Friday March, 2029

The Old Man, Michael, and Ella were far out of sight and the snow was coming down heavier. Daniel crossed his arms against his chest and hunched his shoulders. It was a bittersweet cold. Bitter because he was cold but sweet because he knew Ella wasn't. Still, he wished he had his coat over the thin, black, long-sleeved shirt he was wearing. He wanted to run in order to get to the town faster.

He could hear repeated sighing from Carver who walked three paces behind him.

"Get your ass up where I can see you." Daniel demanded.

Carver sighed again, "What, you don't trust me?"

"No."

Daniel refused to slow down so Carver sped his pace in order to walk beside him. "Are we going to talk about this?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because every fiber in my body wants to beat the shit out of you right now." Daniel replied gruffly, his voice scratching the back of his throat. He could feel the heat rush to his face- even hearing Carver's voice was enough to infuriate him.

"Why don't you?"

"I'm not talking about this right now." He pointed every word but his hands remained tucked under his arms. "Stop talking."

"You searched for me for three years... tracking me down to kill me. Now you won't even talk to me let alone try to get even?" Carver was intentionally pushing his buttons, his tone of voice flippant and mocking.

Without thinking about it; Daniel pivoted on his left foot, grabbed Carver's right shoulder in his left hand, brought his right fist back, and landed a solid blow to Carver's nose.

"Don't give me another reason." Daniel stated as Carver stumbled backwards, holding his gushing nose in his hand and doubled over at the waist.

"That's more like it." Carver laughed, the blood from his nose dripped into his mouth and stained his teeth red.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Daniel took a step back and shook his right hand limply.

Carver smiled, his blood stained teeth making Daniel's blood run hot. "I've waited for three years for you to finally catch up to me."

"You should have stopped running."

"I couldn't! Don't you understand, I was a prisoner. I was under duress... I didn't want to kill those people- I didn't even want to hurt you!"

"Then stop!"

"They have my wife!" Carver's voice cracked and he dropped his hand, giving up on trying to catch the blood from his now, crooked, broken nose. "I couldn't let them hurt her because of me. She's innocent."

"So you killed thousands of other innocent people." Daniel scoffed, lifting his brow before pushing eyebrows together heavily over his eyes.

"After Metro, the Ousia took me to Sioux City. I was to recruit people. When you found me in the city I was just talking to people. When I saw you, I ran back to the Ousia Base and they decided they needed to cover up that they'd been there. They burned the city down, just like Metro."

"If you were under duress, why didn't you signal me and the team that you were in trouble or warn us that the Ousia were there? That they are part of this- of Institute!?" Daniel barked his fists clenched at his sides.

Carver threw up his arms, "Institute wasn't even my idea, I don't even think about it. It was just another part in the- of the red herring."

"I just don't understand why you didn't try harder."

"Harder? Try harder for what?"

"To do the right thing! Ask for help, run away, blow up the Ousia instead of cities." Daniel shouted, his voice cracking under the stress of screaming so often in such a short amount of time. "Anything!"

"They were- are watching me. I thought if I went back to them they would just want to leave- pretend they were never there... disappear into the crowd." Carver stood straighter, his shoulders back. "I couldn't fight back because they had Becca... I couldn't find her without them. but it just kept getting worse- harder to find a way out."

"Why Metro?"

"It wasn't- that wasn't me either. When you saw me run into the building after that Ousia, that's exactly what it was. I saw him standing in the middle of the crowd and I pursued. It was a trap. He cornered me and told me about Becca. Then you burst in and- and I didn't know what to do or say. I couldn't think straight, the heat, the Ousia in the room, the threat to my wife... it was all too much."

"So you stabbed me?" Daniel chucked harshly, diverting his gaze and crossing his arms against his chest.

Carver looked around exhasperatedly. "I... it was... look, in retrospect-"

Daniel began to laugh loudly, a rapid-fire laugh reserved for only when he was in complete disbelief at someone. "In retrospect!?" he mocked. "I barely made it out alive."

"Well, if you hadn't followed me in-"

"Oh-no! Don't you try to pin this on me."

Carver's body seemed to fold on himself, his knees bending and his shoulders slouching as he dramatically reacted to Daniel's defensiveness. "I'm not trying to turn this around on you- I'm telling you the truth of what was going on. Isn't that what you want?"

"No. What I want is to walk in silence. What I want is for you to stop making excuses and to take responsibility for your crimes- which you will. You'll pay for the lives you took."

