ATannie- this is the end chapter 7/9

    >This day, just like all other days begun with morning
    >You didn’t usually care much for mornings
    >This one wasn’t to be much different
    >You wanted to sleep
    >ignore it, just wait and it goes away eventually
    >stumble out of bed at some time after 9
    >get some food, coffee, whatever
    >you had a few days of just waiting in front of you
    >But before those days, this one
    >you make a simple dish for Annie
    >An omelette with some veggies and a little meat
    >upstairs Annie and Gnevny are just as you left them last night
    >Gnevny wakes up straight away and looks at you
    >You nod just a little bit and hold the plate out
    >She understands what you mean, crawls out of the bed, walks up to you and accepts the plate
    >Maybe Annie would eat a little more if she didn't have the feeling of being a burden to you
    >Something funny happened when you walk downstairs
    >For the first time in almost a year
    >You don’t really have anything to do
    >Annie was being cared for
    >The cars were all running
    >No returns to do

    >One would think this would be something pleasant
    >But instead an uneasy feeling was creeping up on you
    >Annie was getting worse, and you didn’t do anything about it
    >You couldn’t, right now
    >Then again, it didn’t feel very good just sitting on your hands either
    >just sitting
    >watching the clocks’ arms ticking the minutes away
    >like a countdown
    >Ticking Annie away from you
    >It was almost painful to listen to after a while
    >You read a little
    >watched some TV
    >Sat and spoke with Annie when you could
    >When she was awake
    >It wasn’t much of that, since she slept so much
    >But eventually, Thursday rolls around
    >You have the old car prepared, fueled and loaded with some food if need be
    >Friday morning you head out
    >Just like earlier, Annie stayed in bed
    >Of course, you fed and talked to her before you left
    >Reassuring her
    >Telling her the plans for today
    >Anything to put her mind at ease
    >You took the old Toyota this time
    >to attempt to look like a family a little bit more
    >Attempt

    >You found a nearby Walmart and bought enough ice cream to fill the entire boot and a wagon for Gnevny to drag it all along
    >The car slows to a halt outside the kindergarten at about lunch time
    >Gnevny walks off with this simply ridiculous amount of ice cream
    >And with that, you’re left in the car with Doll again
    >The window was down, a light breeze was cooling down the car
    >The radio plays some forgotten song

    “Hey Anon…”
    >”Yeah?”
    “Can i uhm…”
    >”What?”

    >Doll shuffles a little in her seat and then leans in on you
    >She knows very well this isn’t her place
    >But times have been a little hard with Annie being sick
    >It was just the two of you
    >And right now she just needed a little bit of warmth
    >You sit there for half an hour before Gnevny comes back with an envelope in her hand
    >She slides into the back seat and slams the door shut
    >Her words are short and heavy
“How far would you go for her?”
>”To help Annie?”
“Yes”
>”Very, very far”
“This is fixable”
>”Well, there we are then. What do i have to do?”
“Get plane tickets”
“They are gonna see mom?!” Doll bursts out
“Looks that way” Gnevny sighs
>”Mom? Wait, what’s going on here?”

>They both quiet down a little, and look away

“Uhm… i think that’s for Annie to tell you”


“But at least…” Doll starts “You get to see that snowy place with all the mountains. In Europe… uhm… Australia!”
>”Do you mean Austria?”
“Augh… No she doesn’t” Gnevny cuts in. “The other one. Sw-”
“I know! Sweden!” Doll shouts
“Wow, you really are blonde, aren’t you? No, it’s Switzerland” Gnevny grunts out
“Ehh… Cold snowy place with mountains. Nobody cares anyway”

>Doll blushes a little and accepts defeat
>You let the argue a little as you take her envelope and pull out the slip of paper
>It did feel a little weird something this important was written with a crayon
>It had just some names, probably places and then a number

>You take a photo of the note immediately and write up what it said on another piece of paper
>Just to be on the safe side
>And then drive home
>you didn’t even take the key out of the car
>Just rushed up the stairs, tearing Annie’s bedroom door open
>She woke up with a jolt looking at you
>You put the piece of paper in her hands

>She looks and reads it over several times
>Her eyes light up at first
>And then tears start forming in her eyes
>It truly hurt to see Annie like this
>but these were happy tears
>right?
y-you shouldn’t have…
>”Shush you. Looks like this in the only way to help you. I’ll get you there, and you will tell me a story on the way, alright?”

