"Do ya' think there'll be a bruise?" Murphy asked, examining his jaw in the mirror while his brother took his turn at driving.

"It won't last long. There's not much muscle on the jaw to bruise."

He glanced back at Animal, who was still avoiding eye contact with the two of them. She had felt ashamed ever since she had unwittingly attacked them, and the two brothers could tell.

"Oi, it's not that bad. It's not like ya' killed us or anything."

She cringed.

"I almost did. I was going to stab you when you were both on the ground", she said sheepishly, revealing the knife she held in her hand. Murphy winced, thinking of how that knife had felt the first time they had met her. The stitches itched just thinking about it.

He looked again at the knife.

"Hey, can I see that?"

Wordlessly, Animal handed the knife up to him, and he took it from her to examine it closely. It was the same knife she had used to stab him in that ally, and he was interested to see what the blade looked like. It had felt odd going into his side.

Opening the blade, the first thing he noticed was how short it was. The blade was roughly two inches long, all black metal except for a single, razor-sharp bright edge. The metal was thick, about an eighth of an inch, and tall, roughly three-quarters of an inch. It looked like the least likely blade to be used to hurt someone, yet she obviously handled it well, making this unlikely knife deadly.

Folding it back up, he handed it back to her, remarking, "That is the strangest-looking knife I have ever seen."

She took it from him and calmly flicked her wrist, the blade snapping out. She studied the edge thoughtfully, then refolded it and returned it to her pocket.

"I've had it for years, and I've only had to sharpen it ten times. It keeps its edge a lot better than newer knives. I don't remember where I got it, though."

"It doesn't look like a knife used for stabbing someone."

"I don't think it was ever actually meant for anything specific. I can throw it, cut, and stab with it. The blade is short and heavy enough for throwing, but it's also long enough to be used for other things as well."

Connor glanced up in the mirror at her.

"An expert on knives, are we?"

"No, just this one."

The brothers laughed, and Animal cracked a grin. They sat in companiable silence for another half an hour before Connor spoke up.

"Hey, is anyone else hungry?"

"Starving."

Animal merely growled an affirmative, looking up with interest.

"Craving anything specific, or should we just stop at the first place we see?"

"I don't care. You?" Murphy asked, looking back at Animal. She merely shook her head.

"Then keep an eye on the signs. I think the symbol for food is the fork and knife."

Animal growled an agreement, keeping an eye out the window. Murphy did the same, and he was proud that he spotted one first.

"Exit 41."

"Where the fuck is that?"

"I don't know, we drove by too fast."

"Two miles ahead."

"It's a good thing someone pays attention", Connor grumbled, and Murphy scowled.

"Oi, not my fucking fault. You're the one that's driving too fast."

"I'm in the slow lane!"

"You're still driving too fast!"

"Oh, fuck you!"

"Fuck you too!"

In the backseat, Animal merely sighed and continued looking out the window. Sadly, she was getting used to this.

Connor signaled and turned into the exit lane, slowing down to a crawl as he drove into the turn.

"Holy fuck, the turn sharp enough?" Murphy commented, hanging onto the handlebar.

"Never understood it myself."

Connor followed the curve for what seemed an eternity before it finally straightened out. The truck seemed to groan with him as the wheels finally straightened. Murphy caught sight of one of the signs.

"Alright, our food options are McDonalds's, KFC, Long John Silver's, or Ponderosa."

"Ponderosa", Connor and Animal said at the same time, and Connor started looking for the restaurant's sign. Spotting it, he manipulated the truck into the driveway, wincing as the tires bounced over the curb. He chose the easiest parking space to get into, far from the door, and parked it.

"Alright kiddies, time to get out."

"I'm not that young!" Animal yowled, glaring at him. Murphy laughed.

"You're just barely out of high school, lass. You're young ta' us."

Animal merely growled, looking away, the sun's rays catching her eyes and reflecting off them onto the glass, like a piece of metal in the sun. A shudder ran down Murphy's spine. He didn't think he'd ever get used to her eyes.

Connor opened his door first, and Murphy followed. Sighing, Animal copied them, springing from the truck onto the ground. It was then Murphy noticed how short she was.

"Holy shit, you're fucking short!" he laughed, and she glared at him, growling. Connor came around the front of the vehicle and blinked.

"Shit, you're right. How tall are ya'? Five-two?"

"Five-six!" she snarled.

"No way!" Murphy shouted, walking closer to compare their heights. The top of her head was about level with the top of his chest, showing she was right.

Growling, she shoved him away, a surprising amount of strength in her slim body. It was then the brothers fully noticed her for the first time.

She was short, with dark bronze colored hair that gleamed deep red in the sunlight. Her blue eyes were a strange contradiction to her dark hair, yet complimented her pale skin quite well. She was small, limbs thin. Connor estimated she weighed maybe 110 pounds, if that. She was heavily muscled, built for acrobatic close combat. Her muscles were knotted from use, lean and sinuous. She seemed more to be someone who ought to be protected, rather than the mass-murderer she really was. All in all, though, with her build, she was faintly unattractive, with her stringy, muscled limbs, and the scars that ran across her fair skin.

