beyondthisillusion | PSL - How on earth did I get so jaded? Life's mysteries seem so faded...

She'd survived the day. That was the most astonishing thing. A part of Danielle had been absolutely certain that Noah and Lucia would take her out while she was asleep. Or at the very least, stake her and shoved her in a closet. And she wouldn't have blamed them, really. She'd been prepared for that. But night had come, the sun had set, and here she still was. Under armed guard--she could hear the bullets clinking in the cartridge of the woman who'd been assigned to be her 'escort'--but alive, nevertheless.

Small favors. Although she couldn't help but wonder if she was somehow disappointed. At least if she'd been taken out, the misery would be over. What lay ahead was murky, to put it politely.

For the moment, though, she figured she'd take advantage of being among the Palmers, connect to the mother she'd never known. While she waited for Noah and Lucia to make their final decision about her fate, she contented herself to flip through an old family photo album.

What she'd been hoping to find, she didn't know. But as she turned pages and the clock ticked away, she found herself festering in disappointment.

She didn't look a thing like her mother. She was Miles Remington's kid, through and through.

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"Maybe," Danielle said. "Maybe they don't think about the things they have to give up." Or maybe they never wanted them in the first place.

Danielle could never quite figure that part out when it came to Shawn. Dad said jump and he said how high. Sure. That's the way it always was. But was he hiding some sense of pain or loss? Or did he not feel it?

And which one did she hope for?

She shook her head. "Anyway. I want to be human again. In any way I can."

"Good," said a man's voice, from the doorway. Maria turned to see her father standing there, her mother beside him.

Her mother fixed her eyes on Maria. "Maria," she said, "it's well past your bedtime. Come along." Her mom's expression was carefully neutral, and Maria flinched a little—this little adventure was definitely unsanctioned, and probably dangerous; she wouldn't be surprised if she was in for a talking-to before bed. Best not to push her luck any further.

She nodded, biting her lower lip, and followed her mom, casting one last quick look back at Danielle.

***

Which left Danielle alone with Noah and Lupe.

Noah took a seat, taking a chair and pulling it over so that he was sitting across from Danielle, eye to eye. "So," he said, after a long silence. "What'd you think?"

Danielle fell silent as she watched Maria interact with her parents. She considered piping up, trying to take some of the heat off of Maria, but she figured it wouldn't be appreciated. This was a girl who was being raised to fight her own battles.

Anyway, Danielle was a bit uncomfortable dealing with mother figures. Always had been, probably always would be.

Silently and patiently, she waited, watching as Maria left with her mother, before turning her attention to Noah and Lupe.

There was something she liked about Noah. She couldn't put her finger on it, exactly. Maybe a part of it was that he looked nothing like Miles, and yet still possessed Miles' air of authority and certainty. He certainly sounded like he was challenging her with the question. Like it was a test.

"I think she's going to be a force to be reckoned with," she answered honestly and simply, in a tone that she hoped conveyed her willingness to offer fealty.

Noah grinned, widely, and chuckled. "Yeah, that's what we've been thinking," he said, with an obvious note of pride in his voice. "I feel just a little bit bad for anyone getting in her way once she's grown. Maybe even before that. God knows Luce and I have a hell of a time slowing her down. All of 'em good kids, but she's probably the most like me."

He drummed his fingers on the table next to him. "Look, Danielle, this situation is weird for all of us, so I'm not going to beat around the bush here. We've all talked it over—" He nodded at Lupe, who nodded back, "—and we think it's worth it to give you a chance."

Lupe stood and stretched, knitting her hands behind her neck. "It'll be on a probationary basis, obviously, so you'll have to be okay with that," she said, raising an eyebrow slightly. "You'll be under a lot of supervision to start, possibly for a while. But we'll help supply what you need, least what we can."

Danielle wanted to jump up, she wanted to hug the life out of Noah, she wanted to laugh and throw her head back and spin around in circles. Of all the possible scenarios, it was the one that seemed least likely, but the one she wanted the most: She was being let inside.

It was almost impossible to keep her response subdued. The corners of her lips twitched slightly, but she didn't so much as grin. There would be no visible teeth in this household. Not now, not ever.

"I understand," she said. "I'd do the same thing in your place. But I won't give you any reason to doubt my sincerity. What I will do is work as hard as I can to earn your trust. However long it takes."

"That's what we like to hear," said Noah. "'sides, there's a lot of work to do. You probably know this, but the vampire population's spiked something fierce since we were all kids, and there's other critters moving in, besides. Lot of opportunities for you to show what you're made of."

He sat back in his chair, crossed his legs. "Also goes without saying, but I know you said your brother and dad are still out there—if they're not doing any harm, they're not in our sights, but you're gonna have to be prepared for the possibility that they might end up on the wrong side of things, someday."

Talking with Maria about Shawn had helped Danielle to prepare herself for that particular issue. And intellectually, she could see herself fighting against either one of them, if things went sideways. It was what they would have wanted. Or, at least, the human past selves of them would have wanted.

Intellect and practice were two different things.

She'd burn that bridge when she came to it.

For the time being, she nodded. "I understand," she said again.

Noah nodded back, crisply, and stretched out a hand to shake. He might not entirely believe that she was prepared, but who ever was for that kind of thing? "Glad to have you back, then," he said. "Tomorrow night, prepare to hit the ground running."

Danielle reached across the table to shake his hand, careful not to squeeze too hard or too long. It was a delicate balance between showing respect and trying not to remind him--as if he could ever forget--just exactly what she was.

"Been running my whole life," she said. "I'm sure you'll find me an asset."

Noah clapped her on the shoulder, and stood. "Hope we'll find you even more than that. C'mon, let's go take you on the tour. Things have changed a lot around here since your mom's day. We've been getting a place set up for you to stay permanently, too; we'll show you where it is." Not here, though. Not with the kids in the house, not yet.

Before they left, though, he glanced briefly at Danielle's reading material. "You know," he said, "you really do look like your dad, but I'm getting the impression you take after Julia in the ways that count."

"I hope so," Danielle said softly. It was almost a prayer. Julia had been raised a hunter too, sure. But it was different. It wasn't out of revenge or insanity or whatever Miles' excuse of the day was.

It was a matter of family.

Elsewhere:

The words, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that," hovered on the tip of Maria's tongue as she walked in silence behind her mother. She got a lot more freedom, she was pretty sure, than most other kids her age, but even in the Palmer house there were lines you didn't cross. She hadn't been told not to, but she want Mom and Dad to think she didn't have good enough judgment.

Her mother turned at the end of the hallway by Maria's room to look at her, and Maria was ready to blurt out her held-in apology until her mother leaned over, ruffled her hair, and said, "You handled yourself well, Mimi. Good job."

Maria blinked. "You're not mad?"

She shook her head. "We wouldn't have let her in here if we thought she was a danger. Or we would have at least made more of an effort to keep her visit quiet. Seems like she's taken a bit of a shine to you, cara mia."

Maria couldn't help but ask: "Is she... are you gonna say that she can stay?"

"We are. Well, not here; God knows this house isn't big enough for all of us as things are, and she still has some things to prove. But, yes. She'll be rejoining the family."

Family. It was a lot to think about—in just this short time she'd met this strange new relative and been face-to-face with a real vampire. She nodded, slowly. She had too much wariness instilled in her to be a true optimist, but: "I hope it works out. I think it might."

Mom put an arm around her shoulders in a half-hug. "Me too, Maria. Me too."

PSL - How on earth did I get so jaded? Life's mysteries seem so faded...

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