Carrissa stepped inside the back door, gazing around in mild curiosity. The room, with a small table and chairs, was elongated, giving the effect of stretching to infinity. A kitchen was snuggled in the far corner, but the woman wobbled through a doorway at the other end. The group followed closely, mr Irving panting with the effort.

"This is a lovely house you have here," ms Smith called from the end of the line, standing on tip toe to try and see the woman over the teenagers. Her hair was more wild and wooly than normal, certain curls protruding like coiled springs. "Mrs..."

The woman turned, smiling broadly. "Ms Pesky. Call me maggie."

She wasn't overly tall, or overly thick, and her hair was a dull, flat grey. Her back was slightly hunched but she moved quickly and easily.

She somehow got behind them and herded them into a comfortable lounge room. A couch was set against the wall with two armchairs in each corner. There was a half knitted sock on the coffee table with a cat snoozing on the wool. Maggie tsk-ed and nudged him off.

"Now, let's see what we have here," She said, approaching hazmat. She pushed him down into an armchair, and mr Irving rolled his shoulder.

"The blood..." He began halfheartedly, but she shushed him.

"Will wash out."

Ms smith sunk onto the couch with Carrissa and Salena, nervously tapping her fingers across her thigh as Maggie knelt beside her patient. She unwound mr Irving's shirt and peeled back his blood stained trousers, pointing at a table to the side.

"Fetch me my scissors, would you Finnegan."

Finn was halfway to the table before he realised he hadn't told her his name. He shook it off and dug through the sowing kit, spying the iron scissors and snatching them up. A needle stabbed him in the thumb and he winced.

Salena took the scissors from him as he struggled with his thumb, passing them to Maggie. She knelt beside her. "Can I help at all?"

Maggie smiled at her, and nodded. "Of course, child. Would you grab some bandages? The first aid kit is under the sink."

Carriss snorted at her as she passed. "You are going to help the old woman? You who's thrown up a million times this afternoon?"

"At least I'm being helpful, Carrissa," the girl snapped back, storming out.

Carissa's nose twitched and she folded her arms across her chest. Salena had never been scared of her, not like ebony, and it annoyed her that she was the only girl in the school not under her thumb. Carrissa was comforted by the fact that Salena spent most of her time by herself.

She looked up to see Maggie watching her. "Sometimes people are lonely by themselves, Carrissa. Did you ever consider that?"

The teenager made a face at her and turned away as Salena re-entered with the first aid kit. She and Maggie set about cutting Hazmats pants leg off and wiping the blood away. Ms smith sent mr Irving a look and he shrugged.

"Ms Pesky..." She began, licking her lips but the woman cut her off.

"Call me Maggie, Ella."

Ms Smith's mouth fell open. Mr Irving coughed and sunk into the other armchair.

"Forgive me...Maggie," he smiled, "but how do you know that?"

She didn't reply for a second, pulling a bottle of alcohol out of he kit. She spilled some on the bullet wound, and hazmat groaned in his sleep.

"I know everything, Anthony," she said softly, almost sadly, as she pulled out a needle and thread.

Carrissa yelped. "What the hell are you doing?" She demanded.

"Language, Carrissa," ms smith reminded tiredly but Maggie just smiled.

"I'm going to stitch up the wound, Carrissa, so this man doesn't die."

"But..." She stammered, looking pale, "it's just a scratch. He'll be fine."

Maggie raised an eyebrow at her, pulling a pair of tongs out of the kit as well. "If this is left open, child, it'll continue to bleed. He's been lucky so far, but he will die of blood loss soon if I don't act now. If, by a miracle, he doesn't, he'll die of infection within days. You could take him to a hospital, but I'd love to see you explain the bullet wound to the. Without getting caught by the suits, that is."

"But we don't have to explain the bullet wound to you?" Mr Irving asked, sitting up sharply. The gun dug into his hip uncomfortably and he squirmed.

Maggie sighed and met his eyes, sympathy etched into the wrinkles by her eyes. "I think there has been enough blood spilt today." She nodded at a cupboard in the hallway. "There's a jumper in there you can put on."

Looking down, mr Irving realised he was still half-dressed and shivered. Getting up, he disappeared for a second, coming back wearing a sweatshirt.

"It's my size," he said in surprise.

Maggie tapped her nose. "Like I said, everything."

She hailed him to her side and had him pin hazmat's shoulders against the chair. She placed Salena's hands either side of the wound and raised the tongs, angling them down.

Carrissa screeched again and Maggie glared at her.

"Would you stop that please," she hissed, "it's going to draw attention to you all. Finnegan dear," she asked the wide-eyed boy, "could you go keep an eye out?"

He nodded stiffly and tore his eyes away, heaving in a deep breath. His footsteps hurried away as Carrissa complained.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm removing the bullet," Maggie explained, turning away from the girl. "If you're so squeamish own you might want to look away."

Carrissa obeyed, as did ms smith. The young teacher swallowed and took her mind off it.

"How did you know about the suits, Maggie?" She asked softly.

The woman's reply came after what felt like a thoughtful pause.

"What do you know about the suits?" Maggie asked, lowering the tongs and the bullet to Salena's relief. The teen pinched hazmats skin together as Maggie picked up the needle.

