As we walked, Delsin, Fetch, and Ethan all chatted amongst each other. Mostly arguing about how Ethan really couldn't run off on his own like that and not expect to not be hurt, and all that kind of crap.

Oz looked kind of bewildered about the whole thing. At least…as bewildered as Oz gets. He just humphed to himself every once in a while and stroked at his beard.

"All right," Delsin said, getting fed up with arguing and taking a break to let Fetch and Ethan continue in the fight, "we have a place just outside of town. It's not too far away, and it's not too off from Elliot Bay."

"How scenic." I commented. Delsin grinned that lopsided grin.

"Yeah," he said, "I guess you could say-" he trailed off as he looked back at me, because he wasn't looking at me anymore, but over my head at something, and his eyes narrowed, the smile slipping. Something about the look made me tense up, and even Fetch and Ethan noticed his sudden silence and turned to look back, immediately wary.

"Hey, no groupies, pal," Deslin said, turning completely around, "we've had a hell of a day, we're going home. Maybe later, okay?"

"This will only take a minute," a deep voice came from behind us, it sounded slightly southern, but only just enough to register as southern without sounding like he was about to say "Sweet tea" or "Guns".

I turned around, then (I know, delayed reaction) and saw that guy I'd seen a second ago. He was much bigger up close. Just a bit taller than Delsin, broader, and he looked older. He looked pretty grizzled; shaggy black-grayish hair, a beard that was more or less the same color, but what was more intimidating were those eyes. He had the most intense, icy-blue eyes I'd ever seen.

And he was looking right at me.

Oh, yeah, and I remembered he'd been waving around a badge, but he wasn't in uniform, which could only mean he was higher ranking officer. Maybe even a detective.

Well, the day was just one surprise after another, I must say. It wouldn't have surprised if a friggin' clown came out of an alley trying to kill me, that's how crazy the day had been for me. And the sun wasn't even setting yet.

Damn it.

I must have tensed up, and I know I took a step back because I bumped into Ethan, who had stepped up without me noticing. He put a hand on my shoulder, and it felt like a protective gesture. So he noticed the dude staring at me, too.

Not sure how you could not notice, I mean…pretty obvious.

"What will only take a minute?" Delsin asked, also moving up. Man, everyone must have felt threatened. We were like a pack of wary dogs, and not without good reason, I guess.

The man ignored Delsin completely and continued to stare at me, looking me over a couple of times as though to make sure of something.

"Charlene Hunter?" he asked.

Ethan tightened his grip on my shoulder.

"Who's asking?" Fetch demanded when I suddenly couldn't remember how to speak.

The man looked at her, I swear he hadn't blinked the whole time, and slowly pulled the flap of his trench-coat open to show the badge clipped onto his belt.

"Detective Rick Calhoun," he answered, starting to walk forward, "and you-" he looked back at me, here, "are wanted for questioning in relation to the homicide investigation of one Michael Everett. Come with me, please."

"Dude, that just happened." I heard Ethan mutter to himself. Right, he thought it was the guy I'd…well, I hadn't exactly shot him, but I'd killed him, back in the alley.

Well, this was going to be hard to explain.

Before I could say anything, Oz grunted, loudly, and stepped in between me and the detective. He slid his hands into his pockets, but he couldn't have looked any more threatening than if he'd been swinging around a chainsaw.

"Heard that cause of death on that was inconclusive," Oz said, "how's that a homicide investigation?"

The detective sighed, genuinely sounding tired.

"Sir, I don't decide what to call it," he said, "the official cause was death by asphyxiation caused by an unknown means. And Miss Hunter was seen fleeing the scene. I have to bring her in for questioning."

"Statute of limitations?" Oz pointed out.

Now the detective, Calhoun, just sounded annoyed.

"It's only been a year, sir. Since Miss Hunter here is suspected of being involved in a criminal offense and even if she only gets charged with assault, statute of limitations on that is two years. If it's manslaughter, that's three years, and if it's murder, there is no limit."

Crap.

One thing that did strike me was that he had yet to actually use the term 'suspect' to describe me.

"Am I a suspect?" I asked, peeking out from behind Oz.

"Let us handle this, kid." Ethan muttered at me, pulling me back a bit. "There's something else going on here."

