unexpected friends

Blue winter rose

Active Member
Anne was standing in front of her bed and looked at the clothes and her bag on the bed. She didn’t have a really big room, small actually. She could just fit a bed, a closet and desk with a chair in front of it in the small space. As a miracle there was nothing laying on the floor ,but that was probably just because she put everything on her bed to sort things out. She was trying to pack to go back home for the summer. She didn’t really want to but, her mother would have wanted to see her and her father not that he would show it but still. Somewhere deep down she sorts of wanted to see them again ,but the one she really wanted to see wouldn’t be there.

She only saw her family during Christmas this year. She managed to convince them she truly didn’t have time during the weekends or in the holidays. What was only half a lie. In the holidays and weekends most other students did go home. What meant she had the entire house for herself to work on her projects without her brother or parents intervening.
Anne sighed and looked on the clock. She should probably get going. There was a conference about something technical in a while. She didn’t really have to go but, it was sort of interesting and it was a good excuse to stay in Amsterdam for a week longer than she would otherwise. She picked up her backpack from the floor and grasped her phone from underneath a pile of clothing. On her way out of her room she grasped her jacket and keys from the hook near the door. Even if it was June it was still pretty chilly outside.

Silent she walked through the empty halls off the student house. Most people already left a week ago. There were 5 other people living in the building, she shared a bathroom and a living room with. She didn’t really make friends with one of them but they were ok. They usually didn’t make too much noise and most of the time they did clean up after themselves.

As she pushed open the door she noticed it slightly drizzled outside. She sighed, she would be too late if she would take the bus now, so there was no other option than biking. She hoped it wouldn’t go rain harder than this, she hated biking in the rain. She honestly couldn’t imagine someone liked biking in the rain, especially with jeans on.
Anne unlocked the shed they stalled their bikes in and managed to pull her old bright green bike out of the chaotic mess. Despite that most people in the complex where not there, most of them did left there bikes behind for the next school year.
 
The group of Tannas that made up the explorers brigade stood near the docks. They had the ships prepared. It was a journey that no one had ever tried before. This was the first time in Tannas history that the pressure in the atmosphere was so little they could actually get a few ships out. It was terrifying to see the sky widen and the black hole surrounding their planet shrinking.

“Today, we send out our brightest, our bravest and the hope for our future.” An elder of the council stood before the crowd and motioned to the brigade. “They will explore the new horizon.” The masses were oddly silent. Everyone knew if they didn’t find the cure that they would simply dissipate and there would be nothing left. Perhaps someone would discover them before then. To be discovered on their little planet of refuge would be equally horrifying. None of them had ever seen a world beyond their black hole.

Clark didn’t hear much of what the elder said, he was too busy keeping his eyes focused on the triple plated flyer he was going to use. Cautiously he looked from the little pod that would be his home for the next several years and then to the sky. It wasn’t a thick, comforting black color anymore. All of it had faded to an ominous grey. What little of the element they could find had been enough to construct a bracelet, but Clark felt unstable. He didn’t know if it would be enough to hold him together. Everyone had these little bracelets, but they could morph size, shape, appearance, and density wearing them. Even the planet was expanding as the pressure had begun to recede. There could be a brief moment where he would feel like himself again if the ship was put under enough pressure, but would it be the same out there? What was out there?

Suddenly he snapped to attention. The parting words had sounded from the chief elder. In response the brigade answered somberly, “Nothing daunted.”

***************************

3 years later

***************************

Clark woke to a little blip, blip, blip. He had finally reached his end of the quadrant. Slowly sitting up in his bed he stretched his arms up and then leaned over to touch his feet. There had been nothing out here. Most planets weren’t even inhabitable by the most primitive of creatures. He’d reported nothing of interest over and over. If he was in reach of other ship signals he might have been able to find out if anyone else in the brigade had found anything of interest.

Shuffling over to the console five feet from his bed he stared out the window for a moment at the blue planet with patches of green and swirling, billowing blankets of white shielding it from view. It was certainly prettier than the last one he’d been to. “Log entry 50. Approaching new planet. Appears to have some vegetation, at least a mineral of sorts. The veins of color are too bright to be attributed to atmosphere only.” Adding a few more notes on the appearance of the planet he charted out a landing course for the planet and then sat back. There wasn’t any hurry to get dressed. Clark suspected that he would have to check the atmosphere before leaving the ship anyway and there was no point in wearing mounds of clothes under his safety suit.

Shifting the bracelet on his arm he thought of home again. Had the planet expanded too much? Did the bracelets work long term without added pressure? So far he had been lucky to be on a ship that had pressure control in it. When he stepped out onto this new planet there were so many questions. What was more alarming was that the closer he got he could see that the planet had things living on it. There was a wall of sorts that he could see. Did they have a wild part of their planet?

There was only one thing to do. He needed to aim toward a section that appeared to be populated. Some place that had a lot of light. That was easy to spot. His ship indicated heavy populations of homosapians and large infrastructure. It would be his first contact with aliens and he was terrified of the prospect. Carefully, Clark guided his ship toward a forest. It appeared to be near a populated area, but it was a little more private. Perhaps he could hide there for a time. At least until he knew what sort of creatures these homosapians were.
 
Faith Derwan sat in her boss’s office, fresh out of the Academy. She wore no uniform, unlike any normal military and police force. That included the E’artin Navy who wore sky-blue nanotech fiber clothing designed to stop death via bullet and could shift its appearance at a thought. Angels didn’t have that tech. Not yet. It was a fairly new thing for this version of police and it was hard to explain in less technologically advanced time what exactly the material did. So it was better to dress for the time period in appropriately protective clothing. She’d already been given her first assignment, a form of final before officially graduating out of the Academy, a detective in the modern era who was a historical nobody. Of course, no one was actually a nobody. But history only recognized those who changed it, not those who got by.

Faith carried her dual wing blades in their sheaths on her back. She was hoping for a real job this time, but since she was still new, she was likely to get assigned another nobody. She wasn’t especially prideful, but she hated taking a job away from an Angel. Angels protected those who were forgotten by history and there already weren’t nearly enough of them. Archangels, like Faith, were the protectors of the movers and shapers of history. People like Einstein and Shakespeare were the ones people like Faith were supposed to protect. “Well, Faith, you did a good job. Right now, we don’t have any jobs for you. So take some time, get used to traveling through time. It can be a tricky thing.”

Faith nodded, trying not to show her disappointment. But it was understandable. There were fewer historically notable people than there were normal people. And it had been quite the assignment. A normal first assignment for an Archangel had almost turned into a mass war between Demons and Angels. Demons were the assassins of the force. They were supposed to go after bad people who needed to die. But it was tricky choosing the right time without affecting history.

Faith left the office and wandered the streets for a while. She’d take a couple days off before worrying about traveling through time at all and clear her head. She had a lot to work out still.
 
Holt's intro​

The sky was grey and the dark clouds that loomed over the city of Berlin released rivers of rain upon the empty streets. The roads becoming rivers and large staircases turning into treacherous landmarks only children would play near. The towering buildings stood strong like monoliths along with the large commercial posters plastered on their sides. The spotlights hanging just beneath the poster illuminated the slippery, wet streets bellow.

Under one of the poster-covered buildings stood a phone booth. It's once blue paint job, now a graffiti covered mess. Swastikas drawn with black marker covered the glass walls and rusty metal doors. Beside the booth, a car was present. Its black paint job – that covered it so well in the empty night – glistened bellow the poster's spotlights.
Inside sat a man, impatience showing on his clean shaven face. He held one hand under his chin, with the other gripping the wheel; his fingers producing a rhythmic tapping sound over it. He sat there for what seemed to be hours, even though in reality, it must have been slightly more than ten minutes. He could hear every single wet drop of rain splash on the windshield of his vehicle. He could smell the filthy streets he was present with disturbing specificality. The smelled like rotting vegetables and dirty clothes. But these were the things he would have to deal with in order to get what he cought. For his presence in those streets must have had a reason.

And as out of place as the man's presence, the old, rusty phone boot began to produce a high pitch ringing sound. The man shrugged it off as the result of the booth's age. He exited the car and quickly made his way to the source of the irritating sound, as to not get wet.

He snatched the rusty, blue phone from it's place and put it near his ear. The cold metal making him cringe. He opened his mouth to speak, but a woman's voice was to first to begin the conversation.

„I see you have arrived, Mr Maxin.“ the voice of the woman would make any man believe she was as singer. But the man knew better.

„It would have been odd if I didn't.“ the man spoke in a clear and straight forward tone. „I heard you had a job for me, amongst other things.“.

„And what might those other things be exactly?“ she said in a teasing tone.

„I think you know – full well – the answer to that question.“ he said as he gripped the phone even tighter. So far as to make his knuckles turn white. „Information.“ he finished.

„You're right, and in fact, I think I have the final piece you seek. The final piece to the sad puzzle you call the truth.“ she chuckled as she said the last part.

„Just tell me who you want dead.“ he said in a straight tone.

The woman gave out an annoyed sigh before replying „Alright, but the information regarding your father is going to be the only thing you will receive as pay.“ the woman's voice turned more serious and less playful „Understood?“.

„I have enough money already,“ he said as a matter of factley „but how do I know that you're telling me the truth, and not just what I want to hear?“.

There was brief silence before the woman answered in a very serious tone „Simple, I don't lie.“.

„Uh-huh.“ the man smiled, but only slightly before a sound of faint footsteps in the rain caught his attention. He looked around, but spotted no one in the rain. He brushed it off as a result of all of the caffeine he drank „Anyway, who is it that you want dead?“.

