"Since when?"

It was official now...Gwen absolutely hated her cat with a burning passion, burning hotter than the fireplace she constantly kept on in an effort to warm her too-cold bones. She'd been lying to herself for years now about loving the little bastard but she was wrong, wrong that his nasty attitude was amusing, wrong that his scruffy face was cute, wrong that he was just a poor abandoned soul like she was who deserved all the love in the world but had to make do with an emotionally stunted assassin who's one saving grace was her ability to protect him from the other cats who nipped at his furry little ankles.

The reason, the young girl found herself in such a state over her cat, was because he'd decided to change up his usual method of waking her by smothering her in his fur...and apparently had taken to causing absolute mayhem in her kitchen by tipping everything over that had been left on the bench, which had forced her awake with her heart in her throat and eyes wild as she rushed down the stairs, prepared to face what she'd thought was a threat head-on with the breeze outside nothing short of threatening...only to find her scruffy monster on the floor helping himself to the fish she'd been storing away.

Which of course, had lead to her spending her morning on her knees scubbing the floor clean, exhausted after another tiring night filled with bloodshed and trauma and adventures in flirtation with the Fahey boy that she was spending more and more time with, it having almost been three weeks since their fated meeting and finding that it seemed her work was never going to be done as she set to it.

And perhaps, realistically, it probably should of taken her half an hour at the most...but Gwen had to keep pausing ever couple of minutes or so, her eyes screwing shut tightly, a thin sheen of sweat dancing over her forehead as she tried desperately not to start heaving whenever her fingers brushed against the fish guts, brushed against anything that was seen as dirty.

Having to stand up on trembling legs and rush oner to the basin that was constantly filled with water and wash her hands until they were rubbed raw and bleeding, the once clean water now pink with her morality, meaning she had to empty it, then fill it up again before going back to washing the floor only to repeat the process, over and over and over again until she was sobbing in the crook of her arm, just not wanting to be dirty anymore, to not feeling like a thousand spiders were crawling over her body every time she did so much as step in a muddy puddle.

So yes, unfortunately, it had taken her the whole morning for her kitchen to be back up to standard, and by the time she was done, it just happened to be Scruffy's dinner time, who made it known by meowing at her constantly, shifting between her legs, threatening to trip her up as she cursed and swore at him in frustration. And there was a spiteful part of her that wanted to just make him miss dinner, teach him a lesson about respecting those who feed you...but she couldn't bring herself to be so cruel, not to her pet, not to her one familar in all of her lonesome glory.

And it was because of that softness buried under layers of brutality did Gwen find herself down at Ketterdam market, practically zombified as she moved from stall to stall with dark bags under her eyes, her lips cracked from dehydration and her hair somewhat of a ratty mess, knowing that she looked rather pathetic indeed but at the point where she was far too tired to care.

Plus, she knew that there wasn't a risk of running into her unknowing inside man, because from what she'd observed the night before, Jesper was going to be on some type of job for the Brekker boy and she'd be lying if she said that there's wasn't some relief that settled into her aching bones. Three weeks, the fucking weeks she'd been going on these dates with the sharpshooter and yet she barely had anything to show for it, all she'd wanted was information about Dirtyhands, anything at all and instead she'd gotten everything in between.

She could tell you all about why the colour blue was better than the colour orange, she could tell you what the corpse witch's favourite type of waffle was, she could even tell you about some strange something named Milo and everything about him...something that she'd then had to spend the afternoon comforting Jesper about while trying and failing to hold back the frustrated twitch of her left brow...but through all of that useless chatter there hadn't been a single scrap ot anything that could be used against Brekker to make him hurt.

The assassin let out a quiet grunt as she was reminded of her frustration, digging her tongue into the side of her cheek with a hum as she stopped at another little stall, looking down at the knitted fabrics of pillows and cloths and clothing tiredly, barely resisting the urge to yawn as she turned around, ready to walk away...only to freeze when she caught sight of something in the corner of her eye, muscles tensing and gaze growing glassy as she slowly twisted her head...and looked right into the button eyes of a stuffed goat as the wind began to howl.

"Gwen! Come here, we have something for you." It was Jordie's voice that broke her from her half asleep state where she lay curled up in a ball under a small archway hidden away from view, large eyes of cerulean blue fluttering open as her brows furrowed in tired confusion as she grumbled and groaned, her small hand instantly searching for Archibald, her goat, only to grasp air in his place...and then she suddenly scowled slowly as she remembered just why she'd gone to sleep in such a huff in the first place.

