It was late. Such was true to the nature of what was at hand. This was, after all, a secret. Their little secret.

The father paced through the dimly lit room, hands clasped behind his back as he recited meaningful lines of scripture, explaining them. Asking questions. Imparting knowledge. He'd worked hard to convince her father that she would benefit from occasionally staying at the church mission on weekends to help with charity projects and attend her Sunday lessons. While all of that did, indeed happen, he'd also seen fit to invite her into the fold; his true flock. It hadn't taken long for the impressionable child to become his favorite follower.

She truly was moldable like clay. From where he'd found her, she could have become anything. He knew just what he needed.

A Warrior.

"Do not say, I’ll pay you back for this wrong. Wait for the Lord, and he will avenge you." He paused for a moment. "Through charity, we do the work of the lord, and through the purging of demons, we do the same... In that way, we work to be the avengers for the lord, and those harmed by these demons..." His raspy voice spoke loud enough for her to hear, determined to clearly pronounce every syllable.

He looked down from his musings to the young woman, cleaning her Walther CCP, a gift from him to her. It had to stay here, of course; her family would freak out if they knew about this. They didn't matter, though. They consorted with Demons, and even wished to sacrifice their pure, innocent child to one. A sham marriage... for power. She was just a girl... He paused for a moment as she placed the separated slide to the side, reaching out to tap her shoulder once, twice, three, four times. Four shots.

"Using your Walther. How many rounds remain?"

He reached back to the bible splayed out in his other hand, and turned the page, reading through for inspiration for his next sermon, or for valuable lessons for the young woman. 

Eisey did not love her Father. It brought her shame to think about... she was supposed to love her father, or, at least honor him she guessed. He just didn't seem like the kind of person who deserved honor to her.

"...Through charity, we do work for the lord..." She mumbled repetitively, quietly, every line the Priest spoke to help drill it into her own brain. Eisley knew she wasn't the smartest and sometimes she had a lot of trouble remembering the lessons her tutor at home tried to teach her. Here, with the father, she didn't ever want to disappoint him like that! Not ever! He was the kindest person she knew and he never treated her like she was dumb and annoying, so... she'd simply do her very best to be a good student.

Hard work and pushing herself to her limit had gotten her somewhere though! "...We work to be the avengers of the lord, and those harmed by the demons..."

It was still a little hard imagining all of those nice people she had met in her life as being demons. Demons in books were red and looked like monsters. Like, with wings and horns, and pointy teeth! So many of the ones she had met looked nice, and normal, and had kind smiles.

It was really, really sad.

She paused in her task for a moment to count the taps on her shoulder. It was something he had started doing after giving her the gun, as like a pop quiz of sorts! She liked them because she'd gotten better at answering the last few times. "Four." She unconsciously tapped her fingers on the table before her as she counted. Habit she hadn't really bothered to get rid of, even if her tutor complained about it all the time. She liked using her fingers for her gun, because she had eight fingers and two thumbs, and there were eight bullet spaces in her gun! When she imagined firing it she could remember how many bullets were left by ticking them off on her fingers.

It had been hard at first because she wasn't used to handling a weapon like that. She had held one before on occasion when she encountered them out in the city... but only for a few seconds to sate her curiosity before cautiously leaving it alone. People in the Tv commercials always said that guns were bad and kids would hurt themselves with them, and back then she certainly hadn't wanted to be the little kid getting buried.

Now, though, she knew how to properly handle one. Father McCallen was teaching her lots of stuff about them and really they were pretty neat! Like a moving muzzle made of metal and plastic, or wood sometimes. If you weren't paying attention when you took them apart, as he could, you might not be able to put it all back together!

She was studious or a girl her age. Devout, and completely bereft of the rebellious nature most teenagers presented at her age. Still, her education was years behind, and her emotional maturity somewhat stunted. He didn't see these things as her fault, though; it was a product of her life. The failure of her father and the cruel streets of this city had taken its toll on her. Still, there was potential. She wasn't unintelligent, just uneducated.

