"Look. Lets be honest here. Your father, my brother, was a terrible person. He was a greedy racist little traitor who had gifts most men would would give their left arm for, and squandered them. You've got a full-blooded brother and about a dozen half-siblings by different moms, and unfortunately, I didn't know about most of them until a couple years ago."

Nicky leaned back in his seat. "I raised the one I knew about as my own. And every other one that I've found, I've helped how I could. For some of them, that means bringing them into the fold. For you, unless you decide to quit, that means avoiding telling your bosses who your father was, keeping our distance, and helping you channel your career into investigating something that won't make us enemies."

Jasmine frowned, looking around the room. At Eyeball, at Penelope, and Bobby. She was fast, but she'd seen the records. All three of these people had inhuman reflexes. If she were armed and ready, she might be a match for Penelope. Definitely not all three. Angry responses might be best left in the vest pocket.

"I don't want this family, I don't need this family. I was taken in by two good people. A cop and a nurse. I was going to be either a nurse or a crime scene investigator until I got these powers. Someday, if my bosses put me on the case, I might be the one bringing you down. You people are all monsters and scum, the world would be better off if you'd never been born, and I'm ashamed of even having a drop of blood in common with you. If you're done with this, I've apologized, and I'd like to go back to work."

Bobby lifted a hand, wagging a finger. "Actually, if we'd never been born, the human race would be doomed. Well, not me. Mostly Nicky and Eyeball over there."

Nicky glanced down at Bobby. "Son, maybe we should avoid talking about things she probably doesn't have the clearance to know."

Bobby shrugged. "She's family. You told me. And her bosses know."

"What kind of nonsense is this...Know what?"

The boy grinned, leaning forward, as Nicky shook his head in annoyance. "You ever heard of Apollo? Greek god, predicts the future? Looks like he's maybe twelve, thirteen, but really like five thousand?"

"Of course. Everyone has."

"If Eyeball didn't kill him, Lightning was gonna end the world. If Nicky hadn't put that bounty on his head, and Eyeball taken it? Fwoosh. All dead. And that Chinese titan, Tai? He was in the process of ending the world, cooking us all alive, when Eyeball killed him, too. So everybody owes Eyeball and Nicky their lives. Why do you think they let them have this island?"

"That's a bunch of bullshit. Tai was killed by the machines, and Lightning saved the world from aliens!"

Bobby shrugged. "If you don't believe me, just ask someone on your side. Spike was there for the second one, right, Eyeball?"

Eyeball tapped his helmet with one gloved finger. "Yes, but he's not on earth anymore. As it turns out, making something on earth suddenly so heavy it has its own gravity well actually pulls the moon a bit closer to us every time, so he's been out there, helping them fix it. And, well. Getting ready to either get downsized or leave the solar system."

Jasmine looked around at the figures surrounding her, not sure why they'd be telling her such obvious lies. "Are you done? Can I go now?"

Nicky sighed. "You can go. I do have one parting gift. You can tell your bosses that having you investigate it was my price for your freedom." He slide a flash drive out of his pocket, extending it towards her.

"While we have no current plans to engage in hostilities with the Chinese government, we are by no means their allies. The only sort of human trafficking we engage in, on Famiglia, is the voluntary sort; but we have associates who are a bit less choosy. One of them attended a slave market run by Chinese government officials. No young women, or even older women, were available for sale, but plenty of children, and men of all ages. Mexican and Uyghur being the top groups. I... suspect the women were in fact up for sale, but at a different sort of market. This is a complete video of the entire affair, and what documents we could find."

Jasmine took hold of the flash drive, looking at it... then up at Nicky. "This doesn't make you a good man. I'm sure you just want to use me against the competition. The Family has dealt with prostitutes dragged from everywhere in the past, maybe you want to regain market share."

Nicky shook his head. "No, my niece. I'm not a good man. Not to everyone, at least. But to family, I am. So long as you don't directly come after the family, I intend to help you as I can. If I'd had the chance, I'd have raised you as my own. If my people encounter something that isn't part of the affairs of the underworld, as it were, something more akin to the acts of nations and terrorists, I'll pass it to you. I won't help you against Bratva or the Yakuza, but I will against, say... the Taliban. Do you understand?"

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

She glared at him as she pocketed the drive. "If they ask me to go after you, I will. You should just kill me now, or you'll have to someday. I stabbed one of your people. They won't make a fuss." She glanced back at the door, then back. "Give it time, and I'll be a match for Swiftblade here. Someday.. we'll be coming for you and toppling this little throne of yours, and hopefully I'll be one of the ones doing it."

