Author's Notes:So you know how I hoped this chapter would be faster to write? HAHAHAHAHahahaa... yeah. I got a *wee* bit sidetracked on other fics. On the upside, I think this chapter's actually gone a lot better than the last one, especially given the assistance of Panoramic_Vacuum, my erstwhile beta-reader. I also have to thank you people down in the comments section for keeping this fic going. It really does mean a lot to me when someone goes out of their way to tell me their thoughts on my work, even if they just write a few words.


Anna watched Remy load up the dishwasher, his claws only adding to the clatter of the plastic plates. Most humans used porcelain, but shatterproof plates were probably a wise choice for someone without hands. They were wobbling nearly as much as her stomach was, as she tried to work up the nerve to broach the subject of Colleen's offer. He rinsed the red sauce off of the last plate and gently nestled it in the rack before closing the dishwasher with a resounding whump and turning to her. She started, realizing that she'd been staring at him nervously. "Um… So…" she fumbled, trying to start things off.

"So?" he replied, confused.

"Could we, um, take a minute to talk privately?"

Remy sighed, walking around the island to sit next to her. "I have to go tuck Amely in soon, but we have a minute. What's got you so perturbed?"

She wasn't that nervous. "It's about the call I got earlier; the one I had to hang up on you for. It was from Colleen."

Remy involuntarily raised a brow-ridge. "Doctor Hayes called you? About what?"

"She wants to give me a job, doing genetics research. And by 'wants', I suspect she means 'is going to, whether I like it or not'."

He let out a contemplative hum. "She does tend to be pushy about these things, but her roar is worse than her fire. What's she offering in return?"

"I'm not sure, but she wants to help refine my chimerization technique. That could be worth, well, millions at least, even if it only works for dragons." Anna rubbed her chin with a claw. It wasn't technically lying; she'd done the math herself on the potential for profit with her tech, like everything that had come out of her lab back when it was actually legal. Not much point in an invention nobody would buy, she figured.

Now the other ridge was up, and Remy's jaw seemed to have gone a bit slack. "Millions?"

"Well, I'd probably just be making royalties, but it's still a sizeable quantity of cash."

A muffled shout from Amely's room caught Remy's attention before he could reply. "Oh! Sorry, I've got to go put her to bed. Just-just sit tight!" he said, rushing off. Anna could see the excitement in his gait; with every step he flapped his wings a little, pushing him forwards faster until he reached the door and disappeared through it.

Anna sat there, heart still a little fast, and tapped her claws impatiently. She hadn't pegged Remy as the type to be motivated by material wealth, but she also hadn't pegged Maverick as the type to become a cog in the council's machine, so maybe that wasn't his problem. What did he need with money, though? He had this beautiful house and car and all that. Though, with the population reduction and the loss of electrical power, it was possible that the price of houses and cars was a lot lower than she remembered. Apartments in the city sure weren't any cheaper.

A thought then came to her, like a solicitor at the door during the first meeting with your boyfriend's parents. He was excited about the money, sure, but Remy was not going to like the scheduling conflict. Could he parse the issue rationally? Unlikely, seeing as she couldn't. She needed something to calm their nerves so they could collaborate-or just dull their wits enough that they wouldn't look a gift hippus in the mouth. Did Remy have any wine?

What was she thinking, of course he had wine. The side of the island was latticed to make room for a small wine rack, occupied by a few bottles. Anna stared at them, nonplussed, then took the one with the fanciest label and grabbed the corkscrew from the utensils drawer. A bit of elbow grease later, and she'd poured two glasses of red wine. Admittedly, the corkscrew had done most of the work, clamping onto the top of the bottle and punching a little hole right through the cork as soon as she'd positioned it properly. The wine didn't smell like cleaning fluid, so it was already a step up from the cheap wine she'd had experience with.

She took a glass in each hand and walked over to the couch, setting them out on the coffee table and sitting primly behind one of them. All she had to do now was act like she was meeting with the council and trying not to offend anyone, and there was smooth sailing ahead. She even managed not to touch the wine before Remy was finished putting Amely to bed.

