He'd left the bar, something he rarely, if ever, did. He needed out, and he'd needed it immediately.

Becca was pregnant again. His Beccs had another of his twin's children growing inside her. He wasn't sure if he was more upset about being robbed another son or daughter or the physical proof of another night of hers spent in Quinn's bed, with Quinn's hands on her and her long, smooth legs wrapped around someone that wasn't Remi.

He shook his head violently against those thoughts as he left the bar. No one had said anything directly to him about Becca, he'd overheard it, but it seemed everyone knew why he had to leave. Cherif had appeared out of no where to take over for his shift and no one had asked any questions save the ones in Quinn's eyes, the ones that were always asking for forgiveness.

So he stalked down the street, wondering if he should finally take a leave of absence from the bar. But he knew he'd never do that. He was nothing if not stupidly loyal to his family. He'd walk off his frustration and go home to do what he needed to do for his family.

A scent hit him, the only scent that could possibly distract him right now; Sanna was close.

He followed the scent to a door for a bar, Bourbon Street Blues. It didn't look very crowded, or even open, and the sign said it opened at 7. With a glance at his watch, he realized it was only 2PM. That was surprising, the heavy cloud cover made it feel later. There was singing inside and he could see people through the window, so he pushed open the door and settled himself by the bar. There were a couple crowded tables, probably locals, but Sanna was easy to spot in the crowds. She was up on the stage, singing a song to the music of the few band members behind her.

"But that's a road I don't wanna go back down, and I hate myself for what I'm thinking now. Hey it's just one night, it's not like it's forever... I just wanna feel better..."

Her voice was low, not professional by any means, but husky with emotion, and he had a hard time holding back from going over to her. A human guy behind the bar noticed him standing mute and staring at her, and grinned. "She's pretty good, isn't she?"

Remi met the guy's eyes with glaring, possessive ones of his own. "What?"

The guy nodded to the human girl onstage, avoiding looking back at Remi. "Sanna. She knows the owner and he lets her come belt it out sometimes before we open. She's pretty good, huh?"

Remi looked back to her without responding. He agreed with the bartender, but her skill was in the real sadness in her voice, and that sadness still upset him.

"I just wanna feel good, feel alright, feel anything but what I feel tonight..." She finally glanced up at the crowd and like she was drawn to him, her eyes immediately found his. "I just want to move on, with my life, and put the pieces back together... I just wanna feel... better..." The tears in her eyes made it all but impossible for him to keep from flashing to her side and pulling her to him. Though as she sung words that seemed to come from his soul, he wasn't sure if he'd be comforting her or the other way around.

Her song ended, and she thanked the band, waiting until she'd hopped off stage to slyly swipe at her eyes. She smiled at the others that called out compliments, but she beelined to Remi, smiling in the shy way she had, her cheeks flushed red. "Hey. I uhm, I didn't know you were coming, that you came here..." She couldn't seem to find the words she wanted, and it made him want to chuckle. Instead, he interrupted her.

"I don't come here. I just happened by today." It was a half truth anyway.

"Wow, you have... awful timing." She laughed, and he scowled in confusion. "What?"

"I don't usually let anyone hear me sing. It's like, my guilty pleasure."

"The people around here seem to know you."

"They only know me as that girl that likes to sing here sometimes. I more meant my friends." She said pointedly. It warmed him that she considered him a friend. He didn't have friends, he had family and enemies. "You're good." he said, for lack of anything else to say.

"Merci."

He actually did smile then. "I'm just walking, needed to clear my head. Want to walk?"

She looked surprised, but not nearly as surprised as he was with himself. What the fuck was he doing? Was he just a glutton for punishment today? He was going to leave Becca and her new pregnancy to walk around with a cute human girl who barely knew him just to go back to the rage of his normal life.

But Sanna made him less angry. He deserved a time where he wasn't broken or infuriated.

Her responsive smile warmed him as her words had. "I'd like that." She said, waving to the bartender as she and Remi walked out together. They walked in awkward silence together for a few blocks, then she spoke. "So... clearing your head. Did you have anything in mind?"

