Emily pushed her powers to the limit, trying her best to heal Ms. Grace as quickly as she could. A few minutes had already passed since Alice had left and this left her feeling very worried for the latter and Maple. Thus, Emily decided to compress her Esper power to try and accelerate her healing ability, despite knowing that it was risky and harmful for her to do so. She recalled how Jason had mentioned during his lessons that this was a viable way to improve her Esper skill and, ever since then, she had practiced it occasionally, quickly coming to the conclusion that it could also enhance her healing powers, albeit temporality.

C'mon, c'mon, Emily thought as the green glow around her hands increased. The muscle and fat around it started to knit itself back together at an increasingly incredible rate but when the skin began to close, Ms. Grace grabbed Emily's hand and shook her head as she came to.

"Thank you, you've done enough," Grace said and politely shook her head again when Emily opened her mouth. "You shouldn't worry about me, but them."

Grace turned to the children that were surrounding her with motherly concern and love. Despite the pain she felt, Grace smiled as soon as she saw the teary-eyed children. Although, almost immediately, her brows furrowed and the smile faded.

"Where's Maple? And that young girl, Alice?" She turned to Emily and asked. The latter turned her face down with shame.

"I'm sorry," Emily whispered hoarsely. "I couldn't run after them and leave you and the children alone. I couldn't."

Grace was silent for a moment before reaching out and patting Emily's head while consoling her. "I'm sure you did your best."

Tears fell from Emily's face before she looked up with gritted teeth. "Not yet."

"Emily?"

Emily stood up and looked around at the children before turning to Grace.

"I'm going after Alice and Maple now," she finally replied. She could hear sirens approaching and knew that the police and AEM were on their way. "I've already called the police and they should be here soon. But I need to look for Alice and Maple now."

Grace nodded with a gentle smile.

"Go. Bring them back," she told Emily with encouragement and Emily took a deep breath before walking out. She slipped on the bloody pavement and told herself not to look as her stomach churned with uneasiness; the corpses of gunmen, sliced like animals, made her feel sick.

Please be safe, Emily thought as she raced into the alleyway.

***

Maple ran and crouched behind a few containers. She shut her eyes firmly before clasping her hands over her ears. Despite doing all that, she could vaguely hear the ringing of battle echoing from afar, causing her heart to palpitate. She tried calming herself and started humming under her breath to distract herself.

"Row, row, row your boat

Gently down the stream

Merrily merrily, merrily, merrily

Life is but a dream,"

The clanking of metal, of sword and claws clashing, of fists pounding, slowly turned into a melody that played along with Maple's chorus in a surreal moment.

"Maple . . ." a fair but small hand reached out for Maple and the latter almost screamed with horror before opening her eyes.

"A-Alice?"

In front of Maple was Alice, blood dripping from her face but her blue eyes flashed brightly with life. Both stared at each silently with watery eyes.

"Alice! Alice . . ." Maple grabbed onto Alice, hugging her tightly while sobbing. "I'm sorry . . . I'm so sorry."

"Maple you idiot," Alice also had tears as she admonished Maple. She thought about how close she came to almost losing her first friend, and the tears fell even faster. "Don't do that again, you scared me. And I . . . I don't want to say goodbye. Not yet."

"Mhm," Maple acquiesced easily with a nod before pulling away from Alice and checking her carefully. "But . . . I thought that . . . you were - ?"

"Tougher than I look? Yep!" Alice answered cheekily before hugging Maple again, preventing the latter from noticing how she winced in pain. "Don't worry, it's fine. I'm fine."

The sounds of battle died away from both girls shrieked when an explosion rocked their eardrums. They covered their ears and kneeled down to the ground. Only after the ringing stop did they turn to look in the direction of the fight. Fenrir, who had finished Salamander off, walked towards them. He reached out to call them but paused when he saw the look of surprise and fear in Alice's face.

This . . .

Fenrir stopped, with a hand halfway up. He realized that Alice had never seen his armour and his heart ached when he saw her wary face full of apprehension.

Alice squeezed the corner of Maple's sleeve and the latter turned to look at her in confusion.

