A/N: Hello everyone, massive apologies for the long delay on this chapter, things have got pretty hectic IRL. We are not far from the end and I am determined to finish, so just stick with me. As always read, review and enjoy! :)

Chapter 25

"Hold still now my boy. Struggling will only increase the pain."

I felt the needle slid under my skin somewhere near my ear, then the burning, maddening agony that signalled the serum entering my bloodstream. The tight leather straps pulled against my wrists as I strained against them. I could feel my chest expanding and the air rushing out of my open mouth but the sound of my scream was distant and detached from me. The pain was all I could think about.

"There. All done, that wasn't so bad was it?" The soft tone of Dr Ort-Meyer's voice was like a soothing balm amid all the fire swirling through my body. Still, an overwhelming feeling of nausea gripped my stomach as the familiar shadow of the Doctor loomed into my limited vision. I couldn't see the room I was in, or much of anything for that matter. The pain and disorientation of waking up in this situation blurred the edges of my sight. What little I did see was masked by a blinding white light that suddenly shone into my face, the only reprieve being the figure or my tormentor stood in the centre of the halo.

I squinted up at him, only realising then that my head was restrained by more tight leather straps. His features swam in and out of focus, but I observed enough to see his head shake from side to side in a small gesture of dismay.

"I really didn't want to have to do this to you again. But you disappoint me my son." I tried to make sense of my creator's words, but it was like trying to move through treacle. I blinked dumbly up at him as his face slowly moved into view, outlined by the harsh light behind him. He was wearing a dissatisfied expression as he continued in a saddened voice. "I had hoped the first round would have severed the connection with your emotional centres, but alas, I find you expressing 'feelings' for something other than yourself."

I frowned up at the man in front of me, unable to comprehend the meaning in his words. Feelings, emotions, what was he talking about? I had never possessed those things. I was untainted. A blank slate. A perfect predator.

"Good, good. You're recovering well, maybe we can proceed with the test sooner than expected." I felt my muscles tense automatically at the mention of a test. I was used to them now; every day was an endless series of tests and medical procedures. The only thing that broke up the painful monotony was being released to complete 'assignments'. I found killing was a cathartic exercise for me, the only time anything made sense in my perplexing existence. It was the only thing I lived for.

Suddenly the bright light disappeared and I was plunged into a brief moment of darkness as my eyes struggled to adjust. I wanted to turn my head and assess my surroundings, every instinct I had wanted to free myself from the restraints but I knew better than to cause a problem here. From my limited view I could see I was in one of the assessment rooms in the institute. It was a perfect square with one door in and out. I was positioned so I was facing said doorway, my head tilted slightly back so looking at it was difficult.

My eyes were well adjusted now and I looked on with vague curiosity as the door opened and a limp figure was dragged in by two guards. It was a woman which surprised me initially. Members of the opposite sex were all but non-existent in the institute. All my brothers were obviously male and the staff and doctors were also exclusively male, the only woman I had encountered previously was a nurse that had been allowed to treat me in my younger years. This woman didn't look like a nurse. She looked like a fugitive, or a prostitute. She was stripped to her underwear and was obviously in a bad state.

The guards dumped her unceremoniously on the hard floor in front of me. One of them bent and grabbed a fistful of her hair, yanking on it roughly to force her head up. The light that had been blinding me previously was now trained on her, throwing ugly shadows across her dramatically beaten face. I lazily scanned her, taking in her injuries one by one. A broken jaw, lacerations on the face and neck, bruising from asphyxiation, several cut wounds along her exposed arms, a broken rib or two; telling from her laboured breathing and slight wheeze, a broken femur and mild internal bleeding marked by the slowly blooming red patch beneath the skin on her stomach.

"What do you think 47? Any stirrings? Any feelings of disgust at what we have done to your friend here?" I finished my assessment of the strange woman and flicked a confused glance towards my creator. He stood to one side, his gaze trained eagerly on me, taking notes.

