Troubles at home

[Jordanna]

Alex Malone lay on a cot in the master bedroom of the Rosenstein home, listening to Sid snoring softly on the bed an arm's reach from him.

All in all, they had succeeded in settling Miriam in the house without incident. Sid had already given the children to understand that their mother was murdered, so he explained with simple truthfulness how Miriam had become a target and been framed because her mutant gift let her identify the killer. This impressed upon them thoroughly the importance of her safety and secrecy. Consuela was a bit more skeptical, but Miriam's clear sincerity and compassion toward the family apparently won her over. Alex and Sid were both satisfied that their fugitive guest would be safe.

Even so, sleep was far out of reach of Alex's crowded mind. At last he abandoned the effort, rubbing his face and sitting up. He was a bit hungry. He groped for his bathrobe, draped it over his shoulders, and shuffled out of the bedroom.

As he passed through the living room downstairs, he looked over at the couch where Miriam lay, and faintly saw her turn her head.

"Hey," he said softly, creeping over to her. "What are you doing up?"

With a sigh and a shrug, Miriam sat halfway up. "I can't sleep--and I mean that literally." She raked her fingers through her barely-tousled hair. "I got the jolt from two different bodies at the mortuary tonight. That gave me a pretty big shot of energy; I can feel it. And without any wounds to heal this time... my body seems to be using it for added stamina."

Alex winced. "That can't be good for you. You know what they say about not getting REM sleep and all... We've gotta keep you away from corpses."

"I don't think that'll be a problem as long as I'm stranded here."

We can only hope, Alex thought grimly, his gaze involuntarily sliding toward the place on the floor where he and Daws had seen Caroline's lifeless body.

Outwardly, he only shrugged. "I was going to fix up something to eat. You hungry?"

"A little." Miriam rose and followed him into the kitchen, where he turned on the light and proceeded doing various arcane things with milk and eggs and fruit. When she asked if she could help, he gave her an apple to peel. She sat preoccupied with the paring knife, and for several minutes they were both silent.

"I want to apologize for Henry's behavior tonight," she said at last. "I don't know what got into him."

Alex arched an eyebrow quizzically. "You don't? Er..."

"It's just that he can be very protective. He's been like a father to me ever since I met him."

Sunlight abruptly broke through the fog in Alex's brain--along with the realization that what was obvious to a third party might be completely in the dark to Miriam. "Ohh... that's how it is." He turned away to crack an egg into a bowl, so that she wouldn't see the bemused grin tugging at his lips, but a part of him couldn't help feeling sorry for Henry Casselton. Did he realize the way Miriam thought of him?

"I want to apologize for my own behavior, too," Miriam went on quietly. "I could have put all of you in danger when I insisted on being there."

"You had every right to be there." He glanced back at her. "You do deserve to be in the plan."

"That isn't it. You were right about me; I was bored." Miriam sighed and rested her chin on her hand, picking up a piece of discarded apple peel to chew on. "I shouldn't be. The truth is, I don't really have much less of a life now than I did before. All I ever did have was my work."

Alex frowned at her. "Didn't you ever go places, or meet people... or do anything because you enjoyed it?"

Miriam smiled sadly. "It's hard to explain. Life doesn't seem very beautiful when... when you spend it dying."

A pang thumped in Alex's chest. He didn't look at Miriam as he shook his head. "Being a mutant is hard enough. Why should it have to hurt you, too?"

"I've always thought there was sort of a price to be paid for eavesdropping on Death." Miriam drew her heels up on a rung of the barstool, wrapping her arms around her knees. "I've tried so hard to be a good steward of this talent. I gave my life to it. It's only now I've realized how much I'd like to go out into the world, and do the things I've missed... and finally learn to feel something for myself."

"Because you can't now?" Alex asked faintly.

"I don't think it's that. I think... it was meeting you."

Alex resolutely did not turn to look at her. Nevertheless, a shy smile crept over his face as he said, "When all this is over, and Tiernan's done for and you're cleared, I'm gonna take you out on the town the Foxy Malone way."

Miriam didn't bother to cloud that resolution with gloomy predictions. She merely laughed. "Your life must be extraordinary."

"Oh, it's nothing much. Sid's the one who really put me together. I just... wandered a lot before I met him." He finally turned to look at her. "See, my parents died when I was fourteen. That's what kicked me off the ledge into weirdness."

"I'm sorry."

"'S alright. I think things were meant to turn out the way they did." Alex grinned reassuringly. "I've heard of people with the mutant gene who went their whole lives without showing it, 'cause they never got a shock to their system to bring it out. But if it hadn't happened to me, I wouldn't be where I am now."