She . . . doesn't know? Maple thought, then firmly made up her mind.

Maple clasped onto Alice's hand and when the latter turned to look at her, she nodded with encouragement and a smile. Realization dawned on Alice, who took a deep breath before taking a step forward.

"I-is that you, daddy?" Alice called out to Fenrir with hesitation and fear and the latter looked away with a swallow, unsure of whether he should reveal himself or not.

"Daddy?" Alice asked again as both she and Maple edged closer to Fenrir.

When they were only an arm’s length away from him, Fenrir realized that they were straining their necks to look up at him, and he slowly took a knee, kneeling down till they were almost faced to face. Even then, he refused to stare at Alice, his head tilted away as though he were afraid to frighten her with his eyes. Alice slowly reached out and touched Fenrir's helmet. Her tiny hands grazed his sharp teeth before moving to the side of his face where his cheeks should've been.

"Daddy . . ." Alice repeated, this time with the firm conviction of her suspicion, and Fenrir turned to look at her for the first time. Two pairs of blue eyes collided, and Fenrir noticed Alice smiling. "Those eyes . . . they look like mommy's."

"A-are they?" Fenrir asked instinctively, taken back at her words and Alice's smile only widened.

"The colour," Alice answered. Her hands were still on Fenrir and she gazed into Fenrir's eyes with hidden emotions. "Daddy . . . No matter what, I'll still love you."

Kid . . .

Fenrir understood what Alice was conveying, and his hand moved and landed atop her own, covering it with his warmth as he squeezed it. At the same time, he used his powers to accelerate her healing and push the shards of glass out of her body. Soon, she was completely healthy. His eyes then moved to Maple and he noticed that she was gazing at the two with tears and envy. Fenrir's other hand tousled Maple's hair, and the latter turned to look at him in surprise before beaming with happiness.

"Alice! Maple!"

Emily's voice came from afar and all three, Fenrir, Alice, Maple, paused.

Emily soon appeared at the edge of the alleyway and she saw a crouching figure mired in shadows. Alice and Maple were in front of the figure and she sighed with relief at seeing them safe.

"Oh, thank god . . ." Emily's sigh of relief faded and the rest of the words she was about to say died in her throat when the figure slowly stood up and turned to face her.

Her heart pounded out of her chest in fear when she saw his gleaming teeth and large blue eyes and she froze without being able to move a muscle. The blurry lights and distant shadows played havoc on her vision and, for a moment, she could see his large mouth opening and his teeth gashing like a hungry wolf. Unbeknownst to her, it was the aura of having killed someone recently that covered Fenrir, making him appear even more frightening.

"Oh . . . Ok," Emily took several deep breaths to calm herself before putting a hand out to Alice and Maple. "Y-you two, c-come here slowly."

This entire time, Fenrir was frozen with complicated emotions. He despised the gaze of fear Emily sent him and he wanted to reveal himself to her. But the thought of possibly being feared, or even outright rejected, by Emily stopped him.

"It's alright," Maple reassured Emily with a whisper but the latter refused to listen to her.

"Come here, right now!" Emily's voice broke with panic and desperation as she urged the two to move in a more commanding tone.

The two, Alice and Maple, hesitated and turned to look at Fenrir one more time before slowly moving towards Emily. The latter grabbed them tightly and protectively before turning to look back at Fenrir but this time, with confusion in her eyes.

Who is he? Do I know him? Emily thought with furrowed brows. Her heart, pounding with fear, prevented her from thinking critically and thus, she failed to suspect that it was Jason.

Fenrir gazed at them for a moment before he turned his head slightly as though he heard something. He then started moving backwards, walking slowly as the shadows slowly swallowed his figure. Soon, only his bright blue eyes remained, staring at them quietly in the shadows before eventually fading away into the abyss, leaving nothing behind.

"Hey, you three okay?" Footsteps sounded out from behind and Junco, followed by Dhole, soon appeared. Noticing the direction that Emily was staring at, Junco raised her rifle and the flashlight attached to her weapon shone a bright light upon the dark spot that Fenrir previously was at, but found that it was empty. "What happened here?"

