"No, go. I'll be fine and you've got a million and one things to do at the theater." With a kiss to remember (aren't they all") and a swat to 'Taya's firm behind, Max sent her on her way towards the theater and he set out on the task of picking up Juno from the hospital. Max was still amazed that the little girl had pulled through what was truly a fatal disease.

When he arrived at the clinic, it looked like a bomb had gone off in front of it. The doors were smashed in, glass lay on the ground and crunched underfoot. He had to show his identification and explain to three different people that he was there to pick up the child. Security was tight, and he could understand why. The entire scene made Max feel depressed. Once he was patted down, and finally allowed entrance to the clinic, he hurried to where Juno should be waiting for him. He wanted to get her out of this depressing place. A signature on Juno's chart, his identification shown once again and he was finally allowed into the cubicle. Taking the only chair, a small plastic affair that reeked of antiseptic and antibiotic soap, he sat and waited patiently, hands folded together.

Juno was being lauded as one of the Shambles miracle cases. She shouldn't have pulled through at all; when she'd arrived, everyone had assumed that this would be one of the more depressive palliative cases they would be dealing with during the course of the epidemic. But the little girl had defied all the odds, and after just one week of care - and a healthy dose of Victor Kazon's nano-tech cure - she was fit to be discharged. With no parents or family to contact, the Clinic had decided to ask Mataya De Luca to take the girl in for another couple of weeks at least, just to be sure she would be looked after. Once the time for collection was arranged, Sofia Hoffman had personally escorted the little girl from the isolation building across to the Clinic, where Juno had then been ensconced in the staff room, amusing the various staff and security guards both on and off-duty with her antics. "Mr De Luca?" A tired face came into view to match the equally tired voice; George Fotheringay, one of the admin staff, rising to his feet to greet Max. "I rang through; Juno should be with us in a couple of minutes. I need you to sign these forms - legal niceties, you know, release of custody, duty of care, that sort of thing."

Max stood up when the tired man walked into the little cubicle. "It's Yako, Max Yako. I'm Mataya's fiance." He felt a little lame in saying it, the man probably didn't care about Max's love life nor his living arrangements. "Thank you for taking care of Juno. The entire company has been saying their prayers." He tried to offer a smile, but it just didn't reach his eyes. Instead, he averted his gaze from the rumpled clothes and the tired expression to sign in the appropriate spots. When he was finished, he placed the pen down and straightened his back. "Any sign that it's letting up?" Max didn't say what might be letting up; the talk of the town was the RBF, no need to introduce it into the conversation formally.

George scratched his head with the end of his pen, ripping off copies of the forms for the Watch, the Governor's Office, the Clinic, and finally for Max. "Give it a couple of days, and everyone'll be vaccinated," he shrugged, handing over the forms. "After that ....well, with any luck, and God knows we could do with some, shouldn't be more than another month and everyone who's got it will either be better or dead." He grimaced at his own phrasing, shaking his head. "Sorry, mate, it's been a long week ....and here she is." Pale but alert, dressed in the clothing 'Taya had already sent to the Clinic for her, Juno had made her appearance, standing silently beside Max as though she had been there all along. Her head tilted back as she looked up at the actor, her expression somehow grateful and curious at once.

George wasn't the only one who grimaced, and Max did his best to smile. He had no reply to any of it, not the news, not the apology. So when that tiny girl appeared out of nowhere beside him, he took the advantage of a subject change.

"Hey, you," Max knelt down and held out his arms for her. "Are you ready to go home?" He was pleasantly surprised and happy that she didn't look like the gaunt little ghost with feverish eyes that they'd left here just a week ago. Looking from Juno to George he finally did smile so that it reached his eyes. "Thank you for taking care of our girl."

