Tara began to explain the story and I scribbled in the notebook, trying to keep up. It took about an hour and Tara had gotten through most of her coffee.

Once we were done I set the notebook down on the table and stretched my arm, turning my hand to relieve the cramp.

"Are you alright there Jackie?" Asked Jack.

"Yeah, just haven't written for so long since I was in high school."

I took a drink and twiddled the pen in my free hand.

"So, how would you find my... Descendants." Clearly the idea made Tara feel odd.

"We'll track down your mom's family and keep an eye on them, looking for characteristics that would identify them as your Descendants, such as your wings. From there we'll approach them and we'll tell them about HOG. Hopefully we'll be able to identify them before anything, interesting happens." Just something we'll have to add to the long list of things we were already doing.

Jack nodded, while Tara looked confused.

"People don't always react well to people like us, and if we have powers it can be difficult to keep them under control. We don't have the advantage of being invisible."

"Advantage?!" Jack was almost out of his seat in disbelief and anger.

"Advantage in the sense that we don't want to be noticed." I said, giving him a pointed look. I understood his point completely, but HOG had different concerns. The last thing we needed was the general public being aware of our existence.

"Anyway, it'll be interesting for us, we'll be able to track the entire line. So unlike when Jack became a Guardian, we don't have to scramble to find them."

I decided not to mention that they wouldn't have the time to build up a negative reputation either.

"Although, if you have any other information regarding your mother, it would be really useful."

Tara shook her head. "Sorry, you may have to ask Eros for that."

I pulled a face. Eros didn't have the best of reputations among HOG. From past experience I was willing to remain impartial to his Descendants, but not Eros himself.

"I think we'll leave that as a last resort option."

I tapped my pen against my chin, trying to think of anything else.

"You're quite a new immortal, so you might not have discovered all your powers yet. Can you let me if you discover anything?"

"Yeah. Sure." Tara nodded.

I placed my pen on the notebook and stretched again. "Well, I've got nothing else I need to ask. Do you have any more questions?"

"Yeah" this time it was Jack asking. "What happened your end? And don't give me any rubbish, I can see the dark circles under your eyes."

My eyes widened, since when was Jack this observant?

"Are they that obvious?"

"No, I've just gotten good at noticing them lately."

My brows furrowed in confusion, but I decided not to press when I saw Tara's slightly embarrassed expression.

"Not to mention you look exhausted." Finished Jack, and I stifled a sigh if annoyance. Looks like I hadn't been doing as a good a job as I thought.

"Well, I'd been underground for around two weeks, trying to organise Branches. Things went smoothly for the first week, no major casualties."

"What about the second week?" Asked Tara.

I shook my head, feeling my throat starting to burn. I'd done my crying at the funerals, but it looks like I wasn't done mourning.

"...We...we lost nine Branches."

"Lost as in...?"

"Dead. Fifty people are dead."

Tara gasped and Jack looked horrified. I should have stopped there, but my mouth just kept going.

"Each one had at least one Descendant of Frost. I couldn't get them back up in time, I..."

I felt myself lose control and I bent my head, hiding my face in my hands as tears fell and froze to my face.

"Jackie?"

"Sorry. I should be more in control than this..." But my heart hurt. Most of those Descendants I knew personally, knowing that I'd never see them again...

"You knew them, didn't you?" Asked Tara, and I nodded.

"I'm a Head, it's my job to know all of them. And I failed them."

"Don't say that!" Cried Tara. "You probably did everything you could."

"And it wasn't enough. The Descendants of Pitch and the Nightmares attacked too quickly. There were even deaths due to Morte Pavidum."

"What!?" Cried Jack "If Pitch wasn't already out for a millennium I'd kill him!"

"Join the queue." I said dryly, lifting my head out of my hands. Jack was out of his seat in anger, his staff in a white knuckle grip.

"Jackie, you're not immortal."

"Be sure to stick an icicle up his arse for me then."

Jack snorted with laughter and sat back down while Tara looked at me in almost shock.

"I'd never thought you'd say something like that!"

"You've only ever seen my shop persona." I said, smiling now and picking off the frozen tears. "Trust me, I can be pretty violent when I want to."

"I believe you." Said Tara, still clearly a little shell shocked.

"How're the others holding up?" Asked Jack, having met Lily and Harry when they took the Oath.

"Lily and Harry are taking it hard. It's their first major thing as Heads and it hasn't gone great. Alexander and Claire are holding themselves together, but I don't doubt that they've broken down at some point."

Jack looked down at his feet, wiggling his toes nervously.

"Who died? Anyone I know?"

"Alice Harper, her mother and Greg Bergland."

Jack's eyes widened and he gripped his staff tighter. "The bastard..."

"I've made their statues already if you want to see them." I said, leaning back on the sofa. "My shift finishes in a couple of hours."

"That okay with you?" Jack turned to Tara.

"Of course, you knew them."

"I can give a tour of the base while we're there." I offered. It was going to be busy, but it couldn't hurt.

"Only if it's not too much trouble." Replied Tara, and I had to smile a bit.

"You haven't changed much Tara Lumen." I said and Tara went a bit red.

"I'd better get back downstairs." I said, standing up. "See you at the lake later?"