It had taken some time for Anna to stop crying and even longer to feel like cooperating with the two detectives. She was currently fast asleep in the backseat of Jay's car. Night had all but fallen as they made their way back into the inner city.

“Poor girl,” Jay muttered. He sighed as he glanced over at Beatrice who was staring at Anna through the rearview mirror above the dashboard. He already had an inkling of an idea why. Anna’s present situation was not unlike Beatrice’s all those years ago.

“I sent a message to the Chief to let him know we have the girl,” Jay said, bringing Beatrice out of her thoughts briefly. “He said he is more than willing to stay late to watch the girl until the people from the nearby orphanage come and get her.”

Beatrice glanced back at the mirror as the girl stirred slightly but remained asleep.

“About that,” Beatrice responded as she glanced at Jay.

The man looked at her with a raised brow.

Half an hour later Jay pulled up in front of Beatrice's apartment with Beatrice right behind him on her bike.

After a discussion with Jay and later Chief Armstrong when the two stopped at the station they had agreed to allow Anna to stay with Beatrice for the time being. The two men were surprised that Beatrice of all people would bring up that prospect but nonetheless they agreed to it. At least until they could find a proper home from the girl.

Beatrice parked her bike and walked to Jays’ car as he retrieved the still sleeping girl from the back.

“Man she sure knows how to sleep,” Jay uttered as he lifted her up into his arms. Her face fell to rest on his shoulder.

Beatrice stared down at her sleeping face before turning to open the door. The three made their way to her room. Once inside Jay moved to lie Anna on the couch.

“What are you doing,” Beatrice questioned him.

“I’m laying her on the couch,” he responded with a raised brow.

“No, you're going to put her in my bed,” Jay continued to give Beatrice a funny look.

‘Huh, since when did she get so maternal,’ he thought to himself as a smirk crept onto his face.

Beatrice sighed when she saw the look on Jay's face and moved forward to grab the girl from him and took her to her room where she laid her down on her bed. Her puppy, Spike perked up at the new form and hopped onto the bed to sniff the girl's face. Beatrice stared down at her for a moment before turning to leave and signaling Spike to follow with a pat of a hand on her thigh. The dog hopped down and left the room before Beatrice cracked the door.

“You sure about this,” Jay asked the woman as she returned into the living room with Spike in tow.

“For the hundredth time, yes,” she groaned. “It's like you said, right? She would’ve ended up having to stay cooped up in the station all night till the people from the local orphanage came and retrieved her. Plus you and the Chief have your own families to worry about.”

“Yeah, but a kid is a lot of responsibility,” Jay responded.

Beatrice looked at him indignantly. “What, you think I can’t handle a kid.”

“Well uh,” Jay stammered out as he placed his hands up defensively and plastered an awkward smile on his face. ‘Well, yeah,’ he said mentally.

“You just don’t seem like the type of person that would tolerate a child,” Jay said to the woman.

She, “hmphed,” in response as she turned to retrieve a beer from her fridge.

‘Exactly my point,’ Jay thought as he watched the woman down the alcohol-filled beverage. “Anyways, I'm heading out. If you need anything you know who to call.” Jay passed her a wave as he turned and left the moderately sized apartment.

Beatrice stared down at the can in her hand. Her mind flashed back to the pained expression on Anna's face and her words. “He said he was going to find me, he said he was going to be here and we’d leave together! He promised!”

‘Don’t hold your breath, kid,’ she thought to herself. She crushed the can and tossed it into her trash before retrieving some spare blankets from a linen closet next to her bathroom. She set herself up on the couch that night with Spike resting peacefully on top of her.

“You should’ve never put your faith in a machine,” Beatrice uttered to herself as sleep took hold of her.

Anna slowly fluttered her eyes open as she woke from her sleep. The light of day radiated through a window to her right. She turned to face it hearing the sounds of passing vehicles, horns, and sirens from the world outside. Various buildings towered beyond the window and in the distance, she saw a Skytrain moving about between the buildings taking its passengers here and there.

She let out a small groan as she turned over on her left side and looked around. She didn’t recognize the room one bit. And that worried her. She sat up in the bed as worry began to settle in. She was in some stranger's house and she knew that wasn't good.

She was worried that whoever brought her here would try to hurt her. Her mind drifted back to Marckus. Afraid that he’d reach the pier only to not find her there. Would he leave without her?

These questions plagued the girl's mind. All the while the cracked door slowly slid open wider as someone entered and moved towards the bed. Anna was roused from her thoughts when the sensation of something jumping onto the bed she was in greeted her.

She looked towards her feet to see a dog hop up to her face and start sniffing her. At first, she was a bit confused. ‘A doggy,’ she thought to herself.

Spike’s slightly wet snout poked at her face as he continued to sniff the girl and get acquainted with the new scent that had entered its master's home and was now sleeping in her bed.

“H-hi, nice doggy,” Anna stammered out as she moved her hand slowly towards the dog. Spike backed away at first, still unsure of the unfamiliar girl. But after a moment's hesitation, he allowed Anna to pet him and began placing small kisses on her wrist and forearm causing the girl to giggle.

“He usually isn’t so friendly with strangers,” Beatrice spoke out. The girl jumped in surprise as she stared at the woman. “His name’s Spike, by the way.”

Anna continued to stare at the woman as she tried to hide herself with the blankets.

“Don’t worry kid, I’m not going do something stupid,” she said reassuringly as Spike trotted up to her. “Are you hungry?”

At first, Anna wanted to say nothing but the growl that emanated from her stomach had other plans. Her cheeks flushed red as she slowly nodded.

“Well, I haven't had to make much of anything for anyone for a while but I’m sure I can whip something up.” Beatrice left the room with Spike in tow as she went to try and figure out something to make with the few things she had. “You should clean up,” she shouted out to the girl once she was out of sight.

Anna simply stared at the doorway trying to remember how it is she got here. The events of yesterday all came floating back to her.

Her father coming home drunk again, belittling and attacking Marckus as usual, but this time she defended him. Her father threw her aside and continued to attack Marckus, she could see the fear in his eyes. She tried one last time to push her father away. This angered the man even more as he turned his eyes towards her.

She could still remember the stench of alcohol on him, his hurtful words as he struck her over and over and over despite her cries for him to stop.

“You worthless ungrateful cunt! You’re just like your mother!”

She could feel every punch to her gut, every kick to her ribs and head, every lash of his belt. Finally, it had all stopped suddenly. She opened her teary eyes to find him dead. His eyes glazed over and her head split. She was too panicked with everything that happened to remember much of Marckus’s words. She just remembered his promise.

She remembered waiting for him for hours by the pier as she stood and moved towards Beatrice's bathroom.

She remembered holding on tightly to the dying flower as the lights of the bathroom came on and she stared at her bruised reflection in the mirror.

She remembered that woman who was now trying to cook her something and the bald man with the eyepatch coming to her at the pier as she noticed a pair of scissors on the sink counter.

She remembered the man, Jay, telling her that Marcus wasn’t coming as she took the scissors to her throat.