Over the last several hours, Marie had to have felt every emotion on the spectrum: confusion, anger, shock, reassurance, fear, hope and relief chief among them. Really, she didn't know what to feel anymore, and for once, she was ok with that. Her tumultuous state over the past day and a half nearly cost both her and Callie everything, at this point she was just glad that everything was working itself out. It was just like Gramps, the old fart, to somehow manage to reach out to them at that moment. It was like he could sense that things were going bad back home and he just had to say something about it.

The memory of that call still made her tear up. His words for her, the confidence and trust, it was moving in a way entirely unique to him. More than that though, the clear message to all three of them was the kick she needed to get over herself. Like he said, she'd been putting her brain in the wrong place, ignoring the person right in front of her in favor of Gramps.

After that, it only took one nudge from her cousin to turn back and sit with Agent Three. Riding on that moment of painful catharsis, they'd agreed to sit down and talk. No tricks, no acts, no icebreaker questions, nothing but an honest back and forth between them all. For Gramps.

And clam it, Marie was going to have to give that old man the biggest hug and more crabby cakes than he could ever eat, because he was right. Quinn was a genuinely cool squid. He was smart, direct, responsible, practical, and very intelligent. He even shared her penchant for dry humor and witty banter, but where Marie herself would turn away from things to find another path, he would set his shoulders and meet whatever was before him with a grim, unshakable determination.

There wasn't any possible way to say he didn't care about Gramps. It was glaringly obvious that he loved the old man the same way she did, and if she had to guess, for all of the same reasons as her, too. She didn't know what, yet, but it was clear to her that his past had not been kind to him. Many of his tells felt hauntingly familiar to her; between the pushback against authority and the frantic need to be self reliant, she could see too much of her past self in him. It only made sense that Gramps's unbridled love for the world would find its way to the boy who needed it the most.

If the message was anything to go by, the affection wasn't a one way thing either. She knew her grandfather's tone of voice, he meant every word he said to Quinn with nothing but sincerity. His stories made it sound like Gramps had been significantly more active than the last time she'd seen him; regularly traveling and cooking for the both of them alone was more activity than she'd seen him doing in the months before they went on tour. Learning how the two had grown close was one of the most reassuring things Marie had ever heard.

It was almost comical how quickly Marie's opinion of him flipped. She'd gone from his very existence souring her mood to feeling an almost familial desire to protect him in the span of a few hours. There wasn't really a solidified reason why her opinion shifted so drastically. Maybe it's how I'd have felt about him if we'd met on good terms. Regardless, Marie wanted to do right by him now, in whatever form that took.

It was a hard battle winning his trust; whatever happened in his past left the poor boy so on edge and so afraid of trusting anyone that it's a wonder Gramps managed to get through to him at all. It hurt her hearts the way he practically latched onto them after they 'proved' that they cared. He didn't even realize he was doing it. Poor kid has been alone for so long, he's DESPERATE for any affection.

Callie knew it too, confirmed by a quick sign exchange when Quinn stepped out to get a drink of water. They both agreed that they'd give him what he needed in a heartbeat, though they'd each do it in their own way.

So, the trio spent hours talking, covering the ground and getting onto the same page, and it had to be one of the most comfortable thing's Marie had done in recent memory. (Granted, recent memory is one of the most grueling tours the industry had ever seen, but I digress.) Being able to sit and talk with Callie and someone else without having to hide anything was just nice. There wasn't a better way to describe things, it was simply a good feeling.

The first time the conversation lapsed, Callie took the opportunity to apologize for something they really should have a long time ago. "We are really sorry, Quinn. We wanted to be here the night you called. Really, we could have been if we tried, but with the tour being so popular, and the amount of setup that the entire thing took..."

Marie jumped in where Callie trailed off. "It would have been career suicide for us. Not that everything here isn't important, but we didn't have any information to go off of, and while it may not be Agent work, being such big figures really is an important job...." Both Squid Sisters trailed off as they looked at Quinn.

Frankly, he just looked confused. "On tour...?" His eyes squinted while he studied them.

Marie could see the moment he made the connection. With a smirk, she reached back and bunched her tentacles in a way that mimicked the bow she wore them in when performing.

He stared back, jaw hanging open in shock. "You're the Squid Sisters!?" He didn't shout, but there was a gravity of disbelief to his voice that showed how shocked he really was.

"Yup! That's us!" Callie did a little wiggle as she held her chin out, framing it with her hands and pretending to be vain.

Marie rolled her eyes. Eh, but it'd be fun to push things a little bit. She reached over and brushed Callie's shoulder, getting her cousin's attention. A single sign, pose, and they were both on their feet, striking their iconic "Stay Fresh!" pose, dangling their wrists as they smiled at him.