„Don't worry about that, darling.“ she said, returning to her light hearted demeanor „Everything you need to know is in your glove department.“.

„What!? How the he-“ he stopped when he heard the phone line disconnect.

What the woman said sounded absurd. He went over to his car and entered it's warm interior. He immediately reached for the glove department next to his right. Only to find a dark yellow folder with a sticky note on it's surface. The sound of those footsteps must have belonged to the culprit, but that held no relevance now.

With a gray shadow looming over him, the man brought the note closer to his face. In bizarrely fancy writing, the note said „For Holt Maxin“.
 
Holt

The air thickened as the man's mind started to fill with curiosity. Whoever had planned this was not fooling around, and it seemed like they were counting on him to accept the contract. For a brief moment, Holt wondered what would have transpired if he had refused the job. But those thoughts were brushed aside. They no longer served a purpose, and even if they did, he would't need to make any use of them. Because if he played by the rules, he would get exactly what he wanted.

With a shaky hand, he opened the folder to see its contents. When opened, the folder revealed a singe sheet of paper. On the paper, was a picture of a middle aged woman with dark brown hair and brown eyes. The woman's appearance gave Holt a brief feeling of Déjà vu. Something about her face made him feel like he had seen her before. But he just couldn't place his finger on it. It was only when he looked at the whole sheet that he noticed the reason behind the brief feeling.

Holt sat there in silence as the rain outside showed little to no sign of stopping. He looked over the paper sheet repeatedly. He was nervous as much as he was surprised. His new, unsuspecting target was none other than Gloria Bolga herself. A CEO of an multi-million euro company that resided in the city of Amsterdam, Netherlands.

"Great, just what I needed." he said to himself. Practically feeding into his habit.

Gloria's company sold what were known as prescription narcotics and medical equipment. But why she was the chosen target was a question Holt didn't have an answer to. In fact, the woman had barely had any controversy surrounding her. Excluding the posters that people weren't so fond of. The same ones that covered the building that Holt's vehicle was parked next to. Even though this one in specific was covered in graffiti.

Holt exhaled a sigh of frustration. He couldn't just decline a contract. Even if he wasn't being paid in money. Declining contracts wasn't an action that could be taken, no matter how well known you were as a hitman. Either you take the contract, or you never look for it to begin with. And since he had already taken the contract and had the information delivered to his car by proxy. He didn't want so find out what else the proxies were wiling to do for their employer.

Annoyed by the situation, Holt slightly rolled down his window and lit a cigarette. The small amber light of the cigarette gave out a surprising contrast to the car's interior. He took a long drag and exhaled it out of the window. The car was suddenly filled with a mixed scent of the filth outside the vehicle and the smell of smoke. The smell burned his sensitive nostrils and the rain outside made his ears feel like they were played on like drums. Despite the inconveniences, Holt was barely bothered and had already began to formulate his plan.

Getting to Amsterdam wasn't going to be difficult for Holt. All he would need to do was get to his warehouse to pick up his fake IDs and extra bundle of money. But there was one problem. The warehouse he would need to go to was on the other side of Germany. It was in the small town of Feldberg. A town that was surrounded by the famous "Black forest". If he were to start his journey immediately, it would take him about 8 to 10 hours to get there. But he was in no condition to do so. He hadn't slept in 30 hours, and it was beginning to show on his face. The bags under his eyes were starting to become more noticeable and his movements seemed forced.

With the added situation, it was settled. He was going to start his journey to Feldberg tomorrow, and soon, the Netherlands.
 
Anne walked over to the bike lane and stepped on her bike. A black Volvo followed closely behind her. She had to ride about 20 minutes to the university where the conference was. She was lucky she could get an affordable space so close to the university. Student rooms weren’t cheap and it was difficult to find one. Yes, she had to share with complete strangers and yes sure the centrum of Amsterdam was like 10 minutes with the bus but at least she had a place and it could be worse way worse.

Anne rode over the road and looked around. It was busy on the street. Not as busy as the centrum but still busy. She didn’t really mind. She didn’t know most of the people she passed by. All of them actually so different as she was used at home. No one who said hey no one who asked how she was doing, no one who asked how school went and the best no one who judged her for leaving home after what happened.

Anne stopped for a crossroad and looked behind her and noticed a black car with the foreign number board. Germany, Anne thought at first glance but when she looked a better she saw it wasn’t the case. She didn’t know out of the top of her head what country it did was, beside she couldn’t see the letters that would indicate out of what country it would come very well. She didn’t thought much of it and rode further in the direction of the campus. When noticed the car continued to follow her she still didn’t really thought anything of it. The person probably went to the conference as well nothing weird. She couldn’t remember the conference was multinational though.

Anne arrived at the campus on time and rode towards the building the conference was hold. The university was huge and it had taken months before Anne could sort of knew her way around campus. She still needed to search if she had to be in a part she usually never came. She did knew the building where the conference was given and they had put little board down to point out the direction towards the conference. When she passed the parking lot and noticed that indeed the foreign person was visiting the university.
 
His ship hurtled through the sky and shattered the multiple layers of atmosphere in a ball of flame. This had been a common experience over the last several years, but this time he would be landing on a planet that already had other beings on it. How strange to think that he was not here alone. The Tannas were not the only beings to live in all the universe and he could possibly meet some of these strange aliens. It was possible they would be horrifying and uncouth. Surely, they wouldn't have a civilization as advanced as his own. A harsh tearing sound came from the left side of his ship and the Tannas jolted in his seat. What just hit him? Whatever it was it had caused significant damage to the solar panel. It would render his ship incapable of flying until he could replace it. Another hit sent a shudder through his ship and he anxiously started to punch into his screen to see what was happening.

Outside his ship he saw for a brief moment an unusual ship of sorts and it was shooting at him! Clark huddled at the panel of his ship and covered his head. He was braced for impact and that was all the more he could do. This was an exploratory ship and it wasn't packed with much in the way of defense. Clark hit his head a few times on the control panel as he flopped wildly in his seat. The final lurch as his ship drove itself into the forest floor knocked him out.

*********

Clark woke to the sound of hissing and crackling. His eyes burned almost the instant he opened them. "Agh..." The second time he tried to open his eyes he made it much more slow. There was a thick black cloud creeping just a few inches above the floor of his ship. His hip was sore, shoulder felt almost numb and then he noticed that one of the joists had come loose and it was sticking through his shoulder. What was worse was the fact that the ship was burning. If there was one thing that the Tannas couldn't handle it was flame. He knew if the fire was inside the ship it was only a matter of minutes before he would. Tannas were combustible.

Each breath burned and he felt like he was melting from the inside out. Straining against the joist the man shoved and grunted. He couldn't get it to move and to make things worse he was sure that whoever had shot his ship down would be coming for him. If he did get out he wouldn't get much time to hide himself. Fear pulsed through his veins and he took another agonizing, burning breath.

In a last desperate attempt he decided to simply jerk his shoulder through the joist the rest of the way and run. If it tore his arm off, so be it. The bracelets helped him maintain his solid state, but they were not strong enough to make Clark completely solid. Instead his arm seemed to stretch and then it slowly began to ebb and flow as if it were a ripple of water lapping at the edge of a shore. Finally, his arm tore free and it began to slowly fill the hole in. Despite the rapid healing it still hurt. Clark could feel the heat from the ship getting greater and greater. Holding his arm he stumbled for the hatch. He let go of his arm only long enough to jam the release button several times. Finally, another hiss sounded and he knew the hatch opened, but the flame only hastened with a fresh inlet of oxygen.

Hurtling through the hatch the alien thrust himself into the strange dark forest. It was night here, but he could see the glow of a village in the distance. He had discovered something new about himself and the bracelet. It allowed him to adjust his shape, size, and form as needed rather than remaining completely solid. It could come in handy if he needed to blend with these creatures that inhabited the planet.

Slowly the Tannas shuffled to the edge of the forest and he waited, watching and shivering. All he needed was to see what one of male kinds of this species looked like. He could imitate it and find out more. They might have more of the metal, but then again maybe the Tannas were stronger if they could shift their shape as needed. Perhaps they just needed another home. Somewhere they could blend and no one would be any the wiser for it.
 
"Derwan, come back, we actually have an assignment for you." Faith's commander's voice came over her earbud.
"You got it sir." Faith said to her commander and headed back to headquarters. Once back, she said, "Alright, who is it?"
"Her name is Annemarie." Faith sat back and listened as her commander described Annemarie's appearance. They didn't have all the details. They rarely did. This was going to be interesting. "You ready for your second mission, Derwan?"
"Of course, though I think I hope it isn't nearly as eventful as the last one."
"I think we all do. Good luck." They shook hands, and through a process Faith didn't entirely understand, she was sent to what had once been considered modern day. Her modern day was, of course quite different. But that was more or less what it was called in the day.

Upon arrival, she looked around the streets. Now she needed to find Annemarie, and ingratiate into hanging around. She'd been lucky the first time. The detective had been looking for an assistant, making her a known face. How she was going to do that now would take some thought. But first she had to find her new charge. That alone was going to make this interesting. She made sure her hair was covering her slightly pointed ears, then set to the task.

Faith spent the day looking for some sign of Annemarie. She looked through library computers for any newspaper articles on the other woman, or adds looking for roommates, helpers, or any other way to get close. She wandered the streets on the off chance that she might come across Annemarie doing her day to day stuff. She visited coffee shops, both popular and not well known hoping to find her there. This was going to take a while.
 
