Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10 or its sequels, spin-off and related characters. All is the property of Man of Action and Cartoon Network. I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit entertainment.

Roots

Chapter Twelve: Crazy's Genetic

Dylan billings was already awake when they entered the room.

Not all the adults, just Ben and Pierce. They figured being confronted with all seven of them would be a little overwhelming and put the boy on edge. Defensive. Like he was being accused and had to retaliate. So, only Ben -as the Hero of the Universe and currently highest ranked active Plumber in the Sol System- and Pierce -as overseer of the Weekend Academy- were the safest choices to take the boy's statement.

Then again, maybe not. Dylan practically leapt out of bed when he was Magisters Tennyson and Wheels enter his room. "Are you gonna arrest me!? But it wasn't my fault! It was Fake-Tennyson and Servantis! They did something to my head. Made everything they said sound like a good idea! Its not my fault!"

"Easy, boyo, sit down." Pierce raised what he hopped was a pacifying hand. "We know it not your fault. All you kids were under Servantis' control. We just wanted to see how you were doing. Make sure you're okay -and take your statement."

Dylan did seem to relax at that. He wasn't in trouble. They just needed him to fill them in on the blanks. What happened. How did he get mixed up with the Rooters? Things like that. The boy climbed back into bed. His head was hurting a little bit. Probably coming down from whatever mind-control or head games Servantis had played with him.

"Start from the beginning." Ben said. "How did you meet Servantis?"

With a sigh, Dylan began. "A guy called Phil came to me on Monday after school. Said he was dad's uncle or something and that he was special ops Plumber. Told me his commanding officer was impressed with my scores at the academy and wanted to offer me a job. I'm almost eighteen. I'm gonna age-up into the real Academy this summer, so I didn't think anything was strange about it -the job offer, I mean. Not the guy. I'd never heard of any 'Uncle Phil' before. -Not that my drunk moron of a father ever talked much about his side of the family."

"Lets stay on point." Ben reminded him. Pierce already said Dylan was a ward of the state. Ben didn't need to invade the boy's privacy any more than that. "What happened after that?"

"I decided to follow up on his job offer. Agreed to meet with his commander and if I liked what he had to say, I might consider the position." Dylan's hands balled into fists as he continued. "Fake-Tennyson was already there with Servantis. He was being offered the same job and like hell was I gonna let that micro-managing, obsessive compulsive, little pissant take a job that should have been mine. So we started to argue. Might have actually come to blows too. I've wanted to hit the bastard since the fist moment I met him at the Academy."

"Please remember that is my nephew." Ben reminded him.

Dylan's expression turned dark. He did not much like being reminded that his rival and nemesis, was family of the highest ranked Plumber in the Sol System and protected by him. Ben Tennyson had managed to convince the President of Earth to pardon Kevin 11,000. There was no doubt in Dylan's mind that, however this ended, Devlin 'Fake-Tennyson' Levin would come out of it just as squeaky clean. Untouched. It just wasn't fair!

"Anyway…" He began again. Intent to finish his narrative. "Fake-Tennyson and I were about to fight and then Servantis hits us with this weird red lightning. It made my head go all fuzzy. Like I was buzzed -uh… Like what I imagine being buzzed is like. I wouldn't really know. I'm to young to get buzzed. Uh-heh… Uh, we asked him what it was and he was just saying he was making a 'psychic link' between us and the team leader. He never actually told us which of us was the 'team leader'."

"Servantis was." Pierce informed him. "He always was. I know how he operates. When I was your age-"

Ben put a hand on the other man's shoulder. "We should let the kid rest."

They moved to leave but Dylan reached out and grabbed Pierce by the wrist. "Magister Wheels! Am I gonna be expelled from the Weekend Academy for this? I only have a few months left. If you expel me, or deny me promotion into the real Academy…?" He let his question trail off there.

Pierce -gently- pried the boy's hand off his wrist, carful not to catch Dylan's skin on any of his quills. "I know it wasn't your fault, Billings. You had no control over yourself. So long as you pass your psychologicals at the end of the term, there's no reason to deny you."

The boy relaxed noticeably.