"Are you a fan?" Marie asked as she sat back down.

"No." Quinn answered rather plainly.

Things were quiet for several seconds.

"Ah, well, can't win them all." Callie awkwardly laughed, thankfully breaking the tension. "Did you not recognize us with our tentacles down?"

Quinn scratched at that spot under his eye again. "The Captain didn't really leave any identifying information laying around, and I only really saw you guys on the news early in the mornings. For two weeks. Six months ago."

"That's... fair, actually. Though I'm surprised you haven't seen our faces everywhere." Marie fully turned to Quinn and gave him a playful smirk. "We're kind of a big deal, you know?"

"The power shortages have most of the store windows stuck on static displays, and I've never had the G for window shopping." He paused, mulling something over. "Though there were a few instances where The Captain said something like, 'It's my grandsquid's music,' I thought it was just the stuff you guys listened too, but no, he meant it literally."

That made Marie smile for real. "Oh, he definitely got a real kick out of that. I can so easily picture the way he'd have been smiling to himself."

"Oh!" Callie gasped. "The one where his eyes crinkle at the corners?"

"The same one that makes his entire beard shift upwards slightly?" Quinn asked, more curious than anything.

"That's the one!" Marie's smile turned sour. She wanted to see his smile, but things were... No matter. That's what we're here for, after all. He didn't just give us well wishes. The others seemed to share her sudden shift in mood. Callie's smile had turned smaller, and more reflective, and a new fire had lit itself in Quinn's eyes.

"If you two are ready," he started, "The Captain gave us a mission. Octavio's new weapon."

Callie and Marie both straightened up, flattening their faces and giving him a nod. Of the three of them, Quinn knew the most about the domes at this point, so it made sense that he would guide the conversation for the time being, to make sure they were all working with the same information.

"I believe in total, I have rescued 67 of the 98 missing zapfish." He said. "That's 67 potential weapons taken from them, but that still leaves thirty one."

"And you've been taking them one by one, right?" Callie spoke over a bottle of soda she'd produced from somewhere. "That's a lot of missions dude. Honestly, probably more combat encounters than we've had together."

"Gramps mentioned something about a, eh, 'stomper' thing?" Marie asked, swirling the tea in her mug before taking a sip.

"Right...." Quinn's posture straightened as he pulled himself to the edge of the couch. "About a week before I called you, I encountered a massive machine— a weapon, really— that nearly killed me. It was a massive box filled to the top with ink, that had just enough computing power inside of it to track my movements and hurl itself at me repeatedly. I survived because it was only smart enough to do that; I goaded it into smashing through the walls that were stopping me from escaping. After like, ten minutes of frantic movements, it impaled itself on a support beam, and I managed to pull the zapfish from it and escape, but it wasn't a pretty affair.

"Gosh... how big was it?" Callie asked, her eyes wide.

Quinn visibly hesitated. "The size of the cabin?"

"That's--"

"Including the back shed and concrete patch."

"Holy CRUD?!" Callie stared at him, dumbfounded.

Marie nearly choked on her tea, but managed to swallow without having to cough up her lungs. "That's ridiculous! And you said it was only powered by one zapfish?"

"A single zapfish, yes." Quinn sighed and looked away. "I wasn't joking when I said that each zapfish reclaimed was saving a significant number of lives."

Marie sat back in her chair. It was like every new piece of information was making her initial judgment of him feel even worse. He put up with all of that? He fought that and decided to keep going? I don't know if I could have done the same, honestly. (This is absolutely terrifying.)

Callie seemed to be reacting similarly, but something made her eyes widen. "WAIT! GRAMPS SAID--" She cut off, swallowing her words as fear clouded her face.

Quinn nodded grimly. "The only reason I beat the stomper was because it was a dumb enough machine that I could trick it. But this new thing isn't even autonomous."

"Octavio himself is going to be flying it!" Marie realized. (Oh cod, this just keeps getting worse!)

Quinn nodded, though it was clear he was thinking about something else.

Callie caught Marie's eye. "And that thing is powered by the great zapfish, so there's no chance we could wear it down or snatch it back before he powers it up. Ohh, this is bad, Marie, this is bad. How do we beat this thing?"

Marie's mind was spinning. "Is there any chance we could get to it before they arm it? Pull out some screws, weld some things together that aren't supposed to be, you know?"

"I doubt it, it'll be deep into the domes on its own. Even then that'd probably only buy us time. There's enough engineers down there they could comb the thing in a day and fix everything." Callie grabbed her head, like she was trying to push thoughts out of it. "We could... could we, ahh, I don't know!"

