Brett drove Zac and Skye to the campus. Zac marveled silently at just how calm and accepting the two apparently ordinary humans were. They acted as though they were utterly unbothered having their deceased child return. There had been no comment about Zac's inhuman nature, beyond a soft spoken question about whether Zac's 'metal allergy' would cause him problems during the drive.

Skye mentioned that she had spoken with her parents during his healing sleep. That must have been some conversation.

Once they reached the university campus, Brett asked which dorm Zac lived in.

"That one," Zac said, pointing to a large, brick structure topped by an impressive clock tower.

"That's the admin building," Brett protested.

Zac nodded. "Just park behind the building. I'll show you." 

He led the professor and Skye around a small concrete partition that had once sheltered the admin building's central heating system before they moved to a smaller unit. Now it was just an empty concrete block that no one seemed to notice. He crouched down at the back wall and opened a half height door. 

"Watch your heads," Zac warned before ducking into the small, dark space beyond. 

He realized as they followed him through the narrow, low hallway formed during a recent renovation that he had never invited another person to his room, not since he'd taken the unused little space for his own. On the records, it didn't even exist. He'd done a little careful editing of the building's blueprints and cast more than a few dissuasion spells to keep any curious explorers away. 

“Are we in the walls of the admin building?” Skye asked, keeping her voice to something barely above a whisper, even though the building would be empty on a Sunday morning.

“Kind of,” Zac replied. They reached a half width staircase. “This was the stairwell up to the old bell tower, back when the school used actual bells to chime the hour. It was cut off and abandoned when they switched to the speaker system in the roof.” He grinned at Brett's obvious hesitation. “I promise, the stairs are sound.”

"You live in the clock tower?" Brett gasped, looking around at the little chamber Zac called home.

When the school had switched from physical bells to a recording played from rooftop speakers, Zac had claimed the space for his own. It was so far his favorite living arrangement.

It was a decently sized room, at least for one person with minimal personal possessions. There was room for the desk and bed he'd rescued from two dorm renovations ago, several well-stocked bookshelves, a chest of drawers and his footlocker from his last stint in the military. There was enough room left over for him to lay out on the floor to do a few basic exercises if he didn't feel like availing himself of the campus gym, and it was surprisingly cozy during the winter. 

“This is awesome,” Skye declared. She peeked through the blackout curtains, which protected Zac's privacy and more importantly blocked the morning light which would otherwise beam through the windows at far too early an hour for his liking. 

“Thanks,” Zac said. “It's nicer than the attic of the dorms, anyway.”

“Is that where you lived before?” Brett asked.

Zac shrugged. “I find places. It's fine. I really like this room, though. It's convenient, and I can see the whole campus from up here.”

"Doesn't it get loud?" Brett asked, looking up to the ceiling which hid the speaker chamber. 

"Sometimes," Zac admitted, "but it's private, and I invested in some great headphones."

Zac hooked the headphones in question off of the back of his desk chair. He was keeping these until he couldn't cobble them together anymore. They canceled out the sound from the speakers even with his Elvin hearing. He was fairly sure they'd cancel out the sound of Godzilla tap dancing on a tin roof. 

“I call shenanigans,” Skye decided after making herself comfortable on Zac's desk chair. “Labyrinth has been paying for hotel rooms and stashing me with their braver agents when there are secret clock tower lairs around?”

“Braver agents?” Zac asked, ducking under the bed to find his backpack. If he was staying with the Rowans, he would need a few things. He put the headphones in the front pouch, along with the little bag he took to the showers. 

“Oh, you know,” Skye shrugged and twisted to study his bookshelves. “The avatar of Death is not the most comfortable roommate. Especially when it's packaged in an extremely angst ridden teenage package.” Skye paused and added, “You're gonna have to narrow down which books you want to bring first. We can't fit all these in the car.”

What did she mean by 'first?' He'd planned on bringing a couple books just for his own entertainment, but how long, exactly, did she think he'd be staying with her family?

Also. 

“Who called you angst ridden?” Zac demanded.

“Oh, a few agents. I mean. It's kinda true. I shot my trainer with his own gun, I've punched, oh, literally every partner they try to match me with. And if I'm woken up suddenly, there's an equal chance you'll get thrown across the room or I'll activate a poltergeist.”

“Lightweights,” Brett muttered. “Like a poltergeist is that bad.”

Skye laughed. “Maybe not to you, but you're used to it. Anyway. Let's pick some books.”

Zac picked up the book he'd been reading the night before his kidnapping. There wasn't even any dust on the cover. It had only been, what, two days? How could so much have happened so quickly?

“Ah, Zac?" Brett's voice held a note of shock. 

Worried, Zac turned to see Brett holding open a small, black wood box. Oh. 

"I wasn't snooping, I swear," Brett was quick to say. "I just bumped it reaching for a book and..."

"The latch on that box broke decades ago," Zac acknowledged. "I should fix it." He took the little box from Brett and closed it firmly but gently. He didn't need to look at the contents.

"Zac, are those medals?" Skye asked.

Zac nodded once. With a sigh, he held out the box. It wasn't like he needed to hide them. These people knew who, and what, he was. Skye took the box and opened it, revealing Zac's old insignia, dog tags, and a few small, colorful ribbon bars.

"These are from World War 2," Skye breathed. She tilted the box. "Hey, grandpa Rowan had one of these cards. Neat. You were a staff sergeant?"

Zac shrugged. "When I left the military, yes. I." Zac shook his head. "I couldn't stand to have the photographs of my comrades, but. I could not allow myself to forget, either. So I kept these. They are enough to remember." 

"Ah." Skye closed the box, and gently handed it back. 

Zac tucked the little box into his backpack. He avoided meeting the child's eyes. He wasn't ready to face the empathy in her expression. He didn't deserve it.

He tucked his laptop into the padded pocket in the backpack. He added a couple of notebooks, and the book he'd been halfway through reading. He looked over to see Skye considering his steamer trunk.

"I think I can lift this," she said. "You keep your clothes in here?"

"Uh, yeah," he said, "but do I need to bring my entire wardrobe?”

Skye shrugged. "You might?" She hefted the trunk to one shoulder.

"Ah, sweetie," Brett said. "Be careful no one sees you do that."

"Too heavy for a standard fourteen year old?" she asked.

Brett nodded. "Too heavy for me. That's why it has wheels."

"Oh! I'd wondered. Well, no one can see me in the freaking awesome secret stairwell.”

"What do we do if someone sees you?" Zac wondered. "Aren't you legally dead?"

"Uh. Claim to be my own cousin?" Skye shrugged. "We'll burn that bridge if anyone notices me." 

Brett looked around. "Is that all you need for right now? Your things should be safe enough. I mean, I didn't even know this room existed and I've taught here for... like twenty years." Brett frowned. "How did I never notice how long you'd been around?” He crossed his arms. “I have a picture on my desk of you holding Skye on your shoulders during a lecture. When she was two. How did no one notice you've been around way longer than any other students?”

Zac grinned. "Magic." He wiggled his fingers and added. "I don't have many spells, but my notice-me-not is damn strong." Zac looked around the room. There wasn't anything else he needed. "I'm good. I... you don't have to take me in like this, Professor Rowan. I really am fine."

Brett shook his head. "We won't force you, Zac, but I don't like leaving you here alone. Is there anyone else you'd trust to take you in?"