The Third Ten

by Jacqueline Druga

  “El, if I had something to show you, I would.” Dean smiled.

  “Okay, you really don’t have something to show me, but you have something to share …” Ellen backed up. “Something that will change everything between us ...and …” she smiled. “Hear that? The buzz? Bet me that’s my fiancé now.”

  Dean tossed his head back with a groan.

  Frank appeared in the door. “Hey, El. I found Dean.”

  Ellen smiled. “Hey, Frank. Here to walk me home?”

  “You ready?”

  “Absolutely, we can discuss wedding plans.” Ellen reached out and took his hand. “And how soon we’re gonna do it.”

  “Yes!” Frank took her hand. “Bye, Dean.”

  “Wait.” Dean reached out and stopped Ellen by gripping her arm. “Can I have her for a second?”

  “No, Dean, you cannot.” Frank said.

  “Why?”

  “Because we’re gonna go home and discus wedding plans.”

  “I’ll make sure she’s there in less than twenty minutes.”

  Frank looked at Ellen. She gave him a nod, and Frank tapped his watch. “I’m timing you.” He backed up. “If you’re not back in twenty minutes…” he held up the unit. “I will find you.”

  Dean waited until Frank had left and the security of his leaving was sealed by the buzzing of the containment door.

  “What’s up?” Ellen asked.

  Dean stared at her.

  “What?”

  “You found a niche in this Frank marriage thing.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about Dean. Niche? Why does me marrying Frank concern you? Now... You’re eating up valuable minutes. Why did you pull me away from my fiancé?”

  Dean groaned.

  “Dean?”

  “Fine.” He sighed out. “I give.”

  Ellen tugged her ear. “What was that?”

  “I give. I give.” He leaned down placing his face close to hers, “And yours better be good. Let’s go.” He grabbed her hand and led her out.

  ***

  The cryo lab.

  A place where they always shared secrets. Dean and Ellen went there to share the new.

  Reluctant, Dean spilled his first. Upon hearing the news, Ellen’s reaction was not one he expected.

  Quiet.

  Three fingers pressed against her lips, Ellen stared at Dean, not moving, not saying a word.

  “You didn’t know,” Dean said.

  “Oh, I knew.” Ellen lowered her hand and exhaled. “It’s just a totally different confirmation coming from you.”

  “I didn’t want to tell you.”

  “Why?”

  “I have let you down so many times; I just didn’t want to let you down again.”

  “Oh, Dean.”

  “What? What’s wrong? This makes you angry.”

  Ellen shook her head. “Sad.”

  “Why?”

  “Because we have pulled so far apart.”

  “I want this to bring us closer,” Dean said. “Even if as lab partners. Friends.”

  “I missed that.”

  “Me, too, El. I’ve … I’ve missed you. Do you know what it’s like for me?” Dean stood up. “To watch you move on. To watch you be with Frank again. Knowing, knowing that it wasn’t long ago that you were mine. All mine.”

  “Dean, do you realize this didn’t have to happen. You didn’t have to end it with me all over an experiment.”

  “I told you. I didn’t want …”

  “To let me down. I know.” Ellen followed him across the lab. “But you ended up letting me down in more ways than one. You took this great relationship and tossed it out the window with your behavior. You moved another woman in your house, your heart, your bed …”

  “El …”

  “No, that’s what you did. In less than a week. That’s what I saw.”

  Hand resting on the counter, head lowered, Dean only raised his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  “So am I.”

  “But, it has to stay this way. If it doesn’t this community …”

  “Will never suspect a damn thing.” Ellen said. “But I see where you’re going.”

  “And why I’m going there?” Dean asked.

  Ellen nodded.

  “We have it all worked out, you know.” Dean’s fingers trailed across the counter. “How it will play out. End.”

  “But you’ll still go on living with her.”

  Dean nodded.

  “I understand.”

  “Just know, El, I know where her heart is, and she knows where mine is.”

  Curiously, Ellen tilted her head. “Her heart is somewhere and you know?”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  “Where?”