"How're they even going to get it onto the surface?" Marie did similar, leaning forward and putting a hand on her forehead. "The Great Zapfish is huge already, to build a stage around it, it's gotta be too big to move between the domes. Are they building it on the surface or something?"

"No chance." Callie shook her head. "We'd be able to find that in days. It's gotta be underground."

"Shit. What domes are close to the surface then? They've got to dig it out, there's no way they could get it through the caves."

"The stage." Quinn looked up and met their eyes. "We're not thinking about the stage."

"How so?" "What?" Both Callie and Marie question, and turn to look at him in sync.

"It's like The Captain said. Octavio is a showman. This isn't meant to be just a weapon, though it is very much that. It's a display of power. A show of force." Quinn's eyes sharpened as the thought. "A show of force."

"So he wants to put on a show... for what?" Marie asked, still trying to wrap her head around things.

"The soldiers haven't been happy," Quinn half-muttered. "I've heard the things they've been saying, hell, I can even tell in the way a lot of them fight, their morale is low."

Marie's eyes widened. "It's a power play, he's trying to bolster his soldiers..."

Callie snapped her fingers. "It's their big performing dome, near the center! That's where they're going to be!"

"Are you sure Cal? It's about as deep as the central dome itself."

"Nono, that's the caves around it. The actual entrance is much higher, and the roof of the dome even above that. It makes the most logistical sense, it's right by their headquarters, it's roomy as hell, very easy to secure, with only a single damaged spot high in the sky, and it's close enough to the surface they could dig their way out, especially with the cave around it."

"That makes sense." Quinn agreed with an off handed point of his fingers. "Ok, we know the what and the where, now, we just need the how."

Conversation slowed as everyone thought the situation over.

"Its safe to say there's going to be a crowd, he'll want his show to be seen..." Callie mused.

Marie shook her head. "I don't want to just start firing on the crowd unless we really have no other options. I don't think their respawner systems could handle that."

"Nono, I don't want that either, I was more thinking that there'd not be a place for you to set up because of the crowd."

"Damn, you're right. Gha, the more we look at this, the more it seems like it's going to be impossible to beat this thing!"

Silence fell for about a minute, until it was finally broken by Quinn. "Maybe... we don't have to beat it."

"Hmm?" Callie asked, tilting her head.

"You're very good at coming up with things we've not seen yet." Marie snarked.

"You're both thinking too inbounds still. We don't have to beat this new machine. We just have to beat Octavio." Quinn leaned back like he'd just dropped the biggest bomb of the conversation.

Marie shared a glance with Callie. "Uh, yeah? That's who we're trying to defeat here. Him and his mech thing."

He gave them both a questioning look. "Stage, showman, winning the hearts of his troops or whatever, all that?"

Callie and Marie shared another look. "Keep explaining, we're clearly not getting something."

"It's—" Quinn suddenly hesitated. "This isn't a trick, right? You're not handing me a 'win' to make me feel like part of the team or something, right?"

"Quinn, I promise you I have no idea what you're trying to say."

He nodded, twice, before drawing in a breath. "It's really simple, in concept at least. We just have to steal the show from him."

"I mean, splatting him would steal a lot of his thunder..." Callie added, still confused.

Quinn leveled a completely flat look at them. It was honestly impressive how unimpressed he was. He drew in a breath, before throwing his hands in the air. "You're the Squid Sisters!"

Oh my cod. Marie buried her head in her hands.

Callie burst out laughing. "Wow! That really does seem obvious once you hear it, right?"

"Yeah." Marie agreed, her voice muffled by her wrists. Marie curled herself more and more inwards, stretching out her muscles before suddenly shifting forms. She shifted back just as fast, her pose suddenly dignified again. "It really changes the perspective of the whole fight."

"Well, whadda ya say Marie? How's one extra show on the tour sound?" Callie playfully bumped her elbow into Marie's side a few times to drive the point home.

"I suppose there's one more Octoling city we've yet to visit, might as well try to see them all." Marie agreed with an easy sigh, putting her hand down to catch her cousin's elbow.

"Great!" Quinn clapped his hands together. "That's our plan. We'll work out the specifics in a bit. I think we'll need at least one more week of 'regular' attacks, just to keep the morale down."

"And get more zapfish." Callie quickly added.

"And get more zapfish." Quinn echoed with a nod. "What does our timeline look like?"

"Well, we have a splatfest performance coming up in about two weeks, so nothing on those two days, and then nothing big on the days around that." Marie noted. "Other than that, I can't think of anything major. We'll have to make it in to pre record a batch of news segments sometime near the end of every week, and probably schedule at least one rehearsal for the splatfest, but we can pencil that in whenever."