>Annie keeps quietly sobbing
>You lie down next to her and just hold on
>It wasn’t technically something you shouldn’t do
>Since she will move and wrap around you and hug you
>But right now, you didn’t care about that
>She needed this
>Until she fell asleep ten minutes later

>once again, nestling yourself out of her grip proved rather difficult
>but just like earlier, it was a nice struggle
>Not that you wanted to leave Annie or anything

>That night you say up with the shitty old laptop, rigged with phone hotspot internet
>And was looking for plane tickets
>There were no flights going directly to Zürich
>Second best idea was taking a flight into Munich
>From there the options were either a second flight connecting the two cities
>It would be fast, but expensive
>And the overlay would be a few hours
>Another option was Bus travel. Very cheap, but would mean carrying Annie or making her walk
>Not good
>Besides, both of these would require getting a rental car for the last stretch in the mountains in the south
>A third alternative was getting the rental car as early as Munich and drive the 200 something miles into Switzerland
>That part might only be 3 or 4 hours, but your head would be rather squishy after the 11+ hour flight
>That could be solved with drugging yourself with caffeine and red bull to a certain extent
>But not well enough to drive and take care about Annie
>That night you stayed up until 4 AM making calls, fixing arrangements, looking at flights and a rental car
>Some of it might have been on the slightly shadier spectrum of things
>But as far as you could see, there was really only one way for Annie to get to europe as she was now
>Your passport was still valid… barely
>Sadly Annie didn’t have one
>Or a social security number
>Or any papers
    >This could be solved by claiming she didn’t have any papers or she was your wife… that somehow didn’t have any papers
    >found abroad maybe?
    >Annie did speak russian fluently
    >problem is that this was something people had tried before
    >And there was always someone at some point making sure no one was smuggling or otherwise did inappropriate things with geists
    >could Annie control this?
    >She did have certain control over other geists, and if you two would encounter any when getting the passport, she might be able to do something about it
    >Could she do this when sick?
    >Not sure, you would have to ask
    >Maybe she doesn't know either
    >And a passport could take weeks to get a hold of
    >And you couldn’t really book any flights before you were certain when she would have it

    >eventually you give in for the night
    >And while you would have wanted to crawl up next to Annie, it seems Gnevny had beaten you do it
    >can’t really blame her, CC weapons could get a little attached
    >This did leave you with a bed all on your own, and it didn’t take you long before falling asleep

    >The infernal screeching from the phone's alarm clock wakes up and you immediately feel a huge urge to throw it in the wall
    >but time waits for no one, or however that saying went
    >get some food and load up the car
    >Then bring in something for Annie
    >She could really only eat very soft foods by now
    >soup, very tender meat, some breads
    >But to her surprise you didn’t get her back into bed after the bathroom
    >You picked her up in a carry hug instead
    >Down two stairs and into the car
    >She was substantially lighter than what you were used to
    >Not eating much and unable to leave this form had taken its toll on her
    >She was even a little scared
    >for a second she thought something… unspeakable would happen
    >It felt awful beyond at words when she tensed up in your arms
    >But you got her in the car and explained a few things to her
    >First of all, where she wasn’t going
    >Then, how you felt towards her
    >After that you explained that these feeling weren’t going to change anytime soon
    >Then came the explanation of how the plan for today looked
    >The little scheme
    >The lies that were going to be told
    >How they were going to be told

    >You sat down with Annie for half an hour
    >She cried, sobbed and burbled
    >It took her another 10 minutes to start breathing normally again

    I understand

    >And then it was Annie’s turn to speak her mind    >”Think you can do this?”
    I just have to lie like crazy, try to look even more miserable than i already do
    >”You don’t look mi-”
    You don’t have to do that for me. I’ve probably lost over a quarter of my body weight. Both the strong and the soft bits
    >”Well, your ass has gotten significantly more…”
    Yeah, and my ribs are showing, like all the time. But it’s really hard to eat

    >And that grinded that conversation to a halt
    >There was no guarantee at all that any of this would work
    >You could end up arrested today
    >The rules were no geists could have passports
    >That was decided by the TSA right away
    >because terrorists this and that bla bla bla
    >Fuckups runing the fun for everyone else
    >As usual

    >After another hour on the road the old saloon goes quiet
    >You have stopped outside a post office
    >Your heart was pulsating enough for you to feel it
    >In your chest, throat, temples
    >Your mouth had gone a little dry
    >Annie looked much more composed
    >calmer
    >Like you would imagine a highly trained professional before doing something… critical

    Anon, you look like a scared virgin
    >”Why do i feel you’re not taking this seriously”
    I am. Very much so. I am also much more experienced in telling lies
    >”Annie…”
    Not to you. Never to you
    >”Right…”
    Shall we go then, little virgin?
    >”I swear, i’ll pin you to a wall”
    It’s not okay to do that to cripples
    >”And you’re gonna stop me?”

