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She barely has time to take in the mansion-elegant, foreboding, and utterly suited to a man like Sean Renard-before he’s opening the door, waving her in.
“Thank you for coming so late.” He sounds exhausted, and she’s not altogether surprised. It’s well past midnight, and she’s heard enough about the latest cases to know they must be wiping him out. It’s impressive that he’s still awake at all, frankly.
“Of course.” She steps inside, looking around. “Where is she?”
“Up in her room.”
He called her half an hour ago, utterly apologetic, explaining that Diana was having trouble getting to sleep. “She says she wants to see you,” he’d said, and she tried not to worry too much what it was about.
She still is, honestly. What if Diana wants to talk about Kelly again? Or Nick? The child has a way of looking past every carefully-crafted facade Eve has built up, to the woman beneath (who, terrifyingly, is looking more like Juliette by the day). Still, it’s not like she’s going to refuse.
Renard follows her up the stairs, then gestures to a door. “She’s through there.”
Hesitantly, Eve reaches out to knock. Before her hand makes contact with the door, it flings open, and she has two arms full of child.
“Eve!” Diana clings, and Eve adjusts as best she can, lifting her up. She’s a bit too heavy to pick up unassisted, so Eve leans into her Hexenbiest powers.
“Your father said you wanted to see me.” She deliberately softens her voice, aiming for soothing even though she can't quite remember how to get there. “Is everything okay?”
Diana nods against her shoulder. “I just can’t sleep. What if something bad happens?”
Oh, this poor child does not deserve the half of what she’s been through. Some of it at Eve’s hands, some at her parents’, some at Black Claw’s, and some at the hands of an ancient evil Eve is still struggling to come to terms with. But none of it is fair. None of it is right. “We’ll protect you,” she promises, and she means it down to her bones. “We always do.”
When Diana doesn’t respond right away, Eve carries her back to her bed. It’s ridiculously fancy for such a little girl, of course; the kind of room Juliette always wanted when she was little. Now, Eve understands how absurdly pricey a room like this must be.
“But what if you die again?” Diana asks finally. “Like you did in the other place. Or when the bad people came.”
Chest tightening, Eve clears her throat. “No matter what, this team will protect you, okay? And I’m right here.”
Diana nods slowly, brows furrowed, and it’s clear the answer doesn’t placate her. Honestly, Eve’s at a bit of a loss on what to say. She can’t promise that nothing’s going to happen to her; she doesn’t want to lie, and Diana would see right through it anyway.
Renard seems to be having a similar dilemma. “Honey, Eve can take care of herself. She’s strong.” A pause, before he adds-a smile in his voice- “One of the strongest people I’ve ever met. Trust me, you don’t have to worry about her.”
There is a softness there that Eve doesn’t quite know how to unpack. She’s not sure she wants to, frankly. (More terrifyingly, she’s not sure she doesn’t. ) There’s a lot they haven’t talked about, and so much has happened…
But none of that matters tonight. For tonight, her concern is the child now curled up on the bed, nestled in blankets, still looking anything but peaceful. Knowing Eve is strong probably isn’t much reassurance when the girl knows she’s died before.
HW’s training is utterly useless here, so she pushes past it, searching her memories for anything that might help. Suddenly, she catches on a flicker of a memory, and certainty settles in her stomach. Offering a conspiratorial smile, she sits on the edge of Diana’s bed. “You know, when I was around your age, I used to be really scared all the time.”
Diana blinks, staring at her in disbelief. “Really? You got scared? And it wasn’t even about Nick?”
And there’s that lovely perception. Pointedly ignoring Renard’s sharp intake of breath, she nods. “I was scared of… Storms, the dark…. Even silly things. I was terrified of dogs.”
Renard chuckles, and she knows he’s appreciating the irony of her becoming a vet as much as she always has.
Diana’s listening with rapt attention, and Eve continues. “Well, one night, there was a really bad storm. The thunder was so loud, it hurt my ears, and I thought the lightning was right beside us. I was so, so scared.”
“What did you do?”
A sheepish shrug. “The only thing I could do. I went to my parents. And they tried to calm me down, but I was just so upset. Then, my daddy figured out how to make me feel safe.”
“How?” Diana’s eyes are wide, and she’s leaning forward, obviously clinging to this possible solution.
The memories wash over Eve in waves, and she cannot help but wonder what her parents would think if they could see her now. It’s easy to think they’d be horrified, but the painful truth is, they’d probably just wrap her in their arms. Love her the way they always did: unconditionally.
Throat unexpectedly tight, she replies: “We built a blanket fort.”
“A blanket fort?” Diana’s brows furrow. “What’s that?”
She’s never built a blanket fort? Of course she hasn’t; no part of her life has been anything close to a normal childhood. Eve glances at Renard, who’s watching her with a mix of amusement and curiosity.
“Have you ever built one?” She checks, and to her surprise, he actually seems a bit flustered.
“I… Ah… Understand the general idea.”
And Eve’s not going to pretend she’s the one to teach anyone about being normal, not anymore, but certainty settles inside her, and she rises to her feet. “Okay, time for both of you to learn.”
Diana hops out of bed, obviously just happy to be delaying bedtime, and Renard’s lips twitch. “What do we have to do?”
Eve takes quick stock of the room: everything a little girl could want, of course, but not a lot of extra clutter, which means… “We’re going to need more pillows and blankets. Every one in your house.”
