Chapter 2

Amy gravitated to the Carters. Clint Reed and Brenda (Amy hadn't gotten her last name) were very clearly grouping themselves with Terence Carter and Bonita Vasquez, while Damian and Alyssa drifted away. There was something... odd... about the males... Oh! While each of the boys was very clearly mated to his girl, they were sexually attracted to each other! Well, maybe THAT made sense... If the girls were lesbians... But, no, Terence, in particular, was more than fond of Bonita -- and Bonita very visibly returned that fondness. Stranger, perhaps, was the thing between Clint and Brenda... Brenda apparently uniquely fulfilled certain of Clint's requirements -- some of which were pretty odd...

While she was still digging for the puzzle pieces that made the whole thing make sense, Toby arrived and greeted the four of them. As usual, she was tempted to break off and concentrate her efforts on Toby, but she didn't, because the boys were curiously at ease with Toby; so were the girls, for that matter. Why? The answer was right there on the surface of both of the boy's minds -- Toby knew about their relationship! Undoubtedly, he knew all about the girls, too... Was he matchmaking?

Toby turned and picked Amy out of the crowd and frowned -- and suddenly, Terence and Clint were unreachable! Amy's surprise must have shown on her face, because Toby smiled a small smile of satisfaction before turning away...

"Okay," Amy mused, "If you want to play it that way..." Others had been identified -- she would check them. And Toby probably couldn't provide the boys with any permanent protection, anyway. She would discover what was going on... She drifted off; there was nothing else to be done here.

Toby watched her leave. Clint picked it up. "What's up?"

"The new girl, Amy. There is something up with her. Something odd..."

"Well, if you're worried, maybe we can rig something up..." Terence suggested.

"No. You guys need to stay away, in particular," Toby replied. "I think... well, never mind what I think, but if I'm right, this will be a girl thing; guys can't handle it."

"Hey, whatever," Terence shrugged. "I can stay away from girls, no problem -- except these two."

Toby grinned. "They're not an issue. You girls let me know if Amy starts pumping you for information -- and even if she seems to know too much, don't let anything out, okay?"

Bonita nodded. "Okay." Brenda shrugged and nodded, too. That didn't keep Toby from worrying. Somehow, he was going to have to defuse this situation. If things were the way he THOUGHT they might be, it was a matter of time before Amy discovered everything; control of the situation really wasn't in his hands. What could he do to fix this? Who could he turn to? He just didn't know. Even though he could count on every girl in school, literally, to assist him, if he was right any boy who knew anything was a potentially fatal leak -- and Amy had already identified two! Disbelief had been his safety net -- now, what was he going to do? Confront the guys and tell them all that a chick with PSI powers was about to blow the group wide open? Yeah, right. Even it he took such a step, he would have to reveal himself -- and that would complicate things beyond measure. There had to be a better plan. Shit, where was she now? She could be pumping somebody, mentally or verbally... The bell rang, ending any control he had over the situation; all he could do was go to class and hope. The good news was that he shared three classes with her, which limited the possibility that she could suck someone dry without him knowing about it.

Amy's mental sweeps during first period netted nothing new; there was very little crossover between the honors curriculum and the more general college-prep courses the football team was in. Some of the girls might have been helpful, but she had no access to them. Second period she shared with Toby... Forthrightly, she pinned him before the bell rang. "We still need to have that talk."

"I agree," Toby nodded, "but here?"

Amy thought about it. The teacher was male; she could literally fix it so that he ignored anything they did in class -- but a whole roomful of mixed boys and girls? Even given that Toby could control the girls, could she handle thirteen boys AND hold a conversation with what could be a serious opponent? "No, not here. Lunch?"

Toby nodded tightly. "I'll come for you."

Toby was on his guard all period -- as was Amy -- but neither of them learned anything, as both kept their weapons holstered. Third period was no better. But then it was lunch, so there would be a meeting, anyway; Amy went to sit with her new acquaintances and wait...

They came for Fernando at ten o'clock -- and he knew it was him when they came through the door. But there was nowhere to run, so he decided to tough it out. But that didn't work; they just came to his desk and said, "Fernando Reyes, you are under arrest for fraud and embezzlement and money-laundering and..." The charges seemed to go on and on. Fernando couldn't figure out where it was all coming from -- he hadn't made any transfers yet... But they cuffed him and hustled him out the door and into a car and off to a holding cell in the local FBI complex, where they dumped him to stew while they gathered more evidence.

