Getting to the prison was an easy task. Getting in was a whole other ball game. I was able to bribe some of the guards while Biggs, one of my old contacts, was able to get us the rest of the way undetected. Of course, he was already giving me a hard time about it.

"You're insane," he said. "Do you even understand how much trouble I can get in if all your bribes suddenly aren't enough to placate the other guards? I could be fired or worse… I could end up in here with all of the other criminals."

"Would you relax? Everything is going to be fine. No one will know he is gone until morning. I have Hara taking care of getting his ship ready for us. No doubt she's using her feminine wiles…" The thought of it made me roll my eyes. "Whatever gets us his ship, I guess."

"You're serious, aren't you? Skye, do you have any idea what you're doing?"

"Nope. But I'm not going to stop now."

I followed him to Wolf's cell, which was away from everyone else. They kept him isolated. When we got to his cell, he was in prison garb, laying in his bed with his legs propped up, throwing a tennis ball up against the wall and catching it. It was kind of a sad sight. He paused for a moment when he heard our footsteps.

"Surely it's not mealtime already," he pointed out, not even moving to see who he was speaking to.
I smiled to myself. "Actually, I'm here to tell you to pack your things."

He sat up quickly when he heard my voice. He didn't look too bad. Other than his eye patch was missing, his scar perfectly visible, he still looked like Wolf. He hadn't been in here long enough to make a difference anyway.

"Well, well. Look who's out of the hospital. Feeling better?"

"Like a million bucks."

"Good." He got up from his bed and strode over to the bars. "Now what is this about packing my things?"

"I'm busting you out."

He lifted an eyebrow. "Prove it."

I looked over to my guard friend. "Biggs."

Biggs unlocked Wolf's cell and let the door swing open. Wolf looked to the door then looked to me.

"Why?"

"It's not right that you got locked up for helping me and Falco. They took advantage of the situation. So, I'm here to help you out. Unless you would rather stay here. That can be arranged too."

He smirked. "You had me at 'I'm busting you out'." He stepped out of the cell. "After you."

Biggs led us through the prison with ease. I thanked some of the guards I had bribed on the way by. Wolf found it all quite amusing. He finally got chatty when we got to my vehicle and it was just me and him.

"Does anybody else know you're doing this?" he asked.

"My roommate insisted she be a part of the mission. She's actually getting your ship back as we speak."

"No one is going to find out and try to stop you?"

"Not until it's too late."

"You sound you have this planned to a 'T'."

I shrugged. "And you sound worried."

Wolf huffed. "Hardly. It just makes me curious how far you'll go before you're caught."

"I'll be getting an earful from Fox in the morning. You can be sure of that. Not to mention Peppy…" I made a face. "You're right. We should turn back now."

He laughed at that. There was silence between us until we got to the compound where the military held all confiscated ships and such. True to my sources, his wolfen was there. Hara was waiting out front for us. When I stepped out of my vehicle with Wolf, Hara quickly greeted him with a punch to the face.

"Hara!" I scolded her. "What are you doing?! This is not the time or place!"

"Oh please!" she argued. "After all he's done to you? That punch is the kindest thing I could have given him!"

He wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth and smirked. "Your roommate is charming."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Give her a break, she's my best friend." I turned to Hara. "His ship?"

She grinned mischievously. "Like taking candy from a baby. All of the boys are properly taken care of."

"I knew I kept you around for a reason," I teased.

She led us straight to the wolfen. She snuck over to the controls and disengaged the lock on the ship. She waved us over and he and I met her at the controls.

"My, my, you two make quite the team," Wolf praised. "You ladies would fit right in at Sargasso."

"Good grief, just go already," Hara huffed.

I turned to my friend. "Hara, could you go keep a lookout? I'll be right there."

She gave me a nod then went on her way. I went back to Wolf.

"You better get out of here. There's still a chance we could get caught."

He gave me a sideways glance. "As hard as it is for me to say, Kell… Thanks. I appreciate this."

The look in his eye… It made me uncomfortable. I didn't know if it was respect or something else entirely. I didn't want to think about the latter.

I shook off the feeling. "Don't get all sappy on me now, Wolf. Go."

He gave me a mock salute then went to man his ship. He took off without a hitch and I went to meet up with Hara. As soon as I got to her, I found that she had been held up.

Most of the men were military. But then I saw the familiar faces of my brother and Peppy. I cursed. Some of the men heard me and rushed to me. They immediately had me put my hands behind my head and put me on my knees. By then, Fox and Peppy finally saw me.

"Are you kidding me right now?" Fox scolded. "I figured you were involved with Hara here but, I really hoped it wasn't you."

"What?" Peppy asked. "You were the one that got Wolf out? What were you thinking?!"

"I was thinking that he was put in there for the wrong reasons," I told them irritatingly. "This is ridiculous. Are you really going to arrest me?"

"Wolf is an interstellar criminal," Peppy explained. "And you just… let him go."

"You're right. I did. And for the right reasons. May I go now?"

"Why did you break him out?" Fox asked.

"Because you took advantage of the fact that he came to mine and Falco's rescue. He was there to help me and you took advantage and arrested him anyway! That's disgusting on so many levels, Fox. The only reason Falco even got to you was because of Wolf. Wolf made sure I didn't bust my head open on the way to Blackout City. Instead of looking at the facts, you just put him behind bars. Aren't you supposed to do the whole, 'innocent until proven guilty' thing?" I was so mad that I could spit. My brother, of all people, should understand where I was coming from on this. I actually saw a flicker of sympathy over his features.

