Tanya had crossed her T's and dotted her I's, tonight would be the night. She sat at a bench alongside a sidewalk and watched as a formation of Wingulls circled overhead.

The team, barring Mimikyu, who was in his original doll, was stored away for now. They all knew their roles and what to expect; it was just a matter of waiting now.

She took the time to reflect on her time here so far. It was about two months now since she'd woken up in this world. That would be an eternity of time on the front, but here it had passed quickly. Despite the hyper-dangerous fauna that inhabited it, she found herself preferring this world over her last. There were a myriad reasons for that, but at this current moment, the one that stuck out was not having some idiot send her on suicide runs. If she decided to back out tonight, not that she was considering that course of action, there would be no black mark on her record. She had complete freedom in choosing a path to best meet her objective.

It was her preferred method of being managed; she didn't need to have every action of hers dissected; results were what mattered. There was a brief pang of loss she felt over not being able to present her well-reasoned plan to a superior. It wasn't any stroke of genius on her part, but she felt it properly leveraged the resources she had on hand.

When this was all done, perhaps she should write a book. She was sure once the news broke, the public would be ravenous for details on how this all played out. That had the potential for a great number of sales.

'Team Flare, how a cult was snuffed out'.

She could work on the name or have an editor make one up. She'd never considered taking the path of authorship; it was far too unpredictable for her taste. But she had practice in technical writing from penning proposals and theses. This couldn't be that much different. Then again, that might be more of a spotlight than she was willing to take on. Fame was never the goal; all she really wanted was citizenship and a nice fat reward to pad her pocket.

The circling birds broke rank, diving into different parts of the city. To anyone else, it may have seemed coincidental, but to someone who knew the code?

Louis was leaving with two others towards the club she'd dubbed Bravo. That meant a commute of fifteen minutes.

Using aerial formations to deliver information had drawbacks. The obvious was that anyone looking up would see it. To mitigate this, she had to rely on security through obscurity. Which is to say most people won't be looking up, and those who did won't be jumping to the conclusion that the funny flying Wingulls were giving real-time information on the whereabouts of the local leader of a criminal syndicate. The second drawback was the limited amount of information that could be communicated. While intelligent, there was a limit to the amount of flight patterns a group of wild Wingull could commit to memory. Factoring in the risk of them conveying the wrong message in error, she kept it simple.

Tanya rose from the bench, walking briskly upon a predetermined path. Her boots splashed as she went through puddles; it had rained earlier today.

It wasn't the first time she'd walked this route, having done mock trials in the run-up to today; that wasn't a luxury she was used to.

That prep work ensured that her return to the alley where she'd stashed her supplies was uninterrupted. It sacrificed some directness, but that was well worth it.

The alley was deserted, as it had been all other times she'd visited it. She walked over to a discarded milk crate and flipped it, donning its contents in a practiced manner.

Now in all greys with a beanie covering her head and a scarf over her mouth, she felt suitably dressed. There had been the option to be uniformed and waiting in the alley at the start, but that involved loitering here for who knows how long, and she couldn't guarantee no one would stumble on her.

"Mimikyu, are you ready?" She asked the doll who she'd stuffed under her shirt.

He buzzed, as they discussed, and she set off. Tanya pumped aura into herself and leaped onto the fire escape; quick steps up a ladder brought her to the roof. In the distance, she saw her target tower over the two-story building she was currently on top of. She broke out into a run, leaping from building to building. A block and a half was the distance she covered when she dropped back down to the street level.

A dash, and she was pressed up against the outer wall of the hotel. Next to her was a metal door, the service entrance.

Her eyes scanned the surroundings, looking for movement.

None was found; she patted Mimikyu twice. The Pokemon wiggled, and she watched as her shadow stretched to form a curtain around her.

Shadow Sneak was a surprisingly versatile move.

Two flashes of red, obscured from the observance of outsides, heralded the arrival of Carbink and Ralts.

Ralts lifted her arms, and Tanya cradled the Pokemon before hopping onto Carbink. Loosely gripping his ears, Tanya maintained a serious expression as she performed the required motions to get him to ascend.

She was very thankful for the shadow covering her because she looked damn ridiculous like this.

Slowly, they moved higher and higher. Carbink did not possess true flight. What he did have was the ability to travel along any solid surface. It was levitation, but being able to pick and choose what constituted the 'ground'.