Renard considers this. “It’s a big house,” he points out slowly. “That’s going to be a lot.” He casts a pointed glance around the room, and while it’s not exactly a small space, she sees his point.
“We’ll move this to the living room.”
Fifteen minutes later, she’s standing in the middle of the living room, surrounded by pillows and blankets, feeling markedly less sure of herself. It’s been a lifetime or two since she’s done this, after all, and she’s working with people who have never done it before. Still, Diana’s watching her in hopeful expectation, and that’s enough for her to push forward.
“Okay, first of all, we need to set the pillows out. Some on the floor, and then stacked up-” She sets a couple up for demonstration. “To make walls.”
They make it a little longer than any she’s ever seen before, and definitely taller. But frankly, that’s probably just as well; Renard is going to have a tough enough time as it is with getting in and out.
As they work, tension seems to drain from Diana’s form, and she cheerfully moves pillows around. Halfway through, she apparently gets tired of carrying them and starts levitating pillows into place, which Eve takes as a good sign: if she’s getting tired, hopefully this is working.
“Next, blankets over the pillows down there-” she gestures to the ‘floor’ they’ve built. “And over the top.”
It turns out they have a lot more blankets than they can use, so she lets Diana pick which ones they need. The girl selects three dark blankets to throw over the top, and two plush blankets-one pink, one white-to lay on, along with a sparkly one to lay under.
Now for the fun part.
Eve manages to crawl in without too much issue, and Diana fits easily. Poor Renard, on the other hand, practically has to bend himself in half just to make it in. He settles in, hunched over, head just bumping the top of the fort. Diana giggles openly, and Eve just barely manages to hide a smile at the absurd sight; by the amused look he gives her, he absolutely knows it.
Diana flops backward onto the blankets, snuggling in, tugging the last blanket over her. Then, she frowns. “That was fun,” she says slowly, “but how is this supposed to keep bad things from happening? It doesn’t seem like a really strong fort.”
Not exactly how it went for Juliette, but that’s okay. Eve considers the question carefully, before replying. “You know, you’re right? It doesn’t keep bad things from happening. But you’re warm-” A little too warm, frankly; it’s not cold enough in the house for all these blankets. “You’re cozy, you are…” She hesitates, not wanting to overstep, but finally gathers her courage. “Surrounded by people who love you very much. And I don’t know about you, but to me? That sounds like a really, really good thing.”
She can feel Renard’s eyes on her, is half-aware of his grateful smile, but she keeps her gaze fixed firmly on Diana until the girl relaxes, smiling softly. “It is,” Diana agrees.
“Good.”
Fear apparently set aside for the moment, Diana closes her eyes, snuggling into the blankets, and Eve finally risks a glance at Renard. He looks like an altogether different person from the fearsome man she knows he can be, impossibly gentle and soft. His daughter brings that out in him, she’s noticed. And also-maybe-
She isn’t ready yet to finish the thought, so she offers a quick smile of her own before looking back at Diana, watching her breathing slowly even out. Renard follows her lead, and the two sit in silence for awhile, just keeping vigil over this sweet little girl.
Finally, Diana snores, and Renard’s lips twitch. “Bedtime,” he mouths, and Eve nods in agreement.
It takes the two of them-and a fair bit of maneuvering-to get her out without waking her, but they manage it. Renard cradles his daughter in his arms, and carries her up the stairs. Technically, Eve doesn’t have to follow, but something in her begs to do so. She trails after them, watching from the doorway as he tucks Diana in.
Her breath catches a little as he leans forward, dropping a kiss to the girl’s forehead.
As he rises, Diana stirs. Eve’s heart drops, but she only looks blearily in Eve’s direction. “Will you stay with me tonight, Eve?”
Eve hesitates, glancing at Renard uncertainly. The last thing she wants to do is try to act like Diana’s parent; maybe he should offer to stay instead? But the look he gives her is utterly unbothered, clear permission.
She considers. What’s the alternative? Say no, leave Diana sad, and go home to her cold and empty apartment?
“If you want,” she says finally. She slides off her shoes, and Diana shifts to the side of her bed, making room for Eve to crawl in beside her. Immediately, the girl snuggles into Eve’s arms, eyes falling shut once more.
Eve relaxes slowly, then all at once, the warmth and safety of the blankets and the child settling into her bones. It’s been a long time since she’s felt anything close to contentment; she’s accepted her situation, the life she has now, but….
Happiness doesn’t interest me anymore, she said once. And it’s true; she cannot afford to dream of happiness when she’s done too much to destroy it. But this? Here? She feels dangerously close to happy.
“G’night, Daddy,” Diana murmurs. “Night, Eve.”
“Goodnight, sweetheart.” Renard’s voice is low.
“Goodnight, Diana.” Eve debates for only a split-second, before adding, “Goodnight, Sean.”
He doesn’t reply, but she can sense him walking toward her. Choosing to trust him, and also not altogether sure she wants to see his expression, she keeps her eyes firmly closed as he draws close.
His voice is soft, barely a breath against her ear, and she knows Diana cannot possibly hear it. “Goodnight, Juliette.”
For just a second, familiar terror rises up at that name, but she forces herself to exhale. She is warm, she is cozy, and she is surrounded by people who-
In spite of herself, she smiles.