The talk didn't begin until we made it back to the train - I led the way back. As soon as we boarded and shucked our cold weather clothes, Plague turned to me.

"So... Gray, huh?"

I'd kept him visible on the way back, of course. "In hindsight, the idea of a little alien following us in nothing but a scarf while we hiked up a mountain does seem a little ludicrous, I admit."

Alicia smirked. "You feeling okay Sasha? You almost sounded sane for a minute there."

"It'll pass, I'm sure," I told her and turned back to Plague. "Look, this... whatever it is. It has a way of getting inside you, that bypasses all your defenses. It's like... like he's a trusted friend or something. One I've known a long time."

Kind of like Ivan, I wanted to say, but that might be a slap in the face to Ivan. He was the last one alive who could fit that bill.

"But aren't we friends, Sasha? Allies? Bosom buddies?" Gray asked, his head cocked.

Something was wrong here. "Yeah, we are." I choked out. I couldn't deny the little critter.

"So... alien?" Plague turned to attention to Gray, most obviously not looking my direction.

"That's right, I'm an alien. The head of a small fleet of spaceships." Gray admitted.

Plague's eyes narrowed. "You have access to alien tech? Things like ray guns and force fields?"

"I do," Gray answered.

Plague turned back to me; I'd buried the evidence by now. "Sasha, your mind is weird."

It was; the current point of view was that a witch's familiar was a mental construct, part of their subconscious or Id or whatever given form. I wasn't quite ready to believe that was true.

"And now, Sasha, if you will, please unload and move your weapons."

For a friend, even a good friend, Gray was asking a lot. I wonder how well he'd stand up to my guns. "And why would I do a silly thing like that?"

"Because I have something better to give you, and I don't wish to cause you any grief by replacing and damaging your current weapons."

Well, that wasn't ominous. "What kind of replacements?"

"Weapons which will allow you to use your special skills to their fullest potential."

I moved my guns, wrapped them in cloth, and handed them over to Plague for good measure. "I'll want those back."

"Of course Sasha." Plague replied, forcing a light tone.

Beams of light occupied my holsters; I took a step back as Plague almost decapitated me. "Warning first, Gray. We're all twitchy people here."

"My apologies Sasha."

Plague was looking at my hips. "Yeah, sorry Sasha; instinct and all."

I waved her off, drawing what had appeared in my empty holster. "Think nothing of it, I'd have done the same." Even if I wouldn't have missed.

The item I'd drawn resembled a gun but wasn't one. It was shaped like one and had a trigger, but there was no cylinder or magazine, no place for bullets to go. The grips were slick and shiny, and the whole deal was silver and blue - the same sort of blue that was on my special clothes this morning. Well, and yesterday morning come to think of it.

"Why are there no bullets?"

"It is a laser pistol, and as such, it needs no bullets or ammunition of any kind. As for the power source, you are that source."

"So I simply push power into it like I have been?"

"As you have been doing all your life, yes."

Well, that was a loaded statement. I guess I had been pushing power into guns my entire life, though did it count if I was using a generator most of the time? Apparently, it did to Gray.

"What about those saucer things?" I asked, flipping the thing in my hand. It was differently balanced, but fit perfectly into my hand and went anywhere I wanted it to go. If I had a complaint it was that the grip was as slick as it looked, but even that seemed to help it as I slung it around, getting a feel for it.

"Those are our ships. They can be both offensive and defensive, being armed with a stronger version of the weapons I gave you and force fields. I deployed them to protect you earlier. They also have cloaking devices, of course, to remain hidden." Gray shot Plague a look as if to say 'see, I'm telling you everything.'

I'd seen those things - they were barely big enough for Gray to fit in. There was no way they were actual ships, let alone stronger. They had looked like toys.

"And how strong are these, exactly?" I asked.

Plague took a step back. "Sasha, no. This is not the place for that...."

I couldn't hear her over the sound of the gun firing. The completely underwhelming sound of the gun firing, as it turned out; the only thing I heard was a 'woosh' and some sort of whine backing that.

The sight, on the other hand was a bit more impressive; a bright blue light about as large as I was came from the weapon and the craggy finger at the top of the mountain I'd been aiming for through the train window was more of a stump. We could probably camp there if we wanted to. The grip warmed and caused my hand to tingle.

"Too much power, Sasha," Gray told me gravely.

Well, it wasn't at the Eagle's level, and as far as I was concerned that meant I hadn't used enough.

"Damn it, Sasha! Are you insane!?!" Plague asked with a straight face.

I just looked at her and holstered my new toy.

