Welcome Home and A First Date 1/3

Mia leaned back in her seat and watched the twins interact with each other as they headed toward their home. It was so good seeing them together outside of a hospital setting. She had waited for this day for so long, too scared to hope that they would ever get the chance to live a normal life. Ginger was speaking so fast and with such enthusiasm that it seemed like she barely had time to breathe between sentences. Sage took it in stride though smiling indulgently at his twin. They were complete opposites but loved and protected each other fiercely.

After four long painful years Sage was finally healthy enough to try to live a real-life thanks in large part to his father's bone marrow donation. Mia was exceptionally grateful to Timothy for stepping up and saving their son. Was the gratitude she felt the reason she was so unsettled? Mia felt like something was changing inside her.

Watching Tim with Ginger also had a role to play in her mixed emotions. She never would have dreamed that he would be so caring and generous with their daughter. Then there was the fact that Mia could not help but notice that Tim had changed or was changing into the kind of man she had always wished he were. It didn't seem fair that she had only ever known Mr. Barrett and now he was just Timothy, and she would never have the better version of him for herself.

Mia sighed softly thinking about that damn text message. She could not believe how stupid she had been. Mia had responded in the way she had on impulse and realized that his sentiments had to have come from a drunk text about a second after she hit send. She was so embarrassed and felt so vulnerable that her mind had gone into lockout mode when she saw that he was at the Research Center.

Mia could not face speaking to Tim and seeing the censure in his eyes toward her foolish feelings. So, she had ignored him completely but was unable to miss the way he doted on Ginger. Surprisingly, Timothy Barrett was shaping up to be a good father. How could she have ever expected that?

Sage was not Ginger, though and Mia knew he would not take to Tim so easily. Timothy had surprised her again with the way he had adjusted to Sage's hostility. He had effortlessly cajoled her cranky child into taking his gift. When Sage had used Nicholas to try and wound him, Timothy hadn't gotten upset. Mia knew it had not been easy for Timothy to not react, but he had done admirably, not playing into their son's trap.

If Tim had gotten upset Sage would have taken it as confirmation that his father was a bad man. Considering their conversation the day before at the banquet, Mia knew that the restraint her ex-husband had shown had cost him more than she knew. It was one thing for her to reject Tim but for Sage to reject his father in favor of another had to have hurt him deeply. Mia knew that her son was only acting out because he felt he had been abandoned by his father, but it was still a painful situation for all involved.

Then there was the incident at the banquet hall. Mia had seen the video of Timothy ousting the Barrett women first thing this morning. While she knew that Tim was protecting his own image and that the events had little to do with her. Mia could not help wondering if he had been standing up for her as well. Would that even be a priority for him? Regardless, Tim had finally tried to fix the situation and that mattered to Mia more than she wanted to admit.

Mia's phone buzzed and she picked it up noticing a text notification from Nicholas. He was asking her to join him for dinner the next evening. Mia was torn, she still didn't feel like she had any romantic feelings toward her friend but maybe those would come with time. Nick had been her rock for so long tirelessly caring for her son that Mia felt like she should at least give him a chance. Maybe the endless medical drama was getting in the way of romance.

Still part of Mia did not want to go because of what Timothy might read into the situation which made her feel frustrated and ridiculous. Mia sent a text back to Nick agreeing to go before she could change her mind. What was one date? It was completely harmless plus she needed to know if there was anything between Nicolas and herself. There would be no reason to waste either of their time if she didn't feel some kind of spark with him. Her mind tried to bring up a vague memory of an incident long ago, but Mia dismissed it. That was different. That had been desperation, loneliness, and a lot of alcohol and could not be counted as a true test of compatibility.

The car pulled up the long driveway to the Lane family residence and stopped. Mia helped the twins out of the car and headed up the walkway to the house. The family was all there to welcome Sage home. Even Liam had taken a break from his filming schedule to spend time with the little boy that would get to experience real life for the first time. The living room was decorated in green and black balloons, streamers, and even a big sign that said welcome home.

Mia watched Sage take in the sight with a sort of cautious happiness that made her both happy and sad. It killed her to think about how much her son had missed and gave her so much joy that he was finally a regular little boy. The family walked into the party space together and Ginger pulled Sage around the tables of banquet of food and presents that were meant to celebrate the happy occasion.

"Mommy, can we please show Sage his room now?" Ginger asked. "We all helped decorate it for you and I especially helped with putting toys away," the vibrant girl continued.

"Sure, baby," Mia told her daughter.

Mia told Peyton, her assistant, to put Sage's computer bag on the sofa and Claude grabbed the other bag to bring to his room. Mia felt like she had been waiting her whole life to bring Sage home. For a moment she was overwhelmed with gratitude for Timothy because this never would have happened without him. She could think it was his responsibility to help as much as she wanted but if he were really the bastard that she remembered nothing would have made him help their child. When they reached Sage's bedroom, Mia opened his door with a flourish.

