Kericon Facilities
Somewhere in Arizona, 2001

"What's the status of groups alpha and beta?"

"They should be fully developed within a week."

"Really? That soon? The simulations I'd done showed results at a much later stage... this is fantastic!"

"You're tellin' me; at this rate we'll have them trained and ready for dispatch by next month."
----------------------------------------------------------
Two weeks later

"What do you mean I'm being shut down?!"

"Sorry, but I didn't make the call."

"I don't give a good fuck who made the call, they can't do this!"

"Can and will, Congress just passed the MRA and well, the financial backings gotta come from somewhere."

"They can't take away my funding, what about national security?!

"This is national security!... Look, I know you were Hell bent on growin' the perfect army, but the war's over; has been for years. The MRA is now."

"My work, my subjects... what will happen to them?

"Well, word is they're suppose to be scrapped, but some guys up North got an eye to buy em' off your hands."

"Buy?"

"Yeah, 'buy', you know; the exchange of currency for goods and services?"

"Don't fuckin' patronize me!"

"Hey, don't get your feathers ruffled, I'm just letting you in on what I heard."

"This project is not for sale!"

"Really? I'd sell me wife for the two billion they wanna give you. Hell, I'd give er' away, but two billion? That's enough money to make a whole new planet of freaks!"
----------------------------------------------------------
Wyler Genetics
Undisclosed location of Ontario, Canada
One month later

"So how're we doin'?"

"So far, so good; we've had thirteen matings this week alone and four successful breedings that I can affirm."

"That's a start, what about the rest?"

"Well, it's mostly the females holding up progress; they'll take some coaxing but-"

"You said 'mostly females', which males aren't cooperating?"

"I guess that was a bit ambiguous of me... it's just this one."

"Really? I thought he'd be the main source of our advancement... but (sighs), I suppose I shouldn't have assumed. How many subjects have you sent in?"

"Six... seven, if you count the one male... I had to know if that was the problem."

"And...?"

"It wasn't."

"Have you tried sending him females in heat?"

"Yes, twice."

"With no result?"

"Well, he went as far as penetration with one, but he never, um... finished the job. (mumbles) At least not the right way. (normal voice) It was as if he knew what we were doing."

"Nonsense, they're not capable of such mental range."

"Actually-"

"Try once more and if the problem doesn't correct itself, we'll just have to use forceful means."
----------------------------------------------------------
The next day

"Have the drugs taken affect yet?"

"Yeah, he's not going anywhere."

"Good."

"Do we have to do it this way? Can't we impregnate the female artificially?"

"It'll take longer and I haven't any time to waste, I need results as soon as possible."

"But this method isn't exactly guaranteed, especially when neither subject wants-"

"Dammit! Why the Hell must you question my authority at every turn?! We are doing it this way and that's that!"
----------------------------------------------------------
Three weeks later

"What's this week's count?"

"Sixteen matings and eleven affirmed breedings."

"Now those are the kind of numbers that I like to hear. Did our 'special' subject contribute to that eleven?"

"No, I told-"

"Silence! (sighs) It's just as well, perhaps we can break even by selling him."

"To who?"

"The highest bidder, the slave market has got quite a following these days."
----------------------------------------------------------
Two days later
Ontario Place, Canada
"The market"

"I'll give you C$300."

"Are you kidding me? If you're gonna waste my time I might as well take him off the block."

The auctioneer turned around, "You can't do that, once bidding has started; the best offer takes all, no matter what the price."

"Yeah? well, who's going to stop me?"

"I will!", said a large man with ruffled gray hair and a mischievous smile, "C$400,000!"

The auctioneer blinked a few times before closing the deal, "Goin' once, twice… sold!"

After the exchange had been made, the auctioneer tapped the night's highest bidder-and probably the year's highest bidder-to ask his
name.

The response he got dripped with unsettling southern charm, "The name's Stryker."

A non-descript cabin
Alberta, Canada
A day and a half later

“Here Kitty-kitty, you’ve been a good boy lately and I’ve just bought something that I thought you’d like to take for a spin before Daddy needs it.”

A ragged form of a man landed on the cabin’s hard wood floor with a thud.

What seemed to be another man crouched on all fours sniffed him cautiously; Stryker grinned.

“Don’t worry, he’ll be out for quite some time… have fun.”

The crouched man flashed his fangs as he gazed hungrily at the treat he’d been given.

A quick pat on his pet’s blonde haired head and Stryker was off.

Wyler Genetics
Ontario, Canada
Occurring at the exact same time

“What the fuck do you mean you were wrong?!”

“It was a glitch, these things happen.”