The sound of music entered her ears and gradually grew louder as they passed window after window. The source was from the adults-only bar on the roof; she'd been aware of its presence and had planned around it.

She counted the windows they passed, and when they reached the twelfth, Ralts' voice echoed in her mind.

'Gible.'

Tanya wasn't sure if the Pokemon was reminding her of what Theo had informed them of or if she had actually sensed the Gible on the floor in question.

Either way, a rescue wasn't on the menu. Not only did she have no obligation to interfere, but the legalities were such that any direct action taken by her would incur a loss on her end. She wasn't keen on getting even more on the wrong side of the law, despite what her current actions might suggest. No, a simple letter mailed anonymously was still her plan. Part of her debated if even that was too much.

When all was said and done, she wasn't a charity. Stopping and righting every perceived wrong you saw was a sucker's game. Truly, the individual had a responsibility to themselves first and foremost.

Her second life had seen her steal food from the matrons in the orphanage and then enlist early to 'serve' her country, all in the name of survival. She hadn't waited around to be saved by a third party.

Life would be a lot simpler if everyone understood the principle of self-reliance. It really was a lesson she wished everyone was informed of.

Ralts stirred in her arms, sending her a feeling of affirmation. She must have taken Tanya's lack of reaction as confirmation they weren't moving on the Gible. That was good.

The rest of her team may take the news poorly, but she'd already prepared an appropriate speech to mollify them.

Carbink halted, leaving them level with a window.

Out of all the entry points she'd evaluated, this was her best shot.

Staff in the hotel had a dedicated staircase for their use; it spanned the entire height of the structure. Entering from the door at the bottom had been ruled out; there would be too many opportunities to run into members of staff on the way up.

That left here. The latch of the window was surrounded by a purple glow and shook before snapping up. Her hands gripped the glass and slid it up enough to shimmy her way inside. Another red flash indicated Carbink was back in the safety of his ball.

Now in the staircase, she closed the window behind her and saw the shadows once covering them revert to their normal shape. She was lucky to have spotted the cigaret smoke from afar one day during observation; if not, she would have never known these windows opened.

Ralts walked up to the door, placing a hand on it with closed eyes.

'Clear,' she transmitted, much to Tanya's relief.

Tanya's hand gripped the handle and cautiously pushed it open. As Ralts had said, the hallway was empty. She scooped the Pokemon back up and moved.

Her boots glided lightly over the padded carpet, and her eyes swung from side to side. Soon she found room 135. Stopping in front of it, she looked to Ralts, who took a breath before her body was enveloped in a light blue glow. She disappeared, and soon the door swung open.

Teleportation was an absurd ability to possess. She didn't envy anyone working security in this world.

Softly closing the door behind her, she inspected the suite. It had opened into a large living room area; a piano looked to have been pushed to a corner, and there was a plethora of sofas and other seating strewn about. Clothes littered the floor, and she could see several half-eaten dinner plates.

Her nose crinkled; there was a smell as well.

It resembled what she imagined a frat house would look like. He must have declined housekeeping service, which was understandable given his illicit profession. It meant one less complication to worry about, so she put her distaste aside.

Pacing to the far end, she came to a stop in front of a floor-to-ceiling window. It took up the entire wall and was fixed in place; otherwise, she wouldn't have bothered with the service entrance.

She squinted, making out the formation of Wingulls maintaining a pattern over club Bravo.

All was going according to plan then.

Tanya reached for the small of her back. Tucked away there was a collapsed duffle bag. Wringing it out, she placed it in the center of the room. Anything pertinent would be deposited there.

She gave a nod to Ralts and paced to the bedroom. They would take it room by room, checking the formation every five minutes. In the worst-case scenario, they'd have ten minutes to vacate.

Plenty of time.

They worked separately to cover more ground. If time permitted, they'd go over each other's areas.

It would have been nice to have more hands on deck, but Ralts was the only one she trusted to know what they were looking for.

The bedroom was in a worse state than the living room, and she tightened the scarf covering her nose. The action elicited a self-deprecating scoff; she really was going soft if this was enough to bother her.

A round bed in the center dominated the room, with dressers lining the walls. She didn't see anything resembling a computer but was betting there was a laptop buried somewhere amongst the assorted expensive junk.