"I don't know this person." I answered in a thick voice. The screaming from earlier had done more damage than I thought.

"You don't? Why that is excellent. But just for the sake of science why don't you look a little harder, see if my serum really did do the job this time." The Doctor's voice was as smooth as oil as he replied, a joyous grin breaking across his face. Perplexed, I returned my attention to the woman, unsure what the purpose of this bizarre test was.

As soon as I looked at her the guard not holding her head up delivered a vicious kick to her chest. There was the familiar sound of breaking bones as his foot connected and the woman let out a sharp grunt before coughing up a slimy pool of blood. I felt my lip curl in mild disgust, unsure what it was I was meant to be 'feeling'. All I could think about was how the bones would have felt breaking beneath my foot and how I would proceed to end this woman's misery swiftly. A broken neck seemed like the logical choice.

Just then the woman let out a muted cry and strained against the guard's grip as she caught sight of me in the chair. "47? Is that you?"

Her voice was British, of that much I was certain, but there was a strange lilt to her accent I couldn't place. I was sure I hadn't heard it before but there was a familiarity to it that tugged on the back spaces of my mind. I looked at her face in detail now, the long matted brown hair that was being held taunt in the guard's closed fist. Her somewhat rounded face gave her a friendly, open appearance. Blood trickled slowly from her mouth, her lips framed by deep lines showing she tended to smile a lot. I scanned her features and found my gaze being dragged to her eyes. The most striking part of her largely nondescript face. They were wide and staring as she looked at me. A deep, velvety brown; fairly common in a lot of people however there was something in them that sent a harsh stabbing pain through my chest.

I tried to recoil from the blow but had nowhere to retreat to. Ort-Meyer shifted next to me as he noticed my flinch, a displeased look crossing his face. "So you do remember her. Tell me what's her name?" His voice had lost all its soothing qualities, replaced by cold steel. I felt something stir in the back of my mind as I registered his displeasure at me. But those eyes, I couldn't look away. It was as if the woman was staring straight through me, reading my thoughts. I opened and closed my mouth as I tried to answer my creator. He suddenly moved forward and grabbed my arm painfully, brandishing his syringe once more. "Her name 47?"

The eyes I was locked onto began to glisten as tears formed. That look she was giving me, what was it? The pain stabbed again at my chest, coupled with the discomfort of the Doctor's grip. The guard who had kicked her moved forward again and delivered another blow to her abdomen. She let out a harsh cry and the pain in my chest doubled instantaneously. She didn't look away from me and abruptly a word popped into my head. No, not a word, a feeling. Desperation. She was desperate.

"47 please, don't let them do this. Save her." I frowned, pushing through the fog of confusion in my head. Why was it so slow?

"Another round should do it. Kill these ridiculous emotions you have." Ort-Meyer growled out of my vision. I felt the pin-prick of the needle at my neck. Save her? Who? A name began to surface from the depths of my memory. I tried to grasp at it, eager to end this odd test I was in. It began with an M sound. What was it?

The guard kicked at her stomach again and much to my alarm I felt the impact hit me as well. I let out a huff of surprise as my body tried to double over in pain. The tears began to spill from her brown eyes, one ran down her bruised cheek. I wished I could touch the trail it left on her skin. The thought was like a lightning bolt.

"Morgan." I spat out. My voice not my own. It was filled with sadness, anger and desperation. She smiled at me, the gesture making my gut twist.

"Morgan? Is that it? Well, we'll soon wipe that name from your mind." The Doctor's voice sounded faraway. Another time. All I could see was Morgan's battered and broken body, the way the guard held her roughly. The need for me to break that hand and the foot that was daring to touch her. I felt helpless and frustrated at my inability to protect her, although she didn't seem to mind the two men assaulting her now. She was still stubbornly pleading with me.

"Save her, for me. She's all that matters." I tried to make sense of her words, then the glint of a blade caught my eye and with a wave of nauseating fear I watched as the guard drove it deep into Morgan's stomach. She choked, her eyes never leaving mine. I struggled against my bonds, but I had no power here.