“That fuck-ing ‘glitch’ just cost me a valuable subject!”

“No… it just made you C$400,000.”

(hissing voice) “Listen up, because I’m only going to say this once. YOU are going to pay the man I sold him to C$500,000, YOU are going to get the subject back and HE is going to reproduce as many fuckin’ times as I tell him to! Is that clear?!”

(a nod)

(calmer) “Meanwhile I want you to recalculate all the statistics from the last month… tell one of the others to bring me the female on your way out.”

Back at the cabin
Two days later

A strangled, almost pathetic moan could be heard as the door to Sabertooth’s cage was opened.

His new companion had woken up but was still too drugged up to even turn his head.

That may have helped in identifying just who was fucking him senseless.

There was some pain, but mostly everything just felt numb.

Mind sickeningly numb.

Stryker scrunched up his nose at the onslaught of odors that assaulted him as he opened the door to Sabertooth’s cage.

Sex, blood and- was that feces?

He didn’t want to know.

As Sabertooth’s busied himself thrusting into his new toy with unyielding force he didn’t notice the gun pointed at his head or even that someone was in his space, watching.

His senses revolved around his latest victim who he’d fucked into unwilling submissiveness.

The tranq darts flew into the beast’s temple knocking him out instantly.

“Shit!... BALTRIUM!... Separate these animals, I’m not touching anything in here.”

About an hour later, Stryker’s protégé Baltrium finally made it out of Sabertooth’s cage (scarred for life no doubt), dragging something that resemble a man behind him.

Whatever it was got thrown haphazardly on a half rusted examination table.

“He’s not healing.”

“I know… he’s drugged.”

“What is it?”

“A mutation inhibitor.”

“How long will it take to where off?”

“At least another twenty-four hours.”

“I’ll go get the Ipecac.”

Bile began to rise at the back of the subject’s throat before the rotten liquid had even made its way down.

He tried to inch away from the table so as to throw up on the floor but most of his bones were broken so mobility was not an option.

The vomit escaped the subject’s mouth, cascading down his chin and neck until he almost choked on the bloody chunks of drug soiled food particles.

After ten minutes, nothing had happened and Stryker wasn’t pleased to say the least.

“Maybe he didn’t ingest it.”, interjected Baltrium.

Stryker shook his head in a definitive gesture.

“No, medical supplies can become costly when dealing with so many subjects; facilities usually administer their drugs orally so as not to waste the money on a syringe.”

“What about those who can induce their own vomiting?”

“The vomit itself is evidence. The subject throws up, a physician comes in with another pill, followed by a guard that bashes the subject’s head in so they won’t try that little stunt again.”

The only phone in Stryker’s cabin began ringing just as progress was being made.

The drug and all its remnants had worked their way out of the subject’s system and he was beginning to heal.

“Baltrium. Restrain him… I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

The cabin
The other room
Only seconds later

“Ah, yes… Eric.”

“I trust you have my um… package?”

“Of course, when have I not come through?”

“Good, an associate of mine will be by to pick it up tomorrow morning… that is if you haven’t mangled it already.”

“Eric, I’m hurt that you could think such an awful thing about little ol’ me.”

“Oh William, I do not think, for I know. That’s quite alright though; your treatment shall only further aid my plan.”

“Really?... Care to fill me in on how?

“At some point in time my dear boy, but I’m afraid that I am not on a secure line… you will know at next we meet.”

“Eric… you and your secrecy.”

“Yes… me and my ‘secrecy’.”

Meanwhile

Unbeknownst to Stryker, Baltrium had plans of his own.

“Okay, I know you’re scared or whatever, but I’m gonna get you outta here.”

“Aughh.”

“Still healing huh? I’m sorry about what happened before… but Kitty’ll get his… believe me he will.”

“Augh.”

“Look, just sit tight, I gonna untie you and....”

Baltrium left the room and came back moments later with a pile of crinkled clothes and some boots that looked too small.

“Here, these should keep you warm. ”

“Why are you helping me?”

“Finally, it speaks. Well, I just can’t let this happen... again. Now get your claws to come out and stab me.”

“What?!”

“Do it… right in the stomach… before Stryker comes back!”

Logan did as he was told.

Baltrium bit his lip to suppress a load cry that threatened to escape.

After Logan sheathed his claws back into his hands again he helped the young man to the floor.

“Go…” Baltrium whispered, “go.”

Stryker came into the room a few minutes later.

“WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!”

Wyler Genetics
Ontario, Canada
Two Weeks Later

“Hush little baby don’t say a word, momma’s gonna buy you a mockin’ bird, and if that mockin’ bird don’t sing, momma’s gonna buy you a diamond ring…”

“What is she doing?”