    >Annie giggles a little
    >And then the seriousness of it all comes back
    >But she did a wonderful job of calming you down
    >And then takes a deep breath, stand up on her shaky legs
    >you get out of the car with her, take her hand and walk in
    >You ended up happy
    >Your heart were warmer than it had ever been before
    >your cheeks has a light rosy tint

    >You’ve both putten all your feeling on a plate in front of each other
    >It’s like a massive spaghetti spillage
    >But in a very romantic way
    >So romantic that the silence you shared between you felt comfortable

    >But sooner or later it had to be broke, and this time it was to be by the purr of an old 6 cylinder
    >The old BMW was driven slower this time
    >Just cruising along at the speed limit
    >flipping through the mostly awful radio channels that were playing
    >You eventually turned the radio off and chat idly with Annie instead
    >Just like all the lazy afternoons you shared with each other
    >The two of you had wasted so many hour just babbling pointlessly with each other
    >you could have a discussion, spanning several different topics from the point you came through the door after work
    >through cooking, eating the dinner, doing the dishes and just being together on the sofa afterwards
    >”Think you can do this?”
    I just have to lie like crazy, try to look even more miserable than i already do
    >”You don’t look mi-”
    You don’t have to do that for me. I’ve probably lost over a quarter of my body weight. Both the strong and the soft bits
    >”Well, your ass has gotten significantly more…”
    Yeah, and my ribs are showing, like all the time. But it’s really hard to eat

    >And that grinded that conversation to a halt
    >There was no guarantee at all that any of this would work
    >You could end up arrested today
    >The rules were no geists could have passports
    >That was decided by the TSA right away
    >because terrorists this and that bla bla bla
    >Fuckups runing the fun for everyone else
    >As usual

    >After another hour on the road the old saloon goes quiet
    >You have stopped outside a post office
    >Your heart was pulsating enough for you to feel it
    >In your chest, throat, temples
    >Your mouth had gone a little dry
    >Annie looked much more composed
    >calmer
    >Like you would imagine a highly trained professional before doing something… critical

    Anon, you look like a scared virgin
    >”Why do i feel you’re not taking this seriously”
    I am. Very much so. I am also much more experienced in telling lies
    >”Annie…”
    Not to you. Never to you
    >”Right…”
    Shall we go then, little virgin?
    >”I swear, i’ll pin you to a wall”
    It’s not okay to do that to cripples
    >”And you’re gonna stop me?”

    >Annie giggles a little
    >And then the seriousness of it all comes back
    >But she did a wonderful job of calming you down
    >And then takes a deep breath, stand up on her shaky legs
    >you get out of the car with her, take her hand and walk in

============================


    >a full three hour later you can go back out again
    >about two hour and 45 minutes of those had been spent waiting
    >there was only one man behind the counter
    >he was grossly obese
    >the kind of obese with multiple chins
    >He was sweaty, wheezing for air and was jiggling as he moved
    >You didn’t mind too much
    >But Annie had a burning, glowing furious hatred for him
    >All of him
    >But he seemed to at least do his job
    >But is was somewhat amusing to listen to Annie spew out insults in russian as well as english
    >Finally your turn, you told told the story and he just nodded
    >Took 30 seconds to turn the chair around and left
    >Just a few minutes later he returns at a faster pace
    >He didn’t even say anything, just that you should come back a week later do to “delays”
    >strangely, he just said “please” when you press him
    >At the end of the day, you can’t do anything about it
    >Just get back into the car and…

    >”Who said that?”
    “Mee! Wait!”
    >”Gnevny?! How the fuck did you get there?”
    “W-wait!”


    >Her hair was cut in half length and was colored dark brown
    >She held her shoes in one hand and her hoodie and… a plastic bag in another

    What’s going on Anon?
    >”Uhm… things, gimmie a sec”

    >You crouch in front of Gnevny and grab her by the shoulder

    >”Gnevny, seriously what is going on”
    “L-let me get in the car!”

