It's bitterly cold, the miniature icicles in the air pinching everyone's faces that aren't wrapped up under scarves. Warmth is inside. But he isn't inside.

'Hand over the coke, mate. I've coughed up the coins,' The man leans against the brick wall, holding out his hand and pinching his fingers up and down a few times to indicate his want. A woman clutches a plastic bag full of something illegal between her skinny hands, trembling in the cold. Her pin straight black locks ripple in the breeze, her face covered in thermal layers. He cocks an eyebrow at her, 'Come on, woman, I have magics to kill. Those little maggots never deserved shit. The only things I get is a kick out of murder and a few lines of coke. Hand. It. Over.'

Kristoffer's found his case. He peers down the side alley, gradually removing his gun from his belt. He watches as the man attempts to grab the small bag from her hands, much to her dismay. Kristoffer aims without any strife, a small laugh of ease escaping his lips. It lodges directly into his head, bowling him over automatically. The woman stumbles back in horror, blood splattering across her white coat. She hits the brick wall, the layers falling off of her face.

Kristoffer steps down the alley to offer her a hand, but gasps in shock when he sees who it is. She looks scarred, run down, malnourished, dirty, but it is her. Gia Zhang stares back into his eyes, horror lacing the amber in her irises.

'Kristoffer?'

'Gia?'

'You just shot someone.'

'Impressive, innit?'

'Kristoffer! I'm so sorry, the AMI took me, then I escaped, and I didn't go back home because I didn't know the way, and I've been lost out in the streets for years. I've been doing horrible things to keep myself afloat, out of debt. But... oh, God, help me, please. I haven't had a proper meal in years. Stuck out here is horrible...' She begins to grovel at his feet, tears running out of her eyes. He aides her up, rubbing the tears from her eyes with his thumbs.

'Hey, hey, it's all fine. I can get you caught up on everything. I'll take you back to Alexis's house, she'll be so happy to see you,' Kristoffer comforts, giving her a one armed squeeze, pulling her off toward his car. He leaves the dead, bleeding body of the man behind in the alley.

*

'Kristoffer, hey! Ashton's still over, nice to see... who is that?' Hana answers the door. An expression of disgust crosses Gia's face.

'I'm Gia. Gia Zhang? Alexis's girlfriend?'

'...I'm Hana Delacy... I'm Alexis's girlfriend.'

'Oh,' Gia blushes furiously. She peers over Hana's shoulder to see Alexis looking at the door with a puzzled expression from the dining room. Kristoffer jumps in shock as Alexis screams and runs to the door, mildly shoving Hana out of the way.

'Gia! Gia! Gia, oh my fuck, we thought you were dead for ages. Ages...' Alexis begins to sob uncontrollably into Hana's shoulder. She returns an awkward grimace toward the pair on the front porch, wrapping her arms around Alexis.

'What's happening?' Ashton shows up on Hana's other side. His jaw drops when he sees Gia, 'Oh my fucking god.'

'Can we go inside? I can explain,' Gia requests, 'Also, can I use the bathroom?'

'Yeah, yeah, come in. The bathroom's the first room up the stairs, you can't miss it. Shh, you're okay Lex...' Hana stands to the side, letting Kristoffer and Gia enter. She then disappears up the stairs. Ashton still looks mildly shocked, a pale eyebrow raised at Kristoffer.

'I know, right? I was on a case, and she was involved... I don't know... I found her, she isn't dead,' Kristoffer says. Ashton crosses his arms, now attempting to think. He fluffs his wings slightly.

'I thought she was dead.'

'We all did.'

Ashton fixes a stray dreadlock behind Kristoffer's ear, planting a gentle kiss on his forehead, 'Weird how life works out, isn't it?'

'Mm.'

*

Alexis, after much consolation, has encouraged Gia to claim her old room, put on a fresh outfit and take a shower. She is now sat with her long hair damp on the sofa, wearing clothes that belong to Hana, which are much too big for her.

'Thanks again for the clothes, Hana,' Gia thanks. Hana dismissively waves her hand as if to say welcome. Cheri and Jamie both look mildly dishevelled, their faces slightly red and their hair messy. Cheri's leg is still in poor condition, but she had still somehow bounded down the stairs three at a time, 'I suppose I should explain myself. After the AMI thing happened and it was shut down and destroyed, I was terrified for my life. They were killing any leftover magic in there. I was one of them. Niall Trenton came in and saw me. He was scared after what happened at the park that one time.'

Kristoffer winces and rubs the scar on his forehead, feeling the familiar stinging phantom pain. Ashton punches him in the arms and frowns deeply from over his mug of tea, 'He told me to just go, but I guess I got logged as dead. Dead and buried. And I was so far from home without a way to get back that I just... reverted to the streets. It's been horrible. I've missed you guys so much.'

Alexis smiles, but she falters quickly. She awkwardly clears her throat, 'I'm sorry, Gia. I hope it's not awkward with Hana here and all that.'

