"Yes, I'm pretty sure I'm familiar with the giant rampaging fox. No. No connection to the siren project whatsoever. Totally different investigation. I'll send you the file sometime, but it was my understanding the siren project took priority, so I didn't bother notifying you before now. It's probably too late at this point, but I have a few field notes I can fax. No, Arthur isn't here. He was frantic about his kidnapped wife and took off looking for her. Idiot, like he can find her on foot. Hard to blame him, though. Of course I'm looking for her, too. Mhmm. Mhmm. A unicorn? Are you screwing with me? I tell you I know about the giant fox and you throw some crap about a unicorn in the mix? What are you, crazy? There's no such thing."
Doctor Dib Membrane paced his office, wall to wall. A white-knuckled grip on his cellphone offset the calm, scornful tone he projected.
Vivi sprawled in his office chair behind his huge screen-topped desk. Lewis had been propping her up since Dib's big black trucks showed up at the cave to cart them all back to the lab. Several of Dib's staff had tossed their cookies at first glimpse of Shiro Mori. Vivi had directed them all to look away while she talked Shiro into the back of a truck. On arrival to the compound, Vivi handed off goddess-wrangling to Chloe so she and Lewis could debrief Dib. Vivi was losing coherency fast between her swing and their body's exhaustion, but Lewis promised he could help them hold out a bit longer. He was definitely stretching "a bit longer" at this point, but Dib had insisted that first priority was covering his backside so he could cover theirs.
"Yeah, I know Tome Tomb has been a bit of a hotspot, but my employee has been investigating. Yes, running it, but also investigating, and any spectral presence detected there was friendly. Again with the unicorn? Seriously, guys. And you called me crazy." He dug in the word like a dagger, a small smile at the corner of his mouth. He propped the phone up against his shoulder and pulled out a pad of paper and a pen, scribbling on it. "Listen, if my employee was speeding down the street on the bookshop petting-zoo pony, I get that's a public nuisance. Send the ticket to the Membrane Trust, yeah? That's what they're there for. I'll issue a written warning to my employee." He ripped the sheet of paper off, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it at Vivi.
It bounced off her forehead. Annoyed, Lewis unfolded it.
Don't do a stupid again.
"Now are you going to release Timothy and Teles Pepper, or do I have to let the public know about the frightened siren—full citizen, by the way—the one that sought and received asylum and is utterly willing to cooperate, that you're keeping locked up?"
Dib listened for a moment, then his jaw squared. "You wanna bring up the siren murders, you go and do that. I can spin the public a story about the grief-stricken mother who tried everything to persuade her daughter out of those acts. You wanna go toe to toe with Membrane Inc's resources? What's your PR budget?" Another pause. "Thought so. I want them on a chopper to my location within the hour. If I don't see them by end of day, I'll be happy to take the Department on. One more excuse for Dad to roll in his grave." With that he clicked the phone off and exhaled slowly.
The clock on the wall ticked off the seconds.
Lewis held Vivi's tongue.
Dib just kind of sagged against the wall and slid down to sit cross-legged on the floor. "You guys are going to turn me gray. You know that, right?" He massaged his temples. "Just trying for a couple weeks of fieldwork with a really old and important friend, and a few days in, everything goes to pieces. What am I gonna do with you."
Lewis continued holding their tongue.
Dib pulled his goggles off and let them snap tight to his forehead. He rubbed an eye. "No idea where Arthur and Kay are, or how to get ahold of them. No cell contact. Nothing."
Lewis shook their head.
"Vivi's in full swing and needs a boot and crutches."
A nod.
"There's a heretofore unknown goddess, who I can't even look at, in full meltdown in my vault. With her is the formerly missing kitsune, Mystery, who's barely under your control. And keeping an eye on them is Chloe the unicorn who, as I understand it, is sorely in need of a nap. Am I missing anybody in the menagerie?"
"I think Dulcie and Uncle Lance are in some kind of limbo in my mansion," Lewis responded, cautiously. "I had to leave them in it and run."
