ʟᴀᴅʏ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ʟʏᴄᴀɴs : ᴋᴀʀʟ ʜᴇɪꜱᴇɴʙᴇʀɢ

ᴀʟʟɪᴇꜱ?

"Chris?" Mia repeated the name in shock, "Chris is..."

A collection of muffled howls could be made out from deep underneath the surface, especially by Sophia. Mia trailed off her question as she heard them and Sophia tilted her head up to the ceiling.

"What is that?" Mia whispered, like somehow they might have heard her if she spoke normally.

With her head still at an angle, she listened and simultaneously answered her question, "Lycans."

The woman choked on her words, "Ly--lycans?"

"Mmhm," Sophia hummed, unaware of how insane that sounds to someone who hasn't spent their entire lives in a setting like she has. Although, Mia wasn't completely foreign to the idea. With everything that happened with Eveline and the Bakers...her daughter and Ethan. Sophia didn't think she needed to sound so surprised. At this point, nothing should anymore.

She scoffed in disbelief, "I heard all the howling, but I thought they were just wolves. I guess, I should've known better."

"Uh huh," the white-haired girl replied plainly once again, trying to concentrate on the noises. They were so far down, it was hard to make out if maybe they were just feeding, or if they were in some kind of danger. Mother Miranda had been gone a lot longer than she had anticipated...she wouldn't hurt them. Would she?

No, she'd be stupid to do that. She knew Sophia would lose her mind of something happened to those creatures. The creatures she's spent her entire existence protecting, like a mother protects a child. And if Miranda wanted to keep her where she wanted her, she was smart enough not to piss her off.

However, there was one other person who might go visit the lycans. One person who probably wasn't too worried about getting their head ripped off because he knew she wouldn't do that to him. He turned her soft.

Sophia sighed roughly and pulled a stool out from underneath the table to sit on, "What's he doing now?"

Mia watched the girl with confusion, "Who?"

Sophia ignored her question for now and sat upon the stool. Unease settled in her chest as she was about to do something she was trying to avoid. She had enough heartbreak of her own, she didn't want to have to feel his too. "You need to know the plan," she told herself, "Focus on the plan."

Her eyelids fell shut and she pictured Karl. When she reopens her eyes, she sees a wall of TVs. Each one displaying a different part of the village, but at the moment is gaze was fixed on the center screen. It was the lycan strong hold and running through it was none other than the blonde one himself.

"Ethan," she mumbled out loud catching the attention of Mia, who continued to watch her intently.

"Ethan? Is--is he okay?"

Sophia huffed out of her nose in slight amusement after poking around in the engineers brain, "They aren't going to hurt him...they have orders."

Mia didn't really understand what that meant entirely, but as long as her husband was okay, so was she.

The red-eyed girl grasped that Heisenberg was giving his flask to Ethan, but not without a few dramatics. "Always a showman," she thought, the corner of her mouth quirking up.

Sophia was so concentrated, she wasn't listening for what was actually happening around her. Missing the sound clues that gave away Miranda coming back.

Mia noticed but, she noticed too late, "Sophia, look out!"

Her crimson eyes shot open just as a hand came to her throat lifting her off the chair and into the air. The girl grabbed at the blonde woman's grip, attempting to pry it off of her.

She met the sinister gaze of Mother Miranda and before she knows it, she's being thrown across the room against the stone wall, landing roughly onto the hard ground, "You foolish girl!" Sophia choked as she sucked in air and massaged her neck, which was now sore, "I try and give you a chance to redeem yourself and you continue to go behind my back!" The witch loomed over Sophia, making her feel small and powerless, "I've tried being nice, but that doesn't seem to be working out very well...let's try a different approach. Shall we?"

Karl watches Ethan take his flask into his hand, with barley a scratch on him. He connects to the TV that's perched on the table and brings the microphone up to his lips, "You're the real deal, Ethan. Well done."

"Quit hiding, asshole. I'm not letting you get out of this," the blonde growls.

Heisenberg laughs gruffly at Ethans aggression, couldn't he see that he was trying to help him, "Cool your jets. Just a little bit more and you're all wrapped up. I'll lend you a hand, so in exchange...," he trails off.

"In exchange what?"

Karl eyes land on the Sophia's flask upon his table, "First of all, come to me. You'll need that last flask for the Altar. I just so happen to be in possession of it. See you, Ethan." He kills the connection and sees Ethan get visibly upset, which makes him chuckle. But, he does what was asked of him and follows a trail that leads him to the factory, sticking the fourth flask in the chalice on the way.

As he crosses the cobblestone bridge that connects the village and the factory, Heisenberg talks into an overhead speaker, "Ah, Ethan Winters. Welcome." He opens the front gate, allowing the blonde to walk through, "I didn't think you'd make it past Donna or Moreau, but I suppose you survived worse back in America, hm?" Ethan stops just before the perimeter, listening to his voice, "I like you. I'd like to speak to you about Rose, and Miranda." He could see the hesitation on the man's face, "Oh, come on in. Don't worry, it's not a trap."

Heisenberg rose out of his seat, taking Sophia's flask and the photograph on his way out of the room. He slid the picture into the breast pocket of his jacket and made his way up to the surface. Through a set of double doors and around a corner, he waltzed in just as Ethan pulled the cover on his plan.

"What the hell...?" Ethans eyes scanned the wall of pictures, all now donning a large red x over them, fixing on his wife's, "Mia?"

"Truth hurts, don't it?" Karl questioned, causing the blonde to whip around and aim his handgun at him. He pulled out a cigar and held it between his fingers, "Let me guess. You're thinking take me out like the others, and then you get to go and save Rose, right?"

Ethan takes a step forward as Karl lights the cigar, "I'm healing my daughter."

He takes a drag and blows out the smoke between his lips, "Look, y-you've got this all wrong--" Just as he goes to explain how he needs Ethan's help to save Sophia, one of his creations starts to make noise from a hatch. He sighs, "Dammit, I'm talking here." He presses his lips into a fine line and stomps toward the hole, lifting the square door, "Shut your fucking hole!" He straightens his stance, with sort of a blank expression, "Sorry about that."

Deciding to make his guest feel a bit more comfortable, he takes a chair and places it down...conveniently in front of this said hole, "Take a seat. We have quite a bit to discuss."

A/N: Anyone else getting Rapunzel and Mother Gothel vibes from Sophia and Miranda? Sort of unintentional at first, but now I'm rolling with it.