Made For Him - 1. Made For Him - The Story of Ten E

“Just let me die before they find me.”

Tenny struggled to put one foot in front of the other, but at least his side no longer burned from where he had been shot. Instead it felt numb like his legs and feet after the hours he had spent stumbling forward. He was feeling light headed and his vision was starting to darken, but he also felt the slight warmth of the sun as dawn slowly broke. For a moment he lifted his face to the sun and a tear slid down his pale face.

When he had escaped from the center it was dark outside and nearing midnight. He had carefully rigged the computer system to follow the program he had created. It would turn off all the security cameras within and around the facility. At the same time there would appear to be rolling black outs within the building and surrounding area within the compound. He knew the outages would keep people on the run trying to find out what was going on. By keeping everyone busy he hoped to escape unnoticed. That way when they finally did notice he was missing he would have a huge head start on them.

Everything had worked out to perfection. He had gotten to the gates to find out the power had stopped flowing through them. The lights and cameras were out as he slipped out the cutters and made his way through the fence. Here was one of the few tense moments. He had to get through both fences and avoid the dogs. Tenny hoped the sedative in the treats he had fed the dogs would be enough to keep them out while he passed between the fences where they ran guard. He carefully climbed up and over the second fence and landed in the empty field beyond. This was the final obstacle to his freedom. Once he hit the woods there would be coverage. He tightened his hood and ran, trying to stay as close to the ground as he could, heading straight for the woods. Here was where he encountered the one thing he couldn’t control, a car approaching the fence to enter the compound caught him for a split second in its headlights. He moved quickly, sure that they couldn’t identify him until something buzzed by his ear. He poured on the speed reaching the edge of the woods at last. A moment later there was an incredible shock as two bullets tore into his body.

He grabbed at the trees and pulled himself along. The pain was beyond anything he could have imagined but he knew if he stopped for even a moment, he was dead.

Tenny moved on. There was blood slowly seeping down his backside and more from a wound in his front. He knew at least one bullet had passed completely through his body just from the agony of the hole in his front side. The pain never seemed to stop but it slowed him down as he pushed himself to get away. He paused to listen but couldn’t hear anything over the pounding of blood in his own ears. He pushed himself forward, never pausing more than a few moments. He avoided roads afraid that they might find him, but found he had to cross at least one in order to hide in the woods on the side. He found himself trampling through fields, a creek bed, and more woods as the night wore on. His legs burned and each breath felt like glass was scrambling in his chest, tearing him further apart.

It was a certainty that he knew he was dying when he staggered out of another set of woods. Before him stood a blue house, or he thought it was a house. Everything seemed to be tilting. He smiled sadly as he began to fall to the ground. His last conscious thought being, at least I die free.

+  *  +  *  +  *

TJ reached over and turned off the alarm clock before it ever rang. Sandy lifted her head from her place on the bed to look at him as he slowly sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed.

“Go back to sleep girl. I’ll let you out after I get done.”

He gently scratched the golden retriver’s head as she laid back down on the bed. TJ stood up, stretched, and listened to his back and shoulders crack. At least the various aches and pains let him know he was still alive. He headed into the bathroom and paused as he caught his image in the mirror. Despite the months that had passed the scars stood out against his skin. The white scars looked lurid against the fading tan his skin still held. Part of his recovery had included getting Sandy, if for no other reason than making sure he got up and had something to worry about besides himself. He took care of morning necessities and then turned on the shower. The hot water felt wonderful but he knew better than to stay there too long or his body would stiffen up later. Damn accident stole so much of my life.

He dried off and ambled slowly back to his bedroom. Sandy’s tail wagged and slapped the bed as she watched TJ slip into a pair of sweats and an old tee shirt. She sat up when he slipped his sandals on.

“Come on girl. Let’s get you out.”

Sandy stretched and jumped off the bed. She quickly slid ahead of TJ and went to the kitchen. When he got there she was already sitting patiently at the door looking at him.

“Alright, so I’m slow. Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Sandy wagged her tail as TJ unlocked the back door. She darted out running across the back yard and across the property, jumping and playing like only a puppy can. God I wish I had that kind of energy first thing in the morning.TJ smiled for a moment as he watched Sandy romp around the yard. He stepped outside and could smell the storm in the air. The sun was coming up but as he looked south he could see the dark storm front coming right at them. He figured in about a half hour it would be dark again and within an hour the storm they had been talking about last night would be here. He was about to head back in when Sandy began to bark. This wasn’t her usual squirrel bark either, she’d found something and was racing toward him and back to the corner of the property near the woods.