"No, no, no. Morgan, don't do this please, don't go." The blood was no longer a trickle, it was a river running from her mouth. The guard twisted the blade cruelly as she convulsed, her life leaking from her over his hand. "Get off her. I'll kill you!" I shouted in an uncontrollable rage; but for once in my life those words were hollow and useless as the light slowly faded from her beautiful, brown eyes.

My scream jolted me awake and I sat bolt upright, a cold, clammy sheen of sweat covering my chest. It took me a minute to steady my heart rate, that dream had been so real. I had to stop myself from looking around the room for Morgan's lifeless corpse. I let out a heavy sigh and attempted to get up but found my path blocked by a small figure standing by the side of my bed.

"You had a bad dream." The child stated simply, her blue eyes unwavering as she stared at me. I didn't respond, rubbing a hand over my face to clear the remnants of the nightmare. A feeling of unease settled over me at the thought of her standing there watching me sleep, her bright eyes glowing in the darkness. I couldn't shake the image of Morgan's eyes though, glassy and dead, from my mind and clenched my jaw tightly as I dropped my head into my hands. "You were shouting and moving a lot in your sleep."

I continued to ignore her, hoping if I didn't speak or look at her she might go away. I could feel the shame rising at my weakness; dreaming was a side effect of emotions, they disturbed the sleep cycle and so made me sloppy. I let out another growling sigh as the image of Morgan bleeding out refused to stop haunting me. The child shuffled next to me, the unease radiating from her evident without looking.

"I have them too." Her voice was small and nervous and I couldn't help looking up at the child. She was staring at me, her eyes filled with concern, for me? I wasn't sure. "Ma said I would scream the house down until she came running. I liked it when she hugged me after."

"What were they about?" The question leapt out of me before I could register it. I was loathed to interact with the child too much seeing as I was sending her off to the mercy of Cicada, but curiosity got the better of me. She frowned for a moment, trying to remember.

"I don't know really. I was in a place I hadn't been before. A large white room. There were men there, with masks on. They would come towards me with needles. I remember it hurting." I felt the stirrings of something resembling pity deep in my stomach. The ghost of Victoria rose unbidden in my memory. I had treated her with the same reluctant distain as I treated the child now, until that was she had told me about the Doctors Diana had rescued her from. I pushed the thought down quickly; forming the same kind of relationship with this child was ill advised, especially when it was a question of her or Morgan. But was it?

Before I could get a handle on this new train of thought the girl shrugged and began to turn away from me. "Ma always said not to worry about them. They were only dreams after all, so don't worry Tobias." She trotted off towards her bed again, giving me room to breathe. Her use of my alias jolted me out of my post nightmare stupor and I rose to my feet fluidly.

"Get ready. We'll head out as soon as your dressed. Time to see your mother." The child flashed me an excited grin and bolted towards the bathroom. I stared after her icily but those guilty rumblings were growing louder as I made a move to get my clothes.

Save her. Morgan's desperate words echoed again in my head and I felt a cold shiver run up my spine.

1,235,260 square feet. Plenty of space to blend in; plenty of space for something to go wrong.

I scanned the busy parking area, watching the flow of people in and out of the main entrance. Apprehension twisted my gut as the odd decision for Cicada to do the exchange in a busy public place niggled at my mind. I had calmed down significantly since yesterday. Stopping had cleared my head of all the wayward emotions that had been firing off inside of me since discovering Morgan was gone. I was reluctant to admit it but the child had ended up helping me.

She was stood next to me now, staring fascinated at the lines of people curving around us. There was an open innocence to her simple wonder at the seemingly mundane scene that reminded me of my first glimpse of the outside world. She may have escaped being shut in a lab for most of her life but she had still been confined to the isolated scrubland of Morgan's family farm. I suppose a busy American shopping mall would be overwhelming to someone who had only ever seen sheep in such large crowds before.

