Trees lined the road, their leaves having long since fallen in the face of the recent freeze. It was about two hours before sunrise and they were making decent time as they drove past the sign announcing the city limits of the town that Grace had once sworn to never enter again.

  Somerville had barely changed since she left. The most notable difference was a second dolr shop that had opened closer to downtown. Used to be you had to drive ten minutes down the highway to find anything resembling a chain store. She was certain it had been the talk of the town for months. It shouldn’t have been a surprise that the town still only had one fast food pce, the same one that opened decades earlier and was always packed following church hours.

  Not everyone had the patience to drive twenty minutes for microwaved pasta.

  “Damn, this pce really is backwoods,” Nicole said, looking out the window.

  Grace chuckled. “They like it that way. The people around here consider those from the city to be pitied.”

  “Seriously?” Nicole asked, turning to face her with an expression of pure horror.

  Grace nodded, her grip tightening on the wheel. “It’s drilled into their heads that the cities are full of sin. Crime is rampant, people different from them get away with everything, it’s all designed to keep them afraid to leave.”

  She’d been fed variations of that fear her entire life, yet moving to Minneapolis remained the single best decision she ever made. It was how she met Nicole after all, and that wouldn’t have happened if she stayed in hillbilly junction.

  A lot of things wouldn’t have happened, and for once she was gd her parents had forced the issue by trying to set her up with that creep. It was a strange thing to be grateful for, but that had been the catalyst for her life changing for the better, even if it took a hot minute to get there. Now she was turning down the road to where her childhood home resided, returning freely to the hell she once escaped.

  It was dark, but there were a few street lights attached to their power lines illuminating the long driveway up to the family farm. Most of those were new, as Grace could only recall the one by the road and the one past the woodline from her own escape. It meant that the approach was easier to keep an eye on, and that darkness wouldn’t be as ready of an ally on the escape.

  The home was two stories, with a wrap-around porch and a basement and no railings to keep someone from stumbling off it. There were several barns by the fields of corn and soybeans, not to mention the dozens of heads of cattle spread across the hundred plus acres of nd.

  “I’m surprised we didn’t set off an arm,” Nicole said, looking around.

  Grace was too, though she didn’t admit to it out loud. She just knew that to do so would invoke something and actually bring Murphy down on their asses. She might not believe anymore, but that didn’t mean she wanted to tempt any higher power that might be paying passing attention. Grace made sure she parked with the vehicle so it would be ready to speed off down the driveway in the event they needed to get away quickly.

  Nicole undid her seatbelt and got out of the car, stretching in a rather distracting way. She was already wearing one of her undersuits, but had left the armor itself back in Minneapolis given how compromising it would be if discovered. A bck bandana was tied to cover her mouth and her hair was tucked inside a dark beanie. It was almost amusing seeing her dressed like a cssic burgr. All she needed was the burp sack.

  Well, she had her belt, with hip pouch and bdes, so it wasn’t as if she wasn’t prepared in the event something went wrong. Grace did much the same, stretching before she tied her own bandana over her face, though she left her car idling out of expediency. She made sure to gas up in Brownsville before making that final leg, not wanting to stop anywhere near Somerville while they tried to get back north.

  The old house stood tall, imposing in all the worst ways. The property was passed down her family for generations, with several smaller homes scattered around the farm where the sons of the family would move to with their new brides to start litters of their own. She couldn’t help but recall her own escapades in the home, first with her grandparents, then when her family moved in themselves.

  That brought a deep pang with it, and she couldn’t help but spare a gnce at the old workshop where her grandfather’s forge once stood. Her father had dismantled it shortly after his passing, all because she took an ‘unnatural’ interest in the craft.

  Shaking that off, Grace returned her focus to the house and the old oak tree that still stood tall, as did the thick limb that extended up and over the wrap around porch. It brought back memories of her escape, as well as a few times when she snuck out to get away for a few hours to mourn the opportunities lost due to her circumstances.

  All of which she had recimed with her own hands.

  “Unless they fixed the window in my old room, I can get us into the house,” Grace said. “From there it is just figuring out where my sister is and hoping she’s willing to talk.”

  “And if she isn’t?” Nicole asked.

  Grace shrugged, already walking forward. “Worst case, I morph, scoop you up, and run.”

  Nicole grimaced, yet nodded all the same. It was an easy way to get the cops on their asses too. Unfortunately, being Rangers wouldn’t be a good enough excuse for why they were btantly breaking the w. Trying to save her sister from being married off to some youth pastor wouldn’t go over well with the authorities in a town like Somerville.

  Approaching the house, Grace moved off to the side, eyeing the corner pilr of the porch. Sure enough the handholds she had used to escape three years prior were still quite intact and she was quick to move up them. She looked down at her girlfriend, ready to make some witty comment, when her girlfriend took a deep breath then elected to jump instead. She twisted across the air, setting her feet down on the edge of the roof without making a single sound through the entire act.

  “How the hell…”

  Nicole ughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head. “Former gymnast, remember?”