Holt

He sighed as he scratched the back of his head and released a yawn. He was tired beyond belief. He wouldn't have been surprised if a stranger might mistake him for a zombie. The purple bags under his eyes and the brown mess on his head that one would call hair would indeed leave that impression. If he intended to travel to Feldberg, and then to Amsterdam, sleep was something that was very much needed. The last thing that he would want to happen would be a car accident involving a tired hitman.

To satisfy his curiosity, Holt pulled out his phone to check the time. If he intended to make a 10 hour trip, he would at least need to wake up at a reasonable hour. As the screen lit up and shined a bright green light, it displayed a clock with what seemed to be a weird forest overlay. It was 10:00 pm, and to Holt, this was a reasonable time to go to bed. But that was what made him think. "Where could I sleep?" was the question that made him cringe. He certainly wouldn't sleep in the streets, he had a car, but he didn't want to sleep somewhere uncomfortable. He didn't want to wake up with a sore back.

Holt continued to scratch hi messy hair as he smoked his cigarette. And at that moment he remembered that he already rented a room in a hostel not far from where he was now. He chuckled at the thought of spending a night in his car instead of a soft bed, which was already his. Smoking the last of his cigarette and rolling the window back up, Holt began to drive in the direction of the hostel. Thankfully, there was nobody on the streets to see him go over the speed limit. Driving fast gave him pleasure, and knowing that he excelled at driving made him even more confident. His illegal profession didn't require such skills, but he couldn't help it. Ever since he first sat in a car, he knew he would be good at it.

Once he finally arrived at the Hostel, Holt was overcome with relief. There was no one in sight. Not that it mattered, it was just a minor detail. He exited his car and made his way towards the front door. Once he got inside, he remembered why he chose the place over certain other motels or hotels. The place looked average, but that never concerned Holt. What made him stay was the smell. The room smelled like grapes and air freshener. A welcome change from the putrid streets outside.

"Hey Lucas, how've you been?" he said to the young man behind the reception counter.

The young man looked at Holt with concern "I'm good... are you? You don't look so good Mr Bogdan."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired is all."

"Well, alright. Here are your keys, sir."

"Thanks kid." Holt said as he went off to his room. He felt bad for having to lie to the poor young man. But he couldn't risk giving him his real name. He would rarely ever give his real name out to other people. In fact, the only people to know his true identity were criminals he worked for. And he doubted they would forget him.

The yellow hallway was nice to look at, especially with the air freshener added to the mix. His sensitive sense of smell and hearing were both a gift and a curse that had to live with ever since he was a child. While he would have to put up with his neighbors "doing it" and smelling the awful scent of unwashed, greedy Jews he would sometimes have to work for. He would also be able to hear things he shouldn't. Like hidden conversations. He could also smell foreign gasses and perfumes that his female victims would wear. Making them easier to track.

With a sigh, Holt entered his room which housed 1 bed, a bathroom and a small mini-fridge. He took of his jacket, sweater and scarf and threw himself onto the nicely prepared bed. He didn't even bother taking off his shoes, or even laying in bed properly. Before he fell completely asleep, he set an alarm for 09:00 am. Once he did that, he turned off the lights and faded away, into the realm of dreams.

***************
11 hours later
***************

The sun shined brightly through the blinds, creating streaks of light that covered the room. And with the added alarm that came from Holt's phone, he was awake in mere moments. He - with a degree of haste - made his way to the bathroom to complete the standard morning protocol; brush his teeth, wash his face, or perhaps relieve himself. Afterwards, he put on his clothes and began to make the notes of hi entire inventory that was with him.

"Alright lets see... suppressed Sig Sauer P226, my KA-BAR combat knife, phone, wallet with the fake ids, car keys. Alright, I think that's all." he said in a hushed tone.

After checking his inventory, Holt left his room and made his way to the reception area. to Holt's surprise, Lucas was still there.

"You still awake, kid?" Holt asked.

"Yup, insomnia, remember?" Lucas said, unfazed.

"Well, damn. Anyway, I have to leave."

"Huh? Is something wrong?" Lucas questioned, worried that the cleaning lady did a poor job.

"No, no, don't worry. This place is like heaven for me. If I could, I would probably stay here for weeks." Holt said, with a genuine smile as he placed the keys to his room on the counter.

"Oh, well alright then. Good luck!" the young man said to Holt as he walked out the door.

As soon as he stepped outside, Holt gave note to the awful smell of the outside. Not to mention the fact that the weather had barely changed. The The sun might have been out, but the sky was still plagued by grey clouds. He wiped his nose and got into his car. Right after he did so, he turned on the heater and drove into the direction of the nearest gas station to refuel and prepare for the long ride to Feldberg by buying some snacks, drinks and a sandwich. Once he was done, the journey began.

***************
10 hours later
***************

By the time he even got close to Feldberg, Holt had to stop at a gas station more than once to relieve himself. But aside from that, he felt like the ten hours that he had spent on the road were in some way, like R&R. He enjoyed listening to music while in his car, and would spend some of his time doing so in between contracts. It was the only way he could spend time thinking about his time spent completing contracts.

He was calm, humming to the music. His eyes wandered away from the straight - and rather - boring road. The sky has gotten dark again and the sky could was beginning to show its stars when a large, metal construct - the size of a house, or so it seemed - crashed into the forest that was on the left side of the road. Holt could feel the impact from the crash even from the distance he was at.

He surprised beyond belief and swore - for a second - that the construct resembled a what seemed to be a spaceship. For a moment, Holt's mind was filled with curiosity while his car continuously drove down the road, without stop. He wondered if it would be a good idea to inspect the crash site. He was well aware of the risks of doing so and knew that - in some time - the authorities would arrive at the scene.

After some thought, Holt decided that it wasn't worth the trouble it would cause him. And he didn't want to take any chances after finding out that he was so close to reaching his goal.

Holt continued to drive down the road and ignore the amber light coming from the crash site. He drove on and eventually got fairly close to Feldberg. Relaxed and drained of his disappointment, Holt was ready to arrive at his destination and could even see the lights in the distance. But he instinctively hit the brakes once he saw a strange figure on the side of the road. With his car halted and eyes wide open, Holt exited his vehicle with his firearm drawn but hidden behind his back.

"Hey you!" he yelled at the barely visible figure "Are you alright? Do you need some help?".
 
Strange, crude devices darted past on the road in front of him. Clark stood near one of the trees and watched the vehicles pass. He could tell some of the transportation devices were better than others. Some were loud and some were quiet. It didn't seem that there was any uniform approach to the design and model of these devices and that was strange in itself. Why would everyone want to drive something that was different. Different usually meant substandard.

Many cars passed and he simply huddled up as tight as he could to the tree for the time. It would only take a few more hours for his arm to stop bleeding and then it would start mending over the next couple of days. In the meantime it was going to be sore and he could feel a headache settling in. This was miserable. The forest felt cool and he was already cold from the sweat drying on his body and the blood that soaked part of his jacket. Some of the blood had seeped far enough down to soak a portion of his left pantleg too. At least it didn't appear that he was too far from the nearest station, or city. Perhaps it was an outpost of sorts. The soft glow in the distance seemed to indicate that there would be at least a station there. If there was a station there was a chance he could get the material he needed to make his ship operational.

Staying outside wasn't a great option and neither was walking, but he didn't have much choice at this point. Clark didn't want to be spotted either. If he walked when there weren't any homosapians in their substandard ships passing by he could possibly make it by morning. At least it was easy to tell when another one of the crude little ships were coming. They had giant lamps on the front of them. A brief flash came over the hill and then fell behind it again. Another ship was coming. Clark started to ease his way into the forest again. He wanted to go unnoticed if possible. To his horror the vehicle slowed at such a pace that it was clear the driver had seen something, or they were looking for him.

Clark started to back into the forest a little more when he saw the crude vehicle come to a halt. A man stepped out of it. This man was strangely familiar in form. They were like the Tannas in many ways, but shorter. Whatever the man was yelling at him he didn't know, but it didn't look like it was going to be backing off either. Perhaps the homosapians were not friendly. Trying to make a similar gesture he did his best to imitate the man's greeting, or curse. Whatever it was. "Aaaye Ouuuuuu!"

Holt stared in confusion. He still couldn't make out what the person - who sounded like a man - looked like. "Hey!" he repeated, "Are you alright? There was a crash nearby. Were you in it?" Holt asked, still trying to make out the figure. Yet he refused to go far away from his car.

It had been years since Clark had even tried to talk to anyone physically. He had filled out dozens of reports and they were all in the hard drive of his ship. It was recording because if the Tannas at home could still get reads from his ship they would want to know what happened. This was different. Talking to an alien, if it could be considered talking. He didn't understand a word it said. However, it seemed to be repeating itself and Clark followed suit. "Haaye." This time he had heard the word a little more distinctly and he edged a bit closer to the edge of the forest. It was clear that his clothing didn't quite match what these people wore. Still holding his arm he winced a little. The hole in it hadn't quite healed and he could feel the seepage from it soaking the sleeve to his suit.

As Holt got closer, he could feel something wasn't right. Was the person deaf? It would surely explain their poor attempt at communicating. He realized that this could have been avoided if he hadn't stopped. But now he was obligated to help, and he wasn't that bad of a person to just leave a handicap in a forest, alone. Convinced that the person was deaf, Holt holstered his firearm and began to walk closer to the figure. The closer he got, the more he felt like there was something wrong. The figure was taller than him, but that alone wasn't strange. It was the fact that the person was taller than 6'3". And not just by a hair. Holt slowly began to reach for his firearm again while keeping his eyes on the mysterious individual. "Can you hear me? Are you hurt?"