TJ opened the door to grab his cell phone just in case. Ever since the accident he never went more than two feet from his home without it. He moved across the lawn, watching as Sandy seemed to stand guard over something. As he got closer he thought it was some sort of doll but once he was on top of the figure he realized it was a man. Figuring it was one of the college kids that had gotten drunk and passed out he began to get angry. Kneeling down, he slowly rolled the figure over and his breath caught in his throat.

“Oh God. What the hell happened to you kid.”

He took in the blood stained sweat shirt and the pale complexion. It took a moment to realize that the kid had no coloring to his hair at all. The hood on his sweat shirt had hidden the colorless hair collected under it. He leaned over the boy’s face, his ear barely feeling the gentle puff of air from the kid breathing. As he looked the boy over he felt he should wrap something about the wounds but was afraid he might do further damage to him. He was also afraid to remove it and reopen the wound he knew had to be there. His hands shook as he looked down on the strange man before him.

“Fuck.”

Without even looking he grabbed the phone from his pocket and dialed.

“Come on, come on. Answer already. Rob?”

“TJ is that you? What is wrong, bro? Are you having issues again with the pain?”

“Rob, I need you here immediately.” TJ nervously ran his hand through his short brown hair. “Grab your bag. I found someone on my property and they’re hurt. Just get here.”

“I’m on my way. I’ll call the cops and an ambulance while I grab my stuff.”

“Don’t call anyone. I can’t explain this Rob. Just get here. Please.” TJ was shaking and held onto the phone like a lifeline.

There was silence on the phone for a moment.

“You better know what you are doing, TJ! I’m on my way. I’ll be there within ten minutes.”

With how bad the accident had screwed him up he wasn’t sure he could get the kid to the house, never mind inside it. Back by the house he spotted his wheel barrow. I can’t leave the kid lying here. He couldn’t help but think of his mother’s favorite saying, “Sometimes you had to put other’s needs ahead of your own.”

+  *  +  *  +  *

Raven Black sat behind the desk trying hard not to scream. The knock at his door was expected and he hoped it would bring the answers he demanded.

Two men walked silently across the floor to his desk. Raven couldn’t be bothered to learn their names because they weren’t important. In his own mind they were simply Tall and Short. Tall looked uncomfortable but Short seemed strangely smug standing before him.

“Mr. Black, we were directed to see you as soon as we entered the building. You wanted to hear about the man we spotted near the woods.”

Raven’s eyes narrowed as he looked over at the two of them. These men were killers and supposedly very good operatives who could find out the truth about nearly anything. Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time he had been told that about someone that ended up failing him, forcing him to deal with them in his own way.

“Yes, it seems someone left the facility with secrets that shouldn’t be out there.”

Tall nodded. Raven had to give him credit. At least this one seemed to know enough to wait and find out what was needed.

“Well I know I hit him,” Short said proudly. “I always hit what I aim for, unlike some.”

Short shot a look at Tall.

Raven stood up and was around the desk before either man noticed he had even moved at all. He grabbed Short by the throat and lifted him off his feet till the man was even with his own face. Considering that Raven Black stood at nearly seven feet tall Short was dangling in his hand like a rag doll as he was shaken.

“What did you do to Ten E?”

In the silence of the office the crack from Short’s neck sounded like a shot. Tall stood there frozen in horror at the scene before him.

Raven dropped the body and turned to Tall.

“We … we seen a figure escaping the area. I stopped the car and fired at the escaping figure, but I missed. Ralph, well he took better aim and hit him at least once, maybe twice.”

Raven could smell the fear rolling off of Tall as he stood before him.

“Did you retrieve his body?”

“Uh … no Sir. We ...ah … came in and were shown to a room. Once they got the power up we were brought up to you.”

Raven stopped as he thought over the reports that had been brought to him. The power outages and cameras had been programmed to turn off and on starting at ten minutes to midnight. The two men who were in his office had arrived at the center at twenty after midnight. Within a half hour Ten E had managed to escape into the woods. If he wasn’t dead, he would wish he had been.

