The Cop

Kate slapped a clip into her pistol, and glanced around the corner before turning to Jenny.

"Ear plugs?"

Jenny nodded.

"Okay, get ready to go," Kate ordered.

"Dual wielding pistols greatly decreases accuracy and quickly depletes ammunition," Jenny observed, "most humans don't have the physical strength and visual tracking…"

"They're vampires who think that bullets can't hurt them in a narrow hallway, and we only need to make it a few yards," Kate whispered, "get ready…"

Kate stepped out into the hall, and was met by a half dozen vampires, each with a cocky grin plastered on their face.

"Come on, human, you'd have better luck with a water gun," said one of the vampires, "the Black Circle wants the kid. Hand her over, and we won't drain you dry."

"My counter offer," Kate raised both guns, and pulled the triggers.

Kate saw the exact moment when those smug grins were wiped of the vampires faces. The bullets struck undead flesh, and the smug grins changed into painful shock. They fell backwards. Scrambling over one another as their instincts rediscovered their morality.

As the vampires fled, Jenny ran past Kate and swung the safe-room door open. Kate quickly stepped inside, and slammed the door

"That'll hold them, right?" Kate asked.

They heard a pair of screams, followed by a string of profanity.

"Okay," Kate holstered both guns and covered Jenny's ears, leading her away from the door, "we're safe for the moment, but we need to sweep the room, okay?"

Kate drew one gun, and swept both rooms. She came to the bathroom, and she nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw a shadow against the curtains. But she kept calm, and knew how to react.

Magic doesn't create brains, Kate thought to herself. She shot the vampire once in the head, and watched as the creature turned to dust.

"Clear!" Kate shouted.

"They're still trying to make it through the door," Jenny reported.

"Could they get to this room from underneath?" asked Kate

"No, the spell is a three hundred and sixty effect," Jenny said, "it negates fire, lightning, most major forms of magic, poison gas, teleportation, charms…"

"I got it," Kate said, "any idea how long until your Dad gets back?"

Jenny glanced at her phone, "According to this, given traffic conditions, I'd estimate half an hour."

"Been in worse sieges," Kate remarked. She slumped down in a chair facing the door, and laid one of her Glocks on the table, while keeping the other close at hand.

As good as Jenny's bullets were for dealing with vampires, they were absolute hell on the barrels. Dirt and powder built up like no one's business, and in Kate's opinion not cleaning them immediately was the same as holding a blade to her neck.

"So did you leave any emergency rations?" Kate smiled at Jenny, "or did they all somehow disappear?"

"They were within three months of expiring," Jenny said, glancing aside, "or so I heard."

"Well, we shouldn't be here that long," Kate said with an easy smile, but her eyes never left the door, "you have any cards, or a game on that thing?"

"Several dozen," Jenny said, "but…could we talk instead?"

Kate raised an eyebrow, "Sure, sweetie."

Jenny twiddled her fingers, before she said, "Why don't you like me?"

Kate chuckled despite herself, "Just like your dad, you don't ask easy questions, do you?"

"Ummm…"

"It's okay, honey," Kate said, "what makes you think that I don't like you?"

"You constantly talk to Angel about my living arrangements," Jenny said, "and you question his ability to raise me."

"Well, that's misstating it a little," Kate said, "you see, honey, you living here isn't strictly legal."

"An unjust law is no law at all," Jenny said.

Kate rolled her eyes, "I know where you got that quote from, kiddo, and Jim Crow laws and foster care laws are two different things."

"Angel loves me," Jenny said softly.

"I know he does, honey, and so does Faith, and so do I," Kate said, "but honestly, sometimes that's not enough. You've been through a lot, Jenny, and if you were in foster care you would be able to get the help you need."

"I don't need any help," Jenny said, half convinced.

"That's up for debate, sweetie," Kate said gently. She saw how Jenny recoiled at the suggestion that she wasn't 'well', "most kids your age don't eat cigarette butts."

"…I thought they were food," Jenny said defensively.

"Did they taste like food?" Kate asked, "and if you were hungry, why didn't you just ask for something to eat?"

"…I didn't want to bother anyone," Jenny said.

"Of course," Kate said in a practiced tone that expertly conveyed polite disbelief, "may I ask if you keep a stash of food hidden in your room?"

"No!" Jenny defended, rationalizing the answer away because she didn't keep a stash per say, but rather cycled it out on a regular basis.

