I have given up on accents.

Lyra lingered for a moment near the door, listening intently to the hum of unintelligible voices on the other side.

"Being awfully nosy, don't you think?" the Frenchman said almost coolly just before taking a drag on his cigarette. Embarrassed, Lyra timidly stepped away from the door and as if instinctively, shrank away until she was sitting close to Scout on the floor. She may have been sitting a bit too close for what may have been appropriate for two people who had only met a few days ago with her arm pressed slightly against his as they sat side by side. It brought her some comfort though to be near the person who had been fighting to save her all this time, even if he was acting a bit standoffish. However, it was a bit disheartening as Scout's body tensed up from her touch and scooted to his right to leave space between them.

"Sorry," she murmured. Scout didn't respond right away. He turned his face towards her, resting the side of his head against his arms that were crossed over his knees. Lyra had a hard time discerning his emotions from his expression. There were no subtle signs of a smile to express relief in seeing her alive, nor were there watery lights dancing in his eyes to indicate being upset over being caught. His lips formed a straight line and his eyes stared on without a hint of emotion.

"You look like hell," he finally spoke, although he said it rather loudly, as if he was announcing it to the entire hallway.

"I bet," she said quietly. Her pants were beginning to tear away around her knees and her hands were covered in scratches and dirt. She couldn't imagine what her face looked like with what those gangsters did to her. Remembering the Forters had caused her to have an odd realization. Scout had taken just as much of a beating than she did and yet he seemed to be free of scrapes and bruises. She quickly scanned over the boy's face to try to see if she could find any sign that he had been in a fight a couple nights ago but there was nothing.

"What are you looking at?" he asked once he noticed she was staring at him.

"You-you look good," Lyra responded.

Scout couldn't help but give her a proud little grin. "Damn right I do."

The girl giggled slightly at his remark but she decided not to ask anything about his appearance. Scout seemed to relax a little but didn't seem to completely leave behind his awkward and distant behavior.

"So what's happening in there? Why'd they send you out here?"

"I'm not sure. Uh- that guy- Engie, I think, said he wanted to try and settle something with that lady."

"Oh really?" the Frenchman murmured mostly to himself. In on swift movement he went from leaning on one side of the to the other, resting gently against the side of the door.

"Bein' a little nosy there, huh Spy?" Scout teased.

Spy adjusted his cigarette to be positioned in the crook of his smile. He then spoke with nonchalant and suave tone: "Go to hell, Scout."

The two men then shared a quiet but friendly laugh, adding a little more ease to the air. Lyra gave out an almost silent, awkward laugh as she observed the two and came across a troubling realization. These two people that were aiming guns and screaming at each other, were in some way friends. It was becoming very apparent to Lyra that when Scout assured her last night that he would be okay if she left, he had the confidence to believe he would be. The thought felt like an anchor seeping down her body as she knew that she had made a mistake.

She peaked another look at Scout as she tried to piece together how he must be feeling. He must have noticed her staring, because turned his head to face her again with a hard expression that softened a little once he saw the fear in hers.

"Oh don't give me that look, kid." He whispered gently.

"I messed up."

He smirked to her. "Yeah, you did." It was blunt, but his tone was kind and playful. Lyra couldn't help but smile a little back at him. The boy adjusted himself where he sat, but once he settled down, they were a bit closer.

"Kid, I'm not the only one fighting for you here," Scout slightly gestured toward the door, "Engie, in there, he's trying to work something out. But you have to work with him."

"Okay-," Lyra whispered.

"Do you two mind?" the Frenchman hissed at them in annoyance. With that, Lyra and Scout fell silent as Spy returned to eavesdropping.

Lyra's thoughts began to run away again without a distraction. It occurred to her again that she could likely die by the end of all of this but unlike last night she was not giving herself over in peaceful acceptance. Instead, her brother Daniel had invaded her thoughts. It had been so long since she'd seen him. He was alive out there, she just knew it, and he was wandering around without knowing what had happened to his family- perhaps not even knowing that something has happened. She envisioned a young man standing on the steps of his childhood home that was now empty and dark. It was an intrusive thought that persisted in her mind for years where Daniel would be standing in that house and not understand why. He wouldn't know what happened, he wouldn't know that his father-

Suddenly, something was brushing against her hand. She immediately snapped out of her thoughts and instinctively begun to pull away but Scout gently clasped his hand around hers.

"You're okay," he told her. She squeezed his hand as a single tear strolled down her cheek. She hadn't realized she was crying until now. She coughed once or twice as she went to wipe away the tear. Scout squeezed back reassuringly. "We're okay."

"Merde!" Spy murmured under his breath as he stepped away from the door. Almost immediately after, the door flew open and the stocky man and woman in purple were standing in the doorway. Scout and Lyra quickly pulled away from each other but they were not quick enough as they were looked upon by three sets of questioning eyes. Lyra blushed at first but her heart began to sink as she felt the room's attention switch from Scout and her, to just her.