I looked up at him, confused.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Been on the wrong side of the law before," he answered, and flashed me a cocky grin, "hard to believe, I know."

I rolled my eyes at him.

"Anyway," he continued, "I know when a cop is just doing his job and when there's something personal going on, too. He's looking at you way too hard to just be doing his job. There's something else there."

That sure didn't make me feel nervous. Not a bit.

"Since you were the last person to be seen around the victim, and considering your relation to the victim, yes, miss, you are a suspect." Calhoun answered, moving so he could be seen around Oz. His shoulders were starting to tense up and while he kept his hands down and at his sides, the fingers on his right hand were twitching ever so slightly.

It reminded me a little of a gunslinger. He expected trouble, and he was used to dealing with trouble. And he didn't look scared, even when outnumbered five to one by Conduits…and a really upset looking homeless guy.

Dude had balls.

"Will you please come with me, Miss Hunter?" he said, polite, but with a very clear ring of authority in his voice. He expected only one answer, and anything else would not go over well.

"You have a warrant or something?" Fetch demanded, also moving up to stand beside Delsin and Oz. Jeeze, they were making a wall around me.

It was actually kind of sweet.

"Sir, she's suspected of wrong-doing. I don't need a warrant." Calhoun growled back.

A shadow moved over us as he spoke. At first I thought it was a cloud, but it was moving way too fast to be a cloud. And the air was kind of, I guess flickering, with an electric energy that made me look up. Way up.

The giant Angel was back; He Who Dwells, or, Eugene, or whatever the hell he was called.

"I don't want any trouble-" Rick started, "but I have a job to do, and-"

The Angel had stopped, hovering for a moment, and suddenly he flew straight down, right behind Calhoun. He slammed into the asphalt so hard it cracked like a windshield around him.

Calhoun whirled, completely surprised, and for a man being faced by a ten-foot Angel wielding a huge sword, he took it rather well. I mean, he didn't immediately start shooting, crying, running, or pissing himself. He just kind of stood there, looking surprised but that's it.

Like I said, dude had balls.

"Why do you harass my friends, mortal?" The Angel bellowed at him, so loud I think it rattled the windows around us.

"Eugene, he's a cop," Delsin shouted, "don't hurt him."

"Or summon demons to go after him." Fetch muttered.

"The question still stands!" Eugene shouted, "Why do you harass those who just saved those you are sworn to protect?"

"Come on." Ethan said, pulling on my shoulder again, away from the rest of them.

"He's the perfect distraction," he continued, "let's go."

"Oz?" I whispered loudly at him. Oz turned and cocked an eyebrow, seemed to know what I was going on, and nodded.

"Go." He said, "I'll come. Later." I guess he was worried about being able to keep up, and I had a feeling he wouldn't want a ride from Eugene. That would be the weirdest thing to see, a giant Angel carrying a homeless guy.

There's something symbolic about that mental image, but whatever.

"On the count of three, do your teleporting thing." Ethan said, still pulling me away from Eugene.

"I'm not harassing I'm-" Calhoun was trying to say.

"Following an agenda!" Eugene bellowed.

"One," Ethan said, "two," we both tensed as he let go of my shoulder, "three!"

He broke into that stupidly fast sprint of his while I blinked ahead and just kept blinking, following him as he ran his heart out.

Rick saw Charlie out of the corner of his eye as she and the blond guy starting running. Or, the guy started running, Charlie just, disappeared and then reappeared about ten feet up from where she had been.

He growled under his breath, not out of anger, but just frustration. A little bit of panic might have been mixed in there, as well.

He'd waited so long to finally find her, and now she was running away again.

"No, no, no, come on." He muttered, turning away from the gigantic Angel (and he still wasn't at all sure he wasn't hallucinating that thing somehow. He had seen a glimpse of it on TV when the Savior of Seattle…the Conduit, Bioterrorist, whatever he was, had been fighting Augustine.)

He'd just assumed…he didn't know what he had assumed. That it was an illusion? The side effect of another power?

Whatever he'd assumed, it didn't matter now.

He started running after them, but the purple-haired woman bolted at him in a neon blur. He felt a sharp push at his chest, not really a punch, but a block that stopped him dead in his tracks. The purple-haired woman glared at him, holding a hand out warningly while Delsin, the Savior, crossed his arms.