Ironically, he had it all boxed up and ready to go in his office; Marta let them in without even glancing at the search warrant and showed them to his office and presented both safes and the boxes and the computer -- everything! Toby had carefully cleaned the hard disk the night before of everything that might indicate the system had been penetrated, leaving Fernando's incriminating transaction records for the FBI to find. As for the inevitable evidence of cleanup, Toby left the software he used on the machine, set to do such wipes periodically per a schedule, so the FBI would naturally assume that Fernando installed it.

The FBI finally let Fernando see his lawyer. "Why am I here?" Fernando demanded.

"Well, according to the FBI, you were planning to leave the country -- after rigging up some extremely interesting wire transfers from accounts that didn't belong to you to banks in the Caymans!" his lawyer replied. "But that seems to be the tip of the iceberg -- they have some journals and account books and a computer, and God knows what. Jeezus, Fernando -- did you REALLY expect not to get caught doing that shit?"

"But I haven't done anything!" Fernando wailed. "Not yet! Okay, I had plans -- some group held me hostage and abused me sexually for most of last week, so I was arranging to escape, but..."

"That's a pretty thin insanity plea," his lawyer grunted, shaking his head. "Is that the best you can give me? What about the years old stuff they're tearing through out there? They must have sixty or seventy charges there! You're going to be under some Federal pen for the rest of your life -- and I DON'T see how I can help you!"

"Oh, my God! I've been framed! They did it! They were watching me all along! I'm ruined!" Fernando very nearly DID come unhinged at that moment. Certainly, he was worthless for the next ten minutes while he ranted and raved about being sodomized and made to perform cunnilingus and fellatio on a whole host of people and how he was held captive in his own home and on and on...

... While Marta -- and eventually Maddie and Pietro -- were making statements implicating Fernando in multiple incidents of domestic and child abuse, supported by hospital records and current injuries. Clearly, they were victims, not accomplices; clearly, they feared for their very lives. Marta knew that Fernando had made some financial adjustments to allow her access to funds -- a new, sudden thing -- but didn't know why -- or even where everything was! Fernando was royally screwed; everything said he was planning to skip the country, leaving a stipend for his abused family to live on after his departure. The FBI was surprised at this; they wouldn't have been amazed if he'd left them totally high and dry -- but it wasn't unheard of. Ultimately, even in the unlikely event the fairy story he was telling - and it was pretty fantastic -- was true, they had years and years worth of nefarious dealings, evidence that he'd framed numerous people for numerous things -- Fernando had a LOT to answer for, including clear evidence of domestic and child abuse.

The flip side? Fernando's journals supported the idea that he was functionally insane; they were rife with paranoid delusions. When Fernando's lawyer realized that, it wasn't hard to get him boxed up and shipped to the local mental hospital for observation and evaluation -- but it took a few days. Wherever he went, Fernando was likely never coming out -- but he might be comfortable, at least, and might end up sane...

The FBI and the banks were pissed that the money was gone, and tried to get Fernando to tell them where it all went -- to which Fernando steadfastly denied making any transactions. He admitted planning to, and making some initial moves, but that was it. This would go on for days, and Fernando would create a fairly complete diagram of his illegal financial empire in an attempt to prove his innocence where the immediate charges were concerned, at least -- but since he honestly didn't know where the money went, he wasn't any help -- and no one believed him. He remembered IDs that he used all the time, but his emergency IDs had been created years before; he didn't use them, so he never bothered to memorize them, and besides, who would have had them, anyway? That he had any emergency IDs at all was just another unverifiable claim on his part -- one of hundreds, it seemed. The idea that his wife -- who barely seemed to understand the difference between a checking and a savings account -- could have pored over his records and drained all of his bank accounts, legal and illegal, except for a couple of completely legitimate ones recently made joint -- then sent the money off who knew where to numbered accounts, was absolutely ludicrous.

But Fernando flipped out on three separate occasions under interrogation, which helped make his case as a psycho...

That was all later, though; on Thursday at noon, Fernando was still in his holding cell. Marta, having laundered the bed linens twice and then switched them, had covered up any evidence of sexual hijinks involving anyone but Fernando pretty well. At noon, the FBI was still conducting their treasure hunt in Fernando's office -- and they had plenty to keep them busy. She would make her deposition at about two o'clock, and Maddie and Pietro would make theirs when they got home from school -- and the abuse charges wouldn't be followed up on, anyway, as they were merely icing on the cake.