Kaz had managed to make her drop Archibald in the murky Ketterdam waters while they were walking yesterday, all it had taken was one timely shove and she'd been stumbling clumsily over her own two feet on a narrow bridge, and the only reason that she didn't end up joining her beloved stuffed toys fate was because of their older brothers quick reflexes as he'd lunged forward, grabbing the back of her shirt and yanking her back into the safety of his arms as she'd gasped, frozen in shock for a few terrible moments before she'd buried her head into his neck with a heaving sob, all the while Kaz begged for her forgiveness right beside her.

She sat up, scrubbing her hand down her cheek and then frowning at the dirt that covered her fingertips when she pulled it away with a grimace, struggling to stand up on her skinny legs as they trembled just slightly, knocking together at her bony knees as the wind howled around her, dancing across her skin in gentle caresses that she didn't pay attention to as she stumbled away to try and find where her brothers voices had come from, feeling stripped bare and defenceless without the familiar comfort of her stuffed goat in her arms.

But when she wandered around the corner of the alleyway they all currently took refuge, she felt suspicion curl inside her empty and hollow stomach, because standing just in front if her was Kaz and Jordie, both dripping wet, dirty and to be quite frank, stinky with grins on their faces that made her every instinct scream at her to run as fast as her legs could carry her. After all, it never ended well for anyone when their siblings looked at them like that, and the last time the two had wore such mischievous smiles, she'd ended up with frog spawn in her shoes and they'd ended up with matching bruises after she'd thrown said shoes at their stupid heads.

The young girl look a step back slowly with her eyes narrowed in cautious fashion, trying to inconspicuously look over their shoulders for a hint if what they were hiding behind their backs, but considering both Jordie and Kaz were lanky little bastards that resembled a pair of skinny trees more than boys, it was safe to say she wasn't getting anywhere with that approach as she instead chose to cross her arms over her chest and frown in indignation. "What do you want? Going to push me off a bridge again?"

"I've already said sorry, Gwen. It was an accident, really, you know I'd never hurt you on purpose." Kaz whined, shoulders dropping as he pouted at her, almost wishing that she'd go back to giving him the silent treatment that had lasted a ground breaking record of three hours the night before, because having his sister quiet was a very rare instance indeed, and he preferred it alot more to when she started to get snappy. She may of only been eight, but she went straight for the jugular when it came down to arguments, and he didn't plan on getting a new insecurity every time she opened her mouth.

"It wasn't me you hurt! You killed Archibald!"

"It's just a stuffed t- we aren't getting into this again!" He cut himself off with a grumble, his hands clenching over something soft and damp hidden behind his back as he took a breath, glancing up to Jordie who nodded at him reassuringly, the older boy far quicker to forgive him than the young girl, though he'd made sure that he'd rectified his mistake. 'All we have is each other now' he's said to him quietly when night fell and Gwen had fallen asleep, still whimpering with her head on his lap. 'So we have to stick together no matter what, it's the only way we'll make it.'

"Why are you two so dirty anyway? You look like gross swamp monsters." Gwen wrinkled her nose in disgust, still keeping a safe distance away from them just in case it was a stupid prank, becoming even more uneasy when the two looked at each other and smiled...getting ready to turn tail and run back to her little corner as her muscles tensed and her heart skipped a beat...only to freeze when Kaz pulled something out from behind his back, something that had definitely seen better days with one black eye missing and it's fur a murky grey instead of white, but a familiar sight all the same.

"Archibald!" She cried, rushing towards her brothers, heart in her throat and tears in her eyes as she snatched the teddy out if his arms and into hers, trembling fingers stroking over the damp cotton that was its 'fur' with a smile so bright it made the sun itself dull in its place, so innocent and loving that it made the two boys feel at home as she looked up at them with a grin."Thanks Jordie!"

"Don't thank me. It was Kaz who really got it for you, I was just there to make sure he didn't drown." He said, running his hand through his little brothers hair who fussed while Gwen paused, pursing her lips and glancing at Kaz with a certain caution in her gaze...and then after a long and drawn out minute, she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him close as she giggled, mumbling that he was forgiven into his shoulder as he sighed in relief. All the while Jordie watched the two, ignoring his stomach's sharp pangs of hunger before he joined them, looping his arms over their shoulders to bring them into his chest.

However, the moment had been ruined when Gwen had started squirming, the smell leaking from their clothes finally catching up to her nostrils and making her gag as she tried to pull away, but the boys just held her tighter, laughing at her misfortune as she squealed and cursed at them both, aiming kicks for their shins and punches to their sides, but then, suddenly Jordie starts coughing violently, pushing himself away and heaving into the crook of his elbow, shaking his head to clear up the sudden dizzy spell as his siblings stared at him in a fear, something he quickly calmed with a smile.

