Rupert settles in his office a couple days later. He'd been in Miami going over the last details on the sale of the house they'd flipped earlier and looking at the new house Eric's father and his people were working on now.

"How are the condos coming?"

"Good, they figure on having all the buildings finished by the time Jessy is walking for her library masters. Realtors are already making contracts for the units. I kept the penthouse in one of the units for anybody who's going to be in Miami late. I know Jessy doesn't mind staying at the motel when she has many places to go in Miami. But the others could use it."

"Do you have other sites selected?"

"Yes, two others that will start being cleared in a couple months. The need for housing is outrageous in and around Miami."

"Oh yes, everybody wants to live in the area." Wesley says. "Are we flipping any more homes?"

"Yes, I have five waiting to be worked on and Mr. Delko's crew is working on a sixth. I also want you to go to the auction in town." He passes over information on the homes and Wesley nods at the prices he's willing to pay. "They have a year to reclaim the houses so we have plenty of time to go through the homes and see what they need done."

Larry taps on the doorframe. "Truck is here."

The others are beginning to arrive as the pallets begin to be unloaded from the truck.

A week later Wesley arrives back at the house late that night. "The auction ran long but I got everything. And under the prices we'd agreed on." Rupert nods in satisfaction as he puts the folder in his desk and they walk to the cafeteria, finding Xander tormenting Cordy about having to go for a business degree and Jessy yawning over her tray.

Jenny comes in with 'assignments' for the next day, getting nods from everybody she talks to.

"Jessy dear, go to bed." she chuckles as the last yawn nearly makes her swallow her glass of milk.

Jessy looks at her. "Not tired. . .spent the last three hours drawing outfits and fleshing them out." She waves a hand over her bag and Jenny and Rupert look everything over. "I scanned them and sent them to the school. . .I should hear something back soon."

"Are you going into town?"

"Yeah, I need to deposit everything and stock up on supplies again."

Sooner than she would have swore Jessy is taking the last final in her Library Masters degree. She almost wants to dance, but she'd look stupid and not only does she have the history of textiles degree she's working on summers she'll be starting the MBA this fall.

She's in her home putting her books away for the last time when Xander comes in with a cart. "Here's the last of your bookcases Jessy." He starts putting the stand alone units in the middle of the room, the walls are full of shelves already.

"Thanks Xander." Xander's not too surprised that Jessy's home is much bigger on the inside than the outside. . . most of the buildings on the grounds are bigger than they appear.

"Have you been listening to the news?"

"That fool woman who left her kids alone while she went on a vacation? I doubt there's many of us here who aren't familiar with their parents being gone for days at a time. Willow was just the youngest." Xander sighs but nods.

"How's Oz doing?"

"Relaxing after the big launch of that . . .'thing.'" Xander waves a hand about the site that lets people create communities and put up 'walls'. He's on it. . .everybody at the House is but it's not a big deal for him. Jessy snickers, she feels the same way about this. . . facebook thing. But the adults are sure this is going to be something big. .. big enough that they've brought a building in Miami, renovated it for the servers, and hired employees. From the way they're talking he's going to be joining the group of millionaires or billionaires at the house.

"The school in New York is already on it."

A couple months later Jessy puts on her cap and gown, Jenny wrapping the collar around her neck and smoothing it on her shoulders. She joins the others on the stage, seeing Oz taping the ceremony for the others. Jessy just rolls her eyes as the president of the school announces that she'd be returning this fall to go for her MBA, she can hear Xander sniggering in the crowd.

"Oh hello Mr. Sampson." Jessy says as she picks up her manila envelope after the ceremony.

"Hello Ms. Michaels. Welcome to the MBA program. And you as well Mr. Harris."

"I'm confused. . .if the town nearest them is called Marley. . .why is their area called . . ." One of their former classmates asks.

"Hurricane Springs? There's a lot of former smaller towns that have been lost over the years. The name is still there and people still live there but they're not incorporated, have governments, or other stuff. Most of the time they're just a few roads and have only a couple hundred people living there."

"Yep, I live in one myself." Another former classmate says. "I get my mail from the nearest town. Kids in the area go to a school in another town. . . It's closer. My kids go to the school in the other town, it's better and we live just across the road from the boundary."

Jessy flies to New York, Erik grinning as he takes most of her bags. She leaves out one duffel that she'd packed for the trip to Vegas, the teachers finding her eating in the airport when they come out.

