GROUP THERAPY - Complete (12/15/06)

[stormy]

CHAPTER 80 (Monday, February 19)

One thing Lisa appreciated about her new job was that it was so very quiet. No one was arguing with her, or raising their voice to be heard above all the others who thought she had the answers. In this case, it would be a long time before she felt she had most of the answers. It wasn’t like anyone expected her to become a scientist. For the most part, all she had to do was keep things running smoothly, in an administrative capacity, letting the actual scientists do their work unhindered by paperwork. It was easier than working for Jackson, because she didn’t have him as a distraction. She had the feeling they’d eventually have clashed on some things, and it wouldn’t have improved their relationship.

Despite what Gregory had said, Capa didn’t really need a lot of handholding, or even nagging. On Monday she mentioned the blender, and offered to give him some recipes to get him started. To her amusement, he’d asked her if it would be too far beyond the scope of her job for her to pick one out for him, and put it on his credit. It didn’t really seem like an imposition, so she agreed.

He did have one piece of advice for her. “If you have any trouble finding what you’re looking for, ask for Christian Troy to help you. I always ask for him; he’s the only sales clerk there who doesn’t need dozens of details. In fact, if he’s not available, I wait till he’s back at work.”

Lisa was annoyed that Jackson hadn’t told her about the store, and in fact had outright lied to her, saying there was nowhere to shop on the island. Yet just yesterday he’d taken the boys shopping there for things for their new apartment. She mentioned it to Capa, and he sighed.

“He might not have been lying. It’s possible he’s forgotten about it. I think he orders everything he needs from the catalog, or maybe from someone directly. Maybe he uses Troy, too, I’m not sure. But it’s quite possible it’s one of those little things he’s forgotten about since his behavior modification conditioning.”

Lisa hadn’t really considered that. “So this therapy, or conditioning, does it affect your memory?” She thought Jackson had said something about that, but she wanted to be sure she could trust his answers.

Capa nodded. “It can. Plus, Jackson went through a lot of other things that some of the rest of us were able to avoid. He had some shock therapy, and an unfortunate side-effect of that can be short-term memory loss. There might be other things he’s forgotten, but hopefully he’s retained the important things. I don’t know if there’s anything specific he was supposed to forget, but it’s possible. So please don’t accuse him of lying to you about the store, or anything else, because it could bring up all kinds of problems. It might be best to assume that any lapses in truth are either accidental, or were meant with your best interests in mind.”

“Well, that’s one way to try to keep the peace,” she agreed, though she still didn’t like the idea of trusting Jackson to always have her best interests in mind. If his best interests and hers conflicted, she was certain she knew which carried more weight. She laughed as she thought of all the advice books her father had given her. “You know, for someone who doesn’t have much contact with other people, you give better advice than Dr. Phil.”

“Who?”

This set her off on a giggling fit. “Never mind, it’s not important.”

He smiled at her, though he still looked a bit puzzled. “If you like, you can go to lunch early, so you’re not shopping on your own time.”

Lisa considered her workload. “That would be great. I’m caught up on things here, so that should work out.”

She had a quick lunch, then followed the map to get to the store, amazed at how many surprises the Institute concealed. She wryly noted there were no Starbucks, McDonalds, 24-Hour Fitness, CompUSA, or any other chain stores on the island. Maybe Gregory had some good ideas after all.

The department store was a bit larger than she expected, and she was having a little trouble figuring it out. She stopped a young woman wearing a yellow smock, and asked to speak to Christian Troy.

The woman glanced at her ID, pinned to her suit jacket. “Just one moment, Miss Reisert, and I’ll find him for you.”

Lisa watched the other customers and workers, and was pleased to see that everyone was treated courteously, and the clerks and salespeople focused on their work. They managed to be pleasant without being overly chatty, and they didn’t take time to flirt with each other or gossip, so even long lines were processed quickly.

In just a couple of minutes, a tall, good-looking man with wavy black hair approached her. “Miss Reisert? I’m Christian Troy. How may I assist you?”

Lisa smiled at the man, noting that he looked as though he could be a model. “I’m trying to find a blender. My boss, Dr. Capa, told me I should ask for you if I needed any help.”

Mr. Troy brightened at this news. “Oh, Dr. Capa, yes! I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting him, but I’ve assisted him for years. Allow me to show you our housewares department, and I can answer any questions you may have.”

Lisa had to admit the attention was flattering. “Thank you very much. It never occurred to me there would be personal shoppers here.”

Mr. Troy walked alongside her, maneuvering easily through the wide aisles. “We try to make the shopping experience as pleasant as possible, especially for those who don’t like to shop, or don’t have the time to waste in looking around.”

“I know one person who’s probably one of your best customers,” Lisa grinned. “Kitten Braden? Do you know her?”

“Oh, yes, Miss Braden is a frequent customer. She’s a pleasure to assist. Most of her siblings, however, don’t quite have her passion for shopping.”

“Oh, don’t I know it. Jackson probably hardly ever comes here. Jackson Rippner?” Lisa prompted, in case he didn’t recognize the name. “I think yesterday was the first time he's been here in a long time,” she added, watching carefully for his reaction.

Troy stiffened slightly, his face losing its animation. “I met him for the first time yesterday, along with two of his brothers and their friends. It was a rather exhausting experience.”

“I’ll bet it was,” Lisa laughed. “I wish I’d been there to see it. Afterwards, poor Jackson had to lay down with a damp washcloth over his eyes, and earplugs. His migraine didn’t appreciate the visit.”

“I quite understand,” Troy said with great fervor. “It was rather stressful.”

“But I’m sure the boys had fun,” she prompted.

“Oh, they seemed to. I’m very glad I never had children my–“ He stopped walking for a moment and looked puzzled. “Odd. For just a second I had a flash of a teenager, about the age of the young men yesterday, calling me Dad. Very strange.”

“Wishful thinking?” Lisa asked, despite his denial of wanting children.

“Maybe.” He laughed uneasily. “Please forgive me. Every now and then I get some strange thoughts or images. It’s like they’re memories, but I’m sure they’re not.”

Lisa thought he sounded like he was trying to convince himself they weren’t memories. While a part of her wanted to ask more questions, hoping she could help him, the more prudent part of her nature told her to stay focused on the task at hand. “Maybe they’re memories of dreams?” she suggested. “I’ve had those before, where you get very realistic dreams that seem so real you could swore they really happened.”

He nodded. “Yes, it’s something like that. That’s probably the explanation.” They continued walking until they arrived at their destination. It only took a short time to find a suitable blender for Capa.

“Thank you for your help, Mr. Troy.”

“You’re very welcome, Miss Reisert. Please give my best to Dr. Capa.”

“I will.” Lisa hesitated a moment. “I’m still trying to figure out how certain things work here. If, for instance, Dr. Crane needed something while he’s in the hospital, he could call you, or someone here at the store, to shop for him, and have things delivered?”

“Dr. Crane?” Troy’s voice was strained again. “Is he ill?”

Lisa regretted saying anything. This was probably the sort of thing she should keep to herself. “Well, no, he was...injured, in a fight with...someone. He’s going to be recuperating in the hospital for quite a while.” She knew she should shut up, but for some reason she enjoyed talking to someone who wasn’t, as far as she could tell, related to Gregory Dunbar. “They’re trying to find a good plastic surgeon to fix his face, but they’re having trouble finding anyone suitable.”

“Plastic surgeon?” Troy’s tanned face paled, and he began to sweat. “I’m sorry, Miss Reisert, but I’m not feeling well. I should –“

”Of course. Don’t let me keep you. Do you need me to call someone?”

Instead of answering, he closed his eyes tightly. “It’s just a headache, a migraine. I’m sorry –“

”I understand. Thanks for your help.” Lisa made her way to the counter and stood in line. She turned to check on Mr. Troy, but she could see he’d found a seat. He was leaning forward, holding his head in his hands, looking thoroughly miserable. She was about to say something the the clerk, but she’d already seen, and was calling someone on the intercom.

Lisa used Capa’s credit, and exited the store. It was troubling to see anyone in pain like that, though she should be used to it, between Jackson, Darren, Crane, and so many of their siblings – she suddenly had more questions for Capa, if he was willing to answer them.

As it turned out, Capa was able to give her a couple of answers.

“Yes, I’m pretty sure the conditioning is what’s giving most of us our headaches. I don’t get them very often, because I don’t try to fight the conditioning. Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to, but it’s futile for me to try to change anything. There might be different reasons for people undergoing brainwashing –“ He coughed. “Excuse me. Conditioning. But in my case my father wants me to focus all my attention on work, this work, rather than what I’d prefer to be doing. If I was stupid enough to try to go back to studying physics in my spare time, I’d get a headache very quickly, and it would remind me I’m not supposed to be doing that.”

“Like Pavlov’s dogs,” Lisa muttered.

“Exactly. Crude, but effective. I would imagine Darren and Jackson get headaches more frequently than I do, because they’re so very stubborn. I’m sure Jackson has made the connection by now, but it doesn’t stop him from trying to resist.”

“I wonder if his current headache is ever going to go away.” Lisa wished she hadn’t said it, in case Capa wasn’t aware of the drama with Crane.

“Gregory told me about that. I don’t know enough about medicine to even hazard a guess, but he had to exert a lot of will in order to get past his conditioning to not hurt Crane. It might take a long time for that one to quit. I wish for his sake he’d stopped long before he did, and spared himself a lot of agony.”

“You and me both,” Lisa agreed whole-heartedly. She told him briefly about Mr. Troy’s reaction to her comments about Crane. “I was wondering if he’s also had some kind of conditioning. I mean, is it the norm for employees to have that kind of therapy?”

Capa hesitated. “It’s not the norm, but there may have been some specific reason in his case. If it’s true, though, the best thing you can do is stay out of it. I mean it, Lisa, don’t follow up on this. I don’t like all the secrecy around this place, but I’ve seen that it’s usually best to drop things that don’t directly concern you, and just ignore them as much as possible.”

“It’s not the way I’m used to doing things. I’ve spent a good part of my adult life trying to solve problems for people.”

He nodded, but held her gaze with his own. “I understand that, but I’m concerned about you, Lisa. I’d hate to see anything happen to you, if it can be avoided. I think you’d be better off to just try to help those people who are your immediate concern, like Jackson, and for the moment, Cillian.”

Lisa sighed, but agreed. “I understand.”

“The more you can help Cillian, the better,” he continued. Lisa wondered if he was again referring to whatever his own agenda was, concerning the clone.

“Sure. Anything I can do to help.”

“Good. Today we’re going to try something a little different.”

Lisa was surprised to learn that the side panel of the isolation chamber could be opened, and could slide into the bottom support. Capa reassured her it was unlikely Cillian would try to harm her in any way, or get out of the tank, but just in case, he would stay with her. Capa sat in the chair and observed while Lisa sat on a cushion on the floor. She was able to not only talk to Cillian, but also stroke his hair and hold his hand. He seemed to like the attention, though she was grateful he didn’t appear to take her touches as sexual in nature. It was nice to be able to reassure herself that he really was a living, breathing person.

