Lonely Souls

by virtualfindingsdocumented

There was a library, and there was a girl, and there was a book. But this story started many years before that. This is the story of the ways Ellington Feint's path crossed with the Snickets', in special with Kit Snicket's.

A/N: This story starts at the ending of ATWQ and ends after the ending of TBL, and contains spoilers for them and all the books in between, including of some of the biggest reveals. So I suggest you avoid reading this in case you haven't read one or more of the books.

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There was a library, and there was a girl, and there was a book.

Ellington Feint was in the library, and it wasn't the first time she found herself looking hesitatingly at the book. Then the girl arrived, and took the book before Ellington could make up her mind, but it didn't matter. Looking at her, Ellington saw someone she never expected to see again.

But this story did not start that rainy morning, when Ellington met the girl for the first time. It started many years ago, much before the girl was even born, when Ellington was only a few years older than her. It started in a small cell in an offtrack train, near a seaside town that was no longer by the sea.

Ellington was locked in the cell, which was one of the last things she wanted. She had a cellmate, which was even closer to the last thing she wanted. He cellmate being that particular person was the second-to-last thing she wanted.

The girl showed her a smile, and Ellington was sure that was also on the list of things she didn't want.

"Hello. I am Kit Snicket." The girl introduced herself, awkwardly reaching out a handcuffed arm. Ellington ignored her.

She had never met Kit Snicket before that day, but she knew who she was, and she had had enough of Snickets for her whole life in the last months (Was it really only a few months? It felt much longer, long enough for at least four reasonably sized books.)

Ellington simply turned away from her. Her cellmate didn't try to start a conversation again. Both of them had a lot to think about, and coincidentally their thoughts would now and again go to the same person, though their feelings towards him were very different. Kit still loved him no matter what, and worried about him. Ellington wished he was hit in the face by a giant seaweed, or fell into a very deep hole.

Lemony Snicket could die, for all she cared.

She didn't give him that much thought. Mostly she thought about her father, her brilliant and kind father, and the unrecognizable person he had become. Had she ever even known him?

Ellington thought a lot about him, and about the Inhumane Society, and about the Bombinating Beast, both the dark statue she stole and lost so many times, and the dark creature still lurking somewhere. Ellington thought, but this is not a story about these thoughts. This is a story about how, when she got tired of thinking, Ellington finally turned again to her cellmate, who seemed to be in a peaceful sleep.

She could not understand how someone could sleep in such a situation.

It gave her the chance to watch her cellmate more. Kit must be four or five years older than Lemony, and shared enough facial features with him to be unmistakably his sister. She had long, light brown hair that fell freely behind and over her shoulders. Her clothes were the kind that could allow her to walk around unnoticed. Her boots covered her ankles, but Ellington knew that under them she had the same tattoo as her brother.

The girl opened her eyes, startling Ellington.

"It's not a nice weather today." She commented.

"It's not." Ellington agreed, too startled (and a little bored) to keep ignoring her.

"My name is Kit Snicket." Kit Snicket introduced herself again, smiling. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss..."

"Ellington Feint." Said Ellington Feint.

"You seem angry about something."

"You seem too happy for someone who has just been arrested."

Kit looked away, and spoke in a very soft tone.

"I will not be here for long. I have associates-"

"VFD." Ellington interrupted.

Kit showed a small smile.

"Lemony told you. He must trust you."

It was Ellington's turn to look away.

"No, he doesn't." She said bitterly. "And I don't trust him either." She added, more to herself than to the other girl.

"How did you end up here, Ellington Feint?"

"The same way as you. Lemony Snicket's fault."

Kit sighed.

"It's not L's fault that I am here. It's mine. I made my own wrong choices."

"One of them was believing he would be there for you, wasn't it?"

"It was still my mistake."

A silence formed. It seemed to last hours, until Kit finally broke it.

"I understand that you are mad at my brother."

"Mad is a euphemism," Ellington answered, using a fancy word to say that not even all the fancy words she could think of could describe how much she hated Lemony Snicket at that moment.

"And I believe you may have a good reason-"

"I do."

Kit sighed.

"My brother usually leaves a strong impression on people." Ellington wouldn't need him there to explain that that was an expression that meant people either loved or hated him. Once Ellington thought she loved Lemony. Not as adults love each other, but as someone loves a really good friend, one of the few people she could trust in a confusing and treacherous world. Now, she had no such people left in her life, and it was all Snicket's fault and for that, she hated him.

"He- We have many allies and many enemies." Kit said, her tone getting darker. "I hope you are not an enemy, Ellington Feint."

"I am just a prisoner, like you."

Ellington was not afraid of Snicket, but she was afraid of many things. She was afraid of the darkness of the Bombinating Beast. She was afraid of villains. She was afraid of trusting someone again. And what she was afraid of most of all, was of secret organizations and their sinister plots. Organizations like the one the Snickets belonged to. She didn't want to be their enemy.

Kit showed her a smile, but it didn't seem to mean she was happy. It could mean anything. Ellington didn't know that someone used to refer to her own smile with these same words, and would continue to do so every time he thought back at her. Just as she didn't know how to explain the feeling that Kit made her feel with that smile.

"Why did Lemony tell you about us?"

"He didn't. I found information while doing my own research." Ellington explained. "And I saw his tattoo."

Kit gave her a look that made Ellington blush.

"It's not what you are thinking!" She was quick to say. It was the wrong thing to say. Every time you say "it's not what you are thinking" to someone, you only make them sure that it is what they are thinking.

"I'm not thinking of anything." Kit said, but her face showed she was thinking many things. Ellington blushed more.

"He needed to take off his shoes. It was important for the plan!"

"His socks too?"

Ellington just nodded. She didn't want to be having this conversation.

"Don't worry. Differently from my brothers, I don't usually interfere in other people's love lives." Kit said, with some bitterness in her voice. Ellington tried to protest, but Kit interrupted her. "But we have been taught to hide our tattoos unless we are with trusted people since before we could even choose our own clothes. If Lemony let you see it, he must have trusted you."

Ellington was silent for a moment, before whispering.

"It doesn't matter. Things have changed between us."

"I'm sure that whatever L did to you-"

"He killed my father!"

"Oh." There was some sadness and surprise in Kit's eyes, but only some. That was not the way someone should react to learning their younger brother killed a man. She accepted it so quickly. Was that not the first time Kit heard such kind of news? "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Sorry doesn't help," Ellington said, knowing nothing would help. "What do you think you would feel if it happened to you?"

"My father died when I was 5."

Ellington was left speechless for a moment. She just said it, no words could help in such a situation. Instead of focusing on the tragedy, she noticed something else. Lemony had said to her before that his father was alive and well. Was he lying back then, or was Kit lying right now? Or was there something that one of them knew that the other didn't? Were the siblings as secretive to each other as Lemony was to everyone else? Ellington knew Kit would not give her the answers to these questions, and she didn't even know if those were the right questions, or if she even wanted to learn anything about the family of the boy who hurt her so much. Another question came to her mind, and that was what she asked.

"5? Lemony must have been a baby by then."

Kit looked to the side, as if there was a window there, and spoke in a voice that sounded older than she looked.

"He was. He has no memories of what our family used to be. We were raised by other people."

Ellington didn't think Kit was lying.

"VFD." She guessed again.

Kit nodded.

"Many of us are orphans. That's how things are."

Something in Ellington snapped.

"That's not how things should be." She had to fight her tears. She didn't want Kit Snicket to see her crying. She was an orphan now too, but she refused to accept that this was "just how things are". Kit may have spent only a few years with her family, but Ellington spent almost her whole life with her father. "Children are supposed to be with their parents. They are supposed to be happy, and have no worries. They are not supposed to be involved in mysteries and crimes and... and they are not supposed to be in prison!" Her voice got progressively louder, and her tears fell.

Kit looked at her sadly.

"But we are not normal children, are we, Ellington Feint?" She said in a soft tone. There was sadness in her eyes, but also resignation.

In an ideal world, children would be happy and have no worries. But in the real world, there were children like them, and they were not few. Children who had to grow up fast. Children who since birth had no choice but to be a part of a story much bigger than themselves, a story they didn't start and could not end. Kit knew it, because everyone she knew either was or had been one of these children. And she was resigned, because she had spent many sleepless nights wishing things were different, but every morning everything was still the same. Her parents had been children like these, and their parents before them, and she and her brothers were too, and their children, if they lived long enough to have them, would also be.

And Ellington Feint might not be a volunteer, but Kit could see she carried a burden just as heavy.

Kit waited until Ellington's tears stopped. She couldn't offer the girl much support, and didn't think it would be appreciated anyway, considering her own brother was the cause of some of her pain.

When Ellington was finally calmer, Kit spoke again.

"Join us."

"What?"

"Join us." Kit repeated. "VFD takes care of children like us. You wouldn't have to be alone."

Ellington stared at her for a moment.

"You don't even know me, or what my father did."

"It doesn't matter what he did. What matters is what you will do now, Miss Feint." Kit said, showing her that same smile again. "I can't offer you a happy life, but I can offer you a chance to do something noble."

Ellington shook her head.

"I don't want to be a part of an organization." She wanted to explain her reasons but she doubted Kit would understand it.

But Kit did not ask. She simply nodded.

"Plus." Ellington continued. "We are still in prison."

"Not for long, I hope." Kit said, and she didn't sound so sure. "Something went wrong, and I have the feeling my brother has something to do with it."

"The train went off tracks." Ellington explained.

Kit nodded.

"I suspected so."

"It was all his fault."

Kit sighed.

"I won't even ask how he managed to do this."

"Will your allies really take you out of here?" Ellington asked.

"If all goes as planned."

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then I will have to take myself out of here on my own."

Ellington looked at her bag. She had only known Kit Snicket for less than an hour, and her brother had done something unforgivable. But she could not get herself free on her own, not with those handcuffs.

"I can help you." She finally said. "If you help me."

Kit frowned in thought.

"I will help you on two conditions."

"What if I don't accept your conditions?"

"Then each of her is on their own."

Ellington nodded.

"What are your conditions?"

It's needless to tell about the great escape Kit Snicket and Ellington Feint did that night. The press covered it well. The two young fugitives spent some months hiding together, sharing stories and occasionally saving each other's lives.

After her bad experiences with Lemony, Ellington was not very excited about spending time with another Snicket, but she learned not to judge Kit by her brother. They had many similarities that went beyond physical appearance. They read some of the same authors. Kit sometimes spoke like her brother, used the same expressions and thought the same way about certain subjects. Ellington imagined these could be things they got from their parents, or from whoever raised them. But Kit was also different from Lemony in many ways. She was older, and more mature. She did not have his sarcasm, and thankfully did not interrupt her speech to define words. Most times she spoke with the grace and eloquence of someone who was well-read, but sometimes she used less nice words. She knew how to appreciate black coffee, and in the time they spent together, Ellington got a taste for bitter tea.

Ellington enjoyed her company. Kit seemed capable of talking about any and every topic, could fight against men and women much bigger than herself, and had many other skills that proved useful in their time running from the law, and seemed to care a lot about Ellington. In a protective way, like a mother or an older sister. Ellington was an only child, and had been on her own for a long time. It was nice being cared for again. But she didn't think of Kit as a mother or an older sister. She thought of her as a partner.

But soon, too soon for Ellington's liking, came the time for them to go separate ways. They wouldn't need to, if Ellington had accepted Kit's invitation to join VFD. But Ellington was still firm in her decision to not let an organization lead her life.

They didn't say any special words as a goodbye. Ellington didn't know if they would ever meet again, but she hoped they would.

Kit went on to live her own story, a story that you might already know. It included noble missions and sinister plots, meeting again a young man she would fall in and out of love with, being scolded by her twin, not only for her latest reckless actions but for many future ones, and scolding her younger brother when she finally met him again, some years later.

Ellington also went on to live her own story, and it unavoidably included finding out the whole story that she never knew about her father. She found some answers. She also found many questions, many of which would never be answered. She could almost hear Kit's voice saying "that's how things are". Ellington would eventually come to accept it.

It also involved her own noble missions and sinister plot, and many unpleasant people. Almost everyone was unpleasant, in Ellington's opinion. She didn't open herself easily and didn't trust easily. There was no one she considered a friend and certainly no one she could see herself falling in love with.

She didn't hear of Kit again for a long time, but she heard a lot about the Snickets when she was in the city. Kit's twin brother worked for a big newspaper, and Ellington found herself often reading his work, looking for those words, those expressions that she was sure all Snickets shared, or all those who were raised like they were. And she found them. Sometimes they reminded her of Kit, and that made her happy but also made her miss the young woman who meant so much to her. Sometimes they reminded her of Lemony, and it was painful.

Ellington never met Jacques Snicket in person. She knew him only by Kit's stories and by what of him she could catch in his writing. She imagined him to physically look like an older version of Lemony, the same curious brown eyes, black hair, and the same facial features. He gave her the impression of being a serious man, someone who preferred security and stability, who wouldn't approve of his sister's swearing or of his brother's sarcasm.

She thought of paying him a visit in his office a few times, but what would she say? "Hello, I am Ellington Feint, you don't know me but your brother killed my father and your sister broke me out of prison. Have you heard of her recently?" So she never did.

Ellington wanted to have a normal life, but Kit was right. She was not a normal child, and was not to be a normal adult. Daughter of a villain, a fugitive criminal herself, she had no choice but to stay in the underground of secrets and mysteries and crimes. She never made any associates. She worked alone, a rogue agent, as she had always done. A mercenary, some would say. She did work for whoever would hire her, without caring to learn the story behind her missions. Her own story was already enough weight for her to carry.

