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"I have no urge to take hold of your weapon, kid, no matter how dark it is." Maybe he should have done as Cain suggested, but Lukas shook his head -- tense, in the darkness, not that they could really see it -- and brought his weapon out again, instead. Almost absently, he flicked one little dagger to spinning, and it made a low, round red glow that lit up the planes of his face and his chest, and just enough of the mall in front of him that hopefully he wouldn't trip over everything.

"Just keep them out, and I can keep an eye on you. Gretchen, you have the girl?" His weapon was light, which meant maybe he should be scouting, but the idea didn't even occur to him. They could move slowly, as a group, to find the map. Hopefully, it would be lit.

Mimsy's greeting was met with a small, high pitched scream of fear.

The sound jolted Robert to life. Jezebel was dismissed immediately, and he lunged for the source of the scream, heaving away the giant shelves that had already lost most of their cargo when they'd tipped over. They'd created a tiny tent of space, just big enough for something - or someone - equally tiny to crawl into.

When Robert exposed the scared little child hiding under the shelves, she screamed and threw a teddy bear right at his face. Other than a stunned look, he didn't react; instead, he surveyed her carefully, checking her eyes for infection and her skin for bitemarks. Lastly, he checked for any bugs nearby, because Robert had seen it all at Deus, and he wasn't prone to making the same mistakes twice.

When he was sure it was nothing but a little girl, he immediately bent down to the floor. She cringed, pulling away at the movement, and he went down further, until he was all but lying on his stomach. It was a ridiculous pose for someone of normal stature, so for Robert it was unbearably out of place. There was nothing threatening about a big man lying on his stomach - and he knew that. His behavior worked, eliciting a small, confused giggled out of the child. But she threw another teddy bear to be sure (she had an arsenal waiting) and he let it bounce right off of his head. This time, he reacted - in a comical death throe. The resulting giggle was brighter, now. More alive.

"My name's Robert." He whispered out to the girl, who instantly clammed up at the sound of his voice. "This is my wife Mimsy. We're the good guys! Like the super heroes! We came to save you. Do you want to be saved?"

She looked unsure, but the teddy bears were put down. For now.

Robert moved to try and sit down, pausing when his jacket caught on something. He looked and saw the thin hand clutching at him for support. He flickered his eyes up to Mimsy, and saw in her face the look of a woman who wanted, but was unsure, of how to help. He reached for the hand, peeling it off his jacket and sliding his fingers between hers instead.

"It's gonna be okay." He murmured, turning his head back towards the little girl only after he'd spoken. He gave her his brightest, goofiest smile, and the girl wrapped her arm around a teddy bear carefully.

"Momma said no talks to stranger." She told him, her voice slurred with youth and with exhaustion.

"That's right, your momma's right. You shouldn't talk to strangers. You're a very smart girl. We don't have to talk if you don't want to. I just want to get you out of this dangerous place and bring you over to where it's safe." He held out his hand, and she recoiled, so he took it back. "Or if you want to, we could get to know each other. That way we won't be strangers. Okay?"

She pondered his deal for a moment, before fervently shaking her head in the affirmative. It sounded reasonable enough - to a four year old.

"Okay." He settled in. "So I already told you our names, Robert and Mimsy. Last name is Morris, and we live on an island! We built our house together, and we grow lots of food there, and we have some pets too. One little puppy and four raptors!"

"What's raptor?" She asked, clearly unable to stand by her 'no talking' position.

"It's a tiny little dinosaur. "Raaaaaawr!" He held his arms up and she squealed, burying her face into the teddy bear to hide her giggles. He went on like this for several minutes, telling her every little detail about his life with Mimsy, and at Deus. He told her he was a nurse, and Mimsy was a doctor, and it was this revelation that had the girl sliding closer to the two of them. She was unable to keep herself from eventually leaning both hands on Robert's knee, listening enraptured to his stories told from the perspective of someone whose heart was as young as she was.

"And then we had our FOURTH wedding! CONGRATULATIONS!" He threw his hands up in the air, and she did the same, with each wedding announcement. She put the teddy bear in his lap, and rested her hand on his knee.

"Think it's okay if we go walk you over where it's safe now?" He asked, seeing the glimmer of hunger in her eye. "I bet there's some food and juice over in the camp." And that made him suddenly want to go. He slowly shambled up to his feet, and waited to see if she would follow. But instead, she looked like she was having a Very Big Thought, and then rose up both of her arms at him.

He turned to look at Mimsy with a goofy, crooked smile.

"I guess that means yes, huh."

She didn't mind the distant treatment, because she was definitely going to prod him for a more satisfying method of praise afterward. As he let go of her hand, America did, however, tug him in sharply for a kiss on the cheek before running ahead to assess the damage and how to fix it. Of any area as a Moon that she had experience in, this was her strongest.

Directing several trainees that didn't look busy enough toward a store front to tear down some grating, America moved to follow only for her "flashlight" to chirp with a new text message. Curious, she pulled it out of Taym's coat pocket and read the contents, eyebrows snapping down in pensive concern.

When the message from America arrived, Mimsy's attention was pulled away from the child, satisfied that Robert had this covered for as long as she required to figure this out. The text confirmed her suspicions, as much as she'd hoped to believe otherwise. This wasn't a time she found herself very inclined to count on what she believed being equivalent to what was reality.

Her fingers hovered with indecision above the reply input, before finally settling on the minimum she was confident in divulging.



The frantic question of what to do was asked as she continued to stare at the phone to ensure the message was sent, and she began to respond without looking up at him.

"We will find safety. Barriers are an option. If circumstances change, we can consider more extreme methods of ensuring that she is kept--"

Then she finally glanced over again.

"Robert," she cried, alarmed at the sudden and drastic change in his behavior towards the girl. She firmly grasped his sleeve and tried to pull his hand away from her mouth, giving him a look of incredulous bewilderment.

"When I was younger, no one wanted to call me by my proper name either." As she explained this to 'Nancy', she gave Robert a Look, because he knew this. "What is your real name? You do not have to be afraid to be who you would like to be."

The sound of his long, exasperated groan was a quiet soundtrack to the answer.

"Alice!"

The answer was yes. This could get always worse.

He was sure that, in his whole life, he had never been more crushed than that moment.

(But in truth, every moment felt like the most of something, when it had to do with Mimsy. There was no marker for judgement, anymore.)

"Put down the barrier daggers." He whispered quietly, but before she could take another breath he swooped down and kissed her lips, as if attempting to force all of the pain, and suffering, out through their kiss. The little girl in his arms made a long and whiney sound of disgust, but he ignored it while he did this. Mimsy needed the stability of his constant, vibrant attentions. She needed to know that he believed they could get through all things.

Even this.

He pulled away, and turned to tweak the little girl's nose. "Think that's gross, do ya? Do ya?!" She screeched with delight, and suddenly he realized the sounds she made could cause unwanted attention. So he put his hand down, and held her safely, comfortingly, in his arms.

"You're with the two strongest and bestest heroes around, Alice." Saying the name felt like glass going down his throat. "You ain't got a care in the world."