Grey clouds circled overhead that following morning, and Artemis found herself staring into the mist-bound trees. The sun hadn't even begun to make its rise over the edge of the horizon.

She loved the grey dawns. They always seemed… everlasting to her. Like a moment in time that stretched beyond the ending of the world, beyond the beginning even. Everything swirled in the mist, consolidating as the unformed nature of a new day.

It was a time where she could rest from her hectic day that always lay in store. Artemis loved poetry, and the peaceful natural world around her gave her the most serene setting to bask in it all.

Had she not found her calling as a social worker, working with the orphaned, she marveled at the prospect of traveling the world, and seeing the natural wonder of so many different places:

Iceland, Norway, the Alps, the momentous ruins of the Mediterranean, the scorching deserts of Africa, the jungles of South America.

Yet, she was here, and working at the orphanage rivaled any one of those dreams.

Especially when a mysterious handsome man with an adorable daughter came to her door.

She pursed her lips at the thought. Percy and Emma had left immediately after he had told Artemis of… Emma's mother. It was clearly a keen pain for him- likely somewhat recent. He had promised to be by as soon as the Orphanage opened up. That was in 2 hours, at 8 o' clock.

As much as she was reveling in the calm quiet of the misty morning, she was also steeling herself for the conversation she knew to come. Percy would have to open up to her about Emma, and their situation. She wouldn't let anyone adopt one of her girls without a through background check and interview.

Despite attempting to shove a particular dark thought aside, it reared itself all the same: Perhaps she would find out more about Percy himself. She wasn't lonely per say- but it had been years since she had anyone to call a companion: Both sexually and in a romantic capacity. Artemis knew she wasn't so desperate, but something about Percy seemed… warm. Like a fireplace to come back to after a long trudge through ice and snow. She had keenly watched him looking at his daughter, and she instantly recognized a love there more beautiful than a gentle summer sun.

It came with years in the practice of psychology and experience. Couples adopting children had become like walking short stories to her: as easy to read as if she selected a book from a shelf. Yet, just as she could read those stories, she could never take part in them. Her mind unwillingly conjured an image of Percy and herself, strolling downtown in Seattle on a quiet night, her arm tucked in his, Emma on his shoulders.

The thought burned her, evaporating the enshrouding mists of the underbrush.

Two sides waged a horrific civil war within her. Artemis wanted that love. Books and poems had kindled that idea of true love within her, no matter how hard her own logical rebukes howled inside her mind. The other side was a quiet, and eerily familiar mantra: Think of the girls.

There wasn't another social worker in the world that could do what she did. She was sure of it. Even then, Phoebe and Zoe were much needed helpers, whom had to depart the Diana Orphanage Foundation very soon. Both had excellent grades, and Artemis had the college talk with Zoe just weeks prior. These young girls had futures ahead of them. However, Artemis could see down her own unavoidable path. It was full of love, but it also promised many tearful nights, where she would wonder if she had missed life in the middle of these sheltered woods.

How could any man look at her and see a future? Percy was just the newest in dozens who had come, offering a bright flame, of a new beginning of life. Only, they didn't include her.

The flowing warmth of her heart slowly closed in on its self, as she ruthlessly suppressed the emotion. Any reasoning or hesitation would spell the doom of her, and she shut her eyes, letting the cold grey fog welcome her into its folds once again.