Eyes darting to the man and then his hand and back again Clark debated running. He had seen that the man was holding something and he didn't know exactly what it was, but it didn't look good. Clark knew what a weapon was and it appeared that perhaps this homosapian was a representation of the law of sorts. They had come to investigate. It wouldn't be good to run. At some point he would have to report to the authorities. Shifting his weight from one foot to the other he made a hesitant step forward and frowned when the man spoke at him again. He would have ripped his arm clear off if he could have. Just to understand what the man was saying. Then he saw the man draw out the weapon again and Clark's heart slammed into his chest. There was only so much he could do. Cautiously he let go of his injured arm and raised the good one slightly. He didn't have anything, but his best shot at this was to get closer. If this thing was going to be hostile Clark could deal with him. It wasn't difficult to shift and become a little more loose in structure if need be.

Holt could now clearly see that the man stood well over 6 feet. The man held his arm before letting it go and holding his other arm in the air. Holt sighed and put his gun away. The man clearly had injuries and must have came from the crash. He slightly raised his hands in the air and put them back down. "Your arm is hurt?" he said while tapping his arm. It was at this moment that he wished that he had learned sign language.

Giving a sigh of relief Clark nodded slightly when he saw the man put the weapon away. That was far more reasonable and hopeful. Clark slowly lowered his arm to hold the other again. His plain grey suit jacket hugged his large frame and his pants were badly stained with grease and dirt from his mad scramble to get out of his ship. Thankfully his boots were still intact. Scanning the other man with his green eyes he realized that he was far taller. Was this man a short specimen of his kind? Perhaps he felt intimidated by the difference in size. However, changing size at this point was going to be difficult, because none of his clothing would fit right. So, for the time Clark chose to stay this size till he could determine what was normal for these people. Looking at the man's vehicle again he noted that it was likely he was going to have to shrink. Nodding slightly he saw the other man tapping at his arm and Clark moved his hand to start unbuttoning his jacket. Taking in a sharp breath he revealed the deep silver stain forming on his once white shirt underneath his suit jacket. He would have liked to have presented himself in better form to the homosapian, but this first meeting was obviously going to be strange. His black hair was unkempt from the crash, his tan skin was smeared with sweat and grime from the smoke and his eyes were still wide with concern and curiosity. To keep from alarming this homosapian he did his best to speak what should be a common language. "Alfda une trum ickel."

"What?" Holt murmured, "I can't understand you." he said while pointing at his throat. While he couldn't understand what the man was saying, it was clear it wasn't gibberish. The structure of the sentence was too organised. He still couldn't see the man properly and decided to pull out his phone and turn on the built in flashlight. With a few taps of his finger, Holt was able to turn on the flashlight and as soon as he did, it illuminated the the tall man in a bright light. Holt was surprised to see what he looked like. He wore a strange jumpsuit and was covered in oil and dirt. Holt just stared in confusion and decided to speak "Were you the pilot of that ship?" he said while pointing at the amber light in the forest.

What the man did next didn't make much sense until the light nearly blinded Clark. He was taking a hologram. It could be a good or bad thing and then he started to question him and point to the forest. Clark knew what he meant, but he didn't want to answer. Clearly there was a language barrier and he was going to take full advantage of it. Instead he pointed toward the distant lights of a small city. It had to be a small city, or some sort of station. "Haaaye."

Holt felt like face palming. "Not this again..." he said as he started to flick his fingers to gain attention from the man. But the way the man was behaving was suspicious. It didn't make sense. Most people would't behave that way. In other words, he was bullshitting. And as the old saying goes "Don't bullshit a bullshitter.". Holt shined the light at his face and pointed at the forest with a serious expression. "Don't you haaaye me. I know your acting stupid.". He said in a serious and annoyed tone

The man was apparently displeased with the response and Clark winced as the light was shone in his face again. "Eaugh..." Turning his face away momentarily he waited for the man to put it down again. Why would he take a hologram just to ask a question? Was he really that short in memory? Clark didn't know what he said, but it sounded in part like a mockery. With a growl he took a step closer and stared at the homosapian. "Haaaye."

"Oh for fuck sake..." he said internally "Either this guy is purposefully wasting my time, or is more than just deaf." Holt decided that the best course of action would be to help the man instead of continuing to try and communicate with them. Since it obviously wasn't working. He walked over to his car and pulled out a med kit from his glove compartment. He picked it up and waved the red cross at the man.

Clark followed the man since he wasn't sure if he was supposed to be going with him, or not. Maybe he was going to take him to the outpost. Then Clark could find some parts for his ship and perhaps sneak in and fix it. He could retrieve his equipment for testing and maybe salvage some of his own weapons for self defense if need be. It was still hard to tell if these homosapians were delicate beings or not. Oddly enough the man pulled out a box and waved it at Clark. It was a warning? Looking around himself and then back to the forest Clark frowned. Shaking his head slightly he tried to show he had no idea what the man was trying to do and instead pointed to the crude little craft and then toward the station and then himself and then station again. "Hmmm?"

Holt sighed and opened the red box, revealing bandages and antibiotics. He then pointed at his wounded arm and urged him to come closer. As he did, he also went to his vehicle and turned on the headlights. They immediately shined like two eyes in the dark and illuminated the man completely. This time, in a more gentle way. Holt put the med kit onto the hood of his car and came up to the man. He extended his hand and pointed the finger of his other hand at himself and said "I. AM. HOLT."

The man seemed to be friendly enough, but keen on shining lights on him. Clark was getting annoyed. Why this homosapian had such a fascination with light he didn't know. Grumbling a little he took the small kit from the man and took out only the bandages. Pulling his jacket off the rest of the way and then his shirt he made a clumsy attempt at wrapping his shoulder and then took himself to the passenger side of the little ship. "Haaye Holt."

The man looked like a simpleton to say the least, even though he had seen dumber. Holt pointed at himself again "I. AM. HOLT." he then pointed at the man, expecting to learn his name. Something about him was off. Holt couldn't put his finger on it, but he knew that this man wasn't stupid.

Taking a deep breath Clark grit his teeth. This man was obsessed with repeating himself. He'd just introduced himself and he was doing it again. There wasn't anything wrong with the greeting that he'd given and yet, Holt wanted another. Did homosapians have a custom of doing everything twice? "Haaye Holt." Saying it more deliberately he glowered at the man. It could feel like a very long time on this planet if everyone did everything twice. Pointing to himself he followed the strange custom with some irritation. "Clark.....Clark."

Clark was his name , it seemed. The fact that he kept grunting and growling like he had something up his rear, slightly annoyed him. It was clear that he wanted to go to Feldberg as much as Holt. But something wasn't right. He couldn't figure it out, but he knew it didn't have anything to do with Clark, or at least, not directly. He stared into the forest. He knew it had something to do with it. And without warning, it hit him like a bag of bricks. Clark probably wasn't alone in that plane or whatever it was. Maybe there were more people out there? Holt got out of his car and began to sprint into the forest with his phone light out. He was motioning Clark to follow him. He wasn't going to leave that weirdo in his automobile.

What the man did made no sense whatsoever. This homosapian suddenly leaped out of his craft and started to run into the forest. He was going to get help and he was going to arrest him. Clark wasn't dumb enough to follow him. Instead he played the game long enough to look like he was going to follow and then slipped into the pilot's seat of the craft. It couldn't be that hard to figure out how to fly.

Holt was about to enter the forest when he saw Clark sit into the driver seat and start fumbling with the wheel. Holt chuckled to himself and walked over to Clark, who was now in the driver seat. He calmly reached in and pulled out the keys from under the wheel. "You're starting to impress me, you know? Even the biggest moron on the planet knows how to operate a damn car.". He hid the keys away and motioned Clark to follow him. He knew there must have been other people out there in he forest. There was no way Clark was the pilot - even though that would have explained the crash. "Now come on, there are probably other people out here."

The man's hand slipped into the front of the car and took the keys. Clark narrowed his eyes and stared at the human for a long moment. If that was how you controlled the vehicle then he could imitate it. Holding his hand next to the slot for the key he simply pressed hard with his hand and let his finger slide into the slot and he felt his way around till he found the point where he could make contact and then he pushed a little more and finally turned it till he felt the zap. It hurt a little and he jumped in the seat before he grinned at the human. He had the engines started and they were going to the outpost. With his other hand he reached out to close the door on the car.

"What the hell..." but before Holt could finish his thought, Clark had began to drive off. Holt began to sprint towards the car. Thankfully all of those stupid drills in the army made sure he wasn't slow. The car was beginning to gain some speed and if Holt catch up in time. He would probably have to get to Feldberg on foot. But there was no way in hell he was going to let some maniac drive off in his car. It meant too much t him. He had it for years and he wasn't going to lose it now. He sprinted like an animal, trying to catch up to his car. Once he got close enough, jumped onto the back. Clark was trying to hake him off, but Holt's grip was too strong. He pulled out his keys and opened the rear left door and hopped in. He closed the door and aimed his firearm at Clark. "Stop the car! Now!". He made sure there was distance between him and Clark. He knew this man probably wasn't even human.

