Ambrosius sighed as he checked his reflection in a shuttered window. Hollow eyes, shaved head, scraggly facial hair, and glasses - Nimona had been right earlier, he did look like a homeless poet. Not that that was necessarily a bad thing - the less he looked like his old self, the better. He couldn’t afford to be recognized and caught this close to freedom.

He dropped onto the couch in the middle of the hideout, not bothering to take the fake glasses off. It had taken a while to convince Nimona that he needed her to steal back the packet of Ballister’s ashes from the psych ward. It had been left behind when Nimona had rescued him from his surprise brain surgery several days prior, and just thinking about the possibility of it being thrown away made Ambrosius anxious. He would feel like he’d left part of his soul behind if he left The Kingdom without it.

After some discussion, Nimona had finally relented and flown off for the hospital in the form of a sparrow. It would be easiest for her to slip in alone, disguised as a nurse, and rummage through intake till she found where they kept patients’ belongings. Having Ambrosius with his bad leg tagging along would just be an unnecessary risk.

That discussion had been fifteen minutes ago. Fifteen minutes of Ambrosius mulling over Nimona’s ‘homeless poet’ quip she’d given before leaving. He knew it shouldn’t bother him, but…

A whirring noise caught Ambrosius’s attention - quiet, but so familiar that he could easily pick it up away from the noise of the city. It was the sound of an electric motor. No, several electric motors. Coming from outside. Then it went silent. Ambrosius felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. The noise had been close. Too close. Then came the thuds of footfalls. Ambrosius didn’t have time to react before the hideout door banged open and knights in full armor poured into the room.

“We’ve got one! Check the back for the other!” one of the knights said as they moved through the room.

Another knight grabbed Ambrosius’s arm and pulled him towards the door.

“Out!” he said with a shove.

Ambrosius stumbled as his weight landed on his bad leg, nearly collapsing. The knight didn’t miss a beat and kept pushing him anyway.

“Move it!”

Ambrosius felt like his head was spinning as he was forced from the hideout. Five hoverbikes were parked outside, accompanied by two more knights.

“Where’s your friend?” one of them asked him.

Ambrosius said nothing, terror robbing him of any words. This was it. He’d been caught. All that work on their escape plan, for nothing. Then the other knight spoke.

“The report said they thought they saw two vagrants. Maybe it was just him.”

The first knight shook her head.

“Well if there is an other one, they’re in for a surprise when they come back.”

Ambrosius kept quiet as he slowly realized the knights didn’t recognize him. They thought they were evicting squatters.

The knight behind him gave him one final shove out of the way.

“They’ve got quite the setup in there. It’ll take a while to clear out.”

All three knights glanced at the evening sky. There wasn’t much daylight left, and the shade of the trees already didn’t let much light in.

Ambrosius scrambled to think of a plan. He needed to get away. There was no guarantee the knights wouldn’t eventually realize who he was - Nimona had previously brought him his cadet duffel bag of clothes and personal items, and if the knights didn’t make the connection based on that alone, his name embroidered on the strap would definitely do the trick. He hoped against hope they somehow wouldn’t notice in their hurry to get out of here by sundown.

The knights were still talking. Something about confiscating anything worth more than 50 gold. They weren’t paying attention to him. Ambrosius glanced at the line of hoverbikes behind them. Maybe…

“Oh my Gloreth, guys look at this!” a knight’s voice came from inside the hideout.

Every head turned to look.

“It’s a bag.”

“Look familiar?”

“He has someone’s old cadet bag. Big whoop.”

“Not just anyone’s old cadet bag…”

There was a moment of silence.

“What the f-”

“You’re kidding me.”

“That is NOT…”

The three knights outside hurried to the door to see what the fuss was about. Ambrosius seized his chance. Adrenaline numbing the pain in his leg, he darted to the nearest hoverbike, his hands grabbing the keys from the ignition.

“What? Whose is it?”

“It’s Goldenloin’s!”

“How would-”

“No way, that can’t be-”

The knights were being so noisy, they didn’t hear the quiet whirr of a hoverbike motor starting. Ambrosius hurried with the controls, years of training snapping into place as he got the onboard computer up and running. It was being so slow! He glanced up at the knights, who had picked that exact moment to turn to look at him.

Time froze. Five knights stared at Ambrosius as he sat on the hoverbike, waiting for the onboard computer to finish booting. Then there were a series of shouts as the knights rushed at him. The onboard computer finally finished with muted ‘bink!’, and Ambrosius kicked the bike into gear. An armored hand grabbed the back of his shirt just as he hit the accelerator, but his own panicked grip on the bike was stronger, dragging his would-be captor several yards before a fallen log in the path tore the knight’s hand away.

Ambrosius didn’t look back. He kept his eyes on the way ahead, weaving between trees as he rocketed away. It wasn’t until he was sure the hideout was out of sight that he loosened his death grip on the handlebars and took a ragged breath. He glanced down at the four other sets of keys threaded onto his fingers. He grinned to himself. Then he gave a howling laugh of relief and flung the extra keys up and away, all landing somewhere among the miles of undergrowth. He was free!