"You wouldn't prefer it that way?"

There was a long moment of silence as Alex contemplated that question.

"No... no, I wouldn't," he said softly, and was astounded to realize that he meant it.

"I wish I could say that and be sure it was true," Miriam murmured. Before he could reply, she dropped her gaze and shrugged. "My parents don't know what I am--or that is, they didn't. I can't imagine what they must be thinking now." Her expression darkened with worry. "If only I could get word to them somehow."

"Maybe Daws would know a way," Alex suggested brightly. "We can ask her the next time we see her."

"The next time." Miriam rubbed her forehead wearily. "I don't even know what I'm supposed to do with myself until then. I can't cook, and I've never had any experience with children."

"Oh, you'll be a cinch." Alex grinned. "Life won't look so sad after you've spent an hour with the kids."

Looking up at him, Miriam finally cracked a smile...

...And from somewhere upstairs came the sound of a piercing shriek.

[Jordanna]

At the sound of the scream, Alex shared a split second's horrified eye contact with Miriam. Then he flung away the dishtowel in his hands and bolted from the kitchen. He took the stairs three steps at a time, and as he reached the landing, he saw Sid opening the door to Tara's room.

Consuela stood in her own doorway, her hair dissheveled and a lamp clutched defensively in her hand.

"Watch Caleb and Holly," Alex ordered. He followed Sid into Tara's room, aware of Miriam behind him.

Tara was kneeling on her bed, her arms wrapped around herself, half-hysterical tears streaming down her face. Sid was standing beside the bed with his hands on her shoulders, but she seemed to be shying away from him slightly. He was alternately making soothing noises and asking what was wrong, but she was too overwrought to answer.

Alex exchanged a worried glance with Miriam, who was watching anxiously over his shoulder.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Sid asked again, cupping Tara's face in his hands and forcing him to focus on her.

She pulled away, drawing a gasping breath between sobs, but he had apparently gotten her attention. Slowly she reached down and grasped the hem of her pajama top, lifting it far enough to bare her midriff.

Sid stifled a curse, and Alex and Miriam both gasped.

Down both sides of Tara's rib cage, there were several red, raw-looking gashes that appeared at first glance to be deep wounds--but a more thorough look suggested something very different. The perfectly parallel openings seemed, in fact, to be burgeoning gill slits, and the discolored skin that surrounded them was faintly scaled.

Before Alex could even wrap his brain around the enormity of what he was looking at, Miriam pushed past him and sat down on the edge of the bed, reaching out to touch Tara. The girl flinched away with terror in her eyes, but Miriam made a calming gesture. "It's okay. I'm a doctor... sort of." She looked over her shoulder at Sid and Alex. "Give me a minute."

Sid balked, but Alex had recovered enough wits to take him by the arm and tow him out of the room, shutting the door behind them. The older man leaned on the wall and rubbed his face, looking ill.

"Tell me it isn't," he whispered, only half-directing the plea to Alex.

"I wish I could." Alex stared miserably at the door. He could still faintly hear Tara's frightened whimpers from the other side.

"My baby girl... a mutant." Sid swallowed hard, and finally met Alex's gaze. "I mean--"

"I know. Believe me, I know even better than you." Alex let out a windy breath and shook his head. "Try to get a grip, Sid. She's gonna need you."

Nodding woodenly, Sid pushed away from the wall and began to pace. Alex watched him sadly.

"I was her age when it happened to me." The entertainer ran a hand through his hair. "After what she's been through, it's amazing it didn't happen sooner. I wonder... if it was you or Caroline who passed on the gene."

Sid abruptly stopped pacing, and said softly, "Holly and Caleb."

"If they have it, they're probably too young to show it." Alex winced as he concluded, "We probably have a few years to wait before we find that out."

Mournfully, Sid dropped his head into his hands. Alex put a hand on his shoulder, feeling the helplessness that was becoming so familiar to him by now.

It's not fair.

The door of Consuela's room opened, and she appeared at the threshold, with a wide-eyed and fearful Caleb clinging to the sash of her robe. "Señor Malone?"

Alex waved her away. "Tara's... had a nightmare. I'll tell you in the morning." No sense making a bad situation any more complicated than it already was--at least any sooner than he had to.

Scowling and muttering in Spanish, Consuela put her hand on Caleb's head and guided him back into the room.

A moment later, Miriam stepped out of Tara's room. Sid bulled forward, but he was stopped by a halting gesture from the small woman, and settled for looking at her desperately. "How is she?"

