The plan was...well, there wasn't really a plan. Quincy and Maria hadn't expected to get this far.

"I guess we'll just loiter here until the convention breaks for lunch," Maria said, sitting in one of the lobby's velvet armchairs.

"We could try to sneak in," Quincy said, glancing at the ballroom across the way.

"I think we'd stick out," Alice said. "I mean, look at us."

The girl in question was wearing a Star Wars t-shirt and ripped jeans. Quincy was wearing an obnoxious, floral shirt that he dubbed his "party shirt" and a large sunhat. Maria was dressed the nicest in a blouse and shorts, but even she wouldn't fit in with the business dress.

"We should have gone all out with disguises," Maria said. She stuck her chin in her hand. "We're theatre nerds! We could've made it work."

"I'm starting to wonder if this is a terrible idea," Alice said, picking at her nails and eyeing the ballroom. "What if she yells at me? Or spits in my face?"

"We'll spit right back!" Maria said defiantly.

"What if she tells me to piss off?" Alice continued. "Or worse, what if she doesn't?"

"How would that be worse?" Quincy asked with a scrunched nose.

"Then I might actually have the chance to meet my birth mom," Alice said, eyes wide. She continued picking at her nails. "The thought of that makes me excited and nervous and sick to my stomach."

"If you change your mind," Maria said kindly, "we don't have to do this. It's your decision, Al."

Alice sighed.

"I want to see her, but...I just don't know."

It was hard to articulate her emotions. What if her mom had a new family and forgot Alice even existed? What if her kids were normal, and not freaks like her?

Alice could feel her chest tightening. The anxiety washed over her and made the expansive Empire Inn lobby seem constrictive.

"Is it hot in here?" she said, fanning herself and attempting to cool down before her powers kicked in.

"Look," Quincy said. "Here come people!"

Sure enough, it was lunchtime. The social workers at the convention filed out, no doubt headed to the diner next door for a quick bite. Quincy and Maria patted Alice's shoulders.

"Do you see her?" Quincy asked, peering at the crowd.

"No," Alice said. Her eyes flicked all around. "She's got to be around her somewhere."

"Keep looking," Maria encouraged. "I bet you'll see her—"

"Alice? Alice Henderson?!"

The group turned to see the woman in question standing behind them with her hands on her hips. Rebecca Piper looked shocked. Not pissed, not angry—just terribly confused.

"Hi there!" Alice said, rubbing her clammy hands on her jeans. "What a—what a coincidence. How are you?"

"How am I?" Rebecca asked, stepping closer to the group. She put her tote bag on the chair next to Maria and said, "Alice, what is going on? Did you...track me down?"

"No!" Alice said, the exact same moment Maria said, "Exactly!"

"We're not leaving until you tell Alice who her mom is," Quincy said defiantly. He crossed his arms, and Maria followed suit.

Rebecca frowned, eyes narrowing.

"Oh, I see," she said. "This is an ambush. Well, I'm very sorry, but as I told Alice when we met, I can't give out that information. It's confidential."

"Ms. Piper," Quincy said, sidling up to Rebecca. "Can I call you Becky?"

Rebecca's lip curled in disgust.

"Absolutely not."

"Right," Quincy said, blushing. "Sorry. I know it was a closed adoption when Alice's mom gave her up, but frankly, that's bullshit."

"Bullshit?" Rebecca snapped. She lowered her voice when some of her peers glanced over curiously, wondering why she was yelling at three teenagers. "I'm sorry you all feel that way, but I just can't tell you anything."

"Please," Alice begged. "I just want answers. I just want to know where I came from."

Rebecca eyed Alice.

"I think you know where you came from," she said.

Quincy and Maria shared a look, unsure of what that meant.

Alice figured Rebecca was referring to Hawkins Lab. She trained and learned how to use her powers there, but it didn't turn out to be the experience she hoped for. After a year of work, she never learned her mother's identity. Dr. Owens's theory was that her mom signed up for the MK-Ultra experiments but was sent away by Dr. Brenner because the experiments didn't take and she showed no sign of progress. She must not have known she was pregnant at the time—or if she did know, she kept it from Dr. Brenner to keep Alice safe.