    >She breaks free and dashes over to the passenger door where Annie sat
    >You hurry back into the old sedan and watch a very confused Annie holding Gnevny in her arms
    >The car is on the road home a few minutes later
Did you bring her?
>”No, thought you did”
Really?
>”Gnevny. Time to spit it out”
“Annie saved me. I owe her this”

>She gets an even firmer grip around Annie

What did you do, little one?
“Your chances of just getting a passport was minuscule. I just made sure you would get it”
>”Uhm…”
Gnevny…
“This town is so sparsely populated, this one guy decides if you are fit for the passport or not. I just made sure he would say yes”
>”What did you do?”
“Can i please not tell you that. I just want Annie to be okay”
I hope you are not putting yourself in danger for me
“I’m repaying what i owe you”
And that would be what?
“Eveything”

>There wasn’t much you could reply to that
>Annie eases the seat back, and the miles slowly but surely got chewed up
>You all arrived at the house by late afternoon
>Doll had, as she usually does made a dinner
>And just like usual, you had yours upstairs while feeding Annie
>She had lost a lot of weight, and seriously struggled to eat

>”Hey Annie, what are we going to do when all this is over?”

>you made very sure you punctuated “when”

Anon, i don’t know if i can-
>”I don’t think we could just go back to normal jobs. Think we can?”
I managed to adjust back from a world war. Should not be a problem for you after this. Little virgin
>”And you would want that?”
I've never had a proper job before. As in, a legal one. If we actually pull-
>”When. When we pull this off”
Ehem… when we pull this off, I'll have a passport, and be legal and everything…
>”Just gonna wait and see, then?
We will figure it out, I'm sure

>it was quickly getting obvious Annie fought the sandman at this point
>her speech got more slurred and her eyelids heavy
>you helped her out of her clothes, gently tucked her in and left with with a light kiss
>and just like that, she had entered the mists
    >And now she would probably sleep for 14 hours and be drowsy for another two
    >As sad as it was to stare at her close bedroom door for hours to end, it was for the best

    >and then back downstairs
    >Back to the computer
    >time and time again, you look at travel times, prices and departure. You could the flight times by head now.
    >Cheapest was probably to fly to drive to a really big airport, leave the car there, go directly to Munich, rent a car there and drive the rest of the bit back into Switzerland
    >All at the time while having a little notebook
    >Things you had to bring along
    >sadly the third note was “Wheelchair”
    >It would be very humiliating for Annie to sit in a wheelchair
    >Shouting out to the world that she was good for nothing and needed taken care about
    >But with the bags and everything, you couldn’t really carry her as well
    >Maybe with just a rucksack, but nothing more
    >Sad as it was, a wheelchair was needed
    >That would be another 275 dollars for the ticket
    >because she couldn’t stand on her own legs
    >Thanks, Delta

    “Anon?”
    >”Oh hi Doll”
    “Not time for sleep yet?”
    >”Uhm…”

    >It really was late
    >the evening had faded away and dwindled into the single digits of the night

    “You know, it’s tearing on all of us, but you really need to rest. You don’t keep going and Annie…”
    >”Yeah, i get it… i’ll get some rest”
    >Another Usual night routine, another climb up the stairs and another face first down into the pillow

    >Unknowingly to you, Stephanie, the tiny geist for the Kolibri pistol was watching over
    >She sits perfectly still, breathes as silently as she possibly could until she was satisfied you wouldn’t wake up
    >She carefully slides down the shelf and squeezes herself out in a little hole drilled behind a wardrobe to another room
    >A room where Doll is waiting
“He’s asleep, let’s go!”

>Doll scoops up Stephanie and silently sneak downstairs
>A few tired looking faces sit downstairs and seems like they are not enjoying their game of cards very much
>But with the words “Go! He’s out” the three jump to life and as silently as possible get out to the driveway

>Amanda got behind the wheel of the heavy, old BMW and waited for the others to get in
>Cassie and Doll waited for the last door to click shut before they heaved with all their might to push the car and start it rolling down the slight incline leading to the road
>At a safe distance from the house, Amanda turn the key and the engine hums to life without waking anyone up
>Cassie jogs up and slides into the passenger seat while Doll stays
>She watches the sedan slowly roll away on the forest road
>Everything was in their hands now
>Gnevny and Cassie had made a plan
>A risky one
>But probably the only way Annie would ever get her passport

“Everyone knows what you have to do?” Gnevny spoke coldly
“Bait” Lala didn’t seem to very happy about that part “But then I get to be a kidnapper!”
“Brawn and driver” Cassie stated coldly
“Infiltration!” Stephanie squeaked
“Support” Amanda declared

