"They're dead." 

Theodore's face was ashen as he felt all the blood drain out of his body. He sunk into his armchair with a defeated gasp of air desperate to escape the harsh reality that had come down upon his body. He didn't want to believe his deputy's words but he knew there was no way he could deny it. Soon enough he would be forced to see their bodies and hold onto their cold little hands. Tears gathered in his eyes and he didn't even bother to stop them from falling.

He had failed them. He had failed them all. The weight of his mistakes crushed him and he clenched his fists in agony. Sobs wracked his body as he pictured the children's wide eyes and hopeful smiles when he greeted them with open arms. There was no way to deny it he had loved them as if they where his own.

His own children had died and he was the cause. Or at least one of them. Had the blood of their parents splatter on their nightgown's that night? Did they only cry out for him in a fit of pain and terror? Theodore gave a shutter and opened eyes feeling them burn. He wanted to hold them one last time in his arms. Like any would he begged openly for forgiveness even if they could no longer hear his voice.

Across from him sat his deputy a young stoic woman with a piercing gaze. She didn't seem that affected by outburst with the exception of the slight gape in her mouth. A small headband binded her long brown hair but besides that she was plain. Glimmers of emotion gleamed in her blank eyes and he thought that it was pity. Scratching her head she let out a breath.

"Sir..." She spoke in a soft whisper of a voice, delicate but firm demanding you pay attention. "I presume you had a relationship with the victims?"

More then a simple relationship. The thought of defining his involvement in the horrific crime made his stomach turn and palms sweat. As if he where in a fever induced dream of sorts he felt his body begin to sweat profusely. Guilt. Sadness. Remorse. All at once he felt it all.

He set his hands on the table clasped to avoid clawing at his skin. "Yes I did. They where the children I had saved ten years ago on my first day in this department. I visited them years afterwords, helping them threw physical therapy, bringing them candy, I loved them as if they where my own."

He stopped abruptly and wiped at his forehead which was now drenched in sweat. Looking up he noticed his deputy had a pained look on her face as if she were holding herself back. Trimmed nails played with the ends of her hair as she looked at her lap deep in thought. He wondered dully if she blamed him like he did or if she even understood what he was telling her. 

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"Sir. If I may ask...if they where like blood to you why didn't any of them just give in? Why didn't they turn their selves in to the authorities knowing you'd protect them?" 

"Would you turn yourself if you knew death was certain?" He said holding his head in his hand the other on his leg.

She blinked looking shocked for a split second before taking in a breath and becoming a calm blank slate again. It didn't surprise him that she thought it was right for the mutant kind to turn themselves in only to be subjected to cruel experiments under the guise of a cure. They weren't sick but like everyone else in the world with eyes and ears they had been taught to believe so.

"If it would save someone else's life then yes." She said her voice becoming tense and her fingers clenching. She had become nervous and he knew he shouldn't try to push it any further.

Would children dying save humanity or what remained of it? Even if they where the cold hearted monsters that society labeled them as he wouldn't be able to pull the trigger when meeting their eyes. Not in this life or the next would he be able to kill a child in cold blood. His chest tightened just by making it a possibility.

"Sir?" His deputy said putting a hand on his shoulder knocking him out of whatever trance he had been in. "You starting to look a little pale. I think you need to take a leave from this case."

He wanted to protest but he knew she was right. Just because he had lost a few of the children didn't mean he had the right to jeopardize the rest due to his emotions. Setting his hand on her's he removed it from his shoulder and looked her straight in the eye. If there was anyone he could trust with this case he knew it could be her. Six years of working together had taught him that.

"You're right. I want you to take over the case for me." He held up a hand stopping her outburst. "You know that I'm connected to this case personally now. I don't want anyone else to know that. I know I can trust you to not let anyone control your decisions London."

The Albanian woman nodded her head albeit stiffly. A wave of relief went through Theodore's body as he knew that she would do it. Everyone in the area knew how stubborn the woman could be when she wanted to and her respect for those who listened to logic over reason. 

Reaching into his desk's drawer he pulled out a thick black folder and sat it in front of her. In the folder where the continents of six years of research and even more time spent on with witnesses. Superhuman children weren't a oddity to him anymore but a mass production. Everyday more and more where born meaning more to save.

More to protect.

"This is where you'll start."