"Miss Jennings," the woman in purple said with a surprisingly pleasant voice, "I'd like to speak with you now."

Lyra rose hesitantly to her feet. She took a moment to dust herself and she noticed Scout was shooting her a glance. "Whatever you do, don't leave with her," he whispered.

Wait, why? She wanted to ask but she knew there was no chance. With one deep breath, she moved forward toward the room, trying to seem confident and unafraid.

"Good luck!" Scout yelled after her before the door was shut behind her once again.

The stocky man wasted no time offering up his desk chair that he had previously occupied. Lyra hesitantly accepted it, taking a seat while anxiously keeping her gaze on the young woman. Her expressions were soft but Lyra could tell the woman was sizing her up. Lyra, trying not to seem impolite, gave the woman a timid smile. It was then the woman smiled back.

"Hello Miss Jennings," the woman said extending her hand towards Lyra, "I'm Miss Pauling, and I would just like to speak to you about what you've gone through last night."

Lyra accepted the woman's handshake, although her own grip was feeble and uneasy.

"Uh- You can- just call me Lyra," she said weakly. It was weird hearing herself being referred to 'Miss Jennings'.

"Oh-alright," Miss Pauling said as she withdrew from the handshake and began to leaf through various pages on her clipboard. Once she had settled on an appropriate page, she clicked her pen and poised herself for her first question, "So Lyra, how did you find yourself so deep in the Badlands?"

Won't anyone ask a different question? Lyra thought to herself. She smiled though, and replied with the same answer she'd given Scout and Engie: "I'm just lost," she said, trying to be a bit playful in her tone, "Another ambitious backpacker who got way in over their head when they thought they could brave the Badlands winter."

Miss Pauling didn't seem all that charmed by her response, only nodding slightly as she went back to her clipboard and scribbled something down. "And does anyone know you're out here?"

"No," the girl responded, as the thought of her brother being clueless about his family was still entrenched in her mind. As Miss Pauling went back to scribbling Lyra realized her mistake. If they were seeking to kill her then she just let them all know she was the perfect victim as no one would know that she had suddenly vanished from the face of the earth. Her throat tightened as she tried to come up with a reason to be concerned if she were to suddenly disappear but the words couldn't find their way up. Miss Pauling didn't take notice of her sudden change in confidence.

"And can you tell me exactly what you saw last night?"

Lyra went on to explain in a timorous voice all that happened the night before. She tried to side step any details that might remove any existing favor she had among this strange group of people who seemed eager to execute her. She started with Scout telling her it was time to go and that they were shot at as they ran to get off the property. Then she went on to how they were pinned down by a turret as they were close to escaping. The story concluded with Scout surrendering after he hid her in a large crag in the rocks but she then gave herself up to the group after feeling guilt and fear that Scout would be hurt. Miss Pauling continued on with her writing but her eyes began to squint as she scrutinized the girl's story.

"Didn't you assault someone with a fire axe?" She asked. Lyra began to stir uncomfortably in her seat. That particular detail was the one she was trying to side step.

The girl began to flounder: "Uh- yes, but! Ah- it was self defense!"

"He's actually doing quite well, darlin'," Engie interjected, "Miss Pauling is just trying to get you to squirm."

"It's important I get to know everything about the situation," the woman said coolly; however, she did have a hint of a smirk. "He is right, though. That man that you brutally maimed is doing very well."

The tone of her voice seemed to hold a bit of humor behind it but Lyra couldn't understand the sudden change in attitude. She opted to remain silent.

"So," Miss Pauling started again, lowering the clipboard to her side as she gave Lyra a kind smile. "What bad thing did you do to get here?"

Once again, Lyra found herself stunned by the turn of the conversation. It felt as if her mouth went dry as she held her mouth a gap.

"That cut through your facade, didn't it?" The woman said, "From what we've gotten out of Scout, you sound like a runaway but you're a bit old to be hiding out from your parents, aren't' you?"

Miss Pauling paused as if expecting Lyra to speak but they both knew she wouldn't dare.

"Honestly, I don't care what you did, but if you're potentially leading the cops to our doorstep, then I'd like to know."

The two locked their eyes to each other's. Miss Pauling's gaze was unrelenting and steady and Lyra just wished she could will herself to look away to just think for a moment but she just couldn't.

Lyra eventually broke down and spoke the words she was afraid would seal her fate:

"I promise. No one knows where I am."

The woman stared on, as if she was trying to tell if she should believe Lyra by observing her body language. Miss Pauling sighed, "Well, that's all I really need to know."

She begun to gather up her things and stood up to leave.

"I'm going to speak with Scout about something. The Engineer here wants to discuss something with you in- er- private."