“So, listen up. We have pinned this guys movements. He will leave the meet at about midnight, and then a 20 minute drive home. We will intercept him at the car park. Lala will distract and Cassie… do what you do. Amanda will be ready with the ether”
“That is kinda creepy to be honest. Where did you get the ether” Amanda sighed
“You have no idea” Cassie replied “I’m not kidding you, Doll is like THE biggest closet pervert ever. I mean like full on sexual predator. She makes this stuff”
“Makes?!” Lala seems unsettled
“Yes, seriously. First off, never ever leave Doll alone with pistols, because it will leave them traumatised. And and if you doubt it, look at the chest she keeps in her room”
“Chest?”
“Oh, shit” Cassie shook a little “Aren’t you supposed to be a teenagers or something? Nevermind. You really shouldn’t look at these things”
“How come we’ve never heard anything off it. I mean, Amanda is super cute!”
“And Lala!”
“yeah…” Cassie sighed “Annie caught up to this a few months ago. Doll got… ehem… put in her place. So it’s a lot more closet than pervert right now”

>The little chatter was interrupted as the big sedan slowed to a halt

“So, we are looking for… a white 2015 Fiesta. Should be here in a few minutes until it’s here”

>The car got all quiet as they were waiting
>No radio on
>Windows down just a little and listening to the sounds of the nights
>The wind breezing
>people shouting somewhere away
>...distant gunfire?
>police sirens
>And the the buzz of a little engine

“Ready up”

>Cassie took the lead and stepped out of the car
>Lala and Amanda followed her

“Wait!” Gnevny hissed “Remember your cover Lala!”
“Yeah yeah, if anyone notices ears and tail, i’m a cosplayer, i know”

>Cassie ran away to the corner of the lot with Amanda in tow while Lala took cover behind an SUV
>And for just a moment
>When the young man, maybe in his late teens, unloaded the car, it was all quiet
>Then Lala wondered out as he was leaving his car
>he stood still for a few seconds
>looking at Lala
>How she twitched her feline ears just a little
>The tail softly swin-

>THUD
>Cassie hit him like a freight train from behind
>He falls to the ground
>And not five seconds later, Amanda had pushed a wet rag over his nose and mouth
>And then, he passed out
>Cassie helped the two smaller rifles to tie him up and shove him into the boot of the Fiesta
>Lala and Amanda jumped into the little hatchback and followed the larger BMW out of the car park and into the night

>After a few miles the cars spilt up, with the Fiesta leaving for an abandoned section of a little town, and the sedan, with Cassie, Gnevny and Stephanie in it to the Post office
>Now, breaking into a post office might seem like a daft idea, but if you’re only 2 feet tall, some things are easy to get through
>Like action movie cliche #1, the ventilation system

>It was at this point Cassie and Gnevny realised they had no idea what to do while waiting
>It's not like Stephanie carried a cellphone or anything

>They both ended up sitting in the car with the radio playing some slow music
>It was a little bit of awkwardness between them
>Gnevny was cuddly, but reluctantly so
>She'd never shuffle towards anyone
>But when Cassie sighed and pulled her into her lap, Gnevny didn't resist
>Cassie was an AT rifle after all
>And Gnevny a sidearm
>There was still a hierarchy to follow

“Think she will make it?”
“Mhm…” Gnevny sighed heavily and somewhat sleepy
“Good. And Lala and Amanda?”
“It's a scatterbrain leading an air head. But I'm pretty sure they will make it. I mean…” The little Makarov sighed heavily, getting more and more comfortable in the embrace “it's just get him to call his dad and whine a little. Can't exactly go wrong”
>At that exact moment, Doll was scrolling down another page and looking at pictures she’d have a really hard time to explain if someone saw
>She had her certain itches
>Sadly, as long as Annie was here, that was was a no-go
>She she did what anyone else would do
>turn to the internet
>The night was getting late, and her left hand was just about to find its way down her pants when the phone rang
>It was Lala
>She would only call if something went wrong

“Yes?”
“Doll! This isn't working!”
“Sitrep. Now”
“We have him in the cellar, and trying to call his dad, but…. He's not acting like we thought he would! Amanda is traumatised already! Help!”
“What is going on?!”
“Listen!”

>Lala takes the phone, places it on a table next to the tied up man
>Doll listens attentively

“Now, tell your father you are captured!”
“No~”

>smack

“P-please hit me again mistress”
“DON'T CALL ME THAT”
“You can always gag me~”

>Lala picks up the phone and speaks to Doll again

“S-see! He gets off to this!”

