Alex squints as the bright gre of the fluorescent light bulbs bounce off the boot buckles on her outstretched feet. The gloomy hospital decor automatically causing a bout of despair to sink in. Funny, seeing as she wasn't even here for a health-reted reason.

  Now not necessarily a fan of bright colors, she considers the wait room, and the overall misery of the people sat waiting on information concerning their loved ones. Perhaps an uplifting color scheme might be in order.

  A small smile creeps onto her face, when Akio walks in, his eyes searching.

  “Doctor Jordan.” She calls, arms spread over the unoccupied seats beside her in a zy lounge. Akio brightens, turning towards the sound of the voice with a smile.

  “I think it has a nice ring to it.” She finally lifts up, and embraces him. A breathless ‘Alex’ leaving Akio as she squeezes him closer to herself.

  She pulls back to catalog him for a moment. A far cry from the tattered child that wouldn't let her be in 1788, he had grown into his own. She inspects everything from the eye bags beneath his eyes–now considerably better–to the light shoes he has on under his maroon scrubs. Still clean shaven as always. Akio catches her scrutinizing him and rolls his eyes, a reaction that was now partially reflex, wherever she was concerned.

  “I am so sorry I missed the anniversary.” He says regarding Lilian, “Chris must think I'm such an asshole.”

  Alex frowns at the statement. “What are you talking about? He's so proud of you, it's all he ever broadcasts.” She deepens her voice in parody of Chris, shoulders reared back to appear taller. "‘Akio is a Doctor.’; ‘He went to Harvard’; ‘Alex won't get off the couch.’"

  Akio ughs, sobering up instantly upon continuing the conversation about Lilian.

  “How's he holding up considering?” He asks. And Alex waves a vague hand.

  “Ah, he's dealing with things all Chris-like. Most of the time, I have to run to keep up with him.”

  “I can't even imagine.” he hums, eyes gzing over in quick thought.

  Alex pulls him out of it.

  “By the way, he's 'un-retired' again.”

  Akio makes a distressed sound. “After that party?”

  “After the bloody party.” Alex confirms.

  “God, I feel sorry for everyone at the office already.”

  “I wanted to stop him at first.” Alex says, fists tucking into her loose pants pockets. “Then I thought, maybe he needed the activity?” she says, head tilting in question. Akio scratches his jaw.

  “Yea, it'll probably help to distract him from everything.” A finger rests on his lips, eyes scrunched together.

  “And give me some much needed peace.” Alex adds.

  “I'm sorry, what exactly is it you do all day?” Akio asks, a dubious eyebrow hovering.

  Alex rankles in faux anger, hand flying to her chest in offense.

  “I beg your pardon?” She demands. “I've had a long and taxing life, thank you very much.

  I deserve every bit of zing about I'm doing and more, so you and Chris need to back the hell up.” she finishes with a shooing gesture.

  “The Alex I knew used to relish the rush of life.” Akio crosses his arms in challenge. “Heck, even Chris just upended his retirement out of sheer boredom.” he goads, and it probably would have worked on a younger Alex, she thinks. Not the current domesticated version before Akio today.

  “That Alex has been put away.” She says, pleased at the fact that the decration was in fact true and fully welcomed. “This Alex is comfortable pying board games and cussing out Shark Tank participants with Chris.”

  Akio winces at the information. “He's watching Shark Tank? Oh, that can't be pleasant.”

  “I tried to talk to him about his well-being once.” Alex recalls. “He pushed me off topic with some overly comedic zen quote. And then shoved me.”

  Akio cackles, never one to miss a chance to ugh at her. “Is that why you're here? Need some reinforcements?”

  “No, I can handle Chris.”

  She grabs him in a one sided hug, wrenching him forcefully from his spot. “I came to see you, since you refused to come see us. Mountain.” She waves at herself. “Muhammad.” She waves at Akio.

  Akio shoves away from her, untangling himself from the furious hug. His hands quickly dart up to repair his mushed hair like the prima donna he pretends not to be.

  “Okay, watch the hair.” He gives his coiff an overt pat. “I might as well tell you, I applied to transfer to California, so I could be close.” he says, face a maintained picture of perfect nonchance that Alex sees right through. Alex brightens up anyway.

  “Really? That's awesome! We can paint the town on weekends, the three of us, it'll be like old times.” She says. “When does the transfer kick in?”

  “I don't know, I haven't had the chance to follow up on anything yet.” He swipes exaggeratingly at a non-existent piece of dirt on his scrubs. “Try to remember, you're talking to a doctor here.”