“Umm… singing.”

“I know that… why?”

“I think she’s singing to the baby.”

“Great, just what we need... the stronger a connection she forms with the fetus, the harder it’s going to be when we take it away from her.”

“Why can’t we just let this one keep the kid, and maybe… let her go.”

“WHAT?!”

“Never mind.”

“Look, these are not ‘people’ we’re talking about, they are God’s mistakes and we are doing society a service by keeping as many as we can here. I’m trying to find a way to bring some good out of all this and you want to let them go? Well, I will do nothing of the sort. The female and her… spawn are staying in this facility.”
--------------------------------------------------------
Wyler Genetics
The Observatory Room

“Ah know you’re probably too little to hear me or too little to even have ears but Ah’m gonna talk to ya’ anyway. Ah’m gonna love you so much, you’re not gonna know what to do with it all, but that’s okay, you can save some for your kids when you grow up...”

“It’s time for you to eat now.”

“Good, I was gettin’ hungry… do you still got any of that sugary stuff from the other day? Ah liked it.”

“Yes, I believe we still do.”
--------------------------------------------------------
The Cabin
The Next Day

“What do you mean ‘it escaped’?”

“Just what I said… I got off the phone with your boss and the next thing I know Baltriums on the floor coughing up a fucking lung and ‘it’ was gone.”

“You did not hold up your end of the deal… Eric will not be happy about this.”

“You think I don’t know that? Give me until tomorrow morning and I guarantee that I’ll have found him.”

“Alright… you have until tomorrow morning, first thing. I’m only doing this because I don’t wish to see Eric unhappy, but if I must…”

“You won’t.”

“Remember… first thing.”

A Few Minutes Later

“BALTRIUM! Get Sabertooth out here! We got an escapee to find!”
--------------------------------------------------------
The Cabin
Outside of Sabertooth’s Cage

“Tranq darts? Check. Recycled vomit with what should be enough mutation inhibitor in it and hopefully not nearly enough Ipecac? Check. Urge to seek vengeance slash justice? Check. Let’s get this party started.”
--------------------------------------------------------
The Cabin
Ten minutes later

“BLATRIUM! Why isn’t Sabertooth out here yet?!”

A Few Moments Later

“BALTRIUM!”

Angry due to the situation and his protégé’s lack of response or ability to do as asked, Stryker made his way to the room that held his pet Sabertooth’s cage.

To his surprise said pet was lying on the floor looking positively burned alive (or dead) and Baltrium (whose mutation allowed him to control flames, though that wasn’t the extent of it) was no where to be found.
--------------------------------------------------------
Two Miles Away From 'The Cabin'

“Don’t know why I didn’t do this sooner… Goodbye Kitty… you sick bastard, goodbye my soon-to-be-dead Ex-boss… Eric shall take care of you. Now… to find that claw guy… thank God for GPS.”

Wyler Genetics
Ontario, Canada
One Week Later

“So, what’s today’s count?”

“None.”

“What do you mean 'none', I thought we were making progress.”

“’We’ weren’t doing anything. *You* wanted this and I was stupid enough to go along for the ride, but… it stops here.”

“I don’t understand?”

“You know, for a guy that got all A’s in college, you’re kinda slow on the uptake. Lemme’ spell it out for you… No more experiments, no more buying test tube mutants and breeding them and no more of your sycophant speeches about ‘God’s’ mistakes. It’s all over.”

“It’s not over until I say it is! Do you actually think you get a vote?… This isn’t a democracy, it’s a dictatorship!”

“Oh brother… shut it up. And no, I never doubted the politics of this little… whatever it was that you were running… BUT, as your brother and co-founder of Wyler Genetics, what guard wouldn’t believe me if I told them that you’ve decided it best to let the subjects go?”

“WHAT?! No… they would never believe you.”

“Well, they did when I said and I quote… ‘Mr. David Wyler has asked that I inform all of you about this project’s termination and our plans to embark on new endeavors. It is unfortunate that you cannot join us on our journey, but this facility will be shut down due to the change and most obviously the lack of growth potential versus original investmests. Mr. Wyler, also asks that you release all of the subjects from their respective confinements so that we may decide on the best method to deal with them. Please have them in the observatory wing at o’ 800. Your wages for this month and next will be given to you upon the shift’s end today… On behalf of my brother and myself; thank you all for your hard work and loyalty to this institution. See you in the observatory wing gentleman.’… Yeah, I totally memorized that… I could’ve won an Oscar.”

