Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

5th August, 1951

Pearl was having an awful day. First of all, she was in Bath, and she would rather be anywhere else in the world, even that dusty railroad in the Australian outback she got stuck on two years ago. The unsavoury characters and unwanted memories of this city were more than enough to put her on edge. It was likely she'd be fine, so long as she stayed away from the Roman Baths and the Abbey but Pearl knew better than to expect things to go how they'd been planned, especially in this city.

Also, she'd been fired from her job, so that sucked too. Three years of working diligently at the Sunflower Newspaper service over 9 thousand miles away from London, sent to the one place in the world she'd sworn never to return to, only to get the news she had been fired as soon as Pearl arrived at the hotel. It hadn't been the best job in the world, but it paid enough for rent and had her working so far away from the Headquarters she didn't have to live in fear of being found. Now Pearl wasn't so safe, an unemployed and unescorted woman out late at night, in danger of being rediscovered by them after three years of freedom.

As Pearl sat in the booth at one of the city's many pubs, she could almost feel a pair of eyes looking her way. Watching her. Pearl shifted in her chair, taking a sip of the cheap whiskey in her hand. It didn't taste very good, but it was cheap and what she needed right now. Pearl sighed, Bath was not a good place to be.

"Wondered when you'd reappear in these parts." A familiar voice rang out across the pub, as a man not much older than her slid into the chair opposite her. Martyn.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean, mate," Pearl gulped, "I don't think I've met you before."

Martyn sighed, clearly not buying Pearl's attempt to avoid the conversation, "Don't try and lie to me, Pearl. I didn't work then, and it won't work now. You know why I'm here and what I need to do."

"Shouldn't you try and find the other two first? They're much more of a risk to the Church."

"Pulling your brothers down so you can go free? I didn't expect that of someone like you. You were always a little too loyal for their liking."

Pearl was running out of options, "We all do what we need to to survive, you'd know that well." She could make a run for it, but Martyn had always been faster than her. Call for help? She didn't know anyone here, and Martyn probably had contacts in every establishment in the county. If he pulled a few strings she'd be back where she was three years ago. Pearl sure hoped she wasn't shaking.

Martyn frowned, "You know how this is going to end Pearl, you've weighed all your options, and there's no way out of it this time. If you come now, nothing bad will happen to you, or any of the people here."

"Come on, Martyn, you wouldn't,"

"It's been three years since we last spoke, Pearl, and like you said, we all do what we need to to survive."

"Everything alright here?" Pearl and Martyn both turned to face the newcomer at their booth. She was a short woman, shorter than Martyn and a whole lot shorter than Pearl, her wavy ginger hair was tied up into a curled bun at the back of her head with a bandanna, with a few stray locks framing her face. Her green eyes looked curiously at Pearl and Martyn, her arms crossed over her green dress. Pearl had to admit she was pretty, the light freckles that dusted her red cheeks, and the intriguing spark in her deep, green eyes. Okay, maybe she was a little more than pretty, but it was totally normal to appreciate another woman's looks like that, right?

"Oh, don't you worry, Gem, my friend and I were just having a little chat here." Martyn replied

Gem raised an eyebrow, "Really, and how do you feel," she looked at Pearl, "is Martyn bothering you."

Pearl’s voice didn't seem to work as she gulped and nodded nervously.

Gem narrowed her eyes, "Martyn, I really think it's time you left. "

Everything moved so quickly Pearl didn't see what had properly happened before Gem had punched Martyn and grabbed Pearl's hand and they were out of the street. Reluctantly, Pearl dropped Gem's hand to catch her breath, her hand instinctively reaching for the ring on the chain around her neck. "Wha - what happened? Who are you?" Pearl asked.

Gem rubbed the back of her neck, "Sorry, I've had a few run-ins with Martyn before. Looks like you've had a few, too. My name's Gem, sorry again for grabbing you. You looked like you needed saving a bit." She offered her hand for Pearl to shake.

