grin.

"You know what Tyler said yesterday about the danger... "

"That screwball?  He's a few cents short of the dollar, that one.  And don't worry about Van Driel, either," she added when he opened his mouth again, "She's not happy unless she's got something or someone to gripe at."

"You've got the whole world pegged, haven't you, Dr. Bailey?" Nicholas murmured fondly, but allowed himself to be talked, cuddled, cajoled, and tickled into taking her.  They snuck out of the hospital grounds and went directly to the Seattle Superdome where Nicholas filled out the appropriate forms and paid the $500 late entrance fee.

Alex decided that she couldn't go back to her 'cell', so Nicholas suggested that they go down to San Francisco to collect Echo, to which Alex readily agreed.  Her 'first' transport flight had her in squeaks of delight, much to Nicholas's amusement.

"Would you like to fly it?" he asked, handing her the controls.  She looked nervous but at his insistence that 'anyone could fly these thing', grasped the controls firmly and warned,

"This could be the end of two very talented vets."

He leaned back and regarded her with a quizzical smile.  "You certainly know how to enjoy life's smallest pleasures, Alex Bailey."

She shot him a look.  "What makes you say that?"

He shrugged.  "It's just something about you I like.  And admire.  The way you get the most out of the littlest things."

"And you don't?  Enjoy life, I mean?  What about dressage?"

"That," he laughed, "is a discipline, not an enjoyment, though it's extremely satisfying.  I guess I look at you and see... a sort of carefree, unreserved enjoyment of life.  No worries, responsibilities, no doubts or fears."

"Well, not yet, anyway," she said, thinking of Tyler.  "And if I do I don't remember them.  What... fears do you have, Nick?  Life can't get that rough at the San Francisco zoo, can it?"

He was quiet until he saw her watching him, then shook his head, wondering why he was coming so close to admitting everything.  He mustered a smile and said, "No, of course not.  I'm just being stupid.  Everyone has problems of one sort or another.  I was really talking more about the way you live life, Alex.  It's more... go-get-'em than this boring, conservative old vet will ever be."

"So how did we ever get together, Nick?" she asked softly.  "At that convention... Damnit, I'd give a lot to remember you then.  I'd give a lot to remember me then!"

Nicholas laughed.  "It must be like they say -- opposites attract."

"Mmmm."

Alex fell silent, until Nick pointed out the air signals indicating they should descent to a lower zone for suburban travel, and took the controls, much to her relief.  Any further conversation was cut short by his need to navigate the busy airways, so Alex sat back and reflected on their conversation, puzzled by her friend's sudden moodiness.  It was a different side of him, but one she felt sure she ought to be aware of, as if she was missing something.  She felt the first wave of frustration at her lack of memory, and unexpectedly a wave of irritation for Nicholas.  She glanced sideways at him, now annoyed at herself for being annoyed at all, and getting further out of sorts.  The feeling persisted even after she tried shaking herself out of her own moodiness, which she could usually manage with a severe self-reprimand.  She was staring out of the transport's window, watching the scenery float by, when a sudden flash of that irregular and highly wilful memory presented her with an image of herself entering a hotel room, Nicholas pushing open the door for her.  He looked... different somehow, but she couldn't quite pick why.  They were both laughing -- drunk?  She never touched alcohol!  But at the same time she knew for a fact that she had consumed far too much of the stuff that night, and had been a regular drinker for many years.  The news was disturbing, even shocking, but a welcome indication that her memory wasn't totally lost to her.  She risked a quick glance at Nick... so why should she feel guilty all of a sudden?
 
 

"Hi, mo... uh... hi."

"Christine?"

CT didn't like that name, but suffered it because, well, right now mom didn't know any better, right?

"Yeah... um... look... "  She approached the bed, staring hard at the floor and sorting out how to go about this, "I... uh... I know you and dad haven't been getting... getting on so well lately... and I know... I know it's cos of me, and how I'm always in trouble... so... so... "  She looked up now into Alex's eyes, pleadingly, "So I promise I'll be good from now on.  I won't get into fights, and I won't hit anyone, even if they tell lies about me, and even if they start it, I won't.  I'll be good, just like you want, if... if... "  CT started to cry, and felt angry with herself because she didn't want to and wasn't supposed to upset mom like this, but she couldn't help it because everything was wrong.  "Daddy needs you," she was saying between sobs, "He's all funny since Davie got kidnapped and you got hurt, and he won't talk and he's all angry and he doesn't know what to do.  Daddy always knows what to do!  But he doesn't and he misses you, and... and... "  She held her breath, biting her bottom lip, and stared at the woman who looked at her like she was a stranger.

Alex didn't really know what to do with the girl -- she was much better at soothing the hurts of animals -- so she wordlessly offered a tissue and watched while CT blew her nose and dried her eyes.

"Look, Christine, I'm sorry about your brother, but I just... I don't remember you."  Better to be blunt, she thought.

"Why not?" CT demanded, her tears turning to anger, "I know I'm horrible but Davie's really good.  He's always really good, and he never gets in trouble.  You can forget me because I'm bad, and you can forget Daddy because you're always fighting about me, but Davie's not like that.  You really like him... "  Her lip trembled and she bit it to keep from crying again.

"Christine... "

"CT!!!"  Despite herself, she shouted and started to cry again.  "I'm CT, not Christine!!  And why won't you talk to Dad?  He needs you, and you won't even talk to him!!  You don't have to be mean to him because of me.  You don't!  I've promised to be good and I will!!!"

"Please, Chr... CT... I... " disturbing images, like those from her fragmented and unnerving dreams, played across Alex's conscious min and it threw her, "I don't mean to hurt you, it's... "

CT stood there, sobbing and losing her anger in the midst of her misery.

"CT... hush... please.... "  Not knowing what else to do, Alex held out her arms to the girl, and was startled when she pressed into the embrace, muffling her tears against the hospital gown.

Coming down the passage, Nick didn't hear the conversation until he'd stepped through the door.  His thoughts were elsewhere and had been ever since that visit by Tyler.  Why he chose now to develop a conscience was quite beyond him, and he was doing his best to ignore, dismiss or rationalize it, in that order.  He'd have to go see Akira, of course.  Have it out with him.  Demand to know if they were freezing people as well as animals.  Become lizard fast-food yourself, another part of him said.  Maybe if he demanded a hefty fee for his knowledge, he could buy himself and Alex a new identity and be rid of the problem once and for all...