"Yeah, those usually aren't bad, just a few hours. That leaves a lot of room for missions and training!" Callie cheered, more enthusiastically than she probably should be for the mundane tasks .

"But not today, though. I'll bring my old training notes in from our apartment and compare them with yours, Quinn. That way we can see where our knowledge varies."

"Sounds good." Quinn gave a thumbs up in addition to his answer.

"Say, Quinn," Callie started, looking at him with curiosity in her eyes. "Are you living out of the cabin right now?" She blanched for half a second. "Not that there's anything wrong with that! We just thought you had a place in the city you were staying at, and that's why you didn't answer our calls!"

"I d—" Quinn froze, a look of horror crawling across his face.

"Quinn?"

His mouth moved, but no words came out. He tried again, "I... I haven't been there to pay rent since—" He cut off, taking a deep breath as his eyes unfocused.

He spent so long underground he lost his apartment then? I guess we can't fault him for a lack of dedication.

Callie was out of her chair and by his side in an instant. "Oh no! Is there any chance you could talk to your landlord and move back in?"

Hitched breaths followed a shake of his head. "No, it's a newcomer complex. Two missed payments and— oh, my couch!"

"Couch?" Callie asked as she settled next to him, offering her comfort.

He took her offer instantly, letting her pull him into a side hug. "I worked for four months to get that thing..." He explained with a shaky voice. "It's the first big thing that's ever been mine, and now it's—"

While Callie pulled him close and offered her condolences, Marie grabbed her cousin's phone from the small table between their chairs. What does he mean by 'newcomer complex?' A quick Inkit search later and she had her answer. Apparently, there was a whole subset of apartment complexes targeted specifically at kids moving to the city on their own. They all had a comparatively low rent, but a whole host of incredibly strict guidelines and requirements they all thr residents had to abide by. It was a borderline predatory practice, locking kids who didn't know or couldn't afford better into poorly maintained buildings for years.

One of the caveats was that for too many failed payments, the tenant would be immediately evicted, and anything they owned within the apartment was repossessed to be sold by the owners to recoup losses. Reading that alone was enough to make Marie's blood boil. Where do they sell this crap at? Oh, there's like an actual auction place, er, well, three sites total.

She looked up to the duo on the couch. Quinn looked devastated, but determined to hold things together. Callie seemed sad by proxy, holding him as he fought his emotions. She caught Callie's eye, and flashed the sign for talk to her, and got a nod in response.

"I take it you've been staying at the cabin between your missions?" Marie asked, catching Quinn's attention. He nodded, but didn't speak. Marie nodded in turn. "I don't see any reason why that can't continue, so don't stress about keeping a roof over your head, alright? Cal can I have a word with you for a moment, down the hall?"

"Oh, sure." Callie gave Quinn a final squeeze, before untangling herself from the hug.

Marie was already walking down the hallway, into the spare room she's slept so many nights in. It was just the same as it had been when she peeked inside yesterday: rearranged for a single occupant.

Callie followed a few moments later. "We're both thinking it, aren't we?"

Marie's eyes continued to drift around the room. There were a few bits of clothing she didn't recognize on the floor, all of them generic and incredibly cheap. "Letting Quinn stay with us?"

"Yeah! If he wants to, of course. I know he'd be willing to stay out at the cabin, but I really think he needs to be with people, not just encounter them. You've seen just how desperately he clings to us already, and we were all at each other's throats a few hours ago!"

Marie's gaze stopped when it landed on a small pile of books on the ground near the head of the bed. 'Basic zapfish care' sat amongst 'Octarian for dummies' and 'Learn Octarian in 30 days!' Did you buy these solely to prepare for your missions underground?

"You don't need to convince me, Cal, I'm with you. He needs good people in his life, and we can do that. We've got that spare room that we're not using for anything but storage that we can clean out for him."

"Ooo, good idea! Honestly, even if we didn't have it, I'd still try and get him to sleep on the couch. Eh, but our couch sucks for sleeping on, even upright, so maybe not."

"I actually had an idea about that!" Marie pulled the phone out of her pocket, and passed it to Callie. "I had to look this up, but long story short, his couch is probably being sold at one of these three places."

"They're selling it?" Callie scrolled through the page with her eyebrows cocked.

"Yeah, apparently there's a whole predatory apartment complex scam going on in Inkopolis. The moment he missed the second rent payment they could, and did, legally repossess everything that was still in the apartment."

Callie looked horrified. "That's messed up. Like, that's seriously messed up."

"It is." Marie agreed. "I want to go buy it back for him, along with the rest of his stuff. To try and make up for earlier."

"Which earlier?" Callie gave her a smirk. "But really, I think that's a great idea. It is our fault to some extent, and honestly after the tour I doubt the purchase will even show up in our bank, but it'd mean the world to him."

