They've found me. After all this time... I guess I could have been more careful. Although, I didn't tell a soul - not even Auntie - and now the time has come to face every super hero's worst nightmare.

I had been prepared for this moment, a bag of essentials holding clothes, my grandmother's amulet, a photo of my brother and I back before the Fall. These things are all I need to keep me attached to my sense of normality, except... Chickpea. My sweet, tender tortoiseshell cat companion. I hadn't intended to become so attached. It's the classic story - I was driving along the dusty roads of the Turkish back country, out on one of my missions. There she was, alone, shivering, hadn't eaten for what must have been days. At first I overcame my human instinct. I drove on. I was working undercover but I had a feeling they were trailing me. I could not risk everything for an animal that would surely not survive even another night.

And yet, here I am, facing the consequences of my decision to turn back round and collect that anxious bundle from the road side.

She has kept me sane throughout all of this. She has shown me unconditional love, even after those long nights I left her alone whilst I performed my duties. In a world where those who do the most good wind up the most alone, it is in those moments of tender, uncompromising forgiveness that I have been the most grateful.

And now I must leave her.