  “Can’t tell you.”

  “Who?”

  Dean chuckled. “I can’t tell you that.”

  “Joe.”

  “No.”

  “Jason?”

  Again, Dean chuckled. “No.”

  “You.”

  “No, El …”

  Ellen rattled off names. “Danny, Dan, Henry, Hector, Hap …”

  “Ellen.” Dean’s hand covered her mouth. “Stop.” He leaned close to her. “I’m not telling you.”

  Ellen removed his hand slowly. “Why?”

  “Because you have a big mouth.”

  “Oh I won’t tell anyone. I promise.” She held up her hand. “I swear.”

  “Fine.”

  “Boy, you’re easy today.”

  “I haven’t had you to talk to and this feels good.”

  Ellen smiled gently. “Yeah, it does. So who?”

  “Tell you what? You owe me a secret. Don’t you? Or … Was that an Ellen fib?”

  Mouth agape, finger waving, Ellen stepped back. “Not a fib. Boy, Dean, wait. Wait until you see.” She walked around the counter and toward the far corner of the cryo lab.

  “Why are we going into storage?” Dean asked.

  “It’s not storage anymore. Hector helped me yesterday to transform it.”

  “Hector knows this secret.”

  “Oh, yeah, because I thought I was going to need his help while I was gone. But now that you’re going to know, he can help you with it.”

  “I am really curious. What did you find?”

  “Well… I think you missed something.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You were the one responsible, but didn’t know you’re responsible.”

  Dean scratched his head. “I’m confused. How do you know I don’t know?”

  “He told me.”

  “Who?”

  Giving him a ‘just a second sign’, Ellen pulled out a key and opened the door. “Him.” She waved to Dean to step inside the room.

  A bed, small table and books were there. Along with …

  Dean chuckled “Christopher? El? I know about Christopher.”

  “What do you know about Christopher?”

  “That he has no skin? And that he …” he saw Ellen shake her head. “You didn’t put Chris in here as a joke?”

  “Oh, boy, no.”

  “Dr Hayes.” Christopher extended his hand. “I am very glad the Mrs. Dr. Hayes has told you. Now perhaps you can work together with her to cure me.”

  Dean lifted his hand. “I've been trying Christopher, you know that. But skin grafts and all that will take time.”

  Ellen said. “You’re way off track here, Dean. Your cure needs cured.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Ellen gave a look to Christopher and a nod. Then turned Dean to face her. “Dean I want you to listen very carefully to what I am saying, Okay?”

  “Shoot.”

  “Jenny Matoose.”

  “What about her?”

  “Wow. She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”

  “What?” Dean laughed. “Ellen …”

  “Shh… those huge breasts she has. She was telling me that last night. She was staring at herself naked in the mirror…”
>
  “Oh my God, El, what …”

  “And she began to fondle herself. She got so aroused, her hands roamed all over her body, down her …:

  “Uh! El. Stop. Why are you …?”

  “She was into it. And the entire time she pleasured herself, she was thinking ….”

  “Stop.”

  “Christopher,” Ellen seductively whispered the name. “Eeking out, moaning out ... Christopher.”

  Dean raised an eyebrow. “Why did you just …” he stopped when Ellen pointed to behind him. Dean turned around. With a startled, “uh!” He stumbled backwards, slamming into the wall.

  Christopher grunted.

  “Meet Frank’s Bigfoot.” Ellen said. “Courtesy of you, Dr. Hayes.” She folded her arms.

  Christopher had mutated. His body tall and massive barely fit in the room. In fact he hunched. He looked almost Killer Babyish in a big body. Hot puffs of air snorted from his nostrils, and the clothes he wore were tight and snug. Not ripped, Ellen had Christopher wear expandable, extra large clothes.

  “Nearest I can figure,” Ellen said. “You took something from the Killer Baby sequence, didn’t you? Because they tend to regenerate.”

  Dean stared and nodded.

  “But where it went mad, I can’t figure out. Can you?”

