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Hey. . . Whoa. Something *different* is happening.
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The day was nearing its end. Kiley and Knives had retired to their respective portions of the oasis, and after much rummaging through her bag, Kiley was compelled to call out a question.
"Knives? When are we going to a town again?"
He looked up, slightly surprised to be addressed by her. He didn't pause to think, but responded, "When you are done teaching me."
Kiley said nothing for a moment. "I'm done teaching you," she called out, but her tone was humorous.
Sighing, Knives got up and walked over to her. Wherever this conversation was going, he didn't feel like yelling. He stopped near her and looked down at her. "What do you mean you are done?" he asked with only the faintest of overtones of menace.
"Well, if that what it takes to go to town," she started with a teasing tone in her voice, but found the rest of her statement disappearing in the face of his displeasure. "Knives," she continued more seriously, "I have run out of food. It's time to go get more, that's all. Since food is found in towns, that's where we need to go."
"You need food," Knives repeated, looking at her bag.
"Yes, food." She pulled a squished and rather stale looking loaf of bread out from under a shirt. "This is the remainder of what I brought with me. I'm going to need more soon, or you won't have a teacher. You can starve quickly when doing tricks, and as much as I'm enjoying teaching you how to be an even better psychopath, I'm not going to kill myself to do so."
Knives looked at her silently for a moment, his face schooled into his favorite expression of unreadable. "It costs you energy to do these things?"
"Yup. I work off calorie energy for my tricks, since that's the way I was born. I guess as a plant you don't have that limitation, huh?" His expression didn't change, and she nodded. "Figures. Can't you do something less then perfectly, just for a change?" Her tone was petulant, but Knives' expression relaxed enough to allow him a small smile.
"No," he said, then tuned and walked away. "We will go to town tomorrow," he allowed as he walked away. Kiley suppressed a sigh and gnawed at the last of her bread. The thought of fresh food was enough to make her stomach grumble. Tomorrow, she promised it. You'll get something good tomorrow.
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The next morning dawned bright and clear, but since that was normal neither party in the oasis took much notice of it. Going somewhere else, anywhere else, lent an air of excitement to Kiley's morning ablutions. She was packed and ready to leave well before Knives. She did her best to hide her impatience, but Knives still grew annoyed.
"Can you sit still, vermin?" he growled out as she paced the ring of rocks.
Surprise halted her steps, and a bit of hurt. "You haven't called me vermin for days now," she pointed out, pouting a little,
"Obviously an oversight on my part," he growled out as he tightened the laces on his boot.
She resumed bouncing about on her toes. "Well, you can continue oversighting. I don't like being called a vermin. As your teacher, you should show me a little respect. Try worm, or insect if you feel the need for a term of endearment," she advised.
Knives looked up. "Vermin, quit bouncing about. We will leave when I feel like leaving, and the more you annoy me, the longer it will take. At this rate, you will starve before I am ready to go anywhere."
Kiley dropped to the ground and tried to meditate. Slowly she felt excitement drain from her, falling into the ground as she surrendered it. In its place she drew strength from the planet. It was the first time she had allowed the planet to seep into her, and she was surprised by the strength that she found. It was different from earth's power, but she was not surprised by that. That expected difference was what had kept her from attempting this before; she was afraid to find out just how weak life on this planet truly was, but it wasn't as bad as she thought. She had expected the planet to be weaker, somehow, then it was. She had learned that the strength of the world was directly related to the strength of the lives upon it, and this planet's life seemed almost as strong as what she was used to back on earth.
Puzzled, she followed the strength she could feel, and found most of it to be centered under the cities, with a few weaker spots that had to be the sand worms. Narrowing her search, she felt the life of the area immediately around the oasis. It was almost as strong here as in a city. Understanding nagged at the back of her mind, but she concentrated and looked even closer.
She opened her outer eyes, and both types of sight beheld the same man. A cold sweat broke out over her body as she realized just how much power the plants possessed.
He was looking at her oddly, ready to leave. She forced a smile and quickly scrambled to her feet.
"What were you doing?" he asked.
"Oh, just meditating," she replied airily, trying to recapture the mood of moments before. "Getting used to the planet and letting the planet get used to me."
Knives dismissed such concerns as beneath him and turned away. Kiley looked at the direction he was walking, the suns, the rocks, and then back at him.
"Are you going the wrong way?" she asked while picking up her bag.
"We are going somewhere new," he told her over his shoulder.
"Oh, new," she grumbled under her breath. "Just what I haven't had enough of lately." She did follow him, not having much choice in the matter, but she wondered what she was getting into this time. Somehow, following Knives about just didn't feel safe.
Kiley's eyes were wide and unguarded as she took in the scene before her. She hadn't imagined seeing such a bustling metropolis on this planet, and especially hadn't expected one to be this clean. The ever present dust was missing; the streets and sidewalks were clean and clear. Everywhere she looked was full of busy people concentrating on their lives, selling items and food in an open air market, or traveling purposefully about. The urge to jump in and explore took her, but one look at Knives' face held her back.
He was positively grim, his lips tight and the skin about his eyes drawn. He looked out over the thriving city and obviously didn't like what he saw. She looked again, trying to see what was bothering him, but only saw a peaceful city, with parks and people and. . . oh. Suddenly, she remembered just where the power that all these people and buildings, buses and parks came from. Where she saw a bustling metropolis, he saw leeches profiting off the blood of his people.
Regardless of whatever they might be leeching, she was hungry and tired, and wanted an inn. As far as she was concerned, conscientious decisions could wait until after she was rested and fed. She turned slightly and snapped her fingers in front of his eyes. They instantly went from brooding to pissed, and he grabbed for her wrist, but missed. She looked at him with big, innocent eyes, both hands clasped firmly behind her back.
"Can we sleep indoors tonight?" she pleaded. "Someplace where they actually cook food, too?" She did her best to look pathetic and helpless, mostly to stay in practice, and not from any misguided notion that her expression might sway Knives. She was surprised that she actually managed to get him to roll his eyes before returning to looking at the city.
Kiley began to fidget while he brooded. The road here was boring, lined with boring rocks and not much else, but it was boring not much else. She had seen the boring rocks, and upon reflection they remained boring. She had not yet seen the city that was tantalizingly close, mocking her with its nearness.
She looked around again, and with a sudden decision started walking into the city. Knives had grabbed her arm before she completed her third step. She looked at him, her expression guarded, and waited for him to say something.
He squeezed harder and glared at her. "You do not go anywhere without me," he told her. Sensing an opening, she tried reasoning with him.
"I am hungry, and tired. I want food and I want to sit down. I don't want to sit here and watch you brood while you decide whether or not to travel the last freaking mile into the city. We're here, let's go." She stared into his eyes, trying to force him to see that it was the only logical course of action.
