The deep-night stillness of the mountain house was broken only by the soft crackle of dying embers and the sigh of wind-driven snow against the windows. Everyone was asleep. Leo snored softly in a corner, wrapped in a moth-eaten curtain. Jordan sat propped against a wall, his head tilted back, his electrified hair finally lying flat, his breathing even. Derek was on a makeshift pallet, his mercury-sheened eyes closed, his face peaceful for the first time in memory.
By the hearth, Eva sat awake. Maya lay curled on the floor beside her, her head resting on Eva's thigh, wrapped in the thick blanket. Maya was asleep, her breathing shallow but steady. One of Eva's hands rested on the blanket over Maya's shoulder; the other was slowly, rhythmically stroking the faded pink-blue hair away from her damp forehead. It was a gesture of pure, protective instinct.
The front door opened with a soft creak, letting in a swirl of icy air and fine snow.
Wolfen stepped inside, a silhouette against the bluish moonlight reflecting off the snowfield. He was covered in a fine, crystalline powder, his shoulders dusted white, his hair frosted. He moved silently, shutting the door and bolting it against the cold.
Eva didn't look up from Maya's head. "Took you long enough," she murmured, her voice barely a whisper in the quiet room.
Wolfen walked to the hearth, brushing snow from his arms. He held his hands out to the faint warmth. "I couldn't find anything," he said, his own voice low. "No yetis. No convenient herds of mutant deer. Just snow, silence, and the profound, soul-crushing boredom of a pristine landscape."
He glanced down at the scene by the fire—the fierce, blood-streaked Prime gently stroking the hair of the apocalypse-in-waiting. His golden eyes narrowed slightly.
"You want to save your sister, Wolfen," Eva said, her gaze still on Maya. "I can understand that. And I want to save mine. But you shouldn't leave like this. Not alone. Not after… all this."
Wolfen went still. He looked at her sharply. "So you have a sister. Younger or older?"
"Younger," Eva replied softly, a world of worry in the single word. "Her name was Lily. When the collapse came… we were separated. The Architects took me. I don't know what happened to her. I have to believe she's out there. Like yours."
She finally looked up at him, the firelight catching the determination in her eyes. "We'll save them together. And maybe… they can help us, too."
Wolfen gave a soft, derisive snort, nodding towards the sleeping forms of Leo, Jordan, and Derek. "They have fought some fights," he conceded. "But they lack strength. I mean, look at them. No muscles. Only bad jokes."
Eva's lips quirked in a faint smile. "You could train us. You fight… like you know how to fight. And your behavior towards us…" She paused, choosing her words carefully in the hushed dark. "It's been quite… family-like. I noticed."
In the dim light, Wolfen's expression was unreadable. But a thought flashed behind his eyes, clear and clinical: The blood is taking effect pretty fast. Her perception was sharper, her intuition weaving connections where before there was only Prime logic. His blood, his essence, wasn't just healing wounds; it was cross-pollinating their natures.
He was silent for a long moment, watching the slow rise and fall of Maya's breath, the protective curve of Eva's arm.
"Training them would be an exercise in futility bordering on performance art," he said finally, his voice a low rumble. "Leo thinks with his fists. Jordan thinks with a spreadsheet that got struck by lightning. Derek thinks with a heart three sizes too big for this world."
"They're what we have," Eva whispered. "And they're loyal. You need someone to watch your back out there. Even you."
Wolfen looked from the sleeping group back to Eva. He saw the leader she had reluctantly become, the sister she desperately sought, the strange, fiery constant she was evolving into. He saw a purpose, or at least a direction less tedious than wandering alone.
He let out a long, slow breath, a plume of condensation in the cold air near the fireplace.
"Fine," he said, the word almost lost in the sigh of the wind. "A temporary alliance. We find my sister. We find yours. We use whatever and whoever we have to. And in return…" He looked down at Maya. "I'll try to keep your catastrophic little secret weapon from devouring the continent before we get the chance."
Eva's hand stilled on Maya's hair for a second. Then she gave a single, firm nod. "Deal."
They stood in the quiet understanding, the pact sealed not with a handshake, but with the shared watch over their broken, sleeping family in a broken, frozen world. The fire popped, sending a final shower of sparks up into the dark chimney, a tiny, defiant light against the endless cold.