Isabelle buried her head in her hands and forced herself not to sob. So close. They had been so close. This long project was almost over. Almost. But not quite.

"Belle," Corin patted her back as he tried to comfort her, "It's ok."

"No, no Corin, it's not ok!" Isabelle's voice cracked as she spoke, "We failed again. Edge died! This isn't ok!"

"Belle, #265 was just another subject-"

"And was going to be out nephew! Olivia only volunteered because she believed her son would survive! But he didn't. What are we supposed to tell her?"

"Nothing. Just like everyone else." Corin's expression didn't waver as he spoke, "Dr Levean has almost perfected his serum. She won't even remember she was gonna have a kid."

Isabelle turned her head away from Corin in disgust and stared at her daughter, who was sitting on the floor with her toys, "And Bailey? She knew she was gonna have a cousin. And we swore to each other we wouldn't use the serum on our kids."

"Hey, hey Belle, it'll be ok, ok? Besides, Bailey probably won't remember any of this anyway. She's too little." Corin grabbed his wife's shoulders and turned her towards him, "And Edge's failure will help us learn more. His sacrifice will help save Ashley."

Isabelle reluctantly nodded and forced a small smile, "Speaking of Ashley, how are vitals?"

"Stable, for now," Corin ran a hand through the tangled mess that was his hair, "We've pinpointed her exact location, but she doesn't seem awake, or at least she doesn't notice that we've found her."

"And she is where?"

"Um... well... all records and calculations say she's... around Ukraine."

Isabelle looked back at her daughter, "Ukraine? How'd she get there? Where is she exactly?"

"We're not sure exactly how she got there, but we found the most activity around the outskirts of the country. Not in any particular city or even small town. Just the middle of nowhere."

"Has anyone reported seeing her?"

"2 people. A couple. They saw her while exploring the countryside. Luckily for us, both witnesses had different stories about her, so the police marked it as a fake case. A rumor."

Isabelle sighed in relief, "So the project hasn't been compromised. It's still a government secret."

"Yup." Corin smiled, "And, in the end, everything we've done is to help Ashley. Think about it; our previous project was completely scrapped when Ashley vanished. Years of our lives have been dedicated to finding her. How much are a few babies worth when they're sacrificed to get her back?"

Isabelle thought hard about his claims. He was right; every part of the last few years was focused on getting Ashley back. She hadn't been the only one to lose family to this project - Corin himself lost his sister. At least she never met Edge. She had no memories of him. Others couldn't say the same.

"Nothing," she whispered, as if she were afraid saying it too loud would be dangerous, "Ashley is all that matters."

Corin's smile grew slightly, "Exactly. Now, I know you have a lot of work to do, so how about I watch Bailey tonight? You deserve a break."

"Don't you have work too?" Isabelle asked as she stood.

"Nothing I can't get done tomorrow morning. Besides, I mostly need to discuss the final modifications of the serum. Can't do that without Dr Levean, of course. I'll probably just scan over our data, find some possibilities."

Isabelle nodded and picked up Bailey. She kissed the top of her daughter's head and looked back at her husband, "Alright. You sure it won't be to much trouble for you?"

"Nah. Besides, Bailey's good company," Corin grabbed his toddler's hand and she giggled, bringing out a smile in both parents.

"Better company than me?" Isabelle joked, handing her child over to Corin.

"Hey, it's not my fault babies are so adorable all the time!" Corin insisted as he took Bailey into his arms.

Isabelle chuckled and kissed Corin on the cheek, "Just make sure she gets to sleep before 8."

"I will. Don't worry." He gave his wife a reassuring smile, and she smiled back before leaving the room.

As soon as she was gone, Corin's smile vanished. He set Bailey down on the couch before heading towards the kitchen. Their office was hidden specifically so no one could hear any of their tests. That also meant anyone inside the room couldn't hear anything outside, to limit distractions. So, unless Isabelle left the office for some reason, she couldn't hear anything.

Corin grabbed a box out of a cupboard and his coat from where it hung by the door. Bringing both things back into the living room, he sat down on the couch next to his daughter. Bailey's eyes focused on the box in his hand, and she looked at her father expectantly, waiting for him to give her what was in the box.

Smiling, Corin reached into the box and pulled out an animal cracker. He put it in Bailey's chubby, outstretched hands and waited for her to eat it before handing her another one. Bailey loved animal crackers. If you wanted her to do anything, just hold up a box of them and she'll listen.

As Bailey was occupied with her unexpected treat, Corin reached into his coat pocket. Pulling out a small vial, he gave his daughter another cracker. He had to keep her distracted. It was the only way it would work.

Once he knew Bailey's attention was completely off him, Corin pulled a syringe out of a separate pocket and filled it with the vial's contents, turning the inside a soft pink. He was always careful to keep all his different tools separate, just in case someone found one. That way they wouldn't have a clue as to what he was doing, much less how anything worked.

Corin handed Bailey another cracker and tried to wipe away his guilt. Sorry, Belle, he thought as he wiped off a spot on his daughter's temple, but she still knows too much. Even as a toddler. We can't risk it.

He hesitated only a moment before injecting the serum into his child. Bailey immediately stopped chewing on her animal cracker and turned towards her dad in fear. She still completely trusted him, even when terrified. Corin had to push back a fresh new wave of guilt as his daughter started to cry, which quickly turned into screaming.

Scooping Bailey into his arms, Corin prayed that Isabelle couldn't hear her as he quickly made his way through the halls, towards the nursery. He tried to call her down as they walked, but it only did so much. When Bailey finally stopped crying almost 20 minutes later, he laid her down and she fell asleep quickly.

Corin sat down in a chair with a sigh and checked the clock on the wall. 7:30. Plenty of time to make it seem like he'd been working for a while when Isabelle came back to check on Bailey at 8. And, in the morning, Bailey wouldn't remember even the slightest idea of having a cousin, maybe even forgetting her aunt. Valuable data that could be used to perfect the serum.

Besides, he reassured himself, Belle will never know where you got the info from. And it'll help save Ashley and Cate. How important are our little sacrifices compared to that?

Hey y'all! I'm sorry, I was going to update yesterday and then was busy. I know, lame excuse, and one I use often, but it's just how things turned out. Also, I know this was all about Isabelle and Corin, but, trust me, it's important. I didn't want to write one small flashback that would be easily forgotten, so I made a really long one! Don't worry, though. We'll be back with Harper and the others soon enough. (Also, I realized I forgot to write about their dog, so he'll be in the next chapter. I'll find a way to explain it XD)

This question is kinda random, but who is your favorite character that we've met so far? (Besides Harper.) I just want to know because I want to find a difference between my more likable characters and my less likeable characters. It'll (hopefully) help my writing.

So, yeah. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'll see y'all later! Bye!