You sat in a room with the team, Crocodile, Kid, and the police. "So you went down the shoot to dislodge a clog and came out with a corpse." The elf clarifies.

           "Yes." You nod, not really looking at anything, your mind replaying the scene.

           "And all your workers are here." The elf looks to Crocodile.

           "Yes, and the dwarf ___ pulled out wasn't in the protective jumpsuit the workers wear." Your boss responds.

            "Ms. ___," The policeman's partner gains your attention. He was also an elf, blond hair, scar over his left eye. "May I ask why you grabbed the object you were supposed to dislodge. From what they've said there's a tray at the bottom that can be emptied… So why did you grab it?"

             "The light I did have lit him up weird, something about it didn't seem right so I just… Grabbed him." You murmur, starting to feel sick again. "I was expecting a piece of metal… Not…" You cover your mouth again. He rubs your back softly.

             "Thank you. Hang in there okay?" He says softly with a gentle smile. You meet his blue gaze and give a small nod.

            "We'll be investigating this further, if you have anymore information please call us." The other officer says finishing the report.

            "For now we'll have to ask you to shut down the forge until we are done." The blond requests. Crocodile shifts before nodding.

            "Very well, we do have smaller forges for when the big one goes into maintenance so that's fine." He says.

            "Alright, let us know if someone decides to skip town. This may be an accident, but we won't rule out foul play just yet." The officer informs. "Come Sabo," He looks to the blond promptly.

             "Yes." The blond acknowledges as he hands you his card. "Call if you need anything ___." He murmurs before heading out after his partner. A silence follows, then Crocodile sighs and lights his cigar.

             "You all can take the rest of today off, don't worry you'll get paid for the rest." He says after a moment. You meet his gaze before nodding and getting up, going out first.

             As you make your way to the tunnel, Kid calls out to you, making you stop and look back as he catches up. "Ya take the bus right? I'll give you a ride home." He tells you.

            "Thanks." You nod before looking ahead. Probably best you'd probably wander if left to your own devices, and last time that happened it didn't end well. He nods leading you down another tunnel toward the parking garage.

            "Stupid question, but are you okay?" He asks rubbing his neck.

            "I'll be fine, it's not the first time I came across a body… Just… That smell…" You rub your nose. He peers at you carefully before looking ahead.

           "Good thing you weren't here when one of the bridges collapsed… That was a lot worse." He comments.

           "Sounds scary.." You mutter.

           "It was… A very messed up day." He nods with a distant look in his eyes. You look at him, reaching over and ruffling his hair. He pauses looking back at you.

            "Thanks Kid. You didn't have to go through all that with me." You smile a bit, taking your hand away. He blinks at you before looking away with a frown.

            "You seem pretty reckless. And humans are fragile. Guess I feel responsible for my trainee." He shrugs. You hum as you watch him for a bit, he was putting up guards all of a sudden. Dwarves and their hatred for looking soft.

          "Dwarves are my favorite." You grin peering around the parking lot.

          "You keep saying that." He says leading you to a pick up truck. It was lower to the ground but still required him to climb just to get in the driver's seat. You move to the passengers side so you couldn't adore his struggle to get in knowing he wouldn't like it. Once in he opens the door for you to get in.

          "I live on Fire Junction." You tell him putting on your seatbelt. He nods starting out. You rub your neck as you peer around the truck, finding it littered with bolts and other mechanic necessities. It reminded you of when you had a car. "Mechanic outside the forge?" You guess eyes wandering to him as he pauses in surprise before glancing around.

           "Was… Sorry, I forget to clean it up." He says gruffly.

           "It's fine. My old car was the same way…" You smile thoughtfully, playing with a bolt on the dashboard. "I lost it when Loki was still free causing… Bullshit. When North Bridge twisted like a pretzel."

           "Shit. You were on it when it happened?" He asks in alarm.

           "Yeah. I still don't know how I survived, I was at the center stuck in traffic… The only thing I remember is getting out of my car to help this man standing on the railing…" You frown lightly. "But that was probably Loki… Cause I went flying once I got close to him…"

           "Damn… You're lucky to be alive." He murmurs. "That madman could've killed you."

           "Yeah… Oh if you turn here it's quicker." You point.

           "So… Is that when you saw the… Other bodies?" He guesses, seeming really hesitant but curious to ask. You look at him, finding his face perplexed. That was a bit cute to be honest. He peers at you carefully and you pause, looking away as you try to recall the question.

           "I… Um… Yeah… I woke up on a few, floating on the water… There were a lot of them… But no one else was moving… Then the wolf came and-" You cringe and shudder heavily sitting up and shaking your head. "No no… No more." You breathe rubbing your legs.

           "Right. I shouldn't have- you okay?" He asks looking at you carefully.

           "Uh yeah sorry. I usually avoid talking about it… Really… Messed me up…" You manage trying to calm yourself. Warmth comes over your hand and you look down at his over yours. You relax, felt like the warmth spread to your chilled limbs. "Thanks…" He carefully takes his hand away. Your eyes drift back to him as he looks ahead a bit guilty. He opens his mouth but decides against speaking. "Don't worry about it Kid. Guess I wanted to tell ya… You were probably worried I a was a crazy huh?" You try to lighten the mood with a slight giggle and smile.

         "... Yeah kinda…." He admits scratching his cheek. "You brought it up so calmly…"

         "Eh… I've been burying that memory for a while.. " You shrug. "Oh it's that one right there." You point to your place and smile more.