As he finished closing the door and turned to her, he paused, confused. Was he blushing? "What's, er, all this?" he asked, waving a claw at her.

"Well, I wanted to help us relax a little while we talk. There's some pretty heavy hooks to go with the bait Colleen cast." She tapped the place next to her on the couch.

Remy walked over, still furrowing his brow, and hopped up onto the couch next to her, carefully keeping a few inches between them. "The hook is usually the thing that draws you in, not something that drives you off. Or is that what you meant, and you just didn't want me to accidentally knock something over in my excitement?"

"Actually, I was talking about how a hook lodges in your gills and pulls you into a suffocating hellscape where you can be killed and eaten, but I acknowledge the failure of the metaphor. This hook, well… I can't take care of Amely and do this job."

Remy tensed slightly, then took a sip of the wine. He tensed slightly more upon tasting it, though at least that wasn't directly her fault. "That's… to be expected, I guess. Colleen works by her own hours, so we all do too. You'll still be home in the afternoons, though."

"That still leaves us with nobody to take Amely to school, and that's not even accounting for the fact that I'd probably work twelve or more hours a day." She sipped some wine too (it tasted fine to her). Maintaining her composure was stressful work.

"Well, if the pay's good enough I can hire a nanny to handle it, or even just quit my own employment with Colleen."

"I didn't think you could just quit whenever you wanted. Isn't that part of the deal with mercenaries, that you don't get to back out?"

Remy laughed. "Mercenaries are famously loyal, yes. All joking aside, I'm not a mercenary and I'm certainly not indispensable. I couldn't quit because there aren't any other jobs I can do out here, not without hands. Office work is much easier to find when the office blocks are still habitable, after all. But if you can get paid for your research, I'd be able to stop working for a while and still pay the bills." He rubbed his chin with a claw. "Matter of fact, I don't even know if you'd need to stay here. You could find your own nicer apartment and just send me child support, like the courts originally wanted."

Anna blinked. He seemed to expect her to like that idea, but she… didn't ? Quite apart from her own living conditions, she actually really liked staying here with Amely and Remy. It beat sitting around in an apartment with nothing but a tablet to talk to. She couldn't admit that to him , though. "I… well, that might not work out…"

He cocked his head. "Why not?"

She crossed her arms, making a noncommittal sound. "I kinda like living here, is all."

"Really?" Remy was incredulous.

"It's nice to have someone to talk to who I don't owe money and who isn't a customer."

Remy stretched out on the couch, getting a little more comfortable now that the topic had drifted. "What happened to 'get out of my lab, Remy, I'm trying to work'?"

She frowned at him. "Avoiding death twice in one week tends to give you a new perspective on things. Plus, it's a lot harder to get invested in people than in the work that will prevent your death, but since that's no longer a concern…" She could feel his eyes on the scar on her neck, and she scratched it self-consciously.

"If I didn't know you as well as I do, I'd almost say you liked us."

She sighed. "I do like you two, Remy. Is that what you were looking for, your deep truth?"

"Er-"

"I bet you think that's a lie, or just me trying to pretend. How could I ever be friends with you, after what we've been through? How could you, for that matter?" A cold certainty settled over her as she realized that Remy probably didn't like her, despite appearances. It was far more likely that he hated her guts and was just pretending to keep things civil.

He gaped at her. "I had no idea you felt so strongly about this."

"I can't explain it, but I also don't have any reason to lie to you about it. Creator knows I don't have anything material to gain by staying here." She slammed down the rest of her wine, hoping that the slight warmth of the alcohol would negate the chill that was still nestled deep inside her.

"Well… I'm glad you like us, I guess? It doesn't really change matters, other than meaning I can't use the guest bedroom for actual guests." He took another careful sip of his wine, then redirected the conversation. "I'll put in my two weeks' notice as soon as we know how much you're getting paid."

