[AuroraSky]

She had specifically told them no.

The Archduchess had been so slick, casually mentioning to Tati that Halloween was coming up and how devastating it was for them that they weren't going to be able to go trick-or-treating. And Tati, seeing right through what it was the Archduchess had been hinting at, had been quick to explain that it was a safety risk for the children and that it would be better for them to stay safe indoors. She had tried, damn it. She had tried.

And yet, somehow, here they were. Halloween night. Tati peeked outside the blinds of the safehouse they had rented, where S16 agents and high level members of the cavalry had been intermixed (regrettably so) and set to work on setting up a full perimeter of the neighborhood. There were high tec computers, weapons, satellites, infrared scales, the whole works. And standing meekly by the front door, Tati saw out of the corner of her eyes, were the two little brats she had grown to despise, the girl much more than the boy.

Martin was shifting from one foot to the other. The boy had had enough sense to be scared, and he kept peeking around nervously at the fuss. But Cecelia was tapping her foot impatiently, rocking back and forth and shooting desperate glances at the front door. "When are we going?" She wailed.

Tati narrowed her eyes at her. The little bitch had no idea what it was that everyone was doing, going through just so she could get a dumb bag full of candy. "Soon. Shut up." She hissed back, looking back outside.

[AuroraSky]

Tati felt a presence behind her, and then a gentle hand on her shoulder. She flinched under Constance's touch. "You know, you could be a little nicer." Constance suggested quietly. "It's Halloween; they're just excited." Tati shrugged Constance's hand off of her impatiently, peering back through the blinds. "It's too risky." She said. "We're putting them in danger, sending them out there into the night like this. Full of people covered up in costumes, most of their faces unrecognizable. It's too risky."

Constance rolled her eyes. "Would you relax? Do you know how many weeks we've spent, planning all of this? Checking out each individual neighbor, all the fathers, mothers, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins? Even the family pets have all been checked for any rabies or disease. We've pushed out any outsiders from entering the vicinity, we've done clean sweeps of the neighborhood which our men are doing again right now. You really think that Seeksoul stands a chance?"

"He might."

"Tati." Constance said, exasperated. "They will be fine. The streets are littered with undercovers, and we'll be with them the whole time." From the doorway Cecelia stamped her foot again, frustrated. "I want to go!" She practically screamed. "This is taking too long. By the time we leave all the good candy will be all gone!"

Tati grimaced at her, then turned back to Constance. "Don't remind me."

[AuroraSky]

Finally the clock struck 7:30pm, and with sigh Tati rounded up the forces inside of the house. She ran through the plan with them, for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, and ended with a final, "Remember. No matter what you have to do, or who you have to do it to, the children go home to the Archduke and Archduchess safe and untouched. Understand?" Satisfied with the chorus of yes's and I do's, Tati turned to Constance and gestured towards the kids. "Let's get this over with."

Cecelia squealed with joy as Constance opened the door and started to dart through the door when Tati grabbed her by her fairy wings. "Excuse me," Tati hissed at her, narrowing her eyes. "What did we just go over?" She demanded. Cecelia stopped struggling against her and frowned, crossing her arms and looking guiltily up at the agent. "No running off by myself."

"Or?"

Cecelia hesitated, then sighed. "Or you're going to take all my candy away and we have to go back to the palace." Satisfied, Tati released her and looked down warily at the boy. He turned a deep shade of red and followed his older sister and Constance out the door. Tati shut the door behind them, giving the house one last longing glance. This was such a mistake.

[AuroraSky]

Outside was absolute chaos.

It was if as soon at the clock struck 7:30pm, all hell had broken loose. The children and teenagers had escaped from their homes and crowded the streets, empty sacks in their hands eager to be filled. They were running and screaming, jumping and laughing, winding all the way through each other. Tati and Constance exchanged a worried glance; this was more than they had bargained for. "Remember guys, stay close to us." Constance reminded the children.

They began to approach the first house, which already had quite a little line going. They came to stand behind a group of bigger kids, and Tati noticed Martin inch a little closer to her. She glanced down at the terrified little boy, who had been ridiculously dressed as Albert Einstein, and shook her head at him. For a boy, he was very weak and timid. She wasn't sure how he would make it in the real world. Tati peeked ahead of the line. "Why is this thing so long?" She demanded. "Let's just go to another house and we can come back later-"

"No!" Cecelia exclaimed so loudly the others all turned to look at her. She didn't notice. "I want to stay here and wait for the candy." Tati frowned and was prepared to explain to her that they could cover more houses if they kept moving and stopped waiting before Constance cut in, "That's fine. We can wait here." She shot Tati a glance, and Tati snarled. "Whatever."

A few minutes later Martin and Cecelia were finally getting their bags filled with candy, and Tati couldn't help but be impressed with the amount of candy they had received. "That's a little much, don't you think?" She whispered to Constance, who grinned. "It's Halloween, Tati. There's no such thing."

[AuroraSky]

They pushed through the crowd. Tati had tasked herself with keeping an eye on Cecelia, while Constance had been lucky enough to take charge of the more manageable Martin. Right now, the little Albert Einstein had been eyeing the multitude of costumes with wonder, all while clutching Constance's hand for safekeeping. Every now and then Tati would catch Constance smiling down at Martin, as if he were her own. She frowned. "Everything look good?" She hissed into her earpiece.

"Everything looks good so far." A voice answered back. Tati looked over towards one of the light posts, where a group of adults who looked as though they were waiting for their children to return from one of the houses were standing, idly chatting. Tati nodded at the agents, and they nodded back as inconspicuously as they could. She glanced towards another one of the houses, at the top right window, where the sniper was stationed. He seemed to be in his position and alert. Tati allowed herself to breathe.

