Chapter Text
The neighborhood was quiet, plics of the cold water droplets, leftover from the cold autumn rain, falling into big puddles on the floor, and crickets singing in the dead of the night, being the only sounds that accompanied M, as she walked around the silent streets, flashlight on, and gun behind her back. She had lost H, and now was stuck all by herself in the streets of her old home.
Other than fear and anticipation, a pinch of nostalgia was felt in her heart and mind, as she looked at the dark houses all around, reminiscing about her old life. It had been so many years since she's seen this area... what an odd coincidence, to have a job here, of all places..
A shadow flew by her, in her peripheral vision, and she turned on her heels, flashing a light at the place where she heard the sound.
Nothing.
She sighed, heart beating in her chest, and slowly kept walking forward, looking around for any sign of life. She bit her lip. The house she was walking towards… that was her old home, wasn't it?
She shook her head, frowning and looking to the left, where she heard a sound. She had to concentrate right now. She didn't have H to back her up at that moment. If she didn't get her act back together, she could actually end up dead.
She walked to the entrance of the house, striding over what was once the door, and looked inside.
"Anyone here?" She asked loudly, gun pointed in front of her. She never knew, maybe the Terrantian she was looking for was unstable. Which was very possible. It was a Terrantian.
Shuffling could be heard upstairs, and M's head jolted upwards. Not good.
If the alien had gone into one of the rooms, who knows what he could've done to the people sleeping there?
M's eyes quickly scanned the place first, and she took notice of the fact that there wasn't any furniture. No tables, no chairs, no cabinets, nothing. She thought it was a bit odd. Maybe the residents were moving out?
But the smell. The house smelled like old, slightly worn down wood, and dust.
She assumed there hadn't been any residents living there for a long long time. She relaxed a bit. At least, with no witnesses, this operation would go more smoothly.
She made her way to the staircase, walking in just the right spots so the stairs wouldn't creak. After all this time, she still remembered..
She finally got to the second floor, and looked around. The sounds were coming from her old bedroom. She swore under her breath. "No, no.. Anything but there!" She silently tiptoed to the room, and quickly jumped in.
A very big and fluffy Terrantian was there, sitting on the floor, back facing the agent. As he heard her, he turned around. He was wearing a white buttoned up shirt, suspenders pressing against his chest and attaching themselves to his pants, the entire outfit seeming pretty worn down and dirty, just like the rest of his fur. It looked as if he hadn't seen a bath in forever.
But most importantly, something was up with his face.
She knew who he was.
"L-Luca?" She mumbled, hand lowering her gun as she took a step forward.
He grunted, eyes widening. "Molly?"
It really was him.
But.. Why was he here?
Well, she could guess why. He probably never got the chance to find a new job, after the incident with Zira, and he probably came here for some sort of comfort, or familiarity. "Luca, what are you doing here? What happened to your shirt?" She asked, placing her gun back in its holster and walking closer to him. He moved back, as if he was.. afraid of her.
She stopped.
"I'm alone now. Zira is dead. And now, nobody will help." He mumbled, his animalistic face taking the expression of sadness. He scratched his messy cyan fur with his large hand, and looked away. "I don't know what to do."
M sighed, and crouched down to his height. My god, he was tall, even sitting down.
"Nobody?" She asked. Luca shook his head.
"I… I guess I could help you?" She then said.
He looked at her, and M saw hope in these sad, scared eyes of his. "Really?".
She nodded and smiled softly. "I did it before, I can do it again." Her face then scrunched a bit as she thought of something. "Wait.. did you kill Zira?"
He looked down, and after a second, nodded slowly. M sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, alright, should've seen that coming.."
"Will.. will you still help me?"
He was legit making puppy eyes at that point. Although it's not like she was going to say no, just seeing that made her blurt out a "Yeah! Of-of course I will!" Faster than she intended.
Luca smiled brightly, his big pointy teeth showing. They weren't as white as they once were. "Luca, how long have you been alone?"
She thought. "Can you stand up?"
Luca nodded. She stood up and him as well, the old wooden floor creaking under their steps as they walked outside.
The warm humid breeze hit her face as she walked back out, and she took a deep breath, looking around the empty streets.
"I'll have to find H first. He's the one with the car keys. I don't know where he is, though." She groaned, and rubbed a hand on her face in exasperation. "That idiot, I swear..". He'd get himself killed of he kept acting like that.
"Oh, the blonde man?" Lucas asked.
M gasped and turned to the Terrantian. "Y-yeah! Do you know where he is?"
Luca nodded. "He's over here. I saw him by the window earlier." He said, pointing to the opposite street. M smiled and tapped Luca's arm happily, as she couldn't reach his shoulder. "Wow, thanks man!"
Luca looked at his arm, and then at M. "No… problem.."
"Do you mind waiting in the house, at least until I get H's ass back here, with his car?" She asked. Luca nodded, and walked back to the entrance, hiding behind the walls. M started running to where H was, her arms flailing around to catch his attention. "H! What are you doing??" She yelled silently. He turned around, looked at her, and started running the opposite direction. M groaned, and started running faster. She tackled him, and pinned him down. He grunted and winced with the impact.
