A/N: This fic is available on FFN and Ao3.

"And that concludes my report." Lena stood with her hands clasped behind her back, her gaze lowered. Normally she would look her superior in the eyes when she spoke to them, but today she simply looked down at the items arranged on his desk, awaiting his verdict.

"So," Ernst began, "this boy's name is Thomas. No family, no relatives. And he was hiding out in our base for an entire week."

"He didn't mean any harm, Your Excellency," Lena couldn't help but add. "He was just…afraid." Of a great many things.

Ernst was quiet for a few moments. "And where did you say you took him?"

"I…didn't, sir," she admitted. "But I can tell you that he's somewhere safe, and that he won't be any trouble for us, now or ever. You have my word." Given all that she'd done, she wouldn't be surprised if her word wasn't enough, but there was no harm in trying.

This was the agreement she and Marcel had come to after they'd returned. They would tell the higher-ups what had transpired, but they wouldn't give away Thomas' current whereabouts or Wilhelmina's role in it all. They'd argued about it, but in the end even he had to admit that covering up the events completely would only hurt them in the long run.

"While I can't say I condone you taking matters into your own hands like that, Colonel Milize," Ernst said, his use of her title contrasting with his normal informal attitude, "I do believe you had good intentions, and a child like that could not have learned anything confidential that could jeopardize our operation should it be leaked. But I do hope neither you nor Second Lieutenant Marcel make a habit of this going forward."

"I understand. It won't happen again."

Ernst gave her a half-smile, no doubt already tired of the formalities. "Then you're free to go. Oh, and call him in here on your way out. I'll need a full report from him as well."

"Consider it done."

Fortunately, she didn't have to comb the entire base to find him. In fact, he was just waiting a little further down the corridor, likely assuming Ernst would want to hear from him anyway.

As Lena approached, she said, "His Excellency wants to see you."

He pushed himself off the wall, his expression resigned.

She walked by without another word, though she heard him mutter, "Remember what we talked about, Colonel."

She didn't respond. There were more important matters to tend to for the time being, she told herself. This could wait. Lena didn't want to admit that she was just stalling, delaying the inevitable. I just need more time. Time to think, time to plan what she was going to say, and what she was going to do, if anything.

Unfortunately, fate didn't seem to care all that much about what she needed.

"Lena?"

Lena stopped in her tracks. Hearing her name from his lips had always brought her incredible joy, but now she could only feel her stomach sinking as Shin made his way toward her. They were alone in the hall, and normally she would have been highly conscious of that fact, but something halted her thoughts before they could stray too far in that direction.

"The vast majority were wiped out. And it wasn't the Legion that did it."

"Hello, Shin." She tried to smile, but her heart wasn't in it. She'd been up since before the sun rose, running all over town with Marcel and Thomas. Then their mission took them outside of town and into some forest, where Wilhelmina had dropped several bombshells on them. Well, on her. Apparently, most everyone had at least some idea of what was going on besides Lena.

It was all so draining, and whether he knew it or not, Shin had a hand in it. So while her heart still fluttered upon seeing him, she couldn't quite meet his eyes even when he came to stand in front of her.

He must have noticed, because his tone held a note of concern as he spoke. "I haven't seen you all day. Theo said you were out running errands with Marcel, but I guess I didn't think it'd be that long." He moved closer, so close she need only raise her arm a little to touch him. "I'm glad you're back."

The warmth in his voice sent a shiver up her spine, and a part of her wanted nothing more than to let his embrace drive away the stress and exhaustion of the last few hours. But once again, she couldn't do it.

"…Lena?" Shin pressed when she didn't respond. "Is everything okay?"

"Hm? Oh, yes. I'm…I'm fine." It sounded about as convincing aloud as it did in her head.

Shin remained where he was, and reached out to take her hands in his. "Is this about Socks?" he asked quietly.

For a brief moment, Lena stared at him blankly. Then she remembered, and realized he must have noticed that she and Marcel had returned without the cat. Even though a little over a day ago Lena had referred to him as such, hearing someone call Thomas "Socks" now felt strange to her. But nothing could change the fact that she cared for the boy and was sad to see him leave, so the emotion in her words was genuine as she spoke. "I…had to let him go. He didn't belong here."

And given what she'd learned, he probably never would. Lena could only hope that life with Wilhelmina suited him better. Currently wrapped up in those sentiments, she was unprepared for what came next.

Shin wrapped his arms around her, carefully bringing her to his chest. "I'm sorry. I know how much you cared about him."

Lena felt moisture gather behind her eyes. To him, Thomas was just a cat she'd held onto for a few days. Hardly worth crying over. What's more, he had always been hostile to Shin and his ilk, so she would understand if he was glad to be rid of him. But while Shin may not have cared much about the cat himself, he knew how much he'd meant to Lena, and sought to comfort her.

