Chapter 2

Baird sipped his coffee in silence. It was five in the morning and he and June were the only ones awake. They were getting ready to start the work day as usual but Baird wasn't so sure that was a good idea.

"I can't just leave her here. I don't know anything about her and I don't want her to run off before I can get a chance to find out." Baird said quietly.

June shrugged, "So stay home today, I can handle being the boss for a day."

Baird smirked, "You'd like that wouldn't you. Trying to take over the company already?"

"You know it, I don't like the way you run things. I think I can do a better job."

"Just keep telling yourself that." Baird muttered, "So what am I going to do?"

They thought in silence for a few minutes. Finally June came up with a solution.

"She probably won't wake up for a while, why don't you come to work until noon then you can come back and check on her."

"What if she wakes up before then?"

"Kaylee and Jacob will watch her, we'll leave them a note."

Baird still didn't like the plan; they didn't know anything about the girl. For all they knew she could wake up and try to kill the kids. Baird ran this by June.

"They'll be fine, they've faced worse things." June said. Baird sighed exasperatedly.

"Fine, let's go." He said getting up from the kitchen table.

Baird, June and a few others were working on one of the larger farms that day owned by a ruthless man who might have been a mob boss in the old Sera. He fed most the population on the main land and he was Baird's number one customer. Baird had planned a big project for his crew that day. They were installing a new and improved irrigation system. Baird had hoped to completely oversee the whole project but he found that starting the project wasn't exacting anymore. From the moment they had arrived on the farm to find Baird's handpicked crew waiting for them Baird was completely distracted by the events at home. Thankfully the crew was competent enough to do the job with little instructions. Baird had required them to memorize the plan and had spent days drilling them on solutions to various scenarios. It had almost felt like he was a gear again.

Baird kept running various scenarios through of what could have been happening at home while he worked. He vaguely hoped it wasn't that obvious that he wasn't paying any attention to what he was doing but he couldn't help but think of the girl waking up and violently slaughtering the two kids left at home. They were safe enough from enemies that would try to get into the house, but what if Baird had brought the enemy safely inside? Baird growled at the parts he was trying to assemble making the guys who were working near him to edge away from their choleric boss. Life was so much simpler when he didn't have anyone's lives under his care. Of course as a gear he had had plenty of lives in his hands, but most of those lives could take care of themselves.

By them time noon rolled around Baird was nearly a basket case with worry and curiosity. He had to know if the kids were alright and he wanted to talk to the girl. After explaining to the crew that he had to leave he found June and handed him a headset.

"Put this on; only use it if you absolutely have to. I'm not sure how secure it is." He instructed. June nodded.

"Don't worry, you're not much help today anyway," June said, so it was obvious Baird thought. Baird headed home more comfortable with leaving June in charge of their project than he was with leaving the kids with a stranger, even if that stranger had been seriously abused. No, especially because she had been abused.

All was quiet at the front door which was neither a good nor a bad sign. Baird unlocked the door and stepped into the living room. Kaylee and Jacob sat of the carpet of the living room and didn't look up. They were playing with Jacob's plastic toy soldiers and didn't.

"What are you doing back so early?" Jacob said without looking up.

"Came to check on you guys and the girl, Is she awake?"

"Yeah," Kaylee said. "She was awake when I checked on her this morning and left her June's clothes. She was too scared to get out of bed and didn't want anything to eat or drink. I checked on her about an hour ago and she got dressed though."

Baird breathed a sigh of relief, of course there had been nothing to worry about he told himself condescendingly. He could just go back to work, this could wait until later. Nah, he thought, this was way more interesting. Kaylee smiled at him as he walked past her to his room. He was happy she was safe. Quietly opening his door, Baird found the girl lying motionless on the bed with her back to him. Baird crept up and looked over her at her face. Her eyes were open and staring at the wall. She glanced up at him slightly, maybe expecting Kaylee, and freaked out. With a squeak she bolted up right and scrambled back as far away from him as she could. Luckily the bed was up against the wall so she didn't fall off. She sat with her knees pulled up against her chest, trembling. Her wide blue eyes never left him as he examined her. Her face was bruised and cut, someone had obviously hit her, a lot. Her eyes had bruises around them but since they were not swollen he could tell it had been a few days ago. There were dark clumps in her matted dirty blond hair, blood. The rest of her body was covered by Junes clothes except for her hands which didn't look good. Baird sat down on the bed near here but not too close.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he started she didn't look convinced.