…

The first thing Devlin became aware of was that he had a pounding headache. No. 'Pounding' was to soft a word. It was the worst headache he'd ever had in his life. Like someone landed the Rust Bucket on his head without proper landing gear, then proceeded to cram an entire drum set in his ears. The Osmosian wished his head would just go ahead and explode already and save him the suffering. Was this what being hung over was like for grown-ups? If so, Devlin planned to never drink -ever. If coming down from alcohol was anything like coming down from absorbing to much energy, he could do without it.

The second thing Devlin became aware of was a soft mattress beneath him and light cotton sheets above him. He was in a bed, and judging from how comfortable it was, not the bed in his barracks at the Rooter's base.

He opened his eyes and saw the family standing around his bed in a semi-circle -all starring down at him. Kevin, Mom, Uncle Ben, Grandpa Max, and Kenny. The Osmosian practically jumped at seeing himself surrounded.

"Its okay, Dev." Kenny assured him. "Kevin got rid of the mind control. We know nothing was your fault. Servantis was just controlling you."

Devlin blinked in confusion, not fully grasping what his cousin was talking about. Mind-control, what? He was pretty sure he was in full command of his own mind while he was working for the Proctor. Speaking of, where was the Proctor? The last thing Devlin remembered was chasing Kenny through the Rooters' base and- oh god Kenny! Devlin's eyes snapped to the younger boy, giving him a much more critical examination.

He looked alright. There was the normal color in his face, he wasn't pale or ashen. His cheeks and muscles looked full and firm, not shrunken, unnaturally skinny, or thin. His hair was still a bright auburn bordering on a brownish red, not white or gray. He looked normal. Fine. So, he hadn't drained him of energy. Thank goodness. Devlin didn't know what came over him. After he absorbed the faux-Omnitrix -fake though it was- the sudden power coursing through him… the new alien DNA pumping in his veins… It made Devlin feel strong. Confident. Powerful. It was like a drug. He loved the feeling and he wanted more.

More… No wonder Kevin always went crazy every time he absorbed to much power.

But that craziness… that insanity drove him to almost absorb the most important person in his life. Just like his father tried to do to his mother once…

"Kenny, I-" He averted his eyes. To ashamed to look at his cousin. "I'm sorry. I just- it was- I don't know what to say…"

"Its okay, Dev." The younger boy assured him. "I know Osmosians go cray-cray when they suck up to much energy. I'm glad you're back though."

"But I-" Devlin didn't think he deserved to be forgiven that easily.

"If you want, I can think of a way for you to make it up to me." Kenny added with a bit of an evil grin.

Ah, that was more like it. Forgive him and punish him at the same time. Knowing Kenny it would probably involve Devlin being made to play co-op on any and all video games of the younger boy's choice. Either that, or do his homework for him for a year. Or do all his chores around the house for a year. Or maybe just be his slave for a year. Devlin could handle that. "Sure. Anything you want."

There was a relived pause in which no one said anything. The family was to glad to have their child back to know what to say. Then Kevin cleared his throat.

"Guys, I need the room." He informed them. "There's something I gotta say to my son -Osmosian to Osmosian. Ya know."

Of course they all figured Devlin would have questions. This was the first time he'd ever absorbed anything as powerful as the Omnitrix. While Kevin, on the other hand, had absorbed the Omnitrix, the Ultimatrix, Aggregore's power, all their friends' powers, and the powers and abilities of 11,000 other aliens across the universe. If there was ever any 'sagely advice' to be given about absorbing to much energy, Kevin was the one to give it. With a nod, Ben shuffled Gwen and Kenny out of the room.

Kevin wait until the count of ten after the door was closed to make sure the rest of the family was out of ear-shot. Then he turned to face his son. But it was not sagely advice that he was planning to share.

"So, mind-control, huh?" Devlin ventured conversationally.

"Cut the crap and listen." Kevin cut him off. He leaned down over the bed to be on eye-level with the boy. Almost nose-to-nose. Invading the younger man's personal space. "I was inside your head and you and I both know that you were never under Servantis' control."

Devlin looked suddenly alarmed. He knew the mind-control excuse was just a little to easy. He certainly never felt like he was being controlled that whole time he was working for the Rooters. Every mission he went on and every decision he made was all his own. Right up to the part where he absorbed Kenny's faux-Omnitirx. When he woke up and everyone was calling it 'mind-control' Devlin figured it was best to just play along and avoid punishment and worse, everyone having un-refutable proof that he was just as terrible a monster as his father. No better than Kevin 11,000. Devlin couldn't take that. He just couldn't handle it.