She met many interesting people, but mostly in negative ways. Sometimes, she met someone she suspected to be a part of VFD. There was something in them, in the way they spoke with the grace and eloquence of someone who was well-read. A quote or a saying. It didn't matter. Work was work. Sometimes, she may have worked against VFD. She saw the familiar insignia on the walls of buildings she broke into or on the covers of files she stole.

She also met many other different people from many other different organizations, from an actor who coughed a lot to a young man with a nervous smile and a guitar hanging on his back.

Ellington was in her early twenties, hands dirtier than a pair of white socks, if you walked on the mud the whole morning with them on, when she saw the name she never expected (or wished) to see again on the morning newspaper. It was not on a headline, nor signing an article. It was written in small letters, on the credits page, near a not very flattering position.

Lemony Snicket was back in the city. That meant Ellington was out.

She left a short note for her latest client, together with half the money she received in advance. Then she gathered her few valuable belongings and ran. Ran to a place where she would have no chances of meeting Snicket again. She didn't run to the north, by the road that would lead first to Stain'd-by-the-sea, and later to what remained of her hometown. She ran to the east, until she found herself in a place she never visited before. A small bunch of houses and shops built on the shore of a big and dark lake. It didn't seem like the sort of place where anything happened. It looked like a place where she could take some rest from her tiring job. It looked like the last place where she could find Snicket. It looked perfect.

She was wrong about all of it. The firetruck parked nearby, without any of the usual symbols of the official fire department, could show that things happened all the time in the unnamed village by Lake Lachrymose. It was not the last place to find Snicket, as he was good friends with some local inhabitants, and Ellington would, in fact, meet a Snicket there, but fortunately for her, not the one she was avoiding.

It was in a lame thematic restaurant that served greasy and fried food that Ellington Feint's path crossed with Kit Snicket's again.

The Anxious Clown was not the sort of place Ellington liked to visit, but she was hungry and it seemed to be the only restaurant in there. But when she entered, she didn't pay attention to the brand new colorful decorations, or to the young and friendly waiter that greeted her. Her attention was fully on one of the few customers.

Ignoring the waite, Ellington went to her table and sat in front of her.

"Kit Snicket."

The woman raised her eyes from the papers she was reading.

"Ellington Feint." She smiled. Ellington smiled back at her.

Kit looked different. Of course, it had been years, both of them changed a lot. Ellington had been barely a teenager, Kit had been almost an adult. They were both adults now. Kit's hair still seemed to be long, but she currently had it tied in a tight and firm bun. Even her bangs were pinned away from her face. A military hairstyle, Ellington noted. It fit the rest of her dressing: a long dress, with long sleeves and high neck. A belt around her waist. Black boots. A badge on her chest contained an unfamiliar symbol and the word "Volunteer" on the top, and the words "Fire Dept." on the bottom.

The uniform could be real, but Ellington knew better. It was a clever disguise, actually. Kit pretended to be a member of a volunteer fire department so she could do whatever mission the Volunteer Fire Department sent her there for.

"What are you doing in such a remote place?" Kit asked.

"I got tired of the big city." Ellington lied, as Kit took a sip of her, Ellington felt a strange happiness in noticing, black coffee. "I suppose you are here for work, right, officer?"

"No need to call me officer, I'm just a volunteer." Kit smiled the sort of smile someone shows someone else when they share a secret. "I guess you could say I am here for work."

"I didn't see any fire or smoke around."

"Firefighters do more than just put out fires."

Ellington nodded. Especially firefighters like Kit. Still, she wondered what work her organization would have to do in such a place.

The waiter, the same that welcomed Ellington, approached the table and gave Kit a strange look. Kit shook her head.

"Would you like the menu, Miss?" He asked Ellington.

"I will only have a coffee, like hers." For some reason, she didn't feel hungry anymore. The waiter left.

"The cheeseburgers are decent." Kit said. "But don't try anything with chicken in it."

"You have been here for some time," Ellington noted.

Kit nodded.

"There was a lot of work to do. There still is."

"What work exactly are you doing here?"

Kit looked away for a moment, and her eyes didn't meet Ellington's again as she replied.

"Something with local creatures."

Ellington felt a shiver at the words. They reminded her of her father and his secrets.

"You are manipulating nature."

"I guess you could say so." Kit gave a sad nod.

"This is wrong."

"Did you know, Miss Feint, that we are in the middle of a war?"

Ellington opened her mouth to ask what that meant, but was interrupted by the sound of a bell announcing new customers. Two men entered, both wearing what seemed to be a male version of the uniform Kit wore, the same badge on their chests. The waiter only smiled at them and they walked to Kit's table.

Kit stood up to greet them and introduced Ellington as an old friend. Both men took seats at the table, and Ellington felt she shouldn't be there, but Kit showed her a smile and she found she couldn't leave.

The man who sat beside Ellington introduced himself as Gregor. He looked some years older than Kit. His eyes were the color of the sea and seemed to be just as deep. He spoke in a calm and soft voice, especially when compared to his companion. He reminded Ellington of someone, but she wasn't sure of who or why.

The other man sat beside Kit and almost made Ellington regret staying. He had a naturally loud voice, much louder than Gregor's or Kit's or even Ellington's. His skinny and pale figure did not fit the enthusiasm he showed. Ellington wasn't sure if he was excited because of their mission or for being in that restaurant, or for the company. She didn't want to know, but guessed it was the latter. His eyes had a glow when he looked at Kit, and he casually put an arm around her shoulders, as if that was something he always did.

The four people talked (more the three of them than Ellington, who was looking for an opportunity to leave without looking rude or suspicious to Kit). To Ellington's relief, the talk never went to any sensitive topic, and she wasn't asked any question she wouldn't want to answer. She guessed they also had many questions they wouldn't want to answer in front of a stranger.

They talked about books and food and Lake Lachrymose and other places they visited. It would have been enjoyable to Ellington if she didn't have to see that man touching Kit, eventually leaning his head on her shoulder and at one point even kissing her cheek. Kit smiled at him, sometimes returned his caresses, and looked at him in a way Ellington had never seen her look.

They were in love with each other, and the thought of it made Ellington feel sick. She tried to understand why. She hadn't seen Kit Snicket in years, why did she care about her love life? Maybe Ellington simply didn't like that guy. He was too loud, too touchy-feely, and his unibrow was very ugly. Kit deserved someone better, someone like...

Ellington didn't want to think of them. She instead focused on Gregor, who was interesting to talk to, and left the lovebirds to themselves. The older man was kind, and knew many facts about marine life, and the talk was good until Ellington realized who he reminded her of.

Gregor reminded her of her father. But not the gentle father of her memories. He reminded her of the Armstrong Feint whose full picture her research got close to revealing.

The realization gave her shivers. She remembered what Kit said about the mission VFD was doing there. She looked into Gregor's eyes, blue and deep as the sea, and remembered other deep waters she had looked into before.

Ellington didn't want to stay there any longer. She gave some excuse and stood up, but Kit stopped her.

"Wait! There's something I need to tell you." She stood up, standing eye to eye with Ellington.

"What is it?"

Kit gave a quick look around. There were no other customers anymore besides their small group.

"My brother went back to the city." Kit said, in a low voice. Still, something in her sentence seemed to raise the heads of everyone in the room. Even the waiter not so discreetly turned to them. Kit pretended not to notice it, or maybe she really didn't.

"Is he?" Ellington asked, without showing any emotion. It wasn't really a question, as Kit knew the only reason Ellington would want to know Lemony Snicket's whereabouts would be to avoid him. And of course, she already knew he was in the city.

"I'm happy he is alive and well." Kit said, not really expecting Ellington to share the sentiment. "He wrote a detailed report of what happened during his apprenticeship. I had a chance to check it."

For a moment, Ellington couldn't even breath. She didn't expect her secrets to remain as secrets forever, but she didn't want Kit to learn of that story, the story of the Bombinating Beast and her father and her own actions in Stain'd-by-the-sea, especially not by Lemony's words. He probably hated Ellington as much as she hated him, and now Kit certainly hated her too.

Ellington didn't care for what Lemony thought of her, but she cared a lot about what Kit thought. She owed a lot to Kit, and even after all this time, she was one of the few people Ellington ever came close to trust.

Ellington gave a nod, and left the restaurant. She thought she heard her name being called, but it could be only wishful thinking.

That night saw Ellington alone in a small hotel room, checking a map of the region. She cried like she hadn't in years. She didn't know why Kit's hatred hurt so much. She didn't know why seeing Kit with that man made her feel so bad. She didn't know where to go now. She thought of her father and his secrets and the story she didn't seem to be able to run away from. She thought of Gregor's deep eyes and of Kit's mission with local creatures, of this story she didn't want to be a part of. And she thought of Kit and her boyfriend, of how they looked at each other, and of how she wished she was in that story, how she wished she played Olaf's part.

That night, Ellington Feint realized that, contrary to what Lemony once said, VFD was just as terrible as the Inhumane Society. That night, she decided that she would go back to the city and if she met Lemony, then whatever. And the most important of all, that night Ellington Feint realized she was in love with Kit Snicket.

Ellington was to leave the next morning. But before she was out of the village's limits, she met Kit again, alone, and before she knew she was walking with her in awkward silence by Lake Lachrymose shore.

Kit leaned down and took a stone from the ground and threw it into the lake. Both women watched as the ondulations spread through the surface, too weak to reach far. The Lachrymose was so huge, so deep, so dark, that "lake" didn't seem an appropriate word to describe it. Ellington watched the ondulations, wondering if the mysteries in both hers and Kit's lives were also so huge and deep and dark that the effects one woman could have on the other would be too small in comparison.

"I don't blame you, you know." Kit said, still looking at the lake.

"Huh?"

"For the past." She turned to Ellington. "I understand why you did all you did. For my family, I would also do anything and everything."

Ellington felt a chill. With the sort of life that Kit and her brothers led, she might have to.

"I am not your family's enemy, Kit. If anything, I want to stay far away from your business."

Kit smiled, that smile that could mean anything.

"You knew about my brother."

"I saw his name in the newspaper. Of both of them."

"Is that why you are here?"

"I am going back to the city."

"Why don't you stay a while longer?"

Ellington's reply could sound like a completely unrelated comment, but it was a more direct answer than she wished to give.

"You have a lover."

Kit's eyes widened.

"Olaf? I guess you could call him that."

"What else could I call him?"

"An associate. And a brilliant actor."

"Is this all an act, Kit?"

Kit showed again that smile (it was so beautiful, Ellington hated it), but it disappeared as she looked back at the lake, and gave a heavy sigh.

"Relationships are hard in my line of work."

"Does this have to do with the war you mentioned yesterday?"

Kit sighed again.

"It has too. Everything gets more complicated every day. I'm never sure..." She trailed off.

"Of what?"

"Of anything." Kit gave an humorless laugh. "How is your life going, Miss Feint? Have you found the answers you sought?"

"Few of them. I wonder if your brother's report would be of any help."

"You can always ask him."

"You know why I would rather not," Ellington said, sourly.

"Miss Feint." Kit said, sounding more serious and colder than Ellington even remembered she could. "You made me a promise when we escaped that train. Do you intend on keeping it?"

"Of course."

"You are not very good at it, Miss Feint."

Ellington frowned.

"I never went after your brother and I never had any plans of revenge."

"That's not the only thing you promised." Kit's voice was still cold. Ellington remembered the time they spent together. She had seen Kit knocking down many people who offered them danger, people bigger than her. She was not someone to be messed with. Ellington considered herself to also not be a person to be messed with now, but she had no idea of who would win in a fight between her and Kit. She hoped there would never be a fight.

"You also promised something else to me." Kit continued. "You promised you would not become our enemy."

"I'm not your enemy."

"But you work for them."

"Have you been spying on me?" Ellington's eyes widened in surprise, but deep inside she knew she shouldn't be surprised.

"My organization keeps an eye on every person who could be of interest. And you are of much interest, Ellington Feint. You have skills. You know secrets. You read good books, occasionally. But you have been using all of this for wicked causes!" Kit's coldness melted, but she didn't sound angry. She sounded disappointed.

That hurt Ellington a lot.

"I don't have any cause. I am just trying to survive. Doing the only thing I know how to do."

"Associating with villains is the same as becoming a villain yourself."

"No, it's not!" Ellington argued. "I am just a tool. I do what I am asked to do. I don't go investigating the whole story."

"A mercenary." Kit said, still sounding and looking disappointed. "You could do so much better. You could be noble."

"It's easy for you to say," Ellington said, bitterly. Kit's tone was frustrating her. Why did she talk as if she was so much better? She was also arrested, she also committed crimes. In Ellington's eyes, they were pretty much the same. "You have your brothers, you have your friends, you have the memory of your parents and the bright legacy they left for you! I don't have any of this, Kit Snicket. All that my father left for me are the results of his villainy and mysteries I can't solve."

Kit looked at her with sad eyes.

"Do you think I know everything about my parents? Do you think I like everything that I do know? My parents did wicked things too, like everyone. But I make the choice of doing better than they did." Ellington thought she saw Kit's eyes watering, but it could be only her imagination. "We are not our parents, Miss Feint. We can be better than they were."

"You still have people to guide you. I am alone."

"You don't have to be." Kit said, taking one of Ellington's hands in hers. The younger woman gasped. "You could be with us. We can guide you too, Miss Feint."

Ellington gasped for two reasons. The first was surprise and pleasure at how good even the smallest touch from Kit felt. The second was because of how different her hands felt from what she remembered.

