It was silver and sat lightly on her wrist and she'd never questioned it: tiny links of silver bound to a large oval imprinted with a snake-entwined staff. She could describe it in her sleep. She lifted it away from her wrist with a finger and let it fall back, enjoying simply that she knows it's there.

"No, dad, try some yeast flakes on it, trust me. Aren't they just great?!" Karolina grins at her father and takes another bite of her homemade vegan enchiladas.

Her father nods, his mouth full of floury tortilla, tofu, and beans.

"Let's go, you two! We're going to be late for our get-together at the Wilders'." Leslie enters and sees her husband in mid-chew. "I might've guessed! No wonder you're not ready. You cooked again, didn't you, sweetie?" She laughs. "Karolina, you're getting to be quite the chef!" She takes an enchilada from the pan and, in response to the urgent finger-pointing from her husband and daughter, unloads yeast flakes on top before biting.

Karolina takes the tray of desserts from the fridge and follows her parents out to the car. "Are the rest of the kids going to be there? It seems like ages since I've seen Gert and Nico... and gosh, Molly will be a whole lot bigger, won't she?"

Frank laughs. "I'm sure they will, kiddo. Now let's get a move on!"

* * *

"Haven't you ever taken it off?"

Karolina thought for a second, running her finger around the large engraved oval piece. "I don't think so, not that I can remember. I don't even take it off in the shower. If something happens, no matter where I am, emergency people need to know I'm allergic to penicillin."

Nico studied the metal. "What's that snake thing on the...

Karolina's in shock, much like Alex. Nico has, well, blossomed. In a totally goth and Nico way, but she's way se... more mature than last year. Karolina tamps the lid down tightly on that line of thought. While she's pretty sure the other kids would all be okay with her liking girls, she's not sure they'd be okay with her liking Nico. And she has no idea how Nico would react.

Alex's parents send all six of them off to the game room and for the first few minutes it's as interesting as a funeral, and about as talkative. But when Alex reveals a secret passage, the fun really begins.

"Whoa, this goes all through your house? Dude. You have some seriously interesting parents." Chase is impressed, staring at the opening behind the pinball machine.

Gert rolls her eyes. That's the one thing Karolina still hasn't gotten used to about Gert -- her tendency to act like a world-weary fifty-year-old, despite the fact that she's younger than Karolina. Then again, Karolina's spent her youth in a town where everyone's trying to look and act fifteen years younger than they actually are, so maybe it's the novelty of the reverse that still holds her attention. It doesn't really bother her, but does make her slightly uncomfortable, as though her parents were watching her through cat-eye glasses and purple hair.

Karolina is right behind Nico as the group makes its way down the passage, and her attention is so much on Nico that she misses Alex, in the lead, halting at a broad sheet of glass; no, a one-way mirror (or is that two-way? She can never remember). Nico stops, but Karolina's following so close that she steps into her, knocking Nico forward into Alex and causing a rather large amount of shifting and mutters as everyone tries to keep silent. Mortified, Karolina hangs back a little, pulling Molly with her.

"Alex, where are we?" Nico asks, holding onto his shoulder. Karolina watches, a little sadly. Alex is the mature one, the leader. No wonder Nico is drawn to him.

"It's the library, our parents should be here any minute; Mom said something about pouring drinks, and the bar's in the living room."

"Karolina, I want to see!" Molly whispers, a little louder than they'd like.

"In a minute, Mol; nobody's there right now."

But then there are--they file in, first the Steins, then the Minorus... and Alex's parents, the Wilders, bring up the rear. They're dressed strangely for the most part--Karolina's parents are in some kind of weird wetsuits--but the Wilders are still in normal clothes, as is Chase's mom, his dad having gone for the mad scientist look, complete with lab coat. Alex, Nico, Gert, and Chase are glued to the view in front of them, and Karolina would be too if not for the insistent tugging at her arm.

"Karolina! I wanna see!" Molly's whisper is even louder this time, and Alex turns back toward them, his face a mask of anger.

"Molly! Keep it down!" he hisses, and he turns back to the scene unfolding in the library.

Karolina's eyes widen as Molly's face sets itself in a stubborn pout. "Oh, no, Molly, please..."

"I WANNA SEE!"

Alex whips his head around to quiet Molly, and Karolina can tell that he's realized his mistake. All the parental heads swivel in their direction.

* * *

...oval thingy?"

Karolina paused. "Gert called it a caduceus." She played with the end of her braid. "It's Greek, I think. It has some meaning related to healing, so you'll see it on doctors' things, and sometimes nurses'. Lots of hospitals use it in their logos."

Nico said "so what did your mom mean by..."

There's a moment of intense concentration from the adults, and everyone in the secret passage holds their collective breath, but it doesn't help. Alex's father clears his throat and turns to Nico's mom, saying only, "we couldn't hide it from them forever. Bring them down." And what happens next is like something out of a really weird horror movie, because Nico's dad cuts her mom on the wrist and this giant stick juts out of her chest.

Nico's mom says something and the one-way (or is it two-way?) mirror in front of Alex melts and reforms into a set of steps down into the library. Karolina is dumbfounded; she sees her reaction mirrored in her friends' faces, and knows she's not alone in that.