That was all conjecture, and couldn't be proven unless Alice got to talk to the woman herself.

However, Quincy and Maria didn't know about Alice's powers and history with the lab. If she had it her way, they would never find out.

"I'd like some solid answers," Alice shot back. "Everything about my past is one big question mark."

"Becca? What's going on here?"

A man in a tweed jacket wandered to where the group was standing.

"Nothing, Daniel," Rebecca said. She tucked her hair behind her ear and cleared her throat. "Just some kids wondering what's going on at the hotel today. I'll meet you at the diner in a few."

The man eyed the group warily, but nodded and ambled out of the lobby.

"Now, listen here," Rebecca hissed. "I wish I could help you, but I can't. So please leave me alone. And if I catch you following me again, my lawyers will be in contact."

She picked up her tote and stormed away.

"Thanks for nothing!" Quincy shouted after the woman.

Alice sighed.

"Well, that was a bust," she said. "Thanks for trying. Let's pack up and hit the road."

"Or," Maria said slyly. "We could use this to snoop around?"

She held up Rebecca's room key with a smirk.

"Holy shit!" Alice said. "Maria, what's gotten into you? Are you turning into a cat burglar?"

"I'm fully embracing my rebellious side!" Maria said. She beamed. "Life's too short to waste on rules and policies."

"I couldn't agree more," Alice said. "Let's hurry, before she realizes her key is gone."

The trio slipped out of the lobby and into the elevator, ready to investigate.

🔑 🔑 🔑 

Meanwhile, Rebecca Piper was eating lunch with her coworker (and boyfriend) Daniel Smythe, oblivious to the breaking and entering that was occurring at the same moment.

"I just don't get why she can't leave it alone," Rebecca said, stabbing at her Caesar salad with a fork. "It was a closed adoption. If I tell her anything, I'd be breaking a dozen rules."

"Maybe more," Daniel added.

"I gave her Amelia's money," Rebecca continued. "I told her to stop searching. And what does she do?" She jabbed her fork in the air. "Stalk me!"

"Maybe it genuinely was a coincidence," Daniel said. "And if it wasn't, their sleuthing skills are pretty incredible."

Rebecca shook her head.

"Really?" she said. "You're taking their side?"

"I just know what it's like to live with an adopted family," Daniel said. "You feel like a part of you is still missing."

"I understand."

"I know you do," Daniel said. He reached across the table and held Rebecca's hand, squeezing it once gently. "Are you sure there's nothing you can do?"

Rebecca looked left and right, before leaning closer.

"You know how sensitive the situation is," Rebecca said quietly. "When Amelia asked me to put her baby up for adoption, she told me the stakes. About those men and that horrid place."

"But the Lab is abandoned now, isn't it?" Daniel whispered back. "Didn't you tell me that Amelia reached out to you, asking to schedule a meet-up with Alice now that it's safe?"

"Just because the Lab is gone..." Rebecca said, trailing off when the waiter gave them a check.

As he walked away, Rebecca continued. "Just because the lab is gone doesn't mean the people behind it are. I don't think Amelia should take the chance to come out to the open. And Alice should continue to keep a low profile."

"Becca," Daniel began, face etched with concern.

"Stop," she said, holding a palm up like she was directing traffic. "I know what you're going to say—"

"Oh, really? What am I going to say?"

"That I shouldn't be making these decisions because it's personal for me," Rebecca said. "I know. I just don't want to put anyone—including me or you—in danger."

Daniel closed his mouth in a thin line. Okay, so Rebecca did know what he was going to say. She was good at that.

She sighed, looking out the window at the same view Alice had looked out of mere hours ago.

"Maybe you're right," she said, shocking Daniel. "Maybe I'm too overprotective. It's just hard. Amelia is the only family I have left."

"Not the only family," Daniel pointed out, nodding his head in the direction of the hotel.

"Touche," Rebecca said. She put her head in her hands. "Am I shitty sister? And a shittier aunt?"

"No," Daniel said. "You're an overprotective one. But I think it's time to let your guard down. Amelia's ready to make contact with Alice, and the opposite is obviously the case, too."

