Jimmy persistently aimed his shotgun at them, only lowering it when Judith stepped forward with her hands raised. "Come on, Jim, don't you recognize me?"

"Well, look who it is!" He stepped down the three steps, and they hugged. "You scared the hell out of me! Who's this half-dressed guy and the little girl? Where'd you find them?"

"It's a long story," Judith evaded. "We had a bit of an accident in the car, and we'd appreciate it if you could give us some clothes. I still have vomit dried on mine."

"I was wondering what that stench was!" Jim waved his hand in front of his nose.

He invited them into his clean, small house. Upon entering, Tim felt a bit uncomfortable as he was hit by the scent of flowers.

"Take off your shoes!" Jimmy commanded, and they dared not disobey. "I'll find some clothes, and you should take a shower. Then you can tell me what happened to your ear."

While the three of them fumbled with their shoes in the small entryway, trying to take them off without scattering the mud and pebbles stuck to the soles, Jim disappeared, his voice trailing off.

"You're lucky I'm on the night shift this week, so you found me at home. Otherwise, I'd be in the Lab during the day next week."

He reappeared with white t-shirts bearing the Lab's logo and some pants. "This is all I can offer. The pants might be too short for the guy, but you can roll them up to make them like shorts."

"Do you store work clothes here?" Judith asked, inspecting the clothes he handed out.

"You know I used to work in the office. I kept a few things; they come in handy sometimes!" Jim laughed.

By the time everyone had showered, Jim had prepared a little breakfast for them. The girl yawned as she ate; they were all exhausted. Tim looked ridiculous in the tight white t-shirt and pants that only reached mid-calf. As Jim had suggested earlier, he started rolling them up to knee length as if they were shorts.

"I can see you're tired, but I can only offer you a place to sleep on the floor. But first, tell me what brought you here and who your friends are," Jim inquired.

Judith squirmed uncomfortably. "Tim is my partner. We were retrieving something for Zack when I injured my ear."

Jim glanced at the black briefcase and then at Judith's ear. "Ah, right. I have some disinfectant here; let me get it!" He put down the toast he had just started eating.

He returned with a small bottle, pouring some blue liquid onto a cotton pad. Standing behind Judith, he began cleaning her ear, making her wince.

"Looks like a big chunk is missing. It would be better to bandage it. Was it shot off or what?"

"Yeah, it was," Judith replied, patiently holding her head still. Jim finished cleaning and went out to get a bandage. "I only have this, but we can cut it to size." He measured the gauze strip.

"The girl," Judith continued while waiting for Jim to bandage her ear, "is the tricky part. That's why we're here. She needs papers to get out of here."

Jim's hand froze mid-air, and then, holding the scissors and gauze, he sat on his chair. He stared at the child and then back at Judith. "Is this the kid everyone's looking for right now?"

This is it, thought Tim, quickly finishing the rest of his toast before they got kicked out.

"I'm afraid she is..." Judith began, but Jim, visibly agitated, threw everything from his hands onto the table, landing on his half-eaten toast.

"Seriously, you brought her here? Do you realize how much trouble you've caused? Of course you do!" he snapped, standing up and pacing repeatedly, running his hands through his hair.

"No one knows we're here... And Jim! You owe me! Have you forgotten what I did for you?"

"I know very well, but you can't keep bringing that up!"

"Just this once, and I'll never ask you for anything again!" Judith promised.

"You're out of your mind! You just said you got something back for Zack! Do you know that Zack is looking for this girl? And none other than Dash and his gang are looking for her!"

"They'll kill her if they find her! She's just a child! Do you want that, Jim? Are we going to take revenge on a kid?" Judith followed Jim with her eyes as he paced around the small room.

"If this gets out, I'm done for! Even just for taking you in! I should be sleeping now, you know? I'm on the night shift... I need to rest a bit till the evening!"

"Jim! Stop already! I don't want to blackmail you. I hate saying this, but if you don't help..." Judith left the sentence unfinished.

Jim walked over to a cupboard, took out a bottle, unscrewed the cap, and took a drink straight from it. He sighed deeply, took another sip, returned to his seat, and scrutinized the girl.

"How the hell did you get mixed up in this? Do you even know what you've gotten yourself into?" Jim worried.

Tim felt the need to interject: "It was an accident, really..." he said, immediately seeing the disdain in Judith's eyes. But she didn't want to rekindle their argument, so she didn't press the matter of fate versus accident.

"I know nothing about the situation, not even who she is. But that's not the point—she's just a child!" Judith defended herself. "And maybe it would be better if she got some sleep..."

Jim didn't move, though it was clear Judith didn't want to discuss things in front of the child.

"And now you've dragged me into this as if you can get away with anything!" Jim's voice revealed that he was starting to give in.

"All I'm asking is to send her away. I know you can arrange that. No one will ever find out!" Judith insisted.

Tim could already see from their newfound friend's demeanor that he couldn't resist further; Judith's arguments were compelling enough to convince him.

"So, you've already planned where you want to send her? Are you two going with her?" Jim inquired.

"We must deliver the briefcase to Zack; we're already late for the handover. We need to send her to Walnut Grove, to Noir."

"Uh-huh, so you'll notify Noir that you're sending someone? When does the portal open there?"

"It's open from nine to eleven. We need to send her over before that so no one sees."

"Okay, what's the time difference?" Jim asked though it seemed like he was mulling it over to himself. He moved to his desk, shuffling papers until he found what he sought. "Got it! Five hours. So, we need to have everything done within two hours."

