"I slept over." Maria said into the phone as she walked quickly down the halls to the meeting. "My night was rather busy."

"Did something go wrong?"

"You could say that. Dr. Bernard, did some testing without my knowledge. He was bleeding the subjects, to see how fast they could heal, and their amount of blood flow. Only one nurse was monitoring the three of them. And he confronted me after, telling me I had no business interrupting the testing." Maria said angrily.

"Did you sign for any of that testing?"

"No. It was unauthorized." Maria repeated. But of course he always liked to be sure of everything.

"I want you to continue keeping in touch with me. I also want a full report on Dr. Bernard's actions. He will have to be dealt with."

"And what about now?" Maria came to a halt in front of the meeting room.

"For now, let him precede with his testing, just keep a close eye on him"

"All right. When am I going to be relieved?" Maria asked. Being pulled from the public eye was not going to help the situation any, and she was receiving no respect.

"We're not sure yet, your mother is still making negotiations. Why? Do you think you cannot handle it?"

Maria straitened her back at his question. "Of course I can handle it. I just don't like not having any one to trust."

"It won't be much longer. Just keep a close eye on Dr. Bernard. He is the root of your problem."

"Okay, I've got to go, we have a meeting."

"All right. Remember every five hours."

"I know." Maria said and hung up the phone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What is this?" Maria asked and held up the clipboard.

"It is the schedule for today." Dr. Bernard answered to her.

"I find it hard to believe that you are finished all physical testing. You like it too much." Maria told him harshly. He was so not on her good side.

"I have conferred with the doctors, and we have decided that it would be best to allow the subjects periods of time of rest. And in their rest time we will start the psychological part of the testing, headed by Dr. Phillips."

Maria looked at the man that Dr. Bernard motioned to. She didn't like him either. He was stick thin, tall, rather quiet, his face was thin, and his hair was parted to neatly on the side. And he was too clean. He reminded her of the white rooms. The thin metal frame glasses just added to the freakish doctor look he was sporting. He spelled psycho. "Dr. Phillips, where is your schedule?" Maria asked him.

"Here, Ms. DeLuca." he answered and handed the clipboard to her.

Maria watched him for a moment then looked down at the clipboard. And his voice was to cool. Very unlike Dr. Bernard's uptight, angry one. Maria read through the schedule carefully, she didn't trust him already. But his schedule seemed pretty routine, nothing that would cause any harm. Maria signed it and handed him his copy. "I want time with the three of them this morning, then you can go on with your schedule."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maria chose Max to visit first. She wasn't in the mood to face Michael's cruel remarks, or Isabel sad looks. She could most likely handle Max better. She entered the room slowly, her steps even. She felt more prepared this time, and she felt like her words would flow easily, and her thoughts.

And that's what she needed to get through this. "Mr. Evans, I hope that your stay here as been comfortable."

"Hardly." Max said flatly.

Maria smiled sweetly. She turned away from him to the two women cleaning. "Leave." Maria ordered them. They filed out quickly and went through the washing room, to Isabel's room. Once she heard all doors closed she turned to Max. "I decided to make a visit this morning. We didn't get to much quality time in the other day, with all the excitement and all."

"Yea it was fun." Max responded flatly and looked straight ahead to the wall.

Maria frowned for a moment. Her goading was not working. And she needed him angry at her, not just distant. Maria smiled, when she realized his pressure point. She walked slowly on the tiled floor, making sure her heels clicked loudly. She rounded around his table until she was standing behind him on his right side. She leaned over, ever so slightly, so that she was only a few inches away from him. "I talked to Liz the other day." she noticed the flinch. "She is kind of upset." Maria said and stood strait again. She traveled slowly around his bed until she was standing at the end of it looking strait ahead at him. "Why wouldn't she be though? She thinks the three of you picked up and left." Maria clicked her tongue and shook her head. "And you didn't even tell her good-bye. Not even a note. And here she thought you loved her. What a shame." Maria said and smiled.

"You were never her friend." Max said spitefully.

Maria smiled. "Lets review that fact. You Max Evans, saved her life, but dragged her into something that she had no right knowing about, and continuously put her life in danger. You put her life in danger by allowing her to know about the three of you. Now she is safe, from the ones trying to hunt you. And she can go on with her life, because she would never have been able to have had one with you. Face it Maxwell, you are weird and unusual, and you do not fit in here. She deserves someone from her own race, not," Maria shrugged and held out her hand motioning towards him, "some alien. So who is a real friend?" Maria asked him. She watching him for a moment, and he faltered. He lost it. His body slumped, and he closed him eyes in defeat.

Maria sighed in the glory of her win. "Now on to break Isabel." Maria added.

"Leave her alone!" Mac yelled as Maria moved towards the door.

Maria turned to Max, smiling. "Mr. Evans, are you in the position to tell me what to do? If you even had any hope of surviving this ordeal, and not breaking down, you may not want to show your weaknesses."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Where is Max?"

