The small town peeked over the horizon, popping up among the dense forest they had been speeding. Shadow gritted her teeth as the truck grinded to a halt. The truck jumping and jerking through the motions to stop. Missy had been right about one thing in all that rambling of hers. They needed a new vehicle.

Shadow swung out, glancing around the parking lot. She had picked a local grocery store adjoining to a strip mall to stop at. Rolling her neck, she walked around to the passenger side and lightly brought her fist down on the window. Flitch bolted up in shock. Both the children had fallen asleep during the drive and she needed the boy now. He blinked at her lazily with blurry big eyes. Shadow brought a finger to her lips, her eyes darting to the seat behind him. The boy nodded before getting out quietly as well. Shadow's eyes then proceeded to scan the area, calculating.

They were about 20 minutes from the nearest police station. She had done a complete sweep of the town to ensure that. Add response time and that gave them 30 minutes to get things done, extra time if they were careful. Shadow found an black Chevy parked maybe twenty feet away and felt herself smile. It was a nice looking car but obviously not brand new. She needed to get under the hood to double check, but it looked like it'd be fast, comfortable, and discrete. Shadow turned to the boy, who was gazing up at her expectantly, he was ready to follow her lead. She gave him the slightest of nods and he bound into action.

 From within her coat, Shadow pulled out a phone while striding around the lot casually. Putting it to her ear to fake a call, she pressed the signal jammer. All the cameras in the lot would now forced into a loop, extracting from previously recorded taping. Flitch jumped out of the bed from where he had been digging through boxes. His sweater was now bulging awkwardly from what he had slide underneath.

"I told you to wear a coat when we did this." Shadow said with a sigh.

The boy shrugged sheepishly, a slight blush creeping up his face. "Don't worry Shadow I won't let you down." Flitch ran off a determined look on his face.

He approached a mini, creeping behind it and glancing around on alert. He knelt down and worked quickly to take off the van's plate with a wrench from in his hoodie. The boy then wiped out a new plate from under his sweater and put it on. He crept toward the front of the van to repeat the procedure. He had enough plates on him to switch five different vehicles, excluding the one they would be taking. Shadow had specific plates she planned to use for that and would deal with it herself. Satisfied that he could handle it, Shadow moved to the Chevy.

The lock was a pin pad, designed to enhance security. Shadow couldn't help but laugh to herself at that. People really didn't understand how far behind they were. The best tech was always in the hands of those most powerful. And the Master had ensured that he was always on top.

Shadow pulled out a small decoder from her pocket. It magnetized to the car before running the possible sequences. The car opened with a small pop barely moments later. Shadow re-pocketed the device and leaned down to pop the hood. Walking around to the front, she evaluated the machine. It was far better than what they had been driving in that's for sure. Based upon the engine it would probably top out at 115 mph, it was also in good repair, the owner's had cared about the vehicle. It wasn't ran crazy by some spoiled teen. Shadow shut the top satisfied it would do. Running back to the trunk, she found the plates she wanted to use sitting in the dash. She glanced at her watch. They were pushing it for time. She reached to the back seat and gave the small girl a shake to wake her up. The girl's eyes flew open scared before they meet Shadow's.

"We got a new car. Now get moving the stuff quick." Shadow hissed.

Missy bobbed her head obviously excited. Shadow clutched the plate, striding back to the vehicle her eyes roaming, always looking. It was luckily a slow afternoon in the lot. People were taking their time and enjoying shopping. Shadow stooped to remove the plates. She made quick work of the switch after years of practice. She stood up in front of the car letting the original plates dangle in her hands. She shifted it, causing the sunlight to hit. The glint caught Flitch's eyes. He speed toward her and snatched it to make the final switch. Shadow smiled, despite his annoyances, the kid caught on fast. Shadow moved back to the driver's seat and ducked her head under to hot wire the Chevy. She was almost done when she heard a small squeak. Damn it. Shadow really wasn't in the mood to have to kill witnesses today. It was far to messy and would slow them down.

She took a deep breath. Her body submerged into the darkness around her. In a moment, she was lurking in the car's shadow watching an older couple approach a shaking Missy.

"Well hello there dearie. Aren't you the cutest thing?" the woman reached out to pinch Missy's cheeks. "Are you all alone? Where are your parents?"

"Um... my mom just ran inside quick and my brother is around here somewhere." the girl's voice quavered.

"Well that's not right. They shouldn't be leaving such an adorable thing as yourself here. This town ain't what it used to be. You can't just be playing in a parking lot all alone."

Missy's eyes darted back and forth, nervously looking for help. The girl needed to get it together. Shadow cringed. She would step out and help but knew from experience that people didn't believe she was their mother or even related to them for that matter. Shadow was dark to their light. People got suspicious and ended up thinking she kidnapped them or something. Why didn't Missy say was here with a babysitter? They would have to go over lying and stories again once they got out of this. Shadow's hand started to twitch as she reached for the dagger strapped to her thigh when Flitch ran up.

