22 Moons- Hunt For The Stolen Child (6th Night, 4th Trail)

--- Jon ---

He shook his head. (No. I can’t afford to get greedy, not while I’ve got Kenneth with me. Speaking of…)

He glanced down at where he’d set his helmet, before taking his scarf off and wrapping it around the toddler. “It’s dark out so this should help keep you nice safe and warm, alright?”

“Alright.” Kenneth mumbled, accepting being swaddled in the too big for him scarf.

“You want to wear the helmet too?” He asked, knowing that while he’d brought the helmet and scarf to keep himself safe in case something happened, keeping Kenneth safe in the same situation was a higher priority. (Especially since I can walk off a little pain until Pix can patch me up.)

Kenneth stared at the helmet for a moment, before nodding with a decisive. “Yes!”

“Okay, here you go.” He slid the helmet onto Kenneth’s head, before tucking some of the scarf in to make up for how huge the helmet was on the toddler.

(Not as good as I’d like, but still better than nothing.) He decided, once he had Kenneth properly bundled up. “Now that you’re safe let’s get going.”

Kenneth nodded again, causing the oversized helmet to bob a little.

(Alright, now I just got to get us out of here.) He told himself, as he quietly opened the office door before stepping back into the darkness of the warehouse.

Or rather he would’ve been stepping into the darkness if the lights hadn’t chosen that moment to flicker back on.

(Thought I did more damage than that.) He grimaced, his eyes adjusting to the sudden light. (Guess they could’ve just left the damaged breaker off, and turned on the rest after a bit of trial and error.)

Shaking his head, he adjusted his grip on Kenneth and started making his way for the stairs, hoping no one would stop him so long as he didn’t stand out too much. (Though carrying a kid with me probably isn’t helping on that front…)

He counted himself fortunate when the few guards on the walkways barely gave him a second glance. He considered himself much less so when he heard heavy steps slowly coming up the stairwell.

Biting his lip, his eyes darted to the guards who were eyeing him a little more curiously now that he was standing still in front of the stairs. (If it comes down to it I’m just going to have to try and talk my way out of this if I want to avoid a fight with Kenneth in my arms.)

With this in mind he stepped to the side so that whoever was coming up the stairs in the hopes that they’d simply continue on their way without any questions.

Of course any excuses he’d managed to come up with immediately fled him as he caught sight of just who was coming up the stairs, or rather what.

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At first glance the being in front of him was merely a large man in a hoodie standing at nearly twice his size, a concerning fact when it hit Jon that he barely came up to the man’s chest.

Second glance however would lead one to realize that the man’s skin was an almost yellow-ish brown leather, his nose was relatively flat against his face, his eyes were solid yellow save two black pupils, and lastly that his teeth were closer to that of a reptile than a human.

“You done staring at my ugly mug yet?” The giant asked with a surprisingly smooth voice. “A picture ‘ll last ya longer.”

“S-sorry…” He apologized, earning a grunt from the giant.

“Hmm, I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.” The giant admitted, taking a step forward and in turn forcing Jon to take a step back.

“I’m uh, there’s this, this warehouse that was hit by a mask. I was there.” He repeated his cover, cursing himself for how shakily it had come out. “Some of the people there, they were transferred here.”

“Heard about that.” The giant admitted, its eyes drifting towards Kenneth. “That doesn’t say where you’re taking the kid.”

“When the lights went out I uh, I remembered there was a kid up here figured he’d be scared all on his own.” He tried explaining, coming up with a half-truth. “Figured I could take him to his ‘rent to calm him down.”

“Makes sense.” The giant nodded, crossing his arms over his broad chest. “Know where to find him?”

“Um, I think I saw Ramirez heading outside a little while ago.” He answered, not sure if the fact that Pix should still have the Dealers outside fighting would help him or hurt him at the moment.

The giant gave him another nod, before glancing at Kenneth once more. “You know I gotta ask, what’s with the helmet?”

“I… He was scared all alone, so I gave him my bike helmet.” He admitted, before leaning forward to whisper. “I think playing superhero makes him feel safe.”

The giant smirked before giving a huff of amusement at that, and Jon had to fight his every instinct to pull a knife as the giant rubbed the top of the helmet, much like some would tussle a child’s hair. “I’m sure it does.”

He barely managed to hide his relief when the giant pulled his hand away from Kenneth without doing anything else.

“People around here call me Andre.” The giant introduced himself.

“Right, yeah. Heard about you, just wasn’t…” He grimaced realizing what he was about to say.

The giant gave another huff of amusement. “Wasn’t expecting me to be so big?”

“Something like that.” He admitted. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“I’m used to it.” Andre told him, waving away his concerns. “Being the only non-human around I get a lot of looks.”

“Still… that’s not right.” He couldn’t help but frown, knowing just what kind of discrimination Andre probably suffered in the Dealers.

“Not as bad as most think, just the new guys who can’t help but stare.” Andre assured him, his face seeming to appreciate the fact that Jon was at least trying to be considerate.

“Again, I’m sorry and-”

“Jon.” Kenneth called tugging on his jacket. “When are we going to mo-”

“Your daddy is just downstairs.” He cut the toddler off, just keeping himself from cringing at the use of his own name, let alone Kenneth mentioning his mom. “Sorry. I just need you to be a little patient kiddo.”

“Right, guess I am holding you up.” Andre chuckled before stepping to the side. “Go on ahead.”

“Thanks.” Jon nodded in appreciation, as he started forward. “And sorry about the… everything.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Andre waved him off again. “Just take the tyke before he gets any more impatient.”

And once more he found himself nodding at the giant as he moved to take the stairs.

“Oh, but before I forget.” Andre stopped him before he could actually pass. “Mind explaining why I didn’t see you when I was introduced to all of the new guys last night.”

His heart stopped, and he forced himself to remain calm even as he truthfully answered that, “I had to leave early last night, but the other guys saw me around if you ask a bit.”

“Sorry.” Andre sighed after a moment. “And was just thinking you seemed like such a nice guy too.”

He felt his arms empty as with surprising deftness the giant plucked Kenneth away with a single hand, before grabbing Jon with the other and throwing him off of the walkway.