  “So Doctor is stressed? We can fix that.” she smacks him hard on the back, jostling him. Akio profusely apologizes to the person he almost nds on to Alex's continued amusement.

  “What time will you be free tonight?” She asks once he's done fulfilling his apology quota.

  He groans. “Nooo.”

  “Come on, I'll treat you to dinner, we'll swap stories, you check my brain, we bowl a bit, and I'll have you back here, bright and early.” Her hands fly up to massage the stress out of his shoulders. He is taller than her so she shoves him down to her level, plunging him into an awkward crouch.

  “Alex, I have stuff to–” he stops abruptly, eyes blinking rapidly as if deleting his st words to get back to Alex's sentence. “Wait, what did you just say?”

  “Bright and early?”

  “No, before that.”

  “Oh, we bowl a bit.” His eyebrows were knitting in slow anger now, and well Alex never cimed she was adequate at self-preservation. She squeezes his knotted shoulders a bit harder.

  “What's wrong with your head, Alex?” he asks, dislodging her hands from his shoulders, voice losing its pyful edge.

  “It's really nothing serious–”

  “What happened?” he asks firmly, and all the lightheartedness is sucked from the air in an instant.

  “Chris insisted I get it checked.” she sighs, “I had this thing st night, where I got a terrible migraine.”

  “And then what?”

  “I have no idea. I woke up this morning, and Chris said he had been banging on the front door, 4 hours straight.”

  His eyes dart around in thought. “You didn't hear him?”

  “Nope. I was unconscious.”

  Akio grabs her by the arm and hauls them down some path. Only stopping briefly to open a narrow door, and thrust them into what–after brief inspection appears to be a dank janitor’s closet. Alex wrinkles her nose, both at the obvious neglect of the closet and the manhandling.

  “You couldn't have chosen a better venue?” She turns accusing eyes at Akio. He is too worried to bait into an attention-shifting argument, so it doesn't work.

  “‘Nothing serious'?!” He resumes their previous conversation from the wait room, no regard for Alex's untriggered trap.

  “Also, I had been bleeding from my eyes, nose, and ears.” She adds, only God understanding the reason why. But if he was going to do something, best to have all the information, yes?

  “Why the hell didn't you lead with that?!” He was scolding her now, like some disobedient child. Which was becoming too much chastising for one evening, perhaps her entire life.

  “Because now your face is all scrunched up and contorted with worry.” She says, hands filing around his indeed agitated expression.

  “Better my face than your brain, dumbass!” He parries and Alex doesn't shrink at the reprimand. Almost skulking. Almost.

  He exhales audibly, gathering his composure once again before speaking. “Since I can't exactly book you for an MRI scan ... Gimme 15 minutes let me tidy up over here, then we can get dinner.”

  “Oh, God yes.” Alex says, ducking to prevent Akio's wagging finger from poking her eyes.

  “I'm doing this because of your head. You as a person have nothing to do with it.” he says, the fondness in that sentence not even the least bit smothered by his unconcerned attitude.

  Alex scoffs unbelievably in response. “Yes, thank you Akio, I love you too.”

  Akio scoffs in turn mock offended, cracking smile as soon as the little door swings open, and back is turned.

  1788 ...

  Alex shoots up from sleep with a gasp. Her room door swings open with a force so hard, it smacks against the opposite wall and barrels back, Akio stopping it from clipping him in the face at the st second.

  “What.” She blinks rapidly, willing sleep deprived eyes to immediately function at peak capacity.

  “There's an angry mob outside.” Akio pants.

  “What?” Alex repeats, dropping from her bed to the front door in a quick dash.

  She opens it to an incensed mob, lit torches and pitchforks in hand. They mutter angrily amongst themselves, volume increasing as soon as she steps out to address them.

  “Can I help you?” Alex regards them irritatingly.

  Akio's former master shuffles his way forward, elbowing every and anybody in his way.

  “This ain't no prison house for kids!” He yells the obvious. He was becoming more trouble than she had expected.

  “I thought it wise to rest before we embarked on the journey to–” She cuts off with a sigh. Functioning on 2 seconds of sleep and untethered fury, her fingers pinch the bridge of her nose. “You know what, you're right, there is no correctional facility. I just couldn't stand you whipping the boy like an animal.”

  The crowd mutters their disagreement with her statement, the man positioned in front of her nodding vigorously to egg them on. He whips back to face her with a loud snarl, teeth bared in threat.

