Cinder awoke in a strange place, and panicked.

It was… had she fallen asleep in one of the rooms? Would a guest see her? Would Madame find her?

Her body told her it was hours past time to start working.

Punishment.

Punishment.

Punishment.

Pain lashed through her throat and she fought to breathe.

Until she realized it was her own fingers, clawing at her own throat, that hurt her. She struggled to catch her breath, and loosened her hands as the room finished swimming into focus.

Soft clothes. Warm bed. Sounds of snoring nearby. Her eyes cast to the left, finding them. Miss Selene and Mr. Garek, curled against each other on the other bed, faces slack with sleep. The sight made her feel strange.

Sleep until we waken you, Miss Selene had said the night before.

But she hadn't. Could she go back to sleep? It was so late and… and she needed to work. She quietly sat up and looked around the room.

It was clean, as it had been the night before.

Her head swiveled, looking for something, anything that needed to be done. Hands clenching and unclenching. There was a scrubbing sponge on the sink.

Okay. I can use that. She padded over, trying not to make any sounds, and found some soap, and wet the sponge.

Cinder started to clean.

A small part of her kept asking what she was doing. Telling her that the counter was already clean. Another part said she was being a bad girl. That she wasn't obeying. That she would be punished for waking up.

She let them argue with each other while her arms and hands moved.

It was safer that way.

Until she heard a voice. "Cinder?"

Miss Selene was upset. She could tell from the voice. Cinder felt herself drawn down, shoulders hunched.

Pain. Pain.

"I'm sorry, ma'am." She whispered. "You told me to sleep until you woke me. But…" She clasped the sponge to her chest, the water soaking into her nightshirt. "I'll do better."

She heard the woman sigh. "It is alright, Cinder. You are not in trouble."

But she had to be.

She turned her head to watch the woman, and Miss Selene's face wasn't angry. She looked sad instead. "Cinder, what do you want to do?"

Want to do? Anything? I wanted to spar with Rhodes. But he isn't here, and the room isn't big enough. Something else? "I don't know…"

Miss Selene stood up from the bed, and walked toward her, and Cinder's knees started to shake. She cursed them in her mind. A hand touched her shoulder, and the woman knelt down before her. Her eyes were very blue.

"Cinder, this isn't going to be like the other place. You don't work at this hotel. You're a guest, like us."

That's impossible. That makes no sense at all. I can't be a guest.

Then what am I? She felt the scarred skin at her throat. What am I?

Selene was still speaking, "Today, we are all going to rest here, in the room. And then tomorrow we're going to leave Atlas." Cinder could hear the man, Huntsman Garek, starting to wake. "But since you have energy, here's what I am going to tell you to do."

Yes. Focus. I have to listen. Rhodes said to do what they told me.

"I am going to place some clothes for you in the bathroom, and you are going to take a bath." But I'm not even dirty? "A nice long soak, and I shall order room service. When it arrives, I will tell you and you can get dressed and we shall have breakfast."

She didn't understand, not really, but she had been told. "Yes ma'am."

Soon Cinder was lying in the tub, submerged up to her nose in very warm water. It did feel good, even if she wasn't using soap. Miss Selene hadn't said to use soap. She'd said to soak. So Cinder did. She stared up at the ceiling, and after many minutes felt her skin slowly go wrinkly.

It felt nice.

I should be doing something.

I am doing something.

No, that's nothing.

No, that's what Miss Selene said to do. So it isn't nothing.

You're lazy.

I'm a good girl. I'm doing what I'm told.

You'll be punished.

Her eyes narrowed. For obeying Miss Selene? *I* think *you're* stupid. I think you should shut up.

There was no response to that, and she felt her lips turn up slightly. That felt better than the bath did.

After a few more minutes, the water got a little cold, and she used some of her secret trick. She felt the water suddenly bubble furiously across her hands, and a burst of warmth spread from there and drifted through the tub. She sighed.

She had to be careful though. She wasn't supposed to tell people about her trick.

It seemed like hours before the door was tapped, and Cinder hopped out, dried, and quickly got dressed. These clothes were nice too. New undies. Stretchy pants. The shirt had long sleeves and was fuzzy and yellow like her eyes, and warm. There was a comb, and she combed her hair to make sure it didn't tangle.

She opened the door and found that the table had two huge platters of food on it. And jugs of juice.

Her stomach growled.

Miss Selene beckoned her to a chair, and she sat down, blinking. "What would you like?"

"Sorry?"

She pointed at the platters. "We ordered two large sample platters. And we are all three sharing. You may pick what you want."

Shouldn't they eat first? She would just have whatever was left. "I… I don't know."

Miss Selene frowned, and Cinder felt like she'd disappointed her, again. "Do you like bacon?"

Of course, she liked bacon. Very deep inside her thoughts, a girl rolled her eyes. But that didn't reach her face. "Yes ma'am."

