Chapter 1:

(Four years later)

“Let’s see here….just gotta grab some cold cuts, pasta, and bread from the Hill and we’re all set.”
Adder24 raised a brow at Alpha as the two got into the car, the brunette shoving a list into her jean pocket, turning the car on which greeted the two with the chorus of Danielle Peck’s ‘Finding a Good Man’.
“The what now?”
“Federal Hill; little Italian community in Providence,” Alpha explained. “We call it the Hill for short, They have great food: homemade breads and pastas, gelato, candies, imported cheeses and cold cuts, any kind of baked good you can imagine…”
Adder24 chuckled. “You Italians and food,”
“Food means love; if a man slaves over a pot of sauce, he expects you to eat it. It’s like an unofficial Italian rule or something,” Alpha explained, driving out of the parking lot.
“You Italians have a lot of unofficial rules,” Adder24 joked.
“It’s an Italian thing…I swear…”

Federal Hill was a small, Italian community in the heart of Providence. An archway with a pineapple hanging from the middle served as the gateway to the small Italian community, shops, apartments, and restaurants lining the streets on both sides. Names like ‘Vendor Ravioli’, ‘Pastiche Fine Desserts’, ‘Palmeri’s Bakery’, and ‘Tony’s Colonial Food Store’ stood out. People sat outside shops or deli, eating and watching the cars and people drive by. Alpha drew up to a small spot up against the shop saying ‘Tony’s’, parking and getting out.
“Why’s everyone staring?” Adder24 asked.
“Italian past time; people watching,” Alpha said. “You get used to it. My aunt would watch people go up and down the street and report back on the events. It’s just something we do. Even I’m guilty of it. We go to Universal and Disney and while we’re having a snack at a bakery, my dad and I watch the people go by. I don’t know why we do it, we just do. We’re feakanozzes,” Alpha said. Adder24 raised her brow.
“Oh…it means ‘nosy’ in our dialect. My great-grandparents moved from Abruzzi, so we speak with their dialect and slang.”
Adder24 nodded as they entered the deli saying Tony’s. The smell was overwhelming; the sharp, smoky aroma of deli meats and cheeses, the rich smell of the homemade sauces and pastas. Alpha grabbed a red shopping basket, going down the isles made of stainless steel racks, piled high with jars, packages, and cans, almost all in Italian.
“Do all these shops smell like this? Smells like a kitchen,” Adder24 said as Alpha scanned the shelves, pulling down jars of sauce and olives, grabbing a bag of Italian biscotti.
“Some do. The deli’s mostly. Next door is a real deli and bakery. All homemade breads; smells great,” Alpha replied, pulling down a box labeled ‘torrone’.
“Can you read this?” Adder24 asked, finally.
“A little…I took three years in high school and some in college. I can get by. But this is like a nougat candy with almonds. It’s good. However, it’s mostly an Easter thing, so I can’t get it homemade right now. Thought Shade might like it,”
“Shade eats anything sweet,” Adder24 said with a smile.
“Oh, good. This stuff will get stuck in his teeth though…”
“Even better.”
Alpha smiled, dumping the blue box into her basket, approaching the counter. A short woman came up to her and they exchanged pleasantries in Italian before Alpha gave the woman her order. One pound of provolone, a sharp, creamy cheese; half pound prosciutto, a rich, smoky Italian ham; a pound of fresh, milky mozzarella; four cheese-stuffed shells; four cheese manicottis; two chocolate chip cannolis. The woman brought the order to the register and rung the woman up. Alpha paid her and took the heavy brown bags, Adder24 forcefully taking the heaviest of the two – stating that as a guest she had to help – before bringing them to the car, loading them into the trunk.
“Stocking up?” Adder24 asked.
“Yeah; the pasta’s for supper tonight. You’ll love it. This is real Italian food, better than that Olive Garden crap…”
Adder24 wisely said nothing; she was vaguely aware of the Italian hatred of the Italian restaurant. She didn’t really know why (Alpha had scoffed and said it wasn’t homemade or ‘real’, just pasta), and wisely kept her mouth shut to prevent Alpha’s rant.
They crossed the street, entering another deli, which also functioned as a bakery. Loaves of bread were cooling behind the counter, the room filled with a rich, earthen scent from the brick ovens. Alpha exchanged pleasantries with the man behind the counter (once again, in Italian), and placed her order of two, large Sicilian loaves – a hearty bread with hard crust with a soft interior – and a loaf of soft Italian. The breads were brown bagged and handed to her. She paid and the two left, placing the bags in the trunk. Already, the smell of meat and cheese was soaking permanently into the trunk, leaving a pleasant aroma.
“Do you mind if I grab a carrot cake?” Alpha asked, closing the trunk. “There’s this bakery that I used to go to when I was little and they made the best carrot cakes. I haven’t had one in years.”
Adder24 chuckled at her friend’s nostalgic side. “Sure, why not? Maybe I can bring something back for Adder. Lord knows he deserves something special.”

