All We See or Seem (17 page)

****

Gryff's heart was beating up in his throat when he entered his father's study. His hands went absently to his pockets as he stood just inside the door, waiting in silence for his father to notice.

“Mom said you wanted to see me,” he finally said. His throat tightened around the words.

“What are you doing, Aaron?” The man cut straight to it. “You're AWOL. You realize that, don't you? You stole the girl from your post. That's grounds for a court martial! How could she possibly be worth the risk? What would possess you—?”

“They were going to
kill
her! I had to get her out—”

“Kill her? She's a clone, Aaron. As far as EROMI is concerned, she's company property. They can do what they please. Just like—”

“Is that how you see them then? Clones? Property? Collateral?
Lab rats
?”

They were nose to nose now, leaning across the wide desktop on their fingertips.

“It's what they are! Manufactured to order… You're letting your hormones blind your judgment! And now you're endangering the family by bringing her here! What are you hoping to accomplish by that?”

Gryff stared at him. “You're right.” It seemed to hit him all at once. His father knew what kind of people they were dealing with. He would understand the dangers. And a
replacement
son would not be worth that risk. “We shouldn't have come. I thought — No. I wasn't thinking. I was listening to my heart. I wanted to save her. That was all I wanted. But I should have known you wouldn't see me as your son after all. So the better question here is what are you going to do with us? Now that you have two manufactured products in your possession.”

His father looked as though he was going to say something, but clamped his mouth shut instead and stared back at Gryff. Was that a glimmer of doubt in his eyes?

The silence stretched out for a long moment. When the older man slowly sat down, Gryff pushed back from the desk and folded his arms across his chest. His father rubbed his eyes with his left hand and exhaled loudly.

“You're not the only one, you know,” Robert said. His voice had quieted now, and he pinched the bridge of his nose with his eyes still closed.

Gryff's brow twisted in confusion. “Sir?”

“You're not the only one.” He put his hand on the desk and glanced at Gryff. “It's part of the package. You're not the first… replacement.” His gaze dropped back to his hand, and he tapped a finger on the desk. “They wanted to study you up close. That's why they brought you to the compound. A unique opportunity. For the record…” Another heavy sigh. “I was against it. I told them it was too soon — we were still adjusting.”

“It seems strange… that you could adjust to that at all. I mean, you do know that Aaron — the
real
Aaron — is
dead
. Right?”

“
You
are the real Aaron now. Everything you are, your memories, your history… your DNA.”

“But that's not—”

“Yes, it is. It's enough for me… son. I told you. You're not the first replacement.”

“That's the second time you've said that, Dad. Who are you talking about?”

****

“Let me help you with those, Gem.” Cary came around the counter island and took the knife out of her hand. “There's a special trick to cutting these things I use that makes it so much easier. See? You hold it like this in your left hand and then slice like this… oh! Watch the fingers, almost got myself there… See? Here, you try.”

Gem studied Cary's movements and took the offered knife in her right hand. Looked easy enough.

“Oh! Look at that!” Cary grabbed Gem's right wrist and rotated it toward her. “We have the same scar!” She turned her own wrist upward and held it next to Gem's. “That's so weird!”

Gem scrutinized her own wrist. Her scanner. She had always had that. Didn't everyone? She glanced back to Cary, who seemed delighted to share something in common with her.

“How did you get yours?” Cary asked.

“I don't remember,” Gem said. The way Cary phrased the question alarmed her, and she wasn't sure how much she should say. “I think I've always had it. Haven't you?”

“No.” Cary turned her eyes to her scar and rubbed the fingers of the left hand over the softly ridged skin. “I was in a car accident. I don't remember exactly how it happened, but I was unconscious for several days, and when I came to, this was the only visible scar I had. It's amazing what they can do with reconstructive surgery these days. Robert said I was a mess when they pulled me out of the mangled car. There were photos of the wreck in the paper. I still can't believe I survived it.” Her wistful smile seemed out of place with such a sad story.