That was the real reason behind her unshed tears. Shin was always so kind and considerate towards her. There was no mistaking the sense of safety and security she felt just by being around him. With those few words, with this one action, she knew how much he loved her.

How could someone like that be capable of what Marcel was suggesting? How could anyone?

"Each and every one of them has the blood of their own kind on their fangs, no matter how sweet and innocent they pretend to be."

Lena closed her eyes, hating that their moment together was being ruined by her own uncertainty. I know Shin. And I know if I ask, he'll tell me. With just one short conversation, this whole matter can be put to rest, and everything will go back to normal.

"Shin?"

It was quite simple. Just a question or two, and watch Shin prove them all wrong.

"Shin, I…"

All she had to do was ask.

"I wanted to…"

He pulled back just enough to study her face, and she saw in his eyes that her hesitation only worried him more. "What's wrong?"

Lena was quiet for half a second too long before finally replying. "It's nothing. I'm just a little tired is all." She knew it wasn't convincing, but she also knew he wouldn't press her for details if she wasn't ready to give them. Slowly, reluctantly, she stepped away. "Thank you for coming to see me. I'll be fine. …I'll see you in a bit."

"Well…alright, then," he said. "We'll talk later." As she suspected, he didn't sound convinced.

Still, he made no move to stop her as she retreated, though she could feel his gaze following her until she turned the corner. As soon as she did, Lena blew out a breath. Her actions now were a far cry from a few hours ago, when she'd resolved to get to the truth no matter what.

Now, reluctance and doubt crept in with every step. New thoughts were surfacing where they hadn't before, and new fears along with them.

Maybe…she'd be better off not knowing. What difference would it make, anyway? There was no changing what happened. Knowing wouldn't do her any good; she had to focus on what lay ahead, not behind. I shouldn't have let it get to me. Lena told herself all these things and more, refusing to dwell on the possibility that this was not a professional issue, but a personal one.

She didn't want to acknowledge the fear that the truth would affect what she had with the werewolves.

With Shin.

Wearily rubbing her temples, she stumbled away in the direction of her room. Maybe with a little time, she'd figure out what she should do going forward. In fact, for all she knew there was nothing that needed to be done, and the conflict would resolve itself.

But as most anyone can attest to, problems had a way of making themselves known eventually, one way or another.

–––––––––

The first sign that something was amiss came in the form of Dustin, who nearly bumped into Lena as they both rounded a corner. Before she knew it, the documents she'd been carrying on her way to Annette all went fluttering to the ground in all directions.

"Sorry!" Dustin cried, quickly adjusting his glasses and kneeling to help her clean up.

"It's fine," Lena sighed. It was partly her own fault for not looking where she was going. She knelt at the center of the mess and gathered the sheets one by one, with Dustin coming to her every now and then with the papers he'd collected from elsewhere. Soon they were all in place and back in her hands, and Lena quickly rifled through them to make sure none were missing. "That's all of them," she said aloud. "Thanks, Dustin."

He didn't respond, and she glanced up to find him staring absently into space, his silver eyes dark and troubled.

"Er, Dustin?" Lena prompted.

His eyes snapped to hers. "Oh! Sorry. I mean, you're welcome." He scratched the back of his head, his face taking on a decidedly uncomfortable expression. "Well…I should get going now."

Before he'd taken more than two steps, Lena laid a hand on his shoulder. "Is something wrong?"

Dustin went quiet, and Lena thought that he might not say anything else after all, but then he muttered, "It's nothing, really. I'm just…thinking about things, that's all."

Lena almost offered to help him sort out whatever it was he was thinking about when a thought suddenly occurred to her. "You know," she said with an encouraging smile, "I bet Anju is free right about now. Maybe you can talk to her about it."

But as if her words were a trigger, Dustin flinched, his eyes darting left and right. "I-I don't know about that," he stammered. "She's probably busy, you know? I really wouldn't want to bother her."

Lena frowned. This wasn't his usual shy demeanor at play; something was decidedly off about the way he was behaving. And she'd never seen him get so nervous at the mere mention of Anju–not in this way, at least. A sneaking suspicion prodding her brain, Lena asked, "Did something happen?"

"With Anju? No," Dustin muttered. "I haven't seen her at all today. In fact, the only people I really talked to were Annette and…Marcel…" He fell silent, as if realizing too late that he'd let something slip.

And indeed he had.

Scowling, Lena spun on her heel–scattering the papers once again–and marched down the path Dustin had just come from, feeling an unfamiliar spike of anger in her heart. And beneath that, a tremor of fear. She'd known about his ultimatum; she just didn't think it would come about so soon, that he really wouldn't wait around for her to talk to Dustin and Annette on her own. There had been a few moments during their "mission" when they'd more or less gotten along, but that shouldn't have been enough to let her guard down around him.