His gaze dropped first. He sighed and dropped her arm, wiping his hand absently on his leg after letting go of her, and the pushed past her to lead the way into the city. She didn't push the issue; Knives obviously wasn't comfortable here. Annoying the critter with the power to level a city was all well and good while you were off in the middle of nowhere. It was quite another matter when you were actually in the metaphorical city. On the behalf of all the innocent people around her, she would refrain from annoying the plant.
Or at least those were her intentions. When she was dragged away from the marketplace, she began to wonder, and as they moved farther and farther into a seedy area of the city she began to get pissed.
"Knives," she said warningly as she stopped in the middle of one deserted street. "I want food and a bed, not a tour of the slums. I want a hotel that will make food that won't make me sick, and a bed with only me in it. I want to bathe with clean water, and I want to send someone out to clean my clothes with the expectation that they will all come back. I don't see any of that here."
He looked at her, his exasperation obvious. "You want much, vermin."
She smiled. "Yup. It's the soft little female in me. I want to be pampered and clean when we leave, not dirty and tired. I know it's just so much to ask," she said sarcastically, "but I'm just a fussy female." She held out a grimy hand, wrist limp, and feigned a swoon.
He just stared. She rolled her eyes and looked around. Finding a suitable patch of wall she walked over and leaned against it. She wasn't going to move until he decided to go somewhere better.
Knives continued to stare. She busied herself with cleaning her fingernails, paying close attention to the cuticles. Finally he spoke. "You badger me to enter the city, making me move, and now you stop? What's to stop me from dragging you back to the oasis right now?"
The question was rhetorical, but she decided to answer it anyway. "You won't drag me out of here for the same reason you finally entered. I need food. That isn't going to change just because you don't like it here. If we go to another town, you lose even more time from teaching as we travel there. You don't want to waste any time, which is why we entered in the first place." She buffed her nails against her shirt.
"None of this convinces me that we need to go to a nice hotel. They ask questions at those sorts of places, questions neither of us are prepared to answer."
"Questions? What do they need to know besides how long we plan on staying and if we can pay? Neither of us look particularly dangerous; if we act like normal people for a few hours we'll do just fine. Come on Knives," she wheedled, "Showers. You know showers are nice."
"Fine," he said after reflection, and something in his voice warned her that she was pushing her luck. "But if we get run out of town, it will be your fault."
"We won't," she said reassuringly as they walked back the way they had come. "It will be fine."
An angry shout nearby disagreed with her claim.
Kiley's head swiveled towards the noise.
"Don't even think it," Knives cautioned, but he spoke to her retreating back. She wasn't running towards the noise, but was moving at a faster pace then he would have imagined. All thoughts of rest and pampering had obviously left her mind, and he was reminded again of the steel that lived beneath the annoying mannerisms she adopted. He set off after her, moving swiftly without running as well. He might as well learn what he could about her from this encounter, but he could not do that if she managed to get out of his sight. He rolled his eyes; the woman seemed made to find trouble and hadn't the good sense to leave it alone when she found it.
They did not have to move far before finding the source of the disturbance. The shout had not been overly loud, and as far as he could tell no one else had responded to it. Most people who lived here had learned not to get involved with others' troubles, and at first glance, the trouble they found did not look serious. Kiley had stopped just prior to entering a small plaza created at the intersection of two streets. The plaza held a fountain, from which the residents of the area most likely drew their water, two men, and an oddly moving bag. A large man, dark haired and swarthy was trying to hoist the bag about, but its motions made it difficult to handle. His small, equally dark friend was trying to help by poking the bag to distract whatever was inside, but both efforts seemed to be meeting with little success. The shout had come from one of the men as he tried to manipulate the bag in a direction it did not want to go.
Much quiet cursing accompanied the effort of the men to manhandle the sack. It moved too much to be slung over a shoulder, and squirmed to much to be easily held. As they stood and watched for a minute, the men managed to move the sack and its contents a full fifteen feet. Then the shorter of the two men caught a glimpse of them standing there. He warned his friend, and they set the bag down. It tried inching away, but the larger fellow stood on a corner and held it fast.
"You'd do well to be moving on now, friends," said the larger one, slowly. His buddy made an ostentations show of checking them over for weapons, concentrating on Knives and, aside from a quick glance, ignoring Kiley altogether. This lack of insight on his part coaxed a small smile to his lips but neither of them moved.
"I said, this is nothing to trouble yourself over." The larger man moved his hands out in front of him, placatingly. He tried to look harmless, but spoiled his efforts by shooting what he obviously felt was a significant glance at his friend who responded my moving his hands to a place where they were no longer visible.
"What's in the bag?" asked Kiley. Her voice was calm and level, and gave nothing away. Whatever her thoughts on the actions of these men, she seemed only slightly interested in what they were doing. Of course, in this part of town, slightly interested in the wrong sorts of things could see you slightly dead. The object in question squirmed at the sound of her voice and the tension in the plaza rose another notch.
"It is none of your concern, missy," ground out the smaller man. "It's ours, and you'd do well enough if you left right now." A thrashing from the ground disagreed with his claim.
"I'll go," she said, making no move to do so. "I just want to see what's giving two men such as you a difficult time to move. I'd hate to think it was anything more then a large dog." The renewed squirms seemed to be trying to convince her that the captured creature wasn't just an animal.
Both men had shifted their attention to her, and the thrashings in the bag managed to find the hole at the top of the sack. Knives' eyes caught the glimpse of small, pale fingers, and from the slight stiffening of her spine, Kiley had seen it as well. A kidnapping, then, or slavers. Knives sighed and looked to his right, finding a convenient stretch of wall from which to watch the festivities that were sure to ensue.
The men looked at his new position oddly, but their attention was recaptured by Kiley, who slowly began to move towards them.
"It looks to me like you have a child in that bag," she said softly.
"It's none of your business if we do," the smaller one asserted, but both wasted no time in drawing weapons. Two pistols were trained on her before she managed ten steps. Most of the plaza still lay between them as she paused.
"If you do not leave now, we will kill you," cautioned the larger man. Kiley looked at both of them, and something about her expression caused both of the men to blanch. Knives craned his head about but couldn't see what unnerved them so.
Kiley laughed, a cold sound that sent another smile to his lips. "If you don't let that child go, I will have to make you." She took another step forward, and the smaller man shot a glance at Knives.
"Don't look at him," she chided coldly. "He's not your problem. I am." Her hand strayed to her hip, the gun there seeming to rise up to meet her palm. "And it seems you have a rather large problem here." She was concentrating on the smaller man. He seemed squirrelly, twitchy. His eyes rolled between his friend, the bag, and the woman advancing on him, unsure of what to do. Despite his friend's bold words, he obviously wasn't comfortable with the thought of shooting without more provocation. His hand twitched on the gun, his finger still safely resting on the trigger guard as Kiley held his eyes and slowly paced ever closer.
