"Please don't do this, Elena. Please."

As Howard Saunders gazed up into the two pitying blue pools above him, the continuous metallic rumble of the mostly empty train was the only response. With a lick of his lips and a nervous swallow, his gaze shifted from the large blue eyes above to the small, curious ones looking up at him. Howard struggled to force a sad smile as he met his six-month old son's gaze, his small form cradled in his arms and wrapped in a blanket. Mercifully oblivious of the decision being made above his head.

Oblivious to their oncoming abandonment.

"Please, love," Howard voiced with desperation, "please just think about this."

"I've thought on it plenty, Howard," came a reply from above, and the diminutive man once more looked upward from his position on a wide, velvety palm and into the solemn eyes of his wife. There was a sadness in those sapphire circles, in that beautiful face framed by golden locks, in the downward curve of those pillowy lips. But that sadness was paired with something else, something that was continuously pushing it to the side.

"For six months, I've thought about it," Elena continued stoically, "and this is the conclusion I've come to. I'm sorry."

"But you're his mother, Elena!" Howard nearly cried, straining to keep his voice low so as not to upset Corey. "How can you-"

"Well that's the problem, you see," his titanic spouse answered coolly. "It's why I'm taking you to Aegis, after all: I don't want to be."

"How..." Howard gasped out pathetically, gently stroking his son's hair as he did so. "How can you say that? After we tried so hard to have a child, Ellie...after we were finally blessed with such a wonderful, healthy little boy?" The couple stared at each other for a moment, Howard's desperate, pleading eyes locked with his wife's own increasingly aloof stare.

"Because 'little' is the stand-out term to me there, sweetie," she responded after a moment, and despite that affectionate term, Howard found that there was little of it in his wife's words

"I don't understand," he stated, even as his voice cracked and the bundle in his arms began to wiggle. Looking downward, Howard couldn't suppress a grimace as his son's pudgy little arms, now free of the blanket's confines, eagerly reached upward toward Elena's face amidst a spiel of excited babble in an attempt to get her attention.

His mother paid him no mind.

"Because there is no blessing in having a Beta for a child," Elena explained, and the chill in that voice froze Howard to the bone.

"And for a husband as well, I suppose?" Howard asked, his voice dead and toneless. To his surprise, Elena's face softened a bit at that.

"No," she stated with a soft shake of her head, "there's nothing wrong with you, Howard. Not in the least. You're a wonderful partner, and I don't regret a single second of the time we've spent together, of the love and care I've given you. That day when I received that container from that woman...when I ran home and locked myself up in my room, when I opened it up to find the Beta I had bought...when I found you...that will always be the best day of my life, no matter what."

"Then why can't the day our son was born be a day like that?" Howard asked, exasperated. "Why can't you give that same time to him? That same love? Why do you want to...to leave him?" And all at once, that softness that had peaked through his towering wife's visage disappeared, replaced instead by an expression that seemed terrifyingly familiar. He couldn't quite place where he had seen it, but he knew he had, and he felt as if Elena's comments about her...obtainment of him lay at the center.

"Because, Howard," she began coldly, "a child isn't a partner. A child is a legacy. You're everything I could want as a partner, you've done so much for me...helped me become the person I am today..."

And he had. When Elena had acquired him, when both had barely entered their teens, she had been a wallflower of a girl. Lacking in self-confidence and self-esteem, with parents who showed little interest in their daughter's life, she had been overcome with a desire to have someone...something invested in her, that she could keep all to herself. That's what she had bought and paid for that day, in the back of some little country store on the far outskirts of the city. She hadn't known at the time, how quickly the frightened little boy that had been in that container would shift from pet to friend, from friend to something so much more. They had spent so much time just...talking, about each other. Elena had been such a sweet girl, and Howard still remembered her crying face when he talked about how his small family had been found and taken as they had journeyed to an Aegis center. When he had told her about those awful cages...about watching his younger brother be taken away, then his mother, then his father. He had slept with her that night, tightly held against her abdomen the entire time. And of course, he had listened to her as well, as she talked about school and the bullies that accosted her there. Who put her down because all she did was read, because studying was all she was good at. Her parents, too, had been a frequent topic of discussion - they were conservative with praise, and more often that not bemoaned her lack of an outgoing personality instead of recognizing her scholastic accomplishments.

