All of Us -- Chapter 32

Disclaimer: The TV show Dark Angel, all of the characters that appeared on it (Max, Zack, Alec, etc.), and everything else that has to do with the show belong to their respective owners, not to me. No money is being made off of this fic. I only own the original characters (Becky/X6-405, etc.).

Caroline glared at the police officer. “Look, officer, how can you tell me that it’s all that you can do at the present time? A sniper just shot at several kids at the party that my daughter was attending, killed one, wounded several, and my daughter is missing.”

“That’s right,” the officer said. “She’s probably hiding somewhere and we’ll find her soon. Don’t worry. Why don’t you go home or back to work and we’ll let you know if and when we find something out.”

“Fine,” Caroline snapped. She turned around and stalked out of the police station. Holy shit, the police here in Seattle are morons. Where the hell is Jenny? She got back in her Jeep and took out her cell phone and dialed a number.

Dennis answered his phone on the first ring. “What is it, Caroline? Were the police able to tell you anything?”

“No,” Caroline said angrily. “They said that Jenny most likely ran off in the confusion and she’s probably just hiding somewhere and they’ll find her soon. She’s only ten years old, Dennis! Even if that’s what happened, she won’t be as safe as the police seem to think!” She took a deep breath and tried to get herself under control. “I’m losing it.”

“You’re not losing it, you’re a worried mother,” Dennis pointed out. “There’s only about another hour before you would have left the site for the day, anyway. Go home and try to relax.”

“Try to relax?” Caroline said skeptically.

“Yes,” Dennis said. He sounded concerned. “Caroline, go home. There’s nothing that you can do about Jenny right now. I’ll stop by later tonight, okay?”

“You can be such an overprotective asshole sometimes, Dennis,” Caroline remarked, laughing a little. “Unfortunately, you’re also right 99 percent of the time. I’ll see you later. Take care.”

“You too,” Dennis said.

“’Bye,” Caroline said. She disconnected and put her phone down and started the Jeep and drove off to her house. He is right. I swear, I don’t know what I would have done without Dennis’ rationality. Sometimes I can let my temper get away from me just a little bit. Dennis has a pretty similar temper, but he’s a little bit more in control of his than I am of mine and he’s a little more reasonable. I’m glad he’s around.

She got to her house fairly quickly and parked her Jeep in the driveway and got out. She walked up to the front door and let herself in and turned around and shut the door. When she turned back around, two young men were calmly standing in front of her. Caroline drew her pistol, but that didn’t scare either of the two. In fact, they both looked a little amused. “Who are you and what the hell are you doing in my house?”

“We’re not going to hurt you, ma’am,” the taller and older of the two assured her. There was something about him that Caroline found annoyingly familiar. He held out his hand. “My name is Krit Guevara.”

“I’m Jeff McGrath,” the other one said. He also held out his hand.

Caroline, unsure of herself, slowly put her pistol away and shook both of their hands, surprised at first of the strength of their grips. It suddenly hit her who they were. “You’re both transgenic, aren’t you?”

Krit and Jeff nodded. “We are,” Jeff acknowleged. “I was the one who saved your younger daughter’s life.”

“Oh,” Caroline said. It wasn’t just the fact that Jeff had admitted to saving Jenny’s life, it was the fact that he had acknowledged that Jenny wasn’t Caroline’s only daughter. He knows about Becky and probably Zack, too. They both must know about them.

“We’ll explain everything,” Krit promised.

Caroline nodded, still a little stunned. “Please, sit down.”

“Thank you,” Krit said. He and Jeff sat down on the couch in the living room and Caroline sat across from them in an armchair.

“You said that you saved Jenny’s life,” Caroline said to Jeff. “What happened?”

“We believe that someone tried to kill Jenny because of her relationship to Becky and to Zack,” Jeff explained. “A sniper was set up on a nearby roof and started shooting. I was nearby to guard her and I snatched her before the bullets could hit her. Don’t worry about Jenny, she’s perfectly fine. She’s at our safehouse outside of Terminal City and she’ll be with at least one or two transgenics at all times.”

“Thank goodness,” Caroline said. “Wait a second, does this mean that somebody outside of myself and Dennis and you guys know about myself and Zack and Becky?”

“Yes,” Krit confirmed. “Ames White, the NSA agent in charge of hunting the transgenics down, found out recently about the relationship and we believe—with good reason, especially now—that he’s going to make attempts to kill Jenny, which he did unsuccessfully, and yourself and General Murphy in the near future. He’s not exactly happy with either of your older kids right now. They’ve both pissed him off in the past.”

Caroline smirked. “Good kids.”

“That isn’t the whole reason why he’s so eager to go after them and you,” Jeff said. He and Krit explained to Caroline the story about the Familiars and White’s connection to them. “I know it’s really hard to believe, but you have to trust us.”

“I do trust you,” Caroline said. “I do.” She shook her head. “This is insane.”

“You’re telling me? I’m the one whose sister is supposed to be the one who’s gonna save humanity,” Krit commented.

Both Jeff and Caroline laughed a little. “Good point,” Caroline said. She looked hopefully at the two transgenics. “Can you bring Jenny back home to me?”

“No, not yet,” Jeff told her. “We want to bring her back, but until the danger has passed, we can’t risk it.”

“I understand,” Caroline said.

“Maybe we can do a little something in the meantime,” Krit suggested.

“True,” Jeff agreed. He took out his cell phone and dialed a number. “Hey, it’s me. She wants to see Jenny, so I thought that…yeah, exactly.” He waited a moment before he handed the phone to Caroline.

“Hello?” Caroline said.

“Mom!” Jenny said happily.

“Jenny!” Caroline exclaimed, relieved. “Thank goodness that you’re okay.”

“I’m fine,” Jenny said. “These people are really nice.”

“That’s good,” Caroline said. “I hope that you’re behaving yourself.”

“I am,” Jenny insisted. “Can I go home soon?”

“Not right now, baby,” Caroline said. “It might be a little while before you can come home. We all want to make sure that everything is safe first. Don’t worry, you will be coming home before too long. I promise.”

“I know,” Jenny acknowleged. There was a pause and then another voice started talking.

“Hello,” the voice said.

Caroline frowned. “Are you one of the transgenics that are guarding Jennifer at this safehouse?”

“Yes, I am,” the voice replied. “Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of her.”

“I’m sure that you will, but I’m still nervous about having strangers watch her,” Caroline said.

“I know,” the voice said. She laughed a little, sounding both nervous and amused at the same time. “If it makes you feel better, just think of it as me starting to make up for all the years of babysitting that you probably think that I owe you.”

Caroline was stunned. “Becky?” she whispered.

“Yeah,” Becky confirmed. “Listen, I know that you probably want to talk to me, but I need to go now. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Caroline said. “Where’s your brother?”

“Doing who-knows-what,” Becky said. “Sometimes, he’s got a really lousy sense of timing. You should have been there the time that Zack—“ Caroline heard somebody hitting someone else and Becky and a man that she figured was probably Zack call each other names. Jenny got back on the phone.

“I’m sorry, Mom, they’re being weird,” Jenny complained.

Caroline just laughed. She could almost hear Jenny rolling her eyes. “That’s fine, Jenny.” I’m happy that they’re acting like a normal brother and sister are! “I’ll try to talk to you again soon, okay? Be good. I love you.”

“I love you, Mom,” Jenny said.

Caroline disconnected and handed the phone back to Jeff. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said.

“Wow, I spoke…” Caroline took a deep breath and then turned back to Krit and Jeff. “Do you guys want something to eat or drink while you’re here?”

“Sure,” Krit said. He and Jeff followed Caroline into her kitchen.

TBC