For the most part, Erica and Alison were quiet on the way back from the house-fae collective’s ruins. Well, of course Erica was. They could have had a conversation, but Alison would need to speak out loud to keep the other five from hearing one side of it. There was a lot of activity right now, and they didn’t need anyone they encountered physically wondering why Alison was responding to nothing. The sun was low, the golden light slanting across the island, and Erica was going to start feeling the urge soon to root and rest for a few hours, but she still had some time.

While it was inevitable that there would be faelings not pursuing their spies, whether they were sceptical or lacked abilities or interest, there were plenty that were eagerly hunting them. Before they’d even finished emptying the wagon and filling Jo and the others in on the rest of the details, the first had been brought in. The house fae, who had been expecting them, had listened attentively to the disposal instructions, and promised to follow them and to distribute rewards and keep count of how many.

The quiet didn’t really matter: they had nothing in particular that needed to be said. There were plenty of subjects available, and one of them was whatever had made Alison’s emotions so tumultuous when reuniting with Wade that it had been perceptible—although it wasn’t a surprise those involved in their own intense conversations had missed it—but that would happen when Alison was ready, and the rest weren’t really productive.

With so many mouths to feed, they took the long way back by detouring into later summer, and paused frequently to fill the baskets and bowls and the wagon bed itself with produce that JC and Emma could make use of.

Alison paused in picking ears of sweet bicolour corn. *Yes, Theo?* Erica took an armload to the wagon and went back for more. This wasn’t the only stand on the island, each one planted in a highly-traditional Three Sisters arrangement with climbing beans and spaghetti squash—at least in this grove it was spaghetti squash—and a fourth plant that she thought might be amaranth, a plant she had no personal experience growing but had often heard mentioned for this use. There was no way they were growing like this on their own, in neat clusters of mounds, and considering the location and Barry’s obsession with single-species plots it clearly wasn’t anything he’d had a hand in, so she assumed it must be one or more green fae.

*Oh dear,* Alison said. *Erica? Riley texted Kayla a question for you. How’s your relationship with your brother and grandfather? Apparently she walked in on them in your apartment and they’re demanding answers. She’s insisting on getting permission from you before talking to them.*

*They what?* Erica stopped in her tracks. *Oh my god. On Saturday Adam and I always do a three-way video chat with my grandfather before he goes to work. Before Adam does, I mean, he likes being there on weekends but someone else opens and he comes in later. Just catching up, nothing serious, we do it every weekend. Sometimes one of us has to miss it but there’s always an email or text or something. They must have panicked! Grandpa’s out in the country, three quarters of an hour away, but Adam lives twice as far away. If they’re both there, Adam was scared enough to skip going to the greenhouse and come looking for me instead. Oh hell.*

*So they got a slightly-delayed version of the same panic Wade and all got. They know you well enough to be sure that you wouldn’t just lose track of time.*

*Well, yeah. I’ve told you how close I am to them. Everyone calls my grandfather crazy for being able to see green people in the crops and garden and a blue woman in the pond, but Adam and I listened. Basically, they’ll both be open-minded, I’m pretty sure, and I don’t think they’re going to settle for anything less than the full story. I think she’s going to have to bring them here. Although I don’t know how the hell I’m going to be able to explain anything when I can’t talk to them!*

*We’re going to have to break the rule about not telling anyone about what I can do, I guess, although we can probably still downplay it to being very short-range and just me hearing you and not get into the subject of contact with the others. I know we made a decision on that, and it’s important, but so is this. Guys? Any objections?* Brief silence. *Everyone agrees, although yes, we need to fudge the details a lot so it doesn’t really give away the whole thing. I’ll help you talk to them, although it does mean having an extra person present. Okay, so I should have Theo tell Kayla to tell Riley to bring them here?*

Erica would have taken a deep breath, had she been able to. *Yes. I’m sorry, I’m safe, I’m with old friends, and if they want to know details they’ll have to come ask me personally because I can’t come to them right now. I’m quite sure they’ll take her up on that, to make sure I really am safe and so Adam can tell me off if I don’t have an extremely good reason.*