Summarising there was nothing out of place out here I began to move towards the entrance. The coordinates Cicada had given me didn't enlighten me as to where within the mall they intend to meet, but I was certain they would be watching via the three hundred security cameras dotted around the massive building.

As we passed through the automatic doors I let my instincts take over; the general hubbub of the mall faded out into a low constant hum, and my eyes habitually started the process of scanning my surroundings for any small details that might signal an ambush. The apprehension I had felt before entering only intensified now as I led us further into the mall. I was vaguely aware of the child keeping pace with me somewhere by my right knee, but all my senses were dedicated to assessing this more than disadvantageous position I had been put in.

Normally I would have made myself more inconspicuous, but I had the feeling that method would only work against me in this scenario. My mind drifted to thoughts of Morgan tied up somewhere in the mall, then logic set in and the chances of her being kept here were slim to none. Every fibre of my being sensed a trap however this was the best way to get a lead on where to go next, and Cicada would be sorely disappointed if they thought they were going to get their prize without giving up what belonged to me.

I gave my bargaining chip a cursory glance, she was still following obediently by my side but her attention was fixated on the morning rush around her. She was still wearing the grey skirt and pink polo shirt Diana had given her and I saw one or two women flash her fond looks before giving me appreciative glances. I didn't like the presumed friendliness I received when I was with the child. People, women especially, seemed to take her presence with me as an open invitation to stare at us. I liked to go unnoticed and she was drawing far too much attention.

I quickened my pace as if to relieve myself faster of this suddenly noticed inconvenience, and found myself descending down a flight of stairs leading to a lower level. The mall was made up of three tiers, all curving round in a semicircle. The centre of the mall was an open atrium with shops lining each side, there were few places to hide, which ordinarily would have irked me, but now I considered it an advantage as ambushes in this modern architecture were a lot harder to conceal.

The level I now found myself on was the lower shopping level and the traffic was denser down here. I weaved my way through the crowds easily, watching the side-lines for anything that would signal Cicada's presence. It took me a few moments to remember to check the addition to my party and I was certain I would have lost the girl in the now close knit crowd. To my muted surprise I found her in the same place as before, shadowing my movement through the throng of people almost beat for beat. She didn't look flustered or afraid, simply curious as she looked up at the people moving around her.

Satisfied I wasn't about to lose her I returned my focus to the shops on either side, scanning each front for that one anomaly. They passed by in a blur of inconsequential words until one grabbed my eye causing me to stop abruptly in the flow of people. A man behind me let out an annoyed grunt as he was forced to change direction; I ignored his angry stare as I looked at the front of what appeared to be a shop selling electronic items. It was quieter than the other stores around it and the products it was selling looked fairly high-end; the sort of thing Morgan would have been gushing over. However, it wasn't these things that had grabbed my attention so forcefully, it was the seemingly innocent sign in the bottom corner of the shop front.

Get the latest Cicada Co approved tech right here!

You can't escape them, they're everywhere.

I felt my brow furrow as I scanned the two lines of text again and again. I had seen other signs and adverts almost identical to this one plastered in every shop window and roadside billboard for the past five years, it shouldn't have stood out at all. It was the statement made on the second line; you can't escape them, that made my senses twitch and had brought me to standstill in the middle of a busy shopping mall. Even now I could sense people giving me odd looks as they passed, something that should have made my skin crawl in discomfort but my mind was too busy analysing the sign to care.

My muscles tightened in alarm as a small hand gripped mine suddenly, giving it a sharp tug to draw my attention away from the store and down to my right knee. The child was looking up at me, perplexed, as she yanked on my hand. Her bright blue eyes querying my unexpected pause. I frowned down at her unsure what to do now, abruptly feeling a little foolish for wandering round this cavernous mall aimlessly hoping for Cicada to pop up out of nowhere. I had just decided to make my way back out and collect my haphazard thoughts when a thin, reedy voice piped up.