"Oh."  CT pulled away from her mother and stood close by.  "Hi, Dr. MacKellar."  She sniffled.

"Hi CT.  Howsit going?"

"I... I just came to have a talk with Mom.  I think I'll be going now."

"No, it's OK, CT.  Really.  Stay for a while."

"Dad'll be worried... "

"I'll take you back to him," Alex promised and CT's face lit up.

"Really?"

"Yeah," said MacKellar, smiling, "Really."

"Mom's got to come... "

"I will, I will."  Alex promised -- anything to avoid another tearful outburst.  CT cheered up so abruptly that Alex suspected she'd been conned.

"I've got to vid someone first," he told them, dumping the bag of goodies he'd bought at the shops on the way up, "you two get to know each other.  I'll be back in a flash."

"I don't like him, Mom," CT said when the vet had gone.

"CT!"

"Well, I don't.  What's wrong with Dad anyway?  You know he worships the ground you walk on.  Just give him a chance!"

Alex didn't answer immediately, her mind trying to cope with a picture of Tyler crawling along the ground in her footsteps, bowing and scraping, kissing her ankles... nahhh.  Impossible.

"CT, please try to understand -- it's not that I suddenly don't love your Dad.  I can't remember anything about him.  Or you or David.  I know that sounds rotten, but I can't help what I can't remember.  You've got to give me time to try and remember you.  Okay?"

"Well, okay.  If you'll really try to remember.  And Dr. MacKellar's okay, I guess.  He's a bit short though."

"CT!"
 

The girl grinned and Alex laughed.  "You little witch!  I think you need to be taken in hand.  Come here and sit down."

With a spring, CT was on the bed and burrowing into her mother's bedclothes.  "Thanks, Mom," she whispered softly.
 
 

"Where have you been, CT?  I've been so worried!  If you ever, ever, EVER disappear like that again, so help me, I'll kill you myself and save me the worry!!"

"Sure thing, Dad," CT agreed amiably, "and I'm sorry I scared you, but I had to see Mom... "

He looked up, startled to find he had company.  He then realized he was hosting a diversion for as many off-duty TFE personnel as could crowd into his doorway, and his voice deepened to match the look on his face.

"What are you people standing around for?  Beat it!  NOW!!"

They beat it, pronto, but with smirks and grins which Tyler determined to wipe off permanently in the very near future.  Alex and that vet, MacKellar, were also looking on, and made to leave with his employees.  He started to get up, a hand half raised, then decided he couldn't face any of them, and knelt down beside his daughter again, taking her by the shoulders.

"Listen to me, Squirt, don't ever do that to me again, okay?  I was very worried about you, and you wouldn't want your Dad to get ulcers, would you?"

"No.  Sorry Dad."  She looked from him to her mother, and said for his ears only, "Am I in trouble again?"

He smiled brilliantly at her, and crushed her to him.  "Never, Squirt, never think that."

With the same unreserved emotion, CT buried her head in his shoulder and hugged him back and the two stayed that way for a long time.  Julie grinned in relief, and Alex, experiencing a strange new mix of emotion, had to look away, embarrassed at having been witness to this scene.  Perhaps not a wounded panther... maybe a bear protecting its young.  Hm.  She'd find an animal analogy that'd fit.

Finally releasing CT from the bear-hug he rose to his feet, but kept her hand firmly in his.  All that warm emotion evaporated from his face as he regarded Alex coolly, with professional detachment.

"We'll be moving in tomorrow, to get David back, and to close down this lizard operation.  I would suggest you stay here until it's over -- we have a bunkhouse. Akira or others may decide you make as good a bargaining lever as our... my son."  CT flashed a glance at him and his deliberate use of the singular.  "After all, they don't know that you're nothing to do with us any more."

"Dad!" protested CT in a harsh whisper.

"Do you think it's a serious danger?" Alex asked.

"I don't know," Tyler admitted smoothly, "But they might.  They didn't hesitate to knock you senseless the first time, and probably would have taken you if CT hadn't held them off."  He paused.   "It's your decision.  Do what you want."

Alex arched an eyebrow at him, wondering what on earth had possessed his daughter to think that Tyler needed anybody except CT.  And David, of course.  "If it's all the same to you, I'll go back home.  To the hospital, I mean."

CT began to get frantic.  This wasn't turning out the way she'd planned, and if mom went now that'd be it.  "Don't go!" she cried out in panic.  "Mom, please, they're gonna come and get you like they did Davie and take you away and... and... "  She caught her breath in a great gulp, her brown eyes shining with unshed tears, "Please, Mom."

Alex was aghast at the thought of another wrenching scene with CT, and held up her hands placatingly.  "Okay... all right!  I'll stay.  As long as Nick can stay too."

A brief flash on emotion played across Tyler's face, before he schooled himself into detachment again.  "Sure," he said, "Plenty of room."  He glanced down at CT, who was beaming with grateful relief at Alex, and he wondered abruptly just how much she was putting on and how much was real.  He dismissed the thought.  CT wasn't the schemer.  That was David.
 
 

Just then, four people entered the common room dressed in black-outs, wearing shoulder holsters and gun belts, and Alex almost dropped her coffee.  Jesus Christ, these people were maniacs.  Did Tyler have a licence to do this sort of stuff? she wondered, then wondered why she would ever have needed to use an Armalite rifle and carry two gun-belts criss-crossed across her shoulders like... a Mexican bandit... weird memory, Alex, she told herself.  But try as she might she couldn't remember anything else, and eventually she gave up, telling her subconscious in disgust that if it wasn't going to play fair with her she didn't want to know any of her past.

It was later than she'd realized when Nick came by and asked if she'd like to come down to the Equestrian Park with him, where he was preparing to visit his horse and get in some practise before the event.  She agreed, and they left Tyler and his gun-toting crazies to it.

"I don't get to see you in that cute little red jacket...?" she asked wistfully as Nick pulled himself up into the saddle, from which he grinned down at her.

"Nope.  Just jeans for now."  But he did don a black riding cap, and set Echo out into the dressage ring in a smart collected trot.  Alex ran up to the stands to watch, admiring the control and understanding between horse and rider.  She could never do something like that, no matter how great her love of animals.  It seemed to take a great dedication to the one horse for years and years, and even as she admired Nick for it, it distanced her from him in a subtle way.  His world certainly was not hers.  Is that what he'd been trying to tell her earlier today?