"Do you lik-"

"Selene," Mr. Garek interrupted her, "that's not going to work. She's going to say yes to everything, and the food's getting cold."

Miss Selene huffed. Cinder had never seen an adult do that. And the woman gave Mr. Garek a look. It would have made Cinder squirm if she'd turned that look on her. But then she did what he suggested. Before Cinder knew it, there was a plate piled with a little of everything in front of her. Twice as much as she could possibly eat, and she had a fork in her hand.

And Mr. Garek was pouring her a glass of juice.

"Eat." He said.

"Until you're full…" Miss Selene added carefully.

Cinder did. She felt strange. She felt like… they shouldn't have to tell her to eat. People needed to eat. It wasn't like she needed to be told.

But this wasn't how it was done. That was the problem. Nothing was working right. She didn't eat with guests. She ate what they had left behind, and was glad to have that.

But they weren't angry with her. And she was doing what they told her.

So… so… stop complaining and telling me I'm misbehaving. I won't listen.

The food was really, really good. And her stomach hurt.

Oh.

"I'm full."

"Good girl."

Good girl.

They were all done eating. She looked at the extra food on the plates. There was a sink. And a bin. And a sponge.

Selene looked at her. "Cinder. Do you want to clean the dishes, or would you like to do something else?"

She wanted to spar with Rhodes. She didn't want to do the dishes. But they needed to be done. She looked around the room. She could clean the bathroom? "I'll do the dishes."

She thought she heard a soft sigh. But she wasn't sure.

She finished the dishes. They were clean and shiny and dry. She stacked them up on the counter. There wasn't room inside the cabinets. Then she straightened the bathroom since she had made it untidy with her bath.

She realized her bed wasn't made, and panicked. But they didn't seem to notice, so she fixed that too.

And to be safe, she made theirs too.

And then she was done.

It was 10:00 in the morning, and Cinder stood between the beds, blinking.

"Cinder, come here and sit down. Let's talk about plans," Mr. Garek said, motioning back to the table. "I have a letter that Rhodes wrote for you. Would you like to read it?"

A letter? A letter for me from Rhodes? Cinder felt excitement well up, and tamped it down.

"Can you read?" Miss Selene asked her.

"Some."

"Want us to help you read it?"

Cinder nodded.

Garek opened the letter for her, and she pored over it. She recognized a lot of the words. Most of them. He probably wrote it using small words so she could read it. She started reading out loud, and Miss Selene helped her with the words she didn't know.

Cinder,

When you are reading this letter, it means that you are safe with my friends Garek and Selene. That makes me happy.

I'm very glad I met you, and the second-best thing I ever did was train you. The first-best thing I ever did was let Garek and Selene take care of you for me. I have asked Garek to keep up your training.

I know I told you this, but I want it written here so you can see it over and over until I can talk to you again. I need you to listen to them for me. They will keep you safe, and that way I can see you again later. So be a good girl for them.

As soon as I can, I will call Garek on his scroll, and you can talk to me that way. And when I can, I'll come visit you in Mistral.

Your friend,
Rhodes

PS: Right now, I bet a certain person we don't like is really, really upset that she won't ever get to hurt you ever again. And that makes me even happier.

She stared at the paper when she was done reading it, and water started to drip onto it. Cinder panicked but Selene grabbed a napkin and dabbed it off.

It still left a mark.

"It is okay, Cinder, that will make it even more valuable to you later. Do you want to keep the letter for a little bit, or do you want me to hold on to it for you?"

Cinder blinked, and her face got wetter.

"I can keep it." She hugged it to her chest, wrinkling it a little, but she didn't care.

"Alright." Selene said. "I shall stay here with you, because I do not enjoy crowds, and Garek is going to buy you some books, because we are apparently too unintelligent to imagine that you might not have anything else to do and might have difficulty with that." Selene was smiling as she said it.

But the words didn't seem like smiling words. Except she'd said them about herself. Well, both of them. Cinder thought. She didn't believe Rhodes would give her to someone who was stupid. They don't act stupid.

It was probably a joke. "Hah hah?"

Selene giggled. And Cinder felt her lips turn up.

What am I without you? A small voice asked.

I'm a good girl.

Mr. Garek returned over an hour later with a half dozen books. They had pictures and words that she understood, mostly. And Miss Selene helped her again. She read all of them over the rest of the day. There was a story about a girl in a tower. And four magical girls. And a far away land with a giant tree and a cat and a knight and a little girl like her.

She ate meals with Mr. Garek and Miss Selene, and took care of the dishes, and kept the room straightened. But that was all. Gradually her anxiety faded a little.

She read the books through again, imagining that she was one of the girls in each story, and didn't feel guilty about it. She was supposed to be reading.

She did it again the next day. It started to feel normal. She talked to Miss Selene about the stories. That was nice too.

