Chapter 26. Author's note - the title is a reference to Frankenstein, a novel that is very pertinent to this story. If you've never read it, I highly recommend it. It's a fabulous, genius piece of literature. Also, votes and comments always make me incredibly happy!

It was not very long before David's home cleared out. The councillors were the first to leave; Marcus, with an affectionate glance for Steel and Nightingale and Councillor Kirkland with a respectful nod for the pair of them.

After them went Nicholas and Pierce. Nightingale noticed that the pair of them seemed to be joined at the hip. She wondered if they were simply good friends, or perhaps even more. However, her answer came to her quickly as she saw Pierce give her a sneaking, sidelong look at the exact same time Nicholas's eyes lingered on the retreating form of Councillor Kirkland.

Caroline moved to leave next, taking with her Steel, with whom Nightingale was unhappy to part.

"Good luck in your last few days at the bordello," she told him, shaking the long-fingered hand he offered to her. Shaking hands was still quite new to her, as her usual method of greeting people (usually her clients) was far less innocent. As a result, she feared she crushed Steel's fingers as she clenched too tightly.

"And you," he said, inclining his head. "Though I'd imagine your last days will be more difficult than mine."

Nightingale raised one eyebrow. "Oh?" she said.

He smiled and leaned forward. As he placed a swift kiss on her cheek, he said, "I think you know why."

"Robin," murmured Nightingale. They both glanced over at the man. He was standing between Clarence and David. He could obviously feel their eyes on him, for his head turned and he gave Nightingale his lopsided smile.

"Your usual clients will be more...difficult after an experience with someone you care for," said Steel. His blue eyes became sorrowful, his brows turning up above them. His entire face was lent a melancholic air.

But she bristled at his condescending tone. "And you know this from personal experience, do you?" she snapped.

He shook his head with a delicate laugh. "No. Not I. Something similar happened to one of my brothers, however. He fell in love with a young man, one of his clients," said Steel.

Nightingale gave a huff. "How could he fall in love with someone who raped him?" she asked, her lip curling with disgust.

Steel arched his eyebrows. "How could you want to defend one of your clients, then?" he countered. "Michael, or whatever his name is. How could you want to protect someone who rapes you?"

Nightingale was silent for a moment before she said quietly. "He doesn't rape me. He...he doesn't understand what he does to me."

Steel nodded sympathetically as they stared at each other.

"Come along, Steel," said Caroline. She approached them, practically ignoring Nightingale as she took Steel by the elbow.

"Thank you, by the way," said Nightingale as the two of them moved to leave, Steel shooting Nightingale a wistful look over his shoulder.

Caroline turned around, her cold face alight with haughty curiosity. "Thank you for what, Nightingale?" she asked. Steel looked between them, and he was not the only one - David eyed them from where he stood with Clarence and Robin.

"I know you don't like me, for whatever reason that may be," said Nightingale. She kept her voice low and smooth, though Caroline's petulant glare made it difficult for her to calmly unbend her pride and thank the woman. "But thank you for what you have done for my sisters and I."

It got her a smile from Steel but quite the opposite reaction from Caroline. Rather than inclining her head coolly and accepting Nightingale's thanks, her mouth curled into a snarl.

"You know why I don't like you, Miss Nightingale?" she hissed, sneering the endearment. "You know why?"

"You're in love with David and you somehow see me as a threat?" Nightingale guessed, drawing herself up to her full height. Standing straight, she was much taller than Caroline.

"You're so fucking shallow," Caroline returned, hatred flashing in her eyes. "That's the only answer you can think of, isn't it? All that your shallow little mind can grasp is physicality and lust. You think I don't like you because I want David? What do you think I am, some smitten schoolgirl?"

Nightingale was about to reply, about to shriek, when Caroline went on.

"No, that's not why I don't like you. Look around, Nightingale, how many women do you see on David's team? Only me. Do you know how hard I've worked to earn their respect, how hard I've worked to get this far? And to have you waltz in here and enrapture all of them and make them admire you more than me because you know how to use your sex appeal?" she snarled. She'd come right up to Nightingale and the two women were standing toe-to-toe.