  Dean didn’t answer, he only stared.

  “What baffles me is why you used testosterone?”

  Quickly, Dean looked at her. “How do you know that?”

  “Why did you use it?”

  “Hair growth. How did you know?”

  “Because his mutation is sexually based.”

  “What?” Dean asked shocked.

  “When Christopher gets sexually aroused, he changes.”

  His entire demeanor went from shocked to ‘Mr. Scientist’. “It does?”

  “Oh, yeah. He told me. Hector and I experimented. He brought over a porn magazine. Did the trick. Not completely. For information’s sake, it doesn’t hurt when he transforms.”

  “That’s good to know. So you experimented.”

  “I figure there has to be other things that mutate him. But sex is the big thing. No... Jenny Matoose is the big thing. He has a huge crush on Jenny. Gives new meaning to beauty and the beast.”

  “Oh, my God. So when he’s not aroused anymore, he turns back?”

  “Yep. I even have an instant antidote.” From her back pocket she pulled out a folded piece of paper. “Sorry, I’ll have to get you a new one Christopher.” She undid it and held it to Chris’ view.

  Dean asked. “What is that?”

  “Remember when Josephine put those personal ads in everyone’s mail boxes?”

  Dean cringed.

  Ellen instructed. “Look close Chris. That’s not a crease, that’s Josephine’s genitals.”

  With an ‘Ug’ Dean walked out.

  “I’ll leave you with this.” Ellen handed the picture to Chris, and followed Dean. She closed the door behind them and locked it.

  “This is amazing, El.” Dean held back his bangs. “I inadvertently discovered how to transform a DNA mutation into a physical mutation?”

  “You were well on your way with the Frank thing.”

  “Holy, shit. To beat this we have to figure out how it happened then counter act.”

  “I know.”

  “Do you know how much information we can get while we’re trying to help him?”

  Ellen grinned. “I know.”

  “This is going to be great!” Dean yelled out with excitement. “How? How did you find this out?”

  “He came to me.” Ellen said. “The first time he came to the lab, Jason was here and I screamed. The second time he came. When he whimpered, I knew. I sensed it. I wasn’t scared.”

  “He whimpered?”

  “I opened the cryo lab door. There he was. Just as I reacted, he held out his hand and made this pitiful noise. In a few minutes he was back to being Christopher. He’s scared Dean. He gets scared when he changes and doesn’t know what to do.”

  “Did you ask him why he destroyed tracking?”

  “I did. He said he needed a place to go and hide when he gets like this.”

  “Makes sense.” Dean started to pace. “But how often does he get like this?”

  “Every time he gets aroused and Dean … he’s a young man.” Ellen nodded once.

  “Oh, boy.” Dean whistled. “We’re in trouble.”

  “Hence why he is here. Plus, before I gave him the Marma maternity clothes, his clothes would rip off and he’d be naked.”

  “He’s shy.”

  “He shouldn’t be.”

  “El.”

  “Well.” She shrugged. “You can’t help but notice. Oh, brother, you can’t help but notice.”

  “You know,” Dean waved a thinking finger. “There’s no reason for him to hide down here. I can give him something that will inhibit his sexual desire. That way it will lessen the frequency. But when we need to experiment …”

  “Work, Dean, never experiment on people.”

  “You’re right. Work on him. We can pull out those porns.”

  “Jenny has some homemade ones. She was telling me her and John …”

  Dean stopped her. “I don’t want to know. But see if you can get them.”

  Ellen gave a thumbs up.

  “Thank you for sharing.”

  “Thank you for sharing. But …” Ellen walked to him. “You have one more thing to share.” She leaned with her back against the counter. “You promised. Who has Margaret’s heart?”

  “You won’t say anything?”

  “Dean, I doubt it will even faze me.”

  “George.”

  Ellen screamed and was immediately silenced by Dean’s hand as he moved into her.

  “El. Shh.” He slowly lowered his hand but kept his stance close.

  “George? As in Hadley?”

