Provenance

The aftermath was a blur of statements and uniforms. Miller arrived and actually patted Julian on the back.

"Good work, Thorne. You look like hell."

"I feel like it," Julian admitted.

He sat on the steps of the auction house, the cool night air soothing his burning lungs. Elena sat next to him. Lily was asleep in her lap, wrapped in Julian’s torn jacket.

"You saved the diamond," Elena said softly.

"I saved the evidence," Julian corrected. "The diamond is just a rock. A rock that makes people crazy."

"Not everyone," Elena said. She looked down at Lily. "She saw the rainbows when no one else did."

"She's got a good eye," Julian said, looking at his daughter. The fear from the Halon room was fading, replaced by a quiet, steady warmth. He hadn't left her. He was here.

"So," Elena said, bumping his shoulder with hers. "What happens now? You go back to chasing bad guys?"

"Tomorrow," Julian said. "Tonight, I have a promise to keep."

"Ice cream?"

"The blue kind."

Elena smiled. "I know a place that's open late. And... I wouldn't mind tagging along. If that's okay with the Associate."

Julian looked at Elena. For two years, he had been just a cop and a dad. The idea of being anything else—a man, a partner—had seemed impossible.

But looking at Elena, seeing how she held his daughter, he realized that logic allowed for new variables.

"I think the Associate would approve," Julian said.

He stood up, groaning slightly as his bruised ribs protested, and carefully lifted the sleeping Lily into his arms. Elena walked beside him, and together they headed down the steps, leaving the gilded cage of the auction house behind for the messy, beautiful reality of the city.