“Take that out and dispose of it. Then I want you to find Ten E. You will not return without either his dead body or him. Do you understand?”

Tall nodded once, reached down to grab his former partner’s body, and dragged him slowly out the door.

When Raven Black made a decision, no one ever got in his way for long. He had spent far too much time and energy on this project to see it end so badly. One way or another he would have Ten E to complete his sale.

+  *  +  *  +  *

TJ quickly rushed in his back door and grabbed the towels he kept for drying off Sandy when she was caught in the rain. He then moved out to the wheel barrow and spotted the twigs and branches that were still piled in it.

“Fuckin’ shit. Can’t get anything to go my way when I’m in a hurry.”

TJ reached and swept everything in the barrow out. In doing so, he ended ripping up his hand on some thorns from a rose bush he had cut back. He didn’t have time to worry about his own injuries; they were minor when compared to those of the kid. He dropped the towels into the barrow and hurried back to where the kid lay unconscious in the grass.

Sandy hadn’t left the boy and whined from where she lay beside the prone figure. She had kept her body up against him, apparently supplying him with body heat. TJ shook his head at the strange idea and carefully kneeled down beside the boy. He was just trying to figure out how to lift him into the wheel barrow when he heard the scream from across the yard.

“Stop. TJ, your back can’t take it and I need to make sure you aren’t doing more damage to him by moving him.”

TJ waved quickly and little flecks of blood dropped from his hand onto the boy’s bare face. He didn’t notice as the blood seemed to be absorbed into the boy's face, but instead watched as Rob came racing across the yard. He was wearing a tee shirt and jeans, which let TJ know just how quickly Rob had come. His younger brother never walked out of his home without a tie and dress pants so TJ knew his brother had taken their phone call seriously.

Rob knelt down and lifted the boy’s eye lids to see how dilated they were.

“I’d say he was an albino but something doesn’t seem right. Have you looked at the wound yet?”

“No, I was afraid if I lifted the sweat shirt I might rip open the wounds and he would start bleeding again.”

“Seems you learned something after all, TJ. Alright, let me grab the scissors. I want to cut this shirt off so I can get a look at the wound. It looks like something passed right through him.”

Carefully, Rob cut the sweatshirt straight down revealing the kid’s flawless chest. There wasn’t a hair or mark on him till Rob looked at the bullet wound. As he went to reach for it the kid took a deep breath and stopped breathing completely.

“Shit. He went into cardiac arrest. I need you to breath for him while I do chest compressions.”

“I barely,” TJ began but was immediately cut off.

“He doesn’t have time for this. Breathe for him now.”

Rob was right. TJ shoved his concerns aside and did as he was told. Doing whatever he could to help Rob save the young man’s life.

+  *  +  *  +  *

Raven sat back and waited for something new to be reported in to him. He was reading over the reports of Ten E’s latest education track when the doctor was brought in. The man smelled of fear and he could see him trembling from where he sat.

“Dr. Resbrite I see that you altered the training that had been going on with Ten E. Why?”

Raven’s voice was low and dangerous. It left no doubt in Dr. Resbrite’s mind that he had better answer every question put to him, honestly and completely. The news had reached the lab that Raven was upset with Ten E’s escape and someone was going to pay the price for that.

“Um, Sir,” Resbrite swallowed hard and continued, “we were trying to follow the guidelines sent to us. Ten has proven to be a sponge and absorbed practically anything we set before him.”

“There is a reason, Doctor, that I have called this project Tabula Rasa. The whole point of this project is to have created exactly what the client wants and allow them to write their desires onto our product. You’ve known that since the beginning. Ten has exceeded all our expectations to this point, but I need to know why you gave him access to things we haven’t given any other project.”

“Tenny has been a marvel, Sir.” There was a blush to the Dr. Resbrite’s face as he began to tell Raven about working with project. “In the last two months we have seen his brain functions double what most other people are capable of. The tinkering has resulted in him being empathic and we feel once he bonds that will become stronger and possibly even lead to full blown telepathy.”

