The offer.

We walked for a little over twenty minutes until we reached their house. It was a beautiful house with a relatively large yard.

" Let's go in, I hope there are pancakes. " Annie's father said with a smile as he entered the house, with Annie following close behind.

Hesitantly, I walked in behind him, and soon the smell of coffee and pancakes filled the air.

Looking around, I could see the coziness that the house provided, definitely a well-kept house.

" Honey ! Finally, I thought you had gotten lost on the way back, " said a blonde woman, coming out from behind the kitchen counter and coming to greet her husband and daughter.

" Not yet, Donna, by the way, we have company today, " he replied, smiling at his wife, and slowly moved aside, making way for his wife to see me.

The woman's expression went from confused to worried in an instant. I think being without shoes and with dirty clothes from having slept in the abandoned house didn't help much.

" Hi, who are you, honey ? " She said softly as she approached and crouched down to my eye level.

I was a little embarrassed by the attention, but I tried to maintain eye contact, and before I could think of something to say, Annie's father said.

" This is John, honey, we met him at the park, and I thought it would be a good idea for him to have coffee with us today, " Annie's father said, approaching his wife.

" I see, so we can't let him get disappointed, can we ? " She said, smiling warmly.

Seeing this, I couldn't help myself and smiled back at the woman.

" That's it ! Let's eat, John ! " Annie shouted excitedly and, jumping up and down, pulled me to the table where it was full of food.

Breakfast was great, it's so good to be able to eat something real in so long. The day went on and I was able to rest and even have fun.

Annie and I played most of the day, and I also had a good chat with Annie's father, whose name I discovered was Richard (I made up that name, I didn't see his real name mentioned anywhere).

I was also able to catch up on the news on the television they had at home. Apparently, Supers have been a thing in recent years, but none of them seem to be as powerful as in the original series, at least not yet. They're just faces on cereal boxes, movie actors, etc. Some even try to be "Heroes" but everything they do goes wrong. For example, a Super called "Power Arm" tried to stop a bank robbery and ended up killing not only the robbers but also three hostages, with their deaths being collateral damage. What a joke.

Overall the day was very good, I could feel calm for the first time in a long time, Donna even allowed me to take a shower, which was an extremely pleasant experience, but as the day went on I realized something, I couldn't stay.

Donna and Richard noticed the change in my mood and called me to talk while Annie distracted herself with the television.

We were now sitting at the table where we had breakfast, and both had a serious expression on their faces, which I'm not going to lie made me a little apprehensive.

" John, we need to talk " Richard said in a serious tone.

" We noticed that your clothes don't fit you, not to mention that you don't have any shoes " He continued.

" Annie said that you don't have any parents dear, is that true?" Donna asked a little hesitantly.

The question took me by surprise.

" Yes... I don't " I said discouragedly lowering my head a little.

This confirmed her suspicions, resulting in a look of pity from Donna, and a thoughtful one from Richard.

" Sorry kid, I know this must be hard " Richard said to me in an apologetic tone.

" Don't worry, there was no way you could have known " I said somewhat melancholy.

We sat in a comfortable silence for a few seconds before Richard spoke again.

"We talked and wanted to make you an offer," Richard said smiling and affectionately holding his wife's hand, leaving me a bit confused.

" We would like you to stay with us, we don't have much, but whatever we can offer you will be the best we can give " Donna said with a loving smile to me.

My mind suddenly began to process all the information they had told me, they didn't seem to be lying and all their body language said the same.

" I-I don't want to bother Miss Donna, I can't- " I was cut off by Richard.

" Don't worry John, we want to help you, if you have somewhere to go we understand, but we want to make sure you're okay. It's not good for a child like you to be in this state " He said looking at me lovingly.

" It's okay honey, we have a guest room, you wouldn't be in our way, you don't have to accept it if you don't want to " Donna assured me.

I was silent for a few seconds before answering.

" I-If it's not too much trouble " I said hesitantly,

which resulted in smiles from the two adults in front of me.

Donna got up from her seat and walked over to me on the other side of the table. Once close, she gave me a warm hug that made my heart warm.

" You would never be a bother, dear. You don't need to worry about anything. "

This was good; they were kind to me, loving. They had given me a chance, and I didn't want to waste it. I would do my best to help them and protect them.

===================Stan Edgar Pov=======================

" HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT WE DON'T HAVE A SINGLE LEAD ON HIM !? " I shouted at my team, the head of my security team, and Noir, who was beside him.

" Like I said, sir, we only had a signal of him up to 50 km after his escape. After that, he broke the sound barrier and was no longer seen, " the head of security said to the irate boss.

Noir, in turn, remained unmoved by the commotion.

" WORTHLESS ! ALL OF YOU ! " I continued.

" I GIVE YOU A TASK, AND YOU CAN'T FIND A BOY !? " I yelled, now pointing at the head of security.

" And you ! " I said, now pointing at Noir.

" Turn over every stone, kill men, women, and children, BUT BRING ME THAT BOY ! " I shouted, and Noir nodded in agreement.

" Get out of here, I'm fed up with your faces ! " And with that, both left my office.

I was losing my mind. The longer that boy stayed free, the worse it would be for me and the company. It had been just over a day since he had escaped.

But even so, my search team has the most advanced technology available today, and we have Noir, who is a master tracker, yet they still couldn't find him. Useless! All of them!

Sitting at my desk, I began looking over some documents. I needed to think of something, a Plan B in case things got worse. Then I noticed one of the files, with the word " Liberty " written on it. I hated her, knowing her past, her origin; everything about her disgusted me.

But at the moment, she might be the last hope in a moment of desperation, and with a sigh, I began to analyze the file.