"Sir, can I help you?" I looked away from the child and saw a man, no boy more like, stood in the entrance to the electronics' store. He matched his voice perfectly, scrawny arms poking out of his work issued short sleeve shirt, and nervous watery eyes regarding me warily from a pimple ridden face. I blinked at him slowly, my mouth opening to assure him I was well and needed no assistance when he spoke up again in a wavering voice. "You've been staring at that sign for a while, maybe we have what you're looking for in here."

I shut my mouth with a snap. The boy looked terrified; I could have put it down to him not being especially comfortable with talking to strangers, his appearance would suggest this was likely. But there was a stink of something on him, even from this distance I could smell it, the familiar tang of someone fearing for their life. Something was definitely wrong.

Feeling a growing sense of foreboding I moved towards him, sidestepping artfully through the still flowing crowd. The boy swallowed noisily as I came to a stop in front of him, towering over his lithe frame. "Maybe you can." I said in a low voice, watching with keen interest as the boy flinched. His eyes briefly flicked down to the girl who was still pinned to my side, a flash of recognition lighting them up before he snapped them back to my face. It was all I needed to confirm my suspicions, this was the person Cicada had sent to meet me.

Annoyance swept through me at the sight of this pathetic specimen quivering in his shoes at just my mere presence. Did Cicada think this was a game? Threatening me and taking my partner only to present this prepubescent boy as their spokesman. I felt the anger I had forcibly suppressed begin to float to the surface again, I could snap every bone in his body without breaking a sweat and get the location of Morgan without having to pander to Cicada's needs anymore. Then an icy finger of reasoning slipped into my emotion filled planning. Cicada had done this to me before, presenting an apparently simple solution for there to be a nasty catch. Drawing on my long, drawn out experience with them, nothing was ever as it seemed.

I relaxed my muscles and stared passively at the still terrified boy. He swallowed again, his pronounced Adam's apple bobbing comically in his throat. "Follow me sir." He squeaked as he reluctantly turned his back on me and led me into the eerily quiet store.

Looking at it from the inside I could instantly tell something was off, the only other people present with us were three other employees. There was absolutely no customers at all, apart from me. The boy led me into the middle of the store and stopped turning to look at me again; he let out a little whimper of surprise when he saw I was directly behind him. Evidently our silent approach had thrown him off-guard.

"My-er…boss tells me you're not looking for something new. You're looking to retrieve an old model, is that right?" My gaze darkened as I regarded this unconventional negotiator, he began to shake as my eyes bore into him, reading every twitch of his expression. If he wanted to speak in code that was fine with me, but I wasn't leaving this building now without a clear answer.

"That's right. My 'old model' was unfortunately taken away from me. Maybe you could ask around for its whereabouts." My tone was quiet but deadly as I felt a tiny twinge of satisfaction as the boy's knees began to buckle. Beads of sweat were breaking out on his forehead and I caught the smallest movement of his eyes towards an unoccupied corner of the store. So we were being watched, that was good to know.

"Y-yes. We can help." His voice jumped an octave on the yes, and I could see the other store members were just as pinned by terror as their unfortunate colleague was. "But-but first we require p-payment." The boy glanced down at the girl again, this time his face morphing from one of fear into a look of pity. His eyes snapped back to me as he felt my icy stare focusing in on him. "I'm afraid that's not how I do things. You give me what I want first, then I'll hold up my end of the deal." I half expected a puddle to appear at the feet of the boy with the look of abject horror he gave me.

"They-my boss wouldn't allow me to help until you give payment sir. I'm very sorry." I shot a frustrated look at the other employees and a venomous glance towards the corner the boy kept looking at. Cicada were trying to back me further into a corner and I felt my hand twitching closer to the holster inside my suit jacket. I could easily kill this boy's colleagues and force him to tell me but it would cause a scene for the busy rush outside the store. Now I was beginning to understand why Cicada had chosen this place for the meet. Still this noticeably unarmed, untrained band was an odd choice. It also appeared they were being coerced into doing this, I doubted whether any of these people were members of Cicada themselves.