"Pearl," She responded, taking Gem's hand. Her fingers were soft, though a little rougher around her fingertips, Gem's palms were warm, and her grip firm, and when Gem's green eyes met Pearl's blue ones, Pearl felt her heart flutter a little. No, this can't be happening. She couldn't be dealing with these kinds of emotions right now, especially not with Martyn and the others on her tail, and especially not for another woman. "Martyn's an old friend, or at least he was. We didn't part on good terms the last we spoke."

Gem nodded, "Seems like that kind of guy. Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, we should probably head our separate ways now... unless..." Pearl's head lifted a little, her interest peaked, "We may want to stick together, two women by themselves, almost dark. We don't want to be in another situation like that. I'm heading back to my village this evening. You're welcome to join me, it's a little town on the North Coast of Cornwall. There's a party happening soon actually at Perisvet Manor nearby, you could stay a while if you want..."

Well, this was almost perfect, a quick way out of Bath, a possible place to stay and staying with Gem, absolutely brilliant. Pearl wasn't well versed in English geography, but surely anywhere that wasn't Bath was a good enough distance away from them

"I'd be honoured, anything to get me out of Bath, really," Pearl replied.

There was a confused look on Gem's face from Pearl's last message, but it quickly faded to a smile. "The train leaves pretty soon, and the station’s not far if you'd like to leave now."

"Oh yes, that'd be great, and thank you, Gem." Pearl smiled. This was perfect, a chance for new life far away from her past. She may have missed her brothers, but the risk had always been too great. Yes, this was the right choice, Pearl thought, as she followed Gem to the station. A nice, quiet, and normal village for me to spend time in. After all these years, maybe Pearl could go back to living in peace.

~·~

As Martyn adjusted the ice pack on his swollen jaw, he twisted the dial on the pub telephone, connecting it to the Headquarters phone.

"News about S-K-67, made contact with her before she slipped away. I should be able to track her to wherever she's heading now. Over" Martyn reported, his superiors would not be happy with his failure to bring Pearl in, but his opportunity to succeed in his next try would mean he'd still be useful, keeping him alive, for now.

"We have gotten information on X-W-29 and C-L-41's whereabouts, but there are no agents in the area. If you find anything on those two, switch missions. Remember, they're more powerful together. Over"

"Of course, Supervisor, over and out."

In the best case scenario, Martyn intercepted Pearl tomorrow and then left to make it to that party afterwards. Surely, his superiors would understand the need to maintain his civi life and visit an old friend. But really, Martyn knew that at any moment, they could eliminate him for anything they considered out of line. Hopefully, his friend would forgive if he dropped dead in the middle of dinner.

~·~

Chapter Text

7 th August, 1951

"For the last time, Tim, we're not lost! I know exactly where we are."

Jimmy didn't look impressed, "Have you ever been to York before? I wouldn't be surprised if we've been in this square already..."

"No, Tim, it's fine, we're all fine, everything is fine! We are going to get some new jobs and continue as we did for the last three years! Everything is going to be okay, Timmy!" Grian sighed. He didn't mean to shout at his brother, but he was really getting tired of him asking if he knew where he was going. To be completely honest, Grian didn't know his way around York, and the two of them had probably already been in this place before. He had no clue where they were supposed to go for their new job, only that it was in York, "Tim, I'm sorry I didn't mean to shout." Grian put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "Hey, it's not gonna be like the over places, and you won't get yourself into trouble this time, neither of us will."

Jimmy's smile was tight and forced, "Are you sure Grian, everywhere we go, they're there, and it's always my -"

"It's not always your fault Tim, it is most of the time, though."

"HEY," Jimmy retorted, but his smile seemed more genuine as he gave Grian a light punch on the shoulder.

"Come on, I'm sure we can find a place to stay the night that's out of the way."

"Maybe in the morning you'll know how to read a map..." Jimmy mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?"

"I said lead the way, my dear older brother."

Grian chuckled, "Of course you did Tim."

