“Um… excuse me?”

The kid stared up at Natt. His shirt was covered with splattered mud, and his hands with soot. He was what? Five? Six?

She looked around. The street drowned in isolation. A crumbled paper flew beneath her feet, skimmed across the tiles and fluttered away with the wind.

Natalie sighed as she crouched down to meet his height.

“Hey…” She smiled, looking as harmless as possible. The boy didn’t look up.

Where was Hunter when you needed him? Kids were so not her department.

“Are you lost, kiddo?”

“I…” He nodded, looking down, staring at his muddy shoes.

“It’s okay.” Natt ran her hand through his soft black hairs, “We’ll figure it out. Do you remember where you live?”

“Yep.” The kid grinned.

Natt froze.

The sensors inside her started blaring. Her instincts screamed. Something wasn’t right. The air thickened. A chill crawled up her spine. Her chest tightened.

_The grin…_ Why did it feel so… familiar? Something very close but slipping just out of reach.

The boy shuffled his feet and gripped the edge of his shirt.

Natt’s fingers twitched for her dagger.

And for the first time, the kid looked up.

But when he did, her stomach churned.

Natt’s breath caught in her throat. She’d recognise those green eyes anywhere. This was not happening.

She tilted her head. “This better not be what I think it is. Say kid… _what’s your name?_”

The boy swallowed.

Silence.

Then,

“..._Hunter?_”

Natt blinked. She stared at the kid in front of her. Then behind him. At the sky. At her Adidas. At _his_ Adidas. And back at him. He smiled. Then:

“OH. **_HELL_**. NO.” Natt sprang up. **NO.** Abolutely not. Nope. Nuh-uh. This was _not_ happening.

Everything in her brain went haywire.

“Natt! Natt, Natt, Natt. Please listen to me! I can explain!”

Hunter grabbed her fingers.

“YOU’RE A KID!”

“Yeah thanks, I hadn’t noticed.”

Natt pinched her nose. This _really_ wasn’t happening.

“Look- I didn’t do anything! There was this ghost-”

“A GHOST?” Natt’s brain short-circuited.

“Yeah…” Natt’s anger swallowed Hunter’s voice. He looked down at his feet again, fiddling with his fingers. On second thought, maybe hanging out with the ghost was better.

She looked up at the sky as if in a silent prayer to the universe.

“Let me get this straight,” she exhaled sharply as she knelt down. “You just,_- Oh look, a ghost which is completely not dangerous at all. Let me go follow it and get turned into a six-year-old!-_ your way here?”

“Don’t make it sound worse than it already is.”

“I DON’T CARE! GO UNCHILD YOURSELF”

“It wasn’t my fault!” He held up his tiny palms in defense. “Something about it felt off. So I decided to check it and the next thing I know is-”

He gestured him arms at him, making up for the loss of his words.

“Keep those excuses to yourself, Cross. No way I’m gonna help you this time!”

“But Natt, PLEASE!” Mini-Hunter squeaked. He clutched her sleeves with his tiny hands. “Pretty please?”

“No.”

“I’m sorry! Please get me out of this mess!” He leaned closer, trying to pull the puppy dog eyes. “My legs are too small to walk back home.”

She could see her reflection in his large green eyes. It was hard not to say no to that face.

She looked at the shady alleyway behind her. The street lamp flickered. Broken shards of glass spread across the floor. Dirty water seeped through the manholes.

Natt looked back at the tiny trouble in front of him. A part of her – The tired, done part of her – considered of just leaving him there. Letting him deal with his own demons.

“You’re not… really thinking of leaving me out here… do you?” Hunter muttered in his small voice.

Natt’s anger spiked. She inhaled sharply.

In one swift swipe, she grabbed him.

“Wha– WHAT! NO! UNHAND ME!” Hunter wriggled under her grip. His legs flailed aimlessly beneath him.

“No, Natt please!” He grabbed her cheeks. “I promise I won’t get into trouble again. Nobody’s gonna pay my ransom if I get kidnapped!”

“Then be a good little boy and don’t go around chasing spirits!”

“OKAY! I won’t!”

Natt looked at his best friend in her arms. She couldn’t decide which was more of a curse. Him turning into a pre-schooler or her being friends with a magnet of chaos.

“I swear I’m going to charge you for every single time you’ll ever come to me.” She gritted her teeth.

Mini-Hunter looked at her, “Is that…”

He grinned.

“..._a yes?”_

__

“Unfortunately.”

“See? I knew you cared about me.”

“Careful kiddo, I might drop you.”

“You wouldn’t.”