It was only one day after they'd gone people-watching, and already, Eric was fresh out of ideas.Sure, him and Rosa had come up with things to do with Thirteen, but thinking back on it, they were all so… he couldn't even think of a word to describe it. They were almost too mundane; they'd already done the people-watching thing in the park, and while it had been a great way to get her to open up, something told him that it was going to be better to do something more relaxing and give her time to decompress after revealing so much to him.

"Eric?"

He jumped a bit at the sound of her voice, just barely managing to avoid hitting his head on the lamp that was hanging over the stove top. Eric shook his head, then looked over to her, his stupor fading and his senses returning. The sound of bacon and eggs sizzling in the pan came flooding back, along with the scent of it all. The sensation washed over him for just a moment, reminding him what he'd been doing before he'd spaced out; that, in turn, lasted for as long as it took for her to tilt her head confusedly.

"Eric?" she repeated.

"Sorry," he offered. "What's on your mind?"

"Did you have any plans for today?"

Eric winced. Of course she picked today to be direct with him. He let out a tired sigh, bringing a hand out to rub at his chin.

"...Sorry," he said. "I'm trying to think of something that'd be more interesting than not. I appreciate the little heart-to-heart we had yesterday, of course, but now I figure it'd probably be best to take it easy for at least one day."

Slowly, she nodded. "...Understandable. I… am in no hurry to unearth the things I felt yesterday, though I recognize that on a certain level, it has to be done if I am to adjust."

"Only if you're comfortable with it," Eric assured her. "You don't have to tell me or Rosa anything you don't want to. But just know that the two of us are here for you if you ever want to talk about anything."

"And that will really help?"

"Can't be any worse than bottling it up."

"Mm…" She peered past him, looking into the pan. "Breakfast?"

"Shoot!" Eric said, whipping around to face the stove again, one hand going for the knob to the burner and flipping it off. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Good… it's not burnt. Thanks for reminding me about that – I almost messed up breakfast."

"Is that a big deal?"

"Not really, I guess," he admitted. "But eggs and bacon aren't exactly cheap, what with all the post-war shortages going around. And beyond that… I don't think my ego would let me forgive myself if I managed to fuck up breakfast, of all things." Seeing her questioning glance, he added, "It's hard to mess up breakfast. Generally the only way to do that is to burn it, particularly with bacon and eggs."

Slowly, she nodded. Eric retrieved two plates from the nearby cupboard, then filled one up with bacon and eggs and passed it over to her. Thirteen accepted it, then stepped over to the table, sat down, and began to eat.

And, as usual, she ate like a fucking animal, not that he particularly cared.

Eric took a seat across from her and speared a piece of scrambled egg on his fork. It was halfway to his mouth when he thought of something.

He paused, the mere thought of it seeming downright humorous to him. Still, stupid as it seemed at first, it actually didn't seem like that terrible of an idea. If nothing else, it'd take their mind off the heavy conversation they'd had the day before…

Eric lowered his fork, then looked over to Thirteen, who had nearly finished her plate. She paused midway through chewing her bacon and looked back to him.

"I think I know what we can do today," he said.

She tilted her head, and he just smirked.

If nothing else, this would at least be somewhat amusing.

***

"Eric, what is this place?"

"It's called a zoo," he explained as they both stepped out of the car. "It's a place where we keep captured animals in captivity."

"And people come to these for entertainment?" she asked as they began to walk up to the front gates.

Eric nodded. "Yup. Most of the animals they keep in these things are pretty exotic – they come from far-off places on Earth, and beyond. Most people wouldn't ever see any of them outside of the zoo. Of course, just because they're in captivity, that doesn't mean they're mistreated. I won't sit here and say that all zoos are well-managed, but I did some reading on this one before we left, and the employee reviews said it was a good one."

Thirteen said nothing in response, instead drawing closer to him as a crowd of people approached. Eric raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't draw any attention towards it.

Eventually, they made it to the front of the line and got their tickets, then entered the zoo. Immediately, Eric's brow furrowed.