  “That was way more than just gymnastics,” Grace said, still in awe at the dispy. She was enhanced, sure, but it always amazed her to see just how far Nicole could push things even without her ability to morph. Grace gnced up to the top of the roof, briefly tempted to try it herself, but elected against experimenting during what was meant to be a covert operation.

  With careful steps, Grace moved to the window of her old room and quickly realized that it was not as empty as anticipated. There was a single mp on, illuminating a room rather different from the one that she remembered. Inside was a blonde that had grown considerably since the st time she saw her. No longer was she a twelve year old twerp, now she was a young woman. A young woman attracting the sort of attention that she shouldn’t be getting.

  “Come on Sarah, we’re to be married,” Brian fucking Jackson said, “there’s no harm in doing something like this before our wedding.”

  Fury ignited within Grace as she looked through the window, the sight of the bastard enough to dredge up every unpleasant memory of the man that she kept buried. Another memory soon joined them and she was struck with the rather satisfying thought of repeating history, only this time she would have strength beyond human limits behind the blow.

  With some finesse, Grace felt along the window and found that familiar catch that she had once used to get back into her room even though it was locked. Her parents really had been that zy after she ran away. Not wanting to let the depraved show go on within, She slid the window up as quietly as she could.

  “I’m not going to suck you off, dickweed,” Sarah snapped. “Like, why are my parents even allowing you in here alone with me?”

  The much too old man chuckled. “That’s easy. They want to make sure you aren’t a dyke like your sister.”

  Grace could have sworn that the temperature in the room dropped ten degrees in an instant as the realization of what was about to happen settled upon every occupant of the room. Neither had noticed Grace at the window, but it was abundantly clear that she needed to ensure this creep could never hurt another girl.

  She stepped through the window, a finger to her lips as she looked directly at Sarah for the first time in three years. She had the same sandy blonde hair as their mother, a trait they shared. The familiar brown eyes met her own for the briefest moment, pupils diting wide in recognition. Her button nose scrunched up and she turned a harsh gre upon the man.

  “There is nothing wrong with my sister being gay,” she spat. “That you think so is reason enough for why you should never have a chance to reproduce.”

  His muscles tensed, and Grace was ready to spring into action, but the man rexed with a heavy sigh instead. Nicole was coming through the window behind her now, and if it meant having backup, she was willing to let him run his mouth a moment longer.

  “I see you’ve been listening to the liberal media again,” he said with a shake of his head. “All that woke shit is rotting your brain. You just need to be with a real man and you’ll understand why none of that bologna is true.”

  “Because it worked so well on me,” Grace said.

  Brian spun around, but Grace backhanded him before he could finish his turn. He crashed to the floor with a muted thump on the carpet and Grace gred down at his crumpled form dispassionately.

  “I am so tempted to neuter that shitstain,” Nicole said, now brandishing a familiar dagger. “Who’s up for a little amateur castration?”

  “Tone it down,” Grace said with a chuckle. “Hey sis, I missed y—”

  A muffled grunt escaped her as Sarah smmed into her with a full bodied hug. Grace could only return the embrace, gd that her sister seemed to genuinely miss her. She savored the moment, enjoying the warmth of a sibling she genuinely thought she would never see again.

  A groan interrupted the moment, prompting both sisters to look down.

  “Huh, I’m surprised you’re still alive,” Nicole said casually, then when the man tried to move he found a dagger pressed somewhere rather sensitive. “Ah, none of that shit unless you want for free what many trans women have to jump through hoops for.”

  Grace wasn’t quite sure where this sadistic side of her girlfriend was coming from, but part of her had to admit it was kinda hot. The other part of her was just gring at her out of concern that she found it hot. Regardless, lesbian hindbrain was winning that one at present.

  “Your girlfriend is scary,” Sarah said nervously.

  Grace couldn’t help but grin. “Damn right she is. One of the scariest people I’ve ever met, and that’s saying something.”

  Not that she would admit to some of the people she had met, like Xavier, Maraline, or Bartran. Actually, with their connections to the mystery organization that Sincir ran, she could probably get them to swing custody of her sister. That would be something to bring up after they got Sarah to safety. Well, and cleared up the whole underground b situation. He was probably pissed at them for some reason, she just wasn’t sure what it might be.

  “Why did you come?” Sarah whispered. “You know they made me send you that text, they’re hoping you would show up.”

  Grace snorted. “Let me guess, they thought I would walk up to the front door.”

  Sarah shrugged. “They didn’t tell me that part. I think they’re still paranoid after you ran away.”

  “They should be scared,” Grace said. “If they’re trying to marry you off to this creep, they deserve to be scared shitless of what’s coming for them.”

  “Like my knives,” Nicole added cheerfully as she cut a thin line through denim.