Kit's hands were never soft. The first time they met, Ellington had noticed it. She had calluses, as if she did some heavy work with them, like digging a tunnel, and her nails were broken, bitten maybe.

They now felt as if Kit had been digging many, many more tunnels since the last time they met. The skin was rough. Her nails were unnaturally short, as if they were bitten so often they had no chance to grow. In addition to the calluses, she also had scars, the biggest one a burn mark on her left hand, between her thumb and index finger. Kit's hands had not had it easy these last years, and their owner probably hadn't either. It was not surprising, but it hurt Ellington even so.

Ellington had not had it easy either, but it didn't show so clearly on her skin, or at least she hoped it did not.

"You are asking me to join the organization that killed my father, stole his life's work, and has been watching me without my knowledge or consent." Ellington's voice was weak, sounding less like an accusation than she intended it to.

"We are more than that."

Ellington shook her head, and separated her hand from Kit's. It would be nice, to not be alone anymore. It would be nice to be Kit's associate. It would be nice to believe that VFD would take her to the right path for nobility. But she thought of Gregor's eyes and of Kit's hands, of the firefighter disguises and the huge firetruck parked nearby. She thought of Kit's associate, not exactly a lover but a brilliant actor, and of his glowing eyes, and of what act he and that ugly unibrow could have with Kit. She thought of her father's mistakes and of his research, and of what purpose the volunteers who took it all from Stain'd-by-the-sea while she was in jail could have for it. She thought of the Bombinating Beast, far in the ocean, and of its wooden replica, hiding much nearer. She thought of a boy becoming a murderer before turning 13, and of the small association of young people he left behind and, as far as she knew, never looked back at. She thought of the war Kit spoke of.

Ellington thought of all of this in the moment she took to turn back to the dark lake, away from Kit. She already had enough darkness in her life.

"I am a rogue agent, Kit, and I don't intend on changing this."

"If you keep interfering with our work, we will have to do something about it." Kit said. It didn't sound like her usual threats. It sounded like she didn't want to say that.

"I can't make you any promises."

"I thought you would say that."

Ellington nodded, and felt Kit's hand on hers again.

"Don't go back to the city yet. Stay here for a little longer."

"Why?"

"If you leave now, I don't know when I will see you again."

It was not very convincing, but Ellington didn't need much convincing. She stayed a little longer.

In a small village like that, it was impossible not to run into Kit or her associates at least twice a day. Ellington tried to avoid Gregor Anwhistle the most she could. The unibrow guy seemed as interested in spending time around her as she was, which was not at all. Still, he was the one she saw more often. Mostly, accompanied by Kit. They were always holding hands. Hugging. Kissing. Looking at each other that way. If that was an act, it was a good one. Ellington didn't want to be an audience to that.

She got to meet Kit on her own many times too. These meetings were the only thing that made staying in that village worth it. They took walks together by the lake's shore, or shared a meal at the thematic restaurant. Ellington found that, as Kit had said, the cheeseburgers were not bad, but they were still too greasy for her taste, and she didn't dare to try anything with chicken. She didn't take her chances with most of the items on the menu, but found that their vegetarian burger was actually pretty good. Their coffee was decent, and their tea was, in Kit's words, perfect. Something about the young man who seemed to be the only waiter there seemed off to Ellington, but she couldn't complain about his service. It was actually much better than most places Ellington frequented in the city.

It was like the two women had an unspoken agreement to not discuss unpleasant subjects when they were together. They didn't talk about work or morality, or of Kit's brother or Ellington's father. These matters could be discussed later. They would one day go back to the city, Kit Snicket, the volunteer, and Ellington Feint, the mercenary. Their paths were likely to cross again. But when they met in that small village, they were just Kit and Ellington, two old friends with unusual childhoods.

"Killdeer Fields. I was born there too, you know." Kit said one day, as they sat on the sand, watching the lake.

It was unprompted, Ellington hadn't even thought of her hometown in years.

"I thought you were from the city."

"No. We used to live there, long before the flooding. But I don't think we could have met back then. You were probably still a baby when we... moved."

Ellington just nodded. She knew enough of how the family "moved" to know she shouldn't ask more.

She thought of the small village, not much bigger than the village they were in right now. She remembered how she loved to walk around the small streets, observing the people, when she was alone, and nature, when she was with her father. They would spend the whole afternoon together, her father telling her curious facts about the birds, the insects, the trees... All of it was gone now, as was her father.

"Everyone used to know everyone there. Our parents may have known each other." Ellington said, imagining her mother, who she only knew by pictures, and her father, both sitting together with two faceless figures she imagined the Snicket parents as, just as Kit and she did now, all unaware of the ways their children's paths would cross. There was no reason to believe they had been friends, but the image stuck to her head. Maybe in a different world, she could have grown up together with Kit. They could have been classmates. No, Kit was much older than Ellington. Her classmate would have been Kit's brother. But, in this different world, there would be no reason for hatred and mistrust between them.

"They may." Kit nodded, and Ellington wondered if she was thinking of the same different world.

"I may have walked by your childhood home without even knowing."

"I don't think so." Kit said, her expression suddenly sad.

"Why?" Ellington couldn't help but ask.

Kit hesitated.

"I mean, you may, but it was not my childhood home anymore." A frown appeared on her face, as if she was deep in thought, trying to remember. "Do you know the place where the main street crossed a small street where was that market that had a happy tomato on its front?"

Ellington smiled.

"I used to love that tomato, when I was maybe... 5? But my father didn't like taking me to that street. It was near the-" Her smile faded when she realized where Kit's childhood home used to be.

"Big block with nothing but fire ruins, covered in ashes." Kit nodded.

"That whole thing was... your parents'?"

Kit nodded again.

"My parents had money."

"Where is that money now?" Kit never lived a luxury life, as far as Ellington knew, and she clearly remembered Lemony used to get free food from his friends and pay for his taxi rides with book tips.

"It went to a noble cause."

Ellington frowned.

"Is that how your organization pays its members?"

Kit let out a laugh, but it sounded insincere. Ellington didn't like how it sounded.

"Don't be silly, Miss Feint. We are volunteers." She pointed to her fake vfd badge. "Volunteers aren't paid."

Ellington stared at her friend in silence, absorbing the new information.

"Of course, we can ask for a monetary help if we are in need." Kit continued. "And we get support when we have children. It's expensive, you know, to raise a child."

"But you don't need to raise them for long. If anything was to happen to the parents, the children could be taken into the organization's care. And the money would be... reappropriated."

Kit didn't look at Ellington. She looked at the lake.

"I am not supposed to know this." She said.

"But you do," Ellington said. "How?"

"It's not hard to piece it together. Many of us are orphans. Ask any of us how we got into this. Ask Gregor, ask Olaf. It's the same story, over and over."

"Why are you telling me this, Kit?"

"Because if I tell any of my associates, I will be considered a traitor."

"And I suppose they do not treat traitors very well."

Kit showed that smile.

"You suppose right." The smile disappeared, and Kit lowered her eyes. "We are in the middle of a war, Miss Feint. Soon everyone will have to choose a side."

"A war... inside your organization?" Ellington asked. Kit nodded. "Well, it's obvious what side you would choose."

"And what would that be?"

"The noble side. The side that stands for truth and justice. The good guys."

Despite having met her for the first time in jail. Ellington knew Kit was a person who had strong values that she never betrayed. She believed in truth, and solidarity, and justice, and in doing what was right. She couldn't imagine Kit choosing anything different.

But Kit hesitated.

"The noble side, that stands for truth and justice, also supports procedures like the one you just guessed."

That didn't sound noble. That didn't sound like what Kit would do.

"And what does the other side support?"

Kit threw a stone into the lake.

"Things that are much worse."

Ellington watched the ondulations.

"Where do your friends stand?"

"We all stick to what we were taught. For now. I don't know for how long. G and O are... volatile. There is a reason they were sent to the middle of nowhere."

"You are also here. Are you considered volatile as well, Kit?"

Kit didn't answer. Ellington knew what volatile meant. Kit was not sure of what side she would choose when the time came. She doubted what she was taught. Ellington didn't blame her.

"So, there is a war, and soon you will be forced to choose between following the ways that things always have been done, that you found to not be so good, and some new way, that is even worse? That doesn't sound like a real choice."

"If I don't choose, the choice will be made for me. Even now... Even now I am helping one of the sides against the other. We all are. There's no neutral ground."

"Still, there's always another choice, isn't there?"

"There is." Kit sighed. "My brother."

Ellington didn't need to ask which brother. Kit's tone gave it away that it was the one they tried not to talk about.

"What's his idea?"

"He believes that we, our generation, can rebuild the organization to be better than it ever was."

"But you don't believe it."

Kit sighed again.

"He is my brother. I know him better than anyone else. He is good with words and can make great speeches. He can make people trust him, and follow him anywhere believing it's the right path. And people forget that he is just a boy. Well, a young man now. But he's just as lost and confused as any of us.

"I can't forget it. I was the one he always went to when he had a nightmare. I was the one who always had to remind him to get scared later."

"You also can't forget he is not a child anymore. He grew up, Kit."

"I know he did. But he's still as impulsive as ever. Besides," something in Kit's voice broke, and it broke Ellington's heart. "The two sides are two strong. If we don't stand with either, we will be against both. I don't think a group of young volunteers can do this."

"You still have a fourth option."

Kit gave Ellington a curious look.

"What would that be?"

"Leave the organization. Stay as far away from this war as you can. You didn't start this war, you don't have an obligation to fight it."

Ellington stared into Kit's eyes. They were green, but a different green from her own eyes. Kit's eyes reminded Ellington of leaves from trees in the woods she used to visit with her father. They reminded her of nature, that could seem fragile, but always grew back, even in the ruins of a great fire. They reminded her of the Clusterous Forest, of the seaweed that grew even without the sea. That eye color was a trait Kit didn't share with her brother (whose eyes were the dullest brown), and were the first thing Ellington thought about when she thought of Kit. And she did think of Kit, more often than she wished, more often than anything else. Since realizing she was in love with Kit, Ellington's world seemed to revolve around her. This was no good. Kit was dating, or doing a dating act with the unibrow guy (who was a volatile man, she reminded herself). Kit was a member of VFD. Kit was Lemony Snicket's sister. Kit could be about to become a part of a war from which Ellington wanted to be as far as possible. But not if Ellington could help it.

"You could come with me. We already survived so many things, there's nothing we could not do together. We could go anywhere in the world." The last sentence left Ellington's lips on its own and left behind a sour taste in her mouth. He had once promised to show her the world. Another of his lies.

Kit only showed a sad smile.

"This sounds lovely. But I can't leave my family, Miss Feint."

Of course, Kit Snicket would not be Kit Snicket if her first loyalty wasn't to her family. Ellington understood. She was the same. Or used to be, when she had a family.

"Besides, I can't just stop being a volunteer, no matter how far away I run to. This", she pointed to her left leg, "will always be a part of who I am."

The subject died. The women exchanged a few words about the weather and other irrelevant matters, until Olaf arrived to call Kit for something related to their "work". He put one arm around Kit's waist, and gave Ellington an ugly stare before the two walked away. Ellington answered with an even uglier stare. She was afraid of many things, but not of ugly stares and not of men such as Mr. Unibrow.

Ellington was afraid of her feelings for Kit, and of where they would lead her. Kit was about to become part of a war. Kit was volatile. Kit could make her jump into that deep and dark lake with just a look from her green eyes. Kit was lying to a man who loved her. Kit Snicket was trouble no matter from what angle Ellington looked, but she would gladly dive into this trouble if she spent another second near her.

That same night, Ellington packed her things, decided to go back to the city without saying a word to Kit. She was crossing the village's empty streets, when she saw a thing that made her stop.

The firetruck. It seemed like an ordinary firetruck, marked with the same words and symbol as Kit's and her associates' badges. Ellington had assumed it was only an extra part of the disguise. She didn't give it much thought. Until now.

It had its back doors open. Ellington had never seen the inside of a firetruck, but she imagined it usually contained hoses and other rescue equipment. But that was not a real firetruck, just as the trio that drove it were not real firefighters, though they called themselves so. Inside the truck were tanks, enough of them to fill the whole back. The kind of tanks used to house small aquatic animals. Ellington could not see clearly inside of them, as the waters were full of algae and as dark as Lake Lachrymose. It didn't matter. Ellington understood what it meant, what it all meant.

Her hands instinctively went to the bag that rested against her waist. She had checked its contents before leaving, as she did every night, and that was the only relief she could find in the whole situation.

She had been told by one of her father's former associates that all that was left of his research had been stolen by VFD. She mentioned it to Kit once and she didn't deny it. The same Kit also said that VFD had been watching her. Now Ellington understood why. Kit had been giving her hints all along. That's why she didn't want Ellington to leave. She called Mr. Unibrow a brilliant actor, but she was the real brilliant actress there. Ellington almost fell for her act.

She wanted to do something. She wanted to steal the truck and drive it far away. She wanted to destroy all the tanks. She wanted to confront Kit about all her lies.

She didn't do any of this. With tears in her eyes, Ellington Feint left Lake Lachrymose without looking back.

