Palm wasn't sure what to make of the situation

Sure It had turned out great but there were too many questions he had and some people were too stubborn to answer. Palm was currently sat In the office of one Captain Marcello or as he knew him, Falcon. The captain was relentlessly tapping away at a holographic display in front of him seemingly rather frustrated, on his desk lay a smooth and polished sliver axe.

Falcon ran his hand through his hair before slumping backwards in defeat. "Yeah I don't know what this is" He sighed in obvious annoyance "It doesn't match any of the documented objects given to Supernaturals in an exchange for power like we normally see, nothing that could make a weird ghost appear or let it move on its own, it's an enigma."

"That's alright" Palm replied equally frustrated. The enigma in question was simply hovering around the room inspecting the many arrest records posted up by Falcon on the wall of his office. He had tried to question her some more on her past or what she was on the way to the police precinct but she simply refused to answer any of his questions only stating that it was 'odd' that only he could see her.

So Palm simply turned upward and stared blankly at the ceiling. To which Falcon looked at him worriedly, "Kid are you alight?" he questioned "Your home just got trashed and you nearly died are you ok?"

The line of questioning startled Palm who looked at the officer in shock. "Is that all you have to say?"

"Well I mean sure your story is a bit weird" Falcon responded smiling at the confused barkeeper, "But I've heard worse, after Mr Hercules wakes up we can get his side of the story and as long as everything matches up your free to go."

"Yes but doesn't it sound crazy?" Palm explained slightly exasperated at the older mans nonchalant attitude.

In response Falcon simply raised a brow "If you want crazy you just look outside, Checkmate is changing which is something I've hoped for a long time." he then sighed before continuing "Besides that I trust you Palm, your not the type to randomly attack military veterans although I'm not too sure about your talking ghost problem."

Baffled by the seniors logic Palm could do little other than simply mutter "I suppose" in a small defeated voice. It had been a long day, maybe he was just blowing things out of proportion.

'Hey palm' Theda suddenly spoke up from within his mind.

'What's up' Palm replied tiredly, he wondered what the spirit could want from him now.

'I need a favour from you' She continued quietly floating over to sit on the desk opposite from him.

'I mean I'll try my best' Palm thought 'You did save my life technically.'

Theda nodded in response seemingly in thought before responding 'I would like to have a conversation with Hercules if possible.' She then hummed for a bit before continuing 'And I'd like to stay with you.'

'Absolutely not' Palm deadpanned, 'To both of those things, If sir Hercules sees me again he'll break my neck and your a red flag walking.' As much as he was grateful he also wasn't stupid.

"Hey Palm you alright?" Falcon interrupted before Theda could get in another word, "You've been staring at the wall for a while now, what's going on?"

"O-oh right, sorry about that Falcon just caught up in some thoughts" Palm stuttered nervously. Seemed like he should be a bit more careful when talking to his spirit companion.

The police captain simply nodded before standing up and stating "I'm going to check on our other guest if you don't mind, I'll be back soon." he then marched toward the exit and calmly left.

'You owe me' Theda growled almost as soon as Falcon was gone.

'Listen I get that' Palm replied, 'But trust is a two way street and I can't be sticking my neck out for someone that I don't know anything about.' Realistically Palm felt as though the spirit was in the right. She had saved his life and therefore earnt some degree of trust, not to mention that a simple conversation was not too hard to fulfil. However, he simply couldn't shake the feeling of dread whenever he interacted with her, it was uncanny.

To his surprise the ghost actually gave what he said some thought before speaking 'It's hard for me to explain' she stated slowly 'I've been alone with my thoughts for a very long time, the sort of time that gives way to insanity' she then rested her chin on the palm of her hand continuing, 'I know it must be difficult for you to simply accept not knowing but you would be safer not knowing.'

'And why would you care about my well-being?' Palm replied frowning.

'Because your the only person who can hear me and I'd rather not be left alone again.' Theda responded sadly. She looked down before sighing, 'I'm sorry to thrust this on you but I don't particularly have a choice.'

Guilt warred in the barkeepers mind against cynicism. He lived his life by the words prepare for the worst and accepting the demands of a strange being he knew nothing about seemed as though it would only invite ruin. But he had to give her a chance, It would be unfair of him not to. He knew a lot about unfairness, and the last thing he wanted was to subject another to it's whims.

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'Alright but if the war hero turns me into a fine paste I expect a heartfelt goodbye speech' Palm relented begrudgingly. 'And an expensive casket'

To his surprise the ghost laughed at his response. It was light and cheerful, unlike the words echoed earlier which seemed to sag with untold burden. It made the barkeeper smile unconsciously, he felt as though he made the right choice even if it wasn't the smartest one.

Eventually, Falcon made his way back to the room snack in hand, he seemed to be holding two large vats of chocolate ice-cream which he lay on the desk for the both of them before comically grunting as he lay back in his leather rocking chair. "Hercules is already awake." He stated simply whilst opening the two vats and placing a spoon in each from his pockets "Unfortunately his daughter is not."

