A few hours after Jeremy left, Lily and Roger walked down the road toward the organization's headquarters. Roger had been serious about dropping off the paperwork early, as he didn't want to wait to the last minute and accidentally be late. Lily had placed the papers in her now empty pack, so she didn't have to carry a ton of stapled papers. For the most part, they walked in silence until a thought crossed Lily's mind.

"Why do you think Jeremy keeps breaking into the apartment?" Lily asked, looking up toward Roger, who shrugged.

"He probably feels responsible for you, since another vampire tried to bite you. His instincts might have taken over, and feels that you need his protection now. Although, I think you might've struck his fancy," Roger suggested, teasing Lily lightly. She sighed, thinking that he was pretty correct. It would make sense for Jeremy to watch her carefully after getting attacked in the gas station. "I wouldn't worry too much about it. I'm sure his protective side will dissipate as time goes on."

"Good," Lily answered, slightly sad to hear that side of him would go away. She kinda liked having someone who wanted to be around all the time, as long as they didn't break into her room. If he had stopped doing that, he would make a great-

"Lily?" Roger asked, interrupting her thought. She turned to face him as he looked concerned. "You spaced out."

"Oh? Sorry, what did you say?"

"I was just saying that your marked state would also disappear, given time, and that might cause him to stop showing up randomly, too," Roger repeated as Lily nodded, trying to keep her poker face. She forgot that she had been marked, and she started to wonder if what she was feeling for Jeremy was because of the pheromone he exposed her to. 

They arrived at the headquarters, and Lily had forgotten that it was disguised as a bar. Of course, there was a working bar, but it was a front for the organization, who had space upstairs. As the approached, there was a neon sign that she missed last time that said KURT'S in large red letters with an open sign lighting up the window. Roger led her inside, and it was also busier than she remembered. It was earlier than last time she was here, which meant that this could be the daily dinner rush. 

Roger walked up to the counter with Lily on his heels as Pete waved and walked over to where Roger was standing. Lily hadn't met Pete officially, but she did recognize him from the time that she was there before. He had a glimmer as well, but it looked a little sloppier than Jeremy's. She guessed that Pete used it for a different reason than Jeremy did, but she was still surprised to see blue skin and gills underneath the illusion. She couldn't help but stare.

"You must be Lily," Pete mentioned, snapping Lily back to reality. She turned red and nodded, making him laugh. "There's no need to be embarrassed. I'm guessing this is the first time you've met a merperson, then?"

"It is," Lily nodded, thinking that made perfect sense. Pete smiled.

"I figured, but don't go staring at everybody. Not everyone is understanding as I am," he winked, reminding Lily of the time that she stared at Jeremy from across the street. Roger pulled Pete's attention back and started talking about Kurt. "Oh, he's just upstairs. He came in early, but didn't say why. Maybe he saw you coming and planned ahead."

"He can see the future?" Lily asked, confused by the comment.

"He would like to think so," Roger sighed before straightening. Pete laughed and shook his head. 

"Well, you better get up there before he has an appointment or something," Pete ushered as Roger nodded, leading Lily over to the corner where two large men stood. Lily remembered not to stare, but she thought they were impossibly tall and it stayed on her mind. Roger held up his hand, revealing the telling tattoo and explained that Lily was a new recruit sent in by Kurt. One of the giants looked at a list before nodding, letting them pass. Roger thanked them and then walked up the stairs to the office space.

They walked up to Kurt's door and promptly heard the wizard yelling at someone over something. Roger grimaced and braced as he knocked on the door. The yelling stopped and the door opened to reveal Kurt at the door and Jeremy by the desk. The wizard was furious and stared at Roger, who gave a small smile and bowed graciously toward the seething man.