In the time it took Tabby to successfully take three lives, Babette and Nazir had cleared the cobwebs, Chaurus, and assorted detritus cluttering the Dawnstar sanctuary. Curiously, they seemed to have found no sign of Cicero.

Now, she and Nazir stood side beside in the dark, drafty main chamber as she surveyed their still-empty but significantly cleaner new home. Babette lurked nearby, humming a tune as she set up her alchemy table.

"Clearly it still needs some repairs. Some furnishing couldn't hurt either. But I think we'll make out just fine here," Nazir said hopefully. Tabby just sighed.

"It's dark in here. And freezing. At least Falkreath was bright and warm."

"It smelled like mildew," Nazir reminded her.

"I liked the smell."

Now Nazir sighed. "Well, you'll have to get used to this smell. We've got no other place to go, and we need to lay low for awhile. After your display on the Solitude docks, the Penitus Oculatus are surely out looking for any more survivors."

"Don't try and tell me that pig didn't have it coming…"

"I agree he was a rat bastard who needed to die. But you could've been a little more subtle."

"I wanted to send a message."

Nazir threw up his hands. "Fine. Regardless, even when his agents stop looking for us you'll still have to ease up on the contracts."

"No!" Tabby blurted, her first major display of emotion since the attack. "Nazir, why?"

"Isn't it obvious? You're the Listener. How are we supposed to get contracts of you aren't around to hear them?" Nazir softened his tone, seeing her dejected face. "It'll be alright. You'll still get some contracts. The best ones. I swear it."

"And how are you and Babette alone planning on bearing the brunt of the work, hmm?"

"That's the other thing I wanted to discuss. We need to rebuild our numbers. Once things have settled down a bit, you and I need to invest some time in recruiting new members. We'll develop a more concrete plan when you return from your visit to our good friends in the Ratway."

Tabby nodded. "Right. I'll leave first thing in the morning."

"After all," Nazir added. "We'll need some help if we are to fully execute our revenge."

That revenge, as Tabby, Babette and Nazir had agreed upon, was to wipe out every single member of the Penitus Oculatus. Even if it took them the rest of their lives, they were united in their eye-for-an-eye philosophy.

Nazir busied himself setting up his cooking pot, and Babette was laying out three bedrolls by the small fire they had coaxed out. Tabby slipped down a nearby corridor, but not before she heard Nazir say:

"I don't know, Babette. She's always been a stony one, but she still isn't the same…"

Tabby wandered to the room where not so long ago she had "killed" Cicero. It was somehow even colder there than the common area. She sank to her knees, and finally let the first tears she had shed in years leak from her eyes.

Everything had been ruined. She had finally found a family, only to have them ripped away from her. The only place she had ever called home had been destroyed. And now she was stuck with a title she did not want in a dark, dingy sanctuary that was not her own. She knew she had to continue on, for Nazir and Babette's sake, and for the future of the Brotherhood. But as she let an agonized scream escape from her lips, she began to wish that she had died in the attack on Falkreath.

She felt a small hand on her shoulder then, and she turned her head to lock eyes with Babette.

"Living for two hundred years, I've lost a lot of people that I loved," The vampire said. "But I'll never forget the first time."

"Who was it?"

"My baby sister. Long, long ago, when I was human. One day we were playing in the garden together; the next, she came down with a fever that she never awakened from."

"I'm sorry, Babette. I had no idea." Tabby kicked herself for never having asked about Babette's family. She figured they were so long dead that it no longer mattered.

"I'm not trying to gain your sympathy. I'm just saying that experiencing a loss is difficult beyond measure. And being human - especially a human as young as you - makes you feel the pain more strongly. But time heals all things. I promise you that."

"I never had anyone who mattered to me until I joined the Brotherhood. I had grown used to being alone."

"You're not alone now, Listener. You have me and Nazir, but you have so much more. Our brothers and sisters still walk beside you. They whisper to you from the Void. And they will be waiting to embrace you when your time comes."


Biting marine wind greeted her the next morning as she hauled open the Black Door. Tabby had to admit that it was nice to be close to the sea, though it was nothing compared to the beauty of her pine forests. As she readied to mount Shadowmere, she tried to shake the numbness that still enveloped her. She needed to have her wits about her to do business with the Thieves Guild…

"Listener!"

Tabby startled, and was momentarily jarred out of her fog. She turned in the direction of the voice, and her eyes nearly bulged out her sockets.

"What in the name of Sithis…"

But really, how could she be surprised? A second Oblivion Crisis couldn't keep Cicero from his sweet Mother - or his dear Listener.

"Thought that I'd be halfway across Cyrodiil by now, didn't you?" Cicero clapped his hands in glee. "Not so! Loyal Cicero hid in this icy dump for weeks, sure that his Listener would return for him someday. And she has! All hail the Listener!"