Her reply stuck in her throat. He seemed so… nonchalant about it, as if turning your whole life upside down for a job offer was something you did every day. She'd been panicking over it all afternoon, and she never panicked over anything! "Really?"

"Why not? It seems like the straightforward solution to me. Besides, I've got funds saved up in case things fall through."

There was a moment of doubt in her mind, one she'd had before, but she quelled it. The worst thing that could happen is that they'd stay right where they were, and that wasn't too bad an outcome. "Alright, it's settled then." She trailed off, stomach still unsettled. "And, um… thank you for being so untroubled." She didn't mention her own agonizing over the phone call.

"I aim to please. Hey, you want to watch some TV?" Remy asked, picking up the remote.

"As long as everyone involved keeps their clothes on, sure." He nodded, flicking to a cable channel, and their conversation devolved into a pleasant chatter. Anna got a little more comfortable against the couch as they talked, but even after the show had ended and Remy had turned in for the night, she couldn't shake that feeling. For the first time in her life, she wasn't happy being hated.


"Hey Anna, it's time to wake up." Amely said, pushing the bedroom door open without knocking.

Anna was, as usual, curled up on the mattress with her head down near her feet, so she couldn't see how her progeny was acting, but if she had to guess she'd say the girl was quite excited about her snow day. That made one of them. "Mhmrmmm, go bother Remy…" Anna mumbled, pulling her head in a little closer.

"Remy had to leave early, so it's just us." Amely sounded even happier about that.

A pang of affection gripped Anna, just for a moment, but then it was replaced by mild annoyance. "What?" she asked sharply, raising her head from the bed and blinking blearily. The door was still ajar, and she could see that the TV was on in the living room. At least nothing appeared to be on fire, and Amely wasn't visibly injured.

"He left a few minutes ago." Amely sounded abashed, and crept towards the door slightly as Anna hauled herself out of bed.

She gave Amely a confused look, then sighed. "Creator knows why he didn't decide to wake me up before leaving," she grumbled, moving past Amely and into the living room, which was still in good order. "At least you didn't set the place alight. That's worth something."

Amely sidled up next to Anna and gave her a curious look, like she was afraid she'd done something wrong, but said nothing.

Anna suddenly felt the tension in the air. "Sorry, I get snappy when I'm tired. Or well-rested, for that matter." They both chuckled, though Amely did so with a bit of confusion. Anna kept moving, from the living room to the kitchen. Her stomach rumbled. "Did you eat breakfast?"

"Remy made me some cereal before he left."

She actually struggled to imagine the drake doing something so… mundane. When she was around, Remy always seemed to be going out of his way for Amely. "That's good." She grabbed a banana from the basket of fruit on the counter and began to peel it as she paced.

"So, uh, what should we do today?" asked Amely, following Anna into the kitchen.

Anna took a bite of the banana and mulled it over. They could stay inside, certainly, and just waste these few hours on movies or something. There were probably attractions in town, but she didn't have a car or any desire to see what passed for entertainment outside the wall. That said, there was one advantage to being outside of the city proper… "How do you feel about an outdoor activity? Like a hike."

Amely looked out the window over the sink. A thin dusting of snow had settled over the unkempt estates around them, and the glass was slightly foggy with condensation."It's kinda cold outside for a hike, though."

"Well, it isn't really a hike, it's a hunt. There'll be plenty of running to keep our blood flowing."

"A hunt? For what?"

"Anything. I don't know what we'll find exactly, but there's like, rabbits and such living in the ruined areas." Anna didn't actually know this for sure, but spending time 'outside of the social norm' had taught her a few things about how animals congregated. A place like the ruins would be great shelter for little critters, who hadn't yet learned that some predators had brains, and hands too. She'd checked the maps just to be sure, and there was a ruined location not at all far from here.

It took Amely a moment to process the implications of Anna's statement. "I don't want to kill any rabbits, and they're too cute to eat!" Amely insisted, crossing her arms.