The bakery smelt strongly of sugar, frosting, baking cookies and cakes. The three woman welcomed them warmly. Alpha pleasantly talked with them before getting down to business. One of the women gave her two small squares of carrot cake before heading into the back to wrap up Alpha’s order. She handed a square to Adder24, smiling.
“Try it,” she said, before finishing off her square off, smiling happily, seemingly to enjoy her childhood memories. Adder24 shrugged, smiling, before eating hers.
“Not bad,” she said. “It’s not sweet like I imagined…cream cheese frosting?”
“Yep.”
There was a sudden squeal and Alpha looked up, only to be tackled by a female figure, almost knocking her to the floor.
“ALPHY!” the woman squealed, happily.
“Oh my god! Truth!? Is that you?”
The woman laughed; she had short, unruly dark chocolate brown hair with matching eyes, red highlights sticking out in patches of her hair. She wore dark, black rimmed square glasses, framing her eyes perfectly. Her dark blue jeans were torn at the hem, her converse sneakers faded from wear. She wore a black t-shirt, and over that was a black sweatshirt featuring Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas in pink on the back, the movie title stitched in pink on the right breast. Two black spiked earrings stuck from her earlobes, giving her the look of a punk rocker.
“I can’t believe it’s you, Alphy!” the girl said.
“Same here! Oh, Addsy, this is my best friend, Blind Truth. We’ve been pals since first grade. Truth, this is Adder24,”
“Oh, you’re her friend from England?” Truth asked. Alpha nodded and she smiled.
“Nice to meet you,” she said, offering her hand.
“Likewise,” Adder24 said, pleasantly, taking the girl’s hand. Truth smiled.
“Pleasure to meet any of Alpha’s friends,” Truth said.
The woman returned with the cake and Alpha quickly floated to the counter to pay for her cake.
“Carrot cake?” Truth asked with a smile.
“Yep,”
“Should have known. That girl’s addicted to carrot cake…well, carrots in general,” Truth said with a laugh. “So, how long have you known Alpha?”
“Well, I met Alphy online. We met by chance and became good friends. I came over four years ago to meet her, and I’ve been coming over at least twice a year. Usually for a few weeks.”
Truth nodded. “That’s cool.”
Alpha returned with a big, white box. “You wanna come over for dinner?” Alpha asked. “I haven’t seen you since you went to Long Island for college,”
“I know. I moved back here. Missed all our old friends. And of course I’ll stay! We need to catch up, and I need to get to know your friend here,” Truth said in such a warm and pleasant way the made Adder24 grow an instant liking to her.
“That’s great,” Alpha said with a smile.
“So long as you have something vegetarian,” Truth said, smiling. “Wanna make sure I’m not eating Wilbur or Bambi’s mom,”
“Nope, no Bambi’s mom on the menu tonight,” Alpha said with her dry, almost odd, sense of humor. “But is cheese-stuffed pastas okay?”

