The police officer, a tall man in his thirties, shook Mira's hand warmly, "Glad you could make it."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Mira remarked drily. Then, she started walking down a hallway purposefully, despite her complete lack of knowledge of the local police station.

"Hey- wait! How do you know which direction to go?" the officer hurried after her, speeding up his pace to match hers.

"I know a lot of things," Mira answered enigmatically, without taking her eyes off of the path before her, "This is the right way, is it not?"

"Well- yeah, but-" The officer fell silent, confused, and simply decided to follow her.

Avery smiled apologetically at him, "She's like this all the time- with new people at least."

"What's she like with you?" the officer asked curiously.

Before Avery could answer, Mira replied in a tone that was the vocal embodiment of an eye roll, "I can hear you guys, you know. Are you really trying to talk about me two paces behind me?" she smirked, "Amateurs."

The others fell silent as Mira continued to twist and turn her way through various hallways. She didn't know exactly where she was going, but she knew that she was going the right way. Of course- she could have just let the police officer lead her, but she reasoned that this way was better.

Eventually, she arrived at a rusted metal door. She found her hand reaching for the knob, and instinctively knew that this was the right place.

She opened the door and stepped into a small, dimly lit interrogation room. Her mother sat across from her, handcuffed to a metal chair, a bored look on her elegant face.

"Don't you people have better accommodations?" Her mother sighed.
"They do- just not for you." Mira said. Whipping out a knife, she pressed it against the pale flesh of her mother's throat, "Well? Talk."

Her mother glanced up at her with that same infuriating expression of boredom, "Talk about what, daughter? My life? Yours?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you?" Mira hissed.

Her mother studied her impeccable nails, "Hmm... yes, I think you'd better do that."

Mira sighed, "Why are you like this? What made you turn evil?"

Her mother laughed, a high, tinkling sound like delicate silver wind chimes. "Evil? Really, daughter, I didn't think you were so naive. You children and your narrow minds.

There are no sides. There is no "good", no "evil". There is only life, and how you choose to live it- harmless, really, darling. And if the majority of people disagree with you... well, that's their problem, isn't it?"

Mira's eye twitched in frustration and anger, "I'd hardly say that mutilating people for fun is 'harmless'".

Her mother shrugged, "Oh... I suppose not. How's your hand, by the way?" she smirked, shooting a glance at the mess of bloody bandages covering Mira's arm.
Mira wisely chose to ignore this and pressed on with the questions.

"You were never like this when I was alive. You were always the nice one, the one who defended me from Samael when it got to be too much for my mind to handle. You were always there for me, you supported me, encouraged me. Until you died. Until Samael murdered you."

Avery, who had been listening, stared in shock. Mira's dad killed Mira's mom? Why didn't she tell me about this...?

"You're a smart girl," Mira's mother said, "Haven't you figured it out by now?"

"No, I'm having trouble connecting the dots." Mira snarled, frustrated by her mother's patronizing tone, "Care to enlighten me?"

Her mother giggled, sounding uncannily like a child, "Your father and I were working together."

"...What?"

She laughed again, "Oh, darling... I never cared about you. I was only using you. You were perfect- young, strong, disciplined, not to mention your raw talent. I could use you to do all of the things I couldn't anymore, all the hardest missions requiring the superior agility that I just didn't have anymore." Her face darkened, "That is, until Cloud Nine."

Her face expression shifted into a petulant frown, "That was going to be our big break, the mission that would put us above the Whitesuns forever. Killing the nine kingpins of some of our biggest rivals.

I suspect they thought the same thing, sending their own child with you. It was a tough decision, seeing as he was a sweetheart that would never hurt a fly." she laughed, "Boy, were they wrong."

She glanced at Avery, "Well? What do you think about all this?"

Avery looked taken aback, "I- me? What do I think? What do I have to do with this?"

She stared at him incredulously for a few seconds, before turning to Mira, "You really haven't told him?" she said, smirking.

"Shut up." Mira hissed, shooting an apprehensive glance at Avery. He blinked in confusion, eyes asking an unsaid question.

Mira's mother laughed, "He's going to find out eventually, whether you want him to or not. You want to tell him, daughter, or should I?"

"I'll do it." Mira immediately volunteered.

"Yeah, can you please tell me what's going on here?" Avery asked.

Mira took a deep breath, "So- Avery. I... haven't exactly been honest with you."

Avery raised an eyebrow, "I got that already."

Mira continued, "So- you remember when I talked to you on the clock tower? About your backstory, your memories..."

"Yes...?"

"Well- I didn't tell you everything."

There was a pause.

"As a kid... you were a total sweetheart. You were super nice, bubbly, energetic, an all around good kid- most of the time."

"What do you mean, most of the time?"

"It's just that- sometimes you lost control of your emotions- it was like some sort of- some sort of demon momentarily possessed you, causing you to do things you... normally wouldn't do."

Mira's mom finally spoke in an exasperated tone, "My god, dumbing it down much? Hey- Avery!" Avery turned to look at her. She smirked, "How's your mom?"

Mira's eyes widened in panic as Avery's face fell, "I... wouldn't know- she died when I was a little kid..."

"...And do you know why?"

"She- she was sick for a while... terminal illness."

"That's not what I heard," she said in a sing-songy voice.

Mira whipped out her gun, "Don't." she hissed in a warning tone.

"What are you doing, Mira??" Avery asked incredulously.

"Yes, Mira, what are you doing?" Her mother repeated, "Doesn't your boyfriend deserve to know the truth?"

Mira's face twisted into a mask of rage, for a number of reasons. Slamming the barrel of the gun down on her mom's head, knocking her out, she said, "He does, but that doesn't mean you have to tell him."

She then turned to a confused and shocked Avery, "I know you must be-"

"What is going on??" Avery said, voice rising to dangerous levels, "What are you not telling me??? Why did my mom die?!"

Mira sighed, defeated. There was silence for a few moments, but the tension in the room was as thick as butter.

Mira said something Avery couldn't make out. She took a deep breath, and this time looked into Avery's face, despair haunting her eyes,

"You killed her."

Avery looked like he'd been shot "Wh- wha-? I-I...?"

He staggered dizzily toward the door, head spinning, only half aware of what was going on. "I... I have to go..." he muttered, stumbling outside and taking off running down the hall. He was dimly aware of Mira chasing him, as well as the police officer who had been standing guard outside, but all he could think about was running away.

He didn't believe it. There was no way- absolutely no way- he could have killed his mom.

Right?