Nightingale hated Caroline so much in that moment that she wanted nothing better than to tear out the damned woman's throat with her teeth. But, with a line or two from Macbeth, she simply glared down at Caroline.

"You're the kind of woman who uses her body to get where she wants to be. Who exploits her sexuality and demeans herself to get what she wants. I used my head, and it took a hell of a lot of work, but women like you just breeze in and take everything you want with a flutter of your eyelashes. And I hate women like you," she shouted.

By this time, the four men in the room had fallen silent and were watching them. Nightingale didn't care. She didn't see them, didn't see Robin shaking his head and Clarence sighing and David glowering at Caroline. She didn't even notice Steel, who was quivering with anger.

"Caroline!" said David. He came forward. He must have remembered how he had once accused Nightingale of something similar, for he placed one hand on Caroline's shoulder, a hand she shook off quickly. "You've got her wrong, Caroline. She's-"

"Thank you, Detective Beckett, but I'll fight this battle myself," said Nightingale softly. She stared at Caroline in disgust, her lip curling. "You accuse me of using my body only, Caroline?"

Caroline was silent, glaring hatefully at Nightingale.

"I'd like to see you last two hours in the bordello without using yours," she said. "Better yet, I'd like to see you be raised from an infant, made to fuck clients, and beaten whenever you displease, and see you never use the power of your body."

She could see Steel nodding along with her words, and felt warmth suddenly surge through her as he came to stand by her shoulder.

"Like I once said to David, when I use my body - and did you ever see me use it to win over the Council, to help you win this case? - it's because it's the only thing I've got. Do you think I like using it for my benefit? Because I don't. I despise my own beauty. But I'm not like you, Agent Bure, I'm not free, I'm not educated, I don't have a sidearm at my hip that threatens those I don't like. So don't you dare judge me," hissed Nightingale.

Caroline backed away and marched out without another word, dragging Steel along with her. The Inamorato shot her a small smile before Caroline hauled him out of the room.

"Nightingale," said David as she put her head in her hands.

She wanted to rip out all her hair. To scratch her own face. She didn't want to be beautiful, she didn't want anyone to ever think she was beautiful ever again, so that no one could ever accuse her as Caroline had.

"Nightingale," he repeated, louder this time.

She ignored him.

"Nightingale!" he cried, and took her by the shoulders. He shook her a bit, his roughness stirring her out of her trance. She looked up at him and his eyes, though grave, were not cold. "Nightingale, you know she's wrong. She had no place saying that to you, and you know that."

Nightingale gave a sigh. As always, whenever she was close to David, a feeling of security descended over her like a blanket. Now, she did not resent it, or fight against it, but enjoyed it.

"You're wrong too, you know," piped up Robin.

Both Nightingale and David turned to him. He was smiling a little forlornly. "You said your body's all you've got, Nightingale, and that's not true," he said. "Based on that little performance you gave, I'd say your fantastic beauty pales in comparison to your wit and your speaking skills."

Nightingale smiled tiredly at Robin. "Thank you," she told him.

 "He's only saying that because he wants to sleep with you," interjected Clarence.

No one bothered to tell him that what he'd predicted had already happened.

Glancing at his watch, Clarence bounded towards the door. "And I'm about to be very late to meet with Ha- the Corporation source," he said, eyes darting over to David before he could reveal the name.

Robin snorted loudly but Clarence ignored him. On his way to the door, he slung his coat over one shoulder, took Nightingale's hand and kissed it like the most charming of gentlemen, and then left without another word.

 And so Nightingale was left alone with David and Robin.

"Well, this is a touch awkward," said Robin, smiling in his elegant, bashful way.

Nightingale had to smile as her head and David's head turned toward him in perfect unison. David simply raised his eyebrows, clearly not entertained in the slightest by his friend.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," said David flatly, though the opposite was evidently true based on his tone.