There were two other doors leading outward, one to a bathroom and another to a walk-in closet. She got the easy one out of the way first, giving the bathroom a quick look. There was nothing shocking contained within; it even had the expected abundance of hair products.

Next, she checked under the bed. Instant regret hit her, but she soldiered on, finding nothing of note. Wearing gloves proved to be one of her best decisions today. Shame they'd have to be burned.

She was beginning to check the nightstand when she paused, nearly smacking her forehead in realization.

Didn't hotels have safes? What were the odds he was stupid enough to keep it in there?

Tanya aborted her search and entered the closet. It was wide enough for six people to stand shoulder to shoulder and even had a bench to rest on. Rows of hangers carrying expensive suits made up most of the clothes. Shoes were thrown about haphazardly on the floor. In a corner, she spotted an overburdened hat hanger.

She pushed aside the hangers until she found a metal safe. It was a meter tall and wide, sporting a turn wheel on its front.

Tanya stood in front of it, taken aback.

Mawile could easily tear it out of the wall and eat through the steel. But that was more overt than she wanted to be.

It might also be unnecessary. Her finger reached out, twisting the nob left and right until a satisfying click sounded and the heavy door lumbered open.

For a brief moment, she was struck with a wave of pity. It was directed towards an unlikely target, Lysandre himself. Maniac he might be, no one deserved to put up with such dimwitted underlings. Certainly, not ones who left post-it notes with the combination to the safe it was stuck to.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Maybe she was overreacting; it could be that nothing important was inside.

A metal briefcase met her eyes.

Well, there was no way that was unlocked as well. Right?

It clicked open without resistance.

Tanya sighed. How were these people her enemies? How had no one caught them?

Oh right, they had control of the communication network and any number of influential people in their pocket.

That depressing thought aside, she took stock of what she'd found. Chips of some kind, the gambling of sorts. They were ordered in a tray, and she lifted it out, setting it to the side. At the bottom, were several files.

She scanned them. One was a map of some sort? It had areas nearby circled and then crossed out. Were they searching for something? She filed that question away for later. A few more files had financial records for the Dubois family's shipping company. She deemed those unimportant for her current objective and kept thumbing through the pages.

A letter made her pause; it was commending Louis on his contribution to the cause. The contribution itself was unsaid, but someone had seen fit to staple documents to it.

Pokeballs were not all they were dealing in then. There was a list of materials. Isolated, that was innocent enough, but it did leave one wondering where all that construction equipment ended up. Tanya could think of one big hole in the ground that they might have helped excavate and develop.

Taking out a small non-digital camera, she took pictures of everything of interest. Damning information? No. But it was another few grains of sand; gather enough, and she'd tip the scales.

Done with her documentation. She placed the tray back over the files when the chips caught her eye again.

Well, she'd already decided to liberate a few items from this place. A particular gaudy hat caught her eye. She rose, snatching it off the hanger and loading it with a few chips from each pile.

Not taking all of it would cause him to question whether or not someone was here at all. Her hand paused when moving to shut it. Taking into account the disorganization of everything, she took a few more before sealing it shut and locking the safe.

Carrying the filled hat back to the living room, she found Ralts placing a book in the bag. A glance at the window told her she was still fine, and Tanya curiously reached out for the book.

'Legends of Kalos.'

The cover read. Flipping it open was like peering into the mind of a madman. Crossed out sections and highlighted words. Bookmarks in nonsensical locations. It was a mess; she was about to ask why Ralts had taken it when she got to the last page.

'See the truth'

-Ly

That could have meant any number of things. Her initial impression, and the one she presumed Ralts had, was that this was a book signed and gifted by Lysandre. That was as good a reason as any to take it. It might give her more insight into the man she faced.

Hopefully, like the chips, he would not notice its disappearance. Her eyes roamed the suite; there were still more rooms to check, but the Wingulls remained constant.

She had time, and she was going to use it.

----------------------------------------

Tanya struggled to zip shut the duffel bag. There were a few more things they'd found buried in the apartment. Some, like USB sticks, she thought might be relevant to her objective. Others…were for her troubles.

"We're done here," she whispered. Rising to her full height and slinging the bag over her shoulder.

She stopped by the door, looking to see Ralts staring in an odd direction. With her gestures, the Pokemon came to her side and gave her the all-clear. She lifted the Pokemon again and pushed the door open, retracing her steps to the service entrance.

