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The ragged, dirty man licked his dry lips as he stared from the shadows of the alleyway he hid within at the scene taking place across from him in the park. A young mother and her child were there, and he reached a hand out as if to touch them. Heaving out a shuddering sigh, he drew the gloved hand back to run it through his tousled, silver dyed hair and down to his unshaven chin. God, he'd been gone so long. He didn't remember the last time he took enough time to change clothes, shave, grab a decent shower, or take more than a couple hours of sleep. Would they even recognize him right away, or would it take a moment? He didn't like to think of what it would do to him if they looked at him for even a moment without recognition. It was times like this that he honestly scared himself over how obsessive he could be concerning them, how he'd do nearly anything for the mother and child sitting there; his wife and daughter.

With another sigh, William Jackson, missing leader of the New York Hunters Group, slumped against the grime encrusted alley wall. After all of the abuse he'd put this coat through over the last two months, he'd probably need to burn it. But he didn't care. It was finally over. After nearly two years of nightmares, the b*****d that haunted both his dreams and many of his waking moments as well was finally dead, this time for sure. Nobody survives being stabbed in the heart, decapitated, set on fire, and then flung off of the top of a rock quarry down to the jagged stones more than a hundred feet below, not even the madman known as Mauser. Though just to be safe, he'd thrown six blocks of Semtex down after the burning corpse, blowing it to bits and entombing those tiny pieces under tons of rubble. The man's threat to Will's family had at long last been ended, finally and decisively.

Pulling out a digital tape recorder from his coat pocket, Will clicked the record button then brought it up to his lips. “William Jackson Hunt Journal, Day 68, entry 1. Final entry. It's been two months since I received intelligence on the individual known as Mauser, giving me clues to his location. He had been difficult to track down in the past, relocating frequently. Knowing this, I set out after him alone without notifying anyone lest I tip my hand to him. It's been hard. I'm tired, starving, and exhausted. Fortunately all wounds were dealt with thanks to my healing factor, though even that's been taxed to it's limits. In the end, my objective was accomplished. Mauser is dead. He can't threaten my family anymore. I'm going home. God, I hope that nothing serious has happened in my absence, that everyone understands just why I had to leave as I did. I can't wait to hold my wife and daughter in my arms again. Lyds, if you're listening to this sweetheart, I love you. Forever and a day, i will always love you and our baby girl. End entry. Journal concluded.”

Putting the recorder away, Will smiled for the first time since leaving and began walking across the street with a slight limp. He had a couple of lovely ladies to hug, kiss, and never let go. It was good to be home.

Lydia looked up, startled as someone she did not know addressed her. "I-I am sorry. I do not know much about birthing." The huntress stood up, feeling awkward about being addressed so. "Excuse me." Bowing her head more from shyness than from politeness, the psychic hurried to the entrance of the park, her dear little daughter held tightly in her arms.

Will frowned when he saw someone h didn't know approach Lydia, but then smiled as he saw her leave. Good, she was headed towards him. With both of them going towards each other, they'd meet that much earlier. Making his way through the empty street before him, Will struggled slightly forward, eyes focused on his family.

A clawed hand reached out from behind Will to roughly grab his should and spin him around. The source of the hand was a very irate, very angry Neko.

"What the hell have you been doing, Will? Your hunters are slaughtering my people left and right! I thought we had an agreement, you slimy, backstabber! The Tainted have done nothing to provoke you hunters and now any time any one of us steps outside of our safe haven, we run the risk of being shot on sight for just taking a walk! What the ******** is wrong with you!" Neko shouted at Will, her tails cracking in the air live nine live whips.

Will's eyes went wide or a moment, glancing around. Good, no onlookers. He turned to her, eyes narrowing. His words were a harsh whisper, meant for her ears alone. "Neko, are you insane?! Coming out into a highly public area like this with no disguise?! We need to keep the supernatural away from the public awareness, remember?! We're just lucky this place is deserted right now!"

His hand reached up and grasped her wrist, applying pressure to get her to release her grip on him. He might be exhausted and have no reserves left, but that didn't mean he was weak. He just hoped this didn't descend into a fight. "As for your accusations, I have no idea what you're talking about."

Will was shocked. His hunters were doing what? How could this be? It made no sense. Krii'Ouse should be in charge right now, and even if he had bad experiences with Tainted in the past he wasn't blinded by hate of the whole ace. He even got along well with Neko! So why would Hunters be slaughtering Tainted?! He'd only been gone for a couple of months! This should be impossible! If what Neko said was true, then just what the hell had been going on in his absence?

Glancing behind himself, he saw Lydia getting into a heated situation with the unknown person from earlier. His blood ran cold. If things over there turned hostile, Aurora would be in the firing line. He had to get to his wife. Now.

Taking a step back, Will began to turn. "I can't deal with this right now, Neko. Wait a moment."

Normally Will tried his hardest to use reason and understanding, especially in his dealings with other races. But for the last two months he'd been getting maybe twenty hours of sleep a week, he hadn't eaten in four days, he'd been fighting ad hunting nearly non-stop for the more than two months that he'd been gone, he hadn't seen his family, and now his wife needed him and his child was in potential danger. He couldn't spare even a moment for this, even if it was important. Losing a degree of his cool, Will yelled in Neko's face. "Damnit Neko! Let go! I don't have time for this now!"

Now he was starting to get angry. "NEKO! Get this through your skull! I! CAN'T! DEAL! WITH! THIS! RIGHT! NOW!"

Roughly he grabbed her hands and ripped them away from their grip on him, turning to make his way to Lydia.