Enamis09: Well, I don't claim to be an expert on the laws of time and space, but you're right, it sounds like a really bad idea for him to bring that many people over from one universe to another. We'll find out more in the sequel!

Coolmegan123: Glad I've got your interest! The stuff in that last oneshot is really more of a subplot in the sequel, but I hope it still ends up being satisfactorily intriguing.

A/N: Update on "Inferno's Edge"! I'm currently in the middle of writing chapter 42, and based on what I counted last night this story should be going to around 46 chapters. Kinda hard to believe, actually, that I'm that close to finishing, but there's still a whole lot of stuff that's going to happen over the next few chapters. And, of course, that's just the first draft, so there will be plenty of work still to go after I reach the end.

Anyway, for comparison, Sorrow's Promise was 54 chapters. But before you get too disappointed over the difference in length...I reached Sorrow's Promise's word count of 96,000 in chapter 38 of Inferno's Edge. So, yeah...we'll have fewer weeks of updates, but each chapter is up to twice as long as the chapters were before. Hopefully that's a good trade off for everyone!

I got the idea for this oneshot based on the sentence in Sorrow's Promise that says Saix left Meli "sitting in various spots, sometimes in a back alley, or an abandoned shed, or just tucked away in a corner where no one would notice". I wanted to give a little more of a glimpse into the kinds of things Meli went through during her time with the Organization.

Thank you to Enamis09 for helping with the French bits in this chapter!

This, like the last chapter, takes place sometime while Meli is captive.

Chapter 42.5

(Falls in the middle of chapter 42)

Random Citizen's Perspective

The last thing that he had expected to see when he opened the door to his shed was a stranger sitting inside. But there she was, huddled in the corner, staring up at him with wide, fearful eyes. He had almost missed her to start with, it was so dark in the room and she was so slight. She almost looked more like un fantôme than an actual human being.

"Qu'est-ce que c'est? Que fais-tu ici?" he demanded, shaken by her unexpected appearance.

The girl shook her head frantically, spewing out a stream of mumbled words. Was she speaking English? How did une fille Anglaise end up homeless, like she obviously was, in the suburbs of Paris? His own English was limited, but he caught a few things she was saying - "sorry", "please", "wait here".

"I am sorry." He spoke slowly, deliberately, making sure to enunciate each word. "You not be here." Just in case his words were not clear, he shook his head and gestured towards the door.

The girl's eyes immediately welled up with tears. "Please, monsieur."

He felt sorry for her, he really did. But he was in a hurry to get back inside to his children, and there were expensive tools in this shed. He did not have the time to struggle through a conversation in a foreign language, nor could he dare to let her stay here. "You go," he stated firmly, pointing to the door once more. It's not like the weather was bad outside. She would be fine.

The tears spilled over onto the girl's cheeks as she struggled to her feet and shuffled past him, arms wrapped around her stomach. "I'm sorry," she whispered again.

He merely waved her on, then proceeded to grab what he had come out here for. When he came back out a minute later, making sure to lock the shed door behind him this time, he spotted the girl a few yards away, sitting cross-legged at the base of a tree next to the road. La pauvre chose.

Over the next thirty or so minutes, he couldn't help but glance out the window from time to time, seeing if she was still there. Every time, she looked like she hadn't even changed positions at all. When he was just about to forget about her altogether, he heard what sounded like a scream from outside, and rushed back to the window. Someone in a long, black coat was bent over the girl. Even from this distance, he could see the pain etched into her features, could tell from the way she was leaning forward that she wanted to curl in on herself, but the person in the coat was holding her head back by a fistful of hair.

Shocked, he wavered by the window. Should he go out and try to stop whatever was happening? It wasn't really any of his business. But then again, perhaps he was at least partially at fault for her being attacked. Mustering his courage, he turned and jogged through the house to the back door, throwing it open before he could change his mind.

They were gone. Both the girl and the black-coated figure had disappeared, leaving no trace of their presence behind. "Qu'est-ce que...?" he muttered to himself. Perhaps it was time he gave into his wife's requests to move to the country. Things were getting too strange around here.

Please let me know what you thought in a review, and if you have any special requests, shoot them my way! Ideas for scenes can be as vague or specific as you want. I'll try my best to do whatever I receive!