Raven had suspected that something was happening in the lab. It seems the doctor’s had forgotten that Ten E was a product, which had been created from the cells of people, but he would never allow anyone to find out how human these things were. They had one purpose, to make him money. If the doctor’s couldn’t remember that, well he could find others who could read the notes of this group and continue to perfect the Tabula Rasa specimens.

“We have been trying to expand his education beyond the basic reading and writing skills. We have already made sure he is a trained chef, fully trained in basic exercise, and simple first aid. After all, once we were shown his three possible buyers we wanted to make sure he would stand up to their standards.”

Raven narrowed his eyes to little more than slits. He cracked the knuckles of his left hand letting the loud crack fill the sudden silence of his office as he went finger to finger. When all were done he finally stood and leaned over his desk, watching where Resbright seemed to be trying to curl into a small ball on the seat before him.

“Which of you assholes let Ten E see the videos of the potential buyers?”

Resbright paled even further as he shook his head.

“No …. No one did sir. Why would we? We have them kept in an encrypted file on the computer. There is no way he could have seen them, Sir.”

Raven reached down and flicked a single button on his desk. The wall behind him flickered to life and the image of Ten E filled the giant screen. The camera clearly captured Ten E working on a terminal in the lab. A moment later three images appeared before him on the screen.

Raven watched Resbright blanch as he the image of Ten E sat down and began reading about the three possible buyers. Each of the individuals on that screen were nearly as ruthless as he was. Raven had made sure there were no names attached to the information he had given the doctors. The buyers were simply known as Buyers A-1, B-2, and C-1. The numbers, as Raven had demanded, designated either a male or female.

Raven had made sure the doctor’s were given enough to help shape Ten E to please any of the buyers. Buyer A-1 was sadistic. The file on him showed that he wanted someone who he could beat, bleed, rape, and use in the most disgusting of ways. If Ten E was purchased by him the boy would need the medical knowledge just to set his own wounds.

Raven heard the sudden intake of breath as Ten E completed his dossier on A-1. He turned and noted that Resbright couldn’t keep his eyes off the image of B-2 when Ten E brought it up on screen again. Whoever said women were the safer sex had never met her. He remembered how she liked to brand and burn her toys. The reports of her actions had surprised even him, which was rare, but she wanted intelligent men at her side, but if they couldn’t deliver every answer she wanted, she took it out on their hides, literally. She had branded one man across his mouth, sealing it and forcing a doctor to cut his mouth back open. She was beautiful and vicious, but most important she could pay top dollar for Ten E.

Then in a category all to himself was C-1. Even as cold as B-2 was, and the cruelty of A-1, neither of them came close to being as bad as C-1. There wasn’t much there in C-1’s file other than subject will be used till C-1 deems it is time to dispatch it. There was a quick partial video of C-1 with a young man and then the photos of the same boy with his throat cut and his genitals lying beside his face. When he tired of using any of his toys there was never enough pieces left to be put back together.

The video on the screen darkened for a moment bringing Resbright’s frightened face into view allowing Raven to see the beads of sweat dripping down the doctor’s face. As Resbright watched the new video surveillance of Ten E showed the boy learning about the electrical systems within the compound, the surrounding areas, and the travel system used within the compound. Raven watched what little color was left drained out of Resbright as he realized how smart and creative Ten E had been with his lab time.

“As you can see,” Raven’s deep voice wrenched Dr. Resbright face from the blank screen back to his own angry countance, “Ten E learned a lot more than you thought, doctor. Where did he learn to hack a computer?”

“We know C-1 enjoys computer programming. We taught him how to create a program, which is all we did, honest.”

“Once you show him how to do anything, he will instinctively learn how to undo it. And the fear you showed while trying to train him, with his growing abilities probably allowed him to figure it was in his best interests to learn it. Once he broke the codes and learned what was in store for him, do you think the boy would want to stay and go through it?”

“But, Sir, once he is bound he will have no choice. That is why he is incomplete. He will become whatever it is his mate wants him to be. He will literally die to make his bond mate happy.”

The smile on Raven’s face chilled the doctor.

“True, but that only happens once he is mated. For your sake, doctor, you better hope he is found and the bonding takes place soon.”

+  *  +  *  +  *

I’m not dead.

Tenny lay perfectly still. He hadn’t expected to ever wake up again, but he was terribly afraid that he would open his eyes and find he was back in the center. As he lay there he sensed concern for him but couldn’t figure it all out immediately. A moment later there were two voices he had never heard before.