She still had so many questions, about Cillian, and Capa, and Gabriel, but she decided she’d stirred things up enough for one day. She thought if Capa and Gabriel could talk freely to her, she could probably find out most of the things she wanted to know. Better yet, if they could talk to Jackson, who knew at least some of Gregory’s secrets, they’d all know a lot more. It seemed as though Gregory was making sure, though, that his two eldest sons never met.

<><><><><><><><>

Painting was the final step in finishing the apartment, and most of it was already done. Now the whole thing was actually built, Jon marvelled at the massive size. “This is bigger than Mikey’s flat! In fact, it’s bigger than our house,” he confided to Darren.

“Yeah, like havin’ our own house!”

Angus smiled at the two youngest members of his team. They were taking a brief break before tackling the last room.

“I hope you fellows realize you’ll have to wait at least another day to move in. I think they’re moving furniture and things into the home theater room today, but the rest of it will have to wait.”

“I hope they deliver it while we’re still here, so we can see it!”

“Sorry, boys, they can’t do it while we’re working here. Don’t wanna take a chance on messing things up with paint, do we? Besides, I think it’s supposed to be something of a surprise.”

“Don’t like surprises,” Darren muttered.

“This will be a good one, trust me,” Angus insisted. “I’m quite envious, myself,” he added, though he didn’t look too upset about it. “It’ll be perfect for you young fellows, as long as you remember to come in to work every day.”

Jon grinned widely. “Oh, we will! That won’t be a problem. It’s not as bad a job as I expected.”

“Well, thank you very much!” Angus growled. “You’ve had it easy so far, since you’re just starting.”

“Better apologize, Jon,” Darren advised, looking worried.

Jon had the grace to look embarrassed. “Sorry, Angus, I didn’t mean that the way it came out. I like the job, really. It’s loads better than mowing the lawn.”

“I’d hope so, the miles of lawn we’ve got here.”

They chatted for a few minutes more before their break was up, and picked up the cans of the boring beige color George had chosen for his room. Darren liked his own room best, of course, with it’s one wall of sky blue, another of bright green, a third of royal purple, and the fourth of a vibrant red. The ceiling was, at the moment, a flat, matte black, but at his leisure he was going to add some stars, like Jim had on his ceiling. The colors had come out darker than he’d thought. Angus had been right, a larger surface would make the color appear darker than the sample chips. It was okay, though, because he’d been promised he could have halogen lights, which would add plenty of light to the room.

Jon’s room was a little more sedate; at least he’d chosen to use the same color on every wall, a different shade of purple than Darren had chosen. Angus had already voiced his opinion, echoed by everyone else on the work team, that he hoped the boys wouldn’t get sick of those colors, or regret all this careful work.

Adam’s room was a restful color somewhere between turquoise and aqua, though his colorful sculptures and paintings would soon remove the tranquility from the walls.

“This place is gonna be so awesome when it’s all done, and we get the stuff we ordered yesterday!” Darren’s glee was contageous.

“I can’t wait!” Jon agreed.

<><><><><><><><>

Lisa was getting ready to go home for the night, but Capa asked her to stay for a moment.

“I know this is probably out of line, and feel free to tell me no, but I was wondering if you could help me figure out how to use this blender? I looked at the instruction manual, but you have to be a rocket scientist, not a geneticist, to figure it out. Do you already know how to use this...beast?”

Lisa smiled warmly. “Yes, I’m familiar with that model. I was going to get you the same kind I have now, but this one’s a little easier to use. I don’t think you’ll need all the bells and whistles.”

“Okay, here’s the difficult part. Since I’m going to have it in my apartment...would you mind going there with me, for just a few minutes, to set this up?”

Lisa saw an intensity in his eyes that she wasn’t expecting, but she was quite certain it shouldn’t deter her from going to his place. Capa was the last person she expected to try to make a pass or do anything along those lines, and even if he were, she figured if she could kick Jackson’s ass in a fight, she could easily do the same to a scientist who probably only ever saw a gym in a video.

“Sure, why not? It won’t take long.”

Capa carried the rather awkward box, and Lisa followed him. At this point, she wasn’t too surprised to see there was a private elevator that led directly to his apartment. She was surprised, however, to see the size of his place.

“This is huge! It’s gorgeous! How on earth did you manage to find this place here?”

“Nepotism, like so much else around here.” Capa’s voice contained as much bitterness as the coffee Jackson usually made.

“Ah, that explains it.”

“Would you like to take a very brief tour? I don’t get many visitors.”

“Sure, why not?” Lisa had to admit she was curious. Capa started by showing her the living room they’d entered. It was quite large, and even had a piano.

“Do you play?”

“Hardly ever. I played when I was a kid, but not much since then. The piano came with the apartment, and I’ve never bothered to have it moved out. Sometimes it’s soothing to sit here and play around with it. This apartment is unique. Gregory says it’s nicer and larger than his, though I’ve never seen his place, so I can’t compare.”

“Why did he give it away, then, instead of staying here himself?”

Capa shrugged. “He said it used to belong to my mother.”

“Wait, they didn’t live together?”

Capa found this very amusing. “No, no, theirs was definitely a marriage of convenience, rather than anything resemblling love.” He turned to face her directly, and his voice was suddenly urgent.

“Lisa, we don’t have long. I’m one hundred percent sure my apartment isn’t bugged. It’s the only place I can be sure we won’t be overheard, and there are some things I need to tell you.”

[Gobby]

Nice chapter.
Happy stuff for the younger folks and intrigue w/ capa
thanks stormy!!

[pseudo]

Oh man I can't wait to see what he tells her XB.

[stormy]

Glad you both liked it! I'll be posting again sometime this weekend, I suspect.

ETA: I've been wasting spending valuable writing time decorating the boys' apartment, and creating the floorplan for Capa's apartment. I really, really want Capa's apartment for myself. ;D

ETA: I now have floorplans for Jackson's, Adam's, and Gregory's apartments, for comparison purposes.

Hopefully tomorrow I can do some actual writing.

[stormy]

CHAPTER 81

Lisa held her breath for a moment, then slowly exhaled. “Is this about the agenda?” she asked.

Capa nodded. “Please, sit down and get comfortable.”

The burgundy sofa wasn’t large, but it was soft and comfortable.

“I’ve left most of the furniture here as it was,” he commented. “I have a library as well. I’ll show you that if we have time. There are more interesting books there,” he explained apologetically. “I think a lot were my mother’s; they were there when I moved in. I’ve added some, of course, but it’s been interesting to see the kinds of things she liked.”

Lisa nodded, waiting for him to get to the subject that concerned him.

He sat near her so they could talk easily.

“I need to tell you a little about the past so you’ll understand what I’m doing now. It might seem like I’m rambling, but please, let me get this out, because you need to know what’s going on.”

Lisa tried to look calmer than she felt. “Are you absolutely certain your father isn’t somehow monitoring us?”

Capa laughed shakily. “I’ve checked this place over so many times over the years, and I’ve never yet found anything. I’ve watched Jackson enough times to be pretty sure I know what I’m looking for. There’s only one way in and out of this apartment, and it’s through that elevator we used. It’s the only way anyone could get in here. There’s a backup generator and other failsafes, but still, if there’s ever a problem with that elevator, I’m screwed.”

He took a deep breath. “I’ll simplify and condense things as much as I can. There’s still a lot I don’t know, or that it might not be safe for you to know, so I’ll tell you what I can.

“What Gregory wants to do is create the sons he wanted, rather than the ones he got. It’s more than a little insulting, but I don’t really care. There are certain characteristics he wants to emphasize, others he wants to eliminate. With Cillian, for instance, as a Jackson clone, Father wants him to be efficient, organized, ruthless, and utterly loyal to him. He wants him to be a problem-solver who will use any means possible to achieve his goals, which will really be Gregory’s goals. I’m sure you can see some of the problems with this. He’d like to decrease or eliminate altogether any sense of compassion, fair play, justice, or morality that would stand in the way of the clone being the perfect killer-for-hire. If possible, Gregory wants him to be free of distractions, meaning he’d prefer he not be obsessed with you. However, I don’t think that’s going to be possible.

“We’ve already seen that Cillian already has a strong connection to you, and that’s not likely to just go away. What I’d prefer to see is that Cillian be a bit more of a human being than Jackson is. For instance, he needs to be efficient and organized, and loyal to a cause. Yet if he’s one hundred percent loyal to Gregory, you can see the problems with that. I’d rather some of his loyalty be to you, and me, and Gabriel, since we’re the only ones I trust at this point. I think Cillian needs a strong dose of compassion and ethics, in order to balance the traits that allow him to kill and do other things as necessary.

“I’m not trying to totally sabotage Gregory’s project, but it obviously hasn’t worked out the exact way he’d like it to. I think his reasoning is flawed, not to mention some of the base material we’re working with. There’s another aspect you need to know about, though you’ve got to be careful not to let anyone, especially Gregory, know you’re aware of this.

“The thing is, since Gregory’s not happy with any of us, he doesn’t want to just make, say, a Jackson clone that is exactly like Jackson, minus a few things and plus a couple others. He sees positive traits in all of us, thank God, but his idea is to combine them. In other words, we’re trying to add some traits from all of Gregory’s sons. He’s holding back on adding any of himself to the mix just yet. I think he wants to wait till there’s more improvement.”

Lisa was dying to ask questions, but didn’t dare interrupt him. He was already speaking so fast, she was having trouble keeping up.

“The thing is, along with the personality traits, there are memories, too, that are being downloaded, so to speak. So Cillian will not only have some of Jackson’s personality, but he’ll also have many of his memories. We don’t know yet how successful this will be, or how much he’ll remember, because we haven’t been able to fully question any of the clones yet. Father has been a bit too eager to get rid of them, rather than keeping them around to see if they can tell us anything once they’re calmer. He doesn’t want to take the chance on them doing something rash while they’re semi-hysterical, and he’s found that imprisoning them or tying them down so they’re completely helpless doesn’t improve their sanity.

“The clones are not only trying to adjust to being born, so to speak, but they’ve got many so much sensory and information overload, they can’t take it. That’s why I want to minimize the sensory stimulation, and introduce it gradually. That might help.

“Try to imagine what it would be like, if you’d been asleep, unaware of most things, something like being in a coma, for two or three decades. Then you’re suddenly woken up, and you’ve got seven different voices in your head, all competing for attention, all confused, angry, frightened, and most of them want to take control. It’s worse than being a schizophrenic; you not only have all these voices in your head, all trying to tell you what to do, but you’ve got decades worth of memories, from each of them, and they’re probably scattered in such a way that you don’t always know what memory goes with which personality. You wouldn’t even necessarily realize you had seven different personalities, you’d just want them all to shut the hell up and leave you in peace. You’d probably want to go back to sleep and never wake up.