Truth walked down with the two, chatting away. Adder24 couldn’t help but laugh at the two. They almost seemed like they were reverted back to high school girls by the sight of each other, exchanging ‘did-she-marry’ and ‘whatever-happened-to’ stories.
It was when Alpha was placing the cake in the car that Adder24 noticed him. It was hard not to with his piercing red eyes.
“Adder?” she asked. The blonde-haired man jumped, turning to the woman.
“Addsy? Why are?”
Adder was a reaper, a victim of a nuclear bomb being dropped on him. He didn’t remember much of his past, nor his name, hence ‘Adder’. He was busy staring up at the sky. Adder24 felt that if he had a ring on, waving it to call down flying saucers, it would look more normal.
“I’m visiting Alpha,” Adder24 replied, fixing her black ball cap. “Why you here?”
“…Oh, no reason,” Adder replied, his voice a deep London accent. He looked out of place, not because of his eyes or the fact he was wearing a thick, leather coat in the beginning of summer, but because of the large scythe laying at his side. The blonde looked around, trying to avoid eye contact with his creator.
“Don’t lie to me, you git,” Adder24 said, playfully, slapping his forearm good-humoredly.
“…Uh…right…”
Adder looked up at the sky, as if he was waiting for something.
“You’re acting odd,” Adder24 said.
“Oh…I am?”
“Yeah…you look like you had a few too many blows to the head.”
Alpha put the cake in the car and glanced over at the two.
“Hey, Addsy, that Adder?” she asked, confused.
“Yep,”
“…Why’s he staring at the sky?”
“Who knows. I think he’s been hanging around with Jack too long,” Adder24 said, raising a blonde brow at the man.
Adder still stared at the cloud-free, blue Rhode Island sky.
“Any minute now,” he said.
Alpha opened her mouth, but didn’t get a chance to say what she wanted when there was a heavy, crunching THUD.
“ALPHY!” Truth cried out, warningly.
Alpha turned, then found herself going flying off, hitting the tarmac a few feet away, breaking into a floundering roll before she hit the ground.
Adder24 turned and gave Adder an evil glare.
“…ADDER…” she warned, icily.
“…Okay, I had to reap a soul…”
“Alpha’s?”
“…Maybe…”
Adder24 stopped, taking in what Adder said, then picked up the scythe, advancing menacingly onto the man. Adder blinked.
“…Addsy…please put down the scythe.”

Alpha felt sharp pain going up her back. She winced and managed to prop herself up, barely, her hands bleeding and body sore.
She remembered something hitting her, then found herself getting personally acquainted with the road.
She vaguely was aware of a crowd forming; Truth trying to talk to her over the crowd, pushing her way through; Adder24 chasing Adder around with his scythe in her hands, swinging it menacingly.
“YOU’RE AN ASSHOLE!”
“It’s my job! For god’s sake, put that down! You’ll hurt someone with that thing!”
“Alphy! Alphy! I’ll be right there! Hang on! I called an ambulance!”
Alpha groaned, wincing, then opened her eyes, looking down, shocked.
It was a man, and he was in obvious pain, eyes wrenched shut, teeth barred in a grimace. Alpha blinked, realizing he must have…fallen from somewhere, hit the car, and careened into her. That would explain the pain she was in.
She gently tapped his shoulder. “You okay?”
Stupid question, she knew, but still…
The man didn’t say anything and she gingerly checked his pulse, alarmed to feel it dropping ever so slowly.
‘…Shit…he’s dying…oh man…oh man….stay CALM, Alpha…you’re CPR certified…with a perfect score…so what if you only used it in high school? Y-you can do it…I-It’s not that hard…’
Alpha winced before climbing off him. She didn’t know how she survived, but she didn’t care right now; the death of a man because she neglected aide wasn’t going to sit well on her mind, and no one else was exactly rushing to their aide.
Well, except Truth, but she wasn’t aggressive enough to scream ‘MOVE IT!’ and plow through close to sixty people.
Alpha tilted the man’s head back, hoping to open his airway before in two rescue breaths into his lungs. She linked one hand into her other, curling the fingers down and placed them on his chest before starting compressions.
That was how Truth found her when she finally kicked people out of her way.
“Alphy-!”
Truth paused, the sigh of Alpha counting her chest compressions onto the man a sigh she did not expect.
“One-and-two-and-three-and-four…” Alpha counted.
Truth blinked at her; in the distance she could hear Adder screaming for Adder24 to drop the scythe.
“PUT IT DOWN!”
“REAP HER AND DIE!”
“EMPTY THREAT!”
“FUCK YOU!”
“…First off, how the hell are you still alive?” Truth managed. “Secondly, how the hell is HE barely alive? And three, you should stop. You’ll hurt yourself more…”
“Can’t…he’ll die…gotta get his heart…going…”
Truth blinked, then looked over her shoulder as Adder24 kicked Adder and whacked him over the head with his scythe. Repeatedly. She dropped it on him and ran over, shoving through the gawking crowd.
“She okay?” she asked, breathlessly.
Truth looked over at Alpha, blinking.
“…I guess, but I have no clue.”
Alpha stopped on her thirtieth compression, then once again preformed a rescue breath when she felt the man hack, violently. She drew away as he groaned in pain before opening a pair of hazel eyes.
“….How…?” he asked, hoarsely, a London accent lingering on his words. He looked up, briefly, his eyes meeting Alpha’s.
They held the other’s gaze for a few seconds before the man closed his eyes, slipping into unconsciousness, his heart beat regulating. Alpha gave a slight shake, then fell back on top of him before blacking out.