"Oh, come on," laughed Robin. "Don't pretend you don't know. This is a tad awkward for us considering we all know I slept with the woman that you are i-"

"Finish that sentence and you'll be picking your teeth out of your brain," said David. The threat was flat but still remarkably menacing.

"What would be so bad about me hearing what he has to say?" asked Nightingale. She simpered a little as she looked up at David. He gave her a blank glare in response.

"You've no idea," he said. Then he gestured to Robin. "Say your goodbyes, Robin, because I'm taking her back to the bordello now."

Robin smiled and bounded over to Nightingale. He took her hands and grasped them in his. "I suppose this is goodbye, then. At least for a week," he said. "The next time I'll see you, you'll be a free woman."

Nightingale smiled brilliantly at the thought. "Free to do whatever I want," she said, batting her lashes at him suggestively.

He snorted derisively, though his sarcasm was marred a bit by the blush that crept its way over his cheekbones. "Not that being an Inamorata has stopped you until now," he said. "Besides, it's not I'd like to stop you from doing it, either."

She laughed. "Goodbye, Mr. Brightley."

"Goodbye, Miss Nightingale," he said. He leaned forward and, as Clarence had done, kissed her hand. When she raised her eyebrows, he smiled and kissed her cheek.

"Don't be so innocent," she told him, and promptly kissed his mouth. And it was no ordinary kiss. It was deep and lasting and passionate and when Robin finally detached himself he looked dazed. His hair was rumpled, his face was flushed, and his eyes were glazed.

"Well," he said, and attempted to pat down his wild mop of hair. "Well, that is rather better than a kiss on the cheek, I guess. Oh my."

Nightingale laughed and Robin smiled, but his smile quickly faded as he looked over her shoulder.

"But be careful not to hurt poor David's feelings by flaunting your victory with me," he whispered in her ear. She could see him giving his friend a worried look.

They both looked back to see David fiddling with one of his cuffs. If Nightingale had not known otherwise, she would have assumed he was genuinely as bored by and apathetic of their conversation as he was trying to seem. But she knew different.

"Of course," she promised.

Robin smiled. Then, making Nightingale a pompous, melodramatic bow, he moved to depart.

"Adieu, Nightingale," he said.

"Adieu, mon cher. Tu me manques déjà," she replied.

She saw Robin's eyes widen and he smiled broadly. "Tu parles français, ma belle?"

"Oui, M. Brightley. Je suis fluente," she returned. From behind her, she heard David give a soft, exasperated sigh.

"Miraculous Nightingale," chortled Robin as he departed.

Nightingale was left alone with David. Before she could say anything, before either of them could feel uncomfortable in the other's presence, he spoke.

"Come along, Nightingale. Let's get going."

And with that, she followed him out of the condo. It was not until they were in the hovercraft and flying over the city that Nightingale had a question for David.

"David?" she asked.

"Mm?" he said, turning to her. He'd evidently been deep in thought from the way that his head seemed to drag around to face her before turning back to the front of the hovercraft.

"I'm not...complaining or anything, but why exactly are the owners of the bordellos being arrested? It's not as though they're breaking the law. When the law is declared, what they will have done before that will still be legal. So why-"

"Are they being arrested?" he finished.

"Yes," she said.

He shrugged. "Same reason the head scientists at the Corporation are being arrested. They've been deceiving the public and the government by pretending Inamoratas don't have emotions, that you're all subhuman animals," he said.

"And that's grounds for arrest?" asked Nightingale, her brow furrowing.

David nodded. "So Caroline says. The owners of the bordellos and the head scientists pretend as though you're all soulless creatures. As a result, you are exploited. And, as a result, they can be arrested for deceiving both the public and the government," he said.

Nightingale nodded. She wasn't about to complain about that. Anything that would help get Bobby in an electric manacle like the one she was wearing that moment, anything that would get him imprisoned like she had been, anything was good news to her.