Getting the strange craft started was easy. It didn't even have a biometric lock to try and imitate. It was such a simple hack and now he just had to figure out how to make a crude craft lift off and go. Well, perhaps just go. This thing was clearly not made to be flown. The first pedal made it slow and the second made it fast. Clark knew better than to slam either of the pedals and he wasn't sure of the acceleration on this craft so he started to ease it back onto the navigation pad. While he was slowly gaining the speed the homosapian was running him down. It was tempting to just slam the pedal to the floor and go, but it might be the only craft that Clark would have for a time. When the man grabbed hold of the vehicle Clark swerved a few times, but he didn't quite shake the man off. He felt the craft shake a little with the sudden added weight of the man in the back and he glanced over his shoulder at him. Of course he'd pulled a weapon out. Perhaps he didn't have to kill the man yet, but he could make his point. This time he decided not to care about the condition of the craft and he slammed on the pedal to stop. Once they were stopped he pulled his hand out of the ignition and allowed it go back to a normal shape. Staring at Holt for a long moment he set his jaw and then shifted until he looked exactly like the man and then repeated a phrase from earlier. "I. Am. Holt."

"Yeah, same." Holt said as he motioned him to move to the opposite seat. A normal person would have had a different reaction, but Holt wasn't surprised, especially after the Houdini trick with his finger. Clark smiled and moved over. Holt squeezed into the front driver seat and put his keys in the ignition. He prayed to god that Clark didn't break something. He breathed a sigh of relief and stared at Clark, who looked like Holt. Down to the last detail. "Damn, I got old..." he said as he stared at his double "Well, I guess there was no one at the ship then..." he deadpanned "Guess I'll take you Feldberg then. You better put on your seat belt." he motioned at Clark as he put on his seat belt. "Trust me, you don't want to get the cops on us.". As he finished his sentence, be began to drive to the nearby town. After some silence, and no growling from Clark, Holt had an idea. "How about we turn on the radio, eh?" he said with some humor. He went ahead and turned on the radio, only to hear one of his favorite songs playing.

At least it seemed that Clark had got his point across and he moved over. The man was going to take him to the outpost. Settling into the seat he let himself shift back to his usual form. First of all he had to be able to fit his clothing. He didn't have much choice when it came to transportation and he didn't trust the man, but he had to rest at some point. Leaning the seat back a little he found that he could keep an eye on the man and relieve some of the pain in his shoulder. Keeping his mouth closed he tried to remain as quiet as possible though the craft had a rough ride. It was highly affected by every little bump on the navigation pad. If this was a representation of society here, then it was all crooked and poorly constructed. They were not what he could consider an advanced society in the least. Even the bandage was pathetic. Who used strips of cloth? It should have been a pad with a coagulant in it. Something to stop the bleeding. He was almost ready to fall asleep when the man decided to turn on horrendous music. If it could have been considered that. It sounded more like wailing of sorts and disjointed instrumentation. Peeling his eyes open he glanced to the man and then sat up a little straighter and shut the music off.

Clark watched with growing anticipation as the station got closer. He hoped that it would be more advanced than this man's substandard form of transportation. Instead he found himself with a growing knot of dread forming in his stomach. Every small outpost or home leading up to the station seemed to be equally crude in their design. When it became clear that there was not anything sophisticated enough to fix his ship an involuntary groan sounded from deep in his throat. This was not one of his better moments and he was starting to feel sick.

The shoulder continued to throb and ache well after the vehicle was stopped for the night. There wasn't a whole lot else that Clark could do besides follow this stranger around. He didn't want to follow him, but he didn't know anyone else and he didn't have anywhere to go and nothing to fix his ship with. Most of the people that he saw in the town were lighter in skin and he determined that perhaps he could change to look more like them. Still keeping his current height and build he made an imitation of the light skin and gave himself sandy blonde hair with blue eyes. Now that he liked his image better and it appeared more like those around the area he felt a little better about blending in. Reaching up he felt around his shoulder and inspected it briefly. There wasn't anymore blood so he took the bandage off. It would just take a few days for it to heal the rest of the way now.

When they stopped he got out of the vehicle and followed Holt inside a small building. Sleep sounded good and he was afraid to sleep, but there wasn't much choice either. They were going to have to learn to trust each other. At least they were on a similar ground when it came to understanding. Clark didn't know what Holt could do and Holt only knew in part what Clark could do. There were a lot of things that Clark could do that he suspected these homosapians couldn't. Silently he watched while Holt got ready for bed and then Clark slowly laid down on the bed and stared at the ceiling in the oddly rustic little dwelling. So far this place was only made worse by the fact that he didn't understand much if anything that was said.
 
Holt was in his bed, replaying all of the events that had transpired throughout the night. He was sure that everything will somehow make sense in the future. But that wasn't a comforting thought one might consider. He had quite a few questions, what was the thing that was now sleeping on the couch of his warehouse. Or even worse, how will he complete the contract with Clark on his back the entire time.

What was even worse was - alien or not - the fact that he couldn't have Clark find out that he was a hitman. And since he saw that Holt had a weapon, that would mean two things. Either that he was a member of the law enforcement, or that everyone was allowed to have weapons. He didn't know which was worse. But one thing was certain. He was going to give Clark a dictionary and make sure he somehow learns to speak like a human. Once that would be sorted out, he was going to take his fake IDs and extra cash for the trip. Amongst a few other things.
 
Hey Anne," a voice called out while Anne rode her bike in the direction of the bike rack. A chubby girl with a round face surrounded by brown messy curls appeared. "Hey Fleur," Anne greeted her friend in return and smiled. Quickly parking their bikes together the two girls walked to the school building.

Timeskip to around 4Pm after the conference.
Anne walked towards the bike racks together with Fleur and searched for her bike. There were not that many people at campus right now so finding her bright green bike didn’t take very long. Fleurs bike was quickly found as well.

“Finally, I thought that man was never going to stop with talking.” Fleur said walking with her bike towards the street.

“Hhm, I found it interesting, actually.” Anne reacted.

“Yeah but, still I mean who is going to voluntary listening to boring people for three hours.” Fleur said stepping on to her bike.

“We.” Anne said laughing. Stepping on her bike as well. Then she noticed the foreign car again.“Strange, do you know from that land that car come from.” Anne pointed at the car.

“Hhm, Poland I think. Hey, why the serious face, there are so many cars from Poland, here.” Fleur answered looking worried at the girl.

“Hhm, I don’t know, I saw it as well. When I was biking to school.” Anne said unsure.

“Really Annie, you are seeing ghosts. Maybe it isn’t even the same car.” Fleur argued with Anne. Before Anne could say anything back she added. “I have to go left now, bye Annie.”

“Bye Fleur.” Anne said back looking at the back of her friend. She was probably right, she was just picturing things and for a second Anne managed to forget the car. But, Fleur wasn’t around the corner when she noticed the black car out of the corner of her eye again. Anne started biking a bit harder.
 
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Faith had had no luck finding any clear in into Annemarie's life. So she took to the streets and wandered them looking for any sign of Annemarie. She didn't appear to be having much luck. She was about to give up and find a place to stay. She had time period appropriate money, but she really wanted to find her charge first.

She was looking for a place to stay when she saw her. Annemarie was on a bike, coming her way. She would have never realized if she hadn't known what to look for. But something was wrong. Annemarie seemed nervous and jumpy.

Faith was watching her come closer, debating how to approach when she saw the black car behind Annemarie. Maybe that was why she was nervous. Now she had to think of a way to introduce herself to Annemarie. Maybe a lost tourist...
 
Anne came near a traffic light. Please stay green please stay green she thought. Staring at the light, forcing it to stay green by sheer willpower but, sadly something like that didn’t exist and just before Anne arrived the light jumped to red. Forcing Anne to stop, next to her the black car also stopped right beside her. Nervously she looked in the direction of the car but, she couldn’t see the driver through the dark windows. This was foolish there was no reason to get nervous. She started to look like her father. Especially after the accident he always seemed to get nervous really quickly. Anne ever really understood why. She never asked to ask though, not that he would give an answer.
 
Faith walked up to the red light, casual. As one who just wanted to cross at the proper light. She'd read up on all the protocol of this era. And while rules changed from nation to nation, safety was still a thing. If she pretended she wanted to cross when the current light turned green, then she could stay near Annemarie for quite a while without raising suspicion. She took out her phone, and consulted it, as though she was figuring out how to get around. If she could just look lost enough, she could even ask Annemarie for help, or ask her to show her around or something.

Faith didn't know how long she needed to consult before giving the appearance of giving up. However, she knew she couldn't wait forever. Once the light turned green, she'd have a hard time keeping up with Annemarie on that bike without scaring her. She could do it, thanks to her heightened reflexes, but still.

Faith decided enough time had passed, and looked up from her phone toward Annemarie and the black car. She approached nervously, or appearing nervous. "Um...excuse me..." She said hesitantly to Annemarie.
 
It felt like Clark had only laid down on the bed for a few minutes and then the man was coming in to shoo him away. One would have thought that if Holt was going to invite him here that he would have provided a bed. Instead Clark found himself moved out to a couch where he was given a blanket to keep warm and that was about it. The alien frowned and settled onto the little couch with a huff. Holt didn't even share his bed. Back home the Tannas often times shared beds when they traveled. There was not always space for everyone to have their own room, or bed and so they shared. This was perhaps the most unfriendly gesture he had seen from this homosapian. Not only had he been denied his place on the bed, but he was injured and being forced to sleep on a tiny and uncomfortable little couch.

****************

The next morning Clark woke up. It had to be one of the more uncomfortable nights he'd ever experienced. Sleeping on the padded, seating area was next to miserable with his shoulder. However, he wasn't going to say anything. It wouldn't do any good. This homosapian wasn't all that brilliant and even if he could speak to the homosapian Clark knew that he would have to repeat himself. That little habit of saying everything twice was exceedingly annoying. Silently he wandered about the small home of this miserable example of his species. Eventually he found the bag that the man had been carrying and he opened it up to reveal there were indeed extra clothes and he even found some other shoes. It was entirely relieving to know that he could try and blend now. Cautiously, Clark started to peel his pants off and proceed to change into the ones provided in the bag. They weren't particularly colorful, or even attractive, but it could be worse. Glancing at himself in the mirror Clark nodded. It would work. The sandy hair, and lightly tanned skin with blue eyes he was sure would blend well in this area and now he was dressed like on these people too.