Even without the gash, her face could hardly be colored as pretty, more harsh. Her eyes gave her a cold, calculating look, as if she was plotting to kill you at that moment, even though they knew they could warm with humor. Her teeth were slightly uneven, the teeth on the left side of her mouth slightly longer than the ones on her right side, with the left top canine highly pronounced. It made her smile unsettling.

"Can we go in now?"

They were both roused out of their reverie by her scratchy, growling voice. Murphy stood there for a moment longer while Connor said, "Sure."

Giving them odd looks, Animal followed them into the restaurant.

She was slightly unnerved by their observations earlier. For a moment, they had seemed to look at her as if for the first time, and their reactions weren't promising. She wondered if they were maybe having second thoughts about letting her live.

Shaking her head, she studied them while they waited in line. They both seemed to be in their thirty's, though they looked well for it. They both had the same dark brown hair and dark eyes. They both had small tattoos on the same spots on both their necks, though she couldn't quite tell what they were, and had Celtic crosses on their arms. Their hands, on opposites on the outside, had the Latin terms 'truth' and 'justice', with 'truth' on Connor's left hand and 'justice' on Murphy's right. She knew a little Latin, enough to be able to read it. She knew from before that Connor had a tattoo of the top part of Jesus on the cross on his back, while Murphy had the feet on his.

Even without that, she could tell they were heavily religious, something she most definitely was not. Their prayers had echoed throughout the buildings at night, even though they had tried to remain quiet. She quite liked the sound of them. She might not have been religious, but even she could appreciate the sounds of the prayers in their mouths. Their voices were pleasant to listen to when they were praying, and helped her sleep without nightmares, even though she would never admit it.

She snapped to attention when she spotted motion from the corner of her eye, and turned her head to it. Her eyes could only see a vague outline, but her nose told her he was a waiter, covered in food smells as he was. His question confirmed it a moment later, when he asked what they would like to order.

In response to Connor's question, she chose the buffet, looking around them and listening. The conversations around her contained nothing that seemed to be a threat, though a few were talking quietly about the gash on the side of her head.

She frowned. She had forgotten about that.

She turned back to follow Connor and Murphy through the restaurant, stepping carefully and focusing so she would not trip on anything. She was trying as hard as she could to hide her blindness from the brothers, even though she knew Murphy suspected something was up. She could see abnormally well at night, which is why she normally hunted when it was dark, to give herself an enormous advantage over her prey. It was only in daylight that she was blind, a fact that she resented heavily.

The brothers sat down at a booth, both occupying one seat, leaving the other to her. She slid onto the smooth leather, and watched them, faces blurry outlines with a few dark spots that suggested eyes. She could feel their gazes on her face, and bristled instinctively. As if sensing her discomfort, they both averted their eyes and started a conversation, which she gladly listened to, speaking only when asked a direct question.

"Are ya' planning on getting your food or not?" Connor asked, wondering why she was merely sitting there. She had been watching them oddly, eyes silently observing them, though thankfully not glowing in the dim light of the restaurant.

"Waiting", was all she replied, and Connor snorted.

"What for?"

She didn't answer, instead turning to look around her, eyes snapping at every spot in the restaurant. Mildly, Connor wondered if she had the same vision during the day as she claimed to have at night. Is so, she would be able to see things that any person could be jealous of.

"Oi, wonder when our food's gonna get here", Murphy remarked, and Connor turned to look at him.

"We just got here, and you're already impatient?"

"Oh, shut up."

Animal suddenly stood, apparently done waiting, and made her way to the buffet, the brothers distractedly watching her. About halfway there, she stumbled over the leg of a chair that she should have been able to see easily, and the brothers frowned. Animal turned to look at the chair with a mixed expression of both fear and distaste on her face, and looked back toward their table, though Connor noticed her gaze was off by a few feet. Doubt began to wiggle its way into his mind.

"Did you notice that?" he asked his brother quietly, leaning in slightly to help keep his voice down. Murphy nodded, brow furrowed as he apparently realized the same thing.

"Now that you mention it, when she flipped you, she looked directly at you and didn't seem to recognize you. I was going to say something earlier, but forgot", Murphy responded, also keeping his voice low as he watched Animal make her way through the line. She seemed to be moving slowly, hesitantly.

"Ya' don't think she's hiding something from us, do you?"

"The only way to find out is to ask."

Connor nodded in agreement.

"Let's wait until after we eat, though. She might be more agreeable on a full stomach."

Murphy snorted as Animal made her way back to the table, overly cautious as she walked past the place she had tripped earlier. However, the person sitting there had pushed in the chair, and she made it through without incident.

She sat down at the table and gave them nervous glances, eyes flicking from face to face. When they said nothing, though, she relaxed slightly, and began eating her food, picking up a chicken leg and stripping flesh from the bone with quick efficiency.

