"But she's my sister! I can't let my sister stay a slave, even if she has been let live her own life most of the time."

"I will not give her up!" Harrison said.

I had just returned from the really cool bathroom they had there, my smile from having to step over the massive pileup of sleeping Etas fading fast.

"Where's Sarah?" I asked, noticing she wasn't in the room.

"She gone to get Tommy," Harrison said. "Your companion here is not seeing things very clearly. She's my wife, the mother of my child, and I am not going to give all that up!"

"Who said anything about giving it up," I said. "Look, all we want is for Sarah to be her own master. I am not going to force her barrier down, but if she would lower it so we could scan it, I probably could tell you whether she would still... love you afterwards."

Harrison sat there undecided. It was one thing to trust me as a friend, but this was too much for even friendship.

"Harrison, my friend, you know you're my friend by force. Don't you see if I wanted to I could have made you give Sarah to us? You could have wound up eating shit for a living if Joey had been the one to see through your illusion."

"Well, I don't think I.." Joey started.

"Shut up, Joey. Harrison, we won't release Gina's power until Sarah is freed. The only hope you have is to free Sarah and hope she will still love you. You haven't mistreated her, have you?"

"No.. Stan never mistrea.." Gina said. "Shut up, Gina," Harrison and I both said.

"May I join the party?" a gentle voice said from the door.

"Wally?" Joey said.

"Richardson! What are you doing here!"

"Alex, please call your mistress Denise and tell her to come to the warehouse. Tell her I said it's an emergency."

"Richardson..." Harrison said growing rather angry.

"I'm here to make sure everyone sits down and works this out peacefully, Stanley. Just like we did when I was fourteen."

"Wally, if you had anything to do with this, you better come clean or I'll.."

"You'll do what? Play your tricks on me?" he said, smiling.

"Wally.." I said, sensing there being something more the situation.

"Not now Tim. Gina, what is the matter with you?"

"He," Gina said, pointing at me, "turned me off!"

"He did? Well, good for you, Tim. Now turn her back on before she starts crying."

"Look, Wally. I like you. You're a pretty easy going guy. But I'm not willing to trust you just yet. We've come too far to screw it all up now."

"I see. Gina, please get dressed, then if Tim hasn't turned you on by dinner, I'll do it myself, all right?"

Gina gave me smug look, and even made a "Hmmmph" at me as she turned around and left, her sexy ass catching my eye.

Joey had been getting dressed himself, so I started to pull my clothes on as I said, "Look. Right now I don't care about anything except taking Sarah back with us to see her parents. I want to go home, and so does Joey. Can't you at least let her spend some time with her family this Christmas?"

"We are her family," Harrison said. "We have been for twelve years now."

"Only because you made her think we were all DEAD!" Joey spat.

"Who's dead?" a familiar woman said, stepping over bulky leg of an Eta to enter the room. "And who made this mess out here?"

"Denise!" we heard Gina's voice cry from the lobby.

"Gina, what's the matter?" Denise said, stepping out of the doorway and out of sight.

"Gina, get a hold of yourself, girl!" Harrison said, rolling his eyes up as we heard Gina's blubbering.

"And he told me to shut up, too!" Gina cried out as they both came in the room.

"Oh, brother," I said, sitting down on the bed next to Joey.

"Stan, what's going on? Who are these... boys?" Denise said, eyeing us like vermin.

"I'm Sarah's brother, and I've come to take her home. Any questions? Good. Let's go, Tim," Joey said with a dark look on his face, getting up, grabbing my hand, and pulling me towards the door. "Uhm, excuse us for a momENT!" I said as Joey jerked me through the door.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I said to him when I realized he was seriously heading for the stairs. "You're really not just going to try and grab her and run, are you?"

"Yes I am. This whole thing smells like a setup. Wally's playing us for fools."

"Wally? I haven't felt anything... Wait a sec. Joey. Wait. Stop!"

"What!" he said, spinning around with frustration written all over his face.

"Wally is on our side. Or at least he's on Sarah's side. Yeah. That's what it is. Shit. You were right. He was setting us up. Setting us up to.. to.. Damn. I almost have it. But I'm positive he's not trying to trap us or anything. He want's Sarah to have you guys back in her life."

"Well, I'm not going to play his or anyone else's game anymore. I want my sister and... that's that. Are you going to help me finish this or not?"

"That's a stupid question," I said.

"Well?"

"Yes, I'm going to help you finish this, but not by kidnapp..."