Rebecca rubbed the back of her neck.

"Yeah," she grumbled. "I know. I know!"

Daniel fished a few bucks out of his wallet and left a tip for the waiter.

"Let's go back to the hotel," Daniel said. "The afternoon meetings are going to start soon. Before they do, we can find Alice and her friends again."

Rebecca stood and took Daniel's hand.

"Okay. Let's go."

She reached for her tote bag, fishing for her room key. When she couldn't find it, she groaned.

"Oh my God," Rebecca said. "She didn't."

Daniel tried to sneak a peek into her tote bag.

"Didn't what?"

Rebecca sighed.

"Alice stole my room key."

Daniel chuckled, then stopped when he noticed the dirty look Rebecca gave him. 

"Wait, seriously?"

"Probably to 'investigate' in our room," Rebecca huffed. "What does she think? That I carry confidential files around with me to conferences?"

Daniel chuckled again.

"She's a lot more like Amelia than I thought," Daniel said. "Tenacious, resourceful—"

"A pain in my ass," Rebecca deadpanned. "Come on, let's go."

❤️ ❤️ ❤️  

The tenacious, resourceful pain-in-the-ass herself was quickly realizing crime didn't pay.

"This is pointless!" Alice said. She slammed closed the room's desk drawer. "We've rifled through every drawer, looked in every pocket of her suitcase, and we're just learning that Rebecca Piper is the most boring woman on the face of the planet."

"We've learned that her boyfriend has sleep apnea," Quincy added, gesturing to the brand new CPAP machine on the bedside table. "And that he likes to read Faulkner before bed."

"We also learned that she's been to San Diego, Orlando, Las Vegas, and Seattle for Social Work conferences," Maria added, pointing to the stickers on her suitcase. "That's interesting, right?"

"It's not intel!" Alice snapped. "Let's get out of here. Put things back where they're supposed to go so it doesn't look like we committed a bunch of crimes."

The teens did as they were told and slipped out of the room, locking the door behind them.

"Now," Alice said as she clicked the button to call the elevator, "we'll head to the lobby and drop this key at the front desk. We can say we found it on the floor or something."

"Or something," Rebecca said, as the elevator doors opened. "Hi again, Alice."

Just once, Alice thought, I'd love to get away with something without having consequences for my actions. Is that too much to ask?

"We can explain," Alice said, holding the room key behind her back.

"No need," Rebecca said. "I'm glad you're still here. We need to talk."

Alice's heart dropped. Was Rebecca going to call the cops on her? Or get a restraining order?

"Daniel," Rebecca said, handing him $20. "Take Alice's friends to the vending machine. Buy them whatever they want. Alice and I need to have a little chat."

Maria and Quincy gave Alice an are-you-cool-with-this? look. She nodded slightly, giving them the okay to leave her for snacks.

"Fine," Quincy said. "We'll go. But only 'cause he's buying. C'mon Maria, let's see if this guy will spring for Red Vines."

Maria patted Alice's arm reassuringly before following the boys to the vending machines at the end of the hall.

"Can I have my room key back, please?" Rebecca said sternly—although there was a hint of a smirk on her lips.

"For the record," Alice said, handing it over sheepishly, "it was Maria who took it."

Rebecca didn't respond. She opened the door and ushered Alice inside.

"Take a seat," Rebecca said.

Alice tentatively sat at the edge of one of the beds. Rebecca sat in the desk chair opposite her.

Rebecca's feet bounced nervously. Alice noticed the nervous gesture, and felt her own anxiety skyrocket.

"Alice," Rebecca said, "I haven't been entirely forthright. I've been withholding information to protect you—and your mother. But someone has helped me realize that circumstances have changed, and you deserve answers."

Breath hitched in Alice's throat. This was it—the moment she'd been waiting for.

"Alice, your mother's name is Amelia Griffin. She lives in Boston, she's my baby sister, and she wants to meet you."

{Published December 23, 2019}

{Edited July 15, 2020; Republished February 3, 2025}

A/N [from 2019] Next time, we'll learn more about Amelia's past! And then it's time for Samuel's epic party.