"Shit…" he muttered. "Forgot that parts of these places can stink…"

Thirteen, curiously, seemed unaffected. He could only assume she'd experienced far worse during her time in the military, as usual.

And also as usual, he was quick to push that thought away.

"Is there anywhere we should start?" Thirteen asked.

"Nope," Eric replied. "Today, I figured we'd just wander around a bit, see if anything catches your interest."

She blinked, but nodded, and Eric couldn't help but relax a bit at that.

If nothing else, she was at least willing to indulge his dumb ideas.

***

They spent about an hour just wandering around the park, checking out the various exhibits before Eric needed to stop. He sat down on a nearby bench, a tired sigh escaping him as he massaged his leg.

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"Longest I've walked since getting out…" he muttered. He let out another sigh, then leaned back on the bench, staring up at the sky. "Well, I guess we can keep going for a bit longer. Just give me a few minutes to rest up for a bit."

He expected her to give some kind of affirmation like she usually did, but instead, only silence greeted him. His heart skipped a beat, and he immediately began to look around, desperately searching for her. Thankfully, she was still nearby – he saw her from behind a short ways away, looking into another of the exhibits. Now curious, Eric couldn't hold himself back from standing up and approaching her, making sure to put just enough weight on his leg that the noise of it resounding against the ground was louder than usual. Thirteen turned to face him, and Eric couldn't help but pause.

She looked different somehow. Normally, her face was as monotone as her voice, but now… there was a sense of almost childlike wonder on it. She locked eyes with him for a second, then turned back towards the exhibit and continued to stare.

Alright, now he was truly curious. Eric stepped over to her, coming up alongside her enough that he was able to look into the exhibit along with her.

"What are they?" she asked.

"Wolves," he answered.

"They look like big dogs."

"That's basically what they are," he explained. "Pretty much just oversize dogs that weren't tamed by our ancestors. They're quite dangerous, in fact – they hunt in packs normally, but even a lone wolf is still more than capable of taking down larger prey."

"Lone wolf?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Like I said, generally they're pack animals. But occasionally, one will get separated from the rest for whatever reason, and it'll be on its

own for awhile."

"And it stays on its own?"

Eric shook his head. "Not forever. Eventually, the wolf finds a new pack of its own – its new family, pretty much. See, that's the thing – a lone wolf is dangerous, for sure, but that's really all it is. Put it in a pack, though? That's when it changes."

Thirteen's expression softened as she looked at the wolves in the exhibit. "They're… beautiful, I think is the word? Putting them in a group like this… far better than leaving them alone. They wouldn't look as beautiful by themselves."

Eric blinked, but after a moment, he nodded.

"Yeah," he said, "I suppose you're right."

***

They stayed at the wolf exhibit for some time, Eric doing his best to regale Thirteen with whatever facts he could recall about them. If nothing else, she seemed intrigued by them, which was good – at the very least, it was an interest she'd begun to develop that didn't involve killing something, and that could only be a good thing.

Once they left the exhibit, they spent a bit more time wandering around, though Eric could tell she was only doing so to indulge him. He could see on her face that nothing else had interested her as much as the wolves had. Eventually, he decided they'd both had enough, and told her they were leaving, to which she'd been more than agreeable.

As the two of them went to leave the park, however, something strange happened – they passed by a worried-looking young woman who was talking to a security guard on their way to the parking lot. As they moved past her, Eric was able to overhead part of their conversation.

"-know where he went! One moment he was with me, and the next he was gone!"

Eric felt his heart skip a beat, but ultimately, that was a job for the park's security, not him. He went to keep walking, but he only made it a few steps before he noticed something.

Thirteen wasn't there with him anymore.

Eric paused, then turned around. To his shock, she had drawn closer to the woman and the security guard, in order to overhear what they were saying. He mumbled a curse under his breath, then began to move back to her, which brought him within range of the conversation again.

"-about five years old, with sandy-blonde hair and green eyes. He was wearing this black-and-white striped shirt and blue jeans-"

Whatever she'd said, it had seemed to have set Thirteen off. She immediately turned and began to walk away, leaving him behind. Eric watched her go for a moment before calling out to her.

