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For the past two years since their divorce, Warren McGinnis and Mary Paek usually only met once a week to bring their sons together for visits. The split hadn't been terrible, though it easily could have been. Their frustration with their deteriorating relationship had made them both unhappy, which made them irritable, which led to a few explosive fights before they realized things weren’t going to work. They were too different, too disconnected, too not in love anymore to even want to sort things out- so they agreed to part ways. The most painful aspect by far though, was how the split had hurt their boys. Matt, at age four, had been too young to understand more than the fact that everyone was upset, but it had still had an impact. He had developed major separation anxiety, had started isolating himself from the other kids at preschool, and had abandoned all previous progress he had made in potty training. Terry though, being twelve at the time, had taken it even harder. Slipping grades, fights at school, staying out late, losing patience with Matt, crying himself hoarse on the nights they noticed and no doubt crying himself to sleep on the nights they didn’t. For all the mistakes their marriage had ended up being composed of, neither for a second counted their sons among them. Their children were a gift, and they deserved to grow up in an environment without their parents constantly at each other’s throats. Mary and Warren had made a hard choice, but one they felt was for the better.
Their relationship was relatively amicable, for a divorced couple, but seeing as they didn’t share many friends or interests anymore, their interaction was generally limited to every first and third Wednesday and every second and fourth Saturday of the month. Yet here they were, sitting side by side in a private meeting room at an upscale restaurant on a Thursday, for reasons a little more complicated than child support or property disputes. A week ago, they had both been contacted by the office of one Bruce Wayne to arrange a meeting. According to the email, Mr. Wayne wanted to meet in person to discuss a medical issue that could have affected the both of them due to Warren’s position in Wayne-Powers. Immediately, it had seemed strange that someone so powerful and private had wanted to talk with them face to face, but all the communications and arrangements had been completely official, so Mary had hired a babysitter for Matt, Warren had let Terry know that he would be home late, and they both made their way to the restaurant where they were shown to a back room and greeted by an elderly Mr. Wayne.
“Thank you both for coming. I hope you’re well.” he said.
“We are, thank you.” said Mary, taking a seat beside Warren. “How are you, Mr. Wayne?”
“Just fine.” he replied, then gestured to the menus set on the table and said “I’m glad you could make it. Pick out whatever you like. It’s the least I could do.”
After the ex-couple had ordered a drink and dish, the three continued to make small talk until the food came. Mr. Wayne was a pleasant conversationalist, but both guests were relieved when he finally sighed and moved onto more serious matters.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t give more details over email, but this is a sensitive circumstance. I wouldn’t want this knowledge spread without your permission. First, though, I must ask- how are your children?”
The question struck Mary as strange, but still she replied, “They’re both fine. Does this have to do with them?”
“I’m afraid it does. It’s nothing life threatening, mind you, but it does directly affect them.”
Mary felt her heart quicken as she exchanged a look with Warren. This had affected all of them? What was going on?”
“No use beating around the bush, I suppose,” said the elderly man as he retrieved an old-fashioned paper manila file from his briefcase and slid it toward them. “These files were given to me from the ex-director of a now-defunct government genetics & psychology research organization known as CADMUS. In the year twenty-twenty, they selected you two as subjects for an experiment that would recreate the trauma of my childhood by having the two of you murdered in front of your eldest. They also replaced a part of Warren’s DNA with my own to ensure the child would be genetically related to me on top of other variables they sought to control.”
Mary could only stare in shocked silence while Warren opened the file and started skimming through the papers, handing them off to her once he was finished. Her initial numbness gave way to anger with each one she read. Psychological profiles, nonconsensual and invasive genetic tampering, monitoring their movement, work, and home life, weekly reports on Terry’s “progress” for years , plans to have them terminated in front of their eight year old son . It would be unbelievable if not for the sheer level of detail . Every event Terry had ever attended, every friend he had ever made, every developmental milestone he had ever reached was here, typed out in front of her in neat form up until 2031, the year they were scheduled to die. The final file in the stack was just a typical weekly report form, but instead of the usual data summary, all it said was “canceled.”