"Fine. Then I'll do it myself," Joey said, turning to leave.

I sighed, seeing he had his mind set and wasn't going to listen to reason. So I figured if he was going to be unreasonable, I could be too.

"Well, I guess I'll just call my dad and have him send a limo out for me. I can't wait to get back home and see Suzi again."

Joey froze and turned around, then after looking up at my serious face, he said, "You're not really going home without me. You're just saying that to.."

"Joey, I'm tired of this shit," I said, passing him on the stairs. "I'm going home. You don't need me anymore."

"I.." Joey said behind me, then didn't finish.

I kept walking down, waiting for him to stop me, call me back, anything, but it never came. I did hesitate before pushing the exit door open to glance back up at him, and he just stood there, right were I had left him, staring at me with a stubborn dark look.

Going through that door was one of the hardest things I ever did. I didn't even feel the cold as I made my way back across the field and entered the medical building through its back door.

Okay, so I had no intention of leaving him there by himself. But even though Joey knew me better than anyone else in the world, he couldn't be sure that I wasn't seriously leaving. It was a power play, a gamble, or even a game of poker. He had tried to call my bluff, but now I was calling his.

But when I spotted a pay phone that for all intents and purposes should have been my destination, I wondered if he wouldn't win this hand after all. I actually did hold all the winning cards, but would I make him give up everything he has just because of his stubbornness? Do I do this to him? Can I? Would I? Should I?

My hand was on the receiver.

My hand was picking it up.

I put it to my ear.

I dialed the operator.

My voice asked to make a collect call and gave the number.

Was I really going to do this? Was I really going to leave Joey to fend for himself without anything to use?

It was ringing.

I can't believe I'm doing this.

The other end clicked and a moment later a familiar voice answered.

My traderous voice asked the servant to connect me to my dad.

"Tim! Alright!" Joey called, running up with a desperate face. "I'll do it your way, okay? I need you."

"Hello? Tim? Is everything all right?"

"Yeah dad. Everything is fine. We found her, and we'll have her home by Christmas. But let it be a surprise okay?" I said grinning at Joey's own grin.

"Oh, and could you have someone rush a couple of bottles of drink to Central State in the helicopter? I think we'll want to celebrate.."

"Is that..." Joey said, looking at the six year old blonde headed, brown eyed, fair skinned boy hiding behind Sarah when we returned to the office.

"Tommy, this is your Uncle Joey. He's my lit.. my brother," she said.

Tommy just stood there, one hand holding his mother's hand while the other was fingering his lip nervously.

"Hi, Tommy..." Joey said softly as he kneeled down. "You named him after dad?"

"And you. His full name is Thomas Joseph Harrison," she said, leading Tommy over to Joey.

"Mommy?" Tommy said, tugging on her shirt to have her bend over.

Sarah, listened carefully as he whispered in her ear, then whispered something back to him before straightening up with a smile.

"What did he say?" Joey asked.

"He said he had to go take a shit, but wants you to take him."

"Really?" Joey asked his nephew.

Tommy nodded, then as they left together, Tommy called over his shoulder, "Uncle Wally? We're going to go take a shit. Do you want to come too?"

"Shit, Sarah!" Joey exclaimed. "What have you been teaching this kid? You used to wash my mouth out with shit like that."

"I still will too if he poops in his pants," Sarah said.

"Tommy, how about I take you next time, okay?" Wally said.

"Okay," Tommy said, glancing at his mom before they went out of sight. But then a few moments later, we heard him say, "I only need someone to go with me. You don't need to wipe, though. Uncle Wally always wants to wipe, but he's gay and likes wiping butts. That's what mommy says. Uncle Wally likes wiping little boy butts. Do you like wi.."

I don't know who was more red. Wally or Sarah.

"Cute kid," I said.

"Sarah," Denise said, "What do you want to do with them?"

"Stan? What should we do with them?" Sarah asked with a hint of humility in her voice.

"Shit, Sarah, I don't know."

"Stanley, go stand outside so Sarah can think. You know how she is around you," Denise said irritated.

"Oh, all right. But I'll won't give her up, you understand?" he said glancing at me.

"Like I said. I'm not asking you to do that."

"Yes you are and.."

"STAN! GO!" Denise barked.

"If you weren't my sister.." Stanley said as he scrambled out of the room.

"Now," Denise said, "Sarah, what do you think we should do with them?" Sarah sighed, then said, "I don't know.. Denise, tell me the truth. How can my brother be alive when I... I saw his body?"