But with him, she had no need to worry about that, and it had made Howard so happy to be there for her even as she took care of him. And with each passing year the two had spent together, Elena had emerged more and more from her shell, until ultimately she had become the confident, successful woman before him, the premier graduate of her medical school. They had discovered, too, just how easily Howard himself could pick up on and learn her school material , and soon he had been able to talk with her as her intellectual equal. At 16, she had even taken him to register with Aegis in an affirmation of the equality she wanted with him. Of course, they had...omitted how she had come into possession of him, but the Alpha clerk that had later become his case worker had been a jovial man who had been deeply amused at their closeness. He had even arranged for the two to continue living together (with weekly visits to insure Howard was being treated as a guest and not a plaything, of course, and Elena's parents had become reluctant hosts. Howard had long suspected that his case worker provided something to them to insure a stable, safe environment), and had been instrumental in attaining permission for Howard to accompany Elena throughout her college career and through residency, and he was confident that he was her equal in medicine as well.

It was within the last year of Elena's residency that they had married, with Howard taking Elena's last name, and the proceeding year had been spent trying and failing to reproduce. Finally, though, they had succeeded, and Corey was their wonderful reward for their patience. So why? Things had been going so well, and their son had a safe, stable environment to grow up in. Howard was confident they could raise him to be a fine, intelligent man, so why-

"...but a legacy is different," Elena continued, breaking Howard's happy recollections, "a legacy is a different kind of investment. An investment that carries who you are into the future, long after you pass away. And Howard, I just can't...do that. With him. I cannot invest that time in a child with no future. A child who will never be able to become anything, who will never be able to do anything. That's the realization I've come to over the last six months, Howard. I'm sorry, but I just can't do that for him."

"No future?" Howard repeated, dumbstruck. "But...Elena, the Omegas are trying to build that for...for him. They're hoping to start schools for us soon, and everything. And...and not being able to do anything? That's not right, I mean, I'm a-"

"A what?" his wife interrupted with an arched eyebrow, an element of condescension entering her voice. "A doctor? Please don't lie to yourself, Howard. I won't disparage your knowledge or you skill, I would never do that, but the simple, honest truth is that you're nothing. Because it doesn't matter how smart you are, how skilled you are, or whatever else, if no one else recognizes it. And as awful as it is, as unfair as it is, that's not something I see changing. The Omegas can open all the schools they want, but this country is still a democracy. A democracy in which Betas have no say whatsoever, in which ninety percent of of our senators and representatives get elected on a platform of fighting back against every single thing the Omegas try to enact."

"It's a battle I don't think the Omegas are going to win, Howard, not anytime soon. Almost every Alpha in this country is going to fight tooth and nail to make sure you are given nothing, that you can do nothing. Because the moment Betas are recognized for their skills, the moment they have an actual voice...that's when things are going to get truly nasty. When Alphas are pushed out of their jobs by more qualified Betas, when Betas outnumber them at the polls, shit is going to hit the fan. So they are going to do everything they can to protect the status quo, to protect themselves, and that means denying you and our son any sort of future. And I can't deal with that, not with how I am now."

A ping sounded through the train then, punctuating the end of Elena's statement as husband and wife locked eyes. Corey's wiggling started up once more, along with his incoherent attempts at gaining the attention of his mother that were once again ignored.

"The train will be arriving at the Aegis Facility in three minutes," a soft feminine voice sounded. "Please prepare any Betas not in the specialized seating for the impending stop, assuring that they are safely secured. Thank you."

Howard gritted his teeth as he continued to glare into Elena's eyes in silence. Her face had reverted to the visage that had stuck out to him earlier, the one that had seemed so familiar, and it had finally struck him as to why: It was the same face that had been on that woman's face, when he and his family had been abducted and caged, when he had been yanked out of that cage to be given to a shy little girl. It was an expression without care, without love.

And for the first time, as two soft fingers of Elena's free hand began to wrap securely around him just below his cradling arms, as he took another look down at his son (who had quietly given up on his attempts at gaining the attentions of his mother and gone back to looking at his father, and giggled loudly as their eyes met again), Howard wondered just how long that uncaring face had been there for the boy without either of them ever noticing it. He wondered, as well...

"When did you become such an awful person?" Howard asked of his wife, not bothering to hide his contempt, his anguish.

"Excuse me?" she asked incredulously, as if in shock that he had said such a thing.

"You heard me," Howard declared, his brow furrowed, "A legacy? Really? Since when is that something you care about? Since when is that something you just...discard a relationship for? That you abandon a child for?"

"People grow up," Elena remarked with a darkened expression, "and priorities change."

"And I want to know when satiating your own ego became such a high priority for you. Because we've spent over half our lives together, Elena. I remember watching your confidence grow, and being so proud of you as it happened. So I want to know when that confidence turned into this disgusting arrogance that demands you throw your fucking child awa-."

