It took a few extra minutes of tense cruising, but eventually, Tim brought the plane down on an empty stretch of field to the north of La Rochelle, France. "No use taking trying to communicate with an airport!" He had to shout to be heard over the way the wheels ground against grass. "They'd see Sadie doesn't have a passport and we'd get held up while those guys close in on us."

Sadie held on tight to her and called back. "I really am sorry about that, it didn't seem like it was going to come up anytime soon!"

When the plane came to a complete stop and they all breathed sighs of relief, Stephanie went to work cutting Cassandra from the goop on the floor. "I know Richie Rich doesn't get it, but I do. I didn't have a real passport until I was smuggled out and back into the US."

Sadie stared at her, stunned and silent for a moment, before she asked, "Are you serious?"

With a smirk and a shrug, Stephanie said, "A friend of mine helped me fake my death. It's an ugly little story. I'm just saying, I never had a reason for one when I was growing up. So, I get it."

The unchanged look on Cassandra's face assured Sadie Stephanie wasn't bluffing. As soon as Cassandra was back on her feet, Sadie slipped over and whispered, "You guys— uh— you really all do live crazy lives don't you?"

Cassandra bit her lip and looked away. "I'll still tell you all mine. Not now, but some time soon."

"I, um, appreciate it. I think." Sadie shook her head. "No, no, I do. I just have no idea what to expect at this rate."

Backpacks strapped on to the four, Tim led the way out of the field. "From a quick look at the ship's GPS, looks like we're in a national park. Hopefully they're closed up for the night, so we've got a little time to disappear before someone calls in finding the jet in the middle of a field. Assuming some witnesses haven't already, I guess."

Sadie asked, "And you're sure that thing is going to be untraceable?"

"Batman knows how to cover his tracks, all his vehicles are pretty much impossible to find origin points for." Maybe a quarter of a mile away, flat ground gave way to a hill full of half-twisted trees. Tim dug the herald out of a pocket on his backpack and slipped it on. "Steph, can you pull up where we are?"

Phone out and thumbs tapping away, she said, "On it."

Tim and Stephanie kept a brisk pace up across the field and up the ill. Once again, Cassandra slowed herself to keep close to Sadie's side.

"Man," Sadie said. "Those two really are in sync. I always kinda thought they were reading each other's minds when we'd hang out, but they're just always on, huh?"

Cassandra smiled. "Mostly, yes."

"Think they'd be offended if I told them what smart, beautiful, ass-kicking little babies they're going to make?" Sadie clamped up fast after she said it, as if she hadn't meant to out loud. After a tiny, embarrassed laugh, she said, "I mean, if they even want kids. Do they? Do you know?"

The nervous energy proved infectious; Cassandra chuckled too. "I think so. Stephanie—" she caught herself and stopped. After a moment, she went with, "Stephanie has said so before." Cassandra still occasionally struggled with which secrets weren't hers to give away. As far as she knew, Stephanie had never mentioned the daughter she gave up for adoption, so Cassandra wouldn't be the one to bring it up. "Let's speed up, if you can."

"Ugh, I'll do my best, but I'm not made for this."

For a few minutes the group travelled uphill, sometimes with hands on branches for support, once Sadie shouted when she tripped on a root, Cassandra got ahold of her before she went tumbling down. As the hill started to level and a trail came into focus ahead, Tim entered the callback key on the herald.

On the third buzz, Father Day answered. "Been expecting you. Have you reached Rome?"

"Unfortunately, not," Tim said. "Our jet was sabotaged."

"Sabotaged? By what?"

"Oh, I don't know, how about a freaking vampire." Stephanie pushed both volume and frustration into her words.

After a moment of hesitation, Father Day asked, "What?"

"Yeah," Stephanie said. "He was off on some Rob Pattinson, 'I don't drink human blood,' thing, and next thing we know he's split his stomach off his legs, guts are everywhere-"

"Robin, control your associate. She sounds like she's rambling."

Tim scowled down at the herald. "I can back up everything she's saying. And I don't control her. She's my partner."

Stephanie put her hands around her mouth for emphasis and shouted, "Both senses of the word! And I'm not doing that 'promise to obey' crap during the nuptials, either."

Father Day uttered a groan. "It's like talking to children, can we stay on track?"

When Stephanie bit back on the obvious reaction, Sadie said, "He started it," under her breath.

Cassandra smirked, Stehanie pivoted a half turn toward her and threw her a thumb's up.

"Look, bottom line, we fought a vampire," Tim said. "Were you aware they had one of those?"

"The Order of Nephilim has always had half-human hybrids in their midst. It's in their title."

Stephanie slowed her steps to walk alongside Cassandra and Sadie. Between clenched teeth, she said, "Oh yeah, that's a word everyone knows. Stupid me."

"Didn't know it either," Cassandra said. "Maybe heard it in church once. Maybe it just sounds like seraphim and I'm confusing them."

Sadie blew a breath up at her face as they approached the trail. "How are these guys stacking up to him?" After a nervous laugh, she continued, "I thought I was biased, but both groups have tried to kill me by now."

Cassandra looked down as she thought for a moment. "Seraphim was worse. So far, anyway. That woman from the other night- even the one on the plane- felt like maybe we could reach them."

"So where are you?" Father Day said.

Tim turned. "Batgirl?"