  “Yes, her husband.” Dean whispered. “She’s still in love with George.”

  “Oh, my God. Why?” Ellen whispered, too.

  “They were married, El. Together for a long time. It’s not easy to just lose your feelings for someone when you’ve loved them so deep for so long.”

  “Don’t I know it?”

  “Me, too.”

  “Dean? It’s not helping our break up with you being this close to me.”

  “I know.” Dean swallowed. “But with the secret out, does it matter if it helps our break up?”

  “Are you hitting on me?”

  “Am I allowed?” Dean asked softly.

  “Would be fun.”

  The corner of Dean’s mouth raised in a smile. “It would be real fun.” His hand dropped all the way from her face to her waist.

  “Why are we still whispering? Who’s gonna hear?”

  Buzz.

  The door opened and Frank walked in.

  “Fuck,” Frank said. “I give you twenty minutes with my soon to be wife again, and you’re all over her. Look, Dean. I found you.”

  “Hey, Frank.” Dean stepped back. “Sorry. I wasn’t... it wasn’t what you think.”

  “Yes, it was,” Ellen said as she walked to Frank.

  Dean gasped.

  “He was hitting on me. Seems Margaret just won’t put out.” Ellen grabbed Frank’s hand.

  “Once was all it took,” Frank said. “He knocked her up. She experienced Dean, and like you, said no more.”

  Dean nodded. “Very funny Frank. You’re hysterical.”

  “I am. And I am telling Margaret on you. Not a way to make a new relationship work. Speaking of relationships, let’s go home, El and talk about the wedding.”

  “Sounds good. Bye, Dean.”

  “Bye, Dean.”

  Dean grunted. He gave a half-assed wave when they walked out. Alone in his lab, Christopher popped into his mind, and he grew excited about the prospects. Turning to go to the back room, Dean remembered he was supposed to be bonding with the kids, and headed to do just that.

  Christo
pher would still be there when he returned and it gave Dean something to look forward to in the late evening.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  February 20th

  The small twin engine plane, one of four that Beginnings had decked out and ready to go, sat on a highway outside of Bowman. A roadway, renamed, Robert Slagel Airfield.

  Ellen watching as Frank loaded the last of the bags and supplies on the plane. She herself had her Ben from Fabrics handbag, slithered in her fingers. The wind moved, but not much. It was a good day for flying.

  Robbie’s voice floated to her as he called out things about fuel, tweaking and problem shooting, to Frank. She probably would have paid more attention had her attention not been diverted to the sound a jeep.

  Danny Hoi was arriving, which wasn’t surprising. The fact that Dean was driving him was.

  Her hand lifted in a wave, and Ellen gave a quirky smile as the jeep neared.

  Danny disembarked. “I am so ready for this trip. I can’t wait.”

  “Its work, but it’ll be fun.” Ellen told him. “You should give your bag to Frank.”

  “Got it.” Danny took his bag to the plane.

  Dean approached Ellen. “Hey.”

  “What brings you out here?”

  “I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye.”

  “I feel special.”

  “You are,” Dean said. “You also ... you understand why I’m not going right?”

  “I do. Besides, Lars hates you.”

  “Do we know why that is?” Dean asked. “I mean how did I offend some horse doctor in the Midwest?”

  Ellen shrugged. “Maybe by calling him a horse doctor.”

  Dean reached out and closed her coat. “Call me for anything. As much as it pains me to admit, I do think the CME doctor is probably better to have do this than me.”

  “I doubt it. But he may know how to handle the brain better. Dean?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You’re holding my coat.”

  “That’s because I want to hold you.” He sighed out. “But I can’t. Frank is watching.”

  Ellen giggled.

  “El!” Frank called out. “It’s time.”

  “Walk me to the plane?” Ellen asked.

  “Sure, I can’t leave yet anyhow.”

  Ellen didn’t ask what he meant. She walked to the side door of the plane. Danny stood waiting to go in. Robbie on one said and Frank on the other.