They arrived at a small one story house about four hours after Nick and Vince started driving. It was in some small town whose name Vince had already forgotten. They parked on the street and approached, unsure what they would find inside. Vince was the first to reach the door and he knocked, bracing himself. Oz answered quickly. The old man looked worried, more than Vince had ever seen him. Why was still a mystery because he and Nick had only had a few minutes on the phone with Oz before they jumped in the car. Apparently, this was a very good friend of his and someone not in the Agency because they were specifically told it was off the books for now. Oz rarely made calls like that to them, so they didn't ask more questions. Instead, Nick and Vince had packed up their latest motel room and sped all the way to the address he sent over.
"Oh thank god you guys are here. She's not doing well and I could use the help tracking the assholes that took her daughter." Oz looked terrified as he ushered the two guys inside.
"Is this in our wheelhouse or are we talking about just a regular kidnapping Oz?" Nick was the first to question as they came in and followed him into the living room. The house was fairly small, but still pretty well decorated and somehow seemed familiar to them both. Once in the living room, Vince knew why. A familiar face came around the corner to hand Oz a steaming mug of what looked like coffee.
"Here you go Oz." Dani's voice had Vince transfixed instantly. Suddenly, a thousand memories flooded his brain as she looked at them both. She had changed in some respects, but in others not at all. There was something tamer about her though, from the jeans to the soft peach button up shirt she wore. Her eyes when she looked up at the two men were identical to the day she left, though.
Nick was captured in much the same shock as Vince. It had been years since they had seen Dani, and the last time she left they figured she wasn't coming back. Oz had thought much the same, but with everything nasty that Dani had worked on throughout her career; it seemed there was no true retirement. The three of them watched as Dani backed up and crossed her arms in a more defensive posture than Nick was used to seeing from her.
"Nick, Vince, hi. I wasn't expecting you." She looked at Vince as she spoke, and Nick felt the unspoken words between them.
"Oz said his friend's daughter was taken, so we came to help out. Was it your daughter?" Nick tried to break the awkwardness and get things focused.
"Yes. It was my Lily." Dani looked completely broken, worse than she had with Stan's death.
"Well, what can you tell us so we can find her?" Nick continued as he tried to comprehend the situation unfolding in front of him. He knew that the shock he felt was nothing compared to what Vince had to be feeling.
"Not much. I honestly haven't had any interaction close to what I experienced in the agency since I left. I have even been supervisor at this daycare for over a year and a half. Then, today, I'm outside with all the kids. Lily was playing off to the side with a few of them. I turned around for a second, literally for a second, and she was gone. I freaked out, naturally, and started looking. All I found was this on a nearby tree. I think I know what it means though."
She produced a napkin from on top of the coffee table and opened it for them. Inside was a dried patch of flesh. The flesh had turned a leathery brown as if it was old and weathered. Nick took it in his hand and showed it to Vince who barely took notice.
"Gross, but I don't get it. Am I missing something?" Nick looked a little confused.
"It means we're chasing a mummy. Well, a modern type of mummy. We haven't seen a case like this in over a decade, though, since I was training Dani. In that case, there was a cult that was worshipping an ancient Egyptian Deity. We ended up finding that one of them a spell to reanimate a mummy. But, when he was walking around sometimes he would lose pieces of flesh. It was fresh at first, and then it would dry like this within a few hours. It was such an odd case that we figured it would never happen again."
"A fucking mummy? Seriously?" Vince finally spoke. His instincts overrode the initial shock of seeing the love of his life again after she had become a ghost herself.
"Yea, it was a new one for all of us. But, we killed him Dani. So, this can't be the same guy." Oz looked at her as fresh tears sprang into her eyes.
"But we let the two kids from the cult go, and Oz what if they knew the spell. I just didn't think. I mean how could I possibly believe that I could leave it all behind and keep Lily safe? Everyone that I love dies or gets hurt because of me. I should have just given her up for adoption instead of trying to protect her myself. How stupid could I be?" Dani's hand went to the side of her face and Vince felt for her. It had been a long time, but still seeing her like this pulled at his heart. He had never really gotten over loving her. Seeing her again only solidified that fact in his mind.
"Alright, well, if it's something mythical, we'll find it and kill it before it hurts her. Now, how old is Lily?" Vince caught Dani's gaze at the use of the name. He had a lot of questions right now, and the fact that she used that name was the least of them, but still a burn.
"She just turned two a few months ago."
"I mean could it be her father using this mummy thing somehow? Or some family member of his? You know the flesh might be something else entirely." Nick said the words without even thinking as Vince stood there trying to let his brain catch up. He felt like he was missing something, but didn't know what.
"It's definitely not her father, or his family. He doesn't know she exists. I did that on purpose." She lowered her eyes.
"Maybe he found out Dani. I mean you might have a crazy bastard on your hands and not even know it." Vince was on high alert. After all, he thought Dani had said she was not interested in being with a man and now he was finding out she had a daughter, which was clearly the opposite.
"Vince, I'm positive that it's not her father that did this." She raised her head looking at him.
"How do you know that? I mean was he a one night stand? You might not know this guy as well as you think." He looked at her a little angry, probably more from the sting to his pride than anything else. Oz and Nick just looked at each other.
"He wasn't a one night stand, and I know he didn't do this." Dani stared at him evenly and Vince moved forward wanting to know exactly who had the privilege of being with her and giving her a child. He wondered just how much he didn't know about Dani after she left him the last time.
"How do you know? Huh? You can't just learn everything about someone because you fuck them, Dani. After all, I thought you weren't interested in guys, but clearly you were at least once after you left." His tone grew louder and Nick put his arm out to Vince looking at Dani apologetically.
"You are such an asshole. I swear your ego is unbelievable. My daughter is gone and you are really angry that I might have fucked someone after you? That's why I left Vince because I couldn't be the girl you wanted."
"Well, I thought you were at least honest when you told me that you were leaving because you wanted to stay a lesbian. Now, I find out that isn't exactly the truth, is it?" Vince had let his temper take off and now he wanted answers. The rage was blinding him.
"Hey, let's just take a walk Vince while Oz and Dani work on some things." Nick pulled at his arm.
"No, I want to know who this guy is. Your 'baby daddy' is a person of interest Dani, so tell us. Who was good enough to knock up the famed lesbian Dani? Wh o, huh?" He was only inches from her face as he spoke. His approach had been unintentional. Now, he was right there and could feel her heat and see that angry look on her face that he hadn't seen in so long.
"You were asshole. Lily is your daughter, and I haven't fucked anyone since I left your room that night. So, fuck you, now help me find her so she can meet her daddy!" Dani was full of venom and her eyes held pure fire as she spoke back into his face.