Alex watched the practise as it stretched into its second hour, growing steadily more gloomy.  When she stopped to consider it in the cold light of day, their relationship had truly been borne of her need to lean on someone, and now that she was beginning to stand on her own two feet again, there didn't seem to be much hope for it.  They were so different, emotionally and in their perspectives on life.  The realization left her feeling totally bereft, and she found herself wishing for that nameless identity again.  She was tempted to go and phone Jeremi Lowell, and have it out with her, but didn't know if she really wanted the answers she might give.

Eventually, she stole off from the grounds, leaving Nick to it.  He seemed so totally immersed with Echo that she doubted he'd miss her.
 

That evening, as she was preparing to retire, Alex passed Tyler's office, where the man could be seen laying out his own bedroll.  Hesitating in the doorway, she said finally, "Sleeping here tonight?"

He regarded her stonily for a minute before saying, "Yes."

"Where's CT?"

"What do you care?"

"Well excuse me for trying to be civil.  Look, Tyler, it's not... I mean, I'd like... Ohhh, men!"  She stalked off, leaving Tyler kicking himself.  He regarded his foot and wondered what it would look like sticking out of his mouth.

That night, Alex was plagued by dreams again.  They were worse than usual this time, causing her to toss and turn in the bed.  One time she woke, flinging her arm across the bed to touch the security of the man sleeping next to her.

"Ham...?" she murmured sleepily, then opened her eyes as she realized what she'd said.  She felt a funny kind of disorientation, and concentrated on remembering where and when she was.  She sighed.  "Must've been worse than I thought," she mumbled, and snuggled closer to Nick, who moved his arm in his sleep to let her lie next to him.

It was just after 5am when she next woke, but this time, her outstretched arm met empty sheets.

"Nick?  Nicholas?"

The sun was coming up, she realized, but the sheets were cold.  He'd been gone some time.  Strange.

Worried, she threw back the covers and got up, reaching for her gown.

The control room was the proverbial hive of activity as memos and orders and people buzzed all about.  Chris had already gone with his strike team to Colorado and Ham was outfitting his own with a plethora of lethal equipment.  Julie was nearby, helping with the distribution of it all and trying to keep CT from helping too.  There was no sign of Nicholas.  Walking around, trying to see him (maybe he'd gone to the bathroom in the middle of the night and got lost... or been shot by one of Tyler's trigger-happy mob... nah, she'd have heard the shots...) she almost walked straight into Tyler. She gasped a little, startled by the stone-faced figure in blackouts with various projectile and energy weapons bristling from holsters.  That strange impression of a Mexican bandit flashed through her mind again, and she stepped back to let him pass.

"Good luck," she thought to add.

"Thanks," was all he replied.

The building fell quiet as the strike team left, but although she placed subtle questions around the staff, no-one had seen Nicholas.  Worried, and feeling more than a little lost without him, she wandered back to the control room.  With nothing else to do, and nowhere else to go, she'd just have to wait it out with the rest of them.
 
 

Akira's reptilian tongue flicked in and out, indecisive, as he regarded the human now hanging limp in Skinner and Koevort's arms.  He was worried, more than worried, or he'd never have been this un-subtle with a useful information source.  With a soft hiss, he flicked a hand at the humans and they let MacKellar go with no especial interest in breaking his fall to the ground.  MacKellar got to his knees, determined to stand if he could, and put a hand to his nose.  Blood, his blood.  He felt his stomach do a flip and go queasy.  Goddamn, he hated that, he even hated it in his patients.

"You'd better be telling the truth, MacKellar," Akira said.  "I am worried that your... involvement with Tyler's wife -- oh yes, we'd noticed -- has clouded your judgement."

Nicholas climbed to his feet with a disgusted snort and swayed there while he held Akira's eye.   "Of course I have an involvement.  I love her, she loves me.  If you've seen her and Tyler you'll know there's nothing between them any more.  I came her to bargain for Alex and me.  The information I gave you will get Tyler off your back  -- and mine.  All I want is enough credit to get out of here, me and Alex.  You can have Tyler and the kid."

Akira's eyes narrowed.  The vet was bent over, breathing heavily after his speech.  Deliberately he walked over and smiled as MacKellar flinched.

"I don't have time for the niceties of the probe, Doctor.  As you can see, there are also more direct means at my disposal."

"I'm telling the truth, goddamnit!  Why else would I come here of my own free will?  Huh?  Huh?  Look, Ham Tyler will make an attack on this Marine Park early tomorrow -- this morning.  Tyler knows you've got his kid.  He'll stop at nothing to get him back.  Tyler's incredibly protective of his family."

"I know that," Akira murmured.  Suddenly, his hand shot up and grabbed MacKellar under the throat, almost lifting him off the ground.  "Why has the Organization heard nothing of this?  He is being watched very closely."

"Put... me... the Hell... down!" MacKellar gurgled.  "I'll tell... you...  Urgh!"

Released, he backed up rubbing at his neck, only to be blocked by Skinner and Koevort, who shoved him forward again.

"Look, don't push me too far, Akira.  I'm trying to do us both a favour here."

"Just answer the question, human."

MacKellar sighed.  "It was a very sudden decision on Tyler's part, based on information supplied by Julie Parrish-Lawton -- she's the wife of that scientist you killed.  She did some research on you, this place, discovered your oceanic pods... put two and two together...  Simple as that.  Tyler and his little band of macho-mercenaries have been primed for this attack ever since you snatched his kid.  Didn't take much to get them moving.  If he catches you, Akira, he'll tear you limb from scaly limb.  I'd almost like to watch."

Akira hissed and raised a hand to strike, but MacKellar lifted his chin and waited for the blow.  Akira lowered his arm with a soft hiss of approval.

"Well spoken, human.  Very well, I will listen to your proposal."

"Okay.  Look, I want to get away from here.  I'll take the kid to San Francisco.  I've got a place there.  Tyler won't think to look until it's too late.  That leaves you to get away, re-group somewhere without the kid under your feet, and Tyler off your back.  When I get your signal, you get the kid.  And I get my credit.  I want one million for this, no less."

Akira was nodding.  "The terms can be discussed later.  All right, Doctor.  I had something similar in mind.  Take the child.  Stay in San Francisco until I send word.  Mr. Skinner here will accompany you."

MacKellar eyed the muscle man and said, "I don't need him."

Akira smiled.  "I'm sure you don't.  But you honestly don't expect me to trust you, Doctor?  Not just yet.  If we all emerge from this unscathed, you will be well rewarded.  Remember that.  Remember also what will happen if you cross me."