Then the larger man fired.
Kiley could feel the bullet whiz past her right ear but didn't flinch. The report echoed through the streets but no one shouted or came to look. His friend shot him a startled glance, but fear held him frozen in the same position. She met the eyes of the larger man squarely, her gaze sliding into that fearsome stare that she had developed during her misspent youth. His eyes widened in shock, and she realized her error. She flinched ostentatiously, cringing to her left and breaking eye contact. Her pride kept getting in the way of allowing herself to be underestimated. Considering that being underestimated was one of her best defenses, she needed to work on acting helpless. Obviously, she recovered well enough, as the man relaxed, but she berated herself for making the mistake in the first place.
"That's all the warning that a pretty girl like you is going to get," he called out. "Leave now, if you know what's good for you." He aimed at her head again and waited for her to leave.
She quit playing around and looked him in the eye again. "Pretty? Just for that I'll let you live. If you run now, you won't get hurt." The larger man didn't even take the time to think over her generous offer. As she stepped forward again he fired. At that signal, she threw herself into motion, avoiding the shot and each successive bullet he sent her way. He shot again four times, then had to reload. His friend stayed still, unable to make himself pull the trigger.
"Sam, for the love of-- Shoot her!" called out the larger man while he scrambled to reload. He glanced up from what he was doing to see what was stopping his friend. Sam still wasn't moving, his hands frozen on his gun. As he looked, Sam toppled to the ground, stunned. The larger man's eyes sought Kiley, who flashed him a saucy grin as their gazes met. She was standing near where she was when he had started to shoot at her. Her hands were resting lightly on her hips, and her lips were parted just a trifle as she breathed a little faster.
"Sam got a little tired," she said facetiously. The man gauged the distance between them and her unhurt state and his eyes grew wider. "I hit you," he stammered out. "What the hell--?"
Kiley's grin grew larger. "You missed," she said simply. "Your friend is just as slow as you are; watch!" With that as warning, she threw herself forward. His eyes could hardly follow her motion as she bounced forward from where she was standing. His fingers closed the chamber on his pistol, but she was as his side before he could raise it.
Her hands gripped his, forcefully holding the muzzle towards the ground. "Guns are dangerous toys," she whispered into his ear, "But never forget: the danger lies in the hand of the one who holds it. You are nothing compared to me."
"Who are you?" he asked. He managed to keep his body from shaking, but his voice betrayed him with a small tremble.
He felt her lips smile against his ear.
"I'm just a ghost," she whispered as she sent him into unconsciousness.
She didn't slow his tumble to the street; she was too busy trying to pry open the top of the sack. The cord had been knotted several times, and her fingers fumbled with the ties. She didn't want to stay here any longer then necessary. With the gunfire stopped, someone would be wandering by soon just to see what was going on, and she wanted to be gone by then.
She pulled the knife from her boot and sliced the ties, throwing open the sack. The head of a little girl emerged into the afternoon light, her eyes squinting against the glare after the dimness of her captivity. Her eyes focused on Kiley's and for a disorienting moment she felt disassociated from the world around her. She blinked hard twice and found herself with a bunch of child filling her arms.
Kiley looked down on her as she franticly tried to figure out what to do. The child looked to be only five or six years old, and she was skinny as a stick. Whoever had been taking care of her had not been feeding her enough; she could feel ribs under the thin shirt. Pale blonde hair fell over the child's face, obscuring most of it but Kiley could make out a pert little nose and rosebud mouth.
Her lips tightened as she took in the beauty of the child and her likely fate. She gathered her in her arms and turned back to Knives.
"What do you plan to do with that?" he asked, not liking the serious expression in her eyes. "She's too small to eat, and too young to be of much use."
The child looked up at the last comment, fear evident in her large blue eyes, but Kiley's hand on her head calmed her somewhat.
"Oh, Knives," she said with false cheer. "She followed me home. Can I keep her? I promise to walk her and feed her and love her and I'll do it all myself," she said sprightly as she strode past him, towards the brighter areas of the city.
"A child is not a pet," he said, exasperated as he followed. "You are not the sort of person who takes care of children."
"Well, I'm not leaving her here. I don't think those men had anything good for her in mind." Her false cheer had evaporated as her mind grappled with the task before her.
"So what are you going to do with her now?" he persisted.
"Oh, bugger off. Give me a few minutes; I'll figure something out. Right now, she needs a bath, food, and some clothes that fit. That's enough for today, and I'll figure out what to do tomorrow later."
They proceeded to move away, but not unnoticed. A pair of eyes that had been following Sam and his friend watched them walk away before scrambling back to their master with the latest news.
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Kiley tried to put the child down, but she refused to leave her arms. Her little arms clutched at her neck and held on like her life depended on it. Kiley saw the pained expression on her face and didn't force the issue. She wasn't heavy enough to tire her, and if she received some comfort, well, she didn't seem to have had much in the way of comfort lately. It didn't harm her to hold the child, and she needed the human contact.
A slow rage burned in her. That someone would do something so horrible to a child was anathema. Children were to be protected and kept safe, not tortured and twisted and destroyed. When young, one is subject to the whims of the adults that surround you. A child has little say in what happens in its life. As an adult, she had the responsibility to assure that the child could live to grow up, to have a happy life, and to be safe from harm. She had rather personal feelings on the subject, having come from an unhappy home and childhood herself. Seeing other children abused was the fastest way to raise her anger.
A small part of her was suspicious of the coincidence. It was almost as if Knives had led her to the trouble she had found, but one glance at his seething countenance convinced her that this wasn't his fault. He was obviously not happy that she seemed to have acquired a dependent. She almost wasted a moment wondering what he would have done, but felt a pang of sadness as she realized that he would have left her to whatever those men had planned.
She couldn't imagine being unmoved by the suffering of a child, especially one as young as this. Innocence was something she prized above all else, having seen so little of it in her life that she realized it for the precious treasure it was. She wished she could save this child from the horrors that life had in store, but she was intelligent enough to know that such a thing is never possible. She could just do her best to save her from the worst, and hope that she could do enough.
Knives was right about one thing, though, as much as it pained her to have to admit that he could be right. She could not afford the luxury of taking care of this child. Now that she had saved her from the obvious threat, she had to figure out what to do with her. She didn't know where to leave her, that she would be taken care of and not relegated to the same fate. She looked around the city, and in the faces of the people around her. Could she trust anyone here? Dammit, she never trusted anybody. How was she supposed to know who she could leave the kid with?