The rest of the journey seemed to slip by quickly as they flew. Soon, they had descended, coming to a halt on the pavement next to the bordello.

Before David could get out, Nightingale put one hand on his arm.

He did not flinch back as she expected he would. Instead, he lifted his eyes and looked at her steadily.

"Thank you, Detective Beckett," she whispered. "I know Robin and Clarence and Caroline and all the others are to thank, too, but I heard the way you spoke to the Council yesterday. The case would not have been won without you."

Nightingale unbent her pride more than ever before as she choked out the next words.

"And...I owe you everything," she said.

"No," he said. She looked up as he roughly grabbed her face in his hands and forced her to look into his face. His entire face was drawn with some strong emotion. "No, Nightingale. You don't owe me anything. You don't owe anyone anything, not after what we've all done to you. You don't owe Robin your affection, or Caroline your forgiveness, or Michael your protection, and you certainly don't owe me your gratitude."

"I'm still grateful," she said. And she really was. Though she didn't continue on, wanting to tell him she was sorry for all the times she'd judged him as unfeeling or uncaring, or claimed he hated her or looked down at her. Perhaps he had indeed at one point, but she was now apologetic for her unkindness towards him.

"I know," he said. "Now, let's go. Don't want to be late."

He led her into the bordello. Now that Nightingale knew she would be free in a matter of days - not to mention that it was Sunday, her day off and that next Saturday she'd be free - the bordello seemed less horrific. The dank air of defeat and sorrow seemed to be gone for her, replaced instead with hope.

So when she spotted Bobby, with Emerald sitting on his lap, she could smile genuinely at him, knowing that in a little while, he'd be the manacled one. Maybe she could even visit him in prison to gloat.

"Returned her to me again?" asked Bobby.

"Of course," said David.

"The rest of the clients will be glad to hear that," said Bobby, laughing. Upon seeing David's icy expression, his smile faded. "Will you be returning, Mr. Beckett?"

David smiled, but it was such a cruel smile that Nightingale was surprised Bobby did not wet himself with terror. "Oh, yes. I'll be back Saturday night, Bobby. Not to mention that a few of my friends will be...checking out the bordello this week. They met Nightingale over the weekend and I do say they were taken with her," he said.

Nightingale shared in his smile. Quickly, they said their goodbyes, Nightingale watching David until he vanished out the front door of the bordello.

Equally as quickly, Bobby dismissed Nightingale and Emerald.

"I've got work to do, and you two are distracting. If either of you are near me right now, I swear I'll have to fuck you," he chortled, as though his humour were anything but nauseating.

"Come on," whispered Nightingale, taking Emerald's hand. "I've got something to tell you."

Together, they made their way to the Inamoratas' quarters. The moment they were out of Bobby's earshot, Emerald embraced Nightingale and cried:

"Nightingale! Oh, you've no idea how much we've all missed you!"

Nightingale rubbed Emerald's back soothingly. "How is everyone?" she asked, her worry for her sisters overcoming her desire to tell Emerald of their impending freedom.

"The same," said Emerald, her pretty face twisting into bitter unhappiness, the kind of bitterness Nightingale had had before David. "We're fucking and getting beaten. The usual. Though things have been a little worse without one of our sisters."

"And how's Rose?" asked Nightingale, not entirely sure she wanted to know the answer.

Emerald responded with a soft sigh. "Fine, I suppose. Like any of us in the beginning. Last night was the first time she hasn't been hit by a client, so that's an improvement, I guess."

Nightingale's heart twisted with sympathy at the same time her stomach churned with anger and disgust. "Get everyone together in my room, Emerald," she instructed her. "I've got something very important to say to everyone."

"Ooh, giving orders, are we now?" asked a voice lazily from behind them. Nightingale turned to see Fox hanging out of her door, face hard with jealousy. "Just because you get treated like a lady by a few clients, you somehow think you can order the rest of us?"