“Sounds terrible,” Gem answered.

“Well, it's all over now,” Cary said with a light chuckle. “And it looks like we're almost ready here. Would you like to help set the table?”

****

“She doesn't know. Her replacement was seamless.” Robert averted his gaze as he spoke, but turned back to Gryff for a moment as he said, “I couldn't bear to lose her, son. At the time, that was all that mattered. And that's all that matters now. I feel the same way about you and Bobby. That's why I chose to take out policies for all of us. I didn't tell any of you, because I thought the transition would be easier. I knew I could handle it. Wasn't so sure about the rest of you.”

“I wish you would have told me, Dad. I would've come home. And if I were home, I wouldn't have been over there when we were attacked. It would mean—”

“Don't. It doesn't help to play the
what if
game. Trust me. I know. Besides, where would that leave Gem right now?” He lifted an eyebrow and seemed to study Gryff's expression for a moment.

The man had a point. Gryff would still be at Endfield as a stem. But Gem would be taken from him, and he would've had no hope of saving her. He needed both of them — Gryff and Aaron. And Gem depended on both of them too. Now they were one person. Things were as they should be.

That brought them full circle. He was AWOL with what would be considered stolen property. They hadn't come after him and Gem yet. But they would. It was only a matter of time.

“What should we do, Dad? I can't let them catch us. I won't let them hurt her.” Gryff held back the signs of emotion from his voice as well as he could, but his throat was constricting again, thinking of the danger they were in.

Robert shook his head. “Those men are scientists, son. Scientists who value their privacy. They won't report you as AWOL. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they keep paying you. But they are relying on the fact that you won't want to be discovered. That you'll stay off the grid and lie low. Won't cause any problems for them.” He shrugged and gestured toward Gryff. “They'll write you off. They'll write Gem off. A small price to pay in light of what they can learn. They've never had a replacement go wrong before. You're not the first replacement. But you are the first one who regained the stem's memories.”

Still sounded like a time issue. If he was an anomaly, they would want to study him.

“But doesn't that mean—?” Gryff's question was interrupted by his mother's voice.

“Dinner's ready!”

“We'll be right there,” his father answered her. “We can talk about this more later, son. You know how she gets if we don't make it to the table in her time frame.”

 

Dinner. For Gem it had always been the same routine. Silent. Lonely. Of course, she had been with Aria, Teo, Gryff and the others, but expectations required they simply eat. Minimal interaction.

This was different, and it took her by surprise. Cary chattered happily with her husband and her son, asking her the occasional question to keep Gem involved in the conversation. Robert was attentive to Gem's every need. And Gryff. He was different as well. He smiled and laughed and winked at her. It was like seeing an entirely new side of life. They cared about each other. Their minds weren't consumed with expectations and keeping their distance from one another.

Robert would look her in the eye when he spoke to her. There was emotion there in his gaze. So different from the Endfield staff, though she sensed that he knew why she was there. Why Gryff had brought her.

It was different here. But she wanted more of it and wished they could stay. Stay and ensconce herself in this new warm feeling — what had Gryff called it? —
family
.

Somehow she knew it couldn't last, though she desperately wanted it to. If she and Gryff were in danger, there would be no place safe to remain for long.

Gem watched as Cary reached for Robert's hand on occasion. He would give his wife's hand a light squeeze and offer her a genuine smile with a sparkle in his green eyes. They loved each other, she realized. And the thought made her glance at Gryff.

His gaze was on her, and it warmed her to the core.

****

Gryff hadn't realized it until now. And he had been so busy trying to reconcile Aaron with Gryff, that it wasn't any wonder he hadn't seen it sooner. He watched Gem interact with his parents. She observed them together, and Gryff could tell she was enthralled. That's when it occurred to him. He had never brought a girl home to meet his parents. His whole life he had been searching for Gem. That is how they fit together, Aaron and Gryff. Gem was his soul mate. No matter who he had been in his past.