"Okay, you're right, stupid question. Just, don't do it again, alright? And leave the thing on your back slung."

There was more? On my back? I hadn't felt it there, but then again I guess it made sense; that's where the Eagle rested.

The thing on my back was a small tube, a bit over half a meter long and with a radius of around ten centimeters. It was slightly less in the center, and there were marks there... some kind of language or something... 'twist here'?

"Sasha, stop."

I put it back with a sigh. Rather than my holster back there, there were hooks on my belt to hold the thing.

Fine, I couldn't play, but I could still ask; I turned to Gray - did he look nervous? "Gray, what is this?"

"A pulse energy weapon. It's really quite ingenious, the weapon fires temporary shells of hard light wrapped around a core of superheated plasma and...."

"Gray. The non-egghead version." I swear, why did everyone around me want to talk about crap that didn't matter? if it worked, it worked.

"It fires a type of explosive. It is very damaging, and shouldn't be fired at anything you want to keep, or near anyone you want to keep." Gray deadpanned.

"Got it." I know he was being a smartass, but I liked the abridged version.

"Sasha."

"Yes, Alicia?"

"Please don't shoot me with that."

I snorted. "You're absolutely safe; I wouldn't waste something like this on you." The pistols or ray guns or whatever they were would do by themselves.

I couldn't be sure about Dustin though. It wasn't like I wanted to keep him or anything, and he kept following me around like a puppy no one wanted; it was sad.

We lounged back and relaxed, or I did at least. Plague still seemed uptight, watching me. I didn't really blame her. Ivan was more his usual self, knocking back a casual amount of vodka and cleaning his weapons. Alicia was glancing at me and scribbling something in a notebook, and Gray was taking up a stool, kicking his feet.

"Sasha, where is Gray now?" Plague asked.

"Next to you on the stool, staring at some beer. You can't see him?"

Gray shook his head in sync with Plague as she replied. "No, he vanished again. I'm guessing he can't stay visible that much?"

I shrugged. I had the feeling it was more that he didn't want to and if he wasn't bothering nobody I was willing to let him. At least until I got those answers he promised me.

"Right. Well, don't let him drink any beer; the last thing we need is both of you out of it."

I turned to Gray. "You heard her. None of the good stuff for you."

Gray nodded again and intoned: "You're going to negatively affect your health if you keep drinking, Sasha."

I made a point of picking up my own drink, a decent German beer from the village we'd mostly saved from Riddle, and took a long swig before replying. "Thank you for your concern, Gray."

Plague looked amused. "What? We can't hear him anymore either."

"He's trying to tell me how to live my life is all. He will learn." Everyone learned eventually.

Plague decided to get in on the action. "Yeah Gray, where ever you are, Sasha absolutely hates to be told what to do. I mean, she won't even wear the clothes I want her to wear! They would look so good on her, too. Especially the suit."

She turned to give me another once over. "Well, maybe not the suit anymore; at least not without some alteration."

I remembered that suit, and it was no great loss that I couldn't fit in the thing anymore. "I swear. I said he was right next to you, remember?"

Plague shrugged it off. I felt like a kid with an imaginary friend or something. Not that girls were allowed that little past time; if they admitted to having one, they were watched.

"So," Ivan broke in. "Do we have any new missions waiting for us, or leads?"

"Nope," was Plague's response. "Back to Central for us. Which is for the best, since any sighting of killer Cat has to be reported.

There hadn't been a sighting of killer Cat in years. What had caused her to move now? Was it really me somehow? Was I really such hot stuff somehow?

I mean sure, my guns could now smash the passive defenses of witches with no problems, and knock the tops off mountains, but that wasn't too much more than I'd been packing before, and Olivia could flatten a city inside an hour if she tried. for that matter, so could Ana. Was that it? Was it a family affair?

It was all well and good that Gray could hide; I didn't want him to get eaten. But most familiars could hide somehow, at least from other people if not other witches. Was the cloaking device Gray boasted about good enough to hide him from killer Cat?

No, something about that didn't follow. Something I should know, but didn't, and that was... well it made me boil inside.

Whatever. I'd find out when I found out. And Cat would find out how strong I was the next time we meant.

I really didn't want to go back to Central.

I settled back to nap. I could go to my room, but why drag Alicia or Plague from the bar to watch me?

......

I knew something was different the moment I stepped off the train. I was wearing my uniform, and my hat wasn't in view, but the moment I stepped off the train onto the station, it was as if everyone was looking at me - even though no one was looking at me.