"Are you going to tell the others?" He asked, a lump forming in his throat. Of course, continuing to attend the Academy was out of the question now. He'd fail his Psychologicals in a heartbeat. But what else would they do? Would he be thrown in the Null Void with the rest of the criminals of the universe? Would he be imprisoned in one of the many and varied Plumbers' prisons across the universe and the Null Void? What if they put him in the exact same cell Kevin used to occupy!?

"No." Kevin straightened.

"No?" Devlin echoed, disbelieving.

"No." Kevin repeated. "As far as I'm concerned no one else has to know. I'll keep your secret. But you have to make a change."

"What kind of change?" Now Devlin was suspicious. Kenny's 'punishments' he knew and understood, and could deal with easily. Kevin, on the other hand, was still an unfamiliar and unquantifiable anomaly in his life. He couldn't predict what kind of demands the older man might make on him or if they would be within his abilities or his tolerances to meet.

"Firstly, you're gonna stop calling me 'Kevin' and start calling me 'Dad'." He began. Devlin blinked at him. That was not the kind of thing he was expecting. But he said nothing and let Kevin continue without protest. "Secondly, you're gonna stop being an impatient and snotty little brat when I try to spend time with you and get to know you. I get that you still resent me for never being here when you were growing up and being a galactic Big Bad, that makes it hard for you to get along with your peers. Yes, that's my fault, but I'm trying to make up for it with you. The least you can do is meet me half way. Finally, until I can build a new one, the car is mine. I get to drive it whenever I need."

"Do you even have a license anymore!?" The boy exclaimed. "You can't possibly be certified to drive a hover vehicle. The skylanes didn't even exist sixteen years ago!"

"That's for me to worry about." Kevin brushed off the boy's protests. It would be the thing he gets most worked up about is the car, or 'Lexie' as he named her. "Do you agree to the deal or not? Oh! Also, you have to spend more time with your grandmother. She says she never gets to see you anymore."

Devlin thought about the terms. Kevin would keep his secret and allow everyone else to continue thinking he was under mind control the same as Ally and Billings if he just called him 'Dad' instead of 'Kevin', and didn't try to storm off in a huff every time Kevin tried to spend time with him. Objectively, they didn't sound like bad terms. But at the same time, to spite the fact that Devlin did want to get to know his father better, it was still very uncomfortable being alone with him. Awkward. Like there was a giant elephant in the room that both of them were aware of, both had mentioned a little bit, but both were downplaying, or outright trying to ignore. Devlin could try fulfilling Kevin's terms, but he wasn't sure how long he could keep them up.

"Well?" Kevin prompted.

"I'll try, Kev- uh, Dad." The word felt strange and uncomfortable in his mouth. This was going to be harder than he thought.

"See. That wasn't so hard." Kevin slapped the kid's knee. He turned to exit the room.

"Uh, Dad?" Devlin asked before he could leave. "The others- Ally and Minie- what happened to them?"

"The girls are already back home with their parents." He informed the boy. "Pierce is looking into finding a different foster home for the Billings kid, and researching a way to take the Necrofriggian back out of him and make him human again. Oh! Also, Pierce wants you all to attend regular group therapy. Says he's making it mandatory if you want to stay in the Academy. Personally, I think he's coddling you all. Back in my day-"

"So, Speedy's alright?" Devlin cut his father off before he could launch into a cliche old-man speech about back in his day.

"She's actually better off than the rest of you are right now." Kevin assured him.

"And she's not mad at me?"

"She thinks you were under mind-control, same as everyone else." Kevin reminded him. "Besides. Now that you've done it once, I guarantee you this won't be the last time you go crazy and hurt your friends." It was wrong how cheerful he sounded when he said that. Like this was some sort of 'Right of Passage' and he was actually proud of Devlin for going half-mad and putting his friends in danger. "What's a little betrayal and kidnapping between friends? Water under a bridge. Or, at least, water near a bridge."

...

There was an awful lot of impatient or uncomfortable tapping. Tapping feet. Tapping fingers. A stylus tapping on a datapad. Nobody really knew what they were supposed to be doing or saying. This was a stupid idea anyway. They didn't need counciling. Ally, Minie, Devlin, Dylan, and Kenny all exchanged glances.

"So… what's supposed to happen here?" Dylan asked after the uncomfortable silence dragged on long enough. "Are we, like, just supposed to start talking? Are you gonna ask us questions?"