“O’ 800? That was three hours ago!”

“Yup, and don’t bother runnin’ to catch em’… I already had everyone checked out and transported to a local mutant-friendly hospital.”

“How could you do this to me… my own brother?! I could kill you!”

David Wyler made to strangle his brother, but was met with a sudden ferocious shock of electricity.

“Surprise big bro!”

Shaking on the floor, David managed to put into words his feelings of betrayal.

“You’ve… been… one of… them… all along.”

“Yeah Davy, I have… and I tried to hide it… tried to hate mutants just like you did, but I couldn’t… I can’t hate what I am. And I won’t… not anymore.”

With that Greg Wyler left his brother and prayed that he would one day see the error of his ways.

The Cabin
The Next Day

“William… you have disappointed me greatly.”

“I know Eric, but I need more time… I can find him, just-“

“The time for excuses has passed my dear boy, it is now time for action.”

“Eric please, don’t do this-“

“Shh William, you mustn’t beg… it degrades us all.”

“...”

“Now, have you any last words?”

“Yes, I can find him, I will, just let me live and I’ll do everything in my power to get the subject back!”

“No need… Mystique is doing just that and I trust her instincts.”
--------------------------------------------------------
Twenty Miles From the Cabin

“Man, you are one hard mutant to track.”

“How did you find me?”

“GPS.”

“…”

“Not important. What is though is that you’re okay.”

“Thank you.”

“Stop. I’ve done plenty of rotten shit in my life, so don’t go praisin’ me.”

“Okay.”

“Oh, um… good news… Kitty's dead.”

“…”

“That bastard from the cage… you know; yay-high, smelled of unholiness.”

“Grrrrrrrrrrrrwl!”

“Right… he had a little accident involving some very deadly flames. Come on, you must be freezin’ out here… I’ll buy you a drink.”
--------------------------------------------------------
Merick Hospital
Ontario, Canada
Happening At the Same Time

“Miss…”

“Marie.”

“Miss Marie, I’ve checked the results of your blood test and everything seems to be in order.”

“Ah knew it’d be fine… they really took good care of me and the baby.”

“Who’s they?”

“The people at the other hospital… Ah mean, it wasn’t so good at first, but once the doctors found out Ah was pregnant, Ah got a comfy room and lotsa’ meals.”

“How did you end up at the other ‘hospital’?”

“Ah- Ah met a man… he told me about a place for people like me…”

“I’m so sorry.”

“They never meant to hurt me… they just needed my body is all, they were trying to do something good… they were…”

Deep down Marie had known the truth all along; they weren’t try to help her, but that lie was all she had to hold on to… until the baby.

She began to cry uncontrollably and so the nurse just held her.
--------------------------------------------------------
Gravy’s Bar
Six miles from the Cabin

“Why me?”

“Whaddaya’ mean?”

“Why did you choose to help me, what made you change?

“I dunno know.”

“You’re lying.”

“I don’t wanna talk about it… I can’t.”

“Yes… you can.”

“…”

“Tell me.”

“…”

“Please.”

“… Stryker picked up this girl once… a real looker. She was maybe nine or ten, but you could tell she was gonna be a knock out… Bright gray eyes, dark black hair and her face…”

“Was she a mutant?”

“Yeah, of course, she could break glass just by speaking… Stryker wired her mouth shut…"

“What happened?”

“… Don’t make me tell you, you don’t wanna know.”

“Yes I do… please… tell me.”

“… I stood by while that fuckin’ bastard raped her; day-in and day-out…”

“…”

“When I saw you in Sabertooth’s cage, every one of those days replayed in my mind. So don’t thank me okay, I’m no better than that scumbag who’s probably dead by now.”

“Dead?”

“Yeah…. some people were supposed to come by and pick you up, but when you ‘escaped’, the shit hit the fan and it all fell on Stryker.”

“Why didn’t you kill him?”

“What? Should I have avenged the girl? I didn’t help her when she was alive… Besides, like I said, the fuck is probably dead by now anyway. ”

“…”

“Yeah, I’d say the same thing if I were you...”

Baltrium tucked C$50,000 in the other man’s shirt pocket.

“Here, this’ll take you wherever you wanna go.”

He then threw C$100 on the bar counter and left.

Gravy’s Bar
Six miles from the Cabin

A tall blonde haired woman with lethal turquoise eyes and a glint in them that promised many a naughty thing, passed by Baltrium on his way out of the bar.

She looked at him for a split second; recognition obviously hitting her and then disappearing almost as quickly as it had come.

Baltrium acted on his gut instincts and followed her back into the bar.