“He is still asleep. Christ, TJ, I’ve never seen anything like it. That boy should be dead. I want to run tests on him. I mean hell we watched his body literally change over the past three days. What has happened to him defies logic. There is no way it should have happened, do you understand me?”

“Quiet down. I don’t understand it either, but look at him. His body has been healing, his hair is brown now. Hell he even has brown eyes. We both know he didn’t have any color before.”

The voices seemed to retreat as Tenny thought about what he had heard. Brown hair? Brown eyes? I’ve bonded.

The things he learned about himself once he had discovered how to bypass the computer security systems had forced him to look further into the real world. He had found that each of his brothers were like he was, incomplete. There was something these doctors had done while they were being created. When they reached eighteen they could be completed. He read and discovered that the remaining cues for his identity would be supplied by the person he was bonded to. Their desires and wants would shape his hair color, eye color, skin tone, the coloring and size of his nipples, how much hair his body would have, and even the size of his sexual equipment. They would decide by bonding if he would be attracted to men or women. There was little left for him to decide, because this bonding would take all his choices away. That didn’t bother him as much as seeing those who were his potential mates. Reading through the bio’s the computer held scared him in a way nothing else ever had. These people were monsters. He would rather die than be bonded to any of them.

When had one of them found him and bonded with him?

He opened his eyes slowly and looked around. The walls held pictures of people and they were similar looking. There was wooden furniture all around and he realized he was lying naked under some really comfortable blankets. He was about to get up when he found he was being watched from the door way. A dog padded into the room, jumped on the bed, and curled up by his legs, resting its head on his leg.

Tenny was so intent on watching the dog he didn’t see the man standing in the doorway, but in a moment he felt a sense of relief surround him. He looked up to see a man standing there, arms crossed over his chest, silently watching him and the dog. A small smile spread over the guy’s face.

“If Sandy bothers you just tell her to get down. She’s a good dog, but she seems to want to watch over you. She found you in the back of our yard.”

Tenny nodded, unsure what to say or do at the moment.

“TJ, is he awake?”

TJ smiled and turned back toward the hallway. “Yeah Rob. He’s awake. Just take it easy. I don’t want him scared.”

A moment later there was another man who came into the room. Tenny reached out and didn’t find the fear and anger he found in the doctors who worked with him at the center. There was no denying he was a doctor though. The man grabbed a bag and began to check his eyes and blood pressure.

“Damnest thing I've ever seen TJ. Even his bullet wounds have healed completely. Not only that, they have faded, but so help me you really have to look to know he was shot.”

Instinctively Tenny reached up and felt for the wound. He remembered the intense pain and slowly memories of his trek through the fields and woods to get away began to fill his mind. He began to panic until he felt a hand touch his arm. He looked up into TJ’s face and knew this was the man he had bonded with.

+  *  +  *  +  *

Tall had been dragged before Raven Black. His lip was split, his eyes were swollen, and he could barely breathe through his broken nose. It had been a mistake to try and run, he should have simply shot himself in the head.

“I told you that you were to return with Ten E’s body or him alive. Not that you were supposed to fail, then try and run from me. That was a major mistake.”

The men holding Tall ignored his labored breathing. He had been beaten and forced to tell every detail of his failure. The second he had been told to find the boy he began tracking him from where he was shot. He was barely at it for an hour, the trail clear before him, when the rain began. A half an hour later the storm front moved in with gale force winds and rain which obliterated all traces of Ten E’s passage.

After tramping through the woods he thought he found a slight trail but it ended at a roadway. Unable to guess where the boy had gone to ground he figured if the boy survived he would need medical help. He began to check all the local hospitals and then scouted out all the private doctors around where he had lost the trail. It had been a month of fruitless searching.

Near the end just before he had given up he heard rumors of a strange boy living with an injured handyman about five miles from where he had lost the trail. He’d observed the boy, but knew this couldn’t be his prey. The boy was about eighteen or nineteen years old. Brown hair, brown eyes and in glowing health, the boy could be seen playing basketball in the back yard without a care in the world. Knowing he was looking for an albino, who had been shot, there was no way this kid would fit what he was searching for. Besides, he heard the boy’s name and seen him react to it immediately. The kid was Al, and Ten E was nowhere to be found.

