Loid's luck always seemed to run out when he let his guard down.

The Berlint Golden Funfair was supposed to be the perfect opportunity for the Forger Family to get closer with each other as well as appear in public as a healthy family unit. It wasn't exactly upper-crust entertainment, but Anya saw a poster for it in the supermarket the previous week and begged to go and…well…Loid Forger was still trying to figure out how a child's puppy dog eyes could be so effective in persuasion. Or maybe it was just the effect she had on him specifically; after all, his heart had flipped in a similar way once they arrived at the gates, paid for their entry tickets, and he saw both her eyes and her smile widen at the sight of all the attractions. He was lucky that Yor was fast enough to keep up with the little girl as she bounced from the balloon stand to the bean bag toss stall to the ring toss stall (where she managed to, somehow, win a small stuffed dog prize that he was sure would end up in Bond's mouth by the end of the night).

Yor tried her hand at a strength tester game as well, and Loid tried hard not to think about the small smile that fought its way on his face as he watched the hammer strike the bell at the top and then break off. The smiling families and laughing children around them loosened his tension hour by hour and, by the time Anya had pushed him towards the shooting gallery, he had to admit a part of him was enjoying himself. Of course, it wouldn't do for him to reveal his incredible sharpshooting skills, but forgive him for wanting to show off for his girls a little by hitting almost every target in a slightly longer amount of time than he normally would.

(His girls.)

Right now, dusk had fallen, and the lights of the carousel were a little too bright for his liking. He tipped the brow of his hat lower, shielding his gaze as he watched Anya and Yor go round and round. The little girl was smiling from ear to ear, sitting in Yor's lap on the decorated horse, and would wave at Loid whenever she passed the spot where he was standing. Anya had initially wanted to sit with her papa, but Loid Forger got dizzy easily. Twilight didn't – a ride like this was child's play for his inner ear – but Loid Forger had that minor weakness.

Besides, he needed to hold the half-eaten candy floss they had picked up at some point.

The horses slowed down and Yor hopped off the ride, carrying Anya in her arms.

"That was quite fun, wasn't it, Anya?" She smiled down at the girl with such care, and Loid was suddenly so happy that he had chosen her as Anya's mother figure.

"Anya wants to go again!" The girl immediately said as Yor put her down to stand on her own.

Loid smiled, "Its starting to get late, we should be heading home."

Anya looked up at him with her best pout, "But we haven't tried all the stuff. We can't leave until we've tried everything!"

"You've been running around all day. You'll be too exhausted to try anything else."

"No, Anya won't!" Anya insisted, shaking her head viciously.

Loid sighed. Children…

Yor piped up, saving him, "The fair will be here for another month, so we can come another day. And spend plenty of time on every ride."

Anya stopped and thought about it, "Tomorrow!" she demanded.

Loid couldn't help but chuckle, "Next weekend…and only if your homework gets good grades."

Anya continued to pout but said nothing. Loid rolled his eyes but said nothing else. Yor giggled lightly at the standoff between father and daughter, "Maybe it wouldn't be that bad to stay for one more hour?"

Loid tore his gaze away from Anya to see Yor looking at him steadily, but twiddling her thumbs in anxiety. He knew she still felt weird about 'stepping in and making parental decisions' – as she called it – but he appreciated her attempts to act as a third party of compromise. He looked back at Anya, who's stubborn expression had turned to one of hope. He sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"One more hour. But you have an extra hour of studying tomorrow."

Anya nodded her head vigorously and Loid internally groaned at what he'd gotten himself into. Children were so short-sighted; she would say anything to get her way now, but he knew he was in for a world of a headache tomorrow once he asked her to hold up her end of this deal.

"Before we head to the next thing," Yor spoke up, "I need to stop off at the ladies' room over there. I'll be right back!"

Loid nodded in acknowledgement and watched her go for a second, before handing the candy floss stick back to Anya. It briefly occurred to him that the candy was the same color as her hair. 'Cute.'

He swiftly kicked that thought into a box in the back of his mind labeled 'Unnecessary Thoughts'.

Anya beamed up at him and reached for his right hand, "Thank you, papa!"