He gave a small, kind smile as she responded. "Very good." He turned and patted her shoulder warmly before flipping the page in the good book to one of his marked passages. The gun was a assembled neatly once more. "You really are a natural with such things... Do you like puzzles, Eisley?"

He closed the book in his hand, and placed it against his heart as he paced toward the other end of the room, at a tank of water with a small container in it. "Tell me, my child... Have you heard of Hammurabi's code?"

He was fairly certain he knew the answer to the question, but asked nonetheless.

The faint bubbling of water circulating in the small white phosphorus storage tank could be heard in the background in this corner of the basement. It was oddly comforting to him. A tool that could be used on those who seemed to somehow survive even after doused in flame whilst in his holy Aura.

She nodded at his question while folding her hand in her lap. "Yes. I have a few in my room that I am working on. I used to go into toystores a long time ago and if they had puzzles out on the toy tables I could work on them for a bit. Oh, and sometimes libraries have them too! I really like figuring out how things fit together and what's missing."

She thought about the puzzle she had at home. It was Unicorn themed, which had just made her sad all over again that her mom had thrown Mr. Unicorn away. She'd really liked being on the hunt for his horn, even if deep down she knew she'd never really find it. It had just been something to keep her going on long, cold nights.

"Hammu..rabi..." She took a moment to think about it. Her tutor did have a sizable stack of books he often brought with him, and she had a pile of books she had hardly made it halfway through on her bookshelf in her room. Had she heard that anywhere?

"No, Father McCallen, I don't think I have heard of it before. What is it? Is it like a... bank code? Or like a secret code?" She knew quite a bit about secret codes. The homeless population in her city had an assortment of codes to learn if you wanted to be safe and not step into the owned territory.

He turned to watch her as she talked, a sad recognition in his eyes as he realized he was talking about her time on the streets. It must have been hard for a little girl out there, all alone. "I like puzzles too. And you know, I learned to appreciate more complicated things when I approached them as puzzles. I could show you how to do that, too."

A satisfied nod came to him as she confirmed his suspicions about her knowledge of historical codes of ethics. "Hammurabi was a great ruler of old, who is known for a set of laws he assembled... A system of fairness, from which moderns laws are descendant. An eye for an eye... A tooth for a tooth. When something is taken or broken, so too must an equal price be exacted. If someone attacks you, and takes out your eye. By the code you would be owed their eye. It got more complicated than that, too. Say... you built a house for someone, but you did a bad job, and it collapsed and killed their son. They would then be allowed to kill your son if they deemed fit. An equal, but cruel trade."

Softly, he set down the book he'd been clutching to his heart, placing it on the tabletop next to the water tank before turning to walk over the young woman and help her clean up. "Time is short today. I'll help you clean up... I have important business to tend to tonight." It was nearing the time for the final observations on their next target. They had his patterns down solidly, and he was supposed to leave the city soon. They needed to strike within the next few days.

"Yes, please!" The idea of him showing her practically anything that was new or different was about as exciting as seeing a real-life unicorn with her own eyeballs. She would never pass something like that up!

He went on to explain the...uh... what had he called it again? Harambe's code? She listened raptly, hands folded politely in front of her on the table beside the gun, which was clean and polished and put back together. An eye for an eye? It... made sense, she supposed. If you took something that didn't belong to you, it was only right that you compensated whoever you took it from for equal value. An eyeball for an eyeball was pretty dang equal, even if it made her a bit squeamish to think about losing an eye, or taking one for that matter.

The idea of a son for a son was equally distressing, but he wasn't wrong. It made sense. She'd known a lot of people who lived by rules like that. You steal my food, I steal yours. A punch for a punch.

Eisley nodded. Even if she didn't fully understand the why, she understood it enough to grasp the concept.

