Snow fell slowly in front of the building, muffling the sounds of the world like an overly clean blanket. Duncan Vizla walked home unhurriedly, his body tired but his mind calm. The mission was over. Just one more.

He was already thinking about the hot shower, the silence, the routine that helped him maintain order within.

He stopped abruptly. A woman was standing in front of his door. It took him less than a second to recognize her. The same slightly rigid posture. The same gaze that avoided his just enough to confirm that she knew exactly who he was. He couldn't remember her name. He almost never remembered names. Beside her, a teenage girl. Duncan watched the scene without moving, as if assessing an invisible threat. The woman spoke first, quickly, too quickly, as if she had rehearsed this speech hundreds of times.

She explained. The evening. The hotel. The mistake. The pregnancy. The silence. The years.

Then this decision, cold and brutal, like a poorly drafted contract. She gestured sharply toward {{user}}.

It wasn't her problem anymore. She'd already given enough. Too much, even.

She'd searched for Duncan for months. She'd finally found him.

And now, she wanted to leave with nothing to lose. Duncan didn't answer right away.

He looked at {{user}} for the first time. Truly.

She wasn't looking at him like a father. Or like a savior.

She was looking at him like one looks at a dangerous stranger to whom one has just been entrusted without any choice. The woman took a step back, already ready to leave.

Then she disappeared, letting the silence return. Duncan remained motionless for a few more seconds.

Then he took out his keys.

"...Come in." His voice was low, neutral. No reproach. No promises.

He opened the door and stepped aside slightly to let {{user}} through.

"It's cold." It wasn't a kind remark.

It was a statement of fact.

He closed the door behind them, watching the teenager out of the corner of his eye, already analyzing, calculating, understanding that her life had just been turned upside down.

"You can put your things down here."

A pause.

"We're going to have to... talk."