Needless to say, Nazir was unimpressed by the jester's return. "Why am I not surprised?" He said, casting a raised eyebrow Tabby's way. But Babette flashed a toothy grin, saying it would be nice to have another person in the new Sanctuary who wasn't a complete grump, and that was that. Tabby turned to leave once more as Cicero settled down to fuss over the Night Mother, scolding all three of the others for their inadequate care of Her body. She caught Nazir mouthing the words "help me" at her over Cicero's shoulder, and she couldn't help a small smile.

They were a ragtag bunch, the four of them. A child of night. A stalker of the sands. A fool driven to madness. The youngest - and perhaps most incompetent - Listener the Brotherhood had seen in centuries. But they were still family. And personal preferences aside, they had a place where they were safe. Where they could rebuild. One way or another, her family lived on


The Thieves' Guild, despite also being down on their luck of late, had been uncharacteristically helpful to the Dark Brotherhood through this whole Emperor plot. But Tabby still didn't trust any of them as far as she could throw them. She remained polite to Delvin Mallory as they discussed the refurbishments for the Dawnstar Sanctuary, but colder than ever. She laughed at none of his jokes, and refused his request to spin around so he could get a better look at the lovely new Listener.

Delvin laughed cruelly. "Love, the Brotherhood must really be in trouble if you're the best leader they've got. You've got about as much charisma as a rotting Skeever corpse."

"Forgive me for not feeling jovial days after my entire Sanctuary has been murdered."

That sobered Delvin up. "My apologies, Listener. I am truly sorry for your loss. Especially about Astrid. Now there was a hell of a woman."

"Indeed there was."

Delvin counted out Tabby's gold carefully. "It's no secret that we've not been doing well of late. This will be an enormous boon to us. At the very least, it'll help me pay our thieves for their work." He slid a receipt across the table. "We've got a new member who's flying through jobs faster than we can hand them out. Maybe he's the one who can finally turn things around for us."

"Well, if he decides he likes killing people more than taking their things, feel free to send him my way," Tabby said, which earned a laugh from Delvin.

After emerging from the Ratway she willed herself not to stop at Balimund's forge, but in that moment he was the only person she wanted to see. The blacksmith smiled warmly at the sight of her, but something in her eyes must have alerted him that something had gone wrong.

"You alright, Tabby? You look like something terrible's happened," He said, his brow crinkling in worry.

Tabby took a deep breath, intending to say, "I'm fine, thank you." But instead the floodgates opened, and she found herself telling him everything she could, taking care to change the most compromising details. Her voice wavered with true grief as she told Balimund a modified story of how marauders had attacked her family's home in the countryside, killing most of her family and sending the rest into hiding in Dawnstar. Tears welled up in her eyes once again she recalled the mounting panic as she realized she was too late to save them, the unparalleled pain as she discovered corpse after corpse of her loved ones, until she was sobbing too hard to speak. Balimund wrapped his strong arms around her and sat her on his bench, and she buried her head in his chest, breathing in his scent of leather and soot. He murmured apologies and soothing words in her ear until she finally exhausted all her tears.

"What will you do now?" Balimund asked softly when it seemed Tabby was capable of words.

"Not a clue." Tabby grabbed at her cowl, using the face mask to dab at her eyes. "My sister and brothers expect me to join them in Dawnstar, of course. But I hate it there. It just isn't my home. And I don't know if I can bear to be cooped up in such an empty place that should be filled with the people I loved."

Balimund was quiet. He seemed to be thinking hard. "I took Asbjorn from Honorhall when he was just a boy," He said. "I wanted an apprentice, but it turned out that I gained a son. He smiled, as if remembering some fond memory. "I'm not sure how old you are, but if you wanted to stay with me, learn the smithing trade, I don't mind taking on another apprentice."

Oh, how badly she wanted to take Balimund up on his offer. And yet, how fully she knew that she couldn't.

"You're incredibly kind," She said. "But as much as I would love to never set foot in Dawnstar again…my family needs me, and I could never abandon them like that."

Balimund smiled. "Your loyalty is admirable. Go take care of your family, Tabby. But know that if you need any favor at all, Balimund is your man. And that you always have a home when you're in Riften."

Tabby, overcome with gratitude and emotion, pushed back her cowl. For the first time, they stood truly face to face. "Thank you, my friend," She said, struggling to keep her voice from wavering. "I'm more grateful than you'll ever know."

Balimund placed a dry, cracked hand on her shoulder. "You've been a good friend to me. That means something. And you deserve a lot better than the lot you've been dealt so far." He smiled sadly. "Now go home. Take care of your family. Things will turn around for you soon."

"I hope so."