"...She's still alive?" Kurama asked in surprise. The soldier in front of him nodded,
"Yes, sir. One of our soldiers, Sosuke, was in England visiting a relative. A man was killed...Sosuke managed to identify the cause of death as the vectors of a diclonius. The same type of Vectors Lucy has..." Kurama looked grimly at the floor.
"...We must find her..." He said simply.
A beach in Japan...
As soon as he had seen the redhead diclonius bitch sneak onto that boat headed for England, Bando was determined to catch her and make her pay. It had taken a long time, with a ton of hard work and determination, but he had finally managed to earn enough money doing odd jobs around town to pay for a ticket to England. He didn't tell the facility about it. He wanted to kill the bitch himself. He glared into the horizon as the boat took off.
'I'll get you, you bitch. You're gonna pay for mutilating me!'
Back in England...
Lucy felt a wave of relief wash over her as Mike led her into the house and out of the stormy weather. A young, pretty woman with shoulder-length blonde hair approached with a warm smile on her face.
"You poor dears..." She exclaimed. Lucy raised a brow at this.
'Poor dears? We just broke into their shed...'
"These two don't have anywhere to go, hun." Mike explained. "They don't seem to have a home..."
"Well, we can't in good conscience let these two live on the streets now, can we?" The woman who Lucy guessed was Susan replied. She approached Lucy with a smile. "My name is Susan, dear. It's very nice to meet you." Lucy forced a smile back.
"...The feeling is mutual." She replied simply. Susan smiled.
"Now then, since you have nowhere to go...I don't see any reason why you shouldn't stay with us for the time being!" Lucy's eyes widened at this. These people barely even knew them, and here they were opening up their door to them?
"...Why?" She asked.
"Why what?" Mike asked with a confused frown.
"Why are you helping us? We haven't given a reason to..." Lucy explained. Mike and Susan smiled.
"Hey, people don't need reasons to do nice things. They just do it because it's the right thing to do, y'know?" Mike explained. Lucy blinked at this, and felt a bit uneasy about the situation. This could very well be some kind of trick...But then she looked down at the sleeping five year old in her arms. She decided to give these people a chance...For Harry's sake. The red-haired Diclonius looked up at the couple.
"...Thank you." She said simply, not wanting to offend them and get kicked out. She did make a mental note to keep a sharp eye on them, however.
"You're very welcome, dear." Susan replied with a smile. "Come now, why don't you put your darling boy down on the couch over there, and we'll get you some tea, hmm?" Lucy hesitated as she looked at the sleeping Harry. She sighed.
"...All right..." She said. Reluctantly, she placed Harry down gently on the couch. She let a smile come to her face as Mike gently placed a thick wool blanket over the child. Quietly, she approached Harry and ran her fingers through his messy black hair, making the boy smile contentedly as he slept. Lucy, with much reluctance, stepped away from Harry and allowed Susan and Mike to lead her into the dining room.
Harry's dream after Lucy puts him down...
Harry yelped in pain as he was roughly thrown against a wall. He quickly sat up and pressed himself against the wall, trying to make himself as small as possible as the massive figure of his uncle towered over him menacingly.
"Thought you'd seen the last of me, didn't you boy?" Vernon sneered as he undid his belt. "You. Thought. WRONG!" Harry whimpered in response. "I'm not happy with what that WOMAN did to me. And it never would have happened if you hadn't screamed. There's only one way I can think of to properly punish you." Harry yelped in pain as Vernon yanked him off the ground by his hair.
"Wh-What are you going to do...?" Harry whimpered in terror. Vernon gave him the most terrifying, sadistic smile he had ever seen.
"You got me killed, boy. I think it's only fair I return the favour." Vernon walked towards the oven and threw Harry in as hard as he could. The boy who lived scramble to his knees as quickly as possible and watched in horror as Vernon turned on the oven to full heat...
Harry woke up in a cold sweat, panting slightly. He sighed, relieved that it was only a dream. Then he realized...for the first time in days, he had not woken up in his guardian's arms. Sitting straight up, he looked around at his surroundings. He was in a small, cozy looking house, sleeping on a couch...But...
"L-Lucy?" Harry called out nervously, afraid she had left him. As if on cue, the diclonius walked into the room, saw him and smiled.
"Hello, Harry. I was just coming in to check on you. We didn't wake you, did we?" Harry shook his head.
"L-Lucy? Wh-Where are we?" He asked shyly.
"Well...the owners of the shed saw us. They offered to let us stay with them for the time being." Lucy smiled. "We have a house to stay in, Harry." Harry smiled, slightly relieved they didn't have to sleep outside or in abandoned buildings for a while. Then Mike and Susan walked in and smiled at seeing Harry awake.
"Hey, our little man's awake!" Mike exclaimed. "Sleep well, buddy?" Harry nodded, deciding against telling them about the dream he had. It was just a dream, no sense in bothering them...
"So, Harry, was it?" Susan asked. Harry nodded shyly, and Susan smiled. "It's very nice to meet you, dear. Are you feeling hungry?" Harry was about to tell her not to worry about him, but his stomach interrupted him. Susan giggled. "Well, we have plenty of food. Mike, come help me in the kitchen, will you love?"
"Sure." Mike shrugged. He turned to Lucy and Harry. "You two just do your thing, okay?" Lucy smiled as he left the room and sat next to Harry. She was slightly taken aback when he hugged her, but smiled and returned the hug nonetheless.
"Are you glad to be living in a house now, Harry?" She asked. Harry smiled up at her.
"Y-Yes, Lucy." He was glad to be in a safe environment. As he spent time leaning contentedly against his caretaker, he slowly managed to push the nightmare he had down into his subconscious. After all, it was a one time thing, right?