  “I want him back!”

  “I paid for him.” Alex says with a scoff.

  The man takes another step forward getting even closer, and Alex has to rear back instantly from the foul stench that is his breath.

  “I don't know whatever deal you got going on with the Governor that makes you think you're untouchable, but I'd be careful how you talk in front of these people here.” He whispers, and Alex has a feeling her invulnerability was the only thing keeping the acidity of his rancid breath from peeling her skin.

  “I paid you a whole lot more than the child was worth. You better turn around and leave, before things get messy here.” She replies, her voice raised for people in front to properly hear.

  He fshes stained teeth at her, mercifully letting out a puff of air once his face is away from hers, before turning to address the mob.

  “Y'all hear that? She says she's go'n kill me!”

  The crowd grows antsy. Grips on pitchforks tightening in purpose and agitation. Alex bristles at the number of people she'd have to kill if this couldn't get sorted. She had hit her limit on the ‘pgues and incurable illness’ excuses as far as the Mayor was concerned.

  “Says she's go'n string me up by my own gizzards if we don't get off her property!” Stained teeth was still saying, the roar from the crowd sealing the fact that she would not be getting out of this without bloodshed.

  Speaking of bloodshed. The man whips to face Alex, pistol quick drawn and poised to shoot, the loud clicking of numerous other guns interrupting an otherwise perfect night.

  A quick angling of her head away from the gun pointed at her, reveals numerous other guns pointed at her. Their wielders in no mood for negotiation.

  “We can't have you out of order now can we?” He asks, nozzle inching forward slowly to finally rest on her head.

  She groans. Damn, she liked this house. Perhaps one st effort–

  “Listen, I don't–”

  The words are hardly out of her mouth any sooner than her adversary is bsted backwards across the street. She blinks owlishly, her gaze as well as the crowd’s following the trail of fading purple energy from their fallen leader to Akio standing behind Alex at the door.

  She winces as all eyes turn to them. “Well shit.”

  “Witchcraft!” A random voice cracks through the silence, and a shot fires, Alex closing and bolting the door just in time for the bullet to splinter dry wood.

  They both fall to a crouch at the sound, hands lifting to press against their ears as more guns join in the catastrophe.

  “What were you thinking?!” Alex screams angrily, the hands framing her face accompanied by the cowardly crouch position, lessening the reprimand by a good percentage.

  “He was going to shoot you!” Akio parries.

  “So you use your powers in front of an armed mob?!” She yells back.

  The door groans under the weight of the attack, and Alex has a second to thank the extravagant trader for whatever the hell kind of wood the door was made of.

  “Get your shit, we're leaving!” She says, voice rising higher than the reverberations of rapid gunfire.

  Akio does a quick inspection of the ground around him to Alex's immense disbelief.

  “I don't have any shit!” he yells, after the stupid action.

  The idiot. Honestly! “Then use the back door!” She says. Grateful when Akio listens and immediately bolts out the back door.