Toby had concerns regarding the Fernando saga -- had he screwed anything up that would come back to bite them? He had no method of checking on the situation without becoming a person of interest in the case -- and he CERTAINLY didn't want THAT! Given what they knew about surveillance technology, the Reyes family was off-limits for the foreseeable future -- except for Hank, and some innocuous contacts with the girls in the group. Everyone had been cautioned about the dangers of discussing the events of the previous week in any way, shape or form; if Maddie or Pietro or Marta could find some innocuous method of transmitting the situation sometime down the road, that was fine, but no one expected to hear much today -- and no one was asking.

Even checking to discover if Fernando's ill-gotten gains had arrived at their temporary resting place was so fraught with danger that Toby could not consider it; if he'd screwed that up, it was unrecoverable -- and if they had managed to trace the money, he was likely to draw back a bloody stub if he reached out to check on it. No, it was time to lie low... and time to deal with the NEW threat.

Amy wasn't pumping anybody; she didn't have to -- Miriam was doing it for her! Teela was acting so cagey under Miriam's third degree questioning that you couldn't miss the fact that there was a secret to be unearthed. Sally, who sat quiet with her lips pursed, merely confirmed things. Miriam wasn't accepting any story of an accidental meeting in the mall that blossomed into two couples -- what else was there to it? The two guys involved had not been noted as lovers of any stripe at the end of the previous school year; how had they managed to just suddenly have all of the answers? "You guys wouldn't have gotten where you are without being carried," Miriam sneered, "so who carried you? Who told them what they needed to say to make it all right? Who made them Romeos?"

As clear as the questions was the fact that Teela had the answers -- and wasn't sharing them. Teela could harangue with the best of them, and she was toe to toe with Miriam, basically telling her that the facts were there in front of her, but she refused to see them -- but everybody knew she was holding back something.

Switching targets, Miriam lit into Sally. "And YOU! How on Earth did YOU catch Lon Carpenter -- and how on Earth do you expect to hold him?"

Sally didn't have Teela's weapons at her disposal; she thought a moment, turned red, and bleated, "I say 'Yes, Lon,' when he wants something -- and whatever it is, I do it -- and if you don't think it's worth it, think again!"

There was a collective gasp at the table. Misha gasped, "Anything?" Sally nodded and covered her face.

"Leave her alone!" Teela leaped to her friend's defense. "It isn't how it sounds -- it's just how she and Lon do things! Lon likes to be in charge, and Sally likes to be bossed around -- don't you, Sally?" Sally nodded.

"I know, but -- anything? Like what?" Miriam asked.

"Don't answer that, Sally," Teela ordered. "The question is, what would YOU do? If I picked a hot guy and said, 'Okay, you can have him if you're willing to go for the gusto,' what would you do? Would you blow the football team? Would you fuck not only him, but whoever he told you to fuck? Where would you draw the line?" She shook her head. "I exaggerated, some, because Sally hasn't done anything like that -- but that's what you were thinking, so I let you have it with both barrels. You think about it -- what's it worth to you? What do you want? What are you willing to pay for it? Do you want a guy? What for? To suck face? To be with in public? You two are sitting there going, 'Omigawd, she's fucking!' Well, OF COURSE she's fucking -- what do YOU want a guy for, decoration? How many hairbrush handles have you worn out, anyway?"

"Are you fucking?" Misha asked.

"You're goddamn right I'm fucking -- daily! And Rick is WONDERFUL and I wouldn't give him up for a million bucks! Thank God I don't have to! You two idiots sit there acting like we sold our souls to the devil -- I mean, Jeezus, what do you think a relationship IS?"

"Well, it isn't just sex..." Misha mumbled.

"No, you're right. Sally, is your relationship with Lon just about sex?" Teela asked.

"No," Sally shook her head. "Teela knows this -- when Lon and I started dating, he was already getting all the sex he could want. Sure, sex is a part of it, but if I tried to hold Lon with sex, I would lose out -- he can get it somewhere else any time he wants."

"So where was he getting sex?" Miriam asked.

"You know, that's really none of your business, Miriam," Teela snapped.

"Um, yeah, sorry!"

"We still come back to the question, 'What would you do for a boyfriend?' though, don't we?" Teela asked. "You guys are sitting on the sidelines. What do you want? A prom date? Would you trade a blow job for it?" She eyed Miriam. "Go ahead, lie to me."