She had no words.
Feeling restless, she slapped the papers down on the table and stood with enough force to knock her chair back a couple of inches. If either of the men sent a look her way, she was too busy pacing the small room to notice. God , she wanted to scream. Or hit something. Or both! They, her whole family, had been targeted and preyed upon for years by the literal government with the intent of- of some f*cked up experiment to kill them and study the effects it had on Terry?! Because they could? Because they thought it would be interesting to ruin her baby’s life?! Lord almighty, if she ever got her hands on anyone involved in this “Project Beyond” there would be hell to pay.
“Did you know about this?” she cried, whirling on the man who had asked them here.
He shook his head, calm in the face of her rage. “I was told just a month ago. I’ve spent that time double-checking the facts. I’m telling you this now because you both deserve to know, and because my genetic connection with your children could affect their lives. I never consented to this and would never wish the pain I suffered as a child on anyone. I’m sorry this happened.”
Mary took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down. Bruce Wayne was a known philanthropist and a staunch advocate for all things childcare. It indeed seemed out of character for the same man to approve of a plan to replicate a tragedy he had spoken of on multiple occasions as “devastating” and “world-shattering.” If he turned out to be lying to save face, though, she would rip him to shreds.
“Why didn’t they do it?” murmured Warren, voice barely loud enough to break the silence. “Why didn’t they finish the job?”
Mr. Wayne sighed into his steepled fingers, but held her ex-husband’s gaze.
“It was a close thing. Very close. The assassin they hired had their gun drawn and ready to fire, but grew a conscious at the last second. Went back to base and convinced the director to call the whole thing off.”
Warren let out a shuddering breath and bowed his head. Mary sat and took his hand for the first time in years, which he gripped tight. No matter that they weren’t in love anymore. Neither of them had ever wanted this .
And what would they do about this? What could they do? Their family had been subjects of an irreparably evil government experiment and now, though the danger was over, they were left to figure out what all of it meant. What would they tell the boys? That their genetic father wasn’t plain old Warren McGinnis, like they had thought, but instead Bruce slagging Wayne - one of the most influential men in the entire world? Maybe… maybe they didn’t have to tell them. Yet. Let them grow up and figure themselves out before revealing this. It was kinder that way. A fourteen and six year old didn’t need this kind of drama. Warren would probably agree to wait until they were adults. He was a good father like that.
Mr. Wayne then cleared his throat and brought forth two new files, this time opening them up and explaining the contents.
“Unfortunately, the people responsible for this are still officially protected by the government, and we may never be able to press charges. I’ll do what I can, but at this stage that isn’t much.” he picked up a sheet of paper. “On here is my personal phone number and email address, as well as the number for my house. I wouldn’t ask to impose myself on you or your sons’ lives, but it would relieve me to hear how you’re doing from time to time, if that’s not too much to ask. If it is, I understand completely. Don’t let me pressure you into anything. Either way, I’ve set up accounts for you and trust funds for your boys to access once they’ve reached adulthood. The money is already signed off to you- I can’t access a cred. I want to make it clear that this is a gift. There’s no legal way for me to hold any of this over you.”
For the second time that night, she was struck dumb. Looking over the papers at the frankly ridiculous sums of money they were apparently being handed over like it was nothing made her feel a little faint.
“I- what?” stammered Warren, usual eloquence lost in the shock of this complete one-eighty this conversation had taken.
“I assure you, this is of no detriment to me. Making sure you four are provided for is the least I could do.”
“That’s- it’s not- we…”
Mr. Wayne raised a single challenging brow.
“Okay.” Warren relented.
Mr. Wayne stayed for a moment longer to finish off his tea, then got up from his chair and shook both their hands.
“I’m sorry this has happened, but I hope you and your family can find peace. I have to get going now, but if you ever have any more questions, or need anything at all, don’t hesitate to ask. It’s been a pleasure meeting you both. The bill’s already taken care of, by the way. Stay as long as you’d like.”