  She raises from her crouch to detour somewhere else in the house. The sound of the front door finally colpsing nettling her even further. People pour into the house, setting books on fire and smashing priceless possessions.

  ~~~

  Akio stops at a safe distance, pausing to catch his breath. He lets out a little whimper at the sight of the fmes that have now engulfed the entire house. Alex had seemed really fond of it, taking the time to give him a grand tour of the impressive space.

  His heart stutters a bit in his chest, eyes searching, praying fervently that Alex had gotten out before the fire swallowed the building in its unforgiving fmes.

  “Devil spawn!”

  He whips around to find his former owner, gun aimed between Akio's eyes, breath coming out in borious pants. Akio backs up a step, body angled to dive for the man at the slightest chance.

  He cocks his gun, and Akio watches him squeeze the trigger in slow motion. Eyes squeezing shut when he realizes there would be no monologue or miracle to save him this time. He was going to die.

  A sickening snap jolts him out of his subconscious, his body jerking involuntarily at the sound. His eyes fly open to find his assaint strewn dead on the ground, his neck twisted inhumanly to the side.

  Alex stands by the body, gre boring an angry hole into the center of an already dead head. Akio jerks forward and halts abruptly, barely resisting the urge to barrel into her in a hug.

  “You're not dead!” Akio settles for rejoicing instead, and then sps a hand over his mouth. Best to not reveal their location to the bloodthirsty mob.

  Alex replies with an annoyed hum, sidestepping the strewn man by her feet with candid disdain. “I wish I could say the same for my home though.”

  She adjusts what Akio notices is a moderate-sized bag behind her.

  “I'm sorry.” He says. And she waves it away.

  “It's fine. Are you hurt?”

  Akio pats himself down in confirmation of all his body parts. “All good. What's in the bag?”

  He pretends like he doesn't see her grip tighten where she grips the canvas. “My shit.”

  “You risked getting killed to get your shit?” He says incredulously, eyes flicking to the still abze house that lights up the entire street.

  She swings the bag over her shoulder elegantly. “Just the important shit.”

  She inclines her head away from the house, and they start away from their dark corner.

  “What about him?” Akio jerks a thumb at the receding dead man behind them.

  “I’d rather we didn't stay and find out.” she replies after a quick gnce behind her.

  Akio fidgets at the casual nonchance with which she dismisses the dead man. He had killed precisely one person before in an act of self defense, and remembered how difficult he had found eating for an entire month.

  Cold dismissals like the one Alex had just dispyed meant a long list of bodies to the dispyer’s name. A long list of people who had come up short in a fight against Alex. He curses his bad luck.

  “Listen, if you ever have something to say, please say it. The squirming is infuriating.” Her sudden input causes him to jump a little.

  He was taught not to speak without permission, creative and painful consequences awaiting him each time he broke said rule. Perhaps following it, would work in his favor where she was concerned as well.

  He informs her as such along with the details of the several punishments his former owner had rewarded him with, watching in confusion as her eyes widened in what could only be described as horror.

  “I don't own you. If you think back a couple of hours ago, I asked you to leave." She looks back at the body, now a good distance away. The fingers of her free hand clenching, like she wanted to snap the man's neck a second time.

  “And I said I had nowhere to go.” He prompts a reenactment of their conversation from earlier that evening.

  “Oh, I haven't forgotten.” Alex shoots a pointed look at him, encompassing his continued presence beside her.

  “I’m not going to kill you.” she says after a beat, eyes trained forward fervently in concession to the discomfort they both seem to be radiating. “Even if you decide you longer feel the need to bother me.”

  Akio rexes at the assurance, shoulders slumping as the weight of an imagined threat lifts from his shoulder. He nods at her when she finally tears her gaze away from the dawning horizon, to look at him.

  “Where are we going exactly?” he asks, trying to initiate small talk.

  Alex sighs exasperatingly. “Just walk, Akio.”

  A bowling ball nds on the wooden floor with a thud, rolling crookedly before teetering into the gutter at the st minute. Alex groans frustratingly, feet stomping petuntly on her trek to grab another ball.

  Akio sits nearby, legs crossed and propped up on the table in front of him. His chair is angled in a dangerous snt as he ughs hard, and Alex has half a mind to lob the ball in her hand at a chair leg.

  “What are you doing?” He asks in between wiping non-existent tears from his eyes.

  “What does it look like? I'm bowling.” Alex squeezes an eye shut, tongue lolling out the side of her mouth in thorough concentration, as she calcutes the force needed to properly swing her ball.

  Akio takes in her pose and cackles all over again.

  “God forbid. Let me rephrase the question. What do you think you're doing?”

  She swings the arm holding the ball back and forth to build momentum. “Screw you, Akio.” She finally lets it go and it bounces, heading once more for the gutters.

  Alex frowns. “I'm convinced these balls are sentient, and for some reason, they hate me.”

  “More wrist, less head.” And she bets he thought he sounded like Sun Tzu with that stupid hint.

  “I add any more wrist, and the balls will be tearing right through the building.”