"Here you are sir, home sweet home." Mia said in an old-world theater voice.

"Mom, stop, you are so embarrassing," Sage complained though he was smiling. He walked into his room and turned around his eyes flitting from one item to the next. Then Sage began to walk around occasionally touching a toy or a book, really discovering his small world for the first time. He finally stopped in front of the wall of computer monitors and several computers with a big grin.

"Top of the line set up from Technosphere," Nathan told his nephew. "You should really be able to have some fun now."

"Yes," Mia interjected, "but for now let us go eat and enjoy the party." She knew if Sage got started with the computers now, she would not be able to pull him away from them.

"Do you like your room, Sage?" Ginger questioned a little timidly. He nodded at her with a small smile. "Phew, I was worried." The little girl breathed out dramatically causing everyone to chuckle.

Several hours later after everyone had eaten everything that they could stomach the adults of the Lane household began to head into Dominics study to have a more grown-up conversation about the day's events. Ginger was playing with her dollhouse. Sage was sitting on the sofa with his laptop open in his lap and was turning the flash drive his father had given him over and over in his hand. Mia and Eva were on the loveseat across the room talking quietly and Nathan was standing unobtrusively behind Sage waiting to see what his nephew would do. He wanted to know what was on that flash drive.

Finally, the boy huffed and popped the drive into a slot on the laptop. Instantly the computer screen went black, and a deep menacing computerized voice started to laugh. A white digital face appeared on screen, the mouth moving in time with the audio. "doomBringer presents a game of courage and skill if you are daring enough," a small white rabbit began to hop around the screen until the face turned toward it and swallowed it whole. "Catch me if you can little rabbit before I catch you!" The face then exploded and tinkled to the bottom of the screen with a sound like glass. This was followed by text that read 'Level 1, to begin press start.'

"Cool!" both Nathan and Sage exclaimed at the same time. Nathan watched as his nephew immediately became engrossed in his hacker game thinking that wonders never cease. Could Barrett really be doomBringer and then he realized that the only letter capitalized in the hacker alias was Barrett's initial. Well damn, he hadn't seen that coming. As the Norde City equivalent to doomBringer Nathan had been The Duke and together along with a few other talented people had hunted a group of elite terrorists.

Nathan was sure he was right, but he had to know. He crouched down next to Sage. "I need you to answer a question for me. Did doomBringer tell you the story about hunting terrorists?"

"Yep." Sage responded, typing quickly.

"Can you tell me who the terrorists really were?" Nathan prodded.

"No, I'm not supposed to talk about it." Sage replied still not looking up from his screen.

"Do you know who I am?" Nathan questioned skeptically.

"You are The Duke." His nephew replied.

"Did Barrett tell you that?" Nathan asked concerned.

"No, I don't think he knows but I already knew from your training materials, Uncle Nathan." Sage glanced at his uncle before looking back at the screen.

"Well then I need you to tell me who the terrorists really were so that I can confirm if he really is doomBringer." Nathan reaffirmed.

"Oh, okay. Barrett said that they were rich kids from powerful families, and it got covered up because that is how crappy high society works." Sage recited from memory before yelling "I got you." The laptop screen read level two.

"Thanks kid, that helps me out a lot." Nathan told his nephew with a pat on the shoulder. Barrett absolutely was the famous hacker that saved the day all those years ago. What in the hell happened to him to make him into Mr. Barrett, CEO, and winner of the worst person of the year award?

Nathan barged into Dominic's office bringing the conversation to a sudden halt. "You are never going to believe what I just discovered?" He paused for effect, "Timothy Barrett was, well still is, doomBringer." The whole room erupted with exclamations of disbelief. Only Connor and surprisingly Dominic were quiet.

"What makes you say that?" Dominic asked Nathan.

"Well, the hacker game that Barrett gave to Sage is presented by that name." Nathan went to continue but was interrupted.

"Barrett probably just used the name to try to get the boy to like him." Liam scoffed.

Nathan continued before anyone else could interrupt. "So, I asked Sage a question only the real hacker would have known, and he gave me a perfect answer. Barrett is the Legendary hacker. Just thought you should know." Everyone was silent.

"What the hell happened to Barrett to take him from hero level good guy to the ultimate asshole we found in Bern City?" Jason wondered aloud.

"My thoughts exactly," Nathan said shaking his head. "It doesn't compute in my head. What did I miss while I was uncovering the great mysteries of the universe?"

"We were talking about Barrett blowing the merger with Murdoch Oil." Connor said.

"I know, he said he refused to sell any of his daughter's time." Nathan affirmed.

"I'm beginning to think Barrett may be a more complicated man than we have given him credit for." Jason sighed.