After a long night of tossing and turning, Holt opened his eyes and was reminded of the events that had transpired the night before. With an irritated sigh, he sat up right on his bed and looked through his bedroom window. Only having the displeasure of seeing the empty streets outside. The sky was grey as usual and the streets filled with leftover puddles of rain. He stood up and got dressed with little to no haste. Black jeans, shoes and a black long sleeve shirt were his choice of clothing. "Alright, let's remind ourselves of the situation that we're in." he said to himself. "We have to complete a contract in Amsterdam, and find a way to deal with that thing in the living room. Not to mention it's stench is barely tolerable. And it's wearing my spare clothes too..." he drifted off. "But first I should find a way to make us communicate properly. But how the hell am I suppose to do that?". Holt made his way to the small kitchen next to the living room was in the middle of making himself a coffee.

Clark wandered around the small living space he'd been assigned just the night before and he thought of a few terrible things he could do. It would be entertaining to see what this homosapian would do if he found two persons in his keeping rather than one. However, that was something that he should probably save for later. Instead he wandered into the kitchen and mumbled a phrase he knew the host would recognize. "Haaay, haay." In their tradition he even said it twice, just to make the man happy.

Holt stared and chuckled a he heard his visitor speak in gibberish. "How do I make you talk?" he thought to himself. He slowly sipped his coffee as he thought of all of the different ways to complete this challenge. "Hmm". And then he got an idea. He pulled out two pens and two peaces of paper. He sat at his table and placed one of each of the items opposite of him. Supposedly for Clark. "Clark! Get over here!". He prayed this would work.

It seemed that his host must have had horrible ears too because he was speaking far too loud for the space. Clark heard his name and he gave the man an annoyed expression. Of course he was going to call him over for something worthless. Taking up the opposite side of the little table he stared at the man. "Holt, haay."

"Yeah, haay to you too, friend." Holt said as he picked up his pen. "Here goes nothing...." he said as he gently began to tap his pen on the table. It was rhythmic tapping. Tap, tap, tap tap, tap, tap tap,... "Don't tell me an advanced alien doesn't understand Morse code. Or whatever you call it." He stopped and waited to see if Clark was going to catch on to what Holt was trying to do.

Clark raised a single brow when the man started to tap with the pen. He didn't know what he was trying to say and it only made him more irritating. Why would one do this in the morning? Was it some strange ritual? For as uncouth as these people were, Clark half expected the man to start wailing some horrible song. He was trying to be tolerant, but this was not something he cared to take part in. Setting the pen and paper aside from his side of the table he sighed and walked off to explore the rest of the dwelling. There had to be someplace he could wash.

"You must be joking..." he said as he gripped his hair. "How the hell do I talk to this stupid son of a bitch?" he thought. He drank the rest of his coffee in frustration. This was getting him nowhere. "Fuck it, might a well get the stuff I came here for and leave.". Holt went over to his bedroom and pulled out his secret stash. IDs, cash, weapons, explosives, and other tools of destruction. He took what he needed and made his way to the car to make some modifications. It wouldn't take long. His only worry was that Clark might mess something up. It didn't matter though. This was not his only warehouse.

Wandering around the dwelling didn't prove to be terribly interesting. Clark found a rudimentary sort of wash room and he decided to pass for now. Then he shuffled back to the bedroom and found it empty. The only difference was that he saw a few things had been moved. Working his way through the bedroom he poked and prodded at everything in the room. There wasn't much here and he saw no point in wasting his time. Didn't really matter much if the man left him, so long as Clark could get what he needed without too much trouble.

Holt was just about done making repairs and modifications to his vehicle. He had all he needed and was almost ready to start his journey. But something was missing, it was food. He would need to stop by the store to get something for the road. He was about to make his way there when he got a clever idea. He was going to show what stores looked like to Clark. It might annoy him, but Holt couldn't bother to care. He made his way inside the house and called out for Clark. "Clark, get over here. We have to get a few things for the road."

He was almost done digging around in the little abode when he heard the man come back. Clark didn't take to being yelled at and commanded by an inferior race. He did what he had to for survival and discovery of the metal. Opening a window he slipped outside and started walking through the alley. He could change the way he looked later when he got something different to wear and then no one would be the wiser for it. Not even his troublesome homosapian.

Holt was finally done with repairing and modifying his vehicle. He was just about ready to leave, with or without Clark. Now all he needed to do was go to the store and get some supplies. He went over to the store and bought some thing for the road. 2 large bottles of water, 2 mixed sandwiches, 2 cans of coke, a packet of gum and some cigarettes. He was hoping to make a better impression on the alien this way. He made his way to his car and put all of the supplies in the back seat. He went inside to see where Clark was. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to find him. He was gone. Where could he be now? A part of Holt was relieved to leave the alien wander around aimlessly. But once he ran through that thought the second time, it didn't sound too good. He couldn't leave an alien wandering around Feldberg. He got into his car and began to follow the scent of smoke and jet fuel.

****************************

A small grin came to Clark's face as he spotted the first place that appeared to sell what he wanted. The store front displayed clothing and some of it was for men. He just needed to get something new to wear in a more average size. Then he could disguise himself. Eventually he would make his way back to Holt's to wash up, but he kind of hoped that the man would be gone by then. As long as Holt was gone when he got washed then he could get dressed in the clothing and no one would know he was here.

Another waft of the smoke and engine oil assaulted his nostrils as he stepped into the store. Clark sighed a little. It was more obvious now that he was indoors and he probably should have used the rudimentary looking wash room at the man's place this morning. Then he wouldn't have to go back. At the same time he couldn't make himself obvious by walking into the trade shop, change clothing in a little stall and then walk out. People would notice if they were observant enough and that meant that he would have to be careful about how many times he changed from here on out. Last night was another story with that troublesome homosapian. A female stood at a counter with her nose wrinkled and shooting him accusing glares, but not saying anything. Another woman slid a little card in a machine and then received a receipt from the female behind the counter. Clark could only assume that this was their kind of credit that they would use to buy things.

Getting credits wouldn't be so difficult. Working his way into the store the alien picked his way through the clothing rack and then slowly got closer to one of the women that were shopping. He had seen their little wallets and he just needed to get into one. Sliding his hand into the wallet he allowed it to get thinner and thinner until he felt the thin plastic of a credit chip. Pulling the credit chip out of the wallet he worked his way past her and then moved onto the other racks. After he had a few clothes picked out for himself he made his way to the front of the store and paid for the clothing and then walked down the street a little further until he saw a place he could buy shoes. Judging by the size of the clothing he'd purchased he decided that perhaps smaller shoes would be more appropriate. None of the store associates seemed pleased with the fact that he didn't speak to them, but he didn't have to. He had credits to pay for the clothing. Clark just hoped there were enough to buy a few weapons for himself.

The idea of obtaining weapons was put on a brief hold when he spotted Holt a short distance off. Holt had his head sticking out the window of his little craft and he was sniffing the air. It was obvious he was sniffing the air by the way his nostrils would flare and his neck would strain slightly. If Holt was out looking that meant that it was a good time to get back to the nasty little wash room the man had. Clark figured Holt would stay busy for a good part of the day and perhaps give up and leave without him.

Dodging into an alley way Clark weaved his way through the narrow streets. There was no way that a car could follow him down the alleys and he knew that it would be impossible to tell which direction he was going if one couldn't see him. With an hour of wandering through the alley ways he finally arrived back at Holts little abode and slipped through the window again. It was still open from when he'd left. Tossing the bags of his new clothing and box of shoes onto the floor he stripped and then wandered into the wash room. In a few minutes he would be washed, dressed in new clothes and looking like a different person. Not even Holt would know it was him. Clark was more than ready to move on and find what he came here for.
 
Anne stared at the traffic light waiting for it to turn green, trying not to look at the black car. Concentrated on that, Anne didn’t notice a woman walking up next to her. Even if she would notice she wouldn’t really pay attention to her. She wasn’t the only pedestrian waiting for the traffic lights. Anne looked at her right spooked by the sudden words breaking her thoughts. Relived she breath out when she noticed the woman. A tourist probably who, very likely wanted direction. “yes?” she asked glancing shortly at the traffic light, hopefully, it wouldn’t take long.

"I was hoping to get some help. See, I'm new here and I'm a little lost." Faith glanced up at the car again, thankful her weapons weren't obvious, but were still in reach.

“right, where do you need to go?” Anne asked in English, glancing at the traffic light impatiently. All the while making sure she wouldn’t completely stand with her back in the direction of the car.

"Um...I should probably start with a hotel...Hey, maybe you could show me around? Just to like one of those tourist guide places...Sorry, I guess I shouldn't be asking someone I kind of randomly spoke to, but I'm at a loss."

Anne looked at the woman not really sure what to do with it. She still had bags to pack to go home. Not that she was really excited for it. “I.. I am not sure.. I” Anne said trying to think of an excuse. Then out of the corner of her eye she saw the man lowering his window. “ok all right I lead you around.” She said pushing her bike onto the corridor and walking the other way, assuming the woman would follow.

Faith followed. "Thanks, I appreciate it. Really."

Absentmindedly Anne nodded at the woman "yeah sure" she murmured while she nervously looked back to see if the black car, the lights already jumped to green and she only caught a glimpse of the man behind the steering wheel.