Not realizing that someone was tailing her, the woman sauntered in causing men in various stages of drunk-ness to turn their heads in appreciation.

She stopped behind the man Baltrium had just been talking to and parked herself next to him on a stool.

“Hey.”

Although beautiful, the woman smelled all wrong… not bad, like an odor acquired through uncleanness but, sinister if that was at all possible.

Baltrium knew he had to do something, but what can you do to someone who simply looked at you funny then struck up a conversation with someone you were trying to get out of harms way?

So he did the only thing he could think of.

“Okay, nobody move or your ass gets toasted!”

The crowd turned to see the seemingly calm and mild mannered man from a few minutes before (who they’d barely even noticed) turn into a black, metallic flame thrower.

No one moved an inch.

No one except for the tall blonde bombshell.

“I never pegged you for the perceptive type… oh well.”

And with that, her skin transformed into a deep shade of blue, textured by scales.

Everyone including the man at the bar was fazed… everyone except for Baltrium who shot a series of flames at her before the transformation was even complete.

“Burn bitch!”

He smothered his hands together to kill the fire before returning to his normal state.

“Come on!”

By then the entire bar knew just who Baltrium was talking to.
---------------------------------------------------------
Eric had eventually come looking for his partner in crime after quickly disposing of William.

Needless to say, Baltrium soon made it onto Eric’s shit list.

He tracked down Baltrium to a motel in Maine and decided it best to do the job himself.

When he walked into the room that the motel clerk had so stupidly pointed out; Eric realized that the man he sought had already committed suicide.

Next to him lay a note with the words: “To Laurie, I should have done something sooner.” scribbled in black ink.

Frustrated that he didn’t get his revenge, Eric crumpled the paper heatedly.

Eventually, Eric decided to stop looking for the elusive subject; he’d already lost so much for so little.

It was to be a substitute for Sabertooth who’d been given to William as a gift.

And once the ‘pet’ began to disregard civility, Eric knew it would be impossible to take him back; with or without William in the picture.

----------------------------------------------------------
Kara, the nurse from Merick Hospital where Marie had stayed for three weeks, took the young girl in once she was released.

The two became as close as sisters and Kara became a second mother to Jamie, Marie’s daughter.

While attending classes at a nearby learning center in order to get her GED, Marie made money as a waitress at a roadside diner.

Four Years Later

A man that called himself Logan, since he had never been given another name, drove into a gas station.

“Hey.”

“Hi, what can get ya’ sir?”

“Unleaded, where’s the nearest place to eat around here?”

“Umm... Betty’s, less than a mile up.”

“Thanks.”

Logan gave the kid a few Canadian dollars to pay for the gas and went about his way.

A few minutes later he pulled into the diner’s parking lot.

Business was slow on Tuesdays and Marie was thankful for it because that was the day she had to bring Jamie into work with her.

Kara always worked late on Mondays and Marie felt it wouldn’t be fair to make her watch Jamie without so much as a wink’s sleep in her system.

The characteristically hyper four year old had just bounded out of the diner’s back room with a drawing that she'd made, when one of the customers asked for a refill of coffee.

“Wait a minute baby, I just gotta go give that man his coffee, then I’ll be all set to look at your masterpiece.”

“Kay’.”

As Marie put the coffee pot back in it’s place on the counter she heard the door open and another customer enter.

(mumbled) “It never ends.”

The ever professional waitress put her best smile on and greeted the gruff stranger only to be momentarily thrown off by how familiar he looked.

Marie had never seen the man before that day, but she just couldn’t shake the cognitive reflex.

Shaking off the feeling, she continued as though he were anyone who’d come in off the street.

“Hi, welcome to Betty’s… what can I getcha’?”

Logan looked the young woman over.

She was attractive and gracefully feminine, yet she had a look in her eyes that seemed to say that she’d had it rough; he wondered at that.

Logan was in the process of giving his order when a little girl walked up to the waitress and tugged on her skirt.

“Mommy, you said you’d look at my picture after the coffee thing… you lied.”

Logan’s eyes nearly fell out of their sockets at what he saw.

The little girl looked almost exactly like him, but smaller and of coarse, female.

Her eyes were a deep hazel that complimented her slightly unruly dark brown hair and her stance suggested self reliance and confidence.

The waitress smiled down at her and then apologetically at him.

“I’m sorry… she’s just been trying to show me this drawing of hers… Wait just another minute honey, please? I need to take the man’s order… Sorry… uh, again… what did you say?”

Logan was still staring at the little girl who’d crossed her arms with a huff when she was told to wait even longer.