"But I didn't-"

"Yes, you did, Jack! Yes, you did! Whether you pulled the trigger or not, you are the cause of all the turmoil you've left in your wake. You are the problem. And I plan to rectify that."

Carver stood straight. "Just promise me one thing,"

"No." Daniel began to walk away, in the direction Michael had departed with Ella. When Carver continued, Daniel kept his pace but sighed in contempt.

"If Rebecca doesn't know the details... you won't tell her what I did?" Carver chased after him, falling into step.

"She'll find out when you hang. I don't feel sorry for you."

"Are those your words or Kalli's?"

"Who- why do you call her that? What does that mean?" Daniel stopped suddenly- Carver kept walking for a few more steps before realizing he'd stopped.

When Carver caught on he stopped and turned on his heels to look back at Daniel. "Has she really not- do you really not know who she is?"

"The way you talk about her I'm not certain she know's who she is- or at least what you claim she is." Daniel snapped, his voice harsh and his hand twitched with the urge to swing at Carver's face again. He clenched his fist in an attempt to rein control of his body. "What does it mean?"

"Kallitéchnis tou Katastrofí, Artist of Destruction."

"Why?"

Carver smirked haughtily.

* * *

Ella leaned heavily on Michael's left side, her arm draped around his shoulders. He guided them up the walkway to the building- their shelter. The snow was coming down like a blizzard. The only light was emanating from the windows in front of them, casting an orange glow across the reflective white of the snow that covered any lawn or sidewalks that were underneath.

The Old Man snorted behind them and stamped his foot, otherwise it was completely silent in the seemingly deserted town they'd entered.

Ella shifted closer to Michael in search of warmth, shivering violently. Despite wearing not only her own jacket but Daniel's leather coat, she was freezing.

He looked down at her, keeping their slow pace up to the door, his eyes studying her grim expression. Ella tried her best to hide it but with her face relatively cleaned after wiping away all the dust and grime, she could no longer mask the tightness around her eyes or her flushed cheeks. She knew that's what worried him was her evident pain but she couldn't make it go away so much as she could convince him to stop fussing.

She cleared her throat to break the intense silence and his uneasy gaze. "I'm fine, Michael. Okay? Stop worrying."

He forced a chuckle and a smirk to his lips. "I'll stop worrying when you can walk on your own..." He referred to her stumbling steps and vertigo.

"I just want to get inside." She muttered and he held her closer to his side. She was grateful but even with the added support she trembled.

Michael took the steps up to the entrance of the two story cottage slowly, keeping step with Ella. It was only three steps but it seemed to take an exaggerated amount of time. When they reached the cement landing he looked to his right to the swinging, wooden sign beside the door.

It read "1973" in large numbers, underneath was written, in smaller lettering; "Bar, Bed & Breakfast". The recent snowfall piled on the top ridge of the sign and gave it an innocent, peaceful appearance despite the ominous creaking it made with each swing on its post.

With one last intake of breath of the cold air, Michael twisted the handle to the front door with his right hand and they stepped inside.

Warmth washed over the two of them in one rush, sucked out the vaccuum created by the door. They closed it quickly but the sudden draft of cold air and loud bang from the door, grabbed the attention of the patrons.

The soft murmurs and chatter, that once chorused with the crackling fire from the hearths and the clattering of silverware against dishes, ceased suddenly as everyone turned to stare at the two figures that now stood awkwardly at the ingress.

Michael coughed uncouthly before clearing his throat. "Hi... is there, uh, doctor around?"

The woman in an ocean of male patrons stood gracefully by one of the round tables in the center of the dining room. The fire behind her gave her a glow around her, an orange aura of light and elegance. She slowly lowered the tray of various glasses filled with amber liquid to the table and put her hands on her hips. Her attention was on them but yet, like everyone else in the tavern, she was silent just staring at them.

Ella realized it was their appearance and sudden arrival during a heavy snowfall that was so offputting. They were still covered in dust but the added snow that now melted in the warm shelter turned it to plaster. They were both covered in dried blood and abraisions. To anyone but themselves they likely looked like wraiths here to steal souls away.

"W-we just need a place to stay for the night... please." Ella managed, her voice more meek than she intended.

The woman brushed at the wisps of hair that escaped her bun, her blond hair with streaks of white glowed like a halo. She looked to her right and Ella and Michael followed her gaze to their left in time to see a burly man raise a rifle to them from behind the bar.