"Okay, I probably would," Miriam looked away.

"Damn right you would," Teela pressed. "Fact is, you'd trade more than that for less. What would you pay just to get in the game? Think about that before you give US any crap. I was so happy to give up my cherry you could hear me scream halfway up the block!"

Amy blurted, "Is it that tough getting a guy around here?"

Teela bit her lip. "When I sat on the sidelines where she is and told myself nobody wanted me, yeah, it was. Now... well, there's NO WAY I would ever try to jinx what I have, but it's out there. It's out there." She looked up. "Remind me to talk to you about Toby..."

Amy nearly broke her neck snapping her head around -- he was standing there within three feet! Dammit, she was blind! "Toby!"

"Sorry," Toby replied, taking off his eyeglasses and swiping at the lenses with a paper napkin. "Didn't mean to scare you." Actually, it was something he could make use of, with a little luck. "Ready for that talk?"

"Don't underestimate him -- you'll be fucking up," Teela advised, sotto voce.

"Thanks, Teela," Toby grumped. "Leave me unarmed, why don't you?"

"You can take care of yourself," Teela replied. "I have faith in you."

Toby merely grimaced; too bad Teela had no idea how important this little interview was... He waved Amy ahead of him. Once they were outside, he asked, "Do you trust me?"

"Should I?" Amy retorted.

"I guess that's a question we're both asking," Toby sighed "Want to talk in my car?"

"Are we leaving?"

"No."

"Okay."

Toby led the way, opened the passenger door with exaggerated ceremony, circled the car and got in. "I don't know how to start this. I have a feeling that either of us could conceivably make admissions that would put them at risk with the other."

"We have to start somewhere," Amy sighed. "Are you a telepath?"

"Are you?"

"We both know the answer," Amy insisted, "why not go ahead and get past it?"

"Okay." Toby pursed his lips. "Can you see girls?"

"No. Can you see guys?"

"No."

They eyed one another. "Your turn," Amy announced.

"For what?"

"We've set the rules. One of us asks a question, and the other answers -- then THEY get to ask a question..."

"What if somebody lies?" Toby asked.

"Funny, I don't think that's going to happen," Amy replied.

"Why not?"

"Because both of us are basically honest people," Amy declared, "and I think we're enough alike that if one of us makes a claim one way or another, the other will know the difference."

Toby bit his lip. "You need to stop snooping on my friends."

"We're in question and answer," Amy retorted, "and that's not a question."

"Okay," Toby muttered, "Can you make a boy do things? Can you put an idea in a boy's head?"

"That's two questions," Amy replied. "I can answer both, but I get two. Or you can pick one."

"Okay..."

"Yes. And yes."

"I was going to opt for one question!" Toby objected.

"Liar!"

"Okay," Toby smiled crookedly, "We've tested THAT, too, I guess. Go ahead."

"Do you have the same powers with girls?"

"That's cheating! You'll still have a question!"

"That's good management," Amy retorted. "Come on..."

"Yes."

"Do you use them?"

Toby grimaced. "Yes -- VERY carefully! Do you?"

"Sometimes." Amy looked away.

"Did something blow up on you?"

"My question..."

"Something did for me."

"Yeah, okay -- yes," Amy admitted. "I... ruined a couple of guys. There was good reason, and it was right when I got my powers, so I didn't know what I was doing, but..."

Toby nodded. "The first couple of times..."

"I tried to fix it, but..."

"I'm still working on mine. You can't just blunder in. I tried to stop, too, but important things got in the way -- it became necessary for everyone to be safe..." Toby mused. Somehow, it sounded like rationalization.

"I was so ham-handed that we had to move away!" Amy blurted. "It was... ugly." She looked up. "Are you matchmaking?"

"Ummm, not really. Facilitating some, maybe. I'm trying to let free will control things where possible."

"Those girls -- Teela and Sally..."

"Not really. They found their own way," Toby muttered. "I might have helped a little -- small things -- but Lon and Rick picked them out on their own -- and they were happy about it. But it's fallout from something else -- Lon and Rick are my best friends. We started something that DID get away from me..." He paused, "Wow, I have a big mouth! Look, I try to limit myself to reading -- and only that in order to protect the people I'm committed to protect."

"Do they need protection?"

"That goes without saying, doesn't it?"

"What's the deal with all of the weird hookups?" Amy asked.