“…Come o….pha…”
“….Al….”
“….up….phy….”
“ALPHA!”
Alpha blinked herself awake, groaning softly. Truth stood at the foot of what she guessed was a bed, Adder and Adder24 on each side of her.
“…Where…?”
“You’re in Rhode Island Hospital,” Truth said, relieved. Alpha blinked, trying to remember what happened.
“Someone landed on you,” Adder24 explained. She then threw a glare at Adder. “Care to explain to KIND, INNOCENT Alpha here why you’re here?”
“I swear to God…” Adder growled before facing Alpha, shamefaced. “…That fellow over there was on my List,” Adder said.
Alpha nodded, quietly.
“And?”
“Well, when I got here, I noticed your soul was ready…too…”
Alpha fought the urge to throw up then and there.
“…Adder…”
“I wasn’t going to reap you. I think that it happened because…okay, how many people survive being crushed by a man falling from three thousand feet in the air? If I WANTED to, I could take your soul, but chose not to. You’re soul has a LOT of years left on it. And I mean a LOT. I think it was a fluke,”
“…Comforting…” Alpha managed. “…As for the man…?”
“For some reason, his soul wasn’t ready. I don’t know how, but it wasn’t. It’s a miracle. Whatever – or whoever – saved him was there at the right time and the right place. It was a miracle.”
Alpha blinked. “A…miracle?”
“Yep,” Truth said, amused. “You saved that idiot’ life. And how the hell did he fall from three thousand feet?” she asked, turning to Adder.
“I’m a reaper; I don’t know how they die. I just collect.”

The three left Alpha alone so she could rest. Truth swore to visit her everyday and would take her place at the home, alert her friends and family, as well as being Adder24’s hostess during her stay; Adder24 said she’d visit, and would beat Adder senseless if he showed his face when she was there.
Apparently, Adder ‘nearly reaping the soul’ of her friend didn’t fit well with the blonde, who promptly kicked Adder out of the hospital room – quite literally.
Alpha sighed. Her back had a large scrape and her hip was bruised from where she collided with the asphalt road. She wasn’t so much in pain as in sore, but she still felt like she was run over by a truck.
She felt glad that she wore her older glasses with her old prescription, seeing that they were falling apart. She had grabbed the wrong case and didn’t bother grabbing her new ones, which she was now lucky for, hearing that they were crushed beyond repair.
Problem was everything looked blurry to her now, and Truth and Adder24 were doing their best to locate her other pair.
Alpha sighed and looked over at her roommate, which Adder24 identified as the man who crash landed into her. His shape wasn’t clear to her, but she made out his firm, muscular build, sharp features, stubble, and faint traces of brown hair from his shaved head. She guessed he was an okay looking fellow, that is, if she wasn’t half-blind at the moment.
The figure stirred and opened his eyes, wincing.
“…Fuck…” he managed.