Maria took a seat and crossed her legs. She easily pushed the wrinkles out of her labcoat. "Mr. Evans is at this moment strapped down, wallowing in his own self pity. I guess his cool demeanor wasn't as hard to break as we all thought." Maria had given some thought as to what would hurt Isabel. And she had come up with three people. Max, Michael, and her mother. She quickly continued. "But you can imagine the fun I have been having with dear old Michael. I mean it must do something to him, seeing me shoot down everything he has hoped and dreamed of. Me, the person, who was hurt when he wanted to stay away from, the same person who he cried to." Maria laughed. "It's been very easy with him."

"You can't keep us here. Someone will find out." Isabelle told her. But her voice was not so sure.

"Give me a break." Maria said and rolled her eyes. "You didn't know about me. Do you think anyone knows about this? Those pathetic FBI agents running around like chickens with their heads cut off, where just puppets. No one suspects anything like this. In fact they all think you ran away. And for the life of them they cannot figure out why. You should see your mother Ms. Evans. Her whole life has just been crushed."

"Leave my mother out of this." Isabel said angrily.

Maria felt relief inside of her. She had found the soft spot in Isabel. "Why? I would have thought you would have wanted to know how she was doing? Well I'll be blunt with you. She's on her last nerve, and I'm predicting any day now, she'll lose it and just," Maria made a choking noise and a slicing motion across her neck.

"Shut up!" Isabel screamed and began to cry.

"But you should be happy for her. This way, if she doesn't off herself, she may never have to find out what her children really where. And maybe now, she can adopt some normal kids to take the two weirdos place. No one wants kids that aren't normal."

"That isn't true! She loves us!" Isabel screamed towards Maria, she knew her mother did.

"And maybe if you keep telling yourself that, you can pull through this." Maria told her positively as she stood up. "Well I'm off. Time to go break Mr. Guerin's heart."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Where is he?" Maria asked as she walked into Michaels room.

"Mr. Guerin has been cleaned up and taken to Dr. Phillips, the others are being prepared as we speak." Dr. Bernard told her as he skimmed a chart.

"I said I wanted time, with all three of them first." Maria grounded out angrily.

"Well I thought you had already been in with Mr. Guerin. I didn't think you had skipped him." Dr. Bernard said with fake misunderstanding.

Maria frowned. The little shit was trying to get over on her again. Maria turned towards the door. "Dr. Bernard, you are pushing it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maria waited patiently as she was connected to her father.

"Maria?"

"Yea. It's been five hours."

"And?"

"He is doing it again!" Maria yelled out of anger and frustration.

"Maria calm down. You have been taught how to control emotions."

"Look I know I told you I could handle this, but at this point he is getting empty threats. And he knows it. And he knows I have no real power to have anything done with him." Maria felt herself becoming frustrated. Her plans were becoming ruined by a pain in the ass doctor.

"Maria, I do not care what steps you take, but if you allow him to gain control over you, everything will be ruined."

"I know that!" Maria exclaimed. "The idiot has driven me to the point of threatening him with a scalpel!"

"Did you do that?" her father asked a little curious.

"Yes I did that. I know I obviously wasn't showing control. But he was beginning to refuse my orders."

"Then you know what you must do, use any means necessary. Even if that means calling on someone that isn't in the ranks to handle him."

Maria closed her eyes and slumped. She was not in the habit of hiring a killer. It wasn't her thing. "Fine."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Dr. Bernard?"

"Yes?" Dr. Bernard asked and turned in his chair to find Dr. Phillips standing in the door way.

"I have found out something quite interesting, and I think will be of much use to you and me in gaining control of this situation." Dr. Phillips said in a flat tone.

Dr. Bernard watched looked at him curiously for a moment. "Close the door."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ms. DeLuca, we are finished with the subject at this time, before performing any tests, it would be wise if you'd did whatever you needed to with Mr. Guerin now." Dr. Bernard said to Maria.

Maria looked at him cautiously. He had startled her, and the guard hadn't even announced his arrival. "All right." Maria said and walked passed him out of her quarters. She mind as well get it done now. She needed to be back out in public.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maria stepped into Michaels room, with Dr. Bernard close behind her. Michael looked at her angrily, but she avoided his gaze and turned to Dr. Bernard. "Is there something you needed? Because I would prefer to do my work without an audience."

"Actually yes. I wanted to show you the results of Mr. Guerins psychological testing. It was quiet interesting." Dr. Bernard said calmly and walked over to a counter.

"And you couldn't have showed this to me in my quarters?" Maria asked him as she followed him to the counter.

"Well I mistakenly left all of the information in here." Dr. Bernard said and grabbed the clipboard.

Maria looked at him suspiciously. "And what was so interesting?"

"Well during Mr. Guerins testing, we administered a drug, that in laymen's terms could be called a truth drug, which works best under hypnosis. So that is what Dr. Phillips did." Dr. Bernard said and motioned to the other side of the room.

