"... What?"

Smiling, he repeated himself.

I blinked once, twice.

And grinned. "Really?" I asked, just to make sure, and he nodded so I had to physically restrain myself from jumping out of the chair and lunging across the space to hug him. "A hideout in Paris? Oh my gods, 'Canny―"

I cut myself off before I could continue, biting down on my lip. I needed to be a little bit more collected than this. Especially considering that this was Acanthus. He may love and treat me as family, but I couldn't be too quick to take an offer from him. I knew him. There was always a catch when he struck deals like this with people.

"A good hideout in Paris," He assured me.

"What's the catch?" I asked, somewhat flatly.

There had to be one.

There had to be.

I was knowledgeable enough of the world to be unwilling to believe something so good could come without a price. That Acanthus would be willing to set me up was a given―but would it be worth it? He had to want something serious in return. He always did. The only time he didn't was when it came to me stealing his stuff.

Shaking his head, he laughed a little. "There is no catch. Not for you." Another little laugh, "Never for you."

I pursed my lips as I considered this. Then, slowly, I nodded. That seemed to fit. Acanthus hadn't ever outright offered me anything before but I got the strangest feeling that that had only been due to my own stubbornness rather than any lack of desire to help me. He knew me as well as Henry―if I didn't think I needed help, I sure as hell wasn't going to accept it.

I grew up being told I was weak. Knowing I was weak. Knowing my body wasn't going to last if I was the one using it because the soul in the body is just as important as the body itself. And that made me very eager to be able to do everything myself.

But, well, I didn't need to do that anymore. And the thing was?

Sophie needed the help. Wandering really wasn't her thing, nor was it the rest of the team's. And they could wander all they wanted anyway, but having a place to go home to? That was helpful. Lord knows that's the only reason I…

Well, nevermind. That's not important.

"Okay," I agreed, still just a little wary, "But where is it, exactly? And how soon can we set up shop?"

Smiling, Acanthus sipped his coffee, "Solnyshko, did you really think I wouldn't already have it arranged for you? I've had two days to prepare." He sat the cup down, "As for location…"

When I was finally back in the driver's seat, I had been walked back down the foyer. There was a scrawled note clutched in my hand, and I recognized the handwriting easily. Seeing an address and an excited little 'hideout! :D' written next to it, I deduced that the other one had either talked Acanthus into giving us a place, or he'd offered it up freely. Either way, I was able to understand that this was where I needed to direct Rudy to when I got the chance.

I stood there a moment longer to make sure I had my bearings before heading back to the van.

The blizzard hadn't yet let up, but it was easing up a bit and Rudy started the van as I approached. At least I'd be able to dry my clothes off fairly quickly.

I explained as best I could while I waited to be fully dry and warm, and unsurprisingly the others were a little taken aback to learn that Acanthus was the very same 'Furrball' who had tipped us off to the location of the temple. I shrugged it off, for the most part, and tried to shrug off other questions as well… Particularly the question of how I knew Acanthus.

Thankfully, I recalled James mentioning him in the Thievius Raccoonus, so I had that old excuse to fall back on. I just had to add that he felt familiar on top of that.

Neither Rudy nor I particularly wanted to leave the van running all night despite the warmth and comfort that came from having the heat on. When I was done being the subject of twenty questions, we decided (over the course of several awkward silences) that our best bet for staying warm would be to huddle up together. Rudy and I spent a moment building up a sort-of nest out of the seat covers and our jackets, and then directed Rajan and Lindsey into the center of the nest.

They awkwardly cuddled up to each other, but seemed to relax a bit more when Rudy and I curled up around them as well and boxed them in. Rudy and I had the thickest fur, after all―we were basically fluffy space heaters, and our fur would trap the heat of the other two and keep it from getting terribly cold in the nest. Then, pulling the blanket over top of all of us, it didn't take long for the other three to fall asleep.

I laid there for a while afterwards, thinking.

Regrettably, I ended up thinking about Rajan. Mostly I wondered what exactly had been going through his head when he decided to cuddle me. Had there been a real reason? Had he done it unconsciously? There was no way to know for sure without asking, and I didn't fancy the thought of waking him up to ask him. Or asking him at all, really.

Soon enough, my mind wandered to how carefully he'd been holding me―like he thought that I might break if he held on too tightly. And then it wandered to how freakin' cute he looked when he was asleep.

Thoroughly embarrassed and frustrated with myself, I shut my eyes tightly and breathed deeply through my nose. Eventually, the tried and true breathing exercise knocked me right out.

… And I dreamed.

I blinked, and in front of me (no, above me), Damien smiled and offered a hand.

Grinning sheepishly, I accepted it.

Somehow, he managed to haul me to my feet with those pencil arms of his. But neither of us managed to really keep our balance―when I was on my feet, he stumbled back and I pulled him forward to steady him. Unfortunately all I managed to do was smoosh our noses together. Both of us stumbled again, just slightly, and Damien tipped into me trying to regain his footing.

And our lips touched.

Everything screeched to a halt.

Neither of us moved for a moment, though we both blushed.

"Well, geez." I said, when we finally managed to move away from each other without tripping or falling, "If you wanted a kiss, all you had to do was say so, Dames."

It had never been a mystery to me that Jacey was in love with Damien, and I knew they ended up having children later. Still, seeing the moment they'd apparently admitted those feelings while in the first person was… Mortifying. Much like with Sly and Carmelita, my main issue was that this was my grandparents. I didn't want to be here for this!