"You look tense." Constance noted, and Tati snorted. "Tense is an understatement. I can't wait for this to be over. Just look at all of them." She said, grimacing at the Frankenstein who ran past her. His mask was goofy and unrealistic, nothing like the decaying corpse the real Frankenstein must have looked like. Far too cutesy. "It's horrible."

[AuroraSky]

"At least they're wearing costumes." Cecelia defended from down below. The little girl was beginning to struggle a bit with the increasingly heavy sack of candy, and Tati had decided she wouldn't ask her if she needed help. Let the little brat get tired out; it would only make this end so much faster. They continued through the massive crowds. "What's that supposed to mean?" Tati demanded.

"You guys didn't even dress up. And it's Halloween." Cecelia explained.

"Most of the other parents didn't dress up either." Sure, she had passed a few irate looking pirates and a few more enthusiastic vampires, but for the most part the parents were wearing what could have been their pajamas or work clothes. "Not that we're your parents." Tati added quickly.

"No." Martin agreed, speaking for the first time that day. The three females looked at him in surprise, but he didn't notice. "Mommy and Daddy aren't here." His voice was barely audible over the crazed children, but it was more melancholic than usual. Tati and Constance looked at each other then, and Constance paused to bend down to him. "You know, Martin, your Mommy and Daddy would have come trick or treating with you if they could have."

[AuroraSky]

"But they can't." Martin sighed. Constance frowned, struggling to find the right words to comfort the little boy. She glanced up to Tati for help, but the older woman could only shrug in her response. What was Tati even supposed to say to that? "No, they can't..." Constance admitted, biting her bottom lip. "But they wish they could. And once all of this is over, your Mommy and Daddy will spend all the time with you that they can."

"Will this ever be over?" Came Cecelia's reply. Tati had looked down at her to see if the kid was just being smart, but she could see a genuine concern on the child's face. This surprised her, especially coming from Cecelia. Tati had been convinced she was a sociopath. Constance cleared her throat. "Of course it will." She said firmly. "We are working day in and out to try and find the people who want to hurt your parents. And once we do, you can go back to being normal."

"As normal as we can be." Cecelia added with a shrug, grabbing Martin's hand. "Enough talking. It's getting late and I want more candy." She said, and Martin nodded quietly at her. They began to weave in and out through the crowds, and Constance and Tati struggled to chase after them. The little buggars were fast, that was for sure.

[AuroraSky]

They approached the next house, and Tati nodded to the man posed as a parent, casually standing next to a bush on the front lawn. Cecelia and Martin raced up the doorway, and the elderly lady began depositing large candy bars into each of there bags, an amused smile on her face as Cecelia chatted to her about something Tati couldn't hear or care about. She stood there with her arms folded, willing time to pass a little more quickly. She couldn't take being surrounded by all of these little brats any longer. "You know, sometimes I forget how much this affects them." Constance said next to her.

Tati shrugged. "I didn't think they really even noticed what was going on. I figured they were so used to have security detail on them, that this wouldn't be that much different." Constance nodded. "Do you think they're afraid?" She asked.

"Aren't we all?"

[AuroraSky]

Tati leaned against the side of the current house, surveying the scene. Mummies, vampires, werewolves, characters from a whole bunch of kidsy movies Tati hated like those girls from Frozen, turtles with masks, fairies, serial killers, aerobics instructors, superheroes...it was almost too much. Barely anyone was recognizable tonight, which only served to make Tati even more nervous. It would be hours before the kids tired themselves out, and Tati knew that she was in for a long night.

"See anything?" Constance asked her, her gaze firmly transfixed on the children, who were eagerly accepting more handfuls of candy. She tensed every time one of the other kids got too close, or one of the parents looked at Martin or Cecelia for just a little too long. "No." Tati answered, frowning. That should have been a good thing, but on tonight of all nights Tati couldn't tell.

"Seeksoul could be any of these people." Constance hissed under her breath. Her hand nonchalantly went to the gun on her waist, which had been strategically left out for everyone to see under the guise that it was all just a part of her costume. If anyone asked, it was a fake. "Or he could be none of them." She said, answering herself. If they were lucky, the latter would be true.

Cecelia and Martin bounded up to them, glowing. "Ready?"

[AuroraSky]

Tati nodded reluctantly and they began their trail to the next house, the two children sandwiched in between their protectors. Their candy sacks were looking rather full, almost as though they were dangerously close to bursting, but still the two kids wanted to press on. And no matter how much Tati wish this horror would just come to an end, and she might be able to breathe again, she pressed her lips together and willed herself no to complain. She would let them have this.

"Look at that house!" Cecelia breathed, pointing to one of the larger homes. It had spooky Halloween music blaring from speakers Tati couldn't see, and had been bathed in purple and orange lights. Fake skeletons hung from trees, and little tombstones trailed the path up to the doorway. Tati grimaced. How tacky. "I bet they have the best candy! Come on, Martin." Cecelia urged, running up ahead of him before the little boy could even think to react.

Before he did, however, Martin turned to Tati and Constance, holding out a tiny fist. Tati frowned and Constance opened her hand under is, and the little boy deposited a candy out for her. Constance looked puzzled for a moment, then smiled a warm smile at him. "Thank you, Martin." She said softly. Martin then turned to Tati, and at an urging glance from Constance took the candy from him too. As soon as she did, Martin turned and ran after his sister, his Albert Einstein wig nearly falling off his head.

Tati watched him go, then looked down at the little Twix she now had. She almost smiled.

"Trick or treat, kid."