Chapter 1
The call
Montehue's POV
"Hello, sir." I answered the call from Metz.
"Ah, Montehue. I'm glad I caught you." He smiled.
"What is this about?" I asked.
"We found a child at one of our safe house. She was badly wounded and she bonded with a Freelancer. Now, she won't let us near her. Her Freelancer usually talks her down enough to let the nurses do their job, but nothing more. We're hoping if we put her in a less threatening, hospital-like environment, she'll open up and tell us what happened." The head of the Foundation explained.
"What does that have to do with me?" I asked.
"We were hoping you would take her in. You have a stable work situation, a house, and you already keep in good contact with us so…" He paused.
"Why not Dante?" I wondered.
"I'm afraid he can't give the personal attention she needs. He would try, don't get me wrong, but between the Council and visiting his old team would be too much. He would most likely try to have her stay at his house in Venice. But with all the children at his house, I believe it would create a competitive atmosphere. You, on the other hand, do not have any children or conflicting schedules." Metz said, a teeny bit disappointed.
"Dante was your first choice." I said.
"Yes. But I'm confident you'll do a fine job." He said like he had had to say that before.
"What about her family?" I frowned.
"From what little she has told us, they're dead. Or kidnapped. Someone attacked them. The Organization most likely. She will only be safe if she's with other Seekers. Her wounds were made by powers." He frowned, disturbed that someone would attack a child like that.
"Hmm. When will she be able to go to London?" I thought.
"Not for a few weeks. You'll need to prepare your home." He said.
"If I don't take her, what'll happen?" I ventured.
"We'll have to send her to an approved foster home. The best one has already has two other foster kids there. And they're both very young. 4 and 6. The foster mom also has her child on weekends." He pointed out.
"And the girl is…" I asked.
"11." He answered.
"I'll do it." I nodded.
"I knew I could count on you. Thank you, Montehue." He smiled.
"Yeah, um, just send the paperwork and stuff." I hung up, sighing. What would Tersly think?
Later that night
"YOU'RE BECOMING A GIRL'S GUARDIAN?" Tersly shouted.
"Ters, she really needs a home. I think we could-" I stopped as he hugged me.
"Oh, Monty. Why didn't you tell me you wanted a child?" He whispered.
"Tersly, it's not like that! Metz asked me to!" I told him.
"It doesn't matter how it happened. We're going to be parents!" He said excitedly.
"I-I guess we kinda are, huh?" I said in disbelief.
"When is she coming?" He looked up at me, smiling.
"In a few weeks. They found her at a Cardiff safe house. She's still recovering from her wounds. We'll have to get the guest room ready for her and there're some things we need to do to make our home suitable before Metz will agree to let us have her." I explained.
"Of course. We should start cleaning the guest room now. Move all the boxes out, dust, vacuum, wash the sheets." He listed.
"Yeah…" I agreed reluctantly. There were a lot of boxes in there.
"Don't be like that. We have to get ready for her." Tersly frowned at me cutely.
"I know, Bookworm. I'm just not looking forward to cleaning." I kissed his forehead. He blushed a little. I smiled.