Chapter III

"I swear I never saw anybody else there" Bass paced back and forth in front of Lark's desk like a restless cat. Nicolai was sat in the corner, as far away from the irate Bass as possible while Lark had her head resting on her steepled hands, her eyes closed as she thought and listened to Bass rant.

"I didn't hear or see anybody up on the roof or enter the building, and it was locked when we got there and left" Nicolai added when Bass nudged him for back up.

"Are you sure you didn't hear anything" Lark asked, leaning back in her chair. Bass shook her head angrily and resumed pacing.

"Nothing at all. It was like somebody was waiting there for me" she paused significantly. Nicolai looked up at her in a manner that said he expected her to reveal the secret, while Lark rolled her eyes in an oddly graceful manner. She had seen this behaviour before.

"But that's probably just me" Bass concluded with a smile. Nicolai's elbow slid out from under him as he leaned on it. Lark sighed and leaned back forward again.

"Take tomorrow off, Bass. Wait for it all to die down before setting foot in that district again" Lark rifled through a file on her desk "You haven't got any jobs pending, anyway. Shoo." She flapped her hands at them "And maybe take Nicolai with you. Show him around District 5, tell him what's expected of him"

"Come on, kid" Bass muttered to Nicolai as she nodded acquiescence to Lark and walked out the door, ignoring his reply of 'It's Nicolai, Nico or nothing at all!'.

"District 5?" He questioned on their way down. She looked at him, pulling a face as she did so.

"Please tell me you know what the Districts are"

He frowned "Of course I do. I'm not stupid, you know" he ignored her snort of laughter "H'ress is split into ten districts, eight to five being slums, and nine and ten being, well, inhospitable"

"Destroyed and haunted, you mean" She corrected, smiling at the nearly-textbook explanation "District 5 is where I live. It's nicer than the rest, and I grew up there, so its home. I'll show you a few people. If I get in trouble you go to District 5, you can lose anybody there. If you need to hide, the slums is the place to go"

"Er...all right?" Nicolai managed eventually. Bass didn't say anything more, merely gesturing for him to follow her out of the door into the cool night.

"You can stay 'round mine. I'll show you around in the morning" Bass threw a decidedly dark look up at the highest room in the building with the light on "Come on, kid"

She ignored the yell of 'It's Nico!'

Nico awoke with a start, staring around himself as his sleep fuzzed mind attempted to work out where he was. As the plain walls and red, overstuffed sofa he was lying on came into focus, he managed to place it. He was in Bass' living room; the small space was partially taken up with various books of all kinds, with topics from weapon tech to art and philosophy.

He sat up, rubbing at his eyes and pulling on his trousers and shirt before looking around properly. There was small desk in the corner, on which a weapon and a blue-furred teddy bear lay. Nico's eyes hiked up in amusement as he tried to imagine Bass (the one he had seen so far) cuddling the teddy in her sleep. He stood and walked over to the desk, noting the weapon with great interest. He had originally thought it a knife, but from the unusual wave-like shape and holes for grips on what he had thought a handle, it was obviously meant to fix onto something.

"A Glaive" He said delightedly, turning the blade over in his hands. He hadn't thought he would see such an old-fashioned (by modern standards) weapon away from his home of Frevain, where guns were ousted in favour of blades and spears.

"That's right" A voice informed him cheerily from the doorway behind him. He jerked around, still holding the blade to find Bass standing there; watching him with amusement and what Nicolai thought was a glimmer of respect which was quickly extinguished. Bass was dressed in a long-sleeved, red turtleneck jumper, with dark leggings. She strolled over, taking the blade from his grip and fitting it to a relatively short pole, swinging it expertly to test it.

"Isn't that pole...?"

"A bit short?" She completed "I have a longer one, but D'lo won't let me in if I run around with the full-length 5ft pole" She grinned at him, nodding at the clock on the wall "It's almost 11 o' clock. You sleep for a goddamn long time, you know"

"Sorry" he shrugged "D'lo?"