There was no warning. One second she was in the hallway, and the next she was falling through a pit.

Tanya rolled, coming to a stop at a crouch. A tilt of the head up, and she saw the hole she'd just come through; flames licked at its edge. In spite of originally being in a hallway, they now found themselves in another hotel room.

A cough got her attention, and she spotted a man in a suit hacking into his arm. His other arm waved in front of him to disperse the lingering smoke.

Crap. She couldn't be spotted.

Without her intervention, a knife flew through the air and impacted his center forehead. She was about to curse when her ears registered the bonk. There was no blood; the knife had hit him hilt first.

"Good girl!" Tanya didn't try to contain the pride in her voice. Ralts had acted decisively and within the rules of engagement. It was a marked improvement. She set the Pokemon down. "Get a Hypnosis on him."

She didn't need him waking up and catching a good look at them.

"Ible," a tired voice made itself known.

Tanya closed her eyes for a moment.

Being X could kindly go fuck itself.

She opened them.

Gible was on the opposite side of the room they were in; it wobbled unsteadily on its feet. Tanya took a step, hearing a crunching beneath her foot. It was a shattered disc?

Several of them, in fact. They were in various states, and their identity came to the forefront of her mind: "Technical Machines."

Valuable tools to instantly teach Pokemon moves. Was he teaching Gible moves when something went wrong? That seemed likely, although doing so in a hotel room was the height of idiocy.

Regardless, she had now officially stepped in it. A decision had to be made.

Gible yawned, blinking sleepy eyes in her direction.

A high-pitched alarm blared to life; it must have been the fire alarm. An intact sprinkler sputtered to life, dumping rust-smelling water over her. Bits and pieces of debris contained in it rained over her.

'Mama?'

Ralts questioned, somehow having avoided the sprinkler.

Fuck it. Much like the warehouse, things were already screwed. Might as well see what she could get out of the wild pack of dragons. They had to have some reward in mind, right?

"Your family sent us." Tanya approached with measured steps. "We're going to get you back to them, alright?"

It nodded before yawning again and falling asleep? Coming to a stop near the hatchling, she confirmed it was indeed sleeping.

She supposed that would make things easier. Looking around again, she searched for signs of his Pokeball. All she found were the shattered remains of one.

And of course she didn't deign to bring one herself.

It wasn't like she didn't have spares either; she was just deadset on not getting involved.

Kicking herself mentally, she wrapped her arms around the slumbering Pokemon. He was about the size of Mawile and a decent bit heavier, still nothing she couldn't manage.

The heat hadn't stopped rising, and to her dismay, she noticed the fire spreading rapidly. The wind blew through the gaps of the shattered windows, feeding the flames. Some of the sprinklers must have been damaged as they grew unchecked. Already they had blocked off the entrance of the room.

'Keep?'

Ralts waddled up to her, a stack of TMs under her arm.

Tanya crouched low so the Pokemon could try her luck packing them in the bag while she thought of options.

A little fire didn't scare her, but she couldn't just leave this idiot here to die. Personally? She couldn't care less what happened to him. However, eventually, questions will arise when getting her name cleared, and 'civilian left to die in fire' didn't sound great.

Hauling him to the staircase would almost definitely get her spotted. Probably by multiple people.

"Skar!"

The decision was taken out of her hands, as a cry came from the outside.

Flapping its metallic red wings, a Skarmory hovered outside the window, its yellow eyes trained on her through the thick smoke.

A trainer was on its back. Whatever they were saying was lost to the wind.

Tanya recalled Ralts; she might have been blown but didn't think the small Pokemon had been spotted yet.

As inconvenient as having her involvement, masked or not, now be known. It did give her an easy option for getting out of this mess.

Tanya grabbed the man by the foot, dragging him toward the opening while holding Gible awkwardly with one arm. She made sure to make eye contact with the trainer, a young woman, before chucking the man out the window.

There was a sharp cry of surprise as the Skarmory reared back. She watched it long enough to ensure the man had been safely caught in its claws and then turned on her heel. Keeping her arms around Gible, she fell backward.

The feeling of weightlessness; the wind running through her.

Her chest beat with life.

She would always be a flight mage at heart.

Sadly, it was just that, and the ground grew ever closer.