Miriam frowned. "I'm afraid it's what it looks like. Besides what you saw, she has some sort of a ridge of scales running down her back." She ignored Sid's sharp intake of breath. "She's hurting a little, but as far as I can tell, that's just an initial trauma that'll heal. I'm a little worried about infection, though. I think it'd be a good idea to find out if Daws knows any reliable mutant doctors. I'm just a pathologist, not a physician--or an ichthyologist."

"Is she...?" Alex stammered, with woeful inadequacy.

"Yes, she's calming down, a little. I think." Miriam rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Go in and talk to her, Sid. Alex, you can help me fix a little bit of a tranquilizer--that's one thing I can cook up."

With a dazed nod, Sid slipped into his daughter's room, and a moment later Alex and Miriam heard renewed sobbing. Miriam returned a solemn look for Alex's anxious one, and started down the stairs.

In the downstairs bathroom, Miriam raided the medicine cabinet. Alex didn't know exactly what the pills were that she collected, but once she had them, she took him back to the kitchen and told him to warm up some milk. As he did so, she busied herself crushing the pills and mixing the powder in minute, precise measures.

"I'm not supposed to know how to do this. You learn a lot from what people use to poison themselves."

Alex gulped. "It won't hurt her, will it?"

"Oh no." Miriam tilted the powder into the milk as Alex continued to stir. "It won't even put her to sleep--it'll just relax her. I'm afraid she's going to rupture something if she keeps sobbing so hard."

Mechanically stirring the milk, Alex stared toward the ceiling. "The funny thing is, she's a champion swimmer at school." He groaned and put a hand over his face. "How is she ever gonna deal with this?"

"The same way you and I did," Miriam replied gently. "But at least she has Sid, and you."

"It's not fair." Shaking his head, Alex took the milk off the stove and poured it into a cup. He gave Miriam a doubtful look, and she patted his arm with a sympathetic smile before heading back toward the stairs.

[Jordanna]

Upstairs, Alex knocked gently on Tara's door before going in. Sid was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding his still-tearful daughter.

Alex looked back and forth between Miriam and Sid. "Will you give me a few minutes with Tara? I want to... have a little talk with her."

Sid squinted at him worriedly. "That talk?"

"Yeah. That talk." Alex traded places with Sid, gratified that Tara shifted easily from her father's arms to his, and waited until Sid and Miriam had retreated from the room.

"Sweetie, will you drink this?" he asked softly, holding up the cup of milk in front of her. "You'll feel better."

Tara sniffled and rubbed her eyes, but she took the cup and gingerly sipped from it.

"I'm turning into a... a freak," she whimpered.

"You know better than that. What has your dad taught you all these years about mutants?"

"That being different isn't wrong." She looked up at him with a stricken expression. "Oh, but Alex, how would you feel if it happened to you?"

Alex almost smiled at the irony of the question. "I know," he said softly, ruffling her hair. "But you're not alone, honey. I'm going to tell you a secret. You see, when I was your age, and my parents died... it happened to me, too."

Tara stared up at him in shock--although he was pleased to note that she did not shy away from him. "You?" she breathed.

"You've heard how I imitate voices." He shrugged ruefully. "That's my mutation, Tara. You see? It's not a bad thing--it just means being able to do something other people can't. I'm only sorry some people don't understand that." He smiled faintly, thinking of Miriam and Daws. "But the truth is, some of the best people I know are like us."

The girl sniffled. "Does--does Dad know about you?"

"Sure he does. He always has."

"And... did Mom?"

"Yeah, sweetie. She did."

"I'm glad." Tara smiled weakly. "It means, if she saw me now, maybe she could... still love me."

The words completely broke Alex's heart, and he pulled her close again--partly so that she wouldn't see his misty eyes. "Of course she would. We all love you, and that will never change. Never." He sniffed slightly, kissed the top of her head, and let her go, forcing a smile. "That's a promise."

[skybright]

The next morning saw a beat-up red Honda parked in front of the Rosenstein household; the small, battered car definitely looked out-of-place in the well-to-do neighborhood.

Then again, so did the two figures who had arrived in that car. Daws, clad in a trenchcoat as usual, had a tall, blond man in a bright-green labcoat in tow as she sprinted up the steps to the Rosenstein home.

She hadn't called ahead to announce their arrival; the tone in Alex Malone's voice had suggested that the sooner they got there, the better. She glanced over her shoulder. "You okay, Caddie?"

Doctor J.C. Ollivard nodded in reply and shifted his medical bag to the other hand. "Shouldn't we . . . ?"

