=:= Owen =:=

"I'm not going to kill you," Cindy replied as she rolled her eyes. "Are you still in touch with your former staff here?"

"I'd rather not betray them to you," he replied. "But if you promise not to hurt Alys, I'll hand all six of them to you on a platter."

Alys was watching him with a confused look on her face. Like she wasn't sure if he was joking or not, she didn't know if she should laugh or actually be scared for their lives. She was probably thrown off by the mismatch between his weary and disinterested expresion and tone, and the dire things he was saying.

Cindy grinned. "I'm not here to kill your men either. I've been talking with Alys for a while and she thinks you're a pretty decent guy. So far, I'm inclined to agree with her."

He glanced at Alys, then back at Cindy. "Oh?"

The blonde nodded, "Sure. I mean, she told me she used my spell on Monday and you've just accepted her. And you're using her new name and pronouns and everything? That's pretty decent."

Owen sighed, "Your spell. You're that Cindy..." He drained the last of his beer and set the empty can back on the table.

Alys got up and fetched him another lager from the fridge, setting it down infront of him. She sat back down again, watching him.

She looked worried now, and Owen wondered what Alys and Cindy had been talking about. All his own little worries about her flashed through his mind again, along with what Cindy had just said.

"Thanks," he mumbled as he opened it.

He looked at his child again and braced himself. "Alys? Tell me the truth. Was this really just an experiment to see what it's like? Do you have any intention of turning yourself back next month?"

He watched her eyes widen, and her cheeks flushed pink. Then she looked down at the table, and finally shook her head. "Not really. It just thought it might be an easier way to tell you? Like, after a month I could find an excuse to prolong it? Make it two months, then three. And eventually just say I'm staying like this..."

Owen sighed again and had a couple more gulps of beer. Still looking at his daughter he asked, "Are you happy like this?" He suspected he already knew the answer, but he wanted to be sure.

Alys was still looking down at the table, still blushing. She nodded though, as she bit her lower lip. She looked nervous, afraid perhaps of how he was going to react.

He hesitated, then just nodded slightly. "Ok. If I'm still alive after Cindy's done with me, we'll figure out what else we need to do for you. I'm sure there's things like ID and paperwork and what-not."

Alys looked up at him, her eyes wide and pooling with tears. "Really?"

He nodded, "Really. You're all I have left, Alys. I want you to be happy."

Owen gave his daughter a weak smile, then turned his attention back to the blonde teen. "So, if you're not here to kill me, why are you here?"

Cindy smiled, "I was thinking of hiring you? Maybe get you to re-open the Cardiff office. There'd be some changes of course, very different rules and protocols. Maybe call it something different too cos it's not really gonna be a 'brotherhood' anymore."

He stared at her. "What?"

The teen sighed, "I don't know if you're aware of the stuff that happened in Oxfordshire? Reality got broken and the army and government kind of covered it up and hid it. But some stuff got out. I don't know exactly what sorts of things got loose but the description I heard was like 'fae' or 'demons'. I know that used to be part of what you guys did? Like you kept the world safe from that stuff? That's what I want you to do now. But like, only that. Not hurting innocent people, not being evil. Just keep people safe."

Owen had another gulp of beer as he watched Cindy. "I've heard some rumours about Oxfordshire, but you obviously know more about it than me. How did reality get broken?"

"That's where I beat Alexander," Cindy replied. "He kept it secret but he's a God. When I beat him, some of his 'divine energy' leaked out and ripped a hole in reality."

She added, "Me and Zoe went and fixed it last week, so that problem is solved. And I've spent the past couple days finding and helping people who got hurt by the Anomaly. But some things have gotten out into our world, and you people are the only ones with experience dealing with that kind of thing."

She continued, "I'll give you a budget, not quite what you had before, but maybe two thirds that? Actually I should get Zoe to come and help with this stuff, I suck with math and numbers. Anyways, I'm thinking you and four others. I'll have to approve who you're hiring, I don't want any assholes or dicks on the team."

After a few more gulps of beer, Owen asked "Where are you going to get that kind of money?" He added, "I'm not even going to touch the stuff about Alexander. I don't know whether to laugh or cry, listening to you."

Cindy smiled, "I siezed all the Brotherhood's financial assets in June. All the investments, all the accounts, money hidden away all over the world. And last week when we were patching up reality, Zoe and I pilfered a bunch of valuables from Alexander's estate. That guy's been hoarding loot for like three hundred years. You'd think he was part dragon or something."

Owen finished his second beer and sighed again. "Can I have some time to think about all this? Maybe after dinner?"

"Sure," Cindy smiled. She had a little purse with her, and pulled out her phone and some cash. She dropped a little stack of hundred pound notes on the table, "Order something in. Get enough for four, I'm gonna invite Zoe over."

Alys had been quiet through all of this, but she'd been watching and listening. She snatched up one of the notes and smiled, "I'll call the curry house! Dinner for four, coming up."

Cindy was tapping out a message on her phone, but she smirked. "I like her. Let's hire her for the new organization. Give her a safe job though."

"I haven't agreed to your offer yet." Owen grumbled.

"I know, but you will." Cindy replied quietly. "You hate working at the bank, you hate the commute. Your life's fallen apart. I'm offering you a chance to reclaim some of what you've lost. I'm also offering you a chance at a sort of redemption."