He shook his head, but didn't say anything in response, and she fell silent again. He could feel how uncomfortable she was, but how was he supposed to explain what was really bothering him to some human girl? She wouldn't understand that it wasn't really Quinn's fault, that it was the fault of the Fates. That no matter how much he and Becca may want it, there was no way they could ever be together. And he hadn't really planned on doing anything in particular, he was just going to stomp around then go home. But now he had a girl with him, and she was getting more uncomfortable by the second. "Jackson Square?"

She cocked her head at him. "Jackson Square?" She repeated. "You like Jackson Square? All he crowds and the people and the noise..."

"I can handle crowds and noise." He said, frowning again. She smiled and nodded. "If you're hungry, there's Stanley's on the northeast corner of the Square."

He nodded. That'd be fine. He liked Stanley's. They had good banana's foster. They made their way to the Square, and as they approached the edge of the crowded touristy area, he started to remember exactly how much he did hate crowds and noise. Every few seconds someone else would knock into them, and there was one guy who'd actually grabbed Sanna's arm to keep from falling. Fucker had almost lost his arm for that one, and Remi would have succeeded had Sanna not called him off with a light laugh. Finally they reached Stanley's, and got a table fairly quickly. Most restaurants didn't like making Remi wait, his perpetual scowl seemed to scare other customers off. They got a seat on the terrace and watched as the crowds went by as they ordered. They sat in silence and ate mostly in silence, and for the first time in a long time, he wished that he knew how to make small talk. But she wasn't uncomfortable, she was just quiet, looking at the crowds as they filed past, every now and then glancing up at Remi to realize he was already looking at her and glance back down at her plate with a faint blush lighting her cheeks. After dinner was over, Remi paid over her protests and led her out, realizing his hand was dangerously close to the small of her back as they went back into the crowds.

It was almost 5, but already mostly dark thanks to early winter hours and heavy cloud cover. They started to leave the Square, and out of habit he started to lead them up Chartres, back toward Sanctuary. They were only to Dumaine when a flash of blonde appeared and Sanna was ripped from his side, yanked into the alleyway to their right. With a feral growl, Remi lunged after her. Whoever had
decided to fuck with her had picked the wrong day to piss him off.

He was forced to pause his attack when he realized it wasn't some mugger with a death wish that had grabbed Sanna, but two daimons. One, the female, had Sanna in her grip, a knife to the human girl's throat. Another growl ripped from his throat and though the daimon girl hesitated at the sight of him, she didn't drop the knife. "Leave, were-hunter. My quarrel isn't with you, it's with Sanna."

He shot Sanna a confused scowl, but she looked as confused as he did, How did a human girl get herself involved with daimons? He shook that thought away; he'd get her to safety first, then figure out what was going on. "You see, that's a damn shame because now I've MADE it my quarrel. Let her go."

"No!" The girl shouted, even as her male companion whispered something to her with a nervous glance at Remi. "Not until I've had my vengeance."

He was done talking. He flashed behind the daimon girl and reached around her to pull the hand with the knife away from Sanna and before the daimon female could blink, her hand with her knife was at her own throat. "Let her go." he snarled. Her hand loosened from around Sanna and in one fluid motion, he threw the female across the alleyway. He turned on her companion with a glower, but the
male had run to the female's side. They must be young to not put up much of a fight. The male opened a bolt hole and pulled the female into it despite her protests and threats to Sanna.

Once the two daimons were gone, he turned to Sanna, wincing in anticipation. He shouldn't have used his powers in front of her, but it'd been his knee-jerk reaction in order to keep her from being hurt. He could always have Max mind-wipe her if she freaked out too badly.

But she wasn't even looking at him. She'd sunk to the ground, a hand over her throat, looking more freaked out about her near death than about the fact that he'd teleported in front of her eyes. He went to kneel next to her. "Sanna, are you-"

She shook her head and interrupted him. "I'm sorry Remi, I didn't know she even knew who I was. I shouldn't have put in at risk like that."

"I'm missing at least one important piece in that apology. Who is she, and how'd you get mixed up with daimons." She didn't even blink when he called them by their name. She must be more involved that he'd thought.