The evening of the second day, Selene and Garek zipped their human cargo back into the case. This time Cinder went without a moment's hesitation. They prayed that trust was rewarded. Her new possessions, some clothes and the half dozen children's books, went into their other luggage.

The staff at the front desk wished them safe travels together, and even gave them a wink. When the staff went to service the room, they found it spotless with stacks of clean dishes on the counter and beds made.

When they arrived at the small airport, they were greeted again by the pilot, Charlie, and a woman closer to their age dressed similarly with platinum blond hair. They parked the car and left the keys in it. Someone would be by to pick it up.

The presence of a second person made them nervous, as did the fact that they had a girl stuffed in a suitcase beside them. Garek could feel Selene's grip on his arm tightening as they approached the bullhead.

"Mr.… Charlie was it?" Garek asked. That made the blonde woman grin.

"Just Charlie."

"Everything okay? Are you still able to give us that lift down to Mantle?"

"No problem at all. Just have an extra passenger." He gestured to the blonde. "Helena here is taking some leave to visit family in Argus, so I'm killing two nevermore with one rock." The woman nodded to them.

Garek felt his body relax slightly, and felt Selene's grip loosen as well. "Ah. Sorry I got nervous. My wife doesn't do well with crowds, and we were worried we'd have to brave public transport," he lied.

"Don't worry about it. My friend explained that to me. I wasn't going to leave you to the tender mercies of Atlas Public Transit." Helena snorted at that. "In fact, would I be correct in guessing Argus is your eventual destination?"

Garek didn't see any point in lying about that. It was an obvious waypoint to pretty much everywhere else. "That's right. I finished my business here, and we were planning to enjoy Argus for a few more days at least." More like weeks at this point, since they had to figure out what to do with Cinder.

"Well then, I can do you one better. I was planning on dropping you off in Mantle, and then taking Helena straight there tonight. How would you like a direct flight instead?"

They both blinked. That sounded… much better. Except. "How long is the flight?"

"Well, if this were a commercial bullhead, three to four hours. But this bird can do it in about two hours." He thumbed at the machine behind him.

That was… a trade-off. On the one hand, it meant Cinder would be stuck in the case for two more hours straight. On the other hand, it cut down the total travel time to Mistral, and her freedom, from half a day aboard a ship to two hours in the air. It also reduced the number of transfer points, and the likelihood of discovery. They had modified the case to ensure better ventilation at the hotel, so air shouldn't be an issue. But two hours curled up like that would be unpleasant.

In the end, the faster route seemed like the better choice. "Alright, Capitan Charlie, we'll take you up on your offer, and with thanks."

"Great. Helena why don't you help them load their larger luggage into the rear bulkhead?"

Garek panicked. "Wait!"

The two military members stopped and looked at him warily.

Shit. Shit shit shit. "Sorry. Sorry. I've got some fragile items in here, and I'd like to keep it up front with me, if that's okay." And I'm not sure the cargo area has air!

Charlie relaxed first, and then gave Helena a look, after which she turned and smiled. "No problem. Plenty of space for cargo in the passenger area. Just make sure you strap it down so if we hit turbulence, it doesn't bounce and get broken or hurt someone."

They boarded carefully, securing the case nearby, and Helena moved forward to sit in the copilot's seat. The bullhead took off smoothly.

Now on edge again, Garek kept waiting for something to go wrong, and only began to unclench when he saw ocean below instead of land. He took a moment to send a quick note to BA about the change in plans, before they left Atlas' CCT signal range. After a few more minutes, the woman returned to the back.

"How you folks holding up back here?"

"Fine. Very smooth."

"Yes, the flight has been extremely pleasant," Selene added.

"Yeah, Charlie's an excellent pilot." She raised her voice, "As he never misses an opportunity to remind us!"

*Click* "If you had better memory I wouldn't have to."*Click* The man announced over a speaker in a bland voice. Helena laughed.

"Sorry I didn't get to introduce myself properly. My name is Helena Nikos, Specialist, Atlas Military."

Charlie hadn't asked their names before. They'd actually been happier with that. But still... "Huntsman Garek Grae of Mistral, a pleasure to meet you."

"And I am Selene Lumerent. Garek is my fiancé."

Helena laughed. "Point made, but no fear. I wasn't trying to angle in," she said, misinterpreting the inclusion of their relationship status. "It was pretty clear you two were a couple." She smiled. "So, you've been to Argus before?"

"I've been there several times. I'm originally from Ansel, and got my Huntsman license at Haven. This was Selene's first visit, though, and it was intimidating at first, but she's getting used to it."

"I can imagine. Had the chance to see any of the sights yet?"

"The eastern park is lovely," Selene said.

"The beaches are something else too," Helena offered, "but it's late in the season to swim and the water is cold."

"Are you visiting for work?"