~·~

The bar Grian had chosen, Ye Olde Starre Inn, was incredibly busy. Despite being a Sunday evening it was packed full of a mixture of York residents and tourists. If Grian had known how busy it was, he would have chosen another, neither him nor Jimmy were big fans of the crowds, and it was easier for their agents to move around in. As Grian scanned the room, he saw no obvious signs of members of that little group he used to be a part of, but then again, they could blend in well. As he sat alone by the bar, Jimmy had gone to his room to rest, Grian noticed a man in some kind of red suit moving towards him. A rather odd choice for visiting a pub on a Sunday evening, but who was he to judge, Grian probably looked like he'd been working in a coal mine for 48 hours non-stop. The man didn't look like he could be one of them , though he can never be too careful.

"Can I help you?" Grian winced, as the man slid onto the bar stool next to him, setting his rather large top hat down on the bar, "Whatever you're selling, I'm not interested."

The man chuckled a little, "Oh no, not looking for money. I was just wondering what a gentleman such as yourself was doing in an establishment such as this, alone."

Grian raised an eyebrow. Now, this was definitely an interesting start to a conversation with a guy he'd never met, turning slightly towards the mystery man. He was tall and well built, his emerald green eyes observant and curious, and had scars running over his slightly tanned face. His mid length brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail and a crooked smile. He wore a tailcoat of the same colour as the hat, now sitting on the table, and had a soft green waistcoat pulled over his muscular chest, a rather unusual outfit for the time and place. He was pretty attractive, Grian had to admit, but now was not the time for that. He had to focus on getting him and Jimmy jobs and avoiding unsavoury characters, and there was something far from normal about this man, from his obvious American accent and the strange sparkle in his emerald green eyes.

"Getting a drink, like yourself, I imagine."

The man chuckled, " The name's Scar Goodtimes, are you a resident of this fine city?"

This guy was odd, "No, I grew up near Bath, been travelling around the country with my brother since I was 21." Grian responded, trying to avoid eye contact with this "Scar" guy.

"An Explorer?"

"Just trying to get by where I can."

Scar nodded, "Can I buy you a drink?"

Grian narrowed his eyes, "I already have a drink."

Scar laughed a little awkwardly, "Another drink then, it's customary." He rubbed the back of his neck, cheeks a little pink. Was he blushing?

"Customary for what...?" Grian questioned, thinking.

Is this guy flirting with him?

"Oh, uh, well, we could just have a drink, nothing by it.." Scar stammered, face flushed.

"Right... I'll have whatever you're having." Grian was far too tired to read the menu and make a decision, but a free drink would be nice. Scar nodded and ordered two of something from the bar. Meanwhile, Grian scanned the crowded pub, looking for any signs of a threat. Scar slid him a rather colourful looking drink, catching in his hand and taking a sip.

"You staying somewhere near here?" Scar asked, drumming his fingers along his glass. "There's so many hotels, a lot of people come to York to see the cathedral. I usually try and stay away from those kinds of places, but the architecture is beautiful." He said the last part as though it was only to himself, but the mention of a Cathedralput Grian on edge. York had a cathedral? That was not good, those kinds of buildings meant there would be way more of them around. He really should have done some research into the geography of this city.

"Here, I actually arrived this morning with my brother, looking for work in a new city, you know the gist," Grian commented.

"Work, hmm? Well, back at my village, there's probably a lot of good, paid work, from odd jobs and the like."

"Right..," Grian wasn't too sure if he trusted Scar, he seemed nice enough but Grian knew better than to assume he was a good person, with the amount of reach they had he wouldn't be surprised if this room was full of Operatives, but he and Jimmy really needed work and a rural place was probably either really good or really bad for avoiding them, "What and where is this village of yours then?"

"Stoorworm! On the coast of Northern Cornwall, sister village of Little Assipattle in the Scottish highlands, if you've ever been up that way."

"Never really been much farther north than here..." Scar seemed genuine enough, and this job opportunity seemed almost perfect, "When are you leaving then?"

Scar smiled, "Tomorrow morning, 11 in the morning, there's a train leaving the city station, all the way to the nearest station to Stoorworm! We can meet at the bar at 10?"

Grian finished the rest of his drink, Scar certainly had a sweet tooth, he thought, nodding. "My brother and I will see you then." He sure hopped he wasn't making a mistake trusting Scar.