No, not a single person was singling me out, just as hard as they could. Though there was the occasional staring yokel, some of whom I knew a little bit; after just enough of a look to tip me off the guy would always shuffle off muttering stuff I couldn't catch in the crowd. I was no genius, but I had a pretty good guess what it was.

One of them was the pastry guy, Martin or Mark or Marvin... something like that. Pastry guy ran a small stall where he made the pastries somehow (I thought you needed an actual oven for that, but I was wrong in this case) and anytime I saw him open I bought one, cause he was good at it and didn't spit in them or anything.

He was walking the street without his cart, saw us leave the station, and gave me the once over. Then like the rest, he shuffled off muttering. This time Alicia was close enough to hear it - and she snickered.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing." That innocent look wouldn't fool anyone.

"What."

She turned and clapped one of her paws on my back. "It was nothing, Sasha. He just said he was glad you were no longer pretending, was all. That and the skirt suited you."

Her paw snagged my collar, preventing me from going after that jerk. "No Sasha, no hurting the normies, remember?"

"Fine." See if that guy got any more money from me. Though, should I punish my stomach that way? Some of his pastries were really good.

Central was right where we left it. I walked in behind Plague, who strode in arrogant enough for both of us. Sarah was on the desk as usual. She looked up at our approach and smiled - at me?

"Welcome back, Plague, Ivan, Alicia, and Sasha. How did things go?"

She actually said my name. And her smile seemed genuine. Gray hopped up on the desk and gave her a once over.

It hurt, but I was tough. I could take it.

Plague answered for us while I was a little distracted; Gray seemed intent in looking down Sarah's top. "It went well, we have one confirmed kill and the hat of one Riddle, may she rest in peace in Hell forever. Went sightseeing for a bit to celebrate and then came back to report the good news."

So that's how she wanted to play it, huh? Killer Cat being back was a big deal and should be reported as soon as possible, so hunters and scouts alike were at least warned about her. It would be better if we had a current photograph, but I hadn't been about to try that. Maybe next time. I don't know, it didn't sit well with me.

"Hey, Sarah, do you have an incident report handy?"

An incident report was a brilliant piece of paperwork you used when describing something important that happened to you that you felt the hunt needed to know, but it didn't result in the death of a witch. Nowadays it was used almost primarily in an encounter with a witch that didn't die. They were not to be confused with expense reports, where you detailed any and all collateral damage you may or may not have been responsible for in the hunt for said witch. I'd made that mistake before.

Plague caught on right off, of course. "Sasha, are you...."

Sarah actually interrupted her with a smile and forced cheer aimed in Plague's direction. "Here you go, Sasha!"

She slid the form and a pen over. Huh, was that what it sounded like from the other side of things? Plague glared silently.

And then Sarah had to ruin it. "I must say, Sasha, the skirt really suits you; you have some nice legs."

"So I'm told." I mean really, they were just legs. They were for walking and jumping, and they worked.

I filled out the report on the spot, and Sarah's eyes widened as she read it upside down while I wrote it. Maybe she was a witch herself? Such a skill seemed born from pure evil.

"Your handwriting seems to improved, Sasha." Ouch, she really knew where to hit me. I looked and couldn't really see a difference.

Maybe she was trying to distract the rest of my team from the very obvious fact that I was bucking an unspoken order.

Ivan stepped up and held his hand out. "I might as well file my own report while we're here."

Alicia stepped up and wordlessly held her hand out. Sarah smiled again and handed the papers over. Ivan and Alicia had their own pens of course because screw them. They also finished about the same time I did, because words were hard. At least there wasn't a line forming behind us this time.

"Thanks you three, I'll be sure to file these right away and type up the warning!" Sarah said, taking all our reports.

"Alright, fine. Let's just go report to the Gloom so he hears it from us first," Plague turned to Sarah. "Is he in?"

Sarah nodded. "He sure is. Would you like me to ring him up and tell him you're on the way, or would you all like to bathe and prepare first?"

She was being pretty insulting without trying to be... or was she trying to be?

"No, we better just go in. Gloom hates to be kept waiting."

That was true enough. Gloom was actually pretty easygoing most of the time, not that I'd ever admit that to anyone (least of all him) but there was one thing he loathed, and that was waiting to hear something important.

I let Plague lead the way.

There were a few people that gave us the once over on the way up, and a few hunters who fingered weapons as I passed, but for the most part I was ignored, which seemed more than a little unusual; I was a witch heading into the upper reaches of Central after all.

Plague actually knocked on the door; I didn't think she had it in her.

The muffled "Enter." came as expected.

Plague strode right in and didn't waste time. "Gloom, we have a problem."