"I don't play games very well, Akira.  I just want my credit.  I'll play by your rules -- on this."

"See that you do," Akira murmured as MacKellar turned and made for the door.  He jerked his head to indicate that Skinner should follow him.  His gaze rested on the closed door for several seconds as he contemplated Dr. MacKellar's actions.  They were... unexpected, this sudden initiative, but within his personality curve.  He had no time to speculate, however.  There was much to be done between now and morning.
 
 

The Saurian resistance was savage, but lacked training and that's where Chris' team scored points, and they were certainly every bit as mean as their opponents.  In a disappointingly short time, it was all over.  The signal was given for the Colorado police to move in and haul the survivors to prison or hospital and a fleet of medical experts and ambulances came in to revive those in stasis.

A specialist TFE operative, Kathy Gordon, was already at work on one particular chamber.  She was a self-taught expert in cryonic systems, having developed a fascination for them after being unfrozen herself after the war.

"How's it doing, Gordon?" Chris asked, swiftly losing his high battlefield spirits and shifting edgily from one foot to the other as he watched.

"Fine.  Shh."  Gordon was working as quickly as possible on the tank's control panel, understanding the urgency but needing quiet.

"It's takin' a long time," Faber complained.

"One slip, Mr. Faber... sir... and Tash Petersen here becomes a permanent popsicle.  So, with respect, sir, push off and leave me to it."

"But... "

"Go on.  Shoo!"

Reluctantly, he shuffled on, glancing periodically over his shoulder to monitor progress, and trying to take an interest in the occupants of the other tanks.  Pretty average people for the most part, their familial ties probably severed by the war, like Tash, making them good targets for the black market racket.   A few faces he recognized vaguely from missing persons pictures on the vid-texts.  There were several old winos too, and Chris wondered absently if they actually would taste any good.

He grew impatient with the waiting, though, and strode back to Gordon.

"Well?"
 
 

Properly abashed, Chris put a few feet between himself and the operative, but he kept a sharp eye on the tank, on Tash.  He glanced at the readings on Gordon's monitor.  The electronic pulses were going crazy.

"Gordon, what's going on in there?"

Kathy shook her head.  "Heartbeat... way up, blood pressure -- 80 over 40... the EEG ratings are impossible... she's reacted badly all right... "

She trailed off, concentrating on a difficult phase of the recovery.

"Get her out of there!" Chris snapped.

"That's what I'm doing!" she snapped back, and bit her tongue.  Never, never answer back, that was rule number 2.  They might find some vacancy on the new Moonbase for her if she wasn't careful, she thought gloomily.

"What was that?" Chris asked sharply.  Gordon frowned.

"What was what?"

"She moved -- I saw her hand twitch."

Gordon consulted her readouts.  "Motor function being restored now, into phase 3... EEG still up... Holy!"

"What?"

"EEG just jumped off the scale."

Tash started thrashing in the stasis tank.  The supporting gel had been drained away, leaving her to connect heavily the the sides of the tank.  Chris needed no urging -- he hoisted himself up to the tank level and began ripping the sensors from her body as if they were some kind of disgusting parasite.  He reached in to grab her but she fought him, and Chris was reacquainted with the fact that Tash was a strong and experienced fighter.  Despite the advantage of his size and weight he had trouble holding onto her at all.  He spotted Tarrington arriving with the ambulance attendants and called out:

"Lance!  Gimme a hand!"

With a worried glance at Tash's pale face, Tarrington pulled himself up to the tank level and between them they managed to confine her arms and legs.

Suddenly her eyes snapped open and she took a ragged lungful of air, but there was no recognition in them and equally suddenly she collapsed, falling sideways into Chris' arms.  Gently, almost reverently, he handed her to the care of the medical experts, then cast a caustic glare at Kathy.  She toughed it out.

"Normal reaction for a non-sleeper," she said, "She's physically reclaimed and stable, and she... she should be fine.  She was in less than a week... She's strong, Mr. Faber, she'll be... "

"Fine.  Yeah."  He didn't sound convinced, and Kathy wondered if she would like it on the moon.  Or maybe Mars.  Yeah, Mars would be far enough away...

Ignoring her, Chris commandeered a mission vehicle and followed the ambulance to Denver State Hospital, radioing his terse report to HQ as he went.
 
 

Tyler couldn't keep his restlessness from showing as the pod broke the surface of the water and the instant it was possible he leapt from the hover platform to the hatch and keyed it open.

The immediate inner chamber was a small, depressurizing room used for divers entering and leaving the pod underwater.  He activated the next door and emerged into the control room.  One of his own people was at the controls, and she was shaking her head.

"I took a look around, sir, there's no-one... "

Either not hearing or not listening, he pushed on through to the next room.  And the next.  He did the circuit, right around the entire pod.

There was no sign of David.  Of anyone.  He searched again, looking in every possible space, ending up, as the first time, in the lounge area, central to the pod. He stood in the centre of it for a moment, his frame hunched with tension, and then suddenly he snapped and he grabbed the nearest piece of furniture and flung it against the wall.

He said nothing as he vented his anger and despair with a systematic and violent dismantling of the room.  When his team caught up with him, he was crouched in the wreckage, twisting a piece of cloth in his hands.  His eyes were hooded and unreadable.

"He was here," he said, "This is his shirt."  It even had the small tear in it, from the abortive escape attempt through the window.

The steely control slammed back into place and Tyler straightened.

"Search the place.  If there's any sign of where they went, I want it 30 seconds after you've found it."

Tyler stalked out and reboarded the hover platform, still clutching David's shirt.

Back on shore he issued more terse commands -- check all the escape routes; air, sea, sub-orbital, sub-terrainial -- everything along the coast and immediately inland, for an adult Saurian and a human male child in company.  Follow every lead.  He was stretching his resources to their limit, he knew, but there had to be some trace of them.

Running out of things to do at the docks he went back to the TFE office and issued more orders.   He glanced over Chris' brief Colorado report, too distracted to be pleased that Tash had at least been got out alive.

Alex watched him pacing, aware of the taut line of his jaw, the hard eyes, the clenched fists.  David's shirt was still trapped in his fingers, as though it somehow reassured him that the boy was still alive.  His face was cold, but the shirt gave him away, his fear, and Alex was filled with compassion for him.

"You'll find him," she said, trying to give comfort.  He ceased his pacing and glared at her.