“Then, on top of that, you’ve got Gregory making demands, insisting he knows what’s best, messing things up. He’d eventually like to have a stable clone that he can test to his heart’s content, then make whatever changes he deems necessary, through behavior modification therapy and various questionable psychological and psychiatric means, including electroshock therapy and hypnosis, and some of Jonathan’s drugs. I’m afraid that even if he gets a clone who’s stable enough to deal with all the personalities and memories, Gregory’s conditioning will drive the poor fellow insane.”

Capa finally paused to take a breath, and Lisa ventured a question.

“That’s crazy. The whole thing. How can you give someone all those memories and personality traits and everything else? Even if Gregory thinks all this is necessary, wouldn’t it be better to introduce those things gradually, a little at a time, and see how the clone responds?”

“That seems to make more sense,” Capa agreed, “but we don’t have a way yet of knowing how much Cillian is taking in, and how much he can handle. That’s why I’m thinking if we can bring him up, slowly and gradually, bring him a little closer to consciousness over a period of time, instead of doing it all at once, it will be easier to adjust.

“So what I’ve done, and I’m not even sure I should be telling you this, is I’ve changed the amounts of each personality that Cillian’s receiving. I’ve taken it upon myself to decide how much of Cillian should be influenced by Jackson, myself, Jim, and all the others. I’m trying to help him become stable, rather than emphasize the more unstable elements which might benefit Gregory. The thing I can’t get Gregory to understand is that the more dangerous elements he adds, the harder it will be to control the end result.”

“I don’t get it. If he’s so sure he knows everything, and that what he wants is right, why doesn’t he just clone himself and have done with it?”

“God, don’t even say that! Just think about the possibilities.”

Lisa shuddered.

“He’s smart enough to realize that wouldn’t work,” Capa continued. “He’d never be able to trust a clone of himself not to stab him in the back, literally or figuratively. He’s so ambitious and ruthless himself, he wouldn’t be able to control someone who’s equally devious and manipulative.”

“We can all be thankful, then, that his megalomania hasn’t completely taken over his common sense,” Lisa mused.

“Exactly. So my idea is, with your help, we can try to undo some of the harm Gregory is doing, and is planning on doing, to Cillian, and giving him every chance to become a stable, decent human being.”

“But won’t Gregory realize Cillian isn’t what he expected? I mean, if he wants him to be a stone killer, and there’s maybe too much of Kitten’s compassion, won’t Gregory notice?”

Capa sighed deeply. “Yes. There’s no way around that. I’m sure he’ll be furious, too, but there’s only so much he can do to me in retaliation. I’m hoping he’ll see reason and understand that some of the qualities he thinks of are negative are really things we all need. We have to have a balance. We don’t want a Frankenstein’s monster that will be out of control, and quite possibly turn on all of us. If we can make Cillian more stable than the others, at least, I think we’ve got a chance of getting to work with him, trying to get him to be some of what Father needs, and some of what we need. I know I can count on you to help me.”

Lisa knew this was incredibly dangerous, but she was eager to do something, anything, to thwart Gregory and try to help Cillian, and Capa. “I’ll do everything I can. Thank you for trusting me enough to let me know what’s going on.”

Capa looked at his watch. “I’d better let you go, so it won’t seem too suspicous.”

“It should only take me a minute to show you how the blender works,” Lisa remembered.

He grinned boyishly at her. “I think I can figure it out. You throw stuff in, put the lid on real tight, and push the button till it all looks disgusting.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it. But if you put the right things in, in the right amounts, it can taste a lot better than it looks. I’ll bring some recipes in tomorrow.”

“Thanks. Let me give you a real quick tour; if Gregory or Jackson should find out you were here and ask, you can tell them I showed you around, and that will account for the extra time.”

Lisa admired the library, and wished she had one like it. The bedroom was simply decorated, and the bathroom was similar to the one she and Jackson had, though smaller. The really impressive thing, she decided, with the walk-in closet between the bedroom and bathroom that had been converted to a sitting room. Very little of its space was taken up with clothing, and that was all hidden behind cleverly-constructed panels. Most were of wood, but one was a full-length mirror. It left most of the area free, and Capa had created a nice little space with a very comfortable recliner, an adjustable halogen reading lamp, and a small table. There was a reading area in the library, too, of course, but it wasn’t quite as cozy. The sitting room didn’t have the distraction of entire walls filled, top to bottom, with books. One could curl up with one book at a time here and be quite comfortable. There was a sliding panel at the end of the closet that opened into the bathroom. Capa confessed that the one drawback was that any guests had to go through the bedroom and sitting room to get to the bathroom.

“It’s a little inconvenient, but I get so few visitors to the apartment, it’s really not a problem. Gabriel comes here sometimes, and Dr. Fairfield used to come here for my psychotherapy sessions, but that’s it. Gregory’s only been here once.”

“Wait a second, you had psychotherapy sessions? And who’s Dr. Fairfield?”

“I had therapy on a weekly basis after I first came here. Father did the initial behavior modification and conditioning, but after that, Dr. Fairfield took over. They thought it was safer to have him come to me, rather than have me venturing into any other part of the complex. Dr. Fairfield’s approach is much more conventional, more a combination of tradtional talk therapy and mild behavior modification. I can explain more about that later, because I think it will be helpful for you to know some of that. At the moment Dr. Fairfield is taking over for Jonathan, as head of the Psychiatric Department. That’s a real relief to me, because unless things have changed drastically, he’s completely sane, and isn’t conducting bizarre experiments on helpless patients to work out his own issues.”

It felt good to be able to giggle, after all the serious revelations. “I guess all the patients will be happy about that.”

“If we’re lucky, maybe Father will find something else for Jonathan to do, after he recuperates.”

“Let’s hope. I guess I’d better get back.”

Capa led her back to the elevator, then paused. “Thank you for listening to me, Lisa. I wish I could tell you more, but I think that’s about all you can handle for now.”

“I believe you’re right. Maybe I can come back sometime and you can tell me more. Or we could talk about other things. Whatever you want.” She had the impression Capa was desperately lonely.

“That would be wonderful.” He smiled at her with genuine relief and delight. “Maybe you can come here for lunch some of the time. I can fix us something in the blender.”

Lisa rolled her eyes. “Or I could make us some real food, or we could get sandwiches from the cafeteria, or something.”

“Good idea. I just don’t want Jackson to have any reason to get jealous, and I don’t want Gregory to be suspicous.”

Lisa shrugged. “It’s just lunch, not a date. Let’s just make it look like you’re the stereotypical pathetically inept bachelor who needs some help help in the kitchen, or with shopping.”

“Right. You’re the incredibly kind sister-in-law who’s willing to help out, and/or the put-upon assistant who has to run annoying errands and go above and beyond the call of duty in helping out her boss. Without any of the smarmier implications of that,” he added with a laugh.

“I didn’t detect an ounce of smarm there,” Lisa insisted virtuously.

“You really have to be careful around Jackson, Lisa. Now that he’s managed to get around some of his conditioning, there’s no telling what else might break down. I have no idea what Gregory’s going to do about it, but I’m sure he’s watching Jackson carefully. Try not to make Jackson jealous or upset. Maybe the best thing you can do is try to keep him relaxed and as de-stressed as possible. He’s certainly got enough problems in every other area of his life.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Lisa sighed. “I wish I could make his life easier, but there’s not that much I can do. He’s kind of an intense guy, you know?”

“I do. I’ve had to review some of the surveillance Gregory did, but trust me, it’s nothing like what Jonathan was doing. I just need to learn a lot about all of my brothers, to enable me to try to ‘fix their flaws,’ as Gregory would have it.”

“Good luck with that,” Lisa commented lightly.

They were silent in the elevator, then Capa escorted her out of the science lab. She was only about half an hour late arriving home.

Jackson was waiting for her, however, and he wasn’t happy. He didn’t return her kiss, and barely gave her time to sit down before he stood in front of her and glowered.

“Where the hell have you been? It’s not like you to be late.”

She fought her initial impulse to tell him it was none of his business.

“I’m sorry, I guess I should have let you know, but I only thought I’d be gone a few minutes.” She told him her boss had asked her to buy him a blender, then needed help learning how to operate it. She made as light of the visit to Capa’s apartment as she could, and glossed over the details that made it unique, such as the size.

“I hope your boss doesn’t expect you to do this kind of stuff all the time,” Jackson complained.

“I don’t think he’ll make a habit of it. I’m really sorry I’m late, but I didn’t think it would be a problem.”

Jackson finally sat down beside her. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. I just worry about you.”

Now she was getting annoyed. “Why? I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”

“I know that, I just wanted to make sure nothing had happened to you.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know!” She could see him making an effort to go back to his “charming and relatively harmless lover” mode.

“I appreciate the concern, Jackson, really, but there are going to be times I’ll have to work late. Just like there are times you work late.”

He looked away and bit his lip, then turned back to her. “I’m sorry. I have no idea what you do all day, or how dangerous it really is, despite what Gregory said. I’m under a lot of stress from what I’m doing, and I can’t tell you about that, any more than you can tell me what you do. It makes life very frustrating.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling. So, speaking of stress, where’s Darren?”

Jackson grinned. “He and Jon have been ordered by their boss to stay the hell out of the apartment until the paint dries, but they’re dying to see the new stuff that’s already been moved in. I guess the rest of it is coming tomorrow. Just in case Angus’s threats weren’t enough, I told ‘em if they couldn’t find something else to do, away from that apartment, I’d find something for them to do. They didn’t want to even know what it was, they just decided they were going to Adam’s to watch some movies. Dunno if George is going to be there or not, but Adam has some comedies he wants them to watch. Considering their idea of “comedy” I didn’t even ask what’s on the agenda. But I am going to call Adam’s apartment a couple of times to make sure they’re really there.”

Lisa’s eyes lit up. “Watching movies, huh? That might take them a while.”

“Darren said he’ll be home late. Very late. As in, we’ll probably be in bed by then.”

Lisa opened her mouth.

“Asleep,” he added.

“That late, huh?”

“Yep. So what’s say we have a quick dinner, then find something we can talk about, that won’t get either of us in trouble?”

“Good idea. Maybe we can think of something to do besides talk,” she added playfully.

“Like what?” he asked warily.

“We could watch some movies here, something that would bore Darren.” She waited for a reaction. “Or, since you don’t seem to like that idea, why don’t you suggest something?”

He had several suggestions, all of which sounded both entertaining and exhausting. She couldn’t think of a better way to spend the evening, either.