"Do you want me to ask you questions?" Asked the councilor -read: therapist.

Dylan barred his teeth in snarl and jabbed an accusatory finger at the councilor. "Don't do that! Don't answer my question with another question! I hate it when you shrinks pull that crap!"

The councilor stopped tapping her stylus and made a note on the datapad. "You've been to a therapist before?"

"Don't they give you files and crap?" Dylan snapped. "Don't play kriffing mind-games. You know where I've been."

There was another beat of silence as the councilor made another note on her datapad. The rest of the kids exchanged another glance.

"I have a question." Then Kenny raised his hand as if they were in school. "Why am I here? I mean, I get they they're all here. Mind-control, mind-control, kidnaped, mind-control." -he pointed to each of his fellow councils in turn- "But what am I doing here? Nobody tried to kidnap me. Nobody tried to control my mind. I'm cool. So, what am I doing here?"

The councilor didn't answer immediately. First she made a few more notes on her datapad. Then she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and asked, "So, you're telling me you're cool. You have no reason to be here?"

"That is what I just said." Kenny grumbled indignantly.

"So, you have no lasting anxieties or trust issues with your cousin?" She never broke eye contact with Kenny, but the boy quickly glanced to the opposite side of the circle of chairs at Devlin. He was sitting across from Devlin, not next to him. "His absorbing your Omnitrix and trying to absorb you, had no affect on you. You're not bothered at all. You're cool."

"Totally cool." Kenny nodded. "Dev and I are always cool."

"Well, I'm not cool." Ally confessed outright. She didn't believe in wasting energy on ego and bravado. That was a boy thing. Ally was more practical than that. "I am really, really not cool. I mean, while I was under mind-control, not only did kidnap Minie -someone I babysit for almost all the time- but I also tried to kill Kenny's dad and my own because he got in the way! I am really not cool with that. Really, really not cool!"

"I'm not cool either!" Minie stood up in her chair to command attention. "I was in a base full of bad guys and I was smart, and fast, and kept my head together. I took care of myself while no one else was around to take care of me and I get absolutely no credit! I can deal with bad guys just as much as the rest of you, but every time I try and talk to Mommy or Daddy about it, its always 'you're still to young this' or 'its much to dangerous for my little baby that'. I wanna beat-up bad guys!"

"And you don't think that's an unusual passion for someone your age to have." The councilor made another note.

"No." Minie shook her head. "I'm at the perfect age to break into the hero industry. Magister Tennyson started at my age! And Devy's mommy, too!"

That was true. They had. The councilor made another note. Then put her stylus back down, turning her attention to the one person in the room who hadn't yet spoken. Hadn't said a word, in fact, since he and Kenny were dropped off by his father and watched the green and black muscle car drive away. "Devlin, is there anything you'd like to share?"

The Osmosian crossed his arms over his chest -defensive body language. "No."

"So, like Kenny, you're also… cool."

"As a cucumber." The Osmosian assured her. Never mind that he was just returning from being one of the bad guys, kiddnapping a family friend, absorbing one of the Omnitrixes, trying to absorb his cousin, and -on top of every now- was now being blackmailed by his father. "I'm totally cool."

…

Kevin cut wood while Devlin sanded. It hadn't taken them long to rip out the old porch railing. The time consuming part was putting a new railing back in. New wood, cut and shaped, sanded, painted, and weather-sealed.

Leah brought out a tray of cucumber sandwiches. "Its so nice, seeing you working together. Like a real father and son."

"They are real father and son." Gwen was just a half-step behind her with lemonade.

"And its nice to see them acting it. Have a sandwich." Leah shoved a cucumber sandwich in her son's mouth her with free hand before moving the tray closer to Devlin. "Oh! By the way, Kevin, did you ever get a chance to ask Mr. Servantis if he knew Devin?"

Devlin's eyes snapped up for a moment, the power-sander in his hands skipped a stroke before he quickly got back on task. Kevin nearly choked on his sandwich. He coughed a few times to clear his air-passage, swallowed what to coughed up and then stared at his mother. He had been in Servantis' head. He knew everything now -at least, everything that Servantis knew- but he had forgotten that she didn't know. But there was one thing he was sure of. She didn't need to know. His mother seemed fairly satisfied -happy- with her life as she knew it. He didn't need to go changing the past that she knew.

