"Right. Hopefully he really is fine and doesn't have any special needs." Carrie grumped a little, because the last one had definitely had special needs.

It's a good thing she could repair shit, that's all she was going to say about that one.

"We'll also need to see if he needs to be sent on to Xavier's place," Alice added. "We haven't had one of those in a while, we're probably overdue."

"Probably," Carrie agreed with a little sigh. "Hopefully things will go well and he won't have too many issues. At least now we have Xavier's number if we need to call him."

"Right," Alice said. "Well, that's tomorrow." She stretched a bit. "Feel up to some dinner?"

"Sure," Carrie agreed. "What were you thinking?" She shifted a bit to look at Alice, letting her decide.

"Remember that rice thing you made?" Alice asked. "Last week? With the spices? Not that. Anything but that." She grinned. The rice dish that Carrie had made had been hot enough that Alice was half sure it was going to melt the pot it had been cooked in.

Carrie laughed quietly. "Poultry, fish, red meat, or veggie?" she asked, getting up and going into the kitchen to root around.

"I'm not picky about protein tonight," Alice said as she flopped back on the couch. "Make whichever strikes your fancy."

Carrie nodded and made chicken with vegetables for them, although she was careful not to add too much spice. Flavor, yes; spice, no.

"It's ready," she said, getting her plate and going back to flop in front of the TV.

"Awesome," Alice said. She got up to go get some, and then settled in on the couch next to Carrie.

The next day, she found herself sitting inside the cafe on Third and White Oak at ten to three, sipping at a latte and glancing around every so often.

Carrie was next to her, sipping her own iced coffee (well creamed), seemingly not looking at anything. Her eyesight wasn't the best, so she tended to try to go off sound, instead. She was just waiting for the kid to show up so she could figure out what needed to be done.

Alice glanced around regularly, looking for anyone who seemed hesitant or nervous. That tended to be the visual cue she looked for when she and Carrie had someone to take in.

Carrie heard the door open, and she glanced over habitually, only to pause when she saw the troublemaker from the rally.

"Is that...?" she murmured, nudging Alice and nodding towards the newcomer.

"Our luck can't be that bad," Alice murmured. She looked at her phone. "They said it was a kid. He doesn't look like a kid to me."

"He is definitely not a kid," Carrie said emphatically. "There is no way he's the one we're supposed to meet."

Alice was already texting the person who sent them cases.

We're at the cafe. Who is it we're looking for? Hopefully, it wasn't the troublemaker.

Dark hair, nice clothes. You'll know him when you see him. He's hard to mistake.

Because apparently this person just enjoyed understating and misleading.

You told us it was a kid. Alice glanced at Carrie and tilted her head a bit at the newcomer.

He is a kid. Compared to me.

"He's the one, isn't he?" Carrie grumbled, clearly unhappy with that.

You're cruel.

"Yeah," she added to Carrie. "That's him."

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuck." Carrie huffed. "Alright, fine. Fine." She got up, looking at Erik.

"So. You. Heard you need somewhere to hide."

Erik raised an eyebrow slightly at her. He hadn't realized that the safe haven he'd been assured was with her. But he did nod.

"It seems so," he said. "Rather unfortunate, but necessary."

"We do have ground rules," Carrie told him. "You have a problem with that, you can find somewhere else to keep your head down for a while."

"You don't need to worry about me," Erik replied. He could behave himself.

"See to it that I don't," Carrie said. "I don't enjoy getting violent." She looked at him for a moment to be sure the message stuck. "Come meet my roommate, Alice."