Marie smiled. "Ok, I'm thinking, that you take him into the city and warm him up to the idea of being around people again. While you do that, I'll search through all three of these sites for any lots with a couch and an inordinate amount of self help books. When we're both done, we'll meet back at the apartment, and try to convince him to stay with us."

"That sounds good! Maybe if we're lucky, he'll let us replace our garbo couch with his."

"Maybe... but that's up to him. Let's focus on getting things together for the time being." She paused as a final thought struck her. "I don't think Gramps would mind if I borrow his truck, do you?"

"For this? I think he'd insist you take it."

"Good point, let's move." With a final nod of confirmation, the pair walked back into the living room.

Quinn looked better, though there was still a sadness in his eyes. "Figure everything out?" He asked with a steady voice. Cod, no kid should be this good at hiding his emotions.

"Yup!" Callie offered him a smile, which he kind of, somewhat, offered back with a little raise of his lips. "We've got some errands to take care of, but—"

"I have errands to run." Marie corrected, giving Callie a frown. "You add two hours to every shopping trip, and I don't want to waste the time. How about you two go get lunch?"

Quinn didn't seem convinced. "We've already had food out today..."

"Welcome to Inkopolis, bro!" Callie gave him a thumbs up. "Especially with how busy we can get, fast food is a pretty common thing in our lives."

"What about all the breakfast food from earlier?" He asked, almost sounding concerned.

"We'll just toss that in the fridge and eat it later." Marie shrugged. "Now, go get ready, Callie's gonna treat you to lunch and that's not a choice!"

Quinn sat idly across from Callie as she absolutely went to town on a pair of burgers. He'd only gotten one of his own to appease her, even if he'd never admit it was a really nice meal. Even after they had smoothed everything over, he was still having trouble accepting the fact that they were just cool with him existing around them and taking their stuff. That wasn't something people just did. Not in real life, anyway. Maybe it was them trying to pay back all the work he did in the domes? That's the only thing that made any sense, even if he didn't think any of that needed paying back.

This was a bit further into the city than he usually traveled, since his apartment is— was on the other side of the city. Right. That was.

It was fine. He'd stay at the cabin until The Captain was rescued, and then he'd figure something out. That way he could put his full attention on rescuing him and saving Inkopolis from a war it couldn't fight. For now though, he simply sat, sipping water from his cup and watching the city through the windows.

At some point Callie swapped from two handing her burgers to texting with one hand. She caught his eye between bites and smiled. "Sorry, I know I'm not really making good conversation right now, I'm just trying to coordinate a few things with Marie."

"It's not an issue," Quinn replied on reflex.

She regarded him for a few seconds. "I'll take your word for it, but I want you to tell me if something ever is, ok? I know you're a pretty independent k— guy, but that doesn't mean you have to put up with something that bothers you." She grabbed his hand and gave him another smile. "I want you to be comfortable, Quinn. Tell me if something bothers you."

"You like smiling." He said without thinking.

She paused, caught off guard by his words. "I.. guess I do, don't I? I never really thought about it, to be honest. I can try and stop if you want me to, though it might take me a while."

"No... No, that's not... you don't have to stop." Quinn looked away, scratching at the underside of his eye. "It's nice, I'm just... not used to it."

Callie chuckled. "Well, you'll get used to it pretty fast with me around!" The smile she gave him this time was quite deliberate, and quite big.

He tried his best to smile back, as awkward as it felt. That made her eyes light up in a way that he'd only seen The Captain's do before. It made him feel good.

With one final motion, Callie finished off the last bite of her burger, and wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Well, you ready to go?"

"Go?"

"There's one more thing we'd like you to come to, and then you're free. Promise." Callie grabbed the tray from in front of him, and walked it to the trash while he stood. What else could they want with him? What more was there even to do in the city if they weren't shopping?

Internal debate wouldn't get him anywhere unfortunately, so he pushed his chair in and followed her to the door. Back outside, they worked their way into the never-ending stream of foot traffic, headed away from the city center he was so familiar with.

"So I've been wondering," Callie prompted as they walked. "I've not seen you pull out your phone once. Did you leave it in the cabin or something?"

"I don't have one."

"REALLY?" Callie wheeled towards him, but immediately backed away. "Sorry, sorry. Trying not to crowd you." She fidgeted awkwardly for a moment before returning to his side. "I never thought Marie'd find a kindred spirit like her!"

"I thought I called her phone that one night, did she lose it or something?"

"Naw, she's got an ancient flip phone. Real dinosaur of a thing." Callie's eyes narrowed. "You don't have a phone at all?"