~ ~ ~

The supplies Ambrosius and Nimona had been stockpiling were gone, along with their hideout. On top of that, the other knights knew what Ambrosius looked like now, and it wouldn’t be long before word of his changed appearance spread through the unit. Ambrosius swerved the hoverbike into a maintenance tunnel on the outskirts of the city as he tried to plan his next move.

He needed to stay out of sight as much as possible. He’d been lucky to already be wearing a hoodie he could use to hide his face from cameras. That wouldn’t save him from someone seeing him at eye level though. He’d need a new look. But first, Nimona. She had no idea their hideout had been found, and if the knights were right, she’d be walking (or flying) back into a trap. He needed to catch her before that.

Fortunately, Nimona had been traveling as a small bird while Ambrosius was on a hoverbike. Sure, she could fly directly there while he was confined to side streets and maintenance routes, but there was a good chance she hadn’t already found the ash packet and left. He could intercept her at the hospital. How to intercept her was the question.

Ambrosius knew he couldn’t roam the hospital himself in search of her. For one, he didn’t even know who or what she’d be disguised as. Secondly, whoever or whatever she was, she’d be sure to outpace him. Thirdly, given how the psych ward had been the last place to see him, Ambrosius was sure the haircut and glasses wouldn’t be enough to disguise himself. Maybe he could fool the rest of the hospital, but not them.

He parked the bike in an alley a block away from the hospital and limped to the main entrance. He didn’t want to risk being noticed sneaking around the back, and the front would be the last place they’d expect him anyway. He’d figure something out about finding Nimona… Maybe if he caused some chaos, she’d come running?

“Doctor Myles, please report to neurology. Doctor Myles.” The PA system announced as Ambrosius stepped into the lobby.

The greeter glanced him over as he entered and plastered on a fake smile. Yeah, he definitely looked like a homeless poet.

Ambrosius returned the fake smile, his brain scrambling for something to say.

“I’m… here to see someone.”

“Department?”

“Ah… I don’t know- they kinda move around departments.” he fumbled, then added “They’re a nurse.”

The greeter looked at him suspiciously. Then the PA system sounded again.

“Doctor Myles, please report to neurology. Doctor Myles.”

Idea. Ambrosius stood a little straighter.

“Could you call them?” He wracked his brain for some code word Nimona might recognize. “…Their name is ‘Goldenlocks’.” he said, using the name he’d given Blitzmeyer for the library. “Nim Goldenlocks.”

The greeter relayed the info to someone via headset, and a moment later, the announcement came over the speakers;

“Nim Goldenlocks, please report to the front entrance. Nim Goldenlocks.”

Ambrosius smiled.

“I’ll just sit over here till they get here.” he said, seating himself in the waiting area. Several tense minutes passed. Ambrosius was on the edge of his seat every time one of the nearby elevators dinged and someone emerged. Time and time again, the person walked right past him.

Ambrosius felt his jaw clenching. This wasn’t working. He needed a new plan. Fast. Maybe if he was lucky, he could wait for someone else to come in and distract the greeter long enough for him to get to an elevator. From there… maybe he’d pick a random floor and pull a fire alarm. But what would that do? He needed to cause a localized disturbance of some kind that Nimona might notice…

Just then, a blond-haired woman in scrubs came up to him.

“Ambre!” She said in a friendly tone, though Ambrosius could see confusion and frustration competing for dominance in her eyes. “What in the green world are you doing here?”

“Goldenlocks!” Ambrosius got to his feet. “So glad to see you!” He glanced past her at the greeter, who was watching.

Nimona caught the cue and jerked her head towards the elevators. Ambrosius took a step, stumbling on his bad leg in his hurry to get out of there. Nimona looked impatient. She waved to the greeter.

“Can we get a wheelchair over here?”

A minute later, Nimona was wheeling Ambrosius down the hall towards the elevators. Neither of them spoke again till they got inside one and the doors closed. Nimona hit the button for the very top floor, then morphed into her teen form.

“What the frick-frack are you doing here, boss?!”

Ambrosius filled her in as quickly as he could. Nimona groaned.

“You’re telling me… all of our supplies for leaving… are gone?!”

“I’m telling you… yeah. Yeah they’re gone. But we still have…” He felt his pockets. “Bal’s keycard and the money cards from the dorm.”

Nimona muttered something, pacing the compartment. Ambrosius held his hands up.

“There’s more money in my wallet, with the ash packet. Maybe we can rent some room and regroup.”

Nimona shook her head.

“With your ID?”

Ambrosius dug his nails into his palm. Crap. He hadn’t thought of that.

“I’ll think of something. Just get me the ash packet and my wallet.”

The elevator dinged mid-transit. Someone else was getting on. Nimona shifted back into the Goldenlocks form the moment before the doors opened and two chattering nurses got on. Without waiting, Nimona shoved past them, pushing Ambrosius out the door and down the darkened hallway beyond. This place seemed empty of staff. Ambrosius glanced back at Nimona after the elevator doors closed behind them.

“Where are we going?”

“Finding a hiding spot.” Nimona said quickly. Then she stopped in front of a door labeled ‘Records’ and waved a badge in front of the sensor. It was a badge she definitely hadn’t had a minute ago.

“Where did you-”

“Snagged it when we got off the elevator.” Nimona smirked as the door swooshed open and she wheeled him inside. “I’ll be back in a few. Try not to get in trouble!”