Scar grinned, sitting up from his chair and offering his hand to Grian. Hesitantly, he took it, trying to ignore the tight feeling in his chest. He could not be thinking like that right now.

"I don't believe I caught your name." Scar said after he had helped Grian up from his chair. Now, this was a hard decision, names held power, and what if he had been waiting for confirmation of Grian's identity before returning him to them . But Scar had given Grian his name, Grian could use against if he wanted to, and a mutual level of trust between them would be nice since they're going to be living in the same village and seeing a lot of each other.

"You can call me Grian."

~·~

"What do you mean we now work for a mysterious businessman you met at the bar? Have you considered what he could be or who he could have been sent by?" Jimmy exclaimed as he paced around the room he and Grian were sharing before collapsing onto his bed.

"It's an opportunity to earn some money and well out of the way, so there's less of a chance to run into... someone ."

"What you mean to say is, 'we're going to the middle of nowhere with a man I met this evening that I know nothing about other than he's American and lives in Cornwall'." Jimmy said, glaring at him, "What if he's an agent and is luring us to an outpost, and - and he takes us back to the monastery, or worse. It's going to go wrong because it always does. This Scar man doesn't sound particularly trustworthy." Jimmy was right to have his suspicions about Scar, but this opportunity is far better than trying to find work in the city, and now that Grian knew there was a Cathedral in York, he was far more willing to leave as quickly as possible.

"Look, Tim, if we stay here, get a job at the factory and a place to sleep. How long will it be before there's an accident? Broken machine or collapsing mine, it doesn't matter. And what if they find us here? The cathedral in the middle of the city means there'll be more of them around? We'll just have to move on to another city until we run out of places to run. This will either be really good or really bad. A change of scenery might work for us." Grian sat next to Jimmy on his bed, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Trust me, Timmy."

Jimmy looked down at him (despite being two years younger than him, Jimmy was taller of the two them, and Grian definitely was not bitter at all) sighing, "Do you trust Scar?"

Grian looked away, "No." For some reason, he hoped he could. He wanted Scar to be a nice person, more so than other strangers. Grian pushed that thought out of his mind before he could find a reason as to why. "But he seems like he could be a good person."

Jimmy stood, heading to their room's bathroom, "I hope he is, for both our sakes."

A pang of guilt settled in Grian's stomach, reminding him how he was responsible for his younger brother and if he got hurt or sent back there , he didn't know if he could live with himself.

But you do live with it. You couldn't get her out, could you? You failed her, and you'll fail him too.

The remainder in his head about his sister echoed around him, almost like it came from outside his own mind. Grian shook his head, trying to push that thought out of his mind. The drink Scar gave him must have really been something, that or he was more sleep deprived than he thought he was. But as always, the voice was right. He had failed before, and he will again. The faces of those he couldn't save filtered their way into his head. Grian rubbed his eyes .He really needed to sleep. It would be sunrise soon, and a little bit of sleep before the train ride would be useful, if Jimmy's suspicions about Scar were true, he would need to be on full guard.

Grian lay in his bed, the faces of people he used to know faded in and out of his mind as he fell asleep, their features merging and getting muddled, until Grian was unable to distinguish who was who.

~·~

Chapter Text

6th August, 1951 

"Where is your village? I mean, I should have asked this earlier, of course, but you know, it would be nice to know where we're heading." Pearl asked as Gem led her through the bustling crowds at the train station.

"Oh!,"Gem turned around to face her, smile bright and spirits high despite the crowded and dirty place they were in, nothing ever seemed to dampen her mood, "It's a small village on the Cornish coast, called Stoorworm, though I doubt you'd have heard of it. The only significant thing about it is the manor house nearby, owned by retired actor Ren Diggity and his... roommate, Doc." Roommate? Gem suddenly turned around with a grin on her face. "Oh! Him and Doc are hosting a party in a few days! I've been invited, that's why I'm heading home, and I could probably get you an invite too! Those two always throw good parties, if you'd like to come that is."

