Freyati*Others

Conan was another one who'd been slowly improving over the last couple of weeks, gradually getting his strength back and now able to stand and walk around for short periods of time, where for the longest he'd been reduced mainly to sitting or lying down, because standing made him dizzy and short of breath. He still hadn't been able to resume his usual habit of keeping house for the Wallocks, though - dishes and laundry were particularly harsh on him these days because of the need to go up and down repeatedly to get them done. But at the least, he was getting better, and doing his best not to stress so much, since it worried both of the adults when he did so.

He'd taken up making clothes though, to try to contribute some to the household; rather as he'd proven with the dress he'd made Raine, he was rather deft with a needle, and good with both mending and making new clothes. He was working on patching the hole in the knee on one of his pairs of blue jeans when a loud banging came on the trailer's front door. "Conan! Open up, it's Freya!" He nearly dropped his stitching in surprise, not only at the sudden sound, but at the voice and the name; Freya... but he'd thought she was dead, or at least gone from the city. Putting aside his work quickly, the boy signed, 'Summer - let her in. Hurry. She does not make demands like that unless they are important.'

Summer & Collin

Summer and Collin both had insisted that Conan do little work around the house, at least anything that involved much physical work. But they were more than happy to let him keep up with what chores his weakened condition allowed for, if only to help him pass the time and keep his attention off of his missing brother. At the time that there was a knock on the door, Summer was working through a small bookshelf to dust them off. She froze immediately when an unknown voice sounded, especially one that was calling Conan's name - she knew there were very few in the boy's life that were nice to him, so her immediate response was to be wary. "If you say so." She'd looked back at the boy, and after seeing his signing, she put her duster aside and approached the door. Placing herself directly in front of it, she opened the door just enough to see Freya, "Can I help you?"

Conan*Others

Her staff still in hand, Freya stood calmly at the door, and Summer might catch a glimpse of white fur moving back and forth in the yard; Shantii was keeping watch, since they'd left the apartments with Lanny on their heels. "Summer Wallock, right? Is Conan here? I-" A small whine sounded from behind the door, and it wasn't the dog - the young woman had to pause for a moment. "Easy little guy... it's okay. It's alright." Suddenly, from behind Summer, there was a small thump - Conan had dropped the pile of neatly-folded laundry he'd scooped up, and was on his feet, moving as fast as he could manage toward the door; he would have known that little whine had he heard it from beyond the grave. "Rai-mi...? Raimi?"

Summer & Collin

The woman relaxed just a little, when her first sight of Freya spoke nothing of the CrypticSilvers gang. "Yes, I'm Summer." At length, she nodded and answered the second question, after glancing towards the dog pacing in the yard, and back to Freya, "...he is here." Normally, she wasn't nearly so cautious as she was being now, but precautions had to be taken when Conan was still recovering from his breakdown, and had so many enemies in the city. Of course, there was one thing that Summer didn't expect, and that one thing instantly told her this woman was to be trusted. "...you've brought him back...!" A blissful smile stretched across her face, deepening the wrinkles here and there. Half stunned, all she could do in the first second or two was take a step back, to permit Conan to move forward.

Conan*Others

It took very little time for Conan to cross the room, despite the fact that he'd been so frail and vulnerable lately - Raimi was back! He reached out instantly to take the cooing toddler from Freya, clutching the child to him tightly and not even acknowledging the young woman for a moment or two, completely lost in waves of joy and relief. "Ras-Ras-Ras-Ras... miss my Ras-Ras," the toddler was whispering, and for a few moments, that's all Conan could hear; Raimi had his complete attention, and he could spare none of it - not even to thank the young woman who'd brought the child back to him.

But Freya didn't seem to mind - and indeed, she had other things to worry about. "Look, you've got to get out of here. Laurence Zelkovii was on my heels when I left - he'll be here any minute, and Greg's place will be his next stop. After that, the summer shack where you went when Conan got shot - Johann tracked it down. I'm certain Nadeem's place will be on the list. Any of your pets that you can take with you, you'd better, because I do not know that he would stop at trying to harm them." That little bit of news brought Conan down off of his high, and he turned, fingers flashing over his brother's back. 'How did you know I'd been shot...? Where've you been?' And rather than waiting for Summer to translate, Freya answered decisively, "I don't have time to answer those things right now. He's less than five minutes behind me, and he has a vehicle. Conan - do you have someplace to go?" Still holding the child tightly against him, the teen took a few precious moments to consider, and finally he signed. 'There is one place. One place that I can take you, where I can guarantee that Laurence Zelkovii and the rest of the 'Silvers would never think to look. Summer - throw some things together and get the car started; I'll show you the way.'

Summer & Collin

This was Conan's moment, having his little brother returned to him, so Summer was respectfully silent at first and allowed the two their time to greet each other. Their joy was obvious, and the toddler's unbound glee warmed her heart when she and Collin had been so worried over not only his welbeing, but that of Conan after his hospital visit. Unfortunately, this reunion was hampered by the news that Freya had to bear, and the idea that Summer knew had to be addressed - the Zelkovii's wouldn't have just given the boy up like that.