"There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you sis. Man you really are good at hide and seek. Mom's waiting for us in the car let's go or we'll be late for dinner." he turned to smile at the old couple, "thanks for finding my sister I really appreciate it. Have a good day."

The couple seemed satisfied with the older brother routine and nodded as they watched the kids approach the car.

Shadow slipped back to the front seat but kept her face shrouded. "Come on kids your father is waiting." She called in a cheerful voice.

"Coming mother." Flitch cried and gripping Missy's hand tightly dragged her to the car. Both climbed in the back.

"Sorry Shadow." Missy whispered softly.

"We will talk later. For now, just smile and wave at them while I pull out."

They left the couple in the parking lot, driving off like any normal happy family. Shadow felt herself loosen with every passing moment that colored lights weren't flashing in her back mirror. She waited an hour, constantly checking behind them until she left certain enough in their escape to talk.

"Did we get everything?"

"I didn't get to the food boxes, but I got all our stuff." Missy's voice was dredged in misery and disappointment.

Shadow tightened her grip on the wheel. That meant they would have to stop again sooner than she would like. At least she had enough cash on her to buy them something and wouldn't have to worry about making a withdrawal.

"You?"

"I got everything done." Flitch stuck a hand out the window, weaving it. "Plates were scrambled all over the parking lot and on this one. It's now on some other black car I thought looked similar enough."

Shadow nodded her head, "Good something went right."

A small sniffle was heard. Shadow glanced in the rear view mirror to see Missy starting to cry. She sighed inwardly, she couldn't deal with the tidal wave of emotions that was Missy when she really got going over something. The girl had been geared up to help out. Whenever they did something like this, she always begged Shadow to allow her to do something. Shadow knew she could do it faster and safer by herself, but that was if it was just her. With both the kids, it was better to teach them how to do things when the risk was minimal. There was still the chance something would happen, like today, but it was the logical long term plan. Like she said, she wouldn't be a round forever. However, normally she only had Flitch help with anything to avoid complications. Today had been the first time she had asked Missy to do anything expect move herself.

"You did fine. We will just need to practice your improvising more."

Missy wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve failing at an obvious attempt to not cry. "What's that mean?"

"It means you need to be better at lying." Flitch replied.

Shadow nodded her head in agreement.

"But I thought I wasn't supposed to lie." Missy stammered between sniffs.

"You don't lie to me or to your brother. Everyone else you basically lie about everything to. You make up a story and you keep it straight until not only they believe it but you do too."

Missy's eyes become wide little orbs. "Does that mean I can tell them I'm a fairy princess?"

"Of course not, don't be stupid Missy. They have to believe you." Flitch rolled his eyes at his sister.

"I could be a fairy princess if I wanted. Why wouldn't they believe that? I'm pretty enough and kind just like all the Disney princesses. Aren't I Shadow?"

"No princesses." the girl's face fell making Shadow's chest uncomfortably tight, "Look if you want to be a princess, fairy, or even a freaking ninja, you can be for all I care. You just can't tell people that you are alright?"

"So I'll be like a secret fairy princess? Oh... who's a princess by day and a ninja by night!"

"Sure knock yourself out."

Missy grinned and started swinging her legs while humming to herself. She was obviously happy about the answer even though it was pure ridiculousness. Children were so easily accepting of stories. They believed in what they wanted even if it was the most remote possibility. Now Shadow just had to teach Missy to convince others of the same thing.

Speaking of getting better at something, "Get some sleep now. Flitch you'll be driving later tonight."

The boy grimaced at that but didn't argue. The girl just started pouting about how she wanted to learn how to drive. Shadow chose to ignore it and ran scenarios through her head. Where was the next place to take the kids? Crossing some borders would be nice but that was always easier said than done with the kids in tow. For now she'd have to settle for heading north. The manor was in the south and the farther they were from it the better. Unfortunately, north brought it's own problems.

The Lady Red was based in the north. Shadow tried not to grit at thoughts of the Lady Red. She had recognized some of the Lady's assassins when she had taken them down a couple months ago but she didn't realize the Lady was as invested as she seemed to be according to the Master and Beast's conversation. The real problem though, was unidentified new party. The secrets and unknown were an assassin's greatest weapon and worse enemy. On that note, who was the Client and how did they know about the other party?

Shadow's mind went miles a minute digging through old conversations and memories she had stored away looking for something she may have missed. Things were changing. Different powers were coming together in a clash over these two kids. Shadow took a second to look back at them both again. Their chests were evenly raising and falling signifying they had managed to actually fall asleep. The Chevy was quiet except for the purr of the engine and Shadow's thoughts. She forced herself to look back at the road. She needed answers, but it was becoming more obvious with each passing day that they were running out of time. Because when the Master finally got angry enough to release Beast, that would be the end.