"Cool!" Molly shouts, and rushes from Karolina's grip to the edge of the new stairway. She puts one foot carefully down on it and it holds. "Glass stairs! Alex, your house is the best! Mom, Dad, can we get glass stairs too?" She seems to take no notice of the strange clothes her parents are wearing, but runs right up to them and starts tugging on her mother's hand.

It seems like Nico can't move, and Karolina can't blame her; the thing with her mom is kind of the height of weird. Karolina doesn't want to even look at her own parents, afraid of what strange things they'll have to say. For now, she just stands behind Nico and puts her arm around Nico's shoulder, trying to be comforting.

* * *

"'...you'll know when to take it off?' I mean, if you're allergic to penicillin, won't that last forever?"

Karolina just shrugged. "I don't know. How am I supposed to know about something my parents lied to me about?"

Nico paused. "What if it's something about becoming an adult? Like, you'll know you can take it off when you don't need your parents anymore, or when..." She blushed and turned aside.

"Or when what, Nico?"

"Or when you have sex the first..."

The circle of parents widens a little as each set takes their child. Alex's dad talks about saving the world from some huge alien guy, demons, rampaging mutants, people and creatures from the 41st century. It's all kind of a ridiculous blur to Karolina. Her parents are very quiet.

There's a fierce kind of pride radiating out of Alex, pride at being the son of the leader, of continuing his father's work. Molly looks kind of miffed that her parents are mutants but she isn't--until her eyes start glowing and she ends up stronger than any twelve-year-old prone to temper tantrums has a right to be. Gert's likely to become even more insufferably bossy now that she can time-hop. Chase is dejected, looking at his genius parents with something like loathing and longing mixed together. And Nico.

Nico is on the floor, sleeping. Karolina blinks; she certainly hadn't seen that happen. Nico had been seething, verbally lashing out at her parents, who'd accused her of being into "that Wicca stuff" while being sorcerers themselves. She looks up at Mrs. Minoru, who is still holding the stick from before.

"I'm sorry, Karolina; I had to knock her out. She's so upset! I never dreamed this would be so hard." It sounds like Mrs. Minoru, but coming from this strangely-cloaked woman, Karolina isn't sure what to think.

"Can I take her out to the playroom? I think she needs to lie down on the couch." Karolina just wants to get out of this stuffy environment, full of expectations and parents she doesn't know anymore.

Nico's mom nods, and Karolina catches Chase's attention. She figures he'll be easiest to get rid of so she can be with Nico. Together they lift her and walk from the library, not talking until they pass the playroom doors.

* * *

"...time. Or maybe when you find the right guy."

Karolina blushed a lot. Nico wasn't, well, she wasn't the person Karolina wanted to have this conversation with, that's for sure. "I..."

Nico's eyes widened. "You've already done it?! Wait, what's it like?" She leaned forward, sitting up.

"Oh, no, I mean... I haven't. Done it. With a guy." Karolina was aware that she was blurting out sentences piecemeal, but was grateful for anything that would cover up what she really didn't...

Gert comes into the room as Karolina is about to nod off herself, the adrenaline from being caught in the secret passage having long since burned away.

"How is she?"

Karolina starts. "Gert! Oh, she's. Fine, I guess. However fine she can be in some kind of weird magic sleep." When she says it that way, she realizes how silly it sounds, and how real it is. She briefly wonders if she could kiss Nico and wake her up, her very own Sleeping Beauty.

"Your mom told me to tell you that they had to jet, but the Minorus will take you home." She pauses, looking at Karolina, sitting next to Nico's prone form on the long sofa. "She also said that your medic bracelet isn't what you think it is, and that you'd know when to take it off."

That startles her. "You mean I'm not allergic to penicillin?" She stares at the bracelet.

"I guess not..." Gert looks like she's trying to think of something else to say, but can't.

Nico stirs. "Ohh, my head..." She holds her hand to her forehead. It's such a cliche line that Gert and Karolina can't hold back giggles. "Fine, laugh at my pain," Nico mutters. "I'll get you, my pretties! Remember, my parents are the wicked witch and her husband..."

Karolina and Gert stifle their laughter. It's not really funny, the situation they're in. "Gert was just saying..." Karolina begins, and Gert jumps right in.

"Yeah, Karolina and I were talking about her bracelet. Apparently it's not what she thought it was." Gert pushes her cat glasses further up her nose. "Her mom said she'd know when to take it off."

* * *

...want to talk about.

"Oh." Nico was quiet for a moment. Then, "What about with a girl?"

Karolina almost didn't hear it, it was whispered so quietly, but when she did her heart did little backflips, and the butterflies in her stomach started pounding their wings. "Not..." she closed her eyes and said, "not... yet." There was a long silence. Karolina opened her eyes. "Nico?"

For Nico was looking at her strangely, in a way that was different from how she'd greeted Karolina. "Would... would you take it off? Your bracelet, I mean." She half-smiled. "For me?"

Karolina looked Nico in the eye, felt for the bracelet, and ripped it from her wrist, erupting in a flare of light. She hovered over the couch and stared at her hands, multicolored and shining. "I'm... I'm an alien?!" Her face twisted into an expression of horror and self-loathing.

"No," breathed Nico. She reached forward with her hand, sliding it over Karolina's fluorescent cheek. "You're beautiful."