The Discovery
The next 24 or so hours went by in a blur for one Carl Webb, as the case pertaining to the Alpha known as Skylar Adams brought about a mixture of many emotions for the only Alpha on Rosen’s team who wore a suit (since he was still used to the more formal dress code of his last job). Skylar’s refusal to tell Rosen who had been trying to attack her recently, her escape from Rosen’s team and the FBI, and the brunette and blond haired Alpha’s recruitment of a defiant Nina to help her evade Rosen’s team all made Carl more than a little annoyed with Skylar. However, the FBI’s frequent attempts to use extreme and unlawful methods to apprehend Skylar in the name of “public safety”, attempts which most of Rosen’s team had to run interference on, because they didn’t want Skylar to go to prison for the rest of her life without good cause, as well as Rosen’s discovery that one of the tracking devices which Skylar had built for the federal government had been put for assassination missions, made Carl extremely angry at the government that he reluctantly worked for, and made him somewhat more sympathetic to the techno path’s plight. Carl also felt a mixture of relief and amusement when he discovered that Skylar had, with Nina’s help, destroyed her own creation so that the feds couldn’t keep using it to kill people.
Even so, by the time that he and the rest of Rosen’s team had tracked Skylar to a small house in a suburb, he was fairly angry at Skylar because she he had used one of her devices to knock both Gary and himself unconscious after the two male Alpha’s “finally” managed to track the technopath and mesmerizer to a gas station parking lot earlier after Carl and his transducer teammate had "accidently lost” track of Skylar’s location several times before they had been able to give the feds the slip and go after Skylar on their own. After all, in Carl Webb’s book, hurting him was one thing, but hurting his friends was something else again. Therefore, by the time that Rosen’s team had tracked Skylar down to her uncle’s house, Carl was livid with Skylar for harming Gary, even temporarily, and the fact that Carl was secretly intrigued by Skylar’s unique energy signature and personality (because Carl kept telling himself that he, a married man, could NOT be interested in Skylar on a physical level) did not change that.
However, as soon as Rosen’s team discovered the reasons that Skylar had gone to such great lengths to evade them, the FBI, and any government-related entity for years, his anger at the technopath quickly evaporated as he saw her interacting with a young five year old Alpha girl who was drawing pictures and complex strings of numbers on numerous sheets of paper when he and the rest of Rosen’s team entered the room. Carl’s eyes widened. He already knew, based on the way that Skylar was interacting with this child, as well as the similarities between the little girls energy signature and the technopath’s, although the young girl’s signature was less intense for Carl, that this little girl was Skylar’s daughter…and that she was an Alpha, just like her mother.
As Skylar noticed the other people in the room and quickly explained what he already knew, that the little girl, Zoe, was her daughter, Carl quickly surmised that everything that every nonsensical, annoying, and sometimes even dangerous extreme that Skylar had gone to in order to avoid government entanglements…she had done to try to protect her daughter from the scrutiny and suspicion that the government cast upon all known Alpha’s. And as much as he didn’t like some of the things Skylar had done in the past 24 hours, he couldn’t fault her for wanting to protect her own child.
Dr. Rosen interrupted Carl’s train of thought, however, when, after talking to both Zoe and her mother quietly for several minutes, he started speaking to Skylar loud enough for the rest of his team to hear. “Your little girl is really quite remarkable, Skylar. As a parent myself, I can understand why you would want to protect you child from the world. But you should know that your Zoe is really quite extraordinary, not only for her ability to create and break complex mathematical codes, but also because she is only the second 2nd generation Alpha I have come across in all my years of studying gifted individuals like the two of you.”
As if on cue, everyone on the offbeat Alpha team, other than Rosen, immediately looked right at Carl, causing the Alpha in question to stare self-consciously at the floor for several seconds while mumbling the word “traitors” to his teammates. Skylar also turned her attention to Carl’s presence in the room, and he noted that she had a look on her face that he couldn’t identify, although it was a softer look than the angry scowl that Carl had grown used to seeing on the technopath’s beautiful (and Carl mentally scolded himself for thinking so) face since he had met her. Finally, just as Carl was starting to get anxious about what that look meant, Miss Adams spoke to the slightly older male Alpha she had been looking at for the past 30 seconds. “You’re a second generation Alpha too, Carl? Like my daughter, Zoe?”