Maria looked and found Dr. Phillips standing against the other wall calmly. Something wasn't right here.

"I think I'll skip all the boring stuff, and get to the more interesting moments in Mr. Guerins life. Which surprisingly at some point involved rather intimate moments with you." Dr. Bernard said in a fake shocked voice.

Maria didn't speak, she couldn't speak. But the little rat continued anyway.

"Well actually very intimate moments if I am correct. As it says here," Dr. Bernard flipped through a couple of pages, "About two months ago you and Mr. Guerin performed intercourse. And not only once but according to this report, four more times after that over the past two months."

Maria felt her chest once again constrict, and she couldn't breath or speak.

"Either you went really out there over a sense of duty, or you Maria DeLuca are not all you appear to be. And it is my belief that with this new found knowledge, you are not fit for duty in this facility. You are liable to make the wrong decisions. Guards!" Dr. Bernard yelled as three guards entered the white room. "And it is also my belief, that considering the circumstances, and that Mr. Guerin has been the only one that you have been this intimate with, that you would also prove very valuable in some of our experiments."

"What?!" Maria exclaimed. "You can't do this!" She yelled, and turned her head as her arms where grabbed by the guards.

"Then how do you think I am doing it now? You are not as valuable as you think you are. Strap her down in room four, and prepare her for testing." Dr. Bernard ordered the guards and doctors.

"You bastard!" Maria screamed as she was dragged out of the room. "You are going to die! I swear! If you fucken touch me, you are going to wish you never entered this place!"

"Empty threats Ms. DeLuca! Empty threats!" Dr. Bernard yelled after her. Once the door had been closed and she was too far for her screams to be heard he turned to Michael. "So Mr. Guerin I'm curious. Are you upset about this new situation, or are you glad that she is going to receive testing just as you have?"

Michael didn't answer, he only stared angrily at the doctor.

Dr. Bernard shrugged. "It is of little matter to me. I now have control, and don't have to worry about the little girl stopping my actions. And I have a new subject to test." Dr. Bernard walked towards the door and opened it. "Too bad you didn't get her pregnant. Now that would have been interesting." he stopped and turned to Michael with a smirk. "But that could always be arranged."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Robert Swanson spun around as the door opened and screams echoed throughout the hall.

"You fucken idiots! You have no idea what you are doing!" Maria screamed as they drug her down the hall. She continued to struggle against them, but it was no use. She was tiny and they were huge. The door was opened, and her eyes landed on the vacant table in the white room that awaited her. Fear filled her gut. Was this how they had felt?

Robert watched in confusion as she was dragged into the empty white room. Something had gone wrong here. And he had his suspicions that it wasn't right. He watched as Dr. Bernard walked out of the white room he guarded. The doctors face was pleasant. Something it usually wasn't. Soon the halls quieted down and he was left to guard white room #3. Time passed and soon the guards that dragged Ms. DeLuca in exited. One remained at the door and the other to began walking in his direction. "Hey." he whispered. They luckily stopped in front of him. And he knew these two. So they where bound to give up something. "What happened?" he asked softly. One of them laughed, and the other spoke up with a smile on his face.

"It turns out the daughter of the almighty DeLucas, had screwed the alien in your room a few times over the past couple of months. The doctor found that out, and he jumped at the chance to strap her down, and have her out of the way."

They made a couple of other crude jokes and went on there way sharing the news with the other two guards. Who joked with them for a moment. He knew something was wrong here. Maria DeLuca was obviously more then she appeared to be.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ever been to the gynecologist before Ms. DeLuca?" Dr. Bernard asked her if he was making everyday conversation.

Maria glared at him and tried not to jump as he snapped on the latex gloves. "No."

"No?" The doctor faked surprise. "I would think a girl having as much sexual activity as you have been, you would have been smart enough to." he moved forward towards the end of Marias table that she was strapped down to. "Well I am asking because what you are about to experience is very close to an exam."

"No!" Maria screamed and pulled at the restraints.

"Give her a sedative!" Dr. Bernard yelled to the nurses. "And make it strong. I don't feel like dealing with her big mouth."

Maria continued to struggle, even after the stuck her with the needle. But soon she fund herself become weak. And all she could do was turn her head to the side so that she couldn't look at him. And when he started his 'exam' she tried her best to control her emotions. But she could do little to control the silent tears running down her face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Dr. Bernard, I do not think this is a wise idea. You put them together, you give them hope." Dr. Phillips instructed the high strung man.

"They can have as much hope as they want. They are getting no where. My interest at this point is breaking her. And I think the best was to do this would be to put her in the same room as them. I don't think they will take well to that. They don't seem to like her too much anymore." Dr. Bernard said as he signed the authorization to have them placed in a room together.

"Our priority here is not to break the daughter of a very powerful man, it is to do what we can to learn about these aliens. And to do that she had to be removed." Dr. Phillips tried to persuade him.