"What's your name?" She didn't answer and she didn't seem to have any intention to talk to him so he gave up trying. Instead he scooted up to her to get a better look at her injuries. She convulsively backed away but the wall was blocking her retreat.

"I'm not going to hurt you" he repeated, and took one of her hands. She didn't try to stop him but he could feel the tension in her arm. Her hand was scabbed and there was blood under her nails. There were deep even cuts all around her wrist, most likely from being handcuffed. He checked her other hand. No blood, no marks on her wrist. That was strange.

"What happened to you?" He muttered she buried her head in her knees in response.

"Well I know what happened. I mean what have you been going through? Who did this to you?" She didn't answer but licked her dry lips nervously. Baird got up and went into the kitchen and got her a large glass of water.

"Here," He said holding the cup out to her.

She didn't take it and seemed genuinely frightened at the site of it.

"I didn't poison it." He said annoyed and frustrated with her behavior. Then he had a sudden realization. "I didn't drug it either. Now drink it before you die of dehydration."

She jumped a little at his tone and took the drink taking a hesitant sip. Either she deicide it wasn't drugged or poisoned or she just didn't care because she started gulping it down as fast as she could. When she was finished Baird took the cup and refilled it. This time he put ice to keep her from drinking it so fast so she didn't make herself sick. It didn't really work. When she was finished Baird looked at her trying to decide what to do next. It was probably too much to try and get her to eat something he decided. She looked really tired too.

"Alright," He muttered standing up, she eyed him suspiciously.

"Rest," he ordered. She didn't move from her position against the wall. Well Baird wasn't about to force her to lie down so with a huff he left her in peace. As he shut the door quietly behind him Kaylee scampered up to him and threw her arms around his legs.

"There's a man at the door!" She whispered urgently. "Come see!" Baird pried her off his legs and made his way to the front door. He checked through the window next to the door to see who it was. The man was no one he knew but he had a pretty good idea what he wanted. Baird opened the door.

"Yeah," He said in greeting.

"Hi, my name is William; I was told that if I wanted a job as a mechanic you were the guy to go to." The man said with a cocky air.

"That's right." Baird said trying to sound like he was in charge. He didn't need some kid who thought he was better than Baird as an employee because, Baird knew, he wasn't. The kid took the hint because he visibly humbled himself.

"Well I was hoping you would hire me." He said. Baird studied William. He was roughly as tall as Baird but much scrawnier. His dull brown hair was down to his shoulders and fanned out around his head. He just didn't look like the mechanical type, but Baird decided he would give the kid a chance. He needed another flying monkey anyway.

"Alright,' Baird replied "you know where my work shop is right?" William nodded.

"Meet me there tomorrow at 5:30 AM, for your Interview."

"I will," He replied excitedly. He and Baird shook hands and William left.

Baird spent the rest of the day playing cards with Jacob and Kaylee, and tinkering with various projects. June got home just in time for dinner. He excitedly explained every miniscule detail of what had happened after Baird left.

"Alright, I get it. You're a good leader when things are going smoothly." Baird commended agitatedly.

"Yeah, I'm just glad nothing went wrong! I don't know what I would have done." June said grinning.

"Well you'll get another chance to screw up tomorrow."

"Why?"

"Because I'm interviewing a new employee," Baird said.

"Oh, ok cool! So I get another chance to try and take over then!" June said happily.

"Shut up." Baird smacked lightly.

Baird slept on the couch again that night. He wasn't as exhausted as he usually was so it wasn't as easy for him to fall asleep. Just as he was drifting off a piercing scream came from his room.

Well here we are at chapter 2. Cool. I'm hoping for a few more reviews but to those who reviewed already, thanks. I will keep writing this as long as a few people want me to. Or until it is finished or I get bored…But if you review I'm more likely to not get bored…just saying. Tell me what you think.