He shook his head back to shimmie his long, frizzy hair from his face and brought the rifle up higher. "Read the sign." He demanded gruffly, nodding his head to the wall beside them;

"No Ousia.

No Litosts.

No Huijari.

         No Funny-Business."

Michael held up his right hand in a form of surrender. "Sir, we are none of those thi-" he stopped midsentence when a large rottwieler revealed himself from behind the bar and stood in front of them- his teeth bared but he didn't growl or bark. "We are not Huijari and we do not have any funny business."

"Oh yeah, you marked?" The man asked, his lips hidden under a beard that covered most of his pockmarked face.

Both Ella and Michael nodded. Michael revealed his right wrist to them, showing his humanist symbol to them- a representation of not only being human but also a part of Syndicate. When they saw his brand he lowered his arm to help pull her sleeves away from her right wrist, still draped across his shoulders.

She turned her arm slightly to show her identical marking without pulling away from Michael's support.

The woman smiled and waved a hand at the man, "Ya see Hamm?" She stepped from around the table to come up to them, "I's tellin' 'im last night that he's too hawd on trav'lers. My husband, he's quite the character!" She placed her hands on her hips. It appeared like she was trying to make her dainty body seem bigger but her soft features and gentle smile kept any thoughts of hostility far away. She looked like a princess but held herself much tougher, like Cinderella twenty years later- or Belle in consideration to the gentle beast that she was married to.

"Well, shit." Hamm dropped his rifle and seemed to pout about the welcoming attitude the woman had. His bushy eyebrows lifted away from his small eyes like a basset hound with a face lift.

The woman waved her red, calloused hand dismissively at him while maintaining eye contact with Ella and Michael, "Ignore him. If you was Ousia, Killer here woulda gave you 'way 'mediately." She continued while patting the rottweiler on the head. "If you're not Ousia or Litost he's nothin' but a big marshmella."

Neither Ella or Michael knew how to respond to the sudden change in atmosphere. The patrons had long since continued their conversations and the loud clattering of dishes and glasses against the wooden tables filled the room again. The fires roared with added logs by those sitting by the two hearths- one to the far right of the long dining room while the other sat directly across from them between two doorways out of the leeway.

"Well, what tha hell happen' you two?" Hamm asked loudly from behind the bar.

"'scuse his rudeness- Hamm! Shut the hell up and get these two some stew, will ya?" She turned to order him around before pivoting on her toes to address them again. "Ya do look like hell warm'd ov'r though!"

"Building collapsed with us in it." Ella explained simply.

"Well, let's get some food and drink in ya and then we can get ya clean'd up, yeah?" She smiled and winked. "You two alright though?"

"We're..." Ella looked up to Michael who glanced at her with a concerned look. "worse for wear..."

"Judy!" Hamm shouted and made all three and the dog jump to look back towards the bar.

Judy, the rough princess, spun on her heel causing more hair fall out of the loose bun on the back of her head- held only by a single pen. "What?!" she barked back.

"Stew's ready." He said simply, winking an eye under heavy brows.

She pursed her lips and nodded her head towards it. "Let's take care of ya... you'll be stayin' tha night, yeah?"

Together they walked to the left, towards the bar with the overhanging display of joyful photographs and one dollar bills pinned up with drunken messages scrawled on it. Killer made his way back around the bar and towards the back room where Hamm had disappeared to.

Ella nodded somberly and Michael frowned, knowing what she needed to confess. "We don't have much to offer-"

"Will you take a trade? We have a horse outside..."

Judy blanched, "and ya lef' the poor dear out there?" she tsked but her expression wasn't bitter or disappointed- it was an understanding scolding. "Hamm!" she called curtly.

The burly man emerged from the back room and stepped behind the varnished counter of the worn bar. "Yes, my queen?"

"Their horse is outside. Get it to tha stables, would ya?"

Hamm sighed exaggeratedly as he grabbed a thick, brown field jacket from the hook behind the counter. He grumbled as he left out the front door.

The chatter continued around them as silence befell both Ella and Michael in their awkwardness at their current situation.

"So, ya two married- and eat up, it's gettin' cold." Judy indicated to the two bowls of steaming stew in front of them. "And sit down before ya collapse." She indicated to the stools in front of them.

Ella shifted her weight away from Michael but he was hesitant to release her and held her arm tightly around her waist. "I'm fine and no, we're not married." she insisted and pulled away again.