"You'll see" The shark's smile made him slightly uncomfortable, he had to admit "We'll get something to eat, and I'll show you around. Not that there's much to see" She added thoughtfully, shoving the weapon into the belt slung around her waist.

"Coming, kid?"

"Nico" he muttered as he followed her, pulling the door shut after him. He trailed after Bass as she wove through the maze of alleys and terraces. She returned greetings to people who called out to her, at ease and more friendly than ever in the short time Nico had known her. They headed towards a large bar/café that was in a slightly clearer area, no buildings in front of it, but the ground itself was dry, cracked and barren of any plants. Bass led the way, a spring in her step.

"Bass!" A small blur of red catapulted into Bass's legs, tiny arms wrapping around Bass' waist. Nico blinked, and looked again. A tiny child with a large quantity of red hair was clinging to Bass like it would to its mother. Nico half-expected Bass to yell in anger and peel the child away, but Bass did nothing except ruffle the child's flaming hair.

"Hey Rowan" She greeted the child, who looked up at her with no small amount of hero worship in her eyes.

"Are you coming in? Are you bringing that man? Is he your friend? Are you in trouble? Cause Mama said that she saw you on the screen-" Bass covered her mouth up before the flow of questions could continue.

"Yes, yes, sort of, and no." Bass ruffled her hair again "I'm not in trouble yet, so don't worry"

"If you get inta trouble, I'll scare them off!" The child declared, face wrinkled in what she imagined was a fearsome expression.

"I'm sure you will, pal" Rowan seemed satisfied and ran off, leaving Bass and a rather surprised Nico.

Bass frowned at him "What is it?"

"Why do you use her name but I only get 'kid'?" He demanded.

"Cause it gets this reaction" She smirked at him "If you didn't get so riled up, I wouldn't do it"

She walked away, leaving Nico staring after her. He found himself following her unconsciously before he caught himself, breaking his own train of thought.

'This woman is going to kill me' he thought to himself. Once he noticed the children watching him with interest, he threw them a strained smile and hurried into the bar. He looking around, seeing Bass talking to a flame-haired woman at the actual bar. He thought of the 'Mama' Rowan had mentioned, and, when the woman turned to look at him, the aura of comfort, danger, and protection she gave off. Definitely a mother. One of the men sitting nearby looked between him and Bass.

"Hey Bass, this one yours?" Bass thought for a moment, then nodded "He's a bit young for you, isn't he?"

"Maybe for me, but there ain't no guy too young for you, 'Raint" She shot back as Nico edged away from 'Raint' to Bass and her friend.

Bass introduced them "Delores, this is the kid – Nicolai" She corrected upon glares from both of them "Kid, this is Delores – D'lo"

Delores leaned over, and instead of shaking hands, kiss him on the cheek. The action surprised him, and whilst he blinked, unsure how to react, D'lo clucked over him.

"You're too thin. What've ya been eatin', air?" The thick accent pierced his senses, and Bass' face was lit up with an impish grin. She called over to a group of men of all ages sitting nearby.

"Hey boys, we have a new adopted brother!" A few ragged cheers were heard, and Nicolai frowned in confusion at Bass.

"D'lo has a habit of adopting people of all ages and types, including me" She smiled over at Delores "She's a real mother hen"

Delores sniffed, swiping at Bass with a cloth "Somebody needs to take care of you, since you're no good at it"

"I need somebody to baby me when I've been bashed up" This time the cheeky grin was directed at Delores "You're best at it, Ma D'lo" She commented, and a few chuckles were heard.

Nicolai smiled. There was a distinct upbeat aura in the air, despite their situation and surroundings, people for the most part seemed relaxed and happy. It was like you forgot everything once you entered, a relief from the rest of the world. He watched as Bass' smile faded and she dug a pad out of her pocket, resting it where the chip on her forearm was. Words flashed across the screen and she stood, pad vanishing and face pulled into a worried expression.

"Lark's calling us in" the frown could be heard in her voice "It's not optional"