______________________________________________________________________

This is the best I can do as far as reproducing the floor plan for Capa's place. I have it printed on a full sheet of paper, and it scans out the right size, but when I use Photobucket, it decreases the size tremendously. Hope y'all can see it. The little arrows indicate doorways, as do broken lines:

[stormy]

CHAPTER 82 (Monday night, February 19)

(Warning for language and graphic violence.)

George was surprised to hear from Jackson. He hadn’t forgotten about their shopping trip the day before, but it actually wasn’t that bad, all things considered. Jackson didn’t waste time on pleasantries.

“We’ve got a situation here, George, and we need you advice. Says here you were the doctor who most often saw Christian Troy.”

“That’s right,” George confirmed. “Is he okay? He seemed alright yesterday.” Christian hadn’t recognized him, and didn’t seem to associate him with the doctor who occasionally treated him for his migraines. Luckily, he also didn’t recall George was the one who gave him the shock treatments. That was one aspect of his old job George was thrilled to give up.

“I guess he had a setback of some kind today. He’s at the hospital, in the ER, and they’re debating about sending him to the psych ward.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can. Why are you calling me? Who’s in charge of his case now?”

“Matt. Dr. Crower. He’s on his way, too. I’m calling you because...” Jackson sighed, and George could hear the disgust in his voice as he continued, “My father wants me to be there, too. In case there’s some kind of security problem. I don’t know why he can’t send Logan; I’m just supposed to be in charge of family security, and Troy isn’t family.”

George was about to make a flippant comment that perhaps one couldn’t be too sure, but bit his tongue instead.

“I’ll be there in about ten minutes.”

“Good.”

He was going to ask another question, but Jackson had already disconnected. Well, so much for a nice, quiet, peaceful evening at home. Tomorrow he’d be inundated with roommates. He’d declined their offer to watch the marathon at Adam’s -- “Tommy Boy,” “Dumb and Dumber” and “Dude, Where’s My Car?” He hoped it wasn’t a portent of things to come.

Most of his packing was already done, since he didn’t have a lot to bring when he moved, but he knew exactly where his medical bag was. He grabbed it and headed out the door. As he took the elevator, he reviewed everything he could think of about Christian Troy.

At one time he’d been considered one of the best plastic surgeons in the business. Christian had come to work for Gregory after selling the near-legendary practice he and his partner, Sean McNamara, had built from scratch. George had assisted him a few times in reconstructive surgeries, and the last time, he’d tried to tactfully ask why Christian gave up his practice, but all he’d had said was that the last few years had been hellish, for both he and Sean, and Christian needed to just get away from everything and everyone.

George had commented that the Institute seemed a good place to do that.

“True, but nobody told me there’d be so few ladies here. Most of them are so dedicated to their work they’re not interested in an affair. What’s the matter with these people?”

He was willing to bet this had been the least of Christian’s problems since arriving at the Institute. Shortly after he’d last assisted Christian, there was an “incident” which was quickly hushed up. All George knew was that Christian had somehow screwed up a procedure on a VIP, and had been sacked for it. At least, George thought at first that Christian’s employment had been terminated. Then he’d been shocked to discover he had a new patient, name of Christian Troy, but this man was no longer a surgeon. He was diagnosed with a severe memory loss and frequent migraines. The problem was the treatment for the migraines. George knew that sometimes electroconvulsive therapy, ECT, could be helpful in treating migraines, but normally an anesthetic was given to ease any pain or discomfort. However, there were strict instructions in Christian’s chart to not give him any anesthetic. George didn’t see any reference to allergies, and was discouraged from asking any questions about it.

Normally, George would have continued to politely insist on an answer, but he was told the orders had come directly from Mr. Dunbar, and he already knew that Dunbar’s word was law. He had his own theory that Dr. Troy’s memory loss was related to the screwed-up surgery, but it didn’t seem wise to voice it aloud. The memory loss meant Dr. Troy could no longer practice surgery, or any kind of medicine, but the official line was that another job had been found for him, so he could work in some capacity. At first George thought that was better than being let go to find work back on the mainland, wherever that was, but he still didn’t want to test the theory for himself.

So now the brilliant Dr. Troy was reduced to “personal shopper” for the Dunbar family. George was aware of the irony; Christian had always been a very sharp dresser, and prided himself on his taste in the finer things in life. Something seemed very off about the whole thing, but George wanted to keep his job and his memory, so he tried to do everything he could to treat Christian with dignity and compassion. Gregory had anticipated something might go wrong on the shopping trip, but nothing really had. George wondered what might have happened in the meantime to change things.

A security guard met him at the ER door and brought him to Christian, Jackson, and Matt.

Matt quickly ran down Christian’s presenting symptoms, including migraine, vomiting, convulsions, a racing pulse, heart palpitations, and mental confusion.

“Have you seen him like this before? With all these symptoms?” Matt asked sharply.

George said he hadn’t. “This is the worst I’ve seen. What happened?”

Matt ignored the question. “His chart says to give him ECT, but we can’t risk it, not with these seizures.”

George agreed.

“We’re getting him stabilized right now,” Matt explained. “I think we should go to my office. There are things we need to talk about that no one else should hear.”

A few minutes later they were seated in Matt’s office.

“I think I might know what’s causing Troy’s problem,” Matt said quietly. He exchanged a look with Jackson, who nodded minutely.

“He’s had some memory trauma, as you know,” Matt began, “and I think it’s all coming back to him. It’s like a memory cascade, everything crashing in at once. We’re trying to stabilize him physically, and emotionally. I’m hesitant to give him any drugs right now.”

George agreed. “Is he aware of his surroundings?”

Matt looked surprised. “Good question. Actually, I’m not sure he is. He’s fighting everybody, which makes it more difficult to treat him. I’d rather not send him to the psych department, if we can keep him here. Even though the doctor in charge there seems to be more competent than –“ He seemed to recall who he was talking to, but Jackson shrugged and gestured for him to continue.

“Dr. Fairfield will meet us here as soon as he can, but I’m hoping we won’t need him.”

“Do you know specifically what brought this on?” George asked worriedly. “I saw him yesterday – Jackson did, too – and he was okay. A little upset because Darren and Jon were a little – They were being themselves,” he sighed, with some affection.

“Rowdy little bastards,” Jackson agreed helpfully.

“Never would have guessed it,” Matt responded. He gave them a small grin, then became serious again. “I don’t think this had anything to do with them. According to witnesses, the last person to see him was Lisa.”

“Your Lisa?” George asked Jackson doubtfully.

Jackson didn’t look too happy about it. “Yes,” he replied quietly. “She told us everything they said, as best she remembered, but I’m still not sure what triggered him.”

“I’m not sure either. George, you’ve treated him before. Lisa said he seemed to become ill when she said something about Dr. Crane needing plastic surgery.”

George was afraid it was something like that, but didn’t know how it had come into the conversation. “Oh, sh*t. How much do you know about Christian’s history?” he asked Matt.

“There’s not much in the file here.”

“Then there’s a hell of a lot missing.” George was getting angrier by the moment. “Do you know about him, Jackson?”

He shook his head. “No, but I’m beginning to think I should. There wasn’t anything that unusual in his personnel file, just that he’d been brought here after an accident that caused major memory loss.”

George wasn’t sure it was safe to tell them everything he knew. He thought it was likely if Mr. Dunbar wanted them to know, he’d tell them himself. Still, he wasn’t going to put his concerns for his job over a patient’s well-being.

“That’s wrong, a cover-up of some kind. When I was hired, Christian Troy was already here, and he wasn’t a patient, he was a doctor. A well-respected plastic surgeon.”

Matt looked more surprised than Jackson. “Why wasn’t I told about him?”

George shrugged. “I’m not sure. I guess because you’re in charge of the Dunbar family’s medical care, and Dr. Troy was working with the general hospital population. Until they needed him to work on Dr. Crane’s face.”

“When was this?” Jackson wanted to know.

“Right after Dr. Crane was first brought here, last summer, he needed work done on the burns on his face.”

“What burns –“ Jackson’s voice faded. “That’s right. Rachel Dawes used a taser on him the last time she saw him, before I brought her here. It was in the information I was given before I went to get her, but there was nothing about Jonathan having any burns from it.”

“What I heard was she hit him in the face a couple of times with the taser,” George interrupted. “He was wearing some kind of burlap mask or bag or something, I have no idea why, and some of the fibers were fused to his face. It looked pretty bad. Mr. Dunbar had Dr. Troy do the surgery to repair the damage. I have to say I’m glad I wasn’t assisting that time, though I did assist on other surgeries. I still don’t know exactly what happened, except apparently the surgery made things worse.”

“Ah, that explains a lot.” Jackson sounded oddly satisfied. Maybe it was just because the pieces were starting to fall into place. “Gregory isn’t too tolerant of failure.”

“That’s what I gathered. The next thing I heard, Dr. Troy had been sent back to the mainland.”

“Who told you that?” Matt asked.

“It was just gossip. I learned differently when Mr. Dunbar specifically requested me to take care of Dr. Troy, who had actually been demoted. I think his memory was messed with, so he didn’t remember being a surgeon, or much of his past. He was given a job in the store as your family’s personal shopper, and I treated him whenever he got a migraine.”

“Which probably happened whenever he started to remember things about his past,” Jackson speculated.

“It could be,” George agreed.

“Now I understand why Gregory wanted me to be here.” Jackson sounded remarkably calm. “I think he’s trying to give me a subtle warning about what I might have to look forward to if I break my conditioning, the way Troy apparently broke his.”

“But he wasn’t even trying!” George protested. “It’s not like he was fighting it, or trying to remember. I don’t think he was,” he amended.

“It’s a little ironic that Lisa was the one to trigger it,” Matt commented ruefully. “I’m sure she had no idea any of this would happen.”

“No, she wouldn’t,” Jackson confirmed. “I don’t suppose I can use this as a reason to keep her from running any more errands for her boss,” he mused.

“I’d like to see you try,” Matt murmured, then looked apologetic. “Sorry. Does any of this additional information help us in any way? Do either of you have any ideas that will ease Troy’s suffering?”

Jackson shook his head. “I wish I did. I don’t really know the guy, but I hate to see anyone going through that.”

There was something else that was bothering George. “Who did the conditioning?”

“It must have been Gregory,” Jackson answered. “His technique is a little rougher than Jonathan’s.”

Matt winced in sympathy. “Then I suppose we’d better talk to him. He’s probably around here somewhere by now.”

“Yes, I’m right here.”

They all jumped, and looked around to see Gregory standing in the doorway. George remembered closing the door firmly behind him, but he hadn’t locked it. He glanced back at Jackson, who looked furious, but not scared.

Gregory looked relaxed, and sounded amused, rather than angry. George didn’t think it was a good sign. A normal human being would have been angry.

“You’ve all come up with some interesting observations and theories, but I’d prefer that you not discuss them with anyone else.”

It was clear this was more a warning than a preference.