"Okay, Father McCallen. Thank you. I really liked today's lesson!" Back to the rainbows and sunshine in the blink of an eye. She rushed to help clean up the rest of the table, not wanting to chance to make him late to any important business.

~~~

Months passed. Her life shifted in a direction she hadn't anticipated and her happy little bubble was threatened. Her birthday had passed and she was now old enough for marriage to the son of a prominent family out of the country. It was a contract she had known about for a while, she'd even told Father McCallen about it at some point before it had become a reality. Weeks before the suddenly sprung trip she had tearfully given the news to the priest that she would be leaving. The idea that she would never be able to go to Sunday classes, or sit through his sermons with her was distressing to a point she wasn't used to. She'd grown fond of him, more so than her own flesh and blood father. There was nothing she could do to get out of the agreement, though. Till death do thy part.

A plan was hatched behind the scenes and in a very short time, she was instructed in an entirely different sort of lesson than she was used to. Would she be able to pull it off on her own? Only time would tell. But, with so much resting on her pulling this off, she put her all into it.

It was either succeed and come back to New York, or fail and never see the Father again.

~~~

The day she left she cried. Her soul hurt at the thought that it could possibly be the last time she ever saw the city again. Eisley wept on the flight there until her father callously demanded she stop, and then she sat mutely the rest of the way there. At the end of her trip, her betrothed apparently was waiting for her. A boy two years older than her whom she had never seen nor spoken to. It was an arranged marriage between her Father and one of his business partners, whom he would secure significant investments from and visa versa.

She didn't even know the boys name, yet.

~~~

Upon landing, she was swept away by hired waitstaff. Off into a limo that would take her back to the estate to get ready. They had her measurements already so a dress was waiting for her, and all other decorations were prepared. She just needed a final fitting, a good wash, and some pampering, and she would be ready. The ceremony was the next day, that evening, after all of the paperwork would be signed and filed.

She was miserable, and the butterflies of trepidation never stopped dancing in her stomach.

~~~

Her soon-to-be husband was handsome, she supposed. Good looking enough that other girls probably had crushes on him. Eisley didn't. She didn't want him touching her or trying to kiss her, and she was prepared to punch him right in the face if he tried. Thankfully she didn't have to worry about it as it was apparently custom for the groom to not see the bride until after the wedding had started. That brought her a few hours at least.

The ceremony was boring and she didn't care for any of the people cooing over her, talking in a language that she didn't understand. Her father seemed to understand it well enough since he had planned it all in the same tongue. Photos were taken, people filed into a very old, big church, and a priest who didn't seem as likable as Father McCallen rambled on in two languages for everyone gathered. It felt like it took hours to get to the end, where she fumbled out a shaky "I-i do." And her betrothed did the same.

She had to fight the instinct to poke him in the eyeballs as he leaned in and gave her her very first kiss. Chaste and sweet looking on the outside, but filled with nothing but lies.

After a night of dinner and many people she didn't know standing around chatting in a language she couldn't understand, the guests started to leave and she was left alone... with the main family and one personal assistant of her own. It had been explained that there was supposed to be some sort of honeymoon the next day.