"How can I be sure you even have what I'm looking for?" The boy jumped, swallowing again as he reached into his back pocket. My hand moved a little closer to my suit jacket as I watched him closely. With shaking hands he produced a rectangular piece of card, which, as he handed to me, I realised was a polaroid photograph. I took it slowly from him, flipping it over to see the image on the other side. Although I already had a pretty good idea what I would see.

Morgan was tied to a chair, her mouth gagged with a piece of fabric, long trails of blood dripping down from her hairline. I felt my throat tighten in anger as I scanned the bruises already blossoming on her exposed arms and face. The empty, helpless feeling of my nightmare threatened to return but I fought through it. It was a scene I had seen a thousand times before, usually with me standing over the victim trying to extract that crucial bit of intel before I ended their miserable existence. The only thing wrong with this picture was the look in Morgan's eyes. Instead of having her head bowed as most people who had taken such a beating would have, she was looking straight at the camera, her brown eyes blazing with defiance. My heart gave a painful twist as I looked at her brave expression, a small part of me proud at her reluctance to give in, but another much larger part of me silently willing her to act submissive. An interrogator was less likely to perform unnecessarily cruel acts if he thought his victim was weak. A defiant look like that would only serve to provoke her assailant.

The image began to shake and I found myself looking at my quivering hand holding the photo. "She need not suffer anymore. Hand over the child now and I will tell you where she is." My head whipped up as the boy uttered his demand. His voice still had a reedy warble to it but there was a mechanical edge to it as if someone was feeding him the lines.

"Not going to happen. There's nothing to tell me you won't all just disappear once you have her. Where's my assurance?" I spoke with a louder, more authoritarian tone, addressing whoever was talking to the boy in front of me rather than him. He didn't respond immediately, his eyes taking on a faraway look as he listened to the person I now knew for certain was whispering to him on an earpiece. I let my hand with the photo fall to my side, the abused image of Morgan burnt into my brain even out of sight.

After a moment the boy shook his head and replied to me in an apologetic tone. "You have none. That photograph is proof enough that we have what you want, but you must honour your end of the deal if you wish to see her in one piece again. If you leave now with the child we will take something from that which you cherish as punishment for your insubordination." I felt the cold flood of anger spread through my limbs at the manner in which this faceless puppet master was addressing me. Once again I was being treated like a mindless drone, useful only for completing orders.

Logically handing the girl over was the best option; I couldn't extract what I wanted without drawing attention to myself and risking Morgan. I was sure now that the nobodies in this store knew nothing, that the person with the intel I needed was hiding behind them, feeding them information when it suited. I could torture these idiots all I liked, but the information I wanted, along with the person who had it would be long gone from this boy's ear before I could break the first finger. To get what I wanted they had to have her. I let out a low growl of irritation as I made up my mind to concede. I looked down to where the child was stood next to me, as quiet as she had been since we arrived here. A brief moment of confusion crossed my face and I felt my eyes widen as I found the place where she had occupied a moment before empty.

I looked wildly towards the store entrance just in time to see a flash of pink and grey disappearing into the crowd. The boy stood in front of me let out a frightened whimper as he saw her disappear as well. I was only frozen for a minute before my instincts kicked my adrenaline up a gear. Without the child I had nothing to bargain for Morgan's whereabouts. Without so much as a backward glance at the boy I sprinted after the runaway child.

The flow of the crowd outside pushed against me as I sidestepped between them, staring over the tops of their heads searching for any sign of the girl. How had she got away from me so fast and without me hearing her? And what had made her bolt all of a sudden? It couldn't have been the conversation I was having, was she that perceptive?

I fought my way to the centre of the lower atrium and scanned the area, looking for a small flash of pink in amongst the living river of people. The anger and frustration I had felt back in the store was morphing into one of barely concealed panic. Then a familiar figure caught my attention, dancing nimbly up the escalator in front of me. She glanced back, her blue eyes standing out even from this distance before she was gone again. Quick as lightning.