She added, "I'm not going to force you. If you refuse, that's fine. I'll go, you'll never hear from me again. I'll try Edinburgh next."

Owen could hear his daughter on her phone in the livingroom, placing the order with the local East Indian restaurant. He asked softly, "You'd just leave? You'd let me go, let me live?"

The blonde nodded. Her voice was still quiet as she said "You seem decent. I'm not going to kill a decent man. I heard what you said to Alys and I know you meant it. If you decline my offer, I'll leave you in peace. I might wipe your knowledge of magic, because you know some particularily vile spells, but I won't hurt you."

"What are you?" he asked, his voice almost a whisper.

"I'm a sorceress who defeated two Gods," she whispered back. "Now I'm trying to make the world a better, nicer place."

Alys returned to the kitchen and announced with a wide smile, "Ok, dinner should be here in under an hour. I wasn't sure what everyone liked so I ordered a bunch of things, since money doesn't seem to be a problem."

Cindy smiled back at her, "Sounds good! Zoe will be here in a few minutes."

• • • • •

Owen had a cup of coffee in his hand, as he stared across the table at Cindy. Alys was in the den with Zoe, talking and watching TV. All four of them were stuffed after the large meal. As much as he wanted another beer, he decided two was enough. He didn't want to get himself drunk before having to make some very important decisions.

Now the dishes had been cleaned up, the leftovers put away, and he was facing this small teenaged god-killer while his daughter was enjoying a visit with the first catgirl she'd ever met. In fact Alys had been so fascinated by the purple-haired catgirl, Owen was worried his daughter was already plotting to surprise him again next full moon.

He pushed that thought out of his head for now, and focused on the blonde sitting across from him.

"Did you do anything to Alys? To make her... To make her use that spell, or make her want to be that way?"

Cindy shook her head, "Not at all. I didn't know anything about her till I showed up here an hour before you got home. I didn't even know you had a kid. I was planning on just hanging out and waiting for you."

She shrugged, "Alys is really nice though, and we had a really good conversation. I'm not lying when I say I like her, and that you should hire her and train her."

Owen sighed again. "I'd been planning on bringing my son into the Brotherhood, when he... When she turned twenty-one."

Cindy smiled slightly, "You're a good father, Owen. You're doing a good job."

A few minutes of silence passed, as he sipped his coffee. Finally he asked, "If I take your offer, I suppose we'll have to talk money and contracts, and you want me to pick four of my men? I had six, but you want me to drop two and keep four?"

"I'll have to talk with Zoe about the money stuff. I wasn't kidding when I said I'm not good at that stuff." Cindy smiled a moment, before her expression shifted back to serious. "As for who to hire, I'm also not kidding about hiring decent people. No dicks, no assholes. If there's four good people among your six, we'll take them."

She added, "If you don't have four decent men, we'll try and hire someone from the Edinburgh or Belfast offices. Or if you think your men are valuable despite being assholes, then I can give them an 'attitude adjustment'."

Owen gulped. "What sort of 'attitude adjustment'? What does that mean?"

"Did you ever meet Richard?" Cindy asked.

"Of course," he nodded.

Cindy stated quietly, "Richard is now a very sweet young woman who works in a bookstore and spoils her two pet kittens. She's got a huge crush on the woman who lives in the appartment downstairs from her but hasn't worked up the courage yet to ask for a date. That's what I mean by 'attitude adjustment'."

Owen shuddered slightly, and gulped. "Does he... Does she know who she used to be?"

"Yes," Cindy nodded. "She remembers everything, except how to use magic."

He suppressed another shudder. "My men wouldn't be much use if you did that to them."

"Well it wouldn't have to be that exactly," the blonde smirked. "I mean, 'shy kitten-loving bookstore lesbian' is kind of a niche calling."

Owen sighed and finished his coffee. He asked, "And you're serious about hiring Alys?"

Cindy nodded, "Yeah. We'll give her a safe job, research or something. I mean, if she wants a job of course." She shrugged and suggested, "Take a few days and think it over. Talk it over with your daughter. And think about which of your men would be a good fit."

"How can I contact you?" Owen asked. "I mean, when I have a decision?"

"I'll drop in again. I'll pop in on Monday and we can talk then. I don't want to rush you, but I don't want to wait too long. That Anomaly was open from the day the Brotherhood fell until last week. I don't know what's come through or where it's hiding."

Owen sighed, "We used to get reports from Oracle. That's how we'd know what was going on, what trouble was afoot." He added, "I don't know who or what that was, though."

"It was Alexander," Cindy replied. "He used his 'divine sight' or whatever, I don't know. I think he made the Oracle thing up to hide that it was all just coming from him." She added, "I've been studying him, but I don't think I can recreate that. I haven't figured it out yet, or I'd be doing that now, tracking these things down myself."

That was news to Owen of course. He had no idea Oracle and Alexander were one and the same. And it was hard to believe the boss of the organization was himself a God. It left Owen wondering what the real goal was, why they were working to eliminate other gods and keep magic strictly controlled.

Finally he just nodded, "Ok. I'll think about your offer, I'll talk with Alys, and I guess I'll see you on Monday."

Cindy smiled, "Thanks Owen."

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