"I-I don't - I don't know," Emily stuttered, her face full of confusion at how Fenrir had vanished.

"Dhole, secure the parameter," Junco ordered before turning to Emily, Alice, and Maple. "I'll take them back."

"Understood," Dhole answered and he moved forward while aiming his LMG.

"Let's go back, there are paramedics there," Junco gestured back to the entrance of the alleyway and all three followed her back to where the bus was.

Above them, perched on a rooftop, was Fenrir. He watched them leave before standing up and leaving the area himself. Dhole, on the other hand, came across the corpse of Salamander and swore. The HUD in his helmet had already identified Salamander as a Phantom, and he realized that things were gonna be hectic once more.

"Sukin syn," he swore in Russian. Just when things were getting better . . .

***

"Alice!"

"Daddy!"

After leaving the scene, Jason removed his Fenrir armour and waited impatiently for half an hour before rushing back to the scene which was now quarantined by both the police and AEM. Ignoring everything else, he ran to Alice first and the latter rushed to hug him as well. From their emotional reunion, it was almost impossible to tell that they had separated less than an hour ago.

"Kid, you okay?" Jason pulled Alice away from his arms and checked her for wounds, knowing all too well that she was already healed.

"I'm fine," Alice answered before turning to Emily. Jason also noticed Emily and he walked up to her with Alice in tow.

"Let me know if you remember anything else." A police officer was interviewing Emily who sat on a stretcher with a blanket over her. She nodded and the officer moved away from her as Jason reached her.

"Emily . . ." Jason wasn't sure of what to say. His hand froze halfway to Emily, and he stood there with a complicated face.

Emily saw his face which was full of guilt and regret and she assumed that he was feeling bad about leaving them alone. She reached and took Jason's hand, clasping it firmly in her own.

"It's alright Jason, I'm fine - we're fine," she told him soothingly and Jason was able to deduce what she meant instantaneously. Her face flushed with pain as she recalled how injured Alice was, but when she met her again in the alleyway, Emily was stunned to find that she was completely healed.

She must have the same powers as Jason, Emily thought.

"I - I should've been here," Jason said, channelling the emotions he felt into guilt. "I shouldn't've left, I should've stayed -"

"Jason," Emily shook her head, interrupting Jason. "You can't be everywhere, all at once. It's not your fault."

Emily paused, contemplating something before adding, "Although, it would've been nice to have you here instead of that psycho."

"Psycho?" Jason's face changed subtly as he repeated Emily's word slowly.

"Yeah, there was someone . . . something here," Emily explained, unaware of the changes in Jason's eyes. "He might've been protecting the children . . . but the things he did . . ."

Emily gestured at the body bags that were being piled in the distance by several vomiting officers.

"He - he killed them all so - so ruthlessly like a monster," Emily said with a blue face. "Without hesitation and so cruelly, it's . . . it's horrific."

Emily shuddered, unaware of Alice's raised eyebrow and her repeated stare at Jason with . . . sympathy?

"Yeah, yeah. That's . . . uh, crazy, huh?" Jason coughed to clear his throat before replying hoarsely. Emily nodded before pulling him closer and Jason hugged her, his face hidden from her own.

I knew it, he thought. No matter what we feel for each other, she can never - will never love me. At least, not the real me.

Clearing his throat once more, Jason pulled away with a rather forlorn smile.

"Do you know where Melanie is?" He asked and Emily nodded before pointing her out. "Look after Alice for a moment? Thank you."

Emily nodded again and watched Jason leave Alice and move towards Melanie with a saddened face. She wanted to spend more time with Jason, having him near her was soothing her nerves but she knew that she couldn't hog him for herself.

Melanie was sitting on the trunk of a sedan, alone. Most were giving her a wide berth since she had activated her Council insignia, indicating that she was Phantom while releasing an aura that pushed everyone away.

"Melanie."

Hearing Jason's voice, Melanie froze like a deer in headlights. She refused to look at him as her hands curled inwards. She was afraid, deathly afraid, of what Jason would say next.

