The little blue Outback parked outside the garage of the Cooper family house, and Anna stepped out of her car once she’d shut it off.

With a small sigh, she walked around the other side of the car, using the moment to take in the isolation of her little home. Her house was a little ways out of the way, not connected to any of the major neighborhoods or streets, off on a trail on its own. Isolated, quiet, just the way Anna liked it.

Sparse trees and scrub brush populated the sandy yard and distant stretches of empty land, with some nice, tall cactus growing nearby. It was her little spot on the world, far and away from people she didn’t like, close enough to the ones she did.

Tasha, short girl that she was, would sometimes disappear amidst the taller foliage when she was younger, but Anna would always look for that bright blonde hair she’d passed down to her.

However, today, she had a new excitable little thing to introduce to her home.

She opened the passenger door, and a small, blue-furred head lunged out, staring up at her with dark, almond-shaped eyes amidst a faceful of wrinkles. Anna reached around the year-old shar pei, unbuckling the seatbelt and taking the heavy leash attached to its harness, and the handsome beast hopped out of the car, immediately bolting towards some nearby scrub to sniff, piss on, and move to the next scent of interest.

“Cao Cao, come.” Anna ordered. The dog glanced her way, blinking a moment, before plodding up to her. “Cao Cao, sit.” Cao Cao obeyed, plopping his butt down and staring up at her. Anna reached into her jean’s pocket and pulled out a small, brown nugget, tossing it into Cao Cao’s mouth, which he snapped up and stared up at her expectantly. “Good boy. Come.”

She smiled, turned, and headed up to the front door of the house, Cao Cao plodding alongside her, sniffing along the walkway until she opened the door.

He was hesitant and curious as he walked inside after her, jolting at the sound of the door closing, and stepping out of his harness when she loosened it. He wandered around the house, sniffing up and down the furniture as Anna went into her office to put her things down, her ear perked for the sounds of the dog wandering her home.

She found him again in the kitchen, head in the trash can, and she cleared her throat.

“Drop it!” She ordered sternly. Cao Cao looked up at her, chewing a paper towel that still had some old, spilled stew on it, and bolted. “Cao Cao!”

A minute later, Anna sat on the couch, softly panting, squeezing the paper towel in her hand as Cao Cao sniffed it. She raised her fist and Cao Cao suddenly sat, ears perked, eyes fixated on the paper towel, waiting for her to throw it.

“You are lucky you are cute.” Anna said tiredly, moving the paper towel behind her back and petting the wrinkly dog’s head, drawing a quizzical tilt. “... This is your home now, Cao Cao, and I am your master… mother? Alpha.” She settled on, her fingers scrubbing his sagging face around the cheek, then along the chin, drawing small, excited pants as Cao Cao leaned into her touch. “I guess I should show you around…”

She led him back into the kitchen. “Food and water.” She told him, wondering if, somehow, she was being too stern in her tone with him. He stared at the pair of bowls raised off the ground in a little stand, then back at her. “Oh right.” She filled the bowls, and was almost immediately reminded of Tasha as a toddler with a bowl of spaghetti.

A towel under the food was going to be a necessity…

“Bed.” She pat the large, cushioned dog bed in front of the TV. Cao Cao sniffed it, clamped his teeth around it, and began to thrash. “Cao Cao, no!”

“Toys?” She offered him a big, rubber dog bone. She squeezed it, and he bounced back a step when it squeaked. He sniffed it a moment, pawed it, and Anna smiled as he licked it a few times. Then, he turned and padded back over to his dog bed, chomped it, and began to thrash. “CAO CAO, NO!”

Not long after, Anna grumbled to herself as she put shredded fluff and ruined dog bed into a trash bag, Cao Cao ‘assisting’ by stuffing his head in the bag to take out pieces to chew.

“My room.” She led him into her bedroom, and he wandered around a little, sniffing this way and that, walking between her bed and the dresser, then putting his front paws up on the window sill to peek out, then sniffed inside her closet.

“Computer room.” He tried to climb onto the computer chair, but got spooked when it moved.

“Tasha’s room.” She said, swallowing thickly after saying the words. He walked inside the empty room and smelled Tasha’s empty bed, then her work desk, then her closet. He came back out with a stuffed fish in his mouth, making Anna flinch. “Oh, she forgot one.” Anna sighed.

She didn’t quite understand why Tasha wanted to go to boarding school with her stuffed animals, but she made the room to pack them all away. It made her room… emptier, more soulless without all the fishy paraphernalia and the band posters. It was… spooky without her little girl.