Alison repeated all that. *Fortunately, you do. Have an extremely good reason for missing that call without letting them know, I mean.*

*I know. But this is still terrifying.*

*Oh, I can so relate. Try to stay calm, okay? There’s no point to rushing back and then sitting to wait, you know it’ll take a while. Try to concentrate on finding good stuff Jace can use to feed a lot of hungry humans and faelings.*

*Yeah. I’ll do my best.* Alison was absolutely right. What was she going to do, camp out next to the Gate and fret herself sick? That wouldn’t help anyone. *Good thing the layout includes extra cottages anyway. But I hope Adam brought enough for overnight like he usually does. Damn, Grandpa going home to get anything would take forever.*

*What if we ask Riley to stop somewhere and at least buy some extra underwear for both? We can pay her back.*

*Sure. Because I don’t think they’re going to leave once they’re here. They can grab a bunch of t-shirts from my bedroom—dresser, second drawer down. Those will fit either of them.*

*Bedroom, dresser, second drawer down, t-shirts, grab a bunch, and get Riley to pick up underwear for both. Got it, and Theo’s passing it on.* A brief pause. *Theo says Kayla’s replying to Riley.*

Erica nodded, and turned her attention back to picking corn. How was she going to handle this? Her grandfather knew fae existed, had been interacting with them since at least his early teens, giving them small gifts and accepting the resultant good fortune with due gratitude and modesty. That didn’t mean he’d ever had a real conversation with one or understood what they were or why they were so friendly towards him in particular. Adam had never seen fae directly, only the effects around his greenhouse of staying in their good graces. How would they handle the revelation that they all had green-fae ancestry and her own had taken over?

She did feel guilty, though. She had her phone back. Her first act should have been texting them that she was okay. Sure, she had a lot to think about that was relatively urgent, but she loved them, and she’d known they’d be expecting her.

A worrying thought struck her. Other green fae had made clear their disdain for her loyalty to her friends; at least two had expressed certainty that she’d outgrow it in time and see that it was misplaced. They’d heard repeatedly about green fae who had stopped associating with the rest of the group they had grown up with and had come here with. That connection tended to linger—it grew thin and diffuse sometimes under the pressure of different needs, but in most cases they stayed on reasonably good terms. The green fae were the overwhelming exception.

There couldn’t be something deeper that would make it increasingly difficult for her to hold onto the importance of her relationships... could there? That was a frightening idea.

Probably she was just feeling anxious over the sudden introduction of her brother and grandfather to the situation, and that was making her more paranoid. Probably she’d just been so caught up in worrying about her friends and the island faelings and what was going to happen now that one non-immediate but significant priority had slipped her mind.

Probably.

This wasn’t the moment, but she could bring it up later to her friends and ask them to watch for anything suggesting that she was beginning to disconnect emotionally.

Meanwhile, her current feelings made it abundantly clear that her brother and grandfather and their wellbeing mattered to her very intensely.

She couldn’t concentrate on her breathing or anything meditative like that, but she could keep her attention on one ear of corn at a time, twisting ripe ones neatly off the stalk and filling the crook of her free arm, until she ran out of space and took them to the wagon. That rhythm helped calm her. She never had to wonder whether an ear was ripe or not, because some inner sense told her as soon as she touched it what state it was in. She hadn’t had that in the first few days after going fully fae, so she figured it was a good example of something still developing. It was a useful skill, especially when trying to feed so many people.

At least JC had help now with the preparation. She was looking forward to JC having her recipe binder and whatever Nora was able to add to the available resources.

They wandered on their way, weaving between locations Erica knew had good things to harvest, Alison unhitching herself when necessary to help and then returning to fasten the snaps to her harness rings again. By the time they reached the walls, they had a fair load in the wagon.