"Melanie. Look at me," Jason stood in front of Melanie and spoke in a voice that refused to give her an option. Slowly, and hesitantly, she raised her head to look at him through her wavy hair. Jason was surprised and taken aback when he saw her puffy eyes and gaze of emptiness. He realized that he was too tough on her earlier and sighed when Melanie grabbed his shirt with both her hands.

"I'm sorry," she said in a broken voice. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. That won't happen again. I'll do better next time so please . . . please don't go. Please . . . don't leave me."

Melanie bowed her head which landed in his chest as she almost sobbed. Jason's eyes softened and he felt guilty as he pulled her into a hug.

"I'm sorry," he finally said softly as he felt her tears soak his shirt. "I . . . I didn't mean to get angry with you. I just . . . I was worried about Alice."

Jason then pulled away from Melanie. He brushed her hair away and gazed at her softly with a hand on her cheek; he wanted to see her face, her eyes as he made up his mind. "It's not your fault. And I will never leave you."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Seeing how fragile she was at the thought of him leaving, Jason decided to also treat Melanie the same way as he did for Emily and Elizabeth. He wasn't certain of what his feelings were for Melanie, but that didn't matter. He knew that if he continued leaving her hanging by a thread then she would eventually be heartbroken. And he refused to have her broken like this.

"Jason . . ." Melanie went back to hugging him, hiding her face in his shirt while taking deep breaths of his musky scent. She didn't want him to see her tears, her pain, and he acquiesced by stroking her hair and murmuring soft nothingness in her ears.

Unfortunately, their sweet moment ended as Junco arrived, flanked by Dhole and Suni, both of whom had their weapons ready as they stared at the two with caution, especially Jason. Junco stared at the two with a raised eyebrow before her eyes turned to look at Emily. She had been watching Jason ever since he came and noticed how he seemed to have a complicated relationship with both Emily and Melanie.

Two-timing right in front of them, Junco thought. And neither seem to mind it . . .

"Jason," Junco shrugged her thoughts off and turned to Jason with a sharp gaze. "Were you responsible for this?"

"Can't say that I am, no," Jason had pulled away from Melanie and answered calmly. "After all, I just got here myself. Speaking of which, where's your boyfriend?"

"Major Raphael is currently preoccupied," Junco placed an emphasis on Raphael's rank to deter Jason's suggestion that the two were romantically involved, but failed to realize that Jason didn't mention Raphael. "But I'm more interested in where you were while this was happening."

By this time, Emily had realized that something was wrong and came rushing towards them with Alice in her arms. She heard Junco's comments and turned to Jason with confusion.

What does this have to do with Jason?

"Well, if you insist. I was on a bedroom date with a redhead," Jason replied casually, a rather perverted smile on his face. "Mhm, them redheads sure are fiery and all."

Both Emily and Melanie's faces changed and Jason stopped smiling as he felt their gaze burrow into his back.

Oh, shit, he thought. Forgot about them for a moment. Shit, I'm dead now.

"Right," Junco answered stiffly, her eyes still glazed with suspicion. "And I don't suppose she can give you an alibi?"

"Nope."

"Take him in for questioning," Junco ordered Suni and Dhole. Both of them raised their weapons and aimed at Jason who raised an eyebrow in response.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Emily said but two AEM soldiers stopped her from advancing while several more surrounded Jason and raised their weapons.

"I won't let you -" Melanie took a step forward but Suni changed the direction of his gun and aimed at her.

"Don't," he warned her even as half a dozen small drones, all linked to his system, turned and aimed their laser pointers, and their turrets that were ready to fire, at her.

"You should lower your weapons before I melt your lungs," Melanie said in a sweet but sultry voice.

Suni's face changed as he recalled that Melanie was a master of poison and he moved his eyes to gaze at Junco, waiting for her answer. Before Junco could decide, however, Jason raised a hand to stop Melanie.

"It's alright, it's alright," he reassured Melanie first before turning to look at Emily and repeating his assurance. He gazed at them both with mixed emotions before turning to Junco. "Give me a second with them?"