Peppy's voice cut into my thoughts. "Not when you have a track record as extensive as Wolf O'Donnell's."

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. "You know what?" I got to my feet and pushed off the men who tried to put me back on my knees again. "I'm done with your hypocritical bullshit. If you're not going to charge me with anything, my roommate and I are going home."

I stomped past Peppy and Fox, grabbed Hara's hand and took her back to my vehicle. As soon as we got in, I let out the breath I didn't realize I had been holding. Hara laughed.

"Whew! Well, that was exciting," she said. "I seriously thought that Peppy was going to have them arrest you."

"He would have," I admitted quietly. "Look, I really don't want to talk about it. We did what we thought was right and that's that. End of story."

There was a pause between us.

"So… what now?" she asked quietly.

I shrugged. "Nothing I guess. I think I'm just ready for some good news."

"You never know. Good news usually comes when you least expect it."

Hara couldn't have been more right. Early the next morning, I got a phone call from the hospital about the little girl I had saved. She had finally woken up from her coma. I didn't even bother changing into day clothes. I managed to remember to put on pajama pants then Hara and I sped to the hospital. I nearly toppled over some of the nurses to get to her room. I stepped in to see her sitting up in bed and flipping through the pages of the book I left on her table. There was another nurse with her checking vitals and such. The nurse gave me a once-over then smiled.

"Excited?" she asked, clearly amused by how I was dressed.

I couldn't help but return her smile. "You have no idea."

She acknowledged Hara's presence with a nod then turned to the little girl.

"Conna, there's someone here to see you."

I reveled in the fact that I finally knew her name. She had been in that coma for a year. I didn't know anything about her when I saved her and no one knew anything after she was here. And now… I could have honestly cried over this.

She looked up at me from the book. She had beautiful green eyes that seemed to glow. She would be quite a beauty when she was older. I watched as she suddenly got shy.

"Please don't be afraid," I pleaded as I approached her bed. "My name is Skye. My friend's name is Hara. I was the one that found you and made sure you were okay."

"And you read to me…" she murmured softly.

I nearly melted. Her voice was so sweet. And she remembered that I read to her. Wait a minute…

"You heard me?" I asked, completely bewildered.

She gave me a small nod. "You picked good books. Some of them were a little old for me but, even those were good."

Hara giggled from behind me. "I like her already. This is going to be a good relationship, I think."

"Relationship?" Conna asked. "But I… I have so many questions…"

The nurse gave me a light tap on my shoulder. "I'll let you handle this one. I'll be close by if you need me."

I thanked her and she took her leave. Hara and I pulled up chairs, trying to be prepared for any questions Conna had for us.

"How long have I been asleep?"

Of course that would be her first question. Hara and I exchanged glances. I almost didn't want to tell her the truth. I cleared my throat and turned my attention back to her.

"It's been a year, Conna."

Her eyes widened as the truth of her reality sank in. "A year…? I've been asleep for a year…?" She looked at her hands as she clenched and unclenched her little fists. "My birthday… And holidays… I've missed them all… And school…"

My heart broke a little at her revelations. She was robbed of a year of her life. How was I supposed to help her cope with that? She was just a kid… I didn't know what to say or do for her.

"My parents…" she murmured. "They're gone too, aren't they?"

I nodded. "I'm sorry, honey. There was no trace of them."

She shook her head at me. "I don't know if I should be happy or sad…"

That caught me and Hara off guard.

"What do you mean, sweetie?" Hara questioned.

She looked up from her hands. "My parents… they were never home. I was usually home alone while they worked all the time. I had to teach myself how to cook and clean and all of that… The only times I ever saw them were on holidays and… my birthday…"

"What's the last thing that you remember?"

She paused and thought for a moment. "I remember… I remember mommy running in. She was scared. Something was going on outside but she wouldn't tell me what. She told me to run but… Before I could get away, some people came through the door. I don't remember anything after that."

That didn't explain anything…

"Conna, I found you in your bedroom closet," I explained. "You have no idea how you got there?"

"No. I don't remember."

There were a few moments of complete silence when there was a knock on the door. The nurse came in to check on us.

"I'm sorry, Miss Kell. I know I told you that I would be down the hall but, I was wondering if I could speak with you."

I excused myself from Conna and Hara and met the nurse in the hallway. She had a clipboard in her hands which told me that she was ready to tell me more about Conna.

"Lay it all on me," I told her.

The nurse smiled prettily then got started. "Her name is Conna Elizabeth Marshall. She's the daughter of Sean and Kelly Marshall. According to this she just turned ten years old."

She handed me the file to look over. The nurse looked into the window.

"How is she?"

I looked up from the file and sighed. "Can I ask a dumb question?"

"Shoot."

"How do you help a little girl deal with missing a year of her life? And her parents… She seems like she's relieved that they aren't around anymore… How do I help her with that? I don't know the first thing about children."

The nurse gave me a knowing smile.

"Just be the best that you can be for her. That's really all I can tell you. I don't have any children of my own either, so… I have no place to give you advice on how to raise her."

I smirked. "I like your honesty."

She gave me a wink. "I'm Dorothea, by the way."

"You can call me Skye."

"Let me know if you need anything else, Skye. I'll be around."

She left me at that. Hara stepped out of the room to speak to me.

"What's the plan?"

I looked down at the file in my hand then back to Hara. "You still alright with her staying with us?"

"Of course I am."

I gave her a nod. "Then that's the plan. We'll let her live with us for a while. Then she can decide what she wants."