God, it hurt to look at her, Tyler realized.  She looked younger, somehow, reflecting her memories, those mis-matched eyes giving her that quizzical look he used to find so endearing.  But she didn't even know who David was, she said.  She didn't remember anything, and so she couldn't understand.  Had their life together really been so terrible that she'd wanted to forget it?  Last week he hadn't even known if he still loved her, and now he knew that he did, and his life was falling apart.  He'd lost his wife and his son in the space of a fortnight.  But there was still CT, he reminded himself, and the thought warmed him a little.

Without speaking, he turned and went to his room.

It was no more cheering than anything else -- a bed, a cupboard, a few sparse belongings he had brought with him whenever he and Alex had fought.  It had been turning into a second home for him.  But it wasn't home, and he was alone.

He glanced in the mirror, and saw the shirt he still held.  Slowly, reluctantly, he reached out and put it on the dresser, beside the photo of his family, taken in happier days.  He stared at the picture for a long moment, and suddenly, violently, he picked it up and smashed it into the mirror.    Shards of glass sprayed out, cut his fingers, and he stood braced on the counter, knuckles whitening as he gripped the wood and he tried to maintain his facade of control.

"Ham?"  Julie's voice was soft and a little nervous.  Ham could be frightening in these moods.  He didn't turn, made no indication that he'd heard, but his arms were starting to shake and his eyes screwed shut in pain.  She walked up to him and placed a hand on the knotted muscles of his shoulders.  He didn't move.  Understanding, she wrapped her arms briefly about his chest and pressed her cheek to his back before stepping away.

Feeling her leave, Ham broke suddenly, turned and gathered her into his arms.  She responded to his need and held him as he buried his face in her hair.

"It's okay... it's... " she faltered, starting to cry and stopping herself because he needed for her to be strong.

He kissed her forehead, her temple, down her face and sought her lips.  She let him kiss her but when his hand slid around her waist and up, reaching for her breasts, she stepped sharply back.

"No... Ham, no, it's wrong."

He stared at her feeling... betrayed?... and abruptly turned his back on her.  Julie bit her lip, hesitated, then left, her decision made.

Ham slammed his fist into the side of the dresser.  Damn, damn, damn!  Idiot!  Fool!

Defeated, he slumped onto the bed and stared blankly at his scratched and bleeding hands.
 
 

"Alex, he needs you."  She was trying to be reasonable but her voice was traitorously close to breaking.

"No, I've seen you two -- you make a nice couple.  What's wrong with... ?"

"No, no, it's not like that!  We're friends but nothing more than that.  Can't you see how much he loves you?"

Alex scratched her head, thinking back over her encounters with the man.  "Frankly, no," she said.  "Which is probably just as well, because I'd rather go marry a hedgehog."

Julie groaned.  "No, no, no, this is all wrong!  Alex, please, I'm not asking you to jump into bed with him, just talk.  Go in and speak to him.  It'll help him, trust me."

"What makes you think he wants to talk to me and not you?"

"You really are a pair, you know, woman.  You're the most stubborn, prideful... look, just trust me.  If he seems distant... that's just his way.  To protect himself."  Julie couldn't believe she was spelling out things like this to Alex, and didn't particularly want to lay all Tyler's cards on the table if she could help it.  "Just go in!" she all but yelled.

"All right, all right.  I'll... talk."  Frowning, she stalked away muttering something about paying up her medical insurance.

The room was unlit and, when she knocked softly and walked in, all she could see was a hunched shape on the bed.  She closed the door, a prickling of apprehension washing over her as she did.  There was something here... a sensation of deja vu.  It felt like she was on automatic pilot as she moved further into the room.

Ham looked up as she entered, but he had no hope left and his gaze dropped to the floor.  He could sense Alex watching him.

Her eyes adjusted quickly to the low lighting and she regarded him pensively.  All pretence of control had gone from him.  The look in his eyes, the defenceless set of his shoulders.  These were... familiar things.  For the first time, she had the feeling she might once have known this man.

Curious, now, and keen to discover more about the unexpected and powerful emotions tumbling through her, she let her instincts guide her, crossing the room to lay an uncertain, unpractised hand on his shoulder.  She felt the tremor go through him.

Ham didn't look up at her.  Couldn't.  He was afraid to speak, in case his voice gave him away.  God, he could smell her... her clothes faintly musky mingling with that brand of plain talc she liked.  He liked it, but always preferred she not wear perfume.  Her natural scent was pleasant, and so much... Alex.

"Ham...?"  The word had been startled out of her... was that moisture in his eyes?

He swallowed, tried to sound normal.  "Alex?"  But his voice betrayed him, as he thought it might, by cracking on the last syllable.  That crack betrayed him further, and before he knew it, he was leaning forward, burying his face in his hands, unable to keep things inside any longer in Alex's debilitating nearness.

Her arms were around him immediately, drawing him to her in a familiar embrace.  He leaned into her, pressing his face against her stomach, arms winding around her waist.  It felt so comfortable, and so... needed.

Alex ran her hand down his face, one arm still about his shoulders, gentle and soothing.  Somehow it seemed perfectly natural when he fumbled with her shirt and fixed it so he could kiss the skin beneath.  After a moment, she peeled the garment off and discarded it, letting him explore her slowly.  His hands, she saw, were cut... she saw the broken mirror and the life-life holo-pic lying on the floor.  She was in it, smiling, with Ham's arm draped familiarly over her shoulder, David and CT standing in front of them.  As if in response to that, she bent to kiss his face and she succumbed fully to feelings for which she could remember no source.

Before long, they were entwined, half-naked on the bed, but in minutes, Ham had pushed her away, and rolled over to hide the shame and self-disgust on his face.  Damnit!  He wanted to make love to her, but...

"Ham..."  She reached out and began to rub his shoulders, feeling a wash of tenderness and affection for him.  "It's okay.  It's not important."  His muscles remained rigid, but she continued to knead them.  "Christ, Ham, you're under a lot of stress, you can't expect..."

He sighed, and shifted so she could massage from a better angle.  "I've got the whole company out looking for David," he said quietly.  "Down to the janitor.  They'll find him."

"They'd better, or you'll kill them," but she said it with a laugh and it sounded like old times.  A memory made him chuckle a little.

"When he was five, David used to hide in the washing machine.  CT thought it'd be a good place for him if the bad guys ever came hunting... "

"He's a clever boy," Alex assured him with certainty, then wondered why she was certain.  She shrugged to herself and let the words make themselves up.  "Cunning in his own ways. He'll be fine."  She kissed him on the back of the neck for punctuation.  Ham allowed a small, wistful smile to curve his lips.