"Yeah." Kevin croaked. "Yeah, Mom, he knew Devin. Servantis knew Devin really well."

"I see. That must be why the name was so familiar. Devin must have talked about him." She agreed. "I had a feel he had something to do with your father. A shame he turned out to be such a bad man. But, oh well." She shrugged and went back inside.

Gwen waited until her mother-in-law was back inside, the door closed behind her before turned to Kevin and saying, "But, ya know, it does make me wonder…"

"About what?" Both men asked her.

"Well, if Devin Levin never existed, then, who's your father, Kevin?"

Devlin glanced between his parents. Noting his mother's casual air, she was just wondering out loud, not actually expecting an answer. Kevin, on the other hand, went very, very tense. His motions cutting the wood became mechanical, as if trying to distract himself with the task.

"I haven't got a father." Kevin answered.

…

Some Years Ago…

Hector stared at the document that was thrust in front of him, along with the woman who held it. Young. Fresh out of school. Bright eyes and optimistic. Her dark hair up in a perky side-ponytail. He decided he instantly hated her on sight. No one could be that cheerful and not be working some sort of con -or else be completely out of their mind. He snatched the paper from her hands in one single abrupt and impatient motion.

"I'm Leah." She informed him. "I'm your new intern."

"I can read." Hector informed her, looking over the letter and her credentials. "Levin… that's a German variant of the Hebrew 'Lev', right? Are you ashkenasi?"

"Yes, but I'm not very observant. I won't let it interfere with my work, if that's what you're worried about." She assured him.

"I'm sepharic myself, actually." He informed her. "But that's not why I asked. Do you know what I do here?"

Here, Leah paused, and her inexperience showed in her hesitation. She might have excellent marks and glittering recommendations from instructors. But she was still fresh out of school with only the minimum amount of work hours under her belt. "Gene mapping… right?"

He sighed, tossing her papers onto his messy and over cluttered desk. "Well, you're not wrong. Gene mapping is one of the things I do. But its a sans to an end, not the end itself. What I actually do here is research on one specific -and frustratingly rare- gene mutation. Have you ever heard of the OSM-1 gene?"

Leah shook her head 'no'.

"Well, then, allow me to educate you."

The OSM-1 gene, Leah learned, was a rare genetic mutation that -according to Hector- gave an individual extraordinary abilities. She laughed at that. Voice light and clear. As if he hadn't just been explaining his life's work to her, but instead was summarizing the premise for the next episode of Spiderman and his Amazing Friends. "That sounds like something out of a kids TV show!"

He made a face of displeasure at her comment. But it wasn't like this was the first time anyone had ever made light of his research. So, instead of biting back with a jabbing remark Hector continued his explanation. Like baldness, the OSM-1 gene was passed through the mother, but usually only affected males. Females were carriers of the gene, but rarely over manifested it. That was why -Leah later observed- the majority of his volunteer subjects were male. For a female to manifest the OSM-1 gene, she would have to inherit it from both the mother and the father as well.

As the dutiful intern, Leah took notes on everything he said. Then Hector pulled out a syringe and asked her for a DNA sample.

"Wait, what!?" Leah was so alarmed that she dropped her memo book.

"Might as well." Hector shrugged. "Its such a rare mutation, you probably don't have it. But, since you're gonna be working here for the next six months, why not check? Consider it an initiation."

"I assume you screened yourself, too, then."

"Of course!" He nodded. "I'm disappointed to say that I do not carry the gene. Though, the fact that I don't have powers is evidence enough of that."

As it turned out, Leah did carry the OSM-1 gene. Hector's opinion of her changed instantly. Suddenly, her youth and optimism wasn't obnoxious. Her side ponytail didn't irritate him. Her inexperience and freshness wasn't a drawback but a bonus. She was a blank slate. Fresh clay that he could mold. And Leah was a quick study. Clever and intuitive. Soon, Leah was almost as much an expert on the OSM-1 gene as Hector was. They were pioneers of a field not widely studied.

After her six-month internship was concluded, Hector took her on as a paid lab partner.

.

It was as she was doing a follow-up on one of their volunteer subjects, a young man who's real name was Greg Argile, but he preferred to be called by his 'character name', Aggregor. Apparently, Greg belonged to that new Dungeons and Dragons cult that seemed all the rage these days. Book, and dice, and strange costumes… Leah didn't see the appeal. But it was as she was doing her follow-up on Greg that things got weird.

