Throwing his keys onto the sideboard, Marcus glanced into the mirror. The sight of his own face greeted him, grim and harsh.

The day had been long enough, he felt like shit. You had promised him to not stick your nose into stuff anymore without talking to him first. He had managed to make it sound like he wanted to avoid another collapsed mine in the Undercity. But truth be told, he just wanted to keep you as far away from Silco as possible.

His brown eyes wandered to his chest, right where the sheriff pin was sitting. It was a symbol of power and authority and yet it was nothing more but the collar of a dog.

Silco's dog.

The thought made him angry. Pulling a face, he smashed it onto the sideboard, next to the keys. Taking a deep breath in, he closed his eyes and sighed.

Everything was getting worse by the day. He had to find a way out, now more than ever.

If you would find out, everything would fall apart.

But as soft music reached his ears, his mood lightened again. Smiling softly, he turned to Ren's door. He had been more than relieved to see that she was getting along with you, despite the rocky start. She had never been this friendly with anybody.

Now, after a very long time, Marcus felt like he could offer her the happy family she had always asked for. And even he had to admit that deep down he longed for it as well.

Smiling, he opened the door to his daughters room a bit to throw a glance at her.

She was playing, building a house out of cards. She giggled, looking at someone.

At first the sight made him smile. But as his eyes fell onto a shadow on the wall, he froze.

The door opened wide enough to reveal a second person sitting on the floor opposite to her.

"Ah, about time daddy joined us.", Silco said, looking at him with a smirk. "You were so busy, little Ren here say me in."

He pinched her cheek, causing her to chuckle.

At loss for words, Marcus pushed the door open all the way to throw a glance at the other visitors.

One of Silco's men was sitting on the wooden horse, rocking back and forth while reading a book. He glanced up at Marcus, licked his finger and tore a page out in the attempt to flip it.

Grinning apologetic, he shrugged.

Marcus eyes turned back to Silco.

"Let's talk outside.", he didn't know how, but he managed to make his voice sound less frightened than he felt in that moment.

"Can't you see we're playing?", Silco asked. "You remember our old friend Vi, don't you? Vander's daughter?"

He turned to Ren.

She smiled at him, as if he was as harmless as his thin appearance indicated.

"She was about your age.", he pointed at her, smiling. "Her father went on a long trip and daddy here assured me that she left with him."

Marcus had to swallow hard. In that moment he felt so helpless, so weak. All he could do was stand there and stare at his daughter. It felt like this would be the last time.

Silco kept on talking.

"But it seems she never made it.", he put on a sad expression. "Isn't that sad? Could you imagine being separated from your father?"

As he said it, Silco glanced up at Marcus.

Considering what would be wise to say, Marcus eyed him.

"She's... in a safe place.", he assured.

"She's in the lanes."

Marcus frowned.

"That's not possible."

"There's an enforcer with her. A girl. Roughly the same age."

Suddenly, it struck him.

"Caitlyn.", he gasped. "She's a Kiramman. Just like them she does whatever she wants. I... can't control her."

Rolling his eyes, Silco got up and shrugged. It was visible his annoyed he was by that answer.

"Then of what use are you?", he asked.

"I'll track her down. I can fix this.", never before he had said something with so much forced patience yet the desperate urge to die on the spot. "Please..."

Silco shook his head, smiling.

"Everyone makes mistakes, right? What's important is that we don't... repeat them. My people are tracking Vi and this... Caitlyn. They cannot be allowed to resurface. Do we understand each other?"

Pressing his lips together, Marcus nodded. The tension was killing him. His body was as stiff as a brick but the inside was boiling. He wanted to rush to Ren's side, pull her into a protective hug.

But Silco would have used every single sign of weakness against him.

And he seemed to notice. With a grin, Silco bend down to Ren and chuckled.

A gasp escaped Marcus, as every possibility crossed his mind what would happen next. He had to pull himself together to remain standing still.

With two fingers, Silco picked up one of the wooden cards. At first it seemed like he was about to finish the building. But then he let it fall to pieces.

Gasping, Ren flinched.

"Oops, ha, so sorry.", Silco apologised with a smile. "Accidents happen."

As he got up, Marcus turned to the side to let them leave. His eyes were locked with Silco's. He would have liked to punch him in the face. But that would have made things worse. Probably even deadly.

He was already at the door, as Silco turned back to him.

"Oh, and about your little friend...", he said in a threatening voice. "I'm still considering if I've made a mistake. Tell me, Marcus. Did I?"

Holding his breath, he shook his head.

"I can handle it.", he assured.

"Hm. It seems to me that you're handling the issue a little too well."

"Leave (Y/N) out of this."

Silco's lips twitched but he was interrupted before being able to say anything.

Suddenly, a clicking sound filled the tense silence.

Marcus eyes jumped to the door.

With a sigh, you entered, eyes shut.

"Marcus, there is a strange car in front of the...", the rest of the sentence got stuck in your throat as your eyes locked with Silco's.

The eye of Zaun smirked.

"What a lovely surprise.", he glanced at Marcus. "It seems you have some explaining to do, sheriff. Sadly, I don't have time to witness it."