"You know he's the one behind CT charging you to do the cooking, don't you?"

Alex didn't even remember that CT cooked, and opened her mouth to say so, but found someone else saying, "Didn't seem to be the sort of thing CT'd think of."

"No.  She's a good kid.  Gets into a lot of trouble, but I think it's because she's too honest.  She's very frank."  He rolled over to smile at her.  "She has a lot of you in her."

For a long while they sat together, Ham talking about their children and the good parts of the last fifteen years.  Alex was surprised to find she could remember some of the things he mentioned, and others seemed like just-remembered dreams.  Others were a total blank, but she delighted in listening to Ham's recollection of them, seeing herself from his point of view.

Eventually, Ham reached a hand behind her head and pulled her close to him in a deep kiss.  Alex marvelled at how he knew so exactly where and how to touch her, and at her own ability to do the same to him.  In a way it was a little scary, but it seemed so wonderfully right that she had no intention of stopping, not now when it was just getting interesting.

This time there were no interruptions.
 
 

"Get on with it," Skinner muttered, holding David by the collar of the oversized shirt he'd been given when his other had been drenched in seawater in an early escape attempt, and staring around nervously.

Things had gone so smoothly with Akira until the Saurian had insisted on this Skinner character tagging along.  At no point in the trip from Seattle to San Francisco had he been given a chance to shake him and what he had planned now was his last shot.  Otherwise his attempt to save the Tyler child might be nothing more than a feeble ploy, which Alex would never believe anyway.  Despite the tension, however, he felt substantially better about himself for taking positive action instead of letting events sweep him along, as they were wont to do.  Win or lose now, he'd tried.  And his decision was made.

MacKellar finally keyed it correctly and stepped aside to activate the opening mechanism with his handprint.  "There you go," he said politely, and watched with mock-surprise as his enormous young Saint Bernard leapt straight for Skinner's throat, rearing up on his hind legs and knocking the man to the ground with his momentum.  Only then did Skinner realize it was not an attack but a welcome as Oliver, front paws just about covering his chest, took great big soggy licks of his face.

MacKellar darted forward to relieve him of his laser and pulled David to one side before Skinner could regain his feet.

Oliver still hadn't realized that he was welcoming the wrong master.

"Tch, tch," Nicholas said mildly and with a total lack of conviction, "Down boy."  He winked at David.

"Get him offa me, MacKellar!  Akira's gonna hear about this, I swear."

"Not in a child's company, I hope."

David was staring at MacKellar.  "I thought you were on their side!"

"Not any more, Davie.  Here, go fetch some rope from the shed while I get Oliver off Mr. Skinner.   Wouldn't want him to drown, would we?"

"You're finished, MacKellar!  When Akira and the Organization hear about this, you're dead meat.  You'll be a frozen food export faster'n you can 'McDonalds'."

"Calm down, Skinner," Nicholas said tiredly, when David had shot off, "Your histrionics aren't impressing anyone.  I might be finished, but if I know Ham Tyler, your whole industry's finished too.  Chew on that for a while."

After they'd gotten Skinner well and truly trussed up and out of harm's way, Nicholas took David through to the kitchen and let the boy forage through his refrigerator, which he did with 11 year old enthusiasm.  Nicholas went through to the living room to vid-phone the Tylers and let them know of their son's whereabouts and watching the younger Tyler out of the corner of his eye.  The boy was cheerfully scoffing down a sandwich and looking none the worse for his experience.  Ah, the resilience of youth, he thought, though this one seemed more adaptable than most.  And... yeah, he did remind him of Alex in a way.  He had her looks.

First Nicholas keyed the vid-directory to find the number for Tyler-Faber Enterprises and jotted it down quickly.  "I'm just going to call your dad," he called out to David, "You'd better be ready to come and say hello."

"Okay -- can I have an Oreo please?"

"Sure -- bring some for me, huh?"

"Uh huh," mumbled David through a crumbly mouthful, then suddenly "Hey! Oh... Jeeeeeesus Christ... "

Belatedly, Nicholas heard the front door closing and Oliver began to growl, and Oliver never growled at anyone except... Saurians!

"David?!"

"Dr. MacKellar," Akira strode into the room, David Tyler gripped firmly by the upper arm.  "I see you've taken care of Mr. Skinner."

Skinner, dumped carelessly on the lounge, made urgent and unintelligible noises behind his gag.

"Yeah," Nicholas said simply.  He was watching David wondering how the hell to get out of this one.

"It wasn't a very clever thing to do, Dr. MacKellar."

"No, I guess not.  But I did it."

"I'm taking the boy.  Tyler has broken the operation and this," he shook David roughly, "Will be my only ticket to safety."

"Aren't you going to kill me?" Nicholas was very matter-of-fact about it.  He dropped his hand to pet Oliver, who was crouched beside him, growling still and bristling.

"Unnecessary.  When Tyler has found the part you played in all of this, he'll see to you, I should imagine."

With that, Akira turned and made for the door, hauling David after him.  Then, while Nicholas looked around for something heavy enough to do damage to a Saurian skull, there was a sudden yowl and a crash.

Bitz, Nicholas' cat, shot out from under the prone alien, hissing and spitting and very eager to be away from this horrible thing.  David had torn himself free and seemed to be concentrating on remembering something.  As Akira started to rise, scowling, David's face lit up with recollection and aimed an accurate and painful blow at Akira's throat -- one of the few soft spots in the Saurian anatomy.

Akira clutched his wounded windpipe, choking, and Nicholas compounded the victory by swinging a chair across his skull.  The metal frame bent, but seemed to do its job as Akira sunk to the ground, eyes rolling up.

"Yeeeeeeee-hah!!"  David yelled and held his hand up.  Nicholas stared, then grinned and slapped the boy's hand.

"All right!  Way to go David!  Now -- "

"I know, I know.  Get some rope."

"Right."

Nicholas stared out the door, wondering how many more little surprises he could expect, then shrugged and dragged the unconscious Saurian over to keep Skinner company.  Dusting his hands, he went to make a vid-call.
 
 

"Wha...?"

Someone knocked on the door and, without waiting for an answer, rushed on in.

CT, her face flushed with excitement, was running headlong to dad when she realized he wasn't alone.  Mom was peering over discreetly drawn up sheets.  The sight broadened the girl's smile further and she fairly exploded with the news.

"We've found Davie!!!"

