"Aoife! What are you doing here?" Lauren asked as she quickly ran up to her cell bars.

"What else? Breaking you out of prison." Aoife replied.

"Where have you been?" Lauren demanded. "Bo and I have been worried sick about you. We haven't seen you since you escaped from the Desperados."

"It's a long, long story, but first, we gotta get you outta here."

"Aoife. Bo and I anticipated this. I need to remain here. To face my crimes."

"Yeah, well, we need to put all that on the backburner for another time."

"Put them on a backburner? For another time? Why?"

"You're not safe here. Even with the eff-ton of guards outside."

"Guards outside?"

"Your Guards have literally surrounded this place."

"Well, that won't look conspicuous at all."

"And Cibor is right on the other side of that very door, standing ever vigilant." Aoife replied as she bent over and fumbled for something under her left leg pant. Lauren offered a brief smile. "So, while the police's attention is fixated on whether they'll be stormed at any minute we need to make like rabbits and jump."

"What do you mean I'm not safe?"

"We don't have time to discuss that now." Aoife then pulled out an item from her leg pant, put it up against the cell lock and it popped her door open. She then ran to Lauren's and did same thing, and then pulled Lauren out of her cell. Lauren took a moment to really look at Aoife, whose dark black mane was fulsome, buoyant, and flowed down her back to her shoulder blades. Aoife herself looked both radiant and relaxed than ever, like she was possessed of a whole new life.

"Can I say how fantastic you look?" Lauren stated. Aoife smiled.

"How are my grandchildren?" Aoife asked with pride.

"They'll be two here in couple weeks. We plan on celebrating their birthdays back home. At the County. It would be good for you to finally meet them, along with a few others." Lauren replied. Aoife smiled again. "Really, you look like you are possessed of whole new life. Wait, you're not actually possessed, are you?" That made Aoife chuckle.

"Spending months on a forest Plane will make any girl look and feel anew, body and soul."

"You were on another Plane this whole time?"

"Yes, and no time to explain."

"Wait! If there's so many guards outside, I should be safe then."

"We don't know whom can be trusted."

"Whom am I in danger from again?"

"Again, no time to explain."

"If I leave here my escape will only serve to compound the charges against me." Lauren said.

"We don't have time to appease the Humans and their quaint trials and laws." Aoife replied as she pulled out another item from her right pant leg.

"How were you able to sneak those in here?" Lauren asked.

"Remember? They thought I was a drunkard." Aoife depressed the item in her hand and a transvortex opened before them. "When we get where we're going, I'll explain, but for now we need to put some distance between us and those trying to hunt us down."

"Aoife…!" Lauren started to protest.

"Doctor!" Then in a more soothing tone. "Lauren, I need you to trust me." Aoife interrupted then held out her hand. Lauren, resigned, took her hand.

"Bo is going to kill me for this." Lauren commented. Aoife smiled and then together they ran through the transvortex and it closed behind them just as Cibor and the guards came running through the security doors.


"She did what?" Bo said when Tamsin later reported in from the Police Station via good, old fashioned conference call that Cibor had seen Aoife posing as a drunkard, and connivingly made her way into the cells. Shortly thereafter, Cibor had asked to see Lauren to make sure she was okay, and when he entered, he saw that the transvortex closing behind them.

"Why in the hell would Lauren jump ship with my mother? And to where?" Bo asked.

Kenzi and Gunnar had since returned to the Beattie Estate and reported Dr. Lavoie and his wife were dead. She and Gunnar had arrived at Zandri, but Dr. Lavoie wasn't there, and when they back-traced his steps, they had come upon the crash site where Dr. Lavoie's car was being towed away, and the covered bodies placed in the back of an ambulance. The authorities still at the scene had hoped someone would have come forward, but they were in the middle of long empty road, and whoever had clearly broadsided Dr. Lavoie and his wife had long gone. The authorities chalked it up to a tragic circumstance.

Gareton and Livia took the news of Vespy and Margot's deaths hard, and even harder when Bo revealed that Vespy and Margot were Fae, their part and parcel in an ever-revealing conspiracy, and their intentions to the point Ms. Touchard had to escort Livia up to her room. Eva went with and whilst up there the Seneschal offered a remedy, which Livia took and quickly put her to sleep. Everyone understood. Vespy and Margot had been lifelong friends, and between Lauren's arrival, the grandchildren they never knew they had, learning about Bo's genus, the Fae world at large, then Lauren's arrest, and now this latest news. It was too much to bear for Livia in a single day.

"Find out what you can there and then get everyone back here." Bo said to Tamsin.

"Will do." Tamsin replied and then ended the call and then called together a meeting in station's main conference room. In the room was Capitaine Morel who insisted on answers, not only for himself but for his superiors as to how such an important detainee vanished without a trace and the drunkard with her. Justice Lars Saunderson of the International Criminal Court was there, and known only to Tamsin as The Glaive. Also, Dr. Austine Bromley, Livia's Chief of Staff, sent by Livia to look after Lauren down at station, and Niles Seabridge, the head of the Beattie's Legal Team, and lastly Bas Cobor himself who did not sit at the table but instead stood behind Tamsin.

"And you saw nothing?" Capitaine Morel demanded again at Bas Cibor who said nothing. Tamsin knew why.

"Bas Cibor, you can answer his questions." Tamsin said.

"Are you his boss or something?" Capitaine Morel asked.