Loid raised an eyebrow, "For what?" He took her hand and looked around, "We should find a bench to sit and wait for —"

"…Anya?"

'Who just—?'

Turning around, he saw a man staring at them. No, staring down at Anya. Loid's grip on Anya's hand tightened as he measured up the stranger before him; square face with dark brown eyes flanked by long crow's feet, and dark hair peppered with grey in a neat coif on his head. Just on appearances, he seemed to be about a decade older than Loid, but a few centimeters shorter. With a fitted blue polo shirt that implied an active body, a cream fedora that matched his cream trousers, and well-maintained skin that indicated a life of minimal physical labor, Loid guessed that the man was middle- or upper-middle class. Loid had memorized the faces of all of Anya's teachers and all the parents of her classmates. This man was not one of them.

Either way, if he was related to Eden and knew Anya as a student, it would have been more appropriate to address Loid directly, as her guardian. Loid didn't like that this man immediately fixated on the girl, and his eyes narrowed slightly as he noted the man's hands fidget at his sides, clenching and unclenching.

Anya's grip tightened around his fingers before falling loose, and Loid looked down to see that her eyes were locked on to the man as well. She let go of Loid's hand completely to hide behind his legs, grabbing onto his pant leg, and Loid could feel her shaking slightly. Whoever this man was, Anya was afraid of him.

"I'm sorry," Loid said, and the man's gaze darted up at the sound of his voice. Loid made sure his polite smile was plastered on. It would do neither of them any good if this conversation started out confrontational, "Who are you?"

The man opened his mouth, glanced at Anya again, then looked back up at Loid.

"I-I'm sorry to bother you," the man's voice was deep, but had a soothing timbre to it that was slightly marred by nerves, "But what is your little girl's name?"

Loid noted the avoidance of his question. He allowed a little of his apprehension show in his expression, "Do you know her, Mr…?"

The man drew himself up to his full height as if remembering himself, "Ah, yes, my name is Peter Roche."

Roche.

Roche.

'She's been fostered out and returned four times…' Loid remembered Franky relaying to him a year before.

'Anya Williams…Anya Levski…Anya Roche…' he remembered reading.

Of all the terrible coincidences…Loid had been sure that the families with those surnames were either no longer in Berlint or at least lived or worked in the other side of the city. For the ones that were still close, he made sure to keep Anya away from any neighborhoods or establishments that would increase the chance of a run-in. And in a city of almost 1.3 million people, there was a very small chance that the Forgers would run into any of them by happenstance. It was a small enough chance that Loid had discounted to possibility after doing the math.

Perhaps that chance hadn't been small enough.

"Sorry for my behavior," Peter continued, "I was just very surprised. I was heading over to the Ferris Wheel where my wife and son are waiting and I recognized that hair and I…" He trailed off to look at Anya again, "I'm sorry," he said, directing his words to her, and Loid felt her hug his legs even closer, "I'm sorry that we couldn't take care of you."

Loid cleared his throat, "You may be mistaken, Mr. Roche, sir. This is my daughter and—"

"Yes, yes I figured. I'm sorry, how impolite of me!" Peter stuck out his hand for Loid to shake, "I'm thankful that you've given Anya a home. I didn't want to abandon her, you see, and when I last saw her, she was so miserable…"

Loid's first thought was 'How dare this man abandon her the way he did!'

His second thought was 'Twilight, you hypocrite!'

A look of true sorrow crossed the man's face and Loid couldn't help but ask, "How did you…lose Anya."

"My wife," Peter said, waving his hand in a general direction, "She was so happy to have a daughter, but Anya was a little…difficult to handle. 'Trouble acclimating to the new environment' we were told. The usual, y'know, attachment issues, erratic behavior, nightmares where she would wake up screaming. But she also just seemed to know things she shouldn't and that worried my wife. And then there was the fire..." He shook his head quickly and looked down at Anya again with determination on his face, "I promise you I didn't believe it was you."

'What fire?' Loid's eyes narrowed, 'Anya was involved?!'