Even though dinner had ended she could still hear members of the main party celebrating their son's "passage into manhood" or whatever. She lingered in her room until well into the night, until her assistant opened her door later that night and stepped into her room.

~~~

Siobhan had been with her weeks before she'd even left New York. Father McCallen had convinced her father that the best thing she needed for the wedding to go off without a hitch was a friendly face she could understand. She'd been instructed to pretent like she'd known the woman for a while, even though she'd just met her. Father McCallen's word was law, though, so she dutifully pretended.

Siobhan lid into her room quietly and shut the door behind her while Eisley was perched on the edge of her bed in a white, silky nightgown. It was time for the rest of the plan to proceed.

"Are ya ready, child?" The woman asked, tucking her greying hair into a cap and making sure her apron was on securely.

"Yes, Ma'am. I am." The young woman stood.

The ruckus downstairs had long since gone quiet. Siobhan has spiked their chosen drink of choice earlier in the night. The whole family was slumbering away in various places; the floor, couches and chairs, and some in their bedrooms.

The woman produced a bottle of accelerant from a pocket in her apron, unscrewed it, and began dousing the large expensive rug she was standing on with it.

"You know the plan then." Once the bottle was empty the woman crossed the room to Eisley, picked up an old decorative oil lamp that resided on the table beside the bed, and used a match to light it. The flickering little flame brought her comfort. A stark difference to the too-bright electric lights in the room. "Time for you to do the honors, Little bird." The lamp was passed to her. It hadn't even grown warm yet.

"I'll miss you, Siobhan... I know we just met, but-"

"Shh now." The older woman stroked her hair in a motherly fashion, and the expression on her face made Eisley's heart melt. "You need to get your wings, Eiley, and no better time like the present. You just need to take the jump. Don't you worry about me none, we'll meet again I'm sure."

Tears sprang to her eyes, but she fought then back valiantly. With a shaky nod, she let the woman help lift the lamp up over her head. She squeezed her eyes together, took a breath to steel herself, and then smashed the lamp on the floor with all her might. Amid the shards of broken glass, the oil caught straight away. It wouldn't take long for it to hit the accelerant and the room would go up in ablaze.

"I'll never forget you! I promise!" Siobhan ushered her to the only window in the room, drew it open, and gave Eisley room to perch on the edge. The room she had been given was on the second floor. The older woman gave her a fleeting moment to collect herself before she shoved Eisley the rest of the way out the window.

"Send them all to peace, Eisley, By the grace of God."

The fall was quick and she landed on her side in the grass below. Her temple hit hard, knocking her out for about an hour.

When she woke the mansion was fully up in flame. It was eerie and beautiful. Wisps of burning ash rained down from the sky, which was dark with smoke above her. Eisley stood on shaky legs, collecting herself as best she could. The roar of the fire and the creak of burning wood filled the air, and she couldn't help but marvel at how quiet it was.

A mansion full of men, women, and some children. All gone in an instant and without a peep.

She didn't dwell on it though. She knew they were all on their way to heaven together, free from sin and with a bright future of eternal happiness before them. Siobhan and she had saved them all.

"...By the grace of God..."

~~~

After the mansion burned and everyone inside had been pronounced dead, her father was forced to come to collect her. As the only survivor of a great tragedy, on her wedding night no less, she was left a widow at 17 and a sizeable estate to her name. Which, interestingly enough, was now Eisley Castelo.

Interestingly, her father did not welcome her back with open arms. He had thought that the marriage was a way to get rid of her while also furthering some of his own goals. He had her dropped off at his large house while he went off to figure out paperwork and numbers her return brought. She took it upon herself to secure a ride to her home.

The sight of that familiar small church had never been so welcome as she climbed carefully out of the car, clad in a fitted silk dress that suited her age and helped to take the eyes away from the few bandaged cuts and scrapes she had earned. It was hard not to get a bit emotional as she stepped in and found her normal seat for service.

She was home.

"-And so it shall be, then... I'll have the papers drafted up and sent your way as soon as I am able. Thank you, Gerik." Smiling eyes glanced into the pews to catch sight of his lost sheep returned home. He knew what they had planned, but the sense of relief to see that everything had fallen into place was indeed great.

"Look. As long as the estate is transferred to my name, you can do what ever you want with her. I'll sign it." Her father in the biological sense spoke with his typical lack of tact, layered with confidence and bravado that almost forced bile to raise at the back of one's throat. If the priest did feel such unpleasantness, though, he didn't show it.

"Yes... There is the matter of getting her to approve... I think I can handle that, though, my son." He reached over to pat the man on the side of the arm, and was brushed off. Letting te whitegloved hand fall to his side, the father smiled softly even as the man he talked to replied sharply.

"I'm not your son. And with this out of the way, I think you'll be seeing me a lot less often. Have a nice day, padre." Father McCallan gave him a simple bow, and allowed him to wander off before turning and making his way to the pew. He had a few moments before the sermon was set to start, and he had something he simly must do.