Her foot tapped on the floor heavily; a load thud emanating in the air each time her dirt covered trainers hit the tile.

TAP!

“Uh… sir?”

TAP!

“I uh, want the… 18 oz steak…”

TAP!

“How do you want that?”

“… Uh, medium rear.”

TAP!

“And what’ll it be for a side… macaroni and cheese, soup, salad or veggies?”

TAP!

Logan swallowed in an unsuccessful effort to clear up the dryness in his throat.

He wondered if anyone else could here the tapping as loudly as he could because it was as if the action echoed throughout the restaurant.

TAP!

“Potatoes?... Uh… do you got em’?”

TAP!

“…Yeah… Are you okay? You look kinda pale, I could get you some water.”

TAP!

“Yeah, you look like you saw a ghost mister.”

“Jamie. Go play in the back room so more… I’ll be there in a few.”

“No you won’t.”

“Yes I will, promise.”

“You swear?”

“Cross my heart.”

“Okay.”

Jamie ran off past the diner’s patrons and disappeared behind the counter.

“Sorry… for the third time. Jamie can be a handful… Now, how bout’ that water?”

“Yeah… thanks.”

“Comin’ right up with the rest of your order.”

Logan ate what was on the plate in front of him, but if asked later on what it was that had been digested, he wouldn’t remember.

His thoughts were on the little girl that looked like him and her mother; the waitress who he’d never seen before that day.

Logan was no fool, he knew about the breeding experiments forced upon him at the Wyler facility.

He also knew the possible consequences of the one experiment he’d been knocked out for.

Said consequence was in the back room of Betty’s diner, showing off her prized drawing.

It made sense easily enough; the waitress was a mutant, therefore involved in the Wyler breeding program that took place in the same region, and released with the rest of the subjects on the day someone lost their fuckin’ mind.

Fate had brought Logan there.

He was destined to find the child he’d never even met… hope and maybe even happiness after a half life of nothing but pain.

Only, how did you tell that someone you just met?
---------------------------------------------------------
Kara’s Place

“Jamie, it’s time for bed.”

“But I wanna watch Finding Nemo again.”

“You’ll have plenty of time for that tomorrow.”

“But I wanna watch it now.”

“Well, you have to go to bed now.”

“That’s not fair.”

“... Okay, I’ll make you a deal.”

“I’m listening.”

“If you go to bed know, I’ll come tuck you in AND read you a story from the Nemo story book.”

“Um… okay!”

1 Hour Later

“Read another one!”

“Nope, that’s enough.”

“Awww.”

“Time for bed… Mommy loves you.”

“Mommy?”

“Yeah baby?”

“How come I don’t have a Daddy?”

“… Um… well, because you have an Aunt Kara that loves you very much.”

“Oh… okay.”
---------------------------------------------------------
Logan sat in the front seat of his truck.

He was still parked outside the diner, trying to figure things out.

Three hours and four beers later, he’d devised a plan… he was going to tell the waitress everything.

He prayed that his instincts were right and not just affirming what he wanted to believe.

It was Wednesday morning and Marie was running late for work.

She had stayed up the entire night before trying to figure out what made Jamie ask about not having a father.

Granted, at four years old she knew more than most children did at six or seven, but it was still unsettling.

Marie didn’t know how she was going to explain things and if she should even explain them at all.

However, she did know that her answer from the previous night was not going to hold for much longer.

The alarm clock went off at 4 am and Marie; terribly angry that she had just fallen asleep, hit snooze.

She hit the button so hard that the clock itself malfunctioned and went out completely.

At 6 am Marie was still running around the house trying to get ready.

At 6:30 she gave Jamie a kiss, shouted a goodbye to Kara, who had her head stuck under the couch; looking for the ring she’d dropped, and dashed out the door.
---------------------------------------------------------
Betty’s Diner

Dominic, the chef and last surviving relative of Betty, stood flipping over pancakes and Canadian bacon at the grill.

He looked relieved when he saw Marie’s beat up station wagon stop in the parking lot. She was almost never late and he hoped she was okay.

“Hey, what happened?”

“Long story.”

Marie took a pad and pen off the counter and headed to wait the tables that one of the newer girls had gotten stuck taking care of until she got in.

“Hi, what can I-”

Marie was cut off by the deep hazel eyes that stared back at her with steel intensity. It was the man from the day before, the one with that odd familiarity about him.

A strange passing thought came to her then;

‘Heh, he has Jamie’s eyes…’

*gasp*

“Oh shit!”
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Betty’s Diner
Thirteen Cups of Coffee Later (collectively)

Marie, as Logan had learned to call her, figured it all out before he even got a word in edgewise… he didn’t know how, but she put it all together.