I launched myself after her, weaving expertly through the startled crowd. Reaching the escalator in seconds I took the steps two at a time, forcing one elderly woman to let out a surprised shriek as I barrelled past her. I looked around sure that she wouldn't be far ahead but with a start I saw the girl in the distance, shooting between people's legs as she darted away from me. At full speed I could out run most, especially a child of her age, but this was obviously no ordinary child.

Gritting my teeth I began my pursuit again. Keeping my gaze firmly locked onto the rapidly retreating child. As dashed between the shoppers I could feel there shocked eyes following me, clearly linking me to the fleeing girl. My skin crawled under their accusing scrutiny, but there was something else. I felt the cold chill as if someone else was watching me, and although I had no proof I was certain who it was. Cicada.

I was gaining on the girl slowly, her path was haphazard and frantic, she was unsure where she was going. I pushed more speed into my legs as sidestepped past a group of women pushing prams. One of them called out behind me, "That man is chasing that girl!" And suddenly the curious looks I was getting felt a lot more hostile. It wouldn't do to finally catch the child to have a security guard make things difficult. A throw-away comment from the old woman at the convenience store surfaced in my mind, "your daughter is adorable." I decided to play along to limit the animosity I was currently attracting.

"Seren!" I yelled out as I sprinted after her. The girl's head snapped back to look at me, her eyes wide with surprise. "Seren come back here!" I tried again. This time she scowled at me, her eyes darkening, glinting with something ominous. She turned her head away, ignoring my hollow shouts. The crowd's mood however had shifted noticeably from suspicion to sympathy. I heard another female voice call out as I dashed past her.

"Someone stop that girl. Quickly!" A few people ahead of me heeded her cry and made a dive for the small girl. Predictably she slipped through their reaching hands with little effort, adjusting her course as more people tried to block her path. We were reaching the end of the mall and I felt a twinge of panic as the doors to the outside loomed ahead of us. In here I was limited by the amount of people, but so was she. I was struggling to make up any distance between us now, outside in the open I was sure I would lose her.

"Seren!" I almost growled as I sped up even more. Now that the crowd saw me as a desperate father instead of a mysterious pursuer of children, they parted easily before me like water. This gave me the advantage I needed and I felt my mouth twitch up into a smug smile as the gap began to close between us. The child flicked a glance back to me obviously coming to the same conclusion, and in an instant she had grabbed the railing stopping anyone falling to the level below and vaulted over it.

There was a chorus of screams from the gathered shoppers, who had decided to stop and watch the drama unfolding, crying out in horror as the child dropped down to the floor below. I leaned over the railing to see her decent, but she was already picking herself up and continuing her flight as if nothing of note had happened, ignoring the stunned expressions of everyone around her.

Letting out a low curse under my breath I ran over to the escalator to take me back down, not wanting to cause more of a scene by making the large drop myself. I tried my best to dismiss the hushed murmuring from the gathered crowd. Their stares now cautious as they watched me descend to the lower level once more. The feeling of being watched intensified as I skidded around the escalator and followed the path I had seen the girl take. It felt like a thousand icy knives stabbing at the back of my head as I ran, at a slower pace now, searching the crowd for any sign of my quarry. Letting a child slip away from me, even an genetically engineered one, was a sobering situation.

I glanced into the shops as I past, hoping to see her hiding inside. As the end of the mall came to meet me I slowed further until I was briskly walking amongst the shoppers. They were no longer looking at me, the drama left behind me, but there was still that feeling. I whipped my head around trying to locate where those eyes were watching me from, but there was no one. My gaze landed on a security camera perched high on a wall, its red light blinking at me like a mocking eye. I glared at it for a moment before returning to my task of finding the girl.

On the lower level there was no exit to the outside, only a sturdy looking wall faced me now. She had definitely run this way, so she must have gone somewhere. I looked at the two shops flanking me, both had very few people in and definitely no children. I was just about to investigate them anyway when I caught sight of a large set of industrial doors with a sign claiming AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY on it. The doors looked heavy, too heavy for a normal six year old, but easily opened by a changeling.