Two men in strange costumes -like something out of Blade Runner- came barging into the lab carrying a third between them.

"Where's Servantis?" One of them demanded.

Leah didn't know who they were or what they thought they were doing barging into -what was supposed to be- a private medical lab. But she placed herself between them and her volunteer. "What in the heck do you think you're doing?"

"Who are you?" Demanded the other helping to hold their companion.

She was about to turn all three of them out when Hector came out of his office to discover what the commotion was about. He recognized the trio instantly. "Tennyson! Green! What the hell kinda trouble did you two get Driscoll into this time!?"

"Oh. Yeah. We're the trouble makers." One of them rolled his eyes. He was middle aged with the look of someone from Native decent. His long hair pulled back in a ponytail.

Hector ignored the comment. He turned his attention to Leah. "Levin, get our volunteer out of here. You two, put the idiot on my table!"

There then followed the most surreal experience of Leah's life.

Greg was pushed out of the lab and left standing confused outside in the building corridor. While behind the locked lab door, Leah helped the other two men, Tennyson and Green, get the third man, Driscoll, onto the table. Hector was at the table side in moments, pulling a pair of sterile gloves over his hands. A change had come over him, gone was the detached researcher who's only focus was the object of his research, and in his place was a medical surgeon with concern for his patient -bedside manner and all.

He looked in Driscoll's mouth and checked his pupils for dilation. Felt his lymph nodes, and temperature. "What were you fighting?"

"Xenomorph of some kind." Tennyson supplied. "Hostile, obviously. Phil kinda pissed it off."

"He's good at that." Hector joked. "Its his super-power. There're abrasions on the back of his throat. Did he swallow anything? Or maybe inhale?"

"Inhaled." Green nodded. "Some kinda red dust."

Hector nodded as if he might have guessed as much. "Levin, we'll need a chest x-ray. Tennyson, Green, help me get his armor off."

Leah had no idea what was going on. It felt like she had suddenly walked onto the set of the Outer Limits, the Twilight Zone, or the Scary Door. But, for whatever reason, she found that she didn't want to leave. Having men barge in on the lab suddenly was unprecedented and if she was a normal rational woman, she should be frightened. But instead Leah just felt exhilarated. It was like an adventure had just dropped into her lap. She half expected one of them to pull a bag of cant out of his pocket and say, 'Would you like a jelly baby?' So it was with more enthusiasm than alarm that Leah pulled a disused x-ray from a corner of the room and wheeled it over to the exam table.

The x-ray came back showing a foreign body in the lungs. A foreign organism growing in the lungs.

"This is some crazy Star Trek thing… isn't it." Leah gasped, not quite believing what her eyes were telling her was wrapped around Driscoll's bronchial tubes.

"Well, you're not wrong." Green replied without look at her. Then to Hector, "Servantis, can you get it out?"

"Course I can! Levin, scalpel!"

Leah placed a surgical blade in his hand and the surgery to remove the alien body from Driscoll's lungs began. It was a long ordeal and the man almost died on the table -a couple of times- but at the end of it, Hector was sewing him back up with a satisfied -almost proud- look on his face. Pain killers were administered and when Hector decided it was safe for Billings to be moved, Tennyson and Green took him away.

The tools were sterilized. The table was hosed down. Leah and Hector sat down on the desk in his office, physically and mentally exhausted.

After a prolonged pause, Hector opened a lower drawer in his desk and pulled out a bottle of brandy. He handed the whole bottle to Leah. "You did surprisingly well with that."

Her hand shook as she held the bottle. Whether it was from exhaustion or nerves she had no idea. She had originally gone to school to work in the ER. Research assistant was just where she ended up. She never would have imagined she'd have to assist in an emergency surgery in a boring little private research lab. She was equal parts shocked and excited. "That was an alien."

"You're in shock. Have a drink." To illustrate, he pulled the bottle from her hands, took a swig of it himself and passed it back to her. "I guess this would be the time for some sort of explanation. That was… my other job."

Leah did drink some brandy. Several large gulps. "Don't explain right now. I won't retain it. I'm just… that was an alien."

"Yes."

"In his chest! That was an alien in his chest! I feel like Sigourney Weaver!"