Cao Cao thankfully gave up the green scaled, pink-lipped, blankly-staring stuffed fish – dubbed “Picklefish” as Anna recalled – to his new owner, and Anna eyed it with quiet nostalgia.

How had Tasha gotten this one…? Ah, right, the seventh grade scholastic book faire. If you bought five books from the faire, you could take some sort of little prize with them. As Anna recalled, most of the girls picked the small makeup kit, while Tasha… Tasha came home with Picklefish.

“Guess I should send it to PA, huh?” She asked the dog, who plopped his butt on the floor and raised his ears. “... or maybe she won’t miss it.”

With a little smirk, she tossed the fish over his head, and Cao Cao turned, snapping after it. Fish in mouth, Cao Cao exited Tasha’s room, and Anna followed, pausing before she shut off the light to try and imagine what her daughter would do with a dog in the house…

Down in the living room, Anna sat with a bowl of reheated stew on a little table stand. Cao Cao wandered the house, every now and then snarling and grunting, Picklefish shaking in his grip as he explored.

She watched a rerun of Her Majesty, and channel surfed for a little while after finishing her stew, before she remembered something.

Cao Cao explored outside with the vigor Anna had expected, sniffing every inch of his new territory, barking at a surprised horned toad, and sniffing around one spot for several minutes before squatting and doing his business.

Anna wandered her property with Cao Cao in the lead, staring at familiar plants and sights as the sun slowly descended in the sky. There was no real aim in Cao Cao’s plodding, the shar pei was mostly interested in absolutely everything.

From the north side of the house to the south, then from the east to the west, Anna just smiled to herself as the pup familiarized himself with his new home. However, she glanced up in alarm when he turned his head and widened his eyes, watching something.

A black Cadillac was pulling into the driveway, and after a sigh of relief, Anna tugged the heavy leash. “Cao Cao, come.”

Reluctantly he followed as Anna walked around the front of her house, and Zi stepped out of the car with a big smile that grew bigger when she saw the hesitant blue shar pei now trailing behind Anna.

“Oooooh lookit his wrinkles!” Zi squeaked, bustling over. She was in a black suit, though it was loosened and unbuttoned, making her look much less formal.

“Hey Zi, what’s going on?” Anna asked with a small wave, the two women greeting one another with a quick hug and a pair of smiles. “I thought you’d be out all afternoon.”

“I thought the same thing too, baby, but Aiden managed to actually make it to today’s huddle and saved me a whole lot of time.” Zi reached up, grooming some hair out of Anna’s face as the taller blonde gave a nod.

“Well that’s good. All I did today was pay bills and get this guy.” She stepped aside, and Cao Cao stared up at Zi, his posture nervous, but non-hostile.

“Hiiiiii sweet baby; oooh, lookit how cute you are! Just a big ol’ wrinkly baby!” Zi crouched down, making Cao Cao back up a step, eyeing her, eyeing her presented hand, giving her an uncertain sniff before wrapping around Anna’s other side, watching Zi closely. “Bit of a suspicious fella, huh?”

“I was told they tend to be fairly aloof.” Anna scratched Cao Cao’s scalp, making the dog shiver a moment, and lean against her.

“Butcha worked the old Cooper charm on ‘im, eh?” Zi could hardly keep from cooing over the shar pei as he stood there and rumbled the tiniest of growls, only to be silenced when Anna gave him a quiet glare.

“I’ve been visiting him over the past month or so, his trainer was pretty surprised by how quickly he took to me.” Anna chuckled to herself, crouching down to rub Cao Cao’s big ol’ wrinkled face, and earned a lick on the chin in response.

“You do seem to have that mysterious effect on every man you meet.” Zi smirked, watching Anna fight her desire to keep her face clean and bond with the dog as Cao Cao leaned in to lick her escaping nose. “What’s the fella’s name?”

“Cao Cao.” Anna answered, scratching behind his ears.

“Chow Chow?”

“It’s Chinese, Zi. He’s a Chinese shar pei, so, Tsow Tsow.”

“Gunna have to explain that one a bit more to me, baby. How ‘bout inside? I brought you some hot cocoa!”

“That sounds lovely, I’ll warm up some stew for you.”

Inside, Anna sat on the couch, Cao Cao chewing on Picklefish by her side, while Zi chewed large chunks of beef and carrots, listening as Anna spoke between sips of her drink.