Then he was gone, leaving the two parents with a pile of complicated documents to sort through and an even bigger pile of complicated feelings.
--
When they exited the restaurant, Warren inquired after Mary’s transportation. She told him she had come by bus, and he tentatively offered her a ride. Usually, this type of prolonged contact was avoided. Even after two years, their relationship still felt too awkward to do things like casual carpool- but tonight was obviously different. Neither one much felt like being alone.
By the time they got to the car (which, Mary noted, still had a car seat for Matt), it was past nine pm. She had told the babysitter not to expect her back before eleven, but now she wondered if even that would be enough to sort through this… mess.
Warren started up the car, stared blankly out the windshield for a minute, then turned the vehicle back off. Clutching the steering wheel tightly while staring down at his lap. After another moment Mary could see his shoulders had started shaking.
“Warren? Are you...” she was about to say ‘okay’, but that would be redundant at this point. “Do you want me to drive?”
"That's our boy, Mary." he choked out, ignoring the question.
"I know." she replied, reaching out to rub between his shoulders.
"Our little baby Terrence. They were going to hurt him like that and I just- we- there would’ve been nothing we could’ve done." he sobbed.
For the first time, her anger subsided enough to feel some of the raw fear the night’s discussion had inspired. Their baby would have been alone in the world with no one there to look out for him. No one there to comfort or advocate for him. A group of slagged up scientists who had his parents murdered certainly didn’t have his best interests at heart, and the thought of Terry being left to the likes of them terrified her.
It had been a long time since the two of them had needed each other like this. But, when Mary pulled Warren into their first hug in years, both of them clung to the other with equal desperation. It didn’t feel awkward, or distant. Just two parents heartbroken for their son.
When they recovered, she ushered him out of the driver's seat and drove them to his house. Thursday or no, they agreed that they both needed to see Terry right now. Upon arrival, they initially panicked at being unable to find him, but a quick phone call later and he came rushing in from the backyard- appearance disheveled enough to painfully remind her of that awful night back when he was eleven, but otherwise whole. More than anything, he looked confused when the first person he saw was not his dad, but his mom- who greeted him with a tearful hug that was soon joined by his father.
“Uh… guys?” Terry said after a minute. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but what are you both doing here? Did something happen? Where’s Matt?”
Mary stepped back to straighten herself out, allowing Warren to do the same while they came to a non-verbal agreement to let her take the lead.
“Matt’s with a babysitter. We just got back from a meeting about some medical things.”
“Oh. Is something wrong?”
“No! No, it was just that, well, something was almost wrong, and we both needed to come see you.”
“Um. Okay.” said Terry, suddenly looking a little sheepish. Mary hoped it wasn’t because of the novelty of having both his parents’ attention. Maybe it would do the boys good to see them together more often. Enough time had passed that they could probably pull it off. For the kids.
“It’s nothing urgent, don’t worry.” said Warren, laying a hand on Terry’s shoulder. “We’ll tell you when you’re older, okay? You and Matt. For now, do you have any tests tomorrow?”
“No.”
“And Mary, what time did you tell the sitter?”
“Eleven.”
“Then would you mind staying over for a movie and ice cream?” he asked.
“Appa, we don’t have any ice cream.” stated Terry.
“That’s what you think.” Warren replied, laughing at his son’s look of shocked betrayal.
Even if they did run late, this sitter was flexible and would probably appreciate the extra creds as long as she gave them a heads up.
“The perfect excuse to cuddle my agiya after a long and harrowing night?” she cried, planting a kiss on the boy’s cheek. “I don’t mind a bit.”
Terry grinned and was promptly ushered into the living room to pick a movie so Warren could retrieve his ice cream from its hiding spot. One look at her ex-husband’s face and Mary knew that they weren’t done talking about this, and that they were nowhere near done processing this, but maybe having their son safe beside them would be a start.
A good start to a great many things.