Stopping near the front, where the young, now Miss Castello, sat, he smiled, and stepped forward to wrap her in a warm embrace. "Welcome back, my daughter!" He smiled as he whispered in her good ear. "Everything is in place... Thank you for staying strong." He released her to give her a once over. "I am sorry for your loss... May you find solace in this house of the lord." A quick nod, and an affectionate pat on the shoulder later, and he turned to head to the altar.

This sermon was about the resurrection, and how faith through loss is the strongest form of belief. How in these trying times such faith is more important than ever.

After he was done, he would head down toward a familiar dimly lit room, and await her arrival among a handful of other true sheep. They had much catching up to do, after all.

It was a hug she had been waiting for, for more than a month. Warm, big arms with an actual heart beating away in there. This was home. This was where she felt most comfortable.

She squeezed a little tighter, as tight as her thin arms were able, and then let go. "Thank you, father."

She was proud. The plan hadn't failed, and Father McCallen was happy to see her.

She sat again, hands clasped in her lap and soaked in the sermon like it was the first time she had ever heard one. She knew she'd come a long way since the day she'd first stepped foot in the church. She understood almost all of what he was saying now.

She waited for the sermon to be over. Waited for more for him to make his usual rounds to greet people and check-in. She waited further as others snuck out and down to that dark room. Once he himself had exited, she stood and smoothed the wrinkles in her skirt down. Stopped by a reflection to make sure she looked presentable enough, and then headed down to join the others.

Eisley joined last, a habit of her lessening anxiety, and had her usual pleasant smile fixed on her lips. She didn't want to cry in front of the others. Didn't want to show how deeply happy she was to be back. She would save that for later when she was alone and could confess her feelings with just the two of them.

"Good, now that we are all here." As the door shut behind Eisley, the father smiled, and glanced about the room to count the faces of the loyal. All people he trusted implicitly.

"Tomorrow, we cleanse the soul of another wicked demon." He laid out the plans, carefully researched notes on behaviors, sins, and schedules. This was everything they needed to catch their target out in the open and vulnerable to attack. Everyone here knew the drill as well, but he confirmed roles one by one.

"Chance, lookout on the east side. Placement... here. Mary, canvassing. Douglas, West lookout, here. Eisley, you'll be leading the canvassers this time." He spoke it simply, but it was the first time he'd given her that role. It was an important one. Putting it in her hands was a sign that he felt she was ready for it.

Over the next few minutes he finished giving everyone their roles, and went over plan B scenarios.

Soon, everyone was bid to disperse to their preparations and rest, leaving the father there to reflect in a quickly emptying room.

Eisley was still working on getting to know each of the Fathers most trusted. She knew their names and some small facts about them from small conversations before or after service. Her favorite Sunday class teacher was there, as well as the father of one of the other kids in that same class.

She was too old for kid classes now, though. She liked to sit in and help on craft days, for the most part, her extracurricular education had been taken over by Father McCallen and all of the puzzles of life he likes to show her.

She offered smiles in greeting to those that looked for them and settled into her usual spot among the rest to listen to her most favorite person speak. She was excited about being involved again... she'd just barely been included when Gerik had decided to rush her off to Portugal. Any way that she could help the mission was welcome, and being new to 'Canvasing' made it still a very exciting role to play.

She was not expecting in the least to be given the lead, in any capacity, upon her arrival back... but she couldn't stop the swell of pride that came with it. He trusted her. Really trusted her. She would make sure she worked as hard as possible to not betray that trust. She wasn't even worried about the others being jealous or feeling slighted, because she knew that among those gathered each knew that their role was just as important as the next. They were a team.

"Yes, Father McCallen. Thank you."

Given that her role had shifted slightly, she stepped forward so that she could review the detailed notes and plans. This was the first time she had seen them, whoever their target was had been picked and the details worked out while she was away on her own personal mission.