"Hey, are you alright? You seem nervous." Faith seemed cool and calm on the outside, as though now she had something going right she was able to be calm about it. However, the observant might notice her eyes scanning her surroundings, watchfully.

"yeah, I am fine. It is nothing." Anne answered the woman. "I shall lead you around, what do you want to see?" she asked in order to distract the woman and herself from the man in the black car. Surely it would have been nothing. She was just overreacting.

Faith shrugged, though her eyes still watched the area. "If you say so. Anyway, you know this place far better than I do. What do you suggest? Oh, I forgot, I should probably introduce myself. My name's Faith. Faith Derwan. And you?" She gave every indication of being distracted, but she was this woman's guard, whether she knew it or not. She was supposed to be watchful. Especially with how nervous her charge seemed. She didn't need to be an Empath to tell that Annemarie was nervous. Though she had to admit, Empathy might have helped.

"I am Anne" Anne answered using the Dutch pronounce of her name, to the woman in front of her while she hold out her hand for a handshake. It seems like she ended up as this woman's guide. She wasn't really sure if she liked it or not. "as for a place to go, we could go to the dam. Do you have any sort of ticket to travel with the trams? It is kind of a long walk to the centre of the city. " Anne asked.

Faith took her hand firmly. She made sure not to crush it as she shook her hand. Then she made a show of checking for a ticket. Of course she’d come with everything she needed. Still, she pulled out her pass triumphantly. “While I don’t mind a walk, as long as the day is nice, I do indeed have a ticket.” She allowed herself to grin at her accomplishment.

Anne answered the steady handshake of the woman just as firmly, ok maybe not that firmly but, as firmly as she could. It is a weird quark of Anne an instinct basically that if someone squeezes her hand she squeeze it back. Probably a side effect of growing up with two brothers. “good, very good.” She said as Faith pulled out the pass with a face like she won a trophy or something. “well the weather isn’t amazing” she said glancing up at the grey sky above her. The drizzle rain of earlier still persistently fall down on them.

In doubt she looked at her bike, dragging the thing in the metro wouldn’t really be a good idea. Having her bike around on the Dam would be very irritating anyway. So she had to go back to the student house first. She could just park it somewhere in Amsterdam but, that meant she had to go back to the spot to pick it up again. She looked at the woman, she had some sort of aura over her that made her trust the woman. Finally, she decided that it would very likely not do any harm if the woman roughly knew where she lives. “We do need to go to the place I live first really quick to put my bike away.” She said.

"I'm alright with that." This would be the perfect chance to see where her charge lived. Which would make it much easier to protect her. "Lead the way." Faith wasn't too worried about the rain. She'd been impressed by the firm shake she'd gotten back from Anne.

"good", Anne answered whilst she pushed her bike in the direction of the student house. It wasn't very far away. around a 10 minute walk, that is if they didn't have to wait for traffic lights for a long time. While walking in the direction of the student house, she thought about what she would show the woman. She hoped it wouldn't take too long, she still had to do some packing. In thought, she nearly forgot about the black car.
Faith followed closely, her body relaxed, her eyes watchful. Her eyes narrowed as she saw the black car every now and again. "Quick question." she said calmly. "And don't freak, because it could be a different car of the same style, but how long has the black car at the light been going in the same direction as you?"

Anne abruptly stopped in the middle of the corridor. "what? I uh." Anne said staring at the woman. Don't freak out she said, easier said than done. Anne took a deep breath in and continued walking "Since early afternoon when I left to go to school." she answered trying to sound calm.

"Stay calm, we don't know if whoever it is is actually following you." Faith thinks for a moment. "Alright, lucky for you, I know how to lose a tail. One thing I do know is we don't want to lead him to your place. So to start, we need to find a crowded place to get lost in. Know any good markets or other places people generally congregate."

"I am afraid he already knows where I live if he is following me." Anne said. "as for crowded places, we are in Amsterdam that wouldn't be very difficult." She added. She looked down at her bike. "It would be more difficult disappearing in a crowd with a bike though," she commented.

"Alright, if he knows where you live already, let's drop it off, then try to lose him." Faith said thoughtfully. Anne had a point. The bike would be easier to spot, and it wasn't something you just wanted to leave when it was your only transportation.

"good," Anne said whilst she continued to walk, in the direction of the student house. Nervously she looked around her and indeed spotted the black car a couple times. It didn't take very long before they arrived. "We are here," she said while she walked in the direction of the shed to stall her bike.

"Don't worry about it. I don't think whoever's following you will attack as long as you're with someone. Even if that's not the case, I can handle myself just fine, so you're in very good company." Faith said as she followed Anne.

Anne unlocked the shed and looked around at Faith, "I hope you are right." she answered, pushing her bike into the shed. She leaned over the bike in order to lock it then she looked up to Faith." well, let's show you Amsterdam." she said bravely, walking in the direction of the exit.
Faith followed closely. She might not be absolutely correct, but her purpose here was to protect Anne. "You'll be alright. I'll make sure of it. I owe you for being so nice to me."

Anne smiled, "thank you," she said, whilst she locked the shed again and walked in the direction of the nearest metro station. It wasn’t very long walk and without her bike, Anne was able to walk a bit quicker. Normally it would take about 10 minutes to walk to the metro station but, now she walked reached the metro station within 6 minutes.
 
Faith stayed close to Anne. Not so close as to potentially make her feel uncomfortable, but close enough that she could easily protect her from any danger. Her eyes were constantly on the move, and she looked around her with the interested expression of a tourist. Except that she wasn't here for the sights. She was here for Anne.

Faith would have to be careful what she said. Being from the future meant she actually knew a lot of what was going on as history. But time was a tricky thing. The detective she'd been tasked to protect as her final assignment out of school as well as her first mission had been far more important than they'd realized when assigning her, despite what history might say. They'd been attacked by rogue Demons, able to survive only because, however new, Faith was an Archangel. But that was then, this was now. She had no idea where Anne was on the importance scale. Outside of key historical input there really was no way to tell if someone was going to be historically important until they did something important. No one had realized what significance Einstein would have on history until it happened. Though to be fair, the detective had been the one exception to the rule that they knew who would have an affect on history.

Faith wasn't sure if Anne was another exception to this rule, if her boss hadn't told her everything about this woman, or if they were trying to actually give her a normal assignment as a break from the action of the first one. After all, her first assignment was supposed to be easy. An archangel protecting a historical nobody, rather than a historical somebody. Yes, a historical nobody got into trouble, but typically not nearly as much as a historical somebody. Well either way, she would do her best to protect Anne. And now that she knew where Anne lived, that would be all the easier.
 
Holt sat in his car with with the window next to him open, allowing a whole array of scents to enter, both nice and unpleasant. Feldberg was a small town, so finding a wandering alien was not going to be a difficult task. But whilst the task itself wasn't a difficult one, the outside elements were the ones somewhat in control as well. Both rain and wind bothered him, and it was not long before they began to make their presence known more than before.

The little rustic dwelling was far from ideal, but it would do. Stripping his clothes off, the alien stepped into the little wash box that happened to be in the abode. It didn't have an automated temperature gauge and required manual adjustment. That was a nasty little discovery of its own. Clark was scalded first and then froze before he found a pleasing setting. There were little bottles of soap sitting inside and he used a liberal amount to rid himself of the scent of blood, engine oil and smoke. To be sure he was clean enough to return to a more public setting without drawing undue attention to himself the alien sniffed at his arm a few times. It was fine. He smelled just about like Holt had this morning. Unfortunately there was only one towel to use and he had to wipe down using the same one as the strange homosapian had.

"You know what? This isn't worth my time." he said with annoyance. It wasn't worth the trouble. It was simply too risky. He made a quick detour back to the store, in hopes of finding something quench the dryness of his throat. Preferably something with alcohol. He parked his car next to his warehouse and made his way to the store. The bell above the store door made it's presence know as Holt entered. He turned to the shelves holding the sweet and brewed relief he sought after. He picked a bottle of cherry brandy and set it in front of the lady at the cash register. The device in his pocket making him re arrange it. As he waited for the old lady to scan the bottle, he turned and stared at the plain looking warehouse. "How boring.".

When Clark had finished drying off he changed into his new clothes and got a little shorter. He didn't mind being this short, he was a little more dense and it felt somewhat like he did at home. For now he decided to make his eyes hazel and change his blonde hair more to a light ash. That should be enough change that he wouldn't be easily recognized and he looked more like the homosapians here. Stepping out of the warehouse he glanced around. He had no idea where to start, but any direction should be fine.

Holt stared at the warehouse with a blank expression. "That will be 20 euros." The old woman said with a stereotypical voice. "Here, this should do just fine." Holt said as he placed 30 euros on the counter. He was about to leave when the woman spoke out. "Sorry, young man. But I believe you left more than was asked.". "Young man" he though "I wish that were true.". "Uhh, sir?" she asked. "It's okay, you can keep it.". He said without hesitation. Fortune for the generous, as they would say. Just before he exited the store, He spotted someone stepping out of his warehouse. A smaller gentleman, with ashen hair. "Who the-" he thought, "Who's that guy? And what the hell is he doing in my hideout?" He thought with obvious mystery. "Wait a minute... Clark." Holt said as he remembered the alien's unique shape-shifting ability. He stepped outside with drink in hand and waved to his "friend". "Hey Clark! You lost?" he said with annoyance in his voice as he entered his vehicle.