"David... "  Ham started out of bed then stopped, giving his daughter a meaningful look.  Grinning, CT turned and rushed out again, full of delirious energy.  Ham caught a glimpse of an embarrassed Julie covering her eyes with her hands and, smiling, he climbed out of the covers.

He and Alex retrieved their clothes from the floor and quickly dressed, but before they left, Ham caught Alex up in his arms and kissed her forehead.

"I haven't told you this for a long time," he said softly, "But I love you."

Alex smiled at him, and hugged him, but said nothing.

At the Command Centre, Julie was on the telephone, listening, nodding, writing things downs, as CT was gesturing, pointing fiercely outside.

"Go and get the transport, Mitchell!  We gotta go get Davie."  She was sounding exasperated, copying her father as she put hands on her hips and said, "Dad, will you tell this guy to go get the transport!  He won't listen to me."

Mitchell had an amused, patronizing smile on his lips, but he looked to his boss for confirmation.  Tyler nodded at him, a little bemused at his daughter issuing orders around the office.  Mitchell, chuckling, went off to collect the transport.  CT folded her arms and arched an eyebrow at the departing agent, looking suddenly very much like her father.

"Ham," Julie called out, pointing at the vid-phone.  "It's Nicholas MacKellar.  He's got David in San Francisco... "

"Nicholas?"  Alex pulled her hand free from Ham's and rushed towards the vid.  "Nicholas?  Jesus, what have you been up to?"

"It's a long story."  Nicholas looked and sounded weary.  "I'll explain it when you get here.  But David's safe, and we've even got two prisoners."

"Who?"  Ham tried to sound casual, but as he moved up to the screen he placed an arm possessively around Alex's shoulders.  If Nicholas noticed, his expression didn't reflect it.

"Akira and his partner Skinner.  I didn't have much to do with it, actually.  David managed most of it."

"And Oliver," David rushed into shot and Tyler started forward before he remembered that he couldn't touch his son through the screen.

"You okay David?"

"Yeah, I'm great!  Hey mom, this guy has got the most excellent dog!  His name's Oliver and he's a Saint Bernard.  Can we have one... ?"

Alex blinked bemusedly, a scattering of images flickering through her mind.  So this was David.

"Yo, Davie!!!"  CT hollered and came pelting towards the screen.  "You okay?  'Cos if you're not, well, just... Jeeeezus Christ, there'll be some blood!!"

"I'm fine, CT," David insisted, rolling his eyes.  "Sheesh!"

Their antics made Ham smile.  "Hang on, Davie, we'll be there soon."

"I've got the address here."  Julie passed a memo slip to Ham, catching Alex's eye and winking at her before meeting Tyler's enquiring gaze.  She gave him a smile and a push towards the door.

"So what're you waiting for?  Go on, get outta here.  Shoo!"

Tyler grinned.  "Coming, CT?"

"You bet!"

Alex regarded Nicholas through the vid-screen, wondering if it was just her new perceptions on life or was he looking more a defeated man than one who'd just saved a child's life and broken an illegal trade?  She said uncertainly,

"I'll see you soon, Nicholas."

His face was solemn as he said, "Yeah.  Bye."

"Hey Mom!  You comin' or what?" CT demanded from the doorway.

"Coming, CT," she replied, and cut the connection.
 
 

"Hope you don't mind the house being a mess when we get back," he was saying to Alex, "I didn't get around to cleaning it properly after they took David.  Won't be for long, though... "

"I'm not going back."

Ham fell silent, the warm glow in his eyes dying.  "Why not?"

She sighed.  "Ham... Look, all this is happening too quickly for me.  I still don't... remember much."  His jaw was set and he stared straight ahead.  In her seat, CT squirmed -- parents!  "Don't be like that," she snapped, defensive.  "Please try to understand.  It's not... exactly the same.  It won't ever be exactly the same because I'm not really the same person I was before the... the accident."  She smiled wistfully.  "Maybe I'm a bit of a composite.  Maybe I'm nuts.  I don't know.  I think it'll take time... "

Ham forced himself to relax.  She was right, of course.  He'd been rushing into things, wanting them back the way it had been.  "Okay.  I'll find you a place in town.  An apartment.  Jeri can take care of your practice."  He turned and smiled suddenly, one of his rare, dazzling smiles that reached his eyes and transformed his face from its usual long, dour lines.  "How about dinner on Tuesday?"
 
 

Nick MacKellar did a good ten metre slide down the hallway from the bedroom into the laundry and dumped an armful of clothes into the washing machine.  When David had asked if he could put on some music to annoy Akira (in retribution for that slop they'd made him eat), he'd said it wasn't nice to be cruel to animals, but well, just this once he wouldn't object.  He was delighted to hear Bob Seger's Greatest Hits booming out of the audio system, and the progression from watching the Saurian's tortured reactions to doing some basic tidying up seemed logical.  Even David was pitching in.

"I SIT HERE LIST'NING TO 'EM BY MYSELF," David mimed, pulling faces at Akira and Skinner as he dusted around them.

"TODAY'S MUSIC AIN'T GOT THE SAME SOUL," Nicholas took up, pushing a mop and bucket through the kitchen and lobbing a can of furniture polish at David, and they both chorused,

"I LIKE THAT OLD TIME ROCK & ROLL!!!"

Yeah!  Hey, for an older person, this vet all alllll right, David thought.  He spun into the kitchen, whizzing past the cupboard to pick up one of the multiple packets of Oreo cookies and a polishing cloth from the odds-n-sods container on the table, while jointly he and Nicholas launched into the chorus.  Nick was using the mop handle and David a can of polish as microphones before they finally heard the clearing of throats in the doorway.

David looked up, his face breaking into a huge grin as he dropped the polish on the table and ran to greet the arrivals.

"Dad!"  He flung himself into Tyler's arms.  Nicholas discreetly put the mop aside and smiled greetings to Alex.

"My turn!" CT claimed, wresting her brother from Ham's hold.  David, crushed in her fierce grip, rolled his eyes, stuck out his tongue and waved his hands theatrically in the air.  Then he reached to CT's exposed ribs and tickled her expertly until she dropped him, laughing.

"Mom!"  There was a special warmth in his voice for her as he enveloped her enthusiastically.  "You okay Mom?  When Skinner hit you I thought...  Mom?"  He stood back, puzzled by her lack of response.

Ham dropped a hand onto his shoulder.  "She did get hurt, Davie, but don't worry.  I'll explain it on the way back.  Just be a bit... gentle with her for now, okay?"