"Oh! Uh," Pearl was a little surprised, why was Gem being so nice, she hardly knew her?  The only people she'd really interacted with in the last three years had been a part of the newspaper company and not particularly friendly, this was new. "Yeah, that'd be great, thanks."

Gem smiled and continued walking, "I should probably tell you a little more about the village, if your going to be staying a while," Pearl smiled, her chest was little warm but she tried to ignore that, "There's the store run by Cleo, closer the sea, and near there there's Xisuma's house. I think his brother sometimes lives there too but no one really knows what he gets up to. Uh, there's the police station and Etho's house, he's the only police officer we have, a little washed up but he has been here 6 years, then there's Bdubs, a botanist who moved here a couple years back. I got most of my work from him, drawing and stuff,"

"You're an artist?"

Gem nodded as she opened the carriage door to the train, "Sure am! There's also Stress's flower shop and Iskall's hardware store. Scott owns a library a little out of town, there's the mechanic run by Tango and Zedaph, though Zed's been out of town for a while. Those two are best friends with Impulse and Skizz, who own the town's  pub, the Traffic Tavern. That's where I live."

"Nice!" Pearl said as she sat down on the seat next to Gem's. The train slowly started to move out of Bath Station and soon they were travelling through the countryside, the rolling hills moving in sync with the sound of the tracks.

"So where abouts are you from then Pearl?" Gem asked, interrupting the silence, looking up at Pearl with a curious expression.

"Huh? Oh, my family's from both England and Australia, but I've been living in Melbourne for the past two years. I worked for a newspaper company there, or at least I did until yesterday."

"Let off?"

"Yep yep, and after I'd travelled all the way back to Bath I got the letter saying I'm fired." Pearl sighed, it was nice that Gem had offered her a place for the night, until the party at least, but she did need to find a new job and place to live.

"Back to Bath..?" Gem questioned, looking up at Pearl.

"Oh, uh, I grew up there.."

"Oh cool!" Gem said, returning to gazing out the window.

Pearl rubbed the back of her neck, "If we wanted to pass the time, there's this game me and my siblings used to play when we were on long train rides, our parents travelled a lot."

"A game?" Gem asked, an excited expression on her face.

"Yeah, do you have a piece of paper I could use?"

Gem laughed, "I'm an artist Pearl," and she handed her an A4 piece of sketing paper.

Pearl chuckled, before drawing out a grid of five lines, with room enough for one letter on each, six times down the page, then writing out the alphabet. "It's a bit like hangman but you guess words and have six tries. I'll tell you what letters are in the right place or if they appear in the word or not."

Gem bit her nails, "I can't spell."

"Sure you can! I'll give you hints if you can't get it."

"Okay... uh weary?"

Pearl wrote the word onto the first line, and crossed out a few of the letters in the alphabet but left the R. "There's an R in the word just not there"

"Hmm, Rines?" 

Adjusting the alphabet, Pearl took a glance at Gem, she was really pretty. Oh no this wasn't good. She had to stop thinking like this; there were far more important things that should be on her mind. "Uh, there's an N but that and the R are still in the wrong places."

"North?"

"The words got an O but nothing is in the right place yet."

"This is too hard Peaaarl." Gem whined, "How bout... lunar?"

"It doesn't have an A but shot your shot," Pearl noted down the word on the paper, "N and R are still in the wrong places."

"Uhhh! Try, bring."

"Okie dokie, the R, N and G are all in the right place, everything else isn't in the word."

"Hmmmm"

"Think of forks."

"Forks?" Gem looked puzzled, even confused she still looked cute. Damn it, stop thinking like that Pearl.

"I'll wait till you get it." Pearl gave Gem an encouraging smile.

"Prong!" Gem exclaimed

"Yes!" Pearl laughed, writing the word down, "How long till we arrive at the village?"

"Well this train takes us directly to the village of Tamlis, the closest train station to Stoorworm, and then Impulse will meet us there in his car, and take us to the Traffic Tavern! We should be arriving at Tamlis station in about half an hour give or take." Gem smiled, "Would you like to play again?"