"Hey, wait up!"

But she didn't stop. If anything, she got faster, to the point where he was struggling to keep up with her. Before long, he was barely able to keep her in his line of sight through the crowd of people. Finally, he blinked, and she was gone.

Eric stood there, doubled over and gasping for breath, silently cursing the fact that he'd given up on exercising once he'd left the service. He looked around for a place to rest for a moment, and found a nearby park bench. With a sigh of relief, he took a seat on it, and began to massage his leg again.

"Eric."

Only for Thirteen's voice to nearly make him jump out of his skin. He turned around to face her, glaring daggers at her the entire time.

"There you are!" he said. "Where did you-"

He paused when he saw a small figure standing next to her, his eyes going wide in amazement. "...Is that who I think it is?"

Standing next to Thirteen was a young boy, no older than five, with sandy-blonde hair, dressed in a black-and-white shirt with blue jeans. He was sniffling and rubbing at his eyes, which were puffy and red.

"Affirmative," Thirteen confirmed. "He was not difficult to find."

Eric just stared at her.

"He is only five," Thirteen said. "He could not have gotten very far unless someone took him, but I figured that if that were the case, the park would already be locked down, which it was not. Moreover, he is dressed in a very distinctive outfit; not hard to find through the crowd of people."

Eric continued to stare at her. He opened his mouth to say something, only for another person to cut him off.

"Christian!"

At the sudden voice, the young boy took off running. Eric turned and watched him run over to his mother and embrace her, crying his eyes out the whole time. She bent down to return his hug, rubbing him on the back as she did so, choking back tears of her own at the same time. After a moment, she looked up and found Thirteen standing there. She bent down and gently said something to her son, which was enough to get him to stop crying; she then took him by the hand and walked over to Thirteen, smiling gratefully the entire time.

"Thank you for finding my son," she said.

Thirteen hesitated, apparently unsure of what to say. Eric came to the rescue, clearing his throat to get the woman's attention.

"She's, ah, not so good with words," he offered. "Consequence of… well, you can probably guess."

He motioned to his own eye. Immediately, the woman's expression softened. "Oh… oh, I'm so sorry. Well… this must seem silly to you both, then – I mean… after everything that happened, helping a woman find her missing son at a zoo? That must seem so mundane to you both, especially her. Still, you're both heroes, in my book. Her especially."

Eric's heart skipped a beat, a sense of unease settling over him. Thirteen, meanwhile, shifted nervously, apparently still unsure of what to say. Frankly, he was at just as much of a loss as she was. Finally, after a few seconds, he managed to swallow the sudden lump in his throat, then turned back to the woman.

"...It's nothing," he offered. "Really. She was just doing the right thing. No need to thank us."

The woman pursed her lips, but nodded nonetheless. "...Very well, if that's what you want. Still… you both have my appreciation for everything you've done.

I hope you'll allow me to say at least that much."

Eric didn't offer any arguments, and the woman gave him and Thirteen one last smile before taking her son by the hand and beginning to walk away. They both watched her go before Thirteen broke the silence between them.

"She called us heroes. I don't feel like a hero."

"Yeah," Eric said, his mouth suddenly dry. "Neither do I."

***

Once the woman and her son had left, Eric figured he'd had enough time to rest and recover. He stood up from the bench and stretched out a bit, then motioned for Thirteen to follow him back to the car. Together, the two of them began the walk back. It would have been uneventful, had Eric not happened to pass by the gift ship on his way out. Something inside caught his eye, and he turned to look at it through the window.

It didn't take him long to make up his mind.

"Wait here," he said. Thirteen gave him a questioning glance, but didn't argue as he entered the store. A few minutes later, he came back holding something, which he offered to her.

She stared at the stuffed wolf in her hands for a moment, then gave him a confused look. Eric shrugged.

"Most girls like stuffed animals, you know," he said.

Thirteen said nothing, but she couldn't hide the small glimmer of amusement that flashed across her face as she tucked the wolf under her arm and the two of them began walking again.