"La Rochelle," Stephanie said. "Gwenael Nature Preserve." She groaned. "We might've annoyed some local species with that landing. We gotta tell the big man to put in a big charity donation to this place."

"No doubt." Tim looked back toward the herald. "You know what our best shot at travel is then? I'll remind you we need your guys at the ready to get us past any international borders. The most essential piece of the puzzle still has no passport."

Father Day let out a ragged grown of disgust before he said, "This will take a few minutes to calculate and even longer to coordinate. Give me a few minutes."

The night grew darker as the four passed through half an acre of dense foliage. After that trek, however, they stood atop a steep hill that looked down at a parking lot with a welcome center, a light or two still on inside.

"How do you think we should do this?" Stephanie said. "Scared, confused tourists who got lost on the path and didn't realize the park was closed?"

"Maybe." Tim looked back to Cassandra and Sadie. "Cassie, I know you don't, but Sadie, you know any French?"

"No, sorry."

"I've picked up a little," Tim said. "Maybe better to play that up too. Scared and stupid tourists might work out even better than scared tourists."

On the way down the steep, rocky hill, the herald buzzed and Tim answered.

"There's a train that goes from La Rochelle to the Saint Chales station in Marseille," Father Day said. "Marseille sits right on the coast, so I can get a few of my men there with a boat and sail to Rome from there."

"By boat?" Stephanie picked up the pace to ask the question. "Is that really ideal?"

"No, what was ideal was you all making it by plane." Father Day sounded dry as a desert. "But that chance is gone now. We operate our own airstrips and have our own places in the harbor, but it's not as if we run private trains or car roads. Anything else is going to force you to answer to customs officers."

"All right, all right." Tim rubbed his forehead. "When's that train departing?"

"Five AM, you'll arrive around noon."

As the four reached the welcome center, Sadie leaned toward Cassandra. "Crack of dawn again? I'm sleeping for a week after we get home." After a moment to consider, she added, "Is this better or worse for you, considering you fight bad guys at night?"

Cassandra opened her mouth to answer, thought on it for a second, and said, "Actually not sure."

"Steph," Sadie called, "It waking up so damn early easier or harder for you when you're fighting evil by moonlight?"

She shrugged. "I guess? Because my sleep schedule's already erratic? But I also ran back in high school, so I was already getting out of bed stupid early."

Tim reached for the door of the welcome center, but found it closed. He rapped on the door a few times and waited. After a minute, a tall, muscular woman in a tan uniform answered and scowled down at him.

""Que faites-vous ici?" she said.

"Bonne soirée," Tim said. "Je suis désolé, je ne parle pas bien Français."

The woman pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned. "English? You speak English then? Pronounce like an American. Poorly."

"Bonne soirée," Tim repeated, "Bonne soirée."

"Stop, stop," she said. "English will suffice. What are you doing here? Park closed an hour ago."

"We were lost on the trail," Tim said. "Our feet are aching and we're starving and we just want to get back to our hotel. Is the bus still running?"

The woman rolled her eyes and checked the watch on her arm. "The Alsa will be around in about twenty minutes. Did you buy day passes?"

Tim didn't miss a beat. "No, single use."

"Always buy day. They pay for themselves instantly. But only at the start of the day." She motioned toward the opposite side of the building. "Ticket machine in the back. You have euro, right?"

"Yes. Thank you."

Sadie asked, "Wait, we do?"

The park employee paid her no mind. "Be safe. Don't get lost again."

With a nod to her, the door was shut. Tim walked to where she referred and returned with four little printed slips in hand.

"When did you get euros?" Sadie said.

"There were a couple fat billfolds in the jet. Whoever breaks into that thing is getting a big payday in various foreign currency."

Less than an hour later, with less than twelve before their next departure, the bus carried the four friends through a city of stylishly weathered stone buildings and a vibrant waterfront. At one point Sadie leaned into Cassandra and said, "Man. My first trip to France and I need to speed right through it. Kinda sucks, this place is beautiful."

Cassandra put on her best, tired smile. "We can come back someday. Never ask Dad for trips, but know he'd let us."

"You really are his precious little girl, aren't you? I know he's already thrown a lot of money my way. I hope this doesn't come off as excessive."

"Oh please," Stephanie said from across the aisle. "We don't know what we're doing for our honeymoon yet, but can you imagine how over the top he's going to get for that?" She leaned down and unzipped the outermost pocket of her backpack. "Anybody want a power bar or anything, by the way? My eating schedule's been worse than usual—"

Stephanie interrupted herself with a scream. Tim's eyes flew wide open as he looked down, Cassandra and Sadie jerked their looks in her direction. The bus driver, to his credit, only glanced in the rearview with a raised eyebrow.

"What the hell?" Stephanie slowly pulled a narrow, white bone out of the pocket of her backpack.

Tim scooted closer and squinted. "You didn't just have that from Halloween or something, did you?"

"I don't use this backpack for normal stuff," Stephanie said. "It's a bug out bag, exclusively, and—I mean—I haven't felt enough human bones to know for sure. But that isn't plastic, I can tell you that."

Tim carefully lifted the bone with two fingers, squinted, and shuddered. After a quick test, he determined the bus's window could be opened, if only a crack. "I don't think there's much we're going to learn just from this thing being here. Everyone good if I throw it?"

Cassandra and Sadie both gave disgusted nods, Stephanie just turned away and motioned for him to hurry up. Tim threw the bone out the window, and the four continued their ride toward a hostel for the night.