Bleach and the permeating, tangy stink of Sharpie ink burned Ada's nose. It always stank of bleach in the tiny washroom. Her head lolled to the side as she filled in another thick, glittering bubble she had just added to her ever-growing mural. She would probably be in shit if Arthur actually went into the employee washroom once in a blue moon. But he didn't, and she continued to vandalize the whitewashed cinder block wall to the left of the scrubbed toilet.

She expected a place like this to have a gnarly employee washroom, considering she worked mostly with men, but Colin was a severe germaphobe who wouldn't let it go two days without cleaning. Colin hated her mural, but she wasn't the first to deface the wall, so he didn't fight her too hard on it. Besides, she was covering up some of the less tasteful scrawls in the process.

Someone knocked on the door. The chisel tip hovered immobile over a new arc she saw but had yet to make. "Ada, you can't spend all morning in there, you've got to finish that truck by two."

Ada sighed. "I'll be right there."

She could not have sounded less enthused, but who would be? The thing was a monster. Uselessly large, lifted, and donning the biggest and most menacing grill on offer. The owner was no better. A stocky man, he was a nightmare to deal with. His truck was his baby, he seemed to sink all of his income into keeping it running and making it even more threatening in appearance. Since its last visit, it had gained tacky bullet hole stickers along the driver's side.

Ada got up and made her way back to the shop, where the hideous beast was waiting for her. She had finished with the tires, thank goodness, because she really wasn't fond of the way the jack creaked and groaned under its weight. Not to mention, last time it was in, the damn thing nearly ran her over. Joseph had brought it in for her and didn't quite put it into park when he got out. Ada had finished her preliminary assessment and was going for a coffee refill when it started to roll backward, toward her. If not for Colin's shout, it would have pinned her to the wall. Joseph lost his job over it, and rightfully so, and Colin managed to get in and stop it before any damage was done. Good thing, too, because that short-fuse would have blown his top if he found out it was scratched or dented in the shop.

Full of apprehension, Ada got to work finishing the repairs to various parts that needed attention. She was wary the entire time. She kept one earbud out, just in case it decided to do something untoward again. Honestly, if she never saw it again, it would be too soon.

A few times, Ada caught Colin staring at her, and she fought back a scowl each time. He was so nosy. Always asking her questions and inviting her out to trivia night at the pub. Why in the hell would she want to do that? Besides, she was in no place to be making new friends just then. Between all the werewolves she had met and the chaos in her life, she had no space left in her brain to entertain the idea of making new friends. Plus, what if he was looking for more than that? She wasn't the best at picking up on flirting from men and didn't like taking the chance.

So, Ada ignored him and focused on her tasks. The day crawled by, but by two, she was done everything and glad to see it go. Buddy was happy to have his truck back and was almost pleasant, for once.

As the day came to a close, Ada was running out of excuses to avoid him, and Colin began his usual barrage of questions she did her best to dodge. Almost two years of trying and he still hadn't learned more than her coffee order. She was pretty proud of that fact. She didn't think he even knew about Sam, or that part of her life at all. That's probably why he tried to invite her out to trivia night with his friends every Saturday. She was getting to the point where she wanted to be openly rude when she responded.

"Ada, wait up!" Colin jogged up behind her as she crossed the street and fished her earbuds from her pocket. She didn't. "I just wanted to-"

"Thanks, I have plans." She almost said that she did every night, but caught herself.

"You sure? I think you would be really good at it." He was like a freaking puppy, nothing kept him down long.

"I'm sure, man, I can't." Her bus was coming around the corner, and she fished her pass out as she walked faster. "This is me. See you next week, have fun tonight."

He gave her a sad smile as she got on and she let it roll off her with as little friction as possible. It wasn't personal, she just wasn't looking for new friends. After all the tension over the winter, she was exhausted. Now, with her siblings to worry about, her focus was all but consumed. Not to mention, quiz night sounded like the last thing she wanted to do on a Saturday after work.

The bus was fuller than she was comfortable with, and she took the first seat she spotted that didn't have a body oozing into it from the one adjacent. This was definitely the worst part of her day, but it never lasted for long. She used to just listen to music, but since meeting Sam, she had found herself reading a lot more frequently. It actually made the time go faster. She should have done this a long time ago.

Her stop came none too soon. Ada was eager to be off the reeking bus. It may only be a few degrees cooler inside, but anything was better than being in the muggy summer air. Sam's car was parked in the street already, as usual—Ada only beat her home if she had inventory or a late shipment of new books. Both were rare. Ada got to see the one day a year where both happen on the same day. She had never seen Sam so fried, and not from pot. Speaking of, she caught a whiff of it through the living room window as she unlocked the door.

"It's me," she called to allay Sam's anxiety.

She did her best to hide it, but Noah had given her a new fear she couldn't just give up now that he was doing better. A thin stream of smoke coiled through the kitchen doorway.