She was beginning to gather a few curious stares, so she quit peering intently into the faces of people around her. It wasn't helping, anyway. Absently, she found a store that sold secondhand children's clothing. She ducked in and lost Knives for a moment. He looked even less happy when he entered the store a minute later, but stayed silent. She counted that a blessing and sorted through the clothes, looking for something to fit the child that wasn't completely threadbare. It took a bit of searching, but she found some shirts and a couple pairs of pants that were neither too large not too small, and were reasonably priced. She paid for them without haggling over the price, and took her into the dressing room to change out of the soiled things she was wearing.
The girl's eyes lit up with gratitude, and she wasted no time wriggling into the new clothes. As soon as that task was done, she latched on to Kiley again, unwilling to let go once more. Kiley smiled and ran her hand through her hair, grimacing at the tangles she found.
"You need a little more care then you've been given," she whispered into her hair. The child nodded seriously, then looked up at her with big blue eyes.
"Oh, no," laughed Kiley. "I'm no one's mommy. I'm afraid I would quite mess up the job."
The eyes didn't waver.
"Look, kid, I'm glad I could help out, and I promise I'll leave you in a good spot."
The eyes showed a hint of disbelief.
"No, I'm not quite sure where that is yet. But I'll find a place, I promise."
The eyes pleaded.
"Ok, stop that. One, I have absolutely no experience with kids. Two, remember that man out there? He'll kill you quick as looking at you. I'm dangerous to be around, and I'd have to be a complete idiot to bring a child into that sort of danger."
Her expression changed to an adoring one.
"No. No puppy eyes. I won't have it."
They twinkled.
"You can't come with me, I'm sorry."
They drooped.
"Enough," she laughed. "Let's find someplace to get clean."
The child patted her stomach.
"Food will taste better when you're clean."
She looked doubtful.
"I promise; you'll see." Kiley picked her up and left the dressing room. Her old clothes were dumped in a trash bin, and they collected a very bored Knives and left the store. Kiley continued to lead until she found a nice hotel, one unlikely to ask questions of a young couple and their child. Knives took the lead without being asked, and secured a room with two beds. Upon reaching their room, he immediately took over the bathroom, leaving Kiley to unpack and secure the bed farthest from the window. She managed to pry herself from the grasp of the child, then sat down on the bed.
The girl crawled on the bed until she could fold herself into Kiley's lap. Sighing, Kiley held her again, waiting for the bathroom to be unoccupied.
"So, kid," she started, then paused. The girl looked up at her questioningly, and Kiley sighed. "You need a name. I can't just keep calling you kid now, can I?"
The child smiled and shrugged.
"Come on. I know you can talk. Just tell me your name," she cajoled.
The girl shook her head, still smiling.
"You're going to make me guess?"
A nod.
"Fine. I'm not playing that game," she said sternly. "You can either tell me or not, it's up to you."
The child sighed, then pulled a playing card out of her pocket.
"Where in the world did you get that?" Kiley asked.
The girl shrugged and pointed at the card, the ace of hearts.
"Red?" guessed Kiley, rolling her eyes.
The girl giggled, then pointed at the letter in the corner.
"A? Ace?"
She clapped her hands, a gleeful smile crossing her face.
"Who the heck would name a child after a card?" Kiley asked rhetorically, then shrugged. It was the same person who would sell a child into slavery, and if she ever found them, they would pay.
Kiley waited a half hour before growing impatient. Ace had left her lap after about fifteen minutes, and had amused herself by crawling under the beds and picking up dust bunnies. She had looked upon the time as an exercise in patience, something she knew she badly needed. She tried to ignore the crawly feeling of the dried sweat that coated her. She tried to not think about how nice a hot shower would be, relaxing the muscles that were still protesting the speed she had forced from them when she attacked the men. She tried to ignore her itchy scalp and how nice it would be to wash her hair. She tried to ignore the gaping hole in her middle that her stomach had turned into. She did her best to pretend that she was clean, refreshed and happy and full, but gave it up for a lost cause when the girl climbed into her lap again, eyes pleading for food.
Patience is an overrated virtue, anyway.
Kiley shifted Ace to the bed, then got up and pounded on the bathroom door.
"Knives, stop hogging the room. We're dirty and hungry, and it's our turn now!"
There was no answer.
"Knives? You need to share the room. It's our turn now," she cajoled through the door.
No answer.
"Knives?" Worry crept into her tone. "I'm awaiting your sarcastic response, and if I don't get some sort of answer in the next five seconds, I'm breaking the door down," she threatened.
Still no answer.
She shrugged, and began to count. "One. Two. Three. Four. . ."
The door was torn open, and an irate and wet Knives stood on the other side. "What?" he demanded irritably.
Kiley didn't respond. She was too busy enjoying the view. Her eyes drifted down from his face, past the glistening expanse of chest and lovely shoulders, down past the trim and firm waist, all the way to the floor and back up until she met his eyes again.
She wasn't sure if he was blushing or ready to explode, but whatever reason for the flush, with that pale skin of his, you could see it all over his body.
"Nice view, bathroom hog," she said with a smile. "And since you're finally out of the tub, you might as well towel off and give me and the kid a chance to get clean before dinner.
The door was slammed in her face. She put one ear against it, listening for the sounds of someone entering the bathtub again. She heard water running down a drain instead and backed away, a silly smile on her face.
Ace looked at her quizzically as she unpacked her last change of clean clothes. Kiley stuck her tongue out at her and whispered, "You'll understand when you're older," then her smile broke into a huge grin.
That man's body was an art form all it's own. Yummy.
She quickly schooled her face to seriousness as Knives came out of the bathroom. He strode quickly to the bed and flung himself down on it, carefully not looking at her.
Blush, definitely, she thought, unable to stop a wicked grin.
"Don't dawdle in there," he commanded, face in his pillow. "I'm hungry, and not inclined to wait long."
"I hear and obey," Kiley said mockingly, picking up Ace and heading off to get clean.
She and the child stripped quickly and got in the shower. Kiley wasted no time shedding much of the grime that had accumulated in the past couple weeks, then knelt and scrubbed Ace. Her actions were equally quick and harsh to begin with, but they slowed as she realized much of the dirt she was trying to wash away were actually the faded remains of bruises. She carefully dabbed away what dirt she could after that, and the ground-in grime she treated with much more care.
"Someone must not have liked you very much," she said to the child's taut back. Kiley was glad that she couldn't see her face, glad to be saved from having to see her cry. Or even worse, not seeing her cry, having to see a child her age already come to expect that pain is normal.
"Don't worry," she said cheerfully. "I like you, and whoever gets you next is going to like you as well. I promise."
It didn't have the effect she wanted. The girl merely sighed, her shoulders slumping.
"It's ok," Kiley said as she moved to clean her legs. "Not everyone in this world is evil. Someone will see you and love you. We just have to find them."