Suddenly, a hand was gripping her shoulder. She looked up into the chrome mask, a brief flicker of fear crossing her face before she carefully schooled her features. A soft, synthesized voice emerged. "I don't think that's how things are going to go down. Bobby might be foolish, but he wasn't lying. You should ask your bosses. Now that you already know, they might be willing to explain."

***

Emerald lay back on the deck, relaxing, looking out over the ocean. She might not be able to tan; at best, her blend of skin and scales might turn a slightly darker green; but she could still enjoy basking in the sun. Granted, not being able to enjoy a margarita while she was doing it would almost ruin the experience... if it weren't for the fact that every time she thought of just why she had to abstain her heart fluttered and she'd become so excited her nostrils would start steaming; she'd actually sometimes have to spit bits of liquid fire into a bucket she kept nearby to avoid burning up the chair, or her swimsuit; fireproof fabrics were nice, but they certainly didn't breathe well.

She tilted her head for a moment at a sudden noise and set down her unfortunately non-alcoholic drink. Some sort of quiet, scratching sound. Someone moving. She glanced around, slowly... and tapped her wristwatch. A beeping sound... and a medium-security alert. An invisible intruder was on the premises; someone who didn't trigger UV, infrared, and had almost perfect optical camo; the only thing they showed up on was sonar.

She sighed, exasperated. The sonar image wasn't perfect, but it was definitely a man with a tail, and judging by the vague outline, her brother, probably carrying some equipment of some description around his chest. And he was... going through her trash? Ugh. He would never admit it, but Ripper would drop by from time to time and creep around like a stalker, her own personal invisible guardian angel... and if the security systems weren't made to avoid killing him, he would've been shot a dozen times by now.

She tapped the watch for a moment. The intercom suddenly sparked to life. "You know the sensors already picked you up, damnit! Why the hell are you going through the trash? I swear to god, if you don't stop this bullshit I'm gonna set the security systems to knock you out next time."

The invisible figure froze for a moment... before scurrying away, only briefly visible as a blur; she just barely caught a hint of a scaled blue tail. Hah. He must be slipping; Ripper usually didn't even leave a blur. She shook her head, and laid back down... and after a few moments, her watch buzzed.

She tapped it. "So, finally gonna admit you've been creeping, bro?" She stretched for a moment as she got comfortable... only to hear a female voice on the other end.

"I'm sorry, were you expecting someone else?" A woman... Oh! Dr. Pam, her OBGYN. Brilliant woman, specialist in metahuman medicine. Hands like icicles on a cold arctic evening.

"Oh, sorry, Pam! My brother was creeping around, he does that sometimes. I just went through the packet you sent me. I tossed most of it after reading, but I might frame the ultrasound pictures. I especially like the ones with the head-on and profile where you merged the shots for me, even if you can barely tell its a baby. I'll talk to Eyeball about it when he gets home, but they're great."

"I've actually been looking over your test results, making sure nothing about your unique physiology would give you any problems. Your body seems to take most of the magnesium, aluminum, and iron in your diet and concentrate it in those glands that form your.. spit. I would definitely recommend eating quite a bit more iron than usual. Oh; and your body also seems to concentrate just about anything flammable you take in there, so on the plus side, whether its gasoline or vodka, you won't need to worry about it passing on to the kids."

Emerald blinked, sitting up abruptly. "Wait. I can have margaritas?"

"I suppose, so long as your... spit-sacks? Aren't full. I'd keep it light until I can test you next time, but absolutely none of your blood alcohol made it through to them this time."

"..Wait. Them. You said kids? Are we talking about future children here?"

"Oh! No. You must not have read the papers I sent you. And honestly, most of the ultrasound pictures should have made it clear. You're having twins."

***

Less than a mile away, leaning against a wall, a blue-scaled figure... one older, more heavily scarred, than Ripper, but with a definite family resemblance; studied the documents in his hands, nodding slowly, before folding them up and putting them away. He started walking away, fading from sight once he no longer needed to read; and tapped a button on his phone.

"My Empress. Mixed results on my most recent scouting mission. Her security systems spotted me, but believed I was my son; clearly he comes here often enough that she has it tuned not to harm him. In addition... confirmation. She's pregnant. At least eight weeks along, and twins. The paperwork mentioned an obvious sign of metahuman traits on both children, but I have yet to see the ultrasounds, so we can't confirm if they are properly formed like their mother."

Silence met him from the other end for a moment. Then, her voice. "Excellent work. If the defenses can spot you, they'll likely strike you should you attempt to take her within the home. Keep an eye out for a good chance. If you can get her alone outside the home, go ahead and take her. Otherwise, watch, and wait. If it comes to a fight, we'll want to wait til the children are born; one of those she carries may well be the future Emperor or Empress destined to rule the world."