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“I have two,” said Colt. “Twins. Little over a year old.”

<“You didn’t... kidnap them, did you?”>

“What? No! They’re my children!”

<“That was going to be my second guess.”>

Colt shook his head. “Kidnap... what kind of people do you think we are?”

<“Well, y’know. Kidnap, rescue--who can tell the differences these days?”>

“I’m pretty sure I can.”

<“Anyways, why do you want a doctor? Is something wrong with them?”>

“I’m not sure. And that’s the problem.”

<“I see. Hmm. Admittedly, I don’t have a child doctor on standby. Not exactly the kind of personnel I was expecting to need. And I can’t imagine that black market pediatrics is a booming industry, either. I’ll look into it for you, though. Give me a couple days.”>

“Alright. Thanks.”

The conversation soon ended, and Colt hung up the phone. He abruptly realized that Hector hadn’t even said goodbye to Gina, and when he looked in the mirror again, he saw Hector sleeping while the twins prodded his face.

Colt was starting to feel his own enhancements wearing off as well, muscles growing stiff with sharp and aching pains alike. He could only imagine how bad it was for Hector. The kid had already been exhausted even before fighting Karkash.

Bohwanox hovered outside the driver’s side window, keeping pace with the car as it sped across the highway. ‘What makes you think something might be wrong with the twins?’

“I don’t know. They’re just very... calm, I guess.”

‘Hmm.’

“Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe they’re just little weirdoes and it’s perfectly normal. I just want to consult someone who knows about this sort of thing.” He glanced between the two reapers. “Do either of you know anything about child development?”

‘Not really,’ said Garovel.

‘Sorry,’ said Bohwanox.

“Figures.”

After a few more minutes, they arrived back at the motel. Garovel offered to wake Hector up, but Colt just made a second trip and carried him into the room, too.