Quinn shook his head.

"What if you need to call someone?"

"That's only happened once, and I can use the cabin phone."

"Hmm... What if you need to look something up? Like to win an argument or something?"

"I go to the library. They've got computers there anyone can use."

She looked at him like he'd grown a second head. "Don't you get bored though?"

He simply shrugged. "Happens, that's part of life."

Callie regarded him for a moment. "You're a strange guy, Quinn. I don't think there's anyone else our age like that."

Quinn shrugged again, because what do you say to that? "I've never had one before, or felt the need to get one. Not to mention the price, way beyond the spare G I've had on hand."

"Fair enough. Honestly, I kinda respect it. I could never, there's far too much stuff on here for me to ever give it up." Callie swiped through four pages full of apps Quinn couldn't ever dream of recognizing. He watched as she swapped through several of the apps, doing various things he couldn't recognize.

"...So, what do you actually do with a smartphone? I understand calling and texting, but what about—" he vaguely mined swiping at a phone with his hands— "the rest of it?"

"Ok, so check this out. I've got a bunch of games on here. A lot of em are puzzle games for when I get bored. And then I have this cute little one where I take care of a farm." She tapped her phone screen a few times before handing it to him. Indeed, on the screen was a small pixelated farm. Many of the different buildings had little text boxes with an exclamation mark in them.

"That looks... nice. I don't really, get why you'd do it, but." He said, handing her phone back.

"It's like, a sense of progression thing. It took me a year to get this far ya know? Plus, look at the cute little whales!"

"I didn't think whales were farm animals."

"They're not, but you can take care of them in this game! There's a bunch of things like it! There's even some based off of old human stuff!"

"That's... cute, I guess. I still don't really get it but that's nice at least."

"Hmm, let's see..." She tapped at the screen a few times. "I've got a lot of shopping apps, you can get a lot of discounts for stuff that way... lots of social media... oh, I have some classic games as well; Squid Jump, Squid racers, that whole little collection, you know?"

"I do actually! I had a little plug and play console with some of those when I was little." Quinn looked at the icons for the apps, the little pixel characters bringing back a rare fond memory. "It's been forever since I played any of them."

"Really!? We could totally play sometime if you want!"

"That... might be fun." He looked up at her and tried his best to smile.

She gave a little gasp of excitement, and pulled him into a hug. He hugged back for a moment before she let him go. Conversation stalled after that, giving Quinn's mind all the space it needed to cloud over with doubts about the future.

What the hell was he going to do about the apartment thing? It's pretty clear he was being kicked out of the cabin as soon as they saved The Captain, and he had no intentions of stalling that mission to keep a roof over his own head. Not to mention his stuff. When the other Agents were done showing him whatever this was, he'd need to try and hunt it down. There's no chance he could beg it back, but he might be able to get whatever place has it to put it on hold for him long enough that he could earn the G through turf.

But if he did that, not only would he lose time on the mission to playing turf games, he didn't have anywhere to actually keep his stuff. The books and stuff could be put in a locker somewhere, but the couch would be the biggest problem.

"Here we are!" Callie announced, gesturing dramatically at the building in front of them.

At some point while he was lost in thought, they had wandered into the historic district. He thought she might have been leading him back to the library to check on the zapfish from last night, but that didn't seem to be the case.

"C'mon, Marie's waiting for us." She waved him forward as she walked towards the door.

The inside was surprisingly plain. A few chairs, a wall mounted TV surrounded by some inoffensive art, and a front desk. Like promised, Marie was waiting inside, talking to the kid behind the receptionist's desk.

"Hey, there you are Cal! I was worried you guys got lost or something."

"Nah, just taking our time. Hey Chuck!"

"Heya Callie! Welcome back!" Chuck paused long enough to peer over towards Quinn. It was... weird, being studied by someone near his own age. There was a serious intent behind his gaze like he was really measuring Quinn up. "Brought a friend?"

"This is Quinn," Marie held her ID out to Chuck as she answered. "We want to give him full clearance to our place."

"Can do! I'll get that all in the system in a little bit, you guys are good for now."

"Thanks!" Callie cheered, giving him a fist bump before turning towards the elevator. Marie ushered Quinn along waving to Chuck as they stepped inside.

"So, that was Chuck." Callie explained as the doors closed. She said more, but it was drowned out when the elevator car suddenly started shaking like there was a rocket thrusted under it. Reached an arm out to steady himself, but the walls of the elevator were shaking just as bad as the floor, giving him nothing stable to hold onto. Only months of athletics drills let him keep his feet underneath him at all. Between the flashing lights, he could tell that neither of the other Agents were phased by the trip in the slightest.