"Sorry to make you turn around and fly out."

"Ehhh. . .I'm good. There wasn't any idiot passengers having a fit about having to share first class or screaming kids."

"How was graduation?"

"Long. . .why does every person who thinks they're somebody pick graduations to make a grand speech nobody gives a shit about? It's not like we're a big university with a famous commencement speaker." Jessy grumbles. The others snigger. "A lot of the people I'd taken the business classes with got their MBAs, I'm starting mine this fall."

They arrive in Las Vegas, walking through the airport that's still bustling even at this late hour and head to the hotel. The one that Jessy had stayed at before and is one that her father had a partial ownership in. Once they're settled in a couple suites they gather in one and order from room service.

"So how is your business going in Miami?"

"Mine or the whole business? Good, Rupert put up a set of condo buildings last fall. . .they're selling now. He's got two more locations being cleared. You're outside New York but I'm sure you know how outrageous housing is in Manhattan." Everybody nods. "While we don't have million dollar parking spaces it's nearly as bad in Miami. Mine is going good, with the second building and more expensive material available we're getting more high end dresses."

The teachers nod. "Your buildings looked good on the video on your page. I didn't realize how big your library was."

Jessy nods. "A lot of people didn't. When you think of a private library, you think of a single room. . .not a whole building. A lot of our. . .associates have specialities so we have a lot of different areas."

"How often do you buy?"

"Textbooks usually every other year unless something new is coming out, I usually have one or two good-sized orders in every year from amazon. Fiction I generally hit the mall every other month or so. That's when I get the bulk of the DVDS and music too. All except the audio books since they're generally abridged in stores." the others nod. "And cut out the good parts." One of the other teacher mutters. Jessy sniggers and nods.

"How often are you there?"

"Usually every day, I take my online classes there. I'm not needed that often at the shop, after the rush for prom and graduation it's pretty quiet."

"I wasn't sure about facebook, but we're getting requests to join from seamstresses and textile workers all over the world."

"Yes, Oz is glad that people are using it."

"You know the man who created it?"

"Oh yes, he works in Miami with us. Oz has been working on that on and off for the last few years, Rupert realized just how big this was going to be and started the process of hiring employees, getting a building of servers, and. .. weeeeelllllll. . .everything. Oz is relaxing for now. .. he normally writes programs. I use one. . ."

"I told you that was the same person." One of the teachers yelps and points a finger at another one.

"in the seamstress shop. Yep, another one he created is used in law enforcement. He doesn't have to work but like the rest of us he'd be bored to tears."

"My dear, how did you meet Dr. Giles?"

"He's my godfather, he took me in when I was fifteen, nearly sixteen. My mother killed my father and tried framing me for it. . .because I'd only have got a few years in juvenile." The teachers stare at her in stunned horror before hugging her. "I was on a plane from California to Chicago to deal with my grandparents estate at the time. .. she blubbered that I could have killed him since it was seven when he was killed but the plane didn't arrive in Chicago until ten."

"Ummmmmm, isn't seven in California the same time as ten in Chicago?" one of the teachers asks, rolling her eyes.

"Yep. the police were already calling her a person of interest when they came to tell me my father was dead. I told them to check the security system, it was set to record in all the main areas of the house. . .my father had installed it because furniture kept getting moved from where he wanted it and he wanted proof who was doing it. Fucking fool was moving it himself. The system was set up to go to a server in the house and the company where it was kept on another server. The cameras caught them killing him."

"Them?"

"My mother and her lover. . .she was sure she'd get all the money with him dead. Her lover got involved because she promised him some. I called Rupert and by the time the estate was settled my mother had already been arrested. Rupert shut up the house and moved me lock, stock, and barrel to Florida since the state allowed him to take custody of me. Since I'd be aging out of the system in a few months anyway. Add in my RA. . .they were more than happy to let me be somebody else's problem."

"Why were you taking care of your gramndparents estate. . .?"

"My father had been kicked out of the family for being as crooked as they come but I hadn't been. I'd been getting the same business training my father wanted to give a boy for years."

"Which he didn't want to give you because you were a girl? Figures."

"Yep. Once we were in California I arranged for Dad's burial once they released the body and applied for the life insurance. The court gave everything to me .. .my loving mother started telling everybody I'd stolen from her. Rupert was fielding calls from special interest groups for weeks until they realized she was a lying bitch and put her name on a blacklist. Once she sentenced we cleared out the house and sold it. Including her room of clothes. Damn fool was horrified she'd have to wear uniforms like the other prisoners. Weren't they going to give her a second cell for her clothes? How could she live like this?"