The girl twisted her head and looked down at Kiley.
"Yes, I love you. But I told you, my life is too dangerous to bring you along. Look me up in ten years and we'll have a great time, but I like you too much to drag you into the hell I live in. You need to have some time around people who don't live in harm's way before you spend a lot of time with me."
The child shook her head no.
"I am not taking a child with me. That's final. You'll just end up being another one of Knives' victims if he thinks he can manipulate me through you."
Ace turned her head away, and Kiley finished washing her without further incident. They both dressed and exited the bathroom without another word being said.
"Ok, Knives. Let's go eat," ordered Kiley.
"Finally," he said. "Women always take forever in the bathroom," he said as he pushed past them to the door.
Kiley looked at the clock and saw that twenty minutes had passes and suppressed a sigh. She began to feel the familiar sense of exasperation that accompanied all her dealings with Knives, but then she remembered the lovely view and smiled a wicked little smile. It's hard to be mad at a guy with such obvious willingness to show off his charms.
Kiley picked up Ace as Knives locked the door to their room. The hotel they were in did not have an attached restaurant, but there was a diner up the road a half a block. The décor of the diner was slightly old and grimy, and it seemed familiar to Kiley. It was one of those places with booths by the windows and stools in a row by the counter. The color of the tabletops was a sad pale green, and the floors and walls were varying shades of a equally depressing yellow. A quick glance noted a few patched holes in the walls and more chips and stains on the countertop then she could count. It felt like any number of diners she had entered back in her own world, and she could feel a part of her relaxing that she hadn't even noticed was tense.
And if it felt like home, it smelled like heaven. The place might look a little dingy, but it smelled like the people in the kitchen knew what they were doing. A waitress met them at the door and gave them a couple menus and a piece of paper for the kid to color on, then led them to a booth near the back. They settled in, Ace near the window and Kiley by her side, Knives sitting by himself, taking up the entire bench. He buried his head in the menu as quickly as possible. Kiley took another moment to look around this wonderful place before opening her own. She didn't lose herself in contemplation, though. It was much more fun to look at Knives. She couldn't see much of him; he hid well behind the laminated paper. She amused herself by looking at his hands, hands that were gripping more tightly then the weight they held required.
She tired to keep from smiling, she truly did, but the memory of that blush was just too pleasing. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she had seen a man blush, and was sure she had never seen one blush just because someone was appreciating his. . . charms. And such nice charms they were, too. She caught herself smiling and forced a solemn expression on her face, then returned to reading the menu.
Oh, they even had pasta here. Wonderful. Lasagna, oh, she hadn't had a good lasagna in years. When the waitress came by, she ordered lasagna and a glass of wine for herself and spaghetti with milk for Ace. Knives ordered a roast beef sandwich and a glass of water, then turned to stare out the window.
Kiley stared at him, enjoying the fact that she was making him uncomfortable.
"Must you?" he asked irritably after a few minutes.
"Must I what?" she asked, unable to keep the humor from her voice.
"Stop staring at me. You act like you've not seen a naked man before," he said petulantly.
"I've seen plenty of nekkid guys," she drawled, "but none of them have blushed like you did. You act like you've never been naked in front of a woman before."
A tell-tale flush crept up his neck. She laughed softly.
"I see. Don't worry; you measure up."
He turned a freshly angry gaze on her. "Did I ask for your opinion?"
"It's your own fault," she said, deflecting the question. "I didn't make you answer the door without anything on."
His gaze grew colder. "You threatened to break down the door. You would have seen me regardless."
Kiley wasn't ready to assume the blame. "Knives, there is this wonderful thing known as a towel. Most people at least grab one before opening the door."
He wasn't mollified, but the food arrived, saving them both from the conversation. Kiley dug into her meal with gusto, but slowed when she saw how quickly the girl was eating. She was glad she had ordered pasta, which had the virtue of not needing much chewing. Otherwise, she would have been worried that the girl would choke. She had been expecting to finish some part of the kid's meal, but actually ended up sharing part of her lasagna.
"Wow, you were hungry," she remarked as Knives looked on nonplussed. Ace looked up plaintively, begging for more food. Kiley laughed and ordered a dessert, claiming only a couple bites of the ice cream sundae before passing it over.
"She seems to have accepted you easily," Knives commented as they played. Kiley was poking at her ticklish sides as the child tried to feed her face. The only real result was giggling and grins, but at Knives' comment, both quit the game and grew serious. Ace busied herself with eating the remains of the hot fudge, and Kiley stared into his eyes, willing him to grow uncomfortable again and look away.
He didn't comply. Finally, Kiley spoke, answering the question he hadn't quite asked. "I don't know why she's so willing to trust me, but I'm not the sort of person who betrays a trust once it's given. Maybe she senses that."
"I don't trust you," he said flatly, still looking her in the eye.
"You say that like it has anything to do with me and nothing to do with you. Trust is always given; I have no control over the people who trust me. I don't trust you, either, if that makes you feel better."
"But you trust her," he said, shifting his gaze to look at the girl.
"Yeah, I think I do."
"Why?"
"Because. . . I'm not sure. Because she needs me, maybe, and because I don't think she would ever betray me. But mostly because I think she's a good kid who needs to be protected. And because even I need to trust someone, sometimes, and the suspicious part of me has decided that she's safe. But, mostly, I trust her because I do, and because she hasn't given me a reason not to trust her."
She saw a shadow move across his face and guessed at its source. "The first thing you did when you saw me is knock me out and lock me up. Not exactly trust building."
"And you suddenly appeared in my ship and then proceeded to knock me out and lock me up."
"Hey, I had a little more provocation," she reminded while rubbing her shoulder. "But, yeah, not the greatest of beginnings, I'll admit."
The waitress brought the bill and Kiley paid it, tipping generously and gathering up a sleepy Ace. Knives preceded them into the hotel, and not much more was said as they got ready for sleep.
Kiley took everything out of her bag, then grabbed a heaping armful of clothes and blanket and headed for a laundry. Knives dumped a load of his clothes on top then turned to his bed.
"Fine," she called after him, "but you have to watch the kid while I'm gone."
He sighed, and she took that for agreement. "I'll be back in a bit; seeing as she's sleeping, she shouldn't be too much trouble." She fumbled the door open and kicked it closed, then narrowly avoided being run down by a hyper child. She seemed to be using the halls as some sort of track, and Kiley had to jump out of the way twice more before she reached the elevators.
"Why children and sugar don't mix," she remarked to herself as she glimpsed the girl dashing past again as the doors closed. She sighed and shifted her grip on her burden, trying not to lose a sock that was beginning to slide.