She thought this would be the end of this story, but like many other times, Ellington was wrong. She was right about her father's research being stolen, but VFD's higher-ups had marked it all as classified information, so it was only accessible to a couple of librarians, and the only person who still gave it some thought was the man she never wanted to see again. She was wrong about Kit being a brilliant actress. She was good at lying, but she failed all her drama classes and was a mediocre actress, something Olaf teased her about all the time. She was wrong about Kit's relationship with Olaf, too. Kit was not lying to him, and she loved him as much as he loved her, an expression that here means "once it was passionately and desperately, but now external circumstances made them distrustful of each other as they changed into people they could barely recognize". She was wrong about the creatures inside the tanks, and maybe she was wrong in not doing anything about them, because if she had, she could have prevented a lot of pain for people she didn't even know. And she was wrong about Kit's intentions in asking her to stay.

Ellington didn't go back to the place where she used to live in the city. She moved to the other side of the town. She cut her long black hair to her shoulders. She got a new fake name. She became more aware of suspicious activity around her. She went back to her job, but she didn't take just anything that showed up.

She wanted to make sure she stayed away from VFD. She didn't want to play any part in their war, she didn't want them to know her whereabouts, and she didn't want to meet Kit again.

She still bought the Daily Punctilio every morning.

Jacques Snicket was still a reporter. Lemony Snicket had been promoted to theatrical critic. Why would anyone give him a place to criticize anyone was beyond her. Ellington read his column more often than she would like to admit. It was amusing. It seemed that some things never changed.

While she avoided the Snickets (or at least pretended to) and VFD, Ellington was found by someone else that she hoped never to meet again. The man found her apartment and entered without being invited.

Ellington wanted to kick him out but he announced he was there on an official mission, and that Ellington still had a duty. She wanted to kick him out even so, but he reminded her of the consequences of abandoning her duty.

"Rogue agent." The man laughed. "Is that how you introduce yourself now, El? After all your history with us? After all you and me did together?"

That made Ellington snap. She grabbed him by the collar, taking advantage of the inches she had above him to raise him a bit.

"Don't ever call me 'El'. It's Miss Feint to you, and you are only allowed to talk to me for official purposes." She saw a hint of fear in his eyes. Good. "And I never did anything together with the likes of you."

"You are still one of us." The man said, releasing himself from her grip. "With all the privileges and obligations that come with it. We gave you everything that you wanted from us, and we mostly let you mind your own business, so don't be ungrateful. Daddy is not here anymore to protect you if you disappoint us."

At the mention of her father, Ellington wanted to punch the disgusting smile out of the man's face, but she knew he was right.

Ellington learned very early in life that everything she wanted came with a price. Years earlier, what she wanted was to know everything she could about her father and his secrets. The price was offering herself to the organization he used to belong to. There hadn't been many members left back then, and they had been lost without her father's leadership.

But the Inhumane Society rebuilt itself, and became something very different from what it had been in her father's time. Ellington couldn't say if the change was for the worse or for the better. It didn't matter. Being a member was not a part of who Ellington was, but it was not something she could just leave whenever. If they asked for her services, she had to give them.

So she followed the man, and did what he asked her to do, a mission that involved precious stones, 45 boxes of wine, and a pair of keys. She didn't have a pleasant time, mostly because she didn't have a pleasant company, but she didn't have a choice.

"Hey, Ellington." He said, after the mission was done, insisting on calling her by her first name. "You did a good job in getting rid of those firefighters following you. I just wonder what they wanted with you in the first place."

"Who knows what those folks ever want," Ellington replied, bitterly.

The man shook his head.

"I have a theory."

"And what would that be?" Ellington asked, betraying no emotion in her voice.

"You got involved with Snicket, didn't you?"

Ellington froze. How did he know? Had he been watching her as well?

The man laughed.

"I knew it! You always had a thing for Snicket!"

Against her wishes, Ellington felt her face heating. A thing was a euphemism. She tried her best not to think of Kit anymore, but the volunteer always found a way back into her mind. Into her dreams, and her daydreams. Love sucked.

"What are you gonna do now that he's getting married?"

Ellington heard his words, but none of them made sense. When one is confronted with such a situation, they may find themselves with so many questions that they all try to leave their mouth at the same time.

"What-? He-? Married-?"

The man laughed yet again. That was starting to irritate Ellington.

"You are not a good stalker, are you? He is always all over his bride, Bernadette or something. Even in the newspaper."

It was Ellington's turn to laugh. She realized he was the one who wasn't a good stalker. But she didn't say that. Instead, she said:

"Don't be so interested in my love life, Mitchum. You are still not getting any from me anyway."

Stew Mitchum frowned.

"Who said I want anything with you, Feint?"

"So, is it Snicket who you want? I don't think he will be interested, if he's getting married."

The tables turned. It was Stew Mitchum who now had to fight all his questions leaving at once, and Ellington laughed again.

It lasted one moment, before she turned serious.

"The mission is done. Get lost, Mitchum."

"It was a pleasure working with you again, Ellington."

"Can't say the same."

Ellington didn't have the chance of reading the day's newspaper before her day was so rudely interrupted by the most annoying ghost of her past. When she got home, she went directly to it, skipping all to get to the theatre section.

Mitchum was right. Lemony Snicket was engaged, and was all over his fiancee, who was not called Bernadette but Beatrice. Beatrice Baudelaire. She was an actress - the most talented in the world, according to Snicket (except he said that using many more words) - but was also known for helping the community in general. Ellington thought of Kit and Mr. Unibrow. Kit had described him as a "brilliant actor"; for what Ellington had seen in the last months, her brother didn't share her opinion. She wondered if Kit shared his opinion about Miss Baudelaire. She wondered if she still had whatever it was she had with Mr. Unibrow.

As is well known, Lemony Snicket never got to marry Beatrice Baudelaire. Ellington Feint never had the chance to meet her, but she did attend one of her performances. Well disguised, and well armed just in case, Ellington took a seat in the last row. Not even for a second she allowed herself to forget she was probably surrounded by VFD members, and that somewhere in the first row was the man that, she realized, she didn't hate as much as she should anymore.

Ellington couldn't see Beatrice well from her seat. She barely paid attention to the play. She avoided everyone during intermission, and in the end, left wondering what exactly she intended going there.

The next days were of a lot of self-reflection for Ellington. What was it that she wanted? Of one thing, and only one she was sure: she wanted to stay away from VFD. She had enough problems with the IS and on her own. That was the easy part. The hard part was deciding what she wanted with two specific volunteers.

Her feelings for Kit were painfully hard to deny. Even after all this time without seeing her, even after being so hurt by her the last time they met, even after trying to forget about her. Ellington hadn't really made a big effort to forget. Kit was the reason she kept buying that horrible newspaper. Since she couldn't look for Kit, she looked for bits of her in the way her brothers wrote. At night, Ellington still dreamed of her strong and stubborn green eyes.

Love indeed sucked.

Then, there was Lemony, who was not only Kit's brother but also a problem on his own. What he did to Ellington was unforgivable. He made her an orphan. He was the reason she lived such a life. He was the reason she couldn't trust anyone anymore.

Anyone but Kit. Who was also trouble.

It was a circle. Both siblings betrayed her trust, but she could never hate Kit, and as time passed, she hated Lemony less. This was not smart at all. She could only see trouble in her future if she insisted on getting involved with a Snicket again.

She kept buying the newspaper, until a week that was a turning point in a story she was not a part of. Lemony Snicket was fired, for not keeping his mouth shut, of all reasons. The edition of the Daily Punctilio that contained an editorial explaining his column would be replaced with one about a subject Ellington was very tired of was the last she bought. She thought that maybe that would be the end of her story with the Snickets.

Again, she was wrong.

The next day, one of the sources of her problems appeared in her office.

Kit Snicket looked much older than she should. She looked like she hadn't slept in days. She was not wearing a disguise or a uniform, nor the sort of clothes that were appropriate for her usual work. What she wore were very ordinary, daily clothes. Her long hair was tied in a loose bun. If Ellington didn't know her, she would not believe that that woman should be in her office, or even in that part of the town. She looked like a normal woman with a normal life, who had no business with a mercenary.

"Miss Snicket." Ellington greeted from behind her desk. "What do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

Ellington was surprised by how her own voice sounded. It was like there was no conflict inside of her, no feelings that she shouldn't have. She wished she felt as confident as she sounded.

"I need your services, Miss Feint." Kit said, very serious.

Those were words she never expected to hear from Kit Snicket.

"What is it that you need?"

"I need you to rescue a person." Kit said, taking a folder from her purse. "I have the blueprints of the place where he is being kept, and the profiles of some of the people keeping him captive. Please do whatever it takes to get him free. You will be well paid."

Ellington stared at the folder placed in front of her.

"You could easily do this yourself. So could anyone from your organization. Why me?"

Kit hesitated.

"This is not of my organization's interest."

"Whose interest is it?"

"Mine."

Ellington studied Kit's face carefully. The older woman was clearly tired, worried and sad, but she was also determined to have this done.

"Who is the person I should rescue?"

Kit hesitated again. That was enough of an answer.

"No way. I am not rescuing him!"

"Please, Miss Feint, you are my only hope! You are the only one I trust to do this!"

Damn Kit Snicket, and damn her brother! How could Ellington refuse when she asked like this?

"You will be well paid." Kit repeated.

"I don't want VFD's dirty money."

"What do you want, then?"

"Nothing you can give."

"Try me." Kit said, without hesitation. "It's my brother's life that is at stake here. I will do anything and everything to make sure he is safe."

Ellington felt a shiver.

"Who is keeping your brother captive and why?"

"He messed up. Said things he shouldn't."

"What's new?" Ellington couldn't help but add.

"Some people think he is too dangerous. They fear what he could reveal."

"People from your organization." It was a statement, not a question.

"My organization is split, Miss Feint. I've been seeing people from both sides do things I never imagined any of my associates capable of."

"So it is really a war. And you chose your side."

"My loyalty is firstly and always with my family."

Ellington nodded.

"Ask someone else. I have no wish to meet your brother again." She said, bitterly.

"You don't need to meet him. Just get him out of there, he can take care of himself after that. Please, Miss Feint. There isn't anyone else." Kit lowered her eyes. "All my allies are either in similar conditions, or don't think he is worth the risk."

"I don't want to be involved in your organizations business."

"You will only be if you get caught, and I know you can do this and not be."

Ellington sighed.

"I will only do this because I care a lot about you, Kit Snicket." She said, standing up from her chair and walking towards her friend. "And I don't want to ever see you this sad again."

Kit showed a small smile.

"I will do whatever you want, Miss Feint."

With her heart beating fast in her chest, Ellington did something careless and impulsive. She kissed Kit's lips.

It was quick, just the faintest touch of lips.

"You don't need to."

Ellington studied carefully the information Kit provided her with, and calculated the best way to get the work done quickly, without being seen by any VFD member, spending the least possible amount of time with Kit's brother, and leaving with the least possible damage to her safety and dignity.

Ellington had a few factors in her favor. The first was that the building she had to break into seemed to not have been planned to be a prison. It seemed some sort of warehouse. The doors had ordinary locks and the windows were big. The second was that they seemed to not expect anyone to break in, which made sense considering Kit would not do it herself, and neither would her allies.

Ellington went there that same night. She wore her usual all-black outfit, plus a black mask that covered most of her face. Entering the building and finding the room where Lemony Snicket was would not be so hard, but she risked being seen by VFD members. But the room happened to have a large window, and only one person watched it from the outside. It was quick, getting the guard unconscious, breaking the window, sawing the bars, and getting the man out. That was the easy part. The hard part with dealing with the man after the rescue.

It was dark, and Ellington avoided looking at him. Still, she noticed some things. He had grown taller, and was perhaps now one or two inches taller than herself. He needed a haircut. He was well dressed, but it seemed like he had not changed his clothes in a while.

"Thank you. That place did not follow the minimum standards of hygiene, and I don't think they appreciated my complaints about it, no matter how well written and organized my list was."

And he was still insufferable as always.

Ellington avoided looking at him, but Lemony Snicket didn't avoid looking at her, and her attempt at keeping her identity secret failed.

"Ellington Feint?"

With a sigh, she took off her now useless face mask.

"Lemony Snicket."

"You are the last person I would expect to save me."

"You are the last person I would want to save." Ellington closed the distance between them and pulled him by his shirt. "Listen here, Snicket. I didn't do it for you. I did it for Kit. So you better keep your mouth shut about this ever happening. And don't you dare ever go looking for me. Understood?"

Lemony nodded.

"Are you and Kit-"

"It's none of your business!" She exclaimed with a little more emotion than she intended. She released him. "Goodbye, Snicket. Try to stay alive."

And with that, Ellington left, ignoring any questions Lemony might have.

How does it feel, for a change?

The next morning, Ellington went to her favorite cafe for her morning coffee. Kit Snicket was there. Without invitation, she sat at Ellington's table.

"Thank you, Miss Feint. I am indebted to you."

"Never mind that, Kit. That's what friends are for." Ellington said. That's what friends are for. Friends risk being involved in a secret war to save their friend's little brother, even when they hate said little brother and wish him a painful death. That's what friends do, and all I ever want to be is your friend, Kit Snicket. "I suppose he managed to talk to you?"

"He sent a letter. Jacques will help him leave the country until things become safer here."

"Will things get safer?" Ellington had to ask.

"They have to, right?"

Ellington didn't have an answer. She drank some of her coffee while trying to think,

"Do you really consider me a friend?" Kit asked, and Ellington almost spilled her coffee. She hoped her face didn't betray her.

"Of course. Why would I not?"

"I don't know. Last time we met, you left without saying goodbye. I thought you hated me."

Ellington remembered Lake Lachrymose, and the tanks in the firetruck, and the object safely hidden in her home. She thought of all the reasons why she shouldn't trust Kit Snicket, but when she looked into her seaweed green eyes, all she could think of were the reasons why she wanted to.

