Violin had her long dark hair up in a loose bun and wore a baggy sweatshirt that made her slim body look thinner than it was. She wore no makeup, and that aged her, revealing tiny lines at the corners of her eyes and mouth. Toys had no idea how old she actually was. There were rumors that she was well into her fifties, though she looked—at most, even in the unforgiving sunlight pouring in through the window—about thirty. Her mother, Lilith, had the same timeless quality and could reasonably be guessed at forty, fifty, or sixty; though Junie said she’d heard that Lilith was quite a bit older. Good genes? Or something else? He wasn’t sure.

For his part, he felt his years. He was not yet thirty-five and felt ninety. His twenties had been spent doing harm to the world, and his thirties were, so far, some kind of holding action. FreeTech had given him purpose, but it also bored him to tears.

He said, “You would have laughed if you’d been there when I appealed to Church about getting back into the field. God, I was so righteous about it.”

“You must have been convincing.”

“Oh, sure,” he said bitterly, “I convinced him that somehow I, of all people, would be able to find Ledger and bring him back safe and sound.”

“Well,” she said with a wry smile, “you did find him.”

“And he bloody well shot me.”

“Be happy he used a dart gun.”

“Tell me, have you ever been shot with Sandman?”

“No.”

“It’s not exactly fun.”

“Joe is capable of doing much worse.”

Toys snorted. “Frankly, darling, I think I’d have preferred a beating.”

Cars passed as people left their homes to go to work. The sight of that normalcy, that ordinary life, made him sad.

“Look at them,” he said, “everyone hurrying to get to their cubicles or their shops. Getting the kiddies off to school. Thinking about picking up dry cleaning at lunch and going to the pub for a cold one after work with their mates. Maybe a PTA meeting or helping the kids with homework.”

“They,” said Violin, “are who we fight to protect.”

He leaned his forehead against the glass, which was cool despite the sunlight. “I never had that. Not even as a kid. Always got knocked around at home. Started getting into trouble when I was eleven, and it only ever got worse. Then I fell in with Sebastian Gault, and that turned out to be a right shit show.” He sighed and straightened. “When I was in that life, I loathed those people. Truly hated them. Held them in the highest contempt for being what they were. Ordinary. Nothing was more unappealing to me. Then Ledger blundered into my life. And Church. That unnerving bastard Church. And … Junie.”

“She thinks the world of you.”

“She shouldn’t.”

“Why would you say that?”