Thoughts, good and bad, raced through Lucie's mind that morning. Some that she were used to, and many more that she was not. The rhythmical thudding of her heart was of no help in calming her mind, and instead just reminded her that things were different this time. Different because, when she had been riding the calm before the spawn in the past, idling away the final hours before a job, the only things she had had to contend with were tangible. Things like information, weapons, clothes, various tools of the trade. She would know which doors to open, which ones to lock, which keys went where and which route the guards took on their patrols. 

That day’s job was an entirely new beast. It was not just her own heart and mind that she had to calm, but also a small girl’s, if everything went to plan. 

It was these thoughts that had Lucie uncharacteristically demure, nibbling away at her pastry while waiting for Adam to arrive. She brushed a few crumbs off of her skirt, not wanting her newly-acquired nurse uniform to be smudged. Anna had made quite the effort in making it clean and presentable, and it would be insulting to dirty it already. 

The companionable silence she had with Lillian was broken, and any further musings pushed to the back of her mind, when Adam unceremoniously almost crashed into the room, throwing open the door in a disarray. 

[i]’There is a look I recognise,’[/i] she thought, a slow smirk tugging at her lips. No noble woman or man would ever admit to affairs. Marriage was a holy thing, and intercourse outside of it was unheard of, of course! And any rumours that Mr. Matthews was having an affair with the cleaning lady? Absolutely, positively false. Baseless rumours at best. 

But no amount of powder or adjusting of ties, could hide the bedazzled look of someone who had had a bit of amoral fun, and with Lucie’s previous line of work, she had seen that face often enough. 

A minute came and went, and Adam returned, now looking much more collected and refined. Lucie had managed to still her thoughts in the meantime, using the thoughts she had of Adam’s escapades as a distraction. 

“A dragon to slay another time indeed,” Lucie replied at Adam’s mention of other problems to solve. She was mildly curious, but pushed it aside. The girl was still their main priority at this point in time. 

She accepted the drawing with a quick ‘thank you’, and looked it over, committing the image to her memory. The empty look in the girl’s eyes had Lucie frowning, wondering what exactly had made someone so young seemingly lose that [i]spark[/i] than most people had. That every young child should have. 

“I will see what I can figure out,” she said and handed back the drawing. “If I can, I’ll get her out. I will find some way to rendezvous with you. I will go by, and answer to, the name of Diana while I am there.” She rose and brushed the last of the crumbs off of her apron, grabbing the nurse cap hanging off the back of her chair. “Best of luck.” 

[hr]

The smell of the dirty laundry faded with every step Lucie took away from the laundry room. She had had some ideas of what she would encounter in this place, but even her previous scouting had not prepared her for the results of borderline torture. 

It made her wrinkle her nose in more than just disgust at the smell she was currently trying to escape. Every second she spent in the asylum lessened her opinion of the institution, and this [i]’medical’[/i] field as a whole. Schooling her expression, Lucie continued down the hall, offering a quick greeting to a passing nurse, this one carrying a similarly soiled set of sheets. 

She had already learned where the girl’s room was, but lacked a key. She might be able to force it up, or even pick the lock, but she didn’t dare be so brazen about it. If someone saw her in such a situation, she would at best incriminate Diana, and at worst put herself, the girl, and Diana in serious trouble. 

She sighed, resigning herself to some petty theft. Her fingers brushed against the wall, and as the rough texture of the stone registered to her, she sent a pulse through it, and asked: [i]‘Head Doctor’s Office’[/i]. Images flashed before her eyes, showing her hallways, turns, exiting a building, then into another, before her Talent settled on the image of an unremarkable door beside two potted ferns. 

She made it all the way outside before a frantic, middle-aged woman came rushing towards from an adjoining path. She stopped just short of Lucie, grabbing her by the arms. 

“Oh Diana, I found you, good!” She said, pausing only shortly to gulp down more air before she passed out from the effort of running to her. “Olivia’s gone, in broad daylight! We must find her before the Doctor finds out, or it’ll be on our hides!” 

Unfamiliar though the name was, it was a safe assumption who this woman was talking about. Nevertheless, she took the woman’s hands and asked the questions.

[i]’Girl. Young. Olivia. Disappears at night. Wealthy parents.’[/i]

An image of a bored looking girl, staring listlessly at a bare wall, flashed through Lucie’s mind, and she was certain. Olivia was the girl she was looking for. 

She released the woman’s hands and offered her a reassuring smile.“It will be alright, Laura. I’ll go and look,” Lucie said in her best imitation of Diana’s voice. She realised widespread panic might not be in her best interests, so she added, “but keep it quieter. Tells others you can trust, but no more.” She straightened up and with a final nod to Laura, she was gone, walking quickly to the building housing Olivia’s cell. 

With her disappearing, and with no knowledge of where to find her, that would be the place to begin. [i]’And,’[/i] she thought, removing her gloves, [i]’I have plenty of questions.’[/i]

[hr]

The door closed behind her with a muted clang, softened by one of her own gloves and with the dual purpose of serving as a clue for Adam and Lillian. With any luck, their individual talents would allow them to deduce why it was left there. With that, she hurried towards the edge of the grounds, keeping to the shadows. 

She had made her way to Olivia’s room with but a minute to spare, her own Talent telling her that Adam and Lillian were already on their way with the Doctor of the establishment leading them. She had asked as many questions as she dared, before scurrying away and out of sight. 

Olivia was definitely gone, and it appeared that she had vanished through neither door nor kidnapping. It appeared that she had simply [i]gone[/i], vanished in thin air. As for the time frame, she only knew that it had happened within the last half hour, which was outside of the usual. Hadn’t they been told she only tended to vanish during the night? Poor informants were always a risk in her previous line of work, and it aggravated her no less now, than it did two years ago. It was even worse when she dealt with something as treacherous as a disappearing person. 

Any and all plans she had to get Olivia out under the noses of everyone, and bring her to a safer place, where her talents would not be treated like some sort of sickness, had gone down the drain the moment she had made her vanishing act. But she would not let that stop her. She [i]would[/i] make sure that she wouldn’t be tortured or used for monetary gain by people who never truly cared about her again. [i]She[/i] would bring her to a place where she wouldn't be abandoned. A place with [i]her[/i]. With Lucie.

As olds thoughts and grievances threatened to resurface, Lucie re-centered herself and steadied her breathing. She had not the time for pity or what-if’s. The girl was gone, seemingly vanished in broad daylight, when such a thing was outside of the established pattern. 

She had at least gained one clue. A brief glimpse of a manor. It didn’t feel connected to the girl, as if she visited there on a regular basis; not like a friend’s home or a frequented store. It had something to do with her location, but what she couldn’t be certain. For perhaps the first time, she cursed the vagueness of her own Talent. At times it could give her incredible amounts of information with no effort, but every once in a while it was frustratingly cheap with the information it gave, and the specific circumstances surrounding it. 

She was too far away from the manor to reach its precise location, but she had a direction at least. She glanced at the sun overhead and changed direction slightly. 

She had no clues but the manor, and no way of delivering a message to Adam and Lillian without arousing suspicion. She had to trust her glove pointed them in her direction, and that her talent pointed [i]her[/i] in the right direction.