Chapter Twenty-Four

Aidan stepped wearily out of the interrogation room, stretching his tired, stiff muscles. The police had dragged them out of the warehouse so fast, he hadn't even seen the others. He'd been at the Lawrencia Police Station for hours, recounting their story over and over, when suddenly, a detective stepped into the room, telling him that he was free to go.

As he turned into a small waiting room, he let out a long, relieved sigh at the five familiar figures, sprawled out across the chairs. "My God. You all managed to survive?"

"With ease, good sir," Tobias said, waving his good hand in the air. "Takes more than that to get us down!"

"I'm going to die," Loki groaned, slumping over in his chair.

"You're going to die?" Silas intoned, throwing the boy a withering glance.

"They threw me across the room, Si."

"I broke your fall. Don't complain."

"Well, does anyone need my attention?" asked Aidan with a nervous laugh.

"If you don't mind, doc..." Theo clambered off of her husband's lap, wincing and holding a hand to her stomach. "Anton busted up his fist."

"I told you, it's nothing," Anton sighed.

Aidan, on the other hand, eyed Anton's bruised knuckles with a grimace. "Looks painful."

"You should see the other guy's face," Theo replied, grinning.

"I take it your little fiasco went well, then?" Aidan raised an eyebrow.

"Beautifully, actually," Tobias purred. "I literally beat them with one arm tied behind my back."

"With me there to bail you out," Silas supplied.

"Don't forget us," Loki piped up, his gesture taking in Theo and Anton as well as himself.

"Why, never!" Tobias said. "All three of you were invaluable in--"

"You can tell me about it later." Aidan's expression turned serious. "Have you seen her?"

"No." Silas frowned. "They kept us all separate during the interrogation, and they just released us a few minutes ago..."

"Aidan." Theo nudged the doctor with her toe. "There she is."

Aidan turned back to the hallway, his shoulders sinking with the draining tension as he saw his sister being led down the hall by the detective that had released him earlier. As he stepped forward, ready to speak, the detective cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"You all can leave, for now," he said, his voice heavy, "but we can't let you leave town just yet. We're putting you up in a motel for the night... Miss Connors has the information."

"So you believe us?" asked Tobias.

"Well, I was inclined not to... but your story's been corroborated. We're still on the phone with Mr. Demakis--" At this, Theo exchanged a look with her husband, an unspoken 'I told you so.' "And after the little ringleader flipped, so did the rest of the lackeys. We're picking up the rest of the alleged co-conspirators right now."

"Wait," Aidan interrupted. "Ringleader?"

The detective gestured over his shoulder, to a man being lead down the hallway in handcuffs. Hawthorne was staring straight ahead, but as if on cue, turned to look at them. With a wink and a grin, he rounded the corner and out of sight.

"I thought he was looking for a deal," the detective continued, "but he didn't want it. Said he just wants to go to prison for the rest of his life for what he's done. Not that I don't appreciate it -- y'don't get many criminals that repentant -- but something about that guy freaks me out." With a shrug, the detective bade them goodnight, and walked away.

As the group stared at the spot where Hawthorne had been, Tobias let out a low whistle. "You have to admire the guy a little, don't you?"

"No," Aidan and Anton said simultaneously.

Theo shot a grin at the two men before turning to Lily. "Where's that motel, sweetie?"

"Barely two blocks down," Lily said.

"Let's get Blue Heaven, then!" Tobias bounced to his feet.

"Ahh... they're putting the van up for the night." Lily shrugged sheepishly.

"You mean... they're driving it? Parking it?" Without hesitating, Loki jumped out of the chair and bolted down the hall.

"He's alive!" Tobias exclaimed triumphantly, holding both hands in the air.

"I better go with him," Theo laughed, starting to follow. "They might reconsider letting us go if Loki kills the guy."

"Theo." Anton stood, grabbing her by the arm, and pulled her into a long, deep kiss. She stood awkwardly, eyes wide open with shock, before relaxing into it slowly. As Anton let her go, she stumbled backwards, giggling. "I'll... just be going to get Loki now." She turned, nearly bumping into a wall, and walked in the direction of the redhead's exit.

As Anton turned to Silas with a smug smile, the gray-haired man sighed. "What do you want, a medal?"

---

After prying Loki away from his beloved van, the seven of them strolled down the darkened street in a comfortable silence. By then, the early hours of morning were growing late; the streetlights started to fade as the sky filled with a dim, blue light, signaling the impending sunrise. Finally, Tobias spoke.