The open door to Annette's office quickly grew closer, and as she approached, Lena heard the sound of voices.

"…really don't see how you didn't figure it out until now."

Marcel.

Gritting her teeth, Lena quickened her pace.

"I guess I just haven't noticed," came Annette's calm reply.

"Haven't noticed that an entire population's been reduced to barely a handful of individuals?" Marcel growled, just as Lena came in. "You really ought to–"

"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded.

Annette was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, with Marcel sitting at a table across from her. Her expression was perfectly neutral, while he was clearly irritated. Both turned their heads when they heard Lena's voice.

Marcel's mood didn't seem to improve upon seeing her. "I'm just filling Major Penrose in on everything she apparently missed this past year."

"Like how you 'filled' Dustin in?" Lena snipped. The look on his face when she'd mentioned Anju was still on her mind. He had been more than just anxious–he'd been fearful, and the fact that a few words from Marcel had been enough to instill it in him stoked her ire more than anything else. "It's hardly been a day. Don't you think you should've waited until I–"

"Told them both yourself?" Marcel finished. "And when would that be? In a week? A month? Or never?" His scowl deepened. "I know you wouldn't have; you'd just keep putting it off, saying you need more time, this and that. You still want to protect them even now, don't you?" It was obvious that this time, he wasn't referring to Annette or Dustin.

Annette herself stayed quiet, but raised a questioning eyebrow at Lena, clearly wondering what she had to do with all this. Lena pinched the bridge of her nose. She wanted to explain…no, she didn't. Because much as she wanted to deny it, Marcel spoke the truth. She wanted to break the news a different way, to soften the blow somehow. Even now, all she wanted was to go back to a few days ago when she hadn't known, when everything was normal.

"What does any of it even matter?" she shot back, fully aware that she didn't answer the question. "The werewolves are here now, and whether you like it or not we need them to win this war. Ernst knows that, and he's letting them stay. Can't we just move past this already?"

Marcel looked ready to pop a blood vessel, and Lena prepared to face the inevitable tirade. But before he could unleash it, another voice piped up.

"…Can we?"

It was Dustin. He must have followed Lena back, though she didn't know if he'd been there the whole time or if he had only just arrived to hear their argument. He stepped into the room, eyes downcast as the three of them turned their attention to him.

Lena's hopes that he'd be on her side of the discussion were sinking rapidly, but she still maintained an even tone as she asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"I get where you're coming from, Lena," he began, "I do. But this is serious. So many Eighty-Six, gone just like that… How can we just shrug our shoulders and carry on with our lives like nothing happened?" He inhaled deeply, then met her gaze. "Maybe we didn't know before, but we do now. I just…I don't know. Do we just not say anything?"

There was nothing harsh or accusatory in his tone. Instead, he sounded lost, confused. Uncertain. He really didn't know what to feel, it seemed. Like Lena, he was starting to doubt.

"What's there to say?" Lena asked, aiming to reason with him. "We don't even know who was involved, if anyone. Is it really something worth holding over someone's head?" The more she spoke, the more she started to convince herself that it really didn't matter. Was there any way of knowing what really happened in the Eighty-Sixth Sector? They were all getting worked up, and for what?

Mass slaughter, seems like, that tiny, rebellious part of her mind whispered to her. Lena stamped it down. She didn't want to consider the thought that she was the unreasonable one, that everyone else's reactions were perfectly understandable, even expected. She didn't want to think about the fact that somewhere deep down, a part of her agreed. She didn't want to believe that after this, she really would see Shin differently.

"There it is," Marcel scoffed.

"What?"

"I know the real reason you don't want to talk about it. You don't want to believe your perfect boyfriend did something so terrible, right?" He got to his feet with a huff. "Well, he did. Ignore it all you want, but that won't change a thing."

"I'm not ignoring anything," Lena said, eyes narrowing. "I'm saying we need to have all the facts first. And until then, I think it's best if we all just–"

"Ask them."

Lena, Marcel, and Dustin all looked up, startled.

Annette, who hadn't uttered a sound since her own conversation was interrupted, was staring at them with an almost exasperated expression on her face. When the others simply looked at her, she sighed. "Obviously this isn't something we can forget about, no matter where or how we learned it. We need all the facts, right?" she asked with a glance at Lena. "So, we ask them ourselves. Shin, Anju, Raiden, all of them. We'll listen to whatever they have to say, that will be the end of it."

Lena wanted to argue that she had been about to do just that, but the knowledge that she'd abandoned her objective halfway through prevented her from doing so. She exchanged glances with the other two. If they agreed, then there would be no more shying away from it. Nowhere to hide and pretend it didn't exist

But before anyone could speak for or against the idea, another party seemed to make the decision for them.

"Ask us what?"