The elevator's sudden stop, announced by a loud clunk, was the only thing that knocked off their balance. Quinn only stayed standing because he happened to have a hand on the wall.

"Oh, yeah. Forgot to warn you about the elevator." Marie looked at him with a grimace. "Sorry, I forget how bad it is, I've gotten used to it."

Quinn just nodded, and focused on keeping his body from shaking due to adrenaline. As a distraction, he looked around to try and get his bearings. The building was ridiculously simple, only a single hallway bisecting the entire thing, with rooms evenly spaced throughout on either side. It was strange, it kind of reminded him of his own apartment. His nerves had mostly settled by the time they were at the end of the hallway, stopping them in front of a door with the label '403' on the outside. Both Callie and Marie hesitated, seemingly unsure about something. Marie gave in first, relenting with a sigh and unlocking the door.

Quinn followed Callie inside, but stopped in the doorway. He was expecting... well, he didn't know what he was expecting. A secret training ground, or an old ally of The Captain's, or even a hidden bar or something. He wasn't prepared for what was quite plainly Callie and Marie's apartment.

"Welcome home!" Marie cheered, lamely putting her arms up as she showed off the place. Callie smiled and mimicked her.

What. What do they... Oh. They just wanted him to know where to find them if he needed them for whatever reason. That made sense. "Nice place." He looked around for a moment, before nodding. "Alright, I know where to find you guys now, thanks for the info. I'll... I'm gonna—"

"No, wait!" It was Marie who called out, stumbling forward to grab his hand. "Will you come inside, for a moment? We have something to show you."

"Sure..." Of course there'd be more to it. Now he just felt bad for trying to run off. Quietly, he closed the door behind him as he stepped the rest of the way inside.

There was so much stuff in the little apartment, it was almost overwhelming. Nearly every single spare centimeter of the wall was covered by something, be it DvD racks, pictures, art, more pictures, hanging lights, more art, or more pictures. It didn't feel like he was inside an apartment, there was too much... them inside for it to be just that. It was a lot more like the cabin; comfortable, welcoming, and familiar. Nothing like anywhere else he'd ever stayed before.

"You like it?" Callie asked with a hopeful smile.

"It's very busy. Very comfortable." He said, because he didn't know what else to say.

"Ha, yeah. We tried to make it our own."

"I didn't really have a place of my own to decorate when I was young." Marie admitted, looking shy. "I got out of that situation, thanks to my aunt, but even then I moved into Callie's space. It was better, but it wasn't mine, so when we moved, we may have gone a bit... overboard."

"But it's home!" Callie wrapped her arm around Marie.

"It is." Marie agreed, smiling as the nervous energy seemed to leave her body. With her newfound confidence, she turned and stepped over to the kitchen area, where there was a lot of stuff piled up on the dining room table.

His stuff.

Quinn's stuff.

The stuff from his apartment that had all been taken. His bowls and spoons. His nice towels and the drying rack for his dishes. His spare clothes, turf clothes, and even the backpack he brought with him when he first moved out. It was all there. Well, almost all there.

"It was sold as a lot, so that should be everything." Marie explained, stepping back beside him. "Tell me if anything's missing, ok? I just need one reason to juice that sleazy bastard."

His eyes darted over everything on the table. It was all accounted for; his books, alarm clock, blankets, everything, except for one item. "Did it come with my couch?"

Marie smiled at him, and walked over to the window, gesturing for Quinn to follow. In the parking lot behind the complex was his couch, sitting in the back of The Captain's ancient pickup truck.

He pulled back from the window. Distantly, a part of him was getting tired with just how many times he'd been left utterly dumbfounded in the last two days. His stuff was fine. Everything he'd worked for was still there. It was still his.

"I... thank you." Was all he managed. While the Squid Sisters giggled behind him, he turned to look out the window again. Unfortunately, his mind started tallying all the logistical problems immediately. Most of his stuff, he could box up and keep in lockers somewhere, but the couch was big enough that he'd need to rent a proper facility to store it, and that didn't come cheap in the heart of the city.

"I don't know if I can pay you guys back..."

"Aw, you sweet thing! You don't have to worry about any of that." Callie reassured.

He shook his head. "Seriously, this is too much. I don't know how to help."

"Quinn, you don't have to pay it back." Marie insisted. "I'm serious, this isn't a problem for us. It's shrimpshit what happened to you, and we had the means to help out. Really, don't worry about it."

"No, you don't get it. I have to pay it back. You're doing too much for me I can't, I won't be able to pay it off."

"I don't want you to take it back." Marie turned her head to the side slightly, giving him a side eye. "I want you to take your stuff back because it's yours."