"I need to notify Noir too. Do you still have the old fax machine?" Judith asked.

"Alright, if we've planned everything, let's get going. Has everyone finished breakfast?" Jim looked at the girl and Tim.

Tim nodded, and they all stood up. He thought they'd go through a side entrance into the Lab, but they didn't even need to leave the house.

The cupboard from which Jim had just taken the alcohol also functioned as a passageway. He opened both doors and by sliding the back panel, a tunnel opened up before them.

"Follow me, and stay quiet!" Jim took a lamp from the table and set off, followed by Judith, the girl, and Tim.

Tim couldn't see anything ahead of them, just the dimly lit figures before him. They walked for a long time, primarily straight, until it seemed they were heading upward.

The girl, whose name they still hadn't learned, moved deftly, not flinching even when they suddenly heard a rumbling noise. She held onto Judith's outstretched hand. This image stuck with Tim, seeing them move ahead in the flickering light, bound by an invisible bond. Judith, the savior. And for the first time, Tim wondered if Judith was right about fate. Two stray bullets and a piece of trash discarded in that exact spot had led this child to be walking ahead of him now. The thought sent a shiver down his spine.

This chain of events could trigger something in Judith that would also lead her to help Mara and forgive him for what he had done. Who knows? He just needed to broach the topic carefully, sensing that he sometimes needed help understanding his boss's thought process and conclusions.

Finally, those before him stopped, and they all entered a sizeable office-like room. Desks were lined up in the center, and identical white cupboards lined the walls. They veered to the right into a smaller room that Jim unlocked. The windowless room was as white as the large one, with a desk, a camera, a photocopier, a scanner, and a cabinet. The four barely fit inside, but Jim locked the door behind them anyway.

"There's the fax machine. Try to contact Noir while I handle the paperwork," Jimmy instructed. What should the girl's name be?"

"We don't even know her real name," Tim replied.

Judith placed a piece of paper in front of the girl and handed her a pen to write her name. Tim couldn't see what she wrote, but Judith's reaction was enough to indicate something was wrong. As soon as the girl finished writing and Judith took the paper to read it, her mouth fell open.

"If you're going to tell me you didn't know..." Jimmy marveled. "You didn't know, did you? Do you see why I was so hesitant now?"

"Okay, I suspected I'd be in trouble, but I didn't know it would be this bad. Alright, the girl's name will be Elizabeth Toscano."

"Toscano, as in you'll be her mother?" Jimmy frowned.

"Yes, she'll be my hidden daughter. It's the best way I can protect her..."

"You will be Elizabeth from now on! Do you like this name?" asked Judith, the girl who found it pleasant, so she nodded. Then Judith tore the paper into tiny pieces, walked to the old-fashioned fax machine, and picked up the receiver.

Tim had never seen such a device and guessed it was there to avoid being eavesdropped on. Judith patiently waited for Noir to answer while Jimmy photographed the girl. He adjusted her blondish-brown hair, which was messy, with strands sticking out of the ponytail.

First, he untied the ponytail and, lacking a comb, smoothed it with his hands. Then he tried to get the girl to smile a little.

Tim felt useless and wondered if his boss would ever tell him who the girl's parents were.

Jimmy was already sitting at the computer, deeply engrossed in filling out the data. Judith was becoming impatient.

"Noir should be home in the morning, right? It should be around seven o'clock there, right?" she looked at Tim as if expecting help from him.

"He's usually home in the morning. Whenever I leave, he's always sitting outside his house. Moreover, he has others staying with him now. But does he have this fax machine at his house?" Tim began to worry about how they would reach Noir.

"Yes, he does. I'll write him a message, hoping he'll notice. I'll try Sara."

"Sara?" Tim was surprised.

"Yeah, you don't know much about them... but it's better this way."

Tim remembered Sara and how she knew about visiting Mara's lodging. He knew he couldn't trust her and felt an even greater urgency to tell his boss everything.

Judith suddenly sighed deeply. "Sara, listen to me. There's no time to explain! Please find Noir and tell him to check my message and call me back! Sara, it's essential. Hurry!"

Jimmy was already laminating the ID card and looked at the result satisfactorily. "I think it's better than the original."

They counted the minutes nervously as they waited for Noir to call them. "How long does it take for Sara to walk to Noir's place? Fifteen minutes?" Judith fretted.

"It might take Sara a bit longer..." Tim replied, picturing older people and overweight women hurrying along.

"We need to involve Sara more because I forgot inspectors were staying with Noir," Judith worried. It was almost eight o'clock their time when the fax rang loudly.

"Noir, finally!" Judith breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm sending a child over. I'll be there tomorrow; can you hide her until then? I was thinking of Sara... Yes, that'll work... Listen, how long will it take for you to get to the teleporter and start it up? Ten minutes? Great. We'll send her in ten minutes!"

They walked down more corridors until they reached a room where a Walnut Grove teleporter's replica stood in the middle, but this one was indoors. Jimmy activated it, and as its bluish light glowed, it returned old memories for Tim.

Judith knelt in front of the girl and calmly explained what would happen. She reassured her that she could trust Noir and Sara and that she would be there tomorrow.

"It's open," Jimmy alerted. "She can go now."

Judith accompanied the girl to the teleporter and waved her off. The girl stepped into the swirling blue vortex and disappeared suddenly as the teleporter quieted down.