"Perhaps I will tell you at some point. For now, what you need and want to know is that what you're about to do will cause it pain." Baba did not add that it was possible the City was willing to feel this pain in order to cull the mutations. They had exercised free will in a way the City had not expected; they had to be removed like some growth before they infected the others. On the other hand...
She nuzzled into the hand, her eyes closing for a moment. Baba did not feel that the need or desire for physical contact was a weakness. Her eyes opened slowly to look into his, searching for something there. There was no attempt to hide her age or just what she could be. For only a brief moment, he was allowed to see the old crone, as far as anyone could see it in those eyes. The crone who Hannibal as a child could have loved and hated all at the same time. Her hand lifted to his chest, just over his heart.
"You must know something before you do this. It is something that you must think through." Baba didn't know what Hannibal would become in the future, his future out of the City, but she did know the potential she saw when she looked at him. "The City may be offering these two to you. In fact, while it hurts it, these are not the only ones it may offer to you."
She stepped closer and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. It was more chaste than it would appear from most angles. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "The City wishes these and the others who hurt us gone. Did it let you have these? I do not know." She stepped back, but not far away, keeping the appearance of lovers' closeness. "Now, do you seek your due revenge, or do you force the City to live with its unwanted children? I, for one, intend to take advantage of the City's willingness, even though forcing it to kill its own children may be far crueler."