"Fox," said Emerald softly, disapprovingly.

"I don't think I'm better than you, Fox," said Nightingale. She fought to keep her voice calm. "And as for giving orders, I just want to share with my sister-Inamoratas some news I think will be pertinent to them. Now, if you will help me assemble everyone into my room?"

Fox growled wordlessly and stomped off.

"Fucking hell, what was that all about?" Nightingale demanded of Emerald.

"She's jealous of your talent, Nightingale, we all are," said Emerald quietly.

"It's not something to be jealous of," snapped Nightingale bitterly. "Being exceptionally good at screwing people for money isn't a commendable talent."

"No, but the beatings it saves you from, the special treatment it gets you from clients, those are things we all wish we had," murmured Emerald. The two women paused and stared at each other forlornly before Emerald shook her head and went on. "Now, we're all supposed to be meeting in your room?"

Nightingale nodded. Together, they rounded everyone up. It took a surprisingly long time, considering that Nightingale had to weather a lot of affectionate enthusiasm from her sisters - all but Fox, that was.

Even miserable little Rose emerged from her room when Nightingale approached. Nightingale could see the circles under the girl's eyes and the paleness of her face, but was glad that there were no more bruises.

The girl immediately attached herself around Nightingale's waist as a lost child would do to her mother (not that Nightingale knew from personal experience) and whimpered to her how much she'd missed her.

When everyone was in Nightingale's room, all of them, she immediately called for silence.

"Sisters, I've got something to tell you. It's going to sound mad and impossible when I say it, but I swear it's true," she said. "And I swear that it's very, very good news for us."

Fox snorted derisively, earning her glares from all the other Inamoratas, particularly Sparkle, whose glower made her look like an irked kitten, and Magenta, whose glower made her look positively terrifying.

"But you've got to believe me. And, most importantly, you've got to follow my instructions," said Nightingale.

Fox snorted again. Everyone looked over at her. When Nightingale raised her eyebrows, daring Fox to speak her mind, Fox rolled her eyes.

"Who the fuck died and made you Queen of this shit hole?" snapped Fox. "You honestly think I'm going to take instructions from you just because some client thinks you're sexy?"

Most surprisingly, it was Sparkle who spoke up. "Yes," she said, her voice a squeak in comparison to Fox's growl.

"Excuse me?" snarled Fox.

"You heard me. You should listen to Nightingale," said Sparkle. She stood up. Even standing, she was fairly short and was dwarfed by Fox, who towered inches over her. "It's because she's a monster like you."

"What?" said Fox. Her expression would have been funny if it had not pained Nightingale so, mixed with confusion and fury as it was.

"A monster. A Frankenstein's monster. She, like you, was created and punished for it by humanity. We all were. And so we're all sisters. And when one of us says she has good news, that she's going to help us in some way, you ought to listen to her," said Sparkle. She even stamped her foot for emphasis.

Fox looked as though she didn't want to believe Sparkle but then, grudgingly, she turned to Nightingale.

"I've no idea what the hell a 'Frankenstein's monster' is, but she makes a good point. Now tell us what's so damn important," said Fox, and sat down.

"You've been reading my copy of Frankenstein, haven't you?" Nightingale accused Sparkle.

Sparkle smiled a little guiltily. "I have. At first I didn't know what you were on about, liking it so much, but now I get it."

Nightingale smiled brilliantly and reached over to tousle her friend's hair before turning back to the Inamoratas.

"Now, I've got news for all of you. On Saturday, the bordello will be stormed by government agents," said Nightingale.

One could have heard a pin drop in the silence of the room. Every Inamorata was shocked into silence, ever Inamorata but Mermaid. She did not appear to be surprised in the slightest. While all the others gaped in mute silence, she smiled gently and said:

"And why is that, Nightingale?"

Nightingale smiled. "That's because, as of Saturday, all Inamoratas will be declared free," she said.

She let her words wash over her sisters before, after they had sunk in, she savoured their cries of joy.