Big brown eyes studied Max for a long moment. She knew his face, and his voice; the months she'd lived beneath the stage at the Shanachie had assured that. "Hullo," she said finally, a tiny little voice that made itself known with a bare motion of her lips as she blinked at the big man now kneeling in front of her. George snorted faintly, his own smile weary but genuine. "Hey, I did nothing but breakfast this morning," he chuckled. "I'll pass it on to the nurses, though. You take care of that theater, Juno, you got me?" He laughed as a solemn little nod was sent back to him, and returned to his work.

"Hello," Max gathered the girl up and carried her towards the door. He knew she was old enough to walk; hardly a baby anymore. But he felt protective and with the mess that was in front of the building, he was going to take no chances with her safety. "So, Juno. I'm Max. You're going to be staying with me and Mataya for a while until you're stronger. What do you think of that?"

If she had been a usual size for her age, he might have been uncomfortable carrying her around. As it was, she was a very small ten years old, and wrapped herself comfortably around him as he lifted her into the air, watching the passing of people, guards, and scenery. Realising she was expected to give a response, she looked back at Max. "Will the gray lady come and see me?"

She didn't give the matter much thought, glancing once toward the clearly marked lavatory door before looking back at him. "I don't know. What's nice" And the nurses said I'm not allowed to have ....um ....game or strong cheese or unplastered milk."

"How about a bowl of chicken noodle soup and a bunch of little goldfish crackers?" He looked at her fondly, the way she mispronounced words so very endearing to him. "Anything for my little princess."

Juno gave him a faintly suspicious look and nodded, turning to potter between the legs of the people waiting in line to disappear into the men's toilets. There was a shout of laughter from inside, and she reappeared, being steered very gently by an elderly gentleman into the appropriate bathroom.

Max stood up and watched as she walked towards the bathrooms, thinking that she walked as if she owned the place. The moment he realized that she was going into the men's restroom, he bolted towards her. Very relieved that nothing more had happened than she startled the gentleman in there, he smiled sheepishly as she disappeared into the ladies room. "Sorry, she doesn't know how to read yet." He offered up the best excuse he could think of.

The old man chuckled. "No harm done," he assured Max with an amiable grin. "My grandson still wanders into the ladies' on occasion, and he just turned thirteen." He patted Max on the shoulder and disappeared back into the gents.

"Oh," he laughed faintly. "Nice to know." He turned towards the ladies' room with his hands held together in front of himself to wait for her grand entrance back into the main room. "Juno, are you alright in there princess?"

A small voice called back, sounding decidedly embarrassed. "I'm on the toilet." There was a snort of laughter from the girl behind the counter, added to the smiles from everyone within hearing range.

"Oh, sorry." Max hurried away from the bathrooms and further embarrassing Juno. He placed the order for the chicken noodle soup for her and a light salad with a raspberry viniagrette from himself.

When Juno came back out, it was in the company of a woman she had met while in there, who had supervised the washing of her hands with intimidating severeness. The little girl reappeared at a run, ducking around everyone until she could hide her face against Max's stomach.

"Hey, hey," he curled his arms around her and gently stroked her hair against her head. "What's wrong?" The order wasn't quite ready yet and he crouched down to look into her eyes. "Are you alright, Juno?"

She nodded hurriedly as he crouched down, watching him from under her long lashes. "The lady made me wash my hands and she stared at me." Even to herself, it sounded a pitiful excuse for a minor breakdown, but hey, at least Max could feel good that he was the one she'd run to.

"Washing your hands is good, but she shouldn't have been so mean." He hugged her to his chest, and stood up with her arms. The girl behind the counter gave him a knowing grin and soon she was following them to a table. He sat down, keeping Juno close by sitting her in his lap. "There now, doesn't that look good?" Maybe he was going a little overboard in treating her like a baby, but Max really had no clue on how to take care of a child, much less a precocious ten year old.

The little girl had no objection to being kept close. It had been strange on the ward, until she got used to how much the nurses needed to hold her when she was being sick, or when she needed to be cleaned up. And Max smelt nice, so it wasn't exactly a trial to stay so close. She leaned over the bowl of noodle soup, sniffing curiously. "What's this?"