"If you say so," Kate said. After so many years as a detective, she had gained a sixth sense when it came to answers, and she knew instinctively which ones came too fast, or with too much thought.

But at the same time, she didn't want to really challenge Jenny's answers either. Kids were sensitive by nature, every cop knew that, and orphans and foster kids even more so. They were aware of the world's harsh realities, but in many ways, lacked the ability to truly cope with them. Kate only wanted to make a point, and now that she had, she knew that she'd also have to pull Jenny back off the edge.

"It's not that I don't think Angel, Faith and everyone else doesn't love you as much as life itself, they do," Kate said, "it's that they're not trained to provide the kind of help you need."

"…I think they're doing fine," Jenny said softly.

"Of course, honey," Kate glanced towards the reinforced door, locked shut by a deadbolt that could stop a car and strengthened further still by magic. You could barely hear the vampires trying to beat their way in, "I'm sorry if I upset you. I just want what's best for you, believe it or not."

Jenny looked down.

"I'm guessing not," Kate said.

"I'm sorry, it's just…"

"Don't worry about it, I'm not offended," Kate said, "I know how confusing this can be."

"It is," Jenny said, "the people who should have liked me hate me, and the people who are supposed to hate me love me…"

"There is no one in this world who is supposed to hate you," Kate said sharply, "no one."

"But…"

"Being born isn't a crime," Kate said, "and don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise."

A pregnant pause hanged in the air.

"Kate?" Jenny said finally, "can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot, honey."

"Why doesn't anyone believe in magic?"

Kate took a second to chew over the answer. She didn't know if Jenny was subtly asking about her own suicide attempt, or her mother's own…issues, but either way it deserved a careful answer.

"I suppose it's because society teaches us by omission that there's no such thing as demons and vampires," Kate said finally, "they're fairy tales, the signs of an overactive imagination or a million other things. Anyone who says otherwise is just some wanna-be star trying to make a name for themselves."

"But…even after Hell A?"

"Afraid so," Kate shrugged, "Even after that, honey. The more outrageous something appears, the more people will deny it. I still remember a woman who went on national television and declared world peace. But if you asked anyone about it, you'd get a million different stories, government conspiracy, cult leader…"

Kate sighed.

"And honestly, learning about the supernatural doesn't make anything better. After I learned your dad was a real, honest to God vampire, I started playing Agent Mulder…"

"Why? He's a guy," Jenny said.

Kate raised an eyebrow, "Oh, you actually got that reference, huh?"

"Connor and me watch X-Files on Netflix," Jenny explained, "it's really funny. What they get wrong about magic alone…!"

"Anyways, when I started playing Agent Mulder, for every legitimate demon or vampire I actually found, I made up at least three more," Kate explained, "without a frame of reference to go from, solid facts to work from, I just spiraled further and further down."

Kate took a moment to reflect on the elephant in the room, or rather, the mother. When Angel told Kate the gritty details, the former Detective honestly did her best not to ask how a mother could willingly forget her own child.

Kate now realized the question should have been, how did Fred ever reclaim her own sanity after it all? Kate knew better than most the fear and self doubt that accompanied the discovery of magic.

Fred was lost on another world, something so easy to say yet not fully understand. In her short time in Pylea, Kate observed flora she didn't recognize, animals by way of Lovecraft and an entirely different law of physics, if the two suns and Angel not bursting into flame at the touch of daylight was any indication.

Fred was thrown into the deep end, in every way when it came to the supernatural. It came as no shock to anyone she went off the deep end mentally, though, Kate reflected, it also shouldn't have come as any surprise that she didn't return whole.

"Oh," Jenny said.

"Most people who know about the supernatural, only know a small fragment, just a small glimpse," said Kate, "they know enough to be scared to the point of hysteria, but little else. They're crackpots, and I'm a little ashamed to say that I used to be one. That's why no one listens to your dad when he talks about magic, because for every one guy who can calmly explain things, there are a dozen others who'll scream about how they were attacked by a vampire in a dark alley, or cursed by a demon."

"But…they were," Jenny said, "well…probably. Isn't that evidence enough?"

"It was dark and they were imagining things," Kate replied, "or bad luck, or they just want attention. That's the standard hand wave. Looking back, I know I did it a few times."

Jenny took a moment to reflect, before she dared ask…

"So if magic, demons and stuff don't exist in society, what about me?"