It was probably for the best though, because the burden of him telling her that he may have inadvertently fathered her child and not have her think he was mentally ill, might’ve killed him.

Logan told her that he was grown in a lab and had lived a life of about eight years.

She in turn told him how she was impregnated and more specifically about their daughter Jamie.

Both Marie and Logan tried to think of a way to incorporate each other into their respective lives (or in Logan’s case, lack there of).

Neither knew of an easy way to break the news to Jamie and of course it would have to be soon, what with her early inquiries about not having a father and Logan’s eagerness for a proper introduction to his progeny.
---------------------------------------------------------
Kara’s Place

“Mommy!”

“Hey, baby.”

“Today I watched Finding Nemo four times… in a row! And Aunt Kara made me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with no crust because she knows I don’t like that part.”

“Wow, sounds like you had a really busy day.”

“Yup.”

“… There’s someone I want you to meet.”

“Who.”

Logan walked into the living room as if going to his death… he was terrified that once he got to talk to Jamie she wouldn’t like him.

“Hi Jamie.”

“Hi… man from uncle Dominic’s diner.”

Marie whispered to Logan that Dominic was the chef and new owner before correcting Jamie.

“His name is Logan.”

“Oh… hi, Logan… how come you wanted me to meet him Mommy? I already did yesterday.”

There was no getting around it… how could Marie not know a man one day, then be introducing him to her daughter the next?

The only reasonable explanation was the truth, as far fetched as it seemed.

“Well baby, because… Logan’s… Logan’s your father.”

“Nuh-uh. I don’t have a Daddy… member’?”

Logan’s heart sank.

“Maybe I should go.”

“No, it’s not what you think… just stay. Please.”

“Honey, I know I said you didn’t have one because you’ve got an Aunt Kara… but, I lied.”

“Isn’t lying bad?”

“Yes, it is… but, I wanted to protect you… It’s really hard to explain.”

“So I do have a Daddy? And he’s it?”

“Yeah baby… he’s it.”

“Does that mean Aunt Kara has to go away?”

“Nope… Aunt Kara’s not goin’ anywhere?”

“I get to have both?… That means I’m lucky right?”

Logan’s heart took the elevator back up to his chest and soared a short time after.

Marie just smiled; mystified at how well her little girl was taking the news… well, their little girl.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kara and Marie sat in the kitchen; cups of coffee in hand, discussing what had just taken place.

Logan and Jamie sat in the living room getting to know each other better.

“Can’t say I don’t see a resemblance.”

“Tell me about it, and I didn’t even notice it until today.”

“Really?”

“Well, I thought he looked familiar, but I was so stressed… I wasn’t thinkin’ about that.”

The Living Room

“-And sometimes when it rains outside; me, Mommy and Aunt Kara play Monopoly. Mommy always wins, but Aunt Kara says that’s because she cheats.”

Logan knew that he should have been listening intently to what Jamie was saying, but he couldn’t; he was too busy taking her in.

How she looked, the way her hair stuck up in certain places, her scent, how small her fingers were.

Logan wanted to remember it all.

He wanted to remember just in case it was all a hideously cruel dream.

At least that way, he’d have a very developed figment of his imagination to work with; something he could at least pretend was his.

Logan visited everyday that week, each time bringing a gift of something he thought Jamie might like.

The first time it was a Winnie the Pooh bear and a new coffee maker for the house, since he thought it would be wrong not to get anything for Marie and Kara, but flowers always made his head feel like a ticking time bomb.

After a few weeks, Marie decided to let Logan take Jamie the following Tuesday.

She came back that night with an Xbox 360 and the Finding Nemo video game she’d wanted.

Marie lost it.

While Kara helped Jamie set up the console in their living room, Marie took Logan out into the hallway and went off.

“Why did you get her that?!”

“Because she asked.”

“She asked for a pony last Christmas, do you think I bought it for her?! God, I bust my ass on a daily basis for lousy tips… I can’t afford to get Jamie expensive toys, but I do with what I got. Now you mosey on in like some kind of year round Santa and give in to her fantasy. I worked hard to teach my daughter the value of things that money can’t buy… you’re ruining that. Stop trying to buy her… she needs a father, not an ATM machine!”

Logan felt like Marie had kicked him in the balls… hard.

The part of her speech that stuck with him the most was when she said ‘her’ daughter instead of their daughter.

He couldn’t blame her though, he hadn’t known about Jamie, but it didn’t change the fact that during those tough times; it was a friend who’d been there instead of him.