Junco thought for a moment before nodding and gesturing at the AEM soldiers to lower their weapons.

"Jason."

"Jason."

"Daddy."

Emily, Melanie, and Alice all rushed to him while speaking at once, worry evident on their faces.

"Relax. It's gonna be alright," Jason reassured them all again with a small smile.

He was calm because even if AEM tried to arrest him, it wouldn't work. Phantoms were given a long leash, allowing them to do things that others would be imprisoned for and Jason was given a license to kill. Of course, he couldn't kill discriminately, but in this case it was acceptable since his daughter, Alice, was on the scene. All he needed to say to the Council was that his daughter's life was threatened and they'd let him go with a slap on the wrist.

"Listen, you two need to -" before he could say anything else to Melanie and Emily, he sensed a familiar presence and his face changed as he groaned. "Hmm, fuck."

Entering the come scene was a redhead who walked in confidently while using a white cane to check the areas in front of her. A few AEM soldiers tried to stop her but some whacks from her cane followed by a liberal amount of curses about them not respecting the blind had the soldiers moving back silently. Junco was about to step forward when she saw the hair colour of the newcomer and froze as she recalled Jason's words.

Redheaded, she thought. No way . . .

Indeed, Jason quickly stepped forward and sided up to the newcomer, grasping her hand to help her walk while she turned to look at him with a smile.

"That you, baby boy? Yeah, that's definitely you alright," Elizabeth asked Jason before leaning forward and taking a sniff of his shirt. "Mmm, can't ever forget that smell."

Jason, who was about to greet Elizabeth, had his facial expression change and he quickly sniffed his shoulder. "I smell?"

"Mmhm, in a good way though," Lizzy nodded, a small laugh leaving her mouth as she wrapped her arms around Jason's neck and nuzzled herself against him. "I can get drunk on it."

Jason coughed as he noticed that their display of affection wasn't unnoticed. Melanie was hissing like an angry cat while Emily's eyes bore into his back with a certain calmness that gave him goosebumps. Alice was also surprised, but this soon turned to anger and she stomped her foot before looking away with a snort, her arms crossed with annoyance.

"I - uh - hmm," Jason groaned as he slowly broke away from Elizabeth. His eyes were swimming from place to place as he noticed Junco's gaze of despise, Suni's glare of envy, and Dhole's look of shock. He grunted when he saw the latter gazing without blinking at Elizabeth but said nothing. Instead, he focused on the beautiful woman in front of him. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

"You dropped this at my place," Lizzy said before pulling out a ring. Jason immediately placed a hand on his pants and realized that, during his tryst with Lizzy, he had dropped his ring that he placed in his pockets earlier. "Here."

Elizabeth grabbed his left hand and placed the ring on his ring finger very slowly. Jason moved his face away, wanting everyone to avoid the mixed feelings he was portraying. He was happy that Elizabeth was putting it on him as it indicated that she accepted his proposal, but at the same time he was almost blushing with embarrassment at having this done to him in public. At the same time, he felt guilty towards Emily and Melanie; he had just decided to move forward in his relationship with them but now he was backtracking.

"Don't ye forget mine," Elizabeth then leaned forward and whispered to Jason in her Scottish accent before biting his ear. Pulling away with a teasing laugh, she declared loudly, "And don't forget theirs as well."

She gestured her head at Emily and Melanie's direction, surprising everyone. "What? You could practically feel them biting their nails. Besides, shouldn't we all get a ring from you?"

Why?! Why is this bastard so lucky?! The thoughts of several men merged together in one unified thought as several gazed at Jason with glaring eyes.

"Sorry, but who are you?" Junco asked Elizabeth who turned to the direction of her voice.

"Oh, sorry, we tend to get lost in our own world," Lizzy smiled as she patted Jason's cheeks. "Name's Elizabeth Hyde, this man's finance."

"What?!"