"Don't worry about the money, Miss Lily," he said with a smile.

"Yeah," Silas added, "this one's on the house. Employee discount."

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of not paying you." Lily's expression turned mischievous. "Maybe I'll take it out of my dad's bank account. As a birthday present for the next few years, y'know?"

"Oho!" Tobias laughed. "I'm liking this side of you, Miss Lily."

"Good, because I really am this callous," Lily said with a jovial shrug.

"So..." Silas turned to Tobias. "What're your brilliant plans for us, Tobias?"

"Oh, I don't know..." Tobias smiled slowly. "I was thinking we could get real jobs now!" When Silas stared, mouth open, Tobias laughed. "What? I can't yearn for the simple pleasures?"

"That is not funny," Silas reprimanded.

"I'm not joking! We could sell the house, move into Beverly, and open up a fish market."

"Actually," Theo interjected, "I always wanted to be a skydiving instructor."

"Absolutely not," Anton said automatically.

"Fine..." Theo pouted. "Spoilsport."

"What about you, Loki?" Tobias asked.

"Me?" A slow grin spread across Loki's face. "I could drive the delivery truck for the fish market. And do drag races on the side, of course."

"Good choice." Tobias turned to his partner. "Si?"

"Like I'd ever want any of you as coworkers."

"So you say." Tobias wrapped his good arm around Silas' shoulders, before turning to Aidan. "How about you, Aidan? Do you want to work with me, or perform autopsies on Theo's students?"

Aidan allowed a short laugh. "Doesn't matter. Whatever money we don't need is going into Lily's college fund."

"I have to go back to school?" his sister protested.

"I thought you loved school."

"... just seems sort of anticlimactic now." Lily looked up. "Oh, that's the motel."

"Seems sorta small, doesn't it?" Loki tilted his head to one side.

"Cinemax!" Tobias yelped, reading the marquee. "Si, they have Cinemax!"

"Nothing's on at this hour but porn." Silas didn't have to look at the younger man to know his expression. "Don't you dare."

"They called ahead and booked two rooms for us... each room has two double beds," Lily explained.

"We'll split it four and three, I guess," Theo said.

"Loki can stay in our room, right?" Lily asked Aidan.

"... we'll order him a cot," Aidan said, between gritted teeth.

"Does that mean I have to share a bed with you again?" Silas sighed to Tobias.

"We can get a cot for you, as well," Tobias said innocently. "Since I know you wouldn't dream of denying an injured man the good bed."

"To hell with that. Just stick to your side."

Still bickering cheerfully, they filed into the lobby.

---

"Well... this is it, girly." Loki stretched as they entered their room, wincing. "A little more spacious than I thought, I guess... where'd your brother go?"

"He wanted some air." Lily's eyes fell on a tear in Loki's sweatshirt, dotted in rust-colored stains. "Did you get cut on something?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah..." Loki glanced at it. "It's nothing."

"With all the dirt in that warehouse? It could get infected." Lily walked towards the bathroom. "There's a first aid kit in here. Take that hoodie off so I can get to it."

"What?" Loki choked. "In front of you?"

"What are we, twelve?" Lily snorted. "You're wearing something under it, aren't you?"

"Well yeah... but..."

"No buts. Take it off." She entered again with the first aid kit in her hand, smirking. Reddening, Loki pulled off the sweatshirt, tugging his black tank top down self-consciously to cover his stomach. She took in the gash in his arm, sighing. "I've gotten worse injuries on my bicycle."

"Sh-Shut up!" he huffed, sitting on the bed. "Like you said, it could be infected, right? And it really hurts?"

"Do you want me to kiss it better?" she laughed.

"... n-n-no, that's okay," he mumbled, staring at the floor as she began to dab disinfectant on his arm. "You... you really freaked me out earlier, you know."

"Sorry." She had the decency to look embarrassed. "Those days're over, I guess."

"Trust me, Lily, those days'll never be over for you."

"Maybe..." As she smoothed the bandage across his skin, she looked thoughtful. "... what should I do now?"

"What?" He looked up at her. "Well... you are sixteen. Why not do normal person stuff, for a change?"

She stared back at him, their faces so close that their noses almost touched. "What do normal people do, Loki?"

"... it's... it's a very complicated procedure, almost impossible to explain. But I can show you!" he added quickly. "We'll do normal person things tomorrow, together. Okay?"