"Anytime now," she muttered.

Jumping off the building had been a contingency they'd covered. She'd be cross if he'd forgotten. She felt Mimikyu coil around her and then a Shadow Claw burst from her sleeve, digging into the facade of the building. They jerked upward as their momentum bled off.

"Enough," she said after determining their velocity low enough.

The claw retracted, and Tanya twisted herself to land facing the street. Her boots slammed into the ground, and she bent her legs to compensate. Brick and plaster followed after her.

Tanya took in the surroundings and was distressed at the multitude of people staring at her.

The word 'disaster' snaked its way into her mind.

There was no time to dwell, as there weren't only people on the street, and that Blastoise did not look friendly.

She stepped back, leaving an illusion in her place with Double Team, and was proved correct when a torrent of water hit the spot she'd just been in.

Ignoring its trainer's orders, who she presumed to be the man in a fireman's outfit, another beam of water was launched her way.

Tanya's legs pumped as she propelled herself out of the way and down the street, away from the violent Pokemon.

Stay and fight?

What a laugh; there was no point in that. She was getting the hell out of dodge.

Her feet pounded the pavement, eating up large swathes of ground. No more streams of water came her way, and she hoped its trainer had gotten it back on task in dealing with the fire.

She heard the sirens first and then saw the flashing lights reflected on the cars parked alongside the road.

Tanya dove to the side as a mass of black fur plowed through another illusion. She ducked into an alleyway, hoping to lose the Mightyena.

That proved fruitless, and it was soon, quite literally, nipping at her heels.

She took an arm off of Gible, palming a Pokeball.

A flash and her ultimate deterrent took the field.

"Mawil-" The Pokemon didn't need instruction, and her jaw took a glint before hammering into the leaping dog. It flew backward, impacting the rider of a motorcycle who had just stopped at the mouth of the alley. "Yes, that."

She was prepared to recall the Pokemon when Tanya noticed the serious look in Mawile's eye. It was the first time she'd seen such a stern look on the Pokemon, and Tanya combed the area for threats.

Was there something she wasn't seeing?

The Mightyena was in a heap with its trainer, whom she realized was a police officer. The only other thing here was…

"Wile," the Pokemon declared and ran forward.

Tanya followed a beat later.

"Dibs? What the hell do you mean, dibs?"

Mawile plopped herself on the seat, her tiny hands gripping the handlebars.

There was no chance she was allowing this.

Tanya got on, trying to wrestle the disobedient Pokemon off. Belatedly, she remembered she could just recall her.

She blamed it on the absurdity of the situation.

Red flashing lights shone on the rearview mirror, and Tanya could only clamp her thighs around the bike to prevent being thrown when it lurched forward.

Amazingly, they didn't outright crash.

With Mawile in the front, Tanya sat behind her with a sleeping Gible sandwiched between them.

Many thoughts were running through her head right now. Chief among them was the hope that the pedal on their right was unimportant as neither of them were going to be able to reach it.

They swerved hard to the right, and Tanya was considering abandoning ship when she witnessed part of the street be bisected by a blade of wind.

That Skarmory was giving chase without its trainer, she noted. Going rogue or losing the extra weight to better maneuver? Probably the latter.

"Mimikyu, cover!" She ordered, and their shadow fluctuated before stretching above them. With their speed and erratic movement, Mimikyu struggled to maintain it.

Was it enough to obscure them from further Air Cutters? Well, she didn't see any more fired off.

"Left," Tanya directed. "Get us out of this damn city!"

The roar of engines grew behind her, and she turned to see numerous officers in pursuit. The intensity of their lights increased, indicating they were gaining on them.

Crap.

What were a few more felonies at this rate?

She briefly brought a leg up and reversed her position on the bike, now facing behind them. She pressed her back hard against Gible, squeezing him against Mawile for safekeeping.

How in the world was he still sleeping?

Errant thought aside, she reached into her pocket. Taking aim, her hand flicked out.

Tanya cringed at her poor aim as instead of taking out the headlights, several of her kunai embedded themselves on tires, causing the vehicles to violently crash.

That…had really not been her intention. Medical care was fairly advanced here. She was sure they'd be fine.

"Wa! Wa!" Her driver cheered, taking a sharp corner without slowing the slightest.

At least one of them was enjoying themselves.