>Doll remained silent for a moment
>While she slowly closed the lid of the laptop

“I'll leave in 10 minutes. Keep him there”
>All while you were asleep, Doll gathered up the things she needed
>not that that was things most people would normally need
>Not that this was much of of a normal night anyway
>8 minutes and 57 seconds after she ended the call, Doll fired up the old Pontiac and sped off

>While she was driving, Gnevny and Cassie waited outside the post office
>Stephanie was still working inside, finding drawers, looking for papers
>Turns out breaking in wasn’t very exciting
>Gnevny even walked away and bought a milkshake in a night open petrol station and shared with Cassie
>they sat around and waited
>talked a bit
>idle chatter about whatever to pass the time
>At about the same time as Stephanie managed to crawl out and get back to the car, Doll arrived at the little abandoned house
>Lala sat and comforted Amanda in what was the living room at some point in time

“Hey, Doll”
“Good evening. All okay here?”
“Considering the circumstances, I guess”

>Amanda just nodded a little and stared into the ground

“Right. Take the GTO, go to a diner or a movie or something, make sure your phones are on. And Lala-”
“Yeah, I know if someone asks it's cosplay”
“Good. I left some money in the car, you have fun now”

>Doll watched the old car rumble away
>When she was comfortable with it being out of sight, she started changing
>Old comfy pair of jeans went off, as did the blouse and jacket
>And on went her old uniform
>The very same one she wore in a God forgotten jungle in south East Asia a long, long time ago
>Those black leather boots
>They still fit rather badly, maybe not surprising considering how walked a lot less than the soldier carrying her did
>She took the big duffel bag over her shoulder and went downstairs, to the young man still tied to a chair

“Hello”
>She had put her voice askew a little, to make it sound a touch more hoarse

“W-who are you?”

>Dolls clothes and act gave exactly the right vibes, and the effect was immediate

“Don't worry. You won't see me after tonight. I do however have the same request as the previous girls. So-
“You have to make me”

>Doll slaps him with considerable force

“Make you, huh?”

>He was too busy squealing to give an answer

“You think I won't be able to make you talk?”
“I-I'll take my chances”
“Of course you will. It's… almost 11 o'clock and i figure I have about 7 hours to make this work. I'm going to enjoy myself at least”

>The man tried to answer, but something made sure he couldn't get as much as a sound out
>He was going to have a long night

>At about 2 In the morning, a slightly tipsy Lala clings on Amanda, both Agreeing that Mad Max: Wasteland was indeed the best film ever made

“We should toooootally go to Australia sometime”
“Lala, I've told you, it's not a documentary”
“You said that about Star Wars as well”
“Yeah, it's because that's not a documentary either”
“You don't know that! You have no evidence!”
“Lightsabers aren't real”
“In another galaxy, they are. How else would we have filmed it?”
“I… don't know”
“See! I tooold you! Hihihihi…”
“Damnit Lala, take it easy, we're among people…”

>Amanda grabs and moves away the hand that has been groping her ass for the last minute

“Please behave”
“Okay…”

>Lala’s posture sinks together, tail slacks and ears fold flat

“No, wait I don't want you to be sad, Lala, please?”
“B-but i like you…”
“I know, but you know in public it will attract attention and-”

“HEEEEEY”

>Lala and Amanda turn their eyes away from each other and to the side, where a group of even more drunk teenagers stands

“ARE THOSE REAL”
“O-oh, these?”

>Lala was blushing and stuttering when she pointed to the sizeable feline ears on her head

“Nooo, no. Nonono. T-these i bought online”
“CAN I TRY THEM PLEEEEEEASE”
“N-no. Uhm… I'm wearing them”
“WHERE DID YOU BUY THE TAIL. IT'S SOOO FLUFFY. LET ME TOUCH IT”
“Whaaaa.... No, wait”

>The drunk teenager rushes up to Lala and start reaching for her head

“THEY FEEL SO REAL”

>Amanda steps in and pushes the teen away

“Go easy on her! She's wearing that for the first time damnit!”
“BUT IT'S SOOO CUUUUTE”
“Sure it is, but you are getting too close”

>The teenager finally realised the mistake

“S-sorry”
“It's fine. If you want a pair, look on ebay or something”
“Y-you too”

>Amanda drags the confused Lala away

“You didn't have to be so harsh…”
“You're mine, and the drunk got to close. Let's go”
“You can scratch them if you want to…”
“Hmpf…”

>Despite Amanda's grumpy reaction, one of her hands finds its way to Lala’s head
>A finger runs gently where the ear meets the head, and it waggles happily in response
>Half an hour later they have munched up some french fries, and lie in the back of the car
>Both phones had been silent for a while

“This was okay as far as an evening goes”
“mhm…”

>Lala shoves her face into Amanda’s shoulder

“What do you think Doll is doing?” Amanda wondered
“Getting things done…”
“Yeah, but how?”
“Do you really want to know...?”
“How would i know, if it don’t know?”
“Hmm… I guess you’re right”

>During exactly that moment, Doll’s right hand was turning sore after quite a long time of “correcting the behaviour” of the man she was interrogating
“Hey, Amanda?”
“Mhm?”
“Did the drunk really like my ears that much?”
“I think so”
“Think I can make money on it?”
“...”
“I MEANT HAIR BRUSHING VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE YOU DAMN PERVERT”
“S-sorry”
“Don't worry, sweetheart, only you can touch”
“Uhm… thanks?”

