Moonspear A bug in the system

A smile flashed across Gannet's face as his eyes swept to her. Liffey shut her eyes, taking a moment to allow relief to wash over her. She took his enthusiasm as a sign that he was not too seriously injured and for that, she was desperately thankful. She looked at him again, her smile gentle though still tense as she glanced briefly at Hydra. There seemed to be no malice in the girl's tone as she greeted her - only exhaustion. Her heart tightened painfully as she thought of Galaxy again and her smile faltered. She dropped her gaze respectfully as she moved to close the remaining gap between herself and Gannet. She reached to sniffle at his nose affectionately before settling down at his side, careful to avoid his apparently broken leg.

"I'm so sorry to hear about Galaxy. I...," Liffey said softly, emotion hitching in her throat. She truly had liked the child - probably the first she'd ever encountered that had won her affection so easily. She took a moment to collect herself before saying finally with a gentle shake of her head, "She was good". The happy, imaginative, sweet little girl did not deserve to die so young with so much left to give to the world, and to learn and experience from it.

It pained her even more to think that Titmouse might somehow be responsible. She refused to believe that if her little brother had been responsible that it had been intentional. The boy could be bad-tempered and sour at times, but he was not a killer. He was, however, not the brightest, and she could stretch her imagination enough to accept that he may be capable of inadvertently causing someone's death.

That, of course, was of no consolation to her. But that didn't mean she wasn't desperate to know the truth, so Liffey raised her eyes to Gannet, questioning silently what had happened. As kids, they had barely ever needed words to communicate - it was one of their special gifts. Many months had gone by since those days, but Liffey didn't doubt for even a second that her friend would know her language still.