  Akio gets up to join her, grabbing a ball.

  “It's not rocket science, Alex.” He spins the stupid ball on the tip of his pointer finger like it weighs nothing. “You simply aim and toss.” He tosses, his ball clearing every st pin.

  Alex grumbles suspiciously. “Okay, you cheated. I just need to figure out how.”

  “You can't cheat at bowling.” He says amusedly, taking one look at her shoes and scowling. “Those aren't even bowling appropriate shoes.”

  “Like I'd put my feet in one of those disgusting things.” She snorts, snatching a ball from the pile.

  “And you wonder why you can't py.” Akio dips his hands in his pockets, watching her stretch unnecessarily. “Why exactly did you suggest this again?”

  “I can so py. It has nothing to do with the shoes. It's this pce, the ground doesn't seem level.” She glowers daggers at the inanimate nes.

  “Remember when you tried teaching me to shoot a gun?” he says, eyes clouding over in fond remembrance.

  “No.” Alex answers, the slight twitch in her right eye giving away the fact that she did remember. Akio smiles.

  “Wonderful, I'll remind you. You made me stand outside by myself, for 7 hours. You wouldn't let me eat, till a bullet hit one of those wretched bottles.”

  “I have no idea what you're talking about. Such angst at something that took pce centuries ago. You need to get rid of all that, and make space in your heart for love.” She says sweetly and tosses yet another ball. This one somehow going in the opposite direction.

  Alex and Akio wince in tandem at the loud crash and scattered compints that accompany.

  “Oh crap!”

  “Sorry!”

  An angry attendant walks up to her, forcefully thrusting the ball in her stomach before leaving with a huff.

  “Really sorry.” Alex says.

  “It's hirious how awful you are at this.” Akio cackles. “At least I hit a bottle, even if it was by accident.”

  “No, you shot me in the head, and I died. What's worse is, in spite of all that, you still don't know how to aim a gun.” She thrusts the ball at his stomach in turn, and he doubles over in pain.

  “Aha!” He wheezes, before devolving into a coughing fit. “I thought you didn't remember?”

  “I don't think anyone could forget a gunshot to the head.” She responds drily, before stomping away to grab a fresh ball from the pile.

  Akio shakes his head at her severe pettiness, gaze falling to the ball she had left in his arms. He bites the bullet and returns it to the neat stack.

  “Since you obviously remember that day, remember what you told me? You said to let go of whatever it was I had twisted up inside me. At the time, I was sulking about my mother's death.” He says upon his return.

  Alex pauses mid swing to preen at Akio's statement.

  “That is some Mr. Miyagi shit. I said that?” She asks excitedly.

  “Of course, there were no Karate Kids then.” He responds.

  “Jesus, I was smart.”

  Akio sighs in deep resignation. How extremely in character for Alex to retain the unimportant bits in a given piece of information. “Just toss the damn ball. Remember, first clear your mind, then toss.”

  “I should conk you over the head with this damn thing.” She jiggles the ball. “Repay the favor.”

  “Will you let it go, it was an accident!”

  “I know, which is why I'll 'accidentally' conk you in payback too.” She says, taking a deep breath and tossing the ball.

  The ball glides convincingly for a couple of seconds, teetering into the gutter at the st slide.

  “Witchcraft!” Alex announces loudly, drawing the angry attention of all the other patrons present.

  “Okay what the actual hell? That ball should have knocked down 2 pins at least.” Akio inches a cautious foot forward, swiping it suspiciously across the ne.

  “I told you the balls knew what they were doing!” She whispers conspiratorially, waving a crazed hand at the untouched pins ahead of them. Akio is inclined to agree.

  “No, no, I agree, that was sus as hell.”

  “I have no idea what that means, but all this bowling has worked up my appetite.” She stretches her arms above her head in her shuffle to their table.

  “That's it? You didn't even bowl jack shit.” Akio says, dropping into his seat.

  Alex frowns, feet propping on the table in mirror of his earlier pose. “Mind your nguage. And I swung, okay? Swinging takes energy.”

  “I can't believe you dragged me all the way out here to watch you feed the gutter.”

  “Like you didn't have any fun.”

  “I might have, if we didn't have other pressing matters?” Akio raises a questioning brow, the tail end of his statement produced from behind clenched teeth.

  The action seems to annoy the hell out of Alex.

  “Jesus!” She explodes. “When was the st time you had a timeout Akio? Work, work, work; worry, worry, worry.”

  He rears up in attention. “Alex, you realize we're talking about your brain, your health?!”

  “I'm not dying today, or anytime soon. I've had plenty of opportunities to do that, and I waved them all goodbye.” She tsks.

  Akio groans long-suffering, eyes lifting to the sky in petition to a higher power. “Just please let me check you? It’ll hardly take any time.”

  “I'm hungry. Where can one get a nice meal in New Jersey?”

  Akio rakes a frustrated hand over his face, clearly understanding her ploy. “You're going to keep ignoring me till you get what you want, aren't you?”

  “Can we get New York pizza in New Jersey? I've always wanted to try New York pizza, see what all the fuss is about.” Her eyes dart around the establishment, as if expecting a random carton of New York pizza to be lying about.

  Akio sighs. “After eating, I get to examine you?”

  She rears up to a proper sitting position, dropping her feet from the table with a thud. “Done.”

  Akio stands. “I know just the pce.”