*Yo, Jace!* Alison said. *You in the house? Erica and I are back with the wagon full of goodies for you and Emma to use.* She waited a moment. *Seriously? Okay. So should we just leave it in the wagon and by the kitchen door, and we’ll look at relocating once the chaos eases up a bit? Cool, we’ll do that. Erica, apparently Jace is guiding the most recent prize-winner through the house to pick what they want, Theo is hovering near Kayla, Niko’s finishing off buildings while he’s thinking and Suzi is hovering near him, and Emma is chatting with a trio of other faelings that brought in spies and they’re waiting for their turn. Zach and Des have caught a couple of nasties but they’re prowling around keeping watch and will continue to while you and I are busy. That about right, guys? Got it. And Jace and Emma are hoping that we can start looking at moving to the new kitchen, but that’ll have to wait a little until everything slows down.*

*The new one will give them a lot more workspace and storage space, and with all these people to feed, I can see why they want that. I bet they’re assuming that they’re responsible for everything that involves the house, when they should be prioritizing and letting the rest of us help.*

Alison glanced at her, grinned, and said aloud, “Yeah, that’ll happen, I’m sure. Let’s get the wagon to the kitchen door, then go check in with Kayla.”

They didn’t have to: Kayla met them at the door, and helped with the snaps holding the wagon.

“Riley replied,” she said gently to Erica. “She’s going to send them through. Your brother is just grabbing a couple of things from his car. She’s a bit puzzled by some aspects of their reactions, your grandfather’s especially, but she thinks it’ll be okay.”

Erica gave her a lopsided smile.

“Long story,” Alison said for her. “Erica’s pretty certain that the fae blood in her family is not very far back at all. I suppose we should head for the Gate to meet them. You’re coming? I hope?”

“Of course I am. Making sure loved ones come to terms with everything is part of my job, y’know. Do you suppose we can manage the basic explanations without dragging Niko along?”

Alison gave Erica a questioning look.

Erica reflected for a moment, then nodded. This wouldn’t be easy, but between them, they knew enough to cover the essentials, and they could get further answers later if necessary. Adding more strangers, on the other hand, would probably have a detrimental effect.

“Okay. Ready to go?”

Erica nodded.

The three of them turned towards the Gate.

“Good luck!” Theo called from the fountain. “We’ll be here keeping watch.”

Alison waved to her.

“Okay,” Kayla said. “Can you fill me in on anything I might need to know?”

While they walked, Alison gave Kayla the major points as Erica had shared them with her friends. Kayla listened attentively, and asked for occasional clarification.

“Huh. Well, that’s interesting. Maybe that will help. Because we haven’t got Riley to help us out with the basic explanations, so let’s hope we’ve got enough of a grip on this whole business between us.”

Erica laughed. *Remind her.*

“Jace read a lot, remember,” Alison said, “and we’ve been living all this for a while. We’ll be fine as far as that goes.”

“Cool. I’ve, ah, done and helped with a few coming-out-type conversations in my day, so we’ll be fine.”

“I suppose Erica and I should stay out of sight at least long enough for them to come through.”

“Fair enough. So we’ll settle down just outs...” She paused, and reached for her phone. “Or, y’know, you can wait just outside, since Riley says she’s about to open the Gate. I’ll yell, okay?”

Erica nodded, and tried not to let herself tense up. Her reactions to stress weren’t what they used to be—possibly her altered physiology just didn’t interact with adrenaline quite the same way, though she was fairly certain that it wasn’t so altered that she didn’t have it anymore. She certainly still felt anxiety, but the stomach-churning nausea, the sweating and heat and flushing, the accelerated breathing, even the difficulty in thinking rationally, were all missing.

That, unfortunately, fed into her concern that she might already be starting to disconnect, but even though she didn’t have the physical symptoms, she nonetheless felt nearly as apprehensive about this as she had about implementing their plan to overthrow their captors.

Kayla, the picture of calm pragmatism, strolled past them and into the enclosure that held the Gate.

Alison laid a hand on Erica’s shoulder. “I know it’s scary. We’ll get through this.”

Erica figured now was not the time to introduce any new complications. She just smiled and laid her hand over Alison’s.