"H, what the fuck???" She asked loudly. H looked away. "I-I lost the car." He then mumbled after a few seconds of silence, with a defeated expression
M facepalmed, extending her hands to H, pulling them away, groaning, resisting the urge to strangle him, then giving up. She then stood up and breathed in deeply, then out. "I found the Terrantian." She then said. H stood up happily. "Well, that's good news, right?! We'll just turn him in, and then-"
"N-no…" she said, a bit softer. "It's Luca."
"Luca..?" H asked. He thought for a second, and then shrugged. "Nope, doesn't ring a bell."
M sighed. Curse his short term memory . "Luca Brasi?" She said, wondering if that alone would clear up his memory. H shrugged.
"The guy who helped us escape from Zira a few months back?" She added.
He shook his head. "Nah, don't know."
"He beat you up pretty badly???" She then said, exasperated.
H gasped at that last sentence. "Ooohhh, that guy!" He said, realization dawning upon him.
M rolled her eyes, and turned to the house. "Can you go find the car? He can't just... walk around the streets like this, EVEN if they're empty. Who knows who could see him?"
H nodded. "Just retrace your steps, you'll be fine I'm sure." She added, as she started to walk away. "Yeah, on it. See you in a minute!"
He said, before walking back to where he came from.
M chuckled, although she was a bit annoyed. As good of a fighter that he was, he could really be stupid sometimes..
She walked back inside the house, finding Luca, who was sitting on the floor next to the door. She sat next to him.
"Hey, so, uh.."
She scratched the back of her head nervously. Was it wise to ask him that? She knew Terrantians could be a bit sensitive with certain things.
"Why are you here? Like, here here." She asked. Luca stayed silent. Seems he didn't want to answer.
"Why are you so dirty? What happened to your suit?" She then asked, and as she looked at him, she realized his pants had a few holes, and he was missing a glove.
"I fell." He said in a low grunt.
M sighed. Seems he didn't want to talk.
At least he didn't get mad at her. She wondered why that was. Maybe he had some respect for her, considering she helped him out a lot.
H walked inside, car keys in his hands, and both M and Luca looked at him. "I found it! Now let's go!"
They got up, and walked to the car. The machine rocked and creaked when Luca got inside, and H looked behind him, a slightly worried look on his face. He started the car, and started driving.
"So, are we still going to HQ, or…" he asked. M shook her head. "No, of course not! If we go there he'll be in trouble!"
H sighed, passing a hand in his blonde locks nervously. "So.. where to we put him? Not my house, that's for sure." He said, looking at Luca. "He'd destroy the place, along with all my collectibles and awards!".
More and more lights could be seen flashing by, as they drove a bit nearer to the city. "How about your apartment?" He then asked, looking at M with hope. M chuckled nervously. "I mean, it's a small place. Would he even fit in there?" She then sighed and looked out of the window, at the passing buildings and people. Not like they really had a choice. It was better he'd go with her than with H. He definitely wouldn't be able to take care of Luca.
"Alright, whatever. He'll stay with me, at least until we can find a solution."
H nodded, and took a turn, changing his destination to M's apartment.
They arrived there, and that's when M realized the place was a mess.
"Oh!!" She exclaimed as they entered the apartment. H looked at her weirdly.
She quickly ran in her bedroom, blurting out an excuse for leaving Luca and H alone in the kitchen, as she started cleaning. All these papers on the bed? In her work desk. The clothes scattered on the floor? In her drawers and her closet. She then made her bed, blew some dust from her bookshelf, and then came back out, smiling and panting. "Okay! Now it's clean!" She announced proudly, pulling back a strand of hair from her face. She opened the door, to show Luca the place.
Her apartment was rather small, with its three pieces, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom, but it seemed big enough to accommodate the Terrantian. Luca looked around the room, and grunted in a satisfied way. He wasn't as talkative with H around, it seemed.
"Well, he seems happy." H said. "I'll still have to report something to C, you know that, right?"
M turned to him. "Just tell him we couldn't find him. He might lose interest when he stops acting up, since he'll be here now, and he can't do much harm here."
H nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right."
"Also, can you ask him if I'm allowed to take a few days off? Just tell him I'm sick or something." M then asked. "Really, I just wanna ask Luca a few questions. Maybe we'll know more about what he was doing."
"What, are you gonna seduce him? I thought that wasn't your type of gig?" H asked.
M groaned. "H, my god, I'm not gonna seduce him, that's what you do with your cases!" She then said, quietly, so Luca wouldn't hear. H gave her a thumbs up, and smiled. "Alright, well, gotcha! I'll make up something, don't worry."
M smiled back, and accompanied H to the door. "We can still keep in contact, I'll give you details about anything I'll be able to get from him. Also, bring him new clothes! His current ones are.. very dirty." H nodded, and he closed the door, leaving M alone. Well, alone with Luca.
She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be easy, but, again, when did she ever turn down a challenge?