"Not a lot," mr Irving said.

"Then ask an easier question."

Carrissa frowned, looking Maggie up and down. "Are you qualified to do this?" She asked, gesturing to hazmats prone form.

"I have a phd in physics, a master in medicine and degrees in chemistry, English literature and political science."

"Is that a yes?" Carrissa asked, sneering.

Salena laughed. "That's a hell yes."

As Maggie tied the cord and cut it, washing out his wound with alcohol again, she nodded.

"Why are you doing all of this?" Ms smith asked, turning back to the woman. Maggie grinned at her and pulled smelling salts out of her bag.

"Why don't we talk to Hazmat about that."

The strong smell wafted up to the man and he jolted awake, letting out a groan of pain. Maggie passed him a Panadol.

"Swallow that," she ordered and without thinking twice, he did.

Teeth grinding, hazmat looked around them. "Where are we?"

"Hiding," ms smith answered, standing up and walking over. "This is Maggie."

Hazmat took a slow breath, staring curiously at the old woman. "Maggie? Where do I know that name?"

She clambered to her feet. "From your history books young man."

Mr Irving and ms smith exchanged another glance, both very confused. He joined her on the couch.

Suddenly hazmat let out a wail. "No, no, no! You're Maggie Pesky, aren't you?"

Carrissa stared at him. "You two know each other?"

"Only by reputation," Maggie said with a smile. She, unlike hazmat, seemed very happy with the current circumstances.

Hazmat leaned forward, brow furrowed deeply. "What have you told them?"

"Nothing," she said with a smirk, "and I wasn't going to. But you've just reminded me how much I hate people like you so that's about to change."

Hazmat opened his mouth to protest but Maggie sunk into the other armchair and started talking to the thoroughly confused group.

"Let me tell you a story," she began, crossing one leg across the other.

"Once upon a time, just under forty years ago, some very nice scientists decided they could save the world. They were going to discover how they could fix babies before they were born. The idea was a very contentious subject, so twelve couples were selected very quietly to participate in a trial. All twelve mothers were pregnant and their babies had a strong chance of developing a genetic disease: autism.

"Six babies were left to develop naturally. The other six mothers, while the babies were still embryos, were given medication, a newly developed chemical that would hopefully alter the DNA coding responsible for autism."

She paused, lost in thought.

Salena made a noise, wriggling across the floor to sit by her chair. "What happened? Was it successful?"

Maggie swung her head down and smiled sadly, patting her head. "In a way. Four of the babies were born with autism, all from mothers who hadn't been given the chemical."

"That's good, right?" Carrissa said, looking around the room. "They cured it."

"That's what they thought too," hazmat commented, causing the room to spin to face him.

Mr Irving shook his head. "Why are we hearing this? Don't get me wrong, it's impressive, but I thought the circumstances were a bit more dire than having time for stories."

"There's no reason for you to be hearing this, gramps," hazmat agreed. then he looked at Carrissa and Salena. "But you two should be taking notes."

Salena licked her lips. "What's it got to do with us?"

"If I could continue," Maggie said, "I'll explain." With no response, she did just that.

"They thought they had cured autism. But to check, they decided to monitor all twelve children from birth to the age of five. It was then they discovered that they had been wrong. Very, very wrong.

"The six children who hadn't been exposed to the drug developed fairly normally. The other six did not. Three died within a year of being born.

"For the other three, something was obviously not right. One of them couldn't walk, though he had full feeling in their legs. Further investigation revealed that the muscles and bones had formed incorrectly. The second child only lived to four years after suffering total organ failure. The final baby grew much too quickly. At one year, she was walking and talking, at seven, she went through puberty. At ten she could walk into a club without a second look from security."

"Those poor children," ms smith breathed, her eyes brimming with tears.

"That was you," Salem gulped, and all eyes flickered to her. "Forty years ago, ageing twice as fast as normal... You, Maggie."

The old woman smiled a smile that might break at any second. "You're very smart Salena. I hope that always works in your favour." It wasn't meant as a threat, but the teen shivered anyway.

Carrissa was breathing very quickly when she asked, "you didn't answer her. It's not you, is it? It's not true. It's just a story."

"It's all true," Hazmat growled, glaring at Maggie. He sighed. "I had hoped you would be dead by now."

Ms smith gasped and was about to scold him when Maggie's quiet reply drifted out. "So had I. "

Salena shivered again. "What does that have to do with us?"

Maggie looked at her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, but it was hazmat who replied.

"You're exactly the same." His eyes flicked to Carrissa, "you too."

"Excuse me?" Carrissa bristled, mouth open in outrage. "I don't care what you say: I am not some laboratory experiment. I'm sixteen and I look it." Flustered she snapped her mouth closed and sneered at the injured man.

"Because that's the weirdest thing you've ever heard, or perhaps seen, about yourself today," Maggie commented, a twinkle in her eye. Suddenly, It died out as she processed hazmats words and lunged to her feet, glaring at him. "They are not 'exactly the same'," she hissed, "they're worse."

Salena looked like she's been punched in the gut. "What?"

She never got her reply. Finn spun around the corner, panic scrawled across his features.

"The suits are here."