Gregory continued. “Dr. Crower, I want you and Dr. O’Malley to talk to Dr. Fairfield. He’ll be here in a few minutes. Jackson, come with me. There’s something I want you to see.”

George felt sorry for Jackson. It probably wasn’t anything Jackson would enjoy seeing.

<><><><>

Jackson followed Gregory back to Troy’s bedside in one of the private rooms. The man looked awful, but slightly calmer than before. He seemed to be asleep. There were two security guards in the room. It seemed like overkill to Jackson, but it wasn’t his call.

“Just watch. Don’t do anything but watch.” Gregory took a chair near Troy’s bed, and pointed for Jackson to stand against the wall. It didn’t escape his notice that he wouldn’t be able to get to Troy without going past, and probably through, Gregory first. Jackson felt his own heart speed up uncomfortably as he waited for whatever would happen next. For a few minutes nothing happened, then Troy’s body convulsed, his eyes opened wide, and he screamed. Jackson started to move towards him, but Gregory held an arm out to prevent him, and both security guards stepped forward to firmly hold Jackson’s arms and force him to stay where he was.

<><><><>

Christian wanted the pain to stop. All of it. Physical, emotional, and whatever else there was that was currently making life unbearable. There were too many memories, flashing past so quickly he could barely take them in. Along with images came sounds, and physical sensations, everything out of order and distorted. The memories were mostly painful. So many, many mistakes he’d made, and all of them were here to keep him company.

So many memories, so very few good ones. Out of an entire lifetime, there should have been more happy memories.

Someone held up a mirror, and he saw jagged scars running across his face, forming an ‘X’ pattern. He could feel the pain as the scalpel sliced through flesh and muscle, exposing his nerves. Somehow, his eyes were untouched, so he was able to observe what was happening. He watched as long as he could, as invisible hands peeled his face back. He screamed till his throat was raw, then the scalpel cut his throat, from ear to ear. He was almost grateful it was over at last. Almost.

<><><><>

Jackson was still shaken by Troy’s heart attack. He’d seen many men die, and killed quite a few himself, but this seemed so much crueller than most of the deaths he’d seen. By the time a doctor rushed in and tried to resuscitate him, it was too late. Hearing the man scream, and seeing the sheer horror on his face, Jackson wished death had come a few minutes sooner. He wanted to talk to Lisa. First, however, his father wanted to have a little chat.

[stormy]

I'm not going to be able to update as often as I have been, for various reasons, but I'm still working on the story. I have two more chapters done, but I want to make sure they're actually 83 and 84. There are some key developments coming up that will take some careful planning and timing. I may have to write a few chapters ahead to see how things work out.

If you'd like me to send you a notice when new chapters are up, you can send me a PM, and I'll keep a list. I'll send a PM out whenever I post a chapter here. That way you don't need to worry about missing a chapter.

[cgoddess]

But...but...CHRISTIAN??? NOOOOOOOOOO

*sniffles*

[stormy]

Yeah, I liked Christian, too.

Hopefully I can post the next chapter some time this week, maybe even tonight. I have six chapters written, but they're not in order and some need to be rewritten. However, I now have everything completely plotted, so the end is in sight! As long as I don't digress too much from what's mapped out, that is.

[stormy]

CHAPTER 83

Jackson followed Gregory to his office, and tried to look calmer than he felt.

Gregory settled himself comfortably in his chair, safe behind the immense desk. “What did you think?”

“Glad I’m not Troy,” Jackson snapped. “So, was that a warning? Sir?”

“You’re very intelligent when you aren’t distracted,” Gregory commented.

That means yes. Great. “What, exactly, gave him the heart attack?”

“Something he was programmed to see, an hypnotic suggestion.”

Jackson needed to know more, so he risked more questions. “What triggered it? Did you say something to him that I didn’t hear?”

To his surprise, Gregory indulged him with some answers. “No. It’s what I didn’t say. He was starting to regain his memories very rapidly, and those were distressing enough. I could have said a specific phrase that would have calmed him down, and would have prevented the hallucination that literally scared him to death.”

Nausea was now beginning to vie with the headache for the most physically distracting annoyance. “So why didn’t you say it?”

“Because he’d outlived his usefulness. He wasn’t worth re-conditioning.”

That seemed a bit much, even for Gregory.

“So you just let him die?" Jackson couldn't quite believe it. "Just because he didn’t fix Jonathan’s face?”

“He made it worse,” Gregory corrected him. “It would have made it difficult, if not impossible, for Jonathan to work in the capacity I needed him, if his patients couldn’t look at him without seeing those hideous scars. Fortunately, I was able to find another plastic surgeon.”

“Then why can’t he fix Jonathan’s face now?”

“He was too dangerous. He had to be terminated as soon as the surgery was completely healed. But I never found a replacement, because I haven’t needed one until recently. You know, after Troy botched Jonathan’s surgery, he looked much better than he does now.”

Sh*t. Definitely a warning.

Gregory turned the screws tighter. “I trust you’ve told your siblings, at least, to keep their companions under control?”

He thought about it. “I’ve told Jon and Darren. I still need to talk to Kitten and Jim.”

“Then you’d better do that soon, hadn’t you? Just in case Matt or Selena should get too nosy about things, for instance.”

Jackson was pretty sure Matt had the potential to be a real thorn in Gregory’s side, should he feel Kitten or anyone else was threatened. It would be difficult to explain things to Kitten, and trust that she could in turn convey what was necessary to Matt, without arousing his suspicions. And now that Matt and George knew about Troy – would either of them keep silent about that? A question to deal with another time, but soon.

“Yes, sir. I’ll talk to them as soon as possible.”

Gregory nodded, then returned to his laptop. Jackson suppressed a sigh of annoyance and left the office.

<><><><><><><><>

Kitten enjoyed spending time with Alice, but she wished she could talk to Matt. He was likely the only one who would really listen to her and understand her frustration. Yet everything was so hush-hush, as usual, she couldn’t even talk to him about her job. He rarely talked to her about his work, either, but more because he knew it would disturb her than because he couldn’t. They found other, more pleasant, things to talk about instead.

It was difficult to get him to talk about his past, at least the recent past. She understood his reluctance to discuss his late wife and child, but there was a gap of a couple of years, when he was living somewhere in South Carolina. She asked once if he missed it there, and he reluctantly admitted there were certain aspects of the town, and some people, he missed deeply. There were other things, however, that he wanted to stay as far away from as possible. He said it was ironic that he’d ended up in another very small community run by a power-hungry, manipulative bastard who thought he owned everyone.

For many reasons, Kitten wished her extended family could all just get along and be nice to each other, but it didn’t look like that was going to happen. Gregory wasn’t capable of being nice, for one thing. He could pretend, for a little while, but sooner or later he always said or did something hurtful. She wondered what had made him that way, and if he’d ever had anyone in his life who had loved him, or tried to show him people weren’t as bad as he seemed to think.

Her thoughts were interrupted by two intercom calls in quick succession. The first was from Matt, to tell her that Mr. Troy, her shopping buddy, had died. Matt, George and Jackson had all been there, but there was nothing that could be done. It was dreadful news, and she felt just awful. Before she’d had much chance to really take it in, however. The second was much cheerier, a call from Rachel to suggest they get together for a visit. It seemed like a splendid idea to Kitten. Selena wasn’t available, but Lisa was. That seemed just the thing they all needed, a some girl talk. She wanted to know more than Matt had told her, and she thought Jackson was more likely to tell her the truth than George. Not that George wasn’t a truthful boy, but he might lie to spare her feelings. Jackson wouldn’t.

Lisa had mentioned that Jackson wasn’t home yet, so Kitten decided the best course of action was to wait for him at his apartment. If he wasn’t there in 15 minutes, she’d go collect Rachel and Lisa, but she hoped to talk to him alone.

<><><><><><><><>

Jackson had almost made it home when Kitten accosted him just outside his door. She looked too serious, not at all her usual self, but he wasn’t in the mood to try to bring her out of whatever mood she was in. She had Matt for that sort of thing, after all. It wasn’t his job.

“I was hoping I could catch you. I need to talk to you.”

“Not now, Kitten.” It didn’t look like he was going to get out of it that easily.

“It’s important.”

He paused. “You’ve got ten seconds to convince me.”

“It’s about Mr. Troy. Matt just told me he died.”

He looked at Kitten’s worried face. “Keep talking.”

Kitten bit her lip, looking like she wasn’t sure she wanted to continue. “You were there, weren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“I hope he didn’t suffer too much.”

It only took a split second to decide Kitten didn’t need to know the truth. “It happened so quickly, there wasn’t anything anyone could do.”

“I’m so, so sorry. He was a lovely man, so very kind and helpful.”

“He did his best to help the boys,” Jackson conceded. He rubbed his temple, his head throbbing.

“Do you still have that awful headache, dear?”

He sighed. “Yeah, it hasn’t gone away, but it’s a lot more bearable now. At least it was until now.” Just being in his father’s presence was enough to trigger headaches, apparently.

Kitten looked at him closely and patted him on the shoulder. “You look so tense,” she observed. “I mean, I can understand why, with Mr. Troy and everything, but I’ve been meaning to talk to you. You need to relax a little.”

“The pain won’t let me. As soon as it goes away, I’ll do my best to relax.” Jackson wished it were that simple.

“But as long as you’re tense and holding everything in, doesn’t that cause more problems? Maybe if you could loosen up a little and not take everything quite so seriously, your brain could relax and maybe the migraine would go away.”

He grinned weakly, not wanting to hurt her feelings. “I don’t think it works that way, Kitten. What about you? Do you ever get migraines?”

Kitten shook her head. “No.”

“I wonder why not? Matt thinks they’re related to the conditioning we got. I know you had extensive “therapy,” so I’m surprised you don’t have the same problem.”

“I don’t know. Maybe it depends on the exact type of conditioning.”

“Matt thinks it has something to do with fighting the conditioning, and that’s what brings it on. Yet you’re fighting every day, and you’re not in constant pain.”

She shrugged. “I can’t explain it. I hated everything they did, but I wasn’t going to let it affect me. I try to keep a positive attitude, and I know they meant well, in their own warped way. Father just can’t accept me the way I am, but I can’t change. I won’t allow it. If I can’t be myself, who would I be instead?”

Jackson sighed, then gave her a full-wattage grin. “Probably someone boring. So stay the way you are, okay?”

Kitten looked delighted at the praise. “Thank you. That’s the nicest thing I’ve heard all day.”

“I’m sorry, Kitten, I need to talk to Lisa. I’ve had a really bad day.”

“You’re not the only one,” she added archly. She smiled and patted his hand. “I don’t want to keep you, dear. I just invited Lisa to come over and have a drink with Rachel and I. Rachel needs more company, so we might chat for a while. I don’t know when Matt will be home, but he said not to wait up.”

Jackson briefly wished it were just he and Lisa there on the island, with no outsiders to annoy them, then pushed the thought aside. “Sure, sounds like a good idea. So, when is Lisa going to your place?”