“—from the ancient Han dynasty, so I wanted him to feel the same sense of empowerment and prestige such a name should carry.”

“Y’know, that’s sweet and all you researched Chinese history for the young boy, but all I can think about is how Carol’s son named his hamster ‘Jesus.’”

“Mine’s an ancient emperor, not a messiah.” Anna shook her head.

Both girls glanced over at Cao Cao when he growled, playfully rolling around with Picklefish before dropping him off the couch. Cao Cao rolled over to stare at his fallen toy, before glancing at Anna, who gave a sigh, bent down to pick up Picklefish, and spun it around Cao Cao’s head, the dog chasing it with a happy pant.

“Yes yes, you want Picklefish, Cao Cao? C’mon wrinkly, get Picklefish! Yeessss, up, up!” Anna cooed, unable to suppress a smile as the dog followed the toy around the couch, over Anna’s lap, up and around the back. “So close! Sho closhe! Li’l more, Cao Cao, so close!”

Zi sat back, grinning. In a reverse of when she’d sent Madeline to college four years ago, Anna spent nearly an entire night blubbering into Zi’s shoulder after returning from dropping off Tasha at PA. She had seen her best friend go through hard times before, but Anna approached everything with at least some sense of sturdiness, practically embodying the British stiff upper-lip expression.

Few things broke Anna like Tasha leaving the nest and going somewhere that no doubt left Anna agonized, but Zi was proud Anna had made the choice, and more proud that Anna was handling it in a… non-extreme manner.

Cao Cao stood on Anna’s lap, his front paws on the couch’s back, snapping at Picklefish dangling above his head as Anna giggled and rubbed the dog’s exposed belly.

Anna suddenly chucked Picklefish Zi’s way, and Zi caught it with a quick laugh, watching Cao Cao sprint and then skid to Zi’s feet. He still looked unsure about her, but Zi tossed him a chunk of beef-soaked carrot, then Picklefish, and he sprinted back to Anna’s side, lazing on the couch again.

“You seem to be doing alright, Annie.” Zi noted as Anna scratched Cao Cao’s bristly fur. “What’s next for you?”

“Well, I found a nice channel on YouTube for baking lessons, so I was thinking tomorrow I’d go to the store for ingredients and try my hand at cookies.” Anna said, still petting her dog. “Tasha’s favorites are those peanut butter blossoms Maria used to make, so I was hoping I could borrow you at some point to perfect the recipe.”

“Grandma’s blossoms were hard to beat, so of course I’m gunna taste test.” Zi grinned. “But other than baking, other than homemaking; Taz is up in PA, you’re not just a mom anymore. You’re your own woman, what are you going to do?”

Anna stopped for a moment, Cao Cao’s happy growling stilling, his nose prodding her wrist to try and get her to keep going.

“I… don’t know.” Anna finally answered, leaning back with a sigh. “I don’t really know what I can do. It’s not like I have skills, I certainly don’t care to try my hand at retail…”

“What about going to college and getting yourself a degree?” Zi offered, only to get a sour look.

“Zi, you know as well as I do that, with all those college hormones running around, I’d likely kill someone.”

Zi looked ready to argue, but stopped herself. “Online courses?”

That suggestion seemed to stir some consideration in Anna. “Maybe, but I thought you wanted me to get out of the house.”

“Shit, honey, you and me can take over the town again.” Zi chuckled, moving to sit down next to Anna, making Cao Cao roll away and watch suspiciously for a moment, before settling by Anna’s side again. “Once this Brain Scythe business is cleared up? We can head out to Phoenix, or wherever we wanna, eat out, see movies, do a little dancing! We haven’t danced in forever!”

“We’re also much older, and based on what Maddy’s shown us, I don’t know if we’d fit in.” Despite this, Anna smiled, seeming a little enthused. “And again, lotsa young men and women at those places. Might kill someone.”

Zi laughed a little. “Well ballroom dancing doesn’t usually have youngsters crawling around ‘em.”

“True.” Anna shrugged. “Maybe.”

Zi watched Anna entertain the idea, watched her pet Cao Cao, watched her shoulders sag a bit, and then, with a squeeze to Anna’s shoulder, asked: “What do you want to do, Anna?”

“... I’m not sure.”

“There must be somethin’, baby.” Zi gently insisted. “It’s alright to tell me.” She paused for a moment. “Unless it’s porn.”

“God no, Zi!” Anna gave a disgusted look. “I’d rather stock shelves.” She shivered, shook her head, and leaned back with a groan, off-handedly accepting Picklefish when Cao Cao offered it to her. “... Zi, is there any way I could…” She trailed off, examining the stuffed toy for a hesitant moment.

