2 Demons 1 Angel

by Alg1905

A year after the Death tournament, two stanage figures come to Gotham. Damian knows the young man, but who is the girl? How does Jason know her? What is Bruce, Richard, Staph, Cass, Tim, and the rest of family going to think? What About Rose? No slash, no smut. T because gorey past and Jason's mouth.

10. Books and Alfred

p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"With Cass, there is going to be a lot reading of body language. 'So I'm expressing it in signal quote marks.' Remember bold caps are sign language. For most of the signing, Cass will be mouthing as well. At least in this chapter. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"This is technically chapter 11, but I'm still working on 10, and I want a teaser. Chapter 10 in in Damian's Pov, 12 is in Duke's. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"strongspan style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"strongspan style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"strongspan style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Cass /span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I noticed the way Abigail tensed up, especially with Bruce yelling. Thankfully, the chaos of our family gave her an opportunity to leave. I understand what little brother wants me to do for her, and why he chose me to do it. I gave Duke a look to come looking for me later. He nodded. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I grabbed my meal, which consisted of re-fried beans, rice, and two tacos left. Before trying to find Abigail, I made sure I went to the kitchen and picked up a plastic water bottle. I knew she probably would be avoiding food and water that wasn't sealed. I also grabbed a roll of crackers, that were also sealed. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I headed up to the library on the third floor, and a distance away from the living room. emI knew Bruce was going to make Daniel talk about his past and everything else. I didn't want to leave him there either because Bruce can be too direct. He's gotten worse since Alfred passed. However, Damian and Jason can help Daniel. /em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I sighed. emIt's hard to believe Alfred is gone, but Bruce is reacting the worst. He won't let anyone near him now. Distancing himself isn't helping anyone. It's going on three years since Alfred passed now/em. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Despite the loss of Alfred, it doesn't excuse Bruce's reaction to Daniel and Abigail. I entered the library, leaving the door open, and opening the balcony door slightly as well. I left crackers and water at the other end of the long table, close to the fireplace, leaving my food next to me at the other end. If I tried to find Abigail, she could easily hide from me. I didn't want her to feel caged. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I went to the shelves stocked with booksem. Jason and Damian always preferred the classics, Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Jane Austen. Though, Jason always considered "Harry Potter" to be a classic as well. Duke is geared towards poetry, Eager Allen Poe, Robert Frost, Walt Witman. Tim and Babs love research. Stephine and Dick typically love anything with a good amount of humor in it. I am fine with pretty much any gerne, though I do like fantasy a bit more. /em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"emspan style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I picked up "Percy Jackson" because I love the story, love to make fun of the myths with our Amazon friends, and I thought if I could get Duke to read it later, it might help with Abigail. /span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I sat on the couch, facing the fireplace. This one isn't as grand as the one in the living room, but it still gives off heat when we light it. Alfred the cat jumped up on the couch I was on and demanded that this was his time for attention. I had to smile. Kitty Alfred always reminds me of Damian. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I was able to get through three chapters, when a creak of the door caught my attention. I didn't look over, but I knew it was Abigail. emThe information about her being blind but seeing through echolocation was helpful. I am guessing she can read somebody's language, perhaps not quite as well as me, but she uses heart beats to fill in the gaps./em /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I made sure I sent the message 'I know you are there, but I'm not going to push you.' I read another chapter before she felt comfortable with me seeing her. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Her looks said Talia Al Ghul, the shape of her face, the overall shape of her body, the way she analyzes something. Her posture told a different story. 'Timid, how can I trust anyone? Overwhelmed, heartbroken.' Her heartbreak wasn't romantic, no it was more brotherly and possibly sisterly love that she has lost. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"She was standing at the other end of the table, hugging herself. Biting her bottom lip. From what I gage, she wasn't really interested in the food I left for her. At least not yet. She was interested in Alfred. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I marked my page with a note card, I didn't want to be told off by Jason later for dog earing it and set it on the table. I slowly sat up, still petting Alfred. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;""You. Want. Pet?" I signed as I spoke, just in case. She hesitated, clearly unsure of herself and me. "Sit. Kitty. Come. You." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"She sat on the floor, still letting me clearly see her. She seems fine with my broken voiced language. She actually relaxed to it. Still biting her lip, she waits. I stopped petting Alfred, he was annoyed, he kept nudging me, I still didn't pet him. After a couple of moments, he gave up and made his way to Abigail. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"He headbutted Abigail's hand and she carefully pet him. Alfred made himself happy on her lap. I smiled. "You. Like. Kitty?" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I see in her posture she was amazed by Alfred the cat. And that she was enjoying it, even if she didn't fully trust herself to be left with it. She nodded to my words. As Alfred fell asleep in her lap, she began to talk. "You knew that I needed names to trust. How?" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"She didn't look at me. Unlike Damian, it wasn't out of grudging admission that she didn't know something. I expect, having sight like hers, she really doesn't understand eye contact. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;""Body." I spoke. My throat is starting to feel raw; I typically don't verbally say too much in this amount of time. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"She lifted her head, a frown on her face. "You, ok?" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I hesitated; she could see I was straining myself. Maybe I could get off with signs in a more general sense till Duke comes. I put my hand to my throat, and I mouthed the word "Hurt". /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Her frown deepens, "You don't talk much?" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Again, I hesitated. Her posture was asking 'Your punishment is not being allowed to talk?' I don't want to send her the message that Bruce didn't let me talk. No, he saved me from that, but she might think Bruce did because of his reaction earlier. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I put my hand on my throat again, then I pointed to my mouth and shook my head. Then I held up a finger the sign for strongBUT/strong, I moved my hands to form strongSIGN LANGUAGE/strong then I nodded. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"She was confused, but I couldn't clearly explain at the moment. She seemed to understand that can she ask about that later. She put her head back down, if her eyes worked properly, they would be looking at Alfred. "Does. Does kitty have a name?" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"The way she asked, she sounded like a shy five-year-old. emMaybe it's not a bad thing for her to act five. At least not for right now. /emI nodded. "Alfred." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"She lifted her head again, her blue eyes piercing me. "You don't have to speak if it hurts you. I understand basic lip reading."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I smiled. I mouth and sign at the same time. strongTHANK YOU. /strong/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"strongspan style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"She tilted her head in a curious way, looking like a puppy. "You speak with your hands?" I nod. "Can… can you teach me a little?" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I let my grin go wide. I nod. Again, I mouth and sign. strongWHAT YOU WANT LEARN? /strong/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;""Names. Yours first?" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"strongspan style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"C-A-S-S. /span/strongspan style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I go slower than normal, just to be sure she understands. strongBUT, HAVE NAME SIGN. /strong/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"She frowns, "Name what?" I mouth the word again. "Sign?" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I hesitate, I want to teach her name signs, but we are struggling enough to communicate at the moment. I'll have Damian or Duke explain them to her later. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I was about to let her know this, when she tenses. She wasn't fully relaxed before, but she was better than in the living room with everyone. I tap the table for her attention, her head snaps to the sound of the noise. strongWHAT HEAR? /strong/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;""Th- the boy who sat next to you. Duke. He is coming up." She felt confident enough to show herself to me because I didn't try to track her down. She thinks Duke is hunting her. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I tap the table again. Breathing better when I tapped. emHun. Let's see if this helps. /emI tapped five times, then four, and so on. She was trying to breathe to the rhythm I set. While I kept tapping, I pulled out my phone, and turned it on silent so my texting wouldn't distract the rhythm. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"(Below is texting, B Bat is Cass, Light is Duke.) /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"B Bat: Duke, r u looking for me?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Light: Yeah. Y?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"B Bat: Wait. Abigail hears you. Let me calm her 1supst/sup. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Light: ok. Do you want me to grab anything? /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"B Bat: grab Titus or Ace if you can. Animals help. Also, water, but in closed bottles. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Light: ok. Give me a few minutes to find Ace. Also where are you?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"B Bat: library. 3suprd/sup floor./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Light: ok, I'll tell you once I have Ace. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Light: does she seem comfortable with you?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"B Bat: kind of. I'll explain how later. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Light: ok. Let me know if you need me to grab anything else. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"B Bat: Tx./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I turned on my notifications again and put my phone on the table. Abigail's breathing is back to normal, I still tap out the rhythm for another minute, just to be sure Duke has left her line of sight. I stop. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"(Personal note, need to figure out how I want to structure this next part.) /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"She breathes. "Thank you." I nod. "How you… did it helped." I gave her a confused look. "You let me come to you. Not trying to find me." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I gave her a small smile. strongDUKE MY BROTHER. /strong/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;""I understand that he is your brother. I just…" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"strongspan style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"DON'T LIKE BE HUNT? /span/strongspan style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"She nodded, looking almost ashamed. strongI UNDERSTAND. /strong/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;""Really?" I nodded; I couldn't explain at the moment. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"emspan style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I need Duke to help bridge the gap. Honestly, he is the best person to help me right now. Yes, the rest of the family could translate, but Duke didn't try to analyze you. Duke's not really a detective, not yet at least. He knew when he shouldn't press an issue, often changing the subject. I need Duke's help/span/emspan style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;". /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"strongspan style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"CAN DUKE COME? /span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"strongspan style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"She frowns. "Why?" She does not sound dismissive, but she wants an explanation for why he needs to be here./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"strongspan style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"NEED HELP TALK YOU. HE BEST WITH ME. /span/strongspan style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"She bit her lip. strongYOU CHOOSE. ME NO MAKE. /strong/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;""You trust him, right?" I nod. She is starting to trust me. If I trust Duke, then maybe she can too. "Ok, he can come, no one else but Daniel can come." I nod. I held up my finger for one minute. She nods. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I picked up my phone again. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"B Bat: she is ok if only you come up. Still bring Ace. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Light: ok. I just found Ace. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"B Bat: did the rest of the family notice our absence?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Light: yes. Everyone let it happen, I don't know when B figured it out. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"B Bat: ok. Come up. I need to send something in the group chat. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Light: k/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I switched to the family group chat; Bruce wasn't in this group though. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"(Golden Boy – Dick, Jay B – Jason, Mad Scientist – Tim, Blades – Damian, Purple – Stephine, Hacker – Barbra, Light – Duke, B Bat – Cass.) /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"B Bat: Abigail is in the library, 3suprd/sup floor. She is letting Duke come up. Only. The only other person allowed to come is Daniel./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Golden Boy: how is she with you?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"B Bat: ok. Animals help. Kitty loves her. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Baldes: understood. Do you think the dogs would be too much?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Light: I already have Ace. Would Titus be too much?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"B Bat: for now, yes. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Jay B: has she eaten anything?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"B Bat: not yet. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Jay B: Daniel here. Can you see if you can get her to eat?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"B Bat: will try, won't push. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Hacker: don't let her come here. B is on a rampage. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Mad Scientist: agreed. We will let you know when he is better or away./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Purple: if B goes on for another hour, I might just have to join you if I'm allowed to. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Light: reaching the 3suprd/sup floor now. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I turned my notifications to vibrate. Abigail was stiff, but not quite as tense. strongYOU SEE DUKE?/strong She nods, petting Alfred. A couple of minutes later, Duke knocked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;""Am I allowed to come in?" I looked at Abigail for confirmation. She nodded. I tapped out 'yes' in Morse code. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Duke entered slowly, a bag over his shoulder, and held Ace by his collar. "Hi, Abigail."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;""You… you can call me Abby. Daniel does." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Duke put a soft smile on. "Ok. Abby. Do you want to meet Ace?" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;""Who?" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;""This is Ace. One of our two dogs." Duke set the bag next to me, on the floor. Then he knelt, still holding onto Ace's collar so he didn't overwhelm Abby. "You saw Titus already. The dog sitting by Damian." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;""Oh." She seemed very nervous. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;""Do you want to meet Ace?" Duke asked again gently. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;""Yes, but scared. Dogs smell fear." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I frowned. emShe likes Alfred just fine. What's wrong with Ace? /emI looked over to Ace, he was straining against his collar. em"Dogs smell fear." Wolves. /em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"I tapped the table, Duke looked at me, Abby still concentrated on Ace. strongSHE THINK ACE WOLF. EXPLIAN. /strongA guilty expression crossed Duke's face. strongspan style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanMY FAULT. NOT YOURS. I ASKED ACE. /strongHe didn't seem convinced. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;""Abby, do you think Ace will hurt you?" Duke was keeping his voice soft. She nodded. "Would it help if I slowly let him come over to you?" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"She hesitated," Yes, but how? Don't know you yet."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Duke smiled. "I won't have to. Cass, there's a leash in the bag, can you grab it for me?" I do as he asks. emThank goodness he thought ahead/em. As I grab the leash, I notice there's three water bottles, Duke's iPod, and a sealed block of cheese. "Thanks Cass." He attached it to Ace's collar, "You ready to meet Ace now?" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;""Yes." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Duke slowly lets Ace go over to meet Abby. She is perfectly still. Once Ace is close, he starts to sniff, and Abby closes her eyes. "You ok, do you want me to call him back?" Duke is cautious. Abby mouths, 'no'. Duke looks at me, to make sure. I nod. "Ace, easy." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 112%;"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 112%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"Duke releases the slack, still holding onto the leash just in case. Ace sniffs. I was about to tell Duke to call Ace back, when the dog licked her face. Her eyes shot open. Looking very confused, but some part of her was delighted. /span/p