"Couture?"

"Oh yes, we packed everything up and took it to consignment shops. The money we made from selling her shit went into her account at the prison. She was always wailing for me to send her money, the prison only gave her forty dollars every other week out of her account. . .anything else she'd have to pay for herself out of the money she made from her prison jobs. ..what was left after money was taken to pay off her judgments. Moron tried suing to get the life insurance. . .nope, sued to get the money from the house. . .nope. Sued to make me visit her weekly and give her money. . .OH HELL NO!"

"Is she still alive?"

"No, she died in an accident at the prison four years ago, a truck was coming up to the laundry where she was working and lost their brakes. She bled out before they could get the truck off her. When I went to her cell to get her belongings she had thirty gallon totes full of stuff she'd brought at the commissary. . the prison had made her pack it up or get it thrown out. She had to buy stuff to make herself feel better. She did the same shit before she went to prison, I ended up having the other prisoners come in and take what they wanted. . .they all wanted to apologize for the shit my mother put me through, and I still had tons of shit I ended up donating to homeless shelters and whatnot in Miami. Even then I still had stuff I couldn't donate. . .she had boxes of bath salts special interest groups wanted sold in the prison commissary . .to make them feel better about being in prison. . .so they don't feel like they're being punished."

"Isn't that why they're in prison?" One of the teacher drawls.

"Uh-huh, they wanted the prisons to stop making them wear uniforms. . .they want them to feel like they're on vacation. They wanted the wall removed too. . . but agreed they might walk away if they do." Snorts of disgust from the others.

"Did your mother leave you everything?"

"Helll noo, she wanted all her money to go to this grand funeral. . .all that crap in her cell was supposed to make her look like an angel tragically taken from us too young. She kept bleating she was only twenty five but I was nearly twenty-three when she died. People would flock to her funeral, wailing and beating themselves with hairshirts, they'd put up a huge monument to her and demand to know how she could have been convicted."

"Ummmm, she was guilty?" One of the teachers snorts as they look at the time.

"Yeah, stupid bitch would not leave me alone, she was so damn convinced I had to have forgiven her by now, she got life in prison. . .her manicure was ruined. I would have only got a few years in juvenile. . .I'd already be out. She contacted people trying to get her out, escaped once and made it all the way to the Miami house demanding her daughter leave that hedonistic place. . .got shot trying to steal a guard's gun in another escape attempt. She's probably wailing in whatever afterlife she and my father ended up in because I got all the money from the life insurance policies she purchased in prison. She wanted them to go to groups that get innocent people out of prison. . .because she was innocent but nobody got her out. Everybody agreed her so-called will was psychotic rambing. . .of course I didn't know about the insurance policies until a couple weeks after she died. It's all in a CD until I need it, along with the settlements from the company that owned the truck and the state of California."

The week passes quickly and Jessy and the others return to the hotel room for one last night before flying to New York in the morning. Jessy had already sent her purchases to the Miami house except for a few items that would come with her to New York and the others had sent their stuff to the plane.

The next day after noon Jessy walks into the cafeteria of the New York house and slumps into a seat.

"How was Vegas?"

"Full of morons and asskissers." Jessy mutters. Peter sniggers as Erik puts a tray in front of her. "Thanks whoever dropped the car off at the school. People couldn't believe we weren't there to gamble or see shows. We had to be poor and had to be watched so we didn't steal anything. . .until they saw the kinds of purchases people were making at the expo. Then they realized oh we just need to guide them to our casino and our shows. Once they see everything we have of 'course' they'll realize they really want to do this instead of attend a nasty old expo." Jessy drawls.

"Well. . .that's the only reason you go to Vegas. . .right?" El says in an airhead voice. "People forget people actually live and work in Vegas."

"Anyway, they don't want me to come back to their casino. . .I bankrupted them."

"Really?" Neal drawls.

"Well no, not really. . .but I won more than they're comfortable with at the slot machines. Including the big jackpot. They didn't really think it would ever be won the way they were blubbering when I cashed out."

"Of course not it was a big draw for them." Charles chuckles. He and Erik are two of the few people who had permanently paired off while working at the house.