He slipped his hand over hers and squeezed it lightly. Her gaze went to his hand, then to his father's hand holding his mother's, then back to Gryff's eyes with a question hanging behind her eyes. Gryff nodded. Her shy smile curved across her lips.

“So, are you two going to stay awhile?” Robert asked, breaking the spell between them.

Gryff met his expectant stare, then glanced at his mother. Her eyes lit up with the suggestion.

“Please stay!” she fairly shouted before seeming to catch herself and make an effort to restrain her enthusiasm.

He wanted to say yes. But if it wasn't safe, it wouldn't be possible. And he couldn't very well bring up the safety of it in front of his oblivious mother.

“We'll consider it, Mom,” he finally said with what he hoped would appear to be a reassuring smile.

“I can arrange a transfer easily enough, son. And I think I can help with any other
reservations
you might have with the arrangement. In fact, I'm certain it would make everyone happy,” Robert added, indicating Gem with a pointed glance.

Gem's eyes seemed aflame with hope.

If his father believed they would be safe, what else could he say? With the old man's connections, there wouldn't be any place more secure for them. And if what he had said before was true about EROMI's intentions, there was a good chance they wouldn't make an effort to retrieve Gem and Gryff. They might just let them go.

When dinner was finished, Robert and Cary worked together in the kitchen to clean up, leaving Gem and Gryff alone in the dining room.

Gryff took her hand again. “What do you think, Gem?”

She stared back at him in silence for a moment, as if she was trying to find the words. “I want to stay, Gryff. I've never seen anything like this. Never felt it before.” Her gaze dropped to their hands, and Gryff laced his fingers with hers. “If you think we're in danger, we should go. Travel — like you said. But if it's safe, I want to stay. I want what you have here. I want
family
.”

Gryff swallowed at the knot of thick emotion lodged in his throat, gazed back into the deep, hopeful brown of her eyes, and forced a hoarse reply. “Then that is what you will have, Gem.” And then he kissed her.

 

Six months later

“Can this report be right?”

“I'm afraid so.”

“How did this happen?”

“I imagine it happened in the usual way.”

“You know what I mean, Joseph. It wasn't supposed to be possible.”

“It's a remarkable anomaly.”

“An anomaly? It was supposed to be a medical impossibility.”

“In that case, we shall need to study this in a much more controlled environment. Don't you agree, Izanagi?”

“Yes. If they're able to reproduce on their own… Yes. I must study her here.”

“So we will retrieve her. Easily done.”

“He won't make it easy. You know he'll never allow you take her.”

“If I'm not mistaken, he will need to be studied as well. No doubt he was involved in this —
anomaly
. What can be done to
settle
them back into life at Endfield?”

“There is the mnemonic wash we've been working on. It is still in testing.”

“Test it then, doctor… And in the meantime, send for Lieutenant Baer. Yes. He will deal with the situation quite nicely, I believe.”

****

“How are you feeling, babe?” Gryff asked as he sauntered into living room where Gem lay on the couch resting. She looked content there, and much of her color had returned.

“Much better. Haven't been sick all morning.”

“That's good. Maybe you're past the worst of it now.” Gryff leaned over and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

“I hope so. That's one thing I kind of miss about Endfield. They have the best remedies for morning sickness,” Gem said with a playful wink. She sat up and patted the seat beside her. Gryff plopped heavily into the indicated spot and stretched his arm around her shoulders.

A deep contentment settled in him. He had everything he wanted. Gem. And now the baby. A true family in the making. Gryff reached a hand to stroke her only slightly swollen abdomen. Everything he wanted was here with him.

The front door slammed, jarring Gryff from his sentimental musing. Startled, he glanced toward the sound to find his father bursting into the room, his brows furrowed in earnest.

“You have to go. Now. They're coming.”