That couldn't be good, fear slowly grew in the heart of the barkeeper who didn't want to be on the opposing end of a grief stricken father. "Did something happen!?" he exclaimed nervously. According to Theda the only reason he even managed to knock the man out was because of the unique properties of the axe which made it rather heavy. That paired with the element of surprise gave him an unfair advantage, without the latter it would be most likely game set match before he could step foot into the ring.

"She's fine" said Falcon calming the nervous barkeeper "But, the poor girl had a panic attack during the encounter so she's taking a bit longer to wake up"

"Right..." replied the barkeeper settling back into his chair.

"Aside from that, didn't you say that you left after attacking her father to get a healing stimulator?" Falcon questioned taking out a large chunk of ice cream as he spoke, "Wouldn't that mean that you left a small girl to fend for herself against a litany of armed men and women?" he then chuckled apologetically "Seems to me that Mr Hercules is going to have a stern word with you once she wakes up."

'Told you, you should have finished the job' Theda whispered teasingly in his ear grinning widely.

"I mean surely he can't blame me" Palm continued realising that his skin felt itchy and his throat was dry. "I thought he was there to kill me!"

Falcon simply looked at the sweating barkeep before him and said "If I were you I would enjoy your last meal" in-between bites of his own. "Unfortunately It's not going to end well for either of us, police response time was too slow and another team should have gotten there before you even had to contact us." Falcon then shook his head lightly, "Luckily that isn't my exact patrol area but it's close enough that the higher ups will have my hide"

Palm winced at his friends defeated attitude, "Sorry to make you do that man, should have been somebody else taking the punishment you guys don't deserve it"

"No, don't apologise!" Falcon snapped rather suddenly, He looked angrier than the Barkeeper had ever seen him before. The police captain then slowly settled back down coughing into his fist a few times before apologising. "I would rather have this than see you dead" he stated after a few moments. Then he smiled, "You got friends here Palm don't ever forget that."

Palm nodded numbly before heaving a sigh that spoke volumes for both men in the room. "Let's go see this war hero then."

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Noah was happy. Well equal parts happy and equal parts furious. He was upset with himself and how selfishly he had acted, putting his daughter in danger for no good reason and then being knocked out. 'Am I losing my edge already?' he thought to himself whilst gazing at the face of his youngest daughter who lay in a bed in the precincts infirmary. It had been a while since he had any real combat and it dulled his senses. Made him unaware of danger until it was thrust directly in his face. Never again he swore.

The infirmary was rather peaceful with his daughter and himself as the only patients. He had spoken to the police captain who informed him on what had happened, Which only made the pit of remorse in his gut grow stronger. He had endangered a civilian life one of the strictest rules in the military, his performance was a failure so astronomical that if it were ever leaked his reputation would be ruined forever.

Not that he cared too much about reputation, he rather couldn't bring himself to imagine what may have transpired had he actually caused the death of the bar owner through his actions. The masked men and women already stated their intent to capture him and his daughter but they had no responsibility over a civilian. He could have easily been killed in the crossfire.

He had heard what happened with the owner leaving after knocking him out leaving his daughter alone and while this did annoy him he couldn't bring himself to be upset considering how the man had both called in the police and fended off criminals from taking Millie.

Speaking of his daughter he knew she had a panic attack shortly after he passed out. As he held her small hand in his and watched her gently sleeping he swore he would make this up to her and make sure she never had to experience anything of the sort ever again. "Come on Mil, when you gonna wake up" he whispered softly to her.

"I wouldn't worry too much" a voice came from the door, A young man with messy blond hair leaned against the doorframe his grey eyes fixated on the small girl that Noah had held with both hands. "I just passed the Medics who said she should be up in minutes."

"Thank God" Noah replied relaxing and settling back in his seat slightly. The young man then pulled a chair from the corner of the room from a pile of them before seating himself opposite Noah.

"I'm Lieutenant Sparrow" He said putting out a hand "It's an honour to meet you sir"

"Likewise" Noah responded shaking it, "Thanks for saving Millie"

Sparrow turned slightly red under the praise, "It's absolutely not a problem sir, it means a lot to have the praise of a man of your achievements" he boasted, "I'm sure everyone else in the office would be happy to hear how much they helped."

Noah was happy to see that the police force was still full of helpful young men such as sparrow, now the war veteran was by no means old at only age 35. But he was past his prime and that was enough to be considered a veritable relic in this day and age, so sometimes he saw himself as such.

His daughter kept telling him that he wasn't but it was simply how he felt, especially when he couldn't even protect her.

Noah also considered himself to be a rather good judge of character and sometimes when he saw some of the more senior staff of the police force and the higher ups at Mercy... It made him worried for the future 'The princess should be dealing with them appropriately, I hope she's alright.' Noah thought.

The war veteran continued to make small talk with the Lieutenant asking about where he was from and how he ended up working at this specific job. until eventually they were interrupted by the sound of yawning.

Noah saw his daughter stretch as if coming out of a long nap before groggily asking "Where'd my leather jacket gooAAGHHH-"

Elated to see her awake Noah had immediately scooped her into a massive bear hug where no whining or complaining from the flabbergasted child was enough to make him let go. She was safe and that was all that mattered.