"The correct question would be: do you consider me a friend?"

Kit frowned. Ellington continued.

"Do you consider me a friend, despite whatever interest your organization has in me? Do you consider me a friend, despite your work and your war, despite my work and how it goes against your principles? Can we even be friends, Kit Snicket?"

"You are one of the only people in this world that I know I can trust, Ellington Feint. Despite everything."

"How do you know you can trust me?"

"You keep your promises. And you never let me down."

Ellington smiled, and Kit smiled back. It was not that mysterious smile. It was sincere. Ellington fet a warmth inside that no one had ever made her feel before.

She was so completely lost in love with this woman.

"About yesterday..." Kit started. Ellington avoided her eyes. Why did she have to do that? "Look at me, Ellington Feint."

Ellington could do nothing but obey.

"I don't want you to be dragged into my problems." Kit said. "I would never ask it from you. But, as you must know, any involvement with me would include an involvement with all this mess."

Kit's voice was sad. Ellington frowned. Was she being dumped? Before she could even say how intense her feelings were?

Kit stood up and approached Ellington. She leaned down and kissed her lips, just as quickly and faintly as Ellington did the previous day. At the same time, she slipped a paper into Ellington's pocket.

"I will understand if you don't want to." Kit whispered. "But I hope you do. You are very special to me, Ellington."

And with that, she left.

Ellington retrieved the paper. There were written a time and an address.

Of course, Ellington arrived punctually at the address. It was in a bad part of the city, even worse than the ones Ellington usually frequented. A small hotel. A small room. Kit already waited for her there.

It would be a disrespect for the two women to describe in details what happened in that meeting, or the many others that followed, and no words could explain the joy that they gave Ellington. To love someone and to have the feeling returning is one of the greatest things in the world. During those nights, it was as if nothing else existed but Ellington and Kit.

The following morning, as they both got dressed, Ellington looked at Kit and finally commented on something that had bothered her since the previous night, but that she didn't have the chance to mention.

Both women had their scars, but the burn marks on Kit's back and arms stood out.

"I didn't think you actually ran into burning buildings, saving people and all that."

Kit showed a sad smile.

"We do also fight literal fires, in conventional ways." Kit said. "But recently I also had the unpleasant experience of being in a building as it was set on fire."

Ellington kept observing the marks until Kit covered them with her shirt.

"Why don't you leave all of this? Why don't you follow your brother, out of the country?"

Kit sighed.

"There is a lot of work to be done here."

"Does it have to be you?"

"If I don't do it, who will?"

Ellington didn't have an answer.

The two women left separately. A few days later, Kit found Ellington again and gave her another note, with a time and another address. And so started a sort of routine between them.

Ellington had a choice to make. She could have turned their relationship into something more, if she was willing to take the risks that came with being Kit Snicket's girlfriend. She knew there was no convincing Kit to leave the war and the organization. She needed a partner who would fight by her side. Ellington could be that partner. Or she could content herself with their secret night meetings.

The latter was so easy to do. It didn't matter how fragile the walls of the rooms they shared were, it was as if they could keep all the danger of the world outside. The women had an unspoken agreement of not talking about upsetting matters, so Ellington could almost make herself believe that things were finally okay.

They weren't, of course.

Lemony Snicket's first obituary was published, and Kit met Ellington almost every day that week. Ellington had some suspicions about the news, that offered no details, but when she was with Kit she forgot all about it.

Beatrice Baudelaire returned after about one year missing, a time she would not talk about, pregnant and engaged to a man Ellington had never heard of.

And not much after, the fires started.

There's nothing particularly mysterious about a single building burning in the middle of the night until it is reduced to ashes. But when several buildings do, and the official fire department is unable to save any of them, always arriving too late, and they are also unable to find the reason or the responsible, things start getting weird. Especially when the Volunteer Fire Department is suspiciously quiet about it all.

It was no coincidence that Kit's notes started coming less often after the fires started. Ellington couldn't help but imagine her beloved running into the buildings, rescuing... crying children? Helpless citizens? Important information? She knew nothing about the fires, or where Kit's organization fit into that, but she knew Kit, and if there was someone or something to be saved, she would be there, doing her best. It filled Ellington with pride, but also fear. What if one day Kit didn't make it alive?

That was the moment that, Ellington would decide years later, she should have taken their relationship to the next step. That was the moment that Kit needed her the most. If she had made that choice, maybe she could have avoided some of the tragedies that followed, or at the very least she would have been by Kit's side when they happened.

You rarely know that the last time you do something is the last time. Ellington didn't know that her last secret meeting with Kit would be the last, and she would never be sure of what she would have done differently if she knew. There was nothing different in their goodbye, and their last kiss felt wonderful like any other. Ellington never had the chance to learn if Kit already suspected or even planned that that was the last time; if she did, she didn't act like it.

Days passed, and Ellington followed her normal routine. Weeks passed, and Ellington missed Kit, and wondered when her next note would come. Months passed, and she knew something was wrong.

She decided to look for Kit, instead of waiting for her, and realized that while she was happily enjoying their meetings, things had gotten much worse.

In the lack of an official explanation, the Daily Punctilio had made their own theory about the fires, even without any pieces of evidence or proofs or an explanation of how a dead man was starting fires all over the city. Ellington didn't believe it, and not only because of the lack of evidence.

Imagining Lemony Snicket starting a fire was like imagining Kit Snicket starting a fire. It was impossible for Ellington. There was something wrong with the very idea. She knew Lemony was capable of murder, and Kit was probably too, and both were good liars and responsible for many assorted crimes. But they had some principles, and a fire seemed to be completely against them. She didn't realize she was overlooking many factors.

But the general public didn't share her opinion, and Lemony Snicket was quickly becoming a public enemy.

Jacques Snicket seemed to have left the newspaper at some point, and Ellington could not find his work anywhere else.

And Kit Snicket was nowhere to be found. Ellington searched everywhere, every person and every place she knew that had some link to Kit, but she couldn't find anything. Places had been burned, people had disappeared or were too scared to give any information. Any mention of the name Snicket seemed to raise heads and shut mouths. Ellington soon noticed she had to proceed with caution. But not even all the caution in the world would lead her back to Kit. It was like she had just vanished, leaving behind only a hole in Ellington's heart.

There were only two people left who could possibly answer Ellington's questions.

The first was Mr. Unibrow, Olaf. He still lived and worked in the city. Ellington got his address and even drove past his house, a place that looked abandoned and haunted. She never liked the man, probably only out of jealousy. Still, she didn't want to be before him again. She wasn't even sure of what exactly his relationship with Kit had been or of what had become of it. And he was volatile.

The second person was Beatrice Baudelaire. The now retired actress lived with her husband and their two children in a mansion. She was always described as elegant without being dramatic, social but private, especially in what concerned her children. She frequented balls and hosted dinners. She and her husband often donated money to charity. Not much was known about the children, a girl and a boy, but they were said to be smart and charming. A perfect family, with a perfect wife and mother. For what Ellington heard, Beatrice would be perfectly happy to help her if she could, and if she couldn't she would still give Ellington cookies and some wine.

Something in this whole thing made Ellington feel uneasy. Beatrice Baudelaire was too perfect. People like that did not exist, and in Ellington's experience, people from organizations such as VFD never had their hands clean. If Beatrice gave any signs of being as troubled as the other volunteers Ellington knew, she maybe would feel better about her and asking for her help. But as things were, she could not trust the former actress.

And despite everything, Ellington's life went on, no matter how much it hurt to miss Kit. She had her work and she had Stew Mitchum eventually bothering her about her other work. The fires were less often but didn't stop. The world around her also went on. Without her knowing, Lemony Snicket came back to the country and desperately tried to contact someone he loved. A young man failed to start his first fire, and for that lost his family. A brave woman lost her husband in a disaster that Ellington could have prevented, and would never fully recover from the loss. A distant village approved a very sinister set of rules. A factory not too far from the city started a business with bitter apples. People were born and people died. Boats sank. And none of it necessarily had anything to do with Ellington Feint's story, unless she made the choice to go back into that story. But only Kit Snicket could drag her back, and she was still gone.

It took more than 10 years, and many unimaginably terrible things that you may already have an idea about, for Ellington to see Kit Snicket again. It happened in the same cafe where Ellington always had her morning coffee. She could not believe her eyes when she saw the other woman sitting at a table in the back, a cup of black coffee in front of her.

Kit now wore glasses, or they were a part of her newest disguise. Behind them, her seaweed green eyes looked cautiously around. Her long hair was kept in place by only two pencils, and her dark-colored clothes covered almost every inch of her body. She had a diamond on her ring finger, and her pregnancy was very visible.

Only then Ellington realized that her last meeting with Kit had been the last.

Still, Kit was too important for her not to take a seat beside her.

"I thought I would meet you here." Kit said.

"I thought I would never see you again," Ellington replied.

"I'm sorry." Kit said, taking a sip of her coffee. "Things have taken a very unfortunate turn since our last meeting, and I didn't want to put you in any danger."

Ellington couldn't help but stare for a moment at the engagement ring. How unfortunate could that be?

"How unfortunately, exactly?"

Kit frowned, and took a folded piece of newspaper from her pocket and handed it to Ellington.

She unfolded it and read it. It was a very badly written article, about something that happened in a distant village Ellington had never visited, but which had a name that made her raise her curved eyebrows. If she was guessing the names right from the mess she was reading, it was about Beatrice Baudelaire's orphaned children murdering Mr. Unibrow. Under the article, there was a mugshot of a man Ellington had never seen. He did have a unibrow, but his facial features were much more pleasant than Mr. Unibrow's. He didn't seem afraid, but there was some sadness in his eyes.

Ellington gave Kit a curious look.

"This man is my brother." She said, slowly.

"Oh." Ellington looked back at the picture. She could see it now. He looked the same age as Kit, and they had the same nose. The picture was in shades of gray, but she imagined he had the same seaweed green eyes. "I am sorry."

"I-" Kit's voice cracked. "I didn't want him to go there. I wanted him to stay somewhere safe, but- He had a mission."

Ellington could see Kit was holding back her tears, as if she thought she had cried enough. But Ellington also knew that no amount of tears ever seemed enough when you lost someone important.

They remained silent for a while, drinking their coffee, Kit trying not to cry, and Ellington trying to think of how to help her friend.

"What will you do now?" Ellington asked after she finished her drink.

"I will meet a new associate. He was trained by my brother, so he may know some of the information he had before he was... captured. And he needs my help."

"Won't this be dangerous?"

"Of course it will. There are very few safe places left."

"Why don't you stay at one of them?" Ellington asked, looking from Kit's abdomen to her sad face.

"I can't. This needs to be done."

"It doesn't need to be you."

"Yes, it does! There are not many volunteers left on our side, Miss Feint." Kit said in a firm tone. "And I owe this to the children."

"The children?" Ellington asked, tilting her head in the direction of the newspaper. "The children who...?"

"They didn't do it."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I know who did it."

Ellington looked back at the paper. There weren't pictures of the children, but the eldest Baudelaire was not much older than she had been when she had been framed for a murder she didn't commit.

"Someone should clear their names."

"Someone is working on it. My... associate is working to clear their names with the justice, and someone else is working to clear their names with the general public."

"No one I know, I suppose?"

Kit showed that enigmatic smile. How Ellington missed that.

"You should visit a library, Miss Feint."

"You always say that. Weren't you a librarian or something?"

"I guess you could say I am something." Kit shrugged. "It's always good to visit a library. Next time you have the chance, take a look at the Children Literature section."

Ellington smiled. She enjoyed reading, but she never shared the enthusiasm for books and libraries that Kit (and her brother) had.

"You are the one who should be at a library, picking children's books, instead of going on dangerous missions." She said in a soft tone. "At least let me help you somehow."

"No!" Kit exclaimed, a little too loud. "Things are terribly dangerous right now, Ellington. I would never forgive myself if you got involved and something happened to you."

Ellington enjoyed how her first name sounded in Kit's voice.

"How do you think I will feel if something happens to you, Kit?" How will your fiancee feel?

"This is not something I can run away from." Kit said, sadly. "I did my part in causing all this trouble, I must now do my part to solve it. This is my story. The people involved in this are the people who I grew up with. My friends, my family, people I loved, people I love. My brothers died for this, in one way or another. So did many of my friends. And these children are paying for mistakes they don't even understand! I need to fight as much as I can to put an end to it."

"And what about your child?"

Kit lowered her eyes.

"If I do nothing, my child will one day pay for my mistakes as well."

"There is no talking you out of this, is there?"

Kit shook her head.

"I wanted to see you before going. I care a lot about you, Ellington Feint."

"I also care a lot about you, Kit Snicket. And I wish you all the best."

Ellington thought that would be the last time she would see Kit Snicket. She was wrong. That was the penultimate time.

The next morning, Ellington found her sitting at the same table. She dressed in a similar manner, except in some brighter colors this time.

"I suppose all went well?" Ellington asked.

"So far." Kit nodded.

"It's not over yet."

"If all goes as planned, it will be over after Thursday."

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then we will need a new plan."

Ellington sighed.

"You are not wearing your ring."

"Huh?" Kit looked at her hands. "Ah, yes. I thought it better to keep it somewhere safe, considering..." She trailed off.

"What you will do today." Ellington finished for her.

"It will be a full day." Kit nodded.

"What does he think of it?"

"Who?"

"Your fiancee. The father of your child."

"He is as worried about me as I am about him. But we have to trust each other."

"I supposed." Ellington looked at her coffee. "Is he... that actor?"