Dib clonked his head back against the wall. "Right. Leave it and run. Dematerialized it. Poofed it away. Don't suppose anyone figured to test whether it was safe to put people in there and poof it away before this sort of emergency came up. 'Hey, Doctor Dib, could you try testing this scenario in case we need it in the future? It might come in handy and you have all kinds of equipment to measure paranormal activity and might even be able to design non dumb-dumb tests that don't put people at risk.' "
Lewis crossed their arms, glowering. "I get that you're mad, but we did the best we could under the circumstances."
"I know you did." Dib clonked his head again. "Just let me gripe about my frustration, would you? I assume, Lewis, that since you didn't flip out and summon the mansion the first chance you got, you have some sense that they're actually alive."
Lewis nodded their head.
"How specific is that sense?"
Lewis shrugged, uneasily. "Not very. I know they're alive. They feel… very still. There's been no sense of any kind of change about them at all."
"Some kind of stasis, maybe. One can only hope." He rubbed an eye again. "Personally, I'd like to get those two out of your mansion ASAP. But we only have so much attention to parcel out. You're the ones in the middle of all this, what do you think is top priority?"
Vivi glanced at her leg, taking a moment to pass a mental list to Lewis for approval. He reordered a few of the items and answered, "Vivi's leg. A moment with Shiro Mori. Then some food and sleep."
"Right. Then, do we have a plan for actually finding Arthur later?"
Lewis shook his head. "We have no idea right now. I'm sure we can all put our heads together and figure out a way…?"
Dib clonked his head even harder. "You mean you hope I have some super secret surveillance or was smart enough to chip the shapeshifter. Well, sorry to say, I was not smart enough. Great idea, though. I'll be sure to do that the second we get him back. Drag him right in to the vet and say, 'Please chip my mechanic who also moonlights as a fox, and here's a tip to keep quiet.' "
Lewis chose silence again.
Dib puffed out his cheeks. "Here's the thing. From previous observation, Lewis, your mansion is far more comfortable than my staff quarters and will double as visual containment for this Shiro Mori. What say I promise to put all my non-urgent questions on hold and try to field Lance's inevitable outrage and reassure Dulcie while you all get settled and rested? I'll have some food delivered and scrounge up a boot for Vivi. Somehow."
Lewis nodded, relieved. That sounded reasonable.
"And don't worry about all this." Dib pushed himself up, stretching. "I've been in this business a lot longer than you and I've made stupider mistakes. Besides, this isn't nearly as bad as the first mess you brought me. Yet, anyway." He crooked his right arm and pressed a few buttons on a wrist panel, then put his face up to it. "Chloe? Dib on the PA. We're headed your way and we'll be materializing Lewis' mansion. Move everyone to the side. Thanks." He dropped his arm by his side and crossed the room, grabbing the back of Vivi's office chair and rolling her toward the door. "I'm giving orders to the unicorn, okay. Don't s'pose you two are going to separate anytime soon?"
"What, and pass up the opportunity to display possession under terms of mutual consent?" Lewis smiled up, wanly. "Vivi says, 'Wouldn't dream of it, boss.' "
"Is that really why?" Dib wheeled them out of the office and down the hall.
Lewis shivered. "No. Mystery's starved and without a body, I'm easy pickings. At least, that's what Artie warned us on his way out. He said I'm little more than a collection of memories and emotions held together with willpower. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but Vivi and I agree that this arrangement is safer for me right now."
"You confident you've got Mystery under control?" Dib asked. "What if you go to sleep?"
Lewis hesitated.
"And if he's starving, how would one feed him? What would one feed him?" Dib pressed.
For a moment, Lewis saw double. He shook their head to clear their vision. "I thought the interrogation was on hold."
"Believe me, I'm saving the non-essential questions, but this one is pretty important."
Lewis shifted. "Arthur told you about absorbing emotions, right? Mystery does that. But any he gets he's been feeding straight to Shiro. I don't think he'll hold anything back with the state she's in. As for control, we have his soul gem. Or, one of the Deadbeats does. We scattered them pretty far away and never called them back, so he has no idea where his gem is. He has to do what we tell him."
"Good enough control for now. Do me a favor? You hold onto that soul gem, but tell him he has to come with me and obey. I might be able to get some satisfaction for my curiosity and start patching things up at the same time."