"Chicken noodle soup," he smiled proudly and offered her the spoon. "And see the crackers" They look like little fishies." He picked up a cracker and made the little fish swim towards her. "Open up, the fish wants to go home in your belly."

He was treated to another of those oh-so-superior looks, just before her mouth snapped closed around the cracker, chewing ferociously. Swallowing, she gave the soup a speculative look. "S'nice. Do you make nice food?"

"Me, cook?" Max laughed and dropped more crackers into her soup. He smiled at her proudly and waited for her to taste the soup before he would take a bite of his salad. "I burn water. But 'Taya, she's the best chef, ever."

"Is she nice like the lady at the thee-tar?" Juno asked curiously, taking up her spoon in a clumsy hand and slurping a mouthful of soup from it loudly. Her eyes returned to Max as she dipped her spoon back into the bowl; clumsy or not, she was going to make a serious dent in that meal in a very short amount of time.

Max chuckled then and left a generous tip on the table. In an instant, he was standing, with Juno still in his arms. "We're going right this second. Yes, ma'am." Turning, he walked out of the deli and made a beeline straight for the tall statues that marked the entrance of the Zen Building. "Was your lunch ok" Did you like the soup?"

"It was hot. Is food s'posed to be hot?" She didn't object to being carried, still not quite as strong as she had been before she'd gotten ill. Peering around at the people and buildings they passed, she clung to Max's shirt, eyes widening as she caught sight of the Zen Building. "Is that ...?" One finger pointed toward Harry and Sally wonderingly.

"Some food, the salad wasn't," he reminded her gently. When she pointed up at Harry and Sally, he smiled. "Those are to keep all the scary ghosties and things that mean harm out. I think Hortense can come in, if she ever decides to leave the theater. She's nice." And under their watchful gaze, Max strode into the building. "See how beautiful it is here" And there's a dance studio down here where you can take lessons if you want."

Chewing on her lips, Juno fell silent as Max carried her in between the huge Foo Dogs and into the Building. She cuddled a bit closer to him when it became clear that at least one of the lessons he had mentioned had only just ended, and a small horde of teenagers was exiting the studio in a clamor of laughter and chatter.

"It's ok," he huddled her closer and waved to the teenagers who were fleeing the building as if it were on fire. "Some day you'll be with kids like that and you'll love it." He made quick work of climbing the stairs and switched Juno from one hip to another as he fished his keys out of his pocket.

'Taya looked up from the floor by the balcony doors, where she was engaged in the splits and writing out expenses, as the main door opened, tossing her hair out of her face. A wide smile brightened her expression as she looked up at the pair of them, instantly enchanted by how natural it was to see Max with a small girl cuddled against his side. "Well, fancy seeing you two here," she laughed in greeting, pushing herself upright in her admittedly strange position.

"Hey babe." Max stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Walking over to the couch, he sat down, keeping Juno near him. "Just found her on the stoop. Can we keep her?" he hugged Juno and chuckled softly, letting her know he was only teasing. Well, only partly teasing.

As 'Taya laughed her familiarly warm laugh, Juno gave Max a dirty look, turning her attention back to the woman on the floor. "He said I'm to come and stay here with you and he gave me soup and he picked me up from the hospital and you're very pretty." 'Taya's smile softened at this run of words, sensing how shy the little girl must be of people in general. She pushed herself up onto her knees in front of them. "Well, you're very welcome to stay here if you want to, Juno," she told the little girl gently. "So long as you can put up with Max walking around naked in the mornings."

Oh. Wait. Max blinked rapidly and his eyes darted left and right as he thought about this. There was an air of comfort that he and 'Taya shared that included running around with no clothes on. He hadn't thought about his freedoms being limited with a child in the house. "I won't be walking around naked. She's only a baby!" It came out of nowhere, and Max was almost surprised that he'd said it. Of course he meant it; there was no way he would walk around naked in front of Juno. It just came as a shock that he was going to have to give up some of his selfish ways.