"People don't just do things for each other." Quinn spit. "There's a trade off. That's how the world works. You don't do this much for someone and not expect something back."

Callie and Marie stopped, and shared a look. "No, it's not. That's how business works, but people aren't business."

Quinn stared at them dumbfounded. "Are you seriously saying you got me food twice today because you're nice? That you bought back literally everything I own and are just giving it to me, because you're nice?"

"Why is it so hard to believe?" Callie asked, her voice more curious than anything.

"That's not how things work!"

"What about charities? They give stuff to people without expecting repayment."

Quinn shook his head. They really didn't get it. "You're only supposed to take charity if you can turn around and pay it back later, after you get reestablished. It's why we never took any. Maybe it's because they're famous. It made sense they wouldn't really get things like this.

Marie put a hand on her hip. "Did Gramps make you pay him back?"

"I cleaned the cabin after every night I stayed."

"What about the food? You and him ate together a lot, you said."

"That was all leftovers! I only ate the stuff he'd have to throw out otherwise."

Callie put a hand halfway up, before changing her mind, leaving it half hanging in the air. "That's a lot of leftovers for a single old dude."

"He was too used to shopping for you guys. He kept buying too much stuff whenever something was on sale, so there was always something that was about to be tossed."

"What?" Now both of them looked confused. "Quinn, we ate dinner with Gramps like, twice a month at most."

"Huh?"

Callie stepped forward, and gently grabbed his hand. "Quinn. I think he was lying so you'd accept his help."

Quinn looked into her eyes, genuinely lost. "I don't— It doesn't— why?"

"He cares about you, Quinn."

That... "Yeah, I was his only agent at the time, it makes sense he'd— "

"No." Marie cut in, stepping close to him. "Gramps didn't care about 'Agent Three' Quinn, he cared about you. You, Quinn. He wanted you to have a place to sleep. He wanted you to have warm, filling meals every day. He wanted you to feel like you had a person you could trust."

That's not true. That doesn't make sense. Nothing works like that. Dozens of other retorts like that died on his lips. With a shaking voice, only one made it through, "How do you know?"

"Because I want that crap too, Quinn." Marie met his eyes, her gaze softening. "I don't know what kind of life you've lived up to this point, but I know what you're thinking, and I need you to listen to me." She took his hand from Callie, and grabbed the other, clasping them between her own. "You are worth something. You deserve care, and love, and attention. Your needs are as important as everyone else's. You are not lesser. People care about you. We care about you."

Marie suddenly looked away, as a flood of emotions washed over her face. Her grip on his hands tightened for a moment, and she took a single shuddering breath, before looking back.

Her voice was much less composed when she spoke next. "Nobody should think so little of themself. I know the feeling, Quinn. It's wrong, and I don't want anyone else to have to suffer it, so I'm not going to sit here and let you keep thinking that, ok?

It sounded nice. It sounded so nice. It was everything he'd wanted; the kind of thing that only happened in stories and movies. It seemed unrealistic, no, it seemed impossible, that someone would just do that, much less for him.

...But then again, the Squid Sisters had already done the impossible, hadn't they? Just earlier today, they'd completely blindsided him, listening to his side of the story, and trying to understand everything that had happened. Apologizing, and (seeming like) they actually, legitimately meant it.

Had The Captain really been doing that for him the whole time? The old man had been nothing short of saintly, always patient, willing to listen, willing to help. Quinn wanted to deny it, but on a deep level, he knew he wouldn't have accepted a single shred of anything from the man if it had been presented to him head on. Did The Captain really care enough about him to keep up that act for months? All that effort just to do nice things for him?

Quinn looked up. Callie and Marie were watching him, nothing but compassion and patience in their eyes. When they saw him looking, they both smiled at him. Really, genuinely smiled at him. No performance, no layers. It reminded him of The Captain, the way it made his entire world feel better just having seen it.

In that moment, he was suspended between two worlds: The old one he was so familiar with, with its cold, clear rules, transactional interactions, and very clear, and solitary, picture of the future. The new one offered by Callie and Marie, was different; open, caring, uncertain, but not alone.

Quinn knew which one he would rather live in.

Without a word, he lurched forward, wrapping his arms around both Callie and Marie; tears pouring from his eyes for the thousandth and first time in two days.

"Woah!" "Oof!" They cried, caught off guard by his sudden move. Marie recovered first, putting her arm down and gently patting his back. Callie wrapped her arm around him, returning the hug.

"Please don't be lying" He murmured, voice clogged with tears.

"Never," Callie promised, tightening her grip.

"Not to you." Marie reassured, gently rubbing circles in his back.

Quinn pulled them in tighter, too overwhelmed with emotion to say anything else.

"Welcome home, Quinn."