"What? No, of course not!"

"I'm sorry. I am not well acquainted with your acquaintances."

Kit gave a small laugh.

"We plan on meeting, all of us, Thursday at the Hotel Denouement. If all goes well, you should come visit on Friday."

"Maybe." Ellington shrugged.

"I want you to be a part of my life, Miss Feint." Kit said, looking directly at her with her seaweed eyes. "I want you to meet my baby when it's born. After Thursday, I won't be such a dangerous person to have around anymore."

"I never minded the danger," Ellington said, but she knew it was not true. If she really didn't mind, it would have been her to put a ring on Kit's finger.

Ellington was suddenly curious about the lucky man.

"Your future husband... is a volunteer too?"

"Yes."

"What else does he do?"

"He's a librarian."

"Of course."

"And a hotel manager."

Ellington raised an eyebrow. Kit just smiled. There was a glow in her eyes as she thought of that man. He made her happy, Ellington could see.

"Have you decided on a name for the baby?"

"Not yet. There was so much going on that... I am afraid the baby will be born before even the room is ready."

Ellington couldn't help but laugh. There was something so Kit Snicket about that.

"My family has a tradition." Kit continued. "Of naming babies after beloved people who are already gone. At least we have a big list to choose from." She lowered her eyes, as if regretting her own comment. Then they found her watch. "Look at the time, I have to go."

She stood up and turned to leave, when Ellington called her.

"We will meet again, right?" She asked. "I will be there Friday."

"I will fight with all that I have to be there too." Kit replied.

Ellington watched Kit leave the cafe and take the driver seat of a taxi.

That was the last time, but Ellington couldn't know.

Soon it was Wednesday and Ellington drank her tea with raising apprehension. Thursday was coming. She knew nothing of Kit's plan. How would she know if all went well or not?

She knew when she heard the sound of the official fire department's sirens. It's never a sound that brings good news, unless you are someone who needs rescuing, which Ellington wasn't. She thought of mysterious fires and burn scars and orphaned children and of the empty, ash-covered terrain where the Snicket mansion once stood and where nothing ever grew again.

She rushed out of the cafe and asked people on the street and there came the confirmation: there was a fire in the Hotel Denouement.

With only a faint idea of which direction the hotel was, Ellington ran. That was not the most efficient way of getting there, and if she could think properly she would have taken a taxi or broken into a parked car, but she couldn't. Her heart beat fast and her mind battled. Part of her kept remembering 'Kit and her friends are firefighters. They fight both metaphorical and literal fires. They can handle this. They will be alright. She will be alright.'. At the same time, another part of her repeated 'It's over. They failed. Their enemies won. She's terribly hurt right now and I was not there to help her. She said she would fight until the end and she did. This is the end.'.

After what felt like an eternity of running and worrying, Ellington finally arrived at the hotel, or what was left of it. Of course, she was too late. The building was destroyed. Uniformized firefighters searched the ruins. Unconscious people were still being taken away by ambulances, while a small group of dirty, worried, angry, wounded but living and conscious people asked questions, pointed fingers, argued, shouted, and cried. No one was familiar to Ellington, and in her mental state, she couldn't even hear what was being said. Her eyes filled with tears because none of the people she saw was Kit, and if she wasn't there, where was she? In an ambulance, on a hospital bed, under the rubble, gone forever?

Suddenly, she noticed a tall and skinny man wearing a uniform. Like everyone else there he was covered in ashes, and he looked miserable, but didn't seem so badly hurt. Ellington approached him and felt a small relief flood her as she identified the word "manager" on his chest.

"Sir! Sir, please, I-"

Before she could finish, another man approached him. He was dressed in an identical uniform, and had the same word on his chest. He was also identical to the first man in every other way: his face, his body, his expression, and even the tears in their clothes and the dark stains over them seemed to match. Ellington looked from one to another. Well, one of them had to be who she thought he was.

"I am looking for Kit Snicket."

Both men gave her an ugly stare.

"You should not say this name out loud so carelessly." The second man said.

"She is not here and she has no more business anywhere near here. Go away." The first man said.

Ellington frowned.

"She- She was supposed to be here."

"And the hotel was not supposed to burn down!" The first man exploded. "And this was supposed to be a safe place, and Dewey was supposed to-" He stopped, as if the ending to that sentence was too painful to be said out loud. "As you can see, nothing went the way it was supposed to!"

Ellington looked at the second man, hoping for a more helpful answer.

"She didn't arrive yet, and we received no news from her." He gave a questioning look to the first man, as if silently asking for his confirmation, and he reluctantly nodded. "Who are you anyway?"

"My name is Ellington Feint and..." I love Kit Snicket more than anything. "And I am her friend."

"A... a volunteer?" The second man asked, looking from Ellington to the first man, who just shrugged.

"No. Only a friend."

Both men gave her identical suspicious looks. She accepted it. She supposed she did seem suspicious, asking such questions. It hurt that none of them seemed to recognize her name, but what did she expect? Kit probably never mentioned her to anyone.

"It is a good thing she was not here." The second man said in a sympathetic tone. "I was not sure they could keep her away long enough."

The first man gave him a look that was equally shocked and angry.

"Why would you want to keep her away, Ernest? How much did you know?"

"This is not the time or place to discuss this, Frank." The second man, Ernest, said, giving a side glance at Ellington.

The first man, Frank, didn't seem convinced. They seemed about to argue. Ellington deduced from their appearances that they were brothers, and though she had no siblings herself, she knew that usually, the arguments between siblings were long and awful, worse than those between a long time married couple. She still didn't know where Kit was or if she was safe, and none of them would share this information there. If she could get some minutes alone with the one who certainly knew it, maybe she could prove that she was not an enemy and that she cared about Kit.

"Ernest." She called, before the argument could start. "Are you Kit's fiancee?"

Both men turned to her, their argument forgotten. Frank's eyes widened, while Ernest frowned.

"No."

"Then it's you." She pointed at Frank. He shook his head. "She told me she was engaged to a hotel manager. And a librarian."

The sentence immediately brought sadness to both of them. Ellington frowned.

"Dewey," Ernest said. "He is- was our brother."

"He was murdered yesterday," Frank explained.

"Oh." Ellington felt her eyes tearing too. She didn't have the chance to meet him, but still, it hurt. He was important to Kit. He left behind a baby he would never get to meet. "I am sorry."

"She must really trust you to have told you about him," Ernest said.

"That woman never had the best judgment." Frank mumbled.

Ernest stared at him, and he stared back. For a moment, Ellington thought they were close to an argument again, and maybe it was time for her to go. But then they turned back to her.

"There's no way to tell where exactly she is right now," Ernest said. "But she won't come back here. She must have seen the smoke so she will know that-" He paused, as if struggling to choose his next words.

"That things didn't go according to the plan." Ellington completed for him. "Thank you."

She turned to leave, but one of them called her again.

"Miss Feint?"

Ellington turned back to them.

"If you meet her, please help her with the baby. She will need it." Frank said. "She can't get her shit together without him. And after she learns..."

Ellington nodded.

"Thank you."

Ellington left the site with a heavy feeling in her chest. She knew she would not be with Kit when she received the news. She only hoped she would be surrounded by good friends when she did. She would need all the support she could get.

She couldn't be sure, but she suspected she wouldn't get to see Kit again. She was right.

Every night she went to sleep with the same heavy feeling. Where was her friend now? Was she alright? How was the baby? Was she alone? Was there anything Ellington could do for her? Was there any way she could even know?

That weekend, Ellington remembered something Kit had said the penultimate time they met. So, on her way home, she stopped by a library.

It was small, smaller than even the one at Stain'd that Ellington had to... to do something unforgivable to, for reasons she still didn't like remembering. She didn't feel anything special there. She imagined Kit rolling her eyes at her. It had been a while since Ellington had last picked up a book to read. Her job didn't involve a lot of research and she preferred other things as entertainment. She imagined Kit rolling her eyes more dramatically.

Kit's life revolved around books, she knew that much. Before being arrested, before she and Ellington first met, she had been an apprentice to a librarian. Ellington imagined she finished that at some point after they parted ways. And it was part of being a volunteer. They read a lot. She wondered if they ever got tired of it. Certainly not Kit. She had no idea of where her friend was but she was sure she had one or two books with her, even if she was in the middle of nowhere. She was very right, though she wouldn't know it for years.

Ellington slowly walked to the Children Literature section. She considered herself too old for that, and she didn't have and didn't plan on having children. But Kit told her to take a look there, and there must have been a reason for it.

As her eyes ran through uninviting titles, Ellington wondered if that particular library would have whatever it was that Kit wanted her to see. Then her eyes caught a word, not a title but a name. An author's name. There were a few books by him, but by the numbers on the spines, she could see that that particular library didn't have all of them. She smiled. She should have expected for that.

At some point, while being accused of being either a terrible criminal and/or dead, Lemony Snicket managed to also become a children's books' author. That was such a Lemony Snicket thing to do.

Ellington took the first volume. She had a feeling she knew who the people drawn on the cover were. Reading the back cover confirmed that. That was not a children's book, it was a report. She put it back on the shelf. She felt... fear? It was as if that book contained things she wasn't supposed to know. Was she ready to learn them?

Three days later, at a bigger library, Ellington took The Bad Beginning again. She opened it, read the dedication page, and closed it again. Lemony Snicket wrote that. Kit Snicket's younger brother, the boy she once met in a dying town who made her a promise and betrayed her. The person who killed her father, the man who was the reason she never felt secure in trusting someone ever again. Someone who once could have been a friend and that later she hated, hated for many years. Did Ellington still hate him? She hadn't thought of him for so long but her life still was filled with consequences of what he did. What would her life have been like if her path never crossed Lemony Snicket's path, if he had never fallen on her tree?

She would not be a mercenary. She would have friends. She would maybe still have her father, but that was questionable. After all, he had turned into something Ellington couldn't recognize and it started before Snicket entered their lives.

And her life wasn't that bad. She learned to take care of herself. She met Kit Snicket. She did a few things she was proud of. Ellington did not become the person she dreamed of being when she was a child, but she was someone she could accept. She didn't depend on anyone. She was strong, and not to be messed with. And she met Kit Snicket.

Ellington knew for sure she could never forgive Lemony Snicket, but somehow she forgot to hate him, and she could keep forgetting if he didn't hurt her again.

She opened the book again.

Never mind that. If Lemony was going to be that annoying even in writing, she would remember very quickly to hate him.

But that was exactly what he wanted, wasn't it? He was being annoying on purpose. He wanted her to stop reading. She would not give up so easily.

Ellington was in no rush to read. Reading quickier would not make her meet Kit faster. She didn't expect those books to take her to her friend, they were just a way to pass time until they met again. If they were to meet again.

She took a long time to go through the books. She never took any volume home, only read them at the library. Sometimes she went weeks without reading a page. Sometimes she had to go back to check something she had forgotten. Sometimes - many times - Snicket simply went beyond all limits and she just had to close the book and take a deep breath to avoid throwing it at some innocent library goer. She was barely in the middle of the series when the last book was released.

(The book of number 13, because of course, it was Snicket.)

She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but that was a hard reading for her, and not for the reasons she first thought it would be. It was hard because those children reminded her of herself. It was hard because she knew it was not some fictional story, and because she knew it was not an isolated case. There were children like those everywhere, children like her and the Baudelaires and Kit and her brothers. Children who had to grow up fast. Children who since birth had no choice but to be a part of a story much bigger than themselves, a story they didn't start and could not end.

She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but many times she stopped reading because she was nearly crying.

And that was before Kit was even first mentioned. By then she was crying openly. It had been what? Four, five years without news from her. Ellington was sure she would not see her again.

The Penultimate Peril was a torture. That was the last day they met. She saw herself running her fingers through Kit's illustration, that was so well done and yet could not capture all of Kit's beauty, all that Kit was. But did Ellington have anything else? She threw out every note Kit sent her right after memorizing each address, to make sure no one would find them. She didn't have any picture, any letter, any forgotten item. There was only that book.

Ellington almost stole it from the library, but she imagined how Kit would react to that, and gave up on the idea. She considered buying a copy, but it would mean she was giving money to Lemony Snicket, and there was no way she would do that.

When she finished The Penultimate Peril, she knew a lot more about the whole mess that Kit was involved in, and understood better why she refused to run away from it. She also understood Lemony a lot better, but was still unsure of how she felt about it. And she knew that the next book, named The End, would answer the question of what happened to Kit. Of course, there was no other book left to give that answer. There was a chance that not even that would have it, but she just knew it would be there.

That's why Ellington didn't take the last book right away. She didn't take it the next day either, nor the next week. She had no excuses this time. She still visited the library, and stood in front of the shelf where the book waited. And she thought of all she learned, and of all the moments she shared with Kit, all while staring at the ominous title. The End. Once she read the last book, it would be the end. The story would be over. She couldn't bring herself to do it.

She couldn't bring herself to do it for a long time.

It became a routine, to go to the library, to look at the book, to sometimes even hold the book in her hands but never open it. Sometimes Ellington wondered what the librarian thought of her.

---

There was a library, and there was a girl, and there was a book.

The library was the same that Ellington Feint had been visiting for the last ten years. The book was The End, and she looked at it as she always did, not finding it in herself to read it. The girl looked like someone she thought she would never see again. She was someone she thought she would never have the chance to meet.

Ellington had been wrong. The End was not the end. There was more to the story than she thought.

She couldn't read it right then, because the girl took the book before her. She held it as if her life depended on it. Ellington watched as the girl sat at a table, on which was a notebook full of notes. The girl read the book's back, then opened it and started reading. She would stop all the time to take notes.