"Enough," the towering woman demanded in a raised voice, her lips curling into a sneer as her words easily drowned out her husband's own. Howard instinctively pulled Corey in closer to him as his body was rocked by a slight tremble, and neither response went unnoticed by woman holding him. Her eyes widened for just a second, and that sneer melted as her expression softened a bit. "I think this situation is severe enough without your petty nastiness dragging things down further, Howard."

"Doubtful. I'm pretty sure you already put us at rock bottom," Howard spat. Elena's eyes narrowed this time, but there was no tremble from the smaller man this time. He met her gaze unblinkingly. and soon the large orbs closed. A heavy sigh escaped her lips, washing father and son in her minty breath and drawing an excited squeal from the infant.

"I said that was enough," Elena remarked, her eyes opening once again even as they all felt the train begin to come to a halt. "So no more, Howard. Please. Nothing is going to change, and there is no going back. So just...enough." Howard himself could only sneer, but he relented. He had pushed as far as he was comfortable with this woman he wasn't even sure he truly knew anymore. That sweet, caring Elena had turned into this...this thing that now held him and his son...

It disgusted him, it terrified him, and it saddened him.

The train soon ground to a halt, and that soft voice returned, informing them that it was safe to disembark. Elena wasted no time in rising from her seat, the fingers that had secured Howard quickly removing themselves as she steadily disembarked into a well-lit tunnel. Above him, he watched as her eyes briefly scanned the immediate area before apparently finding what she was looking for and continuing on.

"You should know," she began, "that I've already taken care of the divorce paperwork. I expect the separation to be finalized within the week. If you wish to keep my last name...that's fine. If not...well, that's fine too. I'll mail your wardrobe here tomorrow, as well."

"How generous," Howard remarked sardonically as his now apparent ex-wife approached the far wall. He could make out a platform jutting out from concrete, large enough to hold a literal handful of Betas, with what looked liked small elevator doors built into the side. He supposed he had found their destination, and Elena confirmed it herself as she came to a halt just before it, the platform level with her neck.

"Howard," the giant woman said, and the disowned Beta turned for face her once more as the palm he stood on began to rise up until found himself level with the baby blues he had admired for so many years. He couldn't help but notice that they now seemed glazed with a slight wetness that had not been there moments before. "I am sorry...for doing this to you. For ending things like this. I meant it, earlier, when I said that meeting you will always be the best day of my life. Even beyond that, you will always be my first love...and I wish that things had gone just a little differently, so that you could have been my only one." The hand lowered then, just a bit, and for just a moment Howard felt the familiar sensation of Elena's lips pressing into the top of his head. Another excited squeal and a new burst of wiggling came from Corey at his mother's sudden closeness, activity that continued even as she pulled away. He didn't even realize it, why his mother continued to ignore his pleas for attention, and simply thinking about it seemed to hit Howard with the force of a hard blow to his gut.

"I hope you stay safe, Howard. I hope that you're able to find some measure of stability, moving forward." Howard regarded her, for a moment, her and those words. Considered them, considered the words that had come earlier. The years that had preceded this bastard of a day, the time they had spent together, the moments they had shared.

"And I hope, Ellie, that you're able to create the legacy that means so much to you. I hope you can have the child that you truly want, that you can give them the love that you feel Corey isn't worth. But I hope, too, that you never forget what you did today. I hope you never forget that you threw away a husband and a child to attain that desire, that it follows you for the rest of your life."

"And I don't say that, to be spiteful," Howard continued, his eyes watering, nose leaking, "I say that because then at least it would mean that some semblance of the Ellie I knew...the one who opened that container that day, that I grew up with...that I fell in love with, is still there. That she isn't gone. Because she never would have done something like this."

Elena's eyes closed once more, and Howard watched through blurry eyes as she took a hard, audible swallow. Then those blue eyes were visible again, just in time for the hand he stood on to begin a slight descent. Within seconds it rested level with the platform he had noticed earlier. Taking the hint, he slowly transferred himself and his child from the formerly welcome, comfortable flesh of Elena's palm and onto the metal protrusion. Taking a sniff, he turned around to face Elena Saunders for what he knew would be the last time. They stared at each other, for just a moment, as Corey casually played with his shirt. He couldn't help but note that Elena wasn't even looking at her son, not truly.

"Goodbye, Howard," she suddenly said, her voice soft and raspy. "I don't expect I'll see you again."

And with that, the love of Howard Lindon's life turned away and walked, right back onto that train. He stood and watched as she sat, her back to them. Watched as the doors slid shut, as the train began to slowly pull away. Watched until she was out of sight.

Watched as she never looked back.