“You’ve already seen what happens when you fail me or disappoint me. Too bad you couldn’t complete your contract. Gentlemen make sure he is properly taken care of.”

Raven turned disgusted from his hit man. He knew his guards would take care of the clean up. What worried him was what had happened to Ten E? Did he die or had he somehow found a way to bond with someone else? Ten F wasn’t far enough along to offer as a replacement to the buyers and two of them were simply not interested in any that weren’t going to be an empath. The thought of their victim knowing what was coming and how it was making their owner feel was already giving them a buzz. Ten E had been a rarity even among their trials. Raven wanted him back.

+  *  +  *  +  *

TJ smiled as he watched Al putting away the Christmas decorations. It was wonderful to have someone to help out, especially with his muscles not allowing him to move like he once did. It was hard to believe that this was the same guy he had found with a gunshot wound a little over six months ago. He had healed in less than a week. Within a month there wasn’t even a trace of the gunshot wound on his body.

They had all talked hesitantly at first, but eventually Al began giving Rob and him bits of information about his life before he was found in the yard. Rob created the cover story that Al was actually a cousin of theirs. With his dark hair, brown eyes, and coloring he could almost pass for TJ’s son. They couldn’t let him continue to be called Tenny. Al admitted he didn’t realize until recently that they were calling him Ten E. he thought it was a nickname and it was short for Tennyson. He had read all about Alfred Tennyson and loved his poetry. So he took the name Al and then he took TJ’s last name of Piper.

“Hey are you alright, Thomas?”

“How long do you think it will take before you just call me TJ?”

“Sorry,” Al whispered blushing. “I keep forgetting.”

TJ couldn’t keep the smile from his face. It was the simple things Al did that made him happy. The boy was even helping him with his exercises to get him back into shape. He hoped that by early spring he would be able to go back to work full time.

TJ couldn’t help but notice that Al was like a walking dream. The kid’s health improved so fast and he hadn’t slowed down once. Sometimes he swore the kid was able to read his mind, and the little tasks he wanted to get done were almost magically completed overnight. Eventually he realized just how lonely he’d been and how Al had filled that gap in his life. Al asked for nothing but lapped up attention like a starving puppy. He’d been slow to accept that Al really wanted to be there, but as time had gone on, he couldn’t do anything but believe that they were meant for each other.

+  *  +  *  +  *

Al couldn’t bring himself to tell TJ everything about himself. He didn’t want the man to feel he had to keep him or do anything for him. He thought he was a doing a good job till Rob finally pulled him aside one afternoon. TJ had gone to see his physical therapist at last when Rob arrived unexpectedly. It left Al home alone, and Rob finally decided it was time to come clean with the kid and find out the rest of Al’s story.

“Look, my brother is the happiest I’ve seen in forever. He is the one who sacrificed everything for his family. When there wasn’t enough money for his education and mine, he quit college. When our mother got sick and was dying, he came home to help dad. When dad got sick a year later and followed her into the grave it was TJ who held his hand as he lay dying. He doesn’t ever look for anything, but God knows he has given up everything for those around him. If you are going to hurt him, please, leave now before he comes to depend on you.”

Al had known most of what Rob had said. At first he had been able to pick up on how TJ had felt about everything. As time had gone on and he spent more time with TJ he began to pick up the odd thought. Now he could understand TJ and sense exactly what he needed or wanted. There was no way he would hurt TJ, or allow anyone to hurt him if he could prevent it.

“I understand,” Al explained looking Rob in eyes. His voice was calm as he explained some of the missing pieces to Rob. “What I am about to tell you, will go no further than us, please. You suspect there is more to me, especially after watching my recovery. You are both right and wrong. I am going to be healthier, stronger, and more able than anyone you have ever met before; however, I will not ever hurt TJ.”

“Why?”

“Because as of the day you both found and saved me, he became a part of me.”

Al watched the confusion on Rob’s face. He hadn’t wanted to tell him all of this but he knew there was no way around it.

“Became a part of you? What do you mean by that?”

Al could see the concerned look on Rob’s face.

“I wasn’t conscious when this happened, but in order for me to have survived I would have needed to have two things done to me.” Al paused, feeling very uncomfortable with what he was about to say. It was something he hadn’t even discussed with TJ.