It was nice to be alone, or at least as alone as one can get in a city of teeming however many there were here. Maybe it was just nice to be away from Knives, and the constant danger he represented. Ticking time bomb of death? Quite.
She felt a momentary pang of conscience, leaving the child in his care. But she was sleeping, and not likely to cause any trouble that Knives would kill her for. Of course, he wasn't acting like his normal irritating self, either, which troubled her a little. Being in the city certainly had him on edge, a little jumpier then he had been in the desert. She hoped that nothing would happen in her absence, but someone needed to wash these clothes, and since Knives was bloody hopeless when it came to chores it was her bailiwick.
She found the laundry without much trouble. She started washing the clothes and settled back to wait for them to finish. She looked around the room, desperate for something to do, but she could find nothing but a phone book.
Curious, she looked up random things. Pizza. Her heart gave wing to glad prayers of thankfulness to see that there was pizza on this world. And lots of places that delivered. . . she pondered ordering some now, but decided to wait for breakfast. She looked up pet shops, thinking about picking up a puppy before they left, but there weren't any. She wondered what sort of planet this was, that it didn't have any pets. She looked up breeders as well, but there weren't any advertised. Well that sucked.
Then something caught her eye. The word December was repeated frequently in the names of many businesses. She closed the book and scanned the cover, and it was there as well.
December. Why did that seem familiar? It wasn't one of the blown up cities, she knew that much. Those were July and some other one, August, maybe. She leafed through pages again, hoping something would catch her eye and spark the memory she was seeking. She didn't need to go far. Bernadelli Insurance. This was where the insurance girls came from. December, the largest city on the planet.
Why would Knives bring her here, of all places? There were plenty of other towns he could have chosen; they were only looking for food, after all. He hated cities, hated the people and hated their dependence on plants, and he brought her here? Why?
She sat and brooded for a while, looking for an answer and not coming up with anything plausible. She was sure he had a reason; he did nothing without a reason. But why here?
As she puzzled over this question, her mind finally supplied the answer to her first question. December was familiar because the priest came from here. He had an orphanage 100 miles, or iles, or whatever, outside December.
An orphanage. She wondered if it was still around, and leafed through the phone book. After much flipping back and forth, she finally found something promising. Thompson Orphanage, located outside December.
Millie.
Kiley suppressed a smile. Millie would be the perfect solution. She bid farewell to the worry over what she was going to do with the kid and began to look for a way to convince Knives to let her leave her there.
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Knives looked at the sleeping child and sighed. Something about this child bothered him, but he had nothing more then a feeling to work from. He sat on the edge of his bed and watched her.
"I don't trust you," he said softly.
The girl opened her eyes and watched him warily.
"You will bring trouble," he commented.
She nodded, then sighed.
"You can talk."
She nodded, then whispered, "Yes."
"But you don't."
She shook her head.
"Why?"
She sat up, pulled up her shirt and pointed at the bruises that covered her torso. She caught his eyes, made sure he understood her, then covered them again. She pushed herself down again and closed her eyes, obviously finished with the conversation.
"Why?" he asked again.
She shrugged, her back to him. The slim shoulders barely moved her shirt.
"You know," he persisted. "Why did they do this to you?"
"Because they could," she whispered, then ignored him.
He didn't wish to add to her collection of bruises and so didn't try to force the answers from her, but the enigma of her presence bothered him. That woman had taken to the child so quickly. The child herself brought problems with her, and Knives was not so naïve as to believe that she had been saved from whatever trouble besieged her. The girl was still braced for trouble, and he was inclined to believe that she knew more then she was letting on about the situation she had been taken from.
Briefly he thought about returning to his ship and letting the humans get in as much trouble as they pleased without him. He shook that thought away. It would be much more interesting to stick around and see how that woman got out of the trouble she had borrowed. Or he could watch her die, and that would be another sort of amusement.
********************************************************************************
Kiley returned to a dark room. Knives was on his bed, back to the door, and she couldn't tell if he was sleeping or not. Ace was curled in a ball on the side of the bed closest the door and farthest from Knives. She couldn't blame her. Sleeping this close to him was going to be disconcerting at best. The room grew dark as she closed the door behind her but she kept the lights off for the sleepers. Besides, the room was not so large she would lose her way as she sought out her bed.
She dumped the clothes in a pile on the floor and dug out something comfortable enough to sleep in. She quickly stripped and pulled on the freshly washed clothes, reveling in the fresh from the dryer feel. She slipped between the sheets and snuggled close to Ace, who relaxed with a sigh as she wrapped her arms around her.
Kiley wished for a moment that someone would do the same for her. She could almost imagine the feel of strong arms holding her close, protecting her, keeping her safe. She closed her eyes and reveled in the dream of safety, of someone else picking up the burden of security and leaving her a chance to be free of tension and care, even if only for a moment. Pretending that there was someone who cared enough for her life t risk their own on her behalf, imagining that someone would succor her when she needed rest, her dream was simple.
The sound of Knives turning over broke her out of her reverie. No one had ever held her tight and saved her from the dark, and no one ever would. Sometimes she wished that what remained of her heart would die. It would making living an unloved life so much easier. No one had ever really cared if she lived, and the list of people who wanted to see her dead was too long and depressing to get into at night. Of course, most of them had seen their wish come true, but their malice seemed to have traveled to this new world within her heart. How was she supposed to love anyone when she had never known love? She knew respect, and fear, and awe, but no one had even looked on her with tenderness, not a single day in her life.
No, she spent her entire life being strong enough to take whatever came her way, strong enough to face the worst the world had to offer on her own. That she still owned her soul was proof enough that she could be strong enough to face the world and survive, but there is a great distance between surviving life and enjoying it. She had made it through many difficult times on her own, and had few doubts that she could continue to do so no matter what came her way, but she wished that she could find someone to share the burden of life's trials. It would be nice to not have to prove over and over again that she could live through anything. Well, metaphorically speaking, she reminded herself as she pulled the blankets closer.
Then Ace sighed in her arms and snuggled closer. Kiley couldn't suppress a smile as her heart reminded her that it did know tenderness. She felt such warmth of feeling for this child in her arms that she could hardly believe it originated in her own heart. She could hardly remember who she was this morning, before she met and saved the child. Some of the ice in her soul had been melted by the big blue eyes and the love she saw there, and what emerged from the melt both excited and frightened her. She could love, and could be loved. So simple a concept, yet so wonderful.
She wanted to question the love, but didn't dare, more then half afraid that if she did what she felt would disappear like morning fog. It was too new, still too special to bear much scrutiny. It shouldn't be there; by all rights the child should be as afraid of her as she was of the men who had been carting her around like so much luggage. She had done nothing that should be met with anything more then gratitude at best, and had she been in the child's place she would not have trusted her heart to another so easily. But impossible, improbable, or just unlikely, it was there, she could see it with her eyes and with her heart.