"Ah no, my family has lived in Argus for generations. I'm visiting to see them." She frowned. "Well mostly my younger sister. Father has been threatening to enter her into a Pumpkin Pete's Little Tikes Sparring Tournament, and I'm trying to talk him out of it."

Helena apparently was quite talkative about family.

"Pumpkin Petes…"

"Ah I forget, not everyone is as obsessed with tournament sparring as my family. They sponsor a pre-combat school tournament series. At my sister's age, it's really just a bunch of little kids wearing a ton of padding and whacking each other with wooden sticks. They don't even have aura unlocked yet. I told father it was silly. I thought maybe an in-person objection might sway him." She didn't sound all that convinced.

They spent the next forty minutes or so talking about family, with Selene adding more generic observations in from time to time, or asking Helena questions. Though the conversation was nice, and she was friendly, he wished she had stayed in the copilot seat. Her proximity to Cinder's case made him a little nervous.

Garek glanced over from time to time, just making sure the case was secure. A few times he thought he saw the side of the case bulge slightly as Cinder shifted position. She was probably cramped and trying to work her muscles. But she never made a sound.

Helena didn't notice, so he felt comfortable that things were still going well.

Just have to land in Mistral. Set foot on Mistral soil, and then we can stop this insanity. Call a taxi, zip behind a bush or even a restroom, and pop Cinder out and then we can travel like normal people again.

Until they needed the Blackfeather Express again. But by then, he expected they would have found Cinder a safe place to stay in Mistral.

Selene and Helena were chatting away like friends by the time the flight neared its end, and he was impressed by how fast Selene had become more extroverted with the other woman.

*Click* "This is your pilot speaking, we will be touching down in about 2 minutes. Please ensure all tray tables are stowed, seatbelts fastened, and return all arms and legs to an upright position." *Click* There was a pause. *Click*"Or something like that." *Click*

Helena snorted again, and made her way back to the copilot's chair.

When the bullhead landed at the small port apparently designed for chartered flights, they exited with their luggage, thanked the two Specialists who seemed in no hurry and were chatting up front, and headed for the small terminal building. Once inside, Selene sought a bathroom taking the case with her, and Garek waited in a chair nearby.

He jumped when a soft hand fell on his shoulder. "Need a ride to your hotel?" It was Helena again, with a black ballistic duffel over her shoulder, smiling at him amiably.

"Ah… I… no I think we're fine. Appreciate it though."

"No problem then. I'm going to hit the restroom. Watch my gear for me?" She set it down on the floor next to him.

Oh gods oh gods oh gods.

Helena turned toward the door twenty feet away, and her hand lifted from his shoulder.

The door opened, and Selene walked out, holding Cinder by the hand. Selene's blue eyes went wide as saucers.

Helena's hand went back down on his shoulder with a grip stronger than he would have expected for her size. "Then again, how about you and me have a quick talk, and you tell your fiancé there not to bolt with the kid."

It wasn't a request.

[A/N] Just when you think you're home free… and it appears Cinder is starting to come to terms with the idea that she isn't someone's indentured servant, though most of that battle appears to be taking place inside her own head for now.

And of course, the last three chapters have seen a wonderful guest appearance by Charlie and Foxtrot. For those who are unaware of just *who* Charlie aka Sylvus Richmond and Foxtrot aka Helena Nikos are, they are original creations of Coeur al'Aran that appear in their work Relic of the Future, as members of Captain Ironwood's team of Specialists called Team November, which predated Specialist Winter and Ace Ops.

Also, special thanks for the Chapter 15 reviews to Harmgee351 and Halcyus Lance. I was starting to wonder whether anyone found the effort I put into the recent chapters valuable, and your reviews brought me joy.

SPOILERS for Relic of the Future below!

In the canon timeline, Team November doesn't exist. Per Coeur's AU canon, this is because they died long before the events of Volume 1, having run afoul of Tyrian Callows on one of their missions, and leaving Pyrrha Nikos without a supportive older sibling. In Relic, Jaune Ashari joins November before that can happen, and saves their asses.

In this storyline, a similar thing happens, but completely by happenstance. If you remember in the last chapter, Ironwood mentions he's delaying a mission, because Charlie had agreed to do a favor for a friend (flying Garek and Selene back and forth to Atlas/Mantle), and that bit of luck caused Callows and Team November to miss each other. Unfortunately, it also means that Watts now has access to some of Merlot's research that they might not otherwise have had. Time will tell whether that causes additional ripples (it will).

Butterfly effect in full force so far. Garek and Selene's desire for a place to themselves and failure to kill each other has thus far caused unknown alterations in Salem's personality, they've yoinked Cinder out of the Glass Unicorn years early and without killing anyone, they've made Dr. Polendina aware that Watts is alive, and have saved Team November from death. Stay tuned for more madcap hijinks as we return to Argus next chapter!