Here initial idea was to call Officer Sohmers, and to vacate to Greg's place, but Conan had an solution his own. "Collin!" She raised her voice to call to her husband while she moved from the door, looking for a bag that she could quickly gather some items into, "Conan, get Raimi in the car and I'll be there in a minute." She was calm in her alarm, and able to put aside the obvious questions about Freya and why she knew what she did about Conan; right now, their priority was to get to safety and make sure that this reunion wasn't a short-lived one. And as she began to gather necessities, she was calling Greg and Nadeem to give them a fair head's up about the trouble that might be heading their way.

Conan*Others

By this time, the toddler had tucked his thumb into his mouth and leaned his head against Conan's chest, which had prompted the teen to use one hand to cradle the child. But his attention was intently upon his goals right now; with Freya being followed by Lanny, there wasn't any time to lose. "I've my horse with me," Freya prompted, even though the mentioned equine was nowhere in sight. The dark eyes flashed about a little, indicating that she was thinking quickly. "Give me those clothes that Raimi has on - do you have a large bear?" Conan was nodding absently, not seeing where this was going, but he invited her inside for a moment, guiding her back to his bedroom and scooping up a new outfit for the child. As he plopped Raimi on the bed and began to change the toddler's clothes, his hands steady and quick despite the tension, he pointed to a stuffed bear along the wall, which was just about the same size as Raimi. Freya smiled faintly. "Perfect - hand me his clothes."

It took her little time to pull the clothes onto the bear, pulling up the hood on the sweatshirt that Raimi had been wearing and turning the bear against her; from behind, the toy now looked like Raimi, particularly if viewed from any distance. Light came up in Conan's eyes. 'Now I understand,' he signed, hefting the newly-dressed Raimi onto his hip and grabbing up a blanket to keep the child warm, as well as a few other essentials that he stuffed into his worn backpack. That done, he and Freya both headed for the door, and the young woman stood by as the older brother tucked Raimi into his carseat, and she took the opportunity to explain quietly, "I'll stay for a few seconds after you leave; if Lanny sees me leaving here with this bear, and no vehicles in the driveway, he will assume that I did not find you here, and will follow me. That will spare you a few extra minutes to get where you need to go, and I will be able to lose him with ease in the wild lands. Are you headed out to Plank Road?" The teen nodded, realizing this time that there was no time to ask her how she knew these things, if they wanted to escape. And Freya went on, "Good - I believe it may be safest for you there. When I am certain that I have not been followed, I will join you there and explain everything. Be safe." He nodded again, and she took this opportunity to whistle - a few hundred yards away, a large gelding strode out of the treeline at the edge of the field at the back of the property, and trotted toward them, his silver-based, black-dappled coat shining in the cold light, but ideal for camoflauge in the forest areas of the valley. He trotted tamely toward Freya and stopped at her side - he was saddleless and reinless, but then Conan remembered that Freya never used tack, so he wasn't surprised. Now, they only had to wait for Summer to finish getting ready.

Summer & Collin

For what worth it was, Summer had called Ryan as she went about packing a few things away for their emergency trip. Unable to tell him where they were going, and not wanting to anyway since the police cruiser would almost certainly give their hiding spot away if it was spotted going too and from the location, Summer settled for warning him about the houses that she thought the Zelkovii's would hit. He'd pressed for more information, such as how they'd gotten Raimi back, and had urged them to go the police deparment instead of fleeing, but Summer had calmly declined, leaving her trust in Conan and his mystery friend.

It didn't take her very long to get two bags stuffed full of items; some clothing, food, and basic necessities. By now, she'd also briefly explained to Collin what was going on, and he grabbed a bag to help gather things up in as well. "Please be careful, Freya, Laurence won't hesitate to use a gun on you." Summer gave the girl this warning after she'd heard the plan that Freya had devised, and watched the clever dressup of the doll. It might be just enough to lure Lanny away and spare their house long enough for Ryan to arrive and keep the Zelkovii's at bay. "Conan, are you ready? I've got some food for Raimi and ourselves. Here-" She handed the boy a notepad with a pen clipped to it, as she moved outside to get in the vehicle, "-you can right the instructions to the house here." Being the driver, she wouldn't have the time to read his signing, and Collin wasn't fluent enough in the silent language to help out. With that all taken care of, and with little time to waste, they waited only for Conan and Raimi to hop into the car before Summer sped off for Plank road.

Freya*Others

"Not to worry," Freya answered, shifting her weight a little so that she could mount up. Her height increased significantly by her tall gelding, the young woman murmured, "I'm bulletproof." And she bopped her hand on her midsection, which would give off a slight clanking sound - apparently, Freya had access to bullet-proof armor, somehow. "You don't believe that I would have bearded them in their den without some protection, and Laurence upstairs?" she asked, and then returned her eyes to Conan. "Go on... I'll meet you sometime tonight." It took very little encouragement from her to get the teen to slide into the back next to Raimi's toddler-seat, as he went about quickly scribbling down the directions in those familiar block letters.

Summer & Collin

That made the woman feel a little better, in knowing that Freya seemed to know what she was doing and was taking all of the necessary precautions. Now that it was clear that this was a definite ally of Conan's, it took no more than that knowledge to trust her as they had the teen. "We'll be waiting." Summer wanted to say more and to express her thanks, but they were cutting it close as it was - Lanny was due to arrive any minute now. Saying no more than that, she pulled out of the drive and took to the back roads on her way to Plank road, trying to avoid the main streets where they had more potential to run into an enemy.