~·~

8th August, 1951

As the train hurtled through the English countryside, the sound of the tracks ringing throughout the carriages, Jimmy couldn't remove the angry glare from his face. "Scar" wasn't paying any attention to him, instead drawing something in the sketchbook he was holding, and Grian had gone outside for some air, so now Jimmy was left in a carriage with their supposed new employer who looked like he could trick someone into buying their own property from him. What was Grian thinking, trusting this guy? He may not give off the vibe of one of them but he definitely wasn't your average guy. Mr Goodtimes wasn't wearing the red suit Grian had described to Jimmy the night before. Instead, donning a cream shirt and brown leather jacket, his long hair tied into a low ponytail. He did have bright, emerald eyes like Grian described, but Jimmy didn't really understand his brother's need to describe them in detail. Despite his earlier doubts, Scar looked more like he would try and swindle them rather than try and return them to the Monastery, though it didn't ease his thoughts of distrust. Scar looked up from his drawing and noticed Jimmy's scowl, cocking his head.

"You alright?" he asked.

Jimmy tried to look even angrier, but Grian had told him he looked a bit pathetic when he made that face, "Fine." he said, maintaining eye contact.

Scar shrugged, seemingly not interested in starting an argument with Jimmy, "You know, I was wondering what kinda skills you had and what the best place it would be for you to work." he moved his hands lazily as he talked.

"Grian and I usually worked in factories, he took part in the planning and I did more of the manual labour type work." Jimmy said, trying to maintain his look of annoyance, but it was getting harder as Scar seemed to have a rather likeable personality, and asking what skills he and Grian had ahead of time was nice of him.

Scar nodded, "Grian could always help me with my art or work in the clinic, but you..." he paused, before gasping and clapping his hands together, "You could help Tango with the mechanic! Even better since Zed's out of town and hey, you even have the same initial!"  

"My name's Jimmy?" If Grian had told his name wrong to yet another stranger he would not be happy.

Scar looked puzzled, "I'm sure Grian told me your name was Timmy."

"Yeah he tends to do that, thinks it's funny or something." 

Scar chuckled a little and Jimmy couldn't help joining in and soon the two of them were laughing together in the carriage. 

"You mentioned Tango owns a mechanic."

"Sure does!"

Jimmy ran his fingers through his hair, "Well most of the time when I try and do anything to do with technology it breaks. Asked to fix the machinery and it blows up in my face, so would really be the best bet for me?"

Scar shrugged, "Tango's a good teacher and a nice guy so I'm sure it'll be fine. Besides," he said with a chuckle, "Tango has blown up over half of the machines he's worked on."

"Well that's comforting at least." Jimmy smiled, the carriage door opening as Grian walked  back into their compartment, softly closing the door behind him.

"Are you two good?" He asked as he sat back down next to Jimmy.

"Sure am!" Scar grinned, Jimmy noticed his brother's fond smile in response but decided he'd question Grian later.

"Tim?" 

Jimmy smiled, maybe Scar wasn't so bad and this could be a good opportunity, "Yeah, all good."

~·~

6th August 1951

"So is Impulse meeting us here then?" Pearl asked, handing Gem her suitcase before swinging her own bag over her shoulder. Gem had a lot more luggage than Pearl did, probably because Pearl had very few personal belongings to begin with and she'd left most of them behind when she'd left Bath two years ago. Pearl shook her head, not wanting to reminded of that time,

"Yep! I spoke to him on the phone yesterday, he'll meet us in the car park just over here." Gem responded, pushing the doors open and leading them out into the street outside the station. Pearl followed as they turned into the car park, there, a stocky man wearing a yellow shirt and a black cardigan that seemed far too hot for the sunny day, was leaning against a black corvette. "That's Impulse!" Gem exclaimed before quickening her pace to reach him. She dropped her suitcase and he pulled her into a hug as Pearl caught up to the two of them.

Impulse smiled, "Hi! I'm Impulse, you must be Pearl, right?"

"Yep, it's a pleasure to meet you." Pearl said and reached out her hand to shake but Impulse pulled her into a hug instead, damn this guy was strong.