"You're obstructing justice." Rick said, "I could have you arrested for obstruction of justice." He looked over her shoulder, no sign of Charlie or the blond guy.

He felt his jaw tighten in anger.

"Yeah, good luck with that, cop," the purple-haired woman laughed, "we're really good at gettin' out of that."

"Fetch," Delsin chided, while the Angel landed behind them, flapping his wings dramatically.

"You will not incarcerate the guardians of humanity!" he shouted, making Calhoun wince.

"Hey, Dweller," Delsin snapped at the Angel, "mind putting on a muffler? I still have eardrums, you know."

The Angel grumbled to itself and shifted around in what could be construed as an embarrassed manner.

"Look," Delsin said, "I appreciate your position, I really do. You're doing your job, I get that. But, that kid saved lives today, and she helped save my friend, so you can see how it's hard for me to imagine her as a suspect in a murder case."

Delsin smirked at him and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I mean, the kid's not even five feet tall," he said, "and weighs, what, a hundred pounds if she's been dunked in a river? She doesn't seem like the killer type to me."

Rick let his shoulders relax. It was too late to give chase now, she'd gotten too much of a head-start. And odds were she'd stick with the other Conduits now that she'd found them, so he could find her again with them, if need be. And this Savior guy seemed reasonable. Maybe he could talk him into letting him just talk to her.

"She doesn't, I know." He said, his voice a low growl, not because he was angry, that's just how his voice was.

"Believe it or not, I don't want it to be her, either," he said, "but the evidence is…pretty damning. Especially with the unclear means of asphyxia, if she gets charged, prosecution is gonna have a hell of a field day with her."

"That's only if you can catch her," Delsin pointed out, "if you've been chasing her for a year, seems she's pretty good at running."

"I would have had her if you hadn't stopped me." Rick snapped.

"You, uh, did see she teleports, right?" Delsin asked. "Kind of hard to catch someone who does that."

"Look," Purple-Hair, Fetch, said, "we'll talk it out. Until we do, you stay away from her, got it?"

"Or suffer the wrath of-" Eugene started to scream when Delsin tossed a puff of smoke into the Angel's face, cutting him off with a snort.

"-wrath of He Who Dwells." He finished in a mumble.

Rick knew he couldn't win this one. How could he? These were people who were making their own rules as they went. They were and weren't people anymore.

He gave a shake of his head. Thinking about this wasn't getting him any closer to the girl. He turned to Delsin and took a step towards him. Rick kept his hands down at his sides, looking as nonthreatening as possible.

"Delsin Rowe," he said, calmly, without any anger or frustration seeping into his voice, though some desperation did slip in, much to his annoyance, "I'm asking you to let me talk to her. That's it. I need to talk to her."

Delsin frowned, glanced at Fetch, and uncrossed his arms.

"I have the feeling you want to talk to her about something other than that man's death." He said. Behind them, the Angel shifted, tilting its head in curiosity. He could feel its glowing eyes boring into him.

"I do." Rick answered. "But that's something I have to talk about with her, and maybe not right away. But I do need to speak with her about Michael Everett's death. She has to answer for that."

Delsin rubbed the back of his neck, looking very unhappy as he gazed at the ground. He sighed and looked at Rick, meeting his eyes as he squared himself up.

"We'll talk to her, first." Delsin said, "I'll see what I can do, but until I hear her side of the story I'm not going to just hand her over to you and the police. She deserves at least that much."

Rick reluctantly gave a nod of affirmation.

"Fair enough." He said. Delsin gave a nod, and he and Fetch turned, starting to move away.

"One way or another," he said as they turned, "I will find her again."

Fetch frowned at him, and acted like she was going to say something, but Delsin laid a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

"Don't threaten," Delsin warned him, "don't threaten her. Don't threaten us. We haven't threatened you, we expect the same courtesy."

"It's not a threat, son," Rick answered, "I'm just telling you that I'm going to do my job. Evne if you make it difficult."

Delsin frowned, but nodded. Then he, Fetch, and the Angel left. One flying, the other two racing along the street in blurs of neon and concrete.

Rick watched them go, conflicting emotions bearing down on him. On one hand he was angry, angry that he'd failed, that he'd let her get away, again.

On the other hand, a part of him was strangely…relieved.

She was safe, at least for now.

But how long would that last?