Logan didn’t show up the next day or the day after that.

“Mommy, where’s Daddy? He said he was gonna let me draw a picture of him.”

“… He had to go away for a little while… he’ll be back in a few days.”

“Are you lying again?”

“… Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because honey, I yelled at your Daddy and hurt his feelings. I don’t know if he’s coming back.”

“I think he will.”

“Ya’ do huh?”

“Yup… my friend Jody’s Mommy yells at her Daddy all the time and he always comes back.”
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Kara came home from work to find Marie in the kitchen crying.

She had put Jamie to bed already and sat blubbering over an ashtray full of half smoked cigarettes.

“What happened?!”

“…”

“M, what happened?”

“… Remember the other day, when I chewed Logan up for buying Jamie that Xbox thing?”

“Pssft. How could I forget?… Had to turn the volume way up on the game to drown you people out… Good thing Jamie was too into it to notice.”

“Yeah well, now Jamie’s askin’ why he hasn’t been back.”

“Don’t worry, she’s got him wrapped around her little finger… he’ll be back.”

“But, what if- what if I fucked things up? …She had a real chance at havin’ a Dad and I went and drove him away. If I was him, I wouldn’t come back.”

“Yes, you would. You didn’t drive him away, but I’ll tell you what you did do.”

“What?”

“You misplaced your anger.”

“What are you talkin’ about?”

“Simple… I think maybe you wanted him to buy you a few extravagant gifts.”

“No K, you’re way off.”

“Am I? I mean, this guy you meet by chance turns out to be Jamie’s father and naturally you assume that because you’re single and he’s single, that you guys are gonna magically turn into this little family. That’s why you overreacted… and I do mean overreacted.”
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The next week there was a knock at the door in the middle of the day.

“Hi.”

“Hiya’ Logan… I’ll go get Marie. Come in.”

When Marie walked out into the hall, Logan was leaning against the door frame; pretty much ready to be thrown out.

She frowned.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

Silence reigned for some time before anything else was said. Logan spoke first.

“… I uh… came by to apologize about the gift… I shouldna’ gone and bought it without asking you first.”

“No, it’s okay… I was a real bitch, I know you were just being nice… uhm… Jamie’s been askin’ about you.”

“Really?”

“Can I still uh… see her?”

“Yeah, of course… I’m sorry if I made you feel like you didn’t deserve to be a part of her life as much as I do.”

“No… I don’t blame you.”

“Thanks.”

“Is it okay if I see Jamie now? I mean, if you’re busy or something I could-”

“No, I mean yes, we’re not busy or anything, but-… can I ask you something?”

“… Sure, anything.”

“Okay… this is gonna sound really selfish, but I gotta know… Why didn’t you ever ask- why didn’t you ever try an- why….”

“What?”

“Why didn’t you ever ask me out?… you know, try and make a go of it with us… I can’t believe I just fuckin’ said that. Forget it, I mean, you've been so great with Ja-”

“I never asked because I was just happy you let me see Jamie… I didn’t wanna push my luck. It’s not because I never thought about it.”
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An Unspecified Number of Years Later

“Jamie!”

“What?!”

“Are you dressed yet?!”

“Yes!”

“Then come down here, we gotta go!”

“Okay!”

Three Minutes Later

“Ah, you look beautiful!”

“Yeah, yeah… I feel bloated.”

“Well, you don’t look it.”

“What’s the big deal with this wedding anyway?… I mean, Aunt Kara and Uncle Dominic have always been just that… why do we gotta get all dolled up to celebrate it?”

“Because they were separate before, now they’re together… Come on, this is supposed to be a happy day, get with it.”

“Fine… but I’m not dancing in this thing.”

“Just go pry your father away from the T.V., he’s been watching that hockey game since I woke up.”

The Living Room

“Come on, come on… YES!”

“Dad?”

“Yeah baby?”

“Mom sent me to uhm… pry you away from the T.V.”

“But the game’s just getting good.”

“Well then, just set the Tivo.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know how.”

*sighs* “Gimme’ the remote.”

“Here.”

“… You hit this, this and this, and you’re all set.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“I knew there was a reason I liked you.”
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Back in the Kitchen

“Mommy, Mommy!”

“What baby?”

“This shirt itches.”

“Does it? Where?”

“Back here.”

“… That’s because the tag’s there… hold still… let me cut it off.”
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At 2:30 pm, a half hour later than they were supposed to have left the house for Kara and Dominic’s wedding.

Logan, his wife Marie and their two children Jamie and Jake got into the family car.

“Daddy?”

“Yeah kiddo?”

“I have to go to the bafroom.”