"Don't worry, I'm fine, it's probably just a cold."

Gwen scoffed scornfully as the memory faded, jaw clenching as her eyes filled with sudden tears and snatching her hand back to be by her side as it trembled before she started walking away as fast as her legs could carry her without earning strange looks from the people around her. We'll be alright as long as we have each other, he used to say, and yet barely even a week later they were both gone, leaving her alone in Ketterdam with bloody hands and terrible grief that ate at her insides like pecking crows, taking a piece of her with every passing day until there was hardly anything left except her monstrous skills of death.

She used to wonder, years ago, what they'd think if they could see her now, would Jordie appreciate her cold ambition as the kruge rolled in and she lost whatever semblance of innocence or humanity she once had? Would Kaz blink up at her with disgust with those blue eyes that were once so similar to hers, calling her a monster, a killer, all of those things and more? Would she even tell them? Would she even become the Stranger if they were still warm and alive beside her?

But she'd long since learned to not ask those questions, not anymore because all that came from it was spiralling self hatred and grief that threatened to swallow her whole.

The fish had already been bought, stored into one of her bags, and now she seen no point in staying...no longer curious about the new fabrics, the pretty flowers or various genres of books to look at, something she could of given herself as a way to pass her time but now she just wanted to go home, not really knowing why she'd even bothered to linger in the first place as she started to stroll away, moving through the crowds of people with her brows set in a constant frown and her hands clenched into tight fists in an effort to stop their trembling.

However, she felt like she'd barely took no more than a few simple steps away from the market to begin her journey home before she felt the wind begining to whisper to her in some kind of dreadful warning, picking up the sound of three accelerated heartbeats pounding in her ears like ringing drums, adrenaline rushing through veins, excitement and caution heavy in the air like a bad smell...and she realized quickly that she wasn't going on the walk home alone.

Gwen kept her back straight, starting to hum an idle tune under her breath with a skip to her step, practically dancing over the crooked cobblestones below her as her ever darkening eyes flickered from place to place, trying to find somewhere she could lead her pursuers away from the public eye, turning this way and that until she'd finally found a rather dark and dingy looking alleyway, and although the very sight of it caused her to almost gag, she moved towards it, ignoring her trauma, and ignoring her phobia because she was tired of letting it control her.

She was the Stranger, men bowed to her, women resented her and children feared her...she was no longer a fragile little girl scared of the monsters of Ketterdam, she was a storm with skin and worse than the lot of them, and soon, even she would have no choice but to succumb to her own devastating force of will or reap the consequences.

Her hands had made some good mistakes, and as the men slipped into the alleyway behind her, she knew that they could always make better ones as she turned to face them slowly with a smile sharper than any blade, sharper than death or sin as she allowed her gaze to roam over their faces, first staring at the short jittery one that had his hand wrapped around a knife that was pointing towards her rather pathetically as he did so and twitching something uncanny as she quirked a brow dully. "And what can I do for you three fine gentlemen, hm?"

"Jus' give us th bags, ain't no one has to get hur'."

"I don't think it's quite your colour. Perhaps something black to match your teeth?" She grinned, wriggling her brows as she started the short man down and obviously not looking as half as threatened as she should as she cocked her hip out to the side, hands slowly moving behind her back as she began to draw sharpest in the air and feeling the ever present breeze begining to wash over her, embracing her skin like a welcome of home as she kept her gaze firmly trained on the men in front of her.

But it was the tallest one that stepped forward, glaring down at her like she was shit upon his ratty shoes, his dirty hands moving down to where his belt lay to flash her the pistol by his side and she almost scoffed in amusement. She'd never seen the use of guns, never really seen their appeal but even she knew that compared to Jesper's pretty revolvers, his gun was nothing short of pathetic before he spoke to her quietly. "We aren't here to play games, cunt. Give us the bag, or things are going to turn ugly. You think I want to go home with your dead and rotting corpse on my conscience?"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that...because you won't be going home."

Thunder rolled through the sky overhead as the clouds began to close in, and then Gwen struck faster than any viper and moved, jabbing her hand into his neck, the wind bending to her will as it invisibly wound around the man's throat like a constricting vice and brought him down to his knees as he choked on nothing but his own spit, hands desperately clawing at his neck to try and catch his breath but she was already moving away from him, slamming the heel of her foot in the jittery one's chest and using a sudden breeze to send him soaring into the wall with a disgusting crack.

