“Action 210 has been rejected outright.” The reporter announced, her voice as infuriatingly bland as it always was, “Thanks in large part to the discovery of the mutations in dogs caused by various experiments held by civil departments. It is considered to be more prudent to allow the public access to this space to maintain full transparency. Furthermore, the global non-profit organization known as the ‘Reflection Hopping Rangers’ are stepping up to help Medley’s law enforcement…”

“Wait a moment, wait.” Riley interrupted, three drinks in and thoroughly tipsy, “The rangers are a non-profit?”

“Yeah. You didn’t know?” I asked, “Thought it was common knowledge. Nothing they do is governmentally accepted.”

“I feel like you’re pulling this out of nowhere.” Fold laughed.

“Oh, go home to your man-eating monster dog.” I snapped, reaching for a sip of my scotch.

We were all sitting in a solitary bar, eyes fixed on the flatscreen TV hung on the wall across from the bar area. Almost three weeks had passed, and finally the details of what had happened in Fold’s hometown had come out to the general public. When we had gone out for a night of drinking, it hadn’t been planned to be on the same day when every news station would be buzzing about the details. It had just been the first day when the doctors cleared me for moderate physical exertion.

I was beginning to regret that decision.

Trying to get my mind off that thought, I reached for the bottle we had ordered.

“You want some help opening that?” Riley asked, eyeing my taped-up arm. The doctors had managed to patch it up once we had dealt with the monsters. It wouldn’t be the same ever again, and no doubt the pain and weakness and constant shaking would follow me through life, but I didn’t care. I was glad enough that I hadn’t gotten caught in the waterfall of molten metal.

“Sure.” I nodded to her, gingerly nudging the bottle towards her. Within seconds, a glass of amber liquid was put in front of me. It burned down my throat.

Dave tipped his glass towards her, too, and sipped at it at a more sedate pace, “So… what’re you guys doing now?”

“I’m on unpaid leave, so might as well have been fired.” I muttered glumly, taking another gulp, “Moving in with Riley, if we’re still up for that.”

“Of course, wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Riley assured me.

“Indefinitely unemployed twins!” Dave did a whimsical jazz hand, before reaching over to give my absently raised glass a toast. Given his former profession as a firefighter, I wasn’t shocked that he had lost the job. Still supremely unfair, though.

“Drop the doom and gloom, will you?” Fold complained, “Think about the cash from media appearances! You all play your cards right, and this whole situation could get you rolling in the green for years to come!”

“A bit optimistic, don’t you think?” David frowned, “But let’s give it a shot.”

Riley clapped excitedly, “I think the media lifestyle will suit you.” She explained, “Stick by me, and I’ll show you all the ropes.”

“Uh, sure?” He squeaked, looking baffled by her Cheshire grin.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“You two are just so adorable.” Fold drawled, “Don’t kill him, will you?”

“Can’t promise that.” She replied with a flick of her wrist, “He’s just built for this. With a little fine tuning, of course.”

That only served to make David look even more startled. I had the strongest feeling that this wasn’t going to end well for either of them.

----------

Once we had finished and everyone was leaving, Fold grabbed me with a slight touch on my shoulder.

“What’s up?” I asked, looking at him in surprise.

“It’s just…” He looked away, as if he was uncomfortable by the very notion, “I guess this is goodbye, then.”

There was a weight in his voice, placing a certain importance on this specific farewell.

“It’s not like we’re never going to meet.” I laughed, a little uncomfortable, “Once this bandage comes off, I’ll be doing all your deliveries like normal.”

“Is it, though?” He asked, his eyes dull, “Because this feels like the end.”

“Don’t say that.” I insisted, “You’ve… you’ve helped me a lot, these past few weeks. Made me find out things about me that even I didn’t know. We’re going to meet up all the time.”

“Even if I have a dog you’re terrified of?” He asked with a grim smile.

“Sure.” I agreed, unthinking, “Just don’t expect me to come by much to your house.”

-------

It was a hard promise to keep up. We drifted apart. Forgot to call, missed some meet ups, and soon… it had been months until we even thought of each other again.

Three years later, and my arm slowly pieced itself back together. A shadow of my former abilities, but completely serviceable for my job. By that point, I hadn’t talked to anyone involved in the Celina Minto case in a year.

Fold’s private investigative service was going well, according to the Yellow Pages. His very unique dog, now named Miffy, had grown up to the size of a lorry, and was now also working as the mascot for his business. She was remarkably well-behaved, despite her origins.

I wasn’t doing too bad, either. Still worked in the post office, but that’s what made me happy.

After the Action 210 scare, there had been more legislation to control reflection-hopping. I ended up having to learn how to drive after all, just in case. It was a useful skill, and oddly fun, too, when there wasn’t any traffic.

I hummed to myself as I walked back home from yet another grueling day at work. The mail van was parked at the office, and I was taking the opportunity to catch up on the newspaper article written about Riley for the morning issue of the news.

“Hey, miss?” A young voice burst into my thoughts. I looked down at her, the sweet girl in a pink frock, looking up at me with eyes full of childish curiosity, “Are you the one who melted those giant dogs?”

They’d built a statue in Fold’s town depicting the mess of twisted glass and metal left behind by the dogs. No doubt she was thinking of that when she had asked me this.

“No.” I replied, and that might have been enough, but I kept going, “That was my detective friend. I was just bait.”

The girl lit up, clearly wanting to ask more questions. I cursed my stupid mouth.

“Well, was it really scary?” She started to ramble, skipping along behind me as we approached a bend in the street, “How fast were they moving? Why would you- hey, where’d you go?!”

The poor girl scrambled around, looking desperately for me. But there was nothing to be done about it. I was completely gone, vanished into the corner mirror. I snickered to myself as I wandered off. That trick never got old.

A mirror shifted in front of me, turning into a warning exclamation mark. Just enough warning for me to not freak out when footsteps sounded behind me. I still didn’t know who was communicating to me through those mirrors. Just accepted that it was the reflections, themselves.

“You know you traumatized that kid?” Lian laughed, falling in step with me.

“Listen, I didn’t want to deal with that right now!” I whined, “Don’t judge me on this.”

“’Course not. This is a judgement-free zone. I’ve done worse, anyhow.”

“Can’t believe you work for charity.”

“And that’s exactly why I do charity. Ever heard of repentance?”

Lian was weird, but I liked her. She encouraged me to volunteer with the Rangers during dips in mail seasons.

“Want to go exploring tomorrow?” She asked, after some silence.

“No.” I told her, gripping the newspaper, “I’m planning a reunion. Between old friends.”

She nodded approvingly, “Good for you, Maddy, socializing!”

A lot had changed, in the years. But not everything. We could still reconnect, over old traumas and encounters that I would really rather leave behind. If it hadn’t been for the people I met along the way.

They really made it all worth it.