The police pulled to a stop outside the station.
"All right, you two, this is where you collect your reward money." Thomas said, stepping out from the vehicle. Lucy cautiously stepped out, holding Harry close against her chest. She looked up at the station.
"...So...now what?" She asked, unsure of what to do. Thomas chuckled.
"Just come on inside with me, and we talk to the chief." Lucy hesitated, then followed the man into the building.
And so...
"Well, I wish it could have been done in a different manner...but I sincerely appreciate you getting rid of that trash." The police chief said truthfully. "As promised, here's 500,000 pounds." Lucy slowly reached out and took the money from the officer's hands. This was too much...Was she wrong about humans being a terrible race all along?
"...Thank you..." She said quietly.
"No, Ma'am. Thank YOU." The chief replied. "If it weren't for you, he'd probably be putting seventeen bullet holes in some guy coming home from the bar." Lucy smiled, then looked down at the child in her arms.
"We have money to get by, Harry." She said, still not quite believing it. Harry smiled.
"Yeah!" He said happily.
"If it were up to me, you'd get a medal." The chief joked. "Now, what are you gonna do?"
"...We need to find a place to stay." Lucy replied simply. The chief snapped his fingers.
"Well, there's a really nice hotel right next door to us. The owner's a real softy, too, might even give you a discount if you tell him what you did tonight." Lucy nodded.
"Thank you. We'll take a look." And with that, she turned to leave.
"If you need anything, give us a call!" The chief called out to her.
"We will." Lucy replied simply. And with that, she and Harry left the room. Thomas met them outside.
"Hey there, you two! You got your money, right?"
"Yes." Lucy pulled some money from her pocket to show him. She made a mental note to buy a bag or something to store it in...
"Wonderful! So now what are you two off to?"
"We're going to go the hotel your chief told us about."
"Ah yes, I've been there a few times. Nice place, that is. Need me to point it out?"
"No. I think I saw it when you brought us here."
"Right, it is kind of a standout...Well, best of luck to you then! Hope to see you soon!" Lucy nodded, and smiled slightly before leaving. Once she and Harry were in the cool night air, she looked to her left to see the hotel the chief had told her about. Without a word, she approached and entered the large building.
When she entered, she was greeted by a very short old man with a kindly smile on his face.
"Hello there, youngsters!" Lucy could instantly tell he was extremely old fashioned.
"Hello." She said.
"H-Hi, Mister..." Harry replied shyly, not wanting to be rude. The man chuckled.
"Well ain't you adorable." He said honestly. Harry blushed and tried to make himself smaller. Lucy couldn't help but smile slightly at the little boy's reaction. "So, you two here to rent a room?"
"Yes. How much?" Lucy replied, reaching into her pocket to pull out some money.
"Don't you worry your pretty little head about that, missy." The man replied kindly.
"...What?"
"I said don't worry. I'm the manager of this place, and I say you don't need to pay a single pound."
"But you must need money to get by..."
"I'll be just fine. I've got more money than I know what to do with, so I can pay my workers just fine. I'm getting old, I won't be around too much longer, why would I need to get more money? Besides, look at you! You look like you've been on the streets for days! I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I charged a mother and her little boy looking for a place to stay." Lucy's face turned red, but she didn't correct the man. Secretly, she wanted it to be true...
Harry couldn't help but notice that Lucy didn't tell the man she wasn't his mother. Did that mean there was hope...?
"...Thank you." Lucy said gratefully, now smiling softly. "What's your name?" The man smiled.
"Denny. Denny Stevens." He replied. "Now here's your room number, go on up, and if you need anything, just ring and room service will be right up for you." Lucy couldn't help but feel her heart warm slightly at the man's generousity. Humans...weren't so bad. They had bad apples...but the same could be said for any species... Wordlessly, she carried Harry to their room.
"...He's so nice." Harry said quietly. "He's as nice as you, Lucy..." Lucy smiled.
"He's far nicer than me...Everyone who's helped us is...far nicer than me..." She replied.
"But, Lucy-"
"No, Harry...I've killed people...Innocent people...For all I know, they could've been like Mike, or Susan, or Paul, or Thomas, or Denny... But I'll never know now because I never took time to get to know them...They...could've had families and people who care for them, and I-"
"Lucy, no!" Lucy looked down at Harry. The expression on his face was heartbreaking. "No...Y-You're a good person too...Because you...you're nice to me...And...you take care of me...and...you're...you're getting better. You don't kill people for nothing anymore. You did it because they wanted to hurt me...You're nice...You are..."
Lucy teared up. She had finally reached their room. Wordlessly, she stepped inside, closed the door, and sat down on the bed. She looked at Harry, tears in her eyes...then tightened her grip on him and began to sob softly.
Harry was scared now. Looking up at his guardian, he didn't like the fact that she was crying...
"L-Lucy? I'm sorry...I...I didn't mean to make you sad..." Lucy smiled at him and shook her head.
"...I-I'm crying b-because I'm h-happy..."
Harry smiled, then hugged her back. After a while, she stopped crying.
"...Thank you, Harry. ...I'm very grateful that you think that I'm a...a good person. That I can...redeem myself..."
"You're welcome, Lucy." Harry replied happily. Then their stomachs growled. Lucy laughed softly.
"I'll order something to eat." She said in a surprisingly chipper tone. Harry smiled at her.
Meanwhile...
The remaining members of the gang that had tried to attack Lucy and Harry were pissed. BEYOND pissed.
"Man, the boss is gone...We can't do anything without him!"
"Ah, shut up, Joey! We can still do our thing! We don't need the boss! Next guy we see, we mug him!" They happened to be in the port. And as they were there, a man with short brown hair, wearing a pair of sunglasses, came up in a boat. The gang grinned evilly. Their next victim...
Bando stepped out from the boat and stretched.
"'Bout damn time. That trip took forever..."
"Hey there, pal!" Bando looked over with a raised brow at the four men leering at him. "Not from around here, are ya?"
"Nah, now piss off. I got things to do."
"You ain't goin' nowhere till you've paid the toll."
"Pfft. Get out of my way, ya f*ckin' sh*theads." Bando scoffed as he tried to brush past. The biggest one grabbed his arm.
"Oh no, we're gettin' your money one way or the other!" Bando glared at his attackers.
5 Minutes Later...
"What a f*ckin' waste of my time." Bando wiped some blood off of his clothes and walked away, leaving behind a pile of dismembered corpses. "Hopefully the Diclonius bitch is the next one to go..."