Her words were like a thunderbolt, shocking everyone. Melanie nearly pulled her hair out as she shrieked, her eyes almost maddening. Emily stood frozen in place as though her brain had stopped working. Alice also shouted in disbelief, her mind refusing to believe that Jason would have someone else as a wife other than her mother. Others also recognized Elizabeth as a famous singer and turned to look at Jason while green with even more envy.

Junco herself was surprised and she opened her mouth to speak slowly. "What you mean to say is that Jason was with you earlier tonight?"

"Why, yes, we had a wonderful bedroom date," Lizzy answered almost shamelessly and Junco was speechless at how in sync her reply was with Jason's. "If you don't believe me, you can ask my bandmates. Also, Hotel Belvedere will have security footage of him entering my room."

"I see . . ." Despite her doubts, Junco wasn't able to arrest Jason now that he had an alibi. "We'll just leave you two alone then. Seems like you'll all have a lot to . . . discuss about."

Junco's eyes travelled to Melanie and Emily as she spoke before she turned around and walked away. Jason also realized what she meant and he turned to look at Emily and Melanie but found himself focusing on Alice, who glared at him with tears in her eyes.

"Daddy, you . . . you jerk!" Alice struggled to come up with a word before shouting jerk and running off to where Maple was.

Jason, who was stunned and hurt, was about to follow but noticed how Grace was holding onto Alice as she made a silent gaze towards him.

I'll take care of her. You deal with your problems, young man.

Jason could almost hear her thoughts so he turned around and focused on the three girls next to him.

Lord above, or anyone else who's listening, give me strength, Jason thought as he desperately prayed to God for the first time in his life.

"Listen, uh, I -" Jason began but quickly shut himself up when all the turned to glare at him.

"Nuh-uh, this is girls' talk now, baby boy," Elizabeth said while making a shooing gesture to him. "Don't butt in."

"As much as I hate to admit it, I agree," Melanie said begrudgingly.

Jason turned to Emily but the latter had no mercy for him either.

"Besides, shouldn't you be chasing after Alice?" Emily asked with crossed arms. "She's really upset at you right now."

Aw shit.

Despite being told to leave the girls alone, Jason hesitated. He was worried about Emily, who was a normal highschool girl when compared to Elizabeth or Melanie. At the same time, he concurred with Emily and wanted to go and explain everything to Alice, but his indecisiveness was evident on his face.

"Don't worry, none of us bite," Elizabeth appeared to have realized what Jason's thoughts were and turned to look at Emily's direction with mixed feelings. She knew that Jason and Emily didn't have a physical relationship, yet Jason's overprotectiveness of the latter was quite obvious.

Would he have done the same for me, if we had just met less than two months ago? If we didn't shag? Elizabeth thought; she couldn't come to a conclusion, not one that was satisfactory to her.

Jason stared at all three for a moment before turning to Emily, almost as though he was asking for permission from her. The latter barely nodded, and it was only after that gesture did Jason reluctantly turn and walk to Alice. Once he was far enough from earshot, he turned back around for a moment and noticed how the three seemed to have a tense conversation.

Damnitall, Jason thought as he slid a hand through his hair. I knew this was eventually going to happen . . . but hell, this is bad.

He had noticed how several people, Suni included, appeared to be gloating over his misfortune over his relationships.

Ha! Serves you right bastard, for juggling so many women all at once.

He could hear the cries of joy from their eyes and felt irritable. He wanted nothing more than to smack them around, but instead, he turned his attention to Alice.

"Alice, I -"

"I don't want to hear it!" Alice interrupted angrily. Grace had noticed how Jason was kicked away by the girls and decided to leave with Maple, giving the two, Jason and Alice, some privacy.

"Just let me explain myself?" Jason asked guiltily. He understood that he needed to explain everything to Alice despite her being a child. She was very mature for her age, and Jason felt like he was having a conversation with Alina.

"Explain? Explain what?" Alice asked back bitterly. "You're here, with so many women, while mommy's -"

Alice's voice broke and Jason sent her an expression of agonized pain. "That's not fair and you know it."

"What you're doing isn't fair either!" Alice shot back. "What exactly is mommy to you? What - what am I to you?"