He looked wary but eventually took his seat beside her and they both began to eat greedily from the generous portion of food.

"How long you two out there for?" Judy questioned and walked out to the other side of the bar.

Michael sniffled and wiped at his nose. "I think he said a day?" He responded to Judy by addressing Ella who nodded her agreement.

"No wonder ya'll eating like a couple of horses." Judy smiled and reached below the bar. "And who's 'he', ya'll waitin' up for someone?"

Ella stiffened and leaned away, her hand going to her side holster. The sounds of glasses clinking filled the silence between them but fell on Ella's mostly deaf ears. When Judy pulled the whiskey glasses from behind the bar Ella stared at them in disbelief and embarrassment as she dropped her hand away from her sidearm. Judy was oblivious.

"I'll get ya a second helpin' after a stiff drink or two, how 'bout that?" Judy winked at them but Michael waved his hand at her.

"She has a concussion and I'm waiting up on..."

Ella glanced at Michael as he struggled for the words, "Friends." She finished for him, not wanting to create suspicion for when Daniel and Jack did arrive at 1973.

Judy poured one glass and drank it before filling the other two with water from a metal pitcher. "How many you waitin' on?" She asked as she looked up at the front door when it opened. Hamm stepped in and nodded curtly at Judy who smiled.

"Just the two. They'll be as banged up as we are." Ella responded with a slight frown.

"They far behind? How'd ya'll get sep'rated?"

"We wanted to get her to a clinic- or doctor... someone who could look at her head." Michael interjected as he pushed his empty bowl of stew out of his way. "but the blizzard got so bad, we couldn't see much else except the light from this place."

"Well, doctor's not in ta-day... or the rest of this week, I'm 'fraid." Judy replied, her soft features contorting into a hard expression of sadness. "Doc went out of town to see to the refugees of a town not a day's journey from here."

Ella and Michael glanced at one another before Ella furrowed her brow and crossed her arms on the table. "What happened?"

"Massacre. Survivors sayin' it was the work of Huijari... 'parently they served under some asshole by tha name Carver."

Ella found it hard to swallow and she became lightheaded. "Mike... Daniel." She murmured.

"What was that?" Judy asked and reached across the bar to squeeze Ella's forearm gently. "You alright there?"

Michael stood quickly and went around Ella to support her from behind before she fell off the stool. "She is concerned for our friends." Ella could hear the strain in his voice at using the word to describe the two men they left behind. She could only hope that Judy didn't hear it as well.

The blond woman pushed her hair out of her face, the pen barely able to hold its own much longer before her long hair fell around her shoulders. "She look like she's goin' faint."

Michael nodded and held Ella in the sitting position by resting her back against his chest. "You are certain there is no doctor?"

"'fraid so..." Judy frowned and came around the bar to join them. "Here, darlin' come with me." She took Ella's arm but the brunette of the two resisted. "We're goin' clean ya up." Judy continued, her expression soft and smile kind. "I'm just tryin' help ya."

Ella looked into her emerald eyes and stared into her soul. She relaxed slightly and pulled away from Michael, who furrowed his brow and brought his lips into a fine line, in order to join Judy.

"I'm coming with you," He said as he came to the other side of Ella after she'd wrapped her arm around Judy's shoulders.

"No, ya need to clean up- Hammond!"

Hamm appeared from the back, scratching at his thick beard.

"Take this poor man to get cleaned up and some fresh clothes- I'm assuming ya don't have a change of clothes with ya."

"No." Ella confirmed and Judy nodded.

"Some fresh clothes, a bath and a stiff drink will do ya some good." Judy finished with a final nod, her lips stretched into a wide smile that met her eyes and gave her delicate cheeks small, cute, dimples.

Michael shifted his weight and his head fell slightly, his arms limp at his sides- seemingly embracing the idea of a relaxed night for the first time in a week. Ella wanted to let him have that but she couldn't stop thinking about Daniel and, consequently, Jack.

Before she could say anything or find her words in her muddled brain that prevented her from thinking to mention it, Judy shuffled her out of the room- to the left of the fireplace. As soon as they walked through the threshold they made another left to go up the stairs.

Each step creaked under their combined weight. Judy supported Ella by placing her right hand on the small of her back and her left hand gripped Ella's left arm. When they came to the landing to the second floor the first thing Ella saw was the large picturesque window that overlooked the property. The wind howled and wafted through the cracks around the window frame and the heavy snow continued to create a white, opaque environment.