A gasp and a sniffle drew Loid's attention to the girl at his feet. Anya was crying now. Large, silent tears. Loid immediately shifted so that he could pick her up. She immediately buried her face into his neck and she began to sob in a way that tugged at Loid's heart. Peter Roche shifted his weight, looking awkward.

"I'm sorry," Loid said, trying not to sound as annoyed as he felt, "I think you should go."

"No, no its entirely my fault," Peter said, "I didn't mean to upset her. If you would like to talk more, here's my card." He dug into his back pocket and pulled out a wallet. At a glance, Loid saw that he carried a lot of cash on him, but his eyes were quickly directed to the card that was presented to him.

It was printed on good quality stock paper, with his profession, name, and number embossed in solid black ink. Loid recognized the logo on the back as that of one of Berlint's largest advertising companies.

'This is enough to start with' Loid thought as his mind raced with all the new information, 'I'll see what Franky can do with this, first thing tomorrow. Operation STRIX depends on this man not being a threat to my family.'

Externally, he accepted the card graciously and promised to call.

"I'm glad you have a new family." Peter said to Anya.

Then he tipped his hat to Loid and left.

Loid watched him go and it seemed, with every step of distance between Peter and the two of them, Anya's crying ceased. He had a feeling this man had just opened up a can of worms in his face that he wouldn't be able to control.

"Who was that, Loid?"

Loid jolted in surprise and cursed himself for not being aware of his surroundings more. Of course, it was just Yor coming up to his side, but what kind of spy was he that she could sneak up on him flawlessly, even when he still had his guard raised? He's had two experiences with her immense strength aimed his way and, while he couldn't bring himself to think of her as a threat per se, he really needed to get better at being aware of her.

"Mama!" Anya shouted in relief. She reached for the woman and Loid allowed her to fall into Yor's arms. Yor frowned at the tear streaks on Anya's face and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe them away.

'Good ol' reliable Yor.' Loid couldn't help but think as he watched his wife dote on their daughter.

"Who was that, Loid?" Yor's repeated question brought him back.

Loid looked back at Anya who had turned her face towards him. He knew she remembered their agreement that nobody was to know she was adopted, but her eyes widened in a way that told him she absolutely did not want him to say a word about what had just happened.

'Why is she so scared of Peter Roche?'

"Um, just an old university friend. I haven't seen him in years, but he's here with his family and recognized me."

"Oh," Yor replied, looking in the direction that Peter Roche had disappeared, "An old friend of yours? How nice!" She then frowned, "Did he make Anya cry?"

"No, I did, unfortunately," Loid said, "He also knew Anya's mother and talking about her made Anya a little emotional."

Yor was silent for a moment, "What was he saying about a 'new family'?"

'Shit, she heard that?!'

"Well, he'd never met Anya before. He'd left the country shortly after my…first wife and I got married and he only came back recently, so he was just saying he was glad to hear that I had Anya and you to look out for me now."

Loid's stomach turned a little at the lie as Yor responded by absolutely beaming at him.

"I'm glad that I'm here to look out for you, too, Loid."

Her eyes seemed to sparkle and Loid felt his face warm a little. He kept his face as neutral as possible and strengthened the walls around his emotions as soon as Yor looked back at Anya to ask, "Are you ready to try that stall over there?"

She pointed at a balloon popping game, but Anya 's gaze remained on Yor's face.

"Anya wants to go home now."

Her tone was so flat, it almost concerned Loid. Yor looked surprised, but Loid couldn't blame the girl since he wanted to go home too. He couldn't think efficiently in such a noisy, overstimulating environment.

"Ah, it seems like waiting for you allowed her body to finally catch up." He choked out a weak laugh, "We should get her to bed."

Yor frowned for a second time, disappointed, before nodding, "Well, okay…"

Loid felt bad about putting her through all this tonal whiplash. He hoped she wouldn't twist herself into a spiral of anxiety, trying to think of what went wrong while she was gone. He would have to get her mind off it. Maybe take her on a date tomorrow…

As the Forgers walked back to their car in silence, Loid glanced down at the business card that was still in his hand.

The name Peter Roche winked back at him.