Sanna cursed herself. She should have known this was going to come back to bite her in the ass. "It's a long story."

He sat next to her, watching with that confused scowl. "I'm listening."

She wasn't very surprised that he knew what daimons were. If Kara and Alex did, it stood to reason their whole family did. "She called you a were-hunter... so you're like Alex?"

His scowl deepened. "Like Alex how?"

"You're a shapeshifter. You have powers. That kind of thing, like Alex when he saved us from the demons that blew up Bubba's truck trying to get to Nick."

He raised an eyebrow but didn't ask her to explain. Not that she expected him to; Alex almost getting blown up was not something that his family wouldn't know about. Finally, he nodded. "Yeah, I'm like Alex. Though he shouldn't be telling you shit like that."

"He saved my life, it's not something I'd ever tell anyone."

"Back to the daimons. Is Alex mixed up with this?"

She shook her head. "No, this is all on me." She took a deep breath and started the true story only Kara and Alex knew, as opposed to the lie everyone else knew. "The girl is Amaranda. She's the sister of a guy I used to date."

"You dated a daimon?" He looked disgusted, and she scowled back at him.

"NO. He wasn't daimon when I knew him. He was Apollite. He never killed anyone." She snapped. "He'd planned on it though. He said it'd always been the plan to change to daimon when he turned 27. But he changed his mind."

"And why was an Apollite telling you his supernatural life story?"

"He didn't at first. I didn't have any idea until about two months before his 27th birthday." She swallowed back tears, grateful that Remi was allowing her space, even if only because her story disgusted him. But he looked less disgusted now, more just unhappy. "Then he told me the whole story of Apollites and daimons and what it means to be a daimon and what happens if you choose not to be a
daimon. Then he said he;d planned on going daimon since he was young, that his mother had been killed but his father and sister were both daimon, but he said that I-" She swallowed again. "-that I wasn't someone who would love a murderer. So he wasn't going daimon after all."

"Wow. He must have really loved you." There was a harsh, bitter edge to his words, and she almost burst into tears all over again.

"I don't know what he was thinking! We'd only been dating for like, six months. We knew each other before that, but only like, hey there's that grad student I see in the library sometimes. I don't know how or why he decided he was in love with me, and I liked him but I'd never said I loved him and he killed himself anyway!" She finally broke and burst into sobs. She'd never told even Kara or Alex that part, she'd just let them assume that she and Phillip had been on the same page.

Remi blinked, surprised and uncomfortable when she suddenly broke down into tears. He wasn't skilled at handling female emotions, but he'd seen Zar and Alex comfort Kara and Fang comfort Aimee
enough to have a basic idea. He moved nearer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"I'm sorry, I'm not usually such a nutcase, I just didn't realize his family would blame me too and come after me. He said he didn't really talk to them."

"He probably meant he didn't talk to them about YOU." Remi pointed out.

She gave a watery laugh. "Point taken. God, I'm so stupid." She said, slipping out from under his arm and standing, offering him a hand. He didn't take it, but he did rise to his feet. "You should come to Sanctuary. We'll be able to protect you there and figure out how to solve your daimon problem."

"I don't want you any more involved-"

"Look, we'll get involved one way or another, whether it's now to protect you or later when Kara asks us to avenge your death. Personally, I'd choose now so you get to live through it."

She looked to the ground but nodded, and he nudged her back to the mouth of the alleyway, reaching down to scoop up her fallen bag. He handed it to her and she smiled at him. "Makes you wish you'd never met me, huh?"

He kept them moving, not responding. His instinctual reaction startled him; he wouldn't trade knowing her for peace. He wouldn't trade it for anything.

She wondered what she'd done this time. he'd been even quieter and surlier since her lame attempt at a joke. During the last block to Sanctuary he hadn't said a word, and when they came up on the door of the bar, another exact copy of Remi- only with a reckless grin where Remi's scowl was- had teased Remi lightly about getting his ass handed to him by Sanna, and Remi had lunged with a snarl. His copy didn't seem very alarmed, and actually hadn't even stopped laughing as he'd shoved Remi inside.

She knew it wasn't her place, but she couldn't help frown at the reckless one. "He was protecting me, you shouldn't tease him about it."