Carl cleared his throat. “No, actually. But….” The Alpha in the business suit hesitated for several seconds before deciding that, since he had come to know many of Skylar’s biggest secrets lately, it was only fair that he should trust Skylar with his most precious secret. “My son, Charles, is an Alpha like me. Well, not like me, per say….”
Carl hesitated a second more, than added, in hopes that Skylar might be able to help his child. “He’s a telepath. He can know what a person near him is thinking at any given moment. Actually, he does know what everybody within about 100 yards around him is thinking at all times. He…he can’t turn it off. Ever. Or at least, we haven’t been able to find a way for my son to block out other people’s thoughts entirely. It’s been…really hard for him for the last few years. Overwhelming at times, to be honest. But I was able to make a deal with Dr. Rosen. He helps Charles find ways to cope with all of the thoughts he receives from other people. He also keeps my son’s existence, and his ability, a secret from the government on my behalf. In exchange…I left my previous six figure job as a corporate headhunter in Chicago, and my wife and I moved to New York, so that I could help Dr. Rosen and the rest of his…my team, track down and stop Alpha-related threats to the American public.”
Skylar’s features softened even more before she nodded while giving him a sympathetic look with her beautiful (‘stop that!’ Carl silently himself again) hazel eyes. “I understand. You made a deal to work with Rosen and the bureaucrats he works for to get help for your son. Even though I don’t approve of your line of work, Mr. Webb, and I wouldn’t ever want to be in it, I really do think I understand why you made that deal…”
Skylar looked at her own child and smiled, and said in a softer voice that Carl and his teammates could only barely hear. “We do what we have to do to look after our children.”
…..Minutes later…
Looking around the room, which was just next to the one Skylar and Zoe were playing in, at the members of the team he put together, Dr. Rosen sighed, then turned to the rest of his team. “So, what do you think? Do we let them go?”
Nina raised her eyebrow. “You’re giving us a vote? That’s unusual for you. But whatever. Skylar’s my friend. I obviously think we should not hand her and her daughter over to the Feds and let them do who know what to them at Binghamton.”
Lee nodded. “I figured that would be your vote, Nina. You’re right though. I would usually make decisions like this myself, but…as a professional, my first instinct is to hand Skylar over to the authorities, since letting her get away might jeopardize this entire program’s future with the government, and because Skylar’s abilities could be used for very dangerous purposes if she ever fell under the influence of someone inclined to do so. On the other hand…As some of you know, I am also a father. And after seeing her interact with Zoe…Let’s just say I’m conflicted about this. So I want everyone else’s opinion on the matter now. Knowing what is at stake, should we let Skylar and Zoe go?”
Rachel nodded and said. “Yes. Absolutely. Skylar and Zoe are people and they deserve to have their own lives, just like everyone else.”
Gary nodded his head, although his hands were in the air, and he seemed distracted, like usual, by whatever electromagnetic frequencies he could see now. “I think we should let them go. Skylar seemed nice, and she treats Zoe kind of like my mom treats me.”
The transducer frowned. “She did hurt me and Carl, though. Still, I’m feeling better now, and Skylar apologized to me and Carl for that, and my mother says that you should forgive someone for something if they apologize so…I still say we should forgive her and let her and Zoe go.”
Bill Harken sighed. The African-American’s eyes seemed to have a far-away look for several seconds, as if he was thinking about something else, but the FBI agent eventually gave his own answer to Lee Rosen’s question. “Damn. You know I could lose my job for this, right? But yeah, we should probably let them go. I don’t know much about Binghamton, but I know that it is no place for a child, and I’m not letting Zoe get sent there. I don’t need that on my conscience. Fine. Let them go!”
When everybody looked at Carl for his answer, the man with the suit and dark glasses actually chuckled. “Come on. You all already know my answer. I’m a father too, and there is no way I’m letting the FBI, or NSA, or any other government agency get their hands on Skylar or her child. It’s just not in me to see a parent and child suffer like that.”
Bill chuckled. “Yeah. And I’m sure the fact that you have the hots for Miss Adams has nothing to do with it, right? I saw the way you were looking at her in there, man.”