As she finished, she bit her lip, nodding. "I think I'd like that." Slowly, she stood. "I think I'm going to go get Aidan... I'll be back in a minute." She turned towards the door, began to walk, then, quickly, strode back to him and wrapped her arms around his head. From his vantage point, tucked under her chin, he couldn't see her face, but he felt her fingers curl around his hair, heard her pulse quicken slightly and her breath catch in her throat. Then, with a final squeeze, she turned and left.

Loki sat still for a few minutes, his expression blank as he thought. Then he clambered off of the bed, walking to the next room over and opening the door. "Hey, guys?"

Anton and Theo looked up from where they sat, entwined, on the bed, and Silas and Tobias stopped their conversation. "What's wrong, Loki?" asked Theo.

"What're some... y'know... normal people things I can show Lily?" Loki fidgeted. "I mean... what do 'normal' people do?"

Theo stretched out her free arm, an invitation for Loki to sit down, and wrapped it around his shoulders as he did so. "Well... normal is pretty subjective."

"Not so, dear." Tobias smiled. "I think we all have some 'normal people' traits. Si and I have high school degrees, like lots of normal people."

"Normal people get married," Theo supplied, exchanging a glance with her husband. "And have kids, but we'll let that one slide for now."

"Talk to me about it in five years." Anton rested his head against hers.

"Normal people watch Cinemax in the early hours of morning!" Tobias offered.

"Don't push it," Silas shot back.

"So... I guess normal kids like cars, huh?" Loki said hesitantly.

"Exactly! We've got a pretty good line-up of normalcy here." Tobias clapped his hands together. "All together, I think that makes up... one normal person."

"... so basically, the five of us only constitute one functioning person?" Silas raised an eyebrow.

"... is that an issue?" Tobias asked.

"Fine by me," Theo laughed.

"Makes things interesting," Loki reasoned.

"If you insist," Anton made a low 'hmph' sound.

Looking around, Silas let out a long sigh. "I guess it can't be helped."

---

"Aidan! Heads up!"

Aidan's hand shot out instinctively, his fingers closing around a cold, metal object. As he opened his palm and looked down at the room key, he glanced up at Tobias as he approached.

"I thought you should hold onto it," Tobias laughed. "Miss Lily has the other one, and I wouldn't trust Loki not to lose it for all the gold in China."

"Thanks," Aidan said dryly, leaning against the wall with his employer. "Why don't you get to sleep? You look exhausted."

"I'll be up for a little while longer. Until the adrenaline wears off, at least." Tobias smiled. "So, Dr. Connors... don't you find all this a little ironic?"

Aidan glanced at him. "Ironic how?"

"Oh, you know, all this." Tobias waved a hand. "We picked the two of you up, but you're the ones that got us all the way here... that is irony, right?"

"Sorry, Tobias," Aidan laughed. "That's still not irony."

"Just unlucky, right?"

"... no." Aidan smiled. "Not entirely unlucky."

A moment passed in silence as they listened to the distant sounds of the highway, before Tobias snapped to attention. "Wasn't Miss Lily with you?"

"Huh? She's with Loki."

"Loki said she came to find you."

"... oh, God, not again..." Aidan strode out into the parking lot. "Lily! Lily!"

"Aidan." The doctor jumped as Tobias came up behind him, touching his shoulder. Wordlessly, his employer pointed to the second floor of the motel.

Lily stood on the edge of the balcony, facing the skeletal remains of her home. A small, square object clutched in one hand, and a piece of notebook paper in the other. She took the square object and drew something long and thin from it, striking them against each other and producing a small pinprick of light. She set the matchbox down, and held the match against Edward Vandoren's inscription -- the only piece of the notebook not filed into evidence -- and let it go. A gust of wind carried it a few feet before it crumbled into ashes, destroying the last standing structure of the once-powerful city.

"Lily!" Aidan called again. The girl whipped around, more surprised than afraid, and upon seeing her brother, her face transformed into a smile. But it wasn't the guarded half-smile he'd grown used to in the past few months. It was a smile that carried nothing.

"C'mon, Miss Lily! We've got Cinemax down here!" Tobias called, sidestepping Aidan as he swung at him. Lily laughed visibly, and turned back for one split-second, watching as the blue light of early morning melted into pink and gold.

Slowly, she descended the stairs.

THE END

(A/N: And that was In Descending Order! Thanks so much for reading! If you are reading, do leave a comment or something? This was my first full-length story, so I want to know how I did!)