“I wasn't going to stand by and let the Strays go homeless. So I'm going back to work . . . at least for a while."

“But you hated that world!"

"But we need the money. We can't keep going the way we were, especially with our numbers down. I can help just by strutting down a runway every now and then. I sold my house and emptied my savings.

And Croc helped out too," she said, a bit fondly.

“Happy to help," the man in question said, appearing out of nowhere.

He noticed, with some admiration, that the red-haired woman didn't flinch when he appeared out of nowhere. He wore a patch over his ruined eye, but he thought it actually helped his image.

"I guess that from what I've heard, I owe you thanks," Red said coolly. She would take time in assessing the man's character. He had won over the rest of the Strays already, and that counted for something . . . but not everything.

"Does . . . does the . . . slaughterhouse have an address?" Jane asked, uncomfortable with all the tension.

"Yeah I suppose." Tarloh looked a bit perplexed.

"Why?"

Red gripped her girlfriend's hand.

"Are you sure this is what you want? We could find you. . ."

"I need some of the normal world," Jane said, "but I'm not leaving you."

Talia didn't understand.

"Jane . . . what's going on?" Something occurred to her.

"Dammit, I'm sorry. We never asked what happened ..."

"I didn't kill him," Jane said, answering the unasked question.

"I didn't have to." It was Jane's turn to recount everything, from breaking into her old house to the fight with the Shoggoth to the visit with her mother. Anya almost cried, and even Talia held back a sniffle.

"So," Jane finished, "I need a job again. I need . . . I need something I can help her out with. A life I can tell her about. I ... was gonna get an apartment again . . . maybe but ...

“You won't have to," Tarloh interrupted.

"We'll give you as much ‘normal’ as we can."

Talia wrapped an arm around Red's shoulder.

"I think we found a place that you two could stay too. Assuming that...

"