Chev Chelios’ head was pounding; his whole body ached and throbbed, painfully. He stifled a groan as he woke from his drug-induced slumber.
“…Fuck…” he said, really to no one in particular.
“…You alright?” a soft, weak female voice offered, unsure how to answer his comment. Chev blinked and looked over.
“…Who are you?” he asked, coarsely, almost caustically. The woman across from him looked worse for wear, covered in bandages and bruises, her hair long for medium length with splashes of red in dark brown. He guessed she was no older than twenty four or so.
“…As in my name?” she asked, gently, with an innocent air to her that Chev found a bit charming.
“…Preferably, yes…”
“…My name’s Alpha,” she said, weakly. “…I’m the girl you fell on…”
Fell on? Chev’s mind scrambled, trying to piece together what happened. Ricky Verona injected him with a Beijing Cocktail…he went crazy trying to keep his adrenaline up to stay alive…got the antidote…jumped into his helicopter and fought him…then what? …He fell, pulling Verona out with him. He snapped his neck in two and called Eve, telling her he’d never come home.
Chev made a mental note that, if he ever faced a life-death situation again, he’d inform his brothers of his demise, not his now ex-girlfriend who, as he remember falling to what he thought was his death, he just realized didn’t love her at all.
‘Nice way to come to terms with that,’ Chev said, dryly.
He thought harder. He hit a car on impact, bounced off, and…wait, he did hit someone…next thing he knew, he was gasping for air, and…
He looked back at the girl.
“…CPR chick?” he asked.
“…Don’t call me a ‘chick’, okay?” Alpha said with a pink hue. “It’s Alpha…and, yes…I did do CPR on you…”
“…Now it’s coming back to me…And my name’s Chev Chelios……Jesus, what the hell happened to you?”
Alpha shrugged. “Scraped back, cut and bruised arms and legs…nothing really bad. Except for the bruised hip. That hurts a lot…”
She winced as she tried finding a comfortable spot on her bed, and Chev felt a pang of guilt.
“I’m really sorry,” he said, not sure where it came from.
“It’s not your fault…you didn’t manipulate the laws of physics to assault me.”
She gave Chev a cute, small smile; Chev was awarded with an odd, warm tingling sensation going through his body.
“Guess that’s impossible,” he managed, gently. Alpha smiled, gently, then went back to reading her book. Chev took the moment to look over his companion, head to toe, and, smiling, decided he didn’t mind the view.

“ALPHY!”
Alpha looked up, then felt herself being tackled by a light, female figure. Immediately her back began to ache.
“Truth told me! Are you okay!?”
“Ugh…An…gelical…”
Angelicalfiend looked down at Alpha, worriedly. She had blue eyes, shielded by wire-rimmed glasses and blonde hair tied in a tail; her skin was fair and she was wearing blue jeans with a pink sweatshirt, looking absolutely worried.
“Please tell me you didn’t add injury,” came another voice. Alpha looked passed Angelical at the other figure and smiled, gently.
“Hey, Fluey…Truth told ya?”
“Yep.”
Fluey13 was taller than the other two girl at five foot four with long, reddish-brown hair and hazel eyes and an average build. She cocked her head at Alpha.
“So…some guy landed on you, eh?”
“Yes,” Alpha managed. Fluey smiled.
“Damn. And to think I could have missed all the fun,”
“How is this ‘fun’?” Alpha asked.
“Some guy fell on you. From three thousand feet in the air while you were in Federal Hill. That’s fucking hysterical,”
“And if she DIED?” Angelical hissed.
“Then it wouldn’t be funny; but she’s alive, so it is.”
“You’re EVIL,” Angelical snapped.
“I know.”
Alpha shook her head. “I’m alright. A few scratches and bruises, but I’m good,”
“How the hell did you survive?” Angelical asked.
Alpha quickly explained about Adder and Adder24’s involvement. Fluey’s smile widened; Angelical blinked.
“Oh my god…this is so great,” Fluey said. “You could make a story or movie about this,”
“That’s…awful, but kind of funny,” Angelical managed. “Did the man survive?”
“Yes. He’s my roommate.”
Both girls looked at Chev, who waved before going back to his show. They two turned back to Alpha.
“…Okay then,” Angelical said. “Not weird. At all,”
“This day is getting better by the minute,” Fluey said, smiling. “You’re just a magnet for weird shit,”
“Thanks for the support,” Alpha said, dryly.
“No problem,”
“Kind of funny you both survived,” Angelical said. “The chances of that happening are slim to none…it’s like you two were destined to meet…!”
Angelical clasped her hands, excitedly.
“Maybe you two are meant to be together!”
Alpha tried to give Angelical a serious look, but only managed a surprised, skeptical look. “…What? Are you nuts?”
“It’s possible!”
“He just fell on me,” Alpha reasoned.
“Don’t ruin my romanticized idea!” Angelical snapped.
Fluey just smiled.

“…Interesting group of people,” Chev commented when the girls left. Alpha sighed, leaning back on her bed.
“They’re great friends…”
“You sound exasperated,” Chev commented.
Alpha didn’t say anything; she wasn’t to willing to share Angelical’s viewpoint on him and her being ‘destined’. It was preposterous! She barely knew him! And they were ‘destined’?
As if that would happen.