"I don't know," Denise lied.

"Bull shit," I said. "We uncovered the memory of you and your brother at the police station. Joey's dad has been haunted by that experience ever since. He hasn't been able to keep a job longer than three months ever since he saw the look of fear on Sarah's corpse. You guys really fucked him up, you know that?" I said angrily.

"Daddy lost his job?" Sarah said painfully.

"Sarah, don't listen to him honey. I don't know how, but they've tricked you into believing that other boy is your brother," Denise said looking in her eyes.

"They've tricked me?" Sarah said somewhat dazedly.

"Denise Katharine Harrison, you will NOT deny her the TRUTH any longer," Wally said powerfully.

"But Wally.." Denise said.

"You heard me."

"You agreed not to interfere!" Denise said, turning towards him angrily. "I did not. I agreed that she was better off not having to go through the pain of what you did after having come to terms with her family's loss. But it's time for her to know the truth, and to let her choose between us and them if she must."

"So you did know.." I confirmed.

"Yes, I knew. I knew the day I had you brought to my suite."

"What? You traitor! Why did you help them?" Denise asked enraged.

"I did not help nor hinder them. All I did was arrange for them to meet Sarah, and took the proper precautions to make sure they didn't harm us. Not that they would have to begin with."

"What do you mean, you took precautions?" I asked suspiciously.

"Don't worry, Tim. I didn't put any 'rats' in your head. I simply meant that I and the four others in our group were standing by to stop you while you and Harrison had your little squabble. I nearly intervened when you saw through his illusions and started throwing out probes. But you didn't harm him, just as I suspected you wouldn't, so here we are."

"Shit. No wonder I kept feeling how patient you were about everything."

"Will someone PLEASE tell me what all this means?" Sarah gasped out. "Wally, please? Who's telling the truth?"

"Tell her Denise," Harrison said from the door way, holding his son in his arms. "Tell her and set her free. I can't live with it hanging over my head anymore. If I lose her... So be it."

"Stan, are you sure?" Denise asked her brother.

Harrison looked her in the eyes, then looked at his son's confused and innocent face as the boy tried to understand why his mother was so upset. Stanley closed his wet eyes as he nodded his head, then kissed his son on the cheek as his tears traveled down his own.

Denise also had wet eyes as she turned to the anxious Sarah, then sat down next to her on the padded bench and took Sarah's hands in hers.

"Sarah, before I do this, I just want you to know that we really do love you. You've given us so much.. Taught us things we never would have learned.. Made us think when we weren't.. We never expected that twelve year old girl who we found in our mists would be anything more than a play mate for our little sister..."

Sarah and Gina had met in a cafeteria on Sarah's campus. Because they were of the same age, the two girls formed a close friendship, spending most of their free time together since they were the only kids there.

Gina had a learning disability that Sarah simply hadn't noticed. Because of Sarah's intellect being far beyond those of the other kids her age, Sarah had learned early on how not to act with the peers her age, and quite frankly didn't even suspect Gina had a learning disability until Gina outright told her.

What Sarah also didn't suspect was that Gina's older brother and sister had discovered their telepathic abilities the year before Sarah met Gina, and were at the college not to get a degree, but to pick out some prize pets.

When Stan and Denise had tired of what the campus had to offer, they found their little sister distraught at the thought of leaving her best friend. So after careful planning and practicing, they used their combined skills to make Sarah think she was an orphan, and took her into their care thinking it would be best for Gina to have a pet or playmate of her own. It wasn't until two years later that Sarah became anything more than that.

When Wally ran across one of Denise's pets, he cautiously investigated the traveling family of telepaths and slaves after having made the mistake of blindly announcing his existence to other telepaths too many times in the past. But unlike the others he had checked out and then avoided, they had something which interested him. A girl his own age who had just recently discovered her meager abilities.

Wally risked his own freedom when he commanded Gina to become interested in him. Gina's powers were of no threat, but he wasn't sure about her siblings. But after two or three months of spending time with the two girls, he suddenly realized he was in love with the Gina's playmate slave.

Actually, Sarah wasn't really a slave. Even though Gina was trying out her powers on many people, she never touched Sarah's mind, and wouldn't let her brother use her as his own toy either. The three siblings were very close, having gone through the tragedy together of losing their parents in a automobile accident shortly before Denise's abilities surfaced. They had grown to depended on each other so much in the past that they never tried to use their abilities against their siblings.