"I can't really go into it. Most of it has nothing to do with my powers -- it's something that got started without them. I really don't want you to go digging around in that --people might get hurt."

"Which people?" Amy asked.

"That would be telling," Toby replied. "Who the people are is three-quarters of the secret."

"I already know some..."

"Dammit! What part of 'You'll hurt people' don't you understand? Haven't you done that already? You told me you had!"

"You can't stop me!"

"And I can't trust you, either! Aren't you worried I'll send a bunch of female zombies to hack off your head or something?"

"You wouldn't do that!"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because you're like me!"

"Nosy?"

"Yeah, I bet you are!" Amy snapped.

Toby threw up his hands. "Guilty." He rubbed his face. "Look, this thing is a secret. It's so secret that we gather blackmail material on new members to KEEP it secret! And I don't know if you'll approve of some of the things that have been going on, either. I'm in between a rock and a hard place, here. I know you're GOING to find out -- I can't stop you -- but I can't control you, either. Even after you know it all, I won't be able to control what you do about it. I need... something..." He shrugged.

"Blackmail material?"

"It's not for ME -- it's for THEM!"

Amy pursed her lips. "Like what?"

"It has to be good -- a show-stopper. Frankly, I can't think of a thing you can't sidestep with the help of the entire male half of the human race..."

Amy eyed him. "Yeah, that's a problem... What's the worst thing you have?"

"For girls?" Toby mused. "Having sex with dogs."

"EEEWWW!"

"Yeah, well, a couple of them were volunteers -- and the footage was largely faked. A couple of others just got caught," Toby replied. "Maybe having you directly isn't the thing. We have blackmail material of other types -- like adults having sex with somebody underage."

"Ouch!"

"You have to admit, it's a hook..."

"For sure!" Amy mused for a moment. "That would mean Mom -- or Dad. I think I'd rather do dogs."

"Maybe a dog isn't an adequate deterrent..." Toby mused.

"No, it's fine. I don't EVER want THAT going ANYWHERE!"

"This is still, well..." Toby shook his head. "I don't know how to be safe about it. It's going to have to be me and some girls -- anything else..."

"Well, I know about Sally and Teela..."

"Okay." Toby sighed. "I need for you to promise that you won't get into this before..." He shook his head.

Amy smiled crookedly. "It all comes down to trust, doesn't it?"

"Yeah."

"I promise," Amy said solemnly. "Any way you want it."

"I'm going to have to ask you to stay away from guys as best you can until I get out of football practice."

"You're in football?"

"I'm a trainer."

"Oh, okay."

"I'm going to saddle you with Teela and Sally, if I can. Just to keep you honest. If it was just me, you would know it all already -- but the others -- I can't expose them to that kind of risk," Toby told her.

"Okay. Let's get back before the bell rings. I'm sure you'll have to tell the girls something."

"Right." They got out of the car.

"You realize, you'll probably have to do something to them -- we can't really go into why this is all necessary, can we?" Amy pointed out.

"Shit!" Toby rasped, "Shit, shit, shit!"

"Well, if nothing else, you just told me that you don't like meddling..." Amy smiled.

Toby grinned crookedly. "I could be a really good actor."

"I can tell."

"Not with me."

"I'd be willing to bet," Amy insisted.

"You already are."

They were back at the table. "Teela, Sally, can I talk to you for a minute?" Toby asked.

"Sure," Teela nodded. Sally followed as they stepped away.

"Do you remember your initiations?" Toby asked. "Well, we have an emergency. I really don't want to go into why, but we have to do Amy -- tonight. Since we can't come up with anything better than what you and Teela did, that's it. I need your help -- and in between now and then I need for you to keep Amy away from male group members -- Lon and Rick in particular! Can do?" As miserable as he felt about it, he nudged them.

"Can do," Teela nodded. "I take it she knows too much?"

Toby nodded. "And she'll learn the rest soon enough. Keep her away from the guys -- and I might need somebody to hold a camera later."

"I'll call Rick and explain it," Teela agreed. "He can tell Lon."

"Pass them to me if they ask too many questions, okay?" Toby asked -- not that he had any idea what he would tell his friends if it came to that. "Lon should probably stay away from home."

"Why don't you just go with me in the later stages?" Teela asked. "Sally can take Lon to her house or something..."

"Yeah, good idea. I'll clear it with Candace." Toby turned, then turned back. "Watch her. I trust her, more or less, but I can't do that for everybody. Be my eyes."