Vivi's head wobbled in an approximation of a nod. "Fine."
A sigh from behind them. "Yeah, you look like you've about had it. We're almost there. Poof yourself up a mansion and some beds before you pass out."
As the vault doors opened ahead, Lewis lifted their hands, palms facing down. He swiveled their wrists, reaching for the intangible shelter—fortress for family and death trap for his enemies—and conducted it into existence at the back of the room.
Not thirty seconds after it appeared, Lance Kingsmen burst out the front doors, fists clenched. He came to a full stop at the bottom of the porch steps. Dulcie peeked out from a front window as Lance's head swiveled back and forth, his face darkening to an alarming shade of purple. He homed in on Vivi, barely propped up in the office chair that Dib mercilessly piloted closer.
"Hey there Mr. Kingsmen," Dib greeted him cheerily. "Long time no see."
Lance inhaled sharply. "Sonofa—"
Turning her back on Arthur and Gareth, Kay poked her puffy wrist, rotating it gingerly. Stiff. Still some sharp pain. Given how consistently it had hurt at first, intermittent use was pretty good. She slipped it back into the makeshift sling. Better to rest it as much as possible.
She returned to the cupboards, this time taking out all the food she could find. Mostly canned pork and beans and jerky. No feast, for sure, but subsistence wouldn't be a problem for… well, maybe a week if they were careful.
"Does it hurt you to shift?" she heard Arthur ask with a note of urgency. "Does it feel like you are losing time out of yourself, or injuring your body? Like it costs you anything? Excellent. And Ginny? Has she expressed the same? Thank the gods. Then shifting is innate to you. No reason, only wondering." He paused. "No… I am not… I am sorry. Of course you are… capable of handling this information." He exhaled. "I asked because shifting… hurts. And costs me badly every time."
Kay aimlessly rearranged the cans. Were they supposed to automatically know what they should and shouldn't shield their children from? How much was too much to lay on a child? The whole ordeal had nearly been too much for the two of them. She pressed her lips tight as the image of her mother sprang to mind. At least Kay had an idea of how much information was not enough.
"Because it is not truly my body's ability. What happened is complicated. Have I not told you yet?" Another pause. "Bits and pieces only? Well. I think it better if I tell you the rest when you return to your time. We do not know how much information is too much to trade with you in this time, and I do not think it is currently relevant. Ask me when you return to your time and I'm sure I will tell you. Likely I am waiting for the question by that point. I assume you are going to return, eventually…?"
They were going to need to forage or find a town. Or both. Especially if Ginny was joining them. Kay's hand drifted to her stomach and she pressed her fingers against it, gently. Was she pregnant already? Or would she be, soon?
They'd been so sure, both of them, that this was a bad idea. Kay closed her eyes. There were far, far worse parents than her own out there, but surely there were healthier homes. Ones where the word 'normal' was so taken for granted that it wasn't even mentioned. Timothy was a kind father, but Kay had no desire to turn to Teles as a model for parentage.
Control the angle of your wings just so for a swoop and a glide. Control your voice so you harmed none. Control food portions and ingredients so that nothing was wasted. Control every aspect of yourself, tucking and folding it all under a smile, so you were not found out. Serve and serve and serve until the guilt of what you are or could become is expunged.
Her mother cared, but the care felt like an icy blast under her wings, driving her further from land and higher, as if distance could impart safety. Her mother had never wanted children. How could you learn motherhood from someone who never wanted to be a mother? What sort of model was that? Better not to model for anyone else, right? Better to never leap off a cliff you didn't know the height of. You might not be able to pull up in time.
And yet.
Kay glanced over her shoulder. She couldn't quite make out what Gareth was signing, but over his shoulder she could see Arthur. He leaned toward Gareth, his eyes alight and focused, his hands on his knees. Gareth had moved off Arthur's legs and sat to the side of them, also leaning forward. Both sets of shoulders had relaxed. Arthur's face looked… alive. There was a light in his eyes she didn't see these days as often as she did before the terrible times began.