Everything seemed to be simple. Holt didn't even recognize him. At least not right away. Then he heard Holt call out his name. The easiest way to try and pass this off as a coincidence was simply to keep walking and act as if that wasn't his name. If it wasn't his name he wouldn't be looking around to see who the man was talking to. Keeping his eyes fixed on the street he continued walking.

He started up his car and slowly caught up to the alien. He rolled down his window and spoke out "You know, usually when you try to enter someplace where you shouldn't be, you DON'T use the front door. Ever." He chuckled as he said this. "Look, I know you probably can't understand a single word of what I'm saying. But you're a smart alien, so I think you'll figure it out. Somehow.". "As I see it, you have two options, maybe three. Option one: Hoop in, and join me on an adventure across this planet. Option Two: Wander this world alone, without a guide. Option three: I'll let you make that one." as he said this, Holt couldn't help but feel like it was going to be the ladder. "So, will you join me?". He said with a genuine smile. But not one of mockery. Rather, something else.

This guy wouldn't let him be and Clark finally growled, but he started back toward the car. "Hi."

"Hi." Holt said with a glimmer of hope. He opened the side door for Clark and made stoic "come on in". But he was still on his guard. "Fool me once..." he thought.

Clark slipped into the car and he worked his jaw in frustration. How could he possibly end up meeting this same guy over and over? It was terrible luck. There was one phrase he'd heard people use over and over and so he decided to give it a try. "Thanks."

"You are welcome, my friend." he said with true happiness. "Now, let us arrive at Amsterdam and leave it with smoke and fires behind our backs." Holt said wit obvious humor. They began to make their way to the highway. Once they arrived to the apparently empty road, Holt took his hands off the wheel and opened the bottle of joy he had bought not so long ago. He took a long swig, letting the sweet juices make their way down his dry throat. "Ahh, worth the 30 euros." he said with satisfaction. "Here, you have some. A taste of human pleasures." Holt directed the bottle of brandy to his new friend. "Time will pass quicker if you do. We have about 10 to 12 hours to travel."

The man was talking, but Clark didn't understand most of it. Even if he was trying to understand there was still too much for him to try and understand for the time. After a while Holt handed him the drink and Clark sniffed it briefly before he decided to take a drink. It was strange and strong. Clark's face screwed into an expression of displeasure and he swallowed it before handing it back to the man.

"Hmm? You don't like it? Oh well, I guess the taste doesn't suit everyone... Here's some water to make the taste go away." he said whilst handing Clark a bottle of purified water.

Clark took the next bottle and he gave Holt a suspicious look. However, he would give this one a try and see if it was just as terrible tasting. This time when he sipped at the liquid he grinned a little. It was much better and he was thirsty. "Thanks.."

"Don't mention it" he said. "There's some more in the back, if you want." Holt took another swig of the brandy. We also have a few sandwiches and chips. But I'd save those for later. But if you're hungry, have at it." his thumb pointed behind him, on the seats. There 2 mixed sandwiches and 1 more bottle of water, 2 cans of coke. "Next stop will be in an hour, so make yourself comfortable." he said in a light tone which surprised even himself.

Following the man's gesture the alien stared at the food in the back seat. It seemed that he had planned for them both to be here in the car. Wherever they were going. That wasn't entirely comforting. Perhaps he was taking him to a more secure facility. Clark settled into the seat, but he was determined to stay awake and watch where they were going. He didn't need to be locked up as a prisoner somewhere.

Clark was clueless, it seemed. Holt didn't want Clark paranoid, so he pulled out his phone an tapped the map icon. He zoomed out so their location and destination were visible. "This is Amsterdam. See?" He said as he pointed at the phone while also watching the road. "It's our current point of interest. Well... mine at least. But I assure something will turn up that can help you. After all, earth is a place of hope and surprise. "

Staring at the little screen Clark shrugged. How would he know what the man was saying and he wasn't sure why he was showing him images of a city. Cities held a lot of things. Quietly he turned his face toward the window of the little shuttle again. He would just have to wait and see.

He sighed "Oh well, I guess I was pushing my luck anyway." Holt put his phone away and focused on the road ahead. This was going to be a long trip, and he was curious how this little adventure was going to end. He took another swig of brandy before sealing it and putting it away. He looked ahead, onto the empty road. "Amsterdam, here we come."

**********************
About an hour later
**********************

Holt and Clark traveled for about an hour, before they had to stop for gas. Since there was a clear language barrier between them, there was no conversation to make time quicken it's pace. After re-filling the tank with fuel of outrageous price, they stopped to eat their sandwiches and maybe even have a cool beverage to lighten them up. Holt removed the plastic wrap off of his sandwich and took a bite. It wasn't the greatest meal in the world, but it would suffice. He handed over the remaining sandwich to Clark. "Here, have some." he said with generous intent.

The time seemed to fly by for Clark. He was busy make mental notes of everything he saw and every location that seemed to be of significance. At least he wanted to be sure to watch out for landmarks and anything else that could get him home. When they stopped he watched Holt refuel their little shuttle and then he stepped out to sit at one of the tables with Holt. Taking the food offered to him, he did his best to remember the diplomacy course that all the cadets were forced to take. Carefully peeling the plastic back he took a bite of the food and did his best to keep a neutral facial expression. It tasted strange and the texture was most peculiar. After the second and third bite he was a little more used to the strange food and tried to convey his appreciation with a nod and a "Mmm."

"Glad you like it. I was afraid I would have to throw it away." he said before taking another bite. It seed as if these aliens had a similar diet, or at least, hat was what he thought. Holt pulled out his phone to check it there was any news, if only to pass the time. Murder, political elections, sales, they all seemed repetitive and nothing noteworthy. He continued to eat his sandwich and scroll through the site until a strange title caught his eye. "Mysterious, crashed aircraft found in Black forest!" The title was supported with a great number of photographs containing police officers surrounding the space craft and the road on which he had found Clark. It nearly made him spit out his sandwich. He selected a picture with the spaceship and three officers, and showed it to Clark. "This doesn't look good...".

While they were eating the man seemed to be more interested in engaging with a little pad of sorts. Clark let him do as he pleased until Holt flashed a picture at him. The man seemed quite insistent that night to go into the forest and now he was wanting him to acknowledge the ship. With a shrug Clark did his best to dismiss the image.

Holt was surprised at Clark's lack of concern. Perhaps he didn't know of the consequences this would have? Maybe there really was nothing of importance in it? Regardless, this could only be a bother later on. For now, he would focus on getting Clark and himself to Amsterdam. Then again, there wasn't any rush to their destination. Holt shot Clark a look of suspicion before chuckling and giving Clark and himself a can of coke. "Well, if you aren't concerned with your ship, that must mean there's nothing to worry about. Or that you simply don't care... Anyways, have a coke. You might like it." he said. "Please don't throw it away." his thoughts rang.

Why the man was laughing he could only guess. It was going to take a few weeks to understand what he was saying and even then he knew that it would take longer to start speaking the language. Accepting the drink he chose to use the same little diplomatic skills as before. Regardless of how useless the course on diplomacy seemed at the time it was working out in his favor now. With the first sip his brow twitched as he fought the urge to frown, but he managed to gulp it down quickly. It was better to get it over with. However, it was a poor choice. Now he could feel the fizzling sensation crawl up the back of his throat and into his nose before a massive belch formed.

"Don't like it? Hopefully it doesn't give you diarrhea. Or whatever it's alien counterpart may be." he said in a flat tone. It was clear Clark wasn't very fond of sugar. He would make note of that. Finishing his sandwich, Holt got up from his table and went to buy more supplies. And this time, he would not hold back. He bought 4 more sandwiches and put them in the back seat of his car. He sat back next to Clark and lit up a cigarette. He took a long drag and had enough decency to not blow the smoke towards the alien. One thing that still bothered Holt was the simple presence of the fact that he didn't know what kind of music Clark liked. Last time it didn't end very well. After the thought crossed his mind, he pointed at the radio hanging above them. It was playing a track that wasn't very familiar to him. A cross between a guitar solo and electro swing. It wasn't the best track, but he wondered what Clark's thoughts were. "So? Does it bother you? Seems a bit slower than the last song I played." he pointed out.

They were in the car for only a few minutes and the man was already turning on the music again. Clark rubbed his forehead and glanced at Holt. Again, whatever the man was saying he didn't know and he just shook his head. What was he supposed to say? Finally he reached over and turned the dial till he heard a talking program. He wanted to learn the language and know the news. That was important and this was one way to make sure he was immersed in the language so he could know what was being said around him.

"I'm guessing you don't like that either. Oh well." he said as he threw his cigarette away. He couldn't help him until he got to Amsterdam, and even then the options were limited. It was a long road to travel, and it was undoubtedly going to be be boring for both of them. Holt took a quick swig of the brandy he had bought an hour ago, and continued to focus on the road. "Hopefully I'll find a way to understand you. Or else this is going to be torture for the both of us.".
 
Anne took a deep breath and walked towards the escalators. Nervously she looked around to see if she would see someone following her, but honestly, she had no idea where to look for. Normally she would mind walking Amsterdam by herself surrounded by people but, now she felt lonely. She wished Fleur would have been here to cheer her up, or her father although he would probably become very nervous and only make her more afraid. Anne sighed and looked at Faith, the presence of the woman comforted her even though she didn’t really know her at all.

Before Anne knew it the escalator had brought them down and they had to pass through the little gates. Anne walked up to one and hold her card in front of the scanner. The scanner peeped and the gate opened to let her through. When Anne walked through the gate she looked behind to see if Faith would follow her. Whilst she waited she opened her backpack to put her card back into the front pocket.
 
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