"Hey, how was your day?" Her head appeared around the frame, a slow smile dimpling her right cheek.

"Not bad, not great. Monster truck is gone." The light on the coffee maker was lit, and Ada poured herself some before joining her at the table. "How was yours?"

"It was good until both the main computers stopped working and I had to do everything manually until they came back up. I still have ten more people to process tomorrow morning before Kathy comes in." She passed Ada the blunt, more than half consumed.

"You have to work tomorrow?"

"A short shift, Kathy has an emergency dentist appointment. I'll be home by one." There was a lightness to her smile, something that hadn't been there that morning.

"What's up?" Ada probed.

Her grin widened as she sat up straighter. "They found a place."

Ada's hand fell heavy on the table after she passed it back. "Seriously? When will they get here?"

"Cain's not coming yet. He's still undecided on moving. But Aidan and Noah will be here next week, on the first."

Percy headbutted her ankle, strolling pointedly toward his empty bowl. Ada abandoned her mug to get his dinner before he started mouthing off. Speaking of, she was hungry herself. The cupboards were barren, and she didn't bother rifling through them for dinner options.

"We should order a pizza," she suggested as she returned to her seat. "Where is their place?"

"Near the high school, it's kind of like the place you used to live, except they're on the ground floor." Sam dragged her phone closer and navigated to her favourite pizza place's website on the tabletop. They debated a little about what to get before she asked, "Do you think Noah will be okay coming back here?"

Ada stared at her hard, but she didn't notice as she was filling in the delivery details. Ada couldn't care less if he was okay coming back, he brought this on himself. But she didn't tell her that. As usual, she kept her distaste for the man under wraps.

"I don't know. It sounds like he's been doing well. Either way, it might be good to make him face his past."

She hit the big blue button before meeting her eyes quizzically. "You might be right; he ran from his problems before and it didn't help at all."

Ada smiled. Another bullet dodged. Don't get her wrong, she didn't hate the guy, she just didn't have any warmth for him, not after all he did. She kept all this to herself because she knew it wasn't her grudge to bear. She wasn't the one he wronged, hurt, killed. And yet she found it near impossible to conjure empathy for his situation most of the time.

Despite the heat, Sam reclined across the sofa with her bare legs in Ada's lap. Ada rested her arms across them while she scrolled through her phone, and Sam dove into the final quarter of the novel she was reading. All the while the news played softly in the background. Quiet, normal things. Frequently Ada's attention was drawn away from her phone to the absent, serene smile on Sam's face.

Her phone buzzed, drawing her attention back to the screen. The message hovered at the top under the worst of the shattering. 'Change of plans.' Her heart kicked violently. No, no changes. What changes? She tried to keep her heart under control and causally rested a palm over Sam's leg to hopefully mask the cause. She wasn't certain, but she had a feeling Sam could hear her heartbeat sometimes. The phone buzzed again. 'Captain shot it down. I'll call you when I know more.'

Fuck! No, how could he have shot it down? It worked last time, the failure wasn't because of the setup, it was on whoever filled out that useless warrant. Weeks of waiting, all for nothing. She was on her own again.

"You okay?" asked Sam, book half shut before her.

"Oh, yeah, nothing to worry about." Ada gave her a reassuring smile, and she seemed content as she returned to her reading.

Ada didn't get another text. They ate, relaxed, talked shit about a TV-movie they stumbled upon, and all the while she had that niggling concern in her brain. Sam was safe, her threat ended, but Ada's was now bigger than ever. Charles may not know where she lived yet, but that wouldn't stop him for long. She was sure Jocelyn was doing her best to stalk her internet presence. She wouldn't be successful; all of Ada's accounts were private, all her usernames and avatars obscure. None of that stopped her from worrying completely. She was always nervous about a new follow request.

It had been months since she heard from Charles last. Not since that night at her old apartment. She had gotten in from work a little early, made an early dinner and ate it at her computer as she read up on programming. It was just a hobby, and she was far from good, but it was something interesting to do when she had some free time. Anyway, she fell asleep at her desk with her head on her arms sometime later, and when she woke it was dark but for her desk lamp and the streetlights outside the windows behind her. There was a deep, animalistic rumbling in the street below, one she knew very well. She had helped work on that engine once, a long time ago. Going to the window was unnecessary, but she did it anyway, so slow she might as well have crawled. The rumble died but there came no door slams. She felt somewhat confident in easing her phone's camera over the sill to snap a sneaky photo. Sure enough, it was Charles, and he was lounging in the driver's seat, scanning the streets ahead and in the mirror as he snacked on corn chips. He thought she wasn't home yet.

That was when she called Sam. She didn't know what else to do. She didn't want to involve the police again, they hadn't helped much the last time. They were the reason she was in more danger from him than ever before. She once said to Sam that her brother would never kill her. That wasn't totally true. Ada had absolutely no idea what he could be capable of.