"I . . ." Jason noticed how hurt Alice was and he sighed with frustration and regret. After what he did to Katelyn, he knew that they could never go back to the way things were. He had seen the pain and hate in her eyes, during the recent times that they had met, and he knew that it would be difficult for her to forgive him.

And now, he realized that Alice also had just as many insecurities as everyone else. Perhaps it was because of her not meeting him until now, but that question of hers proved that she was afraid of losing him. She was questioning what her position was in Jason's heart.

"Kid," Jason sat down next to Alice who still looked away grumpily. "I meant everything that I said before. I love you, and no matter what happens, between your mother and I, or anyone else, that won't change. Ever. And I'll always, always, have you on my heart. Always."

Alice curled into herself the more Jason spoke and when he was finished she bowed her head to prevent him from seeing his teary eyes.

"I - I just wanted us to be a family," Alice finally said, her voice choking as she revealed her wish. "I wanted the three of us to be together. Forever and ever. A family."

Family . . .

Jason closed his eyes when he heard Alice's wish. He wanted to give her what she wanted, what she dreamed of, yearned for. But he knew it was beyond his abilities.

"So do I, kid. So do I."

The two sat in silence for some time before distant giggling interrupted them. Looking up, Jason noticed that the laughter came from the direction of the girls and, to his incredulous eyes, he saw them laughing and talking cheerfully. The three then made their way to a bemused Jason before stopping right in front of him.

What on earth . . . ? Jason thought when he saw how cheerful they were. Weren't they at each other's throats just a moment ago? The hell happened?

Before Jason could wrap his head around what was happening, Elizabeth turned to Alice.

"Who are you?" Alice demanded.

"Elizabeth. But you can call me Lizzy," an amused Elizabeth introduced herself to a frowning Alice who glared back angrily while crossing her arms.

"Where are you from?"

"Originally? Scotland, though I'm American."

"Where do you live?"

"Hotels, mostly. Nice hair, by the way."

"Keep the compliments to yourself," Alice shot back with narrowed eyes before relenting. "But thanks, your hair looks awesome too.

"Now, what do you do for a living?" Alice turned stern once again before she began interrogating Elizabeth. Again.

"Sing in concerts and stuff," Elizabeth answered while trying not to grin. "What's your favourite color?"

"I'm the one asking questions here," Alice hmphed before answering in a quiet voice, "Blue. Yours?"

"Red."

Both Emily and Melanie tried not to laugh as they saw Alice 'interrogate' Elizabeth while Jason wisely remained silent. He pulled a flask out and took a swing before noticing everyone staring at him. "What?"

"No drinking," Emily replied firmly before grabbing his flask.

"It's water. With Gatorade," a stunned Jason finally said.

Under Melanie and Elizabeth's stare, Emily opened the flask and gingerly took a small sip. "It is Gatorade."

“Little Red, is that you?” a Russian accent asked and Elizabeth froze before slowly turning to Dhole. The latter had slowly and cautiously approached the group once he felt that it was appropriate.

“Yegor?” a stunned Elizabeth asked in disbelief.

Dhole erupted in a bellow of laughter before rushing forward and bearhugging Elizabeth, much to the surprise of everyone. “Haha! It really is you!”

“Ah ger off!” Elizabeth shouted as her Scottish accent accidentally leaked. Jason stood up and glared at Dhole with enough killing intent to frighten even the most courageous soul, and Dhole noticed it instantaneously.

“Hmm, so then you are Red’s . . . hmm. I don’t like you,” Dhole released Elizabeth and walked over to Jason, trying to intimidate him with his colossal figure while scoffing.

“Ex?” Jason asked as he turned to Elizabeth who shuddered and shook her head in denial, trying her best to erase that question from her memory.

“God no! We grew up together. You can say he’s the closest thing I have to an annoying and brainless brother.”

Grew up together? Then he’s from the same division as Freya, Jason thought. He knew Freya’s true history before she lost her eyes and quickly came to that conclusion.

“Hmm. He’s not what I expected,” Dhole was studying Jason and noticed how tall and imposing he was. “I didn’t think you liked tall and muscles. I thought you like small and thin.”