The waiter came with their food then, and they both tucked eagerly into their steaks. Healer Animal may be, but cook she was not. The steaks the night before had been edible, but nothing as delicious as the steaks in front of them. It was like comparing bread to cake.

While eating, they kept up a light banter, glancing at Animal every now and then. Slowly, she relaxed, though they realized she still kept quiet, eating quickly and waiting patiently when she was done. Finally, they finished their food.

"Oi, I'm gonna get desert. You guys want anything?" Murphy asked, looking at first his brother and then Animal. Connor wanted ice-cream, while Animal shook her head. Shrugging, Murphy walked off, knowing Connor would begin to question her while he was gone. She seemed to be slightly more at ease with his brother than he.

With Murphy gone, Connor turned to Animal, and noticed she had tensed up again, as if knowing what he was going to ask her.

"Hey, can you read that sign? I can't quite see from here", he said mildly, pointing to a sign across the road. Animal turned her head to look through the glass automatically, though Connor noticed she cringed as she did so.

"… No", Animal finally muttered, voice low and defeated.

"Hmm? I thought it seemed easier to read from your side of the table. Can you at least tell me what color it is?" he asked, letting her know he had guessed. She seemed to wilt before his eyes, averting her head and looking at a spot on the table. Suddenly, she seemed very fragile, and Connor regretted what he had to ask of her.

"… No. I can't tell what color it is."

"Can you even see it?"

She was silent for a while.

"No", she finally sighed, and Connor had to suppress a cringe himself. She sounded helpless, quite different from the Animal they had come to know.

"What exactly can you see?"

She turned her eyes to his face, and Connor noticed her eyes were unfocused, and had turned a dull gray in the dim light.

"Nothing. Outlines, if they're close enough and I try."

"I thought you said you could see well", he accused quietly, and Animal again averted her gaze.

"I only said at night. I never mentioned anything about daytime."

Connor realized it was true.

"How long were you planning on keeping it from us?"

"As long as I could."

"Why?"

Animal jumped and whirled around in her seat at the sound of Murphy's voice behind her, startled. He slid into the seat next to his brother, sliding the ice-cream across to him, keeping his eyes on her face. Connor silently picked up his spoon and began eating, letting his brother have his turn at questioning her.

"It is the price I pay for my night-vision. I keep it secret. It is easy to use it against me."

She had responded honestly, they could tell, but it wasn't everything.

"And?" Murphy asked, voice low with sympathy.

"And I am ashamed of this weakness. As I am ashamed of my fear of cats. It is not something I can help, and it is crippling. If anyone knew of it, it would be easy for them to kill me when I am blind. It is hard to defend yourself against something you cannot see."

They were silent as Murphy carefully chose his next words.

"We work together, Animal. You need to tell us of your problems, just as we must tell you of ours. We cannot function well if something like that is kept secret. We would not know to cover for you when you cannot see. Just as you would not know that we are helpless when the other is threatened. If someone held a gun to my brother's head, I would let them do whatever they wanted to me. You would not be crippled by that."

"But I would be useless."

"No."

Animal looked up at Connor's quiet contradiction.

"No. You would not be useless. People are scared of you, even if they don't believe you are that dangerous. I've experienced that myself. Even if you could buy a few moments, you would not be any more useless than we would be. And even if you were a weakness, your ability to see at night is an even greater asset. Understand?"

She was only silent, and the waiter came by with the bill. Connor accepted it quietly and took out the money to pay for it. As the waiter left to bring him back the change, Animal finally spoke up.

"Fine. I will tell you things like this from now on. Agreed?"

"Definitely", the brothers said at the same time, grinning in return. Animal must have heard the smile in their voices, for she smiled slightly in return. The waiter returned, and the three stood up, turning to leave the restaurant.

With a brother on each side of her, they wordlessly guided her out of the building, assisting her without making her feel helpless.

She should have known they would have figured it out. They were more intelligent than she had given them credit for, and she had not hidden her weakness well enough.

The only reason she had waited so long to get her food was because she was trying to learn the layout of the building. She could hear people walking to the buffet line, and memorized their paths, until she was sure she had it down. Then that idiot had left his chair out, and she had stumbled over it. It probably wouldn't have taken them long to figure out her secret anyways, but that had made the connection so much faster.

She had felt weak and helpless under their questioning, even though she knew they were trying to be kind about it. She was private by nature, as she was raised, and admitting a weakness felt like cutting out an organ. It had hurt mentally, but she felt slightly better when she was finished. They hadn't tried to exploit her weakness, now that they knew it, and instead had wordlessly helped her. Their escort out of the building had been useless, though well-meant and meaningful, since she had memorized the path when she walked in. She realized that they would indeed help her, and not suffocate her as if she were a little child.

It was the first time she had trusted someone in a long time.

Now sitting in the backseat of the truck she had chosen to play with them, she gazed out the window at the colors racing by, unable to see anything but for once not minding.