  Okay, the psycho act was cute at first, but now her girlfriend was overpying her hand, not that she would say it aloud unless she crossed a line. Grace had few doubts that Nicole would knife the bastard if he gave her a good enough excuse, but torture would be a bit much even for her. Being a Ranger meant one saw a lot of death first hand, that they grew numb to it over time. Grace wasn’t sure how far she would go had she been the one with a knife in hand, yet that thought didn’t scare her nearly as much as she thought it should.

  The telltale sound of a shotgun racking its slide stilled the room.

  Grace turned to face the doorway, unsurprised to see her father standing there with the cssic weapon of all overbearing fathers in hand. The gun wasn’t pointed at them, not yet, but the implicit threat was clear. His hair had begun to gray, no longer the deep brown that it could pass for bck while his facial hair was decidedly more white than bck now.

  “You have some nerve coming back,” her father snarled. “You couldn’t keep your sin to yourself, could you? Not only have you assaulted a good man of God, you had to corrupt your sister as well!”

  Rolling her eyes, Grace turned to face him, though she kept her hands on her watch as she did. “What did you expect after half your church spammed my private number with texts? I can only assume you saw me on the news, which goes to show you were all too chickenshit to confront me in person.”

  The gun then swung to point at her, only to pause when the bastard at Nicole’s mercy cried out. Grace didn’t let her father out of sight, but she did turn enough to see Nicole had dug her dagger into the pitiful excuse for a man, though she mercifully missed his dangly bits. That didn’t mean it wasn’t angled to cut right for them if necessary.

  “Oops,” Nicole said, her voice ft and cold. “My hand slipped.”

  In any other circumstance, Grace might have been appalled, but they were being threatened here, and her sister was effectively being held hostage with the intention to gift wrap her for a man nearly twice her age.

  “You’ll regret that,” her father said.

  Nicole grinned savagely, letting the knife slide ever so slightly closer.

  Grace bit her lip, not liking how things were quickly spiraling out of control. “I know you asked if you could py up the sadistic rogue angle, but this is a bit much.”

  “I’m not the one with a gun pointed at my child,” Nicole countered. “But, I’ll concede that point if he sets the gun on the floor.”

  “Not happening,” her father said, and racked the slide again, dropping a perfectly good shell to the floor to join the first that she hadn’t seen fall earlier. He didn’t seem too concerned about it either, which gave Grace an idea, though it was one that carried a fair bit of risk. Less so than morphing in the middle of the tense situation, which was why it won out.

  “Sarah, behind me,” Grace said, gently coaxing her sister back. “Father, do you remember what you once told me about gun safety?”

  The man furrowed his brow, the question having been enough to distract him for the barest instant she needed. All of her power went to her feet, and Grace surged forward straight towards the man. Her hand snapped up, grabbing the slide as her father’s eyes widened, and pushed it back. The shell ejected just as he failed to pull the now useless trigger, then her palm smashed into his chest.

  Her father was unched back, the slide reset, and now Grace was left holding the gun. She wasted no time emptying the rifle with a few quick racks, then braced it against her shin, and snapped the shotgun in two. It had all happened in barely a second, and only then did her sister manage to scream.

  “We need to leave,” Grace said. “Sarah, how fast can you get packed?”

  “Packed?” Sarah asked, looking panicked. “Wait, you came to bring me back with you?”

  “That was the pn,” Nicole said, then she punched the pervert she’d been holding at bay, knocking him out cold. “I’m gonna need a shower after having to deal with that creep.”

  “You and me both,” Sarah grumbled as she moved to pull a bag out from under a pile of clothes in her closet. “I’ve got a bag packed, but there’s a few things I still need to grab.”

  “Make it quick,” Grace said. “I’d bet money that our darling mother is already on the phone with the sheriff.”

  “I’ll go keep an eye out,” Nicole said, moving to the window. “Give me a shout when you’re ready.”

  “She’s an interesting one,” Sarah said as she watched Nicole shimmy out the window and vanish into the night.

  Grace could only chuckle. “That she is, and I wouldn’t change a thing about her.”

  “I’m gd you found someone,” Sarah said with a soft smile. “She was the one in bck, wasn’t she?”

  The question caught Grace by surprise, and her reaction served as all the answer that was needed.

  “She does look good in bck,” Grace conceded.

  “Knew it,” Sarah said, grabbing something from under her bed, then she stared at her phone with a frown. “Fuck it, I’m not coming back and the only contacts I have are from my shitty school or church.”

  “No game saves you care about?” Grace asked, then smirked as a frown crossed her little sister’s face.

  Grace had a few games on her own phone that she would be upset to lose her progress on, and at least one gacha game that she’d invested more money than she was proud to admit. That was the curse of being a baby lesbian in a new city, it provided her an outlet when she needed one, and it didn’t hurt that the game had more than a few canon gays, one of which also helped inspire her to take up the axe and the color red.

  Sarah sighed, and pocketed the phone. Grace smiled, then helped her out the window. She’d barely finished exiting the building herself when she caught sight of fshing red and blue lights in the distance, and the growing wail of sirens. The cops were on their way, and even her plucky new car wouldn’t be enough to escape with.

  Pendragoon