Oh, she did like small, Jason thought. It’s why she went for me when I was a kid.

Despite neither saying anything, Dhole picked up the awkwardness emanating from both Jason and Elizabeth and his eyes widened.

“Wait, you two . . .” Dhole kept looking back and forth between the two. “For how long have you two . . . ?”

“Since he was thirteen,” Melanie answered casually.

Jason grimaced, pursing his lips and scrunching his chin while looking down before turning to Melanie.

“TMI?” Melanie asked when she saw Jason staring at her.

“Mmhm,” Jason nodded while giving a noncommittal grunt. All the while, Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders, indicating that she couldn’t see the judgemental stares from all around her.

“Neveroyatno," Dhole muttered before a wide grin appeared on his face. "So Little Red is a - what do you Americans call it? - ah! A cougar!"

"Ah shut it, ye Russian commie," Elizabeth swung her stick but Dhole sniggered and dodged it.

“Dhole!” Junco called over Dhole, who turned to Elizabeth with his laughter fading.

"I have to go. But I'm sure I'll see you again," he said to her gently.

"Yeah, don't count on it."

He turned around and started to walk back to Junco but paused for a moment with a grin. "And no more eating little boys, eh?"

"You fucking -" Elizabeth swore but Dhole ran off while chuckling leaving her stomping her feet. "Arrgh!"

"Ahem," Jason cleared his throat and instead gestured at Alice who, despite still being angry, could hardly open her eyes. "It's already late, I need to take her back home. Also, would you mind if Maple stayed at my place?"

Jason turned to Melanie as he asked his question and the latter nodded. "She'll be safer with you."

"Well, I mean, it'd be safer if all of us were together," Jason murmured, but everyone heard him. Noticing that everyone was staring at him with different emotions, he cleared his throat. "I mean if we were - what am I saying? W-would you all be willing to stay at my place?"

Silence engulfed the surroundings and Jason felt the quietness pressing down on him like a mountain. Finally, Elizabeth laughed and the atmosphere became more relaxed.

"I'm going to take a raincheck. I need to go home and check on my siblings," Emily shook her head, being the first to refuse Jason.

"And I have a concert coming, so I need to go back and figure it all out with my bandmates," Elizabeth followed after exchanging a glance with Emily.

"I'll be staying here. I need to come up with a housing solution for the orphans," Melanie also refused while gesturing at Grace and the other children. "Look after Maple for me, mmkay?"

"Although I wouldn't mind a ride, baby boy," Elizabeth said with a smile.

"Neither would I," Emily added.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure," Jason nodded stoically, his impassive face not betraying his conflicting emotions. Before leaving, Jason kissed Melanie on the cheek. "You take care, okay?"

"Always," Melanie replied with a smile and Jason nodded at her before leaving with the others.

Melanie watched them leave together with her smile turning forlorn. Her hands tightened and the nails dug into her hands until it almost bled. She actually wanted to join Jason, but Emily's refusal and the deal the three made earlier, prevented her from getting a headstart. However, that didn't stop Elizabeth and Emily from getting a drive from Jason, possibly trying to get close to him without her.

Doesn't matter, Melanie thought as a rather devious smile crossed her face. The fact that Jason noticed her inner turmoil and kissed her spoke volumes. In the end, he'll still be mine, regardless of what they do. After all, I know him better than anyone.

"Well?" Junco turned to Dhole as soon as he came back.

"That was Freya. The Freya," Dhole said and Junco raised an eyebrow.

"Freya . . . and Fenrir," Junco muttered. "Looks like the rumors were true."

"Lucky bastard," Suni muttered before coughing when he saw both Junco and Dhole staring at him. "Your orders, Junco?"

"Keep an eye on both Fenrir and Freya," Junco said. "Also, inform Watson about Salamander's corpse. Something tells me this wasn't a sanctioned mission."

As Junco continued instructing everyone, a paramedic was placing the cadaver of Salamander into a body bag and failed to notice that the cold fingers twitched ever so slightly . . .