"No sweat." Teela led Sally back to the table. Amy looked at Toby, who gave her a little wave and, feeling stupid, left.

Next up was Randy. "I need to borrow Dirk, Man," Toby told him. Can you pack him up and take him to Carpenter's -- and then disappear for a while?"

"What's up?"

"Emergency initiation of a volunteer."

"I thought we were done using Dirk?"

"Nothing else is available fast enough, Man."

"Okay. Where should I go?"

"Home, maybe. I'll bring him back. He likes me," Toby assured him.

"More women..." Randy groused. "I can't control the ones we have."

"It'll settle out," Toby assured him. "Give it time."

"Maybe."

"If this goes well," Toby told him, "the security of the group should be rock-solid, afterward."

"I don't see how..."

"Man, it's something that's so hard to explain that I won't try -- just trust me."

"Hey, you da man!" Randy laughed. "I'm on it. Dirk will show up before you do. Maybe you can get Lon's old lady to entertain him?"

"Well, put up with him, at least," Toby agreed. "There has been a request for a party tomorrow night. Are you open?"

"Yeah. I won't have to poke any guys in the ass, will I?"

"That's all fixed -- I hope."

"Thank fuckin' God!"

"Yeah, no shit!"

Next was Candace. "Candace, I have to bring a girl there for an emergency initiation. Randy is bringing Dirk..."

"Not the dog again!"

"He's the quickest thing we can set up. Randy can't stay -- can you keep an eye on him?"

"If he's chained up. I don't want him humping MY leg!" Candace groused.

"Sure, no problem. See you after football. Oh, by the way, Sally is taking Lon to her place."

"What's Lon got to say about that?"

"I'm going to convince him to play ball."

"Good luck!"

Toby went back to the table. "It's all set -- except for Lon. Can you call him, Sally?"

"Sure, but..."

"Like that, huh?"

"Yes."

"Call him and give me the phone."

Sally did as he asked. "Lon? Toby wants to talk to you..." She handed Toby the phone.

Toby stepped away to organize things, "Lon? Look, we're doing an emergency initiation tonight..."

Miriam eyed Sally. "He's that bossy?"

"He has his moods," Sally sighed. "The last thing I want to do is appear to be manipulating him. There are ways to get around it, but this is easier."

"Sounds like slavery," Misha opined.

"Don't knock it until you've tried it," Sally grinned crookedly.

"Nobody's going to do THAT to me!" Misha declared.

"It's a personal choice, Misha," Sally murmured calmly. "I CHOOSE to do this. I can tell him to forget it and walk away any time -- any time I want to pay the price. Who knows? Maybe he would give in and do things the regular way -- but you know, I don't think I want that. I think I would lose respect for him. I like it like this. I understand what you're saying and all that, but you have to understand -- Lon controls me with my permission. It's hard to explain -- except to say this is the way I want it."

Miriam sat eyeing her, her eyes troubled, biting her lip. Misha insisted, "You're brainwashed!"

"Nope, sorry -- I'm just not an independent modern woman, that's all!" Sally declared. "That stuff is something people dreamed up lately -- it's not the old way -- and the old way was around FOREVER. Lon wants to own me. No problem -- he owns me. You have to look at the flip side -- I'm OWNED! I have him as much as he has me! I have his control and his protection and his strength and his love..." Everyone at the table could see her wrapping herself in her words like they were a blanket. "I don't want to argue with him, or fight with him or try to wrestle control from him -- I'm not there to contend with him. I'm a part of him, like an arm. I do whatever he asks of me, like his hands..."

Misha sighed. "She's fucked up."

"Is she? Or is she just different?" Teela argued. "It's not for me, but who are YOU to condemn it?"

"I'm out of here!" Misha got up. "You guys are sick!" She stomped off.

But Miriam just sat there, looking at Sally and looking at Teela -- and looking at Amy. "What's this initiation?"

"I really can't talk about it," Teela replied. "Sorry. You can ask Toby, but I think he's got his hands full."

Miriam shifted her glance to Sally, who said nothing and then to Amy, who shrugged, holding out her hands. "I know nothing."

Toby brought the phone back. "It was easier than expected -- he's fed up with the way things have been going the last few days. I hope your folks don't give him any shit..."

"Yeah, me, too." Sally grimaced. "Mom's been laid back, and Dad just stays out of it -- but Mom's due for another attempted intervention."

"Well, good luck." Toby waved. "Got to go, ladies..." He strode away.