Kurt watched the English countryside pass him by. It was pretty enough, and for such a small place, it sure made him feel like he was traveling a great distance. It was more of a trek than a trip and Alistaire was deliriously happy with all his car's bells and whistles.
Kurt thought Alistaire was going to cry when he realized the radio worked.
"So… Um…." Kurt searched his mind for something they could talk about other than the car. "What about… those papers you were working on?"
Alistaire searched his mind. "Oh, yes, those annoying tables and articles. I swear, it's like someone wrote our whole charter in code. You have to assemble the articles in the form of the graph in order to read them properly. I've been working on getting it all together so it's actually readable from beginning to end."
"Sounds like quite a process." Kurt said, staring at the distant tree-line. "I bet our jobs are hard."
Alistaire smirked. "I wonder if we'll ever know?"
Kurt smiled back. "I vote 'no'. Let's pick Tabitha up and the three of us can Thelma and Louise it off a cliff or something."
Alistaire laughed out loud. "Not a chance." He grinned. "It's too good a mystery." He looked at Kurt with a twinkle in his eye. "I imagine that all the difficulties we've had are explainable by the orders of your office."
"Really?" Kurt looked back, slightly shocked.
Alistaire nodded.
"Then it's something we should make a top priority then." Kurt decided.
"Indeed. It's been second only to Miss Smiths release, and to be fair we started that first and I bet we should see it through."
"Of course." Kurt turned and looked out the window. The lighthouse is in great shape now, thanks to Forge. He thought. And Alistaire's about to figure out what I need to do to make this job 'workable' … He smiled slightly. I'm going to pick up a beautiful young girl I haven't seen in a very long time.
Then he looked down at his undisguised hands. And I'm going… as myself.
He fought it for a second and then – he couldn't fight it any more. He smiled wide. My life… It's really not that bad.
The young girl dropped down in through her apartments skylight.
"What the…?" But then she knew. The rent was far too late now and this was the result. The room was strewn with boxes and all her worldly possessions had been manhandled in to said boxes by her landlady.
She looked down and saw one of her brother's trophies. It was broken from being shoved in to the box. It had been for track and field.
She swallowed hard and picked it up, gathering up all the little pieces in case it could be mended. Damn it Mrs. Kitchell! It's not like he could just win another one!
A lump caught in her throat and she dropped to her knees in the middle of the room.
Mom… I don't know what to do. I… I have to kill this girl. She took a deep breath. And I don't think she deserves it… But mom… She shook her head. There is no other way.
She picked up her sword from where she had laid it down and used it like a cane to force herself to stand.
She looked down at the file. "I'm sorry Katherine. It's nothing personal."
And she limped off to wrap her wounds and prepare herself for later.
The psycho in the box wept.
Tears of frustration and loneliness rolled down his face.
He had taught his little brother how to hunt.
He had taught him how to follow a scent.
But he never needed to teach him how to kill.
His little brother always knew how to kill.
You were the smart one! He told his dead brother. You were the one who lived among them. The one no one would suspect.
How?
How is it that this little girl stopped you?
What about your experiment? What about your skills and the scope of your vision?
You were the best of us my brother.
And I will avenge you.
He began to shriek again through the gag.
It was a terrifying sound, low and horrible, that sent dogs and cats fleeing from the local area in terror.
Kitty stared out at the ocean. She casually glanced over her shoulder and she jumped when she saw that she was not alone.
She smiled. "What's going on?"
"Not much." Lucy admitted.
"You should have seen Alistaire driving down the road from up here. He's dangerous! He was all over the place."
"Sorry I missed it." She joined Kitty at the railing.
Kitty leaned over and bumped her lightly with her shoulder. "So how are things with Forge?"
Lucy looked at her shoulder and then at Kitty. "Good. Always good. But never like I thought or … hoped."
Then she looked thoughtfully away. "You know…" she swallowed. "You're the reason I'm here." She said softly.
Kitty blinked. "Me?"
Lucy smiled. "When I broke in to the mansion that time… I was in your room."
Kitty nodded and listened.
"You had this… purple …" She searched for the word. "Shirt thing… with a pocket in front… and a hood… on your bed."
Kitty swallowed. She knew the shirt they were talking about.
"It was sooo soft… And it smelled… like…" She dropped her head. "Like a boy." She smiled slightly.
Lance. Kitty realized.
"And I thought… I thought…" She looked more worried than frustrated.
"What?" Kitty said softly.
"I thought… 'I'd love to live this way. If I could just figure out how…" Lucy set her stare at the horizon and she bit back on her tears. "But… It's not easy to learn." She shivered a bit. "A lot of it's… confusing."
And she turned to look at Kitty so that Kitty could see the tears in both her eyes. "How do you do it?" She said softly. "You make it look so easy…"
Kitty swallowed hard and pushed off the railing.
Lucy went to step backwards but Kitty threw her arms around her.
For a long moment, Lucy didn't move. She searched her mind for what to do next, but no answer came.
She tried taking a few breaths to remain calm and it worked, but she began to notice things too.
There was another calming effect. The warmth and smell of Kitty seemed to envelop her and shut out the rest of the world. And Lucy felt herself starting to give way and just cry.
She couldn't reach to wipe her face and she didn't know what to do, and then…
Her instincts took over in the smallest of degrees and Lucy Logan leaned in to Kitty's hug.
She felt Kitty quiver slightly when she did it and for a moment she thought she was too heavy to lean against her with all her weight, but Kitty bore it and returned it.
"It's not easy." Kitty spoke right in to her ear as though sharing secrets. "Nothing about life is easy." She said softly. "It all takes practice."
"But… I need to be good at it now." Lucy shuddered.
"Shhh…" Kitty told her. "No one expects you to be perfect, or to know anything you weren't taught." She sniffed. "And if they do, you bring them to me and I'll set them strait."
And some last little reserve broke away at that thought. The idea and recognition that Kitty was in fact on her side in all things.
And without thinking, Lucy Logan wrapped her arms around Kitty and hugged her back.