Bill’s jovial mood soon died, however, when, instead of defending himself from the African American man’s jokes, like usual, Carl just glared at his team mate for several seconds before turning around and walking out of the front door of the house with a frown on his face while muttering something about “needing some air.” At that point, Bill knew that, for the first time since he had met Carl, he had actually managed to hit one of the man’s nerves and offend him somehow.
Still, after everybody in the room finished glaring at Bill and Nina actually called the FBI agent an “Ass.”, the vote concluded with Cameroon telling Dr. Rosen he should let Skylar and Zoe go while also citing his own parental experience as a reason for his decision. Then after Dr. Rosen called him about the vote results and a noticeably calmer Carl reentered the home of Skylar’s uncle, the team went into the room that Skylar and Zoe were playing in and gave them the good news that they were free to go.
Skylar’s mouth took the shape of a thin grin after hearing this news. “Well, I guess you government types do have souls after all. Some of you, anyway. That’s good to know, I guess.”
Skylar than looked at Carl and Gary and frowned. “Seriously, though, I’m sorry I hurt you two when you were looking for me. I know I didn’t do any permanent damage to either of you, and I did really feel like I had to get away at the time but…You were just doing your jobs, and I hurt you for that. And I’m sorry. But…”
Skylar’s grin became a smirk. “I know a way that I can make it up to you two. Gary…”Skylar passed the Transducer what appeared to be an ordinary phone, but the autistic man’s eyes let up when she told him what it could do. “I build that phone. It has unlimited data and roaming, so you’ll never get a phone bill from using it, and it has its own built in Wi-Fi that makes use of every satellite around Earth. You will never have to be without the internet. Ever. Also, it has my own personal number in there. But please don’t call it unless you actually need something important, okay Gary?!”
Gary just nodded, as he was actually too absorbed with playing with his new electronic device to actually respond to Skylar, even though he had heard every word the technopath had said. So Skylar turned to Carl, who looked noticeably uncomfortable now, as he always did when he was the center of attention for a group, since all of Dr. Rosen’s team, sans Gary, was not staring at him as Skylar walked closer to him while speaking in a sadder tone of voice. “Unfortunately, Carl, I think it will take me a little longer to pay you back. But I’m going to work on building a device that will allow your son to block out other people’s thoughts when he wants to, and maybe even better focus his abilities. But it might take me awhile, so I will notify either Gary or Nina when I have something for Charles. Don’t bother contacting me about it. I’ll call you. Oh, and one more thing…”
Carl’s posture visibly stiffened when Skylar drew him into an embrace he had not been expecting. For several seconds, Carl debated with himself wither or not he should try to push Skylar away, despite her unexpected hug feeling unusually pleasant, and the man in the suit was just about to distance himself from the technopath due to his present feelings of awkwardness and guilt, when he heard Skylar whisper in his ear, just before she pulled away from Carl of her own accord. “And when I’m finished with the device for your son, you won’t need Dr. Rosen to help him anymore, and you can break free from the control he and all those other government flunkies have over you. Then you can choose to stop working for the pen pushers.”
…..hours later…
After dropping Skylar and Zoe of at Niagara Falls across the Canadian border, the team began their long trek back to New York via van. As expected, some of the his teammates, especially Nina, were still making fun of Carl’s awkward reaction to Skylar unexpectedly hugging him (although Bill was strangely silent about the subject during the entire ride back to Rosen’s office), but Carl just let his teammates words slide right off of him now. He was honestly too excited by the prospect of Skylar keeping her promise to finally “cure” Charles of the negative side effects of his abilities, instead of just treating the symptoms of his Alpha ability, as Dr. Rosen did, that he didn’t even care what his teammates thought of him right now. All Carl knew was, he was definitely looking forward to hearing from Skylar Adams again…because she was going to help Charles. Not because he happened to find her attractive (as he had finally admitted, but only to himself), or because the tinder look she gave him at her uncle’s house had turned his stomach into nots, or even because it had felt way better than it should have when Skylar hugged him (a fact Carl still felt guilty about since he was still very much in love with his wife).
No. None of those other reasons, besides the prospect that the technopath might be able to help his son, mattered to him, or made him anxious to see the slightly younger Alpha again.
Did they?