...Azar. Interesting name. Boisterous and a showman with his devil powers.

She switched from the notes to the map and started plotting a course. The Father obviously already had his own plan, but... she'd offer any revisions she could think of once everyone had left. She didn't want it to seem like she was getting a big head or anything.

She made mental notes while everyone else got their assignments, and then broke off to meet with the rest of the canvassers after Plan B was discussed. It was a short and to-the-point check-in to make sure everyone knew their role as a team. She had seen Chance do it a few times before and everyone seemed to appreciate it, herself included.

After the team broke off and they started filtering out, Eisley lingered behind. She didn't really have anything to return to outside of the church, now. Her marriage had thankfully been short-lived, and her blood father wanted nothing to do with her.

"Father, if I may?" Once the last of his flock, beside herself, had left, she turned back to Father McCallen.

"Can I offer some thoughts on the draft you have there?"

As he was beginning to gather everything up when he saw Eisley walking up. "Ah, I had been hoping to speak with you. You absolutely may." He waved a hand to invite her to sit at the table. Meanwhile, he paused for a short second. It may seem odd to Eisley, as he wasn't the type to seem at a loss, but here he was, hesitating.

She offered her thoughts, though, and he gladly accepted them. "Yes, yes! About the plans, of course. Your input is always valued." He held a small stack of papers in his hand, though tucked away just behind his back as he leaned in to look down at his plans, thankful for the distractions.

Was it hot in this basement? He was sweating a little bit. "You know the streets... Did you see something I didn't?" His raspy voice was as open and balanced as it could be; he wasn't the type to be offended when others challenged his plans, but rather he embraced any improvements those informed could offer. Also, it allowed him a little more room to ease into other manners. He glanced up at the door to ensure the others had left. This was a little more of a private conversation to have...

She sat with a ruffle of her skirt, smoothed the fabric back down, and smiled. "Thank you!" She was pleased with herself. After weeks of hardly talking she still had a pretty good grasp on all of the manners that had been drilled into her over the last year and a half.

"I'm familiar with this part of town. There are larger crowds in specific blocks of time in the area. There's a common tourist hotspot just down the street, and they tend to move through this side road over here as a shortcut, instead of going around." She held up three fingers and explained the three days this generally happened, the blocks of time it usually popped up in, and a few other important bits about the area.

"-and over here... this is a pretty common spot for a group to set up. Usually two pickpockets and two or three campers. They will stalk these sidewalks following the large groups of tourists, and the others on the corner keep an eye out."

She pointed out that the corner that was commonly used was in a direct line of sight of their planned area. "Street people are always watching, so I'll have Mary and Louis hit this corner harder than usual. Aggressive canvasing is usually enough to make the group move away so that nobody catches onto the two pickpockets going around. If we hit it early enough we can have it cleared well before it's time, and smack in the middle of a tourist dump."

She paused to look up at him and make sure what she had said made sense. He understood, right? She sure hoped that had come out clearly.

"Also, if anything goes awry, this path over here is a commonly used escape route. I've used it myself before. It drops down into one of the abandoned tunnels, and dumps up you out three blocks up in a different section."

Eisley got right down to business. He knew from their many talks that she had more or less grown up on these streets. He knew a little bit of what she was saying. Their target tended to stick to the parts of town where there was a fair share of criminal activity. He was a lowlife, after all. Still, further clarification had him nodding, and scribbling down notes. She had a plan in place already, though, so he visibly relaxed as she started explaining what she would change.

"Good. Good. I knew I could depend on you." He placed a hand on her shoulder and gave a little squeeze before patting it and turning away, pausing to look back when she explained a much more effective escape route. "Yes! That's perfect! You'll have to show it to me in the morning so I can make sure I'm comfortable with the route..."

He smiled and nodded, shifting on his feet a bit before pulling the papers he'd sorta been tucking away, and looking down at them for a few beats.