Kitten checked her watch. “In about 20 minutes. I need to go pick Rachel up.”

She impulsively kissed his cheek, and Jackson waited until she was out of sight to wipe the back of his hand across his cheek. As he suspected, his hand now had a smear of pink lipstick. Oh well, better on his hand than his face. Now, he’d just have to explain it to Lisa....

<><><><>

Lisa merely smiled when she saw Kitten’s lipstick on Jackson’s face and hand.

“Did Kitten tell you I’m going to her place for a little while? She needs someone to talk to. Poor Mr. Troy. He seemed like such a nice man. Did I – am I responsible for – is it my fault he –“

”Shhh,” he soothed her, taking her in his arms and holding on tightly. “It’s not your fault. It was the kind of thing that would have happened sooner or later. No one’s blaming you.”

“It’s just so strange. He wasn’t that old, maybe 40 or so. I don’t understand how it –“

He stepped back and held her face in both hands, looking directly into her eyes. “Lisa, I don’t want you or Kitten to worry about this any more, or talk about it. You’re not responsible for what happened. Heart attacks happen to people at all ages. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

He knew he was talking too much, but he couldn’t seem to stop. “Put out of your mind, if you can, both of you. Find something else to talk about. Cheer Rachel up or something. That’s all she needs, is something else to bring her down,” he added for good measure.

“You’re probably right.“

The door alarm rang. Jackson swore, and went to see who was disturbing them. He let Matt and George in. They both looked very subdued.

Before he could say anything, Matt spoke up. “Lisa, if you don’t mind, we’re going to take Jackson out for a drink or two. I’m going to stick to soft drinks.” he added quickly.

“Go ahead. It’s probably a good idea.”

“Or we could have something to drink here,” Jackson suggested. “Lisa’s going out with the girls. Including Kitten.”

“Good.” Matt sounded relieved.

Lisa excused herself to freshen up, and Jackson gave Matt a ginger ale, while he and George had beer. “I think we should all keep our heads pretty clear,” he explained quietly. They both agreed.

As soon as Lisa returned, Jackson went to get a couple of pain pills. When he returned, Lisa and George were laughing about something, and Matt was grinning.

“What’s so funny?”

“Never mind,” Lisa giggled, “It’s one of those things that takes too long to explain.”

Jackson shrugged. “Okay.”

In just a few minutes Lisa left, and they had the freedom to talk.

[stormy]

CHAPTER 84

“I’m sorry to just barge in here like this,” Matt apologized, “but after we talked to Dr. Fairfield, Gregory paged me, and ‘suggested’ we talk to you.”

“Meaning it wasn’t so much a suggestion as an order,” George added glumly.

Jackson took a deep breath. “Listen, I know this has all been a big shock, and you’ve got a lot to process, but the best thing for both of you would be to put it out of your mind, and just go on and do your jobs.”

“I thought your brother Jonathan was the psychiatrist?” Matt snapped.

Jackson stiffened slightly. “He is. I’m not suggesting it for your psychological well-being, though that’s probably another benefit. I’m telling you, as Gregory’s official problem-solver, that it would be much better for both of you to not ask questions, speculate, or talk to anyone else about any of this.”

“Easy for you to say,” George grumbled. “You don’t seem to have the same ethical dilemmas we do.”

Jackson closed his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck. They were both sitting on the couch, and he had brought his chair around to face them. He looked from one to the other. They both looked both weary and angry.

“Guys, listen to me. I sympathize with your frustration, I really do. Whatever you’re going through, it’s understandable. But it’s also dangerous. Any other place, you could probably take some kind of action. Here, you can’t. Trust me on this. I’m trying my best to protect everyone, but there’s only so much I can do, and I don’t need the two of you causing trouble that I’d have to resolve.”

“Is that a threat?” George asked belligerently.

“Yes, it is, and I won’t hesitate to carry it out.”

George’s eyes widened in fear and anger. “What the hell? I thought you were our friend! Or something...”

Jackson ignored the interruption. “I don’t want to hurt either of you. But I will if I have to, because I care more about my brothers. I can’t be there all the time for everybody, and I’d like to be able to count on you to help me when it comes to looking after them. If anything were to happen to either of you, think how much it would upset them.”

“Wait just a minute!”

“Hear me out, George. If something happens to me, I’d like to know you’ll both be there to help my family. I know they mean a lot to you, or hopefully they will,” he added.

“This puts me in an impossible situation,” Matt argued. “I’ve been caught between the devil and the deep blue sea before, and I hate it. I can’t just shove my conscience aside and say, “Thank God it’s not me.” I need to do something to stop this.”

“To stop what? Stop Gregory from doing what he wants?”

“Don’t you want to stop him?” George asked incredulously.

“It doesn’t matter what I want,” Jackson insisted. “The fact is, it’s my job, officially, to protect my family, by any means necessary. I need to make it clear to both of you that I have to report to Gregory anything that I see or hear that might go against his interests. If he decides something has to be done, it’s my job to do it. I don’t like it, but I don’t have a choice.”

“Of course you have a choice!” George insisted.

“No, I don’t. You have no idea what – “ He thought carefully. “It’s not just myself I’m worried about. If I don’t do my job, I’ll be replaced. Never mind what might happen to me, you don’t want anyone else doing the same job I’m doing. No one else is going to care as much as I do about protecting my family, and their loved ones, which in this case includes both of you.”

“Better the devil you know, right?” Matt muttered. He looked at his glass in disgust. “I wish – “

”No, you don’t,” George interrupted, putting his hand on Matt’s wrist. “Let me get you some more ginger ale.”

“Get another beer for yourself, if you want. I don’t need another,” Jackson sighed. He still had over half the bottle left.

They all needed a few minutes to think.

When George returned with the refills, Jackson tried to explain further. “I was hoping to spare you, and everyone, as much of this as I could. Gregory is concerned about outsiders finding out various family secrets. Now that we all seem to be involved with someone, in some way, it makes it harder to keep those secrets. I may not approve of most of them, but there’s nothing I can do, right now, except to cooperate. I’m trying to protect everyone,” he reiterated.

“So what about people like Christian? Were you protecting him, too?”

Matt’s accusation stung more than he probably realized.

“I wanted to,” Jackson answered quietly.

George asked in concern, “Is any of that true, what we talked about in Matt’s office?”

“It’s very complicated,” Jackson answered truthfully. “The less you know about it, the better. I wish you could both just forget what we talked about. Let me put it this way,” he added, when they both started to protest. “There are ways you could be made to forget, but you wouldn’t like it.”

Matt leaned forward, his voice tight and angry. “Are you saying the same thing that happened to Dr. Troy could happen to us?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. You don’t want to become a liability in this organization. No one does. We’re all expendable. If you make the mistake of talking to someone, one way or another, it will get back to Gregory. It will put that person in danger, as well as yourself.”

“How would he know?” George objected. “It’s not like we’re being watched 24/7. I know there are cameras at work, but –“

”Let me put it this way,” Jackson interrupted. “Here, in this apartment, you’re not under surveillance, visual or audio.”

George and Matt were both silent for a few minutes, contemplating this. They both looked miserable.

“Is he still going to want me to stay with the kids?” George finally asked.

“Yes. He would have told you otherwise. The best thing for you to do, for yourself and them, and anyone else you care about, is to do your best to forget all this, and just go on with your jobs and your lives. I know how hard it is, believe me. There are plenty of things I wish I could forget.”

“But you did go through some of that programming,” Matt recalled. “There must have been things they made you forget.”

“Yes. And obviously, I don’t know what those things are. But I have enough unpleasant memories to know what it’s like to want to talk to someone, take some action, and know I can’t do it. Even if I were willing to compromise my own safety, I have more people to worry about now than I ever did before.”

“I don’t know much about what you actually do here,” George commented, “and I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know. But as a doctor, “Do no harm” is the prime directive.”

Matt nodded in agreement.

“I know that.” Jackson slumped in his chair. “But you’re not doing any harm, to anyone. You’re just keeping quiet. If you talk to people, that’s what’s going to cause harm.”

George still looked distressed. “But if we don’t say anything, and more people get hurt, or –“

”There’s nothing you can do about it. Who are you going to tell, who can actually do anything? Don’t go to Security, because believe me, their first loyalty is to Gregory. You don’t have enough money, both of you combined, to bribe these guys. It’s not worth their lives to take a bribe. They’re not going to listen to anything you have to say. Even if they believe you, they can’t do anything about it.”

“Ever hear of Julius Caesar?” Matt asked bitterly. “His guards were loyal, but the Senators killed him. Or Caligula. His own guards murdered him.”

Jackson shook his head. “Different situations, but you’d better believe Gregory knows all about that. There are no Senators, or the equivalent, here. All the security guards have gone through the same kind of conditioning that I have, but theirs was more intense. Trust me, you guys don’t want to go through even a mild version of that."

“What about – “ George shook his head and bit his lip. “Never mind.”

“What? Go on. This might be your only chance to ask questions, George. Just make damn sure you want to know the answer.”

He shook his head.

“If you’re thinking about Darren, and the fact that he hasn’t had any conditioning yet –“

George didn’t answer, but his eyes widened and he looked frightened.

“Nobody wants him to go through it," Jackson continued. "That’s one of many reasons I need you to help protect him. I will do everything in my power to keep that boy from becoming a murderer, no matter now much anyone might think it’s necessary. I don’t think he could live with the consequences. In fact, I’m sure he wouldn’t be allowed to, but if he did –“

George replied slowly, “I think Darren is more sensitive than people realize. I’d hate to see him put in a position where he thought he might have to do something like that.”

“Then make damn sure he never hears anything that’s going to make him feel like he’s got to take that kind of action,” Jackson advised. “Even if he did manage to kill Gregory, do you want him to have to live with that guilt for the rest of his life?”

“No.”

“Absolutely not.”

Jackson finished his beer before he spoke again. “I know this is a lot to take in, but I need you both to swear you’re not going to talk to Kitten, Darren, Jon, or anyone else, about any of this.”

Matt sounded shaken. “I wish I’d never heard any of this, but in a way I’m glad I did. I don’t mean this to be sarcastic, but thanks for the warning.”

“You’re welcome,” Jackson replied, his face grim. “I know it’s a lot to ask, of both of you, but you need to know what’s at stake.”

“You have to keep all this kind of stuff secret from Lisa, don’t you?” George asked. “To protect her?”

“Yeah. And it’s not easy, because she’s relentless when it comes to things like this, anything that seems morally wrong to her. I don’t want to add any more fuel to that fire. I care about her too much to take a risk that she’ll get hurt, or killed, or that I’ll have to be the one to do it.”