"You're much prettier than her."

"What?"

"What?"

There was a pregnant pause between them in which the two just stared at one another. Neither really quite sure what had just happened. In that instant, something changed between them. Some indistinct, ephemeral, undefinable thing. They were no longer researcher and his assistant. By allowing her to assist with his 'other job' Hector had let her in on a secret. A secret that they now shared. There relationship wasn't professional anymore. But they weren't quite sure what it was going to turn into.

.

Time passed. Hector continued his research. Leah helped. Every now and again, Tennyson, Green, or Driscoll would come to them with a problem. Not always a medical emergency. Sometimes they found something they wanted to have dissected. Or needed a vaccine or a cure for some alien ailment. Sometimes just simple questions or for research. In short, any issue that couldn't be solved by shooting it was brought to Hector's lab.

And Leah got to know them. Green was a Navajo, originally from Arizona. He had a son who was engaged and often complained about young people and manic wedding planning. Something Tennyson liked to tease him about. All of his children were already married. Driscoll had no family -at least, none that he talked about- but he had a keen interest in Arthurian legend and medieval times, also money and alien technology. It was those last two keen interest of his that lead to his being booted from the team. The last Leah heard of Driscoll, he joined a different group that was at odds with them.

Driscoll's leaving left a hole in the team. But it was eventually filled by a new guy. Billings. Leah didn't really like him much. He was rude, stubborn and aggressive. All qualities she was sure were helpful when fighting aliens, but mad him completely unpleasant to be around in social settings.

It was after one these visits that Hector and Leah once again found themselves sitting in his office, drinking the brandy he kept in his desk.

"I have to say, you handle yourself in these situations remarkably well." Hector commented.

Leah only shrugged. "Composure under stress must run in the family, I guess. My grandfather was a soldier in the war. He used to say that the things that could kill him were what made him feel most alive. He was a bit of an adrenaline junkie. Liked big guns and fast cars."

"Hm. I wonder if a high tolerance for stress is a hereditary trait linked to the OSM-1 gene…" He thought aloud. She looked at him. "Come now, we already know you carry the gene. Perhaps a high stress tolerance is attached to the gene to help preserve the line of heredity. After all, how else could a mother without abilities manage to rear an offspring with abilities?"

"With a firm hand." Leah answered as if this should have been obvious.

"Even if said hypothetical offspring could shoot lighting out of his hands or suck the life out of other living things?" Hector pressed. "Carriers of the OSM-1 gene have to have some kind of natural talent to allow them to raise their offering. Otherwise, what's to stop the child from destroying the home or killing the parent. You son would have powers you do not."

"I'm having a son now?" Leah laughed as she took another sip from the brandy. "Call the Pope! God's knocked up another unmarried Jewish girl!"

Maybe it was the adrenaline of the alien crisis they just helped Tennyson and the others avert, or maybe the alcohol, or it could have just been Leah's wide dark eyes that seemed to shine so brightly when she was excited, then again, maybe the reason didn't matter. But Hector got the best idea ever! He pulled the bottle out of Leah's hands and gazed into her deep dark eyes, still shining brightly from the earlier excitement. He loved those eyes…

"Why not?" He asked.

"Why not what?" Leah blinked at him.

"Lets make a son." Hector suggested. "You carry a latent OSM-1 gene. Your son would definitely have the active gene. It would give us the chance to study the trait in an individual from infancy -no, from conception! What do you say?"

"I say you're drunk." Leah stood up from the desk. Grabbed the brandy bottle out of his hands and stowed it back in the desk. "Come on, its time to call it a night. I'll drive you home."

"You're quite forward. Inviting yourself over to my place." He smiled at her, thinking she would look gorgeous sprawled across his bed. Wearing nothing but a smile and her deep, dark eyes, made bright with vitality from lovemaking. "You have beautiful eyes… I hope our son has your eyes."

"Man… you are so drunk!"

.

But he eventually worse her down. Not with begging or nagging. Panting after her tails. No.

In fact, Hector preferred to pretend the conversation never happened. That he never made the suggestion and Leah never heard it. She took him home because he was to drunk to drive and nothing ever happened. But the suggestion hung in the air between them. Unspoken. Unmentioned. But still always there.