Ellington lost track of how long she spent watching the girl. She only realized that she went beyond reasonable when the girl looked back at her.

"Hey. Why are you staring at me?" She asked, a little too loud for a library.

Ellington pointed to herself, pretending she wasn't aware that she was indeed staring. She mouthed a quick apology and ran away from the library. Literally ran.

The next morning, after a sleepless night, Ellington went to another library, in an attempt to avoid meeting the girl again before she was sure that she was who she thought she was. She didn't waste time before taking the book she had been avoiding for so long, and without any excuses, started reading it.

As she had expected, she was a mess by the time she had finished it. But at least now she knew. She knew how it happened. And she had a name for the girl she met.

Beatrice. It was a beautiful name, and it had a beautiful story.

But the very last page of the book made Ellington frown through her tears. It was just an illustration, and it probably shouldn't mean what she thought it meant, but the shape was right there, very clear. The book was written by Lemony Snicket, one of the few people who had seen it back at Stain'd. He must have a reason for placing the illustration there.

She hated that situation, but she now had questions that only Snicket himself could answer. And she needed to know more about Beatrice. She needed to know if he knew. If he didn't, she needed to tell him. Ellington hated it, but she had to find Lemony Snicket.

At first, it seemed it would be impossible. He was still a fugitive, and he seemed to keep in touch with very few people. Not even the publishing company he worked with had much information about him. He never delivered his manuscripts in person, and all his matters were taken care of by a representative. It was also almost impossible to find any living volunteer, as the ones left were mostly hiding in fear, and she wasn't even sure he still was with them. Ellington wasn't sure he still associated with anyone. She even considered sending a letter to someone in Stain'd, but then she remembered that the last time she saw any of them, they hated her, and she couldn't know if they had forgotten to hate her in all the years that passed.

But then, almost by chance, she found an information that fit so well that it almost seemed to be fake. In the 13th floor of a certain Rhetorical Building, there was a small office, that had a door on which a plate saying "LS - Detective" hung. It almost seemed to be fake. But, as confirmed by his writing and by Ellington's own personal experience, Lemony Snicket was the most dramatic human on the planet. That sounded exactly like the sort of office he would have.

However, it was not Lemony Snicket who she saw when she arrived at the 13th floor of said building. Who she saw was Beatrice, looking very disappointed. Ellington quickly hid, and waited until the girl left to approach the office. The plate was there, as she was informed, but there was no one inside. She could easily see it because Beatrice hadn't closed the door well.

Ellington entered the office carefully. It felt weird, to be in the place that belonged to someone who was so influential in her life and yet she hadn't seen in years. Was it right to invade it like this? But the door was unlocked, probably because Beatrice invaded it first.

The office was nothing remarkable. It was small and dusty and relatively organized. A huge map covered a wall, with a path marked and other information annotated. A few typed papers rested under a strangely shaped paperweight. At first, Ellington thought it could be something from Lemony, but it was instead a letter left for him. Reading someone else's correspondence is a crime and a very rude and invasive thing to do, but it was nothing near the crimes Ellington had committed in her life, and though she currently still forgot to hate Snicket, she didn't mind being rude to him. She read the letter and that gave her a few final pieces of that puzzle.

She remembered to hate Snicket again, as she looked at the window Beatrice mentioned. Ellington knew that was where her house used to be. She then looked at the map. The path marked there was long and took to nowhere - well, it took to a place, but one where Ellington knew there was nothing. Beatrice would follow that path, believing Lemony had followed it too. Ellington wasn't so sure it couldn't be a fake clue, left there to mislead Beatrice. But, as she found after searching the office, it was the only clue. What choice did Ellington have besides following it too?

The journey was awful, and Ellington hated Lemony Snicket more and more each day. It was uncomfortable, and tiring, and she couldn't believe he was making his own niece do that. She couldn't believe that she was doing that. And when at last she arrived at the final destination, she found out that the man was gone for some stupid drink, and that Beatrice arrived there first and was also gone. She had the chance at least of buying back an item that the girl had left in exchange for information.

The ring didn't have a lot of meaning for Ellington, except for the fact that she knew it briefly belonged to Kit. It belonged to Lemony once, and to the woman he loved, but right now its rightful owner was Beatrice, and Ellington imagined she would like to have it back. It had a lot of history in her family.

Ellington returned to the city, and her first stop was at the Rhetorical Building. The office had the door closed this time, and she could see light coming from inside. That was it. Lemony Snicket was on the other side of that door. Without losing time, she knocked.

"Come in."

Ellington opened the door, and saw herself finally face to face with him again. There was a mix of feelings in her chest. She had imagined this moment many times as she followed his path, but it was nothing like she imagined. Nothing huge happened, and she felt no change. The world was exactly the same, except now she was looking at him, while he looked at the ceiling.

"You got old." Was the only thing she managed to say. It was true. Ellington didn't expect to meet a 13 years old boy, of course, but that version of him was the one stuck in her mind. He was really changed. His face was marked by wrinkles and other signs of age, besides obvious signs of sleep deprivation that Ellington got used to seeing on his sister's face. His black hair had started greying. He had gained some weight too, but not enough to be considered fat. He seemed worried about something, but still, he let his eyes leave the ceiling and go to Ellington.

"Ellington Feint. You also got old. But I guess you aged much better than I did."

Ellington frowned at the... was that a compliment?

Lemony directed his attention back to the ceiling. Ellington followed his gaze, but saw nothing out of normal.

"We need to talk." She said.

He nodded, eyes still on the ceiling.

"I suppose. But not here." He whispered. "This place is not safe anymore."

As if on cue, a small metallic tip appeared on the ceiling, as if it had drilled all the way there from the floor above. It soon disappeared, and was followed by a rolled piece of paper, that fell from the hole and hit the ceiling fan, that threw it directly in Lemony's face.

Ellington couldn't help but laugh,

"That's an unusual way of receiving a message."

Lemony took the paper in his hands and nodded. He unrolled it and read a few sentences, then folded it and put it into his pocket.

"This place really is not safe anymore." He mumbled.

"What is going on?"

He turned to her with an expression that was almost angry. Ellington had forgotten that her hatred for him was mutual, and that while she found it easy to forget hers, he may still hold onto his.

"I hope you can give me one or two explanations about it. Would you like to have a drink?"

Ellington nodded. The two left the office, Lemony still staring at the small hole in his ceiling, until he closed the door. He then took Ellington to a nearby cafe. The two took a table near the back. Ellington ordered a black coffee, to which Lemony dramatically wrinkled his nose, before asking for a root beer for himself.

Once the drinks arrived, Lemony took the letter from his pocket and put it on the table.

"I have been receiving these for months. Do you have anything to do with this, Miss Feint?"

Ellington could tell from a quick look that it was another typed letter from Beatrice.

"No."

"You arrive in my office right when this", he pointed accusingly to the letter, "arrives. Right when they let me know that they are staying in the office above mine. This is too much of coincidence."

"Well, maybe it's because-"

"I am tired, Miss Feint. I am tired of lies and schemes and secrets. I am tired of hiding and running away. I finished my research, I fulfilled my promises. I just want some peace, some rest. Is that too much to ask?" Ellington looked at him and realized he looked even older than he did when she saw him in his office. He didn't look tired, he looked exhausted. "But then I started receiving letters from a woman who is long dead, trying to lure me into a meeting, and I can't possibly imagine who is behind this or why. I can't tell if this is a trap or just a sick joke. I just- I am tired, Miss Feint."

Another piece of the puzzle. Ellington had suspected that maybe Lemony hadn't realized who the letters came from. She took from her pocket the ring that she had bought before her journey back.

Lemony looked like he was seeing a ghost.

"W-why do you have this? How?"

"Right after you finished your vacation in the hills. I-"

"You broke into my office."

"Someone broke into it first. She left the door unlocked. She also got to the hills first, and exchanged it for information about you." She said in an accusatory tone.

Lemony just sighed.

"I wanted to give it back to its rightful owner," Ellington explained.

"It's not mine. The rightful owner is long gone."

"I know it's not yours. And I know that most of the people who once owned this ring are now gone. But it was passed to someone else, someone who is still around and who is desperately looking for you. You must know this much. I know it thanks to your books."

"You read my books?" Lemony asked, surprised.

Ellington looked away.

"Yeah. So what?"

"And what did you think of them?"

"Stop running away from the point." She put the ring over the letter. "You never imagined that the person who wrote those mysterious letters could be exactly who she claimed to be?"

"This is not possible, and if you read my books attentively you would know why."

"The last illustration and all the questions you left open?"

"I couldn't put all I know into them, in case they got into the wrong hands. But you know what the last illustration means."

"I know that you are a liar, Lemony Snicket."

"So are you, Ellington Feint."

They stared at each other, and it was just like the last weeks at Stain'd. Neither was sure if they could trust the other.

"Why are you here, Miss Feint? Why did you look for me after all this time?"

"I am here because your sister was my friend, maybe my only real friend. I am here because I promised I would look after her child, but I only learned that said child was alive when I met her at a library, reading one of your books. I am here because I don't know if Beatrice has anyone else left, and because you are a huge coward who won't even give her a chance to prove she is telling the truth!"

Lemony stared at her for some instants.

"You met this Beatrice?"

"I didn't talk to her, but I saw her."

"Are you sure she really is Kit's daughter?"

"Yes. And the moment you see her, you will be sure too."

Lemony seemed to consider the idea, but he didn't say a word until he finished his drink. He then grabbed the letter and the ring, left some money on the table to pay for his drink, and left.

Ellington sighed. She left the cafe, thinking of ways she could approach Beatrice on her own. She was not a volunteer and not an acquaintance of her mother that she was likely to have heard about. She had nothing to prove how close she had once been to Kit, and would be of little help in Beatrice's search for her family.

The next morning, she didn't have her coffee at the cafe she always did. Instead, she went to the same place Lemony took her the previous day. The reclusive writer was there too, at the same table they shared, drinking some tea and reading something from a notebook. He had a lit cigarette in his hand, something that looked very out of place. Ellington sat in front of him, frowning at the smoke.

Lemony handed her a folded business card. The words written inside made Ellington smile.

"So you met her."

"You were right. I was wrong. You can throw it in my face if you want."

"Just the satisfaction of knowing you had to accept that for once someone knew more than you is enough for me, thank you."

Lemony nodded with a sheepish smile.

"I will meet her tonight, so we can start the search for what she lost."

Ellington nodded.

"Good."

"I believe we still have an unfinished business, Miss Feint." He said, serious. "The reason why you wanted to see me. I need some answers before I can even start helping Beatrice."

"I am the one who needs answers," Ellington replied, also serious.

"Should we have this conversation at your place?"

"No! You are not getting anywhere near my place."

Lemony took a sip of his tea.

"I already know where you live."

Ellington sighed.

"Why is everyone from your organization so creepy?" She said, remembering to lower her voice just in case.

Lemony shrugged.

"You must also know that my place consists only of a bedroom, a bathroom, and a small kitchen. If you think you will get into my bedroom-" She didn't need to even finish. She could see he got the message, as his cheeks blushed furiously. "What about your place?"

Lemony sighed.

"I guess it will have to do." He ripped a blank page from his notebook and quickly wrote an address. "But you must know that I am not used to receiving visitors."

Ellington took the paper. She knew where it was.

"I will be waiting. Please bring anything that might be relevant to the matter we will discuss."

"I think I already got rid of the blurred picture of you that I used to throw darts at."

"You know what I am talking about."

Ellington stood up.

"Don't worry. We will finally settle this matter once and for all."

Ellington, of course, knew what Snicket was talking about, and it didn't surprise her much that he knew, but she didn't want to admit it. Getting home, she opened her hidden safe and took from there a bag that hadn't been touched in years, except for her regular checks that the contents had not been taken from it. She packed some of her most precious belongings, which weren't many, and prepared another bag with clothes and her work tools. Lemony Snicket was a liar, and she wasn't sure if he would lie again this time. Either way, she suspected she would have a mission to do. She may not even return to that apartment again.

She wouldn't, at least not to stay there, but not for the reasons she believed.

Snicket's place was in a better part of the town, but his building was in a very similar state to Ellington's. She remembered that his family once had money, and once owned the biggest property of a small town. He probably never got any of his part of that.

His apartment at least was bigger than hers, and had a living room. It was mostly neat, but was covered with books and papers. The books were either open or full or bookmarks and assorted papers inside. The papers were either filled with typed words, handwritten words, sketches, or a combination of them. Words were crossed, circled or underlined. None of these, which was probably his work material, seemed to be organized in a logical order, which contrasted with everything else she could see in the room, like the shelf full of trinkets or the four people dining table. Ellington wondered what this said about Lemony Snicket. He emptied a seat for her on one of his coaches, by dropping all the papers that covered it to the floor. Then he sat down in front of her, on a previously empty seat.

Ellington left her two bags on the floor, trying but failing to not leave them on any paper. She couldn't help but look around. The trinkets on the shelf seemed to come from all over the world and were mostly made of resistant materials, like metal, or a few of wood. Only one was different, made of fragile-looking china. He said he didn't usually receive visitors, but a cupboard with transparent glass doors showed her that he had enough tableware for four or five people.

"So, this is a writer's place," Ellington commented, trying to sound casual.

"I am more of a researcher than a writer," Lemony said. "You are not here for small talk."

"No, I am not. Why does VFD keep watching me?"

Lemony raised his eyebrows.

"You know where I live. Kit always knew where to find me and what I was doing. Why?"