“I would not ever want your job, Jackson. In fact, I wouldn’t want to be you,” Matt concluded. “I know you’re trying to do the best you can, and if I were in your position, I don’t know what I’d do. I’ll have to give that some – No, actually, I’d rather not think about it. I can’t say I admire what you’re doing, but it takes a lot of guts to play this game, and I wish you well.”

“I wish I’d never come to this place,” George sighed, slumping down so much he was almost falling off the couch.

The red light over the door blinked as Lisa came in.

“Well, thanks for coming over, guys,” Jackson said, no little irony in his voice. “Glad we could have this little chat.”

“Wish I could say the same,” Matt said under his breath. He and George stopped to talk to Lisa for a few minutes, then left as soon as they could.

<><><><><><><><>

Once they were alone, Lisa tried to get Jackson to cuddle with her on the couch, but he was obviously in one of his moods.

“What’s the matter, honey? Is your headache worse?”

“Everything’s worse.”

“Didn’t you take some medicine?”

“Yeah, but either not enough or not soon enough.”

“You spent over an hour with two doctors, and you probably didn’t ask them for help, did you?”

He looked at her incredulously. “Why would I?”

She sighed. “It was just a thought.” She leaned her head against his shoulder, but he didn’t pull her closer.

“What’s wrong?”

“I told you, I don’t feel good.”

“Would you rather just go to bed?”

“No.”

His jaw was set in a stubborn line, but somehow, it made him look about four years old. She wasn’t about to voice the thought aloud.

“Okay. Do you want to talk about anything?”

“No.”

She waited. It took less than a minute for him to speak.

“You seemed awfully friendly with Matt. And George,” he added, both puzzled and hurt.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Exactly what I said.”

She was confused. He couldn’t be saying what it sounded like he was saying. “We talked for about ten minutes, total, before I left and just now. What’s the big deal?”

“Seemed like a lot more time than that.”

Lisa stared at him, incredulous. “You’re jealous! I’m sure you observed the fact that Matt’s living with Kitten. Even if I were interested – which I’m not – he’s not available.”

“But he’s bisexual, which means theoretically he could be interested in you, too,” Jackson stubbornly argued. “And what about George?”

Lisa rolled her eyes. “Jackson, get a clue. I am not interested in either of them. And I don’t think they’re interested in me. Now, maybe if I hadn’t met you –“ She realized immediately he wasn’t going to take any teasing with good grace. “Let me rephrase that.”

His voice was as icy as his eyes. “Please do.”

She tried to be as tactful, yet honest, as she could be. “I’m living with you. I don’t know what more I can do to prove to you that I’m going to stay with you. I wish you trusted me more.”

“I’m trying to, Lisa, but it’s not that easy for me.”

“For me, either,” she pointed out. “In fact, I have less reason to trust you than you do to trust me.”

He was outraged. “What are you talking about? I would never cheat on you!”

Lisa blinked. “What? That’s not what I was talking about. I mean, you’re not the most trustworthy guy in the world, but I’ve put a lot of faith in you.”

His gaze softened a bit and he gently stroked her face. “I know you have, and I guess I’ve been taking it for granted. I really do appreciate your trust. It just upsets me to see you around anyone else.”

“Why? Are you that threatened by other men?”

He very deliberately, slowly and carefully moved his hand from her face. She didn’t like the look in his eyes.

“That doesn’t sound like you,” she hastily added. “And you don’t have any reason to worry about me. I’m not looking for someone to take your place. I don’t want anyone but you.” Shut up, shut up, shut up! You’re protesting too much!

“Do you really want to get into this now?” He leaned in a bit closer.

She held her ground, despite his threatening tone. “Yes, I think it’s about time. We’ve put it off long enough.”

“Why talk about it now?”

“Why keep avoiding it?” she countered. “If you want to know the truth, I’ve been thinking about Rachel and what she went through with Jonathan. I saw some parallels with us that made me very uncomfortable.”

“What? Don’t compare me with Crane!” Jackson spat. “I’m nothing like him!”

You’re more alike than you want to admit. She tried to placate him without giving ground. “No, but you used similar methods to bring us both here. You didn’t care what she wanted, or I wanted. Jonathan or Daddy said to fetch Rachel, so you did. You wanted me, so you brought me here, even though I wouldn’t have come, if you’d given me a choice.”

He bit his lip, hard. She could see his hands were knotted into fists, but he was keeping them at his sides.

“What are you saying, Lisa?” His voice was dangerously low.

She sighed. “I’m saying it would have been nice to have had a choice. I had to give up my career, my family, my whole life, to be with you, and so did Rachel. And neither of us wanted to give up our lives for a man, any man. It wasn’t even a choice we were allowed to make, it was a decision that was made for us. To make it worse, you and Jonathan were people we both considered enemies, not potential lovers.” She hoped she’d made it clear enough to get through to him.

“Oh...sh*t. I wasn’t really thinking about it like that.” Jackson closed his eyes and slumped deeper into the couch. “I knew I was being selfish and unfair to you, but I thought it was fair to me, to sort of make up for everything I went through with you before.”

“Which was all your fault anyway!” she reminded him. “And it’s still not a good enough reason, from my perspective. Look, you’re the one who chose me. You could have worked things out some other way, found someone else at the hotel who could have done what you wanted. If you followed me for eight weeks, you had to know I wasn’t the only one with that level of authority.” She paused for breath, and tried to calm down. Sounding hostile wasn’t going to help sell her case. “Why did you pick me, anyway?”

He didn’t hesitate. “Because I thought you’d be easy to manipulate. I thought I could scare you into doing what I wanted, then get the hell out of your life, no harm, no foul. I didn’t know you were friends with Keefe, or that you’d fight back the way you did.”

“Guess you should have done more research, then, Jack–son,” she quickly concluded.

He glared at her, then turned his gaze to the middle distance. “Yeah, I should have. I should have done a lot of things differently. I certainly shouldn’t have fallen in – I shouldn’t have let myself care.”

Lisa stopped to consider her words, then spoke carefully. “Do you think you’d be happier now, if you were the cold, calculating, sociopathic professional your father wants you to be?”

He sighed in disgust. “That’s a contradiction in terms, Lisa. Sociopaths aren’t really happy. They don’t process emotions the way the rest of us do. If I really were a sociopath, yeah, Gregory would be less critical of me. If I didn’t let my emotions get in the way of doing my job, I’d certainly be more efficient. I might not even know what I was missing.

“But the fact is, I do have feelings, I do let myself access them on occasion, and they’re getting harder to push aside when I need to. It doesn’t make me feel good, as a professional, but in some ways I sleep a little better at night. Does it make you feel better to know that?”

Lisa considered it. “Yes, it does. But it still doesn’t explain why you’re suddenly so concerned about me cheating on you. It doesn’t make sense.”

Jackson ran a hand through his hair, looking away from her.

“It’s a couple of things. For one, you’re really distracted lately, and you’ve been working late since you started this new job.”

Lisa shifted uncomfortably. “Okay, I admit I’ve been distracted. Things are going – well, things at work are getting complicated. I’m staying late because my boss wants me to.”

“I thought you were supposed to have normal hours, the same as me.”

“Dr. Capa said we might need to change my hours a little, so I’m not working overtime. I might start going in at nine or ten, and staying till six or seven.”

“What? You can’t! What about –“

Lisa turned her iciest gaze on him. “Yes? You were about to say?”

“Well, um, maybe I’ll change my hours, too, so we can spend more time together.”

Lisa was about 99.99% sure that wasn’t what he’d intended to say. At least he wasn’t stupid enough to actually say out loud that he wanted her there to fix dinner at the usual time.

“You’re right,” she conceded quietly, suddenly too tired to keep arguing. “Let’s not talk about this now. Why don’t you let me rub your neck, and see if that helps? “

He allowed it, and finally seemed to relax. Lisa wished she could.

[Pukkina]

Ok. I just printed out like...the last five...chapters....to read tonight. Yaaay. I will post another comment when I get back!

[stormy]

Great! I just need to organize things a bit before I post some more, but I'm hoping to wrap this thing up reasonably soon.

[Pukkina]

Nifty. Still at work on those....

[stormy]

CHAPTER 85 (Wednesday, Feb. 21)

The next day, Lisa mentioned Jackson’s jealousy to Capa. His concern surprised her.

“Be very careful, Lisa.”

She was getting very tired of being careful, not asking questions, and worrying about being overheard, or watched, and judged about everything. “I know you said to watch out for that jealousy, but I don’t know why he’s being so unreasonable. I did manage to deflect his mood, but he seems to be threatened by just about any man I talk to. It’s very annoying.”

Capa winced. “Don’t use that word.”

“Which one?”

“'Threatened.' He might take that the wrong way, as a slur on his masculinity or something. I can see why it would be annoying, but --”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, why would he think I’m insulting his masculinity?”

He shrugged. “Sometimes we guys can be a little sensitive about things like that. I doubt very much that Jackson sees himself as feeling threatened. He might think he’s being protective or something.”

“Well, I did use that word, and he wasn’t happy, let’s put it that way.”

“What did he do?”

She thought carefully before she answered. “It’s more what he didn’t do. He went very quiet and still, and took his hand away from my face. I think he was trying very hard to keep his temper in check.”

“This really isn’t good. When did this jealousy start?”

“When I started working for you, I think. Well, maybe before then, but it’s getting worse.”

Capa cleared his throat. “He’ll just have to get used to the idea that you’re working for someone else. Now, if it won’t upset Jackson too much, perhaps you could have lunch with me today? I’ll even cook.”

“Cook? Now there’s an offer I can’t turn down.” Lisa smiled with genuine warmth. “Plus, I can’t wait to see that gorgeous apartment again. I’m absolutely in love with it.”

<><><><>

Lunch consisted of a delicious stew that Capa confessed he’d made the night before. “I made a gallon or so, I think, so I don’t have to fix it again for a while. Now all I have to do is reheat it.”

“Saves a lot of time,” Lisa commented. “I didn’t know you could actually cook.”

“Well, this is about the extent of it. This is a recipe I found in one of the kitchen cabinets. I thought there were only pots and pans and utensils and that kind of thing here, but I found this recipe card sort of stuck to the shelf liner. I think it may have been my mother’s recipe.” He brought the yellowed card to Lisa. She saw the initials RD in small print in the corner.

“That’s nice, to at least have something that she wrote.”

“I guess.”

Lisa thought it might be time to change the subject.

“You know, I was thinking that Cillian doesn’t seem to be responding much at all lately, to anything. Either he’s getting used to me, or he’s tired of me already,” she suggested.

He smiled gently at her and watched the machines monitoring Cillian through the surveillance equipment on his laptop. “I don’t think that’s it. He’s still in a sort of healing phase, where it’s best if he’s unconscious. He needs time to at least subconsciously process the different traits and memories he’s been given. Once he’s awake, which should be in about two weeks, we’ll be able to start testing the results of the latest experiments. We can see how much he’s retained of Jackson, and how much of the others.”

“What about Gregory? I’d think he’d want at least some of his own personality in there. Or why not just clone himself?”

Capa grinned. “Think about it a minute, Lisa. He has specific goals, but he doesn’t like to share, and he doesn’t trust anyone. Can you imagine what would happen if there were more than one Gregory running around? Or someone with part of his personality?”

Lisa considered the ramifications. “Bloodbath,” she murmured.

“Exactly.”

“They wouldn’t be able to trust each other, and would probably spend a lot of time trying to get rid of the other. Or others.” She decided it was a very good thing Gregory couldn’t hear them, and also that he didn’t have duplicates of himself. They’d never be able to get away from him.

“I still think it sounds like way too much for one person to take in, with all the different personalities and memories,” Lisa commented. “I don’t know how anyone can adjust, let alone someone who’s going to be so new to everything.”

“It’s not as bad as all that,” Capa observed. “If he does have access to all those memories, he’ll recognize a lot of things, people, places. It’s not like he’s a newborn baby who knows nothing of the world. He won’t have any direct experience, but he should remember things as though he’s actually done them.”

“Like what?” Lisa was curious about the whole process.

“For instance, he should be able to recognize most, if not all, of Jackson’s weapons. He may remember some of the things Jackson’s done or said. I’m sure he’ll find it very confusing at first, but that’s why we’re trying to make the transition easier for him. And as long as you’re here to help him, everything might go more smoothly.”

“As long as he’s not as paranoid or difficult as Jackson –“

”That could be a problem,” Capa interrupted. “He may have gotten a bit too much paranoia, unintentionally. It’s hard to be completely precise about these things. Think about it – how many of Jackson’s brothers are paranoid, or at least, very cautious about things?”

“Hm.” Lisa gave it serious consideration. “Maybe Jonathan.”

“Yes, I can confirm that.”

“And Darren, in some ways, though he’s getting a lot better.”

“Mm-hm. Who else?”

“I’m not sure.” She blinked, then bit her lip. “Um, you, too.”

“Yes.” He didn’t seem perturbed by the accusation. “Jim, too. So Cillian might be getting a hefty dose of that from several sources. This whole experiment is very risky. I don’t think Gregory’s going to get the results he wants, no matter what. I think it will be many years before we can determine the best way to extract certain genetic traits, or memories, while leaving the unwanted ones behind.”

“I don’t see how any of it’s possible now, though I have to say, I haven’t given much thought to genetic research.”

“Most people don’t.” He shrugged. “It’s still an experimental field, in many ways. Gregory and Gabriel have been doing groundbreaking work for a long time, and they’ve got a lot of other scientists doing various aspects of research and experimentation, not just in genetics. There are a lot of things Gregory’s doing here that he wouldn’t be able to do in any other facility. Or, if they allowed it, they’d probably have him under heavy guard at all times. There are many countries that would probably love to know what we’re doing here, and how, but I’d prefer most of it stay in the theoretical stage. Some of it’s very dangerous stuff.”

“How reassuring.”

“I’m just being realistic,” Capa protested. “I don’t know half of what’s going on in R&D, and I don’t know if anyone but Gregory really knows, but I do know they’ve got some biological and chemical creations that are highly dangerous. There are so many safeguards in place, though, I don’t think there’s going to be a problem here.”

“What if there is? What if there’s some kind of leak or explosion or something?”

Capa shrugged fatalistically. “We might not be around long enough to even know what hit us. If we’re lucky.”

He continued to eat his stew as though he still had an appetite. Lisa no longer did.

<><><><><><><><>

Jackson didn’t tell Jim what he wanted to talk about at lunch, just that it was important. They met in the cafeteria and got sandwiches and soft drinks, then went outside. Jackson dismissed the security guard who wanted to accompany them. They walked to the nearest garden, well out of hearing range of the guard, and sat down. No one else was nearby that they could see.

“Don’t you get tired of it?” Jackson asked, looking around irritably.

“Tired of what?”

“The brightness. The heat. The...sunniness,” Jackson scowled.

“Nope,” Jim disagreed with his mouth full. “I like it. I love working outside.”

“Glad it’s you and not me.” Jackson shuddered. In the past it hadn't bothered him, but lately he found he preferred the sun in moderation. The thought of being out in it all day made him long for air conditioning and walls.

“Okay, Jim, listen carefully. It’s important you understand this, and make it very clear to Selena, too.”

Now Jim was all attention. “What’s going on?”

“Gregory’s concerned that too many people are finding out things about the family, things that he doesn’t want everyone to know. I’m sure Selena’s not one to gossip, but it’s really important that we all be very careful what we say to anyone else about Gregory, how we feel about some of his policies, and things like that. He was trying to get us all adjusted here, and most of us have thrown things off balance by finding a partner. I don’t think he was counting on that. Even when it’s just you and Selena, be really careful what you say, as far as criticizing Gregory. He’s not all that keen on free speech, you know.”

“I’ve noticed that,” Jim agreed. “Not real big on a lot of things that make a person feel free.”

“Right.” Jackson wasn’t really hungry, but needed something in his stomach before he could take more pain pills. He glared at his sandwich balefully, wondering why he hadn’t chosen something simple instead, like soup. Something he could eat without paying attention. Sandwiches required too much chewing.

“The thing is,” Jackson continued, “no matter what we might think of the lack of freedom, it doesn’t matter. And it’s even worse than you know. Just be really careful who you talk to, and what you say. Even Selena. She speaks her mind without always weighing the consequences, and around here, that’s not a healthy thing.”

“Yeah, but I can’t change her. Wouldn’t want to.”

“But you wouldn’t want her to get in trouble, either, would you?”

“Of course not.” Jim looked thoughtfully into the distance. “There’s a lot of things here we don’t like. We can’t get married, can’t have kids, can’t have our own life –“

”What do you mean, can’t get married?”

Jim seemed surprised at his ignorance. “I thought you’d know about that already. I’ve checked around. There’s nobody here who can officiate a marriage, and – “ He paused, apparently looking for the right words. “Have you ever noticed there are no kids here? I mean, younger than late teens?”

“Right,” Jackson agreed. “I just hadn’t given the marriage thing much thought.”

“Yeah, that’s fine for them, if they know about it. Selena wasn’t told that when she was hired, and nobody told me. Though I wasn’t exactly hired, was I?” he asked bitterly.

“It was in the fine print,” Jackson asserted. “There’s several pages of fine print in the contract. Most people don’t bother to read it. They don’t get much further than the huge salary, state-of-the-art equipment, free housing, complete health coverage... They don’t really want to know the price that comes with it.”

“I guess. But like I said, I didn’t know about it. Matt said there aren’t any kids born here. He said there’s a lot of miscarriages, or false pregnancies.”

Jackson composed his own thoughts and words. “Yeah, I know that. I’ve been trying to discourage Lisa from even thinking about kids. I don’t want to tell her the truth. I’d rather let her think I’m just a real a**hole who doesn’t want the responsibility. If she knew the truth, she’d want to do something about it, appeal to Gregory’s better nature or some stupid thing like that.”

Jim snorted, “Gregory doesn’t have a better nature.”

“Exactly.” Something was nagging at him now. “Why did Matt tell you? It’s exactly the kind of thing we don’t want people to know about.”

Jim looked uncomfortable. He probably didn’t want to get Matt in trouble.

“Kitten was talking about weddings, kids, all that stuff, I guess hoping we’d tell her some good news or something. Matt said something like they’re not equipped for it here, there’s not even a maternity ward. I don’t understand it!” Jim lowered his voice when the guard looked over with interest. Jackson waved the man away, and Jim continued.

“It doesn’t make sense to me. I can understand Gregory doesn’t like kids. He certainly didn’t want anything to do with any of us till recently. But why does he object to other people having kids?”

“I don’t know all his reasons,” Jackson answered truthfully. “It’s one of those things I don’t ask him about. It probably have something to do with what he sees as efficiency. He hires people who won’t be distracted by family or anyone close to them. The patients don’t have families, either, no one who will miss them.” He suddenly doubted the wisdom of giving Jim more information than he needed, but it was too late.

“I don’t think I want to know why. It’s all a big bloody experiment to him, isn’t it? Like we’re all lab rats in a maze, and he and Jonathan designed it so there’s no way out.”

“Hm, that’s a pretty good description,” Jackson said. “Hadn’t quite thought of it that way. I had the impression it was more about keeping everyone as efficient as possible, not letting them get distracted. Relationships aren’t very important to Gregory, and maybe he didn’t understand how important they are to other people.”

“But what about the workers here? Do they know they’re not supposed to meet someone and fall in love and raise a family?”

Jackson looked at the bed of roses that were thriving in the garden. It made him think of a song Kitten loved, one of those sad tunes. I never promised you a rose garden. “Maybe most of them aren’t even thinking about it. Gregory’s tried pretty hard to hire people who are dedicated to their work, and don’t have much of a life outside their job. He hasn’t even given any thought to recreation, which Jon noticed right away.”

Jim brightened. “He and Darren have some wild ideas. I hope they can start something Gregory won’t just shoot down.”

Jackson gave up on even pretending to eat. He took the bottle of pills out of his pocket and swallowed four of them with big gulps of his soda.

Jim looked concerned. “Are you sure you’re supposed to be taking that many?”

Jackson put the bottle away quickly, before Jim could read the instructions on the label. “It’s okay,” he lied, “they’re not all that strong.” He hurried to change the subject.

“So, are you clear that this kind of thing we’ve been discussing is exactly what you shouldn’t be telling anyone?”

Jim shook his head. “Sure. Makes as much sense as anything else around here.”

“Just avoid anything that might get Selena, or Matt, or George worked up. I have to be really careful what I say to Lisa, for the same reason. She gets all determined to find out more, or interfere or something.”

“Huh.” Jim looked like he was still trying to work it out. “So Gregory went to all this trouble to hire people who won’t complain or ask questions. Then he brings in his own kids, and we start causing him problems, and we find or bring in mates of our own, right? And we end up picking partners who are exactly the kinds of people Gregory doesn’t want.”

“True. I'll bet there are times he wishes he'd just left us all where we were. You know, Selena was one of those really dedicated-to-her-job types before you came along. Dunno why, but something about you seemed to bring out this protective streak in her, and she’s been a lot more outspoken since I first knew her.”

“Maybe just because she’s gotten to know you better,” Jim suggested. “Now she knows you’re not as scary as the rest of the staff think you are.”

“Oh, yes, I am,” Jackson disagreed, smirking. “I’m just getting better at hiding it from some of you.”

Jim looked at him uncertainly, not sure whether he was being serious.

“Father wouldn’t have much use for me if I couldn’t enforce his rules, right?”

“I guess.”

Jackson didn’t like leaving Jim in such a state of confusion, but it was better to make sure he stayed on his toes. Let him think what he liked; it was safer that way, for both of them.