Someone loved her. That fact was more precious to her then anything else she had ever possessed. She had been alternately used and ignored by almost everyone in her life, but never loved. Her mother had conceived her to trap a father who had never even acknowledged her existence. Her childhood had been one of pain and torment unending, her young adulthood one of misery, pain, and the attempt to lose herself. And then she had tried to atone for sins unforgivable, a fruitless task, and a thankless one. Death, finally, and a new chance at life.
And someone actually loved her here, beyond all reason and beyond all hope, someone actually loved her.
*******************************************************************************
Knives could not sleep, but tossed and turned as minutes slowly drifted by. He hated cities, hated all the vermin that populated them, and he hated this city the most. He imagined he could feel them, all of them, their little thoughts and their little lives fluttering at the edge of his mind like bats, seeking to suck him dry. All the vermin who strolled the streets, secure in their petty lives, sucking the blood from the plants, not caring about where their power came from so long as it was there when they needed it, and damn the cost to his people. Being here, he could not push the memories of the horrors he had seen away from his thoughts. They played over and over again in the back of his mind, reminding him why he fought to kill the vermin, and urging him to return to his slaughter immediately.
He could not relax enough to find slumber, his emotions jumbled between a need for rest and a need to kill. He wanted to go out into the streets and start lightening the burden on the plants, but knew that he would not be able to make an impact that would help before he was taken out by their sheer numbers. Plants reproduced at a much slower rate then the fecund humans. The demands of the humans and all their offspring were beginning to outpace what energy the plants could provide already, and were draining his people to death at an even faster rate.
That was the crux of the problem, as it always had been. There were too many of the humans and not enough of the plants. Even if his brother would help him instead of hindering his steps at every turn, it would be a dicey thing to get rid of them all. His best chance to wipe the plague from the universe had been when he crashed the ships, and that woman had screwed that up. Vash might have been crushed by her death, but dying in the ship was easy compared to what he would have done to her, had he been able to get his hands on her.
The flare of anger that accompanied that thought guttered out under the weight of his depression. He tried to keep a tight rein on his temper, but it was a hard thing. At least that woman seemed to sense that it wasn't the right time to annoy him, or maybe it was just that she was absorbed in taking care of that brat, but whatever was keeping her from intentionally annoying him was appreciated.
His face flushed as he remembered the look on her face as she took in his lack of covering. What right had she to look upon him in that way? It was wrong of her to look at him like he was. . . like he was. . . like she had, dammit! It was just wrong!
He shifted position again, uncomfortable in both body and mind. He hated that his discomfort so obviously amused her. He had felt her eyes on him all throughout dinner, and the distraction had made his stomach churn. The incident was making it hard for him to concentrate on the reason he had brought her here in the first place.
He didn't believe her story of coming from another world, not completely. He wanted to gauge her reactions, to see how familiar she was with this place, and to give her a chance to try to contact her people. Watching her, he knew that she had never been in this city before; there was too much of the tourist to her actions and none of it was feigned. That at least helped confirm her story, but there were many places on this planet she could be from. Not being familiar with December, while a point in her favor, was not enough to prove her veracity.
Then she decided to go play the hero and events began to slip through his fingers. He had allowed it for a chance to see her in action, and he had to admit, even grudgingly, for a human she was impressive. He had gauged her physical skills and found them remarkable, but that did not necessarily mean that she would be any good in combat. She had accurately assessed the situation and neutralized the threats expediently, wasting neither time or motion. He was pleased to see that she was skilled in fighting, but his pleasure quickly soured. But the child and everything that came after was not in his plans, and he found himself unable to cope with the addition.
Thankfully, the woman didn't seem set on keeping the child around. While the girl might work as a lever against her good behavior, she had grown oddly protective of the child, and he did not wish to provoke the woman while she was so unpredictable. The easiest course of action was still for him to learn from her, and until her actions forced him to end her life, he would try to keep her happy enough to continue her teaching.
He opened his eyes and realized that he was facing the humans. With a grimace of distaste, he flipped over. He hated to admit it, even to himself, and even in the safety of the depths of the night, but there was something about this human that interested him more then it ought. He should not have been embarrassed to have been seen by her, but he was. He didn't like what that said about him.
A human. How could he not hate her? The weak part inside of him tried to convince him that this human was different. If her story was true, she was not one of the ones who had lived their entire lives sucking down the blood of the plants. He quashed that thought quickly. She was a vermin, and would act like they all did. For all she was a most intriguing vermin, and not quite like the rest, she was a heart a human, and she would react like a human. It would do him no good to think of her as anything different.
The morning dawned bright and clear, but its advent caused little stir in the room. Knives and Ace slept through it, and Kiley had already been up for an hour, folding clothes and stealing a little time in the bathroom. The bathtub especially had called her name, and she felt little guilt over using it while the other two slept. She could feel the dirt falling out of her pores as she soaked in the near-boiling water. Lazily, she contemplated how she was going to convince Knives to let her take the child to Millie's orphanage. She didn't have the feeling that he was friends with any of his brother's traveling companions.
Her mind mulled over her problems lazily as she luxuriated in the heat. She hoped that leaving the child with Millie really was the best solution. Based on what she knew of her it was a great idea, but she easily admitted that she might not know Mille as well as she thought she did. For all she knew a little about this world, she had never tried to memorize the facts of what she had seen, and what she did remember was buried under a haze of memory. There were most likely depths the woman that she had never seen, just as there were facets of Knives that she was continually discovering, like this discomfort he was showing in the city. It had never occurred to her that he might not like going to a conclave of humans until she saw him here, barreling single-mindedly through the streets so he wouldn't have to think of where he was. Oddly, finding out that he could feel fear was oddly endearing, and actually heartening. It was also a little cute, but she'd die before she let that slip.
Not that his dislike of cities a great weakness, or was something that would help her when he decided to kill her. She would not be able to hide here and be safe; he would just be a little more pissed at the lengths to which she drove him when he finally caught up with her. She was an urban girl, felt safest in cities and knew how to use them and fight in them, but this wasn't a planet at war. Or at least, it wasn't a planet that knew it was at war, Knives' crusade notwithstanding. She could get in a fight here and the noncombatants wouldn't know enough to get out of the way. Wistfully she wished for less complacent populace, but recalling the ready smiles and laughter she had seen, she smiled ruefully. Her people didn't smile much; it was hard to be happy when you knew you could die when you rode the bus, or stepped into the mall, or just walked down the street. Random violence took victims almost daily, and while it couldn't and didn't quash the spirits of the citizens, it did make them more sober then these people who had never know impersonal violence.