'No worries. As long as you two are happy,' Gia returns. Hana quickly kisses the top of Alexis's head. Gia turns her gaze toward Ashton and Kristoffer, but quickly looks away. She instead turns to Cheri, 'You've grown.'

'It has been four years. I do not doubt that I have grown in at least one way. I assume you mean physically rather than mentally,' Cheri shrugs, wiggling the fingers on her prosthetic hand.

'You're practically a woman now!'

'I do not care about gender, Georgia. I am a being, and I am here. I do not associate.'

*

Cheri and her mother fled from the AMI for what felt like years, but was only a few hours. She fiddled with the hem of her shirt, her little chubby fingers running over the fabric. Tears soak into her gloves.

'Maman, reverrons-nous un jour papa?' She asked at one point. Her mother was too focused on looking out the window. It was grimy and cold when they reached the right place, covered in asphalt and all sorts of rubbish spilled on the floor. Her mother squatted down to Cheri's height.

'Tu as tué ton père. Tu ne me reverras jamais. Je ne suis pas fière de t'appeler ma fille, Cheri. Reste ici, monstre de magie.'

She disappeared into a crowd of cars. Cheri began to cry, stumbling around, trying to find her.

'Maman! Maman, reviens!' She begged. But no matter how loud she screamed, how many tears poured from her eyes, how much she looked around, she couldn't bring her back. Cheri fell to her knees, crying on the asphalt. A group of people in British Magical Army uniform laugh with cups of coffee in their hands, waiting for the EuroStar. A woman with a balaclava on suddenly hears a sound that distresses her. She looks over her shoulder to see a little girl with dirty blonde hair tousled in a dreadlocked mess on her head, tears pouring from her green eyes on the floor.

'Ben, hold my coffee,' Her Australian voice says, handing him her cup. She squats down in front of the girl, pulling down her hood and removing her face covering. Her straight black hair, brown almond-shaped eyes and ivory skin is revealed, her face in a careful grimace. On her uniform are lots of badges, including a nametag; Sgt. Yen Yamaguchi, 'You okay, little girl? What's your name?'

*

'Good job, Banks. We're getting closer,' The Boss grins, sat lazily in their chair with their feet up on the desk. They spin a dagger with a rope around the handle around their finger. The handle has a design; a feather, a dragon, a spider, a flame, 'Anyone else got any ideas?'

Silence from the room. The guest is still there. The guest raises their hand is raised shakily and slowly, 'I... I might know a way. Would it be okay if we targeted Ash-'

'No!' The Boss shouts over the guest, throwing the dagger narrowly past their face. They growl lowly, orange eyes glowing in the dark light of the room, 'No. We will not be targeting him. If you suggest that again? We may as well throw you out. You can fight for our cause from the sidelines.'

'I shall do that.'

The guest throws their spare mask to the floor, storming out of the room, 'Good luck, Order of the Wren.'

Heavenly shrugs, 'I have a friend who's friends with a friend of Alexis's girlfriend, Hana Delacey. We could get to him through them.'

'Closer people. Great idea, Heavenly. Could you get on that?' The Boss asks. Heavenly nods, smoothing down her uniform.

'My strong point isn't fighting. Could I get to them... another way?'

*

Heavenly sits in her cosy bed, listening to The Cure, wrapped up warm in contrast to the frigid late November weather outside, her room lit in warm light, candles filling her room with a dainty floral scent. Her black toy poodle stretches out in his bed. She's making a bomb, her toolkit and many illegal explosive compounds strewn around her as she fashions it. She screws the last bolt into place, the metal painted like a clock. When they open the box it's in, it'll count down for ten minutes. It'll explode when the time's up.

*

The doorbell rings. It's eight in the morning, thirteen crows flying over 19 Moonover Lane. Alexis opens the door. It's a small package.

'Cheri, have you been ordering stuff?' Alexis asks, placing it down on the breakfast table. Cheri looks up from her French toast, inspecting the package with a frown.

'Probably a late night purchase of vinyl records for Kristoffer. He wanted a few and I felt like being nice. I do not feel nice anymore though,' Cheri shrugs, kissing her teeth and tearing back into her breakfast. Alexis tears open the box.

'Huh. A clock. Odd. Time needs fixing though,' Alexis sighs, leaving it on the table. As she hauls herself up the stairs, she says, 'Let's be responsible with money, Cheri, love.'

'Hmmphf.'

Cheri opens her phone and begins to look through social media. One minute, two minutes, three minutes, four minutes, five minutes, six minutes, seven minutes, eight minutes, nine minutes. Hana comes down the stairs, yawning and stretching her arms over her head. She cocks an eyebrow in confusion, picking up the clock and inspecting it.

'Cheri? Do you know why this clock is going backwards?' Hana asks. Cheri looks up from her phone, an expression of pure bewilderment on her face. Hana shows her the clock. 30. 29. 28.

'Fuck. Hana, drop it right now. Get out of the house. Get Alexis,' Cheri screams, jumping from her seat and running to smash open the door. She slips into her pair of combat boots, smashing the deep blue door down.