“You could what, hon?” Zi asked softly. “Join the agency?”

Anna looked ashamed, but nodded slowly.

“I…” Zi winced. “I floated the idea a few years ago, in the case you ever sent Taz to PA, or when she graduated and moved out. My bosses…”

“Don’t trust me?”

“They barely trust me, and I don’t constantly threaten to kill people.” Zi tried to smile with the joke, but Anna just sighed and sank deeper into the couch. “I’m real sorry, love. You’d be real good.”

“Tch, hardly.” Anna grumbled and groused, straightening up with a frown. “Zi, did you ever find out what happened to James? James Michaels?”

Zi flinched at the name. She turned away from Anna, remembering the picture of the boy passed in front of her and heartbroken whimpers from his parents, begging for help, begging for reassurance a week ago. She remembered Anna coming by for a visit when national news broke on television, and the look that had crossed Anna’s face when she saw the face of that little boy.

A little piece of Anna broke, Zi thought. She saw somebody she recognized endangered just a day after she’d let go of her own little girl. Zi had done everything she could to reassure her that PA would be safe, and Anna spent the past week in a somber mood.

Now? Now she was mellow again, but playing with a dog, and looking less like she was about to jump out of her chair and storm up to get her gun.

“... Not yet. But we’re trying, Annie.”

“I believe you.” Anna mumbled, reaching over to squeeze Zi’s knee. “I barely knew those people, but it hurt harder than I expected.”

“That’s because you have empathy, baby.” Zi squeezed Anna’s hand, and firmed up when Anna collapsed on her, looking exhausted. “And it’s a good thing you do.”

“I know.” Anna mumbled, her eyes closing as she rested against Zi’s shoulder.

She flinched when a big, black tongue lapped her lips, and she gave a disgusted little laugh as she pushed Cao Cao away, the big dog trying to jump in for more kisses. Zi giggled as she was used as a battling ground for a woman and her dog, eventually earning more than a few licks herself.

When the dog had calmed down, Zi set her bowl in the sink to soak while Anna put Cao Cao through a small regiment of commands for treats. The two eventually wandered out the front door, Cao Cao watching from the window, and Anna squeezed Zi’s shoulder before she climbed into her car.

“We’ll find you something to do, Annie, I promise.” Zi smiled up at her.

“Thank you, Zi.” Anna leaned down to hug her before she left. “I’ll try not to be too big a pain in the ass.”

“Trust me, Annie, I have seen you at your worst; s’gonna be real hard for you to get that bad again.”

With a shared cheeky smile, the two waved goodbye, and Zi pulled out of the driveway, and was driving off home.

Anna watched her leave with a small smile, then head inside.

She locked the door, and checked the locks of all the other entrances and exits to the house, Cao Cao following her about with Picklefish in mouth. The blinds at every window went down, and Anna shut off the TV, and silenced her phone as she went upstairs to the computer room.

Cao Cao sat at her feet underneath the desk, chewing Tasha’s old toy happily as Anna booted up her computer.

She’d made a decision while talking to Zi, one she knew Zi would disagree with, but Anna was not ever an easy person. Unlike Tasha, she was ill-content to do as told, or expected.

She was restless. Purchasing Cao Cao put some ill-ease away, but with the kidnapping of James Michaels, and hearing how it had happened, the decision had been all but made for her.

The PDTF and the ESP could do this, but Anna tried to imagine Tasha in that boy’s place, tried to imagine the pain the Michaels were feeling surging through every vein in her body, and tried to imagine how many more would be lost before the authorities could catch up to them.

Anna opened up a browser, and half-considered putting it into incognito mode, something she’d discovered and showed Tasha how to use following an incident involving some odd late night sounds coming from the computer room and discovering something her daughter called ‘hentai.’

Ultimately, she decided it didn’t matter, and went into the latest in Phoenix news, narrowing her searches down with the word ‘attack’ until she found something promising.

A psychic got jumped by a group of men identified as members of a small, but vicious group of anti-psis by the name of the Wise Men. A few links in the article took her on a short, but informative journey on the Wise Men’s history of anti-psi activity out of the town of Globe.

One included a very inflammatory and congratulatory quote concerning Brain Scythe’s activities from one of the members…

It identified a few men that seemed to be in charge, and Anna stretched out her fingers.

She hadn’t done this in a while…

It was time for some research.