She looked over Lyra once more before she made her way to the door. It didn't seem to Lyra as if the woman was angry or spiteful towards her, she just seemed tired and frustrated. It seemed more like dealing with this little trespasser was just a small inconvenience and she'd rather be working on something else.

"Let me know what she decides," Miss Pauling said. With that, the door closed and Lyra was back where she began this morning.

"Don't mind her too much, darlin'. Her boss works her into the ground, but she's a good lady."

"Scout implied she wants to kill me," Lyra said.

"Ha! And that's why he's in trouble. They don't trust him to keep secrets," the man laughed. Any color that remained in Lyra's sickly complexion must've drained from her face because the man's smile dropped once he noticed her expression, "I mean it's nothin' personal. They just prefer to keep our business here quiet."

"But I don't even know what's even going on here."

Engie nodded. "True, but you've seen enough to know something is going on. Even a vague tip to the right people would be troublesome for us. I personally don't think anyone would believe you but I can understand the Administrator's caution."

"So, now what?" The man remained silent and turned his attention to the papers he had left on the desk. Lyra felt her heart flutter as she awaited his response.

"I've got an offer," Engie finally spoke. He turned back to her but his expression was hard to read behind those goggles. "You could come work for us for a little bit. Every once in a while I have to go tend to some business for the Administrator. It could take awhile and usually we hire a fairly expensive stand in but I think I can train you in the basics with enough time. We'd take care of your needs while you're here and we'll pay you a little for your service and- uh- discretion."

Lyra's interest was piqued. She questioned him further: "What exactly would I be doing?"

"Scout said you were trapped on the battlements, right? You'd work out there alongside us. Now I don't expect you to be a skilled soldier but you've got the battle scars to prove you can withstand a fight."

The girl subconsciously brushed her fingers over the cut one of the Forters gave her.

"Would it be dangerous?"

The stocky man went quiet again as he took a moment to craft an honest answer: "Yes. I'm not going to lie, there's a good chance you'd die working with us. However, it's still a chance at life. That's more you're going to get with her."

He gestured toward the door to where Miss Pauling was presumably on the other side giving Scout an earful. Another thought had crossed Lyra's mind, this time however, it made her anxious and sick to her stomach.

"Would I have to kill people?" Lyra asked, horsley. The man's face fell and he begun to uncomfortably wring his hands.

"Technically- yes."

"What do you mean 'technically'?" the girl exclaimed with her mouth a gap and brows furrowed.

"Well, I can't really explain unless you agree that to take my offer," he said with a slight laugh. "But be honest with me, Lyra. Were you thinking about how ethical it would be when you attacked that man with an axe last night?"

"No," Lyra said, crestfallen, "I thought he was going to kill me."

"And he would've too if you hadn't," the man clasped an assuring hand on her shoulder. "If you're staring death in the face and there's a chance to escape, then you take it. No morals are going to stop someone here from killing you, so maybe you should disregard morals to save yourself."

Lyra's eyes fell down to her hands. They seemed to be trembling uncontrollably. They were small and delicate little things but she knew of the potential they had to cause harm.

Never again. Never again. Her heart murmured quietly within her chest. She always felt like she should listen to those little words. To never do harm again. To never destroy. However, her hands were already dirty. They already did harm to the Forters and to the man in the shed, but because of that she was alive. Her hands closed into clenched fists.

Her heart was a fucking coward.

"Okay," she whispered.

"What was that?"

"Okay! I'll do it!" she said loudly without hesitation. She shot right up from her chair and faced the stocky man, her hands still balled up into fists. "I'll do anything to stay alive."

At first, the man only stared. Seemingly shocked or amazed by the girl's sudden ferocity, but then a slight smile begin to spread across his face.

"Alright! Great!" Engie clapped his hands together and began moving to the door. He pulled it open to reveal Miss Pauling looking rather peeved with a sheepish Scout. They almost immediately turned their attention to the man who now filled the doorway. "Miss Pauling, she's in."

"Oh?" the young woman raised her brow as she peered behind Engie to see a ferocious girl standing behind him. Once again, she seemed unimpressed and merely sighed, "Great-I'll have a contract written up by the morning. How about you go help her settle in."

The man nodded and the door was shut again.

"I'll try to find a better place for you to sleep. I'll start introducing you to the other's rather slowly. They'll can be a bit much to take in all at once."

"Why are you doing all this anyway?" Lyra asked.

"I've got my own reasons. It might take a hard man to work in this line of work but I ain't heartless," he told her, leaving Lyra wondering what type of work she was actually going to be doing soon. "But frankly, I just feel guilty. Scout has never been this selfless. I agreed to help Frenchie out there by distracting Scout while he went to go investigate. I kind of admire what he did: sticking his neck out for you like that. I guess I'd hate to see it all go to waste."

Lyra just stood there with smile, feeling rather touched by his words. "Well- thank you."

The Engineer shook his head, and chuckled: "You won't be saying that when you start training."