She shook her head and sat up to wash her feet. Yes, it was nice to be in a world with less senseless slaughter, but enjoying the fact did nothing to help her solve today's problem. She needed a place to stow the kid. It needed to be a place that wouldn't mistreat her, would keep her safe, and that she could convince Knives to let her visit to leave the girl. Thompson's Orphanage seemed to fit the first two criteria perfectly. It was far enough from the city to hopefully be beyond the reach of those two men and whatever cronies they might come across. And while it was quite unlikely that they would bestir themselves far enough to find the child in the first place, it didn't hurt to be careful. She knew that Millie knew how to defend herself, and that she would defend others. And it wasn't like they time that the journey there and back was of any importance. They had no schedule to keep, no timetable to adhere to. If she could just come up with enough credible arguments, she might be able to fill that third criterion as well.
Suddenly she snorted. She didn't need Knives' permission to do anything. He didn't control her, or own her, and wasn't going to make her do anything against her will. Defiance flickered, but it was followed by a sense of caution. She might not need his permission, but going against him was dangerous, and she would do well to remember that. If she managed to annoy him he would most likely try to kill the girl. Taking out the source of the disagreement might serve him well, but her stomach turned at the thought of losing Ace. She hadn't finally found someone who dared to love her to wager with her life.
Soberly, she gauged her chances against Knives, if it came to a fight. She still knew a great many more tricks then he did, and that would help, but he was faster and smarter then she was, giving her not much of an edge. Being the defender automatically put her at a disadvantage; it is easier to destroy then create. She had much practice defending against all odds, against all comers, against the world itself. She had a well-deserved reputation as a hero, or at least she had possessed one before her past caught up with her. Impossible tasks she had accomplished with ease and style. But she had always had her team to back her up, and her team was very far away now.
Biting her lip, she assessed her changes, and found them slim. She wished that she could see Knives in action, to better know what he was capable of. Instantly, she regretted the impulse. Knives would leave bodies behind him, and she didn't want to see that.
Sighing, she hoped that it wouldn't come to a fight, but there was a feeling deep in the pit of her stomach that belied her optimism.
Kiley stayed in the tub until she heard someone stirring in the room. She quickly scrambled, toweling off and dressing. She ran her fingers over her short hair, fluffing it perfunctorily. She opened the door and met a surprised and still sleepy Knives. His hand was raised to knock, and his face was twisted into an expression of distaste.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," she chirped as she moved forward. He backed out of her way and she slipped past him. He closed the door firmly behind him and she suppressed a giggle. It was so much fun, depriving him of something to sulk over. She found a place that delivered pizza twenty-four hours a day, and ordered breakfast. Half an hour later, food was at the door, Ace was still asleep, and Knives was still in the bathroom. Two minutes later, pizza was in the room, Ace was in her lap, and Knives was looking with distaste at the onions on his slice.
"Why onions?" he asked as Kiley took it from his hand and shoved it in her mouth.
"Why not," she mumbled around her bite. He shuddered and grabbed a piece of pepperoni instead.
Ace was doing a very good job of smearing grease over every available inch of skin, but she seemed to be enjoying the pizza as well. After the feeding frenzy eased, Kiley picked up Ace and claimed the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later, they emerged to a room empty of pizza and a smug Knives. Kiley didn't want to give him the satisfaction of a reaction, but she rolled her eyes as Ace after turning her back to him. Ace giggled, giving her away. She smiled and demanded a display of feet.
Hmm. The shoes seemed a little small. No worries, though. They would fit long enough to get her to the orphanage, and after that. . . it wasn't going to be her problem. Her mind shied away from the thought of not being responsible for Ace, but her mind knew it was for the best. Knives was too dangerous. He might look innocent, what with bed hair and pizza breath, but under that morning exterior lay the heart of a stone cold bastard.
She just wished that she didn't need to keep reminding herself of that. Seeing him pull on his socks, he looked like a normal sort of guy, and there really hadn't been much in his behavior that she could point to and say that he was incredibly dangerous. But then, she might just be selectively editing her memory again. She rubbed at her eyes and tried to chase away such dangerous thoughts.
She just wanted to keep Ace so badly that she was trying to convince herself that Knives wouldn't hurt her. Surely that was it. She gave the child a hug before standing up. She stretched, loosening the last kinks out of her muscles before picking up her pack. Ace jumped off the bed and stood beside her. Knives finished tying his shoes and followed them out the door.
They narrowly missed colliding with a girl running through the halls. Kiley looked after her, astonished. It was the same child. She wondered if she had been dashing about all night, or if she had taken some time to sleep. Shaking her head, she walked to the elevator. The girl ran past twice as they waited, and each time Knives grew a little more visibly upset. When the girl came by a third time, he grabbed her by the neck and slammed her up against the wall.
Kiley and Ace both stared at him, eyes open wide. Kiley opened her mouth to say something, but closed it when she couldn't find the words. The child's cheeks were flushed but the rest of her face had lost all color in the heat of his glare.
"It is ill-mannered and rude to run in the halls of a hotel," he informed her politely, his calm voice at odds with his face. "One might think that someone would have taken you in hand before this, but since you are obviously in need of training. . ."
He was interrupted by a shriek of terror.
"Risa," called out an older woman who was running down the hall as fast as she could. "Oh, God, baby, what's happening?"
She threw herself at Knives, clawing and dragging at his arm, trying to make him let go.
"No, no, my baby, you, let go of her, evil, no, she's not hurting anyone, stop, you're hurting her. . ." The woman babbled while clawing at his arm, desperately trying to save her daughter.
Knives merely shifted his icy gaze to the mother, unperturbed. The elevator doors opened behind Kiley and Ace, and they gratefully took the chance to escape.
They waited in the lobby for almost ten minutes before Knives joined them. He sported a few obvious scratches and was holding his shoulder like it pained him. Kiley gave him a quizzical look but Knives ignored her and walked out the door. Having already checked out, she shrugged and followed.
"It's not a good idea to get between a mother and her child," she advised as they walked down the street. It was still early in the morning and traffic was light, but Knives' pace was quick as he moved forward. He continued to ignore Kiley. She stopped on the sidewalk and said quietly, "It's not a good idea, even if that child is adopted."
He paused and looked back over his shoulder. "Is this your idea of a subtle warning?" he asked archly.
"No, it's not subtle at all. I'm taking Ace to Millie's orphanage. You can come with me, if you like, or you can stay here and I'll meet back up with you in about a week. There won't be any other options."
Knives walked back to her. "Do you want to start a fight here?" he inquired quietly.
"You don't," she said with assurance. "This isn't something you want to push me on. It's not as important to you as it is to me, so it's not in your best interest to make an issue of it."
They stared at each other for a minute. Finally, Knives nodded.
"We're going the wrong way to reach the orphanage," he allowed.