They found themselves giving each other awkward stared and unreadable glances. Funny looks and smiles. Like they were school children suddenly, with no idea how to vocalize the things they were thinking. Once the suggestion was made out loud, it was always in the back of their minds. Leah would be lying if she didn't admit that the idea had some appeal. Hector was intelligent and well educated -qualities she always imagined she'd want in a donor if she ever decided to have a child. She couldn't marry him, though. Oh. no. Hector was already married to his work, Leah couldn't have a man like that.

"Would you late me raise him however I wanted?" She asked one day, out of nowhere.

"Raise what now?"

"If we made a son, and I let you study him for his OSM-1 gene, would you leave me alone to raise him and not interfere?"

"Well, I imagine once he got to a certain age, he'd have a few things to say about how he'd like to be raised." Hector laughed. "Goodness knows you'll probably have a betting time controlling him than I ever would. Remember, he'll have powers and we'll have none."

"Sounds exciting." She grinned.

Hector just shook his head. "Levin, you are ten pounds of crazy in a three pound box."

He closed the space between them, pulling Leah into an ardent kiss. More passionate than Leah would have expected from him. Hector was passionate about his research, he was not passionate about people. Yet -with that kiss- it was like he saw saying he needed her, not just wanted her, but needed her. There was no question of 'your place or mine?' they did it un the desk they always seemed to find themselves sitting on after an alien job.

.

Hector ducked quickly to avoid the beaker that smashed agains the wall right behind where his head had been. Leah might be a petie little woman, but man did she have one strong throwing arm!

"You did something to him! I know you did!" One arm wrapped protectively around her swollen belly, the other gripped around on the counter behind her for another projectile to throw. "Damn you and your experiments, Hector! This is our baby!"

"This was the plan all along, Leah!" He shouted back to her from the behind the protection of the exam table. "To study the OSM-1 gene in an individual from infancy. That was what we both agreed on. That's what you agreed to!"

"You said study! Study! That's what I agreed to!" She threw box of tongue depressors in his general direction. It bounced open on the exam table over him, showering Hector in flat wood sticks. "I never said you could change him! Now what did you do? Something's different, I can feel it!"

There was a lull in her outburst as Leah leaned back against the counter, one hand to her belly, the other going to her head as she fought a sudden dizzy spell. That was happening more and more frequently. Dizzy spells. Fatigue. Drowsiness. Loss of energy. Just general and over-all tiredness. Like something was sucking up all her vitality. She had a feeling it was the baby and she had a feeling it was doing that now because of something Hector did.

Hector counted the seconds of silence. Leah wasn't screaming or throwing anything. Cautiously, he climbed out from behind the protection of the exam table. Saw Leah leaning against the counter, hand to her head, other hand around her belly, fighting the urge to pass out. In moments, Hector crossed the room and held her in his arms. "I got you. I got you. Go ahead and faint if you have to. Don't fight passing out."

.

Leah woke up on the exam table. An IV drip in her arm. Hector asleep in an office chair next to her. A notebook open on his lap.

She reached across him and plucked the notebook from his lap. As she assumed, it was his research notes.

Leah read pages of his observations and theories. His idle musings or hypothesis on the OSM-1 gene. Until she got to the more recent entries. Outlines for an experiment. A way to alter the gene so that it didn't have to pass through the maternal line. So that anyone who carried the gene could manifest its abilities. So that a male could still produce OSM-1 offspring even with a female partner that did not possess the gene -'Osmosians' were what he called them. A new subspecies of the human genome. Leah knew Hector was passionate, but she never really imagined that he was also crazy.

What possible purpose would he have in wanting to breed a new species? Other than playing god, of course.

Leah had read enough. She lit a bunsen burner and burred the notebook. Went into the office and burned all the files relating to her baby. She left a note for Hector when he woke up.

'STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM MY SON!'

And left.

To the best of her knowledge, Leah never saw him again.

…

"But, ya know, it does make me wonder…" Gwen mused.

"About what?" Both Kevin and Devlin asked.

"Well, if Devin Levin never existed, then, who's your father, Kevin?"

Devlin glanced between his parents. Noting his mother's casual air, she was just wondering out loud, not actually expecting an answer. Kevin, on the other hand, went very, very tense. His motions cutting the wood became mechanical, as if trying to distract himself with the task.

"I haven't got a father." Kevin answered.

"So, I guess Daddy Issues are a family tradition." Devlin commented.

"And crazy's genetic." Kevin shot back.

…

END