The two arrived at a motel room, Lena walked immediately to one of the beds and sat down. Marc made his way to the bathroom and splashed water on his face.
"Is she alright?" Steven asked.
"Would you be?" Marc tried to collect his emotions, but he instead punched the mirror, luckily it didn't break.
"Talk to me, Marc. Who are you mad at? Set?"
"Hathor." Marc answered. "She's the reason that kid can't go home and see her family. We could do this on our own, so there's no reason to bring Polly along. She's scared. And I've got to protect her."
"You're carrying too much weight. She's got Hathor to protect her." Steven replied.
"You think Hathor gives a shit about her? Humans are ants, Steven. Disposable."
The man in the mirror thought for a second then spoke. "I know why Hathor chose Paulena."
"Yeah? Why?"
"So you wouldn't kill her."
Marc blinked "I—"
"Hathor knew we'd make a weapon to kill Gods. She revealed herself as a sodding B, excuse my language. What's to stop you from bumping her off? Because she's hiding in a college kid from Canada. She wanted to choose the most pathetic form she could think of. Hell, she didn't even change out of the poor girls bloody pajamas. And she's scared of guns, and she's scared of dying. She picked the most perfect shield." Steven explained.
Marc opened the door and spied on the girl sitting on the bed, unmoving.
"I keep getting played for a sucker, huh?"
"It's not your fault, Marc." Steven assured.
Marc left the bathroom and sat beside Lena. "You're quiet."
She nodded.
"I promise we'll find Set first thing in the morning, okay? We just need to take a breather. You've earned a good night's sleep."
"You're going to leave as soon as I fall asleep, right? Find Set on your own?" Lena asked.
"Not… anymore."
"Marc!" Steven yelled, appalled at the idea.
"It was a good plan. Hathor wouldn't have let you go, though. She doesn't trust Khonshu to do what needs to be done. Whatever that means." Lena sighed. "I'll admit, I don't want you to leave me either. You and Steven are all I have right now."
"I won't leave." Marc promised.
Lena shifted the tone after a moment of silence, "Why did you become a mercenary?"
"The truth? I was deployed and went AWOL. It wasn't Steven's fault. But after that, I had to do something to pay the bills. I didn't want—I don't want to kill anyone. Even now, serving as Khonshu's "justice." I hate it. It changes you. You've got nothing to worry about, Polly. You didn't kill anyone and I'll make sure you never will, okay?"
She nodded.
Marc got up and began to head out of the room. "I'm getting a beer, are you old enough to drink?"
"Not in America."
"Alright." He replied, "I'll be right back."
"Wait." She stopped him, "When this is all over, Set's dead and Anubis has destroyed all the weapons… will Hathor leave me? Let me go back to my normal life? It might be boring but at least I won't kill anyone, or be killed by Gods or something."
"Yeah." Marc said, "She will."
He exited the door and began to walk down to a 24-hour convenience store. As he approached the store, he saw his reflection in the windows.
"You lied to her. You know Hathor won't leave. She won't leave because we'll go after her."
He went inside the store and grabbed a six-pack of Coors. When he closed the fridge door, Steven was there again.
"Say something." Steven pleaded.
"Nothing to say."
"You lied to her!"
"She needs a win, Steven. If I have to lie to her to do that then fine!" Marc exclaimed.
"No, no, no. Lying never turns out good. I'll take the body and I'll tell her you're a liar-liar-pants-on-fire." Steven tried to push his way out with no avail.
"Yeah, good luck with that."
"She deserves to know." Steven whimpered.
"Why? Why should I tell her she won't ever be able to escape? So she can feel even worse? So she can think of herself like a prisoner? Tell me why, Steven. Why should I tell her the truth?"
Steven looked at Marc dead in the eyes. "Because she trusts you."
Marc was silent so Steven carried on "She trusts you, Marc. She thinks of you as a temporary Dad. And you're just going to lie to her and tell her everything is okay when it's not."
"Steven. Sometimes people need to be lied to. To be told everything's okay. It's not your fault. You'll end up fine. Even if they are lies. What she needs isn't someone to tell her the truth. It's to have someone on her side. Even if she hates me when she finds out, I'll take that. That'll be on me. As long as she survives and goes back to her life, I'll consider that a win."
Marc paid for the beer and left the store. He saw Steven on the store windows again.
"And what if she doesn't?" Steven asked.
Marc looked at his double with a piercing gaze, then it softened. He took a bottle of beer and popped the top with his teeth. Then he took a swig.
He never did answer Steven's question.