Robert Crane - Family

We emerged not far from Ariadne and Old Man Winter’s office. I could see through the windows that day was nearly done, that darkness had started to fall, giving me an idea of what time it was. There was still a light on in Ariadne’s office and I entered in to find the members of M-Squad arrayed in an informal circle, with Ariadne at her desk. Eve was behind her at the window, staring out, Clary was bunched up in a seat that was way too small for him (every seat was way too small for him), Parks was standing at the door, gesturing for me to enter with an outstretched arm, and Bastian was leaned against the desk, his legs at a forty-five degree angle and his arms crossed. Reed was there, too, sitting in the other chair. He made to stand up, offering me his chair, but I waved him to sit down. “Why’s everybody crammed in here? It’s like a telephone-booth stuffing contest.” When Ariadne gave me a blank look, I went on. “I dunno, they used to do it in the fifties or something, see how many people they can cram into a phone booth. If you’d like you could try it in my cell—”

“There she is,” a voice came from the phone, and it caused me to freeze. “Mouthy as ever.”

I looked down, and it took a moment before my mind made the full leap. “Mom?” I asked, truly uncertain.

“None other,” she said, her voice echoing over the speaker. “I heard a rumor that they’re keeping you imprisoned.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I’m starting to feel really at home here.”

I could almost hear her teeth grind on the other end of the phone, but she didn’t let me have it, surprisingly. Ariadne spoke up. “You wanted to speak with her, here she is.”

“Plainly,” my mother said. “So here’s the thing. I have some blond dead weight that might be of interest to you – not much weight, I’ll grant you, poor skinny thing – and not literally dead, either – yet – but if you want her back, I’ll trade her for Sienna.”

“Your daughter’s not a hostage,” Ariadne said, bristling.

“No, but she is a prisoner,” my mother retorted, “which is why I’m proposing a prisoner exchange. Unless you’d like to argue that she’s been free to come and go as she pleases while you’ve got her set up in the basement of your headquarters, feeding her one meal all day—”

Ariadne reached out and pressed a button to mute the microphone. “How does she know this?” Her face was contorted with rage.

“She was here,” Bastian said. “She could have rigged our internal cameras. Or she could have a spy on the inside.” He turned his gaze to Reed, who was still standing beside the empty chair, and who returned Bastian’s look with a virulent glare.

“Hellloo?” my mother’s voice came. “Is anyone still there? You could save the debate on how I know all this until after I get off the phone. That would be the courteous thing to do.”

Ariadne stabbed down at the button, unmuting the phone. “Yes, we’re here. Just so I understand, you suggest we trade Sienna for Kat?”

“You’re not too bright, are you, Red?” my mother replied. “I bet Erich just loves dealing with that. Yes, that’s what I’m suggesting. Do you think that you could handle so basic a transaction?”

Ariadne chewed on that for a moment. “Where do you want to meet? A public place—”

“Heavens, no,” my mother said cheerfully. “I know where you are. Why don’t we just meet on the lawn outside your headquarters building in three hours.”

“Three hours?” Ariadne said. “Why—”

“Don’t interrupt,” my mother chided her. “Three hours. You can have your M-Squad there if you’d like, but all out where I can see them. If you try and capture me afterward, it’ll end poorly for everyone involved.”

“Are you threatening my people?” Ariadne asked, and I could see the irritation blanketing her.

“Yes. Keep up, will you? We’re making a trade, on your turf, but my terms. So don’t screw it up.” There was a click on the other end of the phone and she was gone, followed by a dial tone.

“Get security on the perimeter,” Ariadne said, and I could tell by the twist of her face she was steaming. “If she comes at us through any direction but the front gate, I want to know about it. Focus on the perimeter, double patrols, whatever you have to do; just don’t…let her slip through.”

“We should abandon the perimeter,” Parks said and I watched as every head in the room swiveled to him. “It’s a waste of resources. We need to protect the vital areas, like the dorms, headquarters and the labs. We only have so much force to go around and if we piss it away watching the fences, it weakens us. There aren’t that many metas that could stop Sierra Nealon; she’s too smart to come at this in a way we’d expect. She’s got something else brewing and we won’t be ready until it’s too late if we spread out.”

“Noted,” Ariadne said, “and no. We will not abandon the perimeter and cloister in the buildings.”

“Why?” Parks asked. “You want her to knock the hell out of our guards?”

“Because she’s not the only threat we’re dealing with!” Ariadne said. “In case you’ve forgotten, we’re still at war with Omega.”

“Whatever Omega throws at us is gonna cut through what we’ve got around the perimeter,” Bastian opined. “The agents we have left wouldn’t stop those vampires for longer than it’d take for them to feed.”

Ariadne rubbed her temples as though in pain, her eyes closed. “There are too many elements at play here, and nothing makes sense. What is Sierra up to? What does she want?”

I blinked as the room fell into silence, and I thought about it. What did my mom want? Me, out of imprisonment? She’d never had a problem confining me to tighter spaces than I was in at the Directorate’s behest. She’d driven cross-country, from Wyoming, at least to get to an Omega facility in Wisconsin, just so she could…what? The only thing I’d seen her do was press a few buttons and—

“Andromeda,” I said, and everyone looked at me. “That’s all she’s ever been interested in.”

“She’s about to give up her hostage to trade for you,” Reed said, and his long hair was loose, partially eclipsing his face, but I could still see the slight incredulity. “I think she might be at least a little interested in what’s happening to you.”

“No, think about it,” I said. “She drove cross-country to let Andromeda out. She didn’t have a clue I’d be in Eagle River. And she seemed shocked that Andromeda was dead when I told her about that, like she couldn’t believe it.”

“Well, she’s definitely dead,” Ariadne said. “She hasn’t so much as twitched since we brought her body back for study. And Doctor Sessions finished the autopsy yesterday, so if for some reason she was alive before without showing signs of it, she’s certainly dead now that she’s…uh…” She flushed, as though she were trying to steer around a delicate matter. “…been embalmed and…whatnot.”

“You mean dissected.” Reed didn’t bother hiding his disgust, though it was a mild rebuke at best.

“I mean studied,” Ariadne said, and flushed again. “The girl was dead. There’s no reason not to learn as much from her as possible. She had powers that were abnormal even for a meta, not to mention being able to touch Sienna—”

I blinked. “Could that be it? Could that be why my mother was interested in her? Some way to tame the power of a succubus? Make us…touchable?”

“It makes more sense than anything else I’ve heard so far,” Ariadne said, a pen up to her lips, chewing on the cap. “We’ll need a guard on Sessions’ lab, then.”

“Then can we please pull off the perimeter and keep an eye on the places that matter?” Parks asked again.