'Cheri! Why are you making all this noise?'

20. 19. 18.

'Alexis! Get downstairs! There's a bomb!'

'Oh god...'

Alexis is a bird, flying down the stairs and shifting back to at least put a pair of shoes on. She comes down the stairs of the porch, standing next to Hana and Cheri.

10. 9. 8.

They can only watch. Hana uses her strong arms to shield Cheri and Alexis, crushed together in a crooked family.

3. 2. 1.

An explosion of pinkish-purple flames engulf the house, a titanic, eardrum shattering explosion booming from the dining room. The house collapses down on itself. Alexis gasps as pieces of debris fly dangerously close to their heads. Hana pulls them closer, a brick wall for their protection. Silent tears run from Cheri's eyes as she watches her childhood home be destroyed.

This is the end of 19 Moonover Lane.

*

'You poor things,' Yen comments from her kitchen, bringing a tray with mugs of tea on. She looks different as of recent, her face slightly more wrinkled and her hair chopped just below her ears. Cheri is still in silent shambles, while Hana and Alexis are in silence, painful acceptance. Kristoffer is comforting Cheri with kind words, Ashton whispering incoherently to Jamie. Everyone takes their teas with a dull, unified, "Thank you".

'I... I can not believe I was so stupid. I let that happen,' Cheri hiccups. Kristoffer begins to try to comfort her. Despite his attempt, she sobs over him, 'I mean, all my stuff is destroyed. There were so many things that happened in that house,' Kristoffer and Ashton exchange an odd glance, holding in laughter, 'And I will miss it.'

'We'll miss it too, Cheri,' Alexis comforts, but Cheri just sobs even harder.

'Well, I've got two spare bedrooms, what with two kids off at uni. Alright, you guys can get comfy in their rooms. Hana and Alexis can have the bigger room, Cheri... erm, I'll take you up there, kid.'

Hana and Alexis exchange a nod, and walk upstairs. Yen aids Cheri out of Kristoffer's arms. This task proves difficult, as Cheri has her fake French manicure nails dug into Kristoffer's arm, and she doesn't seem to want to let go.

'Cheri, I'll come with you. We can talk upstairs,' Jamie stands up from next to Ashton, helping Yen to pick up Cheri and take her upstairs.

'Guys, I need to head out soon. Can you boys look after the house?' Yen asks Ashton and Kristoffer, desperation in her knotted eyebrows. Ashton and Kristoffer nod slowly as Yen flashes them a grimaced smile, helping Cheri out of the room with Jamie. As soon as they have disappeared up the stairs, Kristoffer's head falls onto Ashton's shoulder, sighing heavily.

'Work is hard. Eddie's favouring me. Which has its upsides, but there's extra pressure. And with all this shit happening with the people around me, it's hard to focus,' Kristoffer spills, placing a hand on Ashton's other shoulder. For some odd reason, Ashton feels no sympathy.

'It's fine. We'll go home after Alexis, Hana and Cheri are settled in,' Ashton comforts hollowly. He can't quite accept the fate of his home. That place has been so important to his heart for the last twelve years of his life. And Kristoffer wants to complain? He feels a pang in his heart, imagining how horrible it must've been for Alexis and Cheri.

'Ugh, you don't get it,' Kristoffer sighs, burying his head in Ashton's shoulder. Ashton feels a wave of red hot anger wash over his body, but he just laughs, a furious expulsion of air.

'I guess I don't.'

*

Cheri and Jamie lie together on the soft bed in Yen's house, holding hands and Cheri clears the last of her tears.

'I loved that house, Jamie.'

'I know.'

'There were so many things of ours in there. Our pictures. The gifts you have given me.'

'I know.'

'Are you not annoyed with me?'

'Of course not.'

Cheri wipes her eyes on her sleeve, burying her face in Jamie's shoulder, 'You are the best.'

'You too, Cheri.'

Jamie pulls her face up gently, pressing a slow kiss to her lips. She buries her face back in his shoulder, his hug tightening on her torso.

*

The guest sneaks around a corner. Kristoffer gullibly told the guest his address, stupid man, who does that, random stranger, oversharing, stupid, childish. He has to wait for the right moment. Kristoffer overshares over lunch, over a glass of wine, over a simple meeting. A new place in this decrepit field of view. He needs to wait for about 11 pm.

"He thinks I don't know, but every night at about 11 pm, he goes downstairs and smokes a cigarette. It's off, because I always notice mine are missing."

Ashton looks away from the lighter as he lights his cigarette. It's bad, but it's something to take him away from life. Just for ten to fifteen chilly minutes outside. He's only in his pyjamas; an oversized David Bowie shirt and plaid pyjama trousers. As the guest looks at him, his heart softens and cracks for him. He's never seen someone look so meek, so feeble, but know their hidden strength. He sighs to himself from behind the wall before stepping out, old same thick boots on his feet crashing against the pavement, same old lighter in his pocket. Ashton freezes as he looks up to see him, eyes widening in fear, welling with tears.

'Hello, Rockwell.'