"Yeah.  Sure."  David thought about it a moment, then looked up at Alex with sensitivity beyond his 11 years.  "Don't worry, Mom.  You'll be fine."  He patted her hand reassuringly and Alex felt a sudden rush of love for this boy.  She smiled at him.

"I'm sure I will, Davie."

Nicholas, witness to the scene, looked down as Alex sought him out, unable to meet her gaze.  "You'll be wanting to see our prisoners," he said, leading the way to the lounge room and turning off the sound system as he passed.  Skinner looked angry and uncomfortable, whilst Akira looked mostly relieved that the damned music had finally be shut off.

Tyler called the San Francisco authorities to collect the pair while David regaled them with the story of how Oliver, Bitz, Nicholas, and himself had performed the heroic deed.  CT made friends with the multi-coloured, multi-breed cat and glared evilly at the two bound villains.  It was just as well David was unhurt, Tyler mused, or she might have torn them apart with her teeth.

Alex left her strange, new family to guard duty and walked into the kitchen where Nicholas was making coffee.

"Nicholas?"  That simple query was filled with layers of meaning and he couldn't meet her gaze.

"I'm sorry, Alex... "  He wanted to go on, but all the explanations seemed long, tedious, and sordid and he couldn't find the strength to voice them.  "I'm sorry," he repeated finally.

Alex placed a hand on his cheek and made him meet her eyes.  "All that... at the hospital... and after... you meant it, didn't you?"

"You know I did."

"Yes."  She looked about the room and saw the two prisoners and realized the risk he'd taken in stealing David from under Akira's nose.  His future here on Earth was now looking very shaky.  As if reading her mind, he said,

"I've been thinking about Mars.  They might need a vet up there soon."

Tyler heard this last exchange as he came up behind them, dropping an arm around Alex's shoulders.  She looked up at him and smiled reassuringly, giving his hand a squeeze, but her expression was troubled.

"We can arrange a new identity for you," he said.  "And Julie tells me she's heading Mars-way too on the next intake.  You could travel incognito with her.  Once there... well, there's no extradition on Mars, and I doubt anyone'd travel a coupla billion kilometres to off you out of spite."

Nicholas held up his hands.  "It's okay, you don't have to sell me.  I'd already made my choice."  He grimaced.  "It was made for me a long time ago."

Impulsively, Alex stepped forward and gave him a hug.  "Nick... "  She wanted to go on but found, like Nick, there were too many things to say, too many emotions in play.  She settled for giving him a gentle squeeze on the shoulder.  "You'll write?   I want to know you got there okay, and I want to know how you're doing."

Nicholas regarded her fondly.  "You bet.  Now beat it you two.  I've got coffee to make."  As Ham and Alex turned to go back to the lounge room, he said, "Hey Alex!"

She turned back.  "Yes?"

"You've got a couple of great kids there, you know."

Turning to watch her kids still in the process of greeting each other, CT grappling for a good hold on her brother and David slithering out of her grasp each time, she had to smile.  "Yeah, they're all right, huh?"
 
 

On landing, David jumped out of the transport saying he had to go check on the ducks.  CT leapt out after him, grinning evilly.

"Yeah, I'm making dinner tonight.  I wonder which one's the fattest... " and she sped off, an anxious David pursuing her, waving frantically, crying:

"Nooooooo!  CeeeeeeTeeeeee... !!!"

Alex, still sitting in the front passenger seat and staring at the madness around her with bewilderment and some trepidation, glanced up at the feel of cool air on her cheek to find that Ham had graciously opened her door for her.  She found his chivalry as perplexing as everything else, shadowed as she was still by this macho-image she had created of him in her mind.  Getting a grip on herself, she stepped out onto the platform, and found herself suddenly swamped in a barrage of dogs, all whimpering and snuffling their ecstasy at seeing her again.  They were about knocking Ham over too, but instead of gruffly pushing them away, Alex was pleased to see him chuckling and trying to pat as many as possible whilst avoiding being tripped up.  He looked very practised at it too.

Jeri came to the rescue, calling off the canines and having to hold on to two of them by the collar and having trouble with the two large animals.

"Hey, Titus!" she called out.   The man with the suffering face sighed and ambled over to help clear the path.

"Welcome home, Alex," said Dermott, in his quiet sing-song voice.  Alex wondered how he survived in the mayhem.

"Errr... thank you."

She didn't really know what to say to any of them, and resorted to kneeling down to cuddle the dogs milling about her.

"Coffee?" Dermott asked.  Alex looked up with a relieved grin.  "I know, I know," Dermott added, before she could speak.  "Two spoons, white, no sugar.  Milk in before the water, don't stir."

"Ahhhh, yeah.  Right.  Thanks."  She obviously had him well trained.

She watched from ground level as yet another transport made a hairpin turn and air-braked to a halt, a large man with wavy brown hair and gingerish bear tumbling out, almost falling over himself to get into the house.

"Ham!"

"Chris!  C'mon in here!"  Instead, Ham strode out, grasping his friend's hand and having a brief tussle with him before getting trapped in a bear hug that reminded Alex a lot of CT and David back in San Francisco.  Ham was laughing out loud as he clapped Chris on the back, obviously delighted to see him.

Alex remembered to shut her mouth before one of the Shepherds licked it, and got to her feet, only to be spied by Chris and swept up into a bear hug of her own and spun around.

"Alex! We got her, we got Tash!  She's gonna be fine, the doc says.  Nervous problems, that's all.  Be fit as a fiddle in no time.  Doc Van Driel says to say 'hi', too."

"That's nice," Alex humoured him, and Tyler elbowed his friend aside to slide an arm around her waist, to which Alex did not object.

"Mine," he growled to Chris, and planted a kiss on her forehead when she turned to regard him quizzically.  He was smiling broadly and the effect was quite electric.  Where did that warmth come from?  His gentle touch and brown gaze were so familiar, they way she fitted neatly under his shoulder...

"Ham...?"

"Mmm?"

"Ham!  You're Ham!"

"'Course I am."  He ruffled her hair affectionately.  "Did you remember something?"

Alex shook her head, but started to smile.

"I remembered that I'm a bloody fool!" she told them with enough of her old vehemence to make them all grin.  She linked arms with both men and steered them inside.  "Come on.  I need a cup of coffee.  Actually, I need two cups."

With far less trepidation, and a sense of definite 'rightness', Alex waded through the animals and went in search of her coffee.
 

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