This was an unexpected response, and Anna needed a moment to turn it over. Certainly, most dragons weren't as bloodthirsty as she was, but from what she knew that was something you grew into , not out of . What were they teaching Amely at that human school? Well, she knew more than most about hunting, and that was certainly useful here. "Hunting the rabbits actually helps them to survive in the future."

"How does that work?" asked Amely, incredulous.

"Well, if we don't cull the rabbit population, they'll breed out of control until they've eaten all the available food, then they'll starve. That's the job of predators, to keep everything in line. Not to mention that, by killing off the weakest and dumbest rabbits, we improve the odds that the next generation will be smarter and better adapted for survival."

Amely hummed, trying to wrap her head around that logic. "That… sort of makes sense. But I still don't want to hurt them!"

Augh, kids. The only creatures in the world more stubborn than bureaucrats. "Well, I still want to give you a chance to try it. We can do catch-and-release instead. Just means I have to pack lunch." At that, Amely stuck out her tongue and Anna chuckled. Eager to get started, she walked over to the fridge and grabbed a loaf of bread, then paused and looked back to Amely. "What kind of sandwich do you want? We have deli meats or peanut butter and jelly."

"PB and J," replied Amely, her attention returning to the TV as she tried to catch a few more minutes of the show she was watching.

"Alright." Anna gathered the needed supplies and set to work, ending up with two slightly sloppy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches which in turn went into separate paper bags, along with an apple each and a bottle of water that they could share. She sealed the first bag, then paused and grabbed something else from under the counter; a small self-heating packet of cocoa which went into the second bag along with a thermos which she filled most of the way with tap water. That would be a nice surprise for Amely, or at least a nice way for Anna to warm up after playing in the snow. She wasn't too proud to admit that she planned on playing. Lions played with their prey, after all, and nobody thought that they were childish.


They crunched out the door a moment later, after Amely was bundled up and Anna had fished a pair of boots and a vest out of Remy's coat closet. The vest had wing-holes in the back, but it would keep her core warm well enough. Remy owned a lot of winter clothes, she realized, and he'd stocked up on ones that fit Amely too.

Amely yipped a little as the first breaths of cold air touched her cheek. "Is this your first time out in the snow?" Anna asked, as they walked down the front steps. Her breath made little clouds in the air in front of her, shaped into thin misty jets by her snout.

"I didn't think it'd be so cold," Amely replied. "The human kids made it sound really nice to play in."

Anna smiled. "Humans are weird like that, yeah. It's refreshing, though, isn't it?"

"I guess." Amely shivered a little.

"You know the best way to warm up? Exercise." Anna pointed ahead. "Follow me!" she encouraged, then took off. Remy and Adine might have been able to fly, but on the ground runners like her were queens of speed. Time for Amely to learn a bit of her species' 'heritage'.

Her feet pounded in the snow, sending up a powdery wake behind her. Despite her speed, her eyes stayed focused, and she carefully inspected the road sign ahead to make sure she had the right turn. Behind her, she could hear Amely running along, though the girl huffed and puffed a bit more than she did. She came to a halt at the intersection, and Amely caught up a moment later, panting and bending down to catch her breath. "Pretty good, for a first try."

"No fair, your legs are longer! I can beat any of the kids in my class in a race," Amely replied, pride seeping through her exhaustion.

Anna was just glad she'd kept her physique, at least a little bit. A few more months living like she had been, and Amely might have actually beaten her. "And I can beat any of their parents, I'll bet. There are some perks to being a runner, no matter what they tell you."

"Nobody really tells me it's bad to be a runner," Amely replied, confused. They turned the corner and proceeded down the next street at a more leisurely pace, ducking down midway to get past another gate and into a more overgrown area. "Most of my classmates thought it was really cool to have a 'real live dinosaur' in their class."

Anna was about to respond when she froze, and held up a claw to silence Amely. Ahead of them, a few mouflon-ish animals-sheep, were they?-were crossing the road. The sight made her a bit nervous-probably because these were a lot bigger than the rabbits she'd planned to catch. She'd caught mouflons without killing them before, though. " Watch this, " she said, then charged.