And then she turned to the final would-be mugger with a grin brimming with chaos only to grunt in pain as she felt his fist bowl into her stomach, forcing her back a few paces as she grabbed the wounded area with a pant, but just as she took a step back, disaster struck as her foot slid out from underneath her as she slipped on something and fell down onto the ground below her, her hands instantly moving behind her to try and soften the blow only to feel them sink into something vile, sticky and thick, seeping into the crevices and imperfections of her fingers as she froze.

Bile began to fill her mouth, eyes becoming glassy as her whole body began to shiver and shake...she didn't even have to look, didn't have to glance down to know what she'd placed her hand in...because she knew the vile consistency of sick better than anyone, and almost instantly she began to gag and heave, frantically moving away from the liquid and scraping her hands across the rough floor urgently, uncaring that her hands were bleeding, uncaring that it hurt because she just wanted it off.

She couldn't breathe, she could hardly see through her teary gaze as she scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed at her hands desperately until it was all gone and there was only her bloody palms, just wanting to be clean, and it wasn't until she felt the sharp sting of a knife to her throat did she come back into the present, eyes wide as she stared up at the sweating man in front of her who kept the long blade pressing down into her mortal flesh, a threat, a promise as she continued to gasp with hitched breath and an fluttering heart beat, awaiting the final blow.

And then there was a sudden noise cutting through the air, so quick that Gwen hardly even had time to blink at the loud bang of what she knew to be a gunshot as the blade was sent clattering to the floor out of his hand as he cried out, blood spurting out from the hole in his wrist as she blinked up at him, mouth hanging open in shock...before she slowly turned her head to the side where a familar face stared back at her, pistols drawn and grey eyes harder than steel as he glared at the man currently screaming like a little girl.

"Now that's no way to treat a lady, is it?" Jesper smiled sarcastically, and Gwen found her lips helplessly mouthing his name in shock, and then she realized very quickly how this looked, her practically sobbing on the floor with her attempted mugger hanging over her while the Zemeni boy could play her hero, and she didn't like that, no, she despised that. She hadn't spent year upon year saving herself just for someone else to step in and do it for her, she wasn't a weak and defenceless child anymore, and with that thought it mind she stood up on shaking legs and swung for the man, bony knuckles ramming into his jaw and knocking him unconscious.

"Are you alright, love?"

But even as he spoke those words he was already right in front of her, his warm hand cupping her cheek as he looked over her for any sign of wounds, and although everything inside her told her to snap, to shout, to show him just how dangerous she could be instead of a barrel rat that needed saving...she couldn't, not yet anyway, so instead she swallowed the venom pooling upon her treacherous tongue to smile up at him softy and nod her head, trying not to lean into the gentle touch, contradicting to thexrage inside her strangely. "Yeah, I'm fine, looks like you came in just in time."

He looked relieved at her words, grey eyes holding her gaze as his shoulders sagged for half a second...and then he did something that suprised her, that made her freeze in shock...as she watched him slowly bring her bruised and bloody hands up to his mouth and place a gentle kiss upon her knuckles, so soft and as gentle as a swoop of a butterflies wing as she blinked at him, humming in displeasure at her wounds and not even noticing her rather accurate portrayal of a statue as her mouth opened and closed, trying to form any words only for him to beat her too it as he chuckled.

"I've got to say gorgeous, that was one hell of a swing. Colour me impressed."

Gwen didn't know what to say to that really, her mind far too jumbled at the mere caress of his pretty lips against her ruined hand to think straight, and it was only when she noticed how dirty her hands looked did she finally break from her trace, ripping her palms from his to rummage through her bag desperately, finding the rag that she constantly kept on her person soaked with rubbing alcohol and instantly pressing it onto her skin, viciously scrubbing and ignoring the sting as she looked up into his worried gaze with a reassuring grin. "Just don't want it to get infected, sharpshooter. The last thing I need is to lose a hand."

"Of course, and what pretty hands they are." Jesper matched her smile but stepped forward again and, looking slightly green around the gills, began to help her clean them thoroughly without her callous toughness just so surprisingly gentle as he got to work, like she was made of glass and the softness had her squirming in her skin, restless and unused to such touch, and when he finally stepped back, there was a mixture of relief and longing that took his place. "Anyways...I do believe we had a date before those gents so rudely interrupted."

"We did? Since when?"

"Well, not really. But since you've brought it up I am absolutely famished, dinner on me?" He offered her his arm, wiggling his brows all the while and she almost laughed in disbelief at his nonchalant attitude before slipping back into her role, smiling brightly and practically dancing towards him as she linked their arms together and looked up at him with absolute stars in her eyes, trying to ignore the strange fluttering in her stomach when he rested his head atop of hers as he lead her away...looks like her work really was never done.