Judy guided Ella to walk passed the window and down a narrow hallway. The hardwood was blanketed with a red runner, covering most of the grooves and weathered planks beneath it. Ella turned her head as they passed each door with an iron letter nailed on the surface- starting with 'A' to their right, then 'C', 'E' and so on. She stopped trying to see every letter on each side when she began to get dizzy again. The soft blue gray color of the walls were easy on her eyes as were the soft glow of small candelabras, attached to the spaces between each door, that lit up the hall.

They stopped at 'H' on their left side, the end of the hall. Even though the letters barely made it to the middle of the alphabet, Ella was impressed with the length of the house. When they were outside she hadn't realized just how grandiose the B,B&B was.

"Come on dear," Judy opened suit 'H' with her master key that she kept around her neck by a slender leather string.

The door opened and Ella shuddered, her eyes fluttering slightly. It was so cold in the room, so far from the atmosphere created by two fireplaces downstairs.

"I know, it's a bit drafty... but it's out of the snow, yeah? Don't worry, I'll draw you a hot bath!" Judy excused and offered a warm smile- it didn't warm her body but it relaxed Ella.

"It's great." She replied honestly. Better than a train, on the back of a horse, or under tons of rubble. She hadn't realized just how achy and tired her body truly was until she saw the bed tucked in the corner of the room.

The suit was simplistic but inviting. In the center of the medium sized room was a blue and white, round rug that stole the attention away from the old hardwood. To the left was the bed and a simple wooden nightstand with an oil lamp. The right side had a small dresser and a standing room divider- patterned with an antique white background and small blue flowers with olive green vines. Behind it, Ella could see the standing white tub.

Her body empathetically shivered with delite at the idea of a hot bath, her brow relaxed and her lips parted slightly as she released a small sigh.

She looked beside herself to the far right and noticed a chair and found it within herself to fall away from Judy to sit down. "It's great." She echoed her previous response- truly meaning it.

"Ya poor thing..." Judy shook her head slightly and placed a gentle hand on the side of Ella's head. "I'll be right back. Don't you move a muscle."

As Judy walked back down the hall, leaving her alone in the peaceful room, Ella let her body relax fully; she slouched against the back of her chair, her legs drifted apart in an obtuse manner, and her legs fell to her sides and swung lamely in the open air beside the chair.

Her body ached for the neatly made bed to her left but she didn't dare try for it in fear she would never want to get up again. She scratched at her stomach and rubbed the back of her neck. The dust and ash was itching her suffocating skin. Her tight jeans and long sleeve shirt had kept her warm but the added two layers made her beg for the fresh release of stripping. It made her more anxious for the promised bath.

Before she realized it, her eyes began to shutter. As soon as her eyes slid closed, Daniel's face appeared and she opened them quickly. The room was empty. Her eyebrows pushed together until it hurt her facial muscles. The pull of sleep came again and she closed her eyes. He appeared again, his face stern. She couldn't hear him talk but could read his lips.

"I'm just resting my eyes." She replied aloud without opening her eyes.

Daniel looked away and put his hands on his hips, his lips moving again.

"I don't know where he is..." She admitted to his question about Michael and why she was alone.

"Don't know where who is, dear?" Judy's voice stirred Ella enough to open her eyes.

She looked around the room for Daniel or Michael but saw neither. "Danny..." Ella muttered but not in response to Judy's inquiry. She looked down to Judy's hands.

The hostess' hands shone with water in the small amount of light in the room coming from the candles in the hall and the white light of the sun illuminating the snow outside. Two buckets swung from each arm. "And who's that? The man downstairs?" Judy asked and walked over to the tub to empty the five gallon containers.

"N-no, that's Michael..."

"Well, it occurs to me that I don't know either of yer names."

Ella narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips in the realization. "Yeah, my name is Ella... Michael is who brought us here and Danny is one of the two men meeting us." She rubbed at her face, her fingers coming away with more dust.

"Ya sound worried." Judy replied as she emptied the second bucket, the water rushed out and splashed against the sides of the white porcelain.

"I just wish the blizzard would stop."

Judy nodded and picked up both buckets and started to head back towards the hall, passing by Ella. "It's in God's hands." She winked and disappeared to fetch more water.

As Ella looked back to the far right window, staring at the white fury outside, she hoped that Daniel was alright- God willing or not.