A few days fast with their wounds healing well; Truth and Adder24 brought in her glasses, which had a deep violet frame, giving the girl better vision than before as well as bringing her a book for her entertainment.
And allowing her a better view of Chev; coarse stubble, shave hair, brown and thinned, a chest that looked like it was chiseled from granite, and pure hazel eyes.
Alpha admitted he wasn’t bad to look it.
A knock was heard and she looked up. Christine was smiling at her, holding a clear glass jar of flowers – white lilies, blue hydrangeas, green leaves, and red roses coated with a thin layer of silver dust. She was a vigilante, leader of an anti-Gear group. She was inactive for many years, but still kept her unit intact, ‘just in case’, she said.
“Morning,” Christine said with her low, melodious voice, brown eyes warm and long, brown hair straight. Her shirt camisole tightly fit her athletic frame and her camouflage capris hugged rugged thighs.  
“Hey,” Alpha said, smiling. “You came up from Denver?”
“Visiting,” Christine said with a smile. “Rob and I are planning on buying a summer home here,”
“Neat…but, what about your wolves?” Alpha asked,
“They’ll be fine; they got the whole woods to hunt it. They know when we’re not there. Smart little things.”
Rob entered and waved at Alpha before kissing Christine, and Alpha noticed his strong resemblance to Chev.
Christine sat the flowers on the small table-tray, sitting in the seat besides the bed.
“So, what happened?”
Christine listened, patiently, as Alpha recited her tale. The woman nodded.
“Your lucky Adder was in a good mood,”
“I’m lucky Adder24 made him change his mind.”
Rob chuckled, then looked over at Chev and jumped in shock.
“Jesus Christ! Chev!?”
Chev blinked and turned, mirroring Rob’s actions. Christine and Alpha stared.
“Rob? Holy shit…!”
After a few minutes of exclamation, shock, and overly friendly gestures, Rob explained.
“Chev’s my elder brother…well, one of them, anyways; He’s three years my senior,”
“Your…Brother?” Christine asked, voice level.
“Yep. Oh, and Chev, this is my girlfriend, Christine. She’s a leader of a military group I joined…WOLF.”
Chev nodded. “Nice girl,” he offered.
“She can be. She needs to warm up to new people,” Rob said with a smile; Christine glowered at him from her piercing hazel eyes.
“He’s your brother? I thought Frank and Turkish were your only brothers,” Alpha said, finding her voice.
“Yeah, I have three. Chev went off on his own and I didn’t hear of him for a while…and what the fuck were you doing on a helicopter?”
“Long story,” Chev said. “Rather not go into the details,”
“This involves your…job?” Rob asked.
“Yep,”
“…That sadly explains a lot…How’ve you been besides right now? Still with Eve?” Rob asked.
“Nope, I kind of broke up with her…”
‘IF you can call calling her and saying you’ll never come back breaking up,’ Chev mused to himself.
“Huh. Thank god. Hated that bitch,” Rob said. Christine frowned.
“Be polite, Rob,” she warned.
“I can’t be. She was an arrogant, selfish, cocky little bitch,” Rob growled. Chev smirked.
“Funny you never said this UNTIL I broke up with her,” he said, chuckling.
“Hey – I happen to value my life.”

“Didn’t know you were Rob’s brother,” Alpha said when they left.
“Didn’t know you were his friend. Small world, huh?” Chev said.
“Guess so…chances of that happening was slim to none…what were you doing on that helicopter?”
“Sight seeing,” Chev said, briskly.
‘Can’t come out and say I’m a hitman and I was beating the shit out of a guy who poisoned me, now could I?’ Chev thought. Alpha shrugged and went back to reading her book.
“…Like to read?”
“Yep; started when I was two, and now it’s rare to see me without one,”
“Ah,”
“This is Agatha Christie; big fan of hers.”
Chev smiled. “Ah, she was ingenious, now was she?”
“Of course. The psychological aspect of the crimes in her stories fascinate me,” Alpha said.
“Which one is that, out of curiosity?”
“Oh – Murder in Mesopotamia,” Alpha said, checking the cover before responding.
“Classic Christie,” Chev replied.
“Yeah…don’t ruin it for me, though.”
Chev just smiled at her, and Alpha found herself smiling back with a small, subtle blush forming on her face.