Damien and I slowly pressed our lips together again after taking a moment to laugh in embarrassment. Both of us were scared a little bit hesitant.

And I

forced myself awake.

Heedless of the time, I slid out of the nest and checked to see if the blizzard had let up. And, seeing that it had, I decided now would be a good time to start heading for that address.

I couldn't go back to sleep after that.

Frankly, if I kept having dreams like that I was going to find a way to actually astral project myself back in time to smack the crap out of Jacey and Sly. I didn't want to see any of that. It was bad enough I had my own childish crush to worry about―I didn't need to have to deal with their romance on top of that.

Starting the van, I grumbled to myself for a while before managing to make it to a stretch of road far enough out of the snow that I felt comfortable pinning the gas pedal to the floor. And I kept it there for the duration of the trip, except when I had to pass through a town to get gas.

Aside from that short stop, I didn't slow down for anything else.

Towns and empty stretches passed by in smears of color that I didn't think to look too closely at. It was so late at night (early in the morning?) that I barely encountered anyone else on the road, and the few that I did didn't seem terribly interested in getting in my way or calling the local police.

"And I thought Henry had a lead foot." Was snickered, softly, when I realized it was nearing five in the morning and I had just seen a sign welcoming me to France.

What time had I even left Russia?

Jesus.

"Ooooh, almost 250 kilometres per hour." Followed that, "In a hurry?"

"Not in a hurry," I uttered.

Cooper just snickered again.

Still, it got me to let off the gas a bit and I eased gradually down to a reasonable speed to be driving through towns and rural countryside.

"That address is near Fontainebleau," Cooper mused, "Beautiful area."

"Yeah?" I glanced at the address again in the dim light.

"Yeah. Not that the rest of France isn't pretty, but… I dunno. Fontainebleau is just really gorgeous. In a more rural way than Paris is."

"Is Fontainebleau not in Paris?" I asked, then glanced back to make sure the others were still fast asleep.

"Yes and no." She snorted, "Fontainebleau is a commune in Paris Île-de-France."

"I see," I said, though I did not at all understand what that meant.

"It's a suburb, I guess." She tried, lamely, to explain it a way my dumb American brain would understand.

"Makes sense," I nodded, because that did. "... Is it kind of like how Mesa Arizona is a city but is usually considered to be part of Phoenix?"

"I guess?"

I spent a few moments once I got to the correct street chewing my lip and hunting for the correct address on that street. The houses were fairly far apart, and the property was well-protected from prying eyes. It was hard to see anything but the house itself. The yard looked huge.

Oh, I was all about this.

I drove up and parked just outside the garage, shutting off the van.

"The keys are in your pocket," Cooper told me, helpfully.

I dug them out and headed for the door.

When the door unlocked and swung open, I was temporarily overwhelmed. It may have been lack of sleep. It may have been that I hadn't opened a house door since we left Paris a little over a week ago. It may have been a lot of things.

Regardless of what it was, I had to linger in the doorway for a moment and blink back slightly overwhelmed tears.

Then, I was able to venture in and investigate the dark house.

The ground floor had one bedroom, which I was tempted to claim but didn't just yet. I'd have to see the other bedrooms before I made any official decisions.

Then, on the… First floor? It's the first floor in Europe, right? Second floor in America. Second floor.

The second floor housed six other bedrooms, all of which had an ensuite bathroom―or, well, a shower room. So there'd be no fighting over the bathroom, at least. We'd all be able to set ourselves up just fine.

After surveying it a moment longer, I decided I'd make temporary arrangements and let everyone else actually pick their room later. I didn't know how much longer they were all going to be asleep, after all.

Heading back out to the van, I managed to heft Lindsey up out of the nest without waking her. She just sort of grumbled in her sleep and I carried her up to one of the bedrooms, laying her down in the bed. I did the same with Rudy, who was a little more unwieldy to carry and who snuffled happily at my neck after some minor squirming before his unconscious mind recognized who was holding him.

Rajan proved to be a bit more of an issue―he was undoubtedly heavier than Rudy was, and I didn't think he'd be quite so happy to be carried.

Sure enough, as soon as I touched him, he was awake.

And he came up swinging―claws almost catching me in the face before I caught his arm and ducked out of the way.

Blinking at me for a moment, his ears flicked back and he smiled sheepishly, "Oh. Sorry, Soph."

My heart thudded at his use of the nickname and I very much wanted to kick myself for the response. This was ridiculous. I'd known him for a week. What in the… Ugh.

"It's fine," I said, somewhat flatly.

He seemed to interpret it as me being somewhat annoyed he'd almost mauled my face off, though, so thankfully there were no questions about my mood. He just followed me into the house and upstairs, where I let him pick his own room since he was obviously awake enough to do so. He quickly decided and flashed me a smile.

"Thanks, Soph." He said.

I couldn't help giving him a small smile in return, "No problem."

"Night," He gave a brief wave and ducked into the room.

"Night," I replied, and stood there like a statue for a moment because the cheerful smile he threw over his shoulder made my heart start tap-dancing.

This was ridiculous.

… I wasn't going to be getting any more sleep.

With a sigh, I picked out my own room and laid down to stare at the ceiling and try not to think about… About Rajan and I.

Together.

Like some freaking middle schooler.