The incapacitation of their colleagues did not dissuade them from their pursuit, and several Pokemon took form beside their bikes.

Most canine types, some equestrian.

All fast.

They raced through the city, block after block being left behind. Weaving through traffic, Mawile pushed the bike to its limits. All laws were promptly ignored as they blew past red lights and stop signs.

Even so, more flashing lights coalesced behind them. Gaining on them at a steady pace.

She still had more knives, but there wasn't enough for all of them.

Was this it? How was she supposed to explain any of this? She didn't have nearly enough evidence yet.

The swiftest Pokemon neared; she could see several begin the process of using a move.

It was time to surrender; she brought both arms into the air.

Something kicked her back leg. She turned to find Mawile pointing up, toward the moon.

Tanya honed in on it; its brightness made it difficult to make out, but she made out some shapes.

Oh.

That. Was a lot of birds.

There was a saying that a butterfly flapping its wings could set off a chain of events ending in a hurricane. So what happened when a hundred or so seagulls on steroids all flapped their wings?

She didn't know the answer, as for her pursuers... what pursuers?

Like a broom had been swept across the street, it had been wiped clean.

That wasn't completely accurate; some of the Pokemon had withstood the gale. But that didn't matter when their first reaction was to find their trainer, who'd been picked up and thrown like a child's toy.

None of that was her responsibility. The flock was meant to only provide intel, she'd never told them to go ahead and assault police officers.

The ride got noticeably bumpy, signaling to Tanya that they were now on the road connecting both parts of the city.

A horrible metallic screech cut through the air, startling her. Tanya watched as the Wingulls and Pelipper dispersed.

Skarmory was in the night sky; from the way it acted, she surmised some of the flock had attacked it. They must have lost their nerve when it released a proper battle cry.

It swooped toward them. This Pokemon was getting on her nerves.

Mawile banked hard to the right, avoiding the grasping claws. There was another turn up ahead, this one near ninety degrees. Again, there was no slowing down, and Tanya's knee scrapped the gravel before Mawile brought them back upright.

Was that a drift? She was torn between fearing for her life and being in awe of the competent display of steering.

Did Xerosic teach his Pokemon how to pilot vehicles? He was a tad obsessive; she couldn't rule it out.

Tanya frantically tried to locate the giant metal bird, having lost it for a moment. She found it again, far ahead, and stopped in the middle of the road with its wingspan fully outstretched.

The road was narrow enough now that they were fully blocked off.

"Go around!" Tanya urged, switching back to facing the front and shaking Mawile's shoulder.

"Maw."

That was a good point; it had rained earlier, and off-road was liable to be pure mud. They'd get stuck in no time.

"Then slow down, and we'll fight it off normally."

She'd noticed Mawile already stacked Stock Piles. If her opponent was dumb enough to give up the flight advantage, she'd be happy to ground them for good.

"Wile…" The Pokemon turned to her with an awkward grin.

This had to be a joke.

"You started driving, and you don't even know where the damn brakes are!"

Was that more impressive or less? She couldn't decide.

Didn't have time to either, as she hastily erected a Protect as they rammed head-first into the avian Pokemon.

It saved them from being crushed against the solid steel wall, but they did bounce off at an angle and end up being tossed across the road. She released Carbink on instinct, not knowing where he or the others ended up.

Tanya shook her head, trying to regain her bearings and decide how to tackle this thing. When her sight cleared up, she blinked to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

"Ma, ma!" Mawile was on her feet, doing a twirl. She pointed a finger gun at the Skarmory. As her thumb went down, Tanya noticed Carbink had been secured in Mawile's jaw. "WILE!"

Fairy cannon???

A flash of light, followed by a boom, and finally a cry of pain as Carbink hammered into the Pokemon.

The cry was not from Carbink; no, that would be from the Skarmory who was blasted back, ragdolling across the road.

As the dust settled, she spotted the Gible. It was on its side, foot kicking in its sleep.

"Bin! Bin?" Carbink floated toward them, evidently no worse for wear.

"He's fine," Tanya responded while walking over and picking up the Gible. "Just a heavy sleeper."

"Wile?" The Pokemon asked leadingly, rocking from her heels and toes with her arms held behind her back.

Tanya released a breath of frustration. Screw it, she'd count it.

"Yes, excellent teamwork, you two."

What had her life turned into?