Gloom looked up from a stack of papers that could choke a dog, his brow furrowed, and put his boots back on the floor. He looked tired, at least for him. "What is it?"

"Killer Cat."

Those two words made Gloom stiffen; his back cracked, so fast did he straighten up.

"Where?"

"She sought us out, during the second hunt you sent us on. Showed up right in front of Malodorous, just as we were going to fight."

Gloom began to pace. "Yet you're all alive - so what did she want? Why now?"

Killer Cat was one of the few to get away from Gloom; mainly because she didn't stick around for Gloom to fight. At least, that was the rumor; After having met her in person and tasted her power, I'd have given her better odds than most. No, my gut told me she wasn't afraid of any hunter alive.

"She wanted to meet the new witch. It had been some time since she met someone with that level of power, she said. She even mentioned Olivia and Ana."

And all eyes in the room were back to me. I was getting used to the attention, kind of.

The Gloom tried for humor. "Well, I'm surprised you didn't attack her, Sasha."

"I was working up to it," I admitted, watching Gray picking the lock on Gloom's corner file cabinet.

Gloom got up and crossed the room only to crouch in front of me. "Yes, I believe you were, weren't you?"

"There is more," Plague said. "Show him, Sasha."

With a sigh, I told Gray to stop using his cloaking device. He appeared, still reading the file he appropriated from the lowest drawer of the newly opened file cabinet. "I have a familiar. Gloom, meet Gray. Gray, meet Gloom. My boss."

Gray waved without even looking up. "Pleased to meet you, sir. These files make for fascinating reading."

Gloom flinched. "Pleased to meet you, Gray. Please put those files back where you found them before I'm forced to murder you."

Gray looked up, blinking his big eyes, and slid the file back in the drawer. Hopefully in the right spot; Gloom could be a stickler for such things.

"I kind of suspected as much when I saw the new hardware." Gloom admitted with a glance at my new toys.

"I've still got the old ones." Of course, I did; I hadn't forgotten which side I was on.

"How long?" Gloom asked.

"I'm not sure," I admitted. "I don't think he was around when I left, but it's hard to say when he showed up."

"After Riddle." Plague said with authority. I wasn't so sure myself.

Gloom nodded.

"Also, my team here thought it best they file the report about Cat being back before coming up here."

Gloom cursed, paused, then cursed again. "Why must you always do the right thing at the worst possible time?"

A good question. "Talent, I guess?"

Gloom sighed. "And of course Sarah was being Sarah?"

Plague nodded.

"Fine. I'll call her and have Ivan's report sent up."

What was wrong with my report?

"Alright, go clean yourselves up, you're tracking dirt on my floor."

How would he ever survive? I took the clear dismissal for what it was.

"And Sasha...."

Darn, almost out! Here it comes.

"Hide Gray again, please. No need to needlessly antagonize people."

Oh. Was that it? "Sure. You heard the man, Gray."

Gray obligingly rippled a little, I think more for my benefit than anything else. I made sure he followed me out the door too; the last thing I needed was for Gloom to notice his files floating in midair or worse.

I had something just as important to deal with though. I turned to Ivan. "Why would Gloom want your report over mine?"

Pinned down by the combined weight of both my and Gray's stares, Ivan fidgeted.

"Well, it's just that I'm known to be a little more... thorough."

"What he means to say is that 'I arrived at Calais, and kicked the witch's ass' isn't a real report," Alicia answered.

"I wasn't asking you, sasquatch."

"Sasquatch? I'll show you sasquatch, you prissy little princess!"

Plague separated us. "Seriously, stop fighting outside the Gloom's door. It's almost a given he can hear you, with how loud you're being."

Plague raised a good point. No dummy, that was Plague.

"Right, I'm out. Going to my quarters."

"Take a shower, Sasha. I'll be by later to make sure!"

Was that a threat? Who was I kidding, it was Plague. Of course, it was a threat.

"Did you know your boss the Gloom knew your mother, Sasha?"

"Not now, Gray." There would be a time to ask how he knew that, not that I was in the dark about it.

No one looked at me twice as I made my way around the upper deck through the living quarters.

And then I was safe behind my door. Gray had been following me, but he was in front of me now, already beginning to go through my stuff with the same curiosity and lack of respect he'd shown in Gloom's office. Starting with my underwear drawer; Gray was a little weird.

I started the shower; it wasn't like Gray would do anything, he was an alien. Besides, he was barely over a foot tall; I could punt him if he tried.

Gray turned around, a pair of the panties Plague had supplied me with in each hand, his face serious.

"Sasha, we need to talk."