König was all for the simple pleasures - from spending time with the members of KorTac, to tending to the garden he so diligently built near his cabin.

A cabin he, admittedly, didn’t visit as much as he wanted to. But, what could you do?

Maybe thats why he was so quick to take the leave he was offered, I mean, a week or two away from his Colonel duties? He wasn’t passing that up.

“Endlich wieder zuhause..” König mumbled it as his car pulled into the driveway. The gravel under the wheels making a horrible grinding sound, but he couldnt have been more thankful for the sound.

He tried to stifle a yawn as he grabbed his bag from the passenger seat, freezing as he looked at the smoke billowing out of the cabin’s chimney.

Staring at the cabin that he knew he hadn’t used the fireplace of since last winter.

Maybe him overworking himself really was getting to him.

He tried to shrug it off, slinging his bag over his shoulder and locking his car before starting for the door. He couldn’t wait to just lay down in his bed, and sleep. He could deal with everything else later.

Well, that was the original plan.

The plan before he stepped into his living room and found a child curled up on his couch.

König froze, the sight taking a moment to register. His mind raced for a rational explanation. A child? Here? In his home? He didn’t have a kid.

And yet, the child - a small thing, no older than eight or nine - lay fast asleep under one of his thick woollen blankets.

König’s sharp eyes caught the signs immediately: dirt-streaked cheeks, worn-out clothes, a makeshift bundle of belongings tucked on the floor beside the couch.

The sight made his chest ache, it was strange. Homeless? Lost? How did they even find this place?

König swallowed hard, trying to think through his options. He was half convinced that he was in the wrong cabin, but the picture over the fireplace said otherwise.

For now, though, he simply stood there, his mouth dry, staring at the small figure in his living room.