"Right." Daws reached out and pressed the doorbell of the Rosenstein house.

Please, She thought, with an air of desperation, Please let everyone be all right.

[Jordanna]

At the time the doorbell rang, Tara was still in her room; Miriam was with her, giving her new gills another examination. Alex and Sid were downstairs, and had just concluded yet another awkward and complicated explanation to Consuela and the younger two children.

Alex gratefully abandoned the scene of bewildered and uncomfortable silence to answer the door.

"Boy, am I glad to see you, Daws." He looked over her shoulder at the man who was with her. "Uh... a doctor, right?"

[skybright]

"Last time I checked the paperwork, anyway." The green-coated figure stuck out his free hand, which Malone took cautiously. "Jason Cadeceus Ollivard. M.D., Ph. D., and a whole lot of other letters that I can't remember at present."

Daws rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Don't mind Caddie, Alex," She sighed. "Man was born without the ability to stop talking."

"And don't you just love me for it." He peered over Daws' shoulder into the house. "So, I've got a patient, here?"

"Yeah," Daws glanced worriedly at Malone, "What's going on -- is everyone okay?"

[Jordanna]

Alex frowned. "It's Tara. She's..." He gestured helplessly with his hands, and finally managed to put the problem into words. "She's a mutant."

He added, "She's upstairs now, with... erm..." He raised his eyebrows at Daws and tilted his head toward Doctor Ollivard, trying to ask silently if the man could be trusted around Miriam.

[skybright]

Daws nodded in response to the wordless inquiry and stepped into the house. Doctor Ollivard followed suit.

"I'm guessing this happened last night?" Daws asked, shrugging out of her trenchcoat.

Before Malone could reply, Doctor Ollivard was already rooting through his medical bag. "Right. So. She's how old? She exhibiting any pain or trouble breathing? She running a temperature? She been through any abnormal stress or been exposed to any unusual substances?" He produced a stethescope from the depths of the black bag, draped it around his neck, and raised an eyebrow expectantly at Alex.

[Jordanna]

Alex sighed. "She's fourteen, and her mother was killed recently. And yeah, she's a little sore. Miriam--er, that is--we're a little worried about infection while she's healing." He looked unhappily at Daws. "She... grew gills overnight."

[skybright]

"Gills." Ollivard nodded briskly. "Gills are no problemo. I've done gills before. Lead the way."

Rather than waiting for Alex to do so, however, the doctor plunged ahead towards the staircase. As the other two turned to follow him, Daws nudged Alex's shoulder. "Sorry about Caddie," She mumbled sheepishly, "He's . . . enthusiastic.

"But we can trust him all the way. Nobody knows that Caddie's a mutant except me, his mother, and a blackmailer I got off his case three years ago -- so he owes me one. And he knows his stuff. He works at Mt. Sinai, in the Lefkowitz Institute -- y'know, the mutant health center. He's written a book. He's quite brilliant, actually," She grinned, "He just won't shut up."

[Jordanna]

"Hey, I make my living on being a motormouth," Alex replied. "If he's on our side, we can put up with anything else."

Alex had to push ahead of Doctor Ollivard to point the way to the correct bedroom. When he opened the door, Miriam--who was sitting beside the bed--started and looked around, as if wondering briefly whether she was supposed to make herself scarce. Alex made a stilling gesture, and let Daws and Ollivard into the room.

Tara, sitting up in bed with the covers drawn over her lap, regarded them apprehensively.

"This is Tara," Alex told Ollivard, then looked at the girl. "Sweetie, this is Doctor Ollivard. He's going to take a look at you. It's okay--he'll never tell anyone about you, I promise." He glanced firmly at the physician to back up the point, more for Tara's benefit than anyone else's.

[skybright]

Ollivard's brisk, pushy manner suddenly dissolved as he seated himself on the side of the bed. "Hey, kiddo." He said quietly. "Don't worry, I've done this before. And I remember what it was like, too. So just relax." He warmed the stethescope in his hand; as he did so, a thermometer drifted up from his opened medical bag and hovered in the air in front of Tara's face.

Ollivard winked. "See? Now, say 'aaaah'."

[Jordanna]

Tara didn't have to say "aaaah". At the sight of the floating thermometer, her mouth had popped open in surprise. She made a small noise as it inserted itself under her tongue.

Alex hid a grin behind his fist, glancing at Miriam and then Daws. "He is good."

[skybright]

Daws nodded. "Best I know. It was a lucky break that I called him -- this is what he wrote that book about."

