Kirk and Arkady found themselves face to face with a burley looking man with red hair and a massive, bushy beard. Flanking him were a slightly taller, skinny man with shaggy black hair and a short woman with long braided hair and brilliant green eyes. All three of them were armed to the teeth and looked ready to kill.
"And just who the fook are you two?" the red headed man asked, pointing his shotgun at Kirk's head.
Kirk stared at the man, relatively certain he did not want to answer. However, against his better judgment, Kirk answered anyway. "I'm Kirk, and that's Arkady." he said, nodding at Arkady. "We're with the FreakAngels clan out of Whitechapel."
"Oh are ye now?" the read headed man asked. "Well that certainly makes this interesting, now doesn't it?"
Kirk did not respond. He was not sure what this man was playing at, but he was sure he didn't want to know. There was something off about these three and though Kirk wasn't sure what it was, he was sure they meant nothing but trouble for him and Arkady.
Arkady, on the other hand, seemed completely oblivious to the strange vibe. Indeed, she seemed more intrigued by these three than put off. She stared at the three of them, trying to figure them out without reading their minds but her attempts were proving unsuccessful. Finally, overcome by her curiosity, Arkady casually stepped towards the three reaching out for them like a child reaching for a toy.
"Arkady!" Kirk hissed, moving to grab her before she got herself hurt. Instantly, three guns rose to meet his face, stopping him dead.
"Whoa there laddie. What the fook do ye think yer doin'?" the red headed man asked. Kirk glared at the man and did not answer, out of fear he might shoot Arkady.
Arkady ignored this exchange and casually placed her hand on the barrel of the man's shotgun, pushing it down so it aimed at the ground. She then looked the man directly in the eye and asked, in barely more than a whisper, "Do you know Alice?"
The man looked at her, slightly taken aback by her question. "Alice?" he asked. "You mean Alice Mahoney?" Arkady nodded. "Yeah, I know her. I ran guns with her brothers, till they was killed. That was weeks ago, I haven't seen Alice since."
"That's because she's been living with us, in Whitechapel." Arkady said, with a smile.
"Oh, has she now?" the red headed man asked. "Well, why didn't ye say so, coulda saved us a arseload of time."
"Oh, right, cuz we were supposed to know that while we were sitting here with your fucking guns pointed at our heads." Kirk muttered.
"Ah shut yer trap, ye fooking knobend." the red headed man muttered, rolling his eyes.
Kirk opened his mouth to say something, but a look from Arkady made him stop. He glanced at her before casting a dark look at their new companions. Arkady ignored him and turned her attention back to the three.
"So, what're your names?" she asked, glancing at each of them in turn.
"Well, my name's Seamus O'Connell." the red headed man said, grinning at Arkady. "This here is Liam Wentworth." he said, gesturing at the thin man on his right. "And this lovely lass is Molly Dawson." He gestured at the woman on his left.
"It's nice to meet you both." Arkady said, smiling. Liam and Molly both nodded and Seamus grinned again, apparently happy to have some new friends. Kirk simply stared at the others, not amused at all by the way this encounter was going.
"Say hello Kirk." Arkady said, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.
Kirk sighed. "Alright, it's nice to meet you." he muttered, not looking at the others.
"Aye, nice to meet you too." Seamus said, glancing from Kirk to Arkady. "Not a very friendly bugger, is he?"
"Oh Kirk's just a bit put off, you know." said Arkady. "You aren't like other people we've met from outside of Whitechapel and I think that bothers him. He really is a nice guy, you just gotta give him a bit."
"Fair enough." Seamus said, nodding. "Well, come on then, let's get going. We got a place 'round the corner from here an' you two look like you could use some food."
Arkady nodded and they set off, arriving at Seamus' place, an old run down mill, minutes later. "Well this is it, me home." said Seamus proudly. "There's 'round six of us living here, you'll meet the others once we're inside."
They entered the building to find three other people waiting inside, who all looked up as the group entered. "Get up and say hello, we got guests tonight." Seamus bellowed, setting his shotgun down by the door. The other three stood and shook hands with Kirk and Arkady, all of them surprised to see people with such pale skin and violet eyes. Seamus introduced the others, John, a tall, muscular man who had worked for the railroad before the crash; Lizette, a highly spiritual black woman; and Jane, a shy and silent young girl. After the introductions were made, Seamus and his little adopted family set about making dinner, while Arkady and Kirk sat in silence, patiently waiting.
"So this Alister bloke just showed up at your place and tore your fucking tower down?" Liam asked, several hours later.
"Yeah, and then he just blinked me and Kady up here." said Kirk. "No idea how he did it."
"Seems like your package is a pretty raw deal to me." John muttered.
"Yeah, well nothing can be done about it." Kirk muttered. "We were born like this and if there was a way to get rid of it, we would have by now."
"Well, some of us would have." said Arkady. "Lord knows, I would keep mine." Kirk nodded and smiled. He had finally accepted that these people were not going to hurt them and was much more relaxed than he had been several hours earlier. They had been trading stories for hours, mostly listening to Kirk and Arkady explain things about the FreakAngels and how the Package worked. Liam and Molly were particularly intrigued by the idea that there were people who could do things just by thinking about them. The conversation lasted long into the night, before everyone finally passed out.
The next morning, after eating some breakfast Kirk and Arkady set off to continue their journey home. They still hadn't regained full control of the Package, so Arkady was unable to teleport, but it didn't matter. They had made it to Manchester just fine by walking and they would make it to Whitechapel that way too.
"Well, it was nice meeting yer." Seamus said, as he saw them off. "Give Alice my best, would ya?"
"Will do." Kirk said, nodding. With that, he and Arkady set off, heading back to a home they had not seen in days. Unknown to them, they would be returning to a home scarred by the ravages of war and the sorrow of losing someone they loved.
A/N: Again, as with everything else, sorry for the wait. Lack of internet and all that shit. Also, I want to say, if you haven't started reading the actual FreakAngels comic, you really should. It's getting really fucking interesting.
