A/N: I have a longer SP fic to write again at some point, but other things keep getting in the way, so for now, I'll just write whenever I have time and whatever I have time for. In other words, little unconnected bits that wouldn't make a longer story anyway. And this is where they will be.

Disclaimer: Characters, settings, or basically anything you recognise are not mine. I make no money from this.

"Why didn't you arrest me?"

He looks at the girl standing by the window in his kitchen. Her back, turned towards him, is tense; her hands are clenched in fists.

"I killed those people. And we both know it wasn't the Remnant in me that did it."

He hesitates.

"It was the Remnant that opened the door to Darquesse."

She turns and laughs, the sound bitter in her throat.

"Was it?"

He doesn't know what to tell her. It scares him; the idea that this girl – this girl he has come to care for – may yet turn into pure evil.

X

"Everyone thinks it was the Remnant."

It's not an answer, and he knows it.

"But not you."

He's silent for a moment. "What good would it do if I had you locked up?"

She turns around now, facing him.

"People would be safe."

He shrugs. "People are never safe."

"Isn't it your job to keep them safe?"

"Our job, Valkyrie."

"And I'm so very good at it. Yeah, right."

He still doesn't know what to tell her. Except that he would never lock her up.

He will kill her, if it comes to that. But he won't tell her that.