>Lala sighs and crawls up to the driver's seat of the car

“Come on, seems like the guys are about to finish up”

~~~

>You wake up late that morning
>And none of the two nicer cars are there
>Your initial reaction is to find one of your weapons
>But since they were gone as well, you sighed heavily and made some food
>same morning routine, help Annie doe her things, no matter how much she didn't liked being helped with the most basic of things
>Wash her off
>carry her back to bed
>Sit and feed her, idle chatter
>Often just lay down and watch a movie

>Today she wanted to sit in the sun a little
>You found a nice deck chair, a cushion and let her sit there
>In the sound of the light breeze, the chirping of birds and the sun on her skin, Annie fell asleep in a few minutes
>At a few minutes past 8, two cars roll in
>First, the sleek, straight lines of the early 1990s in the BMW followed by the rounded and chromed GTO
>There was a lot to ask
>Why Doll was wearing her uniform
>Why Cassie looked as tired to sleep for a full day
>Why Lala and Amanda ran into the house chattering faster than what anyone could decipher
>The only one that actually stopped to talk to you was the little redhead

“Gnevny! Do I want to know what everyone has been up to tonight?”
“No. But we did good. For a good cause. And if something nice happens in a week or so, be nice to Doll”
“Uhh… okay”
    >Days went by, waiting for any news from anyone
    >Annie did her best just holding on to life, but it got more and more evident the sickness was starting to get the better of her
    >Her joints hurt more and more, her muscles got stale
    >She couldn't walk herself at this point
    >Her legs simply didn't carry her
    >You also had a harder and harder time getting her to eat anything
    >when everything else was hard to eat, you were left with soup and fruit sliced in very small pieces
    >but she kept losing weight
    >Her once muscular yet soft legs had thinned down
    >her chest had shrunken
    >her face had seemingly gotten narrower, and more pale
    >and every time you washed her off, her ribcage got a little more pronounced
    >that awful feeling of her not having much time left always lay over you, like a wet, cold blanket


    >Hope was given a new flame some days later when Doll called from the car
    >Her message was short but it had everything you needed to know
    >Book a flight, first available
    >You knew there was rather few flights that went from American cities to Europe
    >The fastest you could get there was a flight leaving tomorrow evening from Des Moines going to Munich
    >21:45, the following evening
    >You rush up back to Annie with the good news
    >Get the bags packed
    >Passport, money, tickets clothes
    >And carry on bags with food, water, painkillers for Annie
    >Her passport arrived with Doll
    >Annie Simonova, it said
    >It had made up birthday, a picture
    >Even a place of birth
    >Annie cried a few tears of joy before pointing out that an extra “A” has snuck its way into her name
    >Not that she would complain
    >You set of hours ahead of what you needed to get to the airport
    >Doll was driving while you sat in the back seat
    >You should really sleep, it was going to be a long night
    >But you were far too sped up for that
    >“Doll”
    “Mhm?”
    >“How did you get her a passport that quickly anyway?”
    “I haven't threatened anyone”
    >“I didn't say you had”
    “Let's just put it like this. A dad is happy his son isn't a complete loser, and a son has had the night of his life”
    >“Uhm, did you two…?”
    “God no”
    >“I don't get it”
    “Please. Annie has her passport, and no one got hurt… in ways they didn't want”
    >“Okay, I'm really going to stop asking questions now”

    >Doll smirks and keeps driving
    >Miles upon miles get chewed up
    >As the afternoons approaches, traffic thickens up
    >thankfully, the last bit to the airport goes rather smoothly
    >You get Annie out of the car, and gently put her down in the wheelchair
    >All stuff you have with you is in two bags, one duffel bag you have to have on your back, and a little rucksack Annie has in her lap
    >Quite a bit of kit to haul around, but it was your burden to carry

    >You say goodbye to Doll and turn towards the terminal
    >looked fancy at least
    >big glass windows, ads with people smiling on them, shiny floors
    >You pushed her gently through the big revolving doors
    >It was her first time at an airport apparently
    >The good thing was pretty much any place one would want to go to in the airport was available to people traveling on wheels, which was very nice
    >This was probably because of landwhales on mobility scooters more than those in wheelchairs

    >All those airport things had to be done
    >Get the tickets from the fidgety machine
    >wait for luggage check in
    >get lost 3 times trying to find the security checks
    >They were incredibly interested in Annie due to her easter sounding name and wheelchair
