Author's Note: Not too much to say about this chapter other than it happened earlier than I intended. Read, review and enjoy!

Slipping Away

"How'd it go?" was Lynn's first question before bombarding me with ten others in the same breath.

I laughed at her enthusiasm, some of the tension flowing out of my body. It had been a long twenty four hours and I'd had more life-or-death situations as an attempted thief than I'd had the first day of finding out I was Dragonborn. I crawled into the tent and told her of my failed request to join the Thieves' Guild, glazing over some of the finer details.

"So you're not going to be a thief?" Lynn asked, her tone curious.

"Well, at least not a guilded one, no," I replied.

"But Brynjolf's nice right?" Lynn asked and I saw her cheeks turn red before my eyes.

"Oh, yes, we're running off to get married as soon as he can get away from Mercer," I said seriously.

Lynn's expression was priceless. Her eyes got bigger than I thought capable and her mouth looked like a fly-collector. Also, she got pale enough to pass for draugr.

"Kidding Lynn, kidding," I said quickly.

Lynn recovered as fast as only she could, instantly smiling and slapping my arm playfully. At eight I had a good hunch that Brynjolf was her first crush and likely the reasons she was so keen on me joining his ranks as inevitably they would see each other more often that way.

I decided to give all quests a rest for the rest of the evening. The next morning I heard rumors in the market that Constance at Honorhall was searching for help and I offered my assistance, surprised at how easy everything had gone. I spent the day there, taking care of the kids who mysteriously respected the Dragonborn to stop their rambunctious celebrating of Grelod's departure. I was also happy to find that Constance was working steadily toward opening up the orphanage for adoption and asked for my aid in setting up a system where we could interview potential parents and transport accepted applicants' new children. The second day passed much the same and we set a date two weeks away when Honorhall would officially be open.

Two days of peace and routine and I felt normal since the first time since I had entered Skyrim. I found myself contemplating a quiet life, raising Lynn and helping the children at Honorhall. I could see myself with a house and a garden and perhaps I would hunt to make extra money as well.

I ignored the impossibility of it. I pretended to forget about the dragons and the possible end of the world that I would have to prevent before I could hope to settle down. I let the civil war raging through the land slip from my conscious. I refused to contemplate any destiny calling me, for good or for evil. I didn't think about the past month or my more distant and mysterious origins. For a whole day I was Everlee, an assistant at Honorhall Orphanage, a young and very normal Breton girl.

But of course I wasn't. There were dragons. My past was still an unsolved mystery. And even the normal-job I had was only available because I had murdered the previous boss. No, there was no turning back. If I really wanted that life for me, I had to move forward.

When I left the orphanage though, I wasn't thinking about that, or I wasn't until I saw Brynjolf, arms crossed, waiting for me in the marketplace.

"Working at Honorhall," he stated.

"Yes," I said, surprised at my easy response despite my inner turmoil at seeing him. He knows.

"How about we go somewhere more…private?" Brynjolf asked looking at the vendors cleaning out and locking up their stalls for the night.

I nodded and followed him through a part of Riften I wasn't familiar with, between warehouses, to a dock I had never noticed before.

"Anything you'd like to admit?" he asked, turning, arms crossed.

"Do I need to?"

"I would tell you to be careful, that evidence is easily left behind but it seems you planned that all out very well," Brynjolf said.

"Is this a moral lesson?" I asked easily.

The more we talked the easier the cool manner of dealing with him came. If I hadn't already recalled my eerie talents it would have been hard not to now. My own voice was foreign and frightening to me.

"The Thieves' Guild doesn't need bodies turning up here. It looks bad and we'd appreciate it if you would do your business elsewhere," Brynjolf said, his tone hard.

"I didn't plan for it you know," I said, my debonair façade let down as easily as it was put up. "She was going to kill Lynn, I had no choice." I saw the muscles in his face relax, and he just looked tired. "I didn't want her involved, but I couldn't refuse her. I should have told her no, should have put my foot down."

We stood in silence for too long. I didn't want to dally in the case that Lynn should get worried and risk being exposed to find me.

"Is that all?"

"Yes," he said and I turned to leave. He grabbed my arm though and I instinctively reached for my dagger but relaxed my grip when I saw his face. It was still soft, not hard, not prepared to run me through. "Take care of her."

"Of course," I said quietly and he let me go. "Brynjolf, have you told anyone about…Grelod?"

"No, it's just me," he replied. "I doubt anyone else will suspect. I suppose Lynn and Jared know too. Other than that, you did a very good clean-up. If Mercer didn't want to see you burned alive, you'd be good for covering up the botched jobs."

"But I thought you weren't the Dark Brotherhood?" I joked.

He started to smile but his eyes then caught something behind me and I felt my blood run cold. Before I could turn, I saw him shot in the neck with some dart and there a hand over my mouth. In the seconds I had before I lost consciousness, I heard a voice whisper in my ear:

"No, but we are."