The proof of their parentage was sitting right there, drawing the light in Arthur to the surface again. And she'd said it to Arthur herself, how bad could they be at parenting if they had kids ready to bend time and space to help them?
"By the way, I just remembered, why did you try to bite me when I found you?" Arthur asked.
Kay angled herself so she could see Gareth's response.
We got dropped in the area for Uncle Dib's lab, but we couldn't find you.
Kay and Arthur snorted simultaneously. Uncle Dib. That was one for the books.
We ran around for a day and a night, looking. I was exhausted. I didn't know who picked me up at first. I thought I was being poached or something. Took me a bit before I realized it was you.
Gareth had led Kay back to herself. Between his song and Lewis' violin she had found her way back to sanity. Just the other day, Gareth had used the same song to lead her to the cabin. But now, Arthur's hair was heavily silvered, and his face was that of a man thirty years older. All for her family's sake. Couldn't they all have had a good life together and been spared their horrific ordeal?
"Why now?" she asked, quietly. "Weren't there other points of intervention?"
Arthur's sparkle dimmed, his shoulders stooped with the weight of if only that both of them carried everywhere.
Gareth's smile vanished like she'd struck him. I'm sorry. He signed. I don't know why now and not sooner. Persephone didn't give us a choice about when we were sent to. He looked back and forth between them, and Kay felt the measure of his gaze. I don't think either of us understood how bad all this was for you guys.
Arthur managed a weak smile. "If we are doing a good job in the future, I think that is the point. That you do not shoulder our burdens." He glanced up at Kay, amending, "At least for a while. Since the times are not desperate. If you came this far, though, you have proven yourselves more than ready for the complete answer when you return."
Gareth swallowed, averting his eyes. Arthur frowned, but before he could say anything, Gareth signed, Well, we probably need some more food. I'm going to hunt. Ginny knows where the cabin is. Probably on her way already, but she's slower than me. She should be here in the next couple of days. I'll be back. With that, he shrank into a beady-eyed fox and darted under the crack in the door.
Just like that, Kay was alone with Arthur again. But now it was different. As they looked at each other, Kay felt a lightness in the air between them that hadn't been there since…
She crossed the room and sat next to him. He raised an arm and wrapped it around her as she laid her head on his shoulder. "So," she said. "About all that."
Arthur snorted, then giggled uncontrollably. It swiftly passed from him to her, and she threw back her head, laughing. It was impossible. It was ridiculous. It was madness.
"I think," she gasped, "this is the most overblown gender identity reveal I've ever heard of."
That set him off harder and he sagged against her, hooting and wheezing. It took them several minutes to recover, and both were wiping their eyes. Kay was sure she had the same silly grin Arthur wore.
He took her hands in his, raising them to his lips and kissing her fingers tenderly. "Are you prepared for this, Cayenne?" he asked, softly. "I know what we talked about before, but…"
"But a lot has changed since then." She squeezed his hands. "Yes. I'm ready for this. What about you, Arcturus? This frightened you the most."
The green eyes now held the same gentle warmth the brown eyes did when gazing at her. "I fear many things still, but I no longer fear this."
Heat rose to Kay's cheeks. "Well. I guess. The next question is—"
A small quirk in his smile paused her. He cleared his throat. "You already carry them. I … I have not paid attention until quite recently."
She blinked. "But! I was taking pills! I followed all the instructions."
He nodded, shrugging with a lopsided smile. "I do not know why. We will probably ask Dib, and he will then hit us over the heads with something obvious that we missed." He cleared his throat again. "As much as I am prepared to try to parent those two, I am not sure…" he trailed off.
She picked it up. "Not sure we're ready for more than them. I agree. We should figure this out. But later."
He looked at her, the green and brown mixing in his eyes. "Do you think we can keep the good things this time, Kay? Do you think it won't all be snatched away?"
She held him tight. "I think a chance to keep the good things is exactly what we're being given."
Note: I just re-binged this series myself. Holy cow. I had forgotten just how drastically Arthur's personality changed from the first story. Gotta work on giving these guys a better last story. They've more than earned it. Chapter title excerpted from the second "triumph song" of the series, One Foot by Walk The Moon.