"I would be in a better position to provide a substantive answer had you allowed me to actually remain in the cell with her." Bas Cibor answered.

"Are you being smart with me right now?" Capitaine Morel challenged.

"Just being factual." Bas Cibor replied.

"Look, Ms. Beattie is in real trouble now for escaping custody." Capitaine Morel said.

"And so are you for losing her." Niles Seabridge replied.

"Well, that drunkard might not have been a drunkard after all." Capitaine Morel said.

"A little too late to make that deduction now." Dr. Bromley replied.

"Any camera footage from tonight?" Justice Saunderson asked. Capitaine Morel squirmed a bit.

"There's no footage. It's gone." Capitaine Morel replied.

"Gone?" Justice Saunderson prompted.

"Yes, gone. Completely." Capitaine Morel replied. "In fact, all the footage from the last two days."

"Don't you have redundancies?" Niles asked.

"Police policy is the local system keeps all recordings for up to 48 hours, and then they are uploaded to the Cloud Servers and kept there for 90 days. After which, any recordings deemed non-essential/non-evidentiary are deleted." Capitaine Morel replied.

"Deleted? Why?" Niles asked.

"Storage costs money. Even in the cloud." Capitaine Morel replied.

"Well, how can we obtain a copy of the security footage from your Cloud Servers from the last week?" Justice Saunderson asked.

"Can't." Capitaine Morel replied.

"You just said…" Justice Saunderson started.

"it's gone there too." Capitaine Morel finished.

"Now that's what I call covering one's tracks." Dr. Bromley noted.

"That's what I call a full-on prison break." Tamsin added.

"Could be it be one of her long-standing accomplices?" Capitaine Morel asked.

"Aren't they all dead?" Tamsin remarked so fast that Dr. Bromley let go a small smile.

"But more specifically, who knew she was coming to France in the first place, and how did they know she would end up at this specific station just so they could break her out?" Niles questioned. "Who has the access to the both local recordings and the ones in the cloud?"

"Command and Supervisory staff levels only to include myself." Capitaine Morel replied.

"None of the general police officers have access?" Justice Saunderson asked.

"No." Capitaine Morel replied then narrowed his eyes at Justice Saunderson.

"Might I ask why a Justice of the International Criminal Court is here?" Capitaine Morel asked.

"Because of the terroristic nature of this case. The bombing of that facility not only cost the lives of 11 people, but also destroyed private property with damages estimated in the hundreds of millions. This case has a broad reach, and not simply limited to the interests of France." Justice Saunderson replied.

"Compound that with an escape charge Ms. Beattie is for sure looking at a prison sentence, 20 years minimum." Niles added. That made Tamsin quickly sit forward in her chair.

"Ooooh! That's not happening." Tamsin declared. "This is what needs to happen: Find Lauren!" She then turned to Bas Cibor. "You know what you need to do." Bas Cibor nodded then left the room which caused Capitaine Morel to sit up quickly.

"Where's he going?" Capitaine Morel asked.

"To do the job you impeded him from doing." Tamsin replied then looked to Niles Seabridge. "Enough with the hyperbole. I need to understand the full list and weight of the charges against Lauren. I want to know exactly what Lauren is facing. I also want to know what charges can be mitigated. Get that information together and then meet us at the Beattie Estate."

"Will do." Niles replied then grabbed his things, stood up and left the room.

"Dr. Bromley, I understand you have an Interpol background?" Tamsin asked.

"Yes, as a Forensics Investigator." Dr. Bromley replied.

"Good." Tamsin replied then turned to Capitaine Morel. "Where are your Cloud Servers located?"

"In the capital city of Auxerre." Capitaine Morel replied.

"Guess where you're going, Dr. Bromley?" Tamsin prompted. Dr. Bromley smiled.

"On it." Dr. Bromley replied.

"And you're with her, Capitaine Morel." Tamsin directed.

"Wait just a minute? I am a Police Officer! Capitaine of this station! I am not yours to command!" Capitaine Morel challenged.

"You may not be mine to command, but your ass will mine to have if you don't do everything in your power to unscrew the mess you made here tonight losing custody of Lauren. See him?" Tamsin said as she pointed to Justice Saunderson. "He's my cattle prod to make sure you do what I tell you to do, because it will be Director General that will answer for your failure in allowing her to escape in the first place, and then you won't be a Capitaine, a Police Officer or anything else for that matter for long. Can you hear me now?" Capitaine Morel nodded. "The get on with it!"

Capitaine Morel stood up followed closely by Dr. Bromley.

"And when you're done, meet us back at the Beattie Estate!" Tamsin added. As Dr. Bromley passed Tamsin her eyes met Tamsin's, she then smiled, and then closed the door behind her and Capitaine Morel.

"Impressive. Now I know why you're the Chief Protector." Justice Saunderson said. Tamsin offered a faint smile. "What do you need me to do?"

"We need to figure out a Fae way to resolve this." Tamsin replied.

"Why doesn't The Presidium just come in and overrule the Humans? Or better yet, consume them and be done with it. What's was with the charade?"

"Wow! I didn't know you hated the Humans so much?" Tamsin queried.

"It's not about hate, so much as imbalance. Now that we are the 25th Delegation our authority should be dominant." Justice Saunderson replied.

"That would cause a war. We need to move in accordance with both the Transition and Transparency plans. We have to stick to the script, no matter how imbalanced it may seem." Tamsin said.