So beyond the generic slave attitude towards Stanley, Sarah was pretty much was herself around Gina, and actually was helping Gina to use her abilities better. Wally found Sarah's intelligence and compassion incredibly attractive, and even though Sarah was most certainly smarter than he was, he knew she could learn a great deal from him too.

Wally had his first heterosexual sex with Sarah later that year. When Gina found out, she was so furious she attacked Wally's mind without warning. Wally easily held her off, then after undoing Sarah's enslavement to her, he asked Sarah to go with him. Sarah said no, then accidentally linked with Gina for the first time after she couldn't send Gina her thoughts like she usually could.

That changed everything for Sarah. Wally found the bond between Sarah and Gina had grown so strong his own love for Sarah couldn't break it. So instead he asked them to forgive him, and helped Sarah to expand her new found abilities while trying to decide how to proceed.

Sarah was actually the one who made the decision of what to do next. Even though she knew they had used their abilities on her, Sarah trusted Stan and Denise even after Wally had removed most of their commands from her mind. You see, while Stan and Denise didn't see her as anything more than Gina's playmate, they both had comforted and shown her tenderness while Sarah went through the same grief they had gone through with their own parents' deaths.

So after several arguments and even one small battle of their abilities, Wally relented to try talking with Gina's siblings instead of a straight out take over.

When they tried to explain to Denise what had happened, she panicked and began attacking Wally's mind. Denise was nearly as powerful as Wally was, but Sarah didn't know that and ended disabling Denise's abilities before Wally could.

The resulting battle with Harrison was the first and only time the siblings had taken opposite sides. Denise knew how Stanley's abilities worked, but she had never attempted to do much more than probe him before, so she was surprised as the others to find his shield impenetrable.

Gina, Sarah, then Denise fell to his illusions, but Wally somehow saw through Stan's thoroughly convincing illusions and managed to get Stanley to call it a draw.

That was the beginning of their new found relationship which three years later had resulted in Sarah giving birth to Stanley's son, something which brought them both together and ended up in marriage.

While Wally had never given up his love for her, he was content with her own happiness with Stan. Well, not content, for Sarah hadn't been purged of all her servitude commands towards Stan, and that had always bothered him. But he knew better than to remove them without the other's permission, and quite frankly thought that Sarah, just to be obstinately stubborn about it, Sarah would insist that he put them back if he had tried.

Sarah was very quiet once Denise had removed the last trace of the commands she had put in Sarah's head all those years ago and ended her story. Joey was sitting on the other side of her, waiting patiently for her to process it all like he knew she was, hoping she would want to go home with him.

Sarah finally looked up at Stan, then at Tommy. After giving her son a weak smile in comfort, she looked over at Wally, then Gina, gave me a momentary glance before looking at Denise who had gone over to Sarah's desk to grab a tissue for her eyes and nose.

Finally Sarah turned to Joey, then after her eyes filled up with tears, she leaned forward and hugged him as she started to cry.

The room was getting pretty emotional, and my empathic senses were getting pretty overwhelms from it all.

But Tommy came to the rescue, exclaiming, "Uncle Wally! I forgot to wipe!" then jumped down from his dad's arms and hopped over the arms of Etas still asleep outside.

That made Sarah and everyone else pull themselves back together, and once Sarah stood up and straightened her clothes out, she said, "Well.. If I'm going to be visiting my long lost parents this Christmas, I guess we better rap things up around here before we go. Stan, you better arrange for your girls to make do without you this Christmas. Let's see.. Wally, would you mind pulling a little more of your weight around here and process the boys you're letting go yourself? Oh, and YOU and YOU can start cleaning up the mess you made outside," she said, pointing at me and Joey.

"Oh shit," Joey said.

"What?" Wally and I asked.

"It's only been two hours since we found her, and she's already telling me what to do!"

Sarah gave him a kiss and said "Please, for your Sissy?"

Naturally, Joey and I were cleaning up the pile of their sleeping army of muscle two minutes later.

Ahh.. Now that would have made a great Kodak moment... With Joey and I standing in front of them with a "Well that takes care of those guys" look. Or maybe we could of had a "Anyone else want some?" look. We had meant to ask Suzi later, but it never came up.

But once the last Eta was on his feet and heading back for the stairs, I did mention to Joey, "Next we go raid a slave pit, we have to remember to take our cameras."

"Heh. No shit!"