"Eisley... I... I had a thought. I know we talked a bit about some details when it came to your future. There is still the issue of your father, and grandfather, even after your excellent work in Portugal... Ahem." He was stiff. He tugged at his collar a little bit before nodding to himself.

"So... I talked to your father... Today. About... The... Possibility." He set the papers down before her. "Of him... transferring custody... I would be... Adopting you." He presented the paperwork, and allowed her a moment to read if she wanted. "Only if you wished it. He only agreed on the terms of you gifting him the resources you gathered in Portugal, but I worked in some terms that had them returning to you should he pass on." The second half of that came out a bit rushed, as if he'd pushed the conversation up a hill, and then let it all sort of roll down after he got past the part that made him nervous.

Once he had nothing left to say, the old preacher had nothing left to do but look at the young woman expectantly. He knew that her heart was with the church, and her father had always given some pushback, but... He knew he was a better father figure to her than that fool of a man had been. She would be in much better hands... if she wanted to be.

If she were a bird, like Siobhan liked to call her, she would have ruffled up in obvious pleasure at the praise.

He knew he could count on her

He touched her shoulder. Physical contact to affirm his happiness with her. Her clasped hands tightened in her lap.

He was even more pleased with her idea of an alternative escape route and offered to take her with him to check it out. The corners of her lips tugged into a shadow of a smile at that. It would be the first time she had gone with him anywhere without a group tagging along or her father.

Eisley watched him curiously as he turned and... fidgeted? Father McCallen didn't do that. She'd never seen him do that before.

"Grandfather had no interest in me. Even more so now that I have the last name of a household full of demons." She blinked. There was no fire in her voice, she was simply stating a fact. "Father and he are not on good terms right now. Grandfather left months ago."

"Father isn't shy about voicing his opinion on when he hopes he will pass away."

She shifted her gaze away from him to the papers he'd set before her, reaching out as soon as she was sure he intended for her to read them. Terms and conditions. Legal jargon she wasn't at all versed in. She recognized a few big words here and there, and some of the simple stuff stood out, but honestly, she stopped reading the moment the word 'adoption' rolled out of his mouth in that gravelly, scarred voice of his she had grown to cherish.

...Adopt her? The young woman sat there, staring blankly at the page in her hand while her mind struggles to catch up. Father McCallen wanted to adopt her?

All at once years and years of repressed anxiety came flooding back. The fear of whether or not she could trust someone, and what they sought to get out of the deal. There had to be a reason. There was always a reason. Her mother hadn't wanted her until money was involved. Her father hadn't cared about her until money was involved.

But surely not... not Father McCallen?

"...He only agreed on the terms of you gifting him the resources you gathered in Portugal, but I worked in some terms that had them returning to you should he pass on..."

Was it money for him too? Or was it something else?

She felt like crying suddenly for a lot of reasons. A mix of emotions from so many different directions that she couldn't get a handle on it. There was guilt, too... sudden and overwhelming. How could she even begin to suspect him?

"You... want me as a daughter?" It took a moment, but she set the page down and tore her gaze away, finally dragging it to him. Her flurry of emotions clear on her face. "Why?"

She felt small again. She didn't like feeling small. She liked to think that they had a very good relationship... The priest was kind. Listened to her. Gave her infinite time and patience where others had not. He accepted her already, so why go that extra step? Nothing was ever that... that SIMPLE.

What was there to gain?

"Well, It's pretty simple, isn't it? I already view myself as your father, Eisley. This would make it official. Let you spend more time here, so you don't have to be with your father anymore. I would be your father."

The money that would come after they removed her father was also a benefit, but he spoke the truth. He'd wanted to do this for some time, but hadn't seen an opportunity present itself until now. She belonged here. With him. More than just the help she provided, her caring heart, and devotion. Her willingness to learn. He viewed her as his daughter in the purest sense of the word.

This paperwork would simply make it so the law saw things the same way. Again... if she wanted it.

What was there to gain? Truly?

A daughter.