"I can't speak for Kit, but I can speak for myself. I found your address on my own. I am not exactly with VFD anymore, not since they left me to die- they did this a couple of times, actually. I have always had my differences with them, since even before I first met you."

"Still, you worked for them for a long time."

Lemony nodded sadly.

"I believed I could make the organization better, or at least what I thought was better. Foolish. Then, I had to help fix the mess that I caused. None of which worked very well, as you know if you really read my books."

"I did read your books. They were as infuriating as you are."

"They were never meant to be entertaining, no matter what the publishing company, the publicity team, thousands of readers and whoever was responsible for that dreadful movie think."

"What were they meant to be? Why did you write them? What promise were you fulfilling?"

Lemony looked at Ellington with an expression she had never seen in him.

"That's none of your business."

"But there is something in them that is my business. Something you call the 'Great Unknown'. Fancy name for a monster."

"The so-called 'monster' was created by your father, who was the only real monster there," Lemony said coldly.

"No." Ellington shook her head. "Not the only one."

At that moment she remembered to hate him, but Lemony had the decency to lower his eyes in shame and the moment passed.

"The Beast is the only reason that I can think of why VFD would watch you." He finally said. "That and the fact that you know much more about them than you should."

"They already stole everything that was left of my father's research years ago. I never found out how they used that information-"

"They didn't. All specimens were destroyed, and all the files were marked as classified, to be accessed by only the most trusted and experienced volunteers."

"Your organization never hesitated to use nature in their war. The lions, the fungus... I met Kit near Lake Lachrymose and she was working on something related to aquatic creatures, together with Anwhistle and Mr. Unibrow."

Ellington could see that Lemony was holding himself not to laugh at the nickname.

"Now, that's a rude way to refer to someone, even someone who was as horrible as Olaf." He said, but still looked about to laugh. "And I suppose you mean Gregor Anwhistle. The creatures would be leeches."

"Leeches?"

"Very aggressive leeches." He confirmed. "I believe they could be considered an invasive species."

Ellington raised an eyebrow.

"Since when do you know biology?"

"I got interested after my time at Stain'd-by-the-sea. I wouldn't consider myself an expert, but I read a lot about it."

A hint of a smile appeared on Ellington's face, but she wasn't sure of why.

"Anyway, VFD would not try to reproduce the Bombinating Beast without the statue. No one would."

"You were the last person seen with the statue," Ellington said, not looking into Lemony's eyes. "Didn't you give it to them?"

"I wouldn't give it to them even if I had the statue, which I don't."

"What do you mean you don't?" Ellington tried to sound angry.

Lemony also seemed angry, very angry.

"I don't know who you work for or who you associate with now, Ellington Feint, but you have stolen that statue multiple times and I know that it was you who stole it after you and my sister ran away from prison."

"Why would I steal it again? I needed it to save my father, and my father is already dead, thanks to you!" Ellington almost shouted, getting really angry. Still, not as angry as she imagined she would. Not as angry as she should.

"You tell me why. Do you know how long I stayed away from any mass of water, afraid you would use that to revenge or something?"

"You have a good reason to have expected that," Ellington said, bitterly. "If I had the statue you would already be in the belly of the Beast."

Lemony sighed.

"If you care about Kit or about her daughter at all, you have to tell me what you did to it." He said, taking some papers from a pile near him. He handed one to Ellington. It was the last illustration of The End, that she already knew. "You are right, I admit. I am a liar. I have lied again and again in my books, to protect people I care about, and simply to protect myself at times. But this is not a lie. This was really there. And-" He took another paper from the pile and handed it to her. It was another illustration, a sketch of what could only be a shipwreck. A broken ship was being held to something unseen by ropes, and a few familiar objects were visible - a red ribbon, a pair of glasses, a mixer, a giant spatula - and also a plate with the start of a familiar name.

Ellington gave Lemony a horrified look.

"I commissioned it from my illustrator. It is the last news I have of the Baudelaires. If you don't tell me what you did to the statue, it will be all I have to tell my niece. Beatrice sank."

"But- But Beatrice, the girl, she survived it!"

"She did, and so did the others, I hope. But the Beast is controlled by whoever has the statue. It doesn't attack randomly. Or at least it never has, to my knowledge. Whoever has the statue wanted to get rid of the children, and may still be after them. They may be in danger. Beatrice may be in danger. Tell me, Ellington Feint: where is the statue? Who has it?"

Ellington sighed, and took her old bag. She opened it and took the old, familiar statue, and put it harshly over the papers that covered the center table.

Lemony looked at it in shock.

"You were right, I stole it," she admitted. "It has been with me, for all these years. No one ever came after it. It stayed in this same bag, and most of the time inside a safe in my room."

"Can I trust you in this, Ellington Feint?"

"No one is interested in this thing anymore. The Inhumane Society could not continue the project without my father, and if VFD really destroyed the specimens and hid the research... I think we may be the only people who still care about this junk."

Lemony stared at the statue.

"Why did you steal it? Only to keep it in a safe inside your room?"

"Why do you keep that on your shelf, in plain sight?" She pointed at the china trinket, a small container that could have once been a part of a tea set. Lemony followed her gaze. "People have died for it, if I recall correctly from your books. Isn't it too dangerous to keep it there? Wouldn't it be a disaster if it got into the wrong hands?"

Lemony sighed.

"It hardly matters anymore. Everyone who was once after it is gone, or doesn't care." He whispered. "It's not the same thing. The Beast is very much alive, and the statue is still useful."

"Only for someone who knows what it is and how to use it."

"We had a whole train of witnesses, and... and you said the Inhumane Society is still around?"

"Yes, but as I said the Inhumane Society gave up on the Beast. If they were after the statue, I would know. As for the train, most of the people there must be dead or at least very old by now. You can't really imagine any of the Stain'd children wanting to control the Beast, can you? Weren't they your friends?"

"Many people who were once my friends ended up doing things I couldn't ever imagine, Miss Feint. And there was also Stew Mitchum." He said, making a face at the mention of the name.

"Mitchum is dumb as a rock. And he is still in the IS."

Lemony nodded.

"Are you in the IS?"

Ellington looked away.

"As much as you are in VFD, I suppose."

Lemony nodded again.

"Fair. I hope this doesn't mean there are people there who want you dead."

"It may mean."

"So, the statue was with you the whole time."

"Yes." Ellington noticed the way Lemony looked at her. It was not a nice way. "You don't think I would sink a boat with children I didn't even know, do you?"

"I know nothing about you, Ellington Feint." He started looking at his papers, but didn't seem to really be paying attention to them. "But I know that I am still alive, and you had the statue the whole time. Why?"

"Kit made me promise. She made me promise to never seek revenge against you, and to never become an enemy of her organization. I was kinda scared of her back then. But she helped me out, and she saved my life. I couldn't betray her."

Ellington put the two illustrations on the same pile where the Bombinating Beast statue rested.

"There's something going on here, and I don't like it one bit," Lemony said.

"Me neither. But it seems we can't get our peace and quiet yet."

"'We'?"

"This new investigation. I am going with you."

"I am not investigating the Beast, Miss Feint. I am looking for Beatrice's family."

"These will end up being more or less the same, won't they? Plus I am not leaving Beatrice alone with you."

"I am her only relative on her mother's side, and an experienced researcher. I am perfectly qualified for this."

"You are an old, unmarried man with no children."

"You are an old, unmarried woman with no children."

"You abandoned your sister when she needed you."

Lemony looked defeated for a moment. Ellington was afraid she went too far.

"What makes you think you could be any better?"

"Nothing." She confessed. "I just think you could use an extra pair of hands that are well trained in self-defense, especially considering how many enemies you seem to have."

"That's not even the start. Beatrice is running away from VFD."

"One more reason I could be of help."

"You know what happens to everyone who approaches the Baudelaires, right?"

"I've read your books, yeah. But Unibrow is dead."

Again Lemony seemed to hold his laugh.

"There are people much worse than Olaf out there, who hate the Baudelaires just for their name, who hate me, with or without good reason, and who hate everything VFD stands for. There are a lot of people in VFD who want me dead and who don't want Beatrice near her family. This will be dangerous, Miss Feint."

"One more reason I could be of help," Ellington repeated. "I am familiar with danger since I was a child, Snicket. I am not a volunteer but I had my own training, and I know much more of the world than you imagine. You are good at running and hiding, but you never did it have a child depending on you nearby, did you?"

"Did you?" He asked back.

"No, but together we have a better chance."

Lemony seemed to consider the idea.

"But you hate me."

"I do, but I am good at forgetting it," Ellington said. "And I am not doing this for you. I am doing it for Kit, and for Beatrice."

"You and Kit... What exactly-"

His question was interrupted by the doorbell.

"It's Beatrice." He whispered. "Hide these." He pointed to the statue and the two illustrations.

Ellington put the statue inside her old bag, and the papers under it, as Lemony walked to the door. She made a thumbs up sign to him, and he opened the door.

Beatrice looked so much like her mother, but now seeing her closer Ellington could see a few facial features she certainly got for her father (who she supposed looked identical to his brothers as well). But she had Kit's seaweed green eyes, and her light brown hair, though she didn't leave it as long as her mother. She carried a small bag, that Lemony offered to carry for her. Ellington could see that she had the ring hanging on a necklace from her neck, besides another necklace with a bat-shaped charm.

She frowned when she saw Ellington.

"I know you."

Ellington stood up to greet her.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, officially. I am Ellington Feint. I was your mother's friend."

She offered a hand to Beatrice, who accepted it quickly. She had a firm handshake for her age.

"I am Beatrice. When did you meet my mother?"

Ellington had not prepared for that question. As if sensing her hesitation, Lemony, who had just left Beatrice's bag on the couch he previously sat on, replied for her.

"They met in jail. They were cellmates."

Beatrice's eyes widened. Ellington tried to keep smiling, but she wanted to slap Snicket.

"Why was my mother in jail?" The girl asked.

"She made a mistake," Lemony replied, his voice sad.

"And why were you in prison?" She now turned to Ellington.

"I made a lot of mistakes."

Ellington expected the girl to ask for more specific answers, but she simply nodded.

"You will learn that our family has a long criminal history," Lemony said, as if that was an appropriate thing to say to a ten-years-old. "But we are getting better at not being caught." He said, and winked. Beatrice laughed. "Anyway, Miss Feint has offered to help us in our search. She is a terrible researcher, but she told me she is good in self-defense."

"Someone has to protect the baby," Ellington said.

"I am far from being a baby, Miss Feint," Beatrice said, pouting.

"I know. I was talking about him." Beatrice giggled. "And you may call me Ellington."

"That was a rude thing to say, Ellington," Lemony said.

"You better keep calling me Miss Feint if you value your life."

"Are you alright with her going with us, Beatrice?"

The girl nodded.

"She seems like a good person."

Ellington didn't need to look at him to know that Lemony was rolling his eyes.

"I will make us some dinner, and meanwhile you can get to know Miss Feint better. Then, after we eat, you can tell me more about how you got separated from the Baudelaires, and we decide a starting point for our research from it. Alright?"

"Sounds good to me, Mr. Snicket," Beatrice replied.

Lemony went to the kitchen and the two ladies sat down on a coach.

"Miss- I mean, Ellington. Can you tell me more about my mother? I never had the chance to meet her."

Ellington gave a sad smile.

"Your mother was a wonderful woman." She couldn't possibly explain how wonderful with mere words, but she could try. And she tried. Time flew as Ellington talked about Kit, and Beatrice listened with attention, her seaweed green eyes shining.

Soon dinner was read and the two sat with Lemony at the table. Beatrice had many questions about her mother, and also about her father, and about the Baudelaire parents, and many other people she only knew by name. Most of them were strangers to Ellington, or were people she only knew of because of Lemony's books, but it was fascinating for her to watch Lemony slowly opening himself, he who was always so secretive, so private about everything. She could see he was making an effort, for Beatrice's sake. He really was doing his best for his niece.

The meal and the talk gave Ellington a feeling of comfort she hadn't felt in years, maybe not ever since the last time she saw Kit. She never had many friends, she never trusted anyone enough to allow them to get close to her. Kit Snicket had been the only exception. She lost her family the day her father disappeared, all those years ago. She was rogue, independent, alone. Lemony Snicket had once had a big social circle, but all those people left him, betrayed him, or were gone, or all of these. Ellington knew from his books that he spent a lot of time alone during his research, and that he suffered a lot of loss.

Beatrice had a family, but she was separated from them. Lemony and Ellington would help her to find them, wherever they were. Ellington knew that, and she knew that both her and Lemony knew that doing so would not bring back all the people that they lost, that they both could not find their families again. But family could be many things. Sometimes it was a lonely and despairing scientist and his only daughter, sometimes it was three kidnapped children taking care of each other in a place full of suspicious people. Sometimes it was a young woman and her partner, running away together and looking after each other, or a writer and his editor, unable to meet in person but still looking after each other. Sometimes it was a little girl being raised by three children who had to grow up so fast. And sometimes it could be, if they opened their hearts for that, two broken people who each missed a wonderful woman who loved another and died tragically, who cared for the people these women left behind in their own ways, who still had many unsolved questions between themselves. Two broken people who both made mistakes, both lied and betrayed and acted in unforgivable ways, who asked the wrong questions and gave the wrong answers. Sometimes, family could be as simple as people who shared the same goal, like Ellington and Lemony and Beatrice now did.

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A/N: Some details of this story were inspired by theories published by snicketsleuth and asoue-headcanons on tumblr, modified to fit the author's own beliefs.