Jessy sighs as she relaxes in an easy chair in her house, the others had said not to bother to come in until day after tomorrow. . .it would take them that long to recover from the flight and get everything settled into the school. She'd already deposited the check before they left Vegas.

Meanwhile in Miami Jenny is snickering as Rupert tells them what had happened in Vegas. 'Own damn fault, shouldn't have kept trying to get her in the casino if they didn't want the chance of her winning." Joyce snorts.

Jessy is tapped on the shoulder as she gets her last bag on the folding baggage cart. Looking around she grins at Ryan, who motions to her ears. "Sorry. . .not one, not two, but three screaming kids on the flight back." she says as she pulls off the noise canceling headphones and wraps them around her neck. Ryan moans, shaking his head. "Oh christ. Is this everything?"

"Yes, thank you god." Jessy mutters as they walk to the door. "How's the house?"

"Good, Rupert's got a bunch of houses to flip. . .including a few mansions. There's a few new hotels going up, Rupert's looking at more condo sites. The state got their way. . .we own more land by the House and they're putting up a mall, megaplex, bank, restaurant, and warehouse store. They're not right by the house but they'll still bring in business to the area."

Jessy snorts. "I'm still going into Miami, I like the owner of the stores I do business in at the mall. If there's decent stores in the new mall we can go both places." Ryan nods in satisfaction as they finish putting everything in the car, the cart folding and being put on top. They finally make it out of the airport and Ryan takes the scenic route to get pass a couple wrecks. Ryan moans as his phone buzzes and Jessy grabs it for him, holding it up so he can listen.

"I'm being called in." He looks at her after nodding to end the call.

"Go to the lab, I'll drive myself home."

Horatio looks over as a House vehicle pulls up, Ryan getting out of the drivers seat. The passenger side door opens and Jessy goes around the front of the car and drives off after waving.

"Is Jessy okay? She looked frazzled." Speed asks as he looks over everything. "Sorry to call you in on your night off."

"Three screaming kids on the flight home she said when I tapped her on the shoulder and pointed at her headphones."

"That would do it." Calleigh moans. "How's traffic?"

"Bad, we had to go five blocks out of the way to get around accidents." Ryan signs in and they head off.

"Where's Ryan?" Michael asks as Jessy drives up to the gates.

"Got called in, I told him I could get home on my own." Jessy pulls through the gates and gets in the cart MacGyver brings up.

"Bad flight?" he asks as she just 'listens' to the silence.

"Three screaming kids."

"Oooohhhhhhh yes, definitely bad flight."

"Yeah, the only thing that would have made it worse would have been big screaming kids. But then we would have diverted and their asses arrested." Dexter and Scott nod as they start emptying the trunk, everything will be in her home by the time she gets there.

Jessy pulls on her noise-dampening headphones when she gets inside. Joyce just looks at her as she opens a medical box in the office and grabs a packet of advil, swallowing them with a bottle of water from the mini-fridge.

"Three screaming kids on the flight. Their parents should be shot for inflicting them on the rest of the passengers. People, you know you're going to be in a goddamn flying tube for hours. . .take another way if you can. I don't care how much you bleat your kids won't be bothered by the flight. . .either they're screaming because they're in pain or they're screaming because they're brats and you don't control them."

"This is why they want sections for kids in the back of the plane."

"And ban kids in restaurants. Because you can get up and walk away from screaming kids a helluva lot easier in a restaurant than you can a plane."

"Or make them leave." Rupert says as he hugs her, stroking her hair. She sighs as the headache vanishes. She leans against him a long minute until her growling stomach makes her look down. "Oh come on, you cannot be empty. . .I ate just before we left and the flight wasn't that damn long. . ."

"Even though it felt like it at the time." Rupert chuckles.

"Exactly." He chuckles and touches her temple, showing her how to put up a bubble around her where no sound can get through unless it's an emergency. And how to set up alerts so she can know it's an emergency. She blinks. . .she's already halfway doing this in the library when she's taking classes or tests. Rupert nods.

"Where's Ryan?" Joyce looks around.

"He got called in, I told him I could get home on my own. . .we were already taking the scenic route to get around a couple accidents. I have the feeling it's going to be hours before they're done."

Rupert hands Jessy a file after the first tray of food and she looks it over. "Ryan said there were new hotels going up."

"Yes, I don't think he realized they were your hotels." He chuckles. Cordelia brings a second tray over for Jessy, getting an armhug in thanks.

"Max needs to talk to you."

"I'll call him tomorrow."