I approached it and noticed the doors weren't shut properly, one was resting slightly proud of the other, as if someone had entered and not shut it correctly behind them. Giving one last look to the mall behind me I slipped quickly through and closed the door with a definite clang.

I found myself in a staff corridor; breeze block walls and strip lighting strung down the length of it. It was empty, with no places to hide and no corners. I walked down it, listening carefully for the sound of footsteps. Although the chances of me hearing the eerily quiet footfalls of the girl were unlikely. That being said I was certain it wasn't just the two of us anymore. The corridor led to another door, this one was noticeably left ajar. A sign on the faded blue metal declared the room beyond to be the 'Loading Bay'. I stepped through and was faced with a large open area, with stacks and stacks of boxes piled high. They were positioned in rows, a gap between each one just wide enough for a forklift truck.

There was no noise whatsoever here. The constant rumble of the shopping mall had faded to nothing, and despite the thin metal shutters covering the loading bay entrance there was no sound of traffic either. I ghosted silently through the maze of boxes, the hairs on my arms standing to attention as that feeling of being watched grew. My hand slide inside my suit jacket and gripped my silenced pistol. Best to be ready.

I entered one of the narrow aisles comprised of boxes and came to a halt. The girl was stood in the middle of the aisle facing me, but she wasn't alone. Another older girl was holding her wrist, staring straight at me as if expecting my arrival. I recognised her instantly, she was the changeling from the farm. The one I had wrestled before she had crushed Morgan's dog to a bloody pulp in her arms. A cool shiver ran up my spine, but it wasn't one of fear, it was simply an alarm for my senses to pay attention. Danger present.

The child seemed unconcerned by the older girl holding her in place. She was gawking up at her with an openly curious look, her mouth slightly open as the girl's glassy eyes narrowed and her grip tightened at the sight of me drawing my pistol.

"I believe that belongs to me." I growled as I held my pistol by my hip, aiming it at the changeling. She stared blankly at me for a moment, the child looking to me as I spoke. There was no alarm in those blue eyes of her, it was the same expression she had worn when Victoria had moved to attack her mother. Cool and calculating, as if taking in everything that was going on before deciding on what to do. I was about to take a step towards the pair when the changeling suddenly smiled and I heard approaching footsteps rushing towards us.

I turned my head slightly, looking in my peripheral to see who was coming. Annoyance swept through me as I saw a dozen men dressed in plain clothes but all of them holding handguns come bursting into the loading bay and gravitate to my position. My jaw clenched as they stopped, aiming their guns at me, surrounding me. It had been a trap, Cicada had never intended for me to get any closer to Morgan. The child running away had only played into their hands. But as I looked at her, her eyes still drinking in the events unfolding, a dark intelligence simmering beneath the surface, I remembered my dream and Morgan's desperate plea again. Save her.

I turned slowly to the side, my expression blank as I looked at each of the men in turn. I had come here to trade the child for my partner, but now I was being openly threatened I felt the plan changing. I would save her like Morgan wanted, and Morgan. I was the best in the business and I wasn't about to be taken for a fool.

Moving my thumb across my pistol, I unlatched the safety and fixed a narrow eyed stare on the nearest man. "So," I said in a low, deadly tone, "how shall we proceed?" The man glanced at one of his companions, there was a pause, as if the room was holding its breath, before he turned back to me and opened fire.

A/N: Hello guys, a few of you have asked when I'm going to update next and I thought I'd leave you a quick message to reassure you all I am still alive. I am currently half way through Chapter 26, I am truly sorry my pace has slowed recently but it is due to me taking on a new role in work and having significantly less time to write than I did before. I hope you will remain patient with me. I do not intend to abandon this story, and I take this very seriously as my aim is to write an original novel after completing this fanfic. Thanks to you all for your continued support and I hope to have the next chapter up in the next week. :)