“Please, go on.”

Al looked up and took a deep breath. “He would have had to have bled on me. I wouldn’t have needed much, but he would have had to have had a few drops of his blood come into contact with my skin.”

Al watched as Rob nodded. He knew that what he was saying was being taken seriously.

“He would have also had to have shared saliva with me. The enzymes in that would have made what was happening to me permanent.”

“I had him do mouth to mouth on you.”

Al nodded, understanding now about the saliva, but still wondering about the blood.

Rob sat quietly for a few minutes and then looked up Al suddenly.

“I nearly forgot,” he began to explain quickly, “he cut his hand. There were pieces of the rose bush in the damn wheel barrow so he brushed them out with his hand. I remember I had to clean up his wound after we put you to bed. I bet that is how you got his blood. Did he pour it in your mouth?”

Al could see the scared expression on Rob’s face as he asked his question.

“No, my body would absorb it through the skin. You might say his blood carried my transformation.”

“So the final pieces of DNA you needed were literally taken from his blood?”

“From what I read and understand his blood was used to fill in the missing pieces, but also to shape me into what he wanted. His blood carried his desires, and the enzymes in his saliva helped to seal the changes made to me. I guess you can literally say I was … I was made for him.”

“So you will be the son he never knew he wanted?”

Al blushed.

“I will be whatever he needs or wants.”

“Does he even know?”

“No. I’ve come to know TJ. He is a sweet man. He won’t ask for a thing.” Al paused as he realized what sort of man he had been bonded to. “I know he won’t. I can help him around the house, with his business, or anything else he needs. I’ll be here for him.”

“You’re the reason he did the exercises.” Rob watched Al carefully.

“He’s … well he was in pain. I knew he needed to do them. We worked together so that he wouldn’t feel like he was broken. He has slowly improved.”

“You love him, don’t you?”

Al nodded and looked at his feet.

“I’ll be damned.”

+  *  +  *  +   *

Raven sent men out ever few years looking to see if they could locate Ten E. The subject wasn’t found, which pissed off Raven to no end. He learned having the original scientists killed wasn’t the best idea, because only they knew exactly what they had done in the creation of Ten E. They had created Ten A through G before he had killed them all for one failure or another. The doctors that replaced them on team Eleven had major issues trying to recreate the success of team Ten. Although they had all the notes from the last team, parts of it were never written down or taped, so it never came to fruition leaving him more and more upset. After ten long years he finally had to give up.

+  *  +  *  +  *

Rob arrived early and dropped his coat off in the closet. The Christmas tree was twinkling with lights, and he could hear Al singing along with the cd that was playing.

“Hey guys. Connie and the kids will be here soon. I came straight from the hospital. Got any coffee?”

“Sure Rob, you know where the mugs are.”

“Uncle Robby,” screamed Nicki as she flew across the room.

“How is my favorite niece?”

“I’m your only niece!” She giggled as she hugged his leg.

Rob picked up Nicki and gave her a kiss on the cheek. His niece was the great gift of a surrogate, making his brother a proud father. TJ came following in her wake a moment later.

“Hey, you’re early bro.”

“Came from work. I see you got your tree up at last. You were slow this year.”

“Well, Al and Nicki wanted a real one so took some time to find one they liked.”

Al finished putting the last of the sliced fruit on the platter, before giving Nicki a strawberry to munch on.

“Thank you, Papa.”

“You’re welcome baby. Go back in and finish watching your movie. Your cousins and Aunt Connie will be here soon.”

The three men watched her run off to go finish her movie.

“She is the best thing to ever happen to us,” TJ said with a smile as he looked over at Al.

“No, she just made a good thing better.” Al leaned over and gave TJ a kiss.

“You two are going to give me a toothache with all of this.”

“Shut up, Rob,” grumbled TJ as he hugged his partner.

Rob shot Al a wink.

“Yeah, well at least I know you two are happy with the choices you’ve made.”

Grabbing his mug of coffee, Rob went in search of his niece leaving his brother and brother-in-law to finish preparing for the family get together. Things had gone better than anyone’s wildest dreams. Rob took a sip of his coffee and thought of his father’s favorite saying, “Sometimes the choices you make because of another are the best ones for yourself.”