    >Because to the TSA people, the only reason anyone would ever have a wheelchair was to smuggle something, and not because she couldn’t walk
    >It took quite a bit of time explaining to the man he had to lift Annie out of her wheelchair if he had to search it
    >Which he didn’t do, and instead got a female colleague to search Annie when she was still sitting down
    >A half hour they spent looking over the wheelchair and the contents of the little rucksack

    >And then trouble
    >An proud looking man in a uniform stands with a small girl by the door the the waiting hall

    Stop
    >”What is it, Annie?”

    >She nods towards the uniformed man

    Little one is state employed and her job is to see no geist get through. Probably won’t be a problem though. Just keep going

    >You trust her to know what she is doing and slowly pushed her through the checkpoint while pretending it's raining

    >”What did you do?” you dare ask when you got through security

    >Annie giggles a little, a very rare and precious sound nowadays

    It's because you are a bad actor
    >”I'm not that bad”
    You have to either speak or act with body language. The art is acting without using either
    >Dammit woman, this disease going to your he'd as well?”

    >It's quiet between you for a few seconds before she hears you laughing a little bit

    Not fair! This is serious business!
    >”Course it is sweetie”

    >You chatter a little between you while waiting for the plane to get fueled and cleaned
    >With the inevitable delay, the wheels depart from the ground just before 22:00
    >Turns out the cramped space in the seats were a catastrophic thing for Annie
    >The plane was crammed full, so there was no option of shuffling around
    >And all the bulkhead and seats and seats by the exits were occupied by either people in suits, that had paid for them, or hamplanets that “needed” them
    >Annie couldn't sit in her wheelchair either, because it was against safety regulations
>After just half an hour, she was in quite bad pain
>She could just barely wiggle in the seat before her knees bumped into the seat in front of her
>And to add insult to injury, what appeared to be a mom with two kids, and the classic “I want to see the manager” haircut demanded Annie stopped “harassing” her by tapping the back of her seat
>Telling her to be considerate to the fact Annie had bad pain in her legs was obviously the wrong thing to do, because she just reclined her seat
>You blood was nearing it's boiling point, but you couldn't really start a fight in a plane
>Instead you shifted places with your beloved Annie to get her behind the woman's child and give her a little more room
>The woman in front sees this as an act of war and reclines the backrest on her child's seat, to make sure Annie can't move her legs at all

>Never before have you wanted to kill anyone as badly as you wanted to kill this woman

Anon, Please…

>Annie whispers to you

I will endure. But… you have to get me to mother as quickly as possible when we land
>”It's just, this bitch…”
I will make sure she gets what she deserves. Just be quick when we land,please
>”I promise”
>The flight took 11 hours and 40 minutes from start to finish
>700 minutes of agonising pain Annie had to endure
>She could do about two hours before tears started welling up in her eyes
>When it got that bad, you lifted her out of the seat so she could sit by the toilets for a few minutes and stretch her legs a little

[Munich international Airport, 16:55 local time]
    >The main landing gear wheels scream as the heavy 777 returns to earth after almost 12 hours in the air
    >The plane taxies for what seems like an eternity before arriving at the gate
    >Of course you have to wait until last with the pensioners to get enough space to carry Annie out and get her in her wheelchair
    >Then to do lots of normal airport stuff, stand in line, wait, look at vending machines
    >like the airport you left half a day ago, only much… more german
    >gard to explain what it what exactly
    >Something with the design maybe?
    >Whatever
    >Go through customs, passport check and all that
    >even the man (or mann because this is germany) behind the passport check in desk wore a very neat suit
    >The process was rather painless since there was no TSA to look search every little part of your body for drugs
    >Which was nice
    >You get the duffel bag, and then proceed out of the arrival hall
    >Annie is even looking a little more cheerful

    >Next part was the rental car
    >Some place called Europcar would lend you some horrid SUV for a few days
    >Yes, it was an awful thing, but you didn’t want to take any chances with the car
    >If you had to drive whatever a VW Tiguan was for a few days, just for the 4wd, that’s okay
    >The woman behind the desk was polite, and had only a touch of an accent

    >But then, a few words that hit you like 2x4 swung by a strongman and turned your stomach to ice

    “Drivers license, please”

    >You forgot your driver's license at home