"Come on, we should hit the road before Skizz misses us," he said as he opened the door to his car. Gem and Pearl filled into the back seat and Impulse put their bags into the car boot, and as soon as he was in the driver's seat they set off and out of Tamlis village. 

"So how did you two meet then?" Impulse asked, breaking the silence.

"Well Pearl was talking to this guy and he wasn't being very nice, so I punched him and we ran off." Gem replied.

Impulse sighed, "You punched him?"

"Hey! He was harassing her!"

"Yeah, you saved my neck back there, thanks Gem." Pearl said, rubbing the back of her neck. 

Gem put her hand on Pearl's shoulder and leaned closer to her, Gem's green eyes gazing into hers. "Don't worry about it! And I'm glad we're friends now, because of it." Pearl felt her face and chest heat up. This was not good, not good at all. She really hoped Gem couldn't see how pink her cheeks were.

"Yeah me too."

"Well it seems the story's got a happy ending then!" Impulse chuckled from the front seat, "Have you accepted that invitation from Ren for the party yet Gem?"

"Yep! I was also going to ask him if Pearl could come as my plus one!" Gem said, grinning.

Impulse chuckled, "Yeah you should definitely do that."

The car passed a small sign reading: "Welcome to Stoorworm Village, Sister Village of Little Assipattle, Please Drive Carefully,", and the car passed two large buildings on each side of the road. "That's Scott's library and the community centre! We'll pass the bakery, Bdubs's house, the flower shop, clinic and mechanic before we arrive at the Tavern."

Pearl smiled, "Nice!" Sure enough they passed all those buildings before Impulse pulled in outside a large, L shaped, Tudor style house, with a large sign, one side having a blue angelic wing and the other a yellow demonic wing, the words "Traffic Tavern" written in cursive. A smaller piece of wood hung from the original sign, mimicking a traffic light, but with hearts instead of circles. "Why's it called the Traffic Tavern?" she asked as she helped Gem and Impulse unload the luggage from his car. Impulse had done some shopping for the pub whilst waiting for Gem and Pearl to arrive at the station, so the three of them had to unload crates of various beverages into the building.

Impulse shrugged, "Always been called that I suppose. The name's probably as old as Stoorworm or Tamlis. Just one of those things that has existed forever, like the stones in the woods."

"The stones?" Pearl questioned.

"Yeah, the standing stone circle!" Gem replied, "There's a path directly from the Perimeter to the stones and fairy mounds. We could go check it out, if you'd like that."

How could Pearl refuse, "That would be great."

"Well these crates won't unload themselves, and I'm sure Skizz wants to hear about your trip." Impulse said, handing Pearl a crate of whisky bottles.

Pearl followed Impulse and Gem into the Tavern, setting her crate down next to the others and taking in her surroundings. It seemed the decor hadn't changed in the last few centuries, the exposed beams giving the place a rather rustic feel that reminded Pearl of her childhood home. Before things went wrong. There was a small line of booths, though sets of tables and chairs took up most of the space. Behind the bar was a tall, well built man wearing a white tank top, accompanied with a light grey waistcoat. His dark hair was a little messy, as was his stubble, but he had a rather friendly face that lit up when he noticed they had arrived.

"Gem! Impy! You're back! Oh and you must be Pearl!" he exclaimed.

"Hello!" Pearl responded, shaking his hand.

Skizz smiled, "I'll hear about your trip later Gem but you should take Pearl to a room. Give her the one opposite yours, and then we'll rendezvous for dinner."

"Thanks Skizz!" Gem said as she grabbed Pearl's hand and led her up the stairs. Her hands were soft. Pearl needed to stop noticing that. As they reached the end of the corridor Gem stopped and let go of Pearl's hand to unlock one of the doors. Room 15. "My room's number 16, the one opposite so I'll give you my spare key if there's anything you need and I'll take your spare so we can both help each other out if needed! You can unpack your stuff and then we'll go downstairs for dinner." Gem said as she softly pressed the key into Pearl's hands.

Pearl opened the door to her room and switched on the light, "Thanks Gem. I mean really, I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there."

Gem looked up at her, smiling. Damn it, why was she so pretty. "Don't mention it Pearl!"

~·~