"I was just playin' cher."

"I don't think he takes playing well."

The copy gave her an odd look but nodded. "That he don't. You're Kara's friend, yeah? What's your name?"

"Sanna."

"Well I'm Dev, it's a pleasure to meet you Sanna. Rem's lucky to have such a pretty fille looking out for him."

She shrugged. "I'd be daimon dinner right now if not for him, so I think you've got it a little mixed up, Dev. Nice to meet you too." She smiled, going inside to the bar to find Remi, Kara, or Alex. She didn't need to look far; she'd barely reached the bar when Kara appeared at her side.

"Sans, my uncle just told me about Phillip's family coming after you. Why didn't you tell me, you know we'd watch out for you-"

She laughed, holding up a hand to stall Kara's words. "Whoa whoa whoa Kara, slow it down girl. I didn't tell you because it just happened like five minutes ago. Phillip made it sound like he didn't have any contact with his family, I didn't know they even knew who I was."

"Well, Uncle Remi's right, we need to watch out for you. And teach you how to fight."

"I'm not much of a fighter, Kayray."

Her best friend's eyes dimmed a little. "Yeah, we all think that until out or our loved one's lives are at risk."

"Kara?"

"I don't want to get into it. Just, say you'll learn how to defend yourself?"

She nodded, put off and a little frightened by the look in Kara's eyes as she glanced across the bar. Sanna followed her eyeline to Alex and Duff, and it didn't take much to figure out why Kara would find herself fighting. But then it was Duff, not Alex, who looked over like he'd sensed her looking at him. They both immediately looked away, and Sanna cocked her head. "You ok, Kayray?"

Kara smiled, looking more like herself again. "Yeah, I'm good. It's just a serious thing, I don't want you to end up getting hurt."

She nodded again. "I know. I'll learn. You and Alex can teach me."

Kara grinned. "Awesome. It'll be nice to practice against someone who won't kick my ass in twenty seconds flat."

Sanna rolled her eyes, hopping up onto a barstool. "Can't wait." She deadpanned, making Kara laugh. "Besides, I'm more in danger of starving or killing myself at my parent's house."

"Still no job?"

She shook her head. "Nope, nothing. I thought this whole degree business was supposed to make it easier to get a job, not harder."

"So work here."

"What?"

Kara grinned again. "So work here. We can always use a waitress on day shift, no one ever wants day shift and we had two girls quit in the last month to go back to school. I'm sure Aunt Aimee would be thrilled."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, let me go get her." Kara rushed off before Sanna said anything else and returned a few minutes later with a pretty blonde that vaguely resembled Kara. "Hi, Sanna? I'm Aimee, Kara's aunt. I hear you're looking for some work?"

"If you've got a position available."

"You ever served before?"

"Not in a bar, but in a restaurant back in college."

She looked wary, but nodded. "Can't hurt to try you out. Can you do the afternoon shifts? They start at two PM and go to ten PM depending on how busy we are."

Sanna grinned and nodded. "Yeah, I can do that!"

Aimee smiled back. "Good. I'll get the paperwork started and I'll give you a holler when I'm ready for you. You should probably hang around here for a little while, see what the night staff is like. A lot of the girls don't like the later shifts because the night staff is... a little rough around the edges."

"I'm sure I'll be fine. But I'll hang around a couple hours just in case."

"Alright. I'll call you back to the office a little later." Aimee waved to the two girls and went back through the hallway. The bar staff was a little cranky, but none so much as Remi, and she knew she could handle herself. She filled out her paperwork but didn't see Remi again for the rest of the night, and she eventually left to her parent's house without having seen him. That hurt more than she'd have expected. She barely knew him, she shouldn't care about seeing him. And the uncle of her best friend! That had to be crossing some line. Sure, lines seemed more blurred here, with a bunch of people coming and going, and Kara's whole family apparently sharing the connected house with like half the bar staff, Duff included. But still, longing for a glance of Kara's uncle was probably weird by even their
standards.

She shook her head and started for her parent's house, pleased when she managed to get there without being attacked and disappointed that she had to be back at their house at all. "I'm home!"