         "Not bad." He comments peering around as he parks in the driveway. "You gonna be alright?" He asks.

         "Yeah. Thanks Kid." You turn to get out and pause, looking back at him.

         "What?" He raises an eyebrow.

         "Nothing…" You smile before getting out shaking your head. You had almost tried to kiss his cheek, but you stopped yourself in time. "Dwarves…" You mutter shutting the door. You give him a wave as he leaves before turning to the house, looking up at your window. You frown briefly before going to the garage and finding something to work on to distract your mind from all of the memories you wanted to block out.

          Surrounded by the black waters as they glistened under the full moon. The bodies under you bobbing slightly. If you looked down in the water you could make out numerous headlights. The slight splash makes you look toward where the other bodies were.

           "Hello?" You call out. Did someone need help? Maybe you should. You move to swim over but stop when a large ripple of water pushes your corpse raft away slightly. Your heart starts to beat against your chest. You already know what happens next, tears coming to your eyes. "Wake up… Wake up.." You plead yourself as your eyes fall on a corpse that drifted closer. Behind it a large shape rises from the water, jaws swiftly snapping on the body, bones crunching as the wolf head swiftly devours it.

         Two big red eyes lock on you as it comes closer. "No… No…" You whisper. 'Wake up! Wake up!' You backpedal off your raft, falling into the water. Against the moon you could see it snag up your raft and gobble it up. 'Dont find me, Don't find me…' As if it did hear your silent pleas the red eyes peer down into the water and pierce right through you.

         'Save me.' The thought echoes as the wolf's head plunges for you.

         You gasp, falling out of bed and hitting the floor with a thud. You stare at your ceiling, panting lightly as tears come to your eyes. "... Geez…. Leave me alone…" You wipe your eyes as you sit up. You peer at the window, the half moon still in the sky. You glance at your alarm clock. Another hour or so before the alarm will go off. Great.

           After a bit of debate you get up, taking a quick shower before getting dressed for work. You make a quick breakfast to eat and head out. Jogging to work seemed like a better idea than trying to go back to sleep. Well… That was until you realized it would take quite some time to reach the halfway point.

           A sleek car pulls up beside you, and you glance over before frowning and trying to ignore it. "___, what're you doing?" Crocodile's voice makes you stagger and look over in surprise.

          "Oh, hey boss, I'm  just… Jogging to work." You smile sheepishly.

          "... You're going to be really late." He informs. You look down in embarrassment at that, just nodding awkwardly. "So get in. You can help me start up the forges." He says. You blink and look over before grinning.

          "Yes boss!" You chime getting in the backseat. He shakes his head slightly, smirking a bit.

          "What an energetic woman." He mutters before silence falls in the car. The rest of the ride was just as quiet, he drives to a different building from the main forge. "There's fourteen of them. I'll show you how to get the first one started then we'll split up and get the others going."

          "Yessir." You hum as you both get out and head inside. He shows you how to get the forge started (much like how you get your own started) before you move to start some of the others.

          "Now, let's get the pieces each line will be doing and place them on each." He goes to a cart pushing it while you set each piece down.

          "All these are different. Are we not working on the mecha now?" You ask him.

          "We have to postpone on the mecha. The main forge had the extra oomph to make the mecha unstoppable… So until we can return to it, we'll be working on car parts. Rather easy but still profitable." He informs.

           "Alright. I hope I can do more then. I'm familiar with this stuff at least." You smile at a part.

           "I'm sure you will." He nods thoughtfully.

           You spent some time helping him get the place ready before the workers start to come in. You spot Kid as he pauses, giving you a confused look. "Heh… Beat ya here." You joke lightly.

           "Yeah.. That's weird…" He offers a smile. "You couldnt sleep either huh?" He guesses. You pause, red eyes intruding your mind again.

           "So. I'm claiming this line, it has my favorite part to forge." You change the subject, touching the line before meeting his gaze. "If its okay for me to take the lead?" You offer a small smile. He pauses before smiling a bit more.

            "Show me what you can do human." He rumbles, making a grin break across your face.

            "Don't get too blown away." You joke before moving to get started. This was a great distraction, familiar, soothing. You start to hum a bit, starting to work faster as you focus on your task. Some whistles start to distract you, making you glance up to find your former college mates whistling the same tune. You make eye contact with Franky and share a grin before focusing again.

            Before you know it, the bell rings and you stop, looking up. "What?" You frown in confusion, was it already time?

            "Come on ___," Kid chuckles as he shuts off the line and forge. "Time to go." He tells you when you look at him.

            "Really?" Your shoulders slump.

            "Yeah…. Need a ride home?" He asks.

            "Uh… Sure." You straighten up, bones whining since you've been stuck in the same posture since starting.

            "Alright, lets go." He tilts his head, starting out with you.

            "___!" Franky calls as he comes over to join you, wearing a triumphant grin.

            "What's up Franky?" You hum.

            "Just overheard Crocodile, he said with the newbies at the front of the line we doubled the expected output." He rumbles cheerfully.

            "Really?" Your eyebrows raise at that.

            "Not surprising once all of you got on the same tune you were really hammering." Kid comments earning your gaze. He smiles at you, "Not bad. I was looking for something to coach you on but I really didn't find anything." His praise makes you start to bounce happily.

              "Good job ___." Franky chuckles, clapping a hand on your back. You giggle sheepishly at that, pausing as the dwarves ahead of you start to stop and whisper. A whisper that soon reaches your ears and makes your heart drop.

             "Loki's escaped Ragnarok Prison."