Ollivard continued his good-natured patter as he checked Tara's temperature and listened to her heartbeat, examined the scales and the bony ridge along her back, and very gingerly lifted the newly-formed gill slits to examine the new organs.

At last he floated everything back into his medical bag, patted Tara's knee, and announced, "Everything's A-OK, kiddo. You gotcha a fully-functional pair of gills; so if you haven't taken up swimming yet, I'd look into it.

"You oughtta get over being sore in a day or two, but take some tylenol if it bothers ya. And if you start bleeding or start hurting any worse, you get Daws to call me and I'll take care of ya."

He glanced over his shoulder at the assembly of adults, patted Tara's knee again, and sidled over to Daws and Alex.

"Someone here in a position to have 'the mutant talk' with 'er," He whispered, "Or should I?"

Daws shook her head. "I think we've got that covered, Caddie. Thank you."

The doctor nodded, snatched his medical bag out of the air near his hand, and grinned. "I gotta get going, Daws -- I'm on shift in another half hour. Got that bigshot lady from Ireland coming over -- you know how it is. You got a ride back home, D?"

Daws nodded. "Yeah, Caddie. Thank you again."

[Jordanna]

"Thanks for your help," Alex said. He smiled wanly at Tara and Miriam, then ushered Daws and the doctor downstairs.

Sid, having broken away from Consuela and the kids, was waiting at the bottom of the staircase. "How is she?" he asked anxiously.

"This is her father," Alex supplied to Ollivard, then patted his friend's shoulder. "It's okay, Sid. Doctor Ollivard here says Tara's just fine."

[skybright]

Doctor Ollivard nodded rapidly. "She's lucky; sixty percent of gill-formation cases develop complications when they manifest. They usually need surgery. But Tara's are fully-formed, fully-functional; she's gonna heal up completely in a day or two, and be . . . " He chuckled, "As back to normal as anyone can hope to be, considering. Keep her home from school for two days, and give her tylenol if the soreness bothers her. Call me if anything abnormal comes up; but honestly, your daughter is -- medically -- completely fine. I'm not even worried about infection."

He raised an eyebrow at Sid. "I've got to ask -- any family history of mutation?" In response to Sid's shake of the head, the Doctor nodded. "Unusual, too. Generally when there's a manifestation this clean it's a second or third-generation mutant."

He looked like he was about to go on, but Daws nudged him into silence. "You've got to get goin' Caddie. We'll call you if anything comes up."

She ushered the doctor almost forcefully out of the front door of the house, and shook her head as she closed the door behind her.

Daws grinned at Sid and the others. "Believe me, you're grateful I did that. We'd have him here all morning rattling off case histories -- and a lot of those stories are *not* the kind of thing you wanna hear before, during, or after breakfast."

[Jordanna]

"I appreciate what you've done for us, Daws," Sid said with quiet, weary gratitude.

"Keeping her home from school for a few more days won't be a problem," Alex mused. "She was still upset enough for that before this. I'm just worried about how she'll deal when she does go back." He grinned half-heartedly at Sid. "At least she won't be wearing any more of those tiny little belly shirts you've always disapproved of."

"Eh," Sid murmured glumly.

Miriam looked at Daws. "Did you already talk to that priest you were telling us about?"

[skybright]

Daws nodded. "Yeah, the Padre -- Father Steele, that is -- is behind us. He's going to ask around the parish, see who he knows that would back us as well."

She grinned. "He mentioned something about a homily . . . which means, if I know Padre, a none-too-thinly-veiled call to arms. And our parish is about seventy percent mutant; there's gotta be at least a few people there who're willing to help us."

Daws took a seat on the nearest chair and pushed her fedora back. "I figured I'd ask the Padre to have everyone who's interested meet at Our Lady. Folks might be more willing to show up if they're on their home ground -- for the first meeting, anyway."

She glanced around, waiting to see what the others thought of the idea.

[Jordanna]

"That's okay with me," Alex said. He looked at Sid, who nodded rather blankly.

"I'd like to be there, if it's safe," Miriam put in. "I can disguise myself if I need to. But, if you think the risk is too much..." She shrugged ruefully.

[skybright]

Daws chuckled. "Doc, I've given up on trying to keep you out of all of this. You'll be as safe at Our Lady as you will be anywhere."

She frowned. "That reminds me; if I don't give Tiernan